Just bought Dark Souls,any tips?

[Canadish]

Looks like the basics have been covered here. I'll point out one thing that caught me out for a while;

Scaling.

Check your weapons scaling rating for each stat. It'll only use your best one, so it's best to specialize down one route to start. You can see the extra damage it's dealing when you look at the more detailed stats screen for your weapon. It'll be a +XX next to your normal weapon damage.

It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking weapons like the Drake Sword are good, until your realize that they don't scale up with your stats, meaning you're not doing any more damage when you level up. This also applies to elemental weapons.

If you're going for a melee build, either sink a fair number of your souls into Str, Dex or REALLY focus Vit/End and get yourself a elemental sword if you're going for a tank. Find a weapon that has good scaling with your stat and upgrade the snot outta that weapon. Leveling up doesn't actually make you much stronger, it's mostly your gear that counts, but your leveled stats enable you to use better equipment.

Good luck buddy.

KILL THE DOGS FIRST!

 

[Ratties]

If you look at your shield's stats, you might notice one called stability. This is a very important stat; it determines how much stamina an attack eats out of your shield. Minor differences in stability can make a HUGE difference. Generally, bigger shields have more stability; the shields with the most stability (The tower shields) lose the ability to parry, but can easily block even the most powerful attacks in the game. If you don't trust your dodging abilities, trust a shield with good stability.

Also, if you go to the top of Firelink Shrine while using one of the shortcuts, you'll find a bird nest. Sit in it for 40 seconds and see what happens.

Also also, illusionary walls exist. Good luck finding out which ones are illusionary.

As soon as you get to the FireLink shrine, head downstairs. You should eventually get to a bridge that leads to an area filled with ghosts. There is a Fire keeper soul that you can grab. You should be able to see it from the bridge. You might die trying to get out, it's no big deal. Head to Blight town and keep going down the ladders. There is an armor set called the Crimson Robes. Grab that, you might also die trying to get out. You don't lose your items if you die. There is a woman behind some bars that doesn't speak. Give her the Fire keeper soul and she will upgrade your flasks. Pick the Master as your item. Right before you fight the Tauros Demon, unlock the door with the Master key. Don't fight the knight that lives in this tower just yet. Avoid him and unlock the door. You are now in a area filled with crystal golems and a hydra. Don't them and stick to the far left side as soon as you come out. You can grab the Grass Crest Shield that is guarded by a Knight. If you go to the Darkroot forest you can grab the Wolf ring. There is a green tree on the far right side in a area filled with sleeping stone knights. As soon as you enter that area, turn right and you will see the green tree. Slash at the tree until in goes away. follow the path that leads to the wolf ring. The crimson robes and the grass crest shield, and the wolf ring, you should be fine.

Sorry, but this is rather bad advice for a newbie. While these gear are VERY effective for the game, they won't really help someone new to the game as much as slowly building up their skills by going through the Burg, Parish, Forest, etc. in a more natural order. This advice is certainly great for somebody starting a new playthrough after they've played through the game a while, but until you get down enemy behavior, you're going to have a difficult time navigating and avoiding the attacks of difficult foes in those higher-level areas.

The only real Master Key shortcut I would recommend to a first-timer is the Blighttown one, and only if somebody REALLY is having trouble with upper Blighttown.

Thought all this stuff was easy to get. Grass Crest shield and the wolf ring helped me out quite a bit. To each his own.

It's still not good for a newbie. It's like suggesting that you skip the Taurus Demon entirely with the Master Key and go through the Darkroot Basin, which is filled with harder enemies, or maybe go through the Catacombs to get the Rite of Kindling right at the beginning.

Find it funny that everyone is screwing up on what I am trying to say. Literally didn't tell him to try to complete the areas. Of course all I said was to try to grab these items in the beginning. A little eaiser to get through the rest of the game. Very funny how people thought I was telling him to try to complete blighttown as soon as he can. Lets have some common sense, you don't try to fight the giant knight at level 5, you run past him and grab the item hes holding, then get the hell out of dodge.

 

[Madgamer13]

My advice for Dark Souls?

Find a weapon and style that suits you. An example is my particular weapon of choice the Zweihander, I like to use it as a stunning weapon. You hear that dex builds? I use a giant two handed weapon to stun your asses!

Mwhahaha!

How a weapon looks or how someone would describe a weapon or style in the game never really works the way they would say, so play the game for a while and get used to how things roll. Ask for help too, if you have any questions!

 

[Xukog]

I just wanted to thank everyone who gave serious answers,I have a better idea of what I want to do,but I am probably going to restart a few times as I figure out which weapons I like. Also kingthrall,why did you bother chiming in? Pretty much everyone else said something relevant,but you just came in to bash the game. Were you just bored?

 

[voidraz]

This may have been said, but watch your weight limit if you wear heavy armor. Keeping below 50% of your maximum weight carry can give you extra mobility that can change a ridiculously hard boss fight into just a plain old challenging fight.

 

[Ihateregistering1]

Oh, one last thing that I thought of that is very important but isn't explained in the game at all.

You have unlimited inventory space and it doesn't matter how much stuff you're carrying, so feel free to pick up everything you come across (you'll be able to ditch it later to make your inventory more manageable). However, what does matter a lot is what equipment you actually have equipped. If you're looking to play a fast character, keeping it below 50% of your max weight is crucial and makes an enormous and noticeable difference in your move speed, dodge speed, and stamina recovery.

 

[Naeras]

Carefully approach every encounter. It's the difference between whether or not you get blown up or whether everything is approachable.

 

[PrimitiveJudge]

If you want a strong powerful weapon to last you a long time and save minerals, get 32 str and use the Black Knight halberd. I started using this weapon after the Quelaag fight. I upgraded to +5 and beat the game with it. 2-handed Killed pinwheel in 3 hits, kills black/silver knights instantly with back stabs (I have 48 str so do not quote me). It is slightly faster then a 2H sword/club but it makes up for reach and damage. Makes the grey Wolf fight easy as shit IMO.

Antorias shield will save you A LOT of BS with PvP although you cannot parry with it. but it makes you immune to toxic and bleed if you block with it. (assuming you are not marching through a swamp or fighting those bug-eyed lizards.

it is extremely deadly and effective against the Four Kings. I ran around for 10 - 15 seconds before the next one appeared.

OT: avoid graveyard till you ring the 2nd bell, Spell casting is cool and all but attacking with a melee weapon is faster.


On a personal note, the crystal caverns will make you feel uncomfortable. It is not a hard location, but what you have to do there made me feel like shit the whole time. I wont reveil what you have to do, but fuck that place man.

 

[flyer son of no one]

enjoy dying, dont get angry at it learn from it, seems simple but its so easy to rage after dying alot, try your best not to and to see it as a way to learn and adapt

 

[Ickorus]

I'm going on the assumption that you're already past the earlier parts of the game so I'm going to give you some more targeted advice on things I wish I had known on my first playthrough:

- Don't rely too much on your shield, if you're lightly armored you should be dodging far more than you block.
- If you are lightly armored you should get the dark wood grain ring and keep your equip load below 25%, it gives you a unique and better dodge than standard.
- If you love blocking, a piercing weapon like the rapier or spear allows you to attack with your guard up.
- At the base of the elevator to Undead Parish you can jump down into the hole and there will be several items there you can use.
- Be careful when entering a new area, most traps can be spotted if you're paying attention.
- Sprint through the catacombs and waste the necromancers otherwise the skeletons will keep coming back.
- Get the sunlight maggot or a light spell before entering tomb of the giants, the lantern is all well and good but makes the area a lot harder than it needs to be.
- Don't rely on the drake sword, it becomes pretty bad later in the game and will leave you less experienced than you should be.
- Circle-strafe Black Knights and go for backstabs, easy kills.
- If a boss is proving difficult, take a break, calm down, and come back later.

You will get access to several goodies not far in such as the Winged Spear, an okay shield, and the Zweihander. I don't like the Zwei or any giant weapon for the most part but a lot of people adore it.

Just as a note on this, don't bother fighting the skeletons, sprint through them and try collecting all the shinies, you should also take off all equipment, the skeletons will fuck you up in one hit anyway so you might as well be a bit faster and able to dodge their attacks.

 

[Lethos]

personal note, the crystal caverns will make you feel uncomfortable. It is not a hard location, but what you have to do there made me feel like shit the whole time. I wont reveil what you have to do, but fuck that place man.

Spoiler

Are you talking about the goddamn invisible paths? Love the game, but hate that part with a passion.

 

[Casual Shinji]

- The easiest way to get through the game is to go full knight, with a sword and shield, and put all your souls (XP) in Health, Endurance, and Strength and/or Dexterity.

- Buy a Repair Box as quickly as you can. It allows for you to repair your equipment at a bonefire. When your equipment breaks it's gone.

- As a knight, the best weapon is basically the Black Knight Sword. Not too heavy and it's one-handed leaving your other hand free for a nice shield.

- Don't upgrade Endurance beyond 23 since the effects will greatly diminish, so save your souls. Every other stat will stop their usefulness at about 50.

- Learn to time with blocking if you're going the blocking route. Constantly keeping your shield up slows your Stamina regeneration.

- Don't use Boss souls for XP. You can use them to craft powerful weapons.

Other than that you're gonna have figure stuff out for yourself as you go along.

Have fun!

 

[aaronobst]

sorry but my tip is to get a refund for a new game. There are far better games out there.

You just couldn't help yourself could you?

OT:

Consult the dark souls wikia.... Frequently

 

[Seydaman]

Protips from a person who has beaten the game several times:

The Silver Knight shield is the best general small shield in the game, the silver knights in Anor Londo drop it

The Balder Side Sword is ze best straight sword all around, drops from the Balder Knights in the undead church and in Sen's Fortress

Move slowly and be careful, observe everything ahead of you

Your stamina comes back faster with your shield down, get in the habit of moving your shield up and down in a fight

You'll want divine weapons before you go into the graveyard

Get an item called the Dark Hand from the New Londo ruins, it drops from some dark guys, use it to suck humanity from NPCs, it doesn't make them hostile

Edit:
If you're melee, get your endurance to 40, no higher or lower

Cap dex and str at 20, you will be able to use most one handed weapons, fire and lightning upgrade paths remove stat scaling.

Put resistance at 15

Vitality scales best to 40, don't go over 50.

Backstabbing, learn it.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

It's still not good for a newbie. It's like suggesting that you skip the Taurus Demon entirely with the Master Key and go through the Darkroot Basin, which is filled with harder enemies, or maybe go through the Catacombs to get the Rite of Kindling right at the beginning.

Well...you can run through Darkroot Basin a lot easier than you can through the Burg, but what I really wanted to say is who cares about the Rite of Kindling, I go to the Tomb of the Giants to get the Covetous Silver Serpent Ring to start my runs. ^^

But in all seriousness, most of the general stuff has been said. Presuming you're not using any other sources and don't want anything particularly ruined for you, don't go above 40 in any stat unless you're absolutely sure you want to use a weapon requiring it, choose any 2 of str, dex, int and faith except int/faith and don't bother with the other two, don't level Resistance (cannot be stressed enough), Attunement gives you 4 slots at 16, and 5 at 19, but gets harder to increase after that, 16 is a useful amount of strength for weapon versatility, two-handing a weapon increases your strength stat and associated scaling by 50% (ie. if you need to wield a weapon requiring 24 strength, you can get by with 16 when two-handing and you get the scaling of 24 strength), upgrade your weapons to +5 as soon as you can, upgrading weapons to fire or lightning removes stat scaling (meaning if you have high strength, you probably want to stick to the Normal upgrade path for weapons that scale well with strength), and go into human form for new areas as a general rule. There are NPC invaders and summons you won't want to miss.

sorry but my tip is to get a refund for a new game. There are far better games out there.

Congratulations, you're the least helpful person in the thread. Don't even explain why, wouldn't want to have to defend your assertions.

- Don't upgrade Endurance beyond 23 since the effects will greatly diminish, so save your souls. Every other stat will stop their usefulness at about 50.

Why 23? As far as I know, stamina and equip burden improvements are comparable to those up to 40. I think bleed resistance slows down a little, but that's no reason to forfeit stamina.

 

[Casual Shinji]

- Don't upgrade Endurance beyond 23 since the effects will greatly diminish, so save your souls. Every other stat will stop their usefulness at about 50.

Why 23? As far as I know, stamina and equip burden improvements are comparable to those up to 40. I think bleed resistance slows down a little, but that's no reason to forfeit stamina.

I fucked that up. I think I was thinking of Attunement.

 

[Jimmy T. Malice]

sorry but my tip is to get a refund for a new game. There are far better games out there.

You could say that about anything. If the OP bought Dark Souls then he/she obviously wants to play it.

 

[Terramax]

Don't die. That's the most important thing....

OK, seriously, there is a Dark Souls Wiki on the net. It'll come in handy.

 

[Rickin10]

Make sure you run up to every chest and open it quickly