Dark Souls

[saturn-gamer]

I think i'm well past the halfway point of this game now. Its shaping up to be more fun than Demon's Souls. Its an easier and more forgiving game than its prequel. I haven't used a single guide yet, haven't even summoned an NPC for bosses yet and its rather happy sailing. I started as Pyromancer as the beginning of Undead Burg is intimidating, but I put all souls in STR/DEX from there. I'm pretty much a Knight now, clear everything via close combat.

The game is also rather linear. Ofcourse you can explore the areas at leisure but there is some sort of a set route, because in some areas the enemies will one shot you and hardly take damage which means 'do not enter... yet'. Although its good to run past and grab loot here and there. The level design itself is ridiculously good.

There are no weapon classes to farm minerals for, you don't need to farm grasses and spices to tackle levels, no tendencies... etc. There is less to worry about in this game.

[englishbob]

So, noob question. What is the best character to choose when starting?

[rmoxon]

So, noob question. What is the best character to choose when starting?

As far as your stats go it doesnt matter too much what your starting class is becuase as you level up you can develop the character in any way you see fit. It mainly all comes down to what kind of starting equipment you want.

If youve never played these games before i would say choose a Knight or a Warrior as they have the best armor/shield's. With most of the other starting classes you will die VERY quickly and even more frequently than you will as either of the above 2. If you want a more magic based starting character then the Pyromancer sounds like a good bet. Though to be honest i played through Demon's Souls 3 times and hardly ever used magic at all.

If you want to know what equipment each one has, you can read a good breakdown of the classes here...

http://darksoulswiki.wikispaces.com/Classes#Warrior

[Brad]

I'm going with Deprived I think (you start with a plank for a shield and underpants basically). Up the difficulty a bit!

[rmoxon]

The Deprived looks like he will die in one hit, but he does start at Level 6 which probabaly means the game is actualy easier once you actualy find armor... if you ever find armor.

[englishbob]

As far as your stats go it doesnt matter too much what your starting class is becuase as you level up you can develop the character in any way you see fit. It mainly all comes down to what kind of starting equipment you want.

If youve never played these games before i would say choose a Knight or a Warrior as they have the best armor/shield's. With most of the other starting classes you will die VERY quickly and even more frequently than you will as either of the above 2. If you want a more magic based starting character then the Pyromancer sounds like a good bet. Though to be honest i played through Demon's Souls 3 times and hardly ever used magic at all.

If you want to know what equipment each one has, you can read a good breakdown of the classes here...

http://darksoulswiki.wikispaces.com/Classes#Warrior

I played the original, but was put off by the lack of progression. Not so much the difficulty but the way in which I could spend a few hours on it and when finished be no further forward at the end than I was at the start!

[Golgo]

I think I may try magic-based in this one as I tend always to plump for the default soldier/knight type classes, as I did in Demons. Curse you postie, where are you...?!?!?

[rmoxon]

I played the original, but was put off by the lack of progression. Not so much the difficulty but the way in which I could spend a few hours on it and when finished be no further forward at the end than I was at the start!

Thats not quite true though, the levels were full of shortcuts that you opened up as you progressed, so even if you had to start at the beggining of the level when you died you were still actualy getting further.

Plus each area in these games is a learning experience, once you know what to do you end up dying far less.

[briareos_kerensky]

I went with the Knight, like I did with D'sS. It was either this or the Warrior, as I want to complete the first run without magic. From what I've played I will probably do it without a bow too, though I found myself increasing dexterity above everything to be able to roll and attack.
I almost ditched the shield too, favoring a two-handed broadsword and keeping the shield at at for only few enemies (undeads with spears and rats).

And well, even a Knight dies in two hits from any boss, probably pyromancers will have it easier against a couple of earlier boss encounters as they'll be able to ditch certain items to have an easier fight.
Yesterday I was able to

->Open Spoiler<-

kill the Taurus Demon in Undead Burg with the aid of Fire Bombs after realizing that going the manly way (just sword attacks) would have taken way too long...I guess that "kill it with FIRE" is always true.

Also found

->Open Spoiler<-

the first lizard in Undead Burg, on the third floor of the tower leading to the Taurus Demon. It's hidden behind some wooden barrels by the stairs and apparently they aren't prone to run away like in D'sS, I was able to kill it and get enough materials to get a Broadsword +1.

Anyway, anyone found Dark Souls' own Stockpile Thomas or there is nothing like that in Dark Souls?

[rmoxon]

Anyway, anyone found Dark Souls' own Stockpile Thomas or there is nothing like that in Dark Souls?

I think I read that there is a Bottomless pit that you find which basicaly does the same job, and once found you can then use it from all of the campfires.

[briareos_kerensky]

The Deprived looks like he will die in one hit, but he does start at Level 6 which probabaly means the game is actualy easier once you actualy find armor... if you ever find armor.

You do, even in the tutorial level though it's all about enemy drops. If lucky the undeads soldiers will leave behind a full set of armor and even a shield that is better than the knight's.

[Brad]

The Deprived looks like he will die in one hit, but he does start at Level 6 which probabaly means the game is actualy easier once you actualy find armor... if you ever find armor.

My theory was that at level 6 with all stats at 11, anything I find early on I can probably use. Is this a poor theory? In Demon's Souls I did my first run and NG+ with a magic user but always felt I missed out on not being able to wear the awesome armour and carry the big swords so was going to just try and build a tank this time.

[englishbob]

Thats not quite true though, the levels were full of shortcuts that you opened up as you progressed, so even if you had to start at the beggining of the level when you died you were still actualy getting further.

Plus each area in these games is a learning experience, once you know what to do you end up dying far less.

Didn't change the fact that armor and weapons broke, making progress without souls as currency hard going, almost having to grind on easier foes and return back to the Nexus for a spend up and THEN go back to where you left off!

[rmoxon]

Didn't change the fact that armor and weapons broke, making progress without souls as currency hard going, almost having to grind on easier foes and return back to the Nexus for a spend up and THEN go back to where you left off!

Armor takes ages to break and you could always affoard to prepare whatever sword you were using. I never felt the need to grind in it.

What starting class did you pick though? In many ways your starting class defines how hard the game actualy is.

[englishbob]

Knowing me, it would of been knight. I like to hash n slash, spells are a bit noddy in my view.