Dark Souls 3 - April 2016 : You Died, You Died, You Died

Actually three secret bosses, and one of the areas is pretty big & cool

But am I right that there is nothing to do with souls anymore/no way to spend them? With Firelink shut down ...

Nah I don't think that's the 'real' firelink, it's the "Kiln of the First Flame" that leads to the last boss. You should still be able to get back to good ol' Firelink.

But there's no Andre or Firekeeper afaict ...

oh wait I think I understand. I will check later.

"Now, how was I supposed to know to do all that?" is the true DS motto

Seriously. After killing the boss in the swamp/garden you're given this dragon gesture to add to your repertoire. I was under the impression I needed to fight a dragon in this game at some point, and having made it close to the end with no real dragon battle I decide to figure out what I was missing. It turns out you're supposed to go back to a balcony in a much earlier level and then make the gesture there to unlock a new area with the dragon boss at the end. Now, how was I supposed to know to do all that?

(See also: how to find Champion Gundyr and Nameless King, two other optional bosses whose reputation preceded them.)

The dragon-human statue with a conspicuously empty mat next to it was def a tip-off, I tried all my sitting gestures next to it the first time around (but only because of the crow's nest in DS1).

But did you know, many hours later, to go back there and try again?

When I eventually found the gesture called 'Path of the Dragon' with the exact same pose, yes!

(there was a quest in DS1 to turn into dragon form too btw)

Huh, I must have missed dragon quest in the first game, too. (Though I do recall fighting a dragon!) My attention of detail is just not good enough to remember that kind of stuff when I play through. I'm usually very focused on forward momentum. In fact, there are already some moments, enemies and levels I've almost totally forgotten in DS3, and when I'm reminded I suddenly flash back and recall, oh yeah, I did spend a lot of time in Spooky Town, didn't I? In a lot of ways that's another pleasure of the game, looking back at stuff you struggled with earlier and finding none of it a real threat anymore.

lol Ancient Wyvern, more like Ancient Cheese. I might have been embered, but is the "try plunge attack" note permanent? Because the hardest thing about the boss is not the boss, it's those other enemies you have to mow down first to get to your perch. I did die a few times, but not to the giant fire breathing dragon (for once), I think it was mostly Death by Impatience.

I've bungled the plunge more than once (like if the dragon is in the wrong position, or you run off instead of jump), which is hilariously anti-climactic

The first time I totally coyote vs roadrunnered it and died on impact, it was pretty funny.

OK, so Nameless King is one of ... *those* bosses. Having died to him a bunch already I can see why they made him optional! He takes away HP like a tank, making estus management paramount.
On the plus side, his dragon is getting a little easier. Turns out my black knight sword can stagger it! (Or so it appears.)

I think I'll take this guy out eventually, move on the Ashes of Snowville, then to the "final" boss, then to the Ringed City DLC, in that order.

I remember phase 2 being another one of those "one swing ONLY" bosses

Ive been trying various combos of rings and lightning resistant stuff, like the lothric knight shield. I've tried a few different swords, too, having read that straight swords are he way to go, but honestly my claymore+10 and BKS+5 seem to kill the dragon faster, and the latter got him down to 50% ... once.

OK, got him close to done a couple of times. That lightning bolt strike of his is brutal!

I haven't fought him since my first playthrough, but have gotten really used to the timing of that since lots of players like to use his weapon. It can be backstabbed in pvp, I don't know that I would try it on the boss though. :)

I suppose I do appreciate this level of challenge. There's a lot at play here. Do I go with a heavier shield for defense against attacks, at cost to my ability to dodge? Or do I go a little lighter, even though said dodges are hard (for me). I'm pretty comfortable with the black knight sword, so I think I'll stick with that, though I have experimented with my claymore and even the lothric knight sword (which is lighter and faster but even upgraded does less damage). Hmm ... I think the two times I've almost gotten him I got greedy and went for an extra attack when I should have hung back and healed. Stamina/health management seems to be key with this guy.

OK, came pretty close again today. I think I've concluded that better to go light and nimble than heavy. The last several attempts I've just gone in two-handed with a lothric knight shield on my back, and that seems to be working the best. Roll, hit, roll, roll, hit, get hit, roll away, heal. Repeat, etc.

I take it back, this guy is giving me trouble. The first phase is OK, but the Nameless King on his own fights like the first boss I've faced that is really, truly trying to kill you. His tracking is nuts, he hits like a tank, he follows up like he knows he has the upper hand (because he does). Again, I've come close a couple of times, but luck has played a big part in that, and I still died. I know people can beat anything blindfolded, in the dark, with no weapons, using their left hand on Nintendo bongos with only voice commands given by a friend in another room, but ... I'm not one of those people. They don't even let you summon a NPC for this (optional) jerk. I think next time I'll try with the heaviest shield I can handle and the least amount of equipment/armor, so that maybe I can still fast roll while wielding a wall of defense. Because ... man.

time to admit i never defeated him. i came *really* close - a gnat's hair of his health left - on the second or third time i faced him and never got close after.

I just fought him a couple of times right now with a heavy shield and a funny hat, in my underwear. Clearly armor doesn't do shit in this game. I mean, I died both times, but at least I can roll, so that's a good sign.

You know what? Fuck this boss. Maybe if I didn't have to fight the stupid bird dragon first, maybe if I didn't have to sit through the cut scene over and over, maybe if I just entered the fog to fight the Nameless King ... I'd probably still say this fuck this boss, but maybe I'd have a shot. As it is, even leveled up the dude basically two shots me with relentless attacks, and dodging and shielding only seems to be so effective so far. So I think I'll move on and come back later.

Screaming aside (def turn your volume town), this is a good reminder of what a civilian learning this boss looks like (not a streamer who can do it sl1 + blindfolded + broken straight sword):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLS-mpwRM10

Stay close, only hit him once, otherwise you risk not having enough endurance to roll through his combos.

lol I've come really close to where he was toward the end, but the road there has been relentless, and replicating the results ... few and far between. Aside from dying, that is.

Nah fuck this boss and its bending space and time attacks. The sweeps are one thing, but you roll at an angle to his right when he's diving down to his left, 45 degrees away from where his spear is pointing, and he still somehow impales you. Again, maybe I could take it if I didn't have to fight the fucking bird and his strongest ally, the camera, again and again beforehand, but this seems like a (one-sided) war of attrition.

Just curious, what soul level are you at?

https://oyster.ignimgs.com/mediawiki/apis.ign.com/dark-souls-3/a/a3/Screen_Shot_2016-03-15_at_11.54.11_AM.jpg?width=1280

I think I'm at ... 107? Something like that. Pretty high, for a regular guy.

I can totally see how this all went down.

"How is that boss design coming along?"

"We have an angry dude on a flying dragon."

"Sounds good so far. How does it play?"

"Well, he's totally overpowered, and the camera is fucked. Also, it doesn't really matter how much you've leveled up, or what rings you have, or what weapons or shields or buffs you use. You might as well be naked, it's so unforgiving."

"Hmm. Does the environment at least look cool?"

"Just kind of nondescript white clouds. Oh, and there is no NPC summon, either."

"Oof. Well, I'm afraid we have to keep things the way they are, release day is tomorrow. Do you at least have a name for the boss?"

"About that ... "

There, I beat him. Obviously I'd seen a million posts and videos that proved he *could* be beat, but I was just not getting there. So I looked up how to cheese him, and even then there were only two options.

The first was to transpose the dragonarmour greatshield, which I did and tried, but he kept plowing through me, despite its high defenses. It was just taking too much strength to wield, and while I survived his first couple of hits I was usually so drained a third inevitably got me.

The second option I'd never considered: ranged attack. I'm playing as a knight, so a melee build, which means no casting fireballs or soulspears or whatever. But this one video demonstrated you can really take advantage of his dramatic slow approach by wearing him down ... with a crossbow. So I upgraded the heaviest crossbow I had, loaded up on heavy bolts, and then after taking out the dragon with the sword and getting to the Nameless King, just steadily walked backwards away from him as I fired my crossbow. Now, he still gets mad and attacks, so I had to stay relatively light and nimble and rolly-polly, and I kept my sword in my right hand. (I didn't bother with a shield, which seemed pretty useless in this fight). The secret was to use the crossbow to both wear him down and draw out his own ranged flying attack, which opened a couple of windows to swipe at him. And he still often connected; I ended with maybe two spare estus. Once you finally beat him down to those lightning bolt AOE attacks he's a lot easier to dodge, stagger and stab, which I did. Oh, and right before the second phase I popped the one ember I had left, which gave me a much needed health boost. (Fighting him before, I burned through maybe 35 embers.)

Am I embarrassed? Hell no. This game gives you enemies with infinite stamina, massive HP, multiple stages, one or two shot abilities and no obvious weaknesses that can still kill you in seconds, no matter your level. And then makes the Nameless King walk slowly toward you like a chump? It's an invitation to cheese, afaict, as blatant as "try plunging attack."

Anyway, I think this might be the most perverse level of the entire game so far. One bonfire is by a giant dragon boss you can one-shot with a plunging attack it tells you to use (har), another bonfire is by the infinitely generating NPC you can kill forever to farm souls, and the other is by the Nameless King, the biggest pain in the ass and most difficult boss so far. And an optional one, at that. Very funny, Dark Souls.

Congrats, way to persevere, can't wait until you get to the Ringed City. ;)

I know there are tough bosses to come. That seems to be the way of the DLC, plus I have the Lord of Cinder or whatever they call the main game Big Bad to take out. But in the meantime I took on the wolf and his pal in the snow, and after Nameless King it was very satisfying to kick their ass in seconds.

OK, I've fought Sister Friede a few times now, so far always with NPC help. The first time I came so close to beating her I thought I *had* beat her; I couldn't even tell that she had a sliver of health left, and that pause cost me (even though I had plenty of estus). Each other time I (we, me and Gael) have made it to the third stage, but I think I was so emboldened by that first attempt I've just played very aggressively and been taken out by my own sloppiness. Either way, I think it's a cool fight with a cool (long) cut scene, so I have no real concerns about beating her.

Took a few more times than I expected, and I needed to be embered and have help from Gael, but finally took her/them down. Without a doubt my favorite fight, never got frustrated or bored with it, not even the cut scene. The funny thing is, I thought it was the end of that DLC, so proceeded on to the Dreg Heap, where I let my guard down and immediately got my ass kicked.

Nice, that third phase can be brutal.

The next big boss fight is another of the few that I always end up summoning on.

Oh, wait, Dreg Heap is the start of Ringed City? I'm going to hold off until I beat the main game big bad (who I'd put off until after Ashes of Snowland).

I beat Soul of Cinder on my second attempt. I love how in this game and the first game, the two that I have played, the final boss is far from the hardest boss. Gives it all an additional sad air of tragedy.

Don't know why I'd been shying away from any giant swords. I've been using a fully upgraded black knight sword and fully upgraded claymore for much of the game, but using a fully upgraded lothric ultra greatsword has been awesome.

You know what else I love about this game? I followed up the nominal finale by traveling back to Archdragon Peak just to check something out, and I promptly got my ass kicked by snake people.

Something else I love about these games so far is that I've spent so much time, and done and fought so many things so many different ways ... and I've still never used magic or pyro or played online. And do the covenants ever do anything if you're offline? I think they were important once in DS1, but I forgot all about them after I joined them in this game, too.

Biggest regret was not really following or figuring out most of the quests. Esp. the dude in Firelink who I guess would have let me level up for free a lot, but who died before I figured that out.

so I've completed Witcher 3 and just started this last night. got nowhere. that first boss is about as tough as some of the harder bosses in Witcher!

So what can I expect from this game? how does it compare to Witcher? I'm not even really sure what I'm trying to achieve. The story feels a bit loose and cryptic. I take it there isn't so much in the way of dialogue and story, and that it's more about the combat mechanics etc?

the story is cryptic certainly and fragmentary. you’re finding things out through remnants. it’s a v different rhythm. v different game. it’s absolutely not open world, but it is intricately structured.

it is about combat mechanics, very much so - the crucial one being the trade-off between stamina and attacking. but it is also about environment - really i’d say that stories in the soulsborne games are told through environments - the landscapes and buildings - and objects.

Esp. the dude in Firelink who I guess would have let me level up for free a lot, but who died before I figured that out.

It's ok, you would have ended up looking like beef jerky.

lol I don't even know what my character looked like. She was/is female, but I usually have a helmet on.

As for stories, man, it's pretty obscure. Like, I know I got one of the three/four endings, but I have no real idea what happened, or why.

dark souls is not comparable to witcher at all other than being in a medieval setting. gameplay wise it's a challenging action game whereas witcher is a lenient rpg. story wise it's mostly environmental storytelling rather than dialogue based

At some point I'm planning to dive into the DLC (well, Ringed City), though having "finished" the game otherwise there seems to be ... less pressure? Souls don't really matter, progress doesn't really matter, it'll only be for fun, or as fun as these games ever are.

i restarted DS 2 but i think i'm realizing i bought all the DLC awhile back and never got around to it so maybe i should just go back here instead.

dark souls is the ultimate comfort food video game for me; it's always my fallback when i'm really truly distressed.

Ok, started Ringed City. Making slow progress, but it's fun!