Support NeoGAF

[Sullichin]

Nice! congrats

I took down Kalameet today. The first time ever, and as a SL1! I would say he is about as hard as Manus. It took me the same amount of time to figure him out and get lucky enough to take him down

Nice! What's the best way to deal with his overhead AOE dark fire attack? I can never seem to roll away from it in time

 

[ArynCrinn]

Nice! What's the best way to deal with his overhead AOE dark fire attack? I can never seem to roll away from it in time

In my experience breaking lock-on and running away works best.

Btw, Oracrest, did you use a crossbow or just pure melee? I need to get around to doing a pure melee run myself, maybe on my video series.

 

[zkylon]

Thanks for this. I ordered the Design Works 1,5 months ago and it STILL hasn't arrived. I'm pretty sure it's shipping from the moon. I mean, it has to.

np. The last part hasn't been translated yet but hopefully it will.

I gotta get that book myself, too, sometime.

 

[SJRB]

np. The last part hasn't been translated yet but hopefully it will.

I gotta get that book myself, too, sometime.

Loved the part about Gwyn where even Miyazaki admits it's "parry, parry, parry". He doesn't like how that boss fight ended up. He also straight up amits Bed of Chaos is the result of a closing deadline and that he deeply regrets how it ended up.

This whole article is pretty weird, it's like everyone is afraid of Miyazaki.

 

[zkylon]

Loved the part about Gwyn where even Miyazaki admits it's "parry, parry, parry". He doesn't like how that boss fight ended up. He also straight up amits Bed of Chaos is the result of a closing deadline and that he deeply regrets how it ended up.

This whole article is pretty weird, it's like everyone is afraid of Miyazaki.

I think that's just them being japanese and the respectfulness comes up weird in the translation. I've gotten a similar feeling from other interviews to other game directors, that's why.

 

[Akuun]

Nice! congrats

I took down Kalameet today. The first time ever, and as a SL1! I would say he is about as hard as Manus. It took me the same amount of time to figure him out and get lucky enough to take him down

Nice. Congrats.

I'm debating whether I want to do Kalameet next, or go back and do some optional stuff I've been neglecting, like the Painted World and Gwyndolin.

 

[SJRB]

Darkmoon PVP is deserted [on pc]. I've been trying to invade sinners for almost an hour now. Wearing the ring [haven't been summoned once] and warping from bonfire to bonfire trying the blue eye orb.


I only had some success in Sen's Playhouse, but after invading the same dude for the third time I just felt bad for the guy. There's no honor in invading the same person over and over.

 

[ArynCrinn]

Darkmoon PVP is deserted [on pc]. I've been trying to invade sinners for almost an hour now. Wearing the ring [haven't been summoned once] and warping from bonfire to bonfire trying the blue eye orb.


I only had some success in Sen's Playhouse, but after invading the same dude for the third time I just felt bad for the guy. There's no honor in invading the same person over and over.

This is why I've given up on serious PvP in the PC version. Flat out broken netcode. You almost never get a successful invasion or co-op going, maybe 30% at best in my case, and when you do your bouts are plagued with lag issues and hitbox issues. I just can't take it seriously anymore, it kills any motivation that I might have had to master the nuances of PvP. It wasn't great on PS3 either, but not this bad, and I don't see a patch coming...

As for hackers and cheaters, meh, it'd still be fun if the core system wasn't broken. Sign me up if there's ever any private servers or netcode mods. Because waiting 20 mins or more for a friend to summon or person to use my Red Soapstone in the Township/Burg sucks, it also sucks to be stomping a dude's ass at SL4 (Hunter class for better diversity) in Township who's obviously SL50-100 and get lagstabbed, kills any sense of fun whatsoever. Honestly it's more fun to twink in the Burg for casual thrills. Can't take Dark Souls PC online seriously.

 

[Laurentius]

I love how everytime I think "oh, this boss was easy, this area was easy. The game must be getting easy, or I'm just overlevelled or something" -- it throws me some new hard boss or area or challenge that I just can't seem to beat. Currently stuck on Artorias.

Great stuff.

 

[oracrest]

Nice! What's the best way to deal with his overhead AOE dark fire attack? I can never seem to roll away from it in time

In my experience breaking lock-on and running away works best.

Btw, Oracrest, did you use a crossbow or just pure melee? I need to get around to doing a pure melee run myself, maybe on my video series.

Yeah, breaking away from lock-on, and hauling ass away is the best strategy. Even if I am totally drained of stamina, it will come back enough to get away unscathed before the fire reaches me. Also, getting into the habit of rushing his sweeping fire attack is a good habit, as that one is slow, and comes from your right.

Nice. Congrats.

I'm debating whether I want to do Kalameet next, or go back and do some optional stuff I've been neglecting, like the Painted World and Gwyndolin.

Kalameet was hard, and I had most of my stuff levelled up to the max. gough's dialogue after killing him is interesting.

Spoiler

I started to wonder if he might also be the blacksmith in Anor Londo, as they are both blind, and maybe in time he resorted to blacksmithing to help out undead, but he mentions having things he wanted to say to the blacksmith, and wondered if he was still hammering away, so that shot that theory out of the water....

 

[ripastraea]

nvm

 

[I H8 Memes]

Is it possible to upgrade the Domhnall armor set that includes the Helm of the Wise? It's really my favorite set appearance wise, but unless I can upgrade it it's not much use to me anymore.

Also, here's my choices of places to go.

Spoiler

Dukes Archives
New Londo Ruins
Valley of the Drakes
Catacombs

Thinking that I should probably do them in that order.

 

[ripastraea]

Nope the Domhnall of Zena set can't be upgraded. Wearing the Gauntlets of the Vanquisher on my new faith right now along with the Gold-Hemmed Black Gloves. Love how they look and Gauntlets of the Vanquisher just sounds badass

 

[zkylon]

Is it possible to upgrade the Domhnall armor set that includes the Helm of the Wise? It's really my favorite set appearance wise, but unless I can upgrade it it's not much use to me anymore.

Also, here's my choices of places to go.

Spoiler

Dukes Archives
New Londo Ruins
Valley of the Drakes
Catacombs

Thinking that I should probably do them in that order.

Nope, can't upgrade that one.

 

[The_Hitcher89]

Continued:

Ceaseless Discharge = Done the long way, but easy enough to do. Red Tearstone from fall damage before the fight makes it less tedious.

Iron Golem = Took the damage for Red Tearstone to kill him in record time. But can anybody explain to me why the hell he didn't fall off the bridge, seems like I was damaging and hit him enough... :\

Sif = Just roll through everything and beat him like a dog, no shield or anything else needed. The awkward positioning the Reinforced Club swings put you in almost guarantee a eventual Red Tearstone activation.

Gwyndolin = Easy as always, have no idea why I got stuck with a needle for like the first time in forever, but otherwise like a glove. With Ring of Favor you can tank his large magic blast to get Red Tearstone activated and kill him in two meetings tops.

How come your club does so much damage at SL1? Or was that only because you used a fire item?

(Iron Golem btw)

 

[ripastraea]

I'm not a junior anymore

Time to break out the Estus and celebrate with Souls GAF

 

[zkylon]

How come your club does so much damage at SL1? Or was that only because you used a fire item?

(Iron Golem btw)

Red Tearstone ring. Gets you in hyper mode when you're low on health and you do 50% more damage.

http://darksouls.wikidot.com/red-tearstone-ring

 

[EatChildren]

 

[The_Hitcher89]

Red Tearstone ring. Gets you in hyper mode when you're low on health and you do 50% more damage.

http://darksouls.wikidot.com/red-tearstone-ring

Guessing its more useful for the agile guys who get things done quickly and dodge attacks? I'm more of a defensive tank, and try keeping my health up at all times. I have it in my inventory I think but never used it

 

[toddhunter]

I love those red guys. So hidden away, so useless and never used again.

Those areas are such a nice contrast to the later copy paste zones.

 

[zkylon]

Guessing its more useful for the agile guys who get things done quickly and dodge attacks? I'm more of a defensive tank, and try keeping my health up at all times. I have it in my inventory I think but never used it

Yup, red tearstone ring + power within can burst down bosses very fast but it's basically one hit and you're dead.

It's meant for highly skilled players.

 

[ripastraea]

Nice weapon selection

Use both when buffing with my Darkmoon. Gargoyle Tail Axe is especially underused in PVP

 

[EatChildren]

Gargoyle Tail Axe is so fucking good if you get your two handed heavy jump attack timing down.

 

[Sir Ilpalazzo]

Very much agreed.

Dark Souls is an RPG and an adventure game before it is an action game. Thus, RNG and randomized drops fit much better than boring, pre-set, fixed drops. You already have methods to increase drop rates if you know what you're doing (ring, humanity), and I think that's enough. You could have something like lower level = higher rare drops, but people would exploit the hell out of it. Anyway, rare items in RPGs have always existed and are cool.

I'm not sure how you can say Dark Souls is more of an RPG than an action game. Stat progression doesn't keep the game from being closer to Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden than it is to Final Fantasy.

Obviously the randomized drop system as it is doesn't work well even with items like the gold serpent ring because there's no way to increase low drop rates to reasonable levels. If you want a large club, dragon torso stone, or channeler's trident is walk back and forth, killing the same few enemies over and over - the antithesis of fun or engaging gameplay. If you want to make a specific kind of build, you should be able to do it whenever you want to or are able to through skill and knowledge, and not have to rely on luck. Removing low drop rates from the game would be an all-around improvement and would disappoint no one.

 

[The_Hitcher89]

How do I get to this item in Sen's Fortress? Loving teh Lightning Spear btw

Also, there is a hole in the floor with a ladder that goes nowhere, and a stack of boulders going down the hole. Is there any point to this area?

 

[Soulhouf]

Nice to see more and more people are beating the game SL1.

I did it SL2 and SL1 no upgrade as well.

I wonder if there are other starting classes that have the same challenge as the SL2 (cleric) run. Deprived perhaps?

 

[Principate]

How do I get to this item in Sen's Fortress? Loving teh Lightning Spear btw



Also, there is a hole in the floor with a ladder that goes nowhere, and a stack of boulders going down the hole. Is there any point to this area?

Boulders come you wait for the hole to fill up with bolders with a more bolder breaking the wall at the top to reveal the covertous serpert ring (increases drop rate). Simple exploring sen's fortress relatively deeply should get yo that item, I forgot precisely where but's probably a soldiers soul.

Nice to see more and more people are beating the game SL1.

I did it SL2 and SL1 no upgrade as well.

I wonder if there are other starting classes that have the same challenge as the SL2 (cleric) run. Deprived perhaps?

TBF whats the difference, aren't they all pretty much the same difficulty wise? I went through most of the game with an unupgraded hand axe which you can use with any class so aside from pyromancy which becomes a lot more useful at laurentius anyway shouldn't sl2 be cleric be easier. I mean heck you get access to some faith spells should you choose.

 

[Red Liquorice]

I gave Anastacia's firekeeper soul to the firekeeper in Anor Londo, I didn't know it was unique I thought they were all interchangable! Now Firelink is out forever on this run, woe is me!

Boulders come you wait for the hole to fill up with bolders with a more bolder breaking the wall at the top to reveal the covertous serpert ring (increases drop rate). Simple exploring sen's fortress relatively deeply should get yo that item, I forgot precisely where but's probably a soldiers soul.

That item in the pic is the serpent ring.

 

[Soulhouf]

TBF whats the difference, aren't they all pretty much the same difficulty wise? I went through most of the game with an unupgraded hand axe which you can use with any class so aside from pyromancy which becomes a lot more useful at laurentius anyway shouldn't sl2 be cleric be easier. I mean heck you get access to some faith spells should you choose.

What makes SL2 Cleric harder is that it has less endurance and only one attunment slot. IMHO the 14 faith it has are not useful and are better used elsewhere.

 

[The_Hitcher89]

That item in the pic is the serpent ring.

Any idea how I get to it?

Also, the broken wall leads to Big Hat Logan I think

 

[Red Liquorice]

Any idea how I get to it?

Also, the broken wall leads to Big Hat Logan I think

Principate said. You go down where the lightning spear is and wait for the boulders to fill up the area where the ladder goes down in the pit, when it fills up the next one will smash the wall and you can go in and get the ring - watch out for the boulders on your way out!

 

[The_Hitcher89]

Principate said. You go down where the lightning spear is and wait for the boulders to fill up the area where the ladder goes down in the pit, when it fills up the next one will smash the wall and you can go in and get the ring - watch out for the boulders on your way out!

So there are 2 walls that get broken by the boulders? Cheers

 

[Principate]

What makes SL2 Cleric harder is that it has less endurance and only one attunment slot. IMHO the 14 faith it has are not useful and are better used elsewhere.

Well it makes catacombs easier, and gives you force which is great for most general mobs. I can see the attunment slot being a issue but if you have a decent weapon, you don't really need more than great combustion and if you really wanted it you could get the seance ring. Endurance if probably the only major issue.

 

[Red Liquorice]

So there are 2 walls that get broken by the boulders? Cheers

Yep.

Well it makes catacombs easier, and gives you force which is great for most general mobs. I can see the attunment slot being a issue but if you have a decent weapon, you don't really need more than great combustion and if you really wanted it you could get the seance ring. Endurance if probably the only major issue.

Whoah. Never thought about using the attunement slot incease rings on a low-level run.

 

[Seanspeed]

I gave Anastacia's firekeeper soul to the firekeeper in Anor Londo, I didn't know it was unique I thought they were all interchangable! Now Firelink is out forever on this run, woe is me!

Yea, stuff like this is why I dont recommend that people play this without consulting a guide at all. Unless you definitely plan on multiple playthroughs, I guess.

 

[GoddyofAus]

Just started the game. Holy fuck do you need to be on your toes. I got killed by a big dude in black armor then gave it away for the night.

 

[oracrest]

Just started the game. Holy fuck do you need to be on your toes. I got killed by a big dude in black armor then gave it away for the night.

That guy will get you familiar with just how te fighting system is designed real quick!

Remember to drop your shield as often as possible for quick stamina recovery, and you can roll through attacks to avoid damage as well.

Patience is your friend!

 

[Laurentius]

Do very many people play in the arena area in the DLC on PC? Just got there and waited for quite a bit for a match and never found one. How long do you typically have to wait for a match?

 

[Akuun]

Yeah, breaking away from lock-on, and hauling ass away is the best strategy. Even if I am totally drained of stamina, it will come back enough to get away unscathed before the fire reaches me. Also, getting into the habit of rushing his sweeping fire attack is a good habit, as that one is slow, and comes from your right.

Kalameet was hard, and I had most of my stuff levelled up to the max. gough's dialogue after killing him is interesting.

Spoiler

I started to wonder if he might also be the blacksmith in Anor Londo, as they are both blind, and maybe in time he resorted to blacksmithing to help out undead, but he mentions having things he wanted to say to the blacksmith, and wondered if he was still hammering away, so that shot that theory out of the water....

Had a couple of runs at Kalameet last night and decided I wanted a short break from grinding away at bosses. I'm in the Painted World right now after beating Moonlight Butterfly (had totally forgotten about that thing until now lol).

He doesn't seem quite as intimidating as Manus, mostly because he has less hard-to-avoid lethal attacks and seems to be a little more lenient in terms of letting you heal up. I do still expect to take more than a day to get him down, though.

I like Gough. He's so laid back. He really gives the impression of a tired old man who's done all sorts of crazy shit back in the day, and just wants to relax now.

Just started the game. Holy fuck do you need to be on your toes. I got killed by a big dude in black armor then gave it away for the night.

That guy is the reason why I took something like 5 hours before beating the first non-tutorial boss in the game. I was stubborn and insisted on fighting that guy first before taking on the boss. It was... not the smartest thing to do.

The only thing I have to show for it today is a certain satisfaction in going down there every time I start a new game, and then parrying the fuck out of him.

That asshole.

 

[Bulk_Rate]

Just beat the PC version for first time (2x ea. on 360 and PS3) and my GFWL achievement failed to update.

Feelsogood.gif

 

[Sullichin]

Do very many people play in the arena area in the DLC on PC? Just got there and waited for quite a bit for a match and never found one. How long do you typically have to wait for a match?

no it's pretty dead. You are much better off waiting to get invaded in Ooacile township.

 

[I H8 Memes]

This kind of thing usually doesnt bother me but all this whispering in the Dukes Archives is freaking me out.

 

[Laurentius]

no it's pretty dead. You are much better off waiting to get invaded in Ooacile township.

That's too bad... I honestly don't get invaded a whole lot either. I really like the concept of the online play in this game, but it's too bad that (at least on the PC version) it doesn't seem implemented well at all.

 

[Akuun]

This kind of thing usually doesnt bother me but all this whispering in the Dukes Archives is freaking me out.

There is whispering there? I never noticed...

I do know what you mean though. The Tower of Latria in Demon's Souls creeps me out for the same reason.


Just cleared Painted World. Left Priscilla alone because I never spared her before, and I always feel kind of bad killing her for her stuff.

 

[Sullichin]

That's too bad... I honestly don't get invaded a whole lot either. I really like the concept of the online play in this game, but it's too bad that (at least on the PC version) it doesn't seem implemented well at all.

From what I read, the game builds a pool of P2P IP addresses over time, starting when you first connect to GFWL. I started just idling or staying on the title screen for a while before loading my save if I want to play online. After a little while I can get consistent invasions in the burg/township at SL120, but it's annoying for sure. Also make sure you're in human form and the area boss is still alive. It's much quicker to get things going on PS3. You also have to make sure your NAT is open/forward ports if necessary, which I didn't have to bother with in the PS3 version.

 

[SJRB]

I just entered the Oolacile Santuary for the first time, never played the DLC parts before. I almost forgot to go too, I was already on my way to the Kiln haha.

Anyway, I was prepared for the worst, but I slapped the Guardian all over the place. Looking forward to exploring the rest tomorrow.

 

[chunk3rvd]

Long shot but does anyone have a few spare red chunks on a character around SL44?

Hit the half way point of Anor Londo and have been engaging in a bit of PVP in the forest before I head into the 2nd half of the game. Would like to upgrade my chaos shotel and washing pole but I have no inclination to head into Lost Izalith to farm Chaos Eaters. Don't have much I could trade in the way of chunks but I have 200,000 spare souls so would be happy to spend it on a bunch of twinkling titanite, lightning bolts or any other similar way of sinking cash that I can access at this point in the game if it would sweeten the deal

Edit: I'm on PC btw

 

[toddhunter]

I just entered the Oolacile Santuary for the first time, never played the DLC parts before. I almost forgot to go too, I was already on my way to the Kiln haha.

Anyway, I was prepared for the worst, but I slapped the Guardian all over the place. Looking forward to exploring the rest tomorrow.

I probably made the same mistake. I had heard how hard it was so levelled up and left it for last. In that state shit was free :|

Playing again at a lower level showed me how cool it all was, especially the bosses. Each fight felt really fair.

 

[Sullichin]

Long shot but does anyone have a few spare red chunks on a character around SL44?

Hit the half way point of Anor Londo and have been engaging in a bit of PVP in the forest before I head into the 2nd half of the game. Would like to upgrade my chaos shotel and washing pole but I have no inclination to head into Lost Izalith to farm Chaos Eaters. Don't have much I could trade in the way of chunks but I have 200,000 spare souls so would be happy to spend it on a bunch of twinkling titanite, lightning bolts or any other similar way of sinking cash that I can access at this point in the game if it would sweeten the deal

Edit: I'm on PC btw

I have a lot on a SL119, but I'm pretty sure you should be able to drop the red sign soapstone and I should be able to summon you. I'll check if my lower level characters have any

 

[chunk3rvd]

I have a lot on a SL119, but I'm pretty sure you should be able to drop the red sign soapstone and I should be able to summon you. I'll check if my lower level characters have any

That would be great, thanks. I haven't been into the painted world yet to get the soapstone but I may give it a shot in the next day or two and come back to you if that's ok?