dsa_shea

How have you played 130 hours of it already?

dsa_shea

I'm seriously contemplating not playing this game anymore. I understand that it is supposed to be hard but when you inch along a section and still get your ass handed to you from all directions on top of losing your previously earned souls it is disheartening. I'm all for a challenge but this game just isn't for me.

Deftones

MoviePage

It's been out for almost 2 weeks and I've done nothing in my spare time except play it. Also, this game > sleep.

It's best to change up your strategy when you find yourself in a situation like that. This game doesn't adapt to your playing style; it forces you to adapt to its rules or fail. That results in some hard lessons, but once I accepted that I couldn't just smash my way through everything like most modern games allow, I started finding it easier. What kind of character are you playing? Are you blocking with a decent shield? Locking on to your target? You have to just chip away at some enemies. Also, don't worry too much about losing souls. It's just part of the game, and there are plenty more to be had. Plus, when you're down to zero you have nothing left to lose by trying again, right?

Noonan

I don't know about the 360 version but on PS3 it looks like they patched that area behind the door in the forest so you can't make all those guys jump off an kill themselves. Just wasted 20K souls on that key since there's no way I can kill those guys yet.

xmiyux

So I hope I didn't screw anything up for later...

I saw that large black bird just chilling there and was curious if it was killable. I unloaded a bunch of arrows into it and it eventually got mad and flew off.

I don't suppose it plays a big role late game does it?

Noonan

It does; that's the reason it flew away. You can't kill it. It shouldn't be an issue.

mewmartigan

I got it to work last night on the PS3. You have to stand in the right spot...stand to close to the wall and they can still land on the ledge between you and the cliff. Stand to far from the wall and they will land between you and the wall, thus pushing you off the cliff instead.
I did run into an occurence once where the sorcerer ended in just the right position to shoot me several times so he didn't even both try try and come down on top of me.

UncleGramps

After seeing all of the big mistakes that could be made in Demon's Souls, I now do a quick Google search before making any big decisions (such as freeing prisoners, attacking NPCs, etc.) just to be sure that I don't screw myself over.

Noonan

Yeah, I just noticed my mistake. I didn't realize it was the staircase you start at to get them to jump; I thought it was the ruins that are straight back if you're running from the door.

fujishig

Good advice, especially about not sweating losing the souls you accumulated (and trying not to horde souls unless you are doing it for a purpose... far better to just level up, and if you die you won't feel as bad anyway). I made the mistake early on of hoarding souls, but then entering a boss battle and dying... so to reclaim all those souls, I had to continually go into the boss battle and try to win, and on my sixth or so try I got killed on the way to the boss battle... ugh.

Noonan

I try to not carry any souls on me. If I have 3-4K, which isn't enough to level, I'll just use them on arrows or shards to upgrade weapons.

MoviePage

Yeah, don't horde souls unless you're saving up for something specifically, in which case you probably shouldn't be fighting bosses or venturing into unknown territory anyway, and don't horde humanity. USE your accumulated humanity to become human and kindle bonfires. Some people online will tell you to horde humanity because it increases your item discovery rate, but it's really not enough to risk losing it all, and there's a ring you can find which puts the discovery rate boost from humanity to shame. (Note that I'm talking about "active" humanity that's displayed in the upper left corner, not the Humanity item which can be saved and used whenever).

I'm zipping through my NG+ playthrough now, much easier and faster when you know exactly where to go for everything, and what to expect. I'm trying to stay human as much as possible, and it really does add another whole dimension. Being invaded by other players at inconvenient moments is a blast, especially when you defeat the invader, and there are a number of valuable NPC invaders who only show up throughout the game if you're in human form. Summoning other players (both real and NPC) is a massive help in boss fights as well.

Oh, and don't EVER consume the boss souls if you're going for all achievements/trophies. They're used for making unique weapons, and most of them can be used for two, meaning a second playthrough to pick up another of the same soul. One of them can be used for three unique items, which means three playthroughs. If you consume one of them, well...you get the picture. This game has rekindled my old fear of using important items too soon in RPGs, a feeling I had forgotten since most modern games block you from doing it.

xmiyux

Man when you finally pass something you get a spike of endorphin that I haven't gotten from gaming since I was a kid.

Today someone pointed out to me that I could have been buying spells for a while now. So I did what needed done and picked up a couple spells (including Greater Heavy Soul Arrow).

Then I went to the blacksmith that had been unkillable for ages and wasted him. I think I actually jumped out of my chair to cheer. The ring he gave was awesome and now I have access to some Basin. I stepped into it and it looked scary and I didn't want to risk the souls I had.

So it is back to grinding a few levels. Anyone know if the sorcery rings the mage guy sells are worthwhile?

Noonan

Made a lot of progress last night. I'm at Anor Londo now. For anyone who's past this part, what's up with the firekeeper standing at the 1st bonfire? There are a bunch of messages saying that I should kill her. I'm not sure if that's a good idea.

mewmartigan

I spent a bit of time leveling up.

I'm at about 22 hours now, level 42, reinforced my Drake Sword, upgraded my Pyromancy glove to +4 and bought heavy large soul arrows (or whatever they are called).

Now i am off to Blighttown.

UncleGramps

I rang the first bell last night!

Noonan

Nice! I love how you can hear when other people ring the bell if you're nearby.

UncleGramps

Yeah, it's a nice touch.

Oddly, this game feels much less oppressive than Demon's Souls. I found it hard to keep going in that game because everything was so overwhelmingly dark and dreary. Seems like Dark Souls has more variety in the environments, and some actual sunlight!

Noonan

Haha, just wait...You're very close to not seeing sunlight anymore. Enjoy the Depths and Blighttown!

Poink

She didn't do anything to make me regret not killing her. I guess she drops her armor and a Firekeeper's Soul if you kill her. Also, if you kill the next "big" NPC you meet in that area, she will be hostile, albeit at a different spot in Anor Lando (apparently). The downside is that killing her will make that bonfire useless, which at this point you're really going to need that bonfire since as you'll soon find out that area is pure hell. Also, bonfire's with a keeper present give you 10 estus' without having to kindle them, which is something you don't want to give up at this time. If you're on an NPC killing spree type playthrough, I'd recommend waiting until you've cleared the area.

On my fire playthroughs, I pretty much spare all NPC's. On New Game+ and with my second character, I'm not so nice (unless I need them).

Noonan

Cool, I don't plan on killing her. I can understand why people do it if you get a firekeeper soul but I'll wait until I'm much further on. I think I'm going to go back to the other areas before tackling Anor full-on.

MoviePage

Don't know if they patched the multiplayer yet to make it less restrictive, but last night I was wearing one of the rings that automatically summons you to go after people (Darkmoon), and was literally getting pulled into other people's worlds every 5 minutes or so. I also got invaded very regularly. I couldn't even make progress in the area I was trying to clear because of all the summoning/invading going on. I'm playing on 360.

Also, cannot wait until they patch the Fog Ring to make it less of an automatic win online. It does feel great when you occasionally beat someone to death who's wearing one though.

Noonan

Is that ring from one of the covenants? I still don't really get how those work.

MoviePage

Which ring, the summoning one or the Fog Ring?