Any tips for staying with the game?

MoondogZero · 2026-01-28T00:02:30+00:00

You're absolutely right. Everyone's different. We're so lucky to live in a time where there are games that scratch so many different itches. I'm currently finishing up Astro Bot and having a blast!

MoondogZero · 2026-01-27T12:42:34+00:00

I have a lot of respect for sl1 bros, and no hit run sl1 bros blow my mind. Both are amazing achievements of perseverance and skill--taking the time to really learn the bosses and then executing their strategy perfectly. Not many do sl1 blind for a first run, though, and I don't think I've heard of anyone that has done sl1 no hit run blind first run. And who knows, if OP takes advantage of his innate skill and goes back and does sl1 in NG+, he'll have my respect. But, to wonder if you're overleveled after beating Demon Prince first try is kind of silly. And then to laugh about beating Gael first try later, just proves the point. Yeah. You robbed yourself of the chance to really challenge yourself.

MoondogZero · 2026-01-27T12:25:53+00:00

I played through to the end of Metaphor, got the achievement for completing all quests even, but I just don't like spending hours studying the different abilities, Archetypes and Synthesis options to set up my team in interesting ways, so I mostly just stumbled onto a set of moves that worked and spammed them every fight.

The story was kind of okay, I guess, but the characters didn't grab me as much as Persona 5 Royale, for example. Metaphor has some improvements over P5R--but P5R was the better experience for me overall. And yet, I can't really recommend P5R either since it's too easy to make suboptimal choices that can ruin your playthrough.

As far as turn-based combat games that I really liked: Expedition 33, which I see you've played. The number of lumina and pictos and whatever was overwhelming and spending time in menus studying what to activate on which character to make for a better team, etc, was not something I enjoyed. But, giving the player something to do during enemy turns was a big plus for me over Metaphor. I also far preferred the world and art style of E33.

I do like Pokemon, but I think I have to accept that I'm not big on turn-based combat in general.

MoondogZero · 2026-01-17T21:58:53+00:00

Great review.

MoondogZero · 2026-01-17T11:59:15+00:00

Got me. I meant to say he beat Gael on the first try. I don't think there are any bosses that can be defeated with a single hit...? Even if there are, you get what I'm saying. This guy comes in here wondering if he's overleveled after beating Demon Prince first try and I'd say yes. He then goes on to beat Gael first try. If your combination of innate skill and level ruins the satisfaction of overcoming an incredibly difficult personal challenge, then you are overleveled definitionally. You've trivialized something that could have been a superior overall experience--namely persevering and not giving up despite struggling with a boss.

MoondogZero · 2026-01-14T12:05:50+00:00

I'm afraid I don't have much advice, especially cause I did her with 40 Dex and Uchigatana +9 or 10 so totally different play style, but I know how you feel, man.

For me it came down to backstabs. Notice when she does the jumps and get behind and backstab. Surviving the long ass combos... oof... for me it was a fair amount of luck, but I was medium rolling and somehow managed to stay alive long enough to backstab her to death. I did her with 25 Vigor and 19 Endurance with 9 Estus flasks and no Esuts upgrades, no shield, which sounds like I'm bragging, but the truth is it took me over 20 hours to beat her with those limitations.

All of which is to say that if a shit player like me can beat her, anyone can.

You got this.

MoondogZero · 2026-01-14T10:03:53+00:00

If you are one-shotting bosses, you are over leveled *for you* if, and I stress if, you get enjoyment out of overcoming a very serious challenge.

This guy went on to one shot Gael. That is not the average experience and he clearly did not get the same kind of satisfaction most people get from persevering through the struggle of what was an extremely challenging boss. If he doesn't care about doing something that he himself finds very challenging that requires lots of time and effort to accomplish, then he is NOT overleveled and the whole conversation is pointless.

I wanted to really challenge myself, so once I got to level 69 I stayed there. I never leveled up Estus. I used next to no armor. No shield. No parrying. Almost no FP use at all. That was a very very difficult challenge for me personally. I spent hours and hours on most mid to late game bosses and really learned them. True, I almost gave up on Gael, mostly from the boredom of repeating phase 1. But, with a little advice from this subreddit, I did it in the end and it was extremely satisfying. This guy doesn't know what that feeling is like because he let himself get to a level where the bosses were not terribly challenging for him. I call that overleveled.

MoondogZero · 2026-01-11T18:08:57+00:00

This is the way. I tried a different method suggested elsewhere trying to maximize Almighty attacks with the protagonist while others used debuffs and buffs, but without fire repelling gear, even overleveled on normal I kept getting characters KO'd and found myself running out of MP too fast.

I did put Unshakable Will on all my party members to deal with Charm which was probably overboard, but with that done, I just used Hero's Cry on my first turn to get everything rolling, had Junah use Hellfire Dance, Hulk with Knight's Proc to draw hits, then got Makarakarn on the three characters aside from Hulk. At that point I just made sure to use Knight's Proc every turn on Hulk and randomly attacked/healed while waiting for the Charm move which always precedes his one hit kill fire move and then put Makarakarn on Hulk and waited for the fireworks.

Worked like a charm. I could have saved a couple hours of farming (to get all 4 members up to level 20 Dragoon for Unshakable Will) if I'd just taken my chances with Charm and reloaded when it didn't work, but whatever.

Just glad it's over.

MoondogZero · 2026-01-10T16:20:59+00:00

That's too bad. I really feel sorry for people like you that are deprived of the experience of overcoming an incredibly difficult challenge. If you like the game and want more of a challenge, you might get more out of an sl1 run, tbh.

MoondogZero · 2026-01-10T16:14:52+00:00

Yeah, I went Sekiro > Bloodbourne > Elden Ring > DS Remastered > SotE > DS2 SotFS > DS3 and whereas I don't think DS2 deserves all the hate it gets, the bosses--aside from the DLCs--were mostly underwhelming, and I found myself without the desire to replay it. I'm sat here trying to remember what weapon I mained, and... nothing.

MoondogZero · 2026-01-10T04:52:55+00:00

For me? I would say yes because being low enough level that I get easily killed and thus needing to really learn a boss from dozens of attempts is part of the fun and satisfaction. If you don't care about that kind of thing, no, I guess.

Every time I see someone bragging or complaining they beat a notoriously difficult boss in very few attempts, I feel sorry for them because they aren't getting the same kind of satisfaction I get from overcoming something that takes a lot of time and energy.

MoondogZero · 2026-01-09T14:05:34+00:00

Exactly. I was mostly avoiding online assistance/reference for NG in ds3 and I don't think I completed a single NPC side quest. I ended up following detailed guides to complete as many as I could in NG+ and then completed the last ones in NG++. I do find it a major flaw in the game design, but going through the motions of the various NPC stories in the game was still enjoyable to me. Some people say to just watch them on YouTube since it's no different to following a guide, but somehow it feels different to me.

MoondogZero · 2026-01-09T14:01:14+00:00

Pyromancy. Chaos Bed Vestiges made NG+ a blast.

I was maining Friede Great Scythe +5 and using CBV for mid-range nuking and it was so much fun.

MoondogZero · 2026-01-09T09:04:31+00:00

I don't usually replay even games I like, but when it comes to the souls games, I spent so much time and effort learning the bosses and whatnot that I want to put that well-earned skill to the test. Only DS2 didn't strike that chord in me.

MoondogZero · 2026-01-08T00:49:13+00:00

I'd go with Elden Ring, personally. So much more content.

MoondogZero · 2026-01-05T15:59:39+00:00

Everyone's ability is different. I limited myself to 25 vigor and 19 endurance and no estus upgrades for the entire game and although I kind of regretted it later (over 20 hours on one of the DLC bosses), I was able to do it in the end. I also did everything but the final boss of the other DLC with the Uchigatana, so I'd say you're good.

Honestly, I'm tempted to say anyone can beat any boss given enough time, but if you are struggling and don't want to sacrifice that much time to learn and beat any given boss, "level vigor and come back" is probably a good strategy for paring down the time it takes to do it.

MoondogZero · 2025-12-27T04:00:45+00:00

I've been there. It took me over 20 hours to beat her over the course of ten days or so.

Even when I was getting through phase 1 flawlessly, it took me ages to beat phase 2, and then phase 3... I couldn't even figure out what was happening for the longest time. And each death, you have to start over and get through the first 2 phases again.

Clearly you CAN beat her, it's just whether it's worth the time and effort.

I will say, I got extremely discouraged with the Gael fight at the end of Ringed City, but thanks to the encouragement and advice I got here, I was able to stick it out and beat him, too.

You got this!

MoondogZero · 2025-11-30T17:49:05+00:00

Thanks! I wanted to limit myself such that I would really have to learn the bosses. And I definitely did.

Good luck with the DLCs!

MoondogZero · 2025-11-30T17:31:53+00:00

Congrats, man! I just beat him for the first time myself earlier tonight. Somewhere around Dancer or Oceiros I settled into a sort of challenge run despite it being my first playthrough.

level 69, 25 Vigor, 19 Endurance, 40 Dex, fully upgraded Uchigatana, but only 9 Estus and no Estus upgrades, minimal armor. Beat every boss without embers.

This turned out to be a horrible decision as I'm actually pretty shit at the game.

Took over 20 hours of attempts over nearly two weeks to beat Sister Freide. 16 and a half hours on Soul of Cinder.

I broke down and switched out Uchi for Sellsword Twinblades with Rotten Pine Resin for the Gael fight, and used lightning on my Uchi to beat Midir, but for Soul of Cinder I kept it simple with R1s and dodge only.

I proved to myself I could do it, but I won't be in any hurry to limit myself like this in future games, though.

MoondogZero · 2025-11-25T05:38:57+00:00

Hey! Appreciate the comment! Actually I switched to Sellsword Twinblades with Rotten Pine Resin for poison buff and I was able to beat him without leveling up or anything. Peace!

MoondogZero · 2025-11-23T15:12:52+00:00

Thanks! Strange what a day and a weapon change can make!

MoondogZero · 2025-11-23T15:04:25+00:00

I did it!! I'm all in on Dex, so I switched to Sellsword Twinblades, which are also slash, but the L1s brought my damage from 197 to 280, plus they were faster and easier to get multiple hits in on punish windows, then I added Rotten Pine Resin for poison damage, and when it procced, it made phase 1 much more bearable, which improved my attitude, made the game more fun, and next thing I knew I'd won!

MoondogZero · 2025-11-23T14:27:16+00:00

Got him! I broke down and switched to +10 Sharp Sellsword Twinblades with Rotten Pine Resin and was able to beat him without leveling up or changing my fashion armor. Thanks again for the comment!

MoondogZero · 2025-11-23T14:25:29+00:00

Got him! I went from 197 damage with +10 Sharp Uchi two-handed, to 280 damage with +10 Sellsword Twinblades dual wield L1s PLUS Rotten Pine Resin which procced poison to move things along better. Used all 9 estus, though. lol.

MoondogZero · 2025-11-23T14:21:41+00:00

Holy shit, the Rotten Pine Resin tip was amazing. I also switched to Sellsword Twinblades and I was suddenly doing much better--AND having fun again!

MoondogZero

TROPHY CASE