From Software The Dark Souls Discussion Thread

[praetor]

The calculators and character builder on the wiki are also excellent. I'll definately be using the Zweihander forever after once I finish powerleveling my Str some more.

Relevant calculator:

http://mugenmonkey.com/darksouls/weapons

Stats aimed at Str 24, 30 at maximum, Dex 12, Int 44, 50 at maximum. Will leave me plenty of room to level some vitality at long last (this is the offline solo guy, incidentally).

no need to go over 27str with a "quality" (i.e. scales equally with str and dex) weapon like the zwei. and the scaling after 44int isn't worth the points (dragon breath is an okay spell for crowds, but those points are better spent elsewhere). if you plan on using the zwei at minimum stats, consider upgrading it to chaos (or lightning... but i'd recommend the former) cause you'll be doing pitiful damage otherwise. anyhow, with that kind of int, it would be muuuuuuch better to leave str at 16 and dex at 10 for the infamous moonlight greatsword + moonlight horn, 2 top tier weapons loved by many and hated by almost everyone

Calculator disagrees, Chaos with maximum bonus and Lightning are both inferior to either Magic or Enchanted version in damage even at the stats I currently have.

ah, sorry. i forgot they nerfed elementals to oblivion in the last patches. either way, single damage weapons will significantly outperform split damage ones, especially in PvP (where you should avoid crap like enchanted/magic/divine/occult), hence my recommendation of using the moonlight combo since it'll save you some points that are probably better spent elsewhere (especially if you plan on dabbling in pvp) and will be vastly superior to the alternatives in 9 out of 10 cases (i.e. vs anything and anyone that doesn't use (great) magic barrier )

Moonlight has several hundred points lower damage than the magic/enchanted Zweihander would have, and a Regular Zweihander would have much less damage than Moonlight.

And fuck PvP.

aaaah.. again people looking at those "raw" numbers. once again, single damage > split damage in 99% of the cases. that moonlight GS will end up doing more damage than a zwei with your stats ever could in 9 out of 10 cases because it's damage doesn't have to go through 2 armour reductions. but hey, since you're doing only PvE it really doesn't matter which weapon you're using and what numbers the calculator is putting out and what upgrade path and even less what stats you'll be leveling up since you're not "bound" by any restriction

 

[Xi]

Thanks for the tip regarding the talisman!

The talismans have a modifier that is affected by the faith stat. Generally speaking, there's talismans that require very little faith and offer a good modifier for low faith builds. Then there's a progression of increasingly better ones that all scale higher with high faith stats. So, in this way your miracles will scale in power based on talisman base x faith modifier.

 

[Heresiarch]

I find the calculator mentioned before a little off in actual damage when compared to real game usage. Maybe it didn't take account of weapon's special damage like piercing, or other hidden attributes.

I've beaten the game 3 times so far - a black iron tarkus wannabe knightess swinging a massive Zweihander in a single hand and uses pyromancy as support, a witch with piss low VIT and END but can kick major arses with sorceries and a +5 enchanted longsword (which BTW is MUCH better than the moonlight greatsword), and finally a DEX based, fast moving, great scythe wielding, Darkwraith one-shotting female warrior.

I really, really like how despite the fact that the game is the same, all my three characters have different difficulties and experience during gameplay. Bosses which almost seemed impossible to my sorceress like Kalameet was an extremely satisfying dragons laying experience for my knightess. Mastering the ninja flipping to dodge all kind of lethal attacks from mobs and bosses while playing the DEX warrior made me feel playing the knightess super clumsy. Nothing beats the feeling of instagibbing shit with 1000+ damage crystal soul spear though.

 

[Harg Harfardarssen]

aaaah.. again people looking at those "raw" numbers. once again, single damage > split damage in 99% of the cases. that moonlight GS will end up doing more damage than a zwei with your stats ever could in 9 out of 10 cases because it's damage doesn't have to go through 2 armour reductions. but hey, since you're doing only PvE it really doesn't matter which weapon you're using and what numbers the calculator is putting out and what upgrade path and even less what stats you'll be leveling up since you're not "bound" by any restriction

Plus it can completely ignore most shields, which is huge benefit that's tough to quantify

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Current smorgasbord planned for the final selection of chopsticks to lug around is:

Magic Zweihander
Lightning Claymore
Moonlight Greatsword

 

[Heresiarch]

Lightning weapon sucks. Seriously, it was SO disappointing that it shocked (no pun intended) me.

During my DEX char play through, I extensively used three different weapons of different kind of damage for testing: a +15 Uchigatana, a +5 lightning Iaito (pro-tip: Uchigatana has almost exactly the same of base damage as the Iaito), and a +5 Quelaag's Furysword. And to my surprise, the +5 lightning Iaito does less damage on everything (and that's before I maxing out my DEX) compared the pure physical Uchigatana, like 10~20% less damage. It does even worse damage on the so-called weak-to-lightning giant sentries. Quelaag's Furysword on the hand does surprisingly high damage to everything despite the low physical damage it has.

In the end though, I found the +15 great scythe does way much more damage than anything, is surprisingly fast, and has a huge reach, so I stuck with it.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Pretty sure the giants are strong to lightning. If you check their armor it's got good lightning resist. Dragons tend to be weak to lightning.

You're right about most elemental weapons being fairly weak though. The Furysword is an exception due to chaos scaling, and another imo is the blacksmith giant's hammer, which doesn't do spectacular damage (though it is 300 lightning, which is defintiely decent), but requires a measely 16 str (11 if you two hand it) and has huge range for a 1 handed mace, which is a good weapon type since it is fast and stunlocks shit.

 

[Jaedar]

If you really want to do damage, get magic weapon and a +15 bandits knife.

 

[Damned Registrations]

No, if you really want to do damage, get power within and the red tearstone ring, and some other damage multiplier (leo/hornet/dragoncrest rings). Then you can piss on your enemies and still one shot them.

Also, how many +'s you put on a bandits knife is fairly irrelevant unless you're backstabbing, since it's base damage is such utter shit even at +15 it hits like a kitten physically. It does get the full weapon buff at least, for what that's worth.

 

[Average Manatee]

If you really want to do damage, get magic weapon and a +15 bandits knife.

Why do you hate darkmoon blade?

Also Ricard's Rapier have a nice heavy attack which is actually a half doze quick thrusts, similarly effective and easier to use.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Except it's awful and nigh useless. That attack takes so long that anything you need to hit more than twice will knock you out of it unless it's taking a fucking nap. It also uses a ton of stamina and can't stagger anything and is super easy to deflect with a shield or any sort of hard armor. And it forces you to move forward, so you can't even take advantage of the extra range it has over a dagger.

 

[SerratedBiz]

Elemental weapons are most useful when you've got low SL characters and not enough stats to pump STR/DEX for damage. Once you're past a certain point, yeah: physical weapons will scale better because your stats can go pretty high. For low SL gameplay, though (SL1 challenges, griefing, SL10 PVP, etc), it's impossible to match a Light+5 weapon with your puny stats.

If you've never parry-countered with a Lightning Knife +5 then you've never lived at all.

 

[Jasede]

I accidentally sold DeS and DS to GameStop when I was getting rid of old video games.

 

[Surf Solar]

How does one accidently sell a game??

 

[Damned Registrations]

It's ok, I'm sure he got almost 3 dollars of store credit for each.

 

[Jasede]

I got quite a lot more than that.

Which is a pity since I'll have to rebuy them. Derp! Oh well, I got my 3DS for free at least.

 

[Average Manatee]

Except it's awful and nigh useless. That attack takes so long that anything you need to hit more than twice will knock you out of it unless it's taking a fucking nap. It also uses a ton of stamina and can't stagger anything and is super easy to deflect with a shield or any sort of hard armor. And it forces you to move forward, so you can't even take advantage of the extra range it has over a dagger.

I thought we were talking about lol-raping silly bosses?

I accidentally sold DeS and DS to GameStop when I was getting rid of old video games.

Consider it penance for your console sins. You may now return to the Master Race.

(Too bad about DeS though)

 

[felipepepe]

Consider it penance for your console sins. You may now return to the Master Race.

True that, get the PC Dark Souls, comes with DLC, better graphics & framrate (patched) and it isn't on a console you'll sell away in a couple of years.

 

[Jasede]

I don't think I'll sell it, just because of Nier & Deadly Premonition & Demon's Souls, which are amazing games of that generation. I'll always mention them when people say "No more good games are made."

 

[felipepepe]

I though the same thing of my PS2... then I started to emulate PS2 games wih 4x nativve resolution on the PC. Was that simple.

 

[Jasede]

Eeeeh, nah. I like having consoles in the bedroom/living room and the PCs in the PC rooms. But maybe one day.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Alright, got my Iron Round Shield, SL85, 1001 hit points, Dragon Ring and a large selection of weapons. I guess I can enter Sen's Fortress now.


Btw, anyone mind listing the NPC invasions? Wouldn't want to miss these. I know there's one asshole with a huge turban somewhere, and Leeroy.

 

[Surf Solar]

Dude you are massively overlevelled...

 

[Heresiarch]

Alright, got my Iron Round Shield, SL85, 1001 hit points, Dragon Ring and a large selection of weapons. I guess I can enter Sen's Fortress now.


Btw, anyone mind listing the NPC invasions? Wouldn't want to miss these. I know there's one asshole with a huge turban somewhere, and Leeroy.

Yeah, you're super overlevelled...Ornstein & Smough are supposed to be at 60 to 70. But still, in DS, skilz matter most

Some NPC invasions:
DepthsEdit

Kirk, Knight of Thorns: Invades near the exit from the basilisks. May drop Barbed Sword and/or Spike Shield.
BlighttownEdit

Maneater Mildred - In the Swamp, triggered by walking between the bonfire and water wheel along the wall. Drops the Butcher Knife.
Painted World of AriamisEdit

Xanthous King, Jeremiah: drops the Notched Whip, around the area with impaled people and 3 corpses to loot.
Tomb of GiantsEdit

Paladin Leeroy- After the last bonfire, and before Gravelord Nito. Triggered when walking into his cave area. Drops the hammer Grant and the shield Sanctus.
Demon RuinsEdit

Kirk, Knight of Thorns: Invades on the ledge right before the Capra demon congregation. May drop Barbed Sword and/or Spike Shield. Kirk does not invade here if the Lordvessel has not been placed yet.
Lost IzalithEdit

Kirk, Knight of Thorns: Spawns next to the Bed of Chaos. May drop Barbed Sword and/or Spike Shield.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Right, I actually did encounter the first two. With Kirk I got lucky too, and he dropped both his shield and sword. Mildred wasn't a challenge either.


And I don't call that being overleveled. I call it being prepared (I was SL 50 by Undead Parish, decided to get Int to 44 while there so I don't have to bother with it afterwards). And the game does come more naturally now that I have over two times as much health as what I used to have for majority of it, though I haven't been to a real bossfight yet (only killed Shiva, Golden Crystal Golem, and the three huge cats that must have escaped from Kim Jong Il). Also tried out the Flamberge in addition to Claymore and Zweihander that I generally use.