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

And is grinding for souls expected or just sort of a cheat/shortcut? Given how easily you can die in this and/or lose all your souls, it seems like that's the only guaranteed and therefore tacitly encouraged way to quickly accumulate souls to spend, aside from killing bosses, esp. since everything respawns at a bonfire.

always found myself grinding a lot less than expected or to the extent that other people said tbh. that said dead cert kill methods for high HP enemies certainly comes in useful. there’s some late stage knights and enemies in DS3 that were go to places for me. those infested club wielding things in blighttown (which is where i’m at in DS) are currently handy as well, tho i lost 15000 souls on a fucking tree trunk.

Dead cert? As in, dead certain?

Is there a reason to upgrade more than one or two weapons?

imo yes. as you've seen you grab tons of dupes and low level titanite is also plentiful. you may as well use excess stock and take one of those straight swords up to +5, then down a different path like magic or fire for experimenting. obv you don't *need* to do any of this to beat the game or anything like it, if it sounds like a chore ignore it

iirc boss weapons made from boss souls need a regular path +10 weapon as starting point. each boss weapon has a specific type like normal weapons (short sword, greatsword, medium shield, catalyst, etc) and you need the same type upgraded to +10 to ascend it to a special boss version. any weapon of a particular type will do, don't waste your good equipment on that, a broken straight sword +10 is the same as a regular straight sword +10 when it comes to ascending weapons

what am I missing out on by playing offline?

some of the best parts of the game tbh. even if you're averse to pvp you're only invaded if you're human and haven't yet beaten the boss of the area you're in, so that's easy enough to avoid. now that you've killed the taurus demon and gargoyles, no one could invade you in either undead burg or parish even if you're human (unless certain special covenant related things happen...)

you miss out on messages and cool atmospheric touches like seeing phantoms of other players or hearing them ring the parish bell in their own game

you also miss out on joining other player's games and help them beat a boss which imo is the best grinding method for souls. much less tedious than killing the same mooks countless times

also sometimes really powerful players invade and one-hit bosses for you

dead cert as in certain yes. i just mean your comfy killing them for the most part but they yield lots of souls.

this thread sent me back to pick up the game in fact. just beat Queelag on second go which seemed v easy.

I upped my katana to +5, which is the most I can do without a fire ember or something. Regardless, it was good enough to kill that giant but slow lightning shooting thing that lives by Andre the Blacksmith, which gained me access to the forest, but ... I don't think I want to go there. I'm going to go back to where (lower undead burg?) those jumping zombie ninjas are first, and those dogs, which are a pia. Took me forever to remember how to get there, or which bonfire is most convenient.

Did some grinding to repair some equipment, mostly the armor I've been wearing, which afaict has been doing a good job.

Did you get the repairbox?

You don't have to upgrade or use other weapons if you don't want to, I've gone through the whole game with that katana (my fave) or the starting longsword.

The main differences are in the classes of weapons...big swords are slower, but can more easily stun/knock down enemies and break through shields. Katanas and smaller swords are faster and can get in more hits. Spears let you stay far away from enemies, but mostly go in a straight line so are worse against groups, require you to lock on more often, etc.

The poise system is a whole other thing, you probably don't need to worry about it if you're staying offline. But basically it's the idea that if you're wearing heavy armor (or, uh, wearing a certain ring), then you can swing your weapon without being interrupted when someone hits you at the same time. But the trade-off is needing to level endurance to wear that armor without being overburdened, and having a sloooow roll.

Poise isn't that important for the regular non-pvp game, but keeping your equip burden under 50% to have a decent roll is.

Yeah has the slow roll thing been emphasized yet? That’s something that I didn’t really grasp until a good way through my first play through and it made my life a lot easier once I got it. Ideally, you’ll want your equipment burden to be 50% or less. Allows faster, farther, more effective rolls and rolling is obv pretty crucial.

25% and under bumps roll effectiveness even more, but just keeping it under 50 is good enough imo.

Endurance boosts your equipment load too, so yeah, valuable stat in many ways.

Also, were the percentages different for roll efficacy in vanilla DS or am I imagining that?

Maybe not, for some reason I remember there being a change at 75% in the early versions.

Like 0-25 was fast, 25-50 was medium, 50-75 was slow, and 75-100 was “fat roll”.

Also I get not wanting to shell out the cash for online capabilities, but yeah, some of my better memories from my first time with the game involved the terror of being invaded and the joy of summoning help on those tougher bosses. Was never much of a griefer/invader but helping other ppl beat bosses was fun and fairly lucrative. Also, those messages which would lead to real help, real fucking you over, or some good lols. And the spirits and bloodstains. All added up to a unique feeling of connection to the living outside world in a game that atmospherically, by design, is very lonely.

If it the world is designed to be atmospherically lonely, then shouldn't it be played ... alone?

How is the online community these days? Dark Souls is ... 7 years old? Older? How much online activity is there? I assume the remaster bumped things up a bit, and Switch might (will there be crossplay?) but is there an active Dark Souls online scene?

i've been under 25% weight most of the time, because I learned quickly the advantages of rolling. I also upgraded my claymore, just because, and it's remarkable to me how many advantages and disadvantages it has compared to the katana. I'm glad I put the drake sword in reserve, because it seemed sort of overpowered this early in the game.

So I'm going to go to lower undead next, unless I should go to the forest. I have no idea what's next except maybe a capra demon that everyone complains about?

If it the world is designed to be atmospherically lonely, then shouldn't it be played ... alone?

In have no idea what the online community is like these days though. It’s a game that’s been solved and who knows what the nerds are doing with it.

spears and rapiers are notable in that they let you poke enemies while keeping your shield up if you're the turtling type

circa1916 otm

Some of the most amusing elements of this game so far are the NPCs. It's this dark, tragic world rife with roaming evil monsters. And yet every once in a while you come across some person just hanging out, making small talk like a bit Monty Python character. "Oh, heh heh. I didn't see you there. I've just been cooling my heels a bit, taking a breather. You know, I've heard there's a goat creature on the loose, can you believe it? You better be careful, he he he." Never mind that he's talking to a zombie-skinned cursed warrior patiently hearing him out, there are literally monsters running amuck right around the corner. It would be hilarious if every time you came across an NPC they just yelled "ahhhh!" and ran away, and if you wanted to talk to them you had to catch up with them and explain you're not there to kill them.

have you met solaire yet ?

I think? He was the dude hanging on the balcony ... just around the corner from where the dragon was chilling, iirc. Like, nbd, check out the view, hey, a dragon, that's cool. "If you ever need a hand, just look for the sign ... (affects maniacal malevolent Disney Haunted Mansion voice for some reason) " ... you CAN'T MISS IT. Bwah ha ha hahaha!"

Holy crap, Capra Demon (and dogs). I'm sure this, like other things, will get easier as I get used to it and figure out what to do, but the undead assassins and dogs on the way there make it an extra pain. The boss itself, it's nuts that you barely even have any time to move before it and the dogs kill you.

More questions about levels: I've put most of my souls (earned and farmed) into strength, dexterity, vitality and endurance. Each of those is close to 20. Is that a bad strategy? I saw somewhere someone suggestion picking either strength or dex to boost up, but is it bad if you boost them both or just a waste of time? Right now I've got my katana and claymore at +5 (which is as high as I can go until I get some embers, right?). Should I be boosting my shield and armor, too? I'm not sure what to equip in terms of that stuff, I've mostly been keeping my weight down below 25. Is armor et al. as important as weapon? Even my pretty generic shield seems to be good enough.

It's not too important to upgrade armor and shields imo, I never really do. It improves shield stability, but not to a huge extent.

High strength & dex is usually called a 'quality' build, I say do what you want. Some players are trying to stick to a certain level because they're playing online and want to do pvp in a certain area, so they want to maximize their stats for that level. But you don't have to worry about that, so, don't worry.

I have noticed that leveling up has become slower and more challenging, as it requires more and more souls.

don't upgrade armour ever, maybe upgrade your most used shields when you have the titanite or souls to spare.

if levels are getting expensive it's because you're overleveled, keep playing and souls drops will increase along, typical rpg fare

What does over-leveled mean? (I've never really played RPGs beyond D&D in 5th grade or I guess Zelda in middle school.) Does it mean I boosted my stats too high for this stage of the game and the game is slowing me down?

Yeah pretty much. There's a natural level range you would be at for each area if you kept progressing without stopping to grind. So if you do grind for levels, they keep costing more but the enemies in the area are still giving you a low amount of souls.

Game is so dark that even at a pretty high brightness setting I'm missing stuff and enemies.

tbf you did mention failing to see the dragon in the brightness test.

the game is dark, sure, but maybe your PS4 rgb output levels are misconfigured. next time you play on the ps4 video settings toggle between pc and video levels (or whatever ps4 calls them) and try the brightness test again.

if you still don't see the dragon, then check your display settings or something

Still didn't see the dragon, don't feel like messing with the TV settings for the sake of the game. It's bright enough for now, at least.

Gah, stupid capra demon. I guess I'm getting better, but it really seems like a matter of being as fast as possible to get away from it, in time to hide, kill the dogs (it's so hard to tell if they're dead or not) and restore health. I wonder if I might be better off going to the forest first. Or if I'm supposed to?

I did find a shortcut back to firelink shrink, at least, where I can get my 10 estus. That's gotta come in handy.

capra demon iirc, kill the dogs asap, then just run up the stairs, wait for him to follow you, fall off ledge, hit him once or twice, rinse, repeat 4ever.

There's also a pretty great trick that, in fairness, I won't mention until after you beat them.

I like how this game has a way of telling you it's time for a break. In today's case I was fighting the capra demon, finally figured out how to get past it and up the stairs, finally figured out how to spin the camera fast enough to kill the dogs, then managed to break the demon down to maybe a quarter health before the target lock got me stuck in a weird place. So I figured, OK, I think I've got this. Start again at firelink, rush up there, restore myself with one of my 9 estus, pop into the boss area and immediately up the stairs ... then flail wildly before I realized I somehow unequipped a sword and was just using my fists.

Capra demon defeated! There was this extra little bit of stairway I didn't see, and once I realized I could make my way those extra few feet it got a lot easier. Dropped a key that opened the door to a dungeon or something, which I unlocked, but instinct told me not to go there yet. Instead I made my way back to Andre, made sure my equipment was good, then started exploring the garden/forest/basin. Those plant monsters seem ok, and there are theses two headed snakes that sort of hide on trees that don't seem to do much but die, yet, but those stone knights that put a glowing ring around you ... those I need to figure out. One I was able to kill before it trapped me. Is that the only strategy, take them out before they trap you?

That's ideal, but if they do trap you (it's the Tranquil Walk of Peace miracle, which you can get later), just don't try to roll, stand your ground and block/attack.

Here's the trick I mentioned, aren't you glad you didn't do this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0GJrBO1DLI

(I tried it once, didn't bother with aiming at a specific spot, just started throwing bombs over the wall and managed to take out a dog before entering)

That's bullshit, but I respect that the game allows for such cheesing. I mean if you can figure it out yourself, more power to you! I want to say I came across something similar involving dung bombs or whatever, but it sounded silly so I figured I would just do it old school. I did light my sword on fire once, because the undead merchant by there was selling them, which I took as a hint, but I quickly realized it mattered less what weapon I was using and more how fast I could get to those stairs. And, again, all the way to the end of the stairs. After the dogs are dead the demon itself isn't so bad.

Magic butterfly was the precise opposite of the capra demon: slow moving, easy to dodge attack, and then ... it just moves in close to you and holds still for several seconds while you whack it over the head. Pretty, though, if surreal as a boss. I assume there is more in darkroom garden/basin. I feel like there are at least a couple of paths I haven't taken that are littered with those stone knights and more tree people.

I've more or less settled on the katana and the claymore as my two weapons, the first for speed and the second for strength. If I up my strength stat, does that make the sword easier to swing without tiring myself out, or is that endurance?

Endurance

(butterfly also has the best theme!)

Are my instincts right that what a vendor is selling might either hint at ways to defeat an upcoming enemy or deal with upcoming hazards?

Um, you may have to be more specific? You don't have to worry about spoilers for our sake.

Like, near the capra demon was the undead vendor who was selling, among other things, lots of bloodroot moss or something (which gets dropped a lot in the darkroot garden) and also some flaming sword wipe. Was the flaming sword indeed a shortcut to taking down the capra demon, just as the gold pine helped with the taurus demon that came more or less right after you get it?

Oh sure, more damage always helps, but is not necessary.

But if you're getting dropped or sold items that protect against poison or toxin, those might come in handy nearby.

Josh, out of interest, are you enjoying playing it?

Yeah! I mean, it's a bit of a slog, and it's pretty relentlessly grim and humorless, but it's creative, and challenging, and as much as I dislike repeating stretches of it over and over again, so far nothing has stumped me for some inordinate amount of time. I had heard stories of people giving up after reaching the Taurus demon, or the Capra demon, so the fact that I got both of them relatively easily was encouraging. I will say, I literally have no idea how anyone can play this without looking things up occasionally. It's so obscure and impenetrable. I guess that is why people often play it more than once. Even though you know what happens and when it happens, there are so many different ways to play at the game. Kind like Hollow Knight in that way. I was very satisfied completing that game, even though my level of pollution was well under 100% percent. So if I ever wanted to go back and face more challenges, it's there. But, for example, I will most likely play my entire game without using Humanity. Maybe to Kindle a fire, but that's it. maybe I will look into it more if I ever play it again. But of course I will also have Dark Souls 2 and 3, and Bloodborne, to deal with at some point.

Heh, level of pollution was meant to be completion, though pollution is weirdly apt for Hollow Knight.

But here's a good example of what I meant by its impenetrability, or the need to look things up. Fake walls! How in the world would you even know to look for fake walls unless you were told in advance? And then, what are you supposed to do, walk around the entire game hitting walls? Or scaling, who in the world would even know how that works without being told?

How in the world would you even know to look for fake walls unless you were told in advance?

Ah, this is where the online message system shines.

Hollow Knight has fake walls too btw!

For sure! But I think because it's more or less 2D they are easier to bump into and discover. The 3D environments of Dark Souls make discovery more of a challenge, imo, because there is another dimension! But yeah, online message system - I get it, but someone had to find it first to tell people! How did they manage to do that?

> it's pretty relentlessly grim and humorless

no way, souls games are littered with humour, from enemy animations, to item descrptions, to the way that when you are lured to a shiny and fall into a cartoon death pit trap, when you come back and do get the shiny it's probably a dung pie or something

btw as if it weren't obvious already I love these games in no small part because of their intentional obscurantism and elliptical storytelling. I must because boy do i suck at actually playing them

Ha, it does often remind me of Dragon's Lair, which was of course silly. I guess I just meant there are very few opportunities to just relax and take it all in. Some of the bosses so far, I barely know what they looked like, I was so busy running and fighting and freaking out.