Max Health Reduction

[Ithuriel]

Does anybody else think that this is a poor design mechanic? I'm finding it really frustrating to learn the game when I need to go back to a bonfire if I get hit twice in a fight. (I died an awful lot early because the keybinds were awful; I've found something that's a bit better, but things are still rough). I'm just starting Heides ATM, and I think I've either died on or had to retreat after the first 2 enemies 10 times now or so? I have to do both fights without getting hit more than twice if I want to have a flask charge available for later on.

I just don't really see a reasonable way out of this right now. By and large I don't dare to use any consumables because I die so often that it will very likely be a waste and I'm scared of ending up in a situation where the game is unwinnable.

[Castyles]

No. But I hate that ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ hollow ♥♥♥♥ that ♥♥♥♥♥ your looks. Always cancer since the first game.

Also: Wear that ring that boosts HP by 10-15%. You get it at the beginning.

[Iban The Dude]

This a REALLY good mechanic for taking you thinking for use human effigy or not for the health. I really like, but...

Originally posted by Castyles:

No. But I hate that ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ hollow ♥♥♥♥ that ♥♥♥♥♥ your looks. Always cancer since the first game.

Also: Wear that ring that boosts HP by 10-15%. You get it at the beginning.

...you are gad damn it right with the first line hahahaha really true XD and in max hollow oof... XD

[JellyPuff]

On the other hand, DSII gives you a lot total HP as you progress and lets you level the primary stat for HP (Vigor) all the way to 50 before softcapping. Then there are Lifegems too on top of Estus.

One rule of Dark Souls is "If at first you don't succeed, and banging your head against it over and over doesn't work either, there might be an easier path you haven't explored yet.". From the Majula bonfire, face the ocean, walk up to the cliff, turn right and start walking.

[Cadunkus]

@Ranger Ummm, no?

In Dark Souls 3, you die once and you lose 25% hp so you have to choke up another ember. That's way more punishing than 2.

In 2 you die once, lose a tiny amount of max hp and no big deal. You can probably get away with dying a few more times before the health loss is actually a problem. Even then you can wear the binding ring if you REALLY want to save those effigies.

The only way the 3's system is less punishing is that you can't be invaded (but you also can't summon) if you're unembered while in 2 you can be invaded while hollowed. But if you really hate being invaded that much, you could play offline.

Plus, although the wikis haven't listed how many, I think DS2 has more human effigies in a typical run than DS3 has embers.

[Ithuriel]

"This a REALLY good mechanic for taking you thinking for use human effigy or not for the health. I really like, but..." What do you mean here? This sentence doesn't make sense.

Also re: lifegems- are you sure? Because I've gotten 2 or 3 from my last 15-20 deaths :\

[Redux]

You can buy life gems from Melentia and souls are easy to get, still you won't need many if you play with patience.

Use the ring to prevent the hollow state from decreasing further health and try to learn how to dodge, attack (without being greedy and paying attention to your enemy attacks) and of course always keep an eye on your surroundings.

If you learn those basics then you won't need many effigies to continue, i can assure that much and if you get good at pvp you can farm them by killing red spirits.

[Begemot]

And don't forget that every time you die, you learn something, an enemy moveset, ambush position, etc. and now it's much easier to deal with them even with lowered health.
By the way, you've missed an estus flask shard or two in previous locations. Did you hit the well in Majula for one?

[Nimphameth🖤]

No, its a good mechanic which punishes you so you strive to get better and die less. I miss it in ds1 and 3...
When you learn how to fight you will die less and progress faster. The game is about determination and its not for everyone.

[Hans Brotmeister]

I think it's an awesome mechanic because it fits really well with the series' theme of losing yourself more the more you fail and eventually going full hollow.

[PKblaze]

I half agree and half disagree.
Back in papa Demon's Souls the game actually yoinks half your hp upon death.

The only issue is, Demon's Souls accounts for it whilst DS2 kinda blows. As stated there is a ring which does help reduce the health lost to 75% and you can find purchase and farm a good number of Human Effigies. The only issue is, some moron at From thought it was a good idea to make the enemies despawn so there is actually a limit to the number you can obtain in a single run.


Also, from what I can gather by you saying you have a singl e charge of estus, you have gone down the wrong path (As do like 90% of players because DS2's map is balloney) Try going back to Majula and following the cliff side toward town for the forest of fallen giants, that should make life easier for you. Also make sure you're not in the "Covenant of Champions" like I did when I first played.

[Begemot]

Originally posted by PKblaze:

I half agree and half disagree.
Back in papa Demon's Souls the game actually yoinks half your hp upon death.

The only issue is, Demon's Souls accounts for it whilst DS2 kinda blows.The only issue is, some moron at From thought it was a good idea to make the enemies despawn so there is actually a limit to the number you can obtain in a single run.

But DS2 also has ascetics to respawn enemies and Covenant of Champions completely removes this mechanic.

[PKblaze]

Originally posted by Begemot:

Originally posted by PKblaze:

I half agree and half disagree.
Back in papa Demon's Souls the game actually yoinks half your hp upon death.

The only issue is, Demon's Souls accounts for it whilst DS2 kinda blows.The only issue is, some moron at From thought it was a good idea to make the enemies despawn so there is actually a limit to the number you can obtain in a single run.

But DS2 also has ascetics to respawn enemies and Covenant of Champions completely removes this mechanic.

You know Ascetics raise the area to NG+ right?
If you plan on doing any subsequent runs they retain the ascetic use so you wind up boning yourself. So if you use an Ascetic on NG, when you come back around on NG+ the area will be NG +2

[Hans Brotmeister]

Originally posted by PKblaze:

[...] The only issue is, some moron at From thought it was a good idea to make the enemies despawn so there is actually a limit to the number you can obtain in a single run. [...]

You can always join the Covenant of Champions, then leave it again to reset the spawns. Or you stay in the Covenant for infinite spawns.

[PKblaze]

Originally posted by Hans Brotmeister:

Originally posted by PKblaze:

[...] The only issue is, some moron at From thought it was a good idea to make the enemies despawn so there is actually a limit to the number you can obtain in a single run. [...]

You can always join the Covenant of Champions, then leave it again to reset the spawns. Or you stay in the Covenant for infinite spawns.

True, but they only stay around whilst you're in the covenant, otherwise they revert, not to mention having to deal with NG+ enemies (Stat wise anyway), which, if you're not used to the game, will flatten you because DS2 really likes to just make enemies beefy and hit hard.

[JellyPuff]

Originally posted by Hans Brotmeister:

You can always join the Covenant of Champions, then leave it again to reset the spawns.

Simply joining & leaving the CoC will not reset spawns. Leaving the covenant will make farmed off enemies disappear again. This also means, that if you join the CoC and kill an enemy with 5 spawns left any number of times and then leave the covenant again, that enemy will still have 5 spawns left.