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Bleak Sword Cheats: Tips & Tricks Guide To Mastering The Combat System

This article is over 4 years old and may contain outdated information

When the Bleak Sword was created, the world was thrown into a never ending shroud of darkness. Death and decay rule the land now, and the only way to save it is to break the curse of the Bleak Sword. But like all curses, it is much easier said than done…

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Bleak Sword is a dark fantasy action RPG that features challenging yet rewarding combat. Roll, slash, and parry all with a single finger in this action game designed for bite-sized intense battles. In our Bleak Sword tips and tricks guide, we will give you a primer on the combat system and how to master the nuances of it. Let’s get started with our Bleak Sword cheats, tips and tricks strategy guide to mastering the combat system!

Death is NOT the end!

Let’s just get this out of the way first: you WILL die during your adventures in Bleak Sword. It may not come soon, it may not come later, but it will come… eventually. But, do not think of it as failure. Dying is learning experience and you will be better prepared to take on the level again.

Just remember that you lose all accumulated experience and items unless you retry the level you died on and beat it in one go. If you fall in battle a second time, your experience and items are permanently lost. Even if this happens, do not give up. You can easily get new items by pushing forward!

The Basics: Rolling is your best friend!

Swiping anywhere on the screen will cause your hero to roll in that direction. This is your main method of movement, and it is also a quick way to get out of harm’s way. You are completely invincible during the beginning and middle frames of the roll animation, so a well-timed roll can get you through enemy attacks.

Get to know the roll. Learn the roll. LOVE the roll. Rolling is your best friend, and we mean that in every way possible. Rolling costs negligible stamina, and it also does not stop your stamina from regenerating, making it the cheapest and most efficient way to avoid danger.

If you are learning a new enemy’s attack pattern and animations or if you are just unsure of what they are going to do next, just roll like your life depends on it – because it DOES!

The Basics: Attacking and Charge Attacks

Tap and hold to begin charging an attack. After about a half second, your sword will glow white – swipe in any direction to swing. If you hold for a full second, your sword will glow black and you will perform a heavy attack, dealing more damage but with shorter range.

If you head into the game options, you can enable a setting that shows your attack range when you are charging your sword. We recommend enabling this so that you get a feel for exactly how much range you have on your attacks.

To fight effectively, you need to balance between light and heavy attacks. Light attacks are weaker, but they are faster and have longer reach. Heavy attacks are slower and shorter reach but deal more damage.

Note that you cannot preemptively charge an attack; your hero will return to a neutral stance if you hold a charge for too long, so good timing is a must. Always be sure to keep an eye on your stamina – don’t run out in the middle of an assault!

The Basics: Items and Upgrades

After you beat a level, there is a good chance you will find an item. Items come in three different types:

  • Consumable items must be used manually and usually only last for that level. They offer boosts in stats or health recovery.
  • Equippable items grant you passive stat boosts as long as they remain in your inventory and are not consumed in any way, unless they are lost upon death.
  • Permanent consumable items are used manually like regular consumables, but they grant you permanent stat increases.

Your hero only has room for two items, so you must choose items wisely. Hang onto any equippable items you find, and then if you come across a permanent consumable, pick that up and use it so that you can get an upgrade.

Advanced: Shield blocking, Counter Attacks, and Unblockables

Tapping on the screen – and we mean a true, light tap – will cause your hero to go into a defensive stance. Any enemy that attacks you in this state will be momentarily stunned. Like most maneuvers in this game, the defensive stance only lasts about a second so good timing is required!

Note that you really need to be careful with your inputs. If you tap and hold for just a split second too long, you will start charging an attack instead of blocking, and this can seriously screw up your battle momentum and lead to some unnecessary damage.

Now, moving forward. When an enemy is thrown off balance after hitting your shield, you will regain a burst of stamina. If you immediately swipe when this happens, you will perform a counter attack. Mix this in with your normal attacks and you can take down any enemy quickly. Some enemies must be taken down in this fashion, so practice this technique.

Beware! If you see a red exclamation mark appear over an enemy’s head, they are about to perform an unblockable attack. These will hit you even if you are guarding, so make sure to roll out of the way. Most bosses’ attacks are unblockables, so be prepared to roll. We told you rolling is your best friend!

Advanced: Status Effects, Friendly Fire, and Environmental Effects

Some enemies are capable of inflicting status abnormalities on your hero, like the spiders you encounter relatively early on. If you happen to walk into their webs, you will be tangled and your movement and roll speed will be drastically slowed down. This can easily lead to death if you do not get out of the web immediately!

Also keep in mind that enemies are just as capable of hitting each other as they are with you. If you can bait enemies into swinging into each other, they will take actual damage. This does not change their priority target unfortunately, but with careful movement you can get some free damage on your enemies.

You will also eventually encounter environmental hazards and effects. The bog in Oolborg Swamp will slow you down, the spike traps in Northern Passage will hurt you, and the fires in Aryndale Village can burn you. Enemies are also affected by environmental hazards!

Advanced: Picking your Battles

Because Bleak Sword is so focused on pinpoint timing and precision accuracy, you are best suited for dealing with a single enemy at a time. The game will intentionally try to overwhelm you at every chance you get, so be prepared.

First, understand that some enemies only spawn in waves. That is to say, they will only spawn once you defeat all of the enemies of the first wave. Secondly, some enemies spawn on a timer and will come in after a certain amount of time has passed.

In general, it is best to go after an enemy as soon as you see it spawn. The faster you can whittle down their numbers the better. Letting too many enemies spawn in at once can get out of hand very quickly.

Advanced: Boss Tactics

On the tenth level of every zone, you will face the area boss. These guys hit very hard and most of their attacks are usually unblockable. They have wide-sweeping attacks, so if you have not gotten used to rolling yet, now is a good time!

For the most part, this one tactic usually worked the best for us: bosses will usually let out a flurry of unblockable attacks, with little to no time between attacks. Eventually though they will slow down but only for a moment, so you must strike swiftly and get out. Wait patiently for your opening, then strike!

Be careful with the bosses that summon additional enemies to fight alongside them. You should take out the adds first before you resume your assault on the boss, otherwise things can get hairy!

And with that, you have all you need to become a master of the battle system in Bleak Sword. This game is tough but do not give up! If you have any other fighting strategies or tips we have missed, let us know in the comments below!

Author
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Jeremy Kanjanapangka
Jeremy is a Content Writer for Touch, Tap, Play, and has been writing in the games journalism industry for almost a decade now. With a degree in English and a passion for games, he loves to talk and write about all kinds of games. While you can find him covering the latest and greatest games, there is a special place in his heart for RPGs, action-adventure games, fighting games, and anything Nintendo related.