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[Nordicus]

Anyways, what is the point in the Covenants? And can I join more than one? Love the Pharis-bow btw, that made my heavy dext-leveling finally worth it!

They add a bit of spice to the game, no 2 do the exact same thing. Some give new PvP methods and opportunities, some emphasize co-op play, one gives you something for PvE. Most of these give you unique spells and gear and some of the spells become unusable if you abandon the covenant

You can join multiple but not at the same time. You'll lose the benefits of your previous covenant, and any rank progression you made is cut in half

 

[Morfeo]

You can join a different one after abandoning your current one but this carries a betrayal penalty. so choose wisely.

They add a bit of spice to the game, no 2 do the exact same thing. Some give new PvP methods and opportunities, some emphasize co-op play, one gives you something for PvE. Most of these give you unique spells and gear and some of the spells become unusable if you abandon the covenant

You can join multiple but not at the same time. You'll lose the benefits of your previous covenant, and any rank progression you made is cut in half

Thanks. I think I joined the Sun-covenant of whatever its called in the Undead Burg earlier, but dont really know what it does. Since I will probably concentrate on PvsE I guess I should try to find the covenant that is good for that?

 

[Nordicus]

Thanks. I think I joined the Sun-covenant of whatever its called in the Undead Burg earlier, but dont really know what it does. Since I will probably concentrate on PvsE I guess I should try to find the covenant that is good for that?

Warrior of Sunlight covenant mainly improves your chances of co-op and ranking up gives a better version of the exclusive Lightning Spear miracle.

The PvE covenant is probably hidden to you at the moment (and might be for rest of the game), and its full benefit would be rather minor and cost 30 Humanity.

But the PvP-oriented Forest Hunter Covenant in Darkroot Garden might be of some use as it unlock a vendor that sells rather uncommon weapons

 

[Morfeo]

Warrior of Sunlight covenant mainly improves your chances of co-op and ranking up gives a better version of the exclusive Lightning Spear miracle.

The PvE covenant is probably hidden to you at the moment (and might be for rest of the game), and its full benefit would be rather minor and cost 30 Humanity.

But the PvP-oriented Forest Hunter Covenant in Darkroot Garden might be of some use as it unlock a vendor that sells rather uncommon weapons

The covenant that the cat in the window invites to? So what should I do, I guess I need to leave my current covenant first then, how do I do that?

 

[Nordicus]

The covenant that the cat in the window invites to? So what should I do, I guess I need to leave my current covenant first then, how do I do that?

When you join a covenant, you abandon your old one automatically.

 

[Morfeo]

When you join a covenant, you abandon your old one automatically.

Nice! And without consequences?

 

[Mistel]

Nice! And without consequences?

You will lose half your offerings to the last one and some miracles you can no longer use.

 

[Morfeo]

You will lose half your offerings to the last one and some miracles you can no longer use.

I havent done anything with the last one, so guess this doesnt matter for me then. Thanks!

 

[Mistel]

I havent done anything with the last one, so guess this doesnt matter for me then. Thanks!

If you are not ranking them up you could go get some nice gifts from some of the PvP focused covenants right from the get go.

 

[krakov]

Well Mildred is arguably the worst phantom other than Beatrice on the 4 kings.

Solaire and lautrec are pretty useless in the gaping dragon fight, as with 4k beatrice it's easier on your own. Mildred can be hit or miss, much like sunbro in demon ruins.

 

[AlimNassor]

Well I just lost the Dark Wood Grain Ring. I tried to get it, and the Ninja died and i died shortly after, and I made Shiva mad. is the ring forever lost?

 

[Jaeger]

Well I just lost the Dark Wood Grain Ring. I tried to get it, and the Ninja died and i died shortly after, and I made Shiva mad. is the ring forever lost?

Hmmm. You killed the Ninja, but you died.. did he fall off the stage? His drop should be there on the next reload.

 

[Red Liquorice]

If I'm in danger of being killed by Shiva and his girlfriend, I give them the run around until they poison themselves. Or I use one of the firebugs to breath fire on them and do the job for me as I stand safely behind - this is in Blighttown of course - if you kill them in the forest you miss the best loot in the whole game - the look skyward gesture! D:

 

[Deleted member 125677]

fuck me

lost 10k souls in the Depths

 

[Red Liquorice]

fuck me

lost 10k souls in the Depths

You get 12k for co-oping the boss, 5 mins work easy money

 

[Screaming Meat]

fuck me

lost 10k souls in the Depths

Pocket change.

 

[Vitanimus]

I rolled a sorcerer and I'm falling into the trap of never using my soul arrows "just in case" I need them for a tougher enemy. Sigh. I'm trying my best to play this blind but the temptation to look for tips and hints is alarming haha. Also, how often should I be increasing my stats? At any available opportunity?

 

[Mistel]

Also, how often should I be increasing my stats? At any available opportunity?

Yes unless you've got upgrades you want or don't want to level up.

 

[kionedrik]

I rolled a sorcerer and I'm falling into the trap of never using my soul arrows "just in case" I need them for a tougher enemy. Sigh. I'm trying my best to play this blind but the temptation to look for tips and hints is alarming haha. Also, how often should I be increasing my stats? At any available opportunity?

If it is your first playthrough it's not a best idea to spend your souls on stats whenever possible, just in case you die and lose them.

A few tips:
- Keep your portable souls for the time being, in case you find a merchant and/or blacksmith and need to buy or upgrade something
- Buy the key from the merchant in the undead burg (This helps sorceres a lot a little bit later).
- Get more attunement slots (they scale 10/12/14/16/20 iirc) and put more copies of the same spell in different slots. This will give you more casts.

 

[Nordicus]

I rolled a sorcerer and I'm falling into the trap of never using my soul arrows "just in case" I need them for a tougher enemy. Sigh. I'm trying my best to play this blind but the temptation to look for tips and hints is alarming haha. Also, how often should I be increasing my stats? At any available opportunity?

You always want to increase your spell selection and upgrade your weapons before increasing your stats, unless you're doing it to pass a specific status requirement. So level up for the sake of leveling only if you have no other immediate options. It's usually better to keep your soul level just a bit low so that it isn't expensive to suddenly get a bunch of levels to fill a requirement for a weapon/armor/spell you want to use.

And feel free to frontload those soul arrows if melee combat results in you getting hit more often and using up more Estus Flasks. In the worst case scenario you'll encounter a boss without any spells, but should have more estus than usually, because sorceries are often a safe way to handle enemies due to range.

 

[Vitanimus]

Thanks all! I'm still only in Undead Burg so I'll buy a few things from the merchant there and then I'll use whatever's left to upgrade my attunement and intelligence.

 

[AlimNassor]

Hmmm. You killed the Ninja, but you died.. did he fall off the stage? His drop should be there on the next reload.

I had a firebug kill him, but, I somehow got stuck in the geometry and died after he died.

 

[Resilient]

Can't believe Sif got called "the wolf boss" and a joke in the same post ;_;

 

[Morfeo]

fuck me

lost 10k souls in the Depths

This is nothing really. What killed you? I found the depths to actually be very easy before the boss (which killed me four or five times). Its all about going slow all the time.

You get 12k for co-oping the boss, 5 mins work easy money

I wouldnt really advice cooping on his first try. I know I havent tried it myself either, but the fun you get form killing these bosses alone are well worth experiencing - and you could always to a coop-focuses NG+ later (which is what I will probably do).

 

[Morfeo]

Can't believe Sif got called "the wolf boss" and a joke in the same post ;_;

This was me. What is it that you cant believe?

 

[Nordicus]

This was me. What is it that you cant believe?

I'm guessing you've neither read Sif's backstory from the related item descriptions nor did you let Sif stay in low health long enough to see him limp.

Basically you're being called a heartless bastard

 

[Hobobloke]

I wouldnt really advice cooping on his first try. I know I havent tried it myself either, but the fun you get form killing these bosses alone are well worth experiencing - and you could always to a coop-focuses NG+ later (which is what I will probably do).

I agree, but that doesn't mean you can't put your sign down and help someone else which I believe is what was meant.

 

[Morfeo]

I'm guessing you've neither read Sif's backstory from the related item descriptions nor did you let Sif stay in low health long enough to see him limp.

Basically you're being called a heartless bastard

I know that Sif has eomthing to do with Artorias or whatever he is called, but yeah, in general, I dont find the story/lore of Dark Souls that interesting, so I dont really dive into it. Its the gameplay I play for! About the limping, I dont know, but I usually just focus on killing the bosses (before they kill me), so I definitely didnt recognize it.

I agree, but that doesn't mean you can't put your sign down and help someone else which I believe is what was meant.

Very true and this is of course something that I would much more recommend!

 

[Thrak360]

Got my first look at the Capra Demon. First time traversing the light door? You get, what, maybe a second to evaluate the situation? lol, I didn't last long. Demon is big, the room is small. And "haha", I understand the inside joke now, "kill the dogs first". Passing through the fog, my view transitioning to the third person view, I immediately see the demon charging me - I don't even know where those dogs came from! lol

Dumb question. I'm now frequently taking that long ladder down from the Undead Burg/Parish bridge down to Lower Undead Burg. How do I fast slide down ladders?

And to help my general understanding: if I'm in a situation where I'm trying to shield block attacks - and I have no poise? Some heavy attacks are just stunning me? If I have no poise, I need to be dodging and rolling? If I want to be able to block, I better up my poise?

I'm playing as Pyromancer class. And I'm still using default tattered armor. I'm certain that offers no poise. I've hesitated to change to the different armor pieces I have collected, because the tattered stuff seems to be more balanced - less protection from physical damage, but more elemental resistance. But in making that choice, I have maybe neglected the poise attribute.

 

[Nordicus]

About the limping, I dont know, but I usually just focus on killing the bosses (before they kill me), so I definitely didnt recognize it.

Well, you can always catch it on youtube. If you have high damage, are melee and go to this fight after O&S then no wonder you didn't see it. I on the other hand played ranged carefully with a bow and fought him before even killing Capra Demon, so I definitely got to see Sif in this pitiful state. He had the damage to 1-shot me but his moveset was predictable.

40 damage per arrow meant a lot of arrows.

Dumb question. I'm now frequently taking that long ladder down from the Undead Burg/Parish bridge down to Lower Undead Burg. How do I fast slide down ladders?

You slide down the ladder by pressing the dodgeroll button while on the ladder

And to help my general understanding: if I'm in a situation where I'm trying to shield block attacks - and I have no poise? Some heavy attacks are just stunning me? If I have no poise, I need to be dodging and rolling? If I want to be able to block, I better up my poise?

If you want to be able to block, you better upgrade your stamina by leveling Endurance, or upgrading your shield's Stability stat.
Poise is for ignoring the stagger animation from clean unblocked hits.

Because your combination of shield stability and stamina is low, the heavy attacks just consume your whole bar at once.

Edit: Whether you have low poise or high poise shouldn't really determine whether you want to block stuff or dodge and evade. It's just that the heaviest armors tend to have most poise, and because they're heavy, dodging isn't really an option, so people with high poise sometimes lean towards using a shield or just running into the middle of things and facetanking the damage. Whether you want to block or dodge is a question of your shield's quality and your weight, rather than poise

 

[Red Liquorice]

I wouldnt really advice cooping on his first try. I know I havent tried it myself either, but the fun you get form killing these bosses alone are well worth experiencing - and you could always to a coop-focuses NG+ later (which is what I will probably do).

I agree actually, for Souls - blind solo playthrough is best playthrough imo.

But just illustrating losing a few thousand souls isn't anything really, they soon start racking up and you can always co-op after you defeat the boss yourself.

 

[Morfeo]

Well, you can always catch it on youtube. If you have high damage, are melee and go to this fight after O&S then no wonder you didn't see it. I on the other hand played ranged carefully with a bow and fought him before even killing Capra Demon, so I definitely got to see Sif in this pitiful state. He had the damage to 1-shot me but his moveset was predictable.

Ok nice touch here! Guess it was stupid of me to try so long to take down O&S then since this part of the game now became a joke, but whatever. Btw, if Sif is supposed to be something I should feel pity for, why does he even attack me at all? I guess I might play the bad guy after all?

 

[Orochinagis]

I know that Sif has eomthing to do with Artorias or whatever he is called, but yeah, in general, I dont find the story/lore of Dark Souls that interesting, so I dont really dive into it. Its the gameplay I play for! About the limping, I dont know, but I usually just focus on killing the bosses (before they kill me), so I definitely didnt recognize it.

I played it for the lore mechanics but thats sad you didnt get hooked of the lore, welp Cant wait to see you meet priscilla.

if Sif is supposed to be something I should feel pity for, why does he even attack me at all? I guess I might play the bad guy after all?

You killed a bro, you monster

 

[Nordicus]

Ok nice touch here! Guess it was stupid of me to try so long to take down O&S then since this part of the game now became a joke, but whatever.

Sif is part of that nebulous "Kinda end-game in terms of plot progression but in power they're kinda like alternatives to bashing your head against O&S" area. He gives 40k souls upon death and that's as much as Iron Golem.

Btw, if Sif is supposed to be something I should feel pity for, why does he even attack me at all? I guess I might play the bad guy after all?

Alvina, that talking cat might have explained, but the reason is graverobbers. And judging by the amount of miscellaneous weapons around Artorias' grave, Sif has killed a metric fuckton of them. And you are in fact there to rob Artorias the Abysswalker's grave for reason that you'll understand eventually, if not already

 

[Morfeo]

I played it for the lore mechanics but thats sad you didnt get hooked of the lore, welp Cant wait to see you meet priscilla.

Yeah I agree its a bit sad. Its not that I skip the lore or anything, it just hasnt grabbed me, at least not yet. It was the same in Demons Souls though, but near the end, where I didnt really care that much in the start, but then I eventually got very into it, so hoping this will happen here as well.

Sif is part of that nebulous "Kinda end-game in terms of plot progression but in power they're kinda like alternatives to bashing your head against O&S" area. He gives 40k souls upon death and that's as much as Iron Golem.

Alvina, that talking cat might have explained, but the reason is graverobbers. And judging by the amount of miscellaneous weapons around Artorias' grave, Sif has killed a metric fuckton of them. And you are in fact there to rob Artorias the Abysswalker's grave for reason that you'll understand eventually, if not already

Haha, very true, and thanks for the explanation! Sad to hear that I am "kinda end-game" though

 

[Thrak360]

If you want to be able to block, you better upgrade your stamina by leveling Endurance, or upgrading your shield's Stability stat.
Poise is for ignoring the stagger animation from clean unblocked hits.

Because your combination of shield stability and stamina is low, the heavy attacks just consume your whole bar at once.

Edit: Whether you have low poise or high poise shouldn't really determine whether you want to block stuff or dodge and evade. It's just that the heaviest armors tend to have most poise, and because they're heavy, dodging isn't really an option, so people with high poise sometimes lean towards using a shield or just running into the middle of things and facetanking the damage. Whether you want to block or dodge is a question of your shield's quality and your weight, rather than poise

Ah, thanks for this. Thanks for clarifying the benefit of poise for unblocked hits. I have applied souls to Endurance along the way, to up stamina for blocking and dodging, I think basically all my levels have been by increasing Vitality/Endurance/Strength/Dexterity. I have yet to upgrade anything but weapons yet. In part because I keep hoping to find a better shield as a starting point. Best I have now, off top of my head, is Hollow Soldier Shield, Knight Shield, and just got a Target Shield.

 

[Overdoziz]

Alvina, that talking cat

Still convinced that's a rat.

 

[Nordicus]

Haha, very true, and thanks for the explanation! Sad to hear that I am "kinda end-game" though

Well no worries, you're only roughly halfway done if even that when we include DLC. It's just that now you can do stuff in any order and lack of power shouldn't be too much of a concern in new areas anymore.

Ah, thanks for this. Thanks for clarifying the benefit of poise for unblocked hits. I have applied souls to Endurance along the way, to up stamina for blocking and dodging, I think basically all my levels have been by increasing Vitality/Endurance/Strength/Dexterity. I have yet to upgrade anything but weapons yet. In part because I keep hoping to find a better shield as a starting point. Best I have now, off top of my head, is Hollow Soldier Shield, Knight Shield, and just got a Target Shield.

Your Knight shield is almost good enough, but you might want to hold off on upgrading your shield then until you get a Caduceus kite shield, Tower kite shield (both can be bought), Balder Shield or better. They beat Knight shield in both stability and weight, and any sturdier physical shield will require the shield to be much heavier and potentially have very high strength requirements.

 

[daninthemix]

Ah, thanks for this. Thanks for clarifying the benefit of poise for unblocked hits. I have applied souls to Endurance along the way, to up stamina for blocking and dodging, I think basically all my levels have been by increasing Vitality/Endurance/Strength/Dexterity. I have yet to upgrade anything but weapons yet. In part because I keep hoping to find a better shield as a starting point. Best I have now, off top of my head, is Hollow Soldier Shield, Knight Shield, and just got a Target Shield.

Tower Kite shield or Balder Shield are good starting points. Upgrade them to +5 asap, then +10 when you get the large ember. From there, if your build allows it, you could later turn them into the Greatshield of Artorias which has 88 stability and can block absolutely everything with minimal stamina loss.

 

[Orochinagis]

Still convinced that's a rat.

Her cousins of the west side of the area really looks like rats

 

[AlimNassor]

What is a good shield for a dex wearer to be having?

 

[Morfeo]

Her cousins of the west side of the area really looks like rats

I was actually sure they were wolfs.

 

[Jamesways]

What is a good shield for a dex wearer to be having?

I like to use the Crest, Grass Crest, and a bit heavier, but Silver or Black Knight. Blader is good until you get the Knight shields.

For lighter builds, Crest and Grass Crest all the way for me.

 

[Thrak360]

Thanks Nordicus and daninthemix. I'll hang around Andre for a bit. If I can't get a Balder Shield to drop, looks dirt cheap to just buy a Kite Shield. Is the Spider Shield worth considering?

 

[daninthemix]

Thanks Nordicus and daninthemix. I'll hang around Andre for a bit. If I can't get a Balder Shield to drop, looks dirt cheap to just buy a Kite Shield. Is the Spider Shield worth considering?

If I recall that offers some poison resistance, but lower stability. I can't emphasise stability enough - every single time you block an attack, you will lose more or less stamina based on your shield stability. It is as vital as your character's hit points.

 

[Nordicus]

If I can't get a Balder Shield to drop, looks dirt cheap to just buy a Kite Shield. Is the Spider Shield worth considering?

Spider shield is good too. The kite shields are just a tiny bit better (stability difference of 2 points), but Spider Shield has the nice additional effect of blocking poison, which is not needed for 95% of the game, but when it is needed, it's really needed

 

[Thrak360]

Yeah, looks like Spider Shield has same base stability (56) as the Hollow Soldier and Knight Shield I have. And I chose to put the Knight Shield into storage because it weighed more, had less durability, and worse elemental reduction versus the Hollow Soldier Shield. The Kite Shields do indeed have a 58 Stability. But Balder Shield is way more at 63. I'll try to farm the Balder. Thanks!

 

[daninthemix]

Yeah, looks like Spider Shield has same base stability (56) as the Hollow Soldier and Knight Shield I have. And I chose to put the Knight Shield into storage because it weighed more, had less durability, and worse elemental reduction versus the Hollow Soldier Shield. The Kite Shields do indeed have a 58 Stability. But Balder Shield is way more at 63. I'll try to farm the Balder. Thanks!

By the time it drops, you'll almost certainly have acquired the 9 titanite shards needed to upgrade it to +5 straight away.

 

[Deleted member 125677]

This is nothing really. What killed you? I found the depths to actually be very easy before the boss (which killed me four or five times). Its all about going slow all the time.

Died to the boss, and afterwards to a roof slime/fire wielding undead maniac combo

The boss was really easy the second time when I noticed how incredibly slow it actually was

Anyway, in Blightown now, switched out the Drake sword for a Crystal Sword which takes some getting used to (slower and heavier), considering switching back since I found a Dragon Scale that let me update the Drake Sword too

 

[Morfeo]

Died to the boss, and afterwards to a roof slime/fire wielding undead maniac combo

The boss was really easy the second time when I noticed how incredible alow it actually was

Anyway, in Blightown now, switched out the Drake sword for a Crystal Sword which takes some getting used to (slower and heavier), considering switching back since I found a Dragon Scale that let me update the Drake Sword too

Also remember that crystal stuff cant be repaired, so when its durability falls under the limit, its basically useless. I would get a regular longsword and start to upgrade that at Andre!