Sucked In By Dark Souls

TheMadGamer

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I bought Dark Souls when it first became available on Steam. Not sure exactly when that was but it has to be at least a year ago now. On more than a few occasions I fired up the game to find to my horror how badly I sucked at it, couldn't even beat the first boss.

Well I'm glad to say that I fired the game up again maybe 2 weeks ago and finally found my groove - well, sort of anyway.

I've died a whole lot of times at this point, but I believe I am now at the midpoint of the game. I just defeated the two-boss combo in Anor Londo (can't remember their names, one guy is skinny the other is a fatty with a big mallot). Though I gave it at least 20 tries on my own, Anor Londo was the only boss fight so far where I summoned some help from another player. But I'm glad for that feature as I really have doubts that I could beat that boss by myself and at least I can move on with the game now.

The game is quite a lot of fun - though it is also quite stressful at times too. I don't think I will replay this game because, at least at the moment, I can't imagine trying to get through certain choke points on a second go-around. The Anor Londo archers were a complete nightmare to get past to name a recent choke point.

But as a result of playing this game, I do now look forward to Dark Souls 2 and will probably play through Demon's Souls as well.

Question for any Dark Souls players… I'm having a bit of a problem understanding and finding information about what the letters mean that are associated with equipment when you look at their stats. Letters like A and E and so on. I think they have something to do with scaling but I can't find any info in the game manual (which by the way, I think is probably the worst game manual ever created - totally uninformative). So if any of you can help me out with what these letters mean I might be able to better understand how to better gear my sorcerer. Thanks.
 
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I watched a play-through of DS that a friend of mine did. He didn't get THAT far, but from what I saw, the game was simply brutal. Having to kill all those enemies again when you die is a bummer. It did seem like an interesting game but not one that I would actually play, probably. But watching someone else suffer through all that was fun :biggrin:
 
Sorcerer on your first play-through… ouch…

Anyways: here is the wiki
(edit: Also found this calculator, never used it myself though. I never really bothered with the exact numbers. Just picked a weapon which had a move set that suited me and went with that. Well, two actually: a longsword that I ascended to divine and the Zweihander that I left on normal path so I could use the resins on)

i.e. the longsword entry details the reqs and scaling for the weapon (E->A->S worst to best). You will not find a lot of them that scale with your primary stat (int) but you can make some boss souls items that do (unless you ate the soul) or enchant some on the magical or enchantment paths, when you find the right embers…

My advice for the wiki. stay on the info you absolutely need in order to not get spoiled. If you are stuck somewhere though and really want to go on I guess you can try the strategies they propose for bosses/per class i.e. (but where is the fun in that ;) )

Try the tank err Knight some time. High poise and a decent 100% blocking shield for starting gear eases you much more naturally into the game and carries you better past the entry level (and makes for a pretty easy end battle).

Although I believe I caught something that very early game is supposedly easier with sorcerer ? Hmm, gonna find out around Christmas :)

P.S The lack of information is totally deliberate. That should be obvious by now ;)

P.P.S In case someone has not seen this. I believe it should describe the experience for most of us ;) Dark souls in a nutshell (so accurate :D )

Caution: Contains spoilers (The OP will not be spoiled I believe as he is already deep into the game)
 
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Grats on beating S&O! One of the hardest boss fights for sure.

Demon Souls I've only played at a friends house cos I don't have a PS3. I've considered buying one JUST for Demon Souls but the way the game handles carry weight really puts me off. For eg. I started as a Temple Knight then when I found a set of armor I didn't have the strength to carry it so it dropped it all on the ground to be forever lost when I leave the area. Dark Souls removed the carrying limit and changed it to equipped limit. I really hate limited inventory space! MMORPGs starting with a 6slot bag or something like that? Ugh! Being forced back to town because of full bags has been annoying me in games for ever. Also, there's no leap attack and you have to farm for healing grass rather than use your estus flask.

As for the scaling…. Well, if you open that Longsword wiki entry JonNik linked…

There's physical, magic, fire and lightning damage that weapons can do and these are simply lowered by the corresponding armour type.

Divine weapons do extra damage vs undead, Occult do better damage vs knights. They're both not really worth worrying about, imo.
Bleeding on weapons cuts 30% of an enemies hitpoints instantly after it builds up. These are probably the best weapons.
Poison builds up then applies, slowly damaging the enemy. Never used a poison weapon for long. Useless, imo.

Some enchantments have no scaling and generally do higher damage. I often start off a new game with a fire enchanted weapon and focus on Vitality, then I'll change that for a "regular" +15 when I have the related stat and then cast Magic Weapon/Sunlight Blade on it.

The scaling goes S, A, B, C, D, E, F. But S is "special" and doesn't follow the normal progression. Generally S requires VERY high stat before it becomes superior to A (around 40-50). A scales the fastest, F the slowest.

Boss weapons suck, imo. I just munch the boss souls for extra souls to spend on good stuff.

As for the Damage Reduction and Stability…. Shields count as weapons! You can dual wield shields, use one in 2 hands. Likewise, you can block with your weapon. So every weapon has these values, but only shields are really any good to block with. The Heater shield is the lightest 100% physical damage blocking shield, for eg. You can buy this as the male undead shopkeeper in Undead Burg.
The Silver Knights shield from Anor Londo you get as a random drop off the knights is probably the best medium shield in the game. Try to farm one of those.
10 humanity + gold serpent ring you got from Sens Fortress where the boulders end up smashing thru the wall when the hole is filled. ;)

In your situation I'd just walk back through Anor Londo and turn right into Seaths castle and get the Enchanted Falchion from a chest there. It's just a normal falchion already ascended from regular to magic to enchanted. It scales very well with INT and should serve you well for the rest of the game.
You can get the Blue Titanite Slab for its +5 upgrade in the area with the invisible platforms. When you're forced to drop down, turn around and go backwards. There will be 3 crystal lizards and beyond them is the slab. =)

You shouldn't have much trouble with any of the bosses from here.
For 4 kings just get 77 poise going for the fight and spam attacks. You can only summon the witch to help if you summoned her already for the moonlight butterfly fight. Also, if you do this, you can get her armor in valley of the drakes after the fight.

Also! Don't forget there's a shopkeeper that sells boss armor in Firelink Shrine where you have to leap over to get that ring of sacrifice!

Finish it, but do replay it. I'm always impressed by how much fun I have every play-through. The only games I've won as many times as Dark Souls are the Infinity Engine games like BG2. :) (that said, I've also quit out frustrated with failed invasions/summonings a lot. Dark Souls 2 dedicated servers will make this frustration a thing of the past!)

lol how's that for help with scaling? xD

Edit: Why stop now, I've come this far…
To be a REAL sorcerer you'll have to have saved Big Hat from Sens Fortress.(He'll be in Firelink Shrine for a while at this point with a limited selection of spells) Then you have to save him again from Dukes Archives. Then he'll be sitting near where you find that Enchanted Falchion, in the other smaller room full of books. He will then sell you his spells. If you buy ALL of his spells he'll go insane and you can go and fight him in the room where you first encounter Seath (where you die and get sent to Dukes Archives) and get White Dragon Breath spell. Also, there will be a chest where he used to sit with all his equipment, including his "S" scaling catalyst.
good luck!
 
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I almost managed to avoid the spoilers :shakefist:
(Guess I missed quite a few things the first time through and that is why I am sure I am going to enjoy replaying so soon :) )

Divine weapons do extra damage vs undead, Occult do better damage vs knights. They're both not really worth worrying about, imo.

Yeah, but they do have an advantage for a particular section and that is why Andre is tipping them to you:
They put the skeletons down without the need to kill their necromancer first. I did the catacombs way too early (even before the capra demon i.e.)which was nice because I got the ritual very very early. It was tough though and even after managing to kill the first couple of skull lantern wielding bastards things got narrower going down. So I gave up went back and got the divine Longsword. After that I kept it as a quicker side arm when too nimble enemies made the Zweihander not the best choice.

edit: Anyways I did not know any better at the time ;)
 
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I almost managed to avoid the spoilers :shakefist:
(Guess I missed quite a few things the first time through and that is why I am sure I am going to enjoy replaying so soon :) )

Yeah, but they do have an advantage for a particular section and that is why Andre is tipping them to you:
They put the skeletons down without the need to kill their necromancer first. I did the catacombs way too early (even before the capra demon i.e.)which was nice because I got the ritual very very early. It was tough though and even after managing to kill the first couple of skull lantern wielding bastards things got narrower going down. So I gave up went back and got the divine Longsword. After that I kept it as a quicker side arm when too nimble enemies made the Zweihander not the best choice.

edit: Anyways I did not know any better at the time ;)

Don't worry about "spoilers" with Dark Souls. You'll find new stuff every time you play even if you use the wiki every time you have a question about anything. It's designed to be talked about! Some things are just so hard to find that you were never going to find them on your own! (like me trying to find the new DLC area on my own. I gave up and won the game before I found it. :))

Regarding those skeletons and divine weapons…
Killing the necromancers is what the Morning Star and Firebombs laying around in Firelink Shrine are for. :)
If you want to drop 14 in faith you could get Astoras Straight Sword from valley of the drakes as the first thing you do, provided you took masterkey gift. Also, fire enchants are ONLY done in the catacombs, so I do them FIRST, unless I want one of the undead shopkeepers weapons to enchant. The paladin you summon can kill the ritual/mask boss in 2 or 3 hits. :)

PS. Funny video! :D
 
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Regarding those skeletons and divine weapons…
Killing the necromancers is what the Morning Star and Firebombs laying around in Firelink Shrine are for. :)
If you want to drop 14 in faith you could get Astoras Straight Sword from valley of the drakes as the first thing you do, provided you took masterkey gift. Also, fire enchants are ONLY done in the catacombs, so I do them FIRST, unless I want one of the undead shopkeepers weapons to enchant. The paladin you summon can kill the ritual/mask boss in 2 or 3 hits. :)

PS. Funny video! :D

All true of course, no way to know that on the first play through though. And that is just it. I love exploring and finding stuff on my own or failing miserably trying :D . Its part of the magic and it keeps me replaying the games I love.

edit: Oh I somehow managed to get to the boss fight Hollowed all three iirc times (mindfart or no humanity, hmm can't remember). I really should try harder to get to the boss fights in human form more often dammit (that is the reason I had a bit of trouble at the end of Sen's too until I wised up).

You definitely have a point about some things being too hard to find without getting a hint.

I'd never have thought that you could go back to the Northern Asylum by Air ;) I may have been able to find it by chance as I was trying to get up there from early on because I could see that there had to be a way up and goodies on the nearby roof. But would I have gone all the way into the nest and curled there for all that time… Hmm doubtful. Did not mind too much to be accidentally spoiled (by some user comments on a youtube vid if you can believe it) on that one. Lots of fun.

Generally speaking though, I have managed to prevent being really spoiled, but going through the wiki (mainly to see how the covenants work and reading up on general stuff to help me choose my next starting class) seeing names in items descriptions let me know about significant chunks I missed.

That I simply forgot to check back that big painting in Anor Londo. So I completely missed the "painted world" I've seen in the wiki. Didn't read details but I am fairly certain how to get there.

I also COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT THE DLC dammit. Unbelievable. I killed the Hydra down on ash lake but when I got upside again I thought: Should I kill that other one? Nah bugger that next replay :rolleyes: If I had remembered that there was extra content I should have seen… I blame early Alzheimers…

Otoh It couldn't have gone better for a replay so soon even if I have planned it :)
 
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Thanks for all the awesome replies! Sorry haven't been around since I first posted... got a house full of sick people suddenly (nothing serious). Haven't been able to play but will post again when I can.
 
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Getting obliterated by the Fiery Demon in the Abyss... ugh might have to try here again later. Anyone have any tips for beating this guy with a ranged type character?
 
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Can you be more specific ? Do you mean the Firesage demon ? or the centipede one that is close by ?

Although SirJames is again your man, as I have yet to play a ranged character…

Although I suspect you mean the Ceaseless Discharge...
 
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Can you be more specific ? Do you mean the Firesage demon ? or the centipede one that is close by ?

Although SirJames is again your man, as I have yet to play a ranged character…

Although I suspect you mean the Ceaseless Discharge…

I beat the ceaseless discharge just barely. I'm talking about the next boss AFTER the ceaseless discharge… the one that is a lot like the undead asylum boss. Just can't seem to get any spells off before he stomps on me to death.

In the meantime however, I have completed the Duke's Archives and also beat the boss in the Crystal Caves. In order to do all this however, I did modify my character a bit to be able to competently wield the lightning spear I found at some point… got that spear up to +4.

The crystal golems as well as the crystal cave boss seem very immune to magic so now I have a character who can wield the spear and I practiced melee fighting for hours on the crystal golems in the forest area just outside of the duke's archives until I could kill them without much problem. After that, about 20 tries on the boss…
half those tries not realizing I had to break the crystal-thingy first grrr…
and then the other half just trying to stay alive while I paper-cut his tail to death.

So now I'm thinking that perhaps with my new melee abilities I might have more luck with the 2nd boss in the demon ruins area.

Also, this is a bit off topic, but I was wondering if anyone has ever gotten numb fingers from using an xbox 360 controller. I've been play DS in marathon stints using an Xbox 360 controller and I think my two middle fingers on both hands are numb because of it (I'm hoping). The areas of my middle fingers that are numb (between the middle knuckle and top knuckle on the side of my middle finger nearest my pinky on each hand). This particular spot is exactly where my middle fingers press against the controller so I'm pretty sure the numbness is from holding the controller too long. But it's sorta freaking me out so if anyone has ever had this happen and they know its from using a controller please let me know.
 
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I beat the ceaseless discharge just barely. I'm talking about the next boss AFTER the ceaseless discharge… the one that is a lot like the undead asylum boss. Just can't seem to get any spells off before he stomps on me to death.

What spells are you using?
How many of my spoiler points did you follow successfully?

a few fast casting Crystal Soul Spear, Soul Spear and Crystal Homing Soulmass should be enough. How high is your INT? I left my best sorcerer at 44 INT because I don't like white dragon breath which is the only spell that needs 50. 44 was still enough to use Logans Catalyst with its 's' scaling MagicAdjust stat. (The stat on casting implements that spell damage is based off.)

…while I paper-cut his tail to death.
So now I'm thinking that perhaps with my new melee abilities I might have more luck with the 2nd boss in the demon ruins area.
So you almost certainly collected that Enchanted Falchion from Big Hat Logans library area with all the chests before you exit into that forest full of crystal golems… When you say you cut Seaths tail to death do you mean you cut his tail off and got the Moonlight Greatsword? That huge mage sword that fires magic bolts if you use it in 2hands? I've never used that one, myself. A lot of bosses have tail weapons you can cut off. The only one I've never got is the manticore tail!

Also, this is a bit off topic, but I was wondering if anyone has ever gotten numb fingers from using an xbox 360 controller.

Yeah, I have a wireless controller and the battery pack kinda digs into my middle fingers. I don't know if numb is the word, but its become uncomfortable. More in the early days when I was still trying to work out the best way to hold the thing. Still not sure how I like to hold it best. :)

Also, are you playing on PC or xbox? Playing online? I play on PC if you wanted to summon me for some Jolly Co-operation. What soul level is your guy at the moment?
 
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Ah yes the Firesage demon.

That one was a bit annoying as it kept knocking me down with his Aoe/slam attack.
For the tank what helped was putting on the havel set (High poise=>No knockdown. I usually went for a highly upgraded elite knight set up to this point, for its mobility. In the endgame I settled to the black iron set, the silver and black knight shields at +5) you need Havels ring and some points in endurance for that of course.

After that I just used a pine resin for the Zweihander rushed to him to whack him a couple of times and tried to stay out of his way/chug an estus while he did his Aoe attack.
Hardly elegant but it got the job done ;)

I bet SirJames got you covered for the mage build (not reading those ;) )

Also, are you playing on PC or xbox? Playing online? I play on PC if you wanted to summon me for some Jolly Co-operation. What soul level is your guy at the moment?

Are you actually able to choose who you summon ?! I am intrigued. I bet you have to coordinate it off game in some way ?
 
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!!!!! SPOILERS ABOUND IN THIS POST DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS !!!!

If you got all the "crystal archmage" stuff done then] a few fast casting Crystal Soul Spear, Soul Spear and Crystal Homing Soulmass should be enough.

After going through Duke's Archives, fairly thoroughly, including killing the boss in Crystal Caves and working through Big Hat Logan's mini-quest line all the way to the point of killing him I now have Crystal Soul Spear, Crystal Homing Soulmass, and White Dragon Breath. I also have 'regular' Soul Spear and Homing Soulmass. I did not have the new crystal spells or White Dragon Breath the first time I took on the 2nd boss in Demon Ruins.

FYI - I haven't tried using White Dragon Breath on a boss, but I can say it is a great spell to use for farming the Clams in the Crystal Caves. They go down in 2 casts and they can't seem to avoid the spell too well.

How high is your INT? I left my best sorcerer at 44 INT because I don't like white dragon breath which is the only spell that needs 50. 44 was still enough to use Logans Catalyst with its 's' scaling MagicAdjust stat. (The stat on casting implements that spell damage is based off.)

My INT is 58. This is my first time playing this game and I really didn't understand much of the attribute mechanics of why/how/when I should add points to any particular attribute. I've learned a lot since starting the game and now I wonder if there is any purpose to having so many points in INT because after a certain point (not sure exactly when) INT seemed to stop increasing my damage.

I do like Logans Catalyst but I definitely don't like that it cuts the amount of spells I can cast in half. I've been using my regular catalyst but will likely switch to Logans Crystal Catalyst for boss fights.

So you almost certainly collected that Enchanted Falchion from Big Hat Logans library area with all the chests before you exit into that forest full of crystal golems… When you say you cut Seaths tail to death do you mean you cut his tail off and got the Moonlight Greatsword? That huge mage sword that fires magic bolts if you use it in 2hands? I've never used that one, myself. A lot of bosses have tail weapons you can cut off. The only one I've never got is the manticore tail!

I do have the Enchanted Falchion and I got it up to +4 (that's the highest I can get it to, I don't have materials to get it higher yet). After experimenting with my +4 Lightning Spear and +4 Enchanted Falchion., the lightning spear seemed to be doing a bit more damage so I stuck with the spear for killing the crystal golems, the crystal clams, and the Crystal Caves boss.

As far as how I killed the boss, I never cut his tail off to where I got the Moonlight Greatsword. The way I handled him was that I kept keeping my character by his tail. That way as the boss would spin around and cast the curse magic spell, I'd stay clear of it. Basically, I stayed by his tail, moving around to wherever his tail was, this kept me clear of the curse spell, and whenever he was casting I'd get 2 to 3 whacks in with my spear right on his tail (I did not use targeting at all for this fight). The only exception to this was when he did his AOE I would try to just run away but usually he got me. I think on the fight where I killed him he only did his AoE one time.

Yeah, I have a wireless controller and the battery pack kinda digs into my middle fingers. I don't know if numb is the word, but its become uncomfortable. More in the early days when I was still trying to work out the best way to hold the thing. Still not sure how I like to hold it best. :)

My middle finger on my right hand seems like it is slightly improved. The middle finger on my left hand still feels the same. I'm just taking and watch and wait attitude for now. But it really freaks me out that there is numbness at all. But I did google this and it seems likely that my numbness is from holding the controller for too long and in all the wrong ways. This isn't anything new it seems and so I'm taking comfort in that I hopefully just strained a nerve and it will go away completely in the next week or so. Getting old sucks.

Also, are you playing on PC or xbox? Playing online? I play on PC if you wanted to summon me for some Jolly Co-operation. What soul level is your guy at the moment?

I'm playing on the PC using an Xbox 360 controller. I didn't know that you could summon specific people I thought it was all random. My Live for Windows name is DebateMe. I haven't played for 2 days now and I'll likely not play again for another couple of days. I don't want this numb finger thing to get worse.
 
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That one was a bit annoying as it kept knocking me down with his Aoe/slam attack.

I really love the exploration aspect of Dark Souls. I love RPGs that have a real hand-crafted feel to them.

But I suck at most of the boss fights. Up to this point, each boss I killed was super lucky and through sheer will of repeatedly running back and trying to do just a little bit better than the last time. But each boss fight is hysterical and out of control. And I just don't get all that much better at them. I really should play Bennie Hill music while fighting bosses as that's how ridiculous I am.

The demons that do the butt slam… I don't know why I can't just move out of the way, but they get me most of the time. It's so stupid and I scream to myself, "LEARN LEARN DAMMIT LEARN ALREADY" but then I go again and get butt slammed again. So irritating.

I have some stronger magic now, going to give it a shot. But if I can't get the spells off I will try to melee.

One aspect of the game that I'm slowly comprehending is the need to change up your equipment. For a lot of the game my notion was, I'm playing a sorcerer and I must be all "sorcererly" all the time. But with limited game time and limited number of hours I will be on this Earth, I have been switching things up to help me out and it does work.
 
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58int! Huge! Generally, you stop at 40 in a stat which is when the gains slow right down. With vitality it can be worthwhile going up to 50. :)

That catalyst that halves your castings is call the Tin Crystal Catalyst or something. I'm talking about Logans wooden one. Looks much like the standard sorcerer one. Maybe you didn't get it yet? Its in a chest where he was sitting before he went crazy along with his Sage Robe.

Yeah, the summoning is random, but there's a "dark souls connectivity fix" mod that makes playing with people on your friends list easier. http://darksouls.nexusmods.com/mods/334//?
You're not far from winning so maybe we'll play some NG+ or new rolls or something. When you're all fit and healthy again, that is. :)
 
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One aspect of the game that I'm slowly comprehending is the need to change up your equipment. For a lot of the game my notion was, I'm playing a sorcerer and I must be all "sorcererly" all the time. But with limited game time and limited number of hours I will be on this Earth, I have been switching things up to help me out and it does work.

Very important indeed. The character system and stats are mostly there to support the gear it seems ;) You have to go a bit battlemage in #1 apparently and that suits me fine…

They seem to have tried to support straight sorcerer builds more for #2 going with some of the info from the beta and previews but that remains to be seen…

Sorcerer sounds gruesome for Boss fights. Good, I feel at my most masochistic these days ;)

P.S Don't be hard on yourself re: the boss fights. Not everybody makes it that far on this game and I think you already have most of the tough fights done. I can't imagine myself doing any better if I chose Sorcerer for my first time through…

Also what is wrong with being lucky?! Time honored tradition where I'm from! best tactics there is ;)

The demons that do the butt slam… I don't know why I can't just move out of the way, but they get me most of the time. It's so stupid and I scream to myself, "LEARN LEARN DAMMIT LEARN ALREADY" but then I go again and get butt slammed again. So irritating.

Iirc this demon's attack was kinda weird because the knockdown area seemed to extend beyond the fire effect area or at least to where the visual effect reached (and I am not sure about the fire damage too). So you thought you were clear and yet you got knocked down again…

Oh, I also wore the flame stoneplate ring. Can't tell you how much it really helped but if you don't have it I can try to remember where I found it (or look into the wiki ;))

edit: Ah it was in the exit from Sen's no way you could miss that…

more edit: Keep in mind that after you beat him you may want to summon Solaire for the next fight. He should make that one pretty manageable.

Also if you dont mind spoiling yourself (and I think you should in this occasion) this wiki entry suggests a way to make sure that you get his help on the end battle too. (scroll down to the surviving part) I intentionally spoiled myself on that one, I just knew there had to be a way!

I'll definitely try that out myself, I can imagine having some trouble, with a sorcerer, on the end without his help…
 
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58int! Huge! Generally, you stop at 40 in a stat which is when the gains slow right down. With vitality it can be worthwhile going up to 50. :)

Ugh. Well I just didn't know any of this when I started playing this game. I read the game manual but the game manual says nothing at all really. And I've been avoiding internet info to keep from spoiling myself too much, though on the boss fight in Anor Londo I ended up watching some videos and ultimately summoning someone else to help me… and by help what I mean is that the summoned person did oh I dunno… 95% of the damage while I ran around hysterically in circles to Bennie Hill music.

That catalyst that halves your castings is call the Tin Crystal Catalyst or something. I'm talking about Logans wooden one. Looks much like the standard sorcerer one. Maybe you didn't get it yet? Its in a chest where he was sitting before he went crazy along with his Sage Robe.

Nope. Missed this. I'll have to warp back there and take a look. Jeez I'm never thorough enough…

Very important indeed. The character system and stats are mostly there to support the gear it seems ;) You have to go a bit battlemage in #1 apparently and that suits me fine…

Yes, this makes sense. The whole leveling aspect of the game caught me off guard I expected it to be like most other RPGs. But it does seem completely accurate that aside from modest power increases by increasing the value of an attribute, the increase to an attribute is primarily about being able to use equipment. Would have made a big difference in how I progressed knowing this up front. But I went into the game blind… still having fun though, and still seemingly able to progress… hope I don't get stuck though at some point due to a gimpy build.

Sorcerer sounds gruesome for Boss fights. Good, I feel at my most masochistic these days ;)

I have no basis for comparison as this is my first play through. But I can say that I've gotten really good at running away. I have to be good at that as I typically can't take more than two hits from a boss, where the 2nd hit kills me. My last boss fight, the dragon in Crystal Caves, I got through that fight with just one hit (from his AoE) but finished the fight without healing… luckily he did not AoE a 2nd time. But his one AoE hit took out 3/4 of my hit points. Maybe I'll invest in more vitality.

Question: is there a level cap during your first play through of the game with a character?

P.S Don't be hard on yourself re: the boss fights. Not everybody makes it that far on this game and I think you already have most of the tough fights done. I can't imagine myself doing any better if I chose Sorcerer for my first time through…

Thanks for the kind words. But if you ever really do co-op with me for a boss fight, you're going to witness a total ridiculous spaz, who if not being hit by the boss, is likely to fall off some ledge after having been stuck in a corner.

Oh, I also wore the flame stoneplate ring. Can't tell you how much it really helped but if you don't have it I can try to remember where I found it (or look into the wiki ;))

Oh good idea. I do have this ring!
 
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I have no basis for comparison as this is my first play through. But I can say that I've gotten really good at running away.
Priceless classic :D
Hey you say run away, I say strategic retreat (you should have seen my first run with a Firemage on NOTR. Came this close to completely gimping that one) ;)

If you play as a Knight some time you may find that you are not as bad as you think (That one really ought to have a big Neon sign saying "recommended for beginners" over it)

I have to be good at that as I typically can't take more than two hits from a boss, where the 2nd hit kills me. My last boss fight, the dragon in Crystal Caves, I got through that fight with just one hit (from his AoE) but finished the fight without healing… luckily he did not AoE a 2nd time. But his one AoE hit took out 3/4 of my hit points. Maybe I'll invest in more vitality.

Question: is there a level cap during your first play through of the game with a character?

No level cap and yes you are correct (if that is what you are thinking): grinding a bit to toughen up if you have run into trouble is a completely viable strategy. It does sound like you need a few points in vitality at least. Also pick the gear you are going to be using and go grind a bit around the crystal cave bonfire. The walking oysters there drop twinkling titanite very easily and have a 1000 souls each. Pick them off one by one and gather as much twinkling as you need to upgrade your gear… If you need a different area to grind or materials let me know and I'll see if I remember any good ones. Oh I had the covetous ring and around 6 of humanity held to ensure the titanite drops…

Personally I only grinded a bit in two areas: Early game around the parish (from the fire over Andre) so I could reasonably upgrade my Zweihander, longsword and Elite knight set (and get some training with my chosen weapons). And late game in the Crystal cave so I could upgrade my Black Iron set and shields. I did not feel forced to do it but it felt nice to buff up my gear and it certainly did not harm ;)
 
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Finally made it past the Demon Firesage boss. As usual it was a spaztic encounter. I did manage to get him down to just one 'bubble' of health fairly efficiently. But then getting that stupid one last hit in, took forever and had to drink all 10 of my Estus before I finally got the last hit. Was unbelievable. But today I took that boss down with just 3 tries.
 
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