Dark Souls Catch-All

At level 31 you can take him on. It is just a frenetic fight with little room for error, because they pounce on you so fast and furious and do not let up. I have soloed the Capra a couple of times, but I only take on a boss without help if I have no other choice.

On one solo attempt I was a min/maxed high level tank and I just went toe-to-toe with high endurance/vitality/poise, a good shield, and the Drake Sword. I had all my equipment upgraded as far as it could go.

With my other character I went right under the columned archway to the right and strafed behind him, then used my movement speed and the stairs to divide and conquer. It was nuts and I was sweating and breathing hard by the end, but it is doable. I dread taking on that boss alone.

Chumpy_McChump wrote:

So far every time I've walked into that room, I get either knocked down by the demon's first attack and then hedged in by the dogs, or trapped on walls or bloody rocks (and then dogs) while trying to get around him.

What level is appropriate to face him? I'm currently 31.

I should mention I'm using elite knight armour, around +3 on the whole set, with the boar helm+2 and havel's ring/wolf ring. Makes tanking him and the dogs easy, even when hemmed in. Half the time I couldn't even see anything, and I did get trapped a couple times, but just shielded up and judiciously lowered the shield for regen until I could roll into a good spot. I managed to nail one of the dogs while trapped in the first corner, then made it to the stairs to take out the second.

Oh well, I guess no Knight Kirk for me. I took out the gaping dragon, electing not to wait for kirk's invasion. I'd really like that thorn armour, maybe I'll get it on my cleric.

Summoning a friend or two makes Capra super easy.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

Summoning a friend or two makes Capra super easy.

Nothing is easier than summoning Mildred for Quelaag

Hm. So I'm thinking of a faith build for my PC/DLC character, since I did sorcery and pryo/strength for my two PS3 characters. Still, it looks like I should start Pyro for a nice backup damage, right?

Since I can pick up a Faith Talisman early in the opening of the game, but wouldn't get a pyro flame until much later, that really seems to be the best start. It's not like I need the cleric robes to be a faith-based caster.

I don't think I've run out of lightning bolts yet, with 20 of them. I like the subtle RP feel of being pure cleric from day one.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

I don't think I've run out of lightning bolts yet, with 20 of them. I like the subtle RP feel of being pure cleric from day one.

Is that 20 between bonfire rests?

Kamakazi010654 wrote:
Fedaykin98 wrote:

I don't think I've run out of lightning bolts yet, with 20 of them. I like the subtle RP feel of being pure cleric from day one.

Is that 20 between bonfire rests?

Yes, but in my experience, across two casters, I rarely use magic except on bosses. The combat in DkS is just too good, and I always hoard resources in these games.

The only times I use magic on non-bosses or black knights etc. are when I'm doing something that I know won't end in a boss fight - like farming, exploring, just moving around the world (maybe from one blacksmith to another). Then I'll use it some just to speed things up.

I think I may need to upgrade my shield/armour so that I can at least stay standing for the first hit or two. I haven't figured how summoning works yet; I'm not sure if I want to know yet.

My God, it's beautiful. Finished the Asylum with a quick death-free run.

So glad I double-dipped.

DSFix is awesome. Got borderless window mode running, intros skipped, it's perfect. And it let's me replace the button textures to match the familiar PS3 ones I know and love.

I did have repeated crashes logging into GFWL. Apparently it doesn't like the borderless window mode. So I had to hit F8 (thanks DSFixKeys.ini) to toggle the mode off for GFWL login, and then toggle it back on once the overlay disappears. A small price to pay for skipping all the logos and having full use of both monitors during gameplay.

I guess I could play with the DSFix AA settings or other stuff. But it already looks gorgeous. The really tempting thing to do is toggle it to HDMI on my TV, and play in true 1080p, with my long charging cord on my couch... so it would be just like the PS3, but better. Not sure if my old GPU will push out that much, since I'm only playing 1440x900 on my main monitor. Guess I'll play around with it one of these days.

Chumpy_McChump wrote:

I think I may need to upgrade my shield/armour so that I can at least stay standing for the first hit or two. I haven't figured how summoning works yet; I'm not sure if I want to know yet. :)

Your shield really only gets a little more stable from upgrading. It doesn't passively affect your defense. You may want to switch to a large shield that doesn't parry if you're looking to tank. There's a lot of figuring out to do in this game. Summoning is way more simple than I would have guessed.

My summoning tips:

Spoiler:

You don't need to be human to get summoned. If you're struggling to survive in a boss fight, drop your sign and hope that some one calls you to their game. There's no risk to you while you're summoned, only reward. You don't lose anything if you die as a phantom. You can learn a lot about a boss/area, get free souls, and earn a humanity if you defeat the boss. Sometimes your summoner will even drop an item for you. It's pretty easy to get summoned if you drop your sign by a bonfire near a boss, or right outside the boss' lair. The wikis explain how summoning level ranges work, but you may have difficulty if you're playing on PC thanks to GFWL.

To summon someone you must be in human form. You just walk around and hit the prompt when you step on a summoning sign. Yellow summoning signs call 'sunbros' that have access to lightning spear miracles. These spells are almost always really effective against bosses.

Stele wrote:

My God, it's beautiful. Finished the Asylum with a quick death-free run.

So glad I double-dipped.

DSFix is awesome. Got borderless window mode running, intros skipped, it's perfect. And it let's me replace the button textures to match the familiar PS3 ones I know and love.

I did have repeated crashes logging into GFWL. Apparently it doesn't like the borderless window mode. So I had to hit F8 (thanks DSFixKeys.ini) to toggle the mode off for GFWL login, and then toggle it back on once the overlay disappears. A small price to pay for skipping all the logos and having full use of both monitors during gameplay.

I guess I could play with the DSFix AA settings or other stuff. But it already looks gorgeous. The really tempting thing to do is toggle it to HDMI on my TV, and play in true 1080p, with my long charging cord on my couch... so it would be just like the PS3, but better. Not sure if my old GPU will push out that much, since I'm only playing 1440x900 on my main monitor. Guess I'll play around with it one of these days.

What video card do you have? If you have a 660Ti or better you can probably oversample to get extremely good anti-aliasing. So, your card would render a 2560x1440 image and output a 1920x1080 image. That's the first setting you can play with. You may be okay with the rest, but I strongly recommend playing with the HUD settings. It looks so much better when you make them about half the size and give them a little transparency.

The only issues I have with everything is that whenever text boxes appear there are some slightly weird things going. It's related to the problem where you see lines on the screen during the intros.

I remember DSfix mentioning some goofiness with removing the intro screen so I never turned it off. Just be aware that it's possible it will cause issues. That might be what's screwing up your live login, not the borderless window thing. I didn't use the DSfix GUI found on the mod nexus because it has some features removed. I just edited the INI which actually makes a bit more sense when you go through it because it is well commented.

Anyways, enjoy! Let us know if you have any specific questions about the dsfix.ini I played around with it a lot.

Edit: Gah, I just noticed you mentioned old GPU. At any rate, you can at least play with the HUD stuff.

As an addition to Solid's co-op post - Lightning is only for people using Faith magic, so even though my sorceror is a SunBro, and owns those spells, he doesn't use them. Most other SunBros I've encountered do not throw lightning. But my cleric was born to do so.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

As an addition to Solid's co-op post - Lightning is only for people using Faith magic, so even though my sorceror is a SunBro, and owns those spells, he doesn't use them. Most other SunBros I've encountered do not throw lightning. But my cleric was born to do so. :)

I went out of my way to get the lightning spells on one of my characters because they just look so damn cool compared to all the other magic spells in the game.

Well you need 25 faith to become a Sunbro. So they have access to it, if they're not using it they ought to have a better ranged option.

S0LIDARITY wrote:

Well you need 25 faith to become a Sunbro. So they have access to it, if they're not using it they ought to have a better ranged option.

You don't actually need any Faith. You can co-op your way into it.

Edit: And yeah, best looking spells in the game by far!

Fedaykin98 wrote:

You don't actually need any Faith. You can co-op your way into it.

I find this lack of faith disturbing!
At the very least, Sunbros are big into co-op.

Chumpy_McChump wrote:

I think I may need to upgrade my shield/armour so that I can at least stay standing for the first hit or two. I haven't figured how summoning works yet; I'm not sure if I want to know yet. :)

I got past Capra Demon on a character with light armour by taking advantage of mobility:

Spoiler:

Entered at a dead run and jumped slightly to the right of him so that his initial swing misses, then circled behind him and up the stairs to kill the dogs one at a time, then plunging attacks and a little of the sword -> butt that was mentioned earlier

This game is giving me a bad case of alt-itis. Got a pyro/dex character at O&S, but been having a lot of fun with a strength-based character smooshing things with the Zweihander, and I kinda like the ease with which sorcery-based characters can blitz through areas I've done already, and this talk of cool-looking faith spells has got me wanting to experiment with that too. Gah!

This game is giving me a bad case of alt-itis.

It's not fair that one game has this much to do in it, and came in with so little fanfare. Glad it got a sequel announced. I'm hoping this style of action-rpg grows tremendously in popularity.

S0LIDARITY wrote:
This game is giving me a bad case of alt-itis.

It's not fair that one game has this much to do in it, and came in with so little fanfare. Glad it got a sequel announced. I'm hoping this style of action-rpg grows tremendously in popularity.

Dark Souls was my most anticipated game of the last several years. I think the problem is the fanfare was written off because of the rumored difficulty level.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:

What video card do you have? If you have a 660Ti or better you can probably oversample to get extremely good anti-aliasing. So, your card would render a 2560x1440 image and output a 1920x1080 image. That's the first setting you can play with. You may be okay with the rest, but I strongly recommend playing with the HUD settings. It looks so much better when you make them about half the size and give them a little transparency.

The only issues I have with everything is that whenever text boxes appear there are some slightly weird things going. It's related to the problem where you see lines on the screen during the intros.

I remember DSfix mentioning some goofiness with removing the intro screen so I never turned it off. Just be aware that it's possible it will cause issues. That might be what's screwing up your live login, not the borderless window thing. I didn't use the DSfix GUI found on the mod nexus because it has some features removed. I just edited the INI which actually makes a bit more sense when you go through it because it is well commented.

Anyways, enjoy! Let us know if you have any specific questions about the dsfix.ini I played around with it a lot.

Edit: Gah, I just noticed you mentioned old GPU. At any rate, you can at least play with the HUD stuff.

Radeon 4670. Not super old, but old enough. Run most new things in Med now instead of High.

Definitely was the borderless window thing because I tried turning off the skip intro thing first, and GFWL was still freezing. I do know how to hunt bugs. I had a City of Heroes badge that proves it.

Yeah the HUD seems big. I've seen a lot of various HUD mods on the nexus. Not sure which, if any to try, or just try the adjustments in DSFix.

I also saw some Text Mods on the nexus. One for HiRes fonts and one for Super HiRes fonts or something. Maybe you should try one of those?

I did try turning AA on for my run through early Undead Burg. Looks even better, and I don't seem to be having any slowdown. But that's still on the PC, 1440x900.

S0LIDARITY wrote:

Well you need 25 faith to become a Sunbro. So they have access to it, if they're not using it they ought to have a better ranged option.

Helping defeat bosses lowers the requirement by 5 for each one you help take down.

Stele wrote:

Hm. So I'm thinking of a faith build for my PC/DLC character, since I did sorcery and pryo/strength for my two PS3 characters. Still, it looks like I should start Pyro for a nice backup damage, right?

Since I can pick up a Faith Talisman early in the opening of the game, but wouldn't get a pyro flame until much later, that really seems to be the best start. It's not like I need the cleric robes to be a faith-based caster.

The default Talisman for the Cleric is better until your hit level 40 Faith. The mace is great for breaking shield guards and staggering.

Pyro is a great starting class to make things a bit easier early on, but it can get a bit one note after a while.

Personally, I like the Wanderer as a starting class. It has well balanced armor, starts at level 3, and the beginning stats to use Soul Arrow, Longbow, and a Longsword.

Not sure if this has already been mentioned:

IMAGE(https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/293580_10151193895799856_2021776780_n.png)

The high res fonts are great! You already have the button ones. I think there are a few that have high res icons, too. I ended up trying maybe 5 or 6 different things that looked interesting. Sometimes, there will be conflicting .png file names. If that is the case, just examine both of them and pick the one you like best. I have quite a mix right now sitting in the texture override folder.

I just go to the UI category on the nexus and organize by number of downloads. That gives you an idea of what is best. I then picked what looked good. I don't like Simple UI. I've still got parts of that, I believe, but it makes for a really ugly health/endurance bar. I overwrote the .png for the health/endurance bar with something else. I believe it was a part of Silver UI.

And MANUS is down!

Spoiler:

I took on him in the morning while having breakfast before work and, using an incredibly patient approach - even for a game like DkS - I managed to whittle his health down by playing bait and reengaging him when Sif would start getting the brunt of the damage. I'd been using a mix of close-quarters dodge/hit tactics with some sorceries thrown in the mix before, with good but ultimately unsuccessful results. This time I was all defense and sorceries, utilizing the silver pendant with near-perfect timing (he only managed to hit me flush twice). I must say one of his dark sorceries is cheap as it seems to wait for you to stop using the pendant regardless of how much you spam it; it just hangs there and, since one can't block and use the pendant in tandem, well, I had to choose that sorcery hit in lieu of Manus' strikes. Even as I noticed that I needed only a handful of hits to finish him off I managed to keep a stoic approach unlike the usual excitement I had to fight down when facing tough bosses in the game and having them against the ropes. It was almost masterful if I do say so myself.

Anyways, just really proud. It's the single toughest boss I've fought in NG+ in Dark Souls and, therefore, the hardest boss of the game overall for me.

EDIT: That is, of course, not counting Hellkite, my bane... one day, perhaps.

I was able to take Hellkite out on my first really attempt (once I understood how to fight him in the first place). DLC bosses on the other hand...

SixteenBlue wrote:

I was able to take Hellkite out on my first really attempt (once I understood how to fight him in the first place). DLC bosses on the other hand...

I've tried every approach I can think of plus a few suggested in different vids to no avail. Just like in the real-lfe fight-game, perhaps, there will always be someone who's got your number. In DkS, that is Hellkite. Having said that, I'll probably go try again - yes, I'm that stubborn.

S0LIDARITY wrote:
Fedaykin98 wrote:

You don't actually need any Faith. You can co-op your way into it.

I find this lack of faith disturbing!
At the very least, Sunbros are big into co-op.

I laughed, and yeah, whenever I summon a SunBro, I figure I'm getting someone who's way into co-op.

That's a satisfying night: Capra Demon, Titanite Demon, giant rat thing in the sewers, and the Black Knight in Darkroot Basin. I'm content.