Dark Souls 3 - April 2016 : You Died, You Died, You Died

damn aldrich was hard! i was in a loop of getting summoned to help ppl with him and then summoning someone to help me who would then die halfway leaving the boss hp rly high. finally soloed him, got him down to a fraction then he did the arrow bs but i yolo'd and killed him as i died. still counted, phew

Those crocodile-dog things turned out much easier than I thought they would. Witch ring + flame clutch ring + chaos fireball does quite a number on them, I almost felt sad for the critters.

hey guys? if and when you get the chance to dunk your head in wax, you're gonna want to do it. trust.

as true today as it ever has been

some invasions are finally starting to go my way now that i have this Farron Greatsword setup. it feels closer to my Bloodborne build where i enough options to stay unpredictable. on the left hand i switch between katana, shield, and the built-in parry knife, with the big slow sword on the right, so it's really got everything. i haven't even moved into the Catacombs because i've been having so much fun invading around the rooftops above the wolf.

All upgrade materials bar slabs confirmed as purchasable.

i finally figured out co-op and have had some fun sessions. i really love the High Wall and Undead Settlement areas (maybe my favorite in the series) so replaying those with extra people is fun and turns boss fights into OP battles with magic spells and fire flying everywhere. got summoned to the Dancer of the Boreal Valley secret boss fight once and we got it down to 50% but that boss is TOUGH.

still amazed by the new enemies that pop up. for all the stuff they take from Dark Souls 1 and 2 the new monsters are some of the best they have ever made.

xp only in limited numbers from the old woman in firelink shrine tho, unless i'm missing something elsewhere

You're missing something that I'm deliberately not spoiling unless requested (not that's a huge deal or too hard to guess what it is, mind).

Otoh, I've never seen her sell them in limited quantities, so I missed something as well.

just co-opped the final boss to the death. he's kind of an asshole!

in retrospect, i should have gone back and explored a bit more. I'm sure I'll uncover all sorts of shit in ng+

the backdrop to the final battle is utterly jawdropping :O

made it to Irithyll, so many cool things there. i poked my head into the dungeon and it's soooo Tower of Latria.

also got involved in a weird version of a fight club where the host summoned as many red soapstones as he could (there were at least three of us there at once) and took reds on one at a time. he was using the butcher's knife and just destroying everyone.

xp

btw the Abyss Watchers were easy, right? cool fight but i was able to first-try it, and helped a bunch of people out after.

I finally got to the big pvp spot after Pontiff, so I'm super happy to be getting regular duels. I found myself doing well by using a greatsword against fast weapons (for the hyper armor), and the katana against big heavy weapons. It seems like that would work against me in the same way that it's working for me, but hey, so far so good.

btw the Abyss Watchers were easy, right?

lol no i'm having a lot of trouble w it. got any tips?

Well, for the first phase, you just have to stick it out until they start fighting each other, and pick off whoever's alone. For the second, a 100% shield helps a lot, and it's very possible to circle/roll behind him to get backstabs. Also I was using a fast weapon, which helps because they stagger very easily.

Btw apparently by wandering into the dungeon in Irithyll I inadvertently broke two or three NPC quest lines. Nbd as this happens to me in every game and the triggers are so inscrutable and unforgiving.

you just have to stick it out until they start fighting each other, and pick off whoever's alone

Only one of the watchers is the actual boss of the first phase, damaging the others won't speed up the fight but the red-eyed "ally" can help by distracting the boss (and the damage he deals to the boss does count).

You can tell who's who by locking-on: the extras will display a regular enemy health bar over their model, the actual boss won't because his health bar is at the bottom.

lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf3Wj_d-aOE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7DmFUU1Ino

daaaaa deeeee
deeeee daaaaa
deeeee daaaaaa
deeeee
daaaaa

second phase is really tough. i like the fire sword though, very cool. he kind of reminds me of Artorias.

I'm pretty sure there are *lore* reasons for that

played some co-op helping with bosses and red phantoms. it is very fun! a whole new dimension of play from single player really. going through the level and seeing dead enemies and wondering where your host is, trying to keep them alive through the whole level.

back at the shrine i realized i had several unburned undead bone shards so now my estus is up to where it should be. about to try again. i love the forest you go through to get to this boss fight, it reminds me (as much of this game does) of the oolacile ancient forest DLC from the first Dark Souls.

bttf fire sword got me

dang this is amazing like the DS2 sentinels but w DS1 Artorias and then a DS1 final boss battle but with a way cooler sword!

i'm guessing fire sword dodge has to be a hard R/L?

i love it when the fire trail is delayed, just like bttf, and you think you are safe and then WSSSSSHHHH YOU DIED

Anyone know where the wolf ring is?

apparently it's only a covenant reward or ng+ item, but i thought the jury was out on whether poise actually does anything in this game?

http://kotaku.com/the-mystery-behind-dark-souls-3s-seemingly-useless-pois-1773373128

Huh, didn't know that about poise, never tried heavy armour due to low vit.
And also because I wanted complete the 4 knights ring set, it's the only one I'm missing.

i've been grinding pvp and boss battles to get all my stats up to 20 across the board. it's a dumb way to play but it's what i always seem to do.

i'm only leveling vigor, endurance, str, an dex.

so i had a duel yesterday against a guy who was spookily good at parrying. he didn't even have a weapon, just parried every attack i made without fail. even the katana.

also the new thing is apparently using the caestus for parries, because it's pretty much instantaneous (DS1 style). much easier than using a shield, unless you're already used to the shield timing.

I also grind a lot of souls by co-oping, I finished NG at lv 99 but haven't started NG+ yet, I've been stocking up on upgrade materials and re-visiting some areas for loot that wasn't there the first time I went through, like Havel's set and Greirat's ashes.

finally took down the Abyss Watchers. my strategy of trying to stay out of range for the 2nd phase wasn't working so I started attacking less w pyromancy and more w melee attacks, thrilled to discover that in the 2nd form he is susceptible to attack stun, letting me get 2-3 hits in. pyromancy is just too slow sometimes...

hit a "what the hell do i do from here?" point until i fumbled into the ithyrill dungeon.

I was banging my head against Aldrich for awhile yesterday so I went back and did Smouldering Lake and the dungeon. Then got Aldrich, after one of those near misses where you're one light hit away. Cool fight, glad I stuck it out and didn't summon.

lol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbqTA1HbNqI

oh man, so dark souls

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diYRsPEVNQU

i caved and summoned someone for the second Gundyr fight. he's just so aggressive, with so little margin for error that it's hard to learn counters. that whole area is really cool though.

i think i'm maybe 2-3 zones out from the final boss but i've basically given up advancing in favor of invading/fight clubbing after pontiff bonfire, in anor londo, and with aldrich faithful. as much as people complain about pvp in 3, i'm really enjoying it. i love these games in the early days when summons are still basically instant despite advancement (and there's still a decent distribution level wise before everyone gravitates toward whatever the preferred pvp level shakes out to be)

yeah, i am enjoying level building (up to 109, where the costs start bumping up against decreasing benefits) and getting into nonsensical free for alls. lack of voice support is so crucial for this game.

Just beat the giant guy with some help, which seems the best way to get him done. Gotta look around for next steps and explore the last few zones more closely.

same. i'm having so much fun with fight clubs and invasions (and my success rate has skyrocketed since switching to a sharp Exiled Greatsword!) that i'm reluctant to finish the game.

art, are you on PS4?

xp

giant guy = Yhorm?

yeah, think so.

but you used the, um, item in the room during the fight, right?

no idea what you're talking about so no. did i fuck up?

ok either you're talking about a different fight or you did things the very hard way.

xp to Jordan - i am indeed on ps4, psn: vrilr0

someday ilx fightclub? i'm going to roll an alt character to advance up to aldrich then basically just stop for fights in the usual arena. i've heard some suggestions elsewhere that fight clubs should move to ashen lake because of the optional boss, but for now the desirable locale is still pontiff bonfire

lack of voice support is so crucial for this game.

souls games are basically the only games i play online for this exact reason

cool i'll add you, let's definitely do some red soapstones if we happen to be on at the same time.

for sure. i need all the practice i can find if i ever hope to get gud