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[frequency]

I have yet to find better Leg armor than a +5 antiquated dress of awesomeness.

It has higher defense than Havels, ridiculous magic and lightning defense, a weight of 3.0 and 99.11 curse resist. This thing is the total package.

has anyone come across anything remotely better?

I've heard in a lot of places that it's the best. I used it myself too. Only thing is that it has no poise.

 

[Felix Lighter]

Is there a good resource that explains Dark Souls' story and lore?

 

[Insaniac]

I've heard in a lot of places that it's the best. I used it myself too. Only thing is that it has no poise.

ah yes the poise. I'm a sorceress so poise doesn't count for much

 

[fuzzyreactor]

I have yet to find better Leg armor than a +5 antiquated dress of awesomeness.

It has higher defense than Havels, ridiculous magic and lightning defense, a weight of 3.0 and 99.11 curse resist. This thing is the total package.

has anyone come across anything remotely better?

too bad about the 0 poise though, kinda makes it shitty

 

[Psy-Phi]

Finally finished the game.

I thought it was good but not as good as Demon's souls. The framerate was a mess in 10% of the game. The way the world is open is cool but really frustrating when you don't know where to go next. There should be some explanation sometimes... Also fuck crystal caves.. how was i suppose to know the invisible bridges without reading about it on the net first... Anyway, loved it but not a fan like with demon's souls.

I discovered it naturally.

You hear this weird noise, and see splashes on nothing, I saw a corpse with a shiny item that I wanted and couldnt' figure out how to get to it, but that noise drew me. I used some prism stones, and they stayed right there. So I found it was safe.

But yeah, it wasn't very quickly. And I fought a Crystal Butterfly because I didn't know where to go. But it was yet another moment I thought was cool. So scary walking on things you can't see. 2nd most frightening area in the game behind Tomb of Giants, but not due to the enemies (damn Golem did punch me off a precarious position though).

 

[johntown]

I discovered it naturally.

You hear this weird noise, and see splashes on nothing, I saw a corpse with a shiny item that I wanted and couldnt' figure out how to get to it, but that noise drew me. I used some prism stones, and they stayed right there. So I found it was safe.

But yeah, it wasn't very quickly. And I fought a Crystal Butterfly because I didn't know where to go. But it was yet another moment I thought was cool. So scary walking on things you can't see. 2nd most frightening area in the game behind Tomb of Giants, but not due to the enemies (damn Golem did punch me off a precarious position though).

Right before the first invisible bridge was a message that said bravery and I saw other messages floating in mid air. That is how I knew and then figured it out pretty quickly.

 

[The_Darkest_Red]

I finished the game with an Eagle Shield +8. I don't ever parry so I'm not concerned with that aspect of things and I appreciate a shield with low weight because I want to keep my equip burden under 50% (I always have Havel's Ring equipped). I'm usually cutting it pretty close because I like to wear nice, heavy armor and some of the weapons I use are fairly heavy as well, like the Black Knight Halberd.

Is there a better option out there for me shield-wise? I don't mind if I have to level my END a little more to use it, but obviously I don't want something twice as heavy as what I'm using now.

Still looking for some advice on this. Anyone?

 

[Lionheart1827]

Mmmm, decisions.... I'm trying to decide whether to transform my Long Sword +10 to a Lightning version and keep upgrading it to max Lightning. The stats are the same + lightning damage, although the stat bonuses are removed. I've been mostly bringing my strength/dex stats up so I'm wondering if the stat bonuses of a Long Sword +15 would be more beneficial than a Lightning Sword maxed out. I also have the lightning spear so I'm leaning towards just going to a maxed out Long Sword.

 

[frequency]

Still looking for some advice on this. Anyone?

I see a lot of people talking about the Silver Knight Shield, but I think that has less stability than the Eagle Shield. I think people like it because it can parry.

I picked up the Eagle Shield like 3 hours in and used it the entire game... I suck at parrying so I stopped trying, and I couldn't find any shield that was as light as it with as high a stability.

If anyone knows a shield that is as light and has better stability, I'd like to know too. I'll make sure to pick it up on NG+ or something. I'm tired of the Eagle Shield graphic!

 

[fuzzyreactor]

Still looking for some advice on this. Anyone?

the hollow shield is ironically one of the best shields in the game. At +15, it has 85 stability, which rivals that of the best greatshields. It has 75% fire block, 50% lightning block, 30% magic block. It's a good trusty shield that is light and allows to parry as well

 

[Almak]

I love how the armor sets you wear and weapons you wield throughout the game gradually evolve from plausible (as in something an actual person might wear and use) to god damn insane.
For example my starter gear as a warrior seemed...sane. A few metal accents here and there but overall a very believable attire.
Now I am wearing what can only be described as a

Spoiler

golden fat suit

while wielding a shield which might as well be a well shingled roof of a house and for a weapon I have a

Spoiler

tooth

the size of a lamp post.

 

[See You Next Wednesday]

DEX makes your pyro cast times shorter.

What, really?
Is this confirmed? I see nothing in the description part that say's this.


Also is there any stat that will make swinging swords faster?

 

[Insaniac]

Still looking for some advice on this. Anyone?

I always liked the Grass Crest shield. its a 95% phys block but as long as you know when to shield/deshield yourself you always have the stamina to block. Plus it still works if its on your back and you're double handing

edit: has stamina regain boost

 

[Dresden]

I see a lot of people talking about the Silver Knight Shield, but I think that has less stability than the Eagle Shield. I think people like it because it can parry.

I picked up the Eagle Shield like 3 hours in and used it the entire game... I suck at parrying so I stopped trying, and I couldn't find any shield that was as light as it with as high a stability.

If anyone knows a shield that is as light and has better stability, I'd like to know too. I'll make sure to pick it up on NG+ or something. I'm tired of the Eagle Shield graphic!

SKS fully upgraded has 83 stability or so, and I think Eagle Shield +15 has like 84... the main difference is that SKS takes twinkling titanite to upgrade, which is a huge fucking pain to acquire.

I'm using the SKS mainly because of how it looks.

 

[scy]

That sounds pretty sexy.

What's the best mix-and-match armor one can wear?

Best per slot for weight vs defense should be Royal Helm, Elite Knight Armor, Hard Leather Gauntlets, and the Antiquated Dress. Since most people go for 40 Endurance anyway, some of that doesn't really matter since 26%-49% Equip Load is a pretty big gap and this setup will keep you above 25% anyway.

Black Iron Gloves and Armor have good Defenses, though they're Twinkling Titanite to upgrade so get to either farming it or multiple playthroughs for Snuggly trading (...or just glitch Snuggly, I guess). They have the Stamina penalty too but I don't know how severe it is.

Still looking for some advice on this. Anyone?

Eagle Shield is the lightest Greatshield so ... not much room for improvement without sacrificing more Equip Load; that and, off-hand, I'm not sure which are really truly improvements over it. The Hollow Soldier Shield and Silver Knight Shield are the two best shields that still allow for parrying.

 

[fuzzyreactor]

Best per slot for weight vs defense should be Royal Helm, Elite Knight Armor, Hard Leather Gauntlets, and the Antiquated Dress. Since most people go for 40 Endurance anyway, some of that doesn't really matter since 26%-49% Equip Load is a pretty big gap and this setup will keep you above 25% anyway.

Black Iron Gloves and Armor have good Defenses, though they're Twinkling Titanite to upgrade so get to either farming it or multiple playthroughs for Snuggly trading (...or just glitch Snuggly, I guess). They have the Stamina penalty too but I don't know how severe it is.



Eagle Shield is the lightest Greatshield so ... not much room for improvement without sacrificing more Equip Load; that and, off-hand, I'm not sure which are really truly improvements over it. The Hollow Soldier Shield and Silver Knight Shield are the two best shields that still allow for parrying.

actually, only black iron leggings have stamina penalty

 

[frequency]

SKS fully upgraded has 83 stability or so, and I think Eagle Shield +15 has like 84... the main difference is that SKS takes twinkling titanite to upgrade, which is a huge fucking pain to acquire.

I'm using the SKS mainly because of how it looks.

It does look way better than the Eagle Shield...
Maybe I'll upgrade mine to use for NG+ and try to learn to parry while I'm at it.

I never have enough stupid Twinkling Titanite though... And farming for titanite makes me sad. I didn't farm at all during my first play through.

 

[Hawkian]

Lol i had the weirdest thing today, i was in

Spoiler

ash lake, and i wanted to kill the hydra, anyway i followed the sand dune to see where i would end up and i found out that the dragon covenant was there

anyway i went back, and i found the

Spoiler

hydra

stuck halfway in the beach/dune thing he was bugging and attacking random... after a few sec he dies and i get the loot + souls...im like errr ok?

known bug. I took him out like a man before knowing about it.

Just realized I made a pretty considerable amount of progress yesterday.

Spoiler

Conquered New Londo and killed the Four Kings (with somebody helping me, thanks La-Blue-Girl!), made my decision to stand by Kaathe and placed the Lordvessel. Blazed through the Demon Ruins and killed the Firesage and the Centipede Demon, then hit Lost Izalith and took a ton of time cleaning up the Bed of Chaos. Booked it out of there and sped down the Hollow to Ash Lake, killed the Hydra there, joined the Dragon covenant (Darkwratihs can wait for now, I really like being a fire-breathing ninja for now) and cleared the area including cutting off that peaceful dragon's tail for the sword- sorry guy. Beautiful area by the way.

Warped back to Firelink to plan my next move (hopefully tonight if I get home).

How much game is like percent-wise?

 

[scy]

actually, only black iron leggings have stamina penalty

Huh, I thought it was Elite Knight's that did that. Probably started mixing facts up in my head.

 

[johntown]

Still looking for some advice on this. Anyone?

I use the Crest Shield for magic defense because it blocks 80%. It is lightweight and I can take one hit from almost all enemies after that I have to roll or something else. I like it for PVP VS other magic users.

 

[FINALBOSS]

Gaping dragon has got to be the easiest boss I've fought using melee yet. All it takes is patience. Definite a good strategy is to knock off that tail ASAP then you can just hide behind the dragon the entire fight and never take a hit

I didn't even bother with the tail my first playthrough.


I stayed far away from him and he does a face-plant dive into the ground...then just charges in your direction. I strafed to get out of the way of his charge and whacked him a ton of times...then just repeated those steps.


I'm sad this game is gonna take a semi-backseat when BF3 comes out tomorrow.

 

[BaronLundi]

I have yet to find better Leg armor than a +5 antiquated dress of awesomeness.

It has higher defense than Havels, ridiculous magic and lightning defense, a weight of 3.0 and 99.11 curse resist. This thing is the total package.

has anyone come across anything remotely better?

Shhh... This was our little secret.

Yeah, antiquated dress is pure awesome. I rock it with smough's gloves (or giant's armour) for poise, the rest is gold hemmed. I kinda look like a sack but it does the job.

 

[FINALBOSS]

In my 2nd playthrough I went for my character to look more "cool" with only a single piece for stat bonuses.

I'm rocking the Crown of Dusk for the boost to magic (which is yellow looking), Ornstein's chest piece (silver), Xanthous gloves (yellow), Xanthous robe (yellow). I look pretty god damn cool I think.

 

[fuzzyreactor]

also the crystal shield is a great shield, with 100/80/80/80 blocking. only downside is you will have to rebuy it when it breaks

 

[BeeDog]

How does one get the Antiquated Set?

 

[fuzzyreactor]

How does one get the Antiquated Set?

i believe it is in the painted world

 

[BaronLundi]

How does one get the Antiquated Set?

Kill the Hydra in the Darkroot Basin
Travel along the lake by the waterfall all the way back to a small cove
A Golden Crystal Golem will appear
Defeat that golem and save Dusk
Dusk will thank you for freeing her and will tell you that you can summon her to buy magic spells from her
After being summoned for the first time, the Antiquated armor set can be found where you fought the Golden Crystal Golem.

 

[FINALBOSS]

How does one get the Antiquated Set?

Spoiler

Darkroot Basin, kill the Hydra, then go to the left of the Hydra in the wayyy back and kill a Golden Golem. Some chick will appear thanking you. Then you summon her back where you killed the Hydra by clicking on her summon sign. Quit the game and reload and her armor will be back where you killed that Golden Golem. Super easy

 

[Kyoufu]

What, really?
Is this confirmed? I see nothing in the description part that say's this.


Also is there any stat that will make swinging swords faster?

I posted a video showing how fast your cast time will be with 99 DEX earlier in this thread.

 

[Hawkian]

How does one get the Antiquated Set?

Hmmm I think I missed it. Guess I might have to go back if I decide I do want to kill you-know-who.

 

[scosher]

How does one get the Antiquated Set?

Note, only her skirt is ridiculously badass in stats. Most of the other pieces should be swapped out, but of special consideration is her crown which boosts magic.

The skirt also looks retarded on male toons.

 

[BeeDog]

Thanks guys! I've saved her twice, but I never thought about returning back to the golem area.

 

[Aeana]

I asked this a couple of pages back but it didn't get an answer:

Does anybody know exactly what the mechanics of cutting off a boss's tail are? I've watched lots of boss videos and some people manage to take off a boss's tail with only a couple of hits, leaving the boss with plenty of health... other people end up attacking the tail for most of the fight, depleting most of the boss's health before the tail breaks.

 

[kingschiebi]

I posted a video showing how fast your cast time will be with 99 DEX earlier in this thread.

not sure if this was yours, but helpful nonetheless

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHfPcu_B0nQ

in short, dex affects spell casting speed and caps at 45 dex

 

[BeeDog]

I asked this a couple of pages back but it didn't get an answer:

Does anybody know exactly what the mechanics of cutting off a boss's tail are? I've watched lots of boss videos and some people manage to take off a boss's tail with only a couple of hits, leaving the boss with plenty of health... other people end up attacking the tail for most of the fight, depleting most of the boss's health before the tail breaks.

I bet most of those who are attacking the tail misjudge the hit box and end up hitting the body of the boss instead. Cutting off a tail should never take too many hits, since the game is very lenient on the amount of damage you have to output.

Even in NG+ cutting off a tail goes very fast.

 

[kodt]

Is there a good resource that explains Dark Souls' story and lore?

Not really here are some good discussions though:

http://www.reddit.com/r/darksouls/comments/lc454/spoilers_welcome_who_or_what_is_the_furtive_pygmy/

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/606312-dark-souls/60612627

 

[Aeana]

I bet most of those who are attacking the tail misjudge the hit box and end up hitting the body of the boss instead. Cutting off a tail should never take too many hits, since the game is very lenient on the amount of damage you have to output.

Even in NG+ cutting off a tail goes very fast.

I see. I'm going to try to fight Seath tonight and cut off his tail, but I'm a weak sorcerer so I was worried about how long it'd take for me.

 

[The_Darkest_Red]

Thanks for all the opinions guys. It sounds like the Eagle Shield is pretty solid in the grand scope of things. As far as the Silver Knight Shield goes, all I can say is I like Black Knight weapons way too much to invest all my Twinkling Titanite into a shield.

 

[Kyoufu]

I see. I'm going to try to fight Seath tonight and cut off his tail, but I'm a weak sorcerer so I was worried about how long it'd take for me.

You can do it with any weapon, it just takes a few hits, just make sure to hit the tip of the tail, nowhere else.

 

[Zzoram]

What's the deal with tail cutting?

Can it only be done with slashing damage weapons? Should you attack the tip of the tail, or where it connects to the body? Should you use overhead 2hand swings? Is there a damage number you have to hit before it cuts off, and is it possible to kill the boss by hitting his tail before it cuts off?

 

[Dresden]

I always rock the Elite Knight Armor chestpiece and leggings - it's just my favorite armor in the game. Then it's either Havel's gaunlets for poise, or Ornstein's gloves for looks. For the helm it's either the gold-hemmed hood or the crown of dusk.

 

[Kyoufu]

What's the deal with tail cutting?

Can it only be done with slashing damage weapons? Should you attack the tip of the tail, or where it connects to the body? Should you use overhead 2hand swings? Is there a damage number you have to hit before it cuts off, and is it possible to kill the boss by hitting his tail before it cuts off?

Pretty sure any form of damage will cut a tail off, considering Great Chaos Fireball pyro spell cut Priscilla's in my game. :3

 

[tokkun]

I asked this a couple of pages back but it didn't get an answer:

Does anybody know exactly what the mechanics of cutting off a boss's tail are? I've watched lots of boss videos and some people manage to take off a boss's tail with only a couple of hits, leaving the boss with plenty of health... other people end up attacking the tail for most of the fight, depleting most of the boss's health before the tail breaks.

This is purely speculation, but I have wondered whether one needs to be using a weapon with slashing type damage to cut off tails or whether it is a critical hit that causes it.

Within my own playthrough I have witnessed some battles where a tail will get cut off in 3 or 4 hits and others where I defeat the boss before it comes off.

 

[astroturfing]

DEX affects pyro cast times? i need confirmation on that!

i'm mainly using pyromancy and katanas (such a fun combo), so if DEX benefits both styles, even better!

how far have you guys upgraded the pyromancy flame btw? at soul lvl 37 i'm on +12 and it seems kinda overpowered already, i don't know if i should go too crazy upgrading it...

 

[Septimius]

So if I decide to meet with Kaathe, will I be locked to that ending? Or can I join the covenant and then decide what to do?

Am I still going to go after the golden fog doors if I meet Kaathe?

 

[Zzoram]

So if I decide to meet with Kaathe, will I be locked to that ending? Or can I join the covenant and then decide what to do?

Am I still going to go after the golden fog doors if I meet Kaathe?

I think the ending is ultimately still up to what you do after the final boss.

Yes you still go after golden fog doors.



Kaanth's ending is technically the "good" one, despite it being the secret one and initially seeming to be the "evil" one.

 

[Dresden]

DEX affects pyro cast times? i need confirmation on that!

i'm mainly using pyromancy and katanas (such a fun combo), so if DEX benefits both styles, even better!

how far have you guys upgraded the pyromancy flame btw? at soul lvl 37 i'm on +12 and it seems kinda overpowered already, i don't know if i should go too crazy upgrading it...

Mine's ascended +5 and at this point near the end of the game my pyro's Black Knight Greataxe deals more damage usually unless Crown of Dusk + Bellowing Dragoncrest ring comes into play.

 

[Kyoufu]

DEX affects pyro cast times? i need confirmation on that!

We already posted confirmation...

 

[BeeDog]

Goddamn, the Antiquated Dress +5 is glorious. My character looks incredibly stupid wearing it, but who gives a shit when it's that good. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[electricpirate]

Gargoyle tail axe is such a lifesaver in blight town. That's saved me from being toxified about 3-4 times now, and with the iron ring I pretty much never get poisoned from the water.