Magician shouldn't be harder than any other starting class. Mail breaker + shield your way through 1-1, firebomb the boss to death.
... I'm going to have to try it now, aren't I?
Do you know what class was used for a speed run attempt at Demon's Souls?
THE MAGICIAN
He has fire. Phalanx doesn't like fire. End of story.
It's a damn good thing I *kind* of know what I'm doing in DS these days. And even with that I had some stupid deaths last night... though oddly enough none of them were on bosses. I didn't die in 4-1 at all, surprisingly... even with the first thing I did being rushing the first black skeleton and picking up the Crescent Falchion before jumping off and escaping.
Only died in 3-1 once, the death itself was rather funny... second mind flayer, I rushed at him, missed and went to the side of him where there was a broken railing opening, he did his AoE blast and threw me off of the walkway. Whoops.
And then a few annoying deaths in 5-1 mostly with the giants and awkward places to fight them. I did go up and nab Istarelle, but in this build I don't really plan to ever have 24 Faith. I suppose I *could* make an exception, but I don't know...
Thinking back on this, I'm amazed I didn't die in 5-2. Granted, I was pretty focused and I definitely didn't go through and get everything, didn't even do the hive and get the Moonlight sword. So there's definitely a lot more wandering I could've done.
In general, nabbing the Crescent Falchion from 4-1 just upped my damage so ridiculously from the dagger/secret dagger. To that end, it *probably* wasn't worth grabbing the secret dagger, considering what I had to go through. But the silver bracelets, which I've been wearing since, have gotten me some nice bonuses. Hell, the Dirty Colossus alone gave me like 40k souls.
So now I'm stuck at work thinking about going through 2-1 and 2-2 to get my BBS made. Bah. I do hope the sword is worth it... sounds fun anyway.
I guess I should ask, has anyone here played around with a BBS build before?
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ElldrenIs a woman dammitceterum censeoRegistered Userregular
Now when I log into the game it asks me if I want to sign in and I pick No.
Then it tells me I can't play online in that case and I'm all "that's cool".
So now I'm doing all my shifting to black stuff. Got the Tali of Beasts, killed a couple of primeval demons (didn't get a soul from one of them ) and am generally farming gear for the build I'm following. Lots of ambushing that poor lil shaman dude near the 5-2 archstone for faithstone.
Not sure if I want to bother with char tendency this playthrough, might wait until ng+. I've only got the 3-2 and 3-3 bosses to go.
wow.
You went from just starting this new game to precisely where I am in the course of what, a week? two weeks? I salute you, sir.
It's a blast, since Straight Swords are my favorite weapon type, it has a very long range, and the requirements for it let you be fairly well balanced.
It's a blast, since Straight Swords are my favorite weapon type, it has a very long range, and the requirements for it let you be fairly well balanced.
What sort of soul level are you at and roughly what've you done with your stats so far? I'm going to assume you're in a NG+ of some sort, but I wonder what sort of damage your BBS does.
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Garret Dorigan"Why can't I be DLC for UMvC3?"Registered Userregular
ive been interested in this game for a while, but i never had the chance to pick it up.
however, looking at the first page, someone stated that the servers were going down in 2011. is there offline play in this game? if the servers go down, does that mean i wont be able to play this game anymore?
ive been interested in this game for a while, but i never had the chance to pick it up.
however, looking at the first page, someone stated that the servers were going down in 2011. is there offline play in this game? if the servers go down, does that mean i wont be able to play this game anymore?
The servers might go down in 2011. The current contract lasts until then, but then again it's already been extended once so if it still popular I wouldn't be too worried.
Vit - 30
Int - 18
End - 40
Str - 18
Dex - 18
Mag - 18
Faith - 18
Luck - 30
I want to say that my BBS does somewhere around 350 damage, and a lot more if I use Light Weapon.
But the damage on there was pretty solid even when I only had 10 Luck.
Ooo, fancy. Two examples in a row... interesting that you both went with 18 Int, the 'guide' only recommends 15 minimum... which also makes no sense because you get one of the extra slots at 14, which means 15 is almost nothing... unless it's a mana bump to be able to cast certain spells. That must be it.
I see Garret went with 22 Strength for the PFS (which I'm tempted to do as well, especially with Lurker coming up...)
With my Thief's Luck having a starting value of 15, I should be ok for a bit as my next priority is probably pumping Endurance. Neither of you have done too much pumping of Luck I suppose, and yet the sword already does that kind of damage? Nice... I don't know how much I remember about straight sword's swing styles and such, how fast and such.
Looks like Garret's going for a bit more of a magical route with Magic at 30 already. I probably won't even *start* on Vitality until I get Endurance to at least 30. I'm a ways off from that yet. Do you do more of an offensive magical route, Garret? Situational I presume.
I wonder if it's worth attempting to make a Lava Bow? Considering my Dex is going to be stuck at 18, I don't think a standard Sticky bow is going to be sufficient for Reaper farming on 4-2, is it? Of course, Magic isn't going to be any higher. Though I can't remember if Lava Bow's damage is heavily Magic based or if it's more static like Dragon weapons. Hmm... any opinions?
I know at the moment I'm at SL 40 and I'm at the bare minimum to being able to equip the BBS, I just got my 18th point in Faith at SL 40 last night after the Maiden fight.
Ooo, fancy. Two examples in a row... interesting that you both went with 18 Int, the 'guide' only recommends 15 minimum... which also makes no sense because you get one of the extra slots at 14, which means 15 is almost nothing... unless it's a mana bump to be able to cast certain spells. That must be it.
I want to say that 16 Int is the 100 mana needed to cast Second Chance. 18 Int is the third slot you need to cast Firestorm or Soulsucker.
Believe me, in NG+ you'll want Soulsucker to kill the giant bearbugs.
With my Thief's Luck having a starting value of 15, I should be ok for a bit as my next priority is probably pumping Endurance. Neither of you have done too much pumping of Luck I suppose, and yet the sword already does that kind of damage? Nice... I don't know how much I remember about straight sword's swing styles and such, how fast and such.
They generally swing fairly quickly and handle similar to a Mace or Battle Axe. The primary difference is that they have the amazing R2 lunge attack.
Looks like Garret's going for a bit more of a magical route with Magic at 30 already. I probably won't even *start* on Vitality until I get Endurance to at least 30. I'm a ways off from that yet. Do you do more of an offensive magical route, Garret? Situational I presume.
The extra Magic is probably for more power on Light Weapon with Insanity Catalyst. I happen to prefer the higher base damage and the flexibility of Talisman of Beasts.
I wonder if it's worth attempting to make a Lava Bow? Considering my Dex is going to be stuck at 18, I don't think a standard Sticky bow is going to be sufficient for Reaper farming on 4-2, is it? Of course, Magic isn't going to be any higher. Though I can't remember if Lava Bow's damage is heavily Magic based or if it's more static like Dragon weapons. Hmm... any opinions?
Yes, yes, yes get a Lava Bow . The Fire damage scales ever so slightly with Magic, but not enough to worry about. It's close enough to static that it should be treated that way.
I know at the moment I'm at SL 40 and I'm at the bare minimum to being able to equip the BBS, I just got my 18th point in Faith at SL 40 last night after the Maiden fight.
Yeah, the 18 in each is all you really need. The sword is fairly heavy though, so you'll need some Endurance too if you want decent armor.
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Garret Dorigan"Why can't I be DLC for UMvC3?"Registered Userregular
edited August 2010
Imma break this up into points so I don't confuse myself...
1)15 Int is a minimum to get 100 mana, letting you cast Second Chance.
2)Yeah, I went 22 on Str for the PFS+10, but it stemmed from 'Ohhhh, pretty...' more than a plan. It is much better served getting a Knight Shield +10 or a Kite Shield +10. In all reality, the 3 HitRes won't make much of a difference, so I'd recommend the Kite.
3)You get more bang for your buck with 30 Mag than 30 Luck, vice 25 Luck (And after 30 Luck the damage added is negligible, something like 1 damage per point.).
You get 4 extra points of damage per point between 25 and 30 Luck, meaning an overall 20 damage increase.
You get a total of 45 extra points of listed damage with the increase from 18 to 30 Mag, a net increase of 25 damage. Plus, if you use it situationally (You don't have the mana to spam it.), Soul Ray hits like a truck.
4)Me? I mostly use buffs and slash. On harder enemies (Red Eye Knights, Black Skeletons, NPCBPs, Giant Depraved Ones.) I may use Soul Ray to lure to an area more favorable for me, but that's about it.
My magic slots are usually filled with Light Weapon and Soul Ray, but Soul Thirst, Warding, Poison Cloud, and Soulsucker will pass in and out depending on what I'm doing.
5)The lava bow gets more damage from Str and Dex than Mag, and at 18 Dex is the highest damaging bow you can get. Once you get that high on your Int and Mag, the BP Black Skeleton in 4-2 is a much better way to get souls, but you can easily farm the Reaper with a Lava Bow.
In terms of bows, the hard and fast rule is "If under 24 Dex, go with Lava. At 24 go with White. Above 24 go with Sticky." You'll get a minor listed damage increase if you use a Sticky bow between 18 and 24, but you lose actual damage on most enemies due to resistances and the lack of LB's fire damage.
EDIT: Point 2 stems from the idea that you are one-handing the sword and are going to use a shield, thus, you want HitRes. If you are going to two hand it, I'd recommend either a Rune Shield or Adjudicators Shield +5 on your back. I cannot recommend the use of a DSS. It has a HitRes (AKA Guard Break Reduction.) of 65, compared to even the Kite's 75. You will definitely notice that missing 10 HitRes, on top of the fact that any offensive magic you use is going to suck in terms of damage.
Now when I log into the game it asks me if I want to sign in and I pick No.
Then it tells me I can't play online in that case and I'm all "that's cool".
So now I'm doing all my shifting to black stuff. Got the Tali of Beasts, killed a couple of primeval demons (didn't get a soul from one of them ) and am generally farming gear for the build I'm following. Lots of ambushing that poor lil shaman dude near the 5-2 archstone for faithstone.
Not sure if I want to bother with char tendency this playthrough, might wait until ng+. I've only got the 3-2 and 3-3 bosses to go.
wow.
You went from just starting this new game to precisely where I am in the course of what, a week? two weeks? I salute you, sir.
Dude Morninglord is a fucking power gamer man
I found this out when I was helping a guy out with combat in the AC thread and he posts a motherfucking dissertation on the entire engine
I cannot recommend the use of a DSS. It has a HitRes (AKA Guard Break Reduction.) of 65, compared to even the Kite's 75. You will definitely notice that missing 10 HitRes, on top of the fact that any offensive magic you use is going to suck in terms of damage.
I have to strongly disagree with this.
100% magic block is amazing and far better than the PFS, plus it saves you 4 strength.
And the magic damage reduction is irrelevant. Your Catalyst needs to be in your left hand to cast Light Weapon, so it'll never be out at the same time as your shield.
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Garret Dorigan"Why can't I be DLC for UMvC3?"Registered Userregular
I cannot recommend the use of a DSS. It has a HitRes (AKA Guard Break Reduction.) of 65, compared to even the Kite's 75. You will definitely notice that missing 10 HitRes, on top of the fact that any offensive magic you use is going to suck in terms of damage.
I have to strongly disagree with this.
100% magic block is amazing and far better than the PFS, plus it saves you 4 strength.
And the magic damage reduction is irrelevant. Your Catalyst needs to be in your left hand to cast Light Weapon, so it'll never be out at the same time as your shield.
We'll have to agree to disagree then. :P
I view HitRes on a shield to be more important than MagBlk, is all I'm saying. Also note that I said a KS+10 (Either one) is usually a better choice, and I'll say now the only reason I say usually is because of the FireBlk on a PFS.
Explain these abbreviations to me? (DSS, PFS, etc.)
Also, I hate 3-1. Stupid pits. Where is Freke hiding?
Dark Silver Shield
Purple Flame Shield
Freke's the first landing down on the first staircase down you find, as opposed to the up staircase. His key, however, is all the way at the end of the level.
Plus, Sticky is an utter bastard to get the stone for.
God this. My 110 SL Meat Cleaver wielding Temple Knight has a Sticky Compound Longbow +4... I have the Pure and the Chunks for the last upgrade... but I'm missing Shards or Large and have had *no* luck getting any more. All of the Crystal Lizards in world 2 are dead I'm pretty sure (as it's complete), so my only option was to try and kill miners. Ugh.
Obviously you both disagree on the shield choice, however keep in mind that Garret seems to be doing a little more offensive magic, which factors into his preference, whereas gjaustin pretty much only uses magic for the buffs.
Depending on how badly I can cheese the Flamelurker fight, I could do it without the PFS I suppose. Seeing as I already made Garl suicide for his armor/shield, I have my DSS as I mentioned. Now I have to remember all the easy to get Colorless Demon's Souls... I have the rafters one and there is at least one from the bird girl, whom I haven't dealt with just yet. I'm currently thinking I'll boost the DSS before the Adjudicator's Shield...
If I have the Lava Bow I don't think I'll be too concerned about ranged offensive stuff like Soul Ray, I find bows more versatile with the aiming and such.
Luck I'm a bit torn on at the moment... but really, if 30 is the major curve of diminishing returns, maybe I'll stop around there. Also, it does *seem* like even with just 15 luck, the Thief gets a lot of drops. Which is good, because I've been going through the Crescent Moon Grass like crazy and still have like 60 of it. Though my Half Moon grass is stupidly low.
My major issue right off is getting the materials to boost my starting short bow to make the Lava Bow, hopefully I'll get a majority of that just for clearing 2-1... I was thinking of doing the shortcut for Flame Lurker just to get that soul quickly, but there are a lot of materials on that level too. Hmm... eh, could always go back afterwards.
And yes, in that way I am looking forward to Soulsucker... as I mentioned, I haven't actually been into a NG+ yet. My SL 80 first character, mostly magic with some melee, had a very tough time with Allant and I haven't been back up to his room to try him again. That was quite a while ago.
Edit: Oh, and as far as armor goes, right now I'm using the Binded Armor (so creepy), though I went back to my Black Leather for 5-2 with the Poison Resistance on it. Since we have easy PWWT anyway, after I beat 3-1 and grab the key from 3-2, I wanna go back and grab the Rogue's Clothes... I've never seen what that looks like, but I think I'll use either that or the Black Leather purely because they fit my thiefy character better.
On my previous two characters (both melee, one Strength and one Faith) both had a more difficult time with Maneater than they did with Allant. Allant isn't too bad as long as you can stay mobile, move quick, dart in and out. I can see how he'd be hard as balls with heavy armor.
Purple Flame Shield tanking, other shield semi-tanking/rolling, rolling and soul arrow are all decent Flamelurker strategies, as is obliterating him with a Faith build, which they do rather easily.
Maneater's only hard due to the ease of rolling off. Aim for the tail and the first one will be rendered harmless by the time the second one shows up.
Allant actually requires you to memorise his attack pattern in order to dodge it, which doesn't really apply to any other boss.
I've done Flamelurker with a spiked shield. Any shield will do.
Allant is, in a straight-up fight without adopting cheap tactics, the hardest mandatory boss in the game (ignoring the variability of 3-3).
Both times I've killed Flamelurker has been using the stairs to get him stuck for long portions while either shooting him with spells or shooting him with arrows.
I haven't had much luck meleeing him. But I'll try it again I suppose. And if not, I do have a bow...
Obviously you both disagree on the shield choice, however keep in mind that Garret seems to be doing a little more offensive magic, which factors into his preference, whereas gjaustin pretty much only uses magic for the buffs.
Nah, my point is that shouldn't even be a factor in the decision.
The DSS only affects damage when its out. To block, it needs to be in the left hand. To be able cast Light Weapon, the catalyst needs to be in the left hand. Therefore, it and the catalyst will never be out at the same time.
All that being said, I do have a +10 Knight Shield on the character. I just never use it because everything I'm worried about does either Magic damage, Fire damage, or can bypass shields anyway.
The only thing I remember really needing the DSS for were the soul beaming shadow men on 4-2... god those fuckers suck. But once I got the DSS, smooth sailing.
I need to try to look through and see if I have any boss soul conflicts for stuff I want to get with them I suppose... isn't Light Weapon also the Pureblood Soul? I don't remember off hand.
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Garret Dorigan"Why can't I be DLC for UMvC3?"Registered Userregular
edited August 2010
AS: Adjudicators Shield
BBS: Blueblood Sword/Swordsman
BN: Baby's Nail (Also, PS for Plague Stabber O_o)
BUS: Large Brushwood Shield (Now more frequent, will also see LBS)
B__: A Blessed Weapon (Such as, BMH for Mirdan Hammer, BEX [Also written Becks] for a Executioner's Axe, etc.)
C__: A Crescent Weapon (Such as, CU for a Uchi, CK for a Kilji, etc.)
DBS: Dragon Bone Smasher
DSS: Dark Silver Shield
DSA: Dark Silver Armor
D__: A Dragon Weapon (Such as, DBAS for Bastard Sword, DLS and DKS for Long and Knight Swords, respectfully.)
Epee: Epee Rapier
GS: Great Sword (Usually BGS)
IC: Insanity Catalyst
Ist: Istarelle
KS: Kite/Knight Shield (Usually Knight.)
LB: Lava Bow
LSoM: Large Sword of Moonlight
LSoS: Large Sword of Searching
MB: Morion Blade
MC: Meat Cleaver
More: Claymore
M__: A Moon Weapon (Such as, MWS for Winged Spear, MU for Uchi, etc.)
NR: Northern Regalia
Nord: Northen Regalia
PFS: Purple Flame Shield
PP: Phosphorescent Pole
RS: Rune Shield/ Sword (When speaking of wielding both, RSS)
Scarp: Scraping Spear
SCB: Sticky Compound Long Bow (Sometimes Compound Short Bow, but not often.)
I need to try to look through and see if I have any boss soul conflicts for stuff I want to get with them I suppose... isn't Light Weapon also the Pureblood Soul? I don't remember off hand.
No, it's the Silver/Penetrator Soul, as is Cursed Weapon.
Pureblood is either BBS or Death Cloud.
The only thing I remember really needing the DSS for were the soul beaming shadow men on 4-2... god those fuckers suck. But once I got the DSS, smooth sailing.
I need to try to look through and see if I have any boss soul conflicts for stuff I want to get with them I suppose... isn't Light Weapon also the Pureblood Soul? I don't remember off hand.
It's also great against the Tower Knight, False King, Mindflayers, Old Monk, Reapers, and pretty much any Black Phantom.
Light Weapon is from Penetrator's soul.
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Garret Dorigan"Why can't I be DLC for UMvC3?"Registered Userregular
Obviously you both disagree on the shield choice, however keep in mind that Garret seems to be doing a little more offensive magic, which factors into his preference, whereas gjaustin pretty much only uses magic for the buffs.
Nah, my point is that shouldn't even be a factor in the decision.
The DSS only affects damage when its out. To block, it needs to be in the left hand. To be able cast Light Weapon, the catalyst needs to be in the left hand. Therefore, it and the catalyst will never be out at the same time.
All that being said, I do have a +10 Knight Shield on the character. I just never use it because everything I'm worried about does either Magic damage, Fire damage, or can bypass shields anyway.
Oh, to wit, I don't use a bow anymore. My second left hand slot has an IC (For Light Weapon) and my second right hand slot has a ToB (For everything else). Self important memory said that everyone did this. I apologize for that, and now that I'm out of personal perspective, I get where you're coming from.
Now, to that, I PvP a lot, so I tend to prefer HitRes.
Ah, good good. Bah, I'm very excited to get Flamelurker down tonight and get my BBS made, then collect stuff for a Lava Bow before continuing on I think. 2 hours of work to go... and it's a slow day, thus the posts here, so that isn't helping.
Once I get those two things done, I think I'll do some more of my world 3 stuff, get 3-1 down, grab the PWWT key from 3-2 and maybe go as far as getting the Ring of Avarice from the end... then grab my new Rogue's Clothing outfit from 3-1 and see how I like that... then maybe I'll go ahead and blitz 1-2 and 1-3 to get the Penetrator's Soul and get Light Weapon. Granted, I'm not sure how critical Light Weapon is on first run, bit I imagine it gets much more important on NG+?
Obviously you both disagree on the shield choice, however keep in mind that Garret seems to be doing a little more offensive magic, which factors into his preference, whereas gjaustin pretty much only uses magic for the buffs.
Nah, my point is that shouldn't even be a factor in the decision.
The DSS only affects damage when its out. To block, it needs to be in the left hand. To be able cast Light Weapon, the catalyst needs to be in the left hand. Therefore, it and the catalyst will never be out at the same time.
All that being said, I do have a +10 Knight Shield on the character. I just never use it because everything I'm worried about does either Magic damage, Fire damage, or can bypass shields anyway.
Oh, to wit, I don't use a bow anymore. My second left hand slot has an IC (For Light Weapon) and my second right hand slot has a ToB (For everything else). Self important memory said that everyone did this. I apologize for that, and now that I'm out of personal perspective, I get where you're coming from.
Now, to that, I PvP a lot, so I tend to prefer HitRes.
Ahh, and that makes sense. I never considered having one in each hand.
I personally keep another weapon in my second right hand slot. For my BBS, a Dragon Halberd for the reach and to do fire damage. I'll swap in my Lava Bow in certain circumstances.
So you're saying that Luck has pretty bad returns after 30? I still have 10 more levels to hit the "magic number" of 120, and I was thinking of putting them in there. I guess I could put them in Magic, but I don't really cast much at all. How much extra damage do you get from the Insanity Catalyst with Light Weapon?
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Garret Dorigan"Why can't I be DLC for UMvC3?"Registered Userregular
edited August 2010
Light Weapon really isn't that critical at all in the game proper. The BBS does enough damage that Light Weapon really only helps, in comparison to other spells, for bosses, specifically the False King, which many people (Like me, I hate the bastard.) prefer Warding for. Light Weapon is just really sweet icing.
Unless you PvP, then it's almost mandatory if you want to kill a BP while he's stunlocked.
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Garret Dorigan"Why can't I be DLC for UMvC3?"Registered Userregular
So you're saying that Luck has pretty bad returns after 30? I still have 10 more levels to hit the "magic number" of 120, and I was thinking of putting them in there. I guess I could put them in Magic, but I don't really cast much at all. How much extra damage do you get from the Insanity Catalyst with Light Weapon?
Well, not that I see them fixing it any time soon, but the Insanity Catalyst affecting Light Weapon is a bug... so there's always the chance, I guess...
I normally get around 20-30 extra damage on each swing against BPs, which doesn't sound like much, but it really helps.
As for your last 10 levels, it depends on what you want from your BBS. More PhysDmg? Put it in Dex (You'll have something like 3 more listed damage with Dex than Str.) More MagDmg? Put them in Mag, which will also up your add from Light Weapon. In all reality, I recommend Mag.
Also, the new magic number for serious PvP in the US is 200 or 250, I can't remember. I can't be bothered to do that much grinding though.
Hey, what's with the 'magic number' stuff for SL? Is it just kind of an agreed upon SL range that people build for to be able to find others around that level to actually PvP with?
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Garret Dorigan"Why can't I be DLC for UMvC3?"Registered Userregular
Hey, what's with the 'magic number' stuff for SL? Is it just kind of an agreed upon SL range that people build for to be able to find others around that level to actually PvP with?
Pretty much. Most builds hit major diminishing returns about SL 120, so people usually use that bracket to PvP at. Eventually, people got tired of seeing 99999999999999999 or whatever souls and decided to fight the system, or something...
Posts
Do you know what class was used for a speed run attempt at Demon's Souls?
THE MAGICIAN
He has fire. Phalanx doesn't like fire. End of story.
Srsly
Aces Wild is a pretty stellar game.
Blog, Playing Rules; Let's Play Demon's Souls; My Backlog
Only died in 3-1 once, the death itself was rather funny... second mind flayer, I rushed at him, missed and went to the side of him where there was a broken railing opening, he did his AoE blast and threw me off of the walkway. Whoops.
And then a few annoying deaths in 5-1 mostly with the giants and awkward places to fight them. I did go up and nab Istarelle, but in this build I don't really plan to ever have 24 Faith. I suppose I *could* make an exception, but I don't know...
Thinking back on this, I'm amazed I didn't die in 5-2. Granted, I was pretty focused and I definitely didn't go through and get everything, didn't even do the hive and get the Moonlight sword. So there's definitely a lot more wandering I could've done.
In general, nabbing the Crescent Falchion from 4-1 just upped my damage so ridiculously from the dagger/secret dagger. To that end, it *probably* wasn't worth grabbing the secret dagger, considering what I had to go through. But the silver bracelets, which I've been wearing since, have gotten me some nice bonuses. Hell, the Dirty Colossus alone gave me like 40k souls.
So now I'm stuck at work thinking about going through 2-1 and 2-2 to get my BBS made. Bah. I do hope the sword is worth it... sounds fun anyway.
I guess I should ask, has anyone here played around with a BBS build before?
wow.
You went from just starting this new game to precisely where I am in the course of what, a week? two weeks? I salute you, sir.
It's a blast, since Straight Swords are my favorite weapon type, it has a very long range, and the requirements for it let you be fairly well balanced.
What sort of soul level are you at and roughly what've you done with your stats so far? I'm going to assume you're in a NG+ of some sort, but I wonder what sort of damage your BBS does.
Vit: 30
Int: 18
End: 40
Str: 22
Dex: 18
Mag: 30
Fth: 18
Luk: 25
Listed damage: I'm not at home, so I can't give you the exact amount, but it's somewhere around 380. I'll change this when I can.
Vit - 30
Int - 18
End - 40
Str - 18
Dex - 18
Mag - 18
Faith - 18
Luck - 30
I want to say that my BBS does somewhere around 350 damage, and a lot more if I use Light Weapon.
But the damage on there was pretty solid even when I only had 10 Luck.
however, looking at the first page, someone stated that the servers were going down in 2011. is there offline play in this game? if the servers go down, does that mean i wont be able to play this game anymore?
The servers might go down in 2011. The current contract lasts until then, but then again it's already been extended once so if it still popular I wouldn't be too worried.
And yes, there is an offline mode.
Ooo, fancy. Two examples in a row... interesting that you both went with 18 Int, the 'guide' only recommends 15 minimum... which also makes no sense because you get one of the extra slots at 14, which means 15 is almost nothing... unless it's a mana bump to be able to cast certain spells. That must be it.
I see Garret went with 22 Strength for the PFS (which I'm tempted to do as well, especially with Lurker coming up...)
With my Thief's Luck having a starting value of 15, I should be ok for a bit as my next priority is probably pumping Endurance. Neither of you have done too much pumping of Luck I suppose, and yet the sword already does that kind of damage? Nice... I don't know how much I remember about straight sword's swing styles and such, how fast and such.
Looks like Garret's going for a bit more of a magical route with Magic at 30 already. I probably won't even *start* on Vitality until I get Endurance to at least 30. I'm a ways off from that yet. Do you do more of an offensive magical route, Garret? Situational I presume.
I wonder if it's worth attempting to make a Lava Bow? Considering my Dex is going to be stuck at 18, I don't think a standard Sticky bow is going to be sufficient for Reaper farming on 4-2, is it? Of course, Magic isn't going to be any higher. Though I can't remember if Lava Bow's damage is heavily Magic based or if it's more static like Dragon weapons. Hmm... any opinions?
I know at the moment I'm at SL 40 and I'm at the bare minimum to being able to equip the BBS, I just got my 18th point in Faith at SL 40 last night after the Maiden fight.
Believe me, in NG+ you'll want Soulsucker to kill the giant bearbugs.
I'm really, really happy with my DSS, so I didn't even worry about the PFS.
They generally swing fairly quickly and handle similar to a Mace or Battle Axe. The primary difference is that they have the amazing R2 lunge attack.
The extra Magic is probably for more power on Light Weapon with Insanity Catalyst. I happen to prefer the higher base damage and the flexibility of Talisman of Beasts.
Yes, yes, yes get a Lava Bow
Yeah, the 18 in each is all you really need. The sword is fairly heavy though, so you'll need some Endurance too if you want decent armor.
1)15 Int is a minimum to get 100 mana, letting you cast Second Chance.
2)Yeah, I went 22 on Str for the PFS+10, but it stemmed from 'Ohhhh, pretty...' more than a plan. It is much better served getting a Knight Shield +10 or a Kite Shield +10. In all reality, the 3 HitRes won't make much of a difference, so I'd recommend the Kite.
3)You get more bang for your buck with 30 Mag than 30 Luck, vice 25 Luck (And after 30 Luck the damage added is negligible, something like 1 damage per point.).
You get 4 extra points of damage per point between 25 and 30 Luck, meaning an overall 20 damage increase.
You get a total of 45 extra points of listed damage with the increase from 18 to 30 Mag, a net increase of 25 damage. Plus, if you use it situationally (You don't have the mana to spam it.), Soul Ray hits like a truck.
4)Me? I mostly use buffs and slash. On harder enemies (Red Eye Knights, Black Skeletons, NPCBPs, Giant Depraved Ones.) I may use Soul Ray to lure to an area more favorable for me, but that's about it.
My magic slots are usually filled with Light Weapon and Soul Ray, but Soul Thirst, Warding, Poison Cloud, and Soulsucker will pass in and out depending on what I'm doing.
5)The lava bow gets more damage from Str and Dex than Mag, and at 18 Dex is the highest damaging bow you can get. Once you get that high on your Int and Mag, the BP Black Skeleton in 4-2 is a much better way to get souls, but you can easily farm the Reaper with a Lava Bow.
In terms of bows, the hard and fast rule is "If under 24 Dex, go with Lava. At 24 go with White. Above 24 go with Sticky." You'll get a minor listed damage increase if you use a Sticky bow between 18 and 24, but you lose actual damage on most enemies due to resistances and the lack of LB's fire damage.
EDIT: Point 2 stems from the idea that you are one-handing the sword and are going to use a shield, thus, you want HitRes. If you are going to two hand it, I'd recommend either a Rune Shield or Adjudicators Shield +5 on your back. I cannot recommend the use of a DSS. It has a HitRes (AKA Guard Break Reduction.) of 65, compared to even the Kite's 75. You will definitely notice that missing 10 HitRes, on top of the fact that any offensive magic you use is going to suck in terms of damage.
Dude Morninglord is a fucking power gamer man
I found this out when I was helping a guy out with combat in the AC thread and he posts a motherfucking dissertation on the entire engine
I respect him SO HARD
I have to strongly disagree with this.
100% magic block is amazing and far better than the PFS, plus it saves you 4 strength.
And the magic damage reduction is irrelevant. Your Catalyst needs to be in your left hand to cast Light Weapon, so it'll never be out at the same time as your shield.
We'll have to agree to disagree then. :P
I view HitRes on a shield to be more important than MagBlk, is all I'm saying. Also note that I said a KS+10 (Either one) is usually a better choice, and I'll say now the only reason I say usually is because of the FireBlk on a PFS.
Also, I hate 3-1. Stupid pits. Where is Freke hiding?
Dark Silver Shield
Purple Flame Shield
Freke's the first landing down on the first staircase down you find, as opposed to the up staircase. His key, however, is all the way at the end of the level.
God this. My 110 SL Meat Cleaver wielding Temple Knight has a Sticky Compound Longbow +4... I have the Pure and the Chunks for the last upgrade... but I'm missing Shards or Large and have had *no* luck getting any more. All of the Crystal Lizards in world 2 are dead I'm pretty sure (as it's complete), so my only option was to try and kill miners. Ugh.
Obviously you both disagree on the shield choice, however keep in mind that Garret seems to be doing a little more offensive magic, which factors into his preference, whereas gjaustin pretty much only uses magic for the buffs.
Depending on how badly I can cheese the Flamelurker fight, I could do it without the PFS I suppose. Seeing as I already made Garl suicide for his armor/shield, I have my DSS as I mentioned. Now I have to remember all the easy to get Colorless Demon's Souls... I have the rafters one and there is at least one from the bird girl, whom I haven't dealt with just yet. I'm currently thinking I'll boost the DSS before the Adjudicator's Shield...
If I have the Lava Bow I don't think I'll be too concerned about ranged offensive stuff like Soul Ray, I find bows more versatile with the aiming and such.
Luck I'm a bit torn on at the moment... but really, if 30 is the major curve of diminishing returns, maybe I'll stop around there. Also, it does *seem* like even with just 15 luck, the Thief gets a lot of drops. Which is good, because I've been going through the Crescent Moon Grass like crazy and still have like 60 of it. Though my Half Moon grass is stupidly low.
My major issue right off is getting the materials to boost my starting short bow to make the Lava Bow, hopefully I'll get a majority of that just for clearing 2-1... I was thinking of doing the shortcut for Flame Lurker just to get that soul quickly, but there are a lot of materials on that level too. Hmm... eh, could always go back afterwards.
And yes, in that way I am looking forward to Soulsucker... as I mentioned, I haven't actually been into a NG+ yet. My SL 80 first character, mostly magic with some melee, had a very tough time with Allant and I haven't been back up to his room to try him again. That was quite a while ago.
Edit: Oh, and as far as armor goes, right now I'm using the Binded Armor (so creepy), though I went back to my Black Leather for 5-2 with the Poison Resistance on it. Since we have easy PWWT anyway, after I beat 3-1 and grab the key from 3-2, I wanna go back and grab the Rogue's Clothes... I've never seen what that looks like, but I think I'll use either that or the Black Leather purely because they fit my thiefy character better.
Allant is, in a straight-up fight without adopting cheap tactics, the hardest mandatory boss in the game (ignoring the variability of 3-3).
Maneater's only hard due to the ease of rolling off. Aim for the tail and the first one will be rendered harmless by the time the second one shows up.
Allant actually requires you to memorise his attack pattern in order to dodge it, which doesn't really apply to any other boss.
Both times I've killed Flamelurker has been using the stairs to get him stuck for long portions while either shooting him with spells or shooting him with arrows.
I haven't had much luck meleeing him. But I'll try it again I suppose. And if not, I do have a bow...
Nah, my point is that shouldn't even be a factor in the decision.
The DSS only affects damage when its out. To block, it needs to be in the left hand. To be able cast Light Weapon, the catalyst needs to be in the left hand. Therefore, it and the catalyst will never be out at the same time.
All that being said, I do have a +10 Knight Shield on the character. I just never use it because everything I'm worried about does either Magic damage, Fire damage, or can bypass shields anyway.
I need to try to look through and see if I have any boss soul conflicts for stuff I want to get with them I suppose... isn't Light Weapon also the Pureblood Soul? I don't remember off hand.
BBS: Blueblood Sword/Swordsman
BN: Baby's Nail (Also, PS for Plague Stabber O_o)
BUS: Large Brushwood Shield (Now more frequent, will also see LBS)
B__: A Blessed Weapon (Such as, BMH for Mirdan Hammer, BEX [Also written Becks] for a Executioner's Axe, etc.)
C__: A Crescent Weapon (Such as, CU for a Uchi, CK for a Kilji, etc.)
DBS: Dragon Bone Smasher
DSS: Dark Silver Shield
DSA: Dark Silver Armor
D__: A Dragon Weapon (Such as, DBAS for Bastard Sword, DLS and DKS for Long and Knight Swords, respectfully.)
Epee: Epee Rapier
GS: Great Sword (Usually BGS)
IC: Insanity Catalyst
Ist: Istarelle
KS: Kite/Knight Shield (Usually Knight.)
LB: Lava Bow
LSoM: Large Sword of Moonlight
LSoS: Large Sword of Searching
MB: Morion Blade
MC: Meat Cleaver
More: Claymore
M__: A Moon Weapon (Such as, MWS for Winged Spear, MU for Uchi, etc.)
NR: Northern Regalia
Nord: Northen Regalia
PFS: Purple Flame Shield
PP: Phosphorescent Pole
RS: Rune Shield/ Sword (When speaking of wielding both, RSS)
Scarp: Scraping Spear
SCB: Sticky Compound Long Bow (Sometimes Compound Short Bow, but not often.)
SS: Steel Shield
Syphon: Geri's Stiletto
ToB: Talisman of Beasts
TS: Tower Shield (Also TOW and Wall)
Uchi: Uchigatana
WB: White Bow
WS: War Scythe (Usually MWS)
That's all the abbreviations I've seen.
No, it's the Silver/Penetrator Soul, as is Cursed Weapon.
Pureblood is either BBS or Death Cloud.
It's also great against the Tower Knight, False King, Mindflayers, Old Monk, Reapers, and pretty much any Black Phantom.
Light Weapon is from Penetrator's soul.
Oh, to wit, I don't use a bow anymore. My second left hand slot has an IC (For Light Weapon) and my second right hand slot has a ToB (For everything else). Self important memory said that everyone did this. I apologize for that, and now that I'm out of personal perspective, I get where you're coming from.
Now, to that, I PvP a lot, so I tend to prefer HitRes.
Once I get those two things done, I think I'll do some more of my world 3 stuff, get 3-1 down, grab the PWWT key from 3-2 and maybe go as far as getting the Ring of Avarice from the end... then grab my new Rogue's Clothing outfit from 3-1 and see how I like that... then maybe I'll go ahead and blitz 1-2 and 1-3 to get the Penetrator's Soul and get Light Weapon. Granted, I'm not sure how critical Light Weapon is on first run, bit I imagine it gets much more important on NG+?
Ahh, and that makes sense. I never considered having one in each hand.
I personally keep another weapon in my second right hand slot. For my BBS, a Dragon Halberd for the reach and to do fire damage. I'll swap in my Lava Bow in certain circumstances.
So you're saying that Luck has pretty bad returns after 30? I still have 10 more levels to hit the "magic number" of 120, and I was thinking of putting them in there. I guess I could put them in Magic, but I don't really cast much at all. How much extra damage do you get from the Insanity Catalyst with Light Weapon?
Unless you PvP, then it's almost mandatory if you want to kill a BP while he's stunlocked.
Well, not that I see them fixing it any time soon, but the Insanity Catalyst affecting Light Weapon is a bug... so there's always the chance, I guess...
I normally get around 20-30 extra damage on each swing against BPs, which doesn't sound like much, but it really helps.
As for your last 10 levels, it depends on what you want from your BBS. More PhysDmg? Put it in Dex (You'll have something like 3 more listed damage with Dex than Str.) More MagDmg? Put them in Mag, which will also up your add from Light Weapon. In all reality, I recommend Mag.
Also, the new magic number for serious PvP in the US is 200 or 250, I can't remember. I can't be bothered to do that much grinding though.
Pretty much. Most builds hit major diminishing returns about SL 120, so people usually use that bracket to PvP at. Eventually, people got tired of seeing 99999999999999999 or whatever souls and decided to fight the system, or something...