DS3 PvP | Ideal Use: Basics of Hardswapping, How and Why

[@lokehauge8851]

Who would have known that 4 years in we would reach a new golden age of DS3 content.

[@xroman_]

Man I feel like such a nerd and tryhard watching this videos... I like it.

[@mewmanc6188]

A lot of work went into this video, you can really tell. I like how it unfolds like a story, but is also very informative. Helpful for visual learners. Keep it up!

[@abookofmatches]

Mixing storytelling and tech is word for word what I’m going for, thanks yo

[@gorcshurut4934]

I used yo be an avid invader for years, but now I just enjoy chill videos like this. It's so fun to see that the players are still getting better!

[@NoName-PvP]

This is one of those videos where, while I know most if not everything I need to know on the subject, sitting there and comparing my own inventories and swapping styles to the ones you showed off in the video was just too much fun to not enjoy. Also I do wholeheartedly believe that if I where to try and teach someone new to the concept how to do so, I would direct them to this video moving forward, very clear cut showcases of why and how things work, as well as how to set up inventories which I imagine is most people's main problem. Fantastic video, cant wait to see more ~

[@bronchiel]

As an absolute scrub and newbie to these pvp techs, i took this guide into great consideration and now I'm spanking ganks 3/10 times. 10/10 content looking forward to more

[@esteban-w6v]

this is the lord's work, a shame that it has so little viewers, deserves more. Good job in making this and thank you!

[@abookofmatches]

Hey, just glad to have people enjoy it 🎉🥳♥️

[@limitsatinfinity4393]

I don't have words to say how good and important this is. I will come back when I had studied the video and tried all these, but please keep doing these guides. Thanks

[@surdus_anguis6035]

Out of all the people we could have been left with in this old, toxic, amazing game... I’m glad we have you. Your videos really do inspire me. Keep on pillaging those tongues, friend

[@abookofmatches]

Thank you too kind too kind :)

[@RlzTomy]

the intro, explanation, going back to the first fight, what a style man can't wait for more videos

[@Kirokill1]

Last I played Dark souls 3 was in 2016 just after its release. Ever since I've been busy with university, but with Elden ring coming out I thought to hop back in. It's amazing what the community developed in the time between and plan to learn what's carrying over come Elden Ring's release, after honing the fundamentals of course. I love your video style, in spite of how long it is. It's very compact with information.

[@iamamish]

I'm trying to add hardswapping to my repertoire, and I've been thinking a lot about these problems, and it's great that you've already been there. Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but I think surprise swaps still have value, but I also understand that having motivated swaps for a purpose is important. To me Gundrys is the ultimate surprise swap, while others are more specific (e.g., followers for turtles). Thanks for sharing this.

[@abookofmatches]

Thanks yo, glad you liked it. I do think surprise is an element of hardswapping but I definitely think people overestimate how important it is. It’s not the surprise that gets people it’s the fact they’re committed to what they’re doing. In like true neutral, just two people circling each other, one guy Gundyrs swaps, it’s surprising, but it’s also not much likelier to hit than a champions charge would be anyway, it’s still an attack you can deal with on reaction. But say one fella has a Straightsword and the other has a greatsword, greatsword guy wants to come in and trade but straightsword guy gundyrs swaps, that’s way likelier to work because the greatsword guy is committed to his move. Maybe he’s already in the animation or maybe he’s just in the mindset of coming in to trade. It’s surprising to him but it’s not the fact that’s surprising that makes it work, it’s the fact that that move, champion’s charge, punishes his behaviour. A move I do a lot, especially against mages, is just sprint up to someone and gundyrs swap in their face. If that person holds their nerve at the sprint-up they’ll probably be able to dodge the charge but if they panic roll at the pressure then the gundyrs swap is much more successful. It’s way likelier to hit someone if they’re already committed to an action, it’s not the surprise it’s the fact they’re already in a disadvantageous position by the time the attack starts. It’s kinda an arbitrary line but I honestly don’t think just relying on surprise is very effective, it’s a certain kind of surprise which works; the kind where someone’s preconceived notions are working against them.

[@iamamish]

A Book of Matches I see the distinction and totally agree. Thanks for the breakdown.

[@traviswettroth4391]

Your videos are absolute gold to a newer invader like myself. Please keep making videos!

[@abookofmatches]

Thank you I’m really glad you enjoy them : ) it’s hard to fit editing in between being back to work full time but I promise this channel isn’t dead yet

[@coralinethegunslinger1138]

Dude this video is so good! Very well structured, clearly informative and gives excellent examples of the concepts you are discussing. Thank you!

[@cosimomedicis8094]

I always thougth of what swaps to do by instinct for several months until i heard jee explain why he swapped to every items he had, but your video is really precise and helps tremendously. Cheers !

[@makkaze]

very informative video. the amount of time I have put into calculating an inventory layout every time I re-roll a build is almost embarrassing, but crucial.

[@fernandofalcon1759]

So, i just watched this video for third time and It was this time that I finally got all the juice from this teaching. Thank you a lot, i will fix my swaps. I was just doing like this fellow invader who are swapping for no reasons. So, in summary... Spam Gundyr's. ;)

[@abookofmatches]

Gundyrs is the best button press the gundyrs button XD

[@navnishbhardwaj3436]

I had to like this, you're reinventing the beloved game we've adored for years. great vid my man.

[@artezui]

And here I am again, returning to these videos. You've got a style about it that just makes me feel the need to see what's next. Keep at it man, 'cause I have a lot to learn.

[@Awesomemelon.]

Im so happy I got into the pvp of this game now, this has been a real big help dude. Thank you so much :)

[@Prynne_]

I get why people really like this now. Also, great video, great editing, wonderful music.

[@macdaddytv2682]

Good work here a clean inventory can make a huge different in invasions

[@onicide9900]

Your videos have great presentation, and are very informative and entertaining. Keep it up!

[@lovethieves1383]

Nice swaps. I like the quick ledo

[@beanbottler]

No idea how I found this channel, but I'm glad I did. Great stuff, looking forward to whatever you put out next

[@handworked3086]

great video. your channel reminds me of a more technical schwaakari

[@artezui]

The way you present the information here is just brilliant. It runs you through a base, then an explanation, then an application. I've played DS3 since late 2018, and I'm only just now beginning to properly appreciate invasions, having been a duelist for about half a year until about a month ago. Are there any tips for transitioning to that medium of PVP that I should know to minimize harsh losses? I know a lot of the general strategy yet I'm having trouble staying alive.

[@abookofmatches]

I really appreciate that, this format is kinda a pain to make so I’m really glad to hear it works for yah, thanks yo. So, in your situation, my next vid is gonna be perfect for you, and it should be out within the week so rather than say anything here I’ll let the vid explain things so even if it’s boring there’s gud tunes and bright colours to stay entertained XD Thanks again yo, kind words help a lot after like ten hours of editing today

[@artezui]

@@abookofmatches well hey, guess ive got to stick around then right? you've earned a subscriber.

[@entropybruh1645]

After careful consideration, I don't know what to think of hardswapping. It acts as a universal upset or counter, but you can still eat a chaos dagger or die faster than you can say "Leo ring". It's interesting for sure, and I wonder where it's placed on the Ds3 PvP ethics board. Tempted to put it near estus cancel but probably in effort needed only. Juuuust below splitleaf funsword personally.

[@LyllianaofMirrah]

In Mouse And Keyboard I can just stack like 4 or 3 same weapons as I will recognize them right away and swap

[@rahtsnake144]

excellent editing. i know that must have taken forever, so bravo and thank you (i appreciate a well directed video) curious, if there's a reason you prefer text to a voice over? im a filthy sight swapper, and i play very "charactery" characters with various inventory priorities, but im gonna try a root setup on my meta subbed & shared

[@abookofmatches]

Thank you, much appreciated: ) I think text is less intrusive and more immersive than voice for what I’m going for; I want these to feel like a storybook (a storybook of online matches if you will) and having to read means processing the information in your own voice so it’s more likely to synthesise actively rather than just be dogmatic advice. It also frees up the brain to pay more attention to the music and movement on screen which is where the atmosphere comes from and finally I like text because it’s impersonal; it takes the player (me) out of the footage and makes it about the characters, the invaders and the host, which enhances the feeling of it being a story and puts emphasis on the role play element of the game which is something I feel people undervalue. Also I just like the aesthetic of using terrible, clunky tools (I edit on SHAREfactory and use MS Paint to make the loading screens) and making something good with them. Good luck with your meta character, root setups on charactery characters are generally super cool and unique so I hope to see you out there

[@rahtsnake144]

@@abookofmatches appreciate the response! totally respect that reasoning. i enjoyed how you spoke about the characters. i do voice overs, but kind of talk about my characters separately, as if they make their own battle decisions. (i also use sharefactory haha, no shade. it gets the job done!) happy invading, see ya around! c:

[@taliomerelli6298]

Well damn man now I wanna try hardswapping. Ive been playing this game for years and yet never once did hardswapping. I would to "soft"swapping, changing weapons mid invasion. But it was a weapon change, not a swap. But I now really wanna try to get gud at this

[@davidchua188]

Way late to the party but how do you organise your inventory? All the options im given suck

[@abookofmatches]

Theres no really good option and I never had a definite system, I would just get a bunch of stuff I wanted out the box and then try different sort orders hoping they would kind of organise (looking for setups where my main weapons were in the middle with good swaps either side) then just fill the other slots out with miscellaneous stuff to try to keep everything in straight lines. There’s an online tool called Dark Souls 3 Inventory Tool made by sovietspaceship which allows some planning and tinkering in an easier setting but from memory its still Trial-and-Error to work it out. Maybe theres better advice somewhere but my honest experience is it just takes work; if you have your own unique setup you just need to keep tinkering with it and trying new stuff. Best of luck 🤞

[@davidchua188]

Thank you! After some experimenting (a lot) i came up with a hybrid root setup revolving around a claymore and a straight sword. unfortunately youtube doesn't allow me to post links so i cant show it :( also, could you show me your ring setup? I'm having some difficulty with them@@abookofmatches

[@abookofmatches]

@@davidchua188 i dont have DS3 downloaded anymore i’m afraid, I dont think i ever had a particularly complex ring setup though, it was very stripped down and not much thought in it except keeping a silvercat ring under anything i might have in slot one, sorry i can’t help more ✌️

[@melonhead.]

God I miss this game.

[@j0rdo695]

Seriously man, great vid

[@stephenisheta8457]

What was the name of the last song? I loved this video

[@abookofmatches]

Lost You by Quickly, Quickly. Thanks, really glad you enjoyed : )

[@PantsuGod]

or become a kbm chad and dont worry about your inv

[@alexander_soul]

parry guide please, thank you especially interested in a parry use cases like when parry is a good choice, when better not to do subbed

[@abookofmatches]

I’m not a huge parry user but I may do a simple visual guide to all the varieties of baits for parries sometime in the near future. One thing I do think about parries (which ive not heard anyone express before) is that backstabs are generally more valuable in an invasion because of the wakeup advantage. Getting any kind of big damage wakeup on a parry is much harder than a backstab because both players come out of i-frames at almost the same time whereas a hornet backstab gets a lot of time to setup a wakeup such as lothric straightsword or gundyr’s charge, meaning if you’ve got space for the wakeup a backstab will generally do more damage than a parry and a claymore backstab into LKSS 2H R2R1 (which is very reliable) will one-shot almost any phantom. Another thought for getting the most value out of parries is to swap to something like sellsword twinblades on wakeup, something with a true combo that out-damages an estus. People often go to spear or katana on wakeup to try and chip the last few hits but since estus startup is so fast it’s not certain to interrupt someone before they can heal so there’s more value in being able to out-damage their heal and either kill them outright or just give yourself more time to catch them to death. Everything in invasion is about getting the enemy across the line before they can heal, so landing one 1300 damage play is more valuable than landing three 600 damage plays which your opponent can heal off one by one. Parries are good, obviously, but it’ll take either chaos dagger or a swap to one-shot a phantom and you can’t realistically one-shot a host with a parry. So the value comes down to how you capitalise on the burst damage as much as how you land it in the first place.

[@alexander_soul]

@@abookofmatches wow, so detailed response! I didn't even know that there are baits for the parries. Anyway, I'm trying to master both technics.

[@Goethe_PvP]

how to keep running when changing weapons? (ps4)

[@Felicificity]

I like to arch my right second/index finger above the face buttons and press the Options button while I hold Circle to run with my thumb

[@abookofmatches]

If you start running before opening the inventory and keep the button held you keep running. On PS4 the best thing is to use a Claw Grip on your controller like Fel said ^ to control the movement and the X button/camera with your thumbs and the D-Pad/ holding down the O button with your index fingers.

[@Goethe_PvP]

Thank's. :D

[@7enet268]

Amazing channel. Subbed.

[@abookofmatches]

Thanks yo : )

[@randmgenericname5077]

What's the music

[@tengu8560]

What if the opponent has half brain and doesn’t panic roll gundyr swap

[@awakenedcrusader8340]

Please tell me the music used

[@abookofmatches]

It’s written on the screen when it starts playing, Droptop by quickly quickly winter is coming and I wish you were here by quickly quickly always by quickly quickly

[@awakenedcrusader8340]

Thanks

[@ForeverAlonne]

neat, nice video

[@simhae1775]

nice teach

[@sendoh9471]

First(?)