This isn't a Rush to the Finish Line...

This is something I've seen a few Hosts do, and it is something I've even done myself a few times.

Dark Souls is not the type of game you're meant to rush through; it is a patient person's game, it is a game where being careful will oftentimes save your life.

Now, there's a thing about being TOO careful, but yet not being careful enough will easily get you killed.

One of the things I see people doing now-and-then, is "Rushing to the Finish Line".

I know it is very tempting (like I said, I've done this myself), when you have a boss that is almost-dead (1-2 hits from dying) to grab your weapon with both hands and try to finish it off quick.... and then miss or do less-than-expected damage and then get nailed a second later, only to die with the boss having a sliver left.

Being patient and cautious got you to that far; your heart might be pounding, you might be nervous, you might be thinking "OMG, If I can just hit him one more time...", but to be honest...

Keep doing your "safe" routine that got you that far! Nothing sucks worse than to get summoned, help someone mow down a bunch of "Trash" mobs and get to the boss, and get it down to <5% left and the Host does something stupid right at the end to try and hurry up and get that last hit in and ends up getting killed.

Blaaaah.

No Sunlight Medals, no Humanity, no souls from the boss, just a bunch of wasted time.

This also applies to difficult areas, such as Blighttown. When you get down to near the 2nd bonfire, it might be "The Bonfire is just around the corner!" so it might be tempting to just make a dash at it, but wouldn't it just suck if a cragspider hit you in the back while you were trying to run past it and you died within line of sight of the stupid bonfire? Or if you were all "Heey, there's Quelaag's tunnel! I'll just RUN towards it! *WHAM* Ogre Boulder nails you in the back and you die", etc.

I've even seen this in PvP too -- someone with a Lifestealer Scythe was trying to cause Blood Loss on me (I was using a BKS+5 at the time) and I had trouble trying to hit the guy (Wood Grain ring and all, and he was wearing light armor). I kept dancing around him, rolling backwards to let bleeds wear off, etc. He eventually tagged me with a good hit and then rushed in to hit me again.

Big mistake. I had tapped my Attack button a couple times (I was expecting to die and thought I'd just go out swinging), I hit him with one hit with my BKS, and he tries rolling to the side (I assume to hit me again). He came out of his roll just as I was swinging the 2nd swing with my sword and it nailed him and killed him.

Rushing to the Finish Line is like playing the Lottery -- you win probably about as often when you do.

I'd say this depends on the player your working with, if it's someone that is experienced with PVE the chance of them dying by the traps set up in this game isn't as likely as it is with a newcomer.

I will agree with you though when it comes to actually doing the story, it's not something to rush through on your first time, it just kills the overall experience.

For you I'll say this, if your there for co-op don't go in looking for humanity and souls. Go on with the intention of helping the player and keeping them safe, that sometimes means taking the blunt end of some enemies attacks. Also remember that there is never any "wasted time" something you'll see a lot in this game and on the forums is the fact that people are constantly learning new ways to get around and kill enemies and bosses.

You may have failed to protect them this time, but the host may have learned what to do so they don't fail next time. If they choose to ignore their mistake, that is their fault but now you know that if they summon you again that you know where to go when helping that host.

I find the best way through blighttown is to speed run it, actually. Believe me, I'm not at all a speed runner either. I'm a DkS boyscout, prepaired for anything at all times. But, I get close to that last bonfire and I run and jump off the walkway, kill the one cragspider (the fire-breathing A-holes?) and cure the poison by sitting at the fire. But, the best way is to come in the back way and avoid most of the level altogether (LOL). And, from my very first play-through I ran right by those boulder ogres. I have exactly zero interest in ever engaging them.

You have to pick your spots. If your always defensive, you're just going to die slow. Like that pvp match you had. He was overly-aggressive, perhaps reckless. You won, though, because you got offensive and picked a good spot to counter. You probably were a bit lucky, but fortune often does favor the bold. You at least gave yourself a chance by attacking. But, you are right, there is no room for recklessness in this game.

My philosophy for boss fights is to ignore the health bar. If it wasn't so important to knowing which items/spells you have selected, I'd probably turn off the HUD for boss fights in Dark Souls, personally.

I'm guilty of trying to sneak in that last hit on a boss when it's almost gone lol. I don't do it much, but everytime I try, I'm deeply punished.

I'm terrible for this it regards to taking on bosses, I just want to rush in when they're low on health and attempt the dramatic leaping attacking finish! It doesn't always end well

Xaelai wrote:Keep doing your "safe" routine that got you that far! Nothing sucks worse than to get summoned, help someone mow down a bunch of "Trash" mobs and get to the boss, and get it down to <5% left and the Host does something stupid right at the end to try and hurry up and get that last hit in and ends up getting killed.

Blaaaah.

No Sunlight Medals, no Humanity, no souls from the boss, just a bunch of wasted time.

Were you refering to me?

Once I summoned two people for the 4 kings. The white one was summoned first, and he instantly ran to the boss. Then I summoned a yellow one about a minute later.

Sunbro and I went to the boss's door and found White almost dead. I refused to heal him, equiped Arty's Ring, and went through the door. White healed himself, and both phantoms entered.

We all jumped down and watched White instantly die because he didn't equip the ring,

Me and Sunbro fought the 4 kings and did a great job. When the 4 kings had a sliver of health left I rushed in for the last hit. It wasn't the last hit. The king grabed me and I died.

Me and Sunbro fought the 4 kings and did a great job. When the 4 kings
had a sliver of health left I rushed in for the last hit. It wasn't the
last hit. The king grabed me and I died.

Ouch. That had to have sucked. And yeah, this is a prime example of what I'm referring to in my OP, lol.

Only, my experiences was with O&S. They obviously wanted Smough dead first, so we killed Smough first, just me and Host. Then we work on Super O and just when he's only got a couple hits left, Host dashes in after Super O does his Lightning Butt Slam attack. Problem is, Host was just a wee bit too far away, Super O recovered, and immediately impaled the Host. I ran in to try and get a last hit on him before the Host died to the impale attack. One hit wasn't enough and the Host died a second later with barely a sliver left on Super O's meter.

Oh well.

You're right. But, that doesn't help me. My brain is hardwired to be a dumba**. Sometimes I'm able to overcome it.

It's a psychological flaw that many (most?) people experience. It's the same reason many baseball players try to beat the throw to first base by leaping or sliding, when it's been pretty much proven that the fastest way to get there is to keep running. Analogous situations occur in many other games and sports too.

Well, with Baseball, sliding does have an actual explanation -- if you slide into the base, your foot might touch the bag before the baseman can touch your leg. If you're stealing a base, just him standing on the bag won't be called an instant Out.

That and I imagine it is also partially to screw with umpires -- it might be more difficult to make a call if all you got to go on is who touched what first, the foot on the bag or the guy's glove against the runner's leg, compared to someone trying to run the whole way to the base.

But anyways, yes, it is a natural human response to try and rush to the end.

"I have to write faster because my pen will run out of ink soon!"

^ People still use pens?

I can't speak for others, but we rocket scientists do.

Although not as much as we use pencils. Those pencil leads get used up fast.

^ Pencil lead tastes great. Have you ever tasted it? It tastes great.

Most of the time, its actually safer to just run past enemies. Fighting the Giant giants in Anor Londo usually ends up draining most of your spells/estus. Most hosts I end up helping seem to have to slaughter every enemy in the level first before challenging the boss. Leaving him with no estus, and me out of spells. It isn't a race, but that doesn't mean EVERYTHING has to die before the boss does.

I must be very strange then.

I'm no pro player, but yet those Giant Guards aren't _that_ hard. I take the occasional hit, but very seldom do I ever get all of them dead and have less than 8 estus left (out of 10).

Sometimes I'll get an incredibly sloppy run and have 6-7; even at that O&S don't give you a lot of chances to take a swig. I think I've only fought them once and used up all of my estus before I got killed lol.

But yeah, the topic was more having to do with traversing dangerous areas and/or fighting boss battles, the "Finish Line" being the boss dying.

This, however, is a rush to the finish line:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43qQne23Z8A
:pirat: