u/WBL_SVQ

Hey all, I recently came back to the game with the new content, and after finding out about the Honey Badger shield I created another Amon with the sole intention of putting together a Slippy+Shatterwight Berserk build, which I did. Tons of fun, I am having such a blast (pun intended) throwing fish all over the battlefield

So for this build I use the Mantra shotgun, which I already know is Bloomreaper's rarest drop. I don't think I have ever actually seen one drop myself, and my friend who gave it to me said it's the only one he had in his entire vault. That's OK, I have patience and have done my share of farming.

So I go there this morning, set it to UVHM 1 (for my own sanity and ease), and get to Bloomreapin'. I am running it currently with the newly created Amon, although he's not my most OP build I want him earning the specialization points. As such, I usually get the Gold Rank when solo'ing him, not the Platinum. I also counted how many times I kill him, to try and get an estimate of Mantra drop rate.

I have killed him 16 times so far this morning (13 Gold Rank, 3 Silver Rank). I have a huge pile of Jetsetters and Undershields, and enough Legendary Class Mods to build a small city out of. But not a single Mantra. Then I got to thinking about it....one time I think I remember reading that certain drops can only be possible if you win with high enough rank.

So can I only get the Mantra if I win with Platinum rank? If this is the case I need to switch to another character or do it in co-op. I would prefer to farm with the new character, for the specialization XP, but the whole point of doing this is to get Mantra (the one my friend gave me is not a great roll).

Thanks in advance.

Decided to check out this game when it went on sale for $30. I was interested in it because I love RPGs, mostly play those and Soulslikes, but I don't play a ton of shooters so this was gonna be a bit of something different for me. Fell in love with it right away, was having a blast exploring and clearing the maps. I love the "Blessed Aim" idea so I have been putting points into Faith. Felt great to have a good run, clear out everything, kill the Galley Slave, that kind of thing. Just was absolutely loving the game, and I even convinced a friend to buy it also

Then I unlocked Gnosis 3, and I suddenly went from having a bast to being really frustrated and confused. To be clear, I am not complaining about difficultly level, I actually would like to try to overcome the challenges and get better. Specifically, I mean that I don't really have any idea what is going on anymore

Upon hitting Gnosis 3, it said two things:

1. It unlocked the "Vestal Flame" and immediately gave me a stern warning about judging preyers being 'permanent and irreversible' (or something like that)...except I don't have a freaking clue what that means. So I have just been too afraid to even touch the Vestal Flame mechanic at all, because I am too scared of making permanent changes by doing things I don't understand what they even are. I even have a bunch of mask shards, but I fear turning them in

2. It told me I unlocked World Corruption, which immediately puzzled me because that has been unlocked the entire time. It's the eyeballs at the top left corner of the screen, right? I have never fully understood this mechanic to begin with, but it hasn't been a huge deal -- I just know that shit hits the fan if all five eyeballs fill up. But evidently something else is going on too now...

First of all, sometimes when I land in a map it tells me I am being ambushed, and I immediately am swarmed by a huge group. Did I do something to cause this? Is it random? I have a hunch it might be because I am ignoring the Vestal Flame, but again I am too scared to touch the Vestal Flame because I don't want to cause "permanent and irreversible" changing by judging the preyers, because I am not sure what judging the preyers is exactly. Should I turn in my mask shards? Or is being ambushed not related to this?

Worse than that, sometimes I will be having what appears to be a good run and the game will suddenly say that I am corrupted and tons of things will come out of nowhere and kill me, plus madness starts going up all the time. The thing that is really frustrating me, is that I don't understand what is even happening. Am I doing something to cause this? I am thinking it might be the game's way of punishing you for doing good...like a handicap system...because it often happens to me when I am having a really great run like the kind I described in my opening paragraph. Would it help if I took some damage on purpose at the beginning of the run?

And also what I am supposed to do about it? There is a message on the screen telling me to destroy something I think, but I don't have any idea what it is talking about or what I am supposed to do. I am usually dead shortly after this anyways.

Could somebody help me figure some of this stuff out? I feel like I could get back to having a real blast with the game again, if I had more of an idea what these mechanics were. Any help appreciated, even if it is just a link to a video or something. Thanks in advance. :)