Dark Souls

Mickeroo · 14-11-2013 4:47pm

saidinmilamber wrote: »

Exactly. And it sounds like you're doing more of an INT/STR build anyway. The two swords that you can make from Quelaag's Soul are DEX weapons. Oh, in case you haven't realised yet, whenever you meet any boss that looks vaguely like a dragon, cut its tail off for a unique weapon. The most important ones for you being Seath the Scaleless and if you have the DLC, Black Dragon Kalameet. Both are really hard to do, but the weapons are incredible for INT and STR builds.

Seath is grand especially if you summon a person or two. They can keep him occupied while you run around behind.

Even if you'e alone it's easy enough to stay behind him although might not be so easy if you've got a STR build.

krudler · 14-11-2013 5:19pm

saidinmilamber wrote: »

Exactly. And it sounds like you're doing more of an INT/STR build anyway. The two swords that you can make from Quelaag's Soul are DEX weapons. Oh, in case you haven't realised yet, whenever you meet any boss that looks vaguely like a dragon, cut its tail off for a unique weapon. The most important ones for you being Seath the Scaleless and if you have the DLC, Black Dragon Kalameet. Both are really hard to do, but the weapons are incredible for INT and STR builds.

I'll check my exact stats later. Is it worth keeping everything at similar levels or going all out on one or two, seen a few playthrough where guys have intelligence in the high 40's but really low strenght/vitality. I kinda like keeping everything somewhat similar.

ancapailldorcha · 14-11-2013 5:23pm

I know what you mean but that will mean you'll find it difficult to master any one style of combat as you'll fail to meet the high requirements of the most potent spells, miracles, pyromancies and weapons.

Mickeroo · 14-11-2013 5:31pm

I put all mine into dex, vit and endurance because I wanted my character to be fast and use katanas. Weapons like the Iaito and Uchi scale their damage with dexterity so they won't be very potent if you're putting all your stats Str. Look at the weapon in you inventory and there should be an indication as to what stats it scales with.

krudler · 14-11-2013 6:02pm

So many options, it really is completely open to how you want to approach the game, I didn't realise dexterity was so different to strength, time to bump that up.

Tommy_NDX · 14-11-2013 7:32pm

(Missed a page, whoops)

Tommy_NDX · 14-11-2013 7:39pm

Nyla Odd Tannery wrote: »

Some testament to a 2 year old game when this thread is still going strong.

I'm probably going to get a PS4 in the new year when the dust and hype settles. Until then I've decided to get games I've missed first time round for my 360.

First 2 "missed" games: Red Dead Redemption GOTY Edition and Dark Souls Prepare To Die Edition. Got the two for under €40 from Amazon, heading my way in the next few days.

Can't wait to play Dark Souls! And I have no idea how I missed it and RDR first time around.

Any links to beginner's tips to ensure I start on the right foot?

calex71 · 14-11-2013 7:52pm

Agree with everything except avoiding the grave yard, though you would need a video for the route through you can easily get the gravelord sword as soon as you arrive there at the start in less than 10 minutes.

2Mad2BeMad · 14-11-2013 8:27pm

calex71 wrote: »

Agree with everything except avoiding the grave yard, though you would need a video for the route through you can easily get the gravelord sword as soon as you arrive there at the start in less than 10 minutes.

But he is new and I'd bet you a Dark souls 2 Collectors Edition that he won't make it past the first 3 skeletons :pac:

Tommy_NDX · 14-11-2013 8:51pm

calex71 wrote: »

Agree with everything except avoiding the grave yard, though you would need a video for the route through you can easily get the gravelord sword as soon as you arrive there at the start in less than 10 minutes.

Yeah but that's more for an absolute beginner really, one who wouldn't know about the grave lord sword. First playthroughs are all about learning as you go.

YouSavedMyLife · 14-11-2013 8:55pm

3 and 4 are subjective. My first play of this game i played a heavy armour weapon and sheild character. Little or no dodging for the entire game.

14 makes no sense...

krudler · 14-11-2013 9:18pm

The flooded ruins is the first place worth going purely for the firekeeper soul, get a +1 estus flask 2 minutes into the game. Long as you know where to go that is.

Tommy_NDX · 14-11-2013 9:28pm

YouSavedMyLife wrote: »

3 and 4 are subjective. My first play of this game i played a heavy armour weapon and sheild character. Little or no dodging for the entire game.

14 makes no sense...

For 3 and 4 I think learning how to dodge effectively would improve your skill overall rather than just tanking.

14 is tanking also, with too much poise you won't get the feedback of getting stunned or knocked backwards leading to overconfidence and not paying attention to how much damage you are actually taking. But of course everyone is different with how they play, these are just general guidelines.

Tommy_NDX · 14-11-2013 9:30pm

krudler wrote: »

The flooded ruins is the first place worth going purely for the firekeeper soul, get a +1 estus flask 2 minutes into the game. Long as you know where to go that is.

Exactly. A beginner wouldn't normally know that.

Harps · 14-11-2013 9:36pm

krudler wrote: »

I'll check my exact stats later. Is it worth keeping everything at similar levels or going all out on one or two, seen a few playthrough where guys have intelligence in the high 40's but really low strenght/vitality. I kinda like keeping everything somewhat similar.

Not really a good idea to level everything up, pick a style you like and build towards it, you'll probably need to read up or check youtube for what all the different stats do and check your weapon stats to see what it levels with, what the stat requirements are etc

I focussed solely on dexterity, endurance and vitality for most of my game, never touched strength after I got it to 14 and left most of the other stats as they were until the late game. My main weapon was the Iaito which scales well with dex, strength has no effect on it so I had no reason to up my strength. Also plan whether you want to move fast (equipment load under 25%) or go with a slow, tank type character and try and get the best armour combo you can

There's a massive amount of playstyles out there so the best thing to do is mix it up and have a bit of fun until you find something that really works

krudler · 14-11-2013 11:12pm

Ugh O&S are kicking my ass, the first couple of times I could get it down to just Smough but I've no humanity left so can't summon Solair, will have to head someplace else and get some, maybe farm the big knights for souls and go get that spell from Big Hat Logan with the orbs you can shoot.

Harps · 14-11-2013 11:16pm

You could try putting down your own summon sign at the fog gate for some free practice, if you win you get humanity + a load of souls and there's no penalty if you die so its win-win

Mickeroo · 14-11-2013 11:19pm

krudler wrote: »

Ugh O&S are kicking my ass, the first couple of times I could get it down to just Smough but I've no humanity left so can't summon Solair, will have to head someplace else and get some, maybe farm the big knights for souls and go get that spell from Big Hat Logan with the orbs you can shoot.

Rats in the depths are great for farming humanity.

Tommy_NDX · 14-11-2013 11:27pm

krudler wrote: »

Ugh O&S are kicking my ass, the first couple of times I could get it down to just Smough but I've no humanity left so can't summon Solair, will have to head someplace else and get some, maybe farm the big knights for souls and go get that spell from Big Hat Logan with the orbs you can shoot.

Killing enough enemies in an area where you haven't beaten the boss will award you with a "soft" humanity.

krudler · 14-11-2013 11:28pm

Mickeroo wrote: »

Rats in the depths are great for farming humanity.

I have that ring that ups your discovery of items so might slog back to firelink and either buy some from whatsherface in the tunnel or try the rats under the bridge with the wyvern on it. The trek isn't that far really, will just homeward bone myself back to Anor Londo then.

[CrimsonGhost] · 15-11-2013 11:37am

Harps wrote: »

Make sure you use the wiki for everything and plan at the start of the game what type of character you want to build, no point levelling up your strength if you plan on using dex weapons for example. Don't watch too many videos on the game either as it'll spoil that sense of surprise you constantly get as you progress

Use the wiki but don't watch videos?! Contradiction right there. Arguably you'll spoil more by reading the wiki.

For your first play through don't read the wiki and don't watch videos would be my recommendation.

Mickeroo · 15-11-2013 11:42am

[CrimsonGhost] wrote: »

For your first play through don't read the wiki and don't watch videos would be my recommendation.

I'm the opposite, would recommend the wiki from the off and it didn't spoil the game for me at all. Having said that, I plan on not using any for my first playthrough of DS2 since I'm more familiar with how the games work now.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar · 15-11-2013 11:46am

only read wikis if you are absolutely monstrously stuck

Harps · 15-11-2013 12:29pm

I used the wiki to learn about how stats, weapons, items etc worked, not as a walkthrough. I tried going through blind at first but found I enjoyed it a lot more when I actually knew how things worked and had an idea how to build an effective character. I watched a few videos before playing that spoiled some of the great set pieces like seeing Anor Londo and Ash Lake for the first time and some of the bosses.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar · 15-11-2013 12:30pm

yeah, someone do a quick writeup for how weapons and character stats/scaling works there.
I'd do it but unemployment has robbed me of any desire to contribute to society

krudler · 15-11-2013 1:06pm

[CrimsonGhost] wrote: »

Use the wiki but don't watch videos?! Contradiction right there. Arguably you'll spoil more by reading the wiki.

For your first play through don't read the wiki and don't watch videos would be my recommendation.

You'd miss a ton though, and let's be honest it's not the most user friendly game, there's fun to be had by exploring but even having a few pointers or knowing exactly what stats and weapons do is handy. like Mickeroo said with DS2 you'll know the mechanics more so it wouldn't be as necessary. And there's this thread which is dead handy.

saidinmilamber · 15-11-2013 1:09pm

krudler wrote: »

I'll check my exact stats later. Is it worth keeping everything at similar levels or going all out on one or two, seen a few playthrough where guys have intelligence in the high 40's but really low strenght/vitality. I kinda like keeping everything somewhat similar.

If you're going an INT build, then something along the lines of this would work. Don't drop so much as a point into RES anyway!

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar · 15-11-2013 1:23pm

krudler wrote: »

You'd miss a ton though, and let's be honest it's not the most user friendly game, there's fun to be had by exploring but even having a few pointers or knowing exactly what stats and weapons do is handy. like Mickeroo said with DS2 you'll know the mechanics more so it wouldn't be as necessary. And there's this thread which is dead handy.

you really need to play dark souls at least twice, the confusion is part of the experience first time round. then you can check out wikis and videos so you can 'oooooooh' 'wooooow' your second time around

krudler · 15-11-2013 1:42pm

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

you really need to play dark souls at least twice, the confusion is part of the experience first time round. then you can check out wikis and videos so you can 'oooooooh' 'wooooow' your second time around

The "ooooh wtf is that?" moments do make it all right, first time playing Undead Burg, walk down a stairs, see a gigantic knight with his back to me, say "fuuuuck that" run away :pac: Now they're Zweihander fodder

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar · 15-11-2013 1:43pm

one of these days I'll play a character that can use a zweihander... the game just feels wrong to me unless im using a high dex build

roll roll stab stab roll

Dark Souls

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