SOULS GAMES

• I am at the final boss door in Demon’s Souls remake. Having finished all the Dark Souls games and Elden Ring, I recently noticed that it is not the core levelling of stats that matters most, but rather the upgrading of weapons, which matters more in terms of traditional power. Unlike traditional action RPGs, where grinding for levels actually matters, in the Souls games, the real level-ups that matter for raw power are levelling up weapons via upgrades. I always ignored weapon upgrades in past, even back in the original Demon’s Souls on PS3, I avoided weapon upgrades because finding the materials was hard for me, and I was playing the game as a traditional action RPG. Now, I would prefer focusing on the weapon upgrades more instead of grinding for levels for the main character. Sure, the stats are important to level up too, but if you are looking to lend stronger attacks, weapons need to be upgraded and not just your STR stat.

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• I found using a shield a safer option than dodging. Try this technique, block incoming attack and try circling the enemy for a backstab. I found parrying pointless because of the high risk, low reward. Besides, not every enemy can be parried, but yet that being said, parrying is potentially quite helpful when you can get the timing right for any boss battle, that is, if parrying the boss is possible. For me, the problem with dodging is the use of stamina, which is very crucial in any fight, especially long boss battles. Unless you have the patience to lend in a hit or two and keep dodging throughout the fight, it still seems rather risky to me compared to using a shield cause a slip up on dodge is basically the same as missing a parry timing. And blocking an attack might put you out of stamina, but you can still dodge just in time in most cases in that situation, so dodging with a shield is a safer option in my experience.

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• Always keep an eye on the stamina bar, and during boss fights, it is better to attack the boss when the stamina bar is full, which will be helpful for the last-minute block or dodge. And it will also help you avoid being too greedy when attacking. In fact, this strategy is helpful against all enemies.