Demon's Souls PS3

[C']

I beat Old Hero but couldn't get the "safe spot" to work at all. Actually had a good attempt where I'd melee him a couple of times, run away to get some distance then roll to evade his attacks until he started prowling again. Got him down to about 30% before I got stuck on a pillar and took 2 hits.

Actually raised a question. When you roll using the dodge button are you invincible during the animation? There were a couple of times where it looks like any enemy's weapon has hit me but not had any effect whilst mid-roll but not 100% sure.

Anyway, after that attempt followed a few more useless ones where I died incredibly quickly. Was getting to the point where I was getting rather fed up of repeating 4-2 over and over again only to die incredibly quickly so decided to cheat in the end and equipped Thief's Ring which seemed to do the trick. Annoyed that I don't really feel I've beaten this guy in a proper manner but after being stuck on this level for over 6 hours I had to progress.

Actually got invaded by PC black phantoms twice on that stage (before I gave up using Stone of Ephermeral Eyes and went for it in Soul Form) but sadly never got to see my invader either time as both happened when I was mid-battle and the distraction led to me killing myself by rolling off the cliffs.

Now on the second part of the Valley of Defilement and there's a Black Phantom down in that swamp with a massive sword who kills me in a single hit.

[J0e Musashi]

I've often thought that rolling has a window of invinciblity, but I'm unsure. That's the Meat Cleaver BP. You wanna stick to the right side of the swamp, not the left. Hug the wooden fence, and then you can sneak past the giant dreglings on the island where the first fog gate is.

[C']

Been reading back though some of the old posts in this thread but it's only served to further confuse me regarding the entire World Tendency system. By all accounts if I want to get everything I should have obtained Pure White tendency prior to beating the second boss in each world (if I've understood people's posts correctly) which unfortunately I've done in all but Valley of Defilement so have I missed out on this for now? Also, some people mentioned how World Tendency is reset to neutral if you quit out of your game whilst in the Nexus. This is what I've been doing every time I finish a session.

I did have a quick glance of the Wiki page on Character/Wold Tendency but it seemed to be quite spoilerific so closed it pretty quickly.

Oh and something else came to mind. In 3-1 on the road leading up to the church where you beat Fool's Idol there's a treasure on the a ledge. I climbed up the tower to get above it and I can see where I'm supposed to drop to get it but I always overshoot the ledge and fall to my death. Is there a trick to this I'm missing?

[J0e Musashi]

You should read the wiki in regards to world tendency, it'll explain it better for you.

That treasure in 3-1 is rubbish anyway, it's more of a trap so you land right in front of the BP waiting below.

[ItsThere]

WTF??

Just got invaded by a BP called Lynx Lapdance in 1-3.

He killed EVERYthing but I hadn't gone through the last fog gate yet so he couldn't kill the last laughing guy...

He gained me like 40k souls and didn't try to kill me - just left!

Why would this happen?

This is the best game I have ever played for reasons like this and so many more.

[Darwock]

Back in the days of the asian version you did occasionally get benevolent BPs - personally speaking I hated them more than the assassinating kind, because I don't want someone else to play the game for me. It never happened for me in the US but maybe the euro one has similar players around.

I had one guy turn up and stand waving at me to try and show his non-hostile intentions while I pelted him with flaming arrows regardless - very irritating.

[Darwock]

Also, some people mentioned how World Tendency is reset to neutral if you quit out of your game whilst in the Nexus. This is what I've been doing every time I finish a session.

No, no, no... it's not when you quit - it's when you LOAD - and only in online mode, and it's not a full reset - it just moves a step back to neutral. Do a world in one session, or sign out of PSN before you go back in to get it all the way to pure white, and you will have no problems.

This stuff about going for pure white before killing all the bosses is kind of the plan B way of doing it.

Imagine there are 7 steps from pure black to pure white. Killing a boss without dying in body form will add +1 to your white tendency. Killing a named black phantom will add +3 and killing a primeval demon will add +3. The named black phantom and primeval demon will both appear only in pure black tendency (usually at least one of them is in the second stage of the world which is why it's recommended to attempt it after the first boss).

So if you get to pure black, kill the BP and PD in one archstone visit (because leaving after killing one only will leave your tendency at neutral and the other will disappear) then you will be at +6. Kill the boss you left alive and you will hit pure white.

Personally I find this method to be a pain in the behind so I always go for pure white first, just by playing in soul form and being careful with online/offline play.

Also note that you shouldn't kill the primeval demon without confirming the black phantom is there, because the demon appears at black tendency sometimes, not just pure black.

edit to clarify - the above is the only reason why people recommend getting pure white at a certain stage - you can do it whenever you like, but it will be your last chance (so to speak) if only the final boss remains. You want to be especially careful with pure white in the valley, because one of the pure white events occurs *after* you kill the final boss, and if you die in the process (in body form) and then go back to the nexus then you're stuffed until the next game cycle.

[C']

Beat the Meat Cleaver phantom in Valley of Defilement. Found a patch of land in the swamp nearby that allowed me to actually dodge its attacks. Got a bit worried at first as she wasn't there when I arrived (previous attempts I always saw her nearby) but after scanning the area for a short while, spotted her running at me.

Think I got lucky with the kill. Missed its opening attack and left itself open so managed to hit 3 fierce attacks from behind before retreating. Then came at me again with another swing and a miss and just kept swinging wildly until it died.

Took a few further attempts after that to kill the 4 trolls on the island in the next section but I was determined to find out what they were guarding.

I'm really glad I stuck this out. It does infuriate me on occasion (and there are a few occasions where I think it's not wholly "hard but fair") but just exploring the levels is one of the best experiences of this generation. And this is without experiencing a single bit of the multiplayer aspect. Decided I want to go through the entire game first without relying on co-op support and my 2 Black Phantom invasions both led to me killing myself in panic.

[hudson]

Well done for sticking it out, C. I can understand the frustrations of the game not really giving you clues on how to do certain things, know certain things or which levels to do next. I think the style of the game, the atmosphere and mysteries keep us curious.

Thank goodness for wikis though.

Oh and the fact that one can switch the game off and re-resume back where you left it on next reload. Perfect for short burst gaming, if need.

I'm on my second version playthrough. The whole DS game world feels small to me now from when I first ventured out into the scary worlds. Really hope From Soft are well into a sequel.

[C']

Dragon God - Holy Hell! :O

Think I was a little disappointed in the manner in which he is defeated (although it is incredibly tense when you have to to

->Open Spoiler<-

approach him after he is incapacitated to finish him off. I was certain I was taking too long and he was going to wake up and eat me).

Very impressive sight though.

I'm not actualy 100&#37; positive how I beat him in the end on my successful run following many attempts where I was smashed into the wall by his giant fists or toasted to a cinder. I think I was keeping out of his line of sight in the end but could just have been dumb luck.

There looked to be a treasure in the area (some kind of sword?) blocked from both sides by undestructable rubble. Is this something I can only get later or am I missing a trick in getting to it?

[Zaki]

There looked to be a treasure in the area (some kind of sword?) blocked from both sides by undestructable rubble. Is this something I can only get later or am I missing a trick in getting to it?

You need pure white tendency for that barrier to disappear.

[briareos_kerensky]

That's the Dragonbone Smasher. You need the world at Pure White when entering the Dragon God's hall to get it.

[C']

Haha, of course. I keep forgetting about this entire World Tendency concept.

Thanks.

[Brad]

Played some of this last night. Died because I smashed some rubble (to get a shiny) and the physics engine decided to throw me back about 20 foot. Arse.

[ItsThere]

I want brushwood armour. Is it easier to go pure black or pure white to get it?