From Software The Dark Souls Discussion Thread

[LivingOne]

The game as a whole has excellent enemy variety, but they didn't spread things around very well. A lot of enemies only appear in one area. The lightning spear demons, for example, would have been a good addition to the demon ruins or izalith. Very few types of enemies are seen in more than one area. It'd be fine for some of them, but it's a waste to have nearly no overlap and instead have entire areas with only a handful of enemy types.

The enemy variety in Demon Ruins/Izalith isn't actually that bad though, it's just that too many of the enemies there are trivial, like the sunlight maggots or the little stone doll things.

I think the problem with lost Izalith was also that the enemy there didn't make much sense on their own:the octopus things can degrade your weapons but... what good does that if you have can swap weapons before fighting enemies that are actually dangerous(the statues...and calling them dangerous is a stretch) or easily skip them(the dragon asses)?

The other levels were all at least p.good or excellent though.

 

[Admiral jimbob]

I never got the hang of how to fight those fucking Titanite Demons. I know they're more or less minibosses, but they consistently killed me on both characters if I got within melee range.

 

[Damned Registrations]

It took me quite a while too. The trick is to stick where it's leg stump is and block constantly, and be able to recognize when it's going to do it's jump attack. You also have to recognize the grab attack so you don't try to block it while closing in.

 

[Hobo Elf]

Never found a solid tactic for them that didn't involve blasting them HARD with Sorcery. When it comes to melee I always just tend to circle around them and attack from behind where their insanely wide arc attack (hopefully) doesn't hit me. Their tail counts as a weapon too. I mean you can get hit by it, so you should watch out for that too. All in all I just find that you are screwed when fighting them as melee. The ones with the lowest stats are alright, but the one guarding the shortcut to Lost Izalith and 2 others at the bottom of Sen's are pretty tough. 2 of the Titanite Demon's have higher stats at the bottom of Sen's compared to the other 2, if you haven't noticed that yet. The tougher ones are at the part where you will be attacked by 2 of them at the same time if you try to melee them. The weaker ones are the first one you encounter and then the Demon close to the Scythe.

 

[Giauz Ragnacock]

Well, if you don't have a console, you don't really have a choice, do you? If your PC isn't that powerful, just run it without the HD mod/fix (it locks your resolution to 720p like the console versions of the game). It won't really tax your system, especially if you're not a graphics whore. Do you have a 360 gamepad, or any kind of gamepad controller at all? Dark Souls doesn't really work smoothly with a KB configuration.

No. I don't. I dislike the idea that I can't configure the controls as well. I also found out now that is GFWL. No means no.

You can also buy it off Steam, I'm gonna wait for a sale, or am I misunderstanding?

 

[Palikka]

The Steam version uses GFWL too.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Some enemies can't be backstabbed, some enemies can't be parried or kicked.

Actually, every enemy CAN be kicked. It just might take multiple kicks to actually stagger them, since kicks have about the same staggering ability as a two handed swing with a greatsword. But kicking is a lot faster than a greatsword, and uses almost no stamina, so it still has it's uses. You can, for example, kick a blue drake twice to stagger it, or kick it and then swing so it gets staggered from the weapon swing, when normally it'd just bite your ass.

The list of enemies that can't be parried or backstabbed is frigging huge though. You can do a partial parry on anything to avoid the staggering and most of the damage, but it's not really very useful and it's hard to pull off anyways.

 

[Giauz Ragnacock]

The Steam version uses GFWL too.

So, is there no advantage beside the odd Steam sale to getting it off of Steam. I guess I can't say I mind all that much if multiplayer is bad through GFWL as I didn't have a XBox Live account when I rented it. That game was very gripping, so maybe if I own it the Internet won't see me for a while :D

 

[Damned Registrations]

I don't even bother with them these days honestly. I kill the one by andre because it's sort of in the way and I run through there often, but otherwise I don't see much point cause I never end up using a demon upgrade weapon anyways. I really wish they had tweaked the stats on them a bit higher. A few are probably decent, but for the most part, eh.

Anyways, they're a lot easier to melee if you're using an axe or a mace (1 handed size, but two hand it for the swings) since you can stagger them pretty often, and their stagger animation is pretty long. If you're trying to melee them with a weapon that is too weak like a curved sword or a spear, or too slow like a greatsword, you'll have trouble either getting through it's armour or finding openings to attack without blowing all your stamina.

I think the 1 handed axes and maces in general are really quite excellent as a weapon type, their speed/stagger ratio is really good. In particular, the giant's wooden hammer and the crescent axe both have insanely long reach for their weapon types. The axe is practically like using a greatsword except faster, and that hammer is insanely good for the low stat investment, and the heavy attack hits from a mile away. Looking at the numbers, the pickaxe would be really good too if you invested a lot in strength, and would work with the leo ring. Though by the time you have that the game is nearly over anyways.

 

[Hobo Elf]

Some enemies can't be backstabbed, some enemies can't be parried or kicked.

Actually, every enemy CAN be kicked. It just might take multiple kicks to actually stagger them, since kicks have about the same staggering ability as a two handed swing with a greatsword. But kicking is a lot faster than a greatsword, and uses almost no stamina, so it still has it's uses. You can, for example, kick a blue drake twice to stagger it, or kick it and then swing so it gets staggered from the weapon swing, when normally it'd just bite your ass.

The list of enemies that can't be parried or backstabbed is frigging huge though. You can do a partial parry on anything to avoid the staggering and most of the damage, but it's not really very useful and it's hard to pull off anyways.

Really? I never tried kicking huge monsters like Minotaurs since I assumed that they were probably close to being immune. Next time I'll try to play around more.

I don't even bother with them these days honestly. I kill the one by andre because it's sort of in the way and I run through there often, but otherwise I don't see much point cause I never end up using a demon upgrade weapon anyways. I really wish they had tweaked the stats on them a bit higher. A few are probably decent, but for the most part, eh.

Anyways, they're a lot easier to melee if you're using an axe or a mace (1 handed size, but two hand it for the swings) since you can stagger them pretty often, and their stagger animation is pretty long. If you're trying to melee them with a weapon that is too weak like a curved sword or a spear, or too slow like a greatsword, you'll have trouble either getting through it's armour or finding openings to attack without blowing all your stamina.

I think the 1 handed axes and maces in general are really quite excellent as a weapon type, their speed/stagger ratio is really good. In particular, the giant's wooden hammer and the crescent axe both have insanely long reach for their weapon types. The axe is practically like using a greatsword except faster, and that hammer is insanely good for the low stat investment, and the heavy attack hits from a mile away. Looking at the numbers, the pickaxe would be really good too if you invested a lot in strength, and would work with the leo ring. Though by the time you have that the game is nearly over anyways.

I normally wouldn't bother with them Titanite Demons either, but on my last playthrough I wanted to use the Dragonslayer Spear. Of course once I had it fully upgraded I probably used it to kill two enemies and then moved on to something else. Good grief what a waste of time and stat investments. At least I was able to flip flop into a Katana dex build and use the Sunlight Blade.

I agree that maces are good. From did a good job at making all the different weapon types shine so it isn't just your typical swordsman bullshit everywhere.
Or you can dual wield shields .

 

[Damned Registrations]

I've been trying some gimmicky pvp shit lately. I think path of the dragon has some major potential. I was trying to mix it up with wrath of the gods, which seems pretty decent, since you can back people into shitty areas pretty easily with roars and then finish them off with a boosted wrath, but what I really wanted to do is find something you can chain into the stagger. Wrath is too slow, though great combustion would probably work. I got pretty hopeful for Avelyn for a bit, but it's also too slow, and without the stagger it's basically a worthless weapon for pvp. Punching works, but doesn't do stellar damage. I'm thinking maybe daggers. Dark silver tracer to toxin, priscilla's to bleed them. They're fast enough to get guaranteed hits when you stagger. Priscilla's might even be able to get multiple hits, not sure how fast it is with the special attacks. And of course if they try to estus, the dark silver tracer will rape a backstab.

The firebreath is amazingly useless though. 25 damage? Wtf? I guess you could use it to kill mosquitos and that's about it. Causes like no staggering either. Also, having no armor makes you pretty vulnerable to status effects yourself. Could use artorias' shield to be immune to that shit, since there's equip burden to spare. Or maybe just use iron round shield or grass crest and rely on people being so hesitant to attack.

Come to think of it, I haven't tried bows with the roar yet either, darkmoon bow should hit pretty hard, but I dunno if it's fast enough to be useful. I'd imagine it has at least the same initial firing delay as a crossbow, since the biggest drawback on crossbows is the reload time after the shot. Well, that and bolts being stupidly expensive.

 

[bminorkey]

I've been trying some gimmicky pvp shit lately.

I've recently been going 0 poise (fast roll), Target Shield, Giant's Shield + (short) Spear + 15. It's surprisingly effective. I almost feel bad for winning so much. I switch in the Giant Shield to block against heavy blows and occasionally use the Target Shield to parry.

Watching your opponent hopelessly swing his claymore into your mountain of metal as you counter-poke him for <100 damage in a deliberately slow, mocking pace is the most satisfying thing. Many honorable PvPers broke down under the stress and started running to mobs / healing before realizing the futility of their efforts and attempting to BC out or just letting me kill them.

Giant's Halberd is also pretty interesting because it has a deceptive range.

Also, a tip for you: get the dragon head roar, and cast Crystal Soul Mass. Or maybe Pursuers, not sure if it works for that. Use roar.

I agree that maces are good. From did a good job at making all the different weapon types shine so it isn't just your typical swordsman bullshit everywhere.

RIP Smough's Hammer / other huge weapons now that you can no longer fast roll with them.

Some enemies can't be backstabbed, some enemies can't be parried or kicked.

Apparently, you can parry boulders.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Ugh, losing steam on the daggers thing. Going through with the katana is so fucking boring and takes so much longer, and then I'll have to farm all those fucking dragon scales too, on top of having to get both daggers. Just to even try this shit. Arghhh.

Maybe I should have just gone STR build and nabbed 25 dex for the daggers instead of capping it. I doubt the last 15 points will make fuck all difference anyways, all the damage is gonna come from bleeds or toxin. I even had a greatsword drop off the tower knight at the altar.

 

[Hobo Elf]

Watching your opponent hopelessly swing his claymore into your mountain of metal as you counter-poke him for <100 damage in a deliberately slow, mocking pace is the most satisfying thing. Many honorable PvPers broke down under the stress and started running to mobs / healing before realizing the futility of their efforts and attempting to BC out or just letting me kill them.

I miss doing that in Demon's Souls with a Scraping Spear. Too bad DaS was too casual to have such an asshole weapon as that.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Does acid surge actually do any significant amount of damage? If it were 100 or so it'd be great for fucking over all those katana users.

 

[Hobo Elf]

I hear that with a maxed out pyro flame you can destroy all equipment if you manage to hit the enemy twice with Acid Surge. If you miss once, though, it'll be a failed attempt, unless you go to NG+ and get the spell again for more uses

 

[Damned Registrations]

Equipment has different amounts of durability though. Uchi has 80. Dragon Tooth has 999. Pyro flame has just 20 (not that anyone bothers punching with it, but it breaks whenever I get hit by those acid worms in the demon ruins.)

 

[Darklife]

Tomb of the Giants was a really well done are. It's a shame it was so short.

 

[Hobo Elf]

I suppose Acid Surge does a shitton of dura damage with a high level flame then. Probably will break katanas and other items with lower durability with one spell. I've never used it or seen it used, so I don't know how easy / difficult it is to get one off on a enemy player. I've never seen anyone use it before so I guess it at least has the element of surprise on your side.

 

[Damned Registrations]

It's incredibly slow, I can't imagine landing it except in a tight corridor or around a corner or something (it fires out in a sort of 'T' shape) on an enemy that is trying to hide. Or maybe getting a moron to just walk through it without thinking it matters. Otherwise, I guess you could use it as a screen to run through and then heal? But it really is incredibly slow, on par with fire tempest.

It'd be really obvious if an enemy broke his weapon though, they bounce off like you hit a wall or something iirc, and do WAY less damage.

 

[Chuck Norris]

I have defeated Manos father of abyss ( DLC's last boss ) and Dusk of Oolacile is lying there on the floor moaning. What should I do with her? I searched Dark souls wiki, but found nothing on this.

 

[Malakal]

I have defeated Manos father of abyss ( DLC's last boss ) and Dusk of Oolacile is lying there on the floor moaning. What should I do with her? I searched Dark souls wiki, but found nothing on this.

You KNOW what to do. nudge nudge wink wink

 

[Chuck Norris]

I have defeated Manos father of abyss ( DLC's last boss ) and Dusk of Oolacile is lying there on the floor moaning. What should I do with her? I searched Dark souls wiki, but found nothing on this.

You KNOW what to do. nudge nudge wink wink

It wasn't a fucking joke man.
Although I unintentionally killed her, it's still nice to know what was her purpose. Maybe she could be helped with a certain item.

 

[betamin]

I slayed her. I malformed her meat like the whore she was.

 

[Darklife]

Finished it. I have to say that the game became very easy towards the end. The only bosses that gave me pause were Artorias and Kalameet. Though the latter was more a trial of patience. I guess Bed of Chaos could also count, but that was only because I was way too encumbered to do it the cheap way.

Gwyn was a huge pushover, although maybe that was a design choice. If so kudos to the Japs.

The lore of the game is really quite engrossing, which makes it all the more bittersweet that we know so little about it in the first place.

Needless to say I will be watching this studio keenly in the future. That is to say I'll have no clue what they're up to until a thread pops up on the Dex.