Dark Souls III Catch-All 2.0

The veil on the dancer is brilliant in and of itself. It was a boss I was sure I’d have a lot of trouble with but I’m approaching these fights with the notion that I’m up to the challenge which helps. I’m much better at blocking and dodging blows.

On a related note, I am starting to get the impression that the inhabitants of Lothric Castle don’t want me there.

I’m on the last boss of the painted world DLC. I made it close to the end of phase 2. I think I might be able to take the boss down.

Then it’ll be back to those charming twin princes.

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As an avid fan of the game on my PS4 Pro, finally, Xbox gets 60fps Dark Souls 3. It’s been locked to 30fps, even though they did release a PS4 Pro patch to unlock the frame rate (got around 45fps). Xbox One X and the enhanced games came out after that patch, so it never got it. Now, through the magic of technology, I can get beat up through 60fps DS3 on my Series X. The only big catch is, they didn’t bump the resolution, as reported by Digital Foundry. What was 900p @ 30fps is now 900p at @ 60fps, which apparently doesn’t upscale so well.

Very interesting! I foolishly bought DS3 on PS4 even though I prefer Xbox, then bought the Xbox version on sale for a second playthrough. However, my most advanced character (in the first DLC) is still on PS4.

Does the FPSboost do anything on an Xbox One X?

I started replaying DS3 a couple of weeks ago, to prepare myself to die in Elden Ring. I've beaten DS3 twice, I think, using sword/board characters, and I'm sure I'll stick to that for my first playthrough of Elden Ring as well. For now, though, I'm playing as a pure sorcerer, which is something I'm not super familiar with; I like the glass cannon nature of it, even sticking with only midrolling.

A couple of highlights and lowlights so far:

1) I killed Dancer on my second attempt. I would have done it on the first attempt, but whoopsie, I goofed. The second attempt it wasn't even a close fight.

2) I hate Oceiros with a passion. I think I must have popped like 20 Embers to get some additional buffer room, in addition to another probably dozen un-Embered attempts. He just moves so damn fast and catches me off-guard. Even with my earlier tankier characters I had trouble with him.

3) Pontiff Sulyvahn's second phase is usually a problem for me, but hey, one Soul Spear solves that problem quite nicely. Once I got myself reacquainted with his tells, it was a straightforward fight.

4) I killed Nameless King on my first try. I got through the first phase in like 3 attacks - before the wyvern had a chance to do anything other than a single swoop. This is particularly remarkable for me, because apparently I've never killed Nameless King before, despite many frustrating attempts on previous characters.

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I intend to run through the DLCs before finishing this game off. I know I've beaten Ashes of Ariendal, but I can't remember if I've beaten the last boss of The Ringed City.

So anyway. Magic is fun, yo.

33% of players defeating Nameless King is pretty impressive.

Merple, I'm super impressed that you've been doing so well as a sorcerer. I facerolled the original Dark Souls with magic but never even made a serious attempt at it with DS3. Casting speed is so slow, and enemies move so fast, that even getting off spells is a nightmare - and when you do, they do less damage than just whacking an enemy with a sword. And then you've got the issue of having no healing, because you need to allot all your Estus to the blue flask...

So, yeah, I'd love to know the secret. Aside from "being very gud".

Well, I waltzed into the Twin Princes and got killed pretty much right off the bat. I ran back in and destroyed them both (with zero Estus to spare; it was, admittedly, a pretty close fight all throughout).

Tasty Pudding wrote:

So, yeah, I'd love to know the secret. Aside from "being very gud".

There's definitely a lot more "planning ahead" needed in the glass cannon lifestyle. Remember that spells can hit enemies from a lot further away than the lock-on target's range. This is especially useful when dealing with trash mobs: use the binoculars to line up your shot (put the enemy dead center in your screen), then immediately cast your spell; if you don't kill them immediately, at least you can probably get another cast or two in before they get into melee range.

Make sure you're putting a good number of levels into Int, and reinforcing your weapon regularly. The initial staff is fine (I bumped it to +3), but then I swapped that for the Heretic's Staff (and got it to +9), and now I'm currently rocking the Court Sorcerer's Staff (+10). The Sage Ring is critical for improving casting speed early on (later, hold the Saint-tree Bellvine in your offhand instead), and the Young Dragon Ring, Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring, and Magic Clutch ring all stack for improved magic damage. The Chloranthy Ring is of course great for stamina regeneration.

Soul Arrow and Heavy Soul Arrow are your main spells to start off, but you'll want to swap them for Great versions as soon as you can; these Arrow spells are all extremely efficient damage per mana spent, so they're great for clearing trash mobs - just remember that casting one Heavy costs less than two regular arrows, so if one regular arrow isn't quite enough to kill those mobs, you're better off using a Heavy. (Crystal) Soul Spear will be your go-to for boss fights once you get it. And I like using Soul Greatsword for when I get swarmed by a big pack of annoying enemies.

Also, git gud.

Spoiler:

I just hope that this encourages someone else to try a DS3 pure Sorcerer build.

I ended up going through almost all of DLC1. There are some incredibly hairy situations in that zone as a sorcerer. Then the final boss I went through the first phase without her even making a single attack, and the second phase I took only one hit, but the third phase seemed nigh-impossible for me; she's just too nimble. In retrospect, I probably could have switched over to using something like Flashsword instead of Spear, but meh.

I then went on to DLC2 and started picking my way through there. I had every intention of going through DLC2 in its entirety, but honestly, I just wanted to be done with DS3 and move on to Lost Ark, so with very little fanfare, I popped over and killed the Soul of Cinder. It's kinda funny how some bosses in DS3 really don't have a good AI against ranged attacks.

Hello there Ashen Ones! I am about 15hrs into my first playthrough of DS3 and I'm having a lot of fun!

My first impression was that it feels a lot more like a sequel to DS than DS2 did. Jumping into combat felt very familiar, to the extent that I managed to beat the first and second boss on my first try. (Something I didn't come close to doing my first time through DSR, DS2 or BB!)

I do have a slight concern that DS3 might end up leaning too much on DS references... So far I feel like it's pushing it, but hasn't crossed the line into obnoxious for me yet.

(Are we past worrying about spoiler tags? If I need to use them just let me know and I'll edit them in.)

Just fought two awesome bosses! I thought the Abyss Watchers were amazing! Loved the set-piece on the run up to them, the mysterious sounds from inside the building, then the amazing intro and mid-battle cutscenes, and expecially loved the random guys showing up - sometimes to help, sometimes to hinder. Easily my favourite boss fight of DS3 so far, and has me excited for what's to come. I also loved High Lord of the Shiny Bracelets, mainly cause of the initial reveal but also because my personal head-lore is that the Lord is actually a teenie tiny boss that shrinks you down so the whole battle can take place inside the chalice that you see before the battle.

Currently working my way through the Cathedral. It's dragging a little if I'm honest, but I do enjoy an area that's about working your way around and unlocking shortcuts to a central bonfire.

I've always thought that DS2 felt like a sequel to Demon's Souls (in game mechanics), as much as DS3 felt like a sequel to DS1 (in environment).

So heads up, the path your on does come to an abrupt stop at some point. It becomes more tree branch like just so you don't look for the next connection like I did for a few hours.

Hobear wrote:

So heads up, the path your on does come to an abrupt stop at some point. It becomes more tree branch like just so you don't look for the next connection like I did for a few hours.

So a little after the High Lord of Gothic Chalices I hit a wall and was told to come back with a doll. Is that a DLC area? Using my DS knowledge, I'm wondering if I'll find that doll in the Painted World? I unlocked the bonfire there but didn't explore it yet.

Still pushing through this Cathedral. It's a fun area to explore but I'm ready to at least know what I'm working towards...

Oh sh*t! I just killed the freaking fire keeper! I was about to level up, had to put down my dualsense, and accidently triggered a thrust attack that one-shot her! How bad is this?

Stevintendo wrote:

Oh sh*t! I just killed the freaking fire keeper! I was about to level up, had to put down my dualsense, and accidently triggered a thrust attack that one-shot her! How bad is this?

Uh oh, time to uninstall the game!

Spoiler:

Kidding. She respawns. Just teleport away and back, no harm done.

Killing the other NPCs have some consequences, but killing the Firekeeper is completely harmless, as far as I can remember.

I'll DM you so to not spoil anything much

Online services have been restored to Dark Souls 3 on PC. Online for the other Souls games is coming.

So Stevintendo and I have tried to coop in DS3 on PS5 with passwords with no luck. We have seen each other's phantoms near bonfires and confirmed it was us but can't connect. Not been able to find any reason why we shouldn't be able to connect either. We can both summon by password or without with other players.

We have checked gear. Gotten near each other's levels. Nothing seems to work. We have checked game versions etc. Out of ideas. Seeing if anyone has an idea why?

Forgot to mention he is across the pond from me but if we can see the shadows of each other but not summon signs or soap stones it really is confusing.

Today he saw me put down my sign when I said I did and then nothing showed for either of us even when embered up.

I played through DS3 back when it released but I never got to the dlc. I did ashes of arieandel and wasn't in love with the boss battles. I started the dreg heap and got to the first boss. Figured I had time for one go at them. I had no souls and was not embered. Man I was goofing around with the double boss and realized I was doing pretty good. So then I focused in and got that energy adrenaline burst that only a souls boss can give at times. Managing attacks and running in to get in my hits all while running out of endurance mid swing and realizing I needed to get out. It was amazing! I took down the two bosses and started to celebrate. Uh oh. The boss didn't disappear....

Second phase starts and I'm panic rolling and running around. Trying to get some estus in and maybe finally ember up. I do and then get under the guy. I keep trying to stay behind him. I survive all the big pyro attacks and get under him again and finish him off.

It has been a long time since I have experienced a new souls boss I get to have the excitement to not only first time then but also have a lot of fun in the boss battle and not just get destroyed. That perfect Shakey feeling that is so damn fun.

Dang, Hobear! That boss is not an easy one, either! I've dropped dozens of attempts on that double-boss without even getting to the second phase. Nice job!

Thanks! I'm in a sellswords twin blades build. It can be fun watching health bars drop but it can be hard to try and not get too many hits in too long.

I had more fun in that fight than I have had in a long time. I'm not sure why but the battle just clicked.

Jumped into the DLC about a year after finishing the main game, my god Darkeater Midir, why won't you die! Spent the last 2 hours? and got him down to the second phrase ghost attacks a few times but then started to get worse so stepping back a bit.