Shit and/or New at Dark Souls

/onebro/ here.

DS combat is all about controlling timing, range and your emotions.

Any weapon will do to make a successful playthrough, just pick one with a moveset that makes you take advantage of the timing of attacking and defending, the range at witch you can begin an attack taking into account the enemy you are facing and finally your will to use it without being afraid of the enemy.

Also beware of GREED.

Make a pure Wizard. It is the hardest, highest skill ceiling, most strategic, tactically precise and versatile build there is.

>>382456521
>Tips, tricks, secrets, strats, and ridicule all go here- 1 post shown.
better to overcome difficulties by yourself, trust me.

My only advice would be to avoid making Raw weapons because they are underpowered.

>>382457295
>wizard
>dark souls
nah

>>382456521
>level mainly VIT and END
>and just enough STR/DEX to use weapon of choice
>fire or lightning infusion or low scaling weapon
>use shield
Impossible to not be gud with this sort of build.

Just learn how to backstab/parry. You shouldn't really struggle with any normal enemy,

For bosses, don't roll away from them, roll into them and you should rarely get hit. From there just don't get greedy, take one or two hits and wait for the boss to attack again.

How are greatshields? I've never used them because the str/weight requirement turns me off, but I've heard you can tank Artorias/Gwyn with them

>>382456521
why the fuck isn't this game on sale?

Just vit dumb it's not that difficult

>>382458468
I spend an hour sneaking up behind the Black Knight guarding the cave to Drake Valley in Darkroot Basin over and over and over again and never once pulled it off. I tried all different distances, all different angles, I put my shield down, I unequipped my shield, absolutely nothing worked. I just tapped him with a light attack every time, and every time he retaliated by raping me in oblivion

I've never once parried either, partially because I'm too attached to my Heater Shield

>>382456521

endurance, vit, and dex or str are the best stats
upgrade your weapon whenever possible
get the grass crest shield
always fast roll

>>382457295
I think the biggest disappointment I've had in almost every souls game is going int and aiming for that sweet moonlight great sword only to end up defaulting to OP burst spells because I like the looks of the weapon more than it's moveset.

>>382456521
Sorcerer and Pyromancer are easy mode. Cleric too but that's more for people who already know the game so they can be throwing around 10 lightning spears that do 450 damage each at level 8, before even fighting the taurus demon, on top of having a fuckload of extra healing.

>>382459047
It's impossible to sneak up on the black knights and backstab them I think. It's not too hard to get behind them and do it after an attack though.

>>382459047
You're probably holding the stick forward when you try to backstab, that will cancel it out. Did you try backstabbing on easier enemies before the black knight?

try tongue but hole

>>382459047
You can parry fine with the heater shield, though even after ~350 hours I wouldn't really recommend it, about the only time I feel like it's worth the risk is against the final boss. Backstabbing is kind of weird, I can't offer any advice but it is possible to do it consistently once you figure out the hitbox. Backstabbing isn't vital either but it is helpful and way less risky to attempt.

>>382456521
General gameplay tips:

Proceed carefully everywhere. When you enter a new area, walking is better than running. Always keep your shield if you don't know what's waiting for you behind the next corner. It might be an enemy, it might be a massive boulder about to roll over you, might be anything really. Many people cry about artificial difficulty but the truth is that it's pretty easy to avoid almost all of the traps in the game if you just take your time and have your shield up. Moving slowly also means that it's easier to notice pressure plates and holes on the floor.

Study enemy attack patterns. Instead of running into battles, be defensive at first and see what your opponent does. This gives you a good idea how you should battle against that particular enemy. This same applies to boss battles. It might be worth it to die once or twice to learn the attack patterns and see which one gives you an opening to attack.

Explore your surroundings. Dark Souls rewards those who are willing to explore every location. Many weapons and items are hidden and you're only going to find them by searching carefully. What seems like a fall to your death at first might actually take you to a new area that can only be reached by taking a leap of faith. There are also many illusory walls that are surprisingly easy to notice if you just look around you. Many of them look like some sort of gates that have been blocked by a wall for whatever reason.

For boss battles, don't be afraid to try new things. If you're having trouble with a boss, try a new strategy. Sometimes the best way to fight a particular boss is to stay as close as possible whereas sometimes it's more useful to keep your distance. Sometimes you should play very aggressively and sometimes very defensively. Sometimes you can even use something in the environment to aid you in battle. Just remember that adamantly sticking to a strategy that doesn't seem to work doesn't take you anywhere.

>>382459758
I tried it out on the passive hollows around the New Londo Ruins elevator and again didn't land a single one

I'm at Firelink Shrine now so I'll give it another whip

>>382458778
Greatshields are thus for a reason. They can block anything, but they require more stat investment.

>>382456521
General help:
-Patience is a weapon. Take your time, think carefully, wait, and plan ahead. This game will not pose that severe a challenge.
-The skill cap in the Souls games (including Bloodborne) is actually on the low side compared to games like Ninja Gaiden and the old Devil May Cry games.
-The knowledge barrier isn't. It's as high as possible short of outright trickery. The game makes the process of figuring out what to do, where to go, and how to get things done as opaque as possible.
-Frobbing is critical to success. Even with a guide it's important to pick up that mindset and never let go of it.
-Life and healing are ways to learn experimentally. You can fuck up and get away with it by not being dead.
-Great rewards only come with great risk.
-'Optimal' play is unimportant. Good enough is all.
Specific Help:
-Cashing in humanity to get more flask charges at the bonfire is a good idea if you're having a hard time keeping enough charges to finish the boss at the end of the bonfire's specific area.
-Stacking humanity is risky but worth it if you're smart. Having 10 Humanity against a black knight almost guarantees a good drop. Plus it provides bonuses against certain attacks.
-Stacking humanity past 10 is a waste.
-Unless you're prepared for a fight never unhollow in the Darkroot Garden area.
-Hollowing is a 100% reliable way to avoid getting invaded, but there are trade-offs.
-The Drake Sword you get from the Hellkite Wyrm on the bridge early on is a honeytrap. The starter weapon for your class can outrun it with upgrades which are cheaper and easier to do.
-Elemental weapons are also honeytraps. A 'pure' +15 Standard reinforcement weapon with a buff will usually do more damage.
-Go to the catacombs as soon as you feel comfortable with fighting the enemies there, and keep going until you face the boss, then turn back. You won't need to return for a while. Trust me, it's worth it.

>>382459047
Heater shields can parry, can't they?

>>382459915
>For boss battles, don't be afraid to try new things. If you're having trouble with a boss, try a new strategy.
>tfw everything happens so fucking fast the second you walk into the Capra Demon fight I can't even try my initial strategy

>>382460439
Yes but the window is very small and I have absolutely no frame of reference in terms of how to pull it off

>>382459047
>I've never once parried either, partially because I'm too attached to my Heater Shield

heater shield is good for parrying

also could you really not just cheese that enemy like you can with every enemy in the game?

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>>382456521
never get greedy

>oh one more hit extra and hes dead

NO!

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>>382460450
Yeah, Capra fight is a bs.
Glad I learned how to kill dogs with firebombs before even entering the fog. Thanks to 200 hours of speedrunning.

>>382460703
I could and did, I just wanted to see if I could get the knack of it

>>382456521
>>382459915
About building your character and different playstyles:

The most simple build for a beginner is pure melee, which basically means that you upgrade your Vitality and Endurance along with either Strength (if you want to use heavy, slow weapons) or Dexterity (if you prefer light, fast weapons). VIT and END are good stats for literally any character since the first increases your health and the second your equip load and stamina (=better gear, more dodging and blocking). For new players I'd recommend focusing on blocking instead of dodging since the latter is much riskier. Having high stamina and a shield with good stability (=you lose less stamina when blocking) means that you can pretty much wall any basic enemy in the game and even most bosses. This is extremely helpful against bosses whose attacks are difficult to dodge and in areas where you don't have enough room to properly roll around. If you want to break the game, raise your Strength to level 50 and equip Havel's Greatshield. You will never die.

However, the most important thing is to find a playstyle that you are the most comfortable with. If you hate playing defensively, then don't play like that. Play aggressively with light gear and roll around. Try out different weapons and armor and find the playstyle that suits you the best. Some people play with melee, some play almost exclusively with offensive spells or miracles, some combine these things. Build your character accordingly. The thing about Dark Souls is that it isn't actually even half as difficult as people claim it to be when you learn the proper way to play the game and find the best playstyle for you. It's just that the game has pretty high skill floor so the beginning is by far the most challenging and demanding part. Once you get the ball rolling it gets easier and easier and when you get to NG+ you'll be running through all the bosses that caused you trouble on your first playthrough.

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>>382456521
picrelated is an extremely shitty DPS race so you have to put a lot of effort into getting as much damage output as fucking possible at any cost.

>>382460450
I hate recommending this strategy to new players, but as someone who does casual speedruns and challenge runs, look up the master key skip to quelaag, you can essentially backtrack a shortcut before you would've been able to get to the area, allowing you to skip Capra and vagina dragon. It also lets you essentially skip blighttown. I only do it because I hate the sewer portion before blighttown.

>>382461889
>encouraging new players to become cheaters like you

>>382456521
Heres the hottest tip you'll ever get.

10 suicide run attempts is about 1 good slow methodical trek to progress.

IE: It's often faster and easier to just run past everything from enemies, to traps, and then unlock shortcuts. If you feel like you need to grind to upgrade weapons or stats, do so in a controlled environment.

Dark Souls' idea of progressing, dying, replaying the content with new knowledge, and making it further is a cruel trap that too many people fall into.

Run past everything. Unlock shortcuts. Attempt boss. Once you feel like you need to grind for souls, do so in a controlled matter.

Polearm-type weapons(great scythe, halberds, etc.) are easy mode. You can hit 90% of enemies before they get close enough to hit you

>>382462095
Don't do this on your first playthrough, once you realie you can run past the whole game the adventure is less fun.

>>382460797
Seconding this a million times. NEVER EVER go "Okay, I only need two more hits to kill the boss. I should just two-hand my weapon, run to the boss and finish it quickly". This WILL get you killed. Don't fucking do it. Play safely all the way until the very end. If a certain playstyle has managed to drain 95% of the boss's health, it's perfectly capable of getting rid of the remaining 5% too. There's no reason to risk everything and start fucking around at that point. Don't get greedy.

>>382460450
Yeah, Carpa is a bitch but that's basically the point of the battle. It's the only one where you have to react very quickly immediately at the start. I'm pretty sure that at least 90% of all deaths against Capra happen within the first 10 seconds. It's meant to catch new players off guard.

>>382461889
I always do this on NG+ but a new player shouldn't do this because it basically means that you're not experiencing the game the proper way.

>>382462316
You don't have to warn people about that, it's not really possible to run past everything on a first playthrough because you don't know where the keys and upgrade materials or the location of anything important is.

>>382461889
You can go the backway through Blighttown without the master key

Just progress until you get to Havel's tower and go through the forest to Valley of Drakes. Then you can grab the key from the chest at the top of Blighttown, and unlock the shortcut without needing the master key

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>>382460797
Indeed, this has destroyed my ass many times.

>>382456521
You need to find the Flying Shoes in the Undead Parish if you want to complete the game.

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>>382462860
many times

>>382463046
>HAS MUERTO

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>>382463046
greed is bad

>>382462332
>es. NEVER EVER go "Okay, I on
Objectively bad advice. You can't have just a general rule of thumb. Unless it is to react properly according to the situation. Sometimes being more aggressive can save your life / win the battle. Offense and defense, all things in moderation.

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>>382462860
>Dark Souls in spanish

I am Spanish and this feels wrong.

>>382462860
>>382463046
>>382463182
And I think I have some more but I'm not feeling like searching for them

>>382463253
I much rather have it in spanish than having to read shit like 'I prithee, thou chosen of the undeath'

>>382463410

You would rather have it in spanish over the theme that the game was based on?

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>>382457295
>Make a pure Wizard. It is the hardest, highest skill ceiling, most strategic, tactically precise and versatile build there is.

Uhhhhh... no. Maybe for pvp, but magic has always been EZ mode.

>>382463738
Melee babies always think they're so high and mighty, but most of them never even tried being a Wizard, and the ones that did refuse to admit it, because they all start crying and rage quit because of how hard it is.

>>382463738
Did you know people with autism have trouble understanding sarcasm?

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>>382456521
A piece of advice that is often not mentioned: even though it may seem tempting, do not look at any strategy guides or walkthroughs even if you're having trouble. Looking at something like different weapon upgrade paths and their effects is fine since something like this doesn't spoil anything, but reading about enemy weaknesses and specific strategies, trap and ambush locations, secrets and so on will 100% ruin the experience and once you reach the credits you'll feel like you've experienced and accomplished nothing. I speak from experience because I did this with Demon's Souls and it's probably the one gaming-related thing that I regret the most. I wish I could erase all my memories of DeS and play it blind like I did with DaS. Overcoming difficulties all by yourself with no outside help, finding hidden secrets and figuring out the best ways to play are the things that make these games so satisfying. Don't ruin the experience for yourself.
>Literally mfw I realized how I ruined DeS for myself and I can never undo it

>>382464461
This. Now here is a real man. A real gamer. There's only so many chances in life to play games like these.

>>382462586
>tfw you ran past everything in Dark Souls 3
>tfw it doesn't matter, you don't lose anything if you have no souls, so if you go the wrong way, you just take the death and try a different way next time

Dark Souls is seriously a fucking joke of a franchise. I genuinely don't understand how people take it seriously at this point.

>>382464461
You get one chance at playing a souls game.

Once you've beaten one, that skill is transferrable, which renders all and any others significantly easier.

>>382460289
I'm sure that's just a figure of speech but for the record, whips can't backstab.

>>382457295
Magic is hard early game and OP to fuck in late game if you know what you're doing.

You can literally one/two shot certain bosses with a combo of spell/int based weapon and buffs.

Here's why people have trouble with the Souls games. They actively punish you for playing defensively. The vidya community is famous for its beta-autists, thus the high degree of difficulty involved playing a game which FORCES you to play aggressively. Get rid of your shield, learn to roll. Quit trying to block bosses, get in their fucking face and punish their wiffs. Quit trying to min-max everything, the way weapons handle is way more important than their stats. Quit allowing your autism to get the better of you and thinking you HAVE to clear every area. 95% of the time it's better to run by enemies than to attack them.

>>382464817
You're the genius who's incapable from refraining from using the very exploits you complain about.

>>382464995
Ignore these lies spread by brutes who's only talent is hitting stuff with sticks.

>>382463559
>>382463410
It could be kind of cool it if were in classical Italian. The game is already very Dante-ish anyways

>>382461889
I mean if you're gonna mention that you might as well just mention that you can throw firebombs over the wall before entering the arena and kill capra and/or the dogs without ever going through the fog wall.

>>382465190
>learn optimum strategies
>Hurr play suboptimally because muh fun.

Listen up. If a game is that exploitable, they should've done things to hinder exploitation. The fact is they don't care. FROM got their filthy dark souls money from Namco and now it's over for them to make some shitty Mech game no one asked for.

>>382460450
The strat is run up the stairs, the dogs should block capra's path up to you so you can kill them without too much worry, then you can 1v1 capra, the only attack that's much of a concern is the two handed swing, that one you need to dodge, the rest you can just block.

man why is parrying in souls such ass. I can never seem to get it right. Bloodborne was so fun with parrying big guys and bosses
could it be because of 60fps?

>>382465350
I know you're trolling but you're an ungrateful son of a bitch who probably enjoyed Witcher 3 that absolutely reprehensible... the electronic consumer product equivalent of the human equivalent of garbage. In short your argument is idiotic.

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>>382465040
>They actively punish you for playing defensively
Literally bullshit. Playing defensively is pretty much the safest and most consistent way to get through Dark Souls. I was scared shitless when I first went against Ornstein & Smough because I had heard so many horror stories about them and I literally beat them on my first try by playing defensively. High stamina and a good shield with high stability is actually easymode while Havel's Greatshield is babbymode. Havel allows you to wall Gwyn's sword attacks, Kalameet's flames, literally anything that the game throws at you. The damage reducers are so high and the stamina cost is so low that nothing will ever deal notable damage to you or break through your defenses. Tested both on NG and NG+. You can just safely block everything, wait for an opening, hit and block again. No skill required whatsoever. Getting rid of your shield means that you have to consistently time your dodges perfectly and fucking up even once usually means that you're dead. This requires a lot of skill and practice and is infinitely more riskier than playing defensively.

>>382465775
The witcher games and books are all shit

It's just confidence really, once you're confident in your playstyle you curbstomb everything.

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>>382465783
>tfw Kalameets "Black Flame of Calamity" is just pure physical damage

>>382465576
DS1 parrying is probably the best in the series. Stay close to the enemy and watch their hand instead of their weapon, it's completely consistent and responsive. If you have to then block a few of their attacks and watch when their weapon hits your shield, that's when you should be parrying.

>>382466207
>watch their hand
Alright, but what exactly am I watching for?

>>382466392
The right timing. Parry their hand on the downswing, it's easier than watching the weapon.

>>382466392
when they reach for your dick then you know.

>>382466207
I feel like the parry window is too fucking short its like 0.2 sec. Most of the times you have to start parry before enemy attack which is bullshit. I get that they didnt want it to be abused but it just made me disregard shields and just roll through everything.

>>382466670
Are you talking about Dark Soul 1? Because the parry window is pretty big and the parry frames start right away. You do not ever have to start the parry before the enemy attack.

>>382466798
dunno I played all souls and felt the same every time.
Guess Im just bad

>>382466670
You're probably having problems parrying random trash-tier undead enemies because they have multiple attack animations and their windups appear erratic. Game is working as intended, you really shouldn't be parrying them. It's a high risk high reward move, more suited to the more powerful enemies with more consistent attack patterns.

Parrying is easy-mode. When you're a real as fuck Wizard, there's no time for that because you've got to take your god damned broken twig with both hands and suit up in your raggedy clothen "armor" sewn by the Devil in Hell, and then you've got to fucking well R2 and roll around like a God for 25 minutes straight just to kill one lousy rat, without getting hit once, because even rats OHKO Wizards 100% of the time.

>>382467190
that might be true. But Im pretty sure most large enemies cant be parried.
That makes everything but greatshields redundant