Dark Soul's: Prepare to Die Edition (PC)

OK, new game, new character. Definitely going to finish it this time

Any tips? I have gotten as far as Sen's Fortress but want to start from scratch.
Starting class? Not that it matters much or at all really. Is a faith build viable for playing the game right through, PvE heavy?
 
Woden said:
OK, new game, new character. Definitely going to finish it this time

Any tips? I have gotten as far as Sen's Fortress but want to start from scratch.
Starting class? Not that it matters much or at all really. Is a faith build viable for playing the game right through, PvE heavy?
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Faith plays a complete support role in my opinion so not something you'd focus on your first full playthrough. Were you comfortable dodging the first time through or did you prefer to tank?

As for the starting class go for the one with the longsword as that's by far the friendliest weapon for newer players. Another option would be the pyro that makes the early game quite easy.

Always make sure you put a point or two into endurance when leveling up and focus mostly on vitality and endurance and unless your desired weapon has a scaling of B or higher then don't feel too inclined to put a load of points into strength or dexterity as the damage increase isn't all that great. Also, always make sure you upgrade your weapon before anything else as that's definitely where the biggest damage increases lie.

If you don't mind using a heavier weapon you could always grab the Claymore on the bridge with the Red Drake. Hit the Drake with an arrow and it's fly onto the bridge at which point you can run past into the area with the bonfire. Resting at the bonfire makes the Drake fly off and you can freely grab the claymore on the bridge.

Another great weapon you can get is the Man-Serpent Greatsword which is dropped by the snake enemies as the entrance to Sen's Fortress. It has a scaling of A in strength when at +15 which makes it very strong with a decent strength stat. Whatever weapon you're using when you get to Sen's Fortress I'd really recommend grabbing this sword to try out as by this point you should be able fast roll while using it provided you've invested a bit in endurance and are using some light armour. You could also use Havel's Ring of the Ring of Favour and Protection should you be medium rolling as the equipment load boost the rings give should give you enough to fast roll.

The Zweihander in the graveyard next to Firelink Shrine is also a good weapon but requires a bit of investment in Strength before being able to use it. It's quite slow but hits very hard and can stun lock many enemies easily.

My final tip would be to learn to dodge and parry as early as possible. Learn to dodge well and you'll survive a lot longer.
 
If you want an easy run, get either

10 strength and 10 dexterity and use a longsword (very easy)
16 strength and 10 dexterity and use a claymore (easy)
24 strength and 10 dexterity and use a zweihander (kinda awkward)

invest everything else into vitality and endurance, try and keep vitality 10 or so points higher. Upgrade your weapon as you go through until you get +10 and when you get to New Londo upgrade your weapon to lightning. Easiest build, high endurance allows for pretty much any armor in the game without killing mobility and the vitality is overkill for survival, the three weapons stated have the best movesets out there and are easy to use, I'd recommend the zweihander for PvE or if you decide to go PvP try the longsword, with high stamina it will kill pretty much anyone from stunlock.

Go for pyromancy aswell, it's free (except attunement slots, but you can get quite a few with less than 20 attunement) and has no real requirements. A super flame hand thingie +5 (from Blighttown witch) has massive magic adjustment and can allow pyro spells to smash for huge damage.
 
Omaeka said:
if you decide to go PvP try the longsword, with high stamina it will kill pretty much anyone from stunlock.
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Assuming they have no poise and just stand there letting you wail on them, anyone with half a brain cell will just parry you because the move set is to predictable. Not to mention your complete lack of damage.
 
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Fenris said:
Assuming they have no poise and just stand there letting you wail on them, anyone with half a brain cell will just parry you because the move set is to predictable. Not to mention your complete lack of damage.
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Which is why you parry them, and instead of riposte you kick to begin the stunlock then combo on them. Unless it is PVP 125+ or a dude in Havel/Giant gear then they won't survive 7-8 consecutive hits from a lightning longsword. The amount of people I've killed with that gimmick is beyond ridiculous.
 
I started as pyromancer, will upgrade stats as I need them for a weapon and equip load.

Parry/riposte I am doing ok with. I can (usually) parry all the normal attacks and riposte. The stong attacks I always miss for some reason so taken to just backstabbing.

Dodging I am no good at, at all. Always time it wrong and can never get behind them for a backstab. :(

I did, however, just spank the Asylum Demon without taking any damage at all. That cheered me up :D
 
No ones mentioned the Uchigatana thats my favoured weapon.

I dont think dodge really works that well against smaller enemies its better for bosses with large area attacks.
 
Uchigatana is by far my favourite weapon!

Rolling is only really useful for bosses, as calabi said imo. Most of the smaller enemies, it is better to just block, or stay out of reach and wait for an opportunity to attack.
 
n3vrmind said:
You can summon for kalameet at the doorway for artorias then just run down
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You completely misread what I wrote or didn't quite get what I was alluding to. I know you can summon other people for it, I've helped numerous others get the tail. My point was that I wish there was an NPC summon for him to make getting the tail solo a little easier. It's more than possible to get it solo but it's a bit of a pain.
 
Started a new game the other day, first time as using sorcery, what a cake walk so far, got to Anor Londo with literally no trouble.

Really seems like easy mode so far.
 
Give me a fun build/weapon to try out. I've tried most of the main weapons people use (Black Knight weapons, Balder Side Sword, Great Scythe, Katanas, sorcery etc) so was looking for something else that's interesting and fun to use. Was thinking maybe a halberd build but not too sure after not liking the halberd in Demon's Souls.

Also, you can now Self Gravelord using a cheat engine script! For those that don't know, the Gravelord covenant was supposed to be used to 'Gravelord' other peoples worlds meaning that new black phantom enemies of regular enemies would appear which would increase the challenge of the game dramatically. It only worked in NG+ though and it's never really worked as intended so barely any players have ever experienced it.
 
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I'm curious about something.

I play Dark Souls on the PS3 but I keep hearing about the PC version being hugely superior. What ways is it? Because I find the PS3 version has a ton of gamelag, I'd imagine the PC doesn't?
 
Have you tried Velkias rapier? A fun weapon that I switched to in a playthrough that scales off intelligence, so I was using sorcery and then the rapier to get in close. I didn't think I would like the rapier, but I had a lot of fun with them.
 
James546 said:
I'm curious about something.

I play Dark Souls on the PS3 but I keep hearing about the PC version being hugely superior. What ways is it? Because I find the PS3 version has a ton of gamelag, I'd imagine the PC doesn't?
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I've not encountered much game lag in the PC version. Probably simply because the grunt of a PC powers through such lag. Also you get nice mods like true 1080p res fixes. Also the game was a fiver on steam recently.
 
Pighardia said:
Have you tried Velkias rapier? A fun weapon that I switched to in a playthrough that scales off intelligence, so I was using sorcery and then the rapier to get in close. I didn't think I would like the rapier, but I had a lot of fun with them.
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Not a bad shout. Might give that and/or Ricard's Rapier a go. The R2 attack on Ricard's can be pretty insane I've heard.

Fenris said:
It isn't, it's slightly less laggy in some areas but that is about it.
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It's vastly superior graphically and performance wise it blows it out of the water in some areas on decent rigs. Not to mention you can unlock the FPS (which felt weird at first but now I much prefer), you can use any control scheme and allows for other tweaks like being able to connect with friends instantly. You can also import new textures too which some may enjoy.

The only downside to the PC version compared to the console version is crappy controls if you don't have a controller and it seems to be harder to connect to randoms which may be due to less players online.
 
Er... so I accidentally hit a merchant because of my fat fingers. She is now less than happy with me. Is there anything I can do to get her back on good terms? I heard getting my sins absolved does this but the cost of doing so vastly more souls than I have ever had in the game until now (something like 36k - the most I have ever saved is about 10k).

If that isnt an option can anybody advise how important the merchant who hides in the tunnel is? I had heard extremely important but I am reluctant to start the game again as I've been playing quite a long time.
 
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