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[TommyT]

What sucks is I really like the pvp in this game..I just always felt (going back to Demon's) that I was behind the curve..either didn't have the right build or right weapon..and I never cared enough to go get it. I'll try pvp a bit more and get to SL120..but man it's tough to get into it when everyone else is so good.

Then you will always be behind the curve.

If you try to casually PVP in a dedicated community then that's how it will be unless you run into someone that is like you.

Why does everyone like to keep their SL so low? The extra challenge? Being able to invade/help weaker players? More likely to be able to find a PvP match? All of the above?

Pretty much all of those. Being a walking tank is ok, and I did mostly that to learn the game as I never played Demon's Souls. I'm on my fourth profile, and I keep getting progressively lower level / run. This character I will probably make for lowbie pvp. I will also have a lowbie run where I will leave him as a blank slate to go for an optimum lvl/pvp build by hording souls/items/whatever until the patch.

 

[I'm an expert]

Then you will always be behind the curve.

If you try to casually PVP in a dedicated community then that's how it will be unless you run into someone that is like you.



Pretty much all of those. Being a walking tank is ok, and I did mostly that to learn the game as I never played Demon's Souls. I'm on my fourth profile, and I keep getting progressively lower level / run. This character I will probably make for lowbie pvp. I will also have a lowbie run where I will leave him as a blank slate to go for an optimum lvl/pvp build by hording souls/items/whatever until the patch.

The thing is though..EVERYONE feels dedicated in these games. Out of 100 invasions I meet maybe 1 person "like me" who just dies cause I do have 100 invasions worth of experience. The rest though..man..they're min/maxin so hard with such a variety of awesome builds. It's not that I can't, it's just usually it required such a specific build I didn't have the time to delvl and lvl my char up that right way. In Dark it's especially hard because you can't delvl..so if I wanted to switch to the awesome 40 int/40dex build I'd probably push myself past the 120 sweet spot.

 

[TommyT]

The thing is though..EVERYONE feels dedicated in these games. Out of 100 invasions I meet maybe 1 person "like me" who just dies cause I do have 100 invasions worth of experience. The rest though..man..they're min/maxin so hard with such a variety of awesome builds. It's not that I can't, it's just usually it required such a specific build I didn't have the time to delvl and lvl my char up that right way. In Dark it's especially hard because you can't delvl..so if I wanted to switch to the awesome 40 int/40dex build I'd probably push myself past the 120 sweet spot.

That was kind of my point. Either get with the curve on a game like this or fall behind and be fodder.

If you're not on the patch already (your profile says Japan IIRC) then just wait until the PVP community settles into the level range and build, glitch whatever you need to to be on an even field in terms of level and items, then get good at pvp.

 

[NEOPARADIGM]

Why does everyone like to keep their SL so low? The extra challenge? Being able to invade/help weaker players? More likely to be able to find a PvP match? All of the above?

Seems pretty arbitrary to me, especially this "SL120" magic number people seem to like.

- If you can upward-invade infinitely (a SL30 can invade a SL456 or whatever), there's nothing special about SL120 for invading, and if you can get invaded by anyone with a lower level than you, there's nothing special about SL120 it in that instance either. (Guy the other day mentioned invading a SL559 guy as a SL90 or something. Soooo, SL120 what?)

I have a NG++ build at SL239 or something and I've noticed no decline in PvP at all: I get summoned, I've summoned two phantoms at once many times, and I get invaded all the damn time. From where I'm sitting you can level your build to any level you want sans if you want to keep in range of friends; makes no difference at all this side of determining how difficult PvE is for your build.

 

[tokkun]

Why does everyone like to keep their SL so low? The extra challenge? Being able to invade/help weaker players? More likely to be able to find a PvP match? All of the above?

At SL22 Darkwraith I can invade in Sen's Fortress - not even an area you expect people to be in human form - and get a match virtually every time. You also get a lot more quality melee battles in these encounters.

And when you get summoned for co-op in Undead Parish you feel like a total boss riposting enemies and dealing 1500 damage, cutting off gargoyle's tail for your partner in one swing, etc.

 

[I'm an expert]

Seems pretty arbitrary to me, especially this "SL120" magic number people seem to like.

- If you can upward-invade infinitely (a SL30 can invade a SL456 or whatever), there's nothing special about SL120 for invading, and if you can get invaded by anyone with a lower level than you, there's nothing special about SL120 it in that instance either. (Guy the other day mentioned invading a SL559 guy as a SL90 or something. Soooo, SL120 what?)

I have a NG++ build at SL239 or something and I've noticed no decline in PvP at all: I get summoned, I've summoned two phantoms at once many times, and I get invaded all the damn time. From where I'm sitting you can level your build to any level you want sans if you want to keep in range of friends; makes no difference at all this side of determining how difficult PvE is for your build.

That's a relief to hear. I'm simply going on old Demon's 4-1 experience. Nice to hear Dark is way more lenient..and active obviously.

 

[tokkun]

Seems pretty arbitrary to me, especially this "SL120" magic number people seem to like.

- If you can upward-invade infinitely (a SL30 can invade a SL456 or whatever), there's nothing special about SL120 for invading, and if you can get invaded by anyone with a lower level than you, there's nothing special about SL120 it in that instance either. (Guy the other day mentioned invading a SL559 guy as a SL90 or something. Soooo, SL120 what?)

I have a NG++ build at SL239 or something and I've noticed no decline in PvP at all: I get summoned, I've summoned two phantoms at once many times, and I get invaded all the damn time. From where I'm sitting you can level your build to any level you want sans if you want to keep in range of friends; makes no difference at all this side of determining how difficult PvE is for your build.

That hasn't really been my experience. With my other character (SL110) red and blue eye stone invasions almost always fail. I also stopped seeing summon signs past level 90 or so on NG+ and NG++. At very high levels like your character I suppose you do have an advantage on being invaded, but it seems kind of annoying to have stand around waiting to be invaded.

Dark Anor Londo and Darkroot Forest will be good alternatives once the patch hits.

 

[Mephala]

With increased poise/heavy armor, you don't dodge anything they do except when getting in close. You're supposed to just two-hand your strongest weapon, let your armor handle defense, then just wail on a king until he's dead. Once a king is dead, heal, then repeat the process on the next king until they're all dead. I did this with full Havel's Armor + grass crest shield (but on my back, since I'm 2 handing) for stamina + green herbs for additional stamina regen + Quelaag's Furysword. I think the speedrun guy used stone armor.

The idea with the four kings is that you're not supposed to face all of them at once and expect to get through with pure dodging/blocking. You're supposed to kill them as fast as possible so that they don't get a chance to spawn and gang up on you.

Oh wait, you mean NG+. I did that in NG but haven't gotten to them in NG+ yet.

I have full havels with grass crest. I even tried various rings such as the wolf ring, it doesn't matter. Each hit hurts like a bitch and you stumble quite a bit anyway. Iron Flesh seems to keep me going for a bit but even then, wailing with my Divine Claymore+9 2 handed isn't getting me anywhere. Switching to my Silver Knight sword I can often kill one shortly after the second one shows up. While I understand my weapons could be a bit better and my level/stats could be a bit better as well but I've yet to be forced into grinding my character to defeat an enemy and I'd rather not start now. Is there something I'm missing? God help me when I hit Anor Londo in NG+. Damn.

 

[Minamu]

You can run past everything on your way to 4 Kings. It's a one minute trip once you get to New Londo if you've already taken out the non-respawning blob thing

In other news I continued playing Demon's and I'm almost done with 3-1. Dark really could have used another labyrinthine building aside from Sen's. Demon Ruins was such a huge missed opportunity.

Something really cool could have been done with that place.

I'm having some trouble getting past the fifth ghost just by the elevator down to the wraiths without using that item that allows me to kill the ghosts.

 

[TommyT]

I have full havels with grass crest. I even tried various rings such as the wolf ring, it doesn't matter. Each hit hurts like a bitch and you stumble quite a bit anyway. Iron Flesh seems to keep me going for a bit but even then, wailing with my Divine Claymore+9 2 handed isn't getting me anywhere. Switching to my Silver Knight sword I can often kill one shortly after the second one shows up. While I understand my weapons could be a bit better and my level/stats could be a bit better as well but I've yet to be forced into grinding my character to defeat an enemy and I'd rather not start now. Is there something I'm missing? God help me when I hit Anor Londo in NG+. Damn.

Watch EpicNameBro's video when fighting them. Granted he isn't on NG+, but it still showcases how to use crap armor and two-handing to absolutely wreck them.

I'm having some trouble getting past the fifth ghost just by the elevator down to the wraiths without using that item that allows me to kill the ghosts.

If you've drained the water, you don't need to fight ghosts and can just drop down past a certain point.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Weacs3YriT4

This supposedly shows a quick path to the bosses if that helps.
edit: Sorry I can't be much more help, I can't just watch youtube here at work to find the path I'm talking about. Maybe someone else can help :\

 

[scosher]

I'm having some trouble getting past the fifth ghost just by the elevator down to the wraiths without using that item that allows me to kill the ghosts.

Don't use the elevator. Right at the start, ignore the first stairs up, and drop down to the lower level.

 

[Mephala]

I'm having some trouble getting past the fifth ghost just by the elevator down to the wraiths without using that item that allows me to kill the ghosts.

Me too. I'm down to my last three Transient Curses, after that I'm going to give Valley of the Drakes a try (running through from that bonfire, might need to take care of the Black Knight first, never went in from this side to check his aggro distance.) I'm not too sure how well I can dodge 5 drakes though, I'm a bit skeptical though I'd rather not have to stop and farm ghosts for transient curses, unless someone sells an infinite amount of them that I'm not aware of.

 

[oracrest]

I started using the Crystal Halberd last night, and eventually I got *weapon at risk* and *weapon Broken* warnings when wielding it.

But, when I take it to a blacksmith (first blacksmith, giant, and skeleton smith,) the item doesn't show up in the repair list. Do you need to do something special, or take it to a specific smith to get it repaired?

 

[Baloonatic]

I started using the Crystal Halberd last night, and eventually I got *weapon at risk* and *weapon Broken* warnings when wielding it.

But, when I take it to a blacksmith (first blacksmith, giant, and skeleton smith,) the item doesn't show up in the repair list. Do you need to do something special, or take it to a specific smith to get it repaired?

Can't repair crystal weapons.

 

[TommyT]

I started using the Crystal Halberd last night, and eventually I got *weapon at risk* and *weapon Broken* warnings when wielding it.

But, when I take it to a blacksmith (first blacksmith, giant, and skeleton smith,) the item doesn't show up in the repair list. Do you need to do something special, or take it to a specific smith to get it repaired?

Can't repair crystal weapons.

However, upgrading will 'repair' it in the sense that it will reset it's durability.

 

[I'm an expert]

Me too. I'm down to my last three Transient Curses, after that I'm going to give Valley of the Drakes a try (running through from that bonfire, might need to take care of the Black Knight first, never went in from this side to check his aggro distance.) I'm not too sure how well I can dodge 5 drakes though, I'm a bit skeptical though I'd rather not have to stop and farm ghosts for transient curses, unless someone sells an infinite amount of them that I'm not aware of.

The female undead merchant in the aqueduct does. And as has been said, once you unlock Londo, you never have to fight ghosts.

 

[Mephala]

Watch EpicNameBro's video when fighting them. Granted he isn't on NG+, but it still showcases how to use crap armor and two-handing to absolutely wreck them.



If you've drained the water, you don't need to fight ghosts and can just drop down past a certain point.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Weacs3YriT4

This supposedly shows a quick path to the bosses if that helps.
edit: Sorry I can't be much more help, I can't just watch youtube here at work to find the path I'm talking about. Maybe someone else can help :\

Oh that path is awesome. Thanks. EpicNameBro's video is pretty good but I really don't think that is going to work in NG+ for me. For one thing, I dumped my Greater Combustion into one King and he was still quite healthy. Mean while, I cannot shrug off the King's hits like he can and I am in Havel's armor. I note that his health bar is considerably longer than mine though. His other kings also didn't seem to chase him very often. Mine circle me like sharks and eventually start swinging wildly. :\

 

[Akuun]

The parrying window is longer, and that tends to be more important for successful parries than the speed/recovery. If you miss the window, recovery time isn't going to matter.

Yeah. I think my problem is that I think I use the very beginning of the parrying window anyway, so I don't notice or benefit from the longer parrying window with the parrying dagger/target shield. Another benefit of just parrying with a normal shield is that you can block certain hits of a chain and then choose some move in the middle of a move chain to parry. Is the parry startup really the same speed with the dagger?

I started using the Crystal Halberd last night, and eventually I got *weapon at risk* and *weapon Broken* warnings when wielding it.

But, when I take it to a blacksmith (first blacksmith, giant, and skeleton smith,) the item doesn't show up in the repair list. Do you need to do something special, or take it to a specific smith to get it repaired?

Crystal weapons can't be repaired. Sorry.

 

[hey_it's_that_dog]

What should be my next sword after the Drake sword? I know by upgrading some I can probably get a better one, but I want to know which to look out for.

Drake sword is still ripping through people but I don't think that will last.

The next weapon I used after the Drake sword was the lightning spear you find in Sen's fortress, which opens after you ring the second bell. This is a common weapon progression (I think) because it's free, it's powerful, and you won't yet have met the blacksmith who can make boss weapons or lightning weapons, at which point you'll want to choose a weapon you really like and beef it up.

 

[Septimius]

Seems pretty arbitrary to me, especially this "SL120" magic number people seem to like.

This comes from the fact that all tournaments and virtually everyone in DeS towards the end had SL120 builds. It's when builds came into their strengths, without being awesome at everything, thus negating building anything.

There's a whole debate on what DaS' 120 should be. Many of the hardcore crunchers mean that 130 is where the builds come into their sweet spots in this game, and they're trying to push for that being the norm.

All in all, there's nothing magical about it. It's the tournament level. Higher, and you can do everything (since you don't need more than 40 in a stat except FAI), lower and everyone would use Lightning +5.

 

[140.85]

Watch EpicNameBro's video when fighting them. Granted he isn't on NG+, but it still showcases how to use crap armor and two-handing to absolutely wreck them.

But that's the problem. That strategy becomes almost useless in NG+ because it takes longer to take a single king down.

Eventually for me it came down to Iron Flesh + two-handing my best weapon but even with 6 casts of Iron Flesh I had to simply keep dying until I got lucky and all the random elements of the battle fell into place for me.

 

[scosher]

As has been said, use a Green Blossoms, wear Grass Crest Shield, and Cloranthy Ring if you have the slot (I didn't since I had Ring of Favor, and you need to use the other slot on the Abysswalker ring). The key is having enough stamina regen and a strong weapon, and just getting in their face and going to town. You should only have to roll away from them when they charge up their point blank AoE.

 

[140.85]

As has been said, use a Green Blossoms, wear Grass Crest Shield, and Cloranthy Ring if you have the slot (I didn't since I had Ring of Favor, and you need to use the other slot on the Abysswalker ring). The key is having enough stamina regen and a strong weapon, and just getting in their face and going to town. You should only have to roll away from them when they charge up their point blank AoE.

Sometimes they grab you too. What you mention works great the first time through but is much easier said than done on subsequent playings.

 

[I'm an expert]

Sometimes they grab you too. What you mention works great the first time through but is much easier said than done on subsequent playings.

Summon two people. The fact that almost every boss fight can have an NPC helper shows that some can be tough for people. Get 3 of you in there and one shot it.

 

[Air Zombie Meat]

But that's the problem. That strategy becomes almost useless in NG+ because it takes longer to take a single king down.

Eventually for me it came down to Iron Flesh + two-handing my best weapon but even with 6 casts of Iron Flesh I had to simply keep dying until I got lucky and all the random elements of the battle fell into place for me.

That was my experience too, so many little things can go wrong that it just took doing it over and over until finally it went my way. Think I'm going to have to try it without iron flesh and try to learn their attacks properly next time. I read on here iron flesh was the way to go so thats the only way I've tried it so far.

 

[I'm an expert]

That was my experience too, so many little things can go wrong that it just took doing it over and over until finally it went my way. Think I'm going to have to try it without iron flesh and try to learn their attacks properly next time. I read on here iron flesh was the way to go so thats the only way I've tried it so far.

Well get it done before the path, cause after won't be no iron flesh to rely on!

 

[scosher]

Sometimes they grab you too. What you mention works great the first time through but is much easier said than done on subsequent playings.

I've done it through NG+++. I also never saw them using the grab if you're right up in their grill. They seem to either do their horizontal swings (negligible damage and can be rolled out of the way) or charge up their AoE. They seem to attempt the grab if you're more mid-range against them, like around the pyro's fireball distance.

 

[Air Zombie Meat]

Well get it done before the path, cause after won't be no iron flesh to rely on!

Yeah thats one of the reasons why I'll have to do without it next time. I'm waiting for the patch before I finish off ng+ because I want to do the Solaire questline without it bugging out. Starting to get a bit tired of just hanging out in the kiln, hope it gets here soon.

 

[ErasureAcer]

So I made it to depths and found the boss before fire. So I look around and find the fire but then can't find the boss anymore. I do find a trapped guy but trying to get him out of barrel I hit him and kill him. Hope he wasn't important. So still looking for boss I fall down a hole and the frogs curse me losing 6000 souls as my second attempt ended the same as my Drake sword was failing. So everything that could go wrong did. Now I watch a youtube vid and the guy crouches in the crow's nest and it sweeps him away to another nest where you trade red orb for cure curse but when I crouch in nest nothing happens.

Also out of the blue while fighting in undead burg I got 10000 souls for beating a bomb thrower guy. What happened? I've beaten that guy plenty of times and never get 10000 but I did one time.

 

[scosher]

So I made it to depths and found the boss before fire. So I look around and find the fire but then can't find the boss anymore. I do find a trapped guy but trying to get him out of barrel I hit him and kill him. Hope he wasn't important. So still looking for boss I fall down a hole and the frogs curse me losing 6000 souls as my second attempt ended the same as my Drake sword was failing. So everything that could go wrong did. Now I watch a youtube vid and the guy crouches in the crow's nest and it sweeps him away to another nest where you trade red orb for cure curse but when I crouch in nest nothing happens.

Also out of the blue while fighting in undead burg I got 10000 souls for beating a bomb thrower guy. What happened? I've beaten that guy plenty of times and never get 10000 but I did one time.

Wow, lol, here's your answers to everything:

1) From bonfire in Depths, exit right, go down the ladder, down the ramp, and you'll be in one of the main sewer tunnels. Turn right from there, you'll see the vendor passed the gate but before that, enter the passageway on your right which'll lead you back outside on the ramparts. Pretty straightforward to boss from there.

2) Trapped guy was your first pyromancer trainer. There's two more later in the game, but this guy would have given you your first pyro glove. You were supposed to roll into the barrel to break him out, not swing at it. Not too big of a deal, as one of the other trainers do give you a glove, but it requires a few more steps that you'd have to wiki to find out. edit - if this really bothers you, you're not that far into the game where you can just restart and save him. You'll find that it'll take you less than an hour to get back where you were now that you know where to go / how to kill the bosses.

3) Wait in the crow's nest for 15 seconds. Have to do this the first time, afterwards it'll come pick you up immediately.

4) Glitch where the hellkite dragon at the bridge somehow dies. He only drops souls, and since you already got the Drake Sword, didn't really miss out on anything here.

 

[Zzoram]

So is the Iaito universally regarded as the best weapon to make Lightning +5?

 

[scosher]

So is the Iaito universally regarded as the best weapon to make Lightning +5?

Huh? Lightning is completely independent of stats so there's no "best weapon to make Lightning." It's just whichever weapon's movesets you prefer.

I think a lot of people just make their Iaito Lightning for RP reasons cause it's a badass quick-draw katana -- why not add even more flash to it?

 

[Sullichin]

So I made it to depths and found the boss before fire. So I look around and find the fire but then can't find the boss anymore. I do find a trapped guy but trying to get him out of barrel I hit him and kill him. Hope he wasn't important. So still looking for boss I fall down a hole and the frogs curse me losing 6000 souls as my second attempt ended the same as my Drake sword was failing. So everything that could go wrong did. Now I watch a youtube vid and the guy crouches in the crow's nest and it sweeps him away to another nest where you trade red orb for cure curse but when I crouch in nest nothing happens.

Also out of the blue while fighting in undead burg I got 10000 souls for beating a bomb thrower guy. What happened? I've beaten that guy plenty of times and never get 10000 but I did one time.

You killed a pyromancer trainer! There's another one a bit later.


In the beginning of the depths, in the room that has the first butcher, behind where he is, is a door that leads to the sewers in the room with the giant rat. kill the giant rat, then slide down the waterfall, hugging the wall so you don't fall all the way down with the water. in this room there's a stair case to the right (there's a rat in it) that will lead to the boss. Also in this room is a door that you can unlock to that leads back to the bonfire, which is quite useful. using this method, you don't even have to encounter any frogs. don't know if i got the method exactly right as I'm at work but I feel like I could do that with my eyes closed at this point... fucking game.

the first time you crouch in the nest, you have to wait like 30 seconds or so before anything happens. the guy that absolves sins in the parish (tower near gargoyles) sells purging stones for 3k souls if you don't want to do the trade.

 

[Thagomizer]

I've done it through NG+++. I also never saw them using the grab if you're right up in their grill. They seem to either do their horizontal swings (negligible damage and can be rolled out of the way) or charge up their AoE. They seem to attempt the grab if you're more mid-range against them, like around the pyro's fireball distance.

I'm the opposite, they do nothing BUT the grab on me. It's seriously annoying.

 

[Zzoram]

Huh? Lightning is completely independent of stats so there's no "best weapon to make Lightning." It's just whichever weapon's movesets you prefer.

I think a lot of people just make their Iaito Lightning for RP reasons cause it's a badass quick-draw katana -- why not add even more flash to it?

Lightning is independent of stat scaling but the total damage of the weapon still depends on the base weapon. For example, a Lightning Dagger does less damage than a Lightning Long Sword, etc.

A lot of people seem to use a Lightning Iaito and I was wondering if there was anything that outdamages/dps it with a similar stat requirement.

 

[Sullichin]

Lightning is independent of stat scaling but the total damage of the weapon still depends on the base weapon. For example, a Lightning Dagger does less damage than a Lightning Long Sword, etc.

A lot of people seem to use a Lightning Iaito and I was wondering if there was anything that outdamages/dps it with a similar stat requirement.

What about http://darksoulswiki.wikispaces.com/Uchigatana ?

 

[ErasureAcer]

Wow, lol, here's your answers to everything:

1) From bonfire in Depths, exit right, go down the ladder, down the ramp, and you'll be in one of the main sewer tunnels. Turn right from there, you'll see the vendor passed the gate but before that, enter the passageway on your right which'll lead you back outside on the ramparts. Pretty straightforward to boss from there.

2) Trapped guy was your first pyromancer trainer. There's two more later in the game, but this guy would have given you your first pyro glove. You were supposed to roll into the barrel to break him out, not swing at it. Not too big of a deal, as one of the other trainers do give you a glove, but it requires a few more steps that you'd have to wiki to find out. edit - if this really bothers you, you're not that far into the game where you can just restart and save him. You'll find that it'll take you less than an hour to get back where you were now that you know where to go / how to kill the bosses.

3) Wait in the crow's nest for 15 seconds. Have to do this the first time, afterwards it'll come pick you up immediately.

4) Glitch where the hellkite dragon at the bridge somehow dies. He only drops souls, and since you already got the Drake Sword, didn't really miss out on anything here.

Thanks for the answers. I'll continue on my playthrough.

 

[TommyT]

Lightning is independent of stat scaling but the total damage of the weapon still depends on the base weapon. For example, a Lightning Dagger does less damage than a Lightning Long Sword, etc.

A lot of people seem to use a Lightning Iaito and I was wondering if there was anything that outdamages/dps it with a similar stat requirement.

Iaito and Uchigatana are regarded as being really good because they also have bleed. Those are probably the best bang for your buck/stat.

 

[2AdEPT]

Why does everyone like to keep their SL so low? The extra challenge? Being able to invade/help weaker players? More likely to be able to find a PvP match? All of the above?

More the last two in my case. The relity is there are always going to be higher numbers oflower level characters around as most players can't be bothered with platinum. Most noobs will "beat" the game and move on as quickly as possible so the freq. Of summons is all it..

 

[scosher]

Lightning is independent of stat scaling but the total damage of the weapon still depends on the base weapon. For example, a Lightning Dagger does less damage than a Lightning Long Sword, etc.

A lot of people seem to use a Lightning Iaito and I was wondering if there was anything that outdamages/dps it with a similar stat requirement.

Yeah but the damage on base weapons are also balanced (or supposed to be) based on swing speed, or additional bleed/poison properties, or special movesets). A Normal dagger does less damage than a normal Longsword as well.

I was just saying that the Lightning Iaito has no special advantage over a Lightning Longsword or whatever that it wouldn't have had as just a Normal Iaito vs. Normal Longsword. I think you just see a lot of it cause of it's popularity and lightning being the best upgrade path currently.

Also in terms of pure damage, Uchigatana does slightly more, even as Lightning. But some just prefer the Iaito's R2 attack OR they never bothered to get the Uchigatana which has to be purchased or looted off an NPC. Iaito's usually most players' first katana.

 

[Manmademan]

Lightning is independent of stat scaling but the total damage of the weapon still depends on the base weapon. For example, a Lightning Dagger does less damage than a Lightning Long Sword, etc.

A lot of people seem to use a Lightning Iaito and I was wondering if there was anything that outdamages/dps it with a similar stat requirement.

The iato gets a lot of love because it has good range, good speed, good power, AND causes bleeding.

bleeding will rob about 30-40% of a target's current HP once it builds, and most shields can't block the effect- so even complete turtles will still get devastated by an iato in PVP. Some bosses (stray demon) will also go down pretty quick to bleed.

I upgraded mine to +15 though, instead of going lightning, since the overall damage is higher (depending on your dex), PLUS you can enchant it with magic, lightning, or fire to add additional damage on top of it.

Four kings went down pretty quickly to a +15 iato, enchanted with fire.

 

[Sullichin]

The iato gets a lot of love because it has good range, good speed, good power, AND causes bleeding.

bleeding will rob about 30-40% of a target's current HP once it builds, and most shields can't block the effect- so even complete turtles will still get devastated by an iato in PVP. Some bosses (stray demon) will also go down pretty quick to bleed.

I upgraded mine to +15 though, instead of going lightning, since the overall damage is higher (depending on your dex), PLUS you can enchant it with magic, lightning, or fire to add additional damage on top of it.

I have my Iaito as lightning, for my Uchigatana I'm working on making it +15. Where it is now (+8 or 9), the damage output just sucks. It's so much easier to make a powerful lightning weapon. Hopefully it will be better after the patch.

 

[BomberMouse]

Why does everyone like to keep their SL so low? The extra challenge? Being able to invade/help weaker players? More likely to be able to find a PvP match? All of the above?

I had a fairly low SL character (around SL 25) until Sen's fortress, then I just said Fuck It and used the infinite souls trick to level up to 80. The online community is pretty sparse nowdays so there's no point in keeping a low SL. Sad part is that all those extra levels did little for my character.

 

[Manmademan]

I have my Iaito as lightning, for my Uchigatana I'm working on making it +15. Where it is now (+8 or 9), the damage output just sucks. It's so much easier to make a powerful lightning weapon. Hopefully it will be better after the patch.

the damage the regular iato does scales with dex. so if your dex is high (about 35 to 40), a regular iato will outdamage a lightning iato.

you also can't enchant a lightning weapon, which was my point with the four kings example. You could take a maxed out iato, then add additional damage to it via magic weapon, crystal magic weapon, or by using the items that grant a fire or lightning bonus on TOP of the damage it usually does.

lightning weapons start out strong but are outclassed by the end game, or in NG+.

edit: the uchigatana IS the same as the iato, but slightly higher damage. it's easier to miss though, since you either have to kill one of the NPC merchants or buy it off of shiva of the east to get it. I'm not in the habit of killing merchants, and never saw shiva my first run through.

 

[scosher]

the damage the regular iato does scales with dex. so if your dex is high (about 35 to 40), a regular iato will outdamage a lightning iato.

you also can't enchant a lightning weapon, which was my point with the four kings example. You could take a maxed out iato, then add additional damage to it via magic weapon, crystal magic weapon, or by using the items that a grant fire or lightning bonus on TOP of the damage it usually does.

lightning weapons start out strong but are outclassed by the end game, or in NG+.

Are you already patched with 1.05? Cause that's not true with 1.03. I mean what you say is how it should've been, and how it was in Demon's Souls, but Lightning is currently the most damaging upgrade path.

 

[tokkun]

So is the Iaito universally regarded as the best weapon to make Lightning +5?

No, not universally regarded.

It's all about your melee strategy. People who want to stunlock will use Claymore or Zweihander. People who want to critical will use Estoc, Rapier, or Bandit's Knife. Others may use Great Scythe or Halberd.

Katanas are great all-around weapons because they are fast, have good range, deal decent damage, and can bleed, making them very useful in PvE. In PvP, unless you have a build set up to use a strong enchantment like Darkmoon Blade / Sunlight Blade / CMW, you have play like a snake - strike quickly, then retreat.

 

[2AdEPT]

Thank you for the info!

Man I have trouble on the roof top for the first bell those 2 dragons are hard .
I can do the one but as soon as the 2nd one is their .

When its 2 on 1 to me that is a clear indication the developer figures it is expceted that you will summon some help...they even give 2 NPC summons in Lautrec and Solaire to assist offline players.

 

[Manmademan]

Are you already patched with 1.05? Cause that's not true with 1.03. I mean what you say is how it should've been, and how it was in Demon's Souls, but Lightning is currently the most damaging upgrade path.

it is true with 1.03. a lightning iato does less damage than a +15 standard at around 40 dex. Lightning doesn't scale at all.

 

[2AdEPT]

So I made it to depths and found the boss before fire. So I look around and find the fire but then can't find the boss anymore. I do find a trapped guy but trying to get him out of barrel I hit him and kill him. Hope he wasn't important. So still looking for boss I fall down a hole and the frogs curse me losing 6000 souls as my second attempt ended the same as my Drake sword was failing. So everything that could go wrong did. Now I watch a youtube vid and the guy crouches in the crow's nest and it sweeps him away to another nest where you trade red orb for cure curse but when I crouch in nest nothing happens.

Also out of the blue while fighting in undead burg I got 10000 souls for beating a bomb thrower guy. What happened? I've beaten that guy plenty of times and never get 10000 but I did one time.

The red kite dragon probably died in a glitchy way...I got 10k off him after only shooting enough to get drake from the tail on my first playthrough. GOt another large sum of ceaseless discharge later on......some bosses are glitchy and the kite dragon is one of them.

 

[scosher]

it is true with 1.03. a lightning iato does less damage than a +15 standard at around 40 dex. Lightning doesn't scale at all.

Uhh, no. I have both an Iaito +15 AND a Lightning Iaito +15, and the normal Iaito is a good 100 damage, not just AR, less. Unless I enchant it with CMW. This is with 40 Dex, btw.

If you're testing the same and not just theorycrafting, maybe you're testing on lightning resistant enemies (ie. skeletons)?