Dark Souls 2 NPC invaders overpowered?

[JohnnyMagnet]

I've completed the game a few times now but I always felt like the NPCs were overpowered at least 50% of the time. Not to mention they can do what you can't, they can cancel a move and their blades literally stick to you, the further into the game you get, the more obscene damage they do. They have super human reactions too that the player could NEVER emulate no matter how good his/her adaptability stat was. Backstab you might say? Yeah you can some of them, but 70% of them just roll and IMMEDIATELY attack you with a 4 swing combo afterwards to take advantage of the obscene input lag in this game...
Basically I always feel like I'm sat in a Ford Focus racing a Mustang round a race track, yeah you might win...but only if that Mustang makes a critical balls up of things.

Also did Vendrick get a buff? He's one shotting me. He's pretty easy to dodge 90% of the time but those side swings are brutal. I don't remember him being half this hard last time I fought him!

[MobiusPizza]

Hahaha yeah, NPCs are too OP here. Stupidly high health, stupidly high dmg, endless stamina...

[JellyPuff]

Some can even roll during their jump attack. ;D

[Ironclad]

Oh and he got hit with the "chicken leg"? Nah, that will not stagger him and stop his attack with a sword.

[JohnnyMagnet]

Glad people agree, I always thought I was on my own with this and avoiding the "git gud" brigade is difficult. I mean I love Dark Souls and 2 is my favourite but man does it have flaws in every aspect of it's gameplay. On the one hand FromSoftware are good at making games but they are terrible at game mechanics!

[JellyPuff]

You can still kill them, by Git Gud, tho.
Unless they gank up, than you need to Git Gudder.

Seriously, tho, how would you balance NPC phantoms otherwise? With "normal stats", they'd be total pushovers. There are a couple annoying one's amongst them, but only in the DLC. (Maldron can s my d.)

[⚜Z3⚜ eris in cybersamsara]

https://steamcommunity.com/app/335300/discussions/0/611702631221174271

[JohnnyMagnet]

Originally posted by Jellypuff:

You can still kill them, by Git Gud, tho.
Unless they gank up, than you need to Git Gudder.

Seriously, tho, how would you balance NPC phantoms otherwise? With "normal stats", they'd be total pushovers. There are a couple annoying one's amongst them, but only in the DLC. (Maldron can s my d.)

They don't need to nerf them, but have them abide by the same rules as the player does.
I'm going through Dragon Aerie as we speak and I forgot that you run into Forlorn at the end...
The guy is literally rage quit fuel, his poise is absurd, his rolls better than perfectly timed and his scythe attacks break your poise no matter how good it is...basically he's a total BS enemy and wasn't even necessary. Getting through Dragon Aerie collecting the goodies, killing the dragons and reaching the next bonfire in one go without dying once is next to impossible because of the 3-4 NPC invaders that spawn. Come to think of it, the whole area is terribly designed for the player, it was like flipping the player the bird the full time with all the ambushes from those exploding zombie guys too. Don't get me wrong these guys are cake to kill with arrow before they even get close to you but if you forget ones there it's a potential instant kill if it blows you off the ledge.
This is probably the worst area of the game.

[JohnnyMagnet]

To put it bluntly, this game is like a really attractive and gorgeous model with a sh*t personality and bad temper with constant mood swings. It's like yeah you wanna tap dat all the time but man does she need to stfu.

[Inganni]

I only think Maldron is a bit over the top, but on the other hand - I usually consider him as FROM trolling us. Its really satisfying to hit him a few times, see him running down the stairs and pop a seed and hear him die.

[JohnnyMagnet]

Originally posted by andersing:

I only think Maldron is a bit over the top, but on the other hand - I usually consider him as FROM trolling us. Its really satisfying to hit him a few times, see him running down the stairs and pop a seed and hear him die.

I think my main gripes are with Forlorn (after a certain point), Fencer Sharron, and Jester Thomas, especially Jester Thomas.

[Visi]

No offense, mate, but I think you're just not very good at the game. Dragon Aerie worst part of the game? Come on. Maldron is the only one that could be argued as being overpowered. The rest are cake.

[BAS1FUK]

Yes, they are pretty hard. But some have flaws in their A.I, allowing exploits. Jester Thomas was mentioned, and I agree, in our first encounters he kicked my butt over and over again. Then I learned to stay close to him and attack constantly. He could'nt do anything, as a lot of his moves have a little casting time.

[TrueArchery]

Scythe Forlorn, Fencer Sharron, Maldron... there are a couple of invaders who're completely overkill, but most of the vanilla-version invaders can just be stunlocked.
Most of the SotFS-NPCs tend to be pretty stron in comparison, some cannot really be staggered, or they do it inconsistently.

I mean, in every area there's a white NPC summoning sign now, so I guess it was intended to use them while making the area-enemies harder.
And some of these NPCs are bonkers, like Bashful Ray. Always summon him if you get invaded at the King's Gate, especially in NG+7, invaders don't have any chance of winning.

[JohnnyMagnet]

Originally posted by Visi:

No offense, mate, but I think you're just not very good at the game. Dragon Aerie worst part of the game? Come on. Maldron is the only one that could be argued as being overpowered. The rest are cake.

Non taken, but I assure you my skills with Dark Souls are more than capable. I've completed DS1 and 2 multiple times over and I've sampled NG+ a few times (although I prefer to start new characters) although I haven't finished DS3 yet, mainly due to boredom, I don't think it's as good and I think it added to the problems that DS1 had with it's gameplay. There was a lot it got right, but a heck of a lot that annoyed me. Dark Souls is often refered to as challenging but never unfair, which I personally think is complete BS, I could think of at least 10 instances in all 3 games where the game f*cked you over but I won't bore you.
I'm not saying these guys are unkillable because they're certainly not, I've killed them loads. I just think they were made to deliberately cheat the combat rules in order to just get one over you, no matter what people will say, I will always believe that.
It was as if there was about a dozen instances in which you were quite literally scripted to die in DS2 on the first time going through a certain area, be it a trap/ambush or an NPC invasion at exactly the wrong time. Of course once you know that enemy it becomes easier (or less difficult) to fight. The entire trilogy punishes you for simply strolling around in the world if you ask me.
Dragon Aerie is only one of the worst areas in the game for me because of how it f*cks you over unnecessarily with ambushes, dragons that can breath fire through walls and totally OP NPCs needlessly invading to assure you don't make the trip in one run. It's just a generally badly designed area, unlike something like the gutter and black gulch which I enjoy going through every time because I think it's a bit of a puzzle sometimes and the NPCs aren't OP as balls.
I can't even remember who Maldron is if I'm honest.

Thing is if nobody ever mentions these problems to developers then the games stay the same, and because of the git gud brigade Dark Souls has suffered as a whole. The franchise could still be challenging but made fairer by a few simple gameplay tweaks and without areas that are scripted to *ss f*ck you.

[+==={::::::::::::::::::::::::::>]

Originally posted by TrueArchery:

Scythe Forlorn, Fencer Sharron, Maldron... there are a couple of invaders who're completely overkill

Armorer Dennis in Forest of Fallen Giants is potentially the most annoying for most new players considering how early they face him and how many spells/attacks he spams without even breaking a sweat. I don't know what the developers were thinking there. I pity all those new players who try to explore with their newfound Soldier Key and (unupgraded) Fire Longsword.

Originally posted by TrueArchery:

And some of these NPCs are bonkers, like Bashful Ray. Always summon him if you get invaded at the King's Gate, especially in NG+7, invaders don't have any chance of winning.

^ This. He's pretty good in NG, but gets outright ridiculous with higher NG cycles.