Blasphemous 2: Best Rosary Beads, Ranked

Summary

Rosary Beads in Blasphemous 2 provide various buffs and resistances to players, enhancing the bonuses they already receive.
There are 27 Rosary Beads spread across the religious areas in the game for players to find.
Different Rosary Beads come in varying levels of rarity, with stronger or weaker effects depending on the icons underneath their name.

Rosary Beads are back in Blasphemous 2, and they offer all kinds of different buffs and resistances on top of the bonuses players are already getting from the Altairpieces Statues and Resonance combinations. There are about 27 Rosary Beads to be found in Blasphemous 2, spread all across the various horrifying religious areas of this world for the Penitent One to find.

Additionally, Rosary Beads come in varying levels of rarity, with the effect of each Bead being stronger or weaker depending on the icons underneath its name. So, with that in mind, let's go over the strongest Rosary Bead options overall, and rank them against each other.

8 Deformed Rat Skull

Blasphemous 2 - Looking At The Deformed Rat Skull In The Rosary Beads Menu

Name	Effect
Deformed Rat Skull	Slightly increases Martyrdom Points earned

Starting things off with a smaller buff, the Deformed Rat Skull. This is a perfect example to use to elaborate on the fact that most Rosary effects in this game have multiple items that grant varying levels of that effect, with each one granting either a 'Slight' amount, a general 'Increase', or a 'Significant' increase to the stat of choice. The Deformed Rat Skull is only a slight increase to Martyrdom Points, but any bonus to Marks of Martyrdom Points earned is worthwhile, considering how many Marks of Martyrdom players will need to unlock all the Altairpiece slots and Weapon Memories.

7 Concentrated Sphere Of Guilt

Blasphemous 2 - Picking Up The Concentrated Sphere Of Guilt

Name	Effect
Concentrated Sphere of Guilt	Significantly reduces the amount of guilt the Penitent One drops upon death

This next one is only recommended for players who find themselves dying and respawning at save points a pretty decent amount in Blasphemous 2, which is likely still a significant portion of the player base, considering the game's difficulty. When the Penitent One dies in Blasphemous 2, he 'drops' some guilt at the place he died which players then go back and pick up to reclaim. However, without that Guilt, the Penitent One's Fervour bar is severely reduced, which can be pretty rough, depending on the player's starting weapon. Thankfully, with this Concentrated Sphere of Guilt equipped, the Penitent One can hold on to a lot more of his Guilt when he dies, which is, weirdly enough, a positive thing in the world of Blasphemous 2.

6 Miniature Pincushion

Blasphemous 2 - Opening The Chest With The Mini Pincushion Inside

Name	Effect
Miniature Pincushion	Significantly reduces the damage of traps and falls

While there aren't an absurd number of traps in Blasphemous 2, there are still enough to put a player on edge. And, most of the time, they're spaced in a way that players need to either defeat enemies to avoid nearby traps or avoid traps to defeat nearby enemies.

Well, with the Miniature Pin Cushion, that'll be at least a bit less of a concern. It doesn't negate the damage the Penitent One takes from traps and falls, that would be a bit too much. But, it does Significantly reduce the damage those traps will deal.

5 Obolus of Proximo

Blasphemous 2 - Opening The Chest With The Obolus Of Proxima Inside

Name	Effect
Obolus of Proximo	Significantly increases the Tears of Atonement gained

If one had to compare to importance of the Marks of Martyrdom to the Tears of Atonement in Blasphemous 2, most players would place more importance on the Marks. Marks of Martyrdom aren't used in a ton of different places, but the places they are used have a massive impact on the player's character. Meanwhile, the Tears of Atonement are useful for buying items from NPC Shops and a few other uses, but are typically not of dire importance. That said, with the Obolus of Proximo equipped, players will be able to build up a dragon's hoard of Tears of Atonement without even really meaning to.

4 Any Of The 'Significant' Elemental Resistance Beads

Blasphemous 2 - Opening The Chest With The Scratched Face From The Cavas Inside

Name	Effect
Imprint of Scalopendra	Significantly increases resistance to Fire damage
Sphere Kissed by the Storm	Significantly increases resistance to Lightning damage
Scratched Face from the Canvas	Significantly increases resistance to Mystical damage
Compass of the Stranded	Significantly increases resistance to Miasma damage
Votive Offering Claimed by Rust	Significantly increases elemental resistance

There are quite a few different elemental resistance-focused Rosary Beads to find in Blasphemous 2. Imprint of Scalopendra, Scratched Face from the Canvas, Compass of the Stranded, and many more items. Granted, the ones that slightly increase resistance to different elements such as Miasma, Fire, or Mystical damage won't have a very noticeable impact, but once players start collecting the general increase items or the Significant increase ones, these are absolutely worth equipping.

In fact, to prove it, players can simply switch out their Rosary Beads to the elemental resistance items most related to the boss the player is currently fighting. After fighting said boss with those Beads equipped, it'll be almost immediately apparent just how much of a difference in damage taken these Rosary Beads can make.

3 Embossed Rat Skull

Blasphemous 2 - Opening The Chest With The Embossed Rat Skull Inside

Name	Effect
Embossed Rat Skull	Significantly increases Martyrdom Points earned

Moving on to the upgraded version of the Deformed Rat Skull, and like one would expect, it's just a simple upgrade in effect. So, for entirely the same reason as the Deformed Rat Skull being equipped, players who want to get as many Marks of Martyrdom as they can, as quickly as they can, should keep this equipped. Of course, once the player reaches a certain point in their progression through Blasphemous 2, this Rosary Bead will likely never be equipped again. But, up until that point, which will very likely be a good amount of time, it's hard to ever justify unequipping this one.

2 Chisel-Engraved Wounds

Blasphemous 2 - Purchasing The Chisel Engraved Wounds

Name	Effect
Chisel-Engraved Wounds	Emits a ghostly sound when approaching hidden corners

Ah, the secret-discovering item AKA the Chisel-Engraved Wounds. This one is a bit of an involved process to get as it includes giving a very specific item to an NPC. But, once players get this item, they'll likely almost always have it equipped. And the funniest part is, while this Rosary Bead is incredibly helpful in finding secrets, it doesn't narrow things down all that specifically, so a lot of the time players will hear that 'ghostly' sound and then spend a frustrating amount of time trying to figure out exactly where that sound was intended to make them look.

1 Pewter Tears

Blasphemous 2 - Opening The Chest With The Pewter Tears Inside

Name	Effect
Pewter Tears	Significantly increases all resistance to all physical damage.

And lastly, at the top of the list, it's the Pewter Tears. While technically an elemental resistance item, physical damage is so everpresent in Blasphemous 2 that anything that reduces it deserves its own spot. And, the Pewter Tears significantly reduce the amount of physical damage the Penitent One takes. While this may not have a massive effect on a lot of the bosses in the game, since many of them tend to rely on elemental damage, it absolutely will for a lot of the basic mobs while the player is exploring the map. Anything that keeps the Penitent One alive longer during a long fight (with any one of the three available weapons) is going to be highly sought after.