Topic: Dark Souls Remastered \[т]/

@Spoony_Tech Ahh, that makes sense if there's a shortcut. The very first bonfire in Undead Asylum had a shortcut as well you had to unlock from the other side. That's the cool part of the game is the nested shortcuts and paths. The down side is, with how rare and important bonfires are, they should have made them a lot harder to miss them the first time through. You shouldn't have to be put back a long distance because you turned right and the bonfire was on the left ,and the next one is 3 hours and 2 bosses away.

I also haven't spent any souls. I don't know what to level and am afraid to spend those points, so I'm still Lv1.

@NEStalgia Level 1!!! I spent all I can before I lose it as I've already lost about 20k trying to get back to where I was. Plus a few pages back I was gping the wrong way and was convinced I needed to level up to get through. I was level 10 before I started going the right way lol. Now I'm probably level 17 or so. Plus I got a tip from someone (not here) that got me an awesome sword. As bad as I am at this game I don't mind.

I found the bonfire that's being described, though the level design can make it super easy to miss. I missed the merchant in the same area the first time through last night, but found him after I died and was forced to explore my way back tot he boss door.

Also got my butt handed to me by the Taurus Demon. I enjoy the game enough, though it's also interesting to see the refinement that took place in terms of character movement and attacks in the following games.

@NEStalgia Yes. There are plenty of short cuts that get unlocked that helps the game loop back on its self. Remember, it is an RPG as well. Grinding souls, leveling up equipment and stats goes a long ways.

Instead of great interconnecting level design, DS3 was just a bonfire to bonfire game, my opinion, which takes away from the game.

I disagree that it is just hard to be hard. It's real easy to feel that way at the beginning. The game forces a player to learn counters, move sets, item usage and summoning help if needed.

Homeward bones are your friend. Return to the last bonfire with all your souls. A vendor after ringing the first bell will spawn on the way down after ringing it as well as other vendors.

Builds also have alot to do with it. Pyromancers and Sorcerers, again, my opinion, are easier to get through the game with than more of a tank build starting out.

Imo magic is also really boring. (Granted this isn't just Dark Souls' fault, I will always prefer melee combat in any game I play) So I played as an agile bruiser with Havel's Ring that can dish out a crap ton of damage while dodging everything I can.

Another tip I can give is to master the kick and try two-handing your weapons. Kicking humanoid opponents like the soldiers stagger them, which lets you follow up with one big attack to instantly kill them. Also very good for those spear jerks who always hide behind their shield.

And two-handing your weapons will force you to learn how to dodge attacks better, while you can afford to be much more aggressive and smite common enemies really easily.

@EvilLucario 👍

@EvilLucario I'm glad I learned the kick a while ago. Really great for opening them up for attack or better yet knocking them off a ledge. This game does have deep combat.

@Spoony_Tech I wouldn't say the actual combat is that deep, since the actions you can do are extremely simple and minimalistic. All you really do is dodgeroll, parry humanoid dudes, and retaliate with simple attacks.

The depth really comes in the weapons you use which all have different properties or even attacks, gear customization, and enemy design. Dark Souls proves that you don't need a million combos to have a good combat system, but in the end I still prefer combat like Bayonetta or even Nioh more than Dark Souls 1. (Although Nioh still isn't as good of a game as Dark Souls 1 due to less interesting level design and some bad enemy diversity/complexity)

@zionich Darn, normally I play magic users in RPGs, but in this one it seemed like that would be harder since I figured they'd limit your spells too much. Don't tell me I have to start again for a third time! How do they limit spell usage?

Honestly I do forget it's an RPG, it feels like just a fixed difficulty combat game. I have the basic sword and shield and would probably play the whole game with them and never level up, hoarding all my souls since I don't know how to spend them.

Indeed if DS3 doesn't use interconnected passages, that is a definite downgrade in the game, though I don't think the presence of more bonfires harms the game, only the worse level design if true.

@NEStalgia DS3 does. It's just not as brilliant as DS and not as well or as much. Spells are number of cast per a rest. Like OG Dungeons and Dragons.

@NEStalgia Well the limits are there for a reason as magic is just obscene (and boring as a result) in Dark Souls 1. But you can swap to a magic build later on, or alternatively you can just restart the game and choose the pyromancer since it won't take you a long time to get back to where you are now.

I LOVE this game, even though it’s frustrating as hell sometimes. But I’ve grinded a lot and got hold of good weapons like the Drake Sword, so it’s getting easier. And it feels great to find shortcuts to the bonfires, as well as kicking the s**t out of tougher enemies.

Edit: I started as a Pyromancer, but rarely uses the fire magic. It’s more fun swinging the sword.

I almost feel as if having the Drake sword this early is cheating in a way. I use it sparingly for this reason but even using it where it counts still feel like it's cheating a bit. If they offer it this early in the game I guess I should feel ok using it.

@EvilLucario Are there good magic+sword builds? I chose knight because it seemed the reliable bet for such a game. I played Pyro in the network test but figured this isn't a game I should risk the confusion of magic in. ironically going against my instincts may have hurt.

I started two games so far since the game doesn't support cloud saves and I wanted to move it to my Switch. And yeah, Asylum is much faster the second time, and Jabba the Hut goes down pretty fast.

@zionich Hmm, fixed number of attacks per rest sounds dangerous, not OP. Though I did always play wizards in D&D. Can pyros or sorcs back it up with a decent blade as well since bonfires are so rare?

Some spoilers of course but this is one of the best videos I have found that describes Dark Souls and its level design as a whole.

@NEStalgia Yeah there are, you can stick with a Claymore (you'll get it after you beat the boss of the Undead Burg) and Pyromancy. With those two, you can do really good damage and swap to magic on the fly for long-range attacks. Pump your stats in Strength and Intelligence, and I also recommend investing in Vitality. I barely invested in Vitality myself since I focused more on not getting hit versus tanking hits, but it is going to save your life.

If you kill the Black Knight in the Undead Burg, you may get a chance at his weapon, the Black Knight sword. Unfortunately on my second playthrough I missed the roll for the weapon and other Black Knight weaponry later on so don't feel bad if you don't get it, but that thing cleaves things in two very easily, and mixing that with Pyromancy is very potent.

@Spoony_Tech Wouldn’t call it cheating, just a different tactic, and the game is still hard (or it’s just me having bad reflexes, as it often comes down to that in the battles).

I love playing games, but I’m not the best at playing them. Therefore I focus on building a strong character early on in games like this.

@zionich It's funny because Blighttown is my favorite level in DS1. That and Darkroot Garden are my favorite locales in the game. I haven't watched that video but I really do love Blighttown as a level.

Too bad the second half of the game's level design is just garbage. Lost Izalith, the Duke's Archives, and the Tomb of the Giants are royal pains in the ass.

@NEStalgia Absolutely. It's all about stat requirements when it comes to weapons. Some of the playthroughs I have watched , MrSketchead, get flack about not using enough spells in his sorcerer/pryomancer guides.

@evillucario Its worth the watch.