The Ringed City

[Mr.Duck]

twisty - Patches was almost every PC invader ever, eh?

Malleus - With Darkeater Midir pulling Gael's sled, eh?

*Sighs*

It would be wonderful if Hidetaka released Bloodborne 2...

[Gryzemuis]

The Lord of Cinder is dead !
Hell Yeah !

This maybe the first time I had that feeling of gratification, after beating a boss. Until now, when I beat a boss in a few tries, I would think: "no big deal. if I could beat him in 1-5 tries, he must have been easy". And if I beat a boss after 10+ tries, I never thought "hell yeah, I'm awesome". I would think "mmm, I must suck if it takes me so many times". Or "yeah, the only reason I could beat this boss is because I summoned an NPC". I never feel especially good after beating a boss.

But this is different. On my first play-through, I didn't do the correct questlines, so I couldn't summon the 2 NPCs. I couldn't kill the Lord of Cinder after 30 or maybe even 50 tries. His timing would always mess with my rolls. I would roll too quickly, or too late. I'd make it into the 2nd phase, and then die. I did kill Nameless King and Friede with that character. In my 2nd playthrough, I did the correct quests, summoned an NPC, and killed Nameless King on my 2nd try. Easy.


Today I was working in my garden. Fuck my neighbor, he's always complaining that I should trim my hedge. So this afternoon I was doing that. Not fun. Tired, sweaty, bloody (fuck blackberries). I took a 30min break. Check the news. Then I thought, "maybe I should do one try on Lord of Cinder. Just one". And he died ! Three sips of Estus left. Whoohoo !

Oh, now I think of it. It must be the new Chloranty Ring + 3. Without that new ring, I would not have been able to do it.
I still suck.




====
Edit: took a day off today, to finish working in my garden. During my first break I decided to check out Midir again, and see how hard my longsword was hitting. I'd been there only twice or so, just to see him, two weeks ago, when I was playing the Ringed City. On my first go today, unembered, I got him to 40%. He did something (dark magic) and killed me when I was under him, and had only 40% health. He definitely seems doable. Maybe I should respec, do phase 1 in melee, and phase 2 with Mercury Pestilance.
TLDR: Midir seems doable. He's gonna die.

[Mr.Duck]

Soul of Cinder, to clarify!

Doesn't it feel nice to just overcome an enemy that gives you trouble, but know they're not unfair, just challenging?

I myself had been struggling with some of Bloodborne's DLC bosses a few weeks ago, and seeing that big ol' PREY SLAUGHTERED (or NIGHTMARE VANQUISHED in Orphie's case) sign pop in your screen feels soooooo good.

Great times, great times.

Ooooh, I didn't know you beat Nameless King with an npc summon.

[Gryzemuis]

Yes, Soul of Cinder.

Indeed, I did beat the Nameless King solo. But it took a lot of tries. And I would have used a lot of embers, if I hadn't kept copying back my old savefile. The biggest thing was probably that I got myself a shield with 95% lightning defense. Combine that with a lighting resistence ring, and the Nameless Kings attacks can be blocked with a shield. That made it doable for me, in the end.

I did beat the Soul of Cinder pretty easily this time. All the practice last year must have finally paid off. But also some new gear, especially the Ring of Protection +3 and the Chloranty Ring +3. I could keep blocking the Soul of Cinder's attacks, my health would hardly drop, and my stamina would regenerate quickly enough to be ready for the next attack. I think last year that wasn't the case, and I would get hit through my shield after 2-3 hits.

I did 4 tries on Midir this afternoon. Solo. (I read in a few places that the NPC isn't helpful, and Midir already has too much health). Midir is certainly doable, but it's gonna take me a lot of tries until I can pull it off flawlessly. (Well, I mean: without getting killed before I can heal myself, and killing Midir before I run out of Estus). The YouTube movies make it look so easy. I think the secret is all in staying at the correct distance so that you bait Midir into using a particular (set of) attacks, and preventing him from doing the dangerous/unpredictable stuff. I'm not there yet.

[Mr.Duck]

Indeed, I did beat the Nameless King solo. But it took a lot of tries.

<3 Good ol'Nameless...he was a toughie for sure, but such an epic fight, though the first phase became a bit stale after a bit. Fortunately, I became good enough at it that I dispatched the King of the Storm relatively quickly.

I did beat the Soul of Cinder pretty easily this time.

Ah, he can be a bit daunting due to hius extensive moveset, though I only lost to him a few tries. For myself, I kept a distance and used shield when I had to, opting to dodge more instead.

I did 4 tries on Midir this afternoon [...] I'm not there yet.

You will be. Just stick to attacking his head and keep a relative distance so you know how to react, depending what attack he does, and get a few good whacks at the head. Onwards!

[Gryzemuis]

Midir dead.

Gave it a few tries this afternoon, to have a little break from work. 4 Quick deaths, I was cold. Switched my Artorias set to Karla's set. Killed him right away. Two sips of Estus left. Refined longsword+10, Black Knight Shield+5 (my standard weapons these days). Karla's set. Chloranty+3, Estus, Steel Protection+3 and Fire Resist+0. I used Gold Pine Resin during the first half of the fight, forgot to use it during phase 2. When Midir had 20% health left or so, I finally hit him enough on the nose that he would lie down. Unfortunately I was too far away, and had to heal first, and could not take advantage of it. But he died a minute or two later anyway. I stayed under him most of the time. I find that much safer than being (too far) in front of him. He did his dark magic thing maybe 2-3 times during phase 2.

Now only Slave Knight Gael is left on my first character. Not sure what I'll do after I've killed him. Maybe play DS1 again ? Maybe try Prey (I loved SS2, but that was 15 years ago). Maybe finish Dishonored 2 (can't say the game caught me. nothing wrong with it, but it didn't grab me). Or just spend more time writing code ....


Edit: well, Gael is dead too. As I expected, that was a fight more to my style. Karla's set, longsword+10 and Dragonslayer Greatshield+4. The shield was very effective. And the light weight of Karla's set (and the longsword) made it so I could still roll like crazy. Was a long fight, but I felt in control most of the time. Took only 5 tries or so (today. I had maybe 2-3 tries a few days ago, when I got there first).

I finished DS3.
Still an awesome game series.

[Mr.Duck]

It is. All Soulsborne is awesome.

<3

[Gryzemuis]

It's too warm outside, and I didn't feel well. So I decided to try NG+ on my first character. NG+ is really easier than NG at first. I'm sure the bosses (and trash) have more health and do more damage. But my gear is a lot better, in comparison. And because I have everything, I can make a nice choice of proper gear for each boss fight. It almost feels like a real RPG game. I've been blasting through the game. Two nights, and I'm at the Twin Princes.

I started one-shotting all the early bosses. I got cocky, the Stray Demon grabbed me and threw me off the bridge. He died the 2nd attempt, sitting on his arse, with no legs. The further you get in NG+, the more appropriate the difficulty level becomes. Which is nice. Then I got at Pontiff. I have never been able to solo Pontiff. I think I gave up trying pretty quickly on my first run (last year). This time I thought I'd give it a go. Pontiff died on my 7th try. I then proceeded to one-shot Aldritch (who alway gave me troubles, because I had to solo him). And I just one-shotted Champion Gundyr (also solo, which I never done before). The next challenge will be the Twin Princes. I never managed to even have a chance in that fight, without the help of an NPC to distract them. This time I'm gonna try to solo them. I don't think there's any chance I'll one-shot them, but killing them solo would be nice.

There is one bad aspect to this game. It has the potential to eat a lot of time ....

[Mr.Duck]

It is an epic feeling when you solo the game (or at least the bosses), no matter what NG you are in.

Did it with Dark Souls 3 + both expansions and did it with Bloodborne + expansion. It was crazy, but awesome.

And yes, the Soulsborne game do eat up away at your time....so good. <3

[Gryzemuis]

I just soloed the Twin Princes in NG+. I didn't think I could do it. Havel's Greatshield+4 did the trick (100% block and 83% magic resist). Plus the Magic StonePlate Ring + 1, (and the usual Ring of Steel Protection + 3/Estus/Chloranty+3). Karla's set again, for the magic resist. As long as I block incoming damage with the shield, I was fine. And I used my mace+10 in stead of the longsword+10. Took me 8 or 10 tries at most.

I had an issue with my joystick (yeah, remember, I still play with joystick and trackball). Sometimes during a boss-fight, the combination of simulated keypresses did something that caused an alt-tab. Bam, screen gone. I'd alt-tab back immediately, but often I'd get hit by the boss (or comboed to death). Happened 3 times during the fights with the twins. Three early deaths. Then I had enough of it, and reprogrammed my joystick (and the ingame keybinds) to use "n" for walk, in stead of right-shift. I suspect the right-shift in combination with one of the wasd keys, and my h or u (attack/strong attack) was causing windows to act up.

So Pontiff took me 7 tries or so. Twins a few more. I forgot that Wolnir's cloud killed me twice. I underestimated that fight, as it was so easy the first time. Yhorm and the Old Demon King I had an NPC help me, but that was because reasons. And that Stray Demon that trolled me. All the other fights I did solo and killed the boss on my first try. Weird. The bosses are getting harder now in NG+, now that I'm getting to the end of the game. So I wonder if the fact that I'm killing them so much easier than in NG is because of my gear, or my mad skillz.

Soul of Cinder, Archdragon Peak and the 2 DLCs are left in this NG+. Maybe next weekend.

And one day, I will go back and pay The Fume Knight a visit. But not yet ...

Edit: ridiculous, Soul of Cinder and Nameless King went down the first try. Sister Friede and Midir are a different story ... Not sure I wanna do Midir solo again. I might kill Gael and then see how NG++ is. Looking at the health of bosses on wiki-pages, it doesn't seem NG++ is that much harder.

[Mr.Duck]

Ol'Fumey <3

Y'know...I feel bad. Though I beat him solo, I actually got him mad by using Velstadt's helmet, so he was pumped up in his 2nd phase from the get go, but that actually makes the fight easier. Next time I'm fighting him on his two phases!

Truly an awesome boss fight. Don't forget to find and fight Sir Alonne and Smelter Demon v. 2!

[Malleus]

Next time I'm fighting him on his two phases!

Don't forget to leave all the idols around the arena intact! Give poor Fume Knight a chance!

[Mr.Duck]

Holy shit...I want a challenge, not an anal probing with a blunt knife.

To be fair, I consider shattering the idols as part of the quest (that is, after all, how you get the soul of the fallen queen). This would be like trying to fight Vendrick without any giant soul...oh God...that'd take ages.

[Malleus]

Not the same, since you can prevent Fume from healing with good positioning. There's no trick to lower Venrdrick's health without the giant souls.

[Mr.Duck]

True, but then I do appreciate having some wiggle room for Fumey. Though it couldn't hurt to give it a few tries, neh? :3