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[CornBurrito]

Coming from new player that just beat the boss yesterday, then died from poison gas trying to leave the Depths. Your stats were higher than mine, I used a uchigatana +5. And make sure you are less than 50% encumbrance, for roll speed. Here is what I did.

Killed the sniper guy up top. Then went without summon. Also this was my 2nd try, so I sort of learned the gaping dragon move set.

Attack tail when the dragon is still. Run away once it starts to move. When it rears up opening the teeth, get far away, that would one shot me.
He seemed to go through the pillars with attacks, but I think that made it take longer to run to me, so that is when I flasked up. I want to say I used two fire resins, but i'm not positive it was the run I killed it, or died at.
I also had flask +1.

I don't even know how to check encumbrance. I've been rocking chainmail armor and just been toying with equipment to avoid fatrolling.

I killed the sniper dude. I guess I'll try and upgrade my battle axe more. I might also switch out of chainmail to leather armor.

 

[BadWolf]

I can' beat the Gaping Dragon and am having doubts about my stats.

I went with Vitality, Endurance, and Strength. Currently level ~30 or so. 16 vitality, 20 Endurance, 24 strength. And then I have the base stats of a Pyromancer in everything else.

I hate my weapons right now. Zweihander is just too slow. I hate it. Battle Axe is better but is getting dated. I can barely make a dent in the Gaping Dragon. Tempted to remake a Pyromancer and focus on Dexterity since those weapons are faster and I found a great dex katana.

Ideally I'd like to not lose all my character progress though. Anyone have any tips on how to beat the damn dragon? I summoned a Phantom beforehand and he helped me almost take it down but then he died and I got destroyed in a second by his "grab + chomp chomp chomp" attack.

edit: Apparently scaling sucks now, and I should just invest enough stats for the weapon I want to use and then go through the game until I can make it elemental?

The patient approach works best for me with this boss.

I only attack after he does that attack where he hits the ground with his head and yellow mist comes out. After he does this attack he does a rush attack that mostly goes forward and will not hit you if you move to the side a little. So when he does the rush just move to the side and run behind him. Once he stops (he gets 'stunned' momentarily) just two hand you weapon and hit him once or twice and then back off.

Aside from that I keep my distance and wait for him to do the attack.

 

[CornBurrito]

The patient approach works best for me with this boss.

I only attack after he does that attack where he hits the ground with his head and yellow mist comes out. After he does this attack he does a rush attack that mostly goes forward and will not hit you if you move to the side a little. So when he does the rush just move to the side and run behind him. Once he stops (he gets 'stunned' momentarily) just two hand you weapon and hit him once or twice and then back off.

Oh god but I only take off a sliver of HP each time I attack. That could take hours.

Also I am having trouble hitting his tail. My axe hits it but it doesnt hit the actual hitbox so I just clip through. Then the boss insta kills me with a spinning/slicing tail move.

 

[BadWolf]

Oh god but I only take off a sliver of HP each time I attack. That could take hours.

Also I am having trouble hitting his tail. My axe hits it but it doesnt hit the actual hitbox so I just clip through. Then the boss insta kills me with a spinning/slicing tail move.

That's why I only attack him after he does that rush attack (which he always does after that yellow mist head attack). He gets stunned and you have more than enough time to hit him a couple of times and back off before he recovers (I usually hit his legs). There is no risk of getting hit by his tail or anything.

He does have lots of HP so it will take a while. You can also trying buying some Pine Resin from the merchant there to buff up your weapon.

 

[789shadow]

Gaping Dragon takes FOREVER, but is really easy. He can be baited into doing his easy to avoid charge over and over.

 

[madp]

Interesting, I'm a first-time player who just beat Gaping Dragon yesterday as well. All I can say about him is that my key to victory was to continually strafe him from a distance until he decides to do the "yellow mist" slam, after which I'd run up to him, follow him as he does the thing where he moves forward a little after the slam and rests for a few seconds, pump attacks into him for ~5 seconds, and run back to a safe distance where I can safely wait for the pattern to repeat. It just requires patience because it's a loooooooooooooong process.

Though, I imagine my experience is different because I went for a Sorcerer build and I fought him at SL35 with most of my points pumped into VIT and INT with a few in END. It took all of my Great Soul Arrows, most of my Heavy Soul Arrows, and even a few firebombs to defeat him, but for all I know I may have had more trouble if I went with a different build.

After beating him I took one step into Blighttown then immediately ran all the way back to Firelink so I could grind some souls elsewhere to upgrade my Pyro glove. Gaping Dragon dropped 25000 souls, which allowed me to get my ATT to 19 to get a fifth magic slot and still had enough left over for Great Heavy Soul Arrow.

I'm hopelessly addicted to this game.

 

[sixghost]

Oh god but I only take off a sliver of HP each time I attack. That could take hours.

Also I am having trouble hitting his tail. My axe hits it but it doesnt hit the actual hitbox so I just clip through. Then the boss insta kills me with a spinning/slicing tail move.

Have you been upgrading your weapon? Are you two-handing the zweihander? Even unupgraded you should be doing decent damage. When you are trying to cut off the tail, make sure to use the strong attack. It's a vertical attack with tons of reach, which makes it better for cutting tails.

If you think you'd like using DEX weapons more, you might just want to restart. It won't take you very long to get back to where you are now.

Also, you might want to try that boss at 25% equip. You spend most of your time vs him running away or running around him as he charges. So the faster running speeds helps quite a bit.

 

[Red Liquorice]

Battleaxe has +2 on it right now. Zweihander is +0 but I really hate it... so slow I can't stand it.

What's a really quick weapon? I like the Uchigatana a lot. Damage isn't too impressive but it is fast.

You also said to go for scaling weapons, but apparently elemental ones are better? When's the soonest I can upgrade a weapon to lightning?

Pick a weapon and upgrade it to at least +5. You should've picked up the large ember whilst in the Depths, if not have a look for it and take it to Andre (the Blacksmith in the Parish) he will then be able to ascend any +5 weapon to +6 onwards (you can upgrade them further yourself with a weaponbox but only Andre can ascend weapons to +6 and then +11).

Weapon speeds vary so much, but it's also a payoff between speed/power/other attributes like bleed and critical etc. Elemental weapons can be strong early on, but you are limited with them once you level up because they don't have scaling. You won't be able to make lightning weapons for a while yet, but you can use resins and magic to buff weapons - but upgrading should be your first priority.

Give the Claymore and Halberd a try, they're both in the Parish and semi-heavy weapons, but nowhere near the Zweihander. Halberd is particularly good IMO - don't let the empty stagger animation on the Halberd put you off, when you actually hit an enemy it doesn't occur and the two-handed R2 attack is great for taking out a crowd.

What about a regular Longsword? - the moveset is really balanced. Dropped by Burg/Parish hollows and sold by Andre. Again, upgrade when you settle on a main weapon. No wonder you're having a rough time with a +2 axe!

I don't even know how to check encumbrance. I've been rocking chainmail armor and just been toying with equipment to avoid fatrolling.

It's on the stats page - equip load. Middle column:

 

[CornBurrito]

Have you been upgrading your weapon? Are you two-handing the zweihander? Even unupgraded you should be doing decent damage. When you are trying to cut off the tail, make sure to use the strong attack. It's a vertical attack with tons of reach, which makes it better for cutting tails.

If you think you'd like using DEX weapons more, you might just want to restart. It won't take you very long to get back to where you are now.

Also, you might want to try that boss at 25% equip. You spend most of your time vs him running away or running around him as he charges. So the faster running speeds helps quite a bit.

Decided to restart a Pyromancer and focus on DEX.

However, mostly because I realized I love the battle axe but it just won't do any good. Meanwhile the Ushigatana has great DEX scaling and should be useable the entire game. Of course it only has 80... whatever the weapon breaking stat is called. Longsword for backup.

I decided to just be super patient and the Gaping Dragon went down pretty easily.

edit: Actually I could use a Longsword on my STR based character but that feels like a waste. Does weapon matter as much as the upgrades?

edit: Game goes really fast a second time around. Defeated the Taurus demon in like... 3 seconds.

 

[Oracle Dragon]

I can' beat the Gaping Dragon and am having doubts about my stats.

I went with Vitality, Endurance, and Strength. Currently level ~30 or so. 16 vitality, 20 Endurance, 24 strength. And then I have the base stats of a Pyromancer in everything else.

I hate my weapons right now. Zweihander is just too slow. I hate it. Battle Axe is better but is getting dated. I can barely make a dent in the Gaping Dragon. Tempted to remake a Pyromancer and focus on Dexterity since those weapons are faster and I found a great dex katana.

Ideally I'd like to not lose all my character progress though. Anyone have any tips on how to beat the damn dragon? I summoned a Phantom beforehand and he helped me almost take it down but then he died and I got destroyed in a second by his "grab + chomp chomp chomp" attack.

edit: Apparently scaling sucks now, and I should just invest enough stats for the weapon I want to use and then go through the game until I can make it elemental?

TBH I've found the faster weapons are much weaker against bosses. Gaping Dragon is reasonably straightforward if you take your time and are patient on him. Basically just stay away from him and keep running. I mean FAR away, like across the room. He will do some different attacks (jumping, slime, etc) just keep running. Finally he will do his charge attack where he rears up and then charges at you. This is the one you are waiting for because when he touches the ground to begin the charge, he is stuck on that path and wont change. Just run to the left or right and let him go past. Every time he finally hits a wall or pillar, he will stop for a few seconds. Use that to hit his legs 2-4 times (preferably with a strong weapon), then run away. There is a pretty high chance he will do his charge attack again, repeat. Definitely not the fastest way to kill him, and certainly not flashy, but its easy and it works.

 

[CornBurrito]

TBH I've found the faster weapons are much weaker against bosses. Gaping Dragon is reasonably straightforward if you take your time and are patient on him. Basically just stay away from him and keep running. I mean FAR away, like across the room. He will do some different attacks (jumping, slime, etc) just keep running. Finally he will do his charge attack where he rears up and then charges at you. This is the one you are waiting for because when he touches the ground to begin the charge, he is stuck on that path and wont change. Just run to the left or right and let him go past. Every time he finally hits a wall or pillar, he will stop for a few seconds. Use that to hit his legs 2-4 times (preferably with a strong weapon), then run away. There is a pretty high chance he will do his charge attack again, repeat. Definitely not the fastest way to kill him, and certainly not flashy, but its easy and it works.

Yeah but I really just can't stand slow weapons, which seems to be all the strength based ones.

Unless my Battle Axe can last me threw the game I'd rather just go Dex and use fast weapons.

 

[krakov]

Yeah but I really just can't stand slow weapons, which seems to be all the strength based ones.

Unless my Battle Axe can last me threw the game I'd rather just go Dex and use fast weapons.

Pretty much any weapon will take you through the game with ease if upgraded and coupled with the right stats. Elemental weapons also aren't very strong, so go with dex/str-scaling is my advice.

 

[sixghost]

Decided to restart a Pyromancer and focus on DEX.

However, mostly because I realized I love the battle axe but it just won't do any good. Meanwhile the Ushigatana has great DEX scaling and should be useable the entire game. Of course it only has 80... whatever the weapon breaking stat is called. Longsword for backup.

I decided to just be super patient and the Gaping Dragon went down pretty easily.

edit: Actually I could use a Longsword on my STR based character but that feels like a waste. Does weapon matter as much as the upgrades?

edit: Game goes really fast a second time around. Defeated the Taurus demon in like... 3 seconds.

A couple things. Weapons degradation, that's the xx/80 thing you see on the katana. It's really not a big deal. The degradation happens very slowly, and it's extremely cheap to repair.

Just about every weapon is viable in PvE, so don't worry about wasting souls and materials upgrading a weapon if you like it. It's far more important to find a weapon with an animation set you like than it is to find one that does 15 more damage. The important thing is to upgrade your weapon and armor, whichever you settle on.

It's alright to use multiple weapons, too. If you like faster weapons for normal enemies, but stronger weapons against bosses, that's perfectly fine. Just make sure to upgrade both.

 

[Sgt.Pepper]

Man. The Black Knight Axe is fucking badass.

Also, I hope they buff strenght in DS2. Like boosting load by 0.3 or something, most strenght weps are heavy as fuck so it would help a bit. Dex even helps casting times (according to the wiki anyway)...

 

[CornBurrito]

Update: The restart has made things extremely fun. I blazed through all the prior zones and got right back to the Gaping Dragon in under 3 hours. Took me ~8 hours to do all that stuff the first go around. And I'm at a significantly lower level! Knowledge is power indeed.

I have: Uchigatana +5 (this weapon is so great <3), Pyromancy Hand +3, a Knight Shield, and then some Chainmail armor.

Had my first invasion today. Dude had significantly more health and armor than I did. Felt unfair. I was taking of 60 HP per swing on him, and he knocked half my HP bar off in a single attack with some lightning sword. Meh only lost 4k souls and I can retrieve them.

Pyromancer base stats except for: 13 vitality, 22 endurance, 16 dex, 14 strength.

Anyway so far I am liking the Uchigatana vs everything. Normal enemies? Slice through mobs like crazy. Bosses? Dodge and get in a hit or two. I feel super mobile and deadly.

Next I shall pump up a bit of attunement for an extra Pyromancy slot.

 

[madp]

So, if I'm only just now at Blighttown, how premature was I if I backtracked into Undead Parish, defeated the thunder monster in the basement room next to the blacksmith, and made it to the second area of Darkroot Garden? I got totally destroyed by the stone soldiers that can cast paralysis magic.

 

[CornBurrito]

So, if I'm only just now at Blighttown, how premature was I if I backtracked into Undead Parish, defeated the thunder monster in the basement room next to the blacksmith, and made it to the second area of Darkroot Garden? I got totally destroyed by the stone soldiers that can cast paralysis magic.

Never made it to Blighttown, but how did you defeat the Thunder Monster? I tried it at one point and got destroyed.

 

[Piano]

Never made it to Blighttown, but how did you defeat the Thunder Monster? I tried it at one point and got destroyed.

I used my crossbow. Found a spot where I could strafe back and forth, dodging all of his attacks, while methodically loading him with bolts.

 

[ihearthawthats]

Never made it to Blighttown, but how did you defeat the Thunder Monster? I tried it at one point and got destroyed.

cute nickname. either get good with rolling or have a good shield with high stability. balder shield is good for low levels if you manage to get one to drop. grass crest works fine at +5. or just cheese it with a bow/spells. actually, "just cheese it with a bow/spells" can be the solution to 99% of the problems you come across.

str vs dex is mostly preference. str certainly has benefits, but it all depends on what you want. firstly, str weapons more easily stagger enemies and some attacks have knockdown effects. secondly, they have normal and strike damage types, which are imo better overall than slashing/pierce, although it varies from area to area. thirdly, they allow usage of great shields--which is the melee alternative to cheesing monsters without a bow/magic.

 

[Oracle Dragon]

Never made it to Blighttown, but how did you defeat the Thunder Monster? I tried it at one point and got destroyed.

There are a couple of these guys in the game, but this particular one can be cheesed... run toward him with your shield up, and just avoid his lightning. When you get close, he will start to swing at you. Just keep running, and go down the stairs, but don't leave the room. He should come at you to try and get you. It is not a "safe spot" by any means but the stairs screw him up pretty bad since he's so big, and most of his melee attacks will easily miss you due to the height difference. Let him miss 2-3 times and then run up and whack him 2H, back off, repeat. The only move you really have to watch out for is the jump/overhand smash which can often one-shot lowbies.

 

[BadWolf]

Man, Havel's set owns

Spoiler

the four kings

so very hard.

No skill required, put away your shield to two hand and mash away. Most of its attacks will do laughable damage.

 

[Antiwhippy]

I dunno, rolling out of their attacks is really easy too.

 

[Booshka]

Man, Havel's set owns

Spoiler

the four kings

so very hard.

No skill required, put away your shield to two hand and mash away. Most of its attacks will do laughable damage.

It's not the armor that is making them do little damage, it's the fact that you are extremely close to them. If you stand really close to them in light armor it will do little damage as well. I usually fight them with light armor that has high magic resist (dingy is the best) and just fast roll away from some attacks, then just stay close and swing away. Havel's is popular because people like to poise tank, but it's not necessary, because 4 kings wont stunlock you anyway.

 

[BadWolf]

I dunno, rolling out of their attacks is really easy too.

You mean like put in effort and stuff? Pfft.

Spoiler

j/k, I just don't enjoy the fight much since it takes a while to get there to retry, so just glad to have this quick way out

It's not the armor that is making them do little damage, it's the fact that you are extremely close to them. If you stand really close to them in light armor it will do little damage as well. I usually fight them with light armor that has high magic resist (dingy is the best) and just fast roll away from some attacks, then just stay close and swing away. Havel's is popular because people like to poise tank, but it's not necessary, because 4 kings wont stunlock you anyway.

Ah, interesting, I'll try it with another set next time (though they seemed to hurt me plenty when I used the Crimson set).

Do you guys upgrade your armour? I just tend to switch to something else when I get something more powerful instead of upgrading. How does the Wander/Warrior set hold up after upgrading (for PVE)? I like their look.

 

[Laughing Banana]

Can an exclusively melee build work for this game? Like, strictly exclusive, no bows, no magic, etc etc.

If it is possible, what stats should be raised for level ups?

 

[Booshka]

Can an exclusively melee build work for this game? Like, strictly exclusive, no bows, no magic, etc etc.

If it is possible, what stats should be raised for level ups?

Yes, entirely possible, and remarkably fun.

Level your Strength to 28 or 40, and Dexterity to 40. +15 every weapon and have fun.

 

[Sgt.Pepper]

Can an exclusively melee build work for this game? Like, strictly exclusive, no bows, no magic, etc etc.

If it is possible, what stats should be raised for level ups?

I didn't use magic until almost the end. Er, well, Pyromancy.

Pyromancy doesn't require putting stats on anything else than attunement for slots, magic/miracles do the the stats to use them. As for the stats, it depends on your preference.

 

[Antiwhippy]

Alright, manus down. Just needed to learn how to manage my stamina with his attacks.

Great shield of artorias is pretty fucking great.

 

[BadWolf]

Can an exclusively melee build work for this game? Like, strictly exclusive, no bows, no magic, etc etc.

If it is possible, what stats should be raised for level ups?

Yes, definitely.

Carrying a bow around is still useful though (even if not upgraded), great for baiting enemies and getting cheap easy kills here and there.

I didn't use magic until almost the end. Er, well, Pyromancy.

Pyromancy doesn't require putting stats on anything else than attunement for slots, magic/miracles do the the stats to use them. As for the stats, it depends on your preference.

I maxed my pyromancy glove out the first playthrough and didn't feel like it was worth it tbh, especially against bosses. Can't see myself bothering with it again outside of Power Within.

 

[Laughing Banana]

Yes, entirely possible, and remarkably fun.

Level your Strength to 28 or 40, and Dexterity to 40. +15 every weapon and have fun.

28 or 40?

Why the big difference between the choices?

I didn't use magic until almost the end. Er, well, Pyromancy.

Pyromancy doesn't require putting stats on anything else than attunement for slots, magic/miracles do the the stats to use them. As for the stats, it depends on your preference.

I prefer melee-based hero. This game as far as I understand does not offer the opportunity to reset your stat, yeah? Just making sure I am not gonna put something in that I will regret later on and cannot be reverted.

Yes, definitely.

Carrying a bow around is still useful though (even if not upgraded), great for baiting enemies and getting cheap easy kills here and there.

I maxed my pyromancy glove out the first playthrough and didn't feel like it was worth it tbh, especially against bosses. Can't see myself bothering with it again outside of Power Within.

Hmm, if it's possible I would like to ditch bows altogether and go pure melee, since I am OCD that way, hahaha.

Alright, once I finish Tomb Raider I am gonna play this game. Going blind without no FAQ or walkthrough--hopefully this is not a folly thing tho do.

Oh, and if it's gonna change anything, I forgot to mention, I am gonna play this game strictly offline.

 

[Antiwhippy]

28 or 40?

Why the big difference between the choices?

Depends on which weapon you want to wield.

40 is for those really heavy STR weapons. At that level you can wield just about anything, though some weapons you'll have to dual wield.

This game is fine offline.

 

[Booshka]

28 or 40?

Why the big difference between the choices?



I prefer melee-based hero. This game as far as I understand does not offer the opportunity to reset your stat, yeah? Just making sure I am not gonna put something in that I will regret later on and cannot be reverted.



Hmm, if it's possible I would like to ditch bows altogether and go pure melee, since I am OCD that way, hahaha.

Alright, once I finish Tomb Raider I am gonna play this game. Going blind without no FAQ or walkthrough--hopefully this is not a folly thing tho do.

Oh, and if it's gonna change anything, I forgot to mention, I am gonna play this game strictly offline.

Just go 40 Strength if you don't care about keeping your level down. Damage scaling has two major break points for Strength, 27 and 40. 2 handed scaling gets bad after 27, and 1 hand scaling gets bad after 40. I suggested 28 because there are a couple really good weapons that require 28 strength to one hand.

I doubt any of this makes sense to you, so just go to 40 Strength and 40 Dexterity. For optimal leveling, level your Strength to 16, then Dexterity to 20, then Strength to 27, Dexterity to 40, then finally Strength to 40. Also make sure you focus on Vitality and Endurance first as well, taking both to at least 40 eventually.

 

[Laughing Banana]

Depends on which weapon you want to wield.

40 is for those really heavy STR weapons. At that level you can wield just about anything, though some weapons you'll have to dual wield.

This game is fine offline.

Just go 40 Strength if you don't care about keeping your level down. Damage scaling has two major break points for Strength, 27 and 40. 2 handed scaling gets bad after 27, and 1 hand scaling gets bad after 40. I suggested 28 because there are a couple really good weapons that require 28 strength to one hand.

I doubt any of this makes sense to you, so just go to 40 Strength and 40 Dexterity. For optimal leveling, level your Strength to 16, then Dexterity to 20, then Strength to 27, Dexterity to 40, then finally Strength to 40. Also make sure you focus on Vitality and Endurance first as well, taking both to at least 40 eventually.

Alright, mucho gracias

It's nice to actually have a goal to pursue for level up.

 

[Arjen]

I started a new character yesterday, summoned a dude at level 4 for Taurus (not that i need it, i just summon everyone i come across)
Dude was decked out in Leeroy's armor and wielding a Demon Spear. Now, i didn't mind, but that would be fucked up if i was a new player. Crazy dude already killed the Black knight before i even caught up with him.
Who dropped a BKS btw, which made me think, does item drop rate depend on the host, or the one who kills the enemy?

 

[madp]

Never made it to Blighttown, but how did you defeat the Thunder Monster? I tried it at one point and got destroyed.

Like others said, I basically cheesed him from a distance (with Great Soul Arrow in my case) and dodge-rolled his lightning balls. He never even came close to try to attack me with his club, and his lightning attack is slow enough that it's easy to dodge from a distance if you're under 50% encumbrance.

In my Darkroot wanderings after defeating him, I somehow ended up in Darkroot Basin, which apparently connects to the basement of the tower that leads to Taurus Demon in Undead Burg. Immediately got slaughtered by the armored knight who greeted me in the room. Took me six or seven more deaths to kill him, but man was it worth it. Havel's Ring is fucking amazing.

 

[Red Liquorice]

Titanite Demons are easy to melee upclose. A few hits then block their attacks, putting your shield down inbetween swings to regain your stamina. Combustion is my preferred quick n cheesy method. That double swing they have is very similar to the giant sentinels in Anor Londo, so it's good practice for them.

Update: The restart has made things extremely fun. I blazed through all the prior zones and got right back to the Gaping Dragon in under 3 hours. Took me ~8 hours to do all that stuff the first go around. And I'm at a significantly lower level! Knowledge is power indeed.

I have: Uchigatana +5 (this weapon is so great <3), Pyromancy Hand +3, a Knight Shield, and then some Chainmail armor.

Had my first invasion today. Dude had significantly more health and armor than I did. Felt unfair. I was taking of 60 HP per swing on him, and he knocked half my HP bar off in a single attack with some lightning sword. Meh only lost 4k souls and I can retrieve them.

Glad it clicked for you. You get these lightning weapon invaders early on, you just have to deal with it. They're too terrified of losing to invade with comparable gear, so they come back to earlier areas for easy wins. They lose their edge once you get a little further and better gear.

A note about armour - I love the look of the chain mail, but it makes a lot of noise, so if you like creeping up on enemies for a sneaky backstab, they will hear you coming a lot sooner than something lighter!

 

[CornBurrito]

cute nickname. either get good with rolling or have a good shield with high stability. balder shield is good for low levels if you manage to get one to drop. grass crest works fine at +5. or just cheese it with a bow/spells. actually, "just cheese it with a bow/spells" can be the solution to 99% of the problems you come across.

str vs dex is mostly preference. str certainly has benefits, but it all depends on what you want. firstly, str weapons more easily stagger enemies and some attacks have knockdown effects. secondly, they have normal and strike damage types, which are imo better overall than slashing/pierce, although it varies from area to area. thirdly, they allow usage of great shields--which is the melee alternative to cheesing monsters without a bow/magic.

I need to find a bow quick... I killed the Undead Merchant and haven't found another bow selling merchant.

 

[ihearthawthats]

I need to find a bow quick... I killed the Undead Merchant and haven't found another bow selling merchant.

there is a longbow on a corpse near to where you find the grass crest shield.

 

[CornBurrito]

there is a longbow on a corpse near to where you find the grass crest shield.

I haven't even found that shield.

 

[ihearthawthats]

I haven't even found that shield.

it's in the forest area after the 'thunder monster with a club' lol. lots of good drops in that general area actually. i definitely recommend grabbing the partizan as a piercing backup weapon for slashing resistant weapons. although there's quite a lot of other spear drops in many other accessible areas.

 

[CornBurrito]

it's in the forest area after the 'thunder monster with a club' lol. lots of good drops in that general area actually. i definitely recommend grabbing the partizan as a piercing backup weapon for slashing resistant weapons. although there's quite a lot of other spear drops in many other accessible areas.

Hmm I can't defeat the thunder dude in my present state. I can try sprinting past him though and getting to the area. How far in is the longbow + shield?

 

[Sullichin]

Hmm I can't defeat the thunder dude in my present state. I can try sprinting past him though and getting to the area. How far in is the longbow + shield?

He is easy to sprint past. Then head to the garden, and there is a path off to the right early on that's really easy to miss. It leads down to Darkroot basin, and on the way you can find the bow and the shield (they aren't together) with some light exploration.

 

[CornBurrito]

He is easy to sprint past. Then head to the garden, and there is a path off to the right early on that's really easy to miss. It leads down to Darkroot basin, and on the way you can find the bow and the shield (they aren't together) with some light exploration.

Alright. I'll go there after I finish the sewer level and kill the Gaping Dragon. Is it also worth killing the enormous rat?

 

[Metaroo]

I finally got to

Spoiler

Gwyn

in my first game. Took about 70 hours, including a little dive into PVP. I absolutely adore this game.

Am I done after the last fight? Will I be able to go back and play around with PVP after I beat

Spoiler

Gwyn

, or am I forced to restart a new game?

 

[789shadow]

I finally got to

Spoiler

Gwyn

in my first game. Took about 70 hours, including a little dive into PVP. I absolutely adore this game.

Am I done after the last fight? Will I be able to go back and play around with PVP after I beat

Spoiler

Gwyn

, or am I forced to restart a new game?

Beating

Spoiler

Gwyn

ends the game, and you have to go into NG+.

 

[Sgt.Pepper]

I need to find a bow quick... I killed the Undead Merchant and haven't found another bow selling merchant.

Why are you killing NPCs in your first playthrough?

 

[sixghost]

Why are you killing NPCs in your first playthrough?

cuz that guy is a weirdo

 

[CornBurrito]

Why are you killing NPCs in your first playthrough?

Only one NPC, and for the Uchigatana. I've avoided killing anyone else.


Ok so is the armor the guy sells in the sewers (with the Gaping Dragon) any decent? I bought the Armor of the Glorious and I like it thus far (both in terms of looks and stats) and am wondering if the rest of the armor set is worth saving up for. I'll need to max my Endurance though because its so damn heavy. Had to exchange most of my other chainmail for thief-type and sorcerer-type armor.

I also went to the foresty place that has Leather Armor + the Longbow. Dueled a Knight guy, and almost won. But then fell off the edge of a cliff and died. Good news is that he jumped off to attack me right as I fell, and the game registered it as me killing him netting me a nice blue titanite shard.

 

[BadWolf]

This second playthrough is making me realize that this game is balanced for not grinding. Almost doing none of it and still finding myself appropriately leveled (or maybe even overleveled). Can see myself replaying this game many, many times due to this.

 

[Khronico]

Just bought this game on Monday... Good god, this game is amazing, already one of my favorite RPGs.

So far I've mostly finished up (and taking out the bosses) in Undead Burg, Parish, and Depths, and I'm trying to figure out where to go next. Would you guys recommend Blighttown or Darkroot for the next areas? (I'm SL 30 spreading my souls equally between STR, DEX, and END with a little VIT. Also have some pyromancy spells since I started as the 'mancer)

Also, is the barbed straight sword viable in PvE? Should I spend some titanite upgrading it? Bleed sounds pretty useful.