Astel is the perfect example of what not to do with a boss.

[The Spoon God]

First off, no, I don't care that the majority of the comments will be 'git gud' or 'you're bad haha'.

I've got all the souls under my belt save for Demon Souls and Sekiro, so it doesn't phase me.

Now, onto my salty gamer rant.

I can tolerate the remembrance Astel, even though he has a perfect timing dodge grab that instant kills you (i've got somewhere around 30-40 vigor rn, not running the 60 soft cap so that DOES contribute but even so), and that infuriating gravity slam that if he uses it, it's pretty much a done deal. It goes off quick enough that you have pretty much no time to get out. You CAN dodge it. Yes, you can. But the timing more pitch perfect than his teleport grab.

My real gripe is with the Astel in Snowfields. Why did they feel the need to make his teleport grab... 6 times more confusing and annoying? What was the point of that?

Alright, Gamer rant over. Let the 'git guds' flow in.

[mewlynx]

how was his grab different in snowfields? the fight was identical from what I could tell

[815|Shouldabeen]

Originally posted by Ebooooooola Dog:

I've got all the souls under my belt save for Demon Souls and Sekiro, so it doesn't phase me.

You realize that means you didn't play 1/3 of the previous titles, right?

That's like saying "I made $100,000 last year, except for the $30,000 that I didn't make"

Also, git gud. Both Astels and Renala are my only 0 death fights. (excluding minor bosses like stone troll and such)

[Nauct]

Originally posted by Ebooooooola Dog:

First off, no, I don't care that the majority of the comments will be 'git gud' or 'you're bad haha'.

I've got all the souls under my belt save for Demon Souls and Sekiro, so it doesn't phase me.

Just you bringing it up and saying it doesn't bother you means it do

[grandma_moses]

Typical rant after playing for a few days, then kind of burning out and releasing that tension towards the first boss giving you trouble that comes across your way that day via rant.

There is nothing wrong with both bosses, and I believe that if you played Rykard or Godfrey or Malekith in this mood, you would have come here to rant about one of those bosses in the same manner - I know because I recognize this behavior in myself, as well, and I can literally feel the frustration in the moment you decide to post 'about this sh*t' as I felt it many times before.

So yeah, no problem, everybody should get to vent sometimes, but there is nothing wrong with both bosses in my humble opinion. Being triggered by some of the easier stuff is the telltale sign of needing a few hours' or a days' break, in my experience.

[Durrrrwin]

hitboxes are busted to ♥♥♥♥ on that fight. glad i will never do it again.

[Enderspoons]

Originally posted by baelynx:

how was his grab different in snowfields? the fight was identical from what I could tell

When the Astel in Yelough Anix Tunnel reaches low HP, he teleports away and then appears alongside a dozen or so dark shadow clones (these exist purely to confuse you and do nothing) and tries to use his grab on you. If you were like me and walked in with 40 vigor + heavy armor + resistance talismans, this grab still kills you in one hit.
Oh, and he uses it five times in a row. So yeah.

[koimeiji]

Originally posted by Enderspoons:

Originally posted by baelynx:

how was his grab different in snowfields? the fight was identical from what I could tell

When the Astel in Yelough Anix Tunnel reaches low HP, he teleports away and then appears alongside a dozen or so dark shadow clones (these exist purely to confuse you and do nothing) and tries to use his grab on you. If you were like me and walked in with 40 vigor + heavy armor + resistance talismans, this grab still kills you in one hit.
Oh, and he uses it five times in a row. So yeah.

i only had him use it once and i had about 10 attempts at the snowfield astel (compared to 3 attempts on the story astel)

it might just be a very rare attack for the astel boss in general, and you were just really unlucky

[The Spoon God]

Originally posted by Universal Mind:

hitboxes are busted to ♥♥♥♥ on that fight. glad i will never do it again.

truth.

Hitbox ain't even busted on his gravity slam, just his grabs. And maybe one of his explosions because i was visually out of it's range, but that could've been an optical illusion of sorts.

[The Spoon God]

Originally posted by grandma_moses:

Typical rant after playing for a few days, then kind of burning out and releasing that tension towards the first boss giving you trouble that comes across your way that day via rant.

There is nothing wrong with both bosses, and I believe that if you played Rykard or Godfrey or Malekith in this mood, you would have come here to rant about one of those bosses in the same manner - I know because I recognize this behavior in myself, as well, and I can literally feel the frustration in the moment you decide to post 'about this sh*t' as I felt it many times before.

So yeah, no problem, everybody should get to vent sometimes, but there is nothing wrong with both bosses in my humble opinion. Being triggered by some of the easier stuff is the telltale sign of needing a few hours' or a days' break, in my experience.

To be honest, I had no problems with Rykard. He was a Yhorm, and while I died like.. once to his meteor rancor attack, I realized later when I helped my friend with him that it was ENTIRELY on me. I dodged it the next time easily.

Rykard has moves that feel fair. Astel's gravity attack does NOT feel fair.

Can't say anything about Mali or Godfrey, I haven't gotten there, but I hear a lot of people complaining about Fire Giant too. Again, save for some really quick timings, he was entirely fair to me. Astel is one of the very rare fights in this game that lowkey feels 'unfair' with a select few of their attacks.

[The Spoon God]

Originally posted by Enderspoons:

Originally posted by baelynx:

how was his grab different in snowfields? the fight was identical from what I could tell

When the Astel in Yelough Anix Tunnel reaches low HP, he teleports away and then appears alongside a dozen or so dark shadow clones (these exist purely to confuse you and do nothing) and tries to use his grab on you. If you were like me and walked in with 40 vigor + heavy armor + resistance talismans, this grab still kills you in one hit.
Oh, and he uses it five times in a row. So yeah.

It's one of those grab attacks that just does insane damage for no good reason.

Does the gravity slam still instant kill you, or can you survive it? I actually managed to dodge his teleport grab after a good few tries, but I still can't consistently dodge the gravity slam.

[Julymorning]

git gud lol

but seriously, my attempt to do him on ng5 was pure rng because of one attack - his teleport grab. when he teleports above you, you cant see him and makes it difficult to time his dodge since you dont see animation lol. it simply one shots me with 59 vigor

[Kyutaru]

Oddly enough youtubers also seem to have a better view of the boss than when I downed him in game. Is he smaller for some people? Did someone figure out a zooming out exploit? Because some people seem to have full view of his attacks and body while the rest of us are humping his face.

[yannypr]

I felt that Astel was one of the few bosses that stuck to Dark Souls tradition. Although I never understood the teleport grab of the one in the Snowfields cause it was frightening, but it would never reach me if I stood still.

[Lucifer_]

Just learn his moves, this guy is so easy. There's like way worse bosses in this game.

[Lucifer_]

Originally posted by Julymorning:

git gud lol

but seriously, my attempt to do him on ng5 was pure rng because of one attack - his teleport grab. when he teleports above you, you cant see him and makes it difficult to time his dodge since you dont see animation lol. it simply one shots me with 59 vigor

he always teleports behind you