Dark Souls has absolutely gorgeous visual design.

ClockworkUniverse

Really ought to get Demon's Souls sometime.

Although, I think my roommate might have it...either way, I need to play it.

Shlapintogan

Yes, INUH, yes you do.

Schitzo

I want to play Demon's Souls again, but my internet is dead as far as my PS3 is concerned, the fucker.

MadassAlex

> Choose class, "Knight"
> Put all soul levels into Vitality and Endurance.
> Laugh in the face of all mooks
> Weep during boss battles

This was my experience until I found the composite bow. I'm not gonna pussyfoot it around in Dark Souls, though. I'll go for a Faith build with dedicated melee against all adversaries. It'll be doable this time, too, since you'll no longer be reduced to half health after death. Although that mechanic made winning a boss battle in Demon's Souls really rewarding.

Chagen

Schitzo: Oh shit, spoilers don't show up on the mobile site. Sorry.

ClockworkUniverse

Update on my statement that I should play Demon's Souls: I've started it. Thus far, it's been frustrating, but more in the "why did I do that" way than in the "this game is unfair" way.

MadassAlex

As above, my best advice to you is to plan your soul expenditures, and use them all up whenever that's reasonable.

ClockworkUniverse

I am.

I'm finding it a lot easier to grind than expected. Though stuff gets expensive fast.

MadassAlex

Check out the realm with the silver skeletons. They're a bitch to get used to, but when you're good against them, that realm will net you a massive harvest of souls.

ClockworkUniverse

The rolling ones? Yeah, my roommate directed me there. I fought them until I was able to beat 4-1 and kill the dragon in 1-2.

MadassAlex

Nice. You're well on the way to kicking the game's ass, then. Don't get complacent, though, or the game will turn the tables on you and you will weep tears of sulfur acid.

ClockworkUniverse

Oh, no, I've had a healthy "ohcrapohcrapohcrap" mentality going. But it's been quite a first day. I think it's clear at this point that I can make it.

Actually, when I saw that the Dark Souls preorder bonus was the collector's edition, I went ahead and preordered it.

Shlapintogan

@INUH

If you don't want to make the game harder on yourself by accident, go into areas in Soul form instead of in body form. That way your world tendency doesn't shift towards black when you die.

Unless you're absolutely certain you can roll around in it, don't wear heavier armor. You can roll in armor if your equipment's total weight is less than half of your equipment burden (so if you have an equipment burden of 50, 25 or lower will let you roll around).

If you get invaded, put away your shield. You'll need the mobility instead of the ability to block. If you can't roll even with it put away, you can put it back on, but the fight will be tough.

If you need to buy something from a merchant out in the world instead of at the nexus, don't take normal souls with you, instead, take the souls you can consume (storied hero's souls, unknown soldier's souls, etc.) with you, and then consume them when you reach the vendor you want to buy from.

DO NOT consume Demon souls until you know what they can be used for. Certain souls can be used for unique weapons or powerful spells. You can look through souls and what they have to offer for you, here. There are some spoilers. 

Don't upgrade luck unless you absolutely need to. You'll want to upgrade luck if you start using the Blueblood Sword.

Practice parrying and ripostes, they can save your life.

Prioritize expenditures in the nexus like so: Repairs, leveling up, minor upgrades (the major stuff can only be done by Blacksmith Ed in 2-1) and then buying spells. The last two are interchangeable depending on what you want more.

There's a crescent falchion +1 in 4-1. It's guarded by a black skeleton. That's a good weapon to use until you start getting other things upgraded.

Killing invading players shifts your Character tendency towards white. This is separate from World tendency and affects a few things, such as health available in Soul form and the damage Demonbrandt does. Once you reach pure white Character tendency, you can go talk to the Monumental (assuming you said yes to his request at the beginning) to get the Friend's ring. Inversely, if you shift your Character tendency all the way to black, you can get quests from a woman named Mephistopiles to kill people in the nexus. Completing them all gets you the Foe's Ring.

Stockpile those lotuses. You'll need them for the Valley of Defilement.

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ClockworkUniverse

Unless you're absolutely certain you can roll around in it, don't wear heavier armor. You can roll in armor if your equipment's total weight is less than half of your equipment burden (so if you have an equipment burden of 50, 25 or lower will let you roll around).

Right. I don't have heavier armor yet, but by the time I do, my endurance will probably be high enough, since I've been mostly upgrading it ever since I got my strength to 22 for the Compound Longbow.

If you get invaded, put away your shield. You'll need the mobility instead of the ability to block. If you can't roll even with it put away, you can put it back on, but the fight will be tough.

Even though I have a pretty awesome shield, I've almost never had it out. I've found that for any regularly-fought enemy, learning where to roll can turn a challenge into a reflex.

If you need to buy something from a merchant out in the world instead of at the nexus, don't take normal souls with you, instead, take the souls you can consume (storied hero's souls, unknown soldier's souls, etc.) with you, and then consume them when you reach the vendor you want to buy from.

I killed the only non-nexus merchant I've met so far, because he was the first non-hostile character I'd seen and I immediately went into "HOLY CRAP IT MOVED KILL KILL KILL" mode. But I'll keep that in mind.

DO NOT consume Demon souls until you know what they can be used for. Certain souls can be used for unique weapons or powerful spells.

Fortunately, my roommate was there to go "NO DON'T DO THAT" when I was about to.

Don't upgrade luck unless you absolutely need to

Pretty much standard RPG practice. Good to know about when I'll need to, though.

Practice parrying and ripostes, they can save your life.

I've been sticking to rolls for the most part, but I'm okay-ish at parrying. The timing's hard to get down, though.

Prioritize expenditures in the nexus like so: Repairs, leveling up, minor upgrades (the major stuff can only be done by Blacksmith Ed in 2-1) and then buying spells. The last two are interchangeable depending on what you want more.

Yeah, that's more or less what I've been doing. Haven't been able to get many upgrades yet, though. Keep having the wrong materials.

There's a crescent falchion +1 in 4-1. It's guarded by a black skeleton. That's a good weapon to use until you start getting other things upgraded.

Already got it.

Killing invading players

Sadly, I'm offline ATM.

Stockpile those lotuses. You'll need them for the Valley of Defilement.

Good to know. Haven't used one yet, fortunately.

Add Shlapintogan on PSN

Have you seen the newest terms of service? I'm not using PSN until the "you can't sue us ever" clause is removed.