Nunholy puts three powerful vampire hunters against the forces of evil as you battle against vampires and other threats. As you slash, shoot, dodge, and traverse across a deadly landscape, there are many things to keep in mind. Between selecting the right characters and mastering different abilities, you’ll be introduced to a variety of options to choose from.
The game’s roguelike elements mix and match different combat systems, and each run will feel unique to you based on how you choose to craft your adventure. Certain tips and strategies can help you jump-start your journey.
Choosing A Vampire Hunter
Nunholy welcomes you into its grim world with three pleasant personalities—Preiya, Marie, and Sain. All three have highly distinct ways of dealing damage and executing their movesets. Deciding which one is best for you depends on your preferred playstyle.
- Preiya excels at melee combat.
- Marie does an excellent job dealing long-range damage.
- Sain mixes these two styles to form unique combos.
If you’re new to the genre and want to make things a little easier, we recommend picking Marie. Her kit is well-rounded and versatile, making the early fights (along with the first boss fight) a lighter challenge. Over time, her active and passive skills let you deal a lot of area-of-effect (AoE) damage which can be beneficial during group encounters.
When playing as Marie, try to fire individual shots rather than holding down the trigger button. This will prevent your weapon from overheating.
Collecting and Enhancing Artifacts
Every time you complete a level, you’ll likely be granted special items that can boost your gameplay. Artifacts take the spotlight here, as they improve your attack (or damage) efficiency just by having them in your inventory. Each artifact has a unique trait that improves your gameplay. For instance, a solid gem gives you +15 physical damage, while a musket lets you fire shots that cause fire damage. On that note, be mindful of which artifacts you pick on your journey.
Next comes the fun little twist. Once you’ve collected an artifact, you’ll be granted the option to upgrade it during the completion of a level. This can be a rare occasion and becomes an option after you’ve cleared all waves of the enemy for that particular round. Always make sure that you’re upgrading an artifact that serves you well, rather than upgrading something for the sake of it (such as passive skills). If you’ve upgraded something by mistake, don’t dwell too much on it. With every other round, a new upgrade is to be expected.
If you find a musket artifact early on, make sure to upgrade it first. It will improve your chances of dealing more critical hits due to its fire damage.
Use Rhythm In Your Movement
Nunholy’s fast-paced combat can confuse newcomers, making them believe that there’s only one way of doing things. Fortunately, there’s a simple trick to mastering the game’s movement and rhythmic system, and it lies in your timing.
Whenever you move (running or dodging) and attack, think of everything in terms of rhythm. For instance, hit-hit-dodge-hit can be your personal combat technique. Or, dodge-dodge-hit-dodge can work better if you’re playing a bit more defensively.
Growing this muscle memory will then let you manage bigger problems like enemy behavior, level design, stats, and more. After all, dividing your attention can be the key to winning most battles. Regardless of which character you choose to play, upgrading your abilities will determine how impactful your moves are. Someone like Marie can deal great AoE damage instead of long-range shots, while Sain can focus on one particular build rather than mixing things up. It’s all up to you!
Experiment With Different Builds
Nunholy’s biggest strength lies in its versatility. The more you experiment with a single vampire hunter, the more fighting and movement styles you’ll uncover. To make the best of it, try to center your build around your combat techniques, and the enemies you’re going against. There are a few build styles you can think about trying out.
A tanky melee build relies heavily on your HP, as you take a lot of damage while dealing maximized close-range damage. This works well with Preiya. Then, there’s the glass-cannon build centered around attacks that are great a range, and require precise shots. Marie will excel at this. Finally, there’s the classic hybrid build (the most versatile) that uses mid-range attacks and crowd-control abilities. You can try playing as Sain for this.
Choosing Ultimate Abilities
As you progress through the rounds, you will earn the option to upgrade abilities that suit you best. However, certain levels (often marked by a door with a moon icon on it) will lead to rewards that grant you an ultimate ability. This ability recharges over time and then unleashes a powerful aura of energy depending on which one you take up. But, choosing the right one can be a complicated choice, especially in the early hours of the game.
If you’re learning the ropes and still figuring things out in the game, it’s recommended that you go for an ultimate ability like Bat Swarm. This ability summons a swarm of bats that deal blood damage to your enemies, while you can focus on your default combat maneuvers. This one’s a great distraction for your enemies, and won’t ask you to actively think about when to use it. Additionally, also buy garlic items whenever you get the chance, as it keeps your defenses up.
When dealing with a large group of enemies, it’s best to summon Bat Swarm right when they’re spawning.
Predict Enemy Behavior Through Ranks
Major enemies such as bosses are often divided within ranks. Before a fight, you’ll get a warning, “Threat Level:” with the enemy’s rank. Each rank represents a powerful trait and contributes strongly to how the enemy moves and attacks.
|
Rank |
Traits |
Best Strategy |
|---|---|---|
|
Knights |
Very fast, but predictable. |
Practice your dodging. |
|
Barons |
Aggressive, and deal a lot of AoE damage. |
Keep your distance. |
|
Counts |
Summons minions and/or forces of evil that follow you. |
Take out the summons first. |
|
Dukes |
Powerful attacks with multiple movesets. |
Adapt your attacks based enemy’s moveset. |
When you slay a certain vampire, you’ll have a new ability (Legacy of the Martyr) to choose from. Select the one that adapts well to your playstyle. This will determine how tough (or easy) future bosses feel. Fortunately, you’ll have plenty of time until then to practice your newfound buffs.
Interact With NPCs Thoughtfully
As you journey through Nunholy, you’ll encounter different allies who provide fascinating conversations and services that can be brought. This includes healing items, defensive bonuses, item upgrades, and more. The more you get to know them, the higher the likelihood of finding items that are useful for your current run. So, take every chance you get to interact with them, instead of ignoring them and moving through a level regardless.
You’ll notice the option of gifting Rubies every time you interact with an ally. This is a useful little trick to get them in your good books and will reward you with affinities and permanent buffs in the long-run. Early in the game, it’s beneficial to gain the favor of allies who help increase your survivability with healing and garlic items.
Make Every Death Count
Fortunately, death isn’t as punishing in Nunholy as it would be in other roguelike games. Instead of losing everything you’ve ever earned during a run, permanent buffs will ensure that you keep carrying forward your progress. However, there are certain things to keep in mind every time you play a round.
Firstly, you want to notice which upgrades you go for every run. Are you keen on upgrading your damage too early on? Or do you play it too safe and only buy health-based buffs? Taking note of this pattern will help you improve, as it can be easy to fall into a habit that’s not benefitting you in the long run. Secondly, make a save file for each vampire hunter, so you can keep switching between the three to understand which weapons and playstyles work best for you.
When speaking to Calina about your upgrades, scroll all the way down to take note of abilities you’ll want to unlock in the future. This helps you set goals for yourself over time.
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