Yeah, I guess the Duskbloods really got be nostalgic for one of my favorite games of all time, wishing that the new game would be paired with a game in the same universe but in a more traditional single-player format.
I return to Bloodborne every now and then. This time, the motivation was to make a character who could get the Uncanny Burial Blade as soon as possible. The standard Burial Blade can only be purchased after beating the final (or second-to-last, depending on the ending you're going for) boss. It's a thick scimitar-like weapon that transforms into a reaper's scythe. So you knew I was going to be obsessed with it. But given its normal acquisition, it's basically designed as a New Game Plus weapon, a mode that I've never really been eager to do in these games.
But! The Chalice Dungeons! There's a code for a Chalice Dungeon that lets you acquire it pretty early on in the game. As with the infamous "cummmfpk" dungeon, you need to do a little legwork first. So, much of my afternoon was spent going through Central Yharnam and Old Yharnam, getting the first Chalice to get into the chalice dungeons. You actually need to go through two layers of the first chalice dungeon to get access to this one (getting the Phumeru Root Chalice,) but especially if you have no qualms about pumping your level up with the aforementioned cheese dungeon, it's not too hard to get through. The enemies in the actual dungeon where you find it are very tough, but with enough HP you can make it through.
The Burial Blade is a little slow, especially in its transformed mode, but it has a huge arc, and puts a little Arcane damage on top of its normal slashing (similar to the Blade of Mercy and other Siderite-enhanced weapons). I actually don't know if it's worth leveling Arcane at all, but right now I'm going hard into Skill (must check to see what the soft cap is).
One thing I sometimes forget is that Skill also determines the damage of visceral attacks, so if you're good at parrying (and I'd say I'm... decent at it) you wind up striking very, very hard with those viscerals. I will say that I do not like the Threaded Cane much as a weapon, and swapped to the Saw Spear once I got it, which doesn't scale as well with Skill but especially at these low levels, it hit harder.
However, I'm going all in on my Burial Blade.
Anyway, having played a lot of Elden Ring in recent years, I'm reminded how that game very kindly doesn't have a super-hard "wall" at the beginning of the game. For some reason Dark Souls I and III and Bloodborne really give you this barrier to entry at the start, and even as a veteran player, dealing with, like, those two full-on werewolves on the bridge in Central Yharnam is really tough (the fact that we can't level up until we either face Cleric Beast or Gascoigne or find that one Madman's Knowledge in the region also makes it pretty rough).
Unlike my previous two playthroughs, thankfully, I made sure to talk to Eileen the moment she showed up to the Cathedral Ward, and then immediately went down to help her fight Henryk. Doing so ensures that I get to complete her quest, and fight the Bloody Crow of Cainhurst instead of her later on in the game. (Reward-wise, I don't know if there's a distinction. Maybe you don't get her covenant rune?) The Bloody Crow is probably the hardest NPC duel in the game, but I love Eileen as a character, and really prefer us to be allies to the end. Just the most badass old (I assume?) lady.
I've now cleared Hemwick (my record of never dying to the Witches is unbroken, though having gotten hit twice by a brain-sucker, I only had one Insight, from my entrance into the fight, so it was at minimum difficulty). I can't recall if you can do Hypogean Gaol yet - I'm sort of tempted to just try to do everything I can before pushing to the Midnight phase of the game, but I suspect that Vicar Amelia is getting impatient with me.
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