Welcome to Yharnam, a distant forgotten city in an isolated valley far to the east. A place said to be cursed; infamous for its local affliction known as the scourge of the beast.

The scourge erodes one’s reason, until man becomes beast. At night, the hunters track down these inhuman creatures.

Yet, this heretical town is also home to an ancient medical practice. Those with incurable afflictions brave the long journey to the city, seeking Yharnam’s mysterious treatment.

Second Screen Available

Want to view this guide on your smartphone or tablet while you play? Go to http://eu.playstation.com/bloodborne_guide to access it on your preferred device.

Transforming Attack

Press the Q button while attacking, rolling, or quickstepping to transform the right-hand weapon while attacking.

Visceral Attack

Hit an enemy from behind with a fully powered-up charge attack to make them stagger. This can also be done by hitting them with a gunshot when they begin their attack. During this stagger, press the E button to execute a powerful visceral attack.

Rally

When you’re hit by an enemy attack, a portion of your health gauge briefly turns orange, indicating the amount of damage inflicted. Attack the enemy before the orange bar disappears to restore some of your health.

Refilling Blood Bullets

Blood Bullets are crafted with your own blood and can replace Quicksilver Bullets for use in firearms. Press the C directional button to restock blood bullets at the cost of your health points. Blood Bullets are lost upon death or upon entering the Hunter’s Dream.

Gestures

Click the left side of the touch pad to open the gesture menu, refer to the icons on the gesture menu and move the controller accordingly while holding the S button.

Press any button on the title screen to open the following menu.

The main game screen is composed of the following elements. An auto-save icon appears in the upper right of the screen while saving.

(1) HP gauge
Indicates your character’s health, which is depleted by enemy attacks. Loss of all health will result in death. Restore your health by using blood vials or rallying.

(2) Stamina gauge
Indicates your character’s stamina, which is depleted by actions such as attacking, dashing, and quickstepping. While your stamina is fully depleted, you won’t able to perform any of these actions. Stamina automatically replenishes over time.

(3) Blood Vials
Indicates remaining blood vials. Press the D button to use a blood vial to restore your health.

(4) Quicksilver Bullets
Indicates remaining Quicksilver Bullets, which are required to fire guns and use certain items. When Blood Bullets are crafted, remaining Blood Bullets are indicated just below remaining Quicksilver Bullets.

(5) Equipped Items
Items selected as Quick Items are shown here. Press the F button to use the indicated item and the [down] directional button to switch items.

(6) Blood Echoes
Indicates total Blood Echoes.

(7) Insight
Indicates level of Insight.

Exploring the field

Take control of the character and explore the environment.
There are things to inspect, items to pick up and messages to read. Press the S button to execute the corresponding action.
 

Engaging enemies

Some enemies encountered in the field will attack your character.
Press the E or R button to attack with the right-hand weapon, or the W button to attack with the left-hand weapon. Press the Q button to transform the right-hand weapon. Face the many threats encountered in the field by taking full advantage of the wide array of weapons available.

Defeating enemies yields Blood Echoes. Blood Echoes are used to level up your character and to purchase items.

Gatekeeper Messengers

Speak to the gatekeeper messengers at any lamp in the field to enter the Hunter’s Dream.
When you die, your character will be revived at the lamp last lit, or the last lamp at which you awoke from the Hunter’s Dream.

Insight

Insight increases as your character gains knowledge. Insight increases as the story progresses, and can be used in network play or traded for items.

Restoring Blood Echoes

When your character dies, all Blood Echoes are left behind at that location. These Blood Echoes can be reclaimed by travelling to that location, unless they are claimed first by an enemy. In that case, search for the enemy with glimmering blues eyes, and defeat it to reclaim all Blood Echoes.

If your character dies again before reclaiming lost Blood Echoes, those Blood Echoes can never be retrieved.

The Hunter’s Dream is your character’s home base, where you can purchase items, level up your stats as well as improve and repair weapons. Your character can be transported back to the Hunter’s Dream by speaking with gatekeeper messengers in the field.

Awakening Headstones

Use to return to the last area you visited.

Bath Messengers

Use Blood Echoes to buy items from the bath messengers or to sell unneeded items. As the story progresses, additional items will become available to buy.

The Doll

An ordinary doll, but as the story progresses, something might change.

The Workshop

A workshop inhabited by Gehrman, helper of hunters. It is here that hunters make preparations for the hunt.

Workshop

Use Blood Echoes alone to repair weapons, or in combination with fortification items to fortify weapons. Press the Z and X directional buttons to select a category, the C and V directional buttons to select a weapon, and the S button to confirm a selection.

Workshop: Fortification with Blood Gems

After the story reaches a certain point, Blood Gems can be fused to and removed from weapons. Up to three Blood Gems can be fused to weapons, each having its own effect, such as improved attack or an increased chance of causing status afflictions.

Use the Z and X directional buttons to select a slot, the C and V directional buttons to select a Blood Gem, and the S button to fuse the Blood Gem. Select a fused Blood Gem and press the S button to remove it.

Storage

Items in the player inventory can be placed in storage. Each item in the player inventory is limited by a maximum capacity. Acquired items which exceed the maximum capacity for that item are automatically sent to storage.

Memory Altar

With the proper workshop tools, you can memorise Caryll runes. Memorising Caryll runes yields various effects, including improved character stats and increased capacity for holding Blood Vials and Quicksilver Bullets.

Buying items with Insight

After gaining a given amount of Insight, a messenger appears that offers to trade items for it. As the story progresses, additional items become available for purchase.

Stump Messenger

Use the stump messenger to customise the appearance of messengers that appear in the field. After acquiring a messenger accessory, show it to the stump messenger and from then on all messengers will be wearing that accessory.

Altars/Makeshift Altar

Offer items to a Holy Chalice and conduct a ritual to unseal a Chalice Dungeon.
Conducting further rituals at the same altar unseals new Chalice Dungeons.

With a network connection, you can search for Chalice Dungeons unsealed by other players and as the story progresses, new types of Chalice Dungeons can be unsealed. Inspect the Makeshift Altar to automatically join an unsealed dungeon.
(A Short Ritual Root Chalice is required to use the Makeshift Altar.)

Press the OPTIONS button to display the icons of the system menu. Select an icon with the directional buttons, then press the S button to open the corresponding menu.

Inventory

View the items you are currently carrying. To use or discard consumable items, press the C and V directional buttons to browse through your items, then press the S button to select the item you wish to discard.

Status

View your character’s status. The left side of the screen displays your character’s level and attributes such as vitality, while the middle displays health, attack values (ATK) and status affliction resistance values. The right side displays Caryll rune effects and damage reduction values.

System

Configure control settings, music volume and other sound settings, the brightness setting and network settings. Select “Exit Game” to save your current progress and return to the title menu.

Arms

This is where you can equip weapons. First press the W or R button to select a slot. Next, press the C or V directional buttons to select the desired weapon followed by the S button to equip it. To remove a weapon that has already been equipped, select it and then press the S button again.
(NOTE: You may be unable to equip a weapon if your character does not have the attributes required to wield it.)

Quick items

Here you can set your quick items. Once set, these items can be used in the field by pressing the F button.
Select a quick item slot by pressing the W or R buttons, then use the C and V directional buttons to select an item and the S button to set it. To remove an item that has already been set, select it and then press the S button again.

Apparitions

Other players playing in the same location as you will appear as apparitions.

Spectres

A grave marker will appear in locations where other players have died. Approach the marker and press the S button to watch that player’s spectre reproduce their final actions.

Notes

Use the Notebook item to leave messages for players in other worlds at your current location, or view your note history.

Notebook Menu

Reading notes
Notes will appear on the field during play. Approach a note and press the S button to read it.
(When reading one of your own notes, you can click left on the touch pad button to delete it.)

Rating notes
When reading a note, click left on the touch pad button to rate it as “fine”, or right to rate it as “foul”.
Rating a note as “fine” will restore HP to the author.

Cooperative play

Use the Beckoning Bell and Small Resonant Bell items to join forces with up to three players.
The player who requests cooperative play is referred to as the host and those who answer the player’s call for help are referred to as guests.
(Note: You can only host cooperative play in areas where you have not yet defeated the boss. Additionally, there are some areas where cooperative play is not allowed, or where certain conditions must be met before you can play cooperatively).

Initiating co-operative play

When requesting cooperative play as a host:

• Use the Beckoning Bell and consume one point of Insight to request that other players
  join you.
• While requesting cooperative play, a bell icon will appear on screen and ripples will
  appear beneath your character.
• The bell will resonate if a player answering your request has been found. After a short
  period of time, the player who answered will appear as a guest in your game.

When joining co-operative play as a guest:

• Use the Small Resonant Bell item to indicate that you wish to join in cooperative play.
• While requesting to join cooperative play, a bell icon will appear onscreen and ripples will appear beneath your character.
• The bell will resonate if a host requesting cooperative play has been found. After a short period of time, you will appear in the host’s world.

Note: The ripples can be seen if you stand still. In areas where co-operative play is not allowed, a cross will appear on the bell icon and the ripples will stop. To cancel a request to join or initiate co-operative play, use the Silencing Blank item.

Ending Cooperative Play

Guests will be returned to their worlds should cooperative play end under any of the following conditions:

• The area boss is defeated.
• They or the host die.
• The host is disconnected.
• The host has used the Silencing Blank item, disrupting resonance with guests
• The guest has used the Silencing Blank item.

(Note: You can set a password for network play via the Password Matching option in Network, accessible from the System menu. Passwords are only supported in co-operative play. This feature does not apply to adversarial play.)

Adversarial play

Ring the Sinister Resonant Bell item in an area where the bell-ringing woman appears to invade other players and initiate adversarial play.
For the purposes of this explanation, the invaded player will be referred to as the host, while invaders will be referred to as guests.
(You can only be host to adversarial play in areas where you have not yet defeated the boss. Additionally, there are some areas where adversarial play is not allowed, or where certain conditions must be met before you can engage in adversarial play.)

Initiating adversarial play as a host

• If you have summoned at least one cooperative guest using the Beckoning Bell item, the bell-ringing woman will appear in the area and begin calling adversarial guests.
• A sinister resonance will begin should an adversarial guest be found and after a short period of time, the player wishing to invade will appear as a guest, commencing adversarial play.

(Note: there are some maps where the bell-ringing woman is already present. The Sinister Resonant Bell can also be used to make the bell-ringing woman appear.)

Initiating adversarial play as a guest

• Use the Sinister Resonant Bell item to indicate that you wish to invade other players.
• While requesting to invade another player’s game, a bell icon will appear onscreen and ripples will appear beneath your character.
• A sinister resonance will begin should a host with a bell-ringing woman present in their world be found and after a short period of time, you will appear in the host’s world.

Note: The ripples can be seen if you stand still. In areas and situations where adversarial play is not allowed, a cross will appear on the bell icon and the ripples will stop. To cancel a request to invade, use the Silencing Blank item.

Ending adversarial play

Adversarial guests will be returned to their own world should adversarial play end under any of the following conditions:

• The host has challenged the area boss.
• The host or adversarial guest has died.
• The host has been disconnected.
• The adversarial guest uses the Silencing Blank item to return to their own worlds.

Note: The host cannot dismiss adversarial guests.

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