Bloodborne releases worldwide this Friday so everyone will be able to adventure through the city of Yharnam and fight its mutated terrors. Seeing as we have had some time with the game and being Souls veterans, we’d thought we’d compile a short guide to help any players who are finding their first trip through Yharnam a bit overwhelming.

Prepare to die. A lot.

This is just second nature to any hardcore Souls fan but you are going to die many times whilst playing Bloodborne. The game even requires you to die at the very beginning in order to get your first weapon so don’t worry. Take each death in stride and try to learn from it. You may lose some Blood Echoes but thanks to the new retrieval system, all is not lost even if you die twice.

Enemies can pick up your Blood Echoes.

This is a change that will effect everyone. Seeing as the inhabitants of Yharnam are a lot more aggressive and mobile, they have a tendency to wander around the world map, even after you die. Due to this change, enemies can walk over and pick up your bloodstain and thus your Blood Echoes. You can tell if an enemy has your Echoes due to their glowing white eyes when they turn to face you. Enemies will actually retain your Blood Echoes over a short period, so as long as you kill them within a time limit, you can still pick up your hard earned XP even if you die multiple times. However, if they are left on the ground, they will still decay after one death. Also note, bosses cannot pick up your Blood Echoes, only normal enemies can.

Being aggressive is healthy!

Bloodborne’s health system is slightly different to the Souls series, as health does not instantly disappear off your health bar when you get hit. Instead, the silver dot indicating your current health will move, while the damage taken will gradually tick down over a few seconds until it reaches that silver dot. If you go on the offensive and start attacking in that tick down period, you will actually regain your lost health if you hit an enemy. Even if you kill said enemy, you will keep regaining health until you finish that string of attacks so keep swinging! Hostiles in Yharnam are very aggressive compared to those found in Lordran or Drangleic, but this also means they can be staggered much easier. So, if all looks bleak, sometimes going down swinging might actually save your life.

Stealth is sometimes as effective though.

While it does pay to be aggressive, sometimes the forces of Yharnam are just too great. Thanks to the roaming enemies though, it means that stealth is the better option in some situations. Make sure to hold back at times to let patrols pass by, before sneaking behind enemies to get to the next safe zone. It may not stay safe for that long mind you.