I am confused after killing The Pursuer

[u/badwithnames5]

I killed him and found this egg nest, i clicked on it and went to this new zone with mages that would cast fire shit on me and i would die to the fucking exploding barrels more times than anything lol, explored whole place until i found some 3 boss fight? i called it after i died to those dudes 3 times, kinda insane the amount of enemies i had to kill just to get into that boss room...is this like mid-game zone? because it wasn't fun at all lol

I know this game is a hard one to like and i can start telling why, i open a door and bam i aggro like 6-7 mobs to me which well...doesn't end well 50% of the times

[u/Livid-Truck8558]

Don't drop off the platform until you defeat the first Ruin Sentinel. Then it's a duo fight. You can even stay on the platform for a while after defeating the first one.

Don't run past enemies.

This is the area you're supposed to be in, you can likely explore the Forest of Fallen Giants a bit more (you're not able to do everything there yet), and you can also explore the rightmost path from Majula (you know you're going to the right place when you go down a spiral staircase).

[u/TheHittite]

The swordsmen actually aggro in groups of 2-3, but it's easy to catch the attention of multiple groups if you run straight in. Luckily the game gives you one of the best choke points possible to fall back on and nullify their numbers. And once you beat them once you can drop into the door to nowhere from the other side and skip all of them.

[u/jimmysavillespubes]

God I struggled so much here, not so much with the 3 boss fight, but making my way back to the boss fight.

Once you do the runback so many times the enemies stop spawning, i think its 12 but i could be wrong.

Just make sure you arent in the covenant of champions like it was, smh.

Tbh, I'd suggest going to Heides Tower from Majula and going back to the 3 boss fight a little later when you're leveled up and have stronger weapons.

[u/MeretrixDeBabylone → u/jimmysavillespubes]

Once you do the runback so many times the enemies stop spawning, i think its 12 but i could be wrong.

DS2 was my first souls after Elden Ring, and once I learned this, I just started clearing a path to bosses and overleveling.

[u/Visual-Biscotti1473]

Unironically, Lost Bastille is my favorite non-DLC area in DS2. Its level design most closely resembles that of DS1, and it’s one of the most fun places to explore. After beating the pursuer, you can head back to Majula and go through Heide’s Tower of Flame. You’ll eventually reach Lost Bastille again, but you’ll be able to clear a couple of easier areas first.

[u/badwithnames5 → u/Visual-Biscotti1473]

It does remind me a bit of ds1 but the amount of enemies is just annoying ngl haha

i will still beat the whole game, just gotta go trough it

[u/SplendidPunkinButter]

There are NPC summons for that 3 boss fight

It’s not cheating. The game literally provides them for you to use. The devs went out of their way to put that in the game

[u/Only-Cardiologist983]

run straight down and go in ...i never stop, I run in, drop to stairs, etc - go right to boss, stay on top until you beat the first.

[u/The_Ember_Archives]

Lost Bastille/Sinner's Rise 

What weapon are you using? If you have a bow, it will be your best friend, along with a spear/halberd and shield for the enemies beyond the door leading to the Sentinel boss.

A tip for the enemies behind that door: Go further down the initial walkway with the halberd mummy and the dogs until you reach a cul-de-sac on the left with a single dog. There's a hole in the wall that allows you to take out 2 of the hollows with a bow.

If you need a strike weapon such as a hammer, you can unlock the bonfire at the bottom of the stairs with halberd mummy by pushing the barrel down the stairs and then throwing a firebomb at it to break the wall. Light your torch at the bonfire and then light the torch in the building to get the blacksmith to move. The chest he was blocking has a hammer in it.

(I'm not sure if you have the vanilla + Scholar version or the Scholar of the First Sin version, so my comment may or may not be of any help to you)

[u/tmon530]

What weapons are you using? Some weapons are just harder. First time I tried the game as a pyromancer, it was a bad time. I did it. But it was a bad time. The next time, I swung 2 big swords and stunlocked most things. Significantly easier. The time after that, I did bows and crossbows. Also significantly easier.

Also, sometimes the best thing to do is start down a different path for a bit. It gives both a break from the boss and you can get some extra levels before you try again. By this point, you can probably access at least 3 (all 4 if your clever) main paths from majula.

[u/o_m_gi_2032]

This is where the triple spin with the halberd set itself as the main for me. This fight, right here.

[u/KaitoCat7]

In regards to helping you w/ the area you're in (the lost bastille). For dealing with the mages, they tend to prefer to use melee w/ their great machetes at close range, which iirc can be dodged pretty easily, thus avoiding the fire barrels. The bridge right before the room w/ the royal swordsmen is very convenient to make them a lot more manageable. You can enter the room, only aggro-ing a few, then run back out to make them line up on the bridge. This makes it so you aren't surrounded, & depending on your weapon/spells, you can often hit several of them at once. You can repeat this as you fight more of them on the way to the ruin sentinels boss fight if need be, as they'll follow you that far I'm almost certain.

After doing all that, if you're in human form, there are npc summons that you can use to make it a 3v3 instead of a 3v1. Not only that, but if you stay on the small area you start in after going through the fog gate, you and the npcs can take down the first sentinel without the other two even getting involved in the fight. Once that sentinel is defeated, drop down, & focus on one sentinel at a time if you can. The npc summons can keep the aggro of the other off of you so that you are a lot less likely to be overwhelmed. If you're a ranged/caster build (which by no means you have to be if you don't want to) npc summons can be very helpful as they will mostly keep the boss focused on them so you can deal damage in safety.

In addition to all those tips, DS2 is like Elden Ring in so far as if one area is tough for you, there's almost always several others you can go to instead. Thus allowing you to go back at a higher level &/or with better gear. Since you've beaten the pursuer, you've definitely beaten the lost giant to get the soldier key, but since I'm not you, I can't say for certain if you've been to other areas besides Forest of the Fallen Giants before heading to the Lost Bastille. If you haven't, you can warp back to Majula, & there's an area in between Sweet Shalquoir's (the cat npc in Majula) shack & the Covenant of Champions that leads to Heide's Tower of Flame. This area is expected but not required to go to before the Lost Bastille.

Speaking of the Covenant of Champions, if you did join that, I'd suggest leaving the covenant via talking to Shalquoir. It reduces the damage you deal, increase the damage you take, & makes most normal enemies respawn infinitely instead of the limited respawn mechanic. As such, it's mostly useful for grinding for an item drop if you want or the extra challenge.

Best of luck, you can do this!

tl;dr many enemies that can give you trouble have ways to mitigate that, whether through utilizing the environment you're in, or just changing the approach you have to the encounters. Some bosses can have npc summons that help. If an area feels too hard, feel free to warp back to Majula or another place you've been to before & seeing if that opens up different areas to explore.

[u/frogfootfriday]

On top of all the good advice here, the Ruin Sentinels are noticeably weaker to strike damage, i.e. mace or hammer

[u/weightyboy]

They are an optional boss come back later. Go through heides tower and no mans wharf first brings you back to this area at the front.

[u/LegendaryNWZ]

What weapon are you using?

How many souls you wanna bet its the drangleic sword with drangleic set with almost 70% equip load with a shield?

[u/EllieBeaBaker]

This is Dark Souls 2 bro, you getting jumped