Dark Souls- PS3, Xbox 360, PC

[Zaarock]

The basic trick is to keep an eye on both of them all the time to know what they're doing. Attack only after both of them have completed an attack.

Yeah, this is pretty much it: both have a charging attack that you need to learn the timing for, after that it shouldn't be hard since you won't be caught off guard by the one you're not attacking.

[CMoon]

OMG, I'm on my second run (doing a str build) and forgot how much I love the Claymore. Made it into a divine weapon just for the catacombs, but of course once those wizards are gone it is goddamn lightning zweihander time! Both swords (I mean, really, isn't the claymore big enough) make me feel like a fuckin' lawnmower (think Dead Alive). Seriously, I was doing the lightning spear for so long just because they give it to you and you can cower behind your shield while using it. Screw that! High poise, Giant sword. Don't know what weapon I'll finally migrate to for my str build (thinking stone great sword, or some huge axe), but regardless, it's great to see some major damage from some weapons bigger than my character. Damn, 4 kings died fast once I gave up that damn spear for a HUGE piece of metal.

[guigui]

OMG, I'm on my second run (doing a str build) and forgot how much I love the Claymore. Made it into a divine weapon just for the catacombs, but of course once those wizards are gone it is goddamn lightning zweihander time! Both swords (I mean, really, isn't the claymore big enough) make me feel like a fuckin' lawnmower (think Dead Alive). Seriously, I was doing the lightning spear for so long just because they give it to you and you can cower behind your shield while using it. Screw that! High poise, Giant sword. Don't know what weapon I'll finally migrate to for my str build (thinking stone great sword, or some huge axe), but regardless, it's great to see some major damage from some weapons bigger than my character. Damn, 4 kings died fast once I gave up that damn spear for a HUGE piece of metal.

I also love big weapons. I had myself a real pleasant time with great club upgraded to full fire damage. It feels real cool to hit giant lizardmen with a ... burning tree trunk ?

[CMoon]

Nearly done with my second run (NG, not NG+) and has taken ~30 hours. I might be at 35 before I'm done. Damn, Dark Souls is just such a HUGE game. If I'd remembered where everything was I could have no doubt played through faster (certain things you never need to do), and I went to considerable effort to do things I hadn't done on my previous playthrough (save Sunbro, get the background story from Kaathe, etc.)

All that said, I've come to the conclusion that From made a mistake with patch 1.05 in that the game is now too easy, or rather, by the time you come to the last third of the game, there is much less challenge. The reason is entirely because of the amount of exp/souls you get. I haven't had to do any grinding, though certainly in a few cases I've died and had to kill the same enemies repeatedly. Someone who hadn't played the game before might find themselves leveled considerably higher than I am. This isn't necessarily a bad call if they are trying to bring more western players into the fold, but seriously, the only real challenge late game has been falling to my death in crystal cavern. Oh yeah, a dinosaur stomped me once.

I don't want to feed you guys who are doing the SL1 runs, since I think there's something a little stupid about that (or maybe I'm just not good enough to even think about it), but it seems if you at all understand the upgrade system and make a decent build, things will grow rather dull in the second half of the game if you try to play it normally.

[Weak Boson]

You might have a point CMoon. A level 1 run sounds like a cool idea but it's not really that much more difficult - and it's all down to knowing the upgrade system. The main difference is that you use a lightning battle axe +5 all the time instead a weapon with a cooler moveset. But I suppose there's always NG+

[guigui]

After getting kind of bored of my big guy SL 124 in NG+ and not wanting that much the trophies, I decided to start a fresh new character.

I am aiming for a full Intelligence build : Moonlight Greatsword and +5 enchanted Bandit Knife as main weapons. Boys I forgot how naked we are in the beginning of the game. When I loot a single Soul of a Lost Undead item (yes, the one that gives you a whooping 200 souls when consumed), I immediatly think about all the magnificent stuffs I can buy with it :
- Soul Level 4 ?
- New dagger upgrade ?
- Save it for my future soul arrow ?
- Anyway,dont loose it in my next bloodstain.

This game really has me hooked.

[CMoon]

Dark Souls is without doubt now my favorite game of the current gen. That said, I've enjoyed a lot of the PS3 titles, but the only titles that get close to this for me aren't truly current gen (Ninja Gaiden Sigma). I made three builds, and may still make a fourth. I'm also not all that far from getting all the trophies (something I rarely if ever care about.) This has been one of the few games I really wanted to explore every nook and cranny--and I still don't get how everything works.

[rapoon]

on my 3rd char, dex build this time. full stone giant armor w/ +10 fire scythe. 2handing it, strong attack fucking plows through anything. my str build rolls round w/ the demon machete.

[sjewkestheloon]

I might have a go at making a 90% magic character and see how I get on. Anyone have any suggestions of a possible weapon that would complement a mage setup?

[guigui]

I might have a go at making a 90% magic character and see how I get on. Anyone have any suggestions of a possible weapon that would complement a mage setup?

Moonlight Greatsword ?

[Zaarock]

Moonlight Greatsword, for sure and some decent speed/range weapon (like balder side sword) or shotel to enchant with crystal magic weapon.

[Jeneki]

For early game, just upgrade whatever weapon you want to Magic. Green Titanite drops from the slimes in the Depths, or if you use the masterkey to sequence-break the leeches in Blighttown. The blacksmith behind bars just below Firelink will make these for you.

In fact I usually make a magic weapon at that point whether I'm going for a magic build or not. The bonus magic damage (the flat bonus, not the scaling part) is huge enough I can bump off the "lol you hit the wall again because this sword has the most retarded moveset in the game" Drake Sword.

[Damocles]

Late to the party here, but having a blast so far. Pretty good game, despite some heavy flaws.

Any tips for a new Pyromancer build? There's an incredible amount of information out there and I'm having trouble digesting it all. ...not to mention techniques that were phased out with the patch. I just made it past Undead Parish and back to Firelink Shrine...so pretty damn close to the beginning.

[CMoon]

By pyro build, do you just mean you chose a pyro starting class or ??? Really would need more information to make any recommendations. Most builds are aided early on by putting points into End and Vit, but there are reasons in my own builds where I've avoided that because I was going for a specific weapon/armor.

I wrote up a small total-newb beginners guide for my friends who are afraid of the souls' games, if you want to pm me I could send it to you.

What do you consider to be major faults with this game?

[Damocles]

Yeah, just used Pyro as the starting class. I'm just looking to not get screwed later on because I sunk souls into needless attributes. So far I've been focusing on Vit, End (especially), with some points in strength, int, and dex. I'd love to fully explore the Pyro and Magic but not if it makes me too feeble on down the line.

As for the faults, not many. Before the edit, "Pretty good game" was "GOTY" but I figured that was premature considering how little I have seen. Enemy behavior and stats are my only large gripes. AI seems uber-aggressive (not a bad thing) and prone to falling off cliffs (bad thing). Also, mid-air changes in direction. Otherwise, I'd just like a way to directly compare weapon stats with what I'm currently equipped with. Maybe I'm missing it...

[MovingTarget]

This is a great game, but I've not played in a while. I hate to have more than one game on the go at a time(not literally I hope you understand), and I have a queue of games lined up once I've burnt myself out with daifukkatsu, but I am looking forward to getting back into Dark Souls when I do. I reached the fire spider boss thing before, it whooped my ass then I got distracted by some other game.

I loved the two handed weapons also I thought the curved greatswords especially nice.

[CMoon]

Yeah, just used Pyro as the starting class. I'm just looking to not get screwed later on because I sunk souls into needless attributes. So far I've been focusing on Vit, End (especially), with some points in strength, int, and dex. I'd love to fully explore the Pyro and Magic but not if it makes me too feeble on down the line.

Pyro doesn't require any stat investment; just lots and lots of souls paid to a pyromancy trainer. It also probably isn't worth it (though before the patch I took out quite a few bosses with it.) Even with nerfs, minor combustion is still an incredible skill.

As far as str/dex/int, don't invest beyond what you need for equipment without putting some serious thought into your build. It's a souls game, so basically you should consider a str, dex, int or faith build. Sometimes people choose two, but this is much harder. The good news is that as long as you are putting your points into End and Vit, you're not going to have any serious problems with NG. Elemental weapons (lightning, fire) make having a well planned build unnecessary, and you could potentially dabble in everything, but there really aren't enough points to become great in more than one thing. In fact, all of my builds felt short of their full potential at the end of NG, implying it might take more than one full run to really see the full potential of a build.

[guigui]

Yeah, just used Pyro as the starting class. I'm just looking to not get screwed later on because I sunk souls into needless attributes. So far I've been focusing on Vit, End (especially), with some points in strength, int, and dex. I'd love to fully explore the Pyro and Magic but not if it makes me too feeble on down the line.

As Cmoon said : at the beginning, you should only put points in str or dex when you find a weapon you want to be capable of handling. Other points should go in end or vit. Also, keep in mind that your stamina gauge maxes when your end is 40. There is really no need to go further.
For a pyro build, you will need a lot of money for a certain NPC you'll free from a certain place that will be capable of upgrading your flame.

Otherwise, I'd just like a way to directly compare weapon stats with what I'm currently equipped with. Maybe I'm missing it...

Dont know if that is what you mean but, when in the equip menu, just select (X on PS3) the weapon you're currently equiped with. This will take you to the weapon selection screen. Then press the "display change" button (square PS3), this will switch display from blah-blah description to stats description. Here you will see how the weapon you're currently viewing increases or decreases your stats compared to the weapon you're currently equipped with.

Boy, that was way harder to explain than what I expected...

[TrevHead (TVR)]

Its worth pointing out that you need to be very carefull when fighting unique enemies near ledges, ive lost a number of drops including havel's ring

tip on what i did with my pyro near the start of the gameAs a pyro I found it usefull near the start of the game to invest in a bow and bottom tier magic for long range aggros. shield and sword improvement magic I found usefull too

[guigui]

Havel's ring lost on cliff fall ? Where the heck did you fight him ?
I always found it weird how those black knight and bosses encountered through the game have autolooted drops.

[dannnnn]

I started playing this recently and I'm really enjoying it. First time playing a Souls game, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect (other than it being hard). What wasn't so good was spending my first 15 hours stuck at the first (only?) bonfire in The Catacombs cos I didn't realise there were other ways out of Firelink Shrine I ended up doing a bunch of levelling and eventually managed to beat Pinwheel, but couldn't reach the first bonfire in Tomb of Giants. The only plus points were having the Rite of Kindling for the rest of the game and being over-levelled for all the early areas (I went through Undead Burg at about level 30).

I'm level 110 now and am approaching the end I think, I've been to The Abyss and am now on the boss in Lost Izalith. I think the only areas I haven't been to yet are Tomb of Giants and Valley of Drakes. There's a lot I haven't looked in to such as specific builds, so I'm just winging it. I started as a Warrior and built up my strength mostly for the bigger weapons (using a Lightning Zweihander +5 atm), now I'm focusing on faith for the better healing miracles. BTW I didn't know stamina maxed out at 40 endurance, does vitality increase until 99?

[TrevHead (TVR)]

I was running away from him back towards the first black knight and he fell off the stairs where that baulder trap is (actually it was kind of my own fault as I was trying to draw him out of the tower, so he probably glitched or something)

That invading npc with the large silly hat fell off a cliff too. That dude you free from prison in the church was lost to a cliff too but I booted him off so thats my own fault

[evil_ash_xero]

There should be more games like this. The Souls games are the best new IP out. At least give me some clones or something. I don't think Dragon's Dogma is gonna count. Looks too action to me.

[Damocles]

Do summons come back if vanquished? I summoned that 'praise the sun' chap and the gaping dragon basically tore him apart. Piss-easy fight, even.

[tommyb]

Do summons come back if vanquished? I summoned that 'praise the sun' chap and the gaping dragon basically tore him apart. Piss-easy fight, even.

The Gaping Dragon is one of the easiest fights in the game. And if it's Solaire you're speaking of, yes he will come back and help you later on in the game. His storyline is among my favorite parts of the game.

[Jonathan Ingram]

There should be more games like this.

What about Monster Hunter? The Souls games are pretty softcore compared to it.

[tommyb]

There should be more games like this.

What about Monster Hunter? The Souls games are pretty softcore compared to it.

Really? Maybe I should check these games out. How's that one for the Wii?

[Jonathan Ingram]

Really? Maybe I should check these games out. How's that one for the Wii?

MH Tri is easily the best game in the series at the moment. The portable installments have more content, but the controls are awful. It`s also much more manageable in single-player compared to MH1-2 for the PS2. Those were hellish.

[guigui]

Monster Hunter is hard compared to Dark Souls ? I must say I have a hard time believing this statement . Maybe I sould give it a go.

[TrevHead (TVR)]

@Damocles

If you are wanting to co-op / pvp with other players its worth knowing that ppl outside 10% (or 15%) of your level are excluded. Yellow summon signs can be any level, plus PVP in the Darkroot Wood can be any level.

Are darkwaith players level capped when invading sinners?

I heard that monster hunter plays similar to DS, ive been meening to give it a try