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[Head of Vengarl]

Last night I got invaded in Farron Keep, and I dominated this dude so hard he ended up running away and using his Black Crystal after he ran out of Estus. Forcing someone to flee is even more satisfying than killing them. Lol.

Speaking of Farron, in just 3 sessions I've gotten the rank 2 rewards for Watchdogs of Farron on my SL30 character. SL30 with a +4 or below weapon is the way to go. I was very surprised and happy to find that I almost never ran into a gank squad either. There were a good amount of obvious twink characters I ran into, so I decided to fight fire with fire and had someone on Reddit mule me some of my late-game rings and weapons.

By the way, I think I found the best twink weapon in the game: the Gargoyle Flame Spear. I muled it to my SL30 as a kind of joke weapon, but holy shit it's SO good. Fire weapons are really good for PvE, especially early in the game, and for PvP this spear has the longest range and the weapon art is fucking badass. I wish I had given it to my new character earlier; it would have made High Wall and Undead Settlement much easier.

Does anyone know of a good place to do some trading on PC? I was wanting to find another of the

Spoiler

Twins Princes'

greatswords before ng+.

https://www.reddit.com/r/pumparum

 

[chunk3rvd]

Have a friend that's started playing the game so want to run a new low level build to help him out with summons when he needs it and to keep in NG for when the DLC drops. Went quality on my first character so thinking of running a magic build this time round.

What's the most fun/versatile magic build? Int, faith or pyro? Guessing you have to go glass cannon to do much effective since you're pumping INT/FAI and ATT compared to a normal build? Also, guessing I'll have to go raw to do any decent damage till I get the right embers to infuse something that benefits from my stats?

 

[Melchiah]

Oddly so far my favorite places and bosses have been Irithyll and Anor Lando.

My favorite area was Undead Settlements, as it reminded me of Bloodborne, and I also liked its boss.

 

[Dunkelgrau]

Does it make any sense to keep the boss souls?

I am playing a sorcerer and I am not interested NG+, so, when I see, that I am not interested in a weapon, I can consume it, right?

 

[Elysium-777]

Does it make any sense to keep the boss souls?

I am playing a sorcerer and I am not interested NG+, so, when I see, that I am not interested in a weapon, I can consume it, right?

Sure, but I feel that it's better to use them on weapons anyway. Gives you more options if you ever decide to respec to a different build.

 

[Red Liquorice]

If you don't want the weapon/spell you can make from it.... OM NOM NOM.

 

[DarkHeartedKill]

Does it make any sense to keep the boss souls?

I am playing a sorcerer and I am not interested NG+, so, when I see, that I am not interested in a weapon, I can consume it, right?

If you're an achievement whore, than make the weapons/spell. If a weapon or spell seems cool to you, or is useful in certain cases(like the rapier that increases ID) make the weapon/spell. If you know you will never use the weapon/spell the soul creates, just eat it and level up your gear or person. If you're doing a build and you're at the lvl you wanna stay at, then might as well just form it into weapons in the off-chance you decide to do different playstyles.

Man, people beating Dancer at Sl 1 and I'm sitting here unable to solo her at like 60 or whatever . I solo'd her in NG+ but that doesn't count imo.

 

[Jangaroo]

Have a friend that's started playing the game so want to run a new low level build to help him out with summons when he needs it and to keep in NG for when the DLC drops. Went quality on my first character so thinking of running a magic build this time round.

What's the most fun/versatile magic build? Int, faith or pyro? Guessing you have to go glass cannon to do much effective since you're pumping INT/FAI and ATT compared to a normal build? Also, guessing I'll have to go raw to do any decent damage till I get the right embers to infuse something that benefits from my stats?

Pyro is definitely the most fun. You'll get most of your mainstay pyromancy spells/gear by the time you reach Smouldering Lake and you can heal your friend with some healing miracles if you need it since you'd need to level both INT and FTH. It takes way too long to get geared up as a sorceror build in my opinion compared to a pyro build. You'll probably want to stick with raw weapons until you get the right infusions. Buffing your raw weapons with a magic buff does the most damage compared to infusing it with a magic stat infusion but you need to keep reapplying the buff which can be a pain in the butt. Since you need to invest a good amount of points into ATT and INT/FTH, you'll pretty much be a glass cannon at lower levels. If you and your friend eventually want to hit the 120 SL meta or higher, you'll want your INT/FTH/ATT stats to be at 30 if you want to play as a pyro (60 INT for a sorceror build or 60 FTH for a miracle build). It should give you enough leeway to hit the 27 VIG softcap and still have enough points into STR and DEX to use whatever weapon you'd like unless you're going start using ultra great swords or something.

Whatever magic build you end up choosing, just remember that your ring slots will probably need to be slotted with build-relevant magic boosting rings to really up your magic damage since it can be underwhelming until you really invest enough points into your magic stats.

 

[Ferr986]

I wonder if the DLC will have that big bump in difficulty on NG+ like Bloodborne.

Doing an NG+ run with my pyro (already did it long ago with my Quality) and although I'm melting everything I can get two-three shooted from goons (only 30 VIG because 120).
At first I wanted that character to stay in NG but I thought the DLC would be a cakewalk so I recently jumped onto NG+.

Pyro is definitely the most fun. You'll get most of your mainstay pyromancy spells/gear by the time you reach Smouldering Lake and you can heal your friend with some healing miracles if you need it since you'd need to level both INT and FTH. It takes way too long to get geared up as a sorceror build in my opinion compared to a pyro build. You'll probably want to stick with raw weapons until you get the right infusions. Buffing your raw weapons with a magic buff does the most damage compared to infusing it with a magic stat infusion but you need to keep reapplying the buff which can be a pain in the butt. Since you need to invest a good amount of points into ATT and INT/FTH, you'll pretty much be a glass cannon at lower levels. If you and your friend eventually want to hit the 120 SL meta or higher, you'll want your INT/FTH/ATT stats to be at 30 if you want to play as a pyro (60 INT for a sorceror build or 60 FTH for a miracle build). It should give you enough leeway to hit the 27 VIG softcap and still have enough points into STR and DEX to use whatever weapon you'd like unless you're going start using ultra great swords or something.

Whatever magic build you end up choosing, just remember that your ring slots will probably need to be slotted with build-relevant magic boosting rings to really up your magic damage since it can be underwhelming until you really invest enough points into your magic stats.

I agree pyro is the most fun to me. I have my Sorc abandoned because I'ts more slow and I don't like that.
Btw pyro cap is 40/40, although it's true that there's a softcap at 30/30.

 

[RiggyRob]

I don't know what the deal with the

Spoiler

singing cage creature

in the Undead Settlement is, but it creeps me the fuck out: https://youtu.be/r1QQGnssNbA

I guess the idea is to show

Spoiler

the cage creatures actually do have sentience and not all of the residents of the Undead Settlement are mindless zombies (but I mean come on, it's called the Undead Settlement), but the song is too cryptic for us to figure out, if indeed it has a deeper meaning at all.

Is Nana an actual person? Is there actually a cage we can step into? Was she the body strung up on the tree, slightly in view of the singing creature? Is becoming a shade for another person a thing in Dark Souls?

I also noticed something weird on top of the tower around the midway point of the video, and I guess we'll find out what that is later!

 

[theSlacker]

I don't know what the deal with the

Spoiler

singing cage creature

in the Undead Settlement is, but it creeps me the fuck out: https://youtu.be/r1QQGnssNbA

I guess the idea is to show

Spoiler

the cage creatures actually do have sentience and not all of the residents of the Undead Settlement are mindless zombies (but I mean come on, it's called the Undead Settlement), but the song is too cryptic for us to figure out, if indeed it has a deeper meaning at all.

Is Nana an actual person? Is there actually a cage we can step into? Was she the body strung up on the tree, slightly in view of the singing creature? Is becoming a shade for another person a thing in Dark Souls?

I also noticed something weird on top of the tower around the midway point of the video, and I guess we'll find out what that is later!

Spoiler

In the same general area as Nana there is one of the big guys with a cage on his back. If you haven't attacked him or encountered the boss of the area you can just walk up to him without him attacking you and climb into the cage on his back. It is a way to get early access to a covenant.

 

[silva1991]

I wonder if the DLC will have that big bump in difficulty on NG+ like Bloodborne.

.

That will make me happy. I want a boss that gives me headaches

DLC bosses like Manus, Ludwig and Fume Knight are a must.

 

[Melchiah]

I wonder if the DLC will have that big bump in difficulty on NG+ like Bloodborne.

I hope not, as some parts and bosses in DS3 were more difficult for me than anything in BB's main game. Particularly the fast and aggressive bosses, that would have been easier with BB's combat mechanics. I also didn't need co-op help in BB's main game.

 

[DarkHeartedKill]

I hope not, as some parts and bosses in DS3 were more difficult for me than anything in BB's main game. Particularly the fast and aggressive bosses, that would have been easier with BB's combat mechanics. I also didn't need co-op help in BB's main game.

NG+ in DaS 3 is a joke though. I went through NG with difficulty(even on new characters) but NG+ was a breeze

 

[Tarkus]

NG+ in DaS 3 is a joke though. I went through NG with difficulty(even on new characters) but NG+ was a breeze

Tell me about it. I made it to Aldrich with 1 death and that's with killing Yhorm as well. Don't even remember dying, just that my hollowing is at 8.

 

[Melchiah]

NG+ in DaS 3 is a joke though. I went through NG with difficulty(even on new characters) but NG+ was a breeze

I imagine it won't be that bad on NG, where I left my 110 level character to wait for the upcoming DLC. At least I'm a bit over-leveled for it. =)

 

[Frogfucious]

Any theories yet as to what section we'll access the dlc from?

 

[Ferr986]

That will make me happy. I want a boss that gives me headaches

DLC bosses like Manus, Ludwig and Fume Knight are a must.

My first time with BB DLC was in NG++. OoK....

NG+ in DaS 3 is a joke though. I went through NG with difficulty(even on new characters) but NG+ was a breeze

DS3 NG+ is a joke because enemies barely get an HP bump even though they can deal a lot more damage. If the DLC gets the same bump that BB DLC NG+ got then it's going to be "interesting".

 

[JetSetRadio]

Going to be really disappointed if the bb dlc ng+ difficulty spike is absent.
Haven't started ng+ yet, will do it when we know how to access the content.

 

[RiggyRob]

Ok, I think I've figured out how to reply to spoiler tagged replies - I'm going to highlight the spoiler tags with my mouse to reveal them one word at a time, that way I can see whether it's referring to something I've already seen, or if not, I can stop myself before its too late.

Spoiler

In the same general area as Nana there is one of the big guys with a cage on his back. If you haven't attacked him or encountered the boss of the area you can just walk up to him without him attacking you and climb into the cage on his back. It is a way to get early access to a covenant.

That sounds fucking cool - it's a shame

Spoiler

I had already killed the Curse-Rotted Greatwood at that point, would've been interesting to see what happened.

I ended up killing the grandson because he attacked me, dunno if that's a permanent death or not.

 

[Ferr986]

Going to be really disappointed if the bb dlc ng+ difficulty spike is absent.
Haven't started ng+ yet, will do it when we know how to access the content.

I won't mind because I did it already on BB solo but I think the NG+ scaling of the DLC wasn't very well balanced in term of bosses.

 

[Tarkus]

I won't mind because I did it already on BB solo but I think the NG+ scaling of the DLC wasn't very well balanced in term of bosses.

NG+ scaling was just brutal overall. Cleric beast had something like 40000 hp.

 

[JetSetRadio]

I won't mind because I did it already on BB solo but I think the NG+ scaling of the DLC wasn't very well balanced in term of bosses.

Everything was hard, getting to the chtulu guy in the first level was incredibly tense with the hunters only to find out I needed 4 viscerals to beat him. Bosses were overpowered in terms of hp but I did appreciate how they hit like a train. It made fights take quite long with not much room for error. Although I had shitty gems so maybe it was easier for other people.
I mean you can always do it NG with a new character or an overpowered ng save. Having an option to be punished from the get go is what made me love it even more.
DS2 scholar dlc was hard enough for me NG though.

 

[Jangaroo]

I wonder if the DLC will have that big bump in difficulty on NG+ like Bloodborne.

Doing an NG+ run with my pyro (already did it long ago with my Quality) and although I'm melting everything I can get two-three shooted from goons (only 30 VIG because 120).
At first I wanted that character to stay in NG but I thought the DLC would be a cakewalk so I recently jumped onto NG+.



I agree pyro is the most fun to me. I have my Sorc abandoned because I'ts more slow and I don't like that.
Btw pyro cap is 40/40, although it's true that there's a softcap at 30/30.

Yeah, I pretty much abandoned my sorcerer run since it was so boring. And 40/40 is the cap? That's awesome. I'm near the end of my pyro build run and I've been running it with 30/30. I'll slap on another 20 points now.

 

[Ferr986]

Yeah, I pretty much abandoned my sorcerer run since it was so boring. And 40/40 is the cap? That's awesome. I'm near the end of my pyro build run and I've been running it with 30/30. I'll slap on another 20 points now.

Yes. 30/30 is a first softcap, 40/40 is a harsher softcap. You get less damage from 30 to 40 but it may still be worth if you can afford it (around 100 more of GCFB ). Past 40 is not worth it

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fPECOPBkoG521DwnBoJzODpINosRaTCv2_-MSnXZ06Q/pub

 

[Necromanti]

I have some quick questions about PvP if anyone would happen to know the answer to this conundrum. Sometimes I'll swing at someone when they give me an opening and then after my second swing in the combo, they'll start swinging at the same time as me, too, despite them seeming stunlocked. (I'm then toast after 2-3 hits.) That forces me to retreat instead. I feel like I'm at a disadvantage, even when I thought I had the upper hand, but maybe it's a weapon priority/stat thing? I'm only level 35, anyhow.

PvP can be super fun when you figure out how to outsmart gank squads, though. Bless the Silvercat Ring.

 

[Ferr986]

I have some quick questions about PvP if anyone would happen to know the answer to this conundrum. Sometimes I'll swing at someone when they give me an opening and then after my second swing in the combo, they'll start swinging at the same time as me, too, despite them seeming stunlocked. (I'm then toast after 2-3 hits.) That forces me to retreat instead. I feel like I'm at a disadvantage, even when I thought I had the upper hand, but maybe it's a weapon priority/stat thing? I'm only level 35, anyhow.

PvP can be super fun when you figure out how to outsmart gank squads, though. Bless the Silvercat Ring.

Stun only goes for two hits, after that they usually get out of stun. Basically the norm is 2 hits and back out.

Also take into acount that big weapons have hyperarmor, meaning that once they are into the swing animation they don't get interrupted.

 

[Necromanti]

That makes sense. I'm always too dead at that point to take note of it.

 

[Head of Vengarl]

The thing I disliked most about pyro, sorcerer, and offensive miracle builds was that it felt like fights were either too easy or too difficult. There was no middle ground. Once I acquired the better offensive spells, even the harder mobs like Lothric Knights and Elder Ghru became trivial. With both miracle boosting rings equipped and 60 Faith, I could one-shot Lothric Knights at close range. Lol. But then there were the bosses that made life so miserable it made me want to rebirth. NG+ Champion Gundyr comes immediately to mind; I couldn't cast a damn spell because he was so aggressive. I couldn't deal with it so I rebirthed to a quality build and was reminded how much more exciting melee combat is vs spellcasting.

 

[Wagram]

I see they changed the stun effects for 1handed great swords. At launch enemies were barely ever stunned and it made those glowy eyed knights a bitch. Now I can clobber there face off in perpetual stun.

I thought it was a bug or oversight, but it seems fixed now.

 

[Necromanti]

It must have taken me about 40 attempts (at least) before I beat Champion Gundyr. What a relentless boss. (And screw the shoulder bash, the charge, and the upwards-slice-followed-by-kick combo.) Boy am I glad that I leveled up from 20 to 35 not so long ago.

 

[Ferr986]

lol at people doing duels with the Way of Blue covenant, then they black cristal out when you get summoned as a Blue Sentinel. Just take out your badge you friggin lazy ass.

 

[epmode]

GAF, it took a long time.. A LONG time.. but I finally beat Pontiff Sulyvahn solo. This was probably the closest I ever came to summoning additional help, in any Souls game. I think a longer range weapon would have made it easier but I still managed with my Uchigatana.

I'm pretty glad I had a Black Knight Shield. 100% physical, 85% fire, decent stability, light enough to give me a full speed roll. Carthus Bloodring helped too.

 

[Tarkus]

Welcome to... DS3 on Ice!

 

[Dunkelgrau]

Sorry guys, I don't get it. I really don't fucking get it.

How it is possible, that this catalyst takes more damage than this catalyst?

GAF, it took a long time.. A LONG time.. but I finally beat Pontiff Sulyvahn solo. This was probably the closest I ever came to summoning additional help, in any Souls game. I think a longer range weapon would have made it easier but I still managed with my Uchigatana.

I'm pretty glad I had a Black Knight Shield. 100% physical, 85% fire, decent stability, light enough to give me a full speed roll. Carthus Bloodring helped too.

Yes, I am fighting this bastard at the moment. And I tried him for round about fifty times. No chance.

 

[Tarkus]

Sorry guys, I don't get it. I really don't fucking get it.

How it is possible, that this catalyst takes more damage than this catalyst?



Yes, I am fighting this bastard at the moment. And I tried him for round about fifty times. No chance.

I can't read the language but we're comparing damage of the Heretic's Staff vs Izalith Staff, correct?

If so, your Heretic's is +6 and the Izalith is +2.

Besides that, for intelligence under 45-ish, Heretic is the highest damaging. For 45-low 50s, Sorcerer's is probably the best. For low 50s and up, Court Sorcerer wins.

Izalith gives a good boost to dark sorceries like Affinity, the Deep Souls, and Dark Edge. It's spell buff is not the best though.

 

[Brolic Gaoler]

Man, nameless King is the worst just because of the fucking camera.

 

[RiggyRob]

Firelink Shrine's becoming a positively thriving social space now that we've found

Spoiler

Cornyx, Eygon and Irina

: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjr410_26Sg&list=PLnhwVsYSH1o1jW-5r-UfCbFz4VcQalzj5&index=15

Is the

Spoiler

Statue of Velka going to be useful for us? Absolution and Dissolution sound like specific terms, possibly for online only stuff.

Eygon would be a cool summon for bosses if we can find him, Cornyx and Irina don't seem as useful since we're not going with a magic-focused build of any sort. There's definitely a lot more active NPCs than in Bloodborne!

Also, finding Braille tomes sounds a bit weird considering Braille was a relatively modern invention - weird discrepancy to have with the medieval setting of DS3.

 

[KittenMaster]

Spoiler

Might be a liberty they took because Irina is blind.

I won't explain what Dissolution does (there's a consumable that serves its function), but as far as I know I think Absolution is for if you anger an NPC by mistake and you need to undo it.

 

[Necromanti]

I just took braille to mean, "tactile dot-based language for the blind", devoid of any historical or real world context. It's probably hard to find a generic synonym for that when the Japanese term for it isn't loaded in the same way. But I'm sure the etymology behind a lot of the words used (and the way that language is used in the game) would betray its setting after an earnest investigation.

 

[Tarkus]

Clubbing at Darkmoon Tomb if anyone wants to join. Ps4

 

[Necromanti]

I'm having more trouble with H

Spoiler

avel

than I had with the T

Spoiler

win

P

Spoiler

rinces

...

Time for the K

Spoiler

ing

of the S

Spoiler

torm

.

Wait...

Spoiler

It's a two part fight? I really hope he doesn't buff up when he drops below half health, too

...

 

[Schweinehund]

Just beat the game last night, I like it but I'm not in love it like I was with DeS, Dark Souls and even Dark Souls 2. I still enjoyed it more than Bloodborne, which I liked as well.

Some bosses were stand outs, I don't think any of them took more than 10 attempts to beat so it looks like I've learned some tricks from all the games. The

Spoiler

two brothers and the pontiff were the hardest, but I guess there's a few optional bosses I haven't done yet

. I did play melee and I used a greataxe with a grass crest shield, mostly two hand style. I don't think there's much point in playing sword/board for most of the fights, I think From has designed sword/board to be extremely punishing in this game, most bosses seemed to have slow, shield breaking attacks (even with high stability) that were readable. The game is probably brutal for new comers.

For me I think the weakest part of the game was the environments. Utterly drab and uninspired, the only ones that appealed to me were nostalgia ones from Dark Souls 1. I get that the world is on it's last legs, but a lot of it looked like it took inspiration from Bloodborne, without the victorian flair. Not only were the environments drab, but they were fairly linear and not memorable in the least.

I think I'll hold off on a replay for now until the DLC comes out.

 

[Head of Vengarl]

Damn guys, Aldrich Faithful at SL56 with a +6 weapon is LIT! There have been points where I've averaged less than 10 seconds between invasions. Pretty much constant action. I just joined the covenant earlier today and I already have 32 dregs.

 

[-Horizon-]

First souls game for me not including bloodborne. Questions:
I went to the cathedral of the deep area for a bit and I don't understand the bleed mechanic some of these enemies dish out. Is this like frenzy in bloodborne but rather than stop at one full bar it just keeps going into a new bar? And what about the big worm things that attack you and make the worms stick to you? Anyway way to get rid of them when they're on your body?

Another question has to do with the whole backstab mechanic. Sometimes I can sneak up on an enemy and do it right. Sometimes I just hit them instead. I don't understand.

 

[Massa]

First souls game for me not including bloodborne. Questions:
I went to the cathedral of the deep area for a bit and I don't understand the bleed mechanic some of these enemies dish out. Is this like frenzy in bloodborne but rather than stop at one full bar it just keeps going into a new bar? And what about the big worm things that attack you and make the worms stick to you? Anyway way to get rid of them when they're on your body?

Another question has to do with the whole backstab mechanic. Sometimes I can sneak up on an enemy and do it right. Sometimes I just hit them instead. I don't understand.

If you look closely you'll see that you're bleeding out because you have a bunch of larva on you. Pulling out the torch should get rid of them (also, those enemies are extremely weak to fire).

 

[-Horizon-]

If you look closely you'll see that you're bleeding out because you have a bunch of larva on you. Pulling out the torch should get rid of them (also, those enemies are extremely weak to fire).

I should go get a torch then
Thanks

 

[Dunkelgrau]

How it is possible, that this catalyst takes more damage than this catalyst?

If so, your Heretic's is +6 and the Izalith is +2.

Besides that, for intelligence under 45-ish, Heretic is the highest damaging. For 45-low 50s, Sorcerer's is probably the best. For low 50s and up, Court Sorcerer wins.

Izalith gives a good boost to dark sorceries like Affinity, the Deep Souls, and Dark Edge. It's spell buff is not the best though.

Yeah, it's +6, but the physical damage is higher (143 + 26 compared to 110 + 11) - and that's what matters, right?

I played all Souls games, including Bloodborne, but I never although I haven't studied the scaling-system. Therefore I have absolutely no clue, what "D" and "A" means.

 

[6for8]

Yeah, it's +6, but the physical damage is higher (143 + 26 compared to 110 + 11) - and that's what matters, right?

I played all Souls games, including Bloodborne, but I never although I haven't studied the scaling-system. Therefore I have absolutely no clue, what "D" and "A" means.

You are looking at the physical damage, that is the damage you do when you hit somebody with your stick. Spell buff is the stat that matters when casting.

S scaling is the highest. If you find a weapon that you like, have a look at the scaling. The stat that has the best might be a stat you should invest into.

Infusions can change the scaling on a weapon. You like that club and have high strength? Make it heavy.


Example video

The Heretic's staff does more physical damage but with the 80 INT and superior scaling of the Court staff, it does more damage with spells.

https://youtu.be/s1OdYVG3jNE

 

[Dunkelgrau]

The Heretic's staff does more physical damage but with the 80 INT and superior scaling of the Court staff, it does more damage with spells.

https://youtu.be/s1OdYVG3jNE

Sorry, I didn't get it.

The Heretics staff has 227 spell buff and does 756 damage.
The Sorcerers staff has 246 spell buff and does 826 damage.

So nothing unusual here, right?