From Software The Dark Souls Discussion Thread

[Silva]

Some days ago we were discussing what a possible Souls sequel could be. Well, one possible avenue to explore is the Painted World. As in: the outside world was finally destroyed after eons of cycles, and the only survivors were the ones inhabiting the Painted World when the boy recreated it. As we brought the Painted both Fire and Dark to recreate it, one would still have the dichotomy light vs dark in place.

Anyway, that's the overall idea. Just wanted to let that out.

 

[Wunderbar]

Some days ago we were discussing what a possible Souls sequel could be. Well, one possible avenue to explore is the Painted World. As in: the outside world was finally destroyed after eons of cycles, and the only survivors were the ones inhabiting the Painted World when the boy recreated it. As we brought the Painted both Fire and Dark to recreate it, one would still have the dichotomy light vs dark in place.

Anyway, that's the overall idea. Just wanted to let that out.

miyazaki wanted to break the light/dark cycle from DaS2, so he created his own cycle: world gets destroyed - someone paints a painted world. DaS4 - this time after beating the final boss we must decide whether we should relocate to another painting, or just let the world die.

 

[Silva]

miyazaki wanted to break the light/dark cycle from DaS2, so he created his own cycle world gets destroyed - someone paints a painted world. DaS4 - this time after beating the final boss we must decide whether we should relocate to another painting, or just let the world die.

What if the dilemma isn't to relocate or not, but what pigment(s) to carry/paint the new world with? Life, death, light, dark, fire, ice, soul, hollow, legacy, innovation, etc.

The painter girl didn't need to wait for the dark pigment from uncle Gael. But she chose to, so the new world is one of balance.

 

[Black Angel]

Making it a cycle is a mistake in the first place, it's way too cliche for the spirit of Souls and From's unique approach to narrative imo. An example of a cycle theme done right is Dragon's Dogma, especially with Dark Arisen DLC where they have an entirely new dungeon dedicated for the one who tried (and failed) to break the cycle. They even added a new phase to the final boss for when you confront him the 2nd time and onward.

 

[Wunderbar]

A painting inside the painting inside the painting inside the painting...

 

[Latelistener]

Can somebody recommend me good weapons to upgrade? Just wanted to make some achievements.

I already got Claymore +15 and Divine Longsword +10. Raw doesn't really matter, but I still need Crystal, Lightning, Magic, Enchanted, Fire, Chaos and Occult.

I know that most of these weapons probably won't be good due to split damage, but slabs are hard to come by and I was thinking that maybe there are some interesting semi-viable examples like, let's say, Lighting Halberd or Chaos Uchigatana so those slabs at least won't be completely wasted.

 

[Teut Busnet]

Wasn't 'Lightning Zweihänder' some kind of 'Meta' at one point? I know it stays powerful even in NG++++ but it's a good weapon regardless of upgrade path.

 

[The_Mask]

Wasn't 'Lightning Zweihänder' some kind of 'Meta' at one point? I know it stays powerful even in NG++++ but it's a good weapon regardless of upgrade path.

The Zwei is fearsome because it has one of the highest poise damage in the game.
The lightning path is strong because most of the bosses in DS 1 are weak to lightning in a various degree, with the notable exceptions of O&S, and Gwyn.

Never heard of it being meta. Maybe a meme, if you're going daddy mode, but no.

Trully, there is no answer to his question, because even a poor weapon can shine in the right wielder's hands. He can ascend any weapons at random, and he'd be right (or wrong) depending on his own skill/preference.

 

[Lutte]

Can somebody recommend me good weapons to upgrade? Just wanted to make some achievements.

I already got Claymore +15 and Divine Longsword +10. Raw doesn't really matter, but I still need Crystal, Lightning, Magic, Enchanted, Fire, Chaos and Occult.

I know that most of these weapons probably won't be good due to split damage, but slabs are hard to come by and I was thinking that maybe there are some interesting semi-viable examples like, let's say, Lighting Halberd or Chaos Uchigatana so those slabs at least won't be completely wasted.

While most weapons are viable, you can't go wrong with any of these whether they're high damage focused or utility (zwei pancake makes dealing with some areas of the game so much nicer) and versatile movesets :
Balder Side Sword, Uchigatana, Zweihander, Great Club, Large Club, Mace, Falchion, Painting Guardian Sword, Great Scythe, Halberd.
Divine longsword was half a mistake. Divine is the only non standard upgrade path worth going for on a character that has good stats because of its utility in dealing with the catacombs, and since skeletons are most vulnerable to strike weapons, clubs and maces are what should be divine upgraded. Comparatively, the other upgrade paths aren't really worth it if you're not a sl1 character (although if you're an achievement whore I guess this is going to be inevitable for ja). They're not worth it even if you make a mage or cleric type. Why? Because elemental weapons can't be buffed. And buffs make fast hitting weapons absolute boss shredders. Oh, boy, buffing a painting guardian sword and going to town on bosses..

 

[polo]

Just upgrade any weapon you like the moveset, using the path you want and go with it.

 

[Silverfish]

Can somebody recommend me good weapons to upgrade? Just wanted to make some achievements.

I already got Claymore +15 and Divine Longsword +10. Raw doesn't really matter, but I still need Crystal, Lightning, Magic, Enchanted, Fire, Chaos and Occult.

I know that most of these weapons probably won't be good due to split damage, but slabs are hard to come by and I was thinking that maybe there are some interesting semi-viable examples like, let's say, Lighting Halberd or Chaos Uchigatana so those slabs at least won't be completely wasted.

Crystal, enchanted, lightning and occult are the easiest as weapons with those infusions appear in Anor Londo, Duke's Archives and Sen's. All you have to do is finish upgrading them. For fire and chaos, it depends on how much you want to invest into strength. If you want to keep it low, the reinforced club is a monster when infused. If you don't mind boosting strength up to 22, use the greataxe and then 2-hand it. It's got one of the highest base attack ratings for infused weapons.

Edit: Almost forgot, don't worry about split damage in DS1. Despite From's best efforts post-launch, split weapons are still viable. All that was accomplished was that they went from gamebreakers to merely really good.

 

[Perkel]

Zwai is the best because it can pancake almost everything in game.
My first playtrough weapon.

 

[Casual Hero]

My first successful playthrough was with the Lightning Zwei. It was really fun, and staggering 99% of enemies was nice.
I have a playthrough going on the side with a Great Scythe this time, and I might be having an even more fun time. It doesn't pancake enemies, but it has such a wide range so it can make crowd control really easy. I also actually beat O&S solo for the first time using the Great Scythe.

The first thing I did when I got out of the Undead Asylum was go to the catacombs bc I didn't want to wait to get the Scythe, and man, it took me maybe 2 hours to finally made it there without dying. But it was very satisfying to demolish the next few hours of the game with my OP weapon.

 

[cruel]

Wasn't sure where to put it. Probably the best list of top 10 Souls-like games, as of current date:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MTGUyDwETk

 

[cvv]

Wasn't sure where to put it. Probably the best list of top 10 Souls-like games, as of current date:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MTGUyDwETk

Nothing against someone else tastes but if you put "best Souls-likes" in the title and a few minutes in the video you say "it's not really a list of Souls-likes, more like a list of games Souls fans might enjoy", it's a big ooof. Also he apparently couldn't make up his mind if FromSoft games should be included or not - Sekiro yes, Bloodborne no. Ooof.

So instead of metroidvanias like Blasphemous, Dead Cells or Hollow Knight (all great games, no doubt) how about putting in some actual Souls-likes? Lords of the Fallen, Ashen and Darksiders 3 are all excellent Souls-likes that absolutely should be on the list.

 

[Silverfish]

Squarespace must be pretty badass since it's listed twice.

 

[Average Manatee]

Souls-like = you can die and there isn't an autosave every 20s.

 

[The_Mask]

Souls-like = you can die and there isn't an autosave every 20s.

Technically Dark Souls saves every 20s, every time you pick an item, every time you kill an enemy and every time you progress through a non-boss fog door, and sometimes even when you get a new area title screen.

 

[cvv]

every time you kill an enemy

You sure about that?

 

[The_Mask]

every time you kill an enemy

You sure about that?

Not 100% sure, because I haven't had many crashes, but I am pretty sure that if your game crashes during combat it does remember who you've killed. As far as I know, anything that is a ragdoll is instantly recorded.

 

[praetor]

Wasn't 'Lightning Zweihänder' some kind of 'Meta' at one point? I know it stays powerful even in NG++++ but it's a good weapon regardless of upgrade path.

The Zwei is fearsome because it has one of the highest poise damage in the game.
The lightning path is strong because most of the bosses in DS 1 are weak to lightning in a various degree, with the notable exceptions of O&S, and Gwyn.

Never heard of it being meta. Maybe a meme, if you're going daddy mode, but no.

Trully, there is no answer to his question, because even a poor weapon can shine in the right wielder's hands. He can ascend any weapons at random, and he'd be right (or wrong) depending on his own skill/preference.

lightning zwei was meta early on on PS3 'cause of how OP lightning infusion was. though they nerfed it relatively early on

 

[Jasede]

I know we discuss this from time to time but I just have to make a confession: Dark Souls 2 is the comfiest Souls for me. There's something to its depressing, disjointed atmosphere that reminds one of old adventure games. And of course the similarities to King's Field are there, too, due to the director.

I can't explain why I always come back to 2. It just... feels snappy and timeless in some way? Strange, since it's often so maligned.

Don't know exactly why but I was bored and had time to spare and decided to try out unarmed/caestus combat and everything just clicks and works as it should.

 

[Multidirectional]

Dark Souls II is easiest to replay for me as well, despite being longest.

 

[Cryomancer]

The greatest DS2 strength is IMO the lack fo BS bosses like Capra demon and bed of chaos...

 

[Silverfish]

Never understood the hate that persists to this very day for Bed of Chaos. Like avoiding pitfalls and environmental hazards is some unheard of bullshit that From conjured up and foisted upon everyone.