Dark Souls - Combat?

I do have Astora’s Sword which I grabbed doing a suicide run to the Undead Drake but it was a cheesy move so I don’t plan on using it. One thing I noticed when I killed the Berenike Knight is that his massive shield has zero effect if he isn’t actively blocking? I was working my way behind him and clearly hit his shield a few times but did direct damage. So shields are a very binary thing in terms of protection? They are on or off depending on actively blocking and cosmetic otherwise? His shield is so huge it became really apparent.
 
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Yes if the enemy is not actively blocking, then you can do full damage of your weapon (depending on your enemy's stats and resistances) even if the shield covers whole part of their bodies.

Likewise with you, if your shield is not actively held you will receive full damage (even if it was a great shield covering most of your body). With shields also observe their physical damage absorption stat - you need a shield with 100, decent stability and lightweight were possible. Some shields have special properties (e.g. enhance resistances, health/magic regeneration .. etc.) so be on the look out for these.
 
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Gargoyles. I can take 1 of them but I can't survive the 2nd's fire attack. I need better fire resistance - I'm getting one shot. I have the Dragon Crest shield which has nice resistance and I've upped my Vitality a few notches since my last attempt but DAMN. I think my Bandit Armor which is nice and light is a liability for this fight.
 
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Gargoyles. I can take 1 of them but I can't survive the 2nd's fire attack. I need better fire resistance - I'm getting one shot. I have the Dragon Crest shield which has nice resistance and I've upped my Vitality a few notches since my last attempt but DAMN. I think my Bandit Armor which is nice and light is a liability for this fight.

I can't remember exactly how but you can summon Solaire of Astoria or Knight Lautrec to help you in the Gargoyle fight. It will give you a much needed break during the fight when the gargoyles focus on a summon instead.
 
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Speed is essential in that fight, find the best balance between fire resistance and weight or you could even try going naked. I always play a speed build and try to stay under 30% encumbrance but obviously you don’t need to. Don’t bother trying to block fire try to evade it. IIRC the fire will get blocked by the peak of the roof if you run to the other side also i think thier weak to lightning so use pine resin.

Killing the first one before the second one arrives is also key or at least with in a few swipes. If all else fails i believe there’s an NPC you can summon just outside of the fight or summon another actual player. You need to be human to summon. You should be human for all boss fights anyway as it increases your HP.
 
I'm still Hallow. I'll try a few more times. I think killing the first 2H and then switching to shield for fire resistance might work. But yes I have to take out the first one fast. Sometimes he is easy other times he get into a pattern I can't easily flank. I'll try some humanity as a last resort because its a perm consumable.
 
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Perseverance. Pig headed determination really. Lots of stats boosting for damage and fire protection and not an inconsiderable amount of luck mixed with a dose of "git gud". The Bell Gargoyles defeated by my lowly hallow. This may have been easy for some players but it was definitely *not* for this player. I'm still a bit shaky at the moment but Praise the sun damnit!

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\[T]/

Good job on the Gargoyles!

Don't feel bad about using Astoras sword. It's not very good, anyway. Weapons with more than one damage type have to roll against more than one armor type so pure physical damage tends to be better. The good thing about that sword is it's a Divine weapon so the skeletons in the catacombs won't get up again after you kill them with it. Decent weapon for a Faith build but most clerics prefer blunt weapons.

As you continue the journey, remember that you can only be invaded while human. This is when a glowing red guy appears and tries to kill you. These are usually human, but they can also be NPCs which appear when you walk through certain areas who drop special weapons and are worth large amounts of souls.

Also remember that most monsters loot table is the items they're using. One weapon I hoped to get around the gargoyles is the Balder sword. It's just a plain straight sword but its very light and easy to use with good Dex scaling. It's a good weapon for a sorcerer with a magic enchant. It has a very low chance to drop off a Balder Knight who's using it, but you can raise your item find by having 10+ humanity by farming humanity off of rats. Also, the Covetous Serpent rings raise item find, too, but none of the item find items stack with each-other.
 
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Yes I hated adding the extra 2 levels into faith to get just a marginal increase in damage but I really like the thrust damage in tight quarters vs the wild swing of the axe. Seems to go better with my medium armor build. I am trying to decide whether to get my knight up another ~5 levels to get his roll speed to where my Bandit is. The Bandit has all Balder armor except the chain leggings I bought. I’d like the opportunity to try a faster knight with my +5 axe. But my bandit build is certainly working. I went into the forest area and fought multiple crystal heavies whatever they are and the big armored guy lying on the ground with that obnoxious “binding/slow” spell. The big guy with the massive club at the tower base took me down though - he has a workable pattern but he hits like a monster so no mistakes allowed. Regarding items/drops I’m assuming this game will give me “enough” staying hallow or is that a bad assumption?
 
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I assume the big guy you’re talking about is Havel. You want to kill him ASAP, his drop is game changing.

He’s easily dispatched with parry and riposte or dodge his heavy attack and back stab. Whenever i start a new play through i run straight to him and kill him at level 1 for his drop.

Perfecting parry and riposte can make many enemies trivial.
 
Havel is a must kill indeed; parish area is really nice and enjoyable for some souls farming, because after this some crap areas (imo) come next. Every time i replayed these games, i rolled a turtoise dude :biggrin:; as a sword i used a claymore for most of the time, you can find one in the parish area, under the red dragon from the bridge, there is a bonfire and the sword is somewhere there.
 
“Perfect Parrying” dunno for me. One mistake and I’m toast. Easy enough to test given how close the bonfire is though. Surely I’m relegated to dodging and biding my time. He’s certainly on my list now.
 
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Yeah Havel is a massive tank. I can parry / riposte for a while and eventually screw up. Looks like I'd have to hit him at roughly 30 times to take him down at this rate using power attack (1H) with parry. I'll try 2H with dodging. If I could get the bastard in a more open area!
 
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Havel is down. I ended up using a shield and just being careful to drop my guard if I got hit to recover stamina fast before he swings again. Took a while but it worked. More importantly that freaking ring! I had enough speed to get a bonus kill - the Black Knight. He scares the crap out of me but I can out circle him now and whittle him down. That ring is a game changer! I can't use his sword though its not in the cards with my garbage dexterity. But the kill was great!

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Nicely done, that ring is the best item in the game imo. That’s why i always get it first.

I love how many different ways thier are to approach enemies depending on armor, weapons and encumbrance.

I always start as deprived and then build a thief type. Bandit dagger and buckler. I sneak through the game parrying and backstabbing as much as possible. FYI, you can parry black knights surprisingly easily.

O&S are the only bosses I couldn’t beat with the bandit dagger, came mighty close many times but it wasn’t to be. Maybe, someday.
 
I just did a bunch of the Catacombs that place is fantastic so far. One thing that is hilarious is that even though I can't really wield the Black Knight Sword in two handed mode power swing it sends people flying. So hilarious. I'm sure I'm in for lots more pain but the game is undeniably great.
 
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You hit the jackpot with that sword! It was one of my favourite weapons in Dark Souls but it wasn't quite as good in Dark Souls 2, though I forget why. I suggest leveling your DEX up to the minimum required to use it properly asap. The downside is it requires Twinkling Titanite to upgrade so it might take a while. Keep an eye out for crystal lizards and kill them before they vanish! Also, I'm not sure if it's been mentioned yet but damage scaling from stats really slows down after 40 so any more than 40 STR is a bit of a waste.
 
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Do you find those things easier on K+M or gamepad? Or is there no significant difference? I'm curious because I remember you saying you've played through DS with both.

I’d say its about the same, its just a button or key press. I’d say the main difference is camera turn speed and accuracy is better on K&M which isn’t hugely important but can still help.

I’d say use whatever input device your most comfortable with. I use M&K in my computer room but use a controller if i stream it to the living room or bedroom.
 
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