****ATTENTION PC PLAYERS, GET THE RESOLUTION FIX HERE: http://blog.metaclassofnil.com/?p=108****
It's being update fairly regularly so check the guy's blog for the latest version.
Comparison of different options:
(See second post for guides/in-depth info)
Welcome to the Dark Souls thread! Take a seat over the- oh wait you've died already. Yeah you should probably get used to that.
Dark Souls is a hardcore action-RPG by From Software, a spiritual successor to their previous game Demon's Souls. It's also as difficult as you've heard it is, but provides an experience that you rarely get in other modern games. There are no difficulty levels and no manual saves, you cannot pause and combat is entirely skill based. By defeating enemies and using certain items you gain souls, which are everything. You use them to level up your character, buy and upgrade items and magic and in certain cases create powerful unique weapons.
As well as souls, there is a secondary resource you'll be collecting called humanity. You start the game as an undead (hollow), weaker and overall less effective than you are in human form. By collecting and spending humanity you can revert yourself back to human form, increasing certain resistances and improving your item discovery rate. Becoming human also allows you to be summoned to and invade other players worlds.
Doesn't sound too bad right? Well let's talk about death.
You'll see this a lot. Death is as much a part of Dark Souls as collecting the precious souls themselves. If you die you keep your items but lose all your souls and humanity and leave behind a bloodstain. If you make it back to your bloodstain you can recover them, but die on your way back to your corpse and you lose them for good.
Rush forward with abandon to pick up that shiny item? You're going to die. Let your guard down because you've been through the starting enemies 20 times before? You're going to die. You'll learn to respect death as it starts out by beating you into the ground but then teaches you that every step forward, every dark corner and every closed door in this place demands respect.
Despite the shadow of death following you everywhere you go, there is one place you can gain some respite.
Bonfires are the one place you can rest and restore. You can spend your souls to increase your character stats, repair your weapons and armour and restore a limited number of healing flasks. Spend your humanity here and you can also make them more powerful and have them restore more healing items. Bonfires are also your only checkpoints, as long as you've lit one you will return to it once you die.
Of course it's not that easy. Anytime you touch a bonfire or warp back to one after dying, every enemy you've previously killed respawns ready to take you down again.
So that's Dark Souls. Prepare to die.
Multiplayer
or as we prefer to call itCo-op
When co-opping in Dark Souls you can either summon players to your world or be a phantom summoned to another's world. To summon you must be human but phantoms can be either human or hollow. The summoning system isn't your normal "invite to game" thing though. In game you throw down a summoning sign and anyone within 10 levels of you can bring you into their world until you die, exit or kill the boss of that area.
PVP and Invading
Although becoming human allows you to summon others to your world when you want, it also opens you up to being invaded by anyone with an easy to obtain consumable item. The invader however doesn't choose what world to invade, it is random but limited to the zone you are currently in. Invasions and PVP can also be initiated by joining certain covenants that hold specific conditions.
Other Online Stuff
If you're not engaging in co-op or PVP, it still pays to play while online. Players can leave messages around the world warning of traps or monsters, giving instructions for hidden items or just being dicks and fucking you over. You'll also see other player's bloodstains throughout the world that show you how they met their maker.
ScreenshotsVideoshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekqkHjfw9Z0&feature=player_embeddedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93LFz_j5fQA&feature=player_embeddedRelease date August 24th
Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition will include an untold chapter in the world of Lordran where the player must stop the spread of darkness at all costs by facing and defeating the Dark Knight Artorias.
- New Bosses - Including Artorias of Abyss, Chimera of Tomb, and more -
- PVP Online Matchmaking System - Quick matching for co-op or PVP -
- New Areas – Including Oolacile Tomb, Old Ruins and more -
- New Enemies – Including Abyss Guard, Chained Prisoner and more -
- New NPCs – Including Hawkeye Gough and more -
- New Weapons and Armor – Equip some from the new bosses, enemies, and NPCs -
More details to be revealed...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzSqBfPQIEk
Posts
Dark Souls Wikis
http://darksouls.wikidot.com/
http://darksoulswiki.wikispaces.com
Character Builder
http://mugenmonkey.com/darksouls/
Starter Guide
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLPhq5gNeBI&feature=player_embedded
Weapon Upgrades
Novelty Builds
http://darksoulsbuilds.imgur.com/all/
Also got impatient when farming the Black Knights in front of Gwyn last night when a fellow sunbro sign appeared so I took him for some jolly co-op and finished the game.
It felt a bit cheap but one shotting the asylum demon on NG was also pretty awesome.
Nice OP mere_immortal. Thanks for taking over.
you only need to kill the gargoyles to get to sen's fortress and any area dependent on going through there
the basilisks in the Depths and the Great Hollow are both wide open
Here are my stats and how many points I put into each (started as a pyro but became a sorcerer):
VIT 22 (+12)
ATT 23 (+11)
END 24 (+13)
STR 16 (+4)
DEX 14 (+5)
RES 14 (+2)
INT 36 (+26)
FAI 8 (+0)
LVL 74, Chaos Servant Covenant, Silver Knight Shield +5, Enchanted Balder Side Sword +5, Lightning Spear +5, Sorcerer’s Catalyst, Ascended Flame +5, a mishmash of armor from Xanthous’ and Ornstein’s sets.
I’ve placed the Lordvessel and finished New Londo. I still have to finish the Crystal Caves, Catacombs, Tomb of the Giants, Demon Ruins, and Lost Izalith. I also haven’t messed with Gwyndolin and Priscilla yet. I’m starting to look ahead and make sure I do as much as I can before the endgame for trophy hunting purposes.
1. I know there will be some Covenants I cannot do on this first playthough (Darkwraith definitely), but before I beat the game I want to at least get the trophies for as many covenants as I can. It looks like I’d need to join the Gravlord Covenant before beating Nico, correct? Any more that can’t be done just prior to endgame?
2. The wiki claims that the amount of Faith needed to join the Warrior of Sunlight covenant changed from 50 to 25. Does it still get even lower from helping in co-op? My Faith is so low I’ll need all the help I can get joining this one.
3. Any other “Make sure you do X before Y” tips I should know? I still have most of my boss souls (used Quelaag’s to make the Furysword, I think that’s it) and every NPC is still alive (as far as I know). Chances are it’ll be a while before I attempt a NG+, so I’d like to get as much as I can in my one (possibly only) playthrough.
and the great hollow doesn't require any keys at all, you can just go from the valley of drakes through blighttown
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
https://medium.com/@alascii
Actually checked the wiki and this is the case which is awesome. It'll suck grinding eyes without the serpent ring though.
Jolly co-operation. I still gotta finish NG+. By that I mean get to the Kiln and start PVPing hardcore.
Someone wants to buy me a Christmas gift and I was thinking Dark Souls, since I want it anyway. Amazon still has the Collector's Edition for $60, but they have the normal edition for $40. Is there really any good reason to get the Collector's Edition? I have so many art books and shit here from other games that I never look at. The soundtrack is nice, but it's download only right?
Basically I'm wondering if I'm really missing out on much by getting the non-Collector's Edition. And before someone says "eh but you're not paying for it anyway" I can suggest something else for the $20 difference (basically they gave me carte blanche to order whatever I want within a certain limit).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra5FFVSNOrA
Enjoy.
Which is a shame, because the art itself is amazing
https://medium.com/@alascii
I am almost 100% certain that we have played together, either in opposition or cooperation.
either way I love it so much
https://medium.com/@alascii
From Software localized it themselves. I assume a little of both.
Seconding this, I got the collectors edition and the artbook is disappointing, I lucked out and got the CE cheaper than the normal edition for some odd reason though.
But I'd never pay 20, let alone 10 $ more for the CE.
Post patch the basilisks in the depths drop Eyes of Death like candy. Don't even worry about getting the serpent ring.
Hopefully they upped Tridents droprate too, because I've killed a boatload of those dudes with no luck whatsoever.
Can I kill them? My sword doesn't seem to do shit and there are no hints around that I see! I'm in the 2nd area, and I went down.
you can kill them if you are cursed or have used a transient curse item, though
That could explain why it is understood by shoe who are worthy.
Oh.....well.........shit. I have no idea any of those things you are saying.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJOkBTpSzV0
Gets me so hyped.
Anyway, I'm smeej on XBL if anyone ever wants to team up. I've got a level 80ish guy in NG+ just past S&O. Other than that, I can level up a new guy and be pretty much anywhere with little notice. Gonna go make my first sunbro.
Has anyone ever put together a loose list of estimated level ranges for various bosses, for maximum teamwork? I always feel too low level to get summoned.
Also blue slabs, do they drop from the butterflies in the crystal cave?
Yeah, the butterflies drop Blue Slabs. Not fun to farm those guys tho. I think they autoloot now, at least.
Also, got a level 30 sunbro now. Is the Chaos Witch a good boss to help people at for a while?
Does that thing become the
if you want to find more out about the pygmy without too many spoilers, join the Darkwraiths
Wow, so I just read the walkthrough and apparently where I am, there are three ways to go. Two out of three will lead to horrible horrible death...
This game seems mean! I really want to get into it though and start killing some shit!