Dark Souls Patched, Now Slightly Easier

[Daystar Clarion]

Stupid missleading title. This is a BALANCE PATCH, it didn't make the game any easier. It actually fixed some exploits, fixed PvP, fixed game breaking PvE spells and eliminated the need for farming. Actually it made the game HARDER for some builds and forces players to use something else than the most common TWOP/RoF/Vitality/Endurance/Gold Hemmed Set builds.

Spoiler: Magic Changes

Magic Changes:
Pyro Glove nerfed from 270 to 230.
You can see resonance signs now.
Vow of Silence range increased.
Sorcery spell damage as a whole was slightly buffed, but Homing Soul Mass and other pursuit style spells were nerfed.
Magic Shield duration lowered to ~11 seconds.
Strong Magic Shield duration lowered to ~11 seconds. Invincibility removed. Effect on Stamina drastically reduced.
Tranquil Walk of Peace and other Slow duration reduced to ~10 secs. Effect supposedly changed from 100% encumberance to 50%. Rolling possible if your equip burden is lowered. Slowness is similar to swamp effect.
Iron Flesh effectiveness nerfed.
Invisible Body duration remains unchanged.

These are all PvP and PvE nerfs (no more TWOP kthxbye or Iron Skin/Magic Shield God Mode, and nerf for Pyro to keep lvl 1-10 PvP twinks away). Makes the game harder for spellcasters and PvP much more balanced.

Spoiler: Weapon Changes

Equipment General Changes:
Reported some weapon scaling gets improved at higher normal upgrades (+15 uchi dex scaling goes to A)
Some scaling reported as changing from A to S with higher upgrades

Upgrade Changes:
Normal scaling buffed by 5-20% (20% at +14).
Crystal scaling buffed by 5-20% (20% at +4).
Lightning +4 nerfed by 2% (+5 remains unchanged).
Raw scaling buffed by 10% (all levels).
Magic stat scaling buffed by 10-20% (20% at +9).
Enchanted stat scaling buffed by 15-20% (20% at +4).
Divine stat scaling buffed by 10-20% (20% at +9).
Occult stat scaling buffed by 15-20% (20% at +4).
Fire +9 nerfed by 2%. (+5 remains unchanged)
Dragon stat scaling buffed by 5-20% (20% at +5).

Specific Gear Changes:
Grant scaling changed to Strength:B and Faith:A
Gold-hemmed nerfed, still can't be upgraded.
Dust skirt nerfed hard (streamlined to match the other pieces).
Silver Knights, Sun, Hollow Soldier's Shield and other medium shield stability nerfed to ~70 at max upgrades to improve Great Shield viability.
Crystal Ring Shield scaling drastically nerfed. Does around ~200 +-50
Dragon Greatsword buffed from 360 to 390.
Silver Knight's Sword lightning effect removed. Now enchantable.
Elite Knight gear nerfed, then buffed slightly in 1.05

Buffed skill related weapons and nerfed lightning to prevent lollightning vita/end only builds. Gold Hemmed / Dusk Skirt were also nerfed because they were practically the best light armor sets in the game (without any upgrades!). Also nerfed med shields to what they should be. Huge nerf on Crystal Ring Shield to prevent 1-shot kills.

Combat Changes:
Lock-on acquisition range increased.
Lock-on changing/switching got easier (more responsive).
Ring of Fog users can now be locked on.

Makes long range spells more viable in PvP and fixed the most broken PvP item in the whole game.

Spoiler: Online and Covenant

Online Changes:
You can see resonance signs.
Some invasion restrictions possibly changed? Darkwraith upperlimit confirmed as unchanged.
1.05: Summon restrictions improved slightly again.
Amount of souls the Master of the game gains changed.
Cracked Eye Orbs no longer get consumed on failure. Confirmed
You can hit Select to rate messages.
1.05: Fixed 1.04 bug where summon signs were invisible.

Covenant Changes:
Covenant Material drop rate improved.
Lowered requirements for Sunbro covenenant (requirements moved from 50 to 25. 3/4 assists should do the trick)

Fixed many broken online features, such as the Gravelord covenant which was impossible to level due to horribly horribly low drop rate for their invasion items. Also, lower sunbro req encourages more co-op playing.

Spoiler: Merchants

Merchant stock updates:
Male Undead Merchant: Also sells bottomless box
Female Undead Merchant: Sells Arrows / Crossbolts
Andrei: Sells Arrows / Crossbolts
Domnhal of Xena: Sells Arrows / Crossbolts, Master Key (5000)
Giant Blacksmith (Fapsmith): Sells Arrows / Crossbolts, Small Titanite Shards, Large Tit Shards, Twinkling (8000 per, inf amount), Green Shards, Repair box, upgrade boxes
Vamos: Arrows / Crossbolts, Small Tit, Large tit, Repair box / upgrade boxes
Inglwood: Sells Transient Curses

Not making anything easier, adding Twinklings to Giant's store eliminates the need for horribly long farming and item dupe exploits. Less farming =/= less difficulty

Spoiler: Possibly things that make the game easier

PVE Changes:
Overall increase in souls gained (~2-2.5 times more)
Damage reduced on some mobs?
HP lowered on some mobs?
Reduced acquisition range on normal enemies.
Supposedly reduced poise on some enemies.
Bosses drop Humanity and Homeward Bones
Ghosts and Skeletons give souls now.
Twinkling Titanite drop rate improved.
Pyromancers in Catacombs drop Skull Lanterns.
Darkwraiths in New Londo drop Dark Hand.

The higher soul drop rate again eliminates need for bug exploits or forrest farming, and bosses dropping humanity encourages more online play (since for co-op / PvP you need to be in human form). The only things that made the game "easier" are:
>Damage reduced on some mobs?
>HP lowered on some mobs?
>Supposedly reduced poise on some enemies.
And AFAIK, those enemy nerfs are really small, I still die to normal enemies as much as I did before.
Did some of you not read the patch notes at all?

I second this.

The game isn't easier, it's just fairer.

TWoP tards and Fog Ring users have to actually use skill to win fights now. And the souls drop increase and twinkling titanite seller eliminates the need for exploits.

 

[Aeonknight]

Stupid missleading title. This is a BALANCE PATCH, it didn't make the game any easier. It actually fixed some exploits, fixed PvP, fixed game breaking PvE spells and eliminated the need for farming. Actually it made the game HARDER for some builds and forces players to use something else than the most common TWOP/RoF/Vitality/Endurance/Gold Hemmed Set builds.

Spoiler: Magic Changes

Magic Changes:
Pyro Glove nerfed from 270 to 230.
You can see resonance signs now.
Vow of Silence range increased.
Sorcery spell damage as a whole was slightly buffed, but Homing Soul Mass and other pursuit style spells were nerfed.
Magic Shield duration lowered to ~11 seconds.
Strong Magic Shield duration lowered to ~11 seconds. Invincibility removed. Effect on Stamina drastically reduced.
Tranquil Walk of Peace and other Slow duration reduced to ~10 secs. Effect supposedly changed from 100% encumberance to 50%. Rolling possible if your equip burden is lowered. Slowness is similar to swamp effect.
Iron Flesh effectiveness nerfed.
Invisible Body duration remains unchanged.

These are all PvP and PvE nerfs (no more TWOP kthxbye or Iron Skin/Magic Shield God Mode, and nerf for Pyro to keep lvl 1-10 PvP twinks away). Makes the game harder for spellcasters and PvP much more balanced.

Spoiler: Weapon Changes

Equipment General Changes:
Reported some weapon scaling gets improved at higher normal upgrades (+15 uchi dex scaling goes to A)
Some scaling reported as changing from A to S with higher upgrades

Upgrade Changes:
Normal scaling buffed by 5-20% (20% at +14).
Crystal scaling buffed by 5-20% (20% at +4).
Lightning +4 nerfed by 2% (+5 remains unchanged).
Raw scaling buffed by 10% (all levels).
Magic stat scaling buffed by 10-20% (20% at +9).
Enchanted stat scaling buffed by 15-20% (20% at +4).
Divine stat scaling buffed by 10-20% (20% at +9).
Occult stat scaling buffed by 15-20% (20% at +4).
Fire +9 nerfed by 2%. (+5 remains unchanged)
Dragon stat scaling buffed by 5-20% (20% at +5).

Specific Gear Changes:
Grant scaling changed to Strength:B and Faith:A
Gold-hemmed nerfed, still can't be upgraded.
Dust skirt nerfed hard (streamlined to match the other pieces).
Silver Knights, Sun, Hollow Soldier's Shield and other medium shield stability nerfed to ~70 at max upgrades to improve Great Shield viability.
Crystal Ring Shield scaling drastically nerfed. Does around ~200 +-50
Dragon Greatsword buffed from 360 to 390.
Silver Knight's Sword lightning effect removed. Now enchantable.
Elite Knight gear nerfed, then buffed slightly in 1.05

Buffed skill related weapons and nerfed lightning to prevent lollightning vita/end only builds. Gold Hemmed / Dusk Skirt were also nerfed because they were practically the best light armor sets in the game (without any upgrades!). Also nerfed med shields to what they should be. Huge nerf on Crystal Ring Shield to prevent 1-shot kills.

Combat Changes:
Lock-on acquisition range increased.
Lock-on changing/switching got easier (more responsive).
Ring of Fog users can now be locked on.

Makes long range spells more viable in PvP and fixed the most broken PvP item in the whole game.

Spoiler: Online and Covenant

Online Changes:
You can see resonance signs.
Some invasion restrictions possibly changed? Darkwraith upperlimit confirmed as unchanged.
1.05: Summon restrictions improved slightly again.
Amount of souls the Master of the game gains changed.
Cracked Eye Orbs no longer get consumed on failure. Confirmed
You can hit Select to rate messages.
1.05: Fixed 1.04 bug where summon signs were invisible.

Covenant Changes:
Covenant Material drop rate improved.
Lowered requirements for Sunbro covenenant (requirements moved from 50 to 25. 3/4 assists should do the trick)

Fixed many broken online features, such as the Gravelord covenant which was impossible to level due to horribly horribly low drop rate for their invasion items. Also, lower sunbro req encourages more co-op playing.

Spoiler: Merchants

Merchant stock updates:
Male Undead Merchant: Also sells bottomless box
Female Undead Merchant: Sells Arrows / Crossbolts
Andrei: Sells Arrows / Crossbolts
Domnhal of Xena: Sells Arrows / Crossbolts, Master Key (5000)
Giant Blacksmith (Fapsmith): Sells Arrows / Crossbolts, Small Titanite Shards, Large Tit Shards, Twinkling (8000 per, inf amount), Green Shards, Repair box, upgrade boxes
Vamos: Arrows / Crossbolts, Small Tit, Large tit, Repair box / upgrade boxes
Inglwood: Sells Transient Curses

Not making anything easier, adding Twinklings to Giant's store eliminates the need for horribly long farming and item dupe exploits. Less farming =/= less difficulty

Spoiler: Possibly things that make the game easier

PVE Changes:
Overall increase in souls gained (~2-2.5 times more)
Damage reduced on some mobs?
HP lowered on some mobs?
Reduced acquisition range on normal enemies.
Supposedly reduced poise on some enemies.
Bosses drop Humanity and Homeward Bones
Ghosts and Skeletons give souls now.
Twinkling Titanite drop rate improved.
Pyromancers in Catacombs drop Skull Lanterns.
Darkwraiths in New Londo drop Dark Hand.

The higher soul drop rate again eliminates need for bug exploits or forrest farming, and bosses dropping humanity encourages more online play (since for co-op / PvP you need to be in human form). The only things that made the game "easier" are:
>Damage reduced on some mobs?
>HP lowered on some mobs?
>Supposedly reduced poise on some enemies.
And AFAIK, those enemy nerfs are really small, I still die to normal enemies as much as I did before.
Did some of you not read the patch notes at all?

I second this.

The game isn't easier, it's just fairer.

TWoP tards and Fog Ring users have to actually use skill to win fights now. And the souls drop increase and twinkling titanite seller eliminates the need for exploits.

I third it.

It's actually got me interested in coming back to stick through NG+ to see how the tweaks affect me personally.

Sad I wont be able to use TWoP, but if that means Fog Ring users are rendered ineffective... I'll take that trade.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

what the hll does nerfed mean?

i've noticed i'm getting a lot more souls per a kill now too

Nerfed means the opposite of buffed, buddy.

someone already answered me, but thanks for the reply chief

to anyone saying the games made easier, its really not (to me anyway) it just feels more balanced n easier to farm souls

Yuhuh. No problem, buddy.

 

[Elf Defiler Korgan]

I wonder, see in two weeks when I have some free time, I am getting the game. Looking forward to it, and all that. Now I wonder should I play it original or patched? Well I want to steadily play it, some progress over time, so probably will go patched, to make it a little easier. Hope it is still fairly hard.

Perhaps it is more fair now?

 

[Fortesque]

Huh... This makes me want this game less.

Can I get it and avoid updating it? Because I was really looking forward to playing another Insanely Hard game after the playing Demon's Souls, which was like pulling teeth... But I've had 100hrs of fucking awesome doing it!

 

[naam]

Surely they didn't just make the game easier? But if they did, is there an option for me to just not download the patch/put the difficulty on what it is supposed to be when I get it (soon)?

 

[Polite Sage]

The lack of common sense / shortsightness / illiteracy on these last few posts is astoundingly high...

 

[Skeleon]

Have a peak? Are you sure you think I should climax over this? Unnghh...!

In other news, I'm still waiting to see if they will ever release this on the PC, because otherwise I'll never get to buy and play it.

 

[Jazoni89]

I was really disappointed with Dark Souls, as I felt the level design wasn't up to par with the previous game and it felt like the game suffered for it. I couldn't get into it at all, and I loved Demons Souls.

 

[Reshkar]

"Twinkling (8000 per, inf amount)"

Praise the sun!

 

[Burst6]

Huh... This makes me want this game less.

Can I get it and avoid updating it? Because I was really looking forward to playing another Insanely Hard game after the playing Demon's Souls, which was like pulling teeth... But I've had 100hrs of fucking awesome doing it!

It doesn't make it easier. It makes it harder to use cheap tactics to beat bosses, and makes non-lightning weapons more useful.

I'm shuddering at the thought of fighting the four kings without iron flesh. That unavoidable long ranged attack is going to kill me so many times..

 

[Blue Hero]

I don't like how much they've nerfed iron flesh. I've beaten all the bosses except Four Kings, and I'm having so much difficulty with him. I've beaten him before on a separate character with iron flesh before the patch, but now I just get my ass handed to me. Iron flesh is completely useless now.

 

[Rheinmetall]

They nerfed the game's best items and you are asking if we find it awesome, or super awesome?.....You are kidding right? I would rather ask: terrible, or irritating?