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Bonfireside Chat 302: Rauh Base

This week we head deep into the Scorpion River valley to explore the base of the Rauh Ruins, a.k.a. that one very hidden map marker. No, not that one. The other one. We end up hitting our final forge dungeon, and exploring a catacomb with a very goofy and deadly threat.

 

Bonfireside Chat 302: Rauh Base

Comments

G+K were actually saying in the last episode that they really liked coming up against a big locked door with lots of puzzled-sounding sandstone messages outside of it. I think it's a neat trick, just that it happens too many times for me to love it

Charlie Frame

I am not annoyed with your criticism as much as your beliefs that the community, especially BSC, are enjoying this DLC disingenuously. We can like SotE while being critical of it just as much you dislike it and feel it's inferior to the base game. Your lack of enjoyment is valid, but your accusation of the community is way too self-centered and poorly thought-out that you are never going to get anything out of engaging with us other then matched annoyance and hostility.

Mike G

Except the minor nitpicks you're talking about are a huge part of the dlc. The vast empty spaces are all over the map and exist only to pad play time. There's no enjoyable exploration of these spaces like there was in the base game. Calling it a nitpick like you did is ignoring the importance of space in a game.

Fringleton

I definitely recommend giving a death knight lightning build a go. They armor set gives a bonus to lighting damage and incants and the knights lighting bolt is a monster of an incantation. The Great Axe is probably better for Gary as it has more reach but both versions have really fun ashes of war with great mobility.

MeltyHam

Great episode and love BSC. LOVE. That said, Gary sounded super high energy… hope he’s getting some rest, I know he’s a busy bro 🙂‍↕️

Evan Connolly

Uh oh, we got a real armchair “Armond White” here, ruthless contrarian opinion that is completely at odds with the vast critical and player consensus of excellence. Nobody is afraid to criticize FromSoft, and there are plenty of valid nitpicks, but overall this DLC was received as a breath of fresh air and an incredible value, with content having intriguing lore and gameplay ramifications. Your calling it just trash is too far out to be taken seriously as anything but trolling.

Justin Zode

This area has some of my fave items in game, 2 handed talisman, Poison Flower Blooms Twice, and the long haft Lightning axe. Slight correction, the two handed talisman doesn’t affect weapon skills/AoWs but does affect all other attacks. Poison flower blooms twice may be one of the most busted things from the DLC. Slap it on a blood Antspur Rapier and you alternate between chunking bleed and rot, which has been hard carrying my RL1 dlc run

Lucas West

I mean, that's not why I liked it. I question From's pedigree all the time. -GB

Duckfeed.tv

I definitely sympathize with your opinion and don’t mean to invalidate your feelings and those who share them. Perhaps I am just too generous with the game, feeling that the overall quality and intentionality of design has earned the benefit of the doubt from me. I just interpreted it like this area is ancient and not gamified for my benefit, though there are certainly still secrets. Rather than thinking I must be missing or have forgotten something, when asking why it exists - I hold the Hornsent or Erdtree cultures responsible, in most cases. Though admittedly I can’t expect everyone to have the same response and suspension of disbelief that I do.

Justin Zode

I hear you on this, but it just feels like there are one or two too many of this type of area to defend it like this. These wide, single direction corridors go against everything that I have learned about the base game and previous From titles: That exploring every nook and cranny reaps rewards. But combing these large areas in the hopes of finding a hidden cave or item can feel like an exhausting waste of time. And at worst there's this confounding feeling of "Why does this area exist? There must be something I'm missing? What have I forgotten?"

Charlie Frame

The empty spaces are only one of the DLC's many sins. There's too much garbage in this dlc to ever call it anything else. The only reason there's so many positive opinions about it is because everyone's too scared to question From's pedigree.

Fringleton

Boy, has it been a treat to be listening to fresh BSC lately.

WoodJammin

I understand your concerns about areas seeming empty, and many on social media have held it against the DLC to say it’s lazy, incomplete, unfinished etc. (and I know you are not quite saying that.) For me, these more empty, open, and less dense areas - weather the southern coast, the finger ruins, or Rauh ruins - work for me. I like that there is a difference between the super dense areas and the more open and contemplative ones. Those that give a sense of negative space and breathing room, a sense of searching, of anti-climax, give important contrast to the areas with hidden items, bosses, encounters, and other features. For such long game, I find it confident and mature of FromSoft to take such an approach, of trusting the player to stick with them through areas that are more visual or to give you time to absorb and process what you’ve already seen. In these times between treasure and encounters I often find myself contemplating the lore and the world, and it’s valuable to me - it also stands in even stronger contrast to the “Ubisoft” style checklist open world, that can’t bear to leave an area empty in fear the player will lose interest. It also helps the player maintain the illusion of exploring a real world in which not everything was hand placed for their benefit.

Justin Zode

Having just done Rauh proper last night, i love the parking garage comparisons. When Gary said that i immediately thought "Oh my god, they ARE just like parking decks!" I also agree with him on the long weapons. The DLC has added so much fun stuff, but aside from the backhand blades, i find myself constantly going back to the bloody helice.

erix84

Not sure if it was bugged or what but back when Radahn was still too hard, I spent hours with my friend trying to beat him and Heal From Afar did dick all when trying to heal a summoned player. Not sure if the potency is ass, the range is ass, or if it just doesn’t work on buddies.

Richard Cochnar

These big, spacious, largely empty areas are a bit of a bummer, and a minus point for the DLC in general. There are just too many of these vast plateaus that ultimately serve as extended links from one place to another. Contrarily, I wouldn't put Rauh as the worst offender (although "parking garage" is very funny and on the money.) Cerulean Coast, Abyssal Woods, the Hinterlands, the Finger Ruins - all beautiful and full of atmosphere, but somehow underdeveloped in terms of game content. On a related note, I also find the number of dead-ends in this DLC frustrating. The base game rewards thorough exploration, or "poking about", but so often I would follow a path only to find it comes to an abrupt stop with not even a crafting item at the end. These big featureless corridor-plateaus are often a macro version of this: I'll tack my way along this big field, seeking out hidden areas or items that don't exist, and eventually hit a boss or legacy dungeon which, on defeat or completion gives me no other option than to turn around or teleport back. I never really got the same sense of "That's it, that's the end of the line" with the base game, even when, say, I beat Radahn or Rykard - there always seemed to be something to do afterwards that was related to that questline

Charlie Frame


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