From Software The Dark Souls Discussion Thread

[Harg Harfardarssen]

Thanks DR and SS -- I finally bested the Demon Firesage, solo, in Havel's Armour and using my Black Knight Sword + 4. It really did at least twice as much damage than my Lightning Claymore. I didn't think it would, I knew it had some bonus damage against demons, but never thought it would be so high.

Remember the whole BK weapon brouhaha earlier in the thread? Vindication for Damned Registrations !

The next guy's raping me, though. Is summoning Solaire also cheesing out? I thought this could affect the 'plot' somehow so I don't want to miss that...

I don't think summoning/not-summoning Solaire affects the plot as long as you talk with him at the right points in the story. This is the Centipede Demon right? I found that fight to be fairly frustrating due to the small space on which you can fight without falling into the lava. But you can get the ring without beating the boss (tail destroy drill again). Then return with the ring on to give you a bit more mobility during the fight.

ETA:

I don't think summoning is particularly cheesy (its a game after all), but attempting to solo each boss first is far more rewarding - sometimes summoning will result in you just watching a phantom beat him for you. If a boss is getting so frustrating that you aren't having fun, go ahead and summon. The NPC summons are generally a good intermediate step if you want help but also want to participate - most of them are basically just tanks who won't just beat the boss for you (Beatrice in the forest and Iron Tarkus are apparently potential exceptions to this)

 

[Elwro]

Remember the whole BK weapon brouhaha earlier in the thread? Vindication for Damned Registrations !

I don't remember because I decided not to read the thread earlier, in order not to spoil myself

If I have 40 End and 29 Vit, is it wise now to put more points into Str (I have 22 right now) for my Black Knight Sword to become even more awesome?

Thanks for the tip! Actually I managed to solo the CD on my third try. Once again, the key was to be close to it. Didn't manage to cut his tail but my 4-hit combo with the BKS really did awesome damage... and the monster seemed confused for a moment which allowed me to heal myself.

 

[Harg Harfardarssen]

I think it really depends on alot of things, but I don't think you risk breaking anything either way. For PvE, the optimal build isn't really necessary.

However, since its only C scaling in strength and this is your first playthrough, I would recommend doing that only if you really like strength weapons generally and you don't plan on branching out into sorcery or mirables. Otherwise Vit (or Int/Faith) is probably more useful. Your Vit is good enough for PvE but maybe low for PvP.

But I wouldn't really worry too much about the particulars of your build; your first build will always have some major issues as you're kind of building without really knowing what your endgame is. I started my first char with an idea that I would be a Dex/Int fighter combining fast weapons and sorcery. I ended up ignoring most attack spells and wishing I'd put those Int points into Vit when I started doing PvP with it.

So I generally recommend treating your first playthrough as a way to experiment and building for a jack of all trades so you can get a feel for every play style - try a bunch of weapons, some pyro, some miracles, some sorcery and figure out what you like. If you like pvp enough that you want an optimal build, a second character is pretty easy to get there.

 

[Surf Solar]

Solaire is absolutely USELESS in the fight against the centipede as I found out, since I had problems on my second playthrough there as well. He blindly runs into the lava, gets stunlocked and barely contributes to the fight at all. He maybe does 1/24 of the damage done to the centipede, so I don't think it is cheating if you use it against the centipede. I eventually used a bow when the 'pede was far away and switched to my Chaossword. This helped and I eventually beat the boss.

 

[Elwro]

Thanks very much for the tips! This is my second character, and one which I aimed to be a Str / Faith guy. It turned out that for the way I was playing Endurance was the most important stat so I raised Faith just to 12 and that's it.

My first char is a Wanderer; I thought I'd make him a Dex-based Sorcery-wielding char. But since I didn't really know anything about the game when I was playing as him, I put e.g. many points in Resistance... not sure if I will get back to him.

When I make it to the end with the current character, I think I will try a Sorceror or Pyromancer next. But uh, yeah, a long way to go with this one still. (Just found a hidden bonfire in Lost Izalith, thanks to another player's message.)

 

[Fat Dragon]

There are a few bosses where summoning phantoms can actually make things harder. Bosses get extra health if you bring summons, so bringing an npc to fight something like the centipede demon or the New Londo boss can actually make it even harder as their ai isn't too smart. They get slaughtered quickly, leaving you to solo a buffed up boss. For late game bosses it's best to either go it alone or summon another player, npcs are too weak to be useful at that point.

 

[Elwro]

Whoa, didn't know that. Thanks!

 

[felipepepe]

Sorceror is probably the easiest class to play, but it's still very fun, and it's interesting how some very hard melee bosses are cakewalk with a mage, but some that were easy will rape you. Pyromancers are very cool, but you have to be badass to play with them like a pro, almost suicidal.

 

[Jick Magger]

Pyromancy's good if you start out as a melee character and feel like branching out a bit at around level 15 or so. It isn't quite as necessary at the earlier levels as the various bombs you'll find can easily make you a poor man's pyromancer.
Started out as a knight myself and chose to branch out to pyromancy once I found that guy in the sewers, shit's great.

 

[J1M]

Someone gifted me this. Is it supposed to be played with a controller on PC?

Also, basic movement controls seem pretty shitty. Is there a class or set of perks that you can pick to have a better experience with regards to basic movement?

 

[Jasede]

You could unequip your armor.
It's supposed to be played with a controller.

 

[Jick Magger]

Someone gifted me this. Is it supposed to be played with a controller on PC?

Pretty much. Game controls like pig shit on K, even says so on the Steam page.

Also, basic movement controls seem pretty shitty. Is there a class or set of perks that you can pick to have a better experience with regards to basic movement?

Not quite sure what you mean, certain classes can start out faster and much better at rolling/evasion due to the type of armour that they're wearing. Heavier armour = slower movement and evading.
But once again, movement really wasn't a problem for me on a gamepad.

 

[Niektory]

J1M
Recommended mods:
DSfix - increased resolution, framerate and some other improvements
DSMfix - much better mouse control (if you're not a fan of gamepads)

 

[Fat Dragon]

New DS2 info revealed: http://www.examiner.com/article/new...yer-story-tutorial-and-world-details-revealed

http://www.gamespot.com/dark-souls/forum/news-about-dark-souls-2-from-this-months-oxm-65335189/

. game takes place around a large ocean cove
. more clear storytelling but told in the same minimalistic style as previous Souls games, no cutscenes
. full-fledged tutorial mode, more in-depth than previous Souls games' tutorials
. can still murder any npcs you want and it will affect the game
. still use bonfires to save progress and level up
. armor and weapon upgrade system still in
. uses actual servers for multiplayer instead of ptp

 

[Jaedar]

That doesn't sound entirely repulsive.

 

[felipepepe]

Yeah, I'm cautiouly not-so-negative now...

 

[Harg Harfardarssen]

I don't know, there's still a lot of wiggle room in what they mean by "affecting the game" and "minimalistic style"

Does affecting the game just mean that the story will change? Or will you still risk missing out on major items, miracles and spells?
Rhea's corpse? "You find the pendant detailed notes on how to cast Wrath of God"

Does minimalistic style just mean no cutscenes? If so the obviousness could still be pretty derpy. The Shield of Exposition: "This shield was made by the pygmy, who was totally your ancestor and [censored] is full of shit:

Server PvP is cool though.

 

[Fat Dragon]

I think the Artorias of the Abyss dlc is a good example of the direction they're going, story-wise. It was easier to follow and figure out what was going on than in regular Dark Souls story, but there also was a lot of lore and mystery to dig into underneath the surface, including hidden areas and events that could affect stuff in other parts of the game (rescuing baby Sif comes to mind).

 

[Elwro]

Fucking Bed of Chaos. I cut off the two testicles but I cannot for the love of God time the jump properly to get to the branch which seems to allow me to get underneath it or wherever I'm supposed to go; anyway, the branch seems to be the only place I can go to.

"maybe this will work" *1 sec* death [1 minute run from the bonfire]
"ok, maybe this instead" *1 sec* death [1 minute run from the bonfire]
......

well, it's not 1 sec because I can survive even 2 hits sometimes. But still, not the most inspired boss 'fight'.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Honestly for that one fight I recommend just watching a video on exactly how to do it. It doesn't even feel satisfying to figure out on your own anyways. It's just a stupidly specific spot you have to land on.

If you don't want to watch a video, I'll say this much: you don't need to jump, just walk off the edge at the right spot.

 

[Kaspar Hauser]

and don't try do go further down the hole. run up the branch.

 

[Average Manatee]

Thanks DR and SS -- I finally bested the Demon Firesage, solo, in Havel's Armour and using my Black Knight Sword + 4. It really did at least twice as much damage than my Lightning Claymore. I didn't think it would, I knew it had some bonus damage against demons, but never thought it would be so high.

Remember the whole BK weapon brouhaha earlier in the thread? Vindication for Damned Registrations !

Hey, everyone agrees lightning weapons are crap after the nerf, due to double damage reduction. Had he taken a proper +10-+15 weapon with a potential enchant it would have been just as good.

 

[Average Manatee]

New DS2 info revealed: http://www.examiner.com/article/new...yer-story-tutorial-and-world-details-revealed

http://www.gamespot.com/dark-souls/forum/news-about-dark-souls-2-from-this-months-oxm-65335189/

. game takes place around a large ocean cove
. more clear storytelling but told in the same minimalistic style as previous Souls games, no cutscenes
. full-fledged tutorial mode, more in-depth than previous Souls games' tutorials
. can still murder any npcs you want and it will affect the game
. still use bonfires to save progress and level up
. armor and weapon upgrade system still in
. uses actual servers for multiplayer instead of ptp

Interesting. Takes place around an ocean cove? I hope they aren't trying to be too realistic and reduce the wildly different environments. I mean Dark Souls is like a kingdom ontop of a sewer ontop of a mine ontop of a swamp ontop of HELL ITSELF which is at the top of Yggdrasil which is surrounded by ocean. Not entirely sure where the other areas fit into the hierarchy.

Actual servers could be good, turning the invaders/blue phantoms up to 11. It's a rare time when you can get a partner at the beginning of a level and fight off invaders the whole way through like some kind of epic duo.

 

[Jaedar]

Yeah. Bonfire of chaos is really stupid and poorly designed. I think I might have died to it more than any other boss simply because so many cheap instagibbs :/

 

[Elwro]

Thanks DR and KH, the pointer about not going down is important And yeah, I see there is a part of floor that kinda sticks out, I'll try getting there.

I thought staying behind a tree is important, but I see the yellow blade attacks are not blocked by it, the BoC simply attacks elsewhere if I stand there. Hm.