My Views on Dark Souls Stuff.

I wasn't really sure where I could put this, since it is about Dark Souls so it doesn't really go in the Off-Topic section. I'll just put it here and I'm sure if it belongs elsewhere it'll be moved in due time. Now let's get to my minor-rant-musing-thing.

As anyone who may have dueled me so far would know, I like using the Katana weaponry. Whether it be the Uchigatana, Iato, Washing Pole, or Chaos Blade. (I try to avoid using the Chaos Blade in duels to keep myself from having a disadvantage.)

Over the time I have used this, I have realized something that I actually knew before. But I have become more aware of it as time goes by. These weapons just don't do enough damage. In fights against people who hit you for about 20-30 percent of your health each time, 4 hits and you are dead. Yet it takes me anywhere from 10-20 hits to achieve the same thing.

I know, I could use another weapon and that katana are meant for being fast weapons that you counter other people with. Believe me, I fully know what katana are best at. But it's somewhat sad that I have to outperform my opponent so greatly in order to beat them. When I fought Roanispe yesterday in the matches I won I had to hit him so many times it wasn't even funny. And yet he only had to hit me a few times. He did clearly beat me, and I accept all of my losses happily. The fact that I was at such a disadvantage and still managed to beat him, (I think twice.) made me proud of those victories. I just hope that I can get good enough to make up for the small damage my weapon choice does.

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The next part of this. Sorcery. Not Pyro or Miracles, Sorcery. Sorcery is such a screwed up ability online. I wish I could show you all of the times I get killed by spells. I've never once beat a spellcaster online. It isn't because I can't dodge their spells either. I'll dodge the projectile by miles and still get hit. It's lag, and it's brutal. I was running through Anor Londo to get my Red Soapstone so I could duel, and I was invaded by a spellcaster.

He/She was armed with Dusk Crown, probably a Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring, and She/He had a Tin Crystallization Catalyst. That tells you right there she had TONS of damage potential. She fired off a CSS at me first thing. I dodged it, and by a stroke of luck didn't get hit. Then she fired another one. She missed me, she wasn't even locked on apparently. And it hit me somehow anyway. The CSS didn't even come close to hitting me on my screen.

Now, I'd like to explain something. I was s-lvl 120 and have a little over 1300 hp. I also was wearing Thorn Armor, Giants Gauntlets, and Giants Leggings. All of this fully upgraded. I ALSO had my fully upgraded Grass Crest Shield up to block any attacks. She brought me down to about 300 hp in that one single hit. That was 1k damage through my shield and armor. That damage is absolutely absurd.

So, knowing that she was only going to spam spells at this point. (She was doing her best to stay away from me.) I panicked (foolish mistake) and pinned her against a wall. Using my trust Chaos Blade (horrible idea for a weapon with 300 hp.) I went to town on her. She blocked it all, didn't stagger a bit, and finished me off with a quick BSS +5 Lightning R1. She did bow after, an act that made me respect her at least some, but it doesn't change a simple fact.

Every time I go up against Sorcery, no matter how fair it is for them to use it. I feel cheated. The damage they do is just totally out of this world. Shields don't work, dodging doesn't work (thanks to lag). People say I could simply 'close the gap and hit them while they cast'. But when I encounter a spellcaster, they are always at max distance. That is enough time to get off at least one CSS. And thanks to lag, that's all they need to put me in critical danger for my health. I'm beginning to think about carrying around Havels Shield. (Dear god it weighs in at like 26 on the weight index.) But that shield blocks 90 percent of spell damage if I remember right. If I bring that with me, I should be able to stomp out a mage. I guess we'll see.

Okay I'm done. I just wanted to vent a little.

Feel free to leave any opinions or maybe a little rant of your own below.

RAWR sorcery is the worst with lag, especially wen they have high dex! its to fast and due to lag it hits you anyway! good rant, im sure we can all relate! ^_^

I think you are exaggerating a bit with sorcery. With enough experience, you can dodge them easily. For example in FC or Burg, I launch some spells like Great Soul Arrow and CSS. They hit almost never, even with 40 Dex. By the way I don't notice the difference of 40 Dex vs low Dex in the spell casting of the spells, or they are still slow as hell. Also, roan has a magic invisible coat of high defense and a invisible buff that hits you 400~500 damage. I share your frustration, but don't worry, kats are the most efficient and deadly weapons of PvP.

I roll into sorceries to take it all in. I also put on some great barriers for show, to add some sprinkling content.

Sorcery isn't too bad once you get used to it. Point is with all the damage potential, the soul spears are extremely lateral, so if you dodge left/right couple of times each spear, you won't get hit. Not once, twice always works, once is kinda pushing your luck, though once your used to it works fine.

Katanas... meh I see too many of the usual suspects, cool that you sometimes give the chaos blade a go, I love using it in tandem with pyromancy

I love the Chaos Blade. But I know it isn't realistic to use it in duels with people like Roan and etc. Not yet anyway, I know I'm not quite good enough to make up for the crippling damage it does to me. It may not seem too crippling at first, but it does add up for sure.

I know I should try different methods of handling sorcery. It's no help that every time I get invaded it's in a small area. (I'm pretty sure that is what spellcasters hope for in the first place, is to encounter you somewhere you can't dodge very well.)

I'm not exaggerating by the way Wyrm, I wish I could have screencapped. It did exactly around that much damage through my shield, armor, everything. I'm imagining that when I rolled out of reflex the lag had her hit me a split second after; before I raised my shield. That would explain for the immense damage through my shield.

Doesn't matter in the end. I just need to keep encountering people who use it. I'll figure out my own method of handling it eventually.

Don't try dodging sorcery spacially, just rely on the invincibility frames in rolls.

you think katana's suck in straight up damage... try a rapier with out bs'ing thats what my current one ends up doing most of the time (cause my bs attempts always get me bs'ed)... i justr wish the "no crit bonus" rapiers did more damage...

I stopped reading halfway through the sorcery bit just to comment.

You being nuked with sorcery isn't really Dark Souls' fault per se. It's a discrepancy in internet connections. But let's just break it down this way: I find it odd that you should feel lucky to DODGE a sorcery casting when I (as mage player) feel lucky to HIT with my magic...

I don't win matches with my magic. I might get a hit in, or I might take the remainder of their health if I catch them healing, but virtually ALL matches I find are determined via melee combat. The reality is that Magic is a limited resource (greatswords and endurance are not) that ends up being a one-off that may or may not help you. It is in no way OP or unfair (don't even get me started on weapon buffs when people complain about magic).

sparkly-twinkly-lizard wrote:you think katana's suck in straight up damage... try a rapier with out bs'ing thats what my current one ends up doing most of the time (cause my bs attempts always get me bs'ed)... i justr wish the "no crit bonus" rapiers did more damage...

Ah, a fellow Rapier-class user. Continue enjoying your adventures in slowly poking people to death. I know I do.

Oh, and katana's do bleed, so their low damage is quite appropriate.

The problem is that From didn't forsee that everyone would be DEX builds and thought that people would be blocking more often and couldn't cancel bleed.

My latest build has been a dex/int build and from all my pvp so far, I can very rarely get a hit with any of my spells. They're just too easy to dodge. Great rant though. Nice to see another katana user.

Owl wrote:I stopped reading halfway through the sorcery bit just to comment.

You being nuked with sorcery isn't really Dark Souls' fault per se. It's a discrepancy in internet connections. But let's just break it down this way: I find it odd that you should feel lucky to DODGE a sorcery casting when I (as mage player) feel lucky to HIT with my magic...

I don't win matches with my magic. I might get a hit in, or I might take the remainder of their health if I catch them healing, but virtually ALL matches I find are determined via melee combat. The reality is that Magic is a limited resource (greatswords and endurance are not) that ends up being a one-off that may or may not help you. It is in no way OP or unfair (don't even get me started on weapon buffs when people complain about magic).

I would have to agree with this, being a mage as well, my trouble comes with trying to hit people with my magic. I seem to have no problem dodging it myself, unless of course it is lagging. But, like OWL said, PvP is almost never determined through magic. Unless magic is all you rely on, then you will most likely finish a fight with melee combat. Magic seems, to me anyway, like something you should use for normal enemies and bosses, since you cant really experience lag, unless you have summon people to help you.

I think what you should really be complaining about is Wrath of Gods. I know this is always complained about, but it is a serious issue since it is almost impossible to dodge. Then you have those people that spam the hell out of you with it. Anyway..... Another concern with me is the magic buffs you can put on weapons. Although this is a pretty cool idea, people seem to overuse use these spells. I think FROM should have left all the buffing to embers and titanite.

Idk what you did but I love my katana. I can deal so much damage with it, it's not even funny. My dex @ 50 nets me a nice amount, and seeing as i usually have either the hornet ring or ring of the sun's firstbord and sunlight blade on, a riposte/backstab nets me over 1k damage. Needless to say, I can riposte like a boss.

I can see that Katanas don't do great damage, but it's so much faster than a GS. I love my halberd to death, but it's so much slower than a Washing Pole. I love the fact that I can usually kill people in 5-10 hits, but getting those can be a pain. I especially despise Washing Poles... But I haven't PvPed in a while. Still in love with PvE

And magic is just a bunch of lag. Dodge a bunch. It's pointless for them to keep casting if you simply dodge according to the lag. If you learn how to parry, you can understand how much lag really changes PvP. If you know the timing, you may even be able to dodge it with only one roll. I've done that a few times. I've also died in the middle of lag with magic, but it happens more with backstabs and just random hits that they get me. It happens. But the best way to counter this lag is to simply play ahead. Hard, I know, but that's PvP.

We interrupt this comment for a short commercial break:

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