From Software Dark Souls 3

[Gerrard]

Yeah, I would imagine a game that fails to hit 30FPS half of the time would not feel much worse with some extra latency on top.

Startup frames are important for something like parrying because it requires a greater degree of prediction and internalization of the the enemy's move timings. If you can press the button a hair before you're about to get hit, than the parry window is just a slightly shorter dodge window with a much bigger reward (obviously there's a further difference in that a mistimed dodge still moves you out of the way while a failed parry leaves you vulnerable). If there's a windup, however, then you have to know which attacks come out fast and which come out slow, and are rewarded for fully reading your opponent's actions rather than reflexive timing which isn't much harder than dodging. We still have the problem that parrying is a timing minigame that removes all of DS2's tactical considerations for a successful riposte, but it's much better balanced than DS1.

It's an action game, not a fucking danmaku shmup. Having to memorize every animation and timing is why the parry mechanic is fucking dogshit. There is literally no point in even attempting to use parry without knowing the timings, you're better off just trading hits.
That, and being able to parry enemies three+ times your size.

 

[NJClaw]

I purposely ignored the Shark Brothers because they are legit nightmare material. To me, they are worse than Ludwig, Laurence and Orphan. I'm working (actually I was, because I haven't been playing since the lockdown) on a no-death 100% run and they are the second worst obstacle (the first one being the chalice Amygdala). I can reliably kill Ludwig, Orphan and Laurence without dying, but I still have problems with those two. I know they can be cheated, but that wouldn't feel like a 100% run.

Woah you're chineze compared to me, then. No way I can finish it without dying a couple times for these bosses. And I killed Shark Bros just a single time in my whole life.

Out of curiosity: can you handle that Outrider in Lothric easily? I also crap my paints everytime I have to face it. You know, that time you make a pause, take a deep breath, and "Ok, let's go" (and usually die Lol).

That knight is pretty tough as far as DS3 mini-bosses go. However, once you know his moveset, you can easily deal with him without ever getting hit: he has three attacks with a very long window of opportunity for the player (the overhead smash after a short delay in the three-attacks combo that is usually followed by a single charged slash that can't hit you if you keep attacking him, another overhead smash where he briefly stands up and the long range thrust).

 

[Silva]

Ok, started DS3 again just to see the Sekiro effect.

...and, as suspected, I can now dodge and parry like a god. It's like my brain is perceiving the game in slow motion.

Thanks Isshin sama, for fucking up souls games for me.

 

[racofer]

Ok, started DS3 again just to see the Sekiro effect.

...and, as suspected, I can now dodge and parry like a god. It's like my brain is perceiving the game in slow motion.

Thanks Isshin sama, for fucking up souls games for me.

You got gud.

 

[Silva]

Ok, I ended up going luck build for a change as I never tried it before. I'm using Bandit Knife and it's surprisingly good. I'll stick to it until I find the grave-warden blades or something.

Should I raise Luck straight to 50, or is it wiser to raise Dex or Str to some good cap (say, 25) first, just so I deal some normal damage until the bleed/poison makes a diff? (maybe with a hollow infused weapon until the coal for blood infuse is available?)

 

[Silverfish]

Stick with hollow infusion even after blood is available. Hollow weapons can be buffed with carthus rouge.

 

[Silva]

Oh boy I forgot how ugly this game is. I get that the world is dying and all that but they overdid it. Aside from Irithyl, all levels make me wanna puke. Don't know if it's the ochreish color palette or low poly gfx or the greyish hue. I feel like both DS1 and DS2 have areas with more pleasant color schemes and beautiful vistas than this.

 

[Lutte]

I would hate this game's visuals even if they were pretty throughout. The issue isn't ugliness, it can be done right for the sake of atmosphere. It's just that it's way too fucking repetitive for a game of this length. The general tone / color palette is even kept in the dlc content with more grey and brown shit, I lost it when I entered the first DLC and realized I was in snownigger-like land. Yay, more white/grey, then brownshit in certain interiors. I hadn't seen that before.

DS3 was.. uninspired throughout. It lacked a little spice, a little variety, something that wasn't a copy paste of the main theme it wanted to present. It lacked something to surprise you when you explore and end up in terra incognita.

BB also had some level of monotony but not to the same extent and it had far more clever atmospheric moments to compensate like when you're abducted to a certain level filled with things that love to slit your fucking throat. Or the forest that was almost like a maze, one of the few areas in any souls games where you can legitimately get lost while exploring.
Those kind of things gave identity to levels.

DS3 doesn't even try.

The only way to redeem DS3 is to mod it to become a boss rush gauntlet with no levels. Boss fights are the only thing it's good at.

 

[Perkel]

Oh boy I forgot how ugly this game is. I get that the world is dying and all that but they overdid it. Aside from Irithyl, all levels make me wanna puke. Don't know if it's the ochreish color palette or low poly gfx or the greyish hue. I feel like both DS1 and DS2 have areas with more pleasant color schemes and beautiful vistas than this.

They downgraded too much lighting engine from Bloodborne + their ash theme was to much overused which caused them to use that tint system. There is mod that removes that tint but you can see that buildings without that tint are badly lit because sky texture was made with this tint in mind.

 

[Multidirectional]

Dull colors of DS3 coupled with horrible aliasing and a very annoying texture pop-in that I'm getting too make it way less visually pleasing overall than DS2 for me, despite the fact it has fancier lighting.

 

[Silva]

Yeah, I think this may get unplayable once our collective brains are past this "graphical-age", if you know what I mean. You know, like those early 3D games of PS1 era that are absolutely horrendous to look at, even more than the era that preceded them.

 

[Black Angel]

I remembered when people made memes about DS3 being awfully looking similar to Bloodborne when they first announced it. They really overdid it in that regard, huh? I'd preferred if they worked with what they had in DS1 and adds all the new stuff from DS2 into it.

What the fuck am I looking at

 

[Silva]

Nah I dropped it in Cathedal of the Deep. Realized I was playing just to cosplay a bleeder but wasn't getting any pleasure.

This game is worst in series. I used to think that honor went to DS2 but no, this is it. And that's because the combat here is simply atrocious. The "Weapon Art" idea simply doesn't work, as most are useless gimmicks. Fast dodge (<30% equipment weight) is worthless because it just makes you jump a little bit faster and farther and doesn't compensate for the loss in protection. Don't know how they managed to spoil something that worked great in previous games but they did it. Weapon balance is shitty. Lots of useless weapons that don't make sense (Ie: Darkdrift, Bloodlust, etc). How come they came from Bloodborne where every weapon feel great and viable, to this, is a mystery.

But the worst thing must be PvP. Only a couple invasions made me remember. Oh it did. This game's PvP is a spasmic retardo ballet. No need to think, just dodge and poke. There's no meaningful interaction of system elements. Weapon arts are irrelevant, equip load too (as long as you're below 70%). It's so... brainless. How this turd got out of the oven is a mystery.

I realize part of my shift in perception is due to Sekiro much tighter gameplay, but I'm sure I wouldn't find the other games so bad like this.

The only things I continue to appreciate in DS3 is the lore and some bosses. But man, everything else from graphics to mechanics to levels is sooooo shit. I even came up with a new name for Crucifixion Woods - Low Poly Count woods. It's that bad.

 

[Multidirectional]

Fast dodge (<30% equipment weight) is worthless because it just makes you jump a little bit faster and farther and doesn't compensate for the loss in protection.

Why they would even go back to threshold based weight effects after DS2's much superior weight system is beyond me.

I realize part of my shift in perception is due to Sekiro much tighter gameplay, but I'm sure I wouldn't find the other games so bad like this.

I replayed DS2 recently after multiple Sekiro runs, still a fine game. And I still can't finish a single playthrough of DS3.

 

[RoSoDude]

I'm still trying to figure out why on earth some people say Dark Souls 3 has the best (local, not world) level design in the series. Was the worst if you asked me; most levels were terribly average (compared to the other Souls games, obviously they're genius masterworks compared to most modern games). DS2's level design was better in the base game, let alone the DLC. And DS1's best levels remain unmatched. I'd only agree with the statement if your metric for quality is weighted heavily against low points of frustration and tedium, of which I'd agree DS3 is mostly free.

The most fellated level in DS3 appears to be Cathedral of the Deep, which is a big headscratcher for me. It's okay. Not a bad level by any means (none of DS3's levels are bad, really), it might even be one of the better ones. But what's so special? Zombie section isn't much. Elite zombies have the blood worm gimmick, fine, and there's a little ring to explore with the big crystal lizard to fight. Warden dagger wielder is dangerous too, that's an okay fight. Then you have the rooftop section with the imps and crossbow guys, basic stuff (hard as fuck for me because I couldn't hit the imps with my weapons). More enemy gauntlets in a row. Get inside, find an obvious and telegraphed shortcut back to the first bonfire. Avoid a giant, fight some knight dudes, pull some levers to bring up pointless walls (I don't get these), open another obvious shortcut which lets you get to the rafters with more enemy gauntlets in a more hazardous spot. Fight the giants (or not), open some pointless doors to the outside, get up to the boss. There's an optional bit with Patches. We're done. It's a sequence of enemy gauntlets that wraps around itself to thinly disguise its linearity with conspicuous shortcuts, just like Central Irithyll. Really nothing to write home about compared to or Sen's Fortress or Iron Keep which are of a similar style -- having a few loops back to a central bonfire doesn't override the lack of any navigational challenge or notable environmental hazards nor the relatively quotidian, if acceptably challenging, encounter design. Thankfully Cathedral of the Deep isn't actually the best level the game has to offer (that'd be Undead Settlement, Grand Archives, or Irithyll Dungeon), but based on the praise it gets you'd think it ought to be.

 

[Wunderbar]

Why they would even go back to threshold based weight effects after DS2's much superior weight system is beyond me.

Why they would even go back to old NG+ system after DS2's much superior NG+ with new encounters is beyond me.
Why they would even go back to regular old weapons (albeit with gimmicky special attacks) after DS2's much superior powerstancing is beyond me.
Why they would even go back to utilizing kick to fight against a turtling shield enemy after DS2's much superior guardbreak is beyond me.
etc
etc

 

[d1r]

The most fellated level in DS3 appears to be Cathedral of the Deep, which is a big headscratcher for me. It's okay. Not a bad level by any means (none of DS3's levels are bad, really), it might even be one of the better ones. But what's so special? Zombie section isn't much. Elite zombies have the blood worm gimmick, fine, and there's a little ring to explore with the big crystal lizard to fight. Warden dagger wielder is dangerous too, that's an okay fight. Then you have the rooftop section with the imps and crossbow guys, basic stuff (hard as fuck for me because I couldn't hit the imps with my weapons). More enemy gauntlets in a row. Get inside, find an obvious and telegraphed shortcut back to the first bonfire. Avoid a giant, fight some knight dudes, pull some levers to bring up pointless walls (I don't get these), open another obvious shortcut which lets you get to the rafters with more enemy gauntlets in a more hazardous spot. Fight the giants (or not), open some pointless doors to the outside, get up to the boss. There's an optional bit with Patches. We're done. It's a sequence of enemy gauntlets that wraps around itself to thinly disguise its linearity with conspicuous shortcuts, just like Central Irithyll. Really nothing to write home about compared to or Sen's Fortress or Iron Keep which are of a similar style -- having a few loops back to a central bonfire doesn't override the lack of any navigational challenge or notable environmental hazards nor the relatively quotidian, if acceptably challenging, encounter design. Thankfully Cathedral of the Deep isn't actually the best level the game has to offer (that'd be Undead Settlement, Grand Archives, or Irithyll Dungeon), but based on the praise it gets you'd think it ought to be.

Well, you gotta see it from the PVP perspective as well. It was the best map to invade other players in the low-mid section of the game. I almost spent 100 hours invading other people there. Unironically the most fun I had in Dark Souls 3. It has large areas and a long way to the boss, it has a lot of strong and annoying enemies to counter gank squads, and there is also a lot of room for ambushes (elevators, tear puddles, the narrow bridge near Patches).

 

[Perkel]

I'm still trying to figure out why on earth some people say Dark Souls 3 has the best (local, not world) level design in the series.

First time i hear it. Imo

DS1>DS3>DS2 world/location design
DS2>DS1>DS3 stat system/combat design
DS3>DS1>DS2 boss design
DS1>DS3>Ds2 lore

If it comes to souls in general:

DeS>BB>DS1>DS3>DS2 world/location
DS2>DS1>BB>DS3>DeS stat system/combat
DS3>BB>DS1>DeS>DS2 boss
DeS=BB>DS1>DS3>DS2 lore

 

[Lutte]

I'm still trying to figure out why on earth some people say Dark Souls 3 has the best (local, not world) level design in the series.

Because the souls fanbase generated by Dork Souls (not Demon's Souls) always conflate the two. DS3 has the largest amount of very open large space filled with mediocrity of all the souls games, the most mediocre encounter design and even the most monotonous feel to levels. But it gets a pass because it brings back the DS1 "you see that far away over there? it's a level you will explore" thingamagic as if world cohesion is the only thing that was ever good about the core gameplay of the series.
You could make a literal piece of shit in every other way gameplay wise and they will like it if the world is built in said structure instead of independent levels.

It's like you can't even talk about 'level design' without it always meaning this when interacting with the DS community. As if the concept of level design didn't even exist for linear games too for that matter.

 

[Silva]

It also suffers in the lore department. It has some good ideas, but lots of things feel tacked on or nonsensic. It feels bloated.

What I think works:

Spoiler

- Basic plot of reenacting the first link of fire by burning 5 lords souls to save the world. Gives a mythical resonance to the deeds of the Chosen One in DS1 that I like (and Lord of Cinder boss reinforces it).

- Everything Londor: Yuria, Elfriede, Usurper ending, links to Kaathe, etc. Nice extension of what New Londo represented in first game.

- Painted world with the endure vs renovation dilemma. Team Elfriede x Team Kid and uncle Gael.

- Lothric prince. The civil war vs Frampt Angels, the scholar who convinced him to let the flame snuff out (nice callout to Aldia legacy from DS2), etc.

What feels meh:

Spoiler

- Aldrich. A WHOLE 4 regions just to illustrate his theme (Settlement, Road of Sac, Crucifix Woods, Cathedral of Deep) which is a dumb simple "the religion in this placed got fucked", ok, we know it. Hapenned in real life too. Duh.

- Wolfy knights. Feels tacked on. I mean, what is that big anthropomorphic wolf anyway? And why so many different stances of it (Watchdogs of Farron? Undead Legion? Followers?). And Oolacile/Darkroot becoming this boring swamp, really?

- Anri. It's.. okayish I guess? But far from the actual good NPC quests in rest of series like Lucathiel in DS2 or Solaire in DS1 or Hoonter of Hoonters in BB whose name I forgot.

- Ringed City. Not badly executed but feels pulled from out of nowhere and feels tacked to me. Locusts and Ringed knights and Pigmy Lords and Filianore create a whole lot of bloat to a game that already felt bloated. They should have used the DLC to develop some thread already present in the game, like Prophaned capital or something.

Now the cringey:

Spoiler

- copy paste NPCs. Onion head, Patches, Crestfallen 2.0, etc. With the bonus that crestfallen this time is specially insecure because he begins as a wolfy, deserts them, show regret for doing so, and then rejects them again to become a DRAGONBLOOD. Woah what a piece of shit.

- Hodrick and Sirris. Nonsensic quest that can't pass any theme or sense across. Hodrick looks like a parody of those invader trolls with green skin and ridiculous fashionsouls called "Shrek".

- Yhorm the Unfinished Giant in the unfinished level with unfinished link with onion knight just to shout out at DS2 giants and DeS gear. Enough said. I would be embarrassed to release this shit.

- Sullyvahn. I hate this dude. He is all over the place without really fitting just because the authors find him cool. Every citation and gear gives him such a huge importance. Lothric licks his balls, Aldrich licks his balls, even Painted World pays ball licking service to him. The Mary Sue of DS3. If it was a tabletop rpg session, he would be Miyazaki favorite NPC. Asshole.

The ironic is that some of best levels in the game are associated with him (Irithyll city and Dungeon). Shit.

 

[Funposter]

The most fellated level in DS3 appears to be Cathedral of the Deep, which is a big headscratcher for me. It's okay. Not a bad level by any means (none of DS3's levels are bad, really), it might even be one of the better ones. But what's so special? Zombie section isn't much. Elite zombies have the blood worm gimmick, fine, and there's a little ring to explore with the big crystal lizard to fight. Warden dagger wielder is dangerous too, that's an okay fight. Then you have the rooftop section with the imps and crossbow guys, basic stuff (hard as fuck for me because I couldn't hit the imps with my weapons). More enemy gauntlets in a row. Get inside, find an obvious and telegraphed shortcut back to the first bonfire. Avoid a giant, fight some knight dudes, pull some levers to bring up pointless walls (I don't get these), open another obvious shortcut which lets you get to the rafters with more enemy gauntlets in a more hazardous spot. Fight the giants (or not), open some pointless doors to the outside, get up to the boss. There's an optional bit with Patches. We're done. It's a sequence of enemy gauntlets that wraps around itself to thinly disguise its linearity with conspicuous shortcuts, just like Central Irithyll. Really nothing to write home about compared to or Sen's Fortress or Iron Keep which are of a similar style -- having a few loops back to a central bonfire doesn't override the lack of any navigational challenge or notable environmental hazards nor the relatively quotidian, if acceptably challenging, encounter design. Thankfully Cathedral of the Deep isn't actually the best level the game has to offer (that'd be Undead Settlement, Grand Archives, or Irithyll Dungeon), but based on the praise it gets you'd think it ought to be.

A few reasons, the first being the central design around a single bonfire. Secondly, I'd say because of the amount of variety in terms of verticality and what you're actually doing. Whether or not the graveyard section with the infinitely respawning corpses is GOOD or not is up for debate, but it's impossible to deny that it is a novel experience. It makes sure that the player is constantly moving, it asks them to actually be prepared for the challenge ahead by making use of the torch item instead of being purely focused on combat encounters, and it even has a few directions for the player to move around in, with the route in the drainage ditch towards the crystal lizards and then the upper route which actually progresses. The rooftop section is a fun, multi-layered area that (including the rafters) focuses on what the game does best - presenting pitfalls as environmental hazards, rather than just tough enemies. The presence of instant-death pitfalls put pressure on the player, especially in the rafters section with the tough Cathedral Knight enemies. The Evangelist being worshipped by the hollows works the same way - it's a strong enemy that can launch the player to their death if a swing lands, and the self-immolating hollows can do the same thing.

The inside of the Cathedral is admittedly not as good, although I still enjoy it. The stuff with the Giants is fun since it provides a quick little game of cat and mouse not seen anywhere else, and the encounter with the Deep Accursed is spooky~! but unfortunately undermined by the fact that you can just get in stuck in the doorway. This would be more fun if the player was somehow trapped in the room with it (either via fog door, or some sort of contraption bringing up a door) and forced them to confront and actually deal with Curse status, which is something really lacking in the game. I also actually like the boss of the zone, if only because it's something other than a rampaging monster or a large man with a sword. It tasks the player with figuring something out, even if it's only something as small as "oh, I'm meant to be hitting the enemies that glow red". I think part of the zone's charm is lost if you play something like the Cinders mod, which removes and rearranges bonfires in other areas of the game making them far less common overall, thereby making the Cathedral less unique. Even so, I think it provides enough novel experiences to be one of the better areas in the game and probably my favourite. It's different to everything else and that makes it fun.

 

[cvv]

Anyone tried the new Cinders version (1.77)?

Jumped in enticed by inclined changes but sweet jesus, did I get my ass kicked hard. Went with Herald to try the miracle overhaul but after a few hours I'm still stuck in the High Wall of Lothric area.

The problem seems to be the reinforcement - it only raises weapon damage by 2-3 points per level and the mobs have so much HP my first fight with the tower shield knight took like 10 minutes and ended up with my death. Poking him with my starting spear felt like a joke. AND the mobs seem to chase you to the end of the world so every time you die you have to go through the areas slowly, clearing everything (maybe this was the case in OG too, idr). AND the second Wall bonfire is by Greirat's jail cell so it's super annoying clearing the tower everytime you got three-hit killed.

Then again I watched a Tuber picking a paladin with the cathedral knight sword (Fume sword moveset) absolutely smashing everything so maybe I'll start over.

 

[Perkel]

It seems to be 1.76 change:

General
- Backsteps now follow a proper pattern: < 30 = backflip, 30 to 70 = quick backstep, 70 to 100 = slow backstep, > 100 = stagger. Made this consistent across all the hold positions.
- Added the infusion effects to a talk option on Andre, removed the items that used to hold the infusion effect descriptions.
- Reversed recent changes to the enemy sound/listen effectiveness effects that made them less effective.
- Reduced soul leveling cost.

# Trial of Perseverance
- Increased the HP of the waves.

# Companions
- You can now only summon one companion at any one time.
- Adjusted the strength of the companions so they are more equal, and implemented map-specific scaling for all of them. This means they will hit harder in later levels.

# Catalysts
- Insanity Catalyst has slightly more scaling, only requires 50 INT/FTH.
- Fool's Flame now scales with Luck.
- Jester's Talisman now scales with Luck.
- Changed the damage affinity system. Rather than reducing the other types, it simply gives the main type an early boost.
- Changed the spells to take into account any scaling from a catalyst. This means spell buff will remain consistent across different spells.
- Hybrid catalysts now retain their school casting setup whilst infused (i.e. they don't lose or gain new schools). The change to the correction on spells means it doesn't matter if the catalyst only has INT and casts Miracles, the miracle will use the INT for its damage (before it wouldn't).

# Weapons
- Crystal Ring Shield now custom WA: Unleash Moonlight. A shield strike that emits a moonlight wave that reduces the magic absorption of targets hit by 5% for 8 seconds (stacks).
- Changed the scaling multipliers from reinforcement back to vanilla levels (i.e. 1 to 2, was 2 to 3).

# Armor
- Added Gough's Set: sold by the Shrine Handmaid after defeating the Lordran Remnants.
- Added Crimson Set: found in Profaned Capital.
- Added Channeler Set: purchased from the Vinheim Scholars covenant / dropped by Quintus the Monstrous.
- Added Astrologist Set: found in Grand Archives (split across two chests).
- Added Aurous Set: dropped by Gaius the Mighty.
- Added Dragon Acolyte Set: dropped by mimic in Grand Archives.
- Added Vengarl's Set: dropped by mimic in Grand Archives.
- Added Chester's Set: sold by Marvelous Chester.

# Spells
- Adjusted the FP/damage of spells.
- Bursting Fireball no longer drops pools of lava, rather additional fireballs are emitted whilst ascended.
- Cleaned up how damage is dealt by various spells (i.e. removed several secondary hits).
- Lightning Spear spells now deal big stamina and poise damage with their melee portion.
- Black Fireball now has gravity.

# Rings
- Ring of Momentum now applies quickstep to the roll action, replacing normal rolls.
- Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring now boosts magic spell damage by 10%.
- Witch's Ring now boosts fire spell damage by 10%.
- Ring of the Sun's First Born Ring now boosts physical/lightning spell damage by 10%.
- Unholy Remains now boosts dark spell damage by 10%.
- Young Dragon Ring: Reduces FP consumption of sorceries by 10%.
- Great Swamp Ring: Reduces FP consumption of pyromanices by 10%.
- Morne's Ring: Reduces FP consumption of miracles by by 10%.
- Deep Ring: Reduces FP consumption of sorceries, pyromancies and miracles by by 10%.
- Dusk Crown Ring: Boosts max FP by 15% but reduces max HP by 25%.
- Charred Bone: Increases casting speed by 35 but reduces max HP by 25%.
- Tome of Sunlight: Increases effectiveness of HP restoration sourcees by 35%.

# Items
- Ragged Mask is now part of the Swordmaster's drop.
- Swapped the Path of the Dragon gesture treasures in Archdragon Peak: using it at the Dragon Altar now gives you the Dragon Chaser's Ashes.
- Giant Set, Giant Halberd and Giant Shield are now found in the Darkmoon Tomb.
- Ring of Betrothal is now found on the Blacksmith Giant's body.
- Moved Black Metal Hat to a corpse treasure.
- Estus Flasks now restore more HP (starts at 500, at max is 1000).
- Ashen Estus Flasks now restore more FP (starts at 1000, at max is 2000).
- Free Estus Flasks from enemies kills has been disabled.
- Removed Accursed Ring (no longer needed for Karla).

# Enemies
- Reduced the lock-on range increase to 25 (was 100). This will keep the extended range intended but reduce the silly instances of being able to target stuff from absurdly far away.
- Increased the damage of enemies in early levels.
- Increased the HP of several enemies to make them more threatening.
- Increased defence multiplier for enemies in levels.
- Changed Quintus the Monstrous character setup.
- Changed Gaius the Mighty character setup.
- Renamed Lord Erectus to Lord Zakar wink, changed his character setup. Now drops the Mad Warrior Set.
- Renamed Ezekiel to Ezekiel the Duelist.

# Bosses
- Reduced the absorption of the Lordran Remnants bosses.
- Yhorm now just takes 2% HP damage when hit by the Storm King WA.
- Reduced the HP of many bosses to account for the new damage output from weapons/spells.

# Map
- Added new merchant in Irithyll: Marvelous Chester.
- Added new merchant in Smouldering Lake: Crestfallen Merchant.
- Merchants will now attack the player if they are hit. They will not remain hostile if you die or reload. If killed they will stay dead.
- Redesigned Smouldering Lake. The lake part is now occupied by 3 Carthus Sandworms and a few minor enemies near the Old Demon King staircase. You must kill all 3 sandworms before you can enter the demon ruins (and reach the bonfire).
- Added new merchant in Cemetery of Ash: Grave Warden Lillian, she is an early dark spell tutor
- Karla is now back in Irithyll Dungeon.
- Yoel now sells sorceries. (Yuria won't, but all the sorceries he sells can be purchased from Karla/Orbeck anyway).
- Alva is now a normal NPC enemy at the entrance to Irithyll Dungeon.
- Longfinger Kirk is now a normal NPC enemy in the Cathedral.
- Silver Knight Ledo, Moaning Knight and Alva in the Ringed City are now normal NPC enemies.

# Bugfixes
- Fixed an issue with some curses breaking weapon override effects.
- Fixed issue with script check causing companions to be visible at map transitions.
- Fixed bug with normal Priest's Candlestick not having the ascension effect.
- Issue with Hawkwood's quest checking for the Twinkling Dragon Torso stone should now fixed (it just checks if the player has received the item from the Path of the Gesture puzzle now).
- Fixed bugged chest in Profaned Capital.
- Fixed numerous small bugs.
- Black Dragon Knights can now be backstabbed.

 

[cvv]

What seems to have happened is they added a bunch of new starting classes, many of them with extremely powerful, endgame weapons and spells. You can pick the Paladin and start smashing everything with your FUG-like sword from the get go, or you can go with the Heretic and obliterate everything with your rapid-fire dark orbs and absurdly powerful Dark Edge.

And in order to make the early game in line with the new power creep they hiked up the mob HP and added tough mobs here and there.

The problem is when you DON'T choose one of the new OP classes and instead go with something vanilla like Herald or Thief then it feels you're just tickling the mobs with your basic bitch spears and daggers.

A slight oversight methinks.

 

[Perkel]

Well they always develop like this. Go overboard with something, see how it works and then scale back leaving what works, removing what doesn't.

Personally i like changes they made in 1.4 i think where they put the fuck rolling abuse but they quickly changed it since community started to cry about not being able to roll more than 2-3 times before stamina runs out.