Intuition or planning?

So, I'm curious, how many people actually think during battle? I mean things like consciously planning, conditioning opponents, setting rules for resource management and tracking patterns mid fight. I ask because I've come to realise that some people actually do so.

I usually do all my thinking during building. Once I'm fighting I'm going on intuition. I don't think about when to throw that parry, I just guess. I can justify it later, show why that parry attempt was a good move, but in battle I just threw it because it felt like a good idea.

Parrying is just an example, I'm like that with everything. If I try to plan mid battle it screws with me.

So, how do you make decisions in fights?

I generally have a set fighting template for everyone of my builds and that's the way I fight with that build. Now I adjust to my opponent depending on load-out, fighting style, and movement patterns, but that's just to keep me honest.

Mostly, I just do my thing.

I usually go by the aggressive mode, so I'll use all the viable movesets of the weapons I'm using. If I see I can't connect most of them, I will change my tactic and wait for my opponent to make mistakes. I'm always ready for a counter bs if I see them bs fishing. I don't parry nor roll bs, so my fighting style depends more on thinking what to do.

For example if I see my opponent much more aggressive than me, I'll usually DB or GC them in the face. If my health is low or I need to quickly finish off my enemy, I swap to a spear to do the job. I know all the poise breakpoints of weapons, so I know when to tank and when to not. If I see a spear, I'll usually swap out mine and turtle till they get bored of the aggressiveness then I 2 hand it and give them their own medicine. I plan all of this, most importantly when making builds.

Probability also plays an important part, I think how probable my opponent will use his weapon in a way, and I make a plan on how to counter them. Example my tank builds have poise to tank 3 falchion hits, because I know most of them will use the R1 spam and my medium roll just won't make it. This of course will require a weapon with good stunlocking capabilities. I make all my builds spear proof, while using a variety of weapons.

I feel like if I go in to a fight with a particular strategy, that trying to force the strategy to work will end up screwing me over. I just think that going in with a certain plan in mind can cause you miss opportunities that you normally wouldn't have. Strategies can work, but only if you're willing to adapt as you go.

depends on the opponent and the situation. i generally like to mindlessly play during a duel or in 2's, but i'll start stepping it up if that's not working.

to me.. a fight should feel close win or lose. i don't care for winning or losing, just getting a good fight. i'll passively try to balance the skill difference to get that in a duel.

for some reason i act a little bit differently when that little streak comes up in arena duels tho.. unless i want to end my streak and log out i'll immediately start activley planning to solely win at any cost.

Lol I just spam sh!t like a boss and hope it works 8)

On a more serious note I have a trick or 2 with most weapons...that's usually the only time I use a move that I have planned before the fight starts. Like a missed jump attack to setup a parry for example! For the most part I just use my instinct and react to what my opponents doing...hope it works out!

I gotta get back on DKS more

Both? You're going to be doing a lot of things intuitively because you get good enough at them eventually that you don't have to think about them usually. When you learn to do something intuitively and don't have to think about it, that opens up more mental room for you to think about other things. Stuff that you couldn't spend time thinking on before because you were too busy with something more basic.

^ Thats why its not a poll, I'm sure there are combinations that I didn't want to oversimplify.

Anyways, as I said, I do things instinctively or not at all (excluding focused practice.) Its not uncommon for me to be paying very little attention to the fight and instead be-boping to whatever up-tempo music. This state actually increases my performance. The best I can describe the reason is: it lets me get out of my own way.

I'm just curious btw, I'm not really trying to determine anything.

This is a very interesting topic.

I prefer to play by my intuition and instincts, but I always try to prepare for the fight by ascertaining my opponents capabilities beforehand. A quick look at his gear usually tells me a lot about him and I can prepare for the fight accordingly.

All of my builds have a lot of different weapons to choose from and I like to switch weapons before and mid fight to counter my opponents weapons and tactics.

Then I check the surroundings for something I can use and for possible dangers to me and my foe.

When the fight starts, I prefer to turn my head off and listen to some nice music (got a Split/Second OST right now and it fits with the PvP well). Only when the fight gets too onesided, or when I get into unusual situation, I start to think about a good way to turn the tables.

I'm not making any strategies, or tactics unless I fight with a specific goal in mind, like knocking my opponent off a ledge etc.

Never thinking about what you're doing leaves you unable to adapt to something new, I would think.

@saint I improvise in the moment and devise a solution after, if necessary. Games have rules and patterns, so as I gain experience in the system (which takes time and effort for sure) I'm less likely to have to think of a solution to a new problem. I'll just have it when the problem shows.

In short, it can make it very hard to adapt to new things in battle, but it can also make the adaptation unconscious and immediate.

Example: say I'd only fought against greatswords. I would easily and quickly adapt to fighting the ultra great swords, curved greatswords and straight swords, but if thrown against a rapier I would be flattened and have to design a solution. Having found one, I could easily adapt to spears, archers and maybe halbreds, but would probably be flattened by unusual magic like fire surge and hcsm/pursuers, where a spell like wog is similar enough to the great hammer roll attack and ugs r1s that I'd have little trouble avoiding it.

It really depends on the situation, but I much prefer to rely on my intuition. Sometimes when you're thinking too much it hinders your performance - especially in sports. Now there are certain areas where I believe someone should constantly be thinking in sports, like pitching in baseball to keep the batter off-balance. But the simpler things like his mechanics and different pitches should be a part of his intuition so he can focus on the more important things.

I'm not really sure where to draw the line in Dark Souls, but I know that if I do the thinking before I actually fight it works much better for me. It's just hard to find the exact situation when someone should readjust their mindset midfight - the only time I ever do this is if I'm in a situation that is worse than the Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae.

Intuition mixed with Prediction, that's the way I fight mostly.


I don't have any skill, lol

When the first starts, I stay defensive to learn my opponent patterns, then I try to parry. If I fail, I spam parry for 30 seconds and then go nuts. So its probably Intuition.

It depends on the character I play as, but I usually adjust plans according to what's happening currently in the fight.

I analyze everything during pvp to the point where analyzing becomes instinct.

I leave intuition based fighting for pve and speed runs.

intuition 100%

I thought this to be an excellent question when i first read it.

I think it depends on what you're trying accomplish and what kind of build you're playing. For instance if I'm playing with one of my caster/spellswords, I'm planning far more than if I'm playing with one of my spellsword/casters. Casting takes much more planning, unless you're trying to spam kill. Using your weapon effectively requires planning, but you can play more on intuition when not cycling attunements imo.

When I PvP my mind is running like a motor. Im constantly analyzing and adapting my strategy as the fight evolves.

In order to avoid over analyzing or thinking myself into a corner, I tend to play youtube videos or music in the background.

Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind.
Withering my intuition leaving all these opportunities behind.

When you are playing a game your body is already separated from your mind.

Try thinking before you write something. (ironic)

Saturday-Saint wrote:Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind.
Withering my intuition leaving all these opportunities behind.

I like that, nice flow.

Saturday-Saint wrote:Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind.
Withering my intuition leaving all these opportunities behind.

Wooooooooow! Nice reference!

Both.