All-in-all, how do you feel about the Painted World of Ariandel?

All-in-all, how do you feel about the Painted World of Ariandel?

I'm kind of lukewarm.

Sucked balls compared to Dark Souls 2 DLCs.

I liked it better after reading about the meta theory regarding Namco and From

The scythe bitch has 3 forms. THREE(3) FORMS.

It's not that hard as you might think.

It just catches you off guard if anything

It's good. It didn't come packaged with any other places, but it was bigger and more fleshed-out than any of 3 in the Bloodborne DLC. People are stupid.

It's amazing for invasion and integrated into the game world extremely well, providing a lot new weapon options for early game.

The cutscene where the father sees his daughter's dead body, and goes crazy as a result, actually sparked some feels in me.

Father Ariandel and Sister Friede were a cool fight, liked the atmosphere, cutscenes, everything. Also liked the armors and weapons it came with, honestly the only downside was it was fairly boring otherwise. Sif's retarded brother and generic human #264 was a boring boss fight as well.

Right after beating Sister Friede I was finally very pumped up, only to realize it was the end.

Do tell more.

>literally TELEPORTS BEHIND YOU
>in phase 3 she dashes from side to side across the whole room like some shitty animu
>just like any other enemy in this shitty DLC, her attacks have certain delay, but every attack in her combos has different one, also uses that annoying extra attack when she "finishes" combo, but then gains extra momentum out of nowhere and does and extra attacks with extra reach and extra delay to REALLY test your le gitgudness

Did they just copy-paste that one level from the first game or something?

father ariandel is not friede's biological father

neat atmosphere I guess but it was over so fast I dont even remember it. The second DLC was just as disappointing... all those damn things shooting you from the sky making you just run through the level taking all of the fun out of the game

3-phase bosses that get a full heal when entering each phase are annoying and I'm glad the series ended when it got this bad.

It's a battle of nutrition.

Not as good as ringed city, old hunters or lost crowns, but I liked it A LOT more than AotA.
Level design was god tier
Aesthetics were fantastic
Lore was kino
Weapons were kino (Valorheart and Friede's scythe weapon arts are pure visual porn)
Friede is the third best boss From has ever made after Gael and Orphan. It's pretty much flawless, just a bit short and has only one good boss fight. The champion's greatwolf was a slightly better, faster and harder Sif, but that's really not hard, even the giant rat of DaS2 was better than Sif.

>even the giant rat of DaS2 was better than Sif.
haha holy shit

How is that a bad thing in ANY way?
>when it got this bad.
It got better over time, but what would a shitposter like you know about that.

How is a giant health bar good in ANY way?

awful dlc, great boss.

user, let's not shitpost here. Everyone can agree that mechanic wise, Sif was pathetic. He was slow, with very few attacks that were way too easy to predict and avoid, and staying under him made his AI go full retard. He's not a threat in any way since you can't get hit even if you want to. Giant rat of DaS2 was literally the same thing except a tiny bit more aggressive and faster, of course it'll be better.

How is it NOT better autist kun?

I loved it overall, but the fairly short length and the bosses hold it back considerably. One boss is barely a boss and way too easy, while the other is cheaply designed and takes far too long.

Tons of new enemies, though, and I found them all to be unique, fun, and interesting. I love most of the new equipment, and the layout of the Painted World as a whole was enjoyable.

The Ringed City continuing it, though, gives it a lot more depth and intrigue on replay, because it makes it feel like the first part of a large expansion rather than a stand alone mini-expansion, and it makes it feel more significant now.

People like you confuse me. The Angels are amazing. There is so much cover throughout the area that actually encourages exploration it's ridiculous, and literally all you have to do is wait for their curse dust to start and then they can't shoot at you for like ten full seconds.

First because each health bar is very small, so in the end the result is the same.
Second because the first two phases take literally 30-45 seconds each, the real boss is just Blackflame Friede.
Third because the first two phases aren't even phases. They're fun gimmicks the first time you fight the boss, you're not supposed to struggle or lose health.

So the health bar isn't giant in any way, and EVEN IF it was, isn't that the whole point? It's a BOSS user. Are you complaining that Ludwig has 34735635634563456 trillion hp? Of course not. And giant health bars have ALWAYS been a thing.

>all those damn things shooting you from the sky making you just run through the level taking all of the fun out of the game
These are the retards you have to share a board with...

user, why don't you just, you know, KILL THE FUCKING ANGELS SO YOU DON"T HAVE TO "JUST RUN THROUGH THE LEVEL"?

>"I dont care if the life bars are all super small, THREE IS TOO DAMN MANY!!1"

Watch him be all "They just respawn if you kill them!"

Nigga you literally just listed out the mechanics of the boss. The invisible gimmick is easy as shit to figure out and counter, especially since the first phase teaches you how to do it.

3-phase boss was a mistake. The only other boss was an enemy you've already fought five times and a hollow.

Or even "B-but it's not just le angel!!! All the fantom archers too!! Literally forced to speedrun the DLC!!!"

I always wonder what kind of relationships between Friede and Painter had.
Friede doesn't care about painter's return so probably not hostile to each other but that doesn't make sense about trapping her inside the living room.

Playing AoA for the first time right now, I can't beat the 3rd phase. I run out of estus, which means you're fucked because one little love tap from her takes half your health.

Any challenge that the royal rat authority posed was made fucking moot if you any literally ANY ranged option and sniped one or two of the little fuckers before the start of the fight. I didn't notice any difference in aggression but I'll concede to him being notably faster.

I enjoyed it.
Too short though, and the content was easy except for the boss at the end, she was okay.

>Printer girl looks loli but actually her body is unlikely matured.
Do they really need this setting?

user, in the first phase, when she goes invis, just run to her, she'll jump in the air, listen to where she lands, run again to her and stunlock her, SHE DOES NOT ATTACK WHEN YOU REVEAL HER INVIS. Just repeat. You're not supposed to use estus in the first two phases, they are pure retard bait.

Second phase is even easier. Get a heavy weapon, FORGET ABOUT FRIEDE, and just hit father ariendel. Three heavy attacks and one weapon arts remove more than half of his health bar and allows you to crit on him for the remaining hp. Second phase lasts literally seconds.

Not really, the main problem with it is that it's nigh impossible to beat early, but most the dlc is also very prohibitive at lower levels. Bloodborne made the right choice by making a good selection of weapons available from weak enemies rather than bosses.

>kino
I don't think you know what that word means.

Champ's gravetender was most out of place boss among the entire DLC story.

>Do tell more.

Basically the plot of the DLC is that the painting is rotting and well past it's used by date, it needs to be burned and destroyed so a new painted world can be made. But Sister Friede convinced Father Ariendel to not allow this happen and preserve the painting as is.

This is a parralel to the main world of Dark Souls. Linking the fire is just artificially extending the current state of the world and it gets shittier each time. What they need to do is let the age of fire end, so whatever is next can have its time. One npc even explicitly says this, saying that the constant destroying of the paintings to make new ones is the one thing they do better than "the fools on the outside".

People also theorise that this is meta commentary on From/Bamco's relationship. Dark Souls 2&3 were contractual obligations, From signed a 3 game deal with Bamco, and after the success of DaS1 said "make a sequel" even though it was never made with the intention of another game in that universe. Basically Namco is Friede, extending the life of Dark Souls beyond where it should have ended, and letting it go rotten, instead of accepting that it's time to move on.

I never said the rat is good, because it's not, it's fucking garbage. I was just saying that it's better than Sif, which it is. Both are the same and both are shit, but the rat is slightly more interesting MECHANICALY speaking.

I know all that, but I don't think I'm doing as much damage as you. Definitely can't take half his health in one combo that's for sure.

great area, shit boss fights

Rapp has champ's bone, so Champ=Rapp?

Friede is fucking trash. Her three phases have a combined total health of 18,877. Midir only has 15,860.

On top of that...

Her invisibility is bullshit. USUALLY she jumps directly behind you, but sometimes she doesn't jump. Sometimes she actually runs to a side position, and no matter WHERE you are when she decides to use the grab she will just appear right next to you and grab you with that retardedly massive hitbox for 2/3rds of your fucking health.

She constantly dodges away from everything. She can actually cancel her recovery animations to insta-dodge away from you.

Her third phase is literal cancer. It's the same invisibility and dodging bullshit, but now she also spams massive AoEs, covers literally every inch of the arena in high damage ice that causes instant frostbite, all of her attacks do half your health in damage or more, and she barely staggers from anything... and even if she staggers she'll just auto-recover almost instantly every time.

If this was a Bloodborne boss, where you can actually move like her and gun-parry? It'd be a lot of fun. But in Souls it's just pure shit.

Both unkindled, but AO couldn't be as acrobatic as Friede...

What weapon you using? I like the dragonslayer greataxe. 3 or 4 charged R2 and one or two weapon arts bring him to his knees for a crit attack.
Also very heavy weapon can stunlock her, even in her third phase, that's something I fucking love about DaS3.

Do you summon Gael? He can be useful for the third phase.

Blessed Lothric Greatsword +10. I can stunlock her in her first and second phase, but in the third she dashes or counterattacks before I can a second hit. It turns into a battle of attrition because I need to hit her like a dozen or so times, inevitably getting poked a few times along the way and running out of estus. I think I just need to get better at the first two phases like you said, so I have enough estus to outlast her.

I'm trying to solo all the bosses so Gael is a no-go for me.

Not him, but for me Gael usually makes Phase 3 worse just because he'll take so much damage in Phase 2 that he dies within ten seconds of Phase 3, so she gets a huge buff to her HP but I lose my help. Gael helps with Phase 2, but Phase 2 is already pathetically easy so it's not beneficial in the slightest.

Gael is also useless in the first Ringed City boss fight because he always dies shortly after Phase 2 starts... I'm starting to notice a trend.

>Her invisibility is bullshit
>Sometimes she actually runs to a side position.
>and no matter WHERE you are when she decides to use the grab she will just appear right next to you and grab you with that retardedly massive hitbox for 2/3rds of your fucking health.
Then how the fuck do I know where she is 100% of the time? How do fuck do I NEVER get hit by the grab attack. It's not bullshit, you're just retarded, you can ALWAYS know she is, ALWAYS, even without sound you see some dust being lifted in the air where she lands.
>She constantly dodges away from everything
And this is bad because? Do you expect the boss to stand still?
>She can actually cancel her recovery animations to insta-dodge away from you.
I know right, it looks fucking cool and more boss should have that.
>It's the same invisibility and dodging bullshit
Neither the invis nor the dodging are bullshit.
>covers literally every inch of the arena in high damage ice that causes instant frostbite
It not every inch of the arena, and it's very easy to dodge.
>all of her attacks do half your health in damage or more
Yeah, like bosses usually do.
>and she barely staggers from anything
You can stunlock her with a heavy weapon, if anything, she staggers WAY TOO MUCH.
>she'll just auto-recover almost instantly every time.
Use a heavier weapon. It's like in pvp, the heavier the weapon the more poise it breaks and the longer the recovery time.

two, count 'em, TWO boss fights for 15$ is unacceptable

> 3 phase boss was a mistake

Would you feel better if it was just one health bar with cutscenes at 75% and 50%? Because even when you add all the health together she has less than many other bosses in the series.

Friede has a total of 18,877 health.

Orphan of Kos has 19,217
Living Failures have 20,646
Laurence has 21,242
Queen Yharmam has 22,822
Headless Bloodletting Beast has 24,287
Defiled Hotdog has 28,717

Yeah, just get better in the first phases so you have 15 estus for blackflame. But once you beat it, oh my god it's as satisfying as beating Ludwig, Orphan, Gael, Champion Gundyr or Gehrman.
>Gael usually makes Phase 3 worse just because he'll take so much damage in Phase 2 that he dies within ten seconds of Phase 3
Oh that can happen. For me the second phase is over so fast that Gael doesn't even have time to lose health lmao, and he helps with staggering Friede in the third phase.
>Gael is also useless in the first Ringed City boss
Ok I didn't even know you can summon him there, I summoned Lapp my second playthrough.

But now that you mentionned demon in pain, I want to replay TRC, I have a lvl 140 char on NG+4 in the dreg heap. Fuck me TRC was so fucking good it should be illegal. Guess I know what I'll do today.

list one that isn't a bloodborne boss?

>uses HP boss examples exclusively from an entirely different game

Darkeater Midir has 3,000hp less than Friede does. You're an idiot if you defend that.

I would rather them split up the boss fights so I feel I got my money's worth. Like you fight Friede solo, earlier on and you think you beat her, but when you walk down to daddy big bucket she mysteriously appears and you basically reenact the essential dark souls experience of ornsteeeen and smoogies

>Darkeater Midir has 3,000hp less than Friede does.
And? HP alone don't mean anything.
Midir also takes LESS DAMAGE, you can't stagger him, and you have way less windows for hitting. How can you compare Friede to fucking Midir. Midir takes 10 times longer to beat, HP alone are irrelevant.

What I thought might be cool is if after you turn the crank in the Fly Pit to reveal the hidden room in the chapel if Friede showed up on the way back, starting a boss fight with her that was basically Phase 1 but a bit deeper and longer. Then you beat her, think she's dead, and move on to the chapel.

When you arrive, have a cutscene play where a severely wounded Friede shows up in an attempt to stop you, but she collapses into a pool of her own blood just as she starts to raise her scythe. Ariandel loses his shit and the final boss starts, basically being just Phase 2 and Phase 3 but fleshed out more in the first half.

Means a lot more than listing exclusively Bloodborne bosses' HP and saying "Her HP is fine, look at all these bosses from a completely different game who have less!"

There's also a shitload of openings to attack Midir if you aren't a moron and attack his face instead of his body. He takes full damage to the face, too.

more*

I wasn't the one who posted Bloodborne bosses user. And I never complained about any boss' hp.

I'm just saying that HP alone is irrelevant. Yes I know you can hit Midir in the head, that doesn't change the fact that Midir takes WAY WAY WAY longer to beat than Friede. Especially when, like explained above, first two phases are piss easy.

Midir takes me half as long as Friede does.

terrible long drawned out bossfight made me fall asleep even though it tried really hard to be "epic", the whole thing is so boring just thinking about has made me feel sleepy right now, didn't even bother trying the 2nd dlc

Well, we must have very different playstyles. I can beat all three phases of Friede 3 times by the time I take out 1/5 of Midir's health.

Playstyles are also a big factor, we all play differently, and a boss can be easy for someone and hard for others.

Still haven't gotten around to buying the DLC. Is it worth the buy?

So short. Friede is nearly impossible. They put a tougher Maria as a third phase in a game with no dashing.

not worth it, unless you're absolutely hungry for souls, the dlcs will probably give you souls fatigue

I enjoyed it but there is so much wasted potential in Dark souls 3 dlc(and the base game in general)
Ariandel problems:
>Ariandel wasnt fleshed out enough, he should have been his very own boss, with his cereal bowl as a boss weapon. Not enough lore about him
>Graventender boss was cheap as fuck, its a simple npc with a Wolf you already fight earlier in the dlc. Also he doesnt even have a unique gladiator Armor, at least Valorheart was fun to use
>All the background things like the statue in the chapel,the mysterious drawing on the wooden panel, Priscilla arena is just here for a fight against a pyromancer.
>Vilheim should have been a boss
>Corvian settlement was to small
Ringed City
>Not enough time and spatial wraping fuckery un the Dreg Heap, a bit of high wall, a bit of Undead settlement and Grand Archive, and Earthen Peak was just a swamp without much thing going for it
>Not much awnser on the Angel
> The ringed City had much better bosses and some exploration but it s was mostly a swamp.
>No Mad King boss fight
>Primordial hamster-serpent statue but no Primordial Serpent for real, not even a corpse in the ashen désert
>Gael was a good boss fight and almost fit the bills for the final boss of the séries, but he should have had more setup, like more dialogue, being a recurring npc in the base game and dlc
>Blood of the Dark Soul is useless ans dont grant you an entry to a bonus zone painted by the Loli

Where is muh lore From Software

It was good until the Friede fight. I felt like it was two boss battles pushed into one for people who complain about souls games being too easy and that PISSES ME OFF BECAUSE FUCK THAT FIGHT.
It was cool, but any appreciation I had for it was ruined by how long, arduous, and bullshit it was on NG++.

Also the ringed city DLC was nowhere near as good as the painted world. You spend 70% of your time in the ringed city running from one thing or another.

Genuinely good level design (though short), some of the most unique and fun weapons in the series, a few great armor sets, and some really solid atmosphere. All the enemies are pretty unique and interesting, as well, and nothing feels like "just a reskin of a main game enemy."

Only two bosses, one of which basically doesn't count as a boss and the other which seems to have players divided on it being one of the absolute best or absolute worst bosses in the franchise.

It's easily worth $15 if you really like Souls as a whole, but if you're cheap, on the fence with the series, or one of those "bosses are the only thing in Souls that matter" types then you should probably avoid it.

Yes, both DLC are fantastic. AoA is a bit short, but everything else in it is god tier. If you like level design, heavy lore, great aesthetics, fantastic weapons and one of the best boss fights from has ever made, go for it.

TRC is the best souls DLC and is on par with old hunters. Even slightly better in some aspects.

Kinda already at that point. Haven't touched the game in months, and when I do play it's only a few duels at Pontiff.

I was kind of thinking maybe the new weapons and inclusion of an official PvP area would reinvigorate my love for the game?

The DLC's are easily the best part of the game, and the new weapons are cool as fuck.

Both DLC's can unlock the arena, though, you don't need both... though I'd personally recommend both.

It's basically painted world of Ariamis but bigger and significantly less interesting in every way that matters.

It just turns the preceding phases into busywork and if the final phase is an exercise in figuring out which pattern gives you a long enough window to counterattack then it just increases the chance that you'll tilt.
>It got better over time
It really didn't. It loses almost everything that makes it good and only becomes more comfortable to play in exchange by also sacrificing most of the reasons that was the case.
DaS3 is streamlined as hell and poorly put together with little attention to detail or proper design. Sure it has bombastic boss fights, the visuals are updated because they're able to rely on a new console (though they're not really better by an appropriate amount and are worse in some cases) and the controls are solid but that's pretty much it.

Tbh the weapons and PvP area are the only real draws for the AoA dlc. TRC, on the other hand, looks like it would definitely be worth the price considering how much content is there. The Midir and Gael fights alone make me want to pick it up.

It was cool when it was a one off thing.

Yes, Father Ariandel's animations were really well done. It's probably the best cutscene in the game.

The town area is the best area in the whole game.

>Her three phases have a combined total health of 18,877. Midir only has 15,860.
Can we stop saying this like it's an actual point? Friede staggers if you point you eyes in her general direction.

That's no excuse to not make a good game tho.
It's not a fuck you to Bamco, it's just a fuck you to the fans of the game.

Yeah it would have been great if she didn't get back up.

>DaS3 is streamlined as hell and poorly put together with little attention to detail or proper design.
Sure it's linear and world design sucks, but on the other hand individual level design OBLITERATES every past soulsborne area. The bosses are pure masterpieces, and encounters in general are just miles above past SOULS games, enemies have way more attacks, are way smater, more aggressive and dangerous in general (a lot more though has been put into their design), gameplay is as tight, sharp and accurate as Bloodborne. Add to that fucking weapon arts, a story that ties up all the lore together, better pvp, better fashion souls, better sound design, better graphics.

DaS3 is miles above previous souls games in pretty much every relevant aspect other than world design. Miyazaki knew that no matter what he did, memeloving fucks like you would be angry, so he said fuck it, copy pasted previous soulsborne characters/lore/vibe and made the best levels in the series, the best bosses, the best gameplay, the best questlines, the best dialogues. For exemple, Friede is Maria, but better, Gael is Orphan, and Guts, and Artorias, and Manus, and Abyss watcher, but better (he can also insta teleport using soapstones and shoot his crossbow WHILE he airflips like watchers at LITERALLY mere minutes before the fire fades, how fucking cool is that). Firelink Shrine is the Nexus and looks just as cool, Firefu is Maiden in black, with literally the same dialogue, but looks cooler. Demon in pain and demon from below are ornstein and smough, but better, Leonhard is lautrec but cooler, Siegward and his Yhorm questline is Siegmeyer but cooler.

>tfw he starts smashing his lordvessel while sperging out harder than a Sup Forums autist

Why did it have to be snow again? If this was DaS2, it could've probably been a jungle which would have been cooler.

Fucking /thread right here.

>Friede staggers if you point you eyes in her general direction.
Ok I laughed.

>Painter makes a new world by destroying the world she's painting from
How does the new painting not get burned up with everything else?

How doesn't the wooden door that leads to the depths get burned by the dragon fire like the hollows, you, or the ground made of stone.

Because fire a shit.

Considering that it's supposed to be combined with The Ringed City, DS3's dlc is actually longer than Old Hunters and was roughly the same price.

Both BB and DS3's DLC are easily 8+/10

Nigga that's fucking retarded.

Generally speaking, bosses in DLCs ought to have around 20% more health than the final boss of the game (which was the case in DaS2 and BB). Laurence has maybe 50% more, and people still called him a damage sponge. F&A have around 80% more health than the final boss.

>Friede is the third best boss From has ever made

>TRC is the best souls DLC and is on par with old hunters. Even slightly better in some aspects.
The Ringed City has three churches and two swamps. The first swamp is a hamfisted stealth section and the second is just a flat plane with enemies sprinkled about. Despite being called the ringed "city" you only get to run down two streets. The first is just an easy puzzle section you run through. The second is a parade of those large enemies which take so long to kill without plunging attacks that anyone would be stupid not to run past.
I swear anyone who likes Dark Souls 3 level design just has a fetish for swamps and stained glass.

Because it's being painted with the Dark Souls which is eternal.

If we ever get another official BloodSouls games (other than Bloodborne 2) it will most likely be a spin off related to that painted world.

Wait.... painted world created from the Dark Souls named after the Ashen One
New world borne from Ash
AshBorne....

You sound kinda mad about your favorite boss actually being shit.

But again, health alone is irrelevant. If boss A has 80% less hp than boss B, but your attacks deal less damage, he doesn't leave many windows to attacks, and doesn't stagger, well this boss A can be harder and take longer to kill than boss B, despite the lack of HP.

Who gives a shit about Friede's hp, when like user said she staggers as soon as you look at her, she takes full damage, can be stunlocked and doesn't even attack when you get the trick with the invis. Same for second phase, who gives a shit about the hp when 3 charged R2 and 2 weapon arts from a heavy weapon take almost half of father ariandel's HP and let you crit him for almost the entire remaining health.

Yes user. First is Gael, Second is Orphan, third is Friede, fourth is Maria. Then there's the others like Ludwig, Gehrman, Champ Gundyr, etc...

Old Hunters was 2 DLC combined into one because it felt more fitting.

Ariandel and The Ringed City follow the same story but were able to be split because of the 2 very distinct areas of the DLCs.

Both Old Hunters and the DS3 Season pass costed the same. You can't compare Old Hunters with only The Ringed City.

You can't /thread your own post you memeloving fuck.

Fine, combine both DS3 dlcs. You still end up with four churches, 2 swamps, 2 npc bosses, recycled enemies, lore that's irrelevant to the main game and series as a whole, more meaningless references to old Souls games and two bosses with way too much health.
It's nothing compared to the Old Hunters.