DARK SOULS: if you need me i'll be in an induced coma so mvrch comes tomorrow

Yeah, I lose months of my life to video games, historically. Can’t remember when it was but I remember I took a two week vacation to someplace lovely a decade ago but I was so addicted to ADOM that I spent the entire vacation lying in bed working on getting some Ultimate Avatar Of Order ending

I remember in 2012, I bought Skyrim but told myself I’d only play it once I got sick with something and had nothing else to do, and then I got sick and I did end up spending two weeks just hoovering up that adventure like a dump truck of digital cocaine

Aside from iPhone bridge and Worldle I haven’t played a game since March, which is great… I was finding myself killing Pthumerian Elders on repeat attempting to farm rare Bloodborne Cold Abyssal Gems and it was the pinnacle of “wasted time”; I’m glad to be game-sober right now!

xpost I think it's just sloppiness/impatience, tbh. At first we're really cautious and strategic, then as we improve we get a little too confident, forgetting that the boss is still really tough. That's usually a sign that it's time for me to take a break. There have been a few From bosses where I kept getting so close, over and over, that eventually I just turned it off. Then the next morning I would get up, make a cup of coffee, and beat the boss on the first or second try.

Quite right.

Also WAHOOO!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AehYxWvsn6I

I think it helped that this was one of the few occasions Ornstein didn't just bumrush me the second I went through the fog door. That's only the second time I've managed to kill one, let alone two, of them

(Apologies, I left the mic on my controller switched on so if there's a lot of button hammering noises 😆

Hell yeah, congrats.

I've been playing so much Sekiro that while watching that I felt the strong urge to Mikiri counter Ornstein's thrust attacks.

That's what's cool about these games, of course. On the surface they could just be re-skinned versions of each other. And of course there are major similarities. But even the subtle differences in combat completely change the type of game it is. Sekiro's combat comes from lightning-fast one-on-one combat - crowd control is incredibly not its thing. Bloodborne is more about aggressive fighting, whereas the Souls games are more cautious and defensive.

And a lot of health management on all From fronts, too. Knowing when to heal is vital.

Started a new run while home this week for medical treatments, I was zooming through things (went through the backdoor for Light town, etc), so I ended up at O&S around level 30 with only a +5 longsword because I forgot all about the Depths. I had to resort to summoning Solaire and using the Crystal Halberd I got from the mimic chest, the only weapon I had that was doing decent damage to them. It's amazing how every run of this game can be completely different.

It is kind of interesting, how so much of this game is set - the level design, the progression paths, where the enemies are, their attack patterns, where the loot is - and yet there is all this potential variety to each playthrough.

Beat the Four Kings today. I think the hardest part of it was the long run from the Firelink Shrine. It's pitch dark and those Darkwraiths come at you from nowhere. Think I beat the bosses themselves on the third or fourth actual time, but it took a lot more attempts to actually get to them

Nice! Yeah, I had really forgotten how long some of the runback are and how few bonfire options you're given even once you're able to warp.

Congrats dl

I hate that boss, it is like a DPS test and it made my low level characters ashamed

Well, I made it to Gwyn on my 'casual speed run'. Wasn't trying to optimize or explore, just run through the game with a vanilla shield & longsword. Naturally came out to 16 hours, level 65. Not sure yet if I'm going to do the DLC.

Wow, that's fast. They do say that once you've played through once, subsequent runs can be a lot quicker. I'm coming up to 100 hours and I'm only at Duke's Archives (died mere metres from the second bonfire GAHHHH!) Really really loved the whole bit with the Pisacas - how gloriously cool and messed up is that?

So just when I'm thinking, "Hell, this isn't just a good game, it's not just a great game, it is a masterpiece!", it dumps on me the Bed Of Chaos. What is this nonsense?

Obviously I beat it, but not without reading a few guides and still dying a million times. It even managed to one shot me AFTER I beat it

Not to mention there are two bonfires you can run back from for this boss, both placed a ridiculously long way from the fog gate. Nothing new, but I have to say I'm wearing of having to do these long, uneventful runbacks each time.

Even beating this boss left me feeling dirty and deflated. I didn't exactly cheese it, but I didn't feel like I used my wits or skill either

And then to think about some of the enemies and bosses that preceded it. Not sure if I'm overleveled but I had zero trouble with Seath the Scaleless, or the two boring fire bosses in the Demon Ruins - sliced through them like butter.

Starting to get flashbacks to the endgame of Demon's Souls where the levels like the Swamp of Sorrow were indescribably tough but tailed off with stupidly easy bosses like the Dirty Collossus (who died to a couple of fireballs) and Maiden Astreae, whose bodyguard Garl Vinland pretty much stood there and letting me hit him without any sort of fight.

Still, Bed of Chaos is NOT fun or pleasurable at all.

Anyway, on my merry way to the Catacombs and back through the cemetery that I remember having terrible trouble with when I first started my game many many moons ago.
But wait - firs tI'd better do a little research, and it says I will be making my journey a LOT easier if I carry some sort of Divine weapon. So there I am, upgrading the Astoria sword I've been carrying around for half my journey and not really knowing what to do with it.
I fully upgrade it to 5+, go to equip it, but NO - you must be at least 14 FAITH to go on this ride. And guess what I've definitely NOT been putting Souls into?
Well my favourite farming spot is no longer since I shot Gwynevere and turned Anor Londo into a cold, dark void. So I'm now farming human enemies in the Forest. It's going to take HOURS. Hope it's worth it.

Yeah, Lost Izalith is often referred to as 'rushed' or 'unfinished', and Bed of Chaos is infamous as the worst boss in the series. On my recent run, I was happy to do it in the normal three tries (at least it saves your "progress" after death!) -- run at the right sphere, then shoot arrows with blind hope at the left sphere until you get lucky and hit the right spot, then run down the middle and jump on the trunk without getting branched. I remember that last step took a million tries on my first playthrough.

Catacombs was probably the hardest part of my recent run. I had Astora's sword but barely upgraded it -- for the reviving skeletons in the level, you can just run past them until you find the area necromancer if you want. After you kill the necromancer then they'll die normally. I only used Astora's to kill the skellies in the boss room. But since I didn't have a light source, I had to watch a video to find my path from the bonfire to the boss. That's my big Catacombs recommendation -- having a source of light helps way more than a divine weapon.

There's one you can find there (which I totally forgot about until I looked it up now), one in Lost Izalith if you do Solaire's quest, or a spell (which is no help if you're not a wizard).

Haha yeah I shot about a two dozen arrows at the left sphere with no luck for some reason. I ended up giving up and jumping over the ravine and just thumping it with my fist! Jumping down to the middle root was no mean feat either. Too often a hand would just sweep me away mid-air. And when I finally managed to get the middle sphere, it killed me anyway! Not a fun boss.

I've got the Sunlight Maggot so that's a good light source.

I was very pained to see both Siegmeyer AND Solaire die within minutes of each other! Siegmeyer gave me no choice than to let him sacrifice himself to a couple of weak enemies. Solaire had been maddened by the Maggot. Apparently I missed him near the first Izalith bonfire, which is a shame - we didn't get to say goodbye!

For some reason I thought there were some weapons that have innate divine/holy/whatever damage that will permanently kill skeletons that didn't need so much faith. Maybe not.

That's one of my least favorite things about these games, enemies weak to very specific things that, unless you are really grinding, most players don't have the stats to wield or use. Makes some sections super annoying.

I'm currently running around with a hooning Black Knight Greatsword (I think), big heavy thing but it TWATS even very strong enemies into next Sunday

Heh, I think my first build was Black Knight Greatsword + tower shield. Classic first time build, max damage and defense, did as little dodging and parrying as possible.

My preferred/pvp build now is a katana, Gold Tracer, Grass Crest shield, and some pyro.

Btw I delved into the dlc the other day and did Artorias and Kalameet, I think I'm stopping there (no desire to throw myself against Manus again atm).

Okay so I'm on the DLC now and man... after a fair few levels of "either I'm overleveled or this is kind of easy really", it's now become tough all over again.

I can't just get away with the old hack'n'slash here. Yeah I'm boasting a mad sword and tanky Stone armor, but the Sanctuary Guardian just mauled me and now I'm back in what looks like the Darkroot Garden but with much more difficult enemies. I slip up at all and I'm just a goner.
DARK SOUUUULS!

I mean, the tough parts about Tomb of the Giants was the darkness and the Catacombs was the respawning skeletons, but other than that it was a cakewalk. The bosses were silly easy. Thought I'd have the DLC done by the time Armored Core comes out. Not so sure now

Artorias is my go-to example of a boss that is totally punishing for the first few hundred goes, then once you get it, it becomes manageable and then finally becomes something like a dance..

Probs my favourite boss of the game...

my Nendoroid of Sigermeyer has just arrived after ordering it in December.

lil' dude's going to sit on the edge of my WFH desk and chill...

I could be wrong about this, but I feel like the DLC bosses are more friendly to a dex/rolling & counterattacking build than to tanks, compared to the main game.

They all went down pretty easily on my recent run, although Artorias was much easier once I switched to a higher damage weapon (crystal Halberd) that knocked him out of his phase transitions. And Manus is always a beast, I still haven't replayed him since my very first time.

The Sanctuary Guardian whooped me. I had several goes with different set ups before finally beating him with my OG big tanky black knight greatsword build, which felt less like skill and more a fluke. He was relentless. I may have to rethink my build, but it's very much based on Strength and Endurance atm.

It's been so long since I played this game that I've honestly forgotten big hunks of it, and thinking back, it's a wonder I ever beat it. It's kind of like having an out of body experience

Yeah, the dlc bosses were where I first had to really learn to read each move and the correct way to evade it. Replaying the base game, I noticed that you could skate by without doing that (barring a few big AoE or grab attacks) for most bosses depending on your build.

I was watching someone play a new mod, and ... how in the world do people make mods? New enemies, new bosses, new locations, new weapons, I just don't understand how it is done.

Which mod? I wanna see that

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxYGeKIoOi4

God I could just play these games over and over the rest of my life and feel completely satisfied

Ah this Archtthrones thing sounds amazing. Shame I can't play em on PS

Josh I think it involves, y'know, editing the source code. Using existing assets (some of which may be in the code but not actually used in the final game) like taking an existing enemy but making them larger and swapping in the moveset from a different one, changing the speed & poise values, etc. But I don't really know how deep they go. It's certainly the pc nerds who always figure out through code things like the hidden poise system, iframe values, parry windows, for each new game.