Board 8 > Board 8 Ranks the Dark Souls II Bosses and Areas - THE LIST

(+) Yeah! (+)

It's time! We had some beautiful users contribute to a massive ranking of every boss and area in the game. Here they are!

tazzyboyishere
MariaTaylor
UltimaterializerX
TVontheRadio
metalslug
Sorozone
Altma15
Robazoid
Axl_Rose_85
Angel0fDeath720
Johnbobb (Bosses Only)

Will start this after work.
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BOSS
41. Prowling Magus and Congregation
http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/darksouls/images/f/f5/SotFS_TseldoraBoss.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150502084619
SCORE: 362

Altma - 16
Robazoid - 19
John - 24
Tazzy - 36
Ulti - 36
Metal - 37
Sorozone - 37
Axl - 38
Angel - 39
Maria - 39
TV - 41

Tazzy
Randomly stumbling into this fight was kinda fun. But yeah, this is such a nothing boss.

Ulti
Every one of these games has a "Pinwheel" fight, and they're all bad other than the one in Demon's Souls.

Angel
These guys never really felt like a boss to me. One good AoE spell is enough to kill the whole group in many cases.

Maria
honestly I think some people's logic would go "at least you can die against Vendrick" but I feel exactly the opposite. that slow lumbering asshole has never even hit me a single time before. on my SL1 I remember when all three guys started shooting spells at me at the same time it was at least a tiny bit dangerous.
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Out of all the absolute shit bosses you guys rank THAT as the worst? That seems so arbitrary. I mean yeah it's piss easy but other than that it's not so bad.

I've always had a soft spot for horde bosses like that. There are also several outright terrible bosses in DS2 that really should have gone out first
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BOSS
40. Royal Rat Vanguard
http://soulslore.wdfiles.com/local--resized-images/data:royal-rat-vanguard/Royal-Rat-Vanguard-1.jpg/medium.jpg
SCORE: 360

Metal - 21
Ulti - 24
Robazoid - 26
Sorozone - 26
Altma - 31
Angel - 34
Maria - 37
Tazzy - 39
TV - 40
Axl - 41
John - 41

Ulti
I'd rank this lower due to the infinite enemy trope, but rats are just too cute

Maria
the rat battles are pretty bad

Tazzy
One summer I ended up living on my friend’s couch so I could complete an internship. Every night, I would be woken up at 4 AM by what I thought was a mouse within the apartment. I end up catching sight of the creature, only to find out it was a massive rat rummaging around. So I try to get traps and shit, but the thing will not get caught and just keeps waking me up at 4 AM and when I tell my friend about this, he refuses to believe that a rat has made it to the second floor, and that it’s probably just a big mouse. Eventually, I start finding rat shit all over my food and have to start keeping my groceries on the table rather than in the pantry. Literally a week after I move out, he tells me he found the rat’s nest and it was taken care of. I was so pissed.

Axl
Doesn't even feel like a boss fight with all the rats and it just being one of them.
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out of the corner of my eye I somehow read that as "dark souls II asses"
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BOSS
39. Giant Lord
http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/darksouls/images/2/2b/SotFS_GiantKing.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150503222408
SCORE: 359

Sorozone - 20
TV - 23
Tazzy - 24
John - 32
Axl - 33
Robazoid - 34
Maria - 35
Ulti - 38
Metal - 39
Angel - 40
Altma - 41

Tazzy
Probably the only part in the franchise where I can’t figure the camera out.

Maria
stand on a ledge and move left and right

Ulti
Every single thing about the giant memories is trash.

Metal
The area you fight him in is so bad.

Angel
If you know where to sit this guy can only really use one attack, making the fight super easy.
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BOSS
38. Graverobber, Varg, and Cerah

SCORE: 358

Maria - 9
Metal - 22
Ulti - 26
Axl - 31
Angel - 35
John - 36
Altma - 39
Robazoid - 39
TV - 39
Sorozone - 41
Tazzy - 41

Maria
a fight that I'm sure is hated but one that I love. I won't say too much since I think this is at the bottom of the list and I don't want it to spoil my other write ups which will surely come later. love how Graverobber is wearing Alva's set. think about it.

Metal
This fight is bad but memorable. It's memorable for being bad in a unique way I guess? Anyway the fight is all about kiting 3 people for 15 minutes. Poison Mist works pretty well.

Tazzy
Every game has you fight a group of 3 or more NPCs at some point, and I always hate it. Nevermind the fact that I suck at battles like these, but I just find it incredibly unfun to get ganked by stronger human enemies. It’s part of why I hate PvP because I think literally everyone in the world is better at PvP than me, so everyone feels like they’ve gotten a massive buff. Anyway, I guess it’s neat that Dark Souls II locked this behind a boss fog and never forced it upon you like most of the other games did, but I can never give a good ranking to a battle that just isn’t fun at all.
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Nothing surprising so far.
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oh boy here we go
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Tag
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prowling magus and congregation is the very definition of a "nothing" boss. nothing interesting about its setup, the encounter, the atmosphere, the reward, and the lore. it's literally just a mob that dies really quickly. the royal rat vanguard does presentation better.

i don't ever claim to be good at the combat in these games. competent enough to beat all games solo all the way through ng+2, sure. but i just don't have the skill to face the shulva gank squad by myself in a way that's not just tedious. i can see how someone like maria who does sl1 runs (something i've never done) can find it highly enjoyable. that's what keeps it from being at the bottom for me, even though i seriously considered it.
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I always thought it was interesting that the prowling magus gives a titanite slab, usually the first one you'll get in the game. although I think by interesting reward you meant something else. but yeah.
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interesting in the sense of "why does this chump boss give a top tier upgrade item that I can't even use yet"
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i knew my memory of that boss was faulty! yeah, it has that at least. still not enough to keep it from being one of the worst bosses in the entire souls series though!
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also if you are in a situation where your damage isn't very high and their spells are capable of hurting you, one neat thing is that you can hide behind the benches and use them for cover. but each hit will destroy the bench so you have a limited number of hits you can block this way. man it would actually be a somewhat interesting fight if they hadn't made them so easy.

anyway even with that yeah I agree it's a really, really poor fight. I mean my only thoughts on the rat battles are "these are bad" and I ranked the prowling magus even further below that.
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BOSS
37. Royal Rat Authority
http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/darksouls/images/8/87/SotFS_RatAuthority.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150502084030
SCORE: 347

Robazoid - 12
Metal - 26
Sorozone - 27
Tazzy - 29
Axl - 30
John - 34
Altma - 35
Angel - 37
Maria - 38
TV - 38
Ulti - 41

Tazzy
Those initial enemies turn this from a bland fight into a bad one.

Maria
the rat battles are pretty bad

Ulti
I almost quit the entire series because of how bad this boss was. I ended up killing it by learning how to dodge everything perfectly and only using a crossbow to deal damage during the one window you get where it leaps backwards now and again. Total garbage boss in a game loaded with garbage bosses.
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AREA
37. Memory of Jeigh
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_KF366PVa7c/maxresdefault.jpg
SCORE: 320

Tazzy - 27
Sorozone - 29
Maria - 30
TV - 30
Axl - 32
Robazoid - 33
Angel - 34
Altma - 35
Metal - 35
Ulti - 35

Tazzy
Whoops, shouldn’t have put this on here. Just gonna use this as the separation between stuff I hate and stuff I don’t

Maria
why

Ulti
These memory areas all suck.
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The bottom half of the areas were hard to rank because the majority of then were awful and had nothing note worthy about them
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Weird, I don't remember having trouble with RRA. I think I just stayed underneath him. In fact I remember him being one of the easier bosses in the game once the little rats were dead
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problem with the memories is that they are part of Forest of Fallen Giants

I just don't get why they had to be separated into a different area, much less three different areas
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BOSS
36. Covetous Demon
http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/darksouls/images/a/a1/SotFS_Covetous.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150506020233
SCORE: 340

Altma - 7
Robazoid - 20
Angel - 28
Ulti - 29
Tazzy - 32
TV - 34
John - 35
Sorozone - 35
Axl - 39
Metal - 40
Maria - 41

Tazzy
This guy’s hilarious! I suggest getting eaten by him if you never have. Losing your equipment is such a wtf moment. The actual fight is shit, but hey!

Axl
The Pinwheel of Dark Souls II.

Maria
there were three candidates for the bottom and I struggled to place them. ultimately, this guy is even more pathetic than Vendrick.
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Aww, how can anyone hate Jabba the Hutt?
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AREA
36. Iron Passage
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/UDzYEFLvxYA/maxresdefault.jpg
SCORE: 316

Axl - 9
Ulti - 20
Metal - 33
Maria - 35
TV - 35
Robazoid - 36
Altma - 37
Angel - 37
Sorozone - 37
Tazzy - 37

Ulti
Probably the "best" of the shitty areas of the game. From here on, the list actually gets decent.

Maria
This has the same problems as Cave of the Dead but I found it slightly worse in the same regard. I just realized these write ups may be posted out of order, leading to great confusion.

Angel
Who's idea was it to give enemies in this area Tranquil Walk of Peace? It's like they very specifically did not want people to be able to run through this area, but really people are still going to run through it regardless so all they did was make a super annoying area that's not fun to run through, not fun to fight enemies in, and has a very unfun boss sitting at the end to send you back to the bonfire if you go in solo. I don't hate many areas in Dark Souls, and I try to not hate this one too, but they've made it pretty hard to not hate.

Tazzy
Tons of swarms, bad design, insanely powerful enemies, no bonfire. Worst level in the series and it’s honestly not even close.
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BOSS
35.Twin Dragonriders
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oY_oZB1RILk/maxresdefault.jpg
SCORE: 333

Ulti - 11
Altma - 20
Angel - 24
Maria - 27
Metal - 30
TV - 32
Tazzy - 35
Axl - 36
Sorozone - 38
John - 40
Robazoid - 40

Ulti
Not the Anor Londo dudes by any stretch but still cool.

Maria
I actually love this battle but couldn't justify ranking it any higher. literally running in there and just shredding these two is so damn satisfying. after conquering drangleic castle I truly feel like a boss. this is a nice reward for making it so far in the game -- godstumping a few weaklings.

Tazzy
No wonder Drangleic fell
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AREA
35. Cave of the Dead
http://assets.vg247.com/current//2014/07/1405457667-difficult-area1-1152x648.jpg
SCORE: 315

Axl - 23
Altma - 24
Ulti - 27
Metal - 32
Angel - 33
Sorozone - 33
Maria - 34
Tazzy - 36
TV - 36
Robazoid - 37

Ulti
This entire DLC was trash

Maria
They actually made this area too hard to enjoy it. And by that I don't mean "I can't enjoy it because it's too difficult." I literally mean that you can actually master the ability to just run through the area without getting hit, and it's more efficient and more effective than stopping and exploring. For that reason alone this stage ranks very low for me.

Tazzy
Those statues, man
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oh good the fuckin rats ended up near the bottom where they belonged
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Lol all the rats are pretty bad. But I thought vanguard was kind of a funny fight with all the rats just appearing. It's like why are all these rats such a challenge, and then you realize it's not the rats... it's the fucking statues that keeps stopping you from hitting them.
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The hell. Iron Passage was a pretty cool area. First one I'm surprised to see so low in the rankings. I like Cave of Dead more than the majority though so I kinda expected to see it soon. Not Iron Passage.
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Iron passage is god awful

BOSS
34. Lud and Zallen, the King's Pets
http://www.eliteguias.com/img/juegos/dark-souls-ii/lud-zallen-mascotas-del-rey.jpg
SCORE: 332

Axl - 8
John - 9
Tazzy - 23
Maria - 34
Ulti - 34
Metal - 35
Angel - 36
TV - 36
Altma - 37
Sorozone - 39
Robazoid - 41

Tazzy
A lot of people say they hate this one, but I think it’s more that they (understandably) hate Frigid Outskirts. Lud & Zallen lose points for just being two Aava’s, but Aava is a ton of fun to fight, so these guys are as well. Honestly, they compliment each other surprisingly well, and it doesn’t feel too unfair to me, since Lud is almost dead before Zallen comes along. Only bullshit part is the healing Zallen pulls out, but it’s not as awful as everyone likes to say.

Maria
this is probably not a super low placement in the grand scheme of things, I'm sure others have this fight lower... albeit for different reasons. I actually like the team up battles in this game and the general unfair nature of some fights. extreme difficulty. but I dunno. for whatever reason this one in particular did not work for me.

Ulti
No one ever liked the Maneater gimmick. Stop it. Taking a good boss fight and going "hey we have two now!" is garbage, especially after the terrible area you go through to fight these two
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AREA
34. Memory of Orro
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Erb86pqbzNY/maxresdefault.jpg
SCORE: 309

Tazzy - 13
TV - 29
Maria - 31
Altma - 32
Robazoid - 32
Sorozone - 32
Axl - 33
Angel - 35
Metal - 36
Ulti - 36

Tazzy
I actually liked these Giant memories a bit! Orro is my favorite, since you’re basically walking into a battle between Vendrick’s army and the giants. Really neat design too.

Maria
the

Ulti
These memory areas all suck.
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oh man the giant memories actually came out in the right order for my write ups to work
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BOSS
33. Dragonrider
http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/darksouls/images/7/78/15971548456_402a88efc4_o.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20141213110853
SCORE: 318

Angel - 13
Altma - 14
Ulti - 14
Maria - 29
Metal - 31
TV - 33
Sorozone - 34
Axl - 37
Robazoid - 37
John - 38
Tazzy - 38

Ulti
Easy as piss but I don't care. I used this guy's shield for almost the entire game.

Maria
another fun little duel. I've killed him with the dagger at SL1 before which makes this more fun than Old Dragonslayer for me.

Axl
They really didn't need to bastardize O&S like this. This goes for Twin Dragonriders and Old Dragonslayer as well. Largely unnecessary.

Tazzy
try left
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Oh, just realized I never separated these two after the tie.... I don't think anyone cares though....

AREA
33. Memory of Vammar
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/D98LrDmGwZQ/maxresdefault.jpg
SCORE: 309

Tazzy - 19
Altma - 25
Sorozone - 27
Robazoid - 31
TV - 31
Maria - 32
Axl - 34
Angel - 36
Metal - 37
Ulti - 37

Tazzy
A bit more linear than Orro, but still fun.

Maria
fuck

Axl
All memory areas except the DLC ones are really bad

Ulti
These memory areas all suck.
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BOSS
32. Ancient Dragon
http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/darksouls/images/b/ba/SotFS_AncientDragon.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150501113104
SCORE: 296

Ulti - 2
Sorozone - 14
Altma - 18
TV - 18
Axl - 25
John - 29
Robazoid - 35
Maria - 36
Metal - 38
Tazzy - 40
Angel - 41

Ulti
I have zero doubts I'll have this guy ranked higher than anyone, because he gets an insane amount of hate on the internet.

Here's the thing. His name is "Ancient Dragon". He's the Great Old One of dragons. He's meant to be the biggest and the baddest. In a series loaded with dragons that just destroy you if they want, this guy is by far the most intimidating. First off, the fight is optional. You're standing there in front of a dragon the size of a skyscraper. You can walk away after he gives you the item. If you poke the bear, it's your own fault. It's like when people get stupid and try me in mafia, then act all surprised and buttmad when I turn around and fucking nuke them off the planet. It's like bitch, I'm Ulti. I'm the biggest and the baddest. Fuck were you expecting bruh? Don't wake the sleeping giant.

So then this guy gets up, and the fight starts on this GIANT platform. To put this platform in perspective, you can stand on one side of it, fire an arrow at the dragon on the other, and the game stops registering the arrow before it reaches the dragon even if you have the ring on that increases arrow length. This thing is HUGE. And even then, the dragon can just fly up and burn you off the platform unless you are hilariously far away. So you run up to try dealing some damage, and he just one shots you. Why? Fuck you, that's why. It's the Ancient Dragon, aka Ulti himself. You could have walked away, but now your entire family gets fucked with a railroad spike.

It's SUCH a good fight. This is exactly what Dark Souls should be. Just a giant-ass boss that can kill you in one shot, with you feeling like an ant. The satisfaction for finally figuring out the trick here is so good, too. Just an amazing experience all around.

You could have walked away. You didn't have to poke the bear. But you did. And now I'm going to kill you for it. It's your own fault.

Axl
This guy is probably the toughest fight in the game but for all the wrong reasons. The method to beat him is also quite monotonous. Not to mention a small mistake means he one-shots you. He gets points only because of his design and the lore behind him.

Maria
bad idea for a boss

Tazzy
Getting one-shot isn’t fun. It’s just not fun. The difficulty in these games works well because you can tank basically every attack, assuming you're leveling and progressing properly. This allows a player to learn from their mistakes while still in a combat setting, and thus have an easier time adapting to what the battle requires. Getting one-shot removes that player ability. It’s such a bad design choice.

Angel
I am so glad this guy is optional. He only likes to use one move and he has a crapton of health so the fight ends up being long end tedious.
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AREA
32. Frigid Outskirts
http://darksouls2.wiki.fextralife.com/file/Dark-Souls-2/Frigid_Outskirts.jpg
SCORE: 292

Axl - 18
Metal - 19
Angel - 25
Altma - 30
Sorozone - 30
Maria - 33
Tazzy - 33
Ulti - 33
Robazoid - 34
TV - 37

Angel
I can't decide if I love or hate this place. The blizzard is fun to navigate and it's one of the most challenging areas in the game, but without the blizzard it's basically just a huge open field with like 2 or 3 small buildings and enemies that infinitely spawn around you.

Maria
This is a neat idea for an area. I think it could have been executed a little better, but I don't dislike it.

Tazzy
Pretty much the definitive example of “Great idea. Bad execution.” I think having your visibility limited to such an absurd extent to which you need to use shadowy landmarks to progress is really cool. What’s not cool is limiting the amount of time in which you can actually see the landmarks so much. What’s also not cool is loading this area with some of the game’s hardest enemies. The horses are a lot of fun to fight 1v1, but once you get more than 1, it quickly becomes annoying and frustrating. Apparently there’s also NPC-type enemies that ignore the mechanics of the game, but I didn’t run into them luckily. Can’t imagine doing this area without summons.

Ulti
I shouldn't even need to explain why this place is trash.
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BOSS
31. Belfry Gargoyles
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/6kT_k0L0GUc/maxresdefault.jpg
SCORE: 293

Tazzy - 10
Maria - 12
Metal - 13
Robazoid - 24
Angel - 30
John - 30
TV - 31
Altma - 32
Ulti - 35
Sorozone - 36
Axl - 40

Tazzy
I should probably hate this based on how the rest of my list has gone, but man do I always have fun here. The gargoyles complement each other really well, have low health, and they aren’t super aggressive, so it never feels unfair. Honestly, it’s really intense and super gratifying when you win, because 6-on-1 is such an awesome achievement.

Maria
awesome fight. my favorite gargoyles in the series. they definitely got it right here. I hate the run up to this boss but I didn't factor that into my decision. only because if someone invades me I feel obligated to stop and duel them which is just a waste of time. anyway yeah. another battle that really punishes you if you don't master the camera controls but most importantly you MUST learn to juggle mutliple enemies at once. alternately just summon an ally and breeze through it without thinking. alternate alternate strategy; over level and out DPS them before they fully wake up. then go on gamefaqs and brag about how easy and terribly designed the battle is.

Metal
I like it in DS1, and I like it here again. It doesn't bother me that it's a repeat because they take it up a notch. And I'm just a sucker for rooftop fights. It's more than a-ok in my book. It's a good fight.

Ulti
Bad camera plus multiple targets automatically means the boss fight is trash. From Software will clearly never get this right and should stop trying.
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AREA
31. Belfry Sol
http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/darksouls/images/9/9e/Belfry_Sol.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20160109002353
SCORE: 271

Tazzy - 17
Ulti - 19
Angel - 26
Maria - 26
Axl - 28
Sorozone - 28
Robazoid - 29
Altma - 31
TV - 33
Metal - 34

Tazzy
I like the aesthetic better the Luna, but it’s still pretty whatever to me.

Maria
I like Belfry Sol but I can get annoyed by the fact that you have to run through it completely just to get back to Iron Keep. Seems so arbitrary to not have a ladder to climb back out of that little pit that the entrance is in.
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BOSS
30. The Skeleton Lords
http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/darksouls/images/2/2c/SotFS_SLords.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150502084110
SCORE: 289

Robazoid - 4
Angel - 19
Maria - 21
Altma - 26
Axl - 27
Sorozone - 28
Metal - 29
Tazzy - 30
Ulti - 31
TV - 35
John - 39

Maria
a fight that actually punishes you if you run in there like an idiot and don't pay attention to what is going on. I dig it.

Tazzy
These guys should’ve just been common enemies, honestly. I killed all the lords first on my first playthrough and still had no trouble.
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AREA
30. Dark Chasms of Old
http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/darksouls/images/e/ee/15884412469_5c7620be97_o.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150102133906
SCORE: 262

Angel - 13
Metal - 13
Axl - 16
Ulti - 22
Tazzy - 29
Robazoid - 30
Altma - 34
TV - 34
Sorozone - 35
Maria - 36

Ulti
Great color scheme on the enemies prevented this from being dead last, which shows you how much I've hated the areas so far. So many are just TRASH.

Tazzy
It’s not terrible on the surface. Just super bland and the enemies are somewhat cheap. But having to kill every enemy before you can fight Darklurker, while also having to use an effigy each time you enter, is one of the most annoying things in the game.

Maria
Honestly I think the design is fine here I just don't really like the idea of mandatory "generic" enemies that are significantly strongre than the player. Especially when they crowd such small maps.
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damn how did I not make a joke in my write ups about tazzy counting all the Dark Chasms as one map but separated the giant memories
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BOSS
29. Smelter Demon (Iron Passage)
http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/darksouls/images/c/cb/SotFS_BlueSmelter.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150429031809
SCORE: 284

Axl - 4
Maria - 10
John - 11
Angel - 18
Altma - 24
Tazzy - 26
Metal - 36
TV - 37
Robazoid - 38
Sorozone - 40
Ulti - 40

Maria
an even more awesome Smelter because he is more difficult (varied attack timings is brilliant) and not as easy to cheese since he deals multiple damage types. the run up to him is obnoxious, I agree, but I'm not ranking that. I'm ranking the boss. basically it's a great boss (Smelter) but made even more challenging. no complaints there.

Angel
Thought the other Smelter Demon was a little overtuned? Well here you go: have another one that's stronger. I know he's not exactly meant to be done solo, but that doesn't stop me from doing it anyway.

Tazzy
Loses points for being a reskin, but Smelter Demon is fun to fight no matter the color.

Ulti
Repeat boss fights three games into a series are 100% unacceptable.
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AREA
29. Belfry Luna
http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/darksouls/images/0/03/2014-09-23_00012.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20140924002818
SCORE: 260

Maria - 15
Tazzy - 18
Ulti - 18
Metal - 22
Angel - 27
Axl - 29
Sorozone - 31
TV - 32
Altma - 33
Robazoid - 35

Maria
A relatively short level which is carried almost exclusively by its fantastic concept. PvP is one of the areas where Dark Souls 2 excels and it's good that they even included a level with a creative use for the PvP mechanic. I mean this is a series which revolutionized creative use of online play. To be able to still come up with fresh and really good concepts after two previous games is a feat.

Tazzy
DS2 really refined these PvP covenant areas, but I don’t like PvP so this is just a pretty whatever place.

Ulti
Gets ranked above Sol because moons are better than fireballs. My list, my rules. Deal with it.
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My ranking wasn't listed for smelter demon
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that's because you actually don't matter.

that actually might be an issue because with Johnbobb's added score the Smelter Demon would place higher. I just added it quickly in my head by skimming the list but it looks like he only got 284 points total.

based on the system tazzy is using (total added points), those missing Johnbobb points could actually be hurting his ranking quite a bit (as much as 40 points if Johnbobb ranked SD first)
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Guys, i edited it back in.
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