I am playing Dark Souls for the first time and I am not enjoying myself that much. Difficulty of bosses have been really low compared to BB (only the boss in Bligthttown took several tries) and the game consists mainly of traversal back and forth between fires.
Also, I had to abandon using heavy armor since the speed of walking was so low, even though I invested heavily in endurance. I wanted to make a heavy armor knight with sword/axe and shield or greatsword but it seems I have to give that up.
I went from Bloodborne to Dark Souls and I found the more steady speed unsettling at first. It made me change my build to a DEX build with a Katana so I could feel myself dodging at something comparable to Bloodborne. It can be a bit of a shock to the system but I'd recommend persevering - it's tied with Bloodborne as my favourite and once I got used to the different feel I could then move on to heavier builds.
Also, bosses tend to get easier I've found the more you play the series - it's just getting used to the game style and systems I think. There should still be some out there that'll challenge you...
I went from Bloodborne to Dark Souls and I found the more steady speed unsettling at first. It made me change my build to a DEX build with a Katana so I could feel myself dodging at something comparable to Bloodborne. It can be a bit of a shock to the system but I'd recommend persevering - it's tied with Bloodborne as my favourite and once I got used to the different feel I could then move on to heavier builds.
Also, bosses tend to get easier I've found the more you play the series - it's just getting used to the game style and systems I think. There should still be some out there that'll challenge you...
I kind of don't want to to the dex build thing, since that is what I normally do in RPGs. Right now I am running around like some kind of weird half-naked knight. :P
I have heard that there is some kind of ring to help with equip weight, but I don't want to use a guide this time.
The difficulty thing is very true. Your first Souls game will have you almost never clearing a boss on the first try. After clearing one or two games, you'll find that beating bosses on the first try becomes way more likely, especially if your build is forgiving.
As for the heavy armor thing, that will naturally slow you down a lot, especially compared to BB speeds. It can be helped a little with some items that increase equipment load, but your character in a Souls game will never be as agile as a BB character.
I kind of don't want to to the dex build thing, since that is what I normally do in RPGs. Right now I am running around like some kind of weird half-naked knight. :P
I have heard that there is some kind of ring to help with equip weight, but I don't want to use a guide this time.
DS2 progress: Still making my way around the Crown of the Ivory King DLC. I've backtracked through the whole area after the wind stopped because a bunch of chests and new areas became available. I recently bought the Murakumo and it's absolutely broken in PvE lmao; the 2-handed strong attack knocks most enemies down and you can repeat until they're dead.
Old Hunter Bone doesn't have much use in PVE outside of just looking cool while you dash. The other hunter tools definitely have their use though for builds that only dabble in a little bit of arcane. I have a similar build to yours and I use Beast Roar and Augur of Ebrietas plenty. Both good for creating distance from enemies when you need to. Choir Bell can also be used to heal. a minimum of 18 arcane and you can use all three of those.
I love customizable followers in RPGs but one of the things I like about the Souls games is the sense of isolation and feeling lost in that world. Having a buddy tagging along with you all the time would damage that, I think. They would also have to absolutely nail the AI otherwise you'd spend the entire game babysitting your follower. Most RPGs with followers are much more lenient than Souls and you can get away with your NPC aggroing extra enemies or bumbling around a bit in combat.
Yeah that's a good point. They'd have to really get the AI and balancing and everything right. And some way to revive them if they fall that isn't too frustrating, but doesn't make it too trivial either (Dragon's Dogma with the riftstone wasn't too bad).
I do agree about the sense of isolation/lonely feel of Souls, but it's also a series famous for its "jolly cooperation" after all. So I think it might work if done right. Or, if it's for a new IP that is less focused on the "isolation" type of atmosphere.
I am playing Dark Souls for the first time and I am not enjoying myself that much. Difficulty of bosses have been really low compared to BB (only the boss in Bligthttown took several tries) and the game consists mainly of traversal back and forth between fires.
Also, I had to abandon using heavy armor since the speed of walking was so low, even though I invested heavily in endurance. I wanted to make a heavy armor knight with sword/axe and shield or greatsword but it seems I have to give that up.
Your first Souls is always 'the hardest' often because a lot of the getting your head around the way things work is done in that game, later games all that work is done. Also using a tank character of course is going to make many enemies a cakewalk. There is a ring to increase your equipment burden if you don't already have it - but I would suggest going lighter to take advantage of the higher mobility (below 25% equipment load).
About going back and forth between bonfires - Make sure to make best use of homeward bones by only resting at bonfires you want to get back to when traveling around. It might make your journey a little riskier (and more fun?!), but also half the travel time. :)
Started Dark Souls 3 recently and loving it. I struggled to get into DSII and Bloodborne - lost my save for the former, lost interest in the latter (hardly any aesthetic variety in the stages I played).
When I get into Souls 2 again I was wondering if anyone has any hints to help mitigate my frustration with the HP loss mechanic?
Your first Souls is always 'the hardest' often because a lot of the getting your head around the way things work is done in that game, later games all that work is done. Also using a tank character of course is going to make many enemies a cakewalk. There is a ring to increase your equipment burden if you don't already have it - but I would suggest going lighter to take advantage of the higher mobility (below 25% equipment load).
About going back and forth between bonfires - Make sure to make best use of homeward bones by only resting at bonfires you want to get back to when traveling around. It might make your journey a little riskier (and more fun?!), but also half the travel time. :)
I've played Demon's Souls before (but never finished) and a ton of BB so I am not having that much trouble. I am mostly frustrated that compared to BB there is so much traversal and while I love that you can't equip heavy armor and roll, the slower walking speed make it really useless early on. I have now leveled up my endurance to the point where I can do the medium rolls, and that feels like a good compromise.
I think they made the absolute right call in Bloodborne by moving difficulty from traversal to bosses and using a hub for transportation.
Also, I just got to Anor Londo. San's Fortress was so frustrating, it felt like a late game level from some NES era game, which is what they were going for I think.
I beat the first Dark Souls two weeks ago and I feel great about it! Tried to play it a couple of times on my X360, got very annoyed at the game (you all know how it feels when you first try Dark Souls), but third time is the charm. Got the game on PC and it suddenly clicked. Amazing game, I love it.
Now I got DS2 SOTFS. It's... ok, I guess. It's not a bad game as some people say, it's pretty good, but I can see why people dislike it. That said, I'm having lots of fun with it! I started as a sorcerer and got to the Lost Bastille, but Soul Arrow and it's variants (even Great Heavy Soul Arrow) felt weak and boring. Also, people said I should get a flame sword for my sorcerer and I did, but even though it was helpful at times, it frustrated me because I was mostly upgrading Intelligence and Attunement, and going melee with low Vigor and Stamina isn't fun at all.
So, I respecked as a hexer, no compromises this time. Fuck the flame sword, I'm using dark orbs/soul arrows and my trusty sunset staff when I run out of spells. Not wasting points on STR and DEX this time. Fuck armor, I'm wearing the hexer set and rolling to stay alive. I don't know if this will make the game harder in the long run, but I find it more interesting.
Question: Is it ok if I mostly use staff hexes? I don't like the idea of wasting souls using chime hexes, except on bosses. Dark orbs are fine for now, but I feel like I'll need something stronger I can spam pretty soon. What's the next best thing for a beginning hexer?
Question: Is it ok if I mostly use staff hexes? I don't like the idea of wasting souls using chime hexes, except on bosses. Dark orbs are fine for now, but I feel like I'll need something stronger I can spam pretty soon. What's the next best thing for a beginning hexer?
Stat wise is ok, you could bump VIT a little if you plan do to higher Chalice. Be sure to get the Lost version of both weapons, and farm the Bloodtinge gem from the shotgun fatty for your Chikage. For the Bowblade, It may be better to use charged attack gems.
If you are interested in online ranges, Bloodborne range is waay higher than Dark Souls. For example, a coop, a 120 can coop with a 100, in BB, a 140 can match with a 100. Here's a calculator
https://mpql.net/tools/bloodborne/
120 to 140 is a good place to stop. Defense stat caps at 143 IIRC, but of course that depends in which range you want to be, defense isn't that important anyways.
If you want to be a helping phantom, I would put more VIT, mainly for the HP cut as a helper. Stamina is more dependant on your tastes.
DS2 progress: Cleared the Crown of the Ivory King DLC. Holy shit I'm so glad I beat Lud and Zallen on the first try - I have no intention of entering the Frigid Outskirts ever again. Fuck that place. The Burnt Ivory King was a fun boss fight, especially with co-op partners. It seems to be a hotbed for summoning since people are trying to get those Loyce Souls. Next, onward to fight Vendrick (now that I have 4 Giant Souls) and then to the Throne of Want.
Yes, durability is the best curse. Gem setup is fine, take a look at charged att from the Madmen (heavy metal singers) if you only do charged attacks, it ends up doing more damage. If you want to rely on both shoots your setup is better.
Also, if you want to go all crazy, you can always farm Out of Shape gems and get all Bloodtinge gems. Only if you have no sanity left though lol
Freide's Scythe taxes a lot of the weight limit, I'll see where I can fit in the Candlestick. But if that can crank up the damage even more, then I'm all for it. I'm going to remake this build from scratch using a Knight template.
Yeah I understand, problem is that sorcerer builds are more suited to not rely much on weapons. Friede is basically a DEX weapon (the INT doesn't do much, and it caps at 40 though). You can always empty your inv minus the candlestick and try to swap it quickly with that shield (or just not using shield). I see some people rely on this, kinda ucmbersome but it works in PvP if you know when it's safe to do.
Worst fight in the series for me. I wasted so much time on the run to the boss. Had to summon help for it, and even then, it was no walk in the park. Not even worth the trouble, tbh.
Worst fight in the series for me. I wasted so much time on the run to the boss. Had to summon help for it, and even then, it was no walk in the park. Not even worth the trouble, tbh.
I'm not surprised. Not only is the run to the boss gate absolutely horrible, the boss fight is just 2 reskins of Aava. Completely unimaginative and not at all worth the trouble. I would've been pissed if I had bought this DLC at launch.
I'm not surprised. Not only is the run to the boss gate absolutely horrible, the boss fight is just 2 reskins of Aava. Completely unimaginative and not at all worth the trouble. I would've been pissed if I had bought this DLC at launch.
This is the coop-oriented boss/area. Like the trio ganksquad in Shulva.
Congrats on beating them first try. In the Company of Champions it's probably the most tense fight I've ever had (along with the Ivory King, holy shit that was hard) in the series. And that's going with a really strong build, STR tank with Red Iron Twinblade + Charcoal Resin + Brightbug. xD
Yeah congrats on beating them first try! Got so caught up in my bad memories of the fight that I forgot to congratulate you lol. That's a hell of a feat that you should be proud of.
Thank you so much for the feedback. I finished optimizing my Bloodtinge build (I'm not gonna lose my sanity in farming for off shape radial gems) :P
Back to the lab with my sorcerer build. Yeah I kept DEX at 40 due to the cap off, although Sage Ring adds more "invisible" points to DEX. Seemed like a good idea to synergize spell casting speed and using a DEX weapon.
Sage Ring +2 and 10 Dex should have you hitting the cast speed cap. Then you could go for something light and reliable like a Crystal Long Sword if you don't want to mess around with weapons too much. That'd also give you heaps more points to put into heavier armour, more stamina, whatever you like.
This is the coop-oriented boss/area. Like the trio ganksquad in Shulva.
Congrats on beating them first try. In the Company of Champions it's probably the most tense fight I've ever had (along with the Ivory King, holy shit that was hard) in the series. And that's going with a really strong build, STR tank with Red Iron Twinblade + Charcoal Resin + Brightbug. xD
Yeah congrats on beating them first try! Got so caught up in my bad memories of the fight that I forgot to congratulate you lol. That's a hell of a feat that you should be proud of.
Oh don't give me too much credit for that - I summoned all three NPC phantoms to help me. I had zero interest in doing that area solo, lol.
I beat the game a little while ago. I "chose" to:
take the throne, because I was unaware you could walk away from it. Oh well, I'll do that next time.
Having completed the DLC stuff and Memories of the Ancients, the final area consisted of two consecutive boss fights. It would have been three, but I died to Nashandra because I wasn't paying attention to her curse orbs. I beat her and Aldia on the second try with the help of two sunbros. Honestly it was a little too much at once, but I'm also pretty burned out on this game and was just ready for it to be over. FWIW, I liked DS3's final boss a lot more - it was simpler, more fun, and challenging in a good way.*
* That's my biggest problem with DS2 - it's challenging, but often not in a good way. There's way too many areas that have projectile/spell launching enemies far away, and melee enemies up close, forcing you to tediously pick some of them off with a bow or deal with dodging ranged and melee attacks at the same time. It got old, fast. Same with many of the paths to bosses' fog walls. I ended up summoning phantoms to help with the majority of the bosses in this game. It's not that I'm afraid of a challenge - I beat every DS3 boss solo - it's that I quickly got fed up with DS2's clunky-feeling combat. The paiiiiiiiinful period of unresponsive controls after swinging a weapon was my biggest pet peeve and really took away from the experience. It's really fucking annoying swinging my weapon, seeing an enemy wind up an attack and having the time to say out loud: "Oh, that's gonna kill me," before getting struck down while mashing the roll button to no avail. The muddy controls didn't help either. The combat in DS3 is so much slicker and more responsive, it's actually fun to challenge myself. In DS2 I was mainly just trying to get it done so I could move on to exploring the next area.
If I had played DS2 before DS3 I bet I would have loved it. DS2 is not a bad game - it just isn't nearly as good as DS3. I honestly don't know where DS2 falls on my list. I have the same feeling tonight as I did when I beat The Witcher 3: I was ready for it to be over with, and I'm left feeling unsatisfied, knowing it could have been a better game. If I can organize my thoughts in a more coherent manner I'll make a LttP thread in the next day or two.
Was it me or is the Champion Gundyr (DS3) fight really tough?
I finally was able to summon a human player who ended up dying mid fight but did help me lower his HP bar. That and some Gold Pine Resin brought him down.
He is extremely aggresive and doesn't let you breathe. It's hard to get a hit the last part of the fight.
Was it me or is the Champion Gundyr (DS3) fight really tough?
I finally was able to summon a human player who ended up dying mid fight but did help me lower his HP bar. That and some Gold Pine Resin brought him down.
He is extremely aggresive and doesn't let you breathe. It's hard to get a hit the last part of the fight.
Was it me or is the Champion Gundyr (DS3) fight really tough?
I finally was able to summon a human player who ended up dying mid fight but did help me lower his HP bar. That and some Gold Pine Resin brought him down.
He is extremely aggresive and doesn't let you breathe. It's hard to get a hit the last part of the fight.
He can be very difficult. When I first faced him I made the mistake of underestimating him because "pfffh tutorial boss". Then his eyes turned red and he kicked me in the face.
He can be very difficult. When I first faced him I made the mistake of underestimating him because "pfffh tutorial boss". Then his eyes turned red and he kicked me in the face.
Started a new play through of Dark Souls on 360 via BC on Xbox One, been playing it on PC for years, is it just me or is it harder on 360?
Like there's input lag or something due to it being 30FPS instead of 60.
Suppose Ill get used to it, done Gargoyles just got to Capra last night.
Started a new play through of Dark Souls on 360 via BC on Xbox One, been playing it on PC for years, is it just me or is it harder on 360?
Like there's input lag or something due to it being 30FPS instead of 60.
Suppose Ill get used to it, done Gargoyles just got to Capra last night.
Yeah at 30fps you lose the input snappiness and a lot of motion clarity that helps enemies become much more fluid and readable. I think the Hydra is much harder on 30fps because of this.
Was it me or is the Champion Gundyr (DS3) fight really tough?
I finally was able to summon a human player who ended up dying mid fight but did help me lower his HP bar. That and some Gold Pine Resin brought him down.
He is extremely aggresive and doesn't let you breathe. It's hard to get a hit the last part of the fight.
Man, I hate that. It always sucks when someone asks for tips and then that one guy walks in and starts blaring about how easy that boss was for him.
I think a lot of bosses in DS3 have delayed attack timings that seem deliberately designed to punish panic rolls. So if you got into the habit of mashing roll a lot in previous Souls games, where many bosses let you get away with it, some DS3 bosses will seriously hurt you. Many times, DS3 bosses force you to watch for that roll opening and take it, and it can be rewarding because sometimes those openings show up after you've already taken a hit.
One slightly weird thing I've noticed - on the main board there seems to be a lot more of that, whereas in here I think people tend to be more helpful. I've always disliked the git gud advice - one of way of getting better is asking for help!
So, after 10^100 attempts I finally managed to beat Dumb and Dumber. The reward is... wow.
I had to look up Havel's ring and that is certainly a must have for my heavy armor build.
What would be recommended levels in vit, end, and strength? I am thinking of going to 40 in each.
Yeah I did parry him a few times but just kept missing the window so I just ended up summoning someone to help. So be it, he's an optional boss, right?
So, after 10^100 attempts I finally managed to beat Dumb and Dumber. The reward is... wow.
I had to look up Havel's ring and that is certainly a must have for my heavy armor build.
What would be recommended levels in vit, end, and strength? I am thinking of going to 40 in each.
If you want Anor Londo to do something odd, trying killing Gwynevere with a projectile weapon...
Be warned you won't be able to do much in Anor Londo after it though.
If you want Anor Londo to do something odd, trying killing Gwynevere with a projectile weapon...
Be warned you won't be able to do much in Anor Londo after it though.
DS2 endgame: I don't want to start NG+ yet because of previously-mentioned burnout. In the meantime I've decided to try out some different playstyles, since I went through the game with a very standard quality build (SL 177 Knight - 50 vig, 30 end, 18 vit, 40 str, 40 dex, & 39 adapt). My first respec is to a pyro build (50 vig, 20 end, 18 vit, 25 att, 11 str, 16 dex, 30 adapt, 30 int, 30 fai). My main weapons are a dark-infused Silverblack Spear and a Chaos Rapier for fire damage. We'll see how it goes. I'm annoyed that the two best pyromancies in the game are either missable (Forbidden Sun) or locked behind the highest rank of a PvP covenant (Great Chaos Fireball).
