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Adventures in Lordran - or tales of brave Sir Onion

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    TallahasseerielTallahasseeriel Registered User regular
    My first playthrough I used the uchigatana after buying everything from the undead merchant.

    I tell you that's a pretty good dex weapon. Super short range though honestly if I had to cite a downside.

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    Dee KaeDee Kae Registered User regular
    The BKH is something everyone should try out at least once.

    You turn into a BEYBLADE!

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    PolaritiePolaritie Sleepy Registered User regular
    Uriel wrote: »
    My first playthrough I used the uchigatana after buying everything from the undead merchant.

    I tell you that's a pretty good dex weapon. Super short range though honestly if I had to cite a downside.

    It's why the Iaito is so nice. Your heavy attacks have significant range.

    Steam: Polaritie
    3DS: 0473-8507-2652
    Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
    PSN: AbEntropy
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    Devlin_DragonusDevlin_Dragonus Gorgeous Dallas, TXRegistered User regular
    I fucking did it!!! I ran the Bell after FINALLY beating those pair of Gargoyles.

    Guys, I have like 6 copies of this game through all my consoles and the Gargoyles has always been the furthest I would get before I quit the game indefinitely.

    I’m excited, from here on it’s going to be ALL new to me

    I got nothing for you now. Try again later.

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    Librarian's ghostLibrarian's ghost Librarian, Ghostbuster, and TimSpork Registered User regular
    So like, I've tried to play these games before. I know I own 2 and 3, but never got far. I don't know why I seem to be having a much easier time with 1. It is like something clicked in my brain.

    (Switch Friend Code) SW-4910-9735-6014(PSN) timspork (Steam) timspork (XBox) Timspork


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    Beef AvengerBeef Avenger Registered User regular
    So like, I've tried to play these games before. I know I own 2 and 3, but never got far. I don't know why I seem to be having a much easier time with 1. It is like something clicked in my brain.

    It's a very common experience with the Souls games

    Careful, now you might get hooked like the rest of us

    Steam ID
    PSN: Robo_Wizard1
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    Librarian's ghostLibrarian's ghost Librarian, Ghostbuster, and TimSpork Registered User regular
    So like, I've tried to play these games before. I know I own 2 and 3, but never got far. I don't know why I seem to be having a much easier time with 1. It is like something clicked in my brain.

    It's a very common experience with the Souls games

    Careful, now you might get hooked like the rest of us

    Every day at work this week I just think about Dark Souls. I want to read about it but I don't want to know too much.

    (Switch Friend Code) SW-4910-9735-6014(PSN) timspork (Steam) timspork (XBox) Timspork


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    SolarSolar Registered User regular
    Uriel wrote: »
    Solar wrote: »
    polearms are in many ways the coolest weapons

    I'm imaging you, wearing a flat cap as in your avatar, sitting in a cute little park discussing the merits of various polearms in combat before and after the advent of the musket.

    ...I have previously discussed the merits of polarms

    It was in a pub though

    And I wasn't wearing a hat

    Still though, somewhat accurate...

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    PiptheFairPiptheFair Frequently not in boats. Registered User regular
    I mean, "evil" is a relative term in the soulsverse

    They are the bad guys in an amoral universe, but they put the work in to earn the label.

    they want to end the endless cycle of decay

    they are not the bad guys

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    SolarSolar Registered User regular
    Yeah I feel like one of the core things of DS is like
    You can be a heroic chosen undead and do all the stuff laid before you and link the flame and all that

    But like

    why? Why is an Age of Dark so bad? What will actually happen? What will it look like? The game never really goes into it. But I think there's a lot of hints that the cycle is for the benefit of a few

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    mrpakumrpaku Registered User regular
    PiptheFair wrote: »
    I mean, "evil" is a relative term in the soulsverse

    They are the bad guys in an amoral universe, but they put the work in to earn the label.

    they want to end the endless cycle of decay

    they are not the bad guys

    Aldrich's group basically wanted the same thing, if we're going from a strictly "ends justifying the means" standpoint

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    MadicanMadican No face Registered User regular
    When the whole of the world is rotting and the number of people with intact minds can be counted on a single hand I don't think morals mean anything anymore.

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    Typhoid MannyTyphoid Manny Registered User regular
    jeez, with the social commentary

    from each according to his ability, to each according to his need
    hitting hot metal with hammers
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    Speed RacerSpeed Racer Scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratchRegistered User regular
    edited August 2020
    Solar wrote: »
    Yeah I feel like one of the core things of DS is like
    You can be a heroic chosen undead and do all the stuff laid before you and link the flame and all that

    But like

    why? Why is an Age of Dark so bad? What will actually happen? What will it look like? The game never really goes into it. But I think there's a lot of hints that the cycle is for the benefit of a few
    i feel like the DLC kind of upends this viewpoint though, because Manus and the Dark Soul don't uhhhhh seem great either!

    my feeling is that dark souls is about two competing malevolent forces trying to manipulate you into enacting their preferred form of empire. It's not gonna be good for the common folk either way

    which then gets kinda bolstered by DS2, where it never definitively goes one way or the other anyway, and they don't even bother showing what you do in the kiln. You'll link the fire or you'll snuff it out but all it will do is give rise to a new age with a new shitty magic king until they lose power and the next hollow jackass gets chosen to keep the chain going

    and then DS3 gives you the choice of like, going beyond just ushering in an age of darkness and completely unmaking the world as it is so that something new and hopefully better might be born

    and sekiro is good as hell which proves that it's the only good ending there is :p

    Speed Racer on
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    SolarSolar Registered User regular
    Well that's the thing, especially in DS 3

    Where it's like, hey

    Things are fucked. This world is fucking dead.

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    rhylithrhylith Death Rabbits HoustonRegistered User regular
    So like, I've tried to play these games before. I know I own 2 and 3, but never got far. I don't know why I seem to be having a much easier time with 1. It is like something clicked in my brain.

    2 and 3 are designed for people who played 1, so they had to intentionally up the bullshit a bit.

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    PlatyPlaty Registered User regular
    The DLC ending and the ending where you give the Firekeeper her eyes back and you hear her voice in the end feel kinda hopeful to me

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    MadicanMadican No face Registered User regular
    Dark Souls isn't even really about a circular cycle. It's a spiral going inwards, and no matter how many deaths or rebirths it has it's going to eventually hit the end.

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    KamarKamar Registered User regular
    edited August 2020
    Solar wrote: »
    Yeah I feel like one of the core things of DS is like
    You can be a heroic chosen undead and do all the stuff laid before you and link the flame and all that

    But like

    why? Why is an Age of Dark so bad? What will actually happen? What will it look like? The game never really goes into it. But I think there's a lot of hints that the cycle is for the benefit of a few
    i feel like the DLC kind of upends this viewpoint though, because Manus and the Dark Soul don't uhhhhh seem great either!

    my feeling is that dark souls is about two competing malevolent forces trying to manipulate you into enacting their preferred form of empire. It's not gonna be good for the common folk either way

    which then gets kinda bolstered by DS2, where it never definitively goes one way or the other anyway, and they don't even bother showing what you do in the kiln. You'll link the fire or you'll snuff it out but all it will do is give rise to a new age with a new shitty magic king until they lose power and the next hollow jackass gets chosen to keep the chain going

    and then DS3 gives you the choice of like, going beyond just ushering in an age of darkness and completely unmaking the world as it is so that something new and hopefully better might be born

    and sekiro is good as hell which proves that it's the only good ending there is :p

    About the Dark...
    There seems to be a distinction between the calm, peaceful Dark and the provoked, maddened Abyss or the eldritch, twisted Deep. In much the same way that if you fuck with Fire too much you trade your life-giving warmth for Chaos.

    Of the endings of Dark Souls 3, the Dark ending seems like the most unambiguously hopeful and positive; the flame is finally going out, yes, but with the help of a clearly benign person and with the promise that it's not the end--flames exist out there in the distance (future?). Whether everyone is going to die in the meantime or just turn into mindless hollows for a while is an open question, of course, since we don't know precisely what a pure uncut Dark-empowered human is like.

    Like, what is a hollow exactly. The true face of humanity in the dark? The result of a curse placed on humanity to restrain the dark (see: the sigils to do that in The Ringed City, which look like the Darksign)? Why doesn't Ash hollow, unless you mess around with Londor's stuff?

    So metaphysically and for the state of the world in abstract, Dark ending seems like a clear good, but we don't know enough to say if it's a good or bad thing for people.

    Lord of Hollows ending, on the other hand, means working with shady (possibly time-traveling) cultists involved with the sketchy serpents, with weird dark rituals (that don't seem to actually kill anyone?) and maybe some casual murder of people for challenging your authority. But in terms of 'fuck this cycle stuff cycles are dumb' it's quite appealing. Although if everyone has to live as raisins forever that's not ideal either. At least people won't be mindless, which I'm less certain of in the Dark ending.

    The real question is...how long until everything cycles all the way back around? Humans (and a few demons?) are becoming trees and dragons all over DS3, seems like it's possible we're headed straight back to Archtrees and Dragons and Not Shit Else sooner or later.

    Kamar on
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    Speed RacerSpeed Racer Scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratchRegistered User regular
    edited August 2020
    part of the reason I brought up sekiro is I do feel like ds3 is getting a little meta with its endings

    This cycle has been going on too long, everything is stagnating and losing whatever spark it used to have, maybe we should kill the entire thing so that the next iteration of the world can be born

    It sounds a lot like they were getting tired of making Demon's Souls sequels!

    Speed Racer on
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    PlatyPlaty Registered User regular
    Be loyal to your Firekeeper waifu

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    MadicanMadican No face Registered User regular
    All this new talk about Dark Souls and its lore really makes me want Elden Ring even more.

    Especially if it's Celtic-themed, though that's still uncertain.

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    PolaritiePolaritie Sleepy Registered User regular
    Madican wrote: »
    All this new talk about Dark Souls and its lore really makes me want Elden Ring even more.

    Especially if it's Celtic-themed, though that's still uncertain.

    It is also making me want to play a run of something... probably DSIII atm since I've played it the least. I could fire up Prepare to Die edition too though, as that's still my favorite... did the remaster actually change anything really mechanically?

    Steam: Polaritie
    3DS: 0473-8507-2652
    Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
    PSN: AbEntropy
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    PlatyPlaty Registered User regular
    The dark pigment is also used to create something benign

    Whereas it's strongly implied that the Ringed City is actually Londor

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    cB557cB557 voOOP Registered User regular
    Myself, I think all we've seen is that as the fire dies and when dark gets out control people lose their minds and start turning into monsters. There's speculation to be had about the true nature of the dark and whether hollowing has to happen, but until someone can show me a proven way to not hollow out without the flame, I'm linking the fire. I'm not willing to take that sort of risk with the world.
    Like damn, Kaathe is just straight up "yeah kill people, steal their souls, s'cool." I really thing there's just too much evidence that the dark is bad news.

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    SharpyVIISharpyVII Registered User regular
    edited August 2020
    Am I right in thinking dodging is the best thing for avoiding damage?

    Should I bother learning to parry? I've not been very good at parrying so far.

    SharpyVII on
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    DaypigeonDaypigeon Registered User regular
    i hope there is not much rr martin in elden ring

    like let him write a few npcs i can just boot off a bridge or something

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    Beef AvengerBeef Avenger Registered User regular
    Madican wrote: »
    All this new talk about Dark Souls and its lore really makes me want Elden Ring even more.

    Especially if it's Celtic-themed, though that's still uncertain.
    https://youtu.be/e5wwSxl0atc
    Oops time to watch the trailer again because it gives me feels

    Steam ID
    PSN: Robo_Wizard1
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    KamarKamar Registered User regular
    edited August 2020
    cB557 wrote: »
    Myself, I think all we've seen is that as the fire dies and when dark gets out control people lose their minds and start turning into monsters. There's speculation to be had about the true nature of the dark and whether hollowing has to happen, but until someone can show me a proven way to not hollow out without the flame, I'm linking the fire. I'm not willing to take that sort of risk with the world.
    Like damn, Kaathe is just straight up "yeah kill people, steal their souls, s'cool." I really thing there's just too much evidence that the dark is bad news.

    Maybe, but I think it's just as likely from the lore at this point
    that hollowing is just what happens when a fading flame can partially, but not fully, force mortality on a human.

    Like, what's actually happening when someone is afflicted by the 'undead curse' as the flame fades is the dark within them managing to overcome the increasingly feeble flame's binding effects...but only partially, with disastrous results as they lose bits and pieces of their sanity with each death and flawed resurrection.

    edit:
    It's interesting to me that the successors/pet cultists of the serpents don't want the flame extinguished once and for all the way the Firekeeper can, but preserved in a new cage of flesh indefinitely. The Dark Lord ending of DS1 doesn't involve snuffing out the flame, just leaving it alone (with the implication from later games that such a half-measure is doomed to fail one way or another).

    Kamar on
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    PlatyPlaty Registered User regular
    Blocking is an easier way to avoid damage but it requires a shield with high resistances and high stability

    It can be very rewarding to learn how to parry enemies but you've got to have fun with it!

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    Beef AvengerBeef Avenger Registered User regular
    Daypigeon wrote: »
    i hope there is not much rr martin in elden ring

    like let him write a few npcs i can just boot off a bridge or something

    I really expect that he mostly helped with the world building. Maybe contributed some notes for rough plot ideas

    Steam ID
    PSN: Robo_Wizard1
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    KamarKamar Registered User regular
    edited August 2020
    My understanding is that they had him construct the world and write a bunch of background stories for heroic figures of the past or whatever, but not the actual plot of the game.

    Kamar on
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    cB557cB557 voOOP Registered User regular
    Most of the time, you need to be able to dodge through an enemy's attacks to be able to reliably get windows to attack them. Blocking does entail less risk than dodging, so there's still reasons to use both. Some weapons (I think just spears and rapiers, but maybe there's more) can attack without you dropping your guard, so one of those with a huge shield can make just blocking all the time pretty effective.

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    Beef AvengerBeef Avenger Registered User regular
    Kamar wrote: »
    My understanding is that they had him construct the world and write a bunch of background stories for heroic figures of the past or whatever, but not the actual plot of the game.

    That makes sense. Help build the skeleton for the story so there's some richness and depth. Then have all that stuff relegated to the past as it gets translated from english to Japanese culture to really get that Miyazaki vibe

    Steam ID
    PSN: Robo_Wizard1
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    Beef AvengerBeef Avenger Registered User regular
    Parry-Dodge-Block is a sliding scale of risk/reward.

    Steam ID
    PSN: Robo_Wizard1
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    ShortyShorty touching the meat Intergalactic Cool CourtRegistered User regular
    got a levelling question about dark souls

    I've seen people say that the rewards for stat increase drop off after 40

    does this mean I should start putting my levels in stats other than vitality and endurance at that point?

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    Beef AvengerBeef Avenger Registered User regular
    edited August 2020
    Shorty wrote: »
    got a levelling question about dark souls

    I've seen people say that the rewards for stat increase drop off after 40

    does this mean I should start putting my levels in stats other than vitality and endurance at that point?

    It's diminishing returns after that, so probably. There's basically a soft cap where it starts gradually dropping around there so it still helps (just less), then a hard cap where the increases massively drop. Pay attention to how much the stats change on increase before locking in to see it

    And the caps are different for each stat as I recall, it's just generally somewhere around 40 for most so that's the number people say

    Min maxing only really matters of you want to go heavy into multiplayer and pvp though, as there's generally accepted level range people shoot for to maximize matching. Otherwise you can always just grind more as long as you're willing to put in the time

    Beef Avenger on
    Steam ID
    PSN: Robo_Wizard1
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    PlatyPlaty Registered User regular
    Oh yes, I'd always go to 40 vitality, endurance kinda depends

    Many builds you see around the internet are for PvPing around soul level 100

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    Typhoid MannyTyphoid Manny Registered User regular
    Shorty wrote: »
    got a levelling question about dark souls

    I've seen people say that the rewards for stat increase drop off after 40

    does this mean I should start putting my levels in stats other than vitality and endurance at that point?

    yeah, once you hit 40 you're better off putting points into your damage stats unless you wanna just run up the score on your health and stamina

    from each according to his ability, to each according to his need
    hitting hot metal with hammers
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    PlatyPlaty Registered User regular
    This is the vitality table

    41 vitality still nets you 20 HP, it decreases sharply over the next ten levels

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