A further addendum to the rules:
Jolly co-operation with NPCs is allowed, including with mages. The reason being there are numerous examples of Conan accepting help from any who offer it. An outlaw isn't picky. At one point, King Conan even accepts the help of a vile necromancer. Why would he shun the glorious Sunbro? I am now gearing up for Moonlight Butterfly, and typically I use the npc summon there to reduce the extreme tedium of fighting that boss without any ranged weapon.
The Bell Gargoyles were quite easy, as usual. There were a couple of early encounters I expected to be difficult without any shield or armor (the demon guarding the Forest after Andre, as well as the greatsword dark knight in the undead burg tower) but they were simple enough. Havel was no trouble either. Havel's Ring is rather useless at present. I'm wearing bandit pants and the gold bandit armlets, but nothing else. None of the other early armors are suitable. Black Leather set will be one for me to try on for fashion. The clothes of thieves, brigands and ruffians will all be allowed. But fashion reigns before all.
I was hoping to obtain the boar helmet from the metal boar in undead burg, but he didn't drop one.
The club's flying smash was a jolly bit of fun in the early going. I'll have to remember to give a fair number of jump R2s in future combat sessions. Backstep R1 with the Bastard Sword/Claymore is pretty good too. A mighty circular swing that cleaves the foe. Also works if you hold run into an R1. With no shield, I've little reason to one-hand any weapon.
I decided to take the Bastard Sword to +5 early, and the Claymore I'll bring along behind it. I'll make an ultimate decision later. The cost in souls to take weapons to +5 is so trivial that I've no problem doing so with every weapon I like the look of. I typically upgrade armor early, but I won't be doing so here unless I find a piece I like. No shield upgrading either, so all-in on weapons.
From Software 'n such
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BareKnuckleRoo
- Posts: 6649
- Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 4:01 am
- Location: Southern Ontario
Re: From Software 'n such
I can see this happening easily if you use the Club. He's one of those tall dudes who spends half the time spreading his legs and showing off his crotch, making his hitbox wonky for firebombs at a distance or weapons with vertical strikes like the club. Add to that the club's whiff animation and there's a potential for disaster.
I'm already at Anor Londo on SL1 and I haven't bothered to do the butterfly because I can't stand trying to dodge those rapid needle attacks, and tanking hits with base vitality and endurance sounds awful. >w>; Will do it eventually I'm sure when I'm strong enough to down it the instant it lands.I am now gearing up for Moonlight Butterfly, and typically I use the npc summon there to reduce the extreme tedium of fighting that boss without any ranged weapon.
Truly an opportunity missed. Guess you have to reset and keep retrying until you get it. ;D jk jkI was hoping to obtain the boar helmet from the metal boar in undead burg, but he didn't drop one.
DS1 SL1 progress update:
Spoiler
Went to Darkroot Garden, got Wolf Ring because I forgot it before, joined cat covenant then beat up the ninjabois by roasting them to death. They don't really know how to dodge firebreath. :3 Having the flippy ring is quite nice, you move quite far when dodging and I haven't used it much as I'm used to more tanky setups. Tried a few times to get blue shards from the crystal golems, they didn't cooperate at 10 Humanity, gave up and went to beat up Quelaag. First death was actually to the stupid dogs by the Fire Keeper Soul in Blighttown because I was too impatient to make a crossbow and slowly shoot them to death, and hand axe decided to whiff on several swings by going over their itty bitty bastard bodies.
Quelaag died first time to a +1 Enchanted Hand Axe, uneventful really though several times during her slow attack where she spreads her legs she did it whilst standing in lava so I couldn't get hits in. Rude.
Tactical mistake but gave the lady all my humanity (like 17 or so) because she's sweet and deserves it. Got egghead briefly so eggbro'd be nicer to me. Finally, Pyro upgrades! Did Ceaseless, he was rude and ganked me a few times, necessitating I learn the timing for avoiding the arm slam, running all the way back to the altar, then to the doorway.
Took pyro flame up to +14 with all the souls I had, got Combustion and Great Combustion, off to Sen's Fortress. I tried patiently turtling and trading hits with the snakies, but at low endurance on precarious platforms it sucks. Things hit rather hard now to the point I'm at critical health from one blow, so speedrun tactics ended up working better and I just ran past everything. I didn't even bother bringing poison arrows; and running past the electric guys went surprisingly well. As usual, knowing that you can touch the flat part of the swinging blades safely as they pass makes the timing so much easier. I discovered afterwards that firebreath at this point is actually VERY effective on the snakes; I'm so used to having a powerful weapon at this point that I generally don't use dragon fire much but it turns out it's still useful on a number of things. I've neglected my main weapon a bit in favor of pyromancy as I plan to make a Fire weapon when I eventually take a trip to the catacombs.
Sat in the doorway, roasted the boulder tossing giant to death. Iron Giant died on first try to me shooting it in the crotch with flames. Seems like despite the MASSIVE dps it doesn't get knocked over unless it's physical attacks.
Anor Londo's painting guardians, giants and imps actually die decently to firebreath, with the guardians in particular being weak to it as it keeps them at bay from doing their swirly multi hit combo that can't be deflected except with a greatshield. Imps have a lot of mobility and range so it meant it was easier to run past them. The shootyboys on the ledge took a few tries, I'd done it before without arrows but it's way, way easier to poison them and wait it out at a distance. However, because my health's so low that any minor mistake can easily kill, going slow and playing "safe" isn't particularly safe compared to just running like hell. The flippy dodge really helps and I learned to make full use of it!
Since I made the mistake of giving all my humanity to Quelaag's sister I can't kindle anything, so I grabbed the Occult club, burnt a bunch of stuff, opened more stuff, and ran like hell outta there. I can't beat O&S with only 5 estus uses (can get Smough killed, super O down to half health) so I'm gonna go upgrade so I can get 20 estus uses. I once saw a suggestion that the Occult club is ideal for downgrading to an instant +5 Divine weapon for the catacombs and it's a great idea; saves the trouble of having to make one.
Quelaag died first time to a +1 Enchanted Hand Axe, uneventful really though several times during her slow attack where she spreads her legs she did it whilst standing in lava so I couldn't get hits in. Rude.
Tactical mistake but gave the lady all my humanity (like 17 or so) because she's sweet and deserves it. Got egghead briefly so eggbro'd be nicer to me. Finally, Pyro upgrades! Did Ceaseless, he was rude and ganked me a few times, necessitating I learn the timing for avoiding the arm slam, running all the way back to the altar, then to the doorway.
Took pyro flame up to +14 with all the souls I had, got Combustion and Great Combustion, off to Sen's Fortress. I tried patiently turtling and trading hits with the snakies, but at low endurance on precarious platforms it sucks. Things hit rather hard now to the point I'm at critical health from one blow, so speedrun tactics ended up working better and I just ran past everything. I didn't even bother bringing poison arrows; and running past the electric guys went surprisingly well. As usual, knowing that you can touch the flat part of the swinging blades safely as they pass makes the timing so much easier. I discovered afterwards that firebreath at this point is actually VERY effective on the snakes; I'm so used to having a powerful weapon at this point that I generally don't use dragon fire much but it turns out it's still useful on a number of things. I've neglected my main weapon a bit in favor of pyromancy as I plan to make a Fire weapon when I eventually take a trip to the catacombs.
Sat in the doorway, roasted the boulder tossing giant to death. Iron Giant died on first try to me shooting it in the crotch with flames. Seems like despite the MASSIVE dps it doesn't get knocked over unless it's physical attacks.
Anor Londo's painting guardians, giants and imps actually die decently to firebreath, with the guardians in particular being weak to it as it keeps them at bay from doing their swirly multi hit combo that can't be deflected except with a greatshield. Imps have a lot of mobility and range so it meant it was easier to run past them. The shootyboys on the ledge took a few tries, I'd done it before without arrows but it's way, way easier to poison them and wait it out at a distance. However, because my health's so low that any minor mistake can easily kill, going slow and playing "safe" isn't particularly safe compared to just running like hell. The flippy dodge really helps and I learned to make full use of it!
Since I made the mistake of giving all my humanity to Quelaag's sister I can't kindle anything, so I grabbed the Occult club, burnt a bunch of stuff, opened more stuff, and ran like hell outta there. I can't beat O&S with only 5 estus uses (can get Smough killed, super O down to half health) so I'm gonna go upgrade so I can get 20 estus uses. I once saw a suggestion that the Occult club is ideal for downgrading to an instant +5 Divine weapon for the catacombs and it's a great idea; saves the trouble of having to make one.
Spoiler
Took a detour to get the Fire Ember, then made for the Catacombs which were a relative breeze. Wanderer set at +6 with dragon head for firebreath lets me take a surprising number of hits at base health. Upgraded to a Balder Shield and a pair of Daggers, gonna go Fire + Lighting. I like their massive crit damage and how speedy they are. Got fire weapons unlocked, no issues with Pinwheel thanks to fast dagger slashes.
Went to the Undead Asylum again for the Red Titanite, the knights went down hilariously easily to my pyromancy. Fire Dagger +8 has such a small hitbox that it's a bit tricky to hit Stray Demon, but pyromancy + firebreath took him down with minimal issue.
Went to Capra Demon, won first try without needing poise! DWG flipping lets you rush the stairs and the fire dagger was roasting the doggos easily.
Back to Anor Londo, killed Lautrec, equipped FAP + DWG ring. I think for future playthroughs, my fave setup is DWG + Chloranthy. The speedy flips and fast stamina regen are just too good of a combo to pass up. I don't actually like FAP all that much as the boosts aren't that large and with 40 Vit / End you're quite durable and tanky, whereas that insane stamina regen feels really nice for frantic non-stop fights like O&S. That being said, going without the Chloranthy ring meant there were a lot of fights where I learned to find openings to regen (Knight Artorius in particular gives nice big openings for this).
20 Estus along with DWG + FAP meant I had plenty of health for O&S. Armor at +6 really soaked the damage nicely (only some of the bigger lightning attacks and Smough's charge attack if it hit twice could oneshot me) and Balder Shield +5 helped for taking stray hits like Smough's charge. Killed Smough first as usual using Chaos Fireballs when he was open and then carving him up, then patiently whittled down big ol' Ornstein. I'd spent my massive excess of souls on throwing weapons and as it turns out I could simply flip away and throw poison daggers and dung pies at him to make it hilariously easy. Big Ornstein is far easier than Smough in my opinion once you learn the timing for the grab attack, and you can run in to attack any time after the butt slam, whereas Smough's upgraded form has that lightning infused running attack, the single nastiest move in the entire battle.
Blasted a certain lady with flames, made the place dark and appealingly spooky, murdered a fire keeper, took my Estus up to +4 which seems to guarantee I always max my HP out when healing. Deposited the lordvessel, died a bunch in New Londo trying to get to the key to the seal because of that last room being crazy until I remembered to just run past it all outside the building as if you're going to the locked gate, and half the crowd will follow you out where you can firebomb them in relative peace. Grabbed the Titanite Chunks from the bottom of New Londo and the big ember for +15 upgrading, made myself a maxed out Lightning Dagger.
Did lethal lava land's bosses, the demon was a non issue, Lightning Dagger carved everything up, never got enough humanity to open the shortcut so instead I did the bosses, centipede took a few tries and tended to oneshot me but was surprisingly cooperative. BoC was uneventful aside from it using fire pillars to murder me after I got the second root, couldn't dodge the pillars where I was since I ran to the roots to melee them rather than shooting them as I tend to. Got the kill immediately after.
I'd never fully done the DLC before, I got stuck at Knight Artorius trying to learn how to deal with him using a heavier, midroll setup, and that's a horrible mistake. Fastrolling, especially with DWG is far, far easier, and he gives nice juicy openings to recharge stamina. Actually he's quite easy to dodge, everything is "dodge to the right" aside from his super high leap and the thing where he tosses goo at you (which is easy to block, low stamina cost). The problem I had was finding attack openings. He recovers very fast, and if you're in melee range he'll often do a spinny jump that hits you to escape further hits. You can only hit him once savely, except when he charges up his aura. The dagger was fast enough to hit him then roll if he tried to do the quick counterattack, but the lack of range made getting hits reliably rather tough. Pyromancy was kinda awful, Great Combustion hit sort of decently but everything else was too slow to really come in handy. I did find that if I reacted fast enough I could Chaos Fireball him as he charged up his aura but I had to be quick on the draw or I'd eat the blast damage as his aura activated.
I decided to change tactics to something I remember thinking of last time I fought him but didn't have the willpower to grind souls for: a crossbow. No Titanite Chunks left (I spent some on armor, I was reliably taking hits and surviving even from Artorious in buffed mode as long as it wasn't the high jump slam), so I took a Light Crossbow up to +10 and bought a bunch of bolts. 60 damage a hit, 25 or so at a distance when he was charging (could hit him 3-4 times during charge). It turns out crossbows are his kryptonite. One-hand it for speed (two handing it reloads slower), and you have several attacks where you can shoot him but be just outside the range that triggers his melee counter. This includes his long windup stab that's hugely telegraphed, a couple of his combos where the second swing is very slow on recovery, his super high jump slam (NOT the fast ones that do up to 3 slams in a row) and his charge up move where, if you position it right, you can sometimes get a headshot and cancel it!
Once I had the crossbow Artorius went down in only a few tries, just had to be patient and make sure to roll forward past him, or roll backwards a few times depending on spacing when he did the high jump which has a massive hitbox. On to the rest of the DLC!
Went to the Undead Asylum again for the Red Titanite, the knights went down hilariously easily to my pyromancy. Fire Dagger +8 has such a small hitbox that it's a bit tricky to hit Stray Demon, but pyromancy + firebreath took him down with minimal issue.
Went to Capra Demon, won first try without needing poise! DWG flipping lets you rush the stairs and the fire dagger was roasting the doggos easily.
Back to Anor Londo, killed Lautrec, equipped FAP + DWG ring. I think for future playthroughs, my fave setup is DWG + Chloranthy. The speedy flips and fast stamina regen are just too good of a combo to pass up. I don't actually like FAP all that much as the boosts aren't that large and with 40 Vit / End you're quite durable and tanky, whereas that insane stamina regen feels really nice for frantic non-stop fights like O&S. That being said, going without the Chloranthy ring meant there were a lot of fights where I learned to find openings to regen (Knight Artorius in particular gives nice big openings for this).
20 Estus along with DWG + FAP meant I had plenty of health for O&S. Armor at +6 really soaked the damage nicely (only some of the bigger lightning attacks and Smough's charge attack if it hit twice could oneshot me) and Balder Shield +5 helped for taking stray hits like Smough's charge. Killed Smough first as usual using Chaos Fireballs when he was open and then carving him up, then patiently whittled down big ol' Ornstein. I'd spent my massive excess of souls on throwing weapons and as it turns out I could simply flip away and throw poison daggers and dung pies at him to make it hilariously easy. Big Ornstein is far easier than Smough in my opinion once you learn the timing for the grab attack, and you can run in to attack any time after the butt slam, whereas Smough's upgraded form has that lightning infused running attack, the single nastiest move in the entire battle.
Blasted a certain lady with flames, made the place dark and appealingly spooky, murdered a fire keeper, took my Estus up to +4 which seems to guarantee I always max my HP out when healing. Deposited the lordvessel, died a bunch in New Londo trying to get to the key to the seal because of that last room being crazy until I remembered to just run past it all outside the building as if you're going to the locked gate, and half the crowd will follow you out where you can firebomb them in relative peace. Grabbed the Titanite Chunks from the bottom of New Londo and the big ember for +15 upgrading, made myself a maxed out Lightning Dagger.
Did lethal lava land's bosses, the demon was a non issue, Lightning Dagger carved everything up, never got enough humanity to open the shortcut so instead I did the bosses, centipede took a few tries and tended to oneshot me but was surprisingly cooperative. BoC was uneventful aside from it using fire pillars to murder me after I got the second root, couldn't dodge the pillars where I was since I ran to the roots to melee them rather than shooting them as I tend to. Got the kill immediately after.
I'd never fully done the DLC before, I got stuck at Knight Artorius trying to learn how to deal with him using a heavier, midroll setup, and that's a horrible mistake. Fastrolling, especially with DWG is far, far easier, and he gives nice juicy openings to recharge stamina. Actually he's quite easy to dodge, everything is "dodge to the right" aside from his super high leap and the thing where he tosses goo at you (which is easy to block, low stamina cost). The problem I had was finding attack openings. He recovers very fast, and if you're in melee range he'll often do a spinny jump that hits you to escape further hits. You can only hit him once savely, except when he charges up his aura. The dagger was fast enough to hit him then roll if he tried to do the quick counterattack, but the lack of range made getting hits reliably rather tough. Pyromancy was kinda awful, Great Combustion hit sort of decently but everything else was too slow to really come in handy. I did find that if I reacted fast enough I could Chaos Fireball him as he charged up his aura but I had to be quick on the draw or I'd eat the blast damage as his aura activated.
I decided to change tactics to something I remember thinking of last time I fought him but didn't have the willpower to grind souls for: a crossbow. No Titanite Chunks left (I spent some on armor, I was reliably taking hits and surviving even from Artorious in buffed mode as long as it wasn't the high jump slam), so I took a Light Crossbow up to +10 and bought a bunch of bolts. 60 damage a hit, 25 or so at a distance when he was charging (could hit him 3-4 times during charge). It turns out crossbows are his kryptonite. One-hand it for speed (two handing it reloads slower), and you have several attacks where you can shoot him but be just outside the range that triggers his melee counter. This includes his long windup stab that's hugely telegraphed, a couple of his combos where the second swing is very slow on recovery, his super high jump slam (NOT the fast ones that do up to 3 slams in a row) and his charge up move where, if you position it right, you can sometimes get a headshot and cancel it!
Once I had the crossbow Artorius went down in only a few tries, just had to be patient and make sure to roll forward past him, or roll backwards a few times depending on spacing when he did the high jump which has a massive hitbox. On to the rest of the DLC!
Re: From Software 'n such
Capra Demon didn't give it up easy, but he didn't give it up hard either. Got him first try, but it was one of the harder Capras I've fought in a while. With no shield and no armor, blocking was off the table. Fast enemies like dogs, rats and torch-wielding undead are right fuckers when you have to respect their flailing around. Took me a while to pin down the dogs with my sword, and I ate a few hits from Capra while doing that. The fight is always easier once it's 1vs1 though. I like to think of this as a fight that's decided in the first 30 seconds. If you survive and kill the dogs within that time limit, then you've won. If not, prepare for rough times.
I ate a death to Gaping Dragon as I always do. I'm too fucking dumb for this game, guys. I know very well that summoning Solaire makes the fight much harder rather than easier, and that summoning Solaire and Lautric makes the fight damn near unwinnable. But I always do it anyway, at least once.... And usually die, because Gaping Dragon becomes so goddamn erratic (not to mention the hp buff) with 3 people in the field that predicting anything he's going to do becomes impossible. Big ups to getting 360 noscoped by a random tail he would never have done in a 1vs1, because I wasn't standing in the place that makes him do that move. Thanks, Solaire.
1vs1 Gaping Dragon is 2EZ fight though. Hard not to fall asleep while leading him by the nose through his pattern.
I gave Stray Demon a shot. I really don't like this fight. You're forced to take some amount of fall damage at the start and short of memorizing what direction the boss starts in, there's sometimes no way to reasonably avoid Stray Demon's first attack. Not at all uncommon to fall down and instantly die to a giant kamehameha. This boss is quite simple with total freedom of weapon choices (just use bleed and crest shield = 2EZ), but I wanted to see if Bastard Sword +5 could clutch it out. I'm thinking it's not time for this guy yet. My damage output was extremely low and he was able to wipe me in maybe 2 hits, max.
I'll probably move on to Blighttown now.
Domhall of Zena set looks very appropriate for King Conan. The pants are a bit poncy but the gloves have a massive gold ring on them and the shirt is festooned with coins, a dagger and other bling. Only problem with this set is the weight. Midroll = Hell No. Gonna have to pump Endurance. Until then, I'm wearing bandit pants and gold bandit armbands with a glorious shirtless beach bod. Well, I would be, except now I'm beef jerky man, bcuz hollow. So I'm covering my shame with a black leather thief top and cowl. By Crom, where have my gains gone?!?
I ate a death to Gaping Dragon as I always do. I'm too fucking dumb for this game, guys. I know very well that summoning Solaire makes the fight much harder rather than easier, and that summoning Solaire and Lautric makes the fight damn near unwinnable. But I always do it anyway, at least once.... And usually die, because Gaping Dragon becomes so goddamn erratic (not to mention the hp buff) with 3 people in the field that predicting anything he's going to do becomes impossible. Big ups to getting 360 noscoped by a random tail he would never have done in a 1vs1, because I wasn't standing in the place that makes him do that move. Thanks, Solaire.
1vs1 Gaping Dragon is 2EZ fight though. Hard not to fall asleep while leading him by the nose through his pattern.
I gave Stray Demon a shot. I really don't like this fight. You're forced to take some amount of fall damage at the start and short of memorizing what direction the boss starts in, there's sometimes no way to reasonably avoid Stray Demon's first attack. Not at all uncommon to fall down and instantly die to a giant kamehameha. This boss is quite simple with total freedom of weapon choices (just use bleed and crest shield = 2EZ), but I wanted to see if Bastard Sword +5 could clutch it out. I'm thinking it's not time for this guy yet. My damage output was extremely low and he was able to wipe me in maybe 2 hits, max.
I'll probably move on to Blighttown now.
Domhall of Zena set looks very appropriate for King Conan. The pants are a bit poncy but the gloves have a massive gold ring on them and the shirt is festooned with coins, a dagger and other bling. Only problem with this set is the weight. Midroll = Hell No. Gonna have to pump Endurance. Until then, I'm wearing bandit pants and gold bandit armbands with a glorious shirtless beach bod. Well, I would be, except now I'm beef jerky man, bcuz hollow. So I'm covering my shame with a black leather thief top and cowl. By Crom, where have my gains gone?!?
Re: From Software 'n such
Probably not the case for most of you, but if you are playing the Elden Ring DLC on XBOX, it must be installed manually/separate from the main game (despite the 20 some-odd gigabyte update to the main game). I found this out the hard way last night where the DLC trigger in game simply did not exist (there is a character that appears by Miquella’s egg). I had to go back to the store page and “install” the DLC, despite having already bought the expansion, and Elden Ring’s massive DLC-day patch. Refreshed my saved game, then boom, I was able to activate the DLC with my existing character.
Re: From Software 'n such
Blighttown was fast enough. I'll probably eat more shit on the way back, because my usual route for Blighttown is to take the shortcut down and then the long way back. Or at least most of the way back.
Died a couple times to stupid stunlock deaths with the poison, mosquitos and leeches. Just me being dumb and not knowing how to play without armor and a shield. I allowed myself to wear the pyro set for poison resist some of the time. Scarlet robes and Quelana set are firmly in "wizard" territory however, and thus off limits! The pyro's Heavy Boots look really nice on shirtless Conan. I'll probably rotate them with the bandit pants. I allowed the Pyromancer to give me a flame, but I haven't bought anything from him. I'm still debating if Power Within is actually magic or the equivalent of a berserker rage. Every other spell is off-limits as obviously magic. Miracles are magic. Conan may curse in Crom's name but when does he worship him? Crom helps those who help themselves.
Spider queen was easy. I summoned Mildred because she's like a female Conan, except with a bag on her head. It would have been easy without her though. Quelaag gave me the easy patterns and I used my twinkling titanite to upgrade the black knight sword to +4. I had the souls and titanite and nothing to spend them on. Figured I'll rotate the BKS in with Claymore and Bastard Sword. For now, it's giving me a massive damage increase. But I also didn't backtrack to Andre for +6 weapons when they became available.
On to Sen's, I suppose. Only annoying thing about this playthrough is my fashion souls suffers when I die. I have to cover my beef jerky shame for a while until I reach the next point of progression to reflesh myself. I'm not going to require myself to be human 100% of the time, since that could lead to super quick depletion of Humanity/forced Humanity farming in annoying instant death areas like Crystal Caverns and Bed of Chaos. Pretty much going with "when I reach the next bonfire" as to when I should be humanizing and stripping the old shirt off.
Died a couple times to stupid stunlock deaths with the poison, mosquitos and leeches. Just me being dumb and not knowing how to play without armor and a shield. I allowed myself to wear the pyro set for poison resist some of the time. Scarlet robes and Quelana set are firmly in "wizard" territory however, and thus off limits! The pyro's Heavy Boots look really nice on shirtless Conan. I'll probably rotate them with the bandit pants. I allowed the Pyromancer to give me a flame, but I haven't bought anything from him. I'm still debating if Power Within is actually magic or the equivalent of a berserker rage. Every other spell is off-limits as obviously magic. Miracles are magic. Conan may curse in Crom's name but when does he worship him? Crom helps those who help themselves.
Spider queen was easy. I summoned Mildred because she's like a female Conan, except with a bag on her head. It would have been easy without her though. Quelaag gave me the easy patterns and I used my twinkling titanite to upgrade the black knight sword to +4. I had the souls and titanite and nothing to spend them on. Figured I'll rotate the BKS in with Claymore and Bastard Sword. For now, it's giving me a massive damage increase. But I also didn't backtrack to Andre for +6 weapons when they became available.
On to Sen's, I suppose. Only annoying thing about this playthrough is my fashion souls suffers when I die. I have to cover my beef jerky shame for a while until I reach the next point of progression to reflesh myself. I'm not going to require myself to be human 100% of the time, since that could lead to super quick depletion of Humanity/forced Humanity farming in annoying instant death areas like Crystal Caverns and Bed of Chaos. Pretty much going with "when I reach the next bonfire" as to when I should be humanizing and stripping the old shirt off.
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BareKnuckleRoo
- Posts: 6649
- Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 4:01 am
- Location: Southern Ontario
Re: From Software 'n such
DS1 SL1 progress, the endgame cometh:
Spoiler
Okay so it turns out I really like crossbows. I could not be bothered with learning Manus, will revisit him in an SL1 melee only run I think, and it was too hilarious to pass up the chance to kill him from afar with his glowy eyes off in the distance, so I put on the Hawk Ring and shot him in the face until he croaked.
Kalameet was a tricky boy until I realized that meleeing him is godawful but crossbowing him is not. A theme for the DLC, haha. Got some titanite chunks I'd forgotten from black knights, took the crossbow to +7, then shot him to death. Only a few attacks were oneshotting me (firebreath when he stands on two legs, his swoop attack if it hit twice) and otherwise with a ranged strategy he had several big juicy openings to exploit, making it more about patience. I couldn't see any great openings to melee him aside from a few breath attacks, so not looking forward to fighting him on a melee run.
With the DLC done I went back to get everything set for Gwyn, including making a proper Fire +5 dagger. Went to Duke's Archives first, make a tremendous mistake when I realized a) I went into the fight without equipping either the Rare Ring of Sacrifice or the Cursebite Ring I had and b) I didn't have any purging stones because I'm used to running around with so much humanity that Seath's curse is irrelevant. Ate the plot death, and of course my itty bitty meter filled post-death and hit with curse. Spent the entire Duke's Archives run at half health. :/
I was a oneshot to heavy soul arrows or any boosted attacks when the enemies were buffed, so I ran and blocked like hell to get to the bonfire near the outside. I decided to run to Seath's and hope for a purging stone drop from one of the shell enemies, grabbed the Soul of a Hero and for the first time ever the butterfly at the bottom aggro'd on me due to proximity. I didn't even know they could aggro on you without hitting them. ;w; Seath was uneventful, if you don't try for the tail cut his attacks don't hit too hard and cursebite ring negated any chance of him cursing me. Lightning dagger +5 kinda let me down and it was faster to sit back and shoot him with crossbow bolts repeatedly.
Crossbow also ended up being the way to go for Nito; I blasted everything on the way to him with pyromancy, divine clubbed his helpers down, but found my divine club and dagger both awkward to hit with, so I ended up using crossbow to shoot him from afar. I took a lot of hits and used all my remaining Estus worrying about moving too far and aggroing the giant skeletons which would have wrecked me, but eventually Nito went down.
My first 4 kings attempt I went in light and tried dodging their hits. It's kinda fun actually, though evading the grab is incredibly hard I find, I don't know the timing on it. The problem is, with all the dodging, I wasn't doing damage fast enough, 3 more kings spawned, and eventually one got close enough to slash me in the back.
Attempt 2 I went with full Havel's set, and used the Elizabeth's Mushrooms from the DLC to just ignore damage and slash them up. I had forgotten to swap my pyromancy to something actually useful for them (had been using Great Fireball/Fire Orb) so I just melee'd them to death easily, using Estus through attacks when the last mushroom ran out.
Tried Gwyn several times, I cannot get the parry timing down at all. However, dodging and waiting for an opening (the grab, usually) to blast him with Combustion spells was the way to go and I eventually had an attempt that got him down half health. Was late, will have to try him again later.
Kalameet was a tricky boy until I realized that meleeing him is godawful but crossbowing him is not. A theme for the DLC, haha. Got some titanite chunks I'd forgotten from black knights, took the crossbow to +7, then shot him to death. Only a few attacks were oneshotting me (firebreath when he stands on two legs, his swoop attack if it hit twice) and otherwise with a ranged strategy he had several big juicy openings to exploit, making it more about patience. I couldn't see any great openings to melee him aside from a few breath attacks, so not looking forward to fighting him on a melee run.
With the DLC done I went back to get everything set for Gwyn, including making a proper Fire +5 dagger. Went to Duke's Archives first, make a tremendous mistake when I realized a) I went into the fight without equipping either the Rare Ring of Sacrifice or the Cursebite Ring I had and b) I didn't have any purging stones because I'm used to running around with so much humanity that Seath's curse is irrelevant. Ate the plot death, and of course my itty bitty meter filled post-death and hit with curse. Spent the entire Duke's Archives run at half health. :/
I was a oneshot to heavy soul arrows or any boosted attacks when the enemies were buffed, so I ran and blocked like hell to get to the bonfire near the outside. I decided to run to Seath's and hope for a purging stone drop from one of the shell enemies, grabbed the Soul of a Hero and for the first time ever the butterfly at the bottom aggro'd on me due to proximity. I didn't even know they could aggro on you without hitting them. ;w; Seath was uneventful, if you don't try for the tail cut his attacks don't hit too hard and cursebite ring negated any chance of him cursing me. Lightning dagger +5 kinda let me down and it was faster to sit back and shoot him with crossbow bolts repeatedly.
Crossbow also ended up being the way to go for Nito; I blasted everything on the way to him with pyromancy, divine clubbed his helpers down, but found my divine club and dagger both awkward to hit with, so I ended up using crossbow to shoot him from afar. I took a lot of hits and used all my remaining Estus worrying about moving too far and aggroing the giant skeletons which would have wrecked me, but eventually Nito went down.
My first 4 kings attempt I went in light and tried dodging their hits. It's kinda fun actually, though evading the grab is incredibly hard I find, I don't know the timing on it. The problem is, with all the dodging, I wasn't doing damage fast enough, 3 more kings spawned, and eventually one got close enough to slash me in the back.
Attempt 2 I went with full Havel's set, and used the Elizabeth's Mushrooms from the DLC to just ignore damage and slash them up. I had forgotten to swap my pyromancy to something actually useful for them (had been using Great Fireball/Fire Orb) so I just melee'd them to death easily, using Estus through attacks when the last mushroom ran out.
Tried Gwyn several times, I cannot get the parry timing down at all. However, dodging and waiting for an opening (the grab, usually) to blast him with Combustion spells was the way to go and I eventually had an attempt that got him down half health. Was late, will have to try him again later.
Not unwinnable so much as very, very long. As long as you're moving fast you can outrun him, bait him to drop down and amble forward, then hit him in the tail repeatedly. It's a slow process because he has so much HP even without summons, but it's not unusual to beat him without taking damage (or getting stepped on and oneshotted if you mistime something). It's a bit sad but if you summon them it's easier to just stand back and wait for them to die rather than trying to help. They also often get grabbed and bitten by him, at which point he gets i-frames and prevents you from hitting him.
This is why my fashion souls usually entails no exposed skin, hahah.Only annoying thing about this playthrough is my fashion souls suffers when I die. I have to cover my beef jerky shame for a while until I reach the next point of progression to reflesh myself
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BareKnuckleRoo
- Posts: 6649
- Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 4:01 am
- Location: Southern Ontario
Re: From Software 'n such
I've been on a massive DS1 bender.
Fun game! Should move onto DS2. I may also try to pick up the original Xbox 360 version of DS1... but honestly I bounced hard off DS2's Xbox version in part because of the controls which weren't remappable (I hated the dodge button's position). I do have the PC version of DS2 that has the tweaks, may just play that.
Spoiler
Wrapped up the SL1 run, and THEN decided not to cheese Manus and replay the game at a friend's suggestion while it was fresh in my mind, doing an SL1 melee only run (no throwing weapons). It was tough, Kalameet's a nuisance to run up and smack. Manus actually wasn't too bad though, a +11 Balder shield and FaP ring meant all his melee attacks could be blocked at max stamina if my timing sucked (his multi hit combo is safer to block twice then dodge away as it pushes you to safety).
Final boss in SL1 was won by discovering you could dodge the initial jump attack then stunlock him with Great Combustion and Black Flame. SL1 melee only I could not figure out how to parry him, the timing felt super strict, so I won by running away from him, baiting his long jump attack, and smacking him with 2 handed blows of the reinforced club.
Armor is definitely a huge help, at 35 Vit a half-assed run with no upgrades causes him to deal nearly half my lifebar without FaP ring, on an SL1 Melee run with 3 pieces of armor at +9 and dragon head (for the look and because I couldn't find a fashion souls at a light roll weight I liked with a helmet) meant I could actually take a few minor hits.
Final boss in SL1 was won by discovering you could dodge the initial jump attack then stunlock him with Great Combustion and Black Flame. SL1 melee only I could not figure out how to parry him, the timing felt super strict, so I won by running away from him, baiting his long jump attack, and smacking him with 2 handed blows of the reinforced club.
Armor is definitely a huge help, at 35 Vit a half-assed run with no upgrades causes him to deal nearly half my lifebar without FaP ring, on an SL1 Melee run with 3 pieces of armor at +9 and dragon head (for the look and because I couldn't find a fashion souls at a light roll weight I liked with a helmet) meant I could actually take a few minor hits.
Re: From Software 'n such
I was able to remap the controls for jumping when I played DS2 on xbox 360. I switched them back to the DS1 mappings. I don't know why that option didn't exist for you. Xbox 360 DS2 Scholar Edition is my preferred way to play DS2. It keeps the default enemy placements of vanilla DS2 but adds in the amazing DLCs and the extra content of Scholar. I don't care for the other versions of DS2 putting Ogres and Dragons everywhere. Enemy placement matters a lot in a game like this and I just didn't care for how they rearranged things in the later versions of DS2.
Sen's is kicking my ass with no shield and little armor. I usually breeze through this place by using a shield to block lightning spammers and traps. With no shield, dodging is the only option and there's little room to do that.
Sen's is kicking my ass with no shield and little armor. I usually breeze through this place by using a shield to block lightning spammers and traps. With no shield, dodging is the only option and there's little room to do that.
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BareKnuckleRoo
- Posts: 6649
- Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 4:01 am
- Location: Southern Ontario
Re: From Software 'n such
To be fair, my memory was trying it at a friends and I may be misrenembering, possible I wasn't able to come to grips with a control scheme I liked at the time.
The lightning attacks shouldn't be too bad, use a greatsword type weapon or get the Zweihander. They have respectable 40 / 50% resist when used 2 handed and blocking, enough to serve as a modest shield in a pinch where dodging is precarious. Actually, wait, I think the snakes are weird and their "lightning" actually does magic damage? Then yeah, that's rough, I can't even think of a weapon with higher than 10% magic block you could 2 hand.
The lightning attacks shouldn't be too bad, use a greatsword type weapon or get the Zweihander. They have respectable 40 / 50% resist when used 2 handed and blocking, enough to serve as a modest shield in a pinch where dodging is precarious. Actually, wait, I think the snakes are weird and their "lightning" actually does magic damage? Then yeah, that's rough, I can't even think of a weapon with higher than 10% magic block you could 2 hand.
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evil_ash_xero
- Posts: 6245
- Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2007 6:33 am
- Location: Where the fish lives
Re: From Software 'n such
This is about Shadow of the Erdtree.
Damn. I'm gonna have to agree with Feeble King's video with how this is the worst Souls-like with the Miyazaki name attached to it.
WAY too much blank space. I have been doing a second run, and I'm damn near yawning when playing areas like Abyssal Woods, and that huge ride to The Fissure.
That's not to mention the Finger ruins and a few other spots.
On top of that, I don't think any of the Legacy Dungeons are anything special. I don't think anyone else thinks so either, but some think Shadow Keep is S-Tier. That's their opinion,
but I found it very underwhelming. So, lots of dead space and underwhelming dungeons. There's the wacky bosses too, but that's another discussion, as I tend to use all things at my
disposal to beat them. So, I don't have that hard of a time with them.
I'm actually worried about From's next games if they thought this was "good enough" to release, when it is so empty, and seems unfinished. I've been jumping around between this and Dark Souls 3 (I'm in the Ringed City atm), and it's like night and day. Now, I think the base game's major dungeons and undergrounds were great too. I feel the "main team" are busy working on other things, but they still chose to release it this way, and I find that worrying, despite it's 95 percent MC score.
On a side note, I really liked Armored Core VI, but found the difficulty too easy most of the time. There's a mod called "Formidable Fodder" on Nexxus, for PC, and it just ticks it up a notch to
make the game more engaging. It only affects the "fodder" enemies like MTs, Cannons, and generic weaponry. I really like it, as it's a good game to begin with, but when you understand it... a lot of it can be cake. There's a "Nightmare Fodder", but I haven't tried it.
Honestly, I wish the game had a harder mode, and this was it. I wouldn't have been upset if this was the normal difficulty. It says not to challenge the Redguns though, so I don't know what to expect from that, as I found that mission to be really hard.
I can always hope they would add harder mission options to the 1.07 patch that's supposedly coming up, but it'll probably just be PVP stuff.
Thank goodness for the modding scene. Too bad Unicorn Overlord isn't on PC. That needs some difficulty buffs.
Damn. I'm gonna have to agree with Feeble King's video with how this is the worst Souls-like with the Miyazaki name attached to it.
WAY too much blank space. I have been doing a second run, and I'm damn near yawning when playing areas like Abyssal Woods, and that huge ride to The Fissure.
That's not to mention the Finger ruins and a few other spots.
On top of that, I don't think any of the Legacy Dungeons are anything special. I don't think anyone else thinks so either, but some think Shadow Keep is S-Tier. That's their opinion,
but I found it very underwhelming. So, lots of dead space and underwhelming dungeons. There's the wacky bosses too, but that's another discussion, as I tend to use all things at my
disposal to beat them. So, I don't have that hard of a time with them.
I'm actually worried about From's next games if they thought this was "good enough" to release, when it is so empty, and seems unfinished. I've been jumping around between this and Dark Souls 3 (I'm in the Ringed City atm), and it's like night and day. Now, I think the base game's major dungeons and undergrounds were great too. I feel the "main team" are busy working on other things, but they still chose to release it this way, and I find that worrying, despite it's 95 percent MC score.
On a side note, I really liked Armored Core VI, but found the difficulty too easy most of the time. There's a mod called "Formidable Fodder" on Nexxus, for PC, and it just ticks it up a notch to
make the game more engaging. It only affects the "fodder" enemies like MTs, Cannons, and generic weaponry. I really like it, as it's a good game to begin with, but when you understand it... a lot of it can be cake. There's a "Nightmare Fodder", but I haven't tried it.
Honestly, I wish the game had a harder mode, and this was it. I wouldn't have been upset if this was the normal difficulty. It says not to challenge the Redguns though, so I don't know what to expect from that, as I found that mission to be really hard.
I can always hope they would add harder mission options to the 1.07 patch that's supposedly coming up, but it'll probably just be PVP stuff.
Thank goodness for the modding scene. Too bad Unicorn Overlord isn't on PC. That needs some difficulty buffs.
My Collection: http://www.rfgeneration.com/cgi-bin/col ... Collection
Re: From Software 'n such
I dig Shadow Keep. The thing that impressed me is how many times you end up revisiting it, only to open it up further and further. It's clearly an area From spent a lot of time on.
The open world itself is more of the same that Elden Ring provided. I guess some parts are barren, but so is Elden Ring itself. Like with the base game, the open world is less about constantly fighting stuff as much as it is exploring and figuring out how to get to parts of your map you haven't been to yet.
There's tons of optional stuff in this expansion. I'm at what I believe is the end boss of the DLC right now, but there's still a few other places for me to get to and explore. That said, I do wish the map was bigger. It's not small, but it's also not the size of the base game's map, so if you're pretty comfortable with the main game, you'll rip through the DLC in a few days.
Some of the bosses gave me a lot of trouble, particularly the end one in Shadow Keep. I was actually stuck there for a couple of hours. And this last one isn't looking much better at the moment. Beefier enemies and bosses do crazy amounts of swings at you back to back. It's really difficult to roll past them, let alone get a hit in. And the poise on many enemies and bosses is through the roof, so there's very little (if any) stagger occurring depending on the enemy.
I've been mimic-tearing my way through bosses, as I had the realization I'm too old for this crap and I just wasn't feeling learning these insanely fast patterns. Elden Ring is a gigantic game already and since I had to go through the whole thing again just to get to the DLC, my current fresh run along with the time I've spent on the DLC is sitting at around 70 hours already.
Elden Ring is an interesting beast. I love the open world design and just getting absorbed into the atmosphere while I explore. And I enjoy the quality of life improvements when it comes to movement and combat. However, some of the bosses (especially in the DLC) get pretty insane and it makes me pine for some more straightforward, "old man 'Souls" action, like Dark Souls 1 or 2. Even still, last night I was starting to think the Souls formula in general is getting a little tiresome for me. There's already plenty of good Souls titles to fall back on that I'd rather just replay again rather than having to learn a new one, heh.
The open world itself is more of the same that Elden Ring provided. I guess some parts are barren, but so is Elden Ring itself. Like with the base game, the open world is less about constantly fighting stuff as much as it is exploring and figuring out how to get to parts of your map you haven't been to yet.
There's tons of optional stuff in this expansion. I'm at what I believe is the end boss of the DLC right now, but there's still a few other places for me to get to and explore. That said, I do wish the map was bigger. It's not small, but it's also not the size of the base game's map, so if you're pretty comfortable with the main game, you'll rip through the DLC in a few days.
Some of the bosses gave me a lot of trouble, particularly the end one in Shadow Keep. I was actually stuck there for a couple of hours. And this last one isn't looking much better at the moment. Beefier enemies and bosses do crazy amounts of swings at you back to back. It's really difficult to roll past them, let alone get a hit in. And the poise on many enemies and bosses is through the roof, so there's very little (if any) stagger occurring depending on the enemy.
I've been mimic-tearing my way through bosses, as I had the realization I'm too old for this crap and I just wasn't feeling learning these insanely fast patterns. Elden Ring is a gigantic game already and since I had to go through the whole thing again just to get to the DLC, my current fresh run along with the time I've spent on the DLC is sitting at around 70 hours already.
Elden Ring is an interesting beast. I love the open world design and just getting absorbed into the atmosphere while I explore. And I enjoy the quality of life improvements when it comes to movement and combat. However, some of the bosses (especially in the DLC) get pretty insane and it makes me pine for some more straightforward, "old man 'Souls" action, like Dark Souls 1 or 2. Even still, last night I was starting to think the Souls formula in general is getting a little tiresome for me. There's already plenty of good Souls titles to fall back on that I'd rather just replay again rather than having to learn a new one, heh.
Last edited by Austin on Fri Jul 12, 2024 5:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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To Far Away Times
- Posts: 2060
- Joined: Tue Sep 11, 2012 12:42 am
Re: From Software 'n such
Shadow of the Erdtree is really uneven.
Elden Ring is arguably my favorite game of all time, and I was super excited for the DLC. I won't go as far as saying it's the worst Miyazaki souls game (Demons' Souls lays a tremendous wet fart at the end of the game and just sorta ends abruptly because they ran out of time and money), but I don't think the SotE DLC lives up at all to the base game. The Abyssal Woods was damn near terrible, and easily the worst stage in any Miyazaki souls game. A couple of small stealth sections that played exactly like Sekiro's stealth, with nothing else to do but navigate the maze. No dungeons, no items, just reused giant rat enemies from the base game. I get what they were going for thematically, but it just didn't work for me. It needs to be fun to play, too. SotE doesn't have a great ending sequence either. The ending of Elden Ring is hype AF with the burning of the Erdtree, revisiting a newly destroyed area, and the final boss. SotE was super anticlimatic at the end, and I was asking myself "was that really it?" And it was.
I also really didn't like the general world map design either. It's much more cryptic to get to new places than it is in the base game, and there's lots of lower level areas that aren't shown on the map, making it hard to chart your progress and see where you have and haven't explored. At its core, Elden Ring was a game about exploration for me, and exploration is just not as good in SotE.
But there's also some great parts to the DLC. You can put me in the camp that really liked Shadow Keep. Not as good as Leyndell, but still really great.
That said, SotE is still a cut above the vast majority of games, but it isn't special like Elden Ring.
Elden Ring is arguably my favorite game of all time, and I was super excited for the DLC. I won't go as far as saying it's the worst Miyazaki souls game (Demons' Souls lays a tremendous wet fart at the end of the game and just sorta ends abruptly because they ran out of time and money), but I don't think the SotE DLC lives up at all to the base game. The Abyssal Woods was damn near terrible, and easily the worst stage in any Miyazaki souls game. A couple of small stealth sections that played exactly like Sekiro's stealth, with nothing else to do but navigate the maze. No dungeons, no items, just reused giant rat enemies from the base game. I get what they were going for thematically, but it just didn't work for me. It needs to be fun to play, too. SotE doesn't have a great ending sequence either. The ending of Elden Ring is hype AF with the burning of the Erdtree, revisiting a newly destroyed area, and the final boss. SotE was super anticlimatic at the end, and I was asking myself "was that really it?" And it was.
I also really didn't like the general world map design either. It's much more cryptic to get to new places than it is in the base game, and there's lots of lower level areas that aren't shown on the map, making it hard to chart your progress and see where you have and haven't explored. At its core, Elden Ring was a game about exploration for me, and exploration is just not as good in SotE.
But there's also some great parts to the DLC. You can put me in the camp that really liked Shadow Keep. Not as good as Leyndell, but still really great.
That said, SotE is still a cut above the vast majority of games, but it isn't special like Elden Ring.
Re: From Software 'n such
I agree with the DLC being more cryptic when it comes to exploration. I had done nearly everything.. except the Abyssal woods, that I just now discovered how to access. So I'll be playing through that later tonight, then go back to attempting the last couple of bosses. It's crazy though to think it was so easy to miss.
Oh, and then there was that part where I needed to use a gesture to open a secret passage, which was necessary to progress a questline. That was.. um, clearly a throwback to Dark Souls 3 where you had to do the same thing to get to Arch Dragon Peak, but I was still left thinking to myself, "How to people figure out this crap on their own?"
I was also bummed that if you hit a very specific part of the game, a lot of questlines basically just end and the associated NPCs get wiped off the map. Of course, I wasn't made aware of this until well after I "did the thing", but now the world feels especially barren. If I decide to go through it again down the road, I'll likely have a guide up to do as many side quests as possible to get the most out of it.
This is just my opinion (so basically it's not worth much), but while playing last night I was thinking that, while yes, I am enjoying the DLC, it's one of the expansions in the Soulsborne line that I don't feel is required material for fans of the base game. ER on its own already provides more than enough quality material as-is.
Oh, and then there was that part where I needed to use a gesture to open a secret passage, which was necessary to progress a questline. That was.. um, clearly a throwback to Dark Souls 3 where you had to do the same thing to get to Arch Dragon Peak, but I was still left thinking to myself, "How to people figure out this crap on their own?"
I was also bummed that if you hit a very specific part of the game, a lot of questlines basically just end and the associated NPCs get wiped off the map. Of course, I wasn't made aware of this until well after I "did the thing", but now the world feels especially barren. If I decide to go through it again down the road, I'll likely have a guide up to do as many side quests as possible to get the most out of it.
This is just my opinion (so basically it's not worth much), but while playing last night I was thinking that, while yes, I am enjoying the DLC, it's one of the expansions in the Soulsborne line that I don't feel is required material for fans of the base game. ER on its own already provides more than enough quality material as-is.
Re: From Software 'n such
I’m enjoying the expansion, no complaints really. But I didn’t 100% the main game and I can’t help but think I might have had just as much fun continuing the main game.
I agree with the problems listed above. They don’t ruin the experience but they do detract from it.
I agree with the problems listed above. They don’t ruin the experience but they do detract from it.
Re: From Software 'n such
Just made it through the Abyssal Woods last night, and yeah, I have to agree. It's not a particularly good area. I dig the atmosphere/theme, but it's huge, wide open, confusing to navigate and has you dealing with some pretty irritating enemies.To Far Away Times wrote: ↑Fri Jul 12, 2024 5:05 pmThe Abyssal Woods was damn near terrible, and easily the worst stage in any Miyazaki souls game. A couple of small stealth sections that played exactly like Sekiro's stealth, with nothing else to do but navigate the maze. No dungeons, no items, just reused giant rat enemies from the base game. I get what they were going for thematically, but it just didn't work for me. It needs to be fun to play, too.
I feel like the exploration in these areas should be fun and enticing, but this one simply was not. It got to the point where I was running around in circles, so I just put a marker on the bottom left corner of the area on the map and bolted towards it (not knowing if it would be a dead-end or not), avoiding everything in my path. Thankfully it led me to the next area, and at least that place wasn't too bad and has a pretty cool boss.
Re: From Software 'n such
Conan has made his way to Anor Londo. Getting through Sen's Fortress required me to swallow my pride and not do all the optional stuff I normally would. The demons on the bottom level are very high level and strong. I kept dying to the final two because they aggro at the same time. I can normally kill these guys but lack of a shield made it too hard for me. The fact the rolling rock resets based on your character's position is still really obnoxious.
Bosses are trivial for King Conan. This is basically a bossing build anyway. BKS+4, Bastard Sword and Claymore +9. I might throw a few upgrades into the Greatsword too.
Anor Londo archers next. This is gonna be pure pain. I never run these guys without a shield.
Bosses are trivial for King Conan. This is basically a bossing build anyway. BKS+4, Bastard Sword and Claymore +9. I might throw a few upgrades into the Greatsword too.
Anor Londo archers next. This is gonna be pure pain. I never run these guys without a shield.
Re: From Software 'n such
This was actually my one stern criticism of the DLC; the endboss spike. First phase is great, second's an AOE spamfest. Reached it after a leisurely week, got bodied, as I'd expected with two massive chunks of map missing (Northeast + Southeast). Another relaxing week discovering fantastic new places, meeting weird new bosses, and getting shittons of new gear and SkibiDooDas / Revered Ashes. Came back, seemingly no difference. Took all fucking Sunday.evil_ash_xero wrote: ↑Thu Jul 11, 2024 11:47 pmThere's the wacky bosses too, but that's another discussion, as I tend to use all things at my
disposal to beat them. So, I don't have that hard of a time with them.
Was so burnt out I didn't touch the game again for a week and change, until tonight. Really only writing this down as memorandum. Had a blast discovering an entire new wing of Belurat tonight, via a harrowing ledge jump. Re-watched the last boss, just now, and remembered why I didn't come back sooner.Actual spoilers
One silver lining, at least. Authentic dumbfounded reaction. ;-;7 Pure dumb luck, but I wanted Ansbach to make it. His parting words when falling in battle moved me bro. 3; And well, y'know how it goes from there. Still, I was happy! Rest well gramps. What a well-timed reprieve Ansbach was.
Otherwise, had a wonderful time with this. Absolutely loved the world design. I was worried the smaller map might lose the rustic space and solitary wanderings, but if anything, I enjoyed them even more here. Miles of quality ambling to be done, balanced by rugged verticality. Adored the purgatorial longing and enigma of the place, too, weighted in atrocious holy war. All Miyazaki's historic strengths on top form. Especially liked the stunningly violent mountain storm, the Apocalypse Now green hell river, and the southern coast's synergistic descent into poppy-carpeted oblivion. Was this the same composer as DSIII? The most heartbreaking BGM since its Firelink duo.
My lord, I see you've thrown away...
Something you should not have.
Under any circumstances...
Haha, I wondered about that too. I ignored the room on my first pass, after reading the note. Figured it must've been something for later. When later arrived, I thought "Hmm" and gave it an idle try, leaving my character posed while I went to read something. I actually jumped in surprise at the booming *CRACK* drrr~rrr~ as the way opened.Austin wrote: ↑Fri Jul 12, 2024 5:29 pmOh, and then there was that part where I needed to use a gesture to open a secret passage, which was necessary to progress a questline. That was.. um, clearly a throwback to Dark Souls 3 where you had to do the same thing to get to Arch Dragon Peak, but I was still left thinking to myself, "How to people figure out this crap on their own?"
I like playing these games hyperblind, on my first clears and for many months after - this is actually the first discussion I've read of ER since starting the base game in March - but I doubt I'd have gotten that without DSIII experience. I know there's a strong element of Druaga here, communal progression, but I value my solitude.
Maybe a little too much. I actually blew an entire week on DSIII's rightly-maligned "Show Your Humanity."
Only got it by the blindest, dumbest luck imaginable, after trying everything including sniping the enemies up top to aggro them and detect some pathway.Spoiler for very silly "puzzle"
Thought the idea was to withhold twatting Lapp, and instead lure him to the spot, all "humanely" geddit? 
Randomly used the item, not really knowing anything but its being mentioned in the room's note. And finally the jig was up, and I exasperatedly said "What the fuck." Then had to do an entire new loop to progress Lapp's story, as he'd already gone nuts by then...
Randomly used the item, not really knowing anything but its being mentioned in the room's note. And finally the jig was up, and I exasperatedly said "What the fuck." Then had to do an entire new loop to progress Lapp's story, as he'd already gone nuts by then...
光あふれる 未来もとめて, whoa~oh ♫
[THE MIRAGE OF MIND] Metal Black ST [THE JUSTICE MASSACRE] Gun.Smoke ST [STAB & STOMP]
-
BareKnuckleRoo
- Posts: 6649
- Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 4:01 am
- Location: Southern Ontario
Re: From Software 'n such
I loathe meleeing them, honestly. Their hitboxes are weird, their health is massive, they're obnoxious for both light weight and greatshield tanking setups. Plinking them to death with arrows feels like the way to go aside from the one by Andre whose health isn't that high. The one in Lost Izalith is particularly annoying, with massive amounts of health and the tendency to push you off the walkway as he swings. I wouldn't bother unless I really needed Demon Titanite.
The fact the golem somehow knows where to drop them is certainly weird but there's only two positions where the balls reset. The first is when you reach the outside area with the balls for the first time or if you go back outside there after entering. The second is just past the traps plate once you're past the fog gate. The balls won't reset as long as you don't re-enter that room or enter the outdoor area.The fact the rolling rock resets based on your character's position is still really obnoxious.
Best way to get everything while having the minimum ball and swinging blades encounters, Big Hat included, is to open everything up with the balls, get the gold serpent ring, then go up and run outside and kill the golem with poison arrows so he stops being so damn noisy. Grab the cell key, ride the cages up and down to activate the shortcut so it's accessible from the Undead Parish, go up to where the golem was, drop down the boulder hole, rescue Big Hat, then drop back down to the first floor by going out where the ring is that silences your footsteps.
Shouldn't be too bad. Two hand your best weapon, block a hit with that if need be as you're luring the guy to switch to melee and off the ledge. Should still work fine.Anor Londo archers next. This is gonna be pure pain. I never run these guys without a shield.
Also, I replayed it since having done SL1 melee only, a very orthodox build that ended up with 50+ vit, 40 end, minimum stats for halberd, etc, holy hell you can take a lot of damage, I didn't have FAP ring on and if I screwed up I could comfortably eat hits from Manus' spells or Kalameet's breath, lol. I ended up doing Manus without the pendant with no issues at all.
I'm gonna try to get 100% achievements next on the PC version as an excuse to do NG+ I think.
Re: From Software 'n such
I'm trying SOTE (Shadow of the Erdtree).
Perhaps it is the most beautiful and complex map than the one in the vanilla game...there is a lot of content, even new ones, however...the new categories of weapons don't seem that new...the backblades are practically dual-curved-sword...the Light GreatSwords are GreatSwords...and the Great Katanas are Curved GreatSwords...I don't understand why create micro-sub-categories that can practically be incorporated into other existing ones...after all, weapons already exist with unique movesets and do not have their own category.
The other complaint i have is that perhaps it's a bit too difficult and unbalanced...also they ignored INT/ARC weapons and spells again...and it's not like INT/FTH went much better...
The rest is ok, there are full Strength, full Dex...and even Quality weapons!
Even if in the end they are almost all useless because they don't do enough damage, especially in a post-endgame or almost post-endgame DLC.
SPOILER:
This is the AOW of Sword of Light..., it's the second time i've found a direct reference to other games (the other was the Blasphemous Blade that is a recolor of the sword of Blasphemous)
Isn't this a reference to Shadow of the (Erdtree) Colossus?
Perhaps it is the most beautiful and complex map than the one in the vanilla game...there is a lot of content, even new ones, however...the new categories of weapons don't seem that new...the backblades are practically dual-curved-sword...the Light GreatSwords are GreatSwords...and the Great Katanas are Curved GreatSwords...I don't understand why create micro-sub-categories that can practically be incorporated into other existing ones...after all, weapons already exist with unique movesets and do not have their own category.
The other complaint i have is that perhaps it's a bit too difficult and unbalanced...also they ignored INT/ARC weapons and spells again...and it's not like INT/FTH went much better...
The rest is ok, there are full Strength, full Dex...and even Quality weapons!
Even if in the end they are almost all useless because they don't do enough damage, especially in a post-endgame or almost post-endgame DLC.
SPOILER:
Spoiler
This is the AOW of Sword of Light..., it's the second time i've found a direct reference to other games (the other was the Blasphemous Blade that is a recolor of the sword of Blasphemous)
Isn't this a reference to Shadow of the (Erdtree) Colossus?
EACH LIES A BLOODY RUIN (｀w´メ) (◎w◎;)
I did such a shit job on the final boss, I actually rediscovered Arcane.
After mowing through ~600hrs as a STR+FTH Erdtree heavy cavalry, I resorted to HERESEH with my DS3 8-ALL BFF: the Occult Spiked Bat Of Twatting. Clung on for dear life for them Bleeds! Besmirched my honour, saved my ass. 
Although tbh, this was always more of a SOLDIER WITHOUT FAITH deal. As a lifelong disciple of war, my DS1+3 merc saw how the wind was blowing - "Great Club has FTH...?" - and got jumped in with #1 gang THA CHURCHEH BOYZ, that's all. Black Blade and Godslayer Blade and Blasphemous Blade, yes pls! 
Look stop crying about heresy this and reprobate that for fuck sake. I'll get a pass from Turtle Pope. God will know his own, even those burnt beyond recognition by heretic flame. 
Even those... hit unmercifully in the face by spiked bat. 
Moonlighting as an ARC+DEX FIRE N BLOOD
occult gasher for Loop 2. (technically my fourth time through; did the base twice, then started a fresh file for DLC... I'm gonna clear out the alternate sidequest paths, then leave it there for now) Rakshasa set w/ Spiked Bat + Rivers of Blood, Eleonora, Reduvia and Falling Stars, plus Bloodboon and Swarm of Flies, with Blood God's Reverie. (Bleed = ATK UP) ...and Blasphemous Blade, which doesn't do Bleed, or fit with the occult weapons - but its infernogore aesthetic works, as does its diabolic lifesteal. Too good a Fire Bazooka to pass up. Used sparingly though! Backhanding a wall of BLOODFRAME into a horde of angry cunts, nailing pointman in the chest with a Kukri, then dispatching them all in a fountain of Bleed with 
CORPSE PILER is a catchy groove. 
I should give a certain DLC scythe a go, too.
Maybe those ghastly Burred Bolts, as well. I never bothered with crossbows, no patience. Saw a dude taking out the DLC endboss with one, incidentally. Looked like hard work, good watch though. 
Now it's been a few weeks, while I loved the mood and the various subplots (Igon's VA is an absolute treasure),
extensive story spoilers, DLC+Base
Miquella's resolution was a mild letdown. Especially after the enigmatic tension they'd sustained from day 1, wavering between faint hope Mickey might transcend his brutal kin, and chilling hints he was quietly, unstoppably worse. The lead-in was great, right to the end... but once you reach the tower's summit, it's all so literal. Mickey proudly announces the completion of his Best Day Ever:
1) Have Malenia kill Radahn, with PC uploading his soul to erd-tree dot net.
2) Get a plane ticket to the shadowlands from sugar daddy Mohg, who also gets PC PWNED.
3) Have Mohg's corpse Fedexed to him for airport pickup and free storage at ya boi Messmer's Big Remains Depot.
4) Download Radahn's soul into Mohg's corpse from erd-tree dot net. Success!
5) "Ah fuck! Now I'm PC PWNED too!" :[ Or maybe he just reflects zenly on his folly as he falls over, dunno.
Too perfunctory for my liking. There's a big hint it'd turn out this way, via Ansbach and Freya's research in the Shadow Keep; in hindsight, it's exactly what it says on the arcane-runed tin. Still wasn't expecting it to be quite this flat.
wtb something weirder. Finding that site of grace with the circle of animals all serenely dozing, right before Putrescent Knight, was an especially eerie image. (I wonder if PK's horse was a deliberate nod to nodding out. Horse/H/Heroin, Pale Horse of Revelation, y'know) I find the concept of a beloved deity who wins followers with opiates particularly compelling in medieval context... those poor motherfuckers needed the good shit, stat! Go to sleep and never wake up? Tempting alternative to twisting in agony for a couple days, tbh. Burred Bolt's hellish description is apt here.
Ansbach's fearful account (seethingly affirmed by Leda) of "cleaving that monster open" to no effect but a beatific smile had me hoping for one of those rare breaks from typical Souls boss format. Gwyndolin, Rat Vanguard, Micolash, etc. Would've needed a nastier bite than those, ofc. In the end, what does it mean to divest yourself utterly? Well, you turn into a ghost, and then you can use your tank BFF to PWN all before you. ~fin~
I did like the customarily well-placed ambiguity of the final scene, with a movingly earnest young Mickey pouring his heart out to a wall of black silence, Radahn nowhere to be seen. It's a well-nuanced image of gentle tyranny, and a much-needed shade of uncertainty amidst all this KEIKAKU.
I enjoyed the nightmare reveal of a healthy, ostensibly saner Radahn, too, however dubiously manipulated into being. I think they should've placed him elsewhere, tbh, as a super optional++ boss.
As Miyazaki's games always do, the DLC also made me laugh, always appreciated. Leda's murder-crazed moment of clarity - "I am starting to suspect I am not a very trusting person" - was adorable.
And Igon, my god. Melvillicious! Midra, Metyr, and Messmer were all compelling snapshots of mad conviction, too. And the fleeting glimpse of Marika's horrific past gave haunting inflection to a thoroughly dark setting, bitterly contrasting with the Hornsent's wounded fury.
1) Have Malenia kill Radahn, with PC uploading his soul to erd-tree dot net.
2) Get a plane ticket to the shadowlands from sugar daddy Mohg, who also gets PC PWNED.
3) Have Mohg's corpse Fedexed to him for airport pickup and free storage at ya boi Messmer's Big Remains Depot.
4) Download Radahn's soul into Mohg's corpse from erd-tree dot net. Success!
5) "Ah fuck! Now I'm PC PWNED too!" :[ Or maybe he just reflects zenly on his folly as he falls over, dunno.
Too perfunctory for my liking. There's a big hint it'd turn out this way, via Ansbach and Freya's research in the Shadow Keep; in hindsight, it's exactly what it says on the arcane-runed tin. Still wasn't expecting it to be quite this flat.
wtb something weirder. Finding that site of grace with the circle of animals all serenely dozing, right before Putrescent Knight, was an especially eerie image. (I wonder if PK's horse was a deliberate nod to nodding out. Horse/H/Heroin, Pale Horse of Revelation, y'know) I find the concept of a beloved deity who wins followers with opiates particularly compelling in medieval context... those poor motherfuckers needed the good shit, stat! Go to sleep and never wake up? Tempting alternative to twisting in agony for a couple days, tbh. Burred Bolt's hellish description is apt here.
Ansbach's fearful account (seethingly affirmed by Leda) of "cleaving that monster open" to no effect but a beatific smile had me hoping for one of those rare breaks from typical Souls boss format. Gwyndolin, Rat Vanguard, Micolash, etc. Would've needed a nastier bite than those, ofc. In the end, what does it mean to divest yourself utterly? Well, you turn into a ghost, and then you can use your tank BFF to PWN all before you. ~fin~
I did like the customarily well-placed ambiguity of the final scene, with a movingly earnest young Mickey pouring his heart out to a wall of black silence, Radahn nowhere to be seen. It's a well-nuanced image of gentle tyranny, and a much-needed shade of uncertainty amidst all this KEIKAKU.
I enjoyed the nightmare reveal of a healthy, ostensibly saner Radahn, too, however dubiously manipulated into being. I think they should've placed him elsewhere, tbh, as a super optional++ boss.
As Miyazaki's games always do, the DLC also made me laugh, always appreciated. Leda's murder-crazed moment of clarity - "I am starting to suspect I am not a very trusting person" - was adorable.
And Igon, my god. Melvillicious! Midra, Metyr, and Messmer were all compelling snapshots of mad conviction, too. And the fleeting glimpse of Marika's horrific past gave haunting inflection to a thoroughly dark setting, bitterly contrasting with the Hornsent's wounded fury.I'd punt whatever they're doing a couple years down the line for my BB Black Label though.
Actually tbh I might give that 60fps BB haxx0r a shot before anything else.光あふれる 未来もとめて, whoa~oh ♫
[THE MIRAGE OF MIND] Metal Black ST [THE JUSTICE MASSACRE] Gun.Smoke ST [STAB & STOMP]
Re: EACH LIES A BLOODY RUIN (｀w´メ) (◎w◎;)
It all started when Malenia says “Now you will witness true horror” and i took it almost as an offense... for the series "please excuse me? Who the fuck do you think you're dealing with?" I'll show you the real unholy aberration!
So my knight immediately went from a naked knight with the lightest weapon in the game (yes, was that 0 weight build) to being the most abominable thing possible.
In the end the Blasphemous Blade couldn't be missing... and then there's him, my favourite, the worst of all (even more evil than Messmer and anyone else in the DLC).
The DungEater.
He is malice and evil incarnate, cruel and ruthless, do you want to fuck the Land Betweens by burning everything with the Frenzied Flame? Want to call cosmic Outer Gods with Ranni?
No...i will curse your souls forever, yours and your children's, and your children's children! FOREVER !!!
So the build is a Dual GS with the Blasphemous Blade and the Milos Sword (just because a sword made from the spine of a deformed giant wasn't enough, right?).
With both swords you recover HP and MP with each kill, plus the Milos Sword has Hemorrhage, and combined they do a lot of damage and stun easily.
Maybe my knight can be even more evil mmh...
Re: From Software 'n such
I haven't finished Shadow of the Erdtree yet:
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
Spoiler
"I reached Rellana, but i didn't defeat her, i took a tour that i don't even know which one it is... and i found myself at the Stone Coffin Fissure (I opened the seal but didn't continue), then at the Fort of Reprimend , which i completed, i continued further and basically arrived at the Shadow Keep...but i entered from the BACK!!! (from Rabbath's Rise...).
I practically explored the whole area backwards
I found the Hippo, entering through the exit...and i found Commander Gaius but...is Messmer here? where the hell is he? LOL
Besides Commander Gaius paving me like a steamroller, i've reached the top left area of the map...
I practically explored the whole area backwards
I found the Hippo, entering through the exit...and i found Commander Gaius but...is Messmer here? where the hell is he?
LOLBesides Commander Gaius paving me like a steamroller, i've reached the top left area of the map...
Re: From Software 'n such
Shadow Keep is huge. It feels like it was designed to be a central component of the DLC. There are so many entrances and exits to and from it. Many optional boss fights and areas can only be accessed from it.Lemnear wrote: ↑Wed Aug 14, 2024 5:49 pm I haven't finished Shadow of the Erdtree yet:
SPOILERSSpoiler
"I reached Rellana, but i didn't defeat her, i took a tour that i don't even know which one it is... and i found myself at the Stone Coffin Fissure (I opened the seal but didn't continue), then at the Fort of Reprimend , which i completed, i continued further and basically arrived at the Shadow Keep...but i entered from the BACK!!! (from Rabbath's Rise...).
I practically explored the whole area backwards
I found the Hippo, entering through the exit...and i found Commander Gaius but...is Messmer here? where the hell is he?
Besides Commander Gaius paving me like a steamroller, i've reached the top left area of the map...
Also, Messmer will come later.
Re: From Software 'n such
Austin wrote: ↑Fri Aug 16, 2024 8:47 pmShadow Keep is huge. It feels like it was designed to be a central component of the DLC. There are so many entrances and exits to and from it. Many optional boss fights and areas can only be accessed from it.Lemnear wrote: ↑Wed Aug 14, 2024 5:49 pm I haven't finished Shadow of the Erdtree yet:
SPOILERSSpoiler
"I reached Rellana, but i didn't defeat her, i took a tour that i don't even know which one it is... and i found myself at the Stone Coffin Fissure (I opened the seal but didn't continue), then at the Fort of Reprimend , which i completed, i continued further and basically arrived at the Shadow Keep...but i entered from the BACK!!! (from Rabbath's Rise...).
I practically explored the whole area backwards
I found the Hippo, entering through the exit...and i found Commander Gaius but...is Messmer here? where the hell is he?
Besides Commander Gaius paving me like a steamroller, i've reached the top left area of the map...
Also, Messmer will come later.
Spoiler
I took a few fragments, then i defeated Rellana, the hippopotamus, and then i went up to the top left of the map, up to Romina (defeated on the second attempt... after all, she is already the third insectoid woman after Queelag and Najka...). .only to discover that to continue i need Messmer's Combustion...so i returned to the Shadow Keep, i found Messmer (also defeated on the second attempt, and i summoned the NPC who wanted revenge, cuz i can't deny someone's revenge ).
So i continued towards Enir-Ilim, only to find the Euporia (essentially the 10th Legendary Weapon) and kill those assholes from Miquella's coven and steal their weapons.
I kept coming this far because i wanted this weapon before continuing with the rest of the DLC.
It's ridiculously strong, perhaps the most powerful weapon in the game, 1740 damage with ONE R1 2H attack...5000 with a full R2 mounted... and up to 20K with Attacks Combo+AOW...
Now i can continue to all the other areas (i also defeated Gaius and the Shadow Tree Avatar).
I also found the cathedral of Manus Metyr, and once again i entered from the wrong side :v ....ah the guy there said something like "watch where you step or you wake the child" but nothing happened...
I'm at the fog of what i assume is the final fight of the DLC, but i want to explore everything else first, plus i haven't even started the Haligtree in this run, i want to defeat Malenia with Miquella's weapon
Oh, the "hey, i play Tekken" weapon weight is only 1.0!!!... it's perfect for a Blue Dancer's Amulet build
It's like the perfect weapon for a Wretched, naked, with nothing, beating everyone with his bare hands!
).So i continued towards Enir-Ilim, only to find the Euporia (essentially the 10th Legendary Weapon) and kill those assholes from Miquella's coven and steal their weapons.
I kept coming this far because i wanted this weapon before continuing with the rest of the DLC.
It's ridiculously strong, perhaps the most powerful weapon in the game, 1740 damage with ONE R1 2H attack...5000 with a full R2 mounted... and up to 20K with Attacks Combo+AOW...
Now i can continue to all the other areas (i also defeated Gaius and the Shadow Tree Avatar).
I also found the cathedral of Manus Metyr, and once again i entered from the wrong side :v ....ah the guy there said something like "watch where you step or you wake the child" but nothing happened...
I'm at the fog of what i assume is the final fight of the DLC, but i want to explore everything else first, plus i haven't even started the Haligtree in this run, i want to defeat Malenia with Miquella's weapon
Oh, the "hey, i play Tekken" weapon weight is only 1.0!!!... it's perfect for a Blue Dancer's Amulet build
It's like the perfect weapon for a Wretched, naked, with nothing, beating everyone with his bare hands!
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BareKnuckleRoo
- Posts: 6649
- Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 4:01 am
- Location: Southern Ontario
Re: From Software 'n such
The Claw in DS1 is a badly underrated weapon, and it's possibly among my new faves:
Washing pole kinda sucks though. Tried it recently and as far as I can tell, the lower speed isn't worth the slight range boost I think over Uchi / Iaito's. Also it looks silly swinging it and slashing the ground constantly, and the durability is actually low enough to be a nuisance, unlike most other weapons in this game where you can generally forget durability exists. If you want a slower, heavier weapon with bleed you could just get a Flamberge which has lower stat requirements, better base damage, is actually durable, and is still fast enough to occasionally hit with bleed if you can keep up the hits. I'm not sure more range on the heavy stab attack is worth the trade in speed. If you want something with a ton of range to outspace attacks, a Halberd also has much higher base damage, is fairly speedy on recovery if you hit, and has lower stat requirements. Silver Knight Spear also gives you a much better poking weapon if you're after that kind of thing.
Spoiler
I usually go with a Katana like Iaito or Uchigatana which give you bleed, decent speed close to a longsword, and wide slashes. Balder Side Sword and Scythe / Gargoyle Halberd are also nice for longer range, wide hitting weapons. But having something fast and speedy is also fun to play with and the Claw is honestly way better than I see it credited for. Sure, the Dagger and Bandit Knife are faster, but their range and base damage both suck. The Claw on the other hand has a lot going for it:
• Base damage is very high for a fist weapon. With max upgrades I think it's the strongest, thanks to having high Dex scaling and higher raw damage than the Dragon Bone Fist.
In fact, the Claw might well be the only interesting and practical fist weapon in the game; the Cestus's base damage and range both suck, as expected of punching weapons. Claw also has a decent heavy attack that hits wide, whereas the Dragon Bone Fist's shoryuken is highly impractical. Dark Hand can't be easily obtained early on and isn't worth trying to farm it as a drop. Dragon covenant punches have massive AR if you can get it early, but no range, and you can't wear armor. Also, farming Dragon Scales is a nuisance and doing so quickly and easily requires hefty investment in Sorcery to blast the wyverns, which can be stunlocked with the heavier spells. Meleeing them is a pain as their wings tend to push you off the ledges. By the time you can get enough scales to use it, you'll likely deal more damage with other, better weapons.
• Range is rather high for a fist weapon, roughly equivalent to a shortsword in fact, and the slashes hit both high and low enough that it can hit somewhat troublesome enemies like dogs, the legs of bosses, etc.
• Reasonable fast normal attacks, there's a bit of windup but once you start slashing it hits relatively quick, for much better per hit damage than a knife.
• Doesn't have the crit modifier daggers have, but it hits multiple times when critting, with each hit adding bleed. With the Hornet Ring, a parry crit hit a whopping three times, all but guaranteeing you'll trigger bleed.
• Only 1 unit of weight, the lowest of the bleed weapons, on par with Bandit's Knife. This makes it easy to use in a build and get fast rolling. Only other weapons that compete with it in terms of range, speed and weight are the Jagged Ghost Blade, a generally great early weapon with poor scaling that loses usefulness later on, Priscilla's Dagger, a midgame weapon that upgrades with an obnoxious material to farm and still ends up with low base stats, and the Gold Tracer, a late game weapon. If you don't like the "kick" on these that causes you to backflip and could be an issue if you' trigger it on precarious footing, the Claw is still useful as an option. Gold Tracer probably has better bleed and DPS though.
Getting the Claw early is a nuisance though; you need to either beat the hydra, or spend 20000 souls to open the shortcut to the forest then go down to Blighttown and spend another 5000 souls. Ah well!
• Base damage is very high for a fist weapon. With max upgrades I think it's the strongest, thanks to having high Dex scaling and higher raw damage than the Dragon Bone Fist.
In fact, the Claw might well be the only interesting and practical fist weapon in the game; the Cestus's base damage and range both suck, as expected of punching weapons. Claw also has a decent heavy attack that hits wide, whereas the Dragon Bone Fist's shoryuken is highly impractical. Dark Hand can't be easily obtained early on and isn't worth trying to farm it as a drop. Dragon covenant punches have massive AR if you can get it early, but no range, and you can't wear armor. Also, farming Dragon Scales is a nuisance and doing so quickly and easily requires hefty investment in Sorcery to blast the wyverns, which can be stunlocked with the heavier spells. Meleeing them is a pain as their wings tend to push you off the ledges. By the time you can get enough scales to use it, you'll likely deal more damage with other, better weapons.
• Range is rather high for a fist weapon, roughly equivalent to a shortsword in fact, and the slashes hit both high and low enough that it can hit somewhat troublesome enemies like dogs, the legs of bosses, etc.
• Reasonable fast normal attacks, there's a bit of windup but once you start slashing it hits relatively quick, for much better per hit damage than a knife.
• Doesn't have the crit modifier daggers have, but it hits multiple times when critting, with each hit adding bleed. With the Hornet Ring, a parry crit hit a whopping three times, all but guaranteeing you'll trigger bleed.
• Only 1 unit of weight, the lowest of the bleed weapons, on par with Bandit's Knife. This makes it easy to use in a build and get fast rolling. Only other weapons that compete with it in terms of range, speed and weight are the Jagged Ghost Blade, a generally great early weapon with poor scaling that loses usefulness later on, Priscilla's Dagger, a midgame weapon that upgrades with an obnoxious material to farm and still ends up with low base stats, and the Gold Tracer, a late game weapon. If you don't like the "kick" on these that causes you to backflip and could be an issue if you' trigger it on precarious footing, the Claw is still useful as an option. Gold Tracer probably has better bleed and DPS though.
Getting the Claw early is a nuisance though; you need to either beat the hydra, or spend 20000 souls to open the shortcut to the forest then go down to Blighttown and spend another 5000 souls. Ah well!
Re: From Software 'n such
If i remember correctly you can start with the master key as a Gift at the beginning of the game (or start as a Thief), and immediately go to Blight Town and then go further down to the hydra, right?BareKnuckleRoo wrote: ↑Mon Aug 19, 2024 2:51 pm The Claw in DS1 is a badly underrated weapon, and it's possibly among my new faves:
Washing pole kinda sucks though. Tried it recently and as far as I can tell, the lower speed isn't worth the slight range boost I think over Uchi / Iaito's. Also it looks silly swinging it and slashing the ground constantly, and the durability is actually low enough to be a nuisance, unlike most other weapons in this game where you can generally forget durability exists. If you want a slower, heavier weapon with bleed you could just get a Flamberge which has lower stat requirements, better base damage, is actually durable, and is still fast enough to occasionally hit with bleed if you can keep up the hits. I'm not sure more range on the heavy stab attack is worth the trade in speed. If you want something with a ton of range to outspace attacks, a Halberd also has much higher base damage, is fairly speedy on recovery if you hit, and has lower stat requirements. Silver Knight Spear also gives you a much better poking weapon if you're after that kind of thing.Spoiler
I usually go with a Katana like Iaito or Uchigatana which give you bleed, decent speed close to a longsword, and wide slashes. Balder Side Sword and Scythe / Gargoyle Halberd are also nice for longer range, wide hitting weapons. But having something fast and speedy is also fun to play with and the Claw is honestly way better than I see it credited for. Sure, the Dagger and Bandit Knife are faster, but their range and base damage both suck. The Claw on the other hand has a lot going for it:
• Base damage is very high for a fist weapon. With max upgrades I think it's the strongest, thanks to having high Dex scaling and higher raw damage than the Dragon Bone Fist.
In fact, the Claw might well be the only interesting and practical fist weapon in the game; the Cestus's base damage and range both suck, as expected of punching weapons. Claw also has a decent heavy attack that hits wide, whereas the Dragon Bone Fist's shoryuken is highly impractical. Dark Hand can't be easily obtained early on and isn't worth trying to farm it as a drop. Dragon covenant punches have massive AR if you can get it early, but no range, and you can't wear armor. Also, farming Dragon Scales is a nuisance and doing so quickly and easily requires hefty investment in Sorcery to blast the wyverns, which can be stunlocked with the heavier spells. Meleeing them is a pain as their wings tend to push you off the ledges. By the time you can get enough scales to use it, you'll likely deal more damage with other, better weapons.
• Range is rather high for a fist weapon, roughly equivalent to a shortsword in fact, and the slashes hit both high and low enough that it can hit somewhat troublesome enemies like dogs, the legs of bosses, etc.
• Reasonable fast normal attacks, there's a bit of windup but once you start slashing it hits relatively quick, for much better per hit damage than a knife.
• Doesn't have the crit modifier daggers have, but it hits multiple times when critting, with each hit adding bleed. With the Hornet Ring, a parry crit hit a whopping three times, all but guaranteeing you'll trigger bleed.
• Only 1 unit of weight, the lowest of the bleed weapons, on par with Bandit's Knife. This makes it easy to use in a build and get fast rolling. Only other weapons that compete with it in terms of range, speed and weight are the Jagged Ghost Blade, a generally great early weapon with poor scaling that loses usefulness later on, Priscilla's Dagger, a midgame weapon that upgrades with an obnoxious material to farm and still ends up with low base stats, and the Gold Tracer, a late game weapon. If you don't like the "kick" on these that causes you to backflip and could be an issue if you' trigger it on precarious footing, the Claw is still useful as an option. Gold Tracer probably has better bleed and DPS though.
Getting the Claw early is a nuisance though; you need to either beat the hydra, or spend 20000 souls to open the shortcut to the forest then go down to Blighttown and spend another 5000 souls. Ah well!
Washing Pole is just for fashion
Re: From Software 'n such
Completed Demon's Souls on PS5. Very enjoyable game, but New game+ pretty much lost me (read: I got one-shotted few times too many).
That world tendency system is arse though. Getting perfect white is difficult and long process, and next time you log in, it takes an average from the server meaning that tendency gets bumped back towards grey. Apparently you can dance around it by playing offline or getting yourself to private server (thats what the internetz say), but I have zero interest for such shenanigans. I just want to sit down and play for an hour after day's work before going to sleep, I have no patience for such hassle.
Still, it was a good reminder why I fell in love with From Software in the first place. Now, I'm not sure if I have patience or time to get into Elden Ring though.
That world tendency system is arse though. Getting perfect white is difficult and long process, and next time you log in, it takes an average from the server meaning that tendency gets bumped back towards grey. Apparently you can dance around it by playing offline or getting yourself to private server (thats what the internetz say), but I have zero interest for such shenanigans. I just want to sit down and play for an hour after day's work before going to sleep, I have no patience for such hassle.
Still, it was a good reminder why I fell in love with From Software in the first place. Now, I'm not sure if I have patience or time to get into Elden Ring though.
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BareKnuckleRoo
- Posts: 6649
- Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 4:01 am
- Location: Southern Ontario
Re: From Software 'n such
From what I've heard, World Tendency is rather silly, but apparently the remake simplifies things and it's only based on your own actions: "Please note that, unlike the original 2009 release, Demon's Souls Remake does NOT have server tendency and your World Tendency is only affected by your own actions."
Re: From Software 'n such
Interesting, thanks. However, I'm not buying that, since it stopped buggering the tendency when I killed the internet connection from my PS5.. to lower the tendency, I would had to die in human form, or kill NPC's / invade and kill other players, and I did nothing of that sort. I only found out about that server tendency when I tried to google wtf just happened. Internet claims that the online play still buggers up the world tendency. Well, whatever!BareKnuckleRoo wrote: ↑Mon Aug 19, 2024 5:58 pmFrom what I've heard, World Tendency is rather silly, but apparently the remake simplifies things and it's only based on your own actions: "Please note that, unlike the original 2009 release, Demon's Souls Remake does NOT have server tendency and your World Tendency is only affected by your own actions."
Re: From Software 'n such
I never really understood the DeS tendency system. Always seemed overly complicated to me. I just sort of play it the same way every time and the world stays pretty consistent from run to run. I haven't messed with NG+ in the PS5 remake. I'll have to try that soon.
I'm pretty burned out on Elden Ring thanks to the DLC. I said "screw it" with Bayle the Dread and Radahn two nights ago, and went and beat the Elden Beast instead just to end the game and put the whole thing behind me. The DLC was interesting but the bosses, as is typical for the DLC in these games, were raised in intensity compared to the base game, and honestly I wasn't feeling like learning most of them. Tons of fast hit strings that are tedious to learn how to avoid. The Elden Beast felt refreshing to fight in comparison (and they let you call on Torrent now too, which made it even more fun).
The DLC world certainly had some interesting areas (and a few that were quite gorgeous), but it was a lot more confusing trying to access/find new places than the base game. Enemy types on the overworld also tended to be more irritating than anything, and leveling up basically did nothing for me, so I typically found myself riding past as many as I could. There also weren't nearly as many random items and ingredients strewn about, so basic exploration felt emptier than the main game. Lots of repeat enemies too. Tons of rats, those dark/black/ghastly looking ghouls, the birds, etc. More things like the Furnace Giants could have been cool to spice up the world. I did track each one down and defeat them and that was fun.
I guess the package is fine overall, but Elden Ring is already a massive game. Looking back on it I honestly don't think the DLC was necessary. Maybe if you could access it earlier and maybe start with it I'd feel different, but by the time you get to it you're probably already 50 - 70 hours or more into the main game, in which the burnout and disinterest becomes real pretty fast (or at least it did for me).
While ER on its own is probably one of my favorite games in recent times, playing it again and 98% of the DLC really makes me appreciate the more focused traditional Souls games, where I can roll through them in 10 to 15 hours tops. It also makes me really look forward to playing the DeS remake again. The PS5 has been collecting dust so it's a good reason to fire it back up.
I'm pretty burned out on Elden Ring thanks to the DLC. I said "screw it" with Bayle the Dread and Radahn two nights ago, and went and beat the Elden Beast instead just to end the game and put the whole thing behind me. The DLC was interesting but the bosses, as is typical for the DLC in these games, were raised in intensity compared to the base game, and honestly I wasn't feeling like learning most of them. Tons of fast hit strings that are tedious to learn how to avoid. The Elden Beast felt refreshing to fight in comparison (and they let you call on Torrent now too, which made it even more fun).
The DLC world certainly had some interesting areas (and a few that were quite gorgeous), but it was a lot more confusing trying to access/find new places than the base game. Enemy types on the overworld also tended to be more irritating than anything, and leveling up basically did nothing for me, so I typically found myself riding past as many as I could. There also weren't nearly as many random items and ingredients strewn about, so basic exploration felt emptier than the main game. Lots of repeat enemies too. Tons of rats, those dark/black/ghastly looking ghouls, the birds, etc. More things like the Furnace Giants could have been cool to spice up the world. I did track each one down and defeat them and that was fun.
I guess the package is fine overall, but Elden Ring is already a massive game. Looking back on it I honestly don't think the DLC was necessary. Maybe if you could access it earlier and maybe start with it I'd feel different, but by the time you get to it you're probably already 50 - 70 hours or more into the main game, in which the burnout and disinterest becomes real pretty fast (or at least it did for me).
While ER on its own is probably one of my favorite games in recent times, playing it again and 98% of the DLC really makes me appreciate the more focused traditional Souls games, where I can roll through them in 10 to 15 hours tops. It also makes me really look forward to playing the DeS remake again. The PS5 has been collecting dust so it's a good reason to fire it back up.