Oh, oh! After I finished the Archives (sans Seath) and got my dex up to try out the BK Great Axe, I went back to Undead Parish to "try it out" on the Balder Knights and ... promptly got murdered. A single hit of that thing can take any one (or multiple) out, and I just ran out of STA due to how nimble they are (esp. the rapier one) and couldn't roll away in time and ... stab slash! THIS GAME (also, I totally need the BSS everytime I play too)
I kill Hellkite every time at least in NG. In NG+ I just avoid him now, because he's too erratic in terms of stun reactions when he has more health. The hellkite melee patterns (obviously use a bow shot to bring him down) The approach I use, except that I prefer running across, getting the blast, shooting an arrow from there, then running in one direction to swat the face as it comes down and keep going down the stairs. You want a medium (around 6lbs) 2h weapon in my experience in order to make that hit count but not linger, and obviously lightning is best. I hate that guy. Removing the tower glitch that let you kill him like so much Ceaseless discharge broke my heart.
It took me over 120 hours to discover that in order to do this: You only need to hold down LCtrl and not wear clanky armor. I also discovered what the Uchigatana 2H Strong attack was for. Namely, moments like this. I took down the Black Knight in Undead Burg this way without him even attacking once. Just four-five quick strikes and he was down.
Yes, slow walk and light armor gives you room to get very close. But while it's funny to bash into a 2h attack, that's sub optimal compared to getting a free backstab. You have to get just close enough that they start to turn, then hit your light attack/R1 to lock him into a backstab. With practice, you can move to where they fall and position yourself behind that for a chain backstab. The slumbering dragoncrest ring lets you do it with any armor and get even closer.
Really? I've tried several times just left-clicking for a Backstab but never got it to fire. You mean he has to notice me and start to "activate" before I attack? I'll try it and I did actually know about the Slumbering Drgoncrest ring. With the gear you see above, I get more or less as close as you can be without touching them. I dunno if it's because I'm wearing all-cloth armor plus the ninja gloves? Anyway, the Strong 2H attack staggers most humanoids (and does 270 dam IIRC) and since I'm all Grass Crested and Cloranthied up I get four more swipes without emptying my stamina bar, which guarantees a Bleed crit and kills a Black Knight. I'm only level 30 and the uchi is at +8.
He doesn't *have* to activate, but it's a good indicator that you are close enough. If you are moving slowly enough that they are letting you get really close, then you are probably getting closer than the usual analog stick "slow walk" lets you do (which is not uncommon in controller to mouse relationships). You should definitely be able to backstab, regardless, and I don't know why it wouldn't happen automatically since you are unlikely to have your shield up which is the number one thing that whiffs backstabs (ie going straight from shield up to R1 rather than waiting a beat in between). It's closer than you show in that picture, but not by much. Anyway, it's more important if you have a build optimized for backstabs, where for instance a hornet ring + silver tracer +5 lets you clear out NG+ enemies in short order and absolutely demolishes NG enemies.
I have trouble activating the backstab in that situation too. When I do get it to fire, I'm always much further to our right (as shown in that picture) than I think is necessary. (i.e. not really directly behind him at all) Even though I know that, I'm still surprised every time I get it to fire by being "too off-center". My brain no worky so well on some things.
Some people describe the visualization as getting your weapon directly behind the stabee, some people swear by pushing forward then r1 into the target (as opposed to forward and r1 that gets you a kick) which is a big part of the effectiveness of "no lock-on" backstabs by my reckoning. If you're at least waiting a beat (hard to describe the exact amount of time) between dropping your shield and hitting r1, that's half the battle. Overall efficiency, PvP wise and looking awesome wise, doing it without lock on is great, but in terms of mastering the fundamentals the old circle strafe and stab works great *if* you are paying attention to the fundamentals that are different between successful ones and unsuccessful ones. Consider practicing on a weak enemy with your fist and good damage resistance.
Here's one: I consistently find Sif to be one of the most frustrating fights in the game. It's not that he's hard, per se, it's that I find it really hard to figure out what attack he's telegraphing, and I always feel like when I die it's random. Almost every other boss, when I die I know why I did, I know that I was stupid. On this one, I'll think something is one attack but nope, it's something else.
A good parry and riposte is so satisfying. especially when your opponent is bigger than you so it looks like you're literally stabbing them in the dick
Sif is the worst fight for me. I just can't bring myself to do it until the last possible moment, and then I have to switch off all emotions and become the biggest possible bastard just to fight him at all.
The problem is usually the double spin slash, because it will blow through anything but a super high stability shield, and once you've blocked the first you got no choice but to pray. Also sometimes you are so close you don't really see what he's telegraphing.
Finally killed some Titanite Demons melee. I only took them down from range prior with spells or arrows.
Interesting. I know I've done a lot of melee against them but I don't know if I've killed one with just melee. It's just not convenient. Anyway, congrats!
I may not have ever defeated a black knight that saw me before it died, but I used my tiny metal stick to plink to death every single titanite demon I found.
Once, after beating the moonlight butterfly, I picked up the divine ember, and then proceeded to fall down the tower and die because I didn't watch my step. Wait, that's not embarrassing enough; on my first playthrough I killed the moonlight butterfly and rather than continue, ran back to the fire, and promptly forgot about the space after the butterfly.
How? Seriously... how? Even with high stability shields, solid armor, and high damage weapons, I get my ass handed to me in melee by those guys.
It's about timing. Their weakness is the missing leg side, which you can hug and gives you periodic openings. Then backpedal with shield up or timed roll when you see them go vertical for the catch pole stab. Worst case scenario you are wrong and they were just jumping away.But their moveset is very limited if you are up close and just behind their torso on that legless side. The easiest to practice on is probably the one in Anor Londo since you can run out of the room pretty easily. That or the blacksmith's basement, of course.
Really? I was using balder shield +5-9 or so. Right now I'm using Artorias' great shield and that seems pretty boss. I only lost about 10% stamina to a melee from the one near the gravelord coffin when I killed it. Using balder was tougher to kill them, but did the job.
The Titanite demons have a lot of tells, and if you hug their left side (your right) most of their melee attacks will miss. They can still pin you to the ground, so make sure to GTFO when they jump.
And today I realized that you can hang around and place your sign for Jolly Co-Operation even after you've killed the area boss. Without risk of being invaded. So ... that's good.
Gold Tracer's R1 swipes above the bed of chaos bug. I died right beside the goddamned thing from a fire burst. /facepalm
Huh. I think we've had some discussion on what triggers the appearance of the Pyromancer witch in Blighttown swamp? Whether you needed an upgraded flame of so and so and so on? As I've never played a pyro I've never seen her, ever, so imagine my surprise when I stumbled on her just now. Especially considering I don't own a flame and have never used pyro of any kind on this character. The only thing I can think of is that I am rather high level for a first appearance down there (lvl 40) and that I've cleared the Catacombs. No idea why this is happening.
Old Harry always was a quiet one. I guess he finally snapped from the tedium of eternal guard duty. Terry, on the other hand, always was a bit of a show-off.
I'm not sure if this is the thread for it but I thought it'd be dumb to clutter up the "How to get started" thread with New Londo Ruins. Basically, I'm stumped. Stuck. I can't get past the room below Ingward where there's ghosts coming in from pretty much every direction. I think there's 12 of them? I've a dex build, cloth armors, main weapon is +3 lightning Washing Pole, +10 Grass crest shield, RoFaP and Steel Protection. Some limited pyro available but no other spells. I've tried dodge-rolling through the place and avoiding combat, I've tried to get them one by one (hah! As if.) but I inevitably end up stunlocked and cut down. I have no problem reaching that area (shortcut!) but I've now run out of Transient Curses, bought two more, but I'd rather not spend my gaming time running around farming for it. Any suggestions?
Equip the covetous serpent ring, for one. With that ring on you should have more than enough curses drop without having to farm. Also, clear that room last after going through the rest of the ghost house. That way you'll have triggered and killed most of the ghosts before entering the central room.
I've got this area pretty locked down (all assuming light armor noise). From where you can see Ingward before heading down to the building, you can arrow one ghost on the upper right of the building (you can also kill Ingward from here if needed). You run down to the ledge in front of the door, and immediately turn around and retreat up the stairs. That takes care of the door ambusher, who will attack and should follow you out. From there, you can arrow 3 ghosts in the water area to your left (thus ensuring you get the most out of your transient curse) although they won't be an issue until you get downstairs to the chapel before the 4k. Then run into the room with the pots, turn around and retreat halfway up the stairs. This pulls 2-3 ghosts (depending on whether you did the roof shot) through the wall towards you, where you can pick them off at your leisure. From there you just run in to kill the screamer by Ingward's chimney, then kill the other two as they come up behind you.Now it's a question of paying attention to your ears as you move through the hallway. Note the moment when each one attacks, usually just prior to an item, a bend in the passage, or something like that. If your shield is up, you should normally bounce it off that, and then retreat to have them come towards you wide open. While the ones in the walls are often visible, the ones above you are no less visible if you're paying attention. Remember to give them room to descend to your level. Ghosts are deadly in numbers, they are deadly if they come at you from an angle that your weapon doesn't cover well. That's why I advocate retreating, to pull them into a straight line approach towards you that mitigates their vertical advantage (they also miss a fair bit, but it's not something you can bank on). Finally, they are very susceptible to being rushed in their hug attack; if you are close enough it won't affect you, and they are wide open for a beating. Poise at 30+ is very useful as the jagged blades they use don't actually drain much poise, and if you can keep moving it's a substantial help. You should definitely post for summons when you drain the water. I haven't been summoned to fight the 4k in ages.
OK. So don't enter through the first doorway but work my way around instead? Good call on the Covetous Gold Ring, thanks. Edit: And thanks LK as well! Simultaneous posts.
I will. I just have to have a serious talk with a rather big wolf first. And I think I want the Really Large Ember as well first. Great tips from both of you, New Londo drained for the first time, ever!
Once it's drained then the only ghosts you have to worry about are the ones you *want* to kill, and potentially the aggressive last 3 in the chapel. I like to farm up the batch at the start to get curses and then roll down and wipe out the darkwraiths one by one (and take out the aggressive 3 while my transient curse holds). The key is to find a configuration that lets you get by with both silver and gold rings, and if you can get that down to <25% then it's a quick sprint around and you'll be rolling in chunks. That sounded better in my head. But in any case, that flexibility to freely upgrade armors to +9 and weapons/shields to +14 makes everything better, and if for some reason you still have access to Frampt then it's probably faster to do chunks-large titanite than trying to get them elsewhere, and there's always a chance of a slab.
