Yesterday, I was writing about Crumbling Farum Azula, which is the last new area of the game. It’s an amazing environment, but I do not like going through it. I have said that it’s my fault because I inhale the games, so I’m fatigued by the end. That’s on me. I could have taken breaks. I could have been more measured in how I played the game. It’s my nature to be obsessed with something until I finish it, which the From games play into so aptly.
Couple that with how ramped up the last areas tend to be, and it’s no wonder that my squishy caster wants none. of. it. I was at 18 Vigor for the first hundred hours of the game. I still can’t believe I had skimped so much on my HP. but it makes sense because as a caster, I need to put endless levels into Mind (which gives FP), Intelligence, and Faith. A bit of Arcane.
To be fair, I could have chosen Int. OR Faith, but I never do. Well, not since the second Souls game, though. I love spells and incantations, and I hate having to decide which I’d rather do. It’s always the same. I resolve to put levels into two or three stats, and then I start putting them in this and that, just a few, and beforeI know it, I’m ignoring health for everything else.
I know it’s called being a Glass Cannon, but that would mean I actually had to have the cannon part, which I did not. I usually put a few points into health, but in this case, there were just so many other things Iwanted to level. I usually put my health to 20 at the very least if not 25, but for whatever reason, I simply ignored Vigor in this game.
Until. And this is a *MASSIVE SPOILER*, but also a well-known thing by this point. And realize that there will be *SPOILERS* for the rest of the post.
Until the Mimic Tear. This is the best spirit ash by far. Some will argue Tiche is, but it’s the Mimic Tear. Because, of course, someone who is the clone of you? Yeah, they are going to be HARD.
Here’s the thing, though. The Mimic Tear takes health to summon rather than FP. You can probably see where this is going. It takes 660 HP in order to summon the Mimic Tear. 18 Vigor is 598. I had to level up my vigor to 21 (680) just so I could summon Mimic Tear, and that left me with 20 HP. There was no way that was acceptable, so I pumped more levels into Vigor. I think I made sure I was up to 25 by the end of the game. Maybe 30. Which still was barely enough. I think that character has 38 Vigor, which is still not much.
Anyway, people like to whine about the Mimic Tear being OP. Or worry about it. I don’t care. At this point in my life, I will use whatever it takes to get the job done. My main goal in these games is to have fun, and it’s not fun to bang my head against a boss repeatedly. Even with the Mimic Tear, I have had trouble with certain bosses (like the very last boss).
Let’s talk Beast Clergyman/Maliketh. I’m watching video of it right now because I don’t remember much about it. This was not one of the bosses who gave me that much trouble, to be honest. I had more problems with the first phase (Beast Clergyman) than with the second (Maliketh). I don’t know why as many people have so many problems with Maliketh. He takes your health and while he doesn’t regen his own, it’s difficult when you have an ever-shrinking health bar. Especially when you don’t have much of one in the first place.
Watching other people fight this fight, I’m not the only one who had difficulty with the Beast Clergyman. Here’s somethnig I had forgotten. they share a health bar and when you get the Beast Clergyman down to roughly a half, there’s a cut scene and then it’s Maliketh time. Funnily enough, even with half a health bar, Maliketh is really fucking hard. In part because he is so damn fast. He is jumping all over the place, and he can actually go up pillars. I have no idea why I was able to get him fairly easily, but I think it’s in part because I did not have to get close to him.
I have terrible reactions, so any really fast boss is going to be a problem for me. Watching someone fight him, I can barely keep my eyes on him. Let alone fighting him. I wonder if I didn’t summon my Mimic Tear until this part of the fight and just Swarm of Flies the Maliketh half. Or she survived with enough health that she was able to help me out during the second half.
Either way, I did my patented walk backwards and spam Swarm of Flies move, and it worked on the sixth or soventh try. I probably died more to the Beast Clergyman than to Maliketh himself. By the way, I thought Maliketh was a kitty for the longest time. He’s not. He’s a dog. A wolf, more to the point, but whatever. His armor is sick; his moves are siiiiiick; and he’s sick as fuck. His weapon is cool, too. I honestly don’t remember him as a boss because I beat him rather easily the first time and then summoned for the second two times I had to fight him.
I may try to solo him this time. With the Mimic Tear, I mean. I have no desire to truly solo any of the bosses. I did that back in the day, and that’s not the point of this game. The hardcore fans who want to do the bosses solo, that’s great for them. But them complaining about the fact that the bosses are too hard solo? Yawn.
Here’s the thing. From gets to expand and grow. They get to do things differently than they did in Demon’s Souls. They have iterated and improved on each game since then, This game was meant for a wider audience so it makes sense that they would put in things to make it friendier. Easier? Yes. But easy? No.
In the end, I don’t remember much about this area because I rushed through it. I did the things I had to do, and the big things that are optional. The two named dragons. The end of Alexander’s questline. The invasion that gave me the last legendary armament I needed for the plat. Which I thought I’d have to wait for NG+ to get. It’s a full area, and all in all, a good one. Just not for me.