so if pure physical damage is going to be a problem in most fights then doesn't that mean that strength builds do suck for PvP?
![[H]ard|Forum](/styles/hardforum/xenforo/logo_dark.png){kind=logo}
Dark Souls is on Steam
- Thread starter DeathPrincess
- Start date
so if pure physical damage is going to be a problem in most fights then doesn't that mean that strength builds do suck for PvP?
LeninGHOLA
Vladimir Hayt
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2009
- Messages
- 18,416
Some weapons that scale well with STR can have decent elemental damage, too. Keep an eye on any bleeding/toxic/poison effects. Try tossing some dung pies, using poison bolts, etc.
A pure STR pure physical build can't get by on just bruteforcing unless you can stunlock or knock people down.
sounds like you're saying it's possible to get away with a strength build but it seems much easier to just build a sorcery/pyromancer heavy character...plus I literally have not run into 1 strength PvP opponent once I got past Level 80 or so...when I invade or get invaded it's always some sorcery guy
is there a way of getting the alternate Sif intro and side with Darkstalker Kaathe (join the Darkwraith covenant)?...without the ring from Sif, I can't get to the Four Kings and meet Kaathe...but in order to access the DLC I need to have placed the Lordvessel with Frampt to remove the yellow fog from Duke's Archives
Ugh. How do you take on the Hydra in Dark Root Basin? I can't even get close to the thing. Its water jet attacks manage to take me out before I even get close. I've got good stamina and poise with my Black Knight Shield +4, but I cannot block those water blasts and trying to dodge them isn't working either.
Or if you stand really close he will attack you and you can cut of his heads. Otherwise a crossbow or bow works as well. (Hint: Stand in the water past where the knight gear was found)
the hydras are easy. you just need a high stability 100% shield. run at them from a diagonal, go into the water to get them to move forward. then shield up. as soon as they start to arch back for their attack, move backwards because the head slams may OHK you, otherwise 0 damage. Once they slam, cut & repeat. It is easier with rusted iron ring. You can lock on with crossbow and get in some 4 bolts between attacks if you like.
I took out most of the hydra heads with my +5 battle ax. Off to the far right along the lake shore there is a rock out cropping I took cover in. His attacks couldn't damage me there and when one of his heads struck the beach I would run out, hack it, then run back to my rock cover. The last remaining head was hitting too far away out into the lake for me to attack, so I used my bow to finish him.
Domingo
Fully [H]
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2004
- Messages
- 22,644
In the case of the first hydra - hug the right wall and run right at him with your shield up. The trees and boulders will keep you relatively safe, plus he isn't all that accurate. Those crystal golems can cause issues if you don't deal with them, so I recommend luring them out first and killing them fairly close to Havel's tower.
Once you start to get closer to him, stay on the rocks on the right and keep your shield up. At this point, he'll stop shooting water and just keep trying to hit yo with his heads. Just block and swing away at them. Some can be tougher to hit than others, but it's not too rough hitting those last 1-2 when they're the only ones left.
With the one on the beach later on, he has killed himself in both of my passes through the game. Just keep avoiding him and he just dies randomly
Once you start to get closer to him, stay on the rocks on the right and keep your shield up. At this point, he'll stop shooting water and just keep trying to hit yo with his heads. Just block and swing away at them. Some can be tougher to hit than others, but it's not too rough hitting those last 1-2 when they're the only ones left.
With the one on the beach later on, he has killed himself in both of my passes through the game. Just keep avoiding him and he just dies randomly
Thanks for the tips. I'm avoiding the Hydra for the moment, but will take him on soon.
RIght now I am trying to farm a Titanite Slab out of the Darkwraiths in lower New Londo Ruins. I have an item find of 392 with 7 held humanity and the covetous ring. So far I've gotten a couple black hands, but no slabs. Oh well, at least they're tasty at 1.2k souls a pop.
I want to get my Balder Side Sword up to +15 before I move forward with the game.
Is the black hand a good shield? Right now I have a Black Knight Shield +4.
RIght now I am trying to farm a Titanite Slab out of the Darkwraiths in lower New Londo Ruins. I have an item find of 392 with 7 held humanity and the covetous ring. So far I've gotten a couple black hands, but no slabs. Oh well, at least they're tasty at 1.2k souls a pop.
I want to get my Balder Side Sword up to +15 before I move forward with the game.
Is the black hand a good shield? Right now I have a Black Knight Shield +4.
LeninGHOLA
Vladimir Hayt
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2009
- Messages
- 18,416
Dark Hand isn't really a good shield, no. The major benefits are the very low weight and ability to rob humanity from NPC's. You'll need to join the Darkwraiths to make it effective at robbing humanity.
LeninGHOLA
Vladimir Hayt
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2009
- Messages
- 18,416
Yup. Certain NPC's may not have any humanity to steal, some only a little bit. IIRC they will go hollow if you take it all.
Or you could do what i do and hide until the invader gets so board that they kill them selves and then you just walk up and take their stuff.
LeninGHOLA
Vladimir Hayt
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2009
- Messages
- 18,416
I never get bored. I'll hunt you for hours!!
I don't think it's possible to side with Kaathe and get the alternate Sif intro...even in NG+...I tried...I thought having the Cleansing Greatshield that Sif drops in the DLC for you might be enough to credit it as a 'completion' of the DLC section but nope...you need to place the Lordvessel with Frampt and then do the DLC and then kill Sif to get the alternate cutscene...no other way to do it...unless I'm being an idiot and missing something obvious
uh, well, actually it is the same issue, however if you joined the darkwraith in NG then you can see the different sequence in NG+, you just can't change factions
yeah I saw the alternate Sif cutscene during a previous run...too bad you can't do it with Kaathe as I prefer Kaathe to Frampt...I'm about to finish NG+ and it's honestly getting a bit boring now...I can't believe people actually play all the way through to NG+ 7...after NG+ you'll most likely have seen everything the game has to offer...the enemy scaling would get annoying after a point as it no longer depends on skill and is mostly about grinding through every boss fight...that's not what I consider fun...plus since there are soft caps to every skill perk that means you either have to craft new weapons that scale greater or be satisfied trying to work with the current cap and deal with progressively stronger scaling enemies
even in NG+ it's mostly about PvP...when I play again I'm just going to start a New Game...PvP is probably better at lower levels
Nope, you've got it right.
Has anyone ever gotten a Titanite Slab off of the Darkwraiths in lower New Londo Ruins? I've done that run at least 20 times and still no slab. I even farmed Humanity so I could raise my item find from 392 to 410, but still nothing. I really want to get a slab before I move onto the Four Kings. With that high of an item find is it work it to go to Dark Root Garden to try and farm it out of the Crystal Lizards?
Yeah, I farmed out 3 slabs from the Darkwraiths before I went into NG+. I really couldn't tell you how long it took...but I gained about 20 levels doing it. I was listening to an audiobook while I farmed
Have you already done the DLC stuff? There is a slab in the waterfall in the area you fight Kalameet
Have you already done the DLC stuff? There is a slab in the waterfall in the area you fight Kalameet
Domingo
Fully [H]
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2004
- Messages
- 22,644
It seems to be totally random. In my entire time playing I've probably gotten 7 of them down there, but it takes forever. The Crystal Lizards are certainly more likely to drop slabs, but there is a finite number of them. If you're going to farm them, I'd recommend using a save back-up system to avoid losing them forever. Also, the Great Hollow is the best place to find them. There are something like 8 of them down there.
The ruins are pretty much the only consistent farming spot unfortunately. Like strend mentioned - get yourself an audiobook, some music, or something else you can multitask while making that run because it's tedious and all luck.
there are 10 in the great hollow, 4 spawning places. you go where you saw the lizard, exit, reload, and kill the lizard next to you. slabs are about 1 an hour from new londo (+12k points/pass). there are 11 darkwraith, the one usually missed is when you to toward the 4 kings area and turn right. there are ghosts there though, so screw him. you also get a slab for the stray demon and completing the seigmeyer quest.
the dlc is awesome, just be warned, the bosses will tear you a new one, they are harder IMO than the others in the regular game.
the dlc is awesome, just be warned, the bosses will tear you a new one, they are harder IMO than the others in the regular game.
Domingo
Fully [H]
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2004
- Messages
- 22,644
This is a fact
All of them are total bastards. Plus, on NG+, they're even worse. IMO, they're the hardest single enemies in the whole game.What's funny about the DLC is that like much of the rest of the game, the new content is hidden away. It's VERY easy to totally miss it, which I did on my first pass.
the DLC bosses are definitely the hardest mainly because they are so aggressive...you only have small openings to heal up and they hit you hard with some of their move sets...Kalameet and Manus were tough in NG+ (along with Four Kings)...but mostly the difficulty is overstated because you will be much stronger in NG+ and will have learned the game by then so it's just a matter of bosses requiring more hits to kill
anyone playing on PC get the Book of the Guilty to work for them?...it works but I can't find my name on it...it says to hit the RT key which is the right handed regular swing key on the PC but it doesn't work...not a big deal but it would be nice if I got to see it...even viewing your complete 'Gesture' list took a bit of experimenting before I found out how to access it
Last edited:
so how do you view the alternate gestures?
by alternate gestures I mean the new gestures you learn throughout the game...when you open up the gesture menu (G key by default) you only see the default 7 gestures...to view (and replace) any of them you need to hit whatever key you have assigned to 'Menu Function 1'...it will then list all the gestures
I got tired of farming for slabs so I toook on the demon back at the asylum and beat him on my 4th try and got the slab! Then, the next time I went into the new londo ruins I did not have covetous gold ring on- ditched it for artorius because I was headed for the kings with my new +15 baldur side sword- and the first darkwraith I killed dropped a slab.
Killed the kings on my 4th try tonight. Summoned in a tank to help out.
Where should I go next? Right now I am just sitting at the abyss bonfire.
Killed the kings on my 4th try tonight. Summoned in a tank to help out.
Where should I go next? Right now I am just sitting at the abyss bonfire.
if you've placed the Lordvessel...then all you have as part of the 'main' story is 4 Kings, Bed of Chaos, Nito and Seath (before fighting final boss Gwyn)...doesn't really matter which order as Four Kings is the only tough one...you could also explore some optional areas such as the Painted World in Anor Londo (if you picked up the Peculiar Doll on your return visit to Undead Asylum), Great Hollow or Valley of the Drakes
Lost Izalith is a nice challenge if you're up for it...a couple of optional bosses in there as well...you enter through Quelaag's home base...lots of Taurus and Capra Demons and lava...in the end you fight Bed of Chaos boss
* I heard it's was always best not to summon anyone for 4 Kings as they warp in quicker and the fight becomes even tougher
Stereophile
Supreme [H]ardness
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2003
- Messages
- 5,116
Not sure where you have been so far as I went to the demon ruins after finishing New Londo and killing the 4 kings.. But if you're earlier in the game, make sure you get through Sen's Fortress and Anor Londo. Then you can choose between the graveyard at the beginning of the game (first area is challenging but not hard compared to previous areas,, second area beyond catacombs is very challenging if you're not ready for it, but going through the deeper levels below Blighttown is painfully necessary too. If you haven't been to Sen's Fortress yet, ring the first and second bells.
Stereophile
Supreme [H]ardness
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2003
- Messages
- 5,116
Good recommendation on the Painted World, one of the better levels in the game IMO. I think I was about SL55-60, had just finished Anor Londo. I had more problems with the Stray Demon than Aramis. But still a good boss.
my very first run through, that place was a nightmare!...those crows were one of the tougher non-boss fights (until you figure out their trick) and those pinwheel things were a huge PITA!
I don't even remember the crows....but those fucking Pinwheel guys suck major ass...I still die to those guys every now and again despite my level.