Is it just me or are rats super unbalanced/OP?

[Justin_760]

Its so frustrating how rats are incredibly dangerous. At level 85 I was just killed by a group of rats from the undead settlement, not NG mind you, weak♥♥♥♥♥low level rats just ganked the hell out of me. I dont get how they can stun someone with 30 poise, you can be in Havel set or any crazy heavy armor yet so much as a nibble from a rat will stagger you EVERY time. Was going to Irinia's cell to get Mornes gear, and ignored them as they are a waste of time once your 60 levels over them. Boy was that a mistake.

Even more peculiar is when using poise ring, on top of perseverence weapon art, still isnt enough to prevent stun locking from rats. Ive been killed more times than I can count by rats. It just seems stupid that a godly strong lord slayer can be felled by some rats, lol. As soon as they surround you or get you against a wall, its over. I thought I could counter this with hyper armor from UGS, yet that failed as well as they spam attacks so fast you cant even manage to get far enough into a swing for hyper armor to take effect. The hole that drops down to the rats in smouldering lake, that little part has literally killed me a dozen times, it gets to the point where a group of rats have a higher threat level than say an NPC invader or mini bosses, at least with them you have a chance and your skill at the game actually influences your survival chance.

Im not sure if Im just crap at the game, or if rats are actually insanely unbalanced. Anyone else feel this way? It just feels stupid, its not fun or challenging at all considering they are so weak yet can gank you and perma stun lock you as they chip away at your health for 60 seconds until you die.

[Kratos]

They're supposed to be petty
Just forget about poise and stuff tbh lol I heard it sucks in this game
As for hyperarmour, rats are supposed to be little creatures that you find so easy to kill explaining their low health
If they push you into a corner or something (and block you like they're supposed to), just roll and r1 / attack
You could use a weapon art or something too, dragonslayers greataxe works well
I don't get killed as often since I don't underestimate rats and I take them out 1 by 1
On ng+7 they start to do loads of damage though
I feel they're slightly unbalanced if anything
Remember that the game is supposed to have enemies that piss you off and all the game is trying to do is get you killed even if its in the most stupid way possible

[Darth Invader]

To quote Allen Iverson if he were a Dark Souls player-
"Rats? We're here talking about rats? I'm supposed to be a franchise player, and we're talking about rats? Not the game I die for, but rats? We're talking about rats here, not the game... rats. When you come to the arena, you see me play, not talkin' bout rats. Talkin' bout rats, man. Rats."

[Playerjjjj]

Poise doesn't work anything like it did in previous Souls titles. Instead it improves the hyperarmor frames you get with some weapons, mostly larger weapons. It does not add any general stagger-resistance, however, no matter how much you have.

Rats are surprisingly dangerous due to their fast attack speed. The best way to deal with them is to kill them as quickly as possible. If you're using a big weapon, use hyperarmor to trade hits. If you're using a small weapon, wade in and attack, but be ready to roll away. You're under 70% equip load, right? Fat-rolling will get you killed, since heavy armor works so poorly compared to Dark Souls 1 and 2. A decent shield is also effective against rats.

[Velkhana's Summer]

Use a firebomb, enough said.

[Hunubul]

If you let them hit you then it's your fault. Except if you trade hits with a weapon that has hyperarmor, then it's fine to let them hit you.

Either way they can't hurt you if they are dead.

[esk?]

Rats are one of the reasons why poise removal was a mistake.

[MOSLEY]

Either learn the range of your weapon and swing as they're approaching or use a shield and hit them after they bounce off of it. Rats aren't in any way difficult, save for the infinitely respawning bunch by the giant in Irithyll Dungeon.

[Velkhana's Summer]

Originally posted by Heskaroid:

Rats are one of the reasons why poise removal was a mistake.

Poise is in the game, have 15 and you can take a hit from a rat while using a greatsword/spear/halberd. Also shields are in the game for a reason, even parrying shield work well against stopping a rat.

[Velkhana's Summer]

Originally posted by MOSLEY:

Either learn the range of your weapon and swing as they're approaching or use a shield and hit them after they bounce off of it. Rats aren't in any way difficult, save for the infinitely respawning bunch by the giant in Irithyll Dungeon.

Even that is easy. use a weapon that has the right swing arc and you kill them as youre hitting giant's feet

[MOSLEY]

Originally posted by Solid Salad:

Originally posted by MOSLEY:

Either learn the range of your weapon and swing as they're approaching or use a shield and hit them after they bounce off of it. Rats aren't in any way difficult, save for the infinitely respawning bunch by the giant in Irithyll Dungeon.

Even that is easy. use a weapon that has the right swing arc and you kill them as youre hitting giant's feet

I usually just let the giant stomp them. I've definitely gotten surrounded by them once or twice though.

[Blake]

Don't get hit by the rats then? Is it really that hard?

[esk?]

Originally posted by Solid Salad:

Originally posted by Heskaroid:

Rats are one of the reasons why poise removal was a mistake.

Poise is in the game, have 15 and you can take a hit from a rat while using a greatsword/spear/halberd. Also shields are in the game for a reason, even parrying shield work well against stopping a rat.

A bad excuse of poise where you have to attack and waste stamina just to gain it is worse than passive poise.

[Plata0Plomo]

Originally posted by Justin_760:

Its so frustrating how rats are incredibly dangerous. At level 85 I was just killed by a group of rats from the undead settlement, not NG mind you, weak♥♥♥♥♥low level rats just ganked the hell out of me. I dont get how they can stun someone with 30 poise, you can be in Havel set or any crazy heavy armor yet so much as a nibble from a rat will stagger you EVERY time. Was going to Irinia's cell to get Mornes gear, and ignored them as they are a waste of time once your 60 levels over them. Boy was that a mistake.

Even more peculiar is when using poise ring, on top of perseverence weapon art, still isnt enough to prevent stun locking from rats. Ive been killed more times than I can count by rats. It just seems stupid that a godly strong lord slayer can be felled by some rats, lol. As soon as they surround you or get you against a wall, its over. I thought I could counter this with hyper armor from UGS, yet that failed as well as they spam attacks so fast you cant even manage to get far enough into a swing for hyper armor to take effect. The hole that drops down to the rats in smouldering lake, that little part has literally killed me a dozen times, it gets to the point where a group of rats have a higher threat level than say an NPC invader or mini bosses, at least with them you have a chance and your skill at the game actually influences your survival chance.

Im not sure if Im just crap at the game, or if rats are actually insanely unbalanced. Anyone else feel this way? It just feels stupid, its not fun or challenging at all considering they are so weak yet can gank you and perma stun lock you as they chip away at your health for 60 seconds until you die.

is just you on dark souls 1 are worse and the dogs of dark souls 1 are the demon XD

[Darthzz]

they're annoying lemmings of enemies

[Velkhana's Summer]

Originally posted by Heskaroid:

Originally posted by Solid Salad:

Poise is in the game, have 15 and you can take a hit from a rat while using a greatsword/spear/halberd. Also shields are in the game for a reason, even parrying shield work well against stopping a rat.

A bad excuse of poise where you have to attack and waste stamina just to gain it is worse than passive poise.

Wtf is a passive poise, if you aren't prepared or already in motion/having momentum someone can easily push a man in suit of armor off balance with a hit from a weapon. Hense bigger they are harder they fall. Poise is correlated with momentum think of it that way. So, the bigger they are the harder they are to stop moving. The mechanics makes sense.