u/Nick72z

I’ve got pretty much every COD from COD 2 to BO6 but haven’t really played in the last 2 years.

Which Multiplayer is most worth playing today. Good right now, not best back in the day?

I have both PS3 and PS5 available.

So what should I play this weekend. Where are you seeing the best matches?

Last night I cleansed the first beacon after another awkward boss fight, this time with The Hushed Saint.

So far the levels and mobs have been fine, good even, but I’m really not enjoying or looking forward to the boss fights.

It’s not that they’re hard, they just seem awkward 🤷🏻‍♂️

I’m wondering if I need to change up my approach?

In the Soulsborne titles I lean towards Strength Melee builds, and rely heavily on dodge roll with very little block and parry.

Doing the same in LotF I’m finding the ‘locked-on’ roll a bit sluggish and unresponsive. Not a lot, just enough for it to feel awkward / slightly unreliable.

I noticed that LotF has a Guard Regain system similar to Lies of P (but not a full Rally system like Bloodborne).

In practice the LotF Parry feels too high risk to lean into in a similar way to the parry in the Dark Souls series.

Yes you can use it. It works great situationally, but it’s high risk and you don’t lean into it constantly. Unlike the parry in Lies of P that feels like the preferred combat mechanic.

From what I can tell the LotF ‘Parry’ is more of a ‘Deflect’ in that it will lower the damage from a strike but it will not interrupt your opponents combo.

So in practice I’ll parry the first blow only for the follow up to hit me full on.

Now this might just be me, and this is where I’m looking for advice, but it feels like you can’t pull off multiple ‘Parry’s’ against your enemies continuous combo string?

It feels like it doesn’t accept your second ‘Parry’ input. As though there is an input lag, or that the act of doing the first ‘Parry’ puts you in a Flinched state for a fraction of a second?

Looking for advice. Where do I need to focus? Stick with dodge roll? Get to grips with Parry? Am I missing something intrinsic with this combat system that will open the game up?

I have completely ignored magic in all of its forms and all ranged weapons, as I do in most Souls style games. Do I need to mix it up more in LotF to get the best out of combat?

Can you help out with a two DS3 questions.

Q1:

I’m on my first blind run-through of Dark Souls 3.

I’m at the bonfire asking “Proceed to the First Flame”. I’m guessing this will take me to the final area or boss.

Should I proceed or do the DLC now? I’ve heard it doesn’t really make a difference but I’m looking for confirmation / opinions.

Q2:

I’ve just looked up how to enter the DLC. It says Ashes of Ariandel is the first DLC.

Says speak to the NPC at the Cleansing Chapel.

I don’t remember ever seeing an NPC at Cleansing Chapel? Just took a look and can’t see an NPC at the chapel bonfire?

I bought the DS3 + Nioh 2 digital bundle (UK) on the 7th July 2024.

Google AI says: Yes, the bundle released by PlayStation in the UK that paired Dark Souls 3 with Nioh 2 Remastered - The Complete Collection included the Dark Souls 3 DLC (Ashes of Ariandel and The Ringed City).

( UPDATE: Took the advice received below and beat the base game final boss before going to the DLC. It f felt right.

While my digital edition didn’t seem to provide the DLC, I was able to install DS3 The Fire Fades Edition from a physical copy as part of the trilogy collection. My digital save carried over and I was able to go straight into the DLC )