Bayonetta 3 Patch Adjusts Viola Gameplay, Niflheim Difficulty, and Tricolored Keys

There’s a new 1.2.0 Bayonetta 3 patch, and it seems to address many quality of life issues. Plenty of bug fixes appear, as well as rebalancing changes. However, now when people play Bayonetta 3, they should notice some alterations to Viola segments and Niflheim difficulty levels, as well as find it easier to collect the three Tricolored Keys.

All of the changes to Viola following the Bayonetta 3 patch are designed to help with blocking, triggering Witch Time, not accidentally losing charge, or accidentally performing Assault Slave. Blocking will be easier, as there’s a new window. Witch Time also includes an extra activation animation and lasts longer. Also, people shouldn’t accidentally use Assault Slave when trying to dodge enemies.

As for Niflheim stages in Bayonetta 3, there are slight adjustments that influence difficulty regardless which level someone chooses. Depending on the stage, either the amount of time you have to beat it by 20-30 seconds or people get an additional life.

Here are the full 1.2.0 Bayonetta 3 patch notes from Nintendo. Note that the ones regarding the Tricolored Keys do not mention any Bayonetta 3 spoilers.

Combat Adjustments

• Adjusted Viola’s activation window for “Block” and activation conditions for Witch Time.
  • Block activation window added after releasing Block (during the release animation).
  • Added an additional animation when Witch Time takes effect, making its activation easier to realize.
  • The allotted duration of Witch Time, and its activation window have been lengthened.
  • Now, when block is activated when player is attacked, player will receive damage effect, but block will succeed and activate Witch Time.
  • Now, combo can continue (with Dodge Offset) when player uses Block to activate Witch Time.
  • If the Block input is used repeatedly, the granted Witch Time duration will decrease.
• Adjustments made to prevent Viola’s evasive input and Cheshire’s summoning input from activating Assault Slave while maintaining invincibility if they are used in rapid succession.
• Weapons “Simoon”, “Tartarus” and Viola’s Charge Attacks can now continue to hold charge, even if dodged or blocked.
• Wink Slave can now be activated from the combos “PKP*” and “PKK*” for the weapons “G-Pillar”, “Dead End Express” and “Cassiopeia”.*P is Punch, and K is Kick
• When equipping the accessories “Infernal Communicator” and “Pulley’s Butterfly” to summon Devils and Butterflies, it is now possible to cancel the summoning motion by dodging or blocking.

Niflheim

The following Niflheim stage conditions were changed to lower the difficulty:

Niflheim Stage	Changed Conditions
Chapter 2 Verse 5（Casual to Expert）	120 second time limit changed to 150 second time limit
Chapter 3 Verse 4（Casual to Expert）	Two lives increased to three lives
Chapter 5 Verse 2 (Casual to Expert）	150 second time limit changed to 180 second time limit
Chapter 6 Verse 8 (Casual to Expert）	Two lives increased to three lives
Chapter 9 Verse 8 (Casual to Expert)	60 second time limit changed to 80 second time limit
Chapter 10 Verse 1 (Casual to Expert)	140 second time limit changed to 160 second time limit
Chapter 12 Verse 5 (Casual to Expert)	One life increased to two lives

Game Modes

• Conditions for obtaining the “Tricolored Keys” needed to unseal the “Old Picture Book” have been made easier.
  • “Tricolored Keys” will be automatically available on the chapter select screen once it becomes possible to access the “Gates of Hell”.
• Even if the player already has access to the Gates of Hell, or has already obtained one or two keys, they will automatically obtain the remaining keys when going to the chapter select screen after applying the update.

Other Changes

• Adjustments have been made to the Golem Treasure Chests found in stages.
  • Time limits have been increased, and difficulty has been lowered.
  • Golem Chest fragmenting animation can now be fast-forwarded with the B-button.
• Adjustments have been made to reduce situations with poor camera visibility.
• Adjusted game balance.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug in Verse 5 of Chapter 7 that prevented progress when certain actions were performed while controlling Cheshire.
• Fixed a problem with the accessory “Hymn of Durga” in which its effect was not being applied to some attacks.
• Fixed an issue where using Alruna’s “Bondage Whip (P or K* long press)” skill in certain situations would cause the enemies to to die instantly.
• Fixed an issue where the weapons using “Crow Within” (J* long press)” with “Scarborough Fair” and “Love is Blue” would cause player to move forward significantly under certain conditions.
• Fixed an issue where Bayonetta’s animations would not play correctly when switching weapons immediately after using the “Crow Within (J* long press)” with the weapons “Scarborough Fair” and “Love is Blue”.
• Fixed a bug that caused “Black Pearl Rain (Rotate L stick + S*)” for Infernal Demon “Kraken” to trigger “Wink Slave” with abnormally high attack power.
• Fixed a bug that caused “Devil Rodin” to be stuck for a time when using “After Burner Kick (↑K* in midair)” continuously, immediately after rising up with a prior “After Burner Kick (J・K*)”.
• Fixed a bug in which Viola’s Assault Slave was able to summon Infernal Demons in “Infernal Demon-prohibited areas”.
• Fixed an error in the hand symbol seen in Cutie J’s transformation sequence viewable in Side Chapter.
• Fixed other issues to make the game more enjoyable to play.

*P is Punch, K is Kick, S is Shoot, and J is Jump.

Bayonetta 3 is available for the Nintendo Switch.