Stray demon

[vlastovka]

Hello,
I am beggining to hate the game for how unfair it is. I have been playing it for about 350 hours and still the game keeps screwing me on my latest char. My experience is that the stray demon is pure luck with fight setup and his unavoidable frontal magic attack. On my last attempt I died before I did any damage on him.
In past I solved game flaws by overlevelling a bit, raising vit and using heavier armor. This time I role play a thief and game experience is way worse.

[Lurker at the threshold]

Originally posted by vlastovka:

unavoidable frontal magic attack

You solved your own problem without even realizing. Sprint behind him, stay glued to his thicc butt. Thief builds are fast, so it shouldn't be hard.
There are only maybe 2 fights in the whole game that you could argue to be unfair, this is not one of them, lol

[vlastovka]

Thanks for reply. I managed to kill him after I sent my post. Still it feels like I was doing same things like on my last 30 attempts.
Maybe I did not use target lock this time so I could see more than boss's feet. And I was able move freely. Trying to run left or right during the frontal attack did not work.
Sorry for my 1st post.

[Lurker at the threshold]

yeah, as you had the chance to see for yourself, no lock-on fighting is that important, especially in this game, since you can't sprint around, or more importantly, dodge freely in all directions while locked on... and it also avoids the terrible camera positioning with some enemies. If you don't have to block, parry, or quickly aim ranged attacks, no lock-on is the way to go 99% of the times.

[vlastovka]

Yes, you are right. All that time I played before I relied on blocking and locking on enemies to be able to block at all. Therefore camera was really the biggest issue. I could not see my surroundings, tall bosses, sometimes boss covered whole screen and I couldn't see anything at all.
Now I am struggling with Quelaag again and I feel I have to block her weapon attacks and I cannot see a lava pool that is one meter behind my back..
Blocking is easier for me, dodging some bosses is a big stress because one failed dodge usually means game over :-)

[AnKalameet]

The thing about Stray Demon is that he casts a magic aoe BEHIND the player, so if you're locked on and blocking, you will get blasted from the back each time he does this. If you are instead unlocked, you can turn around and face the blast. As a general rule, locking on to normal enemies is useful (except, sometimes, around ledges), while locking on to bosses is mostly a hindrance.

[nomoreblues]

The thing that helped me beat PVE in this game was that the frustration about my unfair lack of power (in this case even more unfair by starting with lower health after falling down) made me quit the suggested "game mode". Since I miserably die anyway by seemingly overpowered omnipresent explosions I turn it into a game of tag - I go in with light armor just trying to dodge death as long as possible, refusing to even hit once myself.

This turned out to be the way for me - other players can do that simultanously -fight AND realize what's actually happening, I needed to stop fighting and just focus on the enemy, suddenly it became sort of EASY to see things like where is the aoe damage happening and how to avoid it, and that took 10 minutes

Originally posted by vlastovka:

This time I role play a thief and game experience is way worse.

for me it was bliss - I did that, too, whole game with thief gear only, bandit knife main as weapon, and Stray Demon, dodging like a squirrel and bleeding out that fat toad, I admit it was like the 4th playthrough but it felt so effortless.

What's really unfair is that Bosses don't improve at all, unlike us...

[Bogsnroffle]

Stray Demon can seem a PITA at first, but as others said just gotta keep behind him, roll out of range when you see him charging up for his magic blasts. You can have something like the Crest Shield to block it but I'd much prefer going in two-handed (assuming melee).

Also yeah, he's majorly weak to bleed. Seem to recall two hits of Lifehunt Scythe will proc a bleedout on the tubby bugger.

Originally posted by nomoreblues:

What's really unfair is that Bosses don't improve at all, unlike us...

Heh, I like this! :)

[Tim]

>starting to hate this game for how unfair it is
it's not really unfair. once you understand how to roll away then bait attacks, or circle around the enemy and backstab...you win lol

[Chispon]

He is a joke actually, bleed kills him fast. Also stay close and he will be reduced to only 2 attacks, fly and butt slam and the magic explosion. For the explosion just hide behind him.
Then the process is very easy, read the attacks, hit him while he is recovering and repeat.
So easy I killed him like this with a Sorcerer lvl 3 wielding a Jagged Ghost blade.

[=CrimsoN=]

Originally posted by the smuggest miko:

Originally posted by vlastovka:

unavoidable frontal magic attack

There are only maybe 2 fights in the whole game that you could argue to be unfair, this is not one of them, lol

What fights are those? I’m a new DS player and I feel a lot like the OP in regards to fights feeling unfair. So what fights are the ones that most people consider unfair so I can be extra prepared? Tried thief and hated it as well. Going pyro next

[vlastovka]

Originally posted by 𝕮rimson:

What fights are those? I’m a new DS player and I feel a lot like the OP in regards to fights feeling unfair. So what fights are the ones that most people consider unfair so I can be extra prepared? Tried thief and hated it as well. Going pyro next

For me, certainly the Capra Demon.
From common enemies, areas with tight walkways where is no room to dodge and enemies knocking you down a cliff even when you block them with a shield. I don't like Blightown and Tomb of Giants.

[=CrimsoN=]

Originally posted by vlastovka:

Originally posted by 𝕮rimson:

What fights are those? I’m a new DS player and I feel a lot like the OP in regards to fights feeling unfair. So what fights are the ones that most people consider unfair so I can be extra prepared? Tried thief and hated it as well. Going pyro next

For me, certainly the Capra Demon.
From common enemies, areas with tight walkways where is no room to dodge and enemies knocking you down a cliff even when you block them with a shield. I don't like Blightown and Tomb of Giants.

I'm starting to get the impression that Blightown is universally hated... lol
I got to that point with a knight character and gave up with the character after I had gotten cursed. But I'm willing to try again with a different character, knowing what to expect now.

Actually didn't have too many problems with the Capra Demon. Beat him with my knight character with the drake sword without dying once. It was easy because I could actually block most of his attacks instead of having to dodge all over the place and once I got to the stairs and took out his dogs, it was much easier. I actually have more issues with the Taurus Demon (don't laugh), mostly because I keep getting stuck under him or otherwise getting glitched out. He's just too large for the area.

[Lurker at the threshold]

Originally posted by 𝕮rimson:

Originally posted by the smuggest miko:

There are only maybe 2 fights in the whole game that you could argue to be unfair, this is not one of them, lol

What fights are those? I’m a new DS player and I feel a lot like the OP in regards to fights feeling unfair. So what fights are the ones that most people consider unfair so I can be extra prepared? Tried thief and hated it as well. Going pyro next

Keep in mind I said "you could argue to be unfair", that doesn't mean these are actually unfair, but they might appear so if you're unprepared or don't pay attention to your surroundings. I assume you're ready for spoilers since you're asking directly, but I'm going to be a little vague anyway.

The first one that comes to mind is surely Bed of Chaos due to it being one of those gimmick bosses; you might feel like you're helplessly fighting against RNG, cheap instant death traps amd huge and slightly wonky hitboxes, but not only is the area designed so as to let you complete the fight without dying once, there are also a number of alternative and clever ways to "fight" it.

The second one is probably 4 Kings, which might make you feel utterly overwhelmed if you don't know what you're doing, but after taking a few deaths, one of the best ways to tackle the fight should become clear, or at least it did for me. You said you want to be prepared, so be prepared to change your gear and general playstyle just for this fight... only if you want the easy way out though, the fight is still doable with any build.

[=CrimsoN=]

Originally posted by the smuggest miko:

Originally posted by 𝕮rimson:

What fights are those? I’m a new DS player and I feel a lot like the OP in regards to fights feeling unfair. So what fights are the ones that most people consider unfair so I can be extra prepared? Tried thief and hated it as well. Going pyro next

Keep in mind I said "you could argue to be unfair", that doesn't mean these are actually unfair, but they might appear so if you're unprepared or don't pay attention to your surroundings. I assume you're ready for spoilers since you're asking directly, but I'm going to be a little vague anyway.

The first one that comes to mind is surely Bed of Chaos due to it being one of those gimmick bosses; you might feel like you're helplessly fighting against RNG, cheap instant death traps amd huge and slightly wonky hitboxes, but not only is the area designed so as to let you complete the fight without dying once, there are also a number of alternative and clever ways to "fight" it.

The second one is probably 4 Kings, which might make you feel utterly overwhelmed if you don't know what you're doing, but after taking a few deaths, one of the best ways to tackle the fight should become clear, or at least it did for me. You said you want to be prepared, so be prepared to change your gear and general playstyle just for this fight... only if you want the easy way out though, the fight is still doable with any build.

Thanks for the suggestions/hints!

[nomoreblues]

Originally posted by 𝕮rimson:

drake sword

this sword is the only thing that's really unfair. But they did a good job of hiding it, so you should find it at the right time which would be around ng++, and you get something for cute dragon bro cosplay and know your way with the game. Have repair powder and have fun with R2s and Blighttown gravity

it's funny but actually bad, especially when you're new to the game. The only thing that seems good is the raw high base dmg so it has the potential to make the immediate next few fights a little bit easyer but also removing the possibilty to learn to make use of your movesets. Ordinary weapons like long sword, claymore, spears have useful moveset variety. It's pretty natural to discover this 1st time with Parish mobs.
Unless you replaced them with a fancy toothpick, pretending to be powerful. Poke attacks in crowded corridors is much better than trading 300dmg 1vs5. Also Drake has no scaling at all, these high base dmg numbers are just some poor compensation for this

tl;dr: wut? You struggle with this game despite picking up the Drake Sword? hohoho