The Duskbloods network test got off to a rough start, with connection issues putting a swift end to the first planned session. I was finally able to play a couple of hours over the weekend – long enough to win a few matches – and rough is the perfect description of my experience. Between significant performance issues, convoluted rules, and frustrating PvP, I really don't like The Duskbloods so far.
If you've played Elden Ring Nightreign, you're halfway to understanding The Duskbloods. This is an eclectic multiplayer action game that combines PvP and PvE with board game-like mechanics. As one of multiple vampiric characters known as Bloodsworn, you spend three rounds gearing up for a finale that pits three players against each other in free-for-all PvP (at least in solo matches).
But the whole is less than the sum of its parts. The PvP and PvE segments in The Duskbloods feel inferior to previous FromSoftware games, and even without those unfavorable comparisons, The Duskbloods test felt measurably awful due to technical problems. I always keep my Switch 2 docked, and I noticed framerate dips, latency issues that sabotaged hit registration, and a jerky camera worsened by an ugly smear effect that muddies the game's otherwise gorgeous world. FromSoftware PvP has been janky since Demon's Souls, and building an entire game around that PvP without resolving the jank has gone exactly as I'd feared.
The preparation stage is the bulk of The Duskbloods. To get stronger, you run around the map killing weak enemies, picking up consumable items, hunting elites and bosses called Trespassers, and summoning and strengthening NPC allies called Kin. You'll earn experience to level up, and collect Virtue to stay in the game. Each round will cull a few players with the lowest Virtue, so the scoring feels like outrunning a polar bear with a group: all you have to do is run faster than another guy. You'll also receive bonus health based on your Virtue in the finale, but I was never the top-scorer even in the rounds I won, so I'd say this bonus isn't too powerful.
I've played a lot of Elden Ring Nightreign, and this knowledge worked for and against me. The same core strategies have served me well in The Duskbloods, but also put a little devil on my shoulder. It would whisper doubts in my ear every time the game annoyed me, which was frequently. I fear that little voice is right: maybe this is just a worse version of Nightreign. At least in Nightreign, every repetitive match ends with a cool boss fight. Here, my reward for surviving three rounds of grinding is bad PvP.
This may sound familiar. In round one, I focused on killing basic enemies and grabbing easy upgrades. Different areas of the intensely vertical map lean toward specific reward types, and you're able to pick your spawn point at the start of each round, though you can also freely fast travel all over. If too many people pick the same spawn, some players get randomized.
You'll find weapon enhancements lying around. Some environmental fixtures award Virtue just for interacting with something. Quickly summoning a Kin, who'll level up as you do, is essential. Little blood goblins drop upgrades for your skills, improving their damage or cooldown. This is the low-hanging fruit you want early. At most, I might go after a standard elite enemy in round one to plunder a passive bonus like increased stamina or healing, but fighting anything stronger will just waste time at this stage.
هەفتانە هەرسکردنەکان، چیرۆکەکانی ئەو کۆمەڵگایانەی کە خۆشت دەوێن و زۆر شتی تر
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.gamesradar.com/games/action-rpg/the-duskbloods-network-test-was-not-good-between-lag-stuttering-and-bad-pvp/
