Dark Souls- PS3, Xbox 360, PC

[Jockel]

Protip: Shoot arrow at first dragons tail, hide under bridge, repeat. Sword get.

[sjewkestheloon]

Yep a friend told me that little gem and now have a sword with 200 attack.

[CMoon]

Speaking of that dragon, I am among the many who have experienced the dragon glitch. Shot him from a particular location and he vanished, then a few moments later I got 10K souls and he's permanently dead. Wow.

I hope that's something they'll patch.

[Weak Boson]

I rang the first bell and decided to poke around the Catacombs before I went into New Londo Ruins. I think I'm starting to get a grasp of how the game works. What's been perplexing me the most is the characters. I wish you had a record of everything that was said to you, like in King's Field IV, I feel like I'm going to end up missing a lot of side quests.

I've also been thinking about the atmosphere of the game. It took me a little while to adjust to the game's vibe, and I wasn't feeling it as much as in King's Field IV, or even something like Oblivion. But I think I'm starting make sense of it. It's a world of madness and ruin where pain is inevitable and happiness is insanity. The helpless anguish of that which is dead but granted a glimpse of life. Hope collapses and all that's left is the inescapable brutality of a world ruled by bestial gods.

Keh heh heh heh heh!

[Jeneki]

So, I got invaded today ... while my internet was down and I was playing offline. It had the regular "you are being invaded" message and everything. I was human form in the Depths, around the curse frog area. Is that a standard encounter in that area? Or does this game sometimes "invade" if you are offline, but in a position where you could be invaded if you were online?

[mesh control]

Speaking of that dragon, I am among the many who have experienced the dragon glitch. Shot him from a particular location and he vanished, then a few moments later I got 10K souls and he's permanently dead. Wow.

I hope that's something they'll patch.

?
Where did you shoot him at? Just curious...

[iconoclast]

So, I got invaded today ... while my internet was down and I was playing offline. It had the regular "you are being invaded" message and everything. I was human form in the Depths, around the curse frog area. Is that a standard encounter in that area? Or does this game sometimes "invade" if you are offline, but in a position where you could be invaded if you were online?

Yeah, I've read that there are scripted invasions now (and you can use AI to co-op with you against bosses). Pretty neat feature, but I'm always in hollow form so I've never been invaded once.

[Leader Bee]

I think I got invaded last night in the sewers but i'm really not sure if this was scripted or not. Reason is I usually suck at killing invaders but this guy as dumb as he was did nothing but block > advance > block > advance and I soon broke his stamina with my Drake sword combo.

I don't know if those curse frog things did any damage to him either (going by demons souls I doubt it) but he stood in the mist maybe hoping i'd be cursed trying to attack him.

While we're on the subject does anyone know what item i need to invade other players and where to get it? I think it's a cracked red eye orb or something like that?

[CMoon]

Speaking of that dragon, I am among the many who have experienced the dragon glitch. Shot him from a particular location and he vanished, then a few moments later I got 10K souls and he's permanently dead. Wow.

I hope that's something they'll patch.

?
Where did you shoot him at? Just curious...

Undead Parish, tower with the black knight on it.

[CMoon]

Current word going around is that lightning/Fire weapons (+5) are outshining standard weapons that scale with a particular stat (IE a weapon with an A or S rating for Str, and having 99 Str dealing less damage than a +5 lightning weapon). I don't have any way to confirm this myself, but if it's true, it seems your best bet would be to have 1 fire weapon, 1 lightning weapon and maybe one stat scaling weapon for that occasional beast that is resistant to lightning AND fire (are there any?)

Might make an Endurance/Vit build much more feasible than in Demon's Souls, but the implications are rather depressing, since this could easily lead to one (or three) overall best builds.

[sjewkestheloon]

Rang my first bell this morning and now I am having fun in the Catacombs. Those necromancer shitheads are finally dead after many times being back attacked by skellies coming out of a bloody dive roll...

I actually praised the sun with a full on bow when I realised that the necros didn't respawn.

Looking through my inventory I now have an absolute ton of different standard weapons. Is it worth soul gathering for the relevant upgradable items available at this point to strengthen them up? In other words am I going to work towards a weapon of awesomeness by upgrading a longsword to it's highest point or will it just be a waste of items when I have a Drake sword at my disposal?

[Zaarock]

Current word going around is that lightning/Fire weapons (+5) are outshining standard weapons that scale with a particular stat (IE a weapon with an A or S rating for Str, and having 99 Str dealing less damage than a +5 lightning weapon). I don't have any way to confirm this myself, but if it's true, it seems your best bet would be to have 1 fire weapon, 1 lightning weapon and maybe one stat scaling weapon for that occasional beast that is resistant to lightning AND fire (are there any?)

Might make an Endurance/Vit build much more feasible than in Demon's Souls, but the implications are rather depressing, since this could easily lead to one (or three) overall best builds.

Yeah, the STR/DEX scaling on weapons being so bad is pretty stupid, I'd imagine most players will never find out that normal upgrades are essentially useless and will use lots of levels on STR or DEX (like myself :d ) because it seems like a "normal" build.

You forgot one thing though, magic and occult weapons can have big scaling (and add magic damage).. a lot of weapons even get S faith scaling on occult it seems like. So I guess it's either elemental+vit/end or int or faith.

... and any of those can have maxed pyromancy. weirdness

[brentsg]

The more I read about the game, the more I'm included to shelf it until I have the guide.

[CMoon]

a lot of weapons even get S faith scaling on occult it seems like. So I guess it's either elemental+vit/end or int or faith.

Actually, this isn't true for faith builds (as far as I can tell). Only one Occult melee weapon scales with faith as an A, and that's a huge axe that requires huge strength to wield. Bows on the other hand do scale with faith as an S.

Int on the other hand, yes, I'm seeing a lot of weapons that scale to A. That might be the way to go. Either way, elemental weapons may still have the edge except in cases of resistance. So it seems like have an elemental weapon as a main, and a stat scaling weapon as a backup.

[MR_Soren]

The more I read about the game, the more I'm included to shelf it until I have the guide.

Do not understand. A lot of the game's appeal seems to be about exploration and discovery.

[brentsg]

The more I read about the game, the more I'm included to shelf it until I have the guide.

Do not understand. A lot of the game's appeal seems to be about exploration and discovery.

Wish i had time to discover organically.

I don't have time to find out I built my character poorly, start over..etc.

[JBC]

I have discovered a potentially game breaking exploit. Once you get the Crest of Artorias (or whatever it's called) and open up the shining gate in Darkroot Garden... on the inside there are a bunch of human characters that will attack you. If you run through the forest and enter this little stone building you'll talk to this cat that will offer to let you join up with the band of thieves. If you do, they won't attack you anymore but you aren't supposed to kill them. Well, I went back to the priest in the bell tower and abandoned that covenant. Upon my return I found that right as you enter you can run straight through the woods towards the fallen log and turn around. This will activate 4-5 of the bandits. Run back towards the ledge on side of the steps and stand against the wall with your shield up. They will all run up the steps, jump on your head and fall off the cliff. The invisible knight alone is worth 3000 souls, altogether you can get 9000 every time. Back up the steps is your bonfire, which will respawn them every time. This racks up sin, but the maximum sin you can accrue will only take a 100,000 souls to absolve yourself of. You can actually go back and forth doing this and level your character up as much as you want. I only used it to get most of my stuff up to 20 but damn... you can use that to buy every vendor item in bulk, including Titanite. In the end the cat still offers to let me rejoin the covenant if I want to.

I'm not online, so From may have fixed this in an update by now.

[Jeneki]

That's interesting. I was doing something similar to that, but just fighting them near the cliff and sparta-kicking them off (or they roll off the cliff themselves, lol). I guess all that fighting in the catacombs did teach me something useful: A.I. enemies + cliff = Have a nice trip, see you next fall.

So yea, if this does get "fixed" the area will likely still be a big farming spot, just a little bit slower.

[kog3100_edw]

Did anyone yet try popping the USA Dark Souls in their JPN Xbox 360?

I'm having a devil of a time trying to find this out online before I plunk down my cash. Don't have a PS3, so fingers crossed.

[DragonInstall]

playasia says it's compatible, so I'd say its safe.

[Jockel]

Did anyone yet try popping the USA Dark Souls in their JPN Xbox 360?

It works, only the European one doesn't work on JPN/USA consoles and vice versa.

[CMoon]

Slowly pushing my way into the depths. About ready to fight gaping dragon. Seriously over-leveled (something like level 25-30, I don't remember). My tendency to not follow any linear path but rather to explore in any given direction until the difficulty starts ramping up, then back tracking and exploring every other section has led toward me being a little to strong for where I am at. I'm not imagining Gaping Dragon will be too hard. Worse, I have three humanity, so I'll probably kindle my fire, reverse hollow and summon as many people as I can and rape the crap out of the boss.

Still pretty disappointed with my weapons/armor. Built up some light armor (mostly black leather) and just switched to the astoria straight sword +4, which is just doing a little more damage than the drake (I'm doing a faith build.) The Astoria straight build isn't an amazing sword, but its got a good move-set. Need to find some more twinkling titanite.

Wish I wasn't so busy this week. I'd have put some real time into this game. Either way, it's the most addicting thing I've played since Etrian Odyssey 3, and I'm a total sucker for those types of games.

[CMoon]

Oh, wanted to mention that for all the talk about the damn curse frogs, they are only bad in groups or one surprises you from behind. Seriously, once you learn their pattern, they are really, really easy. That said, I was so terrified about running into the frogs I still got cursed the first time, running around scared to death.

[Leader Bee]

Well i'm done with Blight down and Quelaags lair at last, what a bitch she was! As i'm a pure melee bandit with not a drop of magic I had to hug her the entire fight, problem is that she spits that lava in a circle around her so you have to back away and get her to follow you to a non lavad patch and repeat the process it took me a great many tries because i kept getting stuck on her legs and then jumped on.

After that I took a small detour into the demon realm, found myself a sweet looking "death" outfit but didn't realise you cant go backwards through the fog gate once you've used it - ceaseless discharge then mauled me.
The death outfit has some badassical poison resists too but i was left perplexed as to why you'd need this AFTER the poison swamp... is there more later?

At the moment i'm really not sure where to go, i'm undecided whether or not I should check out the new londo ruins (having to farm transient curses before i go in doesnt really sound like fun) or should I go visit the catacombs at the back of firelink? I've been avoiding this because I just can't bear another underground area after the suckage of Blight Town.

Also... i'm about level 32... does anyone know what damage type the electricity breathing dragons at the start of the valley of drakes are weak to? my +5 great axe barely scratched them. ( so i didnt even get through the doors on the other side of the bridge).

[evil_ash_xero]

Man, invest in Pyromancy. Big time. Get the hand, and then up it, from the Pyromancer, that you save in the sewers. It goes to level 15 from him. You get some GREAT spells, like Fire Orb, Fire Ball, Combustion, and Iron Flesh. These are amazing, and will save your ass big time, as the game progresses.

Then, there is a girl, in the swamps, who will teach you more spells, and up your hand even further.

It doesn't take any intelligence, so don't worry about that. You might want to get some, for slots though. I can't stress how helpful these spells are.

Also, another weapon that hurts those drakes pretty bad, is the "Moonlight Butterfly Shield". It's not actually called that, but you make it, with the soul of the Moonlight Butterfly. That, combined with Iron Flesh will make mince meat of "monster bosses", like the Four Kings.
When you run into the twin terrors in Andor Lando, a full powered fire orb, and Iron Flesh will do some wonders for you.

Really, you should visit some wikis, and ask around, for what you need to be prepared. Otherwise, the frustration factor might get to you.

They don't tell you ANYTHING in this game, really. There are tons of skeletons, in The Catacombs, that constantly respawn, until you kill their necromancer. Easier said than done. But with a divine weapon, they stay dead. In Andor Lando, one of the Silver Knights drops a divine spear. It doesn't tell you that, but it kills them dead. The game is so...vague about everything. Just like Demon's Souls, I suppose.

Right now, I'm looking into how to brighten up the dreaded "Tomb Of Giants", which seems to be on the most hated list of stages. As far as I can tell, almost no one is using any light spells, or lanterns. I know I will!

This game DEMANDS preparation.

Oh, and here's a suggested list of where you should go, in order: http://www.justpushstart.com/2011/10/07 ... ere-to-go/

You don't need to be fudging around with those drakes anyway. They just lead to a closed door. It opens from the inside, of another level.

Also, to point out where I'm at...I'm getting ready to enter the Crystal Caverns, and working my way to Seath The Scaleless. I took on The Catacombs, but skipped Tomb Of Giants, due to being under-prepared.

[Leader Bee]

I do have a Pyromancy glove now with fireball and 8 uses, it comes in pretty handy but the casting time makes it quite situational, the glove itself is level 2.

I'll give valley of the drakes a miss until i've done some more wandering around then if you cant open the door from that side and the path to the left leads to a shortcut back to firelink I won't be getting anywhere fast anyway.

I did see the great hollow on my trip through blighttown but the only reason I visited was to use the first bonfire as a quick heal during the swamp section. I think this'll be my next port of call.

I'm still not sure whether to upgrade my armour or not, i've been trying not to until i find something I like so that I havent wasted time upgrading something that will quickly become redundant.

[CMoon]

Yeah, I may regret upgrading black leather later, but currently it is great having a light weight armor with as much defense as heavy armor. Of course they can be upgraded too, but I still think Dark Souls is about not taking the hit.

Regarding the crystal ring shield (the one made from the soul of the butterfly demon), do you know what shield you can make that from? Obviously +10, but what shield?

[Leader Bee]

I'm not really sure about that but what is your opinion on the regular crystal weapons? I have a crystal shield and by far it is still the best shield I have so far. I have the eagle shield, spider shield (starting equip) and several less sturdy ones.

Even though it has a durability of 250 it seems to have lasted me ages so the 4000 souls I paid for it in the depths really was worth the payoff.

If i go to upgrade armour I wanted to do it with my hard leather armour but it's ~15 points lower in defensive attributes than whatever that armour that looks like the grim reapers outfit is called. Still havent found the warriors armour yet either. would be interested to see how that scales.

[Jeneki]

I've done a lot of exploring now. I'm now convinced, this is the game I really wanted to play back when Demons Souls first came out. The exploration is very King's Field style, with individual maps connected by tunnels/elevators. Every time I find a new area, a shortcut reconnecting to an old area, or finally figure out how to reach an item that appears out of reach, I just smile with glee. So I'm totally satisfied, I have my "new King's Field game", but with a real combat engine.

[LtC]

I started up NG+ today after finishing with everything I could think of like killing off all NPCs and crystal geckos. I have to say the world and game is a lot bigger than I expected and there's shitloads of secrets that are incredibly hard to find.

The catacombs and giants' tomb were my favorite stages when it comes to extremely intimidating and exiting stages.

The PVP action seems a lot varied than Demons' Souls. There's the regular invading which is like DeS where your opponent has to be in human form where you steal your opponents humanity, then there's Dragon Covenant invading which looks for players with dragon scales (human form or not, doesn't matter) and you proceed to beat them up and steal yourself a dragon scale. Darkmoon covenant invading you find people who have committed sins like attacking NPCs or breaking covenant rules, again human form or not. Next one is the forest covenant where you seem to get summoned to fight off people in human form who enter the forest. Last one is Darkwraith and I think it's about the same as the first one mentioned but the level range seems huge, I almost felt bad soulsucking 95'000 souls off some random dude with lowbie gear in the sewers

Balance wise thunder and fire weapons seem to be pretty strong, considering you can ignore stats like STR, DEX, INT, FAITH and focus entirely on defensive stats. Pyromany is a bit overpowered considering how powerful spells like combustion or chaos fireball are. Still there are some cools spells and miracles like homing soul arrow (was in DeS as well), god's wrath (almost instant cast, tons of dmg with high FTH and it makes a shockwave that throws people into the ground) and that one miracle that prevents all enemies moving fast or rolling near you.

Armors actually do something this time. Armors have separate stat that define if you will stagger after being hit so now the game is less about spamming roll now. Like DeS shield was your best friend for the beginning but after you got into the game and know enemies moves etc you don't really seem to need it anymore. Personally I just carry the shield with stamina recovery+ effect on my back like I did Dark silver shield for magic defense in DeS.

For people going FAITH build: it doesn't really seem to matter atk wise if you go occult or divine weapon, it might actually be smarter to go divine since you're going to most likely need a divine weapon for a certain boss.

Btw I tried shooting the dragon from the tower where the black knight was but I couldn't even see the dragon from there even when it was still there for sure (Didn't go to the room with the bonfire. Was I just using a wrong spot or doing something wrong?