Just about to start Dark Souls, any tips?

chadachada123

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The_Blue_Rider said:
Rack said:
What exactly does Humanity do btw? I've noticed it lets me become Human (I dont know what benefits thats giving me) and it lets me Kindle Bonfires which seems to upgrade my Estus Flask
Those are the two main benefits. Being human (while online) means you can summon others to help you, but it also means that you can be invaded. They also provide some benefit to certain weapons and give a slight bonus to your chance of finding drops on bad guys (in addition to making the drops better).
 

malestrithe

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Have an idea of what you want to play before starting the game and try to stick to that build. If you plan on being a tank, you will need a high stamina so you can move around inside the armor. If you plan on being a sorcerer, you will need high intelligence. A cleric requires faith and some weapon ability. Of if you're play like me, who plays a sniper, a high dex and uber leveled bow does the trick.

Find the 3 or 4 weapons you like using and level up to the requirement. Certain weapons and spells will come with high requirements, like 50 str, so be willing to get to that plateau if you want to use them.

Plan your levels accordingly. Once you get to about 65-100, leveling your weapons become more important.

You can be a thief if you want to be, but about a third of the way through you will find the guy that sells you a Master key.

Always remember that most areas have more than one way through them.
 

Hemlet

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Well damn, everyone already went and covered the big points, so I'll just throw in some little tidbits and be on my way:

1)grab a shortbow and some arrows. Not to kill anything with, god no, but to aggro enemies. If you can keep as many enemy encounters down to 1 v 1 fights as possible, you'll have a much higher survival rate.

2)take your time, check your corners (especially when passing through doorways), and keep your shield up when entering new areas just in case.

3)if you encounter a boss for the first time, it's probably best to just accept that whatever souls and humanity you have stocked are forfeit. If you can manage to keep them then great, but otherwise just accept it and move on. You'll find more of both.

4)don't spec yourself as a pure-magic user. It seems great at first, but you WILL get fucked later in the game.

5)if you have nothing to lose anyway, try doing a few suicide-runs through areas to find items. Sometimes you'll find nice things.

6)the starting area has a path leading through a graveyard and a path leading up the side of a cliff. Stay the hell away from the graveyard, that's a path to take later in the game. If you don't mind doing suicide runs though, there are some nice things hidden in that graveyard if you can get to them.

7)personal preference for this one, but I'd say to stay away from the drake sword. It makes the first portion of the game a bit of a joke, true, but in doing so it robs you of skills and knowledge you can use later in the game to avoid frustration. The sword simply does not scale well, and will become obsolete with very little warning. If you were relying on it to hack through enemies, it can leave you in a position where you don't really know what you're doing and don't have any weapons to fall back on. That's just how I saw it and I avoided it on my first playthrough. Everyone's different though.
 

Sack of Cheese

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Quicksilver_Phoenix said:
Hey, I recently beat Demon's Souls and ordered Dark Souls. Can anyone tell me the major differences between the two?
Dark souls is a more polished experience. Some of the enemies and bosses you encounter in Dark souls will resemble Demon's souls' enemies/bosses.
Dark souls feels bigger and tougher. It's also open-world, so you don't select worlds but need to walk there yourself till you find fast travel.

Other than that: you can carry as many items as you want, no weight limit on items carried (but items equipped still have weight limit), both male and female can wear all the armours. Healing item (or estus flasks) is limited based on your checkpoint bonfire, you have to upgrade them to get more than 5. No world tendency. Humanity is an item acts as the stone you use to turn into human in Demon's souls.
 

chadachada123

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The_Blue_Rider said:
So I finally got around to buying Dark Souls today, I havent played it yet as I'm planning to start tonight, so I thought I'd ask The Escapist for some beginning tips when starting the game. I know that apparently the game can be quite vague with some things, so are there any things I should know before jumping in?

EDIT: Thanks for the tips guys, Ill make sure to read up on them again when I've played for a few days. I started as a Pyromancer and chose the Tiny Being's ring as my gift (Damn thing lied about what it does). Im at about level 18 now with most of my points in Endurance, and a few in Strength, Intelligence and Vitality.

Im wearing the standard Pyromancer gear at the moment, with a Wooden Shield and a Battle Axe. In regards as to where I'm up to, I've just opened the gate behind the Armoured Tusk in the Undead Parish. Just thought I'd mention this to see if it helped with any specific advice.

Also how do I upgrade my weapons?
Edit: Realized there's an easier way to explain: Instead of going into the cathedral past the Armoured Tusk, head around the right side of it and down the path. That'll lead to the blacksmith. I'll spoilerize the other explanation because it sucks.

Once you get past the Armoured Tusk, there's a path (to the right if you're at the Armoured Boar's spot facing towards the large gate) that takes you through a forest and down some stairs, and there is a blacksmith that will upgrade your weapons or sell you a kit that will let you do most upgrades yourself while at a bonfire. Just follow along the forest's edge and you'll be able to find it easily enough. The only other place to go is inside the cathedral (which contains a shortcut elevator back to firelink).

There are actually four blacksmiths, and there is one you can get to from the start of the game, though I can't remember if he can do any upgrades or not. He can be found by, from Firelink (starting bonfire), going down the stairs next to the depressed guy, then down the large elevator. Once down in the ruins, find a set of stairs (don't go into the ruins themselves) that goes down into nothing, and you'll see a jail cell at the bottom (in the cliff wall). Talk to the guy inside.

If these sound confusing, I apologize, because they're rather hard to explain.

Actually, here's the directions to the New Londo Ruins one:

 

chadachada123

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Quicksilver_Phoenix said:
Hey, I recently beat Demon's Souls and ordered Dark Souls. Can anyone tell me the major differences between the two?
The other guy got most of the big differences, though there is one extra that changes combat quite a bit, and that's the way magic works.

Magic is still in, but instead of having a magic bar, each spell or pyromancy (class of spell related to fire) you attune has a set number of casts that gets recharged every time you visit a bonfire. These can stack, i.e., attuning two flame orbs will give you 12 uses instead of 6.
 

Beat14

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I won't list, as I assume what I would say has been said and what I a going to say has been said as well probably.

Use souls to level your gear, it's just as important as levelling your character, if not more. However I understand that it would be committing yourself to an item and as you don't know the game it could be very wasteful. Just don't forget to do it and know what you're getting into.

http://darksoulswiki.wikispaces.com/Upgrades

Enjoy and take it slow :D

Pyromancy at high levels can save your ass against anything I can think of, probably forgetting something that resists fire but oh well.

EDIT: Dodge! As people said it is key, what you want to aspire to.
 

Simonoly

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A few tips for online play:

1) If you're playing online in human form, keep a homeward bone displayed in your item hotkey slot. If you're not in a safe zone (Firelink Shrine etc) and the image of the bone greys out (meaning you can't use it), you're about to be invaded. This can buy you precious time to prepare for the invader and maybe setup an ambush if you know where they might spawn. Don't feel bad about doing this. Chances are the invader will have armour and weapons far superior than your own. Give yourself every chance you've got.

2) Don't level up too quickly for the areas you are exploring as it can become quite difficult to find people to summon if you're too high levelled. There are some rough guides online which list the typical levels that most people will be at in each area.

3) If you're struggling with a boss and are considering summoning a couple of people to help, check the image of that person very carefully by stepping close to their soul sign. I know this is going to be difficult to judge, but if they're wearing a really awesome looking set of armour and wielding an insanely cool looking greatsword, chances are they have a toon which is far too strong for the boss you're about to encounter. It's great to get some help, but you want people to complement your weaknesses, not complete the boss for you. The best way to do this is by summoning people wearing armour sets you've already found or any armour sets you recognise as starter equipment.

4) If you want to farm humanity and souls, the funnest way to do it is through being summoned. The quickest way to do this is by dropping your summon sign close to a boss door or near the bonfire closest to the boss you wish to help people fight. When you help someone defeat a boss you get humanity and a ton of souls, plus the satisfaction of knowing you've helped someone who may have been really struggling before.

5) Also, try dropping your white soul sign at the beginning of a new area. You'll be surprised by the number of people looking for reliable escorts through the more treacherous parts of the game. When you reach a bonfire, use the black souls stone so the person who summoned you can activate it and save their progress. Chances are, they will be waiting at that bonfire for further escort, so just drop your soul sign where you left them and continue being awesome.
 

FFP2

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Don't become one of those asshole fanboys that thinks it's the hardest game ever made... and guard like crazy, even skeletons can wreck your shit.
 

Casual Shinji

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The_Blue_Rider said:
Rack said:
What exactly does Humanity do btw? I've noticed it lets me become Human (I dont know what benefits thats giving me) and it lets me Kindle Bonfires which seems to upgrade my Estus Flask
If you keep Humanity stored in the appointed index besides your health bar, it increases drop rate. The more you have stored, the higher the drop rate. But this also means you'll lose all that Humanity when you get killed, untill you can get it back from the place you died. If you can make it there without dying again.

It also increases curse resistance.
 

Toilet

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Upgrade you equipment before you level up, stuff doesn't scale with levels that well. You're going to want stuff at +5 by the time you face the gargoyles.
 

IronMit

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don't use walkthroughs or guides...unless you die at least 5 times.
That's my greatest regret...severely impacted on my sense of exploration and hopelessness

upgrade everything you use, once you are sure you will use them for a while
careful with twinkling titanite...you can't buy it until 2/3 of the way through the game
 

IronMit

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The_Blue_Rider said:
Rack said:
What exactly does Humanity do btw? I've noticed it lets me become Human (I dont know what benefits thats giving me) and it lets me Kindle Bonfires which seems to upgrade my Estus Flask
If it was not mentioned the most important humanity feature is becoming human and that opening more online features.

When you are human another player can 'invade you'. It's pvp. And try to kill you ruining your day lol.
Also when you are human you can 'summon' players. Players leave summon signs on the floor ...often next to bonfires and just before a boss gate.

So to mix things up or make things easier at a boss...become human..summon up to 2 players to help you! and then gang up on an invader if they come lol...then tank the boss together

Protip; summoned players can't use estuc flasks...but your ones heal them...so standing back and healing everyone is a viable tactic

(i learnt this the hard way- I was like 'why are these summoned players so awful..they are rushing head on and they are getting destroyed'...not knowing they expected me to heal them lol)
 

King Billi

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Don't consume any soul or humanity items as soon as you collect them, if you die you lose all souls and humanity but you'll hang onto them if they're still in item form.

Hold onto them for whenever you need just a few more souls or humanity to upgrade or for kindling...

Oh! Kindle every bonfire if you can.
 

infinity_turtles

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If you're out of Estus uses, the humanity items heal for a rather large chunk. Everything else has more or less been said I think.
 

Jumpingbean3

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The_Blue_Rider said:
So I finally got around to buying Dark Souls today, I havent played it yet as I'm planning to start tonight, so I thought I'd ask The Escapist for some beginning tips when starting the game. I know that apparently the game can be quite vague with some things, so are there any things I should know before jumping in?

Also how do I upgrade my weapons?
1. Start with a melee class like Warrior, Ranger or Rogue.

2. Choose the Master Key. If you play as a Rogue you'll start with it regardless of what gift you choose.

3. Practice parries and ripostes. Also work on ways to get in a good position to back-stab someone or attack them from above.

4. Avoid these guys in the beginning.



They are often guarding something good but they will wreck your shit. If you see one, consider coming back when you're stronger.

5. Be careful around Chests. Some of them are Mimics and they will kill you in one hit if you try to open them. Attack the chest from a safe distance to see if it's a mimic.

6. Don't assume a monster can't get at you just because you have the high ground. The Taurus Demon (one of the first bosses) can jump like a grasshopper if you try to attack him from above (though that will work for a little while).

7. If a monster is giving you a lot of trouble, try to knock them over the edge of a cliff or bridge (if you are able to).

8. If you're in a situation where you're almost certain to get killed try to make sure you die in an area where it's relatively easy to get to your bloodstain, otherwise you risk losing all your souls and humanity.

9. When all else fails, grind like mad.

10. If you're in an area where you can't see any threats, be extra careful because you are probably going to get jumped.
 

Quicksilver_Phoenix

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Sack of Cheese said:
I think i'm beginning to see what people mean about Dark Souls being easier. I'll miss world tendency as I really enjoyed that, but it'll be nice not having to worry about how much i'm carrying.

chadachada123 said:
*Snip also*
Not sure how to feel about this. Even though my character in Demon's Souls was melee orientated, I still found magic fairly useful for certain enemies (like black skeletons) and bosses (like the Dirty Colossus). Is the amount of charges you get generous or restrictive?
 

infinity_turtles

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Quicksilver_Phoenix said:
Not sure how to feel about this. Even though my character in Demon's Souls was melee orientated, I still found magic fairly useful for certain enemies (like black skeletons) and bosses (like the Dirty Colossus). Is the amount of charges you get generous or restrictive?
Generous for a non-caster, restrictive for a caster.