Though somewhat off-topic, I feel like I should tell my history with the series. I've told this more than a couple times on here probably, but I'll do it again. I got Demon's Souls and Dark Souls on their release and played a few hours of them both. I never finished them around that time because I thought they were more grindy than I wanted. I just wanted to see new locations, new enemy types and new bosses with less delay. It wasn't until a little before DS3 came out that I thought 'aw heck, I enjoyed what I played, maybe I should try to finish them so I can play three', so in 2016 I went through Demon's Souls and Dark Souls.

Immediately after I beat Dark Souls I went to GameStop and bought Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin, Bloodborne, and by that time, Dark Souls 3 was out so I bought that as well. I went through Scholar of the First Sin and Bloodborne (with all its DLC), then I went all the way to the end of Dark Souls 3. I was on the final boss, I died a few times and I quit, never to return (other than once) until now. There was one thing I didn't do before which is going to Archdragon Peak. For the past two days I've been farming souls and going through Archdragon Peak so now all I have to do is defeat the Soul of Cinder and Nameless King.

I loved the other games, but Dark Souls 3 disappointed me. I wasn't a fan of the two form boss fights, the music I feel isn't that memorable (it's fine, but not as good as the previous games' music in my opinion), and I was slightly disappointed in the level design. That all said, I still think it is a great game and now that I'm getting into it again I am enjoying it more than ever. It's a lot of fun going through older areas and wrecking dudes that once stood in my way, albeit they still pose a threat so it's still incredibly immersive and keeps me at full attention. It's also fun just going through and seeing those environments. Last night and into this morning I was more or less just trying to find better, faster ways to farm souls and I think I just did. I played for almost twelve hours, which is weird for a game that I just go back to and was originally not as into as I had hoped. It just speaks a lot about how good these game are in my opinion I guess.

After I do a little more soul farming, I am going to try and beat the two bosses; Nameless King first then Soul of Cinder. In order to play the DLC without having to restart the game on new game plus, do I have to do the DLC first, or can I beat the final boss and still play it on my current, non-new game plus playthrough? I am not sure I want the DLC, but I'm thinking about it so I am curious just in case. Lastly, what are some good soul farming locations that you guys found? When I played the game originally I found that Anor Londo was the best place to do it because you can lure three knights to their death off of the edge of the building. In the first Dark Souls, that was also the best place to do it, and against the same enemies.

Anor Londo is still perhaps the best place to do it, but now I'm using Symbol of Avarice (luckily there was one mimic left at the bottom of Irithyll Dungeon that I could get the item from) and the Mendicant's Staff which took me a little while, but not as long as I thought it would take to get from the summoner near the great Belfry bonfire. I am also using Shield of Want as well as the Serpent Ring which all allows for bigger soul amounts. I didn't put anything in magic or what have you. I play as someone that carry's around ultra greatswords with very light armor since I didn't put much into vitality. I am currently using a fully upgraded Black Knight Greatsword. Point is, whatever magic allows for better soul accumulation isn't probably going to happen for me. I'm just curious what the best places were that you guys found and if I'm missing any crucial items for soul farming.

Currently, I'm just standing behind the infinite spawning summon near the Dragonkin Mausoleum and killing him again and again. I think I just got back into DS3 because of the first games remaster coming at some point. I'm not even sure I'll get that remaster either, despite loving that game.

Edit - I was just watching a video about best bosses in the Souls/Borne series, and I had totally forgot some of the bosses in previous games had two forms, which I didn't mind. I don't know why that factor bothered me in three so much.

Not sure what you mean about the franchise being "grindy", but yes you should get the DLC if you're enjoying DS3. The final bosses of both Ashes of Ariandel and The Ringed City are fantastic; The Ringed City's final boss is definitely a contender for best boss of the whole franchise, up alongside Artorias from the first game. The regions are also pretty cool, although I will say that I think that the Ringed City varies in quality a bit. Some parts of it are wonderful, others can be frustrating.

I can't speak for soul farming locations. If you are having trouble with a specific boss or region, I would recommend trying out something with a different set of attacks. In DS1 during my first playthrough, I really wanted to play with only curved swords, but wasn't very good with them. After struggling against O&S for a long time, I eventually just swapped out my Quelaag's Furysword for a Silver Knights Spear and beat them on my first attempt. I could have just farmed those Giant Sentinels in Anor Londo ad nauseam and compensated for my inadequacies with extra life/stamina/damage, but it would have taken considerably longer.

@relkin: I meant that I thought that you had to grind a bunch (like kill in one area for an insurmountable amount of time) before moving on. I thought I had to farm a lot. I don't think it is now, but it's the reason why I didn't play through Demon's and Dark Souls when I first played them. I felt pretty dumb after I found out that you don't have to grind (well, you do sometimes, but not as much as I had thought and not to its detriment). As for weaponry, I'm good at what I got, it's just that it's not the ideal way to defeat those two probably. I generally only play one way in each game and make it through fine. There have only been a few occasions when I had to change things up, like stripping off all my armor on the Moonlight Butterfly. Also, I totally asked the incorrect question in the title because I thought I had too long of a title, but my real question was whether I could actually start the DLC after fighting the final boss without starting a new game plus. I could probably beat both bosses right now (with a few deaths mind you), but I like getting to a point where I feel confident that I can beat them on my first try.

@ntm: You can beat the boss and then do the DLC, if you want. NG+ works like it did in DS2; you choose to start NG+ from your primary bonfire (Firelink in this case). It does not automatically throw you into NG+ like the original game did.

If you are enjoying the game, the DLC is great.

On the road to Lothric bossfight you can turn left I believe on to a roof area and there are these 3 big winged knights, it's quite easy to avoid their attacks, that's where I farmed souls, but more for fun and items, since like you mentioned farming in souls is not mandatory, it's only to make the game a little easier. In that spot you can get around 60-80k per run from what I remember, especially if you have those items that give you more souls. After you kill them use a bone to teleport to a bonfire, I think the one to the entrance of the library is the best, use the elevator to go up. (a run takes around 1-2 minutes max once you learn their attacks and get good at killing them, they are pretty easy). This was my method and I farmed a ton before going into NG+ on one of my playthroughs. Just listened to podcast and killed these winged knights for a bit. Your method is also pretty good I believe, but I just prefered the one below. The DLC is awesome, I recommend it, it has some nice locations and good bossfights. I might be biased a bit since DS3 is my favorite.

@mattgiersoni: Hmm. Thanks for your insight. Yeah, we differ in opinions since (while I enjoy Dark Souls 3), it's probably my least favorite Souls game (including Bloodborne). As for the place to farm, I'll try that out. I think I saw that on YouTube a couple of days ago but for some stupid reason, I thought it was only for new game plus as if Dark Souls pulls a Ninja Gaiden and brings in new enemy types on different playthroughs. I hardly remember those enemies.

Edit - Hey, just wanted to say that this is a really good place to farm souls. It's not quite as easy as the choices I chose before, but it's fine and allows for more souls.

Jeez, I finally beat Soul of Cinder. My friend says he generally just gets to around level 70 or 80 and beats the game with different characters. I was at level 168 at 78 hours in. It just turned into 78 hours as I type this. I can't believe some of these bosses were as difficult for me as they were. I am not a big fan of the two form bosses, as I've already said. Plus, I realized that I generally summon NPC's for boss fights in these games and I never really had that opportunity to in this because I missed some side stuff I guess. To beat him, I used some light armor, and two-handed the Black Knight Greataxe fully upgraded. His health went down quick enough but was relentless enough in his attacks that it made it challenging for me to get a hit in without getting hit back. I was one hit away from killing him and I just used my last estus so it was either him or me with one hit to go.

Every time I get down to some of these challenging bosses my heart rate goes up and I tremble, leaving room for me to fail at the worst times. I'm glad I finished this one. I just have to defeat Nameless King which will be somewhat of a challenge. First off, his first form is easy enough but I'm fighting the camera more than the dragon, then in the second form, I just need to dodge well enough then time everything perfectly. To me, it's a mix of enough skill, and enough luck to overcome the boss. I just wanted to update that I finished it because though it's only been since 2016, I am happy I came back to the game and finally 'beat' it. I've done a handful of side missions and discovered new things as I came back, both because of looking myself and, generally to my reservations, resorting to a guide to see what I've missed.

It's just a game, but dang I'm still somewhat shaken after beating him. It feels kind of goofy. Also, @mattgiersoni, I found that just doing what I typically did with the summon to farm that way calculated in quicker soul gains than killing those three enemies. It is also a lot easier to do. That said, they do give you items when the other doesn't and is still one of the best places to get souls if you need them. Well, I'd usually say that's quits and that I had fun, but I think I'm going to keep going with DS3 for now and see what else I can do.

If you don't want to farm souls, you can trade soul stacks (not boss souls) with other players infinitely using a certain trick... I have nearly everything I need but the convenant items which are not tradeable so some day I will come back to this game to farm them for the platinum trophy if the DLC ever goes on sale.

@ntm: Congrats on finishing the game! Glad you liked it. Yeah, your level is way higher than the average lvl people finish the game on (which is roughly 60-80 which your friend mentioned), but it's not something to feel bad about, farming can definitely make the game a bit easier and there's no right or wrong way to play. I don't know what your stats are, but if you want an easier time with Nameless King, I recommend crafting Dragonslayer Greatshield from Soul of Dragonslayer Armor boss. It has 95% lightning reduction and 100% block and made the Nameless King look like a joke on my playthrough. Also, do explore a bit (or google), like in every game there are some hidden secret areas, and there's more than just Nameless King area!

@mattgiersoni: By the time I got to Soul of Cinder initially I was already at around 145 or so probably. I farmed a little in the Anor Londo area. I don't feel bad that I farmed. I like being super over-leveled for the place I'm at; it feels good and, at least to me, rewarding. The reason some of them posed a challenge was as I mentioned, they were pretty relentless in their attacks, leaving me little time to get a hit in and they took my health down despite the level 51 vigor. My armor didn't help though. I generally take medium/heavy armor, but in three it was light all the way (although I do have the catarina and smough [and now the firelink] sets in my inventory). I may have done that in DS2 as well. My vitality ended up only being around 25 I think?

I'm actually surprised, I didn't think I'd spend as much time as I just did in the game. I think I was around 45 hours when I came back (around the time I made the thread), and I just reached the 79-hour mark when I finished it. Yeah, I'll definitely be seeing what's left. I feel like I uncovered most of it, but I could be wrong. I've checked and I've discovered all locations, though there might be some nook and cranny that I didn't find some item or perhaps NPC where I could do a side quest. I know I didn't do everything. As said, I don't like looking at guides, but for the Souls games, it's almost impossible not to at some point if you want some really good items on your first go. I love these games, but I don't really care to do their new game pluses, so I want to exhaust everything I possibly can in the game in one go.

That great shield sounds like a good idea, unfortunately, I don't think I can? I'll have to check. I didn't, and perhaps still don't think I made a mistake, but one can consider using almost all of the boss souls just as a way to get extra souls as a mistake. I didn't do a lot of soul transposition; only a few of them, like Pontiff for the Left Eye.

@puchiko: I don't actually play the Souls games online. When I played Demon's and Dark Souls around their releases I played a dozen or so hours online. When I went through Demon's Souls all the way through though, at the very end when someone invaded me twice in the same place and, way over my stats and much better weaponry/items/what have you, there wasn't any way for me to defeat them unless they were just inept at the game. I turned the offline off from there and hadn't gone back despite the possibilities of benefits.

The DLCs are fantastic. I'd definitely recommend checking them out - though be warned; if you don't like multi-stage boss fights that first DLC might prove a little frustrating.

I'd definitely recommend heavier armour - now you can go up to 70% in DS3 and if you bump your Vitality up a bit more you'd be surprised how much easier it makes things. Especially as points in Vigor are going to be giving rather diminishing returns with the level you're already at. Definitely no wrong way to play, though - if you prefer to grind out to a higher level and make bosses much more straightforward then that's a totally valid way to play, just the same as summoning in someone to help you out.

Equipment-wise I can't speak highly enough of the Lothric Knight Shield. At +10 it served me so well that I ended up relying on it for multiple playthroughs regardless of the rest of my build. It wasn't until my most recent time through the game (which ended up being the playthrough I did the DLCs on) that I finally made myself step away by using the Zweihander and forcing myself to play two-handed and learn to just roll through stuff instead of using a mix of rolling and blocking like I'd always relied on.

This is really cool to read. I'm glad you're having a great time with it, despite some issues. Like you, I didn't beat Soul of Cinder until I was hilariously overleveled for the fight.

I felt like I had the token epiphany moment with the first Dark Souls, where I really committed to conquering all the game's challenges on my lonesome. I succeeded in that instance and immediately proceeded to care much less about applying the same strategy to the following games. Now, if I bang my head against a boss a couple times and feel like I need to summon, I'll just do it. At this point I'm more interested in seeing the tone and atmospheric lore of the Dark Souls experience than I am in mastering the technicality of its gameplay.

I hope you like the DLC! I've not played III's DLC content either, so I'll be curious to hear what you think.

andriel i kind of hate, city ive loved so far

(just bought them last week

@inevpatoria: I won't be playing the DLC for a few weeks probably (I want to save up some money), but I'll most likely get to it. And yeah, I am a fan of the challenge as it's part of what keeps it immersive and on my toes, but I've always mainly been into the design of the locations and enemies/bosses. It's mysterious, majestic and daunting all at the same time. I am also into the deep lore but, at least for me, find it very unobtrusive. It doesn't surprise me to look up lore online and be totally surprised as to how things connect. I am interested to see what the DLC has to offer for these reasons.

To be honest, this makes me want to go back to Scholar of the First Sin, because there are actually a handful of bosses I stopped at. The ones I got to but didn't defeat are Sinh, the Slumbering Dragon, and Burnt Ivory King. Holy smokes... I really didn't defeat all these bosses? (I'm looking it up.) Crap. I also never even got to Lud & Zallen, Sir Alonne (I think), Aldia (I think), and maybe finally, I never ran into Executioner's Chariot. You know what? I'm feeling kind of terrible about all this, ha ha. Maybe I need to go back to DS2 as well. Damn.

I just wanted to pop in and say that I really like this thread. It's such a breath of fresh air to see anything nice around the Dark Souls games, even here.

So, for me, I fell off of the DLC literally immediately. Don't know why. LOVED the game, but just couldn't get back into it with the DLC. Also, fucking WHAT, I was at your level and Cinder ripped me to utter shreds. I love the series, and I have beaten all of the bosses solo but I also have no shame admitting I have called help on almost all of them (also, in Bloodborne, that fucking Spider guy whose name I can't remember right now? Fuck HIM). The people who wreck these games amaze, astound and fascinate me.

@sethmode: Rom? Hmm. If that's the one, yeah I died a few times but he wasn't one of the harder bosses at all. He was pretty fun to me and I think you can use a summon? The summon dies pretty quickly if I remember correctly. I don't remember too well though. I just came back on before I take a shower to say that, while I will probably get the DLC, I am now going to go back and finish up what I didn't finish in Scholar of the First Sin. I feel pretty bad about not defeating all the bosses, and it tells me that I most likely didn't discover everything I could. The only issue now is the thought of trying to get back into it and learning how to play it well. I don't even remember what my character was like. In Bloodborne, the only boss I didn't defeat because I didn't want to farm anymore was Kos. Gehrman was so easy due to playing the DLC; I did very little, it was just attack around ten times and he was dead.

@ntm: Yes Rom, cursed be his name. I know some people didn't have an issue with him but I spent HOURS on that motherfucker.

I don't know how I didn't find Executioner's Chariot the first time I played the game. It was practically wide in the open. I defeated him, then after a while, I decided to give Sinh another go. Back in 2016 when I played the game I died several times by him, but when I just went there I beat him on my first try. Also, I'm a higher level in two than I am in three, at level 188. I just have to defeat three bosses and then I can be done with two again and then go back to three. I'm surprised at how fast weapon degradation goes in two.

Miyazaki has expressed interest in returning to Armored Core, so yeah hopefully they back off of this type of game for a while.

Also, while I do love the Ringed City, The Spear of the Church fight is potentially the worst fight in the franchise. Don't know if that's one of the bosses you didn't like, but if it was, I'm right there with you. Slave Knight Gael might just be my favorite of the franchise, so that balanced it out for me a bit.

I know I'm going a bit off-topic now, but I just wanted to add that I just finished Ivory King. It also marks the first time I've ever done an online summon which I didn't mind. I don't remember how to turn the online functionality off in Scholar of the first Sin. I just have one or two bosses to beat, and one location left, then I'll play DS3 again.

Edit - Okay, done at level 197 in DS2. Finished all the DLC's. The only boss I didn't beat was Vendrick. I didn't want to go find a giants soul to initiate the fight.

@relkin: @dudeglove: Is it possible that the next game they're making is Bloodborne 2? I don't know, but going by the short teaser, it sounded like it.