sixteen-bit
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OT4 incoming?
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Dark Souls |OT3| This thread moves faster than the Blighttown framerate
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DigitalDevil
Member
Should be! My guess is with the way this thread has slowed down it will probably be tomorrow, though :/
H_Prestige
Banned
Just finished Painted World. Cool atmosphere, but seriously fuck the pinwheels and the crow people.
I also got summoned for the first in Anor Londo and it was the most memorable part of the game yet. Another dude was summoned too and just as we're heading up the stairs to the cathedral some other dude invades. Once he sees it's 3 vs 1 he runs his ass away. Pretty soon even the sentinels and the white bat dudes start ganging up on him too. Funny stuff. After he dies all three of us go through the level unlocking all the doors and killing off knights, but ultimately lost to super ornstein. Really liked the feeling of camaraderie though. Online coop is truly the best innovation for this genre.
I also got summoned for the first in Anor Londo and it was the most memorable part of the game yet. Another dude was summoned too and just as we're heading up the stairs to the cathedral some other dude invades. Once he sees it's 3 vs 1 he runs his ass away. Pretty soon even the sentinels and the white bat dudes start ganging up on him too. Funny stuff. After he dies all three of us go through the level unlocking all the doors and killing off knights, but ultimately lost to super ornstein. Really liked the feeling of camaraderie though. Online coop is truly the best innovation for this genre.
not if you you equip wolf ring (or use armour that has high poise), chew the green moss, hold up a stable shield like eagle, and use a spear (preferably lightning) R1 attack so that you don't have to bring your shield down. Once you realize how easy it is when all the bases are covered, you will wonder why you were so upset....there is always a way to make it easy....ALWAYS.
this game, even more than demon's encourages you to hire help.....I can't remember the last time I died on the archer section when involved in multiplayer.......in fact the only time I did die there during multiplayer was when an asshole invader used that section to hide from death and I fell off trying to force him off.
Mechanized
Member
I think I'm finally done with this game. I just can't beat Gwyn. Spent like 4 hours today just trying to kill him and I can't do it. My character just doesn't have enough stamina, and I don't plan to grind out levels at 74 just to get some stamina. I can't parry reliably enough to use that strategy either. It really sucks.
This is my last shot looking for advice on how to beat Gwyn. The boss seems like really bad gameplay design. All the strategies I've seen are so contrived and reliant on having certain items, spells, stats, whatever.
I'm a caster if it matters. I can go in with Greater Magic Shield on to survive his jumping attack with minimal health loss, my Homing Crystal Soul Mass hits him, between that and maybe a lucky Crystal Soul Spear or parry/riposte I can take out 1/3 of his health, but then he demolishes me. I think the problem is I just can't last long enough to get a feel for him.
It's really bumming me out to get this far and fight such a bullshit last boss. I can understand hard, but this just seems unfair.
If feels like all this time spent leveling my character, the freedom to make my own build the way I wanted, was pointless.
This is my last shot looking for advice on how to beat Gwyn. The boss seems like really bad gameplay design. All the strategies I've seen are so contrived and reliant on having certain items, spells, stats, whatever.
I'm a caster if it matters. I can go in with Greater Magic Shield on to survive his jumping attack with minimal health loss, my Homing Crystal Soul Mass hits him, between that and maybe a lucky Crystal Soul Spear or parry/riposte I can take out 1/3 of his health, but then he demolishes me. I think the problem is I just can't last long enough to get a feel for him.
It's really bumming me out to get this far and fight such a bullshit last boss. I can understand hard, but this just seems unfair.
If feels like all this time spent leveling my character, the freedom to make my own build the way I wanted, was pointless.
I spent 3 hours trying to kill him my first time through, I agree that he's incredibly frustrating. I became much better at parry/riposte practicing on the black knights before him. if you want to take it slow, just block or avoid everything and attack ONLY when he's recovering from his throw or his kick. Also, you might get lucky and summon someone who is really good at fighting him.
DigitalDevil
Member
My advice is to summon, summon, summon! Get the right person and the fight will lose a lot of its sting....
Mechanized
Member
Doesn't help that the area is THE pvp hotspot. LOL
I tried going human once and someone invaded and got a backstab instant kill on me. Was discouraging.
However I went all the way to the boss door and never saw a summon sign. Where do they show up?
I tried going human once and someone invaded and got a backstab instant kill on me. Was discouraging.
However I went all the way to the boss door and never saw a summon sign. Where do they show up?
Thagomizer
Member
Most people who are helping with Gwyn, as opposed to PvPing, put it down right in front of his door. If the game tells you you've been invaded, just quit and reenter the game until you see a Summon sign.
Is this entire game supposed to have such bad framerates on ps3? Seems like nearly everywhere it's like 20 fps or lower. I even swiped at around 4 barrels and when they all broke the framerate dropped. Just wondering if it's the game or the new ps3.
I don't even want to get to Blighttown if it's worse than the entire game in fps.
I don't even want to get to Blighttown if it's worse than the entire game in fps.
Mechanized
Member
Thanks, I'll try again tomorrow I guess.
I felt the same way for quite a while after starting Dark Souls, but now that I have a firm grasp on how the areas connect to each other I much prefer it to the Demon's Souls' hub-and-levels structure.
Yeah I think I do too. I have no damn idea where I'm going so I'm just kind of picking and choosing. I ended up outside in a forest area so I knew that wasn't the right way for now.
Made it up to the roof of the church and am currently trying to figure out how to kill the
bell gargoyles
There are two AI-controlled allies you can summon for that fight if you switch to human form, or you could always summon actual human help. You need to rescue one of them from the Parish and talk to him at Firelink Shrine before you can summon him, but the other is always there.
I remember meeting a NPC before the dragon area but I completely forgot about him. I still haven't really grasped a lot of the mechanics yet. I'll have to try it later.
I decided to start a new character and keep my level a bit lower, as well as explore the world in a different order.
So I went to go fight the moonlight butterfly around level 20, and that thing was a bitch with such lower health, and such a shitty shield. I ended up using the broken wood shield because it's 55 magdef was the highest I had, lol. It took me like 15 minutes, and about 6-7 tries to eventually beat it, but the fight was way more fun than all the time I blitzed that thing in 60 seconds.
Then I made my way through the Catacombs to get the Great Scythe, and that place was a fucking bitch at low levels. Those skeletons are such a pain when it takes so long to kill them in the first place. It felt like such a victory every I finally made it to the necromancer and killed his ass before all the skeletons reformed. Also it was awesome seeing patches in there so early. What a dick.
Pinwheel kicked my ass too. Never would have thought I would say that.
Also I went through the upper levels up Blighttown for the first time. I totally understand all the bitching about that level now, but I really loved it. Having to take that place at such a slow pace was an awesome change up from the other levels. That first big area of ladders and the different levels is such a mess. It was scary as hell being chased through that place, falling through floors and rolling off the edges to another platform.
I really recommend a lower level playthrough if you farmed or overleveled the first time you played through the game, it's an entirely different experience.
So I went to go fight the moonlight butterfly around level 20, and that thing was a bitch with such lower health, and such a shitty shield. I ended up using the broken wood shield because it's 55 magdef was the highest I had, lol. It took me like 15 minutes, and about 6-7 tries to eventually beat it, but the fight was way more fun than all the time I blitzed that thing in 60 seconds.
Then I made my way through the Catacombs to get the Great Scythe, and that place was a fucking bitch at low levels. Those skeletons are such a pain when it takes so long to kill them in the first place. It felt like such a victory every I finally made it to the necromancer and killed his ass before all the skeletons reformed. Also it was awesome seeing patches in there so early. What a dick.
Pinwheel kicked my ass too. Never would have thought I would say that.
Also I went through the upper levels up Blighttown for the first time. I totally understand all the bitching about that level now, but I really loved it. Having to take that place at such a slow pace was an awesome change up from the other levels. That first big area of ladders and the different levels is such a mess. It was scary as hell being chased through that place, falling through floors and rolling off the edges to another platform.
I really recommend a lower level playthrough if you farmed or overleveled the first time you played through the game, it's an entirely different experience.
Blighttown is fun at a low level because the most efficient way to kill the enemies becomes kicking them off the ledges.
Playing so much Skyrim has made me soft. I tried to get back into this yesterday and was doing well against random mobs, better than when I quit maybe. Then some I had some guy invade my game as a red phantom when I was in Blight Town. He was wearing Havel's armor and wielding a great axe.
Stupidly, with my Estoc +6 wielding ranger character that I built pretty much for fun and coop, I try to take this guy head-on and get one-shotted when I find out his Great Axe was enchanted with Lightning. He proceeds to open arm bro taunt me, then disappears.
Him killing me so quickly and effortlessly was basically a snap back to (Dark Souls)reality. I'm waaay too out of practice to be running around new grounds in Human form.
Stupidly, with my Estoc +6 wielding ranger character that I built pretty much for fun and coop, I try to take this guy head-on and get one-shotted when I find out his Great Axe was enchanted with Lightning. He proceeds to open arm bro taunt me, then disappears.
Him killing me so quickly and effortlessly was basically a snap back to (Dark Souls)reality. I'm waaay too out of practice to be running around new grounds in Human form.
Yeah, that's one of them. Make sure you've talked to him repeatedly; after a couple conversations he gives you the White Sign Soapstone that lets other people summon you for co-op. His summoning sign is right in front of the boss door.
The other one you can summon is
Lautrec, who you have to rescue from the church first. Instead of heading for the boss door on the upper floor of the church go up the stairs guarded by one of the caped knights. There's a boarded-over door beyond him that you can break through. This will lead you to an area with some stairs and a cell with Lautrec in it. Open the cell door and talk to him, then head back to Firelink Shrine and talk to him in the area down the stairs from the bonfire. He'll give you a Sunlight Medal as a reward and then you'll be able to summon him to help with the Gargoyles.
I can say in all honesty that going through Blighttown from the Depths entrance on my first character was actually quite fun. And I will never do it again.
Yeah agreed. I wasn't able to find the Tin Crystalization catalyst, is that something I should go back for? I'm playing a DEX/INT character.
Cloudius12
Member
OT 4 Lets go!
You gotta hit the tail at the very tip area. Most times the tail is clipped in the wall.
You gotta hit the tail at the very tip area. Most times the tail is clipped in the wall.
The Lifehunt scythe has bleed build up towards yourself when you attack enemies with it. I use it myself in my weapon rotation with the blood shield to help reduce it. It's kind of annoying though.
Lifehunt Scythe also does 504 damage at 40 Dex while the Great Scythe does 499 according to the calculator.
Small Mailman
Member
Alrighty SoulGAF:
P.S. This is seriously one of my top 3 games of all time. Attn. From Software, I want DLC, I want sequels, please take my money forever.
Bed of Chaos.... how do I YOU DEFEATED!? I already made his flaming things come out but now he just fucking one hits me when he sets the whole floor on fire. How do I hurt this...thing?
P.S. This is seriously one of my top 3 games of all time. Attn. From Software, I want DLC, I want sequels, please take my money forever.
I assume you mean the Tin Banishment Catalyst, 'cause you've got quite a while before you'll be getting the Tin Crystallization. It's actually near the Valley of Drakes entrance, across a branch that connects to one of the platforms leading down to the swamp (or up to the Valley, depending on whether you're coming or going). I've never really bothered with it, its whole schtick is that it can be used as a competent-by-early-game-standards weapon in addition to casting Sorceries. I don't think its MagAdjust is meaningfully different from the Sorcerer's Catalyst, but it weighs 3 Indefinite Weight Units instead of the Sorcerer's Catalyst's 2. It's found with the Sealer's Robes, though, which is a pretty nice set of light armor.
Edit: Yeah, after checking on my sorcery character it actually has a lower MagAdjust than Sorcerer's Catalyst. It does have 145 Physical attack power, so it's a perfectly servicable early-game weapon if you have the Master Key and can grab it immediately. It's also available earlier than the Sorcerer's Catalyst in that case, so you can use the spells Rickert sells right off the bat on a non-Sorcerer.
Sir Ilpalazzo
Member
I don't know why
gets massive hitstun on his attacks. He hits me once and my character just stops moving permanently.
Gwyn
Ah I actually found that guy too but I didn't go back to Firelink yet. I'll also make sure I do that next time I play.
You need to
wait for it to smash the floor in front of it. Then drop down onto the exposed root and run to the end of the path. What to do next should be obvious.
If you've never summoned somebody before, remember that you need to be in human form to do so. You need a stored Humanity (that's the number in the upper-left next to your life and stamina bars) and then you need to go to a bonfire and choose Reverse Hollowing. Once you're human you'll be able to summon allies and be invaded. Lautrec's summoning sign is on the large landing after climbing up the first ladder leading up to the fog door, Solaire's is right in front of the fog door.
There are actually NPC phantoms available for most of the bosses in the game, though some of them have summoning signs in out-of-the-way locations or rather byzantine requirements to make them available.
What ixix said.
Just put your head down and get through that boss. If you get unlucky with its attack patterns it can be the must frustrating boss in the game. The good thing is you keep your progress with the boss when you die.
Sir Ilpalazzo
Member
The Bed of Chaos is kind of a pain, but even if you can't avoid the flame spread attack, it usually spaces its attacks out a little. Unless you get really unlucky, you should still be able to heal right after getting hit by the flame.
It would be neat if there was some way to allow white phantoms to turn on their hosts.
For the first time I was summoned into one of those douchebag hitsquads in dark Anor Londo. Group of three phantoms waiting around to crush invaders. The host would even do the come at me bro gesture to the phantoms after we killed them. Would have really liked some way to backstab him.
Some of the invaders are real pieces of work, too. One guy just ran in, unloaded 9 Wrath of Gods, and when the host and I survived them he used the Black Separation Crystal. I can't say again how broken WoG is in this game.
I guess I don't really see what anyone gets out of winning with no skill or with the odds severely stacked in your favor.
For the first time I was summoned into one of those douchebag hitsquads in dark Anor Londo. Group of three phantoms waiting around to crush invaders. The host would even do the come at me bro gesture to the phantoms after we killed them. Would have really liked some way to backstab him.
Some of the invaders are real pieces of work, too. One guy just ran in, unloaded 9 Wrath of Gods, and when the host and I survived them he used the Black Separation Crystal. I can't say again how broken WoG is in this game.
I guess I don't really see what anyone gets out of winning with no skill or with the odds severely stacked in your favor.
Sir Ilpalazzo
Member
I'm starting to think that this game would be massively improved if it had a old Resident Evil-style fixed camera.
One of the nice things I've noticed now that I've switched from the bridge and the boss door to the interior bonfire for dropping my sign is that I never get summoned by people looking to farm invaders. I always just employed a strict "You've got exactly sixty seconds to start heading straight for
Gwyndolin's
I always ended up using the crystal.
I do think it'd be pretty neat for a member of the Blades of the Darkmoon summoned there from a co-op sign to spawn as a blue phantom instead of white. Or a member of the Princess Guard, if only because I wish that covenant would actually be able to do something other than cast two largely-useless Miracles.
I 'spose OT4 with be up shortly, but man 4 Kings is a pain in the ass in NG+. I didn't count, but I think it took 8 or 9 tries with summoned phantoms every time. That and the centipede demon are the only bosses I really dislike. Do you guys bother trying to avoid attacks in 4 kings or do you just focus on doing damage as fast as possible?
Augemitbutter
Member
i miss the battle engine of this game. damn.
TheThunder
Member
From all my invasions and being invaded I have never got parried, usually the other guy gets stomped to the ground if he keeps trying.
I kinda feel sorry for them, but then again, I think it's really stupid to try something so timely sensitive in a game with a horrible netcode. Your best bet is just to lock on and strife and hope the good ol'teleport backstabb god is answering prayers today.
I kinda feel sorry for them, but then again, I think it's really stupid to try something so timely sensitive in a game with a horrible netcode. Your best bet is just to lock on and strife and hope the good ol'teleport backstabb god is answering prayers today.
solaire put me over the top...died 10 times in a row without solaire, then with the added distraction to be able to heal....that was all i needed.
I'm terrible at parrying as well, but when assisting as phantom my host was ready to die after getting thrown around...but we had him down to like 1/3 .......and I came up with a rare parry for the win.......felt beaasty.
Sir Ilpalazzo
Member
Alright, I have to say it.
(last boss spoiler) is absolutely, fundamentally broken. There is no logic or consistency to this fight at all.
Most of his attacks have almost exactly the same wind-up animation, so you can't reliably roll out of the way of most of them, because you can't tell what they are. This is ignoring things like his quick slash and charging stab, which have no real wind-up animation, making them essentially unavoidable. And then there's his stab attack, which tracks you and stays out for two seconds or so - longer than the dodge roll (or even the cartwheel) lasts.
He has hyper armor on everything, so attacking him is almost never safe. You would assume that if you dodge one of his attacks, you would be able to attack him, but sometimes, even if you attack him the instant he finishes a combo, he can just start attacking you out of nowhere. Sometimes he randomly gets stunned, but there's no way to tell when it's going to happen and you really can't expect to capitalize on it because you never know when he's going to pull out an instant-kill. Sometimes he hits you and you just completely lose control of your character. All it takes is one of his no-windup quick slashes and you lose the fight automatically.
The difficult camera makes it even worse. Having an irregular arena like this is fine, but not when you have a camera that refuses to show you any of the obstacles or walls in the room, and especially not when it zooms in because you backed up too close to a wall that you had no way of knowing about. And the fact that you can only heal when you get lucky is obnoxious (especially because of how long it takes to heal in this game), but I guess I can forgive that one since it does make the fight unique compared to most other boss battles.
Nothing else in the game was like this. Ornstein and Smough were actually hard (and the best boss battle in the game - although it does get fairly easy once you beat one, even powered-up Ornstein's not that hard) because the game doesn't resort to cheap tactics to beat you. The Bed of Chaos did force you to die a couple of times, and that kind of sucked because you had to do a lot of running to get back, but it was fairly obvious what to do and it wasn't that hard to pull it off as long as you just didn't get unlucky. The Capra Demon fight really sucked, but once you get past the dogs the boss itself is pretty easy. I don't understand how someone could playtest the
fight and think "this is okay".
EDIT: I won.
Gwyn
Most of his attacks have almost exactly the same wind-up animation, so you can't reliably roll out of the way of most of them, because you can't tell what they are. This is ignoring things like his quick slash and charging stab, which have no real wind-up animation, making them essentially unavoidable. And then there's his stab attack, which tracks you and stays out for two seconds or so - longer than the dodge roll (or even the cartwheel) lasts.
He has hyper armor on everything, so attacking him is almost never safe. You would assume that if you dodge one of his attacks, you would be able to attack him, but sometimes, even if you attack him the instant he finishes a combo, he can just start attacking you out of nowhere. Sometimes he randomly gets stunned, but there's no way to tell when it's going to happen and you really can't expect to capitalize on it because you never know when he's going to pull out an instant-kill. Sometimes he hits you and you just completely lose control of your character. All it takes is one of his no-windup quick slashes and you lose the fight automatically.
The difficult camera makes it even worse. Having an irregular arena like this is fine, but not when you have a camera that refuses to show you any of the obstacles or walls in the room, and especially not when it zooms in because you backed up too close to a wall that you had no way of knowing about. And the fact that you can only heal when you get lucky is obnoxious (especially because of how long it takes to heal in this game), but I guess I can forgive that one since it does make the fight unique compared to most other boss battles.
Nothing else in the game was like this. Ornstein and Smough were actually hard (and the best boss battle in the game - although it does get fairly easy once you beat one, even powered-up Ornstein's not that hard) because the game doesn't resort to cheap tactics to beat you. The Bed of Chaos did force you to die a couple of times, and that kind of sucked because you had to do a lot of running to get back, but it was fairly obvious what to do and it wasn't that hard to pull it off as long as you just didn't get unlucky. The Capra Demon fight really sucked, but once you get past the dogs the boss itself is pretty easy. I don't understand how someone could playtest the
Gwyn
EDIT: I won.
viewtifulsub
Member
Took down 4Kings yesterday after 3 attempts. First attempt was to analyse, 2nd I jumped off the top of the staircase onto my death on one of the ledges, and the third I took them down. The atmosphere of the abyss in that fight was unsettling as hell.
Firelink Shrine theme has nothing on the Nexus theme from DeS
catashtrophe
Member
It might have been me who summoned you haha My online name is Stack_ and i've been going summoning crazy over the weekend.
I summoned 2 people and got invaded by a 3rd who eventually got gang banged lol.
I Unlocked the side entrance to the blacksmith but not the Main Cathedral door so had to take the long root to the bosses and open the main door afterwards.
I'm on NG++ so still not beaten Fatboy Slim
It's safe to attack if you bait him into a grab (but don't wait until the grab finishes to attack). I think his kick is also a safe time to hit.
Foliorum Viridum
Banned
Eek, this sounds bad.
I'm definitely going to try summoning to avoid this type of frustration. It will be horrible for the game to end on a sour note after 60 glorious hours. He's my next stop tonight!
Risk Breaker
Member
I personally had no more problems with Gwyn than with some other bosses from Dark or Demon's Souls. I would only summon as a last resort. The fight setting is very nice and I had already summoned help ONLY for Ornstein and Smough without even knowing that they would be there. Beat them "easily" and felt pretty bad.
At least on your way to the boss fight you earn some nice loot and it doesn't take too long. The maneaters however...
At least on your way to the boss fight you earn some nice loot and it doesn't take too long. The maneaters however...
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