Octopus Overlords

Unless maybe you mean the Also, I found the catacomb boss the be the easiest in the game by far. He died in 2 or 3 hits. No exaggeration.

ColdSteel wrote:Unless maybe you mean the

Spoiler:

Rite of Kindling?

Also, I found the catacomb boss the be the easiest in the game by far. He died in 2 or 3 hits. No exaggeration.

Yea. That is what I meant. And did you kill the main boss or the weak pre-boss?

Pinwheel was the one I killed there.

ColdSteel wrote:Pinwheel was the one I killed there.

The main boss is beyond Pinwheel. Down deep into the catecombs.

Scuzz wrote:The main boss is beyond Pinwheel. Down deep into the catecombs.

Pinwheel is the end of the Catacombs. Further below that is Tomb of the Giants. The boss there is Gravelord Nito. I haven't gotten to him yet. I stopped at the bonfire there you can fast travel from and haven't gone any further. I need to get back there now that I have a good light source.

ColdSteel wrote:

Scuzz wrote:The main boss is beyond Pinwheel. Down deep into the catecombs.

Pinwheel is the end of the Catacombs. Further below that is Tomb of the Giants. The boss there is Gravelord Nito. I haven't gotten to him yet. I stopped at the bonfire there you can fast travel from and haven't gone any further. I need to get back there now that I have a good light source.

Oh yea, I forgot the name changed. My mistake. Yea...the sunlight maggot.

Finally beat O & S last night. I wanted the Leo ring so made it harder for myself taking Smough first. I wound up pimping out a lightning halberd to the max. Two handed light attacks hit Smough hard. Still couldn't get them with Solaire. Solaire is worhless against super Ortnstein. Luckly I joined another players game, Artic Fox. We got Smogh easy enough. Artic was using ranged sorceries. I switched to plus 5 divine mace and tried to stay between O's legs. Artic fell when O was at 15 to 20%. I manged to finish him off.

I am now going to scrum the catacomb necromancers to get a soul lantern to trade for the fog ring. With that, I should get Lautrec to save the character.

Kudos to you for beating Ornstein last. I wanted the Leo ring too and I tried and tried but could not beat him last. Smough was easy to kill first but the NPC got slaughtered by super Ornstein in no time. The best I could do is get him down to about a quarter health. Really frustrating. I finally gave up and just killed Smough last.

ColdSteel wrote:Kudos to you for beating Ornstein last. I wanted the Leo ring too and I tried and tried but could not beat him last. Smough was easy to kill first but the NPC got slaughtered by super Ornstein in no time. The best I could do is get him down to about a quarter health. Really frustrating. I finally gave up and just killed Smough last.

Spoiler:

I killed Lautrec right after I saved him when he was sitting by that ledge at Firelink. A couple of quick kicks and he was over the edge and I had his ring. Not recommended if you want to get his armor later though.

Yea, I have always got the fast skinny one first and then taken on the fat guy one on one. I always thought that was easier.

New Londo has been drained. I made it to the Dragon in Ash Lake. I made it through the Duke's Archives. I would like to save Sif before getting the Astoris ring, but the Sanctuary Garden boss is a pain.

Montag wrote:New Londo has been drained. I made it to the Dragon in Ash Lake. I made it through the Duke's Archives. I would like to save Sif before getting the Astoris ring, but the Sanctuary Garden boss is a pain.

Your last sentence is regards the DLC opening boss, right? After you finally kill that boss you will be in for a real surprise if you go back through there again.

I know you may experience double vision. Got knight Astorias yesterday. Maybe took ~ 30 tries. Game opens up after him. Farmed darkwraiths and got a titanite slab to get black bow of pharis to 15.

Montag wrote:I know you may experience double vision. Got knight Astorias yesterday. Maybe took ~ 30 tries. Game opens up after him. Farmed darkwraiths and got a titanite slab to get black bow of pharis to 15.

I think that was my favorite fight in the entire series. And it probably took me around 30 tries.

And Sif has been rescued so I can kill him properly later. I am sitting at the fog gate for Manus now.

And Manus is down. I did use the ranged exploit to get him down to almost nothing, then went through the fog gate to summon Sif. I did get the killing blow on him. I need to get 4 more levels then I can equip the Greatsword of Artorias.

Just finished it. I was disappointed with the end cut scene, just nothing really there. Ornstein and Smough were the toughest followed by Astorias. Cinder was a pushover with parrying.

So...I don't know much about this game but what I think I've heard, I like.

First, it's very, very difficult and unforgiving as far as combat goes. Is that correct?

Second, the combat is fairly involved and interesting. Is that correct?

The Surge conversation has returned my thoughts to melee combat, and I'm currently playing the original Dead Island which has interesting, if not the best melee combat. It's interesting because there are options besides just swinging your hammer, and the player has almost full control over what happens. Crits do have animations which aren't directly controlled, but you can kick, jump kick, side jump and swipe, stomp on heads, kneel over a prone zombie and stab it repeatedly in the head (very satisfying if not the most effective way to deal with a downed zombie), cut off limbs, stab them in the back, break bones etc etc.

Lots of fun.

So I'm looking for something like that. Less "mash the A button to execute a series of attacks" and more "initiate with A and if it lands, hit B to shield bash or X to leg sweep followed by back (<--) + AB to finish the combo.

Is Dark Souls anything like that? Is it directly comparable to any other popular games that I might have played for comparison purposes?

Lastly, assuming I'm still interested in the game, is it worth it to start with the original or should I just pick one of the more modern versions?

I only played about 7 hours of Dark Souls on PC, but I am finishing up Bloodborne on PS4 which is by the same people and a similar game. I think the combat is somewhat similar to The Witcher 3 beast fights on the hardest difficulty level. They are hard and you have to learn the boss moves and be patient and use the right tools.

Hmmm, I have almost no Witcher experience either, although I played the tutorial for one of them, I think. I liked what I saw.

I have a co-worker with extensive Witcher experience. I will ask him for details next week.

edit: bit pricey for a ps3 port (CAN$22). Will wait to see if I can get it for 5 bucks at some point.

This not a button mash at all. Like Coop said, you need to learn your enemies and what means to take them down. There are some insane players that will play through the whole game naked and have no deaths because they learned the game well enough. Greatly enjoyed it. You must have patience. I have played about 1/2 of DS 2 and have petered out. I may pick it up again later, but I think I liked DS 1 more.

*drums fingers waiting for it to go on sale again*

Do you have a PS4? Bloodborne is really good and pretty cheap (for a console game). $20 new and I assume it is available used as well.

coopasonic wrote:Do you have a PS4? Bloodborne is really good and pretty cheap (for a console game). $20 new and I assume it is available used as well.

Nope, thanks for the thought though. Not much of a console house although we have a Wii and a Wii U from when the kids were younger (but mostly to give my wife something to buy at Christmas).

I have put probably 500 hours into Dark Souls 1 and 2. My PC can't play DS3 but I hope to change that in the next month, and I have already bought the game in a Steam sale.

Bloodborne is another game I can't play on my current PC. I am told it is very good but thatthe combat is different from Dark Souls.

As for Dark Souls....

It is a great game. It also has quite a learning curve. Smashing the attack button will only get you killed. You need to learn how to move and you need to learn the moves of whatever it is you are fighting.

Pick a character and level up the attributes that further that type of character. This is not a game where you can exchange hits with the enemy, you need to learn to time your hits and dodge the enemies. Many boss fights have NPC's who can help you if you get stuck.

As for the world, it is very open for probably 75% of the game play. At some point you do have to follow the desired route to finish the game, but until then you can wander around. Enemies are set at a certain level, so you can run into enemies too tough for you fairly early in the game if you take certain paths. If you come back to them later they will not have got tougher along with you and will seem so much easier because you have got better.

As for weapons. They are everywhere and by using select items you can make them better. It is probably better to strengthen your weapons rather than your armor.

I don't know if you want to play "blind" or not. The game is designed to make you either miss stuff or for you to seek help. There are many wiki's you can check. I found playing thru an area and then checking a wiki on the area to be for me anyway the best way to play the game without spoiling myself. You will miss things if you play totally blind. Talk to NPC's. Get all their info, then later go back and talk to them again. Things can change. They will also often give you info on other game play.

And finally, you will die. You will die often.

Scuzz wrote:Bloodborne is another game I can't play on my current PC. I am told it is very good but thatthe combat is different from Dark Souls.

Bloodborne is a PS4 exclusive, so your PC will definitely have issues with it.

I'm anxious to try the combat. In fact that's the only reason I'm interested in the game. That said, I won't know if the combat clicks with me or not until I try it for myself. No amount of description is going to tell me if it "feels good" or not. Some complicated melee systems are awesome. Some are not. I mean, imo of course. I find some systems fun and others tedious.

Once/If I get the game I will report back after some play. Who knows when that will be though.

coopasonic wrote:

Scuzz wrote:Bloodborne is another game I can't play on my current PC. I am told it is very good but thatthe combat is different from Dark Souls.

Bloodborne is a PS4 exclusive, so your PC will definitely have issues with it.

damn, I didn't know that, I just knew it came out after my PC became obsolete.

GreenGoo wrote:I'm anxious to try the combat. In fact that's the only reason I'm interested in the game. That said, I won't know if the combat clicks with me or not until I try it for myself. No amount of description is going to tell me if it "feels good" or not. Some complicated melee systems are awesome. Some are not. I mean, imo of course. I find some systems fun and others tedious.

Once/If I get the game I will report back after some play. Who knows when that will be though.

You can probably buy Dark Souls 1 during a Steam sale for $9.99, and that would be the full version (with the DLC).

Bloodborne is by far my least fav. of the series if that makes you feel any better. A lot of people love it, but I like the slower pace of the Dark Souls series. And shields. I love me shields.

Scuzz wrote:

GreenGoo wrote:I'm anxious to try the combat. In fact that's the only reason I'm interested in the game. That said, I won't know if the combat clicks with me or not until I try it for myself. No amount of description is going to tell me if it "feels good" or not. Some complicated melee systems are awesome. Some are not. I mean, imo of course. I find some systems fun and others tedious.

Once/If I get the game I will report back after some play. Who knows when that will be though.

You can probably buy Dark Souls 1 during a Steam sale for $9.99, and that would be the full version (with the DLC).

Yep, I'm impatiently waiting. And it better be 5 bucks for a PC port of a 6 year old PS3 game.

You want the Prepare to Die Edition.

It hits $5 on steam and humble with some regularity. Summer sale coming in a couple months I assume.

coopasonic wrote:It hits $5 on steam and humble with some regularity. Summer sale coming in a couple months I assume.

Yeah, the price databases said as much. Tick tock.

So the entire time I've been waiting for this game to go on sale, it hasn't. I received it as a Christmas gift and have started making progress. Given the nature of the game and the age of it, I'm watching videos of someone playing through it. I might have the patience to fight the same dude 30+ times until I get past him, but I do NOT have the patience to fight the same dude 30+ times then realize it was a mistake somehow and now I've screwed myself in some way. So just like with The Evil Within (which I never did finish btw), I'm watching someone play Dark Souls while I play Dark Souls myself.

It's more about avoiding wasting time than about finding out how to defeat enemies or uncover secrets, but if that happens I'm not going to sweat it.

I'm rezzing this thread because I'd like to make random comments as I play, and this seems like a good place to do that.

I'm currently on the bridge with the Drake, after having killed the Taurus Demon. I also beat the extra tough dude in the Undead Burg and received the ring that increases defense when my health gets low.

I'm uncertain why I'm picking up every random piece of armour and weaponry I find. Can I sell it eventually? Can I use it for anything besides its designed purpose? I'm probably not going to ever use a short sword, so I'm not sure why I have 4 of them in my bottomless box.

I did see in the walkthrough how to fire 100+ arrows at the drake's tail to get it to break off and become a sword. I'm not sure I'm going to do that.

GreenGoo wrote: ↑Thu Dec 28, 2017 10:01 pm
I did see in the walkthrough how to fire 100+ arrows at the drake's tail to get it to break off and become a sword. I'm not sure I'm going to do that.

Lol, I would be like, "Yeah, I'll get right on that..."

Some things were patched out. This may be one of them. BTW, you can find your save game, copy it, and copy it back as a means to protect yourself from stupid things.

My last play session, I ran across the bridge, down the stairs, kicked the ladder, climbed down and rested at the bonfire, then quit.

My most recent play session, I loaded the game, IMMEDIATELY recognized the bonfire as the one I spent hours at while I tried to kill the black knight guarding the ring, and thought "wtf happened? Why am I back here?". So I proceeded to kill my way back to the Taurus Demon (he's already dead), then down and then across the bridge again. I go down the stairs, down the ladder, rest at the bonfire, then realize this is the bonfire I started at. For a split second I was like "damn, did the game glitch me all the way back here?".

Anyone who has played the game knows where this is going.

There aren't two bonfires, they are both the same bonfire. I didn't see that when I ran across the bridge, and when I loaded my game, I didn't see the ladder to the right of the exit arch.

Essentially I redid upper undead burg just to arrive back where I started. On the plus side, I grabbed some more arrows from the vendor, and after doing upper undead burg a billion times while I tried to kill the black knight, it's now easy peasy.

Yup, but the ladder is still there and you can go the new route. Hate the rats more than the people.

Montag wrote: ↑Fri Dec 29, 2017 8:59 am Yup, but the ladder is still there and you can go the new route. Hate the rats more than the people.

Yep, that's the funny part. I went the long, circuitous route again through all the hollows for no reason.

Did the tail thing as a human, so it only took 20-30 arrows or so.