From Software The Dark Souls Discussion Thread

[CthuluIsSpy]

You mean that little ledge in the big tree that your character can't seem to walk through? That's a known collision bug. You actually have to try to skirt around the side. Your character should levitate for a second, but I think you have to be fast though.

Its probably fine, but I always rush around because I don't want the game to suddenly remember there's a gap there.

Wow. One other thing they could have fixed for this 'remastered' edition. Thanks for the info... I managed to escape after 2 days trapped in that godamn tree.

In other news... On my way back up, i got cursed by one of those negroid frogs.... Now I get to beat the spider boss with half health.

Yeah, they totally could have fixed that. But that would have required effort.

 

[Damned Registrations]

In other news... On my way back up, i got cursed by one of those negroid frogs.... Now I get to beat the spider boss with half health.

You could always go back down to Ash Lake and farm a purging stone from the man-eater shells.

Amusing, but there is also Oswald.

 

[Hoaxmetal]

 

[newtmonkey]

Dark Souls 3
Started a new character (Knight) earlier in the week due to frustration with pure Pyromancer around the midgame. Now I understand why people say this game is the easiest in the series. In only a few days of playing, I easily surpassed the progress I had made with Pyromancer. The game gives you so much Estus and so many Bonfires that a melee character just seems overpowered. All the bosses that gave me a hard time with Pyromancer (Crystal Sage and Abyss Watchers mostly) were so much easier with Knight (Crystal Sage was laughable, as I went it on a lark without any intention to beat it, and ended up killing it without breaking a sweat). Abyss Watchers, which I never beat as Pyromancer, went down on my third try (second attempt was foiled by making a stupid mistake early in the battle).

Pure Pyromancer was very viable in DS1 (it's the first character I beat the game with), but seems like hard mode in DS3, since you need to spend souls on both INT and WIS, upgrading your Pyromancer Flame, plus increasing your HP and stamina—compared with a basic melee build, which is just min STR/DEX for whatever weapon you want (and there are some very killer weapons early on with very low stat requirements) plus increasing HP and stamina. I guess they intended pyromancy to be something you just added to some other build later on in the game when you have souls to spare.

 

[cvv]

Now I understand why people say this game is the easiest in the series.

I think I'm the only one around here that finds DaS3 to be the hardest one in the whole serie, DeS and BB included.

Depends, basic bitch enemies are the hardest in DS3 - it's not even close, playing all Souls games back to back reveals what an absolute joke are basic bitches in DS1/DS2 compared to DS3 - but you DO have a bonfire every fucking 10 meters.

 

[Lutte]

I guess they intended pyromancy to be something you just added to some other build later on in the game when you have souls to spare.

It's never good. It can never become good. I'm in NG+2 currently just toying around every once in a while and I've done respecs during my NG+ runs to try various builds and the main reason I even play NG+ is just to quickly get more slabs to try and toy with more things. My character has been SL130 and stayed there since the first third of NG+1.

I'll preface by saying that by magic, I mean all schools. Pyro, dark, sorceries, miracles.
Not once have I found magic worthwhile in my tries, despite the high soul level, having all the necessary rings and collected every single spell in existence. Heck, I'd describe it as much less viable than heavy weapons which I tried after seeing Damned Registration argue for them.

Yeah, I'd still take sellswords or longswords over this for a NG run but it's not too bad at high soul levels. Much more viable than magic in any form. Still there's this thing where while it may do more damage per hits, the number of window of opportunities is lower compared to fast weapons. There's many very tiny pauses of bosses where I can hit with fast stuff right in between two dodges but heavy weapons make this either impossible or make you trade the hit.

When I say magic is not viable, it's not to mean "you can't complete the game". It's more that it's just dramatically inferior to anything you could do in this game. The damage is so fucking pathetic and tracking issues making many spells miss like crazy on enemies that spazz out across the arena mean that this playstyle is just absolute tedium. During the time I tried magic after respeccing at rosaria, I even found myself going out of ashen estus flask while fighting Midir. I was hitting his body instead of his head too many times out of impatience. You really need to only cast spells on him when his head is immobile, but if that's the case, why fight with a ranged character over a melee one who rushes in?

Magic is best used for buffing a pure melee character. Only put as many points in faith and int as you need for the spells you find useful. A single cast of Tears of Denial will do more good than spamming sunlight spears. Spook is a must have for running quickly through areas on NG+ if you don't care for completing content and killing mobs.

Funny thing about magic being best used on melee characters is that the only school of magic that does any worthwhile damage is miracle.. when you fight in melee range. You see, spear type faith spells don't do their full damage if you hit at range. But when you hit in melee, they hit like trucks.

 

[Arnust]

And Lightning Spears used to be the most long range out of all spells... Anyway, yeah, heavy weapons/hyperamor is miles more fun, if maybe less effective than this. It feels so fucking great to facetank through the endless flinging and spamming you get in most of the game. One of the few bosses who were completely impervious to this was Midir, and that's a piece of shit boss anyway. And you can juts change to the Splitleaf Greatsword and spam him to death with it.

 

[Anthedon]

Now I understand why people say this game is the easiest in the series.

I think I'm the only one around here that finds DaS3 to be the hardest one in the whole serie, DeS and BB included.

I'm with you there. Mostly due to the HP bloat of most bosses, a trend started with the DSII DLC.

 

[Seaking4]

You mean that little ledge in the big tree that your character can't seem to walk through? That's a known collision bug. You actually have to try to skirt around the side. Your character should levitate for a second, but I think you have to be fast though.

Its probably fine, but I always rush around because I don't want the game to suddenly remember there's a gap there.

Wow. One other thing they could have fixed for this 'remastered' edition. Thanks for the info... I managed to escape after 2 days trapped in that godamn tree.

In other news... On my way back up, i got cursed by one of those negroid frogs.... Now I get to beat the spider boss with half health.

Since you're already in Blighttown you could just take the elevator up and let the guy in New Londo break the curse for you (the key to the ruins is on the way up and there aren't many enemies). You're already cursed so you'll be able to kill the enemies. Then just kill yourself and you'll be back down in Blighttown with the bonfire right in front of Queelag. Although you could die before having him break your curse so using the firelink bonfire before doing New Londo might be worth considering too.

For the record, I do think that having areas in Dark Souls walled off by the Orange Fog gate is lame. What makes the pre-Anor Londo part of the game so awesome is how open it is so having those areas walled off is lame. I always can't help but imagine how hard it would be for someone to do the catacombs first and then do 90% of the Tomb of the Giants only for the last part to be walled off by orange fog gate. Doing those areas backwards is annoying.

I agree that Dark Souls 3 is the hardest. I just did a couple of playthroughs of Dark Souls (one super fast one that I got bored with after O&S and one completionist one with some NG+*) and then I reinstalled DS3. DS3 is much harder for me but I much prefer DS1 to 3. Not particularly close either.

*I still hate NG+ Four Kings. I swear that the 2nd King appears much sooner in NG+ than it does in NG and once there are two it's nearly impossible (for me at least).

 

[newtmonkey]

Replaying (well, actually "restarting" since I found Abyss Watchers and Painted World to be too frustrated as pure Pyro) as Knight, I like DS3 a lot more than I did at first. DeS and DS1 are the kings by far, and at this point I prefer it to DS2, which has a lot of very annoying areas where you are being sniped constantly (Shrine of Amana, that one other area where you are constantly being sniped as you make your way down the ruins). I finished DS2 as pyromancer build first, and then as a faith magic/melee build next, and I found a lot of the areas tedious.

[Edit] My biggest problem with DS3 is the flailing and seemingly endless combos of the bosses, midbosses, stronger regular enemies, and even some regular enemies. This is one reason why playing a caster is so frustrating, as it causes regular spell whiffs (as mentioned by Lutte )—plus, if you have been focusing on INT/FAITH you probably won't have much in terms of armor or even a sufficient life or stamina bar to survive your first encounter with many of the more flailing/combo happy enemies/bosses. Abyss Watchers in particular was a nightmare as pure Pyro, as the second or third Watcher rising and getting a lucky hit on you from offscreen could pretty much wreck your day... and even when I could reliably get to the second form, I could never get a handle on his moveset because I simply didn't have the stamina to run/dodge/block to learn when it was safe to attack.

 

[Wunderbar]

[Edit] My biggest problem with DS3 is the flailing and seemingly endless combos of the bosses, midbosses, stronger regular enemies, and even some regular enemies. This is one reason why playing a caster is so frustrating, as it causes regular spell whiffs (as mentioned by Lutte )—plus, if you have been focusing on INT/FAITH you probably won't have much in terms of armor or even a sufficient life or stamina bar to survive your first encounter with many of the more flailing/combo happy enemies/bosses. Abyss Watchers in particular was a nightmare as pure Pyro, as the second or third Watcher rising and getting a lucky hit on you from offscreen could pretty much wreck your day... and even when I could reliably get to the second form, I could never get a handle on his moveset because I simply didn't have the stamina to run/dodge/block to learn when it was safe to attack.

90% of DaS3 mobs are just reskined monsters from Bloodborne, and most of bossfights are "make a hundred accurate dodges in a row".

 

[toro]

I just finished a DS Remastered marathon.

Blighttown with constant 60 fps is piece of cake. Quelaag died first try. I felt sorry for her. I remember my 1st playthrough when I had a really hard time with her for whatever reason (long time ago).

Fucking Discharge didn't want to fall into the lava pit therefore I had to kill him "properly". Stupid boss fight.

I killed the Anor Londo's Firekeeper by mistake and it took me like 10 tries to kill Pikachu and his brother. To be honest, this is a great fight but also one where the decline is creeping its ugly head: infinite stamina, auto-tracking attacks and all kinds of bullshit.

I died like 20+ times to the fucking Bed of Chaos. This is the worst boss fight from the entire series, absolute garbage. Only Seath is more retarded (thank God that POS dies so fast).

Then I went to the Catacombs with a divine Zwei-Hander. I even died to Pinwheel (once) followed by an absolute shit show in the dark until I stumbled upon the Skull Lantern.

Soon after I got raped by Nito and his skeleton army. Previously this fight was easy for me but this time I had the bright idea to infuse the Zwei-Hander with Fire which meant constant ganking from the immortal skeletons.

In the end, I upgraded the Greatsword to +10 Fire and went to fight Artorias. Great fight even if I was tired as shit. I ended the run here cause with a fully upgraded weapon and fast rolling there is no challenge (Artorias was easy as fuck).

Bottom line: DaS is a great game but while playing I was thinking about the things I miss from Dark Souls 2 (soul vessel, bonfire ascetic, combat mechanics, different weapons).

Honestly the last third of the game, after acquiring the lordvessel, is just a boring shit show. And Soul Memory while retarded is still a better mechanic than whatever DaS is using.

I don't know, maybe I'm stupid but I miss Dark Souls 2 and I think that overall it's a better game. I don't think I will play DaS anytime sooner but I look forward to give DaS2 another spin.

 

[Parabalus]

Started DS:R for the first time, never played any of these games. Seems fun so far.

Do I have to engage with the RPG side of things at all?
Ie. started with a Thief and just been putting all points into Dex so far, if I do that with some HP added in later, will that get me through the game, or should I do some "research" ?

 

[Wunderbar]

Started DS:R for the first time, never played any of these games. Seems fun so far.

Do I have to engage with the RPG side of things at all?
Ie. started with a Thief and just been putting all points into Dex so far, if I do that with some HP added in later, will that get me through the game, or should I do some "research" ?

you can beat the whole game without levelling.
Things that matter: 45% player's skill, 45% equipment, 10% stats.

I recommend you to stop levelling DEX at 40 (after 40 you'll hit softcap and will get diminishing results). Better spend your souls on HP and endurance (it will give you both stamina and encumbrance).

 

[newtmonkey]

Yeah, definitely put points into HP and endurance, it's a safe choice for any build and will make your life easier.

I usually level both to 15 to 20 before focusing on other stats, as it forms a good base for whatever you eventuslly plan to do.

The Dark Souls games are basically action games with stats, but your skill (playing carefully and patiently) is way more important than anything else, followed closely by equipment.

 

[Villagkouras]

Started DS:R for the first time, never played any of these games. Seems fun so far.

Do I have to engage with the RPG side of things at all?
Ie. started with a Thief and just been putting all points into Dex so far, if I do that with some HP added in later, will that get me through the game, or should I do some "research" ?

Starting classes are like templates. From there you can do whatever you want, there is no "RPG side". Just observe what these stats really offer, in terms of your character and their impact on your equipment and choose accordingly to your favorite style.

Just don't forget to upgrade your equipment.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Things that matter: 45% player's skill, 45% equipment, 10% stats.

Eh, that depends. You can definitely swap skill for stats there with the right build. When you've got 20 estus to chug and you're wearing stone armor and spamming pyromancy with massive health, the game is basically a joke, aside from maybe the dlc bosses. You can just straight up facetank, chug, and spam attack most bosses if you level your health early and wear a good set of armor.

 

[Parabalus]

Thanks for the help guys.

Is it safe to assume that all named enemies don't respawn, but all generic ones do?

I killed some Havel guy in the Burg tower which leads to an area filled with golems who take very little damage (compared to the undead). Is it worth trying to kill them (Havel took me several tries, if they respawn dunno if I can) or should I follow path after Taurus?

 

[Wunderbar]

Things that matter: 45% player's skill, 45% equipment, 10% stats.

Eh, that depends. You can definitely swap skill for stats there with the right build. When you've got 20 estus to chug and you're wearing stone armor and spamming pyromancy with massive health, the game is basically a joke, aside from maybe the dlc bosses. You can just straight up facetank, chug, and spam attack most bosses if you level your health early and wear a good set of armor.

but ability to get those powerful spells, armor and weapons is skill

I killed some Havel guy in the Burg tower which leads to an area filled with golems who take very little damage (compared to the undead). Is it worth trying to kill them (Havel took me several tries, if they respawn dunno if I can) or should I follow path after Taurus?

crystal golems are generic enemies, they will respawn. Follow path after Taurus.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Or explore the garden more and potentially find some cool shit off the rails. Don't feel pressured to kill everything in an area, you can come back later.

 

[Parabalus]

I killed some Havel guy in the Burg tower which leads to an area filled with golems who take very little damage (compared to the undead). Is it worth trying to kill them (Havel took me several tries, if they respawn dunno if I can) or should I follow path after Taurus?

crystal golems are generic enemies, they will respawn. Follow path after Taurus.

I ran past them and ended up in "The Valley of Drakes" after an elevator ride and got mauled by a dragon, but before that I picked up some sword and a dragon crest shield.

I think I'll run around a bit more to see where I end up, but could I end up "trapped" if I light a bad bonfire?

 

[Damned Registrations]

You can't get literally trapped, but there are definitely paths that are harder to travel in reverse. You should be ok as long as you don't light a bonfire at the bottom of the Tomb.

 

[Lutte]

Things that matter: 45% player's skill, 45% equipment, 10% stats.

Eh, that depends. You can definitely swap skill for stats there with the right build. When you've got 20 estus to chug and you're wearing stone armor and spamming pyromancy with massive health, the game is basically a joke, aside from maybe the dlc bosses. You can just straight up facetank, chug, and spam attack most bosses if you level your health early and wear a good set of armor.

Yeah, but all that is mostly not due to your own character stats but items you gain.
The impact of your character actual personal stats on the game isn't that amazing. You can do the facetank strategy at SL1 too during NG.

 

[Damned Registrations]

For sure. But trust me, as someone who made a cheeseball pyro for pvp with insane health and stamina walking around with a greatshield and 450 lightning damage weapon at like, level 50, you can definitely get a huge benefit from stats. It's easy to think of it as 'Oh, it's just 50% more health, whatever' but really what you're after is the remaining health after you take a hit, and the difference between having 50 hp after being hit and 550 hp is freaking huge, especially with power within.

 

[newtmonkey]

I ran past them and ended up in "The Valley of Drakes" after an elevator ride and got mauled by a dragon, but before that I picked up some sword and a dragon crest shield.

I think I'll run around a bit more to see where I end up...

One of the funnest things about these games is making suicide runs into areas with powerful enemies to grab high quality loot. People claim that Dark Souls series is hard, but it is actually extremely generous in this respect, in that you keep anything you grab (and any shortcuts, etc. you unlock), even if you die.

Whenever I start a new game of Dark Souls 1, I always go with the master key as my gift, and run around the explorable world gathering stuff. You can get a very decent head start just with all the soul items you can collect in the areas that are available to you at the beginning (and that shield you picked up is great).