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[rickvoid]

Three months ago my brother told me about a little game that was recently imported from Japan. According to him, you fought Demon's, used Souls as currency, could upgrade you character however you want, and your weapons could be improved through crafting.

I was rather excited.

The Game was Demon's Souls.

I rented it. I sucked. Bad. I ragequit.

Then I found the Demon's Souls LP on SA, and watched several of the videos.

Tonight, I have a copy of the game. I just finished world 1-1. Here is what I currently possess, I have not yet spent souls on improving the character:

Starting Package: Temple Knight

Vit: 11
Int: 8
End: 13
Str: 14
Dex: 12
Mag: 6
Fai: 13
Lck: 7

Soul Level: 4
Available Souls: 4474

Weapons:
Bastard Sword
Mail Breaker (I have a shit-ton of these. It just kept giving me them as random drops.)
Winged Spear
Halberd
Light Crossbow
Broken Sword (Crap, in storage)

Shields:
Slave's Shield (Also crap, in storage)
Soldier's Shield (Also also crap, three in storage)
Heater Shield

Armor:
Midan Helmet (In storage, prevents me from fast-rolling if I wear it)
Old Ragged Robes (Ditto, not as nice as the Temple Knight starting armor (probably lighter though))
Mirdan Scale Mail (Wearing)
Old Ragged Gloves (See above notes)
Mirdan Gloves (Also see above)
Old Ragged Boots (Also also see above)
Mirdan Leggings (This joke is too old)

Rings:
Thief's Ring (In storage. Perhaps I should switch it for)
Herculean Strength (Because item weight isn't a problem right now. Equipped)
Cling Ring (Currently equipped, but I do have a body now.)

I cleaned out 1-1 pretty good, I think. I didn't have pure white tendency (of course), so I couldn't get to that area, and I left the dragons alone, so I did miss some items there. But I think I did pretty well.

I did try to take out mister Red-Eyes knight. Couldn't kill him (got REALLY close), but I did get the Hero's soul back there... for the price of 4,000 souls. Yeah. He killed me before I could touch my bloodstain from the previous death. I lost 10x what the item was worth. DEMON'S SOULS!!!!  *shakes fist*

Anyway, any advice on what to spend my souls on? I have no idea what to upgrade. I also have 6 Hardstone and 5 Sharpstone, which I could use on my weapons. I'm interested in a melee focused build, the only miracle I care about right now is the one that takes me back to the Nexus with my Soul's (screw you Nexial Binding, just screw you), I have no interest in magic (I'll save that for a magic focused challenge run (with a Royal character)).

Oh, and let's discuss the hell out of this game. I did run a search for Demon's Souls, but I didn't see a thread focused entirely on it.

[HonkyPunch]

can't help you.
great game.
Got it off gamefly and rage mailed it back, haven't played it since.
I was gonna buy it but got blazblue instead.

[Ioric Kittencuddler]

Sounds like the kind of game that most people wouldn't have time to play.

[rickvoid]

I decided to man up and allocated the stats myself. Three points in Str, two in End.

Turns out switching to the robes let me wear boots, gloves, and my helm. That upped my defense nicely.

So I decided I'd run to 4-1 and grab that nice Falchion I know is there. Went in with about 400 souls, left with a little under 600, no body, and the shreds of my dignity. Frelling skeletons.

I really shouldn't play this game late at night. 

Sounds like the kind of game that most people wouldn't have time to play.

Yeah, it's a time sink. It's difficulty curve greatly resembles that of Dwarf Fortress. Oh, and it gets harder the more you fail. Why? Because you suck and it hates you.

I love this game. 

[Muz]

It's difficulty curve greatly resembles that of Dwarf Fortress.

You mean as in "5 days with a wiki, 3 months learning curve without one"? Or really hard at the beginning, much easier later?

[fenrif]

It's difficulty curve greatly resembles that of Dwarf Fortress.

You mean as in "5 days with a wiki, 3 months learning curve without one"? Or really hard at the beginning, much easier later?

It's a different kind of difficulty than DF. DF is more about learning how to wrangle the UI, and figuring out what type of ore you need to smelt into iron. Demon's Souls is just really unforgiving. Theres hundreds of ways to die, and most of them will take you down instantly. If you make a slight mistake you'll die.

It's a pretty fun game, though I got stuck at the giant shield knight boss monster and couldn't figure out how to beat it. Keep meaning to go back to it.

[Zangi]

Whats this?  You need more souls!

Great game.  I lurve it.

It's a pretty fun game, though I got stuck at the giant shield knight boss monster and couldn't figure out how to beat it. Keep meaning to go back to it.

Many of these bosses are a freaking pain to beat 1v1.  But, the most epic 1v1 fight, going lightweight melee would be against the FlameLurker.

So I decided I'd run to 4-1 and grab that nice Falchion I know is there. Went in with about 400 souls, left with a little under 600, no body, and the shreds of my dignity. Frelling skeletons.

Well, once you learn to beat em... this stage gives decent souls... but the one after is better.

Spoiler: Tips if you want em for 4-1... (click to show/hide)

Against the Sword guys: Bring a shield and learn to dodge backwards for the 'big hits'.
Against Bow guys: Block, but preference to avoidance.
Against Dual Swords guy: Dodge, dodge and dodge.  Don't block the 'big hit'.

Stats:
Endurance:  Aim for 40, but don't neglect your lack of fighting ability/experience....  Not much reason to bring it up past 40.
Str/Dex: Bring up as needed for weaponry.  You can decide on what archetype to be later.
Luck: No need for it.
Faith: Healing isn't all that useful, since mana doesn't regen.  But, you still want the recall spell from the Faith line.
Magic:
Vit: May or may not save you from some 1-hits... don't go you overboard now...

[vagel7]

You can't kill the red eyed knight yet. I suggest you take down the tower knight in 1-2 and then go to 2-1 and then 2-2, a good place to farm souls is 3-1. also after 2-2 continue to 2-3 which is very easy.

Whatever you do DON't CONSUME DEMON SOULS.

[Hawkfrost]

It's a pretty fun game, though I got stuck at the giant shield knight boss monster and couldn't figure out how to beat it. Keep meaning to go back to it.

Clear out the crossbowmen first.
For the Tower Knight, two ways to do it;

Melee: Attack the back of his ankles. When he falls over (be careful he doesn't fall on you) run over to his head and quickly hit him repeatedly. Go back at his ankles when he gets up.

Ranged/Magic: After clearing out the crossbowmen, position yourself where one of them at the side was, and aim for his head. Dodge the lance strikes as needed.

You can't kill the red eyed knight yet.

Yes you can, it's simply not really worth it.
Nor can you open the door yet in any case.


If you guys think the game is bad now, try after beating it. Hard mode is a bitch.


Here is some tips;     (Taken with some salt, I have only beaten the game with a Thief)

Female and Male characters wear different armor, so keep that in mind at the beginning.
Don't run into fights before looking around carefully. Thief Ring can help with this.
Try to take on enemies one-on-one for the most part, especially skeletons and flayers. Use luring/pulling if you need to.
Always be on the lookout for traps.
A good easy place to grind souls (at least for thieves or characters with stealth) can be used after killing the Tower Knight. Head out the gate of the castle backwards, sneak attacking the blue knights.
Do not fuck with the mindflayers. You need to use stealth and planning/enough DPS to combo them to death before they rape you.
Dodging can be/is more useful than blocking, so keep your equipment weight in mind.
Getting powerful ore can be hard. Don't spread your ore around, choose a weapon/weapon type you like and stick with it.
On the other hand, having a secondary weapon (especially a piercing one like a spear) can be incredibly useful.
Certain dungeons will be harder for certain character classes. Don't be discouraged is one is too hard for you at the moment.

[vagel7]

He will also do a shield attack when he gets up so be careful.

[jnecros]

Hey rickvoid what type of melee do you like? I have really worked on my dex-based melee, dual-wield. It is very challanging and focuses on parry, mobility and riposte (counter attack), but it is very weak against some types of mobs, magic users and heavy melee in paticular unless you couple it with stealth and damage over time weapons, if applicable. However, you can do some nasty damage with this type of build, especially if you hit and run. Some zones are more difficult than others for a dex/parry character, but it is a good, but difficult way to learn how to play and to see some of the game, or all of it if you like the build.

This here is basicly the build I have, but you can drop the points spent on magic and ignore the curse weapon spell if you like

http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/character-builds:21

I hear that the shield/block-based melee is easier, but I have not built mine up very far.

Edit: and the 2handed build I tried was too fustrating and I stopped after a few hours, so not sure about how it works

[Chaos341]

Anti-magic field is fucking awesome. Makes 3-1 a cakewalk if you watch your footing. Beat this for the first time recently. Taking a break to play some of my other games.

Edit: Also seriously, fuck Black Phantom Garl Vinland he killed me 3 times before i decided it wasn't worth it.

[rickvoid]

So I decided I'd run to 4-1 and grab that nice Falchion I know is there. Went in with about 400 souls, left with a little under 600, no body, and the shreds of my dignity. Frelling skeletons.

Well, once you learn to beat em... this stage gives decent souls... but the one after is better.

Spoiler: Tips if you want em for 4-1... (click to show/hide)

Against the Sword guys: Bring a shield and learn to dodge backwards for the 'big hits'.
Against Bow guys: Block, but preference to avoidance.
Against Dual Swords guy: Dodge, dodge and dodge.  Don't block the 'big hit'.

Stats:
Endurance:  Aim for 40, but don't neglect your lack of fighting ability/experience....  Not much reason to bring it up past 40.
Str/Dex: Bring up as needed for weaponry.  You can decide on what archetype to be later.
Luck: No need for it.
Faith: Healing isn't all that useful, since mana doesn't regen.  But, you still want the recall spell from the Faith line.
Magic:
Vit: May or may not save you from some 1-hits... don't go you overboard now...

The plethora of souls in 4-1 is half the reason I went there. The other, of course, was the magic +1 falchion. That thing is a beast in that level, but I couldn't get up the first flight of stairs. Grr. I was up to 2,500 souls before tiredness and psycho rolling skeletons screwed me over.

Is there any point to wielding the bastard sword 1-handed with the heater shield, if I have the 18 strength to do it? That is a crushing weapon, right? I'm only a point away from that, which I can get from farming the first skely easily.

On the subject of weapons, I've been alternating between two-handing the Bastard Sword and playing Spartan with the Heater Shield and Winged Spear. It's been a good combo so far, the blade one to two-shots most enemies, and the Spear/Shield comes out for multiple enemies/other shield users/blue eye phantoms. My other weapons are listed in the first post. Any better strategies?

[Hawkfrost]

Playing without a shield is insanely hard, and I applaud anyone attempting dual wielding.

Is there any point to wielding the bastard sword 1-handed with the heater shield, if I have the 18 strength to do it?

Easier to defend, but less damage.

On the subject of weapons, I've been alternating between two-handing the Bastard Sword and playing Spartan with the Heater Shield and Winged Spear. It's been a good combo so far, the blade one to two-shots most enemies, and the Spear/Shield comes out for multiple enemies/other shield users/blue eye phantoms. My other weapons are listed in the first post. Any better strategies?

Seems a solid combo.
You might want to consider a ranged option for 4 to take care of the storm beasts (flying manta rays) which can get you killed on the ledge if they hit you when fighting a skeleton. It's not necessary but something to consider.

[Zangi]

Is there any point to wielding the bastard sword 1-handed with the heater shield, if I have the 18 strength to do it? That is a crushing weapon, right? I'm only a point away from that, which I can get from farming the first skely easily.

On the subject of weapons, I've been alternating between two-handing the Bastard Sword and playing Spartan with the Heater Shield and Winged Spear. It's been a good combo so far, the blade one to two-shots most enemies, and the Spear/Shield comes out for multiple enemies/other shield users/blue eye phantoms. My other weapons are listed in the first post. Any better strategies?

Well, as you've probably noticed, a lot of these weapons have different swing animations.  They also have different swing animations depending on if you are holding them 1 handed or 2 handed.

Try swinging around the bastard sword 1-handed with heater shield first.  See if that is something you would like or not.

Its not about what weapon is the best, but what weapons you like more.  (Though, later on, there will be some powerful stuff... at the least you can upgrade your favorite weapons.)