For some background context DS3 was my second ever souls game. I beat it in late 2020. It’s been among my top-ranked in the souls genre, I couldn’t really say why (I do think elden ring is better for example), but the game holds a lot of sentimental value. I am also applying to med school and this would be one of my last opportunities I’d get to return to the game - I don’t game too much nowadays as is. 2 years ago I completed the BL4 Bloodborne run, so I knew I had to do SL1 DS3 at some point. Thoughts and death count of each boss below. Linked above is my fight with Gael. Iudex Gundyr - 0 Easy asf, regular Gundyr Vordt - 0 Smack the rear - not much difference here Greatwood - 4 Very very very annoying one shot potential that can easy reset an attempt. Not a great boss normally, and not a great boss here. Crystal sage - 0 Throwing knives for clones - the rest is regular Abyss watchers - 3 Honestly not as fun as I remember them being when I first fought them, likely because I just knew to backstab them to death. I touch upon this more in Friede’s fight but there are some bosses you just cant square up against and I feel Abyss Watchers is one such boss. You just wait out the backstab moves and play the fight like that. Deacons - 0 Zero issue, just like regular Deacons Wolnir - 0 Does a surprising amount of damage - on my first kill I was able to break his last bracelet but his stupid fog killed me in the process. Dancer - 13 This is where you’ll feel the SL1 for sure. Overall great fight but you have to approach the fight rather differently, basing your punishes more on positioning opportunities than timed dodges since you just dont have the stamina to compete against that bonkers moveset lmao Phase 1 is extremely easy with great telegraphs (even a double slap combo that I didnt know she had), Phase 2 is crazy hard with the stunlock potential. Best to just pick and choose moves to bait, unfortunately. Sucks that SL1 removes the ‘dance’ aspect of the fight, but overall I can’t fault her, given I fought her before Pontiff. Pontiff - 4 (9) Tried like 9 times to land the opening parry and died each time, so I just defaulted to dodging. With a +9 weapon he dies really quick. I just cant get Pontiff parries down at all. He’s really not a difficult fight, just that his combos, like Dancer’s, cannot be directly contested most of the time, and you need to play by baiting moves in phase 2. Oceiros - 1 death This guy has a frame 1 charge that can nearly one shot you in embered form. This guy also gatekeeps the Prisoner’s Chain. This guy also gatekeeps the Priestess Ring. The way I see it, Oceiros relied much much more on rng, and if he gives you the frame 1 charge or not. If you stick to his -blam!- he ends up just spamming the easy tail swipe. Overall not a very engaging or fun boss, a much better fit in Bloodborne. Champ gundyr - 11 Somehow the only intuitive moveset to parry aside from Lothric Knights, it really is just THAT easy Looked forward to fighting this mf again after in my first playthrough he whooped me for like 2 hours straight at 5 am. Back then I fought him ‘fairly’ with no parries and only dodges and it sucked. Now, unfortunately his gimmick of long windups and quick melees have long since been outdone by Elden Ring. He just ends up being a miles easier Horoah Loux 💀 And with parries? He just falls down and dies. Very easy boss, and key to the best ring in SL1. Yhorm - 0 I did Siegward’s quest for this fight but I bet it doesnt make a difference. Old demon king - 0 I came in with a +9 weapon so you can kind of imagine how this went Dragonslayer armor - 3 One of the fights that SL1 made me appreciate more. I genuinely love that this guy can just add an extra shield bash to a combo to check you, it feels engaging in a way that mirrors the Twin Princes and Gael in how freeflow their combos can be. Unfortunately he leaves very big windows for punishes. Goes down rather easy. Aldrich - 0 Lighting resin, +9 Broadsword, not much to say here Twin Princes - 7 My favorite base game boss. Even at SL1 they’re an amazing treat to fight. The moveset is well balanced with a tolerable number of one shots. If you get hit here you likely deserved it. SoC - 4 He’s ok, I guess? Phase 1 I did fight up close (save for the dex mode, im not -blam!- with that). It really just relies too much on rng for my liking. Ideally you want him to go into magic phase first because it is RIDICULOUSLY easy, and then if you cant finish him off, pray for spear mode (a little hard to dodge because there are surprisingly quick reaction checks) Phase 2 unfortunately I just ended up baiting out the most punishable moves. I didnt feel I had the stamina to comfortably dodge most things. I actually found this phase easier than phase 1. Gael - 9 Amazing. Soooo much better than Orphan BL4. I could gush about this guy for literal hours, just such a fair and fun moveset. SL1 adds the damage and life tax that makes the battle a literal, and i do mean literal war of attrition. This fight will make you sweat balls with how long you must stay mentally engaged for. While Friede took longer in actually killing, she doesnt require much *focus* because you end up baiting her backstab moves - but not with Gael. If you’re up close, your eyes are constantly watching for followups, constantly weaving in R1s. Its just an unbeatable flow and cements him as my #1 favorite From boss Midir - 1 Way way way easier than expected. Unlike most, I do hit his tail, I just find it easier and I’ll take the guaranteed, lower damage if it means only needing to dodge his tail swipe and the easy as -blam!- flame breaths. This is also a war of attrition, but you dont really need to be very focused given Midir surprisingly doesn’t have many reaction checks. His combos are straightforward. Still an amazing boss, just not much different at SL1 Demon Princes - 8 Believe it when I say phase 1 is infinitely harder than phase 2. Normally you can facetank the lame projectiles from the other demon at a regular SL 100 level or even SL 20, but not at SL1. Both demons demand situational awareness at all times, god forbid you get hit by a poison cloud because it will true combo you into a swipe by the empowered demon that is on your -blam!-. And that -blam!- inflicts TOXIC. -blam!-. Fortunately Demon in Pain goes down easy, it just relies on rng, and his brother goes down just as easy without the gank -blam!-. Phase 2 has a few problem child moves. For one, the overhead slam. This -blam!- is so -blam!- annoying to iframe, and god help you if he pulls this -blam!- near a wall because you WILL be eating that aoe damage (enough to nearly one shot with Prisoner’s chain + embered + lloyd’s shield ring lmao). But the moveset is super easy, I’ve beaten this guy solo as a phanton like four years ago and the moveset is still ingrained in my mind - kind of has to be when you’re fighting it with like 7 estus. Friede - 8 If Gael is a war of attrition, then this is a war of the century. This -blam!- took me close to 10-15 minutes per attempt - I spent an hour on this lady 💀 Despite the low attempt count, she felt damn near impossible. There’s just so many cheeky ways to lose health on the marathon to Phase 3. Phase 1 can be done no hit but it can be common to burn one estus here. Phase 2 suffers from the Demon gank problem where you absolutely must respect everything that you likely disregarded in a normal playthrough - Frostbite can give you chip which undoes your lloyd’s shield ring which means one shot city from Father. Phase 3 you genuinely cannot contest, you just lack the stamina comfort. I ended up baiting out the moves I saw fit and going for a backstab. Unfortunately my opinion of her lowered with SL1. I thought highly of her, I really did - I beat her numerous times - but the SLOG of the first two phases and their lack of engagement, and phase 3 being some combo shitfest? I just feel Gael did the attrition fight better with how he engages you and welcomes you to flow with his moves. Sorry Friede. Gravetender - 2 I mean not much to say here, npc fight - but npc fights are THE worst in SL1. Halflight - 10 Hardest boss of the entire run. Im serious. You cannot hit him. He will one shot you. Healers can true combo you. His bow does half your hp. His soul masses can stagger you into a true combo. Touch his spears, and your hp bar is halved. Dont you dare contest him if he’s sheathed as he barely has recovery frames and he will one shot you. He can PARRY you. He can be healed if you play too passive. Your only hope is getting good rng, thats legit it. You hope he pulls out bow so you can get your two R1s and then run the -blam!- away for the next like 3 minutes lmao. And then pray you can separate him from the healer, else you’ll get an arrow up your -blam!- from out of nowhere and then get stunlocked into death mosr likely. Worst boss in the entire game. I dont know what From was thinking. I will help out my fellow SL1 bros by playing online and being summoned for this fight, with how genuinely bad this -blam!- is. Nameless - 2 Knock knock, Elden Ring wants its delayed attacks back. Yea this guy’s a pushover after Elden Ring - not to mention I internalized his moveset rather well already. He’s just a little tanky is all. Wyvern - 5 Cant believe I died to this -blam!- more than Nameless lmao ——- Also hmu if anyone’s tryna play nightreign on ps, i solo’d the game a good while back but randoms suck so bad that i never got a good co-op experience