What is the recommended level to tackle the DLC areas?
I'm at the end of the game I think. I just need to beat the last boss, so I decided to go and try the DLC, but holy hell those are damn hard. The bosses in the two DLC then sunken and Iron are way too tough. Even the weakest enemies take half my health with a single hit. Are these meant to be tackled in NG+ or what?
Yeah, the DLC are tough. My bane in Souls games is beating my head against the wall doing areas too early, and that was the second time I did it in a single game. Cleared No Man's Wharf before even finding the forest... starting with only the explorer class gear. So like, a knife, some +item discovery crap, and zero understanding of things like enemy despawning, lockstones, and where the hell you level up. Got baited in a bit because the Heide a Tower boss walked itself right off a ledge without doing anything as I backed off to check its moveset. Brume Tower was almost as bad.
Loving the game, though. I never PvP'd in Dark Souls but I'm addicted now. I can't beat the game because I can't stop dueling, which I know is a terrible idea because I'm 'under geared', but I just can't help it.
With that being said, I do think that the design is significantly worse than DS1. The world feels more like working through disparate areas in something like Diablo than the tangled world knot of Dark Souls that would sort of blow your mind when a shortcut would connect two areas you didn't realize were adjacent. Multiple times I've felt like bonfires, rather than being well placed to create a tough but fair gauntlet, are placed way too closely and used as an excuse to say, "Yeah, this spot is shitty-difficult, but there's a bonfire!". Bringing the two points together, having bonfire quick travel ruins the magic. It's a cheap substitute for interesting, intricate design, and it feels like it. Even when I do like it, it's just because I'm imagining how atrocious it would be to traverse the world. All well-established complaints, but definitely true.
And give me a rusted iron ring, dammit.