Dark Souls 3

Doctor Nick

sweetie wrote: »

Yes. I was delighted when I beat her and then realised it was only the first phase!
!

The scene that begins the second phase with Father Ariandel screaming and banging the bowl was one of the best things I've ever seen and heard. I had my headphones on and you could really feel the emotion in his voice (and the DS4 haha) . I was sort of expecting DLC to Bosses to have 2 phases and when I received my titanite slab after phase 2 the relief started to flow then.... Oh sh! t wtf is happening..... No!

A feckin third phase.

Such a great fight.

noodler

Doctor Nick wrote: »

The scene that begins the second phase with Father Ariandel screaming and banging the bowl was one of the best things I've ever seen and heard. I had my headphones on and you could really feel the emotion in his voice (and the DS4 haha) . I was sort of expecting DLC to Bosses to have 2 phases and when I received my titanite slab after phase 2 the relief started to flow then.... Oh sh! t wtf is happening..... No!

A feckin third phase.

Such a great fight.

It is.

I got to a stage where I was doing stage 1 and 2 in four minutes without taking a scratch but couldn't land a hit on Blackfire F without taking a hits.

I eventually got lucky when the NPC stayed alive long enough for me to do serious damage.

Watching Epicnamebros DS2 videos lately as he attempts SoTFS for the first time.

Can't quite understand his "mehness" for DS3, it's a massive return to form for me compared to the misstep that was DS2.

Stone Deaf 4evr

Just started dark souls 3 tonight, and well, as is wont for dark souls games, I'll chime in here every now and again with thoughts and progress. Have played through ds1 and 2 previously and loved them both.

Created my character and played through the first few areas and took down the first boss (on my 2nd attempt, wasn't expecting that second phase!), before moving on to firelink. First impressions is that it looks great, but the movement seems a little frame-y on xbox1.

SeantheMan

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

Just started dark souls 3 tonight, and well, as is wont for dark souls games, I'll chime in here every now and again with thoughts and progress. Have played through ds1 and 2 previously and loved them both.

Created my character and played through the first few areas and took down the first boss (on my 2nd attempt, wasn't expecting that second phase!), before moving on to firelink. First impressions is that it looks great, but the movement seems a little frame-y on xbox1.

Make sure to go left of Firelink before ye set off on your journey, kill the naked katana dude. Best sword starting off

Kiith

SeantheMan wrote: »

Make sure to go left of Firelink before ye set off on your journey, kill the naked katana dude. Best sword starting off

Assuming you can kill him. ****er took me ages to kill

Mickeroo

Think I shot him with arrows from the roof first time :pac:

Stone Deaf 4evr

SeantheMan wrote: »

Make sure to go left of Firelink before ye set off on your journey, kill the naked katana dude. Best sword starting off

hmm, missed him, I'm after crossing a bridge with the dragon that burns everyone, killing the knight, and heading across the rooftops past the mutated monster thing, then heading down to some sort of library / kitchen where I can see a massive enemy with a cleaver stalking around a courtyard. I was low on health at that point so I homeward boned out of there and saved for the night.

Stone Deaf 4evr

Righty, got down to the bottom and into the chapel where I met the covenant of blue lady, then proceeded to the boreal boss just beyond it and got trounced a few times before I finally managed to beat him. There's a special kind of magic to dark souls bosses, the way the music gets more epic as their health drains, I could hear my heartbeat through my headphones when I was finished I've raised my banner and made my way though the undead village and stopped for the night after finding a bonfire beside an enemy with some sort of two handed cleaver blade. Switched from the my default curved twin blades to a raw straight sword and finding the moveset much more approachable.

mrkiscool2

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

Righty, got down to the bottom and into the chapel where I met the covenant of blue lady, then proceeded to the boreal boss just beyond it and got trounced a few times before I finally managed to beat him. There's a special kind of magic to dark souls bosses, the way the music gets more epic as their health drains, I could hear my heartbeat through my headphones when I was finished I've raised my banner and made my way though the undead village and stopped for the night after finding a bonfire beside an enemy with some sort of two handed cleaver blade. Switched from the my default curved twin blades to a raw straight sword and finding the moveset much more approachable.

That's the beauty of Dark Souls. There is always a way to improve, even with something as simple as finding the weapon that works best for you!

Stone Deaf 4evr

Righty,

made a nice bit of progress imo this weekend. Defeated the giant rotten tree, met seigward and defeated the big red beasty, then got on the road of sacrifice and defeated the crystal sage. played a little bit into the next area and stopped after the bonfire.

3 observations

1. The game runs like dog dirt on xbox one, stuttering and slowdown when there is a lot going on, the final phase of the crystal sage boss was jerking all over the place.
2. I dunno is it just that I'm used to how souls games work, but I'm not finding this as tough going initially, It doesnt seem to have the difficulty spike that I found in ds1 / 2 - I'm looking at you heides tower of flame
3. I'm having to play the game offline for the most part as the game simply refuses to connect to the dark souls servers, I've hard reset the console and my router and no luck. I've a fully open NAT and dont have problems with any other games so I cant see what could be causing the issue here. I reckon I've only been able to connect two or three times over the course of the first 10 hours or so, very annoying, Much as I don't like invaders, reading the messages on the ground is a major part of the experience, even if half of them are 'try tongue but hole'

Doctor Nick

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

Righty,

made a nice bit of progress imo this weekend. Defeated the giant rotten tree, met seigward and defeated the big red beasty, then got on the road of sacrifice and defeated the crystal sage. played a little bit into the next area and stopped after the bonfire.

3 observations

1. The game runs like dog dirt on xbox one, stuttering and slowdown when there is a lot going on, the final phase of the crystal sage boss was jerking all over the place.
2. I dunno is it just that I'm used to how souls games work, but I'm not finding this as tough going initially, It doesnt seem to have the difficulty spike that I found in ds1 / 2 - I'm looking at you heides tower of flame
3. I'm having to play the game offline for the most part as the game simply refuses to connect to the dark souls servers, I've hard reset the console and my router and no luck. I've a fully open NAT and dont have problems with any other games so I cant see what could be causing the issue here. I reckon I've only been able to connect two or three times over the course of the first 10 hours or so, very annoying, Much as I don't like invaders, reading the messages on the ground is a major part of the experience, even if half of them are 'try tongue but hole'

Next area starts getting serious. Depending on which way you go after Crystal Sage there's an easy Boss and the first (IMO) really challenging Boss.

Stone Deaf 4evr

Doctor Nick wrote: »

Next area starts getting serious. Depending on which way you go after Crystal Sage there's an easy Boss and the first (IMO) really challenging Boss.

I didnt notice that I had a choice of two ways - I've gone to the Cathedral of the deep - I've cleared out an area with a crystal sort of beast - not a boss, a big thing that was dormant until I approached, and I've been around a bit of the graveyard with the respawning zombies, but I was low on estus and kept getting a bleeding state so decided to retreat and tackle it again tonight.

Doctor Nick

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

I didnt notice that I had a choice of two ways - I've gone to the Cathedral of the deep - I've cleared out an area with a crystal sort of beast - not a boss, a big thing that was dormant until I approached, and I've been around a bit of the graveyard with the respawning zombies, but I was low on estus and kept getting a bleeding state so decided to retreat and tackle it again tonight.

Yeah there would have been 2 ways in the Crystal Sage area though maybe you've done the other already, Farron Keep. The way you've gone I found tough enough (after that graveyard) though the boss for that area is handy, one of the easiest in fact. Farron Keep was the first brick wall I came across. Took me a long time, and a break for a few weeks, to get past the boss there.

Stone Deaf 4evr

Doctor Nick wrote: »

Yeah there would have been 2 ways in the Crystal Sage area though maybe you've done the other already, Farron Keep. The way you've gone I found tough enough (after that graveyard) though the boss for that area is handy, one of the easiest in fact. Farron Keep was the first brick wall I came across. Took me a long time, and a break for a few weeks, to get past the boss there.

no, haven't been to farron keep yet. I noticed a sloping road up to the right in the boss area of crystal sage, but I thought it was a dead end, might have a look later. I'm kinda keeping a note of areas I haven't cleared out. I go tabsolutely murderised by a black night below in the swamp part of road of sarcrifce - he was off to the right near some giant crabs that I also avoided.

SeantheMan

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

I didnt notice that I had a choice of two ways - I've gone to the Cathedral of the deep - I've cleared out an area with a crystal sort of beast - not a boss, a big thing that was dormant until I approached, and I've been around a bit of the graveyard with the respawning zombies, but I was low on estus and kept getting a bleeding state so decided to retreat and tackle it again tonight.

I'd advise you to sprint past that whole section of respawning zombies and just get to the church. They're crap and don't give much exp. When you get to the first DUAL WIELDING dude that causes bleed...there is a little church over to the right...where you can drop a ladder down as a shortcut...allowing you to get there quicker in future.

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

no, haven't been to farron keep yet. I noticed a sloping road up to the right in the boss area of crystal sage, but I thought it was a dead end, might have a look later. I'm kinda keeping a note of areas I haven't cleared out. I go tabsolutely murderised by a black night below in the swamp part of road of sarcrifce - he was off to the right near some giant crabs that I also avoided.

Black knights...as much as I love them (my fave characters in the game) are very easy to kill.
You stand beside their shoulder...let them attack...dodge...and you just backstab them...over and over and over.

I named my most recent character Black Knight specifically to play it as him and in case I was summoned.

Stone Deaf 4evr

SeantheMan wrote: »

I'd advise you to sprint past that whole section of respawning zombies and just get to the church. They're crap and don't give much exp. When you get to the first DUAL WIELDING dude that causes bleed...there is a little church over to the right...where you can drop a ladder down as a shortcut...allowing you to get there quicker in future.



Black knights...as much as I love them (my fave characters in the game) are very easy to kill.
You stand beside their shoulder...let them attack...dodge...and you just backstab them...over and over and over.

I named my most recent character Black Knight specifically to play it as him and in case I was summoned.

My updates are a bit sporadic, but I've been through the graveyard, up along the roofs, opened the shortcut, then moved on along the large roof and un through the big doors (which was pretty tough going I essentially sprinted past a lot of the enemies in an effort to just see what was up ahead). From there I've gone down the stairs, and found another shortcut back to the bonfire in the chapel. I then came back up with a fresh jug of estus, ran past the giant in the room and then got killed by a caster before calling it a night. This area has been pretty cool in terms of the different shortcuts back to the bonfire. Enjoying it but also finding parts of it a legit challenge.

Doctor Nick

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

My updates are a bit sporadic, but I've been through the graveyard, up along the roofs, opened the shortcut, then moved on along the large roof and un through the big doors (which was pretty tough going I essentially sprinted past a lot of the enemies in an effort to just see what was up ahead). From there I've gone down the stairs, and found another shortcut back to the bonfire in the chapel. I then came back up with a fresh jug of estus, ran past the giant in the room and then got killed by a caster before calling it a night. This area has been pretty cool in terms of the different shortcuts back to the bonfire. Enjoying it but also finding parts of it a legit challenge.

Yeah the bit from graveyard to church was challenging alright. It's what you were looking for though isn't it? The Boss is a bit of an anti climax given the build up to it. Next Boss fight is great. Soundtrack for it is best I've ever heard in a game. Often play it on YouTube.

Stone Deaf 4evr

Doctor Nick wrote: »

Yeah the bit from graveyard to church was challenging alright. It's what you were looking for though isn't it? The Boss is a bit of an anti climax given the build up to it. Next Boss fight is great. Soundtrack for it is best I've ever heard in a game. Often play it on YouTube.

Yeah, Ive also switched from a raw straight sword+2 to an Unchingata (spelling?) +3 as I loved its moveset in DS2. damage is only a little better, but I'll start putting some more points into dex to give that a bit of a boost.

Stone Deaf 4evr

Wow, this is definitely the hardest area so far. I've managed to open another set of blue doors out onto the rooftop and also found the covenant of rosaria. Defeated an npc invader but it looks like my next challenge is defeating a giant that's blocking a set of stairs. Not going to be easy with that waist high water slowing movement

Doctor Nick

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

Wow, this is definitely the hardest area so far. I've managed to open another set of blue doors out onto the rooftop and also found the covenant of rosaria. Defeated an npc invader but it looks like my next challenge is defeating a giant that's blocking a set of stairs. Not going to be easy with that waist high water slowing movement

I didn't kill them giants. Just ran past them.

SeantheMan

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

My updates are a bit sporadic, but I've been through the graveyard, up along the roofs, opened the shortcut, then moved on along the large roof and un through the big doors (which was pretty tough going I essentially sprinted past a lot of the enemies in an effort to just see what was up ahead). From there I've gone down the stairs, and found another shortcut back to the bonfire in the chapel. I then came back up with a fresh jug of estus, ran past the giant in the room and then got killed by a caster before calling it a night. This area has been pretty cool in terms of the different shortcuts back to the bonfire. Enjoying it but also finding parts of it a legit challenge.

I like that area in general, there are 1 or 2 secrets around there that could help you later in the game. Dunno if you want them spoiled, but it's nearly impossible...well...highly unlikely that you'll come across it yourself first time. Oh wait, you found Rosaria ? Nice job.
She can reset you stats if you want to respec later or if you made mistakes levelling up, but you can only do it a certain amount of times.


As above you can just run past the giant blocking the stairs. He is surround by a load of goop things, so it's not a fun fight. Just roll past him.

SeantheMan

DS3 !!! 20e on PSN Store !!!

Stone Deaf 4evr

Finally out of cathedral of the deep, that was a very odd boss, not overly hard as I just kept moving.

One thing is becoming apparent though, I'm really struggling with fighting dudes in armor. The knights in the room before the deacons gave me a right tough time of it. I seem to consistently get stunlocked by shield bashes, then hit with a big swing and killed as I rise from the ground even the fat caster women with the big spikey stick defeat me somewhat regularly

Doctor Nick

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

Finally out of cathedral of the deep, that was a very odd boss, not overly hard as I just kept moving.

One thing is becoming apparent though, I'm really struggling with fighting dudes in armor. The knights in the room before the deacons gave me a right tough time of it. I seem to consistently get stunlocked by shield bashes, then hit with a big swing and killed as I rise from the ground even the fat caster women with the big spikey stick defeat me somewhat regularly

I find the Knights are manageable one at a time. Just roll behind them (don't walk around them) and hit them. There should have only been one active knight in the room before The Deacons. One was sitting on the pews and doesn't get up (unless you break the pews).

Silver Knights probably the easiest, then Black followed by Lothric but they're all ok once you get the timings right.

Enjoy next area, it's challenging but really cool.

Anyone find it hard to kick? I couldn't do it when I wanted to and then would do it at inappropriate times.

Stone Deaf 4evr

Doctor Nick wrote: »

I find the Knights are manageable one at a time. Just roll behind them (don't walk around them) and hit them. There should have only been one active knight in the room before The Deacons. One was sitting on the pews and doesn't get up (unless you break the pews).

Silver Knights probably the easiest, then Black followed by Lothric but they're all ok once you get the timings right.

Enjoy next area, it's challenging but really cool.

Anyone find it hard to kick? I couldn't do it when I wanted to and then would do it at inappropriate times.

Yeah, I think (well, truthfully I know) that my problem is that I'm rushing my playthrough (once destiny 2 drops it'll likely consume most of my time). I'll have to force myself to dial it back a little and be a bit more methodical.

SeantheMan

Doctor Nick wrote: »

Anyone find it hard to kick? I couldn't do it when I wanted to and then would do it at inappropriate times.

I gave up on that tactic after a few attempts in all 3 games.
Didn't seem worth the hassle.

Stone Deaf 4evr

Making my way through the farron area, got the coal for the blacksmith but don't see what he can make that's different. I've extinguished the 3 flames, found the wolf covenant and killed the stray demon up top. Heading in through that flame door now and have stopped at the first bonfire in there.

SeantheMan

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

Making my way through the farron area, got the coal for the blacksmith but don't see what he can make that's different. I've extinguished the 3 flames, found the wolf covenant and killed the stray demon up top. Heading in through that flame door now and have stopped at the first bonfire in there.

Make sure not to use the Stray Demon's soul, change it. Gives you one of the best rings in the game.

Farron is used for Sharp, Poison and some other gem.
Sharp is good for bleeding weapons.

Stone Deaf 4evr

SeantheMan wrote: »

Make sure not to use the Stray Demon's soul, change it. Gives you one of the best rings in the game.

Farron is used for Sharp, Poison and some other gem.
Sharp is good for bleeding weapons.

I hope you mean Havel's ring, that's what I got for it. I've killed the abyss watchers now and headed a little but into the catacombs. From a progress point of view would I be about halfway through the game now or less?

sweetie

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote:

I hope you mean Havel's ring, that's what I got for it. I've killed the abyss watchers now and headed a little but into the catacombs. From a progress point of view would I be about halfway through the game now or less?

I'd say less especially if you include the dlc