Made it through the great hollow and ash lake areas tonight on NG. Awesome area. Huge lake, like under the ground or something. Idk. Really cool place. Enjoying using the dragon head fire breath in Blighttown now. Just gotta figure out a way out of here to get to Sen's. I forgot the way.
have to die?! How in the hell are you supposed to know what needs to be done to save him. He had a thing on in his head and started attacking me. Now he won't be able to summon again. Fuck you FROM... why did you made me kill the sunbro. ;_;
have to die?! How in the hell are you supposed to know what needs to be done to save him. He had a thing on in his head and started attacking me. Now he won't be able to summon again. Fuck you FROM... why did you made me kill the sunbro. ;_;
How is the DLC pvp arena thing? I forgot the name of it. Is it just an easy way to hop in a fight without laying down signs or using items? Does it go by soul level?
Im on PC and the last itme I went there got zero action. Demon's souls on ps3 is crazy busy...the dedicated servers will help the ds2 immensely.....soooo looking foreard to ds2.
H8 memes,
for those thinking of quitting...don't. Remember the definitition of insanity is doing the same thing expecting different results. If you are hitting a wall you have to do something different. If your BSS isn't working too well without any buffs on...maybe buff it? Last I checked animals don't like
fire
.....if you don't get enough power with a +5 weapon buffed with
fire
...go to the choas covenant (just past 2nd bell) get the entry gift pyro for joining, then BURN that mutt with friggin lava!
have to die?! How in the hell are you supposed to know what needs to be done to save him. He had a thing on in his head and started attacking me. Now he won't be able to summon again. Fuck you FROM... why did you made me kill the sunbro. ;_;
either finds it and goes insane because it infects him, or he doesn't find it because you killed it and he gets depressed. Either way the son (sun, get it?) of the lord of light doesn't shine brightly in lordran.
Is it feasible to play this game without using magic? I'm up to Sif, and while I can dodge most of his attacks, I just cant do enough damage with my sword to beat him without have to roughly dodge and attack 50 times. I'm thinking this is probably the end of the game for me right here if hitting him with a 2-handed Balder Side Sword +5 can only take off a tiny sliver of life. This and the bonfires being placed to obviously stretch a 25 hour game out to 40 or 50 have really soured me on the game. The bonfire placement is the equivalent of fetch quests in other games that lead you back and forth across a games map just to stretch out the length of a game.
I played through to NG++ and did so entirely without magic, so it's plenty feasible. You don't have to fight Sif until much later so I'd hold off on it for now.
I played the 360 version for quite a while, probably more than a 100 hours. But with a new rig i jumped in on the pc version, and with the 1080p fix it really has relit my fire. I've already played another 35 hours and I'm not close to being tired of it.
But what really wowed me was starting playing it with magic instead of with a warrior. What a difference! I can't believe how important it is to play with a class that suits my personal play style. All that was a chore, the grinding is so easy now., also the most of the bosses are super-easy in comparison. Especially with some care distributing when levelling up.
I really think From software should rethink this for their next game (how the game introduces and teaches, at least a little, the game for newbies) , maybe more of those who bought the game will get to experience its brilliance.
But still the same annoyances; no pause button (come on From Software, i have a life.. unhindered game time is a huge luxury for me..), and the PvP should be optional. Running around laying a strategy for how to advance, looking forward to it, and then suddenly some grey smoky walls shows up and brings a nice experience to an annoying halt..
And the camera.. drives me crazy at times!
But still the same annoyances; no pause button (come on From Software, i have a life.. unhindered game time is a huge luxury for me..), and the PvP should be optional. Running around laying a strategy for how to advance, looking forward to it, and then suddenly some grey smoky walls shows up and brings a nice experience to an annoying halt..
And the camera.. drives me crazy at times!
The pausing and PVP work a bit hand in hand, but I don't want them to remove the seamlessness of the game. You can simply quit to the main menu if something comes up, that's what I do and it's never an inconvenience. PVP is optional in the sense that you can stay in hollow form with no downside other than not being able to summon or kindle, and I like that they actually went a bit further than Demon's Souls and actually have NPC invasions this time around.
The pausing and PVP work a bit hand in hand, but I don't want them to remove the seamlessness of the game. You can simply quit to the main menu if something comes up, that's what I do and it's never an inconvenience. PVP is optional in the sense that you can stay in hollow form with no downside other than not being able to summon or kindle, and I like that they actually went a bit further than Demon's Souls and actually have NPC invasions this time around.
I started quitting to the menu when I need to step away, in place of pausing. This is really just the same thing, but takes a couple seconds longer. Even if I am in the middle of a fight.
Please note, I only go after a boss/sub boss when I know I have a few min of uninterrupted time to handle it.
PVP is such a cool aspect of the game, i hope they keep it the way it is.
And this is coming from someone who never invaded someone himself.
It really ads to the tension, i was at the archers in anor londo, cheesing them, when i was invaded, i was almost out of arrows, so if i died i had to backtrack to get more arrows, so i really wanted to win the duel, i'm not good at pvp so i turtled behind a shield even chucking estus, mind you i had to duck the non stop rain of arrows as well. After a long fight i managed to win, such a good feeling.
You should try this online strategy game. It got me interested from the first time I played it. The more you play, the more options you have, and you can convert your virtual currency into real money, too. I am so glad that there are browser-based strategy games, too, nowadays. With just a few minutes of your time a day, you can make pretty much extra money.
You should try this online strategy game. It got me interested from the first time I played it. The more you play, the more options you have, and you can convert your virtual currency into real money, too. I am so glad that there are browser-based strategy games, too, nowadays. With just a few minutes of your time a day, you can make pretty much extra money.
But still the same annoyances; no pause button (come on From Software, i have a life.. unhindered game time is a huge luxury for me..), and the PvP should be optional. Running around laying a strategy for how to advance, looking forward to it, and then suddenly some grey smoky walls shows up and brings a nice experience to an annoying halt..
I disagree completely with this. What made the online in Demon's Souls and Dark Souls so good is that it's not an optional part but fully integrated with the game itself for an intense experience for everybody. You don't want to be invaded, don't go human, it's as simple as that.
Also, regarding the no pause button, you know that you can quit and reload the game and will come back at the same place where you left it?
I also like the lack of tutorials because in a way that makes the learning curve so good and you don't stop learning things. In fact even after more than 1500 hours in this game I continue learning some new things and still I'm not getting bored of this game. This lack of tutorials made the community so active by discussing things and learn from one another and I love that aspect. Make the game explain everything and when you beat it, you're done. That's so boring...
I know, this is not for everybody but this game done almost everything perfectly for me and I will hate if it does like every other games do.
I disagree completely with this. What made the online in Demon's Souls and Dark Souls so good is that it's not an optional part but fully integrated with the game itself for an intense experience for everybody. You don't want to be invaded, don't go human, it's as simple as that.
Also, regarding the no pause button, you know that you can quit and reload the game and will come back at the same place where you left it?
I also like the lack of tutorials because in a way that makes the learning curve so good and you don't stop learning things. In fact even after more than 1500 hours in this game I continue learning some new things and still I'm not getting bored of this game. This lack of tutorials made the community so active by discussing things and learn from one another and I love that aspect. Make the game explain everything and when you beat it, you're done. That's so boring...
I know, this is not for everybody but this game done almost everything perfectly for me and I will hate if it does like every other games do.
I appeciate the reply. Taste differs and that's why the game could make a couple of things optonal, then we both could all enjoy it as we should. As i said, i hit a huge wall first time i played through it, at that time and many hours struggling before, the game was broken for me. I know very well I'm not the only one. .
I hate invasions worse than the plague. To you it's great, to me it is utterly idiotic and takes me completely out of the experience. Thus I actually prepare my SP sessions by disconnecting my connection after logging in.. it shouldn't be like that. As hollow there are a few things you just cannot do, and humanity costs, so i like to keep my human form.
How common is it to be invaded? I've played about 38 hours, and probably 10-12 of those I've been human, and I haven't been invaded once. Is that normal? Should I just play as human more often?
How common is it to be invaded? I've played about 38 hours, and probably 10-12 of those I've been human, and I haven't been invaded once. Is that normal? Should I just play as human more often?
How common is it to be invaded? I've played about 38 hours, and probably 10-12 of those I've been human, and I haven't been invaded once. Is that normal? Should I just play as human more often?
I appeciate the reply. Taste differs and that's why the game could make a couple of things optonal, then we both could all enjoy it as we should. As i said, i hit a huge wall first time i played through it, at that time and many hours struggling before, the game was broken for me. I know very well I'm not the only one. .
I hate invasions worse than the plague. To you it's great, to me it is utterly idiotic and takes me completely out of the experience. Thus I actually prepare my SP sessions by disconnecting my connection after logging in.. it shouldn't be like that. As hollow there are a few things you just cannot do, and humanity costs, so i like to keep my human form.
Is there a way to see the player count on the 360? I'm thinking about replaying the game with a magic based build on the 360. On Steam for the past couple of weeks, the number of players has been around 5k concurrent, which is about 50k-60k daily players. Some areas I waited for more than 10 minutes to summon someone to help with the harder bosses, and that was a total failure.
Even with the Steam and Amazon sale, it seems that people have this game at the bottom of their backlogs.
Is there a way to see the player count on the 360? I'm thinking about replaying the game with a magic based build on the 360. On Steam for the past couple of weeks, the number of players has been around 5k concurrent, which is about 50k-60k daily players. Some areas I waited for more than 10 minutes to summon someone to help with the harder bosses, and that was a total failure.
Even with the Steam and Amazon sale, it seems that people have this game at the bottom of their backlogs.
I appeciate the reply. Taste differs and that's why the game could make a couple of things optonal, then we both could all enjoy it as we should. As i said, i hit a huge wall first time i played through it, at that time and many hours struggling before, the game was broken for me. I know very well I'm not the only one. .
I hate invasions worse than the plague. To you it's great, to me it is utterly idiotic and takes me completely out of the experience. Thus I actually prepare my SP sessions by disconnecting my connection after logging in.. it shouldn't be like that. As hollow there are a few things you just cannot do, and humanity costs, so i like to keep my human form.
I don't know how invasions make a game broken for you, unless you're always humanizing yourself afterwards to be picked off again. It's there to detriment the player as much as summoning is there to assist, and with three people to deal with, the cards tend to be stacked against the invader.
Staying in hollow is how they make it a largely optional element, but they still want to encourage you to try it out from time to time by making you humanize yourself to kindle. The whole element of people in parallel worlds all with their own agenda is a huge part of the game, and that plays itself out with people trying to kill or help you.
One thing that annoys me is after a failed invasion often bonfires won't relight and you can't place down a summon sign for quite a while, usually just quicker to quit out to menu and reload. This is kind of buggy to me and hope it's something they manage to eliminate in DS2.
How common is it to be invaded? I've played about 38 hours, and probably 10-12 of those I've been human, and I haven't been invaded once. Is that normal? Should I just play as human more often?
I appeciate the reply. Taste differs and that's why the game could make a couple of things optonal, then we both could all enjoy it as we should. As i said, i hit a huge wall first time i played through it, at that time and many hours struggling before, the game was broken for me. I know very well I'm not the only one. .
I hate invasions worse than the plague. To you it's great, to me it is utterly idiotic and takes me completely out of the experience. Thus I actually prepare my SP sessions by disconnecting my connection after logging in.. it shouldn't be like that. As hollow there are a few things you just cannot do, and humanity costs, so i like to keep my human form.
If all you wanted to do was kindle bonfires, you can turn human, kindle and then kill yourself. You get more than enough humanity in the game even without farming rats etc to do just that - you can then play online, see messages, co-op for others as a phantom, but never get invaded.
I think you would be doing yourself a disservice though. I know initially PvP seems stacked against you in DS, especially at this point where invaders at the start of the game are using fully upgraded gear and lightning weapons - it's rare to see an invader who isn't stacked up like this - but once you know the game a bit better you can see it's not hopeless and the PvP integration in the game is what makes it so special.
atm, I'm kind of hooked on seeing how strong I can make a character before ringing both bells - Usually I'll leave the gargoyles till last. Because invaders early in the game are using OP gear, I wanted to see what I can legitimately do to even the odds whilst still having myself open to invasion early in the game and usually under level 25-30. I can do co-op in Burg, Parish, Forest, Depths, Blighttown to earn souls - started about 5 toons, concentrating on one of STR, DEX, magic, miracles, pyro etc - When you know the game a bit, it's quite quick to get a +15 weapon, maxed out pyro glove, good gear, fire weapon that is up to about +7 whatever your character type. A simple set up of combustion/force/+15 claymore can see off A LOT of these low-level troll invaders.
Hm, interesting...I've made pretty steady progress, so that might explain it. And I guess I don't turn human very often (since I've probably been unreasonably stingy with my humanity). I'm at about level 58 in Anor Londo. I think it would be fun to be invaded, so maybe I'll start being human as much as possible.
EDIT: I'm playing on PC as well. Not sure if it's more or less common than on the consoles. According to Steam there seems to be a pretty constant 3,000 - 6,000 or so people playing at any given time.
Decided to look up how to access the DLC bits. Well, probably a good idea I did since it seems I could have kept searching for 10 hours without finding it.
I did figure the cave behind the hydra was situated roughly below the grave so I decided to go there again and found the girl who hadn't been there before. But she didn't give any clues about the pendant, and I had already been through the Duke's Archives by then. I'm going to assume the thing was designed to be discovered by a few and then shared through the Internet.
Between this DLC business and hearing about
Great Hollow / Ash Lake
for the first time above I feel like my game progress has suddenly dropped from 95% to 60%. D: Maybe it would have been for the better if I had been able to take off those last 20% off the last boss on my first attempt...
Decided to look up how to access the DLC bits. Well, probably a good idea I did since it seems I could have kept searching for 10 hours without finding it.
I did figure the cave behind the hydra was situated roughly below the grave so I decided to go there again and found the girl who hadn't been there before. But she didn't give any clues about the pendant, and I had already been through the Duke's Archives by then. I'm going to assume the thing was designed to be discovered by a few and then shared through the Internet.
Between this DLC business and hearing about
Great Hollow / Ash Lake
for the first time above I feel like my game progress has suddenly dropped from 95% to 60%. D: Maybe it would have been for the better if I had been able to take off those last 20% off the last boss on my first attempt...
Beat Manus by myself - no Sif - on the first go. I used Havel Armour, Crest Shield +5 and Uchigatana +15. It was also a nice surprise to go back to the beginning of the DLC and have to fight TWO sanctuary guardians at the same time.
I think I'm just about done this playthrough. All there is left to do is kill Dark Sun Gwyndolin (meh) and Gwyn himself. Don't know if I want to go NG+ with this character. May just keep it the way it is for the odd invasion.
One thing that has been bothering me quite a bit is that I had to resort to the guide, wiki and this thread more than for any other game... ever. And yet I still didn't get to see everything or complete sidequests to my satisfaction.
I was pretty darn disappointed yesterday when I couldn't save
Solaire and complete the Onion dude quests.
That is probably my biggest complaint about the game so far. I understand it was designed to have a very minimalistic way of communicating the story to the player.
Perhaps I'm making that a much bigger issue than it is since a lot of people aren't even playing this game for the story, but I still would have preferred if FROM hadn't made the sidequests so damn obscure. Another thing that annoys me is that there is no consequence of killing NPCs. In fact some wikis even recommend doing that before moving to NG+. At that point what was the point of playing the game for the story?
For people that don't play a lot of games, Dark Souls it's a fantastic treasure chest. Playing without a guide, every run through the game would lead to more and more secrets. Maybe that's the game's intent, but I just don't have that kind of time anymore.
One thing that has been bothering me quite a bit is that I had to resort to the guide, wiki and this thread more than for any other game... ever. And yet I still didn't get to see everything or complete sidequests to my satisfaction.
I was pretty darn disappointed yesterday when I couldn't save
Solaire and complete the Onion dude quests.
That is probably my biggest complaint about the game so far. I understand it was designed to have a very minimalistic way of communicating the story to the player.
Perhaps I'm making that a much bigger issue than it is since a lot of people aren't even playing this game for the story, but I still would have preferred if FROM hadn't made the sidequests so damn obscure. Another thing that annoys me is that there is no consequence of killing NPCs. In fact some wikis even recommend doing that before moving to NG+. At that point what was the point of playing the game for the story?
For people that don't play a lot of games, Dark Souls it's a fantastic treasure chest. Playing without a guide, every run through the game would lead to more and more secrets. Maybe that's the game's intent, but I just don't have that kind of time anymore.
I think I spent more than 1500 hours into this game.
And yes I play it for the story which I love.
And yes I love the fact that the game doesn't explain a damn thing.
I understand that this isn't the way many people want to play but for me, this is the kind of game I would want to see more often.
Across all of my characters approx. 580 hours (Jesus Christ, that's alot, it's the first time I added it up). Way too many many hours doing jolly co-operation as a Sunbro.
Across all of my characters approx. 580 hours (Jesus Christ, that's alot, it's the first time I added it up). Way too many many hours doing jolly co-operation as a Sunbro.
I appeciate the reply. Taste differs and that's why the game could make a couple of things optonal, then we both could all enjoy it as we should. As i said, i hit a huge wall first time i played through it, at that time and many hours struggling before, the game was broken for me. I know very well I'm not the only one. .
I hate invasions worse than the plague. To you it's great, to me it is utterly idiotic and takes me completely out of the experience. Thus I actually prepare my SP sessions by disconnecting my connection after logging in.. it shouldn't be like that. As hollow there are a few things you just cannot do, and humanity costs, so i like to keep my human form.
Human form is balanced by the idea that you can get invaded. You can summon 2 people to help you. The phantoms built for co-op are just as beastly as those specced for invasions. I suppose if you wish to disable invasions you still want the ability to summon phantoms?
Other than that there's nothing you can't do while hollow. You can always kindle a bonfire and then suicide - killing yourself on purpose is a trademark of the series.
Making invasions optional would ruin the game for people who want to invade, in the same way that adding an easy mode would ruin the game - it would split up the playerbase. This isn't Call of Duty, there's not 200k people playing at any given time. When invading, the game tries to find someone in the same spot of the game as you, who hasn't beaten the boss, is in human form, and near your level, spreading out from there. It would be very unlike this game to have an "invasions off" switch... they're called invasions for a reason. Maybe the next game will have a covenant or something that will minimize it, but even then I hope not. If anything I hope for a covenant that allows me to get invaded after I've beaten the boss. It's so easy to not get invaded now by just killing yourself and becoming hollow that I don't see any reason for that mechanic to change.
One thing that has been bothering me quite a bit is that I had to resort to the guide, wiki and this thread more than for any other game... ever. And yet I still didn't get to see everything or complete sidequests to my satisfaction.
I was pretty darn disappointed yesterday when I couldn't save
Solaire and complete the Onion dude quests.
That is probably my biggest complaint about the game so far. I understand it was designed to have a very minimalistic way of communicating the story to the player.
Perhaps I'm making that a much bigger issue than it is since a lot of people aren't even playing this game for the story, but I still would have preferred if FROM hadn't made the sidequests so damn obscure. Another thing that annoys me is that there is no consequence of killing NPCs. In fact some wikis even recommend doing that before moving to NG+. At that point what was the point of playing the game for the story?
For people that don't play a lot of games, Dark Souls it's a fantastic treasure chest. Playing without a guide, every run through the game would lead to more and more secrets. Maybe that's the game's intent, but I just don't have that kind of time anymore.
... a thousand some odd hours between PS3 and PC version. Sometimes I'm concerned with the sidequests, sometimes I skip them altogether. I like how obscure they are even if the first time I lost Seigymeyer and Solaire I was pissed. How the hell am I supposed to know that. First time through I used the GAF OT and referenced the wiki when I was confused about upgrades and stuff like that. Since then I've beaten the game more times than I can count and I'm free to use any resource available to me and I'm still finding new stuff out on my own, which continues to blow my mind
To add to what others have said, NG+ is the only way to get gravelorded (black phantom enemies in your world), and it's very useful for mage/pyro builds as you can buy all of your spells again and get double the casts. You also get a lot more souls from everything.
The same as every NG+ out there, to play more of the game You can go after the achievements, getting stuff which is only available in NG+, use different equipment and strategy to tackle the game on etc.
On the PS3, even now I can get summoned pretty quickly in the more populated areas. Back in the days, I was often putting my summon sign down, letting the game idle and doing something else until someone summoned me, rinse and repeat. I used the BB glitch to create some characters specifically for that purpose. Fuck this addicting game.
One thing that has been bothering me quite a bit is that I had to resort to the guide, wiki and this thread more than for any other game... ever. And yet I still didn't get to see everything or complete sidequests to my satisfaction.
I was pretty darn disappointed yesterday when I couldn't save
Solaire and complete the Onion dude quests.
That is probably my biggest complaint about the game so far. I understand it was designed to have a very minimalistic way of communicating the story to the player.
One thing that has been bothering me quite a bit is that I had to resort to the guide, wiki and this thread more than for any other game... ever. And yet I still didn't get to see everything or complete sidequests to my satisfaction.
I was pretty darn disappointed yesterday when I couldn't save
Solaire and complete the Onion dude quests.
That is probably my biggest complaint about the game so far. I understand it was designed to have a very minimalistic way of communicating the story to the player.
Perhaps I'm making that a much bigger issue than it is since a lot of people aren't even playing this game for the story, but I still would have preferred if FROM hadn't made the sidequests so damn obscure. Another thing that annoys me is that there is no consequence of killing NPCs. In fact some wikis even recommend doing that before moving to NG+. At that point what was the point of playing the game for the story?
For people that don't play a lot of games, Dark Souls it's a fantastic treasure chest. Playing without a guide, every run through the game would lead to more and more secrets. Maybe that's the game's intent, but I just don't have that kind of time anymore.
I ended up with just over 50 hours on my play through. However, if I wasn't playing the game with a friend over Skype, I'd have quit probably 2-3 hours in. The game does a TERRIBLE job of pointing out where you should go, or what side quests exist. I wouldn't have had a clue that you could save
Solaire
, and would have easily missed half of the side quests/side areas without my friend acting as tour guide. When he wasn't around, I was constantly on wiki's and FAQ's trying to figure out where to go.
However, after finishing the game and looking back on my experiences, I began to appreciate what they did with this game. I like that it doesn't hold your hand, and rewards exploration and patience. Once I figured out that if I was just a little more patient with enemies, I would win almost every encounter, I enjoyed combat a lot more. Most deaths were entirely my fault, and boss fights were challenging but manageable as long as you paid attention to their attack patterns. I felt a much bigger sense of accomplishment when I beat a boss/area in this game than I do in most other games I played this year. You EARN every victory in this game, nothing is handed to you. (Except maybe the
Necromancer boss in the Catacombs
, he was STUPID easy with 2 people )
That said, there are a few things I think they could improve on in the next game:
1) A quest log or something similar that at the very least, tells you where you need to go for the main quest line. I don't need a big arrow over my head, or a map, or anything really obvious. Just something simple that says "Hey, you need to ring a bell, look in area X".
2) Priority joining for people on your friends list. So many times my friend and I tried to help each other with bosses, but it would take 10-20 attempts to join the others game. Either we wouldn't see our signs, or we'd summon only to have it fail over and over.
3) Inventory management. The inventory system was terrible. Let me organize items by enhancement, or alphabetically, etc.
I'm really looking forward to Dark Souls 2, and even if they don't fix any of those I will still buy it. In fact, I'm quite looking forward to figuring out quests/weapon combos/enemy tactics, etc. with the rest of the community when the game releases.
Had figured out the tower but I just kept failing. Today I tried out switching my two handed long and short sword (very succesful with the environment enemies) out with estoc and got him on first try with that - soooo gooood. Then the Dragon scared me
The Dragon Bone Fist is S ranked for STR, but the increase is actually pitiful. It is also one of the rare unique weapons that is enchantable. It's fun to mess around with, but not particularly useful in PvP.
Made it to Anor Londo once again. Best place in the game. I managed to cheat the Iron Golem into falling off the ledge. Always works for me. Looking forward to getting to S&O again. Going to attempt to solo them with the Queelag sword. Then it's time to hit up the DLC, finally.
Made it to Anor Londo once again. Best place in the game. I managed to cheat the Iron Golem into falling off the ledge. Always works for me. Looking forward to getting to S&O again. Going to attempt to solo them with the Queelag sword. Then it's time to hit up the DLC, finally.
Ugh. I'm at S&O on my SL1 run and having a tough time. I do like the fight though, and am looking forward to the heart-stomping feeling of getting that last hit in. (Think I'm gonna go upgrade some armor past +3 first, though) =)
How in the world did they fit in so many incredibly awesome enemy designs in this game? Seriously, I'm excited each time I reach a new area to find out what kind of crazy enemies I'll be fighting. It's also fascinating because they obviously put a lot of work into each one, and yet some enemies are only found in one place in the entire game.
Amazing game. Took awhile for it to click with me, but now I can't put it down.
