The Escapist Presents: 5 Early Game Tips For Dark Souls

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Funcakes

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Jul 17, 2011
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I'm too lazy to read everything so:

1. Gift: master key, if you want to play the game proper you won't have much use for it, but it's extremely helpful in NG+ to skip some areas you have no reason to go to.

2.
A. Flying Drake Sword: This. This is the crescent falchion. This is the weapon that removes all rage for the first fourth of the game and makes it a cake walk, allowing proper time to get your character to a satisfyingly strong point, and find a weapon you actually care about.
-Note, if I remember correctly, this requires 16 strength and 14 dexterity, or something of that nature.

B. In Sen's fortress, at the bottom of a long stairwell hallway is a mimic. Kill this mimic and you'll get a lightening spear. This will carry you through Anor Londo.


3. Look around(always, there's very few wasted areas...in fact I can only think of ONE area that has no purpose). In the first level you can find black fire bombs. These rape the minotaur, bait his attack, throw them at him when he recovers. Oh, and don't forget to use the ladder on the immediate right to perform a plunge attack.

4. If you go for havel. Just strip down and STRAFE. He'll miss, back stab him. Roll for extra safety when he lifts his weapon above his head.

5. For your first playhthrough, unless you know exactly what build you want to make, then upgrading a weapon to lightening, fire, or chaos is the best option. The damage on these weapons doesn't scale with stats, but is relatively high and can carry you through the first game.
weapon +10-> lightening from Blacksmith in Anor Londo
Weapon +5-> Fire or chaos, blacksmith in catacombs.

Figure out the rest on you're own. You should be fine. Check the wiki if you're at a loss.

Oh, MILD SPOILER: There's a guy in the church, if you kill this man he will drop humanity and the ring you will be married to for the rest of your DS carreer. It increases health, stamina, and equipment load. You can get it later if you miss him.
 

Eternal_Lament

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Sep 23, 2010
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Funcakes said:
Oh, MILD SPOILER: There's a guy in the church, if you kill this man he will drop humanity and the ring you will be married to for the rest of your DS carreer. It increases health, stamina, and equipment load. You can get it later if you miss him.
Alternatively you can let him live, and while this does mean the bonfire at Firelink will be gone for quite some time, you can fight him later for some decent armour and a a powerful catalyst

Other tips:
If you are either in the forest, the Great Hollow, or Ash Lake, avoid the mushroom men. They can be stunned easily, but the high health and powerful strength is an issue, plus the fact that they give out barely any souls makes them pretty useless to fight.

Try to cut off the tail of any dragon (except the drakes in Valley of the Drakes) you encounter (including the Crossbreed), you'll get powerful weapons out of it. You'll be fighting them anyways, so you might as well, and the only one who you don't have to actually fight (Stone Dragon in Ash Lake) doesn't care if you cut off his tail.

Use the traps in Sen's Fortress to your advantage, as the enemies will often walk into them, saving you having to kill them and providing you a shield to the traps.

It may seem tempting, but don't try to fight groups of Basilisks. They may be stunned easily, drop alot of souls, have low health, and one by themself posses little threat, but if you fight a group of them be prepared to go through New Londo (thinks of the ghosts *shudders*)

Check in wikis early on to see which souls you wish to save for Ascension and which ones you wish to use for buying/leveling, it can provide a necessary boost.

If you find you're having trouble with a particular boss, try finding some Humanity and reverse the hollowing, as you'll be able to summon special Phantoms to help you out.

If you find you're wasting the durability on your weapons fast, try joining the Path of the Draon Covenant in Ash Lake, even if you leave you'll gain a useful item that can deal damage with unlimited use (and incidently turns you into a dragon)
 

Wolfram23

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Mar 23, 2004
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Just want to point out with that #3... I didn't even know you could drop down. Instead, I take it up a little ways and when the wall opens up, you can hop out. You should land above where those chests are, and you'll be able to see that there is in fact more loot way up above. No idea how to get at it quite yet, my best guess is that it takes a hell of a well aimed jump - if you go to the right (facing away from the elevators) you'll get onto a grassy spot and can kinda sorta aim a jump at one of the supports heading towards the crumbled tower. I think it must be possible to make it but I have had no luck doing it yet.

If anyone knows the proper way to get up there (there's a treasure on top!) let me know. :D
 

Ruwrak

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Sep 15, 2009
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I agree, the drake sword is convienent untill you get the uchigatana and you can put an element on it (preferable the lightning one, though I heard it's getting rebalanced in a patch soon.) The rest falls under the "IF you die obtaining it, it's very good to use."


Wolfram01 said:
Just want to point out with that #3... I didn't even know you could drop down. Instead, I take it up a little ways and when the wall opens up, you can hop out. You should land above where those chests are, and you'll be able to see that there is in fact more loot way up above. No idea how to get at it quite yet, my best guess is that it takes a hell of a well aimed jump - if you go to the right (facing away from the elevators) you'll get onto a grassy spot and can kinda sorta aim a jump at one of the supports heading towards the crumbled tower. I think it must be possible to make it but I have had no luck doing it yet.

If anyone knows the proper way to get up there (there's a treasure on top!) let me know. :D
You can walk all the way through and if you look to the left there is said crumbled pillar. If you roll off the cliff and aim it right you can get on that pillar. Go up all the way and you come up at a crows nest. Hit X or A and wait a while, you will be picked up by the crow and transported back to the asylum. Have fun dying with a few suprises that have been added since your last visit.


Might spoil the game for some people. So if you don't like spoilers, don't click it.
1. Pick thief. You will have the master key by default so you have a spot open for your precious firebombs.

The thief has higher crits which are a good way to get a little edge in combat.
In that same light:

2. Learn to crit. Backstabbing an enemy is the easiest way of getting rid of him. Either circle around him untill he attacks or you've got to the sweet spot, then jab R1 (or RB in my case.)

3. Learn to crit. Seriously, it makes your game a whole lot easier. But also learn to crit from the front. You will need to have a smaller shield (the size of the Black Knight shield or Dragons Crest Shield. Any other shield will also do, as long as it does not have a towershield classification. I.e. a shield that covers you shoulder to shins.). Hit L1 or LB at the rigth time, you will hear a fading bass if done correctly and the enemy will flinch, then hit R1 or RB and you will do much more crit damage. If a backstab would do 500, your parry (as it is officially called) would do about 650-750 damage.

4. Ring of Favor & Protection. Easily obtained after you beat the gargoyle bell demon. Or if you have the key to the tower you can also find him. It's the guy in the golden suit. Eventually after defeating the Garoyle Bell Demon he will be in firelink shrine eyeballing the woman behind bars. Kill him and you get a nifty ring for + health, stam and endurance

5. Don't blind focus on stats such as strength or dex unless you have a good reason. Strength & Dexterity won't automatically raise the damage output. It depends on the parameter affinity (D,C,B,A,S). Most preferably go for Vitallity and Endurance (For life, more weaponswings and higher equipmentload).

Eternal_Lament said:
Check in wikis early on to see which souls you wish to save for Ascension and which ones you wish to use for buying/leveling, it can provide a necessary boost.

If you find you're wasting the durability on your weapons fast, try joining the Path of the Draon Covenant in Ash Lake, even if you leave you'll gain a useful item that can deal damage with unlimited use (and incidently turns you into a dragon)
Well I prefer to keep the souls as I am going for achievements and you kinda need said souls. Plus some souls only offer you 1200 =/ and that is a boss soul. Any of the regular souls I just use for leveling up.

And to get to the dragon... Oh hell the one doing that for the first time is in for a ride :p
 

Mariena

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Sep 25, 2008
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Justin, I really like the content of your videos! I enjoyed the demon hunter video as well. I love tips and tricks.

But.. your intonation in the videos just gets on my nerves. You emphasize words way too much x.x

Sorry, bit off topic, but I just had to mention it.
 

DanielBrown

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Dec 3, 2010
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Getting my Dark Souls today(hopefully the mailman hasn't stolen it), so the tips will probably help out a bit. :)
 

ExtraDebit

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Jul 16, 2011
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Please for the love of all the imaginary slave masters of mankind, MAKE MORE OF THESE VIDS for dark soul! This game needs it. In fact make a series of it. Top5 just doesn't cut it, at least make it top10.
 

Ickorus

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Mar 9, 2009
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I have a couple of tips:

1. To kill the dragon on the bridge first get past it and just before the iron pig thingie go up to the top of the tower and defeat the black knight, then with a bow equipped aim at the dragons neck and fire, it should insta-kill it and you will gain 10k souls as well as a new bonfire and some items. (I think this is a bug)

2. When going up the lift to the church in undead burg run out onto the first ledge on your way up, here you will then want to run onto the grass and do a running jump onto the pillar thingie connected to the broken tower, you can then go up the stairs of the tower; first you'll want to jump onto the roof with the item on it, take that, and then repeat the first bit but this time go to the top and then at the top stand on the nest and click the button when prompted, wait a minute and an awesome surprise is in-store for you. (Be warned, there are two very powerful Black Knights here and another slightly less awesome surprise, but i'll let you find that one out)
 

Ruwrak

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Sep 15, 2009
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ExtraDebit said:
Please for the love of all the imaginary slave masters of mankind, MAKE MORE OF THESE VIDS for dark soul! This game needs it. In fact make a series of it. Top5 just doesn't cut it, at least make it top10.
It's called the Darksoul Wiki on Wikidot ;)
Lots of info there if you really want to make the game a cakewalk.

I really do not reccommend it though. I avoided it unless I had to find a very specific item.
Makes the game waaaay to easy.
 

Zulnam

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Feb 22, 2010
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Pretty cool video. Gives out some useful tips without ruining the core feature of the game (it's difficulty).