FYI, unless it’s a bug on my side, if you unlock a tree section and then refund the points, the next time you load up, it’s no longer unlocked. At least that has been my experience, I’ll spend a few points to unlock a branch to see what is there, refund those points and spend them where I want. For that session, that branch is unlocked, but next time I go into the game, it’s hidden again.
Oh interesting. I’ll have to check that out - I haven’t played since I did that this morning.
Like @Scotch_Lufkin pointed out, these really add up over time. One node that enhances either light or attack damage has numerical value that is close to upgrading the weapon by one level. Crit chance is also good, equivalent to a rune slot where I am in the game right now. I actually ran out of the keystones I wanted, got the last few for the QoL (like the arrows not breaking, even though I barely use the bow) and I’m now actively seeking out the minor nodes that will further enhance my playstyle. And this is at power level 120 or so, with both level 20 regions complete and East Anglia almost wrapped up too.
Of course they add up. They’re incremental increases. They’re still boring.
Again, Odyssey figured this out. Put them on another track entirely. If you want to spend points on them, go ahead. Just don’t make me choose them to get to the more interesting stuff on the tree.
I loaded up my save and it seems the Wolf path is entirely unlocked still - however I only have unlocked (visible) the areas in the Raven and Bear directions that I had unlocked by investing points.
So could be a bug, given it doesn’t seem to follow a pattern really. I’d have thought the stuff here on the far right would be shrouded since I have no points near those things.
I went toward the yellow / stealth side of the skill tree.
Has anyone went full red side and got the 1 handed skill for two handed swords?
Still rocking my flail and axe combo, which is wonderful in groups.
I did it because it’s the only way to hold a sword and a shield.
Starting to fight the zealots has been a real pleasure. They are providing a great challenge without being unnecessarily punishing (Valkyrie). I’ve had some excellent and, dare I say, cinematic battles with the 2 I have taken down so far. There is a bit more variety to the abilities they use against you as well which adds a fun new challenge to learn.
Boss fights in general are pretty great. I was mowing down regular mooks with such reckless abandon that I had to switch the difficulty to highest to even out things a bit and make it more fun. I hope the scaling will get better as I move into higher level zones, but I reached power level ~100 after clearing the first two level 20 zones, and hit 140 at the end of a 55 one (East Anglia).
Were they trying to evoke the floating Skyrim skill tree I wonder? Weren’t some of the skills sort of hidden in Skyrim until you got there in the tree?
On those boss fights, does it even make any sense to go up the archery talent side of things? I’m full on range bow/gun player in all games and was doing fine in Odyssey but a little worried about just going full on range in this game.
Bows can be very powerful. Even as a mostly melee type I use bows to soften up targets and if you spec deep into it you can zap bosses from afar pretty well. The game allows you to cheese a lot of stuff sometimes.
I’ve come across boss encounters locked in arena of sorts and you can’t shoot them from outside of it.
Correct, they are set location challenges. I came across a wolf or something recently and I couldn’t cheese it via the high ground, because I wasn’t in the engagement area.
The best anti-boss skill so far is one I found in the world - it slows down time and let’s you pick your targets and fire in slow motion for as long as you have stamina, so I get a good 6-8 head shots off. In an engagement with swarms of enemies I can plink and drop one per arrow and really clean up the map, or against like, say, a Zealot I can really work a lot of the targets health bar down, sometimes up to half the health bar depending on a few factors, like if I can smash a weak spot a few times. It’s a crazy skill, but I can’t recall the name of it or where I found it.
Even when you can’t cheese it with a bow, you can point-blank 'em. And there is a skill that actually gives you bonus damage for alternating bow and melee. I recommend the light bow for that.
I haven’t found this one yet, but I will list some skills that are of HUGE help vs bosses.
Brush with death (assassin tree) - slows down time when you perform a perfect dodge. Very easy to execute, chain and in general use to get some very very easy hits in, even on very fast targets.
Last chance healing - this basically makes you immortal for a short duration when your health reaches zero (tested by having the bosses continue to hit me for the duration of slowmo) - I think it lasts about 5 seconds, slows down the time around you and gives you a free chance to heal up. There looks to be a cooldown on it but I don’t know how much exactly
Grit - works like Bloodborne healing mechanic, you can heal up the damage done from last attack by hitting the enemy. Good synergy with Last chance healing.
I haven’t tested Counter Roll yet but I don’t think it will be useful, at least for me, because I tend to dodge to the side. Even with Backstab synergy I don’t think it would be useful to go for this combo, the payoff isn’t that great.
One thing that pisses me off is that when I dodge, I jump 10’ away and I can no longer hit the enemy. I have to dodge back to the enemy to be able to hit them, and by then much of the time slow down has elapsed.
ohhhhhhhhhhhhh - Maybe I should?!! Thanks!