Dark Souls

[Quinton]

I'm a real expert now in clearing to the Taurus Demon without losing any health. Lot of fucking good it does me at level 16, I still get disemboweled by that thing. I tried going back down to the starting area and went down into some skeletons who utterly annihilated me several times.

I killed him at level 10 (Sorcerer), after trying the following suggestion from above:

I'm having fun.

[ffc]

I can't vouch for the accuracy of this table, but it seems drop rate increases are capped after you reach 30 humanity.  The big jump is walking around with 1 humanity.  I don't think you actually have to be human, just have the humanity count by your health be greater than zero and it's like luck from Demon's Souls in increasing drops.

[Ghambit]

I haven't found any weapons, and the only merchant in Undead Burg that I know of doesn't sell anything better than my longsword. So being levelled enough to use something I've never seen isn't making me feel all hot inside. Yes, I've humanized up to improve my drops.

Use the sorcery vendor to enchant and the bsmith to upgrade, if you've got the titanite and souls.

[stu]

I forgot about this tactic being shown in the original trailer! Next run-through, I will do that for sure.

I'm trying hard not to cave and use the wiki or a strategy guide. I want to beat the game once before I do that, although I did look up info on how the Humanity system works. I purchased the basic edition and it doesn't even tell you what Humanity is used for, other than being part of the meter at the top left. hurhurhur I guess I could have figured it out eventually...

[Quinton]

Use the sorcery vendor to enchant and the bsmith to upgrade, if you've got the titanite and souls.

I cannot figure out how to get to the Sorcery vendor, who is rumored to be in the lower Undead Burg.  The one path down leads to a Black Knight who slaughters me.  One wiki mentioned that the Residence Key opens a way, but I have not found that way.  Help.  I suspect I'm going to feel *really* dumb about missing something obvious here, but I'm stumped and I want some more magic. ^^

EDIT: Took out the Black Knight (in a really cowardly, cheesy way!) but he was only guarding a ring.  Grr!

EDIT2: Ohhh, I think I can't get down there yet, until I beat another boss.  Sneaky.

[ffc]

EDIT2: Ohhh, I think I can't get down there yet, until I beat another boss.  Sneaky.

You don't actually have to beat a boss to get the key necessary to unlock the lower area.  The key is in the area before the boss.  Also make sure you bought the residence key from the undead merchant.  And bring flasks.  And shields.  And rocket launchers.

I can't believe you beat that knight.  I made the jump across the gap to get the ring he was guarding and then I deflected his sword with my face.  I'm skipping those guys for now.

[Morfiend]

EDIT2: Ohhh, I think I can't get down there yet, until I beat another boss.  Sneaky.

You don't actually have to beat a boss to get the key necessary to unlock the lower area.  The key is in the area before the boss.  Also make sure you bought the residence key from the undead merchant.  And bring flasks.  And shields.  And rocket launchers.

I can't believe you beat that knight.  I made the jump across the gap to get the ring he was guarding and then I deflected his sword with my face.  I'm skipping those guys for now.

I beat that knight with the drake sword, he was pretty easy once I had that.

Quinton,

[Rokal]

I don't have this issue on 360. I really dislike the controller layout (left trigger to parry and bumper to block? seriously?), but it's not broken in the way you're describing it. Try another controller if you have one.

Morfiend has this on PS3, he said, and I'm using the controller that came with my Elite.  The others all suck in comparison.  It's better now but occasionally I miss a swing, probably due to the bumpers being ass.

I ran into this issue a couple times tonight. So, no, not your controller. Luckily it seems pretty rare.

[Velorath]

EDIT2: Ohhh, I think I can't get down there yet, until I beat another boss.  Sneaky.

You don't actually have to beat a boss to get the key necessary to unlock the lower area.  The key is in the area before the boss.  Also make sure you bought the residence key from the undead merchant.  And bring flasks.  And shields.  And rocket launchers.

I can't believe you beat that knight.  I made the jump across the gap to get the ring he was guarding and then I deflected his sword with my face.  I'm skipping those guys for now.

Came at the Knight from the other direction (in other words, didn't jump the gap).  Ran a short distance back to the ladder, got on the rooftops, and eventually found a good vantage point to pelt him with arrows and firebombs.  Worked pretty well, with no risk.

[Quinton]

I used the same technique Velorath did.  Plinked at him with Soul Arrows until I ran out, then two firebombs.  Damn he was tough.  He sliced me to ribbons in moments when I tried to take him in a straight fight.

Beat the armored bull critter in the start of the Undead Parish, got a ways in and then skewered by some undead knights.  I'm feeling really really squishy as a caster type and wish I had more magic. ^^

[Velorath]

I used the same technique Velorath did.  Plinked at him with Soul Arrows until I ran out, then two firebombs.  Damn he was tough.  He sliced me to ribbons in moments when I tried to take him in a straight fight.

Beat the armored bull critter in the start of the Undead Parish, got a ways in and then skewered by some undead knights.  I'm feeling really really squishy as a caster type and wish I had more magic. ^^

I got lucky against the bull (or is it a boar) somewhat.  Didn't really have enough arrows to try to take him from up top (was only doing 1 damage per arrow after I got his attention with the first shot).  Went back down the stairs and he charged at me but was stopped by the pillars near the foot of the stairs.  While moving around and trying to keep the pillars in between us, it ended up moving into one of the fires nearby and quickly burned to death.

[Quinton]

Oh, thinko on my part, definitely more of a boar, what with the tusks and all.

[Yegolev]

I used the same technique Velorath did.  Plinked at him with Soul Arrows until I ran out, then two firebombs.  Damn he was tough.  He sliced me to ribbons in moments when I tried to take him in a straight fight.

This guy, he caused me trouble mostly because I can't dodge/block 100% of the time and a slip-up costs me a massive amount of health.  And that lightning-damage item really didn't add much.  He's off my list for now because he seems tougher (for me) than the boss on the ramparts.  At least when I slashed the boss, I took off a noticeable amount of his bar.

[bhodi]

Update!

[Morfiend]

Update!

Most of my points have got into END, it is such a very good stat. I'm level 17 or so, I put a few (3?) in vitality, a few into str for 16 for the drake sword, rest into END for equip burden and moar block/attack.

Be careful about pumping end too much as it isnt a damage scaling skill. It doesnt matter right now, cause you are using the drake sword (which doesnt scale from anything), but once you start out growing that, you wont have a high stat to get damage bonus from.

[Nonentity]

My playtime is currently at 24 hours. Good gravy.

THUS FAR:

[Quinton]

Progress Report!

Located the second bonfire in the Undead Parish.  Found the basement key.  Hiked back past the dragon and down to the lower Undead Burg.  Fought crazy dog-things.  Freed the Sorcerer Trainer Guy.  Died on my way back to the Shrine.  Not a bad run.  Those knights further into the Undead Parish are mean.

[Velorath]

Anyway, somehow they made a better game than Demon's Souls. I am now firmly convinced that From Software has, apparently, the brightest, most clever game designers on the planet. The whole achievement is just staggering.

I'm loving this game, but so far I disagree that it's a better game than Demon's Souls.  I feel like the AI isn't as good, the Boss fights don't feel as epic, the game feels easier when they said it was going to be even harder than Demon's Souls, and so far the level design isn't as good.  No area so far has had an atmosphere to compare with the Tower Of Latria (the Mind Flayer level in Demon's Souls).  Also, with all the save points and shortcuts, I've never really felt like I've been in danger of losing a bunch of Souls which removes a bit of the tension from the game.  Obviously this could all change as I get further into the game, but these are things I think Demon's Souls did well from the start.


Since everyone else is giving progress reports:

[stu]

Holy smokes the sewers are intense. Defeating black phantoms is highly lucrative though. 6k souls for a kill.

[Morfiend]

Velorath what key do I need to access the door to get to Havel, and where do I find it?

[bhodi]

From darkroot garden, I believe it's the key you get from killing the butterfly. You find it up the hill, across the way, just beside the tree grove that leads to the hydra. (up the path from the bonfire in the cave) He's basically inside a shortcut tower back up to the lower burg.

[Velorath]

You can also get in there earlier if your character starts with the Master Key.

[ffc]

I found something in the sewers that freaked me out pretty good.


A few changes from Demon's Souls I don't like: re-targeting got wonky, frame rate drops until quitting and reloading got much more frequent, and rating a message with a negative just adds to its total number of ratings.

I hope more people catch on that the host is in charge of healing everyone in multiplayer.

[Arinon]

I don't remember backstab being nearly this powerful in Demons Souls.

Started as a Thief so of course he has a dagger.  Stuck with it because I figured I'd have to reroll after messing up a bunch but it seems crazy good.  You're rarely left open, it works in tight spaces, and backstabs will one-shot tonnes of shit.  After I hit the blacksmith and made it +3 it one shots those red-cape knights.  It feels pretty awesome as just about everything that you can backstab falls easy.  Even smoked some of those big black armoured dudes and that tubby guy with the massive club and shield at the bottom of the tower before the rampart boss.  There was even some shady NPC with shield-ignoring weapons that I pissed off who fat-rolls.  Hilariously easy to backstab into oblivion.

Starting to run into more problems that can't be solved with a few backstabs though so I'm on the lookout for a Dex scaling spear or longbow.  Winged Spear seem good enough to farm up to +5?  I'm short like 3 STR to use it and would rather keep pumping Dex/End.

[Morfiend]

I don't remember backstab being nearly this powerful in Demons Souls.

Started as a Thief so of course he has a dagger.  Stuck with it because I figured I'd have to reroll after messing up a bunch but it seems crazy good.  You're rarely left open, it works in tight spaces, and backstabs will one-shot tonnes of shit.  After I hit the blacksmith and made it +3 it one shots those red-cape knights.  It feels pretty awesome as just about everything that you can backstab falls easy.  Even smoked some of those big black armoured dudes and that tubby guy with the massive club and shield at the bottom of the tower before the rampart boss.  There was even some shady NPC with shield-ignoring weapons that I pissed off who fat-rolls.  Hilariously easy to backstab into oblivion.

Starting to run into more problems that can't be solved with a few backstabs though so I'm on the lookout for a Dex scaling spear or longbow.  Winged Spear seem good enough to farm up to +5?  I'm short like 3 STR to use it and would rather keep pumping Dex/End.

I am attempting to make a Dex guy, but I am having lots of issues. I started as Wanderer, and so far I have Dex up to like 26 I think, and Str at 14. I decided to keep bringing Str up to 16 so I can use the drake sword, as so far all the Dex based weapons just dont do enough damage. I have the winged spear at +3, and its a bit better, but still nothing compared to the drake sword. I am hoping to acquire a uchigatana, but so far no luck, and I dont want to kill my arrow merchant to get one.

[bhodi]

Dex seems to be universally praised as the best option, and to keep strength at 16. Everyone says a lightning spear or the fury sword are the things to look for.

I do know that since the drake sword has no scaling, about midway through the game it starts to suck and easily takes a back seat to even a moderately upgraded (+5 normal) weapon. I am going to start upgrading my dex soon.

[Falconeer]

So, no soul/world alignement this time around? Sounds like a nerf.

And what exactly are the positives of being alive as opposed to being dead? That you can summon (instead of being summoned), and the item drop? Is that all?

[ffc]

You just need to have humanity (that number near your health) to increase drop rates.  Being alive is separate.  You can see your item drop rate stat in game.  It goes from 100 to 120 with 1 humanity point.  Small increase after that. 

[Velorath]

So, no soul/world alignement this time around? Sounds like a nerf.

And what exactly are the positives of being alive as opposed to being dead? That you can summon (instead of being summoned), and the item drop? Is that all?

It also allows you to kindle the bonfires.

[Nonentity]

I found something in the sewers that freaked me out pretty good.

My best guess for those is:

[ffc]

I found something in the sewers that freaked me out pretty good.

My best guess for those is:

!!!!!!!! That's nuts!  But it explains how randomly they seemed to appear.  Wow.

[sigil]

My bit of failing to awesomeness.

[Velorath]

Went on a bit of an adventure today since I felt like taking a break from the normal progression/boss fighting, and decided to track down a good weapon I could build up.

[Gunzwei]

So, no soul/world alignement this time around? Sounds like a nerf.

And what exactly are the positives of being alive as opposed to being dead? That you can summon (instead of being summoned), and the item drop? Is that all?

World/Character Tendency is completely gone.
Humanity is now a second currency.
Bosses no longer restore your human form upon defeating them.
Most summons/invasions are done through Covenants (factions).

Spoiler expands on Human/Humanity/Covenants.

[stu]

What is happening when I hear a whoosh! sound and then a glowing white light emits from my body? It's a cool effect but I have no idea what's happening.