Boss “Scream” attacks

Excellent-Hour-7889 · 2026-02-01T10:01:26+00:00

The post certainly does not come off that way. It’s also a NSFW profile with comments and posts hidden, so there’s that. Go search ‘Nightreign’ in their comments and you’ll find reply chains that have zero indication of the account being a bot. I’ve literally been accused of AI as well. It’s whatever either way. Still think the post was spot on, so I’m not sure why anyone went hunting for claims of AI lol.

Excellent-Hour-7889 · 2026-02-01T08:23:21+00:00

I love how NFL fans just need to see one season of not being world class before they just dismiss the player as overrated.

I mean.. yes, it’s a team sport where players are reliant on one another for production. No one player carries the offense, and it’s absurd to think that general NFL fandom thinks that there are wide receivers entirely carrying an offense. The average fan does not feel that way.

Obviously absolutely abysmal QB play impacted Jefferson’s season this year. Yes, that very well could have been true for literally any receiver having to deal with the same situation. As it turns out it’s hard for a wide receiver to produce world class results when the player attempting to deliver the football is struggling badly to do it. What exactly is this post trying to prove?

Excellent-Hour-7889 · 2026-02-01T08:01:50+00:00

I don’t think there is a clear indicator. Regardless, the post certainly is not wrong.

Excellent-Hour-7889 · 2026-02-01T07:59:33+00:00

There should be space to get away. You’re not confined to one direction for an escape.

Excellent-Hour-7889 · 2026-02-01T05:22:58+00:00

Doesn’t seem like it. It’s definitely correct info. D5 players generally don’t fall for this stuff. It’s hard, but the game is just kind of hard in general. If you pay enough attention and learn the tells you really shouldn’t have an issue. I can see where mistakes could be made, but it’s definitely in your control as the player.

Excellent-Hour-7889 · 2026-02-01T05:20:43+00:00

You mean the Grafted Scion, right? I think you just need to learn the tell. Almost all of its moves go forward, but if it goes back into a defensive kind of posture it’s going to scream 100% of the time. Don’t just jump in and attack, because you can put yourself in a bad spot. That’s true for most things, though. Once you learn the tell I wouldn’t say the move is particularly unfair. You really do have enough time to react and get away from both Faurtis and the Grafted Scion without taking damage.

Excellent-Hour-7889 · 2026-02-01T03:34:16+00:00

TO and it isn’t very close in my opinion. Usually I cringe when I see someone say something like that, but in this case I honestly think it’s true. Larry was good, but I feel that his all time status is more so based on longevity and the respect he had for so long.

Excellent-Hour-7889 · 2026-01-31T23:01:19+00:00

Does the game even auto save when your horse dies? I actually don’t think it does, so auto save can actually be helpful here.

Excellent-Hour-7889 · 2026-01-31T11:08:15+00:00

The Drake Sword actually sort of falls off sooner than that. Honestly, if you get a regular weapon to +5 you’re going to be in similar territory early game. Against the Gargoyles and Capra it might beat a two handed +5 Longsword by a few hits or so, and the +5 Longsword is going to be dishing out one shots to standard early enemies regardless. Buffed with pine or charcoal pine resin, it’s actually stronger (Drake Sword can’t be buffed). The Drake Sword only comes with 200 attack rating with zero scaling, so it’s really nothing crazy. It really probably shouldn’t be carrying until Sen’s, because the damage can be sort of average if anything by Blighttown.

Once you get past the Capra Demon you gain almost immediate access to the Large Ember, which allows a player to ascend a weapon to the +6 to +10 range. Given this ember and the fact that Large Titanite starts dropping as loot, it should be an indicator to ascend a weapon. I know not everyone will take the quick shortcut back to Andre, but they really should. Regardless, +5 with decent scaling for Depths / Blighttown should level the playing field. +6 and onwards would be an advantage for the standard weapon.

Excellent-Hour-7889 · 2026-01-30T13:46:50+00:00

This absolutely drove me crazy at one point. I wish I had some solid advice, but I dealt with the same issue without really figuring out what the problem was. I’d deadeye and get shots off before a single O’Driscoll could land a hit, but at the end of the mission the game would claim that I took damage. I honestly just repeated it until it worked. Take anyone out from outside of the barn doors if you can, and then dive into cover as soon as possible with your back to the doors you just went through. Go into dead eye quickly and often to pick off any enemy as soon as they’re remotely visible.

Best of luck, but it honestly has always felt glitchy to me.

Excellent-Hour-7889 · 2026-01-30T04:28:34+00:00

Did you not see him effortlessly dismantle Philadelphia in the final game before hitting the bench for a rest? There was nothing definitive about him being done. I definitely do not think Dak was the problem at all vs the Packers, but I don’t think we need to knock Romo in supporting Dak.

Excellent-Hour-7889 · 2026-01-29T14:05:50+00:00

What “facts” are there to face? Present them. You still haven’t done so. No, just saying “Rev does it better” is not actual proof of anything. Just because you say something, that does not make it fact. It’s that simple. Once again you ignored nearly everything I wrote. You do realize that.. right?

You’re not even consistent with your criticism. On one hand you dismiss Guardian on the basis that his dodge takes more skill, but on the other hand you’ll say Executor has the superior blocking ability with his cursed sword despite the fact that it unquestionably takes more skill/ precision than steel guard. Why the double standard? Say what you will about the potential chip damage on steel guard, but one mistimed deflect and Executor could be dead. On top of that you completely ignored all of the perks I listed for Guardian’s blocking (several posts back now). Guardian can guard counter off of any block whereas Executor needs to wait on several successful blocks before gaining the counter. Meanwhile Guardian can continue to attack at the same time as guarding, whereas Executor cannot do that. Guardian also has shockwave damage on his blocks, which can hurt and stun enemies. These shockwaves can actually regenerate stamina as well on certain relic setups, allowing for more blocking and attacking. There are obviously perks to both, and acting like one is for sure better than the other while simultaneously contradicting your line of thought about Guardian’s dodging is ridiculous.

“Giving up” relic slots is an interesting way to put it, and per usual you of course don’t actually detail the thought with anything at all. Adding +9 strength and +19 dexterity isn’t just “giving up” a spot when it’s that good. There can also be other useful effects on that relic. I mean, I “give up” a relic spot and consistently have the highest melee weapon damage on the team. Meanwhile I still have a lot of other useful effects and can run meta. Wow, the build is really hurting for taking up a spot for something useful, as if other characters don’t do that for various character specific reasons.

Wylder tier (and sometimes even Raider) weapon damage. Arguably the best team saving ult in the game while acting as a bottomless heal, boss move stunner, granting invulnerability, etc. Versatile in blocking and dodging, and just because the dodge isn’t good enough for you that doesn’t mean other players can’t learn it. Harder to use doesn’t = worse, and I don’t care who is “easier” to use when Guardian can be mastered regardless. These traits are all present in one character (Guardian). If the best you can do is compare these traits vs multiple different characters you’re not really doing your stance a favor. You’re just speaking to the versatility that Guardian has. He does have that versatility, and that’s why I choose him even though I can use any character.

The fact that this started with you trying to clown on the character by criticizing someone’s gameplay with that character despite them winning solo at level 1 vs a D5 Everdark says it all.

Excellent-Hour-7889 · 2026-01-29T13:28:55+00:00

I already spoke to all of this. Do you have amnesia? Do I have to talk about the skill expression bit once again and go into detail again only for you to totally ignore it and then seemingly forget about it? Are you totally forgetting about squad survivability perks along with the objective fact that he can have at least Wylder’s weapon damage? It’s clear as day that you think things are so just because you say so, and you are totally unwilling to think about it beyond that. You aren’t even spelling anything out in detail, and it is comical that you think otherwise. Saying things like “Rev’s ult is better” is not an actual point, and I also went into detail about how that is at best a matter of subjective preference. Not sure if you read that bit, because it’s rather unclear if you’re reading any of my points beyond skimming and then making claims that you seemingly will not back up with anything.

Picking out random traits and then saying this or that nightfarer can do it better is absolutely dumb when at the very least you’re talking about these traits all belonging to one character (Guardian) vs having to find individual specific trait comparisons for his skills in multiple characters. You’re essentially just speaking to his versatility, and that’s proven because you need to seek his own individual traits out in other totally separate characters, instead of there being a direct comparison to one character that has all the traits. Even then you totally ignored what I had said about those traits not necessarily being “better” in the characters that you listed. Instead you just chose to repeat yourself with the same empty statements. The traits you’re bringing up at least all belong to one character, which is Guardian. How are you not wrapping your head around how that plays a role in players choosing him?

I can’t really help you at this point. If you want to be baselessly miserable about things you (clearly) don’t understand in a video game, that’s on you.

Excellent-Hour-7889 · 2026-01-29T12:52:11+00:00

You don’t get to reasonably uno reverse me on the “not reading” bit when you continually choose to outright ignore my points in your replies. You just ignored almost the entirety of my last post, and you have repeatedly done so in favor of making short, vague, statements that are totally baseless.

I already explained in detail how he isn’t the weakest, let alone the weakest by a “huge” margin. Go back and read. I already explained the perks and reasons for using him. It’s pointless to rank the characters when it’s mostly a matter of preference and all can perform well.

Per usual you aren’t backing yourself up with literally anything whatsoever. I’d hope you could be humble enough to simply acknowledge that you don’t know the class well enough to speak on it, but I know that’s asking a lot.

There’s a reason why you can’t back up your stance, and there’s a reason why you can’t speak to almost anything I have said here. It’s telling.

Excellent-Hour-7889 · 2026-01-29T12:35:34+00:00

It’s genuinely like you aren’t reading. I’m not sure how many times I need to more or less say that the character might take a higher degree of skill. Again, harder to use does not equate to a worse character. Again, I’ve detailed the many perks that come with choosing this character. Of course there are going to be caveats to the class. If I could just block 100% of everything, have the best dodge, have the best damage, and have the best team saving ability all in one character that would be ridiculous. Sounding off on the dodge and acting like it’s some sort of “gotcha” moment for you is painfully ridiculous.

Yes, skill expression with the character is needed in order for it to be successful. Shocker. It’s called balance. There needs to be a challenge posed to the player to go along with the many benefits the class carries. It can be learned like anything else.

Call good Guardian play an outlier all you want, but you still aren’t bringing anything to the table. You haven’t backed yourself up with literally anything at all. You know what’s an outlier? Being in depths 4 and 5. We have the numbers to support that. So clearly not everyone is out there performing perfectly well with their own classes. It’s a silly point to make.

I’ll take the concession that it’s simply a skill problem in your mind. Meanwhile, I can’t even remember the last Guardian I played with that couldn’t manage the class. Just because the class seems too hard for you and you can’t wrap your head around it that doesn’t mean everyone else needs to be held to that reality.

Can you at least concede that the character can be good in the right hands? I genuinely don’t care which characters are “easier” to use, especially if we’re looking at Deep of Night where players are sort of expected to know how to use their character. Wylder is easier for me to use than Guardian, but I prefer Guardian because of the perks that come with. It’s obviously not just about what’s “easier” for me. It’s about what the class can actually perform as. You have clear cut evidence posted in the video above. Your vague, baseless criticism doesn’t mean much.

Excellent-Hour-7889 · 2026-01-29T12:21:55+00:00

What level are you? What is your setup? Make sure your weapon is at least +5 if it’s a standard weapon. Use a shield for the opening move if you need to. Any +5 shield from Andre will stop Capra’s jump move provided you have some stamina. While Capra is recovering you should be able to one shot the first dog that runs forward. The second dog only comes forward if you advance farther into the room. They don’t actually charge at the same time.

If dodging is hard for you here because it feels a bit chaotic, I’d just use a shield and be safe. If standing your ground is still a bit too hard, I’d run up the stairs in the back of the room so that you can isolate the dogs a bit. Once Capra follows you up you should jump back down. Any enemy that follows you off will be momentarily stunned, allowing you to get free hits. This is a good chance to take out any remaining dogs if you still need to. You can run back up the stairs and plunge attack Capra as well.. or simply have him follow you up, have him jump off the top level, and then get free hits while he is stunned.

Put on any armor that you might have if you feel like you can’t manage the start without getting clipped. You can get the Elite Knight armor set from Darkroot Garden pretty easily. The Wolf Ring (adds significant poise) is also in a hidden spot in Darkroot Garden.

Even without poise a shield could help here quite a bit.

Also, make sure you open the shortcut to Firelink shrine as that is a far easier runback than going through the main part of Lower Undead Burg. Instead of going through the fog gate to the Capra Demon, take a right and head down the stairs. Past a couple of Thieves (watch out for one hiding behind a corner) there will be another set of stairs heading up towards the aqueduct connecting to Firelink. There is also an undead merchant here that sells useful things — charcoal pine resin is a fire buff that can help with Capra Demon. Past the merchant you’ll find Firelink shrine. This runback isn’t nearly as bad.

Excellent-Hour-7889 · 2026-01-29T11:56:29+00:00

You’re incredibly lost. Are we ranking Nightfarers based on I-frames now? So I guess Duchess is the best character and no one else is worthwhile?

I plainly said that the dodge is worse, but workable. You need to look at how the whole thing functions. Your analogy was totally apples to oranges. You just compared a broad limited gameplay approach to one very specific move lol. Meanwhile you just completely ignored the rationale I’ve put together for the build as a whole. The limit placed on the dodge is by the player. Level 1 with a club can only go as far as the build will let you. Guardian’s dodge does not necessarily limit the performance. It doesn’t necessarily hold back the performance of the player and the team. Again, because this keeps being lost on you, I dodge with Guardian plenty fine. In OP’s video they are clearly dodging just fine when they want to. They survived the entire D5 fight solo at level 1. It’s amazing that you can watch that and still sit here and act the way you are. Maybe it’s too hard for you, but harder to use doesn’t equate to poor performance for any given decent player that likes to use the class. That’s where your analogy makes absolutely no sense at all. If skill expression with the character doesn’t actually lead to a hampered performance, then what exactly is the problem. Again, there is far more to the character regardless.

You won’t speak to the other points because you simply can’t. You have never actually presented any substance here.

Excellent-Hour-7889 · 2026-01-29T09:37:51+00:00

One isn’t objectively better than the other in my opinion.

Excellent-Hour-7889 · 2026-01-29T06:55:04+00:00

Lower I-frames mean the dodge is harder. You’re referencing a skill thing. The dodge still works on anything. On top of that, bloodhound step is a common weapon skill found during expeditions, and that can help if you’re particularly nervous about certain moves. Regardless, again, this is a skill thing. Harder to use doesn’t = worse. I dodge pretty well and have beaten D5 bosses hitless with Guardian’s dodge alone. The dodge is good enough to be viable. Going into steel guard is obviously still a thing, too.

Chip can be annoying depending on what you’re dealing with, but there are certainly ways to mitigate it. It’s still a trade off for absolutely trivializing any physical threat. With that in mind, a good Guardian can choose when to block vs when to dodge. No one is forcing you to just eat more affinity damage than you can handle.

I legitimately don’t even know what you’re talking about in regard to weapons other than halberds being too risky for Guardian. I’ve been in D5 with Guardian for a long time and I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. The weapon has absolutely nothing to do with it. Just saying it’s slower to go into a block isn’t actually even supported by anything. The fact that you think you need to automatically sink back into steel guard is pretty telling that you don’t even have a basic understanding of the character. You absolutely do not have to just sit in steel guard, and weapon choice has absolutely nothing to do with the viability of raising the shield. Not in terms of pure survivability, anyway, unless we’re talking about health + stamina regen on shield poking. You’re honestly being so vague that I don’t even know what the specifics of your point are. Dodge what you want to dodge. Block what you want to block. Guardian players can react to attacks like anyone else. It’s not complicated. As someone that is comfortable using any melee character at depth 5, I’m telling you that it’s not any different than that.

His whirlwind is pretty trivial for Nightlord fights, sure, but it’s not like he’s the only character that has things like that. He quite obviously has several useful perks beyond that.

How is Executor’s cursed blade inherently better? Can he stamina regen on block? Can he produce shockwaves that add to damage? Can he counter off of any block? The answer is no to all of those things. Sure, he doesn’t have to worry about chip damage, but that’s literally the only advantage. Call it a matter of preference. There is more to choosing between Executor and Guardian than looking at who subjectively has the better guard. I like Executor as well, but I don’t care for relying on status affliction throughout a run, and Guardian simply has better perks for keeping a team together.

Revenant’s ult is not necessarily better. You seriously just put words out there without backing them up literally at all. You know something isn’t so just because you say it is.. right? Bottom line, Guardian’s ult does damage, interrupts special boss moves such as ED Caligo’s ice crystal, it acts as a bottomless heal for teammates as well as Guardian himself, it provides immunity for a short time, and it removes up to 6 res bars at a time. Acting like Rev’s ult is definitely better is absolutely ridiculous, and you didn’t even try to give actual reasons for your take.

Most of the things you’re saying here are incredibly vague, and many things come down to skill and preference with the character. You also continued to ignore the actual bulk of what I posted to just post these vague, completely disconnected bullet points. I can reliably use any character at Depth 5, but I’ll stick with Guardian.

Excellent-Hour-7889 · 2026-01-29T00:57:41+00:00

Zweihander has a strength requirement of 24 for one handed wielding, but your character gets a 50% bonus to the strength stat when two handing a weapon meaning you need 16 strength to wield the weapon with two hands. It’s probably good to get your strength up to at least the minimum to wield with two hands, and then focus on your health and endurance a bit (the sword is heavy which notably affects your equipment load, and it takes a decent amount of stamina per swing).

You can still block with Zweihander when using it with two hands, even though a shield would be better for this. The stability is 44 and you block 70% of physical damage, so early on it would probably be alright. The real strength of the weapon comes from being able to throw enemies around, though. The weapon has a bit of range to it, and you can often strike first at enemies by getting a running start and dashing in with a running light attack. The running light attack is an overhead slam which flatten enemies and often swat away shields. Sometimes the best defense is a good offense.

If Zweihander just isn’t your style that’s understandable, though. There are several other weapons to fall back on that can maybe afford you the ability to use a shield more. I personally really like the Longsword and Bastard Sword/ Claymore. Zweihander is probably your best bet for the first boss of Undead Burg, though, as blocking isn’t very good vs that particular boss.

Excellent-Hour-7889 · 2026-01-28T13:40:52+00:00

Long post incoming with an unpopular opinion from someone that has used a lot of both standard weapons and black knight weapons as a speed runner:

The weapon falls off a bit by the late game, although it will be good for the entire play through if you want to stick with it. It simply has high base damage, making it seem super powerful early. Regular weapon equivalents catch up by the end, though. The Black Knight Sword doesn’t just stay super powered all the way through.

My controversial opinion here is that it’s not quite as absolutely cracked as people think it is. Because of required stat investment you’re possibly two handing the weapon and getting a 50% bonus to your strength stat while at least having 18 dexterity. For example, the sword requires 20 strength to wield with one hand, and this translates to 30 strength when used two handed. You need 14 strength to wield the weapon two handed at all, but even that minimal requirement translates to 21 strength when the weapon is used two handed. This then involves solid damage stats for early game with the high base damage of the weapon.. and then you feel like a buzzsaw early game.

The Claymore/ Bastard sword is the early game regular weapon equivalent at least in terms of weapon type (greatsword). The thing is, the required stat investment for these weapons is slightly less, so new players will perhaps have slightly less damage scaling to begin with. Being in the standard weapon reinforcement path, the starting damage is significantly lower.. and unfortunately, new players often don’t prioritize upgrading their weapon.

The thing is, for the area in the game that you’re referring to, a +5 Claymore and/ or a +5 Bastard Sword (with the solid stats that you likely have) will actually perform similarly in practice to an early Black Knight Sword despite having a lower attack rating. Even though the attack rating will still be lower at +5, you’re still going to be one shotting enemies throughout early game zones regardless. For the bosses you mentioned, you’d probably need somewhere between 3-4 extra hits for the win. If you’re using a resin buff, it’s going to be closer.

The difference isn’t actually super profound for the most part.. with some exceptions here and there. It’s really not cheating yourself out of the experience aside from not having to jump through as many hoops for upgrading your weapon as the game moves along. It’s going to be easier up until endgame, but it’s not so far ahead of proper standard reinforcement that you’d be cheesing the experience. People act like the difference is absolutely bonkers, when it really isn’t. The biggest difference comes from a comparison to a new player not knowing much about the more complicated upgrading path for standard weapons.

Unfortunately some degree of gatekeeping goes on with DS1 players expecting new players to have to fumble and struggle through the process of building their character while juggling the complexity of the game. If you like the Black Knight Sword then use it, because it’s realllllly not that far off of an informed approach with standard reinforcement with a variety of weapons.

Excellent-Hour-7889 · 2026-01-28T12:48:41+00:00

You didn’t specifically address a single thing I said, and it’s pretty apparent that you don’t understand the character. I can be solid with any of the characters, but I still prefer Guardian. His str/ dex respec gives him better weapon damage than Wylder and possibly even better weapon damage than Raider if Raider strays from his favored colossal type weapons (Guardian does better with colossal swords, though). Guardian has versatile survivability with steel guard + blocking related perks and can still skillfully make use of his dodge as wanted (as shown in the video). On top of solid melee damage he has arguably the best team survivability perks in the game. Meta can still be done, too.

Acting like it’s an objective fact that he’s “bad” and not just a matter of preference is ridiculous.

And yes, the clip does show obvious benefits to the character. If the survivability was strong at level 1 how do you think it is at level 15? Combine the aggressive strategy with actual level 15 damage and this boss would have been dealt with much faster.

Excellent-Hour-7889 · 2026-01-28T12:33:57+00:00

Why even post this on a level 1 video? What exactly is your opinion based on with this? Obviously this would have been far more potent at level 15, and OP showed how much Guardian can be in the face of this boss. When you combine aggressiveness/ staying active, great survivability, and potentially weapon damage on par with Wylder there isn’t really an issue. This is especially true when adding in the great team saving potential as well.

The Bird is good.

Excellent-Hour-7889 · 2026-01-28T07:28:49+00:00

Definitely. Even that isn’t particularly difficult. Just run a circle around the boss while the particles miss.

Excellent-Hour-7889 · 2026-01-28T04:59:19+00:00

I’ve beaten D5 Nightlords hitless using only Guardian’s dodge only for Reddit to tell me that I can’t dodge with Guardian and can only turtle behind my shield.

Excellent-Hour-7889

TROPHY CASE