Bitmap Frogs
Mr. Community
You missing the ring and Logan's catalyst.
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Dark Souls |OT4| Victory achieved for Scamco, text defeated
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You missing the ring and Logan's catalyst.
Finally beat the 4 Kings last night on my NG+ run. So far they have given me the most trouble, taking about 12 attempts before finally killing them. Actually, going through them was probably the first time in my 100 hours that I really felt the game was just fucking with me. At least 5 of my deaths were them just spamming magic attacks from all sides and if that didn't kill then I'd get a strong melee swipe that would hit me at the precise moment that I was getting up but unable to block or roll out the way.
I really though O&S would be the biggest challenge, but I got through them on my second try (killed Ornstein last) and I came pretty damn close on my first attempt.
Still loving the game, but now I'm at the point where I only have areas left to play that I don't particularly enjoy (Catacombs/TOG, Demon Ruins/Lost Izaleth, and Dukes Archive). I'll probably just sprint through these areas to the boss battles.
I really though O&S would be the biggest challenge, but I got through them on my second try (killed Ornstein last) and I came pretty damn close on my first attempt.
Still loving the game, but now I'm at the point where I only have areas left to play that I don't particularly enjoy (Catacombs/TOG, Demon Ruins/Lost Izaleth, and Dukes Archive). I'll probably just sprint through these areas to the boss battles.
Snacks the sober sea lion
Member
That sounds like sorcery is only the best for New Game Plus, considering the enormous investments required that only pay off around 70% through the game.
Bitmap Frogs
Mr. Community
The ring you can buy as soon as you rescue griggs.
And again, I don't know what you're doing but my pure sorc made a mockery out of the game.
Deified Data
Banned
By far the easiest PVE build I can think of, with the only real roadblock for me being 4 Kings and a couple of the DLC bosses.
Snacks the sober sea lion
Member
Well, at this point I get through the game pretty easily just doing standard upgrade path on one weapon, so spending around 100,000 souls to optimize my character seemed like a lot of busywork for comparatively little payoff. I wouldn't say I'm doing pure sorcery, and it doesn't help that I prefer enchanting a Rapier to actually using spells. I'll probably try again sometime and see if I can mess up the Super Londo Brothers in a satisfactory manner.
And Ravelord Nito's beats are too sick for me today. Was literally one hit away and managed to get hit by the scream, and then died 3 times in a row to his first scream.
And Ravelord Nito's beats are too sick for me today. Was literally one hit away and managed to get hit by the scream, and then died 3 times in a row to his first scream.
Nope, I hadn't. Thanks for the heads up. Doing that earlier could have saved a bit of time!
After spending the souls I was so close to losing, I got the courage to explore again. The boar area was much more simple than I anticipated, and for awhile it was smooth sailing. The enemies in this game are great: diverse and well placed with solid AI. Opened the gate to the boar area (glad I found the lever faster than I did the ladder), and then began killing the enemies inside the church until a dude with a huge shield killed me. Instead of going back, decided to do some backtracking: tried to clear the graveyard at the start of Lordran, but changed my mind when suddenly ~3 normal skeletons and one big one spawned at the same time; got the Ring of Sacrifice, and since I rolled onto the platform from above, for a second I thought the game was going to force me to commit suicide; back in the Undead Burg (I think), I killed that one dude a little before the stairwell leading to the Taurus Demon, and got a nice ring (this was the guy who I ran from earlier; at the time, I wasn't 100% sure how backstabbing worked, and I was horrible with parries); and then I decided to go downstairs at that stairwell to try killing a guy who earlier on surprised me by killing me in one hit, got incredibly close (1-2 backstabs/parries away...) a couple times but gave up.
Then just experimented with different weapons. Started out with a scimitar, but been using a short sword for awhile because the scimitar hit low durability (being able to kick has been really useful, anyway). Bought a bow and tried that out, felt dumb for not doing so earlier. Fell in love with the Winged Spear.
Bought a Repairbox. Feels great to be able to repair weapons now. Weight off my shoulders.
I feel much more settled in. Probably not going to document any more play sessions like this, but I wanted to share my initial experience with everyone.
It was impossible not having certain expectations of the game going in, and its certainly met all of them (both in terms of quality and in terms of difficulty). The world is actually incredibly compelling, in addition to the gameplay being very satisfying. I feel like I've been wandering aimlessly (which was in my class description), but IIRC, the NPC who sits near the first bonfire said one of the beacons I have to light is in the church - if so, I guess I'm closer to figuring out what this "pilgrimage" entails.Red Liquorice
Member
Nerokis - the skeleton graveyard is kind of placed there as a trap for new players, it's definately doable (it's actually only a tiny area leading to greater dangers below) but you were on the right track heading towards the church (Parish) - which has two extremely useful lead-off paths, one back to somewhere very familiar, and the other to someONE very useful, who you should take full advantage of as soon as you find them.
I agree about the lack of the kick on curved swords, the little somersault slash looks cool but the kick is far more useful. Spears are great because you can attack with your shield still up - but this takes better management of your stamina as it regenerates a lot slower when your shield is up. If you get hit with no or very low stamina you will get staggered which can lead to a very quick death!
A Blacksmith who can upgrade your weapons. Weapon upgrading is far more important to progressing than levelling up in Souls.
I agree about the lack of the kick on curved swords, the little somersault slash looks cool but the kick is far more useful. Spears are great because you can attack with your shield still up - but this takes better management of your stamina as it regenerates a lot slower when your shield is up. If you get hit with no or very low stamina you will get staggered which can lead to a very quick death!
How many times I fell to my death because I accidentally triggered that stupid backstep attack lol
eot
Banned
I'm doing the no shield thing, albeit with one on my back for the stamina regen, and I went down to Blighttown to get the great club, or possibly the large club. Amazingly the first troll I killed dropped the large variant. Then I spent a few hours trying to get it to +15 before fighting the gargoyles. Getting past the ghosts below Ingward without a shield was by far the hardest part, but now my weapon is horribly overpowered and that's kinda fun. I did start off by 'fisting' the asylum demon, which took me more tries than it had any right to. You punch one time too many in 15 minutes and that could be it.
Yup. I just fell off a new time for the first time though. Tried to heavy attack a ghost through a wall, but it didn't connect so I bounced back from the hit and fell into the water.
Yup. I just fell off a new time for the first time though. Tried to heavy attack a ghost through a wall, but it didn't connect so I bounced back from the hit and fell into the water.
Thanks for the tips, Red Liquorice. Yeah, one of the first things I did in this game was get killed at the graveyard, so I just wanted to go back and see if I could make any progress there. That's where I found the Winged Spear, which has been my introduction to spear class weapons, so it wasn't totally unproductive.
Excited to get further into the church later.
Excited to get further into the church later.
I'm not sure if I've ever found that attack helpful.
Snacks the sober sea lion
Member
The rapier backstep is kind of neat. The curved sword cartwheel thing, basically useless.
It bugs me how there aren't any readily-available strength swords to go with a greatshield. I want be a huge knight with a sword, like Tarkus, but nearly all the greatswords are quality.
It bugs me how there aren't any readily-available strength swords to go with a greatshield. I want be a huge knight with a sword, like Tarkus, but nearly all the greatswords are quality.
velociraptor
Junior Member
Wow, I'm finally winning at PvP.
Just finished the game for a second time. Decided to hang around at the Undead Burg.
Got invaded about 8 times. Won 7, lost 1.
Feels good man.
As I have no desire to complete the game again, I think I'll probably hang around the UB as I seemed to have been invaded here more often in one hour than I did in an entire NG+ playthrough! I feel a bit stuck though - can't upgrade any of my weapons :\
Just finished the game for a second time. Decided to hang around at the Undead Burg.
Got invaded about 8 times. Won 7, lost 1.
Feels good man.
Actually, I died twice but I don't think that death counted. I faced a guy with 18000HP! :| Fucking cheaters :<
As I have no desire to complete the game again, I think I'll probably hang around the UB as I seemed to have been invaded here more often in one hour than I did in an entire NG+ playthrough! I feel a bit stuck though - can't upgrade any of my weapons :\
Master Key or Undead Burg Skip to Lower Undead Burg, kill Capra, grab Large ember, Homeward Bone. Kill Ingward in New Londo, drain it, grab Very Large Ember, homeward bone. Talk to Andre, and you are good to go. Only have to kill Capra to get the two best Embers.
Dragon Great Axe has an R2 AOE that splashes 400 damage on mobs from a fair range...a close up direct hit.grants 800 with lots of STR.
If you want to play melee, why go magic? The MGS is awesome for its ranged one and two handed R2's ....you did try those right?!?!!? I'm not great at PVP but my magic characters have the most kills and they win based on the ranged attacks of the MGS.
Yep and if you use the fall down short cut to Capra it can take as little as 2 minutes into the game!!!
Zwei or greatsword are both great with as little as 27 str and required dex. I guess demon great machete best fits the bill and you can get it super early as well.
i felt the same when fighting 4 kings at extreme low level (single digit). but after 30+ tries, I finally got them. feels good man.
every time you die, you should think about what you have done wrong, and what you could have done to avoid it.
It's pretty fun early on, get Lightning spears and wreck everything until Anor Londo. Then it gets a bit trickier and you cant just use spells to clear areas and bosses.
velociraptor
Junior Member
But how would I get to Andre without killing Taurus Demon?
Go down down from Firelink Shrine into New Londo->Valley of The Drakes->Darkroot Basin->Darkroot Garden->Andre.
Was just PVPing in the forest and some piece of shit hit me with a TWOP from miles away that inflicted me with curse and egghead. No idea if it caused any further damage as I rolled my save back 5 minutes immediately but still a pain in the arse. Reported him for all the good it won't do :/
eot
Banned
Or do the same but run past Havel instead.
Red Liquorice
Member
That is quite interesting actually, would've never thought of that.
Also if you do this route before triggering the Dragon in Undead Burg, you can open up the Sunlight Altar gate with ease because the dragon won't be on the bridge.
Red Liquorice
Member
dp sorry.
Misterinenja
Member
YouTube search for dark souls easy mode walkthrough done by the phantom reviewer
Deified Data
Banned
I've rolled a pure faith, faith/dex, and I'm currently using a faith/strength build. I'd say that faith complements just about any playstyle. Pairing it with dex is probably the most viable build for PVP, but faith/str can also be powerful if you master your timing.
Proposed Law
Member
Finally beat this game, such an amazing experience.
Bed of Chaos can eat a bag of dicks though.
xxjuicesxx
Member
I'm back! http://www.twitch.tv/sometimesimepic for more torture!
Arjen
Member
Ah cool, i've got some time to kill at work, tuning in.
Red Liquorice
Member
Just had an interesting summon for the Demon Firesage, the white phantom used anti-magic spell to stop the DF from using his AoE blast. Unfortunately as a sorcerer myself I was left stabbing at his feet with my puny +3 lightning rapier - but I've never seen that before, assume it would also work with similar bosses like Stray Demon, Quelaag.
Watching you in the Crystal Caves, whilst also playing and in the Crystal Caves..... Inception. XD
So I'm finally back to this game looking to finish my first playthrough after setting it down over a year ago. I'm at anor londo and it seems like my drake sword is finally showing it's newbieness. Only problem is, despite having so many choices, none seem to do the damage as the drake sword. What kind of replacement did you guys start using around this stage? Something that's worth upgrading and holding onto for much of the rest of the game.
Snacks the sober sea lion
Member
They don't do comparable because you haven't been upgrading them. You need to get them to +5, get back to Andre so he can modify them to +6, then take them back to the giant blacksmith because he sells the Large Titanite Shards you need to reach +10.
You can easily reach Undead Parish again by going back to Sen's Fortress. If you don't have the shortcut to get through the Fortress then
go to the tower with the merchant (he's across a gap on the bridge overlooking the giant who's dropping stones), then going to the bottom and getting the Cage Key. Then take it to the tower where the bomb giant was, and use it to open the cage and ride it back down to near the beginning of Sen's Fortress.
What are your stats like (Strength and Dexterity in particular) and what weapons are in your inventory?
I just upgraded the Lightning Spear to +3 and have been using that so far. It's not night-and-day better but I'm seeing a pretty big boost in damage. Besides that I have a ton of random weapons that I don't have the stats to use like Dragon Tooth and Dragon King Greataxe as well as a lot of generics.
Stats are:
Levl 58
Vit 33
Att 10
End 18
Str 31
Dex 15
Res 12
Int 9
Faith 12
Been putting most in Vitality which I'm not sure is exactly right lol.
Stats are:
Levl 58
Vit 33
Att 10
End 18
Str 31
Dex 15
Res 12
Int 9
Faith 12
Been putting most in Vitality which I'm not sure is exactly right lol.
Start leveling up Dexterity. A lot of very good weapons scale with dex (they get stronger as you level up). Your strength and vitality are fine for the point in the game you are at. Also level up endurance. That will increase your weapons load as well as the more obvious benefit of having more stamina which is very important for tougher enemies.
Edit: I'd recommend the Halberd for a good all around weapon. It scales with Strength and Dexterity and once you start leveling it up it wrecks shit. It's also not that heavy. I cruised through my NG+ run pretty much just using my +15 Halberd.
Snacks the sober sea lion
Member
The Lightning spear has an elemental modification, so it has issues scaling with your stats. Although it helps against Smough.
And it doesn't matter if they're "generics," something like the Longsword can still be one of the best weapons to use.
Deified Data
Banned
No such thing as a generic weapon, everything is viable.
It's not like your build is broken or anything, you could still take it in a few distinct directions. You could try boosting your dexterity as others have recommended, or you could just go for a balls-out pure-strength build if you like the weapons. You could even boost int or faith for access to weapon buffs, if you want.
mickcenary
Member
Noob questions despite my 200 hours clocked thus far:
> What is with the fog gates appearing and disappearing randomly in areas?
> Does not having cleared the area's boss impact your ability to invade? I swear my success rate for invading at Oolacile Township is a good 50% less than my last run-through with Manus dead.
Spanks, doods.
> What is with the fog gates appearing and disappearing randomly in areas?
> Does not having cleared the area's boss impact your ability to invade? I swear my success rate for invading at Oolacile Township is a good 50% less than my last run-through with Manus dead.
Spanks, doods.
Red Liquorice
Member
Fog gates lock off the area when you are getting invaded (or trying to be invaded, if it fails the fog will just disappear).
Clearing the boss doesn't impact you invading, it just stops others invading you in that area. The PC version is notoriously poor for invasions and summoning other players, so that probably accounts for your troubles if you are on the PC version.
mickcenary
Member
Ah, yep. Assumed as much with fog gates. Thanks, dude.
I'm on 360. Maybe it's because I'm constantly copping invasion attempts? Would that more or less nullify my attempts to invade?
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
I always facepalm when I see someone post stats of str 30+ and they're wielding the Drake sword and/or the Lightning Spear...
Arjen
Member
Everybody fucks up their first build, but i agree, i always wonder how the hell you're not noticing your damage doesn't go up when your leveling strength with a drake sword or something equiped.
Usually I'm more focused on learning how to beat the new enemies than worrying about maximizing my damage. Only started to notice the fights taking a bit long recently.
Sorry that I made you disappointed by playing my video game incorrectly.
Like I said before, I just picked this up again after well over a year. Pretty sure I just leveled STR at the start since the initial weapons I had were terrible. Then someone suggested I get the Drake Sword and after that I basically only leveled Vitality since damage was no longer a problem.
eot
Banned
If I were you I'd start putting points in endurance and try to find a good str weapon since you already have a lot of points in that. See if you picked up the Great Club down in Blighttown. Upgraded it deals massive damage.
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