Blasphemous 2is a game full of dark corners and hidden secrets, but one of its most cryptic features is the enigmatic Resonance system. By equipping two specific Altarpieces next to each other, you’re able to activate a special, sometimes game-changing, passive ability.
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Chances are you’ll have encountered the Basic Resonances during your time with the game, activated by pairing up any two Altarpieces from the same category, but for the best results you’ll need to experiment with cross-category pairs. Doing so can take a lot of tedious trial and error, so we’ve done the work for you, and narrowed things down to the most impactful Resonances in the game.
10Burning Faith (The Thurifer + The Selfless Father)
All three of Blasphemous 2’s core weapons feature an ‘elevated state’ which you can activate, boosting their damage and adding extra elemental effects to them as well. In the case of the Veredicto mace, this effect is to set the weapon on fire, greatly increasing your damage output in exchange for constantly draining your Fervour.
Burning Faith completely removes this downside, letting you keep your Veredicto alight at all times. This is ideal for both explorationand boss fights, and makes the already-strong Veredicto one of the most consistently powerful weapons in the game.
9Deflagration (The Anointed One + The Purified One)
If you’re leaning hard into a fire damage build with your Veredicto, Deflagration is a no-brainer Resonance to tap into. It adds a random fire burst effect to some of your hits, effectively increasing your average damage by a significant margin.
The two components of this Resonance, The Purified One and The Anointed One, increase your fire damage and Veredicto damage, respectively. Throw in this bonus effect, and you’re looking at damage numbers that will, quite literally, melt away any enemy or boss foolish enough to cross your path. Pair this one with Burning Faith to reach your full, incandescent potential.
8Stormrage (The Veteran One + The Tempest)
The Sarmiento and Centella weapon is all about quick attacks, striking a few times then dodging out of attack range to keep your Verdadera Destreza markers intact. Stormrage combos incredibly well with this playstyle, sending out random lightning bolts at nearby enemies when you land a hit on a foe.
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This Resonance is useless in the majority of boss fights, but in standard exploration sections it can speed things up massively, letting you put dents in backline enemies while you’re focusing down those in the font. It’s particularly effective in rooms with awkwardly-placed ranged opponents, such as those in the Sunken Cathedral.
7Second Wind (The Pilgrim + Nacimiento)
Verdadera Destreza is an incredibly powerful ability, letting you supercharge every strike withyour quick-hitting swordsprovided you can avoid taking damage. That last part is easier said than done, however, particularly as you advance deeper into the game’s twisted world, and find yourself in regions thick with fast ranged opponents.
Second Wind helps to counteract this problem. Not only does it include the Pilgrim Altarpiece, which means you only lose one Verdadera Destreza marker per hit rather than all of them, but it also lets you fully restore all three of your markers with one swig of your Bile Flask. Since you typically heal after taking damage anyway, this Resonance will get you back to full strength in an instant.
6Endless Wrath (The Partisan + The Demented One)
Ruego Al Alba’s Blood Pact ability is one of the best weapon skills in the game, offering increased damage and, later on in the skill tree, healing as well. The trade-off for this power is not just the initial health investment required, but also the short duration of the Pact as well, which typically only allows for a few seconds of sanguine slaughter before you crash down to earth.
Endless Wrath greatly increases the Pact’s potential, fully refreshing the Blood Pact gauge every time you kill an enemy with it active. Later on, when you can’t go a few feet without running into an unholy abomination hungry for your flesh, this Resonance will more than live up to its name, letting you keep Blood Pact up nigh-indefinitely.
5Rosary Of Torment (The Punished One + The Guide)
While in most cases you’ll want to keep your Blood Pact gauge up for as long as possible using basic attacks, you’re able to also invest some of that pent-up energy into Reaper Rosary instead. This is a fast, powerful move, capable of dealing with lesser enemies instantly or taking big bites out of bosses, and the Rosary of Torment Resonance makes it even better.
This Resonance adds an extra wave of mystical damage to the skill, letting you hit multiple enemies with a single use. It’s a great way to get extra value out of Reaper Rosary, and is particularly useful in the claustrophobiclocked-room combat gauntletsBlasphemous 2 is so fond of.
4Briar And Thorn (The Pillager + The Alchemist)
For those who prefer dodging enemy attacks to blocking them, which is more than likely most of you reading this, Briar and Thorn is an essential addition to your arsenal. It provides a rotating ring of thorns around you during the dodge animation, which damages any enemy unfortunate enough to stumble into it.
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Since you’ll often be dodging directly through enemies, whether it be to avoid their attacks or to get yourself out of a corner, these thorns will end up dealing a lot of extra damage in the normal course of play. They’re just as effective in boss battles too, making this Resonance a staple you’ll want to get online as soon as possible.
3Alchemical Time (The Ecstatic Novice + Nacimiento)
Most of your deaths in Blasphemous 2 will occur in situations where you get quickly overwhelmed, scramble to drink a Bile Flask and recover, and then get hit again in the process, dying shortly after. Alchemical Time changes the dynamic of such situations entirely, literally giving you more time to work with when you’re on the back foot.
Each time you swig a Bile Flask with this Resonance active, you’ll freeze time for a few seconds, letting you reposition yourself away from the foes that were troubling you, get out of the way of their incoming attacks, or even get a few sneaky hits in yourself. You’ll be using Bile Flasks throughout the game anyway, and this is a great way to get some extra value out of them.
2Orison Apocrypha (The Woman Of The Stolen Face + The Flagellant)
Orison Apocrypha is one of the more unique Resonances in Blasphemous 2, with a vague description that isn’t particularly helpful when it comes to evaluating its power level. Basically, it changes some of your Prayers into ‘dark’ versions, with new appearances and more powerful effects.
If you’rerunning a Prayer-focused build, a more than viable option given how many Altarpieces support it, then Orison Apocrypha is a must-have. It effectively serves as a flat damage increase for the Prayers affected, making its inclusion a no-brainer if you know which ones it works with.
1Thorned Retort (Trifon + The Alchemist)
If you’re playing Blasphemous 2 optimally, then you won’t be taking damage at all. That scenario, however, is nigh-unattainable, especially for new players, which makes Thorned Retort a valid option. With this Resonance active, you’ll retaliate with a barrier of miasma damage-inflicting thorns whenever you take damage.
This is most effective in close-quarters combat, since the thorns will often be able to finish off an opponent who managed to hit you before you were done with them, and it works great on bosses as well. Once you master blocking or dodging you may swap Thorned Retort out for something else, but until then it’s a very solid choice for any build.
