Beat Ashes of Ariandel
The first expansion to Dark Souls III, Ashes of Ariandel, sent players back into the Painted World to deal with an unknown foe. While this DLC had some issues, namely in its actual length, it’s a wonderful experience for those who have been with the series since the beginning. Going to the Painted World once more was a refreshing change of pace and From Software did a masterful job of bringing the haunting arctic landscape to life.
However, there is more to this expansion than just journeying to this iconic location, as players will have a plethora of new weapons and armor to obtain. Some of these weapons, like the Crow Quills or Friede’s Great Scythe, are especially powerful in the right hands. Not having to worry about backtracking through Ashes of Ariandel to obtain missed items will save you a lot of time and headaches if you aim to obtain every piece of gear in the game.
Practice Your Duels
PvP is nothing new to the Dark Souls series, however, From Software is clearly embracing the idea this time around as the last expansion introduced an arena just for competitive fighting. This trend will continue as The Ringed City aims to add two other locations for players to test their skills against one another. You will want to start brushing up on your PvP skills if you plan to venture into these arenas on Tuesday. Remember, the average level for most serious players on the multiplayer side of Dark Souls III is around 100-125, so try to have a character around that general area.
One of the most entertaining ways to practice your dueling skills is via the various fight clubs scattered throughout the world. These allow you to have a more constant flow of players without having to load up the same map again and again. The most used spot is just after the Pontiff Sulyvahn boss fight on the balcony beyond his bonfire. Just stand around this area and mark yourself as a hostile invader on the floor via the Red Soapstone. Feel free to experiment when fighting, it may take a few rounds before you find a weapon that truly clicks with your playstyle. Not every PvE weapon is great for PvP, so don’t feel like you’re required to use your main arsenal when facing a human opponent.
Have a Dextarity and Strength Character
Outside of magic, the two main types of weapon/armor classes are Dextarity and Strength, both of which have their own pros and cons. Dex builds are typically very fast and rely on quick successive hits from weapons types such as dual swords or whips. On the flip side, Strength is far more focused on slow, deliberate hits that do large chunks of damage on opponents.
Given there is no doubt going to be a ton of new loot in The Ringed City, having both builds covered will allow you to experiment and see which weapons you like best. This will not only allow you to experiment when playing, but won’t require you to roll an entirely new character just to try out a piece of gear you found in this expansion. You’ll also want to make sure that you’re stocked up on Titanite Shards of all types so you can quickly upgrade your weapons once you get them.
Get a Character to New Game +
Dark Souls III is a difficult game, however, one of the best ways to actually experience this title is in New Game Plus (NG+). Given that Dark Souls 3 is perhaps one of the easiest entries in this series, bumping the challenge up to NG+ is highly recommended. To many fans this is where the actual Dark Souls experience starts as enemies hit far harder than before and the general gameplay is more punishing.
If you find Dark Souls III’s vanilla campaign too easy, this is something we highly recommend since The Ringed City will likely be the most difficult content released for this title. Plus you can grab a bunch of +1 Rings which not only go towards a trophy/achievement, but are improved versions of their regular difficulty counterparts.
Fully Explore Every Optional Area
Unlike other titles, Dark Souls III doesn’t outright tell you how to get into their additional content. Given that previous From Software titles like Bloodborne only allowed the access of their DLC via going to a random grave off the beaten path, you’ll want to have every area unlocked. This ensures that if the content requires you to go to the Cathedral of the Deep or underneath Lothric Castle you can with ease. Doing this will ensure that you wont have to complete any additional content on that specific character in order to access this expansion. Nothing is worse than having to beat a base area of Dark Souls III, just to get to all of the new things added into the game.
The Ring City could mark the last time we see this historic franchise for a long, long time so you will want to be fully prepared before going into it. If the trailers and brief gameplay videos are anything to go off, this will undoubtedly be some of the toughest content added into the series. Now if you excuse us, we need to go level up our Strength hero to fight that giant, flaming bat boss.
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