Dark Souls - First Impressions

Originally Posted by JDR13
He didn't drop any weapons, only a titanite shard. I'm guessing the sword is a random loot drop?

That's a shame, I had it on the PC version. Well, you will soon be able to get the dragon sword which requires less strength and stamina and powerful (if you know how to shoot arrows/bows.

How far into the game will I have to go to get better pyromancy spells? I didn't plan on taking my Pyromancer much farther.

I think it will take a while before you can get to the sewers where the pyromancer is trapped. Once you free him you will find him near the bonefire where the big bird dropped you (sorry forgot the name of the place). You will then be able to upgrade your pyromancy by speaking to him.

Speaking of the big bird… I noticed I can target lock him. Is there any purpose for that? I thought about putting an arrow in his ass but then decided that might not be a good idea.

I'm running around the Undead Parrish now with a wicked looking boar-head helm that I took from the carcass of some beast who thought he could run me over.

I came across some weird little gem-bug-thing that popped out of a barrel I had smashed. Killing it got me two titanite shards and two pieces of twinkling titanite. Was that a random occurrence or are those things hand-placed?

The crystal lizards themselves are certainly hand placed, though I'm not sure if their actual drops are. Be wary of "titanite fever" though, as sometimes their glittering placement can lure one into areas quite hazardous for one's health.

If you've been following my posts and DeepO's responses, you'll know that the bird does have a specific purpose. However, admittedly I tried attacking it once yet after some time and damage it merely flew away, only to reappear again whenever I revisited Firelink.

Originally Posted by JDR13
I beat the Taurus Demon a short while ago. It was only my third try overall and my first with my Pyromancer. I'm still sort of surprised to be honest. From all the hype I had heard about him, I thought it would take me a lot longer. It was obvious what needed to be done, but I wasn't sure if I could do it right away.

Just ran into him the first time (see, I told you you would get ahead of me ). I think I know how to get him, but a single Estus flacon was not enough on the first try.

Edit: beat him on the 4th try. He fell off the wall, after a nice heavy hit, Balrog style.
About time - I was starting to give names to the undead on the way up there…

Ok, all this talking about DkS made me want to obtain all achievements again (I already got Platinum on my PS3, except for DLC ones).

For those who want another bit of challenge I suggest to start with Deprived class .

I explored some of Darkroot Garden and Darkroot Basin this morning. There's a crystal lizard in the Basin the burrows into the ground before I can get close enough to whack him, and he's very resistant to the types of ranged damage I currently have at my disposal.

Went through a fog door in the Garden until I encountered a giant and promptly turned tail and ran. Too many souls to lose at the time.

Explored the Basin until I encountered a Black Knight who wielded a halberd. Fought him for about 5 minutes until I decided that discretion was the better part of valor for the time being.

Originally Posted by GhanBuriGhan
beat him on the 4th try. He fell off the wall, after a nice heavy hit, Balrog style.

Nice… didn't know that method was possible.

[QUOTE=JDR13;1061182585]
Went through a fog door in the Garden until I encountered a giant and promptly turned tail and ran. Too many souls to lose at the time.
[QUOTE]

Darkroot garden is an ugly place with many dangers, but has good loot as well. Moreover, there are so many doors that open into other parts of the world. Giant(s) can be killed, but take a lot of damage. Unfortunately they also respawn if you die.

When you've levelled enough, the Giants at that location are fantastic for soul farming at about 600 a pop.

Well, I've finally managed to do away with Four Kings. What's ironic, is that I'd forgotten to go offline and was invaded about half way through a run through the Ruins and was mauled savagely to death by some geezer just before the fog gate. The chap responsible was contrite for some odd reason and sent me a message requesting to help with the Four Kings fight. I accepted somewhat perplexedly, but alas, didn't find the sign at the agreed place.
Not to be denied, I went in again alone…



Thus, it seems I'm on the home straight now. I'm seriously considering leaving the remainder of the DLC content for a second playthrough, although I probably should farm some more titanite chunks to upgrade my weapons and armour more, as I have a crapton of unused slabs of various kinds. I'm sure I'm going to need them for the final boss…

P.S: Congrats to GBG for the epic shirt-popping Street Fighter 2 moment. Must have felt good!

Originally Posted by Pessimeister
Thus, it seems I'm on the home straight now. I'm seriously considering leaving the remainder of the DLC content for a second playthrough

I haven't even installed Artorias of the Abyss yet. I'm enjoying this so much that I'm thinking of finishing my Pyromancer playthrough without the DLC and then installing it for my next character.

I finally got a copy of Demon's Souls on Ebay today. I could have purchased a brand new copy cheap from Newegg.com, but it would have been the "greatest hits" version that's sold in stores now. I had to have an original copy with the cool-looking black case.

OK, I have a question: In the bonfire room in the undead burg there is a ladder, right next to the entrance. However, in my game it doesn't reach to the bottom, I can't go up there. I thought it was just decoration, but I just saw a video that shows someone going up there. What is the deal here, how can I "repair" this ladder?

You'll eventually reach the area above from another direction. It should be soon since you've beaten the Taurus demon. You'll understand what needs to be done once you approach the top of the ladder.


Oh, and stop looking at YouTube videos… cheater.

I'm always checking out other peoples videos after I beat a boss. I just beat the black knight, but the video I looked at was a different one than the one I fought (in the undead burg).

Whilst I haven't had quite as much time this week to really get stuck in, I did manage this evening to work my way down to the encounter with Artorias within the DLC section.
After a lengthy feeling out process (which involved dying several times!) I managed to find a reasonable strategy and execute it and move on to exploring the next section. I've also just hit level 100. Huzzah!

My only concern with the additional content is… well, it's too short I've much preferred a much larger expansion, but anyway, I think it's worth in any case.

It came included in my "Prepare To Die Edition", so it plays relatively seamlessly. I also think the Royal Woods section felt reasonably meaty; I'm sure I haven't completely explored every cranny here yet. The Oolicile township is also proving to give a nice sense of space in its descent.
I'm still after some titanite slabs actually for one or two of my weapons/armour as a final upgrade. They're proving somewhat elusive to find, even with the covetous ring equipped, high humanity and in titanite-chunk drop oriented places.

Originally Posted by Pessimeister
Whilst I haven't had quite as much time this week to really get stuck in, I did manage this evening to work my way down to the encounter with Artorias within the DLC section.

Love the encounter .
Keep it up!

Originally Posted by Pessimeister
It came included in my "Prepare To Die Edition", so it plays relatively seamlessly. I also think the Royal Woods section felt reasonably meaty; I'm sure I haven't completely explored every cranny here yet. The Oolicile township is also proving to give a nice sense of space in its descent.
I'm still after some titanite slabs actually for one or two of my weapons/armour as a final upgrade. They're proving somewhat elusive to find, even with the covetous ring equipped, high humanity and in titanite-chunk drop oriented places.

Good luck with the slabs farming the Symbol of Avarice (rare drop from Mimic) is useful too, although you have to be very lucky to acquire it, not to mention that it drains your HP constantly…

Greetings again Dark Souls fans and the mildly curious alike.

Just had to report my success in the wonderfully tense fight against Manus, the King of the Abyss. Got him on my third shot, after finally finding the tricky place where one is able to summon Sif for some dogged assistance in the battle.

For me, this was a case of pure unadulterated tanking with the main skills being knowing when best to strike and when to lift the shield to relieve stamina.
Pattern wise, he's a little reminiscent of the Titanite demons in some ways, so that familiarity meant that I didn't ever feel overwhelmed by him and could time some double-handed strikes.

The Sif touch was really fantastic and very pleasingly in my case, he survived until the end.

Whilst I think I've pretty much covered most of the DLC now, I think I'm going to leave the optional dragon fight for another playthrough for a couple of reasons.
a) I can't seem to make it very far without being burnt to a crisp! (looted the chests nearby however!)
b) The chap who apparently may help with the dragon is unreachable due to the crest key mysteriously not dropping.

Thus, perhaps after some more titanite slab seeking, I think it may be time to pursue the endgame. I can take out the knights easy enough on the way to Lord Cinder, but haven't actually dived in the fog gate yet. Should be good!

Originally Posted by Pessimeister
Manus

Originally Posted by Pessimeister
For me, this was a case of pure unadulterated tanking

For me as well, on my first playthrough. I didn´t even have much time to appreciate the design since I got him right away.
I´ve only really came to appreciate the dude on my second character, a low vitality dodge-y one, for whom he proved surprisingly difficult (the most difficult encounter in the whole game actually).

Originally Posted by Pessimeister
The Sif touch was really fantastic

Yeah.
You know what fight to postpone till after DLC on a potential replay .

Originally Posted by Pessimeister
Whilst I think I've pretty much covered most of the DLC now, I think I'm going to leave the optional dragon fight for another playthrough for a couple of reasons.
a) I can't seem to make it very far without being burnt to a crisp! (looted the chests nearby however!)
b) The chap who apparently may help with the dragon is unreachable due to the crest key mysteriously not dropping.

Hm, the key is a mimic drop, it´s possible it vanishes for good if you don´t grab it before dying/warping. That quite sucks - the chap fleshes out some things nicely and the dragon fight rocks.
As for a), you can´t fight the dragon at all at that time.

Originally Posted by Pessimeister
Thus, perhaps after some more titanite slab seeking,

If you´ve progressed through Onionhead´s storyline in a certain way,

But honestly, I think you´ll kick Cinder´s ass to stratosphere right away, slabs or no slabs .

Huzzah, finally finished! "Took you long enough!", my brother said. Indeed, an entire month of summer practically. Wow, what a game.

Originally Posted by DeepO
But honestly, I think you´ll kick Cinder´s ass to stratosphere right away, slabs or no slabs

Hehe, cheers for that vote of confidence. Though I must say it was quite brutal and took me a handful of deaths to understand that I couldn't remain toe to toe with him for too long. He simply hacks away too quickly and before you know it, your stamina is gone. My method was slightly cheesy actually, but there didn't seem to be many other tactics I could come up with due to his speed.

Coming from the Chasm in the Abyss held me in good stead for the fight simply because of the huge amount of humanity I'd picked up killing ghosts on the way to Manus a bunch of times. That meant I could rely on these (instant fix!) instead of estus flasks if required.

I love how the music for this encounter has this sedate quasi-romantic quality instead of the usual and almost expected bombastic overture. Gwyn almost lullingly floats in your general direction with every sword arc.

Originally Posted by DeepO
You know what fight to postpone till after DLC on a potential replay .

Duly noted. Not sure what kind of character I'd go for in a replay, maybe a dextrous assassiny type or magic user/pyromancer, maybe even a two-handed bruiser type since I missed out on many weapons due to my low strength.
(I beat Gwyn with a Lightning Mace+5, despite his heavy resistance. Can I also say Mouse and Keyboard ftw!)

Originally Posted by DeepO
If you´ve progressed through Onionhead´s storyline in a certain way,

Yeah, I think I must have missed the previous encounter/trigger in order to meet him at the final location you mention. I remember him saying he was going down from Firelink and met and helped him in Blighttown, but after that I don't recall seeing him again.

Well, it's been a jolly grand adventure. Thanks all for reading my bollocksy words and also to the posters who gave assistance and words of wisdom along the way.
To conclude, I'll give a list of my favourite boss fights:
1. Sif. (Purity and dignity) 2. Gravelord Nito (Atmosphere and slow, grim doominess!) 3. Sanctuary Guardian (Tactics, observation and movements) 4. Bell Gargoyles (Difficulty and location) 5. Seath the Scaleless (Aesthetics and remoteness) 6. Smough and Ornstein (dynamics, melee strife!)