Yes, I remember when first playing the game and joining the covenant and havng my ass handed to me time after time. Now that I am on NG++ I have rejoined the covenant and I am having a blast fighting these PVP forest stalkers.
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Dark Souls |OT4| Victory achieved for Scamco, text defeated
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Yes, I remember when first playing the game and joining the covenant and havng my ass handed to me time after time. Now that I am on NG++ I have rejoined the covenant and I am having a blast fighting these PVP forest stalkers.
SUBZERO-08
Member
Do you get a message when you reach level 2 in the Chaos Servant Covenant? I don't want to waste any more humanity than I need to.
I cannot remember. But to reach level 2 all you need is 30 humanity. Just save it up and offer it to her at all once.
You can also look at your stats as it will show you what level your current convenant is on.
SUBZERO-08
Member
Alright. I just noticed in your Inventory screen it states the status, mine's currently Chaos Servant +1.
Also, if I leave this covenant after, does the shortcut remain open?
Yeah, there's a different message and you receive the Chaos Storm Pyromancy when you reach the rank that opens the passage. It's pretty hard to miss when you reach the required rank.
Yes the door will remain open for the current playthrough (even if you leave the covenant). It will be closed on a NG+ and you will have to do it over again.
SUBZERO-08
Member
Aw, I didn't want to have to
kill Solaire, he was the best. At least I got his cool armor.
Have you tried the great club? They are both amazing. The two-hand roll attack is awesome and there's nothing more satisfying than clearing a room full of those smurfs in the Duke's Archives with what looks like a giant baseball bat.
Yep the, Large Club used to be better than the Great Club pre-patch, but now the Great Club gets A Strength Scaling once you get it to Normal +11 and beyond, so it does more damage. Those Club weapons are great with the aforementioned two hand roll attack, and they are pretty much a 1 hit kill on most enemies and if they don't die in one hit, they are stunned in one hit. This helps especially on Darkwraiths who have so much poise.
I also found a replacement for the Hollow Soldier Shield with the new patch, the Balder shield at +14 has 74 Stability, decent stats and only weighs 4.0. Beside the Silver Knight Shield +5 it is probably the best small shield for Stability. Pretty easy to get also, just farm the Balder Knights in Sen's or the Church in Undead Parish.
awesome dude - that's the demon/dark experience....as addictive as crack IMHO. (and dopamine is the key chemical that allows crack to induce a high in the human brain, and this is the same reward system we get from video games etc. so I'm not just speaking figuratively!)
J-Roderton
Member
Didn't realize I could have that big of a fight on my hands. On a side note, I take it that certain covenants are like rivals with other covenants? For example, dependent upon which covenant you belong, it will match you up with others that are in a rivaling covenant, or is that bullshit?
Brolic Gaoler
formerly Alienshogun
Finally beat it, glad that's over. But just lost 40k souls fighting the taurus demon. Doh, lol.
BackdoorBeauty
Member
Dont let it get to you. I'm currently carrying 2.3 million earned through PvP (sometimes PvPP) in the Kiln. once you stop leveling it adds up quick. Buying 999 dragon arrows is cool though.
Edit: I kinda want to write a PvP guide but I feel like it could make people regret their build choices. Especially with the time investment... PvP builds need to be designed from class choice. It is not true that they all get even eventually. The people you fight are directly related to your SL, so every point counts. For reference I am Darkmoon +3, with 40 more souvenirs, so that's 120. I'm guilty too, so I get invaded by Darkwraiths & my own covenant (how screwed up is that!), so maybe 250-300 victories now. The black separation crystal only shows 17, so that is obviously broken.
Also, I've been matched with people multiple times in the following countries: UK, Russia, Spain, Canada, South Korea, and China (well, Hong Kong) and Finland. I am in the US. Region in matchmaking is irrelevant. Only SL is factored.
If you want to see who you're matched with or fighting on XBL, just hit guide, scroll to Recent Friends, and select / click the guy (or gal) you just got matched with. It will show their country of origin, sometimes only briefly. That was the trick in Halo 3 BTB days to see what team of 8 you were about to fight. Ah, the good 'ol days.
You lost 40k fighting the Taurus Demon in your NG+?
If so, don't worry, enemies drop a ridiculous amount of souls in NG+. You'll get 40k just fighting your way to a boss, and the gaping dragon drops 100,000 souls for a point of reference.
Playing through Demon's Souls again makes me a little shocked at how rarely messages get recommended in Dark Souls. I've gotten a whopping total of 2 messages recommended in Dark Souls, whereas while playing through Demon's I discovered I've got two messages with more than 500 recommendations apiece sitting around in it.
Most of the changes in Dark are overwhelmingly for the better, but I think the messaging system is an area where they took a significant step back.
Most of the changes in Dark are overwhelmingly for the better, but I think the messaging system is an area where they took a significant step back.
Its because you have to buy and then equip the orange soapstone. Bad choice. I think you can press select now. I rarely have it in my inventory. I've never seen one of my messages get rated, so I just stopped leaving them in the first place.
As others have said NG+ is soul city. I also found NG+ pretty easy until the second half.
Yeah they made a huge mistake making the message system based on an item. A real "wtf were you guys thinking?" moment for me when I first found out about that.
I have had 5 messages set for over a month now. They all have 0 ratings, and they are all very helpful (i.e. pointing out crystal lizard locations, illusory walls that are less known, etc.).
I only saw one message have a pic of a knight instead of a hollow, and it was a "Praise the Sun!" next to the Darkroot Garden bonfire. It had like 200-ish ratings from what I remember.
I have had 5 messages set for over a month now. They all have 0 ratings, and they are all very helpful (i.e. pointing out crystal lizard locations, illusory walls that are less known, etc.).
I only saw one message have a pic of a knight instead of a hollow, and it was a "Praise the Sun!" next to the Darkroot Garden bonfire. It had like 200-ish ratings from what I remember.
Broseybrose
Member
Im finally turning to GAF for help with a strategy for Lord Gwyn.
SL 105
VIT- 32
ATT- 16
END- 34
STR- 20
DEX- 20
RES- 14
INT- 36
FAI- 14
My character's very versatile. I have tons of great gear but I go with enchanted Iatio or enchanted scythe two-handed. Black Knight Armor and Shield +5 for good phys/fire defense. Sorcerer's catalyst and Soul Spear. Havels ring and Cloranthy ring usually.
Most Ive ever taken off the guy is like 10% of his health. HELP!
SL 105
VIT- 32
ATT- 16
END- 34
STR- 20
DEX- 20
RES- 14
INT- 36
FAI- 14
My character's very versatile. I have tons of great gear but I go with enchanted Iatio or enchanted scythe two-handed. Black Knight Armor and Shield +5 for good phys/fire defense. Sorcerer's catalyst and Soul Spear. Havels ring and Cloranthy ring usually.
Most Ive ever taken off the guy is like 10% of his health. HELP!
Enchanted Iatio in right hand, Black Knight Shield in left. Parry and Riposte! If you don't do it this way, you won't have nearly as many chances to attack - it's really only safe to do so when he's recovering from his grab or kick. Maybe with the iatio you can get enough slices to get bleed damage there, but probably not? This method takes longer and you'd waste more time if you lose, so it's more frustrating. Parry/Riposte is really the way to go I think.
Broseybrose
Member
I willl try it. thank you.
The WofG spell (explosion) was mentioned already, just use magic block armour and shield.....the Tof P is easier I think as it is not direct damage, so you have ot change your fight moves if you are a roll heavy player. Use heavy shield to block their attacks and if someone spams this on you there is no mnore etiquette....use Wof G yourself, or crystal homing soulmass. Iron flesh alos temporarily increases your defense to tankdom and takjes a lot of seconds off the time you have to endure the TOf P....never used it mysefl so not sure how many uses but I do nto think each player gets many per slot. Can anyone confirm if Magic barrier and vow of silence work on pyro and miracles or only sorcery? If so, there is an easy way to force melee instead of chersse tactics, but my guess is that they only work on sorcery....kust a guess.
Keep in mind these are faith based miracles so the person's weapon may be divine or occult, which really adds magic damage as well....the ornstein armour tends to be pretty good for magic block if you are too light for havel's, and the antiquated skirt got nerfed but not so much that it does not help magic resisitance.
I'm probably the only person who takes the time to rate good messages. If somebody posts a useful message, and it leads to something good, then I'll rate it. So if anybody's playing the 360 version and your message receives a +1, then chances are it was me. I like doing it because it feels like I'm doing someone else a favor by telling them this is useful advice. The "Praise the sun" and "Good luck" ones, are useless otherwise.
SUBZERO-08
Member
I usually +1 most of the messages I see, as long as they are somewhat useful. I'm still not sure if I've had one of my messages +1'd to this day, is that what the yellow light moving into your characters head randomly means?
NEOPARADIGM
Banned
There has to be something else going on with messages. I mean there's no way it's just because no one rates them - I see messages with lots of ratings all the time. So, what, everyone who's never had a message rated is just unlucky and every message with a rating you've ever seen has just been some unimaginable stroke of luck for that guy? Just no way. Gotta be something else.
Brolic Gaoler
formerly Alienshogun
This game has spoiled the shit out of me.
It's just so deep and the combat is fantastic. I tried to go back to gears now that I've beat the 1st playthrough, and I just can't stand gears. It's boring.
Looks like Skyrim and the Ghost Recon beta will be my next adventures aside from more DS.
It's just so deep and the combat is fantastic. I tried to go back to gears now that I've beat the 1st playthrough, and I just can't stand gears. It's boring.
Looks like Skyrim and the Ghost Recon beta will be my next adventures aside from more DS.
I usually +1 if they are semi-useful (even once I know the area), or if they make me chuckle. Always nice to get that little Estus boost.
On the subject of messages, there was a shitty "Here!" one at the edge of a pointless cliff with a rating of 9. So I went all party-pooper on its ass and rated it -1.
It went from 9 to 10 after I re-checked.
Is negative rating bugged? Are there any consequences of having a message rated negatively?
On the subject of messages, there was a shitty "Here!" one at the edge of a pointless cliff with a rating of 9. So I went all party-pooper on its ass and rated it -1.
It went from 9 to 10 after I re-checked.
Is negative rating bugged? Are there any consequences of having a message rated negatively?
It was changed in the patch so that you can just press select twice to rate a message now. No idea how anyone is supposed to stumble upon that though.
NEOPARADIGM
Banned
Yeah, see, and that's even more to the point: I've never even had a messaged rated negatively! It's like, fine, maybe I'm not as helpful as I think - but surely I've laid down somer stinkers, too? Can't even get a neg vote? lol
The more you know.™ Seriously, I didn't know that.
The "Here" ones are typically stupid too and annoy the hell out of me when it leads no where or to a dead end. I've never laid down a negative vote myself, but I should do that.
Honestly, the transition from Dark Souls to Skyrim is about as bad as it gets. The combat in Skyrim just feels like it was designed for babies in comparison.
I believe it's supposed to be like that so the messages can lead you astray. The Seek Guidance miracle supposedly shows the amount of positive and negative ratings.
Brolic Gaoler
formerly Alienshogun
Yeah, I figured that would be the case.
What are the chances for DLC for this game or a sequel. Did it sell well? (Yeah I know about demon souls).
Also, is the red dragon on the bridge unkillable?
I've gotten him down to half 3 times and he just flies back and regens.
Not just that, but I'm pretty sure your messages appear only while you're online due to the network infrastructure. Seek Guidance appears to pull the very best-rated messages from nowhere though.
Devs stated there won't be DLC.
SpaceBridge
Member
Im about to pull my hair out. This game.
So, I beat the Taurus Demon up on the castle wall. I get to the area where the red dragon is guarding the entrance to a castle. I take the side route down, get poisoned by rats, keep going up to where an armored bull is, manage to beat him by luring him to a fire, then keep going deeper into the castel and get my ass handed to me by some armored zombie guarding some cool shield (based on the message on the ground). After all that, where the hell is the next bonfire. Why do I need to go all the way to the undead burg bonfire???? Geez, you'd think that after about 40 mins of playtime, From Software would have added another bonfire.
What am I missing???!!??
Oh, and fuck those black knights with the horned helmets.
So, I beat the Taurus Demon up on the castle wall. I get to the area where the red dragon is guarding the entrance to a castle. I take the side route down, get poisoned by rats, keep going up to where an armored bull is, manage to beat him by luring him to a fire, then keep going deeper into the castel and get my ass handed to me by some armored zombie guarding some cool shield (based on the message on the ground). After all that, where the hell is the next bonfire. Why do I need to go all the way to the undead burg bonfire???? Geez, you'd think that after about 40 mins of playtime, From Software would have added another bonfire.
What am I missing???!!??
Oh, and fuck those black knights with the horned helmets.
The Undead Burg bonfire is actually directly under the bridge. If you look around the room, you should see a ladder about halfway up. Once you get back to the bridge, you'll be able to kick that ladder down so that you won't have to play through all of the Undead Burg again if you die.
SpaceBridge
Member
Holy shit, seriously? LOL. I saw it there, under the bridge, but thought I had to jump down. How do you kick again?
Brolic Gaoler
formerly Alienshogun
That sucks.
PVP/COOP in this game is so fun. I got summoned and was messing around with some other player. He gets invaded and the dude hides behind a black knight (the one at the alter in the undead parish area) So I pop arrows at him, eventually he charges the host and I backstab him, then he tries to run, but I'm quicker, he turns to try to get me I strafe around him and all he sees is my katana sticking out of his chest.
LOL.
Just walk up to it and you'll get a prompt.
SpaceBridge
Member
Thank you, thank you. *sigh* I just dont think im cut out for this game.
In regards to the black horned knight, am I supposed to avoid them?
I rate quite a few messages.
What's worse is when I leave a message in an empty area, only to return and find 5 of the same surrounding it. And none rated yet.
Time to try and recoup those 20k souls. Still bitter that seconds after beating the training boss (revisited) the flamers burned me instantly.
NEOPARADIGM
Banned
I would.
They're pretty easy, just gotta learn how to distance them and to manage stamina with your shield. If you have like a zweihander you can just stunlock them to death, pretty much.
NEOPARADIGM
Banned
Except dude is talking about not knowing about kicking down the 'Burg shortcut yet. I don't think he's quite into "they're pretty easy" territory. But maybe you're right. All I know is that first trip through the burg, they're by far the toughest enemies and are offset from the main path for a reason.
SpaceBridge
Member
Honestly, Im worried that Im just not good at DS. I mean, the game world and atmosphere has definately clicked with me, more so than Demons Souls did, but the timing of button presses and controls is something to get used to.
Don't worry about it, you'll be stomping the game after a while.
Well, I'll be. Perhaps one day I'll actually see for myself what Seek Guidance does.
Hahaha. I have so many friends who play Skyrim and bum it like it was the second coming. Maybe just one who plays both Skyrim and Dark Souls. You guys are my only real Soul buddies.
I mean, I get that it's an epic sprawling world and that you get to be epic and slay epic dragons all day. I honestly wouldn't mind giving it a go - don't think I'd even mind the babyish combat. But the way all that "rawr epic"ness is piled on (not to mention the technical complaints it receives and the number of jokes associated with it) puts me off. Makes it feel like the swords and shields version of Modern Warfare or something.
I tried to play Oblivion, and while the huge scope and sense of adventure pulled me in, as soon as I talked to a few NPCs I immediately felt disconnected from the world. a) The voice-acting was terrible, and the number of voices/samples extremely limited considering the number of inhabitants. b) The wooden way they would turn towards you and have this unnatural conversation made it feel cheap.
I know they are minor details, but the way Demon's/Dark Souls handles this NPC/world inhabitants approach is really very sophisticated. It's simple (some may say archaic in terms of there being no conversation options outside of Yes/No), but extremely effective. Every 'person' you come across is like an oasis in this bleak world, and every one of them has their own background, personality, and something interesting to offer - not to mention their own unique voice (the majority of which are performed well in my opinion).
... Wow, I don't know how I got onto that immersive world rant from the combat comment. Ah well, here's looking forward to my next little trek in Lordran tonight.
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