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[Booshka]

Yeah, I get that. But after watching a couple of these speedruns, and in full possession of a lazy weekend morning and a cup of coffee, I said I'd try. And it turns out the beauty's in the small things, all those seemingly nondecisions of when to turn and how much and when to push and when to take a breath gradually pilling up on top of each other and pushing the guy further and further, faster and faster then the one before.

Of course I did a shit job out of my attempt at a speedrun, but it gave me a different perspective, and out of it came a renewed respect for what I cannot perceive when just watching a speedrun

I marveled at the nuance as well, the positioning and pathing that players take to affect how the enemies will approach and attack is amazing. His manipulation of Iron Golem was especially interesting, I also liked how he dealt with mobs, and avoided their attacks by taking certain paths through the level.

The only attempt at a speedrun I did was on an already fully decked out high level character on NG++++. I even used the Chaos Servant shortcut which stays open if you stay in the covenant. I beat the game in about 90 mins without much planning or practice. Bed of Chaos really fucked up that run, wasted like 15 mins on repeated attempts. It was fun, but I don't see myself doing a legit speedrun and worrying about how to level and equip my character while sprinting through the game. I prefer to watch others do it.

How big an impact does Dex have on casting speed? I'd planned on going Faith/STR since I have 18str on this char already, but I might reconsider. - Not sure this character is going to end up pvp-viable, but I'd like to keep her in co-op ranges at least.

I have a character with 45 Dex that uses Pyromancy and the cast times are significantly faster, I can actually hit people with multiple fireballs because they are casted quicker. Great Combustion absolutely wrecks shit at 45 dex and Fire Tempest is quick enough that I can cast it after I backstab someone to land a hit on their wakeup, or cast it after I run away and not get backstabbed before it goes off. You have to tailor a build for it, so you should be using Dex weapons, but I don't know how well it affects Miracles and Sorcery. It's easy to do with Pyro because it isn't based on a skill, just the glove and spells, so you don't have to over-level too much to get the benefits.

 

[chunk3rvd]

2 more questions I'm hoping Dark Souls GAF can help me with:

Sieglinde has just appeared in Firelink but I haven't been to Lost Izalith yet. Do I have to do the Siegmeyer/octo-demons part of the quest before I speak to her? Really don't want to fuck up on getting the slab if I can help it. Both wikis say she only appears at Firelink after the Lost Izalith encounter

Also - I asked on the last page but I'm still wondering - what's the best way to upgrade Avelyn for a 40 DEX / 40 INT build? Straight to +14/15 or is there any benefit to going down the Enchanted path or any others?

Thanks for all the help here guys. Still on my first playthrough at 195 hours and haven't even reached NG+ yet but I've enjoyed every minute of this and the help from this thread has been invaluable

 

[maomaoIYP]

I agree, I think the underwhelming part comes from already watching a Speed Run of Dark Souls, the initial amazement can never be matched, even if the time and technique is better.

Yup. That's why I said it was underwhelming. I was actually hoping that he found some glitches like the one where you could skip entire areas in Undead Parish/Burg by creative jumping to reach the Capra Demon.

Instead it's the same stuff we've already watched, with the exception of a "quit to XMB" glitch. I sat there for 20 mins in heavy anticipation of something amazing that I've never seen, only to see something in the last 3 mins, that was explained in another related video in 1 min.

 

[Mr_Appleby]

Black Phantom, they are beefed up versions of enemies that are caused by Gravelords. They have a red outline, double HP and double damage at least.

i'm starting to sound like a broken record now... got gravelorded about 4 more times yesterday. once in demon ruins and i ran through the whole place (minus the top level with taurus demons) and still didn't see any BP's. what's going on?

 

[Sullichin]

i'm starting to sound like a broken record now... got gravelorded about 4 more times yesterday. once in demon ruins and i ran through the whole place (minus the top level with taurus demons) and still didn't see any BP's. what's going on?

If you are referring to the "disasters are gone after the defeat of the gravelord servant" text string, that means that someone else invaded and killed the gravelord in their world. Gravelords infect 3 worlds at once. It's also believed that this text pops up just as a bug sometimes, at least that's what I believe.

If you look at the wiki entry for this covenant, you'll see you're not the only one confused about how it works!
http://darksouls.wikidot.com/gravelord-servant

Some people say they get a message when they are gravelorded saying "Disasters are now present in your world and will not leave until the Gravelord is defeated." i've never seen this message but have seen black phantoms. But only at SL120 in the burg, and black phantom dreglings aren't a threat at all, they just gravelord there to get invaded.

The covenant has a lot of potential, it could have been the DkS version of black world tendency. But i'm sure most people will go through the game without ever seeing these black phantom enemies.

 

[Lost Fragment]

Didn't realize the book of the guilty detailed people's characters until tonight. Some good readin' thar...



Don't know how these kinds of guys can do this and not be afraid of getting their accounts nuked. They're either really dumb or have a lot of disposable income. Probably the first thing for the most part.

 

[Mr_Appleby]

If you are referring to the "disasters are gone after the defeat of the gravelord servant" text string, that means that someone else invaded and killed the gravelord in their world. Gravelords infect 3 worlds at once. It's also believed that this text pops up just as a bug sometimes, at least that's what I believe.

If you look at the wiki entry for this covenant, you'll see you're not the only one confused about how it works!
http://darksouls.wikidot.com/gravelord-servant

Some people say they get a message when they are gravelorded saying "Disasters are now present in your world and will not leave until the Gravelord is defeated." i've never seen this message but have seen black phantoms. But only at SL120 in the burg, and black phantom dreglings aren't a threat at all, they just gravelord there to get invaded.

The covenant has a lot of potential, it could have been the DkS version of black world tendency. But i'm sure most people will go through the game without ever seeing these black phantom enemies.

ahhhhhhh ok.... i think.... i had the "disasters are gone" message a whole bunch of times this week, but not the "disasters are now present" that i can recall. Once in blighttown been gravelorded, didn't see any BP's but found the gravelord sign and invaded his world. maybe i had the other message that time, it was way back near launch and i don't recall. way to ambiguate, namco.

edit: a bug could be possible as I had the "disasters are gone after.." pop up in Firelink Shrine recently

 

[Sullichin]

Didn't realize the book of the guilty detailed people's characters until tonight. Some good readin' thar...



Don't know how these kinds of guys can do this and not be afraid of getting their accounts nuked. They're either really dumb or have a lot of disposable income. Probably the first thing for the most part.

I guess this can only be done on 360, I've never run into someone on PS3 that was obviously cheating like that (plenty of people being ultra cheap though). I mean really, what the hell is the point of doing this. You know you cheated, you have the lamest setup in the world, you're easily demolishing players in game that's supposed to be about overcoming challenge and acquiring skill through experience. I'm not saying non-glitched PVP is this ultra-balanced thing. But 'playing fair' is so much more rewarding. If I kill an invader who winds up running away and healing with humanity, when I have 10HP and never healed myself, it's pretty satisfying. Or even better, if it's an intense but respectful fight between two players with totally different builds around the same level. I really love when I die because my opponent outsmarted me. Backstab me while I'm bowing... where's the fun for either party? ESPECIALLY when it's obviously dedicated PVP. If i'm running through a level trying to beat a boss / get to the next bonfire, it makes more sense to use everything at your disposal to get an invader to fuck off. PVP ganking at the kiln.. who are these people? everyone in the online communities for the game seems to agree it's really lame, but there's tons of people playing like this. It doesn't ruin the game but I literally don't understand why they would do this, it's not like souls matter once you've completed your pvp build. In a game that often has downtime online, you wouldn't rather have each invasion be a fun, possibly long fight instead of taking them out in 3 seconds as they spawn?

ahhhhhhh ok.... i think.... i had the "disasters are gone" message a whole bunch of times this week, but not the "disasters are now present" that i can recall. Once in blighttown been gravelorded, didn't see any BP's but found the gravelord sign and invaded his world. maybe i had the other message that time, it was way back near launch and i don't recall. way to ambiguate, namco.

edit: a bug could be possible as I had the "disasters are gone after.." pop up in Firelink Shrine recently

Maybe you weren't anywhere near the BP that spawned in blighttown, I don't know what black phantoms are supposed to spawn there. If it happened often this would be really easily accessible information! Yeah that text is weird. But, i'm pretty sure someone in this thread said they were actually gravelorded in firelink shrine.

 

[Mr_Appleby]

I guess this can only be done on 360, I've never run into someone on PS3 that was obviously cheating like that (plenty of people being ultra cheap though).

yeah thank god for locked saves after all.

what i've been getting a lot of lately is invaders coming in, getting beat up and running away to use their separation stone. at least put some backbone into it!

Maybe you weren't anywhere near the BP that spawned in blighttown, I don't know what black phantoms are supposed to spawn there. If it happened often this would be really easily accessible information! Yeah that text is weird. But, i'm pretty sure someone in this thread said they were actually gravelorded in firelink shrine.

yeah probably not. that someone may have been me being confused about the messages, as I think I mentioned it here when it happened. Odd place to get either of those messages though.

 

[maomaoIYP]

Didn't realize the book of the guilty detailed people's characters until tonight. Some good readin' thar...



Don't know how these kinds of guys can do this and not be afraid of getting their accounts nuked. They're either really dumb or have a lot of disposable income. Probably the first thing for the most part.

I'm more interested in that spell that has 1/1 cast but no icon. Is it one of those spells that have no cast animation, no spell effects and hits you plenty of times the instant you spawn?
I guess people do this and not be afraid because........there's a shitload of them.

 

[Sullichin]

yeah thank god for locked saves after all.

what i've been getting a lot of lately is invaders coming in, getting beat up and running away to use their separation stone. at least put some backbone into it!



yeah probably not. that someone may have been me being confused about the messages, as I think I mentioned it here when it happened. Odd place to get either of those messages though.

lol that's probably what happened. you cant invade/get invaded in firelink, and I've definitely seen it in other 'linking' areas as well.

I'm more interested in that spell that has 1/1 cast but no icon. Is it one of those spells that have no cast animation, no spell effects and hits you plenty of times the instant you spawn?
I guess people do this and not be afraid because........there's a shitload of them.

yeah wtf is that.

 

[joe2187]

I am afraid to travel anywhere else. I've lost so many souls from all my hard work.

I tried going into the caves with all the skeletons that keep reviving...WHY WONT THEY STAY DEAD?! I got to the part where you meet patches but the skeletons overwhlemed me and that stupidfucken pyro dude kept fucking my shit up.

So I left. And I defeated the Hydra, and then I killed that crystal golem and met a wierd victorian ghost chick, she said she was gonna give me something but just dissapeared...what the hell man?

Then I climbed the hill and went to the forest and used the dungeon key from defeating the butterfly but then some jackass with some sort of metal dildo smash my shit in.

So I climbed Up the ladder to the forest on the top, and was chased off a cliff by a mob of ghost knights.

I want to keep playing, I need to keep playing....WHERE THE HELL DO I GO?

also, I climbed the tower in the firelink shrine and the only thing I can do is curl up into a ball like I do in real life when I try to play this game.

 

[Mike M]

Joined the Forest Hunters, got my first real taste of PVP.

It sucked.

Anyone I could remotely take on didn't drop enough souls to make it worth the effort, and I never even got one unassisted kill. Hell, my third "kill" happened just as I invaded, so I got credit for nothing, LOL.

I'm pretty much done dicking around and head to Blight Town. I got my Fog Ring, and I'm sorely tempted to just kill Shiva's bodyguard to get the DGWR and be done with these guys.

It's a long run back from Shiva's ninja friend to the Suicide Cliff though...

 

[See You Next Wednesday]

How big an impact does Dex have on casting speed? I'd planned on going Faith/STR since I have 18str on this char already, but I might reconsider. - Not sure this character is going to end up pvp-viable, but I'd like to keep her in co-op ranges at least.

There was a video displaying the speed increase of casting with DEX.
At best it gives you 2/3rds a second faster speed from the base stat to max 99 (I think it stopped after level 50 though).

 

[arglebargle]

I am afraid to travel anywhere else. I've lost so many souls from all my hard work.

I tried going into the caves with all the skeletons that keep reviving...WHY WONT THEY STAY DEAD?! I got to the part where you meet patches but the skeletons overwhlemed me and that stupidfucken pyro dude kept fucking my shit up.

So I left. And I defeated the Hydra, and then I killed that crystal golem and met a wierd victorian ghost chick, she said she was gonna give me something but just dissapeared...what the hell man?

Then I climbed the hill and went to the forest and used the dungeon key from defeating the butterfly but then some jackass with some sort of metal dildo smash my shit in.

So I climbed Up the ladder to the forest on the top, and was chased off a cliff by a mob of ghost knights.

I want to keep playing, I need to keep playing....WHERE THE HELL DO I GO?

also, I climbed the tower in the firelink shrine and the only thing I can do is curl up into a ball like I do in real life when I try to play this game.

i suspect you shouldnt be going to the catacombs yet, but you didnt tell us where you are so its possible im wrong.

that victorian chick can be summoned over by where you beat the hydra and she will see you some crap. i dont know the details because i dont really use magic and thats what she sells. you can also get an armor set (really a dress) over by where you first met her.

im having a little trouble parsing what is going on in the forest. have you fought sif yet? three giant cats?

if you wait for a minute or two while curled in a ball you will be returned to the undead asylum. there are a few items and a boss there. boss can be tough if you are unprepared.

in general it would be helpful to know where you are. have you rung both bells? gone to sens?

 

[joe2187]

Sorry, just ranting.

I've rung the first bell after defeating the two flying gargoyles, I've killed the butterfly with the help of the witch I summoned. I'm not sure where the second bell is, should I even be ringing it yet? All I've been doing is trying to scurry my way past towards the next bonfire. I've gone down to meet the capra demon, but I wasn't prepared and got instakilled.

This game is very vague (though I suppose that's part of the charm) on where I'm supposed to go next. Sometimes I cant really tell what the NPC's are saying and that just makes it more confusing for me.

Right now I'm in DarkRoot basin, at the bonfire near the valley of the Drakes, It's way too tiring to fight all those drakes at my current level, they take like 10 mins to kill each, on occasion they will stumble through the floor somehow or fly off a cliff and forget how to fly.

By the way, the Zombie dragon? SCARED THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF ME!

 

[arglebargle]

Sorry, just ranting.

I've rung the first bell after defeating the two flying gargoyles, I've killed the butterfly with the help of the witch I summoned. I'm not sure where the second bell is, should I even be ringing it yet? All I've been doing is trying to scurry my way past towards the next bonfire. I've gone down to meet the capra demon, but I wasn't prepared and got instakilled.

This game is very vague (though I suppose that's part of the charm) on where I'm supposed to go next. Sometimes I cant really tell what the NPC's are saying and that just makes it more confusing for me.

Right now I'm in DarkRoot basin, at the bonfire near the valley of the Drakes, It's way too tiring to fight all those drakes at my current level, they take like 10 mins to kill each, on occasion they will stumble through the floor somehow or fly off a cliff and forget how to fly.

By the way, the Zombie dragon? SCARED THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF ME!

ok, it sounds like capra is actually where you should be. valley of the drakes isnt even a real area, it just connects several different areas. capra is a bit a weird fight. if you can last 30 seconds you can probably win it. what is your build and what is your weapon situation?

edit:
also, darkroot is an area i didnt go to until later, though i dont know if there is an accepted time you are supposed to go there.

 

[Booshka]

Joined the Forest Hunters, got my first real taste of PVP.

It sucked.

Anyone I could remotely take on didn't drop enough souls to make it worth the effort, and I never even got one unassisted kill. Hell, my third "kill" happened just as I invaded, so I got credit for nothing, LOL.

I'm pretty much done dicking around and head to Blight Town. I got my Fog Ring, and I'm sorely tempted to just kill Shiva's bodyguard to get the DGWR and be done with these guys.

It's a long run back from Shiva's ninja friend to the Suicide Cliff though...

Stay in the Forest Covenant and head to Blighttown, Shiva and his Ninja Bodyguard will be down there. You can buy items from Shiva when he is down there, and then kill them if you want their loot.

 

[joe2187]

My First class didnt do so well, and I didnt like the wander, so my current class is a Level 27 female warrior, I have the Drake sword from shooting arrows at the dragon at the bridge. And using The dragon crest shield.

I want to learn some magic spells, so I'd like to summon that chick again. I'm gonna go ahead and try and kill that capra demon now and see where that takes me.

Also, did I just get penalized for standing around too long?

 

[MoonsaultSlayer]

So I opened the door with the crest in darkroot basin/garden. Killed some duders and made my way to a friendly cat-bear. I said yes to its first question (it was a question? Seriously? I had no idea what it even said but I got prompted 'yes or no'...). Didn't join the covenenant because A) I have no idea what it is, and B) I'm not even sure what I am a part of and if there's a penalty for leaving. Ended up getting killed by a cat-bear. Should have joined?

Seems like the most sense to gain from this game comes from guides. I'm going blindly with the occasional help from you guys but the game isn't really providing me enough insight. Still love it though.

 

[Mike M]

So I opened the door with the crest in darkroot basin/garden. Killed some duders and made my way to a friendly cat-bear. I said yes to its first question (it was a question? Seriously? I had no idea what it even said but I got prompted 'yes or no'...). Didn't join the covenenant because A) I have no idea what it is, and B) I'm not even sure what I am a part of and if there's a penalty for leaving. Ended up getting killed by a cat-bear. Should have joined?

Seems like the most sense to gain from this game comes from guides. I'm going blindly with the occasional help from you guys but the game isn't really providing me enough insight. Still love it though.

Joining keeps the cat bears and NPCs from attacking, and keeps you from getting invaded by Forest Hunters if you're human. You also get a ring to be automatically summoned to invade non-covenant people in the forest.

 

[Mr_Appleby]

Also, did I just get penalized for standing around too long?

there is no penalty for standing around...if you heard a whooshing sound a bit like getting souls or something then you may have gotten a free estus flask from somebody kindling the bonfire nearest to you.

 

[Mxrz]

I haven't come across an armor yet that I like more than my gal's original hard leather & Balders. Stats be damned, I love the armored, yet mobile look of it. Everything else has been a tin can or a dress. Hopefully there's something like the gloom set from DS later on.

Gotta find a better pvp weapon, I've not faired well at all against invaders.

 

[B-Genius]

I hope From is planning to release a new patch.
What I wish to see in this patch:

- fix the net code issues (especially the lagstab)
- remove the BB glitch
- make DWGR flipping only possible when you're under 25% equip burden.
- only Pinwheel boss should drop one of the masks (not 100%)
- remove backstab from big weapons
- the fog ring should be lockable but only when you are very close
- nerf the WotG miracle
- Katanas should have S dext scaling at +15
- Sanctus should offer more HP regeneration (like the Adjucator shield in Demon's Souls)
- increase the power of some boss weapons

I would also like to remove twincling titanite from the Giant blacksmith but it's not a big deal.

That's an interesting list, regardless of whether From decide to patch anything else or not. The bolded caught my eye in particular; had never crossed my mind. That seems like it would create a great deal more variety in the builds people used, and thus hopefully even out PvP a bit. It doesn't happen too often, but when everyone is just going for the backstab, it's extremely silly.

I marveled at the nuance as well, the positioning and pathing that players take to affect how the enemies will approach and attack is amazing. His manipulation of Iron Golem was especially interesting, I also liked how he dealt with mobs, and avoided their attacks by taking certain paths through the level.

The only attempt at a speedrun I did was on an already fully decked out high level character on NG++++. I even used the Chaos Servant shortcut which stays open if you stay in the covenant. I beat the game in about 90 mins without much planning or practice. Bed of Chaos really fucked up that run, wasted like 15 mins on repeated attempts. It was fun, but I don't see myself doing a legit speedrun and worrying about how to level and equip my character while sprinting through the game. I prefer to watch others do it.

Totally agree with everything. Some people watch this type of speed run and go "lol cheat" or whatever, completely missing the point. It's not as if people are comparing the guy who uses the Kiln shortcut with the guy who doesn't - that would be absurd.

What's fun is like you say, comparing the way they manipulate enemies and use the level geometry. I love the idea of attempting a speedrun one day (90 minutes is pretty damn good man!) but I know it would require a great deal of studying these videos and researching the Wiki beforehand (even more than usual). For now, I simply enjoy watching someone rip a game apart in many ways. Any game - even one as complex and unforgiving as Dark Souls - has rules, and rules are often there to be broken

 

[Raide]

Strange question...did we ever find out what the code was for via preparetodie.com? I remember everyone unlocking the rune puzzle but I never found out what it unlocked.

 

[maomaoIYP]

I hope From is planning to release a new patch.
What I wish to see in this patch:

- fix the net code issues (especially the lagstab)
- remove the BB glitch
- make DWGR flipping only possible when you're under 25% equip burden.
- only Pinwheel boss should drop one of the masks (not 100%)
- remove backstab from big weapons
- the fog ring should be lockable but only when you are very close
- nerf the WotG miracle
- Katanas should have S dext scaling at +15
- Sanctus should offer more HP regeneration (like the Adjucator shield in Demon's Souls)
- increase the power of some boss weapons

I would also like to remove twincling titanite from the Giant blacksmith but it's not a big deal.

I think DWGR should be removed completely, same for backstabs. If netcode is improved, then doing a parry won't be as much as a problem. The whole stun lock / poise system should be removed, instead make it so that armor actually gives more meaningful defense benefits. Katanas are plenty powerful as they are. They are quick and cause bleeding. Fog ring works fine as it is now. Instead of making boss weapons more powerful, the lightning/fire/chaos weapons need to be nerfed further.

Also, they really need to add friendly fire for summoned phantoms. Just this alone will solve most of the WoG/TWoP griefing buddies. Maybe even better, make TWoP affect the caster as well. If anti-magic miracle affects the caster, why shouldn't TWoP?

 

[elohel]

Really dunno if we'll see a patch

costs so much to work on it

costs even more to submit it to xbla

 

[Mxrz]

I love playing somewhat blind. No, really.

Spoiler

I drained the Londo ruins and carefully made my way through it. Came to what I expected to be the boss fog gate, but instead its was starway with a dead end. I saw a "need ring" message and that there was no apparent way out. D'oh. Didn't know what to expect, so I threw on a ring of sacrifice just incase and took a leap of faith . . . right back to the Firelink Shrine. I remember the old man told me to find some guy. I must've missed him, or he's somewhere else.

Do the Dark Wraith's drop that weird shield thing they carry? The wiki makes it kind of vague whether they drop or you have to join some group I've not found yet.

 

[B-Genius]

Mxrz, good thinking with the RoS, but that's not the one the message meant
Go through your list of rings and check the item descriptions...

Also, as I understand you need to join a covenant for that Darkwraith 'shield' - it's actually one of their weapons as well.

I just had my first successful Darkmoon invasion in Anor Londo.
Was trying out my new Gargoyle's Halberd +10 and it worked a treat on this guy who was swinging a Dragon's Tooth around.
He also seemed to have a few WotG up his sleeve. He'd probably had a lot of success with it before, because it was almost too easy to bait and roll through them. It almost felt like fighting an AI!

Eventually he ran back and fell off a ledge to his doom. Kinda felt sorry for him, but it was a cool little fight nonetheless. I'm bound to run into trouble at some point, but right now I'm thinking I could get used to this!

 

[Mr_Appleby]

Was trying out my new Gargoyle's Halberd +10 and it worked a treat on this guy who was swinging a Dragon's Tooth around.
He also seemed to have a few WotG up his sleeve. He'd probably had a lot of success with it before, because it was almost too easy to bait and roll through them. It almost felt like fighting an AI!

Eventually he ran back and fell off a ledge to his doom. Kinda felt sorry for him, but it was a cool little fight nonetheless. I'm bound to run into trouble at some point, but right now I'm thinking I could get used to this!

i just made a fire gargoyles halberd +10, yet to try it out in pvp though it's pretty gnarly in pve. such range i am not used to! did my first dragon stone invasion.. after i killed the guy i kinda got this feeling like he didn't realise he was being invaded. I bowed and all, we circled each other for a minute, then I tried a few tentative crystal soul spears and that was it.. feel a bit sorry for the fella. at least he won't be confused about dragon signs any more

 

[kamorra]

What are some fun things to do beside the obvious things like getting all items and reinforcing weapon/armor? I'm in New Game+ and already rang the second bell. Took me me just about 2 hours which is the reason I don't feel leveling anymore for some time.

 

[mxgt]

Going to do (or attempt) a naked run through with the club and basic shield. I'm pretty bored of all my other chars at this point and have gotten 200 hours out of the game, it's the last thing I really want to try.

 

[tetsuoFI]

Which place should I go next after beating that Tauros boss early on in the game? I find that every path is blocked by something that's just too much. Can I run past the dragon, should I go to the forest or beat the bull? I beat Demon's Souls a couple of weeks ago, this game is waay harder, which is a good thing.

 

[Continuity]

What are some fun things to do beside the obvious things like getting all items and reinforcing weapon/armor? I'm in New Game+ and already rang the second bell. Took me me just about 2 hours which is the reason I don't feel leveling anymore for some time.

Doing some online co-op is quite fun and it makes you feel really good to help new players, pvp can be frustrating but when the stars align and you get a great connect and a great opponent, it's very exciting and a nice change of pace from pve.

I'm planning to do some NPC builds when I come back from China, I'll probably do a Lautrec and Siegmire build and play through the entire game using their armor and weapons, it'll be a nice challenge and invading will be pretty entertaining.

 

[MoonsaultSlayer]

Joining keeps the cat bears and NPCs from attacking, and keeps you from getting invaded by Forest Hunters if you're human. You also get a ring to be automatically summoned to invade non-covenant people in the forest.

Wait wait wait what what what? If I join, they don't attack? The humans and the cat bears won't attack? Are they still there? Can I still attack them causing them to attack? Will that have any consequence on my standing in the covenent or will it be forgotten.

 

[Frank]

Which place should I go next after beating that Tauros boss early on in the game? I find that every path is blocked by something that's just too much. Can I run past the dragon, should I go to the forest or beat the bull? I beat Demon's Souls a couple of weeks ago, this game is waay harder, which is a good thing.

Next for you is Undead Parish, to beat the Gargoyles. It is past the dragon, and you can run past it. There's also some stairs going down in the middle of the bridge. Try getting to those instead of trying to get past the dragon, and look around a bit.

edit/ You mention the bull, which I take is the boar from Undead Parish. Kill it dead (or run past, there's always this option), and proceed further. That's your path.

 

[tetsuoFI]

Next for you is Undead Parish, to beat the Gargoyles. It is past the dragon, and you can run past it. There's also some stairs going down in the middle of the bridge. Try getting to those instead of trying to get past the dragon, and look around a bit.

edit/ You mention the bull, which I take is the boar from Undead Parish. Kill it dead (or run past, there's always this option), and proceed further. That's your path.

Yeah, it's that damn boar. Thanks for the advice!

 

[Mike M]

Wait wait wait what what what? If I join, they don't attack? The humans and the cat bears won't attack? Are they still there? Can I still attack them causing them to attack? Will that have any consequence on my standing in the covenent or will it be forgotten.

If you've already killed the car bears, they don't come back (But the humans respawn). Attacking ANY of them causes the whole bunch to turn hostile and breaks the covenant. You can't rejoin until you repent at the bell tower, then you still have to make it back to the talking cat.

 

[Mxrz]

Joined the forest hunters and it was quite fun. Still playing almost exclusively with/against the Japanese. So lagstabs are pretty common. Occasionally there'll be good fight. - Can you leave and rejoin this group or do they flip out for good if you quit? I really need to go back to the sunbros and somehow get the miracles from them. Just need to find a good co-op spot for sl65 or so.

Made a claymore into +4 lightning, doing way better in pvp than the dinky little spear. Guessing slab farming is the Dark Souls equivalent of the pure bladestone pita?

 

[Sullichin]

Joined the forest hunters and it was quite fun. Still playing almost exclusively with/against the Japanese. So lagstabs are pretty common. Occasionally there'll be good fight. - Can you leave and rejoin this group or do they flip out for good if you quit? I really need to go back to the sunbros and somehow get the miracles from them. Just need to find a good co-op spot for sl65 or so.

Made a claymore into +4 lightning, doing way better in pvp than the dinky little spear. Guessing slab farming is the Dark Souls equivalent of the pure bladestone pita?

Interesting choice of words considering you gotta betray the covenant to get the ring everyone uses to flip around. But yeah if you just kill the guy who has the ring, you can absolve and re-join the covenant. http://darksoulswiki.wikispaces.com/Dark+Wood+Grain+Ring

Re: slab farming, if you haven't gone back to the undead asylum, do so, killing the boss there will get you a slab and then you won't have to farm.

Re: co-op for SL65, Ornstein & Smough and Dukes bonfire before Seath are probably your best bets.

 

[MoonsaultSlayer]

If you've already killed the car bears, they don't come back (But the humans respawn). Attacking ANY of them causes the whole bunch to turn hostile and breaks the covenant. You can't rejoin until you repent at the bell tower, then you still have to make it back to the talking cat.

Thanks. I was purposely being like a little kid with that last wall of questions.

Yeah, I saw a traveling group of mushroom guys (that looked very similar to KH mushrooms) but never actually encountered them. What was funny/fear inducing was reading all the messages like "I did it" and such. I was thinking "something big is here". Turns out a cat-bear got me.

Question. That patch of real-estate (through the crest door, past the humans, across the bridge with the talking cat thing, in the woods of the mushroom men), is that the same area I'd be if I crossed the bridge over the river where the hydra monster was below?

 

[arglebargle]

Question. That patch of real-estate (through the crest door, past the humans, across the bridge with the talking cat thing, in the woods of the mushroom men), is that the same area I'd be if I crossed the bridge over the river where the hydra monster was below?

yes.

 

[MoonsaultSlayer]

yes.

Thanks. My souls are there. I think I'd rather battle a couple cats, join the covenant, and peacefully walk by the fellow human warriors.

Those mushroom guys though... They look innocent from a distance but they're probably up to know good, huh? This is fucking dark souls. I'm not going to be fooled.

 

[Mike M]

Thanks. My souls are there. I think I'd rather battle a couple cats, join the covenant, and peacefully walk by the fellow human warriors.

Those mushroom guys though... They look innocent from a distance but they're probably up to know good, huh? This is fucking dark souls. I'm not going to be fooled.

Actually the little mushroom guys aren't hostile (Unless you attack).

The BIG mushroom guys are, but they're ridiculously slow. They hit like a meteor impact and have a bajillion hit points though, so I didn't find them worth killing.

 

[See You Next Wednesday]

SHITFUCK!!

120 hours of playing through 2 playthroughs, knowing every secret in the game, every enemy location & strategy, I still died 4 straight times in one area.

In the Crystal Caves. First died trying to get Seath's tail & underestimating how much damage his tail whip can do.
2nd time died trying to get the Blue Slab.
3rd time died trying to get that slab again.
4th time, after I beat Seath I ran past the claims & back to the first invisible bridge & stopped to re-equip some different armor & BAM, one of the claims followed me on the invisible bridge & knocked me off!


Suffice it to say, I will not be getting that slab.

 

[Booshka]

SHITFUCK!!

120 hours of playing through 2 playthroughs, knowing every secret in the game, every enemy location & strategy, I still died 4 straight times in one area.

In the Crystal Caves. First died trying to get Seath's tail & underestimating how much damage his tail whip can do.
2nd time died trying to get the Blue Slab.
3rd time died trying to get that slab again.
4th time, after I beat Seath I ran past the claims & back to the first invisible bridge & stopped to re-equip some different armor & BAM, one of the claims followed me on the invisible bridge & knocked me off!


Suffice it to say, I will not be getting that slab.

Getting the Blue Slab is the hardest thing to do in the game. I hate going for it, and it's not worth it anyway unless you are going for the Achievement.

 

[Cetra]

I hate harpies. My god...

 

[Lost Fragment]

I was trying to farm a white slab last night. 50 white chunks later, still no slab :/

 

[2AdEPT]

Thanks. My souls are there. I think I'd rather battle a couple cats, join the covenant, and peacefully walk by the fellow human warriors.

Those mushroom guys though... They look innocent from a distance but they're probably up to know good, huh? This is fucking dark souls. I'm not going to be fooled.

Waaaay easier to sneak throughtthe edge of the forest along the ridge and fight one or two forest people than to engage the cat bears. YOu can engage all forest people, run back to the stairs, hide at the very last piece of ground wedged between the stairs and the cliff and all the forest people jump off the ledge...they all die, and you get lots of souls...plus you can get to the covenenat ladty much easier that way than the Cats. The mushroom guys pack a punch but htey are are S-L-O-W. No significant danger in getting your souls back if you know what you are doing. Cats are always tough...no easy strategy there I am aware of.

 

[2AdEPT]

Getting the Blue Slab is the hardest thing to do in the game. I hate going for it, and it's not worth it anyway unless you are going for the Achievement.

SEriously???? You know those little clourful balls they give you in the archives are fortuitously placed right?

RULE: only walk where a ball you drop in front of you sticks to ground = zero chance of death.

THis game is one of favourite ALL TIME because it seems difficult only to those that do not take the time to develop a strategy. oNce you relaise there is ALWAYS a way to make it easier.....just keep looking for a simple way...it always exists. Seath's tail solo is WAAAYY harder than getting the slab on that level.....but that is not so bad either if you time the crystal break right. I appreaciate that some things are harder than others as it should be or there would be no point; but there is always a way.