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[scy]

After reading some responses here I'm willing to give it another go at this mysterious third route from the Firelink shrine I apparently didn't notice. For the record I did talk to the guy there and I remember him specifically mentioning having the option to either go, "up to the undead church" or down to Blighttown. I don't remember anything about this third option but I'll look for it.

Guess I will go for try #5. :-/

To put it in perspective, the other two areas you went to aren't done until around halfway through the game. And going through the ruins for Blighttown requires the Master Key to do it that early as well.

I strongly recommend AGAINST playing with a guide as others have recommended. It kills the best part of the game: the exploration, discovery, and decision making processes.

I think an actual guide is unnecessary but maybe something to explain some of the systems (upgrading, stats, etc.). Explore on your own but maybe at least learn some of the mechanics.

Or just go in blind and do whatever.

If the undead church is where I want to start then now I'm wondering how the hell I ended up in the cemetery of death to begin with. It's been awhile since I played and ended up there but I vaguely remember going up the stairs to get to it.

There's two paths lading out from the starting bonfire: The spiral staircase down (the ruins) and a path leading up (the parish area). The cemetary is through the back of the starting area.

 

[Orayn]

If the undead church is where I want to start then now I'm wondering how the hell I ended up in the cemetery of death to begin with. It's been awhile since I played and ended up there but I vaguely remember going up the stairs to get to it.

Here. This is a guy taking the right route.

 

[EternalGamer]

To put it in perspective, the other two areas you went to aren't done until around halfway through the game. And going through the ruins for Blighttown requires the Master Key to do it that early as well.

This leads to basically the most important piece of advice, I think.

First Rule: If something seems too hard (like things kill you in one hit) it probably is. Come back later. Find somewhere else to go and revisit from time to time.

You spend enough time in the world and you learn your way around. I haven't played the game in over half a year and I still pretty much remember the path to every area. That just comes with time and attentiveness.

 

[scy]

This leads to basically the most important piece of advice, I think.

First Rule: If something seems too hard (like things kill you in one hit) it probably is. Come back later. Find somewhere else to go and revisit from time to time.

You spend enough time in the world and you learn your way around. I haven't played the game in over half a year and I still pretty much remember the path to every area. That just comes with time and attentiveness.

Basically every even fight you die in should have some obvious sense of "I totally could have won that" rather than "I got crushed." And I don't mean "I could've won if I parried everything and rolled out of every attack" but just general blocking more often or not being over aggressive. Dark Souls does a pretty good job, as far as the "proper" progression is concerned, of keeping you with fights that you should always win BUT you can lose it by just not being careful in the fight. That's the difficulty that people talk about, really. You can die just by not being careful when playing. That'll be the case instead of it just beating you senseless.

There are a few deaths at your expense though. But that's later.

 

[oracrest]

Screw a guide. Give everything an honest shot, and ask in the OT if you get stuck or have questions. The GAF Demon's/dark souls community is awesome, and super friendly. There are no stupid questions...

 

[EternalGamer]

Basically every even fight you die in should have some obvious sense of "I totally could have won that" rather than "I got crushed." And I don't mean "I could've won if I parried everything and rolled out of every attack" but just general blocking more often or not being over aggressive. Dark Souls does a pretty good job, as far as the "proper" progression is concerned, of keeping you with fights that you should always win BUT you can lose it by just not being careful in the fight. That's the difficulty that people talk about, really. You can die just by not being careful when playing. That'll be the case instead of it just beating you senseless.

There are a few deaths at your expense though. But that's later.

Yeah my basic rule was that I would block and if the thing I was fighting totally drained my entire endurance meter, I shouldn't try to fight it right now.

 

[SiegfriedFM]

Well, there's one thing that is way out of proportion with anything leading up to it. Capra Demon. However, you can bypass it entirely if you really don't want to fight it, although you will miss out on some upgrading options and, if you're not a Bandit, a shield that is really useful in Blighttown.

 

[thelatestmodel]

Well, there's one thing that is way out of proportion with anything leading up to it. Capra Demon. However, you can bypass it entirely if you really don't want to fight it, although you will miss out on some upgrading options and, if you're not a Bandit, a shield that is really useful in Blighttown.

I don't believe this is the case if you didn't pick the Master Key, as he drops the Key to the Depths. Someone correct me if I'm wrong!

 

[SiegfriedFM]

Well, yes, but everyone takes the key anyway

 

[jimi_dini]

But come on, it's got that Japanese clunkiness where your character has like... weight. You know what weight is in videogames? A physics engine. Frankly, if you're not using Havok then don't even bother because you're just a subpar Mega Man.

Don't want to ruin your rant, but Dark Souls and even Demon's Souls use Havok.

and the respawning makes sense. It would be totally easy otherwise. Just kill one enemy, go to fire, kill another enemy, go to fire, etc.

 

[Parallax Scroll]

You're actually pretty free to go with whatever kind of character and playstyle works for you. I went melee-heavy right from the start, and I almost never parry and only roll in a few specific situations. Instead I did a lot of blocking and moving in/out of melee range to beat enemies, and I had a blast playing it that way.

 

[Raptor]

Can you wear Black Knight armor?

If yes, then more reason to buy this masterpiece!

 

[Quikies83]

I'm for taking the master key -- it allows you to skip a good part of Blight Town. Can you pick up the master key from a merch or anything?? Or is it only available at character create?

 

[jimi_dini]

Can you wear Black Knight armor?

You can even do this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwO_YL7P2Jc
(people who haven't played the game far enough won't understand)

 

[thelatestmodel]

I'm for taking the master key -- it allows you to skip a good part of Blight Town. Can you pick up the master key from a merch or anything?? Or is it only available at character create?

It's only available at the character creation screen.

 

[Mxrz]

A guide can turn Dark Souls into just another routine game. We try to be helpful with questions in the OT, quite a few new players seem to pass through it for answers. But Looking to others to tell you exactly what to do isn't going to help much, most of the reward comes from learning how you should approach enemies and all that. Anyhoo, the usual

Drake Sword is good at first, gives you a bit of confidence in the Burg, and it does okay in the depths. By the time you reach Quelaag, its awful again. Don't bother upgrading it, but it still work picking up when you're new.

You can either upgrade your starting weapon to +5 (so so long term) or try to hold out with the Drake Sword long enough to beat Quelaag, open up Sen's Fortress and grab the Lightning Spear. Other options are farming Baldur Knights to get their Baldur Side sword (and upgrading), and/or buying charcoal resins from the female Undead Merchant you find in the water-tunnel-shortcut to the depths. - The Lightning Spear in Sen's makes the game easy again, especially if you upgrade it. Don't take it past +4, as its not good enough to drop use a slab on.

Upgrading armor helps, but it isn't essential. +5 is about all you can do early on, and it isn't a a huge difference given the time it takes. It is more effective to hold off until later, when finding the stones and souls is easier, but that will make some of the earlier levels harder.

The best way to not die is to not get hit. That means learning enemies attacks. Which requires practice, which often requires dying a lot. That's the the fun bit.

It's only available at the character creation screen.

You can buy it later from the NPC-Merchant you meet at the bottom of the Depths when he moves to outside Firelink.

 

[Raptor]

You can even do this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwO_YL7P2Jc
(people who haven't played the game far enough won't understand)

I don't know what that means, he tricked a dude and got killed?

I was talking about this armor:

If I can use it in the game.

 

[Orayn]

I don't know what that means, he tricked a dude and got killed?

I was talking about this armor:

If I can use it in the game.

Yep, that exact armor can be found near the end of the game. (There's also a silver version around half way through.) Some people actually build characters around getting it and "roleplaying" as a Black Knight that invades other players in certain areas.

 

[thelatestmodel]

You can buy it later from the NPC-Merchant you meet at the bottom of the Depths when he moves to outside Firelink.

Turns out this was added in patch 1.05, and I haven't actually visited him since before then. Good to know, thanks!

 

[Mxrz]

I don't know what that means, he tricked a dude and got killed?

I was talking about this armor:

If I can use it in the game.

It doesn't look exactly the same, but yeah. I never liked it too much. It looks too small for my characters, which always threw me off it. The Silver Knight version is a little better, but not much.

 

[Raptor]

Yep, that exact armor can be found near the end of the game. (There's also a silver version around half way through.) Some people actually build characters around getting it and "roleplaying" as a Black Knight that invades other players in certain areas.

Thank you, that is what I wanted to read, Im now playing Demon's Souls, but I will play this one right after I beat it.

 

[blainethemono]

I'm surprised by how few people go with a Sorcery build. With the right equipment it can be absolutely lethal.

For example, with my first character I started out as a Sorcerer (not necessary, I know, but I thought it was at the time). I decided I was going to look at the wikis sometimes, but try not to if possible.

I struggled through the first few bonfires and started pumping points into my intelligence stat, and before long my spells were really quite effective. It's important to free Griggs of Vinnheim (and Big Hat Logan later on) so you can learn more spells, and get a couple more attunement slots too so you don't run out of spells too often.

I also upgraded a common longsword into a magic one, and eventually turned it into an enchanted longsword. I go with the longsword just because I like the R2 thrust, it's a nice counter after a block. Magic / enchanted weapons are fantastic for magic users, as both your weapon and your magic gets stronger as your intelligence goes up.

By the end of the game (with 50 intelligence), I was one-shotting pretty much anything I wanted, and bosses only took a few hits with Homing Crystal Soulmass to go down. My sword was doing very good damage too.

There's no doubt that Dark Souls requires patience and some research, but it's one of the most rewarding games ever made.

I played royal in Demon's Souls because it made the beginning of the game super easy. I used the build from the perfect walkthrough by Volume pretty much, building for extremely high damage when at critically low health(Clever rats ring, morion blade, etc.)

Magic was ridiculously powerful with that build. I went through all of NG+ in a few hours damn near one shotting every single boss with homing soul arrow. Then in Dark Souls I played a pyromancer focusing on melee. It's just a lot more fun that way, the melee combat feels really good.

I definitely want to try something like this for my next character though, probably when Prepare To Die comes out

 

[Deadstar]

So, I bought Dark Souls maybe 4 or 5 months ago. The sheer amount of praise it garnered made me bite, but there were a few caveats that I knew I had to overcome/be open-minded about:

1. I've never played a modern RPG. I hate the 'jack of all trades, master of none' philosophy that usually governs them. I'm talking half-baked mechanics and shitty animation, usually synonymous with Bethesda (please correct me if I'm wrong here).

2. I'm not too hot on Fantasy settings. Spells and wizardry are not my bag.

Anyway, long story short, I lasted a few hours. The difficulty was definitely a factor, yes; I also may have been biding my time waiting for another release, but I'm not quite sure. That being said, I still saw and felt some magic. Even considering my very brief time with the game, I could tell that point #1 was not prevalent; quite the opposite, actually.

Since then, the intrigue has never left me. I feel like I owe it to myself to slog through this game, but I feel like I need to know what to do and how to approach things to minimise frustration/difficulty, i.e. best type of character for an RPG noob, etc. And this is where you guys come in.

Basically, tell me things that will stave of complete and utter feelings of FUCK ME, THIS IS OVERWHELMING. Should I just get a game guide?

Cheers for any advice!

You shouldn't have to "slog" through the game. After you beat a few bosses you should start to feel more powerful, both in the game sense and also in that you will just understand the mechanics of the game and become a better fighter. If you aren't having fun after 3-4 boss fights then the game probably isn't for you. I would also lay your summon sign down whenever you can. Helping someone through an area is a good way to learn the area and also how to fight the boss. There is no penalty for dying in this mode so that's a great place to start.

 

[KennyLinder]

I fucking LOVED Dark Souls. I bought it in November and it was literally all I played until May/June time when I finally Platinum'd the game (PS3 version obviously).

I bought the official game guide with it which I used occasionally, I used the Neogaf community thread which was incredibly handy, and the wiki and PS3 trophy guide for help or guidance. I would say you definitely need it for a bit of guidance, I found it very helpful for learning about weapon levelling and the covenants. And, if you want Platinum trophy or 1000/1000GS it's essential.

I put about 200 hours into it in the end, and got through half-way of NG++. At that point I had to give it a rest, but I really want to go back and try out the Mage builds. I went Pyromancer with Master Key. Now, Master Key might not be particularly useful on your first run through the game, but it certainly is when going back through it and you know what areas you want to get to (or skip etc).

Amazing experience, one I will always remember.

 

[Raptomex]

All this hype. I'm pretty proud of myself, though. I didn't give in. Waiting for that PC version. Will they re-release a guide for DS after the PC release? I hear there's new content.

 

[Parakeetman]

All this hype. I'm pretty proud of myself, though. I didn't give in. Waiting for that PC version. Will they re-release a guide for DS after the PC release? I hear there's new content.

In Japan anyways there will be a re-release of the game with the PC content included. Since I dont follow what goes on in the west no idea bout there.

 

[H_Prestige]

In Japan anyways there will be a re-release of the game with the PC content included. Since I dont follow what goes on in the west no idea bout there.

It will be DLC and re-release in the west too.

 

[B-Genius]

Screw a guide. Give everything an honest shot, and ask in the OT if you get stuck or have questions. The GAF Demon's/dark souls community is awesome, and super friendly. There are no stupid questions...

Spoken like the true master that he is.

I almost ruined my first Demon's Souls experience by referring to the mini guide (that came with the LE) on too many occasions. If you're constantly thinking "what if I mess up here? What if I take my character/weapon down the wrong leveling path?" then you won't enjoy it to the fullest.

Experiment, take your time, and like many have said, only use a guide if you're well and truly stumped by something you've attempted a few times!

If you really don't want to spoil yourself, ask in enough detail, and people on here will gladly give you hints on what to do next, or what you might want to consider. Seriously, these games are so much more fun if you go into them with a) the understanding that you will die and regret what you did, and b) that the satisfaction after redeeming your mistakes makes it all worth it.

 

[mickcenary]

Spoken like the true master that he is.

I almost ruined my first Demon's Souls experience by referring to the mini guide (that came with the LE) on too many occasions. If you're constantly thinking "what if I mess up here? What if I take my character/weapon down the wrong leveling path?" then you won't enjoy it to the fullest.

Experiment, take your time, and like many have said, only use a guide if you're well and truly stumped by something you've attempted a few times!

If you really don't want to spoil yourself, ask in enough detail, and people on here will gladly give you hints on what to do next, or what you might want to consider. Seriously, these games are so much more fun if you go into them with a) the understanding that you will die and regret what you did, and b) that the satisfaction after redeeming your mistakes makes it all worth it.

This sounds good. I've never been one to follow game guides, but I'm also unsure of my capacity to persevere in the face of failure.

Regardless, I'm buying this sucker tomorrow.

 

[2AdEPT]

DO NOT GET THE MASTER KEY AS A STARTING ITEM. It opens doors that shouldn't be open so soon. Its possibly good for more playthroughs though.

Okay, I just saw this thread and it would seem I am in a similar position to the OP but in Demons Souls.

I have had it for ages and have defeated Phalanx, Tower Knight, Armour Spider, Flamelurker, Fools Idol and Adjudicator using a combination of the wiki pages and spamming the magic skill. But I haven't played it properly in ages and I still have no idea how to level properly, so each time I try to go back to it I end up dying and switching it off.

Could someone point me in the right direction of where to head next, and which demon will be the easiest to kill.

In numeric order based on the list you gave.... you have done (each first number is the stone left to right inthe nexus):

1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 4.1. Pretty much the easy ones are outof the way LOL

Seriously though....If you can get through flamelurker you should be able to get through any boss. You won't have the option of doing 1.3 until you get at least three end bosses done like 2.3 3.3, 4.3, or 5.3.

World 5

There are easy levels and then there are easy bosses...the whole 5 world is new territory for you and the good news is that each boss is amoungst the esiest in the game. The bad news is that it is a poison filled world with sludge water that slows you down in 5.2 and part of 5.3 but this is a short level....5.2 is long. So before you go there you need to be prepared.....wearing black leather armour and having lots of poiso rememdy flowers will be importnat and make it much easier. This world is most peoples least favourite, mine also at first, but the developers reward patience and determination and there are tangible rewards for sticking it out. It is now one of my favourite levels right up there with 3.2/3.3, 2.2, and 1.4.

World 3

You have done the preliminary ground work here in 3.1 and this is magic users haven...well not really haven but you can replenish your mana here as the monsters drop the spice you need to replace magic power. 3.2 is a logical next step for you for several reasons....first, you can get several good rings, second you can save sage freke and therfore become a more powerful magic user, and finally, it holds the path to two of the best (not necessarily easy though) bosses in either souls game. 3.2 is ok if you go slow but there are lots of ways to die, not the easiest of which is to fall off the ledges. Arrows or ranged magic help.

World 4

Classic souls world at its best. Again you have done some preliminary work here but may have missed some good loot in 4.1. There is a trader bird here who can trade you some raunch shit. 4.2 is a good next step as it enables you to farm souls right afterthe spawn point, upgrade your shit, and become more powerful before heading anywhere else. Its going to be tough to finish the whole leve without summoning help (servers down) but doable again one step at a time.

World 2 (prolly easiest next step.)

Often in demon's the third boss is the last (except for world 1) and they are characteristically off hoil. 2.3 is a glorified QTE where you will have ot think about what to wear and bring with you, more than acually swing your weapon or throw magic....you won't have to do these things...more importnat is the shield you bring and the fire-protect armour and spells. Run like shit when you get the chance, hide behind pillars an this is a cakewalk boss as long as you mind the strategy and figure out the route.

Advice:

You have killed Flamelurker, a tough benchmark boss, whose soul enables you to get boss souls changed into AWESOME weapons (more so than dark souls) from blacksmit Ed (iirc) who is definitely in 2.1 even if i screwed up his name. You should pray you hven't spent this soul...its called Red Hot Demon's soul. Don't quit if you burned it, but starting over is an option if you want to experience boss soul weapons and magic etc. you will need to dialogue ed to get him to take the soulI fyou go strength based, there is a bone crushing dragon hammer in an alcove to the left of the main area at the start....becuase servers are down you should be able to get it even without killing the boss first and making the world white. With these options you can beast the rest of the game whether you choose to go sorcery, faith or strength...do choose one of those paths though, or an intelligetn combo of 2, before goign too muich furhter....similar to Dark...jack of all trades is not usually that helpful...although without online who cares....upgrade everything if you want..

I don't believe this is the case if you didn't pick the Master Key, as he drops the Key to the Depths. Someone correct me if I'm wrong!

Actaully it is possible to travel around and find a way to blightown even without the key...difficlut but possible...TAKE THE MASTER KEY!YOu must kill capra to dothe depths though.

I'm for taking the master key -- it allows you to skip a good part of Blight Town. Can you pick up the master key from a merch or anything?? Or is it only available at character create?

As mentioned it is available later but too much later....most of its usefulness is early...so take it early.

@ mickcenary: congrats about your sneaky suspicion that this game is worth the effort....rpg or not it is a special game that DOES have the best combat system of any rpg, perhaps, any game. The reason is that you feel you are the character...I recognize that it will feel this way for anyonespending 1000 hours in this seroes over the last 3 years as I have ...but it is more than that....teh weapon weighting makes sense as you noticed already, but as you find a plethora of weapons each one has movesets that can vary accross the controls.....the "best" are not agreed upon meaning YOU will need ot try all of tehm to seee which is best for you.

My advice is to not hnk black and white like many posters here....the best answer on wiki or not is ...some wiki....of course, but it is hard to keep yourself from reading further than you want...Ihad the Dark hardcover and read too far a lot...never again...next time I am goign with oracrests advice and going in totally blind....more reward.

Most advice on here is great but misleading.....make sure to heed the adice that says don't worry about keeping the same armour and weapon all game....each armour and weapon have a wide base of stats that help or even hinder in certain situations for example curse and poison protect as well as fire or magic or even lightning protect/damage. There is no one all encompassing weapon or magic that is best....all choices have limitations....even pyro. Pyro is great for early game (I alway supgrade and use it early game on all characters except sorcerer), but pyro quickly pales to magic and faith for reasons outlined above. There is nothing stoppingyou from having pyro AND a second magic lke fatih or sorcery You could have all three ready for certain situations although you would need lots of souls to upgrade all of them and would be switching attunement slots and cataluyst forthe glove etc. Each magic has a different source, glove, catalyst, or talisman.

You are as good as sold on this game in my estimation.....most just said pyro as it helps the most noob of noobs like the anti-death posters above.....but I fully expect you to like it enough to do a few playthroughs...as such, you MAY want your VIRGIN complete playthough to be special. If you do Iwould suggest setting yourself up for success by taking the sorcerer off the top. YOu can get the pyro glove early on in the game and sorcery is no slouch regardless. THis will set you up for building a character that will endure through the first complete run and also give you the option to do the multiplayer well. Taking pyro, you get a few too many points in resistance, whihc is a useless place to put any hard earned souls. Sorcerer has the LEAST stats in that category, so even though you may decide later to go mellee or even faith (in addition to pyro whihc isn't affected by stats) you will have the extra stats in a useful domain...not a crap one. So you can still do whatever you want for a dedicated character later iirespective of what you start with...but starting with any points in resistance is bad for buildinga PVP player in particular....whihc I am guessingyou will apprecate eventually....just a guess!!

So yeah, this is no ordinary rpg and thing smost people hate about Skyrim menas they usually like this one.....I can play rpg's a lot, but lost interest in skyrim becuase it lacks in what souls game offer....big world, but differetn bosses, ingenuity is required.....skyrim ...not so much. Also no multiplayer....huge huge fum with the multiplayer....souls games voted the best multiplayer for any genre let alone rpg on may sites.

Enjoy....I wish Iwere you...the virgin run is the best....once it is gone it is gone forever...sobs.....except if you summon me....and together we can rule the galaxy!!!!!!!!

Serioulsy though....summon PM me and send me messages on the psn to help with anything....i love reliving the noob experience:

PSN id #: adepterik2

 

[Leunam]

I have a friend who normally hates medieval fantasy and hard games, but he's finding himself drawn toward Dark Souls just because of all the mundane-yet-wonderful gear.

Got this armor, upgraded it, and never took it off.

 

[arglebargle]

Don't want to ruin your rant, but Dark Souls and even Demon's Souls use Havok.

and the respawning makes sense. It would be totally easy otherwise. Just kill one enemy, go to fire, kill another enemy, go to fire, etc.

i assumed he was joking, but after the comments on this page i am less certain.

WOAH.

Uhm, there are a few instances of cheapness across the games that does not make them regarded as the most fair.

Maneater in Demon Souls is a garbage boss that's AI will get stuck and kill the timer so you can get double teamed. I refuse to beat Demon Souls because of this stupid boss and its stupid platform to fight on.

Dropping to Nito inflicts damage on the user, so you can't go into the boss fight at full health.

You can end up spending a good chunk of time memorizing every detail of Tomb of Giants in pitch black through trial and error. Why? Because you're going to get kicked off ledges by giant skeletons and why did they design this area? Stupid shit.

I ended up skipping the T Rex leg room in Lost Izalith but I've heard it is some stupid shit.

Ghosts in the ruins that you have to trial and error pulls on so you don't get knocked into the water/face hugged through walls/ganged by 6 hidden ones.

There are moments that are clearly not fair but, the whole objective of the game was to kill you, whether it was an earned death or a forced one is up for debate.

maneater, nito, new londo ghosts, and probably tomb of giants are all fair. that doesnt mean they are easy, but they are fair. there are other bosses

Spoiler

that guy when you return to the asylum...stray demon maybe?

that you dont get to fight at full health either. not sure why that makes it unfair. im not sure what you mean about the AI with the maneaters, but again, being double teamed is not unfair, it just requires you to change tactics.

lost izalith, both the t-rex room (pre-patch at least) and the boss of that area are pretty shitty, ill give you that.

 

[RiverBed]

Ok, the game is super hard for me: what is the 'easiest' class to start with? I got the guy with the axe that supposedly uses fire magic. But ironically, I can't use fire spells when I am dead(which is the beginning of the game).
Any help/advise?

 

[arglebargle]

Ok, the game is super hard for me: what is the 'easiest' class to start with? I got the guy with the axe that supposedly uses fire magic. But ironically, I can't use fire spells when I am dead(which is the beginning of the game).
Any help/advise?

you can use pyromancies even when hollow. you have to have the pyromancy flame and the fireball spell equipped and then just attack. what makes you think you cant use it while dead?

edit:

i dont know exactly what the easiest class is to start with. probably pyromancer, but it sorta depends on your play style. in demons souls i think it was much clearer that royal was easy mode than which is the easiest class in dark souls.

 

[The Teachinator]

Great thread. I actually beat Demons Souls and loved it. I started Dark Souls but something didnt click. Because of this read I went back today! I will die! But I will win!

 

[MrSerrels]

Basically every even fight you die in should have some obvious sense of "I totally could have won that" rather than "I got crushed." And I don't mean "I could've won if I parried everything and rolled out of every attack" but just general blocking more often or not being over aggressive. Dark Souls does a pretty good job, as far as the "proper" progression is concerned, of keeping you with fights that you should always win BUT you can lose it by just not being careful in the fight. That's the difficulty that people talk about, really. You can die just by not being careful when playing. That'll be the case instead of it just beating you senseless.

There are a few deaths at your expense though. But that's later.

This is awesome advice.

 

[demidar]

Be a man and finish the game without a guide, like I did. Afterwards you can look through guides and be in awe at all the things you missed. There are a lot of secrets in the game for those perceptive enough (area spoilers:

Spoiler

Finding Ash Lake was crazy, didn't think they'd hide entire areas and entering the painting, wow

though I found them on my first run through) This game does a damn good job and making you feel awesome at killing bosses though, especially with melee. Taking down S&O with melee will make you feel like a god. Also Nito is a joke, I 4-shot him.

I do agree that there's a lot of information that's very obscured, like what Covenants do, and you should consult a guide if you're dying to know but I still think the first runthrough should be guide free so you can put your real-life perception skills to actual work. If you do hit a brick wall though then look through a guide, as it would be a shame for someone to not finish this excellent game.

 

[Gr1mLock]

Yep, that exact armor can be found near the end of the game. (There's also a silver version around half way through.) Some people actually build characters around getting it and "roleplaying" as a Black Knight that invades other players in certain areas.

Yeah that got old pretty quickly. Its pretty gnarly the first time it happens though.

 

[2AdEPT]

Ok, the game is super hard for me: what is the 'easiest' class to start with? I got the guy with the axe that supposedly uses fire magic. But ironically, I can't use fire spells when I am dead(which is the beginning of the game).
Any help/advise?

This game is not for everyone.....and surely the benefits the fans feel are there are not universal....but I bet most people put it down without giving themselves a chance to like it....and the benefits are more universal than some think.

Sorcerer might actually be just as easy as pyro...but the game is hard at the start no matter what you do...all must investin patience, upgrading, and strategy....when your own strategy that you came up with on your own works....and no one told you the secret....then you will be addicted too .....I guarantee.

both pyro and miracles/sorcery require two things....a sourceof power which you hold in your hand, and the spell or miracle which tyou must attune at the bonfire and put in its slot. either pyro or sorcer starts out with all you need for the basic, as does faith cleric...but clerics only get a heal spell not an attack weapon off the bat. So once you choose your pyro or sorcerer escape the tutorial boss then the magic items start showing up... (it is possible to beat it with the stub but I have never bothered as it takes too long even if you know howw to dodge the attacks and you get the weapon other ways later.) By the timeyou are supposed to drop on the demon's head...you should have your pyro or sorcery cooking.

I am not trying to brag as anyone that spent as mucvh time as I hve on these games could do it, but I have made it all the way to ornstein and smough without leveling the pyro character nor upgrading ANYTHING...just found better and better base equipment.....again not bragging but this proves that when there is a will there is a way and it falls on startegy...not brute force....no summoning either...but htis will help you immensely and can be considered the intent ofthe game for any boss that has two enemies in it. Learn to use the stone that allows you enter others' worlds...you get a chance at extra souls and humanity and nothing to lose...they get whatever help you can give for a boss or route to one...every little bit helps and teaches you about the level for free if nothing else.

 

[Badgerst3]

You tube vids by "epicnamebro" we're hugely helpful for me on later bosses.

YouTube search darks souls epicnamebro. Guy just sounded pretty cool too. American teacher living in Japan I think.

Game is worth a second shot and another time investment. At least get the drake sword and feel bad ass for a while...

 

[DSGamer]

First off, get the game. It's beautiful. It's beautiful and there's no harm in getting tips in this game.

Secondly I think you need to understand that this game is an old school 8-bit game in an immersive 3D skin. I find that when you come at a game from the right angle you often enjoy it more. I play Skyrim or Fallout, for example, with the intent to just explore. If I never finish the game I never finish it. That's not the point of playing it for me. When I play COD I skip the story and just barrel into the MP. I embrace the best parts of games and try to meet them on their terms.

The Brainy Gamer wrote an excellent article about this.

http://www.brainygamer.com/the_brainy_gamer/2011/10/soul-dojo.html

The gist of it is basically this. That he struggled with Dark Souls when he tried to "beat" the game. When he put it on a list of things to finish before moving on to the next thing. You won't enjoy Dark Souls that way, IMO. Dark Souls is most enjoyable when taken at face value. If you get angry for losing souls you're missing the point. The point isn't to punish you. It's to get you to enjoy playing the game for its own sake, like you used to. I hated the game until I literally read the article and approached it that way. Now it's one of my favorite games ever. Give it a shot.

 

[ripastraea]

Master Key is sold by Domhnall of Zena
http://darksouls.wikidot.com/domhnall-of-zena

He can be found before the boss in The Depths. Later in the Firelink as well

 

[Parakeetman]

This sounds good. I've never been one to follow game guides, but I'm also unsure of my capacity to persevere in the face of failure.

Regardless, I'm buying this sucker tomorrow.

Good luck and Godspeed!

 

[mickcenary]

Good luck and Godspeed!

Thanks! I'm thinking I'll need it.

I have a friend who normally hates medieval fantasy and hard games, but he's finding himself drawn toward Dark Souls just because of all the mundane-yet-wonderful gear.

Man, that looks so rad. I can make any class look like that, right?

 

[Parakeetman]

Thanks! I'm thinking I'll need it.



Man, that looks so rad. I can make any class look like that, right?

Basically. Though it will be your stats that will determine if you will be able to move correctly or not in it though haha

 

[vidcons]

maneater, nito, new londo ghosts, and probably tomb of giants are all fair. that doesnt mean they are easy, but they are fair. there are other bosses

Spoiler

that guy when you return to the asylum...stray demon maybe?

that you dont get to fight at full health either. not sure why that makes it unfair. im not sure what you mean about the AI with the maneaters, but again, being double teamed is not unfair, it just requires you to change tactics.

lost izalith, both the t-rex room (pre-patch at least) and the boss of that area are pretty shitty, ill give you that.

maneaters ai can "break" and they'll never land or get in range for you to attack. i've never beat this boss because this happens every time i fight them. there is a timer that you must take advantage of to deal a good amount of damage to the first monster. if that monster never lands then you're stuck fighting two of them who are at full health. those two may not decide to land. the area is also awkwardly designed where you can get slapped and glide against pillars and then shoot off the ledge.

it's unpleasant and doesn't so much test your ability to fight the boss as it does test your ability to either cheese them or get lucky.

no matter how you proceed through the tunnels, you can not fight nito without taking damage because of the drop into his pit. that's garbage, mate.

the new londo ghosts are pure trial and error. you pretty much have to memorize all of their locations and pulls to make it through that area. that's not fair in the sense of exploration. once you know how to deal with the area, yeah, you're only going to die from your own mistakes. that still doesn't change the fact that you're pretty much guaranteed to die the first time you go through that area because the whole place is cheap. tomb of giants has this same problem. what are your options here for your first time through? get lucky with a lantern drop before? get that headlamp bug? maybe a spell? dumb stuff.

tomb of giants problem isn't even that it's dark, it's that you've got these big skeletons hiding in corners, waiting to kick you off the ledge. you can't see the ledge and you can barely see the enemies. that doesn't stop the game from having you slide down a ramp right next to ~2 of them who will promptly attempt to boot you off.

you'll die by your own means in dark souls once you've memorized it. until you've got the layouts figured out, cheap shit will happen (dragon bridge)

 

[JVIDICAN]

Agree with people saying pyro. really fun class for a first play through.
I went out of my way getting a level 15 pyro with just about every spell available. Great combustion + Capra demon = 3 hit kills and allot of grateful summoners.

 

[KO Traveling Hobo]

Beginning: halberd = gg.

Later:
1. Get Havel/Ornstein's set, Darkwood Grain Ring, Lightning Greataxe +5, and a greatshield
2. Smack shit
3. Consume copious Estus Flasks
4. Continue smacking shit until it dies
5. Collect souls

 

[KennyLinder]

What about magic builds? I assume it doesn't really matter which starting character you have?

I definitely do want to go back to the game after Platinuming it try out some magic like Great Soul Arrow, Great Heavy Soul Arrow, Soul Spear, and Homing Soulmass as they're badass

 

[RedAssedApe]

There are some suicide runs you can do at the beginning of the game to get some decent equipment and upgrade your flask. Kindle a bonfire and get more flasks.