Just got ER (very late to the game as a 49yo who has never played a soulslike) and found Godrick today after work…wish me luck!!!

The Bloody Crow of Cainhurst in Bloodborne was probably my toughest boss fight to date.

Fucking Guardian Ape. It doesn't make any sense - I usually manage to beat the duo on my first try! But the ape himself usually takes me significantly longer than Sword Saint Isshin.

I've now settled on a strategy where I wittle down his first phase as quickly as possible, and if I haven't used too many heals, I'll kite him around and only attack while he's locked in the forward lunge attack. That way I can usually manage the second phase on my first (good) attempt.

Lobster, Another Crabs Teasure

Maybe Malenia on my first playthrough of Elden Ring? That victory took me forever the first time.

Attempt wise? Consort Radahn RL1 on my first RL1 run took the most attempts. I was experimenting with a lot of strategies and he can kill you so fast even in Phase 1 and in Phase 2 the splash damage that doesn't really matter on a level run is just brutal at RL1. My buff-stacking strategy gave me the win eventually and on my second RL1 run I beat Consort Radahn in far fewer attempts with that strategy.

The gimmick dragon boss in Demon's Souls.

But only because I seem to have a bug that causes the SOB to hit me with their flame breath all the way down the fucking hallway you need to cross to even reach the actual room. 🫩

This is still Radiance in Hollow Knight for me. I cannot beat that fucker.

Positive experience: Genichiro

Negative experience: Ass Jim

It’s as simple getting the parry and the- and I’m dead.

Right now it is Demon of Hatred, Charmless, ng+5

Its funny because whatever part of me that gets mad when I lose at games has just like completely burned out. Just dead-eyed starting a new run.

I do like that Sekiro has the reflections you can practice with. But charmless is quite hard, it put the challenge back in the game after basically mastering the game on charmed. Having to nail all the deflections really tightens up the game.

I had become accustomed to buffing up and using prosthetics to speed up the fights, but now I find I have to play bosses more or less straight. Fights are much longer, trading damage is a waste, prosthetics are useful but using the ceremonial dagger is really expensive and I found myself running out of flasks with most of his third phase left. Using Malcontent to finish off the last 3/4 of his third phase doesn't work either, even with buffs it takes down like only 1/4 ish of his health bar.

On ng5 I reckon his HP is at least 2x-3x what it is on ng or ng+. With Charmless? Idk how that scales maybe another 25% HP and posture. He does 25% more vit and posture, and burn status builds up extremely rapidly. I wonder if I attempted charmless on ng+ instead of ng+5 if I'd have better luck. But I'm so friggin close!

There's been a few. My first ever go at a soulslike Ludwig felt unsurmountable. Days of attempts turned into weeks, could not get phase 2 to click. I wanted to do it right so no summons, Victory tasted like the sweetest nectar, and it remains my favourite soulslike fight ever since.

Ornstein and Smough is the boss I've had the most trouble with I think. Since then, I honestly don't think there's been a boss that took more than maybe 20 tries, very few more than 10. I'm not sure if O&S are just particularly hard for where they are in the game or if it's just because I'm more used to the games now. Probably some of both.

This guy looks like Tom Scott in an indeterminate number of years.

Eigong.... and then the other Eigong...

Nameless King in DS3. It was my first soulslike game and I played sword and shield. Incredible feeling finally beating him.

Just roll