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Help! I finally started God Of War and I need combat tips


Bloodporne

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I finally, finally, finally started God Of War (PS4) last night and boy do I need some pro tips from those who have beaten this thing...

 

I'm maybe two hours in right now, kind of where that disappearing-act witch enemy is introduced, and I feel like I'm not getting this combat. What I mean by that is that I'm only playing on the seemingly normal difficulty setting and it fucking takes an eternity to whittle down each and every grunt enemy's health...I feel like I'm missing something here. It feels like how when you suck in Character Action games, enemies can be spongy and take forever, but with the right tactic/combo, you can make short work of them. 


I am using the axe a lot trying to always stun at least one enemy right out of the gate and lining up several others for the return damage and all that good stuff that seems obvious. I'm a big fan of Character Action games and am pretty decent at them, so I feel like I've got what the game is giving me as combat option basics down pretty alright already. It's just that nearly every "arena" takes me several attempts between the enemies' seemingly asinine health pools and Kratos only being able to take like three hits despite being...A GOD OF WAR...but that's another issue entirely. I'm really just looking for combat tips on how to kill the mobs faster

 

It seems like a great game and I like how many secrets and little extras are littered all over the world so far, it feels very dense. But man, the "arena" fights are feeling very tedious already along with Kratos just feeling wimpy with how little damage each hit inflicts despite the hit feedback and visuals being very weighty. 

 

My only real serious complaint besides that right now is the constant barrage of off-screen projectiles and hits. I just thoroughly don't get why in the ever-loving fuck they pulled the camera in THIS closely and then added those idiotic off-screen danger indicators. In a game seemingly so well designed, it feels glaringly bad. If it weren't for Kratos' insanely fragile nature, I wouldn't really care, but it feels really...exhausting somehow? 

 

I just looked it up and I'm only playing on "Give Me A Balanced Experience", what the hell? I routinely play Action games like DMC3, Metal Gear Rising etc. on decently high difficulty levels. In short, this game's combat is kind of baffling me right now despite feeling like I should be really into it. The axe is sure is cool as fuck though!

 

On another note: I wish I could kill that kid. He doesn't interfere gameplay-wise, thank god, but the Dad speeches are so corny. 

 

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4 minutes ago, Bloodporne said:

I finally, finally, finally started God Of War (PS4) last night and boy do I need some pro tips from those who have beaten this thing...

 

I'm maybe two hours in right now, kind of where that disappearing-act witch enemy is introduced, and I feel like I'm not getting this combat. What I mean by that is that I'm only playing on the seemingly normal difficulty setting and it fucking takes an eternity to whittle down each and every grunt enemy's health...I feel like I'm missing something here. It feels like how when you suck in Character Action games, enemies can be spongy and take forever, but with the right tactic/combo, you can make short work of them. 


I am using the axe a lot trying to always stun at least one enemy right out of the gate and lining up several others for the return damage and all that good stuff that seems obvious. I'm a big fan of Character Action games and am pretty decent at them, so I feel like I've got what the game is giving me as combat option basics down pretty alright already. It's just that nearly every "arena" takes me several attempts between the enemies' seemingly asinine health pools and Kratos only being able to take like three hits despite being...A GOD OF WAR...but that's another issue entirely. I'm really just looking for combat tips on how to kill the mobs faster

 

It seems like a great game and I like how many secrets and little extras are littered all over the world so far, it feels very dense. But man, the "arena" fights are feeling very tedious already along with Kratos just feeling wimpy with how little damage each hit inflicts despite the hit feedback and visuals being very weighty. 

 

My only real serious complaint besides that right now is the constant barrage of off-screen projectiles and hits. I just thoroughly don't get why in the ever-loving fuck they pulled the camera in THIS closely and then added those idiotic off-screen danger indicators. In a game seemingly so well designed, it feels glaringly bad. If it weren't for Kratos' insanely fragile nature, I wouldn't really care, but it feels really...exhausting somehow? 

 

I just looked it up and I'm only playing on "Give Me A Balanced Experience", what the hell? I routinely play Action games like DMC3, Metal Gear Rising etc. on decently high difficulty levels. In short, this game's combat is kind of baffling me right now despite feeling like I should be really into it. The axe is sure is cool as fuck though!

 

On another note: I wish I could kill that kid. He doesn't interfere gameplay-wise, thank god, but the Dad speeches are so corny. 

 

 

I don't remember many of the enemies being sponges? And I played on hard IIRC. Some are going to have more health, definitely, but the combat allows you to break them once you master the combat options.

 

Gotta remember how I went about it, but your options are a bit more limited at first anyway. You can already do "headshots" where you throw your axe at a weaker enemy's head. You should also get used to the camera. The closer camera makes you feel more vulnerable all around you, which I thought was done to great effects. If you know how to turn-around 180, you can parry and kick their asses.

 

This gives a few good introductory tips, including info on some of the earlier moves you can unlock. Believe me: once the combat clicks, you are gonna be a beast. It's this amazing combat system that doesn't give you burnout as the other GOW games could, as fun as they were.

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2 minutes ago, SaysWho? said:

 

I don't remember many of the enemies being sponges? And I played on hard IIRC. Some are going to have more health, definitely, but the combat allows you to break them once you master the combat options.

 

Gotta remember how I went about it, but your options are a bit more limited at first anyway. You can already do "headshots" where you throw your axe at a weaker enemy's head. You should also get used to the camera. The closer camera makes you feel more vulnerable all around you, which I thought was done to great effects. If you know how to turn-around 180, you can parry and kick their asses.

 

This gives a few good introductory tips, including info on some of the earlier moves you can unlock. Believe me: once the combat clicks, you are gonna be a beast. It's this amazing combat system that doesn't give you burnout as the other GOW games could, as fun as they were.

Thanks, I'll check that link.

 

The first thing you said up there...that's wild to me because I very much enjoy difficult games and constantly play on harder settings so naturally started this game on hard as well. I was hammering the regular Draugr guys with what seemed like a hundred fucking hits each while only being able to take three to four myself tops which made the "arenas" feel frustratingly long, so I self-loathingly had to bump the difficulty down to normal. 

 

I'm trying with that camera man and I'm okay with it most of the time but when some projectile-tossing enemy spawns with no real audio cue and suddenly I'm getting nailed in the back, I get really pissed off. It just seems unnecessary when all they had to do was pull the camera out slightly. Maybe it'll click later, who knows. I've been known to eat crow on many a game. 

 

Then again, my overall impression is still that the game is quite great so far. Also, the graphics are fucking ridiculous. Riiiii-diculous. 

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7 minutes ago, Bloodporne said:

Thanks, I'll check that link.

 

The first thing you said up there...that's wild to me because I very much enjoy difficult games and constantly play on harder settings so naturally started this game on hard as well. I was hammering the regular Draugr guys with what seemed like a hundred fucking hits each while only being able to take three to four myself tops which made the "arenas" feel frustratingly long, so I self-loathingly had to bump the difficulty down to normal. 

 

I'm trying with that camera man and I'm okay with it most of the time but when some projectile-tossing enemy spawns with no real audio cue and suddenly I'm getting nailed in the back, I get really pissed off. It just seems unnecessary when all they had to do was pull the camera out slightly. Maybe it'll click later, who knows. I've been known to eat crow on many a game. 

 

Then again, my overall impression is still that the game is quite great so far. Also, the graphics are fucking ridiculous. Riiiii-diculous. 

 

Well, it is and can be a difficult game. What I mean by break is, you can take on these guys without these 100 hits that you're apparently doing, and you'll feel like a badass because you'll be able to chain together things in a way that feels powerful and varied. Things like recalling the axe back to knock down some guys coming after you while using moves to stun them and rip them apart, and then nailing an enemy to a boulder while you fist fight someone else. The possibilities are endless and make for a REALLY great combat system.

 

Again, it took a while for it to click with me, but when it did, I replayed the game the second I finished my first playthrough, no NG+ needed.

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12 minutes ago, SaysWho? said:

 

Well, it is and can be a difficult game. What I mean by break is, you can take on these guys without these 100 hits that you're apparently doing, and you'll feel like a badass because you'll be able to chain together things in a way that feels powerful and varied. Things like recalling the axe back to knock down some guys coming after you while using moves to stun them and rip them apart, and then nailing an enemy to a boulder while you fist fight someone else. The possibilities are endless and make for a REALLY great combat system.

 

Again, it took a while for it to click with me, but when it did, I replayed the game the second I finished my first playthrough, no NG+ needed.

I'm sure it'll feel much different as well once I unlock more options. DMC3 feels kind of shitty even until you get to unlock some essential skills and it's one of my favorite Action games. 

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6 minutes ago, Bloodporne said:

I'm sure it'll feel much different as well once I unlock more options. DMC3 feels kind of shitty even until you get to unlock some essential skills and it's one of my favorite Action games. 

 

Make sure you explore. There are a LOT of secret/hidden places, especially on the world map, that are unmarked. You mentioned the density: that is true, and that's why you could very well run into something that ends up being your favorite Runic attack. I did that numerous times.

 

Have you met the blacksmith yet?

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17 minutes ago, SaysWho? said:

 

Make sure you explore. There are a LOT of secret/hidden places, especially on the world map, that are unmarked. You mentioned the density: that is true, and that's why you could very well run into something that ends up being your favorite Runic attack. I did that numerous times.

 

Have you met the blacksmith yet?

I haven't, no. I'm definitely exploring as much as possible though. It's my favorite aspect of the game so far, how dense and full of little pickups it is. I love little details like being able to axe down those buckets containing some currency etc. 

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Some of the things that helped me...

 

- Heavily utilize/upgrade Atreus. It will seem like he doesn't do much at first, but once you get further in the game, he becomes practically essential (especially if you craft the armor for him that lets him find healing stones for you).

 

- Pick runic attacks with high stun and upgrade them; IMO stun is the most important offensive stat, and there are few enemies who can't be stunned.

 

- Practice dodging and parrying. I don't know if it was incompetence on my end or the game does a poor job of explaining them, but once you understand and lean into the yellow/red attack indicators, tougher enemies become much easier to manage.

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9 minutes ago, Chris- said:

Some of the things that helped me...

 

- Heavily utilize/upgrade Atreus. It will seem like he doesn't do much at first, but once you get further in the game, he becomes practically essential (especially if you craft the armor for him that lets him find healing stones for you).

 

- Pick runic attacks with high stun and upgrade them; IMO stun is the most important offensive stat, and there are few enemies who can't be stunned.

 

- Practice dodging and parrying. I don't know if it was incompetence on my end or the game does a poor job of explaining them, but once you understand and lean into the yellow/red attack indicators, tougher enemies become much easier to manage.

Wait, can an enemy's yellow/red telegraphed attack be parried? The game explained them as unblockable, that was it. I've been Souls-rolling out of them and not parrying. 

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Hmm. I don't recall the enemies being sponges. The only thing I can think of is if you haven't upgraded your weapons, but if you haven't met the blacksmith, then you haven't reached that point anyway :p 

 

Regarding the disappearing witch enemy, these guys are annoying, but the best thing to do is to use "Boy" to attack it. Doing so will stun it giving you a chance to run up and beat its face in.

 

 

The only other thought I have is if you haven't yet met the blacksmith, but are exploring a lot, it's entirely possible you're exploring areas with enemies outside of your range. If it's a much harder enemy than your level, yes, they will be like sponges, and yes, they will kill you really fast. In that case, get back on track with the main quest and progress it a bit. At a minimum, you'll want that blacksmith ASAP!

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On 12/31/2018 at 11:13 AM, Bloodporne said:

Another random question:

 

Can I turn off the button prompts and little dots signifying things I can jump to/interact with? I didn't see anything in the Options menu unless I missed it. There are a billion other options so I feel like I just missed it.

Probably not right?

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1 hour ago, Bloodporne said:

Probably not right?

 

Sorry man, not to my knowledge. :( 

 

45 minutes ago, gamer.tv said:

Due to this thread, I started playing God of War again.  I just wish I had more free time to enjoy it as it's really, really, really good.

 

But at least you're trying! It's fantastic. Good on ya!

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Honestly, I was expecting this to be another cinematic style-over-substance Oscar Bait dud quite frankly and I am so very, very pleasantly surprised. Pessimism making something better once again, this totally works. 

 

After playing for quite a bit longer, this was my problem, or the game's rather:

 

The learning curve is quite out of whack for essentially tutorial areas in the beginning. Now that I've had a chance to upgrade, learn numerous skills and upgrade my health bar, combat has become very manageable and tons of fun. I still find the off-screen pointers/zoomed-in camera to be slightly tasteless compared to just well, zooming the damn camera out a bit, but it's not hampering my enjoyment. 

 

I was expecting, and dreading, some borderline Ubisoft shit when I read it was sort of "open" in design but this is total Zelda, Souls and slightly Metroid-y and I really want to applaud them for that in a game of this budget and magnitude when the obvious, big seller alternative would've been the more-more-bigger Ubi approach. 

 

As a fan of the first two GoW titles, I surprisingly prefer this Norse setting. The art direction is fucking gorgeous and I love the whole chilly, snowy atmosphere without it descending into über-serious grimdark territory. 

 

So far, it's a fantastic game and I'm even warming up to the whole kid thing now that I've realized you can actually really utilize him as an advantage in combat. My biggest gripe really is that he won't shut up though and I truly wish games like this would implement an Option item where you can kind of choose the amount of "banter". I don't want to be told...ever...by an AI partner after only 20 seconds of trying to figure out a puzzle to "look up there" or something along the lines. I don't want a thinly-veiled hint system. 

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