Demon's Souls

miir · Post by **miir** » October 9, 2009, 1:11 pm

Buy it.

That is all.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » October 9, 2009, 1:27 pm

I'm highly interested in this one but with Uncharted 2 and Brutal Legend coming out next week and limited funds.. Hard choices need to be made.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » October 9, 2009, 1:51 pm

My cousin went on for a few paragraphs about how this is the best thing to happen to rpg's since Nam. Guess I'll have to pick it up.

miir · Post by **miir** » October 9, 2009, 1:54 pm

It seems more and more games are little more than interactive stories that require very little thought or skill to play. Some have increased difficulty levels that can be unlocked but that usually just means the your reaction times have to be quicker.

Death in most games has become just a minor inconvenience. You can make poor decisions and play recklessly and only have to worry about losing a couple of minutes of gameplay when you have to reload your last save/checkpoint.

When you die in Demon's Souls, you lose all your currency (souls) and you're punted back to the beginning of the dungeon. You have to fight your way back to regain your souls. If you happen to die on the way, you lose all of the souls on your 'corpse'. Reckless play and poor decisions are punished. You really want to avoid dying in this game.

Combat is awesome. You have to observe, block, counterattack, etc.... you can't barrel into enemies and expect to overpower them with your leet button mashing skillz. If you're about to enter a dark room, you can be sure there's gonna be monsters lurking in there. If you see scorch marks on the ground, you probably don't want to stand around there. If you're going to be fighting in a narrow corridor, you might want to think about putting away the polearm or greatsword. Unless you're content bashing it against the walls and ceiling. You're going to have much better luck with a scimtar, dagger or shortsword.
The game has a feature where other playes can leave hints/notes on the floor warning you of what might lie ahead. Some of the hints might be bogus so you still have to be cautious.

The multiplayer aspect of the game is... strange. There is no matchmaking, no traditional co-op and other players can literally drop in and out of your game without you knowing. You can force your way into someone's game to hunt them.. and vice versa. In normal online mode, you see 'ghosts' of other players running around. You see the bloodstains where other players have died. You can click the bloodstains to see the last few seconds of their life.

The level of immersion is incredible.
The environments and monster design is top notch.
The audio is excellent.

The past 2 night's I actually lost track of time while playing.
That hasn't happened to me in ages.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » October 9, 2009, 2:03 pm

miir wrote:It seems more and more games are little more than interactive stories that require very little thought or skill to play. Some have increased difficulty levels that can be unlocked but that usually just means the your reaction times have to be quicker.

Death in most games has become just a minor inconvenience. You can make poor decisions and play recklessly and only have to worry about losing a couple of minutes of gameplay when you have to reload your last save/checkpoint.

When you die in Demon's Souls, you lose all your currency (souls) and you're punted back to the beginning of the dungeon. You have to fight your way back to regain your souls. If you happen to die on the way, you lose all of the souls on your 'corpse'. Reckless play and poor decisions are punished. You really want to avoid dying in this game.

Combat is awesome. You have to observe, block, counterattack, etc.... you can't barrel into enemies and expect to overpower them with your leet button mashing skillz. If you're about to enter a dark room, you can be sure there's gonna be monsters lurking in there. If you see scorch marks on the ground, you probably don't want to stand around there. If you're going to be fighting in a narrow corridor, you might want to think about putting away the polearm or greatsword. Unless you're content bashing it against the walls and ceiling. You're going to have much better luck with a scimtar, dagger or shortsword.
The game has a feature where other playes can leave hints/notes on the floor warning you of what might lie ahead. Some of the hints might be bogus so you still have to be cautious.

The multiplayer aspect of the game is... strange. There is no matchmaking, no traditional co-op and other players can literally drop in and out of your game without you knowing. You can force your way into someone's game to hunt them.. and vice versa. In normal online mode, you see 'ghosts' of other players running around. You see the bloodstains where other players have died. You can click the bloodstains to see the last few seconds of their life.

The level of immersion is incredible.
The environments and monster design is top notch.
The audio is excellent.

The past 2 night's I actually lost track of time while playing.
That hasn't happened to me in ages.

Damn you and your praise. I already had too many games to buy this month and now I'm gonna have to go get this after work

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » October 9, 2009, 4:09 pm

I called my EB earlier and they have copies. I think I'm going to get this instead of Uncharted next week. Who knows how long this one will be on shelves. Uncharted will be everywhere for years.

miir · Post by **miir** » October 9, 2009, 4:25 pm

See if you can find the limited/special edition.
The guide that comes with it is invaluable.

Canelek · Post by **Canelek** » October 9, 2009, 4:54 pm

Doh! I didn't know about a limited edition. I just went to Mediocre Buy at lunch and luckily, they just got a shipment in. Mine can with an art booklet I think.

Either way, I am looking forward to checking this one out this weekend. I bought this based upon your review, Miir, so it better be good!

How's the sound? I have yet to play any games on the new home theater setup.

Canoe · Post by **Canoe** » October 9, 2009, 5:00 pm

Canelek wrote:
How's the sound? I have yet to play any games on the new home theater setup.

Reading comprehension for teh win.

Miir wrote:The audio is excellent.

Love ya bro!

Canelek · Post by **Canelek** » October 9, 2009, 5:16 pm

Ohhh, I stopped reading after the immersion comment. Danka bud

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » October 9, 2009, 5:29 pm

Gots. They were out of limited edition so I got the regular.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » October 9, 2009, 7:01 pm

The word of mouth on this game is going to be great, unless your friends only play WiiFit. Demon’s Souls is what an 8-Bit game would play like if it were popped open and dumped out in your lap. Gorgeous, thoughtful, and complete unto itself, it’s the second-best title I’ve played this year. Maybe even better.

Nice review comment. Peaks my interest!

Every single person that owns a PS3 should at the very least rent this game to see what all the fuss is about, and those that can remember the good ol' days when games taught through the highly effective use of negative reinforcement and a heavy price for not playing it carefully should scoop this up instantly. It's utterly unique among the offerings on any console right now, and absolutely, positively should not be missed.

has potential to be third PS3 game I buy.

Little Big Planet: Disappointement
GTA IV: Mistake, should have purchased on 360

Canelek · Post by **Canelek** » October 9, 2009, 7:21 pm

Bah! The other reviews don't count! This is all riding on Miir. If the game is no good, we will be forming up a VV country-ass-whoopin' mob somewhere near the Great Lakes to cross over and have at him! Hah!

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » October 9, 2009, 11:54 pm

Long ass text FAQ for the people without the Limited Edition Guide:

http://www.gamesradar.com/ps3/demons-so ... 7/c-346906

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » October 10, 2009, 2:01 am

I love this game.

I started with a barb and died over and over again approx. 75 times. Restarted as soldier and got through the first level in about 90 minutes.

The additional defence was a huge help.

Fun game indeed. I completely lost track of time this evening.

miir · Post by **miir** » October 10, 2009, 10:09 am

After chatting with you, I started a barbarian.
It's a completely different style of play than a class with heavy armor. The difficulty is increased but I was having a lot of fun jumping and rolling around to get in position.

You can get a set of (i think female only) barbarian armor from the 2 hanging corpses in the left tower in the first zone. You have to fight your way up the tower and on the balcony, you have to smash the 2 chains.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » October 10, 2009, 4:13 pm

The first area is harder for a barb cause there are a lot of narrow passageways. I did see that set of armor that you spoke about a well with my soldier last night. I'm going to try that first area again with the barb and see how things go now that I have a bit more experience with the game.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » October 10, 2009, 4:46 pm

This game gets A+++ if you're a hardcore old school RPG gamer.

I managed to stay alive playing a Hunter until the first boss. Presently in the Nexus.

This morning, Fry's Electronics was only store in Phoenix that had copies left of this game and only the standard edition (49.95 on sale). It came with Art Book and extra Audio Soundtrack CD. All Best Buys and Gamestops were sold out. Target and Wal Mart only sell it online.

I did get a tip from a Gamestop employee though. He said don't bother with the limited edition as it doesn't help much. Not sure what he's talking about as I don't have a clue what's going on right now with the stats but am having a blast. I would have bought the limited edition if I could find it. I hadn't been in a Gamestop in years. The employees were exactly as you'd expect them to be/look.

If you don't block and/or parry, you will die.

Best RPG for hard core gamers on any console. I can see how newb gamers would give up on this game as you can't hack and slash your way through.

Only thing I'm getting used to is my directional swings. I seem to be missing some on my swings (I'm sure it would be better with 360 controller!).

Tons of stats for stat lovers in this game for stats lovers.

Only an hour in and not even out of newbie area but can see this game is going to provide a lot of entertainment with re-playability considering the difference in strategies for the classes.

I'll try to track down the Extra Guide in PDF format.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » October 10, 2009, 11:22 pm

Tried out three classes so far:

Hunter: Well rounded

+ has decent HPs and starts with bow (but ran out of ammo...which isn't problem with royalty/magic)
- not fast enough swinging the ax!

Wanderer

+ Very fast weapon (add bleeding damage)
+ high damage
+ can toast most foes quickly after a parry
+ High Luck so you get higher loot drop percentage which nets lots of healing loot etc

- Not enough protection. It's all fun and games until you get to the dragon part. Flames take you down fast

Royalty

+ So far best damage
+ lock on with your soul arrow and one-shot mobs before they're anywhere near you
+ Soul arrow acts as stun as well so can stop a rushing NPC and waste them before they reach you
+ starts with Fragrant Ring which regens Mana Points so can not much down time
+ can Two Shot those Blue Knights before they're anywhere near you.
+ take out archers/cross bow npcs with ease

- Ill wait till I get to dragon part and see if I live

Royaly seems to be a great class so far. The auto-lock ranged attack is hard to beat.

I'm still in level 1-1. een here all day but learning a lot about the game as I die : ) Royalty character hasn't died yet.

***EDIT***

Finally done with first level. Liking the Royalty Character a lot. Anyone else check out the Hall of Fame at top of Nexus? Some of the armor and weapons on those guys are impressive.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » October 11, 2009, 8:31 am

I saw the hall of fame yesterday. Some of the stuff these guys have are really impressive.

I've cleared 1-1 with the soldier and the barbarian. I think I'm going to try the priest next.

miir · Post by **miir** » October 11, 2009, 11:18 am

That giant dude with the gigantic tower shield is givign me a really hard time.
I've got it down that you run up to the ramparts and take out the archers, then start hacking at his ankles... but I just can't seem to get his attack pattern down. I have polearm, scimtar and shield upgraded to +4 or 5 and my soul level is 15.

Maybe I just have to grind some more soul levels or work on getting a decent bow.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » October 11, 2009, 4:59 pm

miir wrote:That giant dude with the gigantic tower shield is givign me a really hard time.
I've got it down that you run up to the ramparts and take out the archers, then start hacking at his ankles... but I just can't seem to get his attack pattern down. I have polearm, scimtar and shield upgraded to +4 or 5 and my soul level is 15.

Maybe I just have to grind some more soul levels or work on getting a decent bow.

I FINALLY got by the part right before that, where you have to run across bridge and then take out three archers and a blue night. I had to work up my health several points and focus on my melee instead of magic to get the job done.

I summoned someone that was waiting there right before I zoned in to face the big shield guy. We killed on first try but i give him credit, He ran around until I figured out you need to hit the feet and then attack his head like mad after he falls, rinse repeat until he dies. I was launching damage spells at his feet but eventually got out +2 Scimitar and helped out hitting ankles.

Glad I was successful on first try as I had some serious issues with the dragons and archer/blue night combo before that.

BTW, I ratedthe phantom player a "C" which was in the middle. does that mean he got about half of the soul points? I didnt know which was better A or F o tis scale so chose middle..would have given him higher if I was sure it would have given him more.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » October 11, 2009, 10:19 pm

The rating is independant of the soul points as far as I know. Rating goes s(superior) - a - b - c - d.

I believe this is purely used as a performance rating so others know if they should avoid a payer of not.

I've helped a few people kill their Tower Knights already. I still have to do mine. I've killed the Armor Spider in the next level up from the stairs this morning.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » October 11, 2009, 10:24 pm

A great place to farm is The Tower Night Archstone. After You've defeated the Tower thingy, an archstone appears so you can go to and from the Nexus.

The last blue knight on the bridge is alone and spawns ever time you zone back and forth from the nexus, It's worth 415 Souls and always drops nice healing stuff. At least for the lower levels, you can kill ten of those pretty fast for 4150 souls and keep going, I'm untouched with ranged combat so I can get Souls as fast as I can zone back and forth (Blu Ray a little Pokey, would be faster with 360's DVD)

I also killed the Red Dragon by slowly killing him with Soul Arrows on Tower one in 1-2. That enabled me to get the Purple Flame Shield which stops 100% of physical damage. I upped my strength to 15 although 22 Str is needed for it if you want to use it as an Offensive weapon. For me, the shield is all I need. It blocks 90% fire as well.

Good time. Never been so frustrated by a game yet keep playing because it's so good.

Anyway, there's a tip for nice farm spot after you kill Tower Shield Thingy.

-------

Edit: just worked it out. I an kill one Blue Knight a minute including the zone back and forth. That works out to 25K an hour soul stones. I'll do it a little while to boost a few more stats but it wont be practical after awhile. gotta take advantage while the leveling is under 4K each.

Also, the blue knights drop a Knight's Shield and a grind sotne (2,000 soul item) in the sample 10 I killed along with all the standard Half Moon Grass drops (got 40 of those!)

nice

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » October 11, 2009, 10:46 pm

Do NOT use the Soul items from bosses. I was claiming the souls from them but these items can be used in smithing new items and getting new spells...

Grrr...

Waikiki · Post by **Waikiki** » October 12, 2009, 10:15 am

[Show]: I ended up killing the tower knight with a bow from one of the outlooks above. As long as you are close enough to lock onto his chest with R3 you can hit him just before he casts his bolt of death thingy. I also used a bow for the armor spider in 2-1, if you hug the left wall until you are in bow range, the only thing that can hit you is his spider web thing which doesn't do much damage.

I still don't have any spells yet at soul level ~35 and 2-2 is making me seriously consider putting some attribute points into intelligence.

Rating does affect the number of souls that are awarded to a blue phantom if the strategy guide is to be believed. An S rating gives 50% of the total souls you obtained to the phantom. (you don't actually lose any souls by doing this)

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » October 12, 2009, 10:56 am

Waikiki wrote:
[Show]
I ended up killing the tower knight with a bow from one of the outlooks above. As long as you are close enough to lock onto his chest with R3 you can hit him just before he casts his bolt of death thingy. I also used a bow for the armor spider in 2-1, if you hug the left wall until you are in bow range, the only thing that can hit you is his spider web thing which doesn't do much damage.
I still don't have any spells yet at soul level ~35 and 2-2 is making me seriously consider putting some attribute points into intelligence.

Rating does affect the number of souls that are awarded to a blue phantom if the strategy guide is to be believed. An S rating gives 50% of the total souls you obtained to the phantom. (you don't actually lose any souls by doing this)

Oh? Cause it seeme to me like it attributed me my souls before the host could've possibly have assigned the ratings to the other players. I'll have to look at this again.

Niffoni · Post by **Niffoni** » October 12, 2009, 11:08 am

I can't find a deluxe edition to save my life. Amazon.ca is giving me the "Fuck you, we ordered 5 of them and that's all we'll ever get" and both local EB Games pretty much gave me the "Demon whats? Is that the new Halo energy drink?"

I want that guide. Maybe I'll see if it's available somewhere online

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » October 12, 2009, 2:27 pm

Waikiki wrote:
I still don't have any spells yet at soul level ~35 and 2-2 is making me seriously consider putting some attribute points into intelligence.

I'd highly recommend getting some magic.

I see now that Royalty is at a huge advantage starting out with the fragrant ring which regens MPs. Since you can easily create any character you want in this game no matter what you start out with, I recommend starting out with the Royal class. They start at Soul Level 1 instead of 6 nd 9 for the other classes. This isn't a big deal because soul points to level are very low in the beginning so it allows you to customize your character.(and still have that regen MP ring)

I'm Soul Level 27 atm.

Here's what Royalty starts with and how i've changed my character into a highly mobile fast damage melee character with heavy magic and big shield.

(Original) - Current - (Royal)

(08) - 12 Vitality
(12) - 15 Intelligence
(08) - 10 Endurance
(09) - 15 Strength
(12) - 15 Dexterity
(13) - 20 Magic
(12) - 12 Faith
(07) - 08 Luck

Everywhere I've read pretty much say 8 luck is all you need and it seems right.

I dropped my lame Rapier and leveled up a Scimitar to +3 which is very fast weapon. I upped my Dex to take advantage of the Scimitars strengths. I'm currently using a Spiked Shield that requires high dexterity. I have the Purple Flame Shield for when I face fire based mobs but since it requires a 22 strength to be fully effective offensively, I stick with the Spiked Shield mostly that has same defense except for fire. I've found that higher Magic (more damage) is more useful than higher Intelligence (more mana) as running out of mana doesn't seem to be the problem when I'm in trouble.

My strategy and character design is to sit back and blast with magic but if I encounter something up close, I can do very high fast damage with Scimitar. Shields are huge in this game. With Spiked or Purple shield, physical damage doesn't get through to me. You can't really go pure magic as there are times when there's no way to keep your distance so having a melee strategy that makes fast work of a mob is important as even though a nice shield will protect you, you still can have tough time breaking clear to cast spells so parrying with fast high damage weapon works well. I've found that the shield is more important than heavy armor as my cloth keeps me highly mobile so I can block ambushes with shield then be mobile enough to get some distance to light them up with soul arrows.

You've got to have some sort of ranged damaged and I learned quickly that you run out of arrows/etc fast with bows/crossbows. Magic is nice to have as you dont have to worry about running out while away from the nexus (as long as you have regen MP ring)

I had 20K saved up for the Evacuate Miracle but thankfully read up that you need a talisman to use the miracle. Im getting Evacuate for sure when I get a talisman. Being able to port back to the Nexus (even during a boss fight gone bad) and keep your Souls is huge. Plus I'm sure it will be a big help when farming so you dont have to run back though the map you cleared, wasting time.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » October 12, 2009, 6:16 pm

I am having fun with this too, but very frustrated!

I have heard that upgrading a bow as soon as possible is a must, but haven't done that yet myself.

I have been trying to go to the few areas in 1-1 that I haven't gone to, one of them is some big knight dude that you are supposed to use magic on (I don't have any). There is the area with the dragon which I'm pretty sure you need to be super high to kill (note by it said soul level 400+). And the last is if you keep going past where you killed the slime boss, there are a series of bridges which the dragon scorches, I get across a couple and at the top there are a bunch of archers and one badass dude and they kept killing me.

I am just going back through 1-1 over and over to get some souls and get my level up a bit (I picked a Knight).

Ani - I used the souls from the 1-1 boss, is it a big enough deal that I should start over (I really don't want to do this).

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » October 12, 2009, 6:54 pm

Oh and by the way.... How are you supposed to come back alive after you've died twice.. I have no corpse to go back and get, and already used the one item I have to bring me back alive.. Do I just have to duke it out until I beat the next boss or something?

I hope this aspect gets less tedious later on, by having more accessibility to items that bring you back to life, etc.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » October 12, 2009, 9:07 pm

The best way to come back to life is to plant your Blue Stone item in the levels and wait for someone to pull you into their game. At that point, of you complete the objective, usually defeating the boss, you get a huge boost in Souls and it brings you back to life.

From what I read, the soul from Phalanx is used for a completely upgraded spear.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » October 13, 2009, 12:38 am

This game sounds too hard!

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » October 13, 2009, 2:34 am

Aslanna wrote:This game sounds too hard!

It is hard. That's what's awesome about it.

I found a good soul spot for the lower levels. Buff yourself up to have 1 spell slot and have your wand already.

But Soul Arrow and head up to the area in 1-1 where you encountered your first fog wall. At the far side of that rampart, you'll come to one of those blue knights with a lance that does crazy damage. Use your Soul Arrows on him and he will net you 2000 souls a pop.

Essentially creep out of the small room you're in until you can lock onto him. Blast once and then retreat back into the room out of his sight. He'll stop chasing you.

Rince and repeat ~ 3 more times and he'll be dead. Leave the area, come back in.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » October 13, 2009, 3:31 am

Animalor wrote:
Rince and repeat ~ 3 more times and he'll be dead. Leave the area, come back in.

By the time you work your way to that spot, you could have killed 5 Blue Knighs at the Tower Archstone spot, 1 minute each at 415 souls each, plus 2 Half Grass Roots or better each times.

What does the 2K guy drop? I forgot about him after he killed me before I figured out that wasn't the right way to go for newbies.

----
Funk:

Here's link for what you can do with Demon Souls:

http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/demon-s-souls

The site above is very good for allsorts of Demon's Souls info.

I soloed the Armored Spider (2-1) and then summoned a phantom to help with the Flame Lurker (2-2)

The Flame Lurker drops the Red Hot Demon Soul which you give to Blacksmith Ed in 2-1 so you can upgrade to the high level weapon stuff.

My Scimitar is +6 atm but now can switch over to Magic based Moon Scimitars if I can get some moon shard thingies off prisoners in 3-1. Since my Magic really high, this good way for me to go instead of str/dex modifiers.

Oh, if you're going to use magic, be sure to grab the Kris Knife. It' right before you go down elevator to the Armored Spider. I guess if you don't grab it and then die, it's not available to get on a second pass if you die. It's located on a walkway above the elevator. The Knife is used in the offhand and boosts your magic damage by 1.2x to 1.4x. With an INT of 23, I one-shot most mobs using Soul Arrow/Kris Knife and then switch back to Purple shield if Mobs get close.

----

If you get frustrated and want help, this Walk-Through is nice if you don
t have strategy guide:

http://mycheats.1up.com/view/superguide ... _souls/ps3

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » October 13, 2009, 7:45 am

He drops some full grass roots I believe. I restarted everything yesterday so I havta redo some things. This character is shaping up much better this tome around.

Jice Virago · Post by **Jice Virago** » October 13, 2009, 5:32 pm

This game is old school hard. Been playing it solo as a spear using mage type. So far, I have cleared the first three bosses of the first world and completely finished the second world. A lot of this game involves reclearing areas to farm up soul levels and reagent drops. Enemies are far to good at blocking to bother with a bow, except for the one boss it is mandatory on (red dragon on the first world). Pretty much everything in the game can be beaten with a spear or soul arrow (prefferably both). So far I am around soul level 40 with a Winged Moon Spear I enchanted up, which works well with my high magic build. The dickpunch curve is pretty intense for a console game, however, and I would have prefered to have a fucking offline option so that I dont have to worry about some bored maxed out black phantom comming in randomly and ganking me.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » October 13, 2009, 5:40 pm

Jice Virago wrote:This game is old school hard. Been playing it solo as a spear using mage type. So far, I have cleared the first three bosses of the first world and completely finished the second world. A lot of this game involves reclearing areas to farm up soul levels and reagent drops. Enemies are far to good at blocking to bother with a bow, except for the one boss it is mandatory on (red dragon on the first world). Pretty much everything in the game can be beaten with a spear or soul arrow (prefferably both). So far I am around soul level 40 with a Winged Moon Spear I enchanted up, which works well with my high magic build. The dickpunch curve is pretty intense for a console game, however, and I would have prefered to have a fucking offline option so that I dont have to worry about some bored maxed out black phantom comming in randomly and ganking me.

You know, I haven't had anyone come in to kill me yet.. However I have considered just not connecting to PSN when I play to avoid that happening.. But then you miss out on the hints and stuff too.. So yeah I agree that it sucks that you don't have that option.. I guess I can kind of see it though because a lot of people probably just wouldn't ever play online until they got maxed out too for those exact reasons.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » October 14, 2009, 12:45 am

I did some magic damage tests on my trusty blue knight in 1-3

With 25 Magic skill:

114 = Normal Soul Arrow Damage
129 = with Kris Knife equipped
144 = with Ring of Magical Sharpness equipped
163 = with both Kris Knife and Ring of Magical Sharpness equipped

You can basically rapid fire Soul Arrow and it only costs 5 MP (171 MP with 18 Intelligence)

I've got my Scimitar up to Moonlightstone +2 which uses Magic as it's key damage modifier

There is an overkill soul point bonus in this game which I haven't paid attention to

Another good reason to farm the Blue Knight in 1-3, well two Blue Knights now that I can take out the the archers easy, and swing up top to kill the Crystal Gecko upstairs is that your MP and HP are restored each time you zone back to Nexus so you can go nuts killing, and then zone back to nexus, not wasting time with MP regen or HP wasted grass

A swing through 1-3 in about 1-2 mins will net you 1000 Soul Points (two Blue Knights, 3 Archers and a Crystal Gecko) and get you minimum 4 grass and some sort of stone out of the gecko.

Not sure if gecko worth the time but if you need some quick soul points, it's not a bad spot. I'm Soul Level 35 now though so Soul Skill points nearing 8K each and im loaded with healing stuff. I never use anything higher than Half Grass so have stock of Late and Full Moon Grass. 3-X starts to provide MP regen Spices for those of you that don't have the regen.

I'm still only working off a 12 Vitality and 10 Endurance. Level 25 magic attacks along with turtling up behind a nice shield appears to be a good strategy although the Scimitar backup plan is excellent for ambushes.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » October 14, 2009, 10:51 am

Your crystal gecko respawns? Mine doesn't.

I was reading up on the Kris Knife(the in-game description) and while it does increase your magic damage, it also says it amplifies the magic damage you take so care is warrented.

Helped take down the Tower Knight 3-4 times last night, got mine done and also re-tackled the Armor Spider. Killed off the Small Red Dragon like you posted from the first tower with Soul Arrows and the Kris in-hand. Had to work through 4 Old Spice MP regen things to get enough mana but it worked great.

I've yet to go pick up that purple shield. I'll go get that after work. That thing is on the ground where the 2 dragons were in 1-1 right? I just killed the fire-breating one?

I'm at soul level 23 now(I think). The main stats I've been boosting are Int, Magic and Dex. Minors in Vitality and Str.

miir · Post by **miir** » October 14, 2009, 11:56 am

I'm falling behind you guys.

I really haven't gotten a chance to play much in the past 2-3 days.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » October 14, 2009, 12:02 pm

I love how flexible the PS3 is with it's outputs. I'm giving my 8 month pregnant wife the couch and TV so she can be comfortable and I bought myself an HDMI to DVI convertor for my PC monitor.

The main PC is the media center so even if the display isn't connected it isn't a big deal. I run the audio from the PS3 to the line-in channel on the PC with the old school connector/cables and it works like a charm.

My 22' Dell monitor actually gives me 1080p on the XMB(the TV only gives me 1080i). The picture is glorious.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » October 14, 2009, 2:07 pm

Animalor wrote: I was reading up on the Kris Knife(the in-game description) and while it does increase your magic damage, it also says it amplifies the magic damage you take so care is warrented.

That's true but the strategy with a Kris Knife to to use it when you have the advantage and are at a distance, if something actually is close enough to attack you or fire back, you switch to the Purple Shield. I only have 15 str still and use the shield. Don't worry about the 22 Str requirement unless you're going to use the shield offensively. The Defensive stats all work.

In 3-1 you'll run into Nasty Caster Mobs that roam the prison halls. They have the best kill move ever if you get close to them and they'll also kill you fast with Soul Arrow from a distance. Gotta watch them and then wait for them to be wallking away from you and then unleash Soul Arrow hell on them. I can two shot them if Kris Knife equipped but that's really risky

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » October 14, 2009, 9:56 pm

here's Demon Soul's chart: (what you get when you turn them in)

[Show]

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » October 15, 2009, 8:04 am

I ran through the first section of the Shrine of Storms last night and the weapons you pick up off the ground are fantastic. I didn't get all the way to the boss as I had gained a respectable amount of souls but the Katana-type weapon, the Crescent Falcion +1 and that other sword are all just wow...

Katana - Uchigatana: http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/uchigatana

Crescent Falcion: http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/falcion

Other Sword - Kilij: http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/kilij

miir · Post by **miir** » October 15, 2009, 10:45 am

After learning the basics with a Temple Knight and being frustrated with a Barbarian, I settled on playing a Hunter.
Excellent ranged, decent armor and good melee skills.

I blew through 1.1 in about 30 minutes. Didn't even pop back to the Nexus or upgrade any weapons.
Phalanx was a bit tricky because I ran out of arrows and turpentine. Hacking at hoplites with my crappy battleaxe took a while.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » October 15, 2009, 12:11 pm

Hit those little bastards from the back in the soft gooey side. They die a LOT faster.

I'm playing what started out as a Wanderer with High Dex and High Magic. I'm thinking of upgrading my weapons with the Moonstones so that the weapon bonuses are based on my magic skill.

I also need to get my hands on some Large Sharpstones. I'm really close to completing the upgrade to my spear and using that Phalanx soul.

miir · Post by **miir** » October 15, 2009, 12:15 pm

Oh yea, I know that, but it's impossible to get to the backside of the hoplites on Phalanx until they break off.
They are easiest to deal with when you use a flaming polearm or barstard sword 2handed... my hunter didn't have the strength to wield the bastard sword and I didn't have any other long reach weapon.

Avestan · Post by **Avestan** » October 15, 2009, 12:53 pm

I decided to try something different from you guys.

I am heavily strength based and I use a claymore, one handed

I am only through 1-2 right now (knight was fun), so we will see how I scale.

Jice Virago · Post by **Jice Virago** » October 15, 2009, 1:13 pm

I have cleared up to the blue dragon (1-4) and all of 2 and 3 words. The mandatory PvP monk fight sucked balls (who thought it was a good idea to put a 5 minute clear with two black phantom mind flayers while the opponent picks his ass?) but the reward was worth it. I was sorely tempted to get the insanity catalyst, but decided to go with homing soul arrow instead. Good god is that spell a godsend for farming. Also, word to the wise, get a lava bow up and running as soon as possible, even if you are a mage/tank, because it makes some frustrating things vastly more convenient.

Anyhow, I am up to soul level 61. I am swinging a Winged Moon Spear +5, Purple Flame Shield +5, and a Compound Short Lava Bow. The red knights are pretty much cake at this point and I can farm 7k in souls a minute by backtracking from the 1-4 stone. My stats are something like Vit 10, Str 22, Int 26, Dex 16, Mag 30, Luck 8, End 11.

Anyhow, my wife is sick of listening to me swear at the TV, so I am taking a small break to play FO3 GOTY edition, in chunks, on the side. Once my bloodpreasure returns to normal, I will be back at it to work on world 4-1.