The Dark Souls Thread

[a world of no]

You fucking cunts are making me start this game again

Riley? Can I sit with you guys at lunch yet?

Thanks to you I'm back in the game as well after a lengthy hiatus, and I couldn't be happier for it. You're welcome to come have poptarts and dr.pepper with me over by the tree with the rest of the geeks.

[a world of no]

Welcome to the dark side. Embrace and enjoy it.

[a world of no]

farm those tree things near the forest door for green moss. you'll need it for the poisons.

[Wang Mandu]

Gotb, thanks for the news about the beards.

one weapon I remember off the top off my head is the Greatsword of Artorias, which requires at least level 18 for strength, dex, magic and faith, but you won't have a chance to use that for a while anyway. it's also not THAT great from what I remember.

A little different but I absolutely LOVE the Abyss Greatsword. I've caught quite a few invaders by surprise with the 2H leaping strong attack. Humanity adds to its damage, too.

I agree with you about PVP. The p2p connection fucking sucks compared to the dedicated servers of Demon's Souls. Just last night I tried a little pvp in the forest, beat the first invader then got vortex backstabbed while facing the next enemy. Even after a couple hundred hours in both games, I'm still a nervous mess when getting invaded.

They're going back to servers for DS2 thank god. I hope they add a better battle arena this time (maybe it is just dead on PC?). I could see that staying popular for a long time if they do it right.

SPOILERSPOILER_SHOW

I have 4 different characters going right now.

[Wang Mandu]

Reading some Dark Souls forums posts and have seen a few complaints about Dark Magic fucking up PVP. Wi make sure I have Dark Beads on all my characters.

[a world of no]

It's not so much a problem beyond stupid shits spamming it all of the time. First it was claymore twinks, then Zwei giantdad min/max fucks, Twop spammers, Wrath of the gods spammers, black magic spammers. Despite all of the bitching the game is actually balanced to counter all bullshit. That said, they still fucking suck. Lag has become a huge excuse for sucking, despite it being somewhat legitimate. You backstab someone in pvp and you get mailed about how you only won because of lag stabs. Again, potentially legitimate excuses, but not avoidable, and definitely not game breaking.

You want "honorable" PvP then you avoid all of the above + backstab fishing, and you won't get hatemail from honest fighters. The twinks and shitheads will talk shit no matter what though, so relish those for the butthurt they are. Don't fight fire with fire... don't dark bead, bro.

[Wang Mandu]

Probably but not exactly sure. You're better off stocking up on Purple Moss and Blooming Purple Moss Clumps. You can buy those from the female skeleton merchant.

[Wang Mandu]

Are you playing Hollow or Human? You really don't need too much Humanity until you learn the secret rite of kindling. Don't look up everything!

[Spooky Apparition]

i'm going into the game blind, but i just preordered the guide yesterday. not for cheating-type waiz but because it's sure to be cool and it can come in handy on subsequent playthroughs to look up which enemies have certain drops, a quick reference for item locations, etc. the first guide is really good, even though a lot of stuff was changed in patches. plus it's hardcover and looks badass.

if you order it though, definitely get it from amazon, not gamestop. it's $20 compared to $35.

[Wang Mandu]

I think Amazon has already sold their PS3 allotment for pre-orders. Such a rabid fanbase. I might double dip and order the PS3 version, too. I don't know how long I can wait for the PC one.

[Spooky Apparition]

I am looking forward to being in on the ground floor of the next thread.

I've gotta say, I'm surprised you finally got into the game into the game in such a big way (and to the extent that you're looking forward to DS2). you might have already mentioned it, but what was the moment where it ultimately clicked for you?

seems like basically every gamer on the board either got dark souls at launch or eventually came around to it, but you were one of the last holdouts. who posts in the game thread and HASN'T played it at this point? I can think of bill and that's about it

[Spooky Apparition]

In the end-- understanding its mechanics is a huge thing. I really had no idea what was going on the first few attempts and while some people find that discovery awesome, I kind of hated it. I really DID need more information then they were giving me to get on board. I know that clashes with a lot of the rabid fans of this game, but it's just not my style. I don't want everything given away, but being able to figure out the ground rules via this thread and the web absolutely helped me get into it much easier.

Yeah, all of this stuff is the reason why I think anyone new to the games should look up as much stuff as they need to keep going and get over that initial difficulty bottleneck and figure out the game's systems. I consistently looked up stuff for Demon's Souls... even things like the stats were tough to figure out (because of those dumb symbols). then for Dark Souls, because I was already familiar with how the game worked, I sorta had a sense when I'd encountered one of the game's really obtuse moments/secrets that might require looking something up. And like you said, experimenting with playing how you want and adjusting when you need to is the other big key to enjoying the experience. once you're in that groove, these games sink into your mind unlike almost any others IMO.

and YES, I jump up from my couch all the time, usually during boss fights. after I've been knocked to the ground and am waiting to stand up and heal as the enemy is still coming for me.. that's some intense shit. I also talk out loud (usually to myself) more than I'd like to admit in the middle of intense parts

[spacehamster]

Given your well-documented inclinations when it comes to bames, Geoff, I'm really just surprised you keep coming back for more punishment from the Souls games. Frustration and hours spent trying to figure things out are integral to these games. There are entire genres I avoid (fucking RTS can go choke on a cancer cock, every single one of them) because I don't like them.

That said, the Wikidot wiki is totally awesome and will tell you absolutely everything you need to know, quickly and clearly. I'm still using it now and then to look stuff up about Demon's Souls that I've forgotten. Don't bother with forums, it's all there.

[spacehamster]

And that's what I didn't get. I just though it was TUFF GAME.

You need to stop listening to chest-pounding Xbros. The point has always been that these games are strict and unforgiving, but completely fair and beatable. The director for both DS and DkS said in an interview once that he's actually not very good at action games and both games are designed specifically to be beatable for someone like him - you just have to figure out how to approach situations.

Anyway, I'm just posting to agree with your assessment, I guess.

[Ghost Dad]

Get to work, you lout.

SPOILERSPOILER_SHOW

I'm using free wfi at an au bon pain in backbay applying for more hospital jobs:oops:

we'll see how that enthusiasm holds up as you battle the lag spikes in blight town, the most hated enemy in the game. If you can make it through, then you've truely arrived.

any protips for beating manus for a maneuverable strength build character?!

[riley-o]

After running through at least a dozen times, i'm STILL not totally sure on the path to get to the bottom of blight town. And that toxic dart dude can suck out every load ever blown into a shitty asshole, FUCK that guy

[Spooky Apparition]

we'll see how that enthusiasm holds up as you battle the lag spikes in blight town, the most hated enemy in the game. If you can make it through, then you've truely arrived.

keh heh heh heh... one could make the argument that the bar for having truly arrived is even higher...

SPOILERSPOILER_SHOW

[Spooky Apparition]

kill them once and they're gone forever, muhfugga

i always thought those wasp things at the bottom of blightown were worse than the dart guys because they NEVER GO AWAY*

*unless a patch made them less numerous, which it might've... can't remember

[spacehamster]

*unless a patch made them less numerous, which it might've... can't remember

Not that I recall. They respawn indefinitely. That really bugged me. That and the random one-kill enemies like the dart guys. Not a fan of either concept. #demosbetter

[riley-o]

we'll see how that enthusiasm holds up as you battle the lag spikes in blight town, the most hated enemy in the game. If you can make it through, then you've truely arrived.

keh heh heh heh... one could make the argument that the bar for having truly arrived is even higher...

SPOILERSPOILER_SHOW

Remember that time i was the first person on the board to platinum both games ?

[a world of no]

kill them once and they're gone forever, muhfugga

i always thought those wasp things at the bottom of blightown were worse than the dart guys because they NEVER GO AWAY*

*unless a patch made them less numerous, which it might've... can't remember

I've always arrowed the little breakable flotsam they come out of and they eventually stop spawning. I could be mistaken though, as I don't usually stand around long enough in that shithole of a place to find out.

Edit: http://darksouls.wikidot.com/giant-mosquito

The Mosquitoes that respawn on the ground level do not respawn infinitely. Each pair that respawns will only generate 7 mosquitoes in total.

[riley-o]

Yeah that dragon battle is pretty cool dude don't be a bitch

[Spooky Apparition]

speaking of being a bitch... hey riley, why don't you tuck those platinum trophies away in your backpack (probably a fanny pack), start walking, and see who among us plants their flag on top of Mt. Shred first? i'm about two-thirds the way up already.



oh, and riley? one more thing...

*pinch harmonic*

[riley-o]

Pretty brave to call for that competition on a game you started THREE WEEKS BEFORE ME

[Wang Mandu]

Which bonfire? If you want extra Estus flasks, you have to kindle each and every bonfire you come across except the Firelink Shrine bonfire starts you off with 10.