Started playing Dark Souls, any advice?

[Dirty Hipsters]

Could someone better explain to me the whole process of upgrading weapons?

I have a bunch of titanite (I have some of the +1, 2 or 3 of the +10, and 1 of the +14), and I wanted to increase my estoc to +10, but Andrei would only take my +1 shards not my +10 shards.

What exactly does it mean when an elemental reinforcement removes stat scaling? The way I understand it, it means that the weapon is permanently stuck at a specific damage regardless of putting more points into strength or dexterity, but I struggle to understand why that's beneficial.

Also, from what I understand certain enemy types and bosses have elemental weaknesses so reinforcing your weapon with that specific element would make it easier to kill certain enemies. Do enemies also have elemental resistances? For example, would reinforcing your weapon with lightening make some enemies weaker to you while making other enemies stronger?

Any answers would be appreciated.

I really wish this game would explain basic things better, like the ability to backstab, the downward stabbing attack when falling onto an enemy, and the effects of the different stats.

 

[waj9876]

I only answered the ones I actually knew.

Also, from what I understand certain enemy types and bosses have elemental weaknesses so reinforcing your weapon with that specific element would make it easier to kill certain enemies. Do enemies also have elemental resistances? For example, would reinforcing your weapon with lightening make some enemies weaker to you while making other enemies stronger?

I...don't think you can make a weapon do less damage because of it's elemental affinity, but I could be wrong. Lightning is usually the safest bet for weaknesses though. Works really well on dragons too.

Any answers would be appreciated.

I really wish this game would explain basic things better, like the ability to backstab, the downward stabbing attack when falling onto an enemy, and the effects of the different stats.

You have to stop moving to backstab, downward stabbing is only effective against bosses or enemies specifically placed/designed for it. Otherwise it's too risky. And the stats are...complicated. There are many guides that talk about them.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Another question, what do gestures do and is there any point to learning them?

 

[hazabaza1]

Another question, what do gestures do and is there any point to learning them?

They're just for multiplayer interaction. Though if you walk into a boss fight and "Well! What is it?" them you gain a million man points.

 

[Rutabaga_swe]

Could someone better explain to me the whole process of upgrading weapons?

I have a bunch of titanite (I have some of the +1, 2 or 3 of the +10, and 1 of the +14), and I wanted to increase my estoc to +10, but Andrei would only take my +1 shards not my +10 shards.

What exactly does it mean when an elemental reinforcement removes stat scaling? The way I understand it, it means that the weapon is permanently stuck at a specific damage regardless of putting more points into strength or dexterity, but I struggle to understand why that's beneficial.

Also, from what I understand certain enemy types and bosses have elemental weaknesses so reinforcing your weapon with that specific element would make it easier to kill certain enemies. Do enemies also have elemental resistances? For example, would reinforcing your weapon with lightening make some enemies weaker to you while making other enemies stronger?

Any answers would be appreciated.

I really wish this game would explain basic things better, like the ability to backstab, the downward stabbing attack when falling onto an enemy, and the effects of the different stats.

1. You need titanite shards for upgrades up to +5, large shards for +10 and chunks for +14, then a slab for +15. You also need the large ember to upgrade past +5 and the very öarge ember to get beyond +10.

2. You get a big damage boost from the elemental upgrade. It removes the scaling (ie the bonus damage you get from your stats) but instead gives you a big fire or lightning damage bonus. It's really strong early on in the game, before you get your stats up, or if you just want to pour all your levels in to vitality and endurance. The big downer with this is that the damage doesn't get stronger with your characters. You are stuck at a fixed amount of damage.

3. Yes, enemies have both weaknesses and resistance to different types of attacks. This includes, so far as i know, pretty much all types of modifiers. The type of damage your weapon deals, any elemental affinity, if it deals magic or divine damage and so forth.

 

[DementedSheep]

One thing that I don't think has been mentioned, dex also increases offensive casting speed.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Could someone better explain to me the whole process of upgrading weapons?

I have a bunch of titanite (I have some of the +1, 2 or 3 of the +10, and 1 of the +14), and I wanted to increase my estoc to +10, but Andrei would only take my +1 shards not my +10 shards.

What exactly does it mean when an elemental reinforcement removes stat scaling? The way I understand it, it means that the weapon is permanently stuck at a specific damage regardless of putting more points into strength or dexterity, but I struggle to understand why that's beneficial.

Also, from what I understand certain enemy types and bosses have elemental weaknesses so reinforcing your weapon with that specific element would make it easier to kill certain enemies. Do enemies also have elemental resistances? For example, would reinforcing your weapon with lightening make some enemies weaker to you while making other enemies stronger?

Any answers would be appreciated.

I really wish this game would explain basic things better, like the ability to backstab, the downward stabbing attack when falling onto an enemy, and the effects of the different stats.

1. You need titanite shards for upgrades up to +5, large shards for +10 and chunks for +14, then a slab for +15. You also need the large ember to upgrade past +5 and the very öarge ember to get beyond +10.

Yeah...I still don't really understand what that means. I have large shards, so I should be able to get my sword to +10 right? So why doesn't the guy take them? Am I misunderstanding the text, because large shards say that using it gives +10 reinforcement?

2. You get a big damage boost from the elemental upgrade. It removes the scaling (ie the bonus damage you get from your stats) but instead gives you a big fire or lightning damage bonus. It's really strong early on in the game, before you get your stats up, or if you just want to pour all your levels in to vitality and endurance. The big downer with this is that the damage doesn't get stronger with your characters. You are stuck at a fixed amount of damage.

3. Yes, enemies have both weaknesses and resistance to different types of attacks. This includes, so far as i know, pretty much all types of modifiers. The type of damage your weapon deals, any elemental affinity, if it deals magic or divine damage and so forth.

So would you say getting and elemental upgrade is worthwhile if I'm not planning on doing a new game plus?

 

[Rutabaga_swe]

So, to upgrade to +6 from +5 you need two things. First you need a large titanite shard, which i assume you already have. Then you need the large ember. Once you give the large ember to Andre (the smith in the undead parish) you can ascend +5 weapons and shields to +6, then proceed to reinforce them up to +10. The exact same process goes for +11, once you get the very large ember.

As for elemental weapons. Sure, they can work. Personally i don't particularly like them, but it's very possible to clear the game with an elemental weapon as your main way of dealing damage. The problem is that you will do shite damage when you stumble upon that boss that happens to be resistant against your element of choice, so carrying a backup is usually not a bad idea. That said, regular titanite is by far the easiest to farm so i really don't see any reason to go elemental unless it's for some sort of special build that you want to do.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

So, to upgrade to +6 from +5 you need two things. First you need a large titanite shard, which i assume you already have. Then you need the large ember. Once you give the large ember to Andre (the smith in the undead parish) you can ascend +5 weapons and shields to +6, then proceed to reinforce them up to +10. The exact same process goes for +11, once you get the very large ember.

As for elemental weapons. Sure, they can work. Personally i don't particularly like them, but it's very possible to clear the game with an elemental weapon as your main way of dealing damage. The problem is that you will do shite damage when you stumble upon that boss that happens to be resistant against your element of choice, so carrying a backup is usually not a bad idea. That said, regular titanite is by far the easiest to farm so i really don't see any reason to go elemental unless it's for some sort of special build that you want to do.

Ok, so what I'm understanding is that titanite shards each give +1 until you get to +5, then past +5 large shards each give you +1 until you reach +10. The way the description for each shard in game made me think that a single large shard would get me to +10, but I guess I'll chalk that up to a translation error.

Thanks a lot for the clarification.

 

[Rutabaga_swe]

The amount of shards needed increase with each upgrade. I think that from +5 to +10 you need 8 or 9 large shards in total.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

The amount of shards needed increase with each upgrade. I think that from +5 to +10 you need 8 or 9 large shards in total.

Right. I actually knew that (since I already powered up my sword with small shards, and needed 2 of them to get to level 3), it just slipped my mind in the calculations.

Again, thanks for the information, it has been most helpful.

 

[Ushiromiya Battler]

Kill the dogs first....

If you like using armour, killing Havel(fat fully armoured dude with a penis weapon) to get Havel's Ring is pretty good, as it increases you equipment load.
He's at the bottom of the tower you went through to get to that big ass demon boss thingy on the bridge.

Read this only if you want to skip Blightown and depths until later in the game like I did without a master key.

- From Firelink, go to Undead Burg, fight Taurus Demon
- Get to Undead Parish by normal means (run past Red Dragon, or go under the bridge)
- Get through Undead Parish to the blacksmith (Andre?)
- Exit blacksmith, run past Titanite Demon and into Darkroot Garden (forest)
- Not too far into the forest (after just the first tree-bush guy), there is an opening on the right
- Take this opening and there is actually a path down that snakes along the cliffside
- Following this path will take you down to a cave with a bonfire (careful, it's guarded by a black knight) and an elevator to the Valley of the Drakes
- In Valley of the Drakes, take the left path before the bridge and run by the two lightening spitting dragons, and keep going, run past the Undead Dragon sleeping on the cliff (grab the items if you want, but it will wake him up and probably kill you)
- Keep going and you'll eventually reach a cave on left, with a bridge to cross that leads to the locked door to New Londo Ruins that the Master Key would have unlocked
- Go in the cave to Blighttown, run past the two or three fat ogres, and you should reach a dead end with a ladder to climb down. There is a key here for the door to New Londo...grab it and head back out to the door to unlock it
- Head back up New Londo Ruins to Firelink to complete the circle

 

[Qvar]

You need a total of 9 shard for every +5. The first 2 levels need 1 shard, the next 2 needs 2 shards, and the last one needs 3 shards.
So:
+1 = 1 shard
+2 = 1 + 1 shards
+3 = 1 + 1 + 2 shards
+4 = 1 + 1 + 2 + 2
+5 = 1 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 3 = 9 shards

Same for large shards, from +5 to +10, chunks for +10 to +15, green shards for elemental weapons, etc. It's always the same pattern. The only exception is Twinkling titanite, that needs 4 shards at the last step (+5) instead of 3, making it a total of 10 shards for going from +0 to +5.

Edit - Correction: Upgrading from +14 to +15 (or the equivalent elemental upgrade, such as electric +4 to electric +5) requires a titanite slab of that colour, not 3 chunks.

 

[Church185]

Yeah...I still don't really understand what that means. I have large shards, so I should be able to get my sword to +10 right? So why doesn't the guy take them? Am I misunderstanding the text, because large shards say that using it gives +10 reinforcement?

You'll need a large ember to upgrade your weapon further than +5. I'll put an upgrade chart down below, if you have any questions feel free to ask.

Spoiler: chart