[Talbain]

Not my cup of tea, melee. Never really got used to it, Manmachine (not to say that I didn't get better, I've gotten pretty good with the Mirdan Hammer, but I never really felt it was quite as visceral as some of the shorter range weapons). Even when I got really good with a Broad Sword, it was still fairly apparent that it wasn't a "good" weapon to use when PvPing. Despite having a really funny range that's slightly longer than the actual length of the blade, it's only somewhat effective because you need to chain attacks to keep that other player in check (though Homing Soul Arrow helps with this a lot, since even a Dark Silver Shield will simply get destroyed due to the Endurance damage you can put out).

Also, don't use the Kris. It doesn't really help enough for how open it leaves you. I mean, I might do a run where I used the Kris for a challenge, but never as a primary weapon.
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[Talbain]

Well the Compound Longbow is pretty obvious in 4-1. The Mirdan Hammer is a not-so-obvious piece that you can find in 5-2. A broad sword... I don't remember off hand and am too lazy to consult the wiki - pretty sure you can just buy it though. I just like it because it's a balanced weapon, not really because it's the best out there (it isn't--not by a long shot). The Kris I think you get from killing some mob or another in 3-2, but again, not entirely sure. Dark Silver Shield is 5-3, probably the "best" shield in the game in terms of overall defense, though many prefer the Adjuticator's Shield (which is in 4-1) for its healing.
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[Talbain]

[Talbain]

You need Colorless Demon's Souls, which are found in (Pure) Black World Tendency. It's really not something you should probably concern yourself with on the first runthrough...
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[Talbain]

[Talbain]

[Talbain]

Well, I mostly figured out a lot of what you're talking about from context. Going from 1-1 to 1-2 immediately, and the dying, but finding out that The Monumental opened up all the other levels, kinda indicated to me that maybe 1-2 wasn't something you were ready for. Similarly, Sage Freke's apprentice talks about how great a "master" of the magic arts he is, which basically indicates that he's the magic trainer, you just haven't run into him yet (and yes, you will have to spend time exploring to find stuff, and yes, this can be frustrating and invigorating). Similarly they talk about how Yuria practices dark magic and is "evil" which meant she probably taught magic too. Same deal with miracles, the apprentices tell you a whole bunch about what's going on. The "town" that is the Nexus sort of provides as much or as little background as you're willing to take from it.

It is intentionally cryptic, but I don't think it's untranslateable.

One thing that really frustrated me was only finding out after having used some of the Demon's Souls that I acquired that they were REQUIRED for learning certain spells. I was ticked off something fierce. But to be honest? I should have seen that coming. Why else would they give it to you and not souls if it didn't have some special purpose?
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[Talbain]

[Talbain]

[Talbain]

[Talbain]

I'd still recommend everyone play it blind the first time round. It's just better. Only real general thing to know is that exploration can reward and punish, and that taking it slow is a generally better idea than trying to bum rush into situations you aren't sure about. Also to note, be careful of stuff like plague and poison.
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[Talbain]

[Talbain]

Dragon weapons, more precisely, add a specific amount of fire damage to the weapon, and that amount of damage is not modified by anything other than the enhancement level of the weapon. You can see in your inventory after having enhanced a weapon, what stats are boosted and by the "rank" to which they are boosted. (E is lowest, A is second-highest, S is highest) Effectively, any weapon that is enhanced gains changes to these ranks (excepting Dragon weapons) and a small additional damage modifier, and each "stone" type modifies different stats (Blessed modifies from faith, which is made from Faintstone, while Sticky modifies from Dex, which is made from Spiderstone).

+5 is the highest order of certain special stone types (Faintstone is one example), while +10 is the highest order for most stone types, and +10 includes shields (excepting special ones like the Adjudicator or Dark Silver which require Colorless Demon's Souls to enhance)
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[Talbain]

[Talbain]

[Talbain]

You know, I just thought that it would be funny if the Demon's Souls thread over took the mammoth that is the fight-game thread.

[Talbain]

Beat Flame Lurker melee today. Really happy, but it turned out to be not as hard as I expected. Given that I'm basically creating a strength/faith build (focusing on Strength), simply preparing the right tools made it a pretty easy fight. The Purple Flame Shield really answers most of what he can do, and once you figure out the timing with rolls, it's not too bad. Still considering what I should do about False King, but I suspect I'll have many more options that I did with Flamelurker. I'm not sure if using the Meat Cleaver is even an option, but it's one I might try out against False King just to see how I do (given that Endurance gets focus as well, I suspect I'll have better luck with strategic blocks than with my casters of times past).

I just absolutely love how different the build is compared to my casters. It's like playing an entirely new game. An entirely new, entirely awesome game.
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[Talbain]

I dunno, I didn't really feel that Flamelurker was difficult because of his unpredictability, but because it was difficult to roll behind him and attack (once you're behind his frontal AoE cone, Flamelurker is quite vulnerable). Once I had the Purple Flame Shield, I brought him down on my second try (the first try was mostly the realization that you had to get behind him to beat him). It's interesting how you have to get really physical with such a physical boss to overtake them. As for Maneater, I feel it's the 2-on-1, sort of that the boss is on a timer.

Since I've never played with a Meat Cleaver before, I've begun to wonder, is there anything this weapon isn't great at taking out (other than the aerial enemies in Stage 4)? The fact that it knocks down near anything just makes it so hard to deny as a really powerful weapon. The range is pretty scary too. I mean, a Blessed Mirdan Hammer is a great backup, but there's little I can picture myself taking it out for. There aren't really that many enemies based on speed dodges and ripostes. Little more than halfway through my playthrough with the Strength/Faith build. Recently got my Witch hat, which, combined with the Binded Cross, is quite awesome. A lot of Black Phantoms become really manageable with this thing.
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[Talbain]

[Talbain]

Does the wiki give swing speeds for various weapons? Would be curious to know the relative speeds with various moves available.
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[Talbain]

Well, if you're a Dex build, you pretty much have to get Blind. There's also Faintstone, which is a favorite of Faith builds, as well as the Large Sword of Moonlight. Fuck Giant Depraved Ones though. What irks me about them more than anything else is that they can't be knocked down.

If you get a weapon that ignores stunlock, the rolling guys in 4-1 become a joke.
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[Talbain]

Rolling, or simply taking the hit (while swinging a weapon that's unaffected by taking the hit) is pretty much what I've had to do. It's not optimal, but since they go down fairly fast to two-handers, I've decided it's the method that works best for me.
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[Talbain]

Only got the Blind once and never used it. Just read that it was strong because it ignored shields and that Dex builds often used it as a go-to weapon. My mistake for assuming I guess.

I was always a caster in PvP, and I haven't done heavy melee-centric PvP yet. I'll probably stick with the Meat Cleaver though, possibly one-handing it for the rolling special that's good for tripping up targets. Caster PvP is always about poking and waiting for the other guy to make mistakes. Melee, from what I experienced, was about being extremely aggressive and trying to finish the target without giving them room to breathe.

I agree, the best way to kill the skeles is to simply use a shield, but if you go for two-handers, you can simply wind up and swing while they charge towards you. The chance of them beating you if you have any weapon that has knockdown is slim. This is a bad strategy against the ones that wield Katanas though. If you play a regenerator build, simply winding up and bringing the hammer down will effectively allow you to bring down most things without any real threat to your health (I just wear Adjudicator's on my back with Regen ring and Meat Cleaver--have had very few problems, and most of them were with the Giant Depraved in Stage 5).
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[Talbain]

[Talbain]

Not really, but there are some tips at the Wiki. It's fun to fight player BPs and terrifying at the same time.
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[Talbain]

[Talbain]

[Talbain]

[Talbain]

Sort of ok-quality concept art. At least the resolution's alright. Ugh. I hate JPEG (frantically searching for origins... not having much luck at Bamco's site).
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[Talbain]

Full set of screenshots/art. Dragon art was bigger than expected. Resolution is not full quality, seems like everyone's passing around the same batch of screens though...

edit: was missing first 2 screenshots. Now updated.
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[Talbain]

The Demon's Souls multiplayer system is really quite like WoW's, in that the multiplayer PvP component is stacked on top of the single player component (and gear transfers between the two, etc.). The difference is the intention of play. The intention of play with WoW is that of a football game. Everyone scores points, everyone "wins" in some small way or another. In Demon's Souls, it's a bit different. You can't really win against the player other than maybe getting a soul sucker attack off (in the case of WoW, you're pretty much expected, with enough time, to win). Otherwise, winning isn't really the question when playing another player. It's much more brutish, because in Demon's Souls you aren't playing to win, you're playing to survive. That's mostly brought by the atmosphere of the game itself, but also relates to the souls system.

The souls system is about keeping what you have, and losing it. As the game says, souls are literally "part of your existence" in the game. Effectively, you can lose the work accumulated through the game's leveling system in PvP. That can never happen in WoW. In WoW, you're just reset every couple of months by the game, and everyone continues on the same treadmill. Everyone effectively starts off at 0 points and builds up their stock again. But there's no player who's taking that work from you in WoW, there's no individual who is stripping you of something you've spent time on (though GMs can do this, it's for cheating, not for participating in the game). In Demon's Souls, an individual is taking away something you've worked towards due to your failures to overcome them.

In other words, what is elemental and so incredibly satisfying, is effectively a dictatorial power struggle. Who will be allowed to assert their power, and who will lose it? It's a question about survival, it's a bit more instinctual than oriented towards something like "points" which is something most MMORPGs do. There's also the fact that the reward system is entirely different [in WoW], but that has more to do with general problems with online games, and Demon's Souls system handily deals with it.
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[Talbain]

[Talbain]

[Talbain]

[Talbain]

Given that From Software has seen the success of the first title, and may now have a better budget to work with, some of the issues of how to create controlled chaos could be neat. I would enjoy dynamic levels, like a swamp where you know you will encounter creatures of some sort, but where they come from or the times at which they spawn is unknown. More multi-critter fights with better AI (such as, when encountering multiple enemies, they attempt to flank you) could help too.

I want to see more caster enemies and archers too. I felt that they were kinda left out (I'm aware that they were there, but it would be cool if they favored casting or archery, like trying to run away and attack you from a different position if you get too close).
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[Talbain]

I'll still share the concept art, so you can froth without being spoiled.
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[Talbain]

Gotta at least be the most epic videogame we haven't played yet.

I love that wolf pic.

http://www.eurogamer.net/gallery.php?game_id=14787&article_id=1335316#anchor

Original resolutions, though watermarked. I'll post when I get the non-watermarked stuff.
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[Talbain]

Unwatermarked Originals
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[Talbain]

[Talbain]

[Talbain]