Bayonetta Pro Tips Everyone Needs To Know (#5 Is Essential)

After beating Bayonetta multiple times, I have put together a list of the best tips everyone should know when playing the acclaimed action title.

In total, there are 10 professional Bayonetta tips that will help players manage the game’s grueling difficulty. From dodging to underrated offensive maneuvers to battle strategies and the use of items, these vital tips can prove helpful during all gaming sessions.

In fact, these nuggets of wisdom helped me get through the game more than once and I suggest everyone new to the game start here.

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Bayonetta Pro Tips Everyone Needs To Know

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These 10 Bayonetta pro tips will help anyone playing through the game’s campaign story mode.

Utilizing everything on this list—from dodging to using items, retrying stages to equipping accessories—will help you make it to the end credits in one piece (though, you may face defeat quite a few times but that is to be expected).

I studied my dozens of hours of playthrough footage to craft these tips in hopes of helping you on your Bayonetta journey.

Even more, many of the tips in this list will even apply to Bayonetta’s sequels, Bayonetta 2 and 3.

Now, then, let’s start the list!

NOTE: Bayonetta is available on Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Wii U, Xbox, and Steam PC among other platforms.

1) Dodging Is The Most Important Thing In The Game

Learn how to dodge because it is the most important part of the game. Yes. Even more important than attacking.

Fundamentally, Bayonetta consists of two parts: attacking and dodging.

Attacking deals damage and dodging keeps Bayonetta alive while also providing opportunities to attack.

Attacking, on the other hand, usually does not provide opportunities to dodge as Bayonetta tends to remain in her attacking animation which sometimes prevents a seamless transition into a dodge.

Dodging, therefore, is pivotal to master. Press the dodge button at the correct moment to evade an enemy attack and prevent taking damage.

This is how you survive waves of enemies from the first chapter to the last.

Bayonetta consists of two parts: attacking and dodging

Press the dodge button at an even more specific moment to activate the slow motion ability (called “Witch Time”) that slows all enemies around Bayonetta for a short period of time.

This perfectly timed dodge presents you with the opportunity to deal as much damage as possible while nearby enemies are basically frozen in place.

Pressing dodge and activating Witch Time is how one progresses from battle to battle in one piece.

What’s more, boss attacks basically require an understanding of dodging and dodge timing.

These mightier enemies will destroy players that don’t have their evasion techniques down.

How To Practice Dodging In Bayonetta

I suggest playing the first chapter multiple times to practice dodging in a controlled environment before continuing the game.

Start on very easy difficulty first to keep things manageable. Try and dodge enemy attacks as best you can.

When you feel you are proficient enough, move the difficulty up and repeat the process until dodging is your new best friend.

2) Focus On One Enemy At A Time

Focusing on one enemy at a time will help you defeat all enemies quicker (and survive).

Enemies tend to swarm Bayonetta and surround her in each stage. Because of this, it becomes much harder to focus on defeating one enemy let alone all of them.

The urge to attack the closest enemy may arise due to the frenetic action gameplay that keeps Bayonetta and foes moving around the stage.

Additionally, attacking various foes instead of one may also occur due to auto-targeting being implemented on easier settings.

Whatever the case, I’m here to say targeting multiple enemies without focusing on a single threat will only cause more harm than good.

A focused mind will lead to victory

Why? The more enemies that remain alive, the more opportunities the foes will have to deal damage to Bayonetta and defeat her.

Combat Strategy: Dealing With Multiple Enemies In Bayonetta

Spending time attacking various different enemies without defeating any of them means more danger for you.

Keep targeting a single enemy when approached by a group. Whittle that one foes’ health down until it is destroyed, dodging attacks from nearby enemies while doing so.

And then move on to the next baddie. Repeat the singular target technique until every creature is destroyed.

Doing can make battles and combat more manageable. I know combat felt a lot smoother when I began defeating one enemy at a time versus dealing a bit of damage to each one.

A focused mind will lead to victory I always say.

3) Use The Standard Firing Button

The standard firing button may go overlooked but proves useful in certain instances.

At first, pressing the button that fires Bayonetta’s guns appears weaker than using her punches and kicks. And it is.

Bayonetta’s various other attacks, combos, and unlocked techniques should be used to defeat everything from the common enemy to the mightiest of boss fights.

The standard fire, however, proves very useful against aerial enemies and enemies out of reach. These foes can be vanquished from afar by simply holding down the firing button.

The ranged attack may not do much damage but the damage stacks up over time, whittling a creature’s health away with every bullet fired.

When To Use Standard Fire In Bayonetta

When a foe is flying around and can’t be reached by jumping or attacking, use the standard fire attack. It’s better to deal some damage than no damage at all.

Then, resume using your standard array of attacks when the creature gets close.

Apply the same tactics with the various epic boss encounters throughout the game–many times, the only way to deal damage to bosses that are hard to reach is by using the basic fire attack.

Many players overlook the standard firing ability, yet I highly suggest you to reconsider this offensive attack for use.

It does come in handy and should be utilized in the correct situations.

4) Experiment With Abilities

Experiment with all the techniques, weapons, and combos at your disposal to find your favorite play style.

Bayonetta boasts a wide assortment of offensive and defensive maneuvers yet most will only use a few of them through a single playthrough.

Being comfortable with the basics can carry you through the end credits, but the game has so much more to offer in terms of gameplay additions.

For instance, new weapons can be purchased at the shop and can be equipped to Bayonetta’s hands or feet.

Each weapon is unique and alters gameplay, attack speed, damage, and how attacks are combed into the next.

Mix up your combos by utilizing both the punch and kick buttons

The same can be said for the various optional techniques purchasable in the shop. There are over a dozen techniques to learn and play with.

Simply replay the first chapter to try out that new weapon or technique that looked cool in the shop and familiarize yourself with it.

Or, stop mashing on a single attack button. Mix up your combos, instead, by utilizing both the punch and kick buttons or even use mid air attacks to navigate combat with flair.

Just keep experimenting to get the most out of Bayonetta gameplay sessions.

The variety of combat maneuvers at ones disposal is what keeps the game fresh for me and countless others you love this game.

5) Buy And Use Health And Magic Upgrades

Boost your health and magic gauges by purchasing the health and magic upgrades from the shop.

The Witch Heart and Moon Pearl might go unnoticed by most players since they are placed at the bottom of the items list (and only appear after progressing through the early stages of the game).

Perhaps, you weren’t even aware of them in the first place. Let’s fix that!

The Witch Heart increases Bayonetta’s maximum health once purchased and can be purchased numerous times until they run out of stock.

These two items should be high priority for all players

The Moon Pearl is exactly the same but increases Bayonetta’s maximum magic gauge—of course, magic is used to perform special attacks among other things and is quite helpful.

These two items should be high priority for all players to buy. They’re easy upgrades once you collect enough halos (the in-game currency).

Save your money and begin by purchasing health then upgrade the magic gauge, depending on your needs.

What Should You Upgrade First: Health Or Magic?

Personally, I maxed my health first as the extra long life gauge allowed me to take more hits from enemies and bosses.

Staying alive is kind of important.

Ultimately, it’s up to you which to upgrade first. The takeaway is to know that these two items exist and should be purchased sooner than later.

If you need help figuring out what items from the shop you should buy first in Bayonetta, Check out this helpful guide I created by clicking here.

6) Buy Items From The Shop And Use Them

Purchasing items from the shop and using them during gameplay can mean life or death in Bayonetta.

They’re available to purchase for a reason. So use them.

A perfectly timeD item can prevent you from dying

Of course, veteran players trying to get the highest score on each level may not want to use them.

Why? Using an item acts as a penalty to the final score given at the end of each stage.

That’s why I fully understand why people don’t use items, either for this purpose or perhaps items make the game too easy.

But if you’re playing for the first time or having a rough go at the game, I highly recommend using items from the shop.

Why You Should Use Items In Bayonetta

A perfectly timed item can prevent you from starting a challenging level from the previous check point or even the beginning the stage.

For example, utilizing the red lollipop will grant a severe boost in attack strength for a duration, allowing Bayonetta to defeat foes quickly even at higher difficulty settings.

No enemy will survive Bayonetta’s extra power.

And the yellow lollipop provides a shield of invincibility which prevents Bayonetta from being damaged for a set period of time while the green lollipop heals a certain percentage of health.

The shop even sells an item that revives Bayonetta upon death, acting as a sort of “extra life”.

Use items to keep you alive if you have to and just have fun with your first playthrough. Then, focus on high scores the second time around if you want.

I’ve used items during boss fights and tough spots in latter parts of the game and enjoyed doing so.

7) Purchase And Equip Accessories

Buying accessories allows Bayonetta to gain new abilities that prove beneficial over the course of the game. For accessories to take effect, however, the player must equip them first.

Forgetting to equip a purchased accessory is one of the biggest mistakes players can make.

Honestly, I even made that mistake during one of my Bayonetta playthroughs. I couldn’t understand why my new accessory ability wasn’t activating.

Silly me! Eventually, I stumbled upon one simple fact: simply purchasing an accessory does not activate its ability.

Equipping it does.

Accessories must be equipped to take effect

Thankfully, equipping an accessory in Bayonetta is quite easy by using the options menu available while in a chapter.

Bayonetta can equip up to two accessories at a time so make sure to maximize perks by always having two accessories equipped.

Head to the shop and read the descriptions for each accessory then purchase the duo that gel with your play style.

If you need some help figuring out what accessory you should buy first, check out this helpful Bayonetta guide that details every item you need to purchase first by clicking here.

8) Explore Each Level For Hidden Items

Most levels include hidden items and treasures to find. Benefits of finding hidden treasures range from increased health and magic to new weapons and lore.

Hidden items that can be found in a given level include

Broken Witch Hearts that will increase the health gauge once four are collected
Broken Moon Pearls that will increase the magic gauge once three are collected
Arcade Bullets that add three shots to the Angel-Attack! mini-game at the end of a level
Umbran Tears of Blood collectibles, lore pages, and Angelic Hymns Gold LP used to unlock new weapons

I suggest going through each level multiple times to find every collectible if you care to do so.

Play through each stage once to clear it (grabbing any visible rare treasures as you go) and then once more, searching every nook and cranny for hidden items.

This is how I played through Bayonetta which allowed me to enjoy the story, gameplay, and pacing while also netting me a lot of rare items.

9) It’s Okay To Die And Retry A Level

Dying in Bayonetta is mandatory, so there is no need to feel bad for doing so.

The developers crafted Bayonetta to be difficult. Like, insanely difficult at times.

The game is meant to punish players to entice them to improve their skills, learn enemy behaviors, and figure out how to overcome a difficult situation.

Bayonetta is meant to be difficult; embrace the challenge

Therefore, being defeated by the waves of enemies in the first stage or the epic boss encounter in the final level is perfectly normal.

There is no shame in defeat when playing Bayonetta as long as you learn from each play session.

In fact, dying countless times is what helped me create this helpful list of tips and tricks. I stared defeat in the face and came out better, with new strategies to overcome every situation.

Strategies I’m gladly passing on to you. Right here, right now.

So, die some and then improve some in order to get the most out of your Bayonetta playthrough.

10) Tweak The Difficulty To Your Liking

Finally, tweak the difficulty up or down if the game is either too easy or hard.

I already covered why dying is okay, but dying too many times may prove frustrating if the game becomes too challenging.

If this becomes the case, simply change the difficulty in the options menu.

Bayonetta allows the difficulty to be changed at any time between chapters which is an awesome accessibility option to have.

This allows players with broad skill levels to increase or decrease the challenge level at any point in the game. I love it!

Boss a little too tricky? Decrease the difficulty from Normal to Easy.

Blasting through stages without taking damage? Increase the difficulty from Normal to Hard.

Play Bayonetta the way you want to play it

I’ve increased the difficulty when I felt certain stages were too easy (such as the first few chapters) and I decreased it on certain boss fights towards the end of the game.

Just like dying, there’s no shame in tweaking difficulty settings in Bayonetta.

More so, completionists should actively play the entire game on each difficulty since the game saves scores for each chapter-difficulty combination separately.

I’m here to say never let anyone tell you how to play Bayonetta the way you want to play it. Not even me!

I’m just here to provide you with the best tips and tricks I found during my multiple playthroughs to help you on your journey.

Ultimately, I want you to make your way through this bucket list action title the way you want to.

Go ahead and play Bayonetta 1, now that you’re equipped with this list of awesome pro tips that will help you through the game.

Happy gaming!

Bonus Tips: How To Earn Money Quickly In Bayonetta Early On

Earning money in Bayonetta can be tricky early on in the game, but it doesn’t have to be.

You can easily obtain approximately 100,000 halos every ten minutes as early as chapter one as long as you know how to acquire them.

Yes. You read that correctly: you can earn 100,000 halos every ten minutes as early as the first chapter.

I created a detailed picture guide that includes a video walkthrough (if you prefer) of this get-quick-rich method I personally used early on in my Bayonetta playthroughs.

Check out How To Earn Halos Fast and Early On In Bayonetta.