Dark Souls!

[WiZe^]

Ordered the game today! any newbie tips?

 

[Billargh]

Getting off a perfect parry + insta kill is so satisfying! I'm enjoying this game almost too much. Just got an awesome looking helm from the armoured boar after the dragon - Fang Boar Helm, it looks like you'd expect.

Did you kill the dragon?

Spoiler

You can kill it using about 20 arrows from under the bridge and it drops an amazing 1h sword

Also, did you kill the boar by using the drop down attacks by any chance?

 

[eksdee]

I did kill the boar that way yeah. And no, I don't have any arrows for that thing with the dragon (it was discussed earlier in the thread sfaik).

Ordered the game today! any newbie tips?

Dark Souls For Beginners: Preparing To Die Less Often - Features - www.GameInformer.com

I found the above very illuminating without being too spoilery. There are some spoilery bits on pages 4 and 5, but 1-3 are very nice.

 

[Rulke]

There's an easy way to kill the boar, I discovered it by accident

Spoiler

Get it to charge through the fire

Just spent ages trying Four kings at the bottom of New Londro ruins, horrible fight at first, seemed to be so many random elements. Trying different tactics, refining my technique and finally did it near flawlessly - soooooo satisfying

Left a note with a big hint at the entrance

 

[Billargh]

Hah that's how I ended up killing the boar, was completely by accident as well.

Spoiler

Was retreating away from it, not looking where I was going, it came charging in and knocked me over but stopped in the fire, was great watching it slowly sizzle away

Finally done the Undead Burg anyway, Gargoyles were pretty frustrating but that's only because of the walk I had to do each time to get to them. I didn't notice the campfire in the building to the right

 

[Billargh]

Gasping Dragon while cursed is an absolute nightmare!

 

[Rulke]

Get uncursed

Btw, turns out you can summon friends into your game fairly easily. Apparently each time you drop your white soapstone sign it does it on a different server. So agree where to meet, drop your sign and wait 20-30 seconds, if they dont see it just drop it again. Seen folk saying this works within 5 mins usually

Btw as far as game progression goes, I recommend doing Sens fortress and Anor Londro as soon as you feel up to it (SL 30 ish I guess), you get the ability to warp between key bonfires and it makes life so much easier

 

[Billargh]

Miles away man, cba with the whole sewer again Got him down anyway on like my fourth attempt, probably the quickest I've done a boss so far.

I haven't even heard of those places yet, did you do those before say, New Londo Ruins etc? The ghosts there are such a bloody pain.

 

[Rulke]

Upper new londo ruins isn't too hard, you need to be cursed or have a cursed weapon to hit the ghosts. You can get temporary curses and a cursed dagger from the ghosts themselves though. You don't get much out of it though, the lower ruins is where the good stuff is but that is quite hard.

Sens fortress opens after you ring the second bell, its pretty nasty til you get to know the place but I really like it (anor londo after it is epic too). Near the start of sens is the lightning spear which is awesome and you can easily farm large titanite chunks near the top for upgrading weapons to +10. I highly recommend upgrading a shield and bow if you can!

 

[Aada]

Where is the lightning spear? Can't find it in this damn Fortress.

 

[Billargh]

Ah I thought the New Londo Ruins could've been where the second bell is, I guess not. Kinda handy how I'm still cursed like, might just keep it and get that place out the way with

So far anyway I have no idea what so ever where the second bell could be, hah. (If you must post where, please spoiler it!)

 

[Rulke]

The boulders path before you divert it should lead down some stairs, at the bottom just before the pit the boulders fall into is a small room on the left. There's a chest in there that's a mimic and will eat you if you try and open it, just attack it and kill it and I think the spears a 100% drop

 

[Rulke]

Well, just finished it

Bout 50 hours played I think (i'm off work this week ) and SL 72

Epic from start to finish, the only question is how long do I leave it before New Game+

Sod it, why not straight away!

 

[Billargh]

Hah well done man, I'm only 15 hours in, just done the Darkroot Forest and Basin. Silly Butterfly boss was a piece of piss

I has a queery though, I gave an eternal ember to the smith under the church, can I make more than one divine weapon with this or are the uses limited?

 

[eksdee]

Blimey Rulke. Nice one.

I'm probably at the same bit as you Billargh. Just killed the Hydra boss and handed my ember to the smith. No idea how to use it, hope I didn't fuck up. Eek.

Oh and I thought I'd check as I was intrigued: 7 hours played, SL25.

 

[Rulke]

There's 4 blacksmiths throughout the game, they will accept different embers to allow them to 'ascend' weapons with different upgrades, ie fire, lightning, divine etc. Once you give them an ember you can upgrade as many weapons as you want, assuming you have the right titanite type/amount

Btw if you are using a non-stat scaling weapon like Drake sword, or one infused with lightning etc then you don't need more than the basic stats to hold the weapon - it won't affect damage. I had the Dragonslayer+5 spear and about 27 str/dex at the end but it never beat my Lightning+5 spear for damage. Maybe another playthrough on ng+ will let me get my stats high enough for it to be better

 

[Rulke]

 

[Billargh]

Hah I forgot about the Hydra, haven't downed him yet. All the brutal water bombs he throws at you on the hill put me off I ended up killing the black knight in the tower instead.

And cheers Rulke, thought that was the case but had to be sure handy picture as well, crafting makes a fair bit more sense now.

 

[eksdee]

Cheers Rulke.

Yeah I got the Knight too. With the Hydra just run side to side until you get to the water, you will avoid all the water bombs easily. Once there the fight is really easy to be honest. Just one tip, keep an eye on how far into the water you go or you'll die.

 

[eksdee]

Oh, also, where can I use or what can I use these other Titanite items I have? Twinkling, Demonic, and another I forget the name of...?

 

[Billargh]

Hah cheers, I'll have a pop at him once I've finished breakfast

The other Titanites are used when modifying weapons to have a unique status, Fire/Magic/Divine etc. Each different one requires a different kind of Titanite and so many souls to upgrade.

 

[eksdee]

Okay so right now I have a Large Titanite Shard, 2 Titanite Chunks, 1 Blue Titanite Chunk and 2 Twinkling Titanite. The best weapons I have are the Gargoyle Axe (which I don't have the int to use :F) from the Twin Gargoyles, the Drake Sword and the Demon's Greataxe from the Taurus Demon. Any recommendations on how to use all that stuff? I need to make a Divine weapon for the Catacombs bit right?

 

[Billargh]

No idea what's best to use them on yet, I've been too scared to use them yet! But from what I've read yeah, you need a Divine weapons in the Catacombs to stop the skeletons coming back to life/being resurrected by a necromancer.

Also screw this game for not giving me any kind of decent Dagger drop yet, it's all bad ass looking 2H shit that requires 50str, I'm a Thief fgs!

 

[eksdee]

I just got a dagger drop from the mobs before the Capra Demon. Thief's Dagger and a stiletto type weapon called Mail Breaker. You headed down there yet? (It's through the door before the wyvern on the bridge.)

 

[Billargh]

I haven't come across the Thief's Dagger yet like, and I've cleared out that entire area, guess it didn't drop for me. Got the Mail Breaker like, my starting Bandit's Knife is better though, even more so now I've upgraded it to +5 Thinking of upgrading it to Divine just so I can have a play about in the Catacombs.

 

[eksdee]

Capra Demon down second try.

 

[Rulke]

Oh, also, where can I use or what can I use these other Titanite items I have? Twinkling, Demonic, and another I forget the name of...?

Theyre all used for different kinds of upgrades, you can just about make it out in the bottom right of the pic I posted above

 

[eksdee]

Herp derp. Indeed. Thanks, I missed that bit. Too distracted by the colourful boxes.

 

[Billargh]

I cheated with the Capra Demon a bit, was getting pissed off with the cheap tactics of getting lunged at before you know what the fucks going on. Just climbed the top of the stairs and stood in the right corner up top, when he attacks you just block, he'll fall, proceed with a drop down attack. Rinse, repeat. Fuck you, Capra Demon.

 

[Aada]

That is the general tactic when dealing with him.