# Demon // Dark Souls I + II // Bloodborne



## ohoolahan

Hey

Someone of you guys playing the Souls-Series?

No game ( since Final Fantasy ) has fascinated me so much in the past view years. For now I like to watch Speedruns and all that stuff.

Someone else, who shares this expression and expierence with me?


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## Choop

Haven't played Dark Souls 2 yet, but love the first one and Demon's Souls!


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## beneharris

I have a huge boner for these games. Probably my favorite series, ever.


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## rifftrauma

Platinum'd Demon and Dark 1/2, ready for bzboodborne!!


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## MoshJosh

Loved and beat Dark Souls 1 and 2 but. . . I BOUGHT AN XBOX!!! WHY BLOODBORNE WHY MUST YOU BE EXCLUSIVE!


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## ohoolahan

MoshJosh said:


> Loved and beat Dark Souls 1 and 2 but. . . I BOUGHT AN XBOX!!! WHY BLOODBORNE WHY MUST YOU BE EXCLUSIVE!




Bloodborne is my only reason for the ps4 haha


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## WiseSplinter

Me too, getting the Bloodborne + PS4 bundle asap.
So amped for this! Umbasa.


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## TurnTheAirBlue

Platinumed Demons Souls and Dark Souls but could not get into Dark Souls 2 for some reason, just didn't grab me right from the start like the other two games did.


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## ohoolahan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tvi51MDOZTQ

Looks sooooo nice! Man cant wait!


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## MattThePenguin

Bloodborne is the only reason I still play video games. I had thought I completely lost interest until Demon's Souls became a PS+ game a couple of years ago


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## Yeah_man

holy ....!!!

I DIDNT KNOW!

buying ps4 and taking 2 weeks off work at end of March!


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## 07adams88

Love these games can't get enough of them and definitely cannot wait for Bloodborne. 

I got Demon Souls a few day after it came out and had no idea what I was in for. I spent the next 3 days just trying to figure out how to get past the first world lmao. Once I got past that and learned the mechanics I was fine until... duhn duhn duhn. That stupid valley of defilement... I don't know how many times I dodged right off a freaking walkway -.-

Anyways we should start sharing PSN names so we can meet up when bloodborne drops. I usually try to play my first run through solo before I start summoning but after wards I always enjoy company.

PSN- oOMrGogglesOo


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## leftyguitarjoe

I play these way too much. I've bought Ds1 on PC and 360, and I'm getting the new version of Ds2 when I get my new computer.

Its gotten to the point in Ds2 where I can get the sinner's soul without dying. I have more hours in Ds2 by far. 

I've beaten Ds1 3 times. It is a masterpiece. Its up there with Ocarina of Time in my opinion. My main uses a +15 zwei. I'll have to do a dex build sometime.

Not Demon Souls though. I've never owned a Sony console. My best friend is getting Bloodborne though so I'll be able to play his.


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## splinter8451

I played Dark Souls 1 for... 700 hours? Maybe more  definitely one of my favorite games of all time. There are so many areas that are beautiful. I could take screenshots all day. 

Dark Souls 2 I played through twice. The world was not as fun to explore for some reason. it felt a little bit more streamlined than Dark Souls. 

Demon's Souls is godlike too. So many hidden things in that game, I have played through it 3 times and I still feel like I missed so much. I really need to revisit it. 

Bloodborne is definitely a system seller for me, I will be getting a PS4 soon solely for it and Street Fighter V.


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## beneharris

I bought my ps4 for bloodbourne for sure. I've bought 2 games for it so far, and it just sits there, and I still play my ps3 instead


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## jonajon91

Ill be buying a PS4 for bloodborne (last of us and MGSV too, but that's not why we're here). I sank many many hours into Dark Souls 1, but I could not even get all the way through DK2, I just didn't click with it in any way. Hopefully Bloodborne is not a let down like DK2 was or ill be mad, especially since it's the only real reason I am getting a new gen console.

---edit---

here I go. One of the things I was so let down with in DK2 was the map design. DK1 had the best damn areas that all linked beautifully, if you could see something awesome on the horizon, the chances are you would walk there and then kill something awesome by it. DK2 had big windmill tower that you fight to the top of, then when you get to the top, you get in an elevator, go up and get to the iron keep, a giant iron castle in lava. Which brings me to my next point, iron castle in lava?!?! what is this mario? Come on dark souls you can do better than that, let me guess, there is a boss here that resembles either satan or a bull ... well shit.

---edit two---

Sh*i*tty boss design too.


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## Qweklain

I got all trophies/achievements in all Souls games so far. Against the grain on what I've read across various threads, I found myself playing DS2 more and enjoying it more than the first one.

My Bloodborne Collector's arrived and of course I am out of town for work... .... work.


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## jonajon91

My copy does not get here until friday. It's going to be a tough week since I want to go in blind.


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## Pav

^^ I'm stuck waiting too. Sprung for the collector's edition, then took the free shipping. Reviews have all been glowing so far so I can't wait.


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## 7 Strings of Hate

I'm having alot of trouble getting into it currently.


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## Cloudy

Get my copy on Thursday. Let the rage inducing gameplay begin tomorrow


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## Cheap

i have an xbox one and loved it until i started seeing more and more gameplay for bloodborne.. this weekend (or tonight) im going to see if i can do a straight across trade of the system and all my games for a ps4 and bloodborne. hopefully that'll work out--based on what ive seen and tried so far, i don't think i'll mind taking a bit of a hit to go down to just one game


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## beneharris

Guys, Bloodborne is freaking awesome.


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## MattThePenguin

Bloodborne is easily one of the best games of the decade.


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## naw38

Best game in the series, by far. 

You guys fought the witch yet? I was absolutely annihilating her, almost killed her, then I got trapped in her blue magic, bunch of guys around me, I think "...., fine, I'm dead", rip out my headphones, take a drink, look up and I'm still alive, back step aaaand I get smashed. Dead. On my first try, too. So close.

I'm really digging the atmosphere, the speed of the combat, and I love the fact that there aren't ten different upgrade paths to take. In all the previous games I only ever took the standard upgrade path and felt like I was probably missing out. The whole game seems set up to make you just enjoy it and immerse yourself in it. 

Except for being unable to reset enemies without going back to the dream. That's a pain the arse.


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## beneharris

Yeah, I hate having to go back to the dream because it takes so long. They need to fix that loading time. 

Also, I'm bummed at the lack of weapons and armor. That was my favorite part about the Souls games. The sheer number of loot to collect.


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## Pav

So what starting weapons did people choose? I read a number of articles that said the saw cleaver/blunderbuss combo was the best all-around to start, so I made sure to avoid those. I went threaded cane/pistol and I've been getting my ass handed to me.


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## Redoubt9000

Was hoping to find a Bloodborne general thread 

Attempted a cover of a couple of its themes, though it got a bit rushed as I had a field course involving a state trip/tour all of last week. Still haven't gotten around to popping in my CE of Bloodborne though  It's been a long week xD



Hope you guys like it (and that it's appropriate to post it here), I'm looking for additional themes to cover. I think I'll be revisiting some of the older ones that I worked on and off with over the years


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## jonajon91

I started as a strength char with the hunters axe which I really enjoyed using, but I got to the area after the third boss and there were mean people with bags (i'm trying to be vague here for a spoiler free thread). The game got too much and I started a new dex char with the whip cane which is just so much fun when you get the hang of it. I have managed to catch up to my first character in literally a quarter of the time so that was cool (I guess things are very slow and cautious on the first run through).
Now however I am sat in my uni library writing essays on 20th century microtonal piano music and while it's damn interesting, I just with I was playing bloodborne.

---edit---

The last minute of that video was badass man, well done. You should do some of the dark souls themes too. Ornstien and smough, moonlight butterfly ETC.


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## MoshJosh

Don't have a playstation so I won't be able to get Bloodborne (though I am very tempted to buy one just for this game) but my nephew has it, and he let me play for a bit today. Really cool game, I'm liking the shoot to stun mechanic and the faster pace of the fights. Definitly a hard game though, maybe it's just that Dark Souls II made me soft haha!


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## mongey

Pav said:


> So what starting weapons did people choose? I read a number of articles that said the saw cleaver/blunderbuss combo was the best all-around to start, so I made sure to avoid those. I went threaded cane/pistol and I've been getting my ass handed to me.


 
I started with axe and blunderbuss but after a few hours I wasnt digging axe so I restarted with saw cleaver and the 'bus . gameplay wise it felt better right away 

I'm a bit torn now, I have updgraded the saw cleaver twice with blood shards but just bought the kirkhammer to try something new . not sure if I should keep upgranding the saw or devote it to the kirk hammer 

the game is really good and I hated demon souls when it came out .

I'm digging into the catherdral area now . staurday morning beat cleric beast and father G in the same sitting. cleric beast was pretty easy on my 2nd try but with father G I used a bell to call in another player as he was kicking me silly and it worked. the 2 of us beat him fairly easy . think only I used 7 vials of 20


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## Cloudy

Im still using the axe primarily, the charged heavy attack is extremely OP. Stuns just about everything and can be thrown out again before the person stands up.

Ive got my kirk hammer leveled up as well for the sword portion of it, hammer is great for slow enemies as well.


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## beneharris

I started off with the axe, and then I bought the kirkhammer, which owns like crazy. I really like Ludwig's sword, too. 

I cannot get the hang of stunning enemies with guns, it is like the hardest thing I've ever had to do 

With that said, screw guns because the flamesprayer is the most amazing weapon ever.


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## jonajon91

I am actually finding parying easier in this game than any of the others. I have not tried the flame thing yet though.


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## Pav

I'm drooling over the kirkhammer. I started the game with the Professional backstory for high skill yet still bought the kirkhammer, not realizing that I didn't even have the strength to equip it. And now that I'm about to get the stake driver, I've been putting all of my echoes into strength so I can wield the big stuff too.


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## beneharris

The stake driver is awesome too. It has the best charge attack of all the weapons I've used so far.

I gotta say, when I realized how little "loot" there is compared to Demon's and Dark Souls, I was way bummed. That is my absolutely favorite part of those games. No boss weapons as far as I'm aware.


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## mongey

I got some of the fire paper in my last play session but havent had a chance to put it on a weapon yet 

does it add much damage ?


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## MoshJosh

So I just traded my Xbox one for a PS4 (thanks craigslist) to get Bloodborne, and I'm not regretting it. Just beat the Cleric beast on my first try (look out we got a bad a$$ over here haha) admittedly I did watch some EpicNameBro while I played so I sort of cheated . Really cool so far. . . very hard so far as well. . . but cool.

I'm starting with the Pistol and Clever if anyone is curious.


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## jonajon91

I don't actually own a PS4 yet since i'm poor, but I managed to borrow a friends for a few days. He took it back last night ... I am sad.


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## MoshJosh

Just beat the cemetery boss. . . Twice! After work I stopped by my nephews house and he was having some trouble, so figured I'd give it a try. . . kicked his a$$! Then I had to go home and beat him on my game haha he kicked my a$$ a few times but once I figured out he could be stunned with the pistol it was all over!

Also I'm thinking about a quality/skill build but I'm not sure how viable it is late game or what weapons I should be building towards. I'm using the Saw Spear +1 now and its good, but not sure its end game good.

Also also, anyone dumping points in to arcane or blood tinge?


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## Pav

Certain weapons and items that you find later in the game may require higher bloodtinge or arcane to use (depending on what your stats are now). I just had to put a couple points into my bloodtinge to equip some new firearms, but bloodtinge and arcane are my lowest stats. If you can get them to 10 you'll be fine for a while, unless you really care about upgrading the effectiveness of your guns and items.


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## jonajon91

I'm definitely going to mess about with a high arcane and fire paper weapons for a build. That could be really cool, being pretty crap until you buff.


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## mongey

Last night I spent almost 9000 blood $ to upgrade my arcane twice so I could use the firesprayer. I was grinding to get 10 000 to get the hunters seal thing to open the gate in catherdral but the lure of the flamethrower was too much .kinda regret it now. shoudlve just stuck to plan but I'll re grind tonight to get it . wasnt too bad. a murder run through central Yarnham and catherdral and I'll get it back 

I gave the fire paper a go last night and its cool but it doesnt last long at all .Is there a way to put permament fire damage on weapons ?


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## Pav

mongey said:


> I gave the fire paper a go last night and its cool but it doesnt last long at all .Is there a way to put permament fire damage on weapons ?



Yes. Later in the game you'll start finding blood gems that allow you to infuse elemental damage into your weapons.


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## rifftrauma

Just beat it on NG+, will probably have it platinum'd in a couple of days depending on Chalice. If you have any spoiler free questions let me know.


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## beneharris

mongey said:


> Last night I spent almost 9000 blood $ to upgrade my arcane twice so I could use the firesprayer. I was grinding to get 10 000 to get the hunters seal thing to open the gate in catherdral but the lure of the flamethrower was too much .kinda regret it now. shoudlve just stuck to plan but I'll re grind tonight to get it . wasnt too bad. a murder run through central Yarnham and catherdral and I'll get it back
> 
> I gave the fire paper a go last night and its cool but it doesnt last long at all .Is there a way to put permament fire damage on weapons ?



Oh don't say you regret it. Seriously, the flamethrower is just awesome. Upgrade it and you can wipe out guys weak to fire.


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## mongey

beneharris said:


> Oh don't say you regret it. Seriously, the flamethrower is just awesome. Upgrade it and you can wipe out guys weak to fire.


 

good to know. I did upgrade it with blood shards when I got it as I had a few in supply 

havent tried to use it yet as I was tuning it off as I updgraded. will give it a run tonight


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## MoshJosh

So attempting to summon other players costs insight? Does it cost you if the summon is unsuccessful? Also how does one obtain more insight. . . I think I have 6 or 7 plus the Madman things but I'm not entirely sure where all of them came from.


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## jonajon91

You can get one for seeing a boss for the first time, three for killing a boss, one for helping another player kill a boss and one for consuming a madmans knowledge. You lose one when you ring a bell to summon someone (though if you and your summon kill the boss, you get it back).

There is also a mechanic where the more insight you have, the more you can see (or hear) in the world though I don't know much about this yet. I think you can hear more dialogue and stuff in boss fights with +20 or eyes in the sky and stuff. Ill come back with more information when I learn it.


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## mongey

MoshJosh said:


> So attempting to summon other players costs insight? Does it cost you if the summon is unsuccessful? Also how does one obtain more insight. . . I think I have 6 or 7 plus the Madman things but I'm not entirely sure where all of them came from.


 
I dont think it costs you if no one turns up 

I used it once to beat father G . was pretty quick, maybe 15 seconds before someone answered the call 

I also read that the the eniems get tougher if you have over 15 insight


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## beneharris

mongey said:


> I dont think it costs you if no one turns up



It does. I tried to summon somebody for the blood starved beast, got bored and did it anyway and I lost my insight.

The best way I've seen to farm for insight is chalice dungeons. The one I did last night had 3 bosses, and you get 1 for encountering them, and then 3 for defeating them. I came out with 12 more than I had.


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## jonajon91

YEah it costs to ring the bell. Summon or no summon.


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## JosephAOI

Yoooooooo I didn't know we had a thread for this series!!

I actually just finished Dark Souls about a week ago! On my second playthrough right now, I'm thinking I'll wait for PS4 to get 2. Is Demon's Souls worth grabbing or will I just hate it since I played Dark Souls first? That's kinda what happened with Skyrim and Oblivion for me.


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## Qweklain

Pav said:


> So what starting weapons did people choose? I read a number of articles that said the saw cleaver/blunderbuss combo was the best all-around to start, so I made sure to avoid those. I went threaded cane/pistol and I've been getting my ass handed to me.


Then you are not using it right. I am quite a ways in and am still using the threaded cane. In fact, I sold the Saw Spear I found because I personally found it useless as the range trick was too slow and it lunges.

The cane becomes a whip that has more range, slightly faster, and does not lunge me making it easier to micro grouped enemies in doorways. My cane is +3 and while it may not deal as much basic damage as some of the others, it it has better scaling than the others (so far) and I found it much more manageable.


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## Gothic Headhunter

I never played a souls game before but so far I'm really enjoying Bloodborne. Just slayed the Cleric Beast today and picked up the kirkhammet. I f ucking love its transformation attack. Really glad my fiend recommended it to me, because otherwise I would've overlooked this cool game.


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## beneharris

JosephAOI said:


> Yoooooooo I didn't know we had a thread for this series!!
> 
> I actually just finished Dark Souls about a week ago! On my second playthrough right now, I'm thinking I'll wait for PS4 to get 2. Is Demon's Souls worth grabbing or will I just hate it since I played Dark Souls first? That's kinda what happened with Skyrim and Oblivion for me.



Yeah, Demon's Souls is still worth playing. A lot less loot and weapons to collect than Dark Souls, and it feels clunkier to me, but its still a great game, and it has the best atmosphere, IMO out of them all.


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## MoshJosh

So I'm about to get the Rifle Spear and I want to get my stats up to wield it, so I'm wondering. . . 

Is getting summoned a good way to farm "souls" like it was in Dark souls? Do you still retain your Blood Echos when you die in someone else's game, and how many souls do you get for defeating the boss. . . 

And whats the level requirement to be summoned? within 10 levels or?


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## rifftrauma

MoshJosh said:


> So I'm about to get the Rifle Spear and I want to get my stats up to wield it, so I'm wondering. . .
> 
> Is getting summoned a good way to farm "souls" like it was in Dark souls? Do you still retain your Blood Echos when you die in someone else's game, and how many souls do you get for defeating the boss. . .
> 
> And whats the level requirement to be summoned? within 10 levels or?



Getting summoned is time consuming and tedious, not really a good way to farm. Early game there are places you can run that will net you quick quicksilver bullets and vials, but honestly just progressing will provide you the blood you need. Also new area's unlock new materials for upgrades for you weapons so it behooves you to keep the forward momentum and explore. 

As for the level requirement its 10% of you current level +/- 10. So if I'm level 100, that would be 10% of that +/- 10 levels, so my summon range would be 80-120.


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## MoshJosh

So I got to the area with Blood-Starved Beast, though I have yet to fight it, and by then I had enough blood echos to get my stats high enough to use my new rifle spear woot woot!

Pretty cool weapon especially the transformed R2 attack, though the transformation attack using a silver bullet will take getting used to. . .

Also tried some coop last night, took about 5 minutes or so for me to get summoned, which isn't to bad I guess, and it was pretty fun. We fought Father Whats His Name and it wasn't even close to fair haha totally destroyed him


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## leftyguitarjoe

I got the new version of Dark Souls 2. It has DX11 graphics and is 60fps. I was playing it on 360 before and its a huge step up.

They changed the layout of enemies and items and stuff. I'm having fun with it. I'm about 6 hours in with a dagger/rapier dual wield dex build.


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## MoshJosh

Ok so can someone explain how Arcane works/ how an arcane build works? I just got the first fire augmentation thing and the hunters bone, and I'm considering bumping my arcane stat to make use of them, but is it to late? Think my stats are
Health: 17
Endurance: 17
Strength: 10
Skill: 18
Blood tinge: 9
Arcane: 8

Is it worth investing my next level ups in it


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## leftyguitarjoe

MoshJosh said:


> Ok so can someone explain how Arcane works/ how an arcane build works? I just got the first fire augmentation thing and the hunters bone, and I'm considering bumping my arcane stat to make use of them, but is it to late? Think my stats are
> Health: 17
> Endurance: 17
> Strength: 10
> Skill: 18
> Blood tinge: 9
> Arcane: 8
> 
> Is it worth investing my next level ups in it



The general consensus is that its not really worth it unless you're going for a specialized build. Some items have minimum Blood and Arcane requirements. Blood boosts gun damage, but the guns arent really for damage output in the first place.

But thats just me. I relied heavily on just beating things to death with a giant hammer.


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## leftyguitarjoe

If anyone has Dark Souls or the DX11 version of Dark Souls 2 on PC, my steam name is leftyguitarjoe.

I'll have to start a new game on Ds1 to play with you, but I'm cool with that.

In Ds2, I just hit Iron Keep with this build. I'm eventually gonna have him be a RoB/Flynn/Leo build.


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## rifftrauma

MoshJosh said:


> Ok so can someone explain how Arcane works/ how an arcane build works? I just got the first fire augmentation thing and the hunters bone, and I'm considering bumping my arcane stat to make use of them, but is it to late? Think my stats are
> Health: 17
> Endurance: 17
> Strength: 10
> Skill: 18
> Blood tinge: 9
> Arcane: 8
> 
> Is it worth investing my next level ups in it



So I did invest heavily into Arcane, but not until NG+. It does effect several weapons and increases the damage for them, but I didn't need to start swapping weapons around till after my first play through.

For example Ludwigs Holy Blade (which I had to use heavily in Chalice simply for the reach) starts out with a D Rating in Str, Skill and Arcane, but at +10 is has a B, B and A rating. Each one of these stats will increase the damage done by the weapon and as you can see the Arcane Rating of A at +10 does make it hit quite a bit harder. Now honestly most of your damage is dependent on what blood runes you socket, but the base stats act as a multiplier.

Arcane also effects certain hunter's tools you will find such as the hunters bone, but honestly after completing both chalice and NG+++ I didn't really use any of them. It also effects your item discovery, but unless its at 250 from what I've heard it's negligible.

As for your current build depending on the weapon your using (looks like a skill build) I'd get Vit and End up to 20 and then get skill up to the soft cap at 25. That being said many weapons will scale off both skill and strength, so after I got skill to 25 I did level Str up to 25 as well.

On a side note I got bloodtinge up to 18 and left it there only to unlock a specific firearm. I'm at level 160 now and bloodtinge is sitting at I think 20 now.


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## MoshJosh

Yeah I started out with a skill(dex) build in mind, as its one of the few builds I never tried in the previous games, but it seems that in Bloodborne there aren't as many specialized weapons i.e something that scales for a single stat but with a crazy high rating like an S. Thats why I was considering bumping arcane, to boost some of the later weapons (really wanting the Burial Blade!!!) but if the magic is that lame maybe I'll go strength as you suggested


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## rifftrauma




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## rifftrauma

MoshJosh said:


> Yeah I started out with a skill(dex) build in mind, as its one of the few builds I never tried in the previous games, but it seems that in Bloodborne there aren't as many specialized weapons i.e something that scales for a single stat but with a crazy high rating like an S. Thats why I was considering bumping arcane, to boost some of the later weapons (really wanting the Burial Blade!!!) but if the magic is that lame maybe I'll go strength as you suggested




Yea burial blade is pretty sweet although I didn't use it much. You are going to IMO need something with reach in chalice, ESPECIALLY defiled chalice otherwise you're going to get wrecked. 

I basically spec'd out 3 different weapons for close, medium and longer ranged combat to try on each boss as I worked my way down. I ended up choosing Ludwig for my long ranged because the stats scaled pretty well at +6-9 and it had variable weapon attacks for medium range as well. 

Kirkhammer was another option, but I didn't like the attack animations and it didn't scale as well. I had already committed a large amount of mats to Ludwig so I chose it over Burial Blade as well. 

I've seen people use the hunters axe, and although the animations felt very familiar (DS1/DS2) the scaling kind sucked so I stayed away from it.

I used Threaded Cane for probably 60% of the first play through and once I found Tonitrus it was over. Best weapon hands down in the game IMO. Got me through 70-80% of NG+ and ++ and probably 90% of chalice. I was only once I got to defiled chalice that I had to start switching out weapons and upgrading them. My #2 pick is blade of mercy, the L1 on it is so freaking awesome...


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## Gothic Headhunter

Jesus f uck dude, I only just beat father gascan (no idea how to say the real name) today and you already 100%'d the damn thing! I wish I was that good at this


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## MoshJosh

Just beat the Vicar boss. . . First try  but at one point she had my health so low you couldn't see the bar haha but some how I survived and turned the tide 

Oh and the Witch of Hemlock fight was a pain in my a$s, but I got it done.

And rifftrauma I sort of took your advice haha got my skill to 25, health and endurance are almost at 20, but with the new "spells" I found, plus the fire rune I put on my saw spear +6 I couldn't help but boost arcane just a bit haha thinking I'll get it to 15 just to say I tried a few spells and if I hate it I only wasted. . . 7 level ups  haha


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## rifftrauma

Gothic Headhunter said:


> Jesus f uck dude, I only just beat father gascan (no idea how to say the real name) today and you already 100%'d the damn thing! I wish I was that good at this




 Haha I'm currently trapped at a school for my job and I have A LOT of free time... Chalice is going to ruin everyone's day lol, even I am not going to try that .... again...


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## MoshJosh

^^^ how exactly do the dungeons work? They consume ritual blood right? Are they a one time thing, as in if you die you have to consume another ritual blood and start over?


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## rifftrauma

MoshJosh said:


> ^^^ how exactly do the dungeons work? They consume ritual blood right? Are they a one time thing, as in if you die you have to consume another ritual blood and start over?




So there are Chalice's that you find both in the regular game and inside the dungeons chalices open themselves. Once you find a chalice in game, you need the ritual materials it requires to open the dungeon, such as ritual blood. 

Once you've opened the particular chalice, you can then open and enter other people's chalice dungeons of the same type either with a code or just by searching parameters. Your friends can also enter your chalice dungeon to help you as long as they've opened the same in there world. I've heard that you have to re-summon on each level of the dungeon though and that it's time consuming and irritating. I don't really know, I never got to summon anyone when I was running them. 

The standardized chalices are all the same, it will be the same bosses, same layout same difficulty for everyone etc. It will start out and seem incredibly easy and then a couple hours later you hit a boss that looks at you wrong and one shots you.

In certain dungeons you will find Root Chalices (normally by beating the last boss of that layer), these are the chalices that create randomized dungeons and this is how you find uncanny and lost gear/ the best glyphs, blood gems and other materials to open new chalices.

You can also add materials you find in the chalice dungeons to the rituals to add effects when creating new dungeons, such as defiled which will halve you health...Some of the materials to open chalices can be bought with insight or blood, sometimes there are shops actually inside the dungeon you can buy special chalices at.

Chalice really ups the difficulty, I'm on NG+++ and there are still bosses in chalice that make the standard game bosses look like regular enemies.

One awesome take away though is that MOST of the bosses in chalice aren't in the normal game. Which is awesome, it would be so boring to just go in and have to fight the same 10 or so bosses from the normal game, but there are a whole new set that are just for chalice.


----------



## naw38

^

Yeah, I got to the end of a chalice last night, running along to the boss thinking "man, I'm gonna annihilate this guy, all the chalice bosses are so easy" and then BAM, it's that ....ing spider. 

.... that spider.

I have managed to complete the game, looking forwards to that platinum trophy one day. I'd like to make note of the fact that I somehow(I'm not going to say it was due to skill) defeated Father Gasciogne on my first try. Woo!


----------



## mongey

Beat Cleric Amelia yesterday . Did call in a helper to do it but I have no qualms on doing that 

Slogging through old yarnham for the rest of the day .that damn machine gunner is pissing me off big time


----------



## MoshJosh

So got through the forbidden forest and beat the boss, though I did have a summon (or two can't remember), and then had to go fight the spider boss. Pretty tough fight, only took me a few tries but still a lot going on all at once you know, plus the arcane hunter you have to fight to get to the boss was a real pain. My visceral attacks were barely chipping away at his health bar! 

I might have been a bit under powered for that area, or maybe it was just hard haha think I was level 53 at the time and as I talked about above I did waste some precious levels to try out arcane  

Also the Arcane is meh, so I can see why I was advised to avoid it. The beast roar is kind of cool and can help in a pinch, but most of the time the enemy isn't knocked down long enough to get much done. The squid attack is cool. . . well it looks cool, not much damage, at least not enough for how long and imprecise the attack is (yes I understand it probably wrecks at 40 arcane but still). and Arcane Weapon(empty shell thing) adds some decent damage but since it can't be used on all weapons, or at least the ones I have/want, it a big MEH! Still some of the weapons I plan on rocking scale with Arcane so these points should't be a huge loss.

Also also got the crow set and blade of mercy


----------



## IChuckFinleyI

I downloaded Bloodborne over the weekend on my PS4 and I'm absolutely loving it! I'm at Father whatshisname and he's proving to be a bit difficult. I wanted to kill him before I crashed, but had to get some sleep before coming into work lol


----------



## Pav

I've hit somewhat of a wall. I absolutely can't seem beat Martyr Logarius. Even after gaining 10 levels the guy is able to kill me before I realize I'm even in trouble. Who here has cleared Cainhurst Castle and what level were you when you did it?


----------



## rifftrauma

Pav said:


> I've hit somewhat of a wall. I absolutely can't seem beat Martyr Logarius. Even after gaining 10 levels the guy is able to kill me before I realize I'm even in trouble. Who here has cleared Cainhurst Castle and what level were you when you did it?




60+ the first time, if you stop him from powering up you can parry him the entire fight.


----------



## beneharris

Pav said:


> I've hit somewhat of a wall. I absolutely can't seem beat Martyr Logarius. Even after gaining 10 levels the guy is able to kill me before I realize I'm even in trouble. Who here has cleared Cainhurst Castle and what level were you when you did it?



I haven't been able to beat him either, although I've only tried twice. I can get him down to about half health, then he buffs himself and I'm done.


----------



## Pav

Damn...I'm up to level 67 and I get the feeling I'm just doing it wrong.  He spams his wave of skulls endlessly and I can't even seem to get close to him.

Wait, you can STOP him from powering up?


----------



## MoshJosh

So some help/advice needed. I beat Rom and moved on to the next area, forget what its called forgotten village maybe? Anyway its the area with the One Reborn boss fight and DAMN am I getting my butt handed to me. I got to the boss/opened the short cut but only by running past the enemies and during the boss fight my attacks where barely scratching the surface. think I was level 61 when I fought him with Blade of Mercy +6 and Saw Spear +6 with bolt stone. . .

I have basically been grinding to try and improve my chances, level 66 now with Blade of Mercy at +8 but before I try again I was hoping ya'll might have some words of wisdom


----------



## beneharris

MoshJosh said:


> So some help/advice needed. I beat Rom and moved on to the next area, forget what its called forgotten village maybe? Anyway its the area with the One Reborn boss fight and DAMN am I getting my butt handed to me. I got to the boss/opened the short cut but only by running past the enemies and during the boss fight my attacks where barely scratching the surface. think I was level 61 when I fought him with Blade of Mercy +6 and Saw Spear +6 with bolt stone. . .
> 
> I have basically been grinding to try and improve my chances, level 66 now with Blade of Mercy at +8 but before I try again I was hoping ya'll might have some words of wisdom



I get my ass handed to me there. I am having to level up. That section is tough.


----------



## MoshJosh

^^^ Yeah I just quit before rage quit haha. I can kill the bell ringers and take out about a third of his health but its attacks are hitting to hard and I get taken out quick. Just not sure what other areas I should hit up before moving on.


----------



## MoshJosh

finally I beat The One Reborn today, and by "I beat" I mean the guy a summoned beat him haha Thank you whoever you are, I couldn't have done it without you. . . shame you died before the final hit  

Also went on to beat the Dark Beast Paarl, and the boss from Nightmare Frontier, I get the feeling I was OP for both fights as they where a walk in the park. . .

Now where next?


----------



## IChuckFinleyI

FINALLY killed Father Gaswhatever last night! I don't know why he was so damn hard for me. I'm not new to FROM's games, I even had the Platinum Trophy for Demon Souls. I can only play it for an hour or two a night during the week since I'm working, so that may have something to do with it. But damn! He kicked my ass all over that graveyard. I tried so many strategies posted online and none of them worked. Even the music box technique. I ended up just gowing HAM on him and it worked out quite well lol 

Does anyone know if you can get the little girl who gave you the music box to go to the chapel? After you give her mother's stone she says don't leave me alone. I figured they'd give you the option to send her there.


----------



## Pav

^ Different bosses will pose different threats depending on how you build your character and weapons. I find that aspect of the game very fascinating. While I beat Father G on my first try, my girlfriend died to him a dozen times and had to sit and wait for me to come help. On the other hand, she beat Vicar Amelia on her first try while that boss took me at least a dozen attempts. Just like I've been beating my head against a wall, trying to beat Martyr Logarius while plenty of people have gotten right past him with no trouble.

Also, I hear you can send the little girl to safety if you don't give her her mother's brooch back. If you give it to her she just cries and won't talk to you...until you go back to her later in the game to find her dead. That's what happened to me at least.


----------



## mongey

got an hour last night and that damn machine gunner is driving me up the wall. I killed the NPC hunter at ground level ok but cant work out where to go next . 

there is a ladder there but I cant get up it without getting shot


----------



## MoshJosh

Go to the area where you find the ladders that lead to the Ashen Hunter(machine gun dude) but keep walking past the ladder, you should find a door way that leeds to a corridor/chapel area thing, and thats where to go IIRC


----------



## MoshJosh

Don't want to spoil anything but not sure how to do the spoiler thing.

What happens if you die during the "true" ending boss fights? Do you wake up in hunters dream and try again or do you get one of the other endings?


----------



## rifftrauma

MoshJosh said:


> Don't want to spoil anything but not sure how to do the spoiler thing.
> 
> What happens if you die during the "true" ending boss fights? Do you wake up in hunters dream and try again or do you get one of the other endings?




Yes you can try again, I don't really want to spoil anything, but any variation on dying lets you try again.


----------



## MoshJosh

Praise the Sun! 

Beat the game tonight, I wasn't really planning on it, but I was so close so I kept pushing on. . . But I didn't find the blood stone 

Anyway awesome game, really enjoyed it and I can't wait to try out my me Burial Blade Woop Woop!!!


----------



## mongey

Stoked. Beat blood starved beast 1st go by myself. Just was super patient and used the poles for cover. Did use 18 vials but got there.


----------



## MoshJosh

good early game weapons for Bloodtinge build? I just started over, not even at cleric beast yet, and I want to eventually use the Chikage. . . Though not sure I'll play far enough to get it on this character cause, well I'm lazy and getting to level 70 again sounds like a lot of work, BUT assuming I do what should I use till then.


----------



## Gothic Headhunter

Getting invaded in this game when you're with friends is nothing short of infuriating. I wish there was a way to only make friendly players able to join so you don't get slaughtered by some guy 50 levels higher than you while you're trying to walk your friend through a boss battle.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Gothic Headhunter said:


> Getting invaded in this game when you're with friends is nothing short of infuriating. I wish there was a way to only make friendly players able to join so you don't get slaughtered by some guy 50 levels higher than you while you're trying to walk your friend through a boss battle.



Invasions are a core mechanic of the Souls series, which Bloodborne is essentially a spiritual member of. Yeah, it can be annoying, but it is a challenge you have to face from time to time. And you can invade too. Its fun.


----------



## MoshJosh

I wasn't invaded a single time in the 22 hours it took me to complete the game? Is it dependent on your use of the summoning bell?


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

MoshJosh said:


> I wasn't invaded a single time in the 22 hours it took me to complete the game? Is it dependent on your use of the summoning bell?



In BB I think you have to summon someone. The concept behind it is that inviting and opening up your world to friendlies also opens you up to invaders.


----------



## MoshJosh

Yeah I summoned a few times but definitly not a lot


----------



## Pav

Several days ago I loaded into the Nightmare Frontier and went idle to go to the bathroom or something. 10 minutes later, just as I was sitting back down, I received a message that a sinister bell-ringing woman summoned someone into my world. Sure enough, some other guy ran right up to me at the lantern I had been sitting at, killed me and mocked me.  I hadn't rang any kind of bell myself and was just playing solo.

So apparently there is a mechanic where you can have hostile players thrown at you but I haven't figured it out yet.


----------



## mongey

I have tried a few times to ring the bell to go into a game to help someone just to see what its like but it never finds anyone .is there a trick to it ?


----------



## Gothic Headhunter

mongey said:


> I have tried a few times to ring the bell to go into a game to help someone just to see what its like but it never finds anyone .is there a trick to it ?



getting matched with randoms is a lot more difficult than getting matched with friends because it helps to set a unique password for online play. You also have to be in the same area


----------



## brutalwizard

Just Beat darks souls 2 on xbox one 50 hours level 160ish. 

Honestly They really REALLY made the game easier at least for the first playthrough. which is lame. Super easier enemy placement, and they just give you items that were impossible to find the first time around. I solo'ed the last 10 bosses almost all first try, There attacks seems REALLY dulled. Like they barely did half their attacks. I ended up with 7 estus flask shards without even looking for them. 

Havent started NG+ yet cause i am trying to beat the DLC's. I havent ever played them before and they are legit hard, for me at least.


----------



## mongey

Gothic Headhunter said:


> getting matched with randoms is a lot more difficult than getting matched with friends because it helps to set a unique password for online play. You also have to be in the same area


 

ah that makes sense as I was pretty much in the middle of nowhere when I tried

sure if I try near the entry to a boss I'll find someone


----------



## Gothic Headhunter

leftyguitarjoe said:


> Invasions are a core mechanic of the Souls series, which Bloodborne is essentially a spiritual member of. Yeah, it can be annoying, but it is a challenge you have to face from time to time. And you can invade too. Its fun.



several things
1- just because it's in the other games doesn't mean it's somehow less annoying. I've never played another souls game before this, anyway.
2- as far as I know, there is no type of balanced matching in this(or whatever you call it), which means you can get invaded by someone of a much higher level than you. Sure, their health and abilities get scaled down to your world's level, but there's still no way to make up for the vast amount of difference in experience between someone who's logged in 15 hours and someone who's logged in 150.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

brutalwizard said:


> Just Beat darks souls 2 on xbox one 50 hours level 160ish.
> 
> Honestly They really REALLY made the game easier at least for the first playthrough. which is lame. Super easier enemy placement, and they just give you items that were impossible to find it seemed the first time around. I solo'ed the last 10 bosses almost all first try, There attacks seems REALLY dulled. Like they barely did half their attacks. I ended up with 7 estus flask shards without even looking for them.
> 
> Havent started NG+ yet cause i am trying to beat the DLC's. I havent ever played them before and they are legit hard, for me at least.



The new version for XBone, PS4, and steam are is harder.



Gothic Headhunter said:


> several things
> 1- just because it's in the other games doesn't mean it's somehow less annoying. I've never played another souls game before this, anyway.
> 2- as far as I know, there is no type of balanced matching in this(or whatever you call it), which means you can get invaded by someone of a much higher level than you. Sure, their health and abilities get scaled down to your world's level, but there's still no way to make up for the vast amount of difference in experience between someone who's logged in 15 hours and someone who's logged in 150.



I guess I'm just used to it now. I usually lose to invaders because I'm decked out in PVE gear, but there is still nothing like the thrill of seeing that invasion message pop up and getting ready to fight for your life.


----------



## Pav

Gothic Headhunter said:


> several things
> 1- just because it's in the other games doesn't mean it's somehow less annoying. I've never played another souls game before this, anyway.
> 2- as far as I know, there is no type of balanced matching in this(or whatever you call it), which means you can get invaded by someone of a much higher level than you. Sure, their health and abilities get scaled down to your world's level, but there's still no way to make up for the vast amount of difference in experience between someone who's logged in 15 hours and someone who's logged in 150.



Matchmaking in all situations is limited to hunters within 10 levels of you, plus or minus. You'll never be paired with/against anyone much stronger or weaker than you.


----------



## MoshJosh

Is it worth trying to cheese Martyr Logarious by summoning at a low level?

My Bloodtinge/chikage build is going alright but I fear that my character will be terribly underpowered for the areas/levels one would naturally progress though to get to the Logarious fight (I fight I need to win in order to get all my endgame weapons!!!)

Also can I summon a friend specifically to ensure a successful summon?


----------



## IChuckFinleyI

mongey said:


> Stoked. Beat blood starved beast 1st go by myself. Just was super patient and used the poles for cover. Did use 18 vials but got there.


 
The first time I fought him/her/it, I had it down to one more hit and the poison killed me. Then it stomped my ass about 10 times before I finally beat it. I did kill Vicar, whatever the rest of the name is, my very first try.


----------



## mongey

need some advice from you guys who have finished or are deep in the game 

I am making progress. found the witch of hemwick last night but had almost 20 000 blood $ so used a hunter mask to get out of there to level up ,then had to deal with a crying baby in the real world ,so havent fought her yet 

I have the saw cleaver and kirk hammer at +5 with enough shards to go to +6 on one and I feel like I need to make a choice. I seem to do allot better with the saw cleaver . the quicker, in close attack works for me better but as a starting weapon I'm not sure if its worth it to keep upgrading it or if I should move on to a "better" weapon now as I get deeper int he game 

can you get through the game with the saw cleaver or should I start putting resources into something else. not digging the kirk hammer that much


----------



## mongey

IChuckFinleyI said:


> The first time I fought him/her/it, I had it down to one more hit and the poison killed me. Then it stomped my ass about 10 times before I finally beat it. I did kill Vicar, whatever the rest of the name is, my very first try.


 

lol. yeah when I killed the beast I didnt realise I was poisened and I had one sliver of health left when i realised .luckily I had a antidote in quick use and used it just in time . I figure the beast wouldve stayed dead if I died but would've sucked having to trudge back trough to light the lamp after my victory


----------



## beneharris

mongey said:


> need some advice from you guys who have finished or are deep in the game
> 
> I am making progress. found the witch of hemwick last night but had almost 20 000 blood $ so used a hunter mask to get out of there to level up ,then had to deal with a crying baby in the real world ,so havent fought her yet
> 
> I have the saw cleaver and kirk hammer at +5 with enough shards to go to +6 on one and I feel like I need to make a choice. I seem to do allot better with the saw cleaver . the quicker, in close attack works for me better but as a starting weapon I'm not sure if its worth it to keep upgrading it or if I should move on to a "better" weapon now as I get deeper int he game
> 
> can you get through the game with the saw cleaver or should I start putting resources into something else. not digging the kirk hammer that much



Upgrade the weapon you like. They're all pretty even. If this were Dark Souls there would be a clear winner, but I feel like they made these pretty balanced so you can use what you like. Its more the style, than the power that matters.


----------



## IChuckFinleyI

Without spilling any spoilers, is the cave in the Forbidden Woods with the poisonous water worth exploring?


----------



## rifftrauma

beneharris said:


> Upgrade the weapon you like. They're all pretty even. If this were Dark Souls there would be a clear winner, but I feel like they made these pretty balanced so you can use what you like. Its more the style, than the power that matters.




I would agree up until you start with Chalice, especially defiled chalice. In the normal game most of the weapons are very balanced and you can stick with what you like. 

In Chalice I HIGHLY recommend Tonitrus and Ludwig +10. Tonitrus got me through 60-70% of the normal game, NG+,++ and +++. Ludwig was invaluable in Chalice because it's basically 2 weapons for the price of one and the scaling is great. The reach on Ludwig in greatsword form was a MUST for me on multiple Chalice bosses. I'm not saying this is gospel, but it's something to take into consideration. You can get every weapon to +6 before heading into NG+ with shards and twin shards, either through finding them or purchasing them with insight or souls. I'd test a few weapons, pick the ones you like and try to upgrade them as far as you can.


----------



## rifftrauma

IChuckFinleyI said:


> Without spilling any spoilers, is the cave in the Forbidden Woods with the poisonous water worth exploring?



It's all worth exploring.


----------



## beneharris

rifftrauma said:


> I would agree up until you start with Chalice, especially defiled chalice. In the normal game most of the weapons are very balanced and you can stick with what you like.
> 
> In Chalice I HIGHLY recommend Tonitrus and Ludwig +10. Tonitrus got me through 60-70% of the normal game, NG+,++ and +++. Ludwig was invaluable in Chalice because it's basically 2 weapons for the price of one and the scaling is great. The reach on Ludwig in greatsword form was a MUST for me on multiple Chalice bosses. I'm not saying this is gospel, but it's something to take into consideration. You can get every weapon to +6 before heading into NG+ with shards and twin shards, either through finding them or purchasing them with insight or souls. I'd test a few weapons, pick the ones you like and try to upgrade them as far as you can.



I agree, Ludwig's sword is the best in the game IMO. I was more just trying to answer it in a broad sense for him, since its not technically a weapon you're just going to run across like all the other hunter weapons.


----------



## MoshJosh

IChuckFinleyI said:


> Without spilling any spoilers, is the cave in the Forbidden Woods with the poisonous water worth exploring?



Yes. It contains some cool story-ish bits and an item needed to access a badass area late game


----------



## IChuckFinleyI

I guess I'll be wandering through it tonight then.


----------



## mongey

beneharris said:


> Upgrade the weapon you like. They're all pretty even. If this were Dark Souls there would be a clear winner, but I feel like they made these pretty balanced so you can use what you like. Its more the style, than the power that matters.


 

thanks I'll stick with the saw cleaver for now then I think 


had a quick look at the 1st chalice dungeon last night . seems ok but I'd rather just keep at the main story for now if its not necessary to do them


----------



## IChuckFinleyI

mongey said:


> thanks I'll stick with the saw cleaver for now then I think
> 
> 
> had a quick look at the 1st chalice dungeon last night . seems ok but I'd rather just keep at the main story for now if its not necessary to do them


 
I REALLY like the Kirk Hammer. I typically don't use those types of weapons in most games, but for some reason it just fits me very well in this game.


----------



## mongey

IChuckFinleyI said:


> I REALLY like the Kirk Hammer. I typically don't use those types of weapons in most games, but for some reason it just fits me very well in this game.


 

its all playstyle I guess. I find with the kirkhammer its harder to get myself out of trouble when it goes pear shaped ,which it often does for me


----------



## beneharris

So, this game is awesome. But DAMMIT if I don't hate the way it does an extra swing when you want to change weapon forms in the middle of combat. I've died so many times from that, its absolutely obnoxious.


----------



## naw38

beneharris said:


> So, this game is awesome. But DAMMIT if I don't hate the way it does an extra swing when you want to change weapon forms in the middle of combat. I've died so many times from that, its absolutely obnoxious.



I think that depends on thew weapon you're using - the switch attack on the threaded cane I find really fast and useful, whereas the... massive scythe, I can't remember the name right now, I find that's switching attack is absolutely hopeless.


----------



## MoshJosh

Anyone rocking the Threaded Cane late game?


----------



## beneharris

naw38 said:


> I think that depends on thew weapon you're using - the switch attack on the threaded cane I find really fast and useful, whereas the... massive scythe, I can't remember the name right now, I find that's switching attack is absolutely hopeless.



Well I just want to switch from two handed on Ludwig's sword to the single, and it has to go and do the two handed swing each time. Its obnoxious, you can't control it, and its killed me too many times. grr.


----------



## IChuckFinleyI

It was the weapon I started with but I got destroyed with it and made a new character. I've seen a few videos of guys using it on a few bosses and they make it look super effective. Used in close quarters it looks like a beast, but it's lacking in range.


----------



## Pav

Threaded cane is still my main weapon. My only +10 so far.


----------



## MoshJosh

anyone down to coop with me in attempt to take out Martyr Logarius later tonight??? 

I've still got to beat the last half of the Forgotten Woods, and run to the clinic to get the Castle Summons, but then I want to tackle the castle in order to get my Bloodtinge weapons. . .

I'm pretty low level for that area, probably be 45 tonight, but that should allow me to summon other players up to level 60 so maybe we can take him out. . .


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Just a hint for people: Eat all three umbilical cords and refuse the thing at the end.


----------



## beneharris

I'll help you with Logarius if you'd like. Although I don't know the best way to find each other. PM me.


----------



## mongey

got half an hour last night so had my first go at the witch of hemwick last night . I only went in with 3 vials for a look so I knew what to expect and I very nearly killed them . seems the easiest boss so far


----------



## beneharris

mongey said:


> got half an hour last night so had my first go at the witch of hemwick last night . I only went in with 3 vials for a look so I knew what to expect and I very nearly killed them . seems the easiest boss so far



Definitely the easiest, but it was my favorite.


----------



## IChuckFinleyI

I came ran into Rom, the whatever spider thing last night. I was half asleep when I got to him and figured out real quick that messing with the spiders isn't going to make things better lol I still haven't found Praal though. Where is he/she/it at?


----------



## beneharris

IChuckFinleyI said:


> I came ran into Rom, the whatever spider thing last night. I was half asleep when I got to him and figured out real quick that messing with the spiders isn't going to make things better lol I still haven't found Praal though. Where is he/she/it at?



Paarl is in Yar'ghoul (sp?). You go downstairs to where the guys with the bags are, and there is a busted out wall at the back of the room. You go out that busted out wall and he is down in the courtyard.


----------



## IChuckFinleyI

beneharris said:


> Paarl is in Yar'ghoul (sp?). You go downstairs to where the guys with the bags are, and there is a busted out wall at the back of the room. You go out that busted out wall and he is down in the courtyard.



Guys with the bags? You mean the guys who take you to that Unseen place and can kill you in a couple hits? I hate those guys


----------



## beneharris

IChuckFinleyI said:


> Guys with the bags? You mean the guys who take you to that Unseen place and can kill you in a couple hits? I hate those guys



Yep, those a-holes. You go right past them through the jail cell, and he is at the end of the path there.


----------



## mongey

Damn. Dark beast Paarl is kicking my ass.


----------



## MoshJosh

^^^ I find using a quick slashing weapon works best. Roll through its attack so you are underneath the boss and slash like crazy. If Paarl starts to do his charge up attack roll or back step as quickly as you can away. 

At first it will seem like you aren;t doing much but once you manage to knock the beast down the fight will start going in your favor (at least in my experience)


----------



## mongey

I got him in the end. I read that getting hynrcks set helps allot in that fight for its high spark resistance , So I got it and it helped heaps and got him first go with the It


----------



## brutalwizard

This is kinda interesting. 
Man makes mockery of Bloodborne by beating it with a Rock Band guitar controller | Polygon


----------



## beneharris

brutalwizard said:


> This is kinda interesting.
> Man makes mockery of Bloodborne by beating it with a Rock Band guitar controller | Polygon



Wow.


----------



## MoshJosh

Well my first play through I completely missed the Upper Cathedral Ward, so I figured I'd stop by on my new character. . . IT F*CKING SUCKS!!! haha ok its not that bad, I already beat the first boss, but damn I'm ashamed to admit how many points of insight/how many times I died to those brain sucker mother truckers!

Also for those looking for a great farming spot look no further than the theater room(the one full of undead student dudes) in the Lecture Hall. An upgraded thrust weapon/weapon with thrust move should kill the students in one hit. Run into the room and then step back outside, funnel them and enjoy the echos, leave one alive to kill you (or use the Chikage like I did). With the extra blood echos rune you should net 14,000 for the room. I think it took me 20 minutes to get 150,000 blood echos. Not to mention I maxed out my quick silver bullets because the students drop them like crazy.


----------



## MoshJosh

Started a third character tonight, a strength build this time, and so far so good.

Why didn't anyone tell my how much a$s the Hunters Axe kicks? SPIN-IT-TO-WIN-IT ALL DAY! It almost isn't fair how sweet that weapon is.

Also just got the Kirk Hammer, and though I haven't gotten to try it yet, I'm very excited for this weapon.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

MoshJosh said:


> Started a third character tonight, a strength build this time, and so far so good.
> 
> Why didn't anyone tell my how much a$s the Hunters Axe kicks? SPIN-IT-TO-WIN-IT ALL DAY! It almost isn't fair how sweet that weapon is.
> 
> Also just got the Kirk Hammer, and though I haven't gotten to try it yet, I'm very excited for this weapon.



Kirk Hammer is my main squeeze. I played with ultra greatswords in Dark Souls and Ds2. I like having a big smashey weapon.


----------



## MoshJosh

^^^ Have you used the Logarious Wheel at all? I figured that would be my late game go to.

Also anyone recommend the cannon? I'll have to inset about 7 levels between skill and bloodtinge to wield it, on top of what I already plan to invest in strength. . .


----------



## IChuckFinleyI

I'm getting my ass handed to me in the Nightmare of Mensis area. Those spiders are just stupid powerful! My Tonitrus is +9, but I don't want to get that close to anything in that area. I think I may just farm enough stones and chunks to level up my axe and spear and hope the added range helps. 

The cannon uses 10 bullets per shot. Once I saw that, I just looked at as a novelty item.


----------



## MoshJosh

You can funnel the spiders into the smaller room directly before the spiders(the big one can't follow), or run through the room and out the back hallway just be carful not to Afro the enemy out there.

Well with blood bullets you can get off 4 shots with the cannon before running out of silver bullets , and 4 shot can take out a boss!(well so I've heard)


----------



## MoshJosh

Not to spam the sh*t out of this thread, but anyone got the update yet???

So far its pretty BAD A$S! Loading screens are less boring, and seem much faster (though maybe just an illusion). Also Coop seems WAYYY easier. Figured I'd try to get summoned in hemwick. . . and it took maybe 20 seconds to get summoned, and the summoner was able to get another summon about a minute later. I then decided I would try to summon someone and again in a matter of seconds had a helper. Ended up getting 3 people summoned (one died) in the course of 3-5 minutes. . . Pretty cool.


----------



## SpaseMoonkey

Haven't done the online issue as I've been far to cheap to renew my PSN+. I can vouch that the loads are way faster. All my loads were in the 40 second range. To load from an area to the dream it's taking me around 13 seconds and then from dream back is 17ish. Death is seeming to be around 17 seconds also. 

It's made me play it more as I don't dread dying as much now!


----------



## beneharris

MoshJosh said:


> Not to spam the sh*t out of this thread, but anyone got the update yet???
> 
> So far its pretty BAD A$S! Loading screens are less boring, and seem much faster (though maybe just an illusion). Also Coop seems WAYYY easier. Figured I'd try to get summoned in hemwick. . . and it took maybe 20 seconds to get summoned, and the summoner was able to get another summon about a minute later. I then decided I would try to summon someone and again in a matter of seconds had a helper. Ended up getting 3 people summoned (one died) in the course of 3-5 minutes. . . Pretty cool.



Nice! I never understood why they made the loading screens so horrible. Especially since in the Souls' games they were interesting as heck. That's where you got a lot of the lore!


----------



## IChuckFinleyI

I wasn't on at all last night and still at work, so I clearly haven't gotten the update yet. However better loading screens and shorter loading times sounds great... especially with all the dying I've been doing lately lol


----------



## mongey

Man, Rom is annoying me. Think spent the most time on him so far out of all the bosses. 

Got down the last third of his health so many times and haven't managed to seal the deal.


----------



## mongey

anyone else have network issues since the update ?

yesterday I wasted 9 insight trying to call someone in to help with rom . got diconnected from their server about 4 times and lost the insight. and the other 5 sat there forever and no one showed up and got bored so went in to fight Rom . in the past I have never waited more than 2 mins 

eventually gave up and went and checked out lecture building and nightmare realm 

damn that lecture hall is the bomb for farming . spent half hour grinding blood echoes to boost up my strenghth so I can use the cannon . needed 10 levels to get to 30 ( I had been neglecting my strength levelling ) and got 8 done in half hour ( and about 100 quicksilver ). will grind the other 2 tongiht. then unleash the cannon on Rom's ass and see how that goes


----------



## Pav

My favorite circuit for farming blood echoes was in the Upper Cathedral Ward. With a little practice you can easily kill everything except the little lizards with visceral attacks, and if you're using runes to boost your echo income you can rack up thousands per kill.


----------



## MoshJosh

So I've been rocking my strength build for the last week, and its my favorite build so far, but I have a few questions???

I've been using Ludwigs Holy Blade because it does great damage and has a versatile move set, its at +9 right now, but. . . It only scales with a B in strength which isn't great. So what should I do???

I have the Logarius Wheel at +6 right now, and it does good damage, but as far as I know to get the best of the weapon (especially the transformation mode thing) I'll need to start bumping my arcane stat.

I have the Kirk Hammer at +4 (I think) and it seems like a good choice.

The problem is I'm not sure I'll get enough chunks by end game to upgrade any of my other weapons to +10 

but either way, at what point should I stop boosting strength, and bump something else, strength is at 32 right now I think.


----------



## jonajon91

Oh boy, I wonder what is in this unnecessarily large package by my door?






Whoah, more packaging.





But wait, oh ...., this is big









Five hundred and something pages





Sorry about the potato quality.

I feel pretty cursed myself actually since I have had a criminally low amount of time with the game and I want NO spoilers. So I have this amazing guide and the art book that came with the collectors edition ... and I have not looked through either of them.


----------



## IChuckFinleyI

mongey said:


> Man, Rom is annoying me. Think spent the most time on him so far out of all the bosses.
> 
> Got down the last third of his health so many times and haven't managed to seal the deal.



Ignore all the other spiders. Trying to fight them will just eat up your stamina and blood vials. Just hit him with everything you've got until he teleports. He does have an area of effect attack, but he telegraphs it by rolling on his back. If he uses his ranged attack, just roll like crazy. It'll take a few tries, but he's right by a lantern so just keep at it and you'll get him.


----------



## no_dice

MoshJosh said:


> So I've been rocking my strength build for the last week, and its my favorite build so far, but I have a few questions???
> 
> I've been using Ludwigs Holy Blade because it does great damage and has a versatile move set, its at +9 right now, but. . . It only scales with a B in strength which isn't great. So what should I do???
> 
> I have the Logarius Wheel at +6 right now, and it does good damage, but as far as I know to get the best of the weapon (especially the transformation mode thing) I'll need to start bumping my arcane stat.
> 
> I have the Kirk Hammer at +4 (I think) and it seems like a good choice.
> 
> The problem is I'm not sure I'll get enough chunks by end game to upgrade any of my other weapons to +10
> 
> but either way, at what point should I stop boosting strength, and bump something else, strength is at 32 right now I think.



I think the soft cap for strength is 30. It really just comes down to whatever weapon you like using the most. Higher damage output is nice, but it's no substitute for being comfortable with your weapon and utilizing it to the fullest. I used the Hunter Axe through most of the game until I got an Uncanny Burial Blade from a chalice dungeon.


----------



## mongey

IChuckFinleyI said:


> Ignore all the other spiders. Trying to fight them will just eat up your stamina and blood vials. Just hit him with everything you've got until he teleports. He does have an area of effect attack, but he telegraphs it by rolling on his back. If he uses his ranged attack, just roll like crazy. It'll take a few tries, but he's right by a lantern so just keep at it and you'll get him.



Cheers. I'll give it a go. I had advice on another forum to kill all the spiders so I'll try your way cause that ain't working.


----------



## MoshJosh

^^^ I've killed Rom 3 times now and I never killed all the spiders, so I second the advice to ignore them. I generally try to lure the spiders towards the front of Rom, and then run in to land some hits. If you hit a few times then dodge in the direction Rom is turning you can usually avoid the spiders while landing excess hits


----------



## beneharris

Here's what you do with Rom: Get the flamesprayer, take some bone marrow ash, and rape. Seriously, it isn't even a contest with it.


----------



## mikernaut

Bloodborne newb here, just starting. Gonna need some practice in taking down the 1st boss, do enemies scale up if I just grind off the start to level up some of my skill stats?
Trying to figure out a strategy to just get some progress, aka take down that 1st boss.

Also should I save Insight points? do you need to unlock the fountain thing at your home base with them?


----------



## Pav

mikernaut said:


> Bloodborne newb here, just starting. Gonna need some practice in taking down the 1st boss, do enemies scale up if I just grind off the start to level up some of my skill stats?
> Trying to figure out a strategy to just get some progress, aka take down that 1st boss.
> 
> Also should I save Insight points? do you need to unlock the fountain thing at your home base with them?



Enemies do not scale, they're at fixed levels in each area. If you grind up a nice lead in levels you'll be able to cruise through a lot of the game without much difficulty. If your first boss is the Cleric Beast, it's weak against fire.

You need at least 10 points of insight for the bath messengers on the upper level to appear. If you spend or somehow lose enough insight to drop below 10, they'll be gone until you find more. Insight isn't the most important currency in the game but it helps to keep at least 10 at all times to have access to the bath. They'll accumulate more consumable items for you to buy throughout the game and will periodically sell new sets of attire.


----------



## mongey

mikernaut said:


> Bloodborne newb here, just starting. Gonna need some practice in taking down the 1st boss, do enemies scale up if I just grind off the start to level up some of my skill stats?
> Trying to figure out a strategy to just get some progress, aka take down that 1st boss.
> 
> Also should I save Insight points? do you need to unlock the fountain thing at your home base with them?


 

once you beat cleric beast and start getting into the game you'll build up insight pretty quick , so dont be too worried about it 

molotov cocktials are great agaisnt cleric best . grind up 10 and then go in and light him up.


----------



## MoshJosh

So still rocking my strength build, and I've just been shredding through bosses! in the past 2 days I beat Amigdalla, Alien Freak, Daughter of Cosmos, and Mensis. I'm just one boss from the end depending on what I choose, though I only have 2 "third of umbilical chord" and I already got that ending anyway, there is a trophy for each anding right?

Also since the update I've been getting invaded much more frequently. . . well only 3 times so far this play through, but thats way up for 0 my first time.

Also got my first PVP kill!!! I never really invade and since I've rarely been invaded I don't have a ton of PVP experience. I usually try to adhere to the "rules" but when you invade me, get the jump on me, and start throwing molotovs before I even see you, I gotta do what I can haha I healed a few times and spammed my pistol and fast R1 attacks. . . but hey I won.


----------



## mongey

finally got a couple hours friday night to focus on Rom and killed him .I wasnt even happy when I did. I was pissed that it took me so long 

then went and finished the ellen the crow story line 

not sure what to do next. I have ventured into nightmare realm and the poison swamp bit is pretty annoying , and have checked out the unseen village but am getting my ass kicked there. I'm level 58 so maybe a little under levelled for it ? 

so I spent some time in the 1st chalice dungeon to try to grind some levels but the blood echoes haul is a bit light so far on the 3rd level


----------



## MoshJosh

So I beat the firsts chalice on my new character, but I cant do the next ritual because I don't have enough ritual blood (2) this didn't happen with my last character so I'm a bit confused as to what I'm supposed to do


----------



## Pav

Which chalice(s) did you do? Once you clear the Lower Pthumeru Chalice you can buy ritual blood (2) from the bath messengers in the dream. You could also respawn chalices you've already completed just to farm up more materials.


----------



## MoshJosh

Just the very first one, pthymeru, or whatever. I don't have enough material to do any other rituals


----------



## MoshJosh

Help needed!!!

I'm at the end of the game with my bloodtinge character, I saved the "worst" for last, and am going to choose to submit my life to Gehrman and end the hunt. This will give me all the endings, but the last two times I best the game I missed things for NG+. . . so what are the must haves for my new game?

I already got the living string just incase I feel like trying to do the chalice stuff (I probably won't because I'm lazy, it's apparently pretty hard to beat the queen/get to her, I just don't like them that much haha. . . and my only character with the string isn't really my best)


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

MoshJosh said:


> Help needed!!!
> 
> I'm at the end of the game with my bloodtinge character, I saved the "worst" for last, and am going to choose to submit my life to Gehrman and end the hunt. This will give me all the endings, but the last two times I best the game I missed things for NG+. . . so what are the must haves for my new game?
> 
> I already got the living string just incase I feel like trying to do the chalice stuff (I probably won't because I'm lazy, it's apparently pretty hard to beat the queen/get to her, I just don't like them that much haha. . . and my only character with the string isn't really my best)



Did you eat the umbilical chords and refuse him?


----------



## Pav

Make sure you've found all hunter tools and the blood rock in the Nightmare of Mensis. You only get one blood rock per game unless you want to grind through the chalice dungeons.


----------



## Pilgrim of the Dark

MoshJosh said:


> So I beat the firsts chalice on my new character, but I cant do the next ritual because I don't have enough ritual blood (2) this didn't happen with my last character so I'm a bit confused as to what I'm supposed to do



You should get enough materials in each dungeon to make the next one, unless you're "wasting" them making the root versions (wasting since I'm guessing you're going for platinum). I'm currently just past Rom in the Lower Pthumeru dungeon (I think); I have yet to have to buy or farm for materials to make the dungeons. 

If you need materials, buy them or look up where to farm them.

Btw, make sure you level up before trying the lower pthumeru; that place is no joke, especially layer 3. I'm level 126 rocking Chikage/Evelyn and it's not impossible, but still somewhat challenging. 

My stats so far are:
VIT- 41
END- 30
STR- 10
SKL- 40
BTG- 40
ARC- 15 (for Old Hunter Bone and Messenger's Gift)

Haven't found any "precious" rank 15 or higher gems yet, but I have two rank 14 and a rank 13 on my Chikage +10 and its putting out around 401 damage. My Evelyn +8 (need 4 more bloodstone chunks) is putting out 296 damage.

I still need the beast claw (found in level 2 of ailing loran iirc), burial blade, kill pthumeru Queen, get the ending where Gherman just kills you in a cutscene, and find a precious blood gem.


----------



## Pilgrim of the Dark

mikernaut said:


> Bloodborne newb here, just starting. Gonna need some practice in taking down the 1st boss, do enemies scale up if I just grind off the start to level up some of my skill stats?
> Trying to figure out a strategy to just get some progress, aka take down that 1st boss.
> 
> Also should I save Insight points? do you need to unlock the fountain thing at your home base with them?



In addition to what the others have said, it's important to keep in mind that having high insight gives certain enemies buffs... For example, at insight 15, the watchers in the cathedral ward will get buffed weapons. So, while I would keep enough insight to summon people (maybe 3-4 at any given time), I would spend extra insight on things like fire and bolt paper when you have excess. Later in the game, you'll be literally swimming in insight, and you'll have tons of Madman's Knowledge (item that gives you insight when consumed). Other than a few items, which expand as you progress, the insight bath messengers will only have a couple outfits to sell after you beat certain enemies, like a couple hunters, etc.


----------



## MoshJosh

Yeah I got the blood rock, and got the umbilical chord ending on my other character.

I also have all hunters tools on my other character. . . Except the beast claw, and I don't have the materials to do more chalice rituals as stated in my other post


----------



## stradfire

I loved. Loved. Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2. Finished neither of them 
Don't have any gaming system right meow, but I'm contemplating a PS4 solely for Bloodborne and maybe some Fatalities in MKX, but here's my question...

*How's the music in Bloodborne?* 

The Firelink Shrine twinkling still rings in my memory and brings up all the usual DS emotions...fear, dread, masochistic glee...

$500 is a lot for one or two games, especially when I'm going to MI in July if I can milk the government enough...(I'm broke and come from broke)


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

MoshJosh said:


> Yeah I got the blood rock, and got the umbilical chord ending on my other character.




I like to consider this the "true" ending because you get to fight all the bosses. It made no sense to me though


----------



## Pilgrim of the Dark

stradfire said:


> I loved. Loved. Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2. Finished neither of them
> Don't have any gaming system right meow, but I'm contemplating a PS4 solely for Bloodborne and maybe some Fatalities in MKX, but here's my question...
> 
> *How's the music in Bloodborne?*
> 
> The Firelink Shrine twinkling still rings in my memory and brings up all the usual DS emotions...fear, dread, masochistic glee...
> 
> $500 is a lot for one or two games, especially when I'm going to MI in July if I can milk the government enough...(I'm broke and come from broke)



The music is fantastic, as is the music in every From game, but I would argue it's not quite as memorable as the previous games' music. Again, the score is phenomenal, but the most memorable boss theme for me so far has been the bloodletting beast in the lower pthumeru chalice dungeon; it's boss theme sounds almost exactly like the God of War theme.


----------



## MoshJosh

leftyguitarjoe said:


> I like to consider this the "true" ending because you get to fight all the bosses. It made no sense to me though



Yeah I agree. . . I can't say I totally follow the story, but I'm assuming that consuming/having the umbilical chords inside you makes you appear to be a great one to the Moon Presence. Or maybe it makes you kin to a great one/gives you true insight that makes you invulnerable to whatever it is the Moon Presence did to Gehrman 

Ok I'm kind of just rambling now


----------



## mongey

so found more time early saturday morning to get through some more. this new baby of mine is really making it hard to get through bloodborne .I actaully set my alarm for 6am on a saturday so I could play a couple hours . grinded up some levels and finally found 1 more stone chunk to upgrade my saw cleaver to +7 . finding the unseen village allot more manageable now .turned it off to deal with baby and just read that I was just around the corner from the next lamp which is kinda annoying 

also got the cainshurst sumons and went there and checked it out . found the boss Martyr Logarius but hunter masked right out of there as I had a good haul of blood echoes on me and didnt want to lose them on my first fight with him . 

weighing up wether to fight Logarius first or finish off the unseen village first as it looks like i'm not too far from the boss


----------



## Pilgrim of the Dark

mongey said:


> found the boss Martyr Logarius but hunter masked right out of there as I had a good haul of blood echoes on me and didnt want to lose them on my first fight with him .
> 
> weighing up wether to fight Logarius first or finish off the unseen village first as it looks like i'm not too far from the boss



Martyr Logarius is no joke, man. He's very, very difficult if you're under leveled and don't know just how to fight him. I would highly suggest summoning for that fight after you give it a couple goes.

I'm on my second character's first playthrough going through the fixed chalice dungeons pursuing the platinum trophy. Just finished the Defiled Pthumeru Chalice Dungeon last night... Man, Watchdog of the Old Lords was brutally difficult; I seriously considered giving up on trying for the platinum trophy for a while. Amygdala was really, really easy, though


----------



## MoshJosh

So I can end the game on my bloodtinge character, but I've been having a lot of fun invading at Mergos loft and don't want to have to play a huge chunk of the game again just for a good pvp spot. Where are some good early pvp areas if I go into NG+?

Also how is early game PvP? Thinking about starting a quality/saw cleaver build to mess with


----------



## Pav

It doesn't matter where you are in your game, matchmaking is based entirely on your hunter's level.


----------



## mongey

Pilgrim of the Dark said:


> Martyr Logarius is no joke, man. He's very, very difficult if you're under leveled and don't know just how to fight him. I would highly suggest summoning for that fight after you give it a couple goes.


 

I have no shame in summoning believe me , although I think I've only killed 2 bosses with summons , father gasgoine and shadow of yarnham. although with shadow of yarnham I only tried once by myself and summened cause I was drunk and lazy and we killed them 1st go .I did actually feel a little cheap for not trying harder alone 

a few others I have tried to summon and either havent killed the boss or no one has turned up


oh and on the story discussion I have absolutly no idea what is going on .I gave up trying about 4 hours in


----------



## Pav

mongey said:


> oh and on the story discussion I have absolutly no idea what is going on .I gave up trying about 4 hours in



Bloodborne Lore - The Story

Heavy-duty spoilers obviously, but that's the best grasp of the story I've found so far.


----------



## MoshJosh

Pav said:


> It doesn't matter where you are in your game, matchmaking is based entirely on your hunter's level.



Exactly, I'm assuming it's hard to find players level 80-100 in early sections of the game.


----------



## MoshJosh

So started my saw cleaver build, and so far so good. I'm going quality on this play through and am thinking Ludwigs will be my alternate because it scales with skill and strength but am open to other suggestions???

I'm curious how long before the cleaver is under powered, I'd assume fairly quickly, but I plan to use it for as long as possible/the whole game as I've seen others do it.


----------



## Pilgrim of the Dark

MoshJosh said:


> So started my saw cleaver build, and so far so good. I'm going quality on this play through and am thinking Ludwigs will be my alternate because it scales with skill and strength but am open to other suggestions???
> 
> I'm curious how long before the cleaver is under powered, I'd assume fairly quickly, but I plan to use it for as long as possible/the whole game as I've seen others do it.



Don't worry about Ludwig's, the saw cleaver is totally viable; it'll be a great weapon if you just keep upgrading it. That's the great thing about this game; the weapons are all viable contenders. There's no "best" weapon. I'm running a Chikage/Evelyn build and I still sometimes use my threaded cane. It really just comes down to if the weapon scales with the stats you're focusing on, and if you like it's move set. 

I actually just cleared all the chalice dungeons the other night and while I beat the defiled watchdog by myself (after many tries), I had to summon my brother to help with Ihyll Pthumerian descedant... Man, that boss is rough. I was consistently able to get him down to 1/8 health; to where a visceral would've ended it, but he always goes crazy at the end and I can't get away from his insane combos in that horrible boss arena... Not to mention that at this point in the fight, my bullets either ricochet off of him or go through him... Wtf?!

Anyway, I'm running through NG+ to get the last ending to platinum the game. 

So far, my favorite weapons are the blades of mercy. My brother uses them and while the first couple hits are slow and weak, once he gets going the damage just gets into ridiculous territory AND it stunlocks bosses!!!! I've seen him dish out well over 2000 damage to ihyll Pthumerian descendant dumping a stamina bar into him.


----------



## beneharris

Pilgrim of the Dark said:


> Don't worry about Ludwig's, the saw cleaver is totally viable; it'll be a great weapon if you just keep upgrading it. That's the great thing about this game; the weapons are all viable contenders.



See, that's my least favorite thing about this game. I miss being able to challenge myself to killing a boss with dual ladles, getting pissed off that I can't do it, then power stancing dual malformed skulls and just wasting everything. Sigh, I miss you Dark Souls.


----------



## Pilgrim of the Dark

beneharris said:


> See, that's my least favorite thing about this game. I miss being able to challenge myself to killing a boss with dual ladles, getting pissed off that I can't do it, then power stancing dual malformed skulls and just wasting everything. Sigh, I miss you Dark Souls.



You could always just keep a non-upgraded version for if you want to challenge yourself. Or, go bare knuckle. 

I love that everything is so balanced. In souls games, there were some builds you'd come across that were just ridiculous (my DS2 crypt black sword build being one). In this game, I've never felt overleveled (except during the first few chalice dungeons because I waited until end game to start them), and I feel pretty evenly matched with people in PvP.

I think the idea of your build being more reliant on your skill with the gameplay mechanics rather than grinding the best cheese build you can find on the Internet is great. I mean, don't get me wrong; skill definitely played a large role before, but I think your actual build factored in way too much.

However, I do sort of miss the variety having all those weapons and spells brought to the table.


----------



## beneharris

Pilgrim of the Dark said:


> You could always just keep a non-upgraded version for if you want to challenge yourself. Or, go bare knuckle.
> 
> I love that everything is so balanced. In souls games, there were some builds you'd come across that were just ridiculous (my DS2 crypt black sword build being one). In this game, I've never felt overleveled (except during the first few chalice dungeons because I waited until end game to start them), and I feel pretty evenly matched with people in PvP.
> 
> I think the idea of your build being more reliant on your skill with the gameplay mechanics rather than grinding the best cheese build you can find on the Internet is great. I mean, don't get me wrong; skill definitely played a large role before, but I think your actual build factored in way too much.
> 
> However, I do sort of miss the variety having all those weapons and spells brought to the table.



I never pvped in dark souls because i'd always get pwned. But just the ability to go and get the bellhammer in the second one, or the idea of getting boss souls for sweet weapons was just so awesome to me, I miss it in this one.


----------



## mongey

I'm gonna keep this damn thread alive till I actually finish the game once 

with a bit of work killed logarius over the weekend . wasnt too bad once I sat back and worked him out.giving him a good hammering while he was doing his power up helped allot ,thanks google . 

Also went through upper catherdral and killed the 1st boss with all the minions. he was pretty easy . fought the 2nd celestial being boss a few times and got my ass handed to me . but did soem reading on the wiki on the bus to work today and think with the right gear she wont be too hard 

also killed one reborn , was eaiser than I expected , opened up the final nightmare level and did a little exploring through that . feels like its gonna be tough grind


----------



## MoshJosh

Yeah the nightmare of menses is pretty damn tough if you don't know where you're going especially the area right after the first lamp. 

Also my quality build is going alright but now that I'm using the saw cleaver pretty exclusively I'm starting to miss the wreckage that is Ludwigs Holy Blade. . . Still fun though. 

Also since I've already beaten the game and solo'd every boss(except the shadows, cause I ain't got time for that sh*t) I do a lot of summoning, and lay night I summoned this dude in the forest who absolutely wrecked. . . Just one shoting almost every enemy, and between that dude and my other summon we beat the shadows in about 30 seconds. . It was pretty cool


----------



## mongey

MoshJosh said:


> Yeah the nightmare of menses is pretty damn tough if you don't know where you're going especially the area right after the first lamp.


 

yeah I was really struggling there but changed to the crowfeather set with higher frenzy resistance and doing a little better as i have a bit more time befroe frenzy kicks in , still brutal though. furthest I've gotten is to the spiders

did go the other way and open the lamp near the lift but its a dead end till the lift works


----------



## MoshJosh

I always either, run in and immediately turn around to funnel them into the small front room, or run all the way through the room and funnel them on the bridge. . . Be careful though, go to far across the bridge and you'll be forced to face a fairly tough enemy


----------



## mongey

beat micolash (annoying chasing that dick around ) and spent an hour finding the blood rock . 

I hadnt been invaded before but I was invaded 3 times in a row when looking for the blood rock . twice I wasnt even looking at the screen ,I was hiding in a safe corner dealing with my baby girl and next thing someone is killing me . not a fan of the mechanic. I like the idea of pvp but not forced pvp 

figure 1 more good 2 or 3 hour session and I'll finish the game


----------



## mongey

And finished it. Ate the 3 cords so also beat ole Moon face. 

Fought Gherman a few times alone then summoned and we smashed him. Was surprised the other guy was there for the moon presence as well.


EDIT so after finsihing I had an hour later so checked out NG+. after a couple of goes on central yarnham with the burial blade I cracked it a little. I just don't think I can do it all again yet


----------



## Pilgrim of the Dark

mongey said:


> beat micolash (annoying chasing that dick around ) and spent an hour finding the blood rock .
> 
> I hadnt been invaded before but I was invaded 3 times in a row when looking for the blood rock . twice I wasnt even looking at the screen ,I was hiding in a safe corner dealing with my baby girl and next thing someone is killing me . not a fan of the mechanic. I like the idea of pvp but not forced pvp
> 
> figure 1 more good 2 or 3 hour session and I'll finish the game



I know you already beat the game, but for future reference, if you don't want to be invaded in the nightmare realms, kill the bell ringing woman (she doesn't respawn on subsequent trips to the level either). In nightmare frontier, she's at the top of a little cave you can get to from where the poison swamp starts (just after where you get ganked by the NPC hunters. In nightmare of mensis, she's on a little balcony in an alcove just off the spider room... And there's another just before the Mergo boss fight down some stairs.


----------



## mongey

Pilgrim of the Dark said:


> I know you already beat the game, but for future reference, if you don't want to be invaded in the nightmare realms, kill the bell ringing woman (she doesn't respawn on subsequent trips to the level either). In nightmare frontier, she's at the top of a little cave you can get to from where the poison swamp starts (just after where you get ganked by the NPC hunters. In nightmare of mensis, she's on a little balcony in an alcove just off the spider room... And there's another just before the Mergo boss fight down some stairs.


 

I didnt realise the bell ringing woman effected pvp as well .

I'm doing a NG+ playthrough as I didnt kill Amyalyda or Ebrietas and its annoying me. I need to kill them to be done with the game


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

DARK SOULS 3 CONFIRMED AAAHHH!!!!!

Source: Miyazaki&#8217;s Dark Souls 3 ready for E3 announcement | VG247


----------



## MattThePenguin

leftyguitarjoe said:


> DARK SOULS 3 CONFIRMED AAAHHH!!!!!
> 
> Source: Miyazakis Dark Souls 3 ready for E3 announcement | VG247



After Dark Souls 2 I am not excited at all. Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, and Bloodborne are very special games. Dark Souls 2 did not feel very well thought out, and all of the changes they made with SotFS make it even worse. I really hope they don't run this into the ground, there's no reason for these games to come out every year or 2.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

MattThePenguin said:


> After Dark Souls 2 I am not excited at all. Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, and Bloodborne are very special games. Dark Souls 2 did not feel very well thought out, and all of the changes they made with SotFS make it even worse. I really hope they don't run this into the ground, there's no reason for these games to come out every year or 2.



I have more time in Ds2 than any of them  While the plot isnt as good, the mechanics are way better than Ds1. I've never played Demon's Souls because I've never owned a sony console. Bloodborne is a thing all in its own category.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Leaked Ds3 screens!
Dark Souls 3 Leaked Screenshots (The Know) - Album on Imgur


----------



## MoshJosh

Now ^^^ that gets me excited! 

Oh Dark Souls, haven't you taken enough hours of my life already.


----------



## Buffnuggler

I really love DS2. Sure the world wasn't quite as amazing as Dark Souls 1 but I love the oceanic/watery vibe of alot of it, I like how huge the HUB is, I like the games atmosphere a ton, it felt more like a "lone traveler" sort of vibe than the more epic in scale warrior ascending to Anor Londo that DS1 offered (if that makes any sense). 

Some of the levels like Heide's tower are as good as anything in DS1. The pirate level where you go out to the ship, the drop into the gutter, the forest that actually felt like a forest....I thought a lot of it was really memorable.


----------



## mongey

I wasnt feeling the witcher 3 so I traded it on DS2 yestedray

since I ended up loving bloodborne so much figured i need to give it a go 

only had a quick go last night and it seems cool. After much deliberation I went with a knight. woudld like to do a more arcane build but I figure the old hack and slash may be easier to get into


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

mongey said:


> I wasnt feeling the witcher 3 so I traded it on DS2 yestedray
> 
> since I ended up loving bloodborne so much figured i need to give it a go
> 
> only had a quick go last night and it seems cool. After much deliberation I went with a knight. woudld like to do a more arcane build but I figure the old hack and slash may be easier to get into



It almost doesnt matter what you choose to start. I started as a knight for my most recent character and ended up doing a powerstanced spears build.

For the hell of it. The SOTFS version for PC is sooooo much better than the vanilla version.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Dark Souls 3 trailer!!


----------



## MoshJosh

So too all you Bloodborne player, how are you dueling/PVPing?

At first I started out doing "honor" duels (To my understanding honor duels are a sort of unspoken set of rules used in Dark Souls PVP though I probably played less than 10 duels in Dark Souls 1 and 2 combined so the f#ck do I know) anyway, bow first and make yourself known, no healing. . .

Then I realized EVERYONE HEALS!!! So I began limiting myself to only healing after the host healed. . . then I realized WHO CARES!!!

So now when I invade I: Find the host, allow host to defeat any enemies they are currently fighting, bow, then go about my duel.

BUT if the host attempts to attack while I'm bowing. . . This happens a lot haha I kinda just become a lame a$s and spam bullets and lure enemies to attack the host when possible haha

Also I'm hating all the parry fishing!!! I've had quite a few duels now where the host/ opponent just constantly back steps. . . like constantly. . . until you attempt to attack, then they spam bullets. . .

Just curious how you guys do it


----------



## viesczy

I treat the other party with respect, let them kill off the enemies & heal/gear up before starting the duel. 

If it is a hard fought duel and we're both low, I'll purposefully back off, wave and heal to show I want the fight to continue as I'm having a great time.

If they just up and heal, then it is fair game for me to heal.

Gank squads in the nightmare areas are 0 fun as I imagine they're tweens w/o any idea or respect for what the Souls games are while you're dealing w the flame breathing werewolves or the stone tossing yetis. 

Derek


----------



## MoshJosh

Been rocking The Old Hunters expansion for the last few days. . . when I probably should have been studying. . .

It is pretty awesome so far, but pretty difficult. I got through the first area and first boss fairly easily, though I summoned the NPC for the boss, but the First Vicar boss is destroying me.

I might be a bit under leveled, 95, not sure. You get a lot of new weapons very quickly which is great but I'm rocking a quality build, because it was the build that was still on the first play through and had immediate access to the DLC, which has sort of ruled out a few of the weapons I was really looking forward to. . . the whirlygig saw to be specific. Also a lot of cool arcane stuff, which means boosting my stat which means my characters stats aren't optimized for any specific weapon or build. . .

LIFE IS SO HARD.


----------



## MFB

On a whim I bought Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition, since it was $5 on Steam. It said a 360 controller was recommended, and I figured, "Hey, I've got my Logitech F310 which is meant to do just that, let's go for it." Turns out it's damn near impossible to get it properly working with an F310, and the PtD edition had numerous problems with it's porting. So not only can I not use my controller to play it, but there's going to be other issues I run into along the way besides that.

The game crushed my spirit before I could even play it.


----------



## jonajon91

There is a popular mod online for PC darksouls which helps fix a lot of issues with the port. I think it sorts out everything from framerate to resolution and textures, it's kind of viewed as a mandatory install for someone playing on PC. In all seriousness though, find a way to get your controller working, I can't imagine playing darksouls on keyboard and mouse, I usually use a controller called input mapper to get my controller working.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

DSFix is what you're looking for. I also recommend an HD texture pack. I also have the high-visibility health bar mod that helps a bit.


----------



## MFB

leftyguitarjoe said:


> DSFix is what you're looking for. I also recommend an HD texture pack. I also have the high-visibility health bar mod that helps a bit.



It runs fine and everything, the biggest issue is that some of the keys on the Logitech controller don't correspond to what they're prompt on the screen is and there's no way to remap them from what I've found. And from what I've seen with DSFix, it looks like that doesn't change anything on that front - just helps it look better.

Edit: I found some sweet, kind savior posting a tutorial on the Steam forums on using x360ce to get the mapping right and setting a profile for DS! Now I can finally play it like a human being and it looks good.


----------



## beneharris

MoshJosh said:


> Been rocking The Old Hunters expansion for the last few days. . . when I probably should have been studying. . .
> 
> It is pretty awesome so far, but pretty difficult. I got through the first area and first boss fairly easily, though I summoned the NPC for the boss, but the First Vicar boss is destroying me.
> 
> I might be a bit under leveled, 95, not sure. You get a lot of new weapons very quickly which is great but I'm rocking a quality build, because it was the build that was still on the first play through and had immediate access to the DLC, which has sort of ruled out a few of the weapons I was really looking forward to. . . the whirlygig saw to be specific. Also a lot of cool arcane stuff, which means boosting my stat which means my characters stats aren't optimized for any specific weapon or build. . .
> 
> LIFE IS SO HARD.



I thik 95 is underleveled. I had to get to ~100 before I could beat Ludwig. I smashed him after I did that, although, it may just be I tried enough times.

Now I'm at the second to last boss, Maria. 

Did you guys know that the Cleric beast in the chapel can be fought again?


----------



## MoshJosh

I beat Ludwig with the help of Henrietta (or whatever the NPCs name is), and after a few tries I beat the living failures, and surprisingly I beat Maria first try!!! woot woot! I'm level 99 now and still can't beat Lawrence The First Vicar. AHHH probably gonna have to wait till I can find some OP summons to help out.

Also where to farm bloodstone chunks???


----------



## beneharris

We did Logarius together, lets smash Lawrence, too. I'm also having trouble with him.

I've always heard the blue werewolfs in the choir area for bloodstone chunks. I need those badly, too.

Blood Stone Chunk Farming Location(Spoilers) - Bloodborne Message Board for PlayStation 4 - GameFAQs


----------



## MoshJosh

beneharris said:


> We did Logarius together, lets smash Lawrence, too. I'm also having trouble with him.
> 
> I've always heard the blue werewolfs in the choir area for bloodstone chunks. I need those badly, too.
> 
> Blood Stone Chunk Farming Location(Spoilers) - Bloodborne Message Board for PlayStation 4 - GameFAQs



Alright, I'll hit you up, probably be late tonight, if you are down to Co-op. . .


----------



## Bekanor

I bought a PS4 on the weekend basically just for Bloodborne. 


Cue up buyer's remorse for when I get raged up and stop playing it.


----------



## MoshJosh

So after quite a bit of cooping, I'm thinking they nerfed coop. With 3 people, bosses have ungodly amounts of health, so much so that I rarely see all 3 players survive till the end, and when 2 people are facing a boss buffed for 3 it is ridiculous. 

On top of that I've seen a few instances when stun locking a boss, his or her health will randomly regenerate a little? 

And now as a summon, I'm getting one shotted very easily


----------



## beneharris

MoshJosh said:


> So after quite a bit of cooping, I'm thinking they nerfed coop. With 3 people, bosses have ungodly amounts of health, so much so that I rarely see all 3 players survive till the end, and when 2 people are facing a boss buffed for 3 it is ridiculous.
> 
> On top of that I've seen a few instances when stun locking a boss, his or her health will randomly regenerate a little?
> 
> And now as a summon, I'm getting one shotted very easily



Yeah, something happened with co-op. I've gotten help for 2 bosses so far, and its been harder with a cooperator. 

The only one it helped with was the Living Failures, just because I couldn't handle the crowd control myself.

I summoned someone for ludwig and orphan of kos, and they just wreck the summons so easily. Its weird.


----------



## MattThePenguin

The DLC was ....ing amazing but Ludwig on NG+ kicked my ass so hard, had to summon a friend. I was 118 when I got the DLC, but now I think I'm 189 or something, I'm using this character to put all of the stats to 50 so I can use a ton of different weapons and have them all be viable. It's nice having the versatility.

Dark Souls 3 looks awesome. I'm really excited for it.


----------



## MoshJosh

^^^ I'm currently using a character at 125 with strength 33 dexterity 33(kind of random and unintentional) and arcane at 35 (soon to be 40 I hope) and is been a lot of fun, because it makes a lot of the weapons usable. . . Not enough chunks though haha


----------



## MattThePenguin

MoshJosh said:


> ^^^ I'm currently using a character at 125 with strength 33 dexterity 33(kind of random and unintentional) and arcane at 35 (soon to be 40 I hope) and is been a lot of fun, because it makes a lot of the weapons usable. . . Not enough chunks though haha






Farm that dungeon, all of the bosses are very easy! It can drop rocks too, I have gotten one so far after about an hour of farming. Bosses drop good gems too and I have over 50 chunks now.


----------



## MoshJosh

^^^ I don't have any of those chalice dungeons unlocked. . . not a huge fan of the dungeons. . . just not my thing.


----------



## Don Vito

MFB said:


> It runs fine and everything, the biggest issue is that some of the keys on the Logitech controller don't correspond to what they're prompt on the screen is and there's no way to remap them from what I've found. And from what I've seen with DSFix, it looks like that doesn't change anything on that front - just helps it look better.
> 
> Edit: I found some sweet, kind savior posting a tutorial on the Steam forums on using x360ce to get the mapping right and setting a profile for DS! Now I can finally play it like a human being and it looks good.


That's weird. I've got the same controller and the game auto configures to normal console mapping.


----------



## MoshJosh

Alright, so I got bored with my quality/arcane build and went back to my Bloodtinge build. . . so far pretty fun. 

I'm sort of confused about the Chikages damage, I have 40 in both skill and bloodtinge, and according to my stats I'm hitting something like 350 physical and 530 bloodtinge damage, but I can't tell if those numbers are independent, stack, or stack when in trick mode. Sometimes it seems like both my purely physical attacks (not buffed with blood), and blood attacks are hitting harder than my stats say . . . and sometimes my blood attacks seem hardly buffed at all i.e. not doing enough damage to warrant the life drain.

This character is fun, but seems to rely much more heavily on dodging than my moonlight sword build. . . less stagger potential, and you've got to land long combos to do real damage.

Also been using Simons bow blade. Really fun/interesting weapon, but pretty hard to use. . . at least for me. It only consumes 1 silver bullet per shot, but even at +9 and 40 skill 40 bloodtinge it takes a few arrows to kill even the weaker enemies.


----------



## tacotiklah

I got the first dark souls and those damn skeletons from the firelink shrine keep kicking my ass. 

I managed to kill 3 of them, but then they hack me to bits. I feel like such a noob.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

tacotiklah said:


> I got the first dark souls and those damn skeletons from the firelink shrine keep kicking my ass.
> 
> I managed to kill 3 of them, but then they hack me to bits. I feel like such a noob.



They will come back unless you kill them with a divine weapon. Its worth rushing for the Zweihander though.

The normal way to go from Firelink is the path that goes up where some hollows are.


----------



## beneharris

Good God. Frigging Orphan of Kos. I cannot beat him. I've rage quit that fight so many times now.


----------



## MoshJosh

He's tough, I had to get a summon. You can always cheese him, just go on YouTube and watch lobos jr beat him without getting hit.


----------



## beneharris

MoshJosh said:


> He's tough, I had to get a summon. You can always cheese him, just go on YouTube and watch lobos jr beat him without getting hit.



Eh, I hate doing that first time around. Gotta earn that Parasite of Kos the hard way.


----------



## PunkBillCarson

tacotiklah said:


> I got the first dark souls and those damn skeletons from the firelink shrine keep kicking my ass.
> 
> I managed to kill 3 of them, but then they hack me to bits. I feel like such a noob.





Get a divine weapon or kill the necromancers in the catacombs. Pretty sure the first necromancer you run into is the one who controls the skeletons in the graveyard. Be forewarned, though. Necromancers aren't slouches for lower leveled new players. If you enjoy suicide runs, it is possible to obtain a few decent items from the Catacombs early on. There's a green titanite shard, a great scythe etc... If you manage to go down in there as human, you can summon Paladin Leeroy down near the bottom to fight Pinwheel. This will give you about 20k souls from which you can pay a visit to Vamos and imbue your weapon of choice with fire early on in the game. OR, you can go to Tomb of the Giants from a coffin in a corridor, join the Gravelord Covenant and get the Gravelord Sword along with a Miracle.


----------



## Don Vito

Haven't tried Bloodborne yet, but I finally got Dark Souls 2.

Are there any secret memes I should know before I get any further? Like the graveyard/catacombs looting in DS1.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Don Vito said:


> Haven't tried Bloodborne yet, but I finally got Dark Souls 2.
> 
> Are there any secret memes I should know before I get any further? Like the graveyard/catacombs looting in DS1.



Did you get the old version or the new one?


----------



## Don Vito

It's Scholar of the First Sin.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Don Vito said:


> It's Scholar of the First Sin.



Ok good. I found Ds2 to be easier to kinda fumble my way through than Ds1. The main dude who did all the souls games didnt do this one so its a bit different. Still good though. You need to level your ADP until your agility is 99 or so if you want to dodge anything. It increases your i-frames during rolls. 

Also, soul memory is a really retarded mechanic that adds up all the souls you collect and it controls matchmaking, not soul level like in the other games. This means that if you wanted to stay at a comfortable meta, say level 120, you will still gain soul memory and pushed into higher matchmaking tiers. Biggest blunder of the series. There is an item, the Agape Ring, that stops this, but it stops you from gaining any souls, so if you need to upgrade something or buy consumables, you're SOL.

All in all its a pretty good game despite what I've typed. I probably have more time in it than any of the others. And, as usual with FROM, the DLC's are better than the base game and have the funnest/hardest bosses.


----------



## ohoolahan

Today I found this gem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DGe4RtPmWw

This video really shows how great the lore in DS is...

Just wanted to share it with you!


----------



## Bekanor

Started getting back into Bloodborne on Saturday (I was stuck on the cleric beast).

As of yesterday I'd busted up the cleric beast, done some adventuring/grinding, smoked Papa G and am ready to see what's what in Cathedral Ward.

So goddamned good. I didn't get into DS enough to really "get" the draw of the souls games, now I absolutely get it.


----------



## Pav

I just pulled this back out a few days ago, trying to wrap up my last few loose ends for the platinum trophy. I couldn't help but spring for the Old Hunters DLC as well. What level were you people when you cleared the DLC? I'm on NG+, lv 120. So far it isn't bad but my hunter is a DPS skill build. My vitality and endurance are low by comparison and I'm worried it's starting to catch up with me.


----------



## beneharris

Pav said:


> I just pulled this back out a few days ago, trying to wrap up my last few loose ends for the platinum trophy. I couldn't help but spring for the Old Hunters DLC as well. What level were you people when you cleared the DLC? I'm on NG+, lv 120. So far it isn't bad but my hunter is a DPS skill build. My vitality and endurance are low by comparison and I'm worried it's starting to catch up with me.



I'm approximately level 100, and I'm still on Orphan of Kos. I haven't played in a month or so, but he kicked my behind at that level, for what its worth.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Leaked pic from Dark Souls 3 featuring a familiar face.

I'll just post the link for those who wish to avoid spoilers.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CaknMi7WcAAG2ix.jpg


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

ALL ABROAD THE HYPE TRAIN


----------



## ohoolahan

The hype is real. I just ordered the collectors edition with the single statue. I never thought that I will ever spend so much money for a single video game. It was my first collectors edition pre order ever. And after seeing this cinematic trailer and the new gameplay video I cant wait anymore...


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

ohoolahan said:


> The hype is real. I just ordered the collectors edition with the single statue. I never thought that I will ever spend so much money for a single video game. It was my first collectors edition pre order ever. And after seeing this cinematic trailer and the new gameplay video I cant wait anymore...



I tried to preorder today but you cant on Steam yet.


----------



## Pav

I caved and pre-ordered the collector's edition a few days ago. I'm a sucker for extra collectible trinkets if it's a game I'm excited for. Hopefully the statue goes well on the mantel with my MGS5 bionic arm.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

I dont like collectors editions because then I cant preload the game 

I used a VPN to unlock Fallout 4 about 12 hours early. I plan on doing the same for this.


----------



## Pav

Yep, it's definitely a trade-off. My gaming friends IRL like to make fun of me for paying substantially more money and then having to wait a few extra days for shipping while they get to play on launch day, but I'm a patient guy. And real physical maps of the game world make me very excited for some reason. I still have the dual-sided map from MGS5 and I'd love to build some kind of custom frames for these things so I can hang them up and display my nerdery in all its glory.


----------



## PunkBillCarson

There are few games that I will ever spend more than 60 on for the collectors edition and DS is one of them.


----------



## NicePants

I'm dying to play Dark Souls 3. I've played every other game in the Souls series aside from Bloodborne, probably totaling around 1000 hours combined on DeS, DS1, DS2, and Scholar of the First Sin. Soon as it comes out I'm getting the hell off the internet though. I still haven't managed to play a single game in the series without getting spoiled on something or other.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

NicePants said:


> I'm dying to play Dark Souls 3. I've played every other game in the Souls series aside from Bloodborne, probably totaling around 1000 hours combined on DeS, DS1, DS2, and Scholar of the First Sin. Soon as it comes out I'm getting the hell off the internet though. I still haven't managed to play a single game in the series without getting spoiled on something or other.



The japanese version comes out a couple weeks before we get it, so there will be spoilers.

The reddit communities are pretty good about marking spoilers. I, for one, want to see all the features and mechanics before I buy it. I ought to be able to do this without spoiling any of the story.


----------



## Repner

I enjoyed Demons Souls when it came out. I preordered Dark Souls and when it came out, I already had a bunch of other games to play so I never got around to it. So I finally decided to start it yesterday. Talk about overdue.


----------



## NicePants

Repner said:


> I enjoyed Demons Souls when it came out. I preordered Dark Souls and when it came out, I already had a bunch of other games to play so I never got around to it. So I finally decided to start it yesterday. Talk about overdue.



Be sure to dump all your points into Resistance, the most useful stat since Swimming in Deus Ex 1.


----------



## Repner

Cheers for the advice


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

NicePants said:


> Be sure to dump all your points into Resistance, the most useful stat since Swimming in Deus Ex 1.





Repner said:


> Cheers for the advice



Dont level resistance! Ever! Its a joke.


----------



## Repner

Now I don't know what to think. I got my dick caught in a ceiling fan 3 times since that post.


----------



## PunkBillCarson

Resistance is a useless stat. It just boosts your immunities and such and that's something you can do with equipment throughout the game. Instead, level the stat which scales your weapon until it no longer scales or isn't worth it, mixed in with Vitality/Endurance and if you're using miracles or sorceries, the accompanying stat for those as well.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Steam preorders up! You save 8% for having the other two games


----------



## Pav

Damn, that's a nice little perk.

I picked up Scholar of the First Sin on impulse last week. Having only played Bloodborne, I struggled with the differences at first. But after playing for 5 days now I'm level 105 and my girlfriend can here the Majula theme in her sleep, I'm so hooked.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Pav said:


> Damn, that's a nice little perk.
> 
> I picked up Scholar of the First Sin on impulse last week. Having only played Bloodborne, I struggled with the differences at first. But after playing for 5 days now I'm level 105 and my girlfriend can here the Majula theme in her sleep, I'm so hooked.



Its a really fun game. Definitely try out the original if you haven't already. The mechanics are harder to get into but it drips with amazing atmosphere and is immensely satisfying.


----------



## PunkBillCarson

Streamed Bloodborne on Twitch the other night and somehow made it past Cleric Beast and Gascoigne without dying. Thinking about doing another stream Saturday night when I get off work.

Noteworthy, because I always at least die once before Cleric Beast. I'm not terribly great at video games. I'd say I'm about average.


----------



## MattThePenguin

Any of you mighty kind Europeans mind nabbing me a copy of the Apocalypse Edition? I'll pay shipping and all. It's just not an option in America and that's a huge bummer =/


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

New trailer! Weird music choice haha.


----------



## Don Vito

cyndi lauper... really lol


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

New gameplay and lore talk from Vaati. Very early game spoilers I guess. She's fixin to be the best Souls game yet.


----------



## beneharris

I'm so stoked. But I don't want to wait til April


----------



## Pav

K srsly, is anyone here a master of Dark Souls 2? I don't ever PvP in Souls games but now I'm forced to invade people to level up in the Bell Keepers Covenant. I'm getting matched up with people nice and quickly, but when I get in there I'm getting absolutely destroyed. I'm a plain old melee strength tank build, meaning both my faith and intelligence are fairly low. So whenever I'm matched up against magic-based builds (which seems to be every ....ing person I come across) they can kill me with two spells before I can even get close enough to touch them. I know every build is going to have its strengths and weaknesses, but at level 225 I'm having so much trouble that I feel like I'm missing something and just playing stupid. How is it that people are able to initiate backstabs on me when we're standing face-to-face?


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Pav said:


> K srsly, is anyone here a master of Dark Souls 2? I don't ever PvP in Souls games but now I'm forced to invade people to level up in the Bell Keepers Covenant. I'm getting matched up with people nice and quickly, but when I get in there I'm getting absolutely destroyed. I'm a plain old melee strength tank build, meaning both my faith and intelligence are fairly low. So whenever I'm matched up against magic-based builds (which seems to be every ....ing person I come across) they can kill me with two spells before I can even get close enough to touch them. I know every build is going to have its strengths and weaknesses, but at level 225 I'm having so much trouble that I feel like I'm missing something and just playing stupid. How is it that people are able to initiate backstabs on me when we're standing face-to-face?



High level PVP sucks in Ds2. I use the agape ring to stop my PVP characters from gaining souls. I have one at level 150 and one around level 70. All I do in Ds2 is PVP. 

Tank builds are at a general disadvantage in the souls games. The best defense is just not to get hit. Magic is super easy to dodge and punish when you're under 50%, or even 60% equip load. You also wont dodge anything with less than 100 agility which is ADP 24 I think.

Here is how I'd be spec'd out for a strength build. Two hand the greatsword (the ultra greatsword thats just called greatsword) and infuse it with lightning. You'll always be outclassed at higher levels if you dont infuse. Put whatever you think would be neat in your spell slots (you have 50 FTH now so might as well have some miracles). I forgot to put the dragon chime in the character thingy but grab that too (by killing the wheelchair NPC). Feel free to swap out the Chloranthy ring for the agape ring.


----------



## NicePants

Pav said:


> K srsly, is anyone here a master of Dark Souls 2? I don't ever PvP in Souls games but now I'm forced to invade people to level up in the Bell Keepers Covenant. I'm getting matched up with people nice and quickly, but when I get in there I'm getting absolutely destroyed. I'm a plain old melee strength tank build, meaning both my faith and intelligence are fairly low. So whenever I'm matched up against magic-based builds (which seems to be every ....ing person I come across) they can kill me with two spells before I can even get close enough to touch them. I know every build is going to have its strengths and weaknesses, but at level 225 I'm having so much trouble that I feel like I'm missing something and just playing stupid. How is it that people are able to initiate backstabs on me when we're standing face-to-face?



I wouldn't worry about PVP in Dark Souls 2. Even after several rounds of nerfs, hexes are still uber powerful along with a few select pyromancies. If you want to do good in PVP you might want to respec to a full on DEX or magic type build to stand a chance. I do like the strength builds you can make in 2 though. From finally made it worth a damn. 50ST and 25ishDEX with a +10 greatsword had me ruining most enemies and bosses before they could get an attack off. Also kinda fun to dick around with in PVP.


----------



## beneharris

Yeah, PVP in DS2 is TOUGH at higher levels. Really, really tough. Aren't their tiers? Like you may fight somebody soul level 50-60, and there is a cap. So after say level 150, you're with everybody higher than that. Right?


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

beneharris said:


> Yeah, PVP in DS2 is TOUGH at higher levels. Really, really tough. Aren't their tiers? Like you may fight somebody soul level 50-60, and there is a cap. So after say level 150, you're with everybody higher than that. Right?



Ds2's biggest flaw is that the tiers are based on soul memory rather than soul level. As in its based on all the souls you've collected rather regardless of whether you've spent them or not or on what you've spent them all.

I think their idea was to counter twinks in Ds1 who would rush better weapons and min/max to use them at low levels, giving them an advantage. I dont think its too big a deal. People will always try to give themselves an edge, but they can be countered by simply playing well.


----------



## Pav

leftyguitarjoe said:


> High level PVP sucks in Ds2. I use the agape ring to stop my PVP characters from gaining souls. I have one at level 150 and one around level 70. All I do in Ds2 is PVP.
> 
> Tank builds are at a general disadvantage in the souls games. The best defense is just not to get hit. Magic is super easy to dodge and punish when you're under 50%, or even 60% equip load. You also wont dodge anything with less than 100 agility which is ADP 24 I think.
> 
> Here is how I'd be spec'd out for a strength build. Two hand the greatsword (the ultra greatsword thats just called greatsword) and infuse it with lightning. You'll always be outclassed at higher levels if you dont infuse. Put whatever you think would be neat in your spell slots (you have 50 FTH now so might as well have some miracles). I forgot to put the dragon chime in the character thingy but grab that too (by killing the wheelchair NPC). Feel free to swap out the Chloranthy ring for the agape ring.



Holy .... thank you, that already helps a ton. I backed off the vigor and dexterity and cranked up my faith. Now I'm not getting blown away by any/all magic and my weapon hits MUCH harder. The plain ultra greatsword has been my main weapon since I found it, but I had never bothered to infuse it since my magic skills were so low. The lightning infusion is now allowing me to cut through nubs in a most satisfying way. 



NicePants said:


> I wouldn't worry about PVP in Dark Souls 2. Even after several rounds of nerfs, hexes are still uber powerful along with a few select pyromancies. If you want to do good in PVP you might want to respec to a full on DEX or magic type build to stand a chance. I do like the strength builds you can make in 2 though. From finally made it worth a damn. 50ST and 25ishDEX with a +10 greatsword had me ruining most enemies and bosses before they could get an attack off. Also kinda fun to dick around with in PVP.


Normally I wouldn't worry about it at all. Despite how competitive I can be with online multiplayer, Souls PvP feels very unique in that you almost need to build specifically to excel in PvP, which I don't. The problem is I'm playing on PS4 and I'm an absolute fiend for collecting trophies. The only trophies I have left are the ones for collecting ALL spells in the game. I've already maxed out my devotion to the Pilgrims of Dark so I have all hexes (and burned through 20-30 human effigies trying to beat the Darklurker as a solo melee tank). I'm only missing one sorcery, Hidden Weapon, which you get by advancing to rank 2 in the Bell Keepers Covenant. Once I get that I'll switch to Heirs to the Sun to advance to rank 3, which will get me a couple pyromancies. Then I move on to NG+2, rush to Drangleic Castle and find Chancellor Wellager to buy my remaining spells and that sweet, sweet platinum trophy.

I think DS2 PvP would feel a lot more balanced if hosts weren't allowed to summon additional phantoms and run away and hide to heal. I've lost a lot of invasions simply because the other guy is faster than me, so if/when he decides to run away and heal up, I just can't catch up in time to whack him or her while they're using their flask. That turns it into a war of attrition which the invader will almost always lose unless they come in packing multiple healing spells. Plus I like to hang around Belfry Sol where trespassers can call in Drifter Swordsman Aidel to back them up.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Pav said:


> I think DS2 PvP would feel a lot more balanced if hosts weren't allowed to summon additional phantoms and run away and hide to heal. I've lost a lot of invasions simply because the other guy is faster than me, so if/when he decides to run away and heal up, I just can't catch up in time to whack him or her while they're using their flask. That turns it into a war of attrition which the invader will almost always lose unless they come in packing multiple healing spells. Plus I like to hang around Belfry Sol where trespassers can call in Drifter Swordsman Aidel to back them up.



Thats the thing about invasions though. Its their world, their rules. Honorable fights should only be expected in duels. Think about how if you were trying to progress through the game and some guy shows up and trys to murder you. You survive any way you can. I say this as a guy who invades constantly. Sometimes I can beat two people, sometimes I cant. Its all part of the fun.


----------



## beneharris

leftyguitarjoe said:


> Ds2's biggest flaw is that the tiers are based on soul memory rather than soul level. As in its based on all the souls you've collected rather regardless of whether you've spent them or not or on what you've spent them all.
> 
> I think their idea was to counter twinks in Ds1 who would rush better weapons and min/max to use them at low levels, giving them an advantage. I dont think its too big a deal. People will always try to give themselves an edge, but they can be countered by simply playing well.



Right, that is what it is. I knew it was tiered somehow. Once I hit a certain point, it just got wayyyy to hard to PVP.


----------



## Pav

leftyguitarjoe said:


> Thats the thing about invasions though. Its their world, their rules. Honorable fights should only be expected in duels. Think about how if you were trying to progress through the game and some guy shows up and trys to murder you. You survive any way you can. I say this as a guy who invades constantly. Sometimes I can beat two people, sometimes I cant. Its all part of the fun.



That makes perfect sense...I'm assuming DS2 has actual dedicated duel arenas as well? I think I've been assuming that invasions were the _only_ way to PvP, meaning any and all encounters begin on uneven ground. But if the Brotherhood of Blood or whatever also provides real arenas, that clears up all kinds of .....


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Pav said:


> That makes perfect sense...I'm assuming DS2 has actual dedicated duel arenas as well? I think I've been assuming that invasions were the _only_ way to PvP, meaning any and all encounters begin on uneven ground. But if the Brotherhood of Blood or whatever also provides real arenas, that clears up all kinds of .....



If you summon a red or a dragon phantom via a sign, then thats considered a duel and you should not heal and stuff. Alot of covenants have different PVP mechanics, but I must admit I havent done most of them. I've never been much of a completionist.


----------



## Pav

Well...I caved. I platinum'd DS2 a few days ago and promised my girlfriend she wouldn't have to see or hear another hint of Dark Souls until DS3 was released, since she finds them terribly boring to sit and watch. But I also picked up the first DS when I bought Scholar of the First Sin and it's been burning a hole in my shelf, just waiting to be played. So I started digging in tonight...

My first impression is I'm surprised that such a clunky console game could be so highly regarded. I know the PS3 was notoriously difficult to develope for, but this game puts out an average of 15-20 frames per second, which can make even simple movements extremely tough to time. And how long before I get a better weapon than this ....ty basic longsword?!?!?


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Pav said:


> Well...I caved. I platinum'd DS2 a few days ago and promised my girlfriend she wouldn't have to see or hear another hint of Dark Souls until DS3 was released, since she finds them terribly boring to sit and watch. But I also picked up the first DS when I bought Scholar of the First Sin and it's been burning a hole in my shelf, just waiting to be played. So I started digging in tonight...
> 
> My first impression is I'm surprised that such a clunky console game could be so highly regarded. I know the PS3 was notoriously difficult to develope for, but this game puts out an average of 15-20 frames per second, which can make even simple movements extremely tough to time. And how long before I get a better weapon than this ....ty basic longsword?!?!?



I play Ds1 on PC. DsFix is a mod that... well... fixes everything. Anyway, you can rush the zweihander in the graveyard near firelink. I always use it for my strength builds. Ds1 is my favorite overall because of its level design and atmosphere. The combat is more weighted and can feel clunky compared to Ds2 but you'll get used to it. Its really worth sticking with and finishing.


----------



## beneharris

Pav said:


> Well...I caved. I platinum'd DS2 a few days ago and promised my girlfriend she wouldn't have to see or hear another hint of Dark Souls until DS3 was released, since she finds them terribly boring to sit and watch. But I also picked up the first DS when I bought Scholar of the First Sin and it's been burning a hole in my shelf, just waiting to be played. So I started digging in tonight...
> 
> My first impression is I'm surprised that such a clunky console game could be so highly regarded. I know the PS3 was notoriously difficult to develope for, but this game puts out an average of 15-20 frames per second, which can make even simple movements extremely tough to time. And how long before I get a better weapon than this ....ty basic longsword?!?!?




Shoot the tail off of the dragon in the undead burg. You get the Drake Longsword, which is good for like the first half of the game, and more if you want to put the time into upgrading it.


----------



## NicePants

beneharris said:


> Shoot the tail off of the dragon in the undead burg. You get the Drake Longsword, which is good for like the first half of the game, and more if you want to put the time into upgrading it.



You can also find a halberd pretty early on, or a great scythe if you rush the catacombs early. Both of those are useful even up until the end if you upgrade them, and the great scythe is pretty much one of the top tier dex weapons. You can also get an Uchigatana early if you kill the undead merchant at the start of the Burg, or the Zweihander from the graveyard if you're going more towards strength. I'd avoid upgrading the drake sword if you do get it honestly. Stick with it if you need it until it starts doing nothing to enemies, and then switch to something else. Dragon Scales are rare and upgrading the drake sword is hardly worth the effort, especially when you could save those and upgrade one of the other dragon weapons if you want those. Be sure to cut the tails off of just about any large enemy or boss that has one, especially the dragons.


----------



## Pav

Thank you, I will look into rushing the great scythe. Typically I prefer to build for dexterity, lighter armor and keeping myself nice and quick, but I went strength in DS2 just for a change of pace. After Bloodborne I was curious about carrying a shield and building tankier, but now that I've gotten that out of my system I think I'd like to go back to focusing on speed. So far this game definitely has a LOT more atmosphere and intrigue than DS2, which had a few too many areas and environments that felt bland and generic. Not to mention 90% of the DS2 bosses were some varient of a huge undead knight, and the Asylum Demon breaking that mold was a welcome change.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Last trailer!


----------



## PunkBillCarson

Pav said:


> Thank you, I will look into rushing the great scythe. Typically I prefer to build for dexterity, lighter armor and keeping myself nice and quick, but I went strength in DS2 just for a change of pace. After Bloodborne I was curious about carrying a shield and building tankier, but now that I've gotten that out of my system I think I'd like to go back to focusing on speed. So far this game definitely has a LOT more atmosphere and intrigue than DS2, which had a few too many areas and environments that felt bland and generic. Not to mention 90% of the DS2 bosses were some varient of a huge undead knight, and the Asylum Demon breaking that mold was a welcome change.



Dark Souls II had gameplay improvement over Dark Souls I, but that's about it. Some say that II was a graphical improvement and I disagree. Sure it looks more colorful but IMO that takes away from the kind of atmosphere DS carries. I mean, after all, Miyazaki (the guy who directed DS and BB) didn't direct II and my god does it show. The level design in II is horrid. The genius that was there in I was not there in II.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

PunkBillCarson said:


> Dark Souls II had gameplay improvement over Dark Souls I, but that's about it. Some say that II was a graphical improvement and I disagree. Sure it looks more colorful but IMO that takes away from the kind of atmosphere DS carries. I mean, after all, Miyazaki (the guy who directed DS and BB) didn't direct II and my god does it show. The level design in II is horrid. The genius that was there in I was not there in II.



60fps makes it a better graphical improvement. The gameplay is indeed way smoother too. I did miss the weight of Ds1 and the awesome atmosphere.

Ds1 is definitely an overall better experience but I play Ds2 waaaaay more.


----------



## PunkBillCarson

Just saying, that the art style for DS II doesn't really make it better. I'll give you the FPS argument as if they had done that in the DS I artstyle, you'd have no complaints from me about that. But the level design is still disgusting.


----------



## beneharris

Oh come on, you can't say the level design is horrible in DS2. It isn't as good as DS1, sure, but compared to any other game? Its fantastic.


----------



## PunkBillCarson

beneharris said:


> Oh come on, you can't say the level design is horrible in DS2. It isn't as good as DS1, sure, but compared to any other game? Its fantastic.



Yeah but I'm not comparing it to any other game. I'm comparing it to the expectations set by its predecessors, and they fall really short compared to them.


----------



## Rock4ever

Does anyone still play bloodborne or would mind giving me a hand in game with father gasciogne? I have the beckoning bell; does it require ps plus to take advantage of this feature?


----------



## PunkBillCarson

^Yes, you have to have Playstation Plus as that is what enables you to play with other players... What is your Gamertag?


----------



## Rock4ever

PunkBillCarson said:


> ^Yes, you have to have Playstation Plus as that is what enables you to play with other players... What is your Gamertag?



FirecamX


----------



## PunkBillCarson

Okay. I'll be home at 2 a.m. tonight, Central time. If you can be on then, I'll help you.


----------



## Rock4ever

Wee bit past my bedtime. Thanks anyway


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Curse them for making that game a console exclusive.


----------



## beneharris

I'd be more than happy to help you with him, and I get off work at a bit more reasonable hour 

PM me if you want to, I'll do what I can to make some time to help you out.


----------



## Pav

I would also be willing to help if needed, I've been looking for a reason to play Bloodborne again. I'm level 180ish so I hope they eased up on the matchmaking level restrictions.


----------



## PunkBillCarson

beneharris said:


> I'd be more than happy to help you with him, and I get off work at a bit more reasonable hour
> 
> PM me if you want to, I'll do what I can to make some time to help you out.





Nothing unreasonable about second shift.


----------



## beneharris

PunkBillCarson said:


> Nothing unreasonable about second shift.



 I wasn't saying there is anything unreasonable about working a second shift. Good on you, I couldn't do it, that's for sure. I was saying 2am is an unreasonable hour for playing video games.


----------



## Pav

PunkBillCarson said:


> Nothing unreasonable about second shift.



Having worked second shift myself, I might disagree. I think I'd rather work third.


----------



## Rock4ever

Some random dude online answered my bell and we cheesed it.


----------



## PunkBillCarson

^Glad you got him out of the way. He was a pain in my ass the first time I fought him. It's funny because I've never had problems with Ornstein and Smough in DS I, but Gascoigne gave me hell.


----------



## PunkBillCarson

beneharris said:


> I wasn't saying there is anything unreasonable about working a second shift. Good on you, I couldn't do it, that's for sure. I was saying 2am is an unreasonable hour for playing video games.



Lol not for me. That's the only time I can play. After than I'm usually reading.


----------



## Rock4ever

I was working my way through old yarnham. There's this dude/hunter operating a chain gun on the roof of a building. i get up there and he wtfpwns me. I get back to his loc and he's gone and my blood/currency thingies are on the ground.


What happened to the hunter?


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

One week guys. One more long, grueling week.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Man at Arms forged Artorias' greatsword!


----------



## Bekanor

Rock4ever said:


> I was working my way through old yarnham. There's this dude/hunter operating a chain gun on the roof of a building. i get up there and he wtfpwns me. I get back to his loc and he's gone and my blood/currency thingies are on the ground.
> 
> 
> What happened to the hunter?



He fell off. 

His name is Djura and he has some serious pathing issues. For instance when I fought him he dodged around and parried me a bunch all gud as hell, then took a clumsy header over the side. Thankfully he hit the ground next to the ladder you climb up so I could get the powder keg badge from him without having to reload. Apparently there's a way you can talk to him but I'm not sure how.


----------



## Pav

Make sure you look around for his bloodstain, you don't want to miss the powder keg badge.


----------



## Anquished

Been replaying Dark Souls 1 and I've got to the Bonfire in Sens Fortress, just trying to round up all the items before I set Tarkus on the boss.


----------



## PunkBillCarson

Anquished said:


> Been replaying Dark Souls 1 and I've got to the Bonfire in Sens Fortress, just trying to round up all the items before I set Tarkus on the boss.



One of my favorite parts of the game. Of course, I'm always holding my breath until I get to said bonfire and if you don't know where to look, it's easy as all hell to miss. But yeah, seeing Tarkus fight Iron Golem is always entertaining to me.


----------



## Anquished

PunkBillCarson said:


> One of my favorite parts of the game. Of course, I'm always holding my breath until I get to said bonfire and if you don't know where to look, it's easy as all hell to miss. But yeah, seeing Tarkus fight Iron Golem is always entertaining to me.



Sens fortress can be really unforgiving if you're not paying attention! Learned that far too many times. It also feels a really long way in to get to that bonfire too and all the items require a fair ammount of back tracking. 

Watched as Tarkus 1v1'd the Golem and destroyed it yesterday and now I'm in Anor Londo


----------



## PunkBillCarson

The part that always kicked my ass in Sen's was the really narrow "bridges" with pendulums. I rage quit for a week one time because of that. I consider Anor Londo to be one of the greatest areas in the game, because it's where you can really take blacksmithing to the next level and also it's got this epic feel to the whole place. Also, Painted World of Ariamis is accessed from there. If you've never been, it's a delight.


----------



## Anquished

Especially the bridges with the sneks casting lightning.. So many times I got staggered and then swiped off the bridges. 

I think Anor Londo is my favourite from its design, you're right it feels epic. Enemies aren't too bad here either if you're not standing near an edge where you can get shot off... Once I've killed Ornstein and Smough I can visit the painted world. Also need to revisit the blacksmith outside of Darkroot as I now have a green titanite shard to make a Divine Claymore. Yay!


----------



## PunkBillCarson

Man, I made a divine zweihander once and the damage I was getting from parry/riposte was absolutely ridiculous.


----------



## Anquished

Ooh I haven't picked that up yet. That's by the entrance to the Catacombs isn't it?


----------



## mrspacecat

Yes, it's in the cemetary before you go down to the catacombs.


----------



## PunkBillCarson

If you want to take it a step further, could always do a suicide run down to the catacombs, take out the necromancer, leap down half the level in the 'combs, get to the Tomb of the Giants and get the Gravelord sword. People always recommend getting the drake sword, but I think that sword is overrated. Gravelord sword will carry you a LOT farther.


----------



## Pav

Only 5 days left. My soul is ready.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Pav said:


> Only 5 days left. My soul is ready.



It unlocks at 7pm EST on the 11th. Less than 5 days!


----------



## Anquished

PunkBillCarson said:


> If you want to take it a step further, could always do a suicide run down to the catacombs, take out the necromancer, leap down half the level in the 'combs, get to the Tomb of the Giants and get the Gravelord sword. People always recommend getting the drake sword, but I think that sword is overrated. Gravelord sword will carry you a LOT farther.



Yeah I've done that before. I do like the Gravelord sword, may go and get it after I've dealt with Anor Londo.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Steam preloads are up. The end is in sight!


----------



## PunkBillCarson

Man, Tuesday is so close and yet so far away... Jesus.


----------



## beneharris

Yeah, its obviously been done for weeks. Why did they have to wait so long to release it.


----------



## Blytheryn

Does DSIII follow any kind of story I should be up to date on, as a first time player of the series?


----------



## Rock4ever

Man...I feel like Bloodborne would be so much easier had the game mechanics been explained or if the game was just a tad more linear.

For instance, last week I'm playing and I try out darkbeast paarl(with ai summons and other player) and vicar amelia(by myself) and get wtfpwned by both. I wasn't even close to downing either one of them.

So I read a wiki, learn the tradeoffs of carrying insight, weapon/damage types, Henryk, rune workshop tool and other stuff.

I go kick the witch's ass in 1 attempt. Henryk killed me but he got lucky that he trapped me into some tombstones to where I couldn't roll, but I get him next try. I go back to Paarl with only ai summons- 1shot him. Same with the Vicar. They didn't seem like a challenge this time around.

Also, I LOVE Ludwig's Holy Blade. Makes nearly any large non boss a cinch.


----------



## Pav

Blytheryn said:


> Does DSIII follow any kind of story I should be up to date on, as a first time player of the series?


No, every Souls game is basically its own self-contained story.



Rock4ever said:


> Man...I feel like Bloodborne would be so much easier had the game mechanics been explained or if the game was just a tad more linear.
> 
> For instance, last week I'm playing and I try out darkbeast paarl(with ai summons and other player) and vicar amelia(by myself) and get wtfpwned by both. I wasn't even close to downing either one of them.
> 
> So I read a wiki, learn the tradeoffs of carrying insight, weapon/damage types, Henryk, rune workshop tool and other stuff.
> 
> I go kick the witch's ass in 1 attempt. Henryk killed me but he got lucky that he trapped me into some tombstones to where I couldn't roll, but I get him next try. I go back to Paarl with only ai summons- 1shot him. Same with the Vicar. They didn't seem like a challenge this time around.
> 
> Also, I LOVE Ludwig's Holy Blade. Makes nearly any large non boss a cinch.


Of course, do you have any idea how much time I could've saved if they had explained how to party/riposte at the start of the game? Or the difference between blunt and serrated weapons against certain enemy types? The lack of any hand-holding is a trademark of the franchise and part of what gives it so much depth. I earned the platinum trophy in Bloodborne after playing for almost 180 hours but was still discovering new stuff, right up until I put it down.

And if you like Ludwig's, maybe get the Old Hunters DLC and find the Holy Moonlight Sword, the game's most absolutely pwn-tastic deathblade.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Blytheryn said:


> Does DSIII follow any kind of story I should be up to date on, as a first time player of the series?



There are plenty of pieces of lore that carry over. Names and roles of gods, the linking of the fire itself, the weapons, locations, and some characters.

If you dont want to play through the first game, this youtube channel sums up the lore very well.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWLedd0Zw3c5RCXboUsPwHsZJlXB2CzCz


----------



## PunkBillCarson

Something I noticed about Bloodborne:

In Dark Souls 1 and 2, you could perform a plunge attack by attack while falling and it would give you basically a pretty good critical attack damage. In BB, you can perform the same maneuver, but it gives you no extra damage.


----------



## NicePants

Man, comes out today. I've been looking forward to this for a while. I caught on to the Dark Souls train a little late, like 2013. Still in the top ten games I've ever played. I remember waiting for DS2 to unlock and spending an assload of hours on that with a friend for about a month. This is the first one I'm going to play completely blind. I've had practically nothing about it spoiled aside from like one boss from one of the beta vids. I think this is the first time I've been excited to play a video game in like two years.


----------



## Pav

You're still more seasoned than me, I didn't catch onto these games until Bloodborne. I guess I'm what hardcore Souls players refer to as a filthy casual.


----------



## Blytheryn

Even worse. I got curious about DSIII when it showed up in my Steam feed. Now I can't wait to play it. Do you PC dudes play with a controller or is cool to play with a mouse and keyboard too?


----------



## Pav

Don't ask me, I consider it blasphemy to play PC games with anything but a mouse and keyboard.


----------



## Blytheryn

I feel likewise. I'd prefer a joystick if I'm going to play DCS though. Aside from that, I'll take my mouse and keyboard over anything. If I didn't, I might as well play the xbox


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Blytheryn said:


> Even worse. I got curious about DSIII when it showed up in my Steam feed. Now I can't wait to play it. Do you PC dudes play with a controller or is cool to play with a mouse and keyboard too?



Its technically possible to play with KBM, but it would suck. I use a 10 year old gamestop brand 360 controller and it works wonderfully.


----------



## Pav

Supposedly the best PC gamepad on the market right now is the new(ish) Xbox One Elite controller...if you're willing to pay $150 for a single controller, which I would rather not.

And my copy has shipped, .... yes! Cannot wait to display my CE goodies on the mantle whilst I presumably die repeatedly. But now I'm up against the arch nemesis of the launch day gamer - shipping.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Steam unlocks in 5.5 hours as of 12:30EST. A couple friends and I are lugging our PC's to one house and all playing the second it releases.


----------



## brutalwizard

I havent played a full video game besides dark souls and Bloodborne in the last 5 years. 

Bought a ps4 just for BB and sold it when i was done. Just got a cheap xbox one just for DS3 haha 

add me on live and lets mob
olasghose is my live acount haha.


----------



## Pav

brutalwizard said:


> I havent played a full video game besides dark souls and Bloodborne in the last 5 years.
> 
> Bought a ps4 just for BB and sold it when i was done. Just got a cheap xbox one just for DS3 haha
> 
> add me on live and lets mob
> olasghose is my live acount haha.



Sell that .... and get it for PS4 and I would be with you.

Looks like mine will be delivered on wednesday...I swear to god if any of you spoil anything for me, I'll burn my own house down. Omfg I can't wait to build a dual-wielding character.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

My Steam page if anyone wants to co-op or fight at som e point
Steam Community :: Lefty Joe


----------



## Blytheryn

It's live on Steam boys... Just clicked the buy button


----------



## MoshJosh

Gonna get DS3 tonight!!! Probably going warrior/strength build but I am tempted to try a knight/quality build, though I've never tried a quality style build in dark souls. . .


----------



## dhgrind

just got mine, its definitely not easy lol. tried rolling a cleric didn't like it and went with a warrior.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

I got past the high wall with a dex build. I'm running the scimitar and the shortbow. I feel like a ninja. Its awesome.


----------



## PunkBillCarson

Holy God is this game awesome... Didn't die last night till I got to the Uchigatana wielding NPC last night and it ended up with him and I killing each other at the same time. I'm enjoying my time with this game so far. Going into it blind reminds me of my first playthrough with DS I and the nostalgia is so damn refreshing.


----------



## beneharris

Ahhh, 6pm can't come fast enough. I went and prepurchased it last night, and got the last ps4 copy. I am so glad I didn't miss it!


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Sir Derpington's current setup. I'm loving the scythe and my favorite armor from Dark Souls 2!!


----------



## Blytheryn

leftyguitarjoe said:


> Sir Derpington's current setup. I'm loving the scythe and my favorite armor from Dark Souls 2!!



Your char looks absolutely badass! What class are you playing as? Looks metal as hell.


----------



## MoshJosh

Only got to beat the first boss last night, but so far I love it! Seems easier to parry, but a little delay on the roll animation?


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Blytheryn said:


> Your char looks absolutely badass! What class are you playing as? Looks metal as hell.



I started as a thief. You class has a negligible impact on your character's progression though.


----------



## Blytheryn

leftyguitarjoe said:


> I started as a thief. You class has a negligible impact on your character's progression though.



It's basically just that you get a few useful starting stats, in case you want to get a more niche build, correct?


----------



## MoshJosh

Yeah ^^^


----------



## Blytheryn

MoshJosh said:


> Yeah ^^^



Awesome. I bought the game, but I really don't feel like I'm getting the most out of it by playing on a PC... Will wait until I can get me a nice gamepad before immersing myself.


----------



## NicePants

Fantastic game, although it was a pain in the ass to get it to stop crashing on startup. It's everything Dark Souls 2 should have been. Great visuals, fantastic enemy and level design, and the difficulty is much better than DS2's. I'm also getting a real Demon's Souls vibe from it. The entire highwall area reminded me a lot of Boletaria.


----------



## Pav

Are all of you playing the PC version? Someone else with a PS4 needs to play parallel to me so we can compare/contrast builds and progress! I never thought I'd play a console version again when I first built my PC, but here I am, a lonely conformist.


----------



## MoshJosh

I'm on ps4


----------



## NicePants

Pav said:


> Are all of you playing the PC version? Someone else with a PS4 needs to play parallel to me so we can compare/contrast builds and progress! I never thought I'd play a console version again when I first built my PC, but here I am, a lonely conformist.



I'm on PC. Currently on the undead settlement and am doing my usual first run of full dex with one two handed sword and a backup rapier. Sometimes I really wish I had a shield.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

NicePants said:


> I'm on PC. Currently on the undead settlement and am doing my usual first run of full dex with one two handed sword and a backup rapier. Sometimes I really wish I had a shield.



I'm running dex as well. I used the great scythe for a while. Now I'm using a dual boss weapon. There are a couple rings you can find that help a bunch with going shieldless and dodging. One makes you invincible for longer but lowers your defense. The other is more pvp-ish. Its basically the dark woodgrain ring from DS1 in that it makes you invisible when you roll and gives I think 3 points to dex.


----------



## MoshJosh

Advice needed:

Is it worth upgrading early game weapons? i.e. lucerne and long bow? Or should I save shards? 

I decided on a quality build but not sure what my stat goals should be? Right now I'm 16 health and endurance and 15 strength, dex, and equip load. Just part the frosty mace guy.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

MoshJosh said:


> Advice needed:
> 
> Is it worth upgrading early game weapons? i.e. lucerne and long bow? Or should I save shards?
> 
> I decided on a quality build but not sure what my stat goals should be? Right now I'm 16 health and endurance and 15 strength, dex, and equip load. Just part the frosty mace guy.



Upgrading weapons is generally more effective than leveling up when it comes to doing more damage. I found upgrade materials a bit harder to come by in this one so choose what to upgrade wisely. By the time I cleared the area after the frost mace guy I already had the weapon I finished the game with. Just make sure you go through the areas and really look everywhere. Its easy to miss stuff with how dense and twisty the levels are. Throw down a summon sign and run through with people to farm souls.


----------



## beneharris

leftyguitarjoe said:


> Upgrading weapons is generally more effective than leveling up when it comes to doing more damage. I found upgrade materials a bit harder to come by in this one so choose what to upgrade wisely. By the time I cleared the area after the frost mace guy I already had the weapon I finished the game with. Just make sure you go through the areas and really look everywhere. Its easy to miss stuff with how dense and twisty the levels are. Throw down a summon sign and run through with people to farm souls.



You already finished the game? 

I played for 3 hours last night, and that was all the time I could manage to squeeze in.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

beneharris said:


> You already finished the game?
> 
> I played for 3 hours last night, and that was all the time I could manage to squeeze in.



I explored the beginning areas a bunch, but once I was set I got antsy and rushed it lol. I didnt do NPC questlines or find any optional areas. I'm gonna take my time now that I've got everything down.


----------



## beneharris

leftyguitarjoe said:


> I explored the beginning areas a bunch, but once I was set I got antsy and rushed it lol. I didnt do NPC questlines or find any optional areas. I'm gonna take my time now that I've got everything down.



Still, holy crap the game has been out 2 days.  I bow to you sir.


----------



## Pav

That's intense, my pre-order still hasn't been delivered yet.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

beneharris said:


> Still, holy crap the game has been out 2 days.  I bow to you sir.



I'm only slightly ashamed of the marathon I performed


----------



## Blytheryn

Pav said:


> That's intense, my pre-order still hasn't been delivered yet.



God damn it, I'm hyped for this. I ain't playing the game until I get an Xbox 360 controller, and that's on Friday. I refunded the game on Steam after about an hour because I couldn't gel with the keyboard and mouse playstyle. Regretting that, but I'll buy it again by this weekend. It's funny because my original refund will come in by next week or so.


----------



## Black_Sheep

...Next week. The wait is killing me.


----------



## PunkBillCarson

Can't stress enough how this actually feels like a true sequel to Dark Souls. The ingenious level design, the art style, the mood... God this is great.


----------



## beneharris

PunkBillCarson said:


> Can't stress enough how this actually feels like a true sequel to Dark Souls. The ingenious level design, the art style, the mood... God this is great.



My absolute favorite part of the Dark Souls games are the boss weapons. I am beyond excited to start crafting them in this one. DS2 was amazing, just for that.


----------



## MoshJosh

Dudes the tree is kicking my butt well 3 times anyway. . . I'm even summoning! Get it down close to death then get stuck.


----------



## Pav

It's here. It's enormous. I really need to clean my desk. And I can't wait to finally start.


----------



## asher

Does it come with a PS4 to play it on with a box that large?


----------



## Pav

Unfortunately no, but the console-sized red knight statue almost makes up for it. I'm no stranger to springing for limited/collector's editions, but this one is seriously one of the best I've ever seen. They could've easily charged $200 for this big box of Dark Souls nerdery.


----------



## asher

Yeah I can't actually talk, the Guild Wars 2 collectors edition came in a large embossed tin and had art prints and a frame, as well as the accompanying 12" statue...


----------



## Pav

So this dragon perched on the High Wall of Lothric...if I unload enough arrows into him, will his tail fall off and gift me a weapon or something?


----------



## brutalwizard

Im slacking on story/area progression about 21 hours in and basically only playing with friends and doing everything like 3 times because of it.


----------



## naw38

I had a lot of trouble with this game initially, which is odd for me as the Souls series is one of the few games I regularly play; it wasn't until after the first boss that I realised I was playing it like Bloodborne which was never going to work in this game. And now, it turns out I really missed having a shield!


----------



## MattThePenguin

So I've already sunk 40 hours into it


----------



## cemges

Pav said:


> So this dragon perched on the High Wall of Lothric...if I unload enough arrows into him, will his tail fall off and gift me a weapon or something?



I've seen a guy said he DID try and couldn't get.

I am about 8 hours into game with first 2 bosses after the tutorial boss killed. I started ds1 a week ago and have just 4 hours into it, so this is pretty.much my first souls experience and god damn this game is something else. First time I am significantly impressed by a game after witcher 3


----------



## beneharris

I took him to about 1/8th health, he flew off and I got a titanite chunk or something. So you can get rid of him.

What is everybody doing for souls in the early game? I'm about 4 hours in so far, and they are stingy with the souls this time around. Maybe I just suck, but I'm getting like 30 souls for the normal dudes, and not much more from anybody else. Seems less than previous games.


----------



## dhgrind

put your soap stone sign up and help people. once you hit the next two areas you'll be rolling in souls. I've already hit 48sl started as a knight doing a quality build.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

beneharris said:


> I took him to about 1/8th health, he flew off and I got a titanite chunk or something. So you can get rid of him.
> 
> What is everybody doing for souls in the early game? I'm about 4 hours in so far, and they are stingy with the souls this time around. Maybe I just suck, but I'm getting like 30 souls for the normal dudes, and not much more from anybody else. Seems less than previous games.



You can put a sign down in front of a boss and you'll get summoned pretty fast. Most of your souls will come from bosses.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

My quality build ended up being a heavy weapon guy. Its awesome.


----------



## beneharris

Heavy weapons in this game are the best. Velstadt's Sacred Chime Hammer is still my favorite weapon of all time.


----------



## ZeroS1gnol

I just about started Dark Souls numero uno....Man it's something else. The amount of loathing I have for this game is unsurpassed, but still I came back to it. Why, I don't know. Maybe it's the outright weirdness of it and the gratification of defeating very difficult enemies.

I was stuck on the Taurus demon and clocked about 4 hours (!!) until I defeated him. Tried different approaches: buy firebombs, grind to level up, different tactics at the bossfight, etc.

So now every now and then I peek at a walkthrough for some hints and it made my experience much more enjoyable. Right now I just cleared darkroot garden and am heading back for lower undead burg and my character finally packs a little punch and has enough HP to not get blown to bits by a single Hollow hit.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

ZeroS1gnol said:


> I just about started Dark Souls numero uno....Man it's something else. The amount of loathing I have for this game is unsurpassed, but still I came back to it. Why, I don't know. Maybe it's the outright weirdness of it and the gratification of defeating very difficult enemies.
> 
> I was stuck on the Taurus demon and clocked about 4 hours (!!) until I defeated him. Tried different approaches: buy firebombs, grind to level up, different tactics at the bossfight, etc.
> .



For future reference, after you enter the rampart, immediately turn right and go up a ladder. Kill the archer hollows then go back down and initiate the Taurus Demon appearing. Run back up the ladder and get a nice plunge attack in on him.


----------



## Pav

What weapons are you all favoring thus far? I have yet to upgrade any weapon at all because I want to choose my main very carefully, but I'm getting far enough into the game that I feel my lack of DPS is starting to catch up with me. For some reason I'm enjoying the red-handled halberd but it's a little too slow and lacking in CC for my taste, so I was considering a scythe. I'm looking at favoring dexterity but I'm still a little lost amongst all of the new equipment.


----------



## MoshJosh

I was wondering that to, been using arstoras great sword +4 doing 240 damage but still taking a number of hits to kill enemies so not sure it's worth it for the stamina req and slow speed. Thoughts?


----------



## beneharris

I've been using a fire broadsword +3 til this point. I just killed the crystal sage. It's at 156 damage and 156 fire, or something near that anyway. I've gotten a few boss weapons so far and I'm trying to get to 24 strength to weird the curved greatsword I came across.


----------



## Blytheryn

I defeated Vordt of the Boreal Valley yesterday and I regret using his soul to level up to use my katana. You can't redefeat bosses? Any ways, can't wait to start getting the ultra great swords. It's going to be sick.


----------



## Pav

Nope, if you consumed a boss soul then the only way to get another one is to start a new or game or finish your current game and start a NG+. Unless this game has some form of bonfire ascetics that I haven't seen yet...but I don't think so.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Pav said:


> What weapons are you all favoring thus far? I have yet to upgrade any weapon at all because I want to choose my main very carefully, but I'm getting far enough into the game that I feel my lack of DPS is starting to catch up with me. For some reason I'm enjoying the red-handled halberd but it's a little too slow and lacking in CC for my taste, so I was considering a scythe. I'm looking at favoring dexterity but I'm still a little lost amongst all of the new equipment.



For dex I liked the scythe for its reach, decent damage output, and style points . The Dancer's Enchanted Swords are also insanely good.


----------



## Pav

leftyguitarjoe said:


> For dex I liked the scythe for its reach, decent damage output, and style points . The Dancer's Enchanted Swords are also insanely good.



I'm liking the great scythe so far, especially after infusing it with a sharp gem. Good balance between speed and reach, but have you tried the Farron Greatsword? The idea of an ultra greatsword that favors dexterity sounds too good to pass up...and that extra dagger in the offhand to parry with just seems too perfect. I haven't leveled it at all yet though, I don't have many titanite scales.

Also, I have a couple thoughts having just reached Irithyll of the Boreal Valley. I've read a number of reviews that echoed two points: that this is the easiest game in the Souls series and also the most linear, with the least amount of maze-like shortcuts. Both points sound like horse.... to me at this point. I've done more backtracking between past bonfires than in any other Souls game so far, there are tons of little alleys and hidden areas everywhere that you would never see if you were sprinting for the boss. Also, the Catacombs or Carthus had me more frustrated than I remember feeling in a long time, I was getting my ass kicked so hard.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Pav said:


> I'm liking the great scythe so far, especially after infusing it with a sharp gem. Good balance between speed and reach, but have you tried the Farron Greatsword? The idea of an ultra greatsword that favors dexterity sounds too good to pass up...and that extra dagger in the offhand to parry with just seems too perfect. I haven't leveled it at all yet though, I don't have many titanite scales.



The moveset was too weird for me. Its like breakdance souls.



Pav said:


> Also, I have a couple thoughts having just reached Irithyll of the Boreal Valley. I've read a number of reviews that echoed two points: that this is the easiest game in the Souls series and also the most linear, with the least amount of maze-like shortcuts. Both points sound like horse.... to me at this point. I've done more backtracking between past bonfires than in any other Souls game so far, there are tons of little alleys and hidden areas everywhere that you would never see if you were sprinting for the boss. Also, the Catacombs or Carthus had me more frustrated than I remember feeling in a long time, I was getting my ass kicked so hard.



The level progression is petty linear, but yeah. the levels are huge and complex. I'm still finding stuff.


----------



## PunkBillCarson

leftyguitarjoe said:


> For future reference, after you enter the rampart, immediately turn right and go up a ladder. Kill the archer hollows then go back down and initiate the Taurus Demon appearing. Run back up the ladder and get a nice plunge attack in on him.





To add to this, if you're using a strength build and you pick up the Zweihander and the gold pine resin, use the gold pine resin on the zwei before the plunging attack and the damage is absolutely hellacious. I took enough health off that all I had to do after that was do an R1 attack on him, and he went down after that.


----------



## Pav

Sometimes I wish there was a way to penalize people who leave stupid, pointless notes. If I had a nickel for every note I found that said "try tongue but hole" this game would've paid for itself by now. And I bought the collector's edition.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Pav said:


> Sometimes I wish there was a way to penalize people who leave stupid, pointless notes. If I had a nickel for every note I found that said "try tongue but hole" this game would've paid for itself by now. And I bought the collector's edition.



There are alot more words so messages can be more elaborate. My favorite one was in Farron's Swamp. There is this little island with a pot on it and you get a free heal by drinking the soup. I checked the message in front of it and it said "Praise the soup"


----------



## Blytheryn

So I'm going to start over. I just beat the Infected Greatwood so I haven't gotten THAT far into the game, and I feel like I have a much better idea of how builds/specs work and what I want to go for this time around. Also, it won't take me forever to get the progress back.

Going for a strength/heavy weapons warrior, with a sort of skinny dude. I'll post pics later.

Also, I won't kill NPC's that are sort of important and don't respawn


----------



## beneharris

OMG the Farron Greatsword.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

I started my first sorcerer playthrough in any souls game yesterday.


----------



## beneharris

leftyguitarjoe said:


> I started my first sorcerer playthrough in any souls game yesterday.



I've never done a sorcerer build, either. I'd like to in this one, the return of the MP system was a godsend for that. I'm just no good at playing sorcerers. Everytime I try I just get wasted


----------



## MoshJosh

Anyone been upgrading the black Knight greatsword? I'm interested in using it, but don't wanna give up that sweet sweet twinkling titanite


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

MoshJosh said:


> Anyone been upgrading the black Knight greatsword? I'm interested in using it, but don't wanna give up that sweet sweet twining titanite



I'm using the Cathedral Greatsword (which is a UGS). I really am not a fan of the long windups the BKGS has. It does do insane damage though.


----------



## Pav

beneharris said:


> OMG the Farron Greatsword.



Are you digging it? I like the big damage but the swings feel so slow to me...then again I have yet to land a single parry so I don't know how effective it is.

BUT last night I decided to replace my shield with a pyro flame since I always rock my great scythe with both hands. On a whim I attuned Carthus Flame Arc so I could imbue it with fire and holy ...., the damage is amazing.


----------



## Blytheryn

Pav said:


> Are you digging it? I like the big damage but the swings feel so slow to me...then again I have yet to land a single parry so I don't know how effective it is.
> 
> BUT last night I decided to replace my shield with a pyro flame since I always rock my great scythe with both hands. On a whim I attuned Carthus Flame Arc so I could imbue it with fire and holy ...., the damage is amazing.



How the hell do you land a parry? I just get smacked in the face.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Blytheryn said:


> How the hell do you land a parry? I just get smacked in the face.



I have countless hours across all the Souls games and have landed like 4 parries


----------



## stevexc

I spent like an hour in DS1 outside of the Undead Burg bonfire practicing parrying haha. I got okay at it.

Then I promptly forgot how to do it once I wasn't facing the same half dozen enemies I was used to...


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

The thing is that its easiest in Ds1 to parry. I gave up and never even try to do it.


----------



## rifftrauma

Only time I actually learned how to parry was the Final DS1 boss fight. On NG++++ it was just easier to learn the move set and parry then try to face tank it. I feel like they've increased the backstab windom in DS3 though, don't remember it being this smooth.


----------



## rifftrauma

Pav said:


> What weapons are you all favoring thus far? I have yet to upgrade any weapon at all because I want to choose my main very carefully, but I'm getting far enough into the game that I feel my lack of DPS is starting to catch up with me. For some reason I'm enjoying the red-handled halberd but it's a little too slow and lacking in CC for my taste, so I was considering a scythe. I'm looking at favoring dexterity but I'm still a little lost amongst all of the new equipment.




I've been rolling a Heavy Dark Sword +10 but I'm weary of recommending it. I personally like the speed and movesets but it doesn't hit as hard as say an UGS If you look on reddit just about everyone has a different preferred weapon. One of the great things about the game is allowing for that kind of flexibility. I have respec'd yet, but I definitely want to try some of the Dex builds and two handed weapon sets and a mage build or two. Probably very late game while farming covenants etc.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

rifftrauma said:


> I've been rolling a Heavy Dark Sword +10 but I'm weary of recommending it. I personally like the speed and movesets but it doesn't hit as hard as say an UGS If you look on reddit just about everyone has a different preferred weapon. One of the great things about the game is allowing for that kind of flexibility. I have respec'd yet, but I definitely want to try some of the Dex builds and two handed weapon sets and a mage build or two. Probably very late game while farming covenants etc.



The consensus is that the Dark Sword is OP. It hits as hard as a greatsword at high strength.

For dex, I have a guy who is about level 80 thats a dex/fth build. I use the Dragonslayer Spear because it does crazy damage, the weapon art is really useful, and dat spear range.


----------



## PunkBillCarson

Pav said:


> Sometimes I wish there was a way to penalize people who leave stupid, pointless notes. If I had a nickel for every note I found that said "try tongue but hole" this game would've paid for itself by now. And I bought the collector's edition.



That's always been part of Souls games. Just laugh and move on.


----------



## beneharris

Pav said:


> Are you digging it? I like the big damage but the swings feel so slow to me...then again I have yet to land a single parry so I don't know how effective it is.
> 
> BUT last night I decided to replace my shield with a pyro flame since I always rock my great scythe with both hands. On a whim I attuned Carthus Flame Arc so I could imbue it with fire and holy ...., the damage is amazing.



Yeah, I'm totally digging it. It is fantastic. Moreso just fun. The sweeping it does and all, totally cool.


----------



## Pav

Blytheryn said:


> How the hell do you land a parry? I just get smacked in the face.



For the Farron Greatsword, parry is its weapon art or skill or whatever.


----------



## NicePants

Man this game has been a ride. A bit shorter than DS1 and 2 I think, but I'm convinced that this game was From's attempt at paying respects to each and every Souls game, as well as giving those players that never played Demon's Souls a taste of what that was like. I don't know if I like it more than DS1, but it's definitely a worthy end to the series. Can't wait for the expansions!


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

I think it felt shorter because most of us knew what we were getting into, knew how to play a Souls game, knew how to level properly, ect.

Still, with the combination of awesome atmosphere, level design, bosses, and weapons, I think this is the best one of the series.


----------



## Blytheryn

I don't know if you guys saw the April Fool's trailer or not, but deep inside I'm hoping for a grindhouse themed DLC. I love that trailer, and the fact that they made T-shirts, posters and even a downloadable second cover for those who bought the hardcopy game makes it so much more epic. Imagine a DLC in which the entire thing is in old VCR type grain, with a death counter in the bottom or whatever. Make it super schlock. HYPPEEEE!





https://shop.spreadshirt.net/104910...ductType=812&color=FFFFFF&appearance=1&view=1


----------



## NicePants

leftyguitarjoe said:


> I think it felt shorter because most of us knew what we were getting into, knew how to play a Souls game, knew how to level properly, ect.
> 
> Still, with the combination of awesome atmosphere, level design, bosses, and weapons, I think this is the best one of the series.



Definitely. The bosses and level design were definitely a big step up from DS2, which was a bit weak in that regard. And the atmosphere was so Demon's Souls I couldn't contain myself. As soon as I hit the Irithyll Dungeon I couldn't stop thinking about how much like the Tower of Latria it was. I also think it was pretty cool that they seemingly threw DS2 a bone with the Archdragon Peak.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

NicePants said:


> Definitely. The bosses and level design were definitely a big step up from DS2, which was a bit weak in that regard. And the atmosphere was so Demon's Souls I couldn't contain myself. As soon as I hit the Irithyll Dungeon I couldn't stop thinking about how much like the Tower of Latria it was. I also think it was pretty cool that they seemingly threw DS2 a bone with the Archdragon Peak.



I'm glad to see the best of Ds2 was rolled over, including my favorite armor set! The first time I beat Ds2 I did it with what is now the Drang set. Bead Ds3 with the same set.


----------



## MoshJosh

Any idea what I should invest my titanite scales in? I'm a quality build, so there are definitely options but not sure what weapon to go with. Just got the dancers swords but with no points invested in int. or faith I can't imagine I'll be doing good damage


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

MoshJosh said:


> Any idea what I should invest my titanite scales in? I'm a quality build, so there are definitely options but not sure what weapon to go with. Just got the dancers swords but with no points invested in int. or faith I can't imagine I'll be doing good damage



The Dancer's swords suffer from having their damage split. With the way damage resistances work it loses a bunch of power.

I'm guessing you're doing a dex build because you mentioned the Dancer's swords. Boss weapons that scale well with dex are the Hollowslayer Greatsword, Stormed Curved Sword, and the Farron Greatsword.

The hollowslayer is pretty awesome. It goes 50% more damage to undead enemies like the Deacons and has a dope moveset.


----------



## Pav

I'm liking the Astora Greatsword a lot too. It reminds me of the plain ultra greatsword from DS2. It scales very well, can be infused with anything and has the same identical moveset.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Pav said:


> I'm liking the Astora Greatsword a lot too. It reminds me of the plain ultra greatsword from DS2. It scales very well, can be infused with anything and has the same identical moveset.



I found that its damage is a bit lacking for a UGS. You can get longswords that hit almost as hard.


----------



## Blytheryn

So I just beat that big skull boss with Alexi Laiho's bangles on. A little... easy? The coolest fight so far has easily been the Abyss Watchers. Such a beautiful, epic fight. Wearing his right now. Heavy Dark Sword +4 is ripping through everything.

Also reversed my hollowing... I'm no beef jerky dude any more!


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Man, the Dark Sword makes greatswords obsolete. It hits so hard.


----------



## Blytheryn

leftyguitarjoe said:


> Man, the Dark Sword makes greatswords obsolete. It hits so hard.



It's a pity, because I really look forward to using Fume, and a bunch of other UGS's. In the end I'll probably wind up using them for Fashion Souls, but I mean to get stuff done right now, you can't beat the Dark Sword.


----------



## beneharris

Oh my gosh guys, the immolation tinder. It's incredible.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

beneharris said:


> Oh my gosh guys, the immolation tinder. It's incredible.



Screw they guys that drop it though. They killed me so many times.


----------



## NicePants

Blytheryn said:


> So I just beat that big skull boss with Alexi Laiho's bangles on. A little... easy? The coolest fight so far has easily been the Abyss Watchers. Such a beautiful, epic fight. Wearing his right now. Heavy Dark Sword +4 is ripping through everything.
> 
> Also reversed my hollowing... I'm no beef jerky dude any more!



Abyss Watchers was probably the first decently challenging fight in the game, and their armor is my favorite set aside from Lorian's set.


----------



## Pav

Blytheryn said:


> Also reversed my hollowing... I'm no beef jerky dude any more!



That's too bad, that's the best ending.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Pav said:


> That's too bad, that's the best ending.



I liked the end of fire. Just let everything fvcking die. Its brutal.


----------



## PunkBillCarson

I'm find Irithyll's Straight Sword is quite underrated. No it doesn't hit the hardest, but the frost effect and the moveset, I'm enjoying immensely.


----------



## ohoolahan

PunkBillCarson said:


> I'm find Irithyll's Straight Sword is quite underrated. No it doesn't hit the hardest, but the frost effect and the moveset, I'm enjoying immensely.


----------



## Blytheryn

Pav said:


> That's too bad, that's the best ending.



Aaaawh! Well there's always time for that in NG+


----------



## NicePants

PunkBillCarson said:


> I'm find Irithyll's Straight Sword is quite underrated. No it doesn't hit the hardest, but the frost effect and the moveset, I'm enjoying immensely.



Speaking of the frosty weapons, Vordt's Great Hammer is pretty good early on too. Not sure how it fares late game, but early with a decent amount of strength, it hits like a truck.


----------



## MoshJosh

Started a new character for fun, started as a herald, gonna go dex/faith build. . . Is it just me or are there no real offensive miracles until the lightning spear in farrons?


----------



## Rock4ever

Loving DS3...but .... man the Cathederal of the Deep area gave me fits

I'm pretty much playing a straight pyro build....are there any weapons that has benefit for a pyro?


----------



## Pav

Wtf is this new patch, my framerate keeps tanking now. It's like playing DS1 on the PS3 again.


----------



## beneharris

Rock4ever said:


> Loving DS3...but .... man the Cathederal of the Deep area gave me fits
> 
> I'm pretty much playing a straight pyro build....are there any weapons that has benefit for a pyro?



Find the immolation tinder. It goes well with pyromancy. It automatically has fire damage, the weapon art is a huge flame arc. It is amazing. It has really nice damage, too.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Rock4ever said:


> Loving DS3...but .... man the Cathederal of the Deep area gave me fits
> 
> I'm pretty much playing a straight pyro build....are there any weapons that has benefit for a pyro?



If you can do pyromancies you can do sorceries.


----------



## Rock4ever

leftyguitarjoe said:


> If you can do pyromancies you can do sorceries.



I'm unsure what the point of your reply was...and it probably has more to do with me as I quit early on ds and skipped ds 2; but I find I can do just about anything- weapons, miracles, so long as you have the required stat to do it.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Rock4ever said:


> I'm unsure what the point of your reply was...and it probably has more to do with me as I quit early on ds and skipped ds 2; but I find I can do just about anything- weapons, miracles, so long as you have the required stat to do it.



Being an effective pyromancer requires heavy investment in INT and ATT. INT for scaling and ATT for spell slots and focus points. Sorceries also benefit from the same stats. Every sorcerer is a pyromancer and vice versa. You dont want to spread your stats out to "do just about anything" because then your character wont be particularly good at anything. Going back to my original point, you can take advantage of your build by using a staff and some sorceries in conjunction with pyromancies. Keep your STR and DEX low and focus on weapons that scale with INT or enchant a weapon you like with a crystal gem.


----------



## Blytheryn

Can anyone explain NG+? I'm not there yet, but when the time comes can I totally respec my character but keep the items? All the character choices reset, Obviously. Does everything just get incrementally harder like in Borderlands?


----------



## rifftrauma

Blytheryn said:


> Can anyone explain NG+? I'm not there yet, but when the time comes can I totally respec my character but keep the items? All the character choices reset, Obviously. Does everything just get incrementally harder like in Borderlands?



The best place to look for the full set of changes is the wiki page. I haven't NG+ yet either but in previous versions the game doesn't give you the option to respec when you start NG+. You'd have to work your way back to Rosaria and provide a pale tongue, so if your interested in repec'ing you'll either have to do it before NG+ or work your way back. Just be careful because you can only respec 5 times per play through.

As for difficulty, I believe there's a health % increase across all enemies which increases with each new iteration of NG+. There are new items to find in NG+ and NG++ including several awesome rings etc. I think new NPC enemies appear as well but don't quote me on that, I'd have to look. Some weapons can only be accessed by having multiple boss souls, crafting the weapons and then combining them, similar to Demon's Souls. 

I would make sure you have a large stash of crafting materials, have a solid spec, have all the rings, complete the Covenant PVP requirements and have any general items you want before you NG+. I generally go on a murderous rampage and purge the game of all NPC's as my final act before starting over...


----------



## Blytheryn

rifftrauma said:


> The best place to look for the full set of changes is the wiki page. I haven't NG+ yet either but in previous versions the game doesn't give you the option to respec when you start NG+. You'd have to work your way back to Rosaria and provide a pale tongue, so if your interested in repec'ing you'll either have to do it before NG+ or work your way back. Just be careful because you can only respec 5 times per play through.
> 
> As for difficulty, I believe there's a health % increase across all enemies which increases with each new iteration of NG+. There are new items to find in NG+ and NG++ including several awesome rings etc. I think new NPC enemies appear as well but don't quote me on that, I'd have to look. Some weapons can only be accessed by having multiple boss souls, crafting the weapons and then combining them, similar to Demon's Souls.
> 
> I would make sure you have a large stash of crafting materials, have a solid spec, have all the rings, complete the Covenant PVP requirements and have any general items you want before you NG+. I generally go on a murderous rampage and purge the game of all NPC's as my final act before starting over...



Ah I see. I'm just really regretting that cosmetic change I made when I stumbled upon Rosaria's the first time. I'm craving that Sunset armor set, and to my knowledge there's no other way to get it until NG+.


----------



## rifftrauma

Blytheryn said:


> Ah I see. I'm just really regretting that cosmetic change I made when I stumbled upon Rosaria's the first time. I'm craving that Sunset armor set, and to my knowledge there's no other way to get it until NG+.




Yea I missed the Thorns Armor... can't get it until NG+... was quite peeved.


----------



## NicePants

rifftrauma said:


> Some weapons can only be accessed by having multiple boss souls, crafting the weapons and then combining them, similar to Demon's Souls.



Really? Which ones?


----------



## beneharris

NicePants said:


> Really? Which ones?



Yeah, I hadn't heard that, either.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

NicePants said:


> Really? Which ones?





Spoiler



The two princes give one soul and there are two swords you can make. In NG+ you can combine the swords to make a new one.


----------



## Blytheryn

rifftrauma said:


> Yea I missed the Thorns Armor... can't get it until NG+... was quite peeved.



Thorns armor is sexy as hell. Wishing it had a cape, but I just love rolling around and damaging things around me. I can't tell you how often my enemies have only a few hp left, and I just engage bowling ball of death mode. There's a few rings that make this a lot easier too.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Blytheryn said:


> Thorns armor is sexy as hell. Wishing it had a cape, but I just love rolling around and damaging things around me. I can't tell you how often my enemies have only a few hp left, and I just engage bowling ball of death mode. There's a few rings that make this a lot easier too.


----------



## beneharris

bahaha that is awesome.


----------



## asher

OMG that was amazing

Also the name is the best.


----------



## dhgrind

just beat 3, my first souls game to be completed. i put about 50+ hours in with pvp, co-op and fashion shows. i solo'd the last two bosses, and co-op'ed the hardest boss in the game. i was pretty satisfied so now its time to go back to 1 and 2 and finish them out. 

the dark sword +10 refined is the way to go for quality builds if you want to destroy everything. i'm considering re-rolling to pure str to try a yhorm machete build.


----------



## Rock4ever

leftyguitarjoe said:


> Being an effective pyromancer requires heavy investment in INT and ATT. INT for scaling and ATT for spell slots and focus points. Sorceries also benefit from the same stats. Every sorcerer is a pyromancer and vice versa. You dont want to spread your stats out to "do just about anything" because then your character wont be particularly good at anything. Going back to my original point, you can take advantage of your build by using a staff and some sorceries in conjunction with pyromancies. Keep your STR and DEX low and focus on weapons that scale with INT or enchant a weapon you like with a crystal gem.



I've read pyro also needs a good amount of faith too....with some ppl going 30int/30 faith


----------



## Blytheryn

How the feck are you guys so good at this game? I'm 50 hours deep and I'm right outside of Aldrich. I still have like half of the bosses left.


----------



## rifftrauma

Blytheryn said:


> How the feck are you guys so good at this game? I'm 50 hours deep and I'm right outside of Aldrich. I still have like half of the bosses left.



If you ever get a chance to play Demon's Souls you'll understand. Everything in the series with the exception of maybe a NG+++ Smough and Ornstein is nothing compared to Demon's Souls lol...


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Blytheryn said:


> How the feck are you guys so good at this game? I'm 50 hours deep and I'm right outside of Aldrich. I still have like half of the bosses left.



Hundreds of hours in the other games.


----------



## beneharris

Well how much of your time is spent pvping, and doing covenants, and farming for things? That all adds up. I just spent almost 3 hours farming for wolf's blood sword grass this weekend. I'm about 40 hours in and I've barely gotten to the Grand Archives. I usually average around 60 hours per play through of a Dark Souls game.

Bloodborne was much less, but there was also a ton less content.


----------



## Blytheryn

beneharris said:


> Well how much of your time is spent pvping, and doing covenants, and farming for things? That all adds up. I just spent almost 3 hours farming for wolf's blood sword grass this weekend. I'm about 40 hours in and I've barely gotten to the Grand Archives. I usually average around 60 hours per play through of a Dark Souls game.
> 
> Bloodborne was much less, but there was also a ton less content.



So far I haven't PVP'ed at all. basically just doing the story and getting my ass handed to me. It is my first souls game, so I guess that explains a lot.


----------



## Rock4ever

Blytheryn said:


> How the feck are you guys so good at this game? I'm 50 hours deep and I'm right outside of Aldrich. I still have like half of the bosses left.



I'm 53 hrs in and just made it to anor londo. I've already done Irithyll dungeon and profaned capital though.

I think I've summoned someone in for every boss save for the first. I'd be totally ....ed without the ign guide and dark souls wiki sites. Though if it's any defense....I'll be 40 in 2 months lol.


----------



## stevexc

25 hours, just started The Depths. And for DS3 I'm 10 hours in and working on Vordt (because I suck).


----------



## MoshJosh

Rock4ever said:


> I'm 53 hrs in and just made it to anor londo. I've already done Irithyll dungeon and profaned capital though.
> 
> I think I've summoned someone in for every boss save for the first. I'd be totally ....ed without the ign guide and dark souls wiki sites. Though if it's any defense....I'll be 40 in 2 months lol.



Yeah I'd be pretty lost workout the guide. . . And yeah I've summoned for most the bosses,so I feel your pain.


----------



## Blytheryn

Any of you guys want to help me kill Aldrich? I'm online now, and will for most of this evening


----------



## Pav

rifftrauma said:


> If you ever get a chance to play Demon's Souls you'll understand. Everything in the series with the exception of maybe a NG+++ Smough and Ornstein is nothing compared to Demon's Souls lol...



Is it that much harder? Demon's Souls is the only one I have yet to play...but after DS1, DS3 feels like an absolute breeze.


----------



## beneharris

Blytheryn said:


> Any of you guys want to help me kill Aldrich? I'm online now, and will for most of this evening



I can help you tonight. I get off work at 6. It is 4 now.


----------



## Rock4ever

Blytheryn said:


> So far I haven't PVP'ed at all. basically just doing the story and getting my ass handed to me. It is my first souls game, so I guess that explains a lot.



My experience with pvp is getting pvpwned when I use an ember


----------



## NicePants

rifftrauma said:


> If you ever get a chance to play Demon's Souls you'll understand. Everything in the series with the exception of maybe a NG+++ Smough and Ornstein is nothing compared to Demon's Souls lol...



I think whichever is your first you'll likely find the most difficult. I played Dark Souls 1 first and nothing can compare to that first run. I played Demon's Souls after playing 1/2 and I managed to breeze past most of it. I even killed the famous Flamelurker in one try (though I was hanging on by a thread at the end).


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Got my strength build looking awesome
Its Morne's chest, helm and legs of favor, and brass gloves. I need a couple more points in vit to wear the gloves of favor as well.


----------



## Murdstone

Just got the first Dark Souls to try to get into the series. Put it into my 360 and got the red rings of death. This bodes well.


----------



## PunkBillCarson

Murdstone said:


> Just got the first Dark Souls to try to get into the series. Put it into my 360 and got the red rings of death. This bodes well.



Obviously, Souls was too hard for your 360. Your 360 must have seen what was to come and said "phuck this"


----------



## Rock4ever

Just got to the Lothric castle. Lost 60k souls trying to get back to the Dancer.

I cant remember the last time I played a game through a 2nd time, but I'm looking very forward to it with DS3


----------



## MattThePenguin

Honestly thought Demon's Souls was super easy compared to Dark Souls. Almost all of the bosses had super low health, aside from about 3. Nothing is as hard as Flamelurker NG++ though... holy ..... 

Only thing that bugs me about this game is certain enemies have infinite ....ing stamina, and they feel straight out of Bloodborne. Also, the Blue Sentinels, Darkmoon, and Way of Blue covenants were not very well thought out and do not work well at all because hardly anyone is in WoB. 

The dark sword and the Estoc need a bit of a nerf. Dark Sword needs a damage nerf, and Estoc needs a delayed 3rd R1 OR it needs to consume more stamina. They would still be viable in PVP/PVE, but right now those weapons far outclass any longsword/rapier to the point where it is kind of silly.

I'm using a quality strength/dex build, with a Zweihander and Carthus Sword both refined. I'm dominating in PVP with this setup. I have the shield of want for the stability and extra souls, and then a buckler on backup to punish R1 spammers. No spells, no buffs. Tried Sacred Oath for a while, but it seems like most of the miracles are trash right now, hard to justify the stat investment. Idk if you guys remember vanilla Dark Souls 2 but miracles were INSANE in that game. 






Normally I were a hood, but I spent a lot of time making her cute dammit.


EDIT: OMG she blinked when I took the picture lmao


----------



## beneharris

Right now I'm running the Demon's Great Hammer +4, with a Sunlight Straight Sword (don't remember how high it is now) as secondary weapon. I've been using carthus flame arc to buff the sunlight sword. I've got the armor of thorns, with the aristocrat's mask for the awesome. I'm just decimating enemies with the build. I'm at 37 strength, 30 dex, 17 faith and int. And I can't remember anything else off the top of my head.

I admit, I suck at PVP, so I don't do it much. I am having fun with Aldrich Faithful.


----------



## ZeroS1gnol

Hi guys and gals,

I'm busy doing my first playthrough of DS1 and I am liking it a lot. One of my friends has played it a couple of times, so I have someone to chat about it and oh my, there is a lot to discuss about this game. 

Now there's this thing that I can't get a clear answer about from my friend, namely how actual damage to an enemy compares to the weapon numbers.

Now to clarify my specific situation, here is a stat screen. (phone pic, since xboxdvr is not refreshing fast enough)






As you can see the spear has a physical dmg of 177 + lightning dmg of 177, that should be 354dmg altogether. It requires 11 str and 10 dex, which on the right side you can see I easily surpassed.

Now my common sense would say that unless a normal hit gets blocked an enemy would at least get 177 physical dmg from that hit. This is never the case though. To illustrate, using this lightning spear results in about 63 dmg on the crystal hollows in Duke's Archives, but a hell a lot more on hollows in undead burg.

The game is not telling me how I can interpret weapon stats exactly, because in no case (as far as I experienced) a hit ever delivers an amount of dmg that I can trace back to the weapon's stats. On top of this, some weapons with similar stats could deliver more or less dmg (though I think scaling applies in these cases).

Now, I want to make some sense from all this and my google searches haven't been helpful really. At the moment weapon stats mean absolutely nothing to me, since the proof only seems to be in the pudding, because higher physical damage =/= higher dmg per hit.

Can anyone enlighten me?


----------



## mrspacecat

ZeroS1gnol said:


> Hi guys and gals,
> 
> 
> As you can see the spear has a physical dmg of 177 + lightning dmg of 177, that should be 354dmg altogether. It requires 11 str and 10 dex, which on the right side you can see I easily surpassed.
> 
> Now my common sense would say that unless a normal hit gets blocked an enemy would at least get 177 physical dmg from that hit. This is never the case though. To illustrate, using this lightning spear results in about 63 dmg on the crystal hollows in Duke's Archives, but a hell a lot more on hollows in undead burg.
> 
> The game is not telling me how I can interpret weapon stats exactly, because in no case (as far as I experienced) a hit ever delivers an amount of dmg that I can trace back to the weapon's stats. On top of this, some weapons with similar stats could deliver more or less dmg (though I think scaling applies in these cases).
> 
> Now, I want to make some sense from all this and my google searches haven't been helpful really. At the moment weapon stats mean absolutely nothing to me, since the proof only seems to be in the pudding, because higher physical damage =/= higher dmg per hit.
> 
> Can anyone enlighten me?


The Crystal golems in the Duke's archives are very resistant to melee damage. If I remember correctly, most enemies in that area are resistant to melee. That is why your attacks are not as effective against them. The lightning spear is an otherwise great weapon though.


----------



## mrspacecat

Does anyone play Dark Souls III on PC? I'm thinking of getting it soon, since I love the series. I'm a bit concerned since there seems to be a lot of issues with softbans for no apparent reason. Is this still an issue?


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

ZeroS1gnol said:


> Hi guys and gals,
> 
> I'm busy doing my first playthrough of DS1 and I am liking it a lot. One of my friends has played it a couple of times, so I have someone to chat about it and oh my, there is a lot to discuss about this game.
> 
> Now there's this thing that I can't get a clear answer about from my friend, namely how actual damage to an enemy compares to the weapon numbers.
> 
> Now to clarify my specific situation, here is a stat screen. (phone pic, since xboxdvr is not refreshing fast enough)
> 
> image
> 
> As you can see the spear has a physical dmg of 177 + lightning dmg of 177, that should be 354dmg altogether. It requires 11 str and 10 dex, which on the right side you can see I easily surpassed.
> 
> Now my common sense would say that unless a normal hit gets blocked an enemy would at least get 177 physical dmg from that hit. This is never the case though. To illustrate, using this lightning spear results in about 63 dmg on the crystal hollows in Duke's Archives, but a hell a lot more on hollows in undead burg.
> 
> The game is not telling me how I can interpret weapon stats exactly, because in no case (as far as I experienced) a hit ever delivers an amount of dmg that I can trace back to the weapon's stats. On top of this, some weapons with similar stats could deliver more or less dmg (though I think scaling applies in these cases).
> 
> Now, I want to make some sense from all this and my google searches haven't been helpful really. At the moment weapon stats mean absolutely nothing to me, since the proof only seems to be in the pudding, because higher physical damage =/= higher dmg per hit.
> 
> Can anyone enlighten me?



Many later game enemies have high damage resistances. And if you're at the archives, you really should be using something better than a +3 spear. Also, infusing a weapon removes all scaling bonuses, rendering your stats useless.

Your stats are all over the place and it looks like you levels resistance, which is a pretty useless stat. Pick strength or dex and min/max whichever one you want to use while also leveling endurance and vigor as you see fit. All stats have severely diminishing returns after level 40 so you really dont need to go beyond that. Dont worry about int and fth unless you want to make a magic or cleric build.

If you wanna use spears and stuff, I guess you want to do a dex build. Here is how you should look at level 70 starting as a thief class.

Vit: 15
Att: 11
End: 40
Str: 12
Dex: 40
Res: 10
Int: 12
Fth: 11


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

mrspacecat said:


> Does anyone play Dark Souls III on PC? I'm thinking of getting it soon, since I love the series. I'm a bit concerned since there seems to be a lot of issues with softbans for no apparent reason. Is this still an issue?



"Should I get *insert game* on PC"

The answer to that is always yes


----------



## ZeroS1gnol

leftyguitarjoe said:


> Many later game enemies have high damage resistances. And if you're at the archives, you really should be using something better than a +3 spear. Also, infusing a weapon removes all scaling bonuses, rendering your stats useless.
> 
> Your stats are all over the place and it looks like you levels resistance, which is a pretty useless stat. Pick strength or dex and min/max whichever one you want to use while also leveling endurance and vigor as you see fit. All stats have severely diminishing returns after level 40 so you really dont need to go beyond that. Dont worry about int and fth unless you want to make a magic or cleric build.
> 
> If you wanna use spears and stuff, I guess you want to do a dex build. Here is how you should look at level 70 starting as a thief class.
> 
> Vit: 15
> Att: 11
> End: 40
> Str: 12
> Dex: 40
> Res: 10
> Int: 12
> Fth: 11



Ah well, forgive me, this is my first experience with a souls game the levelling went a bit unfocused. As for the +3 spear...I need a titanite slab for it to upgrade and these things can't be bought and hardly ever drop, so Im kind of stuck on that (until new londo ruins, so Ive heard)


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

ZeroS1gnol said:


> Ah well, forgive me, this is my first experience with a souls game the levelling went a bit unfocused. As for the +3 spear...I need a titanite slab for it to upgrade and these things can't be bought and hardly ever drop, so Im kind of stuck on that (until new londo ruins, so Ive heard)



If I were you I'd start a new game. You should progress to where you're already at pretty quickly the second time around and with better stat allocation. Just stick to upgrading a weapon you like along the standard path. If you wanna do dex, try and use a weapon with C or higher scaling. If you want (and its probably easier), start as a knight and use heavy weapons and swap dex strength. You can get the zweihander as soon as you get to firelink and never have to use another weapon the whole game.


----------



## ZeroS1gnol

leftyguitarjoe said:


> If I were you I'd start a new game.



Haha well, with about 60 hours in I intend to finish this playthrough and after that start DS3.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

ZeroS1gnol said:


> Haha well, with about 60 hours in I intend to finish this playthrough and after that start DS3.



Starting a new game is one of m favorite things to do in the Souls games. I try to see how long I can go without dying. And then you can lay a sign down and steamroll areas with a noob.


----------



## Blytheryn

leftyguitarjoe said:


> Starting a new game is one of m favorite things to do in the Souls games. I try to see how long I can go without dying. And then you can lay a sign down and steamroll areas with a noob.



I love restarting the game as well. I've done it twice now, because I might have failed a questline or missed an invading NPC. Maybe try a new build. It's also fun knowing where the mobs are, and where the cool loot is, etc. Loads of fun.


----------



## PunkBillCarson

I had the strangest luck the last time I started Dark Souls I. New character, picked a thief which automatically starts with the Master Key and picked Black Firebombs. Killed the Asylum Demon with them, got the Demon's Great Hammer. That was a given. After that, the Black Knight in Darkroot Basin dropped his halberd, the one in Undead Burg dropped his BK Sword and the Taurus Demon dropped his axe which is a REALLY rare drop. All this done with ZERO humanity. Now explain that .....


----------



## ZeroS1gnol

leftyguitarjoe said:


> Starting a new game is one of m favorite things to do in the Souls games. I try to see how long I can go without dying. And then you can lay a sign down and steamroll areas with a noob.



I get that, but still it was a setup to DS3 for me now. By the way, I just finished the game. Bloody Gwyn had me dying a lot when trying to parry his attacks. Then I decided to get out my ascended pyro glove and it was a breeze really


----------



## PunkBillCarson

leftyguitarjoe said:


> If I were you I'd start a new game. You should progress to where you're already at pretty quickly the second time around and with better stat allocation. Just stick to upgrading a weapon you like along the standard path. If you wanna do dex, try and use a weapon with C or higher scaling. If you want (and its probably easier), start as a knight and use heavy weapons and swap dex strength. You can get the zweihander as soon as you get to firelink and never have to use another weapon the whole game.



What I used in my first full playthrough of Dark Souls 1. Fire Zweihander is ....ing unreal.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

PunkBillCarson said:


> What I used in my first full playthrough of Dark Souls 1. Fire Zweihander is ....ing unreal.



I never did elemental infusions. Just a straight up +15 zwei.


----------



## ZeroS1gnol

leftyguitarjoe said:


> I never did elemental infusions. Just a straight up +15 zwei.



Couldn't get past +14, darn titanite slab! I must've wasted it on something else and I couldn't get it from the Catalina's.


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

Since this is kinda related, I got Salt and Sanctuary. Its uses a TON of Dark Souls mechanics and will feel really familiar. I'm having a great time with it and recommend it highly.


----------



## beneharris

leftyguitarjoe said:


> Since this is kinda related, I got Salt and Sanctuary. Its uses a TON of Dark Souls mechanics and will feel really familiar. I'm having a great time with it and recommend it highly.



I am so excited to try that one. I saw it released yesterday. I'll be buying it tonight.


----------



## MoshJosh

Salt and Sanctuary was pretty fun, definitely recommend to souls fans!


----------



## beneharris

Eitr looks pretty cool, too. Though it isn't out yet.


----------



## Pav

I read/watched reviews of Salt and Sanctuary and everyone said it's essentially Dark Souls turned into 2.5D.

On that note, have any PS4 players here tried the demo for Nioh? Easily the most direct, shameless ripoff I've ever played. Team Ninja copied and pasted a DS game onto a mythical Japanese setting.


----------



## beneharris

Pav said:


> I read/watched reviews of Salt and Sanctuary and everyone said it's essentially Dark Souls turned into 2.5D.
> 
> On that note, have any PS4 players here tried the demo for Nioh? Easily the most direct, shameless ripoff I've ever played. Team Ninja copied and pasted a DS game onto a mythical Japanese setting.



Yeah but it looks really good. And more Dark Souls isn't a bad thing!

I'm really excited for their idea where you can see somebody's bloodstain and fight them, and get a piece of their gear. That is going to be really neat.


----------



## rifftrauma

Finally finished, ended up having to do 3.5 play throughs... superb game.


----------



## PunkBillCarson

beneharris said:


> Yeah but it looks really good. And more Dark Souls isn't a bad thing!
> 
> I'm really excited for their idea where you can see somebody's bloodstain and fight them, and get a piece of their gear. That is going to be really neat.



I feel like too many games are trying to be a Souls game, that's my problem. Lords of the Fallen, Nioh, Salt and Santuary, Titan Souls (phucking really?)


----------



## leftyguitarjoe

PunkBillCarson said:


> I feel like too many games are trying to be a Souls game, that's my problem. Lords of the Fallen, Nioh, Salt and Santuary, Titan Souls (phucking really?)



I think its good that the Souls games brought forth a wave of challenging action/adventure games.


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## MFB

leftyguitarjoe said:


> I think its good that the Ninja Gaiden games brought forth a wave of challenging action/adventure games.



Seems only fair since NG seems to be the OG 'rage quit' action game going back to the Xbox reboot with fighting Alma and just about any other boss. 

I feel like Dark Souls took that mentally and made it more consistent and figured, "why punish them some times when we can punished them ...ALL the time?"


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## leftyguitarjoe

MFB said:


> Seems only fair since NG seems to be the OG 'rage quit' action game going back to the Xbox reboot with fighting Alma and just about any other boss.
> 
> I feel like Dark Souls took that mentally and made it more consistent and figured, "why punish them some times when we can punished them ...ALL the time?"



I found Ninja Gaiden to be just ridiculous. Its way too twitchy for me. The Souls games are more methodical.


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## Pav

rifftrauma said:


> Finally finished, ended up having to do 3.5 play throughs... superb game.



Damn, you beat me to the almighty platinum. How tough was it to accumulate every single ring? That's the one trophy that I'm worried will keep me stuck for a while.


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## ZeroS1gnol

I don't really have anything to complain about DS3, but does it seem invasions are mostly balanced unevenly in favour of the host? I mean, yesterday I took some hours to invade people, got about 15 matches, out of which only 5 of the hosts were alone. In all other cases it was me against two or three other players/covenant phantoms. How am I ever supposed to win a fight like that?

Don't say git gud, it's an obvious disadvantage. What are your experiences?


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## leftyguitarjoe

ZeroS1gnol said:


> I don't really have anything to complain about DS3, but does it seem invasions are mostly balanced unevenly in favour of the host? I mean, yesterday I took some hours to invade people, got about 15 matches, out of which only 5 of the hosts were alone. In all other cases it was me against two or three other players/covenant phantoms. How am I ever supposed to win a fight like that?
> 
> Don't say git gud, it's an obvious disadvantage. What are your experiences?



Most people have phantoms for some reason. Your best shot at fair pvp would be going to the Pontiff bonfire and going right out back. It seems to have developed into the unofficial PVP spot.


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## ZeroS1gnol

leftyguitarjoe said:


> Most people have phantoms for some reason. Your best shot at fair pvp would be going to the Pontiff bonfire and going right out back. It seems to have developed into the unofficial PVP spot.



I'm not there yet, in carthus catacombs now, but will keep it in mind!


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## leftyguitarjoe

ZeroS1gnol said:


> I'm not there yet, in carthus catacombs now, but will keep it in mind!



There is a good chance you'll invade into a fight club and those are always fun.


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## PunkBillCarson

Dickish move on my part: I have myself summoned or I invade as a red phantom but I use the Untrue White Ring which makes me appear as a friendly phantom. Experienced players catch on to this ruse, but noobs don't. 10 more Pale Tongues to go.


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## leftyguitarjoe

Beat the game again. For a while I was running the exact same way as my favorite Ds1 build






At the end I got a couple insanely awesome shots of what I ended up wearing.


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## beneharris

Yeah I'm playing through again and just invading. I spent about 5 hours this weekend invading. And Hallelujah I learned how to parry. 3 Dark souls games, and I finally got the hang of it. I'm still no good, but I got a ton of riposts this weekend


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## sezna

leftyguitarjoe said:


> Beat the game again. For a while I was running the exact same way as my favorite Ds1 build
> 
> 
> At the end I got a couple insanely awesome shots of what I ended up wearing.



Are those last two pics in-game screencaps?!??


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## leftyguitarjoe

sezna said:


> Are those last two pics in-game screencaps?!??



Its an ending cutscene.


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## Pav

Holy ...., you and I are wearing almost the exact same set of armor. If we played on the same platform I'd say one of us definitely has to change.


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## leftyguitarjoe

Pav said:


> Holy ...., you and I are wearing almost the exact same set of armor. If we played on the same platform I'd say one of us definitely has to change.



Artorias chest and outrider helm?


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## beneharris

There is a wildfire burning in a town about 100 miles south of me called Yarnell. I cannot, for the life of me, not say Yharnam.


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## Pav

leftyguitarjoe said:


> Artorias chest and outrider helm?



Actually I use artorias chest with the firelink helm. That was close.


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## MattThePenguin

Doing a dual swords only run only makes me hate the fact that enemies have infinite stamina more and more...

PVP is more fun though!


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## leftyguitarjoe

MattThePenguin said:


> Doing a dual swords only run only makes me hate the fact that enemies have infinite stamina more and more...
> 
> PVP is more fun though!



I'm doing a run with the Warden Twinblades and its great fun!


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## MattThePenguin

leftyguitarjoe said:


> I'm doing a run with the Warden Twinblades and its great fun!



Yes! I'm using Gotthards and they are absolutely brutal. Been invading as a Watchdog (or trying to) to grab that sword to throw on another character. It's been fun abandoning the 'parry and oneshot everything with big swords' playstyle I'm accustomed to


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## ZeroS1gnol

I finished DS3 yesterday. Excellent game, haven't enjoyed a game like this since DS1, which I played right before it, lol. But seriously, one of the coolest games I played in my gaming life (of about let's say 23 years).

I can now finally get back to fallout 4, but will probably start a new playthrough of DS3 with a friend (you die, you pass the controller).


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## Blytheryn

You guys excited?


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## Pav

I am very excited to finally get some DLC happening. But to be honest, I'm almost overloaded with good games to play for the rest of the year. I'm now hooked on Overwatch, Battlefield 1 comes out in a couple weeks, I have a free copy of Gears of War 4 that unlocks next week and FFXV may or may not finally release in November. Amongst all of that I'm hoping I don't completely forget that I bought the season pass for this at launch.


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## takotakumi

Super late to the party but eventually Dark Souls took over my life :v

Just beat DS1 last month and Im currently on Ringed City.
Whats everyone's favorite weapons?

I'm currently looking at getting some new weapons.
I beat most of it with uchigatana and a washing pole, but looking for something more refreshing. Currently at 40/40 str/dex if that helps. 
Will be attempting the ringed knight paired swords today  just got the stats


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