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[Leunam]

I got killed the other night by some invader. He had a little dinky rapier looking sword and I was blocking with my eagle shield. most of his hits registered at full power even when attacking me head on. I assumed he had some spell or item that negated or reduced blocking effectiveness, but maybe it's just this.

He might have had a Shotel.

 

[Sullichin]

You know, I can't even figure out what reinforcing my shield does. I don't care about attack power, as i don't really parry. Upgraded my eagle shield to +3 or +4 but it doesn't seem to affect any relevant stats.


Not really a fan of the leveling system in this game. To be fair, when I was first starting out I barely understood how it worked. I was putting into my strength,dex, and faith, because my divine gargoyle halberd scaled with those, but poorly. but it seemed my only way to get any more damag. but something felt wrong when i would need to up my STR 2 points to get another point of damage for my right hand weapon lol. Now, between after visiting two different blacksmiths and farming for tianite, I have an upgraded lightning weapon that does wayyy more damage than my halberd (and it's a sycthe so it has the same move set which i'm now familiar with). It doesn't scale at all and many of my stats now seem useless. I know a divine weapon will come in handy in the catacombs but it's not very high damage anyway.

it's kind of silly how they limit invasions based on 10% level gap. Someone could be level 30 and have crazy equipment and weapons. Or you can be like me and accidentally over level while still being underpowered and have trouble getting help in an area.

EDIT: I don't think i'm that overleveled actually, but probably higher than average. Think i'm SL60 trying to fight the anor londo boss.

 

[The_Darkest_Red]

You know, I can't even figure out what reinforcing my shield does. I don't care about attack power, as i don't really parry. Upgraded my eagle shield to +3 or +4 but it doesn't seem to affect any relevant stats.

The main thing it does is increase the shield stability. This stat is EXTREMELY important because it determines how much stamina it takes for you to absorb an enemy blow.

 

[scy]

You miss the lava entirely? Why would you want to cheat yourself from seeing the most well designed portion of the entire game?

It's worth doing that bit for the loot at least. It's not so bad once you cut down Jurassic Park down there; I'd say to do Lost Izalith once to experience it as intended and then just shortcut it. The shortcut makes the run like a 2 or 3 minute ordeal (depending on how fast you can kill the Prowling Demon), so it's worth it when you're just trying to clear it and be done with it.

Plus, it's not like the 30 Humanity farm is that hard or long by this point in the game. That's like half an hour in the Tomb.

 

[oracrest]

You know, I can't even figure out what reinforcing my shield does. I don't care about attack power, as i don't really parry. Upgraded my eagle shield to +3 or +4 but it doesn't seem to affect any relevant stats.


Not really a fan of the leveling system in this game. To be fair, when I was first starting out I barely understood how it worked. I was putting into my strength,dex, and faith, because my divine gargoyle halberd scaled with those, but poorly. but it seemed my only way to get any more damag. but something felt wrong when i would need to up my STR 2 points to get another point of damage for my right hand weapon lol. Now, between after visiting two different blacksmiths and farming for tianite, I have an upgraded lightning weapon that does wayyy more damage than my halberd (and it's a sycthe so it has the same move set which i'm now familiar with). It doesn't scale at all and many of my stats now seem useless. I know a divine weapon will come in handy in the catacombs but it's not very high damage anyway.

it's kind of silly how they limit invasions based on 10% level. Someone could be level 30 and have crazy equipment and weapons. Or you can be like me and accidentally over level while still being underpowered and have trouble getting help in an area.

The system is ambiguous, and it was like that in Demon's Souls. There is leveling up weapons, and changing stats, but also just many, many more variables going on that influence damage to the enemy, such as weaknesses to certain elements/ weapon types. It's best to just mess around with different things, and see what happens. If you find a weapon that feels good to wield, just go with that, and don't stress about stats, or which one is better.

The saving grace is that if you have the physical fighting mechanic down, then you will be fine with any weapon.

Endurance is most important for using good heavy armors and being able to roll good, and STR for wielding larger weapons faster. All stats increase your defense equally, simply based off of your soul level number. And, it's pretty fine to just go willy nilly with upgrading your stats during a first playthrough. You can focus on tight, specific builds during later playthroughs.

 

[Sullichin]

The main thing it does is increase the shield stability. This stat is EXTREMELY important because it determines how much stamina it takes for you to absorb an enemy blow.

Thanks. I kind of assumed it would do something like that, that's why I bothered upgrading it. I could have sworn I didn't see any numbers changing in the menu though when I went to upgrade. I was probably staring at the wrong screen.

Does havel's armor slow down stamina regen?

 

[Haunted]

What's wrong with the damage scaling in the game?

I was thinking of ditching my Drake Sword and pursue an upgraded Astora's Straight Sword +X path because I don't enjoy not seeing the points I put in my character actually reflected in the dmg output.

At what point (lvl or particular stat) does this become worthwhile?

 

[scy]

Does havel's armor slow down stamina regen?

Yup. I believe the last armor to not is Elite Knight (sans Legs); Black Iron doesn't seem to have a big hit but I haven't sat down and timed it, just eyeballed it.

What's wrong with the damage scaling in this game?

I was thinking of ditching my Drake Sword and pursue an upgraded Astora's Straight Sword +X path because I don't enjoy not seeing the points I put in my character actually reflected in the dmg output.

At what point (lvl or particular stat) does this become worthwhile?

Astora's is just a C scale, if I remember; it should be scaling fine up until 30 where it halves the gain and then basically stops at 40.

 

[The_Darkest_Red]

Thanks. I kind of assumed it would do something like that, that's why I bothered upgrading it. I could have sworn I didn't see any numbers changing in the menu though when I went to upgrade. I was probably staring at the wrong screen.

Does havel's armor slow down stamina regen?

Yeah, it does. I think it tells you in the item description. Stability is on the top of the screen on the right side in the detailed stat view for shields.

 

[Haunted]

The main thing it does is increase the shield stability. This stat is EXTREMELY important because it determines how much stamina it takes for you to absorb an enemy blow.

So that's what that is!

Hugely important information.

 

[The_Darkest_Red]

It's worth doing that bit for the loot at least. It's not so bad once you cut down Jurassic Park down there; I'd say to do Lost Izalith once to experience it as intended and then just shortcut it. The shortcut makes the run like a 2 or 3 minute ordeal (depending on how fast you can kill the Prowling Demon), so it's worth it when you're just trying to clear it and be done with it.

Plus, it's not like the 30 Humanity farm is that hard or long by this point in the game. That's like half an hour in the Tomb.

Yeah I'm actually glad that I played through Lost Izalith just to see what all the fuss was about. It was frustrating at times and the enemies you fight during the lava section are kind of dumb but it was a unique area and I'm glad I saw it.

I don't really "hate" any areas in the game, but I definitely think Lost Izalith is one of the weaker ones.

 

[Sullichin]

Yeah, it does. I think it tells you in the item description. Stability is on the top of the screen on the right side in the detailed stat view for shields.

Hm. I think it's worth it.. Havel's stuff is by far the best I have in my inventory. You can't upgrade or scale it though. Anything that increases stamina recovery besides that one shield with only 95% dmg absorption? I do have the ring of favor and protection which gives me a pretty big boost to my stamina bar.

 

[The_Darkest_Red]

Hm. I think it's worth it.. Havel's stuff is by far the best I have in my inventory. You can't upgrade or scale it though. Anything that increases stamina recovery besides that one shield with only 95% dmg absorption? I do have the ring of favor and protection which gives me a pretty big boost to my stamina bar.

There's a ring somewhere in The Great Hollow that increases stamina regen, I can't remember what it's called though. I use Ornstein's armor because I refuse to go over 50% equip burden and Havel's stuff is just so freakin' heavy.

EDIT: The Cloranthy Ring.

EDIT: Ah, yeah, I forgot about Mask of the Child. I use that every once in awhile because I don't have the ring.

 

[tokkun]

Hm. I think it's worth it.. Havel's stuff is by far the best I have in my inventory. You can't upgrade or scale it though. Anything that increases stamina recovery besides that one shield with only 95% dmg absorption? I do have the ring of favor and protection which gives me a pretty big boost to my stamina bar.

The Cloranthy Ring and the Mask of the Child.

 

[Haunted]

Astora's is just a C scale, if I remember; it should be scaling fine up until 30 where it halves the gain and then basically stops at 40.

Thanks. Astora's has 3 stats affecting it - is the highest stat the most important one or does it scale with each stat?

So basically, (theorycrafting so I understand the mechanics better and disregarding future builds and weapons for the moment) would I be better served scaling up strength and dexterity up to 30 instead of having strength at 40 and dexterity at 20?

 

[Ace Harding]

The main thing it does is increase the shield stability. This stat is EXTREMELY important because it determines how much stamina it takes for you to absorb an enemy blow.

Man I feel dumb. I vaguely knew that stability had something to do with being stunned - I thought higher number = less chance to be stunned. But it sounds like stability is more specific - how much of a stamina hit you take when you block?

I was also wondering why you'd mod a shield (other than magic/elemental defense I guess?) - here's my answer. I need to focus on that more!

 

[Sullichin]

There's a ring somewhere in The Great Hollow that increases stamina regen, I can't remember what it's called though. I use Ornstein's armor because I refuse to go over 50% equip burden and Havel's stuff is just so freakin' heavy.

EDIT: The Cloranthy Ring.

I'll check that out. I still need to use havel's ring to stay under 50% burden, and I can't take off my other ring or it will break forever and i'll probably kill myself irl. i plan on boosting up END so I can free up that spot once again. I liked having the wolf ring but increased stamina recovery might be better. I haven't even been in the great hollow yet. I turned around when I saw those fucking frogs. I'm up to the anor londo boss, so maybe i'll get that armor too.

 

[Akuun]

That one doesn't count because it is hilariously broken.

At least it doesn't block 100% physical damage like more normal shields, can't parry, and goes through durability quickly. Those are the only reasons why I keep another shield that I can switch to on the left hand.

Does upgrading the shield increase its magic attack damage?

Quelaag's Fury Sword is pretty good too, but I find it strangely lacking against some opponents. I assume those are the ones that are strong to fire.

 

[StMeph]

Hm. I think it's worth it.. Havel's stuff is by far the best I have in my inventory. You can't upgrade or scale it though. Anything that increases stamina recovery besides that one shield with only 95% dmg absorption? I do have the ring of favor and protection which gives me a pretty big boost to my stamina bar.

Giant's armor upgraded with Twinkling has better defenses (but no Curse resistance) than Havel's set.

Edit: Elite Knight +10 also has better defenses than Havel's, but much lower Poise. Giant's is just the highest total defense (I think).

Also the Cloroanthy Ring (found

Spoiler

in the Great Hollow

) and Mask of the Child (

Spoiler

Pinwheel

drop or buy from

Spoiler

Patches

) grants improved Stamina regeneration.

 

[The_Darkest_Red]

Man I feel dumb. I vaguely knew that stability had something to do with being stunned - I thought higher number = less chance to be stunned. But it sounds like stability is more specifically how much of a stamina hit you take when you block?

I was also wondering why you'd mod a shield (other than magic/elemental defense I guess?) - here's my answer. I need to focus on that more!

Yeah man, it makes a huge difference! I would occasionally switch shields to get a benefit against a particular type of elemental damage and I would notice a huge difference in how much stamina it took for me to block blows even with a drop of only 10 or so in stability.

 

[scy]

Yeah I'm actually glad that I played through Lost Izalith just to see what all the fuss was about. It was frustrating at times and the enemies you fight during the lava section are kind of dumb but it was a unique area and I'm glad I saw it.

I only hate it because the glow of the lava was annoying to look at. That and I don't like fire levels in general anyway.

I don't really "hate" any areas in the game, but I definitely think Lost Izalith is one of the weaker ones.

I loathe the Great Hollow. Catacombs and New Londo too, but that's mostly because 90% of the kills in them don't give you souls :/

Thanks. Astora's has 3 stats affecting it - is the highest stat the most important one or does it scale with each stat?

So basically, (theorycrafting so I understand the mechanics better and disregarding future builds and weapons for the moment) would I be better served scaling up strength and dexterity up to 30 instead of having strength at 40 and dexterity at 20?

I'm not sure if they're all equal Cs but they each scale so when one stat starts to slow down, raise another. 30/30/-/30 beats out 50/20/-/20, for instance. That said, I don't know the weapon very well so I don't know what to expect out of it, sorry :/ I've been meaning to look into it since weapons that scale with more stats should have a higher damage cap.

Also worth noting is that Astora's deals split damage; essentially, it hits twice, one vs Physical DEF and one vs Magic DEF. Not sure what the damage formula is yet but the damage should be relatively low until it exceeds the target DEF values enough. It's why the Drake Sword deals so much at the 200 power; damage scaling vs DEF doesn't seem to be linear.

 

[scosher]

Man I feel dumb. I vaguely knew that stability had something to do with being stunned - I thought higher number = less chance to be stunned. But it sounds like stability is more specific - how much of a stamina hit you take when you block?

I was also wondering why you'd mod a shield (other than magic/elemental defense I guess?) - here's my answer. I need to focus on that more!

You're thinking of poise, which is found on heavy armors. Poise = less chance of being stunned by attacks and you can just follow through with your own attack. Pretty much made heavy armors useful in this game, whereas in Demon's Souls they were all pretty worthless.

Stability for shields is for reducing stamina drain on blocks. Pretty much no reason to mod a shield besides its normal path cause only the normal path upgrades its stability (Crystal too I think, but why have an un-repairable shield). Making a shield fire or magic enchanted does increase its fire or magic block I believe, but generally it's better to just swap to a different shield if you're facing an enemy/boss that does a lot of fire or magic damage.

 

[Desaan]

I wonder what these elemental weapon changes are going to be like, there is no fucking way a +5 Lightning Spear should be doing almost 1/3 more damage than a fully upgraded +5 boss soul weapon. I understand the stat scaling is removed for enchanted weapons but even still you need a fucking crazy number pump into one particular stat to make the boss soul weapon even comparable, which gimps you in other areas.

Massive design oversight.

 

[Akuun]

Yeah, I found it strange how the random lightning spear that I found in a chest suddenly became my go-to weapon in all encounters, regardless of my stat build and previous weapon usage, simply because it is just so damn strong.

 

[scy]

I wonder what these elemental weapon changes are going to be like, there is no fucking way a +5 Lightning Spear should be doing almost 1/3 more damage than a fully upgraded +5 boss soul weapon.

I'm half expecting them to just nerf Elemental Weapons and be done with it :/ Maybe bumping up some Cs to Bs and Bs to As (why the hell is there ONE A-scaling Faith melee weapon?) but that's practically a pipe dream, honestly.

 

[Mattdaddy]

He might have had a Shotel.

Ahhh does that ignore blocking?

 

[Haunted]

I'm not sure if they're all equal Cs but they each scale so when one stat starts to slow down, raise another. 30/30/-/30 beats out 50/20/-/20, for instance. That said, I don't know the weapon very well so I don't know what to expect out of it, sorry :/ I've been meaning to look into it since weapons that scale with more stats should have a higher damage cap.

Also worth noting is that Astora's deals split damage; essentially, it hits twice, one vs Physical DEF and one vs Magic DEF. Not sure what the damage formula is yet but the damage should be relatively low until it exceeds the target DEF values enough. It's why the Drake Sword deals so much at the 200 power; damage scaling vs DEF doesn't seem to be linear.

Thanks. That's interesting stuff.

From what I'm reading in this thread, the (apparently) messed up damage scaling is supposed to be fixed in a future patch, so I'm not sure it makes sense to really understand the math behind this now as it's going to be changed anyway.

 

[The_Darkest_Red]

I'm half expecting them to just nerf Elemental Weapons and be done with it :/ Maybe bumping up some Cs to Bs and Bs to As (why the hell is there ONE A-scaling Faith melee weapon?) but that's practically a pipe dream, honestly.

I wish they would just bump up the effects of all stat scaling. I don't mean change letters, I mean make each letter more meaningful.

 

[maomaoIYP]

Finally got all the achievements. 130 hrs. 2.5 playthroughs with one character.

Hardest one to get was all the miracles, because I played everything solo and only had the patience to wait for 2 boss fight summons.

Now to play with a mage character.

 

[oracrest]

Hm. I think it's worth it.. Havel's stuff is by far the best I have in my inventory. You can't upgrade or scale it though. Anything that increases stamina recovery besides that one shield with only 95% dmg absorption? I do have the ring of favor and protection which gives me a pretty big boost to my stamina bar.

If you're using a shield, 100% damage absorption is critical. Like they said, the rest is how much of a solid hit it can withstand with the more powerful enemy attacks. It's the difference between being overcome and crushed by a hammer, versus taking the hit unscathed, but drained stamina.

Lowering your shield to recover stamina fast is another integral part of shield use. Many harder enemies are designed with the idea that a good player will only raise his shield when it needs to be up to block, and be recovering stamina at a rate fast enough to stay in the tangle of the fight.

 

[Switters]

Just popping by to let you guys know I two shot Dragon Slayer Ornstein with the Crystal ring shield while wielding a +3 occult great club. So satisfying.

Crystal Ring Shield breaks (makes easy) the rest of the game once you get it and have a high damage weapon equipped in your main hand.

The only draw back is the need to frequently repair.

One shots Capra and Taurus Demons with a fully upgraded Occult Great Club.

One shots Skelly giants and dogs. Nito went down in 4 shots.

I'm SL 52.

Feels good to have some payback.

 

[The_Darkest_Red]

Lowering your shield to recover stamina fast is another integral part of shield use. Many harder enemies are designed with the idea that a good player will only raise his shield when it needs to be up to block, and be recovering stamina at a rate fast enough to stay in the tangle of the fight.

This is basically the epitome of why I love combat in the Souls games. It's also the reason why I still haven't played anything other than a pure melee character. It's just so good.

Just popping by to let you guys know I two shot Dragon Slayer Ornstein with the Crystal ring shield while wielding a +3 occult great club. So satisfying.

Crystal Ring Shield breaks (makes easy) the rest of the game once you get it and have a high damage weapon equipped in your main hand.

The only draw back is the need to frequently repair.

One shots Capra and Taurus Demons with a fully upgraded Occult Great Club.

One shots Skelly giants and dogs. Nito went down in 4 shots.

I'm SL 52.

Feels good to have some payback.

My goodness... that sounds... awful, quite honestly.

 

[StarEye]

I think they should just call their next game "Prepare to DIE!", and then the next game will be called "Prepare to DIE AGAIN!". Because I've never died so much in a game before and still have fun with it.

 

[Sullichin]

If you're using a shield, 100% damage absorption is critical. Like they said, the rest is how much of a solid hit it can withstand with the more powerful enemy attacks. It's the difference between being overcome and crushed by a hammer, versus taking the hit unscathed, but drained stamina.

Lowering your shield to recover stamina fast is another integral part of shield use. Many harder enemies are designed with the idea that a good player will only raise his shield when it needs to be up to block, and be recovering stamina at a rate fast enough to stay in the tangle of the fight.

I do know about lowering the shield to recover stamina faster but lol... it took me wayyy too long to realize this. Definitely going to pump up my shield a bit more before trying to go against O&S again.

I need one more titanite chunk to upgrade my lightning scythe more but the royal sentinels have yet to drop one :/ The caped knights in sen's don't drop those do they?

 

[johntown]

I wonder what these elemental weapon changes are going to be like, there is no fucking way a +5 Lightning Spear should be doing almost 1/3 more damage than a fully upgraded +5 boss soul weapon. I understand the stat scaling is removed for enchanted weapons but even still you need a fucking crazy number pump into one particular stat to make the boss soul weapon even comparable, which gimps you in other areas.

Massive design oversight.

It was the same in Demon's Souls.......most of the boss made weapons were crap......with the exception of the Blueblood sword.

The boss weapons are like the Drake sword......they are good early on and the first run through but after that there are usually much better weapons. I ditched my +5 Lightning Spear for my +5 Enchanted Falchion......which will eventually be ditched for my +10 Magic Uchigatana or my +15 Iaito with Crystal Magic Weapon......not sure yet which will be better.

 

[corrosivefrost]

A few notes from my recent NG+ adventures.

(1) Fuck Ornstein and Smough. But moreso, fuck the silver knights and big metal knight guardians just before their room even more -- I cannot tell you the number of times I tried to elude the sword and halberd silver knights on my way to the boss fog, dodge the giant halberd wielding jackmonkeys in the great hall, cast iron flesh, walk through the fog and get backstabbed by one of the halberd wielding assholes THROUGH THE FOG. It's like the game is revenging on me for the shit I did to maneater with the bow in 3-2 while playing Demon's Souls.

(2) Finally beat Ornstein and Smough with Smough going down first and getting SSJ Ornstein's soul. Excellent, I'm loving his armor, but am sad I can't upgrade it. Need to get my INT to 50 so I can start dumping points into stamina. I want to wear the full gear without havel's ring. Beat them by summoning SunBro and having him distract Ornstein while I set Smough on fire. Bad hit detection almost cost me the fight -- I was rolling with 1 Iron Flesh, 1 Crystal Soul Spear, 1 Homing Crystal Soul Mass, and 2 Fire Orbs. By the time I was taking on SSJ Ornstein, my Homing Crystal Soul Masses were almost gone -- a couple bad hit detections later and I was out of all sorcery and resorting to pyro. I managed to get him with my very last fire orbs after a recast of iron flesh.

(3) Killed Laurtec for revenge, he died 2nd, right as his sorcerer buddy was soul arrowing me to death in the back... I got the "target destroyed" message, saw a souvineer of reprisal show up, and died. I respawned at the bonfire. It dropped a few things in my lap but no armor; I was panicking until I found his armor was up by the chamber of the princess.

(4) It's surreal being invaded in dark anor londo -- I was invaded by 2 people, one dark, one vengence (maybe more) after I killed bosses (and Gywnevere). I let the dark spirit kill the red phantom. That was awesome. I then walked into the guarded painting room and forgot I was in *MY* world and they mobbed me and I died.

(5) I hate that greatsword of artorias doesn't show you any difference in item name for the two versions. However, apparently one of them is good against the ghosts of anor londo, for those of you who don't want to use transient curse, get cursed, or don't have a (jagged) ghost blade dropped from the new londo ghosts. The item descriptions are awesome, though:

Spoiler

They allude that Artorias was a great knight for Gwyn until he was spoken to by Kaathe and defected to the darkwraiths. The difference in his sword is that of him before and after becoming a darkwraith.

(6)Next plan: go join forest covenant (after some farming) so I can get my washing pole and whatever weapons shiva sells I haven't bought. Once done, it's time to join chaos covenent to try to get Quelana to show back up. (It's worthwhile for Pyro's to keep a +10 pyro flame (non-ascended) to get her to appear easily in NG+... right now I have an ascended +5 and a non-ascended +9 and she's nowhere to be found).

(7) My farming spot for pure souls in anor londo is insane in NG+. 2 NPC kills + silver serpent ring = 36,000 souls.

 

[scy]

I need one more titanite chunk to upgrade my lightning scythe more but the royal sentinels have yet to drop one :/ The caped knights in sen's don't drop those do they?

The

Spoiler

Anor Lando Giant Paladin Knights drop them (the two outside the boss room), as well as the Darkwraiths in New Londo

.

 

[Mattdaddy]

Is there anyway to get both Ornstien & Smough's armor sets in the same playthrough?

 

[elty]

If I join the Chaos Convenant, level up to 2, open the shortcut then quit with the church guy...

1) Would I sin?
2) Will the shortcut remained open?

 

[knitoe]

Is there anyway to get both Ornstien & Smough's armor sets in the same playthrough?

No.

If I join the Chaos Convenant, level up to 2, open the shortcut then quit with the church guy...

1) Would I sin?
2) Will the shortcut remained open?

No, but you will lose the rank.
Yes.

 

[Sullichin]

The

Spoiler

Anor Lando Giant Paladin Knights drop them (the two outside the boss room), as well as the Darkwraiths in New Londo

.

Yeah, I knew about the first one. Definitely a low drop rate, haven't seen it even with the serprent ring. Oh well, I'll keep trying

 

[tokkun]

Just popping by to let you guys know I two shot Dragon Slayer Ornstein with the Crystal ring shield while wielding a +3 occult great club. So satisfying.

Crystal Ring Shield breaks (makes easy) the rest of the game once you get it and have a high damage weapon equipped in your main hand.

The only draw back is the need to frequently repair.

One shots Capra and Taurus Demons with a fully upgraded Occult Great Club.

One shots Skelly giants and dogs. Nito went down in 4 shots.

I'm SL 52.

Feels good to have some payback.

Ascended Pyro flame with Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring and Great/Chaos Fireball is also pretty effective. Attack power is not as high, but no repairing is necessary and it has zero weight.

 

[scy]

Yeah, I knew about the first one. Definitely a low drop rate, haven't seen it even with the serprent ring. Oh well, I'll keep trying

Yeah, it's pretty bad even with the Ring and 30 Humanity. I've been just farming them while I wait for PvP summons; would use the Darkwraiths but I keep making it a kill or two in, get summoned, I suck at PvP, back at Firelink bonfire, rinse, repeat.

 

[maomaoIYP]

Is there anyway to get both Ornstien & Smough's armor sets in the same playthrough?

Nope. I like Smough's better though, it's ugly as fuck, but it's got the highest physical resist of all armors, and it's not the heaviest as well.

 

[x3r0123]

If I join the Chaos Convenant, level up to 2, open the shortcut then quit with the church guy...

1) Would I sin?
2) Will the shortcut remained open?

no
yes

 

[Sullichin]

Yeah, it's pretty bad even with the Ring and 30 Humanity. I've been just farming them while I wait for PvP summons; would use the Darkwraiths but I keep making it a kill or two in, get summoned, I suck at PvP, back at Firelink bonfire, rinse, repeat.

I only need one for my next weapon upgrade, hopefully it won't take long. I also for the life of me can't get summoned there, I want to get some humanity so I can turn human and summon the NPC or someone from the internets for help.

 

[tokkun]

If I join the Chaos Convenant, level up to 2, open the shortcut then quit with the church guy...

1) Would I sin?
2) Will the shortcut remained open?

I don't think it's even necessary to go to the church to leave covenants. I have left several times by just joining a different one and don't have any entry in the book of the guilty.

 

[Desaan]

A few notes from my recent NG+ adventures.


(6)Next plan: go join forest covenant (after some farming) so I can get my washing pole and whatever weapons shiva sells I haven't bought. Once done, it's time to join chaos covenent to try to get Quelana to show back up. (It's worthwhile for Pyro's to keep a +10 pyro flame (non-ascended) to get her to appear easily in NG+... right now I have an ascended +5 and a non-ascended +9 and she's nowhere to be found).

Oh god this. I'm convinced she is bugged it seems to be 50/50 whether or not she actually shows up. You can meet all the stated requirements in the guide/wikki and still not have her spawn. The amount of times I've gone back to Blightown just to check if she's spawned is beyond OCD.

 

[knitoe]

Nope. I like Smough's better though, it's ugly as fuck, but it's got the highest physical resist of all armors, and it's not the heaviest as well.

The Giant Armor Set +5 is the highest and it weighs less.

 

[corrosivefrost]

Also of note, killing Lautrec with the invasion *or* killing Gwynevere counts as a sin. I was clean prior to going to Anor Londo -- I cannot tell you which did it, but the priest now wants 216000 souls to clear my sins. :lol