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- Character Selection Is Important
- Know Your Defensive Options
- Use Cover
- Always Kite
- Watch Your Step
- Look Out For New Weapons
- Get Used To Crafting
- Don’t Get Cornered
- Explore Every Room
Combat is a huge part of Lovecraft's Untold Stories 2. I mean, it makes sense considering it is toted at an Action RPG Roguelite. You will be wandering expansive asylums, corpse-laden streets, and dreary docks before the end, and every area is just biding its time before rattling you off this mortal coil.
Death is of course an inevitability in these situations until you get your bearings, but Lovecraft's Untold Stories 2 has a few unique twists to the formula to mix things up. Everything from progression, to intended gameplay beats, are all up in the air. Heck, going into this expecting your standard isometric shooter might leave you a smidge confused.
Character Selection Is Important
The first real decision you will make in Lovecraft's Untold Stories 2 is which character you want to embody. This choice is fairly significant, but not at all permanent. In fact, it’s almost instantly reversible if you wanted to check someone else out after a bit of experimentation. The significance comes from the drastic gameplay changes.
That’s because every class in Lovecraft's Untold Stories 2 is unique. You start with only three, but there are a total of six once you get to unlocking them. Everything from starting weapons, total health, and combat abilities are radically different. You even find character-specific equipment which further diversifies them. Thankfully, they are all good, even if we think the Detective is the most beginner friendly of the bunch.
Know Your Defensive Options
Each class has some sort of defensive option built into their kit – heck, sometimes they have multiple. These defensive abilities are arguably more important to a character's playstyle than their offensive skills and available weapons. Avoiding damage keeps you alive after all, and being alive means you aren’t dead – always a plus.
The Detective comes with a powerful dodge roll that lets him avoid damage, move quickly, and make space between himself and his enemies. He also has a punch that stuns nearby enemies and knocks them back. The Witch can teleport large distances, keeping her safe from harm. Finally, the Professor has a damage-absorbing shield and can just tank hits to make up for his lack of mobility.
Don’t forget you can also build up a large supply of healing items, escape items, and other useful consumables which can help you stay alive when things get a bit dicey.
Use Cover
Some enemies have powerful ranged attacks that can take a toll on your limited health pool. This is true right from the start, as the Streets are often filled with gun-wielding thugs. These enemies not only deal rapid damage at a distance, but they are staggeringly accurate. Simply moving around is not enough to outrun a bullet.
Thankfully, the levels in Lovecraft's Untold Stories 2 are dense with objects and bizarre architecture. This is important because most ranged attacks can’t pierce through these objects. Keeping yourself behind cover will keep you alive whilst you deal with more immediate melee-based threats.
Be careful where you stand, however. Explosive barrels exist, and they hurt. You want to keep away from these areas of cover. Side note, feel free to use these explosive barrels against your enemies.
Always Kite
Ranged enemies are a pain, but the most common enemy is the melee attacker. These guys are relentless and will make a dash for you the moment you get into their aggro range. They move fast, they won’t stop, and they come in large numbers. This is where kiting comes into play.
Kiting is the act of keeping enemies at a distance. This is difficult in Lovecraft's Untold Stories 2 as enemies move faster than you and not all characters have a mobility option. As a general rule, however, keep moving away from the threat whilst firing at it. You can also try and mess with the rather naff AI and get them stuck on objects – allowing you to pick them off easier.
Watch Your Step
Movement is a key mechanic in most games. Lovecraft's Untold Stories 2 is more so than some due to the nature of kiting and the various movement abilities the roster has access to. The game is unforgiving, however, and it has prepared for this inevitability. Its response was to make the floor itself a hazard.
Many rooms in Lovecraft's Untold Stories 2 have some sort of trap – often multiple – that will trigger if you carelessly stand on it. Spike traps are the most common, but even just pools of acid or a patch of flaming oil can put a downer on your run. Constant movement is usually a good idea, but make sure you are moving with purpose – not randomly.
These traps often come with Status Ailments. These are often DOT effects that can stack if you mess up multiple times. This can have a devastating impact on your health bar.
Look Out For New Weapons
Each character starts with a weapon, and all of these weapons are pretty crappy. The Detective has a double-barrelled shotgun that has to reload constantly. The Professor has a low-damage blaster that takes an age to reload. The Witch has infinite ammo, but awful range and poor damage.
These weapons are handy in the beginning, but finding new weapons can help push your play to the next level. Being able to rattle out 30 bullets with a Tommy Gun, and launch a powerful grenade is not only more satisfying but often more effective. Don’t get attached and quickly look to find something new.
Get Used To Crafting
Lovecraft's Untold Stories 2 is a game that has a lot of combat but isn’t entirely dedicated to the idea of skill alone trumping its challenges. It may be one of the core pillars, but the experience is held up by several other mechanics that help sustain the whole. Of course, we are talking about the art of Crafting.
Crafting is incredibly important for several reasons. Firstly, if you want to heal, then the best way to do that is to craft some medkits and whatnot before you head out on your adventures. On top of that, new weapons and armour can be made to make the game much easier – all you have to do is find the blueprints. Play smarter, not harder.
Don’t Get Cornered
One of the harsher gameplay aspects of Lovecraft's Untold Stories 2 is its collision system. Everything in this game has a physical presence in the world, and for the most part, you can’t move through anything. Even having I-frames doesn’t automatically mean you can clip through enemies. This has a huge effect on combat.
That’s because enemies can and will box you into a corner, and if you don’t have the right escape tool, you’re probably dead. Even the tankiest of characters will struggle to survive such a dogpile. The only exception to this early game is the Witch as she can teleport, but even then, she could straight up die before she gets the chance to pull it off in this situation.
Explore Every Room
You are constantly following some sort of quest marker. This will lead you to your next objective and traditional gamer knowledge would suggest that it's a good idea to follow it if you want to progress. That being said, Lovecraft's Untold Stories 2 is not at all balanced around the idea that players are going to only follow the quest marker.
Instead, the game wants you to explore every single room in every single dungeon. This means ignoring the quest marker and going off on your own. This will lead you to more combat encounters, better loot, and more resources. You will find yourself progressing much faster by veering off the marked progression route.
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