mewmartigan

There is a bonfire in the middle of Farron Keep, across a bridge guarded by 3 tree creatures with shields. I think this is the best spot to level up early. The guys are right next to the bonfire and you get about 350 souls each. Kill 3, bonfire, repeat is about 1000 souls for 20 seconds of work.

I'm also a sorcerer and only rarely use a shield (for specific enemies)...usually I have the Katana in one hand and the heretic staff in the other. I found the "magic weapon" spell to be great...its adds a bunch of power to my right hand sword weapon.

Noonan

I haven't tried any multiplayer yet but that's a good idea. I think I'm around level 35; each level is over 8k souls now so it takes a bit of grinding normal mobs to get enough.

dsa_shea

You don't need to be embered to be called in but you can as you will have more health and you will not lose it if you die and get sent back to your world. On the other hand, if you are the host and you die then you lose it and need to use one. Now, embers can be dropped by people in your online party and picked up by other people. So, they can be "shared".

lopper

I'm 30ish hours in and maybe 2/3 through the game, and I still can't commit to any of those boss weapons. None of them really look all that appealing. The greataxe is probably the closest weapon available that I'm spec'd for (strength primarily), but I've heard the move set is pretty limited.

I've got a one handed axe that I've fire infused and leveled up a few times, and it's serving me very well, but if I don't start switching up soon I know I'll start feeling like I'm missing out.

dsa_shea

One of the things I want to try is to see if we can drop and dupe covenant items. If we can, it will save a lot of grinding, which I am the least bit interested in doing.

Also, I heard this newest update has killed the frame rate in the game. Ugh!

Edit: I read that you can't dupe covenant items. Bastards! However, you can drop (dupe) the covenant rewards you get!!!!

mewmartigan

Managed to run my way through the Catacombs to the boss without finding a bonfire...then did the same thing at the smouldering lake. Needless to say, the bosses beat me good and then I had to do a bonfire search, haha. The boss at the smouldering lake I had down to just a sliver of health when he killed me. So frustrating!

I still have to explore the lake though. I have been spending all my level ups recently on stamina so I can combo hits better and still roll away.

If I remember right, I was about level 45 or so when I beat Bloodborne...seems leveling in dark souls is a lot more as I am at 41 or 42 right now and almost halfway through the game I think.

Noonan

Got through the Cathedral over the weekend. Slow progress, I know but I split time with FF14. Very underwhelmed with the Deacon boss. I don't think I'm over-leveled by any stretch and took him out on the 2nd try once I knew what was going on.

dsa_shea

I've seen a few different things where he is considered the easiest boss in the game. I won't mind a breather once I get to him.

Noonan

I actually said out loud "this can't be it" when I killed him. It wasn't walk-through easy but it certainly wasn't up to DS par for bosses.

Gooter

What builds are you using? I chose Knight (currently lvl 32 - just cleared the Undead Settlement area) mainly focusing on Vig, End, Str, Vit when I need it, and put some points into Faith so I could use the basic heal miracle and the Astora Sword. Could use some guidance on the following:

1. I want to start investing in a weapon so which is a good one to use? I have the starting longsword, broadsword, claymore, Astora Straight, the frost one from Undead Settlement, and am trying to farm for the dark sword. Also have the Deep Axe from the Mimic. I used a sharp gem (I think) on the Astora. I also have a fire, dark, and heavy gems (probably more but can't remember what I have). I have at least 20 shards avail.

2. I've heard adding the fire gem to the longsword is a good idea. Should I do this or save it for something else?

3. I bought the fireball pyromancy to test it out. Can you aim/focus with spells like you can with the bow? I had a hard time trying to hit anything with the spell; either under or over threw it.

Thanks

Noonan

I use a Sorcerer build with DEX as a secondary.

Mostly a staff dropped from an enemy (can't remember the name), longbow, and a hand axe I've upgraded.

You have different paths you can take. Making a weapon "Raw" purely upgrades its damage. You can add an element instead like fire. Works really well against things that are weak to fire but won't have nearly the base damage as a Raw weapon. I keep my main weapon Raw and have a fire based dagger for when it's useful.

You can't zoom/aim spells. Only lock on the enemy. Manually trying to use magic is terrible in this game. You really gotta lock on to your target.

foxdvd

I am level 42. I am avoiding all spoilers on the game and just playing it as I go. Game is fantastic, but it took longer to get its hooks into me compared to Bloodborne and Dark Souls 1. Now I can't stop thinking about it. I have found the bosses to be easier than any souls game though.

I am doing a strength build and using the Butcher's knife. The weapon art gives you about 40-60 life on hit and it really stacks up. (the weapon itself gives you 1-2 hp on hit if the art is not active) It also has A strength scaling and ends up S when leveled up. I have almost always used slow big weapons in the games, and actually this is the first quick weapon I have ever really used...though it still hits hard.

Also, I put a blessed gem on my shield. It lowered the % block from 100 to 95..which is not that big of a deal, but adds life regeneration. Even though it is like 2 HP a second, it has dramatically reduced the need for flask, and allowed me to explore a lot more. My friend said he has a ring that also adds 2 life per second but I did not want to know where he got it because I want to find it on my own...but honestly the 2 HP alone is enough to get you back up between fights.

I am shocked they have been able to hold the quality of these games for as long as they have.

RichC2

Out of curiosity, does this game ever ramp up the visual variety? I'm not super far (on the boss just after Farron Keep) and the environments thus far have just been exceptionally monotone.

slop101

I think the environments change up quite a bit, but the tone/aesthetic pretty much stays the same.

lopper

I felt the same way about the bosses in this game until I got to a certain point, then one particular boss just wrecked my world over and over and over. Finally buckled and summoned someone in to help.

And I LOVE the Butcher's Knife. I used it all the way to like level 70, and only decided to switch to something else for the sake of variety. Now I'm using a Dark Sword +5 and it's carving things up nicely.

mewmartigan

ok...when facing Yhorm, how the bloody hell do you

dom56

It's easy

mewmartigan

Thanks, I will give that a try. I actually never used stance before either. Had to look up how to do that too.

EDIT: yeah, that worked. Thanks! And apparently stance is only L2.

Took out the giant and the pontiff tonight and got to the Anor Londo boss. These later areas seem really small compared to the undead settlement and Lothric.

Noonan

Any tips for the 2nd form of Abyss Watchers? Tough boss.

dom56

He use that flame weapon so get some flame resistance gears. He weak to lighting so having infused lighting weapon would work. Tried to get behind him and attack and dodge.

foxdvd

I am level 70 now. I stand by my earlier point that no boss in this game has really been hard like the older souls games...the game overall though is a challenge..

I did find myself in a hard fight though with what I guess is a mini boss...easily 10 times harder than any boss I have fought so far...In Irithyll you have to fight two at the same time..this kicked my ass so many times I almost gave up on them. Finally I was able to take them on one at a time and the fight got a lot easier..but honestly the most frustrating fight so far.

As for boss weapons I finally found one I love...and I REALLY love it.

http://darksouls3.wiki.fextralife.co...ned+Greatsword

I had been using the Butcher's Knife, but later when you are fighting so many shield guys I had a hard time breaking guard...so I switched to the zweihander. I really loved it and leveled it up to +8. Then the above weapon was available and I decided to try it out. My lord this thing hits hard. At level 5 with 40 strength and 40 Dex it will have over 600 damage. The speed is actually decent for a big sword, and the shield breaking is amazing. What makes it great though is a charged R2 attack adds fire damage to the sword. This uses no FP..it just happens, and enemies weak against fire are destroyed by it. The weapon art is stomp with the normal up swing but it also lights your sword on fire..and then it stays on fire for about 20 seconds (this adds another 80 fire damage putting this weapon right at 700 damage)

If you like the Ultra Greatswords at all, give this bad boy a try. Moves

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzU4xaxVmyk

mewmartigan

I've been running with the uchigatana in one hand and the heretic's staff in the other. I have a much easier time beating knights by hanging back and killing them with a great heavy soul arrow.

As for the katana, I've been putting a lot of level into stamina so I can chain attacks. I can usually kill most enemies before they have a chance. v

I've got the soul of the guy needed to get the profaned sword...i'll need to put some points into strength though. My sorcerer build is a bit lacking in that.

dom56

There a cheap easy way to kill those big knights.

slop101

uteotw

That is awesome.

FINALLY got out of the !)@(*@! catacombs and now I have to find some doll to progress. No idea where to go for that, so any help would be appreciated.