If you want to go Pyro/DEX you will need to put points into ATT along with upgrading the glove.
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Dark Souls |OT5| Definitely better than the sequel
- Thread starter Dresden
- Start date
Work your Vit toward at least 30, then on to 50 if you want. If you want to try Pyro, then get a few ATT Slots, 16 in ATT is the most you really need (4 Slots), after that it takes more and more levels for 1 slot. Also, take your Dexterity to 45 for faster casting speed. You won't gain much scaling damage at all, but if you are really using Pyro, and already have a Dex build, taking it to 45 for the much faster casting speed is well worth it.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
No one will disagree here.
You can fight the Centipede Demon in the patch of the land to the right of the entrance, it's larger than the one by the fog gate and the camera won't go nuts. I always fight him there. You do have to take a bit of lava damage but if you go quickly (Flash Sweat helps but isn't necessary) you'll survive without issue, and you can just chug an Estus to heal it.
You need to learn when to fight with lock-on and when to disengage it. It was like that in Demon's Souls too. Even if it didn't auto-target the flying one (which does suck and shouldn't happen), you'd still need to fight some of this boss without lock-on because you need to be able to pan the camera quickly to avoid the other Gargoyle while you fight one.
I melee him with no problem. Just bait his tentacle slam, whack it, rinse repeat. He's piss easy.
Okay.
Divine weapons make the boss trivial. But even without one, Nito often kills his own skeletons with his attacks anyway. The only attack I have trouble avoiding is the AOE, but I usually have no problem healing it in time. Estus is so fast in this game haha.
Oh man I'm so bloody lucky to beat Gravelord Nito on my first attempt. The journey to the boss battle is more tougher than the boss himself. Keep my distance close to him as being far from him just stunned me as he use whatever attack that hit you from the ground.
Luckily I kindle the bonfire to 15 Estus Flasks or I'll be dead meat for sure.
Now at the early part of Duke's Archives. At least dying here is my own fault compared to the darkness of Tomb of the Giants. I'm so glad I'll not be visiting there again soon other than farming for souls.
Luckily I kindle the bonfire to 15 Estus Flasks or I'll be dead meat for sure.
Now at the early part of Duke's Archives. At least dying here is my own fault compared to the darkness of Tomb of the Giants. I'm so glad I'll not be visiting there again soon other than farming for souls.
Whelp, defeated all the bosses and just defeated Gwyn again on my first try. In my last play through I skipped Kalameet because I was burned out and just wanted to beat the game. This time I fought him and beat him in 3 attempts (not counting the first one for obvious reasons). I have a lot of experience fighting his counter part in the DS2 DLC and I did watch Slowbeef's LP so I knew the basics of the fight. His Gravity Squeeze really caught me off guard.
For those who don't know what a Gravity Squeeze is.
Chaos Blade didn't help much so I had to use the maxed out Zweihander and timed it for 2 handed heavy shots. Fun fight. Really diverse A.I. on that boss. You can bait his counterpart in the DS2 DLC to keep doing 1 of 3 attacks over and over and kill him easily so it was nice to see that you can't really cheese Kalameet.
Big question is: since we're still in the Beta for Steamworks, I wonder if they're going to implement any enhancements (PS3/PS4 controller support, Resolution fixes, proper Mouse/keyboard support, 60FPS) or just iron out the kinks with connecting with other players and call it a day. I assume it's going to be the later but one can dream.
For those who don't know what a Gravity Squeeze is.
Chaos Blade didn't help much so I had to use the maxed out Zweihander and timed it for 2 handed heavy shots. Fun fight. Really diverse A.I. on that boss. You can bait his counterpart in the DS2 DLC to keep doing 1 of 3 attacks over and over and kill him easily so it was nice to see that you can't really cheese Kalameet.
Big question is: since we're still in the Beta for Steamworks, I wonder if they're going to implement any enhancements (PS3/PS4 controller support, Resolution fixes, proper Mouse/keyboard support, 60FPS) or just iron out the kinks with connecting with other players and call it a day. I assume it's going to be the later but one can dream.
SonicXtreme
Member
took on everyone in the forest on xbox with my 27 str 30 faith butcher knife wielding lv 55 build this weekend. also helped a bunch of people beat o and s, as well as stopped a few people from doing so. cooped some PPTDE with grief for my first messing with the steamworks version, worked well. did some sl 22 dueling in the burg as well, basically played an absurd amount of this game this weekend. it just never gets old with all the options, i love having a variety of builds to jump from. think i'm gonna take out the giant on my SL1 soon so i can two hand that hammer, just want to make sure i've got all the twinkling i need before i have the heart to do it.
question. my first go through with the game has all the spells and items, but the build is trash. 40 vit, 28 int, 26 end, 10 fth, 18 or 16 str (whatever zwei is i forget), 45 dex, 28 attunement (whatever 7 slots is). since i wasted all that attunement, i'm thinking about going to 138 for WOTG and GMB. do u think i'd still see action on xbox at that level? i've never gone past lv 120 and i really don't want to do it if the game becomes a ghost town. but all that attunement is silly if i don't have tools, i mean i have full pyro and 28 INT but since this char has all the spells anyway, 7 is a lot...
so GAF i want to ask a question, but if it's inappropriate just let me know and i apologize in advance. i've never used a save editor before, but i was wondering what i should use? if i have a save on xbox where i accidentially used gwyn's soul, is it possible to use a save editor to get it back? i'd just want to do things like that, as well as maybe redistribute attribute points to optimize some of the characters i've made throughout the years. is that possible, and if so what's the most reliable program? i don't want to do any cheater BS i just want to fix some mistakes like that and fiddle around, when it comes to fights i'm as honorable as it gets (unless it's 2 on 1 or I'm clearly outleveled, then I'm coming at you with my post powerful shots, jabroni). i've got like 300 hours on my xbox characters lol, at this point i'd rather just have each character set up for a specific thing without spending another 300 hours screwing with them.
i'd also be interested in what the program that works for PC is as well, since it just changed to steamworks i'm wondering if that's even safe to use. but i get a lot more connections on xbox so i'm more interested in that. again sorry if this shouldn't be talked about, but i'm finding a lot of old stuff when using google.
question. my first go through with the game has all the spells and items, but the build is trash. 40 vit, 28 int, 26 end, 10 fth, 18 or 16 str (whatever zwei is i forget), 45 dex, 28 attunement (whatever 7 slots is). since i wasted all that attunement, i'm thinking about going to 138 for WOTG and GMB. do u think i'd still see action on xbox at that level? i've never gone past lv 120 and i really don't want to do it if the game becomes a ghost town. but all that attunement is silly if i don't have tools, i mean i have full pyro and 28 INT but since this char has all the spells anyway, 7 is a lot...
so GAF i want to ask a question, but if it's inappropriate just let me know and i apologize in advance. i've never used a save editor before, but i was wondering what i should use? if i have a save on xbox where i accidentially used gwyn's soul, is it possible to use a save editor to get it back? i'd just want to do things like that, as well as maybe redistribute attribute points to optimize some of the characters i've made throughout the years. is that possible, and if so what's the most reliable program? i don't want to do any cheater BS i just want to fix some mistakes like that and fiddle around, when it comes to fights i'm as honorable as it gets (unless it's 2 on 1 or I'm clearly outleveled, then I'm coming at you with my post powerful shots, jabroni). i've got like 300 hours on my xbox characters lol, at this point i'd rather just have each character set up for a specific thing without spending another 300 hours screwing with them.
i'd also be interested in what the program that works for PC is as well, since it just changed to steamworks i'm wondering if that's even safe to use. but i get a lot more connections on xbox so i'm more interested in that. again sorry if this shouldn't be talked about, but i'm finding a lot of old stuff when using google.
It's beginning to look a lot like Blighttown
Down the pit you go;
The FPS has dropped to ten, it's become choppier than sin,
You realize this part is gonna blow!
It's beginning to stink a lot like Blighttown,
The skeeters suck your blood,
The game gets really fun when you learn how you can't run
While stuck in the mud.
The darts are a-stinging and the leeches are clinging
while you're lost in this ugly fen,
You wish for the bonfire you really desire
but your struggles will not end,
The toxins sap away your health until you're dead again.
It's beginning to suck a lot like Blighttown
Ev'rywhere you go;
There's a pitfall to your left, everywhere is certain death,
And the framerate's too damn slow.
Now you've finally escaped from the Blighttown;
You no longer have to fuss,
But the memories will never end because you'll see this swamp again
In new game plus!
Down the pit you go;
The FPS has dropped to ten, it's become choppier than sin,
You realize this part is gonna blow!
It's beginning to stink a lot like Blighttown,
The skeeters suck your blood,
The game gets really fun when you learn how you can't run
While stuck in the mud.
The darts are a-stinging and the leeches are clinging
while you're lost in this ugly fen,
You wish for the bonfire you really desire
but your struggles will not end,
The toxins sap away your health until you're dead again.
It's beginning to suck a lot like Blighttown
Ev'rywhere you go;
There's a pitfall to your left, everywhere is certain death,
And the framerate's too damn slow.
Now you've finally escaped from the Blighttown;
You no longer have to fuss,
But the memories will never end because you'll see this swamp again
In new game plus!
Red Liquorice
Member
Haha, but the leeches drop 5 x green or 1 x large they're like slimey Santa sacks!
Weird thing about Steam Edition is that (for me anyway) if you don't unlock the FPS the performance is absolutely horrible. My rig cannot handle 60 FPS when I unlock it. So I have to unlock it and force it to run at 30FPS. I have almost no problems with Blighttown, maybe a moment or two where it bogs down. But the Sif fight and that zone where you fight Manus of the Abyss is when the framerate dies.
SonicXtreme
Member
Screw it I'm taking my lv 70 to meta. Currently I'm at 30 vit, 16 att, 22 end, 27 str, 9 dex, 8 int, and 30 fth. Got 50 levels to play with, what do you guys think? This char uses the butchers knife 15, sunlight blade, wotg, gmb, and great combustion, with power within in my darkmoon ring slot for the lucky first customer. Obviously 10 or 20 on vit, 40 end is a pretty easy decision, still 8 levels left then. I fell like more faith is dumb because spells run out when I defend my territory in the forest (that's all this guy is for). I could go ng + and grab more copies of the offensive spells I'm using, but they'll still run out so thats dumb too. Str seems silly since butchers knife is getting max bonus from my 2 hand isn't it? Am I best served by just pumping end?
also are there other weapons that are as dubious as the butcher knife in PVP? I haven't stopped using it since i started digging into it a week or two ago and its insane. no one knows how to fight it. all the BS fishers just get 180d and slashed when they think they're gonna get a BS. its fast enough for me to WOTG > start whaling on the tankers. light enough that with 27 str i can still grass shield parry the spammers. the 30 faith with GMB just means game over for the magic spammers. even if i get caught in a 2 on 1 i can feign 2hr2 and switch direction to the second guy who will always go in for a BS, stun him with the shocking 180 slam then i can break off a WOTG and take down his buddy who will close in for the kill every time. i've 1 on 2'd so many people with these tools. this build is nasty. just gotta figure out how to cap it off to meta because its already been so powerful since like level 50
its actually really liberating being limited with 8 int (no bellowing) and 9 dex (no go to crutches like the zwei), i definitely have more fun with characters that are more limited in choice. never would've mained the butcher without doing that.
also are there other weapons that are as dubious as the butcher knife in PVP? I haven't stopped using it since i started digging into it a week or two ago and its insane. no one knows how to fight it. all the BS fishers just get 180d and slashed when they think they're gonna get a BS. its fast enough for me to WOTG > start whaling on the tankers. light enough that with 27 str i can still grass shield parry the spammers. the 30 faith with GMB just means game over for the magic spammers. even if i get caught in a 2 on 1 i can feign 2hr2 and switch direction to the second guy who will always go in for a BS, stun him with the shocking 180 slam then i can break off a WOTG and take down his buddy who will close in for the kill every time. i've 1 on 2'd so many people with these tools. this build is nasty. just gotta figure out how to cap it off to meta because its already been so powerful since like level 50
its actually really liberating being limited with 8 int (no bellowing) and 9 dex (no go to crutches like the zwei), i definitely have more fun with characters that are more limited in choice. never would've mained the butcher without doing that.
Red Liquorice
Member
You would think the Butcher's knife was one of the weapons people could handle the most since Mildred invades with it. It's one of those weapons if I see in PvP I think "easy parries!" because I'm so used to the moveset. It is a great weapon though, I like it too.
Laurentius
Member
Started replaying Dark Souls 1 after the Steam migration. It's been quite awhile. As much as I love Dark Souls 2, it feels really really good to be playing Dark Souls 1 again.
Cannon Goose
Member
Question: any reason to not use the Ring of Favor and Protection? Just curious. I could see if you're at NG+++++ and you're already at max levels but I dunno.
Also, when you guys are in NG+ do you try to kill every single boss or do you just ignore some of the more pain in the ass ones to find?
Why the hell did FROM have to make it so difficult to access the Artorias DLC?
Also, when you guys are in NG+ do you try to kill every single boss or do you just ignore some of the more pain in the ass ones to find?
Why the hell did FROM have to make it so difficult to access the Artorias DLC?
Other than you can't take it off you can but that's not really an issue as you've still got a ring slot left. The dlc is really not that hard to access at all.
Orochinagis
Member
The ring is great for speedrunning,SL1 runs and powerhouse melee but for casual runs is just ok is a great ring but kinda useless for dex and caster types.
You can ignore the bosses if you want but you have to kill them all three times for the boss weapons souls for the weapon achievement
Because the DLC is in the lore timeline and pretty easy to reach and not a lazy "postgame enter wherever you want" DLC
Red Liquorice
Member
For me the ring slot is always worth far more than the FaP ring. It depends how swappy you are with rings though I guess. I can see how a pure pvp character would want the FaP ring, but I never use it.
RandomSeed
Member
So, first time through the game, and the past two days I beat the butterfly, the hydra, Sif, and Smough & Ornstein...not bad at all. Really enjoying it. Then I dropped into a certain abyss. Uhh, yeah, I'll just come back later.
Orochinagis
Member
Gotta talk with the blacksmith bro
Red Liquorice
Member
Lost Izalith looking surprisingly great from above:
From Illusorywall, more: http://imgur.com/a/t9GGX
From Illusorywall, more: http://imgur.com/a/t9GGX
badnewsbeers
Member
Can someone explain why lost Izalith is hated so much? I kind of liked it. Reminded me of Diablo 1 hell levels. Seems to be universally reviled thogh and am curious.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
Art-wise, it's awesome. I don't think people dislike it for that, I think it's just that the level design is a bit weak, with little worthwhile exploration, and the lava can be annoying with the blinding colour and the krrkrrkrrkrr sound. Plus the boss is really awful.
But the art and atmosphere is some of the best in the game, actually. I really love the hellish look of the Demon Ruins + Lost Izalith, it's really epic.
Red Liquorice
Member
People dislike the eye-searing lava, that it's full of cut and paste dragon butts, lack of enemies overall (more cut and paste statue enemies already encountered in Demon Ruins) and there's not really much there, oh and annoying 'gimmick' boss.
The dragon butts are a one time kill, so it's either run past them or kill them for souls to me. I understand all the criticisms and agree with them, but the Angkor Wat design of the place itself is great, I certainly didn't get a sense of the circular temple complex from playing the game, the shots from above really give you a new view on it.
The dragon butts are a one time kill, so it's either run past them or kill them for souls to me. I understand all the criticisms and agree with them, but the Angkor Wat design of the place itself is great, I certainly didn't get a sense of the circular temple complex from playing the game, the shots from above really give you a new view on it.
Terrible boss and at release there were many more dinobutt enemies, leading to some frustrating moments.
You can just kinda run through now and I agree that the actual design of the temple is pretty nice.
Laurentius
Member
I love the visual design of Lost Izalith, as well as the Solaire and Siegmeyer plotlines that take place there. I agree that the level design is not great and the Bed of Chaos is awful, but I typically enjoy going there. (Duke's Archives is actually my least favorite area...)
Yep FROM likes sticking to their formula, at least for the PVE parts:
The poison and walking through water motif - Valley of defilement - Blightown - Gutter/Black Gulch
The shoot projectiles at you and/or knock off ledge motifs:
Shrine of Storms (4-2) - Dukes Archives, Crystal Caves - Shrine of Amana
The firey lava area motif - Stonefang tunnel - Lost Izalith - Iron Keep
Orochinagis
Member
After Anor Londo aka S&O fight, Lost Izalith feel like a tunedown experience in terms of design and enemy encounters, Is a great zone. I actually liked it how there is an underground city below Lordran but I feel the tension is no more and you are relaxing throught that zone. The lore fits perfectly and the demonic invasion being stopped by the izalith sisters and the realization the first bosses were only normal mobs in that zone is something awesome
badnewsbeers
Member
I didn't play the game until after several patches so it would seem I missed how frustrating it was originally. It and new londo ruins are probably the two areas I've explored the least. It is relatively short, especially compared to something a little more frustrating like dukes archives or blighttown.
All this talk is leading more towards yet another play through. I would love a remaster on current gen!
All this talk is leading more towards yet another play through. I would love a remaster on current gen!
Orochinagis
Member
Is refreshing to replay the game taking different paths to play, the game is so inmersive you can find something new you didnt discovered the first time like new dialogue, different sidequests or simple overlooked some mechanics.
On the Ornstein and Smough fight in NG+. Really trying to focus on Smough in this fight because in the last two fights against these guys I killed Ornstein first. Did manage to kill Smough once and fight Omega Ornstein but the hit-detection of one of his attacks is a little questionable. Getting some deja vu of fighting the Smelter Demon here.
I feel like it was designed to have you go after Ornstein because of the way he cockblocks you if you go after his partner.
Edit: beat 'em but I got so frustrated I just focused my attention on Ornstein 1st and got him. It's easily the hardest boss battle in the entire game but if you're specifically trying to get Ornstein's soul it's such a huge pain in the ass. Seems like every video I've seen of an "expert" fighting them they focus largely on Ornstein.
2nd Edit: finally got the Gwyn's sword. The light attack is a little faster than the Zwei and it doesn't stun unfortunately. The hard attack is practically worthless. I have it up to +4 and I like it but I'm not sure if I'm going to use it over the Zwei for a majority of the enemies. It's a great high damage weapon but just that fact that it doesn't stun and it has to be 2 handed is a problem. I'll probably use it for bosses.
I feel like it was designed to have you go after Ornstein because of the way he cockblocks you if you go after his partner.
Edit: beat 'em but I got so frustrated I just focused my attention on Ornstein 1st and got him. It's easily the hardest boss battle in the entire game but if you're specifically trying to get Ornstein's soul it's such a huge pain in the ass. Seems like every video I've seen of an "expert" fighting them they focus largely on Ornstein.
2nd Edit: finally got the Gwyn's sword. The light attack is a little faster than the Zwei and it doesn't stun unfortunately. The hard attack is practically worthless. I have it up to +4 and I like it but I'm not sure if I'm going to use it over the Zwei for a majority of the enemies. It's a great high damage weapon but just that fact that it doesn't stun and it has to be 2 handed is a problem. I'll probably use it for bosses.
SonicXtreme
Member
Sl 100 on Xbox...want to just sit at forest and pvp w my giant dad but it's impossible to get past +2 chaos zwei without killing sif...can anyone toss me red chunks? I can trade white blue or normal ones.
Edit: impossible for me bc I'm getting my red eye orbs in the darkwraiths after I'm done parking in the forest. If I ever even go for black flame.
Edit: impossible for me bc I'm getting my red eye orbs in the darkwraiths after I'm done parking in the forest. If I ever even go for black flame.
What's stopping you from just going to great hollow and getting the ones there or the two from the knights at undead asylum?
Orochinagis
Member
As far as I remember Smough gains AoEs in his special attacks and gains lightning effects in his default hits so...is pretty hard to deal with him if you dont take your space
SonicXtreme
Member
Those only got me to +2. I'll have to go get black flame eventually to be a true giant dad but I'm having fun just chilling in the forest. It's a pretty formidable build if you use it right but it's mostly for lols
Then that's two different things then you can still get red chunks and slabs without killing sif only the black flame you cant. The most reliable source is farming chaos eaters in lost izlaith but that's quite a fair bit away.
SonicXtreme
Member
I'm not placing the vessel yet bc I'm giving it to the darkwraiths but I'm having too much fun throwing down in the forest. I can't farm li. Eventually I'll place the vessel and rush to ng+ but eh nonstop pvp is hard to give up on. To get something like forest hosting and orbs before ng+ I'm just stuck here of my own will man there's a lot of different ways to go through this game.
After darkwraithing a lot I find the forest a lot more fun than the other options. Solely bc I feel like it's more nonstop and widest variety of opponents of anywhere on Xbox ( I never get consistent non hacker pvp on PC). It sucks you can't host after sif is dead though. It's so fun fighting a red and blue at the same time , and taking turns on 1 on 1s with a friend, no other place really works well for coop pvp to play with a buddy taking on another duo.
Then you're stuck with farming rockworms in demons ruins they're before the lord vessel fog gate.
Snacks the sober sea lion
Member
Even on a fresh character, there's so much available before Gargoyles that you can kill them in one hit if you really want to.
SonicXtreme
Member
Oh cool I didn't even know they dropped chunks. The one ds wiki actually says they're a forest hunter drop but it's wrong.
Red Liquorice
Member
Did you get the two red chunks from the black knights back at the Asylum?
Finally defeated the Knights of the Abyss in NG+. WOOHOO!
Easily the hardest boss fight in the game. It's been a year since I last played Dark Souls and I thought Ornstein and Smough was the hardest just because they can't be cheesed with a Havel set. But no, this fight is the hardest. Took me about 20-30 attempts. Finally got them with Lord Gwyn's sword at +4 strength and Power Within. Easily the hardest fight because of the randomness of the AOE attack (on my last attempt, the 3rd Knight did this 3 times in a row) and that grab attack. And may god help you if one of them throws that giant homing fireball at you that takes forever to go away and takes away half your life if it hits you.
Going to try to hit Lost Izalith, Seek's fortress/Crystal Palace, then the Artorias DLC and fight Gwyn. I'm going to skip Painted World because it's kind of a chore to go through, it's a great place to grind but for me it was a little boring. Will probably fight Gwyndolin because it's a very unique boss fight in the Souls games.
Question: how do I level up the Zwei past +10? I don't think I'm going to be needing it anymore but it's a good backup because of its stun capabilities.
Easily the hardest boss fight in the game. It's been a year since I last played Dark Souls and I thought Ornstein and Smough was the hardest just because they can't be cheesed with a Havel set. But no, this fight is the hardest. Took me about 20-30 attempts. Finally got them with Lord Gwyn's sword at +4 strength and Power Within. Easily the hardest fight because of the randomness of the AOE attack (on my last attempt, the 3rd Knight did this 3 times in a row) and that grab attack. And may god help you if one of them throws that giant homing fireball at you that takes forever to go away and takes away half your life if it hits you.
Going to try to hit Lost Izalith, Seek's fortress/Crystal Palace, then the Artorias DLC and fight Gwyn. I'm going to skip Painted World because it's kind of a chore to go through, it's a great place to grind but for me it was a little boring. Will probably fight Gwyndolin because it's a very unique boss fight in the Souls games.
Question: how do I level up the Zwei past +10? I don't think I'm going to be needing it anymore but it's a good backup because of its stun capabilities.
Very large ember it's right around the corner from there on up a stair case on a ledge then you just take it to the blacksmith in the parish. Once you do that you can upgrade to +15.
Beat it again on NG+ this time. I did skip Painted World, the Gwendoline fight, and the Artorias DLC. I was just really burnt out.
Controversial opinion: I think Artorias is a little overrated. He's got a cool design, great A.I. great setup with him annihilating that minion and all that. But he's kinda' easy. Is it just me? Just use a good 100% physical defense shield and probably have a decent melee build and you can block every single one of his attacks. You can even block when he throws that black shit at you. And he backs off and charges his shit giving you plenty of time to pop a humanity. You can't do that to his counterpart in DLC #2 for DS2.
It pays to use a fast weapon but even with the slow ass Zwei I was still able to block and get a few hits in on him.
I think Kalameet or Manus of the Abyss are the real stand out bosses of the DLC.
Also disappointed that there were no big changes for NG+. Only things I noticed is that there's a caster in the sewer section (you know that area right after the giant rat and there's trap doors that drop you down?) along with a couple of rats. I discovered that the hard way when I fell through a trap door and made it the boss but the caster was there being an annoying ass. Only other thing I noticed is that the Knights of the Abyss do more damage and cannot be cheesed with a Havel build.
I hate to say it but compared to DS2 where NG+ and so on are significantly different with more enemies and an extra surprise or two. I think DS2 has the better NG+.
Controversial opinion: I think Artorias is a little overrated. He's got a cool design, great A.I. great setup with him annihilating that minion and all that. But he's kinda' easy. Is it just me? Just use a good 100% physical defense shield and probably have a decent melee build and you can block every single one of his attacks. You can even block when he throws that black shit at you. And he backs off and charges his shit giving you plenty of time to pop a humanity. You can't do that to his counterpart in DLC #2 for DS2.
It pays to use a fast weapon but even with the slow ass Zwei I was still able to block and get a few hits in on him.
I think Kalameet or Manus of the Abyss are the real stand out bosses of the DLC.
Also disappointed that there were no big changes for NG+. Only things I noticed is that there's a caster in the sewer section (you know that area right after the giant rat and there's trap doors that drop you down?) along with a couple of rats. I discovered that the hard way when I fell through a trap door and made it the boss but the caster was there being an annoying ass. Only other thing I noticed is that the Knights of the Abyss do more damage and cannot be cheesed with a Havel build.
I hate to say it but compared to DS2 where NG+ and so on are significantly different with more enemies and an extra surprise or two. I think DS2 has the better NG+.
I take it you weren't gravelorded at all?
I just looked that up. That is interesting but nope, never encountered a single one and I wasn't really rushing through. I never go human in DS1 so maybe that effected it?
That does as you cannot be invaded whilst human you've missed several different invasions and story content because of it.
So making rather broad statements earlier then without actually experiencing everything then?