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[FairXchange]

I'm amazed at how fast I was able to get to Sen's Fortress in my New Game+ run this evening. In less than 4 hours I managed to clear the prison, kill the gargoyles and ring the first bell, level my Dark Knight Great Axe to +5, then bypass the entire Blighttown by entering through the exit and killing Quelaag on my first attempt, then made my way to Sen's Fortress.

Oh, and I also levelled up almost 10 times by doing the Darkroot Garden soul farming technique. Not to mention I killed Havel and the Hydra in that same area.

I'm just baffled because all these accomplishments took roughly 50 hours in my first playthrough, so seeing and experiencing all this in around 4 hours on New Game+ with awesome weapons and armour is an awesome experience.

 

[AEGISX]

Wtf? :lol

So you hit its weak point for massive damage?

no. it was one single two-handed swing with Great Lord Greatsword +5 from front, no special animation similiar to back stab or parry stab.
i just found out what it was. it's one those things called "vagrants"
http://darksoulswiki.wikispaces.com/Vagrants

 

[EYEL1NER]

I decided to move on at level 25 and just faced the Taurus Demon. Took 3 falling hits and he went down. But my attacks on the ground were pretty useless, so it seems like level 25 is still pretty weak this early in the game.

 

[Booshka]

I decided to move on at level 25 and just faced the Taurus Demon. Took 3 falling hits and he went down. But my attacks on the ground were pretty useless, so it seems like level 25 is still pretty weak this early in the game.

Upgrading your gear is as important if not more so than leveling. I would suggest stop leveling and use the souls to upgrade your gear, buy spells and upgrade your Pyro Glove. You are going to end up being too high level for areas if you keep leveling, you'll miss out on co op and just get invaded by players that will own you regardless of your level.

 

[B-Genius]

no. it was one single two-handed swing with Great Lord Greatsword +5 from front, no special animation similiar to back stab or parry stab.
i just found out what it was. it's one those things called "vagrants"
http://darksoulswiki.wikispaces.com/Vagrants

In over 200 hours of play (spread mostly between 2 characters), I have never seen a Vagrant, or encountered a Gravelord phantom (although I've seen the "disasters are gone" message plenty of times). Dark Souls, you so cray-zeh.

Sound advice from Booshka there. Upgrading your stuff is important EYEL1NER, but make sure you continue to enjoy the game in your own way, without using the net too much on your first time through

 

[EYEL1NER]

Upgrading your gear is as important if not more so than leveling. I would suggest stop leveling and use the souls to upgrade your gear, buy spells and upgrade your Pyro Glove. You are going to end up being too high level for areas if you keep leveling, you'll miss out on co op and just get invaded by players that will own you regardless of your level.

Okay. I've got quite a bit of Titanite right now. The only smith I have encountered so far though is Rickert, so I guess I need to go back to New Londo to see him. I just really want to beat this Bridge Wyvern but he is proving to be a tough son of a bitch.

And if I was just reading correctly, to be invaded, I have to be human, right (and meet some requirement about levels relating to the other person or something or other)? If I were to play just not turn human, I could avoid being invaded and PvP, right? Or playing offline and still turning human to get better drops?
I don't want to deal with the PvP at all in this game. Or not during my first playthru at least.
I don't even know if I want to bother with co-op.

Anyway, thanks for the advice.

Sound advice from Booshka there. Upgrading your stuff is important EYEL1NER, but make sure you continue to enjoy the game in your own way, without using the net too much on your first time through

I get what you are saying, but I don't mind looking stuff up. Maybe if I had played my copy of Demon's Souls, I would feel more at home with the game. But I've been looking quite a bit up and it hasn't been ruining my experience at all. I'd much do it this way than just wing it, because I could easily see myself getting frustrated with the game and filing it away into my backlog. And if that happenes, there is no telling when I will ever get back to it.

 

[The Xtortionist]

The only smith I have encountered so far though is Rickert, so I guess I need to go back to New Londo to see him..

: O

...really?

 

[EYEL1NER]

: O

...really?

Yeah.
Except I guess he won't be a good person to improve my arms and armor, since he deals in magic stuff.

Edit: I'm only at the Hellkite Wyvern. Are the other smiths I should have come across besides Rickert up to now?
And I am giving up on beating this Wyvern for now. I read some guys method involving bashing him with the Drake Sword, but I can't get it down. Maybe later I can come back and fuck him up proper.

 

[InfiniDragon]

Wtf? :lol

So you hit its weak point for massive damage?

no. it was one single two-handed swing with Great Lord Greatsword +5 from front, no special animation similiar to back stab or parry stab.
i just found out what it was. it's one those things called "vagrants"
http://darksoulswiki.wikispaces.com/Vagrants

The joke






--0 <- Your head
-/l\
-/ \
=================

What he meant: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/e3-sony-2006-giant-enemy-crab

 

[B-Genius]

Edit: I'm only at the Hellkite Wyvern. Are the other smiths I should have come across besides Rickert up to now?
And I am giving up on beating this Wyvern for now. I read some guys method involving bashing him with the Drake Sword, but I can't get it down. Maybe later I can come back and fuck him up proper.

Yeah, don't worry about the red dragon for. You can coax him down and run past him to the bonfire next to the Sunlight Altar (and open a shortcut), or you can just go under the bridge.

If you press on you'll soon find another blacksmith.

 

[KennyLinder]

When I was in Dukes Archives I found a few Crystal Straight Swords, are these any good? I know Crystal weapons break easily and are not repairable, but I just wondered. I tried to level one up and it wouldn't let me, bit weird. I could level up any other Crystal weapon I had.

The Silver Knight sword is awesome, used that a bit. Needs a decent amount of Twinkling to upgrade it though so I left it alone, but since then I have found somemore, I think the crab enemies in Crystal Caves drop them.

I am still using my Lightning Claymore +15, it rocks, and my Man-Serpant +15 too, very good weapon

 

[Soulhouf]

In over 200 hours of play (spread mostly between 2 characters), I have never seen a Vagrant, or encountered a Gravelord phantom (although I've seen the "disasters are gone" message plenty of times). Dark Souls, you so cray-zeh.

Sound advice from Booshka there. Upgrading your stuff is important EYEL1NER, but make sure you continue to enjoy the game in your own way, without using the net too much on your first time through

Last night In the burg my world was gravelorded many times and I was able to invade the Gravelord a couple of times and killed him.

 

[InfiniDragon]

When I was in Dukes Archives I found a few Crystal Straight Swords, are these any good? I know Crystal weapons break easily and are not repairable, but I just wondered. I tried to level one up and it wouldn't let me, bit weird. I could level up any other Crystal weapon I had.

The Silver Knight sword is awesome, used that a bit. Needs a decent amount of Twinkling to upgrade it though so I left it alone, but since then I have found somemore, I think the crab enemies in Crystal Caves drop them.

I am still using my Lightning Claymore +15, it rocks, and my Man-Serpant +15 too, very good weapon

Silver Knight Straight Sword is awesome. Do co-op or invade in Anor Londo and you'll have enough souls to buy Twinkling Titanite from the blacksmith easily.

 

[KennyLinder]

Oh, and I also levelled up almost 10 times by doing the Darkroot Garden soul farming technique. Not to mention I killed Havel and the Hydra in that same area.

What's this technique? With the 3 Forest guards falling off the edge if you hide down the side?

 

[CatPee]

When I was in Dukes Archives I found a few Crystal Straight Swords, are these any good? I know Crystal weapons break easily and are not repairable, but I just wondered. I tried to level one up and it wouldn't let me, bit weird. I could level up any other Crystal weapon I had.

The Silver Knight sword is awesome, used that a bit. Needs a decent amount of Twinkling to upgrade it though so I left it alone, but since then I have found somemore, I think the crab enemies in Crystal Caves drop them.

I am still using my Lightning Claymore +15, it rocks, and my Man-Serpant +15 too, very good weapon

Try the Silver Knight Spear.

 

[Vaporak]

I decided to move on at level 25 and just faced the Taurus Demon. Took 3 falling hits and he went down. But my attacks on the ground were pretty useless, so it seems like level 25 is still pretty weak this early in the game.

Level 25 is pretty overleveled for just getting to the Taurus Demon.

 

[KennyLinder]

Try the Silver Knight Spear.

I did, it's cool too. Or do you mean that levels via Twinkling and the sword doesn't?

 

[InfiniDragon]

I did, it's cool too. Or do you mean that levels via Twinkling and the sword doesn't?

Both need Twinkling to level, all the Silver Knight gear does. But Anor Londo get summons all the time so co-op is a (really) easy way to get the souls for it.

 

[KennyLinder]

Both need Twinkling to level, all the Silver Knight gear does. But Anor Londo get summons all the time so co-op is a (really) easy way to get the souls for it.

I've never done a boss fight co-op at Anor Lando, I guess I should. So you get Twinkling drops after the boss fight?

 

[EYEL1NER]

Yeah, don't worry about the red dragon for. You can coax him down and run past him to the bonfire next to the Sunlight Altar (and open a shortcut), or you can just go under the bridge.

If you press on you'll soon find another blacksmith.

I've gone under him already but I can't make it past him above the bridge. His fire breath tears me up and I cannot purchase the Heater Shield from the undead male vendor because he's aggro towards me. I accidentally hit him with a weak spear attack. Oops.
I've left him alive in case I ever decide I want to fix that one, but it's gonna cost a lot of souls....

Level 25 is pretty overleveled for just getting to the Taurus Demon.

Heh, I know that now.
It was a kind of fun grind though, so I don't feel like I wasted time or anything. I had it down perfect. Run out from the bonfire and take out the archer with two quick attacks, take out the three zombies with a heavy attack each (or counter for a bit more souls), and then fireball the two undead soldiers w/ spears and hope it hit their feet for a OHK, then return to the bonfire. It only netted me about 500 souls a round though. So only a couple hours worth of grinding.

 

[KennyLinder]

The good ones imo

Sunbros - for coop. Increases the level range of players that will see your summon sign.

Darkwraithbros - Good for invading as giving 10 humanity to the covenant leader gives you an infinite invasion item. You'll generally invade up the level curve so be ready.

Darkmoonbros - Infinite invasion item for joining also makes them good for invading. Invasions are trickier since you can only invade guilty players (NPC killers/indicted players) but you invade lower level players in general. Also allows you to use one of the best weapon buffs in the game.

About to enter Dark Moon covenant, what weapon buff do you get?

 

[The Xtortionist]

About to enter Dark Moon covenant, what weapon buff do you get?

Darkmoon Blade

 

[Red Liquorice]

I'm amazed at how fast I was able to get to Sen's Fortress in my New Game+ run this evening. In less than 4 hours I managed to clear the prison, kill the gargoyles and ring the first bell, level my Dark Knight Great Axe to +5, then bypass the entire Blighttown by entering through the exit and killing Quelaag on my first attempt, then made my way to Sen's Fortress.

Oh, and I also levelled up almost 10 times by doing the Darkroot Garden soul farming technique. Not to mention I killed Havel and the Hydra in that same area.

I'm just baffled because all these accomplishments took roughly 50 hours in my first playthrough, so seeing and experiencing all this in around 4 hours on New Game+ with awesome weapons and armour is an awesome experience.

Ha, I've been playing new characters since reaching the end with my first and experiencing the same wonder at the speed with which I can run through stuff that took me ages before. The game does train you, and like old platformers, you know where the enemies are so you can "keep your finger on run" - so to speak! I remember how much trouble the first miniboss gave me, but I've since done it easy as anything with a deprived and a sorcerer. This game isn't hard, we were just new to it!

I've been starting characters and enjoying co-op once I get to Undead Burg, my run now is to get to the burg, down to Havel, then do the Hydra, then the Titanite Demon, then the rest of the Burg - it's surprisingly quick, I can see now how people have different "builds" of characters.

 

[InfiniDragon]

I've never done a boss fight co-op at Anor Lando, I guess I should. So you get Twinkling drops after the boss fight?

Nope. You get a lot of souls. Which you use to buy Twinkling Titanite from the Giant Blacksmith.

 

[AEGISX]

The joke






--0 <- Your head
-/l\
-/ \
=================

What he meant: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/e3-sony-2006-giant-enemy-crab

lol, i finally got what he was sayin, thanks!!

 

[KennyLinder]

Darkmoon Blade

Rad, could you use that on a Silver Knight Straight Sword? I've never really done any buffing as I went Pyro.

 

[InfiniDragon]

Yeah, SKSS can be buffed.

 

[KennyLinder]

I actually use the Silver Knight shield, seems really good to me. I should upgrade it, haven't done yet.

You know, that's a good point, I've been using the same armour since forever. I got the Elite Armour from the Forest early on in the game and I still use it now. It's all fully upgraded apart from to take it to +10 which I need a Titanite slab for each part. Is it good armour?

I only switch to something with better poison resist when I go back to Blighttown for Shard farming etc.

 

[InfiniDragon]

I actually use the Silver Knight shield, seems really good to me. I should upgrade it, haven't done yet.

You know, that's a good point, I've been using the same armour since forever. I got the Elite Armour from the Forest early on in the game and I still use it now. It's all fully upgraded apart from to take it to +10 which I need a Titanite slab for each part. Is it good armour?

I only switch to something with better poison resist when I go back to Blighttown for Shard farming etc.

Silver Knight Shield is IMO the best mid sized shield in the game.

And don't sweat the poison resist for shard farming in Blighttown, it'll have little effect on how long you can stand in the muck and since it's all over the place you get poisoned anyway. Just have full Estus, run through, kill the slugs and run back to the bonfire to cure the poison.

 

[KennyLinder]

I assume the Black Knight stuff is better though, right? Only got Chunk drops from them as I've not been to the final area yet.

Looking at buffing options, my Faith is relatively low so I don't have much effective stuff.

 

[Soulhouf]

I assume the Black Knight stuff is better though, right? Only got Chunk drops from them as I've not been to the final area yet.

Looking at buffing options, my Faith is relatively low so I don't have much effective stuff.

Yes the Black Knight stuff are better.
You can't buff them though but they don't need to since they are already very strong weapons (pure physic).

 

[Frank]

I decided to move on at level 25 and just faced the Taurus Demon. Took 3 falling hits and he went down. But my attacks on the ground were pretty useless, so it seems like level 25 is still pretty weak this early in the game.

As far as I can tell, these Soul Level / Area guidelines are still OK. Of course, they are important if you're interested in coop and the rest. And you should be, the game suddenly becomes a lot more when you're doing it regularly.

And as the others have noticed, upgrading weapons & equipment beats levelling up by a huge margin.

Also, any creature in the game can be beaten with the lowest damage weapon you find -- it's just gonna take you a long while. What I mean to say by this is that your own ability to not get hit, or mitigate damage, is just a important as the weapons themselves in the end.

Your survival depends on how you play, and not on what you play with or what level you are.

 

[Dyno]

Yes the Black Knight stuff are better.
You can't buff them though but they don't need to since they are already very strong weapons (pure physic).

Black Knight weapons are upgraded with Twinkling Titanite. A +5 Black Knight Sword is a good friend indeed!

 

[Mistouze]

Black Knight weapons are upgraded with Twinkling Titanite. A +5 Black Knight Sword is a good friend indeed!

And the upgraded Black Knight Shield +5 has the highest stability among medium shields methinks.

 

[Soulhouf]

And the upgraded Black Knight Shield +5 has the highest stability among medium shields methinks.

Silver Knight shield's stability is better. But the 95% fire reduction makes the BK Shield more useful.

 

[Derrick01]

Finally entered the dreaded Blighttown. People weren't kidding, it makes the rest of this game seem like it's running at a constant 30 fps.

 

[FairXchange]

Update: Killed the Hellkite Dragon guarding the bridge near the Undead Burg region in new game+ on update 1.05.

This was the first time I ever managed to kill this particular dragon, especially after how difficult it became after the 1.05 patch. He's capable of one-shotting most characters with his flame and downward flame attacks, not to mention they're spaced about 3 seconds apart most times. It took me roughly 20 attempts to learn a pattern I thought would work well enough to keep me from getting killed instantly (using +13 Flash Sweat), and land enough damage to get away, heal, and go in for the final assault. I had literally so little health, I thought my character had died. Managed to do it though, felt so awesome.

The payout in NG+ was 50k souls, but it wasn't the souls I was after, it was the triumph of never seeing that overpowered beast trolling the bridge ever again!

 

[Astra]

Finally entered the dreaded Blighttown. People weren't kidding, it makes the rest of this game seem like it's running at a constant 30 fps.

I thought it would be much worse, but people over exaggerated how bad it was. It's definitely noticeable, and pretty annoying, but it's still very much playable and didn't hurt my enjoyment of the area. I was also playing with two friends at the time, so that made the frame rate even worse. The whole area reminded me of Demon's Soul's Valley of Defilement.

I think the frame rate there is made even worse by how limited your view is, due to all the scaffolding. So you're constantly moving the camera, and with the wonky frame rate, it makes you feel pretty dizzy.

Update: Killed the Hellkite Dragon guarding the bridge near the Undead Burg region in new game+ on update 1.05.

This was the first time I ever managed to kill this particular dragon, especially after how difficult it became after the 1.05 patch. He's capable of one-shotting most characters with his flame and downward flame attacks, not to mention they're spaced about 3 seconds apart most times. It took me roughly 20 attempts to learn a pattern I thought would work well enough to keep me from getting killed instantly (using +13 Flash Sweat), and land enough damage to get away, heal, and go in for the final assault. I had literally so little health, I thought my character had died. Managed to do it though, felt so awesome.

The payout in NG+ was 50k souls, but it wasn't the souls I was after, it was the triumph of never seeing that overpowered beast trolling the bridge ever again!

I had very little trouble with him for my game. Then I joined a friend, and we went to kill his, and he was kicking my ass. Probably due to me being a showoff while playing with friends, trying to look like a badass and going all berserker on the beast, only to be mowed down. In my world, I was pretty methodical and cautious while fighting him.

 

[systemfehler]

In a marathon session I finished Demon Souls, now I switched back to Dark Souls for more multiplayer fun. Just killed the Belltower boss with 2 others and before we defeated a poor black phantom invading. 3 versus 1 is just so unfair

 

[Astra]

In a marathon session I finished Demon Souls, now I switched back to Dark Souls for more multiplayer fun. Just killed the Belltower boss with 2 others and before we defeated a poor black phantom invading. 3 versus 1 is just so unfair

Tell that to the cheaters who use that inventory exploit to have all the best gear at low level, then come and invade poor saps like me who just started this game for the first time and obliterate me. Had two friends with me, but it didn't matter, because they don't cheat, so they didn't stand a chance.

Then I learned in this thread about the "anti-gankers". haha. Dark Souls superheroes.

 

[FairXchange]

I had very little trouble with him for my game. Then I joined a friend, and we went to kill his, and he was kicking my ass. Probably due to me being a showoff while playing with friends, trying to look like a badass and going all berserker on the beast, only to be mowed down. In my world, I was pretty methodical and cautious while fighting him.

Reading the wiki, it appears as though his difficulty was dramatically increased post update, the wiki even suggests levelling a bow and using the ring that increases attack when health is low to kill him instead of trying melee.

Getting anywhere near him prompts a flame attack that can wipe out 100% health despite any buffs. I was elated when my plan worked: flash sweat and Dark Knight Greataxe+5 with 3 endurance buffing items did the trick for me.. and a bit of luck because he could have easily stomped on me when I was healing.

 

[systemfehler]

Tell that to the cheaters who use that inventory exploit to have all the best gear at low level, then come and invade poor saps like me who just started this game for the first time and obliterate me. Had two friends with me, but it didn't matter, because they don't cheat, so they didn't stand a chance.

Then I learned in this thread about the "anti-gankers". haha. Dark Souls superheroes.

That really sucks, I rarely invade because I am not the most skilled fighter. Never heard about "ganking" or counter measures. I had my prime focus on the singleplayer for 80+ hours mostly playing hollow/offline.

 

[Astra]

Reading the wiki, it appears as though his difficulty was dramatically increased post update, the wiki even suggests levelling a bow and using the ring that increases attack when health is low to kill him instead of trying melee.

Getting anywhere near him prompts a flame attack that can wipe out 100% health despite any buffs. I was elated when my plan worked: flash sweat and Dark Knight Greataxe+5 with 3 endurance buffing items did the trick for me.. and a bit of luck because he could have easily stomped on me when I was healing.

Ah yeah, I had a strong bow (Well Black Bow of Pharis is strong with a Dex build) and I used that, and Power Within with the Hawk Ring while taking cover.

That's the worst of it, stopping to heal. I've been killed so many times while healing. It's like the enemies enter berserk mode when you use your estus flask.

I got caught by one of those worms in Demon Ruins, and he was chomping on my head (I was a phantom), and my friend was chugging estus to keep me alive. I like Dark Souls method of healing phantoms. Had my ass saved a few times this way when I was stun locked and such.

That really sucks, I rarely invade because I am not the most skilled fighter. Never heard about "ganking" or counter measures. I had my prime focus on the singleplayer for 80+ hours mostly playing hollow/offline.

I suck at PvP, myself, but can win once in awhile in a fair fight. The issue there, is that invaders are decked out for PvP, whereas I am usually equipped to handle the area I am in, and the boss. I'm usually at a disadvantage when a phantom invades. Plus I am still new, and don't know the areas all that well. Now that I am high level, at least the gankers aren't an issue anymore.

I played Demon's Souls offline for the majority, but I got Dark Souls mainly to play with two of my friends. Invasions are an unfortunate side effect of playing co-op, but at least they are not excessive.

 

[Sullichin]

Tell that to the cheaters who use that inventory exploit to have all the best gear at low level, then come and invade poor saps like me who just started this game for the first time and obliterate me. Had two friends with me, but it didn't matter, because they don't cheat, so they didn't stand a chance.

Then I learned in this thread about the "anti-gankers". haha. Dark Souls superheroes.

You do not have to use any sort of exploit at all to acquire any item at a low level. If you play the game a lot it's not very difficult to constrain your level to be in invasion ranges. They're just being jerks for using powerful gear so early in the game. And of course, it's likely they are using the BB glitch, but it doesn't matter either way. I made an anti-gank/co-op build and it's equally silly to help people kill bosses with overpowered stuff - it's kind of missing the point if a phantom demolishes the boss for you in seconds. So i'll only use early gear when co-opping upper burg / lower burg / parish now, but keep some strong stuff on the ready for when an overpowered darkwraith comes along (which didn't happen as often as I thought it would, from reading this thread)

Being human so early on is a double edged sword. You'll likely be able to summon a character who will kill a boss in two seconds (not so fun), and you're likely to get invaded by someone who can kill you just as fast (not so fun). It would be nice if there were more invaders and friendly phantoms with appropriate gear, but I guess some people like to just guarantee a win for whatever reason instead of actually having a real fight.

 

[Astra]

You do not have to use any sort of exploit at all to acquire any item at a low level. If you play the game a lot it's not very difficult to constrain your level to be in invasion ranges. They're just being jerks for using powerful gear so early in the game. And of course, it's likely they are using the BB glitch, but it doesn't matter either way. I made an anti-gank/co-op build and it's equally silly to help people kill bosses with overpowered stuff - it's kind of missing the point if a phantom demolishes the boss for you in seconds. So i'll only use early gear when co-opping upper burg / lower burg / parish now, but keep some strong stuff on the ready for when an overpowered darkwraith comes along (which didn't happen as often as I thought it would, from reading this thread)

Being human so early on is a double edged sword. You'll likely be able to summon a character who will kill a boss in two seconds (not so fun), and you're likely to get invaded by someone who can kill you just as fast (not so fun). It would be nice if there were more invaders and friendly phantoms with appropriate gear, but I guess some people like to just guarantee a win for whatever reason instead of actually having a real fight.

True, I've done low level runs in Demon's Souls, so not every one of them is using the exploit. Still, in those early areas, I didn't get invaded by a single Black Phantom using low level gear. Really ruined the early online experience for me.

The summoning of overpowered phantoms wasn't an issue for me, at least. I just played with my friends, but at the same time, we were in no condition to deal with the overpowered invaders.

When I start a new character, I'll keep powerful equipment in reserve to deal with these people.

 

[FairXchange]

Ah yeah, I had a strong bow (Well Black Bow of Pharis is strong with a Dex build) and I used that, and Power Within with the Hawk Ring while taking cover.

That's the worst of it, stopping to heal. I've been killed so many times while healing. It's like the enemies enter berserk mode when you use your estus flask.

I got caught by one of those worms in Demon Ruins, and he was chomping on my head (I was a phantom), and my friend was chugging estus to keep me alive. I like Dark Souls method of healing phantoms. Had my ass saved a few times this way when I was stun locked and such.

Sounds epic! I need to finally get involved in the online scene, I do 95% of my Dark Souls gaming alone. I'll probably start getting active in helping people with bosses and invading soon.

By the way, would the Black Bow of Pharis be any use to my character that has roughly 30 DEX?

 

[Sullichin]

True, I've done low level runs in Demon's Souls, so not every one of them is using the exploit. Still, in those early areas, I didn't get invaded by a single Black Phantom using low level gear. Really ruined the early online experience for me.

The summoning of overpowered phantoms wasn't an issue for me, at least. I just played with my friends, but at the same time, we were in no condition to deal with the overpowered invaders.

When I start a new character, I'll keep powerful equipment in reserve to deal with these people.

I like when I'm higher level, waiting to get invaded in the burg, and some low level idiot with pinwheel mask / havels / elemental weapon will come into my game hoping I'm a low level player he can easily stomp on, and tries to black crystal out.

I will admit there is a grim satisfaction in messing up someone's game -- it's pretty satisfying killing a party of 3 inching their way through Sen's Fortress -- but when the other player doesn't stand a chance I don't see the point. Outsmarting and outmaneuvering your opponents is where the fun is, not instantly casting ascended great combustion on the dude hiding behind his shield in default pyro gear with a drake sword. So yeah, there's a lot of bullshit online, but tons of fun to be had as well.

And low level run of Demons Souls seems to me more difficult than a low level run of this game.

 

[Hawkian]

ah i was a page beaten

 

[Soulhouf]

Every time I fight somebody in PvP I can tell if he/she is Japanese or not and I'm right in 95% of the time.
This is sad. Western players have to learn how to play and respect other players

 

[casabolg]

Oh crap, how much damage does power within add to archery?