yeah, I've read about combustion and it seems a lot of people don't really think it's good, but those who have it and use it, love it. I will eventually get them all, and I look forward to using combustion. What does Flash Sweat do? Do you know the cost of iron flesh, I hear it's def increase is pretty awesome.

If all the upgrades do for the Drake Sword is add damage, I definitely won't be wasting scales on that.

Just today incountered the vendor who sells humanity. The short cut from the Undead Burg starting aquaduct is great! To bad I keep getting destroyed by the Capra Demon and his hounds. If the hounds weren't there I would probably be OK, but it will make it all that much more awesome when I finally do kill him. It doesn't help that the you enter the "fog" and he's in your face.

I managed to work my way back the assylum, got the a bunch of the missing loot, and lost 20k souls to the demon when I fell through the hole, 1 swipe! lol Oh well, just 20k, not really that much.

- Maybe I'll farm some rats for humanities

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That's awesome, we can play through Deus Ex in Dark Souls! lol

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Welcome to the forums Silverstripe. As Cobalt said, feel free to ask anything.

I haven't had to farm at all yet, but did just so I could use certain equipment. The fires really do make it easy though.

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NG++? I haven't even beat the Capra Demon yet lol. Grats, and I look forward to reading what you have to write.

Just one +. lol But I am already to Sen's Fortress. All that NG+ has done is add to the damage and HP of enemies. Since I've become quite adept at not getting hit, things are so much easier this time through. Pyromancy is so broken it isn't even funny. Everything dies, even now. I almost wish I didn't have it. Maxing out your flame and then getting the improved version up to +5 as well lets you do hundreds of damage. And with that ring bumping it...
Then again, my character is fairly poorly statted out (not uncommon for first characters) with no solid damage stat. Pyromancy's probably the only reason I'm able to compete. Plan to branch out to Miracles once I get my faith stat up there another 10 or so points.

Speaking of Pyromancy,
Great Combustion is a staple of my arsenal. It's close range, but it fires quickly and doesn't deplete stamina like a weapon strike, allowing you to attack and regen stamina at the same time. Best used for when an enemy has exhausted their stamina or are recovering from a missed strike. Get in close and Whoosh!
You have to be careful though. Bring a strong shield and keep your Equip Weight under 50% so that you can dart in, use it, and be ready to block. Also be careful not to press the button too quickly and use it too much. If they can recover you'll be wide open for a backstab.

Flash Sweat serves the same purpose as Water Veil did in Demon's Souls. It reduces fire or lava damage very significantly. Handy for fighting any number of foes.

I haven't used Iron Flesh myself, but I hear it can turn hard bosses into cakewalks. It badly slows your movement rate, but really increases your defense. Couple it with the heaviest armor you have (or rather the highest defense, which is usually the heaviest) and it can turn hard encounters trivial. You won't be doing any dodging, but you won't have to.


Ah, I see you've found the phone booth.
Want a hint?

Spoiler:

The Stray Demon (the one at the Asylum) is easy once you know his moveset. I was in the 30s when I got him the first time. Incidentally, he's worth 20K souls and drops a Titanite Slab, which you need for a few different upgrade paths. I can post the boss strategy for you if you like.

I think Zot on myresistance wants someone to talk to about this game by the way.

Tell him to come here!

No you!

Fine! Maybe I will!
*hmph*

I love looking at the past few pages then my contribution comes up.

Well, you know you could always go buy the game.
Come die repeatedly with us, Liam! Be one of us!
One of us!
One of us!

Eat a bacon sammich and get piss drunk with me first then we'll talk about dark souls.

The bacon I could stomach. The drinking, no. Will that get you Demon's Souls instead?

Consider both on my back log for summer 2012. Never any good games to get in the summers.

Bah. You'll still be playing Skyrim.

Very, very, very likely actually.

Well, I did it, I beat the Capra Demon. Got to the sewers, killed the butchers, got the trainer, and kept going.

While traveling around, I killed many rats (have lots of humanity now ). Fell down a hole, killed a bunch of "frogs", got the evil eye ring or w/e it's called, but nice at my level to be healed for free (plust I only have 3 rings lol), then got cursed.... died, and am stuck right by the "Giant" rat with half health... sigh...

At half health the giant rat can kill me with one swipe, but I will kill him tonight. That I promise you!

I will hopefully encounter a shortcut back to the shrine or something soon, as I would love to get some pyromancy training.

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LoD I have love bacon, and beer... now buy Dark Souls! lol

It's worth it to take the long way back, especially if you're just at the Depths bonfire. Go back to the Gargoyle tower and buy a purging stone for 3K from the guy up there. Or if you still have any cracked red eye orbs, go back to the asylum and trade one to the crow. Gets you two purging stones.
Also, there's a very handy shortcut in the first Butcher's room. Next to where you found the Large Ember there are some barrels covering a hole. Bust them and fall down. You'll see you're in the room with the giant rat, only above it. Snag the Spider Shield (has 100 hidden poison resist which you'll want pretty soon) and then do what you always do when you're above an enemy. NG+, I came within a few points of 1 shotting him like that.

Oh, and make sure to cut off the Depths boss' tail!

Also, down where you found the frogs you can get invaded by an NPC Black Phantom if you're in human form. This particular phantom shows up three times throughout the game, and if you smack him down all three times you get his armor (in addition to an item each time).
There are a few NPCs like him, but they will only show if you're human and the level's boss is still alive.

I thought about jumping down that hole, but I knew I was close to the trainer, so I didn't want to risk getting "lost". I don't even have 1 cracked red eye orb :/

I look foward to lunging my sword in to his rat melon! lol.

Trying to stay in human form, but this curse makes it a bit tough. I assume there is a miracle for removing a curse. That I want.

There is, but you have to go through the New Londo Ruins to get it. Ingward, the guy you find there, can break the curse for you. He will also sell you the way to do it yourself.
But getting to him means fighting your way through a horde of ghosts. True, you can hurt them now, and their attacks do less. But you're also at half health and there are no bonfires in this level. It's a suicide run all the way from Firelink.
Really, you're best off to go to the guy in the belltower. 3K isn't much to spend, though it might seem like it now. Then you can come back and smack Kirk and that rat around to your heart's content.

I can tell my character's really starting to improve now that I'm getting a damage stat in Faith. My Longsword's scaling has run out though, so I'm going to have to find a better Faith based weapon soon.
I did, however successfully repel an invader and nearly got a second one in a row. Well, a third if you wanna count the NPC one in that place.
The first guy was human and invades me as I'm on my way to seek out this NPC. I'd have given him a more fair fight, but I didn't want to waste Humanity to get that NPC invader to spawn. So, I hung out on the middle landing of a multilevel tower and I see him run by right underneath. Or rather I saw the top of his weapon as I was far back enough not to be seen. I immediately drop down behind him, too late for a plunge, then follow him up right back up to where I just was. As he's looking out across the level for me, Backstab. The kick from the backstab knocks him off the tower, so I plunge after him. At this point I've only taken away two thirds of his HP. He recovers slightly faster than I and gets in a smash with the huge club of his. Electric element. Amazingly enough, I actually survive it and manage to get a Great Combustion on him which drops him close to death. He panics and runs to hide inside the tower and ambush me as I run in. So, instead I take the outside stairs up to the very top and drop down into the floor above his entrance. I drop close as I can, and he sees me, but it's too late. One more Combustion finishes the job.

So, I fight through the level and spawn the NPC phantom. This guy wears this game's version of the Monk's Head Collar from Demon's Souls. He was a tough one. Seemed resistant to every attack I threw out and used this mean little Notched Whip (which he drops) and advanced Pyromancy. Fortunately, he's still just computer AI, so I whittle him down and he's gone. His stuff appears in the level's Boss room. Hat doesn't appear to give the huge magic bonus like it used to though. I'll have to look and see if it has any hidden values.

I continue on through the level and open up a shortcut to the bonfire just as another invasion warning goes off. At this point I've been through nearly every enemy available, including a mini-boss and I have all of 3 Combustions spells left. Still, I wanna give this guy a more straight up fight. I'm about to reset the level anyway now that my shortcuts are in place, so I head back up to that good old tower. I see him in the distance and wave, then beckon him to the first part of the level. If I lose my souls, then I want them back easily. I wait and he pops up around a corner. Noting that my character's weapons are not readied, he drops his as well. We bow at the same time. The fight is now on.
He opens with a devastating spell called Homing Crystal Soulmass. This takes off 3/4 of my HP in one shot because I didn't have my Magic resistant shield equipped, and I suspect he was wearing the same magic boosting ring I am. He tries the same again immediately, but I dodge like crazy and throw off the homing. So, he pulls out his Pyromancy and throws Chaos Fireballs everywhere (they hurt more and leave lava where they land for a moment, but take up two slots). More ninja dodging gets me in close despite this and my Combustion lands, taking away half his HP. I go for a second, but he dodges. I barely get my shield up in time to stop the large katana that is suddenly in his hands.
The block spooked him as he didn't expect it, so I try a last ditch effort to land my last spell. No dice. He dodges just in time again. So, out comes the sword. And seeing me switch, he knows I'm empty. He drops what I suspect is his last Homing attack, but I go ninja again. His sword comes back out. This is it.
We roll, dodge, quickstep and slice at one another for several seconds, one nick away from death. But finally, his katana's superior reach wins out over my longsword and the fight is his. He does the kneel gesture, as if to say how close that was, then the bow as he fades. He was nothing but respectful, so I don't indict him.

And that right there is just another reason to love this game and its community. There are bad apples, sure, but by and large the community's respectful and fair. Plus, this is heart pounding stuff. I love FPS games, but they have nothing on this.

Sent him a "Great fight. " message, but don't expect a response as he was a Japanese player. You can tell by the name quite often. I've taken to sending "Thanks/Arigatou " messages whenever someone helps me out. Gotten some responses, but they're in Japanese, so I have no idea what they say except for the emoticons.

I've got another fun story to share, but it would be quite the spoiler, so I won't just yet here. I will say that I think I just pulled off the hardest fight in the game, the hardest way to do it, and solo to boot. Platinum's all downhill from here.

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Lol..

Nice Cobalt, those are some great fights. I can't wait. I haven't been ivaded yet though.

You did say "so I don't indict him", what is that? lol

With gestures, do you know how to use the six axis for the, I've tried, but nothing happens. I'm not really sure what I'm doing wrong.

I will run back and buy some of those, I am just so mad at that rat and everything at the moment lol.

I still have so much to do... sigh... real life getting in the way lol

Thinking I may try the Havel 15 min fight soon. hehe

The same guy who sells those purging stones also sells Indictment Slips. If you have these in your inventory when someone invades you, then if they kill you it gives you the option to indict them. What this does is add their name into the Book of the Guilty. There's a covenant called the Darkmoon Blades. When you join it you're given a blue orb item which you can use to invade anyone who is in the Book. Your phantom is a special Blue color and you're referred to as a 'Spirit of Vengeance'.

For gestures, you have to hold down the button, then tilt it the way each assigned gesture wants. It's often faster and more reliable just to press and pick one though.

Hang in there, Ry. That rat'll be down before you know it. Key requirement for this game is patience. And don't worry about RL getting in the way.
Dark Souls will still be there when you have time.
Waiting.
Watching.
Planning.

I should be picking this up next month as long as the finances stay stable lol

Oh I know... I try, and plan, and try some more. I'm never in a rush with this game, as rushing gets you kill... FAST! This why I'm only at the rat, slow and steady, heh.

With covenants, can you join/leave any of them at any time?

Jade, I hope things work out for you, it's a great game!

You can most of them. I think leaving the Forest Hunters is permanent.
You can rejoin others should you choose to leave them, BUT if you want to get back in it cuts your covenant level by half.
Just found this today when I went to temporarily rejoin the servants of Chaos. Went from 2 back down to 1. Had to donate another 20 Humanity. Shortcut was well worth it though.

Sitting outside of the last area again. NG++ on the horizon.
Only two unique weapons left to make and that platinum's mine.

Nice, grats! Did you buy the guide?

Nope. If I need help on something, there's plenty around the internet.
Mostly here: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]