Dark Souls Catch-All

How does this guy make more money than me

Dude's terrible, never been a fan, but it's fun to see him play DkS... he's quite bad at it, though he may be doing it on purpose hehehe

So I gave Andre the blacksmith the Divine Ember I got from the butterfly boss...now what? Since I am a Cleric I would like to ascend my weapon. How long do I have to wait? When I gave it to him he said to come back. I'm a little confused.

You need to find Green shards ... then after you upgrade something to +5 you can make it Divine with a Green shard. Then use more Greens to get to +5 Divine. Then White chunks and the Large Divine ember for more.

Got it thanks! Will find out where to get Green Shards. Seems like it's Undead Burg Basement then to Catacombs from here.

You can farm slimes in the Depths for green shards; I did.

Also the larger slug things in Blighttown.

psu_13 wrote:

Also the larger slug things in Blighttown.

That's the best way to do it, they don't drop them all that often but it's five at a time when they do.

So I took over a month long break from this after throwing myself at Artorias forty times or so. Fired it up tonight and beat him on my third try It's a Christmas miracle!!!

This is with my SL3 two handed Uchigatana build. I'm sure it'll be smooth sailing from here

If you invade someone, and he's already fighting a red phantom, and he kills the phantom, and then he kills you but not before you get the souls for the other red phantom, and the other phantom drops 1.2 million souls ... what level were the two people you ran into?

Asking for a friend.

psu_13 wrote:

If you invade someone, and he's already fighting a red phantom, and he kills the phantom, and then he kills you but not before you get the souls for the other red phantom, and the other phantom drops 1.2 million souls ... what level were the two people you ran into?

Asking for a friend.

huh?

I was fooling with PVP tonight and I invaded somebody who had already summoned a second red phantom to fight.

They were fighting and just as I got in, the second phantom died.

When this happens apparently you get some of the souls that the host is rewarded for the kill. So just as I was being dark-beade to death by the host I noticed that I also got 1.2M souls.

I think the # of souls you get is a function of the level of the invader, so I was wondering how high level these guys had to be for one of them to drop 1.2M souls when dying.

If you are invading, you should get 10% the cost of the last soul level that person purchased; if you were invaded you get 50%.

AFAIK the maximum soul level is 715 which would yield ~895,000 souls, so, uh, that's weird. It is perhaps possible that because it was another invader who died it actually gave you the 50% bonus, putting his soul level around 444. That's a lot of souls.

Apparently if you are a second phantom you get half what the host gets. The host gets 50%, so I got 25%, so the level is in the 500s.

psu_13 wrote:

If you invade someone, and he's already fighting a red phantom, and he kills the phantom, and then he kills you but not before you get the souls for the other red phantom, and the other phantom drops 1.2 million souls ... what level were the two people you ran into?

Asking for a friend.

This is like one of those math questions, right? If Johnny is on a train travelling 40 miles an hour, and Sally is on another train...

...what colour socks is the Capra demon wearing?

I killed the Taurus demon :). The trickiest part was getting to him but I'm settling in with the combat now.

Well I found Manus. Then he one shot me. Fun fun fun.

Renji wrote:

Well I found Manus. Then he one shot me. Fun fun fun.

There is a reasonably quick way to run to him without fighting other enemies, FYI.

Fedaykin98 wrote:
Renji wrote:

Well I found Manus. Then he one shot me. Fun fun fun.

There is a reasonably quick way to run to him without fighting other enemies, FYI.

Spoiler:

I've been using the long elevator. The only guy I kill is the one magic user on the ledge. It's not too long a run but I am curious if there's a faster way. Also really wish sif's summoning sign was outside the fog wall...

That's probably the best way. It's your SL3 right? That black magic crap will kill you as you run past half the time if you take the other route. If you get in the habit of sending the elevator back up it's not that long. Very hard fight though!

Are you using Pyromancy?

Renji wrote:
Fedaykin98 wrote:
Renji wrote:

Well I found Manus. Then he one shot me. Fun fun fun.

There is a reasonably quick way to run to him without fighting other enemies, FYI.

Spoiler:

I've been using the long elevator. The only guy I kill is the one magic user on the ledge. It's not too long a run but I am curious if there's a faster way. Also really wish sif's summoning sign was outside the fog wall...

You're doing it right, though you don't have to kill that guy. Good luck!

kyrieee wrote:

That's probably the best way. It's your SL3 right? That black magic crap will kill you as you run past half the time if you take the other route. If you get in the habit of sending the elevator back up it's not that long. Very hard fight though!

Are you using Pyromancy?

It is indeed my SL3. I do have my pyromancy fully upgraded. Is there a spell in particular that works good against him?

I used Great Combustion on him. If you combine Crown of Dusk with the Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring you get a ton of damage. Additionally you can stack that with Power Within and the Red Tearstone Ring, but then you need the Sanctus Shield for its healing to offset Power Within so you can't block. That's how I ended up doing it, but it's a horrible way to learn the fight because every attack 1-shots you. When you get reasonably good at dodging his attacks though, it's a good method. To trigger the RTSR I used dung pies to toxic myself at the bonfire then stopped to use a moss about halfway. I think it only took me 6 Great Combustions to kill him, that's how much damage you do. At the very least try using CoD and BDR.

I picked this up in the steam sale and I'm about ready to jump in I think. I've had almost zero interest in this game before now so pretty much all my knowledge is from podcast discussions I've only half paid attention to and the general internet "noise" surrounding this game.

I gather it's hard, terribly unforgiving and not very hand holdy

I don't mind difficult combat, I'm used to playing games on hard and being punished for mistakes. Backtracking, retreading and general lack of explanation and direction will quickly frustrate me though, so this might be bit of a challenge.

The steam thread linked me to some general tips about the game, but I have a few specific questions that I'm hoping to get some input on before I dive in later this week:

  • Class system - From what I've read, the class you choose isn't *super* important in this game, however I imagine that class carries at least some weight. So how does the class system work? Are they a few good "starting" classes that can be recommended?
  • Stats - Is there general guidelines about how to allocate stat points? Is each stat category explained well in game?
  • Skills/Magic system - In addition to stats, is there a skill system of any kind in this game? How does "magic" work? (Is there magic?)
  • Weapons - Any guidance on what weapons to use? Does it matter? Is it clear in-game which are better than others.
  • Equipment Upgrades - How does the equipment upgrade system work. Are some upgrades worth pursuing ahead of others? Are there upgrades that should be avoided? Are upgrades wasted if I change equipment?
  • Objectives - Are the objectives made clear? Does the game do a decent job of telling me where to go and what to do next or will I be wandering around lost a good part of the time?
  • World Map - Is there a map in game? If not would it be usefull to find one online for reference while playing or is that not needed?
  • Other Systems - Are there any other systems in this game that maybe aren't explained super well that it would be helpful to know about?
  • How Long - Assuming I don't decide this game is total BS and stick with it About how long will it take me to complete?
cls33 wrote:

Stuff

The steam thread linked me to some general tips about the game, but I have a few specific questions that I'm hoping to get some input on before I dive in later this week:

  • Class system - From what I've read, the class you choose isn't *super* important in this game, however I imagine that class carries at least some weight. So how does the class system work? Are they a few good "starting" classes that can be recommended?
  • Stats - Is there general guidelines about how to allocate stat points? Is each stat category explained well in game?
  • Skills/Magic system - In addition to stats, is there a skill system of any kind in this game? How does "magic" work? (Is there magic?)
  • Weapons - Any guidance on what weapons to use? Does it matter? Is it clear in-game which are better than others.
  • Equipment Upgrades - How does the equipment upgrade system work. Are some upgrades worth pursuing ahead of others? Are there upgrades that should be avoided? Are upgrades wasted if I change equipment?
  • Objectives - Are the objectives made clear? Does the game do a decent job of telling me where to go and what to do next or will I be wandering around lost a good part of the time?
  • World Map - Is there a map in game? If not would it be usefull to find one online for reference while playing or is that not needed?
  • Other Systems - Are there any other systems in this game that maybe aren't explained super well that it would be helpful to know about?
  • How Long - Assuming I don't decide this game is total BS and stick with it About how long will it take me to complete?

Here goes:

  • Class system - Class matters almost not at all. Starting equipment can be a bonus, I think generally the Pyromancer is considered the ideal choice.
  • Stats - Put in only enough Strength and Dexterity to use the weapon you find most appealing. Spend most of the rest on Endurance (at least to 40) and Vitality
  • Skills/Magic system - Magic needs Intelligence, minimum stat requirements to cast spells, and Int boosts the power of your spell casting
  • Weapons - Try every weapon you find, unless the stat requirements are prohibitive. 16 Str and 16 Dex will let you use most weapons. Quit and start over if you need to, as learning what weapon makes you happiest is very important. Moveset is more important than damage output.
  • Equipment Upgrades - Weapon upgrades are worthwhile as are shield upgrades, armor upgrades less so. All upgrades are reversible - can anyone confirm this?
  • Objectives - Objectives are extremely obtuse. Wandering lost is unlikely unless you choose the wrong path early on. If an area seems dramatically more difficult, it's probably not the right direction to go.
  • World Map - No in-game map. I never found maps all that useful except for finding a specific item I wanted.
  • Other Systems - The Covenant system you will want to read up on at one of the various wikis
  • How Long - If you're a proficient gamer and learn the lessons this game has to teach, you can likely finish in a few weeks, play time around 60-80 hours. Faster if you're a super-genius
cls33 wrote:

I picked this up in the steam sale and I'm about ready to jump in I think. I've had almost zero interest in this game before now so pretty much all my knowledge is from podcast discussions I've only half paid attention to and the general internet "noise" surrounding this game.

I gather it's hard, terribly unforgiving and not very hand holdy

I don't mind difficult combat, I'm used to playing games on hard and being punished for mistakes. Backtracking, retreading and general lack of explanation and direction will quickly frustrate me though, so this might be bit of a challenge.

The steam thread linked me to some general tips about the game, but I have a few specific questions that I'm hoping to get some input on before I dive in later this week:

Frankly that's a massive list of stuff to explain in one go, and to some degree you're probably better off looking at the wiki(s), playing a few hours then coming back with a pared down set of questions. There's no way to go into this game fully prepared because there are a ton of systems. If you aren't up for some experimentation/trial and error you might have a tough go.

FWIW class really only defines starting items. Any class can use anything one found based on stats.
Stats: endurance and vitality are most important.
Read item descriptions.

Quick hits.

1. Starting class does not matter much. Each one is just an initial allocation of stat points. These give hints about how to allocate stat upgrades if you want to play that sort of character (clerics upgrade faith, sorcerers upgrade int, etc). But these are not hard and fast.

2. Stats mostly dictate either how much HP/Stamina you have (stamina is super important) or how much damage various stat-scaling weapons or spells will do. Weapons can be upgraded along 4 different lines: normal (strength or dex scaling, or both), magic/divine (faith or int scaling), and elemental (fire, lightning, no scaling). There are specific blacksmiths that do the specific upgrades. Normal and Magic/Divine are the most straightforward to find. Fire and Lightning come later, although there are walkthroughs that show you how to get a fire weapon early if you are good. And yes, upgrades are wasted if you change weapons. But this is not too bad because beginning materials aren't too hard to find.

3. There are three spell systems. Magic, Miracles, and Pyromancy. For beginners I recommend Pyromancy... with Magic next. If you know what you are doing you can get supremely overpowered with either one and basically burn almost all the bosses down.

4. My first play-through probably took 40-50 hours, maybe longer. I got a lot better at it after three times.

5. No the game does not tell you where to go. Not really.

6. I'd say that there isn't too much backtracking in the game, except for the mechanic where you have to run areas multiple times to get back to boss fights. Because the whole level respawns whenever you die or rest, you potentially need to clear the path over and over again ... but this is a bit of an illusion. Learn to run these areas without killing everything all over again. You can usually do it, though sometimes it's not clear how. This is by far the most common reason for people giving up on the bosses, I'd say.

I played this game with a lot of help from walkthroughs and various videos. I don't think I really "lost" anything by doing so ... so keep that in mind. There are a few side-quests that are so convoluted that I'm not sure how anyone found them the first time. Also, the game has a way of still being able to destroy you even if you know what is coming. In my latest play-through I even managed to let the easiest boss in the whole game kill me, which was pretty humiliating.

psu_13 wrote:

Also, the game has a way of still being able to destroy you even if you know what is coming.

Indeed!

IMAGE(http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2013/267/3/2/dark_souls_by_alo81-d6nrmmw.gif)

Gah, now I have to go watch that again.

cls33 wrote:
  • Class system - From what I've read, the class you choose isn't *super* important in this game, however I imagine that class carries at least some weight. So how does the class system work? Are they a few good "starting" classes that can be recommended?

The class is somewhat irrelevant. It determines your starting stats and this in turn determines whether you have access to spells from the start of the game or not. However you're free to completely rebalance your stats as the game progresses and put together any 'build' ou wish

cls33 wrote:
  • Stats - Is there general guidelines about how to allocate stat points? Is each stat category explained well in game?

Usually you'll allocate stats to allow you to wield the weapons or spells you want and to ensure that you are not too encumbered (esp. important for pure melee builds.

cls33 wrote:
  • Skills/Magic system - In addition to stats, is there a skill system of any kind in this game? How does "magic" work? (Is there magic?)

There is magic, you need the appropriate casting item for the style of spell and you need enough stats in the appropriate category to cast. You find or buy spells as you go. Pyromancer is often suggested as one of the best starting classes as you get early access to some good spells

cls33 wrote:
  • Weapons - Any guidance on what weapons to use? Does it matter? Is it clear in-game which are better than others.

It does matter but a very large portion comes down to your play style. Most of the major classes of weapon can be upgraded to a similar point of lethality, so it often comes down to the move set you're most comfortable with. Personally I like like the backstab so I typically wielded a weapon that allows that. I played the game first with one of the basic single handed swords which I fully upgraded to a fairly powerful lightning weapon, by no means the most deadly weapon available in the game but plenty adequate for a first play through. There are other weapons that are particularly useful for specific scenarios.

cls33 wrote:
  • Equipment Upgrades - How does the equipment upgrade system work. Are some upgrades worth pursuing ahead of others? Are there upgrades that should be avoided? Are upgrades wasted if I change equipment?

With very few exceptions it is almost always better to upgrade your equipment than it is to level your toon. Character levelling gives you very, very modest gains in power whereas levelling the weapons or armour is invariably much, much more effective. Typically your level your character's stats to allow you to wield some weapon of choice, then you'll level that weapon.

cls33 wrote:
  • Objectives - Are the objectives made clear? Does the game do a decent job of telling me where to go and what to do next or will I be wandering around lost a good part of the time?

To begin with it seems very, very unfocussed and it may take you a while to find the correct initial path. Once you've rung the first bell and definitely by the 2nd you'll find you understand the lay of the land and some of the NPCs will give you some more direct instruction.

cls33 wrote:
  • World Map - Is there a map in game? If not would it be usefull to find one online for reference while playing or is that not needed?

There isn't a map and frankly one wouldn't be all that useful, you'll become very familiar with how all the areas of the game are connected as you go anyway. Any map I have seen so far has been kinda interesting but not all that useful.

cls33 wrote:
  • Other Systems - Are there any other systems in this game that maybe aren't explained super well that it would be helpful to know about?

Not a great deal is explained with a great deal of clarity. One thing to note many weapons have damage that scales according to your stats. So a sword for magic users often deals more damage if your int stat is high. How the scaling works is definitely non-trivial though, I'm not sure I've seen a good and fully comprehensive explanation of how it works. Don't be ashamed of using the dark souls wiki to check stuff out, although too much reading around might spoil things.

cls33 wrote:
  • How Long - Assuming I don't decide this game is total BS and stick with it About how long will it take me to complete?

Somewhere between 50 and 90 hours is typical on first play through