Started playing Dark Souls, any advice?

[Dirty Hipsters]

I've been curious about this game for a while now, but didn't want to buy it because I wasn't sure if I was going to like the difficulty. Finally borrowed it from a friend, now I'm looking for any advice people have about the game to help a newb get into it.

So far I've beaten Big Butt Jackson (the tutorial boss in the first area) using the pyromancer class, and just just gotten to Lordran. How should I spec my character to be most effective, what skills should I focus on? Also, how exactly does humanity work and what does it do? Is it beneficial to stay as a hollow, since you can't be invaded by other players, or is it more worth while to use the human form?

Anyway, thanks for any advice.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Specs? I never figured the game out all that well, so I'm afraid I can't help you there. As for Humanity, I stayed as a Hollow for well over ninety percent of my game. Not because I was worried about other players invading--that happened once, and I was in such a bad mood at the time that I destroyed that person with no mercy--but because I died so often that I was wasting what little Humanity I could find (I hear they patched it so the stuff drops more often, but I had rage quit long before then). I saved it for bonfires and when I went to fight bosses. I'd become human and summon other players to help me in battle. That was the only time I would use my Humanity. It does up your stats considerably, but death is so often that I felt it was a waste to use it.

Oh, and don't go left. Go right. ;-)

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I already went left, and got murder by skeletons immediately. How do I kill them when they just reform after every attack? Does fire work?

 

[sanquin]

The graveyard isn't for you yet. It's for much higher level, or at least better gear. The only reason most people go to graveyard early is to run through it, grab the Zweihander at the other side, and run back or die. (Zweihander is a really good weapon for a long time, once you can use it.) You should have gone right, past the water well and up a path that leads along a cliff. That's the 'first area'.

As for spec. Pyro might be a bit difficult at first if you have trouble aiming your spells. If not, stick with pyro and put stats in stamina, endurance, and maybe some strength to be able to use a decent weapon if needed. Pyro spells are not dependent on stats.

If you choose to go weapons first instead (you can get all spells and stats. It's more about what you want to start out with) it's probably best to go shield + weapon and light/medium armor first. For this you'd need stamina (shield block drains a little stamina), a bit of endurance for health, and either a bit of strength and a lot of dex, or the other way around.

About weapons: Weapons mostly fall under either strength or dexterity. A strength weapon needs a lot of strength, and a bit of dex. A dex weapon the other way around. Strength weapons are usually slow and cost more stamina, but with high damage. Dex weapons are usually fast with lower stamina cost, but with lower damage as well.

Basically, what stats you want in the beginning depends on what kind of primary attack you want to use.

 

[DementedSheep]

Human form allows you spend humanity to kindle bonfires (makes them give you more flasks). It enables Co-op via summoning signs left by other players and some NPCs and enables PVP. If you don't want to PVP spend most of your time hollow.

Soft humanity (that's the number by your health bar) increase item drops, Chaos weapon damage and curse resistance. You don't need to be human for this.

As for what stats, well it depends on what you want to do. Resistance is universally considered useless so don't bother with it at all. If you are having trouble with poison or curses just equip the appropriate items. Speaking of which if you get cursed you get stuck at half health until you use purge stone. You can get one from the "come at me bro pose guy" (I can't remember his name) at the beltower and take poison curing moss before you head for the second bell because blight town in full of it.
You get diminishing returns on stats the higher it goes and eventually increasing a stat dose nothing. 50 is where it stops completely but 40 is generally a good stopping point.
Weapons will have minimum stat requirements which usually aren't very high. If you don't care about being optimal 16 str and dex will allow you play with most of the weapons.

Then weapons have stat scaling which is the damage bonus you get based on how high a stat is. S is the highest level of stat scaling, then it goes from A down to E. Items with lower scaling tend to have higher base damage and so are better for low levels. Dex based weapons tend to be faster with lower damage and have better synergy with buffs, strength weapons are slower with higher damage and causes stagger. Dex is a bit more forgiving to play with since you are left open less. Faith is for miracles, int for sorcery, attunement for spell slots (you don't need that many). Pyromancy doesn't have a stat so you only need attunement if you don't want to use the other magic, you just spend souls to upgrade your flame. Vit and end are important for everyone.

This is not a game were you find a better sword and throw out your old one. The weapons are fairly balanced. You don't often find one that's just and upgraded version of another. You have to upgrade your weapons and armor at a blacksmith to make them better. It is very important to do this as this is where most of your increase in effectiveness comes from. Some upgrade paths like lightning decrease the stat scaling on weapons as a trade off for the damage boost so if you don't want to invest heavily in str or dex at the start it can be a good choice. You be able to do this with +10 weapons when you get to the giant blacksmith in Ano Londo.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

The graveyard isn't for you yet. It's for much higher level, or at least better gear. The only reason most people go to graveyard early is to run through it, grab the Zweihander at the other side, and run back or die.

Thanks for the tip. I only have about 30 souls on me right now since I've been leveling my endurance, stamina, and strength, so I can try and go for the graveyard without having to worry about losing anything important. What are the stat requirements for using the zweihander and what kind of weapon is it (I know it's a sword, what I mean is does it have to be used with two hands)?

 

[Hap2]

Best advice I can give? Be patient, and take your time learning each boss and enemy. Some people go into Dark Souls thinking they can button mash their way through everything. It doesn't work. You can get slaughtered pretty quickly if you're careless about your attacks.

The biggest trick to this game is pacing oneself, and making each shot count. If you can learn that, the game isn't all that hard.

One of my favourite games from this past gen.

 

[SlaveNumber23]

For a beginner playthrough I would recommend using lightning weapons, which you can get by upgrading normal weapons (read about this process further on the Dark Souls wikis). Basically lightning weapons damage stats don't scale with your stats at all and will stay at set values, which means you can put most of your points into Vitality and Endurance which are the two most important stats. Be aware that you will need to level your combat stats (Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Faith) enough for the requirements for the weapon you want to use, for example a Great Scythe requires 14 Strength and 14 Dexterity to be used. I would also recommend using Pyromancy as it offers powerful spells that can make the game considerably easier, the Pyromancy spells don't scale up in damage with your stats but with a fully upgraded Pyromancy Flame you will be dealing extremely high damage on a first playthrough.

Tips:
- The game doesn't explain many concepts very well, so the Dark Souls wikis are your friend, check them out if you need anything explained, or to scout out the different weapons and their locations.
- The Resistance stat is useless, never put any points into it.
- The Vitality and Endurance stats are core on just about any build, you should be putting most of your points into these.
- Play the game carefully and slowly with an analytical mind, most enemies are just puzzles to be solved, having relatively simple attack patterns etc. Trying to Rambo through will probably get you killed.

What are the stat requirements for using the zweihander and what kind of weapon is it (I know it's a sword, what I mean is does it have to be used with two hands)?

The Zweihander is a huge two handed sword, it deals heavy damage but swings pretty slow as you might imagine, you can wield it with just one hand however. I'd say its a pretty beginner friendly weapon. Stat requirements are 24 Strength and 10 Dexterity. By the way the stat requirements are to wield weapons one handed, wielding them with two hands has a relatively smaller stat requirement. I wouldn't recommend wielding weapons two handed for a beginner though, you are much better off putting a shield in your off hand.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

If you shoot the dragons tail with arrows you get a sweet sword for the first part of the game. Also if you're lucky enough to get a Black Knight Sword from one of the Black Knights then you're set for the whole game.

Other than that. Always keep your shield up in tight areas, ignore the resistance stat, always upgrade your weapons at the blacksmiths, don't ever consume boss souls (they are usually required for a unique weapon or shield), Be sure to upgrade endurance and vitality, don't try to fight multiple enemies whenever possible.

Just play it slow and steady and you won't have too many issues.

 

[Zhukov]

- Take a look at the Wiki for the game. It will help a lot with character builds, weapon upgrade paths and such.

- Learn how weapon scaling works. It's important and the game never bothers to explain it.

- Stability for shields and poise for armour are two very important stats. Also not explained by the game.

- You will occasionally find an item called a "Fire Keeper's Soul". DO NOT DRINK IT. It's used for upgrading your healing flask. You need to take it to a certain kind of NPC. There's one just below the bonfire at the Firelink Shrine, a mute woman behind a metal grate. And no, the game never explains this either.

- Hold onto all items, even if you don't have a use for them. At a certain point in the game you will be able to sell them off for souls.

- Regarding humanity/hollow states: You can remain hollow most of the time with no significant penalty. However, you need to turn yourself human in order to kindle bonfires, which you want to do. Also, you will probably want to go human before fighting bosses, as this allows you to summon either other players (if online) or NPCs (if offline) to help you. This makes some boss fights, such as the tower gargoyles, much more manageable.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

- Regarding humanity/hollow states: You can remain hollow most of the time with no significant penalty. However, you need to turn yourself human in order to kindle bonfires, which you want to do. Also, you will probably want to go human before fighting bosses, as this allows you to summon either other players (if online) or NPCs (if offline) to help you. This makes some boss fights, such as the tower gargoyles, much more manageable.

Can the NPCs die? Are they actually any good or are they basically just used as distractions?

 

[1UPZ]

Best advice for first timers.
- Go slow and shield up all the time.
- Lightning weapons! Get to Sen's fortress and get that lightning spear.
- It's abou NOT getting hit... Against bosses, roll, run and hide. One hit at a time is fine.



Best advice for first timers who don't want to grind.
- Don't update the game, so play it fresh v1.0.
- Do the glitch! Get to level 120 SL, and enjoy where most players are at. Plenty of PvP and teaming up.




Either way it's one of the best game last gen for me.... Demon's Souls is probably the only one that comes close to it if not surpasses it out of the games that it is similar to... Demon's Souls is the prequel technically but it has a lot of advantages IMO.

 

[Zhukov]

- Regarding humanity/hollow states: You can remain hollow most of the time with no significant penalty. However, you need to turn yourself human in order to kindle bonfires, which you want to do. Also, you will probably want to go human before fighting bosses, as this allows you to summon either other players (if online) or NPCs (if offline) to help you. This makes some boss fights, such as the tower gargoyles, much more manageable.

Can the NPCs die? Are they actually any good or are they basically just used as distractions?

They can die, but not permanently. You'll be able to summon them again on the next attempt or the next boss.

They don't do much damage, but they have a ton of health. They tank, you flank.

 

[Alma Mare]

Most of the enemies deal physical damage, which can be 100% absorbed by a 100-physical shield. However, when you have your shield up your stamina regens much slower and you move slower as well. Focus on having your shield up ONLY to deflect attacks and down the rest of the time, once you get that rhythm up combat will be a lot easier.

 

[Insideout Ink Demon]

been a while since I played. get the cheapest bow, and cheapest arrows you can find, to draw out enemies in crowds. 1 on 1 is the way to go until you find the style for you.
spend your souls before you move off from blacksmith/bonfire etc. that way its less frustrating when you die.
summon whenever you can, its so much fun
What you playing on?

 

[Liquidcool]

There's a pretty good *snicker* video for beginners *chuckle* that may prove useful to you *stifled laughter*

Spoiler

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HpXFcKGZ-k

 

[Boris Goodenough]

Also another thing you can do, is buy the bow (and arrows, lots!) at the sales dude early on in the Undead Burg, go to the bridge and keep on shooting till you kill the hell kite dragons tail, then you will have a brilliant weapon till far into the first playthrough.

 

[Baddamobs]

Not sure if anyone's explained this in depth, but here we go:

Humanity

Humanity is pretty damn important lore wise, but also pretty helpful in game. Basically, it's both a heal item, as well as the 'turn multi-player on.' You get Humanity from one of several ways:

- Killing certain enemies, usually 'human'/un-dead, though some natural monsters as well, have a random chance of giving you a Humanity point (this instantly goes to the bar at the top left of the screen, but be careful, since that Humanity can be lost if you die and don't recover your dropped souls).
- Finding them as items (these item versions are not lost upon death, and hence more valuable for it), usually all over the place, though the most common is from bodies and victories over bosses.
- And (the real clincher) either from NPC's or other player's, namely from their DEAD BODIES.

Their function boils down to: giving you one nearly always full heal (item version only, though, because of their value, you'd be better off using the etus flask until you really get into the game), and making you "Human." Or as human as a wayward soul can be, at any rate.
Being "Human" does two things: allows you see 'summon signs,' and hence able to call other players into your world to help you, once you have the proper item to do so*.
And allows you to be 'invaded' by Dark Phantoms. These guys are basically there to make your life more difficult: while some act with honour, and will at least bow to you before attacking, the majority just want to kill you, since doing so gives them a free humanity (note, that you can do this too, once you find the right items). Hence, it's like risk and reward: being human can make the game much easier, since two lost and doomed souls are better then one, but can likewise make it much more difficult, since invaders are often more willing to see you dead then the monsters you fight.

*Though, it should be noted, that you can ONLY summon other players into your world if the boss of the area you are in is still alive, and killing him will stop both the Dark Phantoms and other players from ever entering your world while you are in that area.

My biggest advice though? Don't sweat the details too much at the start . While in a game that is as delightfully difficult as Dark Souls you do need to be mentally able to handle the inevitable deaths, the game is best when you sort of dive in, find a pattern/style you're happy with, and letting yourself evolve naturally as you being to become giddy as a child at the prospect of becoming that little bit stronger. While listening to others and reading the wiki's are advised as like others say there some things in game that aren't explained brilliantly, don't let those things ruin the game for you.