Chapter 192: Players to Die (Fifth Update, Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Pass)

Chapter 192: Players to Die (Fifth Update, Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Pass)

Not just Zhang Yi and Song Ren, but also ordinary players who had already cleared Dark Souls: Age of the First Flame, high-level players who had completed several playthroughs, and veteran Dark Souls players who had lost count of their runs and built their characters into perfectly balanced 'water bucket' builds.

Seeing the brand-new Death Mode, although they knew this mode might be difficult, they all believed they could handle it.

But after actually trying it, many players realized—

This mode's name was indeed fitting. It really was Death Mode!

The bosses in their prime were terrifying!

It immediately brought them back to the purest form of joy.

Artorias, in perfect health, wielding his Great Sword and Great Barrier Shield, was absolutely terrifying.

Then there was Yhorm the Giant from the previous Dark Souls game. Though he retained his original trait—taking massive damage when struck by the Storm Ruler—there was now a restriction.

In multiplayer team-up mode, only one Storm Ruler could be brought into battle.

What, you ask why?

Didn't you pay attention to the story?

There were only two Storm Rulers in existence—one held by Siegward of Catarina, and the other beside Yhorm's Throne.

In Death Mode, players were challenging the prime version of Yhorm.

This Yhorm hadn't witnessed the deaths of his people, so the Abyss hadn't driven him insane.

Thus, naturally, he still possessed not only that terrifying Great Machete, but also his massive shield that had accompanied him for eons.

In other words, in Death Mode, Yhorm the Giant wasn't a rabid mad dog—he had a massive shield!

When hit by the Storm Ruler's storm, Yhorm could block it directly with his Greatshield.

Therefore, the only way to deal massive damage was to seize an opening and bypass his shield.

The one thing that gave players some comfort was that, due to Yhorm's Huge in Size, his movements were far less agile than other bosses.

Then there was Gwyn from the new work. In Death Mode, players finally encountered the existence whose combat prowess was said to be the strongest in Dark Souls—and just how terrifying he truly was.

With the Sunlight Spear in hand, a single hit meant instant death.

This was the only move in Death Mode capable of instantly killing players.

Of course, this didn't include players who insisted on fighting the boss completely naked.

Although extremely overpowered, the wind-up and release of the Sunlight Spear were very obvious. With enough attention, it was still possible to dodge.

The real thing that broke countless players was that the prime version of Gwyn was completely different from the burned-out husk of the Lord of Cinder Gwyn.

This time, players could no longer Parry Gwyn's attacks.

In the new game, many players joked that the Lord of Cinder Gwyn was the easiest boss, even easier than the first encounter with the Taurus Demon.

The core reason? The husk of Elder Gwyn could be Parried.

And in Dark Souls 1, the Parry判定 was much more forgiving than in Dark Souls 3.

Although Chen Xu had made some adjustments to the Numerical Design, Elder Gwyn, being Parry-able, still telegraphed his moves too clearly.

This created an illusion among many players that the Lord of Cinder Gwyn was especially weak.

But if players fought the Lord of Cinder Gwyn without using Parry, the difficulty would skyrocket instantly.

Now, in Death Mode, Gwyn not only had improved AI performance, but players could no longer Parry him—making the difficulty skyrocket.

………………

For ordinary players, their main focus remained on the Random Mode.

Although Random Mode had appeared in the previous game, combined with the new game's intricate map design, the experience felt entirely different.

As for Death Mode?

After trying it once for the novelty, many regular players said this thing was beyond their capabilities.

Random Mode, being more entertaining, was clearly designed for ordinary players.

Death Mode, on the other hand, was meant for high-level players seeking greater challenges.

It also served to fulfill the regrets of some players.

After all, on the community forum, many players expressed regret, wondering just how powerful the Lords of Cinder and gods were in their prime.

Death Mode was introduced to fulfill those wishes.

Although Death Mode was indeed monstrous, quite a few top-tier players were determined to conquer its bosses.

Because for many veteran players, Dark Souls had evolved from an initially high-difficulty game into something they had mastered after hundreds or even thousands of hours—developing muscle memory.

They lacked nothing in terms of items or weapons. Unless they made a rare mistake and got instantly killed, defeating bosses was practically effortless.

Some extreme players had even completed challenges like defeating all bosses at level one,

or taking on all bosses without weapons—using only a shield.

This Death Mode made these veteran players rediscover the joy they once felt playing Dark Souls.

It wasn't just domestic players—overseas players were also highly motivated by Death Mode.

After all, just like Dark Souls: Age of the First Flame, 'Death Mode' had launched globally at the same time.

Plus, speedruns and first kills could be recorded on the in-game leaderboard.

Under the thrill of fame and showing off, many veteran players and high-level players began discussing strategies.

After countless deaths and failures, top-tier Dark Souls players from both domestic and overseas communities summarized several characteristics and tricks of Death Mode.

Although up to three players could team up to fight a boss,

the difficulty varied depending on the boss and team composition.

For Yhorm the Giant from the previous game, many believed that a three-player team made the fight easier—since one player could stay out of combat entirely, focusing solely on charging the Storm Ruler attack. However, it wasn't mindless—charging the Storm Ruler took time, and Yhorm's Aggro would primarily target the Storm Ruler user.

As for the Farron Undead Legion boss, it was considered more difficult in multiplayer because the number of enemies wasn't fixed—it multiplied based on the number of players in the team. More players meant more Farron Undead Legion members to fight.

After all, the more people there were, the more chaotic it became.

And players weren't AI. Even if everyone was skilled, the battlefield changed rapidly, and coordination mistakes were inevitable.

But AI didn't have this problem—they were pre-programmed.

So more players actually made the fight harder.

Gradually, veteran players uncovered the unique characteristics of each boss and their relative difficulty.

On both overseas and domestic live streaming platforms, there were dedicated progress streams.

Today, a high-level overseas player or team reduced a boss's health to a certain level.

Tomorrow, a domestic veteran player broke the previous progress record.

Both domestic and overseas players were holding their breath, striving to achieve the first kill.

After all, this was a glory that could be recorded in Dark Souls history. Imagine—all Undead (Ashen One) arriving at the Firelink Shrine and seeing your ID on the stone tablet. How exhilarating would that be!

Of course, many players strongly demanded one thing on Nebula Games' official forum, community, and beneath Chen Xu's official Weibo account.

They hoped a name-change feature could be opened.

Since Dark Souls was a single-player game with multiplayer function, many players hadn't paid attention when creating their characters, making all sorts of joke names.

Normally it didn't matter, but with Death Mode now available, having a silly name and achieving a first kill would be incredibly awkward!

As for switching Saves?

They had grinded for thousands of hours—how could they bear to abandon that?

Similarly, many players requested a character customization reset feature.

Having an Eldritch face on the leaderboard would also be awkward.

But it wasn't just high-level players feeling awkward—many ordinary players felt the same.

At the beginning, many players acted on impulse, naming themselves things like AAA, 123, or ABC, and creating characters like an old man with silver twin pigtails.

But as they played on, they realized these names and faces were genuinely awkward—especially when using the multiplayer function.

Yet switching Saves? After investing so much time, they couldn't bear to part with it.

So, taking this opportunity, many players began petitions.

And their arguments were quite solid: In real life, people could change their names and get cosmetic surgery—why couldn't they in the game!?

In response to these passionate appeals, Chen Xu satisfied half of the players' requests.

Names could now be changed by obtaining a new exchange item at the Firelink Shrine—but each Save could only use it once.

As for faces? What were they rushing into? Five chances weren't enough?

Chen Xu gave a reply: "The world of Dark Souls doesn't have such advanced technology."

Seeing Chen Xu's response, many players were Speechless.

What kind of nonsense was that—"not advanced enough"? Whether it existed or not was entirely up to you!

The remaining update will come later; evidently, my luck has been drained—I've become the Benevolent Gambler King.

(End of Chapter)<>