It’s a beautiful neighbourhood, whereas the brothers were obviously violent, here it’s almost contemplatively brutal. Blood and pain everywhere. Plus the sleepy magic of a luxurious summer residence in Italy. I like it here. I was slightly annoyed by the first boss. You can stun the lady, Abbess Ursula, with poison from a distance if you want to and slowly wait until she goes down. But somehow that’s not defeating the lady, it’s just getting past the boss. As a pure melee fighter, I didn’t have many options. I could either unpack my crossbow or try to dodge her attacks. Her holy ray does some nasty damage, so if you don’t die from it you’re at least almost dead. But it’s easy to dodge. I find it much more annoying when she spreads blood from her chalice, which creates sacred barbed wire on the ground that prevents me from getting close to her and allows her to continue unpacking her powerful ranged attacks.
The second boss in this area, Rapturous Huntress of the Dusk, was surprisingly easy to deal with. I was just surprised that the Iron Wayfarer didn’t interfere this time. That’s new, but I managed it very well on my own the first time.
However, one thing I realised in these hallowed halls was that I only really needed my paladin sword the whole time. I almost think that two swords don’t suit me. The second sword is only really worthwhile if you’re fighting multiple opponents and you’re going into lawnmower mode, so to speak. Against a single opponent, a two-handed sword is simply the better choice. I will, however, carry the second sword with me, as I might find a use for it here and there, even if it’s just for fun and variety. I’m also starting to put more points into Radiance, so I’ll see if I can tackle a few more spells from the Radiance spectrum, but I still need to upgrade the Catalyst. Who knows, maybe I’ll find THE sword somewhere that’s worth the effort.
