From Software The Dark Souls Discussion Thread

[LivingOne]

Classes only affect the early game as you can develop your character the way you want without class restriction.Avoid any type of spellcasting(from pyromancies to spells to miracles) as they all are simplicistic,straightforward and overpowered compared to melee combat.
As for tips proceed carefully,with your shield up(but keep in mind that also slows stamina regen),explore carefully and don't dump point into resistance.Oh,and don't summon players/npcs to help you against bosses,you'll just spoil them for you.

Your knight should be fine,as should be your barbarian,use wathever you like the most(although,I wouldn't worry too much about what would make things easier,just play and have fun).

 

[Akratus]

My knight is slightly a higher level but I think I will continue the barbarian as I like the idea of this warrior wielding a weapon about twice his size.
And how can magic be much better anyway if the most important fights, against bosses, take place in cramped places hardly made for ranged fighting anyway?

Hah, I was pretty inspired just now after seeing some guy kill the last boss by punching him in the dick for 2 hours.

 

[LivingOne]

Spells and pyromances simply do a lot more damage than melee weapons and being mostly ranged stuff allow you to stay far from danger.Preventing you to appreciate the complexity of the combat system and enemy patterns/AI if that wasn't enough.Sure,some fights might be easier in melee but I wouldn't really say that's the rule(even against bosses,yes).Miracles are less op but some allow extra healing.

 

[Akratus]

Tell me, once you become more knowledgable at the game and build a more powerful character, does the mechanic where enemies magically respawn at your death become more bearable? I mean, I'm not going to ragequit just because the game actually punishes failure but that adds tedium moreso than challenge in my honest opinion.

Eh, my two handed weapon can kill those little undead in one shot anyhow.

Any tips on dealing with the black knight in the undead burg or should I skip that asshole?

 

[LivingOne]

Well,some people are bothered by repeating encounters,some aren't and enjoy the tension coming from the greater risks of dying,others start to appretiate with time etc.

Aside from that I didn't find them annoying because as you keep fighting them you become better at blocking,dodging,timing your strikes and so on.Also you'll likely have noticed combat doesn't have a particular high focus on HPs so once you get the hang of it you can conclude them fast.It should also be noted that what weapon/shield/armour you are using has quite an influence on how you play(weapons have different movesets,heavy armours might give you more protection and poise making you harder to stagger but also slow you down,etc.) so experiment away.

I also wouldn't say there are risks of repetetivity because,as a general rule you find new enemies in every dungeon,although some disagree on that too.

For the BK:just keep trying,if you go near his shield and immediatly back away you should bait him into a shield bash that leaves him open.Or backstab/parry him but will take a few tries.

 

[Ninjerk]

Most of the boss fights don't happen in cramped spaces. If you're pumping strength initially, you're going to be using very large weapons and possibly heavy armor which is, I've come to understand, one of the easier playstyles after being some type of caster. Endurance up to like 40ish is a great idea because it will let you block more damage, more times and let you do more rolling around so you have more opportunities to learn how enemies fight. Remember that weight effects your roll speed. Dark Souls can be punishing, but tends to be fair (and where it isn't, it's usually unfair in your favor. see: Poison Arrows). It tends to punish you for becoming lazy (those Undead Burg skeletons stay lethal for many soul levels if you don't respect them).

 

[Damned Registrations]

Magic's OPness tends to be exaggerated- it's not really that good until the second half of the game, and even then it's only outright broken if you do very specific things you're not likely to do your first time through without spoilers. Generally speaking, a hefty weapon, especially one upgraded past 50% of it's potential, will overwhelm most enemies in the game, and pretty much every area and enemy is designed to be handled by a melee character in a straightforward manner. Not really the case with ranged attacks, you need to know what is coming and how to cheese it a lot of the time.

As for the black knight (or any powerful enemy you have trouble with) you can murder him early if you want, or leave him for later. The game is very open, with lots of routes to choose from. By my count there are 8 different bosses you can fight first after leaving the asylum (10 if you count the hydra and the bridge drake). Obviously some are way way more difficult than others, but you can skip all sorts of stuff, backtrack and murder things when you're stronger, do whatever you want. The black knight is a great way to learn backstabbing, parrying, and blocking too if your shield/endurance can handle him.

 

[Akratus]

I was in a tiny rut last post around. I didn't even know where I was headed in undead burg. I know the location and difficulty of the first boss coming up now. I gave him a try but ended up porting back to the bonfire as I was not dodging well and had no estus left. But I look forward to making some progress next time. And then rage quiting once I get to the dragon of course.

My biggest frustration isn't actually with the game, at least not right now. What I am frustrated with is the lack of a proper guiding introduction to the game. I didn't even know there were multiple places to go to from lordran for example. Even beginner's guides for noobs didn't give me any kind of overview and started throwing terms around of which I'd never heard.

Dark Souls can be punishing, but tends to be fair

Falling boulders/burning barrels you can't see coming are very fair.

 

[Damned Registrations]

That gif is... not exactly a bug, but it's not something that will ever happen to the person playing through, it's a weird side effect of the summoning system and the triggers for that trap (which actually insure that the player is ALWAYS warned of that trap by the sound when he first gets there.)

And the barrel you can see ahead of time. You can even shoot the bastard with an arrow ahead of time. Though I wouldn't find it fun to play so cautiously.

 

[Akratus]

It would've helped me. I was showing someone the game, telling them all about how difficult it was whilst massacring the lowly undead. "I swear, I'll probably die real soon." I go up the stairs and get knocked off into the abyss below by the flaming barrel. Stopped playing for a bit there.

Also I just realized I said barbarian instead of bandit earlier.

 

[Kanedias]

I'm dumping all my stat points into strength on the main warrior type since that is the only thing I can think of that apparantly makes my damage better.

So. . any tips, advice? Jokes at my expense? I welcome all comments.

For melee damage, you want strength or dexterity, or both. Some of the large weapons benefit from having both, for example the Zweihander. Weapons that scale well from both strength and dexterity are called "quality weapons" by the community (the name originates from Demon's Souls). You can check the scaling of a certain weapon by going to the inventory, highlighting the weapon and pressing the delete key in the keyboard, it will bring some detailed information. The best type of scaling is S, then A, etc.

Classes in this game are only important for the initial stats, all the starting gear can be easily found around the world.

As for the Black Knights, they are weak against backstabs and parries. Parrying will probably be difficult for you so you can try backstabbing them.

By the way, are you using Mouse Fix? It improves the keyboard and mouse controls drastically.

 

[Rolk's Drifter]

My personal recommendation: Start as a knight for the armour. Put a couple of points into faith so you can cast heal. Using that after battles will save Estus flasks. Then focus on vitality and and endurance for a while. When you get to Andre, farm the area for souls and titanite to upgrade your armour and any weapons you like to use. Upgrading is very important but not as much as having fun so don't get too bogged down. Tanking might not sound very sexy but it helped me a lot early on. You're going to want health and stamina anyway so they won't be wasted investments and being able to survive some extra hits can make the learning experience much less painful. Especially when trying to parry/backstab. Which I urge you to learn. Really fun. Really powerful. And more importantly, it gives you options. Once you get into the swing of things, you can always drop the tanking for another playstyle.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Note that scaling is relative to the base damage of the weapon. You might get S rank scaling off a dagger or something, but it'll still hit for kittens compared to B scaling off of a 10+ weight weapon like a greatsword/axe/club or whatever. Especially with the way armour works (it's mostly subtraction based, so a 180 damage weapon can easily do more than double the damage of a 120 damage weapon.)

 

[Servo]

Magic's OPness tends to be exaggerated- it's not really that good until the second half of the game, and even then it's only outright broken if you do very specific things you're not likely to do your first time through without spoilers.

I agree 100%. Playing a sorcerer is definitely not easy as some say. For one thing, until you get several attunement slots and multiple copies of spells you are constantly running out and having to resort to melee combat, which - if you've been putting levels into attunement and/or intelligence - you will not be very effective at. Combined with low health and light armor (since you aren't putting points into vitality/strength/endurance) you will die very quickly.

Some fights are absoutely easier for a sorcerer, but some are much harder. Actually, that can be said about the entire game. For every decision you make, there is an advantage and a penalty: if you want to wield huge weapons, it's going to come at the expense of speed (same thing with heavy armor); if you want powerful spells, don't count on having any cool weapons; etc.

You're right that there are a lot of things that the game is not up-front about, so I feel that every new player should at least be informed of the following:

1. Don't go to The Catacombs without a divine weapon. Also, a bow will make a big difference.
2. Don't go to Tomb of the Giants without a Sunlight Maggot.
3. Don't go to New Londo Ruins without Transient Curses.
4. Stock up on mosses before you go to Blighttown.
5. Bed of Chaos and Ceaseless Discharge are what I call "trick" boss fights. You'll know what I mean when you get there.
6. You will die. A lot. Get used to it. Learn to appreciate the challenge. And don't worry about losing souls/humanity since you can always farm those later.

Finally, this might just be personal preference, but put your souls into upgrading weapons first, then levelling up your character. And always wear the right armor for the area you're in, nevermind what your class is or which one is the best overall.

(Actually that was kind of a lot, sorry.)

 

[SerratedBiz]

Congratulations on spoiling Dark Souls on your first playthrough, expertly depriving yourself of the exquisite experience of going blind into a new world with new mechanics. Might as well pick up a walkthrough and look up the "optimal build", you've already fucked up half the game as it is.

 

[Ninjerk]

Congratulations on spoiling Dark Souls on your first playthrough, expertly depriving yourself of the exquisite experience of going blind into a new world with new mechanics. Might as well pick up a walkthrough and look up the "optimal build", you've already fucked up half the game as it is.

The game's a bit deeper than all that, but yeah the Internet ruins this sort of thing.

 

[Servo]

So edgy. Did you even play the game?

 

[Rolk's Drifter]

Congratulations on spoiling Dark Souls on your first playthrough, expertly depriving yourself of the exquisite experience of going blind into a new world with new mechanics. Might as well pick up a walkthrough and look up the "optimal build", you've already fucked up half the game as it is.

Alas I did the same thing. But I'm so cynical now I will always check shit out before I torrent let alone buy. Dark Souls (and I guess Demon Souls was too) is a fucking rarity. It's a game that loves being a game. Made by people who truly love gaming. Not people who dream of making movies but couldn't make the grade. Sure it sucks to miss out on that virgin experience but I'd rather that then keep getting burned by the endless amounts of crap that gets hyped to high heaven. Besides there's still plenty of fun to be had and I can always save my virginity for DKS2.

 

[Ninjerk]

So edgy. Did you even play the game?

Are you replying to me or the guy above me?

 

[Average Manatee]

I agree 100%. Playing a sorcerer is definitely not easy as some say. For one thing, until you get several attunement slots and multiple copies of spells you are constantly running out and having to resort to melee combat, which - if you've been putting levels into attunement and/or intelligence - you will not be very effective at. Combined with low health and light armor (since you aren't putting points into vitality/strength/endurance) you will die very quickly.

What? Take sorcerer, visit Griggs, you now have 60 soul arrows immediately after the tutorial, along with the heavier spell he has. Sorcerer starts with 15 attunement (3 spell slots), 16 attunement will give them 4, 23 attunement will give them 6. You should be able to buy that half way through the undead burg.

As for defense, since a mage doesn't need to focus on weapon upgrades they can dump everything into shields. As everyone knows, health is a distant third in order of defense importance, after rolling and blocking.

Some fights are absoutely easier for a sorcerer, but some are much harder. Actually, that can be said about the entire game. For every decision you make, there is an advantage and a penalty: if you want to wield huge weapons, it's going to come at the expense of speed (same thing with heavy armor); if you want powerful spells, don't count on having any cool weapons; etc.

Wouldn't say any fight is "much harder". The only fight where you can't just sit back and easily pummel the enemy to death would be Capra due to the confined quarters and dogs. Hidden Body makes it absurdly easy, but finding dusk that early, if at all, wouldn't be expected for a new player. Would want to keep some armor with poise and probably use magic shield/weapon or something. But aside from Capra, every fight should be a lot easier as a mage compared to a melee.

 

[pakoito]

So edgy. Did you even play the game?

I did, unspoiled other than some guiding tips when I got lost once. Passed the catacombs without divine weapons on levels 15-20, the tomb of giants without a lantern at lvl 20 (I was clearly lost but didn't know at the moment), annor londo without transient curses, and bed of chaos took some minutes to be figured out.

Died a thousand times and enjoyed most of them.

 

[Akratus]

I'm dying left and right, achieving little even with the help of the internet. Why don't you get your head out of your ass SerratedBiz?

 

[dunno lah]

lol I hope you're dying because you had to scratch somewhere, had clothes to take in when raining or had family yelling for you to do something.

A boon and a bane, that no pausing feature...

 

[Akratus]

Family? Laundry? I'm on the codex. What do you think?

Also, yes I am in fact using the mouse fix.

 

[Servo]

Are you replying to me or the guy above me?

Sorry, I got defensive when the guy above you blamed me for spoiling the game. To be honest though, I don't think you can spoil Dark Souls. The story is good but secondary to the combat in every sense, and the mechanics don't lose anything if you learn about them ahead of time. This is a game where you really ought to read the manual first, and the manual really ought to include some of the tips I and others have mentioned. It doesn't because From expects its players to be resourceful and help each other out, except for the first handful that have no other option than to play the game completely blind the first time.

Take sorcerer, visit Griggs, you now have 60 soul arrows immediately after the tutorial, along with the heavier spell he has. Sorcerer starts with 15 attunement (3 spell slots), 16 attunement will give them 4, 23 attunement will give them 6. You should be able to buy that half way through the undead burg.

You can't access Griggs until you've found the basement key in Undead Parish. At that point, you're pretty close to the Bell Gargoyles. Many players will attempt this fight first, not knowing the basement key will lead them to additional spells. If they're going in blind like people recommend here (no spoilers!), they might end up exploring Darkroot Garden, The Catacombs and possibly even New Londo before ever getting additional spells. Fighting all that shit - let alone getting through Undead Parish - with only 30 soul arrows is practically impossible. You'll likely run into a wall and either stop playing the game in frustration or look it up if you are intelligent. So I guess tip #7 above should be "If you're a sorcerer, find Griggs as soon as possible." If you do, it will certainly help but it will still not make the game easy. Most enemies take several soul arrows to kill, and casting heavier soul arrows is a bitch. Plus you can only carry around a few of them at a time. You really don't get any powerful spells until you find Logan, which is after Blighttown. Blightown with only Grigg's spells is a nightmare. Even after you get Logan's spells, most enemies will suck up at least a couple soul spears, which you have only four of.

As for defense, since a mage doesn't need to focus on weapon upgrades they can dump everything into shields. As everyone knows, health is a distant third in order of defense importance, after rolling and blocking.

They will only know that if they aren't going in blind, i.e. not asking for tips on the Dex or reading the wiki. Even then, they'd have to be aware of poise, which they probably won't have any (until they find the Wolf Ring) because they don't have the endurance for Hollor Soldier Armor or Elite Knight Armor (if they even know where to find it). Without poise, you won't be blocking much. And without decent armor, you'll be dying in single hits all over the damn place.

But aside from Capra, every fight should be a lot easier as a mage compared to a melee.

Shut up already and go play the game as a sorcerer. Then we'll talk.