Ive been struggling though this lately, and just have to get my impressions off my chest, if you dont mind a qiuck rant. :P
Dark Souls and I are currently on speaking terms again, but its been a relationship in turmoil. The whole thing is equal parts frustration and fascination, usually resulting in 30 minute excursions ending in despair and swear words.
I'm level 50 something having played for about as many hours since January, and only just arrived at Anor Londo yesterday. I get the feeling thats below average, but like everything else in DS, Im never certain.
I love the world and story (or the suggestion of a story), and while the boss fights are tricky they are more about overcoming their intimidation factor than brutal difficulty. I dig that.
What stresses me out and keeps my play sessions to about 30 mins is the constant feeling of being lost or wasting my time in certain areas. Often those feelings were not unfounded.
In addition, the thought of missing all these important items that I never would have discovered on my own keeps me glued to walkthroughs online. Its unfortunate to play that way but this shit is so abstract I would be goddamn depressed from failure otherwise.
The added invasions are a kick in the dick. My innability to cope with the somewhat clunky controls (thumbstick lock-on and accidental double swings or rolls) betray me. It's only happened twice, but I've now invented a cliff diving policy that preserves my honor and saves me from exposing my lack of PVP experience in games.
I say all that while recognizing its an intruiging and wonderfully paced experience, and that more games like this are needed, I just don't think it's for me sadly.
But I Will complete it.
Also, for invasions, just don't unhollow yourself unless you're going to operate in an area you've already beaten. You cannot be invaded in a area whose boss you have defeated. As much as this means no jolly co-operation, I'm of the opinion that there are a lot of ways to enjoy this game, and you shouldn't feel saddled by anyone else's "rules"
Jesus christ, just killed Queelagh after quite a few tries and I have to say this. FUCK blighttown. Or rather, fuck whoever the engineer was that decided on the draw distance on that particular level. Dying due to lag followed by a double input of rolling or someshit is soooo 1997. The draw distance doesn't even do anything (except for bogging the system down to 10 fps) since you can't see anything in the goddamn darkness.
Otherwise the map design is pretty nice compared to the rest of the horizontal levels so far.
I often had moments like this and I found that the best cure was to forget the game story for a while turn myself into a gun-for- hire mercenary guy. Its a nice feeling helping someone beat a hard boss or defeat a hard-case invader, you get rewards plus your gameplay improves. If you want real suffering join the Forest Bros (my personal favourite covenant).
I often had moments like this and I found that the best cure was to forget the game story for a while turn myself into a gun-for- hire mercenary guy. Its a nice feeling helping someone beat a hard boss or defeat a hard-case invader, you get rewards plus your gameplay improves. If you want real suffering join the Forest Bros (my personal favourite covenant).
Camouflage is hilarious in Forest Hunter. Turn into random bush, wait for them to wander near... then cut them down before they know what hit them. Their only hope is for you to spawn in front of them.
Its a nice feeling helping someone beat a hard boss or defeat a hard-case invader, you get rewards plus your gameplay improves.
Agreed. I sat around blighttown just to help out for a day or two. Once I found out getting poisoned isnt so bad it wasnt as terrifying.
Im most interested in how ill feel once the game is over and I can look back on it. Once i finished Dragon Age i was perfectly ambivalent about the whole thing... I highly doubt thatll be the case here, after all the pain and pleasure. :P
I killed the knight under the little bridge, near the Undead Burg bonfire! Drake sword made short work of him. I tried my hand at the giant club wielding fella in the tower where the Taurus demon entrance is. Headed down the stairs all macho and thinking this'll be a cakewalk. It was not a cakewalk. I was a cake though, dude just squished me up in one hit. I chuckled and did not try that again.
I also unlocked the Basement door. That place is pretty sweet..... save for the (don't click if you've not been there yet, its pretty special)
Capra Demon. Fuck that guy/lady/monster/thing. Funnily enough I managed to knock a fifth of its health off first time, Plunging attack ftw.
Also, I rescued a prisoner. no idea what the point is but hey, I'm a hero, bitches!
Camouflage is hilarious in Forest Hunter. Turn into random bush, wait for them to wander near... then cut them down before they know what hit them. Their only hope is for you to spawn in front of them.
The ass-clenching fear/excitement as the gank squad approaches, chopping bushes searching for you, then just as they are about to get to where youre hiding the message "Phantom XYZ Has Invaded" comes up, the gankers turn round and run back, you break cover and shoot the fuckers in the back with crystal soul spear. niiiice !!!
Most people you rescue either end up at Firelink Shrine or have a little side story that'll progress throughout the game (some of which will net you a reward). If they end up at the shrine they're usually a vendor of some sort.
I often had moments like this and I found that the best cure was to forget the game story for a while turn myself into a gun-for- hire mercenary guy. Its a nice feeling helping someone beat a hard boss or defeat a hard-case invader, you get rewards plus your gameplay improves. If you want real suffering join the Forest Bros (my personal favourite covenant).
Funny story. While I was farming souls as a Forest Bro on my original character I had one fight where me and a Darkwraith were competing to kill the host (and his buddy blue phantom first). I killed the host with a greater fireball aimed right where he was dodge rolling away from the red phantom's weapon strike. My reward?
Enough souls to max out my ascended pyromancy flame, learn every pyromany spell I didn't have, and jump straight from level 40 to 75 and still have some souls left over.
No idea why the player would be carrying that many souls on hand but they had to be cursing at their screen because I got a few hate messages from them on PSN for that.
I also once invaded as a forest bro and had a red phantom. We both killed the host, and I just stood there not knowing what to do. Red phantom turns to me, hits me like 3 times for a total of maybe -200 health. I killed him with one swing of my +5 Black Knight Sword.
Ok, I'm checking out the Wiki, and after killing the Hydra, I didn't have no golden golem show up either. My game's fucking NPCs up.
I had to go away, run into other zones, save and exit, and come back later, myself. If people hadn't mentioned it here I'd never have known, because I made sure to check everything right after killing the Hydra and I didn't expect i'd need to save and exit for stuff to appear.
Yeah generally I would not bother looking up secrets like that but since you apparently HAVE to kill that enemy to access the DLC, I made an exception.
Yeah, the golden crystal golem doesn't spawn until the area reloads, so you should quit and reload since it's fastest and enemies don't respawn that way.
The summon sign should show up immediately though, make sure to use that on your way out. (You can always grab the antiquated set when you come back for the DLC instead of trekking all the way back into the cave after summoning Dusk)
I often had moments like this and I found that the best cure was to forget the game story for a while turn myself into a gun-for- hire mercenary guy. Its a nice feeling helping someone beat a hard boss or defeat a hard-case invader, you get rewards plus your gameplay improves. If you want real suffering join the Forest Bros (my personal favourite covenant).
Funny story. While I was farming souls as a Forest Bro on my original character I had one fight where me and a Darkwraith were competing to kill the host (and his buddy blue phantom first). I killed the host with a greater fireball aimed right where he was dodge rolling away from the red phantom's weapon strike. My reward?
Enough souls to max out my ascended pyromancy flame, learn every pyromany spell I didn't have, and jump straight from level 40 to 75 and still have some souls left over.
No idea why the player would be carrying that many souls on hand but they had to be cursing at their screen because I got a few hate messages from them on PSN for that.
My sorcerer guy is currently invading the forest with upwards of 5 milllion souls. I dont want to increase my SL, all my favourite armour and weapons are maxed. what do i do ?
I often had moments like this and I found that the best cure was to forget the game story for a while turn myself into a gun-for- hire mercenary guy. Its a nice feeling helping someone beat a hard boss or defeat a hard-case invader, you get rewards plus your gameplay improves. If you want real suffering join the Forest Bros (my personal favourite covenant).
Funny story. While I was farming souls as a Forest Bro on my original character I had one fight where me and a Darkwraith were competing to kill the host (and his buddy blue phantom first). I killed the host with a greater fireball aimed right where he was dodge rolling away from the red phantom's weapon strike. My reward?
Enough souls to max out my ascended pyromancy flame, learn every pyromany spell I didn't have, and jump straight from level 40 to 75 and still have some souls left over.
No idea why the player would be carrying that many souls on hand but they had to be cursing at their screen because I got a few hate messages from them on PSN for that.
My sorcerer guy is currently invading the forest with upwards of 5 milllion souls. I dont want to increase my SL, all my favourite armour and weapons are maxed. what do i do ?
Obviously, spend it all on twinkling titanite and make a twinkling titanite demon!
so Blightown did not bother me... although the fat guys scared the bejezus out of me origionally. Important question, after I kill quelag where do I go?
so Blightown did not bother me... although the fat guys scared the bejezus out of me origionally. Important question, after I kill quelag where do I go?
Rung the second bell? To Sens Fortress with you. That's the place with the big gate beside Andre.
I don't know why everyone hates Blighttown so much.
There's like one part that's legit hard, where you have to fight one of those infested barbarians without any room to maneuver. The rest is taking it slow and looking out for traps.
I hated Blighttown because of those Toxin blowdarts and the shitty framerate on PS3. Hopefully this time it'll just be the blowdarts.
I also don't remember having this much trouble with the Capra daemon. He was (relatively) a breeze first time I played through, but now he's destroying me. Maybe I just got lucky last time.
Tri-Optimum reminds you that there are only one-hundred-sixty-three shopping days until Christmas. Just 1 extra work cycle twice a week will give you the spending money you need to make this holiday a very special one.
Honestly, b-town on the PC with the graphics mod isn't how it was intended to be played. The shitty framerate issues sucked, but besides that the view distance was way lower on the console (since the better rendering options on the pc clear things up it seems). Doing blight town when you can actually see more than 10 feet is a whole different experience.
I do agree that it's not as bad as it seems, but the first time through can be hellish - especially if you haven't played Demons Souls. What was it world 5 that was similar? That shit fucking sucked.
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FreiA French Prometheus UnboundDeadwoodRegistered Userregular
I have been meaning to ask... when Dark Souls released, STR and DEX stat/weapon builds weren't super viable compared to builds that made use of lightning weapons. Lightning weapons were just basically god tier. Have patches remedied this at all?
I have been meaning to ask... when Dark Souls released, STR and DEX stat/weapon builds weren't super viable compared to builds that made use of lightning weapons. Lightning weapons were just basically god tier. Have patches remedied this at all?
Yes. Scaling weapons will be better if you have a high scaling stat now, though Elemental/Chaos still maintains a strong option for Vit-gougers, backup weapons, and low-scaling weapons.
Blah. I should continue and go for Bed of Chaos. But that fight is such bullshit and it's so annoying to reach there each time that it's taken the desire to play straight out of me.
I have been meaning to ask... when Dark Souls released, STR and DEX stat/weapon builds weren't super viable compared to builds that made use of lightning weapons. Lightning weapons were just basically god tier. Have patches remedied this at all?
Yes. Scaling weapons will be better if you have a high scaling stat now, though Elemental/Chaos still maintains a strong option for Vit-gougers, backup weapons, and low-scaling weapons.
Besides just making scaling better in general, they also made it so weapons with 2 damage types (say, physical and lightning) have to pass through 2 different defenses to do damage. So weapons that have less attack power but of a single type will often do more damage. It's been my experience with magic weapons, anyway. Moonlight Butterfly Horn usually does way more than anything else, because ALL of it's damage is magic, rather than a mix of magic and physical.
so Blightown did not bother me... although the fat guys scared the bejezus out of me origionally. Important question, after I kill quelag where do I go?
Make sure to find and rest at the bonfire just after Quelag (it's behind a hidden wall). It will allow you to warp back there later on which saves you having to go through Blighttown again (although once you've got the shortcut to Blighttown from Firelink open it's pretty easy to just run through anyway).
Blah. I should continue and go for Bed of Chaos. But that fight is such bullshit and it's so annoying to reach there each time that it's taken the desire to play straight out of me.
Like many things a bow makes the bed of chaos fight much more less bullshit. Just shoot the two glowey heart things from a distance and then use the quit and reload trick to get back into position to make a run for the core.
I have been meaning to ask... when Dark Souls released, STR and DEX stat/weapon builds weren't super viable compared to builds that made use of lightning weapons. Lightning weapons were just basically god tier. Have patches remedied this at all?
Yes. Scaling weapons will be better if you have a high scaling stat now, though Elemental/Chaos still maintains a strong option for Vit-gougers, backup weapons, and low-scaling weapons.
Besides just making scaling better in general, they also made it so weapons with 2 damage types (say, physical and lightning) have to pass through 2 different defenses to do damage. So weapons that have less attack power but of a single type will often do more damage. It's been my experience with magic weapons, anyway. Moonlight Butterfly Horn usually does way more than anything else, because ALL of it's damage is magic, rather than a mix of magic and physical.
This was always the case, it's just that very few weapons had sufficent base damage and scaling to compete with the damage per hit of lightning weapons. Only the Black Knight Greataxe and a few other strength weapons could manage it directly, though ones enchanted with Tin Crystal Weapon absolutely blew lightning weapons out of the water.
Posts
Dark Souls and I are currently on speaking terms again, but its been a relationship in turmoil. The whole thing is equal parts frustration and fascination, usually resulting in 30 minute excursions ending in despair and swear words.
I'm level 50 something having played for about as many hours since January, and only just arrived at Anor Londo yesterday. I get the feeling thats below average, but like everything else in DS, Im never certain.
I love the world and story (or the suggestion of a story), and while the boss fights are tricky they are more about overcoming their intimidation factor than brutal difficulty. I dig that.
What stresses me out and keeps my play sessions to about 30 mins is the constant feeling of being lost or wasting my time in certain areas. Often those feelings were not unfounded.
In addition, the thought of missing all these important items that I never would have discovered on my own keeps me glued to walkthroughs online. Its unfortunate to play that way but this shit is so abstract I would be goddamn depressed from failure otherwise.
The added invasions are a kick in the dick. My innability to cope with the somewhat clunky controls (thumbstick lock-on and accidental double swings or rolls) betray me. It's only happened twice, but I've now invented a cliff diving policy that preserves my honor and saves me from exposing my lack of PVP experience in games.
I say all that while recognizing its an intruiging and wonderfully paced experience, and that more games like this are needed, I just don't think it's for me sadly.
But I Will complete it.
Also, for invasions, just don't unhollow yourself unless you're going to operate in an area you've already beaten. You cannot be invaded in a area whose boss you have defeated. As much as this means no jolly co-operation, I'm of the opinion that there are a lot of ways to enjoy this game, and you shouldn't feel saddled by anyone else's "rules"
Otherwise the map design is pretty nice compared to the rest of the horizontal levels so far.
Camouflage is hilarious in Forest Hunter. Turn into random bush, wait for them to wander near... then cut them down before they know what hit them. Their only hope is for you to spawn in front of them.
3DS: 0473-8507-2652
Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
PSN: AbEntropy
Agreed. I sat around blighttown just to help out for a day or two. Once I found out getting poisoned isnt so bad it wasnt as terrifying.
Im most interested in how ill feel once the game is over and I can look back on it. Once i finished Dragon Age i was perfectly ambivalent about the whole thing... I highly doubt thatll be the case here, after all the pain and pleasure. :P
I also unlocked the Basement door. That place is pretty sweet..... save for the (don't click if you've not been there yet, its pretty special)
Also, I rescued a prisoner. no idea what the point is but hey, I'm a hero, bitches!
The ass-clenching fear/excitement as the gank squad approaches, chopping bushes searching for you, then just as they are about to get to where youre hiding the message "Phantom XYZ Has Invaded" comes up, the gankers turn round and run back, you break cover and shoot the fuckers in the back with crystal soul spear. niiiice !!!
I never even bought anything from them.
Funny story. While I was farming souls as a Forest Bro on my original character I had one fight where me and a Darkwraith were competing to kill the host (and his buddy blue phantom first). I killed the host with a greater fireball aimed right where he was dodge rolling away from the red phantom's weapon strike. My reward?
Enough souls to max out my ascended pyromancy flame, learn every pyromany spell I didn't have, and jump straight from level 40 to 75 and still have some souls left over.
No idea why the player would be carrying that many souls on hand but they had to be cursing at their screen because I got a few hate messages from them on PSN for that.
// Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
I had to zone out and back in before it showed up for me.
I also once invaded as a forest bro and had a red phantom. We both killed the host, and I just stood there not knowing what to do. Red phantom turns to me, hits me like 3 times for a total of maybe -200 health. I killed him with one swing of my +5 Black Knight Sword.
I had to go away, run into other zones, save and exit, and come back later, myself. If people hadn't mentioned it here I'd never have known, because I made sure to check everything right after killing the Hydra and I didn't expect i'd need to save and exit for stuff to appear.
The summon sign should show up immediately though, make sure to use that on your way out. (You can always grab the antiquated set when you come back for the DLC instead of trekking all the way back into the cave after summoning Dusk)
3DS: 0473-8507-2652
Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
PSN: AbEntropy
My sorcerer guy is currently invading the forest with upwards of 5 milllion souls. I dont want to increase my SL, all my favourite armour and weapons are maxed. what do i do ?
Obviously, spend it all on twinkling titanite and make a twinkling titanite demon!
3DS: 0473-8507-2652
Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
PSN: AbEntropy
If you do the post-roll attack with the claw, you do Vega's rolling claw attack.
Seems more subtle than being able to shoryuken.
3DS: 0473-8507-2652
Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
PSN: AbEntropy
Yeah, and the mimic's dragon kick. But it's definitely the same pose.
Rung the second bell? To Sens Fortress with you. That's the place with the big gate beside Andre.
There's like one part that's legit hard, where you have to fight one of those infested barbarians without any room to maneuver. The rest is taking it slow and looking out for traps.
I also don't remember having this much trouble with the Capra daemon. He was (relatively) a breeze first time I played through, but now he's destroying me. Maybe I just got lucky last time.
I do agree that it's not as bad as it seems, but the first time through can be hellish - especially if you haven't played Demons Souls. What was it world 5 that was similar? That shit fucking sucked.
Yes. Scaling weapons will be better if you have a high scaling stat now, though Elemental/Chaos still maintains a strong option for Vit-gougers, backup weapons, and low-scaling weapons.
// Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
Besides just making scaling better in general, they also made it so weapons with 2 damage types (say, physical and lightning) have to pass through 2 different defenses to do damage. So weapons that have less attack power but of a single type will often do more damage. It's been my experience with magic weapons, anyway. Moonlight Butterfly Horn usually does way more than anything else, because ALL of it's damage is magic, rather than a mix of magic and physical.
Every single fucking time I always feel this pressure to do well and then do something stupid like walk off the edge of the boss arena.
Make sure to find and rest at the bonfire just after Quelag (it's behind a hidden wall). It will allow you to warp back there later on which saves you having to go through Blighttown again (although once you've got the shortcut to Blighttown from Firelink open it's pretty easy to just run through anyway).
xbox GT: Big Will C H
Glad I'm not the only one who titally freezes up and embarrasses myself when trying to help someone else.
xbox GT: Big Will C H
Like many things a bow makes the bed of chaos fight much more less bullshit. Just shoot the two glowey heart things from a distance and then use the quit and reload trick to get back into position to make a run for the core.
I made a game, it has penguins in it. It's pay what you like on Gumroad.
Currently Ebaying Nothing at all but I might do in the future.
This was always the case, it's just that very few weapons had sufficent base damage and scaling to compete with the damage per hit of lightning weapons. Only the Black Knight Greataxe and a few other strength weapons could manage it directly, though ones enchanted with Tin Crystal Weapon absolutely blew lightning weapons out of the water.