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tigab95
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    Ramblings of a DS addict

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    Post by ksac42 Wed Aug 07, 2013 2:19 am

    Forgive the long post. This is part rambling and part therapy. 

    First some background. I'm a 45 year old, divorced, re-married, part-time dad with a schedule that allows for a good amount of play-time. I'm a gamer at heart, owning an xbox, ps3, gaming pc, and play almost every AAA non-military FPS game released. I also maintain 4 active Eve Online accounts and am in probably the most influential alliance and have been in almost every major spacebattle that hits the gaming news sites. I also have been playing table-top RPGs for 32 years.

    But the game I cannot let go is Dark Souls.

    My first playthrough was when it came out on the PS3. I beat the game as a pure sorcerer. Used the drake sword. Wore pre-nerfed gold-trimmed armor. Was a chaos servant. A standard noob game TBH. I then traded it in to gamestop. Didn't think nothing of it. I moved on.

    Then the prepare to die edition DLC came out and re-bought the game on the xbox (my preferred console of choice). 

    This time I played as heavy faith (50)/ pyro build using a divine claymore/furysword. I did a huge amount of sun-bro co-op and enjoyed it immensely. This time the DS bug caught me. It started with reading up on the lore. Then I started listening to the Bonefire podcast. I decided with this char to do NG+ and stopped at 120. He wasn't horrible at defeating invaders, mostly because of the cheesy WoG. I maxed out the pharis bow and wore paladin armor.

    I bought the game again on the PC. I don't play it, but I felt From Software deserved more of my money.

    Then I played the game again as a Giant Dad with max pyro. Didn't finish the play-through but played long enough to get a good feel of the character. Not bad, but the Zei was a bit too slow for me and it wasn't fun putting so many points into endurance.

    The DS bug got worse. I started watching tons of youtube videos and listening to the twin humanities podcast.

    Next playthrough was a Uni dex/sorcerer with max pyro. Enjoyable but a bit too close to my first character so I decided to start again.

    Bought demon souls and beat it. 

    Back to Dark SOuls Every time I started off as a caster so this time I went with a bandit. By happenstance, the black knight sword dropped in the undead burg. Never made a strength build so i decided to try. I'm loving the black knight sword. I really like the running backswing. And yes, the r2 is sooooooo slow, but when it hits I am giddy with laughter to see the opponents go flying. 

    I'm level 43 and in blightown with  24 str, 20 vit, 20 end.

    So to try and get as much of a different experience as my other play-throughs, these are my thoughts:

    - Save Solaire. He's gone insane and i've had to kill him each time.
    - Save Onion-brow from dieing when he jumps into the pit and continue his quest line to the bitter end
    - Use the great shield of artorias. Always wanted to hide behind a wall. Plus i'm tired of *always* using the crest shield. The downside it tha it's heavy and requires a lot of STR.
    - Use the dragon bow instead of pharis
    - Rely less on pyromancy
    - Stick to the elite knight set because of its looks (although i'm willing to entertain other non-heavy rolling armor)
    - See the ash lake hydra jump with my own eyes.
    - Potentially Stick with the BKS until it becomes completely obsolete (if ever)
    - Follow the Kathe quest-line as I have always done frampt.


    Now here's the open issue is around joining the dark wraiths. The problem is that I suck at PVP. I cannot parry/reposte for ****. I also want to keep to the normal leveling progression. Finally, I'm not going to play through NG+ again so any build will stop in the 80s. So really, at best I would only be able to defeat noobs. Plus I'd have to give up my precious orange sunbro summoning color.

    Now for the purpose of this email I'm not entirely sure (hey, I warned you in the subject I was rambling). But can anyone think of some other uncommon things to do to make this playthrough fresh? Also, any other "fun" weapons that isnt a claymore/furysword/scythe/halbard/Zei? Finally, given my PVP limitations above, is the darkwraiths even worth it?


    Last edited by ksac42 on Wed Aug 07, 2013 2:37 am; edited 1 time in total
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    Post by WhatDoesThePendantDo? Wed Aug 07, 2013 2:30 am

    Yeah, I think the Darkwraiths are worth it. For as crappy as the PvP meta can be at times I still strongly encourage anyone who likes Dark Souls to give the ol' college try, so to speak. It's really what's kept the game alive for me for so long. And about the parry/riposte issue, it's normal. Most people usually turn the corner and get it, some others don't, however. But it still does not keep them from being successful in PvP, parrying just isn't some players' style but they still manage to be effective.

    And don't feel bad, you're just Hollow. It's a sickness with no known cure.happy 
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    Post by tigab95 Wed Aug 07, 2013 2:50 am

    One thing Ive start to do recently is doing cosplay characters Praise the Sun  Its really fun to play as your favorite NPC but some of them are more dificult than the others . Leeroy is a good exemble , because for you to have his stats and be able to use all of his equipment you need to be at least SL.90 ...... but I have a Leeroy cosplay and I really think that everyone should try a least 1 time to do cosplay cheers
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    Post by Gambs_the_Grey Wed Aug 07, 2013 5:00 am

    Hey where can I get these dark souls podcasts ?
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    Post by ksac42 Wed Aug 07, 2013 7:06 am

    Gambs_the_Grey wrote:Hey where can I get these dark souls podcasts ?

    I got them both via iTunes but are some local links:

    Bonefire chat: Heavy on the Lore aspects. Each episode discusses an area (i.e Undead Burg) or specific topic (i.e. PVP, speedruns).
    http://duckfeed.tv/bonfiresidechat/

    Twin Humanities: Takes a more chronological route of the game based on a playthrough. More focused on the mechanics/game play than the lore, although they will bring it up periodically, often siting the podcast above as their source.
    http://podbay.fm/show/657393060
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    Post by Undiscovery Wed Aug 07, 2013 2:08 pm

    Try a DMB/SLB Dragon Bone Fist build.. Definitely a new and challenging experience, especially if you like to watch your opponents go flying, with a shoryuken no less. You feel like a bawss punching bosses in the face. 

    If not I'd still recommend the Darkwraiths, after joining you get the BAMF Dark Hand and after offering 30 humanities you get the Dark Set, and Dark Sword. Great armor, sword worth is arbitrary.

    Also when invading chances are you'll invade plenty of people with your skill level, some above and below. Not everyone is PvP but will still play online for co-op.
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    Post by Gambs_the_Grey Thu Aug 08, 2013 10:29 am

    thanks for the links ksac
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    Post by WaffleGuy Thu Aug 08, 2013 10:39 am

    If you think you're up for it, make an sl 11 build and beat Sif, then 4 Kings. You'll be a Darkwraith that can invade low levels (f.e. the Parish). Then, just use unupgraded (or slightly upgraded if there are phantoms) equipment. It'll be fair for the host and you can learn PVP in a safe way. You won't take that much damage, and new(er) players often don't really know what they're doing. My parries and tactical awareness have improved big time since I started doing this. Trust me, it's really fun. 
    After that you can always offer to help the player with the area, which is something about 50% of them will gladly accept silly
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    Post by MosquitoPower Sun Aug 11, 2013 3:32 am

    tigab95 wrote:One thing Ive start to do recently is doing cosplay characters Praise the Sun  Its really fun to play as your favorite NPC but some of them are more dificult than the others . Leeroy is a good exemble , because for you to have his stats and be able to use all of his equipment you need to be at least SL.90 ...... but I have a Leeroy cosplay and I really think that everyone should try a least 1 time to do cosplay cheers
     Cosplay is what I have been doing and it can be fun both PVE and co-op.
    Im on a lev 10 Crestfallen Warrior run right now. Tough part is making the characters that have faces in character creation.... yikes....

    Always fun to co-op as a NPC Cosplay in a zone where said NPC should have been summonable.  
    Im lookin at you SIGMIRE!

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