Summary
Out of thethree possible weapons the Penitent One has access toinBlasphemous 2, the Sarmiento and Centella sword/dagger combo is by far the fastest. To put it in simpler terms, the Veredicto is the slow but powerful weapon, the Ruego Al Alba is the middle-ground option (also the most similar to the Mea Culpa), and the Sarmiento and Centella are the lightning-fast but low-damage weapons.
RELATED:Survival Anime Set In Harsh And Unforgiving WorldsThat said, once players get enough Marks of Martyrdom and find the other copies of the Sarmiento and Centella throughout the map (to unlock more of the Weapon Memories tree), these things can’t really be called ‘low damage’ weapons anymore. So, let’s go over exactly which Weapon MemoriesBlasphemous 2players should prioritize first to make this thrusting pair of blades truly powerful.
Piercing Retribution
1
Successfully Cross Guarding at the last moment allows the Penitent One to counterattack with a lightning-fast thrust, piercing through all enemies in front of him
First up is Piercing Retribution. The name sounds all fancy, but basically, it’s a stinger attack cross-up that comes after a successful Cross Guard. In general, it’s a fantastic way to punish enemies when they’re staggered by Cross Guard, and it can also be very useful when multiple enemies are clumped up.
However, it can be a bit risky to use against some of the bosses that are large in size, as the move seems to always travel the same amount of distance, meaning players can end the animation technically ‘inside’ the boss' contact damage hurt box. So, while powerful, this move needs some proper execution or players are going to find themselvesshort on heals and constantly respawning at save points.
Verdadera Destreza 1
Increases Verdadera Destreza level, adding additional Lightning damage to attacks, Getting hit depletes the indicator and Lightning infusion
Verdadera Destreza 2
2
Unlocks the second Verdadera Destreza indicator (diamond-shaped indicator underneath the weapon icon in the top left)
3
Unlocks the third Verdadera Destreza indicator
While the Veredicto has its Embers of Faith andthe Ruego Al Alba has the Blood Pact, the Sarmiento and Centella have their Verdadera Destreza. Basically, as players hit enemies more and more with these two piercing weapons (without being hit in return), they’ll eventually fill the little diamond underneath the weapon icons in the top left.
RELATED:The Best Open-World Games With Retro Graphics
When this is filled, the Sarmiento and Centella are then infused with Lightning for all their attacks, dealing additional damage per swing. There’s no real ‘duration’ on this buff, as it lasts until the Penitent One takes a hit.
Increases Lightning damage inflicted on enemies
A player who finds themselves using the Sarmiento and Centellamore than the other two weaponsis going to want to learn how to dodge and Cross Guard as quickly as possible if they want to take full advantage of this blade pair.
If they manage to consistently avoid hits, or the hits they do take are always far apart from each other, then Galvanic Striker is a fantastic Weapon Memory, since it just buffs the amount of Lightning Damage this sword and dagger combo inflict while the Verdadera Destreza indicator is active.
Increases the base damage of Sarimento & Centella
Each of the three weapons inBlasphemous 2has two Weapon Memories like this in their tree, and each one of these upgrades is worth grabbing as soon as it becomes available. While not as exciting as adding Lightning to the player’s attacks, a flat damage buff is always going to have a massive impact over the course of a playthrough. Plus, when players consider these two flat damage buffs, the damage buff from Lightning while Destreza is active, and the sheer attack speed of this weapon, any amount of damage increase is going to have a major ripple effect.
Quicksilver Coating
Increases the amount of Verdadera Destreza indicator gain with each strike
This next Weapon Memory recommendation is very simple…if players find themselves wishing that Verdadera Destreza would activate quicker, would activate in fewer hits, or they find themselves getting hit out of the Lightning buff pretty often, then Quicksilver Coating should be the next Weapon Memory they aim for.
RELATED:Games To Play If You Miss Super Metroid
With this, it simply takes fewer hits to fill those Destreza Counters, and that actually impacts a few other Weapon Memories too such as Silver Lightning or Cross of the Tempest, since players will have their indicators full more often to take full advantage of these late-game moves, asBlasphemous 2seems to be a much longer gamethan most people expected.
Sacred Lunge
Boots Sacred Lunge attack by consuming a Verdadera Destreza indicator to do so
Players might be a bit confused reading the name of this next Weapon Memory since the Sarmiento and Centella start with the Sacred Lunge already active alongside the Cross Guard ability. But, while it has the same name, this is actually a separate Weapon Memory in the second tier of the tree.
And, this Weapon Memory gives players the ability to make Sacred Lunge even stronger as long as they have a Destreza indicator active when they use it. Taking this Memory does require players to do a bit more resource management since it uses the Destreza indicator, but the damage tradeoff is more than worth it.
Silver Nail
Press the Attack Input repeatedly to finish an attack with a powerful onslaught of thrusts
Finally, let’s end things on a method by which the Sarmiento and Centella somehow manage to sneak even more attacks into a small span of time using the Silver Nail Weapon Memory. With this, players can spam the attack button more than they already likely do with this weapon to unleash a flurry of stabs with both blades at the enemy, which does quite a lot when empowered with Lightning through the Verdadera Destreza. That said, this is also one of the easiest ways to get hit out of the Verdadera Destreza state since players are pretty much locked into the flurry of stabs animation. But, it’s a relatively quick animation, so it’s not nearly as much of a commitment to useas any of the Veredicto abilities.
Blasphemous 2is available for PC, Switch, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
