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Dark Souls |OT5| Definitely better than the sequel

Okay just made a uchigatana +15 and this sword is so good especially with good stamina you can slice for days against multiple enemies, it makes you feel so cool like some rurouni kenshin type of thing. Also what the hell is up with the demon ruins it's just multiple mini bosses (that are way weaker). Seems kind of boring.

It is. Fun to beat Capra Demons in 3 hits, but Demon Ruins through Lost Izalith is bad. Maybe the worst part of the game. Just run past most enemies, and make sure you have a bow with a good number of arrows.
 
Thanks. What is your favourite spell for regular enemies, and your favourite for bosses? Fireball doesn't seem to do enough damage, although I literally just upgraded my pyro flame to +10. I have firestorm and it's not too shabby. I'd like to abandon melee altogether at this point.
Great Combustion is all you need really. Play around with everything else, but 1 x GC and 2 x regular combustion will destroy everything - regular enemies and bosses and take you through the entire game and NG+ onwards, and they're fast to cast which is important imo. Can't stress enough how powerful Power Within is too, wear dusk crown and bellowing ring and rip through everything. Up your attunement if you're going no-melee (fun playstyle!) so you can equip a ton of spells.

There's a few chaos versions of spells that are worth using as they leave lava on the ground for a short period that damages enemies after the initial flame cast - chaos fireball and chaos storm. These are covenant/NPC related finds.

Spoiler about pyro trainer if you haven't found her already:
When you get the pyro flame to +10, Quelana will appear in Blighttown, near the large titanite shard treasure just before the hillside to Quelaag's lair. She sells better spells than Laurentius and can upgrade the pyro flame to max, which is ascended +5 (ascended is after taking it to +15)
 
It is. Fun to beat Capra Demons in 3 hits, but Demon Ruins through Lost Izalith is bad. Maybe the worst part of the game. Just run past most enemies, and make sure you have a bow with a good number of arrows.

I can slice through the majority of them but the taurus demons are so annoying. Theyre not even strong just bothersome & they take away basically all of your stamina. I would shoot them down with arrows but it'll drag a bit too much for my character. Also after my frustration with that I decided to warp to ash lake to take out the hydra for fun, as it tried jumping over to the other side of the lake I guess it hit something because it literally died by itself which was hilarious
 
What's the general view towards difficulty in NG+? I thought I'd give it a go and so far it has been like a speedrun up to Anor Londo. I'm still having fun, so I don't mind. I'm thinking the DLC bosses will be harder, since their attacks aren't as easy to avoid as the main game bosses.

Yeah, old game, but I almost wish the game would only offer up rings and armor if you didn't already have them. Duplicates be crazy mane.
 
Hmm. I think I would +15 the halberd and just pump vit and dex until they are 40. You might also want to mix and match armor so that you can move better. If your wearing havels armor, you don't really need to wear the wolf ring. 40 poise is usually enough for pve. If you have the ring of favor and protection, I would wear that. It will give you a boost to your vitality, endurance, and equip load.

Using the Elite Knight Armor right now, though it might get switched up depending on the outlook of stuff in the DLC that I'll likely pick up today. Havel is only reserved for extreme tank-hug strategies where I generally don't need to be as mobile.

And just a plain Halberd?
What's the general view towards difficulty in NG+? I thought I'd give it a go and so far it has been like a speedrun up to Anor Londo. I'm still having fun, so I don't mind. I'm thinking the DLC bosses will be harder, since their attacks aren't as easy to avoid as the main game bosses.

Yeah, old game, but I almost wish the game would only offer up rings and armor if you didn't already have them. Duplicates be crazy mane.

Most of what I hear of NG+ mirrors your experience: no issues up to Anor Londo.
 
What's the general view towards difficulty in NG+? I thought I'd give it a go and so far it has been like a speedrun up to Anor Londo. I'm still having fun, so I don't mind. I'm thinking the DLC bosses will be harder, since their attacks aren't as easy to avoid as the main game bosses.

Yeah, old game, but I almost wish the game would only offer up rings and armor if you didn't already have them. Duplicates be crazy mane.

Bosses are more hostile and deal more damage, mobs do more damage and have a little push of health, prepare for getting gear for various elemental damage.
 

Easy_D

never left the stone age
So now that I got my 280x I must say that this game looks absolutely phenonemal when downsampled from 4K to 1080p. I can't quite keep a stable 60 though, I think it maxes out at around 55 and then hovers around 30+. Gonna bump it down to 1620p and see how it fares. I need the of both worlds :D
 
What's the general view towards difficulty in NG+? I thought I'd give it a go and so far it has been like a speedrun up to Anor Londo. I'm still having fun, so I don't mind. I'm thinking the DLC bosses will be harder, since their attacks aren't as easy to avoid as the main game bosses.

Yeah, old game, but I almost wish the game would only offer up rings and armor if you didn't already have them. Duplicates be crazy mane.
I think I'm right in saying the jump between NG and NG+ is bigger than NG+ and ++ (etc).

If you're finding it easy try introducing your own challenges in to it - handicapping yourself or something like that.
 

gogosox82

Member
Using the Elite Knight Armor right now, though it might get switched up depending on the outlook of stuff in the DLC that I'll likely pick up today. Havel is only reserved for extreme tank-hug strategies where I generally don't need to be as mobile.

And just a plain Halberd?

Halberd is a good weapon with a good moveset and it will do more damage than the Greatsword of Artorias. If you get your dex to 40, the halberd should have an AR between 450 and 500 with your stats.
 
Great Combustion is all you need really. Play around with everything else, but 1 x GC and 2 x regular combustion will destroy everything - regular enemies and bosses and take you through the entire game and NG+ onwards, and they're fast to cast which is important imo. Can't stress enough how powerful Power Within is too, wear dusk crown and bellowing ring and rip through everything. Up your attunement if you're going no-melee (fun playstyle!) so you can equip a ton of spells.

There's a few chaos versions of spells that are worth using as they leave lava on the ground for a short period that damages enemies after the initial flame cast - chaos fireball and chaos storm. These are covenant/NPC related finds.

Spoiler about pyro trainer if you haven't found her already:
When you get the pyro flame to +10, Quelana will appear in Blighttown, near the large titanite shard treasure just before the hillside to Quelaag's lair. She sells better spells than Laurentius and can upgrade the pyro flame to max, which is ascended +5 (ascended is after taking it to +15)

Awesome thanks! Upgrading the pyro flame has made all the difference. I am in Anor Londo helping people with O and S and just shredding them with combustion/great combustion. What a blast. Just as fun as sorc because it feels a bit like melee too. Great build.
 
What's the general view towards difficulty in NG+? I thought I'd give it a go and so far it has been like a speedrun up to Anor Londo. I'm still having fun, so I don't mind. I'm thinking the DLC bosses will be harder, since their attacks aren't as easy to avoid as the main game bosses.

Yeah, old game, but I almost wish the game would only offer up rings and armor if you didn't already have them. Duplicates be crazy mane.

I beat O and S with my first sorc in ng+ in a couple of hours and was feeling pretty badass, and then i got to the 4 kings.

Didn't seem to matter which combo of spells I used, I couldn't do enough damage before I ran out of casts. Actually had to level a bit.

It gets harder.
 

Tarkus

Member
I beat O and S with my first sorc in ng+ in a couple of hours and was feeling pretty badass, and then i got to the 4 kings.

Didn't seem to matter which combo of spells I used, I couldn't do enough damage before I ran out of casts. Actually had to level a bit.

It gets harder.
Some bosses get more of a boost than others. 4 kings is one of them.
 

gogosox82

Member
What's the general view towards difficulty in NG+? I thought I'd give it a go and so far it has been like a speedrun up to Anor Londo. I'm still having fun, so I don't mind. I'm thinking the DLC bosses will be harder, since their attacks aren't as easy to avoid as the main game bosses.

Yeah, old game, but I almost wish the game would only offer up rings and armor if you didn't already have them. Duplicates be crazy mane.

The only bosses that ever give me trouble are the 4 kings and the dlc bosses in ng+ and beyond. Sometimes the skeletons in the Nito fight can be a pain but nothing I can't handle honestly.
 

sploatee

formerly Oynox Slider
It has high base dmg and is easy to upgrade. Almost every other similar weapon is superior. If you like it try the claymore (str/dex) or man-serpent greatsword (str). Almost every weapon in good so just upgrade what you like to swing around.

It's OP for most of the game. It's moveset is a bit "ornamental" to say the least. The Claymore is superior in almost every way.

The zwei is another good melee weapon alonside the black kngiht albert and the demon axe, sorcery take a loooong time to get the best spells aka saving logan and buy all his spells to sell you the crystall spells in Duke Archives.

Thank you :) I've tried the zweihander...presumably it's going to need a lot of upgrading?

This playthrough is a bit weird. I beat Ornstein and Smough on my first attempt but now I keep dying to Sif (who I beat on my first attempt last time). It doesn't help that I've gone a bit wishy washy with my build - it's a mix of int and str and my endurance and vitality are still fairly low. Last time I just went full ninja with lots of endurance and lots of dex.
 
O&S on NG+ was a nice little jump in difficulty, so that's good. I mean the fight is the same, but they had a ton of health. I beat O on NG, so I went for S this time just in case I ever want to use that armor I guess.
 
The tentacle monsters in Lost Izalith can drop white titanite chunks? Never in all my time playing this game have I seen this until now - One of them in the Seigmeyer event poison pit dropped 2 white titanite chunks.

edit - Just read on the wiki it's a rare drop. I would've rather had a red slab :(
 

eot

Banned
This shot might've been posted before, I know the album it's from has, but I'm posting it anyway because goddam. This game.

12032028825_0ac4632358_o.jpg
 
Okay just made a uchigatana +15 and this sword is so good especially with good stamina you can slice for days against multiple enemies, it makes you feel so cool like some rurouni kenshin type of thing. Also what the hell is up with the demon ruins it's just multiple mini bosses (that are way weaker). Seems kind of boring.

Get the Iaito from Blighttown for a real Kenshin moveset ;)
 

Tarkus

Member
It will do but it is worth it to use it does scale alright in the end, might want to try the greatsword though it has thrust attacks if you like those.
The Greatsword is one weapon that I never tried much. It sounds like an excellent weapon. I also to need to play around with the Warpick + Leo Ring. It's going to be so hard to choose DS1 over DS2 at this point though, especially in terms of PvP.
 

red731

Member
Trying to replay the game again in preparation of Bloodborne.
Still stuck in undead burg for many hours ヽ(◉◡◔)ノ

I don't know why I haven't played DS more earlier, but I love the challange again.
I might switch between those two games beginning next week.
 

sploatee

formerly Oynox Slider
It will do but it is worth it to use it does scale alright in the end, might want to try the greatsword though it has thrust attacks if you like those.

Its worth it, it staggers anything with it's two handed heavy attack



And that thing can
fly
too, pretty scary

Thanks for the tips, again!

Trying to replay the game again in preparation of Bloodborne.
Still stuck in undead burg for many hours ヽ(◉◡◔)ノ

I don't know why I haven't played DS more earlier, but I love the challange again.
I might switch between those two games beginning next week.

I really like the Undead Burg and Undead Parish.

But I also like Lost Izalith, so don't trust me :)
 

JohnCYQ

Member
Gonna play a Souls game for the first time, starting with this one. Watched some videos on starting tips etc, so I roughly know what I want.

Is it a bad idea to start as a Pyro if I want to use the Zweihander as my main weapon later on? Was thinking that the Pyro spells would be useful as an alternative ranged attack against enemies that I can't get close to while still smacking shit around with the Zwei.
 

gogosox82

Member
Gonna play a Souls game for the first time, starting with this one. Watched some videos on starting tips etc, so I roughly know what I want.

Is it a bad idea to start as a Pyro if I want to use the Zweihander as my main weapon later on? Was thinking that the Pyro spells would be useful as an alternative ranged attack against enemies that I can't get close to while still smacking shit around with the Zwei.

Starting class only determines how you start so you could start as a pyro and just place points into str until you can use the weapon. Just remember that you get a 50% str bonus when two handing so you really only need 16 str to use the weapon.
 

JohnCYQ

Member
Starting class only determines how you start so you could start as a pyro and just place points into str until you can use the weapon. Just remember that you get a 50% str bonus when two handing so you really only need 16 str to use the weapon.

Ah cool, saw a video with a guy who went 1h Zwei + shield, looks like I'll need 24str to wear that.

Before I start going all out on Strength though, is there like a minimum of other stats I should have/go for first? I'm currently at 15 Endurance and 10 Vitality.
 
Leveling up vitality for more HP and especially endurance for more stamina is never a bad idea - especially endurance since you're going for a big weapon.

btw, Zweihander is kind of a clue to how the game thinks you should be using it, i.e. two-handed. You can sword and board with a Zwei, but you'll be able to use it a lot sooner by two handing it - which reduces the STR requirement by 50%, so you only need 16 STR to do that iirc.

All other stats, magic related and resistance are not needed unless you start using magic/faith (pyro doesn't scale with stats)

edit - doh, gogos already said abou the 50%, sorry!
 

JohnCYQ

Member
Leveling up vitality for more HP and especially endurance for more stamina is never a bad idea - especially endurance since you're going for a big weapon.

btw, Zweihander is kind of a clue to how the game thinks you should be using it, i.e. two-handed. You can sword and board with a Zwei, but you'll be able to use it a lot sooner by two handing it - which reduces the STR requirement by 50%, so you only need 16 STR to do that iirc.

All other stats, magic related and resistance are not needed unless you start using magic/faith (pyro doesn't scale with stats)

I guess its was more of a question to what people generally go with as far as Endurance/Vitality is concerned for starters before going with other stats, since that's the two main things that lets you stay alive earlier on. I read that the soft-cap for endurance is 40 since you don't get anymore max-stamina after 40, so that's one thing to aim for.

For vitality there really isn't a cap I suppose, though I'm thinking of getting at least 15 at the start, and progress into 25-30+ when I get higher.

Also, is there any reason to get more dex than the gear requirement? Zwei requires 10 dex which I have already, would having higher amounts affect anything?
 

Mistel

Banned
I guess its was more of a question to what people generally go with as far as Endurance/Vitality is concerned for starters before going with other stats, since that's the two main things that lets you stay alive earlier on. I read that the soft-cap for endurance is 40 since you don't get anymore max-stamina after 40, so that's one thing to aim for.

For vitality there really isn't a cap I suppose, though I'm thinking of getting at least 15 at the start, and progress into 25-30+ when I get higher.

Also, is there any reason to get more dex than the gear requirement? Zwei requires 10 dex which I have already, would having higher amounts affect anything?
VIT soft caps at 50 with diminishing returns from 30 onwards. DEX you can raise for extra scaling bonuses but a zweihander won't benefit that much due to D DEX scaling.
 
If the Zwei scales with DEX then upping it will effect damage bonus too, but not as much as STR (it scales better with STR I assume as a big sword). Other than that, no DEX will not be any use to you. You might want a bow, so check the DEX minimum on say a short bow which will suffice for the odd bit of sniping.

About VIT and END, it's really up to you. If you find you're dying a lot, up VIT. Like I said END is important as it allows more actions before the bar is depleted, always useful. Personally I don't start putting points into VIT until way later, if at all - but on your first run it might be one of the first things you want to level up. Swatting enemies into the ground with the Zwei will probably mean a lot of one-hit kills even without upgrading it, so VIT can probably wait I'd say.
 

JohnCYQ

Member
VIT soft caps at 50 with diminishing returns from 30 onwards. DEX you can raise for extra scaling bonuses but a zweihander won't benefit that much due to D DEX scaling.
Oh, didn't know about that. Yea, Zwei doesn't seem to benefit from scaling much (C str, D dex).

If the Zwei scales with DEX then upping it will effect damage bonus too, but not as much as STR (it scales better with STR I assume as a big sword). Other than that, no DEX will not be any use to you. You might want a bow, so check the DEX minimum on say a short bow which will suffice for the odd bit of sniping.

About VIT and END, it's really up to you. If you find you're dying a lot, up VIT. Like I said END is important as it allows more actions before the bar is depleted, always useful. Personally I don't start putting points into VIT until way later, if at all - but on your first run it might be one of the first things you want to level up. Swatting enemies into the ground with the Zwei will probably mean a lot of one-hit kills even without upgrading it, so VIT can probably wait I'd say.

Well its C for str and D for dex, not sure if that's even worth scaling. Probably better off soft-capping vit/end.

Was wondering about VIT since I can die pretty quickly if I get chained-attack at this point with the default pyro armor. Speaking of which, since I'm planning on doing both 1H-Zwei + shield + pyro-switching, would wearing heavy armor have a negetive effect on pyro (like cast time for example)? And aside from mobility, is there a reason to go with a different armor set than heavy armors considering the attack speed of the Zwei?
 
Armour has no effect on cast speed so you're good there (DEX has a minimal effect on cast speed - not worth it imo unless you are doing a DEX build).

I always prefer speed over defense, so I always keep under 25% equipment burden for the fastest roll/run. If you don't mind the mid-roll then use heavier armour it can only help. Stamina regen is slower with higher equip. burden, and different armour pieces have different status defenses (poison, bleed, fire etc, etc) - I like to mix and match so you get a bit of everything, sometimes just one piece of curse resistant armour can help a lot for example, I never wear all of one set #Fashionsouls.
 
I don't care about achievements, but I unlocked them all minus Knight's Honor just to point out how addicted I've been to the game after picking it up on Steam sale the end of last year. I'm getting the itch to move on.

Bloodborne is highly likely, if not right away. I may be more excited for Dark Souls 2, but to say I've read mixed things on it is an understatement. Am I going to be alright if I go in with realistic expectations? :) Some of the changes I've read about do kinda put me off, but it may not be that bad actually playing it.

Having a fair offline mode is important to me, and I thought DaS1 did a great job at that. I only needed 2 different online type items for covenant rewards, and they offered a chance to farm offline for them both. Is 2 fully playable like that, or are more features online only?
 

Mistel

Banned
Having a fair offline mode is important to me, and I thought DaS1 did a great job at that. I only needed 2 different online type items for covenant rewards, and they offered a chance to farm offline for them both. Is 2 fully playable like that, or are more features online only?
You can still farm things or gain things via other in game methods.
 

Tarkus

Member
Damn. Oolacile Township is just as active as Iron Keep Bridge in DS2. The games play so differently. I'm getting rekt for the time being.
 

Tarkus

Member
I had forgotten how many fully upgraded weapons and how much gear I had. Time to tinker. Balder Swag Sword...my vicious little fucker.
 

gogosox82

Member
Oh, didn't know about that. Yea, Zwei doesn't seem to benefit from scaling much (C str, D dex).



Well its C for str and D for dex, not sure if that's even worth scaling. Probably better off soft-capping vit/end.

Was wondering about VIT since I can die pretty quickly if I get chained-attack at this point with the default pyro armor. Speaking of which, since I'm planning on doing both 1H-Zwei + shield + pyro-switching, would wearing heavy armor have a negetive effect on pyro (like cast time for example)? And aside from mobility, is there a reason to go with a different armor set than heavy armors considering the attack speed of the Zwei?

Depends on your playstyle. I personally hate mid rolling so I'm always under 25% equip load. But it sounds like you want to play a tank like playstyle so I would just throw on some good armor. The only thing that will be effected by wearing heavy armor is your stamina regen so your casting of pyro should be fine.
 

JohnCYQ

Member
Depends on your playstyle. I personally hate mid rolling so I'm always under 25% equip load. But it sounds like you want to play a tank like playstyle so I would just throw on some good armor. The only thing that will be effected by wearing heavy armor is your stamina regen so your casting of pyro should be fine.

Is <25% the lowest threshold for movement speed/rolling? I'm currently at about 33% with Havel's ring. Good to know that pyro still works in those conditions.

Okay, so I got some questions. I've set lautrec free and I've read about how
he will kill the maiden at firelink after doing certain progression, and that freeing him makes him available for summoning for 2 boss fights. I've also read that killing him at certain points of the game would have him drop more gear on death.

So...
1) When's the best time to kill him?
2) I read that the maiden can be revived later on anyway, do I miss anything if I were to kill Lautrec before he kills her, vice versa?

Also, the fire-dragon (hellkite?) disappeared from the bridge, is there a way to bring it back? I tried talking to the "praise the sun" dude and restarting the game, but the dragon still didn't return. Also, is there a point in time where it flies away permanently stopping you from killing it?
 
Lautrec:
It's better to kill him later on - at least on your first run - because you get 2 free armour sets you can't get if you kill him at Firelink shrine. The firekeeper will return after you kill Lautrec later on, you temporariy lose the ability to use the Firelink bonfire until then, but the Parish or Undead Burg ones are close enough. One of the armour sets, the Firekeepers is one of the best light armours, great resistances on it.

Hellkite Drake - when he flies off, sitting at a bonfire won't bring him back, but leaving the area (far away enough to respawn the enemies), or going through a loading screen (homebone etc) will bring him back. It never leaves permanently unless you kill it (you actually can stop it from ever spawning on the bridge by never triggering it's arrival when you first see it in Undead Burg - if you take an alternate route to the Burg it will never appear).



edit so as not to double post:

Stunning! Sauce and more: http://ok-sunshine.tumblr.com/image/67072561077
 

Giever

Member
So is it fine to opt back out of the beta for Dark Souls on Steam now? I've been opted into it since it was an option, immediately ported my saves over from GFWL, and now I'm wondering if there's any point anymore to still being opted into it. It just kind of adds an ugly bit of text to the end of the title in my list.
 

Morrigan Stark

Arrogant Smirk
So is it fine to opt back out of the beta for Dark Souls on Steam now? I've been opted into it since it was an option, immediately ported my saves over from GFWL, and now I'm wondering if there's any point anymore to still being opted into it. It just kind of adds an ugly bit of text to the end of the title in my list.
Yup, the main branch is on Steamworks now.
 

gogosox82

Member
Is <25% the lowest threshold for movement speed/rolling? I'm currently at about 33% with Havel's ring. Good to know that pyro still works in those conditions.

Okay, so I got some questions. I've set lautrec free and I've read about how
he will kill the maiden at firelink after doing certain progression, and that freeing him makes him available for summoning for 2 boss fights. I've also read that killing him at certain points of the game would have him drop more gear on death.

So...
1) When's the best time to kill him?
2) I read that the maiden can be revived later on anyway, do I miss anything if I were to kill Lautrec before he kills her, vice versa?

Also, the fire-dragon (hellkite?) disappeared from the bridge, is there a way to bring it back? I tried talking to the "praise the sun" dude and restarting the game, but the dragon still didn't return. Also, is there a point in time where it flies away permanently stopping you from killing it?

Yeah you can go lower but there's really no point. I personally like putting on the most armor that allows me to fast roll. Its like a balance I like to strike to get the most of my build. Keep in mind that you don't have to do that. Its something that I like to do that fits my personal playstyle. Other people do fine mid rolling, I just personally can't stand it and have to have a fast roll.

1.
I would kill him later. It allows you to get 2 decent armor sets out of it and you can revive Anastacia ( the firekeeper Lautrec kills) later. I really like the Dingy set, particularly the top. Has a ton of elemental defense for such a light set. Its a really good light set that I find myself using a lot. The other set is decent, but by then you'll probably have access to few sets that are just better than it but you can always mix and match figure out what looks good on your character. #Fashionsouls ftw!

2. Hellkite Drake doesn't leave the game until you kill it. I believe you have the reset the area by leaving it and coming back. So if you reset at the Parish and came back, he would appear eventually.
 
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