Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
If you have an email ending in @hotmail.com, @live.com or @outlook.com (or any other Microsoft-related domain), please consider changing it to another email provider; Microsoft decided to instantly block the server's IP, so emails can't be sent to these addresses.
If you use an @yahoo.com email or any related Yahoo services, they have blocked us also due to "user complaints"
-UE
If you use an @yahoo.com email or any related Yahoo services, they have blocked us also due to "user complaints"
-UE
Comments
^^^^^ Doing a samurai run has taught me a lot about two-handed fighting in this game, which pretty much boils down to "deal as much poise damage as possible within the minimum timespan". Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm finding that regular greatswords (bastard sword, claymore, around that level) probably deal the most efficient poise damage versus time spent on the attack and stamina consumed. When two-handing a claymore, for instance, it seldom takes more than three hits to stagger a non-boss enemy, usually less.
Well... I never found two-handing to be effective due to the slower swing speed, so I guess it's all dependent on playstyle.
I tend to roll and dodge a lot, and I rely more on quick attacks that allow me to disengage easily. Having the ability to lure enemies is great, especially for enemies that lose aggro. Not only are they at lower health when they reach you (potentially to the point you can kill them at range), but you can get them away from dangerous areas, such as areas where you risk falling to your death, and areas where you might accidentally scare other enemies.
Some weapons appear to have their animations built specifically for two-handing. The claymore and bastard sword are great examples.
All attack animations in the game have three stages -- the setup, the damage phase and the recovery. I've noticed that the recovery on two-handed strikes for the claymore and bastard swords is significantly shorter than their one-handed equivalents, meaning that you're free to act sooner. Weapons with really high strength requirements tend to have long recoveries no matter what, and lots of weapons in general have some kind of penalty in some area when it comes to two-handing. The claymore and bastard sword only really lose out in stamina consumption, though, and not by a whole lot, making them exceedingly efficient weapons for two-handing.
The bastard sword is probably a bit better in this regard, though, as it deals higher damage and you don't miss out on the awesome single-handed thrust of the claymore.
I just tend to prefer weapons like the Falchion, which have really quick attack animations, so I'm not locked into an attack if an enemy attacks me.
It helps that a lot of Dex weapons, like the Falchion and the Uchigatana, have an 'attack and do a backflip away from the enemy' animation, instead of a shield-breaking kick.
I tend to wield my Falchion, and swap between wielding a +5 Longbow and a +5 Longsword depending on the situation. If I'm travelling through a relatively easy area where I can one-or-two shot the enemies, I have the Longsword in my second slot; otherwise, I whip out the bow.
For a dexterity character, I personally think the uchigatana is the best close combat weapon (and not just because of its awesome two-handed heavy attack animation). The bleeding effect is wonderful against enemies that it would normally be weak against, it has fast attacks and doesn't consume a whole lot of stamina. What makes the uchigatana even better is that it doesn't get the backflip animation but the regular kick, allowing it to effectively break shield defenses as well.
Well, there's Ricard's rapier, too. Explore the battlements of Sen's Fortress and you'll eventually find it. It has a special heavy attack animation with an even more special follow-up, dealing pretty monstrous damage for the stamina investment. Also, its heavy attack animation is a reference to Fire Emblem, I think. Although there are a fair few media references in the animations for certain weapons, from Kurosawa samurai films to Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and probably more.
No, I have still ragequitted the game and am not going back >
One of us, one of us, one of us.
I will go back when the shrubs stop being so goddamned deadly. Shrubs have no right being deadly at all, let alone deadlier than zombie knights.
> uchigatana +5
> the shrubs are no longer deadly
Gargoyle Halberd all day long.
My issue with halberds is that they're almost invariably a liability when the conditions of a battle turn against you. Their length and power allows you to deal high damage at a reasonable distance to be sure, but if you can't keep that distance, the time it takes to start up an attack is now safe time for an enemy close to you. I find they're at their strongest wielded two-handed with an emphasis on dodging over blocking; their length and poise damage should be defending you moreso than anything else.
Of all halberds, I'm most partial to the Black Knight variant because it's super-duper cool.
>getting the uchigatana
It's one of the easiest weapons to get.
Also: Dark Souls progress update whee.
Queelag was a tedious fight with gear that was, like, +4, but Kingseeker Framp fixed me up. A blue titanite chunk ultimately provided me with fifteen mundane shards, allowing me to get it all up to +5, and I cannibalised a few titanite chunks for large titanite shards (since chunks are reasonably common later on anyway). Now my gear is a winged spear +7, Balder side sword +7, zweihander +9 and a Black Knight sword +4 which I happily found, eating up all my useless twinkling titanite.
That's usually the case, though, isn't it? You defeat Queelag and moments later all your shit-tier gear is godly because of Kingseeker Frampt.
Unfortunately I forgot to kill or even visit Lautrec after freeing him, so I didn't get the Sunlight Medal (and therefore no white titanite chunk from the Snuggly trade), nor his ring, souls or humanity and the Firelink bonfire is borked. Bah.
I need to fight through the demon shrubs to get the weapon to allow me to kill the demon shrubs easily.
Or kill the Undead Merchant, which is a terrible idea.
Since the 1.05 update, you can buy ranged weapon ammo at almost every merchant. Once you've bought the necessities from the Undead Merchant, you can happily relieve him of his crazy noggin and take the sword without penalty.
I'm pretty sure killing the Merchant counts as a sin, and considering how expensive it is to absolve sins...
Yeah, but you get an uchigatana, which is easily one of the best dexterity weapons in the game. 90 initial damage with fast attacks, long reach and bleeding is a considerable combination.
Besides, the Blades of Darkmoon ain't nuttin' so
Whazzat? Having had some success with my dual-wielding wanderer, I'm sorta curious.
Also, is it bad that I left off using the Homeward Bone to flee from the Taurus Demon because I wanted to sneak another level-up in?
Every PC, NPC and monster has a poise value in this game. You can check yours at your status screen, typically between 0 and 100. It's a kind of invisible, quickly regenerating HP bar, except instead of dying when it's empty, you or your opponent stagger instead. Heavier weapons tend to do more poise damage, and some weapons do more poise damage than others of their weight class. For instance, thrusting swords and curved swords are near the bottom end of the spectrum, whereas great axes and great hammers are near the top.
Dealing high poise damage is important for offensive tactics and strategies because it provides a means of defense; an enemy can't attack you if they're staggering, which gives you time to land more hits or recover stamina. The reverse is also true; if you have low poise, you might end up getting stunlocked until you're dead. Poise comes from armour and the Wolf Ring, the latter of which gives a whopping 40 points on its own. For comparison's sake, about 30 points will prevent you from staggering against any standard attack from a normal-sized enemy, after which it's about 20 points per a significant difference in poise advancement.
A character with high poise probably has good armour, so they can generally walk through enemy attacks to deliver their own devastating strikes when necessary. A low poise character has to rely on blocking and dodging first and foremost, because any risk taken might mean that your attack is interrupted and thus you get staggered.
Ultimately, it's up to you to decide what kind of defense/poise/weight combination you like best. Just make sure you're clear on what your character is and isn't capable of, because any kind of build is a compromise, and equipping heavier (and higher poise) gear means a drop in speed, stamina regeneration and roll recoveries. A good combination is to use a high poise damage weapon with high poise armour, since that's what allows you to walk through enemy attacks and stagger them at the same time. If you don't use or don't like high poise damage weapons, though, be sure to chain attacks together in order to achieve the same effect (but for a higher stamina cost, generally).
Protip: the shrubs are among the easiest enemies in the game to stunlock. Get to melee range with your shield up, know how to avoid their grab attack and they're pretty much screwed.
Absolving your sins won't bring him back to life, so it doesn't matter.
The only reason to absolve your sins is if you made an NPC hostile or made them not talk to you. Otherwise, having sin doesn't really mean anything.
So, how do I not do a backflip after attacking sometimes? Up until this point I was like, "oh, cool", but I just backflipped my way off of an edge. Is there a specific input order I should avoid?
Up+R1 makes you do a kick. Or a backflip if you have certain silly weapons.
Basically, don't hit up and R1 at the same time ever.
Also, up and R2 is a jumping attack which is even less useful.
It's simultaneously moving the left stick forward and attacking. Normally that kicks; for some weapons it backflips.
Ninja'd.
Unless you're kicking something off a cliff.
But I like my scimitar.
But I'mma try spearfighting for a little while. Even though I have to use it two-handed because I haven't boosted strength at all.
Don't use a spear as your main weapon. Just equip one in your left hand (or I guess as your backup in your right hand, but that seems less cool... >.>) and switch to it whenever you need to poke something that's far away. Therefore, you should probably be able to one-hand it for maximum effectiveness any effectiveness at all (also, you need to be able to one-hand it to use it while also using a shield, which is actually useful with a spear since you can block and attack at the same time).
Spears are pretty much useless if you can't one-hand them.
Do you have a shield with 100% physical blocking yet?
I'm only level 16, and I think my best shield is leather or wooden (I can't tell what the little icons are supposed to mean, so I don't know how they match up). Though I know where the first merchant is. I just don't know if any of his shields are worth giving up another attack button when I can block with a short sword.
How much Strength do I need to wield a standard spear one-handed?
I guess I'll try to fight the Knight before the Taurus Demon, but I don't know how I want to go about fighting the Knight.
EDIT: . . . Spear it is.
Normally, it only shows the amount of damage your shield would do if you attacked with it. I don't know why, but that's how it is. You have to hit... Triangle? Square? Whichever one shows you more stats about your item, anyway. Then look at the damage reduction% column. Also, stability is important for shields, since higher stability means less stamina loss per hit. And then, the type of shield also matters. Small shields suck, medium shields can parry, greatshields can't but will deflect attacks more effectively.
And blocking with a weapon is always terrible. Don't do it unless you absolutely have to (i.e. you were attacked unexpectedly while two-handing without enough time to switch back to one hand and you have a stupid equipment set up so you can't roll effectively)
The Taurus demon is the easier fight between those.