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SoulsERA |OT| So the world might be mended

Which game do you find holds the most replayability?

  • Demon's Souls

    Votes: 36 11.6%

  • Dark Souls

    Votes: 105 33.8%

  • Dark Souls II

    Votes: 44 14.1%

  • Dark Souls III

    Votes: 93 29.9%

  • Bloodborne

    Votes: 95 30.5%

  • Sekiro

    Votes: 17 5.5%
  • Total voters
    311
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turbocats

turbocats

Member
Oct 26, 2017
115
Okay, so I'm going to watch some videos and pro strats, but I'm looking for advice. I'm stuck in NG+ on the Shadow of Yharnam boss fight. I had 0% problems with this boss in NG, but I'm finding a lot of the HP buffage in NG+ to be problematic vs. the DPS output I have. I think I'm around SL125-135. Stats are 35 Vit/50Str/50Skl. Rolling with a +9 Saw Cleaver and a +6ish Hunter's Axe. Frustrating because it's a 2+ minute run to the boss, even just sprinting almost. Anyway, I don't have PS+, so summoning a friend is not an option. However, I have had two different scenarios:
  • Summon the NPC at the gate a bit before the boss fog door. I then run in and kill the caster while the other two bosses aggro to the NPC summon. I take the caster down, the NPC dies shortly after, and I literally can't DPS enough to take another one down before I run out of health vials/run out of stam and can't dodge one of the long snake attack stretch garbage.
  • Summon the NPC, transform my Hunter's Axe and use a lot of R2 spam to put these guys down on the ground. DPS is WAY too slow to take out any one of them before the NPC dies, and then I'm dealing with 3 all at the same time, not 2.
  • Don't summon the NPC, the bosses don't have as much HP, but I have a ton of trouble isolating any one of them for more than two hits. Especially once the snake phase hits, it's really tough to manage all three of them with the stretch attacks and casting still going on, even circling around the massive headstone things.
I know you'll all tell me to git gud, but I hope there's something else that might help. I don't have any Shaman Bone Blades. I can grind more levels in the 1st Floor Lecture Hall to get more VIT or something, but I don't know that there'd be much value in that. Just as a bit more background, I struggled with the Gascoigne fight in NG+ as well as Amelia and Paarl, but for some reason I could come back later and "see into The Matrix" and hose each one of them. I'm not finding that with moment with the Shadow fight, even after 10+ attempts.
 
Red Liquorice

Red Liquorice

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,066
UK
Why isn't at least one of your weapons at +10 in NG+?

Since you're on NG+ not sure I can add much since you know the fight, but if using the NPC summons isn't helping - and I can see it not with the added HP, I would suggest doing it solo and concentrating on one at a time. If you damage more than one of them at a time I think it makes the fight more difficult for reasons I can't remember now (the second phsae starts sooner?) - I usually leave the caster for last because he's the most defenseless by himself, but it means managing your spacing well when all 3 are alive.

Always buff your weapon too and what about a BBP if you can't do enough DPS currently, the saw cleavers transform attacks build the bar up really fast.
 
turbocats

turbocats

Member
Oct 26, 2017
115
Red Liquorice said:
Why isn't at least one of your weapons at +10 in NG+?

Since you're on NG+ not sure I can add much since you know the fight, but if using the NPC summons isn't helping - and I can see it not with the added HP, I would suggest doing it solo and concentrating on one at a time. If you damage more than one of them at a time I think it makes the fight more difficult for reasons I can't remember now (the second phsae starts sooner?) - I usually leave the caster for last because he's the most defenseless by himself, but it means managing your spacing well when all 3 are alive.

Always buff your weapon too and what about a BBP if you can't do enough DPS currently, the saw cleavers transform attacks build the bar up really fast.
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Thanks for the help. I typically use the Empty Phantasm Shell, and I've tried Fire Paper but not Bolt Paper yet. I don't have a +10 weapon because I missed the Blood Rock and haven't gotten deep enough in Chalices to get one/haven't gotten up to 60 insight to buy one. I ran out of BBPs but I can probably get some more. Maybe the combo of Bolt Paper + BBP will make a big difference.
 
Gradon

Gradon

Saw the truth behind the copied door
Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,464
UK
I beat the Sunken Crown!!! That first boss was HELL and took me ages to defeat. Probably the hardest in the game so far imo.

... Except I then found out I hadn't beat the Sunken Crown because I missed an optional area?? And this is by far the worst area in the entire game. No-one liked Black Gulch, why make another one that's longer, with more powerful enemies and then give me a crappy three NPC boss? :(

I'm just gonna start the Iron Crown instead of going through this area, I got my Sunken Crown. I might come back to it.
 
Red Liquorice

Red Liquorice

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,066
UK
I liked the Black Gulch :(. I dig Shulva too some of the best level design in the whole game, although not the bosses. Sin is cool and all, fantastic music, but I hate bosses where you spend 75% of the fight chasing it down.
 
Ferrs

Ferrs

Avenger
Oct 26, 2017
18,829
Gradon said:
I beat the Sunken Crown!!! That first boss was HELL and took me ages to defeat. Probably the hardest in the game so far imo.

... Except I then found out I hadn't beat the Sunken Crown because I missed an optional area?? And this is by far the worst area in the entire game. No-one liked Black Gulch, why make another one that's longer, with more powerful enemies and then give me a crappy three NPC boss? :(

I'm just gonna start the Iron Crown instead of going through this area, I got my Sunken Crown. I might come back to it.
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the optional areas are just small challenge areas more suited for coop (can be done solo though but they're fucking annoying). its simply some extra challenge.
 
Gradon

Gradon

Saw the truth behind the copied door
Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,464
UK
Red Liquorice said:
I liked the Black Gulch :(. I dig Shulva too some of the best level design in the whole game, although not the bosses. Sin is cool and all, fantastic music, but I hate bosses where you spend 75% of the fight chasing it down.
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Sorry lol. I don't really mind Black Gulch but that's only because it's really short. Cave of the Dead sucks. :(

Also yeah I really loved the level design of Shulva. The aesthetic is really unique and nice as well. Though I wasn't a huge fan of the ghostly spirit knights, not until you make them visible.

I wouldn't have minded Elana if she didn't summon that other late game boss. Sinh was nice, big arena and good music. Though I didn't like how he whittles down your durability for your weapons at a rapid speed.

Ferrs said:
the optional areas are just small challenge areas more suited for coop (can be done solo though but they're fucking annoying). its simply some extra challenge.
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Ah I see, well no one was even playing it at the time, game is either dead or I'm out of the usual SM range. I wanted to clear all of the DLC because it was the only part of DS2 I had never played before but that area is maximum stress.
 

Deleted member 8861

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
10,564
Do NOT try to clear out the shitty extra corridor areas in the DLC, they are the lowest points of the franchise in my eyes. Worthless.
 

Deleted member 8861

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
10,564
Ferrs said:
Just a couple of weeks more to get something, I guess.

I wish they added some extra stuff in the remaster tbh. Some cut content, fashion souls from 2/3...
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All that I'd want in terms of style is probably cloth physics. I don't think it needs anything else (except remaking Izalith/Demon Ruins at best, much of the second half except Archives at worst).
 

Deleted member 8861

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
10,564
Gradon said:
That sucks. Is there one for each DLC? I might skip them then if they literally offer nothing of worth.
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Yeah, there's one in every DLC.

Cave of the Dead aggravated me but I got the boss down after three or so days' attempts. (Might've been the biggest roadblock I've seen in any Souls game, esp. when solo.) Perhaps with characters that were actually interesting (or you know, graverobbers in an actual grave would've been nice) and balanced (lol), it'd have been a good fight.

Iron Passage is easily the worst area in the entire fucking franchise. Izalith is merely a disappointment. The Black Gulch is almost excellent in comparison (and trust me, the Gulch is the second worst area in the entire franchise). Iron Passage is a testament to everything Dark Souls 2 misinterprets about what made Dark Souls 1 good, it's a borderline antithesis to every single principle of good game design. It's a corridor with an alternative route that lets you walk on an elevated part of the corridor and thereby get ganked by 3 enemies at every corner instead of 5, which is by far the only thing approaching insightful design in the slightest in the entire area. Oh, and the boss? The Smelter Demon you fought in the Iron Keep, but this time its flame is blue. There's only a single room with a couple items of loot after the boss, then you drop back down to the entrance. The walls are literally drab grey (supposedly iron, hence the name) with not a single iota of unique design on show. Utter, complete garbage.

Frigid Outskirts seemed to have at least some idea to change things up by putting you into the midst of a snowstorm, but I got ganked by a huge moose once and decided that I didn't want to mistreat myself so, so I just stopped.
 
Morrigan

Morrigan

Spear of the Metal Church
Member
Oct 24, 2017
34,308
Gradon said:
That sucks. Is there one for each DLC? I might skip them then if they literally offer nothing of worth.
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They're kinda fun to coop, but really insufferable to solo. They were fully intended to be coop zones, and aren't entirely bad when played with a friend, but yeah, the Iron Passage especially is abominable to solo. >_<
 
Noema

Noema

Member
Jan 17, 2018
4,904
Mexico CIty
Iron Passage and Memory of Old Iron King are not only stunningly bad and frustrating, they feature that very special kind of ugly that's unique to Dark Souls 2. Memory of Old Iron King is literally one wall texture plastered along a bunch of corridors and it looks like they forgot to add the lighting.

At least Iron Passage is optional.

They are both clearly and deliberately designed to make Boss runs very difficult. I ended up clearing both while listening to Podcasts. A pity that one of the best bosses in the game sits at the end of the Memory.
 
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PeskyToaster

PeskyToaster

Member
Oct 27, 2017
15,312
Well I have a SL120 character in DSIII now. All bosses down. I was doing some monster damage with the Exile Greatsword by the end. I have an EGS, Harald Curved Greatsword and the Dragonslayer axe maxed. I think I also maxed Gael's Greatsword too. I went with a 66/18 str/dex build. I should try a magic build one of these days. I did Dex in DS1, Str in DSIII. My dream is to do an unarmed build (like a monk type thing) but I'm not sure how to make a viable one
 

Deleted member 16908

Oct 27, 2017
9,377
You guys have any tips for playing a sorcerer in Dark Souls 1? I know I should put most of my points into INT but don't I need dex and attunement for casting speed and spell slots?
 
Red Liquorice

Red Liquorice

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,066
UK
I wouldn't bother with DEX, the difference is so small and only once you plow a load of points in. Dump it all in to INT and as much in to attunement as spell slots you need (3-5 for me).

Get the Dusk Crown and Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring asap to melt everything. You could even equip Power Within to go really OP, but also give you a bit of risk/reward that can sometimes be missing with magic builds, more of a glass cannon type build.
 
Booshka

Booshka

Banned
May 8, 2018
3,957
Colton, CA
Oh hello, finally joined this site. Looking forward to DkS1 remaster on PS4, probably gonna skip it on PC for a while. Forgot to download the network test, but I am busy this weekend so wouldn't be able to play anyway.
 
Forgiven Empathy

Forgiven Empathy

One Winged Slayer
Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
571
England
Dc56wvdXkAAzjk0.jpg:large


JP Network test is up, class options.

Edit: EU seems to be up to.
 
OP
OP
III-V

III-V

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,827
Booshka said:
Oh hello, finally joined this site. Looking forward to DkS1 remaster on PS4, probably gonna skip it on PC for a while. Forgot to download the network test, but I am busy this weekend so wouldn't be able to play anyway.
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Welcome!

I can't play it either as I will be out of town all weekend. What resettles are in? Can't wait for impressions
 

Deleted member 8861

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
10,564
Red Liquorice said:
I assume that is from the remaster, I just mean they were using the same class option limits as the original E3(?) reveal demo for the original release of DS1. The final Remaster will have all the usual classes from the original game and not these options (with Solaire and BK).
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I meant the network test itself.

For that matter, is there footage for DSIII and Bloodborne's network tests?
 

Deleted member 8861

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
10,564
Jombie said:
How does it look?
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I think the armor particularly looks quite nice in motion, and the lighting etc. seemed well-done to me.

Still not a huge fan of the fog walls though, the vibrant white both looks flat/tacked-on and is too eye-catching.

I also dig the new font.

Overall, seems like it's a version that we can recommend to people freely.

(Haven't seen the cutscenes.)
 
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ProstatePuncher

ProstatePuncher

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
5,800
I can't believe the effect that summon signs now have. That weird rising "stuff" is way too stand out.

They've made a lot of effects far stronger and uglier in the remaster.
 
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