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INITIAL CONCEPTS
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STARTING CLASS
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Pick this based on how you wanna play, but if you change your mind early enough,
you can start a new character which I recommend a couple anyways. But if you
want a mage, pick royalty or magician. IF you want a faith and miracle user,
use Priest or temple Knight possibly which work good for melee too. Melee is
really unique and depends how you wanna start off and what gear you want. There
are heavy and light armors and will shape how you move and how quickly too.
Each class comes with different weapons so you will wanna test some out to see
your style.
When it comes to starting classes, it needs to be established that any starting
class can be molded into anything you want. What you choose at the beginning
marginally affects how you start the game, but by no means determines how you
finish. That being said, unless you have a specific character type in mind,
the best starting class is Royal. The reason being is that it starts with a
strong attack spell, some nice equipment, and is Level 1.
Check the DS wiki for specialized builds :
http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/character-builds
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THE NEXUS
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The Nexus is the starting area where all the NPCs and shopkeepers congregate.
The Nexus will always be your home for shopping/repair/traveling to other worlds
for the entire game.
From the Nexus, you can access five different worlds. The worlds all have
distinct names (Boleteria, Stonefang, etc.), but to keep it short, people use
the numbers 1 through 5. Boleteria is World 1. I originally thought each
world had different sub-stages, like 5-3 being World 5, Stage 3. But in reality,
each world is just one big continuous stage, and the sub-numbers you often see
are merely checkpoints to teleport back to the Nexus.
Checkpoints are unlocked via defeating bosses. Once you defeat the first boss of
World 1 though, you will unlock 1-2, as well as be able to travel to all worlds.
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IMPORTANT TIPS
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VITALITY & ENDURANCE : Initially focus on them, those are what will keep you
upright in the early going. Focus on upgrading your weapon as well with basic
hardstone and sharpstones. Boldwin in the nexus can do your basic upgrades and
Ed in 2-1 will handle your advanced ones later on.
EQUIP BURDEN : Keep watch of it in the menus. Ideally you want to be less than
50% of your max equip burden which will ensure you move faster and are able to
effectively roll. Armor, weapons and shields all add to your equip burden so
keep that in mind when choosing what to use. Armor is fairly cosmetic providing
nominal protection. Early on, your best friends will be your shield and your
vitality.
WORLD TENDENCY & CHARACTER TENDENCY : are a large part of this game. HOWEVER,
it may be better to disregard their effects in your first playthrough. If you
want to see all this game has to offer, plan on multiple playthroughs at which
point you will be more prepared to manipulate tendencies. Look further below for
more detailed info.
DO NOT CONSUME/USE Demon's Souls or Colorless Demon Souls. They are crucial for
forging unique and powerful items and are not worth wasting on leveling your
character. Hero, legendary, storied, unknown, renowned soldier souls are safe
for human consumption however.
LUCK : The usefulness of Luck is debated. It's been recommended by many not to
increase it, ever. The reason is that it only affects the rate of drops, not the
quality. Luck just increases the amount of drops, but not the chances to find
rare items.
SPELLS : There are two types, Magic and Miracles. Magic is affected by the Magic
stat, and Miracles are affected by the Faith stat. To cast Magic, you need to
equip a catalyst. To cast Miracles, you need to equip a talisman. Later on,
there is a single Talisman that allows you to cast both Magic and Miracles. You
can find a catalyst to cast Magic in 1-2, and your a talisman to cast Miracles
in 4-1. Also, to cast magic, you must have 10 or higher in Magic and Will, and
for miracles, you must have 10 or higher in Faith. You can get the guy who
teaches Miracles in 4-2, and guy who teaches Magic in 3-1.
ZONE PROGRESSION : Order of worlds: 1-1 (1-2) 5-1 4-1 2-1 2-2 are regarded as the best starting
order, unless you're a pure mage (very rare) which would need to go to 3-1 to
free Freke to learn more advanced spells.
IMPORTANT/USEFUL ITEMS/NPCs :
Cling Ring: Increases your soul form HP by 40%. Found in 1-1
Thief Ring: Become harder for enemies to detect. Found in 1-1
Crescent Falchion +1. Found in 4-1
Compound Longbow. Found in 4-1
Blessed Mace +1. Found in 5-1
Dragon Longsword +1. Found in 2-2
Blacksmith Ed. Found in 2-2
Sage Freke. Found in 3-1
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NPCS IN THE NEXUS
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THOMAS - He is the man standing by all the crates near the steps and to the side
of the blacksmith. He is a HUGE asset to this game in that he holds all of your
excess items and gear. A item box essentially.
BOLDWIN, THE BLACKSMITH - A blacksmith in the nexus that lets you upgrade your gear.
BLUE PHANTOM - A blue spirit that will try and warn you of the demons and the
enduring hold of their souls. After a few talks he will go away leaving behind a
soul drop that you can consume for around 1,000 souls. Has no other purpose.
FAITH WORSHIPPERS - Group of spiritual worshipers of God. One that only talks to
you a little bit and tells you that he was a traitor(does nothing), another that
will sell you miracles, and then the last who only talks in the beginning but
after your FAITH attribute is above 18, she gives you a pure faintstone.
FREKE'S APPRENTICE - A magician who follows the teachings of another man you'll
find in the game named Sage Freke. He sells you magic spells after your magic
attribute is above 10.
SAGE FREKE - Sells magic spells & trades powerful spells for boss souls. MUST be
freed first from zone 3-1.
LADY YURIA, THE WITCH - Another power magician who sells spells and will trade a
different set of magic spells for similar boss souls as Freke. MUST be freed
from zone 1-3 using key found in locked secret area of 1-2.
SAINT URBAIN - A mighty faith worshiper of God that sells miracles and trades
powerful miracles for boss souls same as Yuria & Freke. MUST be freed from zone
4-2 & will replace one of the worshipers in the Nexus(one that sells miracles).
MONUMENTAL - Talk to you in beginning and tells you of the plight of the land of
Boletaria. ALSO with pure white CHARACTER tendency, gives you the Friend's Ring.
MEPHISTOPHELES - A cruel evil woman who hires you to assassinate the different
NPCs in the Nexus ONLY after you have pure black CHARACTER tendency AND have
killed Yurt, the silent Chief.
YURT, THE SILENT CHIEF - A warrior assassin that tries to trick you into freeing
him saying he'll help you fight the demons, BUT instead will slowly kill off the
NPCs in the Nexus.
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UPGRADING WEAPONS
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There are two blacksmiths who can upgrade your weapons:
-Blacksmith Boldwin
-He is located in the Nexus, next to Stockpile Thomas.
-He provides low-level upgrades (Hardstone, Sharpstone, Clearstone)
-Blacksmith Ed
-He is located in Stonefang Tunnel (2-1), up the steps from the archstone.
-You'll need to activate the revolving platform that leads to him.
-Can upgrade weapons using any ore (doesn't require Red Hot Demon Soul)
-Advanced upgrades using Demon's Souls or Colorless Demon Souls are only
available after you give the Red Hot Demon's Soul to him.
-You can obtain the Red Hot Demon's Soul by defeating the Flamelurker in 2-2.
-You must talk to Ed until he accepts it, otherwise, leave and talk to him again.
How do upgrade stones work?
There are fourteen types of upgrade stones that come in either three sizes for
special upgrades (Shard, Chunk, Pure) or four sizes for basic upgrades (adds Lg.
Shard to the progression). Basic weapon upgrades (Hardstone and Sharpstone) max
out at +10, while all other upgrade paths max out at +5. Each upgrade costs a
number of stones of varying sizes, and the number of stones need to upgrade
increases each time. There are some weapons that can't be upgraded at all, and
others can only be upgraded with Demon or Primeval Demon souls.
Each type of upgrade stone allows for the creation of a distinct type of weapon,
with special properties and bonuses. Many of these weapon classes combine damage
bonuses from multiple stats (Stat Bonuses). Others may add special damage types
or attributes such as health regeneration. Standard weapons that have yet to be
upgraded must first be upgraded to a basic level like +3 or +6 using Hardstone
or Sharpstone. Once this requirement has been met, options to upgrade with more
advanced upgrade stones will appear in the Blacksmiths' menus. Also note that
blacksmith Boldwin in the Nexus offers only limited types upgrades when compared
to his brother Ed in Stonefang Tunnel. Neither blacksmith requires to have the
stones actually in your inventory; you can keep them with Stockpile Thomas and
still be able to upgrade weapons.
What should I upgrade?
Some weapons are better suited for general purposes, while others will be more
useful in specific situations.For example, Silver Skeletons are weak against the
blunt and magic damage of a Blessed Mace, so if you equip a Blessed Mace +5 in
the Shrine Of Storms (4-1), you'll have an advantage, especially if your Faith
stat is high. In contrast, the Blessed Mace might not be the best weapon in the
Stonefang Tunnel where enemies are more vulnerable to piercing attacks. Another
example would be if your character has low Strength, then it doesn't make much
sense to quickly upgrade a Great Axe into a Crushing Great Axe +5, since it will
cost many fewer stones to upgrade the Crushing Battle Axe +1 you can find in 2-1
to Crushing +5 for the trophy.
Playing through the game normally you will find a limited number of Chunk and
Pure stones for each upgrade type without spending a lot of time farming extra
stones. This means you will probably only be able to fully upgrade one
medium/large or perhaps two small weapons of each type per play through. Because
upgrade stones can be bought in smaller sizes (Shard, Lg. Shard) from vendors,
you can use those to experiment with low level upgrades.
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TENDENCY
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Whenever playing online, the world tendencies will shift towards an invisible
unpublished global server tendency setting. Because of this, it will make it
hard to keep the pure black or white states as desired, therefore it is strongly
recommended to play in offline mode when controlling the world tendencies.
Explanation of the world & character tendency changes
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World Tendency = WT (3 forms-Pure Black, Neutral, & Pure White)
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WORLD TENDENCY: depending on what it is closer to being(black or white) will
affect different things in your worlds.
BLACK TENDENCY: will make enemies stronger AND more phantoms will be about
trying to kill you. You get rarer drops with Black Tendency.
WHITE TENDENCY: will make enemies EASIER and less phantoms. You get more health
item drops with White Tendency.
When you have on of them full towards a certain point, it will open bonus points
in each zone.
It's affected by dying in body form, killing bosses, killing invading players,
INVADING and kill another player, Or killing black phantoms.
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Changing World Tendency
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Towards White
-Kill a Demon (boss) in a particular World (+1)
-Kill the Red Dragon (+1) in 1-2
-Kill the Blue Dragon (+1) in 1-4
-Kill one of the five Named Pure Black World Tendency NPCs that appear in
Pure Black World Tendency:
Defeat Black Phantom Executioner Miralda (+3) in 1-1
Defeat Black Phantom Scirvir, The Wanderer (+3) in 2-2
Defeat Black Phantom Lord Rydell (+3) in 3-1
Defeat Black Phantom Satsuki (+3) in 4-1
Defeat Black Phantom Selen Vinland (+3) in 5-2
-Defeat a Primeval Demon (+3) (once per world per game)
-Kill an invading Black Phantom
-Resurrect a summoned Blue Phantom
Note: To maintain White Tendency after defeating a boss (approx 45% shift to White),
then go to the Nexus and commit suicide in the Nexus. Death in body form in a world
equates to a (30%) shift back to black tendency, undoing all the effect of killing
the boss.
Towards Black
-Die outside the Nexus while in Body form (-1)
-Kill Old King Doran (-2) in 1-1
-Kill the Body Form of one of the 5 special named NPCs that appear in Pure
White World Tendency:
Kill Body Form Executioner Miralda (-3) in 1-1
Kill Body Form Scirvir, The Wanderer (-3) in 2-2
Kill Blue Phantom Lord Rydell (-3) in 3-1
Kill Body Form Satsuki (-3) in 4-1
Kill Body Form Selen Vinland (-3) in 5-2
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Character Tendency = CT (3 forms-Pure Black, Neutral, & Pure White)
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It affect even less really... umm well
PURE WHITE: will cause the monumental to give you a ring and you'll have more
health in soul form too. nothing else really changes with it. Some weapons get a
bonus from Character Tendency.
PURE BLACK: it makes you have less health in soul form, but the main thing is it
will cause a NPC to appear in the Nexus. This will gived you a set of
assassination missions that lead up to your getting the Foe's Ring.
Each are affected by killing black phantoms, invading and killing human players,
killing NPCs, OR using miracle to revive blue phantoms.
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ONLINE PLAY
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In order to play "online", all you need to do is be signed into PSN. The game
takes care of the rest, giving you the bloodstains, hints and ghosts from other
players.
Co-op and pvp are rich aspects of this game and it's recommended you dive right
into it. You will win some, you will lose some, but you will have fun and will
make a bunch of new friends. Working as a blue phantom in particular is a great
way to help a fellow rookie and learn about the worlds in a risk free way. If
you die as a blue phantom you won't lose your souls. Helping as a blue is also a
great way to earn those valuable souls early on.
For co-op or pvp, you will need to:
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A) Summoning Phantoms
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1. Be in body form
2. Have not defeated the boss of the level
3. Look for blue signs in the floor for phantoms (players) you can summon to
help you with that level. You can summon up to 2 blue phantoms.
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B) Be a Blue Phantom and help someone else
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1. Finish the first Level of Boletarian Palace (known as 1-1 amongst fans)
2. Talk to Monumental back in the Nexus after you have defeated the Demon
Phalanx in 1-1
3. Talk to the Maiden in Black in the Nexus after talking to Monumental. She
will give you a Blue Eye Stone and a White Eye Stone.
Blue Stone: Use it when you are in soul form, select from your items menu in a
world you want to be summoned to.The most popular places to put soul
signs are the start and end of the level (right before the boss).
If you don't like your host or whatever, you can use the white stone
to go back to your world.
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C) Be a Black Phantom and invade someone else (to kill them)
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1. You must finish 1-1
2. You must be in soul form
3. You must obtain a Black Eye Stone. You will get this when you kill a black
phantom npc on your own world.
4. Use the stone in whatever world it is you want to invade.
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D) Be summoned as Black Phantom for a duel
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1. You must finish the game with a particular evil choice of ending
2. You must be in soul form
3. Use stone in whatever world it is you want to have the duel
. plus, there are other shields better suited for magic (like the 100% block super-sexy Dark Silver)
I only need more greystones to upgrade.
