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[Ledsen]

I guess I'm done with this game. I finished the first one, but Kapra demon is just too much. I don't believe that this is well thought out challenge and combat. It's just cheap and frustrating. I can't do it, I'm not even close to doing it, I tried it like 20 or 30 times, it doesn't work the way it's shown in the YT videos, I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I mostly die within the first 20 seconds, most of the time I can't even kill one of those dogs becase something is always hitting me.

I can't go anywhere else also. I tried that forest where this badly designed water creature is, I tried to go up the ladder next to it but it's killing me there without a chance for me. So I'm basically stuck defeating Kapra and I can't do it. The only function which could help me now, summoning, is completly broken.

I don't want to invest 3 to 5 hours just to defeat one boss. And if I can't even kill this one, worse is coming I guess. It's weird, I'm not a bad gamer per se and I hadn't too much trouble finishing Demon's Souls. I really like the game and the atmosphere. But it's surely not worth that frustration it's giving me. The game would still be very enjoyable if it would be half that cheap.

You certainly are whining a lot about this game, maybe you should really stop playing since it seems to be causing you so much grief.

If you don't, you know that if you go up the stairs and out towards the opposite wall on the little ledge, Capra can't touch you (except with a lunge attack which is easily blocked)? Just buy some firebombs, get to that ledge and spam them, you'll finish the fight in seconds. If you can survive 20 seconds you should be able to finish him easily. The hard part is surviving the first 5 seconds to get to the stairs.

 

[Zzoram]

Capra is a bit tricky. The stairs on are the left but you are actually supposed to run to the RIGHT first to dodge Capra's first swing, then get up the stairs and kill the dogs, then drop down when Capra comes up to join you. When Capra jumps down he gets stunned for a moment, allowing you to get a hit in before you lead him back up the stairs.

 

[somesplace]

Anybody else watching the Epic Name Bro walkthrough of Prepare to Die? I know most of you are still too busy playing, but it's definitely worth checking out. Apart from getting some really good tips, he also talks a lot about the DS lore during this playthrough. Always been a fan of this guy, it's nice to see him do a proper playthrough from start to finish.

yes, actually, i was going to wait for the new content to appear on XBOX, since that's where i originally played the game. but watching ENB's videos gave me such a desire to play through again that i soon caved and bought the PC edition. starting my new character as a barbarian, i followed his playthrough pretty much by the book up until the new content, at which point i surpassed his slow ass, haha.

i NEVER play games more than once, but i can honestly say i'm alarmed at how pleasurable this second playthrough was. the first time i made just about every poor decision possible, and faced a ridiculous challenge with my deprived character. this time was the complete opposite -- i tore through the game barely dying at all (until artorias, kalameet, and manus haha).

this second go-around was more of a victory lap, a pleasant revisiting of past memories, and a chance to take a more contemplative and detached stroll through lordran. everything took on a much less oppressive visage, and i felt truly blessed by the sun!

 

[Ledsen]

Capra is a bit tricky. The stairs on are the left but you are actually supposed to run to the RIGHT first to dodge Capra's first swing, then get up the stairs and kill the dogs, then drop down when Capra comes up to join you. When Capra jumps down he gets stunned for a moment, allowing you to get a hit in before you lead him back up the stairs.

Or like I wrote, just stay on the ledge and range him to death.

 

[IoCaster]

I recently picked up a Great Scythe and +5 Chaos'd it. With 10 humanity the thing does so much damage it's ridiculous. Currently slicing through NG+ with it without any effort whatsoever.

Will do me until I get my strength up enough to wield the Black Knight Greataxe anyway.

Yeah, it does look like it'll fit with the character I'm looking to build really well. I'm mostly looking for something that'll scale really well with dex and deal good damage with a decent moveset for boss battles.

 

[rizz]

I believe the key to defeating Capra is a decent shield and poise. I had the Wolf Ring and the Knight's Shield upgraded to +5, and managed to take down the boss in less than a minute.

Edit: Got my ass handed over to me by the stray demon like a dozen times yesterday. He has an outrageous reach, and he keeps using this red magic attack when I stay close. Maybe I should try a shield with better magic defence to block the AOE attack?

 

[somesplace]

also holy hell for a first time player, this new dark souls with the artorias of the abyss content must present an overwhelming package. i'm no expert, but i'd say this addition should position dark souls as the largest 3D ARPG ever!

of course elder scrolls games are vast as well but most of the "content" is less than impressive and hardly should count, unless things have changed since morrowind...

 

[Gigglepoo]

Accidentally fought the blacksmith by the Old Church. I have a Balder Side Sword +8 and am about to enter Sen's. Am I boned?

 

[Zeliard]

After being somewhat underwhelmed with the first two DLC bosses in terms of difficulty (Artorias is still an awesome fight despite), Kalameet brought the awesome.

And my new favorite thing to do in the game is to help people in that fight. When I can actually get into a co-op session, of course.

 

[Ledsen]

Accidentally fought the blacksmith by the Old Church. I have a Balder Side Sword +8 and am about to enter Sen's. Am I boned?

That was pretty stupid, yeah. Although I think other Blacksmiths can replace most (not all though) of what he can do.

 

[IoCaster]

also holy hell for a first time player, this new dark souls with the artorias of the abyss content must present an overwhelming package. i'm no expert, but i'd say this addition should position dark souls as the largest 3D ARPG(?) ever!

of course elder scrolls games are vast as well but most of the "content" is less than impressive and hardly should count, unless things have changed since morrowind...

Eh? I don't really understand the compulsion that many people seem to have with making comparisons to Elder Scrolls. They are vastly different franchises that don't have much if anything in common. One doesn't have to suck to validate an opinion that the other is great. SMH

P.S. It's obvious that your shift key is functional, so...?

 

[Ledsen]

Eh? I don't really understand the compulsion that many people seem to have with making comparisons to Elder Scrolls. They are vastly different franchises that don't have much if anything in common. One doesn't have to suck to validate an opinion that the other is great. SMH

P.S. It's obvious that your shift key is functional, so...?

well if you want to compare size in arpgs, obviously you'd have to consider TES. He's not saying they're similar in any other way.

 

[vikingvessel]

Anybody else watching the Epic Name Bro walkthrough of Prepare to Die? I know most of you are still too busy playing, but it's definitely worth checking out. Apart from getting some really good tips, he also talks a lot about the DS lore during this playthrough. Always been a fan of this guy, it's nice to see him do a proper playthrough from start to finish.

ENB rules. I would watch a walkthrough of his grocery shopping with commentary. His lore vids should be missed by no one.

 

[somesplace]

Eh? I don't really understand the compulsion that many people seem to have with making comparisons to Elder Scrolls. They are vastly different franchises that don't have much if anything in common. One doesn't have to suck to validate an opinion that the other is great. SMH

P.S. It's obvious that your shift key is functional, so...?

Sorry. Ledsen's answer is right. Funnily enough it always used to irk me when people compared Dark Souls to Elder Scrolls! But yeah, the obvious objection to my claim would be a TES game, but that just seems wrong to me. Whether there's any real grounds for that objection, I dunno.

 

[Vaporak]

Accidentally fought the blacksmith by the Old Church. I have a Balder Side Sword +8 and am about to enter Sen's. Am I boned?

Yeah you are a bit boned, especially if you wanted to get a +15 weapon. In case you end up attacking someone else, you can go to the guy at the first bell and absolve your sins at the cost of souls to unaggro whoever you attacked.

 

[IoCaster]

well if you want to compare size in arpgs, obviously you'd have to consider TES. He's not saying they're similar in any other way.

It strikes me as a bit more than that.

...most of the "content" is less than impressive and hardly should count...

Not that it matters to me cause I'm certainly not inclined to defend Bethesda (or any game/dev), but it seems gratuitous and a bit out of place. *shrug*

 

[IoCaster]

Sorry. Ledsen's answer is right. Funnily enough it always used to irk me when people compared Dark Souls to Elder Scrolls! But yeah, the obvious objection to my claim would be a TES game, but that just seems wrong to me. Whether there's any real grounds for that objection, I dunno.

Not anything important, it just struck me as odd and you're definitely not the first to invoke Skyrim/TES games in comparison to Dark Souls. Anyway, too much off topic blather here. Back to the Dark Souls discussion for me.

 

[Gigglepoo]

Yeah you are a bit boned, especially if you wanted to get a +15 weapon. In case you end up attacking someone else, you can go to the guy at the first bell and absolve your sins at the cost of souls to unaggro whoever you attacked.

Do any of the other blacksmiths craft +15 weapons? Do I need a +15 sword to finish the game?

 

[Thrakier]

You certainly are whining a lot about this game, maybe you should really stop playing since it seems to be causing you so much grief.

If you don't, you know that if you go up the stairs and out towards the opposite wall on the little ledge, Capra can't touch you (except with a lunge attack which is easily blocked)? Just buy some firebombs, get to that ledge and spam them, you'll finish the fight in seconds. If you can survive 20 seconds you should be able to finish him easily. The hard part is surviving the first 5 seconds to get to the stairs.

I know, but one can only take so much frustration. I killed the two dogs once out of 20 tries and right after that Capra jumped up and killed me on the ledge.

 

[Ridley327]

Do any of the other blacksmiths craft +15 weapons? Do I need a +15 sword to finish the game?

You don't need a +15 weapon to finish the game. They're awfully nice to have, (especially if they have good stat scaling), but you don't need one.

 

[somesplace]

Maybe instead of simply "largest" I should say "largest amount of compelling content."

Sure, there are lots of ARPGs with loads of things to do, but generally a lot of this stuff is tucked away in "side quests" or "optional missions" which I rarely find to be on par with the "main quest." I take elder scrolls to be a rather extreme case of this, where actually the vast majority of the content is of "side quest quality" rather than "main story quality."

Between my two playthroughs, I spent about 110 hours on dark souls. The time I spent on the first playthrough + the time I spent on Artorias of the Abyss = about 90 hours. And in this case, virtually all of that time is spent playing top-notch "main quest quality" content, not pursuing random odds and ends, grinding for loot or levels, reading books, playing minigames, searching for hidden doodads, or any of the other things I never really cared for in this sort of game. Sure there are a couple of tucked away areas (ash lake, painted world) and some bosses that seem a bit half-assed, but this accounts for a tiny fraction of my playtime.

I realize that I'm getting into murky / tangentially-related-to-the-topic territory here, but I hope I've clarified a bit why I think Dark Souls is now, at least of the ARPGs I've played, the most epic, action-packed adventure of them all.

edit - didn't see your latest post, Io. oh well.

 

[somesplace]

I know, but one can only take so much frustration. I killed the two dogs once out of 20 tries and right after that Capra jumped up and killed me on the ledge.

sounds like you should take a break, haha. one thing i can offer that may not have been suggested yet: are you using lock on? if so, try not relying on lock on for this portion of the fight.

during my first playthrough, i always locked on no matter what. in some situations, though, it's a disadvantage, as your mobility is limited. many times when you need to escape in tight quarters, breaking lock-on should be the first step.

 

[IoCaster]

I know, but one can only take so much frustration. I killed the two dogs once out of 20 tries and right after that Capra jumped up and killed me on the ledge.

It's definitely a frustrating fight. I failed 5 or 6 times before I managed to get up the stairs in one piece. I got lucky and gutted the dogs, then I just spammed firebombs on Capra until he died. I think that the firebombs stunned him long enough to let me continue to rain death down upon his head. It's been a while since my first time so I could be wrong and just plain lucked out across the board.

 

[SiegfriedFM]

I believe the key to defeating Capra is a decent shield and poise. I had the Wolf Ring and the Knight's Shield upgraded to +5, and managed to take down the boss in less than a minute.

Edit: Got my ass handed over to me by the stray demon like a dozen times yesterday. He has an outrageous reach, and he keeps using this red magic attack when I stay close. Maybe I should try a shield with better magic defence to block the AOE attack?

You will never, ever have to block his attacks. When you land, dash straight past him and make sure to get behind him, out of reach of his tail. Then when he does the AOE, wait until it dissipates and then rush in for a few attacks. Then move back for the AOE again and repeat. If he flies up, just back off for a second, make sure you know where he's landing and let him land. Then while he recovers, run past him (you can run through the axe) and wait for a new AOE opening. Substitute your attacks with an estus heal if you do get hit. Never, EVER, try to heal while standing in front of him.

The only possible way to get killed with these tactics is if he backs away into a corner so you can't get behind him, then you need to run FAR away and probably avoid an axe slash before returning to him.

 

[derwalde]

any recommendations for a good strength weapon?

 

[rizz]

You will never, ever have to block his attacks. When you land, dash straight past him and make sure to get behind him, out of reach of his tail. Then when he does the AOE, wait until it dissipates and then rush in for a few attacks. Then move back for the AOE again and repeat. If he flies up, just back off for a second, make sure you know where he's landing and let him land. Then while he recovers, run past him (you can run through the axe) and wait for a new AOE opening. Substitute your attacks with an estus heal if you do get hit. Never, EVER, try to heal while standing in front of him.

The only possible way to get killed with these tactics is if he backs away into a corner so you can't get behind him, then you need to run FAR away and probably avoid an axe slash before returning to him.

Thanks. I've had this tactic in my mind after the first few tries. But the AOE attack kept finding me in awkward places. Also the camera kept getting in the way, which didn't help much as you have to keep an eye on what he is doing to prepare the next move.

Guess I'll need a few more tries to execute this tactic perfectly. The two asylum bosses have been the most annoying and toughest boss fights I've had in this game. I had almost given up after dying god-knows-how-many-times fighting the asylum demon.

 

[arit]

I know, but one can only take so much frustration. I killed the two dogs once out of 20 tries and right after that Capra jumped up and killed me on the ledge.

Try walking backwards into the wall/corner when he does his jumping attack, might be enough to be not hit by him.

 

[somesplace]

any recommendations for a good strength weapon?

i ran a strength build, and i used battle axe (to +12) -> black knight sword (to +5) -> black knight halberd (to +5) -> black knight great axe (to +5)

 

[derwalde]

i ran a strength build, and i used battle axe (to +12) -> black knight sword (to +5) -> black knight halberd (to +5) -> black knight great axe (to +5)

but you have to kind of get lucky with the BK drops ... im an unlucky person ;D. ill pop some huminaty before killing black knights then.

 

[somesplace]

but you have to kind of get lucky with the BK drops ... im an unlucky person ;D. ill pop some huminaty before killing black knights then.

i'm not sure but i think the black knight in the darkroot area always drops his halberd? at least, i've never seen it NOT drop...

 

[rizz]

i'm not sure but i think the black knight in the darkroot area always drops his halberd? at least, i've never seen it NOT drop...

I've defeated five black knights so far including the one in Darkroot Basin. And I'm yet to see one drop any weapons/shields. I'm getting kinda worried as I seem to be running out of black knights to take down.

 

[heliconsoul]

I've defeated five black knights so far including the one in Darkroot Basin. And I'm yet to see one drop any weapons/shields. I'm getting kinda worried as I seem to be running out of black knights to take down.

You'll get chance to farm them

Spoiler

In the final area of the game, the Kiln

Just get 10 humanity and the covetous ring on, I was drowning in shields and weapons by the time I'd finished. Means I have them for NG+ at least.

 

[Mr_Appleby]

i got a catchpole from the very first titanite demon and it's pretty much defined this playthough so far. got it around SL5, still using at 55 (just killed

Spoiler

sanctuary guardian

with it no problems. awesome weapon especially at the start - low reqs, magic damage that doesn't depend on your stat, great range, and easy to +5 it from lizards in darkroot, catacombs and great hollow (if needed). only let-down is lack of variety in the heavy attacks and essentially useless stat scaling.

i don't rate my chances of ever getting another one that early in the game though.

 

[fionel]

killed Manus last night. What an incredible fight. He could have been the last boss instead of

Spoiler

Gwyn

really. It was also brilliant they made it so that you can use the

Spoiler

silver pendant

to repel his dark magic.

Now that makes wonder, can you use that item to repel those dark sorceries in pvp?

 

[Anteater]

I know, but one can only take so much frustration. I killed the two dogs once out of 20 tries and right after that Capra jumped up and killed me on the ledge.

Not sure what equipment you're using but if you're getting hit and dying quick, you may as well try swapping some gears around and try having a lower equip load, so you could move around quicker and have a less clunky roll, I made the mistake of wearing full tank gears at the beginning (started with it) and I had the slowest roll which made it difficult to avoid attacks at the beginning. Other than the dogs, the Capra could easily be avoided if you abuse the stairs.

 

[Zeliard]

Yeah, I think Zeliard will like it as well, since ENB is not upgrading his VIT at all. And he'll be equipping the Calamity Ring once he's taken down Kalameet, so that should get really interesting when everything can one-shot him.

It begins here.

Yeah I've been watching it. I enjoy his lore stuff.

And a low vit build is sort of like using a calamity ring in the later stages of the game. A vitality of 9 means a lot of stuff can one-shot me.

The fight against Kalameet was particularly epic since he has a lot of HP even on NG, and everything he was doing either one-shot me or came close to it if I didn't block or dodge it (and his attacks remove large chunks of stamina even with a high stability shield). I had to really be on my toes. Even that awesome

Spoiler

calamity stare

thing he does was taking off nearly half of my health bar, and it isn't even meant to really do great damage so much as cause a certain status effect.

I'm usually more of a fan of the smaller-scale humanoid bosses in the Souls games, but Kalameet was just awesome. I also loved how they made it actually make sense that

Spoiler

Kalameet was grounded. When he wasn't he'd stay in the air out of range and just fry the shit out of you, which is exactly what dragons should always be doing. Fighting one in melee is kind of ridiculous unless they effectively explain it away like they did here.

Haven't faced Manus yet. That should be a thing.

 

[Thrakier]

Not sure what equipment you're using but if you're getting hit and dying quick, you may as well try swapping some gears around and try having a lower equip load, so you could move around quicker and have a less clunky roll, I made the mistake of wearing full tank gears at the beginning (started with it) and I had the slowest roll which made it difficult to avoid attacks at the beginning. Other than the dogs, the Capra could easily be avoided if you abuse the stairs.

I tried both variations. Even with 20/55 he still kills me pretty fast. It's always the dogs which get me first and right after this the demon. WOuld be doable probably without the fucking dogs.

 

[somesplace]

I also loved how they made it actually make sense that

Spoiler

Kalameet was grounded. When he wasn't he'd stay in the air out of range and just fry the shit out of you, which is exactly what dragons should always be doing. Fighting one in melee is kind of ridiculous unless they effectively explain it away like they did here.

Haven't faced Manus yet. That should be a thing.

i tried immediately climbing up the ladder at the beginning of the fight so i could snipe him... what do you know, he's not as grounded as one might think, lol...

i think i died to manus more than any other boss.

 

[equil]

So I ran into another hacker while pvping in anor londo. (The last guy that i saw hacking he killed his blacksmith while trying to kill me)

This guy did the same thing as the last guy except he didnt leave after his blacksmith died.

So I ran over to the rafters above the painted world, he chases me all the way up there and I end up knocking him off lol. But he leaves the game mid fall.

 

[OreoKraickerz]

The fight against Kalameet was particularly epic since he has a lot of HP even on NG, and everything he was doing either one-shot me or came close to it if I didn't block or dodge it (and his attacks remove large chunks of stamina even with a high stability shield). I had to really be on my toes. Even that awesome

Spoiler

calamity stare

thing he does was taking off nearly half of my health bar, and it isn't even meant to really do great damage so much as cause a certain status effect.

I'm usually more of a fan of the smaller-scale humanoid bosses in the Souls games, but Kalameet was just awesome. I also loved how they made it actually make sense that

Spoiler

Kalameet was grounded. When he wasn't he'd stay in the air out of range and just fry the shit out of you, which is exactly what dragons should always be doing. Fighting one in melee is kind of ridiculous unless they effectively explain it away like they did here.

The Kalameet fight reminded me a lot of a Monster Hunter fight against a Rathalos or Rathian. Any one mistake means doom and you have to gradually whittle down their HP until you finally pull it off. Definite test of mastery and patience and incredibly satisfying when completed.

 

[cleveridea]

man this game is too addictive. I waited for a discount on GW2 and it came to greenman with the 25% off coupon so I bought it (rave reviews and comments from friends, even a WOW fanatic who says he isnt going back). Then waited couple days for it to download. Now I cant even be bothered to start the game up I am just so focused on dark souls.

I'm not even excited to pick up Borderlands 2 next week and that was my most anticipated game of the year!

 

[cleveridea]

Anybody else watching the Epic Name Bro walkthrough of Prepare to Die? I know most of you are still too busy playing, but it's definitely worth checking out. Apart from getting some really good tips, he also talks a lot about the DS lore during this playthrough. Always been a fan of this guy, it's nice to see him do a proper playthrough from start to finish.

yeah his videos are awesome, very entertaining comments too, he's the averagegatsby (ME2 videos) of dark souls

his capra dogs "they're trollin'" comments have me literally LOL'ing

 

[Jintor]

The DLC is fun as hell.

 

[ijed]

yeah his videos are awesome, very entertaining comments too, he's the averagegatsby (ME2 videos) of dark souls

his capra dogs "they're trollin'" comments have me literally LOL'ing

With durante's mod could do Capra dogs with trollface textures!

And wheel skeletons with awesome face - needs to happen

 

[rogerroger22]

Why is this game so damn satisfying to play, and re-play? I am not much of a 'replay a game' person, more of a 'play once and done' with very few exceptions.

I've cleared it 3 times on the PS3 - NG/NG+ on my first character, then another build.

On the PC, I have now cleared bout 95% of the game with 3 characters

- Dex/Pyro build
- Str/Faith Build
- Int/Sorcery Build

Pretty much the last thing to do with most of them is wrap up some optional content and kill the final boss.

Then the other night I decide 'I'm going to try a Str Build! No Spells!', lucked out and got a Black Knight Sword near the start (go-go 3-shot killing the Gargoyls), already in Sens after an hour or two of playing and it's still addictive as hell.

Doing the 2HR2 attack on the serpents is so fun, the 1-hit kill sending them flying across the room. I'm guessing the MSGS should be my next weapon once I upgrade it enough? for now though, the black knight sword is kind of stupidly fun if wielded well.

Toss in PvP which I'm now starting to get into, the desire to do 'challenge runs', etc....and I just can't seem to tire of this game.

 

[Wuthering_Heights]

So I've been doing some reading, trying to figure out which gift to take at the start.

It's been almost exactly a year since release, and still, nobody has figured out what the pendant does?

Crazy.

 

[Jackben]

So I've been doing some reading, trying to figure out which gift to take at the start.

It's been almost exactly a year since release, and still, nobody has figured out what the pendant does?

Crazy.

The game files were already ripped from the console version months ago before we even had easy access via the PC version.

It does absolutely nothing.

You can trade it for a Souvenir of Reprisal via Snuggly the crow but that's it. Even if you don't pick it, the same pendant drops from

Spoiler

Rhea if you fail to save her from being murdered by Petrus.

Most believe it was a troll by the director to make the game harder by encouraging players to pick a useless gift.

 

[Wuthering_Heights]

Ahh, okay.

So then it seems like the best gift for a new(ish) player would be the Old Witch's Ring.

 

[Jackben]

Ahh, okay.

So then it seems like the best gift for a new(ish) player would be the Old Witch's Ring.

The best is master key in my opinion, but if you don't want to sequence break then I would go with the Old Witch's ring.

The Fair Lady's speech adds a great deal to the lore and is beautiful but dreadfully sad.

 

[rogerroger22]

I still think Master Key is the best gift.
- Early access to some great items
- Can make things like Taurus Demon / Capra / The Depths completely optional (unless you want large-upgrade stone obviously)
- Can skip a large chunk of Blight Town (although I still usually go up there for the items anyways)