Nioh 2 - Complete Edition

[Lazy8s]

Originally Posted by Meteor_of_War

I haven't done Against all Comers yet but i was curious so i looked it up. Holy hell that is the mother of all mob/boss rush gauntlet missions! Wonder if that would top Everlasting Duty as my toughest mission.

I am hoping you at least get checkpoints along the way if you die. With that long of a gauntlet i would be pissed if i died near the end and had to start all over.

I'm not really a fan of these type of missions though, as i said before. They just get a bit too tedious for my liking. I'll save that one for last.

It does have checkpoints, thankfully. Pretty creative the way they did them too. My first time in that mission, I made it to what I now know was about the 75% point and died. I wanted to cry It was a huge relief to know I didn’t have to do the entire mission all over again.

[Meteor_of_War]

Ok good. That drastically reduces the difficulty of it then.

[Lazy8s]

Originally Posted by Meteor_of_War

Ok good. That drastically reduces the difficulty of it then.

Speaking of reduced difficulty, I just cleared floor 80 of the underworld. One of the tougher game bosses Ryomen Sakuna and he went down fast.

So I went into the next level (hoping for a golden room) and thought “Why am I even doing this?”

I think I’m ready for that next game

[Meteor_of_War]

I just beat Against All Comers. Phew, that was a marathon for sure. It felt like facing the entire game's enemies condensed in a 25 minute gauntlet. I died three times total, all towards the end against those final heavy demons, and Otakemaru. Thankfully they give you the checkpoints. Don't think I'd bother with it otherwise. But its done and out of the way. Got something like 16 million amrita from that mission, and a **** ton of equipment.

Originally Posted by Lazy8s

Speaking of reduced difficulty, I just cleared floor 80 of the underworld. One of the tougher game bosses Ryomen Sakuna and he went down fast.

So I went into the next level (hoping for a golden room) and thought “Why am I even doing this?”

I think I’m ready for that next game

Did you ever beat the whole underworld before? If not why stop now? Might as well go for the gold.

[Lazy8s]

Originally Posted by Meteor_of_War

I just beat Against All Comers. Phew, that was a marathon for sure. It felt like facing the entire game's enemies condensed in a 25 minute gauntlet. I died three times total, all towards the end against those final heavy demons, and Otakemaru. Thankfully they give you the checkpoints. Don't think I'd bother with it otherwise. But its done and out of the way. Got something like 16 million amrita from that mission, and a **** ton of equipment.



Did you ever beat the whole underworld before? If not why stop now? Might as well go for the gold.

I beat the first 108 floors. After that it’s the depths, which require time. You have to beat 6 levels at a time, or you start back at the beginning of that block of 6, and each level is a multi boss fight at the end, and you can’t summon help

I’ll do it because I need something to keep me occupied until ER releases - I might do the next 28 floors as boss rushes rather than clear the levels, that would be interesting.

[Meteor_of_War]

Originally Posted by Lazy8s

I beat the first 108 floors. After that it?s the depths, which require time. You have to beat 6 levels at a time, or you start back at the beginning of that block of 6, and each level is a multi boss fight at the end, and you can?t summon help



I?ll do it because I need something to keep me occupied until ER releases - I might do the next 28 floors as boss rushes rather than clear the levels, that would be interesting.

Yeah sounds like i would treat them like Twilight missions, just rush through to the end fast as possible just to complete it. If there's no reason to clear the levels just go for the boss.

[Lazy8s]

Originally Posted by Meteor_of_War

Yeah sounds like i would treat them like Twilight missions, just rush through to the end fast as possible just to complete it. If there's no reason to clear the levels just go for the boss.

That’s probably the best strategy. The last floor I cleared half of it - primarily because there are items in the underworld I want, that aren’t in the main game, but now I started using sneak and catwalk to get to the kodama. Easy, but I miss the loot drops from mini bosses along the way, and some are really good. Some purple enemies drops are on par or better than level bosses.

[Meteor_of_War]

Originally Posted by Lazy8s

That?s probably the best strategy. The last floor I cleared half of it - primarily because there are items in the underworld I want, that aren?t in the main game, but now I started using sneak and catwalk to get to the kodama. Easy, but I miss the loot drops from mini bosses along the way, and some are really good. Some purple enemies drops are on par or better than level bosses.

In that case if there's items and drops worth grabbing then yeah approach them differently than Twilight missions. Sounds like just super high level missions you need to fight through.

You've got a couple months until Elden Ring so that will occupy the time.

[Lazy8s]

I’ve made some progress, got to floor 98 and only died twice, so the build is still viable. The Lightening gods of Omi are really rough in the late underworld, new attacks, and I didn’t have lightening stop ready - you have no idea what boss it is until you’re in the crucible.

I did get my first golden room in something like 30 levels though, so that was a pleasant surprise. Got some great gear out of it too

Koralis- you still playing? How’s it going?

edit: For anyone not familiar
Golden room before:


And After

[Lazy8s]

Floor 108 done, and no more deaths since 98. Time to really tweak the build though. Nightmare Bringer and the others went down fairly quickly, but one little clip tanked my ki multiple times. Close calls.

Then onto the depths.

[koralis]

I am still playing, but on a bit of a break for Christmas visiting family.

Game is going well.. Have my defenses about back where I like them. Lots of reduced damage taken mid attack and critical.

Irritated that magic is no longer great scaling for weapon damage anymore.. Soft caps, etc. Have switched over to courage for a bit.

I juggled my soul cores again after swapping guardian spirits and my capacity went down. Could only add a gaki with reduction to the third slot, but now I have the Pleiades effect going, and now my amrita gage tops out regularly and can consider yokai shift a tool I can rely on (and when I do, I start murdering bosses) I think I am going to reset my shifting skills to get more time etc


I believe I am in the fifth region right now.

[Lazy8s]

Weapon scaling seems to be tied to the base damage output. My build is primarily magic / constitution based, and even in the depths it’s pretty OP.

Defense on the other hand - I shouldn’t really complain because I rarely get killed any more, but it does need some work.

My only complaint is the weight scaling. Starting around 50 stamina, it drops to 1% which just sucks for a magic based tank build. Then again I have tons of health and anima regen going on. I just can’t string together combos with the weight ratio I have now, which is just about 69.9%.

[Meteor_of_War]

That golden room looks sweet. So they are a random thing after beating a floor in the underworld? Based on luck or anything else?

[Lazy8s]

Originally Posted by Meteor_of_War

That golden room looks sweet. So they are a random thing after beating a floor in the underworld? Based on luck or anything else?

Yes, completely random. On my PS5 playthrough I got one for every 2-3 floors cleared for the first 25 or so floors, then nothing for the next 50 lol.

The chance is a great incentive to move onto the next floor though. You do have to exit occasionally as they added yet another mechanic (collecting lapis lazuli) which you can turn in for various perks when you first enter the underworld.

It’s a really pleasant surprise when it does show up though

[Meteor_of_War]

Sounds like a carrot on a stick to get you to keep going with it. But also definitely something nice to give you an equipment and materials boost when trying to further perfect your build.

In my game I finished all the available side missions I had left yesterday and decided to put the game down. So far I don't feel the temptation to play anymore right now but we will see how long it will last. I played an hour of HZD last night and have to admit it was a little boring.

[Lazy8s]

Originally Posted by Meteor_of_War

Sounds like a carrot on a stick to get you to keep going with it. But also definitely something nice to give you an equipment and materials boost when trying to further perfect your build.

In my game I finished all the available side missions I had left yesterday and decided to put the game down. So far I don't feel the temptation to play anymore right now but we will see how long it will last. I played an hour of HZD last night and have to admit it was a little boring.

HZD takes a little while to get going. It’s very story driven, but they do an incredible job of it

Nioh to HZD is still a heck of a downshift though. Fighting for your life every 2 minutes vs enjoying a slow but amazing story roll out.

[Meteor_of_War]

Originally Posted by Lazy8s

HZD takes a little while to get going. It’s very story driven, but they do an incredible job of it

Nioh to HZD is still a heck of a downshift though. Fighting for your life every 2 minutes vs enjoying a slow but amazing story roll out.

The story and setting in HZD is fine. Its just the lack of depth of the combat and loot compared to what I've gotten accustomed to from recently playing hundreds of hours of Nioh that I am really missing. Its just not immediately hooking me like Nioh did. It was to be expected though.

[Lazy8s]

Originally Posted by Meteor_of_War

The story and setting in HZD is fine. Its just the lack of depth of the combat and loot compared to what I've gotten accustomed to from recently playing hundreds of hours of Nioh that I am really missing. Its just not immediately hooking me like Nioh did. It was to be expected though.

Yeah I hear you. That “hook” eludes me lately too. I’m really hoping it will make a showing in February

[Meteor_of_War]

Originally Posted by Lazy8s

Yeah I hear you. That “hook” eludes me lately too. I’m really hoping it will make a showing in February

With Elden Ring I can tell already I will get hooked. The real question though will be if it can be continuously good throughout or will we find glaring issues as we get deeper into it.

[Lazy8s]

Originally Posted by Meteor_of_War

With Elden Ring I can tell already I will get hooked. The real question though will be if it can be continuously good throughout or will we find glaring issues as we get deeper into it.

With the scope of that game, I’m sure there are going to be areas/bosses something that may not be in line with expectations or preferences. I’m just hoping it won’t be buggy. I still remember Das 1 & 2 releases - wasn’t the best

I have to admit, I wasn’t hyped at all for it until I watched Sunlight Blades spoiler video, and that was only the network test

[Meteor_of_War]

Things like the addition of a map for the open world environment has me pretty intrigued.

I really do love maps in games (if done well), and always thought the older Souls games should have had them, at least with a "fog of war" system until you explored enough. Nice to finally see them adding that feature in, and its going to really lend to the exploration factor.

[Lazy8s]

Originally Posted by Meteor_of_War

Things like the addition of a map for the open world environment has me pretty intrigued.

I really do love maps in games (if done well), and always thought the older Souls games should have had them, at least with a "fog of war" system until you explored enough. Nice to finally see them adding that feature in, and its going to really lend to the exploration factor.

I’m not sure I would enjoy the game as much without that map. Yes, very welcome addition

Back to Nioh 2 - The depths are 5 floors at a time, not 6 so I misremembered there. I just ran the bosses, because a special grace starts dropping on the 6th floor and I really want it.

They weren’t bad at all. No deaths, but Minamoto No Yoshitsune gave me a bit of a run. He’s tough to stagger, and I over extended myself a couple of times. Payoff was good though. I managed to ki break him 5 times. That’s a first with him, for me. Felt good.

[Lazy8s]

First 10 floors of the depths are done. There’s a noticeable difficulty spike from 5 > 6 and beyond. I’ve died maybe 10 times getting the last 5 floors cleared, so it’s time to respec. I just need to figure out for what. Multi bosses per level start with floor 11 I believe.

Brutal

[koralis]

Finished the base game, and moved up to Way of the Strong to get some better gear before diving into the DLC.

Tell me, does the Damage (Magic) mod exist, or has that been removed to favor Remodeling?

[Lazy8s]

Originally Posted by koralis

Finished the base game, and moved up to Way of the Strong to get some better gear before diving into the DLC.

Tell me, does the Damage (Magic) mod exist, or has that been removed to favor Remodeling?

Yes, I’m running it on my switchglaive. If you’re lucky you can get the transform to effect (with the inheritable symbol) plus roll another through tempering.

edit: I've since changed from magic, but here's what I mean. All perks are available through the entire game, given RNG cooperation of course.

[Meteor_of_War]

Yes Attack Bonus (Magic) definitely exists.

Those Attack Bonus effects are pretty rare to temper, especially with A scaling, but they start showing up more regularly once you can temper with quality umbracite and better.

Also making use of save scumming will help a lot. Biggest benefit to the PC version since its so much easier.

[YellowBeard]

lol, just lol. Finally got hands on a PS5, and after polishing off Ratchet and having Demon Souls and Returnal I installed Nioh 2 on it for shits and giggles. Guess what I'm playing again. Will say having near instant load times is nice.

We'll see how long I take this character. Finally started a switch glaive character and it's pretty nice so far. Feels real smooth, slightly bummed that the transition skills eat up my Flux as they don't ki pulse, but holy **** they'd be too powerful if they did. Still don't know what secondary I wanna go with, but I hardly switch so I just play around with whatever.

[Meteor_of_War]

Yeah, I recently found myself Googling to try and find other games that have the similar gameplay, challenge, and complex customizable loot drop systems as in Nioh. Only games that ever seem to get mentioned are games like Diablo, Grim Dawn, and Torchlight and similar types as those. But nothing else really compares combat-wise though. Even the From Software games, I guess they are the logical comparison but the combat is so much more slower and basic compared to Nioh. Guess I need to just wait for a Nioh 3 if I want a new content (NG+ just doesn't really interest me).

Originally Posted by YellowBeard

Still don't know what secondary I wanna go with, but I hardly switch so I just play around with whatever.

By the end of my playthrough I gave up on deciding what weapon to use as a secondary, and ended up just working on upgrading another tonfa imbued with a different element to have as my secondary lol.

[Lazy8s]

The only game I found that matches Nioh 2 is Nioh 2 NG+ levels. I wish I were kidding when I say it ruined my gaming for me.

I’m using a dual sword / Odachi combo for the depths and made it to floor 13 so far, but I can feel that old, old pull coming from the Tonfa. I think they’re still the best weapon available. I just used them so much I really wanted to try something else for a change.

I’m cracking though. Saritobi, gimme them gun-sticks back lol.

[Meteor_of_War]

It's like a junkie that finds their drug of choice. Once its gone you can't find anything else that compares.

I don't even necessarily need to find a game as good. I just want something that gives the same feeling of getting better loot as i progress that makes me feel incrementally more powerful. Its such an addictive gameplay type and Nioh did it so well.

Unfortunately for me i dont want to keep playing the same missions and enemies over and over, so don't really want to do NG+. But maybe after some time goes by the game might feel fresh enough again to jump back in.