re: Just started Dark Souls 3

Finally got some time to play and defeated pontiff. Anyone know how much further I need to go?

That took forever. It was definitely a challenging game. One of the most challenging I’ve played in a long time. I would definitely do a knight if I had it all over to do again. Although the assassin was fun with cheesing from afar; I would have rather tank it with the bosses. I will definitely play it again; but it is off to Witcher.

*Casts Dead Again on this thread.*

So, after pouring over 300 hours into Elden Ring, I decided to give the Dark Souls games a 50th chance.

Context - my first Soulslike was The Surge. I followed that up with Bloodborne and then Sekiro. All 3 are top 10 all-time for me for varying reasons.

I could never get into the actual Dark Souls games no matter how many times I tried. Granted, I only ever started DS1, but I did that like 50 times and it just never grabbed me.

This time I said screw it and started with DS3. Maybe playing Elden Ring acclimated me to the dark fantasy world, or maybe DS1 was just too clunky to go back to - either way it stuck this time and I'm almost done.

I just transported to the Kiln. I've done everything except the DLCs, which I'm about to do either before or after beating the last story boss - haven't decided yet.

My honest review - this game has been very easy so far.

I've played it without any boss guides or build guides. The only resource I've used was a progress route to make sure I hit all the available areas.

The overall experience has been a blast, so don't think I'm bashing the game. I've loved the world and exploring it all. The Grand Archives may be one of my favorite dungeons in any FromSoft game to date. The atmosphere and look just really drew me in.

That being said - the bosses left me wanting.

The only one I knew from the main story was the Nameless King. Ironically, it was only his name that I knew. I didn't know what he looked like or anything about the fight itself other than it's supposedly one of, if not the hardest in the game.

I one shot him.

The only bosses I didn't one shot were the Abyss Watchers and Sulyvahn - and that was mainly because I went into them with 3 or fewer Estus Flasks.

Oh and Yorhm because I didn't know how to use that sword in the back of the room.

Every boss feels very predictable and slow. That's probably a product of playing this after playing soooo much BB, Sekiro, and ER.

My build, for reference, has been a pure DEX with the Twin Sellswords. Since reaching the Kiln, I've looked up some build info and realized these weapons are considered some of the best in the game. I didn't do this purposely. I usually play DEX in these games because I enjoy fast hitting weapons. (I played all of BB with the Threaded Cane my first playthrough. )

I also didn't do any Soul farming at any point as I never felt out-leveled by the enemies or bosses. For reference, I'm at SL95 right now.

In all, I've really really enjoyed it, but the bosses have been disappointing in difficulty.

I still really enjoyed the Nameless King, Lothric, and Sulyvahn fights, but nothing else stood out.

I'll try to challenge the Boreal Dancer early on my next playthrough since I've since found out that's a thing that can be done.

Conclusion - the game is a blast and I'll look to work through DS1 and DS2 next. I feel like I have to in order to truly call myself a FromSoft fan.

But FS seems like they've obviously perfected their craft with Sekiro and ER when it comes to boss design and difficulty - which should be expected since they're later entries.

I'll note that I know The Ringed City is said to be the most difficult part of the game and there's a dual boss fight that I hope will make me change my tune, but I spent the entire game expecting Nameless King to be much much much worse - that's really what prompted me to necro this thread.

That and I just freaking love these types of games and wanted to share my experience so far.


EDIT - Sorry I know this post was already long, but I needed to let y'all know that I cursed and screamed more at the little rock lizards you have to kill before the second Wyvern fight in Archdragon Peak (and the Wyvern itself) because either they would stunlock me off a cliff when I was clearing them or I'd lose track of the camera and roll off a cliff. This happened like 15 times when I was fighting, dying, and doing the run back to that Wyvern. :lol:

Don't think anyone's paying attention to this, but I'm gonna keep posting my progress.

Beat Freide today. Definitely the hardest boss so far (still have The Ringed City left).

Her first phase took some learning and was easily the wall I had to get through to beat this one. Once I figured out to chase her arse down while she was invisible instead of freaking out rolling everywhere this phase became an easy 1-2 flask task. After that, Phase 2 was just a matter of getting in hits on the big guy because he's a big arse target, and Phase 3 was a repeat of Phase 1 with a couple more openings if I rolled into the end of her combos. Very fun and very challenging fight.

After that I decided to see what the Soul of Cinder was about before I went to the Ringed City DLC. I figured I'd give him a couple shots just to see what he had to offer.

When I landed the final blow and got the Soul I was shocked. I one shot him. Don't get me wrong, very cool looking boss with some punishing attacks. But I knew nothing about him going into the fight and still finished with 7 flasks to spare. I fully expected a 3rd phase.

SL97 at the time I beat both him and Friede, BTW, so I dunno if I was overpowered for his fight or what.

Still love this game and can't wait to tear into the Ringed City!

quote:

---

the dancer

---

Real men kill the dancer before even meeting Vordt.

Anyone who likes DS or any FromSoft gain I’m sure you’ve been told this but really should play code vein

What a dumb fricking down vote. Code Vein is almost certainly the best souls wannabe every made. Miserable homosexual that downvoter

I can’t find a single person on this whole website who likes you. Those in the ATL thread merely tolerate you. So please continue on being the biggest fig on earth while we all laugh at you.

quote:

---

I can’t find a single person on this whole website who likes you. Those in the ATL thread merely tolerate you. So please continue on being the biggest fig on earth while we all laugh at you.

---

I'm simply devastated.