Ivory King is incredibly easy, especially to people who've fought False King Allant before.
Obtain the four knights, they'll suicide the doors, and it's
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Dark Souls III Gamescom Demo Impressions + Footage
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Ivory King is incredibly easy, especially to people who've fought False King Allant before.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
Bullshit. Even with the 4 knights, the charred knights still beeline for you. Sometimes you also have only 3 doors closed before the boss shows up, ensuring that another charred knight shows up during the boss. And Ivory King's AI is far more aggressive than the False King, he'll punish healing the way False King never could, especially with slow-ass and limited Estus vs potentially unlimited new moon grass. Plus there are way fewer openings to attack/heal compare to the False King.
"Incredibly easy", my ass. He's one of the hardest fights of the game and harder than literally anyone in Demon's Souls.
Melchiah
Member
Thanks for easing my concerns. The healing thing, the co-op areas, and the mob bosses I've read about started to get me worried, as after BB I'm really looking forward to DS3.
That doesn't sound as bad as I thought.
bob_arctor
Tough_Smooth
It's a fun and epic fight--dropping down the pit, two warring cadres going at it, the Ivory King's entrance--and not as hard as you are making it out to be.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
I didn't say it wasn't fun or not epic, I'm arguing that it's not "incredibly easy" by any stretch of the imagination.
ebullientprism
Member
I only hope they arent going overboard with the torch to compensate for DS2 failings with it. Dark areas arent tense they are fucking dull. Boring to play through and garbage to look at.
bob_arctor
Tough_Smooth
Ha. That is true. Carry on.
Yeah.
Also, some people seem to have a warped view of False King Allant's difficulty tbh (because they played DeS first?). He's nowhere near my top of most difficult souls bosses. He's got big openings after most of his big attacks, telegraphs all his moves if you don't stay too close from him and is easy to bait. You also have so many healing consumables in DeS that you can just heal through the fight, as long as you avoid the AoE or interrupt it (or if you have enough health you can survive it too).
Ch, we all know who are the real bosses of Crown of the Ivory King.
FROM... why!? T_T
WHY
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
Agreed on all counts. Plus you have Second Chance, which is like Denial in Dark Souls 2, but actually good.
(No time expiration on it and you revive with 50% health, not 1 HP!)False King is really not that hard. I've only ever died to him and it was as a phantom (reduced health) and I had forgotten to cast Second Chance. And yeah his attacks are incredibly telegraphed, but on some of the Ivory King's attacks you need twitch reflexes to dodge them because he's so fast.
Ch, we all know who are the real bosses of Crown of the Ivory King.
FROM... why!? T_T
Dark Souls x My Little Pony cross-over character?
AlphaDragoon
Member
I didn't find the ice horses in Ivory King DLC to be that bad. Annoying if you died to the boss because you had to traverse the entire snowfield again but not that rage inducing on their own.
Now Lud and Zallen, those were some pain in the ass motherfuckers. Especially that "lol we MonHun now" rage mode thing one did when the other died that gave it rapid regen and buffed attack power.
Now Lud and Zallen, those were some pain in the ass motherfuckers. Especially that "lol we MonHun now" rage mode thing one did when the other died that gave it rapid regen and buffed attack power.
Then you reach the boss and after a little of struggle against Lud you discover that you HAVE to fight Zed too and at the same time! And when you beat one the other gets an X-Factor and you die and you then realize that you must go and make that trip AGAIN just for another chance against them.
I think that the Frigid Outskirts were awful all around and maybe most of the troubles could be fixed with a Bonfire in the last building... I do still think that Eleum Loyce was the most interesting setting of the DLCs tho so there is that =/
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
I have a love-hate relationship with the Frigid Outskirts, haha.
On the one hand, they suck to solo, the blizzard is annoying, the horses are assholes, yadda yadda. The boss is ridiculously hard and the trip back to them is a huge pain in the ass.
But, they are kinda fun to coop. The key here is to have a weapon that can stagger the horses, otherwise you're in for a world of pain. Coop helps with that since you can break their poise by ganging up on them.
And on my Company of Champions run, I was dreading this area (and the boss) so badly, that I saved it for last. I had beaten it with every character, including some in NG+, but in NG my CoC guy, which was a faith build (made it back before all the nerfs), I was just too daunted. On every single build/run, even in coop, I would die at least once (either to the horses or to the boss).
But then when I summoned the courage to play on my CoC, I respec'ed slightly to use a lightning-infused red iron twinblade. This shit staggered the horses like crazy and they never caused problems. I then used a brightbug + sunlight blade and slaughtered the first tiger before the second one came in. Killed the second tiger shortly after. So I did the whole Frigid Outskirts in one try with my most vulnerable character without dying, and it felt so satisfying that I can't really hate the Outskirts that much anymore. XD
On the one hand, they suck to solo, the blizzard is annoying, the horses are assholes, yadda yadda. The boss is ridiculously hard and the trip back to them is a huge pain in the ass.
But, they are kinda fun to coop. The key here is to have a weapon that can stagger the horses, otherwise you're in for a world of pain. Coop helps with that since you can break their poise by ganging up on them.
And on my Company of Champions run, I was dreading this area (and the boss) so badly, that I saved it for last. I had beaten it with every character, including some in NG+, but in NG my CoC guy, which was a faith build (made it back before all the nerfs), I was just too daunted. On every single build/run, even in coop, I would die at least once (either to the horses or to the boss).
But then when I summoned the courage to play on my CoC, I respec'ed slightly to use a lightning-infused red iron twinblade. This shit staggered the horses like crazy and they never caused problems. I then used a brightbug + sunlight blade and slaughtered the first tiger before the second one came in. Killed the second tiger shortly after. So I did the whole Frigid Outskirts in one try with my most vulnerable character without dying, and it felt so satisfying that I can't really hate the Outskirts that much anymore. XD
He is? I kinda nailed it first try. Made sure to fight him when I had all of the knights.
In fact, I can't think of many hard fights in Dark Souls II. I died most to Ancient Dragon and the Gank Squad, and both are considered to be just bad fights.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
I had all the knights too but I already explained why he's hard in the very same post you were quoting.
Darklurker, Ruin Sentinels, Gargoyles, Smelter Demon and pretty much all of the DLC bosses are legitimately challenging when playing solo, and harder than any non-DLC bosses in the past games outside of S&O.In fact, I can't think of many hard fights in Dark Souls II. I died most to Ancient Dragon and the Gank Squad, and both are considered to be just bad fights.
In fact, S&O is the only non-DLC hard boss of Dark Souls. Maybe 4 Kings but they never gave me issues, they can be cheesed rather easily too. And Demon's only had Flamelurker and Maneaters, and they can be cheesed even more.
I mean when people complain about easy bosses in Dark Souls II, it's like they forgot that Dark Souls 1 only had S&O before the DLC came out. I guess you could argue that Capra is a bit of a milestone, but it's basically a "die instantly, or survive the first 5 secs and win easily" kind of fight. I mean seriously, most bosses in Dark 1 are a joke, even the late-game ones like Seath or Nito.
Ch, we all know who are the real bosses of Crown of the Ivory King.
FROM... why!? T_T
That part was just completely awful. I've never said that about anything in any Souls game before that - I love Shrine of Amana, I love Blighttown, etc.
I don't know who designed it but it was just bad. The recycled cat bosses beyond remain the only Souls bosses I haven't ever beaten because I just don't give a fuck. I definitely felt Ivory Crown was the worst of the DLCs, and that the ice field was the biggest failed experiment in the series.
I'm not overly impressed with the level design of the area shown in the footage, either. It may just be because it's alpha and they've basically quarantined areas off like they have in previous demos, but the dead ends were still kind of annoying, even to watch.
That said, everything else looks stellar.
That said, everything else looks stellar.
ebullientprism
Member
He is? I kinda nailed it first try. Made sure to fight him when I had all of the knights.
In fact, I can't think of many hard fights in Dark Souls II. I died most to Ancient Dragon and the Gank Squad, and both are considered to be just bad fights.
The old internet rule. Soon as you say something was hard, someone will step in and say they finished it first try.
Tbh, I'm a little concerned. They say it's Miyazaki directing again but I see quite few things that remind me of what I didn't like in DS2 (level-design of this particular area, slide-y character movement, the way stuff like crates breaks etc.).
Wrong. Tomb of Giants, for example, was one of the most tense areas in DS1. Especially before they patched in the early Skull Lantern drop. I much preferred the vanilla version of that level.
MatrixMan.EXE
Member
Ch, we all know who are the real bosses of Crown of the Ivory King.
FROM... why!? T_T
I can't decide whether they're badly designed enemies, or badly placed, but them coupled with how badly designed the Frigid Outskirts were just made that last section of CotIK the biggest chore in the entire game.
Yeah, I agree with this.
Also, I'd argue that the Throne Defender and Watcher can be quite challenging in solo considering how aggressive they can be. In fact they're considered one of if not the hardest bossfight in the game by speedrunners.
Skyball Paint
Member
It's cool for one area, but having a huge focus on the torch mechanic, to the point where two-handed /dual-wield builds are useless for large stretches of game because you need a torch to see anything would, in fact, suck.
Well, The Gaping Dragon is a worthy trial of patience, because the hit detection on him is awful and fucking infuriating.
Jesus Christ the amount of times my Zweihander went through his character model without actually registering a hit.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
True. They were no joke on my CoC run, actually.
I'm talking in comparison to the Dark Souls 2 bosses, really. Since everyone argues that they are all so very easy. The reality is that the Dark 1 bosses, outside of S&O and the DLC bosses, were not harder than the Dark 2 bosses at all.
The Capra Demon is evil. I mean, once you kill the dogs it gets more manageable, but still... Basically all of the DLC bosses are tricky as well. Personally I find the Centipede Demon a pain in the ass too. I don't have much trouble with O&S anymore though, unless Smough manages to get me in his hammer drag move and then does it a few more times to ensure I can't escape
JudgmentJay
Member
With the knights it's a pretty easy fight in my opinion. Flamelurker, Maneaters, and Allant are all more difficult to me.
Do people find Maneaters hard because they keep on rolling off the platform?
They do relatively little damage and their AI is terrible (they keep on flying away for no reason), so I found it easy to just spam healing grasses every time I got hit, even on my SL1 playthrough.
Do people find Maneaters hard because they keep on rolling off the platform?
They do relatively little damage and their AI is terrible (they keep on flying away for no reason), so I found it easy to just spam healing grasses every time I got hit, even on my SL1 playthrough.
I started an SL1 CoC run and gave up on the CoC part after beating Duke Dear's Freja (which was a nightmare). It was just too damn hard haha. And when I got to the end of the game I just summoned NPCs to beat those two assholes because I couldn't deal with that shit anymore (no shield, almost no I-frames on dodges, very little health, etc.). I felt dirty but meh, at least I finished the game.
JudgmentJay
Member
RNG plays a pretty big factor. I killed them first try on my first playthrough, but I've had others where it took 5+ tries because they'd stunlock me off the edge.
Oh okay. I've never had that happen to me tbh. I always kill the first one really fast so that I only have to deal with both of them at once for 20-30 seconds. Their individual attack rates are pretty slow.
JudgmentJay
Member
I wasn't really saying Maneaters are hard (or Allant for that matter), but Ivory King is easier in my opinion. The only boss in Demon's Souls I'd consider truly difficult is Flamelurker. On that note, there's no non-DLC Dark Souls 2 boss that I'd consider difficult.
EDIT: Oh, forgot Darklurker. Darklurker is difficult. Unless you use magic. Then it's not.
Crimsonclaw111
Member
Maybe Miyazaki isn't the end all be all that everyone thinks and wants.
JudgmentJay
Member
Maybe. But he's 3-0 as far as Soulsborne titles are concerned. I'm willing to bet it'll be 4-0 after Dark Souls 3 releases.
Kyleripman
Member
More like, Miyazaki isn't all of the team. I wouldn't be suprised if half the DS2 team is now also working on DS3, just with Miyazaki directing this time. That way a couple of things are bound to carry over from DS2 to 3.
4 Kings becomes a real problem the higher your new game goes, maybe even moreso than the DLC bosses. Tanking hits doesnt work nearly as well and the increased health starts making the damage rush frantic. Also if you know what you are doing most of the late game fights are very easy compared to the early game. Outside of fighting Sif or Ceaseless earlier than intended. Late game bosses like Priscilla, Gwyndolin and Centipede are just chumps as well.
A lot of the DS2 team moved directly into bloodborne after DS2. Miyazaki also said the DS3 team is completely different from the Bloodborne team.
I think by now we are on Team F
Cloud Strife
Member
Ch, we all know who are the real bosses of Crown of the Ivory King.
FROM... why!? T_T
As soon as I realized the end-area bosses for that place were recycled from the first Crown of the Ivory King boss, I gave up.
Not worth it.
Too bad. The greatsword they drop is my favorite one in the game which mean a lot since there are like two dozen of them.
I played the demo at Gamescom today, and couldn't get as far as the footage since we were on a pretty strict time limit. (About ten minutes.) However, after lining up for two and a half hours, it was worth it. I hadn't seen the footage at first, and that dragon was such a Dark Souls moment. I saw the relative army of enemies coming my way down that narrow walkway, and suddenly a plume of fire sets them alight. However, I was in danger of joining them, but I managed to dodge roll to the side with less than a second to spare. I laughed aloud in delight when it happened. Which pretty much sums up the demo.
Feeling the change in movement cannot be understood from the video, though. The movement controls have been tightened so much that it feels as though your character is drifting around corners, sliding about smoothly like an ice skater. It doesn't seem realistic for a guy in full plate, but I still love it. As soon as I touched the pad, I knew that I loved all the changes they made from Dark Souls II. I'm actively anticipating it now that I've felt what the game is. Makes the ten minute demo a brutal tease, however.
Feeling the change in movement cannot be understood from the video, though. The movement controls have been tightened so much that it feels as though your character is drifting around corners, sliding about smoothly like an ice skater. It doesn't seem realistic for a guy in full plate, but I still love it. As soon as I touched the pad, I knew that I loved all the changes they made from Dark Souls II. I'm actively anticipating it now that I've felt what the game is. Makes the ten minute demo a brutal tease, however.
ViewtifulJC
Banned
You mean to tell me Miyazaki da God doesn't hand-craft every single element of these games
Maybe he is and you just don't want to accept his greatness.
I highly disagree. His moves are extremely easy to telegraph, and I fought him while in the champion's covenant. When I got to him, every time without fail all the knights were gone and the doors were frozen.
Not even close to the hardest boss in the game. Not even cloooooooose.
You're gonna have to elaborate on this one because this is the strangest complaint I've ever seen.
I think debates like these just illustrate that the diverse challenges of Dark Souls will lead to varying levels of difficulty for different players in different encounters. Some things that I know people struggled with for days were a total breeze for me, while other things that were not a problem for many turned out to be quite difficult for me.
I beat Ornstein and Smough on my first try, but fought Quelaag over and over before I managed to defeat her.
AlphaDragoon
Member
Agreed, I definitely would not say Ivory King is the hardest boss in DS2. Fume Knight or Sir Alonne wreck him in terms of difficulty IMO.
TheCongressman1
Member
I really hope this is just unfortunate wording, but that puts me off quite a bit. Looking at the footage, it does look like the character just kind of glides around. If they could just figure out how to time the animation with the speed, it would be fine, but it's off.
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