nitronomicon

I have 1 recommendation. Spelunky. Who knew that after spending so much money on retail games a $15 arcade title would end up being one of my favorites. I would describe it as a platformer with perma death.

Tonight I'm throwing down my summon sign at the base of the stairs in the forest. I get summoned. We had a great streak going as well. We were an efficient and deadly team. Then all of the sudden its 2v2. My partner takes in the lead phantom while I deal with the second who is trying to flank us. All of the sudden it pokey v pokey. Two estocs going back and forth in a flurry. Then I see my chance, parry, as in Katy Parry. Or Matthew Parry. Either way I get that satisfying donk sound and I ram the 'stoc home in the phantom's chest. Game over. It was awesome. Thanks for listening.

if the grind is getting you down, take a break and consider what your next goal is going to be. do not boot up the game and think you will beat it in one sitting. for example, my first playthrough took me about 60 hours and that was only up to the beginning of blightown. my 2nd playthrough was done in about half that time. in terms of story, the game does not present it in a normal format. most of your back story will come from dialog and item description. if you get really thirsty for dark souls lore check out youtube poster epicnamebro. he has a great series on the lore of the whole game. i suggest also checking out youtube videos of other playthroughs. it is amazing to see how far other players can get in th game in just a few hours. it could be good inspiration for you. have fun with the game.

maybe try getting summoned for s&o in anor londo. if that doesn't work you can always get that last medal in new game +. you'll need to do a new game anyway for all of the 'cheevos.

I'm sitting at level 77 focused mainly on dex and endurance. I think I'll stay around that level as I progress through the PvE aspects of the dlc. Once I get a sense of the PvP in the arena I'll probably go up to 100 as I understand that it will be broken up by levels 1-100, 101-199, etc.

I think the decision to nerf the dwgr is a good one on From's part. The way I understand it you now have be at or below 25% encumbrance to get the special flip animation. Full Havel's cartwheeling? No, that doesn't make sense. A light character who can gain some extra mobility? That makes sense. I also agree with the other posters that this decision will force some players to make critical choices in their builds.

one possibility when summoning help for S&M is to leave a message on the ground either "bean pole" or "fatty" first. i think most players by now know that beanpole is ornstein and fatty is smough. just jump up and down on the message until the summoned player gets the hint. or, as it just hit me now, send an instant message to the summoned player.

It makes me happy to hear of another person discovering the joy of Dark Souls. This is a game that, for me at least, got better the longer I played it. At first, the game unfolded slowly and with some frustration, but in the end became one of this console generation's best. Once you learn the game's systems you can play any style that you like. Also, the community is one of the best.

@dudeglove : Your tip about using singularity grenades against ion loaders has helped me so much. Now I can just interrupt their annoying shield animation; thanks. The one tip that I would offer players facing off against an area full of loaders would be thus: arrange your weapon slots beginning with shield, slag, corrosive, and corrosive weapons in that order. Once you bring down the loaders shields you can just switch right into slag for extra damage and then right into corrosive for the killing blow. This setup also works great for the gunzerker. Once the gunzerker brings down the shield he can then slag and from there go right into dual wielding corrosive weapons.

Countless times now I have faced off against BNK3R only to have him / her get hung up on the walls of the outer ring. You can whittle it's health all the way to zero, but it will not die while stuck in this way. Saving and reloading just means that you now have to begin the fight anew with the possibility that BNK3R could get stuck all over again. What has your experience been? Any suggestions? Thanks.