Picked it up in a boxing day sale. Got through the intro dungeon without being killed. Things were a little hairy against the final boss, but I pulled through. Now I'm in the first little hub area, where I can level up my guy. Died a couple times fighting groups of skeletons, so I'm grinding by fighting against them to get a little bit tougher. Overall, very much the same as the previous game, and I like the sword play a lot. My big criticism is the frame rate on the 360 version really fucking blows at times, which sucks in a timing sensitive game where you can die so easily.
Also, the stat screens for the items etc require some kind of decoder ring I do not own.
Now I'm in the first little hub area, where I can level up my guy. Died a couple times fighting groups of skeletons, so I'm grinding by fighting against them to get a little bit tougher.
It really depends on your preference but if you factor in speed, moveset and damage it would be Black Knight great axe. I like using BKGS, because its cool looking and its hard to get, but its really slow.
Strength builds are powerful because of 2 reasons: Stunlock and Poise.
An ultra class weapon has the ability to R1 stunlock you in one hit if you're not wearing heavy armor. Once you're stunlocked its game over against an opponent using those weapons.
Poise is what prevents you from getting stunlocked. Heavy armor = higher poise and need lots of strength to wear heavy armor. A strength build with ultra class weapon and high poise armor can tank through your attacks and stunlock you, game over. Wood Grain Ring and Havel's ring negate the speed penalty of using heavy armor.
Also pure strength based weapon only has to go through one set of defenses. Grant has more combined damage than BKGA, but since it has to go through physical and magic defense, the total actual damage usually is less than BKGA
I get the Stun + Poise advantage. Haven't met a Heavy-built guy myself since I spent so much time in Hollow mode. I should try Wood Grain Ring. Got it in NG+. I invested 40 points into strength so far. Will toy with a few heavy weapons and see how it goes.
I don't use the Black Knight weapons because they can't be upgraded for Fire/Lightning damage. 8^(
The BKGA seems too slow. Damage is lesser than then Lightning + 5, or Fire + 10 weapons.
I can't find an ideal weapon so far. Lightning/Fire Claymore and Bastard Sword are good (300-400+ damage) but range is a little short. Lightning/Fire Washing Pole has slightly longer range but damage is noticeably weaker if the Bleed doesn't kick in. Once enhanced with Fire/Lightning, they all lose their attribute scaling. 8^(
EDIT:
My most favourite weapon is the DragonSlayer bow + 5.
The skeletons can't be killed. They will keep respawning unless you knock them with a Divine weapon. Other than that, the Catacomb is not so difficult. Beware of the
skeleton warriors with wheel shield
though. They are strong in narrow places.
The skeletons in the Catacomb will stop respawning only after you have killed the Catacomb boss.
You should visit the Undead Burg and Undead Parish first.
The skeletons can't be killed. They will keep respawning unless you knocked them with a Divine weapon. Other than that, the Catacomb is not so difficult. Beware of the
skeleton warriors with wheel shield
though. They are strong in narrow places.
The skeletons in the Catacomb will stop respawning only after you have killed the Catacomb boss.
You should visit the Undead Burg and Undead Parish first.
Yeah, I found my way. Game is not as hard as I thought it would be. I do die, but nothing to ridiculous. One of the bosses killed me a number of times before I realized an easy and obvious strategy. Been grinding a bit to get my stats up, but it's hasn't been tedious. I've had a few moments of frustration with the camera when close to walls, or in winding staircases. Framerate on 360 is kind of balls. Usually it's good, but it definitely tanks when fire is on screen, or sometimes seemingly at random. Is the PS3 version better in that department? If it is, and you have both consoles, I'd recommend the PS3 version, since the online really isn't much of a "friends" experience where Live or PSN would make a difference.
I also started experimenting with heavy weapons. So far I like my +15 Zweihaender the best. It's not quite as painfully slow and heavy as other weapons its class, and the heavy attack is an instant win against just about any enemy which isn't extremely big.
On to the last game in my backlog, Dark Souls. I got my sins absolved for a discount. Bought some new weapons and upgraded my equipment to make up everything that turned useless after the last patch. It seems to have made the game easier since you receive more souls then before, and more thing can be bought now.
I'm back to Anor Londo. I just killed 2 knights that were shooting what looked like spears at me, killed a few more inside. None of those bastards ever wants to drop a nice weapon for me.
I'm back to Anor Londo. I just killed 2 knights that were shooting what looked like spears at me, killed a few more inside. None of those bastards ever wants to drop a nice weapon for me.
I have the Dragonslayer Bow now. So here's the question, can it kill the Hellkite Dragon? Will it do enough damage so he can't out heal me? I'd hate to waste all those souls upgrading it and buying the arrows if it can't serve that purpose.
Edit: Answer: I wouldn't know. Turns out Dark Souls can be as anti-climactic as Demon's Souls. I upgraded my Dragonslayer Bow to +2, bought 50 of those expensive arrows, and got out my way to collect the Red Tear Stone Ring. Thought I'd first bring the Hellkite Dragon's health down with cheaper arrows. I did 160 damage per shot and killed it off in no time without ever needing the Dragonslayer Bow. I think the patch may have made more difference then something I did.
Anyway, I got my Claymore. And I joined Sunbro's covenant.
I made my Claymore into Lightning + 5. Have a Fire Bastard Sword + 10. They have similar damage and speed but Claymore's thrust has a wee bit longer range.
For strength weapon, I use the Dark Knight Greatsword + 5. It's similar to the Claymore move set but slower and more heavy. Because of its weight and tilt, the DKGS thrust can send an enemy flying (backwards or upwards). It's very handy for all regular enemies except bosses because you can clear the path quickly. But without any speed enhancement ring, I find that I take more hit against enemies with good poise (compared to Claymore/Bastard Sword).
I have a Zweihaender + 5. Not sure what to do with it yet. May be I will upgrade it to +15 like Sigfried. I think its move set is similar to DKGS. Its reach seems longer than DKGS but I can't remember clearly. The Greatsword of Artoria is similar to DKGS too. Because its thrust is leveled, it usually sends the enemy flying backwards instead of upwards.
I noticed that the DKGS thrust can bypass Dark Wraith's magic shield if you aim at the right time. It will go in below the shield and then tilt upwards to slice up the Dark Wraith nicely. Great for finishing move. Dark Wraith has great poise, so no they won't fly upon impact. In fact, they could often counter attack at the same time, which is why I sustained more damage using DKGS against them. But it's quicker to kill them with DKGS.
At this moment, I prefer to use Claymore/Bastard Sword against bosses because of their speed (easier to avoid getting hit). Most Dark Soul bosses require you to fight close to them anyway.
For shield, I am trying out Great Shield of Artoria + 5. After the patch, it has more stability than Hollow Soldier Shield + 15.
I have 3 bosses left in my NG+. So far, most difficult boss is
Ornstein and Smooch (whatever his name was)
. Killed
Four Kings
last night in 2 tries with my "lowly" Fire Bastard Sword + 10, and pyro.
EDIT: Don't forget to visit Zena after you defeat a boss. Sometimes, he will sell the boss' armor in his store.
I have the Dragonslayer Bow now. So here's the question, can it kill the Hellkite Dragon? Will it do enough damage so he can't out heal me? I'd hate to waste all those souls upgrading it and buying the arrows if it can't serve that purpose.
Edit: Answer: I wouldn't know. Turns out Dark Souls can be as anti-climactic as Demon's Souls. I upgraded my Dragonslayer Bow to +2, bought 50 of those expensive arrows, and got out my way to collect the Red Tear Stone Ring. Thought I'd first bring the Hellkite Dragon's health down with cheaper arrows. I did 160 damage per shot and killed it off in no time without ever needing the Dragonslayer Bow. I think the patch may have made more difference then something I did.
Anyway, I got my Claymore. And I joined Sunbro's covenant.
I couldn't kill Hellkite with Dragonslayer Bow last night in NG+. His health seems to stabilize/recover after a short while. 8^(
I wasted 50 arrows on it before noticing that the health bar didn't really change much. Each arrow scored about 200-300+ points if you aim at his head. Had to run down the stair case to avoid his fire breath after every arrow. XD
I couldn't kill Hellkite with Dragonslayer Bow last night in NG+. His health seems to stabilize/recover after a short while. 8^(
I wasted 50 arrows on it before noticing that the health bar didn't really change much. Each arrow scored about 200-300+ points if you aim at his head. Had to run down the stair case to avoid his fire breath after every arrow. XD
Below the bridge outside of where the rats are. You can shoot him right in his head from there, and a few times more as he jumps on the bridge. The problem is he'll heal himself if his health gets too low, which for some reason he never did when I killed him.
I just killed Lautrec. Pretty good fight one against three. It's nice having the FireLink Shrine bonfire back.
Below the bridge outside of where the rats are. You can shoot him right in his head from there, and a few times more as he jumps on the bridge. The problem is he'll heal himself if his health gets too low, which for some reason he never did when I killed him.
I shot the mage from a distance to make him come running over. Lautrec and that other guy weren't far behind, but it gave me enough time to kill the mage. After trying a few times and putting on the Wolfs Ring they could no longer stun lock me. That made fight pretty manageable.
I think Ornstein and Smough are just ahead of me. I haven't gone through the fog gate yet though.
For strength weapon, I use the Dark Knight Greatsword + 5. It's similar to the Claymore move set but slower and more heavy. Because of its weight and tilt, the DKGS thrust can send an enemy flying (backwards or upwards). It's very handy for all regular enemies except bosses because you can clear the path quickly. But without any speed enhancement ring, I find that I take more hit against enemies with good poise (compared to Claymore/Bastard Sword).
Anyways I love that weapon. The 2H R2 is pretty badass. It's super rare to do, but I love it when I hit someone with it in PVP... first hit stun with 2H R1 then 2H R2 and they go flying straight up and then the match is over!
