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Dark Souls tips for new players without spoilers

Started by The Boston Crab, October 20, 2018, 03:49:24 PM

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Kelvin

Okay, will restart tmw. I've learnt enough getting here that it won't be so frustrating 2nd time through. Never even found that merchant, though.

Kelvin

Since I'm starting over, any recommendations for best perk to take at the start? I chose the 3 holy waters or whatever they were called, but I soon realised that was very short sighted. Is there one that will be useful throughout?

They're all much of a muchness long-term apart from the Master Key, but that's best saved for another playthrough, really. It allows for some hefty sequence breaking. Worth having for 'options', I suppose, and for the random element. It can get you in plenty of trouble! The director, Miyazaki, recommended the Pendant. It took years before everyone finally agreed that it was pure trolling and it does nothing. Literally nothing.

That merchant is easy to miss but he's near the Burg bonfire. Down the stairs and smash the boxes to reveal the passage.

Phil_A

Can you use Estus flasks without going through the item menu? It's a bit of an arse if you need to use one in a tight spot.

By default, Estus is the item in your slot when you press Y (or Square on PS4, X on XB). If you push down on the D pad it will flick through the items you've equipped in your equipment screen. You can flick through equipped items independently while you're pushing different buttons and moving the stick, etc.

Phil_A

Quote from: The Boston Crab on October 25, 2018, 05:30:50 PM
By default, Estus is the item in your slot when you press Y (or Square on PS4, X on XB). If you push down on the D pad it will flick through the items you've equipped in your equipment screen. You can flick through equipped items independently while you're pushing different buttons and moving the stick, etc.

Hmm, it's in my item slot but nothing seemed to be happening when I pressed the button. Odd.


Phil_A

Heh, no. I think I must've been tired or something, I was pressing the wrong button. I think my mind is so used to matching up the items layout to the pad buttons like in every Zelda game.

Asylum Demon down, here we fucking go LADS


Beagle 2

Are you fucking kidding me. Beat Taurus Demon, spoke to some sun cunt, went a bit further, dragon, whatever, got killed, ALL THE WAY BACK HERE AGAIN WHAT



Thursday

You won't have to do Taurus again... which you might have realised by now.


Kelvin

#74
The opening post of this thread should consist of a single tip: play as a Pyromancer.

Restarted. Got all the way to Taurus Demon without even coming close to dying. Miles easier now I'm relatively more experienced at the controls, and have fireballs that one shot weaker enemies, stagger larger ones, and even take significant damage off bosses. I've already caught up to where I was on my initial run, but put all my souls into vitality and endurance this time. Just met the Bell Gargoyles. 

Beagle 2

I want fireballs how do i get without restart thx

Now we're talking. It's not all down to the class, though. You just got a bit gud. Looking forward to seeing how you get on.


Quote from: Beagle 2 on October 26, 2018, 08:58:31 AM
I want fireballs how do i get without restart thx


You'll meet a guy on your travels a couple of areas on from where you are now. Or, restart and get back in no time.

Kelvin

Well this is ironic. I now lack the strength and dexterity to wield the better equipment I've found. How do you know what level those skills need to be at to use a weapon? I don't understand the numbers in the menus at all.

Strength is the first number, the muscular arm and Dex is the second, the open hand.

It's not necessarily better equipment though just because the damage is higher. Might be slow, might have unusual moveset, might cause you to stagger if you miss (yep). Every weapon has its own strengths, for the most part. Obviously some stuff is shit but if you find like a giant dragon axe or something made from a big toe, it might do hundreds of damage but it's almost impossible to use, that kind of thing.

I think also that there's a button you can press in the status/equipment screen which lets you flick between different attributes on screen and gives a brief description. It's certainly a thing in DS2 but can't remember if it's in the first game.

Also, another reason I suggested Pyro is because miracles and sorcery require different stats for equipment and even to use the spells whereas I think Pyro is just if you have the spell you can use it. I might be wrong though, let me know if it won't let you attune a spell at a bonfire when you get more. Obviously, you can only use pyromancy spells with the pyro glove, not miracles etc.

Kelvin

I don't understand. I'm on equipment screen for weapons, and it has 6 numbers alongside each sword. So a claymore has 103, 0, 0  0, 200, 6.0.

My strength is 12, my dexterity 9. I don't understand how I'm meant to know what I'm looking for.

Jerzy Bondov

Claymore needs 16 STR. It's under ReqParam and it'll be red as you're at 12 STR.

I know this off the top of my head because I love the claymore.

Barry Admin

Can't wait till you have to start upgrading the weapons. An intuitive system it is not.

Kelvin

Quote from: Jerzy Bondov on October 26, 2018, 12:11:43 PM
Claymore needs 16 STR. It's under ReqParam and it'll be red as you're at 12 STR.

I know this off the top of my head because I love the claymore.

Fantastic, I hadn't realised the info was tucked away on a separate page filled with figures. Thank you  - and Bosto, too, for all his advice, much of which has been invaluable.

I've looked online at some recommended Pyromancer builds for beginners, and I've got a list of stats I'm going to aim for. I'm strong enough to wield a few new weapons now, including the claymore, so I'll go back to focusing on endurance and vitality again now.

I've just had a very enjoyable session, beating the Black Knight in the church, beating the Bell Gargoyles, ringing the first bell, then exploring the area, finding loads of goodies, leveling up five times, and trying out a bunch of weapons, until I eventually stumbled across a Blacksmith near the Undead Church. Pyromancy has been a game changer for me, and I'm enjoying the whole experience far more now, overall. The fundamentals are all so strong - the atmosphere, the art design, the combat, the way everywhere in the world connects up meaning you always know where you are - it's incredibly obvious why so many people love the game. It's just very elegant game design.

That said, I totally disagree with Bosto's advice upthread about "not spoiling yourself" by looking stuff up. For my tastes at least, the game is far too too impenetrable and intuitive to be enjoyable that way. If I hadn't been asking questions on here, or finding them on old reddit pages, I'd have never made it past the Taurus Demon, and the fact a thread like this needs to exist at all is testament to that. All those people saying that the fact it doesn't hold your hand is why it's so wonderful are, imo, talking out of their arses.

Games shouldn't be made artificially difficult by holding back on basic instructions or through a bewildering UI. The fact I'm moving much faster through the game now is proof that many of the roadblocks are only difficult because people don't really know what they're doing, in terms of builds, mechanics, options, etc. It's incredibly satisfying to beat a huge boss, or even a large groups of enemies, with your own skill. It's far less satisfying in cases where you realise that the thing that completely tipped the scales was a mechanic (in this case, summoning) that hasn't even been explained in the most basic of ways.*

Anyway, rant over. I am really enjoying it at the moment. I'll be heading on down to Blight Town once I've looked around a bit more.


*Yes, Solaire tells you it's possible, but not the fairly convoluted way you go about doing it. I had to look that up, despite it presumably being a mechanic designed to aid newbs.           


I'm not saying don't look up the mechanical stuff but rather be careful looking up guides on where to go and which boss is next and all that stuff. The exploration of the unknown is one of the best things about these games, not knowing what you're going to get, and the fact that you have multiple routes at any one time is an awesome part of that. Looking up how to upgrade your weapons and stuff is just sensible! :)

I started this thread really because it's a starting point of advice because a new player won't even really know what they would need to look up! I've learned some new stuff about upgrades myself on my current playthrough and two new NPC quests I'd never done before, one of which I hadn't even seen! And another NPC I didn't know even existed.

Have you found any neat shortcuts yet, by the way?

Really glad to hear you're enjoying it more now because I don't want anyone wasting their money off the back of my ranting and raving.

Kelvin

Quote from: The Boston Crab on October 26, 2018, 03:12:58 PM
I'm not saying don't look up the mechanical stuff but rather be careful looking up guides on where to go and which boss is next and all that stuff. The exploration of the unknown is one of the best things about these games, not knowing what you're going to get, and the fact that you have multiple routes at any one time is an awesome part of that. Looking up how to upgrade your weapons and stuff is just sensible! :)

Ah, fair enough. I have avoided looking up where to go, as I actually think the game does a good job of subtlety guiding you down the primary route, while offering lots of distractions and alternate paths for braver or more experienced players.

QuoteHave you found any neat shortcuts yet, by the way?

Depends what you mean. I found the lift in the church, but I assume that's standard. I most recently came across the blacksmith a few minutes from the Undead Church, and just past him was a much harder route to somewhere, guarded by a monster that could kill me in two hits. I remember the guy at Firelink saying the next bell is in (or near) Blightown, which is below Firelink (I think. I screenshotted his advice, so I need to go back and check). I'll be heading that way next.

QuoteReally glad to hear you're enjoying it more now because I don't want anyone wasting their money off the back of my ranting and raving.

Yes, today has been a very, very different experience. From restarting the game to first bell rung in only a few hours, and I've had a much more satisfying sense of steady improvement, too. First couple of days, it was really a pretty joyless slog, punctuated by fleeting moments of relief. Whereas today has mostly been the exact opposite; I've really enjoyed myself, and had more of an opportunity to appreciate the artistry.

Kelvin

Bit confused about where I should be going now. I visited Valley of Drakes, and a city filled with ghosts, but it doesn't feel like I'm meant to be in either one, with my level of experience. I've visited a woody area and killed the boss there easily enough, and I'm now facing off against The Capra Demon.

Am I on the right track now?


Thursday

You're doing well.

Capra is a cunt and everybody hates this boss (mainly because of the dogs though) so don't worry if you're very angry right now, it's normal.

Kelvin

Quote from: Thursday on October 27, 2018, 04:27:31 PM
You're doing well.

Capra is a cunt and everybody hates this boss (mainly because of the dogs though) so don't worry if you're very angry right now, it's normal.

I haven't actually tried him properly yet. Just a couple of runs to get a sense of his moves and the arena.

At least I'm on the right track now. Wasted the morning trying to run past ghosts in Londo.

Kelvin

Beat the Capra Demon on my first proper attempt. Feel like a an actual viking lord.