im finding this area with skeletons that cant die to be very very annoying.

and as far as the controls, I didnt mean they are bad. I meant they will take some getting used to.

Well, If you like the expansion Monkey, I may just drop the PSN card on that . Although I am in NG+ and I wouldn't mind just making a new build and getting to the expansions start point in good time. I've heard NG+ makes the bosses excruciatingly difficult and maybe not the best for a first runthrough . I like hard but it sounds hard enough already and practice makes perfect .

The area with the skeletons isn't meant to be explored just yet I don't think, from the bonfire, go up the stairs on the right of the main ruins, that's the best place to start off.

Yeah, don't go that way. That's for later.
There are items scattered about if you wanna do suicide runs, but other than that, just don't go there.


Mitch,

Spoiler:

Well they sure hid that well. I had explored all over the place. found all sorts of stuff. Collected all the items from the graveyard, and went down into the catacombs thinking that was where I was supposed to go.

People talk about how this game isn't cheap how dying is well deserved, but blocking a path with enemies that just regenerate and cant be killed is a very cheap way to do things imo.

also how do I get out of offline mode? hopefully a way without quitting.

It isn't blocked off at all. It's entirely possible to make your way right down to the boss of the Catacombs with a fresh character as long as you have enough skill. Moreover, there is a way to keep those skeletons down. I won't tell you unless you want me to though, and you couldn't quite do it yet anyway.
EDIT: Well, actually with the master key you could, come to think of it.
But anyway, the guy at Firelink told you right off that the first bell was up in the Burg.

Quitting out to the title screen should do it. And don't worry, the game remembers exactly where you are, and what all enemies are down. The only danger is that you will lose any items that have been dropped by enemies or you. If it's not on the ground it's fine though.

I know it isnt technically blocked off, I did make it down into the catacombs, even went down in there retrieved my souls and made it back to the bon fire. however having enemies that you cant kill yet is stupid. it forces me to run past them. why not just put very strong enemies that can kill me in 1 hit and that I would do very little damage against? That is how you make it skill based. Running past enemies is more cheap than skill imo. I feel like I am exploiting it by just running past it. they could achieve the same effect by simply having them be stronger. literally unkillable enemies is practically the definition of cheap.

Disagree.
Knowing when to fight is just as much of a skill. You've seen the problem and overcome it to do what you need to. What more is needed?

But its not about knowing when to fight when it is quite literally impossible to kill them. If there was strong enemies that were just near impossible to kill then it would be a matter of determining if you should attack or not.

but anyways, I started over, went with wanderer. Kinda want to go all in dexterity and be an agile fighter, if I put points intoi dexterity will that increase my damage with the scimitar?

You figured out that you couldn't kill them when they got back up, didn't you? That was your cue that this wasn't the time to fight, and you learned it. Maybe you didn't learn it fast enough to save you, but not everyone does. We all have our strengths.
The thing is, pretty much every enemy in the game can make short work of you if you slip up, so just having strong enemies there wouldn't dissuade players any more that the semi-immortal skeletons.


The short answer is yes, if the weapon scales with that. I have a very long-winded explanation about scaling I can give you if you want, but again, the short answer is yes.

long winded please.

actually worse than the regenerating skeletons is a regular enemy that leaped at me from over 30 feet away. it looked like it was 4 or 5 times the distance he should be able to leap at me from

EDIT: also what is so important about humanity? There are clearly a lot of mechanics around it. and I just accidentally did a backflip off a cliff and lost mine

You use humanity at bonfires to reverse hallowing (become human) and kindle the bonfire which gives you 10 estus flasks per respawn instead of 5 for that particular bonfire, you need to be human to do this.

BTW in regards to the skeletons, I just tanked through the catacombs easily, killed them all with 2 hits and took barely any damage from their attacks, I wasn't even killing them properly. There is no point complaining about content you aren't meant to explore yet, as I just said, I was high enough level to get through quickly without killing them properly. Just head up to the undead burg/parish and you will be much better off.

In regards to the leaping enemy I have an idea which one you are talking about and a shield block is all it needs, expect the unexpected in this game and learn from it, if an enemy jumps that far than be ready for it next time.

it was the 2nd enemy in the 2nd area. in the spot around where the 1st guy that throws the fire things is. I went up the stairs attacked the 1st guy, and saw the guy way far away just getting up, then all of a sudden he hit me.

also just to let you know I generally just state my issues I have, doesnt mean that there isn't more good then bad. just that it is what I think needs to be said. I dont feel the point in going on about obvious stuff. so in general I ignore the good, likewise in the end when I go to give a long impression of a game I generally ignore the bad in favor of the good.

Although one thing I will say is press Y to toggle what A does. this is so awesome. like bind blowing awesome. why dont more games do this.

Just remember, you asked for it...

Quote :

Brace yourself! It's gonna get wordy.

Lesson 1: Stat Scaling.
Simply put, each weapon may have one or more stats associated with it, and the more points you have in those stats, the more effective the weapon becomes.
But not all scaling is equal. In the menu, under the weapon's stats page, in the bottom left area you'll see icons representing Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Faith. Next to them might be a letter. This letter tells you how well a weapon will scale with that stat. In a very typically Japanese move, the letter go from worst to best as follows: E, D, C, B, A, S. Don't ask me why S is better than A, but it is.
Example: Let's say that the Longsword's base damage is 100. Let's also say it scales with Strength at an S rank. Between the weapon and scaling, the Longsword may deal around 200 or more if you have a high Strength.
Many weapons scale with more than one stat too. I believe the Longsword actually scales C with both Strength and Dexterity, so while each stat might not add much itself, it does add up.

Lesson 2: Elemental Weapons.
Weapons taken along the Elemental upgrade path will deal Fire or Lightning damage in addition to their normal damage. However, they do not scale at all. If you were to take that Longsword and make it a Fire Longsword, it would lose its stat scaling. Usually this damage is high, and until the later game will outshine anything based on stat scaling.

Side Note 1--Some boss soul and Dragon weapons have both elemental damage and scaling. They're special.
Side Note 2--Humanity Scaling.
Chaos upgraded weapons and a couple boss weapons deal increased damage depending on how much soft Humanity you have currently. Soft Humanity is what's by your HP bar. Hard Humanity, the kind in your inventory, won't matter.

Lesson 3: Upgrading. By taking your weapons to one of the game's blacksmiths hidden around the world, you can upgrade your weapons along several different paths.

Normal weapons gain increased damage and often improved scaling. They are also the only ones that can be enchanted (Magic Weapon Spell, Sunlight Blade, others) or buffed (Resins).

Divine weapons deal Holy damage in addition to their normal, but retain some Scaling unlike Elementals. It does more base damage, however, the scaling is less than when the weapon was just a normal. The Holy damage scales with Faith.
Occult weapons also deal Holy damage in addition to their normal. The amount of base damage is less than Divine, but improves the weapon's Faith scaling.

Magic weapons work just like Divine, but scale with Intelligence instead.
Enchanted weapons work just like Occult weapons, but with Intelligence instead.

Fire and Lightning weapons deal high basic damage, but never scale.

Chaos weapons deal Fire and Normal damage, but scale with soft Humanity as explained before.

Raw weapons suck completely. Ignore them unless you need one for the trophy.

Side Note 3--Shield Upgrades.
Shields can be upgraded into Fire, Lightning, Divine, etc just like weapons. HOWEVER, this will NOT increase how much of that type of damage they block as you might think! If you were to make a Lightning Eagle Shield, it would still only block 75% of Lightning damage. The upgrade applies Lightning damage to a Large shield's Bash attack (L2). No one knows why Small Shields (Hollow Soldier Shield, etc.) can be upgraded elementally though, since it does nothing for them.

Lesson 4: Poison and Bleed
Back in the menu under where you can see the effectiveness of a weapon's scaling, you can also see below that some symbols. Bleed, Poison, Holy, and Occult. The latter two I've explained, but didn't mention where to see it.

Poison. Your enemies will have a resistance bar based on their stats that fills up as you strike them with a Poison weapon. When it fills, they get poisoned and take damage every second.

Bleed works similarly, but also differently. Just like the Poison resistance bar, all enemies have a Bleed meter. When you strike them with a weapon that causes Bleed it fills the meter.
Now, Bleed weapons tend to do small amounts of damage per strike compared to others. But when that Bleed meter fills, it takes out a huge chunk of damage all at once. How much depends on how much Bleed the weapon causes. The bigger the number in the menu, the better.

*pants*
Okay, I believe that's probably enough to chew on for now. If you have any questions about it, or need something clarified, then ask and I'll do my best.

Same help I gave a guy on reddit. Had to dig for it. Should all still apply though.

About Humanity, it influences a couple of things. For example, the item drop rate is much higher the more soft Humanity you have. As mentioned before, Chaos element weapons also deal more damage the more you have.

Hard Humanity can be used to heal if you are out of Estus and desperately need it, or if you want/need to heal while summoned. You will, of course, still gain a soft Humanity when you use it.

Humanity is also used to Kindle bonfires. Each one can only be Kindled once to begin with, but eventually you will gain the ability to Kindle them all 3 times. Each time a bonfire is Kindled, it adds 5 flasks to the number of Estus you will have available when resting at that bonfire. You may have noticed that the Firelink Shrine gives you 10 Estus flasks. It's considered to have been Kindled once.

Fire things? What area are you trying to go through?

Oh! And if you find a Soul of the Firekeeper do yourself a favor and don't Use it. Take it to a Firekeeper.

lesson 1 is what I really wanted thanks. dont think the rest applies until I get somewhere where i can upgrade my gear.

by soft and hard humanity I assume you mean soft is the stuff that appears in the upper left corner of the screen, that you lose when you die, and hard is the item that you can use.

by fire things I mean the fire flask or fire bomb or whatever it is. they throw something and it works like a molotov cocktail.

im currently dealing with the dragon/poisous rats.

Also if I killed an NPC any way to get him back? there was a creeping looking dude, and I attacked him thinking he was going to attack me...though I did get a katana out of it. (Uchigatana)

Oh, if you want, shoot off the dragon's tail with a bow, nets you a nice weapon, you can buy a bow from a hidden vendor in the undead burg, I can give the location if you want.

You beaten the Taurus Demon ?

That hidden vendor is probably the NPC I accidentally killed. Is he in a path blocked by some boxes and has 2 enemies with shields and spears nearby?

Saw a message nearby that said weakness is the tail. if I had a bow I would of shot the tail already because of that.

yea I killed the taurus demon on my 1st try

Nope. Not until next playthrough.
Be glad they patched in some stuff, or you would have just lost your only supply of arrows for a very long time. These days you can get them at any Blacksmith.
You killed the Undead Merchant. He sells the Residential key, Orange Soapstone, and some other stuff as well. Not sure how much you got of that.
He's not hidden though. At least, I've never thought of him that way.


At least tell me you didn't attack the guy on the end of the bridge where the dragon fries? Just to the right when you come out of the tower after beating the Taurus Demon?

This stuppid armored bull thing is just plain annoying. I know exactly what I am supposed to do. I need to back stab him, but the game mechanics/level design are working against me. I can only backstab him if I am on even ground with him, but he charges at me on a slope, and if I let him get onto even ground I have to run too far to get to him and he will turn around and attack me. This is the kind of thing I consider to be cheap. and certainly not skill based. (though I am sure i'll get it eventually)

its actually kind of funny because most people say ninja gaiden is very cheap, but no one saying demon/dark souls is cheap. But I dont find NG to be cheap at all, while I am finding this to be somewhat cheap

CobaltMonkey wrote:

Nope. Not until next playthrough.
Be glad they patched in some stuff, or you would have just lost your only supply of arrows for a very long time. These days you can get them at any Blacksmith.
You killed the Undead Merchant. He sells the Residential key, Orange Soapstone, and some other stuff as well. Not sure how much you got of that.
He's not hidden though. At least, I've never thought of him that way.


At least tell me you didn't attack the guy on the end of the bridge where the dragon fries? Just to the right when you come out of the tower after beating the Taurus Demon?

well wouldnt need arrows as I dont have a bow. I got all that stuff you said and about 3 or 4 other things as well.

and no I didnt kill that guy. I got something from him.

With the Undead Boar I just lured him into the barrels or down the stairs into the corridor at the other end from where you come in.

I personally didn't find the game cheap, that's just me though.

killed him via Ai manipulation.

Not really sure where to go. I feel like I have been everywhere except for the spot the dragon is guarding. that long bridge with all the enemies that the dragon likes to roast. I dont need to get in there do I?

Accuse the game of being cheap, then kill something with AI manipulation?


Yeah, that's where you have to go. Don't worry, it's not as hard as it looks. There's an alcove on the right about half way through with stairs that lead down. That's where you're supposed to go. Just hug the right wall, skirt the enemies, and run for it. Get that shield up when you see fire coming if you're not fast enough to dodge it. Some characters are tough enough to take one hit and still make it. Just remember that having that shield out slows you down, so don't raise it until you absolutely have to.

you realize that the fact that I killed the armored bull means I am past where you just told me to go right? (I assume its been a while since you have played it, so you dont remember the order)

so I can block the dragons fire with a shield?

This game does an excellent job of hiding the way I am supposed to go. twice now I have been so stuck I have had to look at a guide. and both times it was a very simple path that I overlooked. never because of enemies, or a puzzle or anything like that.

EDIT: how do I repair. my weapon just got so low on durability it lost power

Hmm.
Well, it looks like I'm going to have to go with Nation Code 632.
I blame Liam.



You can...
How effective it will be depends on a few things. The shield's Fire Resistance stat. The shield's Stability rating. Your Stamina.
As you've likely noticed, taking a hit with the shield takes away some of your Stamina bar. If it depletes it completely, it breaks your guard and leaves you staggered and open to attack.
What determines how much Stamina gets dropped per hit is the shield's Stability rating.
In general, Large Shields have the highest stability, but are also heavier. Their heavy attack is a bash. Low damage, but heavy stamina damage to anyone you hit.
Small shields have lower Stability, but will do a parry. With the right timing you can deflect an enemy attack and counter with your other hand's weapon for about the same damage as a Backstab. Very powerful skill, if you're willing to risk it. Iffy against human players due to lag though. And not every attack by every enemy can be parried. Most can though.


EDIT: Spammer!

You repair by taking your weapon to a Blacksmith, repairing it yourself at a bonfire (once you buy the repair kit from a Blacksmith), or I think there's an item that does it too. There's also a spell you can get much later. If you've made it all the way to the church, then you can access one of the Blacksmiths right now. From the Firelink shortcut go straight out the door and down the far tower all the way.