What Games are you playing 2016?

[Grefter]

Otter, this game has Morion Blade, sword from Demons's Soul's that has the same effect as Red Tearstone ring.  These effects stack.

Get someone to dump them for you in Firelink and stream that shit plz.

[Otter]

I wish RTSR were good again.  It's like barely more damage than the ring that buffs you when your HP is full?  Because fighting a boss at full and at 10% hp deserve similar effects?  Madness.

You can get it after two boss fights so if it were worth anything it'd see speedrun play too.

[Grefter]

I would need to see to be sure, but Morion + RTSR ended up being 4.5x damage in Demons from memory so if it's close to that..... Edit - it was 2.4x.  50% increase then multiplied by 60% increase.


That said, apparently I should be investing in Lloyd's Sword Ring.

Edit

[Otter]

Yeah RTSR was 50% in Demon's Souls and Dark Souls, 20% in DkS2 and DkS3.

On second thought this game has Tears of Denial so a good RTSR would be gamebreaking.

[Grefter]

Yeah RTSR was 50% in Demon's Souls and Dark Souls, 20% in DkS2 and DkS3.

On second thought this game has Tears of Denial so a good RTSR would be gamebreaking.

Well yeah.

Also apparently its 20% on both blade and RTSR so bleh best case scenario its still only 44% damage boost.  I suppose you throw in a Clutch ring as well, maybe a couple of buff?  Its still not heaps fun.

[Fudozukushi]

Dark Souls 3: Where the poise means noting at all!  That's right, the poise just does not matter.  Rubbish is more valuable because it at least has soul value.

So, I was tinkering with poise more now that I have Havel's and I noticed something.  Every piece of equipment past the first that raises poise actually raises it less than indicated.  There's diminishing returns in effect here.  It's not much, admittedly, Havel's loses 5 points total, but it's already an actual useless stat what the hell is reducing it accomplishing?

Otherwise I was mostly just finding rings/gear and grinding out souls.  Bought all the handmaid armor sets and have 60 embers in stock.

THIS!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKvhdRqhXSg

[Grefter]

DS3 - I am so bored of PVP.  I am just Alt-F4ing every time now.  Being invaded is fine if its a thing that happens every now and then and is quick and punchy.  This is fuck around for 20 minutes.

Snooze.

Edit - We did the Keep for both toons.

PVP Highlights involved.

1. Dude running away the moment he saw us to try and body pull 2 big bits of trash and getting stunlocked as he ran away and estus spammed.
2. Being invaded by a dude that decided the coolest idea was to fuck around in deep swamp with Dagger side step because I guess it will trick us?  5 minutes of being bored then Alt-F4.
3.  Being invaded by a dude while we pull a cool dude chilling on a wall.  He killed me even though I disengaged from the miniboss.  This is because he didn't connect properly and was a sliding around idle pose.  Literally unable to read any tells, unfightable.
4.  Being invaded right before the boss area.  My brother asking to do the fight.  Sitting literally right at the boss fog.  Guy hangs around near a bit of trash so we will pull it.  Kill the trash anyway.  Dude sprints away.  Walk into boss fight.

Seriously fucking EVERYONE runs away and estus spams.  Even when you literally are not going to get me to engage.

Seriously the worst PVP in the series.  At least Demons's has Old Monk as a concept fight to go with its never actually going to happen Scraping Spear troll invasion.

[Sierra]

Sorry Gref, on PS4. No cheesing out the covenant ranks.

Also Fudo that video was as inevitable it was hilarious (love the kick to the face win).

[Grefter]

No real loss for me, I got the sibling for that.

Also things we tested. Trading through passwords is super easy.  You can trade up to the +max you have on a weapon and you can trade infused stuff.  So I have Chaos earlier than normal on my Broadsword from my brothers first toon that hasn't got anywhere for a while.

You can't pick up titanite or gems it seems so they do throttle you there.

[Fenrir]

I am totally chill with all of these posts


Sorcery 2: Pretty cool stuff happened at the end of this game. So I'm back for New Game +.
Highlights in this playthrough were :
- getting murdered by a weremantis farmer
- stealing an apple, accusing a child of stealing, seeing the child run the hell away and get chasen by everybody.
- casting HOT on everything and watching the world burn
- Playing the high fantasy version of this cool game, against AI:



Good times

Nuclear Throne: Got all the pre loop crowns, which took an ungodly time. Now there are still the post loop crowns to get, and there are as many of them as pre loop crowns. Lol
Y.V. has gone from one of my worst characters to one of the best. It's good because he's my (and every rational person's) favourite. Faster reload is actually an amazing passive, his ultra A (even faster reload) is amazing, and the Crib is immensely useful. Pop Pop is still very situational, though.

[Grefter]

Gods Fenrir.  Perudo, it has been so long.

FEC -  Conquest route best route?

Actual King Garondorf quote.

Revels are like seeds.  You just salt the earth before they grow.

The best King ever or the greatest King ever?

Also I do legit enjoy the family dynamics more.  Look at me talking FE plot like it matters.

[Dark Holy Elf]

FEF - Beat Revelation, Hard Classic like the rest. There are some pretty interesting map ideas here, well once you get past the terrible overly long Chapters 7-8 where you have only 3-4 PCs. They're not as clever as Conquest but if Conquest didn't exist I'd probably be talking a lot about how this had breathed new life in to the series' map design, and certainly it's much better at it than Birthright (and most FEs). Like Birthright I think the game went through a bit of an easy lull midgame, but certainly toughens up some at the end (especially chapter 25, woof) and that's where a lot of the more interesting maps are too. Largely shares the general strengths and weaknesses of Fates past this. Not really a must-play or anything but obviously was worth the price for me, it's $20-25 for another two dozen FE maps, a bunch of new supports, etc.

Plot is underwhelming. You actually deal with the main villain in this route, but it's not very intriguing, and you don't get the family dynamics and moral quandaries really. But it's not a big deal; even aside from gameplay, we all know the real reasons why this route exists.

[Meeplelard]

Pokken: Got back to this, beat the Green League, got beaten by Shadow Mewtwo, because that's what's suppose to happen then the game unlocked a whole bunch of customization options!

My trainer is now wearing a fedora, with burning effects behind him.  Excellent.

[jsh357]

Forum might be working for me again now...

So yeah, Dark Souls 3. It's pretty great. I'm up to not!Congregation and have been having a generally good time.

[Grefter]

Fire Emblem - Chapter 15 Conquest route beaten.  Literally justified my purchase.

Azura needs to convince Corrin that Garondorf that he is Satan.  She produces a magic crystal from nowhere that "reveals the truth".  If you were a strong Mage like Leo or strong dragon blood like Corrin. We see an image of Garondorf, then it fades out and shifts to a Putty from Powerrangers in a fur cape. Then it instantly shatters.

That was the funniest shit I have seen in a game for years.  Deus Ex Machina and jelly fish blobby demons just to show that the evil dude who is super evil every cutscene is evil.

[Tide]

we all know the real reasons why this route exists.

If you pay for the Beach Brawl DLC, you can go around stripping people in combat. Fulfill all your fantasies for the low cost 2.49!

On a serious note: May I recommend Royal Royale as a DLC for the elves? Having played through all the DLC, it's actually quite interesting (and doesn't scream 'use this for teh grind!!'). The premise is that you are only allowed to use one royal and his/her retainers to defeat the other 7 groups. Even though it's only one map, it's essentially 8 different scenarios (one for each sibling) and from the sounds of it, some of the siblings have it pretty tough. From what I read, each group has his/her advantages and you have to utilize each person's strengths in order to win; usually this means you need all 3 characters alive through at least 6 of the 7 rival groups.

I did my first run with Camilla's group and it took me about 35 turns or something. It was pretty hard, and at some point, I was pretty sure I was stuck. I had to Battle Save and play with various options until I found one that let me barely survive Leo's group and counter on the following turn. Funnily enough, Leo's team apparently is the hardest of 8 sets. For the rest of the map, Camilla's team has ridiculous mobility (she and Beruka are flying, then Selena has a horse...) so it was a lot about using your mobility to reach certain spots on the map and kiting the groups that approach.

[Fudozukushi]

Dark Souls 3: I read something very interesting so I decided to forgo covenant items grind to spring immediately to doing the thing in NG+.  (Also covenant item grind suuuuuucks!)  Grabbed the last two rings I could otherwise and off to Journey 2 I go.

New soul consumables are placed on corpses, but enemy positioning hasn't changed and there's no red phantom army like DS2.  There are new rings to loot.  Sweet sweet revenge on Bushido Blade!

IG goes down.  I decide to grab Yoel first for my free levels before doing Dancer since I don't know if he'll keel over to sequence breaking like that.  Greirat also doesn't do anything odd if you have Loretta's Bone first.  Sad.  Vordt is taken out.  FREE LEVELS AND SUICIDE!  Hello new waifu.  Two more rings for the pile.  Dancer goes down first try.  Lothric Knights continue to be complete assholes and take three lives before I sneak into the Garden.  OTCK takes a life because camera souls.  Untended Graves goes startling easy.  I summon Bushido Blade for CG and we pick him apart super-easy.  Enemies past that are actually doing less damage than their NG versions when I was farming them.

Poise may mean nothing, but absorption sure doesn't.

I grab the insight inside the shrine and go check if it's true...

So, the Untended Graves Firelink is Ludeth's, somehow, and that's his Firekeeper dead in the corner.  She got the eyes, saw the world of Darkness and went mad.  Ludeth willed himself Lord of Cinder to keep the age of fire going once more.

And now, THIS!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf3Wj_d-aOE

[Sierra]

Fudo, does that reveal only happen when you sequence break, or is it in a narrow plot window? (I.E., explore + talk before placing ashes.)

[Fudozukushi]

I'd assume it'd work as long as you don't place all the ashes on the thrones.  Incidentally, murdering the Fire Keeper after giving the item to her will drop it back and reset Firelink's music again.

Random Other Crap:
-Shooting the drake enough at Highwall will make it fly off and give you a large titanite shard.
-Vordt only landed a single hit on me with a lucky kick during a charge away from me.  When I got him to half health he didn't even do his mad-charge combo either.
-You can see all three fire towers in Farron Keep from the banner spot..
-I think you can also see Boreal Valley.
-You can see your Pal from the second bonfire in Undead Settlement.
-Emma's chair keeps respawning.
-Dancer gave me nearly half a million souls, OtCK gave 300K and CG gave 200K.  What the hell is that.

[Grefter]

Oh if you haven't done it before, break all the chairs near the Cleansing Chapel bonfire, drop a sign or invade or something.  Come back and enjoy some Old Monk tower of chair throne feeling creepiness.

[Sierra]

Is that why I always see red signs in that room? I'll try that next time I'm on.

So Fudo I found that corpse again and I think maybe we're both right. The item--Quelana's Pyromancy Tome--is specifically tagged onto the wholly human body. Which is huddled up against the spider corpse, in a pose that one could interpret as...I dunno, despair, resignation? If one were inclined to read emotion into static scenery. I hadn't previously noticed they were two separate models, but they are. So I think you could read into it that it's Quelana and the Fair Lady dead together, if so inclined.

It turns out there's a whole lower floor I overlooked in that zone! So that's how you get that sword (not that I intend to ever use it) and that's how you turn that thing off! Also actually explored the lava rooms this time. Pop Flash Sweat and use every estus and I could just get all the loot and die. Worth it, two pyromancies! One awesome one that I wanted, the other is...er, I'm not sure. You reach your hand into an enemy and fill them with fire and they explode. It looks great? But it's melee and hella slow so I'm not sure the damage is worth it.

Great Chaos Fire Orb is amazing. 600+ damage and I'm nowhere near fully upgraded. Also taking multiple spell slots is much less a disadvantage than it used to be.

Also healing the dark sigil is stupidly expensive. Wasn't worth the levels. I am trying to get all the rings this time, though, so no choice about the latter.

[Fudozukushi]

Family Love: I mean, I totally believe that's Fair Lady's spider-legs and she is totally gone even if her waifu-half is missing.  But so much character stuff is thrown wherever (Leo Ring is in Irithyll, Wolf Ring is covenant reward, Hawk Ring is on Giant Pal, and Hornet Ring is Untended Graves). that I myself wouldn't conclude that is Quelana right there.  Granted, I can totally accept it as the outcome.


The other fire spell is entirely for flaming dickpunches.  It's hilarious.

Dark Souls 3: Take an extra two seconds on every letter to get a feel for my hell.  Lothric Knights are beyond insane.  Barring the early hell, got upwards mostly painlessly.  Then DSA comes along and I start well, thinking I might no-hit this then BAM!  Death after death after death.  All brought by this moronic delay between estus drinking and moving again or the absurd slowness between attacking and being able to roll.  Multiple attempts had him down to one-hit left and one of those I was gobbed by shit then comboed to death from full health.

Also despise the ridiculous lag before you can double-dip your estus.  I know this is to rectify the prior games ability to accidentally overspam it but the flask now has to be nearly away before you can drink again.  Cripes.

Can't actually enter the Grand Archives because the key hasn't spawned.  Great.

Do other crap.  CRGW and CS down first try.  Fought the mad phantom in Road of Sacrifices.  While he was in the middle of getting stunlocked by my attacks, he parried and riposted me for 1,600 HP.  I think I've got how to crab battle now.  Always be backing away and when they claw slam get a hit in then keep backing off.  If they go for bubble spray, run around and start wailing on them.

Against all Dark Souls logic ever, armor is actually useful for reducing damage now.  Fully armored up with Ring of Steel Protection, I'm taking less damage on NG+ than on my light armor NG.

EDIT: Also there's statues of Primordial Serpents at the Grand Archives bonfire.

[Sierra]

ODK can only move slower than the player. This is a bad approach for coping with a caster PC. Officially the easiest time I've had with any boss in this game. (I didn't try him until I'd bought the dark pyromancies though, because otherwise fire vs fire boss).

Chaos Storm nukes Disco Pope's gimmick on the spot. I still died a bunch of times because combos for days.

I just now noticed that Yorshka has a dragon tail. Yeahhhh. She sounds so sad when you leave, too. Girl needs to eat more, though, those arms are really just bones.

Why do spells have to be tied to PVP covenants mk. 2

[Grefter]

Waiting for Dark Pyros from vendor?  Sounds to me like you aren't investing your boss soul spends right brah.

Are you finding spell scaling is pretty random on spells?  Some stuffs trash that isn't for any reason.

[Grefter]

  THis was from last night left unposted in my browser.  DS3 - We did Catacombs just on my dude.  That boss fight is amazing.

Tiny text is not all spoilers for plot or mechanics but for something I want to see Fenresponse to.  Second line is 100% spoilerish.

Those fucking Dutch angles were amazing.  I dunno what I think of the boss fight but he is amaaaaaaaaazing as a set piece. 

That said, anyone who said they couldn't find the Nito, well I just fought a giant fucking skeleton boss that summoned other skeletons and killed them with AoE so, if that ain't your Nito I don't know what you want.  I was expecting Grefter Boss that I think is in the bottom of Ithyryll to be that guy given the opening cutscene has him be The Rotten as fuck, but damn.  High King Wolnir was pretty great

So yeah when I have 15000 spare souls I need to buy a new hat.