Tips & Tricks

Below is a list of varied tips and tricks to help you get the most out of your experience.

* You can queue multiple Spellblade effects to go off in sequence.

* Hitting an enemy from behind, or while they are stunned such as from a parry, deals guaranteed critical hits. ***This works both ways. You are vulnerable to backstabs and stun-crits. This also applies to poise damage taken while blocking.***

* ̶T̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶r̶i̶g̶h̶t̶n̶e̶s̶s̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶u̶b̶b̶l̶e̶ ̶w̶h̶i̶l̶e̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶b̶l̶o̶c̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶g̶i̶v̶e̶s̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶a̶ ̶r̶o̶u̶g̶h̶ ̶i̶d̶e̶a̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶h̶o̶w̶ ̶m̶u̶c̶h̶ ̶'̶P̶o̶i̶s̶e̶'̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶l̶e̶f̶t̶ ̶b̶e̶f̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶s̶h̶i̶e̶l̶d̶ ̶b̶r̶e̶a̶k̶s̶,̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶s̶t̶u̶n̶n̶e̶d̶.̶ This isnt currently true, but may be planned for the future.

* Your maximum poise is a percentage of your max Health. Increasing your max health through armor and runes will increase the amount of damage you can block before your shield breaks.

* You can fast travel to any Island you have landed at from anywhere on the Grainwake, or when standing right up against a Resonance Bell outside, by going to the map and clicking on the island icons.

* You can buy Echoing bells from Galiana, and use them to safely return to the last bell or landing spot you rested at. Helpful to avoid losing your Glint, of if you simply get stuck. Carrying a few is allways reccomended.

* Stuck without an Echoing bell? The Red Skull in your inventory is a death stone, allowing you to give up the fight, and return to the last bell as if you had died.

* Activating a spellblade charge, then dashing, extends the range of your dash considerably, useful for crossing tricky-to-jump gaps.

* You can hold down the Heal button to 'Cleanse' your weapon of corruption without performing a Special Attack, while still generating Spellblade charges. Useful to power the Spellblade dash if you're in a tight spot, and your Special Attack might push you off a ledge.

* Corruption and Spellblade charges carry over if you switch weapon, so you can have two different weapons, with different Spellblade Gems, and switch to suit the situation. Fire Spellblade is strong against single targets, Lightning is good against groups, and Frost is a strong, all-round defense option.

* Despite its dangers, the Noxious Vault is a good place to farm Glint efficiently.

* Many of the Priests on the islands (Such as the Noxious Vault) will put down a large ground area that slows movment. Two of these areas in the same place will stop you completely. However, you can still dash out of them. Spellblade dashes are good for this.

* The bonus health and armor provided by a piece of armor is equal across all pieces of all sets, so choose the set that fits you best based on the set bonus, or simply on style.

* Leveling an armor to level 4 at the forge unlocks another rune slot. This may be more effective for offence builds than leveling all armor pieces individually.

* Although the story leads you straight towards Ubaani, He's intended to be a tough boss. Explore the other islands first if you're having trouble fighting him.

* You can use Echoing bells and Drinks as a form of Glint storage, since they sell for the same value as you buy them, allowing you to build up a stock of 'safe' Glint. Glintstone items can also be used for this when you find them.

* Tapping R or clicking the Right Thumbstick while in the inventory will show the flavor text for an item, giving you a little lore about it.

* Having trouble with the early part of the game? The 'Timeworn Codex' and 'Poisoner's Pommel' can be obtained as soon as you leave Lawrence's house after leaving the tutorial, without having to fight anything. The locations for these can be found on the Wiki. (Linked in the Foreword)

* Still having trouble? The Monsterous Mimosa drink, obtainable on Starspire after a short quest gives you slow health regen, although at the cost of reducing your damage. If you're patient, it allows you to heal between fights without using your limited supply of Testament Bells.

* There are many hidden secrets to be found across Talamhel.

* All sources of crit are the same, and don't stack. Backstabs, Stun crits, and Random crits all scale with increased critical damage. DoT effects will also deal critical damage, but only while the enemy is stunned.

* Stacking DoTs on an enemy, then stunning them with a parry is an effective tactic to maximise your DoTs. This is confirmed to be unintended and will be fixed in the future.

* In the meantime, One handed Stabbing weapons are *especially* good for this. Use the Axe Head, Poisoner's Pommel and Timeworn codex, with a fire spellblade gem. Make sure you have all 4 spellblade charges, and at least one full segment of corruption, but this will work better with a full bar. Parry an enemy attack, then quickly activate all 4 spellblade charges, and unleash your special attack. This will deal huge critical damage, and leave them with a very strong DoT effect that will also deal critical damage till they recover from the stun. Parry them again while the DoTs are still active to make the DoTs deal critical damage again.