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[Snacks the sober sea lion]

I was wondering why I still couldn't get into that gate in the Valley of Drakes when I just had New Londo Ruins and Tomb of the Giants left to go to (for now anyway). That was a cool surprise

edit: so, I had 10 humanity when I went to fight 4 kings, died, kindled firelink shrine but used one humanity too many so I had one in my counter, retrieved my body during the fight, beat them and afterwards I had 9 when I ought to have had 11. Do they drain your humanity?

They have a grab attack that drains your humanity. So do the Dorkwraiths.

 

[Deified Data]

I consider it cheating because its like going into easy mode. Its something I only ever do when I feel I'm absolutely beaten. I've only done it for Quelagg and O&S, but I definitely had to hang my head in shame a bit for resorting to that. I would have liked to have done it on my own the first time around as its far more satisfying.

If you wanna go there then everything that makes the game easier than crushingly difficult is cheating. Using magic or pyromancy. Buffing weapons. Poise. Hell, the game can get downright easy in spots if you're rocking a decent build. Go down that road and anything but running through the game nude and weaponless is for filthy casuals who need to ged gud.

 

[Toytown Assassin]

Also, summoning people or npc's amps the bosses up so it can be harder. Depends like. Anyway if I forget to suicide out after kindling a bonfire I always summon if I see a sign. It's not that I need the help it's just that those people want to do the co-op so I call 'em in.

 

[Deified Data]

Also, summoning people or npc's amps the bosses up so it can be harder. Depends like. Anyway if I forget to suicide out after kindling a bonfire I always summon if I see a sign. It's not that I need the help it's just that those people want to do the co-op so I call 'em in.

Summoning someone for 4 Kings "unless they really know what they're doing) could actually just make the fight a lot harder, even.

And yeah, I agree, I solo'd all the bosses on my first playthrough just to see if I could, but on all subsequent playthroughs I have no problem summoning people. I beat the boss and have nothing to prove. I'm just enjoying myself at that point.

 

[Berto]

Just beat Artorias after many, many deaths. His battle was simply the best boss fight of all game until now (I only have left 4 kings and Gwyn). So elegant, pure 1 vs 1 without cheap tricks, loved it.

 

[mickcenary]

Just beat Artorias after many, many deaths. His battle was simply the best boss fight of all game until now (I only have left 4 kings and Gwyn). So elegant, pure 1 vs 1 without cheap tricks, loved it.

Everything about Artorias is simply amazing. His character design, his lore, his animation, his moveset, the battle in general... I seriously have the biggest Abyss-crush on the guy.

I felt horrible in NG+ with my buffed +15 Murakumo; he went down quite easily. That weapon makes everyone go down quite easily, come to think of it.

 

[eot]

Everything about Artorias is simply amazing. His character design, his lore, his animation, his moveset, the battle in general... I seriously have the biggest Abyss-crush on the guy.

I felt horrible in NG+ with my buffed +15 Murakumo; he went down quite easily. That weapon makes everyone go down quite easily, come to think of it.

I fought him a little while ago and yeah it was a pretty good fight. Hard to find any time to heal though. I'm working my way through the area past him and I just did something really stupid. I got to the place where the dudes' heads are glowing and died almost instantly to getting hit by two of the mages at once. Ran back to get my body but tried to snipe one of the mages you see off in the distance from the tiny wooden bridge before the mimic. Didn't think he would aggro from that range, got hit once, fell off and lost 8 humanity and 100k souls =( boo. It was really stupid of me.

 

[Seanspeed]

If you wanna go there then everything that makes the game easier than crushingly difficult is cheating. Using magic or pyromancy. Buffing weapons. Poise. Hell, the game can get downright easy in spots if you're rocking a decent build. Go down that road and anything but running through the game nude and weaponless is for filthy casuals who need to ged gud.

I think you're getting a little too particular about this. Lets say I don't call it cheating and call it 'easy mode'? Pretty sure you know what I'm saying here. I'm not trying to say summoning is wrong or whatever. Its just only something I do as a last resort to get things moving along

Going with a strength build for the first time, with a bastard sword at the moment. I love being able to take screenshots! Some non-spoilery snaps:

 

[Deified Data]

I think you're getting a little too particular about this. Lets say I don't call it cheating and call it 'easy mode'? Pretty sure you know what I'm saying here. I'm not trying to say summoning is wrong or whatever. Its just only something I do as a last resort to get things moving along

Going with a strength build for the first time, with a bastard sword at the moment. I love being able to take screenshots! Some non-spoilery snaps:

So long as you'd call anything else that alleviates difficulty in the game easy mode as well, we're in total agreement.

How's strength treating you? I started my first pure strength character recently - still working towards one-handing the Great Club. Are you using pyromancy?

 

[Toytown Assassin]

I got to the place where the dudes' heads are glowing and died almost instantly to getting hit by two of the mages at once. Ran back to get my body but tried to snipe one of the mages you see off in the distance from the tiny wooden bridge before the mimic. Didn't think he would aggro from that range, got hit once, fell off and lost 8 humanity and 100k souls =( boo. It was really stupid of me.

This is why I have like 10 rings of sacrifice stashed in my box Never know when you will need to go collect an important bloodstain.

 

[Laurentius]

There was some interest a couple of weeks ago about starting up a weekend Dark Souls fight club. Is there still any interest? IIRC, we had about about 6 or 7 people that were interested in participating.

I'm up for giving it a shot this weekend if anybody else is. In terms of PVP characters, I've got one SL70 and one SL120. PC for me.

 

[eot]

Phew, finally killed Manus. Had to use everything for that one. Spent 10 humanity to get more damage on my furysword and even had to use one to heal during the fight. Still need to figure out what the hell to do about that dragon though, he never lands.

 

[Seanspeed]

So long as you'd call anything else that alleviates difficulty in the game easy mode as well, we're in total agreement.

How's strength treating you? I started my first pure strength character recently - still working towards one-handing the Great Club. Are you using pyromancy?

Nah, I'm going melee only again. I think its a lot more fun.

Its going...ok. I cant use anything super heavy yet, but I'm already basically having to re-learn the combat to adjust for the slowness of the attacks and the added vulnerability if I do something wrong. I'm dual-handing a lot more, keeping the shield handy.

Its really satisfying so far. I've swung the Great Club around in a previous playthrough, but never actually used it. Looks like it'd be a lot of fun. Haven't really decided what I want to progress to after the Bastard Sword.

 

[Booshka]

Nah, I'm going melee only again. I think its a lot more fun.

Its going...ok. I cant use anything super heavy yet, but I'm already basically having to re-learn the combat to adjust for the slowness of the attacks and the added vulnerability if I do something wrong. I'm dual-handing a lot more, keeping the shield handy.

Its really satisfying so far. I've swung the Great Club around in a previous playthrough, but never actually used it. Looks like it'd be a lot of fun. Haven't really decided what I want to progress to after the Bastard Sword.

Bastard Sword isnt a very good Pure STR weapon, if you like it then you should definitely farm for the Man Serpent Greatsword. It has the same moveset, more range and is a Pure STR weapon. Shoot for 27 to 40 STR and 2 hand almost every time you attack. Get comfortable with blocking, switching to 2 hand, then swing away. Try to hit your enemies before they hit you, stagger them, and the fight is over quick enough.

Great Club, Large Club, Demon Great Axe, Demon Great Machete, Greataxe, Mace, Man Serpent Greatsword, Reinforced Club, those are probably my top tier Pure STR weapons. Upgrade everything to +14, +15 the ones you love. If you don't mind farming for Chunks, upgrade the Demon Great class weapons to Crystal, they have very high durability, so even Crystallized will last a while, and deal more damage. A Crystal +4 weapon has higher damage than a +15 weapon, so it's only a matter of farming for replacement weapons and Chunks.

 

[Seanspeed]

Bastard Sword isnt a very good Pure STR weapon, if you like it then you should definitely farm for the Man Serpent Greatsword. It has the same moveset, more range and is a Pure STR weapon. Shoot for 27 to 40 STR and 2 hand almost every time you attack. Get comfortable with blocking, switching to 2 hand, then swing away. Try to hit your enemies before they hit you, stagger them, and the fight is over quick enough.

Great Club, Large Club, Demon Great Axe, Demon Great Machete, Greataxe, Mace, Man Serpent Greatsword, Reinforced Club, those are probably my top tier Pure STR weapons. Upgrade everything to +14, +15 the ones you love. If you don't mind farming for Chunks, upgrade the Demon Great class weapons to Crystal, they have very high durability, so even Crystallized will last a while, and deal more damage. A Crystal +4 weapon has higher damage than a +15 weapon, so it's only a matter of farming for replacement weapons and Chunks.

I'm honestly not worried about getting the 'best' weapon I can or anything this time around. I just want something fun that I think looks nice and gives me a different playstyle to the DEX build I did my first playthrough.

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

Phew, finally killed Manus. Had to use everything for that one. Spent 10 humanity to get more damage on my furysword and even had to use one to heal during the fight. Still need to figure out what the hell to do about that dragon though, he never lands.

In Lordran's past, they hunted the dragons down.

I wonder if anyone from that era survived.

 

[eot]

In Lordran's past, they hunted the dragons down.

I wonder if anyone from that era survived.

That was subtle I appreciate that.
The dragon wasn't as bad as the other bosses in the area. I don't know how it was received but this DLC is among my favourite stuff in the game. Great bosses and I love how it ties into the story and lore.

 

[Snacks the sober sea lion]

Why do people consider Kalameet one of the hardest? Is he just one of the bosses who becomes absurd at New Game Plus?

 

[Deified Data]

Why do people consider Kalameet one of the hardest? Is he just one of the bosses who becomes absurd at New Game Plus?

Probably because a lot of people want his tail.

 

[velociraptor]

I think you're getting a little too particular about this. Lets say I don't call it cheating and call it 'easy mode'? Pretty sure you know what I'm saying here. I'm not trying to say summoning is wrong or whatever. Its just only something I do as a last resort to get things moving along

Going with a strength build for the first time, with a bastard sword at the moment. I love being able to take screenshots! Some non-spoilery snaps:

Texture work for this game is stunning.

 

[Laurentius]

Probably because a lot of people want his tail.

This. He wasn't too hard once I gave up on his tail.

 

[eot]

Alright, finished off Nito without too much trouble. Ignored the skellies for the most part, it felt like you could spend forever trying to keep them down. Then I went and took care of the man himself. Got him on my second try after I figured out how to heal without taking damage. My time played was a bit over 71 hours so I took my time, but it was fun figuring out how to get all those items.

I think I enjoyed the first half of the game more than the second. I felt like I was able to progress through areas a little too quickly and I stopped being scared of exploring. The Atorias of the Abyss stuff was an exception to that which is why I thought it was the best area you visit after clearing Anor Londo. Maybe it's just a consequence of opening up the late game so much, but Tomb of the Giants wasn't scary when I could go through it in 30 minutes without dying, and I'm not even that great at the game. So some of the magic went away. I'm also not sure about the fast travel. I get why it's there, but finding shortcuts and seeing how the world fits together was amazing. After Anor Londo you're mostly going into dead ends that you then warp out of. It's not bad, but it's not as impressive as the earlier parts of the game either.

Still, when the game is at its best it's one of my favourite games ever. This comparison has probably been made before but the game it reminds me of the most is Super Metroid, which I also played for the first time earlier this year. Not only the map/world design, but the feeling of solitary exploration, dense environments that you get to know, not just pass through. I love passing through an area for the fifth time and discovering something I didn't see before. Obviously they are very different in many ways, but the way I felt when I got Super Metroid was just the same way I felt when I played DS for 9 hours straight and just wanted to keep exploring. I also think the lack of direction is key to both games. There are so many moments that work precisely because no one told you to do what you did.

Finally, I think the mouse+kb controls worked fine. Hearing how bad they were was the thing that kept me from playing the game so now I hope it doesn't do the same to anyone else (still not sure why everyone said that you _need_ analogue movement). The only control issues I had was wishing the lock-on range was longer for boss battles, and an issue where your attack command gets buffered but not executed until you give another input. I don't know what causes it but it happens a lot when I try to backstab. My character will just stand there doing nothing, and as soon as I press any key the attack comes out.

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

That was subtle I appreciate that.
The dragon wasn't as bad as the other bosses in the area. I don't know how it was received but this DLC is among my favourite stuff in the game. Great bosses and I love how it ties into the story and lore.

;D

I like the DLC too.

 

[patchday]

Calling people who summon 'cheaters' is just plain nuts and makes zero sense. Those guys are wayyyyy more bold then people who stay undead their entire playthrough. Why? Because they can be invaded by darkwraiths and get killed in a bad way. I know when I invade folks I give them a bow for having the balls for going human

 

[Snacks the sober sea lion]

I always hoard my humanity even though the only bonfires I ever kindle are Firelink, Undead Parish, and Anor Londo. I also play on PC, so if I tried to do a human playthrough, I would get invaded maybe 4 times.

 

[Totalriot]

Is there a weapon for a DEX build that does more damage per swing than the Great Scythe+15?

 

[RVinP]

Calling people who summon 'cheaters' is just plain nuts and makes zero sense. Those guys are wayyyyy more bold then people who stay undead their entire playthrough. Why? Because they can be invaded by darkwraiths and get killed in a bad way. I know when I invade folks I give them a bow for having the balls for going human

I drop loads of weapons when I invade with my 15+ LvL character, lucky ones get Balder side swords and Silver Knight straight swords.

 

[kanuuna]

Dark Souls II closed beta registration for PS3 just went live.
via Namco Bandai on Facebook

 

[Seanspeed]

Calling people who summon 'cheaters' is just plain nuts and makes zero sense. Those guys are wayyyyy more bold then people who stay undead their entire playthrough. Why? Because they can be invaded by darkwraiths and get killed in a bad way. I know when I invade folks I give them a bow for having the balls for going human

Holy crap dude. Read what I was saying. I wasn't calling anybody else a cheater. I said FOR ME, its like cheating because I use it as a last resort thing(I prefer to do everything alone). And you can play as a human without summoning.

 

[Sullichin]

Dark Souls II closed beta registration for PS3 just went live.
via Namco Bandai on Facebook

Thanks! Not for US yet though

 

[Buntabox]

Switched from Uchigatana to Balder Side Sword. I'm loving the BSS so much more. It's seems a bit faster and uses less stamina. The move set is similar enough, but slightly better. A lot less lag time on the two handed strong attack.

I'm still stuck at Orn and Smg though. Trying to get Orn second so I can get his armor. I dealt him the killing blow at the same time he got me... He was left with a sliver of yellow bar since he drains slower. ;_; Also forgot to whip out Quelagg's Fury on Ornstein. I get really excited in the heat of the moment.

 

[Red Liquorice]

Spoilering some of this for new players, but it's about a glitch I came across:

Had a weird little glitch with Seath today. Basically, I'm messing about with the PS3 mega-mule on a new account, just for kicks.

Spoiler

So I warp to Crystal Caves to kill Seath, as he dies (I got his soul) I homebone out, like before I get the souls or he disappears. Logan hasn't gone crazy and is still willing to sell me spells. That's odd I think, I wanted to fight him - so I go to the lift and I get to the top but the path is blocked by fog - Oh shit, I broke it I thought - Nope just an invasion - Something definately didn't go right with killing Seath.

So after the invasion I warp back to Crystal Caves - Seath IS still alive, I take out the crystal shard, but he doesn't move - at all. His back is to me, and there is no boss health bar, but when I attack there is a regular enemy small health bar - Easiest way to get MLGS ever, right lol!

He dies, I get the souls but not HIS soul. Moral of the story: Don't homebone out too quickly!

 

[Divius]

Uchigatana has the bleed aspect though, which I love; I just slash at an enemy a few times and suddenly a chunk of his HP is removed. I'm using the Furysword right now and that's wonderful as well.

If you're on PC and need help with O&S; I'm soullvl53 and willing to help.

 

[VALKYRAY]

Has any1 tried playing through Ng+ while cosplaying a npc/boss in the game?
Must be using their armor and signature weapon(s)
Ex: as Ornstein, using ornstien set and dragonslayer only, nothing else.
As ciaran, use her set and the tracers only.
As Artorias, artorias set, both great sword of artorias or abyss great sword
As gough, use his set, dragonslayer bow or gough's bow only

 

[Deified Data]

Strength build is becoming a strength/faith build. Is Grant in my future? Only time can tell.

The split damage handicap is overrated outside of DLC bosses.

Has any1 tried playing through Ng+ while cosplaying a npc/boss in the game?
Must be using their armor and signature weapon(s)
Ex: as Ornstein, using ornstien set and dragonslayer only, nothing else.
As ciaran, use her set and the tracers only.
As Artorias, artorias set, both great sword of artorias or abyss great sword
As gough, use his set, dragonslayer bow or gough's bow only

Did some PVP as a silver knight once.

 

[Buntabox]

Uchigatana has the bleed aspect though, which I love; I just slash at an enemy a few times and suddenly a chunk of his HP is removed. I'm using the Furysword right now and that's wonderful as well.

If you're on PC and need help with O&S; I'm soullvl53 and willing to help.

I forgot about the bleed effect. It haven't noticed a distinct disadvantage not having it at the moment.

Thanks! I'm going to try O&S again when I get home from work this evening. Hoping I can handle it on my own. I was so close last time. I'll let you know if I'm having too much trouble.

 

[Hobobloke]

Has any1 tried playing through Ng+ while cosplaying a npc/boss in the game?
Must be using their armor and signature weapon(s)
Ex: as Ornstein, using ornstien set and dragonslayer only, nothing else.
As ciaran, use her set and the tracers only.
As Artorias, artorias set, both great sword of artorias or abyss great sword
As gough, use his set, dragonslayer bow or gough's bow only

I've played around with a few different cosplays, I normally just switch between them on my quality build as opposed to dedicating a whole character to it.

So far I've tried Ciaran, Siegmeyer, Lautrec, Stone Guardian, Silver Knight, Solaire, Havel and the Darkmoon Knightess. I always pick up Artorias' set because it's awesome but have never bothered with his swords yet.

 

[eot]

Can anyone here recall any good pieces written about the game or good podcasts talking about it? I'd love some good critical analysis now that I don't have to worry about spoilers.

 

[Deified Data]

Can anyone here recall any good pieces written about the game or good podcasts talking about it? I'd love some good critical analysis now that I don't have to worry about spoilers.

Start digging in to ENB's lore series on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Balq4yCcAJg&list=PL4825DBA198EBE9B9

 

[Red Liquorice]

http://www.youtube.com/user/VaatiVidya

This is another good YT channel. +1 for ENB too, love his stuff.

 

[Seanspeed]

Switched from Uchigatana to Balder Side Sword. I'm loving the BSS so much more. It's seems a bit faster and uses less stamina. The move set is similar enough, but slightly better. A lot less lag time on the two handed strong attack.

I'm still stuck at Orn and Smg though. Trying to get Orn second so I can get his armor. I dealt him the killing blow at the same time he got me... He was left with a sliver of yellow bar since he drains slower. ;_; Also forgot to whip out Quelagg's Fury on Ornstein. I get really excited in the heat of the moment.

Excited isn't the word I'd use for fighting O&S. I call it 'complete panic'.

 

[velociraptor]

Invasions in this game suck.

I seem to get invaded quite often, but I cannot for the life of me invade someone else.

Grr.

 

[patchday]

@velociraptor, what soul level are you? The lower the soul level you are the easier it will be to invade others. If you go over 120 you're going to have a much tougher time invading. My main invader is at 100. My other one is only 115 I think

 

[Soriku]

@velociraptor, what soul level are you? The lower the soul level you are the easier it will be to invade others. If you go over 120 you're going to have a much tougher time invading. My main invader is at 100. My other one is only 115 I think

I'm lvl 125 and invade frequently near the Bonfire at the Burg. I play on PS3 btw.

 

[Toxi]

Can anyone here recall any good pieces written about the game or good podcasts talking about it? I'd love some good critical analysis now that I don't have to worry about spoilers.

I personally like this Gamasutra blog post that goes over the strengths of Dark Souls' gameplay and world design. There's a surprising number of things we take for granted, especially the use of the environment in gameplay.

 

[Sullichin]

Has any1 tried playing through Ng+ while cosplaying a npc/boss in the game?
Must be using their armor and signature weapon(s)
Ex: as Ornstein, using ornstien set and dragonslayer only, nothing else.
As ciaran, use her set and the tracers only.
As Artorias, artorias set, both great sword of artorias or abyss great sword
As gough, use his set, dragonslayer bow or gough's bow only

I beat up to maybe NG+++ with my Black Knight cosplay character. It's pretty beastly in PVE, but I mostly use it for invasions.

I have wanted to make an Artorias build for a while for kicks but I haven't because it would mostly be a novelty build. Would need to pump the shit out of END which I usually never take above 40, and every Artorias sword kinda sucks.

There was some interest a couple of weeks ago about starting up a weekend Dark Souls fight club. Is there still any interest? IIRC, we had about about 6 or 7 people that were interested in participating.

I'm up for giving it a shot this weekend if anybody else is. In terms of PVP characters, I've got one SL70 and one SL120. PC for me.

I am down.

 

[velociraptor]

@velociraptor, what soul level are you? The lower the soul level you are the easier it will be to invade others. If you go over 120 you're going to have a much tougher time invading. My main invader is at 100. My other one is only 115 I think

I'm lvl 125. On the PC too so I suspect that limits my options even more.

 

[Buntabox]

Excited isn't the word I'd use for fighting O&S. I call it 'complete panic'.

That's probably a better description. If I had replays of my boss fights, I'm sure there are tons of moments where I just run away in terror after taking a massive blow. It's practically a reflex.

 

[Red Liquorice]

You know the one enemy I'd like to cosplay as is the fire torch hollows. I hate those shits, so many times I've died to these lowliest of enemies because of that running attack. I wish From Soft had made their fire torch as a (rare) drop - where the R2 attack is that crazy running multi-hit attack.

 

[Toxi]

You know the one enemy I'd like to cosplay as is the fire torch hollows. I hate those shits, so many times I've died to these lowliest of enemies because of that running attack. I wish From Soft had made their fire torch as a (rare) drop - where the R2 attack is that crazy running multi-hit attack.

For a second there, I thought you were talking about real life. And yeah, agreed on wishing that the fire torch was a drop. That R2 attack killed me so many times when I was waiting for invasions in the Depths.

Spoiler

I should cosplay as a torch hollow at Denver Comic Con next year.