Disregard all previous posts, I found out how to win Dark Souls.

@buttersdaman000 said:

@D_W: @supermike6:

Can I backtrack and get to him or is it too late?

You can always go back and see him. Trust me, you're gonna be going to that bonfire a lot, so there are plenty of chances to purchase stuff from him.

@D_W: @supermike6:

Can I backtrack and get to him or is it too late?

@buttersdaman000:

There is a Merchant way back near the bonfire in Undead Burg. From the Bonfire you go to your right down the stairs, then cross the little bridge thing (where the two shielded spear guys are) and break the boxes then head down the stairs. The merchant is outside and not down the stairs.

@buttersdaman000: Just before the first bonfire, if you go right instead of walking up the stairs, you'll see two shielded enemies. Kill them and destroy the boxes next to them to find some stairs, go down them and straight through the doorway and you'll find the first merchant. Watch out though because there's a dude waiting at the bottom of the stairs that will stab you while you're shopping if you accidentally run past him.

Should be noted that those are mainly melee strategies, for a Sorcerer you have to look out for a few other things:

1.) Keep your weight low, your heavy hitter takes a second to cast so you'll want the ability to move in and out of the way at ease. One you hit some bosses, you'll find that those milliseconds could have saved your life.

2.) You're a later game class, it'll get better. Early on you will probably have a harder time since you only have 30 soul arrows and your melee does nothing. They key to making your life easier is talking to the smith down in New Londo. He can sell you another Soul Arrow (Can attune multiples) for 1,000 souls as well as enhance your weapons to Magic level without ember. What this means for you is the ability to spam your main spell and the ability to eventually scale your weapons off of Intel rather than Strength or Dex.

3.) You're great at bosses. Early on you should notice that most bosses are based off of fighting a melee character. For a Sorcerer this means a, generally, easier time as you blast them away for massive damage at range. Just make sure to watch out for my next point...

4.) You are very squishy. Like Gent said you'll want a shield that can absorb 100% melee so enemies can't chip away at you. Also don't be afraid to let enemies get in close on you, melee is often the least of your worries. Often you can either strafe around them until they attack and leave an opening, or they'll attack with your shield up and recoil back leaving them open as well. Ranged, on the other hand, will give you a few issues. Make sure to time your casts to go off in between their projectiles, and be blocking or rolling the minute your finished casting if they managed to sneak one off. People who throw things are the biggest pain in the ass since they just don't give you a break.

5.) Stats! As you can probably guess Intel will be your primary stat since it gives your spells, and possibly your weapon, scales off of it. You'll also want to dip some points into Attunement every now and then as you learn spells from the various trainers but don't go overboard, even in my 30s I have only 19 points in it for 5 slots and I often have more than enough killing power. Also, you probably should put 1 point into Dex to get yourself to 12 to be able to wield a Short Bow properly. The ability to precisely aim a projectile can be valuable later on. Past that it's pretty much what you feel you need for the given moment. Personally, I've put only a few into Vitality since your fighting style often won't leave you for getting hit too badly. As for Endurance, I've put a couple into there to get some Item Burden for some armor I found.

6.) You will probably use a sword. While I would love to use spears sometimes you do have to make a chunk of investment into strength for them, which personally isn't worth it when you consider a few other things. One is that the Shortsword has a significantly lower strength requirement and has both a Slash and Thrust attack, the later being useful for a lunging poke. Also, the main benefit of using a spear is the ability to attack while blocking. The problem is, you don't have very much Stamina meaning that if you are attacking and blocking attacks at the same time you will burn through your Stamina like there is no tomorrow. Finally, swords are cool. (And fuck daggers!)

7.) "But what about the spells?" you ask. Well your primary will always be your Soul Arrow, you have a ton of casts and it hits like a truck. Once you get the first spell trainer to your camp, you will have the ability to buy something called the Greater Heavy Soul Arrow. While it only has 8 shots, this one will leave your enemies in a WHOLE lot of pain. There have been times where I've almost killed bosses with one attunement of this alone. There is also a Greater Soul Arrow and a Heavy Soul Arrow but I find those not to be worth it. I want a heavy spam and a heavy hitter, not something in between. Unfortunately I can't say more on spells since I've only used about 3, and 1 pyromancy, my play through so far.

This is pretty much what I've gotten as a Sorcerer so far, just beat Sen's Fortress, so these may not all be ideal. In the end, it is always up to you and how heavy you want to rely on magic.

Ok, where the hell are these merchants?

Im at the Taurus Demon section and I havent seen not one merchant yet. Did I go too far or am I not yet far enough?

A big tip I have been using that I haven't seen many people talking about is:

Use the kick to break guards.

The Knights in the Church and Spear/Shield users are annoying to get hits in sometimes because they're constantly blocking and parry you. If you have them 1 on 1, just run up and kick them to break their guard and they're open. Works when the Rapier Knights are in their parry stance too. You just have to watch out because sometimes you do a regular attack by accident. When that happens, you leave yourself wide open to get hit.

I would farm the Church and the surrounding area for the Knights and Spear/Shield guys, all while leaving my summon sign for the gargoyles. I would then run back to the blacksmith and repeat. You get about 900 souls per run. Great area early on.

In some cases it can be a good thing to kill NPCs. I wouldn't recommend it in general, but if you know what you're doing or don't mind taking the risk you can get some phat lootz.

And you can repair equipment after it hits 0 durability. Crystal weapons are the exception, possibly some special items...but in general you can :)

@BeardedGent: I don't know why they would patch it. There were sooooo many even more abusive farming spots in DeS.

I have found that a great way to grind is to put down your summon sign in front of bosses and help out your fellow nerds in destroying the demons. They are usually worth a ton of souls and you get some humanity out of the deal too.

Also fuck Blight Town.

@yoshimitz707 said:

step 1: farm up 20k souls step 2: go to the blacksmith near the Undead Church and buy the seal to the Forest Door for 20k souls step 3: kill the boss in the room adjacent to the blacksmith (or just run past him) out the other side of his room and to the left is the path into Darkroot Garden (and Basin) step 4: proceed along the path in Darkroot till you get to a door with a glowing circular seal - there is a wall to the left of the door that can be smashed down revealing a hidden bonfire. Light it, and use the seal you purchased to open the door. step 5: Farming: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbFjdnYP9S4 6-7k souls every 30 seconds.

This is bound to be patched at some point and by patched, I mean fixed. I'm sure the developers had no intention of players being able to use an exploit like this. But, until they do fix it, it is awesome.

@MentalDisruption: I did not know this, I may raise my Str and Dex up to the requirements for the Winged Spear and head back to Firelink for that suicide run.

step 1: farm up 20k souls
step 2: go to the blacksmith near the Undead Church and buy the seal to the Forest Door for 20k souls
step 3: kill the boss in the room adjacent to the blacksmith (or just run past him) out the other side of his room and to the left is the path into Darkroot Garden (and Basin)
step 4: proceed along the path in Darkroot till you get to a door with a glowing circular seal - there is a wall to the left of the door that can be smashed down revealing a hidden bonfire. Light it, and use the seal you purchased to open the door.
step 5: Farming: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbFjdnYP9S4

6-7k souls every 30 seconds.

@MentalDisruption said:

You can get some nice items by suicide running into the graveyard in firelink. The one shown in the quicklook. Two weapons in particular here are excellent to start out with. It's also worth noting that if you start with the master key you can grab a very nice fire resistant shield for completely free. It'll save you the 1,000 souls for leveling or other purchases. Getting both a shield and weapon from these places will save you a lot of time and souls in the beginning.

Yeah, another tip for those who are starting out is that, unless you're starting as a thief, the best gift to get by far is the Master Key. It's the only of those items you can't get anywhere else in the game.

You can farm 300 souls a pop buy luring the dragon out to obliterate the bridge by using the Undead Burg bonfire after you drop the ladder.
 
Also if you are going to be using the Shortbow and Winged Spear it is worth putting some points in Dex as they both scale to it.
 
Also buy the Orange Soapstone from the Undead Burg merchant and leave helpful tips whenever you can, if someone rates your message you will receive an extra charge on your Estus Flask.

For another tip, you can get some nice items by suicide running into the graveyard in firelink. The one shown in the quicklook. Two weapons in particular here are excellent to start out with. It's also worth noting that if you start with the master key you can grab a very nice fire resistant shield for completely free. It'll save you the 1,000 souls for leveling or other purchases. Getting both a shield and weapon from these places will save you a lot of time and souls in the beginning.

So, I began playing Dark Souls yesterday after the UPS man finally decided to show up. I started out as a Wanderer and made my way to the first merchant and near-by fire. From there, I quit out and rolled a Pyromancer earlier today. So far, I'm liking the Pyromancer a bit more thanks to the inclusion of Fireball. I've been grinding souls at this location and so far have managed to get the full chain-mail set, a spear, short bow, and the repair box. Although I'm still very much new to the brutal world of Dark Souls, I thought I might offer some tips for fellow newcomers who might like a little info if they're thinking about getting the game and haven't played it yet.

1. Get a good shield. At the first merchant, you can purchase a Heater Shield. It blocks 100% of incoming physical damage. Alternatively, you can farm the spear soldiers in the Undead Burg which drop a shield that does the same. Keep your shield up at all times, especially if you're entering an unfamiliar area. It WILL save your life.

2. Get the Short Bow. Use it to pull enemies one at a time if you're able. On their own, it's much easier to survive if you're not surrounded by baddies. Aim for the head.

3. Live by the Spear. I realize that not everyone wants to play as a shield and spear character but doing so, especially early on, will greatly increase your survivability thanks to being able to attack while keeping your shield up.

4. Put points into Endurance. It determines how much equip weight you can carry without it effecting your movement and roll speed as well as increasing your stamina. Your stamina is what you'll be using to attack, block, and roll away. In other words, it is one of the most vital stats for ANY type of character build you're going to play.

5. This might sound obvious, but don't attack the merchants or NPCs. If you kill them they don't come back and you could miss out of buying important supplies, hearing story details, or learning something to make your journey easier.

6. Get the Repairbox from the Undead Merchant located just a little bit into the Undead Burg. It will let you repair your weapons and armor for a minor amount of souls anytime you rest at a fire. If your weapon breaks, it's gone for good so take care of your gear.

Also, since I now have my PS3, I have no friends. If you'd like to send me a friend invite, I'd be more than happy to play with you fine people anytime. You can see my PSN ID below.

Get your Portable ID!