Prowling Magus and Congregation (#19)

  

Boss: Prowling Magus and Congregation (#19)
My level: 154
Number of tries: 2
Difficulty: 1/5
          What is it? Was it a boss? Or merely bunch of creeps? Oh it was even easier than Skeleton Lords. At least those wheel skeletons can overwhelm you, but slow walking corpses cant. Haha, I even didn't notice a first there was some crawling mobs on the floor. I thought, I killed everyone - why the boss is still has some life? ^^ But I, as super skilled player managed to die even there, omg, I'm so bad ^^

Royal Rat Authority (#18)

 

 

Boss: Royal Rat Authority (#18)
My level: 154
Number of tries: 4
Difficulty: 3/5
          Now, that is a rat! Royal Rat Vanguard, shame on you! Though, looks more like a dog, isn't it? Very fast and swift for a rat if you ask me. But easy after I developed a tactic - to stay near hindpaw.
          I noticed bosses become more and more easy even when I progress - maybe I levelled too high already? Or I have too good gear I don't know. Or just figured general tactic to all bosses. This game is great, but there are too many bosses, and obviously there cant be unique tactic for everyone. Maybe I should complete the game faster and to not waste time on farm. But bosses and regular enemies seemed too hard, so I farmed first zones till mobs stopped to spawn. Nevermind me, its fine, I believe after I will acquire all Great Souls bosses in the last wing will be harder.

#royalratauthority #darksouls2

Scorpioness Najka (#17)

 

Boss: Scorpioness Najka (#17)
My level: 149
Number of tries: 2
Difficulty: 2/5
          Now for the last Great Soul! Clearly I forgot about my decision to not use a mace. Anyway Scorpioness is easy boss - she doesn't have much HP and has long cooldown between attacks - easy to deal with. Somehow I managed to die though ...
          I also noticed small scorpion-man on sand arena near the boss. What is he? He refused to speak with me even after I defeated Scorpioness.

 

#najka #scorpionessnajka #darksouls2

The Rotten (#16)

Boss: The Rotten (#16)
My level: 147
Number of tries: 3
Difficulty: 3/5
          Another movie where I died, lol :P Now look at this boss - living mass of writhing corpses - isn't it wonderful? ^^ Bosses in this game are very well made. Everyone of them - big and scary! From The Last Giant to Skeleton Lords, and from Pursuer to The Lost Sinner. Where else you can find a monster who stares at you with his eyes that is actually human heads.
          Oh by the way, few words about Black Gulch - hardest zone (yes, not boss, but zone) so far. Poison everywhere, you always walk poisoned. Thanks to developers, this zone is rather small and has a Bonfire near the boss.

#therotten #darksouls2

Old Iron King (#15)

 

Boss: Old Iron King (#15)
My level: 145
Number of tries: 2
Difficulty: 2/5
          Whole sea of boiling lava and a great demon emerging from it, what a view. I didn't think Iron King is a demon, but more like a giant dwarf with gargantuan hammer. Alas, I was wrong. The boss is surprisingly easy for boss with Great Soul, Lost Sinner was far harder. Even the fact King has strong armor (and it seems high fire resistance, because I barely hit him with my fiery longsword) doesn't make an encounter more difficult, since the boss is very slow. In my movie I, unfortunately, died in the end, but it was my first try, and I almost kill it - to show how easy boss is.

 

#oldironking #darksouls2

Smelter Demon (#14)

Boss: Smelter Demon (#14)
My level: 141
Number of tries: 1
Difficulty: 2/5
          Last zone of this wing - Iron Keep greeted me pools of molten lava I quite a few times fell into. I've heard Smelter Demon is hard boss and almost impossible if you don't have 100% fire resist shield. I don't know, for me it seemed untrue. It can be seen from a movie, boss is slow, had average health and low armor. Since he used fire I thought he will have high fire resistance - seems not (I still use fiery longsword I found in the beginning of the game). Also, at some point he started to burn fire in his chest, and then to ignite his sword in that fire, that gave me time to perform full combo of strikes.

 

#smelterdemon #darksouls2

Mytha, the Baneful Queen (#13)

Boss: Mytha, the Baneful Queen (#13)
My level: 123
Number of tries: 5
Difficulty: 4/5
          I'm back! :) My exams are almost over so I think I will finish the game soon. I still didn't decide will I play on NG+ difficulty level or will move to another game. I probably won't play though.
          But back to business! I could not believe how easy some bosses can be if you know tactic already, and especially if you use giant mace weapons. Giant Club is clearly overpowered. Check Ruin Sentinels movie - piece of cake! I hit with my fully upgraded fiery longsword (C - 50 str C - 40 dex) for 300 on low armored target, while Giant Club+7 (A - 50 str) hits for 700! Even more, giant mace weapons have some sort of whirlwind attack, so you able to achieve more than 2000 damage per combo! And to additional to all that almost every second hit of Giant Club stuns a target. Isn't it overpowered? I will probably not use it on bosses - way too easy (did you hear it? I called Dark Souls easy game :P)
          When I came to the boss for the first time I didn't know you could drain poison from the room. Boss itself is quite hard, so poison makes it almost impossible. 2 deaths and I started to find a solution. Even without poison Mytha is very hard - she has everything to make player's life a nightmare - long slashing and thrusting attacks, magic ranged attack, whirlwind attack, backflip and unavoidable close-range attack (tail squeeze). If only she could have more health or armor, it would be a complete disaster.

#mytha #darksouls2

Hearthstone

          Last week a had many exams in university, so I didn't have a lot of free hours. I mostly played Hearthstone, since it does not require much time. Without any special accomplishments, but few interesting screenshots for share.
In b4 12-0 Paladin arena deck and overbuffed Questing Adventurer
 

#hearthstone

Almost there

          Moving fast, almost at the point where I stopped last game. Now I make movies of my boss kills, using Fraps! I add them to according posts with previous kills. It is funny to read my posts and compare first kill to second kill. How easy are almost all bosses when you know tactic already. I will add Ruin Sentinels movie soon - I gave this encounter 5\5 mark, but from movie it looks more like 1/5 (also those big club weapons are quite overpowered if you ask me). More movies and new bosses coming soon!

 

Woops!

          Unbelievable! I accidently deleted my save file! I definitely shouldn't play with Steam profiles. Anyway, although I wasted 30+ hours I still want to finish this harsh game, so I will start again. At least now I can make my own screenshots or even movies via Fraps. I will add them to previous posts.

Executioner's Chariot (#12)

 

Boss: Executioner's Chariot (#12)
My level: 118
Number of tries: 8
Difficulty: 3/5
          As I said before - next boss after Covetous Demon won't be so easy. And that's true. Though I must admit the way to boss (pack of 4 agile warriors and very fast and powerful red spirit) was even harder than boss itself. I died at least 5 times before I could beat that red spirit knight. By the way, I told before probably Huntsman's Copse is easier than Heide's Tower - now I don't think so. Tower is full of strong but slow knights - slow enemies are easy to kill, even if they hit hard, but those agile warriors in Copse have very fast attack and tend to avoid my strikes. But back to boss.
          4 tries just to find out there was actually a lever. Then 2 more tries to understand skeletons will not respawn anymore if you kill necromancers. And from second try I finally beat the boss. Boss itself is easy - quite low amount of health, and actually it is quite slow with his attacks - just stay by side and strike. 2/5 for boss itself and +1 for the encounter.
          p.s. I am glad there is at least one not just another block-roll-hit encounter, but something more interesting. That was funny.

#darksouls2 #executionerschariot

Covetous Demon (#11)

 

Boss: Covetous Demon (#11)
My level: 112
Number of tries: 1
Difficulty: 1/5
          Despite of Harvest Valley and Earthen Peak being most hard zones I've been so far (I hate poison >.<) this boss at the entrance to Earthen Peak is incredibly easy. His only attack I've noticed is roll. He is very slow, I was able to run full combo of strikes before he hit me with his roll, which struck him for 1/2 of his hit points. Though something is telling me next boss will not be so easy, oh definitely wont be.

#darksouls2 #covetousdemon

Belfry Gargoyles (#10)

 

 

Boss: Belfry Gargoyles (#10)
My level: 98
Number of tries: 9
Difficulty: 4/5
          Really hard. You cant kite gargoyles forever, since more join to the fight with time. 3 of them at once is GG. But first about Belfry Luna - this is very stupid you cant run through the zone for even a minute to be summoned or getting invaded. How do you supposed to kill the boss if you cant get to it? Solution was to restart game in offline mode^^ Also from last boss I decided to kill bosses without any help to not deprive myself out of the fun. Even with ~100 level it took me nine tries to deal with gargoyles. Good thing single gargoyle didn't have a lot of hit points and can be killed fast.

#darksouls2 #belfrygargoyles

Skeleton Lords (#9)

Boss: Skeleton Lords (#9)
My level: 96
Number of tries: 2
Difficulty: 1/5
          After few deaths in Belfry Luna from gankers I thought it is time for new locations. I didn't know it was so easy to activate passage to Huntsman's Copse. I even think you should clear Copse before Heide's Tower - mobs there are far easier than old knights in Heide's Tower. I rushed through this zone pretty fast and obviously in easy zone was an easy boss. Thing is to kill first three big skeletons fast. I died only once due to damn wheel skeletons - they can overwhelm very fast.

#darksouls2 #skeletonlords

The Lost Sinner (#8)

 

Boss: The Lost Sinner (#8)
My level: 92
Number of tries: 5
Difficulty: 5/5
          INCREDIBLY hard boss, even more hard than Ruin Sentinels. Swift, fast and deadly. After 4 tries I understood this will just be a waste of Human Effigies. I could not land just a single hit on her! It was late so I give up quite soon. Now I regret it - summoning help is not the same thing as cheating, but still simplifying the process of killing the boss a lot. I just need to create tactic, even if it means a waste of Effigies. Also I didn't know about Gargoyles, didn't know it was possible to light fires in a hall. I just needed patience to explore whole Lost Bastille and Belfry Luna. But nevermind, The Lost Sinner finally paid for her sins.
P.S. Tough NPC helps a lot.

 

#darksouls2 #thelostsinner

Ruin Sentinels (#7)

Boss: Ruin Sentinels (#7)
My level: 83
Number of tries: 12
Difficulty: 5/5
          VERY hard boss. I thought it would be impossible. Even with my high level, even with Dragenlic armor and sword this boss literally smashed me into dust. When I fought it at first I thought triple HP is some sort of bug - it couldn't be true, since one sentinel alone is so hard. He hits like a truck, has long range combo attacks. Imagine my astonishment when I discovered there are TWO more tough guys waiting for you right below the platform! I wasted 4 or 5 Human Effigies just to discover I cant make it alone. Maybe it needed some sort of unique tactic or just my hands are not so straight as I thought, but I started to use summon signs to call for help. Even with help of two people I died 2 times, only from 3rd try with mage and summoned NPC I managed to make it. Despite of helpers I still felt sense of accomplishment :) Yeah I did it^^

#darksouls2 #ruinsentinels

Pursuer (#6)

 

Boss: Pursuer (#6)
My level: 82
Number of tries: 6
Difficulty: 4/5
          After dealing with The Last Giant soon I discovered there is one more boss. "What is the deal", I thought, "if I managed to kill one boss, I will kill next one!" ^_^ Hehe, yeah, that was pretty lame :P Very soon an illusion of my power faded from my eyes - Pursuer helped me with that. At first I tried it with my 30 level. 4 deaths just to understand it is impossible to beat with current level and gear. I barely could land few hits on him before he finished me. Only after many levels and couple other bosses (oh yes, and after I few fast deaths from Ruin Sentinels) I remembered I still have a boss to kill. Even with this high level I managed to die once *_* But I finally made it. Pleasant surprise was to discover set of Drangleic armor and sword I still use now.

#darksouls2 #pursuer

Royal Rat Vanguard (#5)

 

Boss: Royal Rat Vanguard (#5)
My level: ~70
Number of tries: 1
Difficulty: 1/5
          After finishing No-Man's Wharf I decided to buy slow fall ring from cat in Majula and try giant well which attracted me since first levels by tempting glow of loot down below. I was shocked by discovering not one but even two locations down here. But after dozen of deaths from falling in that well, also in The Gutter I decided to move back and farm some levels in Heide's Tower and No-Man's Wharf. When I came to the boss I didn't understood it was a boss at first. Just hundreds of weak rats. Boss itself didn't look very different from usual rats, and has so low HP to die after second combo. With fire sword from lizard cave in Forest of Giants I was able to perform six attacks before my stamina got exhausted. Very easy. I believe it could be even easier with long range polearm - I would be able to clean half of the room in a single whirlwind... Or maybe my level was just too high for that boss.

#darksouls2 #royalratvanguard

Flexile Sentry (#4)

  
Boss: Flexile Sentry (#4)
My level: ~55
Number of tries: 2
Difficulty: 3/5
          At first I want to say I enjoyed No-Man's Wharf location a lot - dark and gloomy, and this terrible creature in the depths of the ship, and quiet ominous music when you fight it makes this boss awesome. The boss could be far harder if there was no pillar in the middle of the room. I just run around the pillar and boss could not hit me ... almost^^ Btw, long range weapon helps.

 #darksouls2 #flexilesentury

Old Dragonslayer (#3)

  
Boss: Old Dragonslayer (#3)
My level: ~40
Number of tries: 8
Difficulty: 4/5
          This boss was definitely harder than two previous bosses. Fast moves, fast attacks, and using of magic made this boss dangerous enemy. I almost broke my gamepad after one of tries - it was close, I was with full HP, bot the boss almost instantly killed me with few swift attacks. Finally I gave up and summoned some help from summon sign - I just didn't have that much Human Effigies to keep my HP enough for boss fight. I believe it could take much more tries. Btw my helper even died in the process, so in fact I killed the boss solo :)
P.S. Screenshots are not mine, since I play on gamepad, and, cmon, there is no time to make screenshots! But I will try to make my own.

#darksouls2 #olddragonslayer

Dragonrider (#2)

    
Boss: Dragonrider (#2)
My level: ~40
Number of tries: 3
Difficulty: 2/5
          This boss seemed hard at first too - I didn't learn to use my shield yet^^ Big amount of HP and cleaving attack with big range made it tough. I tried it at ~30 level at first - was smashed to the ground, then after couple levels I came again and made it from the first try. Tactics was quite easy - just block his hit with shield and then attack. I was also lucky to get good shield from knights before the boss - it helped a lot. And as with The Last Giant I could easily (well, maybe not that easily) beat it 10 levels before, if I knew what to do with a shield.

#darksouls2 #dragonrider

The Last Giant (#1)

          I want to share my experience by telling about bosses I beat so far. As I said before I didn't like this game at first, I even thought about deleting it, but right after I killed The Last Giant I felt long forgotten sense of achievement. Yeah! It was hard but I did it. Damn, I love this game :)

Boss: The Last Giant (#1)
My level: ~27-30
Number of tries: 5
Difficulty: 3/5
          Since it was first boss it seemed very hard for me at first. I could barely hit him while he smashed 1/2 of my life with single hit in great range. It probably could take more tries, but I noticed small summon sign right before boss to summon an NPC to help. NPC was quite tough, he tanked the boss while I tried to cut his heels :) After I killed him I understood it wasn't actually hard :) Also it seems my level was huge for that boss, it was definitely beatable about 10 levels ago.

Video from 2nd playthrough:

#darksouls2 #thelastgiant

Playing Dark Souls 2!

          I start my blog from such game as Dark Souls 2.
          I didn't like this game at first - seemed way too hard for me. There are no puzzles, no tactical heavy battles, no brain breaking gameplay, mobs do simply too much damage which is hard to block or parry. This game reminded me of God of War series, especially GoW2 - one of my favorite slasher games. There are hard battles too, but most of mobs are easy to deal with, only bosses provided some challenge. In Dark Souls there are no easy enemies, every zombie can easily kill you if you start to count crows in the sky. Almost every mob has different types of attack, for example charge - mob runs to you and perform very fast attack impossible to block if you didn't raise your shield preliminarily. Attacks can (and will) stun. 2-3 mobs at time = 90% you will be dead. This is normal for games you set difficulty as "Hard" or "Master", this is there are no difficulties in Dark Souls, you cant ease the game o_O Another thing is you suffer from every death - you cannot just die hundred of times on every mob to learn his movies, or just try to rush - nope, with every death you lose maximum HP, resulting in a few deaths you wont be able to play.
          Well, if you read this you are probably common with this this mechanics. Thing I said above gave me negative experience about the game leaded to find some cheats to beat hard places, since I don't have too much time to die on boss over and over. Naturally, very soon after this I understood game in not interesting for me - what is fun to play with cheats? Then I decided - no, there are no games I could not beat yet, I will play Dark Souls for an year for 30 minutes every day instead of beating it in a few days without a grain of fun. So I started my difficult passage through Dark Souls 2.
          I want to provide a review from Steam ideally describing my thoughts:
"You probably won't like this game. You will die, your ego will be crushed, your soul exhausted, and you will inevitably fail at every turn. Yet somehow in those moments when you do succeed, learning from every agonizing death, it is one of the most triumphant feelings in the world. Those heart-pounding moments where you narrowly dodge a towering giant monster's killing blow and swiftly strike at him with your last ounce of stamina, bringing him to his knees and finally overcoming him... are the most rewarding moments you will ever experience in gaming. But to get there, prepare to die. A lot."

#darksouls2