Personally, I wouldn't invest in strength just to use a shield. Useful as they can be, once you get more confident at the game you will likely be forgoing it in favour of two-handing.
The strength requirement to use bows is deceptive. Remember that when you wield a weapon with two hands, you receive a 50% bonus to strength. Bows can only be used with two hands, so their strength requirement is lower than listed. A bow that says it requires 22 strength really only requires 16.
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Dr_KeenbeanDumb as a buttPlanet Express ShipRegistered Userregular
edited May 2010
Flamelurker soul GET.
PFS, Fluted chest, assassin's mask, black gloves, black boots, flame resist ring, crescent falchion.
Also switched off to my Blessed mace so I could hide behind a pillar and get free health. Used 2 healing items.
Personally, I wouldn't invest in strength just to use a shield. Useful as they can be, once you get more confident at the game you will likely be forgoing it in favour of two-handing.
The strength requirement to use bows is deceptive. Remember that when you wield a weapon with two hands, you receive a 50% bonus to strength. Bows can only be used with two hands, so their strength requirement is lower than listed. A bow that says it requires 22 strength really only requires 16.
That's great advice, thanks! 16 is pretty reasonable, only a few points from where I am now, so that definitely seems worth giving a shot. My main reasoning behind wanting to be able to use PFS was all the horror stories I was reading here about Flamelurker. I guess on a magic-based character he's possible to handle without one? Also, how strong do I need to be to kill the blue dragon in 1-1? I killed the other one off in 1-2, but I'm scared to get close enough to the other one to pick up that ring of Flame Resistance.
16 str seems like a decent stat point to shoot for, that way I can eventually use dark silver shield, and I can use a knight's shield and comp long bow for now when I need them. Think I'm going to do 2-1 and 3-1 next, then maybe try for Flamelurker.
2-1 was a lot of fun! Everything was pretty easy except for those jerks with the fire magic. I had trouble getting the timing down on them and kept going to hit them with flame toss at the same time they started their animation. Armor Spider was cake, I forgot my bow so mostly I just dodged his webs from close range and then Soul Arrowed him repeatedly, dodging or blocking what I could. Even when his fire connected it didn't really do much damage (I used Cloak and Thief's Ring to sneak up and grab the Fire Resist ring from right under the Blue Dragon's nose in 1-1). Got a Knight's Shield I'm working on upgrading to Dark and got the Crescent Falchion to +2 at Blacksmith Ed's.
Got my STR up to 16 and will probably leave it there until at least NG+. Now I'm pumping everything into Magic and Int with a few points here and there into Vit. Eventually I think I'll put a little into Faith, but for now this setup seems to be working really well.
Get Faith to at least 16 so that you can use the Second Chance miracle. 16 Faith nets you the two requisite miracle memory slots. You can learn Second Chance from the Demon's Soul in world four.
There's a lot of variety in builds, but you'll rarely find one without 16 Faith. This is because Second Chance is really, really good. Totally worth the investment.
So is it basically like Ninja Gaiden Master Ninja hard then?
I'd argue Ninja Gaiden on normal mode would be harder than Demon's Souls, except Demon's Souls has sparser checkpoints and nasty traps. The traps can be, and indeed are supposed to be, circumvented by the message system and FAQs. Oh, and players can invade your game at any time while you're not a ghost, which are really the hardest opponents you can face in any game.
This is pretty much talking about the first playthough though. Demon's Souls New Game + is hard.
Looks like it could the Talisman of Beasts could be a bit tough to get a hold of...any suggestions on strategies for either getting Pure Black on World 2 or Pure Black character tendency? Which is the quicker path, and which one has the more long-ranging implications? I've actually been moving myself towards white on all fronts, and I'm worried it could be tough to move things back in that direction once I start going towards black.
After doing some research it looks like it will be much easier to get the talisman by killing Scirvir than having to go through Mephistopheles' series of kill quests. I also noticed I can get a -3 to World Tendency in World 2 by killing Scirvir in body form, which would be a big help. Can I kill him in Body Form and then come back at Pure Black and have him reappear as a Black Phantom? Thanks in advance for any help on this.
Pure Black Character tendency is easy to achieve, you just gotta kill some useless NPC's, like Sage Freke's assistant, and Saint Urbain's followers. I think it's something like 4-5 of them will do it. Hell, invading people and killing them works too.
Mephistopheles' quests are awesome to work through because you get some great loot (2 colorless souls are worth it by themselves) and they aren't really even that hard. The only character you need to kill that is any difficult at all is Yuria, because if you are melee and can't keep her stunlocked until she is dead she will one hit your ass with a Firestorm.
The main thing I'm worried about with the Mephistopheles quests are that I'd need to kill a bunch of NPCs that I actually need atm to get spells/miracles, etc.
Yeah, the assassination quest was the last thing I did before I finished the game, because I didn't like the idea of playing a lot of the game without Freke, Urbain, and Yuria. I forgot that the talisman of beasts was hard to get... I lucked into a WT event and got a ton of the hard to get stuff pretty early on. It would be nice if Atlus did another WT weekend but they're normally on holidays - not sure if Memorial Day or July 4th are WT event worthy.
EDIT: Between BPWT and BPCT, I'd probably go with the world tendency route and get it from Scirvir. To get BPWT in World 2, all you'll need is a handful of Stone of Ephemeral Eyes. Keep suiciding in body form to lower your WT, then go kill BP Scirvir for the ToB. Eventually your WT move back to normal if you're online, and killing the 2-2 and 2-3 bosses will lighten it up as well.
So I started a new character, pretty much pure meelee this time, and unlike my first character this one actually stays long stretches in his body form. Yet I have not been invaded once. Why is that? I thought Soul level 25+ would be ideal hunting grounds for black phantoms to try and kick my sorry, well-armored butt?
So is it basically like Ninja Gaiden Master Ninja hard then?
I'd argue Ninja Gaiden on normal mode would be harder than Demon's Souls, except Demon's Souls has sparser checkpoints and nasty traps. The traps can be, and indeed are supposed to be, circumvented by the message system and FAQs. Oh, and players can invade your game at any time while you're not a ghost, which are really the hardest opponents you can face in any game.
This is pretty much talking about the first playthough though. Demon's Souls New Game + is hard.
I found NG+, overall, to be an easier run than the first time through. While things hit harder and are tougher, you know what to expect, both from enemies and the environment.
But I agree that it isn't as hard a game as it sometimes gets proclaimed as. It probably depends a lot on what the individual player has been used to, and to some, minor, extent the choices of the player in character building.
I think alot of the perceived difficulty (and the number of bloodstains I've seen confirming this theory are hilarious) come from the fact that if you don't take the game seriously it will castrate you. I've seen so many bloodstains (and left a few myself when I was first starting the game) where people just charged in swinging, no blocking or anything, against multiple enemies.
Most people are used to playing games where you press X to pwn, and it just doesn't work that way here.
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Mostlyjoe13Evil, Evil, Jump for joy!Registered Userregular
edited May 2010
Mommy, why is the skeletons in 4-1? I think it's 4-1? Spanking my bottom so hard?
That would be 4-1. It's probably some combination of not utilizing a shield and having an inappropriate weapon. Shields blunt their spin attacks, and you really want either a blunt weapon or a magical one do deal lots of damage. They take some work if you are using piercing or slashing.
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Mostlyjoe13Evil, Evil, Jump for joy!Registered Userregular
edited May 2010
I heard there was a mace in 5-1 that makes short work of them...but Chtulu wasn't having it.
Enchanted (or Light weapon) iron knuckles make very short work of those skeletons. You'll attack really fast, so even if they get a chance to start an attack, you'll be interrupting it with punches to the face.
I heard there was a mace in 5-1 that makes short work of them...but Chtulu wasn't having it.
Yeah, if I recall correctly there is a Blessed Mace somewhere in there. Blessed weapons count as magic damage, so it does great damage against them.
However, if you are already in 4-1 if you can manage to best the red-eyed skeleton towards the beginning of the level you can get a Crescent Falchion which is also pretty good for tearing them down.
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Mostlyjoe13Evil, Evil, Jump for joy!Registered Userregular
edited May 2010
I'm having a hard enough time taking on the Red Eyes in 1-1. He murders me, but I'm getting close to taking this guy out. I need a better shield.
How are you playing joe? Are you more melee or magic/ranged oriented? If you're melee the Red Eyes Knight can be a pain in the ass, but if you have a ranged option he becomes pretty damn easy. And with the skeletons on 4-1, assuming it's the roly-poly type that's giving you trouble, let them roll in and hit you, then they should wind up for a big swing, giving you time to either roll back and hit them with something nasty ranged-wise, or roll beside/behind them and wail on them.
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Dr_KeenbeanDumb as a buttPlanet Express ShipRegistered Userregular
I think you're doing what I did, and confusing world 3 with world 5.
OOooh! Clockwise! Got ya! Oh, 5-1 was still hellish, but I can stand the ratmen. Kay. Choppity shall continue. Thanks.
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PSN ID - Mostlyjoe Steam ID -TheNotoriusRNG
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Dr_KeenbeanDumb as a buttPlanet Express ShipRegistered Userregular
edited May 2010
Yeah Blessed Mace + 1 can be found in 5-1 or bought from the Filthy Woman vendor in 5-1 for 3000 souls. If you have that, the HP regen ring, and Adjudicator's shield, you heal real quick-like.
Like I don't even bother with healing items when I'm farming souls and stuff anymore.
Yeah Blessed Mace + 1 can be found in 5-1 or bought from the Filthy Woman vendor in 5-1 for 3000 souls. If you have that, the HP regen ring, and Adjudicator's shield, you heal real quick-like.
Like I don't even bother with healing items when I'm farming souls and stuff anymore.
Wherefore are these delcious items you speak of? This Ring and Shield?
Both are in 4-1. The shield is in the upstairs area behind a fog gate past Vanguard, guarded by one of those nasty dual-wielding skeletons. The ring is down the path with the crystal gecko on it just before you get to Adjudicator. It's the item you can see behind a wall off to the right when you first come up to the castle in 4-1 that you can't get to. You can either work your way through the level to get to it or just roll off the top of the wall into that area, which is what I did my first time through 4-1.
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Mostlyjoe13Evil, Evil, Jump for joy!Registered Userregular
Both are in 4-1. The shield is in the upstairs area behind a fog gate past Vanguard, guarded by one of those nasty dual-wielding skeletons. The ring is down the path with the crystal gecko on it just before you get to Adjudicator. It's the item you can see behind a wall off to the right when you first come up to the castle in 4-1 that you can't get to. You can either work your way through the level to get to it or just roll off the top of the wall into that area, which is what I did my first time through 4-1.
Hmmm. Better spend my souls before trying this trick. Odds of me getting killed are high.
If you get a decent shield, use a thief ring, and play it safe the first couple of skeletons can be dispatched pretty easily. The hard bit will be the red-eyed skeleton guarding the Falchion. If you're a mage he can be gunned down pretty easily, other classes will want to lure him away and then double back around to grab it.
Posts
The strength requirement to use bows is deceptive. Remember that when you wield a weapon with two hands, you receive a 50% bonus to strength. Bows can only be used with two hands, so their strength requirement is lower than listed. A bow that says it requires 22 strength really only requires 16.
PFS, Fluted chest, assassin's mask, black gloves, black boots, flame resist ring, crescent falchion.
Also switched off to my Blessed mace so I could hide behind a pillar and get free health. Used 2 healing items.
Raped him savagely.
3DS: 1650-8480-6786
Switch: SW-0653-8208-4705
That's great advice, thanks! 16 is pretty reasonable, only a few points from where I am now, so that definitely seems worth giving a shot. My main reasoning behind wanting to be able to use PFS was all the horror stories I was reading here about Flamelurker.
Can't wait to see this difficulty first hand.
Except for 5-1. :x
Really?
The only boss fight I had difficulty so far is the... erm, I can't even really remember. I haven't finished the game yet though.
I should get around to that.
Except for world 5, where it's the other way around.
The bosses are cake but the levels want you dead.
Got my STR up to 16 and will probably leave it there until at least NG+. Now I'm pumping everything into Magic and Int with a few points here and there into Vit. Eventually I think I'll put a little into Faith, but for now this setup seems to be working really well.
3-1, here I come!
There's a lot of variety in builds, but you'll rarely find one without 16 Faith. This is because Second Chance is really, really good. Totally worth the investment.
Boo ya
I'd argue Ninja Gaiden on normal mode would be harder than Demon's Souls, except Demon's Souls has sparser checkpoints and nasty traps. The traps can be, and indeed are supposed to be, circumvented by the message system and FAQs. Oh, and players can invade your game at any time while you're not a ghost, which are really the hardest opponents you can face in any game.
This is pretty much talking about the first playthough though. Demon's Souls New Game + is hard.
Aces Wild is a pretty stellar game.
Blog, Playing Rules; Let's Play Demon's Souls; My Backlog
Mephistopheles' quests are awesome to work through because you get some great loot (2 colorless souls are worth it by themselves) and they aren't really even that hard. The only character you need to kill that is any difficult at all is Yuria, because if you are melee and can't keep her stunlocked until she is dead she will one hit your ass with a Firestorm.
EDIT: Between BPWT and BPCT, I'd probably go with the world tendency route and get it from Scirvir. To get BPWT in World 2, all you'll need is a handful of Stone of Ephemeral Eyes. Keep suiciding in body form to lower your WT, then go kill BP Scirvir for the ToB. Eventually your WT move back to normal if you're online, and killing the 2-2 and 2-3 bosses will lighten it up as well.
I found NG+, overall, to be an easier run than the first time through. While things hit harder and are tougher, you know what to expect, both from enemies and the environment.
But I agree that it isn't as hard a game as it sometimes gets proclaimed as. It probably depends a lot on what the individual player has been used to, and to some, minor, extent the choices of the player in character building.
Most people are used to playing games where you press X to pwn, and it just doesn't work that way here.
Yeah, if I recall correctly there is a Blessed Mace somewhere in there. Blessed weapons count as magic damage, so it does great damage against them.
However, if you are already in 4-1 if you can manage to best the red-eyed skeleton towards the beginning of the level you can get a Crescent Falchion which is also pretty good for tearing them down.
I think you're doing what I did, and confusing world 3 with world 5.
3 has the Cthulhus/Mindflayers in a prison, 5 has the nastly little rat-men in the rain.
The mace you're referring to is the Blessed Mace and it is a godsend for a melee build. It destroys the skeletons and heals you to boot!
3DS: 1650-8480-6786
Switch: SW-0653-8208-4705
OOooh! Clockwise! Got ya! Oh, 5-1 was still hellish, but I can stand the ratmen. Kay. Choppity shall continue. Thanks.
Like I don't even bother with healing items when I'm farming souls and stuff anymore.
3DS: 1650-8480-6786
Switch: SW-0653-8208-4705
Wherefore are these delcious items you speak of? This Ring and Shield?
Hmmm. Better spend my souls before trying this trick. Odds of me getting killed are high.
Of course the coolest way to kill the Skeletons is to Shield Bash them with a PFS. That's how I kill them with my Sword/Spear character.
Unless you're a faith build I recommend the Crescent weapon at the beginning of 4-1 over the Blessed ones.
I find the magic regen and magic damage on Crescent weapons far more useful than a little extra hp regen, personally.
Its tough to beat a Crescent Uchigatana for a magic oriented build.
Yeah, except you have to kill some skeletons before you can get it to kill skeletons