Stuck on Aldrich? He can be annoying and totally RNG-dependent. I find the fight a lot easier if you don’t lock onto him and just freeaim it. Frankly, Pontiff is the main course; if you can beat him, you can probably beat anything else except for the Nameless King.
Also, protip: you get diminishing returns on Health/point after 27. So I usually just shoot to 27 and then make due with that.
Yeah aldrich and Thorm.
They both have a one shot attack 
and not a big wind up one either, its more of a bloody oh you’re on the other side of the room I’m gunna leap attack you from here while you’re in the middle of a fireball animation attack! 
Yeah, 30 must have been for DS1 or 2 breakpoint that the diminish returns kick in.
For yhorm its just a damage thing, I need to get a lightning weapon, but for aldrich, I think just watching for whatever tell it is that he leaps (well its an AoE dash charge) will be enough as my fireballs were dishing the hurt 
Is the nameless king boss really beyond everything else in the game??
He largely is and most people have the most trouble with him. I know I did. First time I fought him took me more than thirty tries. Even now I still die several times.
Hint about Yhorm: there’s something in his room which is very strong against him…
I’m really liking Darks Souls 3 a lot too. I’m playing as a Knight, currently level 50-ish on first playthrough. My favorite weapon types are Longsword/Darksword type weapons, because they seem to do good damage and don’t take forever to swing. I don’t like Greatswords because to me, they are too slow, and I suck with them because of that. I’m not gud with huge weapons.
Is it possible to beat the game with a fully upgraded Longsword/Dark Sword? I just beat The Pontiff, and I’m wondering about what weapons to use as I progress. My current character hasn’t been putting any points into Faith or Int.
I agree with what was said about the excellence pacing of the game. There are actually a few other places you can explore before even proceeding into the Pontiff fight.
For example, I cleared out Smouldering Lake, The Irrythyll Dungeon, and Profaned Chapel (minus the boss) before I even found the boss gate to The Pontiff. That was one hell of a detour!!
Dark Sword is the strongest weapon in the game. The PvP masses are asking for it to be nerfed.
So yes, you can. My first character used it too.
hmmm, i might just get myself summoned a few more times and watch a bit more than try and go ham 
Thanks, Ceno. That reminded me to say something about the PvP. I’ve played the previous Souls games and Bloodborne, and never really monkeyed around PvP much, because Fear. I mainly played offline in those games.
Wow, it’s totally fun, at least in Dark Souls 3. I played for about 30 hours before I was ever invaded (minus NCP invasions), then all of the sudden when I reached Anor Lando last night I got invaded like 4 times. I swear that I was invaded by the same player twice. Still not sure. If it was him twice, he/she must totally hate me and my lack of PvP etiquette. I am still unclear to what proper PvP etiquette is after doing some reading online.
I hadn’t even considered it up until this point. I was so shocked that I was being invaded that I was using every resource I had to beat him: healing all the time, tossing daggers at him the whole time, and general stupidity…but it worked. Lol! Oh do I wish I had video of me running and running and throwing daggers like a lunatic. That individual must have been in wtf mode the whole time.
Anyway, I think I am like 6-0 against invaders. There’s something totally addictive about the PvP. I still haven’t invaded anyone’s world yet, because that just seems rude. Maybe when I’m in a bad mood…
I’ve been thinking about the PvP in Souls games a lot now, and I’ve concluded that it has been the most fun I’ve had in PvP since Diablo 2 (and I haven’t even invaded!). From Soft totally nailed it, and I almost totally missed out on the fun because of my previous mind set.
What covenant(s) would you guys consider beneficial to join? Does anyone have any interesting PvP stories to share? Also, if you invade someone’s world and they beat you, do you lose all your souls? Do they re appear in your own world at the place of defeat? edit another question. Are Mad/Purple spirits other players or NPC invaders?
I did a lot of DaS1 PvP and no DaS2 PvP (partly because I couldn’t stand that game to begin with). But my experience with DaS3 PvP is actually much like yours. I did my first two playthroughs totally in offline mode, and then decided to let myself be invaded…WHAT A BLAST!
As far as etiquette goes, fuck it. Everyone’s following their own set of rules and assuming someone is following some sort of etiquette will just get you killed. Invaders tend to take issue with two things: ‘ganking’ (i.e., having helpful allied summons) and ‘chugging’ (Estus). I’ve made it my own philosophy not to ever summon anyone (although I’ll let myself be summoned because JOLLY COOPERATION), but damn if I’m not chugging down my 10 +10 Estus Flasks and 4 Ashen Flasks. 1v1, but I’ll be chugging and I invite invaders to do the same.
Nice record! I’m 43-16 at this point. I had a good run at first too (went undefeated 5 times in a row) then decided to dick around and started dying…but it was a lot more fun!
As for invading, I used to be like you too. With DaS3, however, I’ve totally swapped my opinion! Look at how much fun we’re having being invaded! I figure that sort of fun goes both ways. Sure, you’ll have some who are just in it for Jolly Cooperation, but folk like us…we’re having a blast!
Rosaria’s Fingers to get the Obscuring Ring at 10/30. The 30/30 reward isn’t worth it. Blue Sentinels could be worthwhile but I keep hearing stories about never getting summoned for it. Aldrich Faithful seem to get the most action because, as you’ve noticed, the vast majority of invasions happen in the Anor Londo/post-Pontiff area. (The reason for that is because there’s a fight club that people frequent too, and, knowing that, people all hang out there because they figure it’ll attract the more PvP inclined…)
Side note, kinda related: Can I just say, the Player vs. NPC fights in this game are awesome! Fighting Morne and Leonhard was a lot of fun.
Edit: The Watchdogs of Farron have some great rewards, but I’ve been aligned with them for ages and have never gotten a summon for them. I’ve only gotten the rewards by farming the swamps.
Thanks for the wealth of info, Ceno!
I have a much better understanding of how PvP works now. I have been a Sunbro the whole time (unless accident), because Solaire and Jolly Coop for life!
I had an interesting experience in Irithyll last night. I laid down my summon sign basically in the water near where the bonfire to the Irithyll Dungeon is. My intention for this was, I wanted to see if someone could give me a better tour of that dungeon. I had it cleared out, but I wanted to see if anyone could help me find a secret I felt I may have missed.
Well as it turned out, whoever summoned me pretty much took me all over Irithyll instead. They led me to places I hadn’t been yet. I had previously avoided most of everything in this location because of constant dying. Some elf looking woman summoned me. They kept summoning in other people (and they kept dying), and all of the sudden we were being invaded…all at the same time. I found myself in the middle of an ongoing WAR. I assumed Souls PVP was pretty much the known ‘fencing’ 1 vs 1 scenario. But this was entirely different!
This was the most fun I’ve had in a video game in ages, probably since first playing Grim Dawn.
I totally got turned around and lost, and somehow the elf lady and her other summon were in the boss room. I just couldn’t find them. I had to use that item to banish myself from their world. It was a crazy experience. I’ll never forget that.
I didn’t realize all of this could happen. It was like a totally new game to me.
Regarding NPC phantoms…
Not sure what’s been going on with that, but I do know that I’ve missed out on several of them simply not spawning for me.
But you are absolutely right, the NPC phantoms have been so intense. I found the red NPC on top of that roof last night in The Irithyll Dungeon. My God, he killed me so many times, he almost broke me. After I finally killed him, I had to take a break for awhile.
The only other NPC phantom I’ve faced (that I can remember) is Dark Spirit of Londor. He came charging down those stairs past the room with the Silver Knights in Irithyll. He absolutely slaughtered me. For some reason, he never respawned, and I couldn’t enact my revenge on him. :furious:
Yeah, he’s a little brutal. But entirely optional. Only shows up if you betray a particular faction…
Thanks for the tip Ceno. Got past Thorm the giant easily… but that was due to the couple of goldenbros I summoned knowing exactly what to do! 
I did find what you were talking about though (which wasn’t what I was expecting).
I’ve figured Aldritch out now too. And because I play ranged against him, I shouldn’t have the uber unluckiness I’ve seen when helping others where he casts rain of arrows while you’re in melee range as his opening skill . A few people have insta died to that :S
Where are you up to with your new character? probably in NG+ already?
Further hint here: this something requires very specific ammunition. Can’t remember where exactly I found it though, this is still my first time through and I didn’t take notes. Maybe Ceno can point the way?
Haven’t played in a while, sadly. I’m going around in regular NG just trying to get all the item pickups before transitioning.
Assuming we’re referring to the same thing, its found in Yhorm’s room, right next to his throne.
Yeah that’s where I found the thing (but it wasn’t ammunition…)
Is it just me or is it going to take forever grinding for those damn covenant items (30 for each covenant).
Other than the Sunlight medals (which are easy to get as I help out a lot). But all the PvP ones… especially the stupid mound makers one!! jeesh, the only people that summon you as that are PvP pros with PvP setups on their toons. Where I just play for fun and definately don’t have a PvP setup… :S
The Human Dregs is doable as its an auto summon which you can get lucky on.
what I was leading towards was if you were keen to play a bit of jolly cooperation
Perhaps…I’m still theorycrafting.
I had a stupid build idea… http://fextralife.com/calculator/dks3builds.html?LYsJZkgQ.DYUmpmf6f.qEOOdhDa.N5F4XXhe.A.A.IqPA
Morion Blade increases your total damage by 1.2x, stacking with Red Tearstone Ring (1.2x) and I think Power Within (1.2x); the first two only happen when you’re at 20% health or lower, however, which is attainable from Power Within because it drains 30% of your health over time. If 2x Morion Blades stack, that’ll give you a 2.07x damage multiplier which could probably oneshot the vast majority of people in PvP with a single swing
interesting idea.
it will be the one shot either way fight at least they will be quick!
Does it not require specific ammo though? The ammo was what I was referring to.
No, it doesn’t require ammo.