Dark Souls

[Bebpo]

Is there a sword in this one that does damage based on INT instead of STR like in Demon Souls?  That's going to be really important in deciding whether I stick with my mage or restart as someone with a decent physical attack.

[iconoclast]

I've come across a few swords like that, but I'm not sure where or when I found them.

[Bebpo]

K, as long as they're in there then I can manage once I get them.

Is there any stat/upgrade/ANYTHING that increases spell use count between bonfires?  30 Soul Arrows is not enough, especially if it's a stage -> boss.

[Shaka Khan]

Are there any stats, or equipment that raises the amounts of souls released early on? Regular mobs used to give 30 souls, suddenly now they give 36.

(Does humanity have something to do with it?)

[iconoclast]

K, as long as they're in there then I can manage once I get them.

Is there any stat/upgrade/ANYTHING that increases spell use count between bonfires?  30 Soul Arrows is not enough, especially if it's a stage -> boss.

I *think* you can buy another stack of soul arrows, or maybe you can equip it to two of your attunement slots so you have 60 total, but I'm not really sure about anything related to magic.

Are there any stats, or equipment that raises the amounts of souls released early on? Regular mobs used to give 30 souls, suddenly now they give 36.

(Does humanity have something to do with it?)

I noticed this early in the game as well, and I'm not sure what causes it. I thought it may have been the weapon I was using, but I really have no idea why. I don't think humanity helps soul payout, since I just had 1 humanity in the last area I did and enemies were still giving 800 each. Maybe if you're in human form you get more souls? Dunno.

Humanity does affect the droprate though. With 0 humanity, you have the base 100 droprate. With 1 humanity, you get 120. Then with 2, you get 125, and from there it keeps going up incrementally by 5s. At least that's what I read on gamefaqs.

[cool breeze]

what types of kills? different ways give different results.

like, normally killing a zombie is 100 souls.  backstabbing is 121.
killing an enemy with weapons is 1000 souls.  having them fall to their death is 2000 souls.

I'm still confused by weapons and stat scaling.  I'm putting all my points in endurance now (should put some in vitality too, since 10 at level 30+ is bad if I make a mistake.)

[The Sceneman]

Are there any stats, or equipment that raises the amounts of souls released early on? Regular mobs used to give 30 souls, suddenly now they give 36.

(Does humanity have something to do with it?)

I noticed this happened as soon as I started using Drake Sword. There's a little icon underneath your health/stamina gauge when you equip the sword, I'm guessing it indicates extra souls dropping

[cool breeze]

there are tons of small cool online features

apparently you gain an extra flask if someone rates your comment or lights a bonfire nearby (?)  I leave a few useful comments around and was wondering why it randomly refills.

[The Sceneman]

yes that is correct

[Shaka Khan]

Reposting this:

Ugh, I just killed the Armored Tusk by luring him into the bonfire, and instead of finishing him off with my sword, I did it with a Fireball (forgot I had the glove equipped).

How important is the Fang Boar Helm and is there any place else I can get it?

I noticed this happened as soon as I started using Drake Sword. There's a little icon underneath your health/stamina gauge when you equip the sword, I'm guessing it indicates extra souls dropping

I noticed it after using the Drake Sword too, but I was under the impression that the icon indicated a defense bonus.

[Shaka Khan]

there are tons of small cool online features

apparently you gain an extra flask if someone rates your comment or lights a bonfire nearby (?)  I leave a few useful comments around and was wondering why it randomly refills.

Yeah, I was getting extra flasks at a bonfire and I had no idea how. I thought "Well, it's probably because I was saving them up" but it didn't work that way at the next bonfire. It's even more nice since you can see their ghosts when they're resting and they can see yours, so when you're either of you feel generous you can go ahead and share a flask with your session bro.

[brob]

killed havel. got his ring so I could wear full elite armor and still roll like a boss. also have some grass something something shield that helps my stamina regen and the ring you get for killing the NPC in the church.



I'm cursed though

[iconoclast]

Never heard of the Fang Boar Helm, guess I missed it. Do you have to kill the boor with melee or something?

I'm starting to run out of areas to explore and bosses to kill. Guess I'm coming in on the home stretch. I figure my final play time will be just over 60 hours (I'm at 50 right now, but a few of those were spent idle). Game has so much content it's ridiculous. At least twice as much as Demon's Souls, maybe even 3x.

[Shaka Khan]

The red caped Knight with a rapier parried an attack and murdered me with one critical hit.

I had no idea they can do that too.

[Shaka Khan]

Never heard of the Fang Boar Helm, guess I missed it. Do you have to kill the boor with melee or something?

Yeah, by meleeing his head instead of back.

Fang Boar Helm:

Def: 26/23.4/31.2/26.0
Elemental def: 5/4/4
Resistance: 13/8/0
Poise: 12
Durability: 600
Weight: 8.0

[cool breeze]

killed havel. got his ring so I could wear full elite armor and still roll like a boss. also have some grass something something shield that helps my stamina regen and the ring you get for killing the NPC in the church.



I'm cursed though

I looked that up and know exactly where that bastard is

he killed me really early on because I wandered around early with my master key, then again when I went in through the alternate entrance.  I should be strong enough to fuck his shit up now 

wait, it was only like three levels ago when he still bf'ed me. :'(

[brob]

Ya, I did the same thing. that blasted key has brought me nothing but misfortune (until I opened up a door to a bonfire in the depths. key )


havel will wreck you in one hit almost regardless of any stat or gear. get your equip below 25% so you can roll with the most efficiency and backstab his ass to hell. my bandit knife+5 did me well, but if you have the drake sword that does a lot on backstab too.

[Shaka Khan]

Fuck fuckity fuck.

The area right after the boar, with the red caped knights, is now sealed (Giant gate that had a level) after one of them killed me and took me back to the previous bonfire. Holy shit, don't tell me I have to go through an entirely different route now?

I even saw the fog entrance right of the next area right before he killed me

Edit:

LOL. Never mind. Found a shortcut.

This game

[cool breeze]

haha, yeah.  there's a prick skeleton at the switch.

btw, the boar is really easy.  lure him under the ledge, then plunge attack him.  he goes down quickly.

[Shaka Khan]

Q1: Around the same area, there's a shaky looking bridge that was preceded by a warning note. Do I run, jump, or is it a suicide route? False alarm. Stupid message.

Q2: There's chapel right behind when the board was stationed, with a fearsome looking black figure at the end. Strong enemy or NPC? I'm scurred.

haha, yeah.  there's a prick skeleton at the switch.

btw, the boar is really easy.  lure him under the ledge, then plunge attack him.  he goes down quickly.

I got him pretty easily, but didn't get the helmet thanks to my cheesing tactics.

[Shaka Khan]

Bump.

[Herr Mafflard]

That big black knight was really easy to kill. I killed him by just doing the two handed claymore diving attack. Just waited for him to do his move then jump attack. Repeat

[iconoclast]

There are a couple NPCs in the Undead area, but I'm pretty sure the guy you're talking about is an enemy. I think it's one of those skeleton guys that have armor, a shield, and a red cape.

[Shaka Khan]

Yeah, I killed him pretty easily. He was basically too slow to land any of his heavy looking attacks. I picked up the soul that was behind him and ran to the mute girl for my Flask+1

Went back, met the blacksmith, bought the repairbox, then went down further to face the Titanite Demon and killed him as well

Feels good man.

[naff]

Is there a sword in this one that does damage based on INT instead of STR like in Demon Souls?  That's going to be really important in deciding whether I stick with my mage or restart as someone with a decent physical attack.

You can upgrade normal weapons with Magic or Enchanted titanite creating weapons that scale based on your INT just like Moon and Cres weapons in Demon's. http://darksouls.wikidot.com/upgrade

[Shaka Khan]

I gave up on the game after 9 hours, level 22, at the boar.

even easier way to beat the boar :

spoiler (click to show/hide)

go up the stairs to the right when you first see him, kill the two archers. from the dead body get the Lure Skulls. Go back down and attract the boars attention. Throw a Lure Skull in the fire - the boar will go roast itself (it's weak against fire) - job done. One Boar helmet attained!

[close]

Is he the only boar in the game? I killed him using that same strategy, but the filthy swine didn't drop anything

[naff]

I just joined the white way. Didn't know it costs 40k souls to change covenants. Oh dear.

It costs your soul level*2000, I was 20 when I posted that so 20*2000 = 40k  :'( You don't have to absolve your sin, you can change covenants at no cost, but abandoning your covenant is sin, which puts you in the Book Of The Guilty which players in the Blade Of The Darkmoon can use to hunt down and kill you filthy sinners. I think I'm going to just have the Blades on me and deal with it. FUCK THEM

[cool breeze]

blighttown is a clusterfuck

shit frame rate, shit enemies, shit design, shit camera.  at one point I'm fighting an enemy and the camera is looking at the floor of the platform above me.  If it wasn't for the lock-on icon I'd be completely lost.  I mean, I am completely lost.  Last thing I did before turning it off was roll onto a platform, at least I thought it was a platform because I can't see shit, and fall to my death.

at least I got a katana and ninja armor

[brob]

In certain areas I just don't lock on and keep my thumbs on the sticks like first person game. Haven't even gotten to blight town yet, though my expectations are astronomical given all the shit people have heaped on it. 

[iconoclast]

I like Blighttown, but the framerate is really awful. I look at Blighttown as a non-shitty version of 5-2.

Working on upgrading my Greataxe right now. I never found a Black Knight Greatsword, which is apparently the best weapon for strength, so I'm just using a standard Greataxe. Hits pretty damn hard at +9, so I'm farming some more souls so I can buy shard and get it to +10 and up. Hopefully I can use a demon soul to make it a unique weapon, that would be nice.

[brob]

5-2 was so bad. 

[cool breeze]

it's worse than you've heard

and havel went down so easy 

I took off some armor and extra equipment.  stabbed him in the back three times until he was nearly dead.  switched out my sword for the pyromancer hand and god fingered him for the killing strike.

and for the Katana it seems going to +15 is best for a dex build.

oh, and lol 72 THOUSAND SOULS to apologize for saying "no" instead of "yes" yeah, no.

[Bebpo]

I killed one of those mini-boss guys and then his henchman killed me and when I go back his loot is gone and he doesn't respawn.

That sucks!

[chronovore]

THIS GAME IS A BITCH AND A HALF.

Chrono I asked about the Tauren and got a nicr reply, scroll up.

I gave up on the game after 9 hours, level 22, at the boar. I think if id had this game 5 years ago id stick with it, now while i dig it, its too much of an investment.

Ah, this:

How can you kill the minotaur?

spoiler (click to show/hide)

once on battlements, turn quickly round and to the right
climb the ladder
dispatch the two archers
climb back down
when Beefy appears, run back to the ladder and climb up
jump off the tower when Beefy is below and use R1 to attack his head
after you hit the ground, run between his legs and keep running
then run up the battlements to the other end (or about 3/4 the way)
let Beefy run to you and swing (dodge this!)
then run back to the ladder - climb - jump R1 etc etc repeat

[close]

Woohoo finally some progress. thanks

OK, I'll give that a shot as well.

I died with a sizable (for me) investment in Souls on the ramparts, so went back, grabbed my Souls and sang "Homeward Bone" to the tune of Simon and Garfunkel's Homeward Bound. I leveled up, thinking to boost my Attunement enough to get two slots for spells, but now have three.

How do I fill these up with more Fireball castings?

How can I get more spells?

[Bebpo]

Rung the first bell, yay!

Now just gotta figure out where to go next.  I can go into Darkroot Forest/Basin but both seem pretty hardcore right now.  I read something about The Depths?  I need to figure out where the entrance to that area is.  I got a basement key in Undead Parish but dunno where to use it.

[iconoclast]

They ke goes to the locked door in front of the fire breathing dragon/the fat praise the sun guy. It heads into the depths I think

Darkroot is a section I did late in the game, but I'd say it's more of a mid-game area.

[demi]

What's the consensus on the FuturePress guide? I'm thinking of preordering from Amazon when they get their next batch, even if for potential resale value.

[iconoclast]

I haven't seen anyone say anything negative about it, plus future press makes good stuff (they did the Bayonetta and Vanquish guides as well, which also sound good). Should be worth the $14.

[cool breeze]

imo, The Depths and Darkroot are about the same level of difficulty.  Though, I can't say that for sure since I was stronger in Darkroot.  Both are easier than Blighttown.

I found another fire keepers sound and want to run back to the main place to get my flask upgraded, but that's like a million miles away from blighttown.  Moving around the world is a task.

also, someone invaded my game there, I managed to kill and kick them off a cliff...then my guy dies

[Bebpo]

Well, when I went into Darkroot the plant guys were a joke, 2 soul arrows = dead and they get stunned by the first and can't do an attack before the 2nd hits.

Then I got into the open area with the giant forest knights and it takes three heavy soul arrows just to take one down.  I walked ahead and two of them popped up and I ran like fuck.  When I tried Darkwater basin I got to those crystal guys and even my heavy soul arrows did almost nothing to them so I turned back and left.

Right now I'm lvl.17 with all my stats just pumped into my INT (around 26/27 now) once I got my STR to 11 so I could carry a Halbard+1 if I two hand it.  Have 60 soul arrows and 12 heavy soul arrows between bonfires.

The thing about playing Sorcerers are they are slow and can't wear any of the equipment you find.  Sure you can sit back and kill enemies without having to get up close, but I wouldn't be surprised if Physical attackers are better for all the other reasons.  It's not like it's that hard to just circle strafe around an enemy when they strike and hit them up close.  Once I get some Greenstones so I can build an INT sword I might start doing more physical attacking.

imo, The Depths and Darkroot are about the same level of difficulty.  Though, I can't say that for sure since I was stronger in Darkroot.  Both are easier than Blighttown.

I found another fire keepers sound and want to run back to the main place to get my flask upgraded, but that's like a million miles away from blighttown.  Moving around the world is a task.

also, someone invaded my game there, I managed to kill and kick them off a cliff...then my guy dies

How do you kick?  I forgot.

[iconoclast]

you don't need the Firelink fire keeper to upgrade your flask, you can use any fire keeper in the world. Since my Firelink fire keeper is dead, I go to the daughter of chaos to get my stuff. I'm up to +3 right now, but before I beat the game, I'm gonna go around the world murdering every fire keeper I can find and then using their souls to upgrade my flask as much as I can.

Kick is forward+R1. You can also do a lunging attack with forward+R2. I use that all the time.

[The Sceneman]

What's the consensus on the FuturePress guide? I'm thinking of preordering from Amazon when they get their next batch, even if for potential resale value.

the sample .pdf guide I got with the LE is really well laid out and thorough, but it only covers Undead Burg in the sample so it isn't so useful. The full guide should be pretty awesome, and for 14 bucks, should be a great buy.

This shit is so goddamn the best game ever. Getting 1000 in this game will be a badge of honor

[cool breeze]

darkroot forest past that 20k soul key door is the best grind spot, or so they say. I just know you can get 7k souls in under a minute without attacking once 

spoiler (click to show/hide)

once you attract the enemies, you stand by some stairs and they literally run off a ledge, killing themselves.

[close]

and I haven't met another fire keeper.  at least I don't think I've met one.

[iconoclast]

Yeah, the forest is the best grind spot in the game it seems. I just farmed 140,000 souls there and blew it all on large titanite shards. I would've farmed less, but it's a serious pain in the ass to get the merchant who sells the shards, so I figured I'd get enough to fully upgrade a few weapons at least.

I just fight the enemies though. Way more fun than running around and waiting for them to jump off the mountain. Plus I kill them all in 2 hits, so that helps.

[Cerveza mas fina]

I gave up on the game after 9 hours, level 22, at the boar.

even easier way to beat the boar :

spoiler (click to show/hide)

go up the stairs to the right when you first see him, kill the two archers. from the dead body get the Lure Skulls. Go back down and attract the boars attention. Throw a Lure Skull in the fire - the boar will go roast itself (it's weak against fire) - job done. One Boar helmet attained!

[close]

I think I did that by accident 

But then the red caped guys came.

[naff]

At level 22 you should be good with dem red caped fellas. No shame in using the Drake Sword if you're having a hard time, it demos those skeletors. Remember 2 handing a weapon effectively increases your strength by 1.5

Weird thing happened to me before, I was at the entrance to the bridge where you first see that big dragon and he suddenly started flailing around all spastic like he got caught in some geometry then died Just fought my first invader too, and proceeded to hand him his butt

[Cerveza mas fina]

Thanks for amazing advice, but I'm just not skilled for this type of game I guess. No patience. It literally took me 9 hours to get to those caped guys, I just die all the times on normal guys.

I traded it for store credit  :'(

[Shaka Khan]

Block, get close, kick their shields, then slash. Every enemy with a shield used to give me trouble until I realized I can kick their shields up.

[naff]

I either parry or block and wait till they stagger themselves then attack. I always screw up the kick, and because I was using a scimitar for most of the early game I didn't realise forward + attack = kick. With the scimitar it makes you do this fairly useless back spin attack that sent me off edges more often than not. Now I've decided to go heavy weapons, I've thrown points around, definitely not a lean build by any means but it's fun just playing around and I'm just focusing on gouging STR and END atm, a little sad as I just picked up the Iaito katana but ah well, got a Zweihander and a bunch of other cool heavy weapons to buff once I can get back to a blacksmith. And the Drake Sword is doing me fine for now.

Technically, Blight Town is the worst area so far, any movement is a slideshow. Can't wait to get out of this hellhole and go back to explore darkroot :'( I was trying to leave earlier when I was in the sewers after beating the Gaping Dragon and ended up just walking around in circles falling down holes so I went down to Blight Town. Picked up some nice armor off a merchant first though, then got to the first blight town bonfire. Too tired to deal with this shitty framerate any longer. So unfortunate this amazing game is so technically flawed.

[chronovore]

So I've got three spell slots; can anyone tell me if I can put the same fireball in each one, for 16 or 24 shots, or do I have to find additional spellbooks to fill those Attunement slots?

[Shaka Khan]

You keep letting me down, Japan.

[chronovore]

there are a hell of a lot of second hand copies here it would appear - cashed in my Honz version for 5,000 yen

There were probably a lot of people who bought it, made the FFFUUU face after going the wrong way from the hub and being ass-raped by skellies or ghosts, and then returned it. It's easy to assume it's too hard when IT'S TOO HARD.

Thanks for the advice on the Taurus Demon. I got past him a few minutes ago; dcharles' strategy guide worked a treat. Then I found the bridge with the dragon. I'm about to re-read this thread for tips on that. Damned drake is just MOCKING ME, hanging out on the bridge.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Yeah thats sounds like me. My butt still hurts from the rape.

But apperently this dude from work got to the same point as I did, in 7 hours . So I didn't even do that bad. But I just didn't feel like I accomplished anything in all that time 

[naff]

I'm not surprised people are giving up for easier games. This game is more obtuse than DeSo

[The Sceneman]

Capra Demon just buttfucked me pretty hard. He's an asswipe.

I'm kinda sick of using the Drake Sword, but it's just so damn good. Maybe I should work on upgrading my knives, as I prefer using smaller, faster weapons

[brob]

both my spear and my bandit knife were about as good as the drake sword when I hit the capra demon. The spear has the advantage in close corridors and the knife is better with backstabbing so I have little use for it.

Thanks for the advice on the Taurus Demon. I got past him a few minutes ago; dcharles' strategy guide worked a treat. Then I found the bridge with the dragon. I'm about to re-read this thread for tips on that. Damned drake is just MOCKING ME, hanging out on the bridge.

have your equip burden under 50% and run to the middle of the bridge and into the right alcove where there is a descending staircase. if you have a bow (think you can do it with a cross bow too) you can stand under the bridge on the right-side ledge and snipe the tail of the dragon for the drake sword which is really strong for early game stuff. need 16 strength to use it one handed (and 8 if you are dual wielding I think). If you are having a hard time it's a good sword to get, but you should keep an eye out of for other stuff as well since the drake sword will only get you so far.

[chronovore]

I'm not surprised people are giving up for easier games. This game is more obtuse than DeSo

Part of me wants to bail on this and grab Demons' Souls, which was my original plan. 

Yeah thats sounds like me. My butt still hurts from the rape.

But apperently this dude from work got to the same point as I did, in 7 hours . So I didn't even do that bad. But I just didn't feel like I accomplished anything in all that time 

I'm feeling REALLY familiar with the ass-clowns around Undead Burg's fire-camp.

Every time I stroll out of the tower, I feel like I should greet them by name as they're attacking. "Hey, crossbow dork! Hey, over-eager guy... remember this drop off the edge? Hey, it's those guys up there with the fire-bombs, how's it going? It's been, what, 10 minutes since I saw you last?"

So I've got a WHOLE bunch of crap armor and shields. Can I sell these? I didn't see any option for it in the Undead Burg Merchant. Should I just drop "cracked, wooden shields 1~6"? Is there encumbrance?

But more than any of that, can I stuff another of the same spell in my Attunement slots? If not, where can I get more spells?

edit: nvm, just found this:

A player cannot equip one spell to multiple slots, they can however buy multiple copies of the same spell/miracle from different vendors, which when equipped will combine for the total number of charges.

[brob]

You will be able to trade items for souls or other items later in the game. I still haven't gotten to that part yet and I'm 25~ish hours in though. If you drop items in the world they will disappear when you die and become vagrants that are enemies that roam online in various peoples' games and become more and more powerful if they aren't killed. I think. I don't have online hooked up. Which is a bit of a bitch because apparently they have patched some things, like supposedly curses don't stack no more and you can buy curse freeing items from the haggard lady in the firelink passage. I am not getting cursed twice over to test this though. 

[The Sceneman]

got killed in the most stupid fashion by a fucking dog on the way to see Capra Demon again, came THIS close to pitching my controller across the room.

Time to call it a night 

[chronovore]

Haha, I just had my first death. I believed a message that said "try jumping," left in front of a reachable-looking bridge at the beginning if Landblurnblah.

(Is there a way to read the name of the place, other than the first flashing notice?)

Wait, you seriously, only died once before getting to that point? You didn't die during the tutorial with the demon? That demon owned me several times. "Jump down and hold RB while falling to attack the head!" GREAT! While I was figuring that out, the demon jumped up and bashed me off my nice little ledge. Then he wiped his ass with me.