Tell Me How To Get Started

I don't disagree. I think the way a newer player (by which I mean someone in their first three or four playthroughs maybe) perceives them, from hardest to easiest, is:

Tomb of the Giants - You can't see anything and every enemy kills you instantly, so this is obviously the hardest!
New Londo Ruins - The ghosts come from every whichaway, it's hard to find your way around, and you're constantly surrounded by baddies!
The Duke's Archives - Most of the enemies are weak, so this one isn't as bad as those two.
Lost Izalith - Not a lot of enemies, pretty straightforward run to the frustrating boss.

And for a very experienced player, I'd say it's more like:

The Duke's Archives - You have to fight stuff that hits harder than what you have to fight in any of the other three, and there are projectiles coming at you at all times.
New Londo Ruins - Not that bad since you know the downstairs pretty well and know how to skip the middle part.
Lost Izalith - Not a lot of enemies, pretty straightforward run to the frustrating boss.
Tomb of the Giants - Darkness presents very little difficulty because you come prepared and know your way around by now, also all of the enemies in the dark part are optional and all of the ones after that are easy.

It's actually kind of cool and amazing how comfortable you eventually get with the Tomb, since it represents nothing but terror and frustration when you first encounter it.

Is the lava part of Lost Izalith not hard? I hate that area, but maybe more because it's annoying than hard.

Not really. Once you know where the bonfire is you just run straight to it.

I found it pretty easy. Those big blind demons seem tough, but the level seems to be designed for you to snipe them from inside buildings where they can't get you, and they don't respawn.

And the rest of Lost Izalith is easy too, as long as you are patient. Which by the time you get to it, you are.

The boss is annoying as hell, but the level itself isn't too challenging.

Yeah, the entire lava part guides you very well. In fact, the very first time I went through it I thought all the demonlegs were static decorations, since the most obvious path never leads you into any of their aggro ranges. Which are small, which helps.

Nito down, despite me going in with a bad gear setup and not enough Estus due to not kindling the bonfire. I had my +14 Uchi and my Divine Warpick +5 armed, with the intention of whittling the skellies down with the Uchi and then using the Divine weapon for the final blow. That worked so-so on the first two, but then Nito caught up with me and I had to leave the other one alive to focus on him.

I had to use 3 Humanity or so to keep myself alive, but luckily my damage output is so high now that it only took about 15-20 hits to take him down.

Tonight I finish!

I was so uninformed about the mechanics of curses that I thought the transient curse worked the same way as the basilisk curse from the Depths (half health), so I never got myself cured because... well, why bother replacing a permanent curse with a temporary one that I'll have to refresh? When I realized my terrible error New Londo became a veritable walk on the beach compared to everything else I'd encountered. I can't believe I banged my head up against that wall, but it did allow me to become achingly familiar with every single ghost spawn location in the upper ruins. So hey.

I can also see how the Tomb is easier with more experience. If I begin my Zwei's heavy attack on those skeletal dogs at the right range so that my follow-up swing will also land, then I'm fine. If my second swing falls short, I'm dead. I can maybe back off and roll away after the first swing but what fun is that?

At any rate, 2 a.m. and trying to negotiate the Crystal Caverns for the first time did not end well for the home team. Hopefully I can get past Seath tonight!

Well, the Centipede Demon is pretty much bullshit! :(

Try running across the lava to your right to find a little area that is easier to fight him from. Then, don't lock on, but just dodge around in the gold hemmed robes. That worked for me.

... He says and then beats the guy!

I ended up finding the island, once I got him onto dry land he was actually really easy!

If you can get him to drop the Orange Charred Ring, he becomes pretty much a cakewalk.

Edit: FINE! Go and beat him while I am offering helpful advice! See if I care!

heh, I think I cut both his tail and arm off; it was pretty brutal. The poor idiot.

They grow back!

...unless he's dead.

So I think I will wait a bit before starting another STR character. I'm so attached to my Uchigatana, I'm not sure using something else would feel right!

Well, that was a heck of a journey... and yet I feel like it has only just begun.

Thank you all for providing a constant reminder that this is a game worth getting to know. Experiences like this make the hobby worthwhile.

Yay I made it through Sen's! It was annoying because I suddenly completely lost the ability to parry when I started tonight. After many many failed attempts where occasionally I didn't even make it past the first three snake guys, I finally got a bit of my groove back and managed to get up to the roof. I was then able to open the shortcut and I killed the boss without even getting hit on my second attempt (first try I was learning his patterns and got grabbed and smushed). I think now I'm going to go back and finish out Darkroot Garden/Basin. And then maybe I'll try to farm out a Large Club from the barbarians back at Blighttown.

From actually made Tomb of the Giants easier in one of the patches (pre-DLC). The OG Tomb had at least one more unavoidable dog skeletons along the critical path. It got moved so the user can easily run past it. Also everyone needs to experience a Tomb Gravelording at least once. The second bonfire is swarming with red phantom skeleton dogs.

Finally got through the Tomb of Giants last night. I dislike that place. But! One shotted Nito which was surprisingly a fairly easy fight for my guy. Then on to the Demon Ruins which went well as well. I had already done Ceaseless Discharge earlier, and found my way down to the large flame ember, took out the poor sad Firesage easily and then the Centipede Demon on the second try (first one I ran out of Estus). I'm contemplating if I want to go the route to save Solaire since I like the guy and would hate to have to strike him down, so I didn't press on into Lost Izalith last night.

I'm nearing the end. Only Lost Izalith and the supposedly fun Bed of Chaos, Kiln of the First Flame and Gwynn and Manus in the DLC are really left. The sense of progression in this game is wonderful, going from feeling week and underpowered, to feeling like you OWN an area before getting beat down again and learning something new about your weapons, move sets, or game mechanics that help you move on and being your own little Dark Souls god. Great times.

Tenth or twelfth time and I've finally beaten the Bell Gargoyles.

Whooo! I'm now the furthest I've ever been in this game after having taken a year off from it.

I've cleared out most of Darkroot Garden/Basin now and joined the Forest Covenant. I put on the Cat ring and did some PvP in the Forest. That was ugly. I was summoned many times (somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 or so), often into the same people's worlds, and I've not killed a single person. I've gotten credit for two kills because another phantom killed the host when I popped in. There was one person who seemed to be about my level/equipment and we fought a very close match where he beat me with just a sliver of health left. Everyone else I fought seemed to be many many levels higher/much better equipment. Usually I'm dying in one or two hits and I barely remove any health when I hit them. Tomorrow night I'll have to hope to pop in again just as another good player finishes off the host to get my third "credit".

Didn't get time to mention this last night, but I saw something really interesting/weird as part of this too. I got summoned into Floating Skull's world and the label matched what was in the tin. The guy was just a giant floating skull, no body. He was already fighting some other phantom so I got to just watch. The Skull was making the rolling noise as it ran away from the attacker. Eventually the attacker ran him down and killed him, that was my 2nd kill credit.

Yes, it's a place where both malicious and purely cosmetic hackers go to show off their skills.

I'm not a fan of hackers at all, but I have to say I do like the commitment of having a username that matches the hack.

And after several more futile attempts, I managed my first legitimate PvP kill in the Forest! I warped into the same guy's world three times and killed him on my third try. Switching up to the Iatio really helped cause I was able to tag him enough to get a bleed. Immediately upon my victorious return, I took off the Cat ring and got the Fog Ring for my reward. I then traveled up to the absolver and left the covenant and bought off my sin. Even as much as the Forest sucks because of the level mismatches you get there, I did enjoy my foray into PvP quite a bit. Everyone I ran into was very nice about it.

Also I finally managed to get a Large Club to drop from the Barbarians so I'm going to try that out and see if I like it.

I think it may be time to try to beat Sif or maybe I should actually explore Anor Londo. I also need many more Large Titanite shards to improve armor and weapons, so it may be farming in the Depths again.

So I think I'm doing fairly well so far. Beat the Capra Demon (after a dozen goddamn attempts!) who was fairly easy after getting lucky and dealing with his dogs. I'm onto the Depths and was finding that fairly easy until I dropped down a hole into a group of basilisks.

That was unfortunate.

Currently using an Estoc +5 with a Black Knight Shield. Still using the Pyromancer's default armor and have been upgrading it when I can after buying additional materials from the blacksmith near the Undead Parish. I think that is a fairly good setup so far, at least considering I haven't played this all that much.

Next time you may want to take out Sif before leaving the forest covenant. No forest invaders to annoy you on the way to him if you are in the covenant.

Gwinn is no longer. Vanquished, the chosen undead has taken his place and kindled the first flame. That was great. (though the battle is a little anti-climatic after some of the great boss battles earlier in the game!) Love this. I don't know how much NG+ I'll do. I love my strength guy, but I want to experience the game from a different play style, sorcery I think for a second play through. So great! About 70 hours of playtime for the first win.

After several plays with different characters I've taken to the idea that NG is a tutorial for NG+. You're learning how to use your specific build and what it can and can't do and how to fight effectively, especially so with your very first game ever because now you know the area and what to do and where to go. Then in NG+ you take that and stomp all over the place. Things hit harder, and depending on your build may or may not be an issue, but I find the feeling of super powerful guy carries over well. And it's really great when you school Asylum demon like you didn't before (i.e. don't do the drop).

I loved the Gwyn fight. There is no crazy cutscene or music to pump up the magnitude of what's going down. There's just you, him, and some melancholy piano music. It's the end of the line, and it's bittersweet.

So I thought I was done with Dark Souls for a while, but today I felt the urge to go back in and fired up my NG+ (in which I had wandered out to the bonfire in the Asylum and then quit. It's amazing how different those early areas play out when you a) know how to play the game and b) have shit-hot gear.

For reference, I started playing Dark Souls on Christmas Eve and got up to the early part of the Undead Burg where you encounter the sniper. I put it down for a week because of travel and, upon returning to it, got up to the Taurus Demon, who soundly defeated me. I pressed on for several days and, on January 6, rang the first bell; 'twas a joyous moment.

Today I ran that same section in an hour, one-shotting both bosses and dying only due to hubris. I'm sure a lot of the speed gains are down to having way better gear (I definitely couldn't take out the trash mobs with one swing the first time through), but understanding how the movement works, knowing my weapon well, and knowing the enemy attacks and boss strategies turned a week's worth of banging my head against the wall into a cakewalk.

Anyway, I think I may press on in order to build up my strength and start using some of the massive swords I accumulated last time around.

The same thing has happened to me in my second playthrough, sinfony. I got 6 twinkling titanite in the Great Hollow, enough to get my Black Knight Shield up to +5. Then I took on Quelaag and one-shot her with a +10 Longsword. The Black Knight Shield has such good fire resistance that her hits barely did any damage on me at all. It was a great feeling. In 3 sessions I'm further in the game than what took me weeks before.

Wow, so started with a new Sorcerer. The magic can pack a punch! One shot the Taurus Demon, Gargoyles and Capra and I feel like I just started the new game (It's taken about 3 hours to get to this spot which took me weeks before like sinfony). The joys of understanding the mechanics and how to take on the different bosses. Of course this character I'm focusing on INT and of course a Black Knight Halberd drops. It's how it goes.

I also pumped my Black Knight Shield to +5, finally retiring the Eagle Shield. I don't really know how but I amassed a shitload of Twinkling Titanite on the first playthrough.

So I've just started this out, with a level 20 something Wanderer with a bunch of Endurance and Dexterity. I'm running around with a Rapier +5 and Dagger, and either mostly my starting armor for 25% encumberance, or a set of plate mail I just found for 50%. The platemail had been working better despite being slower due to Poise, but then I just found a Wolf Ring that adds Poise so now I'm not sure which to wear...

It was slow going in the beginning since I first headed off towards the Catacombs and spent a bunch of time pulling and hacking Skeletons, not realizing the upwards path was so much easier. Oops! Smooth sailing after that, until I ran into some giant Magic Moth that just destroyed me. So off to find another path to explore.

I'm definitely liking the game better now that I'm a bit further into it and have a fast weapon!

A couple of quick questions:
- Is there any particular place to go hunting for titanite?
- How do you get Humanity back if you run out?

That Magic Moth (d/b/a Moonlight Butterfly) is kind of a dead end but not that hard to kill if you approach it right. If you've got the Crest Shield, it'll block most of her damage; if not, well-timed rolling will dodge every one of her attacks (that's how I beat her the first time).

1) Buy titanite shards from Andre. If you've been to the depths, you'll find a hallway with a bunch of slimes that drop from the ceiling right next to a bonfire; they drop large titanite shards. In my first playthrough, I spent about a half hour farming that corridor by killing the hollow next to the bonfire, then sprinting under the slimes to get them to drop, then turning around and killing them all. Got me the large titanite shards I needed to upgrade my good shit to +10. By the time you need to worry about chunks, you'll probably know where to find them.

2) You've probably acquired a number of humanity items, which you'll find in your inventory. Using one causes your soft humanity (i.e. the number in the circle next to your health and stamina bars) to increase by one and also restores quite a bit of health. You'll also sometimes get it just by killing mobs in an area in which the boss is still alive. Some enemies, such as rats, are more prone to granting humanity (either as drops or just juicing the number; I forget). In any event, it's not something you need to worry about overly much. You'll primarily be using it on occasions that you want to kindle a bonfire, and there aren't that many bonfires you'll want to bother kindling—I typically kindled the ones closest to bosses that I had trouble with or that served as hubs for exploration into several areas.

OH HAI I gots noob questions! (sorry if they have already been answered, I didn't read past the first few posts to avoid spoilers)
- the huge black knight down a staircase in Undead Burg, facing away from you: am I supposed to avoid it, or is there some trick to kill him, or should I just try again (and again, and again)? Before running into him I was like, this game is not that difficult...
- I started off as a pyromancer, 'cause it's often mentioned as the noob-friendly class. I don't really like pyromancy though, it's powerful but boring, killing stuff with a melee weapon is a lot more satisfying. If I switch to a knight will I bitterly regret it later on, when I run into enemies easily disposed by fire but immune to swords (or something like that)?

You could try backstabbing him but I never, ever got it to work. You can "sneak" by moving the analog stick very slightly in order to walk instead of run (this works on stealthing past monsters that can't actually see you, I think, as well as reducing "aggro" range in general). I was only ever successful in backstabbing him after he already noticed me. I'm nearly convinced that it's impossible to backstab him otherwise, since I've tried like 10 times before finally gaining the patience to just draw him back up the stairs and fight him somewhere more maneuverable.

The game is that difficult.

Pyromancers are for pansy little bitches. There is nothing to regret by wielding a sword and a shield, the way God intended.

He's probably not worth the effort at the moment. All he does is guard a single item, you can avoid him now and come back later.

Starting classes rapidly become irrelevant, they're just a starting set of gear and stat allocation. You'll be able to build your character however you want. Pyromancy isn't really something that can be used as a primary engagement method, the limited casts on them force them to be a special use ability. This means that a Pyromancer has to primarily focus on something else so Strength or Dexterity are open if you want to use melee. You can completely ignore Pyromancy if you want, you're at no significant disadvantage at this point over any other class and you have that fireball available should you need it.

Pyromancers are a suggested starting class for several reasons. Pyromancy is useful and it's also an ability that cannot be gained easily at the beginning, unlike sorcery and miracles which can be gotten immediately upon arriving at Firelink. Pyromancers start at level 1 meaning they have fewer pre-allocated points making them slightly more versatile (though other classes may be more optimal depending on what your end build intention is, though that's not likely an issue for you at the moment). Since starting gear can rapidly be replaced the advantage of having that fireball spell available early on is more significant than the slight gear advantage other classes may have. Also a Pyromancer's starting gear isn't actually all that bad and he's quite capable at melee with his ax.

In short restarting won't result in any regrets but it won't yield significant improvements either. I think the classes exist more to offer new players a taste of what the different aspects the game offers than any significant gameplay impact beyond the tutorial.