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[lordcooper]

Boss 2 could be one of several bosses

[Mictlantecuhtli]

I just got this today and got out of the asylum.

I've already had much screaming. This game pisses me off, but I must keep playing... I think I'm a masochist :[

[MetalSlimeHunt]

All gamers are masochists to one degree or another.

[nenjin]

Seriously though. This may be one of the most deliberately punishing video games I've ever chosen to continue playing.

But there's just so much to like!

The areas, even though you go through them ad nauseam, are cleverly arranged with lots of secrets. The setting is just so cool to me, it's some of the most atmospheric medieval city designs I've seen in a while. Even though your degree of interaction with it all is limited, it's just evocative. Reminds me a lot of how I liked Vagrant Story simply because of the city look and feel.

Items galore and I dunno, there's just something well done about the presentation, like how Zelda managed to make a handful of items look cool and feel important while they sat in your inventory.

I have a love/hate relationship with combat. At times it seems really awesome, and at others it seems full of dickery. You wade through tons of block/strike enemies, things are kosher, and then an upper level enemy will pull some bullshit right before your eyes.

And then there's the story. It doesn't make a lot of sense and I find the whole "Undead" thing a little hokey....but on the other, it's cool how desolate and forlorn and...almost dream-like, the way things are presented.

It dawned on me last night what the game truly reminds me of: Original Prince of Persia, where combat substitutes itself for the jumping. It's got the same kind of visual and twitch appeal.....and then with all the RPG and item hunting goodness thrown in.

I got some questions because the game loading screen tips go by way too quickly.

Is there any way to sell stuff? Or should I ditch all these crap duplicate weapons I've been toting around?

What does Humanity do other than increase your Estus count and (I guess) do a small amount more damage to enemies? With how often I've been dying, I don't bother to become Human again because I know I'll just lose it. Should I be taking human form more often?

Is there actual co-op or is that a euphamism for PvP?

Is Light Attack/Strong Attack/Kick/Plunge Attack/Block/Parry/Dodge/Backstab pretty much the extent of combat? Having died so often before even the meat of the game, I feel like combat is getting kind of redundant. Does it open up more later, or is it all about mastery and timing of all the stuff above for the rest of the game? (And, you know, ranged and magic.)

When, in theory, is a good time to kill this asshole:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The 2nd Black Knight you meet, just outside the Undead Parish in the big tower. I've killed the first Black Knight, but the second one is nastier if that's even conceivably possible. I'm Level 25-ish....but he's just so goddamn fast, he gives you almost no opportunity to heal or even avoid a series of attacks. I've kited him out to the open area where the Bull was...but I can't survive his attacks for shit. Should I come back later with way better gear and levels...or is there something else I'm missing? Is he one of those guys you have to dodge all of his attacks pretty much? I can take a hit or two on the shield....but when he starts attacking multiple times, I just can't stay up. I'm doing about 20 damage a hit to him with a battle axe.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

The areas, even though you go through them ad nauseam, are cleverly arranged with lots of secrets. The setting is just so cool to me, it's some of the most atmospheric medieval city designs I've seen in a while. Even though your degree of interaction with it all is limited, it's just evocative. Reminds me a lot of how I liked Vagrant Story simply because of the city look and feel.

Items galore and I dunno, there's just something well done about the presentation, like how Zelda managed to make a handful of items look cool and feel important while they sat in your inventory.

And then there's the story. It doesn't make a lot of sense and I find the whole "Undead" thing a little hokey....but on the other, it's cool how desolate and forlorn and...almost dream-like, the way things are presented.

Most of Dark Souls' story is implied rather than stated, so pay close attention. Many points of the story are also intentionally left vague and open to interpretation.

Is there any way to sell stuff? Or should I ditch all these crap duplicate weapons I've been toting around?

There is a place to sell things. You'll find it eventually.

What does Humanity do other than increase your Estus count and (I guess) do a small amount more damage to enemies?

Humanity is used to, as you said, kindle bonfires and reverse your Hollowing. It also, however, increases your item drop rate and curse resistance. This is a diminishing returns system, with the largest point of growth being the first ten humanity, but gathering more will continue to increase these scores.

With how often I've been dying, I don't bother to become Human again because I know I'll just lose it. Should I be taking human form more often?

Human form is required for summoning and being invaded, including storyline invasions. Undead form will prevent both of these things, but you also won't be spending humanity when you die.

Is there actual co-op or is that a euphamism for PvP?

There is, but you can only summon White Phantoms for co-op when human. There are also storyline related summons that are played by AI.

When, in theory, is a good time to kill this asshole:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The 2nd Black Knight you meet, just outside the Undead Parish in the big tower. I've killed the first Black Knight, but the second one is nastier if that's even conceivably possible. I'm Level 25-ish....but he's just so goddamn fast, he gives you almost no opportunity to heal or even avoid a series of attacks. I've kited him out to the open area where the Bull was...but I can't survive his attacks for shit. Should I come back later with way better gear and levels...or is there something else I'm missing?

If you get riposte down you can kill him right now. Actually, if you get riposte down you can kill him the first time you run into him.

Learn to riposte/parry. You will need it.

[nenjin]

Humanity is used to, as you said, kindle bonfires and reverse your Hollowing. It also, however, increases your item drop rate and curse resistance. This is a diminishing returns system, with the largest point of growth being the first ten humanity, but gathering more will continue to increase these scores.

So you're supposed to keep building it up without dying. Well, I don't see that happening at all in the near future.

If you get riposte down you can kill him right now. Actually, if you get riposte down you can kill him the first time you run into him.

Learn to riposte/parry. You will need it.

Great. I've always been terrible at timed guards, it's why I never bother with Royal Guard in DMC4.

[Light forger]

With the black knight on the tower if you position the stairs in between you and him he will charge and fall down into the stairs, so you can get a free heal very useful in that fight.

edit: try mixing light and heavy attack and dodges/backsteps there are many interesting moves combat is however mainly mastering your weapon but what until you get some of the weapons that are more fickle with there move sets my favorite weapon was the silver knight straight sword and the dragonslayer spear shooting someone 5 feet into the air is always wonderful.

[majikero]

Ah Dark Souls, how awesome you are. Anyways, with the rise of Dark Souls in this forum, I assume you guys are playing it in the PC? If so, tell me a little about the extra content. How's the PC community and stuff?

Also this character planner http://mugenmonkey.com/darksouls/

[Neonivek]

It is the thing

I love the Darksouls story concept... I actually outright hate the gameplay (I hate any... "slow moving object" game)

So I hope it gets a sequel.

[Calech]

I got some questions because the game loading screen tips go by way too quickly.

Loading screen tips? They obviously have put in some improvements I'll just add a couple of bits as MetalSlimeHunt has answered pretty much everything.

Is there any way to sell stuff? Or should I ditch all these crap duplicate weapons I've been toting around?

Sell, yes, just... not in the traditional sense. None of the merchants will buy anything, but there is another way, a bit later on.

What does Humanity do other than increase your Estus count and (I guess) do a small amount more damage to enemies? With how often I've been dying, I don't bother to become Human again because I know I'll just lose it. Should I be taking human form more often?

I seem to recall that Humanity may also provide a small increase to defensive stats, in the same way that levelling up does, but I can't say for certain - it's not usually the first thing on my mind to check. It won't improve your damage output though.

edit: Also, the item Humanity (and Twin Humanities) can be used as healing items as they restore HP. This can be useful if you really desperately need another heal for some reason.

Is there actual co-op or is that a euphamism for PvP?

Related to the above, this is the main reason to be human. You can place a White Summon Sign (ie. allow yourself to be invited for co-op by someone else) in Hollow form, but to actually summon others or invade requires you to be Human... mostly.

Also, there are certain other things that only happen if you are in Human form, which may be beneficial (or not).

Is Light Attack/Strong Attack/Kick/Plunge Attack/Block/Parry/Dodge/Backstab pretty much the extent of combat? Having died so often before even the meat of the game, I feel like combat is getting kind of redundant. Does it open up more later, or is it all about mastery and timing of all the stuff above for the rest of the game? (And, you know, ranged and magic.)

That's mostly it, although there is the 'jump attack' (forward + heavy attack, if the controls are vaguely similar to the console versions), which is similar. Some weapons also have a separate attack if you backstep (dodge/roll button whilst not moving) and then light attack immediately after.

Keep in mind different weapons have different movesets too - a battleaxe handles differently to a longsword (but strangely similar to a club with nails through it).

Most of the trick with combat is not getting killed. (...actually, that's a pretty universal truth now that I think about it) It's more about knowing when it's safe to attack, what attacks you can block, and which need to be dodged - there aren't any style points for variety here, the only score is 'not dead'. (Having said that, there is an overkill bonus of about 20% more souls if you do a large amount of damage to an enemy - you'll usually see this with ripostes or backstabs)

When, in theory, is a good time to kill this asshole:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The 2nd Black Knight you meet, just outside the Undead Parish in the big tower. I've killed the first Black Knight, but the second one is nastier if that's even conceivably possible. I'm Level 25-ish....but he's just so goddamn fast, he gives you almost no opportunity to heal or even avoid a series of attacks. I've kited him out to the open area where the Bull was...but I can't survive his attacks for shit. Should I come back later with way better gear and levels...or is there something else I'm missing? Is he one of those guys you have to dodge all of his attacks pretty much? I can take a hit or two on the shield....but when he starts attacking multiple times, I just can't stay up. I'm doing about 20 damage a hit to him with a battle axe.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Most of the Black Knights you'll meet are like this - they're intended to be tough but non-respawning enemies that will give you some trouble if you choose to take them on. Parrying and ripostes are an option, but - given that he kills you fairly quickly - leaves very little room for error. There are a few things in that area that you might be able to take advantage of to assist in killing him, but you'll have to be careful.

Amusingly, I had to check on a walkthrough what this guy was armed with (been a while since I've fought him), and the note on the walkthrough says 'ignore him as he will destroy you'. It's not quite that bad.

Either way, you'll want to learn to deal with these guys eventually - they'll start to become more commonplace as you go through the game, so finding a way that works will help you in the future.

Oh, and you can get through the game without parry/riposte... it does make some things quite a bit easier though. Practice a little with the Hollow Soldiers on the path up from Firelink Shrine and in early Undead Burg, where the consequences of failure are a little less immediate, if you want to get a feel for how it works.

[Lectorog]

On the black knight(s): Keep your shield up when it's attacking. When it's not attacking, drop your shield. Your stamina recharges faster. This is very important. In the gaps between attacks - and when it's attacking - circle around it (to the right is best). Backstab it between attacks. Backstabs are the best way to deal with black knights. There is no better way. Even spamming them with ranged attacks and kicking them off of ledges are less useful than backstabbing, once you've gotten used to it.
Combat in Dark Souls is based around learning your enemies and how best to combat them. Keep your shield up while you learn their attack patterns, then settle in and attack during breaks in the rhythm. Look for less defended regions, what directions you can dodge from their attacks. You can develop a set attack strategy, but the same thing probably won't work against frail undead and 20-foot tall giants*. Learn your enemies and look for the openings. Keep your shield up until you learn their attacks, then drop your shield between attacks to regain stamina quicker. The shieldless run is not recommended until you have at least five hundred deaths under your belt.

*Running up and crushing things with your Zweihander is a strategy that works against everything.

[majikero]

If you start with the master key, you can go meet Havel. I dare you to kill him on the first meeting.

[Lectorog]

If you start with the master key, you can go meet Havel. I dare you to kill him on the first meeting.

I did on my second run, never having killed him on my first (and first run not being a full run, but at least going past the point of Havel). Does that count?

Spoiler: Trick to beating him (click to show/hide)

Circle around. As long as you're not encumbered and you're constantly moving, none of his attacks will hit. Backstab him repeatedly. Any build can do this easily.

[nenjin]

I finally beat him. Took 4 ripostes in a row. Realizing I could cross the bridge to the bonfire and open the gate made it...much easier. What really screwed me up is the parries where you'd succeed, but then he would just attack again immediately. Once I got 4 "perfect" parries off, it wasn't that bad. Honestly the hardest part I think is coming up the stairs and getting positioned for his first attack. His little ground sweep is easy to parry, if you're lucky enough to have him do that 2 or 3 times in succession.

Too bad the reward did not even come close to being worth it.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

The reward is actually a random drop. One of them in particular is very, very worth it.