I beat Dark Souls III today.
That could be a post in and of itself, but of course, it isn’t going to be. Pardon me if I’m a bit more incoherent than usual because I still have adrenaline coursing through my veins from beating the Soul of Cinder, the last boss of the game, and a fitting end to the series. Oh, I know there will be DLC with tough bosses aplenty, but this was the end of the main game of the final installment* of the trilogy** that is Dark Souls. Once I killed the final boss, I just stood for a minute, savoring the feeling. It was mostly jubilation, but it was mingled with relief and sadness. Relief because I had finally done it and sadness because my journey through Lordran, Drangleic, and Lothtric is over. It’s bittersweet, and I’m not quite able to process it yet. I’ve poured so much time into these games; it’s hard for me to believe that there will not be another one. I’ll play this game again at some point because I’ve finished each game twice and because I accidentally chose the ‘dark’ ending (the non-main ending, in other words), but it may not be before the first DLC. Which, by the way, is slated to come out October 25th, 2016. There’s leaked gameplay footage, which means I have to studiously avoid spoilers again. I saw the trailer which made me squeal like a little kid, and the announcement of ice spells made me deliriously happy. I love ice, and the idea of alternating ice and fire spells makes me smile in gleeful anticipation.
I haven’t started NG+ because I’m hoping that I can play the DLC with my current character. One thing I don’t like about the Souls series is that the DLC is hidden in the main game and accessing it is always a chore. It’s one time when I have no guilt in using the wikis because I would never discover that shit on myself. At least with the first two games, there were wikis for it. If I want to do that with this game, then I have to wait a few weeks after release to play it. At least in this game, I wasn’t automatically sent to NG+ as I was in DS I and as you are in Bloodborne. That way, if the DLC is accessible somewhere in the game, I don’t have to start another character to find it. Yes, I’ll probably play this game again, but I don’t want to feel like I *have* to do it in order to play the DLC for which I paid. Rather, for which my friend, Ian, paid and gifted to me (along with the base game). It’s a pretty common complaint in the community–just let me play the goddamn DLC I paid for, but FromSoft continues to do it, not giving a damn about their fans’ feelings about it. Seriously, Google how to access the DLC from the first two games and tell me you would have figured it out yourself.
I’ve complained in past posts about how FromSoft doesn’t like casters, and while I still think it’s true to a certain extent, I found being a pyromancer was more viable in this game than in the past two. Partly, it’s because the dark pyromancies are strong, and most enemies are vulnerable to either fire or dark. I did have some strong magic spells to back me up, but I rarely used them. I did use some of the miracles that either buffed my defenses or healed me, though I mostly used my pyromancies. In fact, in the last boss fight, I didn’t use my axe at all. I think I may have only used one pyromancy spell–Great Chaos Fire Ball or Chaos Bed Vestiges. I switched back and forth between the two after each death, so I’m not sure which one I ended up using (I think it was the former, though). I also buffed with the Replenishment miracle at the start of the fight, which replenishes health slowly over time. I coupled it with Power Within which increases damage at the cost of losing health. Thus, you can see why I paired the two spells. I also used a miracle that boosted my attack, defense, and stamina, but all of those wore out before thirty seconds, I’m sure. I didn’t bother reapplying them because any brief moment of respite I had I healed or drank my mana potion. I’m not good under pressure, and I have a hard time cycling through my resources during combat. I’ve watched videos of people who parry, cycle through the weapons menu, then choose a different weapon for the riposte. I’ve also seen someone hide behind a pillar during a boss fight, open his menu, and flip through his hot keys in order to use an ember. I’m amazed by these people, but I know that will never be me.
The Soul of the Cinder is such a perfect last boss. He is the amalgamation of all the Lords of Cinder who have come before him. The first time I met him, I was embered up from beating the Twin Princes, and I got within one hit of beating him. He wasn’t so hard, I thought to myself. I tried a couple more times as a hollow and didn’t come close. I was pleased that I almost beat him on my first try, but I was a little disappointed, too. If he was the end boss (and I was pretty sure he was), I wanted him to be a little more epic than I found him to be. The final bosses of the first two games were pretty easy for me,*** and I had been hoping for a little more with the final boss. I fought him a few more times, but didn’t beat him. Didn’t come very close, either. I put down my soapstone sign and was summoned. I helped my host until we beat the Soul of the Cinder and then–wait, what? He has a second form? Of course he does. I was killed about halfway through the second phase of the fight, and I didn’t manage to kill him while in embered form. I decided to call it a night, and then I remembered that I had seen there were 19 bosses in DS III, and I had only beaten 16. That meant there was an area I hadn’t found, and I wasn’t going to go through every area trying to find it, so I looked it up in the wikis. Once I read how you access the optional area (Archdragon Peak), I was glad I didn’t dick around trying to find it because I never would have. After reading how to do it, it made sense, but it’s not intuitive by any means.
I didn’t care for this area at all. Not only was the first boss a bullshit puzzle boss (which really sucks because it was a cool-looking wyvern), it’s littered with enemies in a Bloodborne-y way. I don’t like hordes of enemies that you have to either draw out one by one or tank damage as you jump into the middle of a group, so I cheated. I used the Hidden Body spell (makes the body nearly invisible) combined with the Slumbering Dragoncrest Ring (masks the footsteps of the wearer) to zip by enemies in the first boss fight. I hated giving up one ring slot and one spell slot, but this combo proved invaluable in the late game. I could either run past enemies or I could sneak up on one and attack him, then run back a little to make him reset. There are a few enemies (I’m looking at you chain and axe-wielding guy in the Archdragon Peak area) who have an insanely long tether, so making them forget I exist and reset is god sent. As a caster, I do such minimal damage with my weapon, even fully upgraded, it’s frustrating. I know that’s the trade-off for being able to hurl fire at enemies, but when I watch melee players smashing enemies into the ground in one hit, I can’t help but be envious. I pump so many levels into attunement (spell slots), intelligence and faith (increases pyromancy and some pyromancies require certain levels in them. Also, magic and miracles), I feel like I can’t get enough of the other stats.
I learned from a ‘best pyromancy build’ video that I did things mostly right. Pyromancy damage scales with intelligence and faith up to a soft cap of 80 total. I had 32 levels in intelligence and 20 or 21 levels in faith by the end of the game, so I had about 66% of the damage I could have had as a multiplier for those stats. I also used both the pyromancy rings most of the time along with the cast spells quickly ring and use less focus points ring. I sometimes used the ring that allowed for increase in time for spells, and in specific situations, I used the defense against a certain element rings as well. It’s a bit frustrating to have so many rings, but feel like I could only really swap out one or two. I would also have liked a piece of armor that increased pyromancy damage, but that’s a nitpicky complaint. I also don’t like that I can’t wear most of the armor because I don’t pump any levels into vit, but that’s just part of being a pyromancer. Souls games really want you to be as pure a build as possible, and one thing I learned in the first game was that it’s a waste to spread your levels evenly. I did that the first time I played the original game and didn’t like the results. I’ve gotten better with each iteration, but I still don’t concentrate my levels properly. If I were to go 40/40 in intelligence/faith or 50/30 (to reach the soft cap), that’s 52 levels I have to pump into those two categories (I start 14/14 as a pyromancer). I ended at level 98, I believe, and I started at level 8. So, that’s 90 levels I paid for. If I had to put 52 into those two categories, I’d have 38 left for others. I’d put at least 9 into vigor to reach 20, and 10 into endurance to reach the same. I’d need to put 18 into attunment, and that would pretty much do it for my levels. I needed three levels (two in strength and one in dex) to be able to use my Brigand Axe, which would put me over. I also prefer to have more health than just 20, but that would be a luxury with a pure pyromancer build.
Ed Note: This is written some time later. I have regained my equilibrium, but I’m still pretty damn pleased with myself.
I have never played through the games with a melee build, but I really should because that’s the way the games are meant to be played. Watching people go through the game with a strength build gives me a serious case of envy. I see a smash of a Demon’s Great Hammer doing 1000 damage, and I almost cry. I don’t think I’ve ever had a weapon that even did 400 in one swing. I’d have to give up my casting ability, however, which I’m loath to do. There are bows in the game, but they’re kinda janky and not really my jam. Still. I’ve only played as a caster through all the games, and I’m curious as to what I’m missing. However, I still think my reflexes are too slow to be a true tank, and I’ve had difficulty playing sword and shield when I’ve tried in the past. I definitely can’t play with a dex build, but maybe a strength build. That would mean I’d have to forgo a shield, however, because it’s better to two-hand a strength weapon.
I reached the second boss after running through a lot of bullshit. Rolling rock lizards, to be precise, who breathe fire on you and tank a ton of damage. Five of them, if I remember correctly, which is fucking bullshit. At least there’s a bonfire at the end of the run, otherwise I would have been really salty. I lit that shit, then explored the rest of the area. Once I was done with that, I rang the bell you’re supposed to ring. Then, I walked through the fog wall and faced…a dude on a dragon. Because of course. King of the Storm said his health bar, and I readied myself for a massive battle, which I got. He threw lightning at me as well as hit at me with a lightning spear. His dragon breathed fire at me along with stomping on me. This boss kicked my ass, especially with the dragon’s fire breath. If I caught the full brunt of that, I was gone. This boss was weak to dark, so I used the Dark Edge spell on him, which mimicked a sword imbued with dark. This is a close combat spell, so I would go for the dragon’s head (its weak point) and do decent damage. I’d have to keep an eye out for the King, of course, as he would smash at me with his lightning spear if I wasn’t paying attention. Once I managed to finish off the first phase (I knew there would be a second one), I faced the Nameless King alone. I don’t know why his name changes mid-fight, but I’m sure I’ll watch a video on the lore behind him at some point.
I actually found the second phase easier than the first phase because as long as I kept my distance from him, I could throw my fire with abandon. However, when he did manage to hit me, he killed me in one hit. I tried him a few more times, but I didn’t get close to finishing the first phase. I put down my soapstone sign, and I helped someone else kill him. I got my ember, and I promptly lost to him again. By this point, I had game fatigue. I was so close to the end, and I did not want to spend a week pounding my head against a wall to beat this guy. I did it with Biggie & Small in the first game, and I didn’t have anything to prove to anyone, not even myself. It’s a fine line in Souls games between difficult but doable and difficult and don’t want to fucking do this. This boss was the latter, though I do think I could have gotten him eventually. Still. I was so tired, and I was beginning to hate the game for what it was doing to me. I decided to summon, but even with two phantoms, I couldn’t kill this boss. I realize that summons are of varying skills because there are some who are like me, trying to learn a boss by helping someone else face him, and there are some who have beaten the boss several times and just want to have some fun. (And possibly get an ember.) I tried several more times with summons, once being invaded, but I had no time for that, so I just went through the fog wall, and I died every time. The problem was that one of my phantoms always died early on, leaving me and another phantom with a boss who had triple the health (or whatever a boss gets when he’s facing three players). By the seventh or eighth time, I was almost ready to give up.
However, I really wanted to just get the boss over with, so I decided to try it one more time. I embered up again (I had seventy-plus embers at that point because I hoard them throughout the game and buy them whenever I have spare souls on hand) and summoned two phantoms. I faced the fog wall and walked on through. As usual, one of my phantoms died fairly quickly. I heaved an internal sigh, resigned to losing yet another ember. However, the other phantom, backspace, was fucking amazing. S/he knew the boss very well and did some fantastic dodges/rolls to evade his attacks. backspace was a damage sponge and allowed me to circle around the arena, throwing my dark pyromancies at will). We made it to the second phase with little problem, and I allowed backspace to tank more damage and I threw my pyromancies at Nameless King until he evaporated into dust. I bowed gratefully to backspace before s/he disappeared into the ethers, collected my souls, and skedaddled.
As usual, this has gone on far too long, so I’ll end it here and wrap up my Dark Souls III experience in my next post.
*It’s supposed to be the last. As much as I, um, love? No. Enjoy? No. Become absorbed in? That’s closer to it. As much as I appreciate the Souls series (which is a whole hell of a lot), I would be disappointed if there was a fourth game. Why? Because Dark Souls III was like a love letter to all the previous Souls games, and it was the perfect ending to the series. If there’s a fourth game, it’ll feel like a cash grab. I’d probably buy it, but I would be very unhappy about it.
**There are three Dark Souls games. There is a predecessor, Demon’s Souls. There is also Bloodborne, which is a Souls-like game, but not part of the universe. When I talk about the trilogy, I mean the actual three Dark Souls games.
***The final boss of the first game is highly divisive in that some people think he’s really hard and a great boss, while others find him easy and a not-so-great boss. I’m in the latter camp, though I love him for his lore. As a boss, though, I didn’t have much difficulty with him. The final boss of the second game is a big disappointment all around. She was such a wasted opportunity.