JohnnyoftheWell
04.01.20 | Wait, you fought him for the first time on NG++? ouch if so. I generally find all the BB boss fights to be the toughest on NG though, aside from Kos and Laurence |
Dewinged
04.01.20 | I did that too. Never again. |
Gallantin
04.01.20 | Ludwig is a great fight
Kos is trash |
zakalwe
04.01.20 | Kos or some say Kosm |
Gallantin
04.01.20 | Kosm is trash yea |
Dewinged
04.01.20 | I hugged him and ran in circles and didn't even touch me, but Ludwig man... |
JohnnyoftheWell
04.01.20 | Ludwig is one of those fun fun bosses that rewards you in direct proportion to how much you actively want to kill him |
Gallantin
04.01.20 | First phase Kos is easy as fuck, second phase is unreadable and distinctly unfair
Ludwig only has one kinda bullshit move but its not so bad. I like the Ludwig fight. One phase isnt necessarily harder than the other, theyre just very different. I like fights that test two different playstyles. |
Horfeepee01
04.01.20 | Yep ongoing DLC playthrough is NG++.
I personally found Ludwig's 2nd phase to be a hell of a lot easier than his 1st. Practically all of my deaths were in his first phase due to trampling/being fallen on/being charged at. I did find the dodge timings to be fun to figure out though, it always felt possible. |
Gallantin
04.01.20 | When I was playing through my first time, I had an easier time on Ludwig's second phase, when I played through the second time, I had an easier time on the first. There's not much build variety in BB, but I feel like Ludwig does cater to what little build variety there is. |
JohnnyoftheWell
04.01.20 | I find Ludwig's 2nd phase a total breeze now, perhaps because my builds tend to be v dps orientated and stunlock him to hell once I get close; his hits are brutal but give generous downtime and are very clearly telegraphed. 1st phase requires a much tighter set of dodges and counters |
Gyromania
04.01.20 | "First phase Kos is easy as fuck, second phase is unreadable and distinctly unfair"
Always found this to be the case as well. I can make him look like a joke in phase 1, but phase 2 is so erratic, I've never been able to pin down what he's going to do or how long he's going to chain a combo. His scream is one of the coolest moments in Blooborne tho.
Ludwig is a damn near perfect boss. I'm one of the people that really struggles with the second phase and finds the first phase easier. Ludwig on ng+7 is so hard though that I'm still stuck on him
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Gallantin
04.01.20 | Yeah, second phase absolutely rewards high DPS builds. STR/ARC build was the most fun I had in BB. |
Gyromania
04.01.20 | I can't decide which I like more: Old Hunters or Artorias of the Abyss. Definitely Fromsoft's 2 best dlcs imo. I thought The Ringed City was kind of disappointing, despite Gael being one of my favourite Fromsoft bosses |
Gallantin
04.01.20 | Artorias of the Abyss is by far the better DLC. Not a single shred of subpar or wasted content. It's all killer.
Old Hunter on the other hand is 2.5 good bosses, one good level, and the rest is kinda crap.
Which pains me bc fishing hamlet is so incredible to look at, and I wish there were more in BB that was fishing hamlet-esque, but the actual area itself and its design/encounters is just straight up bad. |
JohnnyoftheWell
04.01.20 | Ringed City was pretty cool imo, but those two are definitely the peak. Very hard to choose - Ludwig, Artorias, Maria and Kalameet are all among my fave soulsborne experiences |
Gallantin
04.01.20 | Manus is underrated. He's the best boss of the Artorias DLC, does some things no other boss did before him. It was very cool and his gimmick was fun. |
JohnnyoftheWell
04.01.20 | Manus is Flamelurker but actually playable lol. Cool boss, but not as great a spectacle as the other two highlights in that dlc imo |
Gyromania
04.01.20 | Fishing Hamlet only sucks because of the fish shark things. Probably my least favourite Fromsoft enemy besides Winter Lanterns. Otherwise a superb area although I do agree it probably could have been even better. The Research Hall is the only area I wasn't super into. As for bosses, Laurence is the only one I straight up hate, otherwise yeah about 2.5 amazing bosses.
The only thing I find kind of weak about Artorias dlc is Sanctuaty Guardian is kind of w.e and the abyss itself is kind of dull for obvious reasons. Oolacile has to be a top 5 DS area tho |
Gallantin
04.01.20 | Yeah, I will always be the first to defend Demon's Souls, but Flamelurker hasn't aged well compared to most other bosses in that game. |
Gallantin
04.01.20 | The Research Hall is absolutely the best area of the DLC, and perhaps the second best area of BB, period. My opinion on best area in BB rotates between Research Hall, Nightmare of Mensis, and Cainhurst Castle. |
Gyromania
04.01.20 | I think I like the fight with Artorias a bit more because of the lore surrounding him and I love his boss arena, but Manus is more rewarding to kill, I find him to be wayyyy harder than Artorias. Kalameet is my favourite Fromsoft dragon bar none. Midir is also good but the fight goes on too long |
Gyromania
04.01.20 | Cainhurst I can 100% get behind. Nightmare of Mensis rules too, but I much prefer the starting few areas. I think they set the pace perfectly and aesthetically are among their best |
Gallantin
04.01.20 | I love Artorias more from a lore and story perspective, but the fight itself isn't *that* interesting, so while I think as a setpiece it's absolutely a 5/5, in terms of a raw fight I think it may be the least interesting of the entire DLC. Santuary Guardian, Kalameet, and Manus all have unique aspects to their fights and arenas that make them feel special. |
Gallantin
04.01.20 | Cainhurst is the weakest in terms of level design, but I love the aesthetic of it so much. I also love the aesthetic of Byrgenworth, but that area is way too small for me to favour. Nightmare of Mensis has so much cool shit going on, great enemy variety and weird gimmicks. And the Research Hall is such a trippy, amazing place to explore that feels like a full game in and of itself. |
Gyromania
04.01.20 | Well, I can't speak for others but when Artorias chained 3 frontflips together for our first fight and I got slapped into the ground, it was a pretty incredible and unique experience. Definitely wasn't expecting it. |
Gallantin
04.01.20 | Maybe it's because I didn't actually get to play the Artorias of the Abyss DLC until after DS3 had been released, but it didn't seem that unique and incredible to me. Within the context of Dark Souls 1 it's still a cool spectacle, but I mean strictly mechanically it doesn't do much different. |
Gallantin
04.01.20 | It's still a great fight though, I find no fault with it, and it reigns supreme in its storytelling and lore aspects. |
Gyromania
04.01.20 | Yeah wtf happened to Byrgenworth. All game it was so hyped up and when I got there I was extremely stoked but there's just nothing to it. Nightmare of Mensis also feels like a full game in some respect. It's a monolithic area of the game, and my first time through took me ages to traverse. One area I don't care for at all is Nightmare Frontier. Great PvP area but ultimately pretty barren and boring. One area I think is overlooked is Hemwick. Mediocre enemy design but aesthetically it's on point. And over the years I've developed a fondness for Forbidden Woods. Last play through I really took my time going through and killed every enemy and grabbed every item and it dawned on me that this area fucking rules |
SteakByrnes
04.01.20 | Artorias of the Abyss is probably my favorite DLC of all time, his fight when you got to him that first time was so daunting and fun. I loved the dark magic that was added too, the environment was great, and the rest of the boss fights were fun and a build up to the more fast-paced fights in later fromsoft games |
Gyromania
04.01.20 | The dark miracles were cool but incredibly lame in PvP. Is it dark bead? The one where you can easily 1-shot someone |
Gallantin
04.01.20 | Well half of Byrgenworth is actually the Lecture Building, so if you include the two sizable Lecture Building halves on top of Byrgenworth, it's quite cool, but yeah it's jarringly short when you first get there.
Hemwick and Forbidden Woods are both great. I think the only area I downright don't enjoy in the base game is The Unseen Village. Otherwise all other base areas are really wonderful. Then in the DLC I only really enjoy the Research Hall. Every other area in the DLC feels cheap to me. |
Gyromania
04.01.20 | Forgot about The Unseen Village but you're right, it's pretty fucking weak. I do love the interconnectedness of Research Hall but visually found it a bit dull, and some of enemies are downright irritating.
I really would love for a Bloodborne 2 tbh. Idc if it's more of the same, I think they nailed Lovecraftian horror better than any other dev and BB has some of their best level design to date |
Gyromania
04.01.20 | Oh and do we consider the stuff post-Micolash to also bena part of Nightmare of Mensis? I always have but I'm not sure if it's supposed to be |
Gallantin
04.01.20 | Nah, none of the FromSoft games lend themselves well to sequels. I will be disappointed if the next From game after Elden Ring is just Bloodborne 2. I want more new IPs. |
Gallantin
04.01.20 | I consider post-Micolash to be NoM, idk if its given another name |
Gyromania
04.01.20 | Elden Ring so much hype. Really hope Covid 19 doesn't kill me before I get to play that lmao |
Gyromania
04.01.20 | Also for anyone itt who hasn't seen this, it's a great watch: https://youtu.be/Ag60ZF-IdKk (I'm assuming you've seen it Snox) |
brainmelter
04.01.20 | Ludwig is awesome in concept and design but I was fortunate enough to beat him on my second try. his music is some of the best in game tho, so hype |
