Dark Souls 3

[Armenius]

I've never played any of the Souls games past NG+...no point...it just becomes a grind where enemies have a much larger health bar and hit harder...if others enjoy that then so be it but it's never been something that I've been interested in...the game ends at NG+ for me and pvp becomes the focus

The ring achievement in this one requires you to go through NG++.

I just cleared Lothric Castle (I only got to play about 30 minutes last night) and will probably give the Archives a go tonight. I played the first little area for 5 minutes and was getting bombarded by spells from every direction. I bailed pretty quickly, but will give it a better effort later.

That would be another Crystal Sage, only this time you have to fight him on multiple levels. Once you take care of him the area isn't so bad, but the candle guys can get a bit annoying. The Crystal Sage here only took two phases for me to kill with a Dragonslayer Greataxe +5 on NG+.

 

[jiminator]

Archives IMO is a fantastic level, probably one of the best I have played.

A new patch is coming out

Ashen Ones,

Dark Souls III will be updated to Regulation Version 1.07. The update will improve the Password matching feature.

The servers will also be offline for maintenance at the following times:

PS4 JP -- 2016-05-20 10:00am – 12:00pm (JST) EU -- 2016-05-20 3:00am – 5:00am (CET) summer time US -- 2016-05-19 6:00pm – 8:00pm (PDT)

XB1 JP -- 2016-05-20 10:00am – 4:00pm (JST) EU -- 2016-05-20 3:00am – 9:00am (CET) summer time US -- 2016-05-19 6:00pm – 2016-05-20 0:00am (PDT)

Steam JP -- 2016-05-20 5:00pm – 7:00pm (JST) EU -- 2016-05-20 10:00am – 12:00pm (CET) summer time US -- 2016-05-20 1:00am – 3:00am (PDT)

Main Adjustments:
1. Adjusted the efficiency of the Great shield category
2. Adjusted the consuming FP of the Magic Spell Category
3. Adjusted the efficiency of the category below: - Dragon Slayer’s Axe - Crescent Axe - Dark Drift - Washing Pole - Moonlight Great Sword
4. Fixed the shield penetration rate of some attacks in the scythe category
5. Fixed the stamina attack of some weapon categories.
6. Improved the matching of the Blade of the Darkmoon and the Blue Sentinels covenants.
7. Improved the password matching rate
8. Improved other game balance
9. Several game flaws fixed

We thank you for your understanding,

Embrace the Darkness!

Just saw a video on dark souls level design, some of you may find it interesting. it is somewhat spoilerish though

 

[polonyc2]

Champion Gundyr and Nameless King might be my 2 favorite bosses in the entire series...fabulous design with high difficulty...right up there with Ornstein and Smough...Pontiff Sulyvhan, Abyss Watchers and Aldrich, Devourer of Gods are a step below those but have a gorgeous visual style that might be among the best in terms of pure eye candy on screen...DS3 really is a masterpiece which proves that Hidetaka Miyazaki is king of game design

 

[piscian18]

Champion Gundyr and Nameless King might be my 2 favorite bosses in the entire series...fabulous design with high difficulty...right up there with Ornstein and Smough...Pontiff Sulyvhan, Abyss Watchers and Aldrich, Devourer of Gods are a step below those but have a gorgeous visual style that might be among the best in terms of pure eye candy on screen...DS3 really is a masterpiece which proves that Hidetaka Miyazaki is king of game design

From a art perspective I like Dancer the best followed by Yhorm.

 

[Ihavetheelderscrolls]

WOW.....I spent 3 days trouble shooting my rig trying to figure out why the frack my game kept pausing....I also had a few random shutdowns during gameplay...I thought it was my PSU failing...went out a bought a PSU, no more powerdowns but still the shuttering...I didn't think an "improvement" patch would be so devastating! facepalm...

 

[Domingo]

Found 2 more slabs in the archives last night. I now have a maxed out Great Club and a Dragonrider Bow, too. Gotta stay loyal to the weapons that got me through DS2.
While challenging in places, the Archives level is pretty cool. The design team outdid themselves and the aesthetic is great, too.
I haven't gone after the boss, but the 3 humans on the stairs near the end are total bastards. I managed to kill them, but it took some luck and a whole lot of running/rolling.

 

[Armenius]

Found 2 more slabs in the archives last night. I now have a maxed out Great Club and a Dragonrider Bow, too. Gotta stay loyal to the weapons that got me through DS2.
While challenging in places, the Archives level is pretty cool. The design team outdid themselves and the aesthetic is great, too.
I haven't gone after the boss, but the 3 humans on the stairs near the end are total bastards. I managed to kill them, but it took some luck and a whole lot of running/rolling.

Twin Princes was the hardest and most frustrating boss for me, for some reason. I can't seem to time the dodging right with these guys. Nameless King is easy-peasy for me, so I don't understand why the community as a whole finds him to be the hardest.

 

[jiminator]

Nameless King is easy-peasy for me, so I don't understand why the community as a whole finds him to be the hardest.

most people are not geared well for him. additionally there are not a lot of summons for him, and those that do appear go fast. If you beat him once though you can get a great shield for the next time

 

[LurkerLito]

I haven't gone after the boss, but the 3 humans on the stairs near the end are total bastards. I managed to kill them, but it took some luck and a whole lot of running/rolling.

God I hated those 3. They were terrible so I split them up. It was hard to do but trying to fight in the area they were in with all 3 at the same time was just nuts. Mage had unlimited FP which IMHO is a design flaw in this and most games. I believe in games the limits placed on you should also be placed on the NPCs. They shouldn't get unlimited FP they should have to drink a blue estus at some point. It's one of my major gripes about most games.

Twin Princes was the hardest and most frustrating boss for me, for some reason. I can't seem to time the dodging right with these guys. Nameless King is easy-peasy for me, so I don't understand why the community as a whole finds him to be the hardest.

Both of those bosses sucked for me and took way more time than I wanted. Two princes was slightly easier of the two for me. But that Nameless bastard for some reason took forever. I just couldn't get the timing down at stage 2. I don't really feel I beat him, more like I lucked out and happen to survive. It's one of those fights that I never want to go through again, but if I do NG+ I will have to cause I want to get the other transposition part of his soul.

I know I am near the end now, but I am holding off to do some farming to max out some equipment, max out all consumables, arrows and upgrade resources.

 

[Domingo]

So far I don't know if I'd consider any of the bosses to be overly difficult, although I also haven't faced the Twin Princes, Nameless King, or any subsequent foes.
Probably the toughest boss for me was the giant tree boss early on. I died on him 4 times because I just couldn't time hitting his hand. Once I died because my wife was yelling that his hand smashes were shaking the house
Most of the others have been 1 & done or once to see what they do another try to kill them. DS1 was most definitely not like that. Lots of unforgiving 1-shot kills or 2-shot kills with just enough time to try and heal between them. DS2's bosses were hit and miss. Many were incredibly easy, while some were controller smash worthy.

 

[piscian18]

Twin Princes was the hardest and most frustrating boss for me, for some reason. I can't seem to time the dodging right with these guys. Nameless King is easy-peasy for me, so I don't understand why the community as a whole finds him to be the hardest.

Did you play the twins by yourself or co-op? It was extremely easy with two people.

 

[Armenius]

Did you play the twins by yourself or co-op? It was extremely easy with two people.

By myself. I can definitely seeing it being easier with help, but the same could be said about any boss.

 

[Domingo]

I've been making it my goal to fight all of the bosses without any help. At least the first go-round. After that, I tend to pop-in and help other players.
The only exception (so far) was the fight where Siegmeyer shows up and essentially fights the boss for you. It's not a hard one either way, but there seems to be no way to keep Sieg from assisting.

 

[jiminator]

I've been making it my goal to fight all of the bosses without any help. At least the first go-round. After that, I tend to pop-in and help other players.
The only exception (so far) was the fight where Siegmeyer shows up and essentially fights the boss for you. It's not a hard one either way, but there seems to be no way to keep Sieg from assisting.

you can not rescue him until after maybe

 

[Armenius]

I've been making it my goal to fight all of the bosses without any help. At least the first go-round. After that, I tend to pop-in and help other players.
The only exception (so far) was the fight where Siegmeyer shows up and essentially fights the boss for you. It's not a hard one either way, but there seems to be no way to keep Sieg from assisting.

Siegward won't show up for that fight if you don't progress his storyline. The easiest way to do this is to not give his armor back when he is stuck in the well outside the Cleansing Chapel bonfire in Cathedral of the Deep, or just ignore him completely from the start. You do lose out on a Slab, though.

 

[Domingo]

Yeah, I suppose I should have prefixed that with "As long as you're continuing his storyline."
Can you rescue him from his cell after fighting the boss? That would also do the trick if you can.
Even without him, that fight is pretty much a cakewalk. It's essentially like fighting a combo of the Butchers and Giants and a prime example of how Dark Souls 3 bosses tend to be easier than their predecessors. Even if you do get hit, you're still likely to have at least 1/2 your health AND still have plenty of time to either heal or run away and heal.

 

[Domingo]

I now feel very comfortable in declaring the Two Princes to be a boss that lives up to the old games. Lots of way to get blasted for 75-100% damage, very little time to heal, a moveset that can head into BS territory if the game feels like being spammy, etc.
I've gotten good enough to get to phase 2 with all or most of my flasks, but it barely matters. In phase 2 I never seem to have time to heal anyway.

 

[Nytegard]

So, a friend of mine is getting Dark Souls 3 for the PS4, and I've been focusing on that to get the achievements, err, trophies, out of the way. I swear, the community is completely different. While farming for vertebrae, about 1 out of 3 battles today in fight club, it was a host who then started chugging estus. I've seldom seen this action occur on the PC.

 

[uriz3n]

I now feel very comfortable in declaring the Two Princes to be a boss that lives up to the old games. Lots of way to get blasted for 75-100% damage, very little time to heal, a moveset that can head into BS territory if the game feels like being spammy, etc.
I've gotten good enough to get to phase 2 with all or most of my flasks, but it barely matters. In phase 2 I never seem to have time to heal anyway.

Try using a shield for this fight. I've been rolling for most bosses, but with this one blocking some of the attacks made it much easier.

 

[Domingo]

Try using a shield for this fight. I've been rolling for most bosses, but with this one blocking some of the attacks made it much easier.

I tend to rock the Shield of Want most of the time, especially in boss fights. More souls, plays it's a nice failsafe with mistimed rolls. It definitely helps with this one. The timing on their 3-4 swings varies just enough to catch me more than I'd like.
I eventually won this one, but (like the old games) it took some luck. They more or less just stopped using magic and it was just like an extra-damaging version of the first phase of the fight.
I've done all of the other main-story stuff now, so I'm in the Archdragon Peak at the moment. I'm excited to finally get some Havel gear, even if poise is broken. Havel is like the Zangief of Dark Souls.

 

[B2BigAl]

Try using a shield for this fight. I've been rolling for most bosses, but with this one blocking some of the attacks made it much easier.

I know all the souls snobs look down their noses at shield users, but it helps tremendously with this fight. Their teleport, combined with their range and fast attacks, can easily catch you off guard. Obviously you want to avoid as many attacks as possible by rolling, but their teleport makes it very easy to lose track of them and end up eating an attack you didn't see coming.

 

[LurkerLito]

Finished the game! That last boss was difficult but for me nowhere near as difficult as Nameless.

I was thinking once I was done I would farm some more get everything I can use to +9 or +4 then go NG+. Now that I am actually done, I am thinking time to shelve this game as I have spent way too much time with it.

 

[Domingo]

I'm at the end of Archdragon Peak, so I suppose the end is in sight. I've got maxed out versions of the Great Club, Dark Sword, Dragonrider Bow, and Shield of Want. For the latter half of the game I've been rocking the Alva armor because I like the look of it. It's pretty decent armor, too.

Anyone have any recommendations for a shield that has a good parry window? That's the one knock on the Shield of Want - it can't parry. I figure I might as well have a back-up that can.

I'd kinda also like to get my strength to 50 as well. I've got 20 in everything else except luck and attunement. Even with a vitality of 30 and Havel's ring the Havel stuff leaves me at something like 110% of my weight. I guess that's a NG+ set...especially with how late in the game you finally get it.

 

[Rattle]

Finished 1st playthrough a couple days ago, loved the game but I have to say with 2 or 3 obvious exceptions the bosses were really underwhelming in this game. I'm going to play it anyway probably another 3-4 time easy plus pvp/pve if they straighten out and balance some issues. As i got near the end I had this need to play dark souls 1 again lol

 

[Domingo]

Welp, I finished up a few minutes ago. I like the final boss fight even if it wasn't that bad. At least not compared the Nameless King and Two Princes. I love the background prior to the final boss area. That' a very cool scene.
While not as annoying as having to fight 2 enemies at once, I'm not a fan of the whole 2-part boss battle thing. At least the way the game handles it with those last few battles.
Not sure I'll be playing through again quite so soon, but I'll most definitely be making a NG+ run in the future. Maybe once the 1080 cards are out I'll give it a shot in 4K.
I still think DS2 is a bit more "epic," but that might change a little if/when some DLC arrives.

 

[polonyc2]

interesting reading how different people view the difficulty of various bosses...I found Twin Princes really easy...can probably make it through the entire fight without using an Estus...but Nameless King and Champion Gundyr were crazy difficult...after 3 playthroughs I can now get past them within a few tries but they still can be crazy if you mis-time a roll or swing of your weapon...to me DS3 is head and shoulders the best in the series from beginning to end as far as overall difficulty, level design, atmosphere, lore etc...a bit too many callbacks to the previous Souls games is the main negative...so my new Souls ranking: DS3, DS1, DS2...Bloodborne is a slight notch below DS1 only because of the crappy multiplayer

 

[Nytegard]

I'm not quite sure how I feel about Dark Souls 3. Dark Souls 1 had the best world, as it was interconnected. Two felt like a lot of levels and very linear. Three is a mix of the two. I admit, I'm definitely disappointed in NG+. Outside of a few rings, there's nothing different. Enemies are slightly stronger, but that's about it. There aren't really any new enemies, old enemies with new tactics. Also, few people seem to be playing NG+. I'm SL125 atm, and barely see any summon signs. In my first run through, every fog gate was littered with them.

 

[polonyc2]

I'm not quite sure how I feel about Dark Souls 3. Dark Souls 1 had the best world, as it was interconnected. Two felt like a lot of levels and very linear. Three is a mix of the two. I admit, I'm definitely disappointed in NG+. Outside of a few rings, there's nothing different. Enemies are slightly stronger, but that's about it. There aren't really any new enemies, old enemies with new tactics. Also, few people seem to be playing NG+. I'm SL125 atm, and barely see any summon signs. In my first run through, every fog gate was littered with them.

everyone talks about the interconnected world of DS1 as this major positive but to me it doesn't make any real difference either way...DS1 needed to be interconnected because you couldn't warp between bonfires from the very start...with the last 2 games you still get a lot of interconnected areas it's just that they aren't connected back to the main hub (Majula or Firelink Shrine)...but I agree that NG+ in DS2 with the new enemy placement etc was brilliant (one of the few really great additions over DS1)

 

[Rattle]

I started a new Ds1 run and I have to say as much as I enjoyed Ds2 and 3 the first one is just magical for me. The lore and the way they wove that game together is just pure magic.

I also prefer the slower non Bourne type combat personally.

 

[jiminator]

Eh, the big problem with DS1 is the way the combat works. In 2 & 3 once a boss commits to an attack you know where it is going to go. In 1 you have to dodge exactly else you will get hit no matter where you are. It is somewhat annoying

 

[RJ1892]

I started a new Ds1 run and I have to say as much as I enjoyed Ds2 and 3 the first one is just magical for me. The lore and the way they wove that game together is just pure magic.

I also prefer the slower non Bourne type combat personally.

I just started playing DS1 again after a few runs of DS3 over the last few weeks. I really forgot how amazing the world was in DS1. The slower combat did take me a few minutes to get used to again, still having trouble parrying. I want to run through and do the optional bosses I've never done.

 

[Domingo]

DS1 is by far the most unforgiving of the bunch. Even though I know the world like the back of my hand now, I still die a fair amount in the tougher areas. The pit area in Sen's with the Titanite Demons...oh man, that area infuriates me just thinking about it.
There are large chunks of Dark Souls 3 where I would show up to a new area and totally clear it of enemies on my first pass. That's sans any experience or help. There are still a few areas I've only been through once because that's all I needed. In the grand course of things, I probably only lost like 100K souls the entire time, too. Most of that was a single stupid mistake near the end, too.
I'm not 100% sure that's all bad, but it's different. This one got a lot less swearing. Only two of the bosses were super tough. I killed all the others in 3 tries or less with about 1/2 being 1 and dones. They give you all day to heal and you can roll like a dozen times in a row to get out of dodge.

There are parts of DS3 I found to be amazing, and parts that were just boring. I like the references to the old games (mainly DS1), but I found several of the new areas to be a bit on the boring side. I liked the sprawling outdoor zones from DS2 more than yet another castle or cave. To me that's what really left an impact in hindsight. The game was massive and varied even if the world was disconnected.

 

[Armenius]

I'm at the end of Archdragon Peak, so I suppose the end is in sight. I've got maxed out versions of the Great Club, Dark Sword, Dragonrider Bow, and Shield of Want. For the latter half of the game I've been rocking the Alva armor because I like the look of it. It's pretty decent armor, too.

Anyone have any recommendations for a shield that has a good parry window? That's the one knock on the Shield of Want - it can't parry. I figure I might as well have a back-up that can.

I'd kinda also like to get my strength to 50 as well. I've got 20 in everything else except luck and attunement. Even with a vitality of 30 and Havel's ring the Havel stuff leaves me at something like 110% of my weight. I guess that's a NG+ set...especially with how late in the game you finally get it.

Crest Shield is pretty OP this time. Best medium shield in the game that can also parry, in my opinion. I do like weapon art shields with katanas, though. The katana parry is fastest and has the best timing window, again, in my opinion. Small shields probably have the best parry window, otherwise, but their absorption is really bad. I guess if all you're using a small shield for is parrying, though, it is a light shield to carry around with you for that purpose in addition to your primary shield.

 

[Domingo]

I think once I do end up making a NG+ run, I'll probably max out at least a small/medium shield (for parrying) in addition to Havel's. I'm actually pretty happy with my final stats from my first run, so I can imagine just piling all future points into vitality. Enough where until I can quick roll in Havel's gear while keeping a pocket bow and pyromancy flame.
Even with broken poise, I still like the idea of running around as a tank.

 

[Ihavetheelderscrolls]

I wonder if From will release a new version of DS3 like they did with DS2....I wish NG+ would have been new enemies/placement etc....

So, I did a dex build with a little pyro, then a strength build....

What next? I think maybe a faith based build or Hex build 40/40 Faith/Int?

I thought the bosses were brilliant. They were not "unfair" or overly difficult, but they were really good all in all.

I love how people change their minds so quickly. First people said pyromancy wasn't even feasible in PVP, now it's the most powerful over faith and sorcery

 

[Domingo]

I'd welcome a "Scholar of the First Sin" package as long as it's an upgrade to the existing game and not a totally new purchase.
While 100% worth every penny for new buyers, the fact that people who paid for DS2 + Season Pass didn't get it was lame. I get that it needed a new executable and saves, but not more $.

All of this rides on how much and how big the DLC ends up being, too. The DLC for DS2 was roughly 1/2 the length of the normal game. DS1's was much smaller, but still extremely good.

 

[jiminator]

I would not expect that. It made sense for DS2 since that version added sales for the XB1 & PS4. That would not be the case here.

 

[polonyc2]

Small shields probably have the best parry window, otherwise, but their absorption is really bad...

yup the Target Shield is amazing for parrying...I was dominating Champion Gundyr with it...although his 2nd phase wasn't as easy to parry because of his aggressive moves...but like you said you better not miss a parry window because the shield sucks as far as damage defense

 

[jiminator]

I wish I could parry. I have always been really shitty at it, all games.

 

[Nytegard]

I wish I could parry. I have always been really shitty at it, all games.

As others have stated, go with the Target Shield. I was using the Dragon Crest shield most of my games, and could never parry with it. Switching to the Target Shield is like night and day with parry ability.