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

I'm feeling the pain of Ringed City. When I started in the Dreg Heap I was so confused what was going on and I pretty much cheesed running through all the enemies. I wanted to explore around and these stupid angels kept shooting light at me (until you can kill them, anyway). Also those Harald knights without having a chance for a drop attack are hell. Made it to the Demons, and I swear I never got as much grief so far as with these guys. Getting to the [sp]Demon Prince[/sp] was alright and I could consistently do it, with some effort, but widdling his health down while he could basically one-shot me with an overhead fireball or lasers was annoying. Ended up getting a summon just to deal with him. In Ringed City proper, it took me a few tries to figure out how to actually get around the archers, and another couple to figure out big hammer guy's brief summon so I could kill the summoner. I remember talking to the lady behind the door and I started getting anxiety because I saw the Harald knight notice me and get closer and I started speeding through her dialogue. :v: The stairs, even though I just complained about them earlier, aren't that bad, just annoying since you might as well run through or really take the effort to drop hit the Harald knights. I did manage to kill one, but the others were close enough to aggro. The Ringed Knights were actually pretty alright for me, so long as I just have to fight one of them at a time. It was funny with Moaning Knight, since the first couple tries I ended up slipping off the tower to my death while avoiding him and the skellies. I ended up playing really safe this last time and just going for a quick combo when he fell chasing me. After going aroundabout for a few floors he slipped too far and fell out of the tower. Couldn't help but audibly yell out "see ya, you fucking amateur!" Dealing with Midir on the bridge was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be, I only ever got hit by his bite and occasionally his fire. The PRKGS Knight also went better than I first expected. Only used one estus fighting him. Which is sad because now I'm fucking up when I fight him again. :v: I'm still at Spears of the Church so far, went mostly well the first time and I almost killed the guy several times except I actually ran out of estus mid-fight and the Painting Guardians weren't letting me close the gap. So yeah. td;lr: I'm liking Ringed City, despite some of the more tanky enemies and sections where I feel like I just have to run through (because I'm also a filthy dex player and can't do big damage in chunks)

I'm currently in a situation where I can't play videogames as much as I used to, but I'd really like to replay Bloodborne all over again. I just want to wield the Threaded Cane once more and still have that neat idea for a strenght or strenght -arcane character [IMG]https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/46/a4/86/46a48648b429c231d4f7a291db9738c6.jpg[/IMG]

[QUOTE=EliaMoroes;52215606]I'm currently in a situation where I can't play videogames as much as I used to, but I'd really like to replay Bloodborne all over again. I just want to wield the Threaded Cane once more and still have that neat idea for a strenght or strenght -arcane character [IMG]https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/46/a4/86/46a48648b429c231d4f7a291db9738c6.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE] If you're focusing on threaded cane wouldnt it make more sense for it to be a skill-arcane character

I got invaded by someone named Trusty Patches last night who lead me to one of the rotten tree shortcuts in Ashes of Ariandel. When a bluebro showed up he lead him to a cliff and punched him off with caestus. Then we both did Hurrah at the same time and he crystalled out. 10/10 experience would be invaded by again.

[QUOTE=RainbowStalin;52215751]If you're focusing on threaded cane wouldnt it make more sense for it to be a skill-arcane character[/QUOTE] I meant, one character for the Cane and another for the Alice Liddle expy

[QUOTE=Vigilante2470;52212720]...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.[/QUOTE] Just follow her quickly when she jumps back, then she won't be invisible. Did you forget what game you're playing? Pretty much every complaint you mentioned is solved by being careful and paying attention; y'know, the quintessential rule of thumb of how to succeed at Dark Souls. You're not going to like Ringed City.

DS3's Deluxe Edition is half off on the HumbleBundle store [url]https://www.humblebundle.com/store/dark-souls-iii-deluxe-edition[/url]

[QUOTE=Daemon White;52217114]DS3's Deluxe Edition is half off on the HumbleBundle store [url]https://www.humblebundle.com/store/dark-souls-iii-deluxe-edition[/url][/QUOTE] literally bought the season pass 4 days ago, Such is life.

Apparently someone recently found the carcass of a mysterious sea creature around Indonesia [t]https://edge.alluremedia.com.au/uploads/businessinsider/2017/05/Sea-animal.jpg[/t] Doesn't this remind you of anything?

[QUOTE=EliaMoroes;52218148]Apparently someone recently found the carcass of a mysterious sea creature around Indonesia [t]https://edge.alluremedia.com.au/uploads/businessinsider/2017/05/Sea-animal.jpg[/t] Doesn't this remind you of anything?[/QUOTE] a whale

[QUOTE=EliaMoroes;52218148]Apparently someone recently found the carcass of a mysterious sea creature around Indonesia [t]https://edge.alluremedia.com.au/uploads/businessinsider/2017/05/Sea-animal.jpg[/t] Doesn't this remind you of anything?[/QUOTE] margaret thatcher???

The gluttonous demon?

[QUOTE=EliaMoroes;52218148]Apparently someone recently found the carcass of a mysterious sea creature around Indonesia [t]https://edge.alluremedia.com.au/uploads/businessinsider/2017/05/Sea-animal.jpg[/t] Doesn't this remind you of anything?[/QUOTE] This isn't pics of your mom thread

Has anyone else noticed after the last few recent patches that people, including me, have been pulling off some really bullshit backstabs lately? Like, almost DS1-tier backstabs where you're looking at someone's back for a fraction of a second and it locks them into a backstab.

[QUOTE=Nidhogg;52218631]Has anyone else noticed after the last few recent patches that people, including me, have been pulling off some really bullshit backstabs lately? Like, almost DS1-tier backstabs where you're looking at someone's back for a fraction of a second and it locks them into a backstab.[/QUOTE] "Oh that's right, you gotta do it from the [I]FRONT[/I]"

[QUOTE=Nidhogg;52218631]Has anyone else noticed after the last few recent patches that people, including me, have been pulling off some really bullshit backstabs lately? Like, almost DS1-tier backstabs where you're looking at someone's back for a fraction of a second and it locks them into a backstab.[/QUOTE] Well I've been noticing more people [i]going[/i] for it, but I thought it has always been that bad

[QUOTE=Super2Donny;52218642]Well I've been noticing more people [i]going[/i] for it, but I thought it has always been that bad[/QUOTE] No, something definitely changed in the past month or so, 'cuz backstabs never used to be this bad until around the time the Ringed City DLC released. I've killed so many people with unintended backstabs lately because they pivoted their back for literally a milisecond, rubberbanding them back to my sword. [editline]derp[/editline] Basically shit like this. :v: [vid]https://my.mixtape.moe/ivflpr.mp4[/vid] Actually, looking at this again, maybe this was fair game. But I swear I've had this shit happen a lot more than usual lately even when I'm using a fast little rinky dink sword. :v:

New magic meta discovered, you guys. [video=youtube;gTuGWpeaSVQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTuGWpeaSVQ[/video]

I've had people completely 180 me with backstabs consistantly, was never that bad until TRC.

Fucking [sp]Patches[/sp]! Granted I figured it out right before it happened, but man was I bamboozled

Anyone been looking at gameplay of The Surge? Aside from the art style and level design, it honestly doesn't look too terrible.

Come to the painted world if you want an asswhoopin' from solaire and swolaire [t]https://puu.sh/vO7W7/c1fa67d0e6.png[/t]

Finished Ashes of Ariandel last night. I can definitely see why it got a sort of poor reception for a Dark Souls DLC, but in fairness that might just have to do with the fact that every previous DkS DLC was really, really good more than AoA being bad. It was pretty short, and my one real complaint is how this length is even padded out with the Corvian Settlement/Snowy forest parts. I felt that the [sp]bug area where you open the door to the final boss[/sp] was a bit contrived to get the DLC to last longer, but that may just be me. The boss fights were both pretty enjoyable though. [sp]The first one isn't too difficult, but its an enjoyable throwback, and the second one lives up to it's reputation. It reminded me of Manus, a fight that is quite challenging but at no point do you ever feel like the game is being cheap with you. On my final attempt I got hit once the entire time. [/sp] Overall, not a bad experience. Doesn't live up to most of the previous DLC releases in the series, but it isn't horrible or anything. Just okay. Lore question: [sp]Speaking of bugs, whats the lore on those guys? I couldn't help but notice that they dropped a lot of human pine resin. They have something to do with the rot obviously, but are they a symptom of it? The cause of it?[/sp]

[QUOTE=Raidyr;52220368]Finished Ashes of Ariandel last night. I can definitely see why it got a sort of poor reception for a Dark Souls DLC, but in fairness that might just have to do with the fact that every previous DkS DLC was really, really good more than AoA being bad. It was pretty short, and my one real complaint is how this length is even padded out with the Corvian Settlement/Snowy forest parts. I felt that the [sp]bug area where you open the door to the final boss[/sp] was a bit contrived to get the DLC to last longer, but that may just be me. The boss fights were both pretty enjoyable though. [sp]The first one isn't too difficult, but its an enjoyable throwback, and the second one lives up to it's reputation. It reminded me of Manus, a fight that is quite challenging but at no point do you ever feel like the game is being cheap with you. On my final attempt I got hit once the entire time. [/sp] Overall, not a bad experience. Doesn't live up to most of the previous DLC releases in the series, but it isn't horrible or anything. Just okay. Lore question: [sp]Speaking of bugs, whats the lore on those guys? I couldn't help but notice that they dropped a lot of human pine resin. They have something to do with the rot obviously, but are they a symptom of it? The cause of it?[/sp][/QUOTE] [sp]The bug-men are likely a sympton of the rot. If I had to guess, they were inhabitants who were turned by the rot, and now nurture and thrive in it, which means it spreads even faster.[/sp]

[QUOTE=kiloy;52212772]For the invisibility part you can see the direction she leaps and snow will be kicked up where she lands[/QUOTE] Yeah, see, that was the thing. When she vanished, I had no way of knowing what she was doing in that time. Rather than be risky, I mostly wanted to avoid her, since I have a very deliberate and defensive play style. I was afraid if I ran into her at that moment that I'd be swiftly punished, because why wouldn't she just attack? Learning that she doesn't move THAT much from where the snow kicks up, and that she becomes visible when you're close, were helpful indicators. But I swear, when you don't reach her in time, it still feels like she grabs you mid-roll with the scythe. [QUOTE=Sewer guy;52212798]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.[/quote] Exactly, the knives alone do UNBELIEVABLE damage. I just find it really weird how prominent a section it is, and yet it boils all its challenge into five individual enemies, plus an NPC, because the other sickly corvian whatevers can almost be ignored outright. [quote]You also don't need red moss to heal the flyman poisoning, you just need a torch.[/quote] See, this is something I wish I knew about the leeches a long time ago. I have no idea how I'm expected to KNOW this, or why holding a torch has this instant effect. Hell, not even sure I HAVE a torch, because who wants a torch for a weapon? [quote]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] Yeah, figuring out the invisibility is what did it for me. Just getting past her first phase with little damage and resource use is key to the whole thing. She's easily avoidable in phase two while you pummel Ariandel, who is predictable and dies fast to fire. Phase three, she's got some new moves, but they're largely dodgeable and she definitely gives you some openings even as a caster. I still feel it's nothing compared to Pontiff, Dancer or Soul of Cinder at their worst. But then, I'm just evading her and chucking fireballs until she dies... I'm certain it's a VERy different fight on a pure-melee build, even if she staggers easy. [QUOTE=Man in the Moon;52212863]Lol wtf is a torch and how does it do?[/QUOTE] Laugh it up, Pipboy, but again I ask: how am I supposed to just KNOW the torch would have this effect, unless I watched hours and hours of "Top ten things you didn't know about DS3!" videos? Honestly, I mentioned the flies, but that doesn't mean I died to them. I thought the damage tick was pretty brutal, but I still cleared the chamber in one go. [QUOTE=Mentlegen;52213067]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.[/quote] I dunno, the wolves always seemed to aggro easy, and I didn't really want to chance screwing around to find out. The message I got with them and the howl rally-call was "gank enemy," and after seeing the damage they do, I didn't hesitate to get them before they got me. [quote]The viking shield is REALLY good because it has 100% physical block and passively heals you.[/quote] Indeed, it's pretty good gear for a no str/dex focus. Didn't even know about the healing part. [quote]The Champion boss isn't that bad because you can easily kill the Gravetender before the wolf shows up.[/QUOTE] Yeah, had him on his last legs when Gareth of Rivia himself showed up. Trivial to finish him off, but you HAVE to. Because worrying about both of them is how you die. [QUOTE=Anderan;52213145]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] See, this guy gets it. [QUOTE=BuDSpOoNce;52213893]your posts make me cringe pretty hard something about your posting style[/QUOTE] *Shrugs* I don't know what to tell you. Don't know how I'm different from anyone else. [QUOTE=Sweater;52213910]I don't know how you'll play Ringed City then. Ashes of Ariandel feels like a cake walk compared to TRC.[/QUOTE] Again, it's really not that it's hard or that I can't take it. I beat the fucking thing, I just didn't feel terribly accomplished for doing it. Rather than justly rewarded, I feel like, "THERE! Fuck! What next game? Want me to carve a number into the back of my hand with a razor blade?" It's not that it's hard to do... it just HURTS. It made me think of Crown of the Old Iron King, if a touch less hardcore and a hell of a lot shorter. Except the gauntlets being run weren't THAT hard in principle... you were just getting killed for really stupid reasons. And I dunno, I'm sure it's a counter so people don't use AofA as an early leveling paradise, but it felt like the average soul-yield from enemies was incredibly unrewarding. It was rare to breach any sort of threshold to go back and spend your souls. [QUOTE=Sunday_Roast;52214059]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.[/QUOTE] I only recently learned about the advantage of Kirk's set with rolling, but I don't know why you need this for the flies since they die in like... one hit. Maybe if you get swarmed, but it's never THAT bad. You just get surprised the first time, grabbed and leached, and then you pull them one by one. [QUOTE=Nidhogg;52214734]I'm honestly impressed you can dish out so many lengthy posts so consistently.[/QUOTE] I'm a very deliberate person, and I often just need to put down my full thoughts as thoroughly as I can. [QUOTE=DeVotchKa;52215092]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] I can do two things... [QUOTE=Sherow_Xx;52216191]Did you forget what game you're playing? Pretty much every complaint you mentioned is solved by being careful and paying attention; y'know, the quintessential rule of thumb of how to succeed at Dark Souls. You're not going to like Ringed City.[/QUOTE] I can't be careful and pay attention and still have trouble? I'm not stabbing everything in sight and trying to bunny-hop through the area shrieking the Ballad of Bilbo Baggins... When I play, unless I'm just trying to run to the bonfire, I go scorched-earth on the entire area. I clear everything systematically until I can safely roam the area at will. But even I can underestimate From's ability to hide a trap-enemy in plain sight.

I didn't even realize the viking shield healed me until three months after the dlc was out and I had been using it as my main shield that entire time. I just noticed it at one point and then felt silly reading the description and realizing it works like a blessed infused shield.

[QUOTE=Vigilante2470;52221448]The High Wall of Text[/QUOTE] and I thought I had problems playing Dark Souls

[QUOTE=Vigilante2470;52221448]Ungodly long wall of text, holy fuck[/QUOTE] :wow: Meanwhile... [vid]https://my.mixtape.moe/tfnbox.mp4[/vid]

I don't know how you can not figure out about the torch unless you're playing offline. Every playthrough I've done there's always an orange soap sign right at the beginning of the church that tells you to use the torch.

[QUOTE=PotatoArmada;52221662]I don't know how you can not figure out about the torch unless you're playing offline. Every playthrough I've done there's always an orange soap sign right at the beginning of the church that tells you to use the torch.[/QUOTE] Okay, maybe my grasp of causal chains is slipping, but "need torch" generally translates to me as either "it's fuckin' DARK yo," or "problem foe ahead is weak to fire." I got that much from the intestinal-distress golems. I don't see how that literally turns into "use torch when the thing pegs you with its status effect gimmick."