The departure from the fantasy setting of Dark Souls and Demon’s Souls to the Lovecraftian eldritch horror of Bloodborne, From Software has nailed it when translating their signature method of gameplay and world-building to this new setting. Their already established formula of lore and drip-feeding the narrative is perfect for the cosmic stakes of Bloodborne, where the world is dealing with entities their feeble minds cannot even fathom.
So in order to understand these otherworldly phenomenons, the players have to acquire Insight or the understanding power that is necessary to make sense of the extraterrestrial invaders and their various influences that are governing the world. The more you are in intune with this knowledge, you will see the veil lifting from your eyes and the truth of the reality presented itself.
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In layman’s terms, Insight is a stat and also a currency that you get when you first experience the extramundane bosses and locations in Bloodborne. It is also used to initiate multiplayer in the game. And can be used to buy items from a special shop. It has game-altering effects too if you have a large number of it.
There are minute and massive details that Insight has an impact on which we will discuss in detail below.
What Is Insight?
Insight is a stat and also a currency in Bloodborne which you can clearly view underneath the Blood Echoes counter on your HUD, denoted by an eye icon. You can hold a maximum of 99 Insight at any given time. The more Insight you have the more you will start to see changes in the world as your “eyes” are opening to the truth.
As stated above this stat is the key to unlocking and witnessing the secrets of the world and will have an impact on the gameplay and world in general. As you accumulate this “knowledge” of sorts you will see the nightmare that has taken over this civilization. It can be a blessing as things will begin to make sense with enough Insight but it also becomes a curse as it will start impacting your perception and more weird stuff will begin to happen.
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Insight is also required to use both the Beckoning Bell for becoming the host and asking for online help and Resonant Bell for becoming the guest in someone’s world and helping them. Hence a crucial aspect if you want to experience this game fully with your friends or engage in multiplayer in general.
Obtaining Insight
As you progress through the game you will be given Insight at different intervals and there are items that you can consume to get some too. The number of Insight will be different in each scenario with 1 being the lowest and 3 the highest you can get at any particular time. All the ways through which you can get Insight are listed below:
- First encounter with most Bosses. (amount varies)
- Taking down Bosses. (amount varies)
- By helping a host defeat a Boss as a guest in multiplayer. (+1)
- Invading and killing another player using the Sinister Bell. (+1)
- Consuming a Madman’s Knowledge. (+1)
- Consuming a Great One’s Wisdom. (+2)
- Consuming a One Third of Umbilical Cord. (+3)
- Consuming a Blood Dreg. (+1)
- By being grabbed by an invisible force outside the Oedon Chapel in Cathedral Ward. (+1)
- Sending NPCs to the safe haven at Iosefka’s Clinic. (+1 for each, +2 if you send all)
- Entering the Abandoned Old Workshop. (+2)
- Entering Iosefka’s Clinic from the Forbidden Woods back entrance. (+1)
- Entering Yahar’gul, Unseen Village by getting grabbed by a Snatcher. (+1)
- Finding Lecture Building 1st floor lamp. (+2)
- Entering Nightmare Frontier from the Lecture Building. (+2)
- Entering Nightmare of Mensis from the Lecture Building. (+3)
- Entering Forsaken Cainhurst Castle. (+2)
- Finding Annalise, Queen of the Vilebloods in Cainhurst Castle (+2)
- Discovering Patches the Spider’s true form. (+2)
- “Talking” to Master Willem. (+2)
- Seeing Arianna’s Infant. (+3)
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Insight Thresholds And Its Effects
As mentioned above different levels of Insight will have varying impacts on the world and the player. The impact of Insight on the player stats themselves are:
- The more Insight you have the lower the Beasthood stat will be and vice versa. Lore wise this means you are less likely to become a mindless beast if you have this additional knowledge.
- The more Insight you have the lower the Frenzy resistance will be and vice versa. Lore wise this means that with more knowledge of the eldritch nature of the world you are prone to going crazy/frenzied by frenzy inducing sources.
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Having a certain number of Insight will trigger different events and aspects of the game which we have listed down below:
| Insight | Effects |
|---|---|
| 1 | Insight Bath Messenger shop becomes available in Hunter’s Dream for the rest of the playthrough. Plain Doll comes to life. A group of Messengers appears in the Hunter’s Dream next to the Plain Doll, granting you the Beckoning Bell and Silencing Blank as gifts. Mad Ones will spawn during the Witch of Hemwick fight. |
| 15 | The Church Doctors in Cathedral Ward shoot projectiles from their lamps. The scythe and cross variants’ weapons have buffs. Gehrman speaks whilst sleeping outside his house in the Hunter’s Dream. Mad Ones will spawn at various predetermined locations in Hemwick Charnel Lane, only after learning the password. |
| 30 | Winter Lanterns can be heard singing in an off-key tone at a further distance. |
| 40 | Lesser Amygdala becomes visible in the Cathedral Ward and other areas. This can also be unlocked by transitioning the game into the blood moon phase. A new song will play in Hunter’s Dream even before transitioning the game into the blood moon phase. |
| 50 | Hunter’s Dream theme changes even before transitioning the game into the blood moon phase. |
| 60 | A baby’s cry can occasionally be heard off in the distance in any area except the Hunter’s Dream. |
Insight Shop (Insight Bath Messenger)
As a currency Insight can be used to buy items from the Insight Bath Messenger shop in Hunter’s Dream which is located just outside the left door in the Workshop. The items range from upgrading material to multiplayer items. You can also get armor sets after defeating certain NPCs and Bosses. Temporary weapon buffing items are available here too. The whole list of items is mentioned below:
Insight, which feels like a currency initially, is a far-reaching mechanic that impacts many different aspects of the world of Bloodborne. It has great significance when it comes to the lore of the land, all the while having major ramifications which are visually seen and affecting secretly as well. The game won’t even try to educate you about such an important mechanic and one should be well aware of it considering its significance. Luckily we have you covered right here!