Today I tried a tank build by equipping a +5 Zwei (using it two-handed) and my strongest armor. Unfortunately I just passed the fat rolling threshold.

I'm playing as a knight. My level up points have evenly gone into HP, Stamina, Endurance, and Strength.

I tried this style (with roll dodging instead of blocking) for hours and was doing okay. After I got to a certain zone and getting my ass absolutely handed to me I switched to my previous build or medium armor, +5 Broadsword, and a shield.

Compared to the tank style I started crushing it and the same enemies were a breeze. It also seemed like the damage I was taking was somehow LESS than when I had the heavy armor on.

Any ideas on why my tank build wasn't as successful as my lighter build? I would love to be a big dumb tank for the endgame but I die and get hit so much and it just doesn't seem viable. I've seen people play other Souls games like this and it seems fun but it feels like I'm missing something critical.

...or maybe I just suck at fat rolling?

Appreciate the help.

If you are going to be rolling to dodge hits, it should not be in heavy armor.

Yea, you either equip a big ass shield and forget about rolling or you get a better weapon and kill things before they do damage to you. Fat rolling isn't viable because the recovery time is too long. Most of the stuff in this game hits often enough that you will get hit during recovery and then you get the pleasure of taking counter damage, which will easily outweigh any armor you choose.

Subjectively, fat rolling is worse in this game than in prior ones. Enemies are too fast and follow up too quickly, so you'll likely get hit coming out of the roll before you can get your shield back up. It also seems like you get a lot less poise than in prior games, so you're more likely to get staggered even if you're wearing heavy armor.

As far as armor goes, the way armor calculation in DS3 work tends to make heavy armor less appealing than in prior versions. The way it works is that you get a flat damage reduction for every piece of armor you are wearing, regardless of how heavy it is. Heavy armor is really only useful for increasing your "absorption," which is a measure of defense against really big hits. Against smaller "normal" enemies, there doesn't appear to be a functional difference between light armor and heavy.

Admittedly, it took me awhile to figure all this out, so I wasted a bunch of points getting my equip load up that I now wish I could take back. If you can respect, I'd put some of those points into stamina instead. It's a lot more useful to be able to roll and attack repeatedly than it is to be able to wear a ton of heavy armor around.

@lawgamer: isn't absorption damage reduction %? If not then holy crap why don't they put that in the damn game instead of meaningless defense numbers?

It's like a second reduction. The first reduction is a number called defense which is where a majority of your actual protection comes from and the difference in defense between light and heavy armor is minuscule. The only reason to take VIT in this game so far is for successful fashion souls.

UGS is extremely good for PvE you can break the biggest of guards and slice whole mobs. Most likely you just haven't figure out how to properly use the ultra 2h type weapons.

I can't fathom playing with the fat roll in this game. I basically had to turn into a ninja dodging like a mofo for a lot of fights, which is not usually my play style but it felt awesome to dodge/attack/dodge... against some of the craziest bosses.

This is definitely the first time that going over the equip limit has been such a big detriment to me. I fat rolled and blocked my way through every other game but it's a real garbage playstyle for this one. Greatswords seem like trash now too when I can be way more versatile with any given straight sword.

@lawgamer: Increasing vitality (equip load) also gives a bigger boost to your physical resistances than leveling any other stat, so it's not a complete waste. I actually recommend getting a little vitality regardless of your armor after getting vigor up pretty high. It'll give more defensive gain.

For me, I think the best way to think about the super heavy armor is to consider it not tanking damage, but tanking stamina. It isn't so much the damage reduction/absorption that I primarily focus on as much as the *poise*. When using a shield with a high stability stat, along with a healthy chunk of poise, your shield blocks aren't going to chip away at your stamina nearly as much, leaving you a bit more freedom to still attack while you are circle strafing close up on the enemy while blocking their attacks.

Personally I still try to fit as snugly as possible under the 70% mark because I do still like to roll, but there were certainly a few bosses where the poise/heavy armor strat was more suited.

This is the first Souls game where I feel the fat roll is completely unusable and not worth it in the slightest. I'm not sure if it's a change to damage reduction, poise, or stamina usage on blocking, but I went through both Dark Souls in full Havel's with the greatshield to go with it, and I did perfectly fine. Hell, I did better than fine; I never once had to summon for a boss, but even the easiest of DS3 bosses seems like they would be a disaster to fight if I had to fat roll.

I played all of DS3 under 70% equip load and I suggest you do as well, if at all possible.

Totally solid advice all around. I really appreciate it, everyone!

I'll try practicing a bit more with my Zwei and a shield with my medium armor and see if I like the animations/DPS more than my regular Broadsword. And yes I admit I haven't tried any 2h Ultra Greatswords yet - I'll try those at end-game when my strength can handle it.

I have already respec'ed with Rosaria, so I don't have any more Pale Tongues to use (I think there may be one somewhere I haven't grabbed one).

Thanks again!