Dark Souls

[Lord Timster]

I hate the idea of having to have a lot of spare weapons in case the main one breaks. It degrades too quickly

Yeah they degrade a lot faster in DS2. You know I don't think I've had *any* breakages in DS1 so far at all. DS2 gives you 3 equipment slots to cycle through, so at first you think "cool: one for melee, one for ranged and one magic" but in practice one gets used for a spare weapon.

I find that if your spare / back-up weapons all have different move sets it spices things up a little when you swap them around.

I'm sorry, but Capra is a pushover

Now that I've played the game a bit more I think my initial problem with Capra was down to using the spear - it's not the ideal choice for fighting small enemies like rats or hounds and seems to just 'miss' quite a bit. If you're on the stairs the slope will make the problem even worse.

If I get to NG+3 I might 'swing by' Capra with a sword or something. Maybe.

don't talk [&@%!] about Smelter Demon till you've had a taste of his blue brother

Blue Smelter is one you want to bring your A game for. I thought it was a pretty good fight though. Well, I mean apart from the extended hit range on his sword (which looks a bit suspect sometimes) and that really bogus power attack where he just suddenly flips round to wherever you are. Not an easy fight, but one that's satisfying to pull off. The trek if you can't get him on your first attempt is a pain though.

In other news:
So okay I got cursed by a certain boss in NG+.
Now, in NG++ there is a cool little statue in the same spot...

[BetaB17]

I never had that big of a problem in DS2 with weapon management. Granted, whether weapons degraded or not I still had a 2nd to switch with. It was either a fire longsword or a dark variant, both dealing optimal damage but different enough where bosses/enemies are not immune to both.

Also I was mainly a mage/hexer but that's besides the point.. Staffs rarely break in an average skirmish

I think the real problem people have is they misjudge how certain enemy's defenses can be detrimental to durability. Hard shelled enemies and especially those elephants will chew away at the sword. Or how some enemies will actively use corrosion >_>

If you really want a weapon that never breaks, there is a spear that meets that demand. It's okay, especially when infused raw(has low scaling anyways) but I highly advise not to use it for PVP, not just cause it's unique moveset is predictable(and a bit spam my) but also BC it's large popularity has seen to that people know how to foil you(namely via a party)

The
one thing I do feel mixed emotions for in regards to durability is katanas. I mean, I like seeing them less viable in PVP due to their tendency to break(tho that wont stop some people from giving up that damage/range/bleed) but at the same time it's a shame cause it makes them mildly redundant for PVE

[The SheoDovah]

I'm sorry, but Capra is a pushover. I mean, he's notorious as a boss BC of how many unsuspecting players find themselves trapped in his lil arena.. And the two hounds just heighten that initial panic >_> he's a good boss in regards to DS design, he really catches you off guard and hits below the belt

Still, even as a boss he feels less so to the seasoned players, little more than an annoyance or barrier to progress than some real threat. If you know what to expect and are ready, just kill his hounds and fight him 1 on 1. Hell, even in a small arena, he's slow as [&@%!], predictable, and the arena even gives you a safe spot if you need to heal or some buffer room. If I was able to kill him with a thief's dagger, I see no reason why others cant(Btw, don't talk [&@%!] about Smelter Demon till you've had a taste of his blue brother. Seriously, you don't know how better off you are)

@Dov: What spells/staff are you using for this high damage output and why the furysword

I think either Big Hat's or one of the DLC staves and it was the soul spears/homing spells. Both crystalised and this was a magic focused and melee hybrid build.

The dog skeletons barely had time to notice me.

Any boss can be techincally killed by any weapon.

Capra is the first true aggressive boss in the game. Gargoyles have numbers but most players counter it with summons or easily beat them. capra's dogs are more dangerous and the challenge is to kill them quickly.

[Lord Timster]

If I get to NG+3 I might 'swing by' Capra with a sword or something.

So, dictum meum pactum, and all that.

Went in with Shield & Gold Tracer and took out the hounds then switched to shield & spear for Capra. No huge problems so yeah correct weapons load-out is the thing. Still don't like that fight though. The camera in DS has real problems with cramped and cluttered areas - Capra got in a few cheap hits while I was staring at the back of a tree or something.

Artorias Update: man, this fight is so much easier with the Greatshield of Artorias. I'm almost tempted to go back to the Eagle Shield to give the guy a chance.

Spoiler:

Not really.

the paladin set.. That [&@%!] is just lovely

Ooo Shiny. Totally missed that the first few times through. Very nice. My new Heavy Armour.

As for the Dragonslayer Spear, well I've been having way too much fun with those Crystal Homing things so Faith just hasn't been pumped up at all. Will probably give the Moonlight weapons a blast sometime, but for now the Black Knight Halberd is kicking booty well enough.

On the plus side, if I stick with a melee / sorcery build in future and always snag the Paladin armour then there's no reason to fight Uber-Ornstein EVER AGAIN. Yay.

I think either Big Hat's or one of the DLC staves and it was the soul spears/homing spells. Both crystalised and this was a magic focused and melee hybrid build.

Are we talking Tin Crystallization Catalyst here? 'Cos that is one epic piece of kit. I'm hoping that will be my secret weapon against the 4 Kings because those guys are getting pretty tough now.

[The SheoDovah]

With the Four kings, forget everything the game taught you as it expects you to rush it. It's not a great boss to be honest but speed is key to beating it. I once beat them with a HavelZwei build. I think, it was me spamming the attack button as soon as I got within hitting distance. Last time, I used the Furysword. Does a lot of damage to most things, doesn't take up much staminia and if my memory serves me well, you're best off ditching armour for that fight. Best to use what agility it gives you. Uberstein, I only defeated once, ironically, it was on my very first proper playthrough and this was waaay before I discovered builds. Nowadays, Uberstein is something I know will be the biggest challenge. Speedyfatty is easier to bet as it's just electrified fatty. Uberspeedy is not.

Probably. It made the skeleton dogs look like hollows. One hit with soul spear/homing spell barrage and boom, no "Oh [&@%!], oh [&@%!],oh [&@%!], it's seen me!" that and they aren't much of a challenge if you expect them. The Zwei stuns them but you better have enough to do another hit. May have been the LightingZwei though.

I find faith to be meh mainly some of the stuff isn't worth it and that magic and Pryomancy is far more damaging. Wrath of the Gods may be the best crowd controller spell but why use it when you can wipe them out with pure strength?

Magic will help but you need to time each spell. Too slow and you'll get hit. Too fast and you may miss. However, there is a magic based summon nearby.

Magnus is a cheating spamming [&@%!]. The Greatshield helps, sure but he is a cheating spamming [&@%!] that requires you to spam the bloody amulet.

I find that not using lock on is best for small spaces. It can screw you over and I will admit, I do use the cheap tatic of plunging spam 9/10 for Capra Demon. The dogs are my main downfall most of the time.

Bed of Chaos can(Probably have stated this many times), go and sod off. That boss, it is purely luck based. It will ruin your day. It will troll you. It will furiate you. "What's that? You just did the two cores? FIRESTORM! MWAHAHAHAHA!" I rather take on several Capras and Taruses. Heck, that would have been a better fight!

[BetaB17]

'Sees Timster use the man's own shield against him'

Well, now that's just not fair...

Edit: Four Kings really only become a problem if A)Your too low level/weak to competently stand a chance B)Too high on NG+ C)Your a glass cannon

Out of experience and popular guides, it's best to focus on your magic defense(since it's their AOE you should only worry about), high fire damage so Pyromancy spam is very viable, and of course move fast and hug at all times.

Personally, while I never really bothered with full heavy or on strong defenses.. Havel's set offers probably the best choice for protecting against magic damage. Pop on a ring to boost that defense even more, or if you favor mobility/stamina then gear up with Havel's ring and Chloranthy ring. I also kept two shields, purely because I needed one to block that AOE(so magic block is a must) and as always my Grass Crest shield(for that regen). Double up on some hard hitting, quick pyromancies like Great Combustion or Great fireball. Hell, even immolation can help bring up that DPS

[The SheoDovah]

Oh, he used it against Arty. Not cool, dude. Not cool. Fight him with your own gear! I did using nothing but my refined+somethingnotmagicalorelemental claymore. Two handed. Me vs Arty. His greatsword vs my claymore. Me, having survived countless demons vs the legend himself. May have taken me a lot longer then it did the first time but tis easily the best fight in the game. We were lucky he was forced to use his sword with his left. If he was at full power, we would pretty much have 1 second to live.

[Lord Timster]

'Sees Timster use the man's own shield against him'
Well, now that's just not fair...

Not cool, dude. Not cool. Fight him with your own gear!

Welcome to Irony Souls, dudes.

Re: 4 Kings. They are now toast. A close fight though.

Personally I was struggling with the pure-melee approach even on NG+2: Furysword couldn't do the business any more and even the BK Halberd barely kept up... So this time around I gave Sorcery with the Tin Crystallization Catalyst a go. I think if I'd actually been building my character properly and had picked up all copies of the decent spells each NG cycle then things would have gone much smoother. But nvm - they are deaded and that's what matters.

I find I am preferring the +5 Paladin Armour for this fight. Stats for Physical and Magic Resist are not far off Havel's and it is a lot lighter so I can run noticeably faster and can now dodge without looking like a drunk guy tripping over a kerb.

shields ... one to block that AOE(so magic block is a must) ... some hard hitting, quick pyromancies like Great Combustion or Great fireball

That's a good call I think. Took the Crest shield in and it seemed to work well against the magic AoE. Great Combustion was good - but did run out quickly, and I found that Great Fireballs just seemed to... 'miss' quite a bit. So mixed feelings about the pyromancy angle there.

<edits... bc>

[The SheoDovah]

I think, I used the furysword for 3 of the 4 bosses and areas before it became a bit useless. I used it in the DLC apart from Arty's funtime, murdertime bowl before switching to a claymore for pure damage in melee and crowd control when magic failed me. Pyromancy can make some builds overpowered. I recall my last build being a dangerous foe. If magic doesn't kill you, fire will, if fire doesn't, the claymore refined to the max(i think), will. Shame that it will not be used for PVP.

I did forgo a shield sometimes, a risky move but it paid off. Nothing beats plunging and outright one hit killing something that normally takes a lot of punishment.

[Kestral]

Alright Souls players, here's an important question about the souls series:

BB > DS1 > DS3 >>> DS2?

Was DS1 better than DS3? Is Bloodborne the best souls game? Did the B team on DS2 drop the ball? Discuss.

[MARS]

Naw dude, DS1 is still the best. There shouldn't even be any other Souls games anymore, and I'll be happy if good old Miyazaki can find it in his heart to stop now and move on to greener pastures. I haven't actually played DS3, though I hear it's good.

That said, I don't think it's fair to compare BB to other Souls games, since it was a stylistic departure, and put the focus on a different kind of approach to combat and its pacing. That's good.

[Kestral]

Naw dude, DS1 is still the best. There shouldn't even be any other Souls games anymore, and I'll be happy if good old Miyazaki can find it in his heart to stop now and move on to greener pastures. I haven't actually played DS3, though I hear it's good.

That said, I don't think it's fair to compare BB to other Souls games, since it was a stylistic departure, and put the focus on a different kind of approach to combat and its pacing. That's good.

The funny thing about Bloodborne to me is that it felt very much like a part of the Souls franchise, and DS3 definitely took away some pieces from BB (more so than DS2 I think). The faster combat, the cheaper rolls, and weapon arts stand out to me as notes taken from BB.

That said, I'll accept not being willing to compare BB to the rest of its Souls-like counterparts.

And as per DS3, it's really a love letter to what's good about DS1 (while skipping over DS2). DS3 is filled with nods and throwbacks to DS1, so if you were into DS1 a lot you'd appreciate them.

[MARS]

It's definitely on the list once I manage to replace my [&@%!] 32-bit computer. I'd play DS1 again, but I've done pretty much anything I could possibly do in that game.

[Kestral]

It's definitely on the list once I manage to replace my [&@%!] 32-bit computer. I'd play DS1 again, but I've done pretty much anything I could possibly do in that game.

Including SL1 runs? (That was [&@%!] rough)
My favorite is teaming up with a friend to make a Darkroot gang squad. Once, we dressed up as O&S and stomped some scrubs. That was a fulfilling experience.

[MARS]

Yep, done the SL1 run, including no shield. I did a couple of cosplay runs as well, and more ridiculous stuff like parry-only. The only things I haven't done are speedruns and no-death runs because there's a limit to my masochism.

I might do another one in the future. Oh, and my SL1 run was the only one on which I actually managed to beat Manus, hilariously.

[Kestral]

Yep, done the SL1 run, including no shield. I did a couple of cosplay runs as well, and more ridiculous stuff like parry-only. The only things I haven't done are speedruns and no-death runs because there's a limit to my masochism.

I might do another one in the future. Oh, and my SL1 run was the only one on which I actually managed to beat Manus, hilariously.

How do you parry what may not be parried? I can't imagine someone parrying the Centipede demon, or any variant of the asylum demon.

And the Manus thing is actually pretty hilarious. In my SL1 I intentionally chose to not run all bosses, fearing Artorias and Manus.

[MARS]

Well in a parry-only run you can still dodge, just not block. It's a small handicap, all things considered. Another fun thing to do is to go at things out of order, like killing Pinwheel as soon as you get to Lordran, taking on Queelaag before even going up to the Burg and stuff like that.

There are even worse things that have been done, apparently, like one guy beating the game on a Guitar Hero controller.

[Kestral]

Well in a parry-only run you can still dodge, just not block. It's a small handicap, all things considered. Another fun thing to do is to go at things out of order, like killing Pinwheel as soon as you get to Lordran, taking on Queelaag before even going up to the Burg and stuff like that.

There are even worse things that have been done, apparently, like one guy beating the game on a Guitar Hero controller.

Entering Lordran -> Pinwheel -> Quelaag -> rest of game was basically my route in SL1. I may have picked up the battle axe, I forget, but I basically tried to rush some souls and fire weapons ASAP for it.

[MARS]

I forget what weapon I used. I think it was actually the reinforced club, with fire -> lightning upgrades down the line. Saving all those souls from leveling really makes you realize how much stuff you can do with just items. I used firebombs to help me with beating Gwynn.

[Kestral]

I forget what weapon I used. I think it was actually the reinforced club, with fire -> lightning upgrades down the line. Saving all those souls from leveling really makes you realize how much stuff you can do with just items. I used firebombs to help me with beating Gwynn.

I believe I used juiced up pyromancies + parry2win.

[MARS]

I had pyromancies as well, of course, but even with the Dusk Crown Ring, I ran out of castings at one point or another. The bombs are good for staggering him if you need to roll away and heal.

[Kestral]

I had pyromancies as well, of course, but even with the Dusk Crown Ring, I ran out of castings at one point or another. The bombs are good for staggering him if you need to roll away and heal.

In my experience the time to heal vs Gwyn is when you parry him. Otherwise he's too damn fast. I think there is some environment clutter you can use to your advantage I guess.

[MARS]

The pillar immediately to your left as you enter the fight is my hangout spot.

[BetaB17]

Aren't yall forgetting about Demon Souls? Okay okay, maybe it cant even compare to much of the later games, but fact alone it set alot of the groundwork for DS1.. Not to mention the reintroduction of a few mechanics into DS3(I.e the love letter throwback to their roots and fans) plus drawing improvements from BB to make it all the better

But ya, honestly speaking here, BB shouldn't be directly compared to the DS series, same so with Demon Souls but more so forgiving given context >_>

I mean, thematically and combat lone is vastly different. It really boils down to level design, pacing, gradual difficulty, enemy/player variety, and of course the bosses.

Personally, while BB really gets how to do level design and make the world feel more connected via shortcuts.. It seriously falls short in overall variety >_> I.e some of the bosses/enemies and especially the character themself. I mean, aside from appearance and the small benefits(since every armor is light armor) but look at the weapons. Ya, sure, all the trick weapons have two modes.. But even by scale, there isn't as many options or unique choices as per the typical DS game. Tis the price for making more each weapon feel different

Still, BB was a really good game. And with DS3 still dishing out those DLC, I feel at least the main series can take a bit of a long break.. Leave some hype for a sequel to BB, or hell, maybe even pull a sneaky one and hit the fans with a Demon Souls 2

[Kestral]

Aren't yall forgetting about Demon Souls? Okay okay, maybe it cant even compare to much of the later games, but fact alone it set alot of the groundwork for DS1.. Not to mention the reintroduction of a few mechanics into DS3(I.e the love letter throwback to their roots and fans) plus drawing improvements from BB to make it all the better

But ya, honestly speaking here, BB shouldn't be directly compared to the DS series, same so with Demon Souls but more so forgiving given context >_>

I mean, thematically and combat lone is vastly different. It really boils down to level design, pacing, gradual difficulty, enemy/player variety, and of course the bosses.

Personally, while BB really gets how to do level design and make the world feel more connected via shortcuts.. It seriously falls short in overall variety >_> I.e some of the bosses/enemies and especially the character themself. I mean, aside from appearance and the small benefits(since every armor is light armor) but look at the weapons. Ya, sure, all the trick weapons have two modes.. But even by scale, there isn't as many options or unique choices as per the typical DS game. Tis the price for making more each weapon feel different

Still, BB was a really good game. And with DS3 still dishing out those DLC, I feel at least the main series can take a bit of a long break.. Leave some hype for a sequel to BB, or hell, maybe even pull a sneaky one and hit the fans with a Demon Souls 2 :D

Forgetting DeSu was my b, sorry bud.

BB honestly had pretty amazing bosses I think. Father Gascoigne, Vicar Amelia, Amygdala, Ebrietas, Orphan of Kos, Ludwig the Accursed, Lady Maria, and of course, Micolash the Meme-host of the Meme himself. There were a few cool bosses in the chalice dungeon, and no souls game has had as many as memorable bosses. I thought weapon variety was also pretty good, since most weapons had completely different move sets from each other (they're weapon-feel too). There are fewer options in DS, though.