I was trying to cheese the Loran Darkbeast by shooting it in the head, and I ended parrying it twice and the third time I visceral’ed it. I was only able to parry Vicar Lawrence one time and the visceral didn’t do too much damage.
Usually beasts will enter the visceral state if you deal enough damage to their head. You can’t really parry them, per say. Visceral attacks are based on the skill stat, so it should do the same amount of damage each time so long as the stat is the same.
It did okay damage to Loran beast and didn’t really do that much damage against Lawrence.
Damage value is likely the same, but Lawrence’s health pool is probably way larger than Loran Darkbeast’s.
Visceral against Lawrence was a bit over 1000. Loran Darkbeast was about 2000. Loran Silverbeast got rekt for 4000.
Out of all the new DLC bosses…I think Ludwig is the most annoying. Really hate fighting that guy.
His first phase is extremely obnoxious in its unpredictabilty and danger. His second phase is much easier.
Ludwig takes a lot of practice getting used to, but I thought it was a fun fight. He’s definitely the most epic and visually interesting boss in the DLC, and I’d rank him among the top bosses in the game overall.
Oh I thought Maria was more epic. He’s right up there tho, once the sword comes out there’s definitely a really great mood to it.
Maria is also a really great boss. But she is far, far easier. The same tactics that work against other hunters work against her, even when her attacks get flashier. I found her to be the easiest boss in the DLC.
Mergo is probably still my favorite boss.
But Maria is fo sho top three for me, at the very least. I love those up close and personal fights that have each person taking hits back and forth, over the Ludwig type fights where you can get creamed in one hit constantly.
My favorite is probably Gherman. I just like his fighting style and how he says SLAM! Feels like you’re getting dunked on. When you first cross that nightmare fog, you feel like you’re going to have a bad time.
Gehrman is probably the best boss in all souls games.
Woah there, let’s not get hasty now.
Let’s hear your opinion on a better boss fight.
Well, as cliche of a response as it is by now, I’d have to say Artorias still tops Gerhman. Admittedly, I didn’t feel the impact of this boss fight until probably the second or third time around, after I had learned the story behind him and his actions as a character. I’ve come to learn that the lore itself often heavily influences my opinion on a boss in the Souls games, actually. He was one of the few knights of Anor Londo who retained his dignity even before the fall of mankind, and didn’t only lose that honor, but had it stripped away from him by forces he only thought he understood. He gave up everything that made him who he was: his humanity, his sanity, and ultimately his life to protect the people around him…and in a way, still failed. You, as the monarch, come upon him in his darkest moment. Completely overtaken by the forces that were once the source of his strength. And oddly enough, you find you’re not fighting him as an enemy: you’re fighting him out of mercy. You’re putting his frantic and manic soul to rest before it tarnishes the honor he once retained any more than The Abyss already has. And once you’re finished with him, you tread deeper into Oolicile to hunt down the one responsible for it. It’s a tragic tale of existential redemption, I believe any other Souls game has yet to match the brilliance of that boss with any other bosses that have existed before and since Artorias. Maybe Dark Souls 3 can finally top him for me, but I doubt it.
Even besides Artorias, I have similar sentiments with plenty of other bosses like Maiden Astrea in Demon’s Souls. Mergo, Maria, Sinh The Slumbering Dragon, King Allant, Ornstein and Smough are also a few bosses I can name off the top of my head that I think were funner/cooler than Gerhman. Just my humble opinion, tho.
Gerhman is still a pretty incredible boss. Super challenging and super atmospheric.
He’s definitely the best FINAL boss.
It’s an intensely personal fight, and it feels more thematically relevant than any of the other final bosses.
So much so that I pretty much just count Moon Presence as the optional second half of that fight. Taking down Gehrman is the meat. Moon Presence is the dessert.
Honestly, Gehrman is good enough that I have to rack my brain for boss battles that are as good overall. Purely from a gameplay perspective, sure, there are a few. The witch summoner lady in the first Dark Souls 2 DLC, yep, she counts. Beanpole and Fatty from Dark Souls 1, yessir. Artorias in the Dark Souls 1 DLC is an incredibly tense fight that’s got a whole lotta lore behind it.
I recently fought Darklurker, and that’s a crazygood fight once you resist the temptation to cheese’em. Well, resist, or fail to cheese’em. I missed the timing on the big ol’ fire spell as DL multiplied, and hey, I was there, so I tried to git gud instead. And once you do, god damn. The moveset is PERFECT for twin enemies, making it tough as hell without being cheesy (looking at you, Watcher & Defender).
So yeah, Gehrman has competition. But he’s top tier.
If we’re talking FINAL bosses? Sure, Gerhman would probably take the cake.
Demon’s Souls technical final boss is the REAL King Allant, which isn’t even a real fight. So I guess it wins there.
Dark Souls 1 gave you Gwyn, and while I love that boss he was kind of a total pushover whom you could parry to death.
Dark Souls II had Nashandra, who was a cheap and bootylicious boss all around. I consider The Ivory King the REAL final boss of that game, though. Great fight, but Gerhman still takes it.
The best bosses are pretty much never at the end of a Souls game, though, so they’re all kind of par for the course. Gerhman is probably the only final boss of a Souls game that’s close to the same level Artorias was.
False King Allant is also a really good fight, though having fought him recently, it’s also a bit awkward in that way a lot of Demon’s Souls is. Less weird hitboxes probably would’ve put him in the top tier too.
You make some good points @T20thoughts, but isn’t Gehrman similar in that regard? Dude is sitting there watching over the hunters that pass by. He himself has all but lost it because he’s been there for so long and his friends have all passed (Laurance for example). Hell, instead of me trying to explain why he’s a bad ass, just watch this!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0wN2UkbDb0
I mean… The fact that the guy gets up out of his wheelchair after all these years to fuck you up speaks for itself. Not to mention he has a peg leg. Artorias had one arm didn’t he? They are similar in that respect.