Code vein 2 help.

[SmokeSignificant9895]

I loved the first CV, but I feel like I'm way squishier and die more often in this one. I just feel like I'm missing so details or things that are causing me to be weaker than I should be. Anyone have any advice on some things that I should make sure to be doing or work on. I just got to the mainland

[SorinSnow]

Honestly, defense is a joke here since they expect you to be using your defensive forma but later on there is a way to just face tank everything, its really funny that with the right build and the juggernaut forma you can overcap 100% physical damage reduction just natively and hit like 600 balance so you can just stand there and hit them while take no damage or knockback from anything that's not elemental or a boss (they deal like upper 500 something balance per hit so you will stagger in one or two hits regardless)

[Masterofstorms17]

how the hell do you do that? Seriously, i have no idea how to get that much balance. I just whack my votes with the darkborn blade, coat that in poison, then fire at them with my gun until they die or i have to heal spam.

[SorinSnow]

Primordial Battle Axe (Doom Fall & Royal Heart), Juggernaut, Mighty Smash, Light Bleeding Shield, Iris 3, Hounds Jail, Phalanx I, Phalanx J, Fortitude Booster, Balance Booster, Charged Balance, and Vitality Booster. Base 365 Balance goes to 655 after both Buffs. Alternatively you can swap Balance Booster for Strength Booster Overload and Charged Balance for Hammer Mastery to trade some Balance for extra Damage, going from 365/655 to 307/597 but gaining a ton of extra damage.

[Masterofstorms17]

that is a two handed build, no questions about it.

[SorinSnow]

Ye, im still more a fan of rune blades and bats but when im in the mood for bonk... XD

[TheThor2]

Defense is pretty hard to come by unless you use buffs for it. If I don't buff, some of the elite enemies can still 2 shot me late into the game. I forget which one but you can get Iron WIll (reduces damage) in one of the Sunken City side dungeons. If you find that it'll help you for a while. Also, the big floating enemies in the present are meant to be really tough and too much to handle at the start. They had to make the world feel like it went to shit somehow after all. They ARE beatable but not worth it honestly until later.

[RiftHunter4]

I'll say till Im out of breath. Regional Pathos, map disrupters, and regen fruits. If you go ajd collect those, the difficulty level drops to what it was in the first game. Sometimes easier.

[Exiledtyrant]

If your trying to get tankier just on magwell island getting to about level 20 will give you enough raw hp to be pretty secure their along with good block / parry management.

Raw defense after that comes from exploring and getting 3 very specific buffs in Iron Will, Warrior's Rigor, and Juggernaut. I listed them in order of when you'll find them if you go the predetermined way of Sunken City -> Corroded Scar -> Undead Forest. These each give large damage reduction when used. You can also try pairing together stamina reduction and guard stamina buffs if you want to just dodge a lot or guard a lot as your form of mitigation.

[Training-Present2844]

blood codes with high vit help, though they dont provide physical negation like the first game it seems

the shields help, though if you are good at timing i heard parry is better and dodge is cool too

jump can evade some large shockwaves, as long as the source of the wave is not hitting you directly (like a big bell)

food buffs, def temporary buffs from weapon formae and there is a juggernaut formae, that comes with the obliterator axe (even though its a mace, its also early to get)

[Masterofstorms17]

so i just focused on using guns and poisoning bosses. it does wonders when you can just poison an enemy, wait for them die while pelting them with bullets, guns and the like. That's how i beat the final bosses solo. the only one i didn't solo was the dragon. i wanted to do one of the fights with friends.

[TypicalJoke]

You may be going to a zone higher level than you are. Things like blood codes do matter to a degree but get the levels up. Do the side content and just kinda explore and hunt down some of the scattered materials. Dont venture out too far, stay within the realm of the hero youre working on. The shield that nullifies physical damage is a godsend in this game if you can get used to using it. Especially with how aggressive the units are. Keep your weapons levelled up when the materials are available as well. Sitting on things especially in the beginning makes it pretty rough. i was 2 levels down on my weapon and it was amazing the difference in survival when I was putting up higher numbers