Mini guide / tips

[visighost]

There's a few resources elsewhere, but not much in terms of trophies, so I'd thought I'd write yet another mini guide.

 

First of all, as pointed out in a thread on the Vita forum, you CAN turn on invincibility and it won't void any trophies. Note that you still need to never get hit for a few trophies, so it's not the perfect solution. You can turn up the speed of everything to 150% if you want to shorten your runs. The game is fun and manageable without invincibility turned on, so you do you.

 

Second: Nothing is missable, and you will need quite a few runs (typically under an hour each) in order to grab enough Judge Blood to buy all skills and grab all run-specific trophies.

 

I'd give it a 4 or 5 for difficulty because of the no-hit runs (higher if done legit, of course). I finished it in 3-4 evenings/lunch breaks.

 

Skills to focus on:

The skill that converts Blood into Judge Blood at the end of every run will make getting further skills that much faster (sometimes up to 20-30 more Judge Blood per run).

I found the fast travel skill quite useful to jump around the map.

Fury, Dragon Punch and Lethal Club are quite useful, especially when going for the no-hit and combo trophies.

Truth Seeker is expensive but allows you to access all endings / the Chaos trophies, and is needed to unlock the Stele reading skill.

 

Collectibles:

Notes: On computers. You should get the trophies naturally as you go through the game - just remember to click on 'em as you see 'em.

Steles; On steles (duh). You need an expensive skill (30 Judge Blood) to be able to read them, so it's a good idea to get it early to minimize replay. It was my last trophy, and I THINK you need to get them all in one run. There's 5 in total, and there's one per realm, so you don't need a 6-realm run.

 

Miscellaneous:

Cucumber: Buy it. Chuckle. Done.

Bullseye/Strike/Floor is Lava: You'll get those trophies without thinking. Smash smash smash.

Clean up a store: Easily done as well, especially at a store where you pay with HP.

 

Run-specific:

Capped (max health): Get the skills that permanently add to your HP first. Then focus on blessings and items that give you more. Might be easier on a 6-realm run. Note that the maximum HP you can get it 20. If the RNG gods are against you, it may take a few tries.

 

The Strength of the Oak/Refusing the Gift: Just don't pick up anything, blessing or health items. Obviously much easier with invulnerability on.

 

Embracing/Being Chaos: Once you unlock the Truth Seeker skill, dive in the blood at the Chiming Tree, and choose a few options to get to 5 Chaos (out of a possible 17). Complete a run. Easily combined with the conditions for other runs.

 

The Way of the Warrior/Kunoichi: I would recommend turning Invulnerability off for this one, as you can still be hit and void the trophies even with the option on. I set the game and bullet speed at 70%, which made it quite manageable. Aim for the Mini-boss as soon as you locate it, then straight to the boss. Backing up your save can be a good idea, before both the mini-boss and boss. I found the metallic eye mini-boss to be the easiest: you can use Dragon Punch and then slash until it teleports. Rinse and repeat. For the two others, smashing their bullets back at them, shooting when you can, and using Fury works well. Same approach for the boss. Remember that you have all the time you want, so don't rush!
 

Explorer (100% map in each realm): Can be combined with other runs, a bit easier on a 5-realm run as it's one less realm to worry about. The important thing to remember is that there will always be a combo of 3 stores / secret rooms (kudos to InfiniteStart for noticing). If you get the blessing that identifies where stores are in each realm, you'll know exactly how many secret rooms to be on the lookout for. Obviously, if a map is dropped or offered at a store, get it. The secret room in the first realm will have light motes pointing to it, so it's easy to spot. The others don't, so try and shoot (twice) wherever you see a wall that doesn't lead to another room. Buying a gun like the minigun or anything else with a lot of ammo helps. Note that stores, mini-boss rooms, and (I think) boss entrance rooms can also lead to secret rooms, so shoot their walls as well. Recharge items are useful for those as there won't be mobs to recharge your gun. Also note that buying a new gun will refill your ammo. If you get desperate, use save scumming, shoot as many walls as you can, reload, etc.

 

Once you have the combo skills, be on the lookout for the 3x Combo blessing during any of your runs. You can't get the 3x trophy without it (the cap is at 2.5). Once you get it, proceed carefully (getting hurt really brings the meter down), and bring it up little by little. The key is varying your type of attacks. I camped next to a fly-spitting plant and got it up to 3x in no time - they sprout fast enough that your meter shouldn't drop. Note that the Starting Package skill has you starting with a 2x combo already.

 

Endings:

Pick something different every time you get to the end. There's one trophy for the 5-realm run (if you DON'T pick Never - I don't recall what the choice says), and two for the 6-realm ones, unlocked after you get the Truth Seeker skill. You can save scum if you play legit and don't want to complete a full run to see both endings.

 

Hope this helps. I enjoyed the game quite a bit! Not as much depth and variety as others in the same genre, but satisfying movement, gameplay, graphics, and music!