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[neoemonk]

Dark Souls has ruined other games for me for a while. I finished it a week ago, and although I have over 100 games purchased on Steam that I haven't played and a PS+ subscription with a year's worth of titles, I am honestly having a hard time getting into anything else. Every time I start to play a game, I think to myself, "Dark Souls is more fun".

Cheers to From Software for making such a great game. When is Dark Souls II? Hahaha

Potentially stupid question: who can make my dagger +10? I have all the souls to finish my All Weapons trophy, but I need the base gear.

Are you going for the platinum trophy? We are friends on PSN (user id in profile) and you inspired me to get the Demon's Souls platinum. That and Persona 4 Golden are my only two platinum trophies actually. I've got this on PC and have been mulling going for it all in this game as well since as stated above I'm not ready to be done playing.

 

[NZNova]

I'm loving this game so much. I was rolling on a high from killing the Capra Demon and the Moonlight Butterfly and then decided to venture into the depths. It was going pretty well until I fell down a hole... oh man, that sucked ass.

 

[cj_iwakura]

Are you going for the platinum trophy? We are friends on PSN (user id in profile) and you inspired me to get the Demon's Souls platinum. That and Persona 4 Golden are my only two platinum trophies actually. I've got this on PC and have been mulling going for it all in this game as well since as stated above I'm not ready to be done playing.

Yep. Much like Demon's prior to Dark, I plan to platinum this before Dark II. I only have two left; weapons and spells. (Need Gravelord Dance.)

 

[fengshuifever]

Just traded Infinite with a friend for this the other day so super lttp.

Dear God, Capra Demon is just giving me an absolute ass fucking with every encounter.

Loving it so far though, it feels a lot more streamlined than Demon's

 

[cj_iwakura]

Just traded Infinite with a friend for this the other day so super lttp.

Dear God, Capra Demon is just giving me an absolute ass fucking with every encounter.

Loving it so far though, it feels a lot more streamlined than Demon's

As soon as you enter, book it to the staircase and run straight up. The dogs will come to you, turn around and waste them. Then move over the alcove and wait for Capra. You can either play chicken, jump down, and hit him when he follows, or go toe-to-toe.

 

[Altazor]

I'm loving this game so much. I was rolling on a high from killing the Capra Demon and the Moonlight Butterfly and then decided to venture into the depths. It was going pretty well until I fell down a hole... oh man, that sucked ass.

ha, the Depths, man. As I already told before, i was nervous as fuck after being one-shot killed by the basilisks and their curse fog. It was a very tense experience, but it was great.

 

[Divius]

I feel you 'need' to get cursed on your first playthrough, if only to experience what it feels like.

Spoiler

It feels like shit

 

[NZNova]

ha, the Depths, man. As I already told before, i was nervous as fuck after being one-shot killed by the basilisks and their curse fog. It was a very tense experience, but it was great.

I spent the entirety of yesterday running terrified around the depths, screaming swearing crying and dying. There's something just hilariously evil and bringing you to this dark, dank, scary-ass sewer and just as you're getting used to it you fall down a hole into the worst of the fucking worst. Shit, it was this horrifying mix of panicked fleeing from curse frogs and carefully searching for a bonfire. The relief when I finally found it was so sweet.

Gaping Dragon wasn't too bad, apart from that time he melted my drake sword.

Now I've got two choices (as far as I can tell) - Darkroot Basin or Blighttown. I had a poke around them both and man, neither looks very appealing. Need to get me some poison resist gear...

 

[GRIP]

Now I've got two choices (as far as I can tell) - Darkroot Basin or Blighttown. I had a poke around them both and man, neither looks very appealing. Need to get me some poison resist gear...

Well, on one hand you are right at the entrance of Blighttown so it would make sense to go there and not have to worry about going back through the Depths (assuming you don't have the master key?). On the other you could go to the forest and farm some purple moss clumps ( Poison cure), because you are more than likely gonna get poisoned. So if you want to be on the safe side then I'd probably recommend going to Darkroot Basin and stocking up on PMCs.

 

[NZNova]

I already left the depths - I wanted to buy some pyromancy shit off the dude and i wanted to sort out the large ember I found. It's not too bad getting through the depths when you know the path from the entrance to the bonfire and boss... I'm thinking Darkroot Basin might be easier than dealing with poison-ass motherfuckers in Blighttown. And yeah, don't have the master key. Made a conscious decision to skip it.

 

[Somnium986]

I feel you 'need' to get cursed on your first playthrough, if only to experience what it feels like.

Spoiler

It feels like shit

I actually got cursed on my second playthrough. Had no idea humanity increased curse resistance. Ran into some basilisks in the Great Hollow with no humanity, and was cursed before I could dodge the fog.

Spoiler

It sucked

 

[2AdEPT]

I spent the entirety of yesterday running terrified around the depths, screaming swearing crying and dying. There's something just hilariously evil and bringing you to this dark, dank, scary-ass sewer and just as you're getting used to it you fall down a hole into the worst of the fucking worst. Shit, it was this horrifying mix of panicked fleeing from curse frogs and carefully searching for a bonfire. The relief when I finally found it was so sweet.

Gaping Dragon wasn't too bad, apart from that time he melted my drake sword.

Now I've got two choices (as far as I can tell) - Darkroot Basin or Blighttown. I had a poke around them both and man, neither looks very appealing. Need to get me some poison resist gear...

If you have the master key you actually have an option to do the blightown boss first before the majority of the level, get some really good poison resist armor (best in game and also best in game for fire as well) then you can come back and do the level to farm stuff....best to go backwards...and you can get a ring that makes you silent so you can backstab almost every single mob without them seeing you. The

Spoiler

rusted ring

is mandatory gear, and at least 10 purple moss clumps and 5-6 blooming mos clumps also. You can also get the

Spoiler

spider shield

from the depths or valley of the drakes, as it is the only shield that blocks toxicity darts.

 

[NZNova]

If you have the master key you actually have an option to do the blightown boss first before the majority of the level, get some really good poison resist armor (best in game and also best in game for fire as well) then you can come back and do the level to farm stuff....best to go backwards...and you can get a ring that makes you silent so you can backstab almost every single mob without them seeing you. The

Spoiler

rusted ring

is mandatory gear, and at least 10 purple moss clumps and 5-6 blooming mos clumps also. You can also get the

Spoiler

spider shield

from the depths or valley of the drakes, as it is the only shield that blocks toxicity darts.

No master key

But I did pick up the spider shield. I'll have to keep an eye out for the ring. At the moment I'm running with the wolf ring, havel's ring and the elite knight set upgraded to +3, so I'm at like 78 poise and it's nice to no longer get super flattened by everything (after ages running around in some set with 0 poise). I got a nice shield and upgrading its stability and man was it satisfying to be able to tank that first double handed smash from the capra demon without taking any damage. I'm loving the shit out of this game so far

 

[Snacks the sober sea lion]

You don't need the Master Key.

Spoiler

Master Key is only the shortest route. You can get there just fine through the Basin.

Blighttown varies between not great and absolutely terrible. It's supposed to look "muddy" but instead just makes everything into an unrecognizable blur, there are constantly-respawning mosquitos, thrust weapons just flat-out phase straight through some of the enemies there, everything staggers you if you don't have poise, there's constant poison. Say whatever you want about it being sufficiently "dangerous," it's just not fun at all to play through.

 

[cj_iwakura]

I also need the Darkmoon and Gravelord miracles for the other trophy I lack.

Why can't I find any guiltys to invade? These ears of reprisal won't farm themselves!

 

[Booshka]

I also need the Darkmoon and Gravelord miracles for the other trophy I lack.

Why can't I find any guiltys to invade? These ears of reprisal won't farm themselves!

Just kill the Harpies in Painted World over and over. Darkmoon invasions are slow and inconsistent.

 

[cj_iwakura]

Just kill the Harpies in Painted World over and over. Darkmoon invasions are slow and inconsistent.

Those things terrify me.

 

[ixix]

Those things terrify me.

The only way to overcome a phobia is exposure. Grit those teeth and get all up in them harpies' grilles or forever quiver in fear at avian-headed humanoids.

If you're really too squeamish you can always take the third option: you can get two Souvenirs per playthrough without involving any harpies by

Spoiler

killing Lautrec and trading a Pendant to the crow at the asylum

. Since it takes 10 of them to unlock the miracle, you could wrap it up with no invasions and no harpies as early as NG++++.

 

[Booshka]

Those things terrify me.

2 hand a Gold Tracer and press R1 a bunch, they bleed out and get melted by it quick. Like most enemies in the game.

 

[cj_iwakura]

2 hand a Gold Tracer and press R1 a bunch, they bleed out and get melted by it quick. Like most enemies in the game.

Got it. Three lucky invasions(guy died on arrival, more or less), three drops from the harpies. Just need to get the Gravelord one.

Also... I need Seath's tail.

On NG++. D:

 

[Booshka]

Got it. Three lucky invasions(guy died on arrival, more or less), three drops from the harpies. Just need to get the Gravelord one.

Also... I need Seath's tail.

On NG++. D:

Stand next to the crystal and let Seath make his way toward it. Once he starts up his attack sprint to his back. His attack will break the crystal and stagger him, giving you time to get some free hits on the tail. Go for the tip of the tail, it cuts off easier that way. Also, the Slumbering Dragoncrest ring helps a lot in this fight because Seath is blind and relies on hearing to track you.

 

[2AdEPT]

Those things terrify me.

Got it. Three lucky invasions(guy died on arrival, more or less), three drops from the harpies. Just need to get the Gravelord one.

Also... I need Seath's tail.

On NG++. D:

yeah the birds are easy once you know not to retreat but to advance under them straight forward. You can lure them to your tower of choice (the first one is the fastest) with arrows and do the all in one spot. Simply shoot the distant ones with the pharis bow or put on the hawk ring using a regular bow.

yeah seath's tail goes quicker with a bleed weapon, or buffed weapon. Longer reach teh better...the scythes are best.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

I actually got cursed on my second playthrough.

Haha, same. First playthrough I went through the sewers more or less normally, via those stairs where the rats and Kirk are, and I cautiously approached those frog creatures. The skull icon appeared a few times and scared me so I kept back away from that fog but I had no idea what it did.

Eventually I made my second build, and this time I fell through a hole in the sewers (shortly past the channeler, before the giant rat area) and landed in the middle of a bunch of basilisks. I was human and had a phantom, but had 0 humanity, and the skull bar filled really quickly. Bam, cursed, uh-oh... then I respawned with half health and went "ohhhh so that's why people kept saying curses were so nasty". xD Had to backtrack to Oswald and farm a bit to undo that, haha.

 

[thisbeard]

I hold DkS as my favourite gaming experience so far and having recently completed it (got it on launch day but really stretched my first play-through out because I just didn't want it to end) I'm quite intrigued in playing through the DLC. The thing is that my DkS's save file is right at

Spoiler

the beginning of new game +

. My question for you, friends, is what would you suggest I do in order to access the DLC. Should I play from my current save

Spoiler

the beginning of new game+

)? Or should I start a new character and play through it that way? Also what is the quickest way to access the DLC? Please feel free to correct any spoilers I may have forgotten or that weren't necessary... I'm more of a lurker than a poster. Thanks!

 

[ArynCrinn]

I hold DkS as my favourite gaming experience so far and having recently completed it (got it on launch day but really stretched my first play-through out because I just didn't want it to end) I'm quite intrigued in playing through the DLC. The thing is that my DkS's save file is right at

Spoiler

the beginning of new game +

. My question for you, friends, is what would you suggest I do in order to access the DLC. Should I play from my current save

Spoiler

the beginning of new game+

)? Or should I start a new character and play through it that way? Also what is the quickest way to access the DLC? Please feel free to correct any spoilers I may have forgotten or that weren't necessary... I'm more of a lurker than a poster. Thanks!

Start a NG to play the DLC if you only have one playthrough of experience. It's harder than the rest of the game, mainly the bosses. I wouldn't suggest tackling the DLC on NG+ on 2nd playthrough.

 

[Booshka]

I hold DkS as my favourite gaming experience so far and having recently completed it (got it on launch day but really stretched my first play-through out because I just didn't want it to end) I'm quite intrigued in playing through the DLC. The thing is that my DkS's save file is right at

Spoiler

the beginning of new game +

. My question for you, friends, is what would you suggest I do in order to access the DLC. Should I play from my current save

Spoiler

the beginning of new game+

)? Or should I start a new character and play through it that way? Also what is the quickest way to access the DLC? Please feel free to correct any spoilers I may have forgotten or that weren't necessary... I'm more of a lurker than a poster. Thanks!

Start a new character, optimize the stats and gear a little bit better and you will breeze through the first half of the game. NG+ DLC is very hard and probably best to experience it on New Game.

To access the DLC, kill the Hydra in Darkroot Basin, go to the back of the Lake and free Dusk from the Golem there. Talk to Dusk after she is freed, and through her summon sign. Then go to the start of Duke's Archives and kill the Crystal Golem at the start of the level. He will drop the Broken Pendant, now head back to the back of the Lake where you freed Dusk, and there will be a Portal to take you to the DLC. You can warp to and from all DLC bonfires to the main game at any time, so you are not locked to the DLC once you enter.

You need to place the Lordvessel to open up the Lord Soul areas to access the DLC, so you need to get about half way through the main game to get there. The DLC is pretty tough, so I suggest being at least SL 50 with well upgraded gear before you try to tackle it.

 

[thisbeard]

Start a NG to play the DLC if you only have one playthrough of experience. It's harder than the rest of the game, mainly the bosses. I wouldn't suggest tackling the DLC on NG+ on 2nd playthrough.

Ok, fantastic. I definitely have no qualms about starting a NG and making my way through Lordran again. But just out of curiosity, what is the best way to access the DLC? Is my only option to

Spoiler

get the item at the Dukes archive

?

 

[thisbeard]

Start a new character, optimize the stats and gear a little bit better and you will breeze through the first half of the game. NG+ DLC is very hard and probably best to experience it on New Game.

To access the DLC, kill the Hydra in Darkroot Basin, go to the back of the Lake and free Dusk from the Golem there. Talk to Dusk after she is freed, and through her summon sign. Then go to the start of Duke's Archives and kill the Crystal Golem at the start of the level. He will drop the Broken Pendant, now head back to the back of the Lake where you freed Dusk, and there will be a Portal to take you to the DLC. You can warp to and from all DLC bonfires to the main game at any time, so you are not locked to the DLC once you enter.

You need to place the Lordvessel to open up the Lord Soul areas to access the DLC, so you need to get about half way through the main game to get there. The DLC is pretty tough, so I suggest being at least SL 50 with well upgraded gear before you try to tackle it.

Awesome, I appreciate all the tips! Real eager to revisit familiar places and faces and also looking forward to discovering what

Spoiler

Oolacile

holds. Cheers all

 

[Morrigan Stark]

But just out of curiosity, what is the best way to access the DLC? Is my only option to

Spoiler

get the item at the Dukes archive

?

Yes, there's really no other way. I'd suggest you kill the golden golem and rescue (and summon) Dusk of Oolacile before heading to Duke's, to make sure the blue golem drops the item. I don't think reloading + summoning Dusk's sign is necessary, but I've had the golem not drop the pendant and that fixed it, so might as well cover all the bases.

 

[thisbeard]

Yes, there's really no other way. I'd suggest you kill the golden golem and rescue (and summon*) Dusk of Oolacile before heading to Duke's, to make sure the blue golem drops the item. I don't think reloading + summoning Dusk's sign is necessary, but I've had the golem not drop the pendant and that fixed it, so might as well cover all the bases.

I'll keep this in mind, thanks.

 

[Altazor]

regarding the DLC... I just beat

Spoiler

Kalameet

after a shitload of tries! Wanted to get the Greatsword but couldn't, so in the end it was mostly a test of patience.

The Black Knight Greatsword +5 was of great help during the battle. The first couple of times I tried using my trusty Lightning Halberd +5 but it was doing minimal damage so I decided to use the BKGS and it went MUCH better. Actually, I managed to defeat the boss on my second try with the BKGS (almost managed to kill him during the first try but I got greedy and paid the price for that). Feels good, man.

 

[Booshka]

Just watched Santzo84 recapture the World Record for Any% Speedrun live. So exhilarating watching it live with the chat losing their minds toward the end when TEH URN was in sight.

Previous record was 52:45, he beat it by 20 seconds with a time of 52:25. Still a lot of room for improvement too, Sub 52 minutes is definitely possible.

 

[Snacks the sober sea lion]

I've never understood why people think Kalameet is one of the hardest. Manus is way more erratic and damaging, and Four Kings on New Game Whatever are ridiculous.

 

[aFIGurANT]

Kalameet is really tough if you're going for his sword but after trying to get that for like a week straight he is pretty beatable. Artorias just owned me thanks to input lag while we're talking about the AA dlc...can't believe that that shit has to happen at the worst times (boss fights).

 

[Ferr986]

I've never understood why people think Kalameet is one of the hardest. Manus is way more erratic and damaging, and Four Kings on New Game Whatever are ridiculous.

I always had more problems with Kalameet than Manus, but yeah, 4 Kings on NG+ is for me the hardest boss in the game.

 

[Altazor]

Honestly, I just had a harder time with Artorias rather than Kalameet. I just employed the wrong strategy on the first fight a lot of times - when I decided to "tank" him, the fight became much easier. With Kalameet, on the other hand, it was mostly about the weapon I was using. And even though i died a lot of times, it still took me less tries than Artorias.

In any case, the Artorias battle was much more fun for me. Reminded me a bit of O&S.

 

[Soulhouf]

regarding the DLC... I just beat

Spoiler

Kalameet

after a shitload of tries! Wanted to get the Greatsword but couldn't, so in the end it was mostly a test of patience.

The Black Knight Greatsword +5 was of great help during the battle. The first couple of times I tried using my trusty Lightning Halberd +5 but it was doing minimal damage so I decided to use the BKGS and it went MUCH better. Actually, I managed to defeat the boss on my second try with the BKGS (almost managed to kill him during the first try but I got greedy and paid the price for that). Feels good, man.

I hope you figured out by now how shitty and deceptive the lightning weapons are.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

I hope you figured out by now how shitty and deceptive the lightning weapons are.

Not only that, but if one has the minimal stats to wield any black knight weapon, there is no reason whatsoever to use any elemental weapon.

 

[ebullientprism]

I hope you figured out by now how shitty and deceptive the lightning weapons are.

Only in the DLC. They are still way too OP in the original game. Esp for low level PvP greifers. :/

I hope the DLC is the baseline for elemental weapons in DaS 2.

 

[Somnium986]

Honestly, I just had a harder time with Artorias rather than Kalameet. I just employed the wrong strategy on the first fight a lot of times - when I decided to "tank" him, the fight became much easier. With Kalameet, on the other hand, it was mostly about the weapon I was using. And even though i died a lot of times, it still took me less tries than Artorias.

In any case, the Artorias battle was much more fun for me. Reminded me a bit of O&S.

Fought Artorias again on two different save files recently. Man was I getting the crap beaten out of me. Had to cheese him with spells on my INT/Buff build on NG+, and I just kept making stupid mistakes(Which Artorias will gladly punish) with my pure STR build on NG. I do not remember having such a hard time on my first DLC run. :[

Artorias reminds me a lot of Berserker Armored Gutts. Always got mad Berserk vibes form the souls games. Only recently finding out that the games director has stated the Berserk manga as an influence made me very happy.

I mean look at this!

He even fights the way I imagined Gutts would when possessed by the armor.

 

[Sullichin]

Fought Artorias again on two different save files recently. Man was I getting the crap beaten out of me. Had to cheese him with spells on my INT/Buff build on NG+, and I just kept making stupid mistakes(Which Artorias will gladly punish) with my pure STR build on NG. I do not remember having such a hard time on my first DLC run. :[

Artorias reminds me a lot of Berserker Armored Gutts. Always got mad Berserk vibes form the souls games. Only recently finding out that the games director has stated the Berserk manga as an influence made me very happy.

I mean look at this!

He even fights the way I imagined Gutts would when possessed by the armor.

If you search for it, you will find a lot of Bezerk references / similarities in Demon's Souls and Dark Souls, I think. I have never read it myself, but I've seen the pictures and it looks like it was a big inspiration for these games.

 

[Somnium986]

If you search for it, you will find a lot of Bezerk references / similarities in Demon's Souls and Dark Souls, I think. I have never read it myself, but I've seen the pictures and it looks like it was a big inspiration for these games.

Yes, I've seen the comparisons. :]

If you don't mind extremely bleak/violent/gory/disturbing stuffs... then you should give Berserk a read. Has a great story and good characters. The artwork is amazing as well.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

I started watching the Anime adaptation several years ago but quickly stopped because it was frankly pretty silly. Is the manga better? I know it inspired Dark Souls a lot in terms of art and style, and that intrigues me.

 

[Somnium986]

I started watching the Anime adaptation several years ago but quickly stopped because it was frankly pretty silly. Is the manga better? I know it inspired Dark Souls a lot in terms of art and style, and that intrigues me.

Well like most anime and movie adaptations, they leave a lot out. The first adaptation of Berserk only did the "The Golden Age Arc", which covers the protagonist in his youth and early adulthood. Since it was never planned to have more than 25 episodes it cut out a lot of hints, backstory, and supernatural elements that would lead up to other arcs. So I ended up enjoying the manga much more. Kentaro Miura's, beautifully detailed illustrations helped too.

Two movie adaptations have been released in Japan recently, which will follow into later Arcs, but I'd still recommend the manga over it.

Also, sorry for OT. D:

 

[Caja 117]

Question:

I already got to ring the first bell, kill Moonlight butterfly, Sys and Hydra. Should I go to blighttown now?

 

[ixix]

Question:

I already got to ring the first bell, kill Moonlight butterfly, Sys and Hydra. Should I go to blighttown now?

By Sys you mean, Sif, I presume? If so, there's really not anything else you can do if you haven't tackled Blighttown. The only other possible locations available to you until you do are the Lower Undead Burg, the Depths (both of these you may have already tackled, depending on how you're planning to enter Blighttown), the Catacombs (which is a dead end where you are now), and New Londo Ruins (which are a bit rough to tackle early).

Basically yeah, it's Blighttown time.

 

[Caja 117]

By Sys you mean, Sif, I presume? If so, there's really not anything else you can do if you haven't tackled Blighttown. The only other possible locations available to you until you do are the Lower Undead Burg, the Depths (both of these you may have already tackled, depending on how you're planning to enter Blighttown), the Catacombs (which is a dead end where you are now), and New Londo Ruins (which are a bit rough to tackle early).

Basically yeah, it's Blighttown time.

Yeah, Sif, I already did in a different playtrough part of the depth, and I already took a small tour in blighttown and it was annoying with poison and framerate issue. Ohhh well...guess was going to happen sooner or later.

 

[Altazor]

Yeah, Sif, I already did in a different playtrough part of the depth, and I already took a small tour in blighttown and it was annoying with poison and framerate issue. Ohhh well...guess was going to happen sooner or later.

watch out for blowdart snipers.

EDIT: carry Blooming Purple Moss Clump and have the Spider Shield equipped. Or maybe not, your choice (?)

 

[TokiDoki]

Streaming Dark Souls now . My first time going through the DLC .

http://www.twitch.tv/breakthru7

 

[2AdEPT]

Streaming Dark Souls now . My first time going through the DLC .

http://www.twitch.tv/breakthru7

Looked like a rage quit....I hear ya man...manus is terrible and that squeegy head magic spammer on the way is good for a few kills as well.

Couple points...Uchigatana by itself is a little light for Manus..you were only doing 200 damage per swing, and it wasn't long enough to even hit his hand when extended. Upgrade to the washing pole if you like that moveset...the reach is worth it, then buff it to get the damage back. Supposedlyt maus is weakest to lightning. Use the running R2 to stab him from range, then retreat. You could wear bleed resist armour, then go for the bleed to kill manus faster...lifehunt scythe obviously the best.