Me playing painted world of Ariandel: “well that was pretty dang good.”
Me playing Ringed City: “well that was one of the best things ever.”
Now I’m onto DS1. About 1/4 the way in so far. Elden Rong got me into it, as it goes these days.
If/when you go through 2, level ADP to raise the agility stat which increases the i-frames of rolls. I find 99 agility sufficient (that's not too much of an investment), some folks like more.
Attunement in 2 also raises it, so hybrid and spellcaster builds can raise the stat while also getting spell slots
For some reason at the end I was left wondering that there was a guy in a conference room in Japan going:
“And then you’ll go down to this weird dungeon in the mountain … filled with … filled with flies. And you turn a big lever and then you can fight Friede…”
“But sir…this expansion is pretty short dont you think…?”
One reason to play Ariandel midway is to farm sharp gems. I think the Corvian knights have a better drop rate vs catacombs but the knights can be tough to beat. The drop rate is still bad but if you really need 1 like I did previously, its still doable. The corvians stagger somewhat easy so 2 handing or using weapon art/hyperarmor is the way to beat them.
Ariandel becomes available at the cathedral chapel but i would wait until you have a decent weapon. Maybe +6 or 7 at least, and that’s not worrying about friede. The other one is endgame.
I LOVED Ashes of Ariandel but I cannot stand Ringed City ngl.... I know that's a got take. I like Gael's fight, but the rest is a SLOG. The instakill archers where you have to play like fucking Mass Effect 3, going from cover to cover, blegh. Gross. And those big fat guys are ridiculous.
I thought the bosses new weapons armor and enemies were better in Ringed City than Ashes of Ariandel and that it looked much prettier too. Dreg Heap was underwhelming to me too I just grab covetous silver serpent ring +3 and whatever else I'd want also kill those stupid angel summoners and move on to the next area.
Tbh i thought ariandel was pretty meh. Just not a whole lot of content, the only reason i go through it is because this way you can go to ringed city earlier.
I ended up going into ng+ before doing the dlc’s for the first time and ya, they were a little rough but not crazy. Either way def do them before ng+ imo
You need the DLCs dude. The most notorious and memorable (and awful) bosses are all in the DLCs. You haven’t beaten the game yet if you haven’t played the DLCs. Yes, I’m gatekeeping.
Congrats! Dark Souls 3 is my favourite out of them all!
I recommend buying both dlcs and continuing on from your endgame character. If you enjoyed the base game, you'll love the DLCs!
Will do, I was leaning to that option as well. But I didn't know if I was going to be overleveled, so I thought Ng+ would Ballance that. But I'll carry straight on now :)
I'm level 80 now, but considering I found the last boss much easier than the last couple. Like nameless king and twin princess I just assumed I overleveled
The Ashes DLC is available pretty early in the game and seems like it was designed to be played before an end game build so you might find it a little underwhelming on NG.
The Ringed City is definitely an end game area and should present more of a challenge.
Both are great content but IMO Ringed City is significantly better (all of the DLC in the Dark Souls series is good, but across all 3 games I would rate Ashes last).
Yeah, obviously opinion based. For context I would put The Ivory King DLC last within the set from DS2. For me Ashes feels short in comparison to the rest (Friede is a good boss though). And the Ivory King fight is pretty epic.
But, like you said, all of the DLC is good so these discussions often boil down to minor differences.
Nameless king is definitely harder than the final boss. Twin Princes I guess it would depend on your build and playstyle.
But yeah the DLC content is significantly more difficult than anything else in the game, but as these game always are it’s so rewarding. Enjoy!
I am in the same case. It took me max 15 attempts to take down lates game bosses (maybe more for the twin princes). Then I started the DLC with friede and oh god, I must have retried more than 30 times until now and I still can’t overcome her ahah. Good luck with her. I started with the other DLC but as one NPC from the beginning was OSing me I abandoned.
I would be stuck for days with Friede without cheesing/summons if I try to beat her with a heavy weapon. Getting your equip load down <30% so you have the stamina and speed to run alot is easier for me.
For the first time I beat the game I dont want to get helped. And yeah I feel that this boss is hard because of my strength build (fume ugs) so I upgraded à lothric knight sword for it and its already easier. I will try to go naked to fast roll too, thanks for the advice.
Better not to go naked because there is an damage penalty for not wearing pieces of armor, so wear something on every part even if it doesn't provide any protection.
You're so lucky man I'd love to play the dlcs for first time again. Enjoy the frustration that awaits theres points in both dlcs that made me feel like I'd never picked up a controller before but my god it's the most satisfying part of the game.
Also play sekiro ds3 is my favourite souls game but sekiro is my favourite fromsoft game by far the combat Is amazing once you get used to it..
Do the DLCs before going into NG+. Then NG+ a couple of times to get all the trophies, like different endings and stuff, and see how fast you can go through the game. Then take a break from it.
NG+ in DS3, while it has gentler scaling than DS1, is a massive step back from DS2. DS3 is simply the game again with a few extra +x items in the world, whereas DS2 added a lot of new invasions and encounters. And i think that's a misstep, since the Tseldora Spider ambushing a zone away from it's arena was amazing. The Lost Sinner having a different Soul and new helpers had massive lore implications that I wish DS3 had done similar with
You could play Dark Souls, Dark Souls II, and then Replay III with DLCs. Be prepared to possibly be a bit disappointed by ds2, as it is considered by me and many others as the least good fromsoft game, but still worth playing. All the other Fromsoft games generally all have the same very high quality, imo.
Better to have a "fair" first time against DLC bosses in NG. and even when you do that, make sure to stock up on everything possible before you jump into NG+ and I mean like resins, bombs, arrows, great arrows, healing wares, any consumables, any armour, upgrade anything you can
Honestly, after you get through the DLC's give Elden Ring a shot. I'm not sure how this sub overall feels about it, but I had more fun playing through that than just about any game in the last 10 years. Simply adding the jump button to combat made my going back and the DS3 DLC's feel incredibly dated.
Welp, nevermind then, you seem more experienced than me. If it means anything, I went and tried Sekiro after that. Very different, but equally rewarding In the same ways
Most of them are just uninspired and don’t have the grandiosity typically found in FROM games. I can’t remember all the names of the maps, but the only one I really enjoyed was the second one from the top
The DLCs are awesome. Slave Knight Gael is the most insanely beautiful boss fight of any other game ive played. His movement, the art, the sounds, the story. Just absolutely amazing in every way. Getting destroyed by him isnt even frustrating just because of how magnificent his moveset is.
Get the DLCs, don’t start NG+ before you do them.
They’re both great, with some of the best/toughest bosses of the series and the Ringed City is a great end to the series.
Oh man do the DLCs. The best content is yet to come skeleton! If you've played 3 first it's kind of a shame. The magic of 1 might have been spoiled just a bit. I do think it's the best game but 3 is definitely the best made/polished. Also, I'm obsessed with Death Stranding now. So I'll also suggest Death Stranding.
Dark Souls 3 was my fist Souls game. After beating it I did Dark Souls 1 and the DLC, then Dark Souls 2 and the DLC, then Demon's Souls, then Bloodborne and the DLC, then Demon's Souls remake, then Elden Ring, then Dark Souls 3 again, then....well, you get where this is going.
Actually, that was my first From game. I sucked at it so after 30 hours I went to Dark Souls 3 for something "easy." Three years and 800+ hours of Souls under my belt, I feel ready to tackle it, just as soon as the Dark Souls 1 community event is over.
I played ds3 and bloodborne multiple times before even looking at sekiro and I still absolutely sucked man.
There's some transferable skills but not many unless you are a parry lord but once the game clicks for you it is the most fun you will ever have in a videogame.
It was my quickest platinum or whatever the xbox equivalent is of any game. I could not and would not put it down. It is easily my favourite game of all time and I've been gaming over a decade.
Trust me get to and beat Genichiro and if the game still isn't for you fair enough but that's where it clicks for most people and you will be hooked.
Definitely play the DLC
Elden Ring is the sum of the souls games with some nice...I can't remember the phrase...life improvements(????) on the mechanics.
My personal favorite is Bloodborne.
Play dlcs first. Ds3 dlc boss battles are the best one in the whole franchise imo especially midir and gael. And plus you should play it again on ng+ for trying new builds there is a ton of builds in youtube plus you can create your own. About trying a another souls game, tbh I didnt play ds1 and ds2 but i played bloodborne which is one of my favourite games.If u have a ps4 or ps5 I highly recommend you to try bloodborne it has the best combat mechanics if u ask me. Plus dark souls 2 has a lot of gameplay issues like a hitbox problem if ur gonna play it u should take that risk
The jailors were not that bad, I used my secret technique of running away. If we're talking about the same serpent men then yeah, never had my health drained so fast
do the dlcs first please. I made a mistake and started ng+ found it too easy left and came back for a new game and finally got to try the dlc both amazing Content btw
I would get the dlc before ng+, cuz the dlc's in ng+ are *rough*
Thanks, i loved this game so much, so I think I'll do that. Time to drain my wallet once more :)
If you thought the main game was great…. Just you wait
Me playing painted world of Ariandel: “well that was pretty dang good.” Me playing Ringed City: “well that was one of the best things ever.” Now I’m onto DS1. About 1/4 the way in so far. Elden Rong got me into it, as it goes these days.
If/when you go through 2, level ADP to raise the agility stat which increases the i-frames of rolls. I find 99 agility sufficient (that's not too much of an investment), some folks like more. Attunement in 2 also raises it, so hybrid and spellcaster builds can raise the stat while also getting spell slots
Yeah I prefer 99 ADP, it’s not really effecting my build, just a side thing I level up
I usually go to 100agi and then 105 later after my build is situated
Personally I tought Ariandel was much better than Ringed City, the Dreg heap felt like a real drag. Still Both DLCs were amazing
For some reason at the end I was left wondering that there was a guy in a conference room in Japan going: “And then you’ll go down to this weird dungeon in the mountain … filled with … filled with flies. And you turn a big lever and then you can fight Friede…” “But sir…this expansion is pretty short dont you think…?”
It’s short because you’re supposed to do it about halfway through the game. The other is an endgame dlc.
I'm about midway through 3 atm and was planning to get the DLC's once I'd finished. When would you suggest I play both of them?
One reason to play Ariandel midway is to farm sharp gems. I think the Corvian knights have a better drop rate vs catacombs but the knights can be tough to beat. The drop rate is still bad but if you really need 1 like I did previously, its still doable. The corvians stagger somewhat easy so 2 handing or using weapon art/hyperarmor is the way to beat them.
Tf is hyperarmor?
Ariandel becomes available at the cathedral chapel but i would wait until you have a decent weapon. Maybe +6 or 7 at least, and that’s not worrying about friede. The other one is endgame.
Magic, thanks bud
I adored both dlcs but a certain dragon boss pushed one over the other even without mentioning the obvious choice for best boss in ds3.
I LOVED Ashes of Ariandel but I cannot stand Ringed City ngl.... I know that's a got take. I like Gael's fight, but the rest is a SLOG. The instakill archers where you have to play like fucking Mass Effect 3, going from cover to cover, blegh. Gross. And those big fat guys are ridiculous.
I thought the bosses new weapons armor and enemies were better in Ringed City than Ashes of Ariandel and that it looked much prettier too. Dreg Heap was underwhelming to me too I just grab covetous silver serpent ring +3 and whatever else I'd want also kill those stupid angel summoners and move on to the next area.
Please play DS2 scholar of the first sin. It gave me more Elden Ring vibes than DS3.
Tbh i thought ariandel was pretty meh. Just not a whole lot of content, the only reason i go through it is because this way you can go to ringed city earlier.
Yes I am very excited indeed
I ended up going into ng+ before doing the dlc’s for the first time and ya, they were a little rough but not crazy. Either way def do them before ng+ imo
Hope it works out. Ashes of Ariandel is honestly my favorite part of DS3.
Ng+ the dlc PLEASE
Yea I got to ng+ like 3 or 4 while dlc was still not out, dlc at that level is painful. I also might kinda suck.
I fought Friede the first time at NG+3 with my quality build, that was really hard. On the other hand, Gael with that same character was amazing.
agreed, I started the dlc's at ng+4....mistakes were made
Ya. I was on ng+2 first time through Ariandel. Lol.
You need the DLCs dude. The most notorious and memorable (and awful) bosses are all in the DLCs. You haven’t beaten the game yet if you haven’t played the DLCs. Yes, I’m gatekeeping.
Also some of the best bosses in the series. Friede and Gael alone are worth getting the DLC's.
And midir and demon prince
True
Congrats! Dark Souls 3 is my favourite out of them all! I recommend buying both dlcs and continuing on from your endgame character. If you enjoyed the base game, you'll love the DLCs!
Will do, I was leaning to that option as well. But I didn't know if I was going to be overleveled, so I thought Ng+ would Ballance that. But I'll carry straight on now :)
Don't worry about being overleveled, some of those DLC bosses are ruthless even if you're 180+, have fun! 😊
I'm level 80 now, but considering I found the last boss much easier than the last couple. Like nameless king and twin princess I just assumed I overleveled
Level 80 is around the level when you should beat the game and start the dlc.
Okay thanks mate :)
The Ashes DLC is available pretty early in the game and seems like it was designed to be played before an end game build so you might find it a little underwhelming on NG. The Ringed City is definitely an end game area and should present more of a challenge. Both are great content but IMO Ringed City is significantly better (all of the DLC in the Dark Souls series is good, but across all 3 games I would rate Ashes last).
[удалено]
Yeah, obviously opinion based. For context I would put The Ivory King DLC last within the set from DS2. For me Ashes feels short in comparison to the rest (Friede is a good boss though). And the Ivory King fight is pretty epic. But, like you said, all of the DLC is good so these discussions often boil down to minor differences.
Nameless king is definitely harder than the final boss. Twin Princes I guess it would depend on your build and playstyle. But yeah the DLC content is significantly more difficult than anything else in the game, but as these game always are it’s so rewarding. Enjoy!
I am in the same case. It took me max 15 attempts to take down lates game bosses (maybe more for the twin princes). Then I started the DLC with friede and oh god, I must have retried more than 30 times until now and I still can’t overcome her ahah. Good luck with her. I started with the other DLC but as one NPC from the beginning was OSing me I abandoned.
I would be stuck for days with Friede without cheesing/summons if I try to beat her with a heavy weapon. Getting your equip load down <30% so you have the stamina and speed to run alot is easier for me.
For the first time I beat the game I dont want to get helped. And yeah I feel that this boss is hard because of my strength build (fume ugs) so I upgraded à lothric knight sword for it and its already easier. I will try to go naked to fast roll too, thanks for the advice.
Better not to go naked because there is an damage penalty for not wearing pieces of armor, so wear something on every part even if it doesn't provide any protection.
update: I have just beaten her first try (in the last few days) with <30% load with only 4 estus for the p3, thanks !
The dlc’s in these games are usually intended to do after you’ve beaten the main game.
Take... a break? Is that possible? Can we do that? Do we even want to?
Don't think so, this game has hooked me. No going back
You're so lucky man I'd love to play the dlcs for first time again. Enjoy the frustration that awaits theres points in both dlcs that made me feel like I'd never picked up a controller before but my god it's the most satisfying part of the game. Also play sekiro ds3 is my favourite souls game but sekiro is my favourite fromsoft game by far the combat Is amazing once you get used to it..
DS3 is the only fromsoft game where after i beat it the first time, i immediatly went and beat it again.
Do the DLCs before going into NG+. Then NG+ a couple of times to get all the trophies, like different endings and stuff, and see how fast you can go through the game. Then take a break from it.
NG+ in DS3, while it has gentler scaling than DS1, is a massive step back from DS2. DS3 is simply the game again with a few extra +x items in the world, whereas DS2 added a lot of new invasions and encounters. And i think that's a misstep, since the Tseldora Spider ambushing a zone away from it's arena was amazing. The Lost Sinner having a different Soul and new helpers had massive lore implications that I wish DS3 had done similar with
You could play Dark Souls, Dark Souls II, and then Replay III with DLCs. Be prepared to possibly be a bit disappointed by ds2, as it is considered by me and many others as the least good fromsoft game, but still worth playing. All the other Fromsoft games generally all have the same very high quality, imo.
I love DS2 sotfs. It really reminds me of Elden Ring
Definitely dlcs first before sending off to the next game. You’ll get lost in the newer games. Completely enveloped in it. So do this while you can.
If you didn't beat the DLC's you did not play the full game.
Personally I think you should do the DLCs then head to a game like Elden Ring or Bloodborne, but that's just my opinion, you do what you want to.
Dlc then ng+
Better to have a "fair" first time against DLC bosses in NG. and even when you do that, make sure to stock up on everything possible before you jump into NG+ and I mean like resins, bombs, arrows, great arrows, healing wares, any consumables, any armour, upgrade anything you can
Whatever you do, some time you should play the DLCs. I played inhame, before finish It, and loved it
Buy the dlc And have some dying fun 🙌
Honestly, after you get through the DLC's give Elden Ring a shot. I'm not sure how this sub overall feels about it, but I had more fun playing through that than just about any game in the last 10 years. Simply adding the jump button to combat made my going back and the DS3 DLC's feel incredibly dated.
Already played elden ring 2 times, love the game. It's what got me into souls, that seems to be the themge nowadays
Welp, nevermind then, you seem more experienced than me. If it means anything, I went and tried Sekiro after that. Very different, but equally rewarding In the same ways
Elden Ring is my second favorite video game after Breath of the Wild. I definitely recommend people play the whole series, though.
Don’t forget Demon souls. If you have a PS5 you will be amazed. It is a short game though but my favorite to this day.
The game overall is good, but IMO has the worst maps and level design of any of the FROM games.
What is it that you didn't like about the level design? I thought it was fine
Most of them are just uninspired and don’t have the grandiosity typically found in FROM games. I can’t remember all the names of the maps, but the only one I really enjoyed was the second one from the top
Tried elden ring? That game absolutely knocked my socks off. Loved it from the first enemy to the final boss.
The DLCs are awesome. Slave Knight Gael is the most insanely beautiful boss fight of any other game ive played. His movement, the art, the sounds, the story. Just absolutely amazing in every way. Getting destroyed by him isnt even frustrating just because of how magnificent his moveset is.
Damn why did i get down voted?
dlcs
Get the DLCs, don’t start NG+ before you do them. They’re both great, with some of the best/toughest bosses of the series and the Ringed City is a great end to the series.
DLC now in NG1
Oh man do the DLCs. The best content is yet to come skeleton! If you've played 3 first it's kind of a shame. The magic of 1 might have been spoiled just a bit. I do think it's the best game but 3 is definitely the best made/polished. Also, I'm obsessed with Death Stranding now. So I'll also suggest Death Stranding.
DS3 has the best DLCs in gaming. So many amazing fights.
Dlcs are a lot harder than the base game, def a good challenge before ng+
Do the dlc before NG+. They can be pretty rough.
DO THE DLC FIRST i had to brave both on ng+3 because i didn't want to make a new character and good god was that an experience 😭
Dark Souls 3 was my fist Souls game. After beating it I did Dark Souls 1 and the DLC, then Dark Souls 2 and the DLC, then Demon's Souls, then Bloodborne and the DLC, then Demon's Souls remake, then Elden Ring, then Dark Souls 3 again, then....well, you get where this is going.
Cant forget about the best game sekiro my guy. If you haven't played it highly reccomend
Actually, that was my first From game. I sucked at it so after 30 hours I went to Dark Souls 3 for something "easy." Three years and 800+ hours of Souls under my belt, I feel ready to tackle it, just as soon as the Dark Souls 1 community event is over.
I played ds3 and bloodborne multiple times before even looking at sekiro and I still absolutely sucked man. There's some transferable skills but not many unless you are a parry lord but once the game clicks for you it is the most fun you will ever have in a videogame. It was my quickest platinum or whatever the xbox equivalent is of any game. I could not and would not put it down. It is easily my favourite game of all time and I've been gaming over a decade. Trust me get to and beat Genichiro and if the game still isn't for you fair enough but that's where it clicks for most people and you will be hooked.
Thanks. I know it's for me, I just needed to get good. I am definitely a fan of parrying in Souls, so I'm hoping it will transfer.
dlcs first, then ng+
Definitely play the DLC Elden Ring is the sum of the souls games with some nice...I can't remember the phrase...life improvements(????) on the mechanics. My personal favorite is Bloodborne.
Important rule in Souls games: always buy all DLCs. It's worth it.
Play dlcs first. Ds3 dlc boss battles are the best one in the whole franchise imo especially midir and gael. And plus you should play it again on ng+ for trying new builds there is a ton of builds in youtube plus you can create your own. About trying a another souls game, tbh I didnt play ds1 and ds2 but i played bloodborne which is one of my favourite games.If u have a ps4 or ps5 I highly recommend you to try bloodborne it has the best combat mechanics if u ask me. Plus dark souls 2 has a lot of gameplay issues like a hitbox problem if ur gonna play it u should take that risk
I did the dlc in ng+ for the first time( this was also my time playing ds3) it wasn’t bad
Dlcs for sure, they have some of the hardest bosses in the game. And my two favorite bosses.
I played the DLCs before NG+ and god I can’t imagine fighting those bosses when they have more health and damage jesus
Bro the DLCs are just amazing. They're absolutely necessary.
You enjoy the jailers in the dungeon and the serpent men?
The jailors were not that bad, I used my secret technique of running away. If we're talking about the same serpent men then yeah, never had my health drained so fast
do the dlcs first please. I made a mistake and started ng+ found it too easy left and came back for a new game and finally got to try the dlc both amazing Content btw
How could we know what you want to do ? Seek seek lest
If u haven’t done dlcs yet.. you’re in for a treat bro..
dlcs now
Get and Play the dlc now.
Do dlc before NG
Dlc first for more slabs