next »

[TeeGee]

Both hunted other players and have been hunted as a human. Even wrote about it just a few posts above. Playing a faith build with Divine Claymore/Zweihander.

I think I'm averagely skilled at this point. I have some experience from Demon's Souls and other similar games, so my build is pretty efficient and I mostly know what I'm doing, but most PvPers I meet are still significantly better. There's no skill in getting close to a monster and mashing R1, though. It's just a matter of knowing it works.

[Boud]

Yes demon's souls/dark souls are mostly about skill (In PVP at least, against monster you just have to be careful), even if there are exploits and some builds are too strong. You're using those AEO miracles I suppose (the one that slows down ennemies was too strong when the game launched, the wrath of gods is still good though)
I played a strenght build for a first character, but I ended up using a lightning weapon most of the time  , you do get very strong weapons later on. I did a faith build second, enjoyed it a lot. Never did try the agility builds with katanas, they seem pretty powerful in PVP.

[Tumetsu]

You were lucky if you managed to avoid thunder butt though. Actually I'm in O&S right now and tried your method for big Orn and it seems to work, though not as well with katana (swings easily between his legs).

For me it is the first part which is tough though. If you can deal damage quickly or it is ranged it gets much easier though.

[s0]

I think I'm averagely skilled at this point. I have some experience from Demon's Souls and other similar games, so my build is pretty efficient and I mostly know what I'm doing, but most PvPers I meet are still significantly better. There's no skill in getting close to a monster and mashing R1, though. It's just a matter of knowing it works.

no i think you just have good reflexes

either that or my reflexes are terrible haha

[Boud]

Anyway you should endorse in more jolly cooperation ! Hunting other players is not nice !

I had good reflexes back on Demon's souls with the skeletons from level 4 (you kinda find those in the catacombs in dark souls) but now I think i'm too rusty from playing games that play themselves. I have to go back to DS.

[TeeGee]

I think I'm averagely skilled at this point. I have some experience from Demon's Souls and other similar games, so my build is pretty efficient and I mostly know what I'm doing, but most PvPers I meet are still significantly better. There's no skill in getting close to a monster and mashing R1, though. It's just a matter of knowing it works.

no i think you just have good reflexes

I dunno. I really just stayed there and took swings at their balls. No reflexes involved. I might just have been lucky too -- if Ornstein has some AoE attack, he never used it. Then again, same strategy worked for almost every boss and/or big creature I encountered so far. Sometimes with the caveat of having to step back if they prepare some AoE or adjust their position. It got to the point where even my girlfriend noticed the bosses are kinda boring. Oh look, a giant. Better get between its legs and swing at its butt. Oh, an Iron Golem. Gotta get between his legs and swing at his butt. Oh, giant knights. Those must be tough. I better get between their legs. A gargoyle? Can't reach me if I'm right under his butt. And then the same thing with O & S. My character is a slut! I'm going for Sif now. Guess what strategy I'm gonna try :D.

Another thing that works is getting very close to the enemy and start circling around it, striking a few times when they miss an attack. The Monster Hunter way. Worked for Gaping Dragon, Queelag, Drakes, Giant Felines, Mushroom Daddies, Knights -- basically all enemies that are not tall enough to have a safe spot below their asses.

You're using those AEO miracles I suppose (the one that slows down ennemies was too strong when the game launched, the wrath of gods is still good though)

Haven't used Tranquil Walk of Peace as I've heard it pisses other players off. Just unlocked Wrath of Gods but haven't used it yet. So far, I've been using only the default Heal and Lightning Spear, which are not PvP viable but make progression a bit easier. Especially as I have no other projectile weapon. So my character plays like a Strength or Quality build, only with a Divine weapon instead of +15 plus spell buff.

Anyway you should endorse in more jolly cooperation ! Hunting other players is not nice!

Nah, they know what they are getting into staying in the forest in human form. It's fun for both sides. Tried some co-op early in the game, when my SL was low enough to get me summoned more often. It was fun, but it's kinda hard to get summoned in later areas. I may try with Anor Londo, though. I guess it also should get better with NG+.

Actually I'm in O&S right now and tried your method for big Orn and it seems to work, though not as well with katana (swings easily between his legs).

Yeah, I missed some hits as well. Try to untarget him and attack his legs. Makes camera less wobbly too.

For me it is the first part which is tough though. If you can deal damage quickly or it is ranged it gets much easier though.

That's where I think my extra levels made the difference. The only times I was hit were when I attacked Smough and Orn managed to reach me from behind. Being able to sustain those blows and kill Smough fast enough definitely helped. Divine Claymore +7 at 30 Faith makes quick work of bosses when two handed. It actually even manages to stun them sometimes.

[Blademasterbobo]

what level were you at? you should be 50-60

[Raptor85]

sometimes you get lucky or unlucky in boss fights too, for O&S super ornstein will often spam his "but smash" move inhereted from smough, but with a HUGE lightning damage radius around him that will often instant kill you if you try to hang out under him, 4k is the same, trying to stand there and tank works often but sometimes they spam the grab move back to back which will kill you if you dont back off, if you leveled a lot of vit early that helps as well, especially when you're still low level enogugh that a lightning or other elemental weapon is better than anything that would scale with your stats.

[TeeGee]

Could be it. I wonder how it'll go in NG+ if I ever get the time to play it again. Especially as I don't really plan to level much from where I am.

what level were you at? you should be 50-60

Said already that I got several levels up from SL55 after killing a 250k souls worth player in PvP. And then stayed in the forest for a while more. I think I was at around SL80 when I killed O&S. With 30 vit and 30 faith. So probably quite above the designated level for that area.

[ink.inc]

yeah uh most people fight O&S at around... lvl 40

[Belimoth]

Where are you guys pulling these levels out of?

[Tumetsu]

Yeah, that Sl explains much. I'm usually SL80 when I complete the game.

[Raptor85]

Where are you guys pulling these levels out of?

they're the levels most people drop signs to summon or pvp in the area at, you just kinda start to learn them as you play and the forums/chatrooms etc "agree" on them, essentially though they're the level you'd be at if you upgraded your gear and leveled up normally without losing souls or farming at all at that point.  and yeah, 80 is way overlevel for O&S, by SL80 i'm generally around 4k....in NG+.  40-45 is more normal for anor londo, 45 is about average and the best level to be at for pvp there, around 80-100 that's where most people stop leveling so those levels will have high level pvp and summons for ng+, ng2+ and beyond absolutely everywhere in the game.  A lot of people rush it early for the lordvessel too, so you'll also find a lot of people around sl20 in anor londo, not as many as around 45 though.

[TeeGee]

Interesting. I wonder how I got so much higher than the average then. Do people not spend their souls intentionally or just avoid PvP up until NG+?

[Raptor85]

most people don't sit around and pvp that early in the forest to spend it on levels, only cat covenant or red soapsigns can invade up like that so normal invasions and such you're only talking 1000-2000 souls per kill, plus the good amount of people who don't pvp at all.  To get the souls to get to 80 normally before anor londo would take forever at the 100-500 souls per kill the enemies there give you (if you even intend on leveling that far, cat covenant and invasion pvp characters you generally want to level no higher than 60 or you're seriously cutting down your invasion targets), where if you level past that after anor londo it takes a tenth of that time.  You were already overlevel before that too though, 55 is a little high for the forest, most people take on sif around sl 30-40, so somewhere along the line you either stopped and farmed or got some lucky pvp kills even before then that took your level well beyond the normal. By 55-60 you should be doing the dlc areas, nito, 4k, and seath. (especially the dukes archives and oolacile (however you spell that) township are extreme pvp hotbeds around 55-60.)

remember too, pvp pairing and coop pairing in dark souls is sl based also, so aside from cat covenant if you keep leveling whenever you have souls you severely reduce the amount of players that can potentially invade or co-op with you since you'll be out of the +- 10 level + 10% level range (as a sl80 you can only play with players 62-98, so since the majority of players in the next few areas are under 50 or above 100, above 100 being the "stopped" pvp builds mostly), you literally leveled into a range where you'll run across very few people online in your areas.  Essentially in dark souls overleveling screws you for online interaction, the more you level the harder and harder it will be to find pvp in most areas....like in cat covenant now you'll only get the occasional ng+ player and the sl300+ gank squads that are farming for 710.

[TeeGee]

Yeah, it was the same in Demon's Souls and I understand the meta for this game is also around SL125, which is what I'm trying to get. Just didn't know I'm getting so ahead of myself. I assumed most players must be at similar levels as I.

It's funny because I don't really have much time to play this and never farmed souls (killed some slimes for green titanite, but that wasn't much). Must have been really lucky with the forest or did stuff in awkward order. Forest fills your soul count like crazy. Whenever I sit there for more than half an hour, I later find I have around 70k-100k souls to spend. And as an invader I got lucky twice, once for 250k, once for 120k. I guess it made the difference.

Whatever. It should balance out in NG+, if I'm so desperate as to play the game again.

[Raptor85]

forest hunter you get ok souls, and all the titanite is nice for upgrading a bunch of different weapons to try stuff out.  Dueling in the burgs is far better though, plus there's a higher chance of fair 1v1 fights if you're not set up for fighting ganks.  Remember too you get more souls when you win as host than you do as phantom (phantoms get 10% of the target's required souls to level, hosts get 50% of the target's required souls to level) so hanging out in burgs or township for 1v1's you'll generally get souls quite a bit faster than forest, i think my record on my sl 100 is about 3 mil souls in a hour, got a few high level players back to back that time, average though you're looking closer to 500k - 700k. the place to drop your red sign is the middle of that large platform down the stairs from the bonfire.

Other good spots are the kiln of the first flame right at the beginning on the large platform and the butterfly forest in front of the first stone giant, those are all extremly hot areas for 1v1's (and the way red soapsigns work, you can see and summon anyone's soapsign who is LOWER level than you, so, higher level players can literally summon anyone in to fight, which actually makes it pretty ideal for fight clubs.  Right by the first bonfire in township is ok too but expect more ganks there, and expect lots of people to have stuf like crystal soulmass and pursuers precast as they tend to be invisible due to a bug in the township area.

[TeeGee]

I don't have the DLC and I don't think I'll buy it. I try to avoid spending too much time with a single game these days. Lots of interesting stuff I should check out comes out every month and I only have limited free time.

I'm also not sure if I will engage into more serious PvP. I love it as a sub-aspect of the whole game, but I don't think it's good enough to treat it as a game of its own, with all the lag, slowdowns, and gameplay based on backstab fishing.

Remember too you get more souls when you win as host than you do as phantom

Yeah, I "remember". Aside from knowing the mechanics from DS, you already said that a few posts above .

[TeeGee]

Is it me or did they got pressed against deadlines when working on Demon Ruins? The whole location is bland, sprinkled randomly with enemies that were bosses before with no rhyme or reason. And those demonic statue enemies sure do look like a cheap cop out from having to do their animations. It's weird considering how detailed and well thought the rest of the level design in this game is.

[Nillo]

Yeah, I also thought the round statue guys looked kind of dumb. I didn't find anything else in the area jarring though, maybe because I was too busy trying to not get myself killed at the time to critique the game's aesthetic quality.