It took me about 20 tries, and I'd like to consider myself pretty good at the game. He's probably the hardest boss in the game if you are unable to stagger him out of his charge up. I was using Ornstein's Spear, so I maybe did 3% damage each time I had an opening. The fight probably took 10 minutes and I basically needed to keep on trying until I only got hit once or twice the entire fight since I had no shield and would die in two hits.
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Dark Souls |OT4| Victory achieved for Scamco, text defeated
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It took me about 20 tries, and I'd like to consider myself pretty good at the game. He's probably the hardest boss in the game if you are unable to stagger him out of his charge up. I was using Ornstein's Spear, so I maybe did 3% damage each time I had an opening. The fight probably took 10 minutes and I basically needed to keep on trying until I only got hit once or twice the entire fight since I had no shield and would die in two hits.
Yea I've been using the wikia for stat explanation as well. The game does a poor job of explaining that to you, but that may be intentional. I sorta like the mystery.
I headed straight to the forest area. It's extremely easy so far. I just found a hydra though. I got too close and fell in a hole. Otherwise it looks like a pretty straightforward fight.
EDIT: I've been invaded more times in the first hour of the forest than my entire playthrough. Do people just hangout there to gank lower levels?
Well thats kinda the point. Not that its super difficult, its just not fun.
Casanova
Member
I think I've gotten myself into a bad situation.
Before I ask my question, here are my stats:
I have a Level 41 Warrior
Vitality: 12
Attunement: 12
Endurance: 14
Strength: 32
Dexterity: 12
Resistance: 12
Intelligence: 16
Faith: 14
So I think I screwed up by leveling up strength so much.. because of this all of my other stats are very low and it takes a lot of souls to level up now...
I'm in the Depths and I am dying a lot because of low resistance and vitality but I cannot level up
Am i screwed on this character? Should I just delete this character and start over? Is there anything I can do to reset my stats?
OR do any of you have any good advice for me on how to go about playing tas this character?
Any advice or help is welcome.
Thanks Dark Souls GAF!
Before I ask my question, here are my stats:
I have a Level 41 Warrior
Vitality: 12
Attunement: 12
Endurance: 14
Strength: 32
Dexterity: 12
Resistance: 12
Intelligence: 16
Faith: 14
So I think I screwed up by leveling up strength so much.. because of this all of my other stats are very low and it takes a lot of souls to level up now...
I'm in the Depths and I am dying a lot because of low resistance and vitality but I cannot level up
Am i screwed on this character? Should I just delete this character and start over? Is there anything I can do to reset my stats?
OR do any of you have any good advice for me on how to go about playing tas this character?
Any advice or help is welcome.
Thanks Dark Souls GAF!
You did make it hard on yourself leveling Strength so much, but you can recover. Just stop leveling Strength and start working on Vitality and Endurance. Use weapons that have good Strength Scaling (damage bonus from your Strength stat, B or A grade), like Clubs, Maces, Axes, Greatswords etc. There is actually a Greataxe in the Depths that requires 32 Strength to 1 Hand. Start using that with a decent shield, upgrade it as much as you can, try to get it to +5/ +10 and ultimately +14/15 and you will do a ton of damage.
Having low Vitality isn't all bad, you will get better at the game quicker, because your mistakes will be punished more harshly. If you don't have the patience or resolve to handle dying so often because of low Vitality, then you can start over and level Vitality and Endurance, before pouring points into weapon or magic stats.
Also, never level Resistance, ever.
Arjen
Member
Yikes, that looks kind of bad. Low vitality and low endurance means you can't take punches and can't block and deal a lot of punches either. Forget resistance, don't put points there.
I would say, upgrade your armour, and fight ranged with a bow and soul arrows for a bit. Gaping dragon gives tons of souls and there's plenty people helping out there.
What weapon are you using that made you pump up your strength that way?
I would say, upgrade your armour, and fight ranged with a bow and soul arrows for a bit. Gaping dragon gives tons of souls and there's plenty people helping out there.
What weapon are you using that made you pump up your strength that way?
There is a covenant that summons members to attack people that enter the forest.
Casanova
Member
A greataxe that I reinforced to plus 5. It's really badass but totally not worth it... I was just impatient so I just saved up a lot of souls and leveled my strength up so I could use it..
Now I regret it.
Deified Data
Banned
No shield? Damn. I've been trying to turtle my way through with a Silver Knight's Shield and Mask of the Child.
Arjen
Member
Starting over could be a an option, if you're familiar with the start of the game you could be where you are in about an hour.
Casanova
Member
It might be fun to start over anyway... and take a new approach..
But then again, I've already fought the taurus, the priest, the gargoyles, and the crippled scorpion guy, and the guy with the goat head (he was a bastard).. so I've gotten pretty far. I don't think I could do all of that in an hour...
But I mean, do you think it would be worth it in the long run? If so, I'll do it but it's going to take me a lot longer than an hour.
It would definitely be worth it, this game is meant to be replayed anyway, so you will do it quicker and more effectively. Probably stumble across things you missed first time. If you want to use Strength weapons start as a Bandit, but if you want a mix, go with Warrior again and level your Dexterity to 14, and Strength to 16, then focus on Vitality and Endurance until they are both around 20+. From there you can decide whether you are leaning toward lighter faster Dex weapons, or the slower, heavier and stronger Strength weapons.
Arjen
Member
You'll be surprised how quik you can do the beginning once you know how to do it, and trust me you barely started.
Casanova
Member
I don't really ever give buffs to strength in RPG's I am more of a "quick on my feet" medium-long distance ranged attacks. I like magic, archery and trickery.
I like juking AI and all of that jazz.
So I don't think I will be wanting to play as a strength-heavy class. Any suggestions for what I am looking for?
I would say start over. You are extremely extremely overleveled for the depths, and the game doesn't get easier.
Like people have said, you'll get back to your current spot in 1/3 the time it took since you know what you're doing.
As for advice, do not neglect VIT and END, especially if you are new. END is important not only because it allows you to wear heavier armor without horrible movement penalties, but also because it increases your stamina which lets you attack more, block more, and dodge more. Find a weapon you like without ridiculous stat requirements and don't go crazy with STR/DEX scaling at first. Upgrade your weapon and armor.
I'd say focus on VIT/END/DEX, then mix in some INT later on. The Magic Weapon spells are great for wizard/melee mixes. I don't have much experience with the other offensive magic spells, they never seem great unless you are dumping tons of points into INT. VIT/END/DEX with a little bit of INT for magic weapon, then also using pyromancy might be what you want. Pyromancy is solely dependent on how much your pyro glove is leveled, so it doesn't require and stat points.
The balder side sword is a good early DEX weapon, but they are a fairly rare drop from the red cape knights in the undead cathedral. You can get an uchigatana very early in the game by killing the undead merchant in the undead burg. You might want to buy the bottomless box from him before doing so.
You are in the same situation I was in. I leveled a Sorcerer with pretty much only intelligence. I had just defeated the Capra Demon (goat head), but I started over. I was right back at the Capra Demon in just around an hour.
Arjen
Member
I don't really ever give buffs to strength in RPG's I am more of a "quick on my feet" medium-long distance ranged attacks. I like magic, archery and trickery.
I like juking AI and all of that jazz.
So I don't think I will be wanting to play as a strength-heavy class. Any suggestions for what I am looking for?
I think you need an dex/int build. Archery is pretty powerful, enemies can be cheesed really easy with bows. Maybe you can start with a hunter and put some points im int as well. But im not an expert, I fucked up some builds as well.
I know exactly what you're looking for, dude. Create a Thief-class character, don't ever level up until after the Capra demon and save all those souls you get up to that point. Then come back here and quote us a soul number, and we'll gladly tell you where to spend each level.
...listen to sixghost.Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
He doesn't need to start over. His VIT is low, but it's still doable, and his high strength means he can wield really powerful weapons. Using large or great clubs +10 (and eventually +15) will make him an ultimate ass-kicking machine.
The only problem is getting through the Depths and finding the clubs in Blighttown. That might be hard, but after that it will be so much easier. He can spend all the souls he gets from the Depths boss on VIT and END. He does need armour with poise, though, or he'll scarcely ever land those club hits. I suggest the wolf ring combined with hollow soldier armor pieces, they have a good poise/weight ratio.
Strength builds are a harder playstyle and need a learning curve, but they can be very powerful. So, unless that style of play is thoroughly unsuited for his preference, he shouldn't start over, IMO.
Edit: sorry, I missed your post about preferring magic and archery. Hmmm yeah I'd start over then, I guess, if that's truly what you prefer. ^^ I'd pick a wanderer, a pyromancer or a sorcerer as starting class. You can focus on leveling up dex for archery and not invest in INT and use pyro spells instead of sorcery as pyros don't scale with INT. But if you like "trickery" I do suggest leveling up INT. You don't need high dex then, you can ascend a short bow or a composite bow with Rickert and combined with moonlight arrows it'll be pretty powerful later on (scales with INT), and you'll have access to all the cool sorcery spells. Or you can do a dex/int hybrid which is honestly the most powerful combination IMO, mixing speed with ranged attacks and high magic damage, but it requires more stat investment.
The only problem is getting through the Depths and finding the clubs in Blighttown. That might be hard, but after that it will be so much easier. He can spend all the souls he gets from the Depths boss on VIT and END. He does need armour with poise, though, or he'll scarcely ever land those club hits. I suggest the wolf ring combined with hollow soldier armor pieces, they have a good poise/weight ratio.
Strength builds are a harder playstyle and need a learning curve, but they can be very powerful. So, unless that style of play is thoroughly unsuited for his preference, he shouldn't start over, IMO.
Edit: sorry, I missed your post about preferring magic and archery. Hmmm yeah I'd start over then, I guess, if that's truly what you prefer. ^^ I'd pick a wanderer, a pyromancer or a sorcerer as starting class. You can focus on leveling up dex for archery and not invest in INT and use pyro spells instead of sorcery as pyros don't scale with INT. But if you like "trickery" I do suggest leveling up INT. You don't need high dex then, you can ascend a short bow or a composite bow with Rickert and combined with moonlight arrows it'll be pretty powerful later on (scales with INT), and you'll have access to all the cool sorcery spells. Or you can do a dex/int hybrid which is honestly the most powerful combination IMO, mixing speed with ranged attacks and high magic damage, but it requires more stat investment.
He could also just cut off the gaping dragon's tail to get a high STR weapon, but it sounds like he's not enjoying that style of play.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
See my edit and that axe requires like 50 strength to wield 1-handed, doesn't it? Yeah he could 2h it at about 34 strength, but it's not a very good weapon, it's heavy as hell and requires the rare dragon scales to upgrade, I wouldn't recommend it even on a strength build. ^^
and that axe requires like 50 strength to wield 1-handed, doesn't it? Yeah he could 2h it at about 34 strength, but it's not a very good weapon, it's heavy as hell and requires the rare dragon scales to upgrade, I wouldn't recommend it even on a strength build. ^^
Casanova
Member
Well, I just remembered that a friend and I started a new character a couple of months ago and here are the stats:
Level 14 Sorcerer
Vitality 10
Attunement 15
Endurance 9
Strength 16
Dexterity 12
Resistance 8
Intelligence 15
Faith 8
I am now in the Undead Parish, but cannot remember how far I've gotten or if I've beaten any bosses yet.
I have 4 hours of gameplay on this character
Is this a better starting point than my strength build?
Looks pretty good so far, right?
Any suggestions on stats?
Any weapons, spells, armor or any pick-ups I should looks for in the beginning or acquire?
I'm kind of a noob to Dark Souls, I've never asked any questions about this game, It's all been from trial and error and elimination tactics.. so I'm sorry for all the bother GAF.
Level 14 Sorcerer
Vitality 10
Attunement 15
Endurance 9
Strength 16
Dexterity 12
Resistance 8
Intelligence 15
Faith 8
I am now in the Undead Parish, but cannot remember how far I've gotten or if I've beaten any bosses yet.
I have 4 hours of gameplay on this character
Is this a better starting point than my strength build?
Looks pretty good so far, right?
Any suggestions on stats?
Any weapons, spells, armor or any pick-ups I should looks for in the beginning or acquire?
I'm kind of a noob to Dark Souls, I've never asked any questions about this game, It's all been from trial and error and elimination tactics.. so I'm sorry for all the bother GAF.
Even if you are going for a strength build, ignoring endurance like that is going to make things pretty rough trying to swing around big weapons with little stamina.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
^ True, it's a challenge, but it's doable even with low stam. Stamina-regen gear such as the grass crest shield and munching on green blossoms help. Might be too difficult for a new player who's more into archery/magic/dex playstyles though, I grant you.
Casanova: can't speak for everyone but I'm sure you aren't a bother at all. That sorcerer looks decent for a magic build. Your strength is a bit high, but there's an excellent late-game INT-scaling weapon that requires 16 strength to wield so it'll come in handy then (it also requires high INT so it's great for magic builds). Don't level it up more than that, though. Focus on more VIT (that's never a mistake to level up until at least 40-50, to be honest), find weapons that scale with dex or int and level that up. Which stat you want to level up depends on the weapons and spells you want to use. If you want fast and strong melee with magic and bows as backup, go with higher dex and endurance and level up an estoc or a balder side sword (you might need to farm it from the Balder knights in the Parish, but it's not that bad and it's very good weapon) ot wait until you find a falchion. You can also use very good bows with these stats. I'd focus on the normal +10/+15 upgrade paths.
If you want to focus on sorcery and use melee as backup, level up INT and ATT more and focus less on dex and endurance (though endurance, like vitality, is never really a mistake to level up until you reach 30-40 -- don't ever go past 40 though, not worth it on your build at all). You can upgrade any weapon to the magic/enchanted path later which will scale with INT, or you can just use elemental weapons which are probably better anyway. Fire bows with fire arrows are good on any builds, but if you prefer scaling for long-term, go with a magic bow once you get green titanite shards.
For armor, I'd recommend keeping light armour for mobility (the pyromancer and wanderer sets are excellent, and found in Blighttown, you can also use the Black leather set in lower Burg in the meantime) and use the Wolf ring for some poise. While it's not cheap at early-game (20k souls IIRC), do buy the Bellowing Dragoncrest ring from the mage vendor. That'll be your other main ring if you want to use magic. Also works for boosting pyromancies!
Good luck!
Casanova: can't speak for everyone but I'm sure you aren't a bother at all.
That sorcerer looks decent for a magic build. Your strength is a bit high, but there's an excellent late-game INT-scaling weapon that requires 16 strength to wield so it'll come in handy then (it also requires high INT so it's great for magic builds). Don't level it up more than that, though. Focus on more VIT (that's never a mistake to level up until at least 40-50, to be honest), find weapons that scale with dex or int and level that up. Which stat you want to level up depends on the weapons and spells you want to use. If you want fast and strong melee with magic and bows as backup, go with higher dex and endurance and level up an estoc or a balder side sword (you might need to farm it from the Balder knights in the Parish, but it's not that bad and it's very good weapon) ot wait until you find a falchion. You can also use very good bows with these stats. I'd focus on the normal +10/+15 upgrade paths. If you want to focus on sorcery and use melee as backup, level up INT and ATT more and focus less on dex and endurance (though endurance, like vitality, is never really a mistake to level up until you reach 30-40 -- don't ever go past 40 though, not worth it on your build at all). You can upgrade any weapon to the magic/enchanted path later which will scale with INT, or you can just use elemental weapons which are probably better anyway. Fire bows with fire arrows are good on any builds, but if you prefer scaling for long-term, go with a magic bow once you get green titanite shards.
For armor, I'd recommend keeping light armour for mobility (the pyromancer and wanderer sets are excellent, and found in Blighttown, you can also use the Black leather set in lower Burg in the meantime) and use the Wolf ring for some poise. While it's not cheap at early-game (20k souls IIRC), do buy the Bellowing Dragoncrest ring from the mage vendor. That'll be your other main ring if you want to use magic. Also works for boosting pyromancies!
Good luck!
If you just want to play an almost pure magic build, that's a fine start. It would take another 15 levels to turn that into a decent melee build. There are just too many points in ATT/INT too early.
Red Liquorice
Member
On a virgin playthrough, whatever type of character you're going for, it's always best to concentrate on VIT and END early on.
If starting a fresh and want to use magic, you might want to go for the Knight class, it has less INT than a sorcerer, but better armour, higher health, endurance, strength etc. I think you only need to put 1 point into attunement for 2 slots. You can buy soul arrow from the New Londo merchant straight away.
If starting a fresh and want to use magic, you might want to go for the Knight class, it has less INT than a sorcerer, but better armour, higher health, endurance, strength etc. I think you only need to put 1 point into attunement for 2 slots. You can buy soul arrow from the New Londo merchant straight away.
Deified Data
Banned
How many attunement slots would you guys recommend for a typical faith build? I've got 3 and want to keep it at that.
Ugh, I disagree. I have a lvl200+ (tons of pvp, surprisingly) and the game becomes incredibly annoying.
The problem isn't the damage that the enemies do (it hurts as you may expect), the problem is the damage you do to the enemies.
And the reason is simple: the weapons just don't scale properly (armor much less), making every single encounter incredibly frustrating. I'm not kidding, at some point regular enemies take 2 or more counters and/or backstabs!
Something pretty weird, If I recall correctly, Demon's Souls weapons (and defense) scaled pretty well and you could keep going with the same character as much as you wanted. I wish they will bring back that stuff for DS2.
AnonymousTipster
Neo Member
Simply depends on how many miracles you want to be able to cycle through at a time. Unless I'm doing a pure caster or heavy pyro build, I tend not to raise attunement above 16, which gives you 4 slots. After 16 it takes more and more levels in between each new slot.
Also keep in mind that you can use the darkmoon seance ring to get another attunement slot.
Also, something I that learned on my 1st playthrough is that if you're relying on blocking at all, endurance = life. The more stamina you have, the more hits you can take before your life bar is affected. I ignored vitality entirely on my playthrough. Boosting stamina not only allowed me to get hit more, but also had a couple other very useful benefits, like being able to wear/use different(and heavier) equipment, have more striking capability and being able to run longer.
Deified Data
Banned
I've slowly discovered this as well. Most bosses I pay as much attention to my stamina gauge as I do to the boss.
Hey, I beat Artorias, went through Oolacile Township, through Chasm of the Abyss, and I end up right at Manus. I thought there were more bosses in the DLC? Are they optional?
There's one more optional boss
RE Faith attunement, depends on how often you want to use miracles. When I go faith 3 is enough for me, 1 or 2 for darkmoon/sunlight blade and either force or wotg, or a heal spell if it's a co op character
Deified Data
Banned
Ah, I see. I'll tackle Kalameet before continuing towards Manus.
I'll probably keep it at 3 slots, maybe boost it up to 4 in NG+.
New Londo and Four Kings can eat a gigantic bag of dicks. What a terrible level and horrible boss fight. I like the creepy atmosphere of the level but no fire sucks and that boss fight is by far the worst one in the game for me so far. No reference, no ability to see how far you are from the enemy it's just shit.
I don't know how I'm going to beat this as a strength warrior. This is quite a let down after killing O&S on my first try.
I don't know how I'm going to beat this as a strength warrior. This is quite a let down after killing O&S on my first try.
Deified Data
Banned
Up your magic defense and attack them ruthlessly. If the first one's not dead by the time the rest show up you'll probably lose.
You can actually attack a King during its death animation and continue to decrease the shared health pool without it fighting back.
Not my favorite boss, but easily one of my favorite areas in the game. So atmospheric.
STR builds are great against 4K. Get the Grass Crest Shield, some green blossoms, two hand your best DPS weapon, throw on the heaviest gear you have, wolf ring if you can spare a ring slot, buff your weapon with gold pine resin/magic weapon, and go to town while chugging estus when you need it. That fight is just a DPS race. If you aren't killing each king within 5-10 seconds of the next one spawning switch things up and try again.
AnonymousTipster
Neo Member
Actually I find strength builds to have a fairly easy time with the Four Kings, since the whole fight is basically a DPS race.
My advice is stock up on green blossoms, put on Havel's Set (or as much as you can while still having medium roll) and two-hand your strongest weapon.
It is a bit of a pain that there's no bonfire in New Londo, but the run back is short if you roll down to the lower level and skip the first ghost house (or whatever it's called). If your dodging skills are awesome you can also make the run from the Darkroot bonfire near the Valley of Drakes. If you do it perfectly (which admittedly is kind of difficult), its faster than coming from Firelink Shrine.
If you're having trouble, make sure you are spawning at the Valley of Drakes bonfire. Head out the gigantic doors you opened, go across the bridge and up the elevator to the left. It's a much shorter run to the boss than starting from Firelink.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
Strength builds are the best for the 4 Kings! You get your strongest weapon, stack your poise and def as high as possible, equip the grass crest shield on your back, then spam attacks and poise-flask as needed. You don't even need to be good at dodging their attacks, lol, just tank them. On a proper strength build, you kill the first king so fast, you have time to do the "Come at me bro" gesture a few times before the second king spawns.
Like sixghost said, green blossoms can help, however, note that if you have a transient curse active, it must wear off, since it's counted as an active defense buff and you can only have one active at the same time. So if you have a ghost blade (or a jagged ghost blade) and need to dispatch a few ghosts before reaching the boss, use that instead of a transient curse (at +5 and two-handed they die in 2 hits, 3 at the most) since the things last for several minutes and it sucks waiting at the fog gate for it to expire. If not, and you're uncomfortable with speed-running past the ghosts and still want to dispatch them, use the transient curse when at Firelink so that by the time you reach the fog door it'll expire.
Oh, for defensive buffs, if you have high faith and their magic attack gives you trouble, try Great Magic Barrier instead of a green blossom. Pre-patch, Iron Flesh was the best thing ever against them, but post-patch it's probably not worth it, though I don't recall if I've tried since.
Honestly though, green blossom + grass crest shield make this fight a joke, since your stamina replenishes so quickly you have little cooldown on each attack and can just go to kick-ass town. ^^
Regarding the bonfire, personally I prefer spawning at Firelink even if it's technically farther, it's not that long with the shortcut (dropping down where the darkwraiths are) and the damn drakes just annoy the hell out of me. To each his own though.
MegaKungFuRadio
Member
Just spent all day snatching defeat from the jaws of victory on NG+ O&S (Ornstein last, since I did Smough last in NG). Closest I've ever come to wanting to break a controller.
prodystopian
Member
I reinstalled Windows 7 and now I'm running into the 360 controller problem. The game works if I go into device manager and disable the HID-compliant game controller, but then it doesn't work for other games. I'd prefer not to have to turn that on and off every time I play. Is there another way to fix this?
That's very true.
There is something wrong with magic weapons when it comes to DLC bosses.
At first I thought it was because of the split damage but realised that even 2H Moonlight Great Sword with 50 int was doing something like 80 damage to Artorias in NG+.
Most frustrating part of the entire game for me......getting all the way through the bridge / walkway in anor londo with the archers trying to pelt you. I always end up getting shot from behind and knocked off the ledge while I'm trying to take care of the knight on the right. Both of my characters so far have been light armor / low poise, so it's probably a lot easier with heavier gear on.
The_Hitcher89
Member
Fuck The Catacombs. Where are all the bonfires?
Red Liquorice
Member
I do the archers the other way around now - I used to always poison arrow them, now I just run up, roll through the oncoming arrow then despatch the one on the right. Love bows, but playing SL1 and then other odd-bod character builds I've sometimes not been able to use a bow so I've got used to life with out them.
There's two, you must've passed at least one it's right at the start almost.Fuck The Catacombs. Where are all the bonfires?
prodystopian
Member
I've found that if I unplug my controller before starting DS everything is fine. It's annoying, but it's quicker than the other solution. I'd still like to hear if anyone has a permanent fix.
The_Hitcher89
Member
I have the first one, can't find the second though
edit: Killed Pinwheel easily, didn;t take any damage, only had to hit him about 8 times. Fuck Tomb of the Giants though
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