Surviving the eastern battlefront in the Napoleonic Wars was already a daunting task, but the Crimson Plague has transformed Valor Mortis into a fight for survival against a zombie horde. This guide offers essential beginner tips to help players like William navigate the dangers, manage resources, and emerge victorious.
Prioritize Endurance
While high HP and nephtoglobin are beneficial, sufficient endurance (stamina) is crucial for survival. Running out of endurance leaves you unable to attack, block, or dodge, often leading to defeat. Investing your initial skill points in Maximum Endurance is highly recommended. Later, skills that reduce endurance consumption, such as Blocking and Melee Endurance Cost, can be valuable. Always monitor your green endurance bar during combat and ensure you reserve enough for essential defensive maneuvers like dodging and blocking.
Respec When Necessary
Valor Mortis allows for easy respecing of skill points. If your current build is proving ineffective, do not hesitate to experiment with different configurations. Resting at any lantern and selecting "level up" provides the option to reset your level at the bottom of the screen. While resetting skill points requires catalysts, the cost is manageable and scales with your level, making it a more economical choice than re-leveling.
Master the Art of Defense
Not all enemy attacks in Valor Mortis can be parried. Attacks telegraphed by a red glow indicate an unblockable strike that can only be avoided by dodging. Even for attacks that can be parried, relying solely on parrying against elite enemies or bosses may not be the optimal strategy. Learning a few key parryable moves and dodging the rest can be more effective. Creating distance by dodging or sprinting can help manage overwhelming enemy numbers, as most adversaries move relatively slowly.
However, do not neglect parrying entirely. While challenging to time perfectly, a successful parry negates all incoming damage and consumes no endurance. Furthermore, parrying inflicts significant posture damage, leaving enemies vulnerable to critical hits once their posture meter is depleted. This can often be more damaging than successive melee strikes.
Strategic HP Recovery
If you block an attack without perfectly parrying, you will sustain some HP loss. This lost HP can be recovered by landing melee hits immediately after blocking. If you miss this recovery window, your HP can be restored using ferrofluid flasks, which have a limited number of charges. Resting at a lantern will replenish these flasks.
Exploit Enemy Weaknesses
Many enemies in Valor Mortis possess destructible, tumor-like weak spots. Targeting these weak spots deals increased damage. Destroying a weak spot also yields a nephtoglobin orb, which replenishes your nephtoglobin upon collection. The most prominent weak spots are typically destructible and can be targeted with ranged attacks or the rapier.
Adapt Your Weaponry
While it's viable to focus on a primary weapon, different combat scenarios benefit from varied approaches. Swapping to a rapier to target weak spots or using fire transmutation to deal with groups of enemies can be more effective than sticking to a single weapon. For enemies that throw explosives, disabling them before they are thrown is often the best course of action.
Utilize Shortcuts and Exploration
Though the main path is generally linear, Valor Mortis features loops that can lead back to previous lanterns. These loops often present a split path, with one route opening a shortcut to a prior lantern and the other progressing to the next area. Always prioritize unlocking these shortcuts for easier HP and catalyst replenishment should you fall. Additionally, keep an eye out for locked doors, impassable walls, or elevated ledges. Returning to these areas with new abilities or items, such as a key or grappling hook, can reveal optional zones filled with valuable loot like ambers and ferrofluid flask upgrades.
Scavenge for Resources
Valor Mortis offers a finite amount of resources, including weapon upgrade materials, ambers, and throwable items. Thoroughly exploring each area is essential. While many items are out in the open, some are hidden within wooden crates or barrels. Be sure to break these containers to find hidden supplies. Special red, embellished chests often contain the most valuable loot. Conversely, avoid destroying red barrels; instead, use them as environmental hazards by luring enemies near them before detonating from a safe distance.
