So I decided to drop the Shrine of Storms into pure black and have a go at farming the 4-2 black phantoms. This is definately the best way to farm I’ve seen so far, so thanks for the heads up Jarmo. It does have me a bit bummed that tendancy is affected when online though. I’d rather play online, but I know it will pull my tendancy up and I’ll have to keep using Ephemeral Eye’s.
This is a problem in other worlds as well, where I want to keep things in Pure Black but can’t play online that way. I really wish they would they would patch this bit out, or at least disable it for NG+.
What sort of combat are you looking to do? Maybe a “thief” type would be a backstab character? If so a dagger of some sort is probably best.
One thing to remember is that how you want to fight dictates what kind of character you have. there is no set classes in this game so if you’re just starting I suggest you play the way that comes natural and then equip and level accordingly.
But it is somewhat easier with a curved blade (according to Tom Chick), and I can’t imagine that the dagger named after the move wouldn’t have wider window for that move. At least, I think the game works that way based on how it handles the acceptable angle of attack for backstab in different weapons.
The wiki does not advise dual wielding because the offhand weapon cannot perform combos, but only repeats the same attack, but I just don’t like the idea of an Assassin who not only doesn’t dual wield stabby things, but, HORROR!, carries a shield. The shield will be all but useless anyway - I’m hoping to not be in a position where I need to block something - so why not grab the extra damage? I guess I could offhand a Catalyst for some melee/magic application.
My first character was a wanderer and most of my time was spent with a dagger in the right and a scimitar in the left. It may not lend itself to combos but the transition from weapon to weapon (and a good amount of dodging) felt smooth, and it looked cool. Ultimately, I caved to the weight of statistics and I am shield only player now, but it’s mainly because parrying is hard.
If daggers, I’d suggest the Baby’s nail, it can put you at an incredible advantage when fighting other players, or enemies that heal themselves.
Scourge
2005
I started dual wielding thief (rapier and dagger) but switched to shield and rapier (settled on the estoc, due to its range) very soon. The special evading move of the rapier (tilt forward + light attack button) is pretty neat, as it basically performs a faster backdash + attack.
From what I gather out of my experience, a parry enabled shield with a high enough HitRes (guard break protection) gives a wider window for riposte. Even if you mistime the parry a bit, as long as your guard isn’t broken you can riposte with a critical hit. I used the kite shield (upgraded to +10) but a knight’s shield might be a better choice (ends up with 78 HitRes at +10, as opposed to the kite shield’s 75; needs more ores to upgrade it, though).
Parrying NPCs is not that hard. The trick is to get a feeling for the particular type of enemy. Once you know their pattern you’ll find parrying is actually easy because you don’t really need to guess the timing. In a zone with a familiar enemy you can do near 100% parry & riposte runs. I suggest trying that in 1-1.
Ender
2006
Yeah I’ve been working out in 1-1 to master the parry and riposte skill. It is very rewarding, but I’m probably at about 60% success rate. I’m good at doing it on the Blue eye knights, makes them easy.
The thief has a rolling swinging scimitar special attack. Do all characters have a special rolling attack move? I find myself preferring the attack style of the scimitar mainly because of the feel. I’d like to try a rapier though. I can still back stab pretty well with the Scimitar, very rewarding feeling.
Jarmo
2007
The amount of depth they have put into the melee fighting is totally amazing. I’d be really interested to hear the count of different battle animations the player character has. It feels there are more than in a beat-'em-up!
The emergent gameplay possibilities they suggest, allow and nurture keep this game fresh for a looong time.
Scourge
2008
All characters can roll into attack, as long as they can roll and have sufficient stamina.
Best attack ever is the 2 handed meat cleaver roll attack…
metta
2010
Yeah, so I can’t play without a shield. I was doing fine until I got to my first Black Phantom NPC (in this case it was the one waiting outside the Cathedral in 3-1). I took a few runs at it with my stabbies but my palsied, arthritic brain cramps up whenever I need to parry so I swtiched to a wee buckler and stomped the Phantom’s guts out.
I dunno; I guess this character will be primarily a bow/magic user now, with sword and board as backup.
I also want to proclaim World 1 (1-4) as one of my favourite game levels ever.
I always feel like all of world 2 is my favorite. I like the whole descending into the bowels of this dwarven mine to combat an ancient evil thing. Very cool bit.
Fozzle
2012
I’m a fan really of most every level… with the obvious exception of everything 5-2 and beyond.
I love the creepiness of 3, I love the castle in 1, and I also like the dungeon feel of 2… and I’ve spent prolly the most time by far in 4, so… I guess I dont really have a favorite level as much as I have a least favorite =)
Ender
2013
This game is awesome. I have had the hardest time letting go of 1-1! I’ve run this thing more than I’ve run Naxx. This is the ultimate baby step off of wow.
Got a spike shield drop today. Very hot, not sure what it actually does though, but I love the feel.
hehe…yeah, 5-2 can suck it!
metta
2015
I’ve been farming the soldiers on the bridge in 1-1 in the hopes of that dropping. Where did you get yours?
Jarmo
2016
I like the first world best. The extreme distances you can see and later find yourself having covered, being out in the open air in daylight a lot of the time and the relatively comforting enemies make it an island of sanity among all the diabolic misery.
metta
2017
The combat in this game is so interesting and exciting that I suspect it will ruin me for other fantasy RPGs. I loved the first Assassin’s Creed and the sequel was more of what I loved + tons more good stuff, but I put it aside maybe halfway through because the combat was so easy.
Demon’s Souls and Mount & Blade are two games that model fighting in a way that makes me feel like this is how melee combat might play out: patience, blocking, dodging, parrying, counter-attacking; and if you miss one of those moments you die of stab wounds.
I hope Demon’s Souls made enough cash that FROM SOFTWARE are able to make a sequel and that they’re allowed to make it without opening it up to appeal to a wider audience.
I think the first world as well as a whole, if we’re emphasizing mechanics. The way it evolves and escalates as the game unlocks more parts of it, and the way it trains you to respond in certain ways and then evolves those expectations has really won me over.
But in terms of pure setting and atmosphere, 3-1 gets the nod. I’ve never seen anything capture survival horror in a format that was so tactically interesting.
Ender
2019
I can’t remember what mob dropped it, but because I haven’t been anywhere other than 1-1 and 1-2, it was off one of those guys.
There is a spiked shield next to the winged spear on the first (I think) dragon’s flame area in 1-2. It is strongly recommended that you off Big Red before horsing around with that loot, but it all depends on how much you want it. The next option is to get it as a drop from a non-spear/archer soldier in 1-1 or 1-3. It never occurred to me to use it since it has such a low hitres, but I’d be curious to see what you had in mind for it.
