From Software Dark Souls 3

[Damned Registrations]

The wolves were pretty cool, I liked the way they fought. Trees were kinda neat as well. The humanoid enemies are pretty lame though, they just kind of annoyingly swarm you and they aren't even worth the effort of killing for souls. It's like those zombies in the graveyard before the cathedral, except those at least set some atmosphere. Had to stop and gear up some more to handle the first boss, kinda killing my motivation, the second phase seems really really dull.

 

[Sothpaw]

The humanoid enemies are pretty lame though, they just kind of annoyingly swarm you and they aren't even worth the effort of killing for souls.

Nothing like fighting 2 guys with shields, 2 guys who breathe fire and two guys who chuck spears all at once. Then get no souls or drops for your efforts.

 

[DramaticPopcorn]

wake me up when i cna do this again

 

[Perkel]

nice. They reconized me as Lord of Hollows in DLC.
Though i will need to play rest of DLC in NG+

 

[sullynathan]

wake me up when i cna do this again

Dark magic broke multiplayer in this game to the point that people had to resort to cheating to defend against it.

 

[Perkel]

nice. They reconized me as Lord of Hollows in DLC.
Though i will need to play rest of DLC in NG+

lel i fucked up. I thought that i was supposed to do this while i am not doing dark ending. I didn't notice ladder..

 

[Perkel]

Ok this dlc last boss is easily the hardest and the best boss in dark souls.

 

[baturinsky]

Bosses are so uneven in DS3. Vordt, Deacons, Sage and Wolnir I did in one try (or one try after reading the strategy for them). Abyss Watcher took me 20 tries or so Tree was something in-between.

 

[Perkel]

Finished DLC on NG+. Thoughts:

- It isn't short. I don't know who said it is short but this is basically 0.7-0.8 of Artorias of Abyss DLC. Map size it is as big as Artorias of Abyss DLC and unlike AoA it is a bit more complex. I think it is main bosses count that puts it at small size as you get 2 official ones.
- Like the lore but i feel DLC2 will tie in somehow into it so probably lore is unfinished. Defo feels a lot like AoA DLC rather than crowns dlc for DS2 so imo a bonus.
- Level design is superb (pretty much standard for DS3). First area is a bit dull but later on gets better.
- Like in case of main game you can easily miss part of DLC
- Final boss of DLC is best boss in dark souls hand down.
- I wonder what would happen later if i would follow lord of hollows line instead of going to ng+ as normal.
Imo. Worth it though i would wait first for DLC2 for it.

I finished complete playtrough going solo on every boss including all optional areas and it took me 36 hours from which about 3 hours were farming.
DLC alone took me about 5 hours 3-4 for exploration and 1 hour straight to beat last boss (mostly due to luck not my skill).

I can see easily taking more than 3-4 hours on last boss alone if i didn't have luck i got when i won.

Bosses are so uneven in DS3. Vordt, Deacons, Sage and Wolnir I did in one try (or one try after reading the strategy for them). Abyss Watcher took me 20 tries or so Tree was something in-between.

My first playtrough(solo):
- Vordt - first try (mostly luck)
- Tree - 4-5 times
- Crystal - about 2 times
- Decons - first time
- Abyss Watchers - 3-4 times, I found it easy
- Wolnyr - fucking 10+ times before i figured out him.
- Pontif - 20+ tries
- Aldrich - 7-8 times
- Dancer - 20+ tries. Mu first time was like one hit away next ones she fucked me over like trash
- Yorm - 10+ (didn't figure out his "trick").
- Princes - 30+ tries. I hated that teleport insta fucking death.
- Soul of cinder 8-10 times.
- Consumed King - 3 times
- Nameless - about 15 times

As for DLC first stage of last boss around 30+ alone. IT would be easier with different faster weapon but i choose to stick to my char hammer guy. After first stage it is usually slaughter and i won by pure luck alone. Tho it was NG+ version not NG.

edit:

What i like about DLC boss is that it seems to be designed around every player focus. Like to roll ? Here is delayed attack that takes 3/4 of your HP and if you will roll like usually you will get hit.
Like to sword and board ? Take those grabs
Like to run away like a bitch ? Here is your tracking attack that closes distance quickly.

 

[sullynathan]

Bosses are so uneven in DS3. Vordt, Deacons, Sage and Wolnir I did in one try (or one try after reading the strategy for them). Abyss Watcher took me 20 tries or so Tree was something in-between.

Maybe it's because the abyss watchers are a lord of cinder while the others are gimmicky or early bosses?

 

[TheChickenKing]

Is there any real consensus on boss difficulty? Ignoring gimmick bosses like Wolnyr, Bed of Chaos or Yhorm (who are only really problematic until you figure out their arbitrary weakness), I've seen a lot of mixed information on DS3 especially. I've noticed a bunch of people mentioning having trouble with the Princes, but I thought that was one of the easier fights in the game and I beat it in a handful of tries. I think Pontiff usually gets mentioned as one of the tougher fights, and I straight up couldn't beat him without summons so I'm either total trash or I'm just partial trash and he is actually pretty tough. Meanwhile, I've seen some people trumpet Nameless King as one of the toughest fights in the series, but I found him substantially easier than my personal favorite boss, Manus.

Assuming that the answer is no, there isn't really much of a consensus regarding boss difficulty, then does that have more to do with player skill, build quality or build type, or just plain luck?

 

[Hyperion]

Some people are just better at dodging certain things. For me, bosses with delayed attacks (Fume Knight, Dragonslayer Armor. 2nd half Abyss Watchers) cause problems. But bosses with straightforward, no nonsense attacks (Lost Sinner, Sir Alonne, O&S) are typically easy because you generally hit Circle as soon as you see the attack animation.

Other people feel the exact opposite, and are better at knowing at what precise moment to dodge a slower attack, but their reaction is too slow for the faster attacks.

 

[sullynathan]

Is there any real consensus on boss difficulty? Ignoring gimmick bosses like Wolnyr, Bed of Chaos or Yhorm (who are only really problematic until you figure out their arbitrary weakness), I've seen a lot of mixed information on DS3 especially. I've noticed a bunch of people mentioning having trouble with the Princes, but I thought that was one of the easier fights in the game and I beat it in a handful of tries. I think Pontiff usually gets mentioned as one of the tougher fights, and I straight up couldn't beat him without summons so I'm either total trash or I'm just partial trash and he is actually pretty tough. Meanwhile, I've seen some people trumpet Nameless King as one of the toughest fights in the series, but I found him substantially easier than my personal favorite boss, Manus.

Assuming that the answer is no, there isn't really much of a consensus regarding boss difficulty, then does that have more to do with player skill, build quality or build type, or just plain luck?

The hardest bosses in souls 3 are the late game and optional ones. Nameless king, Champion Gundyr, Lothric, Dragonslayer Armor and the final boss. Fortunately, they were some of the best bosses in the entire series. All the other bosses were varying levels of easy. There are certain bosses I thought were hard but if I played more aggressively they were much easier, those were Aldritch and the abyss watchers. Aldritch, nameless king and the cursed rotted wood were the ones I died the most to.

The dancer caused a lot of codexers problems but my guess is that they didn't dodge properly, they fought it too early or they didn't use a shield.
Pontiff wasn't hard either, just get a big weapon and smack him with it. He also caused people problems because they said his combos were too long, but they should dodge better.

 

[TheChickenKing]

The hardest bosses in souls 3 are the late game and optional ones. Nameless king, Champion Gundyr, Lothric, Dragonslayer Armor and the final boss. Fortunately, they were some of the best bosses in the entire series. All the other bosses were varying levels of easy. There are certain bosses I thought were hard but if I played more aggressively they were much easier, those were Aldritch and the abyss watchers. Aldritch, nameless king and the cursed rotted wood were the ones I died the most to.

The dancer caused a lot of codexers problems but my guess is that they didn't dodge properly, they fought it too early or they didn't use a shield.
Pontiff wasn't hard either, just get a big weapon and smack him with it. He also caused people problems because they said his combos were too long, but they should dodge better.

That makes me think it's less dodge skill and more the general level of aggression. I found Aldrich totally doable within a few tries and that's because, for the most part, I play fairly aggressively. I usually get in close to bosses, shield up, while I look for an opening. I obviously try to dodge as much as possible, but I'll take a shield hit or two and shrug it off. During fights like the Nameless King and Aldrich, that's totally fine. They're both relatively easy to dodge, and don't do enough damage (or have long enough combos) to annihilate you through your shield. Staying up close is probably your best bet, outside of a few very specific moves that force you to back off.

Simultaneously, Pontiff and Dancer are very punishing. Their combos destroy shields and they're pretty damn tough to dodge. I wouldn't blame that on the Codex - I'm guessing the majority of players found that to be true. That would indicate that those bosses would be easier with more of a hit-and-run fighting style, if I'm not mistaken.

I'd also point out that I know I'm making a quite a few generalizations here. Obviously, any boss is going to be easier with the right build or play style, but I'm curious as to which matters more. Seems like style does.

 

[sullynathan]

That makes me think it's less dodge skill and more the general level of aggression. I found Aldrich totally doable within a few tries and that's because, for the most part, I play fairly aggressively. I usually get in close to bosses, shield up, while I look for an opening. I obviously try to dodge as much as possible, but I'll take a shield hit or two and shrug it off. During fights like the Nameless King and Aldrich, that's totally fine. They're both relatively easy to dodge, and don't do enough damage (or have long enough combos) to annihilate you through your shield. Staying up close is probably your best bet, outside of a few very specific moves that force you to back off.

Simultaneously, Pontiff and Dancer are very punishing. Their combos destroy shields and they're pretty damn tough to dodge. I wouldn't blame that on the Codex - I'm guessing the majority of players found that to be true. That would indicate that those bosses would be easier with more of a hit-and-run fighting style, if I'm not mistaken.

I'd also point out that I know I'm making a quite a few generalizations here. Obviously, any boss is going to be easier with the right build or play style, but I'm curious as to which matters more. Seems like style does.

I found this the other way. Nameless king does a lot of damage and since his spear/halberd does lightning damage, it always damages even if you have a shield and 2 or 3 hits can break through my shield and I had a maxed out black knight shield. He also punishes the hell out of a failed dodge.

Aldritch was hard for me because I did the whole shield + weapon thing and tried to attack when I saw an opportunity and he kills me pretty easily, but eventually I beat him. Later on in the game after I started using using the dragon slayer great axe (best weapon in the game) with buffs, I fought aldritch again in co-op aggressively and it was much easier.

For the dancer and Pontiff, they were really easy to beat with a shield or a strong heavy weapon two handed. I beat both a whole bunch of times with a black knight shield +5. With that, you can pretty much block pontiffs combos with enough stamina left to still attack. Against the dancer, you can block most of his combo attacks but you'd have to roll with the rest of your stamina. The dancer is susceptible to lightning so Dragonslayer great axe puts her down nicely.
Also, you can parry pontiff but I never tried it. I didn't try parrying too much in this game outside of pvp and outside of experimenting against champion gundyr.

 

[nomask7]

Is there any real consensus on boss difficulty? Ignoring gimmick bosses like Wolnyr, Bed of Chaos or Yhorm (who are only really problematic until you figure out their arbitrary weakness), I've seen a lot of mixed information on DS3 especially. I've noticed a bunch of people mentioning having trouble with the Princes, but I thought that was one of the easier fights in the game and I beat it in a handful of tries. I think Pontiff usually gets mentioned as one of the tougher fights, and I straight up couldn't beat him without summons so I'm either total trash or I'm just partial trash and he is actually pretty tough. Meanwhile, I've seen some people trumpet Nameless King as one of the toughest fights in the series, but I found him substantially easier than my personal favorite boss, Manus.

Assuming that the answer is no, there isn't really much of a consensus regarding boss difficulty, then does that have more to do with player skill, build quality or build type, or just plain luck?

Not just build quality, but build as such. Some bosses are pretty different for a dodger than non-dodger (pure shield build). When I replayed Dark Souls II, I couldn't believe I started having trouble with Dragon Rider although this was on Company of Champions. Still, I just couldn't beat him until I started using some amount of rolling, and then it was a breeze.

(Of course I had tried "dodging" by just using foot-work as usual, no rolling. But foot-work + shield just weren't enough for this boss. In the original Dark Souls you can't even do effective foot-work with a tank, so there the difference between different builds is even bigger.)

 

[toro]

For me, the most difficult bosses are below:
Nameless King - mostly because I don't have a lot of patience at that point in the game. I just want to move on. The funny thing is that once you kill the wyvern, the first phase of the fight is harder than the second phase when the lightning attacks are telegraphed. But I did solo the mofo in the end.
Pontiff - I solo-ed him a couple of times but always with a shield. I cannot win that fight without a shield and the fight is too easy with a shield.
Dancer - mostly because it requires patience and it seems I'm lacking it.
Aldrich - was difficult for the wrong reasons. That arrows rain is pure bullshit.
Champion Gundyr - another boss which is difficult for the wrong reasons.
After finishing the game several times, the Nameless King and the Pontiff are the only fights were I cannot feel in control and beating them requires more luck than skill (at least for me).

 

[baturinsky]

Does upgrading shields makes a lot of difference?
Also, if I summon NPC and it is killed, is it gone for good?

 

[toro]

Does upgrading shields makes a lot of difference?
Also, if I summon NPC and it is killed, is it gone for good?

Upgrading shields is pointless.
You can summon dead NPCs always after you die but you need to be "kindled".

 

[sullynathan]

Does upgrading shields makes a lot of difference?
Also, if I summon NPC and it is killed, is it gone for good?

Just get the Black Knight shield +5. It is the best shield in the game with good stability and doesn't weigh too much. You'll be set for the game.

 

[nomask7]

Does upgrading shields makes a lot of difference?
Also, if I summon NPC and it is killed, is it gone for good?

I don't think upgrading shields is pointless for a non-roller. At least it matters more than stamina, though both should probably be increased if one is going for a shield tank build.

 

[Hyperion]

Not sure if it's been nerfed, but Greatshield of Glory + 5 (should work at +2 as well), with Magic Shield cast on it results in no stamina loss when you block. The Moaning Shield is the only other shield that can manage it with Magic Shield. Greater Magic Shield is another story, but requires a lot more investment.

 

[baturinsky]

Does upgrading shields makes a lot of difference?
Also, if I summon NPC and it is killed, is it gone for good?

I don't think upgrading shields is pointless for a non-roller. At least it matters more than stamina, though both should probably be increased if one is going for a shield tank build.

But what shield reinforcing really does? Stat says that only difference is attack damage, which does nothing on most shields (AFAIK), and a very small improvement in stability.

Also, is parry window different for different shields/daggers etc?

 

[nomask7]

But what shield reinforcing really does? Stat says that only difference is attack damage, which does nothing on most shields (AFAIK), and a very small improvement in stability.

Also, is parry window different for different shields/daggers etc?

Increased stability means that you lose less stamina when you block a strike. An increase of three to five points in stability after a full upgrade may sound insignificant but for a shield-tank build it's not.

I don't have much experience with other kinds of builds so I haven't yet reinforced a shield unless it already has a great stability and I know/suspect I'm going to use it for much/most of the game, though I guess whether it's worthwhile depends on how much loose change you have in terms of titanite and so on.

I never use parry (except in Bloodborne, which doesn't have heavy shield builds).

 

[sullynathan]

But what shield reinforcing really does? Stat says that only difference is attack damage, which does nothing on most shields (AFAIK), and a very small improvement in stability.

Also, is parry window different for different shields/daggers etc?

Shield reinforcing with normal shields increases stability. Good stability means you lose less stamina with every block. A shield like the black knight or silver knight shield that already has +55 stability gets something like +65 stability when upgraded to its max. Their stability allows them to block almost as effectively as a heavy shield without all the added weight. Add that with the fact that a black knight shield allows you to automatically do weapon arts when you want then its very deadly.

Parry window is different for small shields, normal shields and daggers. If you want to parry, pick up a buckler. It works well, or time better with a normal sized shield. It's useful in pvp.