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

Last time I tried I did summon Baby Sif, but I think I died before he got there.

Both of those took me forevvvver, because I wasn't using a shield and had to learn to read each attack and dodge/run accordingly.

Artorias gave me a lot of grief until I *stopped* using a shield, since the benefits of blocking were outweighed by the benefits of two-handed attacks (I'm not quite fast enough to switch between shield and two-hands, I always hit the wrong button and take a drink or something instead).

Btw, one of my favorite DS stories came the first time I almost killed the dragon. I was *this close* when I accidentally nudged the nearby remote and changed the channel. So for a good 20 seconds or so all I could do was feel the game controller rumble as Kalameet kicked my ass in the dark.

Haaaa wow

When I was 11, playing my first play-through of Super Mario Brothers 3, I had finally made it to World 5 and was in the castle trying to dodge those rotating discs, and my 8-year old brother thought it would be a great idea to wrap himself up in blankets, proclaim "I'M A THWOMP TRAP", and fall full-force to the floor next to the NES. The game reset as a result of this, and I don't remember if I cried, but I probably did

Several years ago while playing Demon’s Souls I was patiently whittling down a boss on like my 12th try and was just about to put him down when my Red Bull jacked roommate jumped into the room yelling “DEEEEMOON SOOOOULLL!!!”

I think the look I gave him when I died 4 seconds later must’ve been particularly gnarly because he apologized v earnestly soon after.

Oh wait, I posted about that in the Demon’s Souls thread when I was playing it. Correction: "DEMON LORDS! DEMON LORDS! DEMON LORDS!"

I’m still very much friends with him.

Killed Manus, the Hand of Fate, then had Gwyn down to such a small sliver I could have killed him with a belch ... but neglected to belch. Oh well, I'll take a break and take him down later tonight, then be done! What a neat game.

Gwyn's dead, game over! Maybe expected more from victory? I do kind of like how it just starts at the beginning again as soon as the credits are done.

true dark souls begins now
https://darksouls.wiki.fextralife.com/New+Game+Plus

Yeah right. When I come back from a trip I'm starting "Spider-man." I hear it lets you become Spider-man.

Praise the Spider!

Seriously though, the right way to play is to come back in like eight months and beat it in ng+, see how much of the patterns are still lodged in your mind.

I've got DSII & III, plus Bloodborne. I think the plan, as such, when I come back to this world, is to either play DSIII or BB next, then end with DSII if I'm still in the mood. But I have an instant PS4 backlog, plus a whole bunch of cool Switch stuff that recently came out.

Yeah, I'm forgetting you're catching up. Definitely play through all those; they generally each get better than the next!

Well, I think I'm ready to give up. Made it to the second bonfire in Anor Londo, after making a side-journey to the Painted World (which was excellent). I'm dying a whole hell of a lot and the repetition just isn't fun anymore. I think I'm ready to break up with Dark Souls, or at least take an extended hiatus.

The consensus seems to be that the second half of the game (I've already put over 50 hours in so far and I'm only halfway?) isn't as good as the first. The only thing that is really maintaining my interest is the world/level design, which has been by far my favorite thing about this game. Is it worth seeing through to the bitter end?

Yes, if only because it gets easier as you get better and more powerful and the enemies more or less don't. DLC might be my favorite stuff of the game, though, and you definitely need more stats and practice before you do that.

I forget what you guys said: after DS1, do I go DS2, DS3, and then Bloodborne, or should I approach them in a different order? Maybe DS3 next, then Bloodborne, then DS2?

DS3 is the most similar to DS, so I'd say that, yeah. But now you can stick Sekiro in after Bloodborne (or before, or anywhere).

After noping out on this on PS3, I have finally got to Anor Londo on Switch.

Going to avoid it till Darkroot & Catacombs are done and I am overpowered or at least not a glass cannon.

things got way easier when I got the Dark Knight Halberd, Now I just two hand "See what happens Larry?" on everyone but the bosses.

Imo, the closest this game comes to an "easy" mode is cheesing into a good weapon early. Which is what I did, and I couldn't imagine doing it any other way, since it was still pretty challenging.

this game is really good. finally committed to my character, Derbis, the slim warrior with a master key. I've reached the undead burg and get the feeling I'm supposed to farm souls here for awhile to buy more stuff from the tee hee hee merchant man. I picked up a scimitar and found a nifty big axe. the soapstone comments are unique and cool. i've learned the comment phrasing "try ____" means definitely do not do ____.

i don't think i am a curved sword person. spent some souls on it because a faster sword with good damage seems good. but i did much better with the long sword move set. wish i could get even a quarter-soul on the soul for it.

Curved swords were really popular to use with buffs in this game, to stack up damage really quickly. If you stack poise so that you can't be interrupted (or just put the Wolf ring on), they're pretty fierce.

Katanas have my fave moveset in this game, the long sword is great too though.

yeah, I can see the curved swords being good if I switch my style from dodge and counter. or maybe a dodge and onslaught approach would work. it doesn't seem to do very well in a crowd, which I'm facing for the first time near the burg bonfire.

Oh btw, two-handing the curved sword with no shield is key to the style. If you're using a shield, then it's definitely better to go with something else.

that is a useful tip. up to now, i've been using two handed grip as a specialized alert system that tells me i've pressed 'X' accidentally.

I think I've already forgotten how to play, but if memory serves doing more damage (and even blocking) with a two handed weapon was more useful than using a shield. Unless you are really good at parrying.

definitely don't need to worry about me being really good at anything in this game

I think for curved swords, the swings are actually faster two-handed as well.

two-handed scimitar is great! I can take down the weaker dudes with one strong attack. I am a twirling Derbis.

I can kill all of the normal hollows without much trouble but these giant knights are fucking scary. Guy at the bottom of the tower chased me up all of the stairs and hammered me into the ground.

defeated the ford taurus demon. used a battle axe with the resin to get it done, and retreated to the bonfire as I couldn't believe there were more dudes to fight afterward. also did a reverse hollow only to accidentally roll off a ledge before summoning anyone. I was paranoid about invaders since I don't know what that looks like yet.

dragons, man

a small flight of stairs with a ledge at the top you can hop down from is the most powerful weapon in this game.

this dried finger i bought for 2000 souls really does enhance the sound of my bonfire turntable

lol

Always fun to read a new Dark Souls liveblog, kiu please

(what platform are you playing on btw? I wonder how many people are still doing invasions in this game)

I am on switch. been playing mostly handheld while my oldest watches lego ninjago on the television. I hope there are some new switch players online, as I picked the game up during a recent eshop sale. I see the 'ghost' of other players at bonfires from time to time.

Definitely more ghost players on Switch recently as its just been on sale. I haven't had any invasions but I am non hollow about 3% of the time...

kept getting wrecked by some 'free folk' in a forest last night, so might go back to Anor Londo and see what the fuss is about.

Spoiler: the fuss is 'YOU DIED'

when i talked to the sun-obsessed knight for a second time, i thought he was repeating himself, so i skipped the dialogue. but i guess he wasn't repeating himself because he asked me some questions. i defaulted to 'yes', and i think i roll with that dude now.

and hello, Hamildan, please don't invade lowly Derbis

If you would like to be invaded, by all means reverse hollowing and step into the forest :)

very modest progress last night. i can clear all of the hollows out of the first bit of undead parish. that leaves me with the angry metal bull. i believe i'm meant to ole the bull into breaking a door or wall down? i thought the glowing skull was for that, but the bull didn't care much for them. maybe i lure the badass knight from his tower with them, and he lures the bull? hope not, as i already used most of them for a party. but wtf are we going to do about this metal bull problem, guys? we can sit in this conference room all day discussing my numbers and how they're down, but i think management should first acknowledge that we've got a big metal bull problem here.

(I don't actually want to be told what must be done. could be there's a gate opening lever somewhere i overlooked.)

No spoilers, but sometimes it helps to prioritize nuisance threats first over bigger targets. Also, there is literally no way I could have played this game without any guide or substantive guidance.

I'll probably give in eventually and consult a guide or this thread. Thinking about it, it'd be somewhat easy to kill the metal bull by leading it to the large stairwell, where I'm safe. I might put more effort into killing it next. If it's impossible to kill, that'll confirm that I'm supposed to use it somehow.

use it or avoid it, I guess

i don't really understand what is happening in the humanity-reverse hollow-rekindle process. it seems like there's an extra step in there that shouldn't be needed. anyway, i get 10 pepsis from the bonfire now.

Oh man, you're definitely on the right track with using your environment vs bull, keep playing around.

Basically you have to be human first to do fancy human stuff, because the undead are an oppressed minority, and kindling bonfires falls under fancy human stuff.

i can understand that, but i don't understand why i need to "use" humanity and then reverse hollowing. it seems like the menu should say "use a humanity and reverse hollowing?" and let me do it. i guess it's just that "using" humanity might be somehow beneficial out there, away from the bonfires.

Yeah you can consume it to instantly get back full health out in the wild, but can only use it to reverse hollowing at bonfires iirc. Also semi-laborious menus are a Dark Souls tradition.