DARK SOULS: if you need me i'll be in an induced coma so mvrch comes tomorrow

I always do catacombs near the end (not my favorite area tbh).

Before I went on I jumped for a door in a tower I hadn't visited yet. After a couple of failed attempts, which got me yet another ring and some other stuff, I made it, found a vendor, went down a bunch of stairs and got a key, which I discovered was for one of those elevator cage things I couldn't open before. (Though I already had the master key, and wondered why it wouldn't open it.) Anyway, took me down to the start of Sen, once I got my bearings, so I booked it to the original bonfire and spent a bit of time leveling up the snake sword I got. Now it's just as easy for me to get back to the top of Se as it is to get back to Firelink. The world is my oyster!

Btw, what is that dinosaur back at Firelink?

one of the few exposition dumps in the game

Went back to the Undead Asylum, just to see what's what. I'd include this as a part of the game that I would literally never have considered, nor known how to get to, had I not seen some hints way back when. Killed a couple of knights, think there's a boss? Will try that tomorrow.

Did you go back to your starting cell?

I actually found the return path to the undead asylum in my blind run but didn't wait long enough for the thing to happen, thought it was just a cool easter egg, then walked away. same for a certain covenant

there's 3 things you need to get in the asylum, one of which is 10/10 would return again stuff and it's indeed in your starting cell

No, killed two knights, got a doll and some red (?) titanite, then had to go do something else. I have to remember where my return cell was, but it can't be that hard.

In the meantime I raised my snake-man sword up to +10, which is cool, but in return had to pump up my strength a bit, I think. Plan to still use the claymore as my primary, but the snake sword seems like a pretty good blunt force weapon. I still have my +10 katana, too, but it seems best suited for fast finesse work, and at this point all the enemies seems too strong to dance around. Maybe I'll put a bit more practice into it. In the meantime, as the souls become available I think I'll focus on bringing my dex up a bit, maybe level with the strength, and keep pumping points into endurance as well. Still not sure what to make of the other magical weapon paths (fire, lightning, etc.), specifically whether they offer a real advantage to my character or only had I gone a different character route. Same with magic powers I've accumulated in my arsenal, like pyro (I think). Don't know if I'll ever use it!

If you got the doll, then you're good.

yeah, the doll is the really important thing. you... didn't find the asylum boss?

Oh, I found it. I just haven't fought it to the death yet. So far some (many? most?) of the bosses haven't been as bad as the journey. Hardest might be capra demon, but he's the least of the problems; it's all about the room and the dogs and zombie ninjas leading up to him. Same with iron giant; he's nowhere near as tough as the swinging blades. Sif - not as bad as the forest people whose convent I had to join. Fire chaos witch? Nowhere near the equal of poison and whatnot in Blightown. Butterfly? Can only assume it was inserted as a breather; it literally comes down to your level and stays still while you hit it. Gaping dragon wasn't bad. Is there a way to fight that bridge dragon? He seemed pretty tough. Everyone says Anor Londo boss is the toughest, that's one reason I put off exploration of that place for the time being.

Murdered the spider lady, took a few tries. Feeling like I might need to change my main weapon. I love my Drake Sword but... is it worth upgrading? Can't decide. I'm favouring strength at the moment and am thinking of switching to this handy Black Knight Sword I got. Or: maybe ascending my basic longsword +5? Raw? Divine? Don't know. Was hoping to make it fiery but I read that you can't do that until later.

Took a look at a guide and pre-emptively dove into some Demon Ruins and got a red-banded robe thing. Love it. Trading between that and my Elite Knight outfit, depending on if there is poison/fire, what have you. Switching between Spider Shield and Knight Shield +5.

Currently doing some fundraising. Set up a home-base next to the Undead Parish and I'm hitting that knight trio and the dudes down the stairs. Trying again and again to kill the black knight there... he's tougher than the ones I've fought before. Want to hit 20000 so I can buy the key from the blacksmith.

This game is very fun. I can't describe how the somewhat awkward combat actually feels weirdly realistic, stay on your toes, don't button mash, more of a strategy game than anything else

Definitely time to ditch the Drake sword - it doesn't scale with your stats, so while it's good for early game, it'll be worse than any other weapon as you get into higher levels.

Josh it sounds like your gear/stats is more than adequate for anywhere you want to go. That boss's reputation is mostly because it takes a certain style of play that you haven't been forced into much yet.

hit once then run away?

Yeah I couldn't beat the Guy Fieri Demon either. Tried many different tactics! couldn't even get him down to 10/12 health bars. Maybe it's my silly Drake Sword.

fgti, if you're online the best way to fundraise is helping other people kill bosses. just from the gaping dragon you get 25K each time (or maybe 12.5K, don't recall)

jordan otm, drake sword sucks, you need dragon scales to upgrade it which are the rarest type of material. but even upgraded it's not worth it, there are better dragon weapons

i've spoken against min-maxing many times itt but it's time to finally drop the act: knight shield is a newbie trap, don't use it.
the devs put it at the end of that corridor with the balder knight facing away from you that probably kills you with a parry/riposte the first time you fight him, so you sorta expect the reward to be worth it. it isn't, obv

you can buy a shield with the exact same stats but a whole equip load point lighter from andre

Reallllllly. OK, I've never done any online play stuff. I'll investigate.

Stray demon down!

Congrats on getting the only slab you can reasonably expect to find in the main game

what do I do with it?

Check out the item description :)

Hmm, I still don't really get it. So will it upgrade any (normal) weapon I have to +15, even if I don't have an ember?

Been goofing around, killing time (so to speak). Explored Firelink and got a key to the asylum that I missed the first time (to a door that was locked when I went back there), so went back to the Asylum again, opened the door, and got another ring. Which, if I read correctly, might be already too late for me to make good use of. Oh well. Then I finally found my way down to the catacombs, and ... no idea how to get past the reanimating skeletons (just like starting over). So maybe Anor Londo is indeed the place to go next (which the game itself made pretty obvious, when it carried me there by gargoyle).

no, you still need the embers

the ring is the last and least of the 3 things going back to the asylum is worth for

i went through the catacombs before quelaag i think? definitely before sen's because blind run, and there are decent reasons for doing so. it's probably my 2nd favourite area in the game. but the intended path is probably quelaag > sen > anor londo

npcs gain new dialogue once certain triggers are met, if you talk to andre again after giving him the divine ember he drops useful hints

to clarify: slabs just do the final +14 > +15 upgrade (or the equivalent levels for other paths). chunks only go up to +14

Granted, everything has gotten easier once I've had a chance to get used to it, but how did you get past the skeletons? Can you outrun them? Do they eventually stop chasing you? Because the best I could do was sort of blindly make my way through the tunnel until they ganged up and killed me.

There are two ways, since you want to know - have a divine weapon, or find /kill the necromancer in their area that keeps reanimating.

How do I know if I have a divine weapon? Or do I have to make a weapon divine?

I'm not even sure I've made it as far as any necromancer, just skeletons, so maybe it's just off to Anor Londo I go.

You make them, but the sword you find in the Valley of the Drakes counts as divine iirc.

hit once then run away?

― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, November 4, 2018 10:58 AM (seven hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Mmmm more like playing unlocked/camera control/awareness when fighting multiple opponents.

How do I know if I have a divine weapon? Or do I have to make a weapon divine?

andre makes them, normal path +5 > divine +1
you got the ember after killing the butterfly and if you talk to andre now he'll teach you about the undead enemies business.
if you don't want to use the astora straight sword that jordan mentioned i suggest you buy a cheap club or mace and make it divine. skeletons are weak against blunt (strike? whatever physical dmg type that isn't slash nor thrust) weapons

necromancers are the robed foes with magic lanterns that don't respawn after being killed, like the dart guys in blighttown. you'll know once you see one

Oh, the sword by the sleeping dragon in the Valley? I forgot I got that on a suicide run, because iirc I died immediately (obv.) after and filed it under Just Another Thing in My Collection. So that sword is Divine already? Do I have to level up magic stats (which I haven't touched) in order to use them? Stuff like the big swords - claymore and snake sword - needed me to level strength, katana required some dex, iirc. I assume magic sword needs ... magic? If I haven't leveled magic at all (faith?) thus far, is leveling that stat in line with the currently tough to accumulate levels that my other stats require? That is, end., vit., strength and dex require almost 20,000 souls to level up at this point. If I wanted to add a couple to faith/whatever to use a magic sword, is that going to take 20k souls a pop, too, now?

Maybe I'll make a mace divine, since I already have lots of stab and slice weapons.

I stayed locked on for stray demon, since locked or not the thing was so huge it messed with the camera, but once I was at a safe distance I needed to be locked on to hone in on his butt. (Which seems to be a consistent strategy in this game - don't get hit, and go for the butt!)

ok so I just realised how to summon help in boss fights in DS3. I've been stuck for about 6 months! serves me right for being stubborn and not consulting the internet.

I'm tempted to buy this on Switch - but I kind of hate really hard games.

How much play can you get out of this before you reach a "fuck this, it's impossible" moment and give up?

Or, should I just Slowly Walk Away And Buy Something Else

> So that sword is Divine already?

i believe so, it should say in the description that it's blessed or something.
kill a skeleton and if you receive souls and its eyes go dark it's dead for good. if you don't get any souls and the eyes stay lit up in his skull, he'll reassemble after some time

> Do I have to level up magic stats (which I haven't touched) in order to use them?

the pure phys swords hit for 0 when you don't meet the reqs. you can lower the str req by 1/3 if you 2-hand, dex req is fixed

magic weapons are almost always split damage. iirc if you don't meet the intelligence/faith reqs you can still kill things with the physical part.

examine the stats in the equip menu and it should say something like phys: 90 +30 mag: 80 +6 if you have the minimum stats.
if you don't it'll be like phys: 90 +30 mag: 80 -90

in the first case you'd hit for 120 phys + 86 magic total damage (it's split damage so it won't be as effective as 206 pure phys or magic); in the second it's 120 phys and 0 magic damage

> If I haven't leveled magic at all (faith?)

magic: miracles + sorcery + pyromancy

miracles and divine/occult need faith
sorcery and magic/enchanted need int
pyro either scales with int or with nothing at all but doesn't actually need it; chaos fire scales with humanity

> is that going to take 20k souls a pop, too, now?

yes, levels all cost the same regardless of what stat you increase

chuck, the difficulty is way oversold, get it and play online

As a newcomer to this game and style of play, I'll say, yeah, it's hard but in a very general way that's also mitigated by all it has going for it. Putting it in Nintendo terms (which is my most experienced perspective), it's kind of like the original Zelda - this big interconnected world with lots of tricks and traps and secrets - and like Zelda there are bits that are super hard and maddening and (iirc) bits there was no way for me to know other than to cheat or look up. Dark Souls can definitely be like that, and even discarding the lore (which seems pretty optional) there is a ton I've learned that I literally would not have known had I not looked it up or asked. Like, often absolutely fundamental stuff! But that can also work in the game's favor, and I think I ultimately like it better than, say, a precise platformer where you know *exactly* what you need to do, but have to do it over and over and over again, with the same annoying music, against the same annoying enemy. This game doesn't quite work like that. You can often avoid enemies entirely, if you want, by running past them or away from them. (Others aren't so easy!) You can probably avoid some entire areas, I imagine. But as you get to know the world you learn how the areas are connected, where the shortcuts are, how to defeat certain enemies (who all have a pretty insidious but respectable AI driving them; they're not just repeating rote movement patterns, per se), and even though the game seems to get a little tougher as you get better, by getting better you have a better idea of how to deal with it.

Long story short, no, it's by no means as hard as I thought it would be, it just takes a bit of patience and diligence. And I can totally see why online would be fun, even if I'm still not convinced it's necessary (or worth the premium). It seems like it would make it a totally different game.

It is really really hard but it’s more like “you start to enjoy the experience of fighting the same enemy ten times before actually murdering it”

One thing I appreciate is that there is a very delicious balance between “exploring it on your own” and “getting a guided tour w a walk through”— it’s enjoyable doing both. Reminds me very much of classic Roguelikes.

It’s also fun to come to this after immersing myself in a Dead Cells for a few months— similar vibe but very different of course. Dead Cells rewards you when you’re dating, and Dark Souls rewards your patience.

Killed Sif on the second try fwiw yay good dog

*daring, not dating. Dead Cells is not an effective date

Yeah, Dark Souls rarely rewards just rushing into an area, except for suicide runs to grab items.

Yeah, Dark Souls rarely rewards just rushing into an area, except for suicide runs to grab items.

OK, made my mace divine (and yeah, Andre spilled all about the undead), I think +5 is the max, and it already made all the difference in the Catacombs, at least the start. Without a divine weapon I assume it's possible to fight the skeletons en masse, but how? Just by speed running? Because those skeletons chase you and can kill you fast. Anyway, made it to the first necromancer and killed him, so I guess one could run past the skeletons, take out their master, then deal with the skeletons after, but what a pia that would be.

I like the Dark Souls world a lot, and in fact a few of my favorite things are how little of it makes sense. Like, the skeletons are undead, but ... you are a zombie yourself, aren't you? And so are half the skeleton/zombie soldiers you're fighting. But my fave is the NPCs who basically just hang around the corner from war zones. How funny (and hard) would this game be if the NPCs always moved around, because they have to hide from all the roving gangs of monsters? Anyway, all just part of its charm.

so I guess one could run past the skeletons, take out their master, then deal with the skeletons after, but what a pia that would be.

That's what I do. Or deconstruct them and kill the necromancer before they're revived.

Since you guys are curious about online, you might enjoy this video of someone running through Undead Burg on new game plus (so they're already at a high level) and getting invaded, with a good attitude. And trivializing the early bosses with late-game magic. Buuuut it starts with the final boss + ending, so click on at your own risk (should start after that though).

https://youtu.be/5JQaJWgauTc?t=386

I like the Dark Souls world a lot, and in fact a few of my favorite things are how little of it makes sense.

It's clearly well thought out yet weirdly totally ignorable. There's more intriguing mystery and lore in a game like "Hollow Knight" (which took a lot from Dark Souls) than there is in this one, imo. Doesn't hurt it at all, of course. I can't even remember the exposition at the start, and I have no idea exactly what these creatures I am fighting are or why I am fighting them. I just know most of them are mad at me.

I have no idea exactly what these creatures I am fighting are or why I am fighting them. I just know most of them are mad at me.

OK, doofed around in Catacombs a few days back. With no skeleton killing weapon I think it would have been as hard as Blightown without the purple moss. Which is to say, a frustrating drag. Skeletons are still tricky, though, so after making it pretty far I decided to come back later and zipped out of there back to Firelink.

Now I'm working on Anor Londo, and once again totally missed something - actually, a couple of things - simply because I couldn't see it. One was a chest that was essentially blending into the background. The other was a stupid ass rafter that was camouflaged to the point of invisibility. After killing a gargoyle and exploring between farming souls (giant knights can be a pain in pairs, but they're slow and predicable and easy to lure out) I gave up and had to look up the way to go. I was this close to just jumping off ledges hoping to find the correct path.

Going up that rafter definitely has the feeling of "how could this possibly be the right way?" It feels like you discovered an out-of-bounds glitch or something.

Something about the quiet of early Anor Londo makes me wish there was a bonfire every 20 ft.