Here's a link to the DS reddit, which has a lot of useful links in the sidebar; it now has a wiki to supplement the two existing ones with stuff that comes up on the subreddit. There's also reddit/onebros for people looking for assistance and tips for SL1 runs. PC-specific links Prepare to Die Content How to get to the new content: Epicnamebro has it taken care of. The long and short of it (minus one or two possible a-ha moments from the video) Other links of use Calculators n' math Tutorials Lore/general guidance Fan art/humor
I'm back to playing DS after an unfortunate hiatus involving Skyrim and an unbelievably busy holiday. But damn if I'm not still stuck on those freaking Bell Gargoyles, and the Capra Demon. I have some idea on how to take out the gargoyles, at least (I always just seem to get unlucky and get caught in the fire breath), but I'll be damned if I have a good strategy for the Capra. I've tried running up to the top of that archway, but every time I've done it, he's still been able to hit me (even if he's standing on the ground below). Suggestions?
You can't be against the wall on the archway, you have to stand slightly away from it. I fell down a couple of times, but once the dogs are dead, he's pretty slow and easy to avoid. I just firebombed him from the arch. For the Gargoyles, I brought Solaire. That made it pretty easy (but harder to get the tail axe).
I do not think this is talked to death, but of course I'm still on my first play through. I bit it in Blighttown back on 12/30 and haven't been back since. Reading some things from that other place I imagine I am doing things wrong (I have 21 STR and DEX) and I don't quite get all the weapon stuff (I have the Drake Sword for now), but it was fun. I'll need to jump back in and backtrack the Blight. I was past the first ghost gate thing staring at the map on wikidot, or whatever, trying to find my way back to the firelink shrine when I fell, landed in the swamp alive but was swarmed and bit it.
Ugh, Blighttown. I managed to only die once in there and that was pretty close to the entrance when I tried to bull rush a bunch of blow dart guys. After that, I managed to grab everything in the entire area (video guides helped a lot) and kill the Spidergirl without another death. I was so glad to be done with that place.
A good idea for Blighttown is to pick up the spider shield off the ledge above the huge rat monstrosity in the Depths - you get it by dropping down the chute behind where the first butcher was stood... uh, butchering - and the rusted iron ring from the Northern Asylum once you make it back there. The shield will let you block those damn toxic dart blowers without any of the, uh, toxicity going through your shield, and the ring will let you run normally through the mire at the bottom of the Blighttown swamp. Having the shield will also be a huge boon if you decide to try and go for the firekeeper's soul in the alcove above the water wheel.
I think I have the spider shield, but I never had a dart go through the knight(i think?) shield I was using. I was trying to get back to the firelink shrine to get that iron ring since I read about it on wikidot.
On the way to getting the rusted iron ring you'll also obtain the Crest Shield, which is excellent for those fights that are sorcery heavy.
Yep, I had the rusted iron ring, also. I wouldn't want to even consider hitting the bottom area without it. Much easier after I put on the Shadow armor as well.
Man, I forgot about the rusted iron ring. Yeah, you need that thing in the swamp. It's one of the best arguments for reading at least some spoilers about the game; I know I wouldn't have found it before going there if I hadn't been forewarned.
Random tidbit I only found out about halfway through my first NG and which I've proceeded to use for EVERY LADDER SINCE: if you're climbing down a ladder and want to get down quickly, hit the dodge button(Circle on PS3) while holding the movement stick down and you do a fancy slide down the length of the ladder.
I really need to finish my "things you should know before you start playing Dark Souls" post. The obscure controller actions are on it--in particular, the ladder slide and the jump. I went a really embarrassingly long time without knowing how to jump.
Did you know there are separate animations for attacks immediately after rolls, backsteps and sprints too?
I had no idea. There's something crazy about putting 70+ hours into a game and not figuring stuff like that out. I never once managed to pull off a parry, either.
Parries are risky - especially if you don't use a parrying buckler or similar small shield designed for the task - but they do DEVASTATING damage. Learn to parry well, and it makes the Gwyn fight trivial.
Bring Solaire and learn to cast Crystal Homing Soulmass at 50 int, and it makes the Gwyn fight even more trivial! I felt like I'd just activated a cheat mode, he went down so easily. My finance watched that fight, since she was curious to see the epic final showdown after I'd spent the last month or so playing the game in every spare moment. I think she was a bit disappointed. :>
I think it's meant to be kind of an anticlimax, though. With all he's done to keep the fire going, he's Hollowed or all but, just a shell of the man he used to be. It's tragic, and it's a little unnerving, that the Lord of Cinders that's been talked up through the whole game is just a mindlessly, relentlessly attacking wretch.
I killed him today with a level 32 pyromancer I've built as a melee fighter. The Zweihander greatsword made short work of his dogs and then I just cut him down. Made a nice change from getting my ass kicked.
One other thing about blighttown: before you get down and dirty in the swamp portion, make sure you have picked up the Eagle Shield in upper BT. I can't emphasize enough what having access to a shield that is trivial to get into the 70s for stability and can go all the way through the mid 80s for only 6 lbs can do for your ability to take a hit. Also, regardless of your build, early on there is no better bang for buck than endurance, especially if you are short on useful rings and are using havel's all of the time. The difference that heavier gear, poise, damage resistance, etc can make in a tough fight is really hard to overstate. I don't know of a single person that recommends even hyper-optimized PvP builds skimp on that, because it's so vital to have choice in your gear and a maxed stamina bar (at 40 end). Once you have specific goals, by all means, diversify, and keep dropping it in your prime stat as needed when you are building your endurance and throwing a little love to your vitality. But most new player problems are best dealt with by not being smoked after a single roll and block leave you staggered.
You can jump? Cripes. There where places I wanted to jump to but all I could do was roll and tried to roll there. The tutorial even mentions being able to kick but I never got that to work.
Kicking is a great skill. What you want is to flick the thumbstick forward and hit light attack at the exact same time. Once it clicks, you can do it at will and it's fantastic for mowing down all of those cautious enemies with shields. The jump is a little more iffy in terms of its usefulness, but at least it's easy to do for anyone with a bit of time in the old Prince of Persia mindset of jumping. Ben, the main thing you need to do is be able to dish out enough damage to the Capra demon that <10 drop attacks will kill him, beyond that you are really playing the odds. You can either go with something like the drake sword or throw lightning on your primary weapon, ideally one that is at +5. In that sense, you may want to grind, but to boost your gear rather than your level. Unfortunately, none of the shields available at this level are real game-changers like the Eagle shield, but if you can get a 100% physical shield to have its stability upgraded a few times you may be surprised at how much more manageable those Capra strikes are. Other than that, it's very much a final fantasy X chocobo race kind of situation in that your form has to be good but being lucky is more important in those first few seconds as you dodge/kill dogs and avoid his opening salvo. I have not had a problem with avoiding his hits on the ledge if I stand on it in the corner but stay locked on to him as he approaches with my shield up. My wife just got through it with her new level 22 character, and it was much harder than when I went there with my original level 18 character where I was simply lucky in those opening seconds and fumbled through. You have my sympathy.
I don't do the Lower Burgh until I've finished everything in the Upper part, the Parish and the Darkroot Garden/Basin (aside from the black knights, I still have trouble with those).
Gathering up courage to buy Dark Souls. Slowly working my way through a third playthrough of Demon's Souls.
After figuring out how to jump, I went to a part of Undead Burg I couldn't get to before, right at the start where you come out of the sewer. I go down the ladder and loot the corpse, and it was literally garbage, just there to lure you into an ambush of four naked zombies. Which might have been an "oh fuck" moment when I first got to the area, but with my +5 hollow soldier shield and drake sword, it was more of a "fuck off" moment.
I don't remember what level I was at back then, but it was probably in the low 20s. My biggest problem was just getting into the room, past the dogs and onto the stairs, without dying. Once I did all of that, the actual fight wasn't that hard. My eventual strategy was to get to the point on the stairs where he stays below you swinging ineffectually at the stairs and not running off to climb up them. Then, rather than trying to drop slash him or hit him with any sort of projectile, I would just go up the stairs far enough to get him to start moving toward the bottom of the stairs. Once he got his head above the stairs, I would run down and hit him a couple times, then run back up so he went back rather than actually climbing the stairs and killing me to death.
The rubbish pile is just tradable to the crow bitch for something useful. Is there something it is used for beyond that?
I don't think you need to use jump to get there, I think you can just smash some barrels and walk off of a ledge.
Quite a few people want this on PC, I am among them (PS3 version is decent, but if I could play in 1080p@60fps with x360 controller instead of dual shock, the experience would be much more "pleasant" - not the right word when talking about DS I know): www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/01/06/the-quest-for-dark-souls-on-pc/ http://forums.namcobandaigames.eu/showpost.php?p=2331294&postcount=5 even totalbiscuit pitches in http://petitionbureau.org/DarkSoulsForPC God dammit I want this.
No, he's talking about the cut off wooden bridge above and to the left of the area you're thinking of. You definitely need to jump there; what's more, you need to jump from above - you won't clear that gap just by trying to jump across.
I think that place you can actually get to by going up a back set of stairs, but I'd have to start up the game to be sure. I know I tried to jump that bridge like 20 times. By the way, for the ambush, if you hit those guys while they're hanging, they'll fall and die. Once they start climbing up, they won't fall.
Yeah, you can't jump it at level. But you can get to the roof directly above where you're trying to jump from, and then it's cake as the forward momentum will easily carry you across. I am not sure if I found another way there. Since this is Dark Souls, you're probably right though! <3 Can't wait to get back and see wtf is up with that wyvern.
Yeah, I tried to get past that bridge for like half an hour and finally gave up. Then later I saw some stairs I'd never noticed before and they went right up there. It was a shake-tiny-fists-at-the-sky moment.
Having a hard time with Ornstein and Smough. In Human form so I can summon Solaire and I keep getting invaded. Grrr. Got into the fight twice, killed one of them twice, can't finish off the second. Maybe I'll try reasoning with them.
What SL are you, and what system? There seems to be certain "tiers" of soul levels where it's easier to find co-op help for certain bossfights.
