Dark Souls - I'm Prepared To Die (Again)

[Kerg3927]

You're going to get stuck for a bit on Ornstein & Smough. Everybody does. They are tough, and it can feel overwhelming at first, until you figure out a strat. And then it's going to take some wipes to get it down.

Spoiler

Tip for heavy melee... don't bother trying to tank in this fight. It just doesn't work. Ditch the shield. Ditch the heavy armor. Level up a big 2-hander (like Zweihander, which is easy to get). Wear light armor. Kite, use the pillars to block charge attacks, look for a safe opening to get ONE hit in, then run away, repeat. Mobility is the key.

You can go back to being a tank afterward.

 

[Xprimentyl]

If you go after the dragon with a bow, make sure you can get consistent hits and at least 50 damage, because he regenerates health once half his bar is gone. You'll know he's trying to heal when he covers himself with his wings, so that's where landing consistent hits is vital.

 

[Fox12]

Well, my testicles finally descended and I?ve decided to try Dark Souls again after 3 years away. Back then, it took me hours of trial and error in the Undead Burg before I finally made it to the Taurus Demon where I was curb stomped so hard, the impact affected the Earth?s axis causing the unusually hot Summer of 2013 here in North Texas, so I gave up.

Anyway, I started over a couple days ago and finally made it past the TD yesterday and am feeling fresh off success, but I AM pretty apprehensive about how much there is to learn, how much I can miss and how much I can potentially waste trying to ?figure things out.? I?d hate to get 40 hours in just to find I screwed myself 38 hours prior when I didn?t get the ?Sword of Game Ending? or some other epic item. The Let?s Players I?ve watched are generally either world record-setting Souls gurus beating the game in an hour using nothing but a burlap sack on their head or, like me, they?re total noobs who?re getting shredded in the comments for all the shit they?re missing and the mistakes they?re making. Also doesn?t help that even when I do watch a Let?s Play, I?m usually distracted, so I miss a lot of the hidden stuff and inventory management.

So, my apologies for bringing up a ?noob? thread for a 5 year old game, but I?m not a Let?s Player, so I?ve not the luxury of a comments section to teach (read: ?verbally abuse?) me, and Souls Wikis read like IKEA assembly instructions (especially if you don?t know what you don?t know or don?t know what you?re looking for,) so if anyone could offer some pointers, even if it?s just items I should be sure to get or resources I shouldn?t waste, it?d be much appreciated. Like I said, I?m just now past the Taurus Demon and I did manage to get the Drake sword (the ONE item I knew to get,) now I?m trying how to figure out how to get past the dragon, so pretty much still at the beginning.

There's only one way to really "screw yourself over," and even then you can get around it. There isn't some secret item that will get you a good or bad ending or anything like that. The only thing you have to worry about is creating a good build. Unfortunately, it's hard to know what build you want until you play the game and get a taste of everything. I suggest either looking up a build online, or not leveling up your character until you find a weapon style you like. Magic, heavy, dex, faith, ect. Oh, and never, ever, upgrade a weapon down the crystal upgrade path. My friend made that mistake once.

As far as story goes, your better off going in blind. It's entirely possible to beat the game without ever discovering the story "secrets." In that case you may beat the game and get confused by the ending. However, it also makes discovering those secrets all the better. Darksouls is a really weird game to get into. There just comes a point where it sort of clicks and you realize your playing something special. Don't sweat it too much. Just have a good time. Storywise there's no way to screw yourself over by locking yourself into an ending. You just discover things or you don't.

 

[SlumlordThanatos]

You're going to get stuck for a bit on Ornstein & Smough. Everybody does. They are tough, and it can feel overwhelming at first, until you figure out a strat. And then it's going to take some wipes to get it down.

Spoiler

Tip for heavy melee... don't bother trying to tank in this fight. It just doesn't work. Ditch the shield. Ditch the heavy armor. Level up a big 2-hander (like Zweihander, which is easy to get). Wear light armor. Kite, use the pillars to block charge attacks, look for a safe opening to get ONE hit in, then run away, repeat. Mobility is the key.

You can go back to being a tank afterward.

Better idea:

Use some of your Humanity and summon Solaire for the fight. If you've been talking to him, his summon sign will appear beneath the Silver Knight Archer in the main hall before the fog door to the boss. He is fully capable of soloing one of the bosses on NG, and even if he doesn't, he works as an excellent distraction for one of the bosses while you nuke down the other one.

Ornstein and Smough is only really hard if you insist on doing it by yourself.

 

[Asita]

Continuing with Thanatos's point: With a few exceptions, Humanity is an optional resource that you'll want to keep in item form instead of "soft" form (the number by your hp/stamina bar), because the soft form can be lost. If you're having some difficulty with a boss though, consider using some humanity. There are often summon signs for NPCs (and sometimes players) nearby, which can help you in the fights. Depending on the fight and your setup, they can either be weak meatshields or incredibly useful allies, but they're never detrimental.

 

[Xprimentyl]

You're going to get stuck for a bit on Ornstein & Smough. Everybody does. They are tough, and it can feel overwhelming at first, until you figure out a strat. And then it's going to take some wipes to get it down.

Spoiler

Tip for heavy melee... don't bother trying to tank in this fight. It just doesn't work. Ditch the shield. Ditch the heavy armor. Level up a big 2-hander (like Zweihander, which is easy to get). Wear light armor. Kite, use the pillars to block charge attacks, look for a safe opening to get ONE hit in, then run away, repeat. Mobility is the key.

You can go back to being a tank afterward.

Better idea:

Use some of your Humanity and summon Solaire for the fight. If you've been talking to him, his summon sign will appear beneath the Silver Knight Archer in the main hall before the fog door to the boss. He is fully capable of soloing one of the bosses on NG, and even if he doesn't, he works as an excellent distraction for one of the bosses while you nuke down the other one.

Ornstein and Smough is only really hard if you insist on doing it by yourself.

For me I was expecting to have a lot worse time than I did first time, especially without Solaire. I actually almost beat them both first try, but then it took I think three or four more. Maybe I was leveled higher than most by the time I got to them, and I already had the Gravelord sword fairly upgraded with Havel's armor/ring. Was still under 50 equip so was able to roll well enough which is essential for this fight.

Columns are your friend for defense too, and although I've only ever defeated Ornstein first, I would think that's the easiest way to go. Smough is too slow to be much trouble unless you let him get close. The fight is pretty cake after Ornstein is gone, because his combination of speed and power is what makes it technically challlenging. The whole battle is really about intimidation more than anything else IMO. If you've already gotten to them you probably have the sense to pick the battle apart to your advantage.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Dark Souls

The best tip:
If you are like me, then you have to realize that dying and losing souls/humanity is no big deal. Seriously, this game becomes infinitely more stressful and not fun when you worry that you might lose your 15000 souls and 10 humanity.
You need to learn to let go, because it doesn't matter at all.

Next best tip:
Play slow.
Get a 100% physical block shield (easy to come by). Have it up at all times in new areas. Always fight enemies slow. Block, attack ONCE!, continue blocking, until you learn the attack patterns. The spear hollows are very passive, and you can easily walk up and kick (forward+R1) then kill them.

If you get stuck, just consult a wiki. There is no shame in that, because it doesn't matter. Also just google questions, like when you need to farm large titanite shards, or when you want to look up a weapon, etc. This will greatly increase your enjoyment. Like did you know that you can easily kill the taurus demon by climbing the ladder beside the fog gate and plunge attack him until he dies?? Knowledge is power.


I played through the first time with a rather heavy armour, claymore (then man serpent great sword) strength build.
Now that I learned the ins and outs by going slow and observing, and killing my desire to never lose souls/humanity, I have started a fun dual wield build. Currently just two handing my uchigatana, but I have Quelaags Furysword off hand, and I just beat Super Ornstein for his spear (which has too high strength for my dex build, god damnit). Originally wanted a parry sword, spear main hand build which I will transition to at some time, maybe.

Anyway, another good tip:
Don't worry about choosing the wrong weapon. You get a lot of materials for weapon upgrades as you go (and they are easy to farm), except for the final upgrade which is usually a one time per playthrough item. So experiment with a bunch of weapons, find one with a moveset you like, then upgrade it. And you are golden.


Also:
Choose the kind of character you want to make and stick with it. So pick either strength, or dex, or int, or faith to bring up to 40, then put the rest into vitality (endurance up to 40 as well).

But seriously, don't worry about dying and losing souls. It killed my desire to play until I realized that it didn't effect my character at all in the long run. It is much more fun now, I can just attempt to fight shit, and then I laugh when I fail because it is usually for stupid reasons like being greedy with attacks, or getting clipped through walls and stuff. Or trying something risky and getting caught. So much more fun now that I don't care.

Man, I just realized this game is basically meditation in game form. Focusing on the present, learning to acknowledge your weakness, becoming calm and relaxed in the face of adversity. That's why the character sits and meditates in front of the fires. It is all about trying to find your true self, and living in the moment. Learning to let go. Possessions do not matter, only who you are (in this case, your demon slaying skills).

Woah.

...this is probably the best, most all-encompassing advice I've ever heard for the series. It makes so much sense, like zen or something.

 

[Fox12]

You're going to get stuck for a bit on Ornstein & Smough. Everybody does. They are tough, and it can feel overwhelming at first, until you figure out a strat. And then it's going to take some wipes to get it down.

Spoiler

Tip for heavy melee... don't bother trying to tank in this fight. It just doesn't work. Ditch the shield. Ditch the heavy armor. Level up a big 2-hander (like Zweihander, which is easy to get). Wear light armor. Kite, use the pillars to block charge attacks, look for a safe opening to get ONE hit in, then run away, repeat. Mobility is the key.

You can go back to being a tank afterward.

Better idea:

Use some of your Humanity and summon Solaire for the fight. If you've been talking to him, his summon sign will appear beneath the Silver Knight Archer in the main hall before the fog door to the boss. He is fully capable of soloing one of the bosses on NG, and even if he doesn't, he works as an excellent distraction for one of the bosses while you nuke down the other one.

Ornstein and Smough is only really hard if you insist on doing it by yourself.

For me I was expecting to have a lot worse time than I did first time, especially without Solaire. I actually almost beat them both first try, but then it took I think three or four more. Maybe I was leveled higher than most by the time I got to them, and I already had the Gravelord sword fairly upgraded with Havel's armor/ring. Was still under 50 equip so was able to roll well enough which is essential for this fight.

Columns are your friend for defense too, and although I've only ever defeated Ornstein first, I would think that's the easiest way to go. Smough is too slow to be much trouble unless you let him get close. The fight is pretty cake after Ornstein is gone, because his combination of speed and power is what makes it technically challlenging. The whole battle is really about intimidation more than anything else IMO. If you've already gotten to them you probably have the sense to pick the battle apart to your advantage.

Ornstein actually slows down a lot after he upgrades. I found Smaugh's pound attack a lot more difficult to deal with.

Heavy weapons works surprisingly well during that encounter. I was able to stagger Smaugh with my greatsword while still keeping my weight at 25%.

 

[RedDeadFred]

Here's some random thoughts from someone who beat this game for the first time a few months ago.

I honestly wouldn't recommend using the Drake Sword. It's so bad later on and acts as a noob trap where you don't need to learn a lot of the game's mechanics since you're one-shotting thins for a while. I'd recommend grabbing the Claymore. It's in the same area as the Drake Sword (behind where the Dragon is guarding). It scales nicely, has a good moveset, and you can use it for the entire game if you want.

Other random and vague tips:

Quelaag has a bullshit move that may one-shot you in a large area. The only tell for this fucking thing is that she lowers her body over the spider portion.

Everyone talks about how tough O and S are.... I beat them on my second try. All I did was wait for the rare opening against Ornsten while I backed around the outside of the room. It's honestly not that hard if you're patient.

Shields make the game easy. Greatshields even more so. The hardest boss in the game (Manus by far IMO) is made quite manageable if you have a greatshield (I didn't have one so I spent a few hours learning his moveset).

Run left up the stairs and kill the stupid dogs. It's really easy if you do this.

DO NO get cornered by the wheel guys.

Don't get too close to the hydras. It took me a while to notice that there's a deep falloff in the water where you will drown.

Hug the naked dragon's left side.

Listen to the rhythm of the two arrows. You'll have to have your back to one of the jackasses and you need to know when to dodge just from the sound.

Prepare to spend a couple hours on Pinwheel.

 

[DeadProxy]

Doing a quick scan of this thread, I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet actually.

If you have beaten the Gargoyles and just want souls for leveling up with little hassle, hold onto 20k souls and buy the Crest of Artorias off Andre. The path under Andre leads to a forest, and if you follow the path straight, it'll lead you do a broken piece of wall, a large sealed door, and a path leading down. Smack the wall for a nice bonfire, and open up that door.

In this new area, there are human-type enemies of varying classes which will drop a few thousand souls on death. Right in front of the newly opened door is a set of stair, and to the left of that is a massive cliff with a little room for you to stand on. If you want lots and lots of super easy souls for just 20-40 minutes of time, then you can lure the enemies up the stairs, and you drop down to the safe spot, while the enemy tries to follow you and just walks over you and off the cliff. You can very quickly make up the 20k you spent getting here, and this is place can level you up quite a bit if you want to, or you can practice fighting human-types and see how well your usual strategy works on different enemies.

BIG NOTE: DONT BE HUMAN (used a humanity) in this zone, or you will likely be invaded by people who have been playing the game for years, as this place has more or less unrestricted rules for PVP, as in you might be invaded by multiple people over level 100.

EXTRA BIG NOTE: This place is home to a covenant, and if you join by talking to the cat, will turn those human-types non-hostile and open up a shop, but if you attack any of them again, you'll be kicked out of the covenant, possibly permanently.

 

[Dalisclock]

Listen to the rhythm of the two arrows. You'll have to have your back to one of the jackasses and you need to know when to dodge just from the sound.

There's a weird little trick I found out accidently. There's a spot on the first part of the buttress with the low fence where, if you stand there, the archer can't hit you. The one who can see you will shoot at you all day but his arrows will always fly just low enough to impact the low fence and not you. Snipe his ass and get inside.

Apparently you can also bait this jerk into falling off the ledge and killing himself, but I never saw it happen(I did see it happen to a black knight in the Giants Tomb. Hilarious).

 

[SweetShark]

I am the kind of player I want to play a game entirely blind.
Even I realised I did many, MANY wrong decisions while I was playing Dark Souls, I still enjoyed it.
Dark Souls 1 was one of the best experience I had in a game for years.
Dark Souls 2 was good, but sadly not near as perfect like the first one.
Dark Souls 3 is next, but I wait for the full package.
So I suggest you NOT ask for tips! Play it as you like. It won't be easy of course, but it will be so much rewarding.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Prepare to spend a couple hours on Pinwheel.

Pinwheel is easy with enough stamina and a good sword. Just rush him before he can conjure any minions, since he relies on a "divide and conquer" strategy to win.

Doing a quick scan of this thread, I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet actually.

If you have beaten the Gargoyles and just want souls for leveling up with little hassle, hold onto 20k souls and buy the Crest of Artorias off Andre. The path under Andre leads to a forest, and if you follow the path straight, it'll lead you do a broken piece of wall, a large sealed door, and a path leading down. Smack the wall for a nice bonfire, and open up that door.

In this new area, there are human-type enemies of varying classes which will drop a few thousand souls on death. Right in front of the newly opened door is a set of stair, and to the left of that is a massive cliff with a little room for you to stand on. If you want lots and lots of super easy souls for just 20-40 minutes of time, then you can lure the enemies up the stairs, and you drop down to the safe spot, while the enemy tries to follow you and just walks over you and off the cliff. You can very quickly make up the 20k you spent getting here, and this is place can level you up quite a bit if you want to, or you can practice fighting human-types and see how well your usual strategy works on different enemies.

BIG NOTE: DONT BE HUMAN (used a humanity) in this zone, or you will likely be invaded by people who have been playing the game for years, as this place has more or less unrestricted rules for PVP, as in you might be invaded by multiple people over level 100.

EXTRA BIG NOTE: This place is home to a covenant, and if you join by talking to the cat, will turn those human-types non-hostile and open up a shop, but if you attack any of them again, you'll be kicked out of the covenant, possibly permanently.

I'll have to try that one, thanks.


My two soul soul farming areas have been:

Phalanx after going through Painted World. Two-handing a great sword with the Covetous Silver Serpent ring (location)-

Spoiler

For anyone who hasn't found this, it can be deceiving to navigate towards its out of reach location. Go to the right of where Patches is when facing him, and kill the big skeleton archer, then drop off the cliff right behind him - use a prism stone if unsure of footing

will net 8,650 souls or more with critical hits in about 90 seconds; less than a minute if using Homeward Bone/Miracle.

Another later game 2-in-1 after getting the Lordvessel is the Skeleton Babies at the end of the cave on the narrow outlying path past Tomb of the Giants. With the Covetous Gold Serpent ring it is one of the best Humanity farming areas in the game. It beats farming from rats hands down even if you have 0 soft Humanity stored, because you can just keep killing them. It's advisable to head to land once in a while in case their numbers overwhelm though. Using a weapon with a low, sweeping strike pattern yields the best results.

 

[RedDeadFred]

Prepare to spend a couple hours on Pinwheel.

Pinwheel is easy with enough stamina and a good sword. Just rush him before he can conjure any minions, since he relies on a "divide and conquer" strategy to win.

I was joking. He's probably the easiest boss in the game. I think I killed him in about 5 hits. He didn't actually get a chance to do anything.

 

[Dalisclock]

Prepare to spend a couple hours on Pinwheel.

Pinwheel is easy with enough stamina and a good sword. Just rush him before he can conjure any minions, since he relies on a "divide and conquer" strategy to win.

I was joking. He's probably the easiest boss in the game. I think I killed him in about 5 hits. He didn't actually get a chance to do anything.

That's the weirdness of it. It took me a while to make it to Pinwheel through the catacombs, I got in there, made a bunch of dumb mistakes(which would have gotten me murdered with any other boss) and still killed Pinwheel with estus to spare. Tomb of the Giants was another long, hard slog, then I get to Nito, make more mistakes and still kill him in 1 try.

I had to fight the Asylum Demon like 10 times before I killed him. I had to fight the Taurus demon 5 times or so. Don't even mention the Capra Demon to me. Hell, the Black Knights down there gave me far more trouble then either Pinwheel or Nito. So you can imagine how it felt to go in there almost unprepared and still win.

 

[Kerg3927]

General tip for exploring. Move SLOW into new areas. The game punishes players who quickly run forward and don't pay attention to their surroundings. When you walk through a door, stop and look in all directions, including behind you and up. Make sure you're not about to get ambushed. Listen. Enemies make sounds. Always try to pull mobs back to a safer area and kill them one at a time when possible. If you run forward, you're likely to get hit by ranged attacks and/or get adds. And try not to fight near ledges where you might fall to your death because it WILL happen. YOU pick the spot where combat takes place.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Welp, my play time stands at just over 13 hours, and I finally beat it!!

Psyche! I?m at the Gaping Dragon. Pathetic probably, but I couldn?t be more pleased! I know my progress is retarded (in the literal sense, not using the term derogatorily,) but I?ve really taken the time to find a stride and pace that works for me; all of your tips and tricks have helped tremendously; I can?t thank you all enough. I dreaded going into The Depths, but my methodical and meticulous pacing to ?git gud? made it quite easy. The Gaping Dragon is another story?

I?ve watched a dozen people fight him, and I thought after besting the Gargoyles and Capra Demon (asshole) who?re a lot faster and overtly aggressive, I figured this lumbering behemoth would be a breeze, but no. I knew he had the jumping animation, but I swear, it?s like he never touches the ground! Every time I try to get at him, he jumps up across the room, slams his chest-mouth into the ground just long enough for me to run up thinking I might get a strike or two in, then he freight trains me with his running attack. Oh, and I?ve never seen him tail whip, but sure as shit, he left some scales in my teeth with that little surprise.

And I think I?ve played enough now to launch a legit complaint: what is with the clipping into enemies? dead bodies?!? It?s funny the first few times, but in The Depths where the corridors are slightly wider than your body, it gets pretty annoying. Trying to take out the Channeler right outside of Gaping?s lair, I had that little hidey-hole corridor filled to the brim with giant rat bodies stuck to my feet clogging the screen while I was picked apart by the Channeler?s magic from a mile away. Fortunately, during my next trip down, the Channeler was literally standing at that opening (too tall to actually fit through the door) and I was able to take him out before the rats even aggro?d; (1337, recognize the skillz.) Then, well, see the middle paragraph? about 6 times so far.

 

[Xprimentyl]

On a side note I didn't even realize it was All Souls Day yesterday.

 

[Fox12]

Welp, my play time stands at just over 13 hours, and I finally beat it!!

Psyche! I?m at the Gaping Dragon. Pathetic probably, but I couldn?t be more pleased! I know my progress is retarded (in the literal sense, not using the term derogatorily,) but I?ve really taken the time to find a stride and pace that works for me; all of your tips and tricks have helped tremendously; I can?t thank you all enough. I dreaded going into The Depths, but my methodical and meticulous pacing to ?git gud? made it quite easy. The Gaping Dragon is another story?

I?ve watched a dozen people fight him, and I thought after besting the Gargoyles and Capra Demon (asshole) who?re a lot faster and overtly aggressive, I figured this lumbering behemoth would be a breeze, but no. I knew he had the jumping animation, but I swear, it?s like he never touches the ground! Every time I try to get at him, he jumps up across the room, slams his chest-mouth into the ground just long enough for me to run up thinking I might get a strike or two in, then he freight trains me with his running attack. Oh, and I?ve never seen him tail whip, but sure as shit, he left some scales in my teeth with that little surprise.

And I think I?ve played enough now to launch a legit complaint: what is with the clipping into enemies? dead bodies?!? It?s funny the first few times, but in The Depths where the corridors are slightly wider than your body, it gets pretty annoying. Trying to take out the Channeler right outside of Gaping?s lair, I had that little hidey-hole corridor filled to the brim with giant rat bodies stuck to my feet clogging the screen while I was picked apart by the Channeler?s magic from a mile away. Fortunately, during my next trip down, the Channeler was literally standing at that opening (too tall to actually fit through the door) and I was able to take him out before the rats even aggro?d; (1337, recognize the skillz.) Then, well, see the middle paragraph? about 6 times so far.

I wouldn't worry about the play time. I probably spent a 100 hours on that game the first time. Of course, I took a meticulously slow pace. Your probably moving through the game faster then I did. It sounds like your about to enter blight town. I actually like that area, but I know most people hate it. Don't let it get you down if you get a little stuck. If you have a master key, you can actually skip it. Either way, it only gets better from there.

As for the clipping, it's pretty silly looking, but you won't see much of it after the depths. There aren't any areas as tightly packed as the depths, so you won't be carrying around half the population of the village with you as some kind of sick trophy.

 

[Glongpre]

Psyche! I?m at the Gaping Dragon.

Huh, I found gaping dragon pretty easy. I just ran far away around the outside, and it pretty much guaranteed that he would do his charge attack, which then left him open to 2 or 3 attacks. Repeat.
If he doesn't do the charge, just keep moving around the outside and eventually he will.
Cut off his tail for a heavy axe.

I never ran into any problems with the rag doll physics. I always run through stuff just to add insult to their deaths, those assholes. No mercy!

Super important though, before you go into upper blighttown, make sure you get the spider shield. When traversing blighttown, always keep it up. Watch out for darts!!!
People say it is hard, but honestly, I had no problem (but I also found this tip after being confused by seemingly being autotoxined upon entering the first area. haha).