PixlBit

So far my typical strategy of dumping 100% of my levels into strength is working out well. I agree that it hasn't been too tough yet, though I'm not particularly far at this point. I think I saw you mention on Twitter you finished in 74 hours... so you've got 70 more hours into the game than I do at this point haha.

Strength builds are good, but hybrid strength/dex build is insane. My main does ludicrous damage and wins ~60% of pvp matches. Might be more if I didn't get backstabbed from halfway across the map.

 Enjoy. I actually didn't like the first 8ish hours. After that it blew me away - especially the secret areas.

Oh, sure. I'll throw enough into Dex to make it worthwhile a bit further down the line. But I try to dump most into Strength up front since it's cheap and the ROI is best on that stuff early in the game.

Congrats on finishing it and hooray on a starting a second playthrough. 

Cheers

My brother should get it in the mail today, on his birthday. Looking forward to hearing what he thinks.  

I'm listening to all the talk on Dark Souls 3 this week. First up was the Axe of the Blood God podcast. Seems spells are easier to use this time around. I like that. I heard you can turn a defeated boss's soul into a killer weapon. That sounds cool!

I just tweeted that a mage playthrough is almost impossible due to the broken targeting system and mp bar. It's actually extremely limited in that regard. 

 But yeah. You can turn boss souls into weapons in every game, but this one actually makes the process obvious and really easy early on.

That's annoying. I like mages. 

So do i. Hopefully they patch it out soon.

I'm putting off getting this game until I have cleared up some of my backlog.  I'm currently playing Salt and Sanctuary.  Have you checked that out yet?  It's basically a 2D Souls game with some metroidvania thrown in.  It has bonfire equivalents, currency that has to be taken back from enemies after dying, healing items that refresh after dying or when at a 'bonfire', emphasis on blocking/parrying (or you can go down the magic route), tough but fair enemies, huge bosses, dark atmosphere, etc. It steals so much from the Souls games but still manages to be it's own unique and fun thing.

I would highly recommend it to anyone that likes Dark Souls.  I was unsure about it for the first couple hours (and still don't really like the character design), but once I got the hang of it I was hooked.

Ive heard of it. I think there's someone else around here playing it.  Looks good though.

Played it. Beat it. Loved it. I always thought Dark Souls was essentially a darker  3d castlevania game without jumping, and Salt and Sanctuary feels like the missing link.

I think I'm getting very close to finishing this one up. I'm currently making my way through Archdragon Peak, but I've already gone through the whole Consumed King's Garden and into all of the interesting places connected (I'll be vague for the sake of no spoilers). I've basically put off progress in Lothric Castle until I could finish up all these side areas.

Only thing that makes me sad is that it feels like the shortest one yet, at least on my first play through. I haven't even cracked 30 hours yet and I'm fairly certain I'm approaching end game. Lothric Castle *seems* to be where this whole thing is culminating, but I don't know for certain at this point.

There's definitely stuff I've missed and quest lines that I didn't complete. I'll have to be more careful on NG+ and make sure I knock all that stuff out. All that aside, the game has been amazing. It totally outclasses DS2 and I think it might stand head and shoulders with DS1. There's tons of callbacks to DeS, which was very surprising. Yarger and I have been trying to piece together some of the lore and I have no fucking idea how it all comes together yet when you work in the events of 1 and 2. Clearly the worlds are all linked, but how and via what timelines is totally unclear.

Yeah you're pretty close to finishing. It's definitely better than DS2, but on repeat playthroughs a lot more issues presented themselves than I would like. Some seem to have been patched out like the ludicrous fall damage that forced you to waste estus just to proceed. Others persist though. 

 As much as I love Bloodborne, I wish it would stay out of my Souls. Bloodborne's fast paced combat is great, but part of the reason I fell in love with Dark Souls was because the combat was slow, methodical, and tense. This one is a bit too fast and frantic to truly feel like a Souls game.

 Also, some builds just don't work. With the lock on mechanic probably being the worst in the series, it means a pure ranged build is impossible. I can't be a mage or a pure archer build, and again, one of the reasons I fell in love with Souls was the diversity it offered and that no two playthroughs ever felt the same.

 Idk. I love the game. I love the series. I just have a lot of gripes with it, and I don't think it really matches up to Dark Souls 1, Demon's Souls, or Bloodborne's legacy. I kinda just hope From get to try something new, because that's when the passion seems to really ignite. I especially hope Miyazaki gets to make his Souls-like sci-fi game.

 Although I don't know how you cracked it in 30 hours. It took me 74. I didn't die all that much either, I just went slow and explored every nook and cranny and just absorbed it all.

 Oh... I also played a LOT of the multiplayer. That might have clocked up the runtime.

This is what I was afraid of. I particularly liked the slow pace of the original souls games, and was kind of lukewarm about Bloodborne, although I loved the aesthetic. Somehow mixing souls with bloodborne left me sitting on the sidelines. 

I agree, there's definitely more of an offensive bent to this one, but I do think it's still very defensive, especially when compared to Bloodborne. I think what I liked most was the mix that was provided. In DS1, you largely needed to play completely defensively, bosses included to be successful (with the exception of the DLC section, which was much more offensive). DeS and DS2 were basically the same drill. Bloodborne is basically the opposite.

DS3 feels like a nice mix where you need to really analyze the situation and get an understanding of the enemy before you decide how you're going to approach. I've found myself playing really defensively against some bosses and doing the opposite with others. I guess my one gripe has been the fact that many of the bosses, especially the biggest ones have been pretty gimmicky. That said, some have been really awesome and enjoyable. Pontiff Sulyvahn, Dancer, and Old Demon King come to mind.

In my playthrough I've done some multi. Usually after I finish up a boss, I'll drop my soul sign and help others get through. Done a bit of invading and summoned some dark spirits, but I usually do more multi stuff on my second playthrough. I do feel like pure strength builds kind of break the game. I'm insanely strong and I've got a weapon that now S scales with Strength. It's not quite as bad as DS1 where I barely had to try once I got my Demon's Great Axe totally maxed, but it's still kind of ridiculous. All that being said, I haven't died all that much either and have also explored a ton. I know Yarger wrapped up everything in about 35 hours, so I'm guessing you must've spent more time than you realized on multi.

I haven't tried any alternate builds just yet, but I can see how the game wouldn't favor archers or casters. Some of the changes with FP and stuff seem to be a reaction to DS2 where people totally abused those systems to make ridiculous OP builds. Not sure what my next build will be, but I might do a Pyromancer or something, we'll see.

In any event, I think this one is probably my second favorite behind DS1. I need to play more of Bloodborne to really place that one properly, but I've definitely prefered DS3 to it. DeS and DS2 exist in the same space for me. Didn't like the early part of either of those game and felt they both came alive later in the experience. DS2 after you finish The Lost Bastille and DeS when you hit Tower of Latria. At least as of right now, my preference goes something like this:

1) Dark Souls
2) Dark Souls 3
3) Bloodborne
4) Dark Souls 2 and Demon's Souls

Okay, our orders are way different right now. For me, it's

1) Dark Souls
2) Demon's Souls
3) Bloodborne
4) Dark Souls 3
5) Dark Souls 2.

 I disagree somewhat about the game having a nice mix though. I feel like shields just get you killed in this game and you should really just roll instead. The problem is there are so many enemies in most areas that having a shield up is just a liability because you're going to lose all of your stamina.

 I had a lot more success just playing the game like Bloodborne and two handing a strength weapon with fuck all armour and a steady dodge finger.

 I feel like DS1 is cool all the way through (apart from the Valley of Defilement which can fuck right off. Also, the treck to the last boss is bullshit), and has some of my favourite level design in the series. I am just a sucker for levels with one checkpoint that weave their way back to the start.

  I know I spent a lot of time getting lost in the swamp. I don't think I spent that much time on multiplayer though. I'm guessing you uncovered all the secret areas because you've mentioned 2 and you can't get to one of them without another you haven't mentioned. I did die a lot to a boss that you haven't mentioned and might not be up to - he's optional and one of the best fights in the series, even if the camera is a tougher foe than he (seriously, breaking lock if the camera moves slightly above you is bullshit.)

 With the magic thing, they fixed it in DS2, and all they really had to do is follow that formula.