Dark Souls + Demon's Souls + Bloodborne Megathread XIII. The Ringed City - Games

[QUOTE=Mentlegen;52212158]Dogs in DS2 are the easiest to deal with funnily enough. They don't have stupidly accurate tracking and don't spam attacks and dodges constantly before you can even attack.[/QUOTE] And there's a room in the bastille that lets you drop an exploding powder keg onto ~3 of them so that's fun.

Secone session of LotF ended after 30 minutes wherein i find a spider enemy that spawns adds, can't be staggered, has a ludicrous amount of health, poisons, has multi-hit wombo-combos, and can damage me through my 100% block shield. Fuck's sake i wanna find whoever designed this shit and give them a good, stern talking to.

Aren't LotF and The Surge both made by the same company that makes those awful sniper: ghost warrior games?

[QUOTE=PotatoArmada;52212264]Aren't LotF and The Surge both made by the same company that makes those awful sniper: ghost warrior games?[/QUOTE] lotf is co-developed by them, the surge is solely developed by the other company that helped make lotf but are otherwise nobodies

I guess that's why LotF looks like a game to avoid at all costs and The Surge looks like a game to pick up in the bargain bin.

[QUOTE=PotatoArmada;52212480]I guess that's why LotF looks like a game to avoid at all costs and The Surge looks like a game to pick up in the bargain bin.[/QUOTE] I'm further now than i've ever been (hint, three and a half hours in) and i'm already wanting to give up. Especially not, i'm in an area where so far every road i've been down has been a dead end. I have no idea where to go and the game gives zero hints or directions.

I'm fucking sick of this. Ashes of Ariandel fucking [I]sucks[/I]. It truly is the worst Dark Souls DLC I've experienced. It's not that the level design is bad, or just the laughable "it's too hard" (regardless of my breaking point). I get that the DLC is endgame-scaled and generally an uptick in challenge. But I just cannot find it in me to enjoy this. I don't know what it is, but something about the combat is just wholly unsatisfying. The enemies are placed and designed to be more annoying than they are to make the player think on things and try various approaches. Like the first big forested area. The viking-ass dudes are basically fodder, and then you plunge down the cliffside and welcome to hell! Full of about twenty wolves that politely gank you (individually being weak, and leaving huge openings so the entire pack that comes doesn't tear you apart outright), trees that add easily blockable (but deadly) hazards in the midst of it, GIANT wolves and super-vikings that are incredibly resilient and annoying... I don't know, I hated this area, and I felt robbed for the pathetic loot that came with it. I think MAYBE the viking shield is good, for those of us whose character didn't put points into strength or dex. Then the freaking rotted crow village, devoid of challenging opponents except for the fucking impossible crow-bastards that will kill the SHIT out of you, even if you're cheezing them from range. Navigate that in nothing flat, kill an NPC, and then enter a rocky snow-crevice maze JAM_PACKED with the fodder vikings from before, except now they get the jump on you and wolf-pack your ass. I don't know, something is INFURIATING about realizing you got killed by some asshole with a torch and a party-trick. They're just so doofy and underwhelming that you feel stupid whenever they land a shot on you. Knock down a few trees and you enter a hive full of easily-killed but functionally obnoxious leech-vomiting Jeff Goldblums, and if you don't have red moss their bleed vomit effect will goddamn END you if ticks the meter so fast. Not to mention some of the more vile imagery in any Souls game. That opens the way to the queen bitch, but later, because first I need to unlock PVP matches I don't care about by climbing down the bridge to the canyon floor in about ten minutes, grabbing a titanite slab (Jesus, where was THIS kind of loot before?) and fighting... an NPC with a wolf miniboss, that aren't individually challenging except for the DS2-style gank-factor thrown on the pile. Nothing more infuriating than getting choke-slammed by piles of enemies that present little challenge, except that they've been cobbled together in a boss-fight and have proper names and boss health-bars. And finally, Friede... fucking god damn Friede... Oh how tired I felt when I realized this boss had three >[I]shitting[/I]< phases to it... Oh I got close! I had her final phase down to a 2x4 sliver bar, and she fucked me. Honestly, not THAT hard as a Pyromancer, because Ariandel is weak to the stuff, and I can stagger Friede with CBV whenever she goes into her charging attack. ...But it is SUCH unbelievable BULLSHIT the kind of mulligans she gets being able to just disappear and then wreck your shit. Because sometimes you see her JUST before she makes her move, and you have a chance to dodge, but the other half of the time you don't see her until she's neck-grabbed your ass already, and there doesn't seem to be ANY fucking way to stop it. I mean, I get it. Haha guys, remember Priscilla? Great, more nostalgia from the first time, well done... But I never even FOUGHT Priscilla, and I know her invisibility shit was balanced by the fact you could see her footprints in the snow, and... y'know... she's like twenty-feet tall. Decent target even for someone given a vague direction. Friede only makes vague sounds as she approaches, and apart from breaking something in the room now and then, you don't know where she's coming from. And meanwhile, I'm just hoping to dodge the coming blow, because wailing in a general direction with my sword and wasting precious stamina sounds like a profoundly stupid and ineffectual tactic. And without that, for a pyromancer she's really not that hard, being able to stagger her and backstab her and having attacks that are mostly pretty dodgeable. She dodges spells, but if you wait for her charge attack, you hit her first and you stop her in her tracks. Her crutch is her fucking invisibility, and without it I'd already be done with her. And after her, that's the whole DLC. I swear to fuck, if Ringed City is this bad...

For the invisibility part you can see the direction she leaps and snow will be kicked up where she lands

I agree that the Milwood Knights are tanky and annoying as a dex player, but I don't think Ashes of Ariandel was really [I]that[/I] bad. It was really short and had its own share of problems, but it's not that bad. I only had issues with the Corvian Knights with the rapiers, because of their knife throwing that can weaken you up for a finishing blow. Also the ones with the claws are annoying when they start their weapon art combo, but if you see it coming you can generally get away. You also don't need red moss to heal the flyman poisoning, you just need a torch. Also, I've never had too much issues with Friede other than her coming back three times. When she turns invisible you can generally listen and hear where she falls. You can also bait her into giving an opening to backstab her. Her last stage was frustrating and her dark attacks always got me one way or another.

[QUOTE=Vigilante2470;52212720] Knock down a few trees and you enter a hive full of easily-killed but functionally obnoxious leech-vomiting Jeff Goldblums, and if you don't have red moss their bleed vomit effect will goddamn END you if ticks the meter so fast. Not to mention some of the more vile imagery in any Souls game. [/QUOTE] Lol wtf is a torch and how does it do?

After I figured out how to track her, I ended up looking forward to her invisibility attacks. She vanishes and leaps up and I just turn around and walk up to the puff of snow and I get a free charge attack. Also, pulling out the torch ends the bleed build up from the fly vomit, just like the leeches at the cathedral of the deep.

Perception check failed. But ya, perhaps take a break and let the game settle for a bit before trying her again.

I actually enjoyed like half the shit you complained about. It seems that not paying enough attention is what gets you. The dlc really isn't that bad. The wolves won't attack you (other than a couple at the bottom) unless you either attack them or you stick around for too long. You can sneak past most of the Millwood Vikings and they give a LOT of backstab opportunities. The viking shield is REALLY good because it has 100% physical block and passively heals you. The Champion boss isn't that bad because you can easily kill the Gravetender before the wolf shows up. Use a torch to burn off the leeches so you don't bleed out. Friede's attack out of invisibility is literally the easiest attack to dodge ever if you're paying attention and is basically a free backstab. Dodge her combos and backstab her in phase three while taking advantage of the fact that you can stagger her.

[QUOTE=Mentlegen;52213067]The wolves won't attack you (other than a couple at the bottom) unless you either attack them or you stick around for too long.[/QUOTE] The wolves mostly all agro you if one of them gets off their howl. You'll end up with a lot more than a couple.

[QUOTE=Vigilante2470;52212720]-be wary of salt-[/QUOTE] Alright so, fair game to your points. But as somebody who legit enjoyed Ashes of Ariendel, here's some advice on how to deal with the more annoying aspects of it: 1) The wolf gank at the start can be avoided if you're careful and snipe the wolves before they notice you. A good way to do it is to circle around the right and kill the two hanging out by the cliff (seeing as you're a Pyro, you should be able to target them or free-aim some high-damage Pyromancy to instakill them) then double back and kill as many of the others as you can before one pulls the gank-alarm. After that, speed is your friend. The wolves take turns to attack you, so focus fire on the ones that are charging up and dodge, dodge, dodge. I recently played through this as a dedicated Sorcerer at level 80-something, with a +10 Court Sorcerer Staff, it only took one Great Heavy Soul Arrow to kill the wolves and I managed to kill all of the ones in the first area by just being slow and steady. 2) A similar tactic applies for the Millwood Knights. Snipe the wolf first then take out the big guy as you would any "big fuck-off knight guy" enemy. These dudes hit hard but they're very easy to predict and exploit for backstabs/parries. The sniper in the tower can be an issue if you overextend, but you can take out the first few guys in the ruins by luring them into the buildings for cover. Just be sure to kill that tree lady first, which should be easy for a Pyro. 3) In the Corvian Village you only really need to fight two of the Corvian Knights - the first one in the river can be a bitch thanks to his flighty moveset, but he's not as tough as he looks. Some well aimed spells will take care of him no problem, just be careful with your spacing and watch for his "I'm about to go apeshit on you with my claws!" pose. If you're ballsy you can dodge through that for an easy backstab or just backup and slam him with a fireball, just don't get caught in it. For the second one (the rapier guy up on the pathway) treat him like a kind of miniboss and use the enviroment to your advantage. The pillar under the bridge makes for great cover from his knives and his thrust attacks can be avoided if you keep to the low or high ground. Again, spacing and timing is your friend: You have better range than he does, use it to your advantage. The other knights, though? (Tower guy and the church bros.) They can all be avoided entirely if you don't want to deal with them. Plus, the ones in the church can be cheesed super easy with range if you stay on the roof or up in the rafters. 4)Once you enter the snow maze, your best bet is to play it like a stealth game: Go slow, pick off guys from a distance if you can, and retreat when you see a lot of them rushing for you. These guys are a pain in the ass when they gang up on you, but if you're careful and observant, that shouldn't happen. Rushing in wildly expecting to be able to fend off a horde of angry cone-heads is a surefire way to get a javaline where it hurts. I will agree that the amount of enemies here is pretty absurd and they can certainly pop out in unexpected places, but again, on my Sorcerer character it was a lot less of a hassle to slowly stalk through the place, sniping people with spells before they could call in backup. I felt like Solid Snake or Garret creeping through that place, seeing as my Sorcerer has the HP of a damp twig. For bonus points, use the Slumbering Dragoncrest ring, Hush sorcery and/or Hidden Body to make it even more stealth-centric. 5) Once you're in fly-town U.S.A, your best bet for minimising pain is to clear the top section and then lob high-damage spells down from the upper level. The flies are annoying in groups, sure. But they're very easy to kill, perhaps some of the squishiest enemies in the whole DLC outside the half-dead Corvians. Once you've cleared as many as you can from up top, advance down and snipe as many as you can, then draw the rest into the chokepoint hallway. The way these guys get you is by coming up around your flanks: If they don't have room to do that, then you're golden. That, or you can just rush straight to the crank, pull it, grab Vilhelm's set from the corner, and book it back up the stairs. The flies are very slow and most of their attacks take some winding up. Also, you can get rid of the worms by equipping a torch. 6) The way down the cliff toward the wolf boss is a pretty rough climb and I think this is the area that gives me the most grief during my playthroughs of Ariendel, but there's a surefire way to minimise your misery here: The first two Followers can be drop attacked or sniped from above without them being able to hit you. The third one can be lured around the corner so you can fight him without interruption. Rush or snipe the fourth one and kill him as fast as you can, then rush back to where you fought the third guy. The Millwood sniper above you can be easily cheesed from here if you target him from below and lob spells at him: His AI gets confused and he'll just stand there glaring at you. Then, equip a high-range bow and some poison arrows to deal with the lower sniper: If you headshot him you can knock him off his perch and eliminate him as a problem for now. Kill the last follower with spells or another drop attack, then rush the bonfire. 7) Skullface McNoPants and his big dumb dog are, admittedly, a pretty underwhelming boss. But nothing you can't handle. The wolves at the start can be sniped and killed before the Gravetender even gets to you, and after that you're basically just fighting a PvP battle with somebody who sucks at PvP. When he summons his greatwolf buddy, focus-fire on the Gravetender til' he's down and then use the inner arena area to bottleneck the wolf. He's big and fast and scary but telegraphs his attacks and isn't as tough as he looks. I'm pretty sure he's actually weak to fire, too, so some good dodges and some timing will see you through in no time. As for Friede, I'm afraid I can't help you much there. I've never beaten her without help, as she's a legitimately challenging endurance boss but I wouldn't say she's unfair. What little advice I can offer is thus: Her first phase invisibility move can be countered if you watch for the cloud of dust from where she lands and rush towards her, as she'll be charging up an attack she's super open to attacks. In phase two, you already know to slam-fire Ariendel with Pyromancy to make this section a cakewalk. But for phase 3? Hell, dude. I don't know. This is essentially Lady Maria on fucking steroids and after two other phases, you're almost certainly going to be feeling the fatigue. Her only real weaknesses in this phase is that: 1) She can be staggered, parried and backstabbed, if you've the nerve for it. 2) Her attacks are wave-based, and there is a small window between the barrages where you can hit her. 3) You can summon Gael to enter the battle in phase 2, even if you're un-embered. And he can run interference on Friede for you during phase 3. Sorry that you didn't enjoy AoA, though. I honestly loved it to bits but I totally understand why I'm a minority there. I can say, with some confidence, that you'll much prefer Ringed City, though. Together with AoA, the DSIII DLC is on par with Old Hunters, IMO. Ringed City is fucking huge and very varied. It has its frustration points but I suspect you'll enjoy it a lot more.

[QUOTE=Vigilante2470;52212720]I'm fucking sick of this. *garbage*[/QUOTE] your posts make me cringe pretty hard something about your posting style

[QUOTE]I'm fucking sick of this.[/QUOTE] I don't know how you'll play Ringed City then. Ashes of Ariandel feels like a cake walk compared to TRC.

Ashes of Ariandel was a peaceful walk to the store where you got into an argument with Friede as Gael scans your items at the checkout line with a soulless glint in his eyes. Vilhelm is her ugly bratty child. The Ringed City was a trench crawl filled with barbed wire, mines, and Hareld Knights. The Demon From Below represents your struggle with alcoholism and the Demon In Pain represents your crippling depression. The Angels sing for your sweet release from life and it's existential suffering. The bug people are a physical representation of your self-seclusion from society as they bury themselves in their own filth. Gael came back for you because you were a dollar short and you bolted from the store with all of your groceries. Midir is the void and it's nothingness from which no joy may be felt. Nothing but anger and madness that will eventually consume your soul until all that is left is the dried out husk of a man that once was.

One trick for the flies in Ariandel which is pretty funny is wearing am armor piece of Kirk's set. And when the flies do the fly and grab attack you can disrupt it by rolling at them, making them hurdle backwards and land on their back, where you can attack them for critical damage.

Ashes was a challenge at first, but became more enjoyable as I found each enemies' patterns and weaknesses. Friede was very tough as a strength character until I got her attack patterns down and learned to time my attacks to connect just as she started hers. I am hell bent on completing the game with no assistance, and so far Midir is the only boss that has caused me to seriously consider summoning help, changing playstyle, or both. [editline]11th May 2017[/editline] The Ringed City is otherwise a lot of fun. Just gotta explore some more and embrace the dark, let the feast begin.

The little buggies confused me so much. I was hoping I could ally with them and eat people, but alss.

[QUOTE=Lyonidis;52214087]Ashes was a challenge at first, but became more enjoyable as I found each enemies' patterns and weaknesses. Friede was very tough as a strength character until I got her attack patterns down and learned to time my attacks to connect just as she started hers. I am hell bent on completing the game with no assistance, and so far Midir is the only boss that has caused me to seriously consider summoning help, changing playstyle, or both. [editline]11th May 2017[/editline] The Ringed City is otherwise a lot of fun. Just gotta explore some more and embrace the dark, let the feast begin.[/QUOTE] For your own sake, don't summon help for Midir. His already crazy massive HP pool will just double, meaning that if your buddy dies, you've an even tougher fight ahead of you.

I'm glad AoA came up, cause I'm actually kind of lost. I've killed Sir Vinhelm (sickest armor in the game so far) and Gravetender, and the little girl is painting upstairs. Not sure where to go next, everywhere I explore to seems to circle back.

[QUOTE=ArchXeno;52214324]I'm glad AoA came up, cause I'm actually kind of lost. I've killed Sir Vinhelm (sickest armor in the game so far) and Gravetender, and the little girl is painting upstairs. Not sure where to go next, everywhere I explore to seems to circle back.[/QUOTE] Go to the bonfire past where you first found the girl, face away from the Corvian Settlement and move in that direction. Try not to die.

Do you get anything if you kill the friendly preacher

[QUOTE=Vigilante2470;52212720]-wall of text-[/QUOTE] I'm honestly impressed you can dish out so many lengthy posts so consistently.

[QUOTE=Nidhogg;52214734]I'm honestly impressed you can dish out so many lengthy posts so consistently.[/QUOTE] I mean by the time you type all that shit out you could be putting the same effort into figuring out where you're going wrong and what you need to do.

[QUOTE=Ona;52214491]Go to the bonfire past where you first found the girl, face away from the Corvian Settlement and move in that direction. Try not to die.[/QUOTE] turns out I was missing the lever in that fly basement. Should have known they'd be more than a blood gem and armor set there

[QUOTE=ArchXeno;52215108]turns out I was missing the lever in that fly basement. Should have known they'd be more than a blood gem and armor set there[/QUOTE] you can actually see the chains from the top floor going from the lever into the ceiling, and i think it's also highlighted but I'd have to check. edit: ye [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/pweWmpm.png[/IMG]

[QUOTE=lxmach1;52215146]you can actually see the chains from the top floor going from the lever into the ceiling, and i think it's also highlighted but I'd have to check. edit: ye [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/pweWmpm.png[/IMG][/QUOTE] Forget that, Patches is looking fabolous