Dark Souls PVP SUCKS

[BeingInItself]

Created an account just to post this rant but been an on-going reviewer of these forums and the wiki ever since Demon Souls came out and became my favorite game. Surely, I will garner hate for this...

PVP is utter TRASH in this game. There is ZERO skill involved in tackling a player. Every single time I am invaded it is essentially one of three tactics:

1. Blast the slow-speed miracle and then spam lightning spear miracle

2. Blast the slow-speed miracle and then spam combustion

3. Blast the slow speed miracle and then spam any lightning weapon

All of these tactics are done by individuals who move at a snail's pace b/c the are equipped with an enormity of armor.

The whole slow speed miracle is garbage, I say. It defeats the purpose of creating a character who moves swiftly and adheres to the endurance penalties. Is there any, ANY originality in how people want to attack others?

Yea, yea, yea, I will get blasted for the fact that there are spells/miracles that can counter act this slow-speed trash but, truth-be-told, those miracles are USELESS in PVE. Further, say the argument is proposed I use slow-speed then...again, a USELESS spell in PVE.

So, to counteract this, I am left with equipping spells that are useless unless someone invades me. Seems to me that PVP invasions have now turned into more so PVC - Player vs Circumstance.

I LOVE this game, but PVP is far too populated with individuals who think they are good at this game because they win PVP battles using the tactics above but actually have ZERO skill whatsoever.

P,S, - ain't mad b/c I have lost, what truly, TRULY infuriates me is the BS gesture someone does after winning this way. The few actual "real" matches I have played, where it was skill vs skill, I have done extremely well in. If you can gesture me with your arrogance, allow me to gesture back with a big middle finger or a grab of my crotch indicating you are a douche.

peace y'all.

[Alara78]

If you want real PvP head over to Kiln.

I agree that the TWoP miracle is utter bullshit, especially when used in combination with Wrath of Gods, no skill whatsoever.
I have to say though that I'm seeing less and less of them in Anor Londo, where I do my PvP at the moment.

[BeingInItself]

TWoP, whatever the hell its called, is complete horseshit I say - Its WAY worse than firestorm in DS and, at least in DS, if a dude spams firestorm, I had a shifty character who could see the slowish casting movement and skiddadle out of the way.

I do hope that once the PVP community works itself out, creates a certain rules and regulations of sorts that was created in DS, that TWoP is the first thing removed.

UGH. Sorry, I just know its some loser ass out there stroking his/her ego, probably fatting themselves on hot pockets ala Southpark and the WoW episode, thinking s/he is some badass at this game pulling that crap.

[Cobalt Demon]

After suffering at hands of these TWoP vermin far too many times (frankly, once is too many), I am so tempted to ONLY hunt these cowards down and show them just how much they're hated, I will show them a legitimate use for the Fog Ring, it's called "Assassination".

I also have an immense hatred towards those who use Crystal Soul Mass (mostly at close range), I always thought Sorcerers were supposed to excel at medium to long range combat, not point blank firing.

[BeingInItself]

Part of the problem, in my humble opinion, I believe resides in the accessibility of spells/miracles/pyromancy.

Because elemental weapons - esp lightning - are SO powerful, a person no longer needs to invest in certain attributes like str or dex and can now invest those into being a spellcaster enough to cast TWoP et al.. No need to invest higher, as any scaling doesn't matter for crap like TWoP, but invest enough to cast...

This were decisions b/w melee damage and casting one had to make in DS. Now, there is no need to compromise.

TO HELL WITH THE TWOP'ers!!!

Grow a nutsack, I say.

[Astro_Train]

I have to agree with all of you... it seems pointless to work for a hard to get weapon only for someone to easily obtain any miracle/pyro/sorc spell and easily beat a skilled player due to the tactics mentioned above. Another thing I don't like about the game is the lack of Level cap on invasions... sure anything above level 65+ well built char could topple or hold it owns against a higher level player, but what I don't like is some level 80 tool invade my new char(level 14) which I am working on only to kill me with one hit and do their stoopid dance after... I DO NOT understand what FROM was thinking about not putting a level restrict like Demons Souls for invading.. at least should of left it the way it was in Demons Souls and not all random with parameters that just do not make a whole lot of sense... and man why not let a Host control its world like in Demons Souls... I guess the whole open world thing just jacks everything up in this game... I the way the game is in that aspect but its what also hinders the PvP aspect of it... I guess if they fix the dedicated server thing and the host being able to see the phantoms in his world easier then it would alleviate this problem... I know I just ranting but I do miss that aspect of Demons Souls.

[Kahalachan]

UGH. Sorry, I just know its some loser ass out there stroking his/her ego, probably fatting themselves on hot pockets ala Southpark and the WoW episode, thinking s/he is some badass at this game pulling that crap.

Like this?

[Shtyx]

***EDITS***spelling/grammer
Griefers in the forest:
oooooooooooooohhh man. Wait.......I dupe don't care...blahblahblah. I DONT GRIEF
(needed to know before I continue).
Okay ooooooooooooooooohhhh maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaann. I have taken great pleasure battling these griefsword, slow walkin, see through, static bats ALL week. And boy do they know my name. Here's some rules I lived by in the forest (just beat Sif tonight, didn't want to but it was time. 200+ duels this week.)

1) DUNG PIE: Once they cast TWoP, whip out the griefsword, etc...I rapid fire dung at them like there's no tomorrow. If they bow I'll give em a chance, but most aren't worthy of maintaining etiquette. My wife and I have fell outta our chairs watching someone vain gesture me with 20-30 scat bags all over their face. They look at you like wha???? It's funkin hilarious.
*I then send em a message saying NOOOOOOOO IINNNNNNNNNNDIIIIIIIIIEDED 4 U!!! Ya know that's all they're after.

2) I slow swing a Bastard Sword or Black Knight Great Sword. Skill set is slow anyway, I'm used to it. Sure the nerfwalk slows you down more, but being used to it makes it easy to hit some of these scrubs and actually beat some of them. It's hilarious to chase em back in to the woods all like, "sprint sprint slow slow sprint full speed slow". They flip out man. You can see em switching weapons trying to figure out how to deal with someone comin at them. Hell I don't care I duped all my soft humanity anyway. I chase em down just to throw dung and die.

3) Adjust your defense exclusively for lightning shock sticks in the forest and you won't be sorry. Armor DOES make a difference this time and so do shields. The Stone Armor set, Stone Shield, and Great Shield offer great protection.

4) Great Magic Barrier has got me cursed out in Japanese probably a dozen times this week. Nothing like watching two sl 2384753 mages empty wand cast at me wondering why the hell I didn't die. Sometimes I don't even kill em I just dung pie em until they run back into the forest as I jump off the cliff sending them "NO INDIEDEDED 4 U".

5) Miracle Force will have you feeling like a force pushin jedi against all the Invisible Man'ers. They don't know what the hell to do with that. I've forced a few off the ledge and got off 5-6 dung pies over the edge.

BOTTOM LINE: you're not gonna beat em all. But if you wanna hang out and practice this stuff, go to the forest and do this. You won't be sorry. I feel completely prepared now to go through the rest of the game with these encounters. JMO though...hope it helps :]

[Shtyx]

One of em just nerfed me in the Archives tonight, even ran to a boney....sad man sad. ...but like I said before, all he got was my dupe shyt.
***EDIT*** oh ya, and no indictment....sorry dude

[dadadada]

Game seriously blows. every single attack is dodged super easily and then you get backstabbed, pretty much to be "good" at pvp, you just NOT attack someone, and the first person to try gets backstabbed. what a great pvp system.

[PurifyingFire1]

^ Every attack is dodged easily? Maybe you need to, ye know, actually get better and hit them then? Wahhhhhbulance.

[Dasmir]

I agree a little the pvp is really "meh" right now, the basic tactics still the same:
-Dont attack and turttle/dodge until you can land a BS. (90% of the players making pvp really boring -.)
-If you opponent use a low dmg but high speed weapon try to parry.
-Stagger them with a "mirdan hammer" variant.

The lock-on system really dont help much the spells in pvp.. really you are going to have more chance to land a spell without the lock-on.

Also: everyone running with cookie-cutter vit builds with lightning weapons... i think the patch changed this a little but still boring...

[v1ej4]

looks like ur problems are done dude, congratulations

[PurifyingFire1]

The lock-on system really dont help much the spells in pvp.. really you are going to have more chance to land a spell without the lock-on...

That's always been the case for good mages. Pivot casting was the thing in DS.

[DxV04]

I found the dung pie technique hilarious!! I am sure to implement that in my pvp

[Thaumogenesis]

Matches so far ~500
TWOP Users ~7

call me lucky i guess?

[DemonHunterWolfe]

I solve this problem by almost never being in humn form.

[Durante]

I solve this problem by almost never being in humn form.

I hear that, I don't like being in human form for the sole fact that when I am playing a game just to play the game I don't want to be invaded and have to deal with a bunch of PvP when I'm trying to get to Sif or work through Anor Londo.

Freakin hate the PvP system so much, it's become a reaction now that when I see I was invaded first thing I do is put on the ring of fog and do what I can to put myself into any advantagous position as possible.

I know the RoF isn't liked but damnit if you're invading me when I just wanna play, then whatever, I'll do what I can to just continue on with the game, RoF or just stay in hollow form.

[DxV04]

I solve this problem by almost never being in humn form.

I hear that, I don't like being in human form for the sole fact that when I am playing a game just to play the game I don't want to be invaded and have to deal with a bunch of PvP when I'm trying to get to Sif or work through Anor Londo.

Freakin hate the PvP system so much, it's become a reaction now that when I see I was invaded first thing I do is put on the ring of fog and do what I can to put myself into any advantagous position as possible.

I know the RoF isn't liked but damnit if you're invading me when I just wanna play, then whatever, I'll do what I can to just continue on with the game, RoF or just stay in hollow form.

What covenant do you belong to? Way of the white protected me fairly well but a buddy of mine was in the that covenant and had high humanity and kept getting invaded but that was in anor londo.
RoF or any other item in the game is fair to use in my opinion. Its Dark Souls !! Its not supposed to be a stroll in the park.

I like to get invaded and I like to invade in the forest. Its what makes this game completely unique! And when you get the white soapstone solaire warns you about that very fact.

[Durante]

I don't think I belong to a covenant actually...I may go about with Way of White.

[DxV04]

I don't think I belong to a covenant actually...I may go about with Way of White.

Yea give it a try and let me know how it's working post patch 1.05.

[LankyChew]

Or, again, the age old wisdom for those of you who take issue with online play: do not play online. SIgn out of the playstation network, start game, do not sign back into the playstation network, play offline, play the game your own way. For Xbox, well... ya got me there. Or, if you really have to play online, always summon backup when heading into a level.

That said, I tend to agree with the gist of the OP, though not the title of the post. As in Demon's Souls before, skill and honor in pvp encounters are often not a winning combination unless you are dueling under controlled circumstances. Trying to play with skill and honor is basically taking the high road by making things a hell of a lot more difficult for yourself. I would change the title to "some Dark Souls players suck". But the game is designed for people to take advantage of all the tactics mentioned. Would be fair to say PvP sucks on purpose.

And finally, I would say less than half my PvP encounters have been against fog ring, TWoP users. Pre patch. Post patch haven't seen anyone use either. Everyone is just trying to survive/ win as best they can. I was double invaded while touring Dark Anor Londo and I backstabbed one invader when they were gesturing for joy. But they had run behind a column first. They probably hate me now. I felt bad... well, not really that bad.

[PurifyingFire1]

^ dude, but then if they played offline, they couldn't come on forums to moan about being invaded. Stop using common sense!

[DxV04]

^ dude, but then if they played offline, they couldn't come on forums to moan about being invaded. Stop using common sense!

then what would we do!!!! haha



@ LankyChew,

You did the honorable thing by killing someone when they least expect it!!! Props to you bro don't feel bad at all!! hahaha
Oh by the way the xbox same thing just don't sign in. and you can play offline.

I like the PvP its the closest I will get to experiencing constant danger.

[v1ej4]

^ dude, but then if they played offline, they couldn't come on forums to moan about being invaded. Stop using common sense!

inminent trolling ahead......

[WalkingSpirit]

*cough* necroposting *cough* Isn't there some other thread where someone is bitching about this game?

[dadadada]

Well, I completed my build exactly as I wanted it to be, I practiced for a bit at using my spells and switching weapons/spells with speed to pull off some combos I thought were pretty cool. I really tried to find a way to like pvp in dark souls.

Sometimes the combos worked well, usually not. For some odd reason I can't get over people being able to backstab me when they aren't even 1/3 of the way behind me and are still in front of me. Some guy used Wrath of the Gods like 20 times in a row.... i don't know how he had that many of that spell.

Anyways, my build was mostly about faith. I had a shield, other left weapon was a talisman for miracles. Right was +5 lightning partisan. Right second was +5 qualaana flame. Equipped miracles: stronger version of gravelord sword w/e it's called and force push. Piromancies: the stronger version of fire storm and great combustion. The armors I use give me great defense against everything, physical defense being the weakest. I use the woodgrain ring to move a bit quicker, since i cast a lot. I also use a wolf ring as to not be interrupted from casting all that easily.

I came up with some cool combos that I thought would work. jab jab with the spear and then with my left hand sword dance outta nowhere. It'd hit every now and then and i'd feel good about it. or Force push until one lands and then fire storm. that was nice too. Somehow I could never actually kill anyone though, no matter what element or attack I used. Which is weird because whenever I'm the one being invaded, all I do is attack with my weapon in both hands berserk mode.... and I win. Here I was actually using clever tactics and combos, and still losing.

I don't know what it is about this game but I guess general PvP is that people like to find the cheapest, sure ways to kill someone in PvP. I guess I'm not good at this game? I'm good at every other game, why not this one?

This game sure does blow a lot. It has a lot of potential, too. If it weren't for the lame backstabs and wrath of gods, it'd be pretty cool. 3 wrath of gods is ok, the way it's supposed to be. but some guy using like 30 of 'em until I fall off a cliff? wtfffff?

I don't mean to come off as whiney, but I payed good money for this game, expecting a great pvp experience, and really there isn't any real pvp at all. The game is just full of glitches and bugs. I'm actually usually really good at games, no matter what type of game. I was even good at demon's souls. Dark Souls is a huge disappointment (pvp, the rest of the game is great).

Hell, even co-op is cool! I get to help other people beat a level, show them where some secrets they didn't know about are, help them pound the boss. Too bad I can't just actually play with my friends though... I don't really mind playing with strangers, I like helping anyone, but actually being able to play with a friend of mine would be great.

All in all, this game sucks. I tried people, I tried. This game is no good. I'll beat the campaign and be done with it.

[dadadada]

"try harder to hit them" It's not that I miss. I mostly hit my target or their shield. I shouldn't lose because I attacked someone. hell, even in my latest PvP attempts, I was keeping my distance while hitting them and then casting spells (I was actually hitting them, I just mean how you can dodge any spell easily. For instance, some guy cast any variant of soul arrow - I can just walk or roll out of the way.), etc. then I got backstabbed while the guy was right in front of my face. "waaaahmbulance" I guess. The game still is a good game, just not in PvP. You'd rather the game stay how it is and not improve? You'll troll the people that don't like the PvP? So you are content with the way PvP is? I don't understand how anyone at all could think this game is fun in PvP. Again the game itself is really great, but there should be more when I'm ready for some dedicated PvP. Even the people I've encountered that were hanging around areas strictly for PvP played this way. I'd much rather encounter one of the TWoP spellcasters I hear about here, I never have though. I don't think they'd do too well against me anyways.

If the game had a little more balance, it'd be great. They are still working on the PvP afterall, the patch that "fixed" RoF shows us this. I'm not sure if the sorcery that acts like a limited RoF can be locked onto now as well, but it shouldn't, I mean for now it should, but when It's decided that backstab shouldn't be so overpowered, then that spell shouldn't be lockable. Maybe when only backstab-specialized weapons are the weapons that can backstab so easily (daggers). That way, they are actually using a class/weapon designated to the playstyle and have an advantage due to the many disadvantages of that weapon/class. I'm not about just passing judgment on the game and that's that. More like constructive criticism, points on how to make the game better and more balanced (PvP).

Another thing, I don't see what's so great about elemental weapons. They are far better for completing the game that's for sure. This is just the first playthrough at low levels afterall. Scaling weapons really shouldn't be all that strong until you are "proper PvP level" anyways. Dunno what level that is yet and probably never will. Elemental weapons are so easily countered anyways. There are only 2 elements and plenty armors/rings that counter either strongly or both at the same time decently.

Anyways, sorry for offending those of you who like the idea of backstabbing with ease. I just expect and prefer more balance and variation in competitive games. If Dark Souls happens to be your cup of tea, well then congrats. You've finally found a multiplayer game you're good at. You're probably the same guy that got mad at shotguns and sniper rifles in MW2, now in every CoD game after that, the only weapons that are always effective are assault rifles. Maybe DS games have started a trend just for you as well. Backstabs.

[PurifyingFire1]

As soon as I got to "and he had like TWENTY wrath of gods" (read: force) I stopped reading. Tl;nr harder.

[PurifyingFire1]

I'm actually usually really good at games, no matter what type of game.

Bingo. Your rants reek of..."i'm getting beaten, I don't know why = shit pvp".