From Software The Dark Souls Discussion Thread

[PorkyThePaladin]

Ah, you reached Sen's? You'll soon get to see the Amazing Chest.

Heh, I just took that shit out. Well, first I read the warning, ignored it, got sucked in and almost died, but managed to get out with 10% health, drank flask behind pillar, then got revenge on chest. Him dropping 2 large titanite chunks gave me the 3 i needed to get my weapon to +10. So I guess it did turn out to be an amazing treasure in the end.

 

[CthuluIsSpy]

Ah, you reached Sen's? You'll soon get to see the Amazing Chest.

Heh, I just took that shit out. Well, first I read the warning, ignored it, got sucked in and almost died, but managed to get out with 10% health, drank flask behind pillar, then got revenge on chest. Him dropping 2 large titanite chunks gave me the 3 i needed to get my weapon to +10. So I guess it did turn out to be an amazing treasure in the end.

Whilst that chest is impressive, that is not the Amazing Chest.
You'll see it after you beat Laurel and Hardy.

 

[Wunderbar]

Ah, you reached Sen's? You'll soon get to see the Amazing Chest.

Heh, I just took that shit out. Well, first I read the warning, ignored it, got sucked in and almost died, but managed to get out with 10% health, drank flask behind pillar, then got revenge on chest. Him dropping 2 large titanite chunks gave me the 3 i needed to get my weapon to +10. So I guess it did turn out to be an amazing treasure in the end.

2 large chunks? wtf, that chest drops lightning spear.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

Hmm, maybe I got it confused with something else I killed in there, cause I did get a lightning spear today as well.

 

[CthuluIsSpy]

The giants drop chunks. The mimic drops a lightning spear.

 

[DragoFireheart]

When it comes to balancing in games, unless a specific item/weapon/strategy completely breaks the game, it's better to buff stuff rather than nerf.

Give me more options rather than watering down shit.

 

[Average Manatee]

The only thing that can be said to be broken in DS1 is how all of the +% damage buffs stack multiplicatively. I can't recall another game to do that except the famously broken Kingdoms of Amalur.

 

[Gentle Player]

I have to disagree with most of the earlier comments about how secrets and NPC questlines are too obscure. I only take issue with Kaathe and the Darkwraith covenant, the only thing in DS1 I could never figure out without looking it up, because the method of discovering him goes against the very nature of how the game generally ought to be played.

I don't see anything wrong with the fact that the game encourages, particularly through the initial lack of bonfire warping, returning to old ground and speaking to NPCs, paying attention to what they have say, and potentially following that up. The fact that even diligent players may initially miss things ought to be a cause for celebration, as repeated playthroughs, in which the player knows all the enemy placements and has mastered the bosses, continue to be a source of delight as new things are discovered. I still cherish my first Bloodborne playthrough in which I inadvertently allowed almost all NPCs to be murdered through my own actions. In my next playthrough I managed to save most of them, not because I looked up a guide but because I learned from my own mistakes. Infinitely preferable to most other modern games which have their own UI quest checklist for the players to follow, as if it were a list of chores to get through.

Souls games don't do it perfectly, but it's a general game design philosophy which I support and should like to see more of in modern games.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

Great gay wolf Sifu has gone down before Porky's onslaught.

He actually seems a lot tougher than he is when you first face him. He has insane reach with the sword, attacks very quickly with multiple attacks, and is very mobile.

Since my usual setup of sword and buckler is kinda useless against him (don't think his attacks are parryable), I switched to a 2 handed grip, and for atmospheric purposes, put on the full ninja suit I got in Blighttown. Also put on the ring that gives you Ninja cartwheels. So at first I tried to dodge his attacks and get hits in between, but it was pretty hard due to his reach and attack speed. Eventually he would catch me with 1/2 hits, and then it was all Downhill.

Finally, between the hints on the ground and thinking about it, figured out the way. Roll under him every time he attacks, you get 3-4 free hits before he leaps away. Then, rinse and repeat. And he really can't hit you in the center, the way his animations are. Soon as I figured that out, Sifu was toast, zero chance.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

Rolling along...

Tidied up in the Darkroot Garden. I took out Shiva and his ninja pet a while back, didn't want to, but they were aggresive to me after I took the cat's ring off, so it is what it is. Then, after Sif, took out those 3 weird cats in the area, no idea why, they don't drop anything. I found the little area with the bridge, and tried to off the hydra with Pharis' Black Bow, but it doesn't have enough range or something. I can kill off 2 heads or so, but after that, the arrows don't do damage anymore. Probably some obscure mechanic I am not getting.

Then, I went to Sen's Fortress. Killed one of the demon statues on the bottom, then found the secret path to the giant on top, who pulls the chain to open the gate. Had a pretty epic fight against him, and took him out on the first go. Not the hardest fight, but it felt SOOO epic, on top of the castle, with the vista all around, and the giant having these cinematic attacks.

Then, I took out the Balder Knights and Ricard, and got his rapier. Loving it, probably going to upgrade it into my main weapon. I think its stats are wrong or something, because it says the critical damage is 100, but it does way more damage on ripostes than my higher upgraded longsword (longsword +10, rapier +8), even though the listed damage is higher for the longsword.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

Regular rapiers do show a higher crit bonus (110 I think), but I guess there is a hidden bonus on top of that.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

The Iron Golem was no match for Porky's prowess either. I had no problems dodging his slow attacks, but stepped off the ledge a few times by accident. Finally entered Anor Londo, which looks impressive. I will not regale you with stories of Porky butchering mere gargoyles or those sheet ninjas, but let's just say I feel at home there now. Lots of stuff to explore. Climbed some out of the way paths into some building with a broken window, and made my way to the lowest floor on the wall, jumped down to the floor, still died. Who built this thing?

 

[CthuluIsSpy]

Ah good, one step closer to arrow rape run, Pikachu and Snorlax and the Amazing Chest.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

He fell off the roof for you? You lucky son of a ... I fell twice at least, cause when you auto target him, your camera view angles up, and you cant see the floor anymore.

I finally figured out how to snipe, before I would just point the guy in the right direction and let loose, but apparently there is a zoom in button.

Found the 2nd bonfire in the Catacombs, and the Tomb of the Giants, but it's closed to me for now. Also cleared out the Valley of the Drakes, and the rest of Sen's Fortress, sniped the lake Hydra, so it's time to go back to Anor Londo. Oh, I also found that Frampt serpent at the home base, so he does show up after you ring both bells. Suddenly the future of Lordran doesn't look so bleak.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

I disliked the Iron Golem. He's just the lamer cousin of the Tower Knight and decided to fall of the roof half way through the fight.

The first time I fought Taurus Demon in the Upper Undead Burg, he fell off the walkway to his death. Didn't happen on my second playthrough, though, and didn't happen with Iron Golem either time.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

Ah good, one step closer to arrow rape run, Pikachu and Snorlax and the Amazing Chest.

I think I now know what the arrow rape run part means. The 2 silver knight archers guarding the passage into the main keep?

Good lord, those were annoying. Trying to parry one of them on a narrow ledge while the other shoots arrows up your butt, and this AFTER you actually get to them under the barrage, that made me rage. Finally came up with what I think is the best approach to take them:

Run past the 2 sentinels and the anorexic gargoyles, up the ramp to the last wall before the archers. The rest of the riff-raff cannot follow you there. Snipe past the corner to the right against the archer on the right. This takes a bit of patience, as you have to wait until he stops his shooting every time (gives you a better chance to side step his arrow, if you don't wait, good chance to eat an arrow and be pushed off the ledge to death), but then you can creep out and let one fly, and step back behind the wall before his arrow arrives. 6-7 shots with a +5 bow and feather arrows, and he is a goner. Then, just run up the ramp and quickly run around the corner to the balcony. The other archer will shoot at your back, but this shouldnt stop you.

Anyways, found the bonfire inside the keep, and a crapload of chests with all kinds of armor I can't use for my build (havel's set, silver knight set, etc), but damn that place is loaded with Silver Knights like a roach farm.

 

[unfairlight]

Soulsfags are delusional and souls games are not RPG.

 

[Serious_Business]

Fortunately enough ; rpgs have shit gameplay 4/5 of the time

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

Guys, I have something important to announce: yesterday, I defeated the dynamic duo of dragon-cat ormstein and fatsmough. Took quite a few tries (I am thinking around 10-15 tries), but I did it without summoning Solaire. 1 on 2, glorious Porky action.

The more I tried, the more they triggered me. It's a pretty unfair, trollish fight 1 on 2. They both have ranged closers and attacks, tons of knockdowns and cc, and other bullshit. Finally, I've had enough. Dumped my light-medium armor, and put on a lightweight set. Also put on that ring that gives you better rolls. Two-handed my longsword for more damage.

Went after ormstein first, since he is much quicker and harder to avoid. Would dodge his attacks, get a couple of strong swings in, and roll away in zig-zags, to avoid being impregnated by his bigger boned bf. Rinse and repeat. Finally got rid of him. Then fatty grew more electrical, and started discharging bolts out of his arse, but it didn't help him none. He slow attacks were no match for my circus outfit.

Now I sneer at you noobs who needed Solaire.

 

[Strange Fellow]

Congratulations on beating my favourite Souls boss fight ever!
I'll never stop being surprised by the fact that most people find it easier to take down Ornstein first. Sure, he's faster, but Smough is about as tough as wet cardboard, whereas O is resistant to almost everything. Super-Smough is the easier second phase, but it's the 2v1 that poses the real challenge anyway.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

I tried it both ways. Neither of them is particularly tough on his own, a single double hit combo from my strong longsword attack would take like 1/6th of Ormstein's health. The hard part is managing to avoid their chain cc while getting your hits in. Basically for my non-tank build, a single mess up can mean death, because many of their attacks knock you down. So you can easily get knocked down > get up, get knocked down again > die.

Focusing on Smough means you can't watch Ormstein, and he can zip around and hit you from across the room, he has the long range dash, the lightning spell, and the flying hit from far away. Basically if you are not watching him, you are dead. But if you focus on him first, you can easily dodge his attacks, and it's much easier to stay out of fatty's way without focusing him, because he is much slower, and doesn't have the same range.

 

[Damned Registrations]

When I fight I kill Smough first, while keeping the camera focused on Mr. Ornery. Smough is so slow and giant that you can be aware of what he's doing just by being in his general vicinity without really having to watch him, and easily get hits in.

 

[Wunderbar]

Killing Smough first is more prestigious.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

Took out Lautrec yesterday to avenge my Firekeeper. Kind of an annoying fight, 3 of them against one of you, and the spearman is annoying af. He has full tracking, so unlike most other spearmen in the game, you can't sidestep his attacks, as he rotates like an AA gun. He also has rather annoying AI. The spear has massive reach, and he will poke you like a porcupine the moment you focus on anyone else, but if you focus on him, trying to parry him, he will just raise his shield and turtle while his buddies beat you.

So I did what any reasonable person would do when faced with cheese: I cheesed right back. If you climb the stairs on the other side, you can snipe the front line without the others aggro-ing. Black bow of Pharis + feather arrows, and that spearman became a porcupine, for the rest of his short life. Then I easily dispatched the caster, and focused on Lautrec himself. Took a couple of fights to gauge his attack patterns, but then a couple of parries + Hornet Ring took care of that bastard. The firekeeper is back!

Then, I descended into the depths of Demon Ruins and took care of the rather curiously named Ceaseless Discharge. Japanese humor? Used the bow in that fight, he has a good tell when he is about to slam the tentacle down, so roll, pew pew, roll pew pew, done. Onward to the witch of Izalith.

 

[toro]

Took out Lautrec yesterday to avenge my Firekeeper. Kind of an annoying fight, 3 of them against one of you, and the spearman is annoying af. He has full tracking, so unlike most other spearmen in the game, you can't sidestep his attacks, as he rotates like an AA gun. He also has rather annoying AI. The spear has massive reach, and he will poke you like a porcupine the moment you focus on anyone else, but if you focus on him, trying to parry him, he will just raise his shield and turtle while his buddies beat you.

So I did what any reasonable person would do when faced with cheese: I cheesed right back. If you climb the stairs on the other side, you can snipe the front line without the others aggro-ing. Black bow of Pharis + feather arrows, and that spearman became a porcupine, for the rest of his short life. Then I easily dispatched the caster, and focused on Lautrec himself. Took a couple of fights to gauge his attack patterns, but then a couple of parries + Hornet Ring took care of that bastard. The firekeeper is back!

Then, I descended into the depths of Demon Ruins and took care of the rather curiously named Ceaseless Discharge. Japanese humor? Used the bow in that fight, he has a good tell when he is about to slam the tentacle down, so roll, pew pew, roll pew pew, done. Onward to the witch of Izalith.

I wish there was some dark ritual to celebrate the fact that NOW PorkyThePaladin is a MAN !!