#get it. abyss. cause. artorias

[youredyingthatsallthereis]

if i won the lottery i wouldnt say anything but there would be signs (fully canonically accurate retired hunter djura cosplay)

[katyspersonal]

Abyss Watchers headcanons

> Them all having white hair and red eyes are the signs of a lot of exposure to the Abyss, like how Four Kings got white hair, people in contact with any darkness commonly show red eyes etc. + Artorias ended up with these features too, and black hair on his helmet was his own hair cut to decorate it, not unlike Ciaran's braid. This never caused the panic though, it is no more than like getting tan under too much sun exposure. The corruption carries different effects than just a bit of a recolor!

> Wolf blood gave them minor feral features, like fangs and tufts of grey fur in the spots where humans normally have the most hair. no tails though

> @val-of-the-north actually counted the corpses using colorful stones drops to not get lost! So, the amount of Abyss Watchers is only barely above 100! This is very little for a legion, but they were pretty strong at their prime so the number never shifted too far from this number

> The ~100 consisted of mostly the first of them and those who joined in early. They were mostly a pack of these people, very rarely losing members and very rarely gaining those who would grow into "true wolves". Even out of those who were accepted as Abyss Watchers rather than Farron Followers, most didn't fully assimilate. They remained visibly 'distinguished' ones, like Hawkwood who never grew to their common 10'00''+ height and so

> These rare new members were referred to as 'cubs'. The 'distinguished' people like Hawkwood were continued to be called so even after they fully trained, although it then had more affectionate connotation than referring to their lack of experience

> They offer people who have shown bravery and are deemed to have true warrior spirit within to come with them, however, it is quite hard to refuse them. It is very easy to get roped into madness by them by simply allowing them to surround the person and speak of the importance of combating the horrors, how Artorias tooooootally once succeeded etc. They do not even understand the nearly-hypnotic effect they possess, but it is explained by the gravity of the Abyss itself surrounding them due to their job. It horrifies, however humans naturally possess the darkness that finds kinship in it, the wish to fight it endlessly IS just one of the ways it entices and corrupts. Those who managed to avoid getting seduced recruited by them after confrontation do recall that something felt very wrong and otherwordly for a short time.

> 'Semi-hivemind' is the best way I can describe them tbh. There is usually a member who is unmistakeably singled out and seemingly 'leading the pack', and if this particular person was lost, the next strongest guy would get singled out instinctively.

> "True" Abyss Watchers hardly, if ever, need to verbally communicate with each other, instead understanding instinctively. When they do need to talk with anyone it is this 'pack leader' doing the talking, usually with some others accompanying him and performing actions if needed without any signals to do so. The 'leader', also, mostly speaks for them all as they share their thoughts and feelings ("Don't try to lie to us, we could always smell it in your blood", "We all remember your bravery", "We could almost feel you wagging your tail, if you had one" etc).

> And they can, in fact, sense more than average person due to the wolf blood! Blood pressure, heartrate, whether someone started sweating and so on. It is very useful when someone is trying to hide having gotten touched by the Abyss (reasonably so, because it is instant death). Or if someone pretends they totally didn't encourage less-infected people to evacuate the corrupted land before Abyss Watchers came to obliterate it.

> The best way to stay alive after being targeted for "mercy-killing" by them is to run into the Church of the Deep. Abyss Watchers are sceptical about 'purifying' ones with minor corruption, but they cannot cross into this territory without permission for several reasons. And so far those whom Deacons "treated" really seemed to be alright. Abyss Watchers didn't believe in efficiency of this method though and had a feeling that sacred body of water could not fit in everyone's even natural darkness, let alone Abyssal one. They absolutely loathe and pity the place though, but all they really could do was to wait to obliterate it when it'd inevitably drown in filth. (the big "told you so" day that never became their to claim lol)

> Anyone who feels attracted to them is under no pressure to kiss and cuddle all of them they're welcomed to try though if they dare lol . They share their feelings, so getting close even with one makes others happy by effect. Though if such things occur, usually it is the 'pack's leader' who claims this experience, let alone the fact he is the only one who will actually talk. But even then, at least several others will linger around

> If one of the "true" Abyss Watchers, the 'identical' ones, gets somehow separated from the rest for significant time, they might slowly reclaim sense of identity and even remember their name. Addiction to fighting the Abyss can't be helped though, so they will yearn to forget the brief moments of peace and rejoin the group

[bestgirlinc]

Soulsborne Blogs: Dark Souls Remastered

Hey Folks My first new Review of this account is part of a thing I will occasionally do called Soulsborne Blogs. With this I will go through the games made my Miyazaki and his team that we consider part of the overarching Soulsborne... Ring... Shadows Die Twice... series? Either way I hope you like it as I dive into the SECOND game in this series: DARK SOULS Specifically Dark Souls Remastered

SPOILERS

Gameplay: It's an early Souls game so it is a bit on the tough side but the gameplay by itself is not bad. Learning to parry is key in my opinion as just blindly using a shield makes the game much more boring. So Parrying is key when not using a Catalyst, Talisman or Pyromancy Flame to cast spells. Not every enemy can be parried but the ones that can will have you thanking me and yourself for wanting to and committing to earning how to parry with your shield. Besides that I will say there ARE some scuffs in the game as a whole though. Not with the primary gameplay but the actual level design. The game's interconnected nature makes it kind of a pain to travel through. Having to figure out the right direction by itself can be a pain as it doesn't tell you till you hit a wall that you went the wrong direction. On top of that many of the bonfires are a bit farther away than I would prefer them to be. I personally would have preferred a more Demon's souls approach of making shortcuts available more readily so I can zoom to the boss whenever I lose to try again rather than the long treks some of these bosses have.

Sound: The Music is good, it is definitely fitting for the dark and horrific nature of the game as a whole. I will admit that there aren't too many things that overall stand out to me sadly. That's not to say it is bad but nothing ever really stood out to me when I played it. Weirdly enough it stood out more when Listened to by itself so it may be a sound design issue and not the soundtrack itself as Songs like Pinwheel and Priscilla's themes stand out when listening on its own. That said the soundtrack does feel a LITTLE same-y at times. The Songs do start to blend together just a tad. Could have probably used a bit more diversity in sounds for the game. That could be due to story reasons but still I feel like maybe could have used a bit more.

Story & Characters: The Story and characters of the main game are mostly good. I think that there aren't too many standouts though. Solaire, Priscilla and Quelaag plus her family were all interesting but the story as a whole felt like there wasn't a whole lot of agency besides when the Firekeeper was killed and then it was just cause the best bonfire was destroyed. The Story involves Lords from long ago defeating the dragons with the power of their flames that they obtained. Many eons have passed since that day and what eventually became a major civilization had eventually fallen apart as the First Flame began to dim. Afraid of the inevitable the king was the first to link it but now it is up to the "Chosen Undead" (you) to link it (Or not) to keep the cycle going (Or begin a new age embracing the inevitable age of Darkness). It's not a bad story, but nothing happens in the plot itself. It's mostly you fulfilling an ancient prophecy with nothing else to come of it plot wise. Plus many side quests are hard to track which makes not many characters stand out themselves besides the rare stand outs like Patches, Solaire and the like.

That said none of this applies to the Artorias of the Abyss DLC expansion. The Story and characters of THAT are 10/10. I absolutely adore the whole thing. You save a princess get sent back in time to when things were happening with the promise of meeting a man who had been hyped up in the main game quite a bit as the man who beat the abyss only to find he lost in reality and you had to kill him. The question then becoming "Wait who beat it then" Only for you to realize that it was in fact YOU who fought alongside Sif to Kill Manus and save the Princess in the past. It was so cool to play and learn about. I felt like I had been given the agency I needed. I was the one who did this, I has made my mark on the world's history. The tragedy was beautiful. Artorias trying to save the day but dying and never knowing he would be celebrated as a hero. Us knowing WE were the ones who did it, but because we were a hero lost out of time knowing we would never get the proper glory we deserved. It was Tragic and Beautiful and exactly what I needed in this game.

Overall probably an 8/10 or so. Artorias really made this game a fun experience. The Game has issues that cannot raise it to the TRULY GREAT status but overall I enjoy the game and feel like it is truly good that it helped create a new subgenre of Action RPGs

[questionablepastries]

soulsborne ask 8, 14, 30(also happy late birthday!!! how did i miss it!!!)

ASH!!!!! IM ANSWERINGN SO LATE forgib meh (also THank you for the belated birthday wish YAYAYA <3 )

I wanted to answer this on pc, bc i intended to write a lot given that this is like one of my top favorite franchises and it altered my brain chemistry permanently; aint no way im writing no sorry ass short answer so its gonna go under a readmore :)

8. What are your 3 favorite areas and why?

ough this ones already tough, throughout all the games there are so many good areas lol. I had to write a large list of areas I love and finally managed to narrow it down to three it was super painful and took like 30 min but here they are (in no particular order)

Fountainhead palace from sekiro - probably the most serene location in all soulsborne personally, The music is very peaceful the area is GORGEOUS compared to the bloodbath of the rest of the game. It very much is its own isolated location because technically it is. the royalty in sekiro would seclude themselves in this location and do nothing but ignore the state of the rest of the world and it very much shows since the area is so serene with its cherry blossom trees and massive koi fish to feed. even though the area has since flooded and all the servants turned into fish people hybrids its still awesome to explore what is essentially abandoned royalty temple ruins

Nokstella eternal city from eldenring - the area is just super pretty as well! sorry its starting to sound redundant but unlike fountainhead palace this place is not meant for normal people much less royalty to access and yet its a fucking cinderella castle underground complete with stars and shit, plus everything here is like weird mercury magic and has all these mimics its AWESOME i love doppelgangers and i love the scary silent atmosphere here because its like what did these people DO to get themselves banished underground

Tower of latria/upper latria from demon souls, i chose this one because i think it caused me the most stress in my demon souls run. it was here that i was getting very lost and very scared - probably the most stressed ive ever been my entire demon souls run. going from super scary prison to jesus christ is that a giant fucking beating heart being held up by chains was an experience ill never feel again it was so cool

honorable mentions go to: caelid, lake of rot, crumbling farum azula, academy of raya lucaria (elden ring), the gutter, black gulch, and shrine of amana (ds2), the entirety of shrine of storms (demon souls), nightmare of mensis (bloodborne)

i feel bad not even mentioning one ds3 map so uhhh profaned capital

14. Who is the most underrated boss in your opinion?

leechmonger & adjudicator (yes i chose two, im cheating) from demon souls. I think soulsborne games should lean way more into body horror/horror themes in general given how crappy the state of their worlds are and these guy are like. the definition of both body horror and gore. sad to see both of them being ignored for fan favorite cool people in armor bosses (artorias, ornstein, gwyn, lady maria, malenia, old king allant, soul of cinder, nameless king...etc)

bosses that get this horror thing right include: ludwig, orphan of kos, guardian ape (not exactly underrated but the second phase tho), radahn (he was eating a guy at the start lol he counts as horror in a way? plus he's massive), mergos wetnurse, king allant (the real one!), phalanx (god i love this thing), flamelurker, maneaters, four kings (warped by dark magic and infinitely respawning in an abyss this is the coolest concept of all time), gaping dragon (COOL!!!!), demon of song are a couple i can list with google's help

off topic but my favorite "just a guy" bosses are penetrator (demon souls), looking glass knight + darklurker (ds2) and the corrupted monk from sekiro

30. Rank the games you’ve played!

wahhh......

dark souls 1 (my entry to the franchise im sowwy)

demon souls (really captured the scary morose medieval knight atmosphere i was desperately craving after finishing ds1)

bloodborne (super unique game - has no peer in terms of atmosphere, is only in third place because i much prefer being a depressing knight rather than a cool guy in a trenchcoat on a weekday in london)

eldenring (being unable to ride torrent in the final boss fight, the dissapointment of lack of things to do at the mountaintop of the giants, and no boss living up to radahn or rykard in the end game stretch..(malenia is just a hot lady im sorry; even her second form is just hot lady - now if she was a monster.....) is why im placing this as 4th)

sekiro (another unique game however has zero replayability)

dark souls 3 (might be overdue for a replay since i only beat it like twice since release, and i struggled to remember any bosses or areas when answering these questions. I think ds3 was just like a bunch of references to ds1, however gael one of THE most memorable bosses for me and was a grand way to end the franchise)

dark souls 2 (granted i only played vanilla upon release only once and it left a bad taste in my mouth to the point that i was concerned about the state of the franchise after i finished it because while i knew the main team was working on bloodborne while this was being developed it made me wonder if id ever experience what i felt in ds1 ever again.

[cielhunternorwood]

It's time for more Dark Souls, starting off with my full second fight against Artorias with some added Gray Raven music. Then it's down through the township and to the edge of the Abyss, after suffering from not ensuring the elevator was safe.

I'm starting to get the feeling scheduling videos actually causes them to be less likely to be viewed for some reason, even though it really shouldn't affect it. I tried off and on scheduling videos and just publishing the moment they were done uploading, and I feel like scheduled videos did worse overall.

I don't really get how Youtube can make that so dumb, when everyone on every site insists scheduling the video to release ahead of time doesn't affect it, but I'm seeing evidence to the contrary.

Anyways, enjoy.

[insomniaticvoids]

Annnnny gays I mean ways.

I still find it immensely intriguing and telling of the stubbornness of sir Ornstuen that his soul or at least armor manages to last 3 cycles of kiln rekindling... I think about this on occasion and really need to read up more around it cause I find it so intrestibg the remainants we get of certain figures i.e ornstein but also the role of artorias and the abyss/ abyss watchers that get expanded upon or touched on in very unique ways as the three games roll out.

I just love details that are expanded upon and lore connections that can be pulled together and shuffled around that fromsoft does.

Like I could go on a tangent the intrest of them having it be 3 games to have the nameless king apear being one of the last children of gywn to be shown. Or other bits but... well I need to touch up more on it. (And refer to the art books.... which are Hella cool btw)

[trashybugs]

People accuse Oberon as a liar for good reason. But they do not realize they too spread lies about him, such as him being the "true" lostbelt king, which is false, or him being brainwashed by the welsh faeries, also false; or him having memories of his PHH counterpart and hating Artoria because of it, which is again, false (that's actually Morgan lol). We bug fuckers spread his cheeks instead. People need to educate themselves and surrender themselves to the charming and lovable liar.

ah anon have you been browsing Oberon youtube videos? cause yeah the comment sections are just people spreading misinformation i swear

even the Type Moon wiki stated that Oberon being brainwashed for the longest time until they finally fixed it. the wiki can't even get his lore right for fucks sake

people keep comparing Oberon-Vortigern to PHH Vortigern is my biggest pet peeve, i literally can't stop ranting about it. Oberon states that he doesn't give a single shit to Arthurian legend and called PHH Vorti a loser so please for the love of god stop calling him "Arthuria's uncle" I'm going to lose my mind

he is his own character with his own motivation and backstories stop comparing him into a pre-existing character that barely have resemblance to him other than role and name .

i always view the name Vortigern as a title instead of an actual name. a title bestowed upon those whose born into becoming the will of Britain

the Abyssal Insect of Lostbelt Britain and the white dragon of PHH Britain happens to have the same name

[rabbitmagic]

I saw someone post concerns about the game being punishingly difficult... FEAR NOT FRIENDS!

I have my final session in the network test tonight, so let me give you some of my insights.

It's actually way easier than any other Souls game, I have one more session left tonight in my network test and I've already beaten all the bosses and explored all the dungeons, the whole time I was playing I was thinking... I wonder if they're going to rebalance this? But this is just one tiny sliver of the tutorial area, so no need to rebalance in a game like this. It felt good to be able to play a swordsman without dying every 5 seconds like I usually do, till I can brute force my way to enough experience, grind for enough gear, and upgrade the right sword to be a badass. I could just be a badass!

Now, any fight you're having a problem with is no longer mandatory. Walk away! Go around! Check a different dungeon, they're really different from each other and there's going to be a billion.

It looks like there's no longer, a true, OP class you MUST BE if you are "Bad at Game"(TM). Usually to walk around feeling like an unstoppable God in a souls game with the least amount of experience, skill, and time investment required pyromancer. A low-level pyromancer could pretty much walk through their games going... And I'm going to put fire on you, and now you're going to be on fire, and some fire over here! * Insert mad laughter here* Which is why I'm delighted to tell you with this game...

I was just some dude! I was the bloody wolf because it reminded me of the abyss walkers / artorias style and I hope it would play like that, and did not disappoint. I didn't have any magic, just a big sword, a pack of wolves that acted as a summon (You can purchase and find summons! They help you in battle and if you have a hard time, the three wolves is great for distracting your enemy so you can WHAIL on them unnoticed.)

Is that enemy on the open world map giving you a hard time and even though you could avoid him, you just need to kill him to deal with some of your repressed anger? Equip your lance, get on your horse, and then barrel spin around them. Congratulations! You just figured out how to destroy even big intimidating enemies without having to "git gud" and it's so much fun. You can even kill the big dragon this way, it takes longer, but it's much safer as your horse has its own separate HP pool and you can keep feeding it restorative items that you make in your crafting area in your menu from common berries that you can just tap triangle to pick up as you rush through the world.

I really don't foresee at this point them doing any major rebalancing? I play tested for Nintendo for a while and I feel like at this stage that is definitely not what they're focusing on, since it was a network test. we're stressing the servers, is basically our job, and we had a few really bad slowdowns which was the only time a group of high level enemies destroyed me like eight times and that was just me helping test the issue. But this was the exception, and it was also caused specifically by slowdown, the crabs would have a super lag, and then six of them would all of a sudden be surrounding me bashing me with their claws. I repeated this till the slowdown was over and then I destroyed them like usual, with no issue.

I never had to take on a boss over and over and over and make myself miserable, I did try to kill the dragon too many times in a row but I knew I was way underleveled for it and it was just me, my horse and my sword. There are special statues that are so small you don't even notice them, and they will automatically respawn you somewhere close if you want, instead of back at your bonfire, so you can get right back into the action if you're killed! I was having so much fun with the mechanic, not having to slog my way back to an enemy to challenge it, that I thought the dragon over and over but not in a grindy, or exhausting way. I was doing it because I was having fun! I came back later with a better understanding of how the wolf summoned worked as a distraction, I absolutely destroyed him.

I feel like with all of these changes from software has finally put an easy mode in their game, Because you never have to be frustrated, you never have to beat your head against a wall, you can do something else, you can do whatever you enjoy doing while leveling up and getting more skills, more experience, and casually strolling your way to being OP, while you take your own path in the game.

I've been playing Dark Souls Remastered between network sessions for comparison and I was just so stunned finding all these bottlenecks even as a level 95 character where it just wasn't able to go without difficulty. A lot of difficulty. I had to throw myself at the painting guardians over and over because I couldn't spawn anywhere else because of a bonfire issue, and I couldn't run through them, and it was just such this big frustrating thing to try and get back to a bonfire so I could just get back to playing my game. My game. I realized I didn't experience that once in Elden Ring, this feeling of unfair frustration.

To close this out, please enjoy a picture of me and my best friend my cow horse!

[fulgurantfirstborn]

{{Had a thought about Gwynfor becoming a Darkwraith or something. Like, he would get through the Ancient War without switching sides to the dragons, but turn on Anor Londo and the gods after the flooding of New Londo.

It would all start with Havel the Rock being banished, the blatant and heartless discard of a close family friend cracking the foundations of Gwynfor's belief in his own father. Also, through Havel and through there being humans in the Warriors of Sunlight, the god prince would have come to appreciate humans more than most other gods could at the time. Despite fearful whispers about the Age of Dark, I think he still would have tried to defend humans. He might have even had human friends in New Londo, if not also knew the Four Kings himself.

Ultimately, the casualties caused by the New Londo flooding would be what shatters the Prince of Sunlight's faith in the gods. How can the oh-so-powerful gods not even rescue and properly evacuate those not yet affected by the Abyss? This point of contention might even drive a wedge between Gwynfor and his god friends, notably Artorias of course as the Wolf Knight was charged with fighting the Abyss.

Anyway, I'm still not sure about all the logistics because I'm not sure Gwynfor can be so easily swayed by the likes of Kaathe. I don't know, I guess serpents can be pretty manipulative... Also, I was figuring that the Darkwraith AU basically continues into DS3, but the Sable Church tries to assassinate Gwynfor since they think they have no further use of him as their god lapdog. Cue the former prince angsting over having actually betrayed his own kind and finally losing his trust in humans or something like that.}}

[a-bottomless-curse]

What’s you favorite ship for Kayden in each soulsborne universe? (assuming canon character as the other)

Oh, thank you for the question and letting me ramble about my ships!! :D

I’d say my favorite two ships for Dark Souls 1 that actually sort of fit with Kaydens’ canon (one more so than the other) would be Artorias/Kayden (before he got possessed by the Abyss and she died and became Undead) and then Solaire/Kayden because I think they’d be cute together to be honest. I’ve also written partially finished drabbles for both of these so I have ThoughtsTM on them.

I also really like Kayden/Ornstein too, but that one would heavily be an AU one.

I don’t really have any ships for Kayden in Dark Souls 2 actually, that’s the game I know the least about, but I do like Lucatiel so I could potentially see a Lucatiel/Kayden ship.

As for Dark Souls 3, probably Kayden/FireKeeper to be honest. They both need a break in life and so I fully plan on (eventually) writing a short drabble where they just get the chance to have a break and some soft times.

That being said, I have thought about Kayden/Lorian before.

Favorite ships for Bloodborne are definitely Kayden/Gilbert and Kayden/Simon, no question about it. I just like pairing up Kayden with people who I think would be good with her, and they both fit the bill so *shrug emoji here* I will say though, I do like Kayden/Maria, they’d be a truly terrifying duo and I love that image.

And then for Sekiro (cause may as well include it), Kayden/Wolf is my favorite ship for that universe, though Kayden/Emma is my second favorite.

[andarion]

What are the odds that Arthur will save our asses from probably beast 6 in LB 6? I mean I love him and I’m hoping he plays a big role in lb 6. Not to mention, he’s also my fav Character from the whole fateverse.

Heavy FGO spoilers for cosmos in the lostbelt, so skip this post if you want to avoid spoilers

Most likely yes. Though the question is whether if he is destined to battle just Beast L (Manaka/Beast of 666) or R (Nero/Whore of Babylon) or both.

Given his trial quest he has met, or at least knows the telltale signs of each side

Though given his interlude (Full translation found here credit to u/kanramori on reddit) and the fact that Romulus is the one who speaks directly to Arthur, makes me believe that it is possible that we may encounter both halves of Beast VI in the “Round Table Domain”:

Romulus: Red Dragon, Arthur Pendragon.

Romulus: Roma knows everything. Roma knows the road to everything.

Romulus: As such, Roma knows even the end of your journey. My child, alas, my child!

Romulus: Though this place is not the final destination of your journey, it can be a good vantage point to look up into the stars.

Romulus: Whilst not staring up into the stars, you are hurrying into tomorrow. But my child, that is a mistake.

Romulus: If you find yourself stopped during your journey, look up into the skies. Look into the stars.

Romulus: Remind yourself that that is the reason that you have visited this planet.

Arthur: ……………

Romulus: Look up into the stars. And the calamity that you seek will come to you over yonder.

Also in the Atlantis lostbelt we got some information as to what is going on the British Lostbelt (See here the whole translation notes on reddit by Taiboo)

The most relevant notes are the following:

- It seems that the Fantasy Tree in the English Lostbelt is already dead, and that this was part of Kirschtaria’s request to Beryl in order to let the English Lostbelt self destruct. It’s about to disappear soon. Beryl worked really hard for it, in that Lostbelt where there were very few humans and a lot of phantasmal beasts. Just by straying a bit from the path would land one in a world with different rules. He calls it a hellish wonderland, which surprised even someone raised in England like him.

- Beryl carefully nudged the ones there into defeating the Fantasy Tree themselves. Right now they must be crying out that they were tricked by Beryl, but he’ll deal with that later.

- The English Lostbelt is still surrounded by the wall of light now, but Kirschtaria can confirm that its Fantasy Tree has been destroyed. The branches of Fantasy Trees that have grown tall enough to reach the stratosphere will interface, forming a network. The reaction from England just disappeared the other day. And so that wall of light, “The World’s End”, should disappear soon too.

- Kadoc asks about why the English Lostbelt has to be destroyed. Kirschtaria says that someone like Kadoc who doesn’t know the abyss of the Clock Tower might not understand. The English Lostbelt is a Lostbelt that cannot be left here. It is a threat to both the Crypters and the God of the Foreign Star.

- Beryl shows up, having actually arrived here in the flesh. He made use of a sheltered princess in his Lostbelt, getting close to her. But she turned out to be quite mad, not caring that he was a spy for the humans and saying stuff like “let’s be together until the depths of hell!”

Now these tibdits are interesting, a resurgence in phantasmal beasts is something opposite to what happened i n pan-human history camelot, where basically after Artoria/Arthur felled down Vortigern that put the final nail in the coffin for the remnants of the age of gods.

However something must have happened within the lostbelt around 500AD (age of the deviation) to cause the current situation. One thing to note is the amount of phantasmal beasts, which could be related to the fact that at least in hanafuda she has a skill named    Potnia Theron: Monster Princess 

Which going with what was stated above, it seems likely that there’s a relation there, also small lore tibdit, Manaka is half-english.

So all in all I think we will see our boi Arthur featured prominently on the sixth lostbelt.

[theoceanthatdrownthemoon-chaldea]

Found another victim of the Nobutoria pair: Katsushika Hokusai and Katsushika Oei.

Remember in their trial quest, Nobu stands in as Shogun:

She was even mentioned by name:

The twist is the contest with life at stake:

Nobu didn't attain the title of Shogun in life. She is called 'King of Innovation' and has King trait in FGO. The reason could be that she cut off a piece of Ranjatai, an honor reserved only for Emperors and Shoguns. In Hawalulu, the Hokusai-Oei father-daughter pair would be killed off unceremoniously by XX per her duty of Foreigners eradication many times until the last loop. Depends on how you view it, they either suffer less or worse than Okita as a victim of Nobutoria pair. At least it's a one time thing for them.

There is another detail more important:

The Treasure Ship here is the one said to sail through the heavens by the Seven Lucky Gods of the Japanese. They each carry a godly treasure. Forward to Las Vegas event, Maou Nobu said she was jealous of Ruler Artoria's Ehangwen and wanted it. Ruler Artoria radiates divine aura despite lacking said trait as usual. She is also the ruler of Las Vegas and the owner of her casino. There is no chance of her losing money or get cheated out of it. She is the Goddess of Luck of Camelot. Of the seven godly treasures:

The hat of Invisibility: the hat on her 2nd Ascension? She is the one maintaining the seal on the real problem in Las Vegas. As X and XX, her crisis resolution effort is effective but often ignored in favor of being made fun of. She's invisible as an indispensable one.

Robe of Feathers - She flies and floats effortlessly except in 2nd Ascension when she only wants to take a stroll.

Magic Mallet to bring forth Money - Artoria is secretly skilled in all kinds of gambling. Her being a casino owner and manager could only mean money pouring in, not out. Even the evil mastermind eel Moriarty couldn't pull wools over her eyes.

Bag of Fortune - Similar to Touta's. This could be her Ehangwen or her use of Rhongomyniad to create a copy of Las Vegas.

Never Empty Purse - Tied in with her not widely known talent in gambling, visual acuity and cheat detection. And/or Rhongomyniad creation power.

Key to Divine Treasure House - Her shining hall Ehangwen and the person in control of Las Vegas herself.

Rolls of Brocade - I guess the battle gown and that....fur white boa? It's for ceremonial purpose.

Scrolls of Wisdom & Longevity - Her class as Ruler and her ownership of Rhongomyniad - the thing that could turn the owner into a Divine Spirit.

That small detail is a foreshadow to Las Vegas summer. It doesn't have other uses than confirming Nobu's taste and desire. The seven godly treasures are translated into Artoria's immaterial possession. When Maou Nobu said she wants the ship (Treasure Ship), it's really both the ship and pilot she wants. Since the ship and pilots are inseparable as discussed, Maou Nobu wants the pilot because the ship (treasures) can't manifest, exist or has values without Artoria.

A Nobutoria confirmation right off a New Year event. A subtle one that requires one to remember it till Las Vegas event. It's fortunate we're on NA server and is in the position to connect the dots immediately. A good start of a year indeed. Even better it probably set a pattern as we'll get that hotspring inn scene next year. I guess that made the headcanon about Nobu unable to flirt with Artoria without dragging diplomacy in more canon. It's still romantic in its own way since most likely Artoria intuited it even with her handicap in regards to Japanese culture. Nobody would suspect a thing. No one else was both there in the dream and at Maou Nobu's casino. Not even the Gudas realized it. It may not be possible without the perspective of a person beyond the 4th wall. Why else did Maou Nobu disappear for the rest of the event? Where did she even go? Archer Nobu's later scheme could be a ploy to attract Ruler Artoria's attention. If she's a patron deity of that casino place, making money would surely cause her to evaluate Nobu as a manager = acknowledge her as equal to the swimsuit swordmasters who are ranked with beautiful = strong. Nobu didn't even use her swimsuit sprite. She was trying to force her way into the system and used her own rules. Okita J foiled her plan but Ruler Artoria released her from incarceration. That's still a win for Nobu. They truly are good at this unconventional flirting.

If there's no magic involved then the stuff Nobu gave the Gudas is mead. In Norse mythology, it's called mead of poetry. There is also theories that mead is the soma drink of Indian myth. The text description of soma is generally thought to induced entheogenic experience. The Gudas got sent on this journey by a self-proclaimed Demon King and was accompanied by a Demob King's Daughter. At the end, they even managed to bring back a being who bent an Outer God to their will. There must be some sort of magic involved then or the time and the condition were right for the Gudas to be pulled into this dream/Abyss. I don't know if the writers researched mead but there are meads named after King Arthur and King Arthur's court, Camelot. Lancelot and Guinevere meads also exist. For now, I would say Nobu got the mead from Artoria so it's partly their fault the Gudas were sent into yet another New Year's Another Reality. X did participate in the last new year's event.

Lastly, Gilgamesh is given a role of the Shogun's subordinate. Both Caster Gil and Archer Gil are now casted in roles inferior to Nobu. In Las Vegas, Caster Gil is effectively below Ruler Artoria as well.

[antibioware]

okay i don't know anything about dark souls but how similar is it to hollow knight actually? i know mechanically they're pretty different but i see them compared a lot narratively in terms of like. story structure and tone?

Ok so, while they're completely different games (Dark Souls is a JRPG while Hollow Knight is a metroidvania game), there are a lot of similarities between the first Dark Souls game and Hollow Knight, both in the plots of the games, in the bosses, the way the player interacts with NPCs and some of the game areas. Both tones are melanchonic, and both games are fucking evil to play. I like Hollow Knight way more personally.

Both games are set in long since dead kingdoms that died because of Some Mysterious Cause, both main characters (the Chosen Undead and the Knight) are part of a "reject" population of beings with special abilities that exist to complete a greater plan, and both games force the main character to make a sacrifice to allow a dying kingdom to continue living on (thought dark souls gives the player the choice of walking away from this sacrifice and destroying the world as they know it in this action). The concept of becoming hollow in Dark Souls and the infection in Hollow Knight also greatly resemble each other. In Dark Souls the final boss is also kept "hidden" and there's need of the souls of the Lords to have access to the area where you fight him, much like THK is locked behind the souls of the three dreamers, and you need to kill them to get through.

I say the boss have similarities to me for two specific reasons: 1 - THE NAME STYLES. the dark souls bosses have titles more than names, and so do the hollow knight bosses. examples: Artorias the Abysswalker/Troupemaster Grimm. 2 - bosses are the ex-knights/ex important figures of the dead kingdom in which the story takes place.

NPCS in dark souls arent all strictly plot relevant, but some are, and those some can help during bossfight, and pretty often end up dying in ways that will make you want to kill yourself. Just like in Hollow Knight. The solid difference here is that in Dark Souls, completing an NPC's personal quest is embarrassingly difficult and frustrating beyond belief

There are also similarities between specific areas, for example: Anor Lond/the City of Tears, the Abyss/the Abyss (this one is so funny), the Royal Waterways/Blighttown, and it's pretty easy to get lost.

Holy shit I didn't mean to write so much I'm so sorry

[goldenornstein]

Tfw you’re Abyss Orn and you become so desperate for companionship and love that you abduct a human you find to become your pet. However despite being completely starved for affection you also never want to experience a loss like the one you felt when Artorias died again so you instinctively act as abrasive, rude and generally unpleasant as possible to ensure a deep bond never forms, thus leaving you in emotional limbo and rendering you a train wreck.

Well. Shit. You right. That could be one of those peak dysfunctional moments when Ornstein’s just acting without thinking cause grossly overwhelmed by emotions. 

The main reason for him to do incredibly stupid and self.destructive things is loneliness and/or love, plus on that verse he’s extra reckless, so yeah…

TFW when you get emotionally attached to a meal, though >:/

[mrslittletall]

Title: Keeping it together (Chapter 16) Fandom: Dark Souls Characters: Dragon Slayer Ornstein, Hawkeye Gough Word Count: 1.926 AO3-Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16328084/chapters/41892992 Previous chapter: https://mrslittletall.tumblr.com/post/182556779114/title-keeping-it-together-chapter-15

Summary: Ornstein returns to Anor Londo.

(Author's note: Hm, now that Artorias is buried and everything why continue, you may ask? I still have some plans for Ornstein in this scenario, but I am pretty sure there aren't too many chapters left. I hope you stay with me on this ride to the very end. This story is very dear to me and I hope other can enjoy my headcanon and interpretation of this canon lore too.)

“Ciaran is not coming back.” Ornstein sat leaning against the wall, a hand propped against his chin, his golden lion helmet tossed on the ground next to him, his gaze staring right through the giant.

Gough didn't answer. Instead, the giant focused solely on his work.

“...You knew it, right?”

“Hmm, I was expecting it.”, Gough answered. “The way she acted, I had the feeling that could be the case.”

Ornstein sighed, shifting his weight a bit, sitting on the stone ground in his armour wasn't comfortable at all, how could Gough stay like this for so many years now? He inspected the giant, still wearing his armour after all these years, the helmet with the filled up eyeholes which had turned him blind eventually and his great bow still at his side... wait...

“Your greatbow, where is it?”, Ornstein asked.

“I gave it away. There isn't a need anymore for me to use it.”

“You mean, because the last dragon to threat Anor Londo has been slain?” Ornstein shifted his weight again, exhaling a deep sigh. “It feels like the end of an era.”

Gough stopped his carving and looked at Ornstein, slightly next to him, like always.

“In just a few days, the once so famous knights of Gwyn have practically been disbanded.”, Ornstein said, voice gloomy. “One retired, one dead, one has quit and...”, he took a deep breath, trying to hide a shiver that went through his body.

“...and I am on the verge of just abandoning it all and go on a journey. I feel there isn't the need for a dragon slayer anymore.”, Ornstein finished.

“You still aren't over him.” Gough stated. Ornstein simply nodded.

“But you have come to me first, because you are unsure.”

Another nod. Ornstein hated how easy it was for Gough to see right through him, even without eyesight, but he also was glad for it. He needed that voice of reason for helping him to not do something stupid.

“Anor Londo needs me.”, he said. “I still have my duties there, especially now, that Ciaran and Artorias won't come back. And...”, another deep breath, “I can't leave Gwyndolin alone.”

“Whatever would happen to us, I was always certain of one thing, Ornstein, that you would stay loyal to your very end.”, Gough said. “But remember, sometimes you have to thrust your sense of duty aside in order to find true happiness. Don't let it get you down, Ornstein. May the flames guide your way.”

“...I will come back to visit you all...”, Ornstein murmured, standing up, fixing his helmet on. “But for now, I have to return to Anor Londo. I have been away long enough. Farewell, Gough.”

Ornstein didn't turn around when he walked to the ladder leading down the tower, but he was sure that the giant had raised his big hand to wave at him. Like he always did.

Only when Ornstein's feet reached the ground at the bottom ladder, did he try to think about the words of the giant. Words that would come back to him, much much later, but for now, his feet would only carry him forward. Back to Anor Londo. Where he belonged. Now that he kept it together for so long, he would be able to make it a tiny bit longer. Even though this tiny bit could be as long as it needed to be.

The sun already started to set, glistening on his armour, when Ornstein could see the silhouette of the cathedral. He braced himself, even though there still was a bit of way to go. This wouldn't be easy at all... He wondered how much the silver knights already knew? Questioning anything didn't help though, the silver knights were overdue to getting their training and some clear orders, that should be all that counted. Ornstein travelled the remaining distance to the cathedral while the sun was setting completely and the stillness of the night laid itself over Anor Londo, the moon rising, a full moon like it always was. Ever since Gwyndolin had took up the mantle of ruling in lieu of Lord's Gwyn and Princess Gwynevere, the moon had always been full. Ornstein had the feeling that it was because of Gwyndolin's association with moonlight magic. Now, that the sun had set, a chilling breeze had set in. Ornstein could feel it, even through his armour. Had it always been that cold at the nights in Anor Londo? He didn't remember. It didn't matter anyway, he was at the front of the cathedral and the silver knights on duty there audibly gasped when they saw him approaching.

“Captain, you're back.”, the first of them said. Ornstein recognized the voice, Herman, a seasoned veteran. Of course not from the dragon war, no silver knight from the dragon war around anymore. They didn't live that long.

“Is it true? The news about Sir Artorias...?”, the second one added, a freshman named Jervis, but he quickly got hushed by his companion.

“We have agreed to not ask about this.”, he whispered, but loud enough for Ornstein to hear. Ah, so they didn't knew yet. Great, meant that he had to tell them next roll call.

Herman turned his attention back to Ornstein. “Excuse this, Captain.”, he said. “It is good to see you back though, there has been a lot brought to our attention lately. It has been brought to our attention that people have hidden undead and they are wrecking havoc when hollowing, demon's from Lost Izalith have been wandered into the burg, we need a new schedule for our duties and there seem to be some execution's scheduled which couldn't get conducted without your presence, cause, you know, our young lord normally doesn't attend to them and...”

“Stop, STOP!”, Ornstein interrupted the volley of words of the silver knight. “I have just returned and need some rest first. Can we talk about this the next day, please?”

“Of course, captain.”, Herman said and him and Jervis of them returned to their guard duties, whispering to each other. Ornstein passed them and sighed in relief once he was out of earshot. What he first and foremost needed now was a bath. He hadn't bathed several days now and felt very dirty. He first needed to get his belongings to his room though and on the way to it...

“Oh, Captain, you're back. Any news?”

“Do you have any new orders for us?”

“Didn't Lady Ciaran come with you?”

“Are the rumours true...? Is Sir Artorias...?”

Ornstein had to tell each and every single one of them to not bother him now,he would tell them everything the next day, until he got so annoyed by the questions that he just started to growl whenever a silver knight opened their mouth. After what felt like an eternity, he finally arrived at his room, opened the door, closed it behind him and crashed face down on his bed in physical and mental exhaustion.

After around five minutes of laying there, the weight of his armour became far too uncomfortable, so he rolled around and stood up, getting rid of his armour. He eyed his travel bag but decided to unpack it later, it was too late for the servants to do the laundry anyway. He opened a chest at the end of his bed and searched for a bathing robe, then got some soap and a washing cloth from his cupboard. Equipped with this, Ornstein made his way to the bathroom.

The Anor Londo bathroom was some kind of big thermal bath, probably kept warm by pyromancies, Ornstein never had fathomed how it worked, as long as it would fulfil its purpose. At certain days the bath was open for the public, but mostly it was meant for the knights and servants, separated into one for man and one for woman. At this time of day, he could expect it to be practically empty and he strode into the bathroom with a satisfied smile when he saw that it indeed was the case.

Ornstein sat down in the hot water, feeling how it embraced his sore muscles and pretty much broke down there and then, all flooding into him at once. All the stuff he had experience in Oolacile, that Artorias was dead and he would never see him again, that Ciaran hadn't come back with him, that he had been on the verge of abandoning his post for good. That he was now back, at Anor Londo, and everyone was expecting him to solve all the problems, him alone, without any help, as if he was their kind of hero or saviour.

But that was who he was. He was the man who had managed to single-handedly slain over 80 dragons, who had proven himself worthy to be the silver knight captain at a young age, who had been given enough trust of his lord to get assigned one of the four knights of Gwyn, who had been trained personally by the master, who would set things right. What else should they expect from him? Surely not him having a mental breakdown while taking a bath.

“Keep it together.”, he murmured to himself. “They count on you. That was why you returned to them. Because you are needed here.” Ornstein slowly grabbed for a washing cloth and began to clean his body, while reciting his mantra again and again, starting to not believe it himself anymore.

Ornstein spent a lot of time cleaning himself, felt like the filth of that beast he had seen in the abyss was still crawling on his skin, only stopping to scrub when it started to hurt. His thoughts wandered to Artorias. He often had come here to bath late at night, but often enough Artorias would have dragged him into the bath when it was fairly occupied and he could still hear the hearty laugh of his friend when he joked with the silver knights or when Ornstein scolded them for trying to peak into the woman's bath. Often enough Artorias had taken it upon him to try and wash Ornstein's long hair, until the lion knight had become mad at him because he would tangle it even more.

When he left the bath, Ornstein felt a certain moisture on his face. Unsure if it was just the water or tears, he wiped it away with his towel anyway and got dressed into the bathing robes, wadding his dirty clothes into a ball, making a beeline for his room, hoping that no other silver knight would distract him anymore.

Back in his room, Ornstein just tossed the dirty clothes on the floor, looking at his travel bag, deciding it was too late to unpack and he could do this the next day right after getting up. He had just laid down into the bed, when his stomach growled.

Oh right, lately he had barely been able to keep any food in him. Because of this he also had barely ate anything this day, wanting to keep the food in him and now it showed. It was far too late for the kitchen to be open now and Ornstein was a horrible cook, so he had to wait for breakfast.

At least that meant that his food would stay down this time. He nestled himself in his blanket, grabbed his comfort pillow and closed his eyes. Next chapter: https://mrslittletall.tumblr.com/post/182847826289/title-keeping-it-together-chapter-17

[aion-rsa]

15 Hardest Dark Souls Bosses

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It’s easy to call Dark Souls the most influential game of the 2010s. Whether it was the deep combat, obtuse storytelling, or the unforgiving difficulty, dozens of other games have taken inspiration from Dark Souls in one way or another over the last 10 years. It’s even spawned an entire sub-genre of similar “Soulsborne” games.

There’s a lot to love about Dark Souls, but for most fans, the most memorable parts will always be the boss battles. We’ve spent hours trying to topple these bosses in the never-ending quest to “git gud.” There’s really no such thing as an “easy” Dark Souls boss. Their difficulty starts at “hard” and then increases to “borderline impossible.”

As we celebrate the series’ 10th anniversary, these are the 15 hardest bosses you will face in the Dark Souls trilogy:

15. Ancient Dragon – Dark Souls II

The second Dark Souls game gets some flak from fans since it didn’t involve Hidetaka Miyazaki in the director’s chair. Many gamers will tell you it’s the easiest game in the trilogy because of changes made to the gameplay without his guidance, but it’s still pretty damn difficult. For example, the Ancient Dragon hits very hard. A single stomp from his massive legs, or a blast of fire from his mouth will likely kill your character. At best, you’ll have just a sliver of health left.

But as with any Dark Souls boss, the Ancient Dragon can eventually be conquered with patience and practice. Just be prepared to die a lot before then. But at least he’s an optional boss if you’d rather avoid him altogether.

Things only get more difficult from here, and most of these fights aren’t as easily avoided…

14. Bed of Chaos – Dark Souls

Dark Souls is generally considered “tough but fair.” With enough practice, a dedicated gamer should be able to recognize enemy patterns and eventually beat almost anything the games throw their way. But Bed of Chaos comes pretty close to breaking that rule. Many would say this boss does.

This demon resides in a giant tree, and will wantonly swing massive branches at you as you desperately try to hit the two orbs on either side of the room to whittle away its life bar. Take out one orb, and a big chunk of the floor collapses. Manage to take out that orb, and now there’s even less floor to walk on as you have to make a blind jump into the tree’s branches to take out the heart of chaos. Even then, a big swing from the branches is likely to kill you if you’re not quick enough. Vanquishing the Bed of Chaos often depends more on luck than skill. 

13. Pontiff Sulyvahn – Dark Souls III

Pontiff Sulyvahn is really fast, which means you’re bound to struggle with this Dark Souls boss. He also attacks with two swords — one hits with fire damage and the other with magic damage. That’s tough, but something Dark Souls veterans can handle. The real issue is midway through the fight when he starts spawning a phantom that’s just as dangerous as he is.

Dark Souls fans thought they could handle almost anything the series could throw at them, but for many, Pontiff Sulyvahn was the first real challenge they faced in Dark Souls III. But the final game in the trilogy managed to get even more difficult from there. 

12. Capra Demon – Dark Souls

The Capra Demon has become one of the more iconic bosses in Dark Souls, a towering minotaur-like beast with two giant swords. Those who have bested him remember the first encounter well. Part of the difficulty with this demon is the two dogs at his side. Walk through the fog gate unprepared and they’ll make quick work of you before you can even get one hit on the demon.

The other issue is that the arena in which you face the Capra Demon is extremely cramped. The wall is as much your enemy as he is. Luckily, several different strategies have been discovered over the years to make short work of this fight. There’s even a way to take him out with firebombs without even entering the fog gate.

11. Centipede Demon – Dark Souls

The first challenge when it comes to the Centipede Demon boss fight is dodging its heavy hitting attacks while avoiding lava damage. The second part is taming the camera, which can regularly ruin a great run. Seriously, this might be the most glitchy boss fight in the game, although sometimes that can work to your advantage if the demon gets stuck in the scenery.

The Centipede Demon is also a good example of how sometimes you just need the right strategy to beat Dark Souls’ bosses, and how failure ultimately leads to success. Getting the Orange Charred Ring when you cut off its tail is a huge help here, and you don’t even have to beat the demon to get it. It’s worth sacrificing some souls on one run for the ring so that you can come back stronger the next time around.

10. Sanctuary Guardian – Dark Souls

After Dark Souls became something of a surprise hit, fans who conquered the first game were hungry for more. FromSoftware happily obliged the following year with the Artorias of the Abyss expansion. The first boss of the DLC quickly tested any gamer cocky enough to think they could breeze through the expansion. 

The Sanctuary Guardian is a massive, white winged lion who moves fast and attacks with lightning, poison, and physical damage. Not only do you have to be a high level player and have the right equipment to defeat this beast, but you also need to have nearly flawless dodging skills. And as tough as the Sanctuary Guardian is, it was actually just a prelude to the overpowered DLC bosses to come.

9. Slave Knight Gael – Dark Souls III

Slave Knight Gael is a case of slowly escalating difficulty. His first phase is a tough, but fairly standard melee battle. But then comes the second phase when he adds more attacks, and gains the ability to turn invisible and teleport. That’s bad enough, but then comes phase three where he adds in even more attacks, and now lightning randomly strikes the ground. 

What really doesn’t help matters is that Gael has more health than almost any other enemy in the game. Defeating him is a battle of attrition.

8. Knight Artorias – Dark Souls 

If you thought the Sanctuary Guardian was difficult, then good news! The next boss in Dark Souls’ DLC is even harder. At least Knight Artorias isn’t as annoyingly fast, but he makes up for that with a series of relentless sword attacks. And if he does try to get away, it’s only to use buffs that make him even more of a pain to deal with. The best strategy is to beat him as quickly as possible.

If you look closely, Artorias is actually fighting with a broken left arm, so he’s not even at full power for the battle. I’d hate to see what that’s like. 

7. Black Dragon Kalameet – Dark Souls 

You’ll first encounter Kalameet soaring in the background as you explore the Artorias of the Abyss DLC. That’s intimidating, but it’s really just a prelude of what’s to come. After facing other dragons, you might think that you can take him out by just attacking him from underneath. Nope. Kalameet will either stomp you to death or just fly away if you try that.

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Attempt to attack him from afar, and his fire breath causes physical and magical damage, so it can’t be fully blocked. You’ve got a very short window to actually damage the black dragon during its assault, making for an extremely frustrating boss fight.

6. Four Kings – Dark Souls

Your view of the Four Kings is going to depend a lot on how hardcore of a Dark Souls fan you are. If you’ve just played through the game once, they’re actually not so difficult or memorable. The real challenge comes on New Game+ when their stats are increased.

Whereas before, you could brute force through one king pretty quickly, that’s almost impossible on a second playthrough (or later). You’ve only got about 40 seconds until the next king spawns, and it’s easy to get caught in a situation where you’re now cornered by all four of them simultaneously. Only the most skilled Dark Souls players are going to get out of that unscathed. 

5. Throne Watcher and Throne Defender – Dark Souls II

The penultimate bosses of Dark Souls II are actually way more difficult than the final boss battle. By themselves, the Throne Watcher and Defender wouldn’t be too difficult. They’re fairly typical melee knight enemies. Just having the right build can get you close to taking out this duo — except for one little wrinkle.

As soon as you defeat either the Watcher or the Defender, the one left alive will rush to the side of his fallen brother to heal him. You have to carefully split your attacks between them because you have a very short window of time to take out the pair before they come back at you in full force.

4. Darkeater Midir – Dark Souls III

Continuing the series’ tradition of ridiculously difficult DLC boss fights, Darkeater Midir is a massive dragon with high health and heavy physical, magic, and fire attacks. He’s challenging on your first run, but can one hit kill even the most seasoned warriors on New Game+.

Unlike a lot of other bosses, there aren’t many tricks you can pull off in order to cheese a win against Midir. Your best bet is to face him head-on with a melee build. If that’s too much for you, at least he can be skipped.

3. Dragon Slayer Ornstein and Executioner Smough – Dark Souls

Ornstein and Smough effectively act as the gatekeepers in the first Dark Souls — and really for the entire series. If you did in fact “git gud” enough to beat them, you should be able to beat the rest of the game without too much trouble. 

The challenge here is two-fold. They’re both very quick, and can synchronize their attacks. It’s very easy to end up cornered and taking massive damage. And unlike the Throne Watcher and Throne Defender, you can’t defeat them simultaneously. When one goes down, it just spawns a super powered version of the other. This fight requires quick reflexes, a strong build, and a solid understanding of the game’s mechanics.

In short, this boss fight is the perfect microcosm of the Dark Souls experience.

2. Manus, Father of the Abyss – Dark Souls 

Massive, quick, and capable of dealing heavy damage in an instant, Manus is the final foe you face in Artorias of the Abyss, making him the “true” final boss of the first Dark Souls. Even though you can summon assistance in this fight, and a few items will help negate his attacks, Manus’ speed and varied attacks make him difficult to predict.

Then there’s his health bar. It’s tricky to come up with the just the right build to damage him consistently, and even when you do have a strong character, this fight is largely a matter of endurance.

1. The Nameless King – Dark Souls III

First, give the Nameless King props for showmanship. This guy knows how to make an entrance, swooping into a fog-filled arena atop a very cool looking wyvern. It’s like something straight out of a heavy metal album cover. The first phase of the battle involves taking out the wyvern, and it’s actually not too bad for Dark Souls veterans (which you should be if you’ve made it far enough to face the Nameless King). A few different strategies work here.

But when the Nameless King dismounts, the real fight begins. It’s difficult to time when he’ll strike with his sword. His attacks do a lot of damage, and the only way to avoid his lunge is to roll through it. One small mistake can quickly turn into game over, but if you do manage to defeat him, you’ve truly mastered the Dark Souls trilogy.

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Who do you think is the hardest boss in the Dark Souls series? Tell us in the comments!

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