NG2 first time mentor

Hello guys, I have beaten Warrior for first time After and acolyte run some times ago and I didn't find It particullary challenging so I proceeded with mentor and...holy hell.
I managed to arrive at the end of Ch2 (still have to try Genshin for the First time). For now It's very challenging but very fun, the parta in which I really struggled are the two rasetsu fights: I both times tried to go for the Minions First, but in both cases It lead me only on the edge of madness. i managed to beat both the fights by killing Rasetsu First by UT, It Is the best choice also for you? And another thing: that's probably due to my lack of movement mastery but I often struggle with the guns of tac-ninjas that lock you down. Any advice for that? In general any advice Is welcome, It Is great to have such a community to ask for help, thank you in advice

The jump to Mentor is infamous, so don't feel bad!

Regarding Rasetsu, my take is always to go with what works at the time. Sometimes you can get him down fast, other times his minions, depends a bit on how it all goes. Generally speaking most players aim to nuke him hard. Especially in Chapter 1 you only need to kill him iirc, so you can just start with a raw level1 UT usually, 3x Ninpo and maybe an OLUT and he's dead with little he could do. In Chapter 2, that's a harder one, my advice is to delimb more than kill. Get them spread out and controle the battlefield.

Like Roy has said, don't worry too much. The jump from Warrior to Mentor is pretty huge.

As for Rasetsu, it depends. While you can certainly kill some ninjas in Chapter 2 and then use their essence for UTs against him, it's riskier since there is less space compared to the Chapter 1 Rasetsu fight. One thing you can do is to hold Y to charge an ET during the Chapter 2 cutscene where he drops down, and then release it as soon as the fight starts so you can deal a good chunk of damage to him. Don't be stingy with your Ninpo, and target Rasetsu specifically. Also, what weapons do you have upgraded?

TAC Ninjas are a bit annoying because of their relentless shooting, so best to stick to mostly air combos to cut them down. Doing ground combos is possible, but you'll get interrupted more often than not.

Thank you guys for the replies
I have all three weapons to level 2 (which I admit was probably not the best choice) and for now I Stick with talons for most of the time. I managed to beat Genshin on 2nd try and I'm half into Ch3. The green Van Gelfs fireballs are tearing me apart. Also I'm not so good on Money due to not UT so often in the previous chapters and now I think that I'll be in trouble soon with ToV and f***ing Gigadeath.

In my opinion, once you get past chapter-3 the game eases up a lot. There's a free Talisman in Chapter 4 which either means a free talisman, or a free 30.000 essence. Fights are also a lot more forgiving, and the wolves in chapter 5 give good money as well. So don't worry too much, it will get easier.

Gigadeath will be annoying as sin though, prepare for that.

Probably you're right. I'm Worried expecially for bossfights because I don't know which ones Will gain minions and in short terms for colored Van Gelfs fights in chapter 4: those fireballs really traumatized me ahahah. For ch5/6 I don't like the werewolves so much due to their huge hyper armor

>All weapons at level 2

That's not a bad choice. It allows you more room to experiment with the weapons. Generally speaking, I would recommend sticking to the Lunar and the Talons for new players, but you can also use the DS if you like it.

>Van Gelf fireballs

Unlike normal Van Gelfs, Green/Golden Van Gelfs can't be controlled by the camera. Definitely watch out for these fireballs. Later in the chapter when you get the Incendiary Shuriken, use it against them.

>Gigadeath

He'll be a bitch for sure. If you have the money, upgrade the Lunar to lvl 3 before the fight. Don't hesitate to use Ninpo if he summons the fishies.

>Lycans

Best to stick to short strings against them (such as the >Y of the Talons), and watch out because they can throw limbs that have been cut off.

As Roy has said, you'll find a Talisman on a corpse in Chapter 4. Rather than use healing items, you can use it against Alexei. You'll find another Talisman in Chapter 5 (also on a corpse), and another one near the arena of the Water Dragon. That's easy money.

Update: as I was expecting I'm stuck at the First ToV. Oh my God. Brutal Is a compliment. I have unlocked the 100 retry achivement at like 1/3 of my total tries for today ahahahah. I think that the mean duration for a try Is less than a minute. I'm trying to delimb the ninjas to deal with relative calm with mages, but It's easier said than done. I think also that I have still how to figure out some nuances of correct timing for dodging because I often find myself stuck in a Place After a Wind Path or in general After and on landing

More update: yeeeee I did It! The strategy worked, It took a lot to get the lucky attempt to delimb all the ninjas and the get rid of the fiend mages, but After that It became the test of patience to kill single enemies until It was over. Now the next Van Gelfs fight before Gigadeath Will give me nightmares

>ToVs

Congrats. Though my advice is to honestly avoid them if it's your first time going through Mentor and MN later. They're a little unreasonably difficult for new players, and the rewards aren't worth it. Money isn't an issue starting with Chapter 5 too.

>Van Gelf tunnel

Use all the Incendiary Shurikens here. Prioritize the Green Van Gelfs and you should be fine.

I managed to arrive at the ToV in ch4, I did exactly that for colored Van Gelfs: IS are good for them, tho I think could be an idea to restart the chapter because I used all the LOTG that I had in the first part of the chapter until first save statue, but I don't think that's a good situation now. For Gigadeath I did It 2nd try and I actually found myself beating It without UT (I don't know why, didn't come to my mind to use Lunar in that Moment, but was not so a good idea: I used all my ninpo refills).

Even more updates (I Hope to not being talkative, let me know): ch4 and ch5 done. The fights against Van Gelfs and Gargoyles out of the statue gave me trouble and I took the Freedom of killing every Van Gelfs and male despawn the Gargoyles because It was becoming boring. Enjoyed a lot the ninjas fights insider the statue. Alexei was a problem too, It take me something like 20 attempt but I managed to beat him with only a LOTG and exploiting ->Xxxx with Talons.
Chapter 5 went surprisingly easy, died Just a couple of times with the Lycans on the bridge and in the fight near the ToV (goddamned Green Van Gelfs fireballs as Always).
I had the best AI luck of all time with Water dragon (no Ghost fishes and only One round of projectiels).
Now I have a lot of Money and Lunar, Talons and Dual Sword at level 3.

PS: duals are Amazing, never digged into them before, running xx After Wind Path Is unbelievably good against Lycans.

Ch6 and 7 done. I actually start to hate Lycan and quite like the Gajas, they're dangerous like hell (expecially the dive) but once learned their moveset they become fun to fight against. What Is sure Is that I despise completely the First half of ch6 (goddamn Skeleton Giant).
But fortunately after that comes the fabolous ch7 which Is One of my favourite and comes also the scythe. Jesus, what a weapon.  I've done almost all ch7 with It (except for Genshin) and It was marvellous.

Lycan's are fun but they can be annoying with their armor, you really have to play a specific way against them. If anything they'd be great paired with regular enemies but that doesn't really happen sadly (one big flaw of the game imo).

Chaper 7 is the best in the game if you ask me, paired with 11.

Yes It's kind a waste to have "tanky" enemies presented in blocks and almost never have groups of various types of enemies. Also Van Gelfs are presented in chunks, only Van Gelfs, then only Ninjas, then only Lycans then only Gajas...At least the Ninja fights comprehends many types of ninjas (which Is One reason that make them the best fights in the game)

That's a problem in a lot of action games generally speaking. There are a lot of cool enemies, but the encounters could be vastly improved. You fight a lot of Van Gelfs and IS Ninjas in Chapter 3, but they're never together. Same thing with Gajas and Lycans in Chapter 5 and 6. That said, you're right that the encounters with human enemies are the best in the genre. Which is why Chapter 11 is legendary.

Yeah I cannot wait for ch11. For mixing different kind of enemies in a proper way from my experience DMC3, Doom (in general, eternal included) and the First baionetta are the best titles that come to my mind. In my opinion also DMC5 does a great job in mixing up what It has in terms of enemies, the problem there Is that DMC5 enemies are not at the same level of 3 or the other games that I have listed, so if you have Just ok enemies even mixing them up the result Will remains Just ok, but I have to recognize that at least It tries to create interesting scenarios.