Chapter 600: Death Mode
Aside from the handheld mode and the storyline, what players were most focused on were the two newly opened gameplay modes: one was Death Mode, and the other was Random Item Mode.
When the prequel to "Dark Souls" first came out, most players were still busy clearing the main storyline for the first time, so they didn't have much time to experience these two new modes.
After many players finished the first playthrough of the "Dark Souls" prequel, they began seeking higher-difficulty challenges.
At this moment, in a certain "Dark Souls" player group, many people were arranging to take on Death Mode together in "Dark Souls."
The organizer was an old hand in the group, Old Qin. The requirement to participate was having cleared "Dark Souls" on NG+7 (eighth playthrough) and the "Dark Souls" prequel on NG (first playthrough).
This requirement was actually very strict, because NG+7 in "Dark Souls" was essentially the maximum difficulty. Those who could clear it were all elites among elites.
As for the first playthrough of the "Dark Souls" prequel, that was also a relatively hard-to-achieve accomplishment. After all, not much time had passed since its release. Being able to thoroughly explore the entire map and clear all those disgusting levels in such a short time proved these people were veteran players.
The reason for setting such high requirements was mainly because several veteran players in the group, including Old Qin, had tested Death Mode beforehand.
After testing it, they came to a conclusion: this mode truly lived up to its name as Death Mode. If you weren't a veteran player, you'd only hold the team back.
Earlier, when Chen Mo posted on his microblog, he introduced that in Death Mode, the boss's health, aggression, and AI would be fully enhanced, but he didn't specify exactly how.
After the mode went live, Old Qin tried it himself in "Dark Souls" and found that he simply couldn't win!
For one thing, the boss's health was extremely high. Although it adjusted based on the number of players, even solo health was two to three times higher than the Soul of Cinder on NG+7. As for five-player or ten-player teams, the health was probably so high it was unmanageable.
On the other hand, the boss's attack power, health, poise, and other traits were all fully enhanced. Even the startup and recovery frames of their moves had been changed.
Some boss skills that could previously be tanked with a shield now, if taken head-on, would stun the player and then kill them in two hits. Trying to dodge entirely with rolls was also difficult, because the boss could unleash more flashy combos. For example, the Abyss Watchers boss could completely chain a full dance sequence right after a charge—truly a mad dog mode.
The result was that players found it much harder to time the boss's attack recovery windows. On top of that, landing a riposte on the boss became even more difficult.
Furthermore, with the full enhancement, bosses no longer foolishly attacked first. Players could no longer just raise their shields, observe the boss's movements, and then cautiously counterattack.
But now, the boss would even size up the situation, slowly approach, and wait for the player to show a weakness before striking decisively. To Old Qin, it felt like fighting in an arena, as if the opponent was a living person who could judge his weapon's characteristics and adopt targeted combat strategies.
After roughly testing it, Old Qin basically determined the difficulty rules of Death Mode. Although the boss's health and various stats were lower in solo play, the difficulty was actually the highest.
Obviously, the more people there were, the more chaotic the scene would become. The boss's attack targets would be more varied, and players might make operational mistakes due to communication and coordination issues.
Without a certain level of tacit understanding, it was easy for the boss to wipe out the entire team with a single skill.
However, multiplayer mode allowed everyone to play their roles, even combining ranged and melee attacks, making it somewhat easier. Of course, the prerequisite was that all ten people had to be very skilled. If even one person held the team back, they could ruin a good situation.
But if you challenged Death Mode solo, the arena was very open, and there were no coordination issues. So Chen Mo had likely deliberately increased the difficulty in this mode.
In other words, if everyone was very skilled and coordinated well, the more people, the better. If you could gather ten highly skilled masters, the chances of clearing Death Mode would increase relatively.
Of course, Death Mode truly lived up to its name. No matter how many people there were, it was still very hard to get through.
Currently, players pioneering Death Mode were mostly still killing bosses in "Dark Souls." Almost no one had tried the "Dark Souls" prequel. Because in "Dark Souls," everyone's equipment was basically maxed out, giving them more possibilities for clearing challenges.
When challenging a boss, there was no time limit. But once you died, you couldn't revive. You could only lie there dead, waiting for others to finish the fight.
Moreover, every time a player died, the boss would temporarily enter a berserk state for a short time. Its aggression would greatly increase, and its recovery frames when hit would be significantly shortened.
Once a death occurred, it could trigger a chain reaction. If two players died in quick succession, the boss's berserk state would stack, essentially guaranteeing a team wipe.
This was a very harsh condition, requiring all players participating in Death Mode to be experts. If there was even one weak link, it was better to go without them.
Old Qin had put a lot of effort into the group to find eight suitable candidates, barely forming a nine-person team.
No help for it. His requirements were indeed a bit high. Finding these people was already very difficult.
This assembled nine-person team was full of talent. There was Wang Laji, a Sunbro and devout follower of the Greatsword Church; there was Gu Sanguang, known for his research skills and nicknamed the "Humanoid Walkthrough"; and all the other tough guys were veteran players who had cleared NG+7.
"Wow, you mong bros, we actually managed to assemble a nine-person team. This time we're taking on the Abyss Watchers in Death Mode. Feels mysterious. So, everyone, let's assign tasks according to my plan."
Old Qin first arranged the boss strategy and everyone's role assignments in the group.
This time, they were challenging the Abyss Watchers of Farron. The reason for choosing this boss was that Old Qin had tested it himself earlier, and it seemed to be one of the easier bosses...
In Death Mode, Gundyr had all his stats greatly enhanced, making parrying extremely difficult. And in his second phase, when he transformed into the Pus of Man, his attack patterns were especially weird, and his damage was very high. One mistake could get you one-shotted.
The Dancer was no longer the pushover you could beat by just rolling under her crotch. When the Dancer was frequently attacked from below, she would perform erratic, map-wide charge attacks with no pattern, and she would also jump into crowded areas, accompanied by frost splash damage from her hammer slams.
After thinking it over, Old Qin chose the Abyss Watchers as the first boss to pioneer. Because in Death Mode, the Abyss Watchers weren't enhanced to such an insane degree. Their move set hadn't changed much, and they were a relatively easy boss.
Of course, this was all speculation. So far, no Death Mode boss had been defeated yet.