I think finding a good place to practice and having a good shield option for it is essential. Since you mentioned you're on Aldrich you're already at a very good spot for it, that bonfire at Anor Londo lets you bait one of the patrolling knights down to the bonfire and every attack they do that isn't coated in lightning is parryable, so you can try it out on one of them near the bonfire so you don't drop souls or anything. As far as shield goes, using the tiny leather shield will give you the largest parry windows and make it easier to connect the parries. For a while in DS3 I was trying to use one of the crest shields with the parry option but the windows on those are incredibly unforgivable compared to the leather shield. I'd keep the leather shield as an offhand option since it's light and doesn't make you drop much else, and switch to it when there's something I'd want to parry. I'm pretty sure on my current DS3 playthrough I'm using the same build as you and I've been able to fit it into my arsenal without having to adjust armor or weaponry. As far as knowing what attacks can be parried...it's kinda just trial and error in DS3, similar to Elden Ring (although Elden Ring having that amazing counterattack mechanic made me not really care to parry in it). Bosses typically aren't outside of invader-esque bosses, Pontiff is the exception where it's nearly every attack. Most enemies with blades smaller than greatswords will be parryable. Finding the window really does just kinda come down to feel. For a while I had the same issue and was trying to figure out how to "feel" the parry window, and every explanation/tutorial I saw about it made me do worse at it honestly. But finding a practice spot where I could get the feel for myself helped a ton.
Still stuck on Malenia - I've not been doing this for 3 nights now. When I get tired of fighting her I go power level for a bit at the mohgwyn palace. I respec'd to put more into stamina and vigor and it's helped me get to the 2nd phase much more consistently. Wish I could summon pot head - he's my inspiration.
This is where I learn I could've summoned Alexander for the Fire Giant That thing took me forever and I would've taken any help I could've gotten holy hell
Between me with my Bloodhound +10, my mimic tear +10, and Alexander (+ friend?), there was never any doubt
If I activate a rune arc before using my mimic, does the mimic have those bonuses as well? I've got like 27 rune arcs saved up for the end game lol
That’s exactly where I practiced last night. Aldrich didn’t take me very long at all but the dancer is giving me a run for my money so I’m practicing a bit on the early enemies there. I use the farron keep greatsword as my main weapon which you can parry with as a two hander but it’s a dagger parry so if I miss I get walloped but my shield is pretty big and has an unforgiving window but I need it for normal blocking especially with the dancer
I've never tried a dagger parry, I need to give that a shot sometime and see how it works Aldrich took me forever haha, it's funny to see how different everyone's runs are. Pontiff was like 2 tries, Dancer was a few (dancer is definitely insane though), but Aldrich I took an enormous amount of attempts on
My first attempt of dancer was extremely, extremely close and every attempt since has been a shit show lol but I’ll get there
Man watching how long it takes him to solo her is grueling. I think my problem is that I'm too impatient.
I refuse to do a major respec to beat Malenia. If I respec, it will just be minor adjustments to take some of my magic-based strength and put it into Vigor and Stamina. My issue up until now was that my character is a glass cannon - a build that's worked really well for me up until now. I can take out a 10th of her health bar with a single hit, but I'm killed in 3 swings and I run out of stamina and can't avoid her.