Poll: Which Souls game is the most difficult to you? Who's the toughest fight for you as well (Spoilers)?

[Falcondynamite]

Haven't gotten to play Dark Souls 2 yet(damn you April 25, hurry up!), but between the other 2...Snorlax and Pikachu from Dark Souls is generally considered the hardest, but I think the only one that really gave me trouble was the fight against the Belfry Gargoyles, mostly because I just wasn't in the mindset just yet. By the time the other fights came around I already knew what I was doing and had better gear for the task.

Artorias was pretty easy as long as you don't let him power up, Manus loses some of his bite when you figure out that amulet does more than make lighting effects, Bed of Chaos I've done in full Havel's, and Kalamite is laughable is you aren't going for his tail.

Demon's Soul had its moments, but I didn't play it until after Dark Souls, so I already had a good idea of what sorts of tricks to expect.

Most of the bosses in the DLC aren't very hard, they just have a shit ton of health. I can understand the Belfry Gargoyles being difficult because they really are a different sort of boss and they're not exactly "easy" if you're solo-ing and don't have the correct build.

Artorias was easily the most diffiucult of all the DLC bosses, aside from being crazy aggressive and loving to dodge all incoming attacks he snaps your defenses like paper weight. Manus was crazy predictable and Kalamite's tale was the real challenge. Again they're not really difficult, they just have higher defense and more health than a majority of every other boss in the game and are lengthy fights.

As you can tell, I'm not the biggest fan of the DLC, I liked it, but I agreed with the rest of the games approach as opposed to the DLC (fuck chaos bad).

 

[Diegolomac]

Never played Demon's Souls because I don't have a PS3, but of the other two I think Dark Soul II is harder, especially because I played Dark Souls I first and was still getting pwned through the first 15 hours of the second game. It has a really bizarre difficulty curve because of the whole multiple paths from the beginning thing. I haven't finished it yet (I'm in Drangleic Castle, which apparently is like 2/3s through the game).

But so far the worst ones for me were the Belfry Gargoyles, The Lost Sinner and The Rotten. The Gargoyles were because, honestly, screw that whole "crowd of bosses" crap that this game tried pushing into our faces. Fighting six enemies almost simultaneously with the Dark Souls style of combat is bullshit. The Rotten and the Lost Sinner were because I was trying to progress Lucatiel's storyline, so I kept using human effigies to fight those two with her as a summon, which meant that I would be all stressed out because I knew I couldn't do that forever since effigies are limited, so I'd make a stupid mistake, die, and rage.

 

[Maximum Bert]

Havent played Dark Souls 2 yet (may get round to it one day...maybe) I also havent faced Gravelord Nito and Gwynn in Dark Souls because my PS3 died and so all my save data is gone as well.

Demons Souls was more challenging imo level wise I think it was world 3-2 in particular that kicked my ass damn that tooke me ages to get to the bottom I couldnt find any shortcuts to open up either luckily the boss was easy.

I remember struggling a bit against the Maneater I think it was but cant remember having much trouble against others. In Dark Souls by far the hardest part for me was those Guardian Statues in the Royal Forest I just could not fight them up close they always destroyed me I hated them so much. Boss wise nothing came close to these guys for me but I had the most trouble with Quelaag and Ornstein and Smough I just did not like fighting these peeps especially Ornstein and Smough who felt cheaper than Quelaag who I thought was fair its just I sucked at fighting her.

Demons Souls was the hardest overall imo some of those Black Phantoms in that game were absolute monsters.

 

[80sboy]

The DS series difficulty mostly revolves around knowledge of what's the best actions to take to succeed. Most games revolve around getting into the right flow, but the DS games have been more methodical. Or another words, unlike in the difficulty in Gears of War - let's say - you won't feel as rusty restarting a new DS game after a long pause as you would playing Gears. If I restart a new Gears game right now, I might have just as much of a hard time playing it since I've grown rusty as I did the first time, but as for DS... not so much. With a new DS game I would remember where to go first, what items to get, and how to spec my character. Gears on the other hand is just a linear third person shooter that's heavily depended on getting into the zone to play well. DS isn't. So to answer the OPs question... the first DS game will always be your hardest. For me, Demon's Souls was that. Followed by DS1.Then 2. When it came time for DS2, I already understood too much on what to expect. And really the hardest thing about DS1 that surpassed Demon's Souls in some aspects was simply getting lost in the game and finding your way back. And since DS2 felt necessary linking all the bonfires early on, and allowing one additional player to be summoned during boss fights, and not being as maze like, well... I found it to be the easiest on the series.

Lol just realized how this thread was necroed. Meh...

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Never played Demon's Souls because I don't have a PS3, but of the other two I think Dark Soul II is harder, especially because I played Dark Souls I first and was still getting pwned through the first 15 hours of the second game. It has a really bizarre difficulty curve because of the whole multiple paths from the beginning thing. I haven't finished it yet (I'm in Drangleic Castle, which apparently is like 2/3s through the game).

But so far the worst ones for me were the Belfry Gargoyles, The Lost Sinner and The Rotten. The Gargoyles were because, honestly, screw that whole "crowd of bosses" crap that this game tried pushing into our faces. Fighting six enemies almost simultaneously with the Dark Souls style of combat is bullshit. The Rotten and the Lost Sinner were because I was trying to progress Lucatiel's storyline, so I kept using human effigies to fight those two with her as a summon, which meant that I would be all stressed out because I knew I couldn't do that forever since effigies are limited, so I'd make a stupid mistake, die, and rage.

If you need Lucatiel to survive the Lost Sinner fight you can actually make it super easy on yourself by using an item called the "red eye ring." Basically what the ring does is make enemies focus aggro on you, so when you go into the Lost Sinner boss fight with Lucatiel the Lost Sinner will completely ignore her and only attack you. So what you do is two hand your shield, and just spend your time circling around and guarding against her attacks (it's very easy to block all her attacks since you don't have to worry about managing your stamina while attacking), and just let Lucatiel do all the damage to her. Lucatiel might still take some hits accidentally, but she'll easily be at over 80% health at the end.

You can basically use the same method for killing the rotten I think, except instead of blocking his attacks you spend the whole fight running away from him (since he's slow and will never be able to catch you), and just let Lucatiel wail on him. I haven't actually tried that though, so it's possible it won't work (red eye ring doesn't work on some bosses randomly).

 

[Sniper Team 4]

I'm going to say Dark Souls was harder for me than Dark Souls II. II allowed me to carry more gear, more weapons, and make a better balanced character. She didn't excel at any one thing, but when I could whip out spells that dealt massive damage and then instantly switch to a bow, and then finally a sword and all of those options were dealing decent damage, I found I could adapt to any fight.

Except that damn Bell Tower Gargoyle fight. I could not get in hits fast enough. Having all four of them focus on my at once just wasn't possible for me. I always had to have someone come and help, and seeing as that is a PVP hot zone, surviving long enough to find, and summon, help was a chore in and of itself.

 

[SmallHatLogan]

Dark Souls was definitely the hardest for me. Mainly because it was my first. What's more I had several completed playthroughs before I even touched Demon's Souls so I had a lot of knowledge about how the games worked. A a result my first runs of Demon's Souls and Dark Souls 2 were fairly tame.

Hardest bosses? Ornstein and Smough still give me grief when I try and solo them. As do the Ruin Sentinels. I'm just bad at dealing with multiple threats. Interestingly I don't find the Maneaters nearly as difficult.None of the bosses in Demon's Souls really stand out to me as being particularly difficult except maybe Flamelurker. That fight can get pretty hectic.

I guess I should mention Smelter Demon. What a dick.

 

[Rylot]

You can basically use the same method for killing the rotten I think, except instead of blocking his attacks you spend the whole fight running away from him (since he's slow and will never be able to catch you), and just let Lucatiel wail on him. I haven't actually tried that though, so it's possible it won't work (red eye ring doesn't work on some bosses randomly).

I tried this last night and it worked. It took a while but her and archer guy were both up at the end. Thanks for posting this since I had no idea what that ring did. Too bad she Lucatiel already died during the Lost Sinner, oh well, NG+.

The fight I've struggled with the most in DS1 was Fatboy n' Slim while DS2 was... probably Old Iron King. OIK is actually a super easy boss on his own, but his stage is the worst. THE WORST. I kept falling into the lava because I have this thing about rolling backwards...

If you hide around the corner on the right side of the arena (right side while facing him) and he's in the middle or on the left side his palm blast is the only thing that can hit you. Just wait for him to do an attack that leaves an opening and get a few hits in, rinse and repeat. When he dives under the lava run to the far side of the arena and then run back.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

You can basically use the same method for killing the rotten I think, except instead of blocking his attacks you spend the whole fight running away from him (since he's slow and will never be able to catch you), and just let Lucatiel wail on him. I haven't actually tried that though, so it's possible it won't work (red eye ring doesn't work on some bosses randomly).

I tried this last night and it worked. It took a while but her and archer guy were both up at the end. Thanks for posting this since I had no idea what that ring did. Too bad she Lucatiel already died during the Lost Sinner, oh well, NG+.

Nice to see it helped you and cool to know that it works for The Rotten. This means that the red eye ring works for every Lucatiel boss except for Smelter Demon, so it should make her questline much easier for people to complete.

 

[Rylot]

You can basically use the same method for killing the rotten I think, except instead of blocking his attacks you spend the whole fight running away from him (since he's slow and will never be able to catch you), and just let Lucatiel wail on him. I haven't actually tried that though, so it's possible it won't work (red eye ring doesn't work on some bosses randomly).

I tried this last night and it worked. It took a while but her and archer guy were both up at the end. Thanks for posting this since I had no idea what that ring did. Too bad she Lucatiel already died during the Lost Sinner, oh well, NG+.

Nice to see it helped you and cool to know that it works for The Rotten. This means that the red eye ring works for every Lucatiel boss except for Smelter Demon, so it should make her questline much easier for people to complete.

Just wish she didn't just rush the Smelter Demon. Her AI has no sense of self-preservation. keeping her alive in almost any of the fights besides the Flexile Sentry is a pain in the ass.

Anyway, for some reason I'm having a ***** of a time on the Royal Rat Authority. I've got a mostly strength melee character with a Zweihander and Drangleic Shield. I've also got a crossbow to pull the rats with and I can usually take one down but I can't seem to hit the others and just get toxiced and mauled by the boss. I've beaten him on a previous character and it didn't seem too hard. Anyone got any tips?

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

You can basically use the same method for killing the rotten I think, except instead of blocking his attacks you spend the whole fight running away from him (since he's slow and will never be able to catch you), and just let Lucatiel wail on him. I haven't actually tried that though, so it's possible it won't work (red eye ring doesn't work on some bosses randomly).

I tried this last night and it worked. It took a while but her and archer guy were both up at the end. Thanks for posting this since I had no idea what that ring did. Too bad she Lucatiel already died during the Lost Sinner, oh well, NG+.

Nice to see it helped you and cool to know that it works for The Rotten. This means that the red eye ring works for every Lucatiel boss except for Smelter Demon, so it should make her questline much easier for people to complete.

Just wish she didn't just rush the Smelter Demon. Her AI has no sense of self-preservation. keeping her alive in almost any of the fights besides the Flexile Sentry is a pain in the ass.

Anyway, for some reason I'm having a ***** of a time on the Royal Rat Authority. I've got a mostly strength melee character with a Zweihander and Drangleic Shield. I've also got a crossbow to pull the rats with and I can usually take one down but I can't seem to hit the others and just get toxiced and mauled by the boss. I've beaten him on a previous character and it didn't seem too hard. Anyone got any tips?

Smelter demon isn't so bad once you realize it's a pure DPS race (can you do more damage to him than he can to Lucatiel?). I've found that the best way to take him down is to just let Lucatiel go in and tank the damage for you, and you just try to stay back and hit him with your most powerful ranged attacks (if you have enough faith, you can kill him in something like 13 lightning spears, and if you don't have any decent ranged options you can always toss hexing and lightning jars). Basically it's a lot easier to do damage to him if you don't have to worry about your own self preservation and being attacked by him, and if you're far enough away he'll never aggro you. The key is to just end the boss fight as fast as possible, because Lucatiel will take more passive fire damage from him than she'll take actual physical damage, so even if she's tanking all the for you damage she'll be fine as long as you can go through Smelter's 2nd and 3rd phase quickly. With this strategy and lightning spears I can kill Smelter with Lucatiel surviving at half health.

As far as Royal Rat Authority, yeah, it's a pain in the ass fight. Basically the advice I can give you is the rats are weak to fire, so you can quickly take down the 4 small rats with firebombs, before the giant rat gets to you, and that makes the fight significantly easier. Also always try to stay under the giant rat. It's worst attack is probably the headbutt that it does (it completely drains all your stamina and staggers you), and if you're under the rat it can't hit you with that attack. Other than that, keep lots of lifegems on your quick-bar and use one any time you go toxic, and it'll counteract the draining health.

 

[Diegolomac]

Never played Demon's Souls because I don't have a PS3, but of the other two I think Dark Soul II is harder, especially because I played Dark Souls I first and was still getting pwned through the first 15 hours of the second game. It has a really bizarre difficulty curve because of the whole multiple paths from the beginning thing. I haven't finished it yet (I'm in Drangleic Castle, which apparently is like 2/3s through the game).

But so far the worst ones for me were the Belfry Gargoyles, The Lost Sinner and The Rotten. The Gargoyles were because, honestly, screw that whole "crowd of bosses" crap that this game tried pushing into our faces. Fighting six enemies almost simultaneously with the Dark Souls style of combat is bullshit. The Rotten and the Lost Sinner were because I was trying to progress Lucatiel's storyline, so I kept using human effigies to fight those two with her as a summon, which meant that I would be all stressed out because I knew I couldn't do that forever since effigies are limited, so I'd make a stupid mistake, die, and rage.

If you need Lucatiel to survive the Lost Sinner fight you can actually make it super easy on yourself by using an item called the "red eye ring." Basically what the ring does is make enemies focus aggro on you, so when you go into the Lost Sinner boss fight with Lucatiel the Lost Sinner will completely ignore her and only attack you. So what you do is two hand your shield, and just spend your time circling around and guarding against her attacks (it's very easy to block all her attacks since you don't have to worry about managing your stamina while attacking), and just let Lucatiel do all the damage to her. Lucatiel might still take some hits accidentally, but she'll easily be at over 80% health at the end.

You can basically use the same method for killing the rotten I think, except instead of blocking his attacks you spend the whole fight running away from him (since he's slow and will never be able to catch you), and just let Lucatiel wail on him. I haven't actually tried that though, so it's possible it won't work (red eye ring doesn't work on some bosses randomly).

I had the ring. The problem isn't that I couldn't make her survive, it's that I would get stressed out by the knowledge that I didn't have enough Human Effigies to do that fight with her forever, so I would make some stupid mistake I wouldn't have made if I was fighting the bosses by myself while hollow.

Anyways, I'm at the Looking Glass Knight now, trying the same thing, but with Benhart.