Dark Souls

[W8taminute]

Good tips guys, thanks for sharing. 

I confronted the 'Tower Knight' last night thinking my +2 sword and +1 Armor, helmet, gauntlets, and boots would be enough to fight him.  I was wrong.  My stamina is 14 and I have the knight's shield +1 but his strong strike breaks through my barrier and damages me enough to force me to run and drink Estus.  Rinse and repeat and I'm defeated.  I need either those poison arrows/bolts or some more leveling up and better reinforced armor. 

I was so excited however because I defeated an Undead Knight that was guarding the basement key to Lower Undead Burg.  Did some exploring down there and found a new friend who is some sort of magic user.  Vinheim I think was his name. 

Since I started playing Dark Souls I don't play any of my other XBOX games that much.  I even bought Dragon's Dogma this weekend per Grimnirsson's suggestion but haven't started it yet! 

[Hiimori]

Since I started playing Dark Souls I don't play any of my other XBOX games that much.  I even bought Dragon's Dogma this weekend per Grimnirsson's suggestion but haven't started it yet!

Great! Dragon's Dogma is a very good and also quite complex game (although totally different from Dark Souls) with a very innovative MP concept: players create their main character and a "Pawn" who accompanies them all the time. In addition, the player is free to hire up to two more pawns.. from other players! Your own pawn can be hired as well and brings back experiences, stories, hints, tipps, and even items from his travels with other players.

Hiring pawns costs Rift Crystals (the higher the pawn's level, the more expensive), but you can always hire your friend's pawns for free, regardless of level. Since I finished Dragon's Dogma (and started new with New Game +), you can hire my mighty and strong fighter Ser Fulgrim for free :) In addition, Grimnirsson's Nionde is also a great asset, I had her with me for a long time, until I became too strong, she's an excellent ranged character!

But we should open a Dragon's Dogma thread once you started playing, so we won't have to abduct the Dark Souls thread anymore  ;)

[Grimnirsson]

Since I started playing Dark Souls I don't play any of my other XBOX games that much.

I did tell you that...I'm sure i did...it's a virus not a game :P

[W8taminute]

Dragon's Dogma is a very good and also quite complex game (although totally different from Dark Souls) with a very innovative MP concept: players create their main character and a "Pawn" who accompanies them all the time.

Now you have me even more curious.  Especially if I can hire friends Pawns for free!  I will keep your offer in mind however...

I did tell you that...I'm sure i did...it's a virus not a game

Dark Souls is ruling my life!  LOL

But we should open a Dragon's Dogma thread once you started playing, so we won't have to abduct the Dark Souls thread anymore

But seriously, you are right.  I will open a separate thread for Dragon's Dogma.  I'm actually quite interested in seeing how this game compares to Dark Souls and will provide my comments for discussion.

[Hiimori]

Wow, last night I finally beat the Four Kings in the New Londo Ruins - a great Dark Souls moment! I was hollow, didn't have any human / NPC support, and the first time I went through the fog wall, I managed to grind them down to 50% before they killed me.

Returning there requires some dedication because there is no bonfire in the New Londo Ruins (you have to start from the Firelink Shrine) and the way to the boss is full with ghosts and very nasty Darkwraith knights. When I finally returned to the fog gate for the second time, I went right through it and then I beat the crap out of the Four Kings with my shiny new Uchigatana +14. It was a close fight, though, I was much too slow (the slower you are, the more kings spawn and attack you at the same time), and I my life bar was almost empty when I finished the last king.

A very rewarding fight, but not so hard as some of the other bosses (in retrospective). There were bosses I needed up to 20+ attempts to defeat them! On the other hand, one of the reasons may be that I'm level 95 now... The first time I went to the ruins was around level 30 and this didn't work at all, but at 95, the ruins are not too difficult anymore.

[DV8]

This is so unfair.  I've been out traveling all week and I see all these great posts about the game.   :'(

[W8taminute]

^I hate that feeling and I can sympathize with you.  Have you had a chance to play some more since your last update?


@Hiimori

Congratulations on beating the Four Kings.  You must have really felt proud at that moment!


I had some victories to celebrate as well as some major disappointments last night as well.  I went on a major killing rampage in the Undead Parish after upgrading my knight sword to +5.  I'm now able to kill Undead Knights with ease and I even took on the Black Tower Knight (the one in the church) and the Channeler in a straight up melee brawl.  This rampage netted me over 8800 souls.  Feeling cocky I went up to face the twin Bell Gargoyles on the way to ring the bell.  While I managed to get the first Gargoyle down to 50% the second Gargoyle burnt me to death very badly.  I tried to go back to recover my 8800 souls but this time I figured I'll lay down a Whitestone and call for Solaire's help.  At this point I was still hollow and forgot to turn into human form so what happened was I got summoned into another humans game and together with one more human player we defeated the Bell Gargoyles.  This netted me about 5500 souls.  Upon completion of the battle I was teleported back to my instance of the world right before the fog gate to the Bell Gargoyles.  Instead of going back to a bonfire to level up with my 5500 souls I again got greedy and decided to try to recover my other 8800 souls and defeat the Gargoyles alone.  I paid the price with my life and now tonight I must try again to get back my 14k + souls!

The best advice I can give, and bear in mind I'm still new at this game, is to not get greedy.  Cash in your winnings before facing a big boss monster or you lose it all.  Patience is definitely a virtue in this game.   ;)

[Grimnirsson]

The best advice I can give, and bear in mind I'm still new at this game, is to not get greedy.  Cash in your winnings before facing a big boss monster or you lose it all.  Patience is definitely a virtue in this game.

It is indeed but sometimes when things go smoothly and you have that special feeling of actually being your character when the combat flows well and all...you go that one step too far and get punished ;)

but this time I figured I'll lay down a Whitestone and call for Solaire's help

Why would you lay down a whitestone summon sign? All you need to do is touching his summon sign while being in human form...

[W8taminute]

Why would you lay down a whitestone summon sign? All you need to do is touching his summon sign while being in human form...

Ah yes.  I checked the wiki and you're right.  I thought in addition to being human you had to use the whitestone Solaire gives you to call him.  Now I'll save it and just use the one that will be there automatically when I'm in human form.

you have that special feeling of actually being your character when the combat flows well and all...you go that one step too far and get punished

Yes yes yes.  This is exactly how I felt.  I thought I had become so powerful that nothing could stop me.  Now I know better but Dark Souls is a game that brings out your emotions quite nicely.  It is as if you are really there.  Very hard to explain but if someone really likes these types of RPGs then they will understand. 

[Grimnirsson]

I thought in addition to being human you had to use the whitestone Solaire gives you to call him.  Now I'll save it

There's nothing to 'save'. The whitestone is given to you by Solaire and you can use it as a tool to write your sign on the ground (it's your magic pencil). It's not something that you can only use one time and then it's gone (and then you have to go find another whitestone). The Orange and the White writing/rating stones can be used indefinitely...and what you see on the ground if you are human are signs written with a whitestone, not a whitestone laying there ;)

[Hiimori]

The best advice I can give, and bear in mind I'm still new at this game, is to not get greedy.  Cash in your winnings before facing a big boss monster or you lose it all.  Patience is definitely a virtue in this game.   ;)

You just discovered one of the two Cardinal Sins in Dark Souls - Greed and Hubris!

And don't worry - this is perfectly normal (well, as normal as it can get in this game...). I cannot count how many times I thought "one more battle, one more corner, one more room, one more cave" while I was carrying a large amount of souls. Most of the time, I died an especially pathetic and embarrassing death then, for example sliding down a bridge and falling to my death or jumping over a cliff instead of attacking an enemy.

I predict: you will experience hubris later, when you are stronger and return to old places like the Undead Parish, thinking that you are strong and invincible now...

Dark Souls is one of the very rare games where you sit in front of your TV and scream out loud, stuff like "oh NOOOOOOO!", or "Nononononono" and feel physical pain when you lose your souls in an especially silly death, caused by your own cockiness or greed.

Yesterday I entered the world of Artorias (the DLC) and had some nerve wrecking moments, too. First, I failed to beat the Sanctuary Guardian several times and thought the DLC was over for me here and now. Grimnisson, who sat next to me on the sofa, suggested some experimental strategies for my build, and I managed to bring the boss down to two tiny lines on the health bar. After a while, I beat him.

When I entered the Royal Wood, which lies behind the guardian, I saw a suspicious walking mushroom in the distance. I thought he was spooky (and I had bad experiences with walking mushrooms in The Depths), so I didn't hesitate for a moment - I nocked a fire arrow and shot the mushroom. It didn't even flinch and died after one shot.

I then realized that Grimnirsson was giving me an awkward side glance. "What did you do?", he asked me. "I shot this creepy mushroom", I answered. "Well", he said, "I just talked to him and he was very friendly. Oh, by the way, did I mention he was a merchant?"

Well, that's Dark Souls - no turning back, no reverting to an older game save - you act and you suffer the consequences.  8)

[W8taminute]

Well, that's Dark Souls - no turning back, no reverting to an older game save - you act and you suffer the consequences.

That's another good point about this game.  Since you cannot game the system by reloading a save file you must live with your decisions, good or bad.  Just like in real life.  Even though it would be awesome, you cannot reload your day if you had a hard time at work let's say. 

I like this about Dark Souls.  This game will teach you patience provided you are willing to learn.  It is the reason why people either hate this game immediately or they love it passionately. 

[Grimnirsson]

I saw a suspicious walking mushroom in the distance.

Well it was a 'she' her name was Elizabeth and yes she was friendly. And she wasn't even walking, just swaying.. :)


"Oh, Hiimori, why did you kill me? Did I scare you so much? And I couldn't even become hollow and exist on, I just disappeared"


:P

[W8taminute]

^LOL!

[W8taminute]

Well I've cleared out the Depths and I'm so glad that is done.  The Depths are a deep dark dank place to be but great for farming titanite and humanity.

I explored Blighttown last night and that is a scary place.  Rickety bridges, tons of enemies, and those blow dart foes that fire poison darts at you from afar are very annoying.  I decided to leave and head back to Firelink Shrine to reconsider my next steps.  Maybe I'll talk to Andrei the blacksmith and use some of those titanite chunks I found in the Depths to augment my favorite sword.   :)

Btw have you had a chance to play any more DV8?