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[Red Liquorice]

I don't know what any of this means but to me it was just "oh look, he's not dead yet", I thought it was lame and he didn't even seem like a very fun boss fight anyway.

Soul of Cinder's second phase gives him a modified moveset of Gwyn the boss of DS1. And the theme changes to Gwyn's theme also.

The changing moveset in the first phase is meant to signify Soul of Cinder is an amalgamation or avatar of all those who lit the flame (the player characters) in previous games and then the second phase is the first one who lit the flame - Gwyn, bringing it full circle.

Thematically, I think that is a really awesome ending to the series, but as a fight from a purely gameplay POV,I was very underwhelmed by it - these 1-v-1 duels just aren't my thing. I like the wacky fights and big monsters personally, but I get that's not what a final boss is going to be, so I think Soul of Cinder was satisfactory - its design could've been better though, something more haunting or ethereal maybe. It just looks like a random undead king dude, and they still had a boner for the flower field thing from Gerhman in BB, so we got that again.

 

[Raptor]

I have a Raw +2 sword with a base 177 damage, if I put a fire gem on it the damage goes down to 98 maybe and a 80 or somethign fire damage, is that additive? as in my damage will be 98+80 = 178 total damage?

I dont understand if is better to wait for a better weapon, Ive been farming the dark night in the farron swamp for a dark sword and so far nothing

 

[Red Liquorice]

I have a Raw +2 sword with a base 177 damage, if I put a fire gem on it the damage goes down to 98 maybe and a 80 or somethign fire damage, is that additive? as in my damage will be 98+80 = 178 total damage?

I dont understand if is better to wait for a better weapon, Ive been farming the dark night in the farron swamp for a dark sword and so far nothing

Yes it's 178 total. BUT it does mean that attacks have to go through two levels of defence - physical and fire. If an enemy is weak to fire, nice. If not your attacks are going to do far less than your raw +2. Better to use resins than have split damage imo.

Whether you want to wait for another weapon is up to you. You pick up tons of weapons throughout the game, but any weapon is feasable to take you through the game. Lower upgrade materials aren't that scarce and can be bought, but once you start upgrading a weapon with chunks (+7 upwards) they're not so easy to come by.

 

[Raptor]

Yes it's 178 total. BUT it does mean that attacks have to go through two levels of defence - physical and fire. If an enemy is weak to fire, nice. If not your attacks are going to do far less than your raw +2. Better to use resins than have split damage imo.

Whether you want to wait for another weapon is up to you. You pick up tons of weapons throughout the game, but any weapon is feasable to take you through the game. Lower upgrade materials aren't that scarce and can be bought, but once you start upgrading a weapon with chunks (+7 upwards) they're not so easy to come by.

Alright thanks.

Got several weapons now, Katana too but I feel the one I have does more raw damage overall so I keep going back to it.

 

[NinjaBoiX]

If you have a katana make it sharp, scales better with dex. I did it, got the Uchi basically at the start of the game and now it owns, I've used nothing else but my Pharis Bow the whole game. A +10 Uchi with A scaling on 40 dex is lethal.

 

[gogosox82]

If you have a katana make it sharp, scales better with dex. I did it, got the Uchi basically at the start of the game and now it owns, I've used nothing else but my Pharis Bow the whole game. A +10 Uchi with A scaling on 40 dex is lethal.

Its worth pointing out that early on its better to have raw than sharp, even on a katana. The scaling doesn't really get good until you have 30 dex or more and the extra base damage is nice early plus you can use resins to help make up the difference in whatever damage you may be missing.

 

[Raptor]

Its worth pointing out that early on its better to have raw than sharp, even on a katana. The scaling doesn't really get good until you have 30 dex or more and the extra base damage is nice early plus you can use resins to help make up the difference in whatever damage you may be missing.

I have a Raw Longsword+2 I think and it has 197 base damage, no other weapon comes close that I decided to use this till I have like 30 str and 30 dex to start messing out with other kind of builds.

Also infusing stuff aint worth it right since it takes out base damage for a little element damage like if I infuse that same sword it will not reach my 197 base damage at all, gets close to 170+ or something.

Still learning all this stuff, it has way more stuff to pay attention about than BB.

 

[NinjaBoiX]

Dark Souls 3 is my favourite game in the series, almost all the environments are something I vibe with; wide open, well lit spaces with the opportunity to move around and make the best of your surroundings.

None of this incredibly dark, claustrophobic nonsense that "the series is know for", I hate all that "would rather be anywhere but here, but let's get this over with" Blighttown, The Depths, Valley of Defilement shite.

I feel like it's a Best Of, and I've had far more fun with this game than any other in the franchise. I've rarely gone to an area and thought "fuck this".

Dark Souls 3 is the bomb, most of the other games took too much joy in fucking you over at every opportunity.

I like this game, its sick.

 

[Red Liquorice]

That's great NinjaBoiX. I assume you mentally skipped over Farron Keep there I think it's far more tiresome to trudge through than Blighttown and quite dank and claustrophobic to boot (but nowhere near so as VoD).

DS3 is great - A lot of the areas are well designed and fun to explore, I just wish it wasn't so linear, had it had more choices at the start like the other 3 Souls games I would find repeat plays a lot more enticing.

 

[NinjaBoiX]

True, it's is quite linear, but as I find myself having less time to play I enjoy having a set path more often than not.

And yes, Farron Keep was awful but I knew where to find the Pharis Bow and how to light the fires (both of which I got from YouTube) so just got what I needed and got the hell out of there!

But after that I found a lot more open spaces with the gothic, Eastern European vibe I dug from the previous games (Lothric Castle was amazing) and just generally found that OPing my build and exploiting summons to get through some of the tougher bosses made my time with the game that much more enjoyable.

I like these games to take in some pretty scenery and smack gruesome monsters over the head with a sharp stick, I can do without the dark, awkward to navigate levels and stonewall difficulty spikes.

I feel like this game has provided me with a lot of the things I like from the series and very little of what I don't.

To me they tweaked the formula to perfection, I just don't get the hate it gets. It's the natural evolution to me, best game yet!

For what it's worth, I don't see myself NG+ it, I've already spent almost 50 hours playing, that's quite enough for me.

 

[Cat Party]

Farron Keep is actually one of the easiest areas to get through when you play it a second time. It's only miserable when you're exploring it. Ithyrill Dungeon is the area I dread the most.

 

[NinjaBoiX]

Farron Keep is actually one of the easiest areas to get through when you play it a second time. It's only miserable when you're exploring it. Ithyrill Dungeon is the area I dread the most.

Fuck that place.

"Yeah, these enemies basically drain your whole life bar by their mere presence."

I get this as a design choice but fuck that, too much mane...

(Great design though, creepy motherfuckers!)

 

[Red Liquorice]

Yeah Farron Keep is very straight forward and quick to get through if all you're after is to unlock the door and onwards to the boss, but I'm OCD. I always get every spell and every item, every NPC etc - even if the build doesn't require it! It's really more about the challenge - keeping the areas interesting to go through even on repeat playthroughs. I like to stay low level and do with what I have on hand rather than rest at a bonfire or go back and level up.

I just wish they'd added in a rusted ring - the swamp is annoying to get through every time even with a dagger.

 

[IbukiLordSA]

I just bought the season pass last night and jumped into the DLC, don't know anything about the DLC stuff but all I saw is my Sunlight Blade is no longer a quality weapon now I don't know what to use instead of that.

 

[gogosox82]

I have a Raw Longsword+2 I think and it has 197 base damage, no other weapon comes close that I decided to use this till I have like 30 str and 30 dex to start messing out with other kind of builds.

Also infusing stuff aint worth it right since it takes out base damage for a little element damage like if I infuse that same sword it will not reach my 197 base damage at all, gets close to 170+ or something.

Still learning all this stuff, it has way more stuff to pay attention about than BB.

Infusions aren't just elemental. They also can add higher scaling to weapon as well. Raw just gives you such a big base damage boost early so its hard to pass up. The issue is scaling isn't as strong early so it isn't worth it to infuse with sharp, heavy, refined etc until you have heavy stat investment in either str or dex. If your doing a 40/40 build, I'd suggest going refined later. It will make your longsword scale with both str and dex much better. I believe the longsword gets B/B scaling at +10 with refined. Its quite powerful but you can say that about most straight swords in DS3.

 

[Raptor]

Infusions aren't just elemental. They also can add higher scaling to weapon as well. Raw just gives you such a big base damage boost early so its hard to pass up. The issue is scaling isn't as strong early so it isn't worth it to infuse with sharp, heavy, refined etc until you have heavy stat investment in either str or dex. If your doing a 40/40 build, I'd suggest going refined later. It will make your longsword scale with both str and dex much better. I believe the longsword gets B/B scaling at +10 with refined. Its quite powerful but you can say that about most straight swords in DS3.

Nice stuff, I experimented and I infused a fire gem to it, game me 113 damage + 113 Fire damage something like that, didnt felt much difference to be honest just some enemies hilarious animations of burning lol.

Yes I think Im going 40/40 STR/DEX and see whats up.

Killed Abyss Watchers last night after like 10 tries, fun fight, still farming that Black Knight for the helmet, only thing thats missing to complete my set.

 

[Cat Party]

I just bought the season pass last night and jumped into the DLC, don't know anything about the DLC stuff but all I saw is my Sunlight Blade is no longer a quality weapon now I don't know what to use instead of that.

What kind of build do you have?

 

[gogosox82]

Nice stuff, I experimented and I infused a fire gem to it, game me 113 damage + 113 Fire damage something like that, didnt felt much difference to be honest just some enemies hilarious animations of burning lol.

Yes I think Im going 40/40 STR/DEX and see whats up.

Killed Abyss Watchers last night after like 10 tries, fun fight, still farming that Black Knight for the helmet, only thing thats missing to complete my set.

Fire is kind of like Raw. Gives a lot base damage early but has no scaling. It just gives your an elemental effect instead of physical damage.

 

[graybot]

Just fired don't this up for the 1st time tonight

Playing on PS4 pro. I immediately noticed it to be very stuttery. I'm never one to really notice poor framerates but I found it to be quite jarring

I started this right after completing dark souls 2, which ran perfectly.

Anyone else have similar issues on the pro with the game?

 

[NinjaBoiX]

lol, just ganked the dragon dude boss, fight was legit about 20 seconds.

I don't think I really have much to do now other than DLC. The snow one isn't really grabbing me, I'm not feeling it.

How do I unlock the Ringed City?

 

[Cat Party]

Just fired don't this up for the 1st time tonight

Playing on PS4 pro. I immediately noticed it to be very stuttery. I'm never one to really notice poor framerates but I found it to be quite jarring

I started this right after completing dark souls 2, which ran perfectly.

Anyone else have similar issues on the pro with the game?

DS3 runs at 30 fps with inconsistencies. DS2 on PS4 and XB1 runs at a pretty solid 60 fps, so that might explain it.

 

[Red Liquorice]

How do I unlock the Ringed City?

1) Finish the final boss of the first DLC or
2) There's a new warp bonfire at the Kiln of the First Flame, not far from the original one.

 

[Yellow Lemonshark]

lol, just ganked the dragon dude boss, fight was legit about 20 seconds.

I don't think I really have much to do now other than DLC. The snow one isn't really grabbing me, I'm not feeling it.

How do I unlock the Ringed City?

There are two bonfires to access the Ringed City: one outside the base game's end boss arena and one after you beat Ashes of Ariandel.

 

[Raptor]

Somethings up with the Black Knight Helmet drop rate, I have killed the one in Farron Keep Perimeter like 50 or more times and wont drop, I have like 3 of everything by now.

Also those Catacombs man, WTF at the sudden difficulty spike here, everyone is so damn aggressive is insane, godo thing I found a nice curved sword named Carthus something, upgraded with a Sharp thingy and now A scales with Dex

 

[NinjaBoiX]

I +10'd Ricard's Rapier just to have another weapon.

It's not as good as the Uchi.

1) Finish the final boss of the first DLC or
2) There's a new warp bonfire at the Kiln of the First Flame, not far from the original one.

There are two bonfires to access the Ringed City: one outside the base game's end boss arena and one after you beat Ashes of Ariandel.

Cheers

 

[Cat Party]

Somethings up with the Black Knight Helmet drop rate, I have killed the one in Farron Keep Perimeter like 50 or more times and wont drop, I have like 3 of everything by now.

Also those Catacombs man, WTF at the sudden difficulty spike here, everyone is so damn aggressive is insane, godo thing I found a nice curved sword named Carthus something, upgraded with a Sharp thingy and now A scales with Dex

The helm is in fact much more rare than the other pieces.

 

[gogosox82]

Just fired don't this up for the 1st time tonight

Playing on PS4 pro. I immediately noticed it to be very stuttery. I'm never one to really notice poor framerates but I found it to be quite jarring

I started this right after completing dark souls 2, which ran perfectly.

Anyone else have similar issues on the pro with the game?

DS3 is 30 fps and with pro its like 40-45 fps in boost mode. Scholar is 60fps so that is probably the difference.

 

[Raptor]

The helm is in fact much more rare than the other pieces.

I knew it!!!!

 

[NinjaBoiX]

Gold Serpent Ring?

Rusted coins?

Luck stat?

 

[gogosox82]

Gold Serpent Ring?

Rusted coins?

Luck stat?

Are you farming or something?

 

[NinjaBoiX]

I was offering advice to Raptor regarding his quest for the Black Knight Helm.

 

[NinjaBoiX]

Wow, The Dreg Heap is a ballache huh?

Is this my only way to The Ringed City if I don't endure that shit first DLC?

 

[Morrigan Stark]

The Dreg Heap is directly before the Ringed City. You can't avoid it, but you can get through it moderately quickly.

I take it it's the angels that are bothering you?

 

[NinjaBoiX]

The Dreg Heap is directly before the Ringed City. You can't avoid it, but you can get through it moderately quickly.

I take it it's the angels that are bothering you?

Not really, I have enough stamina to outrun/outroll it.

It's more the old school Souls level design philosophy of "the environment is awful and you'll want to get out of it as quickly as possible, just aimlessly meander through it, take a few leaps of faith, deal with the non-existent pathing and just hope you survive."

Urgh...

Put me in a sick looking ornate castle with some scary monsters and devious traps all day, but this scattershot labyrinth of blind drops and rickety paths just sucks man. How is this fun?

 

[Cat Party]

Not really, I have enough stamina to outrun/outroll it.

It's more the old school Souls level design philosophy of "the environment is awful and you'll want to get out of it as quickly as possible, just aimlessly meander through it, take a few leaps of faith, deal with the non-existent pathing and just hope you survive."

Urgh...

Put me in a sick looking ornate castle with some scary monsters and devious traps all day, but this scattershot labyrinth of blind drops and rickety paths just sucks man. How is this fun?

They aren't blind drops. Gael's phantom points where you should drop.

 

[NinjaBoiX]

They aren't blind drops. Gael's phantom points where you should drop.

I only noticed this after the fourth drop, I assumed it was just another one of the many phantoms running around throughout the game, hardly exactly informative, but that's never been the franchise's strength. Opaque, cryptic signposting is fun and stuff...

It's a terrible area, so poorly thought out. I'm up to the boss now, thank god.

(I do like this series, I've played it more than any other for the last couple of years, but god it's frustrating at times. It's like it's too in love with its own complexity, everything is a riddle or needlessly obscured. I don't enjoy that aspect of it, I find it irritating and self-congratulatory.)

 

[DemWalls]

Am I the only one who doesn't like it when people do the "point down" gesture when they beat you, even if barely?

I don't know why, it kinda upsets me :lol:

 

[NinjaBoiX]

Yeah, I think I'm done with this now. That Ariandel DLC is just aimless, I have no clue what to do and even less desire to persevere to find out. I went across that bridge, spoke to the lady in the chapel, she basically said go away. Fun...

The second DLC might be cool, maybe I'll beat this Dark Prince fella and check it out but to be honest I've clocked in 50 hours now and technically "completed" it, fatigue is starting to set in and I have plenty of other games to play so I think I'll hang it up for now.

Great game though (one or two shite areas aside), my favourite in the series.

Thanks a lot for your help guys!

 

[Parmenide]

Am I the only one who doesn't like it when people do the "point down" gesture when they beat you, even if barely?

I don't know why, it kinda upsets me :lol:

It's worse when they throw stalk dung pies.

 

[Rex_DX]

Just finished Ashes of Ariandel and my big takeaway is that I just don't understand the consternation surrounding this DLC.

Sure it's not as good as the King Trilogy from DS2 but I enjoyed it a lot. After hearing all the hate about it on GAF I went in expecting to hate it but it's become one of my favorite parts of the game.

The only area that truly gave me trouble was the Snow Field area immediately after the collapsing ice shelf. Specifically the left area. The combination of tree women and wolves is a devious match up.

But the right part of the area where the Champion's Greatwolf attacks you for the first time was great fun; as was the entire tower area with the great bow sniper. It felt like a new dynamic moving up one wall at a time and essentially being forced to engage the Millwood knights in an enclosed space lest the sniper make short work of you.

The main complaint I've heard is that all this DLC consists of is packs of enemies and nowhere is this more true than with the wolves. However otherwise I didn't really notice. Sure, there's the forest area with ten million Followers but they're such pushovers that it seems a non-factor.

My favorite fights were, hands down, Vilhelm and the Champion's duo. Really unique enemies who drop fitting rewards (although too bad I can't use the Onyx weapon unless I respec).

As for the complaints over Friede and Father being the hardest in the game, I didn't see it - and this is not bragging or anything egotistical. I'd heard they were the hardest in the game thus far and entered that fight fully expecting to hit a wall for days. And I would have. Had Gael not shown up mid fight. His addition made the thing a cake walk. Maybe I got lucky? Second try. I'm curious did his addition get patched in at some point or was he just useless for most players? I always at least attempt to solo bosses so having an NPC kind of force his way into a fight was a bit off putting although understandable for lore reasons I suppose.

I was SL87 with a +5 Hollowslayer Greatsword and +10 Sellsword Twinblades.

Another complaint I've seen is that the whole DLC is just a big open area and the only response I have to this is : did players just give up before the Corvian Town? That area is so tightly designed and fairly complex that it serves as a nice foil for the ice field and depths areas which, yes, are very open.

All in all I had a blast with this area and if The Ringed City lives up to its reputation as being the better of the pair I'm excited for it.

 

[Raptor]

Gold Serpent Ring?

Rusted coins?

Luck stat?

Im using the Symbol of Avarice, dont have any coins nor the ring, is really weird like its on purpose lol, I have 3 of everything, I even got the regular Dark Knight Sword and the Dark Knight Greatsword and no helmet.

Made some progress last night, advanced the catacombs, bought a badass sword for 6000 souls to the thief called Pontiff Curved, upgraded it a little and it does great damage, now I need Twinkling shards, killed catacombs boss and deacons of the deep, got destroyed bu some fire demon that I said "fuck this" and went to Boreal very pretty place, but this place is super hard that I think I will go and farm some souls and level up some 10 levels then come back here.

 

[Jombie]

Ariendel is ok. It's aesthetically interesting, but I find the level design itself to be underwhelming. Places like the Corvian village could have been more fleshed out. It has one memorable boss and one of the worst in the series.

Both of the dlcs feel they have too much wasted space. It's especially irritating in Ringed City, most of the visually interesting stuff is just wallpaper.

 

[Rex_DX]

Which is memorable and which is the worst? I enjoyed almost all encounters here so I'm curious about that hate people have for this DLC.

Edit: totally agree about the wasted space in a lot of cases. Tight level design is a hallmark of the Souls series and I have not found that in The Ringed City yet.

 

[gogosox82]

Just finished Ashes of Ariandel and my big takeaway is that I just don't understand the consternation surrounding this DLC.

Sure it's not as good as the King Trilogy from DS2 but I enjoyed it a lot. After hearing all the hate about it on GAF I went in expecting to hate it but it's become one of my favorite parts of the game.

The only area that truly gave me trouble was the Snow Field area immediately after the collapsing ice shelf. Specifically the left area. The combination of tree women and wolves is a devious match up.

But the right part of the area where the Champion's Greatwolf attacks you for the first time was great fun; as was the entire tower area with the great bow sniper. It felt like a new dynamic moving up one wall at a time and essentially being forced to engage the Millwood knights in an enclosed space lest the sniper make short work of you.

The main complaint I've heard is that all this DLC consists of is packs of enemies and nowhere is this more true than with the wolves. However otherwise I didn't really notice. Sure, there's the forest area with ten million Followers but they're such pushovers that it seems a non-factor.

My favorite fights were, hands down, Vilhelm and the Champion's duo. Really unique enemies who drop fitting rewards (although too bad I can't use the Onyx weapon unless I respec).

As for the complaints over Friede and Father being the hardest in the game, I didn't see it - and this is not bragging or anything egotistical. I'd heard they were the hardest in the game thus far and entered that fight fully expecting to hit a wall for days. And I would have. Had Gael not shown up mid fight. His addition made the thing a cake walk. Maybe I got lucky? Second try. I'm curious did his addition get patched in at some point or was he just useless for most players? I always at least attempt to solo bosses so having an NPC kind of force his way into a fight was a bit off putting although understandable for lore reasons I suppose.

I was SL87 with a +5 Hollowslayer Greatsword and +10 Sellsword Twinblades.

Another complaint I've seen is that the whole DLC is just a big open area and the only response I have to this is : did players just give up before the Corvian Town? That area is so tightly designed and fairly complex that it serves as a nice foil for the ice field and depths areas which, yes, are very open.

All in all I had a blast with this area and if The Ringed City lives up to its reputation as being the better of the pair I'm excited for it.

Well to me, it seems like the whole area was set up around fighting Friede. That's why the areas are pretty short and densely packed with enemies so if you didn't like Friede, I can't see how you could like the dlc. I liked Friede so I liked the area but I could see how people could be annoyed with the fight and not like the dlc as a result.

 

[Soar]

About 7 hours in and just killed the first boss before being brought into the undead settlement. My first DS was actually DS2:SotFS and I benched it after about 8 hours because of how clunky it was. After Nioh and Bloodborne it really felt like a series of QTEs in terms of the input because apparently there was no input queuing? I started as a non-shield user and it was frustrating.

Anyway was I glad to invest again in another DS title because this game is great, though the first boss was a kinda easy when I found out that I can summon the swordsman (who did quite well dancing around) and Ragnar (who did fuckall but stood in the middle of the room) when I used an ember. Before then I took him down to about 25% on my first try.

Still prefer the fluidity of Nioh but this game is digging its hooks into me well and good. The fact that I can use a katana and a shield together is all kinds of awesome.

 

[Raptor]

Boreal Dancer is probably the hardest boss I had to face in any Souls/bloodborne game I have played, took me no joke like 30 tries but I wanted to kill her so I could go on my way for my Artorias armor, had to kill more bosses to get it tho god damn.

Now I only need to kill Aldrich and next I dont know, should I upgrade Pontiff to max or carthus?

 

[gogosox82]

Boreal Dancer is probably the hardest boss I had to face in any Souls/bloodborne game I have played, took me no joke like 30 tries but I wanted to kill her so I could go on my way for my Artorias armor, had to kill more bosses to get it tho god damn.

Now I only need to kill Aldrich and next I dont know, should I upgrade Pontiff to max or carthus?

Which ever one you like better upgrade that one. How many Lords of Cinder have you killed? There's four you have to kill to get to the end of the game.

 

[Kieli]

I +10'd Ricard's Rapier just to have another weapon.

It's not as good as the Uchi.



Cheers

Did they buff Uchi? It was extremely mediocre due to its speed and max 2-hit combo.

With any fast-hitting weapon, I would mow down bosses while doing just as much dmg/hit.

 

[NinjaBoiX]

Did they buff Uchi? It was extremely mediocre due to its speed and max 2-hit combo.

With any fast-hitting weapon, I would mow down bosses while doing just as much dmg/hit.

???

It's speed? It's really quick! You can attack after most enemies startup animation and land a few blows before they actually strike.

Max 2 hit combo? I was striking in quick succession 7 times before my stamina ran out, 6 when two handed.

Are you even thinking about the right weapon? The super lithe katana?

Boreal Dancer is probably the hardest boss I had to face in any Souls/bloodborne game I have played, took me no joke like 30 tries but I wanted to kill her so I could go on my way for my Artorias armor, had to kill more bosses to get it tho god damn.

I really didn't have much trouble with Dancer, just kept my distance and popped her with arrows.

 

[gogosox82]

???

It's speed? It's really quick! You can attack after most enemies startup animation and land a few blows before they actually strike.

Max 2 hit combo? I was striking in quick succession 7 times before my stamina ran out, 6 when two handed.

Are you even thinking about the right weapon? The super lithe katana?

I really didn't have much trouble with Dancer, just kept my distance and popped her with arrows.

But it is stronger because they increased sharp infusion scaling and dex scaling overall. So the uchi feels much stronger to most of us that played when DS3 launched. It got nowhere near 400 damage like it does now. I want to say it was somewhere around 350-360 damage with 40 dex at launch where now its like 390. The Uchi probably got 25-30 points of damage from the sharp and dex scaling buff.

The Dancer can be tough if you do her in melee and don't use ranged. Its pretty easy to get combo'ed and killed by her if you miss a dodge.

Edit: they also increased the weapon swing speed as compensation for nerfing the dash attack which they nerfed. In other words, they gave a massive buffs to katanas( and dex weapons really) overall.