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Dark Souls |OT5| Definitely better than the sequel

It will improve load times a good bit, and the game won't run your console so hard, but it doesn't improve game performance at all in my experience. So if you don't mind waiting a couple more seconds every load time, or aren't nursing an old 360 like I am, then I would just play it off the disc.

I can be the STR version of Stormtrooper, I will suggest that people start with Master Key, go backwards through Blighttown and grab the Great Club as soon as they land in Firelink Shrine. Oh, and grab some Soul items, some Large and Green Shards, the Cloranthy ring and Chunks in the Great Hollow while you are at it. Then just Darksign or suicide and respawn back at Firelink.

It's totally doable for any new player, and you only need 19 STR to 2 hand the Great Club.
Thanks a lot. Yeah maybe I'll just leave it installed for a bit longer.
 

Mentok

Banned
Just went to The Great Hollow/Ash Lake for the first time, I missed them entirely on my first run.

There's no way to find them by yourself unless you're lucky.

Ahh what a beautiful momentvwhen you do discover them...God this game is so much fun. Even after beating DS2 a few times, I'm thinking of new runs for DS.
 

Altazor

Member
Finally got a proper playthrough of this going on. Went with a pyromancer, and so far have rang the first bell. Currently using the Drake Sword, though I'm thinking of giving the Halberd a shot too. Took 3 tries to beat the Gargoyles, with the 3rd time being with Solaire, which did make it fairly easier for me I must admit. But yeah, getting into the groove now for sure.

An upgraded Halberd was my main weapon for, like 80-90% of the game until I decided to rock a fully upgraded Black Knight Greatsword.

Halberd is awesome. Learn to time your hits and you'll leave enemies #rekt.
 
Woot, 4 hours played and already killed Capra and Queelag.

That gives me more time to explore and look for things I missed the first time.

Should I use a guide for NG+?

Yeah, NG+ really wasn't that much harder than NG for me. Just finished all the DLC bosses and Gwyn today on NG+. There's nothing wrong with using a guide for certain things. I don't use It for enemy/boss strategies, but the game was designed with a sense of community ; hence the ability to leave messages, etc. People who tell you to find everything by yourself have to many hours of free time.
 

Donos

Member
Yeah, NG+ really wasn't that much harder than NG for me. Just finished all the DLC bosses and Gwyn today on NG+. There's nothing wrong with using a guide for certain things. I don't use It for enemy/boss strategies, but the game was designed with a sense of community ; hence the ability to leave messages, etc. People who tell you to find everything by yourself have to many hours of free time.

Yeah, i would play it this way when in school or as a student but now my gaming time is limited and the souls games are already rather beefy games hourwise.

"Missed all the awesome armor because you didn't hit every wall and missed a secret illusion wall? Just play again." Nah.

And i still have lots of fun playing it with looking up some things.
 
I was planning on sticking with Queelag's sister's covenant so I can save
Solaire
anyway.

If you are intelligence build- yes. That crown boosts sorcery damage, and you can either make the bow or the catalyst from his soul. The bow is awesome, probably the best in the game. I didn't go with the catalyst cause I'm invested in dark spells, which work better with the Manus. Be aware, the firekeeper near the beginning of Anor Londo will become hostile after you kill him.
 

Manu

Member
If you are intelligence build- yes. That crown boosts sorcery damage, and you can either make the bow or the catalyst from his soul. The bow is awesome, probably the best in the game. I didn't go with the catalyst cause I'm invested in dark spells, which work better with the Manus. Be aware, the firekeeper near the beginning of Anor Londo will become hostile after you kill him.

Better than Gough's?

About the Firekeeper, since I'm losing the bonfire better if I leave the Gwyndolin fight for right before Gwyn, after Duke's Archives.
 

Mistel

Banned
Better than Gough's?
Using mugenmonkey with 40 across the board for required stats STR/DEX/FTH (for the darkmoon bow). Gough's does 533 damage with Gough's greatarrows and 522 with dragon slayer. Darkmoon does as its highest 476 damage with moonlight arrows.

So technically Gough's is the strongest of all of them as it outclasses the dragonslayer greatbow too. It really depends on play style though.
 

Booshka

Member
Starting Sens Fortress and two-handing the BKGS 😎

Get your spacing and timing right, and you'll stunlock murder everything to death. That goes for most of the game. I wish the Black Knight weapons weren't such common drops, cuz they can just power you through the game and you don't have to worry about embers, weapon ascension, stat scaling and using different materials at all.
 

Smidget

Member
Getting so frustrated at Gwyn :( That long way to get there sucks as well. Blah! At this point I just want to beat the damn game and get on with a lot more of my backlog lol
 

PranooY

Member
Getting so frustrated at Gwyn :( That long way to get there sucks as well. Blah! At this point I just want to beat the damn game and get on with a lot more of my backlog lol
Summon Solaire. His sign can be found just at the beginning of the staircase.
 

Vico

Member
Well, only have Gwyn left.
Didn't think I would get this far, to be honest.

Just like Smidget, I want to get this done fast, so that I can get on with my backlog. I don't want to summon anyone, though. Already did it with Orstein and Smough, it was a great experience, but I promised myself not to do it again.
 
Got a bit further this weekend. Finished the second Hydra at Ash lake, The Demon Firesage and Centipede. Starter the Elite 4 and killed the Kings in the Abyss. Dukes Archive, Tomb of Giants or Finish Demon Ruins next?

Anyone ever have an issue with Siegmeyer not talking at Sen's Fortress? Also not sure is I will be able to save Solaris since I don't have access to the shortcut.
 

GRIP

Member
Got a bit further this weekend. Finished the second Hydra at Ash lake, The Demon Firesage and Centipede. Starter the Elite 4 as was stated earlier and killed the Kings in the Abyss. Dukes Archive, Tomb of Giants or Finish Demon Ruins next?

Anyone ever have an issue with Siegmeyer not talking at Sen's Fortress? Also not sure is I will be able to save Solaris since I don't have access to the shortcut.

I'd recommend doing Lost Izaleth first just to get it over with (one of the worst areas in the game with an even worse boss), and there is also a very useful item down there that will greatly help with Tomb of the Giants.
 

yGray

Banned
I was at my cousin's house yesterday and it felt great going through the second boss so easily for him and getting him the drake sword.

Doing a pyromancy/strength run on PC.

You guys think I should do pyro/str or pyro/intel?
 

Altazor

Member
Yo Soulsgaf, how bad is the PC port? Games like this have a reputation for bad PC versions.

GFWL is a downside.

The graphical limitations of the barebones port are obliterated by DSFix (praise Durante!), so the game can look absolutely beautiful instead of a blurry up-rez'd mess.
 
I was at my cousin's house yesterday and it felt great going through the second boss so easily for him and getting him the drake sword.

Doing a pyromancy/strength run on PC.

You guys think I should do pyro/str or pyro/intel?

Whathever suits you, pyro/str is the most used by its "versatibility"
 
Guys, any idea why Solaire wasn't in Anor Londo near the second bonfire on this playthrough?

Did you talked to him on his first place when he gives you the white soapstone? exhaust his dialogue so he will relocate if no Solaire will still there until you trigger him.

I am glad you are replaying the game.
 

Thrak360

Neo Member
Harvest both eyes of death and humanities from the depth then you can get all the gravelord equipment along with the two pyromanices the chaos covenant offers.
Thanks. Had no idea what you were talking about here, as far as the eyes of death. Dont have any, as I encountered as few of the curse toads as I could, lol. So your suggestion is to join this covenant, because you can rank up with this common item - no PvP required. And then I can just earn the covenant rewards and be done with it. Nice. And I didn't know there were any 0 faith miracles.
 

Mistel

Banned
Thanks. Had no idea what you were talking about here, as far as the eyes of death. Dont have any, as I encountered as few of the curse toads as I could, lol. So your suggestion is to join this covenant, because you can rank up with this common item - no PvP required. And then I can just earn the covenant rewards and be done with it. Nice. And I didn't know there were any 0 faith miracles.
You can also do that with the warriors of sunlight too but you need to be towards the end of the game. It's a rather nifty miracle to have although it's only two uses default maxing out the covenant makes it do 130% extra damage.
 

Aurongel

Member
I've been playing the Prepare to Die edition on PC for a week now and can't sign onto GFWL to use any of the online features. Is GFWL shut down or am I doing something wrong?
 
Playing through NG+ now and making it a point to complete the NPC quests. I fucked up with Solaire and the onion knight the first time around, don't want that to happen again.

Still finding my Black Knight Greatsword +5 to be quite effective against most enemies, but I'm keen to move away from it as I get further in, particularly when I begin playing PvP as it's moveset is fairly slow and I've been punished for that when invaded. I use Quelaag's Fury Sword +5 as my secondary and feel it's moveset is more in line with what I'm looking for. Any suggestions?
 

Booshka

Member
Playing through NG+ now and making it a point to complete the NPC quests. I fucked up with Solaire and the onion knight the first time around, don't want that to happen again.

Still finding my Black Knight Greatsword +5 to be quite effective against most enemies, but I'm keen to move away from it as I get further in, particularly when I begin playing PvP as it's moveset is fairly slow and I've been punished for that when invaded. I use Quelaag's Fury Sword +5 as my secondary and feel it's moveset is more in line with what I'm looking for. Any suggestions?

Zwei, Claymore, Estoc, Rapier, Longsword, Quelagg's Fury Sword, all of the Katanas and a few more weapons are all excellent PvP and PvE weapons.

I suggest the Claymore if you are digging the Black Knight Great Sword but want something a little bit faster. For the Claymore, you need to utilize a lot of mixups between 2 handing and 1 handing, dead angles, stunlock combos, running, rolling, backstepping attacks, etc. At first glance a lot of people don't really like it, but once you really learn it, it's an amazing weapon. Longsword is similar to the Claymore in its hidden intricacy, but Longsword takes even more effort to learn and perfect for PvP.
 

Divius

Member
Jumped back into this for a few hours, did some invading/helping in undead burg. Always fun seeing new players try their best.
 

Ruuppa

Member
Playing through NG+ now and making it a point to complete the NPC quests. I fucked up with Solaire and the onion knight the first time around, don't want that to happen again.

Still finding my Black Knight Greatsword +5 to be quite effective against most enemies, but I'm keen to move away from it as I get further in, particularly when I begin playing PvP as it's moveset is fairly slow and I've been punished for that when invaded. I use Quelaag's Fury Sword +5 as my secondary and feel it's moveset is more in line with what I'm looking for. Any suggestions?

On top of Booshka's great recommendations, I'll add Gold Tracer and the Falchion to the list, both of which have similar movesets as the Furysword. Gold Tracer is vicious and has a high Bleed effect, while Falchion has a good moveset and breaks Poise easily when two-handed, and they're both damn fast.

That being said, they both replace your Kick with a backstep -attack, like all(?) Curved Swords.
 
So I'm playing this for the first time (finally!).

Beat Demon's back in February and have been itching to play Dark.

So anyway, I'm up to the Bell Gargoyles and decided to take a break from dying and ask a few questions.

Most importantly, can I get a good explanation of the humanity stuff? Most importantly, what's 'human' and what's 'hollowed'? Is it just the counter being '0' or 'not 0'? And how does kindling fires work? Does 1 humanity make it go from giving 5 flasks to 10? Or do I need to use a bunch and therefore should just kindle 'central' bonfires?

Stat wise I'm focusing on a melee build after feeling magic cheesed Demon's a bit. Been putting stuff into vitality, endurance and strength. Should I be getting strength or do I just need a certain level for weapon equips and then not worry about it (that goes for dex as well)? And same with int/faith, is there a good spell for melee builds where I should level those to the point I can learn it? Like that heal when you die in Demon's which saved me many, many times.

Oh and what the hell are covenants and do I need to worry about them? I said no to the monk guy at Firelink Shrine for the time being.

Basically everything different to Demon's I need a quick rundown on lol :p
 

Hugstable

Banned
Loving this game so far! Started getting into the Souls series about a week and half ago when I started playing Demon's Souls. (finished it too!) I love the whole feeling and enemy variety in this game so far as well. So far I've beaten Undead Burg upper, Parish, amd Darkroot Garden (just killed the
butterfly boss
last night.) Gotta find out where my journey is gonna take me today, a buddy suggested and told me to go to Undead Burg lower, so I think that's where I am gonna head next.
 
Most importantly, can I get a good explanation of the humanity stuff? Most importantly, what's 'human' and what's 'hollowed'? Is it just the counter being '0' or 'not 0'? And how does kindling fires work? Does 1 humanity make it go from giving 5 flasks to 10? Or do I need to use a bunch and therefore should just kindle 'central' bonfires?
You can tell you're a human when the humanity indicator is glowing white, even if you have 00 Humanity in stock.

1 Humanity adds 5 to the Estus Flask usage you get per bonfire. Max is 10 until you get an item that increases it to 20.

Stat wise I'm focusing on a melee build after feeling magic cheesed Demon's a bit. Been putting stuff into vitality, endurance and strength. Should I be getting strength or do I just need a certain level for weapon equips and then not worry about it (that goes for dex as well)? And same with int/faith, is there a good spell for melee builds where I should level those to the point I can learn it? Like that heal when you die in Demon's which saved me many, many times.
Just like in Demon's Souls what weapon scaling ratings a weapon has determines what stat you should be building for it. Both Strength and Dex weapons are good in the game at least IMO, and Quality Weapons do exist (you just can't refine any weapon into quality like you could in Demon's).

There are quite a few buffing spells for melee weapons but IMO by the time you get the best ones you are already a full spellcaster.

Also, Resistance is generally regarded as the definitive stat to avoid in the game.

Oh and what the hell are covenants and do I need to worry about them? I said no to the monk guy at Firelink Shrine for the time being.
Covenents offer different benefits for being loyal to them, most of them are online based that changes how matchmaking for PVP or Coop work but a couple have offline relevance as well.
 
Ooh thank you, but I need some clarification on this:

You can tell you're a human when the humanity indicator is glowing white, even if you have 00 Humanity in stock.

What makes me human? Or is it just like Demon's where you become human after killing a boss, and it lasts until your next death?

...and I just didn't notice I was human after killing the Taurus Demon? >_>
 

Tarkus

Member
Loving this game so far! Started getting into the Souls series about a week and half ago when I started playing Demon's Souls. (finished it too!) I love the whole feeling and enemy variety in this game so far as well. So far I've beaten Undead Burg upper, Parish, amd Darkroot Garden (just killed the
butterfly boss
last night.) Gotta find out where my journey is gonna take me today, a buddy suggested and told me to go to Undead Burg lower, so I think that's where I am gonna head next.
Explore Darkroot garden if you didn't already and the graveyard at firelink, Also, go back to the Undead Asylum to get some practice with some tough enemies.
 
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