Analyzing a board

Here are some tips and tricks to simplify how you could strategically approach the bingo board.

Focus on your strengths

The basic tip is of course this. Start with what you know you can do. Don't force squares you struggle with, focus on the ones you are comfortable with. With that in mind, here are some things you can consider when you see the classes and the board for the first time.

TIP

Consider the following things:

1. Synergy between squares.
2. Ratio between Early, Middle and Late game squares.
3. Locations of objectives on the squares.
4. Starting weapons and stats.
5. Knowing yourself.

Try and find lines with great synergy:

The goal is to identify different lines, if you practice this by just loading a new board 20 times and trying to find lines you will learn a bit. But the best idea is to try and learn during playing to get a sense of how powerful a line really is, how does the lines feel to play. You also get familiar with it so when your opponent marks one square, it can sometimes reveal where they are, where theyre going and what their plan is. This makes it easier for you to intercept their bingo attempt later in the match if you've correctly identified the lines available. That was a short intro on square synergy. When going through the other points in the box above, more discussion on synergy will come so lets move on.

Details

An example of a classic short line is the Stormveil line:

• Kill Margit with 6+ Parries
• Kill Godrick while summoning Nepheli Loux
• Restore Godricks Great rune

Details

Longer lines like the Makar line can look like this:

• Kill Agheel with a +0 weapon only
• Kill a Magma Wyrm
• Kill 3 dragon heart bosses
• Take Rya's hand to volcano manor

This line gives you access to Liurnia, Altus and Volcano Manor, if you swoop by third church for the physic flask, the Gael tunnel Wyrm is very close for a 3 dragon heart square and a foot into Caelid.

How tough is the board?

The first thing I (Raa) do when looking at the board is marking out all early and early/midgame squares to get a feeling of how the board tilts. Are there a lot of Altus squares? Are there a lot of Weeping squares? Not only does it show where you need to be but also when you need to be there. This has great impact in the character selection and the planning of your route. Should you go for dectus access or not? Players may have a standard starting route they use to get prepared for the squares where they run and do squares along the way to the dectus medaillon halves. If the board is skewed early, maybe staying in Limgrave or Weeping and grabbing early squares is more beneficial since it can put enourmous pressure on the opponent if the board contains a lot of fast easy squares in close proximity. If all you need to do is kill Loretta and Red Wolf, you don't need to prep for Valiant Gargoyles. The same goes for an late game board with many squares in Altus. Dectus access can suddenly become very powerful. You don't want to be caught on the backfoot in Caelid with no Altus access as the opponent marks the square "Kill Elemer of the Briar".

Locations, where is the board?

The board is seldom balanced between all regions, one area will often receive more squares. If you identify where the board is more dense, your route will alwThe goal is to identify different lines, if you practice this by just loading a new board 20 times and trying to find lines you will learn a bit. But the best idea is to try and learn during playing to get a sense of how powerful a line really is, how does the lines feel to play. You also get familiar with it so when your opponent marks one square, it can sometimes reveal where they are, where theyre going and what their plan is. This makes it easier for you to intercept their bingo attempt later in the match if you've correctly identified the lines available. That was a short intro on square synergy. When going through the other points in the box above, more discussion on synergy will come so lets move on.ays be close to other objectives which allows you to pivot faster to react to a surprise from your opponent. If you know the board is dense on one side, you can also plan a fast bingo around less dense areas since it's more unlikely the squares will be contested. Just make sure that your opponent cannot get a bingo before you.

Weapons and stats

This is something I don't see many people doing right. There are many factors that go into choosing the weapon. Most importantly, is the board early or late game leaning? If it's early game, it's more important you start with a wieldable weapon even if it has less damage then a potentially powerful weapon. In this case, stat distribution comes in secondary. But the later the squares on the board, the more important the stats become. You can change the weapon later, but the base stats are fixed. To ensure good scaling, and an advantage, pick up classes with as little INT, FAITH, ARCANE & MIND you can and focus on maximizing the base stats STR, DEX, END & VIG in your starting character. The further you need to run to get to your objective, the more checks you can do for a better weapon. Opting for a starting class with amazing stats can save you a lot of runes later and help propel you into the late game.

Lastly, know yourself

Know how strong you need to be to complete an objective. Can you been margit with a club at lvl 1? lvl 20? lvl 40? If you go red wolf right now, can you beat him first try or do you need to upgrade your weapon? Plan this into your route, it's fine being slower and losing a square. Because if yhou play through 2 scenarios.

• Go die at red wolf 5 times, then get sniped by your opponent.
• Go upgrade your somber weapon to +4, go to red wolf and get sniped by your opponent before you get to fight red wolf even once.

Here, both players lose the square but one player has a +4 somber to pivot into another square with. If you don't think you can beat the boss, take the grace and warp out, come back later stronger and tankier. All this goes into planning your route, it might be a lot to take in all at once, but if you get comfortable with the tips here, you will get more confident and relaxed in your routing.