Managed to knock that hunter off his perch by swapping back to the pistol: just unloaded on him as soon as I reached the top of the ladder and it pushed him back. Suckah!
Now on to the Blood/Starved Beast. Have a shortcut so it's super easy to run to the fight. He's kind of tough. V easy to parry early on but eventually he always gets me poisoned or grabs me and eats me while I'm hanging around waiting for a parry opportunity. Got a helpful note outside that he's weak to fire. Considering grinding a bunch of cash to buy a stock of molotovs: maybe I'll fight him legit until his third poison-leaking form and then just chuck grenades at him until he's char and ash.
Seems like the NPC summon is a trap. Dude gets double HP or so...
Dudes this game is so good. That blood-starved beast lookin' thing hung on the chandelier of the Old Yarnham cathedral was rad. Finding a way to light it on fire was rad even though it didn't "do" anything.
So I noticed summoning that buddy cost me an Insight. I don't get Insight yet. Should I be actively managing it? Like trying to keep it low by buying things in the Dream or always summoning? I haven't used any Madman's Knowledge yet: should I be? If not, what should I be banking it for?
I've never beaten Djura legit, though it's not intentional. Whenever, I reach the top of the ladder and start fighting him, after a couple engagements, either I fall off due to a mistimed dodge, or he falls off. That area is way too small for a Hunter Vs Hunter fight.
If you can Visceral BSB, then just stay close to him all the time, no matter the phase. All his attacks when you're right in his face are punishable with a correctly timed gun-stun -> Visceral.
As for insight, it's like a secondary currency. You can use it to buy extra stuff from the insight shop (stuff like Blood rocks, chunks etc. which are found in limited quantities within the game), for co-op and for seeing some additional effects in the world around you. Some enemies and bosses have different attack tendencies if you have high insight. For example, in the Cathedral Ward area, if you have insight over 15, those Church guardians with lanterns will fire homing arcane missiles at you. Also, an optional boss in the game will be more aggressive with his arcane attacks if you have high insight.