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Author Topic: Dark Souls  (Read 7691 times)

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Offline Grok1122

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #60 on: December 28, 2011, 08:59:26 AM »
Yea NinjaB, I might run a few builds by you or ask if you know anywhere to look for good builds.  I'm considering starting a new character, as when I initially played the game during the first few weeks it was out I was very much in the dark as to what to do, and have ended up with a character not super-well developed.  Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Offline NinjaBBehrens

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #61 on: December 28, 2011, 09:33:14 AM »
Well, what kind of character do you want to play Grok? What level did you get your other character up to before you decided you didnt like your build? Then, what type of magic do you like to use, if any? Are you looking for a PvP build, PvE or general?

A few basic pointers:

1) As far as magic is concerned, I prefer miracles, but they do require an investment of faith. With 20 Faith though, you have a nice variety of miracles at your disposal that are just about always useful. You will probably need to a guide to acquire them though as there are several Convenant exclusive ones. Pyromancy is nice in that you dont need to boost a stat to improve it, just upgrade your Flame. Sorceries require a much more significant investment than the other two branches. They might be useful early in the game, but if you dont keep upping your Intelligence, the offensive spells you can get at Int 20 become pretty much useless halfway through the game. I hear the top level Sorceries like Crystal Soul Spear are ridiculously good, but I have never used them or seen them be used.

2) If you have play experience and you know what your preferred weapon is, dont raise your weapon stats (i. e. Strength or Dexterity) past what you require to wield them if you are trying to keep your level down. Since Lightning and Fire upgrades remove stat scaling, you will end up having wasted the points. They do little else other than increase scaling damage, which will still be drastically less than the damage bonus you would get from a lightning or fire weapon.

3) Try to know what speed level [over half, under half or under a fourth of weight] you want to play at before you set out. It's helpful to know the type and weight of the armor you want to use if you can. I recommend the Dark Souls Wiki for that type of info, but I have a lot of experience if you want to know what types are the best. Anyway, for a calculated build, you only want to put enough points into Endurance to cover your final weapons and armor choices at their total weight. You do get more Stamina, but that is only necessary for heavy weapons which will require more Endurance anyway.

4) Play the way you want to play! Yes there are PvP strategies and builds that blow normal stuff away. I strongly believe most of them are cheap and take a lot of the fun out of PvP. If you must win, go ahead. I think it's more rewarding to play in a way that I enjoy, trying to maximize my own strengths while minimizing my weaknesses, but doing so on my terms and not just what the easiest way is. It is sad to see a game with so much variation and personal choice of style be boiled down to everybody lag stepping and teleport back-stabbing. But such is gaming.

What a ramble! So what can I do for you again?  ;)

Offline Grok1122

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #62 on: December 28, 2011, 10:57:22 AM »
I'm looking to make a good PVE build, maybe do some PVP.  I'm thinking of doing a faith build, but I want to be able to equip decent armor and still stay under 50% if possible.  Any pointers?

Offline Windedprism

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #63 on: December 28, 2011, 11:49:47 AM »
Grinded to 23 , but here's a question. Do mobs scale as you level ie first playthrough. So if I fight T Demon at level 7 he'll be relative to that level/fight at 20 he'd be tougher?

Got invaded last night was quite a shock, but alas I won by playing exactly as you pointed out there Ninja, to my strengths. Must have been a low level like me, he even tried to lure me to my death and I just swatted the mobs outta of the way! Interesting encounter though. Still not far in, took out Taurus Demon, and snuck under the bridge past the red drake to drop the ladder to the bonfire.
I'm starting to notice quickly what I'm good at and what I'm not, step by step still learning all the things the game/manual don't tell you :)
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Offline NinjaBBehrens

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #64 on: December 29, 2011, 09:28:44 AM »
Grok: I use a faith/dex build and wear medium armor. At around level 105, my faith is 40. My Great Lightning Spear miracles sliced up Seath something fierce. I have close to 40 Endurance because I like to use the Dragonslayer Spear (weighs 10.0), but I still am under 50%. If you want to be really fast, you can get the Dark Woodgrain ring. If you are under 50%, it will make you move as if you are under 25% and allows you to do flips instead of rolling. I suggest looking up a guide for that one, but I can help you if you need it. I also use the Ring of Divine Favor and Protection (or the Curse Ring as I call it) but you will permanently lose a ring slot pretty much.

As far as good armor sets for a medium weight. The Elite Knight set found in Darkroot Garden is one of the best early on. The Paladin set is what I use now, but it is one of the heaviest medium sets. You can also mix and match to get a varied amount of defense and speed. The Elite Knight gloves are very light (since only one of them is metal) and provide solid defense, as does the Gold Hemmed Black Robe set. The Black and Silver Knight sets are pretty good with medium weights and the silver knight set is available in Anor Londo.

If you want to play a Faith/miracle character, I would recommend doing the Catacombs/Tomb of Giants first after acquiring the Lordvessel. Each of the four boss paths cater to a magic chain [Tomb of Giants = Divine; Duke's Archives = Sorcery; Lost Izalith = Pyromancy; New Londo = No magic] and you will be able to pick up better miracles, the Paladin set, and the upgrade materials for divine/occult weapons. You will be better prepared for the other paths.

Prism: Enemies dont scale with your level. As far as PvE is concerned, there is no disadvantage to leveling up as much as you want. Just be aware that PvP and co op are level dependent. You will have a harder time finding help for bosses if you are overleveled and you will be susceptible to invasions from people who are your level, which can increase the difficulty of your opponents who focus solely on PvP. Just be careful about being around level 40 and being in human form in a place called Anor Londo. That is a haven for experienced invaders who try to own up on people with less experience.

The manual and tutorial are pretty much useless for mastery of Dark Souls. I didnt even find the strategy guide to be that helpful. Solid experience is the only method. Good luck with that!  :D

Let me know if you need more help.

Offline Failed

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #65 on: December 29, 2011, 10:50:54 AM »
Ninja B with some serious insight, knowledge is power. I'd have bought the guide too but i'll think i'll give it a miss now

Offline Grok1122

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #66 on: December 29, 2011, 10:58:52 AM »
Thanks NinjaB, good stuff. I'm pretty sure I'm doing a faith hybrid build, although I haven't decided on dex or str yet. I don't think it will be a huge issue on my new playthrough one as I get my vit/end/faith up and str/dex only to necessary levels. I'm sure I'll hit you up soon.

Offline Windedprism

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #67 on: December 29, 2011, 12:51:52 PM »
True even the guide isn't helpful when it comes to builds and stuff. Well I took out the mecha boar, I had a sliver of health and with that I just lured him out. Killed of the guards first, and then got splattered by him. I had like a sliver left and just used the stairs and little alcove that faces him to get his back all the time. Crossbow to get him to turn and charge me then roll back dip into alcove and axe his ass when he was going back. Took a little while doing it this way but very satisfying.

I knew about the level restriction for co-op so yeah something to be wary of. Ornstein/Smough maybe something I need help on lol
How did you guys fair with those two?

It's cool to know the enemies don't scale like that. You're right as well experience is everything.
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Offline Grok1122

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #68 on: December 29, 2011, 01:17:42 PM »
O&S I didn't find terribly difficult, I was level 50-ish and summoned a friend. It's not too bad if you can split them up and hit them with fireballs (at least pre-patch).  I'm sure the average level there now there is a bit lower, pure speculation though.

Offline NinjaBBehrens

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #69 on: December 29, 2011, 03:15:02 PM »
Glad I can help you guys out. I enjoy talking about Dark Souls almost as much as I enjoy playing it!  ;D

Ornstein and Smough obliterated me soundly the first ten times I tried them, granted I was playing Solo. So I dropped my summon sign down and helped someone else beat em, and that gave me some confidence. He was using the crystal ring shield (which has since been nerfed) so they went down pretty easy. We even beat Smough first which is considered the difficult path. Using the point of humanity I earned, I summoned a player and Solaire. We beat Ornstein first so I was like ok, the easy route. Smough does his electric butt slam and kills my teammate and Solaire in 1 hit. I was terrified, but I kept my cool. I kited him with arrows for the next 30 minutes and killed him. There were some white knuckle close calls but I persevered and succeeded.

My second playthrough I did pretty much entirely in co op with my good friend. When I got to Anor Londo, I spent a fair amount of time at about level 40 to 50 just helping players beat O&S and protecting them from Darkwraiths. After doing the battle successfully about 15 times, I am not afraid of them anymore. I even soloed them one time as a phantom. The human player was very timid and I did it myself.

On that note, Queelaag's Furysword is a godsend in that battle. When it is fully upgraded, I could cut down regular Ornstein in less than 15 swings. It's a solid weapon period.

Let me know if you have trouble on the Capra Demon, Prism. He can be quite tough because of where you have to fight him.

Offline Grok1122

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #70 on: December 29, 2011, 03:17:37 PM »
I swear to god Capra Demon is near impossible solo, just due to the geometry of the map.

Offline NinjaBBehrens

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #71 on: December 29, 2011, 03:31:33 PM »
That's kind of funny, because I was having trouble fighting him in co op with my buddy in my newest game. I tried 2 or 3 times together with him. Then I went in and beat him solo on the first try.

That's another boss I was camping at, helping passers by on. I got the miracle Tranquil Walk of Peace. I messaged the player to stay back and to the left of the room. I Twalked before entering the room. This slows the dogs so they cannot rapidly follow you. The player runs up the stairs or behind the demon and things go swimmingly. It's those dogs blocking the stair case that is killer in my opinion.

Offline Grok1122

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #72 on: December 29, 2011, 03:39:48 PM »
That's a good strategy. The key is definitely to get one player to the stairs, that's why I always found it easier to go with someone else. That was one of the hardest bosses for me, along with the Four Kings and Seath. Although the later two are partially due to my bad character build.

Offline Sload

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #73 on: December 29, 2011, 06:09:43 PM »
I really need to get back into and finish this game. Last boss I did was Ornstein and Smough, took me 2 tries, solo. But I was level 80 or 85 at the time, now I believe I'm a bit over 90.
I'm 55 hours in and at least 20-25 hours have been spent grinding souls #)

Offline NinjaBBehrens

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Re: Dark Souls
« Reply #74 on: December 30, 2011, 07:25:41 AM »
It seems like everybody else has spent more time grinding than I have. I didnt start grinding extensively until patch 1.05 when you were able to purchase Twinkling Titanite at 8000 souls a pop. Even then there are spots that are much better for grinding, though you have to be in the right level range to utilize them effectively. I do farm some now, but it isnt to level it's to try to get rare materials (like Titanite Slabs).

Did any of you guys try in PvP in Dickstab Forest? I have some pretty fun stories about playing 2v2 in there.

 

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