Dark Souls - Bonfire of the Profanities - The Something Awful Forums

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Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

evilalien posted:

Kick them to break their guard and then attack.

... wait, kicking? Which combo input is that?

In general, the movement attack combos seem a bit finicky. I can barely ever get the "attack then back cartwheel" move to go off when in combat, though it's easy enough to do out of combat.

Regardless, parry/riposte'ing the spear guys is by far the easiest way through. You get really good at it, if you sit at the nearby bonfire and farm the local dudes for a while (a full run-through of the immediate area gets you around 1600 souls, which'll buy you a TON of arrows, firebombs, throwing daggers, etc from that merchant).

No idea if there are other bonfire/merchant pairings like this later, but I've been here for quite a while, just stocking up.

EDIT: Incidentally, I highly recommend new players do the same. In the hour or two I've been fiddling around (the first real bonfire in the Undead region), I've gotten a spear from the spear guys, a crossbow from the crossbow'er right next to the bonfire, their entire armor set (if you want it for some reason), a nice shield (also from the spear guys), etc. Spear + shield then makes the shield guys, and a ton of others, absolutely trivial. You can attack while still shielding, it is wonderful.

Shalinor fucked around with this message at 00:23 on Oct 10, 2011

# ¿ Oct 10, 2011 00:20

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# ¿ Apr 19, 2024 06:48

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

Heavy neutrino posted:

The Black Knight is going to be extremely hard until you get a shield with enough stability to withstand his combos unless you have perfect dodge timing or something.

The shield that drops off the spear-users near the first Bonfire in the Undead area has enough stability that I can soak his hits. The spear they also drop means you can chip away at the knight whilst keeping your defenses up.

... I still have no idea how to beat him, though. None of my attacks do actual damage, they all bounce off his armor. Am I really supposed to whittle him down that way? I guess I could, but I always get bored, and then I die trying to take him out in some fantastically amazing (but doomed to failure) way. Is it possible to back-stab him? Every time I try, I end up doing a normal attack at his butt, and then he turns around and ends me.

Also, where is this guy with a giant club? I'm up to the Taurus Demon, and I think I've cleared everything there is over up to him. Would the club dude have been way back at where the bird drops you, if I hadn't taken the stairs/bridge over to where I am now?

Shalinor fucked around with this message at 01:14 on Oct 10, 2011

# ¿ Oct 10, 2011 01:12

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

Heavy neutrino posted:

The guy with the club is hidden in the tower you climb before fighting the Taurus Demon, behind a locked door that can be opened with the Master Key (never ever not pick the master key as your gift you will regret it)

I picked the mysterious ring, because my Wanderer is the apprentice of an ancient witch :colbert:

... who, within 30 seconds of starting, said gently caress this, amped up her strength, and found a shield and spear. gently caress dodging, I already spent the entirety of Demon's Souls as a paperweight that had to dodge everything.

Will it actually screw me later on? I suppose I am early enough in that I could still restart. Go with a more burly class instead of an agil class (or at least go with a magic class - didn't realize it would be ages until I could find my first spell), etc.

My goal this time is to be a magic-throwing metal god that, once out of magic, just rushes in and kicks people dramatically off tall things.

# ¿ Oct 10, 2011 01:30

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

When you kindle a bonfire, does it then give you 10 flasks from then on, period? Even if you die, quit, reload and come back later, etc? Or is it a somewhat temporary upgrade?

Also, every few minutes, a weird golden light beam seems to come from nowhere in particular pointed at my head (or come out of my head), along with a strange noise. Once, I thought it gave me a point of humanity, but not every time. What the heck is that thing? Is that what happens when someone rates a message I've dropped, or... what? Is it a good thing?

EDIT: and is there a hint anywhere in the game about what you get if you (involving the first dragon you meet on the bridge) shoot off the dragon's tail, or is that purely an easter egg a dev dropped in? It seemed really odd, how the reward just pops into your inventory. I was expecting some drawn out hunt for what fell down, taking it to a blacksmith to forge, yadda yadda.

Shalinor fucked around with this message at 15:08 on Oct 10, 2011

# ¿ Oct 10, 2011 15:04

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

Dave Grolsch posted:

There is a first person aiming mode, yes. I think it's L1 on the PS3? Dunno about the 360, but it's gotta be there.

Note that you can only first-person aim the bow. The crossbow, you can not, it only has from the hip or lock-on firing.

Anywho, I have a recommendation for new players. If you're getting to the Taurus Demon with 1 or 2 flasks at most - slow down. Stay at that bonfire in the middle of the Undead area, and just get used to how the enemies work there. Notice how easily you can separate the group of dudes at the end of the firebombed walkway (one of them starts running at you the second you even set foot on the walkway), figure out how to take how the spear guys consistently (you really need to riposte them, magic them, or spear/shield them right back), etc. You'll very quickly figure out the range at which enemies come running, which is important later to avoid bumbling into massive raping hordes of spear and sword/shield'ers.

It's a great region to just get used to how the game controls, and you're right near the merchant, which means you can stock up on bombs, get the repair kit, kit yourself out a bit (the merchant sells a spear and a decent shield, most notably - spear+shield will save you a LOT of grief), etc.

If you're not able to get to the Taurus Demon with at least 3-4 flasks remaining, you should probably stick to that area and practice a bit more before moving on. Those spear dudes only get nastier.

Shalinor fucked around with this message at 21:45 on Oct 10, 2011

# ¿ Oct 10, 2011 21:42

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

Filthy Monkey posted:

When purely looking at total stats, Wanderers and Pyromancers come out on top. All of the classes are pretty close though, save for sorcerer. Poor sorcerer. Wanderer is probably a pretty good start for almost anybody. I still kind of like cleric too, mainly because you can buy a second heal right at the start, and have 10 heals after resting at any bonfire.

Pyromancer seems like one of the best choices for people that like fun. It's like Wanderer, only you get to throw fireballs at people from the word go. I played Wanderer up to level 8-ish, restarted with Pyromancer, and am waaaay happier with my options in combat.

I'd almost say it's the single best choice for new players, given that the fireball lets you take out some of the more obnoxious enemies in a single hit, but I haven't tried any of the dudes that actually start with armor.

I would absolutely say Pyromancer is the best call if you're willing to stay in the Undead Burg a bit and grab up some decent armor before moving it.

EDIT: Oh, with one caveat. Also ditch that loving axe. It eats an obscene amount of stamina. Grab yourself a shortsword instead, they drop like candy in the region, and the merchant sells them too. Or a longsword, if any of the sword/shield hollow there care to oblige you with a drop.

EDIT:

MadJackMcJack posted:

Also, killing shield dudes increases the chance of them dropping one, and it's a great early-game shield.

Yeah, the shield that the spear guys there drops is awesome. It makes an awesome noise when you deflect attacks, and it's just plain great too. It's enough that you can actually start to soak the black knight's hits, never even mind how it does in general combat.

EDIT3: I really wonder how much of the lack of usage of the comment system is just people having no idea that you have to buy the orange soap stone, or even then, understanding how the system works. There is zero tutorial on it. There isn't much more on the multiplayer system. Really, their entire integration of MP sucks... the base systems seem cool enough, but they don't have anywhere near enough tutorial around them.

Shalinor fucked around with this message at 21:54 on Oct 10, 2011

# ¿ Oct 10, 2011 21:49

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

NoneSuch posted:

They need to go ahead and make becoming a human and invading more accesible. Zombie form should have reduced health, or anything, which makes human form obviously superior to encourage it's use. One of the early vendors should sell the cracked red eye orbs too, it's silly not having them easily avaliable as invading is a big part of the game.

No need to debuff the Hollow form, just buff Human form.

If it gave you 1.5x elemental/damage resistance or something, for instance, that would be lovely. Or maybe have it reduce your encumberance (what with Hollow dudes looking pretty lanky). It'd be especially useful for mages, then, for throwing on heavier armor and burning down some of the more difficult-to-dodge bosses.

Either way, odds are good the devs are well aware of this, and want to improve things. The game is, as far as I can tell, doing really well - it should hopefully see some support. They won't patch haphazardly, though, given Microsoft's policies and the costs involved - there'll be some delay.

EDIT: Also, I take pride in being the only one I saw to throw down a "beware of bright spot" next to the Sun dude who gives you the white soapstone :c00lbert:

Shalinor fucked around with this message at 00:39 on Oct 11, 2011

# ¿ Oct 11, 2011 00:35

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

Yodzilla posted:

Now it seems like unless you want to grind you'll never actually invade or be invaded and that takes a lot away from the game. It's a little disappointing.

That's exactly how it was in Demon's Souls.

I spent even less time in Human form in DeS, what with the conversion items being rare and limited, and the only other way across being to help someone beat a boss. Here, I actually turn human with at least some regularity to kindle bonfires. In the first 10 hours of the game, I've spent more time Human than I did in the entirety of my DeS playthrough - just because of kindling a fire, and then oh hey, I'm human, and I don't die too often, so that sticks.

Death in general seems somewhat more avoidable this time, probably due to the flasks. There's a real reason to make a tactical withdrawal, restock, and try again - whereas in DeS, the healing items were also pretty limited. This is a good thing, and tends to make Human form stick quite a while.

# ¿ Oct 11, 2011 15:04

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

Yodzilla posted:

No it's not because in Demon's Souls you could invade while in soul form and be invaded while human. Attacking other players and winning netted you a really good reward and being human had very obvious advantages. There was both a tangible reason to invade and good reason to be in the form that you can be invaded.

Now in Dark Souls there's very little reason to be human and open to invasion and since you need to be human to invade other people it's not a method of winning your body back like in Demon's.

That's where we're disagreeing. Being Human did give you advantages, but, it cost enough time (or a rare item) as to be something I almost never, ever did. Yes, I would suicide after taking out a boss (well, less suicide, and more spend that life testing something that looked scary a/o dying horribly to the next threat waiting right beyond the last boss's chamber, as per usual in DeS). I am telling you, flat out, that I have already spent more time in Human form in Dark Souls than I ever did in DeS. That part isn't broken.

The invading part, and having to be human-form to invade? That make indeed be a problem, I don't know. I've never tried to invade anyone in DeS, I lean more in the co-op direction. But the people-being-human part doesn't seem to be an issue, at least in early to mid-game, or is at least less of an issue than it was in DeS.

# ¿ Oct 11, 2011 15:25

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

Yodzilla posted:

Yeah I was human all the drat time in Demon's Souls. You pretty much needed that extra edge to beat bosses and since killing a boss (or another player) instantly made you human it was very, very easy to get. You almost never had to use the stones to gain humanity in Demon's.

I spent the entirety of it in soul form, because it didn't matter a tiny bit if I had that extra smidgen of health. If anything hit me, I was going to explode like a party popper anyways, so whatever. Staying in soul form at least spared me the danger of being mid-dodge when a black phantom stepped out to backstab me, and that was the form you needed to be in anyways for the odd invasion when you got bored.

... and I then stayed in soul form because I mostly sucked as a black phantom :v:

Really though, the networking was just temperamental (PS3 hates my WRT54G), which meant I didn't get very many successful blue or black phantom runs period.

EDIT: (dex build / assassin armor / winged spear, but like an idiot I dumped points into Magic instead of Vitality, woooo)

Shalinor fucked around with this message at 15:34 on Oct 11, 2011

# ¿ Oct 11, 2011 15:31

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

Vatek posted:

It's just bizarre as hell to me because my first character was a thief (and I never played Demon's Souls) and "DO NOT GET HIT EVER" is basically burned into my brain after 30 hours. The robes protect me reasonably well if I gently caress up and something hits me, but I still feel like getting hit at all means I hosed up somehow.

That's how I played DeS. Now, I run around with a spear and shield and decent armor, and when a giant one-legged statue tries to smash me with a 40 foot staff, I just laugh from behind my shield and poke it in the eye with my spear, or quickly shift to two-handing a giant gently caress-off sword and cave its skull in.

It's a really substantial shift in feel of combat. Once you finish your dex run, give it a go, it changes almost the entire game / totally shifts the way in which you feel like a tremendous bad rear end.

# ¿ Oct 11, 2011 16:30

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

If I'm running through as a slightly nimble (<50%) sword and boarder with a penchant for spears, and also using pyromancy - is it at all likely that I'll have the additional points to branch into another school of magic? If so, any particular reason to pick one or the other? Pyromancy is super fun, and having more useful spells to throw at people / make myself awesome would be awesome.

I realize it's a bit of an odd question, and largely depends on if the weapons I end up using scale with Int. I just don't know if there are any such weapons suited for the above build, and am trying to avoid wikis this time.

# ¿ Oct 11, 2011 20:49

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

Drox posted:

I thought you didn't need any stats for pyromancy? The focus for it gains int bonus as you level it, but people say that the int bonus doesn't apply to the spell damage.

That's the point - you don't. Which means right now, I'm basically just dumping points into Endurance and Vitality, not into any spell-related stats.

I'm unclear on whether that's really the best way to go for my sword/spear/sheild/<50% light tanker, or if I've probably got the "spare" points to throw into Int or Faith for one of the other schools of magic. Basically, whether or not splitting between tanker and magic-user is viable, or if that'll stick me into an awkard middle ground where I don't have the Endurance to handle many of the bosses, but also don't have the spells to deal with them some other way.

# ¿ Oct 11, 2011 20:55

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

RBA Starblade posted:

A curse frog just fell from the sky, landing on my head, instantly cursed me, leading to me instantly dying and losing all my health and souls. gently caress that.

How many games are there in which adorable frogs falling from the sky to plop on your head become a nightmare scenario? I mean really :3:

# ¿ Oct 11, 2011 22:10

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

How is the item you get from Path Of The Dragon, as far as attacks go? Does it scale reasonably and stay useful?

... pretty sure that would be the most awesome way forward - my tank'y pyromancer becomes A freakin' DRAGON (!), and I can just keep dumping points into Endurance to pump it up.

# ¿ Oct 12, 2011 00:51

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

Harminoff posted:

So how does Pyromancy work? I just got the pyromancy flame and bought fireball, but pressing rb doesn't throw anything.

Did you attune the spell you want to cast at a Bonfire?

(the display in the lower left should be showing the spell you want to cast in the "up" slot)

# ¿ Oct 12, 2011 01:14

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

McTimmy posted:

1) That's a Titanite Demon, It's not a boss but it's there to discourage you from going down there. You can kill it now, but it's risky.

You can cheese it with arrows from behind one of the chunks of column in there. You can hit it, it just keeps uselessly throwing lightning into the chunk.

... You can also run by it. There's a few cool things back there (and enemies you won't be able to damage unless you've got pyromancy), and when you get to the bottom of the area and head toward the crystals, one of the coolest early game deaths EVER! :3:

The sky just goes white, then... you die. Then you go back, and... realize why the sky went white. And then die again.

Shalinor fucked around with this message at 05:31 on Oct 12, 2011

# ¿ Oct 12, 2011 05:28

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

Rollersnake posted:

Haha, how did you not see or hear the giant loving hydra? Maybe the most deceptively easy boss of the whole game. Of course I say that after dying like five times to it.

It starts shooting at you way, way before you can see it through the fog. Unless you run into the lights, you'll never see the source, and will just die as the screen goes white.

Which was totally freaking boss :rock:

# ¿ Oct 12, 2011 05:41

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

Where should I be at SL20? The last real boss I fought was the initial Taurus Demon - since then, I've cheesed the dude in the tower below him (yay encumberance ring!), cheesed the titanite demon, and taken down the big knight dude guarding the first Fire Keeper's Soul with the drake sword. I'm rocking a +5 spear, and enough titanite to make my hollow warrior shield into something pretty neat.

Please don't say I have to go upstairs above where the knight was. That loving minion summoning mage dude murdered me last time. Too many people hitting my shield, it drops, then BLAAAAAT dead

Should I be heading down the stairs in the Firelink Shrine, to that generally scary / creepy area? Did a quick wander around, found Valley Of The Drakes, got smushed by a big fat dude that poisoned me (but drake sword would have totally taken him, if he hadn't gotten a lucky poisoned hit in).

# ¿ Oct 12, 2011 16:52

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

Crowbear posted:

That's where you gotta go. Man up!

You can lure the zombies into the narrow passage and pick them off. Once you do, the mage dude is super fragile and doesn't respawn.

Time for a 2-handed force blast then. Just take down that entire loving hall of minions in one go. Will burn more souls in durability than I'll probably get back, but gently caress yeah, that's the way I roll. :c00lbert:

# ¿ Oct 12, 2011 16:54

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

Willfrey posted:

To tackle him early you will need the master key. He is in Undeadberg, in the tower that goes up to the parapet where you fight the Taurus demon. At the bottom there is a door there that is locked. Use the master key and go down the stairs, he has a big ol' club and a shield, but will usually 2-hand the shield. The club will smack new players for all their health in one hit.

Alternatively you can approach him from behind from somewhere in the Darkroot garden, but I haven't really explored that part of Darkroot

As a new player, you, uh, don't want to enter that room from the door. You'll die a horrible death out there even at SL20. You technically could (go to the blacksmith in the Undead Burg, through titanite demon room, through forest / burn some ents, then waaaay down the cliff side, etc), but the sky will go white, and then you'll die. Besides, it's locked too, so if you can open that door, you could probably just open the upper door to his tower instead.

You can Havel (the club dude) by luring him up to the door you use to get into that tower from the rest of undead burg (the door at the top of the stairs where the hollow kicked the flaming barrel down at you on your way to the Taurus Demon). He'll only follow you out of that door long enough to do a single swing. Then, he'll backpeddal back to his spawn. But if you set foot inside the tower again while he's doing that, he'll run back out, attack again, then go back.

So, get a lot of arrows, and lure him down the stair, back-step to avoid the swing, hit him with two arrows as he retreats, follow, one more as he goes through the circular room, step into the room, he runs back out, go down the stairs, avoid, 2 arrows, follow, 1 arrow, enter, run back, etc.

Takes a while, but then you have a spiffy ring that'll let you wield the drakesword without being hugely overburdened.

You CAN also fight him straight up. The hollow warrior shield will let you soak his hits. It just eats endurance like crazy, and the space you can use to recharge your stamina between hits is REALLY tight, and if you gently caress up even once, blat, you're down.

Shalinor fucked around with this message at 17:04 on Oct 12, 2011

# ¿ Oct 12, 2011 17:00

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

Willfrey posted:

(cheesing Havel)

Man I gotta try this next time.

I got him at SL30, with about 30 pts into Endurance, with a +6 shield a single hit wouldn't hurt me, but it depleted my stamina. Thankfully I have just enough left to roll away.

Either way, that ring is pretty drat good.

The tactic is basically fool-proof. You don't even have to dodge his swing on the stairs. Just get close enough for him to start the wind-up, and then move backward. Only danger is if you let him get too far down the stairs, you back up, and hit - the wall of the stairs where they turn. Might also be tricky if you had heavy armor, but you're dead if he hits you anyways, so strip down and be a naked archery zombie for the fight.

No idea if the tactic is on the wiki, but if not, it should probably be added. It's absolutely the way I'll be handling him on future playthroughs, and that ring is waaaay too good to not have ASAP on any run involving heavy armor/weapons.

(the original plan was to lure him over to the ladder and shoot him from the roof, but hey, this way worked waaaay better anyways)

# ¿ Oct 12, 2011 17:25

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

Jadz posted:

So that's my current report - I haven't yet explored the underground place with the ghosts, because I can't really hurt them yet, or the graveyard next to the shrine because the skeletons are fast, hit hard and I don't have any weapons which hurt them much either.

With the skeletons, just run past them. There is nothing down there worth fighting them for, and they don't drop souls (bastards). There's a few cool items down there you can grab on your way through. They're not THAT hard to take down with the gear you're rocking, it's just sooooo not worth it.

Also... I highly recommend investigating the elevator shaft while you're up there. You know, just in case.

# ¿ Oct 12, 2011 17:32

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

Elysiume posted:

Are you saying it's best to fight him on the stairs?

Kinda, but it's a specific set of stairs... here, will write it up again:

How to cheese Havel

This assumes you're entering his tower from the Undead Burg side. The staircase you climb in undead burg to get to the tower's door is "the staircase," and the door at the top of that staircase is "the door".

Go down the tower, only far enough to get Havel following you up. Beat feet back to the door, making sure Havel is still following you. If he is, run down the stairs. Havel will follow you out. Once he's outside the door and on the stairs, he'll take precisely one swing at you (the overhead slam) before backpedaling to his spawn point. If, while he is backpedaling, you set foot back inside the door / in the tower, he will re-agro and run back at you (assuming he was still relatively near the door). You can then run back down the stairs, he'll follow, swing, and return. The key here is that, when backpedaling, Havel never has his shield up.

Strategy:

Equip a bow and plenty of arrows. Doesn't matter what kind, but stronger will make it take less time.

Lure Havel to the door, lock onto him, and lure him down the stairs. Get close enough for him to start his wind-up, backstep his swing (making sure you weren't too close to the base of the stairs that you CAN'T back up). Fire one to two arrows at him as he backpedals up the steps. If you time it right as he's at the top of the stairs, one of those locked-on shots will be a bleeding headshot.

Follow Havel up the stairs. Fire one more arrow as he crosses the circular room. As soon as he starts down the other set of stairs there, step into the room. Done right, you won't lose the lock-on. He'll come charging back at you, lure him down the stairs, avoid the swing. 2 arrows, follow, 1 arrow, slightly step into room to taunt him, back down stairs, avoid, 2 arrows, back, etc.

It takes about 10 minutes-ish, and done right, you're in no danger whatsoever. Can be done at any level.

EDIT: Ah, and someone has indeed added it to the wiki. It's the second strategy listed. Will update it with a bit more detail in a sec, their description isn't quite clear.

EDIT: VV Eh, for whatever reason, I feel ok cheesing bosses if I've figured out the cheese tactic myself. Doesn't help you, but it still makes me feel alright if I'm just exploiting a weakness they have. Not much different than boar's... uh, unarmored... part.

Shalinor fucked around with this message at 20:30 on Oct 12, 2011

# ¿ Oct 12, 2011 20:21

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

Guliani is HOT posted:

Extremely important, save it for when you get back to Firelink Shrine and talk to the firekeeper to upgrade your estus flask.

... and the Firekeeper is down the staircase behind the tree to the side of the Firelink shrine bonfire, if you missed that staircase completely like I did.

# ¿ Oct 12, 2011 21:02

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

When trading with the raven, can you do each trade once period, or is it once per game run? I've seen unclear information either way.

(ie. can you do a trade, quit the game, come back later, trade again - or is it one trade per item, period, for that entire playthrough)

# ¿ Oct 12, 2011 21:57

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

... ok, I'm sorry, I have to say:

What is with all the Capra Demon trouble? I took him down, easily, on my first go. :c00lbert:

I wandered in. Saw he had two dogs. Waited between his swings, one strong drakesword swing - poof, dogs are down. Went back to blocking. Casually circled him, shielding his hits, and then blammo, down he went. I mean... seriously. Most of the minibosses have been waaaaay harder than that dude. Hell, some of the random normal ambushes have been worse.

(that said, I could not manage to get his tail, since he always rotated to face me

Though not sure if his tail was worth anything)

After the Gargoyles, I was going in expecting the worst, but that was a walk in the park by comparison.

EDIT: Also, I found the curse frogs. That was... uh, the most adorable death ever. Managed to recover, though, and they're remarkably easy once you've figured them out (and died once to figure out the attacks).

EDIT: and... really guys, this game doesn't take that much time. I'm pulling 12 hour days in the office (yay deadlines), I have a mortgage, and I am still making decent progress. It's way, way less of time sink than MMOs. I guess maybe if you're used to doing all your gaming in 5 minute CoD rounds, it would feel long, but - for any typical RPG? It's pretty average.

You slowly get better at it, and over time, you learn to quickly traverse areas and reduce your deaths.

Shalinor fucked around with this message at 15:31 on Oct 13, 2011

# ¿ Oct 13, 2011 15:22

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

MadJackMcJack posted:

You got lucky with the dogs. If you're unlucky, they'll jump away from your swing and then you're up poo poo creek because they'll harass the poo poo out of you (this is how I died the first time, because they came back, drained my stamina with a flurry of hits, then Cappy squished me). Plus if you're a dodger-type, blocking heavy hits like the Capra's usually spells doom.

Yeah, kinda wondered. A dodger in there would be screwed, there's just no space. As a blocker, I think I just lucked out, as I'd recently upgraded the Hollow Warrior Shield to +5 (loving fucker fuckery fuckstick Gargoyles - though it felt awesome to finally beat them). Even with that, noticed he was doing a surprising amount of stamina damage on blocks.

The dogs though... eeh. They've got a pretty predictable attack cycle that you can mostly time. I think I could take them out consistently, no sweat. As a dodger, though, fuuuuuck that fight must suck.

# ¿ Oct 13, 2011 15:34

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

Palleon posted:

Can anyone explain exactly how poise and stability work? From my understanding poise is the ability to not be staggered when you block, and stability reduces stamina loss while blocking

Stability affects the endurance cost when getting hit while blocking.

Poise affects whether or not you stumble when getting hit while NOT blocking. Poise is the "gently caress you, I'm drinking a potion and there's nothing you can do about it" stat.

... but no idea on the equations.

EDIT: VV Yeah, I think the dogs are my second least favorite enemy so far. Below curse frogs, obviously.

# ¿ Oct 13, 2011 15:46

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

If I don't really care about PVP so much as co-op / MP period, and just want to improve my odds of seeing another human in the game, will this strategy work?

- Go Way of the White first, so that when I drop a stone, I've got better odds of finding someone
- Go Way of the Dragon, because dammit, a Pyromancer + their special ability would be totally awesome
- Go back to Way of the White (or maybe that Sun one) once I'm done with Dragon

I've been avoiding Way of the White because I'm unclear if that'll somehow lock me out of the Dragon later / make me spend a ridiculous amount to get out of that covenant. I also kind of like the Way of the Dragon's invasions better - black phantoming is fun sometimes, but I'd feel like less of a dick if it was people summoning me for a duel.

Shalinor fucked around with this message at 20:24 on Oct 13, 2011

# ¿ Oct 13, 2011 20:22

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

Demitri Omni posted:

So, I think I mentioned it before, but if this isn't common knowledge, there is an easy(ish) way to cheese the early skeletons in the graveyard to the left as you leave firelink:

You have to have either a heavy weapons (in particular, my character was a marauder at the time and started with the axe) whose strong attack is the overhanded vertical swing. Other weapons do it, but not as effectively. As long as you have the strength for it, you can use the morningstar you get out of the set of crates you get the first cracked red orbs from.

With one of these weapons, head to the graveyard and start kiting skeletons. Now, you can do this just as well with kicking, but if you use that overhanded attack, they fly backwards and break apart. If you start luring them to edges and use this move, they will usually clear the edge even if they are a few feet from it.

Now, I found out if you land on the giant skeletons' heads this falling-apart-ragdolling occurs. So, if you lure one of the giants to the small double-staircase, you can get them to stand below you on the lower part of the staircase (or, alternatively, you can get them to stand under the small hill ledge, it just does not always position right when you take the next step. you can also just go all the way up the stairs and stand enough off the ledge that they AI to derp below you, but they will rarely fall off the cliff from there). From this, simply walk off on the giant's head. Don't do a descending attack, it probably won't connect or even activate before you bonk the skeleton. If you're lucky, he'll fall apart, clip a little with the wall, and as a result, the in-the-wall pieces will rubberband towards the cliff, pulling the others with them.

EDIT: You can also do this to cheese a few of the first skeletons in the catacombs, but after the first... two I think, they won't follow you out far enough anymore.

Cool, but - is there any reason you'd actually want to kill those skeletons?

It appeared they didn't drop souls, and you can just run by them if your goal is to grab all the stuff in the graveyard.

# ¿ Oct 13, 2011 20:43

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

Me, Solaire and a random summoned dude just took out Gaping Dragon on my first go - tail and all :c00lbert:

That said, it felt like the combat took ages. Were we missing something, or is it just a looooong fight of going after the butt and managing stamina?

# ¿ Oct 14, 2011 05:54

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

I am tired of being an endurance-focused medium-weight fighter wearing leathers (because that's the best armor I've found despite 0 poise). Can someone point me at a better set of armor I could get to, suicide run or no, as a SL20 rocking a drakesword and a +5 hollow shield/+5 spear?

The most recent boss I took down was Gaping Dragon, so I think I'm up to BlightTown, New Londo, or... *shudder*... the Catacombs place with the scary screaming skulls and reviving skeletons.

I gather I could have grabbed Hard Leathers during the Gaping Dragon fight, but they seemed to not be there after we'd taken him down (?).

# ¿ Oct 14, 2011 15:53

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

Do the Ent tree things in the forest ever start taking actual weapon damage?

I'm a pyromancer, so not even the slightest poo poo is given - froom, POOF, screeeaaam, crumple - but when I'm in an area and the drakesword does no useful damage, I begin to wonder if I shouldn't be there yet.

# ¿ Oct 14, 2011 16:25

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

YorexTheMad posted:

Slash damage doesn't phase them but thrusts work really well. The Drake sword can't do any thrusts which means it'll have some trouble against those guys. Grab something that can do thrusts (Claymores, Halberd, even a Spear) and you may have an easier time. Clearing the trees was much easier for me using a barely-upgraded Claymore than the Drake Sword.

Dammit, I keep forgetting that. I've got the +5 spear, but I don't use it as much - "the drake sword has higher damage, so I should just use this for everything!" :v:

Stupid Dark Souls, and its logical application of why many armor types all but ignore slashing sharp things but are weak to poking pointy things. You'd think I would remember that lesson from 2-1 in Demon's Souls.

... also, for those having issues with the Gargoyles. Try the drakesword 2h strong slash blast. It tears them up. Yeah, sure, you're burning souls in repair costs, but it is so incredibly cool to blast a line of force 100 feet in front of you. Also awesome when quickly clearing the hallway of zombie dudes on your way to them - you can take out 7-10 of them in one blast. :black101:

EDIT: VV In that case, should I be upgrading my spear to +10? Or should I just be waiting for a lightning spear? Not that I have the necessary titanite chunks to do the +5 to +10 (I have 1, yaaay), but eh, maybe I can find them somewhere.

Shalinor fucked around with this message at 16:38 on Oct 14, 2011

# ¿ Oct 14, 2011 16:33

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

Penny_Dreadful posted:

The Halberd is a good heavy piercing weapon, or the Claymore as a slashing weapon, both of these can be found in the undeadberg/parish and only require a small investment in STR to wield 1 handed.

Halberd can't poke past a shield, though. Spear gets my vote as most awesome weapon type ever, largely for that reason. There are few things more bad rear end then getting slammed back, sliding as you go, WHILE poking and hitting the guy as you leave melee range.

Unless that same thing happens if you have high poise and aren't shielding? Haven't tried that yet.

# ¿ Oct 14, 2011 19:18

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

G.I. Jaw posted:

It's also best to do this under 25% encumberance so you're able to run at full speed. No need for shields or armor on this fight anyway since most of his attacks are going to drop you in one hit anyway.

A +5 Hollow shield can soak any hit he dishes out, notably the tail hits and little front-claw swipes, with plenty of stamina to spare. Except maybe if you're stupid enough to get caught in that down chest vagina grab attack, no idea on that one.

Poking his butt worked for me, and took me through it easily. I will grant you that it took a LONG time, though, and was very dull - I might go head next time just to make it less boring.

# ¿ Oct 14, 2011 21:47

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

Spiffo posted:

There's one underneath firelink that you can access right at the beginning of the game. He can reinforce your weapons to Standard+5 and also eventually ascend your weapons to Magic+5, and eventually Magic+10 / Enchanted+5. Of course you need the right ember to do it these (magic ember for the former, large magic ember for the latter).

Wait, what?

The only smith I've found is the Parish one. Where is there one anywhere near Firelink? (other than taking the elevator up to the Parish one)

# ¿ Oct 14, 2011 21:50

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

Is there ever a point at which I might find a boss, but should not kill it? Is sequence breaking ever a big worry?

(ie. I got the 20,000 key crest from the blacksmith pretty early, and if I sprint to the back, I can make it to that totally freaking awesome sword wolf thing. I almost had her down with the drake sword, and that was with me in leathers AND forgetting I had Iron Flesh. I think I read something about her being involved in a quest, though, or... forest covenant people... something? No spoilers, just, is there any reason to not go back there with my fancy new armor and iron flesh?)

# ¿ Oct 14, 2011 22:20

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# ¿ Apr 19, 2024 06:48

Shalinor: Jun 10, 2002; _{Can I buy you a rootbeer?}

FirstPersonShitter posted:

The little ones are adorable, the big ones are slow but will punch you so hard you loving die.

Do the little mushroom people drop anything useful?

I wish to murder them to find out, but they're so :3:

it hurts. They'll probably make cute noises, too, and make me feel guilty about it.

... also, the last cute enemy turned me into an insta-statue the second I angered it. So there's that.

# ¿ Oct 14, 2011 23:38

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