Dark Souls

[Sly Reflex]

Never stop posting Marth, If you didn't do that for Deadly Premonition I'd of probably never played it.

[radiofloyd]

Ooops i meant to upvote that sorry, good luck with the 1000g! Such a brilliant game.

[DANGERMAN]

I plussed him to balance it, but thinking about it it would have been funnier if everyone negged him

[halfagogo]

did a bit of lurking on the edge forum - there are some serious hardcore dark souls players there - ridiculously high level characters and the way they post about it is almost gibberish and im deep into this.

oddly though, i still dont know how to backstab - whats the precise method?

[Sly Reflex]

You have to stand right behind them and press attack while not pressing anything else on the controller. It kills most mobs in one hit.

[halfagogo]

feeling like a king on this at the moment, level 64ish, rocking havels full set with gargoyle helm but encumbrance under 50%so still pretty nimble.

also have furysword at + 5 and no longer have to do the farming trick in darkroot, now just wade in 2 handed. sexytime.

going to kill the moonlight butterfly and sif the wolf.

[halfagogo]

did the above 2 bosses with relative ease.

moonlight was ridiculously easy.

sif a challenge - wait till you see him, brilliant intro cut scene.

took 3 trys and no double deaths. tip: do not lock on to him.

about level 69 now. over leveled for everywhere i have covered cept anor londo - now takes about 4 mins to get through sens with no problems.

best game ever.

[illdog]

I cant even rember what level i was when i stopped playing.

Best game ever is a mighty acclaim.

[halfagogo]

forgot the imho bit, but still, after the initial 10 hours or so it takes on that incredibly calm and focused feeling you get from games like halo on legendary, that "every move counts", not just counts but means something. its tense and relaxing all at once.

you can see how people do super speed throughs runs on it. im really looking forward to trying.

maybe most satisfying game ever would be more suitable!

[halfagogo]

cant believe i have sunk 52 hours into this.

have nailed loads of bosses since;

hydra in darkroot basin (there is a sweet platform accessed via the soul grinding area).

Undead dragon & black knight in valley of drakes/on way.

3 big rolling cats in darkroot forest.

smaugh & ornstein - summoned 2 guys online - was easy peasy battle (think i may drop some summon signs now im a decent level - 73!). nice boob puns after.

that dude & his 2 npc summons that did something nasty at firelink shrine (they got wasted so quick & he gives you a brilliant ring that boosts endurance, load & HP).

painted world halfbreed, black knight, npc phantom & 2nd undead dragon.

all from smaugh down in 1 sitting.

now feel a bit overpowered but want to make a super electric weapon - was thinking of chaning my uchigatana.

cant wait to play again.

[halfagogo]

on the final areas now but holy poo- this farming for titanites to upgrade weapons (whoring achievements!) is drving me c-c-c-crazy!

and im not even after the stupidly rare slabs yet.

[Sly Reflex]

OK. I'm going in for another try. Think I'll go Pyro this time. Advice anyone?

Don't die doesn't count as advice!

[halfagogo]

OK. I'm going in for another try. Think I'll go Pyro this time. Advice anyone?

Don't die doesn't count as advice!

look at duffers tips in the NL thread. solid gold with no spoilers.

the main one is put points into endurance - better armour without encumbrance and higher stamina.

and points into either dex or str - decide which you will use - i went for dex which at level 82 is at 42 whereas my strenght is at 20. thats if your going melee.

watch your encumbrance (keep under 50% at least).

also, dont stockpile souls - use them when you have enough to level or buy things - this will save the frustration factor when you die.

dont use the inventory souls till your going to use them.

and dont be worried about humanity - you get inventory humanity (i have about 25 and ive not even farmed it) whic you can use for becoming human/kindling fires etc.

and buy the bow, smithing/repair boxes from that cokney zombie merchant in undead burg as soon as you can.

lure enemies towards you one by one and treat all the early fights as battles to the death.

good luck!

[Sly Reflex]

OK. Here goes. I wandered through the training area as it were and walked it right up until I had to learn to parry and riposte that cunt. I died a few times there, I managed to knock him back a few times but the timing window for that particular attack is really tiny. I'm not sure if it's worth me learning that as it was much easier making the monster commit, then sticking my axe up his arse.

Then I went on to fight the boss. Here's where the trouble began. The first few times I drop on his head and hit him for massive damage. I was having trouble dodging his shit. Eventually I tried to firebomb him from a distance couldn't understand why it wasn't hitting him. Of course the time it takes to throw a fireball is forever and so I died a few times trying to work out what the fuck was going wrong. Anyway, I learnt I had to be in a certain proximity of the boss for the fireball to connect. As soon as I learnt this I stormed in there and seriously fucked his shit up. Absolutely ruined him. He got an axe in the head, an axe up his fat anus then two fireballs to send the fucker into toast.

After landing in the main area of the game I had a poke around and found a hollow bent over a well with the suggestion on the floor saying "Try thrust!" which made me do a lol. I could see peoples ghosts at the bonfire and stuff, and occasionally I saw people running around. I have no idea if they could see me. I wondered about a bit more and talked to a guy and ended up joining a covenant. I have no idea what the fuck this does. Then weirdly the writings on the floor started cropping up. I started following them which led me to secret areas with chests in. The hints kept coming and I ended up back at the bonfire after I think running away from skeletons. Anyway, I continued following the hints until I got into the Undead Burg and lit the fire there. It looks like they could see I was a noob somehow and left me a breadcrumb trail to follow. Word must have spread or something because around the 2nd bonfire was just plastered with about 10 good lucks on the floor. I had to pack it in not long after I got to the bonfire so I had a few goes at fighting the people near there. I had a loltastic death where I absolutely beasted the 3 guys on the steps without taking any damage, then walked backwards off the stairs to my death.

I already know where the shop is in the Burg. I'll make that my next stop. I need a shield that isn't a bag of shit, even when I block sometimes I still take damage. I don't really understand how sometimes a little love tap can damage me when the massive blow I took beforehand took none. I'll get those repair boxes and stuff before going on any further.

Also, the 5.1 on this game is incredible. Some of the sound effects are a bit off, but the surrounds sound really brings the areas to life. The sound has played a big part in me playing already, I've managed to put up a quick defence against a sneaky monster that thought he had the drop on me. It's some of the best I've heard outside of Battlefield 3.

[Sly Reflex]

A bit of a tale before the questions start. I read up on the NL thread so set out to do the early stuff mentioned. I bought a key, a shield that wasn't akin to a used paper plate or digestive biscuit, a bow with plenty of arrows, the repair kit, the orange soap and some other item that let me organise stuff at bonfires? I'm not sure what that was. I just soaked all my souls into buying what appeared to be unique items. I did a few laps around the bottom end of the Burg just killing all the stuff I knew I could deal with. I was laying down markers for other people as I went along and every so often my Estus was topping up. I assume this is because people were voting my signs up? The top ups seemed to be completely random. Anyway, after a while I got fed up and decided to go check out the graveyard for the weapon I was told was good. I fought my way back and spent whatever souls I had gathered between breaking the bank and getting back to Fyrelink on repairing equipment. It took me about 10 minutes to find the graveyard, which is weird because it's the first place I did find when I got the game and played it last time. Anyway, I went on a suicide run and I think I cleaned everything out. I did managed to lose all my souls but it's no big deal. I got trapped between skeletons and something else between the Catacombs. I tried rolling past to escape but the skeletons had that shit sealed up, I just rolled right into them. No biggy though, I lost maybe 700 souls or something.

This is where the questions start.

I got the Winged Spear which was my whole intention of the suicide run. However, when I try and use it, I stagger about like I'm swinging bricks on a rope. In the second picture it says I need 13 strength and 15 dexterity to handle it. This I fully understand as I currently have 12 strength and 9 dexterity. So I boost though and Bob's your uncle, I can start swinging it about with ease. So what is the deal with the Parambonus? Strength is E and dexterity is C? Obviously I have to build my stats in a way that reflect these bonuses otherwise I'm missing out, but I've looked through the menus and I cannot see shit related to these A B C that it mentions.

Also, and this is one thing that I totally don't get at all. I took these pictures right after my suicide run. So how come I have 150 souls? The fuck?

[wholehole]

I got the Winged Spear which was my whole intention of the suicide run. However, when I try and use it, I stagger about like I'm swinging bricks on a rope. In the second picture it says I need 13 strength and 15 dexterity to handle it. This I fully understand as I currently have 12 strength and 9 dexterity. So I boost though and Bob's your uncle, I can start swinging it about with ease. So what is the deal with the Parambonus? Strength is E and dexterity is C? Obviously I have to build my stats in a way that reflect these bonuses otherwise I'm missing out, but I've looked through the menus and I cannot see shit related to these A B C that it mentions.

The Parambonus is how well the weapon scales with each stat, the icons are: Str, Dex, Int, Faith - from left to right. They values go from A to E, with A being the best, so you'll get more of an attack bonus using the Winged Spear from your Dex stat than you will from your Str. All weapons have different bonuses attached, and they don't always correlate to the stats required to wield it effectively, so you have to make sure you're using the right weapon for the stats you're concentrating on.

You won't see a massive return on it to start with as it's percentage based, so don't worry too much about it. As long as you have the required stats, that's the main thing. Just try out a bunch of weapons early on to see what you like best and then decide what stat to concentrate on.

Not sure why you still had 150 souls left after dying, it may have been from an enemy dying after you died but it's a bit weird.

Dammit, talking about it is making me want to play it again!

[Sly Reflex]

OK, The A to E thing makes sense now. I've not even levelled up once yet. I think last time I made the mistake of just throwing points in where ever. This time I'll be focusing on dexterity due to advice from others. I'm actually playing really differently this time, I'm spending time rolling about. I tried as a Knight before and I basically stood there just waiting for an opening. I've noticed that I can afford to play more aggressive as the Pyro. On my way back down to the Shrine I fell of a ledge next to the water way and had 4 mobs on me. The only damage I took was the fall damage, I just cut through them like nothing. It felt really good, although I wont lie, my arse was nipping all the time I was rolling about. I've also noticed that locking on when throwing fire is pointless. Just free aim and throw. it goes way further.

I've had a good laugh watching some peoples bloodstains. Some of them are fucking hilarious. It makes me feel less useless too.

[halfagogo]

in typical japanese style "s" is the best scaling factor but you dont get that till you can improve weapons.

the beauty of the winged spear is not just its reach but you can poke attack with your shield still up so you have defence & attack.

dont bother with 2 handed fighting unless your experiementing with single enemies or you get further into the game & your armour soaks up loads of damage.

also, when you reach harder one off enemies (like black knights etc) remember to clear the areas of lesser bad guys and also me mindful of their travelling range - pull them to those limits and you can get kind of cheaply deal with them as they stupidly try to back pedal.

[wholehole]

pull them to those limits and you can get kind of cheaply deal with them as they stupidly try to back pedal.

FOR SHAME! Fight them toe-to-toe like a real man!

[halfagogo]

there are no cheap tactics in this game.

and fuck the tomb of the giants and fuck nito, wasted about 5 humanity on that wanker - 2 boosting a fire to 20 estus (which i will probably never use again) and 3 lost from his asshole skeletons.

ended up nailing him by complete accident on my 3rd attempt (whic was really just to collect some lost souls & homeward away).

so glad i never have to go back to that place.