I'm finally gonna play Dark Souls...advice?

[remnant_phoenix]

So I avoided Demon's/Dark Souls because bone-crushingly difficult has never been my thing, and that's the first, sometimes only, thing that I heard about the game.

Then I heard some other things...

I heard about how Dark Souls has more in common with the original Legend of Zelda than any of its sequels in the sense that Dark Souls dumps you in a big, open world with the attitude of "What? You wanna know where to go and what to do? Go explore and figure it out, that's the point of the game."

I heard that the story seems to follow that same principle, bringing it in line with games like Half-Life, where the depth of the story is discovered by you, rather than told to you (Yahtzee's ZP helped here).

And you know what...that sounds like a game I would REALLY like to play!

So, first question: should I play the first or just wait for Dark Souls II? I'm not going to have spending money for games for a while, so I'll be waiting until after Dark Souls II is out either way.

Second question: any game advice for a beginner?

 

[Dansen]

So I avoided Demon's/Dark Souls because bone-crushingly difficult has never been my thing, and that's the first, sometimes only, thing that I heard about the game.

Then I heard some other things...

I heard about how Dark Souls has more in common with the original Legend of Zelda than any of its sequels in the sense that Dark Souls dumps you in a big, open world with the attitude of "What? You wanna know where to go and what to do? Go explore and figure it out, that's the point of the game."

I heard that the story seems to follow that same principle, bringing it in line with games like Half-Life, where the depth of the story is discovered by you, rather than told to you (Yahtzee's ZP helped here).

And you know what...that sounds like a game I would REALLY like to play!

So, first question: should I play the first or just wait for Dark Souls II? I'm not going to have spending money for games for a while, so I'll be waiting until after Dark Souls II is out either way.

Second question: any game advice for a beginner?

At this point you should wait for dark souls 2, its better to adopt the game early as a beginner. As time goes on people will learn how to break the game and abuse the systems in place, if you get it near launch you are more likely to be safe from that for a short period of time rather than coming in later(when those types of problems will be in full swing). Also you will be more likely to find things for yourself because the guides and such will still be in the process of being made, making the game feel more organic. Not to mention you will be in good company as a beginner because even veterans will have to adjust to the changes made.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Go right, not left. You'll figure it out when you get that. That part drove me nuts. Otherwise, I can't really give you good advice on the game. I got frustrated and gave up after ringing the second bell because I hit a wall and could not get over it.
I will be picking up Dark Souls II myself, so I suggest you wait and try that game first. It's apparently going to be a bit more friendly to new players, but no less hard. Get the hang of that game and then give Dark Souls a shot if you find yourself craving more.

As for the story, the lore is rather deep, but the actual story-story I found to be lacking a bit. I don't know, maybe I didn't explore enough or research enough, but I never fully understood why I was trying to do what I was doing. It wasn't until I read the plot summary online that I finally understood, and then I watched the two endings and I have to say, for all the work that you have to do, those two endings seem like a real let down. That's just my take on it though.

 

[Legion]

Beginners advice AKA What I wish I had known:​

Spoiler: Stats

Vitality - This is basically HP. The more you have the more damage you can take before dying. You should probably invest moderately in this, but it's not the most vital stat.

Attunement - This decides how much magic you can "carry". If you are not planning on wielding pyromancy, miracles or spells then you don't need to use this at all. If you are then you will want to invest in a few levels of this so you don't run out of them too soon.

Endurance - I'd say this is one of the most vital stats. It increases stamina which is required for sprinting, blocking, attacking and rolling. It also makes you tougher slightly and increases your carry limit.

Strength - If you want to be using greatswords and axes then this is the stat you want to be investing the most in. Heavier weapons have a damage increase from your strength stat.

Dexterity - Likewise lighter and faster weapons (including bows) require dexterity instead. Curved swords, daggers, halberds (except certain types) and spears focus on this. It also increases spell/pyromancy speed so is useful for those.

Resistance - This increases resistances to things such as poison, bleeding and so on. Overall this is widely considered to be a useless stat. Most people will recommend not putting any points into it at all. I cannot say I missed not using it myself. The reason is that equipment can largely provide the same effects anyway.

Intelligence - This is basically for magic users. Including magic weapon users. You should be focusing on this if you are using either, but not at all otherwise.

Faith - This is for miracles and divine weapons. If you are focusing on either of those then again, you want to spend a lot of points on this, otherwise leave it.

Humanity - Humanity has several purposes. It gives some stat boosts when you are carrying it (the number in the top left is the indicator) but it's main function is to allow you to summon other human players into your world to help. Only when you use humanity to "reverse hollowing" can you do so. Although this also means other people can invade you too. Another thing it does is increase the likelihood of an enemy dropping an item upon death. This caps at ten humanity, so there isn't much point carrying more than that. You shouldn't use humanity unless you need it though.

Soul Level - Basically your level. Souls are used to level up and buy things. You don't really want to save more than you need at any given time as dying makes you lose them. If you find your death spot you can retrieve them. If you die again before that they are lost forever. You will occasionally find souls that you can "use". It's best to save these for when you are at a bonfire.

Spoiler: Starting off

The tutorial area that you have to follow is pretty much self explanatory. Read the glowing signs for directions until you get to leave the area (you will know it when it happens).

When you start off in the new area stay away from the graveyard, but explore everywhere else in the immediate area for some useful items.

One thing you need to pay attention to with combat is the stamina bar. The green bar just below health. Your stamina will recharge slowly as long as you are not doing anything that uses it up. Blocking an attack when holding your shield up counts, although if your shield is up and you are not being hit then it will recharge. It will recharge a lot faster when your shield is not up, so remember to lower it every now and then to speed it up. Otherwise you will be constantly trying to fight without any and that will get you killed quickly.

Fight slowly and try to fight one enemy at a time. If you can, lure enemies away by slowly approaching until one starts moving towards you and head back to fight them on their own. Also try and get good at parrying (riposte), the intro will tell you how. Backstabbing also does a large damage boost.

You can jump, but it takes a little to get used to. You hold down the sprint button and let go of it and the immediately press it again. It's best to practice this away from a ledge until you are comfortable with it. You don't need to do it very often at all, but some decent items/NPC's require it, so it's good to know how.

You can switch between using a weapon one handed and two handed using the triangle (Y on the Xbox?) button. This does more damage, but you won't be able to block with your shield while doing it. You can switch between this and holding a shield fairly quickly using the D pad though. To manually aim a bow you need to be holding it in both hands.

Spoiler: Items

You have a weight limit of sorts. If you are over 50% of your carry limit then you will roll very slowly and also move slowly. It's recommended you stay below 50% unless you are planning on being a "tank" (heavy armour, damage but slow). If you are planning on being fast then try and get below 25% to be even more flexible, although this requires very light loads and high endurance so isn't common.

Don't waste consumable items. Homeward bones are useful for exploration but you don't get many for free. Souls as mentioned before (Soul of an Brave Soldier for example) should not be used when outside of a safe zone. Once consumed they give you souls to use for buying or levelling up. You don't want to be carrying those around more than you can help.

Estus Flasks. These are basically medkits/health packs and will refill when you rest at a bonfire. If you reverse hollowing using humanity and choose the "kindle" option at a bonfire then you will increase the amount of estus flasks available when you rest at that particular bonfire. Some give you 5 and some give you 10 to start with. You cannot get more than 10 until later. It's only really needed for ones where you feel you need the extra help. I would not recommend doing it for all of them.

Titanite and all of it's varieties are for smithing. They will each do their own thing, but the one you will need to start with are basic titanite shards. Blacksmiths (of which there are four) can sell shards, but they are expensive. They are required to start off upgrading weapons, but you can buy equipment to do it at campfires. It's more important to upgrade weapons than armour and shields, but I strongly recommend only focusing on a couple of weapons to begin with. Ideally the one you use the most often and another type you use for different situations.

No, you cannot sell things. Not normally anyway. At some point you will get an NPC that will "eat" items for souls, but you get barely any so it's not really worth it most of the time.

The starting item you get isn't terribly important. You can get all of them in-game anyway, so I'd just pick whatever you like the sound of. The master key is pointless if choosing the thief class though. Plus it's not recommended for your first play through as it may cause you to skip areas.

This barely covers it in many regards, but it will hopefully answer some of the first things that come to mind. If you have any other questions feel free to ask (assuming you choose to get it). I've beaten the game twice now, but started recently enough that I can still see it from a beginners perspective.

 

[remnant_phoenix]

Thank you, Legion.

Knowing which stats are useful and which aren't will definitely come in handy to prevent creating a gimped character.

I'm picturing the combat for this game and it seems REALLY intense...more like a real sword duel with intense focus on block/dodge/parry, rather than the hack-n-slash you get in most games with medieval weaponry.

Maybe I should look up some gameplay vids. I've only seen the tiniest snippets in trailers and reviews and such.

 

[Qvar]

I would definitely get the grasp of the gameplay with Dark Souls until the DS2 comes out. There are many months remaining until june.

As for advice: Beware chest.

 

[Dansen]

I would definitely get the grasp of the gameplay with Dark Souls until the DS2 comes out. There are many months remaining until june.

As for advice: Beware chest.

This so much, just attack every chest you see if you don't want to get fucked.

 

[TheEvilCheese]

Thank you, Legion.

Knowing which stats are useful and which aren't will definitely come in handy to prevent creating a gimped character.

I'm picturing the combat for this game and it seems REALLY intense...more like a real sword duel with intense focus on block/dodge/parry, rather than the hack-n-slash you get in most games with medieval weaponry.

Maybe I should look up some gameplay vids. I've only seen the tiniest snippets in trailers and reviews and such.

I would suggest trying to avoid watching too many videos, it's so much more powerful when you find things in context for the first time.

And yes, the combat is primarily about stamina management with regards to blocking and dodging. Parrying and backstabbing are great but you can't get too reliant on them because bosses don't have those options. I would say you should pick up Dark Souls (especially if you can get it cheap) before DS2 comes out.
Oh, and it's actually pretty hard to truly gimp a character. The entire game is very possible to finish as a level 1 so don't worry too much. It's more about your approach to combat.

I would definitely get the grasp of the gameplay with Dark Souls until the DS2 comes out. There are many months remaining until june.

As for advice: Beware chest.

This so much, just attack every chest you see if you don't want to get fucked.

Spoiler: Dark souls minor spoilers.

Mimics actually look slightly different to normal chests, and they also breathe so you can tell the difference if you pay attention. Fun fact: if fighting a mimic, a Lloyd's Talisman will make it retreat back into chest form. If used on a sleeping mimic the item can be looted without worry.

 

[TheVampwizimp_v1legacy]

Thank you, Legion.

Knowing which stats are useful and which aren't will definitely come in handy to prevent creating a gimped character.

I'm picturing the combat for this game and it seems REALLY intense...more like a real sword duel with intense focus on block/dodge/parry, rather than the hack-n-slash you get in most games with medieval weaponry.

Maybe I should look up some gameplay vids. I've only seen the tiniest snippets in trailers and reviews and such.

You're pretty much right about the combat being more focused and tactical than just hack-o slash-o. If you try to wade into groups and whack everything in sight you will die VERY quickly. You need to spend some time learning each new enemy's attacks and movement patterns, and you will likely be killed several times by most new encounters, but once you get a feel for an opponent, it is all just a matter of executing an effective strategy to defeat it.

The lock-on is essential if you don't want to run and swing right past foes. It also allows for strafing and makes backstabs possible, which will help you out a lot early in the game. Also, learn to time dodge rolls, as it is usually less risky to roll than to just block everything (unless you are fighting in a narrow hall or on a ledge, obviously).

If you are not a fan crushing difficulty, you will need to be patient and keep cool, because you WILL die a lot. In fact, it's basically the point of the game. Getting mad at your deaths means you miss the purpose of the game; that being, each death will teach you something new about how to survive. It even dovetails with the theme of the game: you live in a deadly, decaying world, where hope has faded and every one of your options essentially lead to screwing everyone over no matter what you do. It's an oppressive atmosphere, but if you drink it in deep it makes the game much more enjoyable.

 

[Angelous Wang]

I would definitely get the grasp of the gameplay with Dark Souls until the DS2 comes out. There are many months remaining until june.

As for advice: Beware chest.

This so much, just attack every chest you see if you don't want to get fucked.

Nah, it's easy to tell which chest are traps and which are not.

On real chest the chain on it is semicircle/crescent moon shaped and actually pinned to the floor by a round pin on the end of the chain.

The trap ones have chain that comes forward and has no pin on the end.

 

[TheAsterite]

Don't be afraid to experiment. As far as PvE goes, you can get by with almost any setup and specialization. It's part of what makes the game so good.

Edit: Also weapon movesets are just as important as the stats. If you find a really powerful sword, but it swings too slow and you're dying because of it, don't be afraid to ditch it.

 

[00slash00]

I have only ever played melee builds but with a strength build, I found the game very manageable and rarely found myself dying. I would personally advise against a dex build. Weapons with faster attack speed sounds ideal on paper but there are very few dex weapons with good damage, even fully upgraded, especially when compared to the strength build. I used a great club for the majority of my strength playthrough and could easily take out even the larger enemies with 3 hits

If you're going melee, you want a good balance of endurance and health. You are going to get hit often until you learn each enemy's patterns and endurance determines how many times you can attack and how many attack you can block before needing to rest.

All stats have diminishing returns after around 40 points. This means that when your strength is at 5, each point in it will increase your weapon damage for strength based weapons by a few points. By the time your strength is at, say level 50, you will need to put a couple points in to strength before your weapon damage will increase at all.

Don't pass on The Drake Sword, but as soon as you get it, start working on getting rid of it. What, in my opinion, makes Dark Souls easier than Demon's Souls is that upgrading gear in Demon's Souls was much harder. The materials you needed were much more scarce and drop rates were much lower. In Dark Souls, farming the necessary materials is easy and there are items to make it even easier. Either find a weapon and armor you like and start upgrading that as soon as possible (which will probably be around the time you reach the depths) or check the weapon and armor stats on the wiki, to determine what will give you the most bang for your souls.

Parry and back stab are your friends, especially when it comes to fighting black knights, who can ruin your day very quickly.

Finally, figuring it out for yourself is definitely more gratifying, but if you're stuck, epicnamebro has the best Dark Souls and Demon's Souls videos I've ever seen. Even if you don't want to check out his guides, you should watch his lore videos, after finishing the game. They really gave me a lot more appreciation for the Dark Souls world

Finally, there is very little reason to use humanity, for the most part. There are, however, some items that you can only get from fighting optional bosses that only show up if your humanity is restored. Aside from that, I found no reason to ever restore my humanity except to kindle fires. You also need to be human if you want to summon help for a boss fight, but I never encountered a boss that I felt I needed help with

 

[loa]

If you don't have spending money, why would you wait for the second one and not get the first one for cheap?
You also have no idea if the second one is even any good, especially since they are trying a bunch of new stuff like nonstop invasions that sounds terrible so far while you're guaranteed not to buy the cat in the bag with the first one.

As for difficulty, that's their marketing BS and has little to do with the game which isn't that mechanically hard at all (it's not nearly on the level of, say, super meat boy) and offers many possibilities to make hard parts much easier, you just have to find them.

Now for some game advice, just go in without any advice first and if you're stuck, look things up online and be amazed at how much stuff you missed that you could have done.

 

[Caliostro]

I don't want to spoil things too much, so here's all I'll say: Beware. Everything in the world is trying to kill you. The game is cruel and harsh, but fair. If you pay attention, nothing will kill you without warning. Everything can be avoided. Take slowly. And no, you're not playing an action game. If possible 1-on-1 everything.



Also, big, tall, relatively thin, knights in full black armor... You can kill them, they never respawn, and have a chance to drop some REALLY nice weapons. Make sure you're ready though, if you can't kill them they will hound you to the ends of the earth. Running is futile.

That's it.


Oh yes, and prepare to die.

 

[Gottesstrafe]

I would definitely get the grasp of the gameplay with Dark Souls until the DS2 comes out. There are many months remaining until june.

As for advice: Beware chest.

This so much, just attack every chest you see if you don't want to get fucked.

Not THAT chest you fool! You'll unleash the wrath of the gods if you do!

Anyway, Legion covered most of the basics. Here's a few more:

Spoiler

Pyromancy is a stat free magic alternative. It's power is increased via upgrading your Pyromancy glove.

While using humanity to reverse hollow means you are open to invasion by other players, it also opens you up to invasion by special NPCs with rare drops.

Your weapon's damage stat isn't the most important thing to consider when picking a primary weapon. Also consider reach and swing pattern.

When looking at shields, pay attention to how much physical damage it nullifies (some shields don't fully block attacks) as well as stability (higher means less stamina eaten up when blocking attacks). Some shields are also better at parrying than others.

Weapons react to your environment (eg. bounce off walls). Thrusting a spear or using a weapon with shorter reach in a narrow tunnel may prove to be easier than trying to swing a giant claymore.

You can back stab enemies to deal critical damage to them. You can also try parrying (a riskier endeavor if you don't have the timing down) followed by a riposte for even higher damage. These techniques can be used to get an overkill bonus to the amount of souls you can farm from enemies.

Knock enemies off ledges for easy kills and quick souls. You lose any chance to loot them though if they fall down bottomless pits.

You can manually aim bows. You can try string head shots for more damage (and to stagger enemies), or aggro them one by one if they're in a large group.

Unless you're planning to tank, armor stats really don't matter all that much. Dress in whichever way makes your avatar look cool.

You can kick enemies holding shields up to stagger them. Certain weapons can also bypass shields to do damage.

Try not to attack NPCs during your first play through. At a certain point in the game you'll meet someone who will allow you to buy amnesty for aggroing NPCs, but if you kill them they'll stay dead.

The level design for boss fights were deliberately chosen. Use it to your advantage.

If a NPC offers to tell you info for souls, consider it (you can't accept it if you decline the first time though).

Bonfires next to fire keepers gives your estus flask more charges when you rest at them.

Leveling isn't needed to complete the game, but it helps.

Don't go around claiming to be a priest.

Some bosses can get their tails chopped off for extra carves like in Monster Hunter.

Fuck Blighttown.

DON'T fuck with Mushroom Men.

 

[Ham Blitz]

Since the go right has at the beginning has been said, I won't repeat that. I didn't know that and literally spent hours fighting the skeletons. I kept getting better and better until I could kill my way through all of them, got over level 20, and acquired the Zweihander before I realized what way I was supposed to go.
Some small advice I can give is as follows: While don't prioritize it, raising endurance does allow you to both have more stamina (so you can fight, block, and dodge longer) but also allows to to have more carry weight, which only deals with the gear you have on. The lighter your gear is relative to your max capacity, the faster you can dodge, though the dodge speed isn't really that important if you go heavy armor guy like I did my first time through.
Also, take blackfire bombs as your gift if you want a big hammer. The blackfire bombs allow you to make short work of the tutorial boss the first time he appears. You can't wield the hammer for awhile effectively (meaning you will have long recovery times post swinging) but it does do decent damage, and it does have a good strength bonus on it so if you are planning on going strength, it is nice.
Which leads me to my final advice. While a weapon's base damage stat helps you assess a weapons strength early on, once you start getting higher in levels start paying more attention to their stat bonuses. On multiple playthroughs the weapons will stay the same strength and you can only upgrade them so far, but your stats you can constantly increase which will allow you to increase the damage of your weapons with stat boosts (ie. The hammer mentioned earlier has a strength bonus of rank B, which means your strength stat gives it a nice damage boost)
I typed a lot more than I thought I would but hey, hopefully it helps and good luck. I had so much fun with Dark Souls.

 

[TristanBelmont]

Get a lot of comfort food. Chocolate helps quite a great deal.

 

[Riddle78]

Dark Souls is a game of patience. Death will happen. Come to terms with this fact,and instead of getting angry,ask yourself what led to the death,and how it can be avoided next time. Proper positioning and maneuvering without rolling is key to survival,and learning your weapon(s) will go a very long way to keeping you alive.

Weapons and armour both are important. When selecting what weapon you wish to use of the ones you have available to you,always give it a few swings in the air to get a feel for it. What buttons do what. How fast it swings. And,probably most critically,how far does it reach? Always be aware that most weapons have a scaling rating for your stats. Most scale off of both Dexterity and Strength,with a bias towards one or the other,while others throw in Intelligence or Faith,or maybe even completely eschew Strength,Dexterity,or both.

Fight smart,not hard. Unless you know what you're doing,running into a crowd of five enemies will more than likely get you killed,no matter your level,no matter where you are. Gravity is your friend. If you see a cliff,use it to your advantage. Your shield is your most trustworthy ally. A higher Stability stat will drain less Stamina when you block something,and every shield has different block values. The Plank Shield,for instance,while light,can't stop anything in full,while the Heater Shield can stop all mundane physical attacks dead,and is respectable against fire,but fails against lightning and magic.

Every class of weapons has it's pros and cons. Ultra Greatswords hit like trucks,but swing slow. Curved Swords and Katanas swing fast,but each individual strike is weak,and are unlikely to break your victim's Poise.

Speaking of Poise,that is a measure of how well you can flat-out ignore a strike. It'll still hurt,but you won't flinch if your Poise isn't broken. A high Poise can be a game changer.

 

[Blackpapa]

So I avoided Demon's/Dark Souls because bone-crushingly difficult has never been my thing, and that's the first, sometimes only, thing that I heard about the game.

Then I heard some other things...

I heard about how Dark Souls has more in common with the original Legend of Zelda than any of its sequels in the sense that Dark Souls dumps you in a big, open world with the attitude of "What? You wanna know where to go and what to do? Go explore and figure it out, that's the point of the game."

I heard that the story seems to follow that same principle, bringing it in line with games like Half-Life, where the depth of the story is discovered by you, rather than told to you (Yahtzee's ZP helped here).

And you know what...that sounds like a game I would REALLY like to play!

So, first question: should I play the first or just wait for Dark Souls II? I'm not going to have spending money for games for a while, so I'll be waiting until after Dark Souls II is out either way.

Second question: any game advice for a beginner?

My advice - don't bother. This is a game meant specifically for those wanting to relive the experience of those ultra-hard arcade games. Compared to other games it's an experience designed to be frustrating and punishing.

This is how you'll spend your time playing Dark Souls - based on my own playthroughs, talks I've had with other players and seeing let's plays - disclamer: this is a rough estimate, no real analysis has been done.

10% exploring new areas
30% grinding XP, items
15% getting around
30% redoing the whole level to get to the boss fight you just failed
15% spewing profanity you didn't realize you knew, punching inanimate objects


The game has no manual saves and features long iterations, meaning if you fail, you have to redo the whole thing. You will fail over and over, till your teeth fillings are ground to a mirror finish, till you can draw any area from the game from memory, till you start navigating the game in your dreams, till you get a discount at your local orthopedist and a suggestion to see the shrink.


The game does have plenty of good things going for it - humanoid combat is among the best I've seen, easily outclassing games like the Witcher 1/2. The level design is refreshing in it's verticality and relatively dense, meaning it packs lots of content into a confined space. The ambience is there, world exploration is interesting and challenging. Sound design is also good, as is level design from a visual and gameplay perspective.

As for the downsides, apart from difficulty, the game has a truly abysmal interface. It doesn't even try to explain it's cryptic stat sheet - but fair enough, you can use your second monitor/box to do that. The true issue lies in usability, or the lack thereof. Actions that normally wouldn't take more than two clicks require ten. UI elements are grossly overscaled. After nearly 40 hours of play I still wasn't sure which key should I press to cancel a popup message.

From a technical perspective features standard to any competent game released after 2000, like pause or mouse smoothing, are absent. No matter how good your hardware, the engine will not go up to 60. With mods it just may, though at the price of instability. Rendering is done by default at 720p, mods allow to up that to 1080p. Resolutions with an AR other than 16:9 are handled via black letterboxing. Game options are, again, severely limited. Which is, I guess, a good thing, because with the horrid interface it's got you'd probably quit the game before you even began playing it.

Summary: If you're the kind of person who practices challenge runs (eg. Witcher 2 ironman), has infinite patience for both bad technical direction and deliberately punishing gameplay, plenty of valium and loads of free time you'll.. appreciate this game. Otherwise save yourself the frustration.

 

[loa]

snip

Maybe you shouldn't be playing this infamously bad pc port of a game designed to be played with a gamepad with mouse and keyboard?