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I think so have some DLC on DS3 to still wrap up. Need to jump on my save and check it out.
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SoulsERA |OT| So the world might be mended
- Thread starter III-V
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SOTFS replay done. I had a sweet spot in the middle where I was getting in to it and overlooking its problems (muddy controls mainly) but by the end game, it really wore me down, especially the DLCs. The game feels bloated like this to me. Getting the DLCs individually back when, I wanted more content, but playing them all as one big game just exhausted me by the end - and the DLCs have the best level design in the game (less so the enemies). I had no idea what to do with Aldia, I think this was only the second time I've ever fought him, I just mashed attack and healed as necessary and he was dead.
I had a couple of those infamous wtf grab animation moments, one with Alonne which looked ridiculous but I was expecting it and a wild one with a mimic where I was stood completely at the side and got warped in front of it, nom-nom-nom!
Overall some fun bosses (Ruin Sentinels, Fume Knight, Darklurker Old Iron King come to mind), but the mushy controls and frustrating animations (floor is ice when you get hit, etc) really do spoil an otherwise decent game. I need a palate cleanser after this!
I had a couple of those infamous wtf grab animation moments, one with Alonne which looked ridiculous but I was expecting it and a wild one with a mimic where I was stood completely at the side and got warped in front of it, nom-nom-nom!
Overall some fun bosses (Ruin Sentinels, Fume Knight, Darklurker Old Iron King come to mind), but the mushy controls and frustrating animations (floor is ice when you get hit, etc) really do spoil an otherwise decent game. I need a palate cleanser after this!
I couldn't really find him at first and it turned out I indeed hadn't opened those blue doors. Because getting to that point netted me a ton of souls, I decided to go back to the shrine afterwards and purchased the Tower Key. Quite enjoyed his surprise appearance.
But I was perhaps even more surprised to see him not selling Siegward's gear. I thought I must've bungled something, but after explored the Cathedral some more he suddenly had it in his inventory (in the shrine — couldn't find him in the Cathedral anymore). Weird!
I felt like making a twinblade character and then only DS2 is an option, so away I went. As fortune would have it, a friend already had the game but bounced off it some time ago, so I could combine making my character with giving him a guided tour. So far we've done Lost Bastille, Huntsman's Copse and just entering Tseldora proper on the respective routes. With a twinblade, I feel that it's not really useful to dodge around as each hit is so weak. It's better to poise through damage and just get those hits in. At least until I get the Red Iron Twinblade, but that's actually way after half the game. After playing a lot of Remastered, I tried to do fast rolls here too, but if you want any kind of armor you're just not going to come in below the limit. In fact, I'll probably need to respec once I get the next weapon since I'm wasting too much on equip load now.
It took some time to setup as we both needed the special ring for easier coop. It's quite unreliable without that. But now we're making good progress. As usual, the game is much, much less oppressive once you have another player with you. Even though I know most of the game fairly well, there's still some really long stretches and the enemies are even more likely to chase you forever. I still like it though, and the build variety is just through the roof.
The only issue is since it's been a couple of years, I'm confusing what I remember of DS2 and SOTFS, so there's quite a few surprises to be found.
It took some time to setup as we both needed the special ring for easier coop. It's quite unreliable without that. But now we're making good progress. As usual, the game is much, much less oppressive once you have another player with you. Even though I know most of the game fairly well, there's still some really long stretches and the enemies are even more likely to chase you forever. I still like it though, and the build variety is just through the roof.
The only issue is since it's been a couple of years, I'm confusing what I remember of DS2 and SOTFS, so there's quite a few surprises to be found.
Made it up to Irithyll. What a view! Legitimately got shivers when I made it out of Catacombs of Carthus and saw that skyline.
This place got me a little frustrated though and underlined for me that I don't like DS3's combat as much as the previous games'. Partly, it's the hyper armor/poise system. I'm sure plenty of people like it (especially if they do PVP which I don't), but it's not doing it for me. And what really hammered it home was having those pontiff knights in Irithyll go wild with their attacks, me having to resort to spamming rolls to disengage, then try again to land the first hit. Whoever hits first wins.
I could be more methodical and not Sonic away, but the difference in their startup for crazy combos or regular attacks is so imperceptible to me that it's not really worth it. Especially if I'm running low on estus by the end of it and the safest bet is to roll. I still haven't been able to get a good feel for where in my attack animations I have hyper armor. I seemingly always get interrupted, so poise might as well not exist to me. Playing it two-handing an ultra greatsword. And even having such a massive range advantage, the slow wind up or recovery gets me tagged a lot. So it's part different poise and part combat pacing. So many enemies are super fast, and I don't think that's more fun per se. Especially not when the thing you gained was less stamina consumption for rolling, while also being staggered a lot easier.
So far, the most fun I've had has been against some of the few relatively slow enemies like the crabs, Demon King, Lothric and Black/Silver knights, etc. Maybe I should just suck it up, switch to a ligher/faster weapon and equip a shield. I didn't like the way ultra greatswords played in DS1 either. That might be the move that "unlocks" this game's combat for me. Still like the game a lot! Thinking of what I can do to get it to click.
This place got me a little frustrated though and underlined for me that I don't like DS3's combat as much as the previous games'. Partly, it's the hyper armor/poise system. I'm sure plenty of people like it (especially if they do PVP which I don't), but it's not doing it for me. And what really hammered it home was having those pontiff knights in Irithyll go wild with their attacks, me having to resort to spamming rolls to disengage, then try again to land the first hit. Whoever hits first wins.
I could be more methodical and not Sonic away, but the difference in their startup for crazy combos or regular attacks is so imperceptible to me that it's not really worth it. Especially if I'm running low on estus by the end of it and the safest bet is to roll. I still haven't been able to get a good feel for where in my attack animations I have hyper armor. I seemingly always get interrupted, so poise might as well not exist to me. Playing it two-handing an ultra greatsword. And even having such a massive range advantage, the slow wind up or recovery gets me tagged a lot. So it's part different poise and part combat pacing. So many enemies are super fast, and I don't think that's more fun per se. Especially not when the thing you gained was less stamina consumption for rolling, while also being staggered a lot easier.
So far, the most fun I've had has been against some of the few relatively slow enemies like the crabs, Demon King, Lothric and Black/Silver knights, etc. Maybe I should just suck it up, switch to a ligher/faster weapon and equip a shield. I didn't like the way ultra greatswords played in DS1 either. That might be the move that "unlocks" this game's combat for me. Still like the game a lot! Thinking of what I can do to get it to click.
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Yeah, go for a faster weapon, I'd say. Too many enemies' attacks are basically near-instantaneous, which doesn't make for a very fun experience if you don't have the knowledge/skill to pull of the timing of slow attacks consistently. Those pontiff knights are pretty bad even with a faster weapon, can imagine how frustrating they are with slow weapons.
I think I'll do that. I checked out the Claymore's moveset in this one, and it seems pretty well-balanced in terms of speed and range. I also converted the Abyss Watchers' soul to the Farron Greatsword, but I don't think I'm quite ready to go full Artorias mode yet. Those moves are savage though. So cool.
Edit: What the heck with this mid-game boss Sulyvahn being tougher than Fume, Alonne, Artorias, O&S or Manus... This dude just won't give me an inch. I got to over half his health on my first run, but then I guess he got me shook, because I haven't been able to get anywhere close to that since. I haven't swapped out the UGS yet. I kind of want to get through this one boss and save Greirat before I spend time in other areas getting used to a new moveset.
Edit 2: Solyvahn down. Dude has zero chill, wow. I think I ultimately spent more time to learn Manus, but I had his patterns down by the end of it, whereas I got a little lucky with Solyvahn's patterns I think. I spent a lot of time backed away from him and prioritized keeping health up over damage. Felt like a fluke more than anything. I don't think I could replicate it.
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Neato! Yeah, that's really well done. Lots of fun little details.
Side note: I switched to a Claymore + Crest shield (which were also my faithful companions in DS1), and it's amazing the difference that made. I continued to play with a UGS up to Aldritch, and I managed to do pretty well with it once I got a better feel for spacing (and less enemies had instant gap-closers). But now that I've played around a bit more with the Claymore, I don't feel like the extra damage and range on a UGS are worth the trade-off. The speed of the Claymore and having access to blocks as well as parries seem way better suited for the pace of DS3's combat.
I may still switch back to the Fume UGS from time to time, because it's just goofy fun and Raime was a cool dude. Kind of felt more rewarding to get that sword in DS2 though. I felt almost obliged to use it after all that!
Side note: I switched to a Claymore + Crest shield (which were also my faithful companions in DS1), and it's amazing the difference that made. I continued to play with a UGS up to Aldritch, and I managed to do pretty well with it once I got a better feel for spacing (and less enemies had instant gap-closers). But now that I've played around a bit more with the Claymore, I don't feel like the extra damage and range on a UGS are worth the trade-off. The speed of the Claymore and having access to blocks as well as parries seem way better suited for the pace of DS3's combat.
I may still switch back to the Fume UGS from time to time, because it's just goofy fun and Raime was a cool dude. Kind of felt more rewarding to get that sword in DS2 though. I felt almost obliged to use it after all that!
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I always read this, but they'd always have these rooms that were clearly designed for co-op that were so frustrating. I always had to cheese them to get through.
Right, I don't like the enemy placement throughout most of the game tbh, the hordes of enemies is just not what I want to engage with. By level design I mean the structure of the areas I suppose. All 3 DLCs have those nice loop backs and shortcuts, multiple paths, set pieces - it's a step up from much of the rest of the game.
I agree with you, and while annoying in the main game, some of the enemy encounters in the DLC were just obscene. There's one in the Iron Keep IIRC that has one of those demon things that need a staff to destroy, a giant, multiple knights, little guys with bombs, and more. In the end, I resorted to running to the gate and hoping it would register as opened before I died (so that it would be open when I returned).
Hit Untended Graves in DS3, and I now have absolutely no idea as to what's even going on in this game, lmao. I look forward to reading about it elsewhere eventually.
My build is really coming together, and I got my Claymore up to +10 now. Such a great weapon. It's like the Ryu of Dark Souls. Perfectly balanced.
My build is really coming together, and I got my Claymore up to +10 now. Such a great weapon. It's like the Ryu of Dark Souls. Perfectly balanced.
I'm doing a DS3 run with the Partizan since it's one of my favourite DS1 weapons and it's kinda rough, enemies just poise (hyper armour? whatev.) through the hits. Every time I play DS3 and don't choose the Longsword I'm reminded why I always fall back on it - because the R1 spam of that moveset is hard to beat in DS3. :/
I do need to do more research on armour too, I've never had any idea what the breakpoints are or even if they exist and I've died a few times to quick bleed build up so obviously the stuff I'm using sucks in that respect.
I do need to do more research on armour too, I've never had any idea what the breakpoints are or even if they exist and I've died a few times to quick bleed build up so obviously the stuff I'm using sucks in that respect.
Did you fight the boss yet? One of my favorite twists in the whole series.
I did and it was pretty neat! I also appreciated that the second phase was more straightforward than I initially expected. Just some old fashioned dueling. Nice.
It seems like two-handing a weapon typically does interrupt all but the most heavily armored enemies, even with a lighter weapon like a Claymore. Sometimes they just don't really give a hoot though. Those big priest women will tank any hit from even a UGS.
I've had more luck specifically with the poke from the Fume UGS though. Maybe it's a different damage type. That seems to knock a lot of enemies down even. Still, some heavy weapons will stagger some heavy enemies, others not.
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I think compared to a spear the Claymore is a heavy weapon. I am two-handing, but the jumpy cloaked skeletons in the Catacombs are giving me much more trouble than usual because of the lack of stagger or stunlock. I usually roll with rapiers in Souls, now I remember why I've never done a rapier run in DS3!
Ah, I guess I forgot it is kind of a heavy-ish weapon. It just swings so fast compared to the DS1 version of it and especially after having used an ultra-greatsword for a large part of the game. Perhaps the Leo Ring could help. I haven't used it myself, but from what I read about it, it seems like it could be useful in your case. I still don't really understand counter-attacks though, so maybe not.
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Good idea, hadn't even thought about that in DS3, will have to look up where it is - although half the Partizan's moveset is slash rather than thrust. I don't remember there being a DS3 equivalent, but the Stone Ring from DS2 would come in handy too.
After the Dragonslayer Armor boss fight, I think I understand why Matthewmatosis did not make a Dark Souls 3 critique video. My main takeaway from that boss was a big HMMMMMM. It really hammered home that it would be quite difficult to stand by all the points he made about Dark Souls 2 without dragging Dark Souls 3 to the depths alongside with it. I cannot imagine him liking it. And given the popularity of the latter, it is just not worth engaging with that. It is striking to me just how many of his criticisms of DS2 map to DS3.
That's not to imply that Dark Souls 2 didn't have its excesses or is a better game per se, but the parallels are uncanny, and a lot of people tend to agree with that video with how often its talking points are echoed when DS2 comes up. I like Matthewmatosis generally and there is plenty to mark down Dark Souls 2 for, but a lot of that critique does not hold up under scrutiny for me and was not really addressed all that much in the sequel. Playing DS3 will at least have been worth it to finally have a full view of the three games as a point of reference.
Unrelated question: should I do Nameless before the final boss or after? Supposedly, that fella is a whole lot more challenging than the actual final boss, so I'm leaning after, but I'm still not sure and I'm getting close to that encounter now.
That's not to imply that Dark Souls 2 didn't have its excesses or is a better game per se, but the parallels are uncanny, and a lot of people tend to agree with that video with how often its talking points are echoed when DS2 comes up. I like Matthewmatosis generally and there is plenty to mark down Dark Souls 2 for, but a lot of that critique does not hold up under scrutiny for me and was not really addressed all that much in the sequel. Playing DS3 will at least have been worth it to finally have a full view of the three games as a point of reference.
Unrelated question: should I do Nameless before the final boss or after? Supposedly, that fella is a whole lot more challenging than the actual final boss, so I'm leaning after, but I'm still not sure and I'm getting close to that encounter now.
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I found Nameless a lot harder than the final boss, and killed him last.
My first play through I hit a wall with Nameless King and ended up respeccing into a tank with a lightning resist greatshield just to get through him.
Now I've beaten him with a variety of builds but it's never been easy for me. He's my personal hardest boss in DS3. Even more so than Sister Friede.
I would still recommend cleaning him up before you fight the final boss but that's just my personal preference. I like to have everything wrapped up before endgame fights.
Good luck!
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Thanks for the suggestions/input. I think I'll do it before the final boss. My thinking is if I have trouble with SoC, I'm gonna feel real antsy going at Nameless. And I find that the more confident I feel (however naively), the better I am most of the time. I'm about halfway through Grand Archives, which I hope will get me 2-3 levels after completing it. With Prisoner's Chain, I've got 37 VIG, 37 END and 40 STR w/ a Heavy Claymore (and a Spirit Tree Crest Shield -- mainly for fashion, I know the Lothric Knight Shield is better in each way). Thinking I'll put any extra points into endurance. Might swap to Fume UGS for Nameless or at least give it a few tries. I'd love to one-hand it, but I don't think that's in the cards (50 STR minimum) and I don't want to grind.
Also, really nice of you to do that giveaway, Rex_DX! I've got plenty on my plate as it is, so I won't be entering, but I plan to give Blasphemous a shot after taking some time off from Souls games/likes.
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What you mean by set up? If your doing Blades of Mercy run all you need is Blades of Mercy and the skill to use it. I will say if you are using Blades of Mercy i would go to 50 skill.
Nameless King down! Really challenging fight. I liked the second half, but in the first part I was mainly struggling against the camera and had trouble judging distances. Lots of whiffs. Also kind of a drag having to do that each time. Not a great arena, but at least it wasn't as disorienting as Four Kings. My Spirit Tree Crest Shield really saved my bacon in the second half with its high lightning defense.
Oddly enough, I had more trouble with Pontiff Sulyvahn. That took me like a dozen or so attempts and had me at the end of my wits for a bit there, while I managed NK in just a few attempts. Unlike Sulyvahn, I also felt like I could probably replicate that win rather than being lucky. Suppose that speaks to everyone having different play styles that are better fit in some contexts than others.
Oddly enough, I had more trouble with Pontiff Sulyvahn. That took me like a dozen or so attempts and had me at the end of my wits for a bit there, while I managed NK in just a few attempts. Unlike Sulyvahn, I also felt like I could probably replicate that win rather than being lucky. Suppose that speaks to everyone having different play styles that are better fit in some contexts than others.
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Pontiff for me is all or bust, I've taken him down without getting to the second stage with the shade before, other times he wipes the floor with me, repeatedly!
Pontiff can fuck you up so quickly. It becomes much easier with a decent shield (even as a non-melee character) and by learning to not panic dodge roll. Deliberate rolls are the key to victory. Ultimately its tells are so clear that it really never does anything too hard to dodge.
Yup. But even after multiple attempts and when losing focus momentarily for me :')
IDK if it's a meme or something, but I read someone saying it can be done blindfolded and largely off of sound cues. I would not be surprised tbh. I tried focusing on sound, but ultimately I just roll a bunch. Him not giving you much breathing space is probably my main difficulty with it. Stuff like Artorias, Sir Alonne, Fume Knight and Lothric & Lorian are more my speed. A bit slower but big damage, little room for error and clear tells.
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I wish! DS3 fog gate = me panic dodge rolling! I think it's because a lot of the bosses in DS3 are so fast and relentless with their attacks and don't give any space in between their attacks to get more than a brief poke in at them. Adrenaline just kicks in and that thumb starts mashing!
I'm just wrapping up a playthrough now and the only bosses I have left are Friede and the Ringed City bosses - basically my most dreaded in the entire franchise D:
I looks a bit meh. Most grabs in souls are very violent and punishing. This doesn't look that punishing. It just looks like she turns you around smacks you on your ass and kicks you. Not all that violent. I think its better its not in the game tbh.
Pontiff becomes scary when you fail to kill his clone before he is done summoning. Otherwise he ain't that bad.
Oh my gosh. I barely squeaked by on the end boss of Ashes of Ariandel. I had like 100 health left and no flasks in the last 30 seconds or so of the fight (maybe less, maybe more, it felt like an eternity). That was a tough one. I expected a second form with how quickly the first one went down but not a third one! From must've looked at Nameless King and wondered what else they could do to really ramp things up.
I'm fightning Friede now and I'm just doing garbo damage to her with my Partizan and 40~ STR/DEX. The third phase has always been a mystery to me, but I saw a strat about keeping away from her and letting her come to you, which so far has just been putting off the inevitable with even fewer chances to get damage in. I can never tell when it's safe to attack or not. Schwing, swching, schwing!
Yeah, that was my approach too. Shield up, dodge when the goes in for the combo, run around like a madman when she goes invisible, and only attack once she's in a recovery animation. For me, the safest attack opportunities were after she does that aerial lunge (with or w/o the dark aura) and after she does a little jump attack at the end of a long combo. Always made sure to have a sliver of stamina left to dodge backwards after one or two attacks.
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Friede is my angstgegner. One time I killed her fairly easily with an UGS build, but the second time I tried that, after dozens of attempts with my normal build, that strat failed me as well.
Still the only boss in Dark Souls 1/Dark Souls 3/Bloodborne that forced me to resort to a particularly shameful and desperate measure to beat her...
...summoning an NPC.
I've been watching no-hit runs on YouTube and it's weird how easy her patterns look when you're not the one fighting her.
Still the only boss in Dark Souls 1/Dark Souls 3/Bloodborne that forced me to resort to a particularly shameful and desperate measure to beat her...
...summoning an NPC.
I've been watching no-hit runs on YouTube and it's weird how easy her patterns look when you're not the one fighting her.
Ha! True! Same goes for Midir.
I have got the invisibility down, at least in the first phase - the poof of snow lets you know which way she's going. But in the third phase her positioning is different making it unsafe so far.
The first phase is deceptively easy; once you learn how to deal with her invisibility it's almost a serene experience. But then Ariandel fires up the barbecue and it's just death and destruction everywhere, man.
Encountered Demon Prince. Come on, From. Got him down to half health on my first attempt, so I know I'll be able to do it eventually, but what is it with these second and third health bars in this game? It feels like self-parody at this point. Dislike :V
Edit: Got him on my second run. Still don't really love the multi-phase, second and third health bar stuff. But at least my trusty Claymore is still wrecking house!
Edit: Got him on my second run. Still don't really love the multi-phase, second and third health bar stuff. But at least my trusty Claymore is still wrecking house!
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Playing through DS3 again to play the DLC for the first time and I was kind of shocked at how much of a breeze it's been since I've played through Sekiro and MHW and gotten more into Character Action Games. I think I took down half the bosses in one attempt and didn't take more than three outside of Aldrich (because I couldn't deal with the magic) and NK (which I wanna say took me four goes on the second form and it was the first time I've beaten him).
Now I say all that because I beat Friede in the Ashes of Ariandel DLC in one go, assuming that you'd get a round two against her dad. I didn't see her joining in there but this felt like a fun little nod to a sort of O&S fight and sure enough, I dropped them with zero estus left. Boom, Titanite Slab, one shot, that wasn't so--*is immediately murked by Friede*.
Oh. Oh goddammit. Was this the first boss in any of these games with three stages?
Now I say all that because I beat Friede in the Ashes of Ariandel DLC in one go, assuming that you'd get a round two against her dad. I didn't see her joining in there but this felt like a fun little nod to a sort of O&S fight and sure enough, I dropped them with zero estus left. Boom, Titanite Slab, one shot, that wasn't so--*is immediately murked by Friede*.
Oh. Oh goddammit. Was this the first boss in any of these games with three stages?
I think so. I don't think anybody expected the third stage when they played it the first time, lol.
Now I feel bad because I saw that NPC summon that was there without me even being embered and hit it out of curiosity, expecting the run to be a wash, and we absolutely decimated them. Goddammit. I went and solo'd that last boss thing with the wolf in one go, at least.
Ringed City is a whole other separate thing. I was still embered from beating those bosses and then an evil shade got summoned and two allies because I am still in the Way of Blue and we worked our way down to the second bonfire slowly dying from those laser blasts while the shade kept changing weapons and stayed just enough ahead of us to not die. That was an awesome 10 minutes, even though I ended up dying alone at the end.
Ringed City is a whole other separate thing. I was still embered from beating those bosses and then an evil shade got summoned and two allies because I am still in the Way of Blue and we worked our way down to the second bonfire slowly dying from those laser blasts while the shade kept changing weapons and stayed just enough ahead of us to not die. That was an awesome 10 minutes, even though I ended up dying alone at the end.
Thought I'd take a break from Friede and have a go at Nameless King..... oh that's right I've completely forgotten how to do this boss too! Although I died, I actually had a better dodging/getting smashed ratio in the second phase than the first, used 10 Estus in the first phase, good grief!
I had to fight the Nameless King so many times that the first phase became a joke. That second phase though, just couldn't "get it".
I borrowed DS3 from a friend, but now DS3 with its DLC is pretty cheap on PSN right now. I'll probably pick it up so I can finally horribly suffer trying to beat Friede.
I borrowed DS3 from a friend, but now DS3 with its DLC is pretty cheap on PSN right now. I'll probably pick it up so I can finally horribly suffer trying to beat Friede.
Honestly Friede was a joke for me compared to Nameless King. I struggled on that fight a lot and even now it's only marginally easier for me and I've beat the game a dozen times or so. Hopefully it'll be the same for you!