Dark Souls

[Cyph]

Hmm perhaps I just got lucky all those times before then (when I didn't expect any).

[OropherX]

my play time is 92 hours. What the hell have I been doing this first playthrough =/
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[Bronze]

So I planned to get through New Londo this morning then get some homework done...

Ended up making my way through the ruins and taking out the Four Kings (piss easy), wandered through the Demon Ruins and took out the centipede on my first try with most of my Estus flasks intact, died over and over and over in the Lost Izalith, made it to Bed of Chaos and we double KO'd right in front of the bonfire. Got the soul, and trekked back up to grab my 40k souls.

So... Only the end boss remains. Currently SL72 after 38 hours. Looking forward to taking him down and starting NG+ =D
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[Cyph]

I think mine was 89,

[OropherX]

I wish I could just rush to ng+ but I really want to get most of the weapons in this playthrough to make the trophy easier. Like I don't see myself farming silver knights in Anor Londo in ng+ >_>
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[Bronze]

Getting mercilessly violated by Gwyn.

Think my approach of "ARGH, RUN!" might be the problem.
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[WarAdept]

Gwyn is one of the easiest bosses once you figure out that you can parry him. Roll away from his grab, otherwise hold your shield up and parry his 2nd hit on his combo. His first hit comes out too fast to consistently parry.

Alternatively, abuse Iron Flesh while it's still OP.

[OropherX]

I'm trying to keep Sunbro alive for Gwyn fight.
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[WarAdept]

Dammit, they really nerfed bows in Dark Souls. The Sticky Compound in Demon's Souls was a viable build (to the point of being incredibly cheap), but now bows are just used to pull or just nail those enemies you just don't feel like engaging.

Trying so very hard by pumping as much DEX into my archer character as possible and using Fire Arrows, but it's still very weak.

[GooberMan]

I've only got Gwyn left before I NG+, which I need to do because all my pyro NPCs have gone hollow (and I don't want to join the chaos covenant this time around). So I've been farming. Making a +5 Lighting Uchitigana, and I'm going to make the Crystal Ring shield and see what it's like before it gets nerfed.

EDIT: Ha ha ha, oh wow. So that's why it's being nerfed.
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[WarAdept]

Mm, 1000+ damage per throw is on par with casting Soul Spear. But with more casts and is incredibly cheap to repair. I only use it as a last resort, as the Crystal Shield as an actual shield is rubbish.

[Bronze]

Finished!

That... was the hardest game I've ever played. And I loved it to death. So damn masochistic, but so rewarding because of it.

Now kiddies, settle in and I'll tell you a story about the perils of pursuing a purely melee Knight class (minus any sort of grinding whatsoever from start to finish).

Firstly, I wouldn't recommend going purely melee with no magic, ranged, or pyro support. Everything is a struggle. Timing is far more important when you can only deal damage within arm's reach of the enemies. You need to learn and anticipate every move of every enemy, or it's a quick and nasty death for you.

And then when you get up to Gwyn and everybody tells you to cast Iron Flesh or die, you get a little demoralised because you're not a Pyromancer, nor do you have any ranged weapons skills nor offensive magic. And so you die twenty times perfecting your parry, and then in one fell 60-second swoop, you take him out with a succession of six perfect parries. Miss one, and you're pretty much dead and have to run the knight gauntlet again (seriously, did this 20+ times). This... is an immensely frustrating end to the game, but still satisfying if you can pull it off.

Next time I'm going to try a Knight/Pyro hybrid, I think. Right after I knock over Skyrim and Skyward Sword.
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[Frozencry]

Luke, you and I both. Pure melee class for first playthrough. /Brofist

Shit was hard as hell, but was amazing.
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[Bronze]

Damn right. There were times that I wanted to give up. Many times. Several of the bosses seemed damn-near impossible on first-attempt (looking at you, Moonlight Butterfly, Gaping Dragon, and especially Gwyn) but each had their patterns and weaknesses for a melee to exploit.

The most valuable tactic that I used was... well, running. Spent a decent amount of time running away from (or through) gauntlets of enemies, simply because I couldn't lure them toward me one-by-one. And I'll be damned if running away isn't one of the most exciting parts of being a Knight. Hearing the enemies lumbering from behind, dodging and rolling through swarms of potential one-hit kills, it's all genuinely heart-pounding stuff.

Going to pick up a copy of Demon's Souls when the release calendar quietens down a bit. My better judgement is telling me to play through it as a ranged specialist, but I know I'll be tackling it as a melee.
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[Frozencry]

Definitely go melee for Demon's Souls if you dig the thrill of purist melee, as I went through that entirely as pure melee and there are some bosses in there which are serious business when it comes to it.

Probably one of my favourite fights in Dark Souls as melee is Ornstein and Smough. The music, the scene, the pillars getting destroyed around you and the thunderous roar of a giant hammer smashing into the ground. Always gets me shaking from adrenaline.

God damned amazingly engaging fights.
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[Bronze]

My favourite was definitely Great Grey Wolf Sif. Straight-up sword fight, dodging and rolling like crazy. Everything about it was just plain awesome; the atmosphere, intimidating intro cutscene and the battle tactics required to take him down were just amazing.

I found a lot of the bosses to be quite easy, to be honest. I took down the Four Kings with no trouble whatsoever, Centipede Demon was a pushover, and aside from the collapsing floors the Bed of Chaos was incredibly simple. Nito and Seath had some really obvious weak spots that could be exploited, so neither presented a challenge at all. Quelaag was laughable, I killed Ceaseless Discharge by accident, and Pinwheel was nothing compared to Astora's Straight Sword +5.

Biggest challenges for me were Crossbreed Priscilla and Gwyn, definitely. Wasn't really prepared for either of them, but took them down eventually.
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[OropherX]

Pinwheel is such a bad attempt at doing the Fool's Idol fight from Demon's Souls, sorry From Software, it doesn't work without the cool traps :/
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[WarAdept]

I personally think the difficulty of doing a pure melee build is heavily dependent on your gear and spec choices. I've finished the game using a tank build with the heaviest stuff I could find (so no parrying and fatty rolls) and overall I found it easier than my first character (glass cannon mage, pure INT and ATT, no Vit and End). Even my dual wield Cestus character who cannot block at all and must rely on rolling is having no trouble (just acquired the Lordvessel).

Granted, I now know the game inside out and that certainly has made it much easier but some of the bosses that most melee players have extreme trouble with can be dealt with once you realize that some attacks are easily exploitable. Gaping Dragon and luring its charge attack, Gwyn can be hit 2-3 times after his 4th swing if you go toe to toe with him, and Moonlight Butterfly has only two attack to avoid, both of which are easy to roll. Hell you can even summon Witch Beatrice if you're constantly getting your ass handed and she will solo it for you.

But in saying that, I believe that is the beauty of Dark and Demon's Souls. Everyone can play however they want and if they want to do a pure melee or mage or whatever build they can, and they can get the most enjoyment out of it because it's their own character they've developed.

[GooberMan]

I think the only boss I've used ranged on is the Moonlight Butterfly - and it doesn't even need ranged either, just make sure your dodging skills are up to scratch and go nuts when it lands. They're all ridiculously easy as melee once you've observed their patterns and worked out how to get around them.

Mind you, I've poured plenty in to my endurance stat. I can take most hits and land several after.

Still, I had the same problem with Demon's Souls. The environments around the bosses are far harder than the bosses themselves. Every enemy has attack patterns, but with bosses (saving Smough and Ornstein, and Nito to a degree) you only have to watch one set of patterns. Kinda makes the boss mechanic seem outdated. Getting the attention of five NPCs in Darkroot forest is more intense than many of the boss fights.

...and if From have realised that, then I look forward to whatever nutso boss battles they make next game.
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[Cyph]

Finished my first playthrough yesterday, clocking in at 86 hours.

My character is currently a hybrid mix; light melee, spell casting support, faith support and full pyro. At higher level PvP I found that I needed higher FAI against tranquil users, which I unfortunately did not have. So, for new game+, I'm planning on up'ing my FAI to 30. I'm not planning on becoming an INT spell caster as I'm only using it for support. I do however need to aggressively increase my VIT and perhaps END so I have more health and can wear better armour. STR wise I may increase it a bit so I can use some heavier armour/weapons.

I've breezed through new game+, in two hours I've cleared; Undead Burg, Parish, Darkwood, and am now up to The Depths. Things are much easier so far but due to my light armour and low VIT, I am easily killed. So yeh, need to work on that before I hit the harder bosses.

[OropherX]

I need to pump 20 more points into VIT if I'm going to survive 4 kings in NG+ ... it's embarassing wearing havel's full armour set only to get 1 shot by one of them when someone has summoned you with the expectation that you will help them win :/
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[Cyph]

My VIT is at 10 or something ridiculous.

Something very annoying happened during lunch break... I decided to quickly kill the Stray Demon, and as I did, it's silly delayed blast killed me after I killed it. So, no Slab. GRRRRRRRR FUUUUU

[OropherX]

is the blue eyed stone going to get patched? it just never works, it's completely bugged :/ im trying to get 10 souvenir of reprisal, it takes about 5 mins to get one summon into a dark anor londo.
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[WarAdept]

[toasty_T]

Killing Nito with a Divine Great Scythe was deliciously ironic

I harvested the soul of the deadest dude of all
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