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

[Xprimentyl]

For Sen's Fortress, and for your sanity, it might be better to equip the Zweihander if you got it, because though it's slow, if it connects on the Snakemen, they get pancaked and have to stand up, which gives you enough time to slam them again.

I keep forgetting the Zweihander. I haven't been through the cemetery since very early on in couple low-level panicked runs in and out grabbing any glowing item I could find; none of them were the Zweihander, though.

As for if your underleveled or whatever, I can't help you there since I try to be as beefy as possible in souls games, and probably went to many places over leveled and still got ruined.

That's the thing, I want to think that 26 hours into a game, I should have a feel for how powerful I should be, but then I remember this is Dark Souls where a new player 10 minutes in is but a few yards away from unrestricted entry to near-endgame content (Catacombs -> Tomb of Giants -> Nito, New Londo -> Four Kings,) so I'm never sure if enough is enough or if my all is too little to progress.

If you need a divine weapon, if I remember there's one in a chest in a hidden spot at Firelink. At the elevator beside the fat cleric man, if you ride it up a couple feet and step off it, I think you can drop down to a spot behind the Fat man and get a Blessed Mace. If I'm wrong, then just use a Mace-type weapon, because smacking skeletons with those will break them apart every time.

I'm pretty sure I've cleaned out Firelink, been to the area you're suggesting and didn't find any divine weapons, but I'll check again.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[Xprimentyl]

My recommendation for preparing for Anor Londo while you're still in Sen's Fortress is to practise parrying on the Snake guards. They're a bit difficult to do but Black Knights are (IMO) among the easiest enemies in the game to parry which will make Anor Londo less overbearing.

I was afraid this would come up; I suck at parrying. Every now and again, I get lucky (maybe 15-20% of the time,) but when parrying enemies that can 2-shot me (1-shot if I'm feeling uncharacteristically ballsy and approach a mini-boss with less than full health; ask Havel how that worked out for me...) those terrible odds are exponentially worse. I know I need to quit crying and "git gud" (which is true,) but it's really hard to "practice" parrying when each enemy type has a different move set, multiple attacks each with their own parry window and that's IF they can be parried at all! The hollows at Firelink will wind up over their heads for 4 whole seconds while Black Knights attack so quickly, the tips of their swords break the sound barrier. You have to practice parrying every enemy and not just the technique itself.

 

[Glongpre]

My recommendation for preparing for Anor Londo while you're still in Sen's Fortress is to practise parrying on the Snake guards. They're a bit difficult to do but Black Knights are (IMO) among the easiest enemies in the game to parry which will make Anor Londo less overbearing.

Can you parry snake men? I tried a few times but I could never get one.

FUCK Sen?s Fortress!!!

Haha, yeah.

Tip 1: Use traps to your advantage if possible, ie. the first trap, you can lure the snake men to, and it should seriously injure or kill one.

Tip 2: Farm the snake men for the man serpent greatsword, which has a moveset close to the claymore, but it has A (or S) scaling for strength. It is really good.

This place you just have to grin and bear it, unfortunately. It is a big puzzle.

Oh, don't forget to get the hidden save point. And don't forget to get the elevator. I would watch a video for the save point, cause it is hidden pretty well (even if it is in plain sight).

The boss is pretty easy though.

 

[Xprimentyl]

My recommendation for preparing for Anor Londo while you're still in Sen's Fortress is to practise parrying on the Snake guards. They're a bit difficult to do but Black Knights are (IMO) among the easiest enemies in the game to parry which will make Anor Londo less overbearing.

Can you parry snake men? I tried a few times but I could never get one.

Great, if YOU can't do it, then MY 15-20% odds drop to .15-.20%!

FUCK Sen?s Fortress!!!

Haha, yeah.

Tip 1: Use traps to your advantage if possible, ie. the first trap, you can lure the snake men to, and it should seriously injure or kill one.

Tip 2: Farm the snake men for the man serpent greatsword, which has a moveset close to the claymore, but it has A (or S) scaling for strength. It is really good.

This place you just have to grin and bear it, unfortunately. It is a big puzzle.

Oh, don't forget to get the hidden save point. And don't forget to get the elevator. I would watch a video for the save point, cause it is hidden pretty well (even if it is in plain sight).

The boss is pretty easy though.

"It is a big puzzle," indeed, but "grin and bear it" I shall not, kind sir. I will ***** a moan until my voice gives out and my tear ducts dry up.

Honestly, it really is more the puzzle element that's getting me, getting a Limbo vibe just with less-reliable platforming. The snakemen aren't really giving me any issue, it's just WHERE I have to fight them: narrow walkways with swinging blades, tight, dark and booby-trapped corridors, etc. And once I finally get past one set of unknowns, *BAM* face first into a new set of unknowns, die, then have to retread through all the other previous unknowns just to have this process repeat again and again with each new unknown. *sigh*...

I'm actually looking forward to Anor Londo, if only for the clean and open aesthetic change. After sloshing through sewers, killing vomiting dragons, wading in poisonous swaps, catching toxic blow darts with my eyelids and now getting steamrolled by boulders and ancient rusty blades swinging from the ceiling, I'm ready for a tetanus shot, bleach-y clean white marble floors and the mirror polish of swords twice the length of my body being forced through the length of my body!

 

[Xprimentyl]

If it hasn't been mentioned yet, it wouldn't hurt to stack up some Poise from whatever gear you have. There are quite a few areas where you'll get knocked around a bit, to considerable detriment.

Having said that, you also should be at least a bit under 50% burden, since there are a few places you'll be needing to haul ass.

The key to this place is taking the time to learn patterns, and be cautiously optimistic of your approach.

 

[Evonisia]

My recommendation for preparing for Anor Londo while you're still in Sen's Fortress is to practise parrying on the Snake guards. They're a bit difficult to do but Black Knights are (IMO) among the easiest enemies in the game to parry which will make Anor Londo less overbearing.

Can you parry snake men? I tried a few times but I could never get one.

Yes, they're just incredibly awkward and annoying to do so. Because they're often in groups or pairs, I parry to buy myself a few seconds of invincibility.

 

[Xprimentyl]

So how has it been going OP?

Btw I forgot about this handy little reference in case you're the completionist type -

Spoiler

http://smcnabb.github.io/dark-souls-cheat-sheet/#Undead_Asylum

 

[Xprimentyl]

So how has it been going OP?

Btw I forgot about this handy little reference in case you're the completionist type -

Spoiler

http://smcnabb.github.io/dark-souls-cheat-sheet/#Undead_Asylum

Thanks for the link; that?s perfect!! Probably won?t use it during this first playthrough, but during NG+, most definitely!

As for my progress, it?s going well? for now. Finally made it through Sen?s Fortress about a week and a half ago, and honestly, it wasn?t nearly as bad as I allowed it to make itself out to be. I realized that it was more a test of patience than skill, so after a few hundred trial-and-error deaths falling off ledges, taking darts to the back and getting run over by boulders, I eventually memorized the whole place and was able to make do fairly easily. I know it?s not exactly an impressive feat, but I did manage to beat the Iron Golem on my first try without taking any damage, and as happy as I was to finally see those Bat Wing Demons spirit me away to Anor Londo, it wasn?t long before I regretted it.

Started out well enough, spent the first 15 minutes killing the first 6 Sentinels only to realize they respawn like the regular dudes! Then, the non-taxi service Bat Wing Demons proved how much of some annoying bastards they can be. And lastly, those goddamn archers on the ledges made me quit for a while again. I haven?t accused a game of ?cheating? or ?being unfair? since I was eight, so it was a come to Jesus moment when I caught myself rage quitting a single-player game with no one to blame but From Software or my shitty skills. I returned to Firelink and started doing everything BUT going back to Anor Londo: killed the Hellkite Dragon, killed Havel, killed Pinwheel, killed the Moonlight Butterfly, went back to the Asylum and killed the Black Knights (staved off the Stray Demon for now,) played around in the Demon Ruins where I single-handedly killed six, count ?em SIX, Capra Demons, went to Darkroot Basin where I fought yet another Black Knight and netted myself a BK Halberd (just remembered that; I think I have enough STR now to wield it,) etc. I did, however, finally go back to Anor Londo and finally make it past the archers during a blind fury ?I?m so pissed, I don?t care anymore? reckless attempt; don?t know what I did right that time or what I?d done wrong the other fifty times I tried, but that next bonfire was like finding an oasis in the desert. So now, I?m just trying to find my way to the blacksmith. I know he?s nearby and I think I know where, I just need to make it there with enough estus and souls to make it worth my while. I found a shortcut through a stained glass window, but got raped by Bat Wing Demons as soon as I missed my plunging attack. :/

Yeah, I?m far from ?gittin? gud,? but I?m enjoying the journey. I have a feeling Orenstein and Smough will change that soon enough? :/

 

[Xprimentyl]

Wow that's pretty good if you did all that because of those damn archers lol. There is a spot to stand by a pillar half way up where you only have to deal with one, but you need projectiles.

Anyways, halberds....Never really used them before but am thinking about starting.

 

[Evonisia]

Now that you've got one I highly recommend using the BK Halberd. It's so powerful, easy to use and with upgrades you can use it until the end of the game.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Wow that's pretty good if you did all that because of those damn archers lol. There is a spot to stand by a pillar half way up where you only have to deal with one, but you need projectiles.

Yeah, those archers struck a nerve like no other. It was mainly that 3 minute trek from the first Anor Londo bonfire that was getting to me; 3 minutes of backtracking for the same 3 seconds of unfair failure EVERY... SINGLE... TIME got old quickly; I needed to kill something and I owed Havel one (or two) anyway...

Anyways, halberds....Never really used them before but am thinking about starting.

They can be awkward and slow, but the reach gives you a "safety" zone as you don't have to throw yourself into harm's way to do some harm of your own. There are a couple of downfalls, though. Even with more then enough DEX to wield them, if your attack doesn't connect, you'll stagger as if you stats are too low. Fortunately, with halberds' reach and most enemies generally more than eager to get in your face, your attacks rarely whiff. Also, halberds aren't ideal for tight places like The Depths.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Now that you've got one I highly recommend using the BK Halberd. It's so powerful, easy to use and with upgrades you can use it until the end of the game.

That's the plan, I just forgot I had it; I nabbed a bunch of stuff I'd missed in my anti-archer rage walkabout. When I got it, I didn't care as I was (am) in a love affair with my +4 BK Sword; it's hitting for about 430 with the STR bonus. But the Bat Wing Demons' agility and reach proved to me that I need something either longer, faster or both.

 

[Xprimentyl]

So, I used the shortcut through the stained glass window and huzzah, found the blacksmith in Anor Londo. Better yet, I was able to open that side gate to the left of the main entrance hall(?) guarded by the two Sentinels, so now I can come and go through early and mid-to-late Anor Londo and, more importantly, I can get back to Sen?s and the rest of the world without having to deal with those goddamn archers ever again. Most productive lunch hour I?ve had in a long time; I even almost had time to eat.

I was reading through some of the old posts in here and noted that no one recommended an elemental upgrade path. Any reason why? I?ve been itching to get to this blacksmith to make an elemental weapon, but now, I?m doubting. I?ve got a +10 Uchigatana, and the Giant Blacksmith is offering to upgrade it to a Lightning Uchigatana or a Chaos Blade. Neither option is an immediate improvement over my +4 Black Knight Sword which is cause enough for me not to want to waste the resources at this time, but I also know 1.) Orenstein is immune to Lightning, 2.) I don?t like the idea of the Chaos Blade draining my HP with every attack and 3.) the BKS is going to be painfully slow against Orenstein who hops around like a jackrabbit on cocaine. Is the Basic upgrade path generally what you pros defer to?

 

[Glongpre]

So, I used the shortcut through the stained glass window and huzzah, found the blacksmith in Anor Londo. Better yet, I was able to open that side gate to the left of the main entrance hall(?) guarded by the two Sentinels, so now I can come and go through early and mid-to-late Anor Londo and, more importantly, I can get back to Sen?s and the rest of the world without having to deal with those goddamn archers ever again. Most productive lunch hour I?ve had in a long time; I even almost had time to eat.

I was reading through some of the old posts in here and noted that no one recommended an elemental upgrade path. Any reason why? I?ve been itching to get to this blacksmith to make an elemental weapon, but now, I?m doubting. I?ve got a +10 Uchigatana, and the Giant Blacksmith is offering to upgrade it to a Lightning Uchigatana or a Chaos Blade. Neither option is an immediate improvement over my +4 Black Knight Sword which is cause enough for me not to want to waste the resources at this time, but I also know 1.) Orenstein is immune to Lightning, 2.) I don?t like the idea of the Chaos Blade draining my HP with every attack and 3.) the BKS is going to be painfully slow against Orenstein who hops around like a jackrabbit on cocaine. Is the Basic upgrade path generally what you pros defer to?

Elemental weapons aren't really worth it for most weapons. They are more like specialty weapons, where you would use it against an enemy you know is weak to the element. Otherwise, a plus 15 uchi with max dex, or a 5 bk sword with max str is better. I believe there are some weapons that are really good with the lightning element due to them having high base damage (the zweihander), because the base damage equals the added lightning damage. So say the zweihander at lightning +5 would do 250 phys, 250 lightning, and against a lightning weak enemy, that would do a shit ton.

Just stick with phys for O&S. That is actually maybe my favourite fight, now that I think about it.

And for the fight, the closest bonfire is the one inside the cathedral, but only if you know the staircase shortcut. Which you should look up, because it helps a ton for the run back to the fight. It literally makes a 3-4 minute run through enemies, become a 1 min jog past only the royal sentinels. It's beautiful.

 

[Fox12]

FUCK Sen?s Fortress!!! I had a good laugh, though, when I was literally murdered by the booby trap on the front doorsteps as I was wiping my feet on the mat. That quickly became the metaphor for my progress over the next two hours, so I backed off to reassess my situation. I?m about SL 50 having dumped mostly into STR and DEX (both around 25-26.) In trying to find the best balance between damage output and maneuverability, I?ve opted to go with the Uchigatana and currently have it at +10 doing base damage around 182. Kinda wishing I?d have +10?d my Gargoyle?s Halberd; it?s at +5 and is only hitting about 10 points less than the +10 Uchigatana, but it?s too unwieldy which makes me uncomfortable. Oh, I DID find a Lightning Spear, but back up a sentence, I?m out of resources to upgrade right now and not sure where to farm?

So I guess my question is now, for where I?m currently at in the game, am I under-leveled/under-powered and/or have I spread my upgrades too thin to be effective in the areas that matter? Kinda getting that ?jack of all [melee] trades, master of none? vibe from my build. Sen?s is the next major area to overcome to move the story along and it?s kinda kicking my ass; I know if I manage to power through and get to Anor Londo where Black Knights replace hollows as fodder and O&S are sure to be a brick wall, I?m going to be in trouble. I have a few areas I could explore more thoroughly still: Catacombs with no divine weapon, Valley of Drakes where I?ve aggro?d a zombie dragon that won?t go back to sleep and Deeproot Basin which is probably where I?m heading next. Am I just grinding for souls to level up or could my wandering be more focused? I know ?figuring it out? is a part of the experience, but my play time is very limited; I don?t want to waste any of it if I can have a clear goal, even a small one like buffing items or better weapons. I?ve got colored titanite shards, but Andre doesn?t seem to be too interested in using them on my equipment.

You have what's called a quality build. It's probably one of the best builds in the game. 25 points is the soft cap, and 40 is the hard cap for most stats. This means that you could leave your stats where they are, and put extra points into health, or level strength and DEX to 40 each for maximum damage output. The trick is to find a weapons that scales C/C or B/B with dexterity and strength. This is actually much stronger then a weapon that scales A or S with strength or DEX individually. I know the Clymore is a popular option, but you the trick is to just find a weapon with a move set you enjoy.

 

[Terminal Blue]

I was reading through some of the old posts in here and noted that no one recommended an elemental upgrade path. Any reason why?

I highly recommend elemental weapons in DS1, but not for your build.

Basically, they add a lot of base damage, but completely remove weapon scaling (so, for example, raising strength won't cause your lightning spear to do more damage, it just does a fixed amount of damage). What does this mean? Well, it means you can get away with only levelling up your strength and dexterity to the point where you can use your preferred weapon and then put everything else into other useful stats, like vitality and endurance. The downside is that you become very dependent on weapon upgrades in order to keep your damage potential up.

But if you've already raised strength and/or dexterity quite a bit, there is absolutely zero point using an elemental weapon and you'll get more damage out of a weapon which scales well with those attributes. Elemental weapons work because they're a way of conserving stat points while still doing decent (not spectacular) damage.

Anyway, good luck! I've been playing through Dark Souls 2 myself lately.

 

[Xprimentyl]

And for the fight, the closest bonfire is the one inside the cathedral, but only if you know the staircase shortcut. Which you should look up, because it helps a ton for the run back to the fight. It literally makes a 3-4 minute run through enemies, become a 1 min jog past only the royal sentinels. It's beautiful.

Oh, believe me I WILL find that shortcut and thank you! I've had it up to HERE *horizontal index finger placed against my hairline* with backtracking in Anor Londo. I generally like Dark Soul's sprawling environments, but Anor Londo is just so EMPTY, it only adds to the frustration having to walk for seemingly miles just to waste your life to the same brick wall of an overpowered badass again and again.

You have what's called a quality build. It's probably one of the best builds in the game. 25 points is the soft cap, and 40 is the hard cap for most stats. This means that you could leave your stats where they are, and put extra points into health, or level strength and DEX to 40 each for maximum damage output. The trick is to find a weapons that scales C/C or B/B with dexterity and strength. This is actually much stronger then a weapon that scales A or S with strength or DEX individually. I know the Clymore is a popular option, but you the trick is to just find a weapon with a move set you enjoy.

One of the best builds, huh? Welp, I'd like to say I planned it that way all along, but I dumbed into that. I came into Dark Souls like I do pretty much every RPG: focusing on strength in Melee combat with the idea that Magic and Ranged are generally more nuanced and are best served with a some experience with the game. But I'm learning that Dark Souls' Melee is just as nuanced as Magic. I can appreciate it, though; I'm understanding now more than ever what you all were telling me early in this thread, that there is no "best" weapon and every weapon is viable if you understand the little details.

I highly recommend elemental weapons in DS1, but not for your build.

Basically, they add a lot of base damage, but completely remove weapon scaling (so, for example, raising strength won't cause your lightning spear to do more damage, it just does a fixed amount of damage). What does this mean? Well, it means you can get away with only levelling up your strength and dexterity to the point where you can use your preferred weapon and then put everything else into other useful stats, like vitality and endurance. The downside is that you become very dependent on weapon upgrades in order to keep your damage potential up.

But if you've already raised strength and/or dexterity quite a bit, there is absolutely zero point using an elemental weapon and you'll get more damage out of a weapon which scales well with those attributes. Elemental weapons work because they're a way of conserving stat points while still doing decent (not spectacular) damage.

Anyway, good luck! I've been playing through Dark Souls 2 myself lately.

Thanks for the explanation; that actually helps it make a LOT more sense and clarifies the Dark Souls' community use of the term "build" to describe their characters; you really do "build" to a play style. I'm still trying to break myself of other, simpler RPG habits where bigger numbers generally mean "better," but that's not the case here at all; the devil's most certainly in the details.

I know Dark Souls would sooner cut your hand off and shove it up your ass than hold it, but I kinda wish it did a better job of relaying some of its non-narrative information, especially for new players like myself. I know many, more experienced players have run through the game several times in as many different ways, but a new guy like me, it's a hard lesson to learn that you've misunderstood something small yet vital the entire 40 hours you've been struggling, especially given that the overall permanence of your actions makes experimentation a hard pill to swallow. The Souls community is a great resource (as is this thread of fine people,) unfortunately, there's no NPC in the game to point a player there!

Dark Souls: Prepare To Die... Then Google

 

[Fox12]

snip

It's a difficult game to get into. You basically have to play through the whole thing before you actually understand it. The advantage is that, once you play one game, you pretty much know what to do for all the others. Everyone's first build tends to be a mess. Once you get the hang of it, though, it's pretty versatile. I'll never forget the time I watched a Lets Player get dominated by a build that centered around smacking people with a shield.

Make sure you look up story secrets after you finish the game. Some of the best plot points are well hidden. Dark Soul's definitely requires you to break rules that you typically take for granted in order to get the full story.

 

[Xprimentyl]

.

I know Dark Souls would sooner cut your hand off and shove it up your ass than hold it

Got a good visual of Ornstein and Smough tag teaming this one and lol'd.

Having said that, yeah the games could be enhanced with an in game guide of sorts for upgrades. It would even be cool if the blacksmiths and other vendors had some more helpful words of wisdom as to what does what; even if it was in riddles it would be better than having to break immersion by going to a wiki, which most time-conscious people end up doing as it is.

If that's TMI, then a more robust menu system would've sufficed, where you can more efficiently preview what X item would do for stat Y.

In any case, this is a handy chart for materials upgrades -

 

[Rip Van Rabbit]

Hey hey OP!

How is your progress going so far? Any preferred weapons/armour sets?

I've played a crap-ton of Dark Souls 1 with a variety of builds, but my bread & butter is a strength build with a focus on heavy weapons that reward timing and such. (Plus I like to punish my enemies.) Played Dark Souls II to a lesser extent, about 1 and a half playthroughs. And I've done about 3 playthroughs (Minus the numerous restarts...) of Dark Souls III with an exclusive focus on melee from a variety of weapon classes.

Anyway! I don't have anything to add really, since everyone else here has mentioned some pretty solid advice. All I wanted to say was that it's super cool to hear about someone's first playthrough!

I wish you all the best and remember:

You, and I am speaking directly to you as a person, don't you dare go hollow!
Even when it seems impossible and the frustration borders on hair-pulling and cursing like a sailor, don't give up. Don't become like those mindless undead that were driven mad by their obstacles.
You may be cursed, but your willpower and sheer determination is what separates you from those that refused to continue.
So don't you dare go hollow.

[Jolly Forum Cooperation!]