DS3 PvP | Ideal Use: Burst Damage (Invader Mathematics Decathlon 1/3)

[@Jeenine]

You explained burst dmg a lot better than i do. This video was great, watched it full, music is amazing too. Only thing I would add to this is that besides picking your weapon and build, you don't get to decide what your opponent gives you. You have to take what you can get. And if the opponent is experienced he might not give you much. Which is why twinaxes are the best invasion weapon imo. Its the easiest burst dmg to go off of. One whiff punish for 800 dmg. Its like getting a bs without having to heavily outplay your opponent.

[@abookofmatches]

Thanks yo, I appreciate it : ) I tried to write this from a perspective of like ‘your plays are up to you this is just maths’ but you’re right and that’s a good point so ima pin this.

[@Felicificity]

Eyes glued to the screen. This channel is nothing but top tier invader content, and this is one of the best DS3 videos I’ve seen. Everything is perfect - I can tell you had so much to say, and it was all well-said. Damage gates were something I’ve understood in an abstract way but never did I expect it all laid out like this in such a clear cut explanation, like seeing the bones of the animal laid bare in the glaring summer sun. Add all the wonderful stylistic choices and bonus content (the great OC lore in the loading screens didn’t escape me!) and you’ve got yourself an instant classic. I’ll be linking this for reference to any invader I can find who’s willing to listen. Well done.

[@abookofmatches]

Staaahp, staaaaaahp, you’re’a make me cry :’)

[@theslylemon3868]

I lost it when you were talking about the 14-Foot long social distancing long sword.

[@randmgenericname5077]

This video: a well made video, with precise information that provides insane value to the normal invader. Estus cancel, Bow glitch, Unscaled phantom glitch: *Allow us to introduce ourselves!*

[@kennyvv3340]

Bro you are severely underrated, it is such an understatement to say that you've perfectly explained the techniques, pathways and options invaders are always subconsciously thinking about but can never put into the right words

[@scientificmelon]

This is the most dialectical (helpful) guide to a videogame I've come across. 910 = 14000 and Aristotle's spinning in his grave.

[@artezui]

I love your characters, man. The little bits of lore sprinkled in these videos offhand is just... *chefs kiss*

[@abookofmatches]

Thanks yo, really glad you’re enjoying them : )

[@ahab8991]

Absolutely loved the video, from the music, to the choice clips, and even to the small text edits (poor Elyce ; ~ ; ). I'm still amazed that content like this is being made for a 4 year old game that hasn't really had its online supported by the devs; content of this quality is definitely worth sticking around, however. Please keep up the good work, I love seeing a game that I cherish in more dimensions than intended.

[@mustafayigitkartal4257]

holy fucking shit this is by far _the_ best piece of ds3 content I've watched in some time, keep up the amazing work mate!

[@youngrich3386]

Wow according to the recent G9's vote pole about most broken glitches thanks to this video I just realised that estus cancel is even more broken that I thought. Realy realy good video btw!

[@misterfezzy8626]

I don't know if your still reading comments for this vid but I want you to know just how well you crafted this masterpiece. It works perfectly inside the ordinary Essay style of writing topic paragraph, 3 detail paragraphs, and a conclusion paragraph that ties in with your topic paragraph. Just instead of paragraph change it to Dark Souls context. This style of writing keeps people interested and allows them to process information better and faster. Not too mention how well you edited the music and the background video to comply with the mood of the clip. Overall just an amazing video

[@abookofmatches]

That actually wasn’t an intentional choice so thanks for pointing it out, it’s always cool to put together how and why things work. Thanks for watching yo

[@iamamish]

Great video matches, really great insights. For what it's worth, this is why if I go for a surprise parry, I'll never do it when the phantom is at full health, as it is wasted. Far better to wait until they're down 400 points of health, and then let it fly for a one-shot. Once the enemy team sees you flash a parry, their entire playstyles will change (which is sometimes advantageous, but not if you actually want to land a parry). It also gets to the heart of why (imo) estus cancel is so busted, particularly when it is the host using it.

[@abookofmatches]

Thanks Amish, much appreciated. And yeah, I quite agree. I don’t glitch anymore but I get why some people feel the need to cancel and refill vs cancelling hosts; there’s just no other way to finish them aside from legitimately outplaying someone to a factor of like 3.

[@iamamish]

A Book of Matches yes if the other team does it then you pretty much have to.

[@beternietman]

I was hyped when I saw the notification and really appreciate the effort you put into these videos. Thanks for giving me a fresh take on this subject where you go into so much detail. Can't wait for the next one!

[@mewmanc6188]

I would never think I would sit through a 30 minute dark souls video with text. Yet here I am having finished one. Great topic and not something many people talk about. You’re putting out some of the best ds3 content.

[@SamMaxis]

I know I'm incredibly late to this video, but what a fantastic explanation of burst damage. It's always a thing in the back of my mind when making builds, but you articulated it here so well.

[@joko49perez]

This is such a great video, it nails the entertaining and education aspects flawlessly. I had me glued to the screen from start to finish :)

[@abookofmatches]

Thank you : )

[@pointdowniecobalt8988]

Absolutely S-Tier video. This perfectly sums up the general steps required to win an invasion.

[@dangititsdanger3204]

Hey, I'm late to the party; just want to say these in-depth analysis vids are crazy-rich with good advice. Thank you for taking the time to craft them. Also, thank you for introducing me to The Marías lol

[@abookofmatches]

More people listening to the Maria’s makes it way worth it, welcome yo n thanks for watching

[@daftm0nk]

This is the absolute best invader strategy video I have ever seen. Hands down, bar none. Incredibly commendable work, I'll be subscribing for sure!

[@abookofmatches]

Thanks yo, much appreciated, good music does a lot of heavy lifting : )

[@surdus_anguis6035]

Dangitjm linked me to this and now I’m watching the whole channel. Subscribed (with the notification bell rung)

[@limitsatinfinity4393]

Players like you make me realize how much there is to learn. I think I have never thought about burst damage like you explained it. I'll make sure I'll follow your example and try to play like that until I get it.

[@abookofmatches]

It wasn’t something I’d thought about much until like a few months ago, it was only when I started like looking for it actively because I wanted to make a video that I started seeing it everywhere. Lots of people’s play is designed around these principles but without realising it, stepping back and looking at it actively has really helped me refine builds and play styles though, knowing what combos I need to land in what order has been so helpful in approaching invasions. Thanks limits, really glad you liked it : )

[@alejodavies]

My goodness! It's like you're reading right through the game. This is some stellar content!

[@abookofmatches]

Thanks yo! I really appreciate that : )

[@AoBaiGaming]

Host: "Noooo you can't just burst through my 30% HP and double estus advantage!!!" _Haha war banner black flame chasedown combos go _*_FWOSH_*

[@brachydios1230]

Man coming back to this game for so long I'm surprised to see such a video like this still being made even now so far into the games lifespan

[@carnivorn]

how do i like a video more than once? this is such a great breakdown, and such smooth editing as always!

[@nuparuchi]

Damn this video is just pure style. It's gorgeous

[@SgtJager00]

Hey! Honestly your content is insane, its crazy to me a person of your caliber of strategy AND editing is still around in a game with such a small fanbase, its amazing. I never thought of damage In These increments, great stuff!

[@VirusesX01]

Great video, very informative! People were talking about how good this video is in saint_riot's stream chat and they were right! Subbed, will gladly wait for more the rest!

[@abookofmatches]

Ah that’s awesome to hear, I lurk in Saint’s streams quite a lot I’m sad I missed that, thanks yo!

[@GR-qz8fx]

This is such incisive (no pun intended) analysis! Getting to the math(s [Brit detected]) behind these encounters really opens up the analytical tools and insights. Great work!

[@grayshadow2597]

This is like one of the most accurate video on youtube about, dark souls 3. It truly explained why I always prefer going for damage after I get the efficient stat for defense and absorption for almost every invasion build I do. Thought I don't see the play as damage gates, because of the amount of tools I have in my inventory, I get a lot of different chasedown tools and they deal very different damage especially against the two extremes of your opponent defensive stats, so I don't make it all at clear. What I do is simply make sure my normal combo gets near or exceed 600/720, and make sure that they need to drink more than just 1 estus to get back what they lost, from my experience in pontiff, most people I invaded wants to keep their health above 90% if they are not using lloyd, and 100% if they do(unless u shiv, knives, surge, farron dart them etc which make their tolerable hp range to 90% again). The good thing about these normal combo that exceed 600/720 damage is that it gives the your opponent a fk ton of pressure, they know they can't get back to the situation it was by just chugging once, which means they need more time to heal regardless if they use estus cancel tech or not. They may use siegbrau after an estus or 2 estus to get back to their tolerable hp range. When your opponent don't use estus ring for heal, it became a lot easier, you only need to deal around 400 to make him chug once, and 800 to make him chug one estus and one sieg. For people who use estus ring, it takes 600 to make them chug once, and 900 to make them chug once estus and one sieg. For me, the main differences between invasions build is how easy it is to land attacks/comboes, how easy it is to deal more than 600/720 damage, the position your opponent is after ur burst/combo and how easy it is to handle/applying pressure(especially after ur burst, and pressure from ganks). The easier it is for you to land comboes, the easier it is to exhaust their heals or just apply pressure and kill them once and for all. As previously explained, the damage makes difference only when it exceeded some point(the hp 2 different healing consumable gives). The position of your opponent after a combo/burst is pretty easy, for true combo, it mostly keep your opponent near you(which you may start another 1 right after, or may have a chance for your opponent to start his combo), and for pseudo comboes they usually require your opponent to do some specific actions or not do some specific actions for it to work, and that makes it possible for your opponent to leave your atk range after your combo(which they will heal, if they are good with estus cancel). Your opponent position matters because it decides how easy it is to instantly remove your opponent(usually phantoms only... unless your build is built for burst) after one burst/combo(which is why I prefer 34 or more end). Ex: a sellsword user can go 2 r1 L2 L1 combo if your opponent didn't roll the second time you start the combo(since your opponent is still close to you after the combo) or never had the chance to heal before that, the only problem I have with sellsword is the time it takes to do the whole combo(it takes 3 moves) and that gives opportunity for their friends to punish you. In my honest opinion, the main thing that apply pressure is how easy your attack can land(includes all mix ups and the amount of moves you can use) on your opponent and start a combo that deals around or more than 600 and the main thing that helps in handling pressure is how fast and long your attack can be to interrupt your opponents tempo and take the time of hitstun to increase the distance between the two of you, or just deal damage enough for your opponent to consider healing before trying to finish you. These reasons are also why tears are very good in invasions, at any point of time, popping tears of denial will reset all the stagger and allow you to escape once, but only with 1 hp, that means if your opponent don't use projectile, you have a pretty good chance of resetting your hp despite your fatal mistake, which you made to put you into the situation. Making build for invasions and making build for duels is very different. The thing about duels(most of them) is that your opponent are not able to heal, which means your build should be optimized for the damage received and the damage dealt. Pretty simple. But for invasions, builds requires what I've mentioned above and in this video, damage enough to do more than what they can heal. And since battle of attrition is almost always bad for the invaders, you should have methods to one shot phantoms/host. What you can do are already covered in this video. With all that said, I'm still a bad invaders, these thoughts just came to my mind because I think I've played for some times. Please do correct me if I'm wrong.

[@lucasgandossini1109]

Been so long since I saw such quality videos, you're the ymfah-vsauce combo man

[@vitorvena]

If i were to become a youtuber thats the kind of content i would try to make... Its really good dude and just this video alone shows how good and dedicated to something you are!

[@abookofmatches]

There’s no better time to start than now, if you wanna make vids you go for it! And thanks, much appreciated : )

[@vitorvena]

@@abookofmatches actually theres no worse time hahahah My gpu died and cus of the pandemic the shop is not getting new ones and the other ones available are so pricy so im kinda fucked atm but thanks for the inspiration!

[@alon3929]

Such useful information and dedication from your part, sir I thank you for this. You have a new sub and Im gonna share as much as I can. Also, music and how you show is perfect, keep it up. ;)

[@limitsatinfinity4393]

I haven't watched but I already love the fact that it is a 30-minute video

[@dova-pug7972]

Like you said invaders know to play around burst damage through experience, but I've never seen it analysed so thoroughly. Great video.

[@trickroommusic]

this channel is really cool. Keep up the great work

[@danielav6038]

Really enjoyed the music, the clips and the points you brought up. Personally I never really thought about the concept of damage gates. I always just try to sneak in whatever damage I can as if it's a duel, but now I see that it's not always the best idea I also never thought of hard swapping to the crow talons weaponart as an estus punish, that seems great. Just a little bit of constructive criticism though; at some parts the text changed too quickly for me.

[@danielav6038]

I'm now typing this comment after having done a few invasions with the concepts from the video in mind, and i'm absolutely mind blown. The idea that sometimes it's worth intentionally doing LESS damage at a given time, so that the host doesn't heal and you can set him up for a burst damage kill later, is absolutely game changing to me. It is so brilliant and effective, yet something I've never implemented in my play style. Thanks for making this video.

[@abookofmatches]

I’m glad you enjoyed it n I’m sorry if it was too rushed, balancing between the text going too fast and too slow is always kinda a worry so I’ll bear in mind what you’ve said for the next one Thanks for watching : )

[@constantflame2180]

Nice vid Book, i realy likes the editing and music

[@constantflame2180]

I really "like"

[@abookofmatches]

Thanks Constant : )

[@nickfarrington2390]

Great stuff. We all have our gates in our head without realising. I have my "is this dude going to die from a chaos dagger riposte" gate running as soon as I see I can parry them. Usually two hits from a gotthards R1 before he's through that gate, then disappointment strikes if he heals straight away - you know it's going to be slow going...

[@irithylldragon]

i play this game too absent-mindedly to understand most of this video, but i can appreciate the dedication! nice work :>

[@GiraffesEatStuff]

Really enjoyable watch and good coverage of the subject

[@cosimomedicis8094]

Man i just love how you direct those vids, the writing was really nice, a bit tarentino like almost. You know how to make a good video thats for sure. Keep it up bro ill link it in my twitch commands. Cheers yo

[@papasmurf5772]

Wow, such a good video and tutorial. Idk what to say other than thank you for the great advice and content!

[@thanks5832]

Why is this the best video ive ever seen

[@PacWintergreen]

Great video - Great advice - Amazing Presentation! My only suggestion (sorry to be one of those people in the comments) is that the text sometimes came and went too fast and I found myself pausing a whole lot. Don't get me wrong - I was happy to do so as I wanted each and every last piece of information you had on the subject. But it did stop the flow a little bit. Subbed for more.

[@PacWintergreen]

And I just read the quote in the description XD oops

[@Komyets]

Ooohhh... so this is why i've been struggling so much with my Partizan playthrough. I recently picked it up to learn how to use it propperly but I've just been losing fights back to back for days with it. The moveset is super neat though, but I see why im losing often there now, I just dont have the burst you spoke about. I'll have to revisit my strategy a bit. Thank you, your content is great!

[@abookofmatches]

Partizan is actually a pretty cool example for these principles because it has a few good aggressive burst options and a solid chase down capability. Check out Posse Slayer on youtube, he’s an awesome partizan player and has a few very cool vids on it, Leo Unleashed and Partizan Combos and Tricks show how he uses the WA and the R2 to pseudo combo and punish with burst damage. Most weapons have Burst attacks on either the R2 combos or WAs, the meme of R1 being the only good button has kinda hurt the playerbase in my opinion because people don’t think about what these attacks are actually good at.

[@hardwatergaming7965]

Great video mate, dangitjm sent me, subbed.

[@abookofmatches]

Thanks for letting me know, I was wondering where y’all came from : ) And thanks a lot yo!

[@Killerk328]

Did I just trip and fall into a new dangit jm video looks like i gotta sub again too

[@abookofmatches]

Unnnfortunately for you there’s only one JM, but happy to have ya here!

[@taelee7092]

thanks for the Ideal always book :D learning everyday boss

[@Lord-of-something]

A very enjoyable video to watch :)

[@DarkBloodSouls]

Very informative. Thank you!

[@resling7946]

Fantastic video. Nice job man

[@mollywhoppedsouls_pvp]

You just earned my sub and then some. Good stuff 👌

[@robertor.7781]

oh my god bro this vid is way too good

[@Breadstok]

Book i love the video, well explained and very helpfull for even the decent players among us. keep up the good work! greetz breadstok

[@abookofmatches]

Thnx Bread XD

[@CrimsonKobaNakirigumi]

3:18 my life as an invader shown in a few seconds.

[@_mb_b_th_v_b_]

Aaaaah! The Marías! Such a good band. Bless you 😗

[@fallenasleep7247]

Way back in 2016 I used to main Astoras GS in invasions. It doesn't work now because people have more health on average, but you could reliably get rid of phantoms by hitting them once, which kept them above the heal threshold, and then kill them with the next r1-r1 combo. And maybe it will be in one of the next two parts, but you're missing the greatest source of burst damage: Gravity! Infinite burst damage! The astora weapon art & charged r2s were fantastic for knocking people off ledges

[@abookofmatches]

Gravity was something I wanted to touch on but partly because of time constraints and partly because I wanted all the clips to be from central irithyll to keep visual consistency (and there’s no lethal gravity in central irithyll) it got bumped but yeah you’re quite right, gravity is kinda the ultimate example of using burst; you can whiff Force twenty times but you only need to land it once for all those whiffs to be worth it

[@conspirator7674]

Dark souls 3 invasion content, PLUS I get to listen to The Marías at the same time? Fuck yeah!

[@stormyminato9888]

You forgot to mention the siegbraus,if someone has some they will probably heal with it even after chip damage,if you can predict that you could do even more burst and then finish off with the chasedown

[@solzenstein]

Phenomenal video and editing skills. I only have one suggestion. Please don't fast forward when you're displaying text on the screen for the viewer to read. It is excruciatingly hard to keep your attention when something is moving crazy fast in the background.

[@abookofmatches]

Thank you, I haven’t watched this for a long time but you’re probably right and fast-forward is something I’ve moved away from completely

[@serrewe]

Cool video, but that whole segment about estus punishing got me thinking if it would be worthwhile to use the Soldering Iron, maybe it is the meta, and we were just simply too blind to see the greatness of that weapon. Probably not, but its nice to dream.

[@abookofmatches]

Soldering iron is honestly brilliant in the right circumstance, looking at it mathematically if you can force a heal with soldering iron active you’ve essentially just done like ~650 damage to your targets total health in one spear poke. The problem with soldering is that only the first hit is actually worth landing and it’s only worth landing if there’s a heal incoming in the next fifteen seconds; you can’t start a fight and swap away from it it has to be used mid combo. A lot of my invasion play is centred around ‘death combos’ IE plays I know will wipe someone (a really simple and popular one being Greatsword trade into gundyrs chase) but with things like soldering iron I think there’s a value in either extended death combos IE a long play with a soldering iron poke in the middle where the aim is to estus punish someone to death or, maybe more interestingly, an estus-grinding style. For instance imagine those moments, very common at mid level, where your opponents are just trying to pile on, letting you hit and trade with them because they can dip behind their allies to heal and you can’t. Something like a Straightsword is great for batting people away in that situation but even better you could keep a soldering iron swap near your straightsword and do Straightsword r1 r1 swap soldering running r1, and either they’re gonna just try and heal through (in which case you’ve essentially just taken 1200 hp of their total pool in one Straightsword pseudo) or they’re gonna have to wait out the soldering effect in which case you’ve made space to deal with the rest of the group uninterrupted or even to surprise break through and chase down while they’re already chipped and unwilling to heal. This is just theory that your comment got me thinking about but yes, absolutely I think mathematically you can make an argument for soldering being a great tool in the right hands. Thanks for watching and contributing yo

[@serrewe]

Woah i never expected such a detailed response for what was basically a meme comment but im actually very greatful that you wrote all of this info about how could we use the soldering iron. I guess my dream came true afterall, invader mathematics are truly a blessing. So yeah, time to reinvent the meta and use soldering iron mid-combos, that could be fun. Thank you for that idea and for this video too yo

[@valar245]

Are you active at G9's chat? What is your nick?

[@abookofmatches]

I’m in Jeenine’s twitch streams sometimes but I tend to watch smaller streams more often, my twitch name is book of matches. I don’t use discord.

[@valar245]

@@abookofmatches what streamers do you like most

[@f4ngs756]

Man I only started playing dark souls 3 a month ago but I’m so deep in the invader mindset I can’t put it down. Brb gonna go make a faith-dex build for burst n chase damage

[@abookofmatches]

Good jam, I love seeing new players, hope to meetcha out there. Faith can be kinda tough to use, but sending an aggressive phantom home with a point blank sunlight spear is maybe the most fun you can have in DS3, good luck with it!

[@f4ngs756]

the radiohead cover went super hard too. all in all I'm looking forward to more content :)

[@Manakete945]

maxmim endurance, life ring 3+, host of embers, and dragonscale ring, ruin someone's day

[@Nothuggable]

When is your next video?

[@dandragon01]

But what about fighting against invaders?

[@Hodgetnd]

This video is fucking d r i p p i n g with style, and i need more

[@Kevin-Smith7]

goodvid man very underated

[@hpmv1989]

This channer is gold

[@Hollow_McHollow]

I loved this

[@no-man_baugh]

A moody cover of a radiohead song that was made for a edgy 90’s retelling of Romeo and Juliet? Consider the chefs complimented and your taste in music good

[@kittencaboodle8124]

Wonder if that red will ever see this video

[@WolfHreda]

The one dislike is from the host who DCed. 🤣

[@cosimomedicis8094]

ITS HERE BOIS

[@aharris237]

16:59 is a great edit!!

[@vihaan5511]

really good video I normaly dont watch videos this long but the editing and music makes it so good just a question though. could you tell me the name of the first song playing in the video i cant seem to find it in the description

[@abookofmatches]

It’s a live recording of Loverboy by The Marias, it’s available on their KZbin and their Spotify Thnx yo glad you liked it : )

[@vihaan5511]

@@abookofmatches thank you : )

[@surd2120]

I need this intro song in my life. Please can anyone let me know it? Btw great video. Got me thinking how I can refine my play style while I wait for that elden ring

[@abookofmatches]

It’s a live recording of Loverboy by The Marías, it’s available on their KZbin channel and Spotify, and thnx glad you liked it

[@_mb_b_th_v_b_]

The Marías. Very good band, highly recommend!

[@lepistanuda]

do you think that burst damage is really possible short of a select few raw twink weapons below ~sl40 +5?

[@abookofmatches]

No, I don’t really, not in the same way. Even below like 70+8 it’s super difficult to finish any good build in one run which is a big part of why I don’t play at those levels anymore, it’s just too hard to satisfyingly punish a mistake. That said there are some plays and some players who manage to make the low level damage gating work, things like ghru curved sword vortexing is hard to do but the low stamina cost means you can pressure people to death with it, and twin blades and criticals can still be reasonably deadly. Honestly if I was going to go for a sub level thirty build again I’d go for like a Flynn’s dex build with power within, or some other kind of hyper mode. I think burst damage still applies at lower levels I just think finding lethal pathways is very difficult.

[@lepistanuda]

@@abookofmatches thank you, that was roughly my impression. I think this is why I like mid levels, you can’t be easily burst blendered yourself but it rewards chaining combos and fishing enough to eek out kills

[@lepistanuda]

@@abookofmatches what do you mean by ghru vortexing? Just getting a lot of hits in short succession?

[@lepistanuda]

@@abookofmatches hey I know this was a while ago so no pressure to respond, but how do you think bleed/ frostbite fare as an avenue for burst damage at lower levels? Obviously frostbite is tricky because it has to time out/ be cancelled by a fire weapon but it’s probably the only thing that really chunks people at lower upgrade levels as far as I can tell. Ik you mentioned luck builds as a potential Avenue for unreliable burst damage but they’re obviously operating at meta where the maths works diff. Ty!

[@abookofmatches]

@@lepistanuda I don’t know is the most honest answer. The lowest I ever play really is 60 and my 60 builds are a swap build and a critical build, which both just about work with damage gates. Below that it seems to be much much harder to beat any kind of competent (ie conservative) host in any kind of burst run. From watching other people (like Mr Sillydog’s frost twink setup) I think yes, probably either sellswords or frostbite is the best way to get aggressive burst damage on someone at say level 40. I won’t speak for bleed because I have zero experience with it but my understanding is you just can’t make a low level bleed build as the bleed burst might be good but the weapon damage is so low that twinked flat defences entirely nerf it. It seems to me that low level has more emphasis on punishing estus than higher level; your lethal pushes aren’t ‘burst, heal punish, chasedown’ they’re ‘burst, heal punish, heal punish, heal/pushback punish’ for instance. You don’t have the stamina or damage for chase down to be worth as much and your opponent is far more likely to rely on parries since the risk/reward skews. In this way I’d say yes, on paper anything with a status effect is likelier to be more valuable since the multiple heals aren’t undoing the status effect’s value they’re increasing it. I’d have to do testing if I wanted to be sure of it but level 35 you’re probably looking at like 1300 health to kill a host and so ~200 damage on a push, registering maybe twice per push, is probably pretty valuable weighed up against the cost of getting that much extra damage to pass someone’s flat defence at that level. With the increased emphasis on status effects I’d say yes, keeping people healing/debuff healing is much more valuable at lower level since you can’t just entirely wipe them. Maybe something like a Flynn’s power within build would pump out similar damage but beyond that frostbite is probably your best bet. I think the big difference to remember at low levels is probably that any lethal pathway takes longer and so that ‘ten seconds alone’ actually needs to be thirty seconds, and so while twin blades with frost are an awesome choice you’ve probably gotta be watching for that white knight phantom to come interrupt more than you do at meta. I don’t know is the answer tbh, I think probably a dedicated bleed setup is too stat intensive but maybe just carthus resin on a raw build would be worth it, less damage overall vs bundles but occasional bursts to offset that, but trying both would be the best way to find out. Frost is definitely valuable at lower levels but ultimately I think parries, much as I dislike them, are probably still the best burst at low level.

[@RlzTomy]

A hammer for a nail, i get it.

[@GoudaOnRye]

Great vid. What’s that first song? I gotta know.

[@GoudaOnRye]

Never mind. I’m a big boy and found it in the description.

[@letallettuce816]

Dont get me wrong, this video is great, but how can i punish healing if it is done through estus cancel?

[@abookofmatches]

So estus cancel you can’t really, it’s too fast. That said there’s two things to be aware of; backstabbing estus cancel is easier than backstabbing normal estus since they have to face away and cancellers are more likely to heal very close to you. So if you predict a heal well a backstab is the best thing to try for. The other thing to be aware of is the majority of people will follow their cancel with a roll or a parry and if you see them do it once they’re likely to do it every time since the cancel requires such tight muscle memory that most people can’t mix up their follow up actively so while you can’t punish the cancel you can probably punish whatever they try next. I hope this helps. Estus cancel changes the game dramatically so honestly your best bet is to try to kill people in one big run with big burst damage to one-shot as much as possible.

[@letallettuce816]

@@abookofmatches yeah, this greatly helps, i had never thought about this two alternatives, tomorrow i end up my univiersity exams, so i will be trying to apply this over the next week! I'll come back with whatever i find out, greets from the yeeter of londor :D!

[@guilberto7503]

i have a faith build that mainly uses blessed infused weapons. The idea is that with the regen and the healling miracles i have more healling potencial than my oponent, wich means that im safer while doing risky plays as its not as punishing if they do a lot of damage, as i can just walk away and heal as if nothing happend, but it also means that i dont need to play risky at all. if i played defensively i could dry out some of an stus gank without drinking one myself, the reward of being agresive isnt as high with blessed weapons wich deal less damage (excep if you use the LKGS, the drangonslayers axe or the drakeblood GS, wich are really good; a part from those, the zweihander and the straight sword get and S on faith, but they dont do incredible dmg). This build allows you to punish your oponent if they play defensively as they negate all their efforts by allowing you to heal, but you can also punish them for being agresive. while being low on health and starting to regen, some people become a lot more agresive as they see you vulnerable and for a short period of time, and thats when you destroy them, as for going too agresive they risk everithing as is easier to bait them. Of course this strategy works very well on duels, where your oponent doesnt have stus and people play more defensively, but in invasions can be useful if your mindset is that "pacience is key". high risk/reward strategies works well with other builds who do more damage (getting a better reward) and that have less healing potential. a part from that, great video, im subscribing

[@abookofmatches]

So I run two regen builds too, a 60fth one which is mostly for spears of the church and an SL35 who doesn’t carry any estus or siegs and only regens. The SL35 one is kinda intended to lose, he’s designed to punish squads for bonfire camping and reward them for chasing him into the level. The Spears of the Church one is more optimal obviously and works well for spears where you can’t be blendered to death but for invasions I kinda disagree with you; any single misstep in an invasion can lead to instant death which immediately nullifies all that infinite regen and I think you’re more likely to find success trying to nullify the blender piece by piece than dodge it indefinitely. But it’s just opinions, if your strat works for you then good onya, applause for your patience bleeding people dry, that’s a rare trait. Also give blessed claymore a go; it doesn’t do heavy claymore damage but in my experience it does just enough damage that against unembered health you can use it the same as any other greatsword to the same effects, thanks for the kind words and input yo : )

[@guilberto7503]

@@abookofmatches thx to you for the cool video and for taking the time to read my comment! (and also for the tips)

[@robertoramos9256]

where can i check the build? great videos dude!

[@abookofmatches]

I don’t have builds saved anywhere, which build in particular? Thank you I’m glad you enjoyed :)

[@robertoramos9256]

@@abookofmatches the claymore/gundyr/ledo, ty bro :)

[@abookofmatches]

@@robertoramos9256 nw, Sl125 Vig 35 Att 14 End 29 Vit 31 Str 60 Dex 20 Int 9 Fth 10 Lck 7 FAP, chain, havels, hornet Think that’s right, it’s been a long time since I’ve used that build. Thanks again for watching

[@ShanalFunLand]

Oh shit new matches upload

[@lksjzlkjzd227]

Amazing

[@nicholaskane69]

"Ideal burst: use damage."

[@fernandofalcon1759]

So, is not ideal to chasedown is the host is a full health. Instead, you should give him space, so he stop fleeing to get back to the fight and try to take advantage of his aggression to put him in a gate where you can do burst. Really interesting, I saw it twice to get it all.

[@abookofmatches]

Thanks for watching ! : ) So ... like kinda. It’s way easier to finish someone who is being aggressive on you than to chip someone down even with two people, but it all depends on what the host is doing I think. In the example in this video one of the invaders should’ve immediately gone to some kind of estus punish weapon, or perhaps the other red could’ve made use of the partizan r2L2r2 combo, lots of weapons have burst damage that is hard to land but perfect for an estus punish. Ultimately some opponents will just never be aggressive and they’re by far the hardest to deal with, but focusing on finishing people rather than damaging people is always a good call imo, even if that means letting up the pressure occasionally

[@fernandofalcon1759]

Yeah, I get it, it depends. I started using this yesterday. I notice that I have stopped chasing people when they are at mid health. It's noticeable that some fights that could take 10 minutes before are now finished in 2. Still you find some players who won't fight once you kill their phantom and will be passive until they resummon. Thank you for making the video, S tier content. I love it ❤️ I'll be waiting part 3 😁

[@xdd782]

Yeah I’ll just use a lothric sword and a caestus thanks

[@pucciraskolnikov7266]

Wow wery good

[@lucascantagallo5785]

estus cancel for almost no punish healing yey

[@ippo4502]

h e y

[@СергейКолотов-к2е]

Unbelievable! invading nearly for 2 years now, but doing it intuitively. I couldn't even imagine that one can use such logical and really beautiful approach to sort it all out. Thank you for your work! I just dont agree with one little detail - kzbin.info/www/bejne/iKOyZKWgZdB1frM You said here that host didn't try to stop you from healing cause he lacks burst damage. I believe that that host just let u heal there, cause did not took that fight very seriously. But may be I just didn't caught your irony

[@abookofmatches]

Thank you, really happy you enjoyed it. I do think that host is ultimately stalling for his phantom to come back and blender but I don’t know for sure what he was actually thinking so you may well be right.