From Software The Dark Souls Discussion Thread

[Multi-headed Cow]

At least this time they can't worm their way out of the next "Best RPG 2012" list on grounds of "It's not on PC!".

Speaking of, did Jaesun ever compile RPGotY 2011? Did Skyrim win?

 

[Jasede]

Yep.

1. The Witcher 2
2. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
3. Skyrim

I shit you not.

Popamole
Popamole
Hiking Simulator



And for an added lol, I believe to remember that Dark Souls was voted as the best RPG 2011 in the same thread that these three were decided, but it wasn't counted due to not being released on the PC.

 

[BlackAdderBG]

OK,so played for few hours and have a question,is it just that?Full action game with some stats for item requirements or the game actually has some rpg elements later on?

 

[Jasede]

Pretty much an action game with stats. Though you could look at it as a Third Person Dungeon Crawler.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Would depend on your definition of 'RPG elements'. There are alternate ways to deal with various characters and factions in the game (and not just in the sense of do quest or ignore/kill character.)

These interactions tend to be subtle and have little impact for most characters though.

Als,o, protip for anyone playing the game: if you're interested in the lore, about 90% of it is gleaned through the item descriptions. Almost everything in the game contains a reference to some character, place, faction or event.

For example:

Sunlight Medal


"This faintly warm medal, engraved with the symbol of the Sun, is the ultimate honour, awarded to those who summon the Warrior of Sunlight and complete a goal.
The symbol represents Lord Gwyn's firstborn, who lost his deity status and was expunged from the annals. But the old God of War still watches closely over his warriors."

You can actually piece together a lot by reading everything.

 

[toroid]

I would have hoped the slime creatures don't respawn

You definitely want them to respawn. A few spoilers:

Spoiler

They drop green titanite shards and large titanite shards. The drop rate is just bearable with 10 humanity. Need humanity? Farm the rats around the corner. The slimes are weak against fire. You rescued the pyromancer at the beginning of the Depths, right? Take that shortcut back to Firelink Shrine and he will be there ready to set you up with pyromancy.

 

[BlackAdderBG]

Well some sort of character progression beside the item one.As I see it what class you play is irrelevant and with some grinding you can pump souls in any attribute to moderate level.I pick to be magic user looking to not play with sword and shield like all the pictures and videos that I saw for the game,but end up with one spell and playing sword and board after all.I.m sure that there is more stuff afterwards ,but with that obnoxious target lock and camera it is hard to motivate myself to continue.It is already frustrating to die after the game decide to change targets to mobs that you don't face and you are either killed because of missed spell or unexpected roll.That makes for very tedious gameplay when you know what,when and how to do stuff ,but controls and bad camera tamper your enjoyment.

 

[insukk]

This game is just getting better and better.
Atmosphere of Blighttown and Darkroot Garden / Basin was creppy in a really great way. I really hope so that next locations will be as cool as this three.

 

[Manjuice Nutella]

Hmm dunno. Overall the game seems pretty nice, reminds me alot of the Soul Reaver series. The port is fucking atrocious; I know it's only because ppl asked for it etc. but they could've at least bothered on a minimal level, like the remaining X-bawks buttons.

About the combat: On the one hand, the actual boss fight sequences are genuinely good, engaging and rewarding. it requires the player to pay attention and are well thought out moments of tense action. On the other hand, I'm currently not convinced that those trash mob respawns really add anything substantial beside tediousness that would feel rewarding to the player by overcoming it, especially since the combat options available make it kinda repetitive.

I've heard a lot of good things about this game and that it's universally acclaimed, on the Codex as well, and I'm genuinely interested, and I'll try my luck next time (got my ass owned by long gauntlet with mobs with shields two-shotting me)as well. Any tips/strategies?

 

[Average Manatee]

I've heard a lot of good things about this game and that it's universally acclaimed, on the Codex as well, and I'm genuinely interested, and I'll try my luck next time (got my ass owned by long gauntlet with mobs with shields two-shotting me)as well. Any tips/strategies?

What class are you and what is your equipment? Tactics vary wildly between loadouts.

 

[Manjuice Nutella]

I've heard a lot of good things about this game and that it's universally acclaimed, on the Codex as well, and I'm genuinely interested, and I'll try my luck next time (got my ass owned by long gauntlet with mobs with shields two-shotting me)as well. Any tips/strategies?

What class are you and what is your equipment? Tactics vary wildly between loadouts.

Pyromancer with a shortsword and up to 8x fireball/wooden shield, 616 hp. I mostly dodge attacks or hit enemies repeatedly, which staggers them. Fireball obliterates them, but there are only 8 charges of it between the bonfire rests.

 

[Average Manatee]

Small shields are for parrying. If you want to duke it out then find a shield with 100% physical protection (merchant in undead burg has a few I believe). Just block until they hit for 0 damage then counter, and strafe around to see if you can get a backstab.

If you want more caster firepower, take a trip down the elevator at firelink and talk to the merchant down there. He can sell you a wand and Soul Arrow spell (30 charges) for a few thousand souls. Sorcerer spells require INT to scale though (pyromancy doesn't which makes it OP), so if you want to rely on it later on you'll need to invest.

If you want to be able to flat out break their guard, you'll need a strong two handed weapon. Zweihander can be gotten from the cemetery if you dodge around some skeletons.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

1. The Witcher 2
2. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
3. Skyrim

I realize lots of codexers hate Bethesda, but damn. Skyrim's pretty damn good, and getting beaten by Deus Ex?
Couldn't really say for Witcher 2 since I haven't really played it due to piss poor performance. Witcher 2 PC primary platform has way worse performance than Dark Souls shitty port for me.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Gah. Fucking Ornstein and Smough. Seriously considering just giving up on this shit and playing another build. I can try the rapier thing after I buy the game and get phantoms to win the boss fights for me. As things stand the only way I can possibly win this fight is through massive cheesing. And I can't even employ that cheesing without backtracking a huge distance to get supplies.

 

[betamin]

God damn it, did anybody found the Sen's fortress bonfire on their own? I had to check a guide for it and I would have never found it.

Playing a sorcerer now, very fun stuff. I did in 8 hours the same amount of playing that I did in 16 hours with my first character.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Killed Havel, then decided I didn't want to go through his door since it used the master key to open it. Going to assume that's high for me right now. His ring seems great for me though since I wear a bunch of heavy armor, boosts my encumbrance enough to noticeably move and roll faster. Bought the poison resist ring since that comes highly recommended. I'm at Andre now (Probably gonna start exploring those woods next) and trying to decide what if anything I dump some titanite on. Got 12 titanite shards but I dunno what I wanna do with 'em. Astora's sword seems to be losing some luster judging by gaping dragon and Havel, and since it takes twinkling to upgrade fuck that noise. Was looking for weapons that benefit a lot from strength, and zweihander and greataxe seem to get the most benefit but also are slow as shit and require more strength than I've got to wield one handed at the moment, only like 3 points away from zweihandering though. Also gave Andre the large ember I found somewhere since he wanted it.

And finally since I went legit I'm seeing messages and bloodstains and such now, that's pretty cool. Tried plopping my marker near the gargoyles but nothing happened after a few minutes. Was level 26 at the time, may be too high for gargoyles for most people? Not sure.

 

[betamin]

Killed Havel, then decided I didn't want to go through his door since it used the master key to open it. Going to assume that's high for me right now. His ring seems great for me though since I wear a bunch of heavy armor, boosts my encumbrance enough to noticeably move and roll faster. Bought the poison resist ring since that comes highly recommended. I'm at Andre now (Probably gonna start exploring those woods next) and trying to decide what if anything I dump some titanite on. Got 12 titanite shards but I dunno what I wanna do with 'em. Astora's sword seems to be losing some luster judging by gaping dragon and Havel, and since it takes twinkling to upgrade fuck that noise. Was looking for weapons that benefit a lot from strength, and zweihander and greataxe seem to get the most benefit but also are slow as shit and require more strength than I've got to wield one handed at the moment, only like 3 points away from zweihandering though. Also gave Andre the large ember I found somewhere since he wanted it.

And finally since I went legit I'm seeing messages and bloodstains and such now, that's pretty cool. Tried plopping my marker near the gargoyles but nothing happened after a few minutes. Was level 26 at the time, may be too high for gargoyles for most people? Not sure.

Zwei doesn't scale with strength as much as one would hope.

 

[Tommers]

It can sometimes take a bit of time to get summoned but 26 is pretty high for that boss. I find 10-20 there. 5-10 for burg.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Try the Claymore instead, you've probably found that by now. It's slightly weaker than the Zwei, but has much lower requirements and (imo) a much better moveset. It's classified as simply a greatsword, while the zwei is an 'ultra greatsword' along with some other ridiculously massive weapons.

 

[made]

Got tired of getting owned by titanite demons in Sen's, went to Dark Forest instead. The human enemies dropped like flies to my new lightning spear and dropped ridiculous amounts of souls. Almost felt like cheating farming them. Found OP stone armor set that was too heavy to wear even with Havel's ring so I farmed some more. Stomped everything including the sword swinging wolf (lol).
Went back to Sen's feeling like a boss; still got owned by titanite demons.
<3 this game

 

[Damned Registrations]

Stone Armor is OP because it can't be upgraded at all, so it's stats are already sky high to compensate. There are some other sets like that in the game as well. But if you put the money in, almost any set of equipment will be competitive with other stuff of similar weight, in case you just want to look cool. Though obviously things have individual strengths and weaknesses.

 

[praetor]

Got tired of getting owned by titanite demons in Sen's, went to Dark Forest instead. The human enemies dropped like flies to my new lightning spear and dropped ridiculous amounts of souls. Almost felt like cheating farming them. Found OP stone armor set that was too heavy to wear even with Havel's ring so I farmed some more. Stomped everything including the sword swinging wolf (lol).
Went back to Sen's feeling like a boss; still got owned by titanite demons.
<3 this game

for tittie demons: the 2 in the first rooms should be relatively easy since they have "normal" health and you can aggro only 1 at a time. always position yourself near their missing leg, swing 2-3 times then be prepared for their nasty jumping attack (unlock, watch him and roll away... or block it if you have a high stability shield, although it may break your guard if it hits you in the right spot). the 2 in the other room are very nasty, you can't deal with only one at a time and take a tooon of damage, so that will require a lot of patience. try cheesing the first one with some ranged attacks (pyro/magic/lightning work best, iirc, but a bow/crossbow with loads of arrows will do in a pinch. just equip it in your left hand, stand around the corner and lock onto the demon, keep your distance and bait him into performing his lightning attack, then sidestep and shoot him as soon as the lightning hits the wall. it'll take a while, but it's relatively safe)

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Tried the claymore, then upgraded it to +5. Has a thrust attack which I liked with Astora's. Now I gotta figure out if I want +6 claymore or "Raw" claymore I guess.

 

[felipepepe]

God damn it, did anybody found the Sen's fortress bonfire on their own? I had to check a guide for it and I would have never found it.

It's really hidden, no way I would have found it either... But I'm very proud to say I found the secret path to Ash Lake on my own, even if just by luck.

And seriously, what kind game hides two big areas like that, not behind a secret wall, but behind TWO consecutives secret walls?

 

[Dexter]

Got 12 titanite shards but I dunno what I wanna do with 'em. Astora's sword seems to be losing some luster judging by gaping dragon and Havel, and since it takes twinkling to upgrade fuck that noise. Was looking for weapons that benefit a lot from strength, and zweihander and greataxe seem to get the most benefit but also are slow as shit and require more strength than I've got to wield one handed at the moment, only like 3 points away from zweihandering though. Also gave Andre the large ember I found somewhere since he wanted it.

And finally since I went legit I'm seeing messages and bloodstains and such now, that's pretty cool. Tried plopping my marker near the gargoyles but nothing happened after a few minutes. Was level 26 at the time, may be too high for gargoyles for most people? Not sure.

You can pretty much buy Titanite Shards from Andre for like ~800 Souls, and as I found out spending souls or losing them isn't really as bad as I first thought, since the more you progress with the story, the more you seem to get with single enemies dropping 1000+ a pop and bosses 30k+ souls, so go ahead and upgrade whatever weapons you feel like to at least +5 (and armor to +3).

I didn't particularly enjoy Blighttown that much, since it was pretty much a gauntlet run till I got down to the bottom, loved some of the surrounding areas though.

Also constantly finding new hidden shit and secrets, for instance from Blighttown there seems to be an entire area, some sort of hidden area that is a huge hollow tree hidden behind a few illusory walls.
It's too bad that you didn't cut off the Gaping Dragon's Tail, since the weapon he drops has 380 base damage (but requires 50Str to wear), seems the best Two-Handed weapon I found so far xD

Up to Sen's Fortress now...

Marker/CoOp seems to be a bit retarded, first it likely won't work if you are behind a Router/Firewall and don't have the given ports forwarded (Network Settings in Windows Live should say NAT: Open), second you can only summon people or see their signs while in Human form and a lot of those seem to be failing and so far I only managed to get summoned myself twice by dropping my sign right before a boss...