Support NeoGAF

[zma1013]

Use a controller.

 

[BlackJet]

Prepare to Cry

- Start with the Master Key
- Talk to Solaire after the second boss
- Class doesn't matter (however, knights and clerics get healing miracles at the start)
- Don't be afraid to explore
- Don't be afraid to farm souls (sometimes leveling up is necessary)
- Don't worry about doing all the side quests
- Don't freak out if you die multiple times (I still try to remind myself of that)
- Engage in JOLLY COOPERATION! (summon people if you really are stuck and don't know what to do)

 

[Outright Villainy]

Certain weapons also have really neat attacks you can activate which have a tendency of turning themselves into heaps of rust in no time should you decide to do so.

Yeah but by the time you've gotten those, if you don't have a repair box something has gone very wrong.

 

[K' Dash]

Go up.

 

[Messofanego]

EDIT: Beaten

I totally went to the graveyard first, knew it was a bad idea when I had a huge skeleton chasing me but I just wanted all that shiny loot! Dragged the gigantic skeleton back to near the shrine and took him to the swimming pool. Took him down bit by bit, and then did the same for the others. I then stopped when TWO gigantic skeletons came and so just ran back towards the proper route.

Did people write a journal to game magazines 20 years ago when they died a lot in a game?

You work in games and you don't know that history? People used to write to game magazines all the time about anything!

 

[Arthr2ShdsJcksn]

Get the drake sword, but don't use it. It's a crutch.

 

[ihearthawthats]

Start with the Master Key

I wouldn't unless you're in a hurry and want to skip content.

 

[Hakkuei]

Always equip the biggest weapon you can find, throw away all of the shields (except for the Grass Crest Shield) and run around naked while rolling everywhere. You gotta go relatively quickly.

 

[EatChildren]

Main thing is that Dark Souls is a game of patience, where success lies mostly in your own hands and not on off screen dice rolls and magic stats. It's a real time systems driven game, where your own reflect skill, attunement to situations, and rate of learning will dictate how far and fast you will go.

The point of being able to make your way through the whole game with one weapon, and your starting class mattering less, are good examples of this. Dark Souls is less a game of having eight different classes with unique, locked off skills, and more like each class simply defines starting variables and some equipment, but in theory over all time every class can become the same. It's a game where you don't have a hundred different variations of the same axe with incrementally improving stats that naturally have you tossing aside something old for some new upgrade. What you have instead is a very small pool of axes that are each unique in the damage rates, swing speed, attack animation, and so on. You don't grind for a ton of new weapons, you find a weapon that is most balanced to your play style and work it.

Endurance and vitality are the most important stats up to ~40. Strength is also useful. Your roll speed/recovery and movement speed is impacted by the combined weight of your equipped items/armour/weapon, and what percentage that is of your weight limit. From memory you want to keep it <30% to move/roll fast. As endurance grows so too will your weight limit, letting you equip heavier armours at less of a speed penalty.

 

[danthefan]

I think the Pyro is a good starting class, pyromancy can be very strong and you get a free pyro glove from the very start.

The starting class actually doesn't matter though otherwise. You can start as any class and end up with any build.

TAKE YOUR TIME. Dodge everything you can, it's better to dodge than block. If you get stuck early on then google "Drake Sword".

 

[A Sentient Keyboard]

1. Pyromancer is probably the best to start as, but every class pretty much ends up in the same place at the end.

Starting class doesn't matter, since you can turn any class into whatever you want. There's no unique weapons, spells or gear you can't just aquire through normal play. It's more important how you end up than how you start. Quality build is good for starting, i.e. a fairly even distribution between Str and Dex, instead of Int and Faith. Upgrading and using melee effectively is easier than spells, and is generally more fun anyway. To get some of the more fun magic you'd probably want a guide or a lot of time, which is better off on a second playthrough. No matter what your build however, Vitality and endurance are never a wasted point also, so if you don't know what to upgrade just start with those.

As for your question, starting class means very little. The stat spread is fairly low so you can easily level up and completely change your stats. Weapons/Armour dictate your playstyle than your stats directly. You can check what each stat does by pressing the back button the 360 when on a stat screen to get more details about every single stat in the game. Don't put points into resistance though, it's not worth it.

"Classes" in the Souls games are just pre-allocated stats and starting gear. After a few levels, they are all the same. The Pyro isn't just a good "beginner" class, it's one of the best because it's such a blank sheet in terms of allocated stats. Plus, Pyromancy doesn't scale with any stats, but your Pyromancy flame, so if you had a specific soul level that you wanted to stop at (Most stop at 125 if they PvP), you don't have to worry about raising levels to get stronger Pyromancies, unlike Miracles requiring Faith, and Sorceries INT. The Pyromancer also starts with some of the most useful armor due to the resistances.

I see I was overthinking the class choice. I'll probably just go with Pyromancer then.

One more thing, I remember reading something about the GFWL shutdown affecting Dark Souls saves, but now I can't find it. Could someone tell me if something like that is happening, and if so, how severe it's going to be, and how soon it's going to happen? Is it possible to complete the game before then with some dedication, or should I just wait for the shutdown. Or can I just ignore it?

By the way, I'll be away for a bit and then start up the game in an hour or so.

 

[denshuu]

I wouldn't unless you're in a hurry and want to skip content.

For me, the Master Key saved me a bunch of time wandering randomly around every area looking for whatever random door I happened to find a key to in order to progress.

 

[Lost Fragment]

If you play the game with the mindset that you're actually doing these things in really real life, as in, you wouldn't just go up to a crazy zombie monster and start swinging your sword willy nilly with no thought put into it, then the game isn't as hard as it's made out to be. But it's still hard. Treat it like a survival horror game, or survival RPG, I guess.

Just go in blind, but if you get confused about any of the basic stats/mechanics/etc then I think consulting a FAQ would be fine.

 

[Bacon_Boss]

I'm on my frist playthrough, so i could be wrong about some of this, but from what i've gathered so far:

I suggest the Pyro or the Cleric starting out. Two really popular builds are Magic and Str/Faith builds. Magic isn't entirely game breaking, but if you choose pyro and raise your intellect in addition to saving up money/souls to keep your pyro strong(Pyro does NOT benefit from high INT, but you want to raise your attunement to increase the number of spells you can carry), you'll have a pretty easy time of most enemies.

Faith/Str I've yet to try(First playthrough!) But i've been lightning bolted and impaled plenty of times to know they do pretty awesome damage. Couple with the fact that you can enchant weapons into Divine weapons(Divine ember is attainable pretty quickly in the game), causing them to scale with your faith versus whatever they scaled with to begin with.

One thing i wasn't told about until midway through the game is Dex makes your move faster, as in, your animations and attacks increase in speed, regardless of what your animations may be. Dex makes you cast, roll and swing faster.

Other than that, don't increase your Vit past 31. I know a lot of games are stack stam to win, this one isn't the case. 31 will more or less cap you out. i think 2 or 3 of the stats are straight up useless. Endurance isn't one of those, i think i explained the rest.

 

[sublimit]

But... should I then just jump into the game blind?

For your first playthrough yes.The game will teach you all the basics.You may struggle a bit more but struggle is part of the experience.And after a while you learn to enjoy it.
Play online as much as possible in order to read messages and check bloodstains these are all the hints you'll need for the first time.

Also take notes yourself.By that i mean the old fashioned way with pen and paper.For Dark Souls i had a notebook and tried to write down as many notes as possible about the game's mechanics as well as about the lore itself while i was trying to figure what was going on.This really immersed me in the game and i intend to do the same for DS2 as well.

For your second playthrough i'd suggest to be more involved with the communities (read forums,threads,watch Lets Play videos) while you try to get deeper into the game's cryptic systems and game mechanics as well as understand or get other opinions about the game's lore.The setting and lore of the Souls games is probably the most interesting i've seen in any game both in the way it's told as well as how it is.it also leaves a lot to each player interpretation something that i really love because it fuels the imagination and creates interesting food for thought and discussions among fans.

 

[Sanctuary]

25% or less for the fast roll.

Another thing about Pyromancy is that it's kind of broken early on. Every time I play a Sorcerer, I just keep thinking "good fucking god Soul Arrow completely sucks compared to fireball",

 

[nailbombxx]

It is better to play these games going in blind. Trust me. Learning all this stuff for yourself is much more rewarding.

It really annoys me when people go through their first playthrough already knowing a lot of the strategies and secrets. What a dull experience that would be. I really wish i could play through this game again for the first time.

 

[cyber_ninja]

- Prepare to die;
- Rise your shield;
- Praise the sun;

Pick a class that suits your game style and level up accordingly; pay attention and keep your cool.

 

[Wertyscp]

Take this with you, more important in the latter part of the game. I ruined weapons because you can only add the really good elemental effects when the weapon is at +5. I believe there was someway to downgrade them but it was very expensive

 

[ihearthawthats]

For me, the Master Key saved me a bunch of time wandering randomly around every area looking for whatever random door I happened to find a key to in order to progress.

It's definitely advantageous, but it's the easy way out. Nothing wrong with that, as long as OP's fine with that.

 

[HK-47]

Pyromancy rolls over this game cause it was terribly designed. I say go for anything but that.
Also just play it instead of getting told what to do. There is always new game plus for breaking the game.

 

[retrobeans]

It is better to play these games going in blind. Trust me. Learning all this stuff for yourself is much more rewarding.

Exactly.

OP - just get stuck in, you'll learn as you go.

 

[SiegfriedFM]

Do NOT get the Drake Sword. Also, anyone who tells you to get it doesn't know the game. It's basically a dead end, letting you bypass the early, crucial learning stretch and then leaving you high and dry. It's also extremely hard to upgrade.

Or, in more words:
www.beardednerd.se/why-dark-souls-drake-sword-is-the-greatest-noob-trap-of-them-all/

 

[impetuous_silly]

Coming from Monster Hunter I was hoping that combat would be a big part of this game but I feel like the only way to progress is to run from everything. Is the whole game like this?

 

[Sanctuary]

Pyromancy rolls over this game cause it was terribly designed. I say go for anything but that.

It's actually the fact that most of the Sorceries and Miracles were poorly designed. Of the spell types, Pyromancy just supplements melee much better.

I was hoping that combat would be a big part of this game but I feel like the only way to progress is to run from everything. Is the whole game like this?

It's never like that, unless you ended up roaming into areas that are much too high for your level (which eventually is nowhere since people have beaten it at level 1). I won't lie, on my first playthrough I spent about an hour dying, because I wandered into an area that was the closest to the starter area, instead of looking off to the side.

 

[BlackBanditSho]

Your first stop should be the graveyard.

So wrong for this This is one of those places that he would know to go to first if he checked around. Now you know the right path OP. Remember patience and timing and all of the advice above. Block and roll. The game isn't that hard. Just be committed like in the old school games and you'll learn to really appreciate this amazing game. Pro Tip: don't be afraid of the skeletons. Keep trying. Patience.

Praise the Sun.

 

[nailbombxx]

Coming from Monster Hunter I was hoping that combat would be a big part of this game but I feel like the only way to progress is to run from everything. Is the whole game like this?

Perhaps if you want your character to be a coward.

 

[Maxwood]

This is going to sound like a weird one, but aproach it like a roguelike puzzlegame. It isn't one, but it kinda feels like it. With a touch of Zelda.
In the end, it's one of a kind. With the exception of it's spiritual predecessor. And, err, the upcoming sequel...
You will die. A lot. But that's okay, everybody does it. It's part of the learning process. Untill you reach the first blacksmith every enemy can be overwhelming. That's normal. Don't get intimidated, stay calm and, well, prepare to die. But learn from it. The traps and enemies are the jigsawpuzzles, your arsenal the puzzlepieces. Try out different weapons and enhance the one you like. Don't use the Drakesword, it's a trap. Dark Souls is not a lootfest, even though there's a lot of treasure. Use the stuff you, yes you, can kick ass with. Stats are important, but not as much as you would think.

And keep that shield up!

Also, don't look at guides. Maybe if your really stuck at a boss or two, but avoid it as much as possible. Don't be afraid to use cheap tactics. (buy 300 arrows to kill a boss from a distance he can't hit you at )

Haven't read the rest of this (fast going) thread yet and i'm pretty sure almost everything I just said already got covered by people with more knowledge of the game, but what the heck.

 

[Tenrius]

Eh, just pick up something you like and go. Beginner classes don't really matter in this game. It's also not nearly as gruesomely, masochistically hard as some people would have you believe, so just have fun. The only sound advice I can give is that you should get a high stability shield as soon as possible and keep in mind that you can block even the most biggest, scariest looking attacks with it.

This is going to sound like a weird one, but aproach it like a roguelike puzzlegame. It isn't one, but it kinda feels like it. With a touch of Zelda.
In the end, it's one of a kind. With the exception of it's spiritual predecessor. And, err, the upcoming sequel...
You will die. A lot. But that's okay, everybody does it. It's part of the learning process. Untill you reach the first blacksmith every enemy can be overwhelming. That's normal. Don't get intimidated, stay calm and, well, prepare to die. But learn from it. The traps and enemies are the jigsawpuzzles, your arsenal the corners. Try out different weapons and enhance the one you like. Don't use the Drakesword, it's a trpa. Dark Souls is not a lootfest, even though there's a lot of treasure. Use the stuff you, yes you, can kick ass with. Stats are important, but not as much as you would think.

And keep that shield up!

Also, don't look at guides. Maybe if your really stuck at a boss or two, but avoid it as much as possible. Don't be afraid to use cheap tactics. (buy 300 arrows to kill a boss from a distance he can't hit you at )

Haven't read the rest of this (fast going) thread yet and i'm pretty sure almost everything I just said already got covered by people with more knowledge of the game, but what the heck.

Am I really the only one thinking that Dark Souls is essentially a 3D Castlevania (SotN-style, specifically) done right?

 

[bj00rn_]

Master the lock on and backstab your way to some proper stats, enjoy.

I also beat several bosses naked, because greater mobility..

 

[Deitus]

And I'll be avoiding the Drake Sword, because people say it's cheap and I want the challenge.

I would recommend you do stay away from the Drake Sword, but not because it's "cheap".

In Dark Souls, you may find that some tactics you need to beat certain enemies feel cheap. But despite the fact that myself and others consider the game to be "fair", you are frequently unevenly matched. When you are fighting enemies that can kill you in 2 hits, and come at you relentlessly in groups, you want to use everything at your disposal to survive. Often that means exploiting dumb enemy AI. It also frequently means to always have a good supply of estus flasks on you, and to kindle bonfires when necessary to increase the number of estus charges you have. And of course exploiting things like terrain while you hit an enemy from a distance with magic attacks. All of this is considered fair game by most players because: a) the odds are stacked against you in this game, and b) they still require careful play, being observant of your environment and the enemies, and learning from your mistakes.

The problem with the Drake Sword is that it teaches players still learning to play the game how to be bad at Dark Souls. When you can kill most enemies early on in one hit, and bosses in only a few hits, you never really learn how to play carefully. Unfortunately, the effectiveness drops off like a rock later on in the game, partly due to no stat scaling, and no real way to upgrade the weapon until way late in the game (also, even fully upgraded it's not a great end game weapon). And by the time it does lose effectiveness, even though many weapons (after upgrading) will be much more powerful, none will be as powerful as the Drake Sword was early on. You became reliant on a single tactic to get you through this game (Hit all the things with the Drake Sword), and when it finally stops working, you find yourself in a much tougher area of the game trying to learn basic tactics you should have learned 10 hours prior.

I honestly believe Drake Sword is intended for people on a second character. Once you have already beaten the game once, getting the Drake Sword early on helps you power through some of the early game content, and since you've already beaten the game before you don't have to worry about not learning to play or cheating yourself of the experience.

 

[DietRob]

I've restarted this game close to 10x. The character I have now on ps3 I feel like I'm going to be able to stick with, rather force myself to. I've run through the first quarter of this game so many times I've now committed it to memory.

This time I've killed Pavel, owned a few of the black knights, gotten some knight armor early on, and have the drake sword. I'm really digging my build so far. I'm level 26 and focusing mainly on DEX, STR, END. The only mistake I made was accidentally attacking the first blacksmith. That cost me 13k souls.

 

[nOoblet16]

I started too a few days ago, and have defeated the Taurus boss. Up to that dragon on the bridge, and I had a chat with SunBro.

I would personally avoid becoming human because I got invaded by an overlevelled asshole who punched me to death with all of my health intact in one hit. At least unlike poor Brad Shoemaker, didn't break any of my weapons or whatever trolling happened there.

Mostly what I have been doing is pouring all my points into endurance, and perfecting the parries and backstabs. Gosh, they're so satisfying.

And I'll be avoiding the Drake Sword, because people say it's cheap and I want the challenge.

The invader would at most be 10 levels + 10% of your current level above you, that's how it works so that they keep it fair, while an invader can be level 10 and end up invading the world of a level 200 player who is in NG++

Also if you want to reduce the invasion rate then join the sunbro covenant as it puts more emphasis on finding other players for co-op and hence uses the connection slot usually reserved for invasions.

 

[Horp]

If you are playing on PC, use a gamepad.
Lock on to targets. You do that by pressing down the analog stick. I've seen a lot of new players that don't know that you can lock on. Without locking on, fighting becomes very tedious.

 

[Messofanego]

I would recommend you do stay away from the Drake Sword, but not because it's "cheap".

In Dark Souls, you may find that some tactics you need to beat certain enemies feel cheap. But despite the fact that myself and others consider the game to be "fair", you are frequently unevenly matched. When you are fighting enemies that can kill you in 2 hits, and come at you relentlessly in groups, you want to use everything at your disposal to survive. Often that means exploiting dumb enemy AI. It also frequently means to always have a good supply of estus flasks on you, and to kindle bonfires when necessary to increase the number of estus charges you have. And of course exploiting things like terrain while you hit an enemy from a distance with magic attacks. All of this is considered fair game by most players because: a) the odds are stacked against you in this game, and b) they still require careful play, being observant of your environment and the enemies, and learning from your mistakes.

The problem with the Drake Sword is that it teaches players still learning to play the game how to be bad at Dark Souls. When you can kill most enemies early on in one hit, and bosses in only a few hits, you never really learn how to play carefully. Unfortunately, the effectiveness drops off like a rock later on in the game, partly due to no stat scaling, and no real way to upgrade the weapon until way late in the game (also, even fully upgraded it's not a great end game weapon). And by the time it does lose effectiveness, even though many weapons (after upgrading) will be much more powerful, none will be as powerful as the Drake Sword was early on. You became reliant on a single tactic to get you through this game (Hit all the things with the Drake Sword), and when it finally stops working, you find yourself in a much tougher area of the game trying to learn basic tactics you should have learned 10 hours prior.

I honestly believe Drake Sword is intended for people on a second character. Once you have already beaten the game once, getting the Drake Sword early on helps you power through some of the early game content, and since you've already beaten the game before you don't have to worry about not learning to play or cheating yourself of the experience.

Yeah, I was thinking along those lines, maybe cheap wasn't the right word. Thanks!

 

[Gibbles17]

Go in blind. Finish the game for the first time, then start reading up on whatever since you'll very likely want to go again.

You already know too much with the Drake sword, it's going to make the first chunk of the game considerably easier than it would otherwise be. The first run through a Souls game without any background made for the best gaming experiences of the gen for me. Reading up on the lore and how to obtain various armor/weapons/spells for subsequent playthroughs is really handy as you'll likely never be able to figure a lot of it out for yourself.

Dat first run though... sogood.gif

 

[sublimit]

The invader would at most be 10 levels + 10% of your current level above you, that's how it works so that they keep it fair, while an invader can be level 10 and end up invading the world of a level 200 player who is in NG++

Yeah but he may encounter someone with some fully upgraded weapons and armor and this could change the balance a lot against a new player who doesn't care to grind much and is focusing more on the single player/story aspect rather than PvP.

If you are playing on PC, use a gamepad.
Lock on to targets. You do that by pressing down the analog stick. I've seen a lot of new players that don't know that you can lock on. Without locking on, fighting becomes very tedious.

They deserve that for not reading the messages put down by the developers.

 

[Ensirius]

Raise your shield.

So much this. Can't stress it enough.

Prepare to die.

And of course this

 

[Yonafunu]

It's not a difficult game, all that talk is wildly exaggerated. Just keep your shield up and don't try to rush through. And while enemy patterns are very easy to figure out, it'll take you a long time to defeat them later on if you don't upgrade your equipment. Lastly, go in as blind as possible. I'm on my first playthrough at the moment, and it keeps surprising me. It's just not a hard game, more like tedious. But not in a bad way.

 

[Consequence]

Having bought this during the Steam sale but not started yet, I too have a question. Is it practical at all for a first timer to play through as an archer? I just generally like to roleplay as an archer in games that afford me the choice.

 

[Orion Pax]

Have fun, and remember it is just a game.

 

[KillerDark]

Don't be worried about playing the game the right way or anything. Just jump in and get started. Have patience, don't get frustrated, and have fun

 

[That Wont Fit In There]

Best way to play this game is to not know how to play.

 

[Dire]

...


Am I really the only one thinking that Dark Souls is essentially a 3D Castlevania (SotN-style, specifically) done right?

I'd agree with that.

 

[Infinite_Daremo]

Go it alone, don't read anything. Just keep at it. You never forget your first time through and its never as fun the second time.

 

[Syril]

Am I really the only one thinking that Dark Souls is essentially a 3D Castlevania (SotN-style, specifically) done right?

I also feel like Demon/Dark Souls' challenge is very similar to the classic Castlevanias. In fact, if you took Demon's Souls' levels but redesigned the game to be linear, took out the RPG parts, and replaced the souls and equipment with hearts and subweapons, I wonder if it could work as an actual Castlevania game.

 

[Kai Dracon]

Dark Souls difficulty is mostly related to the player's ability to comprehend situations. In a real way knowledge = experience points for the person playing the game. Essentially you level yourself up as much as your character. It's why people can go through the game at level 1, in time.

Probably the most important thing is to think about why you die, when it happens. Never assume you died "randomly" or because the game is unfair and made you die just 'cause. (Not saying the game is perfectly balanced in every situation, of course.)

 

[Intheflorsh]

The in game messages players can leave for each other will do more than enough to warn you of nasty surprises and secrets. They're also vague enough to make reading them not feel like cheating.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

Oh, when in doubt, put your souls in to vitality and endurance.

 

[2San]

I don't understand people saying to stay away from the Drake Sword. I never noticed a sudden difficulty spike after getting it. So I don't understand what people mean with that it doesn't teach how to play the game properly.

After completing the game, hit up some lore video's they are good stuff. I personally like VaatiVidya's stuff.