Possible patch updates not yet noticed

Has anybody else noticed a BIG TIME difference in the strength of summonable NPCs?

I recall, before the patch, a summoned Solaire surviving the Gaping Dragon and O&S fight regularly. In fact one time he killed Orny before I could finish Smough.

On my playthrough since DLC arrived, Solaire, as well as ManEater Mildred, have both been killed very quickly and delt NO damage.

I think you may have just gotten lucky in the past. I don't think I've ever seen Solaire survive Gaping Dragon. He always just runs in and gets smushed for me. In fact the only fights I think I've ever seen him be really effective in are the Bell Gargoyles and Gwyn. I actually had him completely destroy Gwyn for me once. Being that both sides are AI controlled I think it's probably got a lot to do with luck, which one's attack patterns land successfully and which one's don't.

PlasticandRage wrote:I think you may have just gotten lucky in the past. I don't think I've ever seen Solaire survive Gaping Dragon. He always just runs in and gets smushed for me. In fact the only fights I think I've ever seen him be really effective in are the Bell Gargoyles and Gwyn. I actually had him completely destroy Gwyn for me once. Being that both sides are AI controlled I think it's probably got a lot to do with luck, which one's attack patterns land successfully and which one's don't.

This. In my experience, the only NPC actually worth summoning is Iron Tarkus. He's a beast!

I don't know. Solaires performance was ALWAYS consistent for me before the patch, and I have at least 200 hours in the game, probably more. I only PVE/coop. Furthermore, I'm pretty sure, but I can't say for sure, that Mildred never died in the Spiderho fight. This time she got crushed.

This could be tested of course, but I don't really care that much I suppose.

ChaosMoogle wrote:

PlasticandRage wrote:I think you may have just gotten lucky in the past. I don't think I've ever seen Solaire survive Gaping Dragon. He always just runs in and gets smushed for me. In fact the only fights I think I've ever seen him be really effective in are the Bell Gargoyles and Gwyn. I actually had him completely destroy Gwyn for me once. Being that both sides are AI controlled I think it's probably got a lot to do with luck, which one's attack patterns land successfully and which one's don't.

This. In my experience, the only NPC actually worth summoning is Iron Tarkus. He's a beast!

Indeed, Tarkus is still like the crushing machine from The Terminator.

yeah Tarkus is probably the only summonable NPC I've rarely seen die in battle. He's just designed perfectly for the battle you summon him for. In NG Beatrice is generally pretty successful in her fights too, just because both of them favor spell casters, but I think as a simple melee build with light armor, in battles that are all kinda AI melee crap shoots, it's sorta just luck of the draw whether or not Solaire is going to get in good hits or get the crap knocked out of him. Maybe consider your other builds too. In your past playthroughs you might have been using builds more set up to more effectively win the particular battles your talking about, so your higher damage output to those bosses could mean Solaire would have a higher chance of survival simply because your putting them away faster.

Gaping Dragon usually kills Solaire because he runs right in and gets eaten/the full brunt of his attacks. Also, by that time (provided you did not BB-glitch) your gear is pretty weak and that, coupled with Gaping's humongous HP, it's a tough fight for SunBro.

You could also take your SL into consideration. It's indisputable that the bosses, along with the other enemies, level up with you, increasing even more significantly in subsequent NG+'s, and I'm also pretty sure I remember reading that the summonable NPC's levels cap at a certain point that's generally pretty low. I'm not sure exactly what level that is, and I'm sure it's different for different NPCs, but I know a lot of them completely lose their usefulness in later NG+'s just because they cease to even stand a chance. So if you were fighting before at relatively low level than your NPC's would have been doing a lot better in battle, whereas if you're fighting at higher SL's now they'd be getting killed more quickly.

And is it just me or do the enemys do more damage? On my first playtrough I almost always just had the chaos daughter stuff on but this time I have a almost fully upgraded Elite armor and I feel like it is doing ****.

RevolverSnake wrote:And is it just me or do the enemys do more damage? On my first playtrough I almost always just had the chaos daughter stuff on but this time I have a almost fully upgraded Elite armor and I feel like it is doing ****.

I had taken a break from the game for a few months before the DLC came out. To me a few of the enemies seemed to move a little faster, but that could just be me.