Hello. If you're here, it means you might want to know how to "git gud" at the game, or at least, have the door to "git gud" pointed to you. That's great, and it's something I would encourage if I were writing about a game where you can actually "git gud".

Regrettably, this isn't one of those games.

Bleak Faith: Forsaken is a game that was developed with more talent and passion than actual game-making skills. It's a somewhat laudable thing, that, but the end result is still a game that the players have to wrestle with in order to just play it.

That said, the game's presentation, world building and atmosphere are the main stars of the show. That means gameplay takes a veeeery far backseat. However, if you still want to see the sights, and you are cognizant of the implications, this guide is made for you.

This guide will collate a lot of the knowledge I've found both in my going through the game, and my sifting through whatever info I can find on the internet about things that baffled me. Therefore, the guide is a bit loose and unstructured. A bit like the game. Still, I hope you find it useful. I'll try to keep it updated if I find new things worth mentioning, or if comments fill the gaps it has.

No spoilers. Only what I would have liked to know going in, and stuff that will help you have a, as the title says, somewhat easier time in the game. Not an easy time, mind you, just less frustrating.

Let's dive in.

The game has huge environments, with an impressive scale that is seldom seen in videogames. In hands of better designers, some traversal mechanic or tighter level design would alleviate the downsides of huge areas. However, as I said on my foreword, gameplay takes a backseat here.

What this means, is that the game has a lot of backtracking. Like, A LOT. Endless bridges, massive esplanades, unending tunnels, all that jazz. And, the game being unforgiving as it is, you will usually die. And off you go, from the twitchy yellow fella (or cyan fella, more on that later) all the way to wherever you die, rinse, repeat.

You can use the Dash ability (which you can find in Abilities under your Character tab in the menus, you can choose it with an ability splinter) to give you a boost now and then, but it has a hefty cooldown and it's not as effective. It can still help with platforming.

The best way though, is looting the Ring of Travel. To be honest, I don't remember exactly where it is (I will update the guide once I go through the game again, or if someone can help me with that in the comments), but it will negate any movement penalty incurred through use of heavy armor, and boost your speed out of combat, allowing you to run about more freely.

Do try to loot everything. While 85% of the time all you'll get is crafting componentes for the myriad potions the game has, the other 15% can be from weapons and armor, to actual important quest items like Handler Echoes. Don't take it hard if you loot something after suffering to get it, and it turns out to be Crimson Equinacea. At least, now you know ;)

Funnily enough, for such an open game, it loops around in on itself often enough that no matter which side you take on the central hub, you will eventually get spat on back in the middle, so don't fret too much about it. When in doubt, follow the red lights.

Now, if you are not being attentive, you might miss all the branching paths OUT of the hub, so look for those instead. Since June's update, elevators and ladders now warn about a loading screen, so you'll know when you're going somewhere new. Usually, there's a homunculus there to save your progress and whatnot, but sometimes, it isn't. If there isn't place a Mirage (the cyan fella from before: just hold use button standing anywhere, and it will place a portable checkpoint). If there isn't a homunculus when you entered an area, it means you got in "from the exit". All areas are huge, but they have definite entrance and exit points. The yellow homunculus is always in the "proper" entrance.

The game actually expects you to craft. Incredible, I know. As you go through the game, you will unlock recipes by killing what seems to be random mobs. They are the same in several playthroughs, but there's no real sign they are carrying something, so, yeah.

In any case, the potions are actually pretty useful. Every single "liquid" you can ingest is a potion of some sort, including your health flasks. This means you can craft more powerful healing items and slot those in, as well as damage potions that will help you hit harder when you need to. Simply peruse your inventory and the Crafting tab, it's simple enough.

Arrows are also craftable, so make sure you have a good supply of those if you're going for range. Your quiver refills out of combat.

The game uses a tier-socket system somewhat similar to Diablo's. Items come in Mk. levels, upgradable by your handler, that increase their stats and the amount of crystals you can socket in them to earn bonuses. The Handler is the girl in red in the Central Hub (Bloc 6314), next to the homunculus, btw. She can only upgrade things up to her level, so if you want max Mk. upgrades, you will need to find the aforementioned Handler Echoes, and some Upgrade Splinters for I-III Mk, and Upgrade Modules for beyond.

Crystals, on the other hand, allow you to enhance a weapon or armor with a specific bonus given by that crystal. You can craft them too, if you need a specific one. A personal favorite of mine are the leech crystals. Having them both for stamina and health make the game a lot easier in combat.

Note that replacing a crystal destroys the previously slotted one, so be careful with that.

The other inventory tabs under Character, pertain to Perks and Abilities. The first ones are "powerful" passives that can make your life easier, and the second ones are active abilities that you can, well, activate.
There are several flavors here, but the only one I consider absolutely necessary is Vampire. It will heal you a bit per hit. This coupled with the Ring of Gluttony will make you heal with two of the things you'll do the most: hitting things and looting things. Of course, the choice is yours, but take into consideration each perk choice is PERMANENT. No undoing that perk, so choose wisely.

As for actual attributes, there's a panel that has a huge list of things. Press the "Details" key (lower right hand corner) to obtain a detailed description of each. It's too long to put here, and it's relatively straightforward. I'll explain Entropy further along. No spoilers, tho.

As a sidenote, if you find the game is too easy (haha), the Faithful perk will reduce your stats by 20%. You can upgrade it to reverse its effects somewhat through gameplay, but I really think it's there for "hard mode".

As for the Illusionist Perk, bear in mind that your illusions will get staggered by your weapons, so if you're using wide swinging weapons, they might not do anything ever.

These are active abilities that will help you in combat. You can equip them using Ability Splinters, at any time. The 8 locked icons are abilities that haven't released yet, so don't worry about those.

Each ability is self explanatory, and it lists the cost and the cooldown right there.

The ONLY cardinal rule about this game: don't spam. Really, don't. The game uses a combo system based around accurate attacks, tied to the weapon swing animation. The timing isn't super strict, but it will punish spamming. How? With severe stamina drain, slower attack speed, and reduced damage.

The plus to this is that, if you nail a combo properly, there's a high chance to keep the enemy stunlocked until you kill it, so that's nice. You can combo with both light attacks and heavy attacks, so experiment. Each weapon has a different moveset, and the heavier the weapon, the higher the chance to stagger the enemy. You can add weight to lighter weapons with crystals, but the effects aren't too noticeable.

The other important rule is: There are no invulnerability frames. You have to physically avoid the enemy's hits, and with the wonky hitboxes, that's a struggle. Still, just letting you know if you come from Dark Souls and expect to make a dodge build. There is no such thing (only pain).

Your stats are determined by your armor, there's no leveling up in this game. As simple as that. Focus on one, at most two, and you'll have your build.

Armor has three stats, which is Blunt, Sharp, and Technomancy defense. Evidently, each defense type is meant to protect against the corresponding damage type. It will reduce a percentage of the damage based on the number you have, so if you have 2000 resistance, expect a 20% reduction.

Heavier armors tend to be weak in Technomancy protection, but there aren't THAT many magical enemies, so it's okay. Of course, you will move very slowly (until you find the Ring of Travel, that is). At around 40 STR, you will negate the malus.

Range builds are feasibly only because a headshot does incredible damage. If you are a good shot, you might get a lot of mileage out of it. Quiver size increases with Mk. upgrades for the bow, and you can switch between different types of arrows (I'm deliberately avoiding saying what buttons to press because at the end of June, the controller control scheme got improved, and you can customize it however you want, so yeah). The quiver refills after leaving combat.

To be honest, I haven't played around with magic much, sorry about that. I would wager it would work similarly to range builds, but not much else.

No spoilers, I promised. Here are the things I would have really liked to know before going in:

- After defeating 4 world bosses (or three and a Recalibration), the game will become more difficult. If you want to explore, keep that in mind.
- Entropy can only be "gained" once the game becomes more difficult.
- There are several endings.
- There's a point of no return. It's beyond a bonfire (an actual bonfire).
- There are optional bosses. They yield upgrades, but they aren't mandatory.