Dark Souls

[Rachis]

Thanks for the info. Looks like I'll be getting that 41 instead then. That should make things a lot easier for this build.

[Rachis]

I've been having an absolute blast with a strength character I started shortly after discussing the faith build with you guys. In the link is what I have planned for thus far. The equipment is what I'm using right now. I've taken a great liking to the black knight greatsword, gravelord sword, dragon tooth, dragon greatsword, and man-serpent greatsword. I remember PD saying a long time ago that I probably used lighter weapons just because I wasn't really comfortable with the game or something. I don't remember what it was exactly, but I've been trying to evolve as a gamer over the past year and trying new things and I must say the harder hitting side of things is a lot of fun as far as this game goes. I should've started a strength build ages ago.

 

https://mugenmonkey....2RlbiwxLDAsMA==

 

I could've stopped at 32 str, but I figured the extra 2 point investment was worth it so I could have some fun with the big dragon weapons when I felt like. With the ring of fap I don't have a dire need to get up to 50 vit, but I have more than enough extra points to play around with. I can pretty much do whatever I want from this point and if I really want to I can just dump extra points into end for gear. I've been invaded a few times while I have only the medium roll and I've been comfortable with it which is a huge plus for this character. It leaves the second ring slot open for flexibility. Any ideas/suggestions on what I should do?

 

I will have more vids soon to show some visual progress. I've got very little experience with the endgame. I've got Sheath coming up and I'll be hitting up the Demon Ruins and Lost Izaleth after.

Edited February 22, 2013 by Rachis

[Gay Uncle]

I was the same as you Rachis. I naturally gravitate towards DEX based weapons, simply because they strike fast and don't leave that gaping big moment of vulnerability like when you swing a giant sword.

 

It's almost like exposure therapy, wielding huge weapons and double-handling

[YUNG MASTERLESS GLENCOUR]

https://mugenmonkey....2RlbiwxLDAsMA==

 

Your spread is solid bruh. From here on out it's more about fkn around and seeing what sort of extra shit u could get away with. u got like 21-26 points to spare so you could up the dex for extra damage on several weapons (especially big ones that got the C/C rates) or of course working up the pyromancy angle. Pyromancy is the shit and pretty much always is a good idea to add in since you only need a weapon slot and some attunement to run it. I think depending on how you like to play it you could always run slb too and raise ur faith to 30 along with getting the proper attunement (1 for slb and 1 for wog is clutch).

 

You want some good ideas on how to apply pyro into your build watch a few of John's vids. He was prolly the biggest pyro fan aside from me. iirc a lot of his builds made heavy use of it.

 

So I offer the following quickie stat spreads looking at what u already got, assuming SL125 is what ur still gunning for:

 

-raise ur attune to 14 and ur dex to 45 for max speed pyro, near max damage for most weapons, and slots for gc and cgf

-raise attune to 12 and faith to 39 (you only need 30 but w/e) for slb and wog usage

[SUMERIAN BLOOD GOD]

One pyro trick that catches a lot of people off guard is fireball and great combustion.

A lot of people try and counter balls by rolling through them and towards you which is when you hit them in the face with GC. It doesn't work out for me in that vid because I threw the ball too close and Agentorange did a non-lock roll to my side and ducked the GC but you see the technique anyway. Make sure you throw the ball from a distance where their roll puts them right in front of you. You can probably even get another one in as they try to roll away if you have 45 dex and immediately cast GC again after the first. Great combustion is best pyro spell in my opinion because you have a lot of opportunities to land it. I recommend keeping pyro selected in your left hand in lieu of a shield, especially if you're two-handing. Eat grass for your stamina instead of GCS on your back. This way you can just drop your weapon to 1H and cast with pyro hand. It's faster than switching from shield to hand and you don't lose your stamina boost that way.

 

has a lot of pyro stuff in it. Mostly it's just showing how quick the spells are with 45 dex. It also shows GC's fantastic hitbox, hahaha.

[Rachis]

The pyro route is what I'm leaning more towards. I already do like it a lot and the dex will give me even more weapon options and maximize some of the ones i'm already using so there's really no reason not to. As far as GCS goes, I'm not a big fan anymore. The cloranthy ring is better imo if you don't absolutely need that ring slot for something.

[YUNG MASTERLESS GLENCOUR]

Do it mang, being fire mario is the shit

[Rachis]

Here are my fights with nito and artorias. The learning process didn't take long for nito. Got him on my second try. Artorias is going to take some getting used to. Still got him on my second or third try, but he's really aggressive and I haven't found any solid weaknesses on him outside of counter attacks and nabbing a power blow on after his aoe attack.

 

Nito

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzOs_vTMY40

 

Artorias

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEkPeRcBDBU

Edited February 23, 2013 by Rachis

[LS]

http://mugenmonkey.com/darksouls/?c=125378191372778421

 

Probably nothing special, but that's what I'm working for currently. I wanted something with max cast speed to make barebones use of Dark Bead. Ironically it's probably not worthwhile since black flame does a similar job, but the build has extra points and so only hurts from it insofar as it could reallocate points to end, use FAP instead of wolf and hit some lower poise breakpoint with more HP and stamina. But honestly, fuck that, I like 53 poise even on 1.7, and this armor setup looks cool, while everything I can find for 31/36 poise that fits even with reallocated points looks like garbage (though I will probably change my mind and do that at some point). Also, I have the excuse of the buff going away if I switch to the pyro stuff. Can also run Iato or however it spells itself, and I'm actually kind of leaning towards that because the 1h moveset is better. Might actually make a Washing Pole version one day.

[Mom]

I probably mentioned it earlier in the topic but oh well.

 

Artorias kicked my ass 10 times in a row before I finally realized that I could stuff his powerups if I attacked him enough when he was doing them. If you allow him to power up he starts taking off like 1200hp per hit. Don't allow him to powerup and he's simple. There's a certain threshold to stuff his powerups though, I think it might be like 1000 points of attack.

[Wong]

Hey, LS, your build is just like my max speed pyro!

http://mugenmonkey.c...2RlbiwxLDAsMA==

 

This is actually my second favorite build. Putting on the Crown of Dusk and Bellow Ring gives you ridiculous damage for your pyromancy and dark bead. I also like Great Magic Weapon since I am already splashing INT for Dark Bead. For this build, I pretty much forgo the thought of using shields. Pyromancy Flame is nice on the left hand because you can combo, CGFB -> Iaito R1. And swapping out the Iaito would debuff my GMW.

 

For your spell slot, I think you should try (in this order):

1. Fire Surge

2. Great Fire Ball and Chaos Great Fire Ball

3. Great Combustion and Black Flame

4. Fire Tempest and Power Within

 

Reasoning:

- We want to start out with Fire Surge because you can mask Fireballs and Combustions with it

- Next we have Fireballs because if you successfully land one at close quarters, you can quickly swap for a Combustion move to combo

- We have Fire Tempest and Power Within at the last because it has no affinity with the other spells.

So you can spam some Fire Surge, mix into Fireballs, and combo with Combustion, with ease.

 

Putting things in order helps with transition, so it all comes down to muscle memory rather than memorization.

 

Rachis,

I really like your vids so far. You should post more once you start to PvP.

Edited February 23, 2013 by Honest Frank

[Rachis]

Have mostly completed the dlc with my victory over manus. I still need to go kill kalameet. Otherwise, I can just finish this playthrough with the defeat of gwyn. Since I'm that close I decided to get in some invasions and the following video is the 2nd of 2 invasions that I could get. The first was a tragedy of a loss. I cleaned my act up for round 2 though.

 

 

[Wong]

@ 1:28, when your opponent tries to strike your twice with a slow like the Zweihander or BKGA when your shield is up, you can parry preemptively when your opponent tries to land a second it, and your parry will be successful. Try it out sometime. It is much safer than trying to counter attack with your weapon and rewards you with even more damage.

@ 2:05, very nice dead angle. Do you know what dead angle is?

[Rachis]

Yeah I'm aware of what it is. However, in this case it was entirely unintentional. I got lucky with that one. The hitbox to the right with the bkh's jumping attack is pretty ridiculous. I will keep the parrying in mind.

[Mom]

Dam son, he tanked those two halberd hits while drinking like a hoss.

[Rachis]

Yeah I was pretty disappointed when that happened. I felt like I cheated out of a quick win, but I need more experience anyways so it's not like a longer fight hurt me. I have a hard time having fun with the PvP though when stuff like that happens. And not being able to rely on my reactions as much doesn't help. Edited April 23, 2013 by Rachis

[Wong]

Just throw a Lloyd's Talisman at the get-go. End their drinking ways!

[Mom]

I don't think it was just that, but didn't he not take any damage at all while drinking? Dude lagged through two swipes.

[Rachis]

I really didn't mind that he was drinking. I mean it's in the game and I fucked him up hard right off the bat. Not to mention he then put himself in position to be outright killed. But yeah, he completely ate those two swings. If he hadn't he would've died for sure.

[SUMERIAN BLOOD GOD]

I never really bothered trying to parry online. Lag made it unpredictable a lot of the time. Even though big weapon swings are easier to parry, you're going to take a bigger smack if lag decides you parried at the wrong time.

 

In the end I didn't use shield much at all. My most successful build didn't even keep GCS on his back (though he did have it in reserve for when grass ran out). Things might have changed though now that everyone and their mother can't cartwheel anymore. I can see shields being more useful in that environment.

[Mom]

Boy was Tubby build the opposite!

[SUMERIAN BLOOD GOD]

All your builds hid behind shields

[Wong]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob0hV4JWonM

This video made me laugh so hard. lol

[The Talentless]

Yea emarrel's got some great vids.

 

Coincidentally, I recently bought this used for the new apartment. I'm on my way to finishing what will hopefully be my new favourite build of all time.

http://mugenmonkey.c...SwyLDEwLDEzLDM0

[Wong]

Firesurge is a killer, especially with Crown of Dusk + Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring. So many have died trying to poise stab me, and my Firesurge + Crown + BDCR just kills them in like 5 secs. This is my favorite build, actually:

http://mugenmonkey.com/darksouls/?b=cHlyb21hbmNlciw1MCwyMyw0MCwxNCw0NSwxMiwxNiw4LDk5LDIzLDMwLDM0LDMxLDMxLDE0LDExOCw0NywxMTQsMCxub3JtYWwsbm9ybWFsLG5vcm1hbCxub3JtYWwsMCwzMywzOCwzMCw2OSwyMSwwLDAsMCwwLDAsMCwwLDksd29vZGVuLHdvb2Rlbix3b29kZW4sd29vZGVuLDEsMCww

 

The idea is to pressure with Firesurge and mixup with Chaos Great Fireball. When my Chaos Great Fireball does hit in CQC, I can quickswap to Great Combustion for a killer combo. With 45 Dex, if I hit my opponent with Great Combustion and they are staggered (out of poise), I can walk up a little and do another Great Combustion. Rinse and repeat until they are dead or you are out of Great Combustions. Dark Bead + Crown + BDCR + OIC @ 16 INT can, surprisingly, deal over 1000 damage pretty consistently in CQC. I don't know if FROM has patched Dark Bead yet, but it was pretty broken. The 16 INT is totally worth it just for that spell on a Pyro mage. Since I am going for 16 INT anyways, I may as well use GMW for extra damage.