I snagged a copy of Demon's Souls on the cheap last month. It has been a long time since a played a game I enjoyed this much but its just so staggeringly frustrating that I want to throw my controller. The claims of its "old school" spirit couldn't have been more true. Here is a game that while being modern in every way, manages to invoke the frustration and dedication levels of games of over a decade ago. The more you die, the harder it gets. The harder it gets, the more cautious and calculated you need to be. There is something to be said about creating that level of frustration, is that victory becomes the ultimate high, that a feat you were about to deem impossible was conquered by practice and skill. I love this game, but it pisses me off to no end. I've turned it off many times out of anger and swore I had had enough for good, but I always am craving more the next day. Highly reccomended! Its amazing what the Japanese can do with a western style of gaming.
I've heard about this game from you guys. Can you tell me what it plays like? Are there elements that feel like bits from other games for comparison? Also, as I've been trying to reduce my game rage lately would it be wise to buy this?
It's tough but fair. Modern games condition gamers to think that they can just button mash to hack through everything. Demon's Souls difficulty will mysteriously drop considerably for you if you just slow down a bit and keep that shield up. Upgrade your gear and learn to evade using the fast roll. Keep your equip weight at 50% or less so you can roll quickly; you can't beat invaders unless you are fast. I can help you with stats if you are unsure of how you should upgrade your character. For example, most characters I made will need a minimum of the low 20s for Strength. Endurance and Vitality are very helpful for almost any type of character, although you use less for mages due to other skill requirements. I wouldn't put any points into Luck at all unless you plan to specialize in using the Blueblood Sword, which is unlikely for your first playthrough. Don't listen to the toolboxes who tell you to keep Vitality really low; it's just insane to do that. Watch any of the Demon's Souls tournaments and you'll see they tend to have long health bars from investing in Vitality. BTW, there's no penalty for being defeated as a blue phantom if you lose your physical form other than perhaps being rated poorly by the host if you aren't helpful. If you die and left a pile of precious souls somewhere, it's actually possible to join a host's game to get your body back, hire a couple of blues to help you, and then make your way back to those seemingly lost souls. Last quick tip: Be extremely careful not to strike friendly NPCs, especially Ed or Thomas. Ed won't forgive you and will actually try to kill you, which could really screw things up. The nastiest of the black phantom invaders may try to trick you into fighting them close to the few NPCs that are in levels. It happened to me once, and I accidentally struck and killed one.
Its like a third person Oblivion in many ways. Grimey, dark, medieval action game. If you die, you go into soul form with half your health and you don't come back to life again until you beat the next boss. I really do love it, but AKS is right, as soon as you feel cocky and rush, you will get boned by stupid mistakes.
I heard it's like gamecube punching games, but older. You really need to time your punching otherwise you'll end up like the gamecube.
Like many of the others games I claimed to look crap and then played and loved, this is one of the ones I am glad I did try. The difficulty was a big high point seeing as games are getting far to easy, and it required you to actually play and think The bosses are what sold it for me the most as bosses tend to not be any hard these days. They ranged from the giant and powerful to the small and fast. All of the bosses could be taken on in all different kinds of ways, with some making them cake walk. I hated the castle 1-5 boss though. If that was not enough, the way to him on your first playthrough was murder enough! Add that to a great dungeon crawler with RPG goodness and you got a winner. Co-op is fun too. I cannot wait for the sequel!! I actually had the Asian version as it had more players in the servers playing, but it was all in English. Nice way to save some money too.
Here is a list of some of the very best weapons in the game for those who are just starting or may buy it soon: Pole arms weapons (2-handed): Mirdan Hammer (brutal; among the best in the game), Halberd, War Scythe (very underrated) Dragon Bone Smasher (love this one; can be enchanted plus you get fire resistance) Blue Blood Sword (among the best if specialized around it; can be enchanted) Uchigatana (deadly but fragile; can dual wield for very quick strikes) Great Sword (prefer Blessed; moves like DBS) Great Axe (animations can power through attacks and still hit) Meat Cleaver (if at a high level) The Northern Regalia hits very hard but is massively overrated in PVP. It's not that hard to dodge. The Scraping Spear is the cheapest and most irritating weapon in the game. If you whip it out in PVP, don't be surprised if you piss everyone off instantly and this happens: ...and you'll deserve it for using that weapon, too. If you use 2-handed weapons, make sure you carry the Adjudicator's Shield, which regens health even while it's resting on your back.
I'm posting my stats for my 3 current PVP builds. All 3 are at Soul Level (SL) 120. All were made with the Royalty class. The damage outputs for the weapons are for 2-handed stances. I capped them at SL120 because that tends to be in the range PVPers like to keep. Lots of PVP traffic at this level, especially in key PVP fighting grounds like 4-1 and 1-3. Strength Build: VIT 50 INT 15 END 42 STR 43 DEX 13 MAG 13 Faith 17 Luck 7 This is an extremely potent nearly pure melee build. The Dragon Bone Smasher is quite dangerous if you are skilled with it and provides additional fire resistance. Ranged attacks are OK with this bow (the one you want with these stats). Weapons are sturdy and powerful. This is a very good build if you just want to make a tank character (well, as much as DS will allow you to be a "tank"; LOL) A few examples of weapon damage at using this loadout: Dragon Bone Smasher +5 530 (545 w/ Enchant Weapon spell) Quality Compound Long Bow +5 248 Crushing Mirdan Hammer +5 319 Meat Cleaver 395 (410 w/ Enchant Weapon spell) It should be noted that the Meat Cleaver will eventually become more powerful than the DBS at very high levels, as it receives more stat boosts. Dexterity Build: VIT 42 INT 15 END 40 STR 22 DEX 45 MAG 13 Faith 16 Luck 7 Speedy and potent. Damn Pure Bladestone ore is harder to find than bin Laden, and it makes a HUGE difference going from +4 to +5. Supreme long range damage with this bow, superpowered by all those DEX points. Weapons tend to be a bit frail and break easily. Nevertheless, this is a very dangerous PVP build and does massive damage with quick repeated strikes. This build tends to be a bit more effective than the STR build for questing but slightly less potent in pure PVP due to the differences in ranged attack power (arrows are great for AI but awful for PVP), but not by much. A few examples of weapon damage at using this loadout: Sharp War Scythe +5 327 (352 w/ Light Weapon spell) Sticky Compound Long Bow +5 349 (!!!) Sharp Uchigatana +4 254 (NOTE: Damage would be the same as the Sharp War Scythe if at +5; it makes THAT MUCH of a difference if you can't find this impossibly rare ore! 254 to 327) Mage Build: VIT 36 INT 40 END 21 STR 22 DEX 16 MAG 40 Faith 18 Luck 7 Keep in mind that you'll be doing most of your damage with spells. Make no mistake about the fact that nothing can output damage like a mage. It can kill a boss in 1 or 2 hits. It's brutally powerful if you have the right gear and stats setup. I actually made a bit of a mistake with this build in that I should have used a few less points for STR and used a smaller shield like the Heater Shield. If I lose some Soul Levels in the future and they are STR points, I may adjust it a bit. Anyway, the downside of a mage is that it's high maintenance. You get MP regen from certain gear, which can help, but you're still going to have to chomp a lot of consumables if magic is your main offense. That can be pricey early on. Also, it's somewhat tough to beat really good melee invaders. They will always be able to outrun you and have more stamina. You can be in big trouble if you miss with a big spell. Elite players do perform well in DS tournaments, but it tends to require more skill than other types of builds. A few examples of weapon damage at using this loadout, which CANNOT be enchanted (increasingly more important if you continue to raise your SL beyond 120): Moon War Scythe +5 395 Crescent Uchigatana +5 380 Phosphorescent Pole +5 322 (MP regens) I erased my Faith build to develop a Blueblood Sword/ Luck build with my last slot, which I haven't finished yet. Faith builds are actually among my favorites, but I was at around SL240 or so. Too high to ever encounter anyone. HP regen with Blessed weapons boosted by Faith stack with other types of gear. Thus, you can use a ring, a Blessed weapon, and the Adjudicator's Shield and regen HP extremely fast so that poison can't drain your HP at all and may give PVP opponents problems if you are good at evading and tend to draw out battles. Critics of Faith builds claim the regen isn't enough to matter, but I personally disagree. You'll see plenty of elite DS players in tournaments using 2-handed weapons with the Adjudicator's Shield on their backs for the HP regen. Also, absolutely ignore idiots who say don't "waste" SLs on Vitality. WTF are they smoking? You think being able to take 2 or 3 hits instead of just 1 from a powerful enemy isn't important? You'll always see tournament players with a decent sized life bar. It DOES matter, so tell anyone who tries to tell you to limit VIT to 8 or whatever that he is insane.
First, don't put any more points into Luck. Only the Blueblood Sword/ Luck build really benefits from that stat, but you've only put 3 extra there, so that's not a big deal. Hmm, if you are finding that you are actually having the best luck with magic, you could easily go for the mage with your stats. Spend a few less points than I did in STR and just use the smaller shields. I wish I had done that, as I rarely even use a shield as a mage. I can give you some tips on the equipment you'll need for a mage character. One key item to get is the Kris Blade if you don't have it already. I believe it's in 2-1. You put that in your off hand when you cast spells. It's very potent when you power it up. There's also a key item you'll need in 3-3. You'll also need to beat a Black Phantom in a World Tendency event in 2-2 for the Talisman of Beasts. If you don't mind frequently buying and carrying spices, I can help you build a pretty beastly mage. People on my friends list were shocked when they asked for my help on a tough boss that had repeatedly killed them and I destroyed it in one hit in the first few seconds. Do you tend to prefer melee or casting spells? In general, I've been more inclined to use melee fighers in RPGs, but if you are looking for a caster, I can help you out quite a bit. My mage decimated some invaders to the extent that they immediately sent me a message asking me how wiped them out in a couple of seconds, what my stats were, and what I used (I honestly think that he thought I somehow cheated). Homing Soul Arrow, Soul Arrow, Soul Ray, and Firestorm are all really dangerous. As I said, mages tend to be tougher to use for me, but if you find you're more comfortable using spells than weapons, it could work for you.
The truth is that I would rather like to have a balanced character, to be able to cast spells from a long distance but be also capable fighter in a short distance. In every single RPG I play for years I choose Spellswords or Battlemages or Whatever-you-call-it. My experience with Demon's Souls started off with a Soldier, no spells only brute force. And as I was completely unexperienced, I've only been able to pass through 1-1, 1-2 and 2-1. And then my progress stopped, 3-1 is far to difficult for low-level Soldier (or it was me and my lame playing), in 4-1 I've been dying everytime fighting the sub-boss in the first courtyard and 5-1 had too many narrow paths to effectively fight through using a sword only. Then I moved to Royalty and it was like a huge difference. I've easily passed through 1-1, 1-2 and 2-1 (thus got the same as playing with the Soldier) but 3-1 was also doable as is 4-1 and 5-1 (with the only exception that in the 4-1 and 5-1 I still die during boss fights). My impression then is that playing on a short distance, with melee weapons is more difficult. But from what you say - it's the opposite. It gives me another insight into the game and I've decided (and hope this is a reasonable choice) to invest more points in str so that the katanas become available (str 18 required and I still need few points). Then, having both str, magic and int around 18-20 I could probably try the two playing styles - I could experiment with stronger melee (katanas) and still be able to cast Soul Ray from the distance. The problem with boss fights is not that they are difficult but rather that I need at least few attempts to infer the patterns a boss uses. I am not one of those smart fellows who kill bosses in a first/second attempt. I need my time and a bit of luck. For example, the Fool's Idol - the patterns are obvious even for the first time you see her, however you still need some luck to hide from her if she's in two/three forms in the same time. So I've passed through in a fourth or fifth attempt. The same applies to the boss in 4-1, with the difference that I still TRY to kill him. He seems to have a solid range attack with his tongue when I am at the middle level and because of all these stairs I am not able to effectively avoid his attack and target him in the same time because I just fall into the bottom level where I die instantly from his sword (? I just die to fast to notice what kills me). And because I don't want to spoil my game by just reading how to proceed, I need yet few attempts and luck to finally got him. Ocassionally I also experiment with levels which are available like 2-2 or 3-2, just to enjoy the ambience as this is what makes DS so unique. I barely remember ANY other game with so diverse surroundings and such deep system, which still has so many mysteries for me even though I am 20+ hours into the game.
You can make a Battlemage-type character and do pretty well. Just know that invaders are going to usually have specialized builds like the ones I listed and will be tough. Inviting blue phantoms whenever possible would help. If Magic will be your highest stat, you'll want Moon and Crescent weapons. Moon does more damage, whereas Crescent MP regens. So I guess pick between those depending on whether you use spells or weapons more often. You can use weapons like the Uchigatana, Mirdan Hammer, and War Scythe effectively as a Battlemage. The Phosphorescent Pole is tricky to get, but MP regens faster than anything else in the game. Make sure you get the Kris Blade as soon as possible in 2-1. BTW, you can actually use gigantic swords like the Moon Great Sword and Moon Great Axe if you make a Battlemage.
I already have one and while everyone praises it, I cannot make a proper use of it. When holding it in my left hand (and the Crescent Falchion in my right hand) my defense is so low that I cannot effectively fight faster opponents (like those silver skeletons from 4-1). Thus, I found Kris Blade + Falchion less effective than the typical combination of Falchion and a Shield. Am I doing something wrong with the Kris Blade then? What's the proper way of using it?
You hold it in your left hand when you cast spells. It increases the power of your spells when holding it, especially when upgraded. Set it up so you can toggle shield and Kris Blade with the D-pad. Magic becomes extremely powerful with the right gear, although it also makes your character weak against magic attacks. Magic users tend to be very offensively oriented but are squishy defensively, so learning to evade effectively is important.
You hold it in your left hand when you cast spells. It increases the power of your spells when holding it, especially when upgraded. Set it up so you can toggle shield and Kris Blade with the D-pad. Magic becomes extremely powerful with the right gear, although it also makes your character weak against magic attacks. Magic users tend to be very offensively oriented but are squishy defensively, so learning to evade effectively is important.
Thanks, will try that. Yet one question. When playing as Soldier, I've made free Ostrava of Boletaria in 1-1 and then he's been prisoned in 1-2. As a Royalty, I've set him free in 1-1 but his missing in 1-2. What could be the cause of this?
Ostrava may have been killed. He's in danger every time you enter an area after you help him the first time. I usually avoid repeated trips to areas in World 1 if I'm trying to save him. You help him in 1-1, 1-2, and 1-3.
Interesting. If he's killed in 1-1, can I reenter the area and find his body to make sure that he's dead? I also hope this does not negatively affect the gameplay.
He won't appear again if he's dead until New Game+. You'll need to learn where he appears in 1-1, 1-2, and 1-3 to save him and go straight through the 3 events. A strategy I use is not release him in 1-1 until I'm ready to clear 1-3. He's fragile, and keeping him alive pertains to some rare items, including an important key. Not a major problem for the first run through, however.
Yesterday I've decided to soul farm in 4-1 so that I could updage my STR from 14 to 18 and try this katana. I've done three rounds 5k+ each and this gave me the opportunity to boost from 14 to 16 (8.5k each). I am gonna reach 18 and play a bit with the katana. Alas, it doesn't do magical damage so I think I can have severe problems in levels where you fight magical creatures (I belive that these silver skeletons DO suffer from magic for example).