Dark Souls

Vampire_Hunter_Bob

Cats are great
Walter said:
It's amazing to me how each successive boss in Dark Souls (with a few exceptions) seems like the toughest in the game. When really, it's just an illusion as you're still learning their patterns and movements.
What bosses would you say were the exceptions?

I remember playing through the first time and thinking how tough the Taurus Demon is but how easy the Bell Tower Gargoyles are (I beat them on my first try). Current play, those Bell Tower Gargoyles killed me about ten or more times.

I love how memorable the bosses are, which shows from just how tough they can be. You really get a feeling that you are fighting ancient warriors, demons, and gods.

Walter said:
New Dark Souls II Trailer premiered at E3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=EHgUuhOsHoA

I'll check this out at home. :ubik:
 

Walter

Administrator
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Vampire_Hunter_Bob said:
What bosses would you say were the exceptions?

I remember playing through the first time and thinking how tough the Taurus Demon is but how easy the Bell Tower Gargoyles are (I beat them on my first try). Current play, those Bell Tower Gargoyles killed me about ten or more times.
I think every boss felt like the toughest one yet except for Pinwheel (absurdly easy...), Iron Golem (even though he beat my ass, it was for a technicality! :ganishka:), and Nito (who I still feel got a little ripped off in challenge, given how cool he seems in the opening sequence).

At the other end of the spectrum, some bosses that didn't get any buildup were really tricky... like the Taurus Capra Demon and Centipede Demon. Those guys come out of nowhere and kick your ass in seconds.
 
I've thought long and hard about the catacombs and pinwheel, and the more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that Pinwheel and the catacombs are supposed to be taken on after the depths but before blighttown.
 

Vampire_Hunter_Bob

Cats are great
Walter said:
I think every boss felt like the toughest one yet except for Pinwheel (absurdly easy...), Iron Golem (even though he beat my ass, it was for a technicality! :ganishka:), and Nito (who I still feel got a little ripped off in challenge, given how cool he seems in the opening sequence).

At the other end of the spectrum, some bosses that didn't get any buildup were really tricky... like the Taurus Capra Demon and Centipede Demon. Those guys come out of nowhere and kick your ass in seconds.

I haven't gotten that far yet, but you wouldn't be the first person to tell me that Pinwheel is "absurdly easy." You really think that Iron Golem is easy? I found the Gaping Dragon to be an easier boss (ignoring my previous post where I said otherwise), or maybe they are on par with easiness once you get over how tough they look.

At this second attempt of Dark Souls, I am on the verge of breaching Sen's Fortress, again!
 

Walter

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Vampire_Hunter_Bob said:
At this second attempt of Dark Souls, I am on the verge of breaching Sen's Fortress, again!
That's right where things get fun :guts:

Iron Golem... yeah I think he's pretty easy. Has an easily exploitable pattern, telegraphs all of his moves. The only challenge is in getting out of the way of his attacks, because they have a high knockback power (chews through your poise), and has a big range. Get over that, and it's a cakewalk.

My mistake at first in approaching him was trying to block his attacks. I kept flying off the side of the tower. :mozgus:
 

Vampire_Hunter_Bob

Cats are great
Walter said:
That's right where things get fun :guts:
It's one of my favorite sections in the game, but mostly because of how many funny moments it has. Everywhere you turn there is a lizard man getting knocked off a bridge or getting run over by a bowlder. If there was more any evidence to back it up, I'd make the claim that this was inspired by Wile E. Coyote. :schnoz:

Iron Golem... yeah I think he's pretty easy. Has an easily exploitable pattern, telegraphs all of his moves. The only challenge is in getting out of the way of his attacks, because they have a high knockback power (chews through your poise), and has a big range. Get over that, and it's a cakewalk.
Much like the Gaping Dragon, he just looks tough. I remember thinking that a lot of the bosses were getting to be significantly easier, and then I met Smough and Ornstein. I am not looking forward to those guys. :sad:
 

Walter

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Vampire_Hunter_Bob said:
and then I met Smough and Ornstein. I am not looking forward to those guys. :sad:
It's been a while since I fought them, but play extremely defensively until you've knocked one of them out (Ornstein first, if you want to play it safe). If they're both within range of hitting you, lock on to one and just keep backing up until you're only facing off with one of them. Then whittle them away a hit or two at a time. Each of their attacks has a long delay between them, so there are always opportunities to retreat and heal.

They're only really a pain when they gang up on you, so try to put yourself in a position where it's not possible for both of them to be within range of you.
 

Kompozinaut

Sylph Sword
Vampire_Hunter_Bob said:
then I met Smough and Ornstein. I am not looking forward to those guys. :sad:
It really pays off to focus on one until they're dead. I don't know how much you know of the development of the battle, but splitting your damage between the two might throw a wrench in your strategy as the fight goes on. If you can summon a phantom it makes the fight a cake walk (as long as the phantom is competent and isn't one-shotted). I think the hardest part of the fight is just getting it down to one enemy.
 

Aazealh

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Delta Phi Zeta said:
I think the hardest part of the fight is just getting it down to one enemy.

That's interesting, because I never had problem killing the first one, it's offing the second that was a pain for me.
 

Walter

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Aazealh said:
That's interesting, because I never had problem killing the first one, it's offing the second that was a pain for me.
Depends who you off first.
 

Walter

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asic said:
Anyone playing PC version? I'd love to do some coop action or pvp :SK:
I didn't even know co-op was a thing until Googling just now after your post. Neat!

I'd love to, but it would involve scheduling time to play with someone, and unless that's 1 a.m., it's unlikely I'd be able to do that with my current work/baby schedule. :sad:
 

Walter

Administrator
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Soul level 132 now, just started my third playthrough. Game still has its hooks into me, and ive been playing it pretty much for a year now. :daiba:
 

NightCrawler

Aeons gone, vast, mad and deathless
Walter said:
Soul level 132 now, just started my third playthrough. Game still has its hooks into me, and ive been playing it pretty much for a year now. :daiba:

Wow. You'll regret it on your deathbed.
 

Vampire_Hunter_Bob

Cats are great
Walter said:
Soul level 132 now, just started my third playthrough. Game still has its hooks into me, and ive been playing it pretty much for a year now. :daiba:

NightCrawler said:
Wow. You'll regret it on your deathbed.

Dying last words: "I regret nothing!"

2nd playthrough news: Smough and Ornstein.
 
Just beat Artorias in the DLC. Man how I missed running into a fight blind and learning by just fighting him over and over and over again.
 

Walter

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Ornstein and Smough on New Game++. Was down to one more hit on Ornstein (second form, of course), and he could do me in with one hit as well... Put some distance and a column between us, went to heal, and BOOM, he used an attack that crossed nearly the entire arena in the amount of time it took me to initiate an estus, Must have hit juuust above the blocking range of the column too. STAB. YOU DIED. :mozgus: I just laughed though. :ganishka:

This little episode aside, the game's way too easy at this point. I only die when I'm careless. Can kill most normals in 1-2 hits. Bosses are a cakewalk. It actually felt pretty bad putting Sif down without any trouble whatsoever... This is not me bragging. This is me lamenting one of the core tenets of the game being lost to replays. While enemy health and boss health does scale up in New Game+ mode, the challenge just isn't the same. THe only point in replaying is to catch all the stuff you missed the first( or second) time through.
 

Kompozinaut

Sylph Sword
Walter said:
STAB. YOU DIED.
Sounds familiar...Ornstein, you bastard!

Walter said:
This is me lamenting one of the core tenets of the game being lost to replays.
I've read it only gets worse with each replay. The difficulty scaling has diminishing returns until something like replay#11 at which point it just stops.

I've never gotten through a NG+ because I'm always wanting to try new builds. Almost finished a Simon Belmont run using nothing but whips, throwing knives, and holy water (fire bombs)! :ganishka:
 

Walter

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Delta Phi said:
Almost finished a Simon Belmont run using nothing but whips, throwing knives, and holy water (fire bombs)! :ganishka:
Holy shit! That sounds awesome, but also super challenging. Whips are really underpowered, as are the throwing knives. I can't imagine taking on something with a lot of HP like Iron Golem with it. Still... I'm intrigued!

I've made different builds too, but I've found that I'm not strict enough to force myself into a playstyle that doesn't suit my tendencies. So I've ditched my spellcaster because I found ranged attacks boring, and I've ditched my Guts build because I missed my fast weapons. My favorite playstyle involves a lot of dexterity supplemented with strength.
 
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