The Combo System of Bayonetta 3, like earlier entries, is one of the vital metrics the game keeps track of during combat to measure a player's ability. Combo points are earned every time the player successfully attacks their enemies and higher combo scores are essential in order to achieve the highest rankings on individual Verses and entire Chapters.
Maximizing Combo Score[]
The number of combo points accumulates throughout the course of the battle and, like previous games, there are some general tips that will aid you in getting Platinum rankings:
- Maintaining a combo is essential in order to keep increasing the points gained. If certain enemies are too far away to land physical hits against, using to shoot them from a distance is a good way to prevent the combo from breaking. Holding to taunt nearby enemies or while waiting for more enemies to spawn will also keep the combo active for the duration of the taunt.
- Physical attacks are efficient point generators on their own, but mixing up melee hits with the finishers generated by Demon Masquerade, the use of the Demon Slave skill, and indeed using different types of attack combinations in general will quickly ramp up the points and multipliers, a playstyle encouraged by the introduction of the new Improvisation bonus.
Calculating Combo Score[]
When a combo is "broken" due to lack of successive attacks or by finishing the current Verse, the combo score will be added to the total combo score for that Verse. Combo score is calculated by the following formula:
- Combo Score = Combo Points * Combo Multiplier
- Combo Points increase every time an enemy is successfully hit with an attack. As a general rule, stronger attacks will give more combo points than weaker ones. In Bayonetta 3, the base value for standard kicks and punches has been slightly rebalanced to further emphasise this trait (12 per punch, 30 per kick). Combo visually points max out at 9999, but the actual value can go beyond this limit. There is no cap on how many combo points you can gain in a single combo.
- Combo Multiplier is a value determined by how many combo points you currently have in a single combo string. The combo multiplier begins at 1.0 and increases every time you earn a certain number of combo points. The multiplier increases by varying factors depending on what certain conditions. Regular melee attacks increase the multiplier by factors of 0.05, similar to Bayonetta 2, but other attacks make this multiplier increase by larger factors.
Maintaining Combos[]
The current combo string will continue to be displayed in the "queue" located below the combo point counter as long as the player continues to land attacks on enemies. Different types of attacks will stay in the queue for different amounts of time before the combo is broken:
- Melee attacks: 3 seconds
- Strong melee attacks: 4 seconds
- Demon Masquerade attacks: 4 seconds
- Demon Slave attacks: 3 seconds
- Attacks landed with : 4 seconds
- Torture Attacks: 4 seconds
For example: landing a successful attack using Demon Slave will cause the point value to stay in the queue for 3 seconds, meaning that your combo will not drop for at least 3 seconds.
Unlike in previous games, in Bayonetta 3, opening the equipments menu immediately breaks a combo.
Whenever a combo ends, you'll earn Orbs equal to 10% of your total combo score (rounded down).
Conditional Bonuses[]
Under certain conditions, attacks may give more combo points than usual.
- Witch Time: Combo points during Witch Time are worth 1.5x their normal value. If playing as Jeanne, this bonus becomes 2.0x.
- Enraged Enemies: Combo points from enraged enemies are worth 1.15x their normal value.
- Improvisation: Combo points earned via Improvisation are worth 1.15x their normal value.
- Improvisation activates after successfully landing attacks with , , projectiles from (including bullets from Colour My World via Dodge Offset), a Demon Slave attack (incl. Wink Slave) and a Demon Masquerade attack. These attack types can be used in any order, but all must successfully hit an enemy to activate the bonus. Once the bonus is activated, it will stay active until the combo is dropped or the Verse is finished.