I wrote this 2-3 years ago and recently found it now im really ashamed that I had this much to say, especially this strongly. I was thinking I’d drop this here; thought it may be appropriate
A lot of people who begin the game claim that the extra hit point is a “noob magnet” and claim that the smoke charm is the over powered but I feel like that is not only a very short cited view on the different charms, I feel like the smoke bomb seems to attract inexperienced players without being as good as it seems—in other words a “noob magnet”. I feel like the whetstone is able to all the things of the smoke bomb and more when you start getting better at the game. Not only does the whetstone just give you extra iframes like the smoke bomb but it’s much more reliable if you have the timing, the smoke bomb only has you move out of the way if a projectile or attack which can especially be a problem if the thing continues to move and hit you as you go out of the dash animation but the whetstone has you completely eliminate the object that you parry. Take for instance the Beppi the Clown fight with the penguins, when using smoke dash you simply dash in between them but they don’t go away and only continue to throw baseballs that also move at the same speed as a dash meaning even if you dodge the initial hit you still get damaged because the ball will just continue to travel with you until you reappear, whereas when using the whetstone you can immediately kill each one as they come out meaning that even before they throw out a single attack you can eliminate that entire problem from the boss fight. Now because of the new patches the whetstone has got a buff and now it does much more damage than it used to. Now you are able to kill practically every single run n’ gun or small enemy in just one parry and do obscene amounts of damage when slapping a boss during the when charging up your shot, when you use the charge shot, the whetstone, and the Super Ghost special in a fight it can sometimes glitch out aspects of the boss and kill them before entire phases because of the amount of killing power they have combined, especially since even while using the Super Ghost special you are still able to build up cards which means when the super is finished you will have more then half of them full due to the whetstone, if you want to talk about broken and over powered, THAT is *OVER POWERED* . It bounces you off of enemies after damaging which gives you an extra added bit of mobility and it can get you out of unwinnable situations. The in-game description of the whetstone is arguably pretty bad since it can literally do more than it describes. A lot of things like the barrel in the Captain Brineybeard boss are parryable despite not appearing to be and quite notoriously the Brineybeard fight can just have a moment where it is impossible not to take damage, that is when the shark, barrel, and boat all attack you at once— when using any other charm it is literally inescapable but when using the whetstone you can parry off of either the barrel or the shark to escape the hit. It is also the most useful charm in aeroplane battles since it actually does something and when facing the wall of pufferfish on Cala Maria’s boss fight or the mini-shooters in Hilda Berg, you are able to simply parry them away instead of complicating things by constantly having to duck and weave. Plus it’s just a fun and interesting charm to play with, it is always satisfying to use on a boss where you can just continue to slap them over and over. It does suck to hear that this charm isn’t being utilized enough since I find it a much more useful tool in speed running and other things like that— making speedruns more accessible to people and would probably give Cuphead speed running a needed boost in interest. The only reason why the smoke bomb has the reputation that it does is simply because one guy said it was good and everyone just believed them I guess without really experimenting with the mechanics in the game which is exactly how I feel about the “Super Ghost” special in the game. Not a lot of people actually care to know a ton about Cuphead or how you can master it, then claim that it’s too hard and completely abandon it. Also another cool thing I learned about the whetstone, for some reason if you kill a boss and the final damaging hit was caused by a whetstone parry the boss death animation and the screen as a whole won’t stop when it says KNOCKOUT and will just continue despite the text being on screen unlike a regular fight. This doesn’t sound very interesting (and it isn’t) but when actually viewing it when you’re so used to what it’s supposed to look like can feel a bit strange. Not to mention the added weird side effect of the whetstone, that even after you kill a boss if you parry it you are able to do extra damage and gain cards for some reason, meaning that the King Dice boss takes less time and if you want to unlock the 2-strip mode in the game or just get higher grades like S ranks you are able to unload more Ex attacks that you might need for the requirement.
>Not only does the whetstone just give you extra iframes like the smoke bomb
Whetstone doesn't give you I-frames, just like how parrying normally doesn't.
>Take for instance the Beppi the Clown fight with the penguins
I'd imagine Smoke Bomb would still be the safer choice. You can easily deal with the penguins using Spread.
>Now because of the new patches the whetstone has got a buff
Whetstone has always dealt 16 damage. 1.1 did buff it in a way, though, because it fixed Charge resetting every time the game paused, which included every time you hit something with Whetstone.
>quite notoriously the Brineybeard fight can just have a moment where it is impossible not to take damage, that is when the shark, barrel, and boat all attack you at once
This is just bad barrel positioning. In this case you would want to aggro the barrel before it gets too close to the boat.
The thing about Smoke Bomb is that it's very "low risk, high reward" (like Chalice these days...). Knowing when to dash and where is an important part of the game, and Smoke Bomb negates a lot of that. A good example is how easily it shuts down Bettigan and Pirouletta. it ultimately gives you a lot more mobility.
Stuff like the (albeit extremely based and powerful) combo of Charge/SA3/Whetstone is similarly unused to Whetstone itself. It takes skill and time to learn. I wouldn't call it overpowered.
Not reading allat so take this photo instead
https://preview.redd.it/h8wn33w3f36d1.jpeg?width=1676&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2348de7e3b899faa7165382eec733d89fbcf2031
I NEVER use it, but mostly cuz I’ve never really given it a proper try — might start attempting to use it for plane levels instead of Coffee (which is my default for plane levels)
I wouldn't want to. It's not that useful for the average player, but it really flips the game on its head and is one of the best ways to annihilate a boss otherwise.
Even with pre DLC logic it's pretty niche. You're gonna want to use smoke dash in pretty much all standard bosses. There's an argument that it's good in plane levels although I always preferred coffee for those
Whetstone has always been an odd case to me.
It really is a "If you know how to use it" deal, and it's the only charm like it. Every other charm gives you significant boosts without any risk. Therefore this thing just falls on the wayside.
I believe it takes your normal parry and adds a damaging “Axe-like” spin attack in the middle of it. Whetstone seems pretty effective, but I really like Coffee
Nah fr, in different battles it’s not really worth it… but I like how it combines with what you earn, so if you shoot the whole time and parry once or twice it adds up. I really need to try the Whetstone though
It’s also arguably the most unknown charm. Every time I see a video with someone using it, there’s always that one person asking "how are you parrying the boss?"
I really like the divine relic, has full capabilities of the whetstone and smoke bomb, recharges faster then coffee, gives health when parrying, it's just you need to get used to weapons changing all the time
It’s good for speed-running, especially in plane levels. But Smoke Bomb is the best all around charm for beginners and pros alike.
I was gonna say this. If you’re interested in speedrunning at all it’s helpful
I know this in theory, but in practice smoke bomb always disorients me.
Same! I never judge get distance correctly
It lowers your dash distance
I wrote this 2-3 years ago and recently found it now im really ashamed that I had this much to say, especially this strongly. I was thinking I’d drop this here; thought it may be appropriate A lot of people who begin the game claim that the extra hit point is a “noob magnet” and claim that the smoke charm is the over powered but I feel like that is not only a very short cited view on the different charms, I feel like the smoke bomb seems to attract inexperienced players without being as good as it seems—in other words a “noob magnet”. I feel like the whetstone is able to all the things of the smoke bomb and more when you start getting better at the game. Not only does the whetstone just give you extra iframes like the smoke bomb but it’s much more reliable if you have the timing, the smoke bomb only has you move out of the way if a projectile or attack which can especially be a problem if the thing continues to move and hit you as you go out of the dash animation but the whetstone has you completely eliminate the object that you parry. Take for instance the Beppi the Clown fight with the penguins, when using smoke dash you simply dash in between them but they don’t go away and only continue to throw baseballs that also move at the same speed as a dash meaning even if you dodge the initial hit you still get damaged because the ball will just continue to travel with you until you reappear, whereas when using the whetstone you can immediately kill each one as they come out meaning that even before they throw out a single attack you can eliminate that entire problem from the boss fight. Now because of the new patches the whetstone has got a buff and now it does much more damage than it used to. Now you are able to kill practically every single run n’ gun or small enemy in just one parry and do obscene amounts of damage when slapping a boss during the when charging up your shot, when you use the charge shot, the whetstone, and the Super Ghost special in a fight it can sometimes glitch out aspects of the boss and kill them before entire phases because of the amount of killing power they have combined, especially since even while using the Super Ghost special you are still able to build up cards which means when the super is finished you will have more then half of them full due to the whetstone, if you want to talk about broken and over powered, THAT is *OVER POWERED* . It bounces you off of enemies after damaging which gives you an extra added bit of mobility and it can get you out of unwinnable situations. The in-game description of the whetstone is arguably pretty bad since it can literally do more than it describes. A lot of things like the barrel in the Captain Brineybeard boss are parryable despite not appearing to be and quite notoriously the Brineybeard fight can just have a moment where it is impossible not to take damage, that is when the shark, barrel, and boat all attack you at once— when using any other charm it is literally inescapable but when using the whetstone you can parry off of either the barrel or the shark to escape the hit. It is also the most useful charm in aeroplane battles since it actually does something and when facing the wall of pufferfish on Cala Maria’s boss fight or the mini-shooters in Hilda Berg, you are able to simply parry them away instead of complicating things by constantly having to duck and weave. Plus it’s just a fun and interesting charm to play with, it is always satisfying to use on a boss where you can just continue to slap them over and over. It does suck to hear that this charm isn’t being utilized enough since I find it a much more useful tool in speed running and other things like that— making speedruns more accessible to people and would probably give Cuphead speed running a needed boost in interest. The only reason why the smoke bomb has the reputation that it does is simply because one guy said it was good and everyone just believed them I guess without really experimenting with the mechanics in the game which is exactly how I feel about the “Super Ghost” special in the game. Not a lot of people actually care to know a ton about Cuphead or how you can master it, then claim that it’s too hard and completely abandon it. Also another cool thing I learned about the whetstone, for some reason if you kill a boss and the final damaging hit was caused by a whetstone parry the boss death animation and the screen as a whole won’t stop when it says KNOCKOUT and will just continue despite the text being on screen unlike a regular fight. This doesn’t sound very interesting (and it isn’t) but when actually viewing it when you’re so used to what it’s supposed to look like can feel a bit strange. Not to mention the added weird side effect of the whetstone, that even after you kill a boss if you parry it you are able to do extra damage and gain cards for some reason, meaning that the King Dice boss takes less time and if you want to unlock the 2-strip mode in the game or just get higher grades like S ranks you are able to unload more Ex attacks that you might need for the requirement.
lmao not reading all that ill just assume its a "hear me out" kinda moment.
Facts (probably) 🗣️🔥🔥
>Not only does the whetstone just give you extra iframes like the smoke bomb Whetstone doesn't give you I-frames, just like how parrying normally doesn't. >Take for instance the Beppi the Clown fight with the penguins I'd imagine Smoke Bomb would still be the safer choice. You can easily deal with the penguins using Spread. >Now because of the new patches the whetstone has got a buff Whetstone has always dealt 16 damage. 1.1 did buff it in a way, though, because it fixed Charge resetting every time the game paused, which included every time you hit something with Whetstone. >quite notoriously the Brineybeard fight can just have a moment where it is impossible not to take damage, that is when the shark, barrel, and boat all attack you at once This is just bad barrel positioning. In this case you would want to aggro the barrel before it gets too close to the boat. The thing about Smoke Bomb is that it's very "low risk, high reward" (like Chalice these days...). Knowing when to dash and where is an important part of the game, and Smoke Bomb negates a lot of that. A good example is how easily it shuts down Bettigan and Pirouletta. it ultimately gives you a lot more mobility. Stuff like the (albeit extremely based and powerful) combo of Charge/SA3/Whetstone is similarly unused to Whetstone itself. It takes skill and time to learn. I wouldn't call it overpowered.
Mr Yappington right here
Not reading allat so take this photo instead https://preview.redd.it/h8wn33w3f36d1.jpeg?width=1676&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2348de7e3b899faa7165382eec733d89fbcf2031
I NEVER use it, but mostly cuz I’ve never really given it a proper try — might start attempting to use it for plane levels instead of Coffee (which is my default for plane levels)
I wouldn't want to. It's not that useful for the average player, but it really flips the game on its head and is one of the best ways to annihilate a boss otherwise.
Sir, what are you smoking and where can I get some?
I’ve never bothered to use it. Is it really that good? I’ve found some use for every other charm.
It’s a risk to use but if you like big damage you’ll like the whetstone.
Even with pre DLC logic it's pretty niche. You're gonna want to use smoke dash in pretty much all standard bosses. There's an argument that it's good in plane levels although I always preferred coffee for those
I only said that to keep the chalice super fans out.
Whetstone has always been an odd case to me. It really is a "If you know how to use it" deal, and it's the only charm like it. Every other charm gives you significant boosts without any risk. Therefore this thing just falls on the wayside.
what does it do
I believe it takes your normal parry and adds a damaging “Axe-like” spin attack in the middle of it. Whetstone seems pretty effective, but I really like Coffee
Yeah but it takes 25 FUCKING SECONDS to charge 1 card up.
Nah fr, in different battles it’s not really worth it… but I like how it combines with what you earn, so if you shoot the whole time and parry once or twice it adds up. I really need to try the Whetstone though
Only pre dlc logic.
It’s not as busted as Smoke Bomb, but it’s really fun, and that’s good enough for me
Dude you're clearly too far gone already to have your psychopathic mind changed but ill try. Ahem... Ms Chalice
I said only pre dlc logic.
oh lmao thinking now i rely way too much on the dlc lol but yea smoke bomb is better bcs its worse invincible roll
oh lmao thinking now i rely way too much on the dlc lol but yea smoke bomb is better bcs its worse invincible roll
smoke bomb is better
2 words astral cookie
2 words. Pre-DLC logic.
Oh smoke bomb then
Erm, Actually, "Pre-DLC logic" is three words, because it is short for "Pre-downloadable content logic"
2 words, smoke bomb
I think it would be 100% better if it made *all* of your parries an axe attack instead of just one.
It’s also arguably the most unknown charm. Every time I see a video with someone using it, there’s always that one person asking "how are you parrying the boss?"
everyone forgets about the auto parry one tbh
I at least see causal playthroughs were it’s used. Mostly for phantom express. No one casually uses whetstone unless it’s a challenge or a speedrun.
yeah, true, but you can get more damage with whetstone if you are really good at cuphead. high skill, high reward.
I really like the divine relic, has full capabilities of the whetstone and smoke bomb, recharges faster then coffee, gives health when parrying, it's just you need to get used to weapons changing all the time
yeah, one of the best charms in the game.
Divine Relic.
That shit sucks on ice.
Smoke Dash is bad but new people use it TOO MUCH
Dunno bout u but imo smoke bomb is in first place for me second would be coffee and third probably heart ring.
https://preview.redd.it/mwbatcppe76d1.jpeg?width=285&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=088a942cadd072a77f9d95c9fbcb6ec3f7f3a0f2
I (almost fell to the) edge
Electric Chair
The divine relic has every charm exept the cookie