One of the defining features of Valor Mortis is the numerous supernatural powers at your disposal, one of which opens up plenty of exploration opportunities in the form of the grappling hook ability.
While you might have already come across several spots that you would expect to be able to hook onto, you’ll need to first progress past a certain point in the main story before coming back to access them.
Where To Unlock The Grappling Hook
The area in which you can unlock the grappling hook in Valor Mortis is thankfully fairly into the experience, and can be found towards the end of the village chapter, which is unlocked after beating General Lothaire.
Once you’ve made your way up to the Marketplace Lantern, you can take the following path to get there the fastest:
- Head from the Marketplace Lantern down the path and climb the ladder
- Continue along the road until you reach the patrolling guards
- Follow the path right and enter the house with the firing squad in front
- Make your way to the backyard and go down the ladder
- Use the stairs to leave towards the orchard, and follow the path up the hill
After pushing past the numerous enemies in your way, you’ll come across a pretty obvious boss arena with explosive barrels scattered about, which will open up to reveal The Marshall standing in the way of your handy upgrade.
How To Defeat The Marshall
Compared to General Lothaire, The Marshall is a bit of a pushover with far less of a complicated attack pattern, but one that can still take a bit of getting used to with high-damage attacks and awkward movements.
You can also try to lure The Marshall towards the barrels I mentioned earlier, but they will break without exploding if he gets too close, so you’ll need to shoot or use fire to activate them in advance.
The main attacks you’ll want to watch out for are, unsurprisingly, the two ranged cannon attacks, similar to Lothaire. One is a large ranged projectile that you’ll want to wait until the attack reticle blinks to dodge, and a shotgun blast that you’ll need to dodge repeatedly to the left or right in order to avoid.
In terms of weaknesses, the large windup melee attacks are definitely worth parrying here, as the boss can be taken out with just a few loops of parrying and critical attacks, although it can take some time to get used to the rhythm of the repeated attacks.
I would recommend dodging for the first few volleys and instead relying on the Fire Transmutation and shooting his Nephtoglobin weak spots until you get the hang of The Marshall’s attacks.
How To Use The Grappling Hook
While you might be excited at all the possibilities that would open up with the new traversal mechanic, you’ll only be able to actually use the grappling hook at specific hooks scattered across the game world, which can be easily spotted from their bright blue glow and hook input prompt that appears when looking at them.
Despite not being able to be used for combat or more freely, where you start a grapple makes a significant difference for where you end up, and it isn’t just a way to get from one specific spot to another. While this doesn’t have too many uses, there are still several occasions where you can angle a grappling hook to get a drop on an enemy or quickly escape danger.
You’ll also be able to pull down specific barricades with the grappling hook that can be easily spotted by the bright glowing blue flower sprouting from them, which, when pulled, often unlocks shortcuts or occasionally new areas to explore.
