Dark Souls

[Kenny]

Nice! I started playing this again. Struggled with the Duke's Archives, so I went and played through the Demon Ruins, which was surprisingly easy. Now trying to make my way through Lost Izalith...

What kind of build are you playing with? My character is a fast-rolling Dex character. I've put some points into Faith, but my +10 Iaito does a lot more damage than my Divine weapon. Might go through with a Sorcerer next time though.

I've put most of my points in endurance, strength, and vitality - I think I'm currently around level 105. I've pretty much always been a kamikaze, hack-and-slash gamer, which for me is pretty much how I think Dark Souls should be played. It never occurred to me to level up dexterity that much, but I might have to look into it if it makes your character faster.*

At the moment, I'm stuck on the Four Kings. I beat them the first time in my initial playthrough, but they're a new beast in NG+. Attacks do way more damage, so wearing heavy army and slashing my way to victory isn't really a great tactic. On top of everything, it's also the last boss I need to beat before my second round with Gwynn - so at this point, I just want to get through it.

*edit: I also started with the Deprived class.

[Lamrock]

Dex speeds up spell casting a bit and weapons that scale with that stat tend to be lighter and faster than strength weapons. Unless you want to switch to a weapon that scales with both, like a Halberd or Claymore, Dex might not be worth putting points into.

I was overpowered for Four Kings in NG, but I could see how they'd be a lot tougher on a NG+. They spawn on a timer, so the key is to output damage as quickly as possible, so you can take them on one at a time. I'd recommend using the Power Within pyromancy to make the first half of the fight easier. I'd recommend Power Within for most bosses actually.

[Kenny]

Thanks for the advice. I took a detour to Blighttown and picked up the Power Within pyromancy. Ended up killing Four Kings in my first attempt with the buff. After that, the rest of the game was pretty straightforward... and now I'm onto NG++

After telling myself that I would be done after NG+, I defeated the first few bosses in NG++ fairly easily and now I'm back to Anor Londo and getting frustrated by Ornstein and Smough again

I should probably get back into DS2 again... but I feel a bit directionless in that game.

[Lamrock]

The second half of DS1 has really soured me on the game. The first half was incredible, but everything post-Anor Londo feels like a chore. Duke's Archives was the only level I enjoyed, and even that ended on a sour note with the BS caves and anti-climactic boss battle. Makes me wish they had a few more months to finish the game.

I've been playing through Bloodborne again. Needless to say it's a lot easier after three months of playing almost nothing but Soulsborne. Doing the stuff I missed on my first playthrough while getting my character prepared for the DLC, which I hear is extremely difficult. I think I'll jump into that once I reach level 80 or so.

May as well start a new Dark Souls II character. There are a lot of things that they did better than any other game in the series. They also made some design decisions that were... unconventional. There are a couple points where it's not clear what exactly you're supposed to be doing (had to use a guide after getting the four lord souls) but it's pretty fun. Apparently the DLC's are fantastic as well