What should I know going into Dark Souls III?

[Ravenbom]

This has nothing to do with Achievements but if you went into Dark Souls 3 after Dark Souls 2, you might think that a spell casting build is at all viable.

I know it doesn't help achievements OP, but it's advise that would have saved me 15-20 hours of misery.

Sorry for the hijack, but saves making another thread - how's the PC port in terms of performance? I've got an older 765m in my laptop and I've read mixed things about it. Some say they can game on an intelhd integrated, others say even modern cards are having issues.

@ badddude - I run it well enough on a 860m, but I only play games at 1366x768 max. There's definite frame rate drops into the 20s though. I haven't played it in a while with all the patches now and I haven't touched the DLC at all.
It's playable, though I know many other people online would rather gouge out their eyes than play a game that ever hits 20fps in 768p.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

DS3 is on sale, bought it, and intend to get all the achievements like I did 1 and 2.

As much as I'd prefer to go in full blind, I know better with Dark Souls. (Me and the wiki basically played co-op together last 2 games)

So what should I know going in, particularly with the goal of all achievements?

Missable spells, important items, merchant characters who try to end up dead on you one way or another even though they are a super useful pyromancer guy who asks confusing yes/no questions!?...ahem...

And also gameplay stuff compared to 1 and 2 to prepare for. Like, how does multiplayer work this time? Humanity, soul memory, degrading HP bars, things of that nature.

I dont want spoilers, but ya know just a basic heads up for things to be aware of.

Spell and rings are going to be your main problem. Because there are spells and rings that can only be obtained by reaching the highest level of covenants. You'll need 30 of whatever said covenant item is to reach the highest rank. Sounds easy, right? Well, no, especially if you're going for the damn Blue Sentinels/Blade of the Darkmoon. Proof of Concord Kept is a pain to get because so few people stay in the Way of Blue, that getting summoned to help them seems nearly impossible because EVERYONE is trying to get summoned. As such, you're going to end up farming certain enemies (won't spoil what) for HOURS, possibly days, until you get the required number. And the drop rate sucks.

You'll need a guide for a lot of other stuff, but be prepared for the grind. The grind to reach max rank is going to be what either breaks you, or forges your will.

 

[baddude1337]

@ badddude - I run it well enough on a 860m, but I only play games at 1366x768 max. There's definite frame rate drops into the 20s though. I haven't played it in a while with all the patches now and I haven't touched the DLC at all.
It's playable, though I know many other people online would rather gouge out their eyes than play a game that ever hits 20fps in 768p.

Many thanks. 720p is fine for me. I managed to stick through Blighttown when I first played DaS1 on PS3, as well as the general choppiness of DeS so 720 30ish FPS doesn't bother me in the slightest.

It has almost finished downloading, can't wait to give it a try!

 

[Saelune]

^^as long as the low frames don't interfere with the faster pace of the game compared to earlier titles.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

@ badddude - I run it well enough on a 860m, but I only play games at 1366x768 max. There's definite frame rate drops into the 20s though. I haven't played it in a while with all the patches now and I haven't touched the DLC at all.
It's playable, though I know many other people online would rather gouge out their eyes than play a game that ever hits 20fps in 768p.

Many thanks. 720p is fine for me. I managed to stick through Blighttown when I first played DaS1 on PS3, as well as the general choppiness of DeS so 720 30ish FPS doesn't bother me in the slightest.

It has almost finished downloading, can't wait to give it a try!

When the game first launched apparently there was a problem with the hair physics causing lower frame rates for people, and this was fixed by wearing a helmet with fully covers your head and face (because apparently your character's hair completely gets removed when wearing helmets like that). This made the knight class the default best character because you start with a helmet and a 100% block shield.

Not sure if this is still a problem, I played the game with a 980 so it ran smooth regardless and I haven't kept up with the patches, but it's something to keep in mind I guess.