It's coming!

[TySixtus]

Thanks; sounds good. Unfortunately, I didn't see that post until I'd made it to the bottom of Blighttown. Quelaag stomped me into the ground at least a dozen times before I came up with a solution:

swapped out my heavy armour for mage gear to improve my fire defence and, more importantly, match her maneuverability. Without that, I just wasn't getting into a good attacking position reliably enough.

Next up: dying a lot in Sen's Fortress. Still better than fucking Blighttown, though.

A lot of the harder boss fights can be made trivially easy with summoning. For example, if you are human at the Queelag bonfire, and walk out of the tunnel a bit, you will be invaded by Man Eater Mildred. If you beat her she becomes summonable for Queelag herself, and can practically beat the boss herself.

However, imo you're doing it the right way-- trial and error, toughing it out. That's what is really fun about the game.

[MartinM]

Yeah, I haven't summoned anything yet on principle; if I can't beat them alone, I don't deserve to. I also went into this more or less blind to get the most out of it. Broke down in Sen's Fortress and looked up the sodding shortcut to the top, after the Iron Golem knocked me off the side for the second time.

I tried out the Grass Crest Shield, btw. I do like the stamina regen, but I take about 50% more stamina loss per attack I block, so I'm not sure it fits my style, which is very block-heavy. The Wolf Ring is a great addition, though.

[ksen]

You might already know this but upgrading your shield helps mitigate stamina loss on blocks.

[MartinM]

Yeah, but not nearly enough to make up the difference. The Eagle shield just has crazy stability. I do miss being able to parry, though.

Ornstein and Smough were fun. Definitely the hardest fight so far.

[TySixtus]

Yeah, but not nearly enough to make up the difference. The Eagle shield just has crazy stability. I do miss being able to parry, though.

Ornstein and Smough were fun. Definitely the hardest fight so far.

Did you fight Havel the Rock?

[ksen]

Getting to the end of NG+ in DS3.

With some jolly cooperation I finally beat one of the optional bosses I couldn't handle last playthrough.

You have to beat the game through at least NG++ in order to get all of the rings for the achievement.

How are you doing so far Ty?

[MartinM]

Did you fight Havel the Rock?

Yeah. After I came back from Anor Londo, by which point I'd got enough practice fighting big, heavy opponents he went down pretty easy. That ring of his is amazing. Also picked up his armour earlier on, which is easily the best I've got right now, unless I want to spend a ton on upgrading.

[TySixtus]

Getting to the end of NG+ in DS3.

With some jolly cooperation I finally beat one of the optional bosses I couldn't handle last playthrough.

Who was this?

You have to beat the game through at least NG++ in order to get all of the rings for the achievement.

How are you doing so far Ty?

So I beat DS3 last week (or the week before? Can't remember), SL 90ish, I think 28 hours or something like that. I did my standard sword and board knight.

The thing is, I initially had absolutely no desire to roll another character and play through the game again, and I'm kind of bummed out about that. Apparently miracles are nerfed and useless, so a Paladin playthrough is a waste. Sorcery is also apparently unbalanced and no fun. And I was disappointed to see that, much like DS2, most of the boss soul weapons are gigantic two handers.

I did eventually cave in an roll a pyro, but with all of the other changes they've made to the game (changing weapon buffs, the problem with poise, etc), I'm just not feeling it. Add in the too-easy bosses and some horribly unbalanced weapons (Morne's hammer in PvP, or the estoc, and some others) and I just can't bring myself to give a shit. I haven't touched the game in over a week.

This thread made me hanker for a some DS1, so I pulled Francine, my sorcerer, out of retirement and I'll finish the game with her, after which I will have beat DS1 with every class. I don't think either of the sequels has managed to capture that DS1 charm and weirdness.

I'm alternating between that, Pillars of Eternity (got the expansions), and doing normal adult shit like taking care of my house, exercising, and hanging out with my wife.

Also, I just recently got a PS4 from work, so I played The Last of Us, and now DS3. This is my first experience with a console in a long time - my last one was a PS2 while I was onboard ship, in the Navy, circa 2001. I might try Bloodborne next.

[TySixtus]

Yeah. After I came back from Anor Londo, by which point I'd got enough practice fighting big, heavy opponents he went down pretty easy. That ring of his is amazing. Also picked up his armour earlier on, which is easily the best I've got right now, unless I want to spend a ton on upgrading.

The first time I beat the game, I did it with a Havel the Rock cosplay. I used everything, his shield, dragon tooth, etc. It was pretty boss. I pretended I was Havel back from the dead, getting revenge on Lord Gwyn for locking me in that fucking tower!

[ksen]

Who was this?

The Nameless King.

So I beat DS3 last week (or the week before? Can't remember), SL 90ish, I think 28 hours or something like that. I did my standard sword and board knight.

lol, I'm at like 152 hours through NG+ and about SL150. I tend to dawdle. I'm using Yhorm's Great Machete +5 and smashing most things to bits.

The thing is, I initially had absolutely no desire to roll another character and play through the game again, and I'm kind of bummed out about that. Apparently miracles are nerfed and useless, so a Paladin playthrough is a waste. Sorcery is also apparently unbalanced and no fun. And I was disappointed to see that, much like DS2, most of the boss soul weapons are gigantic two handers.

I did eventually cave in an roll a pyro, but with all of the other changes they've made to the game (changing weapon buffs, the problem with poise, etc), I'm just not feeling it. Add in the too-easy bosses and some horribly unbalanced weapons (Morne's hammer in PvP, or the estoc, and some others) and I just can't bring myself to give a shit. I haven't touched the game in over a week.

I tried starting a Dex build character but ended up just going back to my first character and playing through again on him.

Overall I like the game but hopefully they'll improve the areas you mentioned in time or at least with the upcoming DLC.

This thread made me hanker for a some DS1, so I pulled Francine, my sorcerer, out of retirement and I'll finish the game with her, after which I will have beat DS1 with every class. I don't think either of the sequels has managed to capture that DS1 charm and weirdness.

I'm alternating between that, Pillars of Eternity (got the expansions), and doing normal adult shit like taking care of my house, exercising, and hanging out with my wife.

I want to finish DS1 but getting the Lord Souls is intimidating me.

Also, I just recently got a PS4 from work, so I played The Last of Us, and now DS3. This is my first experience with a console in a long time - my last one was a PS2 while I was onboard ship, in the Navy, circa 2001. I might try Bloodborne next.

Definitely try Bloodbourne. It's a totally different experience than DS. It's much more aggressive and fast-paced.

[Pandora]

You should! I'm finding it really doesn't take exceptional hand-eye coordination or reflexes; mine are pretty poor. What you really need is to be able to figure out the basic mechanics, as well as strategies for beating the various enemies. It's much more about thinking than reacting.

Undoubtedly I eventually made it through Demon's Souls, and enjoyed it. Seriously, I'm complete crap when I get stressed, and DS is definitely stressful. My heart rate gets elevated, my muscles get tense, and my brain can't make my fingers obey. Then I get fed up and just mash buttons, which doesn't really get you anything except dead in these games

Things have started to calm down at work - team is hitting it's groove, I've got all but one position filled, and my noobs are getting up to speed now. I think my general stress levels are low enough now to let me tackle DS & DS2 without getting me spun up to an unhealthy level. I'm figuring about 3 weeks more to finish Witcher (give or take, I'm gathering support for the battle at Kaer Morhen before I go to the Island of Mist right now). DS will be next up on my list!