Need PvE Advice, on SL160 Str/Faith.

In all my playthroughs in Dark Souls I always managed to reach NG+5 till
it got incredibly hard since I cap at 100. But they were always in a
form of a dex build. Full Dex, Dex/Pyro Dex/Sorc Dex/Faith.

Now when I tried using a full Str/Faith Lvl 160
http://tinyurl.com/anrltal

I
am pretty much struggling on NG+ fighting artorias, he's impossible to
defeat because I never played a str toon and I can't seem to get it
down right. Any experienced str players can you give some tips on when
artorias gives himself openings? I can't seeem to get him at all. and
its annoying =_=""

Especially when he charges up, and destroys
all shields stability. at 88 stability he can break my stance and take
away half my health.

lol just spotted the first mistake.. YOURE NOT USING THE SPEARS MAN WTF D<
Its PVE. Get those spears from the sunbro covenant! Theyre perfect for PVE. ESPECIALLY 4Kings.

use a msgs, go in hit him once and back out or grant!

Rolling-R1s... lots of rolling-R1s! They're generally the fastest attacks you've got at your disposal when using Str weapons. I recommend you lose the shield, get used to dodging, and follow your dodges up with a counter-hit. This is especially useful against Artorias. He's very fast, but not all that difficult to dodge, and he leaves himself open almost only while he's attacking, which is why you need fast attacks. Also, stick close to him, so when he tries to buff himself you can run in and interrupt it. And learn how many hits it takes to stagger him (and other bosses), so you can use that to your advantage. If you know the next hit will stagger him you can play a little less cautiously, and interrupt more of his attacks, rather than always wait for an opening.

BLA1NE wrote:Rolling-R1s... lots of rolling-R1s! They're generally the fastest attacks you've got at your disposal when using Str weapons. I recommend you lose the shield, get used to dodging, and follow your dodges up with a counter-hit. This is especially useful against Artorias. He's very fast, but not all that difficult to dodge, and he leaves himself open almost only while he's attacking, which is why you need fast attacks. Also, stick close to him, so when he tries to buff himself you can run in and interrupt it. And learn how many hits it takes to stagger him (and other bosses), so you can use that to your advantage. If you know the next hit will stagger him you can play a little less cautiously, and interrupt more of his attacks, rather than always wait for an opening.

this.

How I did it (albeit on NG with dex, but the same tactics apply):


Basically:
-Don't use a shield
-In general, dodge forwards and to the right when he attacks
-Don't stay too close to him because he will either spin attack or splurge you
-Use Dark Wood Grain Ring if you got it <- helps a lot
-If you can, dodge away, close to where his attack animation will end. This allows you to attack from the dodge which is very fast and you may be able to get in another hit after (but be careful)

Things that help:
-Long range weapon
-Lock-on


*If you want to abuse the fight, then stay really far back. He will just keep using the attack where he jumps into the air and slams down near you. This is very easy to dodge and you can get 1 to 2 hits in when he lands*

Get rid of the Zweihander, its pretty garbage,Use the Claymore, I say this because you are buffing, and a faster weapon is a must, Since the overall Damage output will be much higher than with a slower weapon.

^That's an over-simplification, though--not necessarily true in all situations. For instance, if you're only able to get 1 hit in, might as well make it 1 hit of a buffed Zwei than 1 hit of a buffed Clay. And if the Zwei allows you to stun the boss more easily (I don't know if that's the case, but it's possible), then you could get more hits in with that weapon than with the slightly faster one.

To be honest, I did beat Artorias on NG+something with a Claymore (unbuffed) and it worked really well. Every third hit staggered him, so it was easy to interrupt his buff or to get a few hits in and interrupt an attack. I haven't tried the Zwei, but if it can stagger him in 2 hits, it should be at least as good as the Claymore was.

By the way, I was surprised just how slow the claymore is now! I'd heard it was slowed in the patch, but I thought it was a bit--it was quite a drastic change, actually. It's still a great weapon, though. Just can't spam R1... which makes it even better, actually! Never really used that weapon before, but now I'd be tempted to do a playthrough with it.