So it'll be back to the Pontiff dude tomorrow. I almost killed him this morning so hopefully now I've got a bit more health and stamina I'll be able to take him.
Been watching a streamer messing around with the Cinders mod for this and it looks fantastic. A complete rebalancing of the game mechanics and stats for certain build viability; items from Demons' and Bloodborne, etc added into the game; equipment and the like reworked with every armour piece giving some form of passive buff; shortcuts added so you can do things like go to Archdragon Peak in the first minute or two; new enemies added, like the Pursuer from Dark Souls 2; boss challenge runs added; a horde mode added to easily farm for drops and souls. I'm actually really tempted to double dip and get this on Steam just so I can strawberry float around with Cinders.
Still trying hard to beat Friede in the Ariandel DLC but it's probably one of the best bosses in the entire trilogy. Singularly, each stage isn't impossibly hard but as a whole it's a massive test of endurance. I've got stage 1 pretty much nailed but stage 2 is giving me real gip. I've been very close to beating stage 3 only once but in really enjoying this challenge as it feels so satisfyingly attainable.
Yeah Sister Friede is probanly my favourite boss in the game, and would potentially get in a list of my favourite DS bosses.
Think I mentioned here, that at first she seems too fast, and then her third phase gets faster still. But as you get better at it, she almost seems to have slowed down somewhat. I came close to beating her a few times, largely by soaking up the damage and getting through the first steps with almost all of my estus flasks, but on my successful attempt, I pretty much managed to avoid taking damage in her third phase, and was just baiting and dodging attacks until I got an opening.
A lot of DS battles, I find I tended to brute force my way through. I'm quite cautious playing, so I don't lose souls and level up quite a bit, which lets me take hits and do decent damage. Coupled with having played other titles, my game knowledge means I tended to beat most DS3 bosses in a couple of attempts. But Sister Friede was one of the few times I took quite a lot of goes, and had to really watch and learn her attacks.
Another 2 hours fighting against Friede and I've definitely improved. I'm getting to phase 3 much more consistently now but she destroys me by that point. I'm dodging more attacks though and I'm confident enough to start using my sword two-handed in the final phase but the amount of damage she deals is nuts so any slip ups are severely punished.
Part of me wants to explore elsewhere and come back later but the other part of me is so damn determined to nail this sucker!
After this fight though I feel like I need to level up my resistances. I've got the power and the stamina but I'm made of glass.
That's some serious dedication! Don't think I've managed to get near that level in my time with these games. It would be interesting if the game recorded stats about the time and number of attempts you spend on each boss!
That's some serious dedication! Don't think I've managed to get near that level in my time with these games. It would be interesting if the game recorded stats about the time and number of attempts you spend on each boss!
i might be exagerrating but it felt like it! he was 2-shotting me with his attacks, and i must have played about 4 hours a day for 2 days or so? some of those attempts ended very quickly
I think Slave Knight Gael might be where I tap out and just continue with the main game. His attacks don't seem too difficult to dodge but his health bar is so huge that I don't fancy wearing it down over a long fight just to strawberry float up once and die and have to start all over again. Friede was awesome because it was rock hard but also very attainable and made me feel determined. This guy's huge health bar just makes me nope out. Not because I'm scared but because I can't be bothered.
I'll certainly give him a few more attempts to see if my feelings change but I don't think I'll spend hours and hours on him.
I didn't find Gael that hard compared to Friede. He was a bit like the second Nameless King phase in that he's intimidating and can do damage, but he telegraphs them and leaves windows of opportunity. If I remember rightly, he might also stagger sometimes as well.
I found playing cautiously with Gael helped a lot too. Better to only take two hits, back away, recover stamina and prepare yourself for his next attack, than to for a third strike. His attacks are generally big, horizontal sweeps, so I found it better to roll into them, I think. Definitely not to his side or you'll get caught.
His sort of pinky lunge move is easy to dodge and then you can get behind him. His combo where he goes beserk can be costly if you get hit, but back off, count the swings (think he does 5-6) and wait for him to jump and lunge down, again getting behind him.
I found that being good at Bloodborne-style dodging worked well. I didn't really need my shield and just wanted the stamina recovery. Pop one of those green grass stam recovery things as well before the fight, maybe.
Started playing this again after beating Scholar of the First Sin a few days ago. Just done the deacons boss fight in the cathedral with my +4 butcher's knife. I got a big Bloodbourne vibe from that whole area.