So a new commercial came out for dark souls showing some guy with 2 claws and full darkstalker armor, then shows that character running around killing things like it is no big deal and it is just as easy as any other combat combination. After playing and beating Dark Souls once already, I can't fathom the idea of playing without a shield. Maybe it would be possible if I memorized the game, was a master a parry and roll, and knew every encounter backwards and forwards. Even with that, there are so many attacks that you can't parry and attacks that feel near impossible to dodge or absorb without a shield to eat up most of the damage. The few times I tried to parry I had about a 50/50 chance of getting smashed in the face so it quickly became not worth it to me.

Has anyone actually played this way? With a weapon in both hands?

Dual wielding daggers is tricky but not impossible. Once you remember each enemy's attack timing, parrying becomes a piece of cake (granted it takes a while to learn all of them - I still only know about 50% or so of them).

However parrying becomes completely useless when facing more than one enemy at once.

Someone came after me last night wieh duel Katanas. He died quickly.  
 
 
It could work if your damage output was enough to stagger them enough. But bosses would require lots of dodging. 

It can be done, I've seen many gameplay videos where people pull it off quite well. Seems to involve a LOT of dodging in multi-enemy fights. However, it's something I would never try, no matter how cool it may look.

It's a steep learning curve to be sure. You have to roll. All the damn time. Or parry everything.

Or you can not get rid of your shield and instead run around with two like me. I just feel like such a fucking badass/dumbass when I do.

Parrying dagger is suh-weeeeeeeet. I just would rather block with a shield then roll around like an idiot when ever i'm attacked by something that can't be parried though :/ I personally don't know why people would duel wield the same weapon different ones will mix up the skillset.

Wielding 2 of the same weapon isn't very practical. Dual wielding can actually be a fun alternative to a shield, though not really as useful, but you need to use a slow main-hand weapon, and compensate for it with a fast offhand weapon to cover the weakness of it. Things like whips, rapiers, fist weapons, and knives can be good offhands to complement things like ultra greatswords and large clubs.

I tried it early on. It did not go for me. I wish it was more practical because I would totally duel wield.

a good combo is Nito Sword in left hand and Lightning weap in the right one. you can stun the enemy with a Left attack and kill him istant with you right weapon. I tryed and its pretty cool, but if you fail a dodge u're dead. Also, Left Parrying dagger and right Chaos/lighning Bandit knife + the ring who improve your counterattak is fucking deadly. yes, you have to be in perfect timing, but the fun is infinite XD

I tried dual wielding once, it did not end well. If you can get the dodgeing and parrying down then it could be done, it will be very hard but it could be done.

What does dual wielding add I'm assuming you can't attack with both weapons.

you have to be real good at parrying and rolling to be effective in this game... in other words, dual wielding is not for beginners.

@Marz said:

you have to be real good at parrying and rolling to be effective in this game... in other words, dual wielding is not for beginners.

@shamroll said:

The few times I tried to parry I had about a 50/50 chance of getting smashed in the face so it quickly became not worth it to me.

Congratulations - this sentence has single-handedly sold me on Dark Souls. I will now buy it after work today.

@McQuinn: farm the same enemies near a bonfire. i'm beating down the black knights in anor londo like they owe me money

I can't see it being super effective in most scenarios, but in boss fights (where you probably won't be using a shield anyway) it might work out.

@thefaulconer said:

It's a steep learning curve to be sure. You have to roll. All the damn time. Or parry everything.

Or you can not get rid of your shield and instead run around with two like me. I just feel like such a fucking badass/dumbass when I do.

Love this idea of running around with 2 shields! priceless...

mmm i duel wielded in Demons Souls...kinda. Hammer or blade in one hand and in the other hand I had this claw that would poison enemies. So...poison them and then play defensively until they would die. Was best for fighting real players I found because its pretty annoying when you would get poisoned.

Dunno about in Dark Souls.

Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality.

Cast Iron Skin and dual wielding should be pretty easy to do.

I tried dual wielding crossbows and pyro hands, those are absolutely useless dual wielded. Some other weapons shouldn't be too bad though, it just means you're lacking the shield and have to dodge insteald of block.