First playthrough hard walls ruining the experience

[Enigmaniac]

So, I'm experimenting my way through this first run on normal difficulty to learn about not just what works, but why it works (or doesn't) and taking my time but now I'm at end-game-ish and completely stuck on hard walls. I've cleared the lvl 77 bosses, crafted and upgraded all I can at this point and been crafting and re-crafting, using the available potions, trying out spell combos, even restricting progress attempts to bloodmoon only.

But all lvl 78+ bosses are complete ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. Stunlocks, no cooldown between their attacks and all faster than the cooldowns of 2 defense spells + veil can keep up with, doing a third of my healthpool in a single hit on a regular basis, just plain undodgeable attacks etc. I've had no progress in probably upward of 40 hours of play at all, letting me conclude this was not remotely designed as single player content. This needs *severe* nerfing.

The only thing that might be the tiny room for improvement left would be to waste dozens of hours grinding materials for sleightly better T3 skill gems in hopes it'll let me unlock T4, but that would be too punishing and anti-fun.

[Enigmaniac]

Publicado originalmente por theworld:

Publicado originalmente por Enigmaniac:

Altar passives I've all unlocked. Purple enchant can't be done without the unlocks behind Styx iirc.

Onyx tear? Have you tried talking to Merchant in Gloomrot?

Would border on pointless. I don't have any purples worth considering (which'd be a huge grind at best) and the repairs of a purple greatsword if that won't get me past the remaining 30% health means I've gone all-in with a money-sink. Which re-affirms the difficulty gap between 77 and the above is just way too big.

[theworld]

Perhaps you don't understand. The point of a purple over a simple Sanguine is not only raw damage and random stat bonuses, but also Gear Score.

For every GS below boss you take +4% damage and deal -4% damage. For every GS above you deal +1%/-1% respectively.

[Jimmy the Crow]

Publicado originalmente por sno0ks:

get gud. normal is too easy. 3rd of your bar in 1 hit makes no sense. is your gear level up to par? use blood potions. most of my jewels are crap but i one shot most bosses. you can solo any boss with any build. "severe nerfing" they've already nerfed it into the ground. seriously. get good and stop ruining games.

youre not 1 shotting level 80+ bosses. Even at 91 thats not possible.

Guy is struggling most likely because of gear level. Hes right some of the bosses do take abou 1/3rd of your bar. if you only got 750 hp and the boss does a combo that lands for 250. thats 1/3rd of your bar

[Enigmaniac]

I don't misunderstand. Current gear level sits at 84, one above said three bosses so the additional 3 gear levels would imply +3/-3 would be enough to bridge over a quarter of a boss bar. Colour me skeptical of that claim.

[Jimmy the Crow]

Publicado originalmente por Enigmaniac:

Publicado originalmente por theworld:

Onyx tear? Have you tried talking to Merchant in Gloomrot?

Would border on pointless. I don't have any purples worth considering (which'd be a huge grind at best) and the repairs of a purple greatsword if that won't get me past the remaining 30% health means I've gone all-in with a money-sink. Which re-affirms the difficulty gap between 77 and the above is just way too big.

its not man, you just have to play better and use something else. Have you tried a long bow? Pistols? Long range?

[Enigmaniac]

Publicado originalmente por Man at Arms:

Publicado originalmente por sno0ks:

get gud. normal is too easy. 3rd of your bar in 1 hit makes no sense. is your gear level up to par? use blood potions. most of my jewels are crap but i one shot most bosses. you can solo any boss with any build. "severe nerfing" they've already nerfed it into the ground. seriously. get good and stop ruining games.

youre not 1 shotting level 80+ bosses. Even at 91 thats not possible.

Guy is struggling most likely because of gear level. Hes right some of the bosses do take abou 1/3rd of your bar. if you only got 750 hp and the boss does a combo that lands for 250. thats 1/3rd of your bar

Just FYI: No, a single glowy orb lingering around from Behemoth hit me for a clean 250 damage after he tossed me up and backwards onto one. That totalled half my healthbar in that particular one-two. Current hp pool sits at 877 health, excluding a snippet of damage reduction from dread set.

[Jimmy the Crow]

Publicado originalmente por Enigmaniac:

Styx, Behemoth and Valencia, as I implied above with hard wall above 77. It'd be pointless to look above that. At best I get them down to 25-30% health.

I favour greatsword so far. Both bows I consider just too slow and clunky to tolerate despite wanting to like a ranged spec, pistols I just don't like and don't at all feel why people claim its inherent dodge on the E is good. The dodge range is very small and rarely does it allow I-frame prevention of damage.

Mace E is beyond useless and Q very awkward to use, scythe and axes I've dabbled in but dislike the overall feel of. Slashers and whip can be fun-ish against mobs but really lack enough umph to deal with boss fights. Spear is less than useless against bosses entirely.

Spells, my fave is bloodrage for selfheal, faster movement+attack and bit of extra damage. Veil (any), which basically boils down to whichever has the best current gem (frost atm). Deathward is preferred shield, the immaterial form spells feel quite ineffective (usually not outlasting more than half of a boss attack sequence) but has had its moments.

Void has proven solid as a poke, bone explosion/ball lightning often miss due to high mobility in bosses and usually lack in range to remove things like Valencia's iron maiden effectively. Volatile arachnid ulti seems to work quite well for me, as it is very shoot-and-forget but I've dabbled in most of the ultis available at times.

Spell combos ... any with the above, really. Double shields (green / purple), shield + immaterial, shield plus poke, double poke, shield/rage, poke/rage... I've ran out of variants.

Greatsword is unenchanted sanguine (just haven't found any okay greatsword blue) but doubt just a few percent extra is going to make a difference. Full dread plate set, amulet of blade master for the attackspeed.

Try this instead.
Longbow. 100% rogue blood, Corrupted skull, cold snap, spider ult.

its good for bosses, youll summon skells and have 2 charges. TRhe skells pretty much make the boss lose aggro from you.

[Enigmaniac]

Publicado originalmente por Man at Arms:

Publicado originalmente por Enigmaniac:

Would border on pointless. I don't have any purples worth considering (which'd be a huge grind at best) and the repairs of a purple greatsword if that won't get me past the remaining 30% health means I've gone all-in with a money-sink. Which re-affirms the difficulty gap between 77 and the above is just way too big.

its not man, you just have to play better and use something else. Have you tried a long bow? Pistols? Long range?

Yes, and as mentioned I absolutely despise how long range weapons feel and function in this game despite wanting to like sniping as an approach.

[theworld]

Publicado originalmente por Man at Arms:

youre not 1 shotting level 80+ bosses.

Obviously, he meant doing a boss in 1 try, not literally oneshotting them.

[Jimmy the Crow]

Publicado originalmente por Enigmaniac:

Publicado originalmente por Man at Arms:

youre not 1 shotting level 80+ bosses. Even at 91 thats not possible.

Guy is struggling most likely because of gear level. Hes right some of the bosses do take abou 1/3rd of your bar. if you only got 750 hp and the boss does a combo that lands for 250. thats 1/3rd of your bar

Just FYI: No, a single glowy orb lingering around from Behemoth hit me for a clean 250 damage after he tossed me up and backwards onto one. That totalled half my healthbar in that particular one-two. Current hp pool sits at 877 health, excluding a snippet of damage reduction from dread set.

dont use the dread set. Use the set that gives you move speed and crit with the setup i sent posted abovve

You need to run all this and bosses are easy
All pots
Rogue Blood
Corrupted Skull
cold snap
spider ult
Longbow/pistol/spear or gs

Crit/speed set, spell cooldown necklace with lesser aegis

Veil of chaos or illusion

[Jimmy the Crow]

Publicado originalmente por Enigmaniac:

Publicado originalmente por Man at Arms:

its not man, you just have to play better and use something else. Have you tried a long bow? Pistols? Long range?

Yes, and as mentioned I absolutely despise how long range weapons feel and function in this game despite wanting to like sniping as an approach.

if youre refusing to use the tools youre given then i dunno what to tell you other than to get guud with what youre using

[sno0ks]

Publicado originalmente por Man at Arms:

Publicado originalmente por sno0ks:

get gud. normal is too easy. 3rd of your bar in 1 hit makes no sense. is your gear level up to par? use blood potions. most of my jewels are crap but i one shot most bosses. you can solo any boss with any build. "severe nerfing" they've already nerfed it into the ground. seriously. get good and stop ruining games.

youre not 1 shotting level 80+ bosses. Even at 91 thats not possible.

Guy is struggling most likely because of gear level. Hes right some of the bosses do take abou 1/3rd of your bar. if you only got 750 hp and the boss does a combo that lands for 250. thats 1/3rd of your bar

one shot meaning on first attempt, not with one attack.

[Enigmaniac]

Publicado originalmente por Man at Arms:

Publicado originalmente por Enigmaniac:

Yes, and as mentioned I absolutely despise how long range weapons feel and function in this game despite wanting to like sniping as an approach.

if youre refusing to use the tools youre given then i dunno what to tell you other than to get guud with what youre using

I simply don't see the point of using an awkwardly feeling clunky bow/crossbow that has you sit defenseless and stationary for each shot, which inevitably nets you a rollercoater ride for half your health pool. I've tried repeatedly to experiment with setups, from more attack speed to weapon cooldown reduction but can't make it feel un-clunky.

[Jimmy the Crow]

Publicado originalmente por sno0ks:

Publicado originalmente por Man at Arms:

youre not 1 shotting level 80+ bosses. Even at 91 thats not possible.

Guy is struggling most likely because of gear level. Hes right some of the bosses do take abou 1/3rd of your bar. if you only got 750 hp and the boss does a combo that lands for 250. thats 1/3rd of your bar

one shot meaning on first attempt, not with one attack.

i got you fam

[Jimmy the Crow]

Publicado originalmente por Enigmaniac:

Publicado originalmente por Man at Arms:

if youre refusing to use the tools youre given then i dunno what to tell you other than to get guud with what youre using

I simply don't see the point of using an awkwardly feeling clunky bow/crossbow that has you sit defenseless and stationary for each shot, which inevitably nets you a rollercoater ride for half your health pool. I've tried repeatedly to experiment with setups, from more attack speed to weapon cooldown reduction but can't make it feel un-clunky.

theres your issue. You dont have patience. You only shoot when you know you can, otherwise use the spread shot which is insta cast as well as use ytour spells to chip them down from range.
Youre making excuses when i use this build and have beat everything on normal except drac with that setup