Dark Souls Tips and Experiences

[Rastien]

Well im about 20 hours play time into Dark Souls and i have just managed to get to the Gaping Dragon boss, perhaps im abit slower than other players but im getting there.

So anyone have any useful starter tips? personally for me i started out as a theif and my god did i struggle! re-reolled pyromancer and things went alot more smoothly it seems like a good starter class.

Also i did my first other player invasion last night and was awarded with 120,000 souls and 1 humanity which has helped me out no end! So if you havn't tried it yet give it a go =). Im not sure how invasion works i guess i might have got lucky when i killed this guy and he had a massive stock pile of souls which i stole hehe.

But i guess my big tip get a nice shield and keep it up ^^ also once your equipment weight goes above 1/2 of what you can carry your movement gets reduced greatly. Speed i find for my playstyle is something i cannot sacrifice for more armour at least so far.

Oh yeah holy crap do the butchers creep me the fuck out in the sewers x)

 

[Daystar Clarion]

It's a great game, but it's on the sidelines for now while I play Saints Row the Third, Skyrim and Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3.

I started as thief originally as well, then re-rolled a pyro.

The thing is, the thief doesn't get a boost to critical hits, they just start with a weapon that has a higher crit percentage, so I was mislead.

Ok, now a tip.

The resistance stat is useless. Why up defence when you can level up vitality and get more HP and defence?

 

[Blue Hero]

Stay the fuck away from the catacombs.
Stay the fuck away from the tomb of giants.
Stay the fuck away from Blighttown.
Stay the fuck away from Lost Izalith.

Only read this spoiler if you really really wanna make the game much easier.

Spoiler

The crystal ring shield is an overpowered weapon. Have it equipped in your left hand and press the parry button. It'll do a swing-swoosh fly attack thing. Does a lot of damage to bosses. Very useful. Makes the game much less of a challenge. It is terrible when used as an actual shield though.

 

[Rastien]

Oh yeah another protip try running. Not everything is worth/possible to fight at least thats what i have discovered so far.

Also whilst holding down O (i guess B for xbox users?) to run tap it again to do a jump! the game never tells you about this very useful ability

 

[SilverStrike]

Bug-eyed frog things in the depths on the way to Blighttown? AVOID. They curse you. If you get cursed, you die. When you respawn, health is halved. Permanently. Until you buy an expensive cure. Elsewhere. Happens again? Halved again. IT STACKS.

They're deceptively easy to kill though. Just take em one at a time, roll away when they spew the AoE, then roll in and smack 'em.

If it's not working, change your approach to a problem.

Use the Dark Souls wiki for weapons and upgrades and unique weapons you want.

Drake Sword. Shoot off the Hellkite's tail from under the bridge, receive awesome starting sword. Just after Taurus demon.

Also, with bridge, get to the middle. Go down. Find bonfire shortcut. Use. Go back up to bridge. Inch onto bridge to get the dragon to breathe fire, run down stairs, receive 300 souls. Repeat. ??? Profit.

 

[LookingGlass]

Also whilst holding down O (i guess B for xbox users?) to run tap it again to do a jump! the game never tells you about this very useful ability

There's actually a boss near the end (second last boss, I think) where you have to perform a precision jump to beat him. Have to. And if you miss, you die. That was... interesting. Took me 4 or 5 tries. If there's one thing you can't do in this game (especially whilst being attacked), it's jump and land on a specific spot.


As for the OP, Thief kicks ass. In both Demon's Souls and Dark Souls I started as a Thief and it worked out fine. In Dark Souls it was particularly useful because I got that key that unlocks some extra doors. OK, you're probably putting yourself behind the eight ball to start off with, because they really don't have any useful skills... but I didn't bother changing my armour for ages in Dark Souls (and I'm pretty sure I never did in Demon's Souls). So there's that.


If the early hours of the game are kicking your ass, best tip I can give is this: get a bow and a whole bunch of arrows, and shoot the tail of the dragon in the Undead Berg area (shoot him from below). Eventually it breaks off and you get a sword that is better than anything you'll find for ages.

 

[Rastien]

Bug-eyed frog things in the depths on the way to Blighttown? AVOID. They curse you. If you get cursed, you die. When you respawn, health is halved. Permanently. Until you buy an expensive cure. Elsewhere. Happens again? Halved again. IT STACKS.

Yeah... discovered those lil buggers last night thanks for the heads up about it stacking i stopped playing last night after just managing to crawl out the sewers after being cursed as there is no way im taking gaping dragon with 1/2 hp now to find a cure!

Got a hunch the undead lady in the sewer sells a cure need to check it out later tonight ^^

 

[LookingGlass]

Bug-eyed frog things in the depths on the way to Blighttown? AVOID. They curse you. If you get cursed, you die. When you respawn, health is halved. Permanently. Until you buy an expensive cure. Elsewhere. Happens again? Halved again. IT STACKS.

Yeah... discovered those lil buggers last night thanks for the heads up about it stacking i stopped playing last night after just managing to crawl out the sewers after being cursed as there is no way im taking gaping dragon with 1/2 hp now to find a cure!

Got a hunch the undead lady in the sewer sells a cure need to check it out later tonight ^^

If I remember correctly, you actually have to pay the guy you meet just after ringing the bell past the gargoyles. And I think I read that's it's expensive as hell too, and scales with your level.

I'm not 100% though... I managed to get through the whole game without getting cursed, thanks to being careful, using high curse-resistant armour at a few points, and a bit of luck.

 

[bakan]

Also i did my first other player invasion last night and was awarded with 120,000 souls and 1 humanity which has helped me out no end! So if you havn't tried it yet give it a go =). Im not sure how invasion works i guess i might have got lucky when i killed this guy and he had a massive stock pile of souls which i stole hehe.

To clarify it to you, to be able to get invaded you have to be human and the area boss must be alive.
This also applies to NPC invasions in certain areas which are scripted events and give you special items if you beat them.

There are several covenants which reward you for invading other players.
Though you should note that if you invade someone you don't have to be human for certain invasion types and there is no upper limit of the enemies level (e.g. you could be SL 50 and your enemy is SL 120 but you can never be invaded by someone who is considerably higher than yourself).

You can also help others by being summoned, here you should note that you have to lay down your sign anywhere before the areas boss and you don't have to be human (and don't leave the area, otherwise your sign vanishes).


Another useful tip for newer players is that you should always consider your equipment load:
25% you are a little handicapped
>50% you are heavily handicapped
>100% you are slow and you are unable to roll

Though it is not always bad to have high equip load, e.g. heavy equipment also grants you a good amount of poise (a stat like any other resistence but without a filling bar - it is an indicator for how easy you are staggered by successive hits)


Oh, and always keep in mind that Pyromancy doesn't scale with intelligence, it only scales with your glove.

 

[Rastien]

If the early hours of the game are kicking your ass, best tip I can give is this: get a bow and a whole bunch of arrows, and shoot the tail of the dragon in the Undead Berg area (shoot him from below). Eventually it breaks off and you get a sword that is better than anything you'll find for ages.

Yeah i managed to get that sword, but as i read a guide on how to get it, i have since stopped using it x) as i felt i was cheating myself. But i was lucky enough to chop off one of the gargoyles tales on the roof and got a pretty meaty axe =) so im using that now

 

[TallestGargoyle]

Pyromancer is definitely a great starter class, Pyromancy being one of the more powerful magics in early game. Even in late game and PVP, Great Combustion is pretty much necessary.

I've currently got a Bandit build, however, staying clear of ALL magics. I will be only increasing Vitality, Endurance and Strength, to allow me to wear the heaviest armours (Smough's, Havel's, Stone etc.) and the heavy weapons (Dragon weapons, specifically Dragon's Tooth or Dragon Greataxe) at 50% weight, and a little dex to make it a little easier for me early game (Drake's sword requires 12 dex to obtain, although doesn't need any to weild).

Pretty soon you will find Havel invading your world, and I am a relentless brute force smasher ^^

 

[Rastien]

Oh, and always keep in mind that Pyromancy doesn't scale with intelligence, it only scales with your glove.

Oh, and always keep in mind that Pyromancy doesn't scale with intelligence, it only scales with your glove.

Shit. lol

Also cheers for all that info its really useful did not know i ddn't have to be human to be summoned/summon

 

[bakan]

Oh, and always keep in mind that Pyromancy doesn't scale with intelligence, it only scales with your glove.

Oh, and always keep in mind that Pyromancy doesn't scale with intelligence, it only scales with your glove.

Shit. lol

Also cheers for all that info its really useful did not know i ddn't have to be human to be summoned/summon

You have to be human to be invaded or to summon someone else, you can be hollow to invade or get summoned.

 

[SamuelT]

Getting the Dark Wood Grain ring really helps out a whole lot. Also; most weapon-bearing enemies (including sub-bosses and regular bosses!) can be parried. If you perfect your parries you'll be able to do a shit ton of damage. I found this out after fucking around with the Balder Knights the first few hours of the game.

And Gwyn really becomes a breeze after you know that.

But the best mantra in Dark Souls is "If you can hit it, you can kill it."

 

[SilverStrike]

Bug-eyed frog things in the depths on the way to Blighttown? AVOID. They curse you. If you get cursed, you die. When you respawn, health is halved. Permanently. Until you buy an expensive cure. Elsewhere. Happens again? Halved again. IT STACKS.

Yeah... discovered those lil buggers last night thanks for the heads up about it stacking i stopped playing last night after just managing to crawl out the sewers after being cursed as there is no way im taking gaping dragon with 1/2 hp now to find a cure!

Got a hunch the undead lady in the sewer sells a cure need to check it out later tonight ^^

Go back to Undead Parish, that Oslo guy, he sells cures at 3000 souls. Undead lady sells at double that. Longer journey, but cheaper.

 

[bakan]

Bug-eyed frog things in the depths on the way to Blighttown? AVOID. They curse you. If you get cursed, you die. When you respawn, health is halved. Permanently. Until you buy an expensive cure. Elsewhere. Happens again? Halved again. IT STACKS.

Yeah... discovered those lil buggers last night thanks for the heads up about it stacking i stopped playing last night after just managing to crawl out the sewers after being cursed as there is no way im taking gaping dragon with 1/2 hp now to find a cure!

Got a hunch the undead lady in the sewer sells a cure need to check it out later tonight ^^

Go back to Undead Parish, that Oslo guy, he sells cures at 3000 souls. Undead lady sells at double that. Longer journey, but cheaper.

Third option is to visit the guy in New Londo Ruins as he cures the curse for 1 humanity.

(Ingward is on the roof of a building accessible through a chimney or going the long way over the ramps)

 

[Doclector]

Take every single enemy as an incredibly dangerous threat.

Seriously. It may seem obvious, but so many hack and slash/rpg enemies are commonly just sword fodder that it may slip your mind. Not in dark souls. Sure, a common hollow armed with a dagger may not be anywhere near the biggest threat in the game, but if you lose concentration, if you think for a moment that you can just swing madly at the thing because it's not worth the effort, be prepared to lose a whole lotta health to random stabs.

Oh, and the most underrated enemy of all-Rats. Do not. F*** around. With rats. Rats may have essentially been punching bags in oblivion (No seriously, I only ever used hand to hand on rats) but again, not here. They can poison you fairly easily if you ain't levelled up your resistance a fair bit, and they do like to shove you in a corner and bite your knees off while you're getting stunned and re-stunned.

 

[Rastien]

Undead parish where is this... would i have come across it in my travels so far as i mentioned just got to gaping dragon

 

[lionsprey]

Undead parish where is this... would i have come across it in my travels so far as i mentioned just got to gaping dragon

guy selling cure for 3000 souls is in the same tower as the one you rang the first bell in.

"edit" removed first part of explanation because of possible spoilers.

 

[flaming_squirrel]

Great shields are awesome. Upgrade them as far as you can and the stability they provide will make a great deal of the game considerably easier.

Weapons are almost entirely down to preference, find one which suits your style and then upgrade it fully to either lightning +5 or Fire +10 (fire will do a little more damage, generally).
Boss soul weapons on the other hand are normally pretty rubbish unfortunately.

Struggling on a boss as melee? Iron flesh. Infact just get as many pyromancy spells as you can, they'll be very useful.

Most of the bosses in the game are actually very easy, gaping dragon for example looks terrifying but in actual fact should never hit you throughout the entire fight (also cut his tail off for a fancy dragon axe).


The most difficult one I found was Ornstein and Smaugh on NG+. Smaugh fucked me up bad as melee, many, many times.