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    Dark Souls II

    Game » consists of 12 releases. Released Mar 11, 2014

    Blood, souls, and tears are continually spent as players traverse the land of Drangleic in FromSoftware's third entry in the Souls series.

    Dark Souls II PC Tips and Hints Thread

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    Sackmanjones

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    Hey Folks,

    As you know Dark Souls II was just released on PC (despite it being somewhat broken) and I figured we could make a hint thread for those of us that waited until now to pick the game up. A lot of people really like the idea of coming to the internet for help and tips about the souls games and while this isn't entirely ideal, I figured we could at least make something that somewhat simulates this.Just post any questions or comments you guys have and hopefully somebody else can answer it!

    For me, I don't have anything to say, I've been able to make it through most stuff just fine, currently helping people beat some area bosses that I found challenging.

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    doctordonkey

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    Get Great Resonant Soul and Flame Swathe.

    Melt everything.

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    Karkarov

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    Talk to every npc you meet until they have nothing left to say. Yes that means using the talk command in the menu's too.

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    Slaegar

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    #4  Edited By Slaegar

    Summon people and offer to be summoned. You can get through tough parts easily with a little help. When you are summoned with the small white soapstone (which you can set down while hollowed) you get souls and lifegems for your part and when you complete your duty (with the small white soapstone this is fairly quick) you will be returned to your world as a human. There's a fellow who says something like "There's treasure ahead but the door closes behind you!" talk to him again and you get the better white soapstone. You can be summoned longer like this and can usually reach from bonfire to boss, getting many souls in the process.

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    Fredchuckdave

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    Get Great Resonant Soul and Flame Swathe.

    Melt everything.

    Also known as the "ruin the game for yourself" method.

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    doctordonkey

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    @fredchuckdave: The game really isn't that hard, it just makes things go a bit quicker. It's also hilarious walking into a boss room and killing the boss within 15 seconds. Yeah, it's super cheesy, but hey, the souls games have always promoted being cheesy.

    Anyway, another couple tips for the thread while I'm here; the hitboxes are really terrible, so give everything a wide berth. Also, subscribe to the theory of "kill them before they can move". The game is a lot more manageable if you can buff your damage to the point of killing most common enemies in 2-3 hits, cause as soon as you let the mobs do what they want, it all goes downhill.

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    Myrmicus

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    #7  Edited By Myrmicus

    Another tip : Don't waste your twinkling titanites and dragon bones on any weapon/ armor, be sure it will be put to great use, because they are in finite number.

    Also, this thread should help you, since it's "platform free" : Click

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    militantfreudian

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    I don't know if the PC version has the latest patch, but Flame Swathe got a significant nerf, not to mention that it only has 2 casts. It's also a bit tricky to use, it's mostly useful for stationary enemies. One thing I wish I had known before starting the game is that you have to summon NPCs to properly complete their questlines and get the rewards.

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    Dixavd

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    #9  Edited By Dixavd

    Is "ignore all enemies, head straight to boss room, kill boss, move to next area, repeat" still a valid strategy? Or have they placed enemies in such a way that you will almost have to kill them to get through.

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    militantfreudian

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    @dixavd: In some cases, it's harder and you might get hit once or twice while trying to go through the mist door, but more often than not, it's still feasible, with the exception of one optional boss. Alternatively, you can kill the enemies until they despawn -- I've certainly done this more than once.

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    ShaggE

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    #11  Edited By ShaggE

    Can I screw myself by despawning enemies (and thus losing a source of souls)? In true "ShaggE sucks at Dark Souls" fashion, I die a lot, even by Dark Souls standards.

    Also: what/where are good items to grab in the beginning? I'm at the first bonfire in the Forest, by the merchant that sells you the blacksmith's key. So, super early. I got the estus shard in Majula, as well as the binoculars. I'm playing a Knight, for what that may matter.

    I feel like, if I know I have a decent start, I can feel out the rest of the game on my own. I just find the beginnings of Souls games to be overwhelming.

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    Karkarov

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    @shagge said:

    Can I screw myself by despawning enemies (and thus losing a source of souls)? In true "ShaggE sucks at Dark Souls" fashion, I die a lot, even by Dark Souls standards.

    Also: what/where are good items to grab in the beginning? I'm at the first bonfire in the Forest, by the merchant that sells you the blacksmith's key. So, super early. I got the estus shard in Majula, as well as the binoculars. I'm playing a Knight, for what that may matter.

    I feel like, if I know I have a decent start, I can feel out the rest of the game on my own. I just find the beginnings of Souls games to be overwhelming.

    Can you screw yourself? No. Not unless you never spend the souls you got from killing all those dudes. In Dark 2 I found myself farming mobs for rare items, I never even once did "soul farming", except at the very beginning because I play as Deprived and need to get some initial stats going.

    Tons of good items in the beginning. The Forest has a Fire Longsword and the Hiede Knight Sword. You can get a Morning Star in Majula. You can also get a two different HP increasing rings in the first couple area's, one of the best sets is in Forest, you can farm the Tower of Flame for some great items, etc etc. This game is not Dark Souls 1, if you know how to use it, properly upgrade it, and have the stats for it you could basically beat the game with any weapon in it. From a generic "Club" (favorite choice of speed runners), to a plain old Dagger, or even a Cestus. There really are no "bad weapons" this time, they can all be very valid choices.

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    militantfreudian

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    #13  Edited By militantfreudian

    @shagge: There's a useful ring that you can find in Heide's Tower of Flame. It's in a chest right after you lower the bridge. This place is pretty good for farming souls early on. Also, the second large knight in that area drops a Sublime Bone Dust which you can burn in the bonfire in Majula to increase the amount of health gained from your Estus Flask. Finally, The Elite Knight Armor (supposedly a decent early game armor) can be purchased from the armorer in Majula, if you spend 1500 souls at his shop.

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    Zevvion

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    #14  Edited By Zevvion

    I don't know if the PC version has the latest patch, but Flame Swathe got a significant nerf, not to mention that it only has 2 casts. It's also a bit tricky to use, it's mostly useful for stationary enemies. One thing I wish I had known before starting the game is that you have to summon NPCs to properly complete their questlines and get the rewards.

    It must have the latest patch, as everytime someone summons me I regain human form. That wasn't there pre-patch, it was more rare then.

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    ShaggE

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    #15  Edited By ShaggE

    @militantfreudian: @karkarov:

    Thank you, that's exactly what I was hoping for. Now I feel prepared to really start digging in.

    Edit: Or fall to my death twice and get cut down once in less than a minute because I'm being reckless. Fucking Dark Souls, man. Hahaha.

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    Karkarov

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    #16  Edited By Karkarov

    @shagge: Oh also there are these items called soul vessels. There are like 5-7 of them in the game. You can go back to things betwixt and use them to do a full respec of your character, with no penalty for doing so other than losing the vessel. So even if you somehow screw up your build it is easily fixable.

    @zevvion: Yeah they changed it in the last major patch. Original it wasn't intended for you to get human form back when you successfully helped someone but people liked the bug so much they made it an actual thing. It should happen pretty much every time now.

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    Capum15

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    @shagge: When you get the White Soapstone from a dude, lack of souls becomes pretty much a non-issue. I got about 100k in that Tower of Flames place in about an hour, just putting down my sign and helping dudes kill the bosses. If you go human at a bonfire and see a ton of summon signs, just put your own down (or just put one while Hollow, if you kill the boss or run the timer you should turn human afterwards). Even if you aren't the best at the game, having two other guys around usually helps you stay alive (or just kill things faster).

    Getting summoned is zero-risk - if you die, you just go back to your world (though consumables will stay gone, like life gems, and weapon durability damage / spell usage is carried back), and if you live, you get all those souls plus a free refill on everything (weapon durability, estus flasks, spells).

    I think I spent like...6-7 hours from the second Bonfire in the Forest just getting summoned because it's so fun. And another 2-3 so far Heides.

    Also, aside from throwing the occasional lightning bolt, I've just been punching dudes with two Cestus weapons ever since I bought them (upgraded +5 and +4, I think). Without chest/head armor either. It's been pretty fucking effective so far.

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    ShaggE

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    #18  Edited By ShaggE

    @karkarov: Yeah, heard about those. Glad they exist, too... I tend to spec poorly.

    Also, with that added confidence, I made it to the first boss (not counting Pursuer swooping in to slap me around) with only one despawned enemy, so yay! He handed me my ass on a platter, but I can already tell he'll be super easy once I reinforce my club and learn his patterns. (and maybe regain the other 50% of my life bar... the one new mechanic I really dislike about DS2 so far)

    @capum15 Problem is, I'm playing offline. I know I'm missing half of the Dark Souls experience, but I really like the atmosphere, and it ruins it for me when a ton of signs and player ghosts are everywhere. I play DS1 the same way. Still, I seem to be banking enough souls to do what I need to do, so I think I'll be alright. I guess I could always pop online if I run into trouble, then go off again afterwards.

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    jiggajoe14

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    @fredchuckdave: @doctordonkey: I've done magic as my 2nd build in each souls game. It's fun to see how I can break the game and compare it to my first playthrough. It's been fascinating each time.

    Always a good tip is to have a bow with you, especially in the shrine of amana.

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    Capum15

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    @shagge: Ah, yeah you still see ghosts and messages when Hollow. I've always liked that aspect, but I never got into the actual multiplayer bits in the first game, but I'm having an incredible amount of fun in this one. Well, at least you're making a profit on souls per run and yeah, you could probably hop online if you ever needed some extra souls then hop offline again.

    Oh, and I don't know if you are, but you should also pop those inventory souls whenever you need a boost. I've used every one so far, and they've definitely helped get an extra few needed levels or items.

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    ShaggE

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    #21  Edited By ShaggE

    @capum15: Oh yeah, totally. I hoarded inventory souls in the first game before I understood the value of leveling/upgrading items, and that was a huge mistake, haha. Now I pop them with abandon, and it makes things so much more manageable.

    Now I just have to figure out if I want the scalability of the Club or the bleed damage of the Morningstar...

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    Zevvion

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    #22  Edited By Zevvion

    @shagge said:

    @capum15: Oh yeah, totally. I hoarded inventory souls in the first game before I understood the value of leveling/upgrading items, and that was a huge mistake, haha. Now I pop them with abandon, and it makes things so much more manageable.

    Now I just have to figure out if I want the scalability of the Club or the bleed damage of the Morningstar...

    Club.

    I am using bleeding very effectively right now, but I wouldn't say it is very useful for PvE, nor do I think it is a great effect if you are having trouble with the game. You need to be able to rack up hits in succession and the bleed damage effect isn't enough to forgo standard increased damage in PvE. I would say poison is better suited if you are having trouble, but even then, a weapon that just does more damage immediately is probably easier to use.

    The Club, when upgraded, scales immensely well with STR. So if you are going that path, definitely the Club.

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    Capum15

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    #23  Edited By Capum15

    @shagge: I did the exact same thing in the first game. Made sure to change that this time around.

    Oh right, topic...here's a hot tip for new players: don't fuck with those god damn giant guinea pig things near the well in Majula. At least until you get geared up (or have a weapon that can hit them instead of whiff over them repeatedly). I had trouble with them due to my punching style, and I only ever ended up taking them out when I got Lightning Spear, because like 8 firebombs and 5 throwing knives didn't do shit to even just one at the time.

    Also, Throwing Knives are fucking awesome. I spent almost all the souls I got helping dudes in the Forest on those and Firebombs.

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    ShaggE

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    @zevvion: Cheers! I was heavily leaning toward Morningstar there, even though I had heard how powerful an upgraded Club can be. (morningstars are just cool, haha)

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    SomethingClever

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    I didn't see it mentioned (maybe it was, I admittedly only sort of skimmed) but in regards to screwing yourself by despawning enemies and not having enough souls... there are a couple areas in the game where there are infinite enemies. One section has two areas (one right next to a bonfire which makes it convenient) that have mechanics where they realize if you despawned everything and managed to not do a thing correctly you would be locked out of continuing. So the enemies infinite spawn. Technically there is a third area in this same section but once you do the thing the guys stop coming at that location. They aren't worth a ton of souls but often if I found myself not too far from a level up or the amount I needed to buy something I would go farm that room for a little bit (with some gear I had on me that gave bonus souls I got 444 per guy, 6 guys in the room, I could 1 hit kill each of them, turn around hit the bonfire and do it again all in less than a minute).

    Then elsewhere in the game there is a section where some very low value guys will infinite spawn while other more valuable guys spawn due to certain actions. In one of these areas you can pull out a bow and use 2 to 3 arrows per guy (4 guys spawn for about 800 souls each) and then the game will actually respawn them for you while you stand there infinitely... if you do it right. Otherwise you might have to do it a little more manually but still, no bonfire required.

    Long story short, if you don't mess with summoning/being summoned which is it's own ample supply of souls it would still basically be impossible to completely screw yourself. You just might make it harder and more time consuming.

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    Zevvion

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    #26  Edited By Zevvion

    @capum15 said:

    @shagge: I did the exact same thing in the first game. Made sure to change that this time around.

    Oh right, topic...here's a hot tip for new players: don't fuck with those god damn giant guinea pig things near the well in Majula. At least until you get geared up (or have a weapon that can hit them instead of whiff over them repeatedly). I had trouble with them due to my punching style, and I only ever ended up taking them out when I got Lightning Spear, because like 8 firebombs and 5 throwing knives didn't do shit to even just one at the time.

    Also, Throwing Knives are fucking awesome. I spent almost all the souls I got helping dudes in the Forest on those and Firebombs.

    Yes, I agree that Throwing Knives are awesome. In the early game anyway. They do decent damage. They become useless later on in the game though. As do the firebombs. I'm actually putting my PC playthrough online as a Let's Play. But it's still uploading the first episode. Takes like 8 hours to upload it to the YouTube for some reason. I use them in there a couple of times, but you can already tell when I reach an area later in the game they are almost useless.

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    Sackmanjones

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    #27  Edited By Sackmanjones

    @karkarov: I can second the talking to everyone until they repeat themselves. Numerous times I thought people were done talking only to have one more dialogue option attached to an item.

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    Capum15

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    @zevvion: Yeah, I could see them becoming less useful as it goes on, but I basically abused them in the Forest while being summoned.

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    RedRavN

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    Playing as a melee only character for my first run I second that throwing knives are really good in this game. I used my extra souls from leveling up to buy a few from the merchant at the cardinal tower bonfire. The knives seem way more effective taking out early game enemies at range then using a bow/xbow. Generally they are able to 2 shot most of the undead knight guys which was very useful for the forest of fallen giants area. This surprised me a bit because throwing weapons were kind of useless in DS1.

    My biggest tip for succeeding in this game is to spend your souls wisely! Leveling up definitely improves your character and unlocks new equip options as your stat increases but each level up becomes less valuable as you put more and more points into it. Therefore, I suggest that new players focus more on upgrading gear, especially weapons. Upgrading your weapons will get you a huge increase in overall damage and is surprisingly easy for the first couple upgrades. So if you can spend 3000 souls on one level of strength or get the weapon upgrade the upgrade is worth a lot more (although stats are important for getting access to the equip you want!) After you finish the forest of fallen giants up through the first boss you should have enough souls and titanite to upgrade to +3 which is a huge increase in damage. The blacksmith also sells infinite titanite shards Im guessing you can also buy large shards and chunks after some point in the game.

    For example, my plan is to use the broadsword which I upgraded to +3 and then after a certain point I will pump up my strength and switch to a different weapon which I will then be upgrading to +10 as soon as possible. The confusing thing about upgrading is figuring out if you should ascend or not. Depending on your build it might be better to use a raw weapon or make a magic then enchanted or make an elemental weapon. But you should always upgrade as much as you can.

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    artelinarose

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    @redravn As far as I know the blacksmith only sells 10 of whatever the basic titanite is, unless I'm a total crazy person...

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    Zevvion

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    @redravn As far as I know the blacksmith only sells 10 of whatever the basic titanite is, unless I'm a total crazy person...

    He does, there are other NPC's that sell infinite numbers. One in particular, she will eventually sell Titanite Shards, Large Titanite Shards and even Titanite Chunks infinitely. Another NPC sells Large Shards infinitely.

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    artelinarose

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    @zevvion said:

    @artelinarose said:

    @redravn As far as I know the blacksmith only sells 10 of whatever the basic titanite is, unless I'm a total crazy person...

    He does, there are other NPC's that sell infinite numbers. One in particular, she will eventually sell Titanite Shards, Large Titanite Shards and even Titanite Chunks infinitely. Another NPC sells Large Shards infinitely.

    Okay! I'm not very far into the game at all, so I wasn't positive... I was kinda hopeful cause if that dude DID sell an unlimited amount, I have some stuff I need to upgrade...

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    Hunkulese

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    Mic_D

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    @dudeglove Your "Silver Knight" only appears once in that location. Be patient though, you will meet him again soon enough.

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    Capum15

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    #36  Edited By Capum15
    @dudeglove said:

    I haven't really looked at anything, merely gaining some info via osmosis. Some observations:

    • Throwing daggers are OP. I beat the Forest Giant with about 20 of them (and nothing else) and was extremely underwhelmed.
    • Kill the three cyclops hippo dudes in the starting area if you can. If you can't because you decided to play deprived, come back with a better sword and wipe them out. They drop 1000 souls each, and one of them by the firekeepers' house drops a decent ring that's useful early on.
    • Abuse the crap out of the lock on. Drawing aggro with projectiles is still a thing, but enemies still seem to conga line towards you enmasse if you rouse just one of them.
    • Apparently attacking walls doesn't reveal illusory walls now, you have to spam A (I don't know if this is true).

    Also in forest of giants, some hardcore looking motherfucker of a silver knight appeared hanging onto an eagle on the platform near the 2nd bonfire (the one nearest Peter Serafinowicz/where you first meet weird old lady merchant). Seeing a lot of bloodstains I got scared and ran back down a ladder, so I could try to cheese him. He wasn't having any of it and kind of teleported away, I guess? Is he ever gonna come back?

    I killed the ring cyclops but those other two fucked me up when I started the game (one by itself is insanely easy to cheese into a nonstop buttstomp attack that is easy to dodge, just get behind it and dodge when it starts to jump backwards, then run up and hit it while staying behind it, repeat). I went back later and tried to lightning the two to death, then the second one ran up and ate me because I kinda panicked at how fast that thing ran up to me. But yeah, that ring is pretty cool.

    The illusory wall thing is half true. There have been a few ones that opened via hitting A (360 controller), but there was also one that I hit open. Edit: Actually I think I used a Pharros Lockstone before hitting that one open, so I dunno if there's more of the regular ones around. And there are some things that open in a very different way. A shortcut to the Forest tower bonfire is one of those different ways. Try firebombing some black barrels.

    Also, for that knight, just...keep going.

    Also also, if you get binoculars, you can totally First Person Spellcast. Just point the middle of the screen at an enemy and let fly. I used that to murder a greatsword dude in the Tower of Flames area with the power of Thor. Eventually he stopped spawning and it made that specific part worlds easier.

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    amafi

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    @capum15 said:
    @dudeglove said:

    I haven't really looked at anything, merely gaining some info via osmosis. Some observations:

    • Throwing daggers are OP. I beat the Forest Giant with about 20 of them (and nothing else) and was extremely underwhelmed.
    • Kill the three cyclops hippo dudes in the starting area if you can. If you can't because you decided to play deprived, come back with a better sword and wipe them out. They drop 1000 souls each, and one of them by the firekeepers' house drops a decent ring that's useful early on.
    • Abuse the crap out of the lock on. Drawing aggro with projectiles is still a thing, but enemies still seem to conga line towards you enmasse if you rouse just one of them.
    • Apparently attacking walls doesn't reveal illusory walls now, you have to spam A (I don't know if this is true).

    Also in forest of giants, some hardcore looking motherfucker of a silver knight appeared hanging onto an eagle on the platform near the 2nd bonfire (the one nearest Peter Serafinowicz/where you first meet weird old lady merchant). Seeing a lot of bloodstains I got scared and ran back down a ladder, so I could try to cheese him. He wasn't having any of it and kind of teleported away, I guess? Is he ever gonna come back?

    I killed the ring cyclops but those other two fucked me up when I started the game (one by itself is insanely easy to cheese into a nonstop buttstomp attack that is easy to dodge, just get behind it and dodge when it starts to jump backwards, then run up and hit it while staying behind it, repeat). I went back later and tried to lightning the two to death, then the second one ran up and ate me because I kinda panicked at how fast that thing ran up to me. But yeah, that ring is pretty cool.

    The illusory wall thing is half true. There have been a few ones that opened via hitting A (360 controller), but there was also one that I hit open. Edit: Actually I think I used a Pharros Lockstone before hitting that one open, so I dunno if there's more of the regular ones around. And there are some things that open in a very different way. A shortcut to the Forest tower bonfire is one of those different ways. Try firebombing some black barrels.

    Also, for that knight, just...keep going.

    Also also, if you get binoculars, you can totally First Person Spellcast. Just point the middle of the screen at an enemy and let fly. I used that to murder a greatsword dude in the Tower of Flames area with the power of Thor. Eventually he stopped spawning and it made that specific part worlds easier.

    It's super easy cheesing those things with a bow, they can't get in to the hollowed out tree up the hill. You don't get much out of killing them though.

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    Capum15

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    @amafi: Yeah, I was thinking about tossing lightning from that overlook area via binoculars (or like you said, if they don't reach then plink with a bow). At this point it's just a matter of pride because fuck those guys.

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    Fallen189

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    #39  Edited By Fallen189

    I'm struggling a bit in general. I'm a self proclaimed boss of DS1, I know the entire game back to front and can beat it naked.

    But this game is so diff. I'm plying it as a Knight, and pushing forward with the standard broadsword, but really struggling in general. I'm going through Giant of Forest, I think I'm moving towards that "Last Giant" boss. But fuck me this game has a difficult starter. Is there any more "Recommended" weapons, or can anyone advise me where to get a 100% DMR shield? The crimson buckler blows. Also, I'm so hesitant to block "Large" enemies. I went to Heiges tower and was afraid to block because theyre fucking huge.

    You guys rock. I look forward to the advice

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    rethla

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    #40  Edited By rethla

    @fallen189 said:

    I'm struggling a bit in general. I'm a self proclaimed boss of DS1, I know the entire game back to front and can beat it naked.

    But this game is so diff. I'm plying it as a Knight, and pushing forward with the standard broadsword, but really struggling in general. I'm going through Giant of Forest, I think I'm moving towards that "Last Giant" boss. But fuck me this game has a difficult starter. Is there any more "Recommended" weapons, or can anyone advise me where to get a 100% DMR shield? The crimson buckler blows. Also, I'm so hesitant to block "Large" enemies. I went to Heiges tower and was afraid to block because theyre fucking huge.

    You guys rock. I look forward to the advice

    Dont rely 100% on the shield is your answear use it as a plan b. The huge dudes at the tower for an example, circle around them and hit them from behind but keep your shield up just incase you get hit by one of the blows, it doesnt block 100% dmg but it stop you from loosing 80% hp and get stun locked into death. Just standing there in front of them and taking all the hits with the shield will take you nowhere early on.

    edit: also make sure you stop attacking with enough stamina to block at least one attack but being a boss of DS1 you know that already ;P

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    militantfreudian

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    #42  Edited By militantfreudian

    @fallen189: Early on, I used the Large Leather Shield which can be found in the Forest, near the elevator area. It has 90% physical damage reduction. The best medium shield that can be obtained early on, is after beating an optional (and rather difficult) boss in the Forest of Fallen Giants. The huge knights in Heide's Tower of Flame drop a medium shield with 100% physical damage reduction and decent status defence; it has pretty low durability though. There's a decent greatshield that can be found after beating an optional boss in the same area. Let me know, if you want more details.

    Also, as rethla said, don't rely too much on blocking, especially early on, since most shields have relatively low physical damage reduction and stability. Try to back off when enemies are swinging their weapons, strike when you have an opening, then back off again. And definitely try to dodge hard-hitting enemies.

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    Aegon

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    I just started and I'm thinking of doing a dex build, but I can't seem to find the equivalent of the letter indicating the scaling ability of weapons. Where's the scaling info?

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    jacksukeru

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    #44  Edited By jacksukeru

    @aegon: It's in the Equipment screen. By selecting one of your equipped weapons, or an empty slot, you're taken to a sub menu where you pick which weapon to equip/switch to, you can see the Scaling stats in that window.

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    Aegon

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    Eaxis

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    #46  Edited By Eaxis

    Remember the durability of your weapon, armor or ring. It gets repaired when you rest at a bonfire, but if it breaks you must pay a blacksmith a bunch of souls to fix it. There is a durability bar under the items.

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    handlas

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    #47  Edited By handlas

    I ended up picking this up after beating it on PS3. I played a bit and then went back and played a bit on PS3 again... geez that framerate. So horrible.

    But, instead of playing the game like I always do... I'm playing a sorcerer for the first time. Never touched any magic what-so-ever in Demon's Souls or Dark Souls. The game seems 1000% easier and I think that's why I always avoided it. I almost feel like I'm cheating. Just sitting back and shooting magic at enemies rather than getting in their face with a sword and shield. Bit of a learning curve though since I've never had to deal wtih equipping magic or attuning and all that.

    As for a tip... ummm. It blew my mind when someone told me that grave/tomb thing at the tutorial area with the 2 hippo monsters changes your gender. Before I knew that I took my armor off at one point and had boobs and was perplexed since I had chosen to be male.

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    Aegon

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    #48  Edited By Aegon

    The Last Giant is fucking WRECKING me...damn. I've only been leveling endurance (started as swordsman), so my vigor is only 4. That might have something to do with it, but the fact is that even with all that endurance, if I manage to block a hit, all of it is drained and I'm staggered. Cray cray. Also Pate can't do shit against him.

    I'm assuming this is the first boss most people face, right?

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    JJWeatherman

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    @aegon said:

    The Last Giant is fucking WRECKING me...damn. I've only been leveling endurance (started as swordsman), so my vigor is only 4. That might have something to do with it, but the fact is that even with all that endurance, if I manage to block a hit, all of it is drained and I'm staggered. Cray cray. Also Pate can't do shit against him.

    I'm assuming this is the first boss most people face, right?

    It was the first I faced if you don't count the initial Pursuer encounter.

    Just circle around his legs and slash when you're behind him, watching for his stomps and backing away accordingly. The only tough spot is his swipes when you're caught in front of him, but just roll between his legs as he winds up and you're fine.

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    c_rakestraw

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    @aegon said:

    The Last Giant is fucking WRECKING me...damn. I've only been leveling endurance (started as swordsman), so my vigor is only 4. That might have something to do with it, but the fact is that even with all that endurance, if I manage to block a hit, all of it is drained and I'm staggered. Cray cray. Also Pate can't do shit against him.

    I'm assuming this is the first boss most people face, right?

    He's technically the first boss in the game, so yes.

    What I find works is to run to the opposite side of the arena and wait for him to approach. Once he does, run underneath him as he tries to strike. Once you're behind him, you can easily get an attack or two in and still escape unscathed. Works best if you don't lock-on. Do it right and you should be able to get through it without taking any damage. Just watch out for that rare falling move he does. That thing will wreak you.

    Also, don't bother with summoning Pate. You're better off summoning actual players instead.

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