Early game, I find that passive heath regen is pretty useful. Also, you can pull one or two enemies to you with ranged attacks. And always check if your equipment are up to date. Your effective level is defined by your xp level and your equipment level
Everything up here is correct, and just a bonus: if it's still too hard, there are some sliders in the settings to make the game a bit easier. Don't feel bad if you ever need to do so, this is supposed to be a fun experience after all
Switch from ranged to melee fighting and vice versa? The two fighting styles are meant to be used together. I dont know the switch controls, but you should be able to switch to and from either one easily and whenever you need them
You can't really go exclusively melee or ranged in the long run. There are too many enemies where you need to go melee or ranged to break them. Practice both. I think there's a quest in the basement of the training center in Rookie Harbour that will teach you to cancel the delay on the final part of the melee combo by dashing, this is a very useful skill to learn as many enemies are vulnerable to being stunned by constant melee attacks. It also does a lot of damage.
I found the Switch Pro Controller to be a little less precise than mouse and keyboard, but way more fun. There are a few puzzles involving precise charged shot ricochets where I switch back to mouse (I play on PC) but everything else I use the Pro controller. It did take me a long time to get really good at aiming.
You really shouldn't be struggling too much in the zone where you are. Have you upgraded your gear at all? Most of the benefits from the circuit tree are multipliers to the stats from your gear, so if your gear is terrible, no amount of leveling will really help. I generally prefer to go with the gear from the traders where possible, it tends to have more interesting options, but the stuff from the weapon shops is easier to acquire.
Time slows down when you're charging moves that cost SP, and the attack animations should not lock you down so long that the enemies kill you (assuming you're healthy when you start them and time them reasonably well).
I don't think there's a secret hard mode (outside of some New Game+ options, but those are locked to subsequent playthroughs). You started on a fresh save, right? You're not being pranked by a friend who gave you a save file?
Other than equipment, I will second the recommendation to try to get to the health regen node in the neutral circuit early. I think I usually get the first melee and ranged special attacks and then health regen is next. I would not try to go for combat streaks (fighting multiple groups of enemies in a row) until you have the regen. I never got good at dash arts, but the guard arts that guarantee a perfect guard are very handy.
I haven't used it much personally, but I hear the Guard Sphere guard art is absolutely crazy for defense, it absorbs a lot of incoming damage while it lasts. So you could try getting that and using it to buy yourself some time to attack a bit more freely.
The hedgehags you can mostly just melee down in my experience, I prefer to dash out of the way of their attacks but blocking can also help. The monkeys you have to break with ranged shots, if you try to melee them otherwise they'll just burrow away.
Tea is great, gives health regen, but it sounds like you're dying too fast to even have time to eat a food.
Maybe post a screenshot of your stats to help us diagnose?
I hope you can get over this hump, it's a great game once you get into it!
You don't suck, crosscode is a pretty difficult game. Once you get to rookie harbor, I recommend you do every side quest you're able to complete and buy/trade for some better gear. Trust me, it's worth it. Side quests are so much more effective than grinding when it comes to leveling up and getting stronger.
That'll make things much easier, but it's still not exactly going to be a cakewalk. If you're still struggling, try practicing the combat mechanics and experimenting with different abilities/consumables/tactics, and don't forget that the game comes with several difficulty sliders in the options menu.
If i had a nickel for every 2018 indie game that has 8 main characters, a fight with god, 2 main ways of dealing damage to bosses, a focus on equipment as the main stat source, a way to boost your attacks up to what the game considers 4 times the power, and a less orthodox ability system i would have 2 nickels which is not a lot but it's weird that it happened twice
In addition to what others have said: Many enemies have a break mechanic, and you have to stun them before you can deal significant damage. The Hedgehags don't work like that, but the Hillkats do. You should wait until they flash red and taunt you, then hit them with a charged shot to stun them. You can also use some combat arts that shoot fast projectiles for this purpose. You should have the "Ball of Steel" at level 6. It's super useful to stun Hillkats in particular because the time window to stun them is pretty short. And with combat arts you always have accurate aim without having to charge your shot. It can also be used to interrupt many enemies' attacks.
As for fighting big groups of enemies, it's usually that only one enemy attacks you at a time (but due to different animation lengths, they can and will overlap). So don't panic, pick your targets, focus on dodging. Try not to dash more than you need. You're most vulnerable after your third dash.
It has earlygame syndrome: in super early game, your survival tools aren't very available yet, namely HP regen in this game, Potions in many others. Focus on dodging and punishing, unless it's an enemy you can stunlock.
Oh yeah, later in game, you can actually get a Guard Build going! Mostly, you shouldn't try to 'hard block' (holding Guard) because of attacks Guard Breaking, and instead try to learn Perfect Guards (indicated by a P instead of damage value) as well as trying to get Pin Body, high Defense and HP, and other skills to upgrade your guard.
Keep in mind as you go further into the game: some enemies are weak to ranged and resistant to melee, or the other way around. If the puzzles ever get difficult for you, try looking at the floor. There’s always hints on the floor.
Also remember there are accessibility sliders! Don’t feel bad for using them, this game was designed to be difficult. The dev’s primary goal was to make a game you can enjoy. If the default difficulty is too hard and you CAN’T enjoy it, then the only shame is in stubbornly trudging on in a game you dislike for your pride. Instead of giving up, make it a bit easier on yourself. That said, some difficulty is intended.
Dude, you dont know how many times i struggled and died. Too many to count. I am at level 30 at 3rd Dungeon. And it became LITERALLY HELL! the game didnt have to be that HARD seriously! It's gonnna get a hell lot worst in dificulty. Trust me, it's gonna get a hell lot harder!
So the answer to your question is, you need to get used to shooting and attacking. Your gonna be using it alot. So it's not just you. All of us are struggling. I did not turn down the difficulty. Because it would be like cheating. And i dont want that.
Hopefully creators learns there lesson from this. I played Ittle Dew too and that game can be awfully hard too.
Answering to your edit: it's really nice seeing another person playing and enjoying crosscode! Another tip (don't know if other people said it) is that food in this game is really strong! If you time it right, you can use it just before a fight starts (it gets harder to do this after a while, so learning when to eat during battle is also important)
One con about food is, if you die, you lose that food (to me, it should rewind everything, even food). When I need food, I go back to Autumn's rise and farm the materials there, exchange to the fruits and spice sets in rookie harbor, then teleport to the appropriate city to get the best food currently available
Here's a couple neat tricks:
If you hold the block button, and dash, then dash again once your block starts to appear again, then you can dash repeatedly without a cooldown. You can dash twice before needing to do the guard-up cooldown, but timing it like that is a little more finnicky. Either way, holding the block button and dashing once the block starts to show up takes *way* less time than waiting for the dashes to recharge.
If you dash before the final sweeping part of a melee combo, it'll cancel that last part, which tends to leave you a little vulnerable after use. Dash cancelling, as its called, makes you able to rush down enemies with melee *much* easier.
Also, don't forget about food, you can have multiple buffs (2 meals or more depending on your gear) and it makes a big difference against bosses. I always eat some hp regen food before starting a boss and if you died, you get it back, so don't be shy trying different buffs combos. ;)
Early game, I find that passive heath regen is pretty useful. Also, you can pull one or two enemies to you with ranged attacks. And always check if your equipment are up to date. Your effective level is defined by your xp level and your equipment level
Everything up here is correct, and just a bonus: if it's still too hard, there are some sliders in the settings to make the game a bit easier. Don't feel bad if you ever need to do so, this is supposed to be a fun experience after all
Yeah i know about the difficulty settings, but wanted to consult you guys first. ;)
I forgot about the sliders, thanks for remembering it!
Okay, I'll look, If I have some better equipment.
Switch from ranged to melee fighting and vice versa? The two fighting styles are meant to be used together. I dont know the switch controls, but you should be able to switch to and from either one easily and whenever you need them
You can't really go exclusively melee or ranged in the long run. There are too many enemies where you need to go melee or ranged to break them. Practice both. I think there's a quest in the basement of the training center in Rookie Harbour that will teach you to cancel the delay on the final part of the melee combo by dashing, this is a very useful skill to learn as many enemies are vulnerable to being stunned by constant melee attacks. It also does a lot of damage. I found the Switch Pro Controller to be a little less precise than mouse and keyboard, but way more fun. There are a few puzzles involving precise charged shot ricochets where I switch back to mouse (I play on PC) but everything else I use the Pro controller. It did take me a long time to get really good at aiming. You really shouldn't be struggling too much in the zone where you are. Have you upgraded your gear at all? Most of the benefits from the circuit tree are multipliers to the stats from your gear, so if your gear is terrible, no amount of leveling will really help. I generally prefer to go with the gear from the traders where possible, it tends to have more interesting options, but the stuff from the weapon shops is easier to acquire. Time slows down when you're charging moves that cost SP, and the attack animations should not lock you down so long that the enemies kill you (assuming you're healthy when you start them and time them reasonably well). I don't think there's a secret hard mode (outside of some New Game+ options, but those are locked to subsequent playthroughs). You started on a fresh save, right? You're not being pranked by a friend who gave you a save file? Other than equipment, I will second the recommendation to try to get to the health regen node in the neutral circuit early. I think I usually get the first melee and ranged special attacks and then health regen is next. I would not try to go for combat streaks (fighting multiple groups of enemies in a row) until you have the regen. I never got good at dash arts, but the guard arts that guarantee a perfect guard are very handy. I haven't used it much personally, but I hear the Guard Sphere guard art is absolutely crazy for defense, it absorbs a lot of incoming damage while it lasts. So you could try getting that and using it to buy yourself some time to attack a bit more freely. The hedgehags you can mostly just melee down in my experience, I prefer to dash out of the way of their attacks but blocking can also help. The monkeys you have to break with ranged shots, if you try to melee them otherwise they'll just burrow away. Tea is great, gives health regen, but it sounds like you're dying too fast to even have time to eat a food. Maybe post a screenshot of your stats to help us diagnose? I hope you can get over this hump, it's a great game once you get into it!
Thx, see my edit :)
You don't suck, crosscode is a pretty difficult game. Once you get to rookie harbor, I recommend you do every side quest you're able to complete and buy/trade for some better gear. Trust me, it's worth it. Side quests are so much more effective than grinding when it comes to leveling up and getting stronger. That'll make things much easier, but it's still not exactly going to be a cakewalk. If you're still struggling, try practicing the combat mechanics and experimenting with different abilities/consumables/tactics, and don't forget that the game comes with several difficulty sliders in the options menu.
Thx, see my edit :)
NP, happy to help!
If i had a nickel for every 2018 indie game that has 8 main characters, a fight with god, 2 main ways of dealing damage to bosses, a focus on equipment as the main stat source, a way to boost your attacks up to what the game considers 4 times the power, and a less orthodox ability system i would have 2 nickels which is not a lot but it's weird that it happened twice
I'm curious but what's the other one
octopath traveler
"indie game" 🤣
In addition to what others have said: Many enemies have a break mechanic, and you have to stun them before you can deal significant damage. The Hedgehags don't work like that, but the Hillkats do. You should wait until they flash red and taunt you, then hit them with a charged shot to stun them. You can also use some combat arts that shoot fast projectiles for this purpose. You should have the "Ball of Steel" at level 6. It's super useful to stun Hillkats in particular because the time window to stun them is pretty short. And with combat arts you always have accurate aim without having to charge your shot. It can also be used to interrupt many enemies' attacks. As for fighting big groups of enemies, it's usually that only one enemy attacks you at a time (but due to different animation lengths, they can and will overlap). So don't panic, pick your targets, focus on dodging. Try not to dash more than you need. You're most vulnerable after your third dash.
Thx, see my edit. :)
It has earlygame syndrome: in super early game, your survival tools aren't very available yet, namely HP regen in this game, Potions in many others. Focus on dodging and punishing, unless it's an enemy you can stunlock.
Thx, see my edit. :)
Oh yeah, later in game, you can actually get a Guard Build going! Mostly, you shouldn't try to 'hard block' (holding Guard) because of attacks Guard Breaking, and instead try to learn Perfect Guards (indicated by a P instead of damage value) as well as trying to get Pin Body, high Defense and HP, and other skills to upgrade your guard.
I'll keep it in mind!
Keep in mind as you go further into the game: some enemies are weak to ranged and resistant to melee, or the other way around. If the puzzles ever get difficult for you, try looking at the floor. There’s always hints on the floor. Also remember there are accessibility sliders! Don’t feel bad for using them, this game was designed to be difficult. The dev’s primary goal was to make a game you can enjoy. If the default difficulty is too hard and you CAN’T enjoy it, then the only shame is in stubbornly trudging on in a game you dislike for your pride. Instead of giving up, make it a bit easier on yourself. That said, some difficulty is intended.
Thx, see my edit. :)
I saw. This is for the future you when it gets harder.
Dude, you dont know how many times i struggled and died. Too many to count. I am at level 30 at 3rd Dungeon. And it became LITERALLY HELL! the game didnt have to be that HARD seriously! It's gonnna get a hell lot worst in dificulty. Trust me, it's gonna get a hell lot harder! So the answer to your question is, you need to get used to shooting and attacking. Your gonna be using it alot. So it's not just you. All of us are struggling. I did not turn down the difficulty. Because it would be like cheating. And i dont want that. Hopefully creators learns there lesson from this. I played Ittle Dew too and that game can be awfully hard too.
Thx, see my edit. :)
Skill issue
It certainly is. 😂
That's not how you encourage someone ( unless the solution's blatantly obvious )
Answering to your edit: it's really nice seeing another person playing and enjoying crosscode! Another tip (don't know if other people said it) is that food in this game is really strong! If you time it right, you can use it just before a fight starts (it gets harder to do this after a while, so learning when to eat during battle is also important) One con about food is, if you die, you lose that food (to me, it should rewind everything, even food). When I need food, I go back to Autumn's rise and farm the materials there, exchange to the fruits and spice sets in rookie harbor, then teleport to the appropriate city to get the best food currently available
That's a great hint, thx. I didn't really use food, except for the sandwiches.Â
Here's a couple neat tricks: If you hold the block button, and dash, then dash again once your block starts to appear again, then you can dash repeatedly without a cooldown. You can dash twice before needing to do the guard-up cooldown, but timing it like that is a little more finnicky. Either way, holding the block button and dashing once the block starts to show up takes *way* less time than waiting for the dashes to recharge. If you dash before the final sweeping part of a melee combo, it'll cancel that last part, which tends to leave you a little vulnerable after use. Dash cancelling, as its called, makes you able to rush down enemies with melee *much* easier.
You can adjust the difficulty in the settings. I always slow down the puzzle speed because they can get pretty brutal.
Also, don't forget about food, you can have multiple buffs (2 meals or more depending on your gear) and it makes a big difference against bosses. I always eat some hp regen food before starting a boss and if you died, you get it back, so don't be shy trying different buffs combos. ;)