Thymesia Beginner’s Guide

Thymesia is a tough soulsborne game by OverBorder Studio, and it can be quite a challenging game to get into at first. It often doesn’t play like most other games, even in its genre, so this article is here to help. Here are a few hints for first-time players.
 

 

Get the basic combat down:

The basic combat in Thymesia can be a little different. In most games, enemies only have one health bar, but Thymesia operates differently. From a narrative perspective, everyone in the world has been infected by a plague. This plague essentially coats the enemies in a kind of armor. It would be best if you therefore broke through this armor to hurt them directly.

From a gameplay perspective, this means that you need to strike an enemy until one health bar has somewhat depleted, and then you need to hit the other health bar. Once you hit this second health bar, the damage is permanent. However, the health will come back if you do not strike in time.

This means that you need to get used to a two-strike system. There are two main systems of damage. The sword, and a few other weapons, deal this initial rift damage, and then you use the claw attack to deplete the rest.

This system is strange at first, but it becomes a fantastic flowing system of one form of attack followed by another once you get used to it. But it does take some getting used to! So, practice on the early enemies as much as possible!
 

 

Be Aggressive:

Many of the bosses in Thymesia do some of their most irritating attacks from a distance, so it’s best to clear the distance between you and them and get up close and personal. You may be able to stay alive more easily if you’re fighting from a distance and being cautious, but being cautious will lead to the enemies being alive longer. If they’re alive longer, they’ll have more chances to unleash their pesky heavy attacks.

So, get in close and deal some real damage. However, you need to make sure you’re always on the move. Being aggressive does not mean letting the enemy hit you; it means taking every chance you’ve got at dealing damage while you have an opening. Take those chances and the game will be a lot faster and way more fun!

And this includes staying on your toes because you need to be quick on that dodge button if you want to stay out of the way of some of those dangerous attacks.
 

Use your plague weapons:

Along the way, you’ll fight various enemies, and many of them will drop weapons. These weapons open an entirely new system: plague weapons.

Plague weapons use energy, which can be replenished through the claw attack by default, but other weapons can also replenish energy once they’ve been upgraded. And so, learning how to build energy and unleash plague weapons in strategic situations becomes an integral aspect of your arsenal.

These plague weapons can be upgraded by fighting the enemies who have those weapons. For instance, you’ll need to kill a few archers to get more bow upgrades for your bow plague weapon. Once these weapons have been upgraded, they gain additional buffs and become more potent.

You’ll want to pay attention to this and try out new plague weapons to supplement your play style. But hint this has only been about the permanent plague weapons, and there are also temporary plague weapons.

Any enemy can be attacked, and their plague weapon can be taken. If you charge up your claw attack, you can take an enemy’s weapon from them. This then allows you to use it once. This is not as useful as the permanent plague weapons, but it does allow you to vary your play style as you go.
 

 

Use your feathers:

Feathers are a form of ranged parry. Enemies have certain attacks that can be disrupted with the feather attack, which throws a sharp feather at your enemy, leaving them open. As soon as they’re open to an attack, you can jump in and whack them a few times before dashing out of the way of their rebuttal.

These feathers can be upgraded in a variety of ways, but it’s important to become accustomed to the feather attack because the attacks that they interrupt can be devastating. These special enemy attacks often cannot be dodged, they cannot be interrupted through regular attacks, and they generally have considerable range.

Furthermore, the benefits of interrupting these attacks are high! Interrupting their attack leaves them open to an extended assault as it briefly stuns them. It can be a bit of a strange system to get the hang of, but once you have it down, you can generally deal a lot of damage very often.

You have to ensure you do it right because if you throw a feather at the wrong time, you’ll do nothing, and that unblockable attack will slam into you!
 

 

Use your upgrades:

Upgrades in Thymesia are great. You gain talent points for every level you earn in-game, and these upgrades are incredibly useful. But they’re also very malleable and can be adjusted on the fly.

Whenever you reach a checkpoint, you can rearrange your upgrades if you want to. There’s no charge for doing so , and altering your upgrades is greatly beneficial for dealing with certain enemies, especially certain bosses.

For example, there’s an ability that replenishes some of your health whenever you kill an enemy. This is great for regular exploration but not for boss fights. Most of the bosses have two forms, but that means that you’re using 1-2 talent points on a skill that is only used a maximum of once! Wouldn’t it be better to temporarily throw those two talent points into upgrading your base damage or making rift damage last longer?

This gives you some good variety in how you handle individual bosses and areas and is a fantastic bit of character alteration that can be done at any time.

Lastly, you can also upgrade your potion in various ways, such as by adding different ingredients, increasing the overall number of potions, and/or by increasing how much health it heals. This is some much-needed support, especially in some of those heavier boss fights.
 

 

Parry if you dare:

Thymesia does have a parry ability, but it does not stop an enemy in their tracks. Instead, it only blocks damage from that one attack. This means that if you want to block an enemy that hits you three times in a row, you have to use three parries instead of just one.

Parrying is definitely an option for those who want to get good at it, and it also has its own set of upgrades. Still, the dodge mechanic gives reasonable distance, especially when upgraded, and adds to the feel of movement Thymesia has going for it. But if you’re good at parrying, then go for it!
 

These have been a few tips for new players. If there are any other tips that you have during your playthrough of Thymesia, feel free to put them in the comments for everyone to use. And, also take a look at our Thymesia PC Review.
 

Justin van Huyssteen (@LC_Lupus)
Senior Editor, NoobFeed