Remnant: From the Ashes was the surprising co-op hit of 2019 and is experiencing a second spring. MeinMMO author Benedict Grothaus spoke with Senior Combat Designer Taylor Denison and received some useful tips for fighting bosses and playing in multiplayer.
Where do the tips come from? Taylor Denison is primarily responsible for the design of the bosses in Remnant: From the Ashes as well as the fights you will have to face. Some of the bosses he has designed include:
- Ixillis
- the Iskal Queen
- Riphide
- The Unclean One
- Ikro, The Ice Conjurer
- the final boss Harsgaard from the new and final DLC Subject 2923
With The Unclean One, he is responsible for the ability to be killed even through walls. This is probably one of those moments when you bite into your controller or keyboard. To make this happen less often, I asked him for some tips and how he actually works on his bosses.
Tips for Playing Together with Friends
From our conversation, I learned three important lessons that I will definitely keep in mind for the next co-op session:
- the composition of the group
- coordination
- and learning from mistakes.
For each of these points, Taylor has some interesting tips.
Play Remnant Like an MMORPG
The co-op shooter offers many ways to build your character, whether it’s an immortal build or a healing supporter. This makes it suitable to take on classic roles like tank, DPS, and healer in a group.
That is probably the smartest way to play Remnant. Taylor explains to me:
Ideally, it should be a mixed group. It’s cool to have those supportive characters, and the items really allow that. One player can buff the group, control mechanics, bind enemies to one place, block projectiles… That is probably the smart way to play: One takes care of the boss mechanics and supports, while the others deal damage.
At the same time, I like to play aggressive and risky styles where we all go full damage and have to avoid any damage in some way. [The group play] is therefore versatile, in many ways as you like. But I think it’s smarter to have some people as supporters and others as damage dealers.
Since you can play Remnant in co-op with up to three players, it makes sense to coordinate. At least if you are playing it safe. Those who want to deal full damage can also do that – but it will be trickier.
Not Every Boss is Easier Together – But More Exciting
However, Taylor also emphasized that it is not necessarily easier to defeat every boss in a group. Even bosses that seem like they have to be fought in co-op can prove to be more difficult in a group.
One of these bosses is designed by him: Ixillis, who is regarded as one of the hardest bosses in the game. You will have to fight multiple enemies at once. This sounds easier in multiplayer, but actually requires much more communication.
Taylor says: “In reality, it becomes much harder in co-op because I designed it to be a coordination challenge in multiplayer where each player has to manage their own mechanics.”
If you know you can coordinate well with your friends and everyone knows what to do, it can definitely be more exciting, maybe even easier. However, defeating a boss with mass instead of class does not work.
Learn from Your Mistakes – That’s What Your Deaths Are For
If a boss doesn’t work on the first attempt, that’s your opportunity to do better. Because the bosses are designed in such a way that you can learn from your mistakes, as Taylor explains to me.
If a mechanic kills you, it should be clear why it killed you and how you can prevent it. That way, you should be prepared to avoid your death in the next attempt, at least from that one mechanic.
This repeats until you defeat the boss – even though this can sometimes take quite a long time. But I am now used to long sessions in Remnant:
When I played Dark Souls and Bloodborne, most bosses really destroyed me. In Remnant, it is different; they are still challenging but not unfair. So I asked: how do you balance the bosses so well?
Taylor’s answer:
From Software [the makers of Dark Souls and Bloodborne] aims for a higher difficulty. We try a lot, test a lot, to hit the difficulty at the point where it ideally is. It should be hard, challenging, but not frustrating. […]
I think clarity is one of the most important things in this. When you die, you should know what happened and do better next time. That is more or less the definition of whether something is frustrating or not. If I just die and think I need to get better magically, that’s really frustrating.
He also told me that he will be watching a lot of streams soon to see what players come up with new builds or where they have difficulties. This then results in buffs and nerfs for equipment and bosses.
Alternatively, you can of course also watch guides beforehand and prepare yourself for what a boss will throw at you. If you have trouble with the first bosses, you can find tips and tricks for fighting against Brandfleck (“Singe”) and the Ent on MeinMMO.
More Options with the New DLC Subject 2923
On August 20, the new and final DLC of Remnant, Subject 2923 was released. It contains a ton of new enemies, bosses, and weapons – and thus also new possibilities for groups to assemble combos.
Especially melee fans should be able to have a lot of fun with Subject 2923. Some of the new weapons and armors grant life steal in melee or increased damage. When asked what kind of new builds would be possible, Taylor excitedly explains to me:
Oh boy, there is really a lot. What you are wearing, for example, allows for some pretty crazy melee builds with life steal. Especially melee fighters have probably received a lot of cool stuff. […]. I don’t know all the new items, but I have seen that many people on reddit are building different builds that deal alternating heavy damage in melee and then in ranged combat.
However, he has the luxury of not needing to know everything about the game himself but can still discover much on his own. He is only responsible for the bosses. However, he has created a nasty opponent in Ikro, the Rat Mage, who will provide tough fights especially in the new Survival Mode of the “Swamps of Corsus” DLC with its frost mechanics.
However, he still has a lot to see in Subject 2923 that he does not yet know and puzzles to solve that he has not yet cracked. The puzzle of Dr. Weisskopf for instance, through which I have already felt so dumb, he has not yet cracked either.
So How Do I Best Play Co-op?
In short, here are some tips for playing together with friends from someone who must know how it works:
- Coordinate how you play in the group. Do you want to assign roles or play riskily?
- Properly coordinate. Not every boss will be easier if more people are shooting at it.
- Get the right equipment and refine your build. If you’re missing something, collect the corresponding gear in adventure mode.
- Don’t get frustrated. Learn from your mistakes or your teammates’ mistakes and do better.
Remnant has a unique place in Soulslike games with the ability to create supportive builds. This makes the co-op aspect even deeper and more interesting. If you need a little help, you can find tips for getting started in Remnant: From the Ashes in our special. But let us know: How do you play Remnant with friends? What are your tips for teamwork?
