Deathbound, another Soulslike to add to the ever-expanding list of games heavily inspired by From Software’s most well-known titles, is an interesting addition to the subgenre. This game is a bit stiff and awkward in terms of its gameplay, but when it comes to the concept, story,and new gameplay mechanics,Deathboundis very inventive.
One of the most prominent thingsthis game is ambitious withis the Essences system. InDeathbound, you’ll switch between four characters with four separate health bars, all tied to the same body. A lot of these characters fit into the standard class categorizations we’ve all come to know and love such as the warrior, the mage, and even the assassin. Anna Lepus fills this thief and/or assassin role, and she especially excels in her role if you get the right Talents for her, so without further ado, let’s go over her best options.
Talent System & Memory Points
How to Get Points & How Talents Work
Talents inDeathboundare where a lot of the actual power progression of your character comes from,even though it might not seem like it at first. The skill tree in the leveling menu has a huge impact on your strength and abilities throughout the course ofDeathbound, that’s for sure, but the increases are incremental and pretty small individually. However, with a single Talent unlock, an Essence character can suddenly feel twice as strong if not more so, as long as you pick the right Talent.
To get Talents, first, you’ll need Memory Points, and Memory Points are found throughout the game in the form of these small ethereal interactables that are only visible to the Essence the Memory is about. When you’re first introduced to the Memory Point system and the aforementioned interactable, listen to the sound it makes when you stand near it, and keep an eye out for this sound as you progress through the game.
Whenever you hear it, look around to try and find it, and once you do switch between Essences until the interactable becomes less transparent and more ethereal. Interact with it, and you’ll either get to see a memory going over the events of one of your playable characters, or you’ll pick up a Key Item related to one of your Essences. After that, you’ll see that character in particular now has a Memory Point to use when you reach the next Phylactery.
Can Morph during backstab to increase damage using Sync.
No Witnesses
Backstabbing increases the damage of bound Essences by 20 percent for 6 seconds.
Increases Movement Speed by 30 percent when at low Health.
Coup De Grace
Grants a 10 percent damage increase when killing poisoned enemies. Max 5 stacks.
Tricks of the Trade
Staggering Shot
When in Conflict, ranged attacks stagger unaware enemies.
To be frank, out of all the Essences inDeathbound, Anna might be among one of the strongest characters, and a lot of this is due to her Talents. While most playable characters in this game have fantastic Talents to choose from, there are actually a lot more mediocre Talents than you might first expect. However, the majority of Anna’s Talents are pretty amazing. In particular, we found the Toxicology, Coup De Grace, and Tricks of the Trade Talents to be the most impactful, and here’s our reasoning.
However,Anna’s other Talents are also worth grabbing, with the order we’d recommend grabbing them (from least to most recommended) being; Tactical Retreat, Staggering Shot, Twist the Blade, and No Witnesses.In general, Anna’s Talents match the intended playstyle of this character, being agile, sneaky, and deadly if she manages to catch you off guard. However, backstabbing inDeathboundis only available against humanoid enemies, and if the enemy is humanoid but just a bit too tall, it also won’t work. So, while it might seem at first that this character is entirely based around backstabbing, it’s actually one of her least important aspects.
