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[Red Liquorice]

SL1 run, 15-20 attempts at the Maneaters in I realised I could use a bow (because it's technically two-handing the weapon) so I had enough strength, why did I forget this before now?!

Everything is done now except 1-4, which is a huge PITA. I want to take out the dragon now I'm with bow, the easiest place to get in clever rat ring range seems to be the archers at the start, the second red eye knight in the tower is killing me about 60% of the time, the Fat Imperial or the dragon is killing me the rest of the time, I made it to Ostrava once (before I remembered I wanted to use the ring) and his phantom one shot me so couldn't use him to get in range). I think I can get by the dragon on the stairs easy enough every time, it's just getting there!

 

[Ted]

Hello Demon's Souls GAF.

I've never really played a Souls game before and am going into this game with no real information beyond the impression that it is hard, requires a certain amount of forethought and demands a certain amount of dedication from the player.

I don't really want to spoil anything so I am trying hard not to visit any FAQ/walkthrough sites but I have a couple of questions that don't seem to be covered in game and I wondered if you guys could help me out without spoiling too much going forward.

For some context, I started on Friday and I'm really enjoying it, I've so far taken my time and haven't had too many difficulties. Where I have died it has always been because I have either done something stupid or rushed through an area and been overwhelmed. So far I have defeated the boss in the first section of the first level (Phalanx), crossed the bridge guarded by that freakin' annoying fire breathing dragon and defeated the next boss (Tower Knight).

I ended up killing the dragon using arrows by standing on the roof of the first tower and putting the best part of 80 arrows in his head/neck! After killing it I noticed that the area where they had been sitting previously (earlier in the level where you save the guy in the flashy armour) was now unprotected. I wandered around there and found a cool shield which I could use as I didn't have enough stats so I made it my mission to level up enough to use it (which I have now done). Whilst doing that I tried a few of the other Archstones in the Nexus but haven't got very far in any of these worlds (though I have found a few cool trinkets).

My character is a female "Royal" with the "Purple Flame Shield" and "Compound Longbow" in her left hand and a sword ("Falchion") and wand ("Silver Catalyst") in her right.

So my questions (apologies for any incorrect wording and the no doubt "n00bness" of my questions!):

Now that I have killed the big Tower Knight guy, where should I go next?

I don't seem to be able to progress further into Boliterian Palace as the next fog door tells me I need to kill an Archdemon (which I presume is another Boss?) so I guess I need to explore the other worlds.

I assume the archstones in the Nexus go left to right in order though the fact they are also on different levels up and down the curved stairways makes me wonder if I am right? Should I basically just head straight to the next one over ("Stonefang Tunnel") or is there something else I should be doing first?

With regards to my character, what should I be aiming for if I want a fairly general purpose melee plus magic type? So far I have worked on leveling up Strength and Dexterity (to use my shield and sword) as well as putting a few points into magic so my soul arrows are more powerful.

Is there a general guide anywhere that talks about assessing weapon and character stats without too many game progression spoilers? I took a quick look at one but closed the page as most of the weapons were listed a little like "Weapon" - "get this from n-n by killing the xxx" - "good for killing xxx demon to get xyz" which I don't really want to know (at least not yet).

In my inventory I have a bunch of "unknown hero" and similar souls that seem to become normal souls and add to my balance when I use them. Should I do this or are these souls used for something else later in the game? I have kept most of them (and the three special ones I have got from killing bosses/the dragon though that is mostly just vanity and the need for a keepsake!) so far but reckon I have enough now that if I cash them in I could get another stat point or two.

And last, and probably least, in the pseudo-pause menu there is an option for World Tendency but it doesn't seem to be interactive at all and rather a status indicator of some sort, what is this and do I need to worry about it?

Sorry for all the random questions, it's really hard to find the answers without ending up knowing more than I want to on an initial play through!

 

[Red Liquorice]

Archdemons are the final boss of each area/Archstone, so until you have killed at least one of them in another archstone, you can't progress to the next part of Boletaria (1-3). There's no immediate rush to do that, the nice thing about Demon's Souls is you can tackle the areas in any order you like.

There's no real order, but going left to right is a standard enough path - we number the archstones and areas left to right so Boletaria is area 1, so the first part upto Phallanx is level 1-1, the dragon bridge up to Tower Knight is 1-2, the first area of Stonefang tunnel is 2-1, and so on. You'll see this system referenced a lot.

http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/stats
http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/weapons
The wikidot Souls wikis are my favourite, but there's a few others. All the wikis tend to list the weapons with their lore, location, stats etc so they're going to be a bit spoilery, but if you take a look at the general overall weapons/stats pages they will explain what all the numbers and symbols mean without spoiling anything else.

Basically when you level up, you want to level up the stats that will give your offense the biggest stat bonus on the weapon you're using. All weapons gain a damage output bonus based on your stats, and each weapon has a letter grading on what stats it scales with. That' the letter/symbol combintion on each weapons stat page. For example a big heavy weapon will probably scale well (grade B or above) with Strength, so leveling up strength will increase the damage bonus you get when using that weapon.
People tend to pick a weapon or two (or type of weapon) and stick with them throughout the game then level up the stats it scales well with. Same for magic, if you're using magic putting points into magic/int will make your spells more powerful or allow you equip more spells.

The consumable soul items (unknown heros soul etc) are to be used whenever you like, they have no other purpose. Use them to level up, upgrade weapons etc. Boss souls DO have another purpose, they can be used to craft unique weapons or exchange for spells, and each boss soul may have more than one use, so hang on to them until you're sure you know what you want to use it for (if you don't want to use it for anything else, consume it for souls). The boss souls you might want to look up on the wiki as the game isn't great about telling you before hand what each one does, especially for weapons.

World/Character Tendency: Probably the most esoteric and initially confusing aspect of Demon's Souls. There are unique events, enemies and characters in each world that happens only when your character has character/world tendency at either end of the scale (pure black, pure white). Being in black tendency also effects item drop rate and strength of enemies.

The basics are - Kill a boss in an area, it notches that areas world tendency up towards white, die in human form in that area and it shifts it to black. So if you want to go all the way white, kill bosses. If all the way black, use ephemeral eyes (or defeat a boss) to return to human form (full health bar) and die in that area. The tendency of an area won't take effect until you return to the Nexus. This is why you see a lot of bloodstains in the Nexus, after killing a boss and returning human, a lot of players will go to the Nexus, fall from a high place to die in the Nexus so when they return to a world they are in spirit form and dying there won't affect their world tendency.

Charater Tendency can be changed similarly with killing NPCs (goes black) and towards white by killing human invaders or black phantoms (NPC invaders).

http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/world-tendency
http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/character-tendency

It's initially confusing and not something I would recommend trying to achieve 100% on your first playthrough, think of it as extra content for NG+ or another run through.

Good luck and if you need more help ask the experts in this thread (I'm not one of them!), we'll all keep it spoiler free, that first playthrough is special!

 

[Vitten]

Wall of Text

The beauty of the game is that there is no fixed order to run through the levels, you can tackle anything in any order that you want.
It's also not a bad idea to make small excursions in a level to pick something usefull and then warp out again and try your luck in another level.
For instance, I always like to head into world 5 asap to pick up the Blessed Mace in the first level and then warp back to the Nexus. Then I go to world 4 and own the skelletons with the Mace. ( There's lots of good weapons and items in world 4-1, you should pick this place clean )

Some general tips:
- always wear the thief ring. It will greatly reduce the agro range of enemies and make the game considerable easier.
- don't bother with heavy armour. The defense bonus is negligible, stick to light armour so you can fastrol. Being able to fastrol is VERY important to avoid incoming hits and get out of trouble.
- Upgrade your Compound Longbow with spiderstone down the 'Sticky' path.
- Get the Second Chance miracle asap, it makes you very hard to kill.
- Learn about Hyper mode: you'll be able to one shot almost anything except bosses.
- don't bother too much about the tendencies at first. They're a very cool feature for experienced players who want to get to fully explore the game but they're not important for a first playthrough. Just don't die too often in body form or this will make the world tendency blacker and make the game much harder ( enemies hit harder, special enemies might appear )

But most of all just enjoy the game.. Playing through Demon's Souls the first time was undoubtedly my best experience from previous gen.

 

[Ted]

Hi Red Liquorice, thanks for that reply, it's very much appreciated.

Archdemons are the final boss of each area/Archstone, so until you have killed at least one of them in another archstone, you can't progress to the next part of Boletaria (1-3). There's no immediate rush to do that, the nice thing about Demon's Souls is you can tackle the areas in any order you like.

There's no real order, but going left to right is a standard enough path - we number the archstones and areas left to right so Boletaria is area 1, so the first part upto Phallanx is level 1-1, the dragon bridge up to Tower Knight is 1-2, the first area of Stonefang tunnel is 2-1, and so on. You'll see this system referenced a lot.

Ah OK, so, for want of a better way to term it, it's x environment - n stage with each stage having a boss. Is there three stages for each environment?

http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/stats
http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/weapons
The wikidot Souls wikis are my favourite, but there's a few others. All the wikis tend to list the weapons with their lore, location, stats etc so they're going to be a bit spoilery, but if you take a look at the general overall weapons/stats pages they will explain what all the numbers and symbols mean without spoiling anything else.

These links are perfect, all the information I need with very few spoilers.

The image on the weapons page showing what each of the stats in the item description screen in the game is of particular use. When I get home I'm pretty sure I'm going to have that page open whilst stockpile Thomas and I confer about what goodies are in my little vault!

Basically when you level up, you want to level up the stats that will give your offense the biggest stat bonus on the weapon you're using. All weapons gain a damage output bonus based on your stats, and each weapon has a letter grading on what stats it scales with. That' the letter/symbol combintion on each weapons stat page. For example a big heavy weapon will probably scale well (grade B or above) with Strength, so leveling up strength will increase the damage bonus you get when using that weapon.

People tend to pick a weapon or two (or type of weapon) and stick with them throughout the game then level up the stats it scales well with. Same for magic, if you're using magic putting points into magic/int will make your spells more powerful or allow you equip more spells.

This is super useful. I'm guessing different bosses have different weaknesses so a little bit of range in terms of the type of damage that can be done by your portfolio of weapons is a generally good idea?

The consumable soul items (unknown heros soul etc) are to be used whenever you like, they have no other purpose. Use them to level up, upgrade weapons etc. Boss souls DO have another purpose, they can be used to craft unique weapons or exchange for spells, and each boss soul may have more than one use, so hang on to them until you're sure you know what you want to use it for (if you don't want to use it for anything else, consume it for souls). The boss souls you might want to look up on the wiki as the game isn't great about telling you before hand what each one does, especially for weapons.

Excellent, this should get me a couple of stat points then to add to my character. I'll look up the boss soul uses I guess after I defeat each one so as not to spoil too much.

World/Character Tendency: Probably the most esoteric and initially confusing aspect of Demon's Souls. There are unique events, enemies and characters in each world that happens only when your character has character/world tendency at either end of the scale (pure black, pure white). Being in black tendency also effects item drop rate and strength of enemies.

The basics are - Kill a boss in an area, it notches that areas world tendency up towards white, die in human form in that area and it shifts it to black. So if you want to go all the way white, kill bosses. If all the way black, use ephemeral eyes (or defeat a boss) to return to human form (full health bar) and die in that area. The tendency of an area won't take effect until you return to the Nexus. This is why you see a lot of bloodstains in the Nexus, after killing a boss and returning human, a lot of players will go to the Nexus, fall from a high place to die in the Nexus so when they return to a world they are in spirit form and dying there won't affect their world tendency.

Charater Tendency can be changed similarly with killing NPCs (goes black) and towards white by killing human invaders or black phantoms (NPC invaders).

http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/world-tendency
http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/character-tendency

It's initially confusing and not something I would recommend trying to achieve 100% on your first playthrough, think of it as extra content for NG+ or another run through.

I think that last paragraph is sound advice. I assume NG+ is more difficult in terms of NPC levels but my character remains leveled up? If so do you also keep your weapon stock?

What is the end game re. World Tendency and Character Tendency? Do some NPCs only appear/act differently/supply different drops according to WT and CT?

Good luck and if you need more help ask the experts in this thread (I'm not one of them!), we'll all keep it spoiler free, that first playthrough is special!

Thanks Red. It's certainly been a journey of discovery so far!

Hi Vitten, thanks for the reply. I appreciate the feedback.

The beauty of the game is that there is no fixed order to run through the levels, you can tackle anything in any order that you want.
It's also not a bad idea to make small excursions in a level to pick something usefull and then warp out again and try your luck in another level.

For instance, I always like to head into world 5 asap to pick up the Blessed Mace in the first level and then warp back to the Nexus. Then I go to world 4 and own the skelletons with the Mace. ( There's lots of good weapons and items in world 4-1, you should pick this place clean )

That seems like a good idea and I have to admit I've been dropping in and out of the other worlds just to see what each is like and to try and judge the difficulty of each. And like you mention I have found a few nice trinkets as a result, like my long bow from the level with the skeletons at the beginning.

Some general tips:
- always wear the thief ring. It will greatly reduce the agro range of enemies and make the game considerable easier.
- don't bother with heavy armour. The defense bonus is negligible, stick to light armour so you can fastrol. Being able to fastrol is VERY important to avoid incoming hits and get out of trouble.
- Upgrade your Compound Longbow with spiderstone down the 'Sticky' path.
- Get the Second Chance miracle asap, it makes you very hard to kill.
- Learn about Hyper mode: you'll be able to one shot almost anything except bosses.
- don't bother too much about the tendencies at first. They're a very cool feature for experienced players who want to get to fully explore the game but they're not important for a first playthrough. Just don't die too often in body form or this will make the world tendency blacker and make the game much harder ( enemies hit harder, special enemies might appear )

Thanks for these. Some of them don't make sense right now but I'm sure they will become clearer as I advance in the game.

But most of all just enjoy the game.. Playing through Demon's Souls the first time was undoubtedly my best experience from previous gen.

This seems to be the overwhelming majority opinion so I'm pleased I'm getting to play it relatively un-spoilt given it's been out for years and years!

Thanks guys.

 

[Red Liquorice]

Ah OK, so, for want of a better way to term it, it's x environment - n stage with each stage having a boss. Is there three stages for each environment?

3 for each except Boletaria, which is 4.

This is super useful. I'm guessing different bosses have different weaknesses so a little bit of range in terms of the type of damage that can be done by your portfolio of weapons is a generally good idea?

Hmmm, maybe. Some upgrade materials can be hard to come by, so you don't really want to waste them. Picking one or two weapons is preferable to having half a dozen. Any weapon is viable to take you through the game, so unless you want to be farming for upgrade materials it's better to stick to a main and maybe back-up weapon. You can also snipe with a bow and there's your shield to upgrade too if you're using one. And consumable temporary weapon buffs can give your weapon fire or magic damage for a boss who might be weak to it (saves farming/leveling up to use a specific fire/magic weapon if you don't have the stats for it).

I think that last paragraph is sound advice. I assume NG+ is more difficult in terms of NPC levels but my character remains leveled up? If so do you also keep your weapon stock?

What is the end game re. World Tendency and Character Tendency? Do some NPCs only appear/act differently/supply different drops according to WT and CT?

You keep all your stats and items/weapons going into NG+ except keys - The enemies have more health and do more damage in NG+ and increase in damage every NG after that up to NG+7.

You got it re: tendency. Certain NPCs only appear when you are at either extreme of either pure white or pure black and they have different drops and events at either white/black too. Here's an early, very small non-character related spoiler example of a tendency change that you might have guessed already:

Spoiler

In either pure black or white tendency, the locked small gate that leads to the execution grounds at the start/left of 1-1 will be open

One totally unrelated thing that can be frustrating is the item burden. They dropped this mechanic for the series after Demon's Souls, but here your character has item burden. If you pick up loot and it would overburden you, you either have to leave it behind or drop something else in order to carry it. If you pick up a treasure that you can't carry, the "dropped" item will sit on the ground, but disappear forever once you leave the area and return to the Nexus. - This can be really annoying if you loot a set of armour but can't carry it, so always drop off stuff at Stockpile Thomas in between worlds, and speak to him too, he has something to trade that will help with item burden if you have something he wants.

 

[Ted]

3 for each except Boletaria, which is 4.

A lot to do then. I've sort of decided this game deserves a little time so I'm going to have a quick go when I can to keep my hand in but mostly play late evenings when the house is quiet and I have some time to think.

Hmmm, maybe. Some upgrade materials can be hard to come by, so you don't really want to waste them. Picking one or two weapons is preferable to having half a dozen. Any weapon is viable to take you through the game, so unless you want to be farming for upgrade materials it's better to stick to a main and maybe back-up weapon. You can also snipe with a bow and there's your shield to upgrade too if you're using one. And consumable temporary weapon buffs can give your weapon fire or magic damage for a boss who might be weak to it (saves farming/leveling up to use a specific fire/magic weapon if you don't have the stats for it).

That sounds sensible. I'm quite liking my Falchion but the winged spear I found in 1-2 (oooh get me!) seems to have a better range. I think I'll use this first playthrough as a chance to try a few weapons and see what fits.

You keep all your stats and items/weapons going into NG+ except keys - The enemies have more health and do more damage in NG+ and increase in damage every NG after that up to NG+7.

NG+7!! This speaks volumes about the depth of game. Colour me impressed.

You got it re: tendency. Certain NPCs only appear when you are at either extreme of either pure white or pure black and they have different drops and events at either white/black too. Here's an early, very small non-character related spoiler example of a tendency change that you might have guessed already:

Spoiler

In either pure black or white tendency, the locked small gate that leads to the execution grounds at the start/left of 1-1 will be open

One totally unrelated thing that can be frustrating is the item burden. They dropped this mechanic for the series after Demon's Souls, but here your character has item burden. If you pick up loot and it would overburden you, you either have to leave it behind or drop something else in order to carry it. If you pick up a treasure that you can't carry, the "dropped" item will sit on the ground, but disappear forever once you leave the area and return to the Nexus. - This can be really annoying if you loot a set of armour but can't carry it, so always drop off stuff at Stockpile Thomas in between worlds, and speak to him too, he has something to trade that will help with item burden if you have something he wants.

It's funny you should mention both of these as I experienced both yesterday pretty much directly after reading your post.

I hadn't sussed that

Spoiler

the locked gate on the side of the bridge

was related to world tendency but had wondered how I get through it. Last night I checked again (now I have killed two bosses in this area and only died in translucent form) and it was open. I went in and killed the

Spoiler

red dudes that appear like magic from the ground/fire and then went into the little room and was met by a scarecrow looking dude with a monster axe. It slaughtered me a couple of times before I got lucky and essentially pushed it down the hole. When I climbed down to get any drop from it and negotiated the beams to get the colourless demon soul (which I presume was dropped by killing this creature) I was met by an overburdened message when I tried to pick up the hood/helm/armour left by it. Luckily I just dropped my arrows and that was enough to make up the difference so I got it back to Stockpile Thomas

but it freaked me out when I saw it! I was hoping to get the

Spoiler

axe

it wielded but I couldn't find it. Does that not drop or did I lose it, possibly in the water down the hole?

Thanks again for all the pointers. I'm looking forward to getting back to it soon. I want to explore 2-1 next, it;s got a really dark and dank atmosphere but I don't want to get to a point of no-return and not have time to finish up!

 

[Red Liquorice]

The gate being open means you were in pure white, and the NPC was Miralda the Executioner. Pushing her down the hole is a legit easy strategy to kill her, her loot is her armour - for NPCs like this the loot WILL be there when you quit/reload in the place where they are before you attack them (top of the stairs), so it should still be there (not 100% I've quit/reload to get loot but never left the area and come back, I think you should be ok). Because the loot is not on the (ragdoll) body I think the game treats it differently to regular enemy loot.

The armour set at the bottom of that pit is from another character (item descriptions tell you a lot about the lore of the world). You can get Miralda's axe though, it's a separate drop from....

Spoiler

her black phantom in pure black tendency

- read at your own discretion!

 

[PillarEN]

Help a newbie out guys and girls. I must have like 6 or more hours. I'm in souls form. 1-1. Red Knight has been kicking my ass 3 hours straight. Chickened away from the dragon's path. What should I do? And how do I become human form again? Is it a specific souls count?
Playing as a wanderer

Edit- and he killed me again. I think I'm gonna cry. Not really of course but I've had my moment of a vocal outburst.

 

[Red Liquorice]

The Red Eye Knight is an early hurdle for most players. Good News - there's no reason at all other than personal goals to kill him. He's guarding a locked door you can't access yet any way. You can cheese him by leading him to the tower at the opposite end and making him charge off from a height killing him, but there's no reason to kill him. Come back later in the game and he will be a pussy cat!

The Dragon bridge is the way you want to go, and you can either run across in between his blasts of fire across the bridge or go back to where the other blue dragon is, wait for him to return there and then run back to the bridge and across.

Human form - You go human either when you kill a boss, or use a Stone of Ephemeral Eye (consumable item). Although you can only do co-op in human form, each time you die when human, it will take the area you are in one step closer to black world tendency, which makes that area more difficult, so it's advisable to stay in soul form. If you haven't picked it up yet, get the Cling Ring which is at the bottom of the tower I mentioned above, it increases your HP when in soul form (or rather decreases the HP you lose when not in human form). Essential equipment.

The Thief's Ring is also a good find, it is on the platform where Ostrava is (the dude in gold armour), you can either get there by rolling from the steps, or walking against the wall to trigger your character to climb over the wall.

Good luck, keep at it. The boss of 1-1 isn't too hard, after the dragon bridge there isn't much more to do and you will open a shortcut which means even if you die to the boss you won't have to go through the whole level again.

 

[PillarEN]

Oh haha. I actually have the thief ring as well as the bow and the key to the place that the red knight is guarding (only to learn that there is a stronger foe inside lol). Well I'm gonna give the knight one last shot as I've had him near a quarter of death. If not I'll make my way back to the dragon.

Edit- well, he one shoted me. To the dragon we go.

 

[Tarkus]

Help a newbie out guys and girls. I must have like 6 or more hours. I'm in souls form. 1-1. Red Knight has been kicking my ass 3 hours straight. Chickened away from the dragon's path. What should I do? And how do I become human form again? Is it a specific souls count?
Playing as a wanderer

Edit- and he killed me again. I think I'm gonna cry. Not really of course but I've had my moment of a vocal outburst.

Come back to Red Eye when you've mastered roll dodging, backstabbing, and parrying. He's actually a great training device for those techniques. Don't give up.

 

[Lightning_Roller]

Hello, I'm new to this thread and I was wondering if anyone can assist me in taking down maneater. Also I'm really enjoying Demon's Souls as well.

 

[PillarEN]

Alright. Passed the bridge and got the main gate open. Went back to the Nexus and calling it a night. I'm scared to know what lies ahead but it feels good to be making some progress after getting into a self-imposed dead end.

 

[Red Liquorice]

Well done PillarEN. The first boss is quite easy, you got this. The game opens up after the first boss and then you can tackle any of the 5 worlds in any order you like.


LightningRoller - tell us what SL you are and what region you're in (the game's servers are region locked)

 

[Lightning_Roller]

My SL: 39
My region: US

 

[kitzkozan]

Well done PillarEN. The first boss is quite easy, you got this. The game opens up after the first boss and then you can tackle any of the 5 worlds in any order you like.


LightningRoller - tell us what SL you are and what region you're in (the game's servers are region locked)

While true, it's a bumpy ride to jump straight into 4-1 or 5-1 as a complete newbie. I would recommend 1-2 or 2-1 as the next world to attempt, as even 3-1 contain a couple of punishing enemies (but it's certainly feasible from 1-1). I killed the first boss if each world, but I'll attempt the arch demon of world 2 since it's rewarding with all those crystal lizards and ore everywhere.

 

[Red Liquorice]

My SL: 39
My region: US

EUR region here sorry. Any US players not glued to Bloodborne and around to help?!

 

[PillarEN]

I needed to repair my swords and now have a question about physical attack stats. I understand that the base strength number is always the same. What affects the bonus stats? Cause when my two swords were busted they were -20 and -21. Now I fixed one and it is +7. The same sword at some point was -5 before it was even broken. So is durability the main culprit? The sword now is 120/120 durability. Say it goes down to 70/120. Is that going to affect the swords physical bonus stat?

 

[CarlieCaplin]

What's the consensus in the DS community on the Second Chance miracle?

I mean, I know that this game can get really frustrating but doesn't it take away a lot of the "thrill" or the fear to die and make the game much easier? I'm still unsure whether to use the soul on it or not. Can you use the archdemon's souls for other stuff, other than miracles?

Also, I had one of the biggest WTF-moments earlier today when I entered the battle against the Penetrator and noticed another guy fighting with him. Turns out it was Biorr, who I rescued before advancing to the boss. I love this game!

 

[Ted]

Made it through 2-1 last night. What a horrific atmosphere that mine has, it's so oppressive walking though the thin corridors and darkened halls. I felt a little sorry for the

Spoiler

miners

, they seem like lost souls rather than enemies in the truest sense. The boss of this area though,

Spoiler

the armoured spider

, no qualms in killing that abomination!

It was a little tricky but with some frantic back and forwards melee and a little arrow/magic action it was down with not too much stress. Not sure whether to carry onto 2-2 or to head over to 3-1 instead. I think I'll have a little stab at both and see where that gets me.

The gate being open means you were in pure white, and the NPC was Miralda the Executioner. Pushing her down the hole is a legit easy strategy to kill her, her loot is her armour - for NPCs like this the loot WILL be there when you quit/reload in the place where they are before you attack them (top of the stairs), so it should still be there (not 100% I've quit/reload to get loot but never left the area and come back, I think you should be ok). Because the loot is not on the (ragdoll) body I think the game treats it differently to regular enemy loot.

The armour set at the bottom of that pit is from another character (item descriptions tell you a lot about the lore of the world). You can get Miralda's axe though, it's a separate drop from....

Spoiler

her black phantom in pure black tendency

- read at your own discretion!

Thanks for this, I read the descriptions and there is some good stuff in there. Is there a general rule for how many deaths/boss kills you need to go from pure white to pure black and back? I assume once you have got to pure black and already killed say two bosses you're sort of stuck in black/dark grey?

Help a newbie out guys and girls. I must have like 6 or more hours. I'm in souls form. 1-1. Red Knight has been kicking my ass 3 hours straight. Chickened away from the dragon's path. What should I do? And how do I become human form again? Is it a specific souls count?
Playing as a wanderer

Edit- and he killed me again. I think I'm gonna cry. Not really of course but I've had my moment of a vocal outburst.

I'm also a newbie so take my advice with a pinch of salt! If you have any ranged weapons this guy can be taken down pretty easily.

Spoiler

Equip the thief ring and go through the door onto the rampart he is on. Walk to just past the last post in the wall before you get to him. He should not notice you so shoot him with an arrow/magic. He'll turn and come at you so run back through the door you came through and hang a right through the other door and out onto the main rampart. Look back inside the door and you will either see him turn around and start to head back having lost sight of you or will already have turned and you won't see him at all. In either case head back through the doors and shoot him again whilst he is walking back to his guard spot. Rinse and repeat until dead.

 

[Ein Bear]

Would someone be able to explain the differences between strength and dexterity for me? At first I thought that strength determined melee damage and dexterity was for ranged, but that doesn't seem to be the case? I'm about five hours into my first playthrough (have beaten 1-1 and 4-1 so far), and am still a bit confused by the effects of the various stats in the game. The status screen is all a bit impenetrable.

 

[Red Liquorice]

^ Strength and Dexterity determine what weapons you can equip. Some weapons (big and smashy) are primarily STR weapons, small and stabby/slashy weapons are DEX, then there are "quality" weapons which get a damage bonus from both STR and DEX.

Once you meet the minimum stat requirements to equip and use a weapon any STR/DEX your character has over those minimums will give you a damage bonus for that weapon, depending on that weapons bonus scaling grade is (S, A, B, C, D - S is best, D is worst). So say you're using a huge sword that scales A with STR, when you level up putting points into Strength will increase the damage bonus you get when using that weapon.

This tells you what all the numbers/symbols mean: http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/weapons

What's the consensus in the DS community on the Second Chance miracle?

Can you use the archdemon's souls for other stuff, other than miracles?

It doesn't hurt to use it.

You can use boss souls for magic and miracles and to make unique weapons or consume them for souls.
How to make boss weapons

Spoiler

Take the red hot demon's soul (flamelurker soul) to Blacksmith Ed at the start of Stonefang Tunnel

@PillarEN - I honestly don't know if durability effects scaling. I've never considered that to be a thing in any Souls game, but numbers and stuff isn't my forte in these games. Hoping some hardcore players jump in and answer, but I think they're all playing Bloodborne!

Is there a general rule for how many deaths/boss kills you need to go from pure white to pure black and back? I assume once you have got to pure black and already killed say two bosses you're sort of stuck in black/dark grey?

http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/world-tendency#toc7
This gives you exact details but it has spoilers about invader names and primeval demon locations (they only appear in black world tendency).

Playing online can mess with the world tendencies because it averages you to the server median (which is usually towards white). If I'm going for a 100% playthrough I play offline just so I have total control of tendencies. I think it takes about 6-8 deaths in human form to get to black, and usually 2 bosses to get to white (from neutral).

Besides killing bosses to get to white you can also:
- kill (NPC) black phantoms
- kill the primeval demon of that area

So it's possible to be in pure black and get back to pure white as long as you have the archdemon (final area boss) still alive and haven't killed the above two enemies. Killing all 3 without returning to the Nexus inbetween will always bring you back to pure white.

I know that probably makes it sound more confusing than it is when you're actually doing it. As long as you try to always die in the Nexus after a boss kill you should never mess it up.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

What's the consensus in the DS community on the Second Chance miracle?

I mean, I know that this game can get really frustrating but doesn't it take away a lot of the "thrill" or the fear to die and make the game much easier? I'm still unsure whether to use the soul on it or not. Can you use the archdemon's souls for other stuff, other than miracles?

Second Chance is too good not to use, personally. If you want to do high-level PvP, it's mandatory. Regardless of whether or not you decide to PvP, I would definitely use the soul for this miracle, because the only other use for the Old Hero soul is a really crappy and useless sword.

Would someone be able to explain the differences between strength and dexterity for me? At first I thought that strength determined melee damage and dexterity was for ranged, but that doesn't seem to be the case? I'm about five hours into my first playthrough (have beaten 1-1 and 4-1 so far), and am still a bit confused by the effects of the various stats in the game. The status screen is all a bit impenetrable.

Some weapons scale with dex, others with strength, others with a bit of both. Dex weapons tend to be smaller and more slashing or thrusting type, such as katanas, scimitars, estocs, etc. Whereas strength-based weapon tend to do either slashing or blunt damage (straight swords, claymores, great axes, poles).

Note, some weapons, particularly with specific upgrade paths, scale with your magic (moon or crescent upgrades) or faith (blessed upgrade path) stat instead. For example, a normal great axe+10 will have high base damage but modest scaling; if you make it crushing+5 instead, it'll scale with strength tremendously; if you make it blessed+5, it will not scale with strength much anymore (maybe D or C scaling at the most, I forget), but it will scale with faith and deal magic damage and also slowly regenerate your HP, but it won't be buffable anymore.

 

[PillarEN]

After some observations it appears that durability has no effect on the bonus stat of physical attack. Only if the weapon breaks does it change (negatively of course). I'm at the boss of 1-2. Totally got this but died when his entire weight shifted onto me during a backwards hop which I was not expecting. Question about 1-2:

Spoiler

I noticed that on top of one of the towers in between the bridge where the dragon breathes fire I was able to actually lock onto it. Is it possible to kill it? Keep in mind I went from 1-1 straight to 1-2 so I'm probably a weakling still. I don't want any spoilers. Just curious to know if I could potentially slay the dragon at this point.

 

[Tarkus]

After some observations it appears that durability has no effect on the bonus stat of physical attack. Only if the weapon breaks does it change (negatively of course). I'm at the boss of 1-2. Totally got this but died when his entire weight shifted onto me during a backwards hop which I was not expecting. Question about 1-2:

Spoiler

I noticed that on top of one of the towers in between the bridge where the dragon breathes fire I was able to actually lock onto it. Is it possible to kill it? Keep in mind I went from 1-1 straight to 1-2 so I'm probably a weakling still. I don't want any spoilers. Just curious to know if I could potentially slay the dragon at this point.

Spoiler

Yes, he can be killed in several different ways. You can do it early if you'd like.

 

[Red Liquorice]

I would hold off killing the dragon until you get a certain ring

Spoiler

Clever Rat's Ring, ups your damage output when HP is <30%

for your own sanity if nothing else! It's a lot of arrows/soul rays to kill it otherwise.

 

[Tarkus]

If your starting class was Temple Knight or you have the Halberd, you can take him down without taking a single hit.

 

[Red Liquorice]

If your starting class was Temple Knight or you have the Halberd, you can take him down without taking a single hit.

Never heard of taking it down with melee. I'm going to have to try that out on a new character.

 

[Tarkus]

Never heard of taking it down with melee. I'm going to have to try that out on a new character.

It's kind of an exploit of his endless circling of the bridge in the exact same path.

Spoiler

There's one tiny spot on the right side of the bridge where you can hit him with the overhand R2 of the Halberd each time he descends on the bridge.

 

[Ein Bear]

Some weapons scale with dex, others with strength, others with a bit of both. Dex weapons tend to be smaller and more slashing or thrusting type, such as katanas, scimitars, estocs, etc. Whereas strength-based weapon tend to do either slashing or blunt damage (straight swords, claymores, great axes, poles).

Note, some weapons, particularly with specific upgrade paths, scale with your magic (moon or crescent upgrades) or faith (blessed upgrade path) stat instead. For example, a normal great axe+10 will have high base damage but modest scaling; if you make it crushing+5 instead, it'll scale with strength tremendously; if you make it blessed+5, it will not scale with strength much anymore (maybe D or C scaling at the most, I forget), but it will scale with faith and deal magic damage and also slowly regenerate your HP, but it won't be buffable anymore.

That's great, thanks a lot for explaining. Would you be able to recommend a good weapon to focus on upgrading? I've been using the Crescent Falchion +1 you get in 4-1 so far, and whilst it's the best weapon I have currently, I don't want to rely too heavily on it since I know it's strength scales based on your Magic stat - which I'm not bothering with at all for this playthrough. (It's my first time through my first Souls game, and from watching a few beginner's guides... magic just seems like a cheesy way of doing it.)

Are there any good, fast weapons that scale well on your Strength/Dex stats?

This game is absolutely fantastic by the way. Can't believe I held off on playing Souls for so long after all the GAF-love the series gets.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

That's great, thanks a lot for explaining. Would you be able to recommend a good weapon to focus on upgrading? I've been using the Crescent Falchion +1 you get in 4-1 so far, and whilst it's the best weapon I have currently, I don't want to rely too heavily on it since I know it's strength scales based on your Magic stat - which I'm not bothering with at all for this playthrough. (It's my first time through my first Souls game, and from watching a few beginner's guides... magic just seems like a cheesy way of doing it.)

Are there any good, fast weapons that scale well on your Strength/Dex stats?

This game is absolutely fantastic by the way. Can't believe I held off on playing Souls for so long after all the GAF-love the series gets.

Yes it is!

If you don't want to level up your magic stat, and want a quick weapon that scales with both strength/dex, then perhaps the knight sword, kilij or katana is for you? Make it +10 or quality+5 (quality upgrade path unlocks at +3 and can be done via both blacksmiths, so it's convenient). Or you can make the knightsword Crushing and focus on strength only. The others are stronger as dex weapons but the materials are rare and a bitch to farm. Quality weapons are easier to get upgrade materials, and better when two-handed since you get a bonus to STR when two-handing.

Polearms are also very good (nicknamed the "noob sticks" in PvP xD). The halberd, war scythe and mirdan hammer all have the same moveset but with minor differences in scaling and damage types. A quality+5 pole can be very good and it hits very fast, but it sucks when 1-handed, it's really a 2-handed weapon, whereas the other weapons above are good both 1h or 2h.

 

[Red Liquorice]

Completed my SL1 run. I cheesed Allant, I'd had enough by then and I considered the final boss the run to the blue dragon in Clever Rat Ring range, finally did it when I decided to YOLO rather than trying to parry this and wait for that.

Glad I did it, but can't say it was that fun, I guess I've been spoilt by maxed out pyro flame DS1 SL1 runs!

 

[Shivershorts]

Holy shit, I just beat Demon's Souls last night and realized that I played this game completely wrong. I beat every boss in Boletaria Palace and Stonefang Tunnel before even visiting any other world. It certainly didn't ruin the experience but it definitely dampened it. I still love the game but shit, I did not play this game correctly. No other boss was as difficult as Flamelurker or King Allant's Demon. At least I'll know more about the playstyle when I start up the Dark Souls games.

 

[Red Liquorice]

At least I'll know more about the playstyle when I start up the Dark Souls games.

Dark Souls doesn't have the same kind of level system, the majority of the world is one large connected map - with limits (much like not being able to enter 1-3 until you've killed an Archdemon). But you can explore a good 30-40% of the game right from the start.

 

[Shivershorts]

Dark Souls doesn't have the same kind of level system, the majority of the world is one large connected map - with limits (much like not being able to enter 1-3 until you've killed an Archdemon). But you can explore a good 30-40% of the game right from the start.

I mostly mean now I understand that I might want to consider exploring other areas when I find highly difficult bosses, instead of being so ready to rise to the (near impossible) challenge.

 

[Tarkus]

Just restarted Demon's again. This time I'm going to do a fun versatile build. Yes, I've been speaking with Boldwin and Thomas. Perhaps now I'm a bit OP already. It is such a great game. I even got a rare invasion in on some poor soul. I let him kill all the enemies just before the 1-3 boss gate. He tried to get to the gate but I rekt on the bottom steps. Sorry buddy.

 

[cj_iwakura]

It's kind of an exploit of his endless circling of the bridge in the exact same path.

Spoiler

There's one tiny spot on the right side of the bridge where you can hit him with the overhand R2 of the Halberd each time he descends on the bridge.

Ha, I never knew that.

Glad the online is still jumping, but I've done the most fun build already: dex. Faith was boring.

 

[Tarkus]

Haha. Just played as the Old Monk. Killed the shit out of someone who I had invaded earlier. They jumped to their death when they saw me running toward them as a phantom.

I backstabbed her as she came in the door. She healed though and started things even.

 

[SeventhSon]

The only time I was Old Monk was the first time I played and kept trying to get summoned as a blue in 3-1.

I was severely under leveled to give a good fight.

 

[Tarkus]

The only time I was Old Monk was the first time I played and kept trying to get summoned as a blue in 3-1.

I was severely under leveled to give a good fight.

I did two tonight, one win one loss. One with black eye and the other with blue, both just inside the tower before Maneaters area. The person who beat me (with constant hesling) ended up getting invaded by me at 1-4 a little later. I carved him to prices with my Quality Uchi. Yes that's right. You read Quality Uchi.

 

[Ted]

...at this stage I guess most people visiting this thread are either old hands or completely new players (like me) so it's hard to judge where the line is.

We had a long weekend here in the UK so I managed to get in some extended Demon's Souls sessions between the usual spring cleaning and DIY.

I got through the whole of the rest of world 2 and enjoyed both of the boss battles I faced.

Spoiler

Flamelurker was a great battle, dancing around the columns trying to lead him about in order to put him in a predictable spot for a couple of Falchion swipes was challenging but not frustrating.

Then came the Dragon God. This was a complete change in pace, feeling almost like a puzzle rather than a straight up boss battle. It almost felt a little like an alternate world Shadow of the Colossus despite not ending with me leaping on board the beast!

I've now moved onto world 3, the Tower of Latria, and have beaten the first boss.

Spoiler

The boss herself, the Fool's Idol, was pretty easy once I worked out how to tell the copies from the real boss (health bar/different spell on the copies) but the world of Latria is a depressing place to traverse. The "prison" is littered with torture devices and the tentacle headed mind-flayers are terrifying, the chime sounds as they approach never failed to send chills through me. It's a dark and horrific world in there!

I was a bit freaked out after the boss battle when I was lifted upwards by the gargoyle type creatures. I thought I was going to meet the Idol again in a more chilling form and was frantically trying to remember what healing items I had left so when they left me alone on a new archstone platform I was mightily relieved.

I'm now pushing on through 3-2 but I am a little confused as to how I progress and precisely if I was right to

Spoiler

kill Yurt after letting him out of his cage. His dialogue definitely indicated he was a threat to me as a practitioner of the "soul arts" (and possibly any others like me - the vendors in the Nexus?) but given after the fight nothing really happens I'm not sure

. Is this character like

Spoiler

Miralda

and triggered by World Tendency (despite 3 not being white or black, I think)?

After

Spoiler

killing him I made my way up some kind of tower and killed some dreglings who appeared to be maintaining a fire which when I killed them went out and a chain broke,. The chain seemed to be part of some elaborate system holding down some kind of organic mass but the tower doesn't seem to lead anywhere else so I am now essentially back-tracking

. I assume I am going the right way or have I accidentally skipped something?

 

[Tarkus]

^^There's another chain maintaind by dreglings. You have to drop into the swamp and find the path to fog door. It's dark and confusing. Once you can travel on the swamp bank for a bit and back onto the wooden bridges, you'll know how going in the right direction. You'll find yourself back on land again a fog door will be there.

Killing Yurt was a good thing. Now you have the best looking armor in the game.

 

[Red Liquorice]

Re: Yurt

Spoiler

It is best to kill him where you find him, if not he will return to the Nexus and begin killing other NPCs. Now he's dead you can open up the full sidequest of taking his place which is black character tendency dependent and involves another, as yet unseen NPC - you might have seen her in the loading screens though! There's no time limit on this sidequest, so you don't have to go black character tendency until you're ready

Re: 3-2

Spoiler

There are two chains to destroy, after which the way to the boss will open. Did you take one of the cage lifts that Yurt was in down to the bottom? If not, that's the next path to take.

I love 3-2, I think it's even better 3-1, Latria is easily one of the best areas of any Souls game

 

[Tarkus]

I've spent several hours running around in circles here.

 

[PillarEN]

I've been making my way slowly through the game. I've gotten to 1-3 but at this point can't continue on that path. So I went to 2-1 and

Spoiler

defeated that disgusting spider. Been leveling myself up in a way that supports my physical attacks and defense for the most part. Don't think I'll go for magic much. I finally got overburdened (without the ring to be fair) so I had to think what I do and don't need with me.

2-2 is actually kind of freaking me out because I'm not quite sure what to do with

Spoiler

those fire bed bugs.I use curved swords, bows, and the pickaxe. Nothing particularly is that strong against these guys. And on top of that I think I'm about to "save" another character. I don't want to blow this because Ostrava died literally a few seconds after I met him. I walked into a group of enemies and died immediately which I think sealed his fate as well.

I also use 1-3 as a grinding ground. I just take out the

Spoiler

two blue eyed knights

. Seems like a good strategy as I have not found a quicker way to farm souls.

Oh and I find my first post here funny because I went to see how I'd fare against the red eye knight in my current state and I downed that fellow somewhat easily.

 

[Tarkus]

Old King Doran - one tough fucker. One mistake and it's over. Artorias would at least let you make a mistake.
Edit: had to take advantage of patrol route. What a death scream!

 

[Tarkus]

I'd rather do a pure black run than continue to summon in Dark Souls 2. I love the Iron Keep Bridge but it's so repetitive after a while. Much more interested in black phantoms. Although NG+ Dark Souls 2 is GREAT though.

 

[Ted]

^^There's another chain maintaind by dreglings. You have to drop into the swamp and find the path to fog door. It's dark and confusing. Once you can travel on the swamp bank for a bit and back onto the wooden bridges, you'll know how going in the right direction. You'll find yourself back on land again a fog door will be there.

Killing Yurt was a good thing. Now you have the best looking armor in the game.

Re: Yurt

Spoiler

It is best to kill him where you find him, if not he will return to the Nexus and begin killing other NPCs. Now he's dead you can open up the full sidequest of taking his place which is black character tendency dependent and involves another, as yet unseen NPC - you might have seen her in the loading screens though! There's no time limit on this sidequest, so you don't have to go black character tendency until you're ready

Re: 3-2

Spoiler

There are two chains to destroy, after which the way to the boss will open. Did you take one of the cage lifts that Yurt was in down to the bottom? If not, that's the next path to take.

Thanks folks, that is really useful. I think I'm just going to have to explore a little more. After I killed the NPC it was quite late and I was pretty exhausted so I may have missed something and at that point returning to the Nexus felt like the safest thing to do.

I love 3-2, I think it's even better 3-1, Latria is easily one of the best areas of any Souls game

3-1 definitely has one of the most interesting ambiances in a game I have played. The atmosphere is so tangible you could cut it with a knife (or probably a Falchion in my case). I'm liking 3-2 so far in terms of feel but I was a little disappointed by the relative weakness of the gargoyle like enemies you meet pretty much right from the start. I was expecting some epic battles on those thin walk-ways but they are actually rather predictable in their attack patterns.

 

[Ted]

Have it

Spoiler

Maneater

, and as for your

Spoiler

friend showing up haflway through the fight

, it can die too.

Holy heck that was tense!