The Souls Series Discussion

For all discussions about Dark Souls and Demon's Souls lore and gameplay.

Spoiler tags are appreciated when giving hints and tips. New players don't want anything ruined.


Interactive Character Planners:
http://mugenmonkey.com/demonssouls/

http://mugenmonkey.com/darksouls/

http://mugenmonkey.com/darksouls2/
And a http://jakebarnes.com.au/ds2sm/ for PvP & Co-op

https://mugenmonkey.com/darksouls3

So...any big changes on the PvP front since May for Dark Souls 3? Didn't really notice anything big in the patch notes and I'm about to start a new run.

Indeed, the Catacombs and Tomb of Giants: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=383559083

Well, i did it, so i never ever evereverevereverevereverevereverevereverevereverever have to do that again
Never thought i would miss Blighttown

And http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=671322841
Nope, won't kill
Since i, for once, have a choice in the matter

I must have broken the game. These bosses since Ornstein and Smough have been almost trivially easy.

Some of bosses in the DLC will still give you a challenge.

And are also the best bosses of the game in my humble opinion. It's always nice when DLC turns out better than the original game that is already good. And From Software has delivered every time in that regard. I hope the same goes for Ashes of Ariandel.

I plan on jumping back into Dark Souls 3 myself soon enough. Save for some PVP here and there, I haven't done a playthrough since May either. Plan on doing a bleed build with the Great Corvian Scythe with the beautiful http://imgur.com/a/WLrhG. Gotta say, if there was a weapon type that I've consistently loved with every game, it would have to be scythes/reapers.

Hmm, Have to try those some times, but for now Mr. Clicé loves katanas

I don't know how the meta's changed, but here are some changes that may be slightly relevant to PvP:

Dark Sword had a very slight nerf, daggers have had critical damage buffed, shield-piercing weapons now pierce shields with normal attacks, Black Serpent now has better tracking, Obscuring Ring's max invisibility distance was slightly decreased, the Hornet Ring now gives variable boosts to critical damage depending on the weapon used (boost is less for "great" weapons, and more for smaller weapons), and Scholar's Candlestick's spell boost was nerfed. A few "holy" weapons also gained some int or faith scaling.

Lord Of Stunlock just ain't happening, so i guess i'll go do the DLC at this point. I guess level 83 is high enough?

The r1 shield piercing, obscuring ring and hornets ring changes are probably the most significant of those mentioned. I played around a bit and it seems like rapiers have higher crit damage now just all on their own, hornets ring or not. So seems one of my favorite builds has been buffed. I liked the duelist option but hopefully the left handed Estoc and heavy right hand weapon combo isn't as effective as it was. Seems like fewer people are using it at least.

Well, that's it then, everything is dead. Except Priscilla and Kalameet.

On to the next one!

Well, DS2 at least is possible to play with mouse and keyboard, though it seems more difficult to me

So every boss must be savescummed in DS 2 due to the death tax?
No wonder everyone hates this game

If you're referring to the decrease in max health as you become more hollow, there are a few ways to deal with it.

1) Find the ring that reduces the effect of the health loss, so at max hollowing you'll have 3/4 of your max health, and just live with it for the first playthrough. Learning the ropes of how to to handle bosses and mobs will have much more of an effect on your success than an extra 25% health.

2) Don't sin too much on your first playthrough. Sin increases how much your max health can be penalized as you continue to hollow.

3) Co-op to restore your humanity and undo it. Dark Souls 2 has something called Small White Sign Soapstone, which allows players to summon you for just a few minutes, after which your duty will be fulfilled and you'll be restored.

4) Curse and petrification are separate status effects in DS2. Curse causes you to hollow one level, reducing your max health as if you died once, but does not kill you. Petrification instakills you and hollows you several levels, having an effect similar to DS1's petrifaction, only less penalizing and much easier to cure.

Also, a general tip specific to Dark Souls 2: There's a "waterlogged" mechanic unique to Dark Souls 2, where when you walk through water or poison pools, you'll get soaked with the liquid. If you simply wade through it, you'll be only soaked up to your knees, and the effect will disappear quickly, but if you somersault through it to try and get through it faster, you'll be soaked head to toe, and it'll take longer for the effect to wear off. Being soaked with water means you'll have increased fire resistance but reduced lightning resistance, while being soaked with poison means continuous poison buildup until it comes off. So do not somersault through poison pools.

Also, Dark Souls 2 is probably my favorite game of the trilogy. Aside from not being as soul-crushingly bleak as the other titles, it introduced quite a few interesting mechanics and innovations, some of which were completely ignored when Dark Souls 3 was made.

Well, considering i've died for two hours on the Pursuer, i'll stick with save scumming

Dodging attack is so much more difficult than in the first. And everything is still a stunlock. And i don't have the Wolf Ring to increase poise

What happened with Kalameet, if I may ask?

In Dark Souls 2, the number of invincibility frames you get when dodging are determined by your Agility stat (raised by increasing your Adaptability, and to a lesser extent, Attunement). It wasn't a popular change.

http://darksouls2.wiki.fextralife.com/Agility you can see how agility affects iframes.

Also, a tip for dealing with the Pursuer- when he starts shaking, getting ready to use his dark projectile barrage attack, get behind him. The projectiles can't hit you there and you'll be able to get a couple of free hits on him.

Edit: Originally this post was for complaining, but I've found something more productive and informative to use this post for.

I recently learned something else- over the past few days, people are making an unofficial covenant and PvP build called Bloodshades, for the purpose of countering gank squads. It involves naming a character "Bloodshade", making a bleed-focused melee build, wearing the Undead Legion armor piece, and being as deliberately "edgy" as possible. We've yet to see, however, if it'll catch on or if it'll die out and be forgotten within a few weeks.

Edit: Sorry, didn't mean to post a third consecutive time.

I started my Bloodshade character today


Considering that the whole idea is being heralded by Peeve, I think it will last for quite some time. (He's one of the biggest Souls streamers on Twitch)

The concept and guidelines can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6SCYfYK4pE

Poise doesn't exist in 2 (or 3) as reliably as it does in 1.... Don't rely on it. As mentioned above, get your Adaptability up to increase your i-frames when rolling.

You're save-scumming?? Huh? That defeats the entire purpose of playing a Souls game, imo.

Ah, good to know. Not useless like Resistance in 1. Though since i'm playing a different character, maybe i should start using shields


Nothing. He just burned me when i entered his his arena, then i looked it up, and saw that he's a superboss, so i just skipped fighting him


It's not cheating, it's human ingenuity : I did it in DS1 to skip the long walks to the bosses (like Sif), but here, where death actually has a penalty and the means to undo that are limited, can't help but be pragmatic about it

Dark Souls 2 was the first Dark Souls game I played, and through my first, immensely death-ridden playthrough (I probably died more than 50 times to the Fume Knight alone) I never had to save scum due to the health-depleting effects of hollowing. Don't worry about it, just head to Heide's Tower of Flame after beating the Last Giant instead of trying to tackle the Pursuer.

I don't know, i got pretty close to beating him. And now i leveled up some more by permanently beating the enemies between the bonfire and him, so i'll give him a few more whacks before admitting defeat

Gameplay aside, is there any lore about the bonfires or are they simply a gameplay mechanic? What and how are they, and why and how are they related to the undead?

Oh, the ring was that easy to get. Any other spoilers i should know?

The Pursuer becomes pretty easy once you learn his attack patterns (and have enough iframes to dodge through them).

1) There are two Estus Shards in Majula, but one requires you to find and talk to an out-of-the-way NPC in the Forest of Fallen Giants to access. (Scholar of the First Sin only)

2) If you run into a non-respawning gold-armored knight, it means one of two things- either he's guarding a gate that you need not worry about for now, or he's guarding a chest with Sublime Bone Dust, which can be burned at the Majula bonfire to upgrade the healing power of your Estus Flask. (Scholar of the First Sin only)

3) Wooden chests can break if they take damage, causing the item within to be reduced to rubbish.

4) Mimic chests are very slightly open, their teeth barely visible when they are at rest. Also, when attacked, their first move will be to attempt a very damaging grab attack, so watch out.

5) Parry timing works differently, as explained http://darksouls2.wiki.fextralife.com/Parry+Frame+Data.

6) Illusory walls are no longer opened by attacking, but by activating (although there's no visible prompt to do so).

Great, thanks
And yes, with the ring the max health penalty is really not a major issue.

...Why do i have 70 Souls of a Great Hero? Is it one of those cheaty DLCs again? I have the Scholar edition.

I've no idea. That never happened to me before.

Reward for having a level 90 something character in DS1?

Well whatever, i just box and ignore them.