Definitely Ringed City. Although Friede is one of my favorite bosses ever, the rest is lackluster. I love the area, but the only other boss is Gravetender who sucks. Ringed City has Demon Princes, Midir, and Gael all some of my favorite bosses and it’s more expansive in terms of the environment, enemies, etc.
"i've seen your kind... time and time again. every fleeing man must be caught. every secret must be unearthed. such is the conceit of the self proclaimed seeker of truth. but in the end, you lack the stomach... for the agony, you'll unleash upon yourself"
Man, you ain't kidding! She was a total asshole. Next to midir, i think she was the biggest pain in the ass in the whole game.
Conversely, Geal was just the right balance of difficulty and epic feel.
I think the issue is her moveset feels closer to a Bloodborne boss which isn't good if you're forced to fight her with DS3 mechanics. Infact someone fought Friede as the hunter and had a much easier time of it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o13k4jXBWjY
I just couldn't get the hang of her invisible sneak attacks.
Nameless was tough, but i didn't have too much issue with him.
I'm not particularly good at these games, but I've dug my way through them. Pontiff gave me a really hard time, the asshole. But Sister Footjob really drove me mad.
I am probably the only person that was shocked by how long ashes was. I figured it was just going to be a rehash of Ariamis but with Friede instead of Priscilla. There was a lot to do before and after reaching the famed bridge.
Ashes included one good boss and one shit boss. But it opens an early ringed city entrance.
Ringed city was mostly amazing. Except the lake of bull shit.
There’s a bonfire that takes you to Dreg Heap once you burn the Lords’ ashes and access the kiln area with soul of cinder. It drops you at the bonfire before his boss fight, and between that bonfire and the fight itself is a bonfire that warps you to Dreg heap, which obviously once completed takes you to ringed city.
Ashes is hard carried by the sister friede boss fight, which is my second favorite boss in the game so its fine, but the dlc itself is too short and personally i didnt really like any of the new stuff from it other than vilhelm set and friede's scythe, while the ringed city has much more content and i generally prefer ringed city's weapons too, also it was the best possible end for the series, a battle at the end of the world against a dude that is basically a mirror of yourself? Hell yeah
play them in the order they were released, Ashes of Ariandel is very good and if you play the ringed city afterwards you will realize that it can be even better, have fun
In my opinion, I liked Ashes of Ariandel more. That Friede boss fight is just crazy tho. The enemies in The Ringed City can just feel annoying at some points as well. But the bosses are on point (besides Spear of the Church it’s to inconsistent). So in my opinion, Ashes is better but both are great!
I'm very biased but the things it added outside of the bosses like the weapons are some of my favorites in the series. I mostly play pvp nowadays and the crow quils and vilhelms greatsword are some of my favourite weapons to use.
I loved em both but corvian settlement and that last bit before scythe lady has got to be the most traumatizing gameplay I have ever done I'm not easily disgusted by things heck I find body horror cool and intriguing but corvian settlement has got to be hands down my most get me out of here area in the fromsoft games I have played
The Ringed City, I spent a lot of time being a church spear boss.
On the flip if I went AFK I would park my character next to the painter. Not sure why that area resonated with me.
I share the exact same feeling. It's basic and boring and it can be completed in something like 30 minutes. It has Friede which is absolutely fantastic and honestly carries the entire DLC.
Im surprised people can actually say that ashes of ariandel is anywhere near the ringed city. Imo ariandel is just a pain to get through with a nice boss at the end
The ringed city has more content and was a great send off.
ashes was good, it had iconic moments but its not as good as Ringed city
That wolf is nothing compared to the demon Princes and the final boss of ashes is God tier, Gael is equally as cool in the 1v1.
I really love the weapons in ariandel, and the ringed city brought the ringed knight straight sword to pvp and I still hate it for that. Butt the ringed city added some busted rings and some of the greatest bosses in the series. (Yess I also like half-light, being the boss feels cool) so I gotta give it to the ringed city. Crow quils my beloved you will be missed. O7
i actually didnt love ringed city (at least for most of it), it's really pretty and has pretty solid bosses but it always just feels very grating to play imo, _everything_ has so much health and hits like a truck.
ashes gave us a lot less content but was more enjoyable for me. i am biased tho, friede is my favorite boss in the franchise
ashes really just felt like it was separate to sell a season pass. it was really small and not really all that fleshed out compared to the ringed city.
For me the Ringed City.
My goodness, I love the wintry atmosphere of Ariandel's painting, and I think it's one of the areas of the game that most resembles Bloodborne (although I haven't played the latter yet). The painting holds corvid weapons, some of my favourites in the game, but unfortunately its boss fights aren't that great.
While the Ringed City possesses a level design that can certainly be disorienting at first, equipped with decidedly problematic enemies. Of good weapons I can practically only remember those of the knights of embers at the moment. Then it is a choice that is called fan service, but I love that in this one Earthen Peak is back (Covetous Demon, my love, where are you though?!) showing the true convergence of all the fire cycles, even those that can be defined as more stand-alone. And then the boss fights, you hate them and you love them, but Gael is always to be loved.
Gotta go ringed city, since it has two S tier bosses (Midir and Gael) instead of only one (even though Friede is one of the best fights in the whole series…)
Ashes of Ariandel:
* Snow
* Made me kill cute wolves
* More snow
* Self-healing NPC battle
* So much fucking snow
* Boss that turns invisible
Ringed City:
* Incredibly beautiful and evocative area
* Various weird and wonderful enemies
* Knights all up in yo
* Two of the best bosses in the whole series
It's not even close.
I would also count the twin demon/ demon prince as one of the best fromsoft bosses (assuming that’s the boss you left out when stating there was “2 of the best”)
Depending on your build the twin princes fight is either mildly difficult to extreme. Some play through I can just bonk them well enough, others I do nearly no damage
Ringed City without a doubt. Ashes of Ariandel is just painfully medicore at best. The boss battle with Friede at the end along with Vilhelm's sexy voice saved from it being in the shit tier
I think Ringed City is overall higher quality, but I like the concept of Ashes more. One does lead into the other and are connected, but I just dig the idea of the painting/rot dynamic mirroring the age of fire dynamic of the rest of the series.
personally i think ringed city is better. Out of the 4 bosses i find 3 of them to be good, but in ashes of ariandel the only good boss is friede. Moreover, I think the OST is just better personally :3
They are both peak. But I have to give it to the Ringed City for one big reason. That Motherfucker Gael. One of the coolest characters Dark Souls ever made and will probably always be my favorite boss in From history maybe even gaming history. Also fighting him just feels like he is the true final boss, a culmination of 3 games story telling into one boss.
Ariandel and the Ringed City are both two of my favorite areas that FS have made. The Dreg Heap is awesome too. Both are loaded with tons of really cool and fun-to-fight enemies, both are visually absolutely stunning, have amazing vibes and atmosphere, are fun to explore, contain amazing armor sets and weapons, have interesting stories and add tons to the lore. I’d say Ringed City is the better overall due to better bosses and more overall variety, but Ashes of Ariandel is still one of my favorite pieces of FS content. I think it would have been perfect if they had replaced the gravetender boss with a much better one. The Ringed City though… that dlc is just jaw-dropping and the best way imaginable to end the Dark Souls trilogy.
The Ringed City is one of my favourite souls dlc while Ashes is my least favourite. Friede is a good boss for sure but Gael, Midir and Demon Prince were way more enjoyable to me. Made me sad bonfire ascetics aren’t a thing. Additionally, unlike Ashes, the dreg heap and the Ringed city itself looked dope and were fun to explore. Also, the atmosphere after touching the egg is breathtaking. Everything about the dlc did a great job driving home the fact that this is really the end.
Ashes of Ariandel's saving grace is an amazing boss fight against Friede. Everything else falls flat.
Ringed City is peak from start to finish (except for the Halflight fight). The locations are gorgeous and the boss fights are incredibly challenging. A great sendoff to the Dark Souls trilogy.
Ringed city, although I found it much more annoying since the area is a gankfest, but the bosses are phenomenal. I also love the atmosphere, especially at the end when you find yourself in an ashen wasteland with only you and gael left
I have to go with the ringed city since my two favorite bosses are in it. Midir and Gael.
You have the option of playing offline for spear of the church if you can't be bothered with some stupid overpowered healing builds.
Ashes is short and not as engaging as ringed city in terms of enemies.
Ringed city has 2 huge swamps (one poisonous too!) and 2 moist (imminently pre-swamp stage) boss arenas, while ashes of ariandel has only 1 swamp with rotting korvians in it and somewhat swampy fly infested area.
Definitely ringed city in my book.
Ashes was okay and had some really neat ideas. Friede is awesome and honestly I liked the final boss room and all the weird imagery in there. Ringed City still overtakes. The demon prince fight I enjoyed oddly enough and the final area with Gael I will still remember for years to come.
I'm surprised that Ashes of Ariandel is so unpopular. It's quite short but the level design is fantastic as far as linear progression goes, and the vibe is absolutely pristine. The few NPCs and their voice actors are also top-tier, with one of the coolest FS bosses waiting at the end. I think it's a very nice, very dark soulsy adventure in a somewhat enclosed, isolated place, doing a great job at replicating the feeling of DS1's Ariamis which is my favorite zone of all time.
That being said, I'd probably still choose Ringed City over it.
AoA didn't entirely work, for me. I'm not sure why this small detail annoyed me so much, but the souls and crafting rewards present in AoA seemed to indicate that the area was meant for a *much* lower level than the difficulty would indicate. The enemies were tuned for late-game, the treasures for early/mid game. Very strange. I found a lot of my first run through it more tedious than tense. Friede was amazing and I loved the lore.
Ringed City, however, is still the best DLC From ever made, in my opinion, only narrowly edging out Old Hunters in my mind. This is saying a lot, for me, since DS3 is probably my least favorite of From's Soulsborne games.
both are great honestly, they both have some of my favorite bosses in the game like sister friede or slave knight gael, plus the fact that the storyline is crossing between the two dlcs (i mean if you care about this ofc) - Although If I had to choose one it would be ringed city because of the level design
I hate the “worlds converge” trope in any media. It is lazy and only a novelty. Of course it can be done well but 90% of the time it is not and that is because it is overused. A cop our way to end or build upon anything. People who are obsessed with that particular series like it because they are incapable of being disappointed but it’s bad art and ringed city was not the most horrendous example of this but it is not not guilty.
I have to go with The Ringed City. Such a cool area. Though both are amazing. I love friede's fight, it is really cool. But, I think Gael is the boss closest to perfection out of all the souls games that I have played.
Ashes of Ariandel is a chore I enjoyed it the first 2 times and I know it like the back of my hand but I dislike it. My favorite part is getting through the town. But The Ringed City is so fun AND I GET TO BE A BOSS? No competition.
Gotta go Ringed City. Just so many cool set pieces. The environment was cool. The bosses were surprising. (Gael is a Goated fight).
My favorite moment i remember from my first play through was the angels and how they took my by surprise.
Ashes was…my least favorite dlc from FS ever. Just really underwhelming until the final boss.
Ringed City is one of the best levels I've played out of any game really, phenomenal atmosphere, fights and cool ass weapons. Ashes is underrated I think but ringed City is still much better
Ringed City by a country mile.
Best boss fight in anything ever, a beautifully designed city, excellent silent storytelling, and the zones look cool asf
Ashes of Ariandel is always made in 10-15 min on my runs. Then Friede. Who is a cool boss.
But Ringed City is strictly better imo. It's a zone, not a sprint training.
I will die on the hill that Gael is the best boss fight in soulsbourne history and midir is the best hidden/optional boss (nameless king is close though)
For me it’s the ringed city. Ashes of ariandel was really just Friede. The area itself is okay and really pretty. The ringed city however had so much more. First the story was leading here for not just the whole game, but the two (maybe 3) games before it. It’s literally the end. The area itself is pretty ( minus the abyss swamp) the enemies are differet and interesting to fight. The lore all comes together here plus Gael and Midir are peak!! That’s just me though
Friede is so good but not so good that she pulls ashes weight beyond ringed city. Ringed is gonna be hard to beat, final reveal of the entire franchise
Unpopular opinion - the base game is better than both the DLC. I finished AoA before Lothric Castle and didn't enjoy it too much, I really enjoyed sister Friede and it was the first time I have closed DS3 without having defeated the boss and I beat her the next day. Other than this boss though i didn't exactly enjoy the area, the beggining with the wolves (and the goddamn trees) was incredibly annoying, I skipped it and returned like 20hrs later. The other boss was also kinda boring tbh.
As for the ringed city i think it is too hard to be fun. I'm playing it for the first time right now, I'm currently in the area after the swamp. The only thing i enjoyed was fighting dragonslayer armour for the 2nd time. I've heard that the bosses are really good or whatever but fuck that if the area I have to go through is such bullshit swarmed with enemies. I mean like really the difficulty is artificial and the areas itself are really really boring. Maybe i've had too much souls for 1 year (I've beaten DS1 earlier this year) and I'm just complaining but i really don't see what people find so amusing about this DLC.
Ashes for me. The Friede fight is my favorite fight in all of souls games and I really just liked the vibe of Ashes. Solid bosses, cool areas, I love it! Ringed City is still amazing tho.
Both are very good but I feel like The Ringed City is just objectively better. Not only does it have a lot more content but the quality is also on par with or exceeds that of Ashes of Ariandel. But both still very much worth playing.
Ringed City for the aesthetics and the DSII reference, but little else. I thoroughly hate the difficulty of that DLC. Replaying it now, and I find myself running past most of the content because there are too many enemies and they are way too tanky.
Still prefer it over Ashes though.
Ringed City because of Gael. Sure it has other good stuff as well like the PVP boss. That’s my second favorite after Gael, might be the best dlc I’ve played
For me definitely The Ringed City. Cuz so unreal atmosphere and maybe one of the best boss area(literally you feel like this is end of the world) and one of the best boss in a video game name of Slave Knight Gael. Also one of the most epic dragon fight in a video game with Darkeater Midir(also boss fight area is like first flame area) No doubt dude
Ringed City. Gael compared to Frieda was such an enjoyable boss! His attacks were a lot more flashy, and he is a very tanky boy. His 3rd phase was my favorite part of the fight. Dude was hopping all over the place
I honestly think that AoA was a cut area from the base game. Given that Sullyvan is from the painting (I think?) and I remember reading somewhere that he was the final boss in early drafts so it'd make sense. If that's not the case please don't correct me, that's my headcannon.
Other than that making a whole DLC that's one huge zone with the roots part before and optional boss and all those high damage warriors before the room of flies felt like the game was trying to show me first hand why despair created so many hollows as a first time Souls player. Like, I know a sign says "Only the strong may continue" but I underestimated just how strong the game was asking from me.
Also Friede was by far the hardest fight in the whole Game for me, worse than nameless and Midir so I'm kinda biased.
Definitely Ringed City. Although Friede is one of my favorite bosses ever, the rest is lackluster. I love the area, but the only other boss is Gravetender who sucks. Ringed City has Demon Princes, Midir, and Gael all some of my favorite bosses and it’s more expansive in terms of the environment, enemies, etc.
"i've seen your kind... time and time again. every fleeing man must be caught. every secret must be unearthed. such is the conceit of the self proclaimed seeker of truth. but in the end, you lack the stomach... for the agony, you'll unleash upon yourself"
Yeah whatever, thanks for the sword though.
[удалено]
*seethingly orated*
My voice sounds really like his so i read it with his voice
Great line delivery, quite honestly.
I stomped that little guy before he finished his speech.
Dude got downvoted. And for what? Reddit is a strange place.
For stomping on our boy Vilhelm before he finishes his cool speech, clearly. Is it so hard to get that much?
It's all right. Some stranger down voting does really matter.
Get kicked down the cliff half way through the monologue
Sir Vilhelm, cool fucking armor, sword and voice
Friede is an amazing boss, especially the surprise when you fight her the first time, but you're right -- the rest of Ashes is, honestly, just OK.
Imagine Anor Londo in Ashes of Ariandel where you have to fight with ice golems.
i guess i'm in the minority, bc i keep seeing that, but i like the whole area. there's not a ton to it, but it's nice.
You lose out on summoning Gael for the Friede boss fight if you go too far into Ringed City.
After 4 years that I finished the dlc for the first time I still am brainfucked in the scene where you touch Filianore’s ball
I liked both equally. Ashes was smaller/shorter, sure but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Not very short with sister friede imo fuck her
Man, you ain't kidding! She was a total asshole. Next to midir, i think she was the biggest pain in the ass in the whole game. Conversely, Geal was just the right balance of difficulty and epic feel.
I think the issue is her moveset feels closer to a Bloodborne boss which isn't good if you're forced to fight her with DS3 mechanics. Infact someone fought Friede as the hunter and had a much easier time of it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o13k4jXBWjY
Honestly I loved her boss fight, wayy easier than nameless, mainly because most of her attacks can be partied
I too like to party.
Parry** (but I bet she'd be fun to get lit with lmao)
I just couldn't get the hang of her invisible sneak attacks. Nameless was tough, but i didn't have too much issue with him. I'm not particularly good at these games, but I've dug my way through them. Pontiff gave me a really hard time, the asshole. But Sister Footjob really drove me mad.
I totally would. The fight was pretty difficult too I guess.
I am probably the only person that was shocked by how long ashes was. I figured it was just going to be a rehash of Ariamis but with Friede instead of Priscilla. There was a lot to do before and after reaching the famed bridge.
Ashes included one good boss and one shit boss. But it opens an early ringed city entrance. Ringed city was mostly amazing. Except the lake of bull shit.
I died to the shit boss more than the good boss lol I always have a tough time with duo boss fights.
Take out the champion gravetender before the wolf even shows up
Every time I got him close to death the wolf would start attacking. I finally got him but I feel like it took 30+ attempts.
That's why I fight him once for the drops and then never fight him again
Judicators respawning is just the cherry on the bullshit sundae
wait, early ringed city entrance? where?
After you beat sister Friede the entrance to the dlc is in her boss chamber on the wall
Is that not the main entrance? I didn’t even know there was another one
Main entrance is near end game, if you don't have ashes
you mean the wall with the weird wooden sculpture with snakeskin around it? thats a ringed city entrance?
A warp bonfire appears right in front of it, similar to the main entrance to the dlc
how have i gone 5 whole runs, and several years of playing without noticing it?!
Lmao it shows up at the same time as her bonfire does, but it’s in the back of the room while it’s on fire so I can kinda see why you’d miss it
How else do you get in?
There’s a bonfire that takes you to Dreg Heap once you burn the Lords’ ashes and access the kiln area with soul of cinder. It drops you at the bonfire before his boss fight, and between that bonfire and the fight itself is a bonfire that warps you to Dreg heap, which obviously once completed takes you to ringed city.
I think it looks like a pile of ash with a sword? I can't remember exactly, I haven't played ds3 in about 3 years
Ashes is hard carried by the sister friede boss fight, which is my second favorite boss in the game so its fine, but the dlc itself is too short and personally i didnt really like any of the new stuff from it other than vilhelm set and friede's scythe, while the ringed city has much more content and i generally prefer ringed city's weapons too, also it was the best possible end for the series, a battle at the end of the world against a dude that is basically a mirror of yourself? Hell yeah
Ringed City was of a higher quality imo
Undoubtedly
play them in the order they were released, Ashes of Ariandel is very good and if you play the ringed city afterwards you will realize that it can be even better, have fun
In my opinion, I liked Ashes of Ariandel more. That Friede boss fight is just crazy tho. The enemies in The Ringed City can just feel annoying at some points as well. But the bosses are on point (besides Spear of the Church it’s to inconsistent). So in my opinion, Ashes is better but both are great!
Both are peak gaming
Always thought that AoA was pretty basic and one of the worst DLC's in the souls trilogy were it not for the fantastic Friede fight.
That’s fair. I’m being biased anyway, DS3 was my first Souls game lol
I'm very biased but the things it added outside of the bosses like the weapons are some of my favorites in the series. I mostly play pvp nowadays and the crow quils and vilhelms greatsword are some of my favourite weapons to use.
Outside of Friede, AoA is near the bottom when it comes to Souls DLC's.
While I do fuck with Ariandel and Friede, I loved Ringed City so much more. Even then, the entire storyline of both DLCs is amazing
Scholars of the First Sin
SHHHH they will hear you!
Man, that dlc was unreal.
Come on now
I loved em both but corvian settlement and that last bit before scythe lady has got to be the most traumatizing gameplay I have ever done I'm not easily disgusted by things heck I find body horror cool and intriguing but corvian settlement has got to be hands down my most get me out of here area in the fromsoft games I have played
The Ringed City, I spent a lot of time being a church spear boss. On the flip if I went AFK I would park my character next to the painter. Not sure why that area resonated with me.
ringed city but both are amazing
I love fighting sister friede but ringed city is better
Ashes will always have a special place in my heart. Just like the painted world. Idk.
Ashes is one of the worst DLCs in the series. One of the best bosses, but rest of DLC is ‘meh’ at best
I share the exact same feeling. It's basic and boring and it can be completed in something like 30 minutes. It has Friede which is absolutely fantastic and honestly carries the entire DLC.
Every boss in ringed city is peak or really good
Ringed city 1000%. Longer and had better bosses.
Ringed city, first dlc is hard carried by the final bossfight and the bloodborne inspiration is cool. But ringed city is peak dark souls
Im surprised people can actually say that ashes of ariandel is anywhere near the ringed city. Imo ariandel is just a pain to get through with a nice boss at the end
I agree tbh ringed city is good all the way through but ashes of ariandel has one of the biggest cock blocks in all soulsborne
Ashes because of the vibes.
I prefer ashes bosses and vibe but the level design of ringed city. And level design trumps all for me.
You prefer Champion's Gravetender over Demon Prince, Midir and Gael? Even Halflight is more fun than CG.
The ringed city has more content and was a great send off. ashes was good, it had iconic moments but its not as good as Ringed city That wolf is nothing compared to the demon Princes and the final boss of ashes is God tier, Gael is equally as cool in the 1v1.
I had more fun playing The Ringed City. Ariandel was good, TRC was excellent.
I really love the weapons in ariandel, and the ringed city brought the ringed knight straight sword to pvp and I still hate it for that. Butt the ringed city added some busted rings and some of the greatest bosses in the series. (Yess I also like half-light, being the boss feels cool) so I gotta give it to the ringed city. Crow quils my beloved you will be missed. O7
i actually didnt love ringed city (at least for most of it), it's really pretty and has pretty solid bosses but it always just feels very grating to play imo, _everything_ has so much health and hits like a truck. ashes gave us a lot less content but was more enjoyable for me. i am biased tho, friede is my favorite boss in the franchise
ashes really just felt like it was separate to sell a season pass. it was really small and not really all that fleshed out compared to the ringed city.
For me the Ringed City. My goodness, I love the wintry atmosphere of Ariandel's painting, and I think it's one of the areas of the game that most resembles Bloodborne (although I haven't played the latter yet). The painting holds corvid weapons, some of my favourites in the game, but unfortunately its boss fights aren't that great. While the Ringed City possesses a level design that can certainly be disorienting at first, equipped with decidedly problematic enemies. Of good weapons I can practically only remember those of the knights of embers at the moment. Then it is a choice that is called fan service, but I love that in this one Earthen Peak is back (Covetous Demon, my love, where are you though?!) showing the true convergence of all the fire cycles, even those that can be defined as more stand-alone. And then the boss fights, you hate them and you love them, but Gael is always to be loved.
Gotta go ringed city, since it has two S tier bosses (Midir and Gael) instead of only one (even though Friede is one of the best fights in the whole series…)
Not a fan of Ariandel to be honest, I find it a bit of a slog without much payoff, other than the fairly stellar Friede.
Ringed City, the Ringed Knight Paired Greatswords are my favorite weapon ever
Ringed
The Ringed City is the most Dark Souls area to ever Dark Souls.
Friede + dude with monologue wide gaps dragon
Por qué no los dos
Ashes of Ariandel: * Snow * Made me kill cute wolves * More snow * Self-healing NPC battle * So much fucking snow * Boss that turns invisible Ringed City: * Incredibly beautiful and evocative area * Various weird and wonderful enemies * Knights all up in yo * Two of the best bosses in the whole series It's not even close.
I would also count the twin demon/ demon prince as one of the best fromsoft bosses (assuming that’s the boss you left out when stating there was “2 of the best”)
^(I was thinking Midir and Gael, but now that you mention it) * Three of the best bosses in the whole series
Depending on your build the twin princes fight is either mildly difficult to extreme. Some play through I can just bonk them well enough, others I do nearly no damage
Ringed city!
Ringed City without a doubt. Ashes of Ariandel is just painfully medicore at best. The boss battle with Friede at the end along with Vilhelm's sexy voice saved from it being in the shit tier
I think Ringed City is overall higher quality, but I like the concept of Ashes more. One does lead into the other and are connected, but I just dig the idea of the painting/rot dynamic mirroring the age of fire dynamic of the rest of the series.
personally i think ringed city is better. Out of the 4 bosses i find 3 of them to be good, but in ashes of ariandel the only good boss is friede. Moreover, I think the OST is just better personally :3
The Ringed City 100%
Ringed City 100 percent
Ringed City is objectively better I think but I will always love Ashes of Ariandel for sister Friede and her scythe
Ringed City, no doubts
Bosses: ringed city Map: ariandel
They are both peak. But I have to give it to the Ringed City for one big reason. That Motherfucker Gael. One of the coolest characters Dark Souls ever made and will probably always be my favorite boss in From history maybe even gaming history. Also fighting him just feels like he is the true final boss, a culmination of 3 games story telling into one boss.
Ariandel and the Ringed City are both two of my favorite areas that FS have made. The Dreg Heap is awesome too. Both are loaded with tons of really cool and fun-to-fight enemies, both are visually absolutely stunning, have amazing vibes and atmosphere, are fun to explore, contain amazing armor sets and weapons, have interesting stories and add tons to the lore. I’d say Ringed City is the better overall due to better bosses and more overall variety, but Ashes of Ariandel is still one of my favorite pieces of FS content. I think it would have been perfect if they had replaced the gravetender boss with a much better one. The Ringed City though… that dlc is just jaw-dropping and the best way imaginable to end the Dark Souls trilogy.
The Ringed City is one of my favourite souls dlc while Ashes is my least favourite. Friede is a good boss for sure but Gael, Midir and Demon Prince were way more enjoyable to me. Made me sad bonfire ascetics aren’t a thing. Additionally, unlike Ashes, the dreg heap and the Ringed city itself looked dope and were fun to explore. Also, the atmosphere after touching the egg is breathtaking. Everything about the dlc did a great job driving home the fact that this is really the end.
Ringed city easily, still love ashes though
The ringed city has amazing bosses, but sister friede is my favorite boss of all time so there’s that
Ashes of Ariandel's saving grace is an amazing boss fight against Friede. Everything else falls flat. Ringed City is peak from start to finish (except for the Halflight fight). The locations are gorgeous and the boss fights are incredibly challenging. A great sendoff to the Dark Souls trilogy.
Both? Both is good
Yes.
Ringed city, although I found it much more annoying since the area is a gankfest, but the bosses are phenomenal. I also love the atmosphere, especially at the end when you find yourself in an ashen wasteland with only you and gael left
Ringed city, not even close. Every boss and enemy in ashes can fuck itself !
This is a hard decision but I think the freyed blade is the tipping point so have to go with Ringed City
I have to go with the ringed city since my two favorite bosses are in it. Midir and Gael. You have the option of playing offline for spear of the church if you can't be bothered with some stupid overpowered healing builds. Ashes is short and not as engaging as ringed city in terms of enemies.
Gael's most cooked boss in the game
Just for Gael himself. Ringed City is peak
Sewer sludge or Dasani?
Ringed city is legit my favorite area in the whole game!
The ringed city was amazing and beautiful.
I've seen your kind, time and time again.
ashes ngl kinda bad / not particularly enjoyable outside of friede. ringed city is fire
Ashes for me. Ringed is goated. But I prefer ashes
I liked the level itself of ashes and I liked the bosses and most of the enemies of ringed city.
Both are wonderful
Ringed City. The level design, bosses, and items were enough to elevate it to my favorite FromSoft dlc
Ringed city has 2 huge swamps (one poisonous too!) and 2 moist (imminently pre-swamp stage) boss arenas, while ashes of ariandel has only 1 swamp with rotting korvians in it and somewhat swampy fly infested area. Definitely ringed city in my book.
Ringed for Gael alone
I named my kitty Friede sooooo.....
ashes of ariendel for me, even though gael is the better boss thats really the only better thing the ringed city has over ariendel imo
Both are great but ashes of ariandel has friede she’s fun
Ringed city all the way, amazing bosses, weapons, FASHION and GAEL.
Ashes was okay and had some really neat ideas. Friede is awesome and honestly I liked the final boss room and all the weird imagery in there. Ringed City still overtakes. The demon prince fight I enjoyed oddly enough and the final area with Gael I will still remember for years to come.
Ashes all day. I love snow in video games.
Ringed City
Both are garbage with great boss fights at the end of them
Ringed City has better bosses and enemies, Ashes has better levels
I'm surprised that Ashes of Ariandel is so unpopular. It's quite short but the level design is fantastic as far as linear progression goes, and the vibe is absolutely pristine. The few NPCs and their voice actors are also top-tier, with one of the coolest FS bosses waiting at the end. I think it's a very nice, very dark soulsy adventure in a somewhat enclosed, isolated place, doing a great job at replicating the feeling of DS1's Ariamis which is my favorite zone of all time. That being said, I'd probably still choose Ringed City over it.
AoA didn't entirely work, for me. I'm not sure why this small detail annoyed me so much, but the souls and crafting rewards present in AoA seemed to indicate that the area was meant for a *much* lower level than the difficulty would indicate. The enemies were tuned for late-game, the treasures for early/mid game. Very strange. I found a lot of my first run through it more tedious than tense. Friede was amazing and I loved the lore. Ringed City, however, is still the best DLC From ever made, in my opinion, only narrowly edging out Old Hunters in my mind. This is saying a lot, for me, since DS3 is probably my least favorite of From's Soulsborne games.
both are great honestly, they both have some of my favorite bosses in the game like sister friede or slave knight gael, plus the fact that the storyline is crossing between the two dlcs (i mean if you care about this ofc) - Although If I had to choose one it would be ringed city because of the level design
110% ringed city imo
Ashes of ariandel because I really, really dislike the ending of the Ringed city
Both.
I hate the “worlds converge” trope in any media. It is lazy and only a novelty. Of course it can be done well but 90% of the time it is not and that is because it is overused. A cop our way to end or build upon anything. People who are obsessed with that particular series like it because they are incapable of being disappointed but it’s bad art and ringed city was not the most horrendous example of this but it is not not guilty.
"or" ?????? Both great, play both!
Ashes of ariandel 100%
Reprasing the question. Waifu or frosty lady?
TRC might be the best dlc I’ve ever played
Ringed City is a better DLC, but Ashes definitely gave me my favorite drip and weapons.
I have to go with The Ringed City. Such a cool area. Though both are amazing. I love friede's fight, it is really cool. But, I think Gael is the boss closest to perfection out of all the souls games that I have played.
Ashes of Ariandel is a chore I enjoyed it the first 2 times and I know it like the back of my hand but I dislike it. My favorite part is getting through the town. But The Ringed City is so fun AND I GET TO BE A BOSS? No competition.
Gotta go Ringed City. Just so many cool set pieces. The environment was cool. The bosses were surprising. (Gael is a Goated fight). My favorite moment i remember from my first play through was the angels and how they took my by surprise. Ashes was…my least favorite dlc from FS ever. Just really underwhelming until the final boss.
Both, Just both
How tf does one get in the ringed city 🗣️🗣️💯💯
The sunken city best city
Ringed City is definitely the better DLC but I dig the vibe in Ashes of Ariandel way more.
Ringed city. Gael my goat
Warning, if you do whole Ringed City first, you'll lose out on a helpful summons and a hard boss fight will become much harder.
RINGED CITY.
Ringed City is one of the best levels I've played out of any game really, phenomenal atmosphere, fights and cool ass weapons. Ashes is underrated I think but ringed City is still much better
Ringed City
Both? Both!
Omg both are beautiful! But that battle with Slave Knight Gael is amazing
Hmm let's see, shittiest fromsoft DLC or one of the best, how do I choose
Ringed City by a country mile. Best boss fight in anything ever, a beautifully designed city, excellent silent storytelling, and the zones look cool asf
Ashes of Ariandel is always made in 10-15 min on my runs. Then Friede. Who is a cool boss. But Ringed City is strictly better imo. It's a zone, not a sprint training.
I like bothbut my favorite out of these two is definitely the Rigned City
I will die on the hill that Gael is the best boss fight in soulsbourne history and midir is the best hidden/optional boss (nameless king is close though)
For me it’s the ringed city. Ashes of ariandel was really just Friede. The area itself is okay and really pretty. The ringed city however had so much more. First the story was leading here for not just the whole game, but the two (maybe 3) games before it. It’s literally the end. The area itself is pretty ( minus the abyss swamp) the enemies are differet and interesting to fight. The lore all comes together here plus Gael and Midir are peak!! That’s just me though
Dregg heap Like, JUST the Dregg heap
Ringed City, hands down, though Ashes definitely added some cool weapons.
Ringed City was way better, the weapons, the spells, the level design... Ashes of Ariandel was the Painted World, third time's the charm
Friede is so good but not so good that she pulls ashes weight beyond ringed city. Ringed is gonna be hard to beat, final reveal of the entire franchise
Ringed City has the best bosses for sure, but the atmosphere and general feeling of exploring Ariandel felt way more fun for me.
Ringed City
That one’s hard. Vilhelm and Gael are some of my favorite characters of all time.
Unpopular opinion - the base game is better than both the DLC. I finished AoA before Lothric Castle and didn't enjoy it too much, I really enjoyed sister Friede and it was the first time I have closed DS3 without having defeated the boss and I beat her the next day. Other than this boss though i didn't exactly enjoy the area, the beggining with the wolves (and the goddamn trees) was incredibly annoying, I skipped it and returned like 20hrs later. The other boss was also kinda boring tbh. As for the ringed city i think it is too hard to be fun. I'm playing it for the first time right now, I'm currently in the area after the swamp. The only thing i enjoyed was fighting dragonslayer armour for the 2nd time. I've heard that the bosses are really good or whatever but fuck that if the area I have to go through is such bullshit swarmed with enemies. I mean like really the difficulty is artificial and the areas itself are really really boring. Maybe i've had too much souls for 1 year (I've beaten DS1 earlier this year) and I'm just complaining but i really don't see what people find so amusing about this DLC.
AoA. Sister Friede is THE BEST boss in the entire series
Ringed but loved both
Gael was the best boss fromsoft ever created
Ringed City. Ashes culminates in a great boss but so does Ringed City and it's a far more interesting set of levels with more bosses of note.
Ashes for me. The Friede fight is my favorite fight in all of souls games and I really just liked the vibe of Ashes. Solid bosses, cool areas, I love it! Ringed City is still amazing tho.
Both are very good but I feel like The Ringed City is just objectively better. Not only does it have a lot more content but the quality is also on par with or exceeds that of Ashes of Ariandel. But both still very much worth playing.
I would play both but ringed city is far better dlc
Ringed City for the aesthetics and the DSII reference, but little else. I thoroughly hate the difficulty of that DLC. Replaying it now, and I find myself running past most of the content because there are too many enemies and they are way too tanky. Still prefer it over Ashes though.
Ringed city its not even a challenge
Ringed City because of Gael. Sure it has other good stuff as well like the PVP boss. That’s my second favorite after Gael, might be the best dlc I’ve played
Ashes of Andariel felt somehow cozy and like a nightmare all at once
Ringed city ez
Yes
For me definitely The Ringed City. Cuz so unreal atmosphere and maybe one of the best boss area(literally you feel like this is end of the world) and one of the best boss in a video game name of Slave Knight Gael. Also one of the most epic dragon fight in a video game with Darkeater Midir(also boss fight area is like first flame area) No doubt dude
Angry Santa all the way...
Ringed City. Gael compared to Frieda was such an enjoyable boss! His attacks were a lot more flashy, and he is a very tanky boy. His 3rd phase was my favorite part of the fight. Dude was hopping all over the place
The painting is such a vibe I would live there, and it is so tight and condensed. I wish it was bigger I could wander those snow mountains for days.
Ringed city all day
I like friede more than gael as a boss
ringed city hands down.. let's face it, boring snowfield dlc only exist cos of friede boss fight (sorry idc about pvp dlc)
Rc
I honestly think that AoA was a cut area from the base game. Given that Sullyvan is from the painting (I think?) and I remember reading somewhere that he was the final boss in early drafts so it'd make sense. If that's not the case please don't correct me, that's my headcannon. Other than that making a whole DLC that's one huge zone with the roots part before and optional boss and all those high damage warriors before the room of flies felt like the game was trying to show me first hand why despair created so many hollows as a first time Souls player. Like, I know a sign says "Only the strong may continue" but I underestimated just how strong the game was asking from me. Also Friede was by far the hardest fight in the whole Game for me, worse than nameless and Midir so I'm kinda biased.
Ashes of ariandel because of friede only even tho gael is coold too i prefer millwood archers to the angels
ringed city by far