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    "New" to the game, have a couple questions.

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    Post by Karn Fri Mar 09, 2012 10:13 pm

    Hi there! I'm new to the world of Dark Souls, well relatively.

    I have been playing the game for a week or so, and really enjoy it. It caught me within the first few minutes and it's really hard to put down. So far I've made it to Anor Londo (With a few resets here there when i wasn't happy with my build) I've gotten a nice feel for combat, and tactics, but there are still a few things in the game that confuse me, and i'd like a little help.

    1st on the list, Poise, how important is this? I find myself mostly dodging and blocking with my shield, waiting for openings or going for the parry and riposte kills, or backstabs when I have the chance. Normally the only armor set I have used through the game was the starter set, upgraded here and there - normally to +5-6. I really like the lower weight armor sets for the mobility, but find myself stun-locked into oblivion occasionally by certain mobs. Normally I keep my stamina at the base value until I am happy with my Dex/Int, would it be good to increase this to 20 or so earlier on? Also is there a decent low weight armor with a good-to-decent poise rating on it?

    2. Weapons, I was a little confused about this at first on how upgrade paths worked, and what upgrade paths would work for me. Build wise I like to go Dex/Int for Bow use and the weapons like Spears/Katanas, and I'd find myself upgrading my weapons down the magic/enchanted paths for more damage. I rarely used the Lightning/Fire upgrades due to their non-scaling with stats. Was this smart? I sometimes find myself lacking in the damage department when fighting certain monsters, should I carry around a different weapon with Lightning/Fire damage for those monsters as a back up?

    Also, for weapons, is it better to have a weapon that uses constant damage types, I.E. Slash all the time, or a weapon that can use both Slash and Thrust?

    What weapons are good? I find myself lugging the claymore around most of the time. Loving it's power, but hating it's speed.

    3. Definitely shields. I am confused as to what I am looking for in shields. For most of the game I have been using 1 shield, the Heater shield, with it's low weight (2 pounds) Fast parry speed, and 100% Damage reduction and Ok stability I haven't had a reason to switch from this shield through the entire parts of the game I've played through. My only wonder is what are the important stats on shields? I have been looking for 100% damage reduction and low weight. Would Grass Crests shields Stamina regen bonus + 95% Damage reduction make it a good shield? Are great shields worth it at all? I'm not a huge fan of shield-bashing, and really enjoy the parry-riposte style of play.

    I really apologize for all of my questions, a lot of them might be stupid. The wiki hasn't helped me so much on these questions, and I'd just like a little help. Thanks everyone.
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    Post by Serious_Much Fri Mar 09, 2012 10:19 pm

    1) Poise is great, but is more useful in PvP than PvE. While it will let you tank hits from enemies so go don't get ganked as easily, it's not essential to PvE. However it can be good.

    If you want a light armour set while having poise I suggest going with all light, maybe 1 piece of Medium armour and then wearing wolfs ring for your poise.

    2) Weapon damage types in terms of slash/thrust make little difference in Dark souls, but damage elements do. For an Int build like yourself the Moonlight greatsword and Moonlight butterfly horn have pure magic damage and can be good. However a buffed +15 Bandit's knife/ katana/ sword/ whatever is equally devastating. Enchanted upgrade for weapons also allow you to utilise your Int stat, Claymore enchanted is very powerful.

    3) You want high stability to weight ratio. If you want a medium shield with lots of stability, the black/silver knight shields are way to go or maybe balder shield. Grass crest is great due to effect but is best if is on back while 2 handing a weapon. If you care little about parrying the Eagle shield is what I'd recommend most.

    Hope my essay helps you big grin
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    Post by reim0027 Fri Mar 09, 2012 10:21 pm

    1. Poise. For PvE, not very important. For PvP, very important. Many times, armor is centered around poise with all other things being secondary. The only decent low weight armor is the hollow warrior leggings. For a dex build, End of 30 is probably the max you need. Giant's armor, while heavy, has some of the best poise/weight ratio.

    2. Weapons - significantly depends on you. How you like to play. You will get a large list of good weapons from the members here. So, this is a very broad question.

    3. Best shields, IMO, are the grass crest, blood shield, and crest shield (for SL 120 PvP). Shields are less important in PvP, as you get better. If you want to parry, target or buckler are the best shields for parrying. But, as you get better, you can parry with the other shields I mentioned (the window is smaller).

    Check out this thread for build calculators, weapon upgrades, armor upgrades, etc. It has everything you need to make a killer build.
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    Post by Forum Pirate Fri Mar 09, 2012 10:35 pm

    1. depends on how well you can dodge, poise determines your resistance to being interrupted by enemy attacks, in general 56 will allow you to act normally through 1 claymore hit and 76 is the same for zweihander.

    2. weapons are generally personal preference and stat scaling is usually mediocre so elemental weapons are usually about even on damage but backstab and ripost for more where as any non magic/ elemental weapon can be buffed making it much more powerful for 1-2 minutes.

    3. shields depends on wether you use it to block/parry or not, In shields for blocking damage reduction and stability are most important, in shields for parrying neither is as important so your choice is medium shield for a stopping a hit you cant dodge, or small shields which are easier to parry with, If you neither block nor parry, a shield that has a special effect is preferable, examples are the crest shield, which boosts stamina regen & havels which houses 1 cast of a defensive spell.
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    Post by DxV04 Fri Mar 09, 2012 11:00 pm

    These guys have you covered!!! Good luck and welcome to Dark Souls!!

    cheers
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    Post by Karn Fri Mar 09, 2012 11:12 pm

    Well that definitely answers my question on Poise, I didn't know if it was worth it in PvE or not.

    For weapons, I am most likely going to go with Katanas, due to their good damage and bleed effects, and they seem pretty quick, the only downside would be durability but the weapon repair box, or repair weapon sorcery make that a minor concern. I have used spears, mainly the lightning spear when I find it and I actually enjoy them to an extent. The ability to hit while blocking is pretty nice. I understand that rapiers can do this as well, but haven't really used one. I did thoroughly enjoy using the claymore after I obtained it, the speed is really lacking though, the power is awesome.

    I am a little torn between the Iaito and the Uchigatana, the Uchi is more powerful, and comes with a Thrust attack, but I wonder if the Iaitos draw-slash would be good when dealing against multiple opponents


    Shields, I find myself blocking a lot and doing my best to dodge most hits. When I see an opening I'll attack once or twice then throw my shield back up. Once my stamina gets lower I'll dodge away and let it down to regain it quickly and then close back in. For the most part I always try to parry attacks, (Those damn silver knights were really hurting me, because I'd confuse their shield bash with a weapon strike, and get in close for the parry and get walloped.) I will stick with the Heater until one of these guys drops me the Silver Knight shield then. =]

    For character building, is keeping stam/vit at base until 40dex/40+ int a good idea? Normally I always have the Ninja Dodge (Dark Woodgrain?) ring equipped which helps with the equipment load.

    Also, is dualwielding viable in the game at all? I did attempt it on my very first character, but it didn't go over so well.


    Last edited by Karn on Fri Mar 09, 2012 11:17 pm; edited 1 time in total
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    Post by Serious_Much Fri Mar 09, 2012 11:16 pm

    Dual Wielding doesn't work that well to be honest, a 'sword and shield' set up so to speak is more viable and easier to use in PvE, however in PvP everything is mostly dodging so having an offhand weapon, be it catalyst, spear etc is useful.

    I think that perhaps seeing as you're a mage, letting up on the dex a bit for a while wouldn't be bad as you'll need a bit more Vit and End (you could just use enchanted weapon/int scaling weapon like i recommended), though while you can do it with base health, you're just making your life harder than need be doing so silly
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    Post by Karn Fri Mar 09, 2012 11:21 pm

    Awesome, thanks a ton for all of the information =] You all have been extremely helpful and hopefully I'll start doing a lot better in-game.

    One last question though, Do bows receive anything from upgrades other than Standard? Was thinking of switching my black bow of pharis to an enchanted version so it scales with my intellect instead of my dexterity.
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    Post by callipygias Fri Mar 09, 2012 11:23 pm

    Karn wrote: . I understand that rapiers can do this as well, but haven't really used one.
    The Estoc is a rapier-type weapon available for free from the start, and it is a favorite dex for many (myself included). Especially since you seem to like the parry/riposte style you should check one out, they're EXTREMELY damaging on criticals. The plain rapier (available from the Undead Burg merchant or as a very rare drop from one of the Balder knights, I think) is even more hard-hitting than the Estoc when it comes to criticals.
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    Post by Forum Pirate Fri Mar 09, 2012 11:34 pm

    Karn wrote:Awesome, thanks a ton for all of the information =] You all have been extremely helpful and hopefully I'll start doing a lot better in-game.

    One last question though, Do bows receive anything from upgrades other than Standard? Was thinking of switching my black bow of pharis to an enchanted version so it scales with my intellect instead of my dexterity.
    yes but it will probably do better scaling off dex if you're going to 40 anyways.
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    Post by Karn Fri Mar 09, 2012 11:39 pm

    Karn wrote:Awesome, thanks a ton for all of the information =] You all have been extremely helpful and hopefully I'll start doing a lot better in-game.

    One last question though, Do bows receive anything from upgrades other than Standard? Was thinking of switching my black bow of pharis to an enchanted version so it scales with my intellect instead of my dexterity.

    I'll give them a shot and see how i like them.

    yes but it will probably do better scaling off dex if you're going to 40 anyways.

    I had planned to start over anyways, I had accidentally killed Griggs the merchant while breaking barrels with the claymore, swear I had meant to kick lol!
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    Post by PlasticandRage Sat Mar 10, 2012 12:15 am

    The bow scaling all depends on your build. I have a INT based build with only enough STR and DEX to fulfill weapon requirements and the rest is dumped into INT. In that case you'll do much better damage with an enchanted or magic bow. If you're focusing on DEX with your build then yes you're probably better off with the standard upgrade path, but otherwise customize you're weapons to your build.
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    Post by Karn Sat Mar 10, 2012 12:47 am

    reim0027 wrote:

    Check out this thread for build calculators, weapon upgrades, armor upgrades, etc. It has everything you need to make a killer build.

    What thread are you referring to?
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    Post by Karn Sat Mar 10, 2012 2:25 am

    PlasticandRage wrote:The bow scaling all depends on your build. I have a INT based build with only enough STR and DEX to fulfill weapon requirements and the rest is dumped into INT. In that case you'll do much better damage with an enchanted or magic bow. If you're focusing on DEX with your build then yes you're probably better off with the standard upgrade path, but otherwise customize you're weapons to your build.

    So 14 Str, 20 Dex, 19 attunement, 18 faith. then dump into Int. sound good? Faith for the heals + Homeward.
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    Post by reim0027 Sat Mar 10, 2012 10:18 am

    Karn wrote:
    reim0027 wrote:

    Check out this thread for build calculators, weapon upgrades, armor upgrades, etc. It has everything you need to make a killer build.

    What thread are you referring to?

    HAHA! The link didn't copy. Look Skyward

    Ok, here it is.

    PvP Calculators
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    Post by Yesuurd Sat Mar 10, 2012 10:41 am

    Guess everyone anwered everything, if you want to do a hardcore playthrough do it wihtout a shield, I almost never use shields, have been accustomed to my trusty parry knife whichweighs nothing and allows parry while giving me more free weight for other armor but anyways if you finish the game without a shield it is a good practice for pvp,
    the darkwood grain ring for me is the greatest item because while using it you can evade almost anything and get rid of a shield, since shields every time you get hit you loose stamina so in that sense it is kind of the same little game.
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    Post by foolycooly Sat Mar 10, 2012 5:04 pm

    If your build is mainly Dex/Int, I have three words for you, Crystal Magic Weapon. Just use Great Magic Weapon which you can find in Anor Londo after you cut the Chandelier down until you get CMW. It raises your damage by a ton. I'd recommend the Uchigatana, Great Scythe, Velka's Rapier which would go well with Dex/Int. Also if you backstab and riposte a lot you could get a Bandit's Knife, high critical damage. If you plan on using that sorcery then you should be doing the regular upgrade path to +15 to get the most damage out of it.
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    Post by Midgar Sat Mar 10, 2012 5:07 pm

    You can use this as a point of reference for Dex/Int

    http://darksoulswiki.wikispaces.com/Darkmoon+Battlemage

    There are plenty of builds on the wiki both for PvE and PvP so look through those for some help.
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    Post by DJ_XHERO Sun Mar 11, 2012 4:35 pm

    Something i personally run is a avelyn in my left hand in my second slot with my talisman for the lamers with trankil walk i just **** a volley of arrow to they knee xD
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    Post by Deadpool Sun Mar 11, 2012 4:54 pm

    I just bought the game and a lot of this is like reading foreign language lol. But I'm getting some of it. I will one day be pros like u!

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