Yeah. The ones with that ‘glow’ are the BP, with the NPC BP only appearing in Pure Black World Tendency, save for one that appears in Pure White in 5-3.<br>The one you encountered at the beginning of 4-1 is one of the special NPC BP, this particular one is named Satsuki.<br>He willl usually aggro you the second you take a step forward from the 4-1 entry point but if you have a Thief Ring (a Graverobber’s Ring can also help) he won’t rush you immediately unless you provoke him.<br><br>A Satsuki strat that I used:<br>[details=Spoiler]<br><ul><li>(with Thief/Graverobber Ring equipped) enter 4-1 and walk back into the corner where the 4-1 entry point is. If successful, Satsuki and the silver skeleton nearby won’t engage you.</li><li>If you have the Second Chance miracle, cast it, cause every little bit helps. Fight is doable without it.</li><li>Pull and kill the silver skeleton with a bow, arrow to draw him to you and you kill it when it comes/rolls down to meet you.</li><li>Final prep stuffs: change out rings (maybe Cling Ring for HP boost in Soul Form in place of the Graverobber’s Ring). Item slots should have grasses (in case of healing) and maybe soul remains (throwing one will momentarily distract Satsuki which will break off his attack and give you a chance to recover. A good shield to block with (Purple Flame Shield is good, something with 100% physical block). Movement is key so you can strafe him when you are locked on.</li><li>Fire an arrow at Satsuki for some damage (and to pull him) then keep your shield up and wait for him to attack. Watch his attacks: one hand slashes should give you ample opportunity to counter-attack once they are blocked. The stronger overhead slash has some start-up and recovery, sometimes giving you enough time to circle to his back for an opportunity to backstab him or combo. Remember to watch your stamina to gauge it’s recovery should his sword attacks deplete a good amount of meter prior to you counter-attacking). For the most part, play defensively and keep moving around to limit his movement range, especially when he rolls away.<br></li><li>Once his health gets low enough, Satsuki will heal with a grass, so keep/get relatively close to him and when you seem him use a grass, attack him to interrupt and hopefully you do enough damage in one combo string to kill him.</li></ul>[/details]<br><br>If you need to farm souls, 4-2 with the first reaper is a good place if you have farmed there before, easy to do if you have relatively high DEX (30), a good bow (Sticky Compound Long Bow +5), and Heavy Arrows. Process being: Kill the manta/ray that should be in firing range the moment you enter 4-2 (via entry point), then kill the Reaper (along with the shadowwalkers) for a nice soul bonus, maybe even the black skeleton in the hidden hallway as well if you are feeling brave, afterwards die/evacuate and repeat until you have enough.<br><br>The lower area with the BP dual wielding black skeleton is tough to get to, along with the 2 BP Gold Skeletons, but it’s manageable provided you have a good strat to efficiently eliminate all of them. It’s also a pretty good spot to farm for bladestone stuff (all varieties), though pure bladestone (super rare) is only attainable via the BP dual wielding skeleton while shards/chunks can be gotten from both.<br><br>one strat I used for that area (melee)<br>[details=Spoiler]<br><ul><li>Prep stuffs: Clever Rat Ring (low life damage boost), the Dragon Bone Smasher (very large greatsword, attainable in 2-4 only in Pure White World Tendency), maybe a strong weapon that can be enchanted (curse weapon or light weapon), enough MP/recovery supplies to cast enchantment (item enchantments might work) Second Chance (as insurance until familiar with run) and evacuate (to leave area).</li><li>From 4-3 entry point, cast Second Chance then head back through the area to the slug pits, have Clever Rat Ring equipped and Thief Ring.</li><li>Once you enter the slug pit, head around to the left pathway from where you are, right before you step onto the narrow path. This part is a bit tricky: wait for one of the magic glow balls to approach you and explode, which will damage you and activate the Clever Rat Ring damage bonus, provided you have enough life to take the initial damage to survive, hence Second Chance usage. If you run (and short jog) to this particular area after you enter the level (and cast Second Chance), you’ll arrive at the spot before the magic glow ball arrives. When it explodes it should only knock you back on the ledge and not into the lower pits so it takes a little practice to achieve the desired effect.</li><li>After that, head toward the cliffside, killing the reaper at the top of the stairs with a bow or melee if you feel frisky. Then move slowly toward the BP dual wield skeleton, cast enchantment (curse weapon in case of DBS) then walk and backstab the BP dual wielding skeleton. When it’s knocked down, follow-up with a 2H overhead slash to (hopefully) finish it off and collect your drops + souls.</li><li>If curse weapon is still active, proceed around the cliffside and repeat the attack method on the near BP gold skeleton, while being careful of the 2nd one. With enough practice, one casting of curse weapon will be enough, provided your stats give enough of a boost to your attack as well. If not, take your time with a preferred attack method to dispatch the pair here, should the enchantment run out and you don’t want to waste supplies.<br></li><li>Evacuate when done</li></ul>[/details]<br><br>Second Cnance works to protect you if you endure an attack that would otherwise kill you, though it won’t protect you from high falls though.<br>The moment you revive/recover is instant IIRC so act quickly to move away and regroup if necessary.<br><br>Also, some spells/miracles don’t stack and act together because of passive activity effects so it’s either/or in some cases.<br>That, and make sure you have enough MP to cast stuff, Soul Thirst is 200 MP, Second Chance is 100 MP, etc.<br><br>Blessed weapons are pretty good for HP regen and magic damage that scales with faith. BBS has a lot of potential overall though, provided you invest into it. Knockdown is good with heavy weapons too, though slow. It all depends on the situation though regarding weapon choice/character build/etc. so use what’s comfortable for you and make sure you have a tactic in mind regarding your build.<br><br>If you plan on getting everything, world tendency is the one thing that is likely to affect your overall playing experience, mainly because things will become a ‘progressive’ list of things to accomplish to get things done, methodical even. It’s usually recommended to do WT stuffs on your first playthrough cause WT carries over into NG+. Maintaining white world/black world tendencies affects how you take on NPC black phantoms as well as access the inaccessible areas along with Body/Soul form stuffs needed to achieve either status. Killing bosses and NPC BP will contribute to white world stuffs while dying in Body form will contribute to black world stuffs, the balance in maximizing the opportunities you are given is a game in it of itself, lol.<br><br><br>