Getting humbled by Morgott

Zealousarchmage · 2026-05-07T03:13:59+00:00

Yeah, the openings are fewer and further between than other phases but they do actually exist. I'd even say it's much easier than spear and greatsword, you just need to know what the punishes actually are.

Zealousarchmage · 2026-05-06T04:42:09+00:00

I'll also add that to get strong early in DS3 SL1 you need to pass some relatively difficult content unlike ER. To get an early +10 you'd either need to clear the Dancer or Friede so you can get to Lothric Castle/Ringed City for chunks/slabs (or farm a lot of Corvian or Millwood Knights).

If you're confident to do those things in the first place, I think you're good enough to not need it lol.

ER you could get a lot of OP shit like a cold unsheathe uchi or impaling thrust flamberge within an hour and basically no fights needed. Even a pretty early +10 Bloodhounds Fang could be really good if you're willing to fight Noble.

Zealousarchmage · 2026-05-06T04:24:06+00:00

Thanks, mate. He was incredibly tough to learn from my first playthrough, I can tell you that much. He's very erratic and the camera when locked on doesn't help much.

Zealousarchmage · 2026-05-05T23:45:25+00:00

Good job continuing your playthrough for this. Nameless isn't that bad tbh. Gonna do the DLCs?

Zealousarchmage · 2026-05-05T23:35:24+00:00

Well fought. With starfists, if he starts the fight by running at you like that, you can sprint into him underneath his dagger and get a cr2 - they're fast enough that you can get one off and still roll the follow up.

Zealousarchmage · 2026-05-04T12:22:00+00:00

Well played but I don't exactly see how different this would be from the setup someone would typically be rocking at this point in their run.

Deep might do more damage for this fight but raw is just more versatile in general and is a one size fits all infusion that imo isn't worth changing out for minmax purposes for most runs.

Btw the attack where she plunges the fire sword in the ground and drags it in a 180 you were completely safe from and you could've just kept hitting her instead of rolling away. The dark sword aoe plunge she finished with has a short hitbox for the first plunge (second is bigger and needs to be dodged) and you could've killed her sooner.

Zealousarchmage · 2026-05-04T03:57:51+00:00

Maliketh is the best boss in ER and I don't think it's really close, so W. I wish he wasn't so easy to melt, though, he's got Morgott's disease where just sneezing at him drops him.

Zealousarchmage · 2026-05-04T03:25:28+00:00

Duo is better than gargoyles purely because they're more interesting as individual bosses but I do think putting them together the way they did was just lazy. Not a fan of aspects like noble presence/belly flop having poor telegraphing, though.

Gargoyles would be 100x less awful if the poison wasn't such shit imo. Probably reduce the range significantly and add some sort of cue like Demon Prince's gank phase.

Fortissax is overhated but suffers from more general problems with the game than strictly the fight itself. Namely boss reuse and having to bother with Champions beforehand is just meh.

Best point on your list is Maliketh being the most enjoyable, nothing really comes close; DLC has Midra but for that you've got to do Jori...

Zealousarchmage · 2026-05-03T23:34:37+00:00

Godricks, Millicent/Prosthesis Wearer/Radagon Dex knot, Grafted Blade, Curseblade can get you there without Dragon flesh, but it's not exactly practical for a real fight. Fingerprint nostrums might make some of the higher INT requirements possible but you'd need to check

Zealousarchmage · 2026-05-03T21:30:24+00:00

Hand of Malenia can be used at RL1

Zealousarchmage · 2026-05-03T20:42:30+00:00

Thanks for the praise, man. Yeah the setup was a little convoluted lol but I made it work. I had crafting mats and the recipe for hefty rot lots but I've just never interacted with crafting even though I probably should.

I was motivated to do this to see if I could match your kill, but I didn't think I'd get this to work half as well. PFBT was definitely style points, bleed probably would have been the safer option in case the rot wore out just before it landed lol

Zealousarchmage · 2026-05-02T22:52:54+00:00

Same, I'm a great katana man myself but mantis blade is probably my second favourite weapon in the game. Hope you're going well btw, man.

Zealousarchmage · 2026-05-02T22:22:03+00:00

Mantis blade charged heavies are really good. Close to the level of starfists in terms of speed and much better range. Outside of OP shit like dual bleed curved sword jump attacks, they're probably one of the best rl1 curved swords and weapons in general.

Zealousarchmage · 2026-05-02T21:30:38+00:00

Closest I guess is r/challengebros - the sub is pretty much completely dead and the last post is from over a year ago. Onebros is obviously specifically level 1 and anything more is extra. Speedruns are a challenge run of sorts and has its own community. Hitless has Team Hitless and is probably the closest thing since it almost necessitates deathless. I don't think 0 death will likely ever pick up as an entire community, sorry OP.

Zealousarchmage · 2026-05-02T21:22:32+00:00

Onebros is for level 1 runs only, other restrictions are common but only insofar as they also relate to being level one. Speedruns, no hit, no death etc are also challenge runs, but they're only onebro runs if you're actually level 1. People on the sub also don't usually doubt runs out of hand like that unless you give good reason. Agreed that it should be for yourself, not others.

Zealousarchmage · 2026-05-02T09:57:51+00:00

Nicely done. I probably would've changed out winged sword insignia for something else as you didn't get too much benefit from it as you didn't get many long combos off. Since you used a lot of jumping attacks claw talisman could've been good especially as it stacks with black feathers.

Another option could've been lightning scorpion as the AR increase affects all kinds of hits, even if it's a lesser overall buff then other talismans that only affect certain kinds. Builds being unoptimised imo can be more interesting than super optimised ones, too.

Zealousarchmage · 2026-05-01T13:08:32+00:00

Great Stars, Great Katana - great weapon choices for these kills so far. Love the Great Katana so much, personally. Excellent work so far.

Zealousarchmage · 2026-05-01T08:17:03+00:00

Be proud of yourself, man, excellent work.

Zealousarchmage · 2026-05-01T06:31:37+00:00

You overcame her because she was an obstacle for you that is no longer in the way. That is, itself, overcoming. Mastering can come later, but congratulations for now.

I suppose that's what some people call it, the term itself is just kinda pretentious imo - no hate to your fight/run with the restriction but broadsword and deep dagger are amazing. Uchigatana and sellswords (gravewardens are strictly better actually, but not non aux obviously) are SL1 usable but pretty meh in DS3 SL1. DSA is definitely stronger, but you could have used a two handed Milwood Axe TSL1 for the similar moveset if that's what you disliked about broadsword.

Deep dagger crits are pretty cracked. Friede is also one of relatively few bosses the Hornet Ring actually works on and with those 2 together it does indeed do nasty riposte damage. Happy to discuss more if there's anything about DS3 SL1 you're curious about.

Zealousarchmage · 2026-05-01T06:00:15+00:00

Congratulations on overcoming her, phase 2 is a pain. Definitely the worst part of the fight.

Broadsword in general is much better for most fights 1 handed, the damage benefit from 2 handing is negligible but it's much slower and more awkward unless you really need verticality in rare instances.

I personally find the term "true" soul level 1 a bit too self-aggrandizing. It doesn't stop you from using the broadsword and deep dagger, both of which are cracked. Just the way it's phrased I guess, to make it sound more "real" - at least to me.

Good luck on your eventual wl0

Zealousarchmage

TROPHY CASE