Board 8 > Help me survive Dark Souls Remastered, my first* From Software game

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Kenri
12/11/19 7:16:39 PM
#1:


*I've played through about 10 hours of Bloodborne at a friend's house

I picked Warrior with the bombs as my starting class and gift. I'm still pretty early, just killed the Taurus Demon and made it to a church in Undead Parish that connects to Firelink Shrine via elevator.

Any hot tips?

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DeathChicken
12/11/19 7:25:38 PM
#2:


It's the polar opposite of Bloodborne in that it doesn't reward you for being overly aggressive, you want to play super carefully and not die

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xp1337
12/11/19 7:26:01 PM
#3:


Shields are OP. hide like a coward behind one is too legit of a strategy. Related, you may want to look into the defensive rating of various shields. If you find one with a reduction of 100 on physical attacks you don't take any damage from blocking (assuming the damage is physical in nature of course.) Personally I looked to keep such a shield as my primary because it lets you not worry about taking some scratch damage even as you block. OTOH, when on offense, it's good to switch to two handing for the extra damage and then swapping back to one hand/shield when you're going to have to be defending. Sounds obvious, but yeah.

The amount of weight you have equipped affects your movement and dodge animations beyond the obvious overencumberance. There are breakpoints at 25% and 50% IIRC. I tried to stay under 25% personally for the faster movement and fastest dodge but going into the 25-50 range happened from time to time and was fine. But this goes into your playstyle and if you prefer heavier armor/weapons then by all means do it.

Upgrading your weapons is massive. If you just arrived at the church then you're right next to a blacksmith if you haven't seen him yet. A straight run from the Firelink elevator through the church should bring you to a building with him in it. Upgrading weapons is way more significant than levels IMO so if you ever feel stuck (you're also next to perhaps my most hated boss of the game, I played Dark Souls a few months ago) and upgrading played a key role in my finally winning. (There's another blacksmith you should be able to get to as well but since you're already at the church may as well use this dude, he's in a convenient location going forward.)

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Kenri
12/11/19 7:33:29 PM
#4:


DeathChicken posted...
It's the polar opposite of Bloodborne in that it doesn't reward you for being overly aggressive, you want to play super carefully and not die
Oh I thought this was just me being bad. I'll have to keep that in mind.

xp1337 posted...
The amount of weight you have equipped effects your movement and dodge animations beyond the obvious overencumberance. There are breakpoints at 25% and 50% IIRC. I tried to stay under 25% personally for the faster movement and fastest dodge but going into the 25-50 range happened from time to time and was fine. But this goes into your playstyle and if you prefer heavier armor/weapons then by all means do it.
I'm just under 50% right now and it's slow but I'm not sure how to get it lower? All I have equipped is the bare essentials. I'm guessing I'll find lighter stuff later.

I saw the blacksmith but forgot where so I haven't actually spoken to him yet. I'll try to go find him now. Luckily Bloodborne prepared me for the idea of upgrading weapons helping more than levels.

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skullbone
12/11/19 7:52:32 PM
#5:


Kenri posted...
I'm just under 50% right now and it's slow but I'm not sure how to get it lower? All I have equipped is the bare essentials. I'm guessing I'll find lighter stuff later.

There's a stat you can boost that raises your weight limit threshold, I'm pretty sure its strength but you just play around with the stats you can level until you find it.

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xp1337
12/11/19 7:55:47 PM
#6:


Kenri posted...
I'm just under 50% right now and it's slow but I'm not sure how to get it lower? All I have equipped is the bare essentials. I'm guessing I'll find lighter stuff later.

I saw the blacksmith but forgot where so I haven't actually spoken to him yet. I'll try to go find him now. Luckily Bloodborne prepared me for the idea of upgrading weapons helping more than levels.
One of your stats raises your max weight limit as you raise it. Endurance, IIRC. Next time you have enough souls to level you can check by seeing what goes up before committing to the level.

Equipment won't really get lighter. Well, you'll get like cloth armor that seems intended for mages and that's usually what I went with, but generally the weight of light armor is constant across the game, same for heavy armor, etc. I think the game expects you to raise Endurance to increase your limit. There's also some various rings that increase your weight limit. There's actually one that increases it 50% that you can technically reach if you go on a bunch of sidetrips right now. If you're interested: From that blacksmith, if you head downstairs, past the stone demon guy is an area called Darkroot Garden. If you beat the boss there you'll get a key to a tower in an adjacent area Darkroot Basin. It's a small area and the tower is hard to miss. In that tower is an enemy who drops it.

Speaking of levelling, I'd recommend focusing on three stats primarily. Vitality (for HP), Endurance (for Stamina and the Weight Limit), and one of Strength/Dexterity (this depends more on what weapon you're using/plan to use. I used dexterity weapons like the Scimitar and later some katanas so I focused on Dexterity)

Vitality/Endurance are useful regardless of what you're doing. The Strength/Endurance one I wouldn't worry so much about, if you see a cool weapon you like that uses the stat you weren't working on, whatever who cares, use what you like. Just check what stat a weapon scales in (the letter ranks) and that's your guide.

Resistance is basically a dump stat, no real point to it honestly. Your levels can go to way better things and in the cases where you want certain resistances it's better to just find/equip armor that has those built in. Attunement/Intelligence/Faith are generally your magic stats. There's some cheap utility spells you can pick up that are nice for general use (Heal for some extra heals, Weapon Enchants, etc.) but I probably wouldn't bother with them until you're feeling pretty comfortable and don't mind investing some levels there. Or if you want to play as a caster... but in that case I have no experience there and you'd need someone else to help explain that build.

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xp1337
12/11/19 7:56:37 PM
#7:


skullbone posted...
There's a stat you can boost that raises your weight limit threshold, I'm pretty sure its strength but you just play around with the stats you can level until you find it.
I looked it up and it's Endurance, but yeah, you can always play with the stats to see what increases with what.

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MrSmartGuy
12/11/19 8:05:08 PM
#8:


Endurance is super OP in Dark Souls 1. It helps you out in two of the most important stats in the game: equip load and stamina. Beyond that, find a weapon you enjoy using (pro tip: they're almost all perfectly usable so go with what feels right!), see what stat boosts the attack of that weapon, and bump that up occasionally, too.

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Kenri
12/11/19 8:15:23 PM
#9:


I've been leveling Vitality, Endurance, and Strength... I want to say exclusively but I may have put a level into something else. But yeah luckily I figured that part out. I'll focus a little more on Endurance from now on though.

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ChaosTonyV4
12/11/19 10:02:33 PM
#10:


Ooh tag

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Kenri
12/11/19 10:23:08 PM
#11:


I killed the big demon under the blacksmith but I'm having a lot of trouble surviving the mage surrounded by naked dudes on the second floor of the church.

I wish I knew enemy names for this game lmao

xp, I think I also found the boss in Blackroot Basin you were talking about, but it killed me while I was fighting the crystal guys. Any recommendation on whether I should do church or basin first, or is just nonlinear and doesn't really matter?

Never mind, didn't realize the mage doesn't respawn. Fighting Gargoyles now.

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xp1337
12/11/19 10:47:59 PM
#12:


Kenri posted...


xp, I think I also found the boss in Blackroot Basin you were talking about, but it killed me while I was fighting the crystal guys. Any recommendation on whether I should do church or basin first, or is just nonlinear and doesn't really matter?
Maaaaybe?

What exactly were you fighting in the Basin? There's a hydra in the lake, but he's not your target. You can kill him but be careful because if you're like me and try to rush into melee range, if you do it poorly you just insta-die because the lake is a killzone if you stray too far from shore. Hydra does not respawn, crystal golems do.

You want this knight guy who hits like a truck in the tower. If at all possible, I'd kite the golems out and kill them before engaging if they're an issue. Though again, IIRC, the tower is locked and you need a key from the boss in Darkroot Garden to open it. Said boss is a real boss with the health bar and everything. It's called Moonlight Butterfly, or something.

As for linear/not. Nah, none of this stuff is on the critical path. Gargoyles are what's next for you there. That said, I don't think Darkroot Garden/Basin should be that insurmountable... unless you buy the item that opens a sealed gate in the Garden. Then you'll probably be walking into a world of pain at this point in the game.

Kenri posted...
Fighting Gargoyles now.
my mortal enemy

These guys had my number for a fair bit. Ugh hate that fight. >_>

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Kenri
12/11/19 10:52:23 PM
#13:


Gargoyles beated.

Yeah Hydra was what I was talking about, I realized when I reread your post that I had the wrong area. I guess I'm heading that way next since I rang the upper bell and it doesn't seem like there's anything else this direction.

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mccheyne
12/11/19 11:10:21 PM
#14:


Fuck the gargoyles. Took me forever because I didn't use the roof correctly to help dodge their sweeping attacks or fire.

Need to get back into this. Got the original one, and last remember being in Blighttown

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xp1337
12/11/19 11:19:03 PM
#15:


BTW, whenever you're done in Darkroot Garden/Basin whether you get that ring or not. If you get stuck the next spot you're "supposed" to go after Gargoyles is Lower Undead Berg. Gargoyles should have dropped a key that will open a door back over by the bridge that that dragon is camping. Think you want to be at the "start" of it though, not the halfway point you duck into that eventually got you into the Parish.

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Kenri
12/12/19 1:09:27 AM
#16:


Killed Moonlight Butterfly. Well, I didn't, I couldn't reach it, but I summoned a witch to do it for me. I've also realized that swords don't actually work that well on everything so now I have a +4 reinforced club to break shit with.

I killed a kinda tough knight and got a Wolf Ring which raises poise, which I still don't fully understand but I know it's good!

I feel so bad about killing these frog slime guys, they're too cute to be enemies.

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MrSmartGuy
12/12/19 1:35:26 AM
#17:


Poise might actually be more important than your damage resistance. That stat dictates how easy it is for you to get staggered and possibly stunlocked when hit. It's also useful in the sense that you can attack through light damage. I believe that also means when shielding, but I could be wrong; it's been years since I've played.

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Kenri
12/12/19 11:34:10 AM
#18:


Killed the guy in the tower basement and got Havel's Ring. Still can't even make it into melee range against the hydra. Might just have to come back later.

MrSmartGuy posted...
Poise might actually be more important than your damage resistance. That stat dictates how easy it is for you to get staggered and possibly stunlocked when hit. It's also useful in the sense that you can attack through light damage. I believe that also means when shielding, but I could be wrong; it's been years since I've played.
Oh, that makes sense, it seemed like I could trade hits with the leaf guys more after equipping it.

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Aecioo
12/12/19 11:49:04 AM
#19:


tag

maybe my favorite game of all time

Don't go crazy with tips from people! Understanding how stats work and all that is fine, but telling you about certain secrets or builds etc is lame. It's more fun to go on your own and read messages that might help. If you get lost I'll point you in the right direction.

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Kenri
12/12/19 11:58:51 AM
#20:


Killed the hydra.

Yeah I don't need tips on everything, but stuff like where to go next when I'm really lost or why I can't get past a certain boss etc is appreciated because otherwise I'll just get annoyed. Also I'm not paying for Switch online right now so there aren't any in-game tips to help.

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Peace___Frog
12/12/19 12:49:55 PM
#21:


There's an intended route for sure, but one of the beautiful things about dark souls is that if you're having trouble somewhere, there's usually somewhere else you can go too! There might be armor or a weapon, or the other area might help you gitgud, and then when you go back to the place that was giving you trouble you'll find that it's perfectly doable now. Push your boundaries and go wherever feels right.

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HeroDelTiempo17
12/12/19 12:51:49 PM
#22:


Kenri posted...
Also I'm not paying for Switch online right now so there aren't any in-game tips to help.

but getting ganked by minmaxing invaders is a core part of the dark souls 1 experience!

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Aecioo
12/12/19 1:51:25 PM
#23:


HeroDelTiempo17 posted...
but getting ganked by minmaxing invaders is a core part of the dark souls 1 experience!

Using humanity is overrated.

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tazzyboyishere
12/12/19 1:54:19 PM
#24:


I'm doubtful there's enough of a playerbase on Switch at this point where getting invaded would happen more than 3 or 4 times. I've been slowly working through the Switch version myself and getting summoned takes forever

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HeroDelTiempo17
12/12/19 1:55:05 PM
#25:


Well yeah, the biggest flaw in Dark Souls's game design is that it there is basically no upside to being human unless you want to summon. Every other game does it better.

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Seginustemple
12/12/19 2:59:53 PM
#26:


Alright here's the tip you kill the giant blacksmith in anor londo for the zap hammer and go invade sen's fortress with a minmaxed build wearing nothing but the fang boar helm and R1 everyone on the catwalks for hundreds of hours

that's how I beat dark souls
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Aecioo
12/12/19 3:01:44 PM
#27:


Seginustemple posted...
Alright here's the tip you kill the giant blacksmith in anor londo for the zap hammer and go invade sen's fortress with a minmaxed build wearing nothing but the fang boar helm and R1 everyone on the catwalks for hundreds of hours

that's how I beat dark souls

spoilers...

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Seginustemple
12/12/19 3:08:07 PM
#28:


oh I spoiled many players evenings with that bs
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kevwaffles
12/12/19 4:36:19 PM
#29:


HeroDelTiempo17 posted...
Well yeah, the biggest flaw in Dark Souls's game design is that it there is basically no upside to being human unless you want to summon. Every other game does it better.

Also to kindle bonfires, but you also do that at bonfires so you're basically just stuck with being human each time you do it.
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htaeD
12/12/19 4:44:27 PM
#30:


Well yeah, the biggest flaw in Dark Souls's game design is that it there is basically no upside to being human

But my vanity

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Kenri
12/12/19 8:44:25 PM
#31:


Got through Lower Undead Burg and killed the Capra Demon.

...Definitely wasn't because of masterful play, though! It felt like I just traded blow after blow with him and he fell down first.

I think I have at least three options of where to go from here. Not sure how far I can get in them, but I've at least seen the entrances to Valley of Drakes (via Darkroot Basin), Catacombs (via Firelink Shrine), and now the Depths via Lower Undead Burg. I want to say there was one more too but I can't recall.

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tazzyboyishere
12/12/19 9:38:30 PM
#32:


Nice, a lot of people get stuck on Capra.

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Kenri
12/12/19 10:55:51 PM
#33:


I can understand it. The first 5 seconds are brutal, and then there's not much room to maneuver for the rest of it. I suspect I won on the quality of my gear more than anything.

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KamikazePotato
12/12/19 11:22:17 PM
#34:


Capra Demon is an uncle fucker of a fight.

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kevwaffles
12/12/19 11:54:24 PM
#35:


Capra Demon is nothing. His arena and his dogs are the real bosses.
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xp1337
12/13/19 12:16:31 AM
#36:


Haha, my first Capra Demon encounter was the classic meme version of the encounter: https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/685/340/70f.gif

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Kenri
12/13/19 12:17:43 AM
#37:


Speaking of uncle fuckers, I have learned to fear the cartoon frogs.

At first I thought I got instant killed because I was cursed with <50% HP. The second time I realized it's an instant kill regardless, and that the curse is just an extra fuck you.

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Kenri
12/13/19 1:14:45 AM
#38:


Killed the Gaping Dragon. It looked super intimidating and had a ton of HP but I got it first try by just staying near its legs and chipping away at it. It really needed like... a flying slam attack or something, because its constant flying retreats were just free Estus Flask time.

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KamikazePotato
12/13/19 2:32:25 AM
#39:


Gaping Dragon has a really cool design and was excellent trailer bait, but ends up being one of the easiest fights in the game.

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Aecioo
12/13/19 12:21:07 PM
#40:


Hot tip since you've already missed some opportunities - You can cut off the tails of certain enemies (like gaping dragon, gargoyles) and get unique weapons.

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kevwaffles
12/13/19 12:31:27 PM
#41:


Strangely they completely abandoned that mechanic going forward. I thought it was a nice little bonus objective of sorts.
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Kenri
12/13/19 12:37:24 PM
#42:


Aecioo posted...
Hot tip since you've already missed some opportunities - You can cut off the tails of certain enemies (like gaping dragon, gargoyles) and get unique weapons.
I knew about the gargoyle one and got it, but I'm not sure how I missed Gaping Dragon's. I was attacking its tail a lot early on, but eventually I switched to its legs when it seemed like nothing was going to happen.

Will keep in mind for future bosses though.

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Aecioo
12/13/19 12:38:47 PM
#43:


Gaping dragon takes a lot more damage to get the tail. Also it has kind of a weird hitbox where sometimes I believe it registers as you hitting it's body and not the tail

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kevwaffles
12/13/19 1:02:32 PM
#44:


The Gaping Dragon still has quite a bit of its tail left when you cut it off iirc. That's the portion that doesn't count.

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xp1337
12/13/19 1:04:13 PM
#45:


Tail cuts can be weird. I went out of my way on one boss to do so and still didn't get the weapon. Though if it's like what was just said and there's more than one part maybe that's it.

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kevwaffles
12/13/19 2:00:23 PM
#46:


I think it's poise damage that counts on tail cuts or something weird like that? I know that some weapons can cut off a tail in 1-3 hits and some daggers may literally not ever cut it off before you get the kill.

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Kenri
12/13/19 6:05:52 PM
#47:


I was probably attacking too close to the base. It was harder to hit further out, not to mention that its tail whip attack was the only threatening thing it could do, so I wanted to stay away from there whenever possible.

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KamikazePotato
12/13/19 6:07:07 PM
#48:


I don't remember any of the tail weapons being particularly impressive regardless. Souls weapons usually go like:

Fully upgraded normal weapons > unique boss soul weapons > random fun-but-useless crap you find

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Kenri
12/13/19 6:15:16 PM
#49:


Speaking of upgraded normal weapons, what's the difference between, say, a Claymore +6 and a Raw Claymore? I know Divine is good against undead but I don't think the game has explained Raw weapons to me yet.

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Peace___Frog
12/13/19 6:21:09 PM
#50:


It changes the scaling. Each weapon has a base amount as well as a scaling amount. In general, the higher a weapons letter grade, the better it scales with that stat (but not always, because dark souls!). Upgrading a weapon often increases scaling slightly. Changing the weapon to raw, divine, etc, changes the weapon more dramatically. Some changes can even remove scaling entirely, for just a high base.

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