Hey guys. I'm new to Dark Souls and I didn't play Demon's Souls. I'm enjoying it so far. My class is a Wanderer, and I mainly use my original scimitar when I need mobility or the Drake Sword when I need to do a lot of damage.

I'm worried, however, that because I spend most of my time as a Hollow, I'm missing a bunch of drops. I haven't found any "signs" for summoning NPCs, or any other armor other than my original set. New weapons are few and far between, and I have a hard time believing that I'll find anything better than the Drake Sword at the moment.

Should I focus more on using humanity or should I not worry about it and instead focus on killing the fucking Capra Demon? When did you guys start getting deep into the game (upgrading equipment, joining covenants, PVP, etc.)?

Thanks!

Hey guys. I'm new to Dark Souls and I didn't play Demon's Souls. I'm enjoying it so far. My class is a Wanderer, and I mainly use my original scimitar when I need mobility or the Drake Sword when I need to do a lot of damage.

I'm worried, however, that because I spend most of my time as a Hollow, I'm missing a bunch of drops. I haven't found any "signs" for summoning NPCs, or any other armor other than my original set. New weapons are few and far between, and I have a hard time believing that I'll find anything better than the Drake Sword at the moment.

Should I focus more on using humanity or should I not worry about it and instead focus on killing the fucking Capra Demon? When did you guys start getting deep into the game (upgrading equipment, joining covenants, PVP, etc.)?

Thanks!

if you haven't beaten the capra demon your like 30 minutes into the game. Once you actually get into the game you see tons of stuff.

Summon signs won't show up unless you're human.  You're probably not missing out on too much, there's still a lot of good loot to be found in regular chests.  It's not a big deal if you spend a lot of time hollow, just go human when you need help.  As it is the first one you can join, Way of White is a good covenant for getting the feel of things.
 
I didn't actually give a lot of thought to how equipment gets upgraded (scaling especially) until my second playthrough. 

It does take a while to find any decent new stuff, so hang in there.

And you see signs and can summon when you're human, so use humanity as necessary. Summon npc's or randoms/friends at the tough bosses at your descretion when you are. Give it time, the game is amazing and so unique imo.....if you have the endurance and patience.

Spoilers below!

Until you get to the Anor Londo Blacksmith you can't really do much upgrading anyway (Electric and Boss Soul weapons). I didn't do much until then. Drake Sword held me over until Sen's Fortress, and the lightning spear held me over until I crafted my first Soul Weapon at Anor Londo.

The one weird thing about the Capra Demon is that everyone says to run up the stairs first, then kill the dogs. I have had much more success rolling to the right of his initial attack (which is the WORST) then stabbing the dogs.

Maybe I'm just crazy.

@CyborgDuo: Killing the dogs first seemed the best strategy for me. He's easy once the dogs are dead and you exploit the stairs.

Don't worry too much about drops. Your humanity doesn't affect the drop rate that much, and by the time you actually want to farm stuff enemies drop you'll have access to an item that substantially increases the drop rate. Besides kindling bonfires, the main reason for going human is multiplayer.

I wouldn;t worry too much about drops, or anything for that matter. Just play the game and if you get too frustrated, read a guide or ask for advice here. And while I was enjoying the game up until the Capra Demon, trying to beat it is how I got addicted. I can;t wait to get home from university so I can keep playing.

@kingzetta said:

if you haven't beaten the capra demon your like 30 minutes into the game. Once you actually get into the game you see tons of stuff.

That's kind of a mean thing to say. On your first playthrough it's definately not 30 minutes into the game, if you get there quicker than in 6 hours the first time you are a gaming god. Don't worry about being hollowed, I was pretty much hollowed my entire first playthrough. This game doesn't shower you with new weapons and armor all the time, if you really want a very good dex weapon you could kill the merchant in undead burg. He drops an amazing katana, I m still using it (in heavy upgraded fashion) in my new game +. The scimitar you have could carry you through multiple playthroughs too if you upgrade it, every weapon in this game is feasible throughout.

@jozzy: I don't know if I should go around killing merchants just yet. Do they get any new equipment? Are there any other reliable merchants nearby? I met the female merchant but there are notes all around her telling me that she's a liar.

@jozzy: I don't know if I should go around killing merchants just yet. Do they get any new equipment? Are there any other reliable merchants nearby? I met the female merchant but there are notes all around her telling me that she's a liar.

@SpaceRunaway said:

@CyborgDuo said:

@jozzy: I don't know if I should go around killing merchants just yet. Do they get any new equipment? Are there any other reliable merchants nearby? I met the female merchant but there are notes all around her telling me that she's a liar.

They don't get new equipment, but often they have armor sets and weapons that you don't find elsewhere. Since the game has been patched the items they carry have been redistributed more evenly, so it's less damning if you kill one, but...I'd still wait a while until you start offing NPCs, personally. I think the only thing about the female merchant is that it's much cheaper and easier to find healing herbs in the darkroot garden, so don't waste your souls stocking up .

Yeah, but this guy doesn't really have much interesting stuff. He sells arrows, the residential key and some other stuff. You can check what he has, and if you are interested in something you can buy it right away. He will not get any new things (unlike one other illusive merchant you will have to figure out yourself). The weapon he has is very good though, but I understand not wanting to take the risk on a first playthrough.

@kingzetta said:

if you haven't beaten the capra demon your like 30 minutes into the game. Once you actually get into the game you see tons of stuff.

That's kind of a mean thing to say. On your first playthrough it's definately not 30 minutes into the game, if you get there quicker than in 6 hours the first time you are a gaming god. Don't worry about being hollowed, I was pretty much hollowed my entire first playthrough. This game doesn't shower you with new weapons and armor all the time, if you really want a very good dex weapon you could kill the merchant in undead burg. He drops an amazing katana, I m still using it (in heavy upgraded fashion) in my new game +. The scimitar you have could carry you through multiple playthroughs too if you upgrade it, every weapon in this game is feasible throughout.

@kingzetta said:

To anyone that's played demon's soul before playing this it's simple.

@CyborgDuo said:

Hey guys. I'm new to Dark Souls and I didn't play Demon's Souls. I'm enjoying it so far. My class is a Wanderer, and I mainly use my original scimitar when I need mobility or the Drake Sword when I need to do a lot of damage.

And even then, I am sure you were that badass awesome gamer that defeated the Capra Demon in 30 minutes, but the rest of the Demon's Souls players probably took a bit longer to do the asylum, undead burg with the taurus demon, the bridge, the metal bull guy and the lower udead burg to finally reach the lower undead burg and the Capra Demon.... (Not even counting most people will probably do the gargoyles before moving to the Capra Demon)

Why am I even trying to respond to this nonsense....

Quick update: Killed Gaping Dragon after 6 tries, he was VERY predictable (but his charge can fuck you up!). I bought a new set of armor (I feel like it's called Honorable?) from the merchant right before the fight, but I'd like to keep more mobile so I'll focus on dexterity for the next few levels. I've heard horror stories about the Basilisk, but they gave me no trouble since I carefully took them on one by one.

I assume Blightown is the next step, and the bitching about the area is worrying me. Perhaps I'll kill that Butterfly in the forest first.

I'm starting to love this game.

Blighttown sucks, but not as bad as people say (This is of course in my own experience). The frame rate is pretty crappy at times, but I never found it to be crippling. The biggest thing that place will teach you is how to deal with a few enemies in very tight spaces. It took me about 3 days to get down to the bottom (maybe 1-2 hours a day). Also, make sure you get the eagle shield. It has the highest magic resist stat up to that point I believe. I used it quite a bit until much further in the game.

@CyborgDuo: Dexterity is a requirement for weapons. To keep being mobile you have to level up endurance.

And yes, kill the butterfly ... it's an easy boss and you can level up a bit more before Blighttown.

@CyborgDuo: i would say go through darkroot garden and darkroot basin before blighttown ... it's not too tricky, plus there's a lot of nice loot there and you will pick up a lot of poison and toxin healing items that drop from the enemies there, which are very useful in blighttown.

@kingzetta said:

To anyone that's played demon's soul before playing this it's simple.

@CyborgDuo said:

Hey guys. I'm new to Dark Souls and I didn't play Demon's Souls. I'm enjoying it so far. My class is a Wanderer, and I mainly use my original scimitar when I need mobility or the Drake Sword when I need to do a lot of damage.

And even then, I am sure you were that badass awesome gamer that defeated the Capra Demon in 30 minutes, but the rest of the Demon's Souls players probably took a bit longer to do the asylum, undead burg with the taurus demon, the bridge, the metal bull guy and the lower udead burg to finally reach the lower undead burg and the Capra Demon.... (Not even counting most people will probably do the gargoyles before moving to the Capra Demon)

Why am I even trying to respond to this nonsense....

If you go after the Butterfly, you can summon an NPC named Witch Beatrice if you are in human form. Look for her sign beneath the stairs before the Butterfly. It's under some shrubbery. She puts a hurtin' on that bug.

Hey guys. Well, I killed the Moonlight Butterfly with Beatrice and Quallaag with whoever that was. Now I think I've gotten myself too deep. Namely, running across the beach of Ash Lake with my new lover, the Black Hydra. Romantic, I know.

I'm only down here to look for a quick way back to the surface, and killing this thing with a melee-only character seems unrealistic. Thoughts?

You can kill it pretty easily, same way as the one in darkroot basin if you've dealt with him. You just go stand close enough for him to attack you with his heads and put your shield up. when he lunges at you, find closest head, throw on 2 hands and attack. Then you just repeat that. If his head hits your shield and breaks your guard, come back later.

Also, you'll want a Curved Sword +10. Your Scimitar will work. Just be sure to have one of those handy and KEEP QUELAAG'S SOUL. When you get to the blacksmith in Anor Londo ascend your +10 curved sword into Quelaag's Furysword. That thing is amazing. I used it pretty much forever, and I played a wanderer as well.(Platinumed the game not long ago)

Beat Ornstein and Smough. One try with some other high level character. Now I feel like I cheated. Also, I'm going to go to Oswald, abandon the Gwyndolin covenant and rejoin the Dragon covenant because fuck it turning into a dragon is cool (and I'm never going to use miracles).

You're not missing much by playing hollow. The important drops are fixed. Save humanity until you need to summon for boss fights. You can also place your summon sign to help others with bosses to gain humanity and souls.

Capra demon run to the right as soon as you go in the door go around the dogs and demon get to the top of the stairs and Jill the digs

You're not missing much by playing hollow. The important drops are fixed. Save humanity until you need to summon for boss fights. You can also place your summon sign to help others with bosses to gain humanity and souls.

Capra demon run to the right as soon as you go in the door go around the dogs and demon get to the top of the stairs and Jill the digs

@CyborgDuo: I also beat S&O in one go, it felt like a huge accomplishment. Great game, I should continue my NG+.

Hey guys I totally...

I love this game. For me, it's about the world. No experience has been this captivating for me. Ash Lake was TERRIFYING for me (which it probably was not supposed to be), but it was my favorite simply because of the mystery and awe it inspired, It caused me to wonder about how the world is put together and what the origins of those giant trees were. While it was this wide open expanse, I still felt trapped because I knew how far underground I had traveled. It amazes me to even think about the vertical space Lordran encompasses. No other game has captured me like this one has.

Humanity is really useful for various purposes, from raising item discovery rate, to kindling of bonfire (raise max no of est. flasks for that bonfire). You could farm it later though in the sewer by killing the giant rants

I'd say, just get used to the mechanics, world, and the enemies first. And only start farming for humanities later when it's needed.