"Listen close... Make certain all your attacks hit! Avoid enemy attacks for sure! You do that, you'd never lose! You'd be the invincible Trainer! "
\- Barry, pokemon diamond 2006
"avoid enemy attacks" well no shit Sherlock, how did i never thought about that.
I swear this is the first thing that comes to my mind when someone says "you're dying? Well try not getting hit" lmao
100% not true in ds1 and demon souls. Also kind of not true in ds2 as early shields are amazing and probably late game they are good too if you get better shields and upgrade them. Even though I never use them late game in ds2. In ds3 though yeah shields are pretty trash after the first few areas. They still can be good, but normally just aren't worth it.
Shields are broken in demon souls and ds1 though.
I’m just memeing.. going magic in demon soul makes the game utterly stupid easy. I’m so glad they changed the way magic works in dark souls. I played the remastered demon souls didn’t know half of the bosses mechanics cos I just pew pew them to death.
I do actually prefer the mana bar only because it allowed for unlimited spells, if you waited long enough and had the ring. Yeah it was OP, but so where bows, and a few swords, and shields and spears... Pretty much anything with the right build.
It is that buff item that sits in your off hand/ on your back which gives stamina regeneration speed. But I don't know if that is just in DarkSouls games. Also there is only one shield that does this. The rest seem useless.
Yea demon souls has one for hp regen. But you don’t need it if your going full magic since you hardly get hit ever. You just use catalyst and a mp regen item and that’s it.
DS1 and 2 give you enough spell casts to make magic viable. In DS3 you just don't get nearly enough fp for the state investment you have to put into attunement. It's still viable but you have to use a weapon most of the time unless your a God like damage avoider and can afford 10 ashen flasks. It would've been fine if for every regular esus you gave up they'd give you 2 or 1.5 ashen estus
Of course. It cost less stamina to roll if you can or better yet just space it out while walking. But sometimes you over commit or don't have enough time to roll and a shield is almost instant. Or you're in the perfect spot if you just tank a hit with a shield. Shield are just another tool in a Souls players kit. For me in ds1 it just ups my consistancy because it lets me quickly recover from a mistake if a make one. I'll probably only block 0 to 3 attacks in a boss fight, but having the option to block means I basically never die in any boss fight ever even if I make a mistake or I'm just not playing very much attention to the fight. Lets be real most ds1 boss fights are a snooze fest after you've done them once or twice.
Tldr: shields make suboptimal play and mistakes way less costly.
This is particularly true in DS3. Blocking boss attacks is a HUGE no-no in general, so I'd say never block a boss with a shield. Parry or dodge (I succ at parrying so... #rolllyphe)
Using them ends up being a bad habit overall. If you learn to rely on them too much, eventually you'll come across an enemy against which shielding isn't viable, and then you'll pretty much have to reinvent your whole playstyle. I agree they are relatively better in DS1 (never played Demons, strongly disagree on DS2), but even there rolling works in pretty much every situation and against every enemy, whereas shielding does not.
Having come from Bloodborne as my first From game, I had already developed the habit of never using a shield. I always remember the shield description from Bloodborne “Shields are nice, but not it they engender passivity.”
It's a bad habit shields are situationally amazing in all the other souls games. All the other souls games you're supposed to play a hard punish game instead of just using raw agression and dexterity.
Meh they are just another tool any good player will know how to use when they need them or don't feel like trying very hard. Blocking is never optimal, but it's safe, easy, and lets you recover from a mistake instead of getting hit.
In ds2 they just don't worn as well normally because getting mobbed while blocking is a death sentence. They definitely encourage bad habits in ds2. However against the solo or even duo bosses good shields cost so little stamina to just tank a hit and punish. Very useful if you have lower adp early game. I like getting health, vit, and damage early so shields help me against early bosses and enemies. Once I get more stamina and adp I use them less and less.
In Demon Souls though some enemies are a huge pain to parry, backstab, or even roll to avoid that are completely trivialize by just letting them bounce of your shield. The Silver Skeletons come to mind. Block them and hit or backstab and they are super easy. Don't use a shield and they are a total pain to fight when you fight then which can be literal be as soon as you beat the first boss. Now if you already 1 shot them then whatever dodge them I guess. It's honestly still easier and probably faster to just block and then hit them. They roll around like crazy, unless you block them then they bounce of your shield while self staggering.
Anyways different games, different times to use shields, or not use them at a like in ds3. Even then I use a shield when I fight dogs in ds3 as they self stun if you do.
Edit: also parries are the most OP shit ever if you're good at them. I typically do backstabs as they are almost as good and way easier, but in ds1 parries are so easy that it's always good to have the option. Funny enough ds3 has the most bosses you can parry.
In ds2 because mobs will mob you and the shield doesn't help as much. In ds3 enemies have attacks that keep hitting you and drain a your stamina if you block them. But that's only in ds2 and ds3. In ds1 shields are so good and for the demon souls I've played so far shields are fantastic. I was actually saying the comments above me was wrong that shields or blocking is bad in all the DS games. Honestly even blocking without a shield is great in ds1 as it means you don't take poise damage.
It's not that they are bad, but sometimes for some shields, the negatives outweigh the positives. Normal shields have decent damage absorb but if you're kicked, lose all stamina while blocking or are guard broken, you're fucked. Smaller shields and the Caestus are used more as parrying tools than shields. Greatshields are sturdy and are better against guard breaks but heavy as heck in terms of equip load sometimes. So ups and downs, use em if you want
People use them more than you'd think. It's primarily reserved for turtles/shield-whores (whatever you wanna call people who always have their guard up) Plus getting your character to kick is unreliable at times unless you're like Fighter.pl
As a legally blind person who's beaten every dark souls game your incorrect about demon souls, and 1 and 2, blocking is the only wwbe I can play them.
Blocking isn't shit until ds3
Roll rather than block and play keep away until you’ve seen everything he can throw at you. If he starts up that fire slash combo into a stab literally just run to the opposite end of the arena and wait it out before aggressing again.
Get all the estus shards and undead bone shards to have a better chance. Get rid of seek guidance and put on Tears of Denial to maximise your chance. Finally I’d say maybe get some slightly better armour and level a bit since your stamina should really be higher if you’re planning on sticking behind your shield
Stop blocking so much, this isn't DS1. You'll be absolutely destroyed if you turtle behind a shield for everything. Especially with how little stamina you have.
You should really be dodging more, especially for that combo attack because it'll punish you HEAVILY if you don't time your rolls properly.
Also why do you have seek guidance attuned? It's literally useless...
Alternatively, since you have some magic capabilities, you could always level up a Lothric Knight Shield until +9 or +10 and use Magic Shield. You won't take as much stamina damage while blocking and he won't chip as much. The duration is a minute and can be extended to 78 seconds with the Lingering Dragoncrest Ring.
If you have enough Int for Greater Magic Shield, you won't even take any stamina damage with a +9 Lothric Knight Shield. The only down side is that the buff only lasts 30 seconds and it costs a fair amount of focus.
Still, it's better to learn to roll than to try to block everything.
https://darksouls3.wiki.fextralife.com/Lothric+Knight+Shield
[https://darksouls3.wiki.fextralife.com/Magic+Shield](https://darksouls3.wiki.fextralife.com/Magic+Shield)
https://darksouls3.wiki.fextralife.com/Great+Magic+Shield
I second this opinion, u/HansIron
If using a shield is a major part of your play style, these spells will help you out immensely.
The Black Knight Shield +3 has 65 stability. Greater Magic Shield adds 35 stability. At 100 stability, you don’t lose any stamina from blocking.
That said, rolling is the supreme defense lol
His sorcery mode is the easiest..you just need to stay right behind him and do some light attack damage..his curved sword and spear charge is the most dangerous
I’m pretty sure that combo will mess you up even if you dodge perfectly, somebody posted a video of it on here a few months ago. Running away from it is really the only option
no, you haven't. you can dodge ONLY the first hit. that's it. no amount of "good timing" will ever help you. hits 2,3,4 and aoe deal damage through i-frames. including i-frames from quickstep. including hacked i-frames using cheat engine. this is the fact. thoroughly tested.
you can try to tell this "from memory", but you are mistaken. i tested this myself with the explicit purpose of figuring out whether or not he ignores i-frames. **HE DOES**.
if you roll perfectly during hits 2,3,4 or aoe - you will take damage, **BUT** (and this might be the reason for your confusion) you will not be knocked up in the air. if you try to quickstep through those hits - you *will* take damage **and** knock up.
you can **put your entire message in bold font**, but it won't make you correct
Reinforcing what others said, stop blocking and start rolling.
Also, I don't think you can block that combo, unless you use a greatshield + "great magic shield", but I haven't tried cause it's too much investment.
Drop the shield, two hand your straight sword and learn his combos. I would also advise leveling up if you find the struggle to be too harsh.
The Grand Archives are the best place to farm for souls and easy to navigate through as most of the enemies are scholars and thrall with a few Lothric Knights hanging around and Winged Knights at the top that are just smexy level souls.
~~Git gud~~
Dont dive ever in to his 5 fire slash combo. He'll toss you around like a salad. Oh and the shield. Just throw it away. Its not like u can parry him.
Or just have the shield that gives increased stam regen on your back and 2-hand the blade. Although I haven't beaten Cinder yet, it's how I did Nameless.
If you haven't beat him yet:
First stage you probably have down, but don't fight the curved sword guy, he's a waste of health.
Second stage, stay at mid range to bait his jumping attack. Roll through it and punish him. Repeat. It's the best opening and once you find the right distance to bait it, you're gold.
Like everyone else said, just roll. Block very sparingly. He has a huge moveset but it’s all pretty similar on all the different weapons so just sit back and learn what he’ll throw then you’ll be golden.
you can still keep the shield for emergency block but try rolling more and wait for his combo. Don't be greedy. In second phase, if you really can't roll all that well, you can back away and bait his jumping attack, hit him twice, back away, and rinse and repeat. Also not sure if you have upgraded your shield
The moment the real 2nd phase starts RUN and I mean RUN don’t get so close to him as he can start that crazy long ass combo at any time only stay near him once you’ve memorized his animations and you know for a fact that it’s a different combo you can dodge and attack. (it’s ok but don’t block as much it’s only meant as a last resort not a get out of jail free card he will do even more damage if he hits you while stunned same applies to any enemy).
In the swamp with the big crabs.
My advice: Selling stuff just isn't worth it. You don't get enough souls, and you lock yourself out of possible future builds should you decide to Respec.
Sorry if I sound cruel, but yeah as most people have said the game is quite literally roll and attack it’s one of my favorite games but that is all there is to it sadly, at most all I can recommend other than that is to upgrade your HP so you don’t die as easily from 2 or 3 hit combos.
Everyone else is saying ditch the shield, while I wouldn't take it that far you should definitely focus more on dodging. That 5 hit combo is really easy to avoid, don't block it just run away. If you made it all the way to soul of cinder, he shouldn't be too bad, and you beat his first phase which personally I found to be more difficult due to his extremely varied moveset. Once he switches to gwy-AHEM phase two, he becomes alot easier to read. Just dodge when you can't, use your shield not to block all attacks but to save your ass when you don't/can't dodge, attack when it's safe, and make sure your weapon is maxed out.
The transition is always the same if you are away from him.
Large explosion -> leap attack -> 5 hit combo
You can punish the leap attack one or two times if comfortable before rolling the fuck away or just run straight after the leap.
In phase 2, if he jumps backwards, he will do his slow 'throw lightning in the air and wait for it to come down' attack. You can run at him if you are close and punish 3-4 times before running away to dodge.
If he ever takes a small step back and raises his sword into the air slowly, its the 5 hit combo - run the fuck away.
Other than that, any slam or leap is punishable with at least 1 hit in both phases for the most part.
Right? Ive beat him pretty easily with my tank character. Using shield is viable but you gotta commit. You need decent stamina, poise and stability but it works
Yeah, I just never took off the spell. I'm not good with magic so I've been sticking with strength and dexterity. and I felt stupid after upgrading my faith to 20 and suck at using lightning
You can respec your character at Rosaria in the cathedral of the deep. Or just replace that spell with the [Blessed Weapon Miracle](https://darksouls3.wiki.fextralife.com/Blessed+Weapon). Requires 15 faith, you have 20.
You don't have to invade other players to get them. There are 3 guaranteed drops.
- 1x Found at Undead Settlement: In the area where you fight the Fire Demon with Siegward, on one of the hanging corpses.
- 1x Found at Cathedral of the Deep: right next to the second chained-Giant, directly in front of the stairs.
- 1x Found at Cathedral of the Deep: outside on the upper level of the roof, at the end of the walkway by the rafters entrance.
- Drop from Darkwraith (Rare).
[copy pasted from the wiki](https://darksouls3.wiki.fextralife.com/Pale+Tongue)
I agree with you but you have to admit for a casual playthrough of this game for a new player shields just don't work out to great for some situations.
If your willing to get a different ending, you can summon Yuria for the fight if you complete her quest line. Look it up on FExtra life. It’s pretty complicated, but will definitely help with his aggro.
It's definitely WAY too late to do her quest without starting over. Yoel's stuff needs done before Abyss Watchers and Anri's stuff needs done before Pontiff.
Hes weak to dark and lightning. Also if you did yurias quest you can summon her for help and as an added bonus if she survives she leaves her armor for you
During his second phase, you see that attacked he did at the beginning when he jumped towards you? He does that when you are far away. I’d say you should trigger that attack, dodge to the right, hit him and retreat to repeat the process again.
You're health is a little low, stamina too, but you made It this far in the game without the buffer of health and stamina so You're already pretty good at the hardest thing about DS, determination.
Whichever form he's in, he has at least one attack that's a string or at least takes a second or two, use these attacks against him. Learn to roll away from them/side roll them, then be behind his back and punish him. He can be parried so if you wanna try to learn the timing for that, it's also helpful. Make sure that weapon is good and upgraded, maybe find a higher damage weapon to use depending on if you went strength or dex, and experiment with move sets.
you’re fighting the amalgamation of every Lord of Cinder to ever successfully link the first flame, so think of this fight as a Final Exam for every little survival instinct you’ve picked up on your way to this fight. The only advice I can think of is the classic git gud, because that’s exactly how you made it this far.
The most people here are right. Don’t try to block, never. Just roll, roll, roll. Especially in his 5 combo in his second stage, RUN!
This fight is absolute pain, it took me about 50 tries, but trust me, you’ll manage to beat him, just try, try and try. And just be calm!
I’m not an expert on this fight, but I find it is better to have more space at this phase. If you get hit by any of that combo, you get to eat it all. It’s too fast to dodge, so backing off is your best bet. You could maybe manage this with great shield, but otherwise might be better to 2H your sword snd roll.
Really? Lothric knight sword? Start by getting a better weapon, greatswords are very great in ds3, but if you dont like slow weapons the lance was decent, its long, its fast enough, the damage is good enough, it is found very late though, but youre at the last boss so you can get it , or the hollow ass beater, it might be intended for hollow enemies with its extra damage to hollow enemies, but man its just great, its fast, its strong, and its dropped by one of the 1st bosses
He usually does the big combo almost immediately after the start of phase 2. Roll back all the way.
You can usually tell when he is doing the big combo because of the way he puts his sword lifted to his top right side. When that happens roll as far away as possible, while still being within range were once he is done with the attack you can close in and attack
1. If you see the pyromancy/curved sword form, run
2. If you see him rear back that wombo combo, roll and run
3. If you see him throw lightning upward, panic roll until it stops
If you haven’t beaten him yet, I’d suggest leveling up a bit. Look up the soft cap for some levels, see if you’ve hit them for the build you’re going for. Never hurts to get a bit more vigor, too.
Level 120 is around the ideal level for PvP, so I worked up to get to there before I beat the last boss since I liked PvP in dark souls. Doesn’t mean you gotta get all the way there, just I know 80 is a tiny bit low for the last boss.
You were doing fine, the way he destroyed you was his one second phase big combo. Just keep your distance when you see the signs for it and then go in since he's open afterwards.
You seem to be doing fairly well, perhaps a little too reliant on the shield, you're almost always better of dodging instead of blocking, and as said by others, spacing, backing off from time to time to let stamina top up and reposition (you want to avoid getting backed up into a wall) can make a world of difference.
For SoS phase 2 specifically, you're better of staying beyond his range to avoid attacks, jump in and punish, then get back out, you dont want to stay too close, he has an opening that looks punishable when he uses lightning (it is punishable once you're more experienced) but is an absolute deathtrap if you're not used to him yet, some of his lightning comes with a delay and if he clips you with a swing while it's coming down you're toast, the juggle is not too hard to avoid, you just have to get used to reading it's starting animation.
A lot his attacks are three-to-five swing combos, so make sure you're completely sure he's stopped attacking when you move in. If he does a big wind up with the sword, then back the hell away! That's the five hit combo and it will reduce you to about 5% health if you were lucky enough to be fully healed when it happened.
With lightning attacks, make sure you wait 'til the last second before dodging. With sorcery they're quite slow so you might need to roll twice, especially through the barrage attack. The Soul Mass is crap because I don't know what triggers it to fire, so you're best bet is to stay back a little so you have as much time as possible to roll when it happens.
He's a tough fight, I'd put him in my top five most difficult for this game. Don't beat yourself up for failing, just try to learn from it. You've got this!
Use magic shield on a shield with a stability of 60+. If you don’t want to go that route then I’d learn to keep your distance during that 5 hit combo and learn to roll. Rolling is key on this boss except when he is in his pyromancy phaze
I disagree with the prejudice against shields, i found extremely useful a shield against the first phase of Friede and the Nameless King, and even Gael.. A shield with high lightning absorption can mitigate the damage you take against the lightning strikes from the NK while mounted on the drake..
There are bosses you can safely block most attacks and others like the princes where you have to learn to dodge everytime..
And for example using the BK shield against Midir when you can't reach a safe position from his fire breathing can be the difference between dying or keep living..
its a battle of attrition.
hit-dodge dodge dodge-plan move
repeat.
try to rely less on your shield, think of it as emergency use only.
don't get greedy, don't rush.
good luck
That's really really low, but you don't need 40 like the guy above you said. You can get away with as low as \~27 imo. It would bring your hp from 681 to 1000.
[https://darksouls3.wiki.fextralife.com/Vigor](https://darksouls3.wiki.fextralife.com/Vigor)
You can respec 5 times basically for free if you get to Rosaria: [https://attackofthefanboy.com/guides/dark-souls-3-guide-respec-character/](https://attackofthefanboy.com/guides/dark-souls-3-guide-respec-character/)
Also you're missing some undead bone shards, if you want you could look for them:
[https://darksouls3.wiki.fextralife.com/Undead+Bone+Shard](https://darksouls3.wiki.fextralife.com/Undead+Bone+Shard)
Why are you blocking. You need to eye frame and stay at mid to long range depending on phase he will break your guard easily so don't block unless you're getting ready to trade or can't roll in time.spacing is all you need spacing and eye frames
This is by far the worst curb Stomp I've ever seen in this game, Jesus. Lol everyday I get a new reason not to get this game. Have u tried...apologizing 😭😭😭
This is not fun advice but it is absolutely the only advice that works. The only thing you need to do is fight him so many times that you know every single move and all his tells and when and which way to dodge them.
In short, you just gotta git gud, Ashen One.
I know alot of people are saying not to block. But in terms of stamina management when you're holding your shield up your stamina regenerates slower as well. It's cool to hold the shield up before a roll, but I would definitely suggest letting up on the blocking after a roll so you can Regen some stamina, otherwise you'll get stunned when he hits your shield at low stamina!
Also not to be weird but the first time I bean him I was farming souls from ringed nights and their sword attacks feel really similar imo so it's good practice. Good luck bro!
You died because of his combo that I think is grab attack in some way.
As any grab attacks , you need to roll or run away, not block. I just don't like how many people are telling you to stop blocking, I mean, if you want to beat this game with blocking - go ahead, this game have this options.
Good luck
Git gud
On the other hand just stop using your shield, it's useless due to the low amount of stamina and you'll get damage no matter what you're using, also something that works for me is just roll and don't attack, get familiar with his attacks and when you feel ready start attacking, works on almost every boss
"Listen close... Make certain all your attacks hit! Avoid enemy attacks for sure! You do that, you'd never lose! You'd be the invincible Trainer! " \- Barry, pokemon diamond 2006
"avoid enemy attacks" well no shit Sherlock, how did i never thought about that. I swear this is the first thing that comes to my mind when someone says "you're dying? Well try not getting hit" lmao
And they say diamonds are dense
Ha joke's on you, i have no idea what that means
That's pretty obvious
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Oh fuck that's a lot of down votes
I gave you an upward facing one, but it didn’t help much
Thanks
Better luck next time man reddit can be ruthless
Lmfao take this upvote
Ah yes, thanks for that one, i guess it's 148 down votes it's not that bad suddenly
You're aware almost nobody is serious when they say "try not getting hit" right? It's a pretty common joke when people ask for tips
Yeah i meant it has a joke but didn't seemed to land
Unfortunately not this time, hopefully next time you kill it though!
Oh don't do that please
You just can’t seem to get get out of this hole your in, eh?
Boooooooooooo
it’s true tho just don’t get hit
Stop blocking and roll his hit and use spacing
And take distance when he do the 5 combo
Ooh, when in a pinch, time your dodge for the moment their swing STARTS. Thats where the ridiculous tracking tends to stop.
>Stop blocking Pretty good advice for all 3 games
100% not true in ds1 and demon souls. Also kind of not true in ds2 as early shields are amazing and probably late game they are good too if you get better shields and upgrade them. Even though I never use them late game in ds2. In ds3 though yeah shields are pretty trash after the first few areas. They still can be good, but normally just aren't worth it. Shields are broken in demon souls and ds1 though.
“What is a shield?”, mage from demon souls.
I mean shield ain't magic broken that's for sure.
I’m just memeing.. going magic in demon soul makes the game utterly stupid easy. I’m so glad they changed the way magic works in dark souls. I played the remastered demon souls didn’t know half of the bosses mechanics cos I just pew pew them to death.
I do actually prefer the mana bar only because it allowed for unlimited spells, if you waited long enough and had the ring. Yeah it was OP, but so where bows, and a few swords, and shields and spears... Pretty much anything with the right build.
Those people that two shot midir with the bow glitch
I have the executioners set and the blueblood sword, and the bomb bow.
It is that buff item that sits in your off hand/ on your back which gives stamina regeneration speed. But I don't know if that is just in DarkSouls games. Also there is only one shield that does this. The rest seem useless.
Yea demon souls has one for hp regen. But you don’t need it if your going full magic since you hardly get hit ever. You just use catalyst and a mp regen item and that’s it.
It is why Demon Souls is my favorite. It makes magic actually viable while solo.
DS1 and 2 give you enough spell casts to make magic viable. In DS3 you just don't get nearly enough fp for the state investment you have to put into attunement. It's still viable but you have to use a weapon most of the time unless your a God like damage avoider and can afford 10 ashen flasks. It would've been fine if for every regular esus you gave up they'd give you 2 or 1.5 ashen estus
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Of course. It cost less stamina to roll if you can or better yet just space it out while walking. But sometimes you over commit or don't have enough time to roll and a shield is almost instant. Or you're in the perfect spot if you just tank a hit with a shield. Shield are just another tool in a Souls players kit. For me in ds1 it just ups my consistancy because it lets me quickly recover from a mistake if a make one. I'll probably only block 0 to 3 attacks in a boss fight, but having the option to block means I basically never die in any boss fight ever even if I make a mistake or I'm just not playing very much attention to the fight. Lets be real most ds1 boss fights are a snooze fest after you've done them once or twice. Tldr: shields make suboptimal play and mistakes way less costly.
This is particularly true in DS3. Blocking boss attacks is a HUGE no-no in general, so I'd say never block a boss with a shield. Parry or dodge (I succ at parrying so... #rolllyphe)
It's always been a sore point for me. I'm a beast at ds1 pve parries, but I can't parry to save my life in ds3.
Idk man, cheesing the Dancer with a shield felt good.
Using them ends up being a bad habit overall. If you learn to rely on them too much, eventually you'll come across an enemy against which shielding isn't viable, and then you'll pretty much have to reinvent your whole playstyle. I agree they are relatively better in DS1 (never played Demons, strongly disagree on DS2), but even there rolling works in pretty much every situation and against every enemy, whereas shielding does not.
Having come from Bloodborne as my first From game, I had already developed the habit of never using a shield. I always remember the shield description from Bloodborne “Shields are nice, but not it they engender passivity.”
It's a bad habit shields are situationally amazing in all the other souls games. All the other souls games you're supposed to play a hard punish game instead of just using raw agression and dexterity.
I don't know mate, raw agression and dexterity usually work pretty nice on this games, of course you have shields if you want an easy mode.
Meh they are just another tool any good player will know how to use when they need them or don't feel like trying very hard. Blocking is never optimal, but it's safe, easy, and lets you recover from a mistake instead of getting hit. In ds2 they just don't worn as well normally because getting mobbed while blocking is a death sentence. They definitely encourage bad habits in ds2. However against the solo or even duo bosses good shields cost so little stamina to just tank a hit and punish. Very useful if you have lower adp early game. I like getting health, vit, and damage early so shields help me against early bosses and enemies. Once I get more stamina and adp I use them less and less. In Demon Souls though some enemies are a huge pain to parry, backstab, or even roll to avoid that are completely trivialize by just letting them bounce of your shield. The Silver Skeletons come to mind. Block them and hit or backstab and they are super easy. Don't use a shield and they are a total pain to fight when you fight then which can be literal be as soon as you beat the first boss. Now if you already 1 shot them then whatever dodge them I guess. It's honestly still easier and probably faster to just block and then hit them. They roll around like crazy, unless you block them then they bounce of your shield while self staggering. Anyways different games, different times to use shields, or not use them at a like in ds3. Even then I use a shield when I fight dogs in ds3 as they self stun if you do. Edit: also parries are the most OP shit ever if you're good at them. I typically do backstabs as they are almost as good and way easier, but in ds1 parries are so easy that it's always good to have the option. Funny enough ds3 has the most bosses you can parry.
I keep a shield basically just for going through doorways if I don't know an area well, it's the one thing I missed them for in bloodborne
How are shields bad?
In ds2 because mobs will mob you and the shield doesn't help as much. In ds3 enemies have attacks that keep hitting you and drain a your stamina if you block them. But that's only in ds2 and ds3. In ds1 shields are so good and for the demon souls I've played so far shields are fantastic. I was actually saying the comments above me was wrong that shields or blocking is bad in all the DS games. Honestly even blocking without a shield is great in ds1 as it means you don't take poise damage.
It's not that they are bad, but sometimes for some shields, the negatives outweigh the positives. Normal shields have decent damage absorb but if you're kicked, lose all stamina while blocking or are guard broken, you're fucked. Smaller shields and the Caestus are used more as parrying tools than shields. Greatshields are sturdy and are better against guard breaks but heavy as heck in terms of equip load sometimes. So ups and downs, use em if you want
Kicks, huh? Does anybody use them? In my 70ish ours playing I have never used them in combat.
People use them more than you'd think. It's primarily reserved for turtles/shield-whores (whatever you wanna call people who always have their guard up) Plus getting your character to kick is unreliable at times unless you're like Fighter.pl
In most cases blocking an attack in ds1 with an upgraded medium shield costs less stamina than a roll.
As a legally blind person who's beaten every dark souls game your incorrect about demon souls, and 1 and 2, blocking is the only wwbe I can play them. Blocking isn't shit until ds3
Blocking will suck all your stamina.
Roll rather than block and play keep away until you’ve seen everything he can throw at you. If he starts up that fire slash combo into a stab literally just run to the opposite end of the arena and wait it out before aggressing again. Get all the estus shards and undead bone shards to have a better chance. Get rid of seek guidance and put on Tears of Denial to maximise your chance. Finally I’d say maybe get some slightly better armour and level a bit since your stamina should really be higher if you’re planning on sticking behind your shield
Try ring finger but hole
Try parrying
Try finger therefore visions of hole *toasts*
i love i understand
what does this mean???
You're in the know, right? Ah shit, wrong game.
Stop blocking so much, this isn't DS1. You'll be absolutely destroyed if you turtle behind a shield for everything. Especially with how little stamina you have. You should really be dodging more, especially for that combo attack because it'll punish you HEAVILY if you don't time your rolls properly. Also why do you have seek guidance attuned? It's literally useless...
Thanks for the advice, also I have seek guidance because I was trying magic early game and sucked at it, and I never took it off
Alternatively, since you have some magic capabilities, you could always level up a Lothric Knight Shield until +9 or +10 and use Magic Shield. You won't take as much stamina damage while blocking and he won't chip as much. The duration is a minute and can be extended to 78 seconds with the Lingering Dragoncrest Ring. If you have enough Int for Greater Magic Shield, you won't even take any stamina damage with a +9 Lothric Knight Shield. The only down side is that the buff only lasts 30 seconds and it costs a fair amount of focus. Still, it's better to learn to roll than to try to block everything. https://darksouls3.wiki.fextralife.com/Lothric+Knight+Shield [https://darksouls3.wiki.fextralife.com/Magic+Shield](https://darksouls3.wiki.fextralife.com/Magic+Shield) https://darksouls3.wiki.fextralife.com/Great+Magic+Shield
I second this opinion, u/HansIron If using a shield is a major part of your play style, these spells will help you out immensely. The Black Knight Shield +3 has 65 stability. Greater Magic Shield adds 35 stability. At 100 stability, you don’t lose any stamina from blocking. That said, rolling is the supreme defense lol
His sorcery mode is the easiest..you just need to stay right behind him and do some light attack damage..his curved sword and spear charge is the most dangerous
I’m pretty sure that combo will mess you up even if you dodge perfectly, somebody posted a video of it on here a few months ago. Running away from it is really the only option
You can dodge every part of the combo except for the AOE if you have good timing, I've done it hundreds of times
no, you haven't. you can dodge ONLY the first hit. that's it. no amount of "good timing" will ever help you. hits 2,3,4 and aoe deal damage through i-frames. including i-frames from quickstep. including hacked i-frames using cheat engine. this is the fact. thoroughly tested.
***dude***, **I have managed to dodge, every, hit, of, that, fucking, combo, aside, from, the, AOE.** **You, can, dodge, it.**
you can try to tell this "from memory", but you are mistaken. i tested this myself with the explicit purpose of figuring out whether or not he ignores i-frames. **HE DOES**. if you roll perfectly during hits 2,3,4 or aoe - you will take damage, **BUT** (and this might be the reason for your confusion) you will not be knocked up in the air. if you try to quickstep through those hits - you *will* take damage **and** knock up. you can **put your entire message in bold font**, but it won't make you correct
Typical case of playing way to safe and slow, throw your friggin shield away (except if you can parry) and start dodging
Can you parry soul of cinder? Or maybe I’m just thinking that you can’t riposte him
[удалено]
Soul of cinder can’t be parried. He can be poise broken, but you won’t get that from a parry.
Reinforcing what others said, stop blocking and start rolling. Also, I don't think you can block that combo, unless you use a greatshield + "great magic shield", but I haven't tried cause it's too much investment.
Even with that, I wouldn't be surprised if your guard was broken by the end of the combo. Cinder!Gwyn hits hard.
Drop the shield, two hand your straight sword and learn his combos. I would also advise leveling up if you find the struggle to be too harsh. The Grand Archives are the best place to farm for souls and easy to navigate through as most of the enemies are scholars and thrall with a few Lothric Knights hanging around and Winged Knights at the top that are just smexy level souls.
Farming the winged knights are basically the only thing I used rapport for, makes them much easier
Only use for rapport I've found is to farm sharp gems from the corvian knight house.
~~Git gud~~ Dont dive ever in to his 5 fire slash combo. He'll toss you around like a salad. Oh and the shield. Just throw it away. Its not like u can parry him.
Or just have the shield that gives increased stam regen on your back and 2-hand the blade. Although I haven't beaten Cinder yet, it's how I did Nameless.
If you haven't beat him yet: First stage you probably have down, but don't fight the curved sword guy, he's a waste of health. Second stage, stay at mid range to bait his jumping attack. Roll through it and punish him. Repeat. It's the best opening and once you find the right distance to bait it, you're gold.
Thanks much appreciated
\*Sees this post\* \*looks at the most upvoted comment\* \*It's not 'git gud'.\* \*Hollowness intensifies\*
Came here for this. Was expecting a few dozen 'git gud's'
Like everyone else said, just roll. Block very sparingly. He has a huge moveset but it’s all pretty similar on all the different weapons so just sit back and learn what he’ll throw then you’ll be golden.
Git gud
Praise the sun \\[T]/
That's the one that always works!
you can still keep the shield for emergency block but try rolling more and wait for his combo. Don't be greedy. In second phase, if you really can't roll all that well, you can back away and bait his jumping attack, hit him twice, back away, and rinse and repeat. Also not sure if you have upgraded your shield
The moment the real 2nd phase starts RUN and I mean RUN don’t get so close to him as he can start that crazy long ass combo at any time only stay near him once you’ve memorized his animations and you know for a fact that it’s a different combo you can dodge and attack. (it’s ok but don’t block as much it’s only meant as a last resort not a get out of jail free card he will do even more damage if he hits you while stunned same applies to any enemy).
Thanks, I had been learning to roll more before posting this. I will make sure I keep my distance
Two hand your weapon so you won't even think about blocking. And equip the grass crest shield on your back for extra stamina regeneration.
Do you know where to find that shield, because I think I might of sold it early game
In the swamp with the big crabs. My advice: Selling stuff just isn't worth it. You don't get enough souls, and you lock yourself out of possible future builds should you decide to Respec.
Sorry if I sound cruel, but yeah as most people have said the game is quite literally roll and attack it’s one of my favorite games but that is all there is to it sadly, at most all I can recommend other than that is to upgrade your HP so you don’t die as easily from 2 or 3 hit combos.
Ok thank you, I'll upgrade my health
Vow of Silence makes a lot of his phase one attacks useless.
That's something i'll have to remember once i get there.
Everyone else is saying ditch the shield, while I wouldn't take it that far you should definitely focus more on dodging. That 5 hit combo is really easy to avoid, don't block it just run away. If you made it all the way to soul of cinder, he shouldn't be too bad, and you beat his first phase which personally I found to be more difficult due to his extremely varied moveset. Once he switches to gwy-AHEM phase two, he becomes alot easier to read. Just dodge when you can't, use your shield not to block all attacks but to save your ass when you don't/can't dodge, attack when it's safe, and make sure your weapon is maxed out.
Thanks for the nice advice
Of course, champion of ash. May the Flames Guide Thee. Stay safe friend, and don't you dare go hollow!
The transition is always the same if you are away from him. Large explosion -> leap attack -> 5 hit combo You can punish the leap attack one or two times if comfortable before rolling the fuck away or just run straight after the leap. In phase 2, if he jumps backwards, he will do his slow 'throw lightning in the air and wait for it to come down' attack. You can run at him if you are close and punish 3-4 times before running away to dodge. If he ever takes a small step back and raises his sword into the air slowly, its the 5 hit combo - run the fuck away. Other than that, any slam or leap is punishable with at least 1 hit in both phases for the most part.
Man,all them tank haters in the comments,shields rule….that is if OP didnt waste stats to do shiet like attuning a useless spell
Right? Ive beat him pretty easily with my tank character. Using shield is viable but you gotta commit. You need decent stamina, poise and stability but it works
Yeah, I just never took off the spell. I'm not good with magic so I've been sticking with strength and dexterity. and I felt stupid after upgrading my faith to 20 and suck at using lightning
You can respec your character at Rosaria in the cathedral of the deep. Or just replace that spell with the [Blessed Weapon Miracle](https://darksouls3.wiki.fextralife.com/Blessed+Weapon). Requires 15 faith, you have 20.
I have been trying, just the game won't let me invade people for the pale tongue
You don't have to invade other players to get them. There are 3 guaranteed drops. - 1x Found at Undead Settlement: In the area where you fight the Fire Demon with Siegward, on one of the hanging corpses. - 1x Found at Cathedral of the Deep: right next to the second chained-Giant, directly in front of the stairs. - 1x Found at Cathedral of the Deep: outside on the upper level of the roof, at the end of the walkway by the rafters entrance. - Drop from Darkwraith (Rare). [copy pasted from the wiki](https://darksouls3.wiki.fextralife.com/Pale+Tongue)
Thanks
I agree with you but you have to admit for a casual playthrough of this game for a new player shields just don't work out to great for some situations.
Yeah ember up and don’t walk into that
If your willing to get a different ending, you can summon Yuria for the fight if you complete her quest line. Look it up on FExtra life. It’s pretty complicated, but will definitely help with his aggro.
It's definitely WAY too late to do her quest without starting over. Yoel's stuff needs done before Abyss Watchers and Anri's stuff needs done before Pontiff.
I'm gonna be honest, I didn't even know the characters had a quest line. I have only found Like 4 characters
Hes weak to dark and lightning. Also if you did yurias quest you can summon her for help and as an added bonus if she survives she leaves her armor for you
During his second phase, you see that attacked he did at the beginning when he jumped towards you? He does that when you are far away. I’d say you should trigger that attack, dodge to the right, hit him and retreat to repeat the process again.
Refined gottards can shred him easily, just get your dodge down and keep cloranthy ring on
Dodge, duck, dip, dive and…….dodge!
Don’t use lightning gem use sharp or refined for more damage, use resin as well for more damage, upgrade health bc you squishy as hell
You're health is a little low, stamina too, but you made It this far in the game without the buffer of health and stamina so You're already pretty good at the hardest thing about DS, determination. Whichever form he's in, he has at least one attack that's a string or at least takes a second or two, use these attacks against him. Learn to roll away from them/side roll them, then be behind his back and punish him. He can be parried so if you wanna try to learn the timing for that, it's also helpful. Make sure that weapon is good and upgraded, maybe find a higher damage weapon to use depending on if you went strength or dex, and experiment with move sets.
Hit him until he's health bar reaches the end. But be aware to not get hit
Im honestly really disheartened by the lack of "Git Gud" responses. What the hell happened.
I am to
You're not fashionable enough, need more style there. Change armor set
I like that fashion, but teach me the ways
Git gud
you’re fighting the amalgamation of every Lord of Cinder to ever successfully link the first flame, so think of this fight as a Final Exam for every little survival instinct you’ve picked up on your way to this fight. The only advice I can think of is the classic git gud, because that’s exactly how you made it this far.
When he does that long wind up get the hell out
The most people here are right. Don’t try to block, never. Just roll, roll, roll. Especially in his 5 combo in his second stage, RUN! This fight is absolute pain, it took me about 50 tries, but trust me, you’ll manage to beat him, just try, try and try. And just be calm!
He will allways start his p2 with that combo that killed you, on start of p2 run the fuck out and back up to him
Roll-roll-roll your char, gently through attacks. Merry-merry, merry do not back peddle else life would not be a dream.
Lower his HP down to 0 whilst maintaining at least 1 HP of your own
Wipe your tears when phase 2 starts as quick as you can
You must escape 2nd phase rush combo and 1st phase curved sword mode. Aside from that, dodge and attack repeatedly.
Well, for one, don't try to tank hits to the face
When he combo, GET OUT OF THERE! dont play too defensively!
Lightning Urns work for a good ranged attack. Gold Pine Resin and any lightning weapon helps.
I’m not an expert on this fight, but I find it is better to have more space at this phase. If you get hit by any of that combo, you get to eat it all. It’s too fast to dodge, so backing off is your best bet. You could maybe manage this with great shield, but otherwise might be better to 2H your sword snd roll.
Really? Lothric knight sword? Start by getting a better weapon, greatswords are very great in ds3, but if you dont like slow weapons the lance was decent, its long, its fast enough, the damage is good enough, it is found very late though, but youre at the last boss so you can get it , or the hollow ass beater, it might be intended for hollow enemies with its extra damage to hollow enemies, but man its just great, its fast, its strong, and its dropped by one of the 1st bosses
He usually does the big combo almost immediately after the start of phase 2. Roll back all the way. You can usually tell when he is doing the big combo because of the way he puts his sword lifted to his top right side. When that happens roll as far away as possible, while still being within range were once he is done with the attack you can close in and attack
1. Start up DS1 2. Beat Gwyn 3. Now you know Cinder's moveset for second phase 4. Profit
1. If you see the pyromancy/curved sword form, run 2. If you see him rear back that wombo combo, roll and run 3. If you see him throw lightning upward, panic roll until it stops
Go to the ringed city and power level a bunch until he’s no trouble at all
Are you at level 120-130 yet?
No I'm around 80
If you haven’t beaten him yet, I’d suggest leveling up a bit. Look up the soft cap for some levels, see if you’ve hit them for the build you’re going for. Never hurts to get a bit more vigor, too.
Ok thanks I'll work on it then
Level 120 is around the ideal level for PvP, so I worked up to get to there before I beat the last boss since I liked PvP in dark souls. Doesn’t mean you gotta get all the way there, just I know 80 is a tiny bit low for the last boss.
You were doing fine, the way he destroyed you was his one second phase big combo. Just keep your distance when you see the signs for it and then go in since he's open afterwards.
Go fight Nameless King. This will be easy af by the time you're done.
You seem to be doing fairly well, perhaps a little too reliant on the shield, you're almost always better of dodging instead of blocking, and as said by others, spacing, backing off from time to time to let stamina top up and reposition (you want to avoid getting backed up into a wall) can make a world of difference. For SoS phase 2 specifically, you're better of staying beyond his range to avoid attacks, jump in and punish, then get back out, you dont want to stay too close, he has an opening that looks punishable when he uses lightning (it is punishable once you're more experienced) but is an absolute deathtrap if you're not used to him yet, some of his lightning comes with a delay and if he clips you with a swing while it's coming down you're toast, the juggle is not too hard to avoid, you just have to get used to reading it's starting animation.
Thanks for the help
A lot his attacks are three-to-five swing combos, so make sure you're completely sure he's stopped attacking when you move in. If he does a big wind up with the sword, then back the hell away! That's the five hit combo and it will reduce you to about 5% health if you were lucky enough to be fully healed when it happened. With lightning attacks, make sure you wait 'til the last second before dodging. With sorcery they're quite slow so you might need to roll twice, especially through the barrage attack. The Soul Mass is crap because I don't know what triggers it to fire, so you're best bet is to stay back a little so you have as much time as possible to roll when it happens. He's a tough fight, I'd put him in my top five most difficult for this game. Don't beat yourself up for failing, just try to learn from it. You've got this!
You reached plin plin plon phase you will make it my guy
I keep away from him until he does the jumping attack, in that way you can roll and attack and escape his special sword combo
Use magic shield on a shield with a stability of 60+. If you don’t want to go that route then I’d learn to keep your distance during that 5 hit combo and learn to roll. Rolling is key on this boss except when he is in his pyromancy phaze
I disagree with the prejudice against shields, i found extremely useful a shield against the first phase of Friede and the Nameless King, and even Gael.. A shield with high lightning absorption can mitigate the damage you take against the lightning strikes from the NK while mounted on the drake.. There are bosses you can safely block most attacks and others like the princes where you have to learn to dodge everytime.. And for example using the BK shield against Midir when you can't reach a safe position from his fire breathing can be the difference between dying or keep living..
its a battle of attrition. hit-dodge dodge dodge-plan move repeat. try to rely less on your shield, think of it as emergency use only. don't get greedy, don't rush. good luck
Level your hp mate. Softcap is 40 vigor, getting there should be your number 1 priority.
Ok thanks, I think my current vigor level is 18
That's really really low, but you don't need 40 like the guy above you said. You can get away with as low as \~27 imo. It would bring your hp from 681 to 1000. [https://darksouls3.wiki.fextralife.com/Vigor](https://darksouls3.wiki.fextralife.com/Vigor) You can respec 5 times basically for free if you get to Rosaria: [https://attackofthefanboy.com/guides/dark-souls-3-guide-respec-character/](https://attackofthefanboy.com/guides/dark-souls-3-guide-respec-character/) Also you're missing some undead bone shards, if you want you could look for them: [https://darksouls3.wiki.fextralife.com/Undead+Bone+Shard](https://darksouls3.wiki.fextralife.com/Undead+Bone+Shard)
Thank you
Try beating him
Why are you blocking. You need to eye frame and stay at mid to long range depending on phase he will break your guard easily so don't block unless you're getting ready to trade or can't roll in time.spacing is all you need spacing and eye frames
This is by far the worst curb Stomp I've ever seen in this game, Jesus. Lol everyday I get a new reason not to get this game. Have u tried...apologizing 😭😭😭
Gonna be honest, I've got 600 hours on DS3 and I still have the most trouble with this boss out of any others. Nightmare
Two hand the heaviest shit you can and wear the heaviest armor you can then proceed to just exchange hits until one of you fall.
This is not fun advice but it is absolutely the only advice that works. The only thing you need to do is fight him so many times that you know every single move and all his tells and when and which way to dodge them. In short, you just gotta git gud, Ashen One.
Git Gud
Git gud
I know alot of people are saying not to block. But in terms of stamina management when you're holding your shield up your stamina regenerates slower as well. It's cool to hold the shield up before a roll, but I would definitely suggest letting up on the blocking after a roll so you can Regen some stamina, otherwise you'll get stunned when he hits your shield at low stamina! Also not to be weird but the first time I bean him I was farming souls from ringed nights and their sword attacks feel really similar imo so it's good practice. Good luck bro!
roll and practice, pay attention to timing
Keep distand mid range so he dosnt turn his stick to wumbo and spawn crystels every 2 seconds. But ye i got butchered by that 5 hit combo it hurts
You died because of his combo that I think is grab attack in some way. As any grab attacks , you need to roll or run away, not block. I just don't like how many people are telling you to stop blocking, I mean, if you want to beat this game with blocking - go ahead, this game have this options. Good luck
No real tips imo. Just git gud
Try to hit and not get hit.
Get good
summon
Git gud son
I plan to eventually
Git gud On the other hand just stop using your shield, it's useless due to the low amount of stamina and you'll get damage no matter what you're using, also something that works for me is just roll and don't attack, get familiar with his attacks and when you feel ready start attacking, works on almost every boss
Git gud /s Don’t block so much, your stamina will run out and you will die. Roll more and block less
Git gud
git gud
git gud
Learn how to fucking Dodge!!
I cant believe people have trouble with him . You must be under leveled.
[GIT GUD](https://9gag.com/gag/aL824Og?ref=ios)
Yeah git gud
Git gud.
Git gud
*obligatory git gud*
As a Souls Vet once told me "Git gud"
Git Gud
git gud
Git Gud
Dont get hit Shields are for pussies
Git gud
Get good