Savillo
2841
You know, that could be possible. I’ve always hunted them down the second I saw them. I didn’t want to take any chances! Heh. Maybe the Atlus strategy guide has a better explanation, but I’m not home and can’t check.
This is exactly how it works.
Well, I used the word “burrow” in quotes, since that’s my interpretation of what happens when the running reptile halts horizontal movement and goes vertical with wriggle action as it slowly fades away.
It may have been patched differently, but I am certain that when I played that if a lizard got to the end of its run-away distance and faded away, that did use up one spawn. Many of them are setup so their fleeing path makes them leap off a cliff to their death, so that may complicate the memories (flee and fade vs flee and die inaccessibly). This was specifically noted as one of the less harsh things in Dark Souls when it came out, because the geckos there will re-spawn every time until you kill them.
Confound you all, I just made another new character… why why why
It’s been a few years, but I am pretty sure that an unattacked lizard will continue to respawn. If you hit it but don’t kill it you are out of luck though.
Savillo
2845
Thinking about this more, I don’t think that’s true. In 4-3 (Storm King), two Geckos spawn near the Stormruler sword. I’ve never been able to get both at once – one always escapes unharmed and untouched by me. But after the one I can get stops respawning, so does the other. This is a perfect spot to test out your theory, too. If what you say is true, you should encounter a situation where one Gecko spawns. That’s never happened for me.
If the Gecko escapes – even if untouched – I’m sure that counts.
If a gecko escapes, ie you go after it, it runs away, and fades to nothing, it absolutely does decrease the counter.
If you do not scare it, it won’t fade and thus will not reduce the counter.
I lost a lot of souls yesterday. I’m trying to make actual progress in 4-2, and I’ve got my timing down on casting Protection now so that I can survive against the Golden Terminator Exoskeletons. By the end of the night, I was losting 20-30k Souls every other time I died. Sigh. Still feels rotten. But I must console myself. What I’m gaining is knowledge: Knowledge that the new type of beam weapon enemy fires a beam that can’t be blocked via my Purple Flame Shield. Knowledge that after I get past two beam creatures, I’ll get backstabbed by … something, or someone.
This is so exciting! I love treading new ground in this game best of all. So I think if I ever beat Demon’s Souls, there’s no way I’m going to replay on New Game+ or anything. I’m going to go immediately for covering even more new ground: Dark Souls Prepare to Die edition awaits.
Btw, only in a Japanese game can developers get away with “how about we include the Exoskeletons from the Terminator movies in our medieval fantasy themed game?” I love it.
The backstabbers were the hardest part of the level for me. How I dealt follows:
Le spoile
Poison cloud to flush them out
Eh. I found them kind of a one trick pony. Once you know where they are, they aren’t all that bad.
I usually just rushed them.
Rushing worked on the single for me but the duo I found dangerous. I was a mediocre duelist. :(
My parents come back into town tonight, and they love my PS3 as their main media player, so I’m going to part with it tonight.
But I’m home from work early so that I can get 5 hours of Demon’s Souls in before I have to part with the PS3. I’ve parted with the PS3 and this game many times, but this will be the first time where I’ll actually really miss it, I think. If it weren’t for Demon’s Souls and the PS3 being a stellar media player, I’d have had serious buyer’s remorse. But man, this one game just totally makes it worth it as a game machine, even if you ignore the media capabilities.
OK, I’m going in!
And Rock8 becomes a convert…
Ok, I’m back. I don’t know what made me think I could withstand 5 hours of Demon’s Souls. Sheesh. What an intense game. It’s not like Skyrim, which varies the pace and you can actually play it for hours at a time. I can only do so much DS before I’m all tuckered out.
I did manage to reach the boss in 4-2. Again, totally not what I expected at all. After I went down, I just didn’t have the heart to continue anymore. It’s such a long journey back down. And those golden terminators, man, so intense every single time.
Yes, the skeletons kind of suck. You can learn their patterns eventually, but it’s a pain, and I never got 100% success against them.
Sounds like you won’t be playing for a while, but some basic tips that might help:
- Are you using the thief ring? You should, if for no other reason than to prevent the bullshit manta-strikes coming from out of nowhere.
- Weapon choice matters a lot against them, and I think enchanting your weapon helps a lot.
- Split them up if possible, a bow to piss one off helps. You can plink them, run back, and they’ll saunter back to their original location, opening up for more bow shots from the rear (which avoids their damage reduction from their swords).
- You might be able to make one or two of them suicide with a bow from the right location.
4-2 boss can actually be very easy, if you slow down and take your time.
Also,
mild boss spoiler
He’s also called the Old blind Hero.
4-2 spoilers follow, obviously.
Yes, using the Thief ring since I found it. I mentioned this upthread, but the only time I took off the thief ring was to fight the Adjudicator, because I figured I didn’t need it, and that’s the first time I used the Cling Ring.
Cling Ring might also be useful against the 4-2 boss. I realize he’s blind. They made that really obvious in the cutscene. That’s why I just went hogwild, thinking I could keep stabbing him from behind until he hit me, and then back off. I didn’t know that the only time he hit me would be the last (one hit kill) because my Total Protection spell had worn off by then. I also was frustrated that I was doing such little damage with my +8 Winged Spear. I left my Magic Weapon spell behind in the Nexus because I wanted to try out Poison Cloud, a new spell I got (it seems to be worthless against skeletons at least, maybe against everyone, what a waste of a boss Demon’s Soul), so I couldn’t enhance my weapon with magic damage at the time.
I will give it one more try. My wife comes home in a couple of hours, so I’ll give it another shot before then. Hopefully I can be as patient this time in getting past all the enemies as I was last time, taking the time to eat lots of Fresh Spice, and cast a lot of Total Protection. Now THAT was a spell worth it’s weight in Boss Demon’s Souls. Thank you Tower Knight. I cheesed you to Death, and in return you gave me the best spell in the game.
For the gold skellys, sticky white stuff on a blunt weapon. Blunt weapons work well against all skellys, as you might imagine. It makes it a lot easier when you only have to dodge 3 or 4 attacks vs. 6 or 7.
Poison cloud can help you with a number of tough enemies. It can help you hit things around the corner, etc. Definitely not a waste. If it did appreciable dps, it would be overpowered.
I found my first sticky white stuff near the bottom of 4-2, in the whole game, so I doubt I’ll be using it much.
As for blunt weapons, I tried the Blessed Hammer+1 that you find in 5-1 against the skeletons, and it takes more hits to kill them than with my Winged Spear+8, plus I can’t block with the shield while I’m using it, so it’s just lose-lose. The only way to make it do more damage is to do a run on 2-2 and buy enough materials to upgrade the weapon first, and that’s too big of a time commitment. Plus I hate that I can’t block while attacking like I can with the spear. It makes the spear so badass and such an indispensable tool for staying alive.
Shield + winged spear is beginner mode (well, royal is beginner mode, but…). It’s a security blanket, and it’s hard to abandon it, but it’s worth it in the long run.
IIRC, you can farm sticky stuff from those slugs just before the boss.
Is the Blessed Hammer a Miranda hammer? You should be able to find or buy a mace pretty cheap.
Well, yeah. I’m a beginner. I’m a Royal who uses a shield and spear. The ultimate beginner, apparently. But yeah, I’ve used other weapons in other circumstances, but because the fighting takes place in such close quarters in 4-2, any time I try to dodge too much, I dodge right off the cliff. So using the shield is pretty essential in that area, even against the ordinary skeletons, so I’m fine with having my security blanket in this area and being made fun of. I just want to finish and explore the game, not get any medals.
Now, when I get to Dark Souls? Getting achievements on GFWL? Oh yes, I’m open to the idea of getting more advanced training and learning how to be a badass and doing New Game+ if it earns me achievements, and more. Well, I would be all over that if I had the time. Considering it took me this many years to get this far in Demon’s Souls, I suspect I’ll finish Dark Souls the first time by 2018 when Obama is wrapping up his second term.
