Hmmm. Still can’t decide which version of Dark Souls to buy. I could run it on my PC and have online play. However, my PS4 is hooked up to my sound system and OLED TV. Maybe I’ll use my month free online for my PS4 and hope it hasn’t expired since buying the system a year or so ago. Choices, yet fun choices. How important do you guys think online play is for DS? So far I’ve played DS1 and Bloodborne without online and loved both.
It’s never necessary but the games are designed around using online to accentuate the single player experience
I’m already there.
I kind of felt the same way at first, especially after DkS2. However, this game really is a good way to end the series and is just a massive improvement in every way over 2. It’s not perfect and you can tell they are sort of running out of ideas, but it’s a really solid, really fun game. Worth playing at least once for any fan of the series
Ok, so the next boss I’m going to down is hands down one of the coolest in the series, and by many accounts he is the hardest boss in the game (although I personally don’t agree).
[details=Spoiler]Nameless King
Everything about this fight is super cool: the arena you fight in, the music, the Hagia Sophia in the background, and of course, the boss himself. I don’t believe that there are any NPC summons to help with this fight, and I personally recommend doing this fight solo, because I feel like Co-Ops can sort of fuck things up, especially if they don’t really know what they’re doing. When you first enter the arena, the King and his pet dragon will flaw down towards you and the fight begins. You will first have to face off against the king while he is aboard his dragon. This can seem pretty intimidating at first, but the reality is that this stage of the fight is super easy.
Your first instinct will probably be to go under the dragon and start hacking at his legs + feet. This is the wrong approach for two reasons. One, his legs + feet take almost no damage at all. Two, this will trigger the dragon fly up into the air and do a massive AOE fire attack from above which can be quite hard to avoid. Instead, you want to stay in front of the dragon at all times and try and hit him in the head + neck. He really doesn’t have much health at all, so it shouldn’t take long provided you hit his weak points.
While you are in front of the dragon, the King will perform a couple different attacks. One attack he does is put his spear into the air, charge it with electricity, and then have the dragon take a step forward so he can slam it down on you. This attack is really easy to see coming, is really easy to dodge (dodge forward + left/right), and has a ton of recovery; be sure to punish the dragon after this attack. Sometimes, the King will skip the electricity charge part altogether and just bring the spear down for an overhead attack. Dodge this attack the same way and be sure to punish it’s long recovery. The King will also sometimes perform a 3 hit combo: 2 horizontal sweep attacks followed by an overhead. Wait until the overhead attack finishes before you start to attack the dragon. Occasionally, the King + Dragon will start to fly around. The king will either swoop down and try to hit you with his spear or he will throw a lightning bolt at you. Either way, both of these attacks are easily avoidable. The dragon will also occasionally do a fire breath attack that covers an arc in front of him. It is easy to see coming, so just back away and avoid the fire. Try to conserve as much Estus as possible during this stage, because once the dragon is felled, the real fight begins.
Now you will have to fight the King without his dragon, and he is a pretty worthy adversary. He hits like a truck and has a ton of different attacks to watch out for. Also, his attacks do lightning damage, so if you block too much you will take a lot of chip damage. If possible, I recommend a shield with good lightning resist in addition to 100% physical resist. The good news is: most of the King’s attacks have a large amount of recovery, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble finding openings to attack.
When the second stage of the fight begins, you will be pretty far away from the King and he will likely perform to Ash attacks. One that covers a horizontal area and one that shoots vertically towards you. Roll through the horizontal one and to the side of the vertical one. Try to close the distance as quickly as possibly because you don’t really want to take this guy on from a distance. This guy’s moveset is really similar to King Allant/Ornstein, so that is something to keep in mind while fighting him. Like Ornstein, has a move where he charges forward with his spear and skewers you for massive damage, be sure to dodge left/right when you see this coming. Overall, despite doing tremendous damage, his attacks are pretty slow and easy to dodge (he doesn’t have anything truly scary at this stage of the fight provided you remain close to him). The tried and true method of strafing around him will be very effective here. Due to the fact that he is so mobile, he can easily end up full screen away after an attack or two, so make sure you are trying to close the distance whenever possible. If you damage him enough, he will collapse to his knees allowing for a critical attack. However, once you get him to around 50% health he becomes a bit harder.
At 50% health, he remains mobile yet slow and easy to dodge, but it is a bit harder to get openings to attack him. Also, he gets a few new moves added to his arsenal. For instance, he will now raise his spear to the sky, charge it with electricity, and bring it down for an overhead strike. This move is pretty easy to dodge, but it does have a small AOE effect. A second after this move completes, bolts of electricity will shoot out from where the attack struck. This is easy to avoid, simply stepping to the side should be sufficient. During one of his more devastating attacks, he will crouch down and charge his spear with electricity, then he will suddenly point his spear into the air. About a second after this happens, a small AOE bolt of lighting will shoot down from the sky on top of you. This move can seem really intimidating and hard to dodge (plus it does massive damage), but it is actually really easy to avoid. Simply roll left/right after he points the spear into the air and you will avoid this attack. He will also occasionally stomp his foot on the ground, releasing an AOE lighting attack. If you are close will he starts this animation, simply back away to avoid it. These are the main new moves to look out for, and the strafing strategy should be just as effective during this phase. As always, mind your stamina bar and carefully time your dodges. This guy has a lot of health, so at times this fight can seem like a war of attrition. I would recommend taking some time to really get a feel for his dodge timing, this way you will know when you are able to attack and when you need to show restraint. The main thing about this fight: enjoy it, it is definitely one of the coolest bosses in the series, so make sure to have a good time while slaying this epic foe.
Yeah I will mess with it but it’s not really high on my list, more interested in FF15 and Star Ocean. Really more excited over some pc arpg’s that I am still not sure we will see anytime soon. Gonna grab it though because I am a fan of the series even if their games contain a bunch of stuff the gets on my nerves lol.
From what I’ve heard, Sony contracted From to produce three exclusive games for the PS4, Bloodborne being one of them. Chance of another Bloodborne game is probably pretty good, or more games that are essentially Souls games. Or who knows, maybe they’ll take what they learned from making the Souls games and make a new bad ass Armored Core game.
PSO-style + Souls game = Extraterrestrial Souls.
So what kind of builds are you guys planning on using to start out? I did a pure quality on my first run, then a str/faith holy knight, so I’m thinking it’s time for a str/int for my ps4 run.
Str and Str with a side helping of Str
Going with something different my first go, Dex and magic.
I did that with Bloodborne, made a Skl and Arcane build for my first did then did a couple others, but had the most fun when i made a full on hulked out Str build. Dem gains is where the fun is at lol.
I always do STR when I first start, but I fucked myself over watching streams of fuckers wielding big ass hulking GUTS swords almost exclusively, so I already burned myself out, smh. I may feel differently once I’m actually playing the game, but that’s where I’m at right now.
Good to see we have lots of people repping STR here…we all know Dex is for pussies 
INVADE ME IRL
i’ve always started STR too. Considering starting DEX this time around doe !
Lol, gonna wait it out I guess. You guys give me an honest opinion on this game next week.
If we get fists I’ll go str, if not dex all the way.
15 more hours. The wait is KILLING ME.
I decided to do one last playthrough in DSII on Saturday. Made a tank.
It feels weird. This is probably the last I’ll see of this game for a long, long time. It’s my least favorite Souls game and yet I have such a strange fondness for it. Even through all the years and all the complaints I had, I still felt compelled to play and I still had tons of fun with it.
***“But one day, you will stand before its decrepit gate. Without really knowing why…”