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Dark Souls III |OT+2| Why Can't We Poise the Game?

R

roflwaffles

Member
Red Liquorice said:
What's a good melee weapon for a pyro (and later dark magic) build?

I'm finally getting around to a magic build and I never play around with weapons in this game because there's so many I just stick to old favourites, regular weapons, is there anything unusual or especially suited?
Click to expand...

Demon's Scar and Onyx Blade are your main end game options.

I ran through the game with a raw Astora Straight Sword but I hear it got nerfed. You do eventually want a Chaos infused Longsword.
 
M

MilkBeard

Member
I actually just started playing Ashes of Ariandel after taking a long break. I figured with both DLC now, and with the new updates, I'd finally jump back in.

Personally, I'm glad I took a break, because I feel if I had played them when they came out, I would have just run through and not enjoyed them as much because of Souls burnout. But now, it feels like returning to something great after being away.

I am attempting the first DLC with my level 120 character on NG+. I was wondering how the leveling would work out, and as it turns out, it's a pretty good fit. Most of the foot soldiers can be killed easily, but if they gang up, they can still be trouble. Also, I fought Sir Vilhelm and thought he was a pretty good challenge, it took me a couple of lives to learn his moves, but it also might be because I'm a tad rusty from not playing for a year.

Either way, I am finding the first DLC to be pretty good, and the location feels as good as anything in the main game so far. Can't wait to finish it and make my way to the final DLC and bid a final farewell to the Souls series.

My setup is such that I went with a Hollowed Black Blade and Hollow shield for maximum scaling. It seems pretty well suited for most occasions.
Edit: corrected the weapon name because I always get Black Blade and Dark Blade mixed up, lol.
 
F

Ferr986

Member
roflwaffles said:
Demon's Scar and Onyx Blade are your main end game options.

I ran through the game with a raw Astora Straight Sword but I hear it got nerfed. You do eventually want a Chaos infused Longsword.
Click to expand...

Chaos infusions got buffed so maybe there's better options now, especially against Demon Scar, that hit like a (burnt) noodle.
 
R

Red Liquorice

Member
Demon's Scar casts pyro spells too right, so you expect that to have some downside to it. I never used those type of things in DS2 either. Maybe if you got it earlier it could be a cool early combo weapon, but as late as you get it I want to be doing maximum damage not gimped for the convenience of casting.

Early game is terrible for all casters as far as I can see. You don't get most spells until far later in the game, they're all locked away same as upgrade materials. That's one of my biggest complaints about DS3, it's linearity. If there were the 3 or 4 paths to go from the start like the previous games it might become my favourite Souls game. I like in DS1 how there's the risk/reward of going to different areas very early.
 
M

Milijango

Member
Bladelaw said:
Thanks! I've basically decided to roleplay Solaire at this point. I spent a lot of time farming Darkwraiths for their armor (and souls...) and to pass the time I kept dropping my mark in front of the boss door. By the time I actually had to fight the boss on my own I wrecked it. Oh one NPC question though:
I sent Greirat out to scavenge I think this is the second time he asked, how long till he comes back? I just beat the Deacons and Wolnir and can access Irithyll.
Click to expand...

Yeah... that's one of those finicky questlines. I believe the first boss you defeat after sending out Greirat will cause him to return. However, that might not happen...

Explanation:
Greirat may or may not survive his raid on Irithyll, depending on whether another NPC saves him. Either Patches or Siegward will do the trick, but you'd need to either tell Patches where he is, or return Siegward's armour, respectively. However, Greirat seems to die spontaneously for me.

If he is dead, you'll find his body in an Irithyll sewer.
 
F

Ferr986

Member
Red Liquorice said:
Demon's Scar casts pyro spells too right, so you expect that to have some downside to it. I never used those type of things in DS2 either. Maybe if you got it earlier it could be a cool early combo weapon, but as late as you get it I want to be doing maximum damage not gimped for the convenience of casting.

Early game is terrible for all casters as far as I can see. You don't get most spells until far later in the game, they're all locked away same as upgrade materials. That's one of my biggest complaints about DS3, it's linearity. If there were the 3 or 4 paths to go from the start like the previous games it might become my favourite Souls game. I like in DS1 how there's the risk/reward of going to different areas very early.
Click to expand...

Atleast Pyro have it a little better, they just need to reach the ruins. FTH and INT builds have a miserable NG run till the very endgame.
 
D

Doomsayer

Member
I took a little break from playing the DLC because
Darkeater Midir
was making me lose my mind. So I came in fresh yesterday and beat that motherfucker... unembered. Which was pretty great, imo.

I beat
Shira
after, that was a pretty boring fight. The Dark Knight Greatsword is pretty amazing, though.
Gael
was a really, really fun fight. That health pool was INSANE. Took me 3 tries, but I got him. I kept getting greedy in the last phase.

It was nice to wrap up the series like that. I would've preferred a little more closure but after all this is a Souls game so that's on me.

It's been a hell of a ride.
 
S

Sande

Member
I wonder what the best weapons are at super high levels (and NG+n) after all the recent changes?

Months and months ago I came to the conclusion of Anri's Straight Sword thanks to the crazy LCK scaling on top of STR and DEX. That thing can have close to 500 AR before any buffs with the ultra fast and versatile moveset of a straight sword. I tried a lot of different weapons and builds but nothing seemed to come even close at the time.
 
B

Bladelaw

Member
Milijango said:
Yeah... that's one of those finicky questlines. I believe the first boss you defeat after sending out Greirat will cause him to return. However, that might not happen...

Explanation:
Greirat may or may not survive his raid on Irithyll, depending on whether another NPC saves him. Either Patches or Siegward will do the trick, but you'd need to either tell Patches where he is, or return Siegward's armour, respectively. However, Greirat seems to die spontaneously for me.

If he is dead, you'll find his body in an Irithyll sewer.
Click to expand...

He made it back alive, Patches saved him I suspect since he asked where Greirat went.

Is Pontiff normally a hotbed of online activity? I'm getting summoned to fight the boss constantly. It's great for farming souls and getting sunlight medals. Still no clue what to do with them but hey, it's all about being grossly incandescent.
 
M

Milijango

Member
Bladelaw said:
He made it back alive, Patches saved him I suspect since he asked where Greirat went.

Is Pontiff normally a hotbed of online activity? I'm getting summoned to fight the boss constantly. It's great for farming souls and getting sunlight medals. Still no clue what to do with them but hey, it's all about being grossly incandescent.
Click to expand...

You can cash your Sunlight Medals in later, though there's no point unless you're a faith character or want achievements.

Pontiff is naturally pretty busy because, well, a lot of people find him tough. I used him for the medal grind because hosts tend to do alright against him. The area after him is a PvP hotspot so you might want to hang onto your embers.
 
Tarkus

Tarkus

Member
I love the vistas and bosses in the Ringed City but I think overall Ashes was the better DLC. It was certainly better lore-wise. I swear Miyazaki said the first dlc would stand on its own and the second would tie up loose ends. That just wasn't the case.
 
R

Red Liquorice

Member
It's been a while since I've done the questlines in DS3, I can't seem to get Irina to move to the tower outside Firelink - I didn't give her any of the dark Tomes and bought all her miracles. Eygon's questline is all done, got his loot from her cell. What else needs to be done? I've tried warping out, talking to her etc. I did give the tomes to Karla and bought spells, but that doesn't effect Irina does it?
 
R

Relaxed Muscle

Member
Red Liquorice said:
It's been a while since I've done the questlines in DS3, I can't seem to get Irina to move to the tower outside Firelink - I didn't give her any of the dark Tomes and bought all her miracles. Eygon's questline is all done, got his loot from her cell. What else needs to be done? I've tried warping out, talking to her etc. I did give the tomes to Karla and bought spells, but that doesn't effect Irina does it?
Click to expand...

Are you sure yo gave her all the light tomes?

Braille Divine Tome of Lothric
Braille Divine Tome of Carim

Is the only thing I can think of.
 
B

Bladelaw

Member
Milijango said:
You can cash your Sunlight Medals in later, though there's no point unless you're a faith character or want achievements.

Pontiff is naturally pretty busy because, well, a lot of people find him tough. I used him for the medal grind because hosts tend to do alright against him. The area after him is a PvP hotspot so you might want to hang onto your embers.
Click to expand...

That explains a lot. I didn't find Pontiff to tricky but running the fight some 20-odd times you get a feel for his tells lol.

After that I went and got wrecked by an invader, decided I didn't want to spend too much more time up top so I went down below into the dungeon. Those jailers with the brands can fuck off and die. Is there anyway to resist their Max HP drain move besides kill them/break LOS? There's one room near the end that's littered with them.
 
R

Red Liquorice

Member
Oh God, I can't summon Gael for Friede - I assumed I'd be ok up until his actual boss fight but I guess the trigger is way sooner than that, even just entering the second DLC?

Now I have to actually learn how to fight her during the third phase?! D:
 
M

Milijango

Member
Bladelaw said:
That explains a lot. I didn't find Pontiff to tricky but running the fight some 20-odd times you get a feel for his tells lol.

After that I went and got wrecked by an invader, decided I didn't want to spend too much more time up top so I went down below into the dungeon. Those jailers with the brands can fuck off and die. Is there anyway to resist their Max HP drain move besides kill them/break LOS? There's one room near the end that's littered with them.
Click to expand...

The jailer's hp drain is pretty much unavoidable if you want to move through that room at a brisk pace. However, it's only in effect when their lantern turns red + they have line of sight, so if you find a decent piece of cover you can do hit and runs and lose minimal health.

Projectiles also work well as they can't kill you through health drain alone.

Red Liquorice said:
Oh God, I can't summon Gael for Friede - I assumed I'd be ok up until his actual boss fight but I guess the trigger is way sooner than that, even just entering the second DLC?

Now I have to actually learn how to fight her during the third phase?! D:
Click to expand...

Gael dies early in phase 3 anyway so it'll only be marginally more difficult alone (as she doesn't get the health buff). Friede is still easily stunlocked and can be punished after most jump attacks and invisibility.
 
B

BY2K

Membero Americo
I don't know if there's a still active thread for the first Dark Souls, which I'm currently going through right now.

And I'll just say.

Whoever designed the Bed of Chaos boss needs to never again touch a video game.

Ever.

Holy shit, this is bad.
 
R

Red Liquorice

Member
BY2K said:
I don't know if there's a still active thread for the first Dark Souls, which I'm currently going through right now.

And I'll just say.

Whoever designed the Bed of Chaos boss needs to never again touch a video game.

Ever.

Holy shit, this is bad.
Click to expand...

OT is still active :) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=755000

BoC is almost universally hated and rightly so, but I always appreciate that they do something different with bosses. I think they successfully evolved this type of boss with Wolnir in this game.
A Great shield helps with it's arm sweeps, you can even two-hand the Eagle Shield on an SL1 run so it's always an option. Block the arm sweeps, then it's just down to timing a roll off the edge no need to jump.
 
J

Jombie

Member
You know a boss is bad when quitting out and logging back in is a common strat.

Izalith is just a giant turd. Eyesore of an area, worst enemies and worst bosses. Demon Centipede doesn't get enough credit for how bad it is.
 
M

Morrigan Stark

Arrogant Smirk
Jombie said:
You know a boss is bad when quitting out and logging back in is a common strat.
Click to expand...
lol, for real

Izalith is just a giant turd. Eyesore of an area, worst enemies and worst bosses. Demon Centipede doesn't get enough credit for how bad it is.
Click to expand...
I don't mind Demon Centipede too much, since I now fight it on that larger island, but the first time, trying to fight it near the entrance.... gahhh, camera hell.

As for Izalith itself, it's a shame because visually (I mean outside of the "ahhh my eyes" lava) it's pretty awesome. I LOVE the Angkor-like architecture, and the notion of such an ancient city, sunken under the lava, prowling with demons in this sort of hellscape, is just so fucking cool. The non-lava part of Izalith shows some of what could have been, but it's too small and uninteresting. Wasted potential.
 
Rex_DX

Rex_DX

Gold Member
The Sunken King always reminded me of what Izalith could have been. Albeit without the lava which is kinda the main ingredient.
 
MaKTaiL

MaKTaiL

Member
This gotta be the most annoying platinum trophy I'm trying to get (and I have 60 already). Those covenant items are a pain to get. Hate PVP and the enemies drop are a joke. Only one trophy left and I need 30 skulls for the Darkmoon covenant.
 
H

Hamster Plugin

Member
The main thing I hate in PVP is that it's always me vs two or more. I preferred Dark Souls 2 where you could be invaded even when not human (or ember here) so you get some solo players.
 
J

Jombie

Member
Lag / latency is the reason I've never invested any real time in pvp. I like small bursts of it, but whenever I try the arena or invade, it'll be clear I land hits on another player and they don't take damage while I get hit from three feet away from a dagger. That and From's god awful weapon balancing -- they nerf one of the few decent spears worth using and not the current 'meta' weapon everyone and their grandma is using cause it takes no skill.
 
C

Cannon Goose

Member
I kill two Blues and the host's Phantom, and then... "A connection error has occurred."

https://my.mixtape.moe/aswwyu.webm

:') It's good every time. Hosts disconnecting literally gives me life.

Also, Crucifix of the Mad King is pretty cool on a Faith build, as it gains both physical and dark damage just from levelling Faith. It can also be buffed, so I might have to get Dark Weapon or Sunlight Blade on there as well at some point.
 
G

Greatest Ever

Member
I hate leaving the franchise on a sour note, but the King of Storms' camera is the toughest boss in the series. Fuck that, not worth it for Nameless King.
 
B

Bladelaw

Member
Chewed through a few more bosses and invaders. Helping folks as a sunbro is by far the most fun soul farming I've been able to do. I actually got invaded by an Artorias cosplayer mad phantom in the Untended Graves, full armor and sword no shield. I appreciated the effort but he fell (literally off a cliff).

So when's a good time to take on Ashes of Ariandel? I feel like I'm just about done with the main game (Like maybe 80-90% done?) and I'm SL 90 with a +9 Washing Pole (I could +10 but I only have 1 slab). 3/4 lords of cinder with the last in sight. I know I should wait for the very end to do the ringed city.
 
S

Shandy

Member
Too late to moan about covenant items? I invaded as a Mound Maker; "Kill the host or one phantom". Yay, 2v1, because of course it is. Well, his phantom was squishy, so they went down pretty quickly. Then the host triggered the boss before the game gave me credit for the kill, and by extension, my shackle. I've had a cold and lost my voice, so I couldn't even vent properly.

I couldn't get summoned at Pontiff and ran into enough ganks invading that I basically just gave up. I would rather be bored to death PVE farming covenant items than getting mad at PVP or sitting waiting for a summon.

But the best solution would be buying them from an endgame merchant for 100k each or something...
 
B

Bladelaw

Member
Well I managed to beat the Nameless King. So far he's the hardest boss I've faced, everything else went down in one or two tries (Dancer took 3) he took nearly 2 hours worth of attempts. I rewarded myself with a weapon swap to Artorias' greatsword and maxing it out. I'm at 40/40 str dex and wondering why the hell I haven't been using this thing more. I went from my +10 Washing Pole to this (+5) and holy shit the damage is on another level, I lose the bleed proc but so far that hasn't been much of an issue.

I'm going through the Grand Archives now. Still holding off on the DLC (SL101 now I think). When's a good time to take on Ariandel?
 
B

Bladelaw

Member
Red Liquorice said:
You're good to go, over-leveled even. Although the boss will still give you a run for your money no matter your level.
Click to expand...

Cool thanks!

Also...does anyone have a spare Sunlight Shield to trade? Mistakes were made at the crow and I lost my shot at it for this playthrough. I have almost every normal boss soul available and can transpose most boss weapons. I

The souls I've used:
Cursed Greatwood (Hollowslayer)
Abyss Watchers (Artorias' sword)
Stray Demon (Havel's Ring)

The souls I'm missing:
Lothric
DLC bosses

Pretty much anything else is up for grabs.
 
N

NaturalHigh

Member
Bladelaw said:
Ok sent you a pm and a steam friend request.
Click to expand...

ctw0e said:
Ok cool, I'm not sure when I'll be on but you can add me via the link on my profile!
Click to expand...

Gonna add you guys as well. (steam ID naturalhigh213) Currently playing through with the meta SSS faith build.

I'm around SL 105 and haven't started either DLC with this character. I also have a two other characters still in NG. A strength guy at 120 and a pure sorc at 130.

If either of you have an interest in going to NG+, let me know. I have a couple hundred hours in this game and have yet to start a new cycle, lol.
 
R

RedSwirl

Junior Member
Man Midir was some bullshit. Had to attrition him to death with about 200 regular-sized arrows. And that was with a SL122 character on NG. 40 VIG, 40 STR, 40 DEX.

For some reason I just couldn't figure out his pattern enough to dodge him close up, couldn't even dodge the tail attack. I even got hit by the beam quite a few times.

Welp, that's DSIII done as far as I'm concerned. I'd do NG+ games but there's just way too much else on my plate. I STILL haven't played Bloodborne. I guess I'll pick that up whenever I decide to drop the $50 on PS+ and probably grab a Pro for boost mode.
 
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