From Software Dark Souls 3

[Skinwalker]

Pontiff is funny in the sense that he's only challenging if you play in the anime / dodging style that most Souls fans insist upon now. Massive delays and roll-catches don't matter if you have a halfway decent shield.

His health bar is also not as long as it first seems. When he starts summoning his ghostly copy, you can wail on him and significantly take out his remaining health, and then just survive long enough to deal in a few remaining hits. Somehow the first phase ended up more challenging than his second phase.

Of course, if you play like Bloodeyes nothing will ever help you.

 

[praetor]

Imagine you had a perfect girlfriend. Good looking, attentive, kind, honest. Every morning she makes you breakfast in bed then gives you head before you start the day. She's 10/10 in every way. Then one morning she doesn't make you breakfast in bed. She cuts your penis off while you're sleeping. How would you rate your relationship with her? Would you average out the good with the bad? I wouldn't. I'd give her one star because, despite all her good qualities, that bitch cut my penis off and there's nothing that can redeem her of that. Its so bad it eclipses all the good times you had together.

Today I fought Lothric and Lorian and got my penis cut off. Never playing this again. I'll beat it once then I'm uninstalling. Fuck this game I'm still mad even though its over.

i still, to this day, cannot fathom how could anyone who got to this point in the game find the Twins anything more than "average" in difficulty. i just don't get it

 

[Skinwalker]

I cannot fathom why he has only 12 estus flasks at the beginning of the fight, when I haven't even set foot in Lothric Castle yet, and I already have 14. Did you miss a few estus shards?

 

[Bloodeyes]

I cannot fathom why he has only 12 estus flasks at the beginning of the fight, when I haven't even set foot in Lothric Castle yet, and I already have 14. Did you miss a few estus shards?

Its called a blind first playthrough. Things are going to be missed. I did cave a look at the wiki eventually. My bonfire and estus are now maxed.

 

[Skinwalker]

Every playthrough should be blind, not just the first one.

 

[Skinwalker]

Archdragon Peak is probably the most inspired area of the entire game. I realize that it's alluding to Sen's Fortress somewhat, but overall it's quite a stand-out in the entire series, let alone this game.

The boss fight has an artificial difficulty resulting from the fact that you have to fight the Storm King every time, before you even get to the Nameless King. Overall, this proved to be by far the hardest boss in the game. Pontiff Sulivan smokes nervously in the corner.

 

[Skinwalker]

Twin Princes: I remember finding this boss insufferably difficult back when the game first came out. Mostly because I had played as a pyromancer, and the sword guy's constant *teleports behind you* move messed with my spell targeting.

This time I played a 100% melee character, and beat them easily on the fourth attempt. Sword guy's attacks were fairly easily dodgeable, he left plenty of room for healing and/or recovering stamina, and the spell guy barely did anything.

Even four attempts was only because of stupid mistakes, I was very close to beating this boss on the first try. After Nameless Kink, this hardly felt like a real boss fight. I am almost disappoint.

Oh well, time to move on to the DLC levels, which I've never played before.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

Twin Princes: I remember finding this boss insufferably difficult back when the game first came out. Mostly because I had played as a pyromancer, and the sword guy's constant *teleports behind you* move messed with my spell targeting.

This time I played a 100% melee character, and beat them easily on the fourth attempt. Sword guy's attacks were fairly easily dodgeable, he left plenty of room for healing and/or recovering stamina, and the spell guy barely did anything.

Even four attempts was only because of stupid mistakes, I was very close to beating this boss on the first try. After Nameless Kink, this hardly felt like a real boss fight. I am almost disappoint.

Oh well, time to move on to the DLC levels, which I've never played before.

The snow one is relatively easy to manage, and if you're at endgame levels it should be easy enough. But be careful that you're greeted by some really nasty spear throwers as soon as you go in. IIRC Sister Friede has like 3 phases too.
The Ringed City is an absolute bitch to go through (google ringed city archers, ringed city angels) and it's filled to the brim with absolutely high level encounters, not only due to the gear, but also because of the tactics and the encounter design. It will make you grind your teeth if you're not paying attention 100% of the times. You'll also see Ornstein as a normal field enemy.

 

[Skinwalker]

Finished the "Ashes of Ariandel" level. The final boss fight was the worst one in the entire game, with three different phases that are designed to wear you down physically and emotionally. By the time I finally beat it, the first phase was just a time-waster chore, the second an annoying mess, and the third was the only one that was truly challenging and enjoyable to fight (even though it's pure anime at this point)... wish it would start there.

I also had no idea what I was supposed to be doing the entire time (well, narratively-speaking), including now that I beat the final boss. Some vague mumblings about a "rotting painting", some giant weirdo with a bowl of fire, very vague and poorly-executed storytelling, even for a souls game. I wasn't even sure why I was fighting the final boss, other than for some reason she'd rather have her whole world physically rot than let the autistic albino child draw a new "painting"... for some reason. Who is this child? Who was the guy that transported me to this world in the first place? Would it kill them to explain ANYTHING? And outside of item descriptions, preferably...

Enemies were basically one of two categories: a. insufferably beefy regular enemies (the big viking dudes), and b. piss-easy waste of time (everyone else).

Now I'm at a bonfire that is supposed to take me to the "Dreg Heap", whatever that is. No explanation, of course, not even a little bit. I need a break from this crap.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

Finished the "Ashes of Ariandel" level. The final boss fight was the worst one in the entire game, with three different phases that are designed to wear you down physically and emotionally. By the time I finally beat it, the first phase was just a time-waster chore, the second an annoying mess, and the third was the only one that was truly challenging and enjoyable to fight (even though it's pure anime at this point)... wish it would start there.

I also had no idea what I was supposed to be doing the entire time (well, narratively-speaking), including now that I beat the final boss. Some vague mumblings about a "rotting painting", some giant weirdo with a bowl of fire, very vague and poorly-executed storytelling, even for a souls game. I wasn't even sure why I was fighting the final boss, other than for some reason she'd rather have her whole world physically rot than let the autistic albino child draw a new "painting"... for some reason. Who is this child? Who was the guy that transported me to this world in the first place? Would it kill them to explain ANYTHING? And outside of item descriptions, preferably...

Enemies were basically one of two categories: a. insufferably beefy regular enemies (the big viking dudes), and b. piss-easy waste of time (everyone else).

Now I'm at a bonfire that is supposed to take me to the "Dreg Heap", whatever that is. No explanation, of course, not even a little bit. I need a break from this crap.

Well as I said in my previous post, you are done with the baby mode difficulty DS3 dlc. Ringed City is absolutely obscene, and I won't blame you if you ragequit. It tested me, but at the same time, that DLC was made for players who calculate every movement they make down to the second and the milimeter. I thought the boss in Ariadel was fun though, in fact I maxed my Sunbro covenant in that place. It was fun to do. But yeah, I don't think you'll liked Ringed City that much. Have fun with the archers and the angels!

 

[Silverfish]

Ringed City is absolutely obscene, and I won't blame you if you ragequit.

TRC isn't too bad, but requires a lot of patience. It feels more like DS1 content, which messes with the rhythm people get used to in DS3.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

Ringed City is absolutely obscene, and I won't blame you if you ragequit.

TRC isn't too bad, but requires a lot of patience. It feels more like DS1 content, which messes with the rhythm people get used to in DS3.

I dont' remember anything close to TRC in DS1, to be honest. Everything in that DLC points out to the direction From would be taking on in following games, just as Artorias was a sign of things to come.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

BTW Skinwalker, did you kill the dog boss in Ariandel?

 

[Silverfish]

I dont' remember anything close to TRC in DS1, to be honest.

In terms of approach. TRC rewards the slower, more thoughtful style of DS1 far more than it does the fast-paced anime nonsense of 3.

 

[Wunderbar]

I also had no idea what I was supposed to be doing the entire time (well, narratively-speaking), including now that I beat the final boss. Some vague mumblings, some giant weirdo, very vague and poorly-executed storytelling

welcome to Dark Souls 3.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

I dont' remember anything close to TRC in DS1, to be honest.

In terms of approach. TRC rewards the slower, more thoughtful style of DS1 far more than it does the fast-paced anime nonsense of 3.

That's very much not correct. Several normal enemies in that level reward twitchy gameplay and then there's Gael, the twitchiest boss in the entire trilogy.

 

[Skinwalker]

Played the Dreg Heap level up to the point where you're supposed to drop way down into a ring of jagged mountains. I assume that's the Ringed City down there? So far this was much more enjoyable than the snow levels, even though it left me severely disoriented.

The "angels" were an interesting type of enemy, the game establishes pretty soon that each angel has a "larva" that will permanently kill it somewhere nearby, which made it extremely satisfying when you finally found it. Exploring the swamp was difficult but exciting, and finally there are a couple of NPCs who actually talk to you and give some background information on the area without giving too much way...

Looks like they did a better job on the 2nd DLC than the 1st. At least, so far.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

Yeah TRC is meant to be a gift for hardcore souls fans and a farewell of sorts to the franchise. Also, this swamp you're exploring is Earthen Peak from DS2.

 

[Silverfish]

That's very much not correct. Several normal enemies in that level reward twitchy gameplay and then there's Gael, the twitchiest boss in the entire trilogy.

I said it about Midir previously in the thread and it's true of Gael as well: he's a movie you watch more than a boss you fight. All of his shit is designed to make you panic roll and catch you out. A half decent shield and a modicum of patience to wait for his openings make the fight fairly easy. He's far from twitchy.

 

[Skinwalker]

Oh, so what was at the bottom of the ring of jagged cliffs was... a retarded boss fight. Phase 1: two mostly identical giant demons. Phase 2: whichever of the demons dies last, mysteriously comes back to life stronger than before. What is this new retarded habit of having defeated bosses rise up stronger than before?

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

The demon is one of the most obnoxious fights in the game. I ended up going there with summons if only to get it done sooner.

 

[praetor]

The "angels" were an interesting type of enemy, the game establishes pretty soon that each angel has a "larva" that will permanently kill it somewhere nearby, which made it extremely satisfying when you finally found it. Exploring the swamp was difficult but exciting, and finally there are a couple of NPCs who actually talk to you and give some background information on the area without giving too much way...

you would not be saying these nice things pre-nerf. they were ICBMs on release. instakill aimbot bullshit that has no place in a game like this. the most obnoxious level in Souls history, worse than Frigid Outskirts

 

[Skinwalker]

The "angels" were an interesting type of enemy, the game establishes pretty soon that each angel has a "larva" that will permanently kill it somewhere nearby, which made it extremely satisfying when you finally found it. Exploring the swamp was difficult but exciting, and finally there are a couple of NPCs who actually talk to you and give some background information on the area without giving too much way...

you would not be saying these nice things pre-nerf. they were ICBMs on release. instakill aimbot bullshit that has no place in a game like this.

Well, I'm glad they fixed them, at least.

Anyway, exploring the Ringed City brought back the sense of excitement and desire to keep exploring even when you've foolishly died five eight times in a row to the same shitting enemy, and it's time to go to sleep anyway. I think this feeling was mostly absent in the Painted World, I spent half of it in anticipation of it getting interesting, and the second half anxious to get it over with.

The dragonslayer guy in the swamp (what is it with DSIII and swamps? this is like the fifth swamp in the game) was fairly easy to kill and mercifully does not respawn (and was in a far-away corner anyway), but the fact that the large ghost-summoning giants are respawnable enemies is total bullshit. You throw armies of non-killable ghosts with rapid-fire bows at me, and I can't even permanently get rid of the thing that's causing them?

Also, did I get worse at this game as I played through the level, or are some of the hooded knights way easier than others? Somehow they went from "haha look how many times I can backstab this fool" to "ohshitohshitohshitohshit".

Got to the part where Lapp gets his memories back and reveals himself to be Patches, somehow, now I think I'm off to fight a dragon...

 

[Skinwalker]

I am so done with these annoying bosses with enormous health pools. FUCK!

 

[Caim]

If you're up against Midir you don't have to worry about that anymore soon.