Dark Souls & Other Souls-Likes

So, 10/10 investment.

Long story short, you wouldn't see any significant changes until +9 flame at those low values because scaling doesn't really start happening until ~18 into a stat at low catalyst rank.

Note to self: do NOT attack the red crystal lizards

This guy...XD

I may have been slightly inspired by him :D

Lol man, invaders like that are the best type I guess. Kill the host by any means necessary/ the easiest way that you can.

This game has some great visually beautiful scenery and yet we haven't posted any screenies of us capturing it!

Finally finished the last optional boss in the game last night. That fight was epic!Time for NG+1....but I guess I'll try the Nioh demo out first.

Btw, it'd be interesting if you guys shared which weapons you felt the most comfortable with and why (mainly for PVE, but if you wanna list your PVP weapons then why not).

I went with a strength build, so I used a Heavy Zweihander, then a Fume Knight Greatsword (2-handed with a Grass Crest Shield). Roll > R1 for decent damage. R1 combos or charge R2 when there are big openings for some neat damage.

I might respec and go DEX. What do you guys think the best DEX weapon is? DPS and utility-wise.

Also, is Hollow infusion with 40 Luck really that good?

I'm mostly a straight sword man. I really do love them, but it's mainly because of the low stat cost, and me being a cheapskate about upgrading weapons found later.

I love the Dark Sword, Astora Straight Sword, Longsword, and by extension, pretty much any other standard straight sword. I like to buff them with things like Lightning Blade and go ham. The fast wide swings, coupled with a versatile swing set really does it for me. I prefer the R2 thrust of a standard straight sword to the Dark Sword's fancier counteresque swordplay R2, but it can be quite the upsetter when used appropriately.

My current playthrough, since I finally got around to my 3rd one, has featured the use of the Dark Sword and Wolf Knight's Greatsword. I'm no stranger to Greatsword play, but due to how poise has functioned for the past 3 souls games, I've not taken them into my house favorites, except in Bloodborne, since Poise did not exist. Poise does exist, at least if you want to believe it exists, in DS3, however the poise feature only occurs so far into most attack animations, that you still have to time your attack 100% correctly in order to see it succeed.

That all said, my first playthrough was done with a Great Machete -> Greataxe -> Demon's Greataxe, and I'm fairly comfortable using them. I do not appreciate that they all have the same flipping attack pattern, and about the same reach, but the fact that they shake the ground and prevent roll aways and stuff that like when someone closes in on you can also be the upsetter. Fighting certain bosses with them is rather challenging, and when I switched to straight swords on my 2nd playthrough, it felt like I was Goku fresh out of 100x Gravity training.

Don't think it needs to be stated, but I love high stability shields, mainly because I never invest enough in Stamina. I play like a mobile turtle, and time shield blocks/decide when to get hit, unless I'm utilizing GMS.

I've been bouncing between Katanas (I seem to have settled on the Washingpole, despite how stupid it looks) and the Farron Greatsword.

If I can make use of the wide arcs, Farron is king. But if I'm dealing with quick ***with short range attacks, I'm slicing them from a mile away with the Washingpole.

Once I get upgrade materials, I intend to play with the Old Wolf Curved Greatsword. Curved Greatsword have been my favorite weapon class in the previous two games, even though they weren't particularly great in DS2.

Quality for my main build. I intend to play around with a Hallow on my next build. Probably going to use bleed weapons and Anri's Straight Sword.

Also uhh, I tend to just get 30 Sunlight Medals out of habit in each playthrough, and this time I decided to help people with Abyss Watchers.

This fight ends in a pretty cool fashion, hence why I chose to upload the clip.

That was a pretty awesome finish.

Butcher Knife.

Was fast enough to hit most enemies before they'd hit you, staggering them and allowing you to kill them in one go. I went full STR.

Other weapons I used was the Irithyll Straight Sword and the Wolf Knight's Greatsword.
The GS was useful to bait shield/bigger enemies and use the R2 special attack while the sword was useful for some enemies (before my knife was properly augmented).

I wish there were better Katanas in DS games. I only found 2 and they had nothing special (and they're particularly slow, too).

Kinda like being a Blue Sentinel. The summons is rare, at least rarer than other covenants, but you can get summoned to anywhere in the world it seems. I've put the fear of the gods into some of the invaders lol. This one guy tried to run up and ladder and such, but I hit him 3 times using R1/R2 combos while he climbed. The host was smart and pull out a bow and locked onto him, rapid fired him, and he fell off the ladder at such a low HP that the slight fall damage killed him.

I really liked the 1-h R2 of the Zweihander. Great range and damage, reasonable speed, and if you charge it, it knocks down enemies on counter hit for more free damage. Very useful against NPCs and Knight enemies.

I tried the Wolf Knight's GS ofc (I'm a big fan of the Artorias fight). The leap and spin are pretty cool and deal decent damage. I'd only use it when helping others as a phantom since I think it does more DPS than the heavier weapons due to its lower stamina cost (if you're not dodging or blocking hit).

I messed around with Gotthard's Twin Swords. The FP combo and dual wield mode L1 combos look badass and deal decent DPS.

I got the Uchigana as soon as I entered the zone because I liked using Katana's not only from the first DS1 but also in general. When I defeated Weight Watchers I switched to the Wolf Knight's GS, but the Uchi was faster and stronger at the time. When I was able to +5 it I was able to use it more when I did things with my friend as I was able to get use to its swing without getting punished for it. Its been my favorite weapon until........I met the Black Knight Greataxe.

I have never been a fan of greataxe ever in any game(I lied,just remembered I kind of liked Karsh back in Chrono Cross, he had an axe....and also Aion but didnt really get to finish doing glad) but yea, never used them nor really liked them over the alternative Great Sword, and then I picked this up and man Im loving it. The stamina cost is steeeeeeep but with practice is manageable. I will say it takes more effort to use in PVP like you have no idea. Its all about reading your opponent and making them make the mistake(ohwaitthatseverystrat).

GreatAxe:
Nothing like entering Irithyll of the Boreal Valley for the first time:
Anor Londo Calrissian's place was nice
Thats pretty much all the armor and weapons I used for my first play through(some pieces are out of chronological order in terms of when I first came to said location vs found said gear, had to go back for screenies)

BKGA is back to it's pre-nerf self in DS1, where's it's absolutely capable of 3-shotting most builds.

Yep, the only problem Ive been coming into is Ultra GS with better swing/reach and long swords/estoc who can just pretty much lock you if you get unlucky.

If I get 2 swings in I can pretty much take 90% of their HP away, the only problem is how much dmg did I take doing that and not to get complacent with that last hit.

Stamina management is also key, you only get 3 swings out of BKGA with full stamina(Im currently at 130-140).

In terms of whats OP right now and other options, I feel like BKGA is high risk/high reward. If you connect, you're probably already won the battle, if not, you'll probably leave yourself open to a lot of dmg until you prefect your timing and roll. 8.5/10 imo.

Mind you I only pvp'd with it on the first day I tried it. Im sure people whom have been using GA for a while now will feel natural with its moveset.

That being said, Im loving it and will continue to get more practice with it.

I'm actually terrified when I run into one.

It has fantastic range for a Great Axe. It's only slightly slower a greatsword and has enough hyper armor to definitively win a trade against my Farron Greatsword and get a guaranteed second hit off.

Which puts me in a position that I have to play the rest of the fight flawlessly.

Called it! I made a post early into release about how parry timing felt. Most notably being that Katana and Special Small Shield parries felt equal. As a shocker, Caestus falls into the same category.

Admittedly, the list only covers when the parry frames start up and not the actual length of the window. Caestus has the shortest animation length and ties for fastest start up. It's currently widely accepted as the best parry tool in the game.

Chaos Blade (Katana) - 10th frame
Target shield (Small Parrying shield) - 10th frame
Caestus (Fist weapon) - 10th frame

Red and White Shield/Sacred Bloom Shield (Small shield) - 12th frame

Parrying Dagger (Dagger) - 14th frame
Grass Crest Shield (Standard shield) - 14th frame
Rapier (Rapier) - 14th frame
Farron Greatsword (UGS) - 14th frame
Painting Guardian's Curved Sword (Curved Sword) - 14th frame

DS3 armor looks way too shiny to me.

Light sources and polished metal surfaces = shiny. The cloth armors, and armors made from bone like stuff do not have a high sheen.

Karla is a sweetie pie. I can't decide who is bae in this one. Greirat is such a charmer, Irina is a saint, Karla is a sweetheart, Orbeck is a badass with a heart of gold, and Sirris is endearing.