For the Glory of Alvina

I haven't killed Prisc myself so I cannot test that weapon with it, but I imagine the combo would be very devastating given how much you can take and dish out. I typically go with a grass shield when using the set but if I do see heavy bleed people I do switch out for a blood shield while moving. As well this is a set that the wolf ring works quite well with, since with it equipped you can survive a great sword strike without stagger, I think an ultra as well but I tend to not get hit by them haha. In fact if you are using a light enough weapon and offhand like a rapier and small shield, or uchi and dagger you can actually get to 25% or less weight which is very nice, depending on your endurance of course. I have 40, the full set is only 22.5 pounds after all. The lag can be a bit brutal sometimes with that bleed negate, but there is a trick I do with it. Though the hit deals no damage if you roll through it a bleed effect still applies, using this you can force your bar to fill by rolling into a bleed weapon's swing causing the effect to hit while you are currently rolling. The trick is to get hit at the start of your roll and have the effect hit while you are still flipping through the air. Mind you I've only tested this with the DWGR, so I'm not sure on the timing for the 25% and under roll.

I have done some testing with that as well and it can be handing with sanctus especially if you are having to do a lot of hitting and running. I keep a heal on hand just in case since I don't care for using up my humanity, but that is pretty risky business to cast even if surrounded by mobs of the forest. My only issue with the replenishment tactic is if you spawn near to the farmers you more than likely won't get the cast off without risk of being obliterated. As well a lot of them will try to kill you with a stagger lock so you'll never have a moment where while taking damage you can even regenerate health.

However like all things, all of these are case by case. There are moments where the Eastern set really isn't all that greater, full on casters with enchanted and magic/magic buffed weapons come to mind in that regard. Crystal Magic Weapon destroys this set.

EDIT: By the way though it is incredibly rare to see in PvP, the Eastern Set also has pretty good poison resist. Just thought I'd mention that.

sparkly-twinkly-lizard wrote:might also allow free use of the life hunt scythe?

I think you're generally right, although I have not tested it much. I'd figure it can at least prolong your use, although a lifehunt guru would know better. My experience on the receiving end is that folks seem to two hand the scythe with the bloodshield on their back, so swapping sanctus in there may just be trading initial resistance for a slightly better heal effect on the back end. Not sure that's worth it. But replenishment + ring should help.

Can you roll through your own bleed effect from your own lifehunt scythe?

I cannot get the life hunt since I'm keeping Prisc alive, so I cannot test this. But if anyone else would like to feel free and give back the results, that would make that weapon ridiculously overpowered haha, but I have no doubt it will work. I don't see why the origin of the bleed would change the dodge through. By the way I can actually link a video that shows off this trick, by a Dark Wraith against a modder/hacker on the Xbox no less haha.

Start at about 5:30 in and you'll see some examples.

https://youtu.be/XQg1raJ8I7Y

I am an avid Lifehunt user so maybe I can be of assistance here. Using just the bloodshield, your opponent will almost always bleed before you do, assuming they aren't hitting you with a bleed weapon as well. The eastern set will give a good buffer but the best combo is the shield and the bloodbite ring. I used to use this with a mobility setup (all gold hemmed set) and my bleed resistance was over 700 I believe. I also used this combo with a heavy armor setup (bloodbite and havel's ring), two handed the scythe and ripped apart a LOT of bosses. If you can stagger your opponent with the R1 attack (one or two handed) you can get at least four or more hits in without repercussion (more with good stamina). Unless you're aggressive, bleed in PvP is more of a psychological tool to get your opponent to play into your real attacks. I like bleed because it makes most opponents come in more cautiously or roll a lot which plays into the R2 attack of the scythe. Insider tip for my tree bros, if you see a Dragon, wait to get that first hit in but when you do ALWAYS use the R1 attack as they are always staggered and susceptible for more R1 fun. I have an extra Priscilla's soul that I could turn into a scythe if any committed player wants in on this strategy. I'm not sure about the bleed dodge and if this is an effective counter but I've yet to see too many farmers good enough to worry about the strategy. And even if they are good enough to do this you are still making them modify their attack to fit yours which is still in your favor. I have noticed the R2 sweep and it's ridiculous hitbox have some great forest applications.

Some tips I have posted elsewhere but work well here include:
1. Little discussed fact, you can change the elevation of your swing which is more dramatic with this weapon due to the long sweep. I.e. If you look down, you will scrape the ground, look up and your apex can be over your head. So....hide under the Pharis wannabe cliff and swing up unexpectedly or down from higher ground. I was in a 2 on 2 and the host lost his phantom. The other tree bro boxed him into the area near the steps (artorias gate area) and I went up the steps and swung down at the guy from behind.

2. The blade can wrap around obstacles better than traditional farming weapons. I was being chased by a Havel and a Dragon with the Havel being aggressive. I circled trees which prevented his lightning zwei from hitting me. The dragon had to flush me out as they realized almost too late that the same tree was not blocking my Lifehunt.

3. Sometimes you'll meet warriors who are prepared for bleed or assume you can't afford to be aggressive due to self bleed and moderate stamina use for this weapon and approach you quite persistently. If you don't have a suitable backup plan (I used to use Priscilla's dagger but am not great with riposte or backstab) have a suitable backup technique to get them to make a mistake. I like a heavy shield which makes many fighters backstab fish. I love the mirror game which usually results in rolling. R2 about halfway through the roll for a nice chunk of damage. The hitbox is crazy wide on this weapon and I have hit people from ALL angles following a roll, including behind me.

4. The range for scythes is ridiculous (great scythe is better than lifehunt) and have made my fair share of greatsword and black knight great ax users learn to keep some distance. After a couple of side rolls resulting in easy hits I typically start seeing my opponents roll away to avoid playing into my fight.

Some very good info Skarecrow, if you have more ideas like that with weapons and armors go on and post them and help the hunters out.

A little advice though, I would not suggest the golden hemmed set due to fast acting stagger lock weapons. The Falchion comes to mind, if a person connects with that against you they will outright kill you since you have no poise, just thought I'd give the heads up on that. But you've probably already experienced that before, I tend to like to keep enough poise to avoid small weapon threats.

Lol....Definitely not a PvP recommended set these days. That was more PvE so I could use different rings (think greedy) as the Great Shield of Artorias is more than adequate for most beings. For PvP I was using a combo of that and Havel's which gave good results but ended up with Black Iron Chest and Gauntlets upgraded, Wanderer's hood and Channeler's waistcloth. Still need Havel's to fast roll but allows me greater weapon/shield flexibility. With that setup I very rarely get staggered. I tried light armor for awhile as my PvE technique is usually bait the attack then move just out of range but even a small amount of lag means broken guard, even with a heavy shield.

I actually have a tip to aggravate/beat farmers that I used a couple times in the Kiln.
Step1: Drop a white sign near the steps/entrance

Step 2: Wait to be summoned by a farmer

Step 3: Pretend you are there to help

Step 4: Don't

This takes a summon slot away form the host and, in my opinion, is very funny when they realize you are leaving them to die. Bonus points for bowing to the invader.

This led to another idea that we can do for an organized night(s) of forest hunting. Anytime you get a hate message you reply with a stock message, like a slogan for the forest hunters. For example...."Forest Hunters just made you leaf." Or....something good

I like to go with full sets, Paladin, Eastern, Elite Knight, Knight, Warrior, Shadow, Favour, Painting Guardian, and chain mail. Then again I'm a goofy person, so I would not recommend it because doing so will easily get you killed.

I tend to do that when I invade and end up as a phantom through that bug/glitch. I just wait and watch, or I join in the fight in a way hosts probably don't even know is possible. Did you know summons can parry the host, they just can't riposte? So I have parried the host as a hunter was about to strike leading to a riposte, or saved a hunter from a devastating attack by parrying the host away. It's pretty funny to do and boy do you get hate mail. Hate mail that can be worn as a badge haha.

For the possible Gravelording event I've been farming Eyes of Death to give out to gravelords when I invade their worlds, to keep it going. Boy is this tedious to do though.

strangejoy wrote:@Brokewilly: Great ideas regarding the PMs and voice bridge.

@Tolvo: I'm open to outfit suggestions. However, I'm likely to try dragonoid form at least part of the time (see my post in the general discussion about using Havel's Shield R2 to make dragonoids more viable). Perhaps a gesture or a certain action would work.

Regarding the date and name of the event, I like twinkly's suggestion "Forest of the Damned." Having the event on the 17th or the 24th will give us enought time to publicize it and prepare. Any preferences between the two?

Well either Saturday, March 17th or 24th would be good to me. I can definitely have the voice conference bridge and chat functionality up by either of those dates. Also, I am going through the Book of the Guilty (on XBOX) so I can PM all hunters and GLs I find to let them know an mass invasion like this is going to occur in the near future. Will also provide them a link to this thread - so they can get some background info and ask any questions they may have. From a new hunter perspective this would be the perfect opportunity to level-up in the covanent and I know some of the newer hunters still want to get a RoF so their chances to get one should be higher than any other time.

I was finally able to get my hands on one of those Channeler's Tridents so I am ready to do some mass buffing for my fellow hunters during the event. Also, it appears the Trident does relatively good phy/mag damage with my stats so it may serve as pretty good secondary weapon for me - just need to test it out in battle.

I'm ready and willing to do my part to get this thing going.

skarekrow13 wrote:I actually have a tip to aggravate/beat farmers that I used a couple times in the Kiln.
Step1: Drop a white sign near the steps/entrance

Step 2: Wait to be summoned by a farmer

Step 3: Pretend you are there to help

Step 4: Don't

This takes a summon slot away form the host and, in my opinion, is very funny when they realize you are leaving them to die. Bonus points for bowing to the invader.

This led to another idea that we can do for an organized night(s) of forest hunting. Anytime you get a hate message you reply with a stock message, like a slogan for the forest hunters. For example...."Forest Hunters just made you leaf." Or....something good

lol! I've thought about doing that trojan horse summoning tactic, but the catchphrases take it to a whole new level.

"You're barking up the wrong tree."

"Cat got your tongue?"

"Make like a tree and get outta here."

How great would it be for a farmer to get the exact same message from multiple hunters. Total mind games. Puns just make it better

May I suggest starting a "Forest of the Damned covenant event" thread to boost visibility of what seems to be burgeoning interest? It will attract more people to the cause, and free up this thread to focus on forest tactics. I will gladly sticky the covenant thread. I am thinking I would like to jump in on this!

Emergence wrote:May I suggest starting a "Forest of the Damned covenant event" thread to boost visibility of what seems to be burgeoning interest? It will attract more people to the cause, and free up this thread to focus on forest tactics. I will gladly sticky the covenant thread. I am thinking I would like to jump in on this!

Hell yes! I'll create a thread tomorrow unless one of my fellow forest hunters has time before then. A sticky would be awesome. Thanks, Emergence.

Glad to help, I think we have just scratched the surface with all these covenant events. It has been pretty neat to watch the covenants develop organically.

As soon as that spot gets posted I'll join in how I can, I will admit the changing topics in here has caused me to often forget about the event haha.

Alright back to some tactics, I'm going to be talking about items set up.

My common items set up is Black Crystal, Lloyd's Talisman, and Prism Stones. I'll also be pointing out other useful set ups and items which I just don't carry for the purpose of quick switching.

Lloyd's is an obvious choice, the denial of Estus. This thing has helped me out so much in killing hosts who are just oblivious. They run away to flask and heal their phantoms which you kill as they sit their turning over the tonic with a dumb look on their face. As well I use it as a means of harassment at times, forcing the host to move where I want them to, people who do understand the effect will often avoid it like the plague. They should, but it just makes things all the easier for this purpose. You can easily separate enemies using this tactic and give yourself a 1v1 for a short time rather than a 2v1, or a 2v1 instead of a 3v1. This doesn't sound like much time, but just a few seconds alone with a summon is all it takes to kill them if you are using certain weapons and attacks, like dead angling while two handing a Murakumo. With this I must say never lock on with the Talisman in hand. Always look directly at them then remove lock on and swing in a direction to throw it. The higher you aim the further it goes, and do your best to avoid trees. As well if you know a host is behind a wall toss it right at the wall not the opening. They won't see it hit but still be given the effect. Often this will be a, "Left or Right?" type choice, but you can usually notice the host favouring a direction.

Prism Stones, this is not one I recommend given its low use. This can be useful as a taunt, but more so I use them to indicate spacing. If I spawn in certain areas I use it to mark spots and help keep myself going in the right direction in the forest. As well it can be used to mark jumps or mark false jumps to kill your target. Again this one is very rarely useful, but still can make or break a fight.

Black Crystal, this should be obvious. I like to carry this not only to avoid a definite death, but also so I can leave alone people who are just there to kill Sif or are new and don't even understand what being human does. As well with these people sometimes I like to just jump off and give them souls, just because we are hunters doesn't mean we can't help others out. Remember, if you feel you are going to lose a fight you are in a loser's mind set. You may want to crystal out, because the mind is very important in combat.

Grass, for those who do not use a Grass Shield or Mask of the child. I almost always have a grass shield, but many wish to keep their offhands a bit more open and variable. As well it can give more of a boost so it isn't a bad choice, it is just a personal taste to not use it. The use of it is quick, as well it can make it so you can easily catch up or run from a farmer. I'd say this is a must have, but I can't say I use it all too often. I probably should though.

Humanity/Twin Humanity, for healing purposes. Using this will heal you to full as many of you know. Get some space before using of course because it is a somewhat long animation in the grand scheme of things. There are times when an enemy is using a low stagger weapon where you can merely face them and use your humanity, as well if they have a low critical weapon. This should only be done if you know it is either "Humanity now or death." Hiding while using this item or getting great distances is advised, but there are always ways to sneak this in. A personal favourite is going around a corner and making them believe you are casting firestorm or gravelord dance.

Dung Pies, pure harassment. This item is a bit overlooked sometimes but the toxin makes for great harassment, as well you can force enemies into certain positions using it. When I do carry it I almost use it as an attention getter to get them to follow me on a path carrying enemies, people love to take up the offense on someone trying to toxin them. if you yourself are toxined it does minimal damage, as well you can really quickly go through your menu to use a Blooming. A bit of advice to go with this, do not put your moss in your equip slot. Instead go through your menu and "use" it, it is very fast and can be done in under a second. This goes hand in hand with my advice about how to hit with the Talisman, not locking on and actually aiming.

For practising with none lock on items you can always buy some and merely practice on NPC's, watching the pathing and trying to hit them as they are on their way to you. Practicing with a moving erratic target is the absolute best, if you want to take it the full mile I find practising on Bonewheels to prepare you perfectly for PvP use.

I'll be going over more items later, these are merely the ones I felt were most important in my book.

Hey guys Ive been in the shadows for quite a while, but I've been really interested in the strategies on the Forest farmers however! I really suck anytime because I cant stand those gangbangs (guess I'm TONS much better at dueling) but I'm always willing to help my fellows FHs. I wish I had more fun in there but its kinda hard, however I got my Marakumo +15 yesterday from a 1st try slab on the DW in new londo [yay], and I'm still training the monster a little since I'm not used to big weapons at all (I keep CMW R Rapier as main weapon still and some other +15 weapons). I'll tell results in the future expecting to be quite more successful :pirat:

PS. : I don't hate farmers on the forest tho because they are what make the forest a place filled with raw emotions of despair and revenge. They're what keep me returning there :evil: *verydangerousplace*

No need to hide in the shadows, feel free to post in here and chat it up about Forest Exploits and ideas. Though I am not above hiding in the shadows waiting to spring on some unsuspecting farmers haha. Also feel free to talk about your set up if you want to, CMW set ups from what I've seen can be incredibly destructive, though I can't say first hand since I never make int characters.

Alright I think I'm going to talk about another weapon and a bit of sportsmanship this time.

First off, the Gargoyle Halberd, you might see me mention this thing from time to time. It has a decent move set and reach, as well it does a good amount of damage. It is like a spear in that you can get strikes quite easily due to lag since some may see a delay in the animation and suddenly be hit by the long reach of it. I currently use a +5 Chaos Version(Great Thanks to Reim), as I've noticed many use Giants and heavy Physical and lightning resistance in the forest. Now of course this will depend on what armor they are wearing and I can't say for scaling exactly but I imagine with the proper str and dex it will deal more damage than my Chaos version. Now then, another thing I love about this weapon is its high damage. Given its weight it isn't too bad for the damage it deals allowing for a hornets ring backstab to instantly kill someone who is not a great tank. If I see Ornstein's, a Full Dragon Farmer, or anyone with weaker sets I will target them outright and BS them for a kill. Now you might say this is a cowardly tactic, mind you I'm fighting two-three people at once here. They obviously are not looking for a fair fight so why give them one in this regard? If I see the person is definitely a duellist I switch the ring out and properly fight, but this can be a great way to thin out the numbers of farmers. With hornets ring I've never even seen anyone survive a Riposte with it. You may need to wear a lighter armor to carry this weapon since though it is medium in weight with more than likely DWGR and the possible Hornets or Wolf, you'll have to use your base carry weight unless going with a mask of the father. The eastern set is a common one I use if going for a full set.

Alright onto a bit of sportsmanship, duelling. I personally love to duel so if I see someone is alone I will bow and fight them. However sometimes there are phantoms hidden as well or they are waiting for a summon. A simple trick for this is if when you arrive they are hugging the stairs closely. As well when you get near to them spam lock on to check for a hidden person. There is also of course Chameleon, but fake shrubs are pitch black so they are easy to spot. Now for seeing if they are waiting for a summon or not if they seem to be dodging around and all out avoiding conflict they are more than likely waiting out for a summon or just BS fishing. If BS fishing punish them for it, if waiting for a summon destroy them for it. One trick is keeping the hornets on during the duel and if you suddenly see a summon go straight for a BS kill if their health is low. If you carry WotG or force use it and run, either crystal or drag them towards enemies heal up and get ready for a kill.

Please tell me I didn't post something like this already, towards the end of typing this as I grow weak I just have that feeling and don't have the energy to check. :pale:

Thanks a lot for your infos Tolvo, you're like my inspiration in the Forest lol jk. I think I quit BS since a while because I think it is a way of punishing and I'm there to fight you know like rough style. Yet I end up being killed by a BS most times but hell this is me. I often use MoM in head to boost my hp with also RoF&P which gives me about 1930 and while I know it is a big number I get easily killed in few hits LOL. I also wear the Armour of Thorns on the chest and heavels legs/arms to boost poise, and the other ring is DWGR. This set is made for my light weapons because like I said Im used to light weapons like QFSword, R Rapiers, the sword from the Paint guardians,, well I'm guessing these are the wrong choices to use in the Forest, yes? //

See once bleed comes into the picture I'd say it isn't a bad weapon off of that alone, though the reach of the Painting Guardian sword is pretty poor you can still deal a lot of damage with it if used properly. What is the best for fighting group is arcing weapons that can hit multiple farmers at once, usually with the Mura I can stun lock three targets at once if I funnel them. Rapiers are great for poking and harassing but unless you deny estus they'll just constantly be healed up so that is why I try to stick with heavy hits for kills. Katana can do well but again you are going to need to keep that bleed up on them, I'm about to test out the Great Scythe and see how that holds up. I'm not a fan of the fury sword but it can deal decent damage and swing fast enough so I can see it as being powerful. I think what is important is staggering them because otherwise farmers usually carry great swords and other heavy weapons to pound you into the ground. If you get a lot of ripostes off on them though the Rapier is a great choice given the huge amount of damage to can deal.

By the way I can parry with my Gargoyle Halberd for over 2k HP haha. And I do hope we can inspire more to join the hunters and have some fun, it is a bit difficult to advertise this covenant.

"Hey there join us, you get few rewards and often have to try and fight three people at once! Sign up!"

I'm merely the hunter who can post the most often I think haha.

Yeah I still have a Lig.5 G Halberd full of dust, it need to get to action again! I don't know about the ripostes since I haven't work that out lately but it certainly is the best (and sometimes the remaining) way to finish off a battle. I love using the target shield even though it is overlooked by now and some will have more caution. I'll be heading there now for a while and test some new techniques I've been seeing in this thread. Wish me luck!

i usually invade the forest for hunt the sinners and kill the farmers

thx for the tips and tricks

edit: what thing i always do vs farmers is go (if 1v2) rush to the fantom with DMB and drop a WotG and spam the trust ataxk of the spear for delete the host or either the phantom and they dont spet dat risky move or that massive damage just kill them in little window of time

dominoboy wrote:Hey guys Ive been in the shadows for quite a while, but I've been really interested in the strategies on the Forest farmers however! I really suck anytime because I cant stand those gangbangs (guess I'm TONS much better at dueling) but I'm always willing to help my fellows FHs. I wish I had more fun in there but its kinda hard, however I got my Marakumo +15 yesterday from a 1st try slab on the DW in new londo [yay], and I'm still training the monster a little since I'm not used to big weapons at all (I keep CMW R Rapier as main weapon still and some other +15 weapons). I'll tell results in the future expecting to be quite more successful :pirat:

PS. : I don't hate farmers on the forest tho because they are what make the forest a place filled with raw emotions of despair and revenge. They're what keep me returning there :evil: *verydangerousplace*

Dominoboy - greetings to a fellow hunter. Any of the people on this particular thread (and couple of other forest hunter related threads) would be able to give you some excellent tips on increasing your chances of being victorious in the forest. You may also want to review information contained in previous posts about forest hunters. We are few in number so have to use your noodle to successfully battle against farmers - trust me you will come to enjoy the 2v1,3v1,1v1v1, etc. Plus you should able to leverage your dueling skills to some extent.

The Murakumo is my primary weapon - it can be devastating if used correctly plus its stun-locking abilities are fantastic. Tolvo and I have been trading tips on its use in this thread so you may want to review previous posts in this thread (also there a some videos posted which will allow you to see its use in action). Since you have it maxed along the normal chain - you definitely will come to love its buffing versatility - I especially love buffing with poison (nuff respect DxV04 )

You could probably use your rapier to soften your opponent up then the Murakumo to complete the deal. Once you get your dexterity high enough (since the weapon scales with a A Dex rating ) you will be able to kill an opponent with efficiency. Also, you should practice dead angling since you can do some decent damage while completely avoiding an opponent's shield - this should be the primary reason for using the running jumping attack.

Again welcome as an active member of the forum.

Good luck man!

Broke I've noticed a few things while messing around with the Mura recently. First of all, never running attack while two handing it. Second, the dead angle box is bigger if you two hand it. Third you may deal a bit less damage but you can stagger lock them for much longer if you one hand the weapon, it lowers the hit box but it will give a longer stagger which with the lessened stamina consumption actually does more damage in the long run.

I really should get sunlight or DMB to test on this character, he is a faith toon after all so I might as well make something of that. I'm going to start work on an Int toon soon so I will be giving my findings on how well it fairs in the forest, I have heard great things about one shotting a host with CSS.

Tolvo wrote:Good luck man!

Broke I've noticed a few things while messing around with the Mura recently. First of all, never running attack while two handing it. Second, the dead angle box is bigger if you two hand it. Third you may deal a bit less damage but you can stagger lock them for much longer if you one hand the weapon, it lowers the hit box but it will give a longer stagger which with the lessened stamina consumption actually does more damage in the long run.

I really should get sunlight or DMB to test on this character, he is a faith toon after all so I might as well make something of that. I'm going to start work on an Int toon soon so I will be giving my findings on how well it fairs in the forest, I have heard great things about one shotting a host with CSS.

Tolvo - I agree 1H the weapon is the best option in a lot of situations - especially if your opponent has high poise or greatsword class weapon. This way you can have some defense up but yet deal some good damage - increasing the longevity of the fight (so another hunter can invade). And yes I have been able to achieve some very good stun-lock on my opponents while 1H'ding. I usually will 2H my Mura if my opponent is a spell caster with low poise or I know for sure I can overwhelm my opponent quickly without much fear of being stun-locked myself (e.g. opponent is using a low stun-lock weapon).

I may try out my GH - I have never used it but I think the moveset is similiar to Scythe - which used to be my primary weapon when I first started to play DkS. So it should not take long to use it effectively.

Keep those campers on the ropes!!!

It will seem a bit sluggish at first, but soon you'll realize despite the speed it is really easy to get strikes in because of its reach. It is a very deceiving weapon, kind of like a Demon spear, but not as ridiculous.

Boy do I hate casters at a range, but man once you roll through that first CHSM, it is usually easy street and a quick death for them.

By the way I have a flurry instant death tactic I use with low poise farmers if I see any. I sometimes keep a Shotel or Falchion in my offhand, and if you two hand the Falc there is something very special about it. I use a +4 Chaos Variant, so if I see that one or two hits will stagger I just ready it up and go to town. If you stagger someone with it they are dead, outright. I can out damage a summon who is being healed by Estus, it is pretty great. This goes well hand in hand with the quick item switching trick that Befowler and I were discussing.