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[laxu]

I hope that Dark Souls 3 ends up being better balanced than this. At least once the inevitable DLC arrives anyway. This isn't necessarily a complaint about The Old Hunters, but the balancing on it seems rather skewed. Unlike Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2, the DLC weapons and enemies are far from balanced with the main game (Artorias could have its spikes, but it wasn't like this).

It's been recommended to be at least level 65 before trying the content in this. However, level doesn't seem to matter as much as having +6 - +10 weapons with some of the best gems you can get from the main game/Chalice Dungeons. The enemies are ridiculous damage sponges that make it feel like even the heavy hitting weapons (+6 at least) are just doing the needle-prick damage of the Threaded Cane unupgraded, while the enemies hit you for 30% - 50% health per hit. Yeah, there's always trying to parry. When the game actually allows it. The circular, horizontal or diagonal swipes done by the early hunter enemies seems entirely random as for what the parry window is. Or there's some kind of resistance to it that I don't know about. Anyway, it just kind of seems like the enemies are NG+ or NG++ in difficulty by default.

You suffer through that for a little bit, and then you can grab the Beast Cutter. Still doesn't really help with that area much, but it's extremely strong for vanilla areas. Then, a few minutes later you can become one with the power of the pizza. Some people were complaining about how broken Ludwig's was for PvE, yet this thing just owns it in almost every conceivable way in vanilla content. No thrust attack, but so what?

You have to remember that the DLC came over half a year after the main game so From is expecting those who buy the DLC to already be quite far in the main game. That's why it's more difficult. The difficulty should also be an indicator that if you can't manage then you should level up, just like many parts of the main game.

That said, while the difficulty is probably ok for NG, in NG+ the DLC doesn't scale very nicely. Anything that is not at least a +8 weapon with good gems is close to useless against most of the normal enemies whereas the main game seems to be a bit more forgiving.

 

[myco666]

Thanks a lot!
Manged to finish the lower hitertomb.
but that Abhorrent Beast in the loran chalice is kicking my ass

If it is too much trouble you can use poison knives to cheese that one. One knife should poison it and throw another one after the effect wears of. Other than that just try learn how to dodge the moves and what to punish.

I hope that Dark Souls 3 ends up being better balanced than this. At least once the inevitable DLC arrives anyway. This isn't necessarily a complaint about The Old Hunters, but the balancing on it seems rather skewed. Unlike Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2, the DLC weapons and enemies are far from balanced with the main game (Artorias could have its spikes, but it wasn't like this).

It's been recommended to be at least level 65 before trying the content in this. However, level doesn't seem to matter as much as having +6 - +10 weapons with some of the best gems you can get from the main game/Chalice Dungeons. The enemies are ridiculous damage sponges that make it feel like even the heavy hitting weapons (+6 at least) are just doing the needle-prick damage of the Threaded Cane unupgraded, while the enemies hit you for 30% - 50% health per hit. Yeah, there's always trying to parry. When the game actually allows it. The circular, horizontal or diagonal swipes done by the early hunter enemies seems entirely random as for what the parry window is. Or there's some kind of resistance to it that I don't know about. Anyway, it just kind of seems like the enemies are NG+ or NG++ in difficulty by default.

You suffer through that for a little bit, and then you can grab the Beast Cutter. Still doesn't really help with that area much, but it's extremely strong for vanilla areas. Then, a few minutes later you can become one with the power of the pizza. Some people were complaining about how broken Ludwig's was for PvE, yet this thing just owns it in almost every conceivable way in vanilla content. No thrust attack, but so what?

Again, I just hope they do a better balancing job with the Dark Souls 3 main game to DLC, since it seems like it's going for a Darkborne style anyway.

DLC is definitely off balance compared to main game. I like that it is more difficult but it isn't balanced properly. All bosses aside from one have more health than any other boss in the main game and deal much more damage especially compared to main game bosses that have 65 as recommended level.

 

[Apollo Cree]

This game's online community is dead. Can't summon a soul, takes an hour and sometimes I get one person.

Which boss? I could find people for DLC bosses at 2AM.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

You do realize constantly bringing up these comparisons only perpetuates the debate?

You're right, I shouldn't have done that. My bad.

 

[Soyongdori]

This game's online community is dead. Can't summon a soul, takes an hour and sometimes I get one person.

Most of people I know who played this game moved back to Dark Souls 2 SotFS or just waiting for Dark Souls 3.

I'm not even sure getting the DLC is worth it at this point.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

I'm not even sure getting the DLC is worth it at this point.

Wot

 

[Bruzur]

After reading countless pages in this thread, I noticed that the use of the term "over-leveled" has somewhat of a negative connotation.
I am Level 255 and about to start my NG+7 run... Would that be considered "over-leveled"? Because I certainly don't feel like the challenge is gone.

Truth be told, despite having 85 Vitality... I was still being killed instantly by a variety of enemies (if I became careless) in NG+6.
So, point being: I don't think one can be "over-leveled" if you're progressing through the game at a reasonable pace.

 

[Theman2k]

If it is too much trouble you can use poison knives to cheese that one. One knife should poison it and throw another one after the effect wears of. Other than that just try learn how to dodge the moves and what to punish.

Yeah, i saw the cheese methos and beat him that way.
Man he was so damn hard.

Well i guess its time for the cursed and defiled pethemeru chalice. :/
I heard you get half of you hp cut.

 

[DoubleTake]

Most of people I know who played this game moved back to Dark Souls 2 SotFS or just waiting for Dark Souls 3.

I'm not even sure getting the DLC is worth it at this point.

This is posted in a thread with almost 14,000 posts lol

 

[LowParry]

I'm at the third boss though should I be farming at this point?

 

[semiconscious]

This is posted in a thread with almost 14,000 posts lol

he never noticed? ...

 

[Orochinagis]

I'm at the third boss though should I be farming at this point?

Farming what?

I hope that Dark Souls 3 ends up being better balanced than this. At least once the inevitable DLC arrives anyway. This isn't necessarily a complaint about The Old Hunters, but the balancing on it seems rather skewed. Unlike Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2, the DLC weapons and enemies are far from balanced with the main game (Artorias could have its spikes, but it wasn't like this).

It's been recommended to be at least level 65 before trying the content in this. However, level doesn't seem to matter as much as having +6 - +10 weapons with some of the best gems you can get from the main game/Chalice Dungeons. The enemies are ridiculous damage sponges that make it feel like even the heavy hitting weapons (+6 at least) are just doing the needle-prick damage of the Threaded Cane unupgraded, while the enemies hit you for 30% - 50% health per hit. Yeah, there's always trying to parry. When the game actually allows it. The circular, horizontal or diagonal swipes done by the early hunter enemies seems entirely random as for what the parry window is. Or there's some kind of resistance to it that I don't know about. Anyway, it just kind of seems like the enemies are NG+ or NG++ in difficulty by default.

You suffer through that for a little bit, and then you can grab the Beast Cutter. Still doesn't really help with that area much, but it's extremely strong for vanilla areas. Then, a few minutes later you can become one with the power of the pizza. Some people were complaining about how broken Ludwig's was for PvE, yet this thing just owns it in almost every conceivable way in vanilla content. No thrust attack, but so what?

Again, I just hope they do a better balancing job with the Dark Souls 3 main game to DLC, since it seems like it's going for a Darkborne style anyway.

The main problem with Souls DLC not only Bloodborne, is the tendency so be HARD, forced and the increase of difficulty being too hard compared to the main game, taking in mind the Old Hunters DLC is supposed to be recommended to a base Lv65 character yet the DLC is after Vicar Amelia, a boss who requires 30-35 lv to defeat.

Early players will literally face a wall of high level enemies and their weapons deal a mediocre damage, forcing them to farm or ask for coop to clean areas and gain materials, possibly leading to frustration or having a bad start.

The DLC itself works like its own hard mode base game forgetting about the main game at all, player can level up easily and gain a free +10 upgrade plus weapons with the Old Hunters content alone, returning to the main game will feel like a cakewalk with the sudden lower difficulty the main game represents making it hollow if you go first to the DLC and do the rest of the game later which is how is supposed to play now.

Unlike Artorias where the bosses are at the same difficulty as Anor Londo the difficulty was organized to be on mid game difficulty and not end game content like Old Hunters, a DLC which is supposed to be mid game difficulty.

 

[Sanctuary]

If you are playing NG I reckon a 400 AR is all you need with some decent vitality (30).

Yeah, I agree with that figure. I tried doing it with around 260 AR, and it was just painful. It just overall feels strange to me where they decided to set the DLC in terms of gap between the main game. In the previous Souls games you could do pretty much the entire game as Slvl 1 if you wanted. It could be pretty difficult, but it seems like trying something like that with The Old Hunters would just be an excercise in frustration/futility.

You have to remember that the DLC came over half a year after the main game so From is expecting those who buy the DLC to already be quite far in the main game. That's why it's more difficult. The difficulty should also be an indicator that if you can't manage then you should level up, just like many parts of the main game.

Dark Souls release: October 2011. AotA release: October 2012.

Not really sure what the release date has to do with anything.

 

[Cmerrill]

Which boss? I could find people for DLC bosses at 2AM.

The most annoying boss I've ever fought. The one that runs around in the fog, with the tenticle arms. Such an annoying fight.

 

[Neon Pavlova]

This may be frowned upon, but I just got BB and the DLC. Fantastic so far, however I have always loved, honestly, cheating in these games. Always played souls games on PC offline. I don't want to do anything online at all. Is there a way to downgrade the version or get unlimited blood echoes with the DLC? I just want the freedom to do what I want, 100% offline. Wouldn't downgrading or never updating (turning off auto updates) be the best route?

You'll have to down grade your game version, which will only be possible with a disc copy, but this will give you enough blood echoes to max out every stat.

https://youtu.be/oKQf-1wbnMM

Not quite the offline god mode you are looking for, and please do the right thing and never go PVP with a cheesed charter.

 

[Arjen]

Farming what?



The main problem with Souls DLC not only Bloodborne, is the tendency so be HARD, forced and the increase of difficulty being too hard compared to the main game, taking in mind the Old Hunters DLC is supposed to be recommended to a base Lv65 character yet the DLC is after Vicar Amelia, a boss who requires 30-35 lv to defeat.

Early players will literally face a wall of high level enemies and their weapons deal a mediocre damage, forcing them to farm or ask for coop to clean areas and gain materials, possibly leading to frustration or having a bad start.

The DLC itself works like its own hard mode base game forgetting about the main game at all, player can level up easily and gain a free +10 upgrade plus weapons with the Old Hunters content alone, returning to the main game will feel like a cakewalk with the sudden lower difficulty the main game represents making it hollow if you go first to the DLC and do the rest of the game later which is how is supposed to play now.

Unlike Artorias where the bosses are at the same difficulty as Anor Londo the difficulty was organized to be on mid game difficulty and not end game content like Old Hunters, a DLC which is supposed to be mid game difficulty.

I think they did an amazing job at where the DLC is located and the difficulty. Veteran players have a challenge and if you're feeling ballsy you can go in early and grab some new weapons.

 

[Shifty Capone1]

You'll have to down grade your game version, which will only be possible with a disc copy, but this will give you enough blood echoes to max out every stat.

https://youtu.be/oKQf-1wbnMM

Not quite the offline god mode you are looking for, and please do the right thing and never go PVP with a cheesed charter.

That is exactly what I want, just sadly only have a digital copy I don't even really want to be an offline god, just don't want to have any limitations! Thanks for the reply.

 

[Sanctuary]

I think they did an amazing job at where the DLC is located and the difficulty. Veteran players have a challenge and if you're feeling ballsy you can go in early and grab some new weapons.

Right, but if you're on NG doing that, it still doesn't allow you to finish pretty much the majority of the DLC and it almost trivializes the main game content.

 

[anddo0]

Dodge forward into his attacks except for the long delayed swipe. You know the one that always hits you? lol Also for the delayed jump; Run in a straight line towards he side of the room with the most space so you dont run out. Dont roll just run, youll never get hit. For the second phase, dont dodge backwards but around, and manage your stamina.

Thanks that worked. I made short work of him with the help of an OP

Spoiler

NPC Hunter; Valtr . I swear he could have won that fight on his own.

.

 

[Orochinagis]

I think they did an amazing job at where the DLC is located and the difficulty. Veteran players have a challenge and if you're feeling ballsy you can go in early and grab some new weapons.

Not really, the difficulty jumps in the Research Hall into late game difficulty, and jump harder, I dare to say into a NG+ late game when you reach the Fishing Hamlet.

Pretty sure the dlc unlocks after vicar amelia because they know there's so many try-hards playing this game and want to play underleveled. Without knowing much about the dlc, I went in thinking I should do it when I'm at end game already. I went in at lvl110 and was not disappointed. Had a lot of fun instead of being frustrated. Maybe the devs should have been more lenient when announcing when players should tackle the dlc.

Maybe for those people who said " I paid for the DLC I want to play the DLC right now", The DLC would be fine right after Rom or Micolash

 

[pillowtalk]

Pretty sure the dlc unlocks after vicar amelia because they know there's so many try-hards playing this game and want to play underleveled. Without knowing much about the dlc, I went in thinking I should do it when I'm at end game already. I went in at lvl110 and was not disappointed. Had a lot of fun instead of being frustrated. Maybe the devs should have been more lenient when announcing when players should tackle the dlc.

 

[JadedWriter]

Finally beat Laurence. Used Valtr's assistance. Got him down to his second phase easy enough but fuck that second phase. By the end I was just spamming Black Sky Eye from afar using Valtr as a distraction. Fuck that thing with his ground pounding bitch ass.

 

[Orochinagis]

Finally beat Laurence. Used Valtr's assistance. Got him down to his second phase easy enough but fuck that second phase. By the end I was just spamming Black Sky Eye from afar using Valtr as a distraction. Fuck that thing with his ground pounding bitch ass.

There is something wrong with his mechanics, like he was designed to be cheap and frustrating for the sake of difficulty rather than being a proper Cleric beast

 

[darkslayer101]

The lost chikage should always do more blood damage...Check you dont have your gems switched up. 27.2, 27.2 and 30.5 should be better than 3x27.2 on a normal Chikage.

you were absolutely right, had the gems switched up.

how does rapid poison even work?

like bleed in previous games.
since 2h chikage already has starting 30 rapid poison it can benefit from dirty gems.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DN_eb7efVuw

 

[JadedWriter]

There is something wrong with his mechanics, like he was designed to be cheap and frustrating for the sake of difficulty rather than being a proper Cleric beast

Yeah, even with co op that is not a fun fight at all. You can do a good amount of damage to his first phase no problem but his other phase is horse shit. Can't get close to him, I once got trapped in some lava around his body and couldn't even get a good hit in on him. He's also got a ton of god damn hp as well. I almost got him down legit, but he had a sliver left and I just got caught in that endless stream of lava spray and just couldn't dodge out of it.

 

[Frag Waffles]

the hell is up with that massive enemy at fishermans hamlet with the hook? His attacks are impossible to dodge and I barely do any damage to him. Anyone else struggle with him?

 

[BizzyBum]

I wish I could get cooperators who don't suck ass. Trying to beat Orphan of Kos and every one I summon die within the first minute of the boss.

 

[JadedWriter]

the hell is up with that massive enemy at fishermans hamlet with the hook? His attacks are impossible to dodge and I barely do any damage to him. Anyone else struggle with him?

They can be parried and I think they're weak to fire or thunder. I do know my fire gemed arcane whip did some decent damage to them. I hate them though. The well with the two of them can go fuck right off.

 

[DoubleTake]

People are rightfully salty at Laurence. He's a tougher Cleric Beast, a boss most can beat in their sleep now. All they did for Laurence was speed up his swipe animations and add the fall down attack. The second phase is very simple once you figure out that

Spoiler

circling/dodging to the left

is infinitely better than keeping your distance and dodging backwards.

TBH I feel like they toned down Cleric Beast from the Network test and its a good thing they did or people would never beat him lol. That version wrecked me so much more than vanilla Cleric did. Im almost positive they took Laurence's movement speed back to how it was for the alpha.

 

[BizzyBum]

the hell is up with that massive enemy at fishermans hamlet with the hook? His attacks are impossible to dodge and I barely do any damage to him. Anyone else struggle with him?

Yeah, he was annoying as fuck. I used a Holy Blade +10. When you first go down walk behind him until you can charge your heavy attack and follow up with a visceral attack. Then it's just a matter of learning his moveset and patterns. Dodge, get in a few hits, dodge out. What's worse is when he's low on life the shark hanging from the ceiling also drops down, though he's not as tough as the big dude, and if you manage to kill him then the smaller one shouldn't pose too much of a threat.

 

[Cheat Code]

I've been watching some stuff and had a thought I haven't seen brought up yet:

Spoiler

TOR (The One Reborn) might be a rebirth of the OoK (Orphan of Kos). I don't think it was ever really known what the Reborn used to be. The humanoid that controls TOR does resemble a decayed form of OoK. Note that both have the same long fingers and overall a similar body type, not to mention OoK emerged dragging out disgusting innards and bones that look similar to TOR's body. This is just speculation though, the wiki just states it was an amalgam of Yahar'ghul citizens that were smashed together to try and create a Great One.

Edit: Hiding orange links in spoiler tags.

 

[BizzyBum]

Orphan of Kos is pissing me off. These bosses would be a lot more fun if they all didn't have insane amounts of HP which just cheapens the difficulty.

 

[Trakan]

Dark Souls release: October 2011. AotA release: October 2012.

Not really sure what the release date has to do with anything.

I think the release date has everything to do with it. It's obvious they made the DLC for players who already beat the main game. It's harder content than anything the base game has to offer outside of chalice dungeons.

I feel the same with DS1 and AotA. The bosses in that DLC are harder than any from the main game.

 

[DaciaJC]

Orphan of Kos is pissing me off. These bosses would be a lot more fun if they all didn't have insane amounts of HP which just cheapens the difficulty.

Orphan of Kos was easily the most difficult boss for me. After some time, I was able to learn all of his moves in his first phase and get him down to 50 percent HP without using more than one or two blood vials ... then he enters his second phase. I remember somebody in this thread used the word "erratic" as a descriptor for this phase, and I think it was very apt. Erratic and over-the-top as shit, Jesus Christ.

 

[Laughing Banana]

After reading countless pages in this thread, I noticed that the use of the term "over-leveled" has somewhat of a negative connotation.
I am Level 255 and about to start my NG+7 run... Would that be considered "over-leveled"? Because I certainly don't feel like the challenge is gone.

Truth be told, despite having 85 Vitality... I was still being killed instantly by a variety of enemies (if I became careless) in NG+6.
So, point being: I don't think one can be "over-leveled" if you're progressing through the game at a reasonable pace.

The defense gains that you get from leveling in the level of hundreds is really minuscule in comparison to the truckload of HP and offensive powers gained by enemies in NG plus and beyond. The benefits of you leveling up at some point just... stops. Even NG++ can be very challenging for people in 200 range.

Honestly, I only leveled up so that I can use all the weapons without changing characters. Especially since it is now quite easy maximizing various weapons with Blood Rocks being purchasable in the Insight Shops.

 

[DSmalls84]

Finally beat Laurence. I think that is the only boss so far that took me literally like 20-30 tries. Got him to his second from and then peppered him with Bone Marrow Ash Evelyn shots.

 

[Mobile Suit Gooch]

I'm I over or under? I made it to OoKos at least.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

I'm I over or under?

For? If the DLC, you're fine, a bit over-levelled for NG but it still won't be all that trivial unless you also have really powerful gems in your weapons.

 

[JadedWriter]

I'm I over or under? I made it to OoKos at least.

Judging from these stats you're using the LHB?

 

[palazuelos]

Can someone help me to kill Kos? I was triying it for like 2 hours

fpalazuelos on the PSN

 

[Mobile Suit Gooch]

For? If the DLC, you're fine, a bit over-levelled for NG but it still won't be all that trivial unless you also have really powerful gems in your weapons.

Should I post them?

Judging from these stats you're using the LHB?

Yup.

And the Rakuyo.

 

[Sanctuary]

I think the release date has everything to do with it. It's obvious they made the DLC for players who already beat the main game. It's harder content than anything the base game has to offer outside of chalice dungeons.

I feel the same with DS1 and AotA. The bosses in that DLC are harder than any from the main game.

Well yeah, but you need to compare just how much more difficult they are over the main game. They aren't that much harder other than say Kalameet when trying to chop of his tail. In that expansion, the bosses didn't really take that many more attempts to beat compared to the previous bosses and felt like a natural progression in difficulty. Say, going up two or three notches. Not eight to ten.

Similarly with the gear. It felt like it belonged to the entire game, not just one small segment. I guess if you just expect expansions to be designed around people who have been constantly playing for six to twelve months, and are Slvl 200+ or whatever, the balancing of AotA would have been "off" in the opposite direction, and too easy. To me it just felt like they inserted another large mid-level area to the game to make the overall world bigger, not just the end. For those that constantly restart the Souls games, due to trying out new builds or whatever, it was perfect.

 

[thecosmicfly]

Stuck on how I want to proceed with my new NG character. I wanted to try something that wasn't STR build for a change since that's what I did for my NG+, so naturally I thought of going with a SKL build. Atm I'm still deciding if I want to level my Arcane up as well so I can make use of all those lovely eldritch spells and elemental gems and such, or bloodtinge so I have the option to mess around with stuff like the chikage, reterspbalshehs and simon's bowblade.

The bigger issue is that I did have my eyes set on going with the Rakuyo, but I want to get it sooner than later and the quickest way to the DLC weapons is through the messenger shops in the chalice dungeons (and fuck those shark bros). But what version would be the best to buy and what gems would I need to used to get the most use out of it (again tying into levelling up ARC or not).

Guess it doesn't help that I'm also still deciding on my fashionborne look.

 

[FinalHeaven]

I have never played a Dark/Demon Souls game in my life and this game is kicking my ass. I'm utterly terrible but oddly enough I still enjoy it.

I just beat the first boss after probably 5 tries, farming a bunch in between each. While satisfied, it occurred to me I actually have no idea how I should be building my character, etc.

 

[TalesFromHoth]

Just got my Platinum trophy, and surprising enough it's my first ever.

What a fantastic game!

 

[Trakan]

I have never played a Dark/Demon Souls game in my life and this game is kicking my ass. I'm utterly terrible but oddly enough I still enjoy it.

I just beat the first boss after probably 5 tries, farming a bunch in between each. While satisfied, it occurred to me I actually have no idea how I should be building my character, etc.

If this is your first souls game and the first boss only took you 5 tries, you're doing pretty good. What weapon are you using or do you plan to use? Vitality is never a wasted stat.

 

[squidyj]

So uhhh

Street Sharks vs Winter Lanterns?

 

[squidyj]

So uhhh

Street Sharks vs Winter Lanterns?


why do people evenly distribute their strength and skill?
for LHB you should go
stats to equip
skill to 25
str to 25
skill to 50
str to whatever?

you benefit from improved visceral attack damage and deal the same amount of damage with your lhb because the stat effects are linear and LHB has even scaling.

 

[Laughing Banana]

The bigger issue is that I did have my eyes set on going with the Rakuyo, but I want to get it sooner than later and the quickest way to the DLC weapons is through the messenger shops in the chalice dungeons (and fuck those shark bros). But what version would be the best to buy and what gems would I need to used to get the most use out of it (again tying into levelling up ARC or not). .

AFAIK the lost/uncanny versions of the DLC weapons won't appear in the Chalice shop if you don't acquire the original, so you are still required to get it first from the DLC before being able to buy the weapon in Chalice.

And Rakuyo is one of those weapons that only use its Arcane scaling when you fit it with elemental gems, unlike Blades of Mercy or Burial Blade, and at C at maxed it's not even really good. It's a Skill weapon thorough and thorough.

 

[laxu]

AFAIK the lost/uncanny versions of the DLC weapons won't appear in the Chalice shop if you don't acquire the original, so you are still required to get it first from the DLC before being able to buy the weapon in Chalice.

And Rakuyo is one of those weapons that only use its Arcane scaling when you fit it with elemental gems, unlike Blades of Mercy or Burial Blade, and at C at maxed it's not even really good. It's a Skill weapon thorough and thorough.

Correct. I had to go back to the chalice messenger to get the rest of the variants because when I first encountered the shop I didn't have all the weapons.

I suppose there might be a chalice that gives you one of them in a coffin or chest but I don't think anyone has figured out which ones. I haven't seen any of the DLC stuff in chalice dungeons so they might not appear in them at all (possibly to avoid people who don't have the DLC from getting the new weapons).