Topic: Dark Souls III

@Red620Ti: Is he in front of a crumbling structure with a ladder down to a new area (Farron Keep)? If so, you can lure him out into the open area and then make a break for the ladder. If you start climbing down the ladder, there's a good chance he'll chase after you and fall to his death. There were two black knights in that area that came after me and that's how I dealt with one of them.

@crippyd I hope it didn't sound like I was criticizing your "super special" skills! I just had no idea Siegward could die there. Whenever he took a hit in my game, he seemed to instantly replenish his health. I'm glad you told me, though, because I'm in that area now.

@Red620Ti: where did you go after the deacons? I r lost. They drop that weird doll thing thats super suspicious
@DRL: what boss drops that enchanted sword and where is he, I want to murderize his face

@A_BabyRed_Yoshi: It's the battle I was telling you about earlier:

"As far as the Enchanted Sword goes, well, you can fight that boss at just about any point in the game, but the fight will be INCREDIBLY difficult if you do it too soon. It's probably best to wait until you end up there naturally."

If you really want to test your skills now, you can find this boss in the High Wall of Lothric area. I'm not sure if you miss out on anything by triggering this fight earlier in the game, but I do know you can do it.

@DRL: ah, thank you. I didnt know where he was, he alludes me.
So, the butthead is near the start eh?

@DRL sorry if that came over a bit harsh, it was meant as a bit of humour. I'm just not that great at games although I really enjoy playing them. I hope I've not missed out on a great weapon or something special from him.

@A_BabyRed_Yoshi: You have to kill an NPC to get to the boss battle ahead of schedule. She's in an area near Vordt of the Boreal Valley. You might want to investigate online to see if there's anything to be lost by doing this. I honestly don't think there is, but I could be wrong. Don't blame me if it ends a seemingly unrelated questline or something.

@crippyd No worries. I took it as humor, but I didn't want you to think I was trying to act elitist because I didn't allow Siegward to die. As far as you not being great at games, well, that sounds like hogwash. You've gotta have skills to play Dark Souls! No doubt about it.

@DRL: ohh is it that creepy lady that gives you the banner to fly on the demon angel?
I've just reached the boss in the boreal valley, he ravaged my helpless corpse violently. Am I close to it anyway?

I've read an interesting thing about the Dancer boss, a kind of glitch, but the Vordt boss needs to be alive... If you kill the guy with the Uchigatana in the cemetery, you can summon him for the Vordt fight. If you instead run up the steps and kill Emma, he will help in the boss fight. The Dancer will murderise him, and when that happens warp out with a homeward bone. If you then go back and summon him again, apparently his health glitches, and then he kills the Dancer for you, getting the sword. Course, I read this after Vordt was dead so I don't know if its true!

@Yoshi I warped back to the halfway shrine in the Road of Sacrifice, then when you come out head left and drop down to a path near some water. There a couple of tough ghoul type enemies and then a kind of castle and thats where the big knight keeps upsetting me.

@DRL Man, you say such nice things No worries on the elitist thing, TBH I thought he could take the fire demon on his own and didn't realise it would actually kill him. Have I missed out on anything big letting him die? (not looking for spoilers, just a yes/no)

BTW that road of sacrifice is a bit of a challenge with the crow men things, got murderised by a raving pack of them after one of the dudes with a staff spotted me and started screaming.

Holy crap this game is unbelievably hard... I was having a good time exploring, dispatching Grave wardens. Went down a path and saw a message saying 'turn back' which I ignored until I realised it was a proper warning as there was a giant crystal monster laying in wait... so I did as suggested and continued on... killed some groups of grave wardens, deflected a few arrows, learned to jump (who the hell thought pressing in the left stick to jump was a good idea?) and dealt death from above and felt like I was doing well...

You can probably guess what's coming now... yep I got my arse handed to me again, and again and again for the best part of an hour... on the very first boss you encounter... I mean did it really need to be that hard? At one point I was almost ready to smash my controller to pieces and stick the game on eBay. Thankfully I realised I was getting a little bit further each time I battled until I was (fairly) regularly getting his health bar down to the last inch. I was over the moon with joy when I finally killed him but if they get harder from here on out I don't fancy my chances of getting very far with this.

Why isn't there an easier difficulty for less skilled gamers? The achievements are there to punish you for playing on lower difficulties and also to prove you had the skillz to finish it on 'super super hard' if you chose to - so why not?

I also wasted my fire bombs on the boss too (after I fumbled around for a while and figured out how to use them as there is no explanation what-so-ever). My first 2 didn't even hit the target - didn't realise you had to be locked on to your target. The other 3 hit their mark but I lost the battle and they didn't get replenished when I re-spawned at the fire. I nearly cried.

Seems like this game is crafted to be as difficult, obtuse and punishing as possible which is a shame (for me). Unless I'm missing something (quite probably) you can't even pause the bloody game to take a breather!

I love the world, the music, the combat, the enemy design and I want to see the rest of it but I'm not sure I have the skill or patience to persevere... Think I'll have to invest in a guide and at least then I might have a clue what I'm doing...

@stylon The offer to co op is there if you want some help. The game is VERY hard and as obtuse as you say. The wiki is a good place to start as there is a full walkthrough. Top tip: find some embers, you need them to do co op and summon NPCs.
I find the pause thing annoying too.

Thanks for the offer Crippy but I feel like I'm nowhere near the level where I'd want someone else to witness my (pathetic) skills at playing this... or listen to me swearing like a madman!

Incidentally how difficult is that ice creature in comparison to the 1st boss. Am I supposed to go back and fight him now or come back later when I'm better equipped (assuming that is possible and this part of the world doesn't become inaccessible once I move on).

@stylon Co op makes things so much more easy and I'm only on to the third boss so I'm not that much further on than you. The swearing isn't a problem as I've dropped many an F bomb or C bomb while playing these games, as sometimes its insanely frustrating. I'll be honest, I didn't try to beat the ice thing, I just left him and beat the guy with the thing coming out his back. You can come back to the very start as you can fast travel when you unlock Firelink (I think) or not much after that. This is so different to the first two in speed and the aggression of the enemies and it's taken some getting used to.
If you want to you have my GT, drop me a message, if not good luck and God speed!

@stylon: I rented Dark Souls 2 around the time it released on the One, and I absolutely hated it. I had no idea where I was going, how to fight, or why I was fighting. I returned it, and well over a year later I saw it for 10 bucks and bought it and fell in love with it! Point is, the game is extremely offputting at first from the difficulty, but once you get in the groove of things it's definitely one of the best RPG's out there and it will suck you in!
Granted 3 is WAAAAY harder than 2 ever was, I can't imagine beginning the series on 3! You definitely got some stones haha!
To me, 2 almost seemed like a "tutorial" of sorts into 3, an easier mode if you will.
My other point, the game is very hard, it's not you or your lack of skill, and the game will train you if you let it

I'm playing with matchmaking off, and boy does the game run sooo much better! I guess the lack of messages and bloodstains make the game run better or something. Still not perfect 30 frames, but it definitely helps. And no player invasions, praise the sun!
I found a super cool curved ice sword that is just awesome, and I found my notched whip from 2!
How is everyone else doing on their game?

@crippyd: Well, Siegward's questline was my favorite in the game, so there's that. And, as I touched on before, if you follow his story until the end, he helps you GREATLY with a major boss. I have no idea how difficult that battle will play out without him, though. Other than that, I'm not sure you've missed much. Nothing you can't wait and do on a second playthrough.

@stylon This is your first Souls game?! I didn't know that! It's definitely going to be a challenge. Take my advice, do not be embarrassed to partake in co-op. It's going to help you immensely. The biggest hurdle that you'll have to overcome is learning the rules of Dark Souls. Once you know how to pace yourself in battle and know what your moves do, it becomes a hell of a lot easier. By inviting players into your world, you can observe how they move and carry themselves.

When it comes to that ice lizard, I didn't fight him right away. You totally can if you want to and are confident with your dodging abilities, but I decided to come back after leveling up a bit. Keep in mind that sometimes running past enemies is a viable strategy. Sometimes making your way to the next bonfire or shortcut allows you to come back to those enemies and areas you ran past from a new angle, which occasionally gives you more space or better attack opportunities. Be sure to utilize your backstab ability as much as possible (you can even sneak up behind most enemies and use it before they spot you), because it takes a significant chunk of health!

If you need any other help, just ask! I have a strategy guide in my office if you need me to look up anything specific for you.

The ice monster Isn't anywhere near as hard as the first boss. I've played all three games and thought he he was hard, so its not just you Stylon! I think I went back to slay him after the second boss, so I was stronger.

Best advice I'd give is keep your equipped weight under 70%, as if its more than that you start to fat roll and it really slows you down. When you find new armour, make sure you consider its weight as well as other stats! Other than that, patience is the only way to proceed, locking on and circling can help you avoid attacks/get into position for a backstab, and standing toe to toe is never going to end well...

Thanks for all the input folks - feel a bit better knowing it's pretty solid for most people. I played an hour or two of the DS2 remaster but it didn't click and I moved on. Certainly never reached a boss in it so I'm pretty much a DS virgin

Did experience humiliation on a whole new level last night though... managed to defeat the fire breathing dragon and discovered a little room with a treasure chest inside it. I went to open it thinking I'd be getting a cool weapon or piece of armour... and the f******g thing sprouted arms and teeth and killed me!!! I was uber pissed off... went back to recover my souls and thought 'I'll have you' and started battering it with my sword... I got trolled yet again as it sprouted legs, ran after me and killed me. Again!!! Unbelievable...

Just next door to this is a scary looking Knight stomping around like Robocop... is he a Boss or just a slightly tougher normal enemy?

Best advice for chests is to give them a quick whack before opening and then you have a fighting chance to kill it if its a mimic like you just found out.
You must be much further on than me or I haven't explored enough as I haven't come across any dragons yet.

@crippyd: It was in the High Walls of Lothric... there's a Dead dragon slumped at the top of a tower... go a bit further and another one flies in and lands and starts spewing fire everywhere... killed most of the enemies in the vicinity. Luckily I'd picked up a longbow and was able to chip away at it from afar without getting burnt. There's a sort of parapet that runs along with a door at the end. Go through that and your in the top of a tall 2 level room with stairs that go down to the ground floor where there are loads of crates and barrels... and that man eating chest. There's also a ladder that leads up from the bottom of the room to a small platform... this leads to a door that opens onto a small courtyard with the scary Knight patrolling it...

That's where I left it last night...