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My tips for those just starting (up to the first bell boss) *early spoilers obviously


Drunken Deity
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So I never played Demon Souls, and this is what I've learned after about 8 hours of gameplay and one restart on a new character. Sorry if this seems common sense, it certainly wasn't for me.

 

- Keep your equipped weight at least half or lower than your maximum carrying weight, otherwise you will be noticeably slower (increase your endurance to increase carrying weight capacity).

 

- Do NOT try to kill the tutorial boss on your first encounter, run into the doorway to the left.

 

- When you get through the tutorial, go to the undead burg (up the stairs), NOT through the cemetery.

 

- There is a merchant near the first bonfire in the undead burg (and I hear there is one earlier in the camp but I can't find it) who sells a repair kit for 3000 souls. DEFINITELY invest in this, as you don't want to find yourself stuck in the middle of a bunch of baddies with a weapon near breaking or broken.

 

- Beware of reckless rolling or backpeddling - always be aware of your surroundings or suffer needless deaths

 

- Save those consumable bombs for harder enemies, especially if you don't have spells

 

- If you aren't lucky enough to get a crossbow in the undead burg, buy one with some arrows for after the Taurus Demon

 

- The Taurus Demon is easily dispatched by climbing the tower and then falling on his head and holding RB right before you fall on his head; repeat til dead

 

- If you keep firing arrows at the bridge dragon's tail, he will eventually drop an uber power sword (I didn't get it, but from what I've seen on youtube it rocks)

 

- Beware opening the portcullis and thinking you have opened a shortcut back to your bonfire - when you use the bonfire and the enemies respawn, one of the jerks will immediately close it

 

- The armored boar supposedly is weak in the rear, but I didn't notice any difference; I just threw all my spells at him. If you kill him with anything besides a backstab, you get a decent helm (that also looks fun).

 

- Save those electric weapon modifiers for the gargoyles at the top of the church, it takes them down very quickly

 

That's all I got, feel free to add or edit if I haven't been accurate. Hope this helps fellow newcomers to this series.

Edited by Drunken Deity
Forgot to include tutorial tip
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So I never played Demon Souls, and this is what I've learned after about 8 hours of gameplay and one restart on a new character. Sorry if this seems common sense, it certainly wasn't for me.

 

1. Keep your equipped weight at least half or lower than your maximum carrying weight, otherwise you will be noticeably slower (increase your endurance to increase carrying weight capacity).

 

2. When you get through the tutorial, go to the undead burg (up the stairs), NOT through the cemetery.

 

3. There is a merchant near the first bonfire in the undead burg (and I hear there is one earlier in the camp but I can't find it) who sells a repair kit for 3000 souls. DEFINITELY invest in this, as you don't want to find yourself stuck in the middle of a bunch of baddies with a weapon near breaking or broken.

 

4. If you aren't lucky enough to get a crossbow in the undead burg, buy one with some arrows for after the Taurus Demon

 

5. The armored boar supposedly is weak in the rear, but I didn't notice any difference; I just threw all my spells at him. If you kill him with anything besides a backstab, you get a decent helm (that also looks fun).

 

6. If you keep firing arrows at the bridge dragon's tail, he will eventually drop an uber power sword (I didn't get it, but from what I've seen on youtube it rocks)

 

 

I'd like to add to these.

 

These numbers are respective to what I quoted.

 

1. This is a good tip. Im a Demon Souls vet and even platinum'd it. I never realized this and my character now in Dark Souls is slower than he was and I bet this is why. Thanks for the info.

 

2. DO go to the cemetary when you first arrive. But, Do not fight the crazy skeletons. Instead there is 3 treasures here that you WANT. A spear a sword and a shield. Sword all the way in the back, shield to the left and the spear to the right. This sword is better than the flying dragon sword you get from killing the dragons tale. Its slow but it has MASSIVE range and damage. Get used to the timing and you will OWN things. I can one shot kill enemies with this sword that I cant with the flying dragon sword. I now have this sword at +5 and it KILLS things. To get stuff RUN past the skeletons and grab them. You will most likely die but at least you got some GREAT equipment. The shield is good enough for the next 2 areas. The sword is amazing. It looks JUST like the braveheart sword. I havent used the spear. I cant remember but you may have to drop down to get the spear from the treasure chests on the left, but maybe not. You can get a better shield in the undead parish area to the right thats guarded by a caped knight. I think, that could be the halberd but i think its the shield. The halberd is somewhere right in here as well. The halberd is a very nice long range axe/spear. It was nice in demons souls, not sure about this game. If you die after picking up the item you still get to keep them.

 

3. Dont know about this merchant that sells the blacksmith stuff but there is a merchant near the bonfire in undead burg. with your back facing the bonfire go right and down the stairs, then turn to the right and kill the two guys with spears. Destroy the crates and reveal a staircase. Go downstairs and out on a balcony is a merchant. The backsmith in the next area (undead parish) across the bridge behind the dragon has a blacksmith whole sell a repair kit, armor upgrade kit and a weapon upgrade kit for 2000 each. To get here take the left path from the giant church and enter a building. You will be able to hear him. Go down one level to find a bonfire and another floor for the blacksmith. Be sure to upgrade your waepons/armor here and also repair your stuff.

 

4. DO NOT BUY A CROSS BOW! Buy a bow. WAY better. They were useless in Demons Souls and I assume they are the same here. The merchant I mentioned above sells one for 1000 and has all kinds of arrows. Its a good idea to carry a bow with a lot of arrows anyway. This way you can lure enemies out 1 by 1 so you dont die.

 

5. You can easily kill the boar by luring him but the doorway and swinging at him to wear he cant hit you. You can wait til he walks away and backstab him as well. BUT if you want his helmet you have to hit him in the face.

 

6. Do this from underneath the bridge so you can get close and bring a lot of arrows.

 

and for my own:

 

- You can get past the red dragon on the bridge. Make sure you have full health and run along the right side and down a set of stairs. He may hit you but it shouldnt kill you with one hit.

 

- Upgrade your faith and get a talisman. The guy in the Firelight shrine sells healing miracles that will help you.

 

- Dont forget you can kindle bonfires using your humanity points. But use them wisely. Kindleing a bonfire will give you 10 estas flasks instead of 5.

 

- Once you reach the church and kill the scary knight (thats actually really easy), you will find a soul on an alter. Take this back to firelight shrine and take the circluar path down to a person locked away, and he/she will use it to strengthen your flask to +1.

 

- Lop the tail off the church gargoyal boss for an axe.

Edited by osakamitsu
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- while in the sewers make sure you find the ring called "Ring of the Evil Eye". Its amazing. Every time you kill an enemies you absorb small chunks of health.

 

 

- keep all your items. You can sell what you dont want after the second bell. if they bother you in your inventory you can buy a bottomless box for 1000 from the guy in the sewers (i think)

 

- Get the spider shield from the sewers and get it to +5 at the blacksmith by the church before going to blight town.

Edited by osakamitsu
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Keep your equipped weight at least half or lower than your maximum carrying weight, otherwise you will be noticeably slower (increase your endurance to increase carrying weight capacity).

 

Here's some hard numbers just for reference:

 

Above 100% you are unable to roll/run.

Above 50% is slow movement.

Below 50% is medium movement.

Below 25% is fast movement.

 

- Beware opening the portcullis and thinking you have opened a shortcut back to your bonfire - when you use the bonfire and the enemies respawn, one of the jerks will immediately close it.

 

It only seems one of the skeletons does this. You can easily run past the enemies when they respawn to get back past the portcullis. This way, even if you can't kill the skeleton before he goes through the lever animation, you're able to correct it without dealing with extra enemies.

 

- while in the sewers make sure you find the ring called "Ring of the Evil Eye". Its amazing. Every time you kill an enemies you absorb small chunks of health.

 

And it makes small undead rats, and "critter" rats run away from you until you attack them. Too bad it doesn't work on the larger ones. :/

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lol I never knew it affected the rats!

 

 

 

also for your item you may need to have more humanity. A weird concept but the rats in the sewers drop humanity. If you wait and save your humanity you can come back and use all your humanity to increase your drop rate... then farm for humanity. So you spend humanity to get humanity. of course I would round house kick my tv if I died after using it all... lol

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Where is the cemetery to find the items you mentioned? I take the path down come to some ruins then to like a lake with these crazy ghosts that can kill me in like 3 hits and I an block an attack...right place or no?

 

Should be basically on the same level as the firelight shrine. Instead of heading up and towards the undead burg, instead head to your left instead.

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Found it now, lost 5k souls in that other area, grrrrrr. One problem though, I can't even use the sword or the spear and the shield isn't even as good as the starting shield for a Knight haha. Admittedly once I can use the sword it will probably be pretty bad ass.

 

The shield does have magic resist, however I personally found no use for it and there is a much better resist shield (with stam regen, less magic resist but also high other resists) at the bottom of darkroot basin that you can run to basically once you find the parish.

 

As for the boat loot: it seems at least some of the bosses can drop items when they die, I know my friend got a ring from the Taurus. I don't think it effects the weapons you get from killing the bosses tail either, and every boss i've seen with a tail this far drops an item after its cut off.

 

Finally, the cemetary: look around the shrine until you find the crowd on top of a building. Head through that building, the cemetery is behind it.

Edited by Shiftie
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More tips up through the second bell boss

 

- You can free a sorcerer merchant in lower undead burg by buying a residence key from the merchant near the first bonfire in the regular undead burg (I think it costs 1000 souls). Once you encounter the first wolves/dogs down the stairs, go left and check the doors along the side - one of them can be unlocked and he is stuck in a barrel. You can unequip your weapon and smack it, kick it, or just roll into it to free him without killing him.

 

- Likewise, there is a trapped pyro merchant in The Depths. This one is near the first butcher you encounter. Instead of falling down the hole, go down the stairs and trek through the water with the wolves/dogs up a ramp, then turn left. He is also stuck in a barrel.

 

- The dragon boss at the bottom of The Depths is much easier once you cut off his tail. Then you just have to stay away from his front and run away whenever he flies up in the air. Keep hitting his back and he'll go down pretty fast.

 

- Make sure you keep items with high poison resistance for Blighttown - that place SUCKS without it. The enemies that spit poison darts do not respawn when you kill them, so make them a priority to kill.

 

- You can get another item (the first was in the Undead Parish) to reinforce your health potions if you go right on your way up from the swamp in Blighttown through the shortcut back to Firelink. It is near a bunch of red dogs that breath flame. However, the lady in Firelink will be temporarily "out of order" until you take care of the knight you freed in the Undead Parish. I haven't figured out how to do this yet.

 

- Quelaag is relatively straightforward, just stay away from her front and wait for her to spew lava, then attack her side/back. Sometimes she'll rear up and this is a signal she is about to stomp on you so get out away from her. Occasionally she will cast an AoE fire spell, but I only had it happen once so don't be afraid to keep slashing until she starts moving around again.

 

- I've read there is another pyro merchant near Quelaag's lair but I haven't found her

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- Make sure you keep items with high poison resistance for Blighttown - that place SUCKS without it. The enemies that spit poison darts do not respawn when you kill them, so make them a priority to kill.

 

Very true. A few notable PR items:

 

- Spider shield from The Depths

- Poisonbite ring from the guy that spawns at the bottom of the bell tower after you ring the bell.

- And a set of armor that you'll find pretty early in blighttown.

 

There is so much in here that's poison based, I say PR trumps all else for armor and equipment.

 

- You can get another item (the first was in the Undead Parish) to reinforce your health potions if you go right on your way up from the swamp in Blighttown through the shortcut back to Firelink. It is near a bunch of red dogs that breath flame. However, the lady in Firelink will be temporarily "out of order" until you take care of the knight you freed in the Undead Parish. I haven't figured out how to do this yet.

BTW, after you kill Quelaag and ring the bell, if you go down the stairs there's a fake wall...down a bit is another Fire Keeper NPC that can upgrade your flask.
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Very true. A few notable PR items:

 

- Spider shield from The Depths

- Poisonbite ring from the guy that spawns at the bottom of the bell tower after you ring the bell.

- And a set of armor that you'll find pretty early in blighttown.

 

There is so much in here that's poison based, I say PR trumps all else for armor and equipment.

 

BTW, after you kill Quelaag and ring the bell, if you go down the stairs there's a fake wall...down a bit is another Fire Keeper NPC that can upgrade your flask.

 

OMG you just made my night. I'm running back there now to do this. I love this game and the sense of camaraderie amongst the players... except those who drop notes. "Jump here" and "Happiness ahead" notes make me want to invade those people.

 

Also, the set of armor that you find in blighttown, I believe it's the ninja gear, I can't find. I've read it's near the first bonfire but hell if I can find it. Doesn't really matter to me as I'm done with that area, but still I'd like to grab it.

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Ive been trying to get past that red dragon myself. I havent upgraded my vitality at all. Just my strength and dexterity to level 16. I started as a thief and have the tiny being ring equipped and the blue ring that increases defense at low health. I have only a regular sheild that doesnt seem to block fire.

 

 

I tried holding it out and running along the right side. I die within two hits from the fire. Even if i drink a healing item I still get fried before I can get to that opening. Just steps away.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Are dexterity and strength the best to upgrade for increasing attack power with weapons? I havent even started adding magic compatibilities yet. I also forgot which attribute is best to upgrade to increase rolling speed and be able to use heavier weapons.

 

Any feedback appreciated!!

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It appears that it is this guy...

 

But I don't know if I want to join his covenant. Is there a way to buying healing miracles without joining? Another vendor perhaps?

 

P.s this game is sending me crazy!!!

 

If you are not in a covenant yet there is no reason not to join, you can simply leave it later on. But if you want to buy Heal miracle early off you need to join the Way of White.

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Very true. A few notable PR items:

 

- Spider shield from The Depths

- Poisonbite ring from the guy that spawns at the bottom of the bell tower after you ring the bell.

- And a set of armor that you'll find pretty early in blighttown.

 

There is so much in here that's poison based, I say PR trumps all else for armor and equipment.

 

BTW, after you kill Quelaag and ring the bell, if you go down the stairs there's a fake wall...down a bit is another Fire Keeper NPC that can upgrade your flask.

 

 

 

wait what guy after you ring the bell? I want this poisonbite ring and armor. I dont remember a guy spawning after ringing the first or second bell.

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If you are not in a covenant yet there is no reason not to join, you can simply leave it later on. But if you want to buy Heal miracle early off you need to join the Way of White.

 

I chose the THEIF as my base starter. Not sure what covenant they start out with, but I joined up with that dude so I could grab the healing spell as it seems like it would be very handy.

 

Is there a way to upgrade the amount of healing it does? Is it based off a stat or a %? I know I can buy greater healing, but that was only 1 charge...

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i havnt joined any covenant at all yet. hardly ever find an NPC. and the fat guy at the start I killed. I found a guy in a room, saved him, he sold sourcery stuff. I also found the guy in the belltower, who sells stuff too. I did the 1st bell, now im kinda about to try and explore the darkwoods bit. I did it a little and got the elite knight armour, which is useful.

 

Wheres the covenant people?

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i havnt joined any covenant at all yet. hardly ever find an NPC. and the fat guy at the start I killed. I found a guy in a room, saved him, he sold sourcery stuff. I also found the guy in the belltower, who sells stuff too. I did the 1st bell, now im kinda about to try and explore the darkwoods bit. I did it a little and got the elite knight armour, which is useful.

 

Wheres the covenant people?

 

Well you killed the first of them...

 

Chaos Servant - Queelag's Domain (at White Spider)

Gravelord Servant - Unoccupied coffin at the room with the titanite demon in the crypts.

Path of the Dragon - Past Ash Lake

Darkwraith - Kill Great Wolf Sif and receive his ring, Covenant of Artorias, which will allow you to access The Abyss.

Forest Hunter - Talk to the giant cat Alvina in the Dark Forest

Warrior of Sunlight - Underneath the red dragon (Hellkite) in Undead Parish.

Blade of the Darkmoon - Catacombs, and must also have access to Anor Londo.

Princess's Guard - After defeating Smough and Ornstein in Anor Londo

 

source: http://darksoulswiki.wikispaces.com/Covenants

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