Your tips for Mastering DKS

Was going through some post and saw a topic about spacing. So, I became interested in peoples tips, or even definition, of Dark Souls Mastery.

WHAT ARE YOUR TIPS, or definition of mastery?

My "tip", if you want to call it that:

Spacing- Sometimes you want to stay at your max attack range, other times at your opponents max range, or even super close. The list goes on and on. 

Advice:
1. Learn your weapons attacks (thrust, sweep, etc.), speed, range, and animation
2. Know your opponents attacks, range, speed, and animation
3. If you know these things you can attack without being hit (factoring in bs, rolls, and parries of course).

Ex. Enemy does a 2handed claymore rt, r2. I have a katana and do a normal rb, r1 and start up my animation slightly after his begins. Thus, my weapon is coming in for a landing while his weapon's arc swing barely missed me (factoring in how both weapons' animations are bringing us closer to each other), BUT he did not hit me and is still in his animation so dodging is impossible.

People will call this luck but once you get it down, you have mastered this game.

If you take anything from this, then take this: "The best time to attack is during your opponents animation"

AnimeRamen wrote:Was going through some post and saw a topic about spacing. So, I became interested in peoples tips, or even definition, of Dark Souls Mastery.

My "tip", if you want to call it that:

Spacing- Sometimes you want to stay at your max attack range, other times at your opponents max range, or even super close. The list goes on and on. 

Advice:
1. Learn your weapons attacks (thrust, sweep, etc.), speed, range, and animation
2. Know your opponents attacks, range, speed, and animation
3. If you know these things you can attack without being hit (factoring in bs, rolls, and parries of course).

Ex. Enemy does a 2handed claymore rt, r2. I have a katana and do a normal rb, r1 and start up my animation slightly after his begins. Thus, my weapon is coming in for a landing while his weapon's arc swing barely missed me (factoring in how both weapons' animations are bringing us closer to each other), BUT he did not hit me and is still in his animation so dodging is impossible.

People will call this luck but once you get it down, you have mastered this game.

If you take anything from this, then take this: "The best time to attack is during your opponents animation"

Anime Ramen

Just gonna say this, you would need some amazing reaction time and predictive skills to avoid being hit all the time. Well the attempt is appreciated, I think most people realize, that not being hit, kinda means you win. 

I would actually recommend reading some threads in the pvp section and get an idea of the general knowledge of our community before start trying to post helpful tidbits. (And you have to learn to adapt to lag (very important) and player behavior) There's much more to PvP then just weapon movesets and animations.


Edit. Even more so, I just saw you post this exact thing on another thread.... Not to be mean, but it's really not good enough to be starting it's own thread.

@Soul of Stray Demon
I think you misunderstood my post. I want to know what each individual's perspective of mastery in this game, or even their own tactic (tip) that puts them a league above others.

The post is not about "helpful tidbits". 

Obviously prediction and reaction time should be taken in to account, but my tip is simply that you will have an easier time attacking them during any of there animations since they cant dodge.

If you have a tip or what you view as mastery, I would be happy to hear it.

Edit: in response to your edit. Read the first sentence. That post and my comment sparked the idea. You really are not being helpful. If you do not want to contribute to my "horrible" topic, then please refrain from commenting

AnimeRamen wrote:@Soul of Stray Demon
I think you misunderstood my post. I want to know what each individual's perspective of mastery in this game, or even their own tactic (tip) that puts them a league above others.

The post is not about "helpful tidbits". 

Obviously prediction and reaction time should be taken in to account, but my tip is simply that you will have an easier time attacking them during any of there animations since they cant dodge.

If you have a tip or what you view as mastery, I would be happy to hear it.

Then ask for that in your original post. The only thing you said that hinted at it was the part at the start about "So, I became interested in peoples tips, or even definition, of Dark Souls Mastery."

If you want such things then ask for them rather then make a post giving some sort of tip that the majority of players would have already figured out a long time ago. (If they can't move, then they can't dodge.) 

And btw. A helpful tidbit is the exact same thing as a tip..

^While most would assume his advice is not deep enough for its own thread, I would disagree. I'd say what he posted is by far the most important stuff to know in PvP,  no matter how generalized it is. And you'd be surprised at how many people say "we all know this," but they ddon't actually have it mastered.

I wouldn't say that only the things listed in this thread would equate to mastering PvP,  but they're petty big parts.

If more people knew who he was (or fought him) they'd probably listen to him, even though he brushes off the wrong way to most people.

The Letter X wrote:^While most would assume his advice is not deep enough for its own thread, I would disagree. I'd say what he posted is by far the most important stuff to know in PvP,  no matter how generalized it is. And you'd be surprised at how many people say "we all know this," but they ddon't actually have it mastered.

I wouldn't say that only the things listed in this thread would equate to mastering PvP,  but they're petty big parts.

If more people knew who he was (or fought him) they'd probably listen to him, even though he brushes off the wrong way to most people.

I agree, while the advice is helpful, it's not giving enough insight into it. It's just basically saying (if you attack while they can't move, then they can't dodge either) which is obvious.
The OP should be more fleshed out and explained past the simple part. Otherwise it isn't deserving of its own thread.

I change original post for you haha. Though the title did ask the question. 

....I brush of the wrong way...sad day.

Theres nothing more to add to my tip. If you are good enough to predict your opponents move then putting my tip into action should be no problem. 

If you and X have any tips towards mastery it would be nice to here them.

Unless he explained in detail, or made a video for each weapon's attack's vulnerable times, he can't really get more in detail than that. There are many factors that are hard to precisely explain (lag, prediction, patterns, intuition).

I'll add my own tips later.

The Letter X wrote:Unless he explained in detail, or made a video for each weapon's attack's vulnerable times, he can't really get more in detail than that. There are many factors that are hard to precisely explain (lag, prediction, patterns, intuition).

I'll add my own tips later.

Then I don't feel there was need for this thread to have been created the way it was.


Even more so, Mastery of Dark Souls PvP can not exist... You can't achieve perfection.

my tip is []

I still believe the thread has its place. I've fought enough people from the Xbox side of the forum to believe that they need to hear what Ramen posted in the OP. Not that I'm perfect, because as you've said there is no perfection in Dark Souls (or pretty much anything else for that matter), but one can achieve excellence when chasing for perfection.

As for a tip*: Equip the Calamity Ring for a week to two weeks and duel like that. Depending on your build, it will reduce your poise, equipment weight, and defense on top of the double damage effect. This will naturally make you want to play very carefully, so you can use this as a great opportunity to learn exactly how to deal with lag or rushdowns much quicker than normal. Once you feel comfortable using this, you can begin to get more aggressive to learn how to land more attacks while not being attacked yourself. This can also be useful to learn/practice toggle escaping.

*This tip is directed towards intermediate or advanced players.

Nice tip. What better way to improve than to inhibit yourself.

AnimeRamen wrote:Nice tip. What better way to improve than to inhibit yourself.

I like that. I like how you complement the tip and then you ask for something better because inhibiting yourself must just be inherently bad.

It's actually a very good idea, and is done a lot. You increase the load you bear and learn to deal with it, so when you take it off, you'll be more then able to handle it.

Get the dwgr and do nothing but roll bs.

Soul of Stray Demon wrote:

AnimeRamen wrote:Nice tip. What better way to improve than to inhibit yourself.

I like that. I like how you complement the tip and then you ask for something better because inhibiting yourself must just be inherently bad.

It's actually a very good idea, and is done a lot. You increase the load you bear and learn to deal with it, so when you take it off, you'll be more then able to handle it.

?....I am agreeing with him completely....I feel like your just looking for something wrong in this post. Please leave unless you post a helpful tip...you seem toxic.

AnimeRamen wrote:

Soul of Stray Demon wrote:

AnimeRamen wrote:Nice tip. What better way to improve than to inhibit yourself.

I like that. I like how you complement the tip and then you ask for something better because inhibiting yourself must just be inherently bad.

It's actually a very good idea, and is done a lot. You increase the load you bear and learn to deal with it, so when you take it off, you'll be more then able to handle it.

?....I am agreeing with him completely....I feel like your just looking for something wrong in this post. Please leave unless you post a helpful tip...you seem toxic.

What better way to improve than to inhibit yourself.

That is just obviously implying that you want a better tip then inhibition... 
And I'm not toxic....

(actually I'm going to assume that it was a mistake and not meant the way it comes off)...

Well, a great tip to use with some large weapons is pivoting your swings. You can use a slow attack and turn around mid swing and hit people who were trying to backstab you. It works very effectively sometimes.

RANT wrote:Get the dwgr and do nothing but roll bs.

HAHAHA been there and done that

Soul of Stray Demon wrote:

AnimeRamen wrote:

Soul of Stray Demon wrote:

AnimeRamen wrote:Nice tip. What better way to improve than to inhibit yourself.

I like that. I like how you complement the tip and then you ask for something better because inhibiting yourself must just be inherently bad.

It's actually a very good idea, and is done a lot. You increase the load you bear and learn to deal with it, so when you take it off, you'll be more then able to handle it.

?....I am agreeing with him completely....I feel like your just looking for something wrong in this post. Please leave unless you post a helpful tip...you seem toxic.

What better way to improve than to inhibit yourself.

That is just obviously implying that you want a better tip then inhibition... 
And I'm not toxic....

(actually I'm going to assume that it was a mistake and not meant the way it comes off)...

Well, a great tip to use with some large weapons is pivoting your swings. You can use a slow attack and turn around mid swing and hit people who were trying to backstab you. It works very effectively sometimes.

by inhibiting yourself you riskfalling out of practice or being under trained in the skills you train without. it could just as easily gimp you as help.

Forum Pirate wrote:

Soul of Stray Demon wrote:

AnimeRamen wrote:

Soul of Stray Demon wrote:

AnimeRamen wrote:Nice tip. What better way to improve than to inhibit yourself.

I like that. I like how you complement the tip and then you ask for something better because inhibiting yourself must just be inherently bad.

It's actually a very good idea, and is done a lot. You increase the load you bear and learn to deal with it, so when you take it off, you'll be more then able to handle it.

?....I am agreeing with him completely....I feel like your just looking for something wrong in this post. Please leave unless you post a helpful tip...you seem toxic.

What better way to improve than to inhibit yourself.

That is just obviously implying that you want a better tip then inhibition... 
And I'm not toxic....

(actually I'm going to assume that it was a mistake and not meant the way it comes off)...

Well, a great tip to use with some large weapons is pivoting your swings. You can use a slow attack and turn around mid swing and hit people who were trying to backstab you. It works very effectively sometimes.

by inhibiting yourself you riskfalling out of practice or being under trained in the skills you train without. it could just as easily gimp you as help.

Not if the inhibition is dealing with health and damage taken. Then that just means you'll learn to dodge more often.

It depends on the person's skill leve and who they are fighting. Of course if they were fighting someone who would beat them otherwise, it would not help. But I was doing this in an area where I was winning most of my fights, so I pretty much needed to do this once I plateaued and wanted to move on to better opppnents.

but learning to dodge as litle as possible is paramount for tanks, and in general for better spacing and to preserve stamina. thus you are learning an entirely different and inefficient style, not learning general skills for mastery.

Forum Pirate wrote:but learning to dodge as litle as possible is paramount for tanks, and in general for better spacing and to preserve stamina. thus you are learning an entirely different and inefficient style, not learning general skills for mastery.

Then I agree that my tip is not suitable for tanks. The point of it is to change your playstyle as little as possible while removing as much room for error as possible.

It's only a tip, not a rule of thumb that I believe everyone should follow.

Speed Run PvE in less than 1 hour. Not sure what the record is, but I think it's something like minutes. 
Dedicated speed runners are more hardcore than any PvPer could ever be.

There is no mastering PvP, nor should there be. Though parry, hornet swap, DGA swap, then riposte wouldn't hurt.

RANT wrote:Get the dwgr and do nothing but roll bs.

Roll BS (especially with flips) is the most overrated tech in the game.

There are two things that make someone good at Dark Souls PvP. These two things are one's ability to successfully walk/run behind his opponent's back and backstab him and to prevent the same from being done to himself.