So I just got Dark Souls
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Personally I like the Black Bombs, not the best choice by a longshot but they are easy to use and simple to master. There are also some Pine Resins in the first portion of the Burg if you buy the Residential Key from the merchant. A door near the fire boulder trap and the Black Knight, if I remember correctly.loa said:
Good advice overall, though the last few points are debatable. The Drake Sword is good for a certain part of the game, it just loses efficacy quickly, the claymore does remain one of my favorite weapons so while it's not the greatest (all the weapons have their value really) it is pretty fun to use. The master key though is definitely best saved for a second playthrough when you know where everything is.Twenty Ninjas said:
As for what other advice I have to offer I recommend starting as a Pyromancer or a warrior, and in general being cautious and paying attention to surroundings. I also recommend for a first playthrough not using the wiki too much (for say convenants, slabs, and embers I do still recommend it) but a lot of the game for me is figuring things out and discovering things myself.
seems some silly advice is being given here so i think i'll give it a go:
1: decide early on what stats you're going to upgrade so later on you can choose one weapon to upgrade and keep to match that particular character
2: don't upgrade a weapon that you won't use for the whole game, a weapon at +15 is amazingly strong but hard to get the souls/materials to create, so don't waste them
3: use the online wiki, it is beyond helpful and as the game is so hard anyway it's not really cheating
4: get a greatshield asap, i recommend the eagle shield as it's also light
5: get the drake sword asap, you will use this for a hefty chunk of your first playthrough, does decent damage and can be wielded by most characters
good luck!
1: decide early on what stats you're going to upgrade so later on you can choose one weapon to upgrade and keep to match that particular character
2: don't upgrade a weapon that you won't use for the whole game, a weapon at +15 is amazingly strong but hard to get the souls/materials to create, so don't waste them
3: use the online wiki, it is beyond helpful and as the game is so hard anyway it's not really cheating
4: get a greatshield asap, i recommend the eagle shield as it's also light
5: get the drake sword asap, you will use this for a hefty chunk of your first playthrough, does decent damage and can be wielded by most characters
good luck!
And a 1st time player is going to know that or even look that up? The TC probably hasn't even played Demon's Souls as they appear to be on Xbox. I was just giving the TC a solid template to go by, nothing else. Plus, someone in the thread told them not to get the master key. I only played through the game once and my Dex and Faith build worked out just fine while giving me many options as well. Is it an optimal build? Probably not but the build was extremely competent to get through the game so much so I don't even consider Dark Souls to be a hard game.Church185 said:
Who said anything about Demon's Souls? How is that relevant to building a character in Dark Souls?Phoenixmgs said:
It's fine if you want to take the time to level all of those stats, but some people don't like to farm souls. By sticking to one damaging stat the game becomes much more simple to understand and streamlined for a beginning players. I also highly disagree with the notion that the OP should skip the master key. It is the only useful starting gift and encourages exploration.
- The important thing to do when exploring is to keep your shield up and take it slow your first time through an area, keep yourself medium-light weight so you can roll effectively.
- Do not consume boss or fire keeper souls, boss souls can be used to create unique weapons and firekeeper souls can be used to a perm estus flask upgrade.
- I completely recommend going down a magic path, there is no reason not to dabble in spells, miracles are a great way of providing overall utility to your character for pve contenet and sorcery is more pvp and burst focused. Pyromancy is something you should always learn, because unlike other spell forms it does not scale off any certain stat, but rather just the level of your pyromancy flame (the 'wand' for pyromancies)meaning you can put the points you would have to spend on intellect or faith (for sorceries and miracles respectively) in to more meaningful stats
- Always improve endurance and Vitality, two most important stats as vitality will increase you overall health and endurance gives you more stamina and carry weight
- Never level a stat past 40, after reaching level 40 in a stat the diminishing returns hit stupid levels and 40 is the highest you will ever need for most items and spells, note that after level 40 in endurance, your stamina will no longer increase at all.
- ALWAYS upgrade your weapon, if you want a good starting weapon for beginners I recommend spears and longswords as they are easy to use, put out respectable damage and are able to be used with a shield (with the added benefit of longswords being able to both slash and thrust)
- Learn to parry and riposte, back stabs can only get you through so much of the game. By parrying an attack just before it hits you it will leave you opponent open to a powerful counterattack, think of it like a a backstab from the front.
- Skeletons are assholes, when you first go into the crypts you will find that enemies you defeat there will regenerate after being killed, normally you can only prevent this from happening by hunting down the necromancers chilling around the area, but if you have a weapon with a divine enchantment it will also keep them down.
- If you can help it, always dodge magical attacks, most shield have very little in the way of magical protection, so don't try to block it.
- Do not consume boss or fire keeper souls, boss souls can be used to create unique weapons and firekeeper souls can be used to a perm estus flask upgrade.
- I completely recommend going down a magic path, there is no reason not to dabble in spells, miracles are a great way of providing overall utility to your character for pve contenet and sorcery is more pvp and burst focused. Pyromancy is something you should always learn, because unlike other spell forms it does not scale off any certain stat, but rather just the level of your pyromancy flame (the 'wand' for pyromancies)meaning you can put the points you would have to spend on intellect or faith (for sorceries and miracles respectively) in to more meaningful stats
- Always improve endurance and Vitality, two most important stats as vitality will increase you overall health and endurance gives you more stamina and carry weight
- Never level a stat past 40, after reaching level 40 in a stat the diminishing returns hit stupid levels and 40 is the highest you will ever need for most items and spells, note that after level 40 in endurance, your stamina will no longer increase at all.
- ALWAYS upgrade your weapon, if you want a good starting weapon for beginners I recommend spears and longswords as they are easy to use, put out respectable damage and are able to be used with a shield (with the added benefit of longswords being able to both slash and thrust)
- Learn to parry and riposte, back stabs can only get you through so much of the game. By parrying an attack just before it hits you it will leave you opponent open to a powerful counterattack, think of it like a a backstab from the front.
- Skeletons are assholes, when you first go into the crypts you will find that enemies you defeat there will regenerate after being killed, normally you can only prevent this from happening by hunting down the necromancers chilling around the area, but if you have a weapon with a divine enchantment it will also keep them down.
- If you can help it, always dodge magical attacks, most shield have very little in the way of magical protection, so don't try to block it.
I didn't play Demon's Souls, but I'm just guessing if you played Demon's Souls, the mechanics and everything about Dark Souls will be much easier and quicker to grasp. It seems like the TC is brand new to the series.Church185 said:
I didn't go out of my way to level any of my stats. I played through every dungeon and I got a full experience of the game. It doesn't require any farming or grinding to level one more stat if you want. What if the TC wants to just have a straight forward sword or katana and have some magic as well? That's what I wanted. It's like you want the TC to make a perfectly optimal build on their first character, which just isn't going to happen because he/she doesn't even know what they want at this point. They will probably want something different after they play through the game than what they want now. All I was trying to do with my post was make the TC make some basic decisions before playing and then use a general template to go by so they have several options open to them.
Good tips all around, but I would like to point out something about the quote above. END is probably the only stat I would stop at 40. Others can be pushed to 50 before the diminishing returns are too bad, and some of the best weapons and spells in the game require it. Sunlight spear requires 50 Faith, Demon's Greataxe requires 46 STR, and the Darkmoon Talisman has the best Faith scaling in the game once your Faith hits 50. Just to name a few. I would however stop at 50 with any stat, unless you are trying to wield Smough's Hammer.Drizzitdude said:
Death is a slap on the wrist. You only lose your souls (Which are easily farmable) and humanity (also easily farmable). Sure, it sucks to lose your souls before you can spend them, but you're still learning how to deal with enemies, which is far more valuable. Assuming you don't give up, you'll eventually learn not to care too much about those 8 million souls you just managed to lose.
Demon's Souls is very different from Dark Souls.Phoenixmgs said:
What to you is a straight forward sword or katana? A +5 Enchanted Iaito will look and function exactly the same as a +15 Iaito. The only difference between them is which stat they calculate their damage from. The Enchanted Iaito allows you to push your INT stat pretty high without sacrificing swordplay. You get hard hitting spells AND melee just by leveling INT.
Let's look at the breakdown.
+15 Iaito raw damage (calculated with 50 DEX): 416
+5 Enchanted Iaito raw damage (calculated with 50 INT): 471
+15 Claymore raw damage (calculated with 50 STR): 419
+5 Enchanted Claymore raw damage (calculated with 50 INT): 579
Guess which one lets him save souls by only leveling one stat?
For giggles, lets look at an elemental weapon. These don't require high stats at all, and hit pretty hard. This allows for a more free form character build. You can put all of your damage stat into VIT instead and increase your survivability drastically.
+5 Lightning Claymore raw damage (no stat scaling, requires 16 STR and 10 DEX to use): 514
You have a limited Stamina bar and if you are hit when it is low you are stunned and are likely about to die. Holding up your shield makes your stamina reacharge incredibly slowly, so try to master the art of raising your shield just before an enemy attacks, so you can have as much stamina as possible.
Roll. Dodge rolling is one of the most important skills in Dark Souls as several bosses will make mash out of your shield, so you need to know how and when to roll out of the way of attacks.
Never get greedy. I know you won't follow this advice, because no one does, but still I will say it. If you "think" you can get one more hit on a boss then don't, only go for hits that are certain, because if you miss that attack you may end up dead and having to do the whole boss fight again. I have had a fair number of incredibly irritating deaths during my first playthrough because I only needed 1 more hit on the boss and like an idiot I went for it and died.
And most importantly, don't give up easily. Nothing in Dark Souls is impossible, I know how corny this sounds but unless you are some kind of super gamer I highly doubt you will make it through the whole game without getting stuck on at least one boss, and if you are really impossibly stuck, rather than quiting approach the fight from a different angle, change your gear to let you roll faster, upgrade you armour, swap your weapon, or many other possible solutions.
I hope you have fun playing Dark Souls, it is a great game
Roll. Dodge rolling is one of the most important skills in Dark Souls as several bosses will make mash out of your shield, so you need to know how and when to roll out of the way of attacks.
Never get greedy. I know you won't follow this advice, because no one does, but still I will say it. If you "think" you can get one more hit on a boss then don't, only go for hits that are certain, because if you miss that attack you may end up dead and having to do the whole boss fight again. I have had a fair number of incredibly irritating deaths during my first playthrough because I only needed 1 more hit on the boss and like an idiot I went for it and died.
And most importantly, don't give up easily. Nothing in Dark Souls is impossible, I know how corny this sounds but unless you are some kind of super gamer I highly doubt you will make it through the whole game without getting stuck on at least one boss, and if you are really impossibly stuck, rather than quiting approach the fight from a different angle, change your gear to let you roll faster, upgrade you armour, swap your weapon, or many other possible solutions.
I hope you have fun playing Dark Souls, it is a great game
Haven't played it since release, so it might've gotten nerfed, but pyromancy was fucking awesome. Melted faces everywhere!
Another tip would be to shoot the tail of a dragon when you walk under a bridge(you'll know it when it comes). It'll grant you a great weapon that helps in the beginning. Wouldn't bother upgrading it much though since it quite quickly lost it's oomph.
Another tip would be to shoot the tail of a dragon when you walk under a bridge(you'll know it when it comes). It'll grant you a great weapon that helps in the beginning. Wouldn't bother upgrading it much though since it quite quickly lost it's oomph.
1. Learn when to lock on, and when not to. Several enemies and bosses have attacks that are difficult to avoid if you're locked on.
2. Decide what kind of weapon you want to use, get the strength and dex required to use it, and then focus on HP and Stamina. Increased HP and Stamina will go a lot further towards your survival than 5 extra damage per strike.
3. Try to keep your equipment load light, and learn to dodge. I used to rely purely on heavy armor and blocking for my defense, and the game became infinitely more fun and satisfying once I discovered the joys of dodging, two-handing and the Grass Crest Shield.
4. Start with the Master Key. Seriously. Best starting item in the game.
2. Decide what kind of weapon you want to use, get the strength and dex required to use it, and then focus on HP and Stamina. Increased HP and Stamina will go a lot further towards your survival than 5 extra damage per strike.
3. Try to keep your equipment load light, and learn to dodge. I used to rely purely on heavy armor and blocking for my defense, and the game became infinitely more fun and satisfying once I discovered the joys of dodging, two-handing and the Grass Crest Shield.
4. Start with the Master Key. Seriously. Best starting item in the game.
Master Key is only useful for sequence breaking, and that's only useful if you know what you're doing.Church185 said:
Rule of thumb is you don't ever take it on your first playthrough.
Also:
-Drake sword isn't trash if you plan to get 16 strength anyway.
-Elemental weapons/upgrades aren't really worth it due to how the damage is calculated.
-Many bosses have deadzones close to their bodies, don't be afraid to walk right between their legs and hack at the knees/ankles.
Master Key. Don't listen to anyone who says otherwise. It's just silly not to.
Black Knight Halberd, as early as possible (to +5 as fast a possible).
Greatshield of Artorius, as early as possible.
Gear all your upgrades to the two items above. Equip gear that keeps you under 50% encumbrance. The gold-hemmed suit (can be obtained very early with Master Key and, depending on your personal skill, maybe a little help on Quelaag) is good until your endurance is higher. Mix with Black Iron to make a strong set that stays under 50% (or, be like me and go for the mix with the Artorius set for looks).
Breaks the game difficulty through all of NG, NG+ and NG++. The only thing that actually gave me trouble was NG+ 4 Kings, and that was just about approaching it right.
Black Knight Halberd, as early as possible (to +5 as fast a possible).
Greatshield of Artorius, as early as possible.
Gear all your upgrades to the two items above. Equip gear that keeps you under 50% encumbrance. The gold-hemmed suit (can be obtained very early with Master Key and, depending on your personal skill, maybe a little help on Quelaag) is good until your endurance is higher. Mix with Black Iron to make a strong set that stays under 50% (or, be like me and go for the mix with the Artorius set for looks).
Breaks the game difficulty through all of NG, NG+ and NG++. The only thing that actually gave me trouble was NG+ 4 Kings, and that was just about approaching it right.
I agree about not wasting dragon scales on Drake sword(tempting as it may be). Instead save them for the Dragon greatsword which you can obtain by cutting off the tail of the ancient dragon in the Great Hollow(look for a tree with a hidden path in Blight town). It requires high strength stat though like level 50 or so but well worth it. If you upgrade it with all your dragon scales it becomes immensely powerful, even destroying Anor Londo sentinels in one or two blows. It even makes the dreaded Ornstein and Smough fight a breeze. 
Also in the Great Hollow you can find the Cloranthy ring which regenerates stamina much quicker. One of the most useful rings to have when you use the Dragon greatsword seeing how it drains your stamina bar. Upgraded Elite Knight armor and Eagle Shield provide pretty good defense.
But anyways: good luck! It's one of the most fun and addictive games this gen in my opinion.
Also in the Great Hollow you can find the Cloranthy ring which regenerates stamina much quicker. One of the most useful rings to have when you use the Dragon greatsword seeing how it drains your stamina bar. Upgraded Elite Knight armor and Eagle Shield provide pretty good defense.
But anyways: good luck! It's one of the most fun and addictive games this gen in my opinion.
It allows you to get a great medium shield right next to Firelink Shrine, grab the lightning resin before the Tauros Demon, and have early access to Havel's Ring. How is it only good for sequence breaking? It allows you access to good gear, and is the only worthwhile starting gift.Naqel said:
-Drake sword is quickly outclassed by easily accessible weapons like the Claymore and Zweihander that can be obtained sooner in the game, so what is the point in picking it up other than collecting?
-Elemental weapons damage is calculated against two forms of resistance instead of just one, but the trade off is that these weapons usually don't require high stats to wield. This allows players to do lots of damage while pouring stats into VIT or END. I do my titanite slab farming run with a +5 Lightning Claymore, and have no problem one shotting all of the Darkwraiths.
-Your third point is actually a good one though. Never be afraid to go toe-to-toe with the boss, it's usually the safest place to be.