Do the damage reduction talismans help that much?

[Q1]

I've sometimes been int he habit of just throwing on the physical damage reduction talisman and the 'all elements' talisman as sort of a catch all, but sometimes I wonder if they're worth it.

[opus132]

I always found damage is the best "defense" in this game. The less you allow the boss to live, the less chances you have he is going to kill you. This of course does require you to learn the boss at least a little bit, as getting hit when going all out on damage hurts a lot, but dragging the fight just makes it harder for me. Eventually i lose concentration and get wrecked, so the sooner the boss goes down, the better.

Of course, everybody is different. In terms of defense, i'd say all you need is enough not to get one shot. Mistakes are abound to happen so you at least need enough not to die because you messed up on a roll so you can recoup and keep going with the fight.

[zero]

it can be pretty meaningful, but it depends on how much damage your taking, dragoncrest is 20% reduction after your base defenses, 100->middle number(0 for now)->80

[Lil Grandpa]

They're not. Stack damage and nuke the boss before they do too much damage to you.

[opus132]

Ritual shield talisman is probably a good one to have if you want to feel a bit safe, but then i play paladin or priest type characters so i always have a lot of healing ready to bring myself back to full health so the talisman is activated again.

[Burns]

Originally posted by Q1:

I've sometimes been int he habit of just throwing on the physical damage reduction talisman and the 'all elements' talisman as sort of a catch all, but sometimes I wonder if they're worth it.

Have you tried without to see the difference?
It s 2 different mentalities that apply to lots of things, from sports to actual war. There isn t a best way, there s only the one that works best for you.
Remember that both Italy and Brazil used to be the 2 best football teams in the world but used these exact 2 opposite approaches and both had some pretty good results.
Try for yourself with increasingly more powerful/aggressive enemies (the hard they are the better will pretty quickly which works better for you.

[Yal]

Originally posted by Q1:

I've sometimes been int he habit of just throwing on the physical damage reduction talisman and the 'all elements' talisman as sort of a catch all, but sometimes I wonder if they're worth it.

You can see the actual effect on the stats screen if you want to do the maths yourself, but the best talismans are about as strong as the average armor chestpiece so it's nothing to sneeze at. (Though in PvP they only grant 25% of the listed value so keep that in mind)

Personally I'd say a good shield is the most important part of your defense, twohanding a shield even gets you the strongest poise damage in the game if you can deal with the infinitesimal range.

Other fun tools: Endure halves damage and grants hyperarmor and can be useful for unga bunga tactics and the Ritual Shield Talisman essentially grants you +30% to all defenses as long as you can heal to max with one healing flask.

[Humpenstilzchen]

Well it depends. In general offense is the best defense but you absolutely can become a tank and mitigate most of the damage if you build around it.

Gino Machino tested this and it is quite impressive how tanky he could become.
Check this out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzEz6bDHJvY

[Faust Wither]

they are much worth than wearing heavy armor.

[Fel]

If you are taking quite a few hits, the talismans and consumables can make quite a big difference.
The goal should still be to avoid taking hits as much as possible, but having a high damage reduction helps a lot when you are learning the timings of a boss for example.
This is especially true if you are not a fan of summoning a spirit, since the agression would be on you the whole time.
If you stack the damage reduction, you can go from 2-4 hits being deadly to 5-10, even surviving attacks that otherwise would one-shot you.

You still need to deal enough damage to end the boss to beat it, but not taking as much damage is not necessarily bad for those that are not that good at dodging.

[paincanbefun]

oh yes. offence is the best defence, but if you are melting too fast, then defence becomes the best offence

high damage is important to ends fights fast, however, since you will usually take chip damage during the fight, so you need to find the right balance for your skill and play style

[tmg]

Physical resist talisman, one element talisman for the boss if required, then either a damage resist incantation or boiled crab,, golden vow, opaline hardtear. Try again and see if it makes a difference.

[Robodemon]

Killing the enemy before they can kill you is a valid tactic, but only if you can survive. I've seen too many players go all offense and then struggle at the same boss or area for hours because their build makes their first mistake be their last.

Talismans and the tools tmg mentioned absolutely make a difference. If you're not going full tank then you want just enough mitigation so that you can recover from your inevitable mis-steps.

[Old Captain Yon]

Dragon Greatshield talisman is pretty much always on, because it is the most useful talisman overall (tied with Turtle and Radagon Soreseal at lower levels). It is so good you never want to take it off, unless a boss is pure magic (or unless you go PvP). It + Boiled Crab + Ritual Shield + Braggart's Roar and you can tank fire giant at lvl 15. Add Golden Vow and you are not playing Souls anymore. Add a greatshield and you are immortal. Same goes for other elements, depending on situation. Defense stacking is so OP in this game it aint even funny

[Haru]

You need to test around. How much damage mitigation you require on a personal note is entirely dependant on how much damage you're unable to avoid or block. Using the craftable buffs and talismans are great ways to prepare for a fight, which is a classic hallmark of RPGs that I can't help but feel is steadily fading. Preparation is half the battle.

For example, in the puppet lion fight, if there's one specific attack of a certain type that you are struggling with, alter your build to reflect that. I really struggled at first with the zappy zappy so I added talismans and food buffs that helped to mitigate the zappy zappy.

[Modus]

Oh, they help for sure. I generally play without them, going for a more damage focused build, but if I’m having trouble with a boss then the extra defense from something like the dragon greatshield talisman makes quite a big difference. Depends on your play style I suppose, as others have said :)