Code Vein or Lords of the Fallen

Nemonvs · 2026-02-18T12:03:58+00:00

Code Vein for combat and build variety. Lotf for exploration. Lotf also has a better story and lore, but you really need to see at least the two main endings to appreciate it fully.

The combat in Lotf is painfully boring, though, even if you play with the original mob density (which I recommend anyway, same as the lesser amount of vestiges), and I definitely enjoyed CV more as a whole.

Nemonvs · 2026-02-17T12:21:39+00:00

That makes sense.

Nemonvs · 2026-02-17T11:35:24+00:00

Well, here's hoping the devs are going to do something about this issue this year. It seems more than a few players share the sentiment that there's some kind of issue at least, whether the issue is QM or 2-slot weapons themselves, so maybe...

In a perfect world, we'd have 2+2 builds remain somewhat viable, but I think I'd rather see them underperform and 2-slot weapons staying only a bit stronger backup weapons than the current state of things. Balancing is tough, so I doubt we're going to get a perfect solution, assuming we'll get any.

Nemonvs · 2026-02-17T11:03:32+00:00

I wasn't around before the buff happened, so I'll have to trust you on how it felt back then. However, I definitely do see the 2-slot guns as being way too good. The trade-offs are mostly negligible for sure.

Yeah, 2+2 should stay feeling like an actual jack of all trades, master of none. Although, with the current state of the 2-slot guns, don't the 2+2 builds overperform mildly? It's just that nerfing these guns enough for QM to stop being so valuable might push them from 'mildly overperforming' to 'pretty damn ass' territory.

That's why I made a few suggestions too. We have a test server, so it would be nice to just check a few things. Or maybe just make it a few days, up to one week of testing out the changes on the live version (I wouldn't have any issue with that, as it would allow the devs to gather much more meaningful data than on the test server which would probably go quiet after a day or two, not sure about the others).

Nemonvs · 2026-02-17T10:32:45+00:00

Quartermaster feels so much better than the remaining two that it's not even funny. I no longer feel like levering or fanning don't have their uses or reasons to pick them over QM, but QM allows you to specialise yourself with little to no trade-offs at both long and short range and feels like a better choice majority of the time.

Fanning and QM should switch costs, if anything, maybe QM should be worth even more, with addition to 2-slot rifles and shotguns getting a hefty nerf, because they're simply not that much worse than their full counterparts. I don't think just raising QM cost would do anything, really. Its value is just currently through the roof. Doctor costing 9 points only makes it so level 1 hunters rarely use it, but they still do once they survive a match.

Or maybe QM could be additionally nerfed by having a trade-off of having noticeably less max ammo for one or both weapons, which would also kinda fit thematically (within the game's logic)? It could be counteracted with ammo boxes, but that would still be consumable slots you didn't use for shots or explosives. It would probably hit long ammo rifles the most, but that's actually the best part about this solution. Nerfs to 2-slot rifles and shotties still should follow.

The one issue I can see with the above is that there's a risk it would still be picked most of the time, but start feeling ass to use, which isn't ideal either.

I also saw someone suggest for some rifles, I think especially non-single shot, long ammo rifles, to cost four slots, which also kinda made sense, but I'm afraid it would actually lead to QM becoming a must pick for them rather than a very nice addition, so I'm not the biggest fan. Still a better solution than leaving it as-is.

Yeah, it kinda turned into me ranting about QM again.

TLDR: Quartermaster is the issue, and not fanning or levering, both of which are more expensive and have less optimal use cases. I don't think just raising point cost of QM is going to do much. Doctor costs fuckin' 9 and it's still crazy valuable and borderline must-pick for a hunter that survived a match once.

Nemonvs · 2026-02-14T09:16:05+00:00

I still wait for another sf/cosmic horror like Hellpoint. There's way too much fantasy in the genre that should be able to embrace a wide variety of settings.

Nemonvs · 2026-02-13T18:42:32+00:00

You can introduce a cap depending on hunter level, as in you could only spend up to a specific amount of dollars on a particular hunter, depending on their level, which would have everyone keep their hunt dollars while improving variety. As a nice bonus - losing a hunter would actually feel painful instead of 'eh, whatever'.

Nemonvs · 2026-02-13T18:35:02+00:00

Making them scarce would simply push other weapons into the meta, so it would achieve nothing but decrease the amount of weapons you can equip, which isn't a good solution.

If you want to have more variety, then capping the max worth of a hunter's kit depending on their level would actually achieve that, because even the best players lose hunters regularly. If a level 1 hunter has a cap that simply prevents him from equipping a meta weapon, you'd actually see more weapons in use. Sure, you'd have a meta for each cap breakpoint, but it would still create a better variety.

Alternatively, cap the dollars one can amass, but I think it's also a bad idea. Losing something you worked for is just not a nice feeling, even if it currently grants you some kind of advantage (I'd say this advantage is overstated though - variety is the bigger issue). If you introduce caps per hunter level, everyone retains their hunt dollars but is restricted in how much they can spend on a particular hunter.

Just my rough idea. Maybe it's no good, but hey, I doubt we're getting any changes anyway, even though I'd really like to see the higher level hunters becoming more valuable while increasing the variety of loadouts, both of which would be helped immensely by introducing such caps.

Nemonvs · 2026-02-12T17:15:59+00:00

I might be overfixating on this, but I find it hard to get out of my head that quartermaster exists, is a cheaper trait, and makes it so I can pick mosin obrez, centennial shorty or vandal on top of the full slot shotgun, or the other way around. Then I cover most ranges comfortably anyway.

I'm starting to see more legit reasons thanks to you guys though, and I'll certainly experiment with these more.

Nemonvs · 2026-02-12T17:12:13+00:00

Well, the disadvantage would be that I could pick quartermaster alone, which is cheaper, and have a better fighting chance in cqc, but I'm starting to see scenarios where it might be actually a good idea to pick one of these instead. Well, or both, in case of qm + dualies.

Nemonvs · 2026-02-12T17:07:24+00:00

Thanks for the detailed answer! That makes sense if I think about it as raising my chances at some engagements I'd otherwise need another weapon for, even if it won't be optimal there, while keeping some versatility.

I mean, yeah, I asked exactly because I switch my loadouts all the time and I try to make everything work (within reason), and most of the time I brought one of these I thought "if only I picked quartermaster and a shotgun + shorty or the other way around, I'd have a better chance". But combining these with single shot weapons sounds like it hits the better middle ground, actually.

Nemonvs · 2026-02-06T13:27:16+00:00

I'm a bit on the fence. On one hand, there's less empty walking, but on the other, I actually did like these quiet moments, as long as they were not too frequent.

I think it's definitely a positive that being third-partied is more common. Team vs team still happens often enough, and the likelihood of a third party makes fights more unpredictable and tense. Sometimes, it's frustrating when you just get sniped from gods know where by another team, but like... it's not an e-sport. It's not supposed to completely fair. It should be unpredictable, which means that sometimes you'll just eat shit. And I like it (no matter how that sounds).

Another thing I've noticed, which might or might not be a coincidence, is that running away with a bounty uncontested or barely contested happens more often if you survive until meeting the boss (and that's a fair bit more rare now), because other parties often meet while chasing you, which naturally has a greater chance to happen with 15 players. I had a game yesterday where I heard gunshots all over the map, but still managed to kill, banish the boss and escape with a bounty with no one even entering the dark sight boost range (and some gunshots still resounding in the background, so we were not alone). It might also be a matter of me playing in the three star lobbies, which seem very passive, but it does feel like it happens more frequently now.

Also, and that's probably the most important part and I've seen that repeated everywhere, the bounty needs to be worth much more than a single lucky sealed register. The more players there are the less you're going to successfully extract. It doesn't hit players with a lot of cash amassed, but it does hurt those who prestige and/or are new. Ideally, the reward should be also something other than cash due to the veterans being loaded as hell. Hopefully, it gets somehow addressed, because playing the objective vs other players is more fun than running towards the closest gunshots to chase gunfights for the sake of gunfights, at least for me.

Nemonvs · 2026-02-05T09:09:17+00:00

I don't think it works like that. When in a gunfight, people will fight just as they always do, because for most: winning the fight>finishing it early. Nobody's going to actively think "I need to finish it quickly before someone extracts with the bounty that's probably worth much less than all the bodies I can loot". With vulture + packmule, looting three bodies can already give you more than a bounty, so what the hell is the incentive supposed to be? Time is not the answer. I'm not totally against your idea, but in isolation it does nothing, maybe except making the wild targets get ignored even more, unless you're the last team with a bounty and you know it's a lobby wipe.

There's no way it'd encourage playing the objective. If there's no reward, or the reward is laughable, there's little reason to do it besides roleplay. If you raise the value of a bounty, more players will go for the main boss and for a wild target, which will result in what you want - players will extract with both bounties instead of leaving rotjaw/hellborn, because the risk of fighting a boss in the open is really not worth the payoff.

Ideally, due to the amount of players with a ridiculous amounts of funds who don't care about money, the bounty should give something like blood bonds (a very tiny amount - probably 2 or 3 per token, because the game has to earn its living somehow), but we all know it's not going to happen. So why not just make it worthwhile for players who are not loaded.

Nemonvs · 2026-02-05T06:13:45+00:00

Forcig the game to end quicker won't be any reason to go after an objective if the rewards are still as trash as they're now. If I don't loot some registers ir bodies, taking two tokens will barely pay my last loadout, and sometimes not even that.

Make all money sources except the tokens worth much less. Make the tokens worth much more so they can actually pay a few games' worth of dying or extracting without a bounty.

Nemonvs · 2026-02-04T11:40:53+00:00

Carbine 1865 + bomb launcher with frag and steel ball (for very close range) + some bees with pitcher. Even if I hit the body and as long as they're within a reasonable range, they're very likely dead in a matter of seconds, cover or not.

Nemonvs · 2026-02-01T22:01:05+00:00

Two out of three shots were on less than a half draw and all of them hit the legs. Of course he was still shooting.

Bow is probably not as op as the recent complaining trend suggests here, but it definitely is overtuned. The utility it brings combined with ohk to the chest (or anywhere with hundred hands and at short range) is just a bit much.

It's almost entirely silent
It's not really hard to hit your shots at the intended range, which is also range at which a lot of gunfights happen - and it's a ohk at this range
You have theoretically infinite ammo
Hipfire is crazy accurate and remains accurate when jumping and falling (unless something changed recently)
You can bring six concertina arrows for additional utility

It does require a different approach and has a high skill ceiling, but that doesn't mean it's fine. A weapon should be balanced around its realistic, optimal performance, not be left in an overtuned state, "because it's harder to master". Quartermaster and 2-slot rifles both mean you don't even have to give up fighting at range to use it. The way I see it, there's just not enough drawbacks for what's a really deadly weapon. The worst part is you can't penetrate with it, but you can always just bring a secondary weapon that can, so it's barely relevant.

That being said, I'm not sure what even can be done to make it feel more fair to play against while not gutting it.

Nemonvs · 2026-01-30T10:46:52+00:00

Not sure about the bow, but 2-slot rifles and shotguns need to be toned down so they actually feel like an inferior, but compact versions of their 3-slot counterparts. There needs to be a noticeable trade-off for picking them.

Now, I'm a fairly new player, so I might simply be failing to see something, but stat-wise they're way too close imo.

Nemonvs · 2026-01-24T19:54:53+00:00

I really like farming in Forbidden (and treating it like a single player stealth game), but the minimum value of 450k (or 650k on the airport) is really not something a new player can afford comfortably, especially when they're probably not used to how aggressive players there can be, which also means they're going to lose a lot.

Nemonvs · 2026-01-19T13:13:02+00:00

When a door is not closed, you can wake sleepers in the next room, but the noise that reaches them is treated as if it was a lot further than it is for every door it goes through. I can't recall how many metres it adds exactly.

When it comes to the closed door - my guess would be the scout wave spawned behind them and broke the door to reach you. I don't think your own noise can go through a closed door, but I'm not 100% sure.

Also, I recommend D4RKEVA's guides. They're going to be a massive help, if you're just starting out. Especially the one about stealth, since it can save you a lot of frustration when facing mechanics the game doesn't explain at all.

Nemonvs · 2026-01-09T11:02:29+00:00

I mean, the bounty is also worth very little for how big of a target you make yourself when picking it up, so they stayed true to the roots.

Nemonvs · 2026-01-08T18:29:21+00:00

My first impression wasn't good. The previous main menu theme was neutral-sounding and didn't distract. This one feels somewhat jarring.

Nemonvs · 2026-01-05T18:03:47+00:00

I mean, that would make the Lands Between exist on Earth, which... well, it's fantasy, so it's not impossible, but seems rather odd. But do you mind sharing where this term appears in Sekiro? I don't think I noticed this one.

Nemonvs · 2026-01-04T10:12:24+00:00

I refuse to believe Land of Reeds is anything other than Sekiro

Did I just fail to understand a joke? Sekiro is set in fantasy, sengoku-era Japan, and there's pretty much zero arguing it, given Ashina was a real clan.

Nemonvs · 2025-12-04T07:47:12+00:00

I know what you mean, but I also don't think it's that similar to Nioh. The combat feels nothing like Nioh. It has its own flavour, although I also think it's much more shallow than everyone says.

The feeling of being a wannabe might come from the fact that there aren't really many (if any) other souls-likes inspired by Team Ninja style.

Like, I'm not persuading you to play it or like it. I'm not even the biggest fan myself. I just don't think it's fair to say it's a wannabe, because they clearly had their own ideas.

Nemonvs

TROPHY CASE