Simon's Bowblade

I've been meaning to look into this since I first heard of it. I couldn't get into BB due to no real ranged options. I've only played Demon's Souls start to finish a few times and use the bow exclusively. Guns in BB don't cut it. I'm remotely considering getting the complete edition so I have a few questions about this weapon. Not dealing with the community on this or Souls ever. If they aren't trolling 24/7, it takes too long to get answers as they just tell you how your build isn't optimal blah blah blah.

What kind of range does it have?

Can it zoom in? Aim?

What powers your shots? I'm guessing it's limited like bullets or takes from your health?

When it is first available?

How do enemies deal with it? Do they immediately detect your location and come for you?

I haven't played it but I've found this: http://bloodborne.wikia.com/wiki/Simon%27s_Bowblade

That answers the question on range. It's huge.

I see there's a charge shot too.

I don't know why they call it 'cheese' though. Ranged combat isn't cheap, it's actually quite dangerous especially when that's all you're using. It requires constant spacing and repositioning This player got damaged quite a few times and could have been killed in a few hits, and had to back off and chug back vials. That, if anything strikes me as 'cheese'.

So you need those silver bullets to fire an arrow, and you can replenish bullets at the cost of life? I guess I need a build that has a ton of hp so I dont run out of arrows, and then the stat that the bow scales with.

I'm not too familiar with the equipment like gems and stuff. I've only played a little.

Well there's a plethora of ways to be op in action games especially ones with stats, I've seen the minigun can beast some bosses, but that bow stuff legit not cheese. Some tactics/weapons are going to be better but it still depends on the player's proficiency.

Guns are mostly for parries, you shoot a foe during an attack and they enter a stun state so you can use a visceral attack.

If you have no ammo you can trade life for more ammo from what I know. Bloodtinge usually effects gun stats.

So I'm reading that you don't get this weapon until after 2 or 3 bosses then you have to fight Simon for it? That's sucks. Probably won't be bothering with this though there was a nice strat getting him stuck and hitting him through a door.

You can kill Simon any time to get it, or complete his quest.

But don't you have to reach him first? Or is his area available from the start of a new game?
The way I read it is that you have to progress through the game a bit first.

He's in the hunters nightmare dlc area, I don't know what level it's balanced for but Simon appears early on during it, he appears after you kill Ludwig the first dlc boss. I don't know if he appears before that boss but you only have to kill the other dlc bosses to progress his quest.

Ok but what do you have go through to reach the DLC area?

I hate BB's combat and don't want to play in any way other than that bow. My build from the start will aimed at that weapon and probably be horrible for what I have until I get it.

You'll have to play, if you know where to go, around 2 hours regularly before you can get the bow. Basically what you have to do is beat the first boss (Father Gascoine) and then make your way to Amelia (second boss). She can be pretty darn difficult if you just rush to her and skip all other content and side bosses on the way, so do at your own risk. After that you can enter the DLC area at your own leisure. The area is extremely difficult and meant as an end-game area (so it's harder than the final boss that's for sure) but you can just run past everything to unlock the shortcut door where he spawns and then cheese him to death.

The bow is a really fun weapon to toy around with, but Bloodborne isn't a game that really allows you to 'play the way you want' instead offers a fun combat system that you should play the way it was designed. The bow does nice damage and has a charge shot and melee option built in, but you'll have some tough fights ahead as most bosses are insanely aggressive due to the nature of the game.

What makes you hate the combat in BB? It is honestly the only combat in the series I've enjoyed to be honest.

Hate may have been too harsh. I don't think BB has bad combat at all. It's just a preference for me. I'll explain later because I'm working now.

I've been meaning to have a chat about souls overall for a bit, ill say this then; I've only beat demons souls in 2014 when I was pondering gettting into souls, I've since watched whole play throughs of all of them, and as far as I'm concerned the souls combat is overstated, it's nothing special. It's the fact that past dark souls 1 the series moved to focusing on its combat with less and less unconventional bosses that demons souls had, where each boss would have a different gimmick in their design and arena to exploit and not just a test of pure mechanical mastery, which it has in the form of false king allant and the penetrator. Especially with the series focus from 2 onward of dozens of multi phase boss fights. Just look at the first and last bosses for demons souls, ds1 and ds3 and see how the series gave up being subversive. Ds3 is mostly pandering to ds1 lore.

The games are too shallow to warrant this many sequels that don't really evolve the core gameplay, des was short which is why I beat it, along with short varied stages and unique bosses that kept things interesting. I don't think standing behind a shield and rolling are very nuanced and engaging gameplay. I never used a shield so all I was left with was a basic dodge.

Past demons souls(which I'm not playing again as it was a nice 1 time experience) BB is the only one that interests me as the gameplay is much more to my liking, guns functioning as parries is skill based as it requires timing, and it works against most bosses unlike ds shield parries. It's fast and the trick weapon and guns combo is cool, I'm always down for guns/swords combo.

So Roy how much do I have to pay attention to stats to get by? Also I'm aware that bloodvile drops are an issue, so farming required.

So continuing on from before, I want the option for ranged combat if I'm playing an RPG that has character building.

In Demon Souls I played bow only and it was extremely fun.

In BB, it seems to be forcing a certain playstyle which is aggressive, close range combat. I hate this in Souls and I hate it here.

The only two I've played so far with good ranged combat are Dragon's Dogma DA and Demon's Souls. Played a little of DS3 and I like how bows have special abilities now.

I also admit the enemies in BB freak me out and I don't want to get anywhere near them lol.

Most horror doesn't make me flinch but BB and souls have some disturbing designs.

Might just grab Dark Souls 3 complete edition. Damn my Christmas list is getting long.

Yeah the game here is a lot more streamlined, every build is the same way to doing things albeit with a small twist. I honestly can't recommend it if you wish to play bow only. You'd have to really work around some things and later encounters will very frustrating.

I can vouch for the near nightmarish designs. I played the game on launch with a friend via headset, both singleplayer mind you, and we screamed at random intervals with "THE FUCK IS THAT????". Good memories haha!

It's annoying because I would really love to play this with the bow. The enemies are horrifying and gross and I cannot have them touch me. Is it possible to download a save with this weapon or something?

If it's on sale this halloween I'll get it, stats don't seem to be an issue. It's also the frame rate, PS4 pro boost mode I've seen helps but it still chugs in places, it should really have a patch by now it's an exclusive and really needs it.

The frame-rate is fine, no problems in all my time playing (just stable 30fps). On the topic of using another person's save, doubtful as the saves are linked to your online profile. I honestly really urge you to just give the game a pass if you want to go bow only. It is a lot of work and the pay-off is going to be really bad. You'll probably run into dps issues, item shortage and health issues (you can offer 25% hp for 5 bullets) to make matters even worse. This isn't a Souls title in terms of combat, it really is more of an action-game than most in its sub-genre.

If you play unpatched you can try this:



Only works on lower patches of the game, basically turns the Rifle Spear into a shotgun of doom.

It has frame pacing issues.

I'm not at all concerned with the issues. Judging from what I've read, I could do a decent build for just the bow. It won't be the most powerful, but I'll be playing how I want.

I'll have to seriously weigh up whether or not it's worth it. 2 hours in doesn't seem too bad. We'll see. If I see the game on special towards Christmas I'll grab it.

I have to note, that 2 hour bit was being effective. So no exploring, looking up a guide and beating the bosses effectively. You could be stuck on Amelia quite a bit as she's pretty tough and can heal. Also I believe the Bow scales with Dex, which makes you a close range beast (Dex lets parries deal more damage).

Hey Roy could you remove the souls-like part of other fromsoft games section please? It's a bit redundant as we have a various action games section and it's a limited frame of reference for those games specifically,since you might as well put nioh in there too and that's just disrespectful to them. :)

Anyway, so what's the leniency of the gun parry window? Does it work on most if not all mobs/bosses?
I really like that mechanics it's way more skill based and involved than holding up a shield for a bit then let stamina regen/fish for backstab rinse repeat. Charge attacks are also way more interesting than backstabs, since you have to position yourself behind a foe and time the attack properly to initiate a backstab state.

You can parry most and if not all moves in the game, even bosses generally if you time it right. Even the DLC's final boss can be parried. just a matter of knowing how and when.

Honestly the parry is a bit too good in Bloodborne, with the shotgun especially you'll be looking at an easy parry. Once I had the timings down I really started laughing at the game and just parried everything, which also kinda ruined it for me.

And sure I'll remove it!

Honestly the parry is a bit too good in Bloodborne, with the shotgun especially you'll be looking at an easy parry. Once I had the timings down I really started laughing at the game and just parried everything, which also kinda ruined it for me

Well you could do a "no parry" run. I play most of the game without parrying anymore, it really makes you understand the weapons and the enemies better, it makes the game even more fun and some fights are challenging (but still fair). If you never tried it, I would highly recommend it for a ton of replay value added. Another rule I would add: no saw cleaver/spear since they are too easy to use. And you could ban all the weapons you feel are too easy or boring. Or you could allow the saws but only in their slower version, and ban the L1 attacks. Really you can craft your own gameplay in BB, because the dodge is so strong that makes everything possible in the game without making it feel artificially difficult.

Try fighting sack men no parries, or the big hulks in the town. Or try to fight two wolves simultaneously in melee. I personally enjoy it alot.