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Dark Souls III |OT| Thy path has been tested, now fight unkindled ash

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KAOz

Short bus special
is dark souls 3 like bloodborne where you can get all the trophies in one playthrough or will multiple playthroughs be necessary like the previous games?

Multiple playthroughs is needed.

Some Items can only be found in NG+ and NG++.
 

Veelk

Banned
You know, I may have made a mistake here.

Okay, so I decided that I am going to do a "Giant sword wielder" run for my first playthrough of DS3. Roleplaying, as in story making for my character as I'm going through it, is an important part of the game, so I don't feel I can just use something else for my convenience. I only played Bloodborne, primarily with a skill/bloodtinge build. Now, after playing with the claymore for a long time now, the strength and weakness of the weapon are apparent to me. Now, if the weapon is leveled up right to the point where the enemies go down in a couple hits, things are perfectly fine. It's a big ass sword, it's supposed to be chopping through them easy, and everything is good.

But if it's even a little underpowered, we got problems. Being a giant sword, it consumes a crapton of stamina. My stamina bar is leveled up more than anything else (thank you, Yoel), but it still can only do a few hits at a time. And while apparently faster than the other DS games, this is still slow compared to bloodborne. I mean, I tried LHB and HMS in Bloodborne and they were fun, but I always went back to my beloved Rakuyo. But now that I'm being forced to play with a large blade with no alternatives, I see the issues much more clearly.

First there's the obvious, it's slow. But more important than that, it's stamina consumption is so rapid that I'm often caught with my pants down. I have 4 hits on the thing, two handed (my usual stance), and if the enemy isn't dead at the end of those swings, I better GTFO, and I often can't because just about any advance enemy in the game is more agile than me.

The enemies that are currently giving me headaches are the ones at the
swamp
. This can probably be considered my first major roadblock.
The GIANT ENEMY CRABS (yeah, old meme is old, but tell me that wasn't the first thing that came to your mind) are fast, recover quickly, and are built like fucking tanks. It takes like 20 hits to kill one of them, while they troll with their crab hammer.
Fuck. And when I thought I got away from them, I find
two knights decide to double team me.
Fuck. So I try to go another way, and there's
this big motherfucker with a giant black sword
. Fuck. So I finally find another path to wander and I make it to the boss, who seems pretty easy, but
managed to get me with it's crystal laser
. Which I'm fine with, I don't want to beat the boss to this area yet anyway, I want to actually beat it, but I'm thinking it's going to take me a while before that happens.

But yeah, point I'm making is that the Giant Sword is only good when it does large damage. I mean, that's the goddamn point of the thing. But currently, it's underpowered and I have no way to empower it or else get a better sword to do so. But I never felt like this in Bloodborne wielding the cane or rapier. If I wasn't doing large amounts of damage, I could always back off, because it was fine. I was quick and nimble. I could win through attrition. Not here. I need to hit faster, move faster, take more hits, and hit harder.

I saw a gif earlier here where a guy dodged
like in Bloodborne
. PLEASE tell me that's not a weapon specific ability, because I want to dodge like that with my giant sword.
 

jonjonaug

Member
I assume you're both talking about the o
ld cell
key? I got that and
jumped through the passage to get... whatever was there :p.

I guess I should stick to that shortcut with the elevator and figure out where the hell to go from there. Not sure where to go from the room with
the giant and the rats.

Where to go next:
There's a bonfire in that big tower in the middle. One way down leads to the toxin pool, house, etc. The other way down toward that giant fire cup thing you can see from a while away) leads toward the boss.
 

Bogeypop

Member
I just had the worst luck where I'd finally gotten enough of the W
olf's
B
lood
S
wordgrass
covenant item for the
Old Wolf Curved Sword
and as I'm turning them in I forgot to take my covenant off and got instantly resummoned and didn't get my reward... Now I'm hoping getting enough of the item again will fix that, but I doubt it... If that wasn't bad enough I've been getting nothing but Hosts who hide and make me look for them for tens of minutes since that glitch... Here I thought I could progress the game some more after my initial batch, but my pride won't let me just say "Whoops guess that item's gone for this playthrough el oh el" so I have to at least try to get another 10 and see what happens.
If not I'll just Cheat Engine myself the item or something if possible
 

MilkBeard

Member
Alright, the back-stab mechanic feels broken as I miss them most of the time and end up just hitting an enemy. It caused my death a few times too. I never had a problem with back-stabbing in Bloodborne. I get so close behind some enemies I could smell them yet almost never land a stab....

Backstabs are actually very easy in this game. Some weapons though are harder to engage them with. But it's been really easy for me to get them.
 
AW boss dumb shit:

Boss starts fun, beat first phase, see awesome cutscene "alright fuck yeah dude here we fucking go let's turn up son" come back from cutscene and dude is right next to me already starting his mega flame sword swing. Thanks FROM

My least favorite part about that fight.
I basically have to make sure I beat phase 1 away from the center of the room and roll away from it before it transitions.
 

JoeInky

Member
Is anyone having trouble with online on the PC?

Me and a friend are using a password, but I can summon him easier than he can summon me, my summon sign always takes ages to appear or doesn't even show up when we're in certain areas.

I've also noticed that when I'm in his world we get multiple invasions, yet when I summon him I have none.

I thought maybe it was my routers firewall but looking into it, the company has made it so you can't disable it anymore.
 

wrongway

Member
Dang, I poked around in Undead Settlement for over an hour while kindled and nobody invaded. Kind of assumed there would be some shenanigans there since I've seen some chat about low-level PVP.

Slightly related, what levels are people going into that area? After some dorking around there, sparking a few bonfires, and cashing in some souls, I'm up to 32 I think? Kind of wondering if I'm a little overleveled from some item farming in the last area. Oh, and I only have a couple +1 weapons so far, nothing higher.
 

Demption

Member
Game seems to be easier after the first area. Lot of bonfires really. Im getting a big Bloodborne vibe from fighting enemies and bosses.
 
So what's the consensus on Sorcery/Pyro/Faith right now? Good, bad, so-so?

It's ok, but it can't really compete with melee builds. Early on you get the most value out of them by going a sort of hybrid build, leveling your stats so you can equip a good weapon and then buffing it with a weapon enchant.

I've seen people in the later parts of the game do good damage with it though.
 

Ruff

Member
Endgame story/location spoiler and question
How is Anor Londo where it is now? I know the place from DS1 and the surrounding location doesn't match at all. Is it something to do with the converging lands? Basically are all the locations melding into one? Kiln of the first flame doesn't look anything like it did either
 

Soulflarz

Banned
You could in DS1 as well.

...o-oh

...You...could?

Wait what the hell am I on I used the red robes for my legs and they were light and great at +3
I guess D2 it had a much bigger impact on me because even havels gloves we're suddenly silly upgraded.

...jeez, I need to sleep
 
Dang, I poked around in Undead Settlement for over an hour while kindled and nobody invaded. Kind of assumed there would be some shenanigans there since I've seen some chat about low-level PVP.

Slightly related, what levels are people going into that area? After some dorking around there, sparking a few bonfires, and cashing in some souls, I'm up to 32 I think? Kind of wondering if I'm a little overleveled from some item farming in the last area. Oh, and I only have a couple +1 weapons so far, nothing higher.

I'm gonna say you're overleveled. I was about 40ish when I beat the area that comes after that one.
 

jonjonaug

Member
Endgame story/location spoiler and question
How is Anor Londo where it is now? I know the place from DS1 and the surrounding location doesn't match at all. Is it something to do with the converging lands? Basically are all the locations melding into one? Kiln of the first flame doesn't look anything like it did either

Either that or they just built the city around it.
 

Dahbomb

Member
Alright, the back-stab mechanic feels broken as I miss them most of the time and end up just hitting an enemy. It caused my death a few times too. I never had a problem with back-stabbing in Bloodborne. I get so close behind some enemies I could smell them yet almost never land a stab....
Back stabs are easier in this but the enemy can't be moving around or in the process of an attack. Once they are in their recovery state of an attack then you can backstab and it's very generous in terms of positioning. Usually when you miss a backstab it's because they were doing something else and weren't in that backstab state yet.
 

Golgo 13

The Man With The Golden Dong
You know, I may have made a mistake here.

Okay, so I decided that I am going to do a "Giant sword wielder" run for my first playthrough of DS3. Roleplaying, as in story making for my character as I'm going through it, is an important part of the game, so I don't feel I can just use something else for my convenience. I only played Bloodborne, primarily with a skill/bloodtinge build. Now, after playing with the claymore for a long time now, the strength and weakness of the weapon are apparent to me. Now, if the weapon is leveled up right to the point where the enemies go down in a couple hits, things are perfectly fine. It's a big ass sword, it's supposed to be chopping through them easy, and everything is good.

But if it's even a little underpowered, we got problems. Being a giant sword, it consumes a crapton of stamina. My stamina bar is leveled up more than anything else (thank you, Yoel), but it still can only do a few hits at a time. And while apparently faster than the other DS games, this is still slow compared to bloodborne. I mean, I tried LHB and HMS in Bloodborne and they were fun, but I always went back to my beloved Rakuyo. But now that I'm being forced to play with a large blade with no alternatives, I see the issues much more clearly.

First there's the obvious, it's slow. But more important than that, it's stamina consumption is so rapid that I'm often caught with my pants down. I have 4 hits on the thing, two handed (my usual stance), and if the enemy isn't dead at the end of those swings, I better GTFO, and I often can't because just about any advance enemy in the game is more agile than me.

The enemies that are currently giving me headaches are the ones at the
swamp
. This can probably be considered my first major roadblock.
The GIANT ENEMY CRABS (yeah, old meme is old, but tell me that wasn't the first thing that came to your mind) are fast, recover quickly, and are built like fucking tanks. It takes like 20 hits to kill one of them, while they troll with their crab hammer.
Fuck. And when I thought I got away from them, I find
two knights decide to double team me.
Fuck. So I try to go another way, and there's
this big motherfucker with a giant black sword
. Fuck. So I finally find another path to wander and I make it to the boss, who seems pretty easy, but
managed to get me with it's crystal laser
. Which I'm fine with, I don't want to beat the boss to this area yet anyway, I want to actually beat it, but I'm thinking it's going to take me a while before that happens.

But yeah, point I'm making is that the Giant Sword is only good when it does large damage. I mean, that's the goddamn point of the thing. But currently, it's underpowered and I have no way to empower it or else get a better sword to do so. But I never felt like this in Bloodborne wielding the cane or rapier. If I wasn't doing large amounts of damage, I could always back off, because it was fine. I was quick and nimble. I could win through attrition. Not here. I need to hit faster, move faster, take more hits, and hit harder.

I saw a gif earlier here where a guy dodged
like in Bloodborne
. PLEASE tell me that's not a weapon specific ability, because I want to dodge like that with my giant sword.

First thing's first. Take a deep breath. :). You can't play this game like Bloodborne. It's not Bloodborne. It's a slower, more methodical game where a cautious approach is rewarded, and carelessness or greed will get you obliterated. It's a game about slow progress and learning enemies.

Twohanded weapons are tough. Shields are really useful. You can definitely play twohanded, but you're going to need to get good at dodging and positioning. Stamina management is also crucial. The Claymore is a decent weapon, but you may be using it wrong. The Claymore is on the smaller end for Greatswords and can be easily wielded in one hand. It's versatility is it's biggest strength. Why not carry a shield and switch between one-handing and two-handing at the touch of a button? The Claymore has a great regular one handed attack that covers a large area and is great for mobs.

I also encourage you to explore other twohanded weapons. The Claymore is a baby compared to some Greatswords that will do a ton more damage but have higher stat requirements to use. Also, don't be afraid to play around with infusion. You can turn that Claymore into a Strength based weapon with a Heavy Gem, a Dex Based Weapon, etc. Just depends on your stats.

Also, not all enemies you encounter have to be killed right away. All the enemies in that area that you're having problems with I pretty much ran from when I got into that area. Dark Souls games are great like that -- you can come back later and just crush everything that gave you so much of a problem to begin with.
 

Dimmle

Member
Hey so, some weird lady showed up at the Shrine and said she shouldn't fraternize with me. I'm guessing it's because I was equipped with a Covenant at the time. Is she gonna come back so we can fraternize?
 

daninthemix

Member
What's the earliest shield with good stability? The knight starting shield has 48 (!) stability, so it's a great way of getting guard-broken.
 

masterkajo

Member
I have to ask once more since I can't let it rest. Maybe someone knows the answer by now. It is about an NPC in the area after the second boss fight.
In the Undead Settlement there are some huts with the small guys that shot darts at you on the roofs. After you kill all of them you can jump down to a small chapel were there is a guy that takes you to a covenant if you jump in his cage. But this is not the guy I am talking about. The guy I am talking about is a NPC that looks like the enemy type that consists of a cage filled with skeletons. He sits behind a hut right about there where you have to jump off to meet the guy taking you to the covenant. I fell down from the roof and hit him and started to fight with him. I noticed he has a lot of health and only after I killed him and found a message with "friend" on the ground near his post it dawned on me that he might be an NPC. Anyone know what he says and does? I totally bugs me that I missed out on this.

tl;dr Whats the deal with the NPC that looks like the cage of skeletons enemy?
 

Veelk

Banned
First thing's first. Take a deep breath. :). You can't play this game like Bloodborne. It's not Bloodborne. It's a slower, more methodical game where a cautious approach is rewarded, and carelessness or greed will get you obliterated. It's a game about slow progress and learning enemies.

Twohanded weapons are tough. Shields are really useful. You can definitely play twohanded, but you're going to need to get good at dodging and positioning. Stamina management is also crucial. The Claymore is a decent weapon, but you may be using it wrong. The Claymore is on the smaller end for Greatswords and can be easily wielded in one hand. It's versatility is it's biggest strength. Why not carry a shield and switch between one-handing and two-handing at the touch of a button? The Claymore has a great regular one handed attack that covers a large area and is great for mobs.

I also encourage you to explore other twohanded weapons. The Claymore is a baby compared to some Greatswords that will do a ton more damage but have higher stat requirements to use. Also, don't be afraid to play around with infusion. You can turn that Claymore into a Strength based weapon with a Heavy Gem, a Dex Based Weapon, etc. Just depends on your stats.

The claymore is just a placeholder until I get what I'm really after: Cathedral Knight Greatsword and Farron Greatsword. The former for my berserk-esque fantasies, the latter because it's maneuverable as heck.

I'd be happy to carry a shield, but I'm literally at the point where if I carry any single thing, I'm too heavy and I slow roll. My plan is to get my equipment load large enough that I can fast roll with the Cathedral Greatsword and an armor set, but for now, I have to make due with medium roll. Maybe in this particular instance I need a shield, but manueverability is generally more important than defense for my playstyle.

And I already am using gem infusions. I infused my claymore with a raw gem early on. I'm gonna start leveling my strength stat now, since I'm going to need it for CGS, but I'm doing for the most part what I'm supposed to do. It's just frustrating. And it frustrated me when I played bloodborne, the difference there being is that by the time I decided to try out the giant swords, I already had my skill leveled up to the point where I'm like "wow, this weapon is super slow and cumbersome, why don't I just whip out my ultra fast weapons that hit decent as well to take care of this mess". I don't really have that recourse here.

Also, not all enemies you encounter have to be killed right away. All the enemies in that area that you're having problems with I pretty much ran from when I got into that area. Dark Souls games are great like that -- you can come back later and just crush everything that gave you so much of a problem to begin with.

The coward's way out? NEVER!...Seriously, I can't leave an area half done. I just can't.
 
I have to ask once more since I can't let it rest. Maybe someone knows the answer by now. It is about an NPC in the area after the second boss fight.
In the Undead Settlement there are some huts with the small guys that shot darts at you on the roofs. After you kill all of them you can jump down to a small chapel were there is a guy that takes you to a covenant if you jump in his cage. But this is not the guy I am talking about. The guy I am talking about is a NPC that looks like the enemy type that consists of a cage filled with skeletons. He sits behind a hut right about there where you have to jump off to meet the guy taking you to the covenant. I fell down from the roof and hit him and started to fight with him. I noticed he has a lot of health and only after I killed him and found a message with "friend" on the ground near his post it dawned on me that he might be an NPC. Anyone know what he says and does? I totally bugs me that I missed out on this.

tl;dr Whats the deal with the NPC that looks like the cage of skeletons enemy?

I think he just rambles, but he means no harm.
 

Vuze

Member
Speaking of infusion, is there any good guide for it or sth? Think I'm almost done with the game and maxed out my curved sword but never infused any weapon since I feared I would screw it up lol
 
Man, so glad I wasnt put off playing a pyro with magic and melee focus due to comments about magic being so weak. Its very powerful with heavy soul arrow, and I LOVE the magic weapon in this game - 2 handed reinforced magic-weaponed katana is cutting through some otherwise tough enemies like butter.

Whats great is that I dont feel like I waste any spell slots, because you can use the FP on whichever makes the most sense. So having Magic Weapon isnt a waste if I never use it (eg I dont need it for the enemies I am facing in an area, say heavy soul arrow is more useful)

Also, having FP for weapon moves means that attunement is particularly handy for a hybrid caster/melee character. I can just get the minimum dex and str for weapons I want to use (katana is my favorite as per the last game) and buff with magic weapon to get a ton of extra damage output, without needing a lot of stamina.
 
Hey is there any Ranged characters that want to help me try to beat Dancer early? I'm at level 20 and I'm trying to do a build that uses the daggers you get from beating her, so I want to get access to them early. However, they're a pretty tough boss so if there's anyone in the 20-32 level range that has a strong ranged build that could help out that would be awesome.
 
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