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BrawlMan

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I finished Streets of Rage 4 on Steam for the first time with Cherry. I've already unlocked almost all of the retro characters. The only ones left are the SOR3 characters. Nearly every stage I got an S-Rank on the first try.
 
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FakeSympathy

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Finally done with Elden Ring DLC after 30 hours.

And that final boss has made it onto my "do not solo" list; There are very few which makes it on to this list, because for the most part, I genuinely believe in trying to solo every boss in soulsborne game.

Not with this one, though. The concept is very cool where we face Radahn in his prime, now powered up by Miquella but after facing the boss multiple times, the novelty wore off; This boss has too many moves that can kill nearly all builds in1-2 hits. Granted, Malenia was capable of doing this, but her waterfowl dance was the real deal, and the rest could be rolled/tanked and live with some HP left; Not with this boss. The opening attack will kill you if you don't time your dodge roll right.

And that's just the first phase; The second phase was impossible for me to solo, and it got to the point where it was more of a mental torture. So I decided to co-op, which after 10 attempts I was finally able to beat it.

I think FS kinda dropped the runes here, because this and other bosses seem to have lots of cheap shot attacks, ridiculous health pool, and very tight dodge window. The boss fights should be challenging with all builds, not be near-impossible for some. And this was base game, w/ 20 scadu blessing level (aka find all scadutree fragments). Apparently 20 is t he max level, which also carries over to NG+; Holy crap, and most of my other builds are on NG+ and beyond;

I am hesitant about beating the dlc with other builds now
 
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Sherdtree adventures continue. I did a rebirth to try a strength build and went back to Rellana. Got her 2nd try wearing the Solitude armor set using Wild Strikes on the Cold Great Stars hammer with the hammer talisman and Physik that does increased poise damage, plus Ironjar Aromatic for good measure. I was fat rolling at only 36 endurance anyways, but the tankiness made up for it. The whole fight was less than a couple minutes with both the npc summon and my Oleg summon, level 4 Scadutree and spirit. Also beat the big hippo thing 2nd try soon after.

I think I’m just missing the easternmost map fragment judging by the zoomed out map area, but haven’t covered any ground revealed besides a quick ride through the sleepy fields. If there are really 10 levels worth of Scadutree/spirit upgrades before even fighting the first boss then they must be hidden pretty well. I’m only now at level 5 and most of those have been reached after bosses. Maybe two levels worth I’ve found just going through dungeons. Idk how much it helps being rune level 199 but I guess I can still count on 80 strength and 60 vigor to some extent.

Was really tempted to just see how far I could tank things (no pun) but ended the night by rebirthing back to dex with the backhand blades because I like the moveset and mobility, even if it’s tougher. I did add some arcane to make bleed more viable though.
 
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Bartholen

At age 6 I was born without a face
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I'm at the final boss of Shadow of the Erdtree, and holy fuuuuuuuuuuuck it blows. Like actual, fetid dogshit. Worst boss I've faced since the end of Doom Eternal's DLC, and quite possibly the single worst boss Fromsoft have ever created. Yes, including Bed of Chaos. I'm legitimately wondering if they playtested this properly, because it's so terrible it might actually be broken. I literally have no idea what the game plan is supposed to be in the fight.
  • Dodging's out of the question, because the boss literally attacks faster than you can dodge and there are lingering hitboxes.
  • Blocking's out, because the boss attacks so relentlessly with both physical and elemental damage that even if your guard doesn't break, the sizable chip damage still rips you apart.
  • Summoning's only half reliable, because even with an NPC summon and a Mimic Tear the boss aggros to me like 70% of the time.
  • Cheesing with status effects is out, because the boss rushes half the battlefield in like a second.
  • And I don't even want to think what trying to play through this with a magic build might be like.
And as per the MO of these DLC bosses, it's real-time turn-based gameplay to the max, where the boss attacks like 7 times, leaves a window for maybe 1 or 2 hits (assuming you even manage to get within striking distance), and then starts another interminable attack chain. The only way I'm even getting to the second phase is with a turtle build and a blood-infused Antspur rapier, and even that has only middling success.

But then we get to the second phase, where I don't even know if I've seen all the bullshit they've pulled. Let's start with the giant explosion that's so big that if the boss rushes next to you and then decides to use it, you literally can't escape its radius in time unless you start running the nanosecond the buildup starts. Then there's the instant kill attack, which might actually be one of the least of this boss's offenses. There's more lingering hitboxes, framerate-destroying clone attacks, an excess of flashy effects covering the screen... it literally does almost everything wrong. This classic youtube clip summarizes my thoughts perfectly:

 

FakeSympathy

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I'm at the final boss of Shadow of the Erdtree, and holy fuuuuuuuuuuuck it blows. Like actual, fetid dogshit. Worst boss I've faced since the end of Doom Eternal's DLC, and quite possibly the single worst boss Fromsoft have ever created. Yes, including Bed of Chaos. I'm legitimately wondering if they playtested this properly, because it's so terrible it might actually be broken. I literally have no idea what the game plan is supposed to be in the fight.
  • Dodging's out of the question, because the boss literally attacks faster than you can dodge and there are lingering hitboxes.
  • Blocking's out, because the boss attacks so relentlessly with both physical and elemental damage that even if your guard doesn't break, the sizable chip damage still rips you apart.
  • Summoning's only half reliable, because even with an NPC summon and a Mimic Tear the boss aggros to me like 70% of the time.
  • Cheesing with status effects is out, because the boss rushes half the battlefield in like a second.
  • And I don't even want to think what trying to play through this with a magic build might be like.
And as per the MO of these DLC bosses, it's real-time turn-based gameplay to the max, where the boss attacks like 7 times, leaves a window for maybe 1 or 2 hits (assuming you even manage to get within striking distance), and then starts another interminable attack chain. The only way I'm even getting to the second phase is with a turtle build and a blood-infused Antspur rapier, and even that has only middling success.

But then we get to the second phase, where I don't even know if I've seen all the bullshit they've pulled. Let's start with the giant explosion that's so big that if the boss rushes next to you and then decides to use it, you literally can't escape its radius in time unless you start running the nanosecond the buildup starts. Then there's the instant kill attack, which might actually be one of the least of this boss's offenses. There's more lingering hitboxes, framerate-destroying clone attacks, an excess of flashy effects covering the screen... it literally does almost everything wrong. This classic youtube clip summarizes my thoughts perfectly:

OMG, tell me about it! My first playthrough was with pure INT, and it was a miserable time. There really aren't too many new spells or staves that you can play with, so you just basically bring stuff from the base game. And even with max scadutree blessing, this boss was impossible for me. All my spells did mediocre damage even with the talisman that's supposed to max out the sorcery damange output.

I REALLY hated that big AOE in the 2nd phase. The danger area is ridiculously big and the laser blasts afterwards ruins my positioning.

Normally I would join in on the meme and say "git gud", but not for this boss; I would recommend everyone to just co-op this boss. That way someone else can keep the boss aggro-ed while you hit from the sides.
 
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Old_Hunter_77

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OMG, tell me about it! My first playthrough was with pure INT, and it was a miserable time. There really aren't too many new spells or staves that you can play with, so you just basically bring stuff from the base game. And even with max scadutree blessing, this boss was impossible for me. All my spells did mediocre damage even with the talisman that's supposed to max out the sorcery damange output.

I REALLY hated that big AOE in the 2nd phase. The danger area is ridiculously big and the laser blasts afterwards ruins my positioning.

Normally I would join in on the meme and say "git gud", but not for this boss; I would recommend everyone to just co-op this boss. That way someone else can keep the boss aggro-ed while you hit from the sides.
Guys have you tried just doing other stuff to level up? I mean the game gives you so many options. Use summons or try different weapons. This game doesn't hold your hand but is actually very accessible.

(extremely /s, just in case it needs saying)
 
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Speaking of final boss resistances, a mage was solo'ing with one of the new shields and the deflect physik+scholar's shield, almost playing it like Sekiro to good effect -



As with base game it wasn't all meant to be figured out in a week or two, by the average person at least. Even with all the complaining about difficulty again like every game before it there's already no hit run videos on all the bosses. I do feel this ceiling can only go so high though, and while I still enjoy this latest iteration I welcome FROM doing something fresh in the future; hopefully on a new engine.
 

NerfedFalcon

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Sorry I haven't been in in a while; mostly just been playing Runescape and the same old stuff. I made a little bit of progress in God of War 4 and I'm hoping I can get more done tonight. Also picked up a game called Last Call BBS on the Steam sale; it's a game of several smaller games, framed as you downloading pirated games for your legally-not-an-Amiga. Since it's a Zachtronics game there's a few different forms of programming games and two versions of solitaire, but there's also a pen-and-paper puzzle, a Gunpla simulator (which also simulates the feeling of having one part left over that you don't know where it goes), and a minigame from a previous game (which is impossible, don't even try).

Overall I think it's pretty neat, though perhaps not the best starting point if you've never played a Zachtronics game. Look into Opus Magnum or Infinifactory if you want to try their stuff out, or Exapunks if you don't mind getting a little more involved right off the bat.

(Oh yeah, and Zenless Zone Zero comes out in a couple of days, so I'm probably gonna get stuck hard into that once it does.)
 
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Casual Shinji

Should've gone before we left.
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Guys have you tried just doing other stuff to level up? I mean the game gives you so many options. Use summons or try different weapons. This game doesn't hold your hand but is actually very accessible.

(extremely /s, just in case it needs saying)
Considering the more than a decade of 'that bad thing about [insert Souls game] actually makes it good', yeah, unfortunately it does need saying.
 
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FakeSympathy

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Guys have you tried just doing other stuff to level up? I mean the game gives you so many options. Use summons or try different weapons. This game doesn't hold your hand but is actually very accessible.

(extremely /s, just in case it needs saying)
I have. And even with maxed scadutree blessing, maxing out three different spirit summons (Tiche, mimic, and Andreas) and respecing to have more HP, I still was getting my ass kicked. I just think the INT builds kinda got shafted with the DLC. Sure, there is a talisman that boosts sorcery damage and some new spells, but I don't think they aren't enough meanwhile I see so much more options for other builds.

Now dodging and stamina management is definitely something all builds needs to learn. but how much you hit and can get hit without dying is where I feel needs a bit of balancing. Because goddamn, I feel casters (sorceries or incantations) can only take so much damage compared to more physical/hybrid builds.
 
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BrawlMan

Lover of beat'em ups.
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(Oh yeah, and Zenless Zone Zero comes out in a couple of days, so I'm probably gonna get stuck hard into that once it does.)
I am thinking of picking this up. I don't Hoyoverse games, but this will be first because this game has big style and identity of its own. Anything I should be prepped for or know about in ZZZ gacha wise? I know Hoyo don't abuse much, but I want to be on the safe side?

I've been bumming around playing Steam again. I am loving the shit out of Slipstream! I do hate the rubber banding AI though. Why? I am going to play Super Crush KO next!
 

Worgen

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Whatever, just wash your hands.
I've been bumming around playing Steam again. I am loving the shit out of Slipstream! I do hate the rubber banding AI though. Why? I am going to play Super Crush KO next!
In version 2 or so of Slipstream the maker turned off rubber banding completely and it caused a lot of other issues so its back on. The patch notes gives more info.
 

BrawlMan

Lover of beat'em ups.
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In version 2 or so of Slipstream the maker turned off rubber banding completely and it caused a lot of other issues so its back on. The patch notes gives more info.
I did not know that, and I didn't even bother looking at the patch notes. Thank you for the info.
 
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