Has this been patched yet so that it's worth a pirate? Or is it still crashing alot?

PvE is alright, no poise is shit, build variety is shit, PvP is shit, NG+ is shit.

Their patches have just been random spazzing about with regards to balance, nothing else.

I had no problem with crashes on my game. Could be CPU focused, I tend to make up for 660Ti with my i7 it seems.

I'd say its worth a play. First time around is great, but following playthroughs not so much.

This is Holla Forums, everything is shit in everything anyway.

A sensible assumption but this time it's true. The nopoise gameplay leads to all the other issues except NG+ I mentioned.

Better than DS2 but worse than every other game never played bb so I can't compare it to that

Just waiting for the DLC to be better than the main game.

Fuck off, newfag.

I've nearly finished it and I'm still on 1.03 and haven't had any crashes. You can get a cheat engine fix for the poise issue.

Even PvE can become quite dull when magic is weak and STR builds pale in comparison to DEX/Quality builds because R1 spam with straight/curved/thrust swords can keep enemies stunlocked much more efficiently and because the overall pacing is so fast, it feels like it's impossible to land a hit on some bosses with some weapons unless you bait one or two specific attacks or else you're getting smacked back midway through your attack.
And stat investment heavily punishes players who want to roll out in heavy armor so anyone who wants a cosplay build of Eygon or Smough and stay in the 120 range will be a anemic mess with a massive investment in Vitality plus rings. Luckily there's re-spec.

PvP can drag for centuries if one part "decides" to chug as everyone plays a quick roll build and Estus heals very quickly (I swear some motherfuckers would suck a horse's dick if Estus came out of it); and that's not even accounting the gang bangs which are the vast majority of PvP encounters. That said, it can be fun in places like the Faithfuls turf if you have a Reds, Blues, Purples and Faithfuls battle royale.

All in all, I dare say the DLC has a lot to improve. It's not impossible given Bloodborne's DLC fixed practically every major issue it had (lack of weapons and build variety) but I dare say there's a lot to do.

Anyway, during my break, a corny idea occurred to me - make a build based of Imlerith, one of the villains from Witcher 3 as, my bitching aside, I've always had a STR build in these games.
Alternatively, are the Irithyll Straight Swords any good? I was thinking maybe I could make a Luck build with them to make use of the Frostbite effect but I don't know if that would even work.

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Imageboards are very serious business, user. There's no time for shitposting.
And also summerfag paranoia.

Sure thing, "oldfag".

That's a good way to get parried user.

In summary yes however there are things DS3 does better than all the others that are over shadowed by those flaws. The movesets for the scythe, murakumo and the great axes are the best in the series and while dual wielding is a step back in terms of mix up, the simplified, quick response and unique moveset to them is a great addition.

Do enemies consistenly parry in PvE now?

My point is that in PvE, R1 spam with dex weapons makes the game such a breeze, every other build pales in comparison. Few humanoid enemies can consistently break free of it, besides Black and Lothric knights.

But in, PvP, yeah, I paid the price for swinging with reckless abandon. I dare say that's another issue, as parrying seems to be a lot easier to do (compared to DaS2, at least), PvP usually devolves into constant circling and waiting for the other guy to make the first move and, with Hornet ring, it's a OHKO (which can be a mercy given how fights can stretch out sometimes).

Some may argue the Great Scythe was at its best in DaS1. I like using it in 3 but it does feel stronger in 1. That said, the Burial Blade in BB is my favorite in the series (if you accept BB as part of it; if not, I'll say the Lifehunt Scythe) for the fun factor alone.

Bloodborne has the unfair advantage of the weapons being able to transform and the combat is very specifically designed for it to be quick and in your face. What makes me laugh about Bloodborne though is that the hand to hand fist moveset is better than some weapons in the Souls series. As for the DS1 moveset for the scythe it always felt to me anyway clunky and unfun.

I actually really enjoyed it. But everyone here hates video games that aren't 20 years old so I believe I'm in the minority.

Well that's sort of the point of DaS compared to the other games, it's heavier. The way the Great Scythe, and other halberds, made you stagger forward if you whiffed an attack gave it a great feeling, and it's why it was my weapon of choice in that game. The scythe in DaS3 by comparison feels like swinging a toothpick.

Still prefer the Burial Blade because of the expanded moveset, knockdown charge attack and sweet transformation animation, but the Great Scythe in Dark Souls absolutely has its merits.

DS2 is funner than 3 and 2 actually has replayability. It also has a functioning ng+ that's not shit and actual weapon variety and a lot of options for builds and cosplays. Even with its broken covenant system its still better than 3s PvP and 2 has bell keepers relevant and alive most of the game compared to 3s covenants that are lvl dependent or shit.

I find it hilarious anyone is stupid enough to think 3 is better than 2. 1 is better than 2 but 3 is dogshit. There's a reason barely anyone is playing DS3 anymore.

2 and 3 are okay, on the same level for me.
Demon,1 and Blood are amazing though.

Not for me and I think DS2 went too far with the clunky movesets.

The other thing I really hate with DS3 now is that you take damage when using a spear behind a shield. It kind of defeats the purpose of using a spear as a tactic, made it kinda useless. If they brought over the shield bash from DS2 and made poise work as it did originally then the combat becomes a rock paper scissors scenario.

Yeah Burial Blade is the best scythe by a wide margin but Bloodborne is a different beast of a game and so the weapons have to be. If the Burial Blade was in DS3 alone it would be a god tier weapon.

Pretty visuals and pretty movesets don't make up for poor gameplay, poor variety, poor mechanics and poor performance. If graphics as what you care about go play the Order or a walking simulator.

Dont tell him. Its like explaining things to a shill. Let them act like an outsider all the time they're here so you can spot em easy.

Its because most newer games opt for visuals over mechanics, world building, and fun.

How? At least in 2 like 1 you can replay and try over a dozen different types of weapons or be challenged in ng+. Its PvP is also not stale as fuck and fucked by estus spam and gangbangs. 3 is good for nothing but a single pve playthrough. I don't even see how people like it. Its fucking shit. Even the story is dull compared to its predecessors.

The only thing DS2 has an advantage combat wise over DS3 is weapon variety. The rest sucks because animations are slow and the game has dogshit hit boxes.

Really. So that must mean Lords of the Fallen has the best Souls like combat ever.

They fixed that without mentioning in patch notes. (or without mentioning it in english patch notes, lazy fags.)

Weapons variety AND power stances. The fact that a dual greatshield build is not only viable but actually good too is pretty rad.

Bad grammar aside, I agree with you. I played through a couple characters on DaS 3, but now I can't even stomach to look at it. They were great experiences don't get me wrong, but I just have no desire to start up another run whatsoever.

DaS 2 on the other hand, I've recently gone back to. Yes grafix are still last gen/subpar, yes the bosses are lazily designed, yes the first half hour is infuriating until you get 100 AGL, but I'm still having fun with it even to this day. The same applies for DeS and DaS(although a little less for DaS since I put the most time into it of the four games), in that I regularly come back for runs every few months and still have fun.

DaS 3 wasn't so much a disappointment as it was just, well, underwhelming. Fanservice out the ass where there could have been substance.

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I've already said earlier that DS3 dual wielding is a step back from DS2, but also said it has some advantages. It's not all doom and gloom.

If you want fast animation go play bloodborne. Fighting in armor and using heavy weapons is supposed to be slow. Its why demon souls and dark souls had it this way till now

And it wasn't just weapon variety. Magic is viable in 2 it's not viable in 3 , its shit. Heavy armor sucks in 3 but has use due to poise in 2 as well as good damage reduction and shield are useful In 2 as well whereas in 3 just about anything will break through forcing dodging as your only true option in PvP and pve. Then there estus healing slowly forcing people to think about drinking in 2 compared to 3s chugfest that makes PvP drag on forever. There's the fact that you don't get gangbanged 3 to 1 in 2 as much as 3. And there's an actual useable PvP area in 2 compared to 3s watchdogs being dead by 40. And Aldrich dead by like 100 or under 80.

Then there's ng+ that changes how 2 works and makes enemies actually stronger and harder and gives new shit in ng+ compared to 3 having slightly stronger enemies and stronger rings. Wow. Stronger rings.

DS3 is good for one play through. 1. Its PvP is shit, its pve past ng is shit. Its replayability due to so few weapons and build options is shit. And due to how shit boss weapons are and upgrading weapons usually people stick to a starting weapon cause sunken cost fallacy.

DS3 is the worst entry in the series. Bar none.

The only way this series is twenty years old is if you count all the way back to King's Field, and an overwhelming majority of Souls fans haven't played those games.

I'm not even sure about that one, DaS3 isn't nearly as pretty to look at as the previous games to me

Is it under that mysterious "various other fixes" bullet point in every patch note? All I know is that on release the game ran so damn poorly on my 750Ti that I went out and got the PS4 version instead, that's pretty fucking awful.

Eh, I consider funner a decent enough word though I get what you mean, it holds the same type of connotation as more better to some people.

I feel the same way about 1 and 2 DS. I can keep playing them to this day but 3, I can't even bear to play it anymore. Its dreadfully dull to me. If I wanted to play Bloodborne I'd have bought it.

Majority of your points are from a PvP perspective. The series is primarily a PvE game.

And no magic isn't viable in DS2. Magic has only ever been viable in Demon's Souls. Magic has been constantly degraded in every successive game that it's suplementary to hand weapons.

By no means am I saying DS3 is bad, I love the pace of the combat, if nothing else. I just wish they'd taken a few pointers from DS2 when it comes to weapons and how they handle.
At least Weapon Arts are pretty fun to muck around with. Shame they nerfed the simple infusion 'exploit', so you have to play properly now. I'll always miss just co-op wrecking any boss by spamming the Lightning Slam with DSlayer Axe

Personally I think FromSoft hasn't got a clue when it comes to casting spells. the Focus Points bar should have behaved like the stamina bar with with casting speed linked to attunement rather than dex. Builds would be far more interesting PvE and PvP wise.

Hahaha, really nigger?
Really? You really dont think you can beat the game as a mage easily in 2? Hahajaha. Holy shit. Hahaha.
Magic makes the game almost too easy till ng+ and velstadt. You can pretty much range anything. And do massive damage. Magic is the shit in 2. Magic is unviable as shit in 3 due to an 8 yard range , random untargetting and poor damage scaling. Magic is great in 2. Especially dark magic. I'm starting to think you never even played DS2.

Oh and poise doesn't just effect PvP. It affects pve, as enemies in ds3 get hyper armor if you hit too much making shit like daggers , whips , caestus , and small fast shit that relies on staggering a lot unviable in 3. And since anything makes you flinch in all armors in 3, Big ass weapons are unviable too, shit like great swords and hyper great swords.

Hell I just remembered 2 had an arena too for fast pvp. Compare that to 3s already dying pvp.

Oh and ng+ is also a major pve point. Hell its one of the biggest draws of the game. The fact ng+ is miles ahead in 2 compared to 3 is a massive red flag for 3.

For some reason, Magic is balanced as a totally secondary source of damage, a mage of the same SL as any melee build will always get out-DPS'd by the melee build, especially since the lock-on range in 3 is absolute garbage. And Pyromancy's damage is pretty much worthless, it's more like a secondary option for Miracle or Sorcery builds now, which is a shame.

The saving grace of the Dragonslayer Greataxe is that it's lightning slam WILL slam basically any enemy into the ground. It's the only heavy weapon that truly feels like a heavy weapon.

Mages in the Dark Souls series rely on heavy investment in stats and because it's a limited consumable item then yes, they are not viable. Demon's Souls gets away with it because old spice is ready to by in 3-1 and you can hold 99 of them. I wouldn't be surprised FromSoft only nerfed magic to the point of boring because they could't be arsed to program in code for enemies and bosses to avoid range magic attacks.

Glass cannon mages are boring user, PvE should be about having a satisfying fight, not about getting the enemies health down as fast as possible.

You can until you get to the DLC.

Yeah DS2 NG+ features are great but in all honesty DS1 is does it better because having 8 bosses and 13 areas with a multitude of weapons to pick up from the minute you land in Firelink Shrine is better replayability. It's a shame gavelording worlds wasn't common.

Every skill set requires investment, from str and great swords to Dex and fast weapons. Thats not a valid excuse. Also you never refuted any of my points. Magic is easy to beat the game with, the easiest in fact . so its obviously viable, unlike what you said , and you not liking magic doesn't change that fact.

You also never refuted my points about poise, armor, viability of heavy weapons, PvP availability, covenants, or ng+.

So in exactly what way are you trying to argue 3 is better than 2 when I can only take your avoiding all my points as accepting the fact ds3 lacks in all these major ways that make a dark souls game what it is?

And were talking DS3 against 2. Not DS1 against DS2.

Wow you have no idea what you're talking about.

Fume Knight and who else? I guess Smelter but you can easily throw some dark magic at him.

Anyway didn't even read this thread, just saw a retard say magic isn't good in 2. Dark Souls 2 is pretty great, definitely my favorite in the trilogy.

Burnt Ivory King's mob is impossible to take on with pure magic without a shitload of spell-restoring items, and most enemies in the DLC have a high magic resistance.

True dlc can be a bitch and a half but I did it pretty easily with dark magic. Dark magic was the shit.

Yeah it got a laugh outta me considering how everyone used to complain magic made DS2 too easy and meleefags got pissy about it. Not sure why tho. A big shield and a great sword is still the most satisfying combo in Ds1 and 2.

Yeah I actually never fought Ivory King with pure magic so fair enough.

Yeah he was the only one I couldn't beat solo with my magic run. The mobs weren't too bad though. Especially with dark orb. God those were so good. Like 20 of em with the strength of great heavy soul arrow and only one magic slot. I used to go for 60 to 80 of em. Such an awesome spell.

Its a bitch. Hes like velstadt magic defwise on steroids then his anime styled moveset inspired heart attacks. And god forbid any of his knights were up. Man I don't think I ever took ivory king down solo. Even as sword and board or going as katana man with alaynes sword or wtv the iron kings bestie was.

gotta love them magic cannon balls.

WRONG
Power-stanced Great Hammers or bust. Few things feel better than mashing fleshy little dudes straight back into the hell they came from

I'm talking about the whole series with spells. It's gotten worse in every successive game. FromSoft has gone down the route of limiting magic rather than coding in defenses for enemies and bosses like dodging or blocking magic. That shit is boring, glass cannon mages are boring, running to a boss room avoiding enemies to conserve your spells for bosses is boring.

As for investment, have you ever paid attention to how weapons work and the fusion paths. You say every skill set requires investment, so then what about SL1 builds going through successive NG+ playthroughs? The idea around pyromancy being a spell option to anyone was really good idea in DS1 that has sadly been dropped. Elemental weapons were a great option for those that had investment elsewhere in there stats. All this nerfing and limiting has had a detrimental affect on build variety and thus replayablilty.

Due to this design choice the DS series gives you very little options away from melee. And when you add DS2 shit hit boxes and slow boring animations it makes it the worst in the series.

what are throwing knives,kukiri, and black firebombs.
but even as a blind idiot your character can do some basic pyromancies.

Soloed him once in NG+++ while doing a melee shieldless solo run and even that is a claim I can't truly make because I was lucky to have a Loyce Knight survive the battle royale almost unscathed and survive IK until his health was about 50%. Otherwise, I'd probably still be there.
That said, the worst was by far Elana. Only soloed her because I was lucky enough to her never summon the muck Velstadt. And needed Brightbugs (only time I ever used those).

I love how you spent so much time trying to come up with any sort of argument.

It trivializes stats. Makes SL1 runs a fucking joke. A few fireballs takes down O&S no problem. It reduces build variety because there is no downside whatsoever to getting pyromancy. And even then pyromancy is still pretty low requirements in 2.

I can't tell if you're ignorant or intentionally trying to avoid the fact Dark Souls 2 had a fucking shitload of spells that were all vastly different from each other. That's where the primary amount of variety comes from. But even then, with the different kinds of staves that you can imbue for different kinds of magic, damage scaling and casting speed, that's pretty decent. And ten steps above the magic in any other game in the series.

I think the best way to make Pyromancy scaling but not awful would be to make it scale with the highest 2 amongst STR/DEX/FTH/INT, so it's still an almost-every-build thing, but means it's not fucking garbage too.

But pyromancy scales now.

and it needs to, otherwise it becomes free damage.

No it doesn't because there is still plenty of other stuff locked behind stats. O&S are only trivial because they were not coded to deal with fireballs tactically.

I've done plenty of DeS and DS1 PvE runs to see how pointless and boring the casting viability has become. If you love the DS2 spell system then good for you. I'm hoping for spells to be deeper in the future instead of the boring state it's gotten into now.

Then pyromancy shouldn't exist and should be part of sourcery like Demon's Souls.

better than 2 by far, not as good as 1.

Don't even pirate it. Worst souls game. They decided to up the "difficulty" by giving enemies infinite stamina and just making sure they're permanently in an attack animation while you're left with limited stamina trying to find an opening. Like playing with shields? Fuck you. Like playing with big, strength-based weapons? Fuck. You. This is post Bloodborne Dark souls and you'll play it like Bloodborne or you won't play it at all. We left all the other options in the game, but none of the other builds are viable for PvE so keep dying until you realize the only way we want you to play the game and then switch over to that.

Only Souls game I've ever dropped. Even Dark Souls II was good compared to this. Such a fucking chore to play.

I still don't understand people who say STR isn't viable in DS3.
Pretty much every enemy is a chump if you just hit and roll, and any that get staggered you can just wail on for hours. Pretty much beat the game with the Greataxe and proceeded to wreck NG+ with the Dragonslayer Axe with next to no difficulty.
I'll admit there's one or two exceptions, like the giant dog-monster things (like the one on the bridge), and the Irithyll knights or whatever that are essentially the Dancer but pretending not to be bosses, but other than that it's pretty viable.

It's at a disadvantage compared to dex weapons. Extra weight plus the fact dex increases spell casting speed makes them less appealing. At least quality builds are a thing in DS3.

It's viable in a way, it's just that they completely sucked the fun out of using STR weapons.
Because let's not kid yourselves, in all souls game STR was always the inferior option, it's just that now it's both inferior and unfun.
They did the same thing to fists too.

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It's mainly because of the lack of poise.

You see, a STR character usually invests in END so they can wield such unruly heavy weapons. A DEX dude usually does not as their weapons are lighter usually favoring a magic trait to boost DPS further. This is supposed to mean a STR dude can also wield heavy armor and take more hits right? Wrong.

The way the armor system is in DS2 is all too familiar to Bloodborne. Which just absolutely does not fucking work in Dark Souls gameplay. Armor is effectively a flat percent damage reduction with some added defense. For the most part all you really need is just to WEAR something in that armor slot. The added defense bonus just does not seem to fit well.

Because poise is "working as intended" there is also little to no stagger resistance to swinging the heavy shit weapons. Some dude with a thrusting sword or spear can literally poke you out of animations if they are on top of their game.

Worse yet, you can basically parry the goddam world and heavy weapons (for some reason) are the EASIEST to parry as you can literally throw up a parry right when the person presses R1 and have the godshield up by the time their swing connects. It's just too damn easy to parry greatweapons unless they're being two handed. And guess what, when you two-hand them you lose a good chunk of your defense.

The game is just using so much assets from BB that it's some weird mishmosh between the two games when it should have just carried over from DS2 some of the unique game mechanics.

Or they give everyone quickstep, I don't give a damn just make up your damn mind FROM. Either have medieval Bloodborne or Dark Souls, but FUCKING CHOOSE ONE.

Yep, it's a real shame.
You literally cannot finish a swing with lots of heavy weapons on a shitton of bosses without getting hit.

You mean DS 3