Scheumke
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Last Active 01-02-23 7:35 am
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 Lists
08.28.23 Rec me my next 4.5/508.07.23 Dark Souls II Scholar first playthrough
07.22.23 Oppenheimer06.11.21 Elden Ring trailer & info
04.26.21 Rec me good modern Rock/Hard Rock05.29.20 Scheumke's Band's New Single ♦
04.06.20 Disney/Pixar Theme Songs Ranked ♦03.09.20 DiscoRun - Leprous: Every Song Ranked
01.28.20 Where'd You Get Your Nickname?11.27.19 Scheumke's Song of the Year ♦
10.21.19 The Most Breathtaking 30 seconds10.15.19 League of Legends Worlds 2019
07.12.19 QotSA - Full Discography Ranked07.09.19 Radiohead - Full Discography Ranked
07.08.19 Weekly DiscoRuns 5: Queens of the Stone07.01.19 Weekly DiscoRuns 4: Radiohead
07.01.19 Melt-Banana: First Reaction06.27.19 Dokk'em Open Air 2019
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Dark Souls II Scholar first playthrough

Done every fromsoft game but never got through DS2. Time to change that and complete the list! I'll do an area and boss rating here.
1Things Betwixt

Pretty ok for a opening spot/tutorial. The crones are funny and I read somewhere that the empty chair most likely belongs to the vendor in Firelink Shrine in DS3. Love that kind of stuff. Tutorial is pretty bare-bones and basic but effective, it teaches me everything I need to know without any fluff. It's pretty grey though but there are some things I can't go to yet that have me interested. Seems backtracking will be in order.
2Majula

I actually like this as a hub now more than the earlier times I tried DS2. It does feel almost like a normal little village indeed. Branching paths all over from this place which if I recall they didn't ever do again after this one. First impression is pretty good and I will add to this post once it gets more things going on and more people occupying.
3Forest of Fallen Giants

Actually quite a decent first area with some good interconnectivity and multiple little hubs I can't go to yet I think. I've done this area before so I knew some of the enemy placement and it's just killing the mobs one by one without getting hit by too many arrows. You can feel fromsoft really tried to capture the magic of Undead Burg again and weren't quite as succesfull but it was still pretty entertaining and a good time.

Boss: The Last Giant - 5/10 - Easy as shit first boss. He hit me once and that was because I got too greedy. Just hack away at them ankles. Fair enough for a first fight though, no need to push your players into the deep end from the get go (looking at you Gyobu Oniwa / Margit / Father Gascoine) Deaths: 0

Update* Boss: The Persuer - 7/10 - Good early challenge with only 3 or 4 moves that is nevertheless an early game challenge (came here too early on my first playthrough attempt and got stomped). It's not that special but he's cool though. Deaths: 0
4Heide's Tower of Flame

Beautiful area and from this point on we're deeper in than I've been before already lol (got stuck at the persuer the last time but this time just leaving that for later). I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE the asthetic and atmosphere of this place. Also the enemy placement is really well thought through, incrementally increasing the difficulty of each mob you fight. I do feel like I'm slicing through them pretty quickly though.

Boss: Dragonrider - 6/10 - This boss hit me a couple times more but no death's on a boss yet. A pretty good fight with a hard mode if you don't pull the levers (which I did). Just keeping my 90% dmg reduction shield up and hitting him once or twice between each combo made it a cakewalk though and my firesword +4 made pretty quick work of him. So far I'm actually really enjoying this game, a lot more at least than I expected after my earlier tries. Deaths: 0
5No Man's Wharf

Have had a crazy week and after two day's of not having a second to play only had a good hour to play tonight but managed to do all of No Man's Wharf except the boss. A visually cool area and I really like the idea behind it, but it does have some problems. The gank squads where a little annoying (especcially the group behind the two wheelbarrows) but after a couple of deaths I got there. The sconces I don't get at all though. It hardly increases the light to see by but the enemies see you from way farther away it feels like.

I did quite like the layout of the area though and the shortcuts where spaced just right for me with a nice shortcut all the way from beginning to boss making the entire area very doable from just one bonfire.

Boss: Flexile Sentry - 7.5/10 - Actually a realy cool design for a boss. The only one fromsoft did that I can remember to have a boss with two faces like this, also the only once with an actual timer, albeit a very generous one. Deaths: 0
6Cathedral of Blue

Not really a full area I guess, more like an extention of Heide's Tower. It's pretty and killing dragons is always cool. There's very little to it though other than the pretty astethics and bossroom. I have no idea why there is a bonfire with nothing else to do. It's either to quickly reach the npc or there's something going on later in the game.

Boss: Old Dragonslayer - 6/10 - Hey Ornstein how you doin? Seriously though it's a fun throwback but it even has the same moveset. The fact that we've all done the better version of this fight made it a little of a downer but it remains a cool fight nevertheless. Deaths: 0
7Lost Bastile

On paper, this should be a nothing area, with a drab design, little color and only one new enemy type, but again I really enjoyed it. There's something about it that just works really well for me. The cool level design and the fact you can reach it from multiple ways, pretty easy enemies well placed with a couple of Persuer fights in between for a slighly harder challenge (got pretty good at him by this point), it just feels well thought out. Maybe it is a little too easy (certainly more so than No Man's Wharf) but I'm not complaining. Good stuff!

Boss: Ruin Sentinals - 8/10 - The best designed boss to this point in the game. I really like the fact that you fight one of them on a small balcony with a hidden timer because if you take too long the others will be on your face. Afterwards I dropped down and had more than enough room to widdle them down in a pretty safe way. Cool arena, cool design. Basically a better version of the crystal enemies from ER. Deaths: 0
8Sinner's Rise

Another short area that mostly serves as a boss gauntlet. I liked the flexile sentry placement as it already shows my progress in how relatively easy I got it down, showing the growth you have as a player. The boss area looked cool and imposing.

Boss - Lost Sinner - 7.5/10 - Another really cool fight. I am a scrub and lit the lights so I had it on easy mode, at that point the moves are very well telegraphed and she leaves more than enough openings to get hits in between her attacks. Bonus points for the lore with her being a fragment of the Witch of Izalith. Deaths: 0
9Belfy Luna

Small hidden area that apparently is a pvp hotspot but (luckily) I didn't get invaded by a player, only npc's that were pisseasy. I don't have too much to say about the area itself as there's not much to it, but the npc at the beginning was funny and creepy in equal meassure.

Boss: Belfry Gargoyles - 4.5/10 - So we come to the first boss I just don't like. More than the Ancient Dragonslayer it feels like a cheap alternative to the Gargoyle boss in DS1. It's the exact same enemy but you fight like 6 instead of two and they have less health each. Yeah ok it's an interesting interaction on paper to have the player quickly keep killing so as to not get overwhelmed, but honestly it just felt a little cheap. I have a more passive playstyle than in most other fromsoft games which resulted in me being overwhelmed by 4 of them leading to my first bossdeath, but it felt more arbitrary than good bossdesign and me sucking that killed me. Deaths: 1
10Huntsman's Copse

This area felt like a creepy crossover between BB's Forbidden Woods and DS1's Darkroot Garden. Overall I really enjoyed the area. The view when you enter is spectacular and super atmospheric making me want to explore all over. The beginnen part when you have to explore the building was a little annoying, mostly due to the enemy placement and then that f*cking item you have to jump to. I gave up after six deaths due to gravity jumping over the ffing thing. Rest of the area was cool and diverse with a lot of different enemy types and little nooks and crannies.

Boss: The Skeleton Lords - 5/10 Cool design, but a complete pushover. I like the fact that you clear one, clear up the mobs that spawn, clear the next and continue on like that, but it's made way to easy. Deaths: 0
11Undead Purgatory

I count the run to this area with it, because basically the area itself is just the bossarena. This run from Huntsman's Copse to Undead Purgatory was by far the most annoying thing to deal with, albeit in a fair way. The hrd hitting dark minions usually came one by one, but I had twice that all of them just jumped down and gangraped me. Then once you're finally up at the gates you gotta take on the most annoying red phantom so far. That guy killed me more times than the 12 bosses I've done at this point put together, which made me salty af.

Boss: Executioners Chariot - 7.5/10 - A really cool idea that in hindsight I love them trying something like it again in ER. It's the good kind of annoying and once you know what you have to do becomes very doable. It's a cool gimmick and bonus points for it being a two stage fight with an actual boss at the end instead of it being just phase 1. Deaths: 2
12Harvest Valley

I knew going in that this area ranked low on most peoples list so I expected something way more horrible then it was. I actually quite liked the scenery of stepping into it and seeing Earthen Peak with all its mills and the green gasses made it look like some twisted WWI shit. The area itself was also way shorter then I imagined it and yeah the poison's an awful status effect to make the game arbitrarily harder but there are far worse offenders like 5.1, Farron Keep, Nightmare Frontier and Lake of Rot.

Other than the cool visuals at the beginning it's not a particularly good area though, just not a really bad one either
13Earthen Peak

This area is LAAARGE and took most of an evening to get through. The design of it is really good and the enemies are definitely getting harder to deal with. Especcially those headless knights. Who at fromsoft thought: you know what we need? Agile enemies that quickly cause both poison AND bleed! And you know what? Let's give the player a couple at a time! That shit was brutal and I died more times during the level then I care to admit.

I do have a lot of praise for the area thought. Good bonfire placement, diverse enemies, a unique mazelike astethic, this might be their best designed level up to this point from a layout point of view.

Boss: Covetous Demon - 5/10 - Jabba! points go only to the lore and the design, 'cus this bitch fell over in about 6 hits. Deaths: 0

Boss: Mytha, the Baneful Queen - 8/10 - This fight with Medusa was cool! I do feel again that it was simple, since she attacks soo slowly that dodging becomes trivial. But the arena is cool as are her moves. Deaths: 0
14Iron Keep

A strong contender for my favorite area right now. The lore is great and the astethics are awesome, especcially the first look. Made me think of running up to bowsers castle. I can see that FS really took a lot of ER's inspiration from DS2, which I never expected. Mt. Gelmir def got its inspiration here. The design of the area is also really good with proper spacing between the two bosses.

Boss: Smelter Demon - 8.5/10 - Now this was a cool fight! It had everything that worked within the mechanics of this game: slow telegraphed but hard hitting attacks, a cool second phase with his sword aflame, and a couple of move combos that aren't hard to get the hang off but can throw you for a loop if you're not carefull. Best fight so far. Deaths: 1

Boss: Old Iron King - 6/10 - It was a decent try at a spectacle fight which I can appreciate. I found some of his attacks very hard to dodge which resulted in me dying a couple of times, once with a mandatory dodge into the pit. Deaths: 3
15Belfy Sol & Grave of Saints

Put both of them together since they are more speedbumps then real fleshed out areas. Belfry Sol in particular is nothing more then a couple of items and about 6 enemies on a pretty rooftop.

Grave of Saints was a little more interesting with at least a cool npc in the rat king. But both are pretty much nothingburgers when it comes to rating and reviewing an area.

Boss: Royal Rat Vanguard - 5/10 - I didn't hate the design but it's a very flawed fight. Put a bunch of rats in small arena and have them keep spawning, keeping you on your toes until you find the right rat. I'm ashamed to say I got overwhelmed once because I wasn't aware of that and got completely cornered. Second time I used my Ultra Greatsword to just zugzug through them for the win. Deaths: 1
16The Gutter

The theme for these next three are going to be very similar: areas I dreaded because of heresay which turned out pretty unfounded to me. Idk maybe people are just really bad at ds2 but I found the Gutter to be a lot of fun. The enemies go down in one hit but pack a nasty punch so deliberate attacking works best, the layout is a maze remeniscent of blighttown and 5.1 but without the annoying poison. I have my lighting settings pretty high so I have no problems with it being to dark whatsoever which might help.

I liked the mazelike design and the opressing atmosphere of it. Don't see why this would be considered a bad area, nothing really I can point to and say: that's just bad game design.
17Black Gulch

The most hated level of the main game and here I can understand why, yet I don't agree. The moment I got into it I loved the vibe and colorful asthetic of it. You need to make your way slowly foreward slashing the statues as you go and if you die a lot I can see why that would be annoying. How are people dying here though? The area consists of a long hallway with statues you smash and maybe 8 enemies in all, that die in 3 hits to boot.

You even only have to go through it once if you find the bonfire near the end. Ok, the two giants are way too strong in dmg, hp and the fact there are two for the dmg you do at this point, but even those you can cheese easily. Actually enjoyed the area, had a good fun smashing statues.

Boss: The Rotten - 6.5/10 - I'm getting to a point where the bosses feel very samey. Slow, hard hitting attacks which are heavily telegraphed, in a arena with obstacles to make it a little more difficult to position. This was not a bad boss, just a bit boring. Deaths: 1
18Shaded Woods

It's cool to be above ground again. This was a pretty large area in DS2 terms that took a while to get through. The misty bit is a little annoying because you can't target, but the amount of enemies are not too bad and the area does have a nice and different atmosphere. The second halve is more straightforeward with the curse pots and lion enemies.

The entirety made for a diverse area, where the second half wasn't anything special but it was a nice change of pace.

Boss - Scorpioness Najka - 7/10 - Another boss that was good but not great. It's cool that you have to keep a look for the stinger and her diving down is a cool mechanic I don't think we've seen anything like it in a fromsoft game. It didn't combine into a very special or memorable fight though. Deaths: 1
19Doors of Pharos

I don't know what I expected from this, but its so small that it definitely counts as one of the mini levels that ds2 actually has quite a few of. The look when I came in made me think this was going to be a profaned capitol like level but it turned out to be a little lackluster. I quite like the Mastodon enemies though those are cool and I thought the first entrance view was nice.

Boss: Royal Rat Authority - 4/10 - This thing was just a bit of bullshit design. Kill the small toxic rats before the big boy shows up. You have about 6 seconds in total for that and if you didn't kill all four critters, you might as well try again with how fast that toxic drains your hp. Then the boss itself is not really a fight that's noteworthy since he's too easy if you just stay under him and time your attacks. I didn't get frustrated by it though so that saved it some points, but it's just not a well designed boss imo. Deaths : 1
20Brightstone Cove Tseldora

One of the larger area's that, while interesting in look and setting, did very little for me to stand out of the pack. Basically everything here is 'just ok', with fine enemy placement that didn't feel very interesting but wasn't too annoying either. They tried to make the leveldesign interesting by having different branching paths, but having to use homeward bones a couple of times to get back up is a hard step down from having an actually intricate level that loops around itself.

Boss: Prowling Magus and Congregation - 4/10 - What a joke of a boss. It's just regular enemies with a named healthbar. Took me about 20 seconds and got hit maybe twice. The points it gets, like with Covetous Demon, is due to its pretty interesting lore. Deaths: 0

Boss: The Duke's Dear Freja - 7.5/10 - A much better boss and the room to her was the best part of the level. Interesting fight where being safe and deliberate was the way to go for me. Deaths: 0
21Drangleic Castle

Now this is good level design. I've loved everything about it. The way it feels like a dark version of Anor Londo, the statues everywhere that keep you on your toes and a great design in terms of map layout. Easily my favorite area of the game at this point!

Boss: Twin Dragonriders - 7,5/10 - This one's probably controversial, but I really liked this fight. Facing two of the versions I've killed earlier shows your growth as a character. One stays up and you have to manage the arrows aswell as the big guy. Then both are down and it's a juggling act that kept me on my toes. Deaths: 0

Boss: Looking Glass Knight - 8.5/10 - Amazing boss that got my blood pumping, also because one of you commentated there would be a twist. I'm sad to say I killed him before he could complete his summon though, since he only started casting it when I had him at 25%. Awesome fight in a great arena though! Deaths: 0
22Shrine of Amana

Get's on soapbox: The worst level in DS2 and a good contender for worst fromsoft area overall. The area is basically one big gauntlet with the most horrible enemy placement that got me salty for the first time since starting ds2. Also, what is it with those fucking invasions by wizards that can oneshot you. Like this bullshit wasn't enough. Only points I can give it is for looks, 'cus I have to admit it is pretty.

Boss: Demon of Song - 5/10 - Thank god the boss following this heinous area was not only one I didn't die to, but the first boss that literally didn't land a single hit against me. That's not to say I disliked the fight though, I actually thought the main mechanic was pretty cool. But bait his face out, move out of reach and then back in for 2 hits made the fight laughably easy. Deaths: 0
23Undead Crypt

Now this area got my blood pumping in all the right ways. It was creepy as fuck and added a cool design with the gravestone bells I tried desperately to keep the enemies away from, and failed multiple times doing. The boss gauntlet is also cool by having the bell be beneath it which I totally missed the first time leading to a horrible death. Second time through I got there though and it made for a runup to what sure was gonna be a spectacle.

Boss - Velstadt - 9/10 - This boss just had it all man. The best moveset out of the bosses so far, amazing lore, a great arena, fair difficulty. I feel lucky getting him on my first try, but I had to chug all my flasks to do it. Nothing but love for this proud defender of Vendrick. Deaths: 0
24Aldia's Keep

Now we're talking! I loved basically everything about these next two areas, though that ogre on the path towards the keep was a menace. I haven't figured out what the giant dragon skelleton's function is (I'm going to guess it's not just there as furniture to the castle). The area is very pleasing on the eyes and the collection of big enemies you have to fight make me wonder why they're being kept in cages here. Lots of lore going on and I love when I can puzzle together pieces of the lore without having to read it in itemdescriptions.

Boss: Guardian Dragon - 7/10 - This fight had so much potential. A cage fight with a large dragon that at times clings to the cage in order to try and get a free breath in at you is a really great idea for a bossfight. It's sad then that it's incredibly easy when you just stay near his feet and run to the other side of where he climbs up. I would love to see this idea done with the aggression of a Midir keeping you on your toes. Deaths: 0
25Dragon Aerie / Dragon Shrine

There's a feeling of weight and importants to the place from the moment you enter and see all the dragons flying around. The level is cleverly designed with a way to run straight trough it if you want, but with lots to explore for those curious. The keep itself is also great, and I particularly love the fact that the smaller enemies bow in reverence to let you kill the larger knights before continuing on to the massive dragon at the end. No bosses here, but just a fantasticly designed area that might be one of my favorites in the game.
26Ancient Memories

Alright so this is something I actually looked up how to get to the ancient memories because I'm too lazy to figure it out myself. Such a cool idea for a couple of small hidden areas that serve as a history lesson of Drangleic and the Giant wars.

So tell me if I'm wrong here, but the Giant Lord must be the one chained up that you fight as a first boss right? Because that would be so cool, killing him in the past and then him being pissed at the beginning of the game because he recognises me.

Boss - Giant Lord - 5/10 - Lore aside, the boss is a complete pushover and didn't feel any more difficult then the first boss of the game in terms of moveset. Yeah he uses a sword instead of his arm, but it's basically the same fight, you just have less space to fight him in. Deaths: 0
27Shulva - Sanctum City

That first vista overlooking the temples was by far the most impressive visually that DS2 has given me up to this point. Such crazy cool design! The enemies were difficult at first because posture just doesn't seem a thing for them, but they're super easy to backstab which, once I figured that out, made it a lot easier to get through. It's a clear step up in difficulty without it being unfair or arbitrary, just a well thought out design. Sadly no bossfight that I could find here, just a hub leading to different areas where I suspect the bosses will be. Good start to the DLC's though!
28Dragon's Sanctum

But holy crap does it get a lot harder here. By far the hardest area of the game up to this point and it's not close. The maze-like structure gave me a very creepy Indiana Jones vibe and made me actually a little claustrophobic.

A personal gripe about this temple is that I hated the ghost enemies. Yeah I get it, you have to find the statues and break them to make the ghost corporeal, which is a neat idea. Yet I tend to explore a lot and take my time delibately going through an area, and design like this makes me panicrun through the entire area looking for the damn correct statues to kill. It made it more frustrating and less enjoyable.

Haven't found a boss here yet either, but I did find the way to two other areas, one watery cave with dino thingies and the cave of the dead
29Cave of the Dead

The first boss of the DLC was at the end of this gauntlet and holy crap this area is bullshit design. There are two way I found to get through this, either kill absolutely everything slowly and methodically, which takes about 10 minutes, or not kill anything at all and just run straight to the boss fog. I found very little enjoyment in this area and in a ranking I might rank this the lowest of them all. The Black Gulch had less obnoxious enemies and a way cooler look to it than this forsaken pit.

Boss: Graverobber, Varg and Cerah - 6.0/10 - I didn't enjoy this boss mostly due to the runback, but also because I was particularly bad at it. At the end I just ran around in circles, getting one or two hits in on the archer and killing him first. Then the others went down pretty easily. Can't really fault the boss design or the arena, I just didn't really enjoy it all that much. Deaths: 6
30Dragon's Rest

The superior level design of fromsoft shows itself once again with a very simple elevator back to the first bonfire of the DLC, showing the large loop you've done to get to this point. And now up into the temple you go to face the bosses of the DLC. The run up the temple is awesome in its majesty, though I found the inner sorely lacking. It's just a big open temple with maybe 3 enemies, a bonfire and an empty floor with a bossfog. I get that this is the holy sanctum that others may or dare not enter, but I feel they could've done more to flesh out this epicentre of the DLC.

Boss - Elana, the Squalid Queen - 6.5/10 - Now I do like the design and I think it's pretty fair. Have a spellcaster that trows hard hitting but slow moving spells and have her summon something to make the fight more interesting. The problem comes that for me she either summoned Velstadt, which made the fight super hard, or litterally three skelletons that made the fight a joke. Deaths: 5 (4 Velstadt summons)
31Dragon's Rest 2

Boss - Sinh, the Slumbering Dragon - 7.5/10 - Cool fight with an angry dragon. Probably the best dragon fight of the game at this point. The combination between the ground attacks and air assaults kept me on my toes, though it did have a particularly annoying bit where he kept flying up for 5 or 6 times straight not letting me get a hit in edgewise. It went pretty well dodging his air attacks though so I still managed to beat him pretty quickly. Deaths: 2

And thus ends the first DLC, which overall was a lot harder than the main game in both areas and bosses. It is what the game needed for me at this point.
32Brume Tower

If the Sunken king DLC was anything to go by, I was expecting another very difficult level to traverse. Yet I actually managed to get through most of the area without dying at all. It helps that the enemies can actually be staggered again.

The design of the level is absolutely amazing, a lot of verticality with numerous nooks and crannies to explore. Then once you find the area that activates the lifts the entire area opens up for you and reveals even more to find out. Somehow I ended up at the last boss of the area without finding the other two, so backtracking will be in order.

Boss: Sir Alone - 9/10 - I was close to giving it minus points for the runback. Seriously what is it with these DLC's and terrible runbacks. Alone, Blue goober, fuck and fallen, the three musketeers. It feels like the developers completely misunderstood the type of difficulty fans play these games for.

Alone was a fantastic fight though and what a beautiful arena. Deaths: 2
33Boss - Fume Knight

- 9.5/10 - This bad boy deserves his own little segment. By far the best designed boss of the game (so far), yet it cranked up the difficulty to crazy levels for me. Maybe it's my strategy (I have a tank build with UGS and greatshield) but at the end I just had to start twohanding my UGS and become a dodge god. Two hits and I'm dead so the margin for error was super small.

One thing that I absolutely loathed about this fight was the input reaction. You try to heal at the wrong moment, and 100% that the boss will register the input you give it and kills you. It infuriated the fuck out of me and felt like the game downright cheating.

It joins the illustrious list of bosses that took me multiple hours to kill, but this is what I play these games for, so I don't mind. In terms of deathcount in comparisson to the rest, it's kinda hard not to look at it and place some questionmarks around the difficulty of this boss compared to the rest. Deaths: 72 (not joking)
34Iron Passage

Who at Fromsoft actually thought that this was a good idea? I have sympathy for people who actually payed for this shit. Specifics yes ok.. A hallway full of non by-runnable enemies that hit like freight trains, with casters that you cant kill with a melee build shooting you to pieces. Times 3. And then you die to the boss, guess what? Go do it again scrub. For real though, it is that I only died to the blue goober a couple of times, or I might've been keen on just not going for this optional boss and say fuck this. Can't really find anything redeemable qualities about this shithole of a passage.

Boss: Blue Smelter Demon - 6/10 - It's a re-skin of one of the best fights in the main game. It was still a good fight but with heavy deminishing returns seeing as this is the second time you fight him, with a couple of tweaks to keep him interesting. It's just lazy though isn't it? Deaths: 3
35Frozen Eleum Loyce

Owh wow I have so much to say about this area. In short, I absolutely loved everything about it. The visuals are spectacular (esp. when the mist is down, making backtracking a joy), the level is very intricately designed with noumerous shortcuts and bonfires. The search for the knights was great fun and it comes pretty close to Cainhurst as being a complete large self sustained area.

Boss: Ava, The Kings Pet - 8/10 - I had a blast figuring out this beasts moveset, the delayed moveset threw me for a loop more then once. When I did kill her I did it without taking more then 2 hits and I love it when that happens after a couple of deaths. Great overall fight. Deaths: 5
36Boss: Burnt Ivory King

9/10 - Another amazing bossfight and at this point I completely agree that the best bosses of DS2 can be found in the DLC. The runup in the cathedral feels momentous and seeing my freed knight standing at the ready and saluting me before diving headfirst into the abyss was one of the greatest moments of the game for me.

Than the boss itself is such a creative concept that I don't think they've ever tried again (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong though). Fighting side by side with my knights against these corrupted fallen ones felt both great and sad. And then the King comes through the massive portal and starts vaulting across the room. Magnificent fight! Deaths: 2
37Boss: Vendrick

7/10 - Was slightly dissapointed by this fight. It's a slow moving, hard hitting target that killed me in two hits the first try. The second try I just kept circling around him and only hitting after he attacks which made the fight absolutely trivial. yeah his healthpool is enormous, but if he can't hit me and I just play safe it's lights out to the old king. The points go mostly to the lore because I think it's fantastic to leave your main antagonist for most of the game as an optional boss that's a husk of himself and even optional.
38Boss: Ancient Dragon

6/10 - Now I heard this guy was incredibly difficult and the flame was almost inescapable. Yet maybe I figured him out or something 'cus I just ran at his tail every time he flew up and didn't get hit by the fire once. It actually became quite a boring fight hacking at his feet and then running to his tail. Death: 0
39Frozen Outskirts

I had to look up how to get to this place because I realized I'd completely forgotten about the third boss in the DLC. But yeah, fuck this place, fuck those reindeer, fuck the snowstorm. This area is attrocious and I call shame on the entire design team for thinking: yeah let's ship this, this seems good enough.

Boss: Lud and Zallen, the King's Pets - 4/10 - This one left such a sour taste in my mouth man. Another reskin but this time double? Really? And when you die you have to do reindeer hopping again? and again? and again? I got incredibly lucky with RNG on my kill because the second kitty stayed pretty passive until I killed the first one. I just breathed a sigh of elation when I was finished, but purely just because I was happy it was over. Deaths: 4
40Throne of Want

And so we come to the endgame with three back to back bossfights. The area itself is not really anything and I think the placement of it in the castle was kinda weird. The walkthrough did give some weight to it though, that was cool.

Boss: Throne Watcher and Throne Defender - 6.5/10 - On paper this could've been a really cool fight, but I found them to die super quickly. They aren't very aggressive and neither hit very hard either. I like the idea and the design of them, but after the way more difficult bosses in de DLC's I found this one rather lackluster. Deaths: 1

Boss: Nashandra - 5/10 - If this was anything but the final boss it would've been a fine encounter, but as the main bad it was underwhelming to say the least. Her HP is low, her hits are slow and leave a lot of time and she's super static. Deaths: 0
41Boss: Aldia, Scholar of the First Sin

6/10 - The third and final boss before the end credits was a lot better then Nashandra. I still found it to be a little lackluster due to it being basically a gimmick fight of dodging his attack, getting a hit in, back off from the fire and waiting until you can hit again. Points to lore and the amazing score though! Deaths: 1
42Dark Chasm of Old

After the end credits I looked what I had missed and I completely would've never found this out myself. The three different chasms where fun little bits to traverse and I love the throwbacks to DS1 with the lore implications. It wasn't anything particularly exciting as an area but nothing bad either.

Boss: Darklurker - 9/10 - A fitting end to my journey with one of the coolest designed bosses in the game. He was slow and gave me more then enough time to heal in between, but his attacks are devestating and I didn't see the split coming with added a great twist to an already cool fight. I was out of flasks with 25% remaining when I killed him and felt a good sense of warmth and accomplishment knowing another fromsoft journey was at an end. Deaths: 0
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