From Software The Dark Souls Discussion Thread

[DramaticPopcorn]

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

P. much.

 

[dunno lah]

 

[Jick Magger]

I always laugh like an idiot at "In a row?"

 

[chubs]

lvl 47 after taurus?! holy fuck, talk about overcompensating... and holy fucking jesus at that amount of spells! you can kill O&S with half that in NG+ (recently used 3-4 casts of crystal soul mass, full casts of both lances and 2 casts of pursuers when i helped Multidirectional with the 4Kunts in NG+ and i even missed with a couple of spears and iirc one hcsm)! goddamn, were you really that bad at the game that you had to overlevel/overgear so much? did you have +15 weapons for the gaping dragon or something? jesus...

Obviously I didn't have +15 weapons until later due to lacking appropriate farming zones. But I was SL100 when I first went to Sen's.

And to me it's really fairly simple: The sole purpose of any game is to be beaten. Winning is the primary and single most important goal. Losing is unacceptable. Therefore the logical course is to always minimize the chances of losing. And so in a game like Dark Souls it's preferable to be overprepared rather than underprepared.

What on earth did you kill to get to SL 100 before you entered sen's fortress? Did you just grind at the dark forest?

 

[aris]

I changed my idea about not playing the game again. When you have some ranged attacks, which I didn't have at all my first time, the game actually becomes a cake walk. Even though the game still handles like ass around thin platforms (camera shakes, and there are a lot of invisible walls), I gotten used to driving the shitty car that is dark soul's physics and ability to act predictably when you navigate thin ledges.

Even though I still wish that the game tried to kill you far less by making you fall of/knocking you off 1000 foot falls, rendering both stats and equipment completely irrelevant, I can live with it. I think this is actually my favorite game of all times now.

What's your guys favorite melee weapon? Mine, of the ones I've tried, is definitely black knight halberd. It is heavy, but the weak attack is incredibly quick for it weight and dishes out shit tons of damage at +5, making it very economical to upgrade this weapon to max. Unless you make a very specialized build, you'll actually be hard pressed to find anything can dish out that much more damage that quickly. The reach is also fantastic. Had it been enchantable, it would have been hands down the best weapon in the game.

 

[Ninjerk]

Longsword.

 

[dunno lah]

Longsword as well for me.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Mine was initially the black knight halberd as well (the gargoyle halberd has the same moveset sans the shitty R2 attack of the black knight weapons if you're interested) but the Crescent Axe quickly became my favourite after I discovered it. The range, speed, and poise breaking is just amazingly good. It's a pity the split damage makes it worthless for PVP or the bonus content.

Honorable mention goes to the Blacksmith Giant's Hammer. Only need 16 str to 1 hand it (which is also enough for the iron round shield, probably the best shield in the game after the eagle shield nerf) and with +5 upgrade it dishes out a very respectable 300 lightning damage. And the range is obscene for a weapon with that moveset and poise breaking ability. Again though, fairly useless for PvP, where you're basically fucked if you aren't landing hits for 500+ of a single damage type or causing bleed. But it makes an awesome weapon for a vit tank pyromancer.

 

[toroid]

Recently I've really grown to like the Great Scythe. It's quick, has good reach, does good damage, causes bleed, is enchantable, and gets A scaling with DEX at +14. The strong attack is pimpin'. I usually keep the Balder Side Sword on hand as well.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Zweihander and Moonlight Greatsword were my staples.

lvl 47 after taurus?! holy fuck, talk about overcompensating... and holy fucking jesus at that amount of spells! you can kill O&S with half that in NG+ (recently used 3-4 casts of crystal soul mass, full casts of both lances and 2 casts of pursuers when i helped Multidirectional with the 4Kunts in NG+ and i even missed with a couple of spears and iirc one hcsm)! goddamn, were you really that bad at the game that you had to overlevel/overgear so much? did you have +15 weapons for the gaping dragon or something? jesus...

Obviously I didn't have +15 weapons until later due to lacking appropriate farming zones. But I was SL100 when I first went to Sen's.

And to me it's really fairly simple: The sole purpose of any game is to be beaten. Winning is the primary and single most important goal. Losing is unacceptable. Therefore the logical course is to always minimize the chances of losing. And so in a game like Dark Souls it's preferable to be overprepared rather than underprepared.

What on earth did you kill to get to SL 100 before you entered sen's fortress? Did you just grind at the dark forest?

Dark Forest for the most part, at first Benny Hill style and later Rocky style.

 

[meanwhileInPoland]

those fucking enemies

 

[praetor]

I changed my idea about not playing the game again. When you have some ranged attacks, which I didn't have at all my first time, the game actually becomes a cake walk. Even though the game still handles like ass around thin platforms (camera shakes, and there are a lot of invisible walls), I gotten used to driving the shitty car that is dark soul's physics and ability to act predictably when you navigate thin ledges.

Even though I still wish that the game tried to kill you far less by making you fall of/knocking you off 1000 foot falls, rendering both stats and equipment completely irrelevant, I can live with it. I think this is actually my favorite game of all times now.

just stop with this bullshit about thousands of falls. not even scrubs on 4chan or gamefaqs complain about it, for satan's sake

What's your guys favorite melee weapon? Mine, of the ones I've tried, is definitely black knight halberd. It is heavy, but the weak attack is incredibly quick for it weight and dishes out shit tons of damage at +5, making it very economical to upgrade this weapon to max. Unless you make a very specialized build, you'll actually be hard pressed to find anything can dish out that much more damage that quickly. The reach is also fantastic. Had it been enchantable, it would have been hands down the best weapon in the game.

for PvE almost every weapon is "the best weapon". for PvP even if it was enchantable it wouldn't have been "the best weapon" (not even top 5, and very likely not even top 10). and why the fuck wouldn't you make a specialized build (and BK weapon builds are way more "specialized" than pretty much any other)? jack-of-all trades are only ok if you play exclusively offline/PvE

as for personal favourites: Quelaag's is still badass for dex/pyros and i'll always have fond memories of it carrying me the first time through more than half the game. Chaos Blade is my personal fave for my pyrodex builds, i like the SK spear for range, the (lightning) Avelyn for coolness, Murakumo for probably having the best averages in damage/poisebreaking/speed/weight, Gravelord Sword for that toxic badassitude, the 2 scythes (lifehunt and great, not that misnamed bardiche), and the moonlight greatsword. yeah, i don't really like str weapons/builds (except for large club and greataxe )

(which is also enough for the iron round shield, probably the best shield in the game after the eagle shield nerf)

i like it but no, not even close

Again though, fairly useless for PvP, where you're basically fucked if you aren't landing hits for 500+ of a single damage type or causing bleed.

what the fuck? do you only play PvP against total newbies? ever decent player will just roll-cancel bleed build-up (except maybe for those PGS/gold tracer R1 button mashers). if bleed was that good, every good player would be going around with priscilla's dagger and lifehunt scythes.

 

[Cowboy Moment]

Black Knight Halberd is plainly overpowered for PvE, there's a reason why it's by far the most popular speedrunning weapon.

Zweihander is best.

 

[SerratedBiz]

Great Club all day every day, PvE or PvP, rain or shine.

 

[praetor]

Black Knight Halberd is plainly overpowered for PvE, there's a reason why it's by far the most popular speedrunning weapon.

it's the most popular in speedruns because: a) no ember required, b) early availability, c) easily (and relatively early) acquired upgrade materials, d) deals lots of damage with min stats to wield it (2H) and minimal upgrades (+3 is plenty enough to carry you through the game). plenty of other weapons deal the same or more damage, have good range, and aren't much slower, but it takes longer (or they require some forging or to acquire those weapons, and it's more time (and resource) consuming to upgrade them (f.e. a MSGS will deal more physical damage at the same SL (spend the dex points in Str instead), and that's 1-handed, but you can't get it before you kill both the gargs and quelaag, not to mention you have to acquire 2 embers [quite time consuming] and quite a few shards/chunks to upgrade it, the zwei with the same stats as the BKH would also deal more damage, but again, embers/materials are the problem, just to name 2). the vast majority of weapons are OP in PvE because it becomes rather trivial after a while

and holy motherfucking shit i hate GFWL... suddenly it won't let me log in (reinstalled, reopened ports on my router, installed an older version... no luck) and now i can't play online anymore

 

[Cowboy Moment]

Black Knight Halberd is plainly overpowered for PvE, there's a reason why it's by far the most popular speedrunning weapon.

it's the most popular in speedruns because: a) no ember required, b) early availability, c) easily (and relatively early) acquired upgrade materials, d) deals lots of damage with min stats to wield it (2H) and minimal upgrades (+3 is plenty enough to carry you through the game). plenty of other weapons deal the same or more damage, have good range, and aren't much slower, but it takes longer (or they require some forging or to acquire those weapons, and it's more time (and resource) consuming to upgrade them (f.e. a MSGS will deal more physical damage at the same SL (spend the dex points in Str instead), and that's 1-handed, but you can't get it before you kill both the gargs and quelaag, not to mention you have to acquire 2 embers [quite time consuming] and quite a few shards/chunks to upgrade it, the zwei with the same stats as the BKH would also deal more damage, but again, embers/materials are the problem, just to name 2). the vast majority of weapons are OP in PvE because it becomes rather trivial after a while

and holy motherfucking shit i hate GFWL... suddenly it won't let me log in (reinstalled, reopened ports on my router, installed an older version... no luck) and now i can't play online anymore

Well, yes, that's what I mean when I say that it's overpowered for PvE. Even as a new player, if you kill the Black Knight in Darkroot Basin early, and it drops, you're basically set till the end of the game, and it will absolutely trivialize any and all content up to Anor Londo. I can't think of any other weapon that does the same. It's also really easy to use.

 

[aris]

Great Club all day every day, PvE or PvP, rain or shine.

I have it on my 58 strength character, so far it's only at +13 but I feel that it's inferior to the black knight halberd. It does slightly more damage, and has a slightly longer reach, but its attack build up is soooo slow compared to the BN halberd. It can be enchanted though, which is a plus.

Mine was initially the black knight halberd as well (the gargoyle halberd has the same moveset sans the shitty R2 attack of the black knight weapons if you're interested) but the Crescent Axe quickly became my favourite after I discovered it. The range, speed, and poise breaking is just amazingly good. It's a pity the split damage makes it worthless for PVP or the bonus content.

Honorable mention goes to the Blacksmith Giant's Hammer. Only need 16 str to 1 hand it (which is also enough for the iron round shield, probably the best shield in the game after the eagle shield nerf) and with +5 upgrade it dishes out a very respectable 300 lightning damage. And the range is obscene for a weapon with that moveset and poise breaking ability. Again though, fairly useless for PvP, where you're basically fucked if you aren't landing hits for 500+ of a single damage type or causing bleed. But it makes an awesome weapon for a vit tank pyromancer.

I took the crescent axe for a spin, DPS seems weak compared to the halberd, but I think I understand why you like it. If you get one weak attack in, you can pretty much stun lock many trash mobs until they go down. It doesn't seem that good at taking on bosses though. It's very nice that it scales with faith though! Since I for shit and giggles decided to make my strength char strong in faith as well (going for 50 faith, currently at 32) in the NG+. I was planning to go for Grant, but it was so disappointing, horrible damage. It seems like pretty much all mobs are more or less immune to all elemental and magic damage in NG+ and pure physical damage is the best way to go, most of the time.

 

[DragoFireheart]

I have it on my 58 strength character, so far it's only at +13 but I feel that it's inferior to the black knight halberd. It does slightly more damage, and has a slightly longer reach, but its attack build up is soooo slow compared to the BN halberd. It can be enchanted though, which is a plus.

Rolling 2-handed attack.

it's the most popular in speedruns because: a) no ember required, b) early availability, c) easily (and relatively early) acquired upgrade materials, d) deals lots of damage with min stats to wield it (2H) and minimal upgrades (+3 is plenty enough to carry you through the game). plenty of other weapons deal the same or more damage, have good range, and aren't much slower, but it takes longer (or they require some forging or to acquire those weapons, and it's more time (and resource) consuming to upgrade them (f.e. a MSGS will deal more physical damage at the same SL (spend the dex points in Str instead), and that's 1-handed, but you can't get it before you kill both the gargs and quelaag, not to mention you have to acquire 2 embers [quite time consuming] and quite a few shards/chunks to upgrade it, the zwei with the same stats as the BKH would also deal more damage, but again, embers/materials are the problem, just to name 2). the vast majority of weapons are OP in PvE because it becomes rather trivial after a while

and holy motherfucking shit i hate GFWL... suddenly it won't let me log in (reinstalled, reopened ports on my router, installed an older version... no luck) and now i can't play online anymore

Gravelord Greatsword is superior.

 

[DragoFireheart]

those fucking enemies

 

[Damned Registrations]

If you two hand the crescent axe (or the hammer, but the axe has an insanely good moveset while twohanded) you can actually stunlock even really tough enemies like the giant skeletons in the tomb, or the capra/taurus demons. (Maybe not the taurus demons, I forget, I usually don't bother with them.) Takes a bit of practice to manage your stamina and time things properly, but it's definitely viable. It is kinda shit for a lot of bosses though, since aside from O+S, they don't have poise to fuck with, and a lot of them have high magic resist so the damage is underwhelming for a two handed weapon like that.

But holy shit does it ever feel awesome to just walk up and swipe down 4+ enemies at once with a single quick swing, or beat something like a stone knight or giant skeleton to death without ever letting it attack. It's a damned shame theres no normal damage equivalent of it. The normal axes have terrible range by comparison, while the cresent axe is so huge you can easily poke people from outside parrying range.

Edit: the other reason I like it is the accessibility. Pinwheel can be taken out in less than 5 minutes easily if you know where to jump down, and then all you have to do after is kill Patches, and he's a fucking joke. Also, he's an asshole so I enjoy killing him. The Gravelord sword is more of a pain in the ass to get imo, and I like it less as a weapon anyways. And everything else takes forever to either acquire or upgrade by comparison, or relies on a random drop. Though the black knight weapons drop way too frequently, it's pretty unlikely you'd fail to get either a sword or halberd after killing the 4 that can drop them (all of which can be encountered pretty quickly.)

 

[DragoFireheart]

The Gravelord sword is more of a pain in the ass to get imo,

Said the bad Dark Souls player.

 

[Damned Registrations]

I meant in terms of having to sit around waiting for that stupid coffin and spending more time running around pointlessly because there's no direct shortcut. Difficulty wise... I can't really remember what the route involves since I only tried it once or twice. Do you even need to fight anything?

 

[DragoFireheart]

I meant in terms of having to sit around waiting for that stupid coffin and spending more time running around pointlessly because there's no direct shortcut. Difficulty wise... I can't really remember what the route involves since I only tried it once or twice. Do you even need to fight anything?

It's possible to run past everything. No kills needed.

 

[MapMan]

I still don't get many of the game mechanics. I can't tell which weapon is better, I just go for the biggest base dmg and sometimes scaling if it suits me. I wonder how viable are some weapons like rapiers and shit. The game is really something. If they will build and improve on the formula in DS2 then I'm in!