Demon's Souls

[fuse]

How effectively have you been upgrading your weapons? I think that is pretty key to early success, as is using a bow, dealers choice.

I've actually been going with the Kilij based on the below, but now having just seen the edit I'm not sure that was the best move

Weapons imbued with magic eat through most bosses and enemies. You can find a magic Kilij in 4-1, and even with just min stats it will carry you through the first run. Or you can go with flaming longsword found in 2-2 (IIRC), but of course it won't much against fire-resistant enemies.

[edit] Sorry, it's a Crescent (scales with magic) Falchion, not a Kilij. And the Dragon Longsword (adds fire damage but doesn't scale) is indeed in 2-2.

But it's less the damage output that's been troublesome, more what I'm taking in return. I started as a knight so have been using mostly the fluted gear, which I don't think is much cop for the weight. Not having a quick roll is a pain, and still finding some hits from the bigger guys stagger me in one block is no good.

I should definitely get back to using a bow, but a lot of the trouble I've been having has been as much about the environment as anything; 4-2 was causing me grief when I last sat down to play it for a while, but 5-1 is equally miserable.

Think I needed this moan, but still hopeful that I'm going to find my groove.

[ItsThere]

I've actually been going with the Kilij based on the below, but now having just seen the edit I'm not sure that was the best move


But it's less the damage output that's been troublesome, more what I'm taking in return. I started as a knight so have been using mostly the fluted gear, which I don't think is much cop for the weight. Not having a quick roll is a pain, and still finding some hits from the bigger guys stagger me in one block is no good.

I should definitely get back to using a bow, but a lot of the trouble I've been having has been as much about the environment as anything; 4-2 was causing me grief when I last sat down to play it for a while, but 5-1 is equally miserable.

Think I needed this moan, but still hopeful that I'm going to find my groove.

Hope it clicks for you mate, my advice would be to keep going, find the ways to make yourself safe and don't worry about doing "cheese" tactics. You might have already found it but 4-2 kind of shows you how to do this by giving you one of the best early game farming spots. If you have a bow

[wakka]

I've actually been going with the Kilij based on the below, but now having just seen the edit I'm not sure that was the best move


But it's less the damage output that's been troublesome, more what I'm taking in return. I started as a knight so have been using mostly the fluted gear, which I don't think is much cop for the weight. Not having a quick roll is a pain, and still finding some hits from the bigger guys stagger me in one block is no good.

I should definitely get back to using a bow, but a lot of the trouble I've been having has been as much about the environment as anything; 4-2 was causing me grief when I last sat down to play it for a while, but 5-1 is equally miserable.

Think I needed this moan, but still hopeful that I'm going to find my groove.

The Knight armour is decent, but you def need to stop fat rolling - that will make the game much more enjoyable.

The best way to do that is by getting the Ring of Great Strength, which greatly increases your max Equip Weight, and by putting putting souls into Endurance in tandem, which will increase it further.

Here's how to get the Ring of Great Strength, I'm going to spoiler this just in case you really don't want to know without finding out your own (clue: it's found in an early level you've already completed):

->Open Spoiler<-

The Ring is in 1-1, in the bit where the two dragons are nesting. You can't retrieve it, however, unless the Red Dragon is dead.

To kill the Red Dragon, first equip yourself with a bow (Compound Shortbow or Compound Longbow, un-upgraded, will work), and at least 120 standard arrows from the blacksmith in the Nexus. If you haven't got either of these bows, you can find them in 4-1.

Go to 1-2, and continue up to the bridge, to the bit where the Red Dragon does its first 'bombing run'. Get past it and up to the first of the little towers that appear down the bridge, with crossbow enemies positioned on top. Go up to the top of the little tower and kill the enemies on top of it.

Then position yourself facing where the Red Dragon makes his bombing runs down the section of bridge you just came down. He'll do it over and over again like clockwork, so you just need to fire an arrow at him accurately every time he whizzes past. If you've done it correctly, you'll see his health bar flash up for a split second.

It will take you 100 odd arrows most likely, but you will be able to take him down this way. It takes a few minutes but it's not difficult once you've got your aim locked and your timing down.

Once he's dead, go to 1-1 and navigate to the part of the level where the two dragons were formerly resting. The Red One is obviously gone but the Blue one is still there. Go and collect all the items in that area, watching out for the Blue Dragon's tail. One of them will be the Ring of Great Strength.

[fuse]

Fat roll be gone! Yeah, that helps.

Made it to two new bosses last night (4-2, 5-1), and although neither are toppled I'm looking forward to giving them a proper shot. Still a bit concerned about my skill points being all over the shop, but that's never stopped me before.

[wakka]

Nice one @fuse, I'm glad that helped mate. A friend of mine gave me the exact tip I gave you above while we were having a pint on Zoom last week and it helped me immensely, so glad to be able to pay it forward.

I defeated the Armor Spider on 2-1 the other night - had real trouble at first but after watching a YouTube video, realised his attacks were much more avoidable using rolling than I had thought. After initially burning through about 25 odd Full Moon Grasses, I managed to finally get it down cold and it wasn't too tough.

In the course of doing this I also found out that spawning into the Tower Knight Archstone and fighting the two Blue Eyed Knights nearby is a great way of farming Half and Full Moon Grasses, as well as souls (they ALWAYS drop those grasses, and you also get ~400 odd souls for beating each one).

I'm now onto 2-2. At the moment I'm running the Crescent Falchion+1, gathered from 4-1, which has been invaluable, but I'm agonising about how to take my character forward.

I think I've settled on a plan however. So far all of my souls have been put into Vit, End, Str and Dex, so I'm going to stick with that for a Quality build, with a view to creating as powerful a Quality Uchigatana as I can. I'm also going to create a Lava Bow (but with a view to Meltstoning it back to stock and making it a Sticky Bow instead down the line, if it starts to feel a bit weak/not useful in the later game).

As I understand it the enemies in World 3 are not weak to magic, so my Crescent Falchion+1 will probably be reaching the end of its usefulness. But it'll be a good time to deploy my newly forged Quality Uchi!

God this game is great.

[ItsThere]

I think I've settled on a plan however. So far all of my souls have been put into Vit, End, Str and Dex, so I'm going to stick with that for a Quality build, with a view to creating as powerful a Quality Uchigatana as I can. I'm also going to create a Lava Bow (but with a view to Meltstoning it back to stock and making it a Sticky Bow instead down the line, if it starts to feel a bit weak/not useful in the later game).

This is a very good plan. Love reading about you guys enjoying this

[wakka]

Not gonna lie, I'm glad to get that endorsement of my plan from a man who clearly knows his onion knights when it comes to this game

[Atticus]

I love how the Souls games create a in-this-together/community vibe. I've not started my copy yet but I'm looking forward to jumping in

[hudson]

Here's a build planner if anyone is interested.

[fuse]

Not gonna lie, I'm glad to get that endorsement of my plan from a man who clearly knows his onion knights when it comes to this game

Don't let him butter you up like this! He's still in the dog house after the UK thread!