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

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.

Had to look up another route mere inches later, when I couldn't figure out how to get to those fucking archers. After running off the edge and dying numerous times, I finally learn there's another invisible buttress ramp to ascend. I know this game is dark, but if I can't see something huge because it's in a shadow ...

Now I wanna see your screen, because that really shouldn't be in shadow?

I don't know how to take a screenshot.

I mean, it's not super dark, as in night dark, but multiple times I've walked along that ledge and had no idea I could even turn left, let alone find something there. I just keep walking off the end hoping that i would land on something else. I am perfectly willing to concede user error. Maybe I'm just not looking carefully, or maybe I have the settings wrong. But I do know my game is as bright as it can be, and I don't have any picture problems with anything else I watch. TV shows, movies Etc.

Maybe check out a video for comparison's sake? Idk.

Soooo...you got past the archers ok?

josh the switch has a dedicated screenshot button!

https://d1fs8ljxwyzba6.cloudfront.net/assets/editorial/2017/03/take-screenshots-nintendo-switch-joy-con-1.jpg

the problem is that the irl joycon doesn't have an arrow pointing to it that says "capture button"

josh sent me his screenshot
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Future_earth.jpg

I'm playing on PS4.

And no, not past the archers yet. Was taking me enough time just to get to them that when I finally looked up how to get to them I decided to leave it till another day. Probably today. How hard can it be? Famous last words.

got to say, none of you will be laughing when I successfully complete the first literally blind walkthrough.

not so much blind as too many cooks: https://www.wired.co.uk/article/twitch-plays-dark-souls

https://assets1.ignimgs.com/vid/thumbnails/user/2013/05/07/PS4share_270h.jpg

josh the ps4 has a dedicated screenshot button!

https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.As3AJc523RAUohEgnFIKoAHaFv%26pid%3D15.1&f=1