To lock on or not to lock on

Now, I've always pretty much locked on, toggling through multiple targets, but a couple months ago on my claymore character, discovered I could do a running, not locking on spinning attack to the silver knights, pretty much slicing them in half ( I'd like to see an animation of him in two parts, lol).

Do most of you lock on, never lock on, what's everyone play style and why?

What I've noticed in PVP is that there is quite a bit of unlock, lock going on. Are these folks going after dead angles, primarily, or is it easier to fight PVP, not locking on much?

I've been practicing on the mobs of rats in the depths, not locking on for block or offense and gotta say, it's a skill. I find blocking to be harder, but I find I can take out and damage mobs at once. Boss fights, nowdays, I unlock and lock a bit, easier to get better positioning with certain bosses.

With both Dark and Demon Souls i have always locked on. When i used to PvP in Demon Souls, i was told best way to bs is not to lock on. Never got used to it. For me in Dark Souls, i have to lock on cause i'm not used to the mob's movements yet. I'm a shield user so not locking on would be hard for me.

Odinbear wrote:Now, I've always pretty much locked on, toggling through multiple targets, but a couple months ago on my claymore character, discovered I could do a running, not locking on spinning attack to the silver knights, pretty much slicing them in half ( I'd like to see an animation of him in two parts, lol).

Do most of you lock on, never lock on, what's everyone play style and why?

What I've noticed in PVP is that there is quite a bit of unlock, lock going on. Are these folks going after dead angles, primarily, or is it easier to fight PVP, not locking on much?

I've been practicing on the mobs of rats in the depths, not locking on for block or offense and gotta say, it's a skill. I find blocking to be harder, but I find I can take out and damage mobs at once. Boss fights, nowdays, I unlock and lock a bit, easier to get better positioning with certain bosses.

It depends on what you are doing tbh. Blocking is much harder locked off, so I definitely lock on for that. Hitting someone who is circle strafing around you is usually much easier locked off, unless you are using a weapon with massive dead-angling, in which case staying locked on tends to automatically dead-angle them.

When fighting multiple opponents locking off is also advised because it makes it easier to keep an eye on all of them. Especially in PvP, where 1 tends to distract you while the other goes for a backstab. If you're locked off you can surprise the backstabber by quickly turning around and parrying/smashing his face in.

I'm sure there are others around here with more knowledge on the subject though

I toggle. It depends on the situation, thats pvp though.

Pve I'm always locked on....when I'm not speed running.

i'm not very good at controlling the camera and running around at the same time, so i am a locked on kinda player for the most part. though there are some things (like running attacks) that are easier to do while not locked on though.

I only unlock to circle around enemies, or when i need to prefectly control where i'm going to dogdge

I only unlock if I need to dodge dark magic in PVP. Other than that I don't see much reason to unlock in the game.

I switch between the two. I'm mostly lock on but I'll often unlock for one type of attack and here and there for other reasons.

I lock to block, and against regular mobs in PvE...

If the boss is big, I unlock, so that I can get a better view of what he's doing, and react more fluidly.

If the boss is small, I just lock on~

I also unlock if I'm grossly overpowered (E.g I go back to the Burg at SL 100) becuase why bother locking?

I think the boss AI is different if you lock on. For instance, I can plunge attack the Capra Demon much easier if I don't lock on. The Stray/Aslym/Firesage demons, as well as the Centipede Demon, are much easier to defeat without locking on.

And just yesterday, I found that the dogs before Kalameet are much easier to hit when they're in the air after they jump if I'm not locked on.

I play unlocked roughly 80% of the time. I usually just use target lock for quick camera correction or when shooting with my crossbow. Of course when playing with the weapons like standard rapier i lock-on more, but usually I get better results when moving freely without target lock.

The only thing that I could add to what's already been mentioned is that I find that unlocking is a good idea when fighting on a narrow ledge, like the aqueduct when passing from Firelink to Undead Burg, or the underside of the Bridge Drake's bridge. For whatever reason, I walk off the edge way more when locked on.

euchrid wrote:The only thing that I could add to what's already been mentioned is that I find that unlocking is a good idea when fighting on a narrow ledge, like the aqueduct when passing from Firelink to Undead Burg, or the underside of the Bridge Drake's bridge. For whatever reason, I walk off the edge way more when locked on.

Excellent point. Someone plus one this guy. I never lock on to the panting guards up on the rafters....

...also welcome to the forum.

Thank you, glad to be here.