Dark Souls- PS3, Xbox 360, PC

[CMoon]

Already fucking pissed.

Great! Sounds like you're off to a good start. I started a new build with the sorcerer class and I'm pretty pissed myself. Could not get a battle axe or long sword to drop for the life of me. Balder Side Sword--there's just no way that shit will happen. Sorcerer starts with some of the worst equipment (at least you're not under any delusions with the deprived class) and a spell you can get for pennies right out of the gate. I guess I had no clue how bad that dagger was--but now I know! Fortunately I'm the king of backstabs and not bad at parrying. Had to cheap out and get the drake sword just coz I was tired of seeing my weapon do 10 damage. Probably be pissed later I bothered getting 16 strength given how well I did with my lvl 1 run.

[sjewkestheloon]

Everyone keeps mentioning the Balder Side Sword and I don't think I have ever seen it. Is it just a drop from the Balder Knights in the Parish?

Just placed the Lordvessel with Frampt on my NG+, going smoothly so far and I don't expect anything to change.

After getting all the pyromancy spells I am left with the achievements for getting all miracles, joining the sunbros and getting all of the rare weapons, as well as the all done achievement. Going to push ahead with the rare weapons on this character as I have a good start. On this NG+ run so far I have taken off the Gargoyle tail, the Gaping Dragon tail and I killed Ornstein second so I have both of their souls now too. The ones that concern me most are Prescilla's and Scathe's tails which I missed out on last time. I do now have all the pyros and a fully upgraded pyro glove so maybe a chaos fireball at the tail of each will help me along. Otherwise I forsee a number of suicide runs.

[CMoon]

Yeah, I have all the trophies except for the rare weapons and obviously the additional trophy for having done everything else. Good luck with that--some souls can have two or things made from them.

Yeah, the Balder Side Sword is one of the better dex weapons in the game and its a rare drop from those balder soldiers.

[CMoon]

OK, I am stating to have fun with this magic build. First off, made a huge body chick named quantum hooker (don't ask me what this means) and somehow made her bright red. She also has blond hair and has a face like a dude. This is pretty much my attitude with this game these days. Anyway, did a ton of grinding before anor londo (including farming the forest) to buy all the spells and rings. Going for an INT/DEX build to ultimately do the whole power within/crystal magic weapon with lingering dragon crest ring. Meanwhile, its a helluva lot of fun running around with magic weapon + ricard's rapier+10 and homing soul mass.

[sjewkestheloon]

If you are in anor londo with the bellowing dragon crest ring and soul spear/ great heavy soul arrow, you might be up to taking out the giant sentinels in the two buildings just outside the londo bonfire in one shot each. Makes for really fast soul acquisition.

[CMoon]

The dark souls video ever: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLlrGYj3Arsv

[Marc]

Were you wearing the gold hemmed armour Marc?

Plain old Crimson Robes.

I've kind of at a dead end on my game at present, got the Lordvessel but Duke's is kicking my ass and I've no fucking humanity at all in reserve to kindle the fires. Went nack to the Asylum and the Stray is raping me. I'[ve kind of changed my mind all the way through this build so have average STR/DEX/INT but nothing really outstanding, and trying to keep my loadout below 50% because Pharis didn't drop the Wood Grain Ring this time. Two hundred fucking hours on one game. I haven't done that in years.

[guigui]

Even STR/DEX/INT stats is a bad idea indeed. It is always better to specialize. If you like ranged fights, INT seems a good way to go. If you prefer close range, choose either STR or DEX, but not both.
Stray Demon is not that hard, just keep close to its left leg and turn around. Recoil when he is about to jump or hammer the floor and get a punish strike afterwards. Fight lasts a bit this way but is manageable.

As for Duke, well this is bitch. Advice : blue undeads are easy to backstab and some shields/rings do offer a very good magical defense.

[CMoon]

I agree; was trying to do a quality build, but ultimately didn't feel worth it and I just felt under powered. My Int/Dex build (still not completely specialized) feels much more powerful in comparison.

[Marc]

I have just been raped by the first DLC boss, the tiger/dragon thing. First go I got it down past halfway and thought it would be a formality. Since then I can barely fucking touch it, and every attack reduces my end to the point where the follow through kills me outright. Its fucking brutal.

[CMoon]

NG or NG+(...)?

I took it out pretty easily in NG+, but that was with a dex build, <25% burden and DWGR. Definitely helps to have high mobility around that thing. I remember watching some video that showed how its best opening was to lure it to fly at you, then punish it when you evade it upon landing. Good luck!

[sjewkestheloon]

That boss is so damn aggressive. The dlc bosses just get worse from there on too, or better depending on your viewpoint.

[evil_ash_xero]

I actually thought the new dragon boss was the hardest of the new bosses. Artorias was really tough, but I had an easier time with him. All of the new fights are pretty epic, except for the Guardian mini-bosses. They're kind of a breeze.

[Marc]

NG or NG+(...)?

I took it out pretty easily in NG+, but that was with a dex build, <25% burden and DWGR. Definitely helps to have high mobility around that thing. I remember watching some video that showed how its best opening was to lure it to fly at you, then punish it when you evade it upon landing. Good luck!

Running two games at min. NG+ is level 111 with 38 STR, and high VIT and END.
My replay is level 59 but I've kind of fucked up the build and spread points evenly between INT, DEX and STR.

Took me a long time to realise that Souls isn't like other grid games that let you max out your character at everything eventually, you really do have to pick a build and run with it. I also just found out how to trade with Sunggly - how the fuck is anyone supposed to guess this? Not sure if the game's genious, or batshit insane at times.

Just smashed that boss on my NG+.

And just wet myself at Souls II.

[LtC]

I also just found out how to trade with Sunggly - how the fuck is anyone supposed to guess this? Not sure if the game's genious, or batshit insane at times.

Snuggly was in Demon's Souls as well. She does ask you for something so it's not like it's impossible to figure out. The developers love putting stuff in the games that's extremely hard to figure out by yourself. It's quite fun to play a Souls game for the first time from start to finish completely blind just to see how much you can find, then have your mind blown by how much you missed when you play it for the second time.

[CMoon]

Love how there are two Dark Souls threads with the same name now

Man, my dex/int build that's rocking power within/great magic weapon/lingering draong ring/+15 dex weapon (ricard's rapier) is crazy shit. Total glass canon (plus I hate the rapier) and end up using the butterfly spear and lots of homing soul mass for most of the game, but against bosses, the above combo is insane. Ricard's rapier is super weak but the R2 can start a fast multi-hit combo. Add on the dex bonus, magic bonus, and power within and I took down Firesage demon with two R2 combos. Lingering makes Power Within drain very little life while it and GMW last forever.

[nZero]

Love how there are two Dark Souls threads with the same name now

Fixed

[Marc]

Artorias just left my bum looking like the Japanese flag.

[Jon]

I managed to put down Manus before work this morning. Currently having a bit of trouble hacking off Kalameet's tail for the sword.

Great scythe +15 is pretty damn good on a build with 40 dex.

[Marc]

Finished it again last night, did all the DLC except for Kalmeet, seriously, fuck him.

And just as I was gonna purge myself of Souks for a while, my copy of Demons showed. First impressions are that the Dualshock is absolutely fucking horrid for controlling it, and the graphics look horrid - too clean and defined compares to Dark. Really, im just trying to find excuses not to get addicted for 3 months straight away.

[CMoon]

Went back to playing Demon's Souls at first with the idea of doing a pure mage build after watching some speed runs, then switched gears and started going for the platinum. Ultimately magic is seriously over powered in Demon's Souls--far more so than Dark Souls, but that's fine because I don't really get into this game for the PVP. Fun watching some bosses go down with one or two spells.

Regardless, I finally got pure motherfucking bladestone!!!! In your face From Software! I'm pretty much short Brambt for my trophy weapons, about five spells for the miracle/spells trophies combined, and the friend's ring for the ring trophy. Can't imagine someone getting this trophy without a guide--I don't even know quite why I'm doing it other than the Souls games being my favorite games this generation. Why not show my commitment by doing everything? Dark Souls might be a little harder to platinum and I may just give up on that one.

Still, pure bladestone!!!!

[guigui]

Nice shot for the pure bladestone !

I did like 25+ hours of farming for this piece of rock, no luck.

[CoolgyFurlough]

I finally got Dark Souls working on my PC this weekend, and I have to say that this is one of the most fun games I have ever played! I love everything about it, from the difficulty, to the rage at said difficulty, to the loot, to the setting, everything.

I'm trying to do my first run without any guides, but it's really hard to not look at the wealth of information about this game. So far I am like 17 or so hours in, and I am running the forest after you ring the cathedral bell. I've pretty much done everything in the forest except for the offshoot with the locked door with the 20,000 soul key. That part seems to really ramp up the difficulty, as it is pretty hard. Also, GIANT FUCKING WOLF WITH A SWORD. AWESOME. Anyway, I hope to be playing this game for a long time to come. </endramble>

[guigui]

I finally got Dark Souls working on my PC this weekend, and I have to say that this is one of the most fun games I have ever played! I love everything about it, from the difficulty, to the rage at said difficulty, to the loot, to the setting, everything.

I'm trying to do my first run without any guides, but it's really hard to not look at the wealth of information about this game. So far I am like 17 or so hours in, and I am running the forest after you ring the cathedral bell. I've pretty much done everything in the forest except for the offshoot with the locked door with the 20,000 soul key. That part seems to really ramp up the difficulty, as it is pretty hard. Also, GIANT FUCKING WOLF WITH A SWORD. AWESOME. Anyway, I hope to be playing this game for a long time to come. </endramble>

You lucky boy. The first run is always the best, and youre right about not spoiling by searching too much informations.

Sif indeed is an awesome boss design. I wish it was a little harder to defeat though.

[Aphextwin]

The dlc dragon is such a pain in the ass! The only boss up to this point that has ever given me such a tough time!

[Aquas]

I'm also new to this game just a few days ago. I started out by going in all of the directions from the initial bonfire to my death... my 20 or so deaths. Then I finally found the stairway to the Undead Burg and realized "Okay, this is the right way." Once I found that out I started having fun.

I rolled a plain ole Warrior and I've put most of my stats into Resistance so far. I too will be attempting to avoid the sea of information on my first play-through. I look forward to playing more. $20 New... can't go wrong there. I returned El Shaddai and got this for $7 more. Pretty good deal I say.

[CMoon]

I know you guys don't want spoilers, but don't put your points into resistance unless you're just trying to create an uber-challenge for yourself.

I sort of disagree about playing completely blind the first time if you actually have no idea bout builds. What WILL happen is that you will realize you made a truly horrible build and start over, and for many people this may mean quitting for good. Fortunately Dark Souls is much more forgiving than Demon's Souls in this department, but just a few pointers about stats--spoilers if you want to play completely blind:

**spoilers**

Str, Dex, Int and Fai are your 4 damage dealing stats--you shouldn't focus on more than two of them. You will eventually need to focus on at least one.

Vit, and End are 'support' stats that will make your life MUCH easier. End is more important for melee classes, Vit is important if you can't dodge all attacks.

Att is also a support stat, but is more conditional since it increases your spell memory and may be useless for melee classes.

Resistance is worthless since you can just use equipment to boost resistance.

[Aquas]

I know you guys don't want spoilers, but don't put your points into resistance unless you're just trying to create an uber-challenge for yourself.

I sort of disagree about playing completely blind the first time if you actually have no idea bout builds. What WILL happen is that you will realize you made a truly horrible build and start over, and for many people this may mean quitting for good. Fortunately Dark Souls is much more forgiving than Demon's Souls in this department, but just a few pointers about stats--spoilers if you want to play completely blind:

**spoilers**

Str, Dex, Int and Fai are your 4 damage dealing stats--you shouldn't focus on more than two of them. You will eventually need to focus on at least one.

Vit, and End are 'support' stats that will make your life MUCH easier. End is more important for melee classes, Vit is important if you can't dodge all attacks.

Att is also a support stat, but is more conditional since it increases your spell memory and may be useless for melee classes.

Resistance is worthless since you can just use equipment to boost resistance.

Naw, that helps. I should probably just restart while I'm at the beginning of the game.

[guigui]

I also support restart if you spent early points (or just points !) in resistance.

Also, as a completion of cmoon blind starting advices : dont die. If, however, it happens you do, dont die on your way back to your bloodstain...

[evil_ash_xero]

The most recent update deleted my game.

That's....that's heavy man. I went through EVERY boss and all the new content. Wow, talk about a ball buster. Almost as bad a Digital River fucking up my Ni no Kuni order.