On the Topic of Gangs of Mobs in Dark Souls

Mar. 20, 2017

On the Topic of Gangs of Mobs in Dark Souls

One of the complaints that drove me crazy aboutDark Souls IIwas how “cheap” it was because they used so many instances of groups of mobs and ambushes to “artificially” inflate the difficulty. I often asked myself, “Don’t people rememberDark Souls?” I made a small rant about this in Volume 1 of my return to Lordran. This prompted the idea to catalog all of the “cheap” groups of mobs in the first game in the series and make a long rant. I’ll warn you ahead of time, this is a long list (and I likely forgot some).

The rules to qualify for the list are:

Alright…to hell with this project. I haven’t even gotten to the infamous Taurus Demon Super Action Hyper Force, the Infinite Spawn Skeleton Kiddie Pool…now with Pinwheel Clones, Giant Skeleton archers in a pitch black zone, Ghosts that don’t obey the rules of walls, and on and on…

I hit the 2,000 word mark awhile ago, and it wouldn’t take many more to land at 3,000. Most of that is just list.

[sarcasm]So yeah, group attacks and ambushes are definitely unique to Dark Souls 2.[/sarcasm]

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Ahhhh this made me want to play Dark Souls 1 yet again

Having just played these areas, and some besides the list, I will disagree with that assessment completely.

Going in as mostly melee (no bow on this character) I don’t see how the first game is less hectic. The Duke’s Archives (among many areas) sounds exactly like what you’re describing on DS2. The very first Channeler blinks around and becomes part of the fray in numerous fights. First backing several melee warriors, then adding a few archers and more melee, then yet more melee. The whole time he’s blasting Soul Spears at you.

Don’t forget either that DS allowed 20 estus, well more than DS2 and DS2 doesn’t heal as fast either.

And if the abundance of healing items were related to mob attacks, we’d see the same complaints about Demon’s Souls where healing items are even more plentiful.

Now I know everyone’s experience will differ, but I can’t think of any areas in DS2 where a methodical approach doesn’t work. I for one, approached the game exactly the same as the first and didn’t note a single instance where slow and steady didn’t work.

I agree that the preferred game is subjective for the record. My argument though is that ganks and ambushes are ludicrously present in both games. It’s a foundation of the series, rather than an anomaly to DS2

I appreciate the work that goes into this. But really the “unfair ganking” feeling people point to in dark souls 2 really just draws back into the overall thing about DS2 that made it feel unpleasent for so many. DS2 is fundimentally a different approach to combat. Dark souls 1 really feels like it stresses single fights and when a group of enemies happens to be in your way it doesn’t feel very “smooth.”

Where as in DS2 the game is built around you taking tons of damage. This is evidence by the abundance of healing methods, how health is a slow gain instead of instant, etc. etc. DS2 is very much more about handling ganks and taking hits. It’s really subjective which you prefer. I prefer a slower more methodical apporach that DKS offered compared to DS2’s in the frey more chaotic approach.

Thieves jumping you before the Capra demon…even after many many playthroughs, I was super cautious there because I knew how fast you could go down if you were too presumptuous. Those knives… those backstabs… those damned dogs ! shivers