I think most of the non-critical-path interconnected stuff is just shortcuts to make navigating the world before you get bonfire teleportation more convenient.
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knitdanIn ur baseKillin ur guysRegistered Userregular
Something I noticed after I played awhile is there were a number of shortcuts that seemed either useless or unnecessary. Thinking of the door behind Havel as a glaring example, but I know there were others I’m forgetting.
The door behind havel is used if you have the master key and want to hit that area earlier than you otherwise would.
Well, shit. I took the master key as my gift but I got sick of trying to kill that dude so I just left.
Then later I came up from below and was like “hey cool a door” and then I realized that’s where it opened.
“I was quick when I came in here, I’m twice as quick now”
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
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knitdanIn ur baseKillin ur guysRegistered Userregular
I went through Blighttown the normal way on the first play just to say I’d done it, but NG+ I deffo used the shortcut to bypass most of it.
“I was quick when I came in here, I’m twice as quick now”
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
Something I noticed after I played awhile is there were a number of shortcuts that seemed either useless or unnecessary. Thinking of the door behind Havel as a glaring example, but I know there were others I’m forgetting.
The door behind havel is used if you have the master key and want to hit that area earlier than you otherwise would.
Yeah, as I think someone earlier in the thread mentioned, you can take that path before fighting the Taurus demon to completely skip the bridge wyvern (go up through Darkroot Garden to get to the Undead Parish).
I don't think i've ever used The Valley of Drakes for its intended quick access purpose.
I actually did for a while because I figured it was the fastest way to get from Firelink to Lower New Londo Ruins. I later discovered you can just jump down there from the upper section.
It's probably really only useful if you want to ring the bells in reverse order, or if you miss the Sister of Chaos bonfire (like I did in my first playthrough).
I don't think i've ever used The Valley of Drakes for its intended quick access purpose.
I actually did for a while because I figured it was the fastest way to get from Firelink to Lower New Londo Ruins. I later discovered you can just jump down there from the upper section.
It's probably really only useful if you want to ring the bells in reverse order, or if you miss the Sister of Chaos bonfire (like I did in my first playthrough).
If you’re talking about where I think you’re talking about in New Londo Ruins, there’s an elevator in the first ghost house. No jumping required!
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knitdanIn ur baseKillin ur guysRegistered Userregular
Oh, that elevator! That’s exactly the kind of shortcut I was talking about because by the time it opens up you have the option to jump down earlier in the level which puts you closer to the boss room.
Also I was super proud of myself for figuring out you can bypass the early room with 5-6 ghosts before you lower the water, by dropping down and rolling onto the bridge-like structure where one of the early ghosts comes out of the ground.
“I was quick when I came in here, I’m twice as quick now”
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
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knitdanIn ur baseKillin ur guysRegistered Userregular
I should note that particular elevator is not entirely useless; it’s very useful for farming Darkwraiths. Just run out and get them to aggro, then go up the elevator and the dumb jerks will fall down the hole.
“I was quick when I came in here, I’m twice as quick now”
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
I should note that particular elevator is not entirely useless; it’s very useful for farming Darkwraiths. Just run out and get them to aggro, then go up the elevator and the dumb jerks will fall down the hole.
Oh, I am not good at realizing when I can use the environment to kill things. I just flatten them with the Zweihander. They look very comical when you splat them to the ground and then kill them while they're getting up from the first swing.
I did kill the uchigatana guy in DS3 by having him fall off a ledge while my wife was trying to get me killed by putting her hands over my eyes while I was fighting him... and I was on my fourth or fifth try, so I wasn't having a lot of luck doing it properly.
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knitdanIn ur baseKillin ur guysRegistered Userregular
I totally discovered that elevator trick after getting scared by 3 of the bastards and running away, then seeing the souls show up during my ascent.
I tried using the GS of Artorias R2 to flatten them but they either shrugged it off or I couldn’t get the timing down to land it right.
“I was quick when I came in here, I’m twice as quick now”
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
my usual route through DS1 now is firelink - new londo (firekeeper soul) - valley of the drakes (red tearstone) darkroot basin (black knight, havel) - and then upstairs to the taurus demon
Bloodborne showed me the way & the light. I'm playing Dark Souls for the first time. Ever.
Loving it. The early game kicked my ass as I was learning how this all worked, but I think I've finally got the hang of all of this now. Hit an early wall at the Undead Parish. Kept plugging away, did some grinding, beat some mini-bosses, and finally figured out how the hell humanity worked. Finally was able to make it to the Bell Gargoyle without getting invaded and absolutely wrecked face with my boy Solaire in tow; that seems to have been the turning point. I got myself the Drake Sword shortly thereafter and felt incredibly overpowered, which is a weird feeling to have with these games!
Gaping Dragon is down. Successfully repelled my first invader in the Depths as well, which felt god-damned incredible. Took 10 steps into Blighttown before nope-ing out of there. Currently shacked up for the night at the bonfire hidden behind the wall in Darkroot Garden.
The Drake Sword is designed exactly for that situation, helping newer players feel more powerful earlier on. It won't stay great forever, but by then you should be figuring out your build and playstyle and all that.
A lot of veteran players will decry it as a crutch but I have never bought into that. Just make sure to keep leveling up another weapon because once the drake sword falls off it falls off hard.
Been taking so long to get through DS1 in part because I've periodically stopped playing it for fairly long durations a couple times, after meeting roadblocks, intending to come back to them in a day or two, and then ending up playing other stuff. Actually stopped at Gwyn last, after an evening of fruitless attempts at his fight. I'm to understand that parrying makes him really easy, but I'd parried nearly not at all the entire game so I wasn't able to really take advantage of that and without it the fight is quite frustrating.
Started it up again tonight, just to practice parrying, get a feel for them and then make attempts on Gwyn tomorrow or sometime when I'm better rested. Just doing the run to gwyn but killing all the knights along the way with parry and ripostes. Anyway, I killed Gwyn.
Couldn't settle on a build for my next DS2 run, so I ended up firing up Nioh and finishing it. First mission back was Samurai from Sawayama, which I think might be the worst single mission in a video game ever. But I mostly enjoyed the rest of the endgame, except a certain orange room at the very end.
I don't see myself replaying Nioh the way I do Souls games. The mission system doesn't work for me, gear management isn't fun, and the way bosses seem to be tuned for you to use Living Weapon, but not tuned so that they're still a challenge once you pop it...eh.
Anyway, with that done, I'm thinking I want to knock a power stance playthrough out in DS2. Are there any weapons that perform well powerstanced in PvE? Most seem to perform significantly worse than what you'd get from unequipping one and two-handing the other.
There are no crutches, any method you use within the game to beat it is legitimate.
it's a crutch because it falls off. no one beats the game with the drake sword
use black knight or the gravelord sword if you want a strong early weapon that won't let you down
relying on the drake sword is setting yourself up for a hard time
I think it is only setting yourself up if you do not keep at least one other weapon as high as you can get it. Or if it causes you to misunderstand the way scaling works in the game so that you end up trying to make a subpar weapon work with your build. Otherwise it is just a temporary boost to help get over the early game difficulty cliff.
Been taking so long to get through DS1 in part because I've periodically stopped playing it for fairly long durations a couple times, after meeting roadblocks, intending to come back to them in a day or two, and then ending up playing other stuff. Actually stopped at Gwyn last, after an evening of fruitless attempts at his fight. I'm to understand that parrying makes him really easy, but I'd parried nearly not at all the entire game so I wasn't able to really take advantage of that and without it the fight is quite frustrating.
Started it up again tonight, just to practice parrying, get a feel for them and then make attempts on Gwyn tomorrow or sometime when I'm better rested. Just doing the run to gwyn but killing all the knights along the way with parry and ripostes. Anyway, I killed Gwyn.
That's basically how it goes yup. It's just a lot easier to not bother parrying throughout all of DS1 unlike BS where it rewards you moreso.
I think Gwyn is actually fairly easy to parry though, at least compared to most of the game, it's just getting used to his limited set of attacks and having a good run.
To be honest, I feel like the zweihander breaks the early--and mid, and late--game far more thoroughly with far less effort to acquire.
My first run was as a DEX build with the Longsword and later Balder Side Sword. It felt pretty badass to come out on top of a prolonged duel with a Balder Knight or Silver Knight, sneaking in a riposte here or a backstab there.
Second run I picked up the Zweihander, but it might as well be called Polymorph: Pancake based on the length and outcome of most engagements.
In my search for the second bell I...kind of went a little out of the way. Instead of heading down into Blighttown, I made the decision to descend into the Catacombs. I cannot stress this enough: fuck that place. I died, I kid you not, probably close to 30 times down there - but I pressed on! Kept pushing and pushing and eventually overcame the odds and slew Pinwheel, that motherfucker. It was one of those quintessential Souls experiences; an agonizing few hours that tempered my skills and eventually made me better at this game.
On the way back up, I stumbled upon the entrance to New Londo, went as far in as I could and eventually surmised that wasn't where I was supposed to be quite yet. Finally took the dive into Blighttown and am happy to report that I wiped the fucking floor in there. No deaths, no real stress, just a methodical cleansing, which I attribute entirely to my Catacombs misadventure. Didn't even really find the poison to be much of an issue - more of a minor annoyance. Got stomped by you-know-what in the Valley of Drakes and kindly returned the favor with about 108 arrows.
Something...happened at Firelink. This will not stand.
I'm at the bonfire overlooking Anor Londo. Best looking part of the game so far, I think. Settled on a sword & board DEX build with high endurance, and a longbow in the second slot in case I gotta snipe. I've slowly learned that I can circle and backstab most of these pieces of shit. Iron Tarkus is love. Iron Tarkus is life. Feeling good.
Just completed Nioh's main story. Honestly I think it is a great evolution on the souls formula and they make all sorts of quality of life changes to make a better overall experience.
Plus it is super easy to sun bro and you never get randomly invaded unless you choose to.
Just completed Nioh's main story. Honestly I think it is a great evolution on the souls formula and they make all sorts of quality of life changes to make a better overall experience.
Plus it is super easy to sun bro and you never get randomly invaded unless you choose to.
*ears perk up*
I make art things! deviantART:Kalnaur ::: Origin: Kalnaur ::: UPlay: Kalnaur
Just completed Nioh's main story. Honestly I think it is a great evolution on the souls formula and they make all sorts of quality of life changes to make a better overall experience.
Plus it is super easy to sun bro and you never get randomly invaded unless you choose to.
I didn’t do nearly enough co-op in Nioh but it was good times. I have the DLC staring at me from the depths of my library, I should get back to it.
In my search for the second bell I...kind of went a little out of the way. Instead of heading down into Blighttown, I made the decision to descend into the Catacombs. I cannot stress this enough: fuck that place. I died, I kid you not, probably close to 30 times down there - but I pressed on! Kept pushing and pushing and eventually overcame the odds and slew Pinwheel, that motherfucker. It was one of those quintessential Souls experiences; an agonizing few hours that tempered my skills and eventually made me better at this game.
On the way back up, I stumbled upon the entrance to New Londo, went as far in as I could and eventually surmised that wasn't where I was supposed to be quite yet. Finally took the dive into Blighttown and am happy to report that I wiped the fucking floor in there. No deaths, no real stress, just a methodical cleansing, which I attribute entirely to my Catacombs misadventure. Didn't even really find the poison to be much of an issue - more of a minor annoyance. Got stomped by you-know-what in the Valley of Drakes and kindly returned the favor with about 108 arrows.
Something...happened at Firelink. This will not stand.
I'm at the bonfire overlooking Anor Londo. Best looking part of the game so far, I think. Settled on a sword & board DEX build with high endurance, and a longbow in the second slot in case I gotta snipe. I've slowly learned that I can circle and backstab most of these pieces of shit. Iron Tarkus is love. Iron Tarkus is life. Feeling good.
Nioh is a Dark Soulsy game made by Team Ninja (yes that Team Ninja) set in a Japan during the rise of Tokugawa Ieyasu. In this world there are spirit stones called Amrita that individuals are using to nefarious ends and seek to gather as much as they can by instigating constant conflict in Japan.
Wow this turned out way bigger than I thought so hiding it in spoilers:
You play as William, an Irish sailor/pirate that was used to find out about Amrita and then betrayed who escapes from prison to hunt down those who wronged him. His hunt causes him to become embroiled in the politics of Japan, a land shared by humans and spirits. The man he hunts has allied himself with Ishida Mitsunari, Tokugawa's enemy in this period. Together, Ishida and the mysterious man exploit Amrita to give themselves an edge in the war, turning humans into Yokai. Their ruthlessness is not contained to just the war, as bandits and pirates prowl the wilderness while the malignant conflict has caused Yokai to sprout up and cause problems throughout Japan.
Yes my weeb friends, you can do that running sword slash, drawing your katana from the hilt in an awesome move. You can also wield a huge axe to maul your enemies at. Or you can wield the huge odachi, chain kusarigama, a spear, dual swords, or tonfa.
There are also bows, rifles, and hand canons to deal damage from afar. Ammo is rather limited though so don't think about carrying around 200 arrows to fight that Yokai. However, additional ammo can be found during a level.
Weapons come in a variety of rarities with different abilities and specialties on each though these can be reforged at the
You get two melee and two ranged slots so you can find pairings you really enjoy but the game also encourages you to mix it up, providing options for tackling any situation.
There is also ninjitsu (ninja skills) based around stealth, poison, bombs, and traps.
Omnyo magic (ying yang magic) is the primarily spell casting with various utility spells. While there are temporary weapon enhancements and the basic shot spells, many more change up the formula so you aren't just casting different forms of magic missile.
There are 5 elements, Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, and Lightning. Each can be build up and inflict a different status effect on your enemies, fire causes damage over time, water causes increase physical damage. Weapons may have additional elemental damage, but there is no true conversion of all damage like Dark Souls' holy/dark/etc, so a weapon enhancement needs to be used to really take advantage of the elemental effects to devastate your enemies.
As you use weapons or use certain items, you'll acquire Samurai/Ninjitsu/Omnyo points that can be used to unlock additional abilities/skills for you to use in combat. Along with the training missions in the dojo and the ease of respecing, Nioh encourages experimentation to find your niche. The points from use are not infinite however so don't think you can be a master of all weapons.
All weapons can be transformed to look like other weapons. So get a powerful new spear but it looks too plain? Just pay a small fee to the blacksmith and she'll get it looking like any other spear you've ever picked up.
There are no stats required to use any weapons, but skills are mostly unlocked on the individual level (the dodge + recover ki is one of the few that is shared), making it worth respecing if you find a weapon more to your liking.
Dress to Impress
Armor comes in three types: light, medium, and heavy. Naturally each comes with progressive protection and weight which will affect your Ki regeneration rate (covered in another section) and how much damage you take from attacks.
And boy howdy you will take a lot of damage.
While the game could feel easy at times, if you messed up, the game could punish you hard and fast. What was an easy run could suddenly go bottoms up as you underestimate a spearman skeleton just a little too much.
Blocking and dodging to avoid damage in this first place is always best, but when you do take those hits, your armor can be the difference between life and death. Certain spells can also increase your physical or elemental armor, so wear the right gear for the right fight.
There are equipment sets that give you additional bonuses for more pieces you're wearing. However, you must have the proper stats to take advantage of these bonuses otherwise they will be grayed out and the equipment name will be in red.
Naturally fashion souls is a point of interest in these series and like weapons all armor can be transformed to look like any other piece of armor, including different types. So a nimble samurai could make their equipment look like the heaviest armor they've found while actually wearing light armor and having the higher Ki regeneration--but still taking major hits.
Skins of other characters can eventually be unlocked and used to play as other characters although your armor will no longer be visible or change. However, they take Glory instead of Gold which is earned by killing Revenants (summonable red ghosts from the bloodstains of other fallen players) or by doing coop missions with other players (covered later). Alas, while most characters are quite affordable, the female characters can cost around 70k, which is somewhat baffling. Oh well, coop is so much fun I didn't have too much of an issue accumulating it, thanks in part of a boost from Clan Battles.
Soul Matching
Have a piece of equipment that is falling behind in level but has great stats? Sacrifice another piece of equipment to have it match the higher level--for a fee. The blacksmith will soul match the equipment, but the closer the sacrificed piece is to the old, the smaller the cost. This was my major money sink as the cost can be from a few thousand to over a million.
Soothe the Pain
As for healing, Kodama will provide you with a set of healing elixirs which they replenish whenever you die or return to one of their shrines. You can carry more, to a max of around 11, and the rest are stored and used to replenish after a death/going to a shrine and you can find them while fighting enemies or breaking open barrels. The heal is quick, but not always your full health, but the limited amount makes you think before using it. There are some healings spells and hot springs that can give heals over time but they are much slower acting and won't be able to save you from the big blows.
Honestly this is the perfect solution to my problem with Bloodborne's vials. You'll always have some, not as many as you'd like, but you don't have to remember to buy elixirs/grind them to keep making progress, but it can help if you do.
Keep up Your Stamina Ki
You do have a Stamina bar, called Ki in this game, that limits how much you can run, dodge, and fight until it recovers but this has a unique trick to it: you can instantly recover lost stamina by pressing a correct button at an appropriate time called a Ki burst. This also has the double effect of purifying any Yokai pollution you are standing in--black rings that slow down your Ki recovery. Your armor will affect this rate though items and spells can help improve or diminish it.
Managing your, and your enemies', Ki is essential, not only for performing actions but if you are reduced to zero by enemy actions (damage does both physical and some amount of Ki damage, depending on the attack) you are forced into a recovery period, unable to move while you catch your breath and where you can be grappled for massive damage. This also applies to your enemies and can be essential for taking down harder opponents, and so exploiting the glowing weak spots (Amrita implanted into bodies) can really help when fighting Yokai while human opponents are grappled for the ridiculous amount of damage.
Early on I would recommend unlocking the skill that allows you to recover your Ki when you use a dodge, otherwise you may find yourself in a bad position with no Ki to your name.
The best part? You can totally ignore it, though things will be harder for you.
Walking with the Spirits
Accompanying William on his quest are the various spirits of Japan that can give him an edge on his quest.
Each spirit is aligned with one of the 5 elements and provides various buffs to William, such as increasing physical damage or ninjitsu powers.
As William collects Amrita from enemies/loot, the spirit's power will accumulate, allowing William to temporarily harness the spirits powers and infuse his weapon with it, turning it into a Living Weapon. The effect is twofold as William's health bar is replaced by the Living Weapon which can save you if you're on the brink and channels the elemental power to use to attack your foes.
Be careful though! While the Living Weapon slowly drains over time (can be replenished by collecting additional Amrita), using the weapon or taking damage will decrease the bar much faster. Should an attack reduce your Living Weapon to zero, the additional damage will go to your normal health, so if you were on the brink before you'll wind up dead.
There are 3 Stances:
High: Huge damage, slower attacks, slow roll
Mid: Defense, huge boost to blocking, medium attacks, medium damage, fast roll.
Low: Dodging, dodging become obscenely fast, fast attacks, low damage.
This is how you can mix things up for attack and defense and gives a variety of different move sets for each weapon. Learning which stance to use and when it's best to switch is a vital part of the game--that you can freely ignore. Some skills you unlock will focus on these changes.
Honestly I usually just stick to one stance, only changing if I need something now, like low stance for hitting a crouched enemy when my mid stance attacks are passing over them. Low stance's quick attacks can also be useful for applying status effects to enemies.
While high stance has its benefits, you are taking a huge risk while in it. Remember, you can't do huge damage if you're dead!
Strange New World
Level design overall is pretty good. While they're each segregated and not an entire world like Dark Souls they generally follow the same design philosophy, providing shortcuts back to Shrines and finding new and interesting ways to wind around.
Since there are submissions you can do for additional rewards the maps will be repeated but will be changed in some way such as enemy placement or starting place. Admittedly it could get a bit repetitive at times but they always felt solid.
A Little Help from my Friends
Having trouble taking down that big boss? Level getting you down? Well there are those willing to assist you with JOLLY COOPERATION!
Just use the shrine to summon a visitor. Just be careful, because if you as the host die (or as a visitor), that's it for the run and the person will have to be resummoned.
You can also search for people in need of help with the super useful and quick build in finder. My play time was seriously lengthened becasuse it is so easy to help people out. And while there is no trading, generally you'll still get equipment that is right at your level, though sometimes it's lower. Helping someone complete a level will net around 1000 glory and is the best way to accumulate this currency.
PvP is also a thing in Nioh though I never did it. Invasions ala Soulsborne are not a thing unless you use an item allowing people to invade. Any online activity is completely at your whimsy and you can do what you will. There is also an arena I believe that allows for more focused dueling.
There is also the Clan Battle which is less PvP focused than you would think. At a certain point you'll be prompted to join a Clan which comes with its own set of unique perks to help you with your playstyle. All clans are split into Red and White and each week are pitted against each other to collect the most Glory. This can be done by defeating Revenants (red blood stain ghosts), Cooping, fighting and defeating other players, or donating specific items to your clan efforts. At the end of the week, a winner is decided and they get both a large amount of glory (I received 30k) and a discount on all items in the Glory shop (mine was ~5.5% which seeing the ladies cost 70k, took down a few thousand). The clans are then randomly scrambled back in to Red and White, making it so one side should not always be winning. The losing side still gets a sizable reward so it is worth doing.
You can switch your Clan at any time, but depending on how close it is to the end of a Clan Battle it will reduce the reward you'd receive, so sometimes it's better to wait it out.
In conclusion, while it undeniably it has some problems, you can kite enemies and get in some cheap shots and the Sloth (slowing) talisman makes fights laughably easy--unless it messes up when you mean to dodge--but it is overall awesome.
Go check out Nioh if you want to play a very fun Dark Soulsy game that manage to improve on the formula.
What a coincidence I saw this thread cause I've been playing through Dark Souls 3 and digging it. I was originally a Demon's Souls fan but bounced off Dark Souls for some reason. I snapped up DS3 on a sale because it seemed to have pretty wide acclaim and people were saying it's the smoothest playing of the three and I am enjoying it a bunch! However, it does seem kinda on the easy side thanks to some deceptively simple boss fights. Some of the fights have been really cool like the Dancer and the Abyss Watchers, though.
The atmosphere has been pretty damn fantastic and a few times I've had to just stop and stare at the scenery. Right before running back off on the high-speed murderous rage my character has been on because I figured out early on that being cautious in DS3 tends to be the wrong answer for me. Being a hyper aggressive angry marine seems to get work done a lot more than trying to treat the game with more of a fencer's mindset. Either that or I just suck at being cautious :rotate:
Needless to say I'm basically playing as Guts, giant fuck off sword and all.
What a coincidence I saw this thread cause I've been playing through Dark Souls 3 and digging it. I was originally a Demon's Souls fan but bounced off Dark Souls for some reason. I snapped up DS3 on a sale because it seemed to have pretty wide acclaim and people were saying it's the smoothest playing of the three and I am enjoying it a bunch! However, it does seem kinda on the easy side thanks to some deceptively simple boss fights. Some of the fights have been really cool like the Dancer and the Abyss Watchers, though.
The atmosphere has been pretty damn fantastic and a few times I've had to just stop and stare at the scenery. Right before running back off on the high-speed murderous rage my character has been on because I figured out early on that being cautious in DS3 tends to be the wrong answer for me. Being a hyper aggressive angry marine seems to get work done a lot more than trying to treat the game with more of a fencer's mindset. Either that or I just suck at being cautious :rotate:
Needless to say I'm basically playing as Guts, giant fuck off sword and all.
I had problems with DS3 because I didn't play Bloodborne first and I was used to the more cautious play-style I'd used in DS1 and DS2.
I played it a second time AFTER many hours in Bloodborne and was much more aggressive and it was a completely different game.
The Dancer is definitely one of my faves. Some of the most memorable bosses are completely optional and easy to miss so if you are getting close to the end of the game I recommend maybe looking up some spoilers.
In my search for the second bell I...kind of went a little out of the way. Instead of heading down into Blighttown, I made the decision to descend into the Catacombs. I cannot stress this enough: fuck that place. I died, I kid you not, probably close to 30 times down there - but I pressed on! Kept pushing and pushing and eventually overcame the odds and slew Pinwheel, that motherfucker. It was one of those quintessential Souls experiences; an agonizing few hours that tempered my skills and eventually made me better at this game.
On the way back up, I stumbled upon the entrance to New Londo, went as far in as I could and eventually surmised that wasn't where I was supposed to be quite yet. Finally took the dive into Blighttown and am happy to report that I wiped the fucking floor in there. No deaths, no real stress, just a methodical cleansing, which I attribute entirely to my Catacombs misadventure. Didn't even really find the poison to be much of an issue - more of a minor annoyance. Got stomped by you-know-what in the Valley of Drakes and kindly returned the favor with about 108 arrows.
Something...happened at Firelink. This will not stand.
I'm at the bonfire overlooking Anor Londo. Best looking part of the game so far, I think. Settled on a sword & board DEX build with high endurance, and a longbow in the second slot in case I gotta snipe. I've slowly learned that I can circle and backstab most of these pieces of shit. Iron Tarkus is love. Iron Tarkus is life. Feeling good.
What sword are you using?
Switched over to the Iaito.
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Mojo_JojoWe are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourseRegistered Userregular
Wolnir is the worst boss. Possibly my least favourite so far out of all the games.
Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
What a coincidence I saw this thread cause I've been playing through Dark Souls 3 and digging it. I was originally a Demon's Souls fan but bounced off Dark Souls for some reason. I snapped up DS3 on a sale because it seemed to have pretty wide acclaim and people were saying it's the smoothest playing of the three and I am enjoying it a bunch! However, it does seem kinda on the easy side thanks to some deceptively simple boss fights. Some of the fights have been really cool like the Dancer and the Abyss Watchers, though.
The atmosphere has been pretty damn fantastic and a few times I've had to just stop and stare at the scenery. Right before running back off on the high-speed murderous rage my character has been on because I figured out early on that being cautious in DS3 tends to be the wrong answer for me. Being a hyper aggressive angry marine seems to get work done a lot more than trying to treat the game with more of a fencer's mindset. Either that or I just suck at being cautious :rotate:
Needless to say I'm basically playing as Guts, giant fuck off sword and all.
I had problems with DS3 because I didn't play Bloodborne first and I was used to the more cautious play-style I'd used in DS1 and DS2.
I played it a second time AFTER many hours in Bloodborne and was much more aggressive and it was a completely different game.
The Dancer is definitely one of my faves. Some of the most memorable bosses are completely optional and easy to miss so if you are getting close to the end of the game I recommend maybe looking up some spoilers.
I've been referencing the wiki here and there to make sure I don't miss any optional areas so AFAIK I've hit everything so far. Right now I'm in the Grand Archives and this feels like a blast from Demon's Souls past. No bonfires, just pure shortcuts so far and it's been a nice change of pace from DS3's habit of having a bunch of bonfires.
I do feel like I'm pretty overleveled at this point, though. I'm about to hit SL100 and have been able to play fairly carelessly as I blast my way through it. Especially since I now have max bonfire level and 12 estus flasks which just seems excessive.
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Well, shit. I took the master key as my gift but I got sick of trying to kill that dude so I just left.
Then later I came up from below and was like “hey cool a door” and then I realized that’s where it opened.
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
Yeah, as I think someone earlier in the thread mentioned, you can take that path before fighting the Taurus demon to completely skip the bridge wyvern (go up through Darkroot Garden to get to the Undead Parish).
I actually did for a while because I figured it was the fastest way to get from Firelink to Lower New Londo Ruins. I later discovered you can just jump down there from the upper section.
It's probably really only useful if you want to ring the bells in reverse order, or if you miss the Sister of Chaos bonfire (like I did in my first playthrough).
If you’re talking about where I think you’re talking about in New Londo Ruins, there’s an elevator in the first ghost house. No jumping required!
Also I was super proud of myself for figuring out you can bypass the early room with 5-6 ghosts before you lower the water, by dropping down and rolling onto the bridge-like structure where one of the early ghosts comes out of the ground.
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
Oh, I am not good at realizing when I can use the environment to kill things. I just flatten them with the Zweihander. They look very comical when you splat them to the ground and then kill them while they're getting up from the first swing.
I did kill the uchigatana guy in DS3 by having him fall off a ledge while my wife was trying to get me killed by putting her hands over my eyes while I was fighting him... and I was on my fourth or fifth try, so I wasn't having a lot of luck doing it properly.
I tried using the GS of Artorias R2 to flatten them but they either shrugged it off or I couldn’t get the timing down to land it right.
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
Though sometimes I'll do one of the jumps to lower Burg at the beginning, just so I don't have to backtrack to the door on the bridge later.
Loving it. The early game kicked my ass as I was learning how this all worked, but I think I've finally got the hang of all of this now. Hit an early wall at the Undead Parish. Kept plugging away, did some grinding, beat some mini-bosses, and finally figured out how the hell humanity worked. Finally was able to make it to the Bell Gargoyle without getting invaded and absolutely wrecked face with my boy Solaire in tow; that seems to have been the turning point. I got myself the Drake Sword shortly thereafter and felt incredibly overpowered, which is a weird feeling to have with these games!
Gaping Dragon is down. Successfully repelled my first invader in the Depths as well, which felt god-damned incredible. Took 10 steps into Blighttown before nope-ing out of there. Currently shacked up for the night at the bonfire hidden behind the wall in Darkroot Garden.
This game is, uh, good.
PSN:Furlion
It’d be like claiming that exploiting damage weaknesses is a crutch.
Started it up again tonight, just to practice parrying, get a feel for them and then make attempts on Gwyn tomorrow or sometime when I'm better rested. Just doing the run to gwyn but killing all the knights along the way with parry and ripostes. Anyway, I killed Gwyn.
I don't see myself replaying Nioh the way I do Souls games. The mission system doesn't work for me, gear management isn't fun, and the way bosses seem to be tuned for you to use Living Weapon, but not tuned so that they're still a challenge once you pop it...eh.
Anyway, with that done, I'm thinking I want to knock a power stance playthrough out in DS2. Are there any weapons that perform well powerstanced in PvE? Most seem to perform significantly worse than what you'd get from unequipping one and two-handing the other.
use black knight or the gravelord sword if you want a strong early weapon that won't let you down
relying on the drake sword is setting yourself up for a hard time
I think it is only setting yourself up if you do not keep at least one other weapon as high as you can get it. Or if it causes you to misunderstand the way scaling works in the game so that you end up trying to make a subpar weapon work with your build. Otherwise it is just a temporary boost to help get over the early game difficulty cliff.
PSN:Furlion
That's basically how it goes yup. It's just a lot easier to not bother parrying throughout all of DS1 unlike BS where it rewards you moreso.
I think Gwyn is actually fairly easy to parry though, at least compared to most of the game, it's just getting used to his limited set of attacks and having a good run.
My first run was as a DEX build with the Longsword and later Balder Side Sword. It felt pretty badass to come out on top of a prolonged duel with a Balder Knight or Silver Knight, sneaking in a riposte here or a backstab there.
Second run I picked up the Zweihander, but it might as well be called Polymorph: Pancake based on the length and outcome of most engagements.
I made a game, it has penguins in it. It's pay what you like on Gumroad.
Currently Ebaying Nothing at all but I might do in the future.
In my search for the second bell I...kind of went a little out of the way. Instead of heading down into Blighttown, I made the decision to descend into the Catacombs. I cannot stress this enough: fuck that place. I died, I kid you not, probably close to 30 times down there - but I pressed on! Kept pushing and pushing and eventually overcame the odds and slew Pinwheel, that motherfucker. It was one of those quintessential Souls experiences; an agonizing few hours that tempered my skills and eventually made me better at this game.
On the way back up, I stumbled upon the entrance to New Londo, went as far in as I could and eventually surmised that wasn't where I was supposed to be quite yet. Finally took the dive into Blighttown and am happy to report that I wiped the fucking floor in there. No deaths, no real stress, just a methodical cleansing, which I attribute entirely to my Catacombs misadventure. Didn't even really find the poison to be much of an issue - more of a minor annoyance. Got stomped by you-know-what in the Valley of Drakes and kindly returned the favor with about 108 arrows.
Something...happened at Firelink. This will not stand.
I'm at the bonfire overlooking Anor Londo. Best looking part of the game so far, I think. Settled on a sword & board DEX build with high endurance, and a longbow in the second slot in case I gotta snipe. I've slowly learned that I can circle and backstab most of these pieces of shit. Iron Tarkus is love. Iron Tarkus is life. Feeling good.
Plus it is super easy to sun bro and you never get randomly invaded unless you choose to.
*ears perk up*
I didn’t do nearly enough co-op in Nioh but it was good times. I have the DLC staring at me from the depths of my library, I should get back to it.
The atmosphere has been pretty damn fantastic and a few times I've had to just stop and stare at the scenery. Right before running back off on the high-speed murderous rage my character has been on because I figured out early on that being cautious in DS3 tends to be the wrong answer for me. Being a hyper aggressive angry marine seems to get work done a lot more than trying to treat the game with more of a fencer's mindset. Either that or I just suck at being cautious :rotate:
Needless to say I'm basically playing as Guts, giant fuck off sword and all.
I had problems with DS3 because I didn't play Bloodborne first and I was used to the more cautious play-style I'd used in DS1 and DS2.
I played it a second time AFTER many hours in Bloodborne and was much more aggressive and it was a completely different game.
The Dancer is definitely one of my faves. Some of the most memorable bosses are completely optional and easy to miss so if you are getting close to the end of the game I recommend maybe looking up some spoilers.
Switched over to the Iaito.
I've been referencing the wiki here and there to make sure I don't miss any optional areas so AFAIK I've hit everything so far. Right now I'm in the Grand Archives and this feels like a blast from Demon's Souls past. No bonfires, just pure shortcuts so far and it's been a nice change of pace from DS3's habit of having a bunch of bonfires.
I do feel like I'm pretty overleveled at this point, though. I'm about to hit SL100 and have been able to play fairly carelessly as I blast my way through it. Especially since I now have max bonfire level and 12 estus flasks which just seems excessive.