Nioh 2 - Complete Edition

[Meteor_of_War]

Just looked it up and apparently there's just one for Tonfa, which I got. Here's the link if you're interested:

https://nioh2.wiki.fextralife.com/Boss+Skills

[Meteor_of_War]

Just went through the Eternal Rivals and then Soul of the Warrior Monk missions. Really nice main mission with varied environments, and fun boss fights on both. Also a new enemy type. But man, the game has gotten too easy lately. I am quite obviously over powered. Current level is in the 140's now, and tonfas are +6. The recommended level for both those missions are in the 120's.

But I don't care! Love smashing everything in my path.

I am also crushing every last revenant I come across for their divine equipment to disassemble into shards. Going to just stick with this divine Sohaya set (Yokai Annihilator version). Got half the pieces at +2. Need to start focusing my divine shards on armor forging now to get some +1's for more soul matching.

[Lazy8s]

Hulk smash

You’re going to really enjoy the next DLC

[Meteor_of_War]

Yeah i think that was it for main missions on DLC 1. Just a few side missions left. One is locked, have to collect all the Poems. Got one so far i think.

[Meteor_of_War]

Progress update, started DLC #2. First main mission was a bit on the short side, but they give you another main mission right away and it looks longer.

About the boss fight - Minamoto no Yorimitsu was super quick. My build is pretty speed focused and I was still having trouble keeping up with her. Took three attempts which at this point for me is considered a challenge I guess. I can only imagine how slower tanky builds handled her. I have been noticing bit of a trend with bosses lately. They have been faster and more aggressive. My damage output is still destroying them pretty well, but now the challenge is becoming just being able to catch them before they can hit me. I guess its a logical direction for Team Ninja to go with boss design at this stage of the game, where most players are probably using super-charged builds.

Also still been trying to farm every reveant with divine gear I see to forge +1 equipment for soul matching my stuff up. I haven't had the patience to save scum so its been slow going. My tonfas are +6 but my best armor pieces are still only +2. I am holding out pretty well with defense still so far though. But need to find a nice honey hole with a ton of revenants all in one place to farm. Kind of like before the Maria boss fight in the Nioh 1 DLC.

[EDIT] Oh yeah and forgot to mention. Got a really cool boss drop samurai skill - Sacred Bird Flight. Just tested it out in the training ground. Doesn't seem super powerful, but sure covers a ton of ground and multiple enemy hits. Might be good for crowd control.

[Lazy8s]

If you can, roll “item drop” on multiple armor pieces and an accessory. If you have a kodama hat, wear that and choose whatever shrine blessing gets you gear.

Doing that made quite a difference in drop values for me.

Also, I can’t remember re: NG - can you do Demon Scrolls yet? They make a really nice addition to the build. It might be NG+…can’t remember.

On Minamoto, she’s kind of the entrance bar to some of the other dlc bosses…she was a really nice challenge first time through

I think you’ll really enjoy a couple of the next missions

[Meteor_of_War]

Yes, I got a Demon Parade Picture Scroll when I farmed revenants on the first couple missions of NG+. Another new feature I was surprised about.

I do have item drop effects on a couple of armor pieces, and I swap in a charm with it while farming. As well as making sure my tea utensils are set for highest luck configuration. Good +1 armor drops just aren't coming as fast as I'd like, and not coming out enough in forging. Think I forgot to change the kodama blessing though. Arghh. Thanks for the reminder.

On Minamoto, I actually had to use sloth on her. I have not used it nearly as much in Nioh 2 as in the first game. Haven't really felt the need. Until her. Slowing her down really made the difference in that fight. If there are more quick boss fights ahead I will have to remember to use it.

[Lazy8s]

Originally Posted by Meteor_of_War

Yes, I got a Demon Parade Picture Scroll when I farmed revenants on the first couple missions of NG+. Another new feature I was surprised about.

I do have item drop effects on a couple of armor pieces, and I swap in a charm with it while farming. As well as making sure my tea utensils are set for highest luck configuration. Good +1 armor drops just aren't coming as fast as I'd like, and not coming out enough in forging. Think I forgot to change the kodama blessing though. Arghh. Thanks for the reminder.

On Minamoto, I actually had to use sloth on her. I have not used it nearly as much in Nioh 2 as in the first game. Haven't really felt the need. Until her. Slowing her down really made the difference in that fight. If there are more quick boss fights ahead I will have to remember to use it.

I seem to remember going through a really dry period with drop values as well. I think I just started hitting NG+ missions - the further out and higher difficulty the better - that’s when I really began to get some decent gear.

Minamoto is no joke, for sure. That damn grab attack gave me a fair share of grief. I also saw quite a few guys when co-oping that tried to brute force her. Most died

I love that some bosses (and mini-bosses you may not have seen yet) really do require a certain amount of finesse as opposed to just trying to hammer them down.

[Meteor_of_War]

Originally Posted by Lazy8s

I seem to remember going through a really dry period with drop values as well. I think I just started hitting NG+ missions - the further out and higher difficulty the better - that’s when I really began to get some decent gear.

Minamoto is no joke, for sure. That damn grab attack gave me a fair share of grief. I also saw quite a few guys when co-oping that tried to brute force her. Most died

I love that some bosses (and mini-bosses you may not have seen yet) really do require a certain amount of finesse as opposed to just trying to hammer them down.

Those finesse type boss fights are the ones I enjoy the most.

As for item drops, yeah might be that there's better RNG for higher level stuff on different missions. More likely during NG+. I am still just on Way of the Samurai with the DLC.

[Meteor_of_War]

Just finished The Blighted Gate. Spider guy is dead. Again took 3 tries, must be my lucky number now.

Got a few good +1 and +2 armor piece drops in that mission.

[Lazy8s]

Originally Posted by Meteor_of_War

Just finished The Blighted Gate. Spider guy is dead. Again took 3 tries, must be my lucky number now.

Got a few good +1 and +2 armor piece drops in that mission.

3 is a good number

I think you have Palace Of The Damned next. That one really tested my patience….in a good, if not fairly painful way.

[koralis]

The boar boss.. oof. Got SOOO close a couple of times. He goes nuts at the end. And just when I was starting to get cocky.

[Meteor_of_War]

Originally Posted by koralis

The boar boss.. oof. Got SOOO close a couple of times. He goes nuts at the end. And just when I was starting to get cocky.

That boss was pretty much the only one in the last half of the game that gave me some trouble. Its a good design though. By the time i beat him i had the pattern down perfectly and took hardly any damage. He actually telegraphs his attacks pretty clearly so is fairly easy to recognize what's coming next. Just takes a few attempts to learn it.

[koralis]

Originally Posted by Meteor_of_War

That boss was pretty much the only one in the last half of the game that gave me some trouble. Its a good design though. By the time i beat him i had the pattern down perfectly and took hardly any damage. He actually telegraphs his attacks pretty clearly so is fairly easy to recognize what's coming next. Just takes a few attempts to learn it.

OH, I wasn't calling him cheap or unfair... I know the patterns, just my execution of getting out of the way is hit or miss, and you get punished rather badly if you miss. Hah.

I would wager your training as a dodger is serving you well, a while my inclination to block and retaliate doesn't work on this fight, and don't quite have the dodge reflexes honed as well as they could be. A few more attempts will probably get me there.. Whether by getting better with practice or just dumb luck in not flub ing a roll. Heh

[YellowBeard]

Ahhh, Snaggletooth McBitchGrapple. I remember him well. Fun fact, they actually toned him down with a patch not too far after release. His grapple was a little too heat seeking. Don't know how many times I saw him turn damn near 90 degrees when I'd try to dodge and he'd grapple me. Was pretty fun.

[Lazy8s]

Originally Posted by YellowBeard

Ahhh, Snaggletooth McBitchGrapple. I remember him well. Fun fact, they actually toned him down with a patch not too far after release. His grapple was a little too heat seeking. Don't know how many times I saw him turn damn near 90 degrees when I'd try to dodge and he'd grapple me. Was pretty fun.

I remember fighting him before the nerf. It had me questioning where I went wrong in life and why I was being punished

[Meteor_of_War]

Glad to hear they fixed that. Nothing is worse in these games than bullshit tracking by enemies. Especially when it involves a grab move. Grabs that are literally impossible to avoid with human reflexes are the worst.

[koralis]

Overnight I thought about it and decided that I was using the wrong tools for the boorish man.


Rejiggered my accessories to up defense a bit more, redid my Jutsu and swapped out Fire Talismans for Purify and Extraction for Soul Leech for more healing. Got him down within another 3 attempts.

[Lazy8s]

Originally Posted by koralis

Overnight I thought about it and decided that I was using the wrong tools for the boorish man.


Rejiggered my accessories to up defense a bit more, redid my Jutsu and swapped out Fire Talismans for Purify and Extraction for Soul Leech for more healing. Got him down within another 3 attempts.

Good job With the exception of maybe 2 other bosses, I think he’s the toughest in the entire game.

Side note: I’m done with the other game I wanted to play - I think I’m ready to jump back into the underworld on this one. No one else does hack n slash like Nioh, and I really miss it lol.

[Meteor_of_War]

To me it's not just the actual combat being top notch. Its the equipment loot and character building and management that is so good and addictive in Nioh. Aside from classic old games like Diablo and maybe games like the original isometric Fallouts can't think of many other games that did loot so well. I'm sure there's some out there but nothing recent/modern that i can think of.

From Soft's games of course, but they just pale in comparison. They really need to step it up because TN raised the bar pretty damn high.

[Lazy8s]

Originally Posted by Meteor_of_War

To me it's not just the actual combat being top notch. Its the equipment loot and character building and management that is so good and addictive in Nioh. Aside from classic old games like Diablo and maybe games like the original isometric Fallouts can't think of many other games that did loot so well. I'm sure there's some out there but nothing recent/modern that i can think of.

From Soft's games of course, but they just pale in comparison. They really need to step it up because TN raised the bar pretty damn high.

They sure did raise that bar. I had a lot of fun playing that mod, but even then it just falls short for me.

[Meteor_of_War]

Can't be too disappointed though. Back 5-10 years ago when Souls games were the new big thing I was hoping it would spawn more games in the genre that would improve upon the formula. Took a while getting some Souls-likes that did not quite live up to FS's stuff, but Team Ninja finally managed to do it.

I am hoping with Elden Ring taking it into true open world territory improves it either further. Still yet to be seen though if it actually changes things for the better. They might need to work hard to sell me on it because I've kind of grown accustomed to Nioh's mission based game structure.

[koralis]

Originally Posted by Meteor_of_War

I am hoping with Elden Ring taking it into true open world territory improves it either further. Still yet to be seen though if it actually changes things for the better. They might need to work hard to sell me on it because I've kind of grown accustomed to Nioh's mission based game structure.

I'm thinking the same. If open world, they'd better have waygates to teleport around. I suspect I'm going to be pretty annoyed if I have to manually travel all over hell and back. It wasn't bad in The Witcher series, but that's by virtue of it being packed to the gills with hidden areas and quests that you could discover.

[Meteor_of_War]

Originally Posted by koralis

I'm thinking the same. If open world, they'd better have waygates to teleport around. I suspect I'm going to be pretty annoyed if I have to manually travel all over hell and back. It wasn't bad in The Witcher series, but that's by virtue of it being packed to the gills with hidden areas and quests that you could discover.

I don't remember the exact details of how it works in Elden Ring without looking it up, but I do know for sure there is a fast travel mechanic. Also it is available from the start of the game, or at least was in the beta? Not sure if that will change in the final release version.

[Lazy8s]

Originally Posted by Meteor_of_War

Can't be too disappointed though. Back 5-10 years ago when Souls games were the new big thing I was hoping it would spawn more games in the genre that would improve upon the formula. Took a while getting some Souls-likes that did not quite live up to FS's stuff, but Team Ninja finally managed to do it.

I am hoping with Elden Ring taking it into true open world territory improves it either further. Still yet to be seen though if it actually changes things for the better. They might need to work hard to sell me on it because I've kind of grown accustomed to Nioh's mission based game structure.

It’s extremely jarring to jump back into a Souls game after a long period of Nioh. One “weapon art” per weapon just can’t compete with the strings of combos that Nioh delivers, and the evasion just feels gimped and slow, so that’s what I’m really hoping FS improves upon with Elden Ring.

That said, each style has it’s devoted fans and place in the gaming world, so that’s always good for the gaming public, but I can’t imagine what it would take to dethrone Nioh as my favorite game in the genre. Both games, especially the second, deliver anything I could want in this type of game*.

One more point after finishing that mod that I thought about, because the mod did this…is that Nioh is a power trip. With Dark Souls, playing the regular progression without working to over level, you (I) felt like I just had enough to squeak by, by the skin of my teeth, and there was very real relief after the final boss went down.

With Nioh, you suffer horribly at first, but once the build and skill come together, the feeling of utterly destroying enemies that were previously making you miserable is just a power rush, loads of sadistic glee

[YellowBeard]

Originally Posted by Lazy8s

I remember fighting him before the nerf. It had me questioning where I went wrong in life and why I was being punished

Yeah, it wasn't a good time. I learned new things about adrenaline dumps during his fight.



They may be in the same "vein", but not alike. I prefer Nioh for the combat / loot grind, but From Soft games scratch a different itch for me in terms of discovery and world building. Unfortunately the vast majority like to ape Souls combat more than anything else so a lot of these types of games have clunky combat which is unfortunate. The Surge did an OK job of speeding up the combat of Souls games and still have that discovery feel. Too bad the second one's story was an absolute disaster after the excellent body horror themes of the first game.

Would be nice if there was a good melding at some point between the two.

[Meteor_of_War]

Originally Posted by Lazy8s

It’s extremely jarring to jump back into a Souls game after a long period of Nioh. One “weapon art” per weapon just can’t compete with the strings of combos that Nioh delivers, and the evasion just feels gimped and slow, so that’s what I’m really hoping FS improves upon with Elden Ring.

That said, each style has it’s devoted fans and place in the gaming world, so that’s always good for the gaming public, but I can’t imagine what it would take to dethrone Nioh as my favorite game in the genre. Both games, especially the second, deliver anything I could want in this type of game*.

One more point after finishing that mod that I thought about, because the mod did this…is that Nioh is a power trip. With Dark Souls, playing the regular progression without working to over level, you (I) felt like I just had enough to squeak by, by the skin of my teeth, and there was very real relief after the final boss went down.

With Nioh, you suffer horribly at first, but once the build and skill come together, the feeling of utterly destroying enemies that were previously making you miserable is just a power rush, loads of sadistic glee

Yeah I touched on that sentiment about the power you feel with Nioh once you get over that early game difficulty hump as being the main reason I love these games the most now. That feeling of progression in Nioh is unmatched in any other games of the genre. Not necessarily to say its objectively better, I just prefer Nioh as its more satisfying and enjoyable, rather than satisfying albeit stressful in Souls games. In FS's games even if you level grind you can still be squashed like a bug over and over until you "get good." But in Nioh, while you do need to hone the skills of the gameplay, Team Ninja at the same time affords at your disposal many many tools to become a literal god. My character in Nioh 2 is so strong right now I am going sometimes 1 vs 4 or more enemies and still obliterating them with relative ease, and look awesome while doing it. That is not something you can get away with in Souls games.

If FS changed their games to have more weapon skills and faster evasion moves it might be more enjoyable but would agruably canabalize their brand of slow and deliberate combat gameplay which so many enjoy. It just turns out that we prefer how Nioh does combat now. Its got the advanced mechanics like a Souls game, but they allow the player to be a stronger force in the game world. They made it faster and flashier as well which adds to the fun. Team Ninja takes the win on that, and I believe is why we both like Nioh better than Souls now.

But that's not to say there isn't room for From Soft's brand of this game type anymore. There's something about FS's games that feel so damn weighty and brutally medieval, and that can be awesome too. I am routing for Elden Ring to be an awesome game. Hope it is!

[Lazy8s]

Originally Posted by YellowBeard

Yeah, it wasn't a good time. I learned new things about adrenaline dumps during his fight.



They may be in the same "vein", but not alike. I prefer Nioh for the combat / loot grind, but From Soft games scratch a different itch for me in terms of discovery and world building. Unfortunately the vast majority like to ape Souls combat more than anything else so a lot of these types of games have clunky combat which is unfortunate. The Surge did an OK job of speeding up the combat of Souls games and still have that discovery feel. Too bad the second one's story was an absolute disaster after the excellent body horror themes of the first game.

Would be nice if there was a good melding at some point between the two.

Good point regarding ‘souls likes’ and combat. I never played the second Surge, but I did enjoy the first.

Either way, both IPs have a special place for me, Dark Souls for that discovery you mention and the sheer “Wow” factor of actually meeting O&S, Artorias among others, even discovering the shortcuts and world layout.

Nioh just raised that to the next level for me, although Nioh doesn’t compare to Dark Souls world in the first game.

Good times, so many good times in both

[Lazy8s]

So I’m fully back in now - cleared floors 60-65 of the underworld last night. I forgot I was in the process of tweaking my build when I quit a month ago, so that needs work, but getting through that bit was relatively easy. So I’m on the right track for a premium build.

I also added fists to my arsenal. It’s hilarious adding a new weapon at that stage. Killing 2 red or purple enemies nets you around 18 skill points in 5 minutes lol.

I’m level 608 now, so I have a good amount left to add for courage for ki recovery speed and heart for ki pool obviously. One small hit can tank my ki mid-attack, and that’s never good against a late underworld enemy.

[Meteor_of_War]

Its awesome they implemented such high level challenges in the game. So cool that you can feasibly make this the only game you ever play.

Not sure I will ever get there though. I don't think I have the time or focus for it.