I just got my Hurricane Sandy money (28 hour standby woo), and Dark Souls is really really tempting me. Probably I'm going to cave and grab it this weekend; but in the meantime I'd like to get an idea of what the basics are like. Are there any good resources someone should have a look at before starting the game? Also: What's the one thing you wish you knew when you started it?
Not a whole lot, really. To be honest, while he's missing a lot and simply not interested in the answers, Tom Chick's game diary on it isn't a bad place to start. He's got a few things in there that wouldn't be obvious in hindsight but might be useful to you. Beyond that, I would say pyromancer is a good starting class, or knight/warrior if you want to puzzle out the hitting of things more directly, but don't sweat that first choice too much. The master key is the best gift, even if it's not something you're going to need much of right away. Just listen to the game, and try not to get in the habit of doing the same thing over and over again because *this* time it's going to work. That's true for a relatively small subset of medium to advanced skills, but 9/10 you're far better off not fucking that chicken and instead changing a significant variable in your approach before trying again. Or, sometimes, running away to do something else that's better suited to what you can handle better at the moment.
That's a tough one. The game is so deep that there isn't one single key piece of information that would have made everything better. Maybe shield stability, maybe knowing about build types, weapon upgrades, or, hell, that you can jump.
The very quickest tips: - Start as a pyromancer. - Start with the Master Key. - Keep your shield up! - Humanity isn't as rare as the loading screen says it is. Don't be shy about using it and kindling bonfires. - Explore! If a place seems impossible to pass that might mean it is and that's fine, but you stand to lose extremely little by just exploring your surroundings and you can find all kinds of goodies that way. Also, you keep all of your items when you die, so if you make a mad dash at some treasure and then get cobbed, you still come out ahead most of the time. - The most important stat for armor is poise. - The most important stat for shields is stability. - Never level up strength, dexterity, intelligence, or faith unless it's to meet the minimum requirements for a weapon or spell you want to use. - Upgrade stuff. Upgrade upgrade upgrade. Upgrades are the key to the game in terms of equipment, and if you don't upgrade things you're going to be outclassed relatively quickly. Good question. I guess it's this, even though it isn't something that makes the game easier: don't be too quick to look up strategies for getting through an area or beating a boss. Not that I did it for everything, but there are definitely a few things I spoiled for myself by watching Youtube videos without trying too hard to figure it out on my own. I suggest talking to people here more than watching videos of how to do things unless the situation is truly dire.
When I started, I relied heavily on this site: http://darksouls.wikidot.com/areas It has an area-by-area breakdown, complete with maps. But it's not a "walkthrough" in the sense of "Go here, step left, talk to Bill, then collect the reward for the area." Rather, it tells you what's where in the zone, and suggestions for how to proceed. Dark Souls is a game that rewards players who remain alert & inquisitive, who pay attention to what's happening. Everything on that site could be learned by trial & error... and many Dark Souls players seem to prefer to experience the game that way. You might be one of them. If you love the joy of discovery, go into the game blind. I, on the other hand, prefer some foreknowledge. When I enter an area, I'd rather not learn that there's an enemy hiding *right* underneath the staircase you enter on by dying to his axe in my back. However, people say the game plays fairly, and they're mostly right. If you are super paranoid & watchful, you could have seen the tip of that guy's axe when you were halfway down the stairs and looked *just* so. I played the expansion content blind, and had a blast, since I had been trained by the rest of the game to be sufficiently paranoid & watchful. So... yeah. Use the guide if you're the kind of person that finds learning through trial & error (and dying) unpalatable, or just jump in if you'd rather experience the game that way. But whichever way you choose, you'll have to learn to be aware. Not even the darksouls wiki will help you if you don't keep your eyes open.
I would strongly disagree with this. Physical defense is the stat by which I judge most armor. But you should read up on & understand what poise does for you. It can be pretty helpful. This is dead right, and it's something that took a little while to sink in. The in-game description of stability doesn't properly emphasize just how vital this stat is. Don't worry too much about physical defense %; pretty much all good shields have that at or near 100%. Stability is really the stat that defines how much you can block before you run out of stamina... and thus have to put down your shield & just take damage.
Start as a Pyromancer. Take the Master Key. Get the stats to use the Zweihander (which is found pretty close to the main "hub"). Upgrade it, your pyro flame, and your Endurance. When you can, turn it into a Lightning Zweihander. Hit things with it, laugh.
From the perspective of a new player, though. Poise gets less important as you get better at the game and are able to dodge more attacks and time yours better, but poise is a huge help when you're new. I rank it certainly higher than any defense, because I think you're likely to take twice as many hits if your attacks are getting interrupted.
I don't agree with this. Instead, I'd say: - Experiment with lots and lots of different weapons and find the ones you like. Almost every weapon is viable in Dark Souls, they just appeal to different playstyles. The most important thing is finding and using the ones you're comfortable with.
Armor is the most fungible thing in the game to me. I'll swap that around for poise, phy resistance, fire, magic, <25%, 50% (w and w/o havels) depending on what my situation is (as well as general good looks when I can handle the situation). All my other equipment/items I get so comfortable with that I'll start to rely on one or two and use them as long as I like them.
Ok, replace "Zweihander" with "weapon you find fun" and you're still at what I consider to be the optimal first-time playthrough experience. But seriously, Lightning Zweihander is awesome.
I do agree in general that elemental weapons + pyro flame + high vit and end is a pretty good way to play through for the first time.
This is a good place to start, although honestly I wouldn't worry too much without having the game in hand. Once you do, you can have a gander at the pyromancer class on this character planner and then take a look at the starting knight I created just for instructional purposes (and you might want to make one in-game to see the differences in action). I've already equipped it with exactly what you start with when you create a pyro and first appear in your cell. We'll come back to this in a moment. Shield stability: a statistic there at the end of the inventory sheet whose function isn't immediately obvious, but the differences between levels of stability will completely change your perception of a fight. It means how much of your stamina goes away when you block a hit, and depending on how hard the hit is and how non-stable your shield is, you'll get knocked back or even smashed down and hurt or killed. Fortunately, this scales roughly with size, and then with upgrades you invest into it, so it's not exactly surprising that smaller, lighter shields are less protective in that way. 40s and 50s are relatively fragile, and by the time you get into 60s, 70s and 80 stability you see a huge jump in what you can fend off and have stamina left to respond as you need. It's related to Poise: a stat linked to your armor. Light armors (and most starting armors) have 0 poise on each piece (as you can see on the pyro, and the knight has 46), meaning any hit staggers you a bit and might interrupt your attack. Medium and heavy armor pieces have increasing amounts of poise, and the OP in the Dark Souls thread has a link to a chart that explains the different thresholds for different kinds of hits that you can worry about later on. So as you can imagine having some poise means you have a bigger margin of error, and it's also usually accompanied by better defense and resistances on the heavier armor. But it comes with a cost, which brings us to my Thing I Think Everyone Should Understand Early. Encumbrance: Your endurance stat has two main effects. It increases the length of your stamina bar and increases your max equip weight (you have infinite inventory as far as simply storing things). Right off the bat, you should look at your max weight. For a pyromancer, that is 51 lbs. Then look at your encumbrance relative to two main thresholds: 25%, and 50%. So with no gear on through 25%, you can roll around nimbly pimbly and you move quickly. With 25%-50%, you move more slowly, have a slower roll, but are still pretty agile. With +50% things get really slow, and you hit the ground with a crashing thud when you roll. Now is when you look at the knight character sheet. See under HP and stamina in that center column how it tells you how much weight you're carrying? Right now, with just your armor, you are at exactly 25/50 lbs, or 50%. Also note the relatively high defense numbers (what you subtract from enemy hits in that category) and the poise of 46. Now if you take off enough gear to get below 25%, say, just keeping just the chest piece on or whatever, you are in the fastest roll category again. You will see the difference immediately in how you move in game and how you roll, and as your stamina bar gets longer you'll also differences in how quickly it refills depending on the weight of your torso piece primarily. It seems like a small thing, but because the combat is balanced tightly, moving faster is a huge advantage. In a moment, that knight is going to pick up a tower kite shield and broadsword; with his stock loadout, that puts him >50%! Far preferable to cut to below 50% (in terms of armor pieces) or even down to less than 25%. As you gain points in endurance, you can wear more without the same penalty. As well, when you switch between a pyromancer and a knight you'll see how attacks bounce off his shield (decent stability 58, 100% physical damage resistance) and how they rattle your cage in the pyro because it's a cracked piece of shit (stab 30, 65% damage resist). Still better than getting hit, but not something you want to count on in the latter case. On the other hand, the pyro gets a pyro glove, and it weighs nothing and you can merrily blast the shit out of enemies 8 times with that initial fireball before hitting up a bonfire for a refill. So maybe go with the offense thing with that guy for now. And the nuances between starting classes go on from there. They are important, but the main thing is to experiment scientifically rather than just trying to beat the game through attrition, and to ask questions when things seem unfair. It is an occasionally opaque game, but it's mostly pretty fair.
Just two things. 1. If a certain direction feels futile, make sure there isn't another one before beating your head on it. Chances are pretty good you missed something. 2. Endurance is way more important than you think. Welcome!
You know how games like to have areas where you fight through the long way around and then unlock a shortcut that you can use in he future? Dark Souls does that a lot. If you take the Master Key at the start (either as a gift or by choosing the Thief class), you get to unlock most of those without going through the long way. In some cases, the long way is long indeed--many hours for a first time player. This is awesome on a second playthrough. Personally, I'm glad I didn't have it for my first run. Make your own choice; there is no right answer. The easiest early game weapon is the Drake Sword, obtained by shooting a lot of arrows at a drake's tail. A bit tedious to get, but a massive upgrade over the other options available at that particular moment. It's a fairly boring option, but also a safe and easy one for a newbie. I used it without regrets, so consider picking it up when you get the chance. In general, cut the tail off of any boss that has one. There are a LOT of weapons obtained this way. I went through half the game convinced that you should never put points in vitality. Vitality extends your health bar, so I had all the survivability of a wet paper towel. This made me strong, since I had to learn how to never take damage. So: You don't NEED to put points in vitality, but it'll make your life easier if you do. Go UP from the firelink bonfire, but explore the other ways as well.
Bah. The important thing is to explore everywhere and look cool doing it. The rest is just mechanics.
Thank you for all the tips guys. I was considering making the exact same thread as jeffd here so it's good to know where to start. I've been fumbling my way around the first section of the game proper. Oh crap. Black Knight. Let's avoid him next time. Oh crap oh crap oh crap, WTF is this giant Tauren Demon thing! So still got a bit to learn I think here. Also, I see Praise the Sun everywhere in notes people leave. What's it all mean?
Praise the Sun is the catchphrase of the Warrior of Sunlight covenant, of which the Knight Solaire is a member. He gave you the white soapstone and he quite likes the sun. Those signs, via orange soapstones, are put down by players. Usually I see them after a boss fight and I presume it's relief. Sometimes people may think they're being funny, or maybe the just like being a SunBro.
Moving! Hammett say that using the mouse and keyboard mod makes it possible. Everyone else played it one a console first and can't picture using m+k. It's up to you (go controller!).
If you're used to playing with a controller - play with a controller as it's less of a hassle. If you're not buying the game because Other People tells you it's impossible without a controller and you hate controllers, buy the game, install the mod and go for it. I probably should do a m+kb guide thingy, shouldn't I?
You probably should. I think you're the only one here who uses it, or at least the only one who swears by it. I think it's safe to say that the rest of us are going to perpetually recommend either "just buy a controller" or "try it with the mouse and keyboard first but be prepared to buy a controller," but I'm sure there are other people who just won't buy a controller no matter what because they just hate them, and in that case it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to have a mouse and keyboard controls guide and tips from the pro.
Don't worry too much about messing anything up or making wrong choices. Souls and humanity are essentially in infinite supply, and you can always make different decisions in NG (once you beat the game, you can restart again with the same character - you essentially keep all your loot).
Wait til someone tells you ALL the stuff you have to do in order to meet a chick named Priscilla. That's where most people's eyes start to glaze over before they panic.
I found this really strange and fascinating too, and I really loved it. But yeah, every boss that has a tail lets you cut off the tail to get a weapon loosely based on it, and a few minibosses too.
Priscilla was mostly secondary as I was interested in the rusty iron ring. It was one of those things, well, while you're there getting this thing, get this other one, too. Of course you could see the rusty iron right right away which planted that seed on how you would actually get it. Then while riding the Undead Parish short cut you should see the stairs and wonder "what's there?", and by then you should be on your way to piecing it together. Myself, though, I watched a youtube video.
That reminds me of something I wish I'd known going in: talk to the NPCs multiple times and pay attention to what they have to say. There are so many clues that they give you that most people don't realize are in the game.
1. The item (not the stat) gives the stat. Humanity gives 1, twin humanities gives 2. 2. The stat (called "hold humanity" or "soft humanity") does a couple of things. It boosts item find (to a point), and it boosts certain resists. However, this is not the most important use of the stat. On death, your humanity is left at the green glowy mist of regret, along with your souls. Your current count can be seen in the top left, inside the dark disk. 3. You can spend humanity at bonfires to turn human. You can further spend humanity at bonfires to kindle them. This increases the amount of swings from you get from an estus flask when resting there; +5 for each kindling, to a max of 20. No bonefire can be kindled beyond +10 until you do that one in-game thing. Note that you need to be human to summon coop people and friendly npcs into your game. Being human makes you vulnerable to pvp and also to invasion from the occasional NPC red phantom. Being human allows you to force-invade the games of other human people.
You use humanity at a bonfire to restore yourself when you are hollow. It can also be spent to kindle a bonfire (when you are human), which will increase your estus flask capacity at that bonfire. A secondary aspect is that humanity affects your item find rate (that is drops from enemies you kill), up to 8 or 10 active humanity (I forget). Note, that active humanity is what we are talking about here, which is different from the sprite that you can consume in your inventory. Using that item will give you one active humanity, or two for a twin humanity, and heal you a great deal. That other part is useful when you're invading in PVP, or as a summon in co-op when you are not allowed to use your estus flask. ETA: there are some enemies that will give you humanity (the item), and others that will give you active humanity. These can be farmed at your will if you so desire.
Thanks. That clears up a lot. I've mostly been hoarding those sprites, along with all the other stuff I find.
They have a use, and I think it's worthwhile to use them so I wouldn't hoard. Two humanity gets you a reverse hollowing and a kindle, and when I was new 10 estus flasks helped a lot while going through a new area for the first time. Heck, I'm no longer new by a long shot and still like at least 10 estus flasks.
I always kindle every warpable bonfire (except theones that appear after killing big bosses) to 10 ASAP. I also kindle certain other bonfires, like the first one in the parish (that has the ladder leading up to the bridge), the one deep in Sen's, and the like. Basically any place that's not easy to get to/is of importance to advancing (that's a story boss area), and also allows for exploration. You can back-explore a lot of sen's from there without too much trouble, e.g. If I were savy enough to do cataboms early - and my pyromancer is going to somewhat-beeline for the divine ember and try, by george - I might not push them farther than 10 at first. But some of them I would kindle to 20 for sure.
I kindle any boss-attempt bonfire, every one near a smith, and every warpable. Heh. I like my flasks. :P
The first one I kindle these days to 10 or 20 or whatever I have available is Undead Parish, a good staging area for Sen's, Gargoyles, and a descent into Darkroot Basin. Second one I really make a point of doing is Anor Londo 2, where I definitely want all 20.
One that I forgot: The tutorial area introduces you to backstabbing. Learn this move and use it every chance you get. It's the difference between stomping many enemies flat vs. engaging in a lengthy battle of attrition.
