[ArynCrinn]

EDIT: Is there EVER a time where Raw is a good upgrade path?

Early in the game when you're stuck with lower stats and worse weapons it can give you a bit of a damage boost, otherwise no. It's basically useless overall.

[Booshka]

Yeah, I noticed Gwyn becomes ridiculous in later rounds. He smashes through the artorias shield like it's nothing.

Use the Black Iron Shield +15, it easily the best large shield against Gwyn. Unless you want to parry.

This character only has 10 Strength so the best shield I can use is my +15 Kite shield, which is still damn good; 72 Stability and 70% Fire Resist at 3.0 weight. I try to only block once then parry because he'll break through my stamina if I block any more. I don't use FaP ring or Roll ring either on this character so I gotta be a little more careful. It's fun though, I like having a light armor character with light weapons.

[2AdEPT]

So glad the Ring of Sacrifice trick works, I've been running through playthroughs with a character at level 125 for a long time, I've also completed over 200 summons so I have 57 million souls on me. Whenever I die I just throw on a ring of sacrifice so I can get my bloodstain risk free.

What trick?....I thought I tested this several times and you never get back souls if they are in a stain...only if you have them on you?!?!?!?!!?!?!? Ithought the ring just saves souls that you acquire between the respawn point and the bloodtain.

EDIT: Is there EVER a time where Raw is a good upgrade path?

perhaps ....it is rare that players split high DEX AND STR, bvut if you do, you prolly gain minimal points over a straight dex or strength weapon that has only one, albeit higher, bonus. Players focusing oin being a dragon great bow user early have toget 20 dex plus 16 or so STR to two hand. but anyone that likes a weapon that already splits the bonus like washing pole or any of the hybrid swords like murakumo and server....won't notice
any difference at all.

but since I never bothered trying it out i could easily be wrong.

[Soulhouf]

What trick?....I thought I tested this several times and you never get back souls if they are in a stain...only if you have them on you?!?!?!?!!?!?!? Ithought the ring just saves souls that you acquire between the respawn point and the bloodtain.

Your blood stain will stay there if you die with the ring of sacrifice.

[H_Prestige]

So I just randomly got a titanite slab from a darkwraith. That was unexpected.

[TheSeks]

So I just randomly got a titanite slab from a darkwraith. That was unexpected.

They're farmable there.

Trying to get reds to drop off the Octopuses in Izalith is an exercise in frustration since there is only FOUR there per spawn.

[Booshka]

They're farmable there. Trying to get reds to drop off the Octopuses in Izalith is an exercise in frustration since there is only FOUR there per spawn.

Trade an ascended pyro glove to get a Red Slab. +15 then ascend it with Quelanna, don't upgrade it once you have ascended it.

[TheSeks]

Trade an ascended pyro glove to get a Red Slab. +15 then ascend it with Quelanna, don't upgrade it once you have ascended it.

I ascended one and gave it to Snuggly since that's what they said to do. No dice. Didn't get a slab.

[H_Prestige]

They're farmable there. Trying to get reds to drop off the Octopuses in Izalith is an exercise in frustration since there is only FOUR there per spawn.

Yeah I know they drop them. But isn't the rate like .0000000001% or something?

[Booshka]

I ascended one and gave it to Snuggly since that's what they said to do. No dice. Didn't get a slab.

You must have already dropped him one, you can only get one per playthrough. If it's not ascended you will get a Red Chunk.

[TheSeks]

You must have already dropped him one, you can only get one per playthrough. If it's not ascended you will get a Red Chunk.

I ascended it but didn't +1. Apparently that's what screwed me up?

[Booshka]

I ascended it but didn't +1. Apparently that's what screwed me up?

I dunno, I never +1 it, just ascend it from +15 then trade it, it works every time for me.

[TheSeks]

I dunno, I never +1 it, just ascend it from +15 then trade it, it works every time for me.

Well, I dunno because I didn't get one and I need one for the Chaos max. :|

[Booshka]

Well, I dunno because I didn't get one and I need one for the Chaos max. :|

If you are going for achievements just go through another playthrough to get a slab. Farming for slabs is mind numbing, especially the elemental slabs. You need at least three playthroughs for all the achievements anyway, so just play to NG+ and get your slabs then.

[TheSeks]

If you are going for achievements just go through another playthrough to get a slab. Farming for slabs is mind numbing, especially the elemental slabs. You need at least three playthroughs for all the achievements anyway, so just play to NG+ and get your slabs then.

Guess I'll wait until the DLC hits consoles then.

[Booshka]

Guess I'll wait until the DLC hits consoles then.

Sounds like you don't like this game.

[TheSeks]

Sounds like you don't like this game.

Nah, I'm waiting for the DLC to hit before I finish my NG0. Want to see how bad it is in terms of difficulty before I NG+

[Booshka]

Nah, I'm waiting for the DLC to hit before I finish my NG0. Want to see how bad it is in terms of difficulty before I NG+

Embrace the difficulty, NG+ only makes you better at the game. And you can upgrade your gear and character better with all the souls you'll be getting.

[H_Prestige]

LOL, killed a forest invader running away from me. Shot him in the back with the avelyn.

[McHuj]

How difficult is NG+++?

I totally fucked up and didn't realize that I needed all the boss souls for the Knights Honor achievement. I just used them up so that means I'll have to make it to NG+++ to get that achievement.

On my first character, I breezed through NG+ ( at least in comparison to what my initial play through was)


This game is amazing. It's the only game I actually want to get all the achievements in. I just bought a bunch of games on the Steam sale, but I'd rather be playing this game. lol.

[H_Prestige]

How difficult is NG+++? I totally fucked up and didn't realize that I needed all the boss souls for the Knights Honor achievement. I just used them up so that means I'll have to make it to NG+++ to get that achievement. On my first character, I breezed through NG+ ( at least in comparison to what my initial play through was) This game is amazing. It's the only game I actually want to get all the achievements in. I just bought a bunch of games on the Steam sale, but I'd rather be playing this game. lol.

I have a character on NG+++ and I think the enemies are starting to catch up now. Even dredglings can knock off a good chunk of my health.

[elohel]

don't people agree that the first new game plus is the hardest of them all?

[ixix]

The first plus is the single biggest increase in enemy power, percentage-wise. Every subsequent plus is a comparatively marginal increase, and after about seven pluses the difficulty ceases to increment entirely and every successive play-through is identical to its predecessor from then on.

I think that having end-game equipment from the word go more than makes up for the increase in enemy health and damage and renders NG+ easier than a standard New Game on the whole, personally. The Bottomless Box glitch obviously undermines that difficulty curve, but I've never been much fond of it.

[ArynCrinn]

How difficult is NG+++? I totally fucked up and didn't realize that I needed all the boss souls for the Knights Honor achievement. I just used them up so that means I'll have to make it to NG+++ to get that achievement. On my first character, I breezed through NG+ ( at least in comparison to what my initial play through was) This game is amazing. It's the only game I actually want to get all the achievements in. I just bought a bunch of games on the Steam sale, but I'd rather be playing this game. lol.

Damage and health wise the enemies start to catch up to you, based on if you come in at a relatively regular SL for that NG, say SL150-200. All it really means is tighten up on tactics and defense, which you should have down already. There's only a rare few areas that give me any real trouble on NG++++.

[Soulhouf]

don't people agree that the first new game plus is the hardest of them all?

It's the biggest increase in enemy power. But since you don't really become more powerful from that point, in each NG+ enemies get more powerful but not you.
I have a character in NG+7 and every single enemy is a threat if I don't pay attention.

[2AdEPT]

Your blood stain will stay there if you die with the ring of sacrifice.

I must be missing something.....I have forgot to put my ring on many times when carrying a tonne of humanity or souls...then got sidetracked screwing around trying weird shit and died....so even though you are carrying 0 souls if you put the ring on your bloodstain will stay there forever until you retrieve it? Very useful if true and could have saved me tonnes of humanity grind time!!!! Still learning at over 1000 hours in souls games in almost 3 years now.

So I just randomly got a titanite slab from a darkwraith. That was unexpected.

Me and my 1000 hours never got one.....ever. (but obviously was not grinding there all the time.)

Nah, I'm waiting for the DLC to hit before I finish my NG0. Want to see how bad it is in terms of difficulty before I NG+

You're a different bird on here that is for sure man!!!! I can't believe you would sooner put this gamedown until winter, rather than just clean up your platinum and try a few different paths in the meantime. I realize there are several posters who have come and gone that only did oneplaythrough or one character and then quit but this has got to be rare in this thread. What would be the horror if you tested the DLC with a new character???? I realize you seem to hate this game yet for some strange reason you want the achievements? Even after 1000 hours I have zero platinums as the character I am doing gets stale by NG+. I have made 10 characters for each of Demons and Dark, and no two playthorughs are even remotely similar considering all of order, weapons used/upgraded, attunement slots filled, etc, etc. What's worse is you decided the artorias sword was the best inthe game so you chose it for your single dedicated character, then others begged you try the better weapons, (which I think you did at least...eventually) you cut doown sorcery , never even upgrading it past the base spell, nor acquiring anything besides the starting catalyst, and then expected to mow down Orn and Smu with it? ....and although you are doing all covenenants, several of which enhance faith builds, as near as I can tell you haven't even tried the talismans out much or attuned any miracles? Did you try Darkmoon blade yet? Emit Force? Sunlight spears? I realize it is possible to do all the covenants with one character and just keep upgrading...but that makes you pretty OP in NG adn I can see how it would become boring for you...and the extra leveling will take you out of summoning range and it will get monotonous.

Just a reminder...no one feels sorry for you when you complain about the game when it appears you are almost trying to make it a poor experience on any enthusiast's standard. There are at minimum really at least two paths to try:
1.) High faith with either high STR or DEX.
2.) High sorcery with the same choices.

Of course you can limit yourself all kinds of ways by dedicating only one of the above, limiting SL, limiting upgrades, creating an NPC dedicated character like Kirk knight of thorns, Lautrec, Solaire, etc. etc. etc. etc. The grandiose differences in playthorughs when opting differentlly enhances 'playability without boredom' more so than the second best game for this....skyrim. Although i never finished skyrim, and will have to have a raining day this winter after the p2D edition novelty wears off....the dragons are all the same and the story got tired.....story can only hold me so long without interesting heart pounding new action based excitement.

[Soulhouf]

I must be missing something.....I have forgot to put my ring on many times when carrying a tonne of humanity or souls...then got sidetracked screwing around trying weird shit and died....so even though you are carrying 0 souls if you put the ring on your bloodstain will stay there forever until you retrieve it? Very useful if true and could have saved me tonnes of humanity grind time!!!! Still learning at over 1000 hours in souls games in almost 3 years now.

To put it simple, every time you die, put the ring of sacrifice when you go to retrieve your bloodstain. If you die on the way, you'll not lose your souls/humanities. They will still there on your bloodstain. Dying with the ring of sacrifice doesn't leave a bloodstain, that's the trick.
It's an insurance, with it basically you will never loose your souls/humanities again.

[2AdEPT]

To put it simple, every time you die, put the ring of sacrifice when you go to retrieve your bloodstain. If you die on the way, you'll not lose your souls/humanities. They will still there on your bloodstain. Dying with the ring of sacrifice doesn't leave a bloodstain, that's the trick. It's an insurance, with it basically you will never loose your souls/humanities again.

NIce ....obviously I knew about the rings, and I have used them successfully in times where i am likley to die, like Dukes.....but erronneously assumed they would do no good after the fact in those places I did not expect to fall down the elevator shaft or forgot I was tryingthe red tearstonering out or something and got OHK'd by a dredgling......very good to know as I have said before I screw up waaay more than a guy of 1000 hours + should!!! ;P

PS - for newbs - the rings are great for Dukes archives....geez why did I not try the above on my own there?

[B-Genius]

To put it simple, every time you die, put the ring of sacrifice when you go to retrieve your bloodstain. If you die on the way, you'll not lose your souls/humanities. They will still there on your bloodstain. Dying with the ring of sacrifice doesn't leave a bloodstain, that's the trick. It's an insurance, with it basically you will never loose your souls/humanities again.

Again, every other time I visit this thread, I learn something new about the game. It's amazing!

I guess if you're not careful it's still only one "extra life", as if you died on your way to your old blood stain (with the Ring of Sacrifice on), you still might not have the souls to buy another ring.

[Roche]

So what effect do you guys think this whole DLC business is going to have on PvP? I feel as though they can't make whatever new equipment is in it too good, lest they give people who bought it an unfair advantage over those who haven't purchased it.

It seems like it'd be a massive headache for FROM to try to manage that kind of stuff. Also what are they going to do about people drop trading new stuff? Only allow people who have the DLC to equip/use new items? I'll be getting the DLC for sure but I'm pretty afraid it's going to fracture the community.

[Jackben]

So what effect do you guys think this whole DLC business is going to have on PvP? I feel as though they can't make whatever new equipment is in it too good, lest they give people who bought it an unfair advantage over those who haven't purchased it. It seems like it'd be a massive headache for FROM to try to manage that kind of stuff. Also what are they going to do about people drop trading new stuff? Only allow people who have the DLC to equip/use new items? I'll be getting the DLC for sure but I'm pretty afraid it's going to fracture the community.

They totally will. If you want to compete and stay on top you have no choice but to get the DLC.

I doubt anything will be made significantly more powerful than all other items in the game, but there may be a lot more unique sets being made that provide new ways of fighting which will in turn counter a lot of existing builds. This means that those with the DLC will have an advantage no matter what by being more versatile and having the new buffs/techniques/spells the DLC offers.

Most of the time there is a universal patch so that people who don't have the DLC will still be able to see/be affected by DLC items but won't be able to acquire them personally.

That being said I don't think there is much they can do to stop people from trading/dropping them.

Thus the advantage just changes to someone who is able to access the items from people who do have the DLC. I doubt it will fracture the community like you fear.

I'm hoping part of this universal patch is that DWGR is nerfed, which would be the best thing to happen to PVP since lock-on was enabled for the Ring of Fog.

[ijed]

Again, every other time I visit this thread, I learn something new about the game. It's amazing! I guess if you're not careful it's still only one "extra life", as if you died on your way to your old blood stain (with the Ring of Sacrifice on), you still might not have the souls to buy another ring.

They're 5k from Oswald and didn't realise you can buy 10 per playthrough...
*Cranks humanity up tp 99*

[Jake Tower]

PS - for newbs - the rings are great for Dukes archives....geez why did I not try the above on my own there?

I only figured this out after the fact.

[Red Liquorice]

I don't think there's anything in game to tell you about what happens in Duke's is there?

Funny thing is, I'd watched a Duke's run through on a youtube let's play, but by the time I got there myself I totally forgot and lost everything!

[Jackben]

One thing you can do for Duke's is go right back to where you died and reclaim your stain and then homeward bone out. Still shitty that it's one spot where you aren't given any warning.

[henhowc]

haha...I get boned in Duke's as well. So dumb.

[Jackben]

[2AdEPT]

@jackben

Sums up my exact feelings....I got into potions, crafting, and enchanting with my bows character...and with sneak bonus I could destroy almost anything in a few hits....if Lydia, my dremora lord, and her summon (gave her a summon staff)didn't nail them first. Game strategy aced by level 25 or so.....walked around a bit.....quit. Didn't even do dark bh or all of thieves guild....not enough action. Mayget back into it whenI get a rig for the first time ever in the next few weeks....all I had to do was allow my wife to get addicted to some cute asian RPG with shitty graphics and she stole my med spec laptop...now I got nothing...so I get a new rig. PM me if you have any suggestions! Will spend up to $2500 if you can convince me its worth it.

[Riposte]

I thought the joke was that the skyrim dude got invaded. Guess not.

[ArynCrinn]

Will spend up to $2500 if you can convince me its worth it.

A desktop gaming rig is ALWAYS worth it! $2500 should get you a pretty respectable setup too.

[ihearthawthats]

A desktop gaming rig is ALWAYS worth it! $2500 should get you a pretty respectable setup too.

$2500 is overkill, unless maybe you're including a huge ass display and a kick ass (i.e. non-pc) speaker system.

[henhowc]

$2500 is insane. People still spend that amount on PC gaming. I thought shit was supposed to be affordable now?

[Jackben]

@jackben Mayget back into it whenI get a rig for the first time ever in the next few weeks....all I had to do was allow my wife to get addicted to some cute asian RPG with shitty graphics and she stole my med spec laptop...now I got nothing...so I get a new rig. PM me if you have any suggestions! Will spend up to $2500 if you can convince me its worth it.

Sorry but this made me spit out my coffee, lmfao dude.

Also check out the I Need A New PC: 2012 thread on GAF.

Check my spoilers below for more PC Gaming stuff.

The GAF thread I linked is a godsend and was greatly beneficial. Lots of helpful peeps. It's what I used to buy and build my first rig back in April and my gaming and Internet escapades have been running smooth as butter ever since.

Personally I only spent 1,200 USD (that's with shipping and OS costs) but you can get a respectable build that will run stuff like Skyrim/Witcher 2/Dark Souls for probably ~ $800.

2500 is mega overkill. Don't think that is the average spending amount at all. It's isn't.

There is a very reasonable graph with price ranges etc. on the thread I linked. Definitely check it out.

[Sullichin]

Sorry but this made me spit out my coffee, lmfao dude. Also check out the I Need A New PC: 2012 thread on GAF. Check my spoilers below for more PC Gaming stuff. The GAF thread I linked is a godsend and was greatly beneficial. Lots of helpful peeps. It's what I used to buy and build my first rig back in April and my gaming and Internet escapades have been running smooth as butter ever since. Personally I only spent 1,200 USD (that's with shipping and OS costs) but you can get a respectable build that will run stuff like Skyrim/Witcher 2/Dark Souls for probably ~ $800. 2500 is mega overkill. Don't think that is the average spending amount at all. It's isn't. There is a very reasonable graph with price ranges etc. on the thread I linked. Definitely check it out.

Yep the GAF build a PC thread is amazing, built my first computer last week, spent under 1200 and it runs Witcher 2 and Arkham City at 1080P/60FPS. Definitely good enough for Dark Souls and anything I throw at it so far :) One month till PC release, can't wait!

Enjoying my new PC thoroughly but can't tear myself away from Dark Souls still. Current character is for fun invasions in catacombs, sens, lost izalith. Is the leo ring worth it for a lighting balder side sword? This build doesn't use DWGR, I have a free ring slot. It currently has my beloved red tearstone ring, which I love in PVP. But the leo ring might be more useful considering how often I use the BSS' amazing R2 attacks. I hear it only increases physical damage though, but can't find any stats.

[Red Liquorice]

I used the build your own PC thread on GAF too, it was a while back now though, but everyone was really helpful, and I'd never thought I could build a PC from scratch before, it was a lot easier than expected and cheaper than off the shelf equivalent too. Thumbs up.

Not sure if it's good enough for Dark Souls now though, so still getting DLC rather than PC version :/

[henhowc]

Put my summon sign down the other day in Darkwood Forest and some dude summoned me. Guys started invading him and he just absolutely destroyed them without any help from me. I just left my Xbox on and went to do something else for a few minutes lol

It was a nice 140K souls. Very helpful since I'm still struggling through NG.

[Trey]

A desktop gaming rig is ALWAYS worth it! $2500 should get you a pretty respectable setup too.

"Pretty respectable" starts at about 600.

[Eusis]

"Pretty respectable" starts at about 600.

$2500 should get you a godlike setup, only "pretty respectable" if your standards are too damn high. Hell, a bit over a thousand (if that!) can get you a setup that'll nail 60 FPS for a lot of modern games reliably, and plenty playable for others with, at worst, some excessive settings dialed down.

$2500 is insane. People still spend that amount on PC gaming. I thought shit was supposed to be affordable now?

Everyone's got a different definition of affordable, but "spend around a thousand for something that should be good for years" is something that didn't seem possible back in the late 90s. Get a kickass rig, and feel the pain of having a setup inadequate to run the latest games just a year or two later. With a Core 2 Duo and 9800 GT from 2008 I only had effectively unplayable crop up with Witcher 2, and going by system requirements I'm seeing it would've still done the job well enough for at least another year.

[Mort]

I wish that they'd bring Crushing back so badly. A build focused on crushing guards/poise/stamina would be the perfect counter to all Magic and Lightning weapon builds that dominate PVP. EDIT: Is there EVER a time where Raw is a good upgrade path?

When ever your dealing with weapons that don't scale with stats like crossbows.

Edit:

$2500 will get you an amazing and unnecessarily powerful rig that is capable of lasting you a decade. $600 will get you a respectable rig that will run most games at max graphics at 60 aside from some of the crazier, graphics intensive games.

[ArynCrinn]

$2500 is overkill, unless maybe you're including a huge ass display and a kick ass (i.e. non-pc) speaker system.

Yeah, he had mentioned laptops so I assumed he would want a nice monitor and sound system/headphones included in the price. But shit, quad SLI and OCing past 4.2Ghz with a beast water cooling system and three or 4 SSD's, always a good decision! xD

"Pretty respectable" starts at about 600.

I'm going to be doing GTX690 SLI, two of these, and 4GHz or however high I can safely push my 2600k, on my rig come next payday. Add 3 SSD's to that, 16GB Ram, and soon I'll be investing in a nice water cooling system. My rig's end money spent will probably be over $5000, including the monitor and sound system. Been saving for my newest additions for three months.

So my standards probably are a bit high, I don't subscribe to "overkill" fallacies, because for me running games, encoding videos, messing with benchmarking, and just feeling good about working to afford my dream machine/s, is worth it. :\