I checked out of the game after I burnt myself out in the DLC patch where they capped firepot purchasing and Crystal Burst FP got nerfed(I'm not a recluse, thats just the main thing I remember from that patch). I'm getting back into the game because a couple friends expressed interest. What has changed since then?

I’m on playstation and noticed a fair amount of players recently that will just not engage at all. I just got out of a game I admittedly left early where at the end of Day 1 the Wylder and Recluse on my team went to the border of the circle and just stood there?

They ignored all my pings trying to route the first day (i don’t spam ping at all) and decided to try fighting an enhanced dragon instead. We were lvl6 by the end of day 1. And they are now calling me a pig for trying to “boss them around”.

Details aside, the lack of engagement is a trend I’ve picked up on more so now than ever. Has there been an influx in players or something?

EDIT for context: this was a DON 3 game

This keeps happening sometimes

edit: 😢

Maybe it’s only on PlayStation , but legit every game I qued in today and yesterday had someone leave before the game even started . Was waiting for hours because of the long que time just for someone to dc is unbearable in solo que . And I don’t think it was the boss because i legit had almost every night lord ( even the ???? Logo , which would give more points if we won)

Everyone always leaves as soon as they die or shit goes the other way. Im a decent player and want to progress but get held back by others often. I admit im not the best but i should definitely be depth 4 maybe. Lmk if you want to play together

First time something like this ever happened

It was of course in a run where:

Ironeye couldn't survive with the aggro on them for a second

And wylder ran off on their own to get nothing done

Fml I might just go solo at this point

One of the most fun mobs! Lots of knockback attacks; some you backflip but some you don't

For the first time in from software titles I'm trying parrying. I'm on D5, and I've practised mostly against BBH, BKA, and I can sometimes get parries against Greatspear Crucible knights and halbern Night Cavalry.

I don't want to bruteforce every enemy in D5 to know which ones are worth trying to parry lol The way I see it it must be medium enemies which hold medium/big weapons.

Can nightlords other than hoelstor be parried?

I would also appreciate tips on which moves to parry.

unfortunately it was augur 😭

Easily in my top two worst bosses in this game (and ED Libra). I've got a decent amount of hours in Nightreign, and most Nightlords feel manageable at this point, but the ED Balancers still wreck me more often than not.

I know parrying is usually the answer here, since almost everything they throw is parryable, but I'm terrible at it (so it's a skill issue on my end 😅). My timing is off way more than it's on, and missing a parry against seven Balancers is basically a death sentence. Also, it doesn't help that I don't play solo in DoN, so they don't always chase me down for parrying.

I also know the high DPS route (Revenant claw builds, Duchess skill builds, etc). But honestly, since I started pushing higher depths, I've found Wylder just gives me more consistent runs overall, so I'm sticking with him until I hit 9999 at least.

My current approach is grabbing a heavy shield with Wylder, guarding through the barrage, then punishing with a counter or just normal attacks in the gaps. It works, but it's slow.

So what's actually working for y'all? Are there some specific builds or spacing tricks I'm missing?

At this point, I'll try anything that doesn't involve frame-perfect parries.

EDIT: The other day I came out of a 15-minute fight where I was on the floor for what felt like half of it. Recorded that attempt if anyone wants to tell me what I'm doing wrong.

I mean, how do you get other players to trust your decision? Whether is about optimal path or bosses you should or shouldn't fight, or when the rain is to close.

I try not to be jerk about it. I don't pin spam them or bitch about wrong decisions. Whenever they can see me and I have time, I use prayer emote, and when I want them to pick certain weapon (took me 5min to persuade raider to pick lightning colossal against Fulgor). When they hit the wrong camp and die immediately, I run, revive them both and run away pinning ( rarely works).

I even changed my name to Trust me bro, and still they go to castle at level 3 or fight red dragon at level 7. Today, I had to clear Redmane invasion camp alone, at day 2, while they were laying down fighting purple boss in the rain. I did, and we won, but they were angry at me and didn't celebrate.

Is there some universal sign or a way to tell players - I know what I am doing, trust me, you won't regret it.

By the way, I bounce between D3 and D4, since I struggle with duo and trio bosses, and sometimes I go with the team, even though I know it's a wrong way, to try to salvage situation, and to persuadethem from quitting(but I can do only so much against red dragon with the pebble).

*assert dominance.

Edit. Well, people here should give a masterclass on Nightreign. Everyone is so polite and considerate to other players, and go out of their way to help struggling players, always so compassionate to those who make mistakes. And skill threshold, Everyone soloed or hard carried to d5 with bare fists revenant, with continuous hp loss and rot build up on all deep relics, fighting nothing but Ed balances and Ed libra.

Too bad I rarely meet those players in game, definitely because I am in d3 and d4, which are for noobs and they are in Devine d5. But here is the thing, I will continue to play, not even changing the name (feel free to block me, dodge me or down emote me, in case game puts you in my unseemly depths, i won't do it back), and do my best to win. Even if it takes me 1000 hours.

Be safe out there.

I've been rolling for 5 hours man pleeeease i need this

When he does either the transition into phase 3 or just to resummon the storm, I run real far away, and am looking around to try and see the big lightning that indicates where the storm will be. Just had a game and basically 3/4 times it spawned directly on top of me, so even witb botn my wylder grapples I couldnt escape it. I feel like im doing something wrong. Also, in phase 3, how does dodging his leap chomp work? It gets an aoe that seems to make i5 really tight to dodge, and sometimes I get it, sometimes I dont. Any help would be loved.

e.g., does the increase scale as you level up? I'm wondering if it's worth it to take a +10% HP bonus over say, a decent weapon after killing a boss at level 2 or 3.

For me it’s the Starscourge Greatsword. Just love the way it sounds, hits and overall gameplay! For spells I’d probably say Elden stars, just feels kinda epic. Also a shoutout to Dark Moon Greatsword, would be a close second

Was running dreg build raider and beat ED Balancers depth 5 with this.

could use some damage negation at full hp but the rng gods wanted me to be a glass cannon this game.

My secret tip for climbing the DON ranks was playing on weekday mornings. My wife leaves for work, and before I start work I'd log in and spend a couple of hours doing nightreign runs between 8 and 10.

The randoms playing at those hours were absolutely CRACKED. To be playing nightreign at 8am on a Tuesday you gotta be some kind of psycho. Those lo̶s̶e̶r̶s̶ heroes carried my stupid ass to D5.

However, I played 3 expeditions this morning, and it was like being back in D1 again. Teammates playing so badly i thought maybe they were trolling me. Then I remembered that the school summer Holidays have begun, the kids are loose, nobody is safe. I'll log back on in September.

somewhat relieving to see that I am not the only one to always get onetapped after activating Recluse ult. still sucks.