skasion posted:

Fire storm

Phenotype posted:

I think that was literally the one thing in any of the levels I didn't bother clearing haha, I dunno how the hell you're supposed to fight them if you can't dodgeroll. I think they're just guarding a few stones of ephemeral eyes anyway.

Fruits of the sea posted:

Finished the game. It was a good time. A lot lighter on narrative than the following games but also not nearly as inscrutable. Some of the boss fights were real good. Bizarrely, a couple of the phantoms were the hardest, Ostrava in particular. The end bosses for each world were really spectacular encounters but kind of a joke in terms of difficulty.

The largest difference mechanically (and one it took me a while to figure out) is that there isn't any poise. It made a lot of the trash encounters far harder. Eventually I figured it out and threw a bunch of upgrades on the purple heart shield and pumped fatigue. Shields are definitely the GOAT in Demon's Souls.

I did a plain strength build as I've done in all the games for a first playthrough. It's kinda generic but the claymore in any Fromsoft game has never failed me. Weirdly I got a ton of use out of a fire enchanted battle axe. It was doing more damage than my standard claymore almost right to the endgame. Moveset is nothing to write home about but like axes and maces in the other games, the fast rolling R1 into R1 combo can reliably stunlock a ton of stuff. Also tried using a crushing morningstar but it was a pretty big disappointment. Bleed did nothing and even at S scaling and 40-50 str it did less damage than my other weapons.

Return to Drangleic is starting soon but I'll definitely return to this game another time.

E: also wow, the Thief's Ring was clutch. Don't think I used stealth this much in Elden Ring even.

Fruits of the sea posted:

Finished the game. It was a good time. A lot lighter on narrative than the following games but also not nearly as inscrutable. Some of the boss fights were real good. Bizarrely, a couple of the phantoms were the hardest, Ostrava in particular. The end bosses for each world were really spectacular encounters but kind of a joke in terms of difficulty.

The largest difference mechanically (and one it took me a while to figure out) is that there isn't any poise. It made a lot of the trash encounters far harder. Eventually I figured it out and threw a bunch of upgrades on the purple heart shield and pumped fatigue. Shields are definitely the GOAT in Demon's Souls.

I did a plain strength build as I've done in all the games for a first playthrough. It's kinda generic but the claymore in any Fromsoft game has never failed me. Weirdly I got a ton of use out of a fire enchanted battle axe. It was doing more damage than my standard claymore almost right to the endgame. Moveset is nothing to write home about but like axes and maces in the other games, the fast rolling R1 into R1 combo can reliably stunlock a ton of stuff. Also tried using a crushing morningstar but it was a pretty big disappointment. Bleed did nothing and even at S scaling and 40-50 str it did less damage than my other weapons.

Return to Drangleic is starting soon but I'll definitely return to this game another time.

E: also wow, the Thief's Ring was clutch. Don't think I used stealth this much in Elden Ring even.

Magus42 posted:

I thought Moon had slightly better damage at lower int levels

skasion posted:

The upgrade system in this game is so busted and unreasonable that I don’t mind there being crutch weapons like crescent falchion, dragon longsword, etc. sometimes that’s what it takes to get a character off the ground. And purists can always ignore them

Dirk the Average posted:

Also it's worth noting that it's in the arguably most difficult level, and is kind of meant to be a more "late-game" item, even though it's pretty straightforward to get if you know where it is and are willing to persist enough to pick it up.

Simply Simon posted:

I honestly think the Crescent Falchion (+1!) being so easily accessible, and so early, is a major design flaw of the game. Almost every build can use it, and it's so insanely good against some enemies including problem bosses (Flamelurker) that your basic bitch "oh I upgraded my Bastard Sword to +3" build is just never going to want to use its actual main weapon there.

It really sticks out compared to the Crushing Battle Axe (great for the Str build to have something early, and to show off that upgradr path, but not the best base weapon), the Blessed Mace (free regen for everyone!), and the Mercury Rapier (lol, but I HAVE used it in Stonefang to have sth piercing...ofc the Falchion is better there too). Were it Moon, it would make a lot more sense - less of the super powerful magic damage, and no regen so the casters would have to actually build up to a weapon that features that, or compromise with a physical weapon they enchant.

Simply Simon posted:

I honestly think the Crescent Falchion (+1!) being so easily accessible, and so early, is a major design flaw of the game. Almost every build can use it, and it's so insanely good against some enemies including problem bosses (Flamelurker) that your basic bitch "oh I upgraded my Bastard Sword to +3" build is just never going to want to use its actual main weapon there.

It really sticks out compared to the Crushing Battle Axe (great for the Str build to have something early, and to show off that upgradr path, but not the best base weapon), the Blessed Mace (free regen for everyone!), and the Mercury Rapier (lol, but I HAVE used it in Stonefang to have sth piercing...ofc the Falchion is better there too). Were it Moon, it would make a lot more sense - less of the super powerful magic damage, and no regen so the casters would have to actually build up to a weapon that features that, or compromise with a physical weapon they enchant.

Zaggitz posted:

I've decided to try doing a DBS strength build after going through Dark 1 and 2 with ultra great swords and having a blast.

I've gone through 1-1 and 1-2 in addition to getting far enough into 4-1 for the crescent falchion to do good damage to the 2-1 enemies.

Are there any other paths I should stick my head down or am I good to rush through world 2 for my Big Boy Sword?

skasion posted:

Dragon Bone Smasher is good but for me the ultimate giant fuckoff sword in DeS is Meat Cleaver (Swollen Demon Soul + unupgraded club at the Stonefang smith). It takes a couple levels of faith to wield but you won’t be sorry, it rules. Also weighs like half as much as DBS.

Anyway you can try running down there to grab it if you think you can take Flame Lurker. But don’t forget, DBS needs pure white world tendency, so if you die in Stonefang in human form you might miss out on it. Make sure to go back to the Nexus after each boss to kill yourself.

Tatsuta Age posted:

you can just not get it sir

WalletBeef posted:

Skrill.exe posted:

Apparently it's Return to Boletaria. Is anyone celebrating this sacred event?

MonsieurChoc posted:

I'm gonna try to make a Lava Bow build work

...! posted:

I don't believe you

Simply Simon posted:

Welcome to Souls games!

If you made it out of the intro, you've done pretty well for yourself already, good job!

There is no need to bang your head against a wall. You unlocked all the archstones for a reason - poke around in them and see where you can make progress. If you find some enemies that barely take any damage, try a different weapon! Experiment, explore, find your small victories and turn them into lasting success. Good luck and don't give up!

skasion posted:

Yeah try one of the other worlds, they each provide different resources and cater to different sorts of characters. Demons Souls also has one of the more merciless starts in the series so don’t get discouraged if it continues to feel like an rear end kicking for a while.