From Software The Dark Souls Discussion Thread

[Jasede]

That's the game about the President of the United States killing things with his battle mech, isn't it?

 

[dunno lah]

POTUS with powered armor....hmm where have I heard that befor- oh right:

Spoiler

 

[Coyote]

If you like the speedruns here is the current all bosses WR. (IGT 1:21:18)
http://www.twitch.tv/santzo84/c/3539408

Is there a reason he exits and reloads at about 28:15 when he reaches the bonfire by the door to the Forest Hunter area? AFAIK there's nothing near that door that requires you to go through a loading screen like with Dusk's crystal golem.

 

[Damned Registrations]

No idea. Often reloads like that are to drop aggro from enemies chasing you (like in lower burg with the dogs) but there's no reason I can think of to do it there if he's going to activate the bonfire anyways.

 

[Palikka]

Yeah, he does it to drop the aggro. IIRC you can use a bonfire even if there's aggroed monsters near by but you cant activate it for the first time if there is aggro. Reloading takes only about 4 seconds in game time so it's not that big of a deal at the moment since the route can still be optimised for another 2-3 minutes.

 

[DramaticPopcorn]

 

[Murk]

If you like the speedruns here is the current all bosses WR. (IGT 1:21:18)
http://www.twitch.tv/santzo84/c/3539408

Is there a reason he exits and reloads at about 28:15 when he reaches the bonfire by the door to the Forest Hunter area? AFAIK there's nothing near that door that requires you to go through a loading screen like with Dusk's crystal golem.

he was being aggro'd by the treants and he couldn't use the bonfire, so by quitting out and rejoining it de-aggros and allows him to use the bonfire.

 

[DragoFireheart]

I think my favorite kind of build is Str/Int.

Gets you some good weapons that require strength to wield properly (Gravelord Sword, Large Club, Man-Serpent Greatsword, etc).
Gets you the Moonlight Greatsword and Moonlight Butterfly Horn.
Various Soul spells for range.
Lots of useful support spells, such as Hidden Body or Light.
Relatively low level to reach critical mass for high damage. (Need less STR than DEX for str weapons to reach soft cap, Oolacile catalyst lets you hit hard with spells while having low INT)

 

[DragoFireheart]

You guys really need to try the Dragon Greatsword.

Pros:
- Only needs Dragon Scales. No slabs needed to fully upgrade. Can farm Drakes if need.
- Moveset is similar to Zweihander, making it better than other Ultra Greatswords (Demon Great Machete and Black Knight Greatsword have shitty Strong attacks) except...
- The two-handed Strong attack makes a shockwave. Goes up walls and travels far. What many people don't know is against high poise targets (bosses) it will hit them TWICE. Needless to say, it deals massive damage.
- Does not require RNG to acquire. Can be gotten as soon as your start the game (need Master Key gift).
- Looks awesome.

Cons:
- No scaling (still deals solid damage, 585)
- One of the heaviest weapons.
- Dragon scales are still rare.
- Expensive to upgrade.
- Requires 50 str (34 2h) to wield.

For PvP, it's pretty meh but hilarious to use. For PvE, it's monstrous and can slaughter shit.

 

[AngryEddy]

You guys really need to try the Dragon Greatsword.

Pros:
- Only needs Dragon Scales. No slabs needed to fully upgrade. Can farm Drakes if need.
- Moveset is similar to Zweihander, making it better than other Ultra Greatswords (Demon Great Machete and Black Knight Greatsword have shitty Strong attacks) except...
- The two-handed Strong attack makes a shockwave. Goes up walls and travels far. What many people don't know is against high poise targets (bosses) it will hit them TWICE. Needless to say, it deals massive damage.
- Does not require RNG to acquire. Can be gotten as soon as your start the game (need Master Key gift).
- Looks awesome.

Cons:
- No scaling (still deals solid damage, 585)
- One of the heaviest weapons.
- Dragon scales are still rare.
- Expensive to upgrade.
- Requires 50 str (34 2h) to wield.

For PvP, it's pretty meh but hilarious to use. For PvE, it's monstrous and can slaughter shit.

For my melee character, I used that, and the AOE sword you get from cutting Kalameets tail off, and I won a majority of my games. It just gives you so much control over your environment and it's hilarious to bait backstabbing faggots in to the AOE R2 with the Kalameet sword.

 

[Multidirectional]

Guys I'm having a blast PVP'ing in Oolacile Township with my Dex build and Balder Side Sword, winning most of the fights too. I'm at lv 74 now and I'm not sure how much more is it safe to level up before the fun stops. Would anyone happen to know approximate number of max level that still gets a lot of action in that area in NG?

 

[AngryEddy]

Guys I'm having a blast PVP'ing in Oolacile Township with my Dex build and Balder Side Sword, winning most of the fights too. I'm at lv 74 now and I'm not sure how much more is it safe to level up before the fun stops. Would anyone happen to know approximate number of max level that still gets a lot of action in that area in NG?

I've always gotten games at 65 SL at OT NG+ or otherwise, every time I activate the Red Eye Orb.

 

[praetor]

Guys I'm having a blast PVP'ing in Oolacile Township with my Dex build and Balder Side Sword, winning most of the fights too. I'm at lv 74 now and I'm not sure how much more is it safe to level up before the fun stops. Would anyone happen to know approximate number of max level that still gets a lot of action in that area in NG?

from what i remember before GFWL gave me the middle finger, keep below 100 if you invade, 100-120 if you host (i had pretty regular action @120-125 while hosting, and @100 while invading, but i wouldn't recommend going beyond 100 either way 'cause it seems that on PC folks settled on slightly lower levels)

 

[Multidirectional]

Cool, I already got my END at 40, and bringing DEX and VIT to 40 will still keep me below 100. I'm enjoying DEX build more than my previous STR one, even if PVE is a bit tougher.

 

[DragoFireheart]

PvP: DEX/FAI
PvE: STR/INT

 

[dunno lah]

Man...if I still had my PS3, I'd totally start a fat-rolling, two-hander a-la Red-eyed Boletarian Knight but also with some soul arrows in "mind".

 

[Telengard]

Porting over from http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/rpg-codexs-top-50-crpgs-results.89680/page-19

Telengard said: ↑
Dark Souls harkens back to the old, much-forgotten twitch fighting RPGs such as Moebius. Not gonna find games like Moebius on any top 50 list, but they do exist. So, there's nothing keeping Dark Souls from having an RPG pedigree. Just not a common or well-known one that will have anything to really compare it to on the list made here.

On the other hand, a couple of things do niggle at me in the case of the Souls series. The fact that stripping off your armor, throwing away your shield, and running around nekkid is almost always your best defense. And the fact that parrying and dodging is almost always superior to defending, and those are wholly based on timing (and being nekkid). And the fact that the other RPG elements are equally under-utilized in progressing the game. Thus rendering the RPG elements unnecessary to complete the game, and allowing one to complete the game wholly based on twitch skill. None of this, of course, is necessary in making a good game, but the necessity of using the RPG elements should probably be a factor in determining whether a game is good RPG.

Clockwork Knight said, "You make it sound as if it's easy or the intended way to play. You need a lot of experience and a very good understanding of the game to be able to beat it naked and parrying everything (or at least the patience of a saint).

For example, I can beat FO2 with an idiot character with brittle bones and bad hygiene, because I know the game from inside out. This allows me to ignore most of the RPG elements, playing it as an adventure where I go around picking up unprotected items that let me progress without needing to bother with skill and stat checks."

Nekkid is the way I played the game with my one and only character, soon as I figured out what a godsend those extra frames of invulnerability are. And I don't know, but I suspect a lot of other people coming over from fighting games would feel the same if they tried it. It's regularly recommended for helping out if you're having difficulty with a boss for good reason. But it's not just the invulnerability bonus (though that's the best part), going nekkid also gives better command of the battlefield, allowing one to better outmaneuver the enemies.

Parrying is something difficult to learn, agreed. But again coming in from fighting games, it's not much different than learning to counter the final boss. Plus, once one gets a few parries down pat, the rest start coming easier.

Crooked Bee said, "Moebius? Why not Prince of Persia?

I can't believe you quote Moebius as an example when there is stuff like Arx or Witcher on the list.

Or, since we're talking about "games that don't belong on the list because of my arbitrary definition of what an RPG is", why isn't anyone complaining about King of Dragon Pass? Oh right, C&C "

I mentioned Moebius because I was talking pedigree, and Moebius is one of the first fighter/RPG hybrids, instead of being a game that's too new or being a standard arpg clickfest. Moebius may not be best in breed, but it is a trailblazer for the sub-genre of RPG hybrid where the combat is about jockying for position and nailing your timing windows, not clickfesting, and not having good stats and better tactics.

 

[praetor]

(there was already a discussion about that in the DaS2 thread, it's somewhere in the last 10 pages. conclusion: you're )

 

[LivingOne]

On the other hand, a couple of things do niggle at me in the case of the Souls series. The fact that stripping off your armor, throwing away your shield, and running around nekkid is almost always your best defense. And the fact that parrying and dodging is almost always superior to defending, and those are wholly based on timing (and being nekkid). And the fact that the other RPG elements are equally under-utilized in progressing the game. Thus rendering the RPG elements unnecessary to complete the game, and allowing one to complete the game wholly based on twitch skill. None of this, of course, is necessary in making a good game, but the necessity of using the RPG elements should probably be a factor in determining whether a game is good RPG.

Using a greatshield,actually makes the game much easier(PVE).An example:for one of my characters I pumped strenght,endurance and equipped him with black knight halberd,greatshield of artorias,fully upgraded elite knight set,havel's ring and ring of favor and protection.This allows me to have a character that can block literally everything(thanks to a greatshield and high stamina you can completely block even Artorias'/Manus' combos,you just need to drop your guard for a second between each hit to let stamina regenerate faster) and get in and out of enemies range just in time to deliver an hit and then back away before they can respond while being almost as protected as someone in heavy armour(the halberd and most polearms have high range and attack speed so I can hit from a certain distance and get back to defend myself/out of enemy range in no time + my high stamina+rings+light armour too allow me to move away fast without need to roll.Not to mention upgraded armours like knight,elite knight,paladin,etc. are really protective in case you screw up something.).

Definetly much easier than learning to dodge or parry(again PVE).

 

[Damned Registrations]

Not to mention how many bosses you can straight up manfight if you put on a full set of heavy shit like stone knight or havels and just start swinging and chugging estus.

The only parts where I'd honestly recommend being naked are bed of chaos and moonlight butterfly. Anywhere else poise is a godsend and the armour is very useful.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Have been playing this on and off, and having trouble getting very far. The game feels very slow somehow, but that might because of how cautious I'm trying to play it.
Anyway, I'm thinking of restarting the game, seeing's as I'm only by the bonfire by the Blacksmith in the Undead Parish, do things differently, like not cheat out that dragon just because framerate was horrid.
Still be rolling a Bandit+claymore, wondering if I should bother with shields.

 

[Cowboy Moment]

I mentioned Moebius because I was talking pedigree, and Moebius is one of the first fighter/RPG hybrids, instead of being a game that's too new or being a standard arpg clickfest. Moebius may not be best in breed, but it is a trailblazer for the sub-genre of RPG hybrid where the combat is about jockying for position and nailing your timing windows, not clickfesting, and not having good stats and better tactics.

On a related note, the one game with obvious similarities to Dark Souls (although afaik there's no connection) is Blade of Darkness. Which nobody really votes for in "Best RPG" polls, even though people generally agree that it's very good.

 

[praetor]

On a related note, the one game with obvious similarities to Dark Souls (although afaik there's no connection) is Blade of Darkness. Which nobody really votes for in "Best RPG" polls, even though people generally agree that it's very good.

i hope at least some DaS2 traps will be on the level of BoD's traps leading to or from those secret runes. man, those were nasty

 

[Telengard]

(there was already a discussion about that in the DaS2 thread, it's somewhere in the last 10 pages. conclusion: you're )

Your brilliant use of insulting emoticons has caused me to change my mind completely, and I will now go back and replay the game in a different way than the game itself says is superior*.

Anyway, some of us are polite and move our discussions to where they are asked when they are asked.

* In the tutorial, in case you've misplaced it.

 

[DramaticPopcorn]

shut up fag