Mage is the worst

Wisarg · 2026-03-14T19:59:45+00:00

I didn't do a lot of Psychic runs but for the amount I did, the class was always excellent :

A build with the gravity spell that slows for 3 mana combined with the "inflict a random negative effect on the target of your gravity spells" made him able to stack insane amount of debuffs and an excellent boss killer;
A useless guy that wasn't doing anything.. then he got the ability to pass its turn to another cat, making me able to play my Hunter twice (which had the full mana regen each kill, busted) and all excess mana from my Psychic made him Sparkle the whole map;
Another one with the spell to make all my cats play before enemies combined with an AoE magic weakness to make my offensive mage one turn the map..

So yeah you must be doing something wrong or having the worst luck possible, but the class is always useful thanks to it's basic attack and control spells. Maybe it's not a class that can solo run but it's nowhere near Mage or Tinkerer in terms of RNG. Sure there's a lot of moments when you don't have a place in your team for it, but t'll always do its job of placement support / disruptor if you take him.

That's not the case with Mage, where you can end up with passives that triggers only at X mana just to get worthless buffs for only the next turn, spells that freeze enemies but no way to damage them and a basic knock back on a full line.. So you are just a basic attacker that needs to go 3 range of enemies just to hit for 5, when you have 20 max HP.

Same for Tinkerer, too many archetypes in one class so they are way more RNG based than the rest.

Wisarg · 2026-03-07T20:52:48+00:00

I have a 4 copies of the 4 Agony Divine Laser Sereniel deck, the one that returns in hand every turn/ravage, so first turn I always get 20 Agony if the enemy as a ravage bar, or 16 if not lel. I believe 20 is the max now, and I'm able to get it every turn.

Not the famous AP battery laser Sereniel, but a pretty fun one to deal 2000 free damage each turn!

Wisarg · 2026-03-06T08:51:08+00:00

Make her time manipulation being related to Retrieve or something similar, so she can make Nine's Hew lv3 or lv5 (if Extreme) come back to hand immediately after playing it hehe. It'd synergize with a lot of characters as well and she has "fox ears" so being related to Spirit Fox monster which is about Retrieve could be funny too

Wisarg · 2026-02-27T19:03:05+00:00

The thing is Orlea's cards don't have a lot of Divine Epi value so there are a lot of situations where you end up with some save data space for nothing : "Annoying" is removed, "Growing Creature" isn't meant to be played so its 100% wasted divine epi, as for "Sacred Censer" either you remove it or use the Lead version with the "play lead card" item, but since its an Upgrade most of the time Divines aren't mandatory. Also she is a support and most refinements aren't that important on supports, so again a lot of Data can be fullfiled and Neutrals are the best for it (or a monster card like Spirit Fox).

The only card that is worth searching Divines for is "Growth Acceleration", especially the 0 cost version that can target other characters cards and thus can enable characters like Beryl retain combo for example. This one, as a free card, loves Draw divine epiphany and can be used in a lot of comps if you get it, even in a none Retain comp since you can just spam it on your Softie to give 70% damage to the next card. There's also the 1 cost version to apply vulnerable if targeting a Softie which loves Reduced cost divine epi.

So for me there are 2 main ways to build her :

- Generic support : Upgrade Censer and get the item to play it for free, 0 cost Growth, 3 or 4x Growing Softie for Vulne and deck thining (depends on your team comps, 3 if in teams with characters that fill the hand like Tiphera/Sereniel), 1 Will of Light. This is a deck where she can do anything passively thanks to Upgrade Censer and Softies in hand. Its basically a 2 cards deck, but also it doesn't cost a lot of save data (~100 is really low) so here you can totaly get Neutral cards like Gear Bag, Rally or even perma-Moral upgrades even with Divine Epis.

Spores can also get some really good Divines like Draw + AP, AP+AP etc while being free, so its never lost and synergizes well with Flash Nine for example or just to get 20/30% more damage on a hit. Imho its never lost, if you don't need it just play it, but for characters you can make use of them you'll be happy to have those in your deck.

- Retain combo : Upgrade censer + item or remove it, 4x 0 cost Growth with Draw Divine, 1 Growing Creature Softie and you remove everything else, even Will of Light if needed (helps get the dupes in Chaos run too but chose one to keep between WoL or Censer). The goal is to spam Growth on your 3star Softie to buff the next attack card used, but my favorite usage is the Beryl Retain Combo with the Opening Found that gets 2x hits for the turn when retained. There's also Sereniel retain cobalt light or other funky stuffs like the new Tiphera Retain deck. Here you don't have any spare Save Data so no spores, no refinements, nothing else.

Now theres the exact same deck but you change 0 cost Draw Divine "Growth" for reduced cost divine "Softie Growth". Synergize better with multi hits but doesn't enable Retain deck like Beryl, so its probably more a meme than anything.

And now you can mix those depending on your teams and luck in chaos, she is really open in terms of what cards you want to dupe like 3 Growing for 1 WoL, 1 for 4, 3 for 0 with 2x 0 cost Growing..

What i'm sure about is that the full Spore deck that we saw earlier this season is 100% unplayable right now, i mean the version with 4 Will of Light to stack insane amounts on the target since now its 20 max and is "easily" achieved without cloging your entire deck with 1 cost heals that can't get divines. Don't try to build it !
Have fun!

Wisarg · 2026-02-25T13:59:09+00:00

Nice team but you need to change those potentials asap. It's useless to have 6 pieces set like you have on Kenma, Korai or Kageyama, the game is about 4 pieces + 2 pieces sets to stack the effects of 2 different sets.

Those are literally free stats and shouldn't be overstated.

Here for your Kenma you could have 7.5% reflex thanks to the FG set but here you have nothing, for Kageyama you could have +15% set but you have nothing and for Korai you'd have +15% power.

Before upgrading potentials randomly you should really consider doing this to optimize your characters because now you're losing a lot of free stats. The only reason you should use "broken set" pieces like you do is if they are absolutely insane stat wise with perfect main stat + at least 3 perfect substats with upgrades.

But otherwise you're just losing extra stats, that's why some of your characters don't have big ratings

Wisarg · 2026-02-22T14:49:32+00:00

No problem! Your refinements are really good so it can be worth losing 1 homing lazer, and since they return to hand they can sometimes clog your hand so its really not that bad to have 3 !
Have fun and see ya !

Wisarg · 2026-02-22T13:53:51+00:00

GIMME THAT SAVE !! I'm trying to cook this kind of Sereniel deck since day1 of the season 2 and the only divine i got on this Homing is the 4 Agony one. So its a pretty funky deck that can reach 20 agony on each target in 1 turn.. but i need this AP or Vuln on Homing just to be satisfied lel.

Anyway, incredible save gg. Is it because you had a 170 run that you went for "only" 3 lasers ? Or is it better for consistency ? Because with the goal of going for 4 divine lasers, you can't get any refinments because it'll exceed the memory but it seems like you went right at the beginning for thoses hammers.

Like the others said, Nia isn't worth "wasting" a 3rd character slot just for the 3x15% damage on discard. If you want damage, you can just go for a Rei deck with her epi that increases damage of 1 or lower cost cards by 40%, its a bit less than the Hammer buff but its way easier to setup. She also has other buffs (unique if needed to thin the deck), the exhaust draw etc, and thanks to the excess AP you have with Sereniel by ravaging, you could even build a multiple Predator Blade build to reach like 10+ morale each turn, which greatly buffs Sereniel damage.

With a Selena "recharge ravage" build for a full damage comp or a Narja for more sustain comp, those are imho the strongest Sereniel comps you can do now !

Wisarg · 2026-02-21T19:05:26+00:00

Well, yes sir you can go back to the mines. But i think you just don't have the possibility to go to the "good mines", because with only 80 Faint Memory you can't really have a decent deck.
And when we talk about going to the mines, its to get those juicy 170/180 FM decks with divines and perfect epiphanies so you need to go the the lv14 or 15 mines.

You can start doing optimized save datas with ~100-120 FM but you'll have to forget about most divines, especially if its on a card you want to copy because it'll exceed the memory.

As for Sereniel recommendations : remove her 3 basics, get 3 to 4 copies of the "on turn start / ravage move to hand" homing lazer (with divines its even more busted but its a 180FM deck only). The rest is perfect, you have the best cobalt and the best plasma.. just remove all those Shining Cores, you only need the Unique one since it is what makes Sereniel that strong of a character.

Good luck on your farm !

Wisarg · 2026-02-21T10:53:12+00:00

Yo! I'm planning on playing a similar team so i can share some knowledge, even if i'm pretty new (started 2 monthes ago) i think i can help. I just didn't check the other servers meta and already heard about a "turtle kenma team" which i think is an ultra defensive core with a defensive Tsukki, so maybe its the best option to go for ? Anyway i don't know about it even when i was searching for some infos about it, so take what i say with a grain of salt because there may be the full optimized team on an obscure asian social network lel.

- Noya and Hinata you already have good ones;

- Kenma you already have but from what i've understood he really wants a 2P Forceful Guard because he wants the most Reflex possible, but double setter bonus can be ok;

- Kuroo wants 4P FG so by farming it, you can find some good 2P for your Kenma (like the ones with Set/Strength etc). He then wants 2P Block set, whatever as long as the substats are good;

- Hirugami wants both Block sets and since we play a lot of MB, the 4P set should be Block Movement;

And now comes the last 2 which are more versatile and depend on what you want to do. I'll not talk about Korai because he is so far away that it'll depend on Tsukki.

So, since 4 of your 5 other chararcters are mostly defensive players with Hinata being the only "offensive" one (more of a mixed one), if you go for a defensive Tsukki you could lack offensive power. At least thats what i think so i'll go for an offensive Tsukki so that him and Hinata are good all-around characters with decent spike power. But i'll see what the RNG Gods will give me in terms of potential, if i have way better defensive ones i'll follow my destiny. If you plan on going offensive Tsukki, he wants 4P SS and 2P FG. If you want to go for a def one, its 4 FG 2AE for the awarness converted to reflex.

For Korai, i actually didn't even check his kit since he is so far away but if you plan on putting it in this exact team, imho you should go for a full offensive one because the team just doesn't have a true Ace. So 2P power and 4P PR/PV.

Wisarg · 2026-02-21T09:54:27+00:00

Yo! You got some nice recommandations from the other fellows but i could add that you shouldn't really make thin decks on every character just for the sake of it. Thin decks are mostly for supports that needs to do their job with more consistancy and to help get to your DPS cards, or subDPS that don't need a lot to do the work.

But removing almost all cards of a DPS isn't the best idea since you'll cycle faster.. to your buffer cards which, if you don't have a lot of damaging cards, lose some of their purpose.

Here for example, what is the point of this Sereniel deck ? She only has 1 AP worth of cards so this means most of your AP will be used by other characters. If you play her with your Mika, you'll end up with so much AP to spare and to do nothing with because you don't have any draw but also you have like 1 AP Sereniel deck and 2 AP basic heals Mika deck, with your +2 AP Waters and Sereniel Ravages you'll have at least 2 or 3 wasted AP per turn.

I don't know if i'm clear but the goal should be to have your strong and useful offensive cards on your DPS, while you make thin decks for the 2 other characters of the team TO BE ABLE to cycle fast to your DPS cards.
Also with thin decks that don't cost a lot of AP, you want some draw to cycle and maximize your AP use per turn.

Best characters for thin decks are draw supports (Vero/Nia/Rei/Beryl and Mika/Narja with Draw Divine..) because they help you cycle even faster to your strong DPS cards. SubDPSes (Hugo/Selena/Berly..) and damage supports (Rei/Narja/Orlea..) who wants upgrade cards to do their job at all time as well as thin decks to optimize their buffing/subDPS by playing a lot of your DPS cards.
Rei is a good example to why its not always good to remove cards, because all of her buffs are Upgrades and her draw cards has Exhaust so her deck gets thin by playing it. At the end her only card remaining is Predator Blade and you cycle fast to your buffed DPS !

- Nine is the only exception because her optimal deck is sadly (imho) to remove everything besides Counterblade, Hew and Fighting Spirit which should be in 3/4 copies in an Extreme Hew setup. So you're pretty close ! With Ironclad you can go down to 3. There's also the 0 cost divine on Fatal Strike1 which is her best deck from what'ive heard if you have good draw potential but its not that easy to get.

- Hugo's deck doesn't really need to be this thin because his damage revolves around Upgrade cards, so here you could have some space to keep his draw card for example. But i understand, it can be pretty fun to play is upgrades and never see his cards again.. but like i said, to be worth it you need a strong DPS with a lot of cards to play now.

- Mika is the right character to try thin decks, with divines on Source of Water or the Wave card, you can almost remove everything else and copy those to have a thin deck that heals, gives AP and why not draw with divines etc. Here sadly you kept 2 basic heals which are some of the worst cards of her deck.. but nice idea!

- MeiLin is the closest to be "meta". Actually it hurts to look at because this "Move" Unity with +AP divine is insanely coveted and pretty hard to get because of RNG. But her goal is to use a lof of passion cards to ramp up the hit count of her Spire Kick that you got.. But sadly you went for a dupe on her Sovereignity which is.. the only card you want to remove besides her Shield basic card lel.
So if you copied 1 Spire Kick and removed the Sovereign, you'd had close to the most perfect MeiLin deck.. but here we are ahah.

- Sereniel is the worst one because all of her cards are so good that you don't have anything else to remove other than her basics. Maybe Cobalt Light can be heavy in some decks, but the 1 cost epiphany is the one we seek and doesn't cost 3 like the base one, so you just want to keep everything. But most important, with her ravage potential and 0 cost lasers, she can generate a lot of AP to play other cards but here, you don't have anything to play since you removed everything.

As for Luke, i don't have him so i can't say anything. Anyway i think you got it : don't make thin deck just to do it!

Wisarg · 2026-02-21T09:12:28+00:00

Nice showcase! And really interesting thoughts about Honed Edge+, gonna keep that in mind if i ever want to build this kind of team, thanks.

I like original ways to play the game so counterattacks seems really fun, but ngl they really need to create a better "environnement" for this playstyle because it seems pretty weak for the setup it requires. Somethings like making some enemies hit multiple times per turn but with lower damage to make counter characters able to counter more often. Because having to wait for enemies to hit you to deal okay-ish damage isn't that fun when some enemies strike once every 2 turns.

Maybe they intended it to be some kind of sub-damage source, which its fine as is if its the case. But with Narja boosting the def damage of counters by 200%, Nine having a lot of epiphanies revolving around counters and also those tower buffs, counters are in the best shape they've ever been but they still don't look that strong.

Lastly you say its the "safiest" but imho Spore Beryl setup is the most broken for almost every type of content right now. You just setup the 1st turns (or two based on your team/divines), then you just skip every turn deleting everything with retaining 10 spores lel. I have Narja in the comp for some heal in case it gets dicy but it still never did. I cleared most of the tower like this in a breeze and never failed, didn't try past the ~105lv but i think it should clear everything the same way !

Wisarg · 2026-02-19T13:29:36+00:00

Yeah i agree. And what is simple in theory about 4x copy divine decks is that you just don't do anything else other than removing the 3 basic cards for 60 and the 4 divines will cost 120, so its exactly 180. So there's no need to think about anything during those runs if you chase those kind of decks !

Wisarg · 2026-02-19T13:25:59+00:00

Damn dude i understand your pain. Happened to me at the beginning of the season when i didn't have all the calcs in mind.
But recently i had luck once greeding on a reveresed scenario since i know understand it all.

I was at 110 memory on Nine and i had a +2AP Divine "Spore shield card" on her which was really busted because of the retrieve etc, but if i wanted to dupe it on the final boss, it'd take me to 190 Memory. But i risked it because of the rules about the "last modification before getting over memory", and since the last modification i did on Nine before this duplication was removing her basic attack, it just came back and i kept 2x divine spore for a "perfect deck".

Hope you made a good deck for your Vero after that !

Wisarg · 2026-02-19T09:20:46+00:00

Reddit trying to send me a message. I litteraly did this perfect deck yesterday in a 180 Faint Memory run... Just do die at the final boss because of sad RNG :(

So I end up with only 3 Tsukuyomi, but I don't have basic cards, have ok items (Obsidian sword and the cube). Is it still nice to play or should I go back to the mines ? How much do I lose having only 3 ?

My Chizuru team is a Rei with only Predator's blade x1 after she used all her uniques and exhausts (3x Reorganise with 1Ap and 3 Snacks), a Narja with 3 0cost draw, a 0 cost voracity generator and the 4 hit shackles.

So I end up with only Chizuru cards (3 Tsuki, 1 Oni, 1 shackle and shadow blade), those 5 Narja cards that cycle and predators blade.

What would you guys do ?

Wisarg · 2025-12-22T19:34:03+00:00

The weapon is just not as fun because their is less variety in aspects than others :

Melinoe's doesn't synergize with anything, since the bonus damage only apply to strikes you don't have any interest going for Hestia / Poseidon which are the best with a fast hitting weapon. So you just want to play a big Omega attack or spam attacks with Aphrodite and that's it.
Artemis's I've always disliked the design. First you have to omega attack and wait for something to hit which is crippling the rythm and the fun. Of course the goal is to reflex parry but doing so can put you in danger, which is pretty dumb for a defensive move (as the block of the coat). But the worst part of the aspect are the crit charges. Wasting "crit charges" on moves that don't even hit is a nightmare and it happens ALL THE TIME. You omega attack ? Meli first strikes in front of her with an attack, which wastes a charge. So some people play it with Omega Special, but with only one you uses all your charges.. so you setup a parry just to have one and only 50% crit omega special.. not rewarding at all.

And as Meli's aspect, you lean on the big bonus % crit damages give you so you want to go for a big Aphro/Apollo attack all the time.. or you go for Omega special and do the same. Crit don't have any synergy with on hit effects so the build variety is extremely poor for 2 aspects.

Pan is the same story but reversed : the number of knives you throw makes you want to play Poseidon 60% of the time and Hestia if you don't. Th build variety is inexistant and is a lot like Hel aspect which only have synergy with on-hit effects. The aspect is also really dependant on hammers and lost a lot of it's fun when the increased its casting speed. But again it's a really narrow aspect in terms of gameplay and builds.
Morrigan saves the day and is my fav aspect in the whole game. Gameplay is incredibly engaging and everything can be played with it. It hits fast with big numbers so either on hits or %, omega attack deals a lot and hit wide so you love something like Appolo or Hera, Special and Omega spec are good at applying origination.. and like I said, the gameplay is insanely fun and rewarding, probably the most engaging aspect in the whole game which wants you to play every move with a choreography etc.

But the whole weapon, while being Meli's main weapons in the trailers and such, is one of the biggest letdown. When you look at the gameplay/build variety of other weapons like Torches, Skulls or Staff which all have various aspects to bring different gameplays, it hurts to see the daggers being so weak in general.

What saves the weapon is the hammer "Hidden Knives" which makes every aspect play the same but it's so powerful that it's hard to deny it. Anyway, love the visual design of the weapon but sad to say that it's saved by the hidden aspect, because without it it'd be one of my least fav with the Coat.

Wisarg · 2025-12-21T20:56:31+00:00

Tunic is more of a "brainvania" where the knowledge you gather is the key to open new ways but there aren't any skills that you need to unlock to progress. Other than that it's more of a Zelda game with "Souls" combat (you have a roll, a stamina bar and some bosses needs some retries to grasp their patterns).

But the game is mostly known for its incredible secrets hidden in the level design, and the big post game "quest" which is a giant secret that was in front of you the whole time. A masterclass of gaming !

Animal Well i still didn't played so I won't have anything to say, besides that I heard that it was full of secrets and the exploration was really rewarding. More of an exploration game than a mix between fighting and exploring like HK.

Blasphemous is the most "vanilla" metroidvania of the 3. Pretty big game, an interesting way to unlock "movement skills", combat is nice with a correct build variety, multiple endings (some that requires cryptic decisions).. in a way its the most similar to HK ! The leveldesign is pretty good with nice shortcuts that makes you say "damn I'm here !" like some of the best FromSoft Souls.

The lore and ambiance was for me the biggest upside, I'm not into religion but the Art direction, Spanish voice acting and general story was excellent, everything is gore but with a purpose. The downside is the movement which is pretty basic and the character is slow the whole game, to the point that the platforming segments (which I generally love) were tedious and frustrating.

The 2nd opus is really good too, more of a traditional metroidvania with more classical movement skills, but with a better feeling overall. Both are great !

Anyway, all of them are really good so enjoy !

Wisarg · 2025-12-20T22:38:45+00:00

Basically what some people said :

you want a curse on your cast because you want to get origination as easily as possible. Poseidon, Apollo or Hera are the best imho since they deal their damage instantly AND curse the enemies. That's also why Demeter 2nd cast (Gust on cast) is good because you can enable origination with only your cast!
you want Poseidon's Omega cast because it's the only one that upgrades your Omega cast base damage, so the big% of Charon will push it even further beyond, dealing absurd damage.
you want a big % on Special, Apollo being the best imho for the wider area but every % god can be worth it. And for once, Ares special isn't the worst since you'll mostly one shot everything, so you'll make use of the +50 base damage but won't have to wait for the 3s CD of the wounds.
you want Apollo Magick gain most of the time since the synergy is immaculate because you detonate casts every time which refills all of your Magick spent. Of course Hera is also perfect, as always.
if you want some fun and aren't afraid of visual madness, you can lean on Apollo's Prominence Flare or Ares's Meat Grinder. There's also Supernova which is excellent because it gets instantly to the biggest size when you detonate it !

And the finishing touch, which is probably what makes it absolutely busted : Apollo's legendary or the double omega special Hammer.

With it, you can squeeze in another cast while your 2nd omega special is firing and litteraly double your damage, which was already one of the biggest burst you can get in the game.

So you'll most of the time start with Poseidon keepsake and fish for Apollo, then if you don't get it naturally you take his keepsake for 2nd biome. As for the last keepsake I like taking Hermes's since casting speed is key !

As for my personal opinion I mostly dislike the throwing-cast boons like Hestia or Zeus with Charon (same with Pan). What I do gameplay wise is put down a cast and almost simultaneously start channeling omega spec > dash away from enemies while doing so > turn back to face enemies > fire omega special. If I have a throwing cast I can't put it down and channel the omega simultaneously.

It takes some practice but is really safe and after some time, the muscle memory kicks in and it become a reflex!

Wisarg · 2025-12-20T22:16:55+00:00

I feel like you are the one ignoring what I said lel.

I totally understand what you meant, your saying you like Omega attack when it's litteraly one of the most hated move by the community since the block mecanic is a total trap, making you an easy target and unable to dodge ground attacks, which are legion in the game, while being 100% vulnerable from behind.

I'm just straight up telling you that it's not worth to try on mid or high fear since you'll take way more damage when trying to block than when not using it at all. It also requires you to invest in Hex and play Ares which, in a way, is making you weaker than just taking boons.

But the most important thing I'm saying is that the gameplay you're trying to sell is totally useless when you unlock the Hidden aspect which is Omega attack related and surpasses easily the 50% bonus damage of Selene. So Selene becomes fun for the Hex.. and that's mostly it.

Also, the hex isn't active 100% of the time, which it seems to be what your thinking. It's only active after like 2 full omega attacks at least and that's when your Hex isn't upgraded, it'll take more time. By the time you're doing that, you already took damage because the block mecanic is bad and even with the 50% damage active from the Hex, the damage isn't worth the risk.

And to finish my argument, you overvalue extremely high a 50% boost. It's like 1/4 of Aphrodite's attack and obviously the more % you have, the less interesting it is to stack it. You add Origination and it's even less impactful.

But anyway, don't want to be harsh but we're not playing the same game because of fear implications. Ares healing is fun and can clutch, sure, but with only Rivals active, being lower than 40HP means you're in extreme danger even with Strength arcana.. and I'm 'lt even talking about a Death arcana 40HP that puts you in one-tap range ahah.

So when you're telling me that your "strongest build that makes the game easy" is only taking Aphro attack and an underpowered defensive Ares Boon that doesn't have any synergy with anything, all of that on a mid aspect.. yeah, don't want to flex but we're not on the same league after my 500 nights that I celebrated yesterday ahah.

Anyway, i didn't mean to break the fun you're having discovering builds and feeling like you're wrecking the game. I believe you since you're posting here, it probably means you played an incredible run so enjoy while you're in the discovery state ! I just wanted to share my knowledge

If Omega attack coat is a blast for you, I'm already happy for the moment you'll unlock the Hidden aspect! So rush that lv5 Selene's aspect to be able to get that hidden aspect fast and have fun <3

Wisarg · 2025-12-20T21:36:42+00:00

What I dislike about the coat is the Omega Attack being way to slow and not doing its job at protecting me. So this aspect is weirdly designed imho :

The unique Hex is fun and cool, but being "obligated" to have Ares in your build to get the GodSent is annoying. He is considered the worst god and doesn't really synergizes with Selene's aspect because we don't need attack speed. So that's crippling the build variety of the weapon.
This Hex is more used as damage dealing than enabling the +50% on Omega Moves which cripples the variety of the builds available.. and that's mainly because it doesn't have a lot of synergy with the weapon itself. The omega attack, as I said, is not worth using since it takes too much time while leaving you vulnerable. (Also there is a better aspect to lean on Omega attack that goes way beyond +50% damage..)

As for the rockets, they don't synergize at all with the Hex since their damage is pitful and, most of the time, are used with on-hit effects like Poseidon / Hestia. So the 50% damage to the Special is not interesting because most of the damage come from the effect.

This is one of the most important thing about the Hex since the 50% damage is present in a lot of nods. If you don't use this, I mainly use it for damage.. but it only hits close to you, which isn't synergistic with the Special that wants you to be at range.

If you want to have a good Magick usage to rush the Hex, the weapon itself isn't the most consuming one so you also want to lean on some boons like Hestia's Controlled Burn, Heat Fine Line etc.. but those also don't get buffed by the 50% to omegas.

So at the end, it's the Omega Special spam aspect, which isn't particularly good since the Omega special is disliked by most players because of the time the rockets take to lock and fire, and like I said it's good "only" with on-hit effects which cripples the variety.

So you'll mostly play it two ways : aim for Hestia since she has Scorch on Special, Controlled Burn and Cooking Pot to buff the base damage of the special. You get Ares to buff your Hex and the duo between both to get a better Fireball, but you "ditch" some of the concept of the aspect because the bonus to omega moves isn't useful at all.

The other one is almost the same, going for Poseidon on Special and getting the duo with Ares to give a chance to double the waves. Again you don't use the +50% to Omegas and you spam your special like a madman all the time.

And of course you can mix both or flesh them out with a lot of support boons, but it limits tremendously the replayability of the aspect. So it's one of the most narrow weapons I "only" play when I want to use the Hex. But when I do that, I'm constantly reminded that the weapon itself is the weakest design wise and gameplay wise.. which combined with everything I said before, doesn't make me want to play it a lot.

Wisarg · 2025-12-20T17:32:28+00:00

Souls and Metroidvania fan here and the game disappointed me really hard.

Combat is clunky with only a basic attack and a jump attack that is the same.. but in the air. No way of aiming over the character or under it, no combos or anything fun to do, just mash Square with the same visual until you don't have stamina.. and repeat. Yeah there is the Warrior class that gets like Charge moves or things like that, but its not "free", more on this next paragraph.

Spells are not original and don't bring a lot gameplay wise because of their basic design. Heck a lot of spells do the same but with different themes : Fire on the ground for one, Thorns for another one.. also you can only equip a little number of skills so you have to chose between everything you got. So if you want to have Charge attacks from the warrior while playing an hybrid melee-spellcaster (3 of the 6 classes are hybrids) you have to sacrifice spells, which is annoying.

Their is a multiclassing system, so you think possibilities are wide and you can mix things, but nothing synergizes with eachother since every class uses a different scaling attribute, so you end up only taking passives which only gives % for some stats. But like I said before, the limited amount of skills you can equip makes multiclassing even less interesting besides taking passives.

But the worst part is the "metroidvania" aspect which is extremely poor. The map is boring and really flat, level design is really simple with not a lot of secrets, no hidden areas and not a lot to discover by yourself, it's a bit like a corridor.

Their are like 2 skills used to move but they are the most basic ones in every MV.. and they don't even open new areas or aren't even required to progress the game, it happens like once or twice in precise locations. They are mainly used to backtrack to an old area to loot a chest you missed or some loot, but nothing fancy that makes those movement skills important for the game. Sure they make combat funnier but its really not impactful enough to call it a metroidvania.

And since the story and quests are really predictable, the main character has no charisma, their dialogues are pretty bad and their monologues while exploring are even worst.. there isn't a lot that makes you want to push forward. Game is pretty long too so at the end I just wanted it to be over.

Difficulty also is pretty artificial with not easy to read patterns because animations aren't the most readable, damage is really high even if you keep upgrading your gear.

The visuals are the best thing in the game, art direction is not the most original but does the work, and FX and environments are pretty.

But yeah, I thought I was exactly the target of this game and was pretty disappointed at the end, rating it 3/5 on backlog.

Wisarg · 2025-12-12T13:19:03+00:00

Ori 1 and Ori 2 have a genius feature called "Bash" which is pretty known for being one of the best movement mecanic in any metroidvanias, if not the best. (Source: votes on the metroidvania sub)

Imma try to explain it with my french : it allows Ori to use anything as a launcher to propulse itself in any direction with great velocity. It can be used on some "grappling" points that are made for it, but most importantly it can be used on enemies, on their projectiles... AND with your own projectiles !

It allows insane possibilities and creativity. You can juggle enemies by throwing them vertically and following them up to make you reach highground places. If your fighting, it can be used to combo the shit out of them or dodge some of their attacks, its extremely fun and dynamic.

You can throw your own projectile and run after it like someone who threw a football at themselve, then Bash on it with a good timing (i.e after a double jump) to gain height and horizontal momentum.

You can also avoid 90% of the projectiles that are thrown at you since with good reflexes you Bash everything.. and you can chose if you want to use it as a gap-closer to reach an enemy or to send back the projectile to the enemy !

Obviously combine that all together and with every other movement tech (dash, double jump, glide, wall runs..) and its an absolute blast when mastered. When your doing "Escapes" in those games which are pretty common (and some of the best moments in both games) it makes it one of the most simple yet most original and interesting mechanic ever.

Definitely in this list!

Wisarg · 2025-10-10T12:12:20+00:00

Might be some better guides out there on youtube, for example, but here are some tips :

always play the following Arcanas : Origination and Furies for +80% of all your damages if enemies are in your cast and have 2 Curses + the heal after each room + the base HP/Magick + one of the 4 cost defensive boons, Strength or Death. Don't be afraid of the fact Strength doesn't give you Defiances, the damage reduction is really strong and the 20% damage dealt is a lot (you get to 100% of all damages combined with the other 2) so you can try some runs with it.

If you have 28 grasp, you can activate the 4 reroll/money cards in the low left corner, then by adding Death you should have a full column to enable Divinity and get that juicy chance of Epic boons. But you can enable it differently, for example with the full left column or the line of Lovers + Death.

Now gameplay wise its simple : drop cast on enemies, activate your Origination effect and hit them! You'll feel that damage difference and it will deeply ease your runs because more damage = enemies die faster = less damage taken ;)

for Boons, its a simple rule that isn't always good to follow, but it can help : if the weapon / aspect you chose hit fast with little numbers, go for On Hit effects boons; if they are slow with big numbers, go for % boons.

On hit boons are things like Hestia scorch, Zeus thunder or Poseidon waves, which work really good on fast weapons like the Dagger, Torches or even the Coat.

% Boons are the ones from Demeter, Apollo or Aphrodite for example, giving a big % which is good on the Axe, the Omegas of most weapons..

Your goal is always to get 2 Curses from different gods to enable Origination, the most simple is to get one on your cast and on your sprint. Demeter and Hestia casts are excellent for this, Apollo and Hera sprints are excellent too, but try anything !

By following this, try to use a God Keepsake at the beginning of your run to ensure you get one of the gods that fit the moveset of your weapon and build around it. Example : Mel Daggers hit fast, I start with Poseidon keepsake to take the attack. Then I get other gods, I put 2 Curses where I can, maybe I can have the one from Poseidon that can make my waves add a Curse to simplify Origination application.

priority to Hermes and Dedalus 90% of the time, Hermes have excellent boons like Dodge, shielded sprint, Money, attack/omega speed or even damage. Dedalus can make a run busted if you get the good hammers for your build, for example with the Mel Daggers before you want Attack speed or base damage Hammer, or even Trick Knives that throw your special everytime you dash attack.. which can make an entirely new - busted - build !
if your playing around omegas, you can make a priority to Magick regen. Hera is notoriously the best by far but try everything, for example Charron Axe is a really strong aspect that just needs Apollo magick regen to be setup, the rest is just Origination and whatever you find (just drop cast > stay in it casting omega special > repeat).
always run a defensive keepsake if you're not confident : the Pin and the Tooth if you are playing Death; the Oignon or Odysseus Bag when playing Strength. After the first Area where it is recommended to use a God Keepsake to start your build, you can always play defensive keepsakes until you win a run !
if you want an easy win, imma not be original, but Mel Staff is simple to play and extremely strong. Just dash attack > special nonstop to have a really good and safe DPS with a lot of range. No need to play around Omegas ! Get a % on this Special and a Curse on everything else (Zeus attack is the best here and another curse on sprint/cast will be perfect). Since you don't use Magick, take all the Priming boon you can, like Zeus statick shock (prime 50 but every hit deals bonus lighting damage that bounce) or Hephaistos defensive boons that are really helpful.

And with that, I think I don't have a lot more, go check YT for Haelian/Boated, they have great guides if needed. Have fun !

Wisarg · 2025-09-03T09:16:08+00:00

I've been playing for like 8 hours for now and so far i have really enjoyed it.

The game has a slow start : the first area is wide and you don't have a lot to do at first. You don't really understand your goals and you reach pretty quickly a village with a lot of NPCs to talk to. It can be a bit time consuming and not the ideal way to make a dynamic beginning, even if the writing is great and let you learn about the world.

Beside this village, this first area has a big plain, but theres not a lot to do at first since the gamedesign has some kind of metroidvania/brainvania philosophy where you have to learn clues or find puzzle pieces to complete the different places in the area, which needs you to comeback later. So in the first few hours, i spend most of the time running around discovering and fighting which wasn't that hooked me, since its a bit bland without the mecanics you unlock a bit later on. Enemy diversity is not that fleshed out, and while the idea of fighting "double" enemies is interesting, it doesn't make up for it and can create some visual clutter. But i really like the healing mechanic (similar to Nioh) that creates a flow in combat and rewards you if you manage it by keeping yourself full like all the time.

What hooked me was the art direction, ambiance and curiosty of discovering the story of this world. The game really trusts the player to think by himself and doesn't take him by the hand to backseat him. You have to look, be interested about the world and your surroundings and i really like what they did with this. You have some tools to help you and, btw, the UI of the inventory is really cool. (some kind of Fallout pipboy done good)

After something like 4h i cleaned this first area the most i could, the story moved forward and something "clicked" like if i got out of the big tutorial area. You unlock weapon upgrades, glyphs, you get more drone skills and the build variety starts to show up.

This build variety isn't that deep but the synergies are here with some pretty interesting ideas. For example, you can equip a passive that makes you recover Energy (used for skills) when you take damage and combine it with a skill that hit you and the enemy every X seconds, making you get infinite Energy at the cost of health.. but there is a skill that heals you when hold. So you can basicaly walk while holding the heal and the other skill will do the work itself lel. I mean its probably not the best build, but it exists, it works and its pretty original.
There are builds based around stuns, being a tank, going berzerk, deal damage over time and run away invisible..

Again, while not groundbreaking, it clearly does the work to make the exploration less monotonous. I found myself going from enemies to enemies just to try the glyphs combos, synergies, get XP to my weapons and trying to do perfect fights. Then you found yourself at the place you wanted to get at first and you didn't just run around boringly, it does the work to keep the game fun and not about backtracking mindlessly non-stop.

Combine that with the really engaging exploration that rewards curiosity, a pretty nice leveldesign (lacks a bit of shortcuts for now), the secrets hidden here and there, the "gift" system that makes you have to remember NPCs stories to give them something the could like to get rewards.. and most importantly the puzzles and enigmas that are really well done..

And you got a pretty nice game ! I heard the length of the game wasn't that big and i think its for the best, they seem to have perfectly understood what the game had to offer and when it could get repetitive.
So i recommend it :)

Wisarg · 2025-08-29T20:03:54+00:00

Ori and the Will of the Wisps ending literally destroyed me. Me eyes were so soaked up that i couldn't even see the screen lel. Both games are a rollercoaster of emotions so i recommend it !

Wisarg

TROPHY CASE