Blade & Sorcery: 8 Beginner Tips

Blade & Sorcery's learning curve can pose a challenge to people new to the game or new to VR more broadly. The physics engine allows for a greater degree of freedom in both movement and combat and leaves those mechanics largely to the discretion of the player to explore. Players seeking a more guided introduction may struggle as a result.

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Knowing how the game wants you to interact with it can help you make the most of what it offers. Here is an assortment of tips for how to navigate the game's mechanics and early stages until you're a proficient spellsword.

Don't Pick The Magicless Starting Class

The wording on the starting options can be a bit confusing. The option to start with no crystal gives you a blank slate to learn any sorcery, but you can do this regardless of your starting crystal.

The No Crystal start offers no advantage to how quickly you learn new magics, acting as a trap option for new players or a challenge option for veterans.

If You're Vulnerable To Motion Sickness, Use Gravity Magic

The climbing sections of the game are the most liable to trigger motion sickness. If you find yourself needing to take regular breaks between these, gravity magic can be a good investment. It has several useful spells for navigation:

• Feather fall at tier one lets you glide and is available very early.
• Boost jump at tier two gives you a lot of vertical mobility.

Boost jumps can also be combined for mid-air mobility. Holding one in each hand and using them in succession gives you finer control than using both at once.

Use The Sandbox To Find Your Legs

The Crystal Hunt game mode does have a tutorial, but it asks you to choose your magic type before starting. It'll take you some time to unlock a second type or some upgrades.

The sandbox mode gives you unlimited resources so you can better understand what each of the five schools has to offer. Enemies encountered in sandbox mode can spoil the story of Crystal Hunt, but you can also use the sandbox just to explore your VR house and examine the skill trees of each magic school before picking one to start with in your main playthrough.

Don't Let Yourself Get Disarmed

You can knock an enemy's weapon out of their hands, leading some foes to surrender. Enemies can also disarm you, and it can be very challenging to retrieve a lost armament while also defending yourself.

The ability for enemies to disarm you can be disabled in the settings if you struggle with this mechanic.

It is also possible to disarm yourself depending on your posture. If you keep your hands at waist level when not using them, it's very easy to accidentally interact with your hip holsters to unsheathe and then drop the weapons you're carrying. If you aren't attentive, you might not notice it happening. While it may feel unnatural, it can help to take the stereotypical First-Person Shooter pose of having your arms always raised high enough to be visible.

Attack Angle And Speed Matter

Different approaches to melee combat have their own advantages, rather than a single technique consistently being the best.

• Broad swings are very effective for buying space against melee enemies, even when you have no chance of hitting. Enemies keep your reach in mind.
• Stabbing motions make efficient use of your stamina and can better target specific body parts.
• Quick, shallow swings can get past an opponent's guard and are always a good panic option if your framerate drops in a fight.
• Two-handed implements let you quickly free one hand for casting without having to drop your weapon.

Don't Satisfy Yourself With What Works

The game has a lot to offer in regard to the diversity of tools. While you might find the early weapons and spells you use to be effective, it can be worth deliberately setting some aside to experiment with new approaches.

With four weapon holsters, you can keep the weapons you like holstered for emergencies and still have two more slots open for experimentation.

If you want to experiment more in a risk-free space, consider playing in Sandbox mode.

Kicking Doesn't Require Full-Body Tracking

While the game does have support for additional trackers beyond the headset and controllers, you can kick people without needing to swing your actual legs. The button prompt will depend on your controller but will be more consistent than an actual kicking motion.

Body magics have specific upgrades for kicking that turn it from a fun meme option to a viable combat tool.

If using leg tracking for your kicks, you'll want extra space to not slam into furniture. VR boundaries set up for arm motions might neglect hazards at lower heights.

Mods Can Ease The Starting Experience And Keep The Late-Game Fresh

The modding support for Blade & Sorcery ensures a healthy community of people developing content for the game. Lots of this is intended for after a player understands the basics, but some mods can also help with the newcomer experience.

Some good examples are the mods that increase jump height or allow jumping in mid-air. If you are struggling with the tracking, sensitivity, or motion sickness of climbing, having an extra jump in mid-air lets you avoid several sections of nauseating early gameplay.

Visual mods can help you better understand hitboxes. Dodging in VR can take getting used to and varies between games. Blade & Sorcery makes your full body visible, but it can still be a challenge to work out how close an enemy is to hitting you when they swing.

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