Dark Souls - Discussion Thread

[Gannu]

Yeah. That was the shock of the day when I opened up TE today morn after I returned from the gym.

Dishonored, I suppose has 9 chapters. At least that's what Google throws me.

Hey and I just found out that Dark Souls just like Demon's Souls saves at multiple points - killing an enemy, opening menu etc. So that's a definitive life saver don't you think? I mean we can create a save file just before entering through the boss's fog!

 

[Ethan_Hunt]

^^ Around 11 -->12.

Yeah. That was the shock of the day when I opened up TE today morn after I returned from the gym.

Dishonored, I suppose has 9 chapters. At least that's what Google throws me.

:confused1:

Hey and I just found out that Dark Souls just like Demon's Souls saves at multiple points - killing an enemy, opening menu etc. So that's a definitive life saver don't you think? I mean we can create a save file just before entering through the boss's fog!

Of course it does. That's what I always do, if I haven't reached a bonfire.

Update time:

Explored and completed the Depths area last night. This area is a heaven for Humanity farming. I got around 8 humanities from the rats in under 2 hours. By far, the easiest area of the game till now. The major threats like the Butcher (x2), Channeler and Giant Undead Rat don't re-spawn, once killed. So you're only left with the smaller undead rats, Basilisk and the undead attack dogs, who are one shot kill by your Drake sword. Grabbed the ring of the evil eye, spider shield and large ember. Rescued Laurentius of the great swamp and got invaded by the Kirk knight of thorns, as I was in human form. Finally faced the Gaping Dragon boss (without summoning any help) and died on my first attempt, as I got stuck in an animation loop. Got it on the next try and acquired the key to Blighttown.

Now to venture into Blighttown, the most notorious place for frame rate drop, as confirmed by the console brethren. Also, soul level is now at 48.

 

[ALPHA17]

@Ethan_Hunt will get mine copy of the game (DISHONORED) by today OR tomorrow tops.

My estimate comes from players in IVG.

 

[Ethan_Hunt]

Ethan_Hunt will get mine copy of the game (DISHONORED) by today OR tomorrow tops.

My estimate comes from players in IVG.

Nice dude! Have a good time with it.

I'll definitely take it up, as soon as I'm done with Dark Souls.

 

[Gannu]

Good going Allwyn! Looks like by the time I begin the title, you'd have completed it going at this pace. :lol:

Anyways, my dark passenger wants to know what stats would you consider leveling up at the start? The most important ones i.e. I recall in Demon's Souls, it was hard to level up the stats when we were around 70+ soul level. Required a hell lot of souls!

PS: Did you convey vamsi the message?

 

[Ethan_Hunt]

Good going Allwyn! Looks like by the time I begin the title, you'd have completed it going at this pace. :lol:

Nah! The boss fights aren't the biggest hurdle in this game, it's the lesser enemies and the level design itself which tends to screw you up. There are lots of places to explore, enemies to kill and upgrading to be done. I remember Demon's Souls was done in 36 hours or so, but this is taking me forever to clear every area.

Anyways, my dark passenger wants to know what stats would you consider leveling up at the start? The most important ones i.e. I recall in Demon's Souls, it was hard to level up the stats when we were around 70+ soul level. Required a hell lot of souls!

As I'm going purely melee this time, my primary focus is Vitality, Endurance and most importantly, Strength. Dexterity has also been raised substantially this time, which I didn't even bother looking at in Demon's Souls. If you're planning to head in the same direction, I suggest you first get the necessary weapons, check out their required stats and then tailor your player stats accordingly. Leveling up to 49 till now, wasn't difficult. I need 14535 souls for my next upgrade. However, the soul drop in the areas aren't that great, same goes for boss defeats. The Gaping Dragon kill netted me around 25000 souls, which is probably the highest that any boss has provided me till now. Rest were all around 10-15k souls. Plus, with the mini-bosses not re-spawning, I'm having a more difficult time, roping in more souls. So yeah, it's not been easy as far as the soul gathering goes.

PS: Did you convey vamsi the message?

I did, thanks for that. However, He got stuck at that verification question about some clan stuff.

Anyway, I hope he'll figure it out and join in the discussion.

Further update:

Beat the Bell Gargoyles and rung the first bell. The Gargoyles dropped twin Humanities and a halberd. Bought a Crystal shield from Domhnall in the depths and this shield seems to have a really good magic resistant stat, over my previous knight's shield. Upgraded Zweihander to +2 and my Elite armour to +4.

Took a sneak peak into Blighttown and promptly made my way back into the depths as the area is highly toxic. I'm not sure what I did, but at each step, it just displayed 'TOXIC!' and my health started draining rapidly (low toxic resistance?). Lesson learned; do no venture into this area without a good toxic resistance. Also noticed, my Drake's sword is slowly being ineffective against the enemies in this area. It take me 3-4 hits to kill the infested Ghouls and around 10 hits or so for the Barbarians. Fire doesn't do much damage either. Wonder what I need out here.

 

[Gannu]

Ummm Allwyn I think you need an armor set with toxic resistance. I read that somewhere. Without this armor, Blighttown is going to be hard. As for the Drake Sword, did you try repairing it? I hope you are carrying some repair boxes with you so you can repair them at the bonfire. The undead merchant gives you that from Firelink Shrine. Carry some of those. Could you not find a better weapon still? Try dual wielding the sword. You can immediately switch to the shield if need be.

 

[Ethan_Hunt]

Ummm Allwyn I think you need an armor set with toxic resistance. I read that somewhere. Without this armor, Blighttown is going to be hard. As for the Drake Sword, did you try repairing it? I hope you are carrying some repair boxes with you so you can repair them at the bonfire. The undead merchant gives you that from Firelink Shrine. Carry some of those. Could you not find a better weapon still? Try dual wielding the sword. You can immediately switch to the shield if need be.

I have a thief armour set, which might have a good toxic resistance, but the other stats are weak, so I'll get clobbered to death. I don't have any ring, which reduces this effect either. I remember in Demon's Souls, I had enough gear to save me from Poison swamp trip, but tables have turned on me over here. The Drake's sword was fully repaired, along with every other equipment that needed to be fixed. I didn't purchase any repair boxes, as I was not sure if they were available only one use at bonfires or multiple ones. First I need to find out, what's effective against these enemies and then proceed further and have to find out it's nearest bonfire too.

 

[Ethan_Hunt]

YAY! Beat the Chaos Witch Quelaag boss and covered all the areas of Blighttown. Died on my first attempt and didn't summon Mildred's phantom for the fight. This time, I'm going to beat all the bosses on my own. Though this are was highly poisonous, I was able to make my way across to the to the bonfire and able to explore the rest of the swamp too. Got hold of a dragon shard, which will now help in my Drake Sword's upgrade. Got invaded by Maneater Mildred's phantom and was almost overwhelmed by the mosquitoes and cragspiders. Thankfully, I was able to isolate them on dry land and perform the kills. No idea what frame rate drops people experienced over here, but this level was fine on the PC.

 

[Gannu]

Awesome!

But was the option to summon Maneater Mildred available before you entered Quelaag's fog door? So that means Blighttown is done? **** man that is sweet! One of the harder areas beaten!

 

[Ethan_Hunt]

But was the option to summon Maneater Mildred available before you entered Quelaag's fog door?

Yes it was. If you're in Human form, then you'll definitely be invaded by her phantom, while wandering through the swamp. I managed to kill her and the option to summon her, was right before I entered Quelaag's fog. Heck, I could have summoned her the first time round, as I was in Human form and had only 4 Estus flasks (dam you poison swamp and the boulder barbarians!). Went in there and wasn't prepared for the Quelaag's attack patterns. This fight is almost similar to Armour Spider + Flamelurker's fight in Demon's Souls, albeit less difficult. The only reason I died the first time was because I had an incorrect shield equipped for the fight (Spider Shield). This battle needs a good flame resistance shield and I had Black Knights Shield, which easily blocks every flame attacks. So equipped on my second fight and was victorious.

So that means Blighttown is done? **** man that is sweet! One of the harder areas beaten!

Yes, more or less. I'll re-visit some areas, as I could see some dead bodies hanging around the cliff's with some loot in them, but couldn't make it to that place. I'll explore it thoroughly just to be sure that I didn't miss anything.

It wasn't a difficult area. Not as much as say, The Catacombs or the Tomb of Giants, but fairly easy if you have a good poison resistant gear on.

 

[Ethan_Hunt]

Progress update:

Joined Eiyngi (Quelaag's sister) covenant and rung the second bell. This opened up Sen's Fortress. Made my way to Demon Ruins first, as that was the next immediate area, after beating Quelaag. Turns out, this area is way above my level and got my ass kicked (multiple times) by the Ceaseless Discharge boss. So promptly made my way back through the entire Blighttown area again and picked up all the remaining loot along the way and now reached Sen's Fortress.

This is yet another f*cked up place with f*cked up traps. Put away your Drake sword (if you're relying heavily on it), as the enemies out here are far too powerful for it. There are swinging blades, rolling boulders, lifts which lead you to spike traps and deceitful version of the treasure chest (you'll know what I'm talking about). Collected quite a few rings in here, but still couldn't manage to locate it's first bonfire location.

 

[Gannu]

Oh shit that mimic! I was told it will simply grab you if you try opening it! Careful Allwyn.

Btw, how do you wield that Zweihander? With two hands? If so, do you switch between this one and the Drake sword?

 

[Ethan_Hunt]

Oh shit that mimic! I was told it will simply grab you if you try opening it! Careful Allwyn.

Yep, that's the one. It's Tower of Latria all over again, minus the spooky angle.

Btw, how do you wield that Zweihander? With two hands? If so, do you switch between this one and the Drake sword?

I have boosted my Zweihander to +2 and I wield it alongside my Crystal shield. The downside to this sword is that it consumes almost half your stamina bar for delivering one blow. However, it's very effective against enemies in this area, as they require a heavy weapon. But I still need a better weapon. Just got to add a few more points to my strength stat, before I can wield the Black Knights sword. I also got a Katana and a scythe.

 

[Gannu]

And Allwyn, you can figure out if that chest is a mimic by carefully looking at it for sometime - it tends to breathe so moves gently and regular chests tend to have the chain locked at the back whereas this one has it at the right side. So just look for those. Best to give a two-handed blow using a greatsword before it deforms into a proper creature.

 

[Ethan_Hunt]

And Allwyn, you can figure out if that chest is a mimic by carefully looking at it for sometime - it tends to breathe so moves gently and regular chests tend to have the chain locked at the back whereas this one has it at the right side. So just look for those.

Oh thanks! I didn't know that. Thankfully, this was just a suicide run, so I was exploring the area without the fear of dying. All my souls were well spent in advance. I was experimenting with the effectiveness of the weapons and the armour, which could be used to my advantage in this area. This chest was well concealed and looked like any ordinary one, but then again, this is a game with surprises in store for us at every corner. That is why I'm absolutely loving this game right now. It was a good decision to wait for the PC version after all.

Best to give a two-handed blow using a greatsword before it deforms into a proper creature.

How do you perform the two-handed strike?

 

[Gannu]

How do you perform the two-handed strike?

Ummm seriously? I mean I haven't even started the game dude!

I thought pressing Y (it used to be Triangle on the DS3 for Demon's Souls IIRC) makes the player use the weapon as two-handed? It doesn't?

 

[Ethan_Hunt]

Ummm seriously? I mean I haven't even started the game dude!

I thought pressing Y (it used to be Triangle on the DS3 for Demon's Souls IIRC) makes the player use the weapon as two-handed? It doesn't?

I have no clue either. I never got a chance to do it in Demon's Souls, so I'm not sure how it works here. I'll figure that out later.

 

[Gannu]

But a word of caution - using two handed means extremely low defense or almost nil! Your phy. attack damage increases (much higher for greatswords) but you will be vulnerable from all directions. You are still able to block using two-handed but ineffective compared to the shield block.

 

[Gannu]

Allwyn so you are playing most of the time in the hollow mode? I can see a lot of suicide runs happening. So what is the probable disadvantage of playing the game in hollow mode? Other than the fact that we cannot summon NPCs to help us in boss battles. And being invaded by phantoms.

I think I can wrap up Dishonored by tomorrow if I can manage to complete two more chapters today. So I guess I can take up this one from Saturday. But there's something else - my parents are coming over next Wednesday and they shall be with me until Sunday afternoon. I don't think I will be able to play during those days.