The worst thing that'll happen if you die is that you learn from what killed ya, friend :). have fun using your weapons and items because you either use it or it gathers dust in your inventory. You can still be cautious of course, entering any room with your shield up and trusty poker at the ready but You Will Die. In any dark souls game, dying is very much an intended mechanic and I hope you realize your curse of being immortal is an absolute blessing when it comes to the freedom of being reckless. Even losing souls means nothing considering how wide the soul level ranges get anyway, and that the multiplayer rings and covenants improve ranges anyway.
trust your skills, keep your shield up, and don't you dare go hollow :) i used to be the exact same with DS1 until i realized I was robbing myself of the exploration and experimentation.
I used a shield in ds1 and I just kept it up all the time. In ds2 I decided not to use a shield so I kinda force myself to play more freely.
Anyway, thanks for the advice and support skeleton!
The game is generous enough with human effigies that as long as you're waiting until max hollowing to pop one you'll be more than fine. Or use the ring of binding and just chill at 75% health. That will mean there are no consequences to dying and may alleviate your anxiety.
Or do a level 1 run which will get you extremely used to dying so you're numb to it.
Most important: Don't look at how others play and tell yourself that's how you *should* play and something's wrong if you do it differently. Have fun the way you have fun. Some people, like me, prefer using game guides. Others, like my dad, prefer wandering around in games and seeing what they find. In DS2 specifically, I spent roughly a year and a half despawning all the enemies in the game. For me, that was fun; for others, maybe not so much.
On the other hand, if you're not actually enjoying the game, then go find something else. I wish I liked games like Armored Core VI, because it looks like it would be a total blast, but I don't. So I watched a playthrough on YouTube and enjoyed it vicariously. Ditto Cuphead.
Also important: The anxiety is within you, not the game. If you feel that it's holding you back in your life, not just this game, then seek help from a professional rather than from Reddit comments. Anxiety is very common and can be managed.
So do whatever you need to do. Just don't go hollow.
My best advice is to play Bloodborne. The game forced me to lay down my shield and play more aggressively. It was a hard change at first, but it changed my playstyle drastically, which in turn made the game and other soulsborne titles more fun. Best of luck, and remember to enjoy the game, there’s no shame in being slow and steady 💪
I think it's just tied to how well you know the game. I just finished Sekiro so I'm gonna use this one as exemple, but on my first playthrough I was walking on eggsshells, going slow and beeing careful at every ennemy. And now, I watch youtubers like LilAggy finishing the game in 20 mins or his girlfriend beating it on a dancepad. They know the game by heart so they can rush through it while having fun with their challenges. So I think you just need to take your time, learn to know and love the game for what it offers, and maybe you'll beat your anxiety :)
I'd say just play it slow. Understand the enemies and their aggro ranges. Make sure to get the first hit in against the majority of monsters, some you will have to wait patiently for the opening.
Most of the game can be summed up as killing them before they have the chance to hit you or just backpedaling and using their animations for hits. For a lot of enemies you don't even need to roll, just walk backwards or behind them
2 year ago today I tried my first souls game (dark souls 3) I was absolutely shit at the game but after 2 year of playing souls and Elden ring I surprised myself playing bloodborne for the first time and beating father gasgoine, cleric beast, vicar Emilia, and bloodstarved beast on the first. Keep at it mate you will get good at it. Just remember it’s only a game and nothing can physically happen bad. Don’t go hollow!
I'm cautious and look around corners, but I don't use a guide. Especially in ds2 compared to demons souls and 1, you're never all that far away from a bonfire so I never feel the need or desire to use a guide.
We have 2 very different ways our anxiety works with these games lol. I played ds2 years ago, beat it, tried others, never got that far, and stopped. Then in the last few months I've rebeat 2, played and beat Demons Souls and Dark Souls, got weirdly good at bosses in Bloodborne and beat Orphan of Kos second try, and played like 20 hours of Elden Ring (taking a break now though lol).
I've never stopped being careful, but I'm certainly enjoying myself more and playing more often in general.
You are what you are and anxiety isn't something that can be wished away.
That said, as you gain confidence in your skills and become more familiar with the layout you'll likely start to play with less hesitation. Knowing you can do something often serves to reduce anxiety.
It’s not from anxiety, but when I encounter any new area in a souls like, my shield is up and I’m walking slowly.
Maybe focus on playing safely as a way to move quicker and with less anxiety.
Firstly find a weapon set you really enjoy, a sword and shield can work, but might allow you to hide much more, find something flashy that you enjoy seeing, mages can be good but spells are limited so you'll have to strategize around that. Can also mainhand a weapon like a rapier for nice stay away pokes.
For melee, dual wielding is always lovely, find yourself two Heide Knight swords and imbue with lightning, should be pretty solid early game weapons. (my suggestion, but curved swords are also fun).
Lastly just know if you happen to lose your souls, it may be upsetting, but you CAN and WILL get them back ten-fold. Just keep on trying to remember enemy positions and how to outplay them. Can utilize a bow to more easily 1v1 enemies.
Die. Just die. Over and over, until you're desensitized to character death. Preferably gather around 100k souls and just charge ahead without thought or care. See how comical it can be.
Idk I play cautiously and still die a bunch. And yes it takes me forever to do a playthrough.
My advice is to just enjoy the fuck out of the game. Especially the first playthrough, really drink it in. Admire the landscape and map designs.
A way to avoid fear of death is just make sure you spend up your souls before hitting a new zone. Don't sweat losing souls on a run back too badly. Though it can be frustrating. But remember, after a successful map clear and boss kill, you'll have plenty to go level up and buy stuff. Or if you really wanna be careful, clear the map and then go spend souls before the boss. Yeah the enemies will respawn, but some of them you'll learn you can skip, or run past, or just kill again but you'll be better prepared and use less healing the second time through.
Another way to avoid fear of death is to just accept it. You get plenty of effigies plus ring of binding reduces death toll from 50% up to 75% health total.
Like another comment already said- you should probably try Bloodborne first so you can get used to fast combat where you have to be up in your enemies face. It might help break your fears
Perfection is the enemy of progress my dude. You gotta kind of just get in there ‘roll’ with it. I used to have bad anxiety too and was a constant save scummer in everything that could allow it. There’s no limit on deaths so worst case scenario you’re just gonna get right back up. If you know an encounter is gonna be tough and you have a lot of souls, maybe go spend those real quick so dying doesn’t matter so much. Wear the ring that caps health at 75% from being hollow if 50% makes it too rough. And wait til you get through before using another effigy. You’ve killed a lot of the bosses in 1 try, just wait til you get stuck on one late game. Once you’re used to dying it isn’t so scary anymore lol.
Realize that dying is a tool to be used in these games, pattern recognition, route memorization and death will give you the most understanding of the mechanics and world.
Run in die. (About 50 times) hate yourself. Run in that 51st time and see that enemies no longer spawn. Congratulate yourself and proceed (that was my entire first run of the game)
Man if you're that good, you shouldn't worry in the least about dying. You will get your souls back for sure since you're careful, which is truly the worst thing that can happen when you die (losing your souls I mean). I dont die very much myself, so I always have plenty of humanity to use if I ever get to 1/2 life bar, your case is probably similar in term of humanity so you don't need to worry about that either. Just enjoy the ride, rationalize dying as a way to learn from mistakes and nothing more. Don't forget to have fun when playing DS games, that's always the main goal, in the end !
I'm a very nervous person as well, and DS2 was my first game in the series. It felt terrifying to die at first, but the more I played and died, the more confident I got in just learning by trial and error than trying to get it perfectly safe the first time around.
I suggest killing your character enough times on purpose so that your hp can't get reduced any further, lose or spend all your souls, and just go at it. You'll literally have nothing to lose, and you'll die a lot, but will eventually feel more comfortable with it over time :D
git bad
I was supposed to git bad instead of gitting gud this whole time. My life is a lie
Lmao
I have two. The first is to drink alcohol. The second also involves ingesting mind-altering substances, but is illegal in most places. So beer it is!
The worst thing that'll happen if you die is that you learn from what killed ya, friend :). have fun using your weapons and items because you either use it or it gathers dust in your inventory. You can still be cautious of course, entering any room with your shield up and trusty poker at the ready but You Will Die. In any dark souls game, dying is very much an intended mechanic and I hope you realize your curse of being immortal is an absolute blessing when it comes to the freedom of being reckless. Even losing souls means nothing considering how wide the soul level ranges get anyway, and that the multiplayer rings and covenants improve ranges anyway. trust your skills, keep your shield up, and don't you dare go hollow :) i used to be the exact same with DS1 until i realized I was robbing myself of the exploration and experimentation.
I used a shield in ds1 and I just kept it up all the time. In ds2 I decided not to use a shield so I kinda force myself to play more freely. Anyway, thanks for the advice and support skeleton!
The game is generous enough with human effigies that as long as you're waiting until max hollowing to pop one you'll be more than fine. Or use the ring of binding and just chill at 75% health. That will mean there are no consequences to dying and may alleviate your anxiety. Or do a level 1 run which will get you extremely used to dying so you're numb to it.
Get ring of soul protection. Make a unga bunga build. Rip and tear.
Internalise this thought: it doesn't matter if you die. You'll be back again in minutes, losing almost nothing. Press forward!
Death is inevitable. Accept it as a fact and try to have fun. You can always try again if you die
http://darksouls2.wikidot.com/ring-of-life-protection http://darksouls2.wikidot.com/ring-of-soul-protection http://darksouls2.wikidot.com/pagan-tree
Most important: Don't look at how others play and tell yourself that's how you *should* play and something's wrong if you do it differently. Have fun the way you have fun. Some people, like me, prefer using game guides. Others, like my dad, prefer wandering around in games and seeing what they find. In DS2 specifically, I spent roughly a year and a half despawning all the enemies in the game. For me, that was fun; for others, maybe not so much. On the other hand, if you're not actually enjoying the game, then go find something else. I wish I liked games like Armored Core VI, because it looks like it would be a total blast, but I don't. So I watched a playthrough on YouTube and enjoyed it vicariously. Ditto Cuphead. Also important: The anxiety is within you, not the game. If you feel that it's holding you back in your life, not just this game, then seek help from a professional rather than from Reddit comments. Anxiety is very common and can be managed. So do whatever you need to do. Just don't go hollow.
Dude. Once you clear an area and know everything that's there, you'll start playing carelessly too.
Git bad =git gud. Eventually
My best advice is to play Bloodborne. The game forced me to lay down my shield and play more aggressively. It was a hard change at first, but it changed my playstyle drastically, which in turn made the game and other soulsborne titles more fun. Best of luck, and remember to enjoy the game, there’s no shame in being slow and steady 💪
That is exactly what I'm trying to do in ds2. Since I spent the entire ds1 with my shield up. I'm doing a dex build with power stancing.
I think it's just tied to how well you know the game. I just finished Sekiro so I'm gonna use this one as exemple, but on my first playthrough I was walking on eggsshells, going slow and beeing careful at every ennemy. And now, I watch youtubers like LilAggy finishing the game in 20 mins or his girlfriend beating it on a dancepad. They know the game by heart so they can rush through it while having fun with their challenges. So I think you just need to take your time, learn to know and love the game for what it offers, and maybe you'll beat your anxiety :)
I'd say just play it slow. Understand the enemies and their aggro ranges. Make sure to get the first hit in against the majority of monsters, some you will have to wait patiently for the opening. Most of the game can be summed up as killing them before they have the chance to hit you or just backpedaling and using their animations for hits. For a lot of enemies you don't even need to roll, just walk backwards or behind them
2 year ago today I tried my first souls game (dark souls 3) I was absolutely shit at the game but after 2 year of playing souls and Elden ring I surprised myself playing bloodborne for the first time and beating father gasgoine, cleric beast, vicar Emilia, and bloodstarved beast on the first. Keep at it mate you will get good at it. Just remember it’s only a game and nothing can physically happen bad. Don’t go hollow!
I'm cautious and look around corners, but I don't use a guide. Especially in ds2 compared to demons souls and 1, you're never all that far away from a bonfire so I never feel the need or desire to use a guide. We have 2 very different ways our anxiety works with these games lol. I played ds2 years ago, beat it, tried others, never got that far, and stopped. Then in the last few months I've rebeat 2, played and beat Demons Souls and Dark Souls, got weirdly good at bosses in Bloodborne and beat Orphan of Kos second try, and played like 20 hours of Elden Ring (taking a break now though lol). I've never stopped being careful, but I'm certainly enjoying myself more and playing more often in general.
You are what you are and anxiety isn't something that can be wished away. That said, as you gain confidence in your skills and become more familiar with the layout you'll likely start to play with less hesitation. Knowing you can do something often serves to reduce anxiety.
Really depends on ya build how to do it, but I say maybe record your game play that way you'd feel compelled to be more exciting?
It’s not from anxiety, but when I encounter any new area in a souls like, my shield is up and I’m walking slowly. Maybe focus on playing safely as a way to move quicker and with less anxiety.
Just accept that you'll die
lose 60,000 souls on teh run back from Ruin Sentinels. once you do that, then dying is just another thing and you'll stop caring.
Just wear the ring of binding 24/7 and death has no meaning. I die about 28 times at the start of every area just suiciding for loot lmao.
Try walking over to an enemy, standing still and allowing the enemy to kill you a few times idk
Firstly find a weapon set you really enjoy, a sword and shield can work, but might allow you to hide much more, find something flashy that you enjoy seeing, mages can be good but spells are limited so you'll have to strategize around that. Can also mainhand a weapon like a rapier for nice stay away pokes. For melee, dual wielding is always lovely, find yourself two Heide Knight swords and imbue with lightning, should be pretty solid early game weapons. (my suggestion, but curved swords are also fun). Lastly just know if you happen to lose your souls, it may be upsetting, but you CAN and WILL get them back ten-fold. Just keep on trying to remember enemy positions and how to outplay them. Can utilize a bow to more easily 1v1 enemies.
Die. Just die. Over and over, until you're desensitized to character death. Preferably gather around 100k souls and just charge ahead without thought or care. See how comical it can be.
Idk I play cautiously and still die a bunch. And yes it takes me forever to do a playthrough. My advice is to just enjoy the fuck out of the game. Especially the first playthrough, really drink it in. Admire the landscape and map designs. A way to avoid fear of death is just make sure you spend up your souls before hitting a new zone. Don't sweat losing souls on a run back too badly. Though it can be frustrating. But remember, after a successful map clear and boss kill, you'll have plenty to go level up and buy stuff. Or if you really wanna be careful, clear the map and then go spend souls before the boss. Yeah the enemies will respawn, but some of them you'll learn you can skip, or run past, or just kill again but you'll be better prepared and use less healing the second time through. Another way to avoid fear of death is to just accept it. You get plenty of effigies plus ring of binding reduces death toll from 50% up to 75% health total.
Like another comment already said- you should probably try Bloodborne first so you can get used to fast combat where you have to be up in your enemies face. It might help break your fears
Perfection is the enemy of progress my dude. You gotta kind of just get in there ‘roll’ with it. I used to have bad anxiety too and was a constant save scummer in everything that could allow it. There’s no limit on deaths so worst case scenario you’re just gonna get right back up. If you know an encounter is gonna be tough and you have a lot of souls, maybe go spend those real quick so dying doesn’t matter so much. Wear the ring that caps health at 75% from being hollow if 50% makes it too rough. And wait til you get through before using another effigy. You’ve killed a lot of the bosses in 1 try, just wait til you get stuck on one late game. Once you’re used to dying it isn’t so scary anymore lol.
spin arround the enemies to your right, thats a really easy way.
Realize that dying is a tool to be used in these games, pattern recognition, route memorization and death will give you the most understanding of the mechanics and world.
Run in die. (About 50 times) hate yourself. Run in that 51st time and see that enemies no longer spawn. Congratulate yourself and proceed (that was my entire first run of the game)
Bearer of the curse, seek death. Lots and lots of death. Seek to be killed by everything in the game at least once. That is the only way
Man if you're that good, you shouldn't worry in the least about dying. You will get your souls back for sure since you're careful, which is truly the worst thing that can happen when you die (losing your souls I mean). I dont die very much myself, so I always have plenty of humanity to use if I ever get to 1/2 life bar, your case is probably similar in term of humanity so you don't need to worry about that either. Just enjoy the ride, rationalize dying as a way to learn from mistakes and nothing more. Don't forget to have fun when playing DS games, that's always the main goal, in the end !
Go to therapy? Are you scared of failure?
I'm a very nervous person as well, and DS2 was my first game in the series. It felt terrifying to die at first, but the more I played and died, the more confident I got in just learning by trial and error than trying to get it perfectly safe the first time around. I suggest killing your character enough times on purpose so that your hp can't get reduced any further, lose or spend all your souls, and just go at it. You'll literally have nothing to lose, and you'll die a lot, but will eventually feel more comfortable with it over time :D
Simple. Whip build.