What are you currently playing?

[Johnny Novgorod]

Four tries, Four Kings:

Spoiler

I decide this is as far as my Black Knight Sword +5 is going to take me.

Spoiler

I come back with a Zweihander +15 but forget to set it on fire.

Spoiler

Chandler tells Monica how he really feels.

Spoiler

Four kings more like four

 

[Xprimentyl]

Four tries, Four Kings:

Spoiler

I decide this is as far as my Black Knight Sword +5 is going to take me.

Spoiler

I come back with a Zweihander +15 but forget to set it on fire.

Spoiler

Chandler tells Monica how he really feels.

Spoiler

Four kings more like four

I commented on one of those vids; you were mainlining that Estus! But good job, my friend !!

Curious, you're fat rolling and you're not using a 100% shield; any reason why? Not sure how encumbered you currently are, but both are something easily remedied with some minor adjustments. Mainly, lighter armor. I know the heavy stuff gives you the warm and fuzzies, but a lighter set coupled with a 100% shield will yield basically the same results seeing as blocking will entirely negate physical damage, and you'll have the more effective medium-to-light roll. But if tankin' it is your choice, go full send and equip Havel's armor.

As for the Black Knight's sword, it's only drawback is the range. It can carry most adept players through endgame, but you have to be skilled in the dodging part of things. That's why I used it for a fair chunk of my first go, but found the Black Knight Halberd to be the better option; far better range and damage letting me turtle most engagements from a safe(r) distance.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Curious, you're fat rolling and you're not using a 100% shield; any reason why?

I'm normal-rolling if I stay above 25% but under 50%, right? I went under 25% for Ornstein and Smough and then switched back to almost 50%, forget when. Either in Tomb or Ariamis (probably Tomb) I decided taking a punch was more valuable. In hindsight probably not the best strat for 4K.

What would be a 100% shield?

 

[Xprimentyl]

I'm normal-rolling if I stay above 25% but under 50%, right? I went under 25% for Ornstein and Smough and then switched back to almost 50%, forget when. Either in Tomb or Ariamis (probably Tomb) I decided taking a punch was more valuable. In hindsight probably not the best strat for 4K.

What would be a 100% shield?

I don't recall the exact parameters, but yes under 50% load should have you mid-rolling. And as far as 100% shields, any with a 100 in the physical damage reduction stat will negate all physical damage. The Spider Shield is a good one; it also negates poison status buildup, and it's fairly light, IIRC. I can't tell what shield you're using in those videos, but I imagine it's somewhere in the 80-ish range, so not bad, but too close to 100 not to be using 100, y'know? And if you've not spent Sif's soul yet (you bastard,) you can make the Greatshield of Artorias; required for the Rare Weapon achievement/trophy, and a fantastic-if-heavy shield. Coupled with light armor to stay at mid-roll, I used it through NG++ for my 100% completion.

 

[Drathnoxis]

Four tries, Four Kings:

Spoiler

I decide this is as far as my Black Knight Sword +5 is going to take me.

Spoiler

I come back with a Zweihander +15 but forget to set it on fire.

Spoiler

Chandler tells Monica how he really feels.

Spoiler

Four kings more like four

Yes, Zweihander FTW!

In combination with what Xprimentyl said, 100 physical block shield will block all physical damage... until you run out of stamina. Since stamina drain is modified by stability, you also want a shield with a higher stability, if you are going to rely on your shield rather than your armor.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

@Xprimentyl @Drathnoxis Made it to Nito last night and didn't do *that* bad but just in case I'm making things way harder than they need to be, do I want to continue with a fired up Zwei +15 or would a maxed out Divine weapon (I was using a morning star) fare better against him? I'm undecided whether ignoring the skellys makes things faster or harder.

 

[Xprimentyl]

@Xprimentyl @Drathnoxis Made it to Nito last night and didn't do *that* bad but just in case I'm making things way harder than they need to be, do I want to continue with a fired up Zwei +15 or would a maxed out Divine weapon (I was using a morning star) fare better against him? I'm undecided whether ignoring the skellys makes things faster or harder.

A Divine weapon for the smaller skeletons that rush you when you first drop in the arena is ideal to perma-kill them and take them out of the equation, then switch to your preferred weapons after that. I'm pretty sure Divine does bonus damage to Nito as well, but if you've not invested in a Divine weapon as your primary damage dealer, your Zwei can get the job done easily. But ultimately let Nito come to you at that spot. If you run towards him, you run the risk of aggro-ing the bigger skeletons towards the back. It'll take some time as Nito apparently has all the time in the world, but one-on-one, he's not that big a deal. Just dodge when you hear the screams that signal that sword spike coming out of the ground beneath you until he's close enough to engage physically *insert "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" meme here*

Also, I noticed you were visited by Darkstalker Kaathe after beating the Four Kings; did you join the Darkwraiths? Easiest on NG; beating the Four Kings before giving the Lord Vessel to Frampt is slightly tougher on NG+ and beyond.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Also, I noticed you were visited by Darkstalker Kaathe after beating the Four Kings; did you join the Darkwraiths? Easiest on NG; beating the Four Kings before giving the Lord Vessel to Frampt is slightly tougher on NG+ and beyond.

Yup, at this point I joined every covenant except Path of the Dragon and Warrior of Sunlight. The last one takes 25 Faith (I think I'm at 12) and feels like a massive waste of souls. Currently on SL 82.

Supposedly the requirements drop by 5 via online co-op but I'm just not that interested in that aspect of the game.

 

[Drathnoxis]

@Xprimentyl @Drathnoxis Made it to Nito last night and didn't do *that* bad but just in case I'm making things way harder than they need to be, do I want to continue with a fired up Zwei +15 or would a maxed out Divine weapon (I was using a morning star) fare better against him? I'm undecided whether ignoring the skellys makes things faster or harder.

I beat the entire game with Zwei +15, I never switched for anything. I don't ever remember Nito being a big block on any of my runs so you should be fine.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Yup, at this point I joined every covenant except Path of the Dragon and Warrior of Sunlight. The last one takes 25 Faith (I think I'm at 12) and feels like a massive waste of souls. Currently on SL 82.

Supposedly the requirements drop by 5 via online co-op but I'm just not that interested in that aspect of the game.

Yeah, The Sunlight covenant was the last thing I completed for my 100%; dumped all of my mostly useless souls into Faith towards the end. Not fun, and little reward, but necessary, I guess.

 

[Worgen]

I got to play with the giant mech and dragon in Doom Medieval. The mech is pretty fun, uses dodge and counter kinda attacks and there is a lot of neat detail in the level of little guys fighting and tanks trying to shoot you and such. You dodge enemy attacks and build big hits to knock out giant demons, simple but fun. The dragon kinda does the same thing, which is unfortunate, flying around the level is neat and its cool how it combines flying with on foot combat, but the way you have to fight the target enemies is you kinda lock on them and hover in place and dodge to charge your gun so you can knock out their shields, you can strafe things but there isn't much point, its not bad, but it feels like a missed opportunity for some really cool high speed flying gameplay. You do have the occasional enemy fighters that you have to chase and shoot down, but its just for treasure. I was also really hoping that Doomguy would mutter "Daisey" when the dragon showed up, but that might be too on the nose for the super serious story they are trying and kinda failing to tell. Its still pretty cool though.

 

[Ezekiel]

I remember finding the second turret standoff in Nova Prospekt especially difficult. But it's not that bad, even on Hard, with one turret set up in the shorter hallway and two right outside. Like shooting fish in a barrel, pretty much.

Spoiler

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

 

[hanselthecaretaker2]

^ That would get a lot of upvotes on the Souls reddits. The timing is impeccable.

 

[Xprimentyl]

DAYUM!!! Hahahahahaha!! Welcome to Dark Souls!! I've watched that a half dozen times already!!

 

[Agema]

Drop Duchy

Imagine a card battler mixed with Tetris. (Yes, seriously.) So you play and can deploy up to eight cards which represent buildings, and each of those buildings fills a tile which then drops with a load of terrain tiles and enemy building tiles in a Tetris game. The power of your buildings and the enemies' depends on the alignment with the surroundning terrain and each other. At the end, troops from your buildings fight troops from the enemy's buildings. Each run of the game you try to go through three levels with three boss fights, and then have another go with some more abilities and cards unlocked.

So far, so good. It's actually a very interesting idea. Unfortunately, it also goes horribly wrong.

The reason is that you end up with so many potential cards to pick up (buildings, tech cards to upgrade abilities, etc.) that what cards you end up and have to play with on a run is much more luck than judgement. There's little point in game about building a deck to develop synergies when what you get is so RNG-dependent, plus the RNG of the Tetris game (you can be absolutely screwed by the order the blocks drop). Ironically, as the game develops, you have what should be more options and abilities yet it becomes harder simply by the randomness going up, and eventually you are going to feel you're playing a game where your success is more RNG than skill. And that's the point you will probably switch off very quickly.

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

I been playing the hell out of Dungeons of Hinterberg. Right after my last post about it the game put a hoverboard in one of the areas and I knew I was in for the duration.

I'm almost done and I gotta say its progression is really impressive- just adding little twists here and there. I was worried about 25 dungeons being too many or it would get boring but with two left I'm glad to say it's anything but.

I also kind of like that the non-dungeon progression makes it all but impossible to maximize everything (I suppose it is possible because you don't have to do a dungeon every day so I suppose I could theoretically just dick around and do the relationship stuff but that would be boring). The characters and dialogue are merely serviceable. My liberal bleeding heart is sated by the themes of gentrification, predatory capitalism, and ecological destruction but it's certainly nothing particularly revelatory, just a nice backdrop to everything.

I've also really enjoyed the boss fights- it would be easy to declare them gimmicky but I've realized one way I differ from a lot of gaming opinion trends is that I actually like "gimmicky" boss fights. I don't need a git gud combat challenge to make a boss fight feel satisfactory, I get a kick out of when I have to use a tool or a spell the game gives me, it is fun and it adds to the theming of an area or level.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Beat Nito on my fourth try.


Went back to New Londo for a Firekeeper Soul I had missed.
Double checked my loadout and the Silver Knight Shield is indeed a 100% physical block, and apparently at +5 it's maxed out, so that's good enough for me.
The Zwei is fantastic, especially with how fast the R2 attack is.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Beat Nito on my fourth try.

But remember that one time when he slapped the Estus out of your mouth?


Look at the analytics on that video; I promise you that 99% of the views are me! But good work; you're cruising right along!

Went back to New Londo for a Firekeeper Soul I had missed.
Double checked my loadout and the Silver Knight Shield is indeed a 100% physical block, and apparently at +5 it's maxed out, so that's good enough for me.
The Zwei is fantastic, especially with how fast the R2 attack is.

Never been a fan of the super heavy weapons. They just aren't viable for my pathetic playstyle which is basically blindly swinging my weapon as often as possible and praying for decent damage; the heavy weapons are too slow for that. But there's no denying, they work just fine for a lot of people.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Finished Fe last night. Really beautiful and peaceful game. I really liked how the story is entirely implicit, but "language" is the primary mechanic. You're never told that, you just intuit it as you explore. I might go for the full 100%, but it's mostly collectible hunting left, so will see how long my patience holds out. I'll probably use it in between sessions of the Elden Ring DLC as a moment of Zen to re-center myself.