Noonan

That's a good idea. You can be pulled into another game while Hollow, right?

UncleGramps

I got back into this after a little break and got past the Taurus Demon and the metal boar. I love this game.

MoviePage

Not too far from ringing the first bell, although "far" in this game might be measured in difficulty rather than distance.

Seems like a good plan for upgrading to me. Endurance is always a great place to put points regardless of class, and so is vitality (obviously, more HP). I can't say much about intelligence because I'm almost completely melee-focused. But really, all stats can be useful to all classes, just depending on how you want to play. There have definitely been plenty of times in this game where I've wished I had put points into stats that allow attacking from a distance.

Yep, and there's a covenant that has membership requirements partly based on how many people you've helped as a phantom. You don't lose anything even if you die in someone else's world, you only stand to gain a lot, so put down those summon signs!

Noonan

If I help someone and they die, do I warp back to where I dropped my sign or back at my last bonfire?

MoviePage

I'm pretty sure it takes you back to the exact spot you were in when you got summoned. You don't have to stay at your sign, you can wander around the area a bit (although the game will tell you that your sign has disappeared if you go too far).

xmiyux

So I made it the farthest I have been yet tonight.

Eye on the prize creeping towards a groups of skeletons with bows. Shield raised until I get into soul arrow range. Then suddenly we all die in a fire.

That is when I notice the gigantic dragon covering the wall behind the skeletons on which I was focusing.

This game just cracks me up. I turned the blood/gore off and have been playing it with my daughter and she loves pretending to be GladOS and taunt me every single death. It has been oddly fun and I think hearing her crack up every time I die makes it not nearly as aggravating.

FYI though - no clue whatsoever how I am going to kill that dragon with a soul arrow and a short sword.

mewmartigan

MOTHERFUCKING CAPRA DEMON!!!!!
THOSE DOGS ARE KILLING ME!

okay, off to attempt #438.

flashburn

Here's a hint:

MoviePage

I just came here to post something similar about New Londo Ruins...just lost 30,000 souls there in one run, followed by 20,000 a bit later.

I've had several "alright, I'm done, I can't do this anymore" moments with this game over the past few days. Give me an hour and I'm itching to jump back in with a newfound determination to defeat whatever is in my way.

I'm over 100 hours in now, level 77.

xmiyux

Thanks for the hint.

Honestly it is a little bit of a paradigm shift to mentally switch to a point where I don't assume I must defeat what is immediately in front of me to progress.

I am now just wanting to find a new campfire to have a new little home of operations. My run is getting a little dull.

mewmartigan

okay, finally took him down on attempt #445. Time for a break before I head into the Depths.

Poink

If you can successfully make it to the stairs near the dragon, there's a shortcut that links you back to the bonfire in Undead Borough (where you're probably still spawning at). You actually want to travel UNDER the bridge to proceed to the next area. Let the dragon be for now.

+1 for investing in varied stats. In Demon's Souls I was a Knight with some pretty formidable magic capabilities. I went melee through most levels, and went magic on most bosses. Which is why I really love the pyromancy in this game. It lets my Knight (or any melee class) use some pretty wicked close and medium range spells without having to invest in Intelligence. Sometimes, setting a Lizard on fire is better than stabbing it, as it turns out. And who doesn't love throwing down a poison cloud, making a group of enemies walk into it, and then running like a maniac to safety while they all slowly die?

Anyways... I finished Anor Lando last night. The "boss" there was possibly the hardest in either this or Demon's Souls. It took many, many attempts, but finally with a little luck, a lot of arrows, and some good ol' fashioned Poison Mist, they saw defeat.

I got the most bad-ass Bow ever though: The Dragon Slayer Bow. It's extremely slow (it has to be "planted" into the ground to fire), takes almost my whole Stamina bar to fire, and the arrows cost a horrid 500 souls PER ARROW, but by God, does it do some damage. 200-ish at medium range, and at least 85-ish at a great distance. It literally knocks smaller enemies off their feet. Any fool that still thinks it's a good idea to come at me after taking a hit from this thing deserves my sword through them.

dsa_shea

According to the guide there is at least a 792 level. lol!

Poink

792... I don't even WANT to know how many Souls it takes to upgrade a point by then. 150,000,000 Souls = 1 point of strength = 4 extra points of damage. *Shudder*

I believe with all the stats, after about 50 there's some serious diminishing returns. In Demon's Souls I took my first character through two playthroughs and only ended up around level 112 or so if I remember correctly. New Game+ makes every enemy twice as strong, so even the first level is somewhat of a challenge second time around.

I think PvP and players prefer to stay around the 60's-70's since when do an invasion they normally put you in the world of someone who is a bit higher level than you are, so you're at a disadvantage. Nobody wants to be the one to invade the realm of a guy dedicated enough to get to Soul Level 614...

flashburn

mewmartigan

So I just got 25,000 souls for beating the demon in the Depths. Should I use that to buy the key to the giant glowing door in the forest? I saw someone say that is a great place to level up..like 900 souls per kill....is it worth it?

I am currently level 23, drake sword and I'm a melee character...minimal magic at the moment.

EDIT: Nevermind, I did some leveling up and bought the pyromancy spell "fire orb" or something like that...

dsa_shea

It only requires 11938030 souls.

Noonan

I would unless you really need the levels now to progress. You can get 7K souls quickly if you open that door. If you can't kill the enemies yourself, there's a trick to getting them all to fall off a cliff. You can search youtube for videos of it.

dsa_shea

I was finally able to kill that Asylum Demon last night. This game is going to be brutal for me. Does anyone else feel really tense and nervous while playing this game?

mewmartigan

Yes because I keep thinking about all the enemies I will have to fight again on my way back to a boss for the umpteenth time.

Sometimes the worst is going to a new area and getting killed before you find the bonfire....its a long walk back to that new area.

Poink

Yeah, the atmosphere of the game is probably more intense than most "horror" titles, without overtly trying to be so. It doesn't rely on cheap tactics of things popping out of nowhere too often; it's just knowing how much pain the enemies can cause is enough to instill fear.

A dog jumping through a window in Resident Evil only "gets" you one time; a Black Knight waiting at the end of a narrow passageway is ALWAYS effective.

slop101

Totally!

This, from IGN's review, explains it pretty well:

"The further you get in Dark Souls, the more hideous and creative the monsters and environments become. Thirty hours in, stuck in an underground poisonous swamp, you'll feel like you'd give anything to see the sun again. Dark Souls' design is so consistently twisted that it actually starts to encroach on your mental well-being after extended play – it never wavers for a second from its singular stylistic vision."

mewmartigan

So I defeated the gold golem in the darkroot basin.....he is supposed to give you 5000 souls and not respawn.
Well, his last hit happened to kill me as I killed him. Went back to my bloodstain and I didn't get the 5000 souls but he didn't respawn. Dammit, i could have really used though. They hydra was a long and tough battle and I only got 5000 out of her!! Would rather have the gold one keep respawning with the crystal ones.

Poink

If you quit and reload in that cave, a Sorcery trainer appears, who was trapped inside the golem.

Don't think the souls will be there though. Although if you don't care about magic much you could just murder her to get a little bit of souls.

MoviePage

First playthrough complete! Finished at level 92, with 130 hours of playtime. Both of those numbers are a lot higher than average from what I've read, but I tried to explore and find as much as possible on my own. Found all covenants and sorceries and got most of the weapon reinforcements done. Some of the time was also spent waiting around to be summoned for boss fights, etc.

Amazing game, easily the best I've played this year (and I play a lot of games).

I'm now immediately starting New Game+, and I couldn't be more excited about it. That says a lot about the quality of the game to me. Gotta find/make all the rare weapons and finish collecting the miracles and pyromancy spells.

I'm happy to answer any questions or offer any advice that I can.