Also realize that Mephistopheles and the Hawk Girl (Talisman of God, gold mask (2 available per playthrough counting killing Mephistopheles even if you can only trade 1 per cycle)) give you Colorless Souls that are relatively painless to obtain. Murdering NPCs for Mephistopheles has minimal impact if you do it right before killing the False King, and it’s funny as hell in some cases.
Farming Ephemeral stones is not such a big deal in 5-2, once you get the hang of it, but it’s not necessary. I haven’t done it with the US version at all, but I’m almost done with NG+ and after having done the full tendency shift for every level in my original game, I still have in the neighborhood of 40-50 stones right now, and I didn’t come close to running out in the original game. The only pain in the ass is having to play disconnected from the internet, because that adds a lot of flavor for me.
Yeah, I got the two from the bird and the one from 1-1 on my first playthrough, which I foolishly used on the Dark Silver Shield. Since then I have taken to using the Moonlight sword and I wish I had started jacking that up. I guess I’m just gonna have to bite the bullet and start bothering with the tendancy pushes.
I used 5 of mine on the White Bow, which got me through a lot so I don’t regret it even though it has now been rendered obsolete by my newly minted Sticky Bow +5. In my Asian version, I’d already made what seemed like mistakes with the colorless soul investments (makoto and adjudicator’s shield) so I’m glad this time I’ve had enough souls in NG+ to also power up the 2h Moonlight sword to +5. But I really want to explore the more peculiar special weapons, especially gripless and makoto, with regeneration and the like. Then again, there’s Selen’s shield piercing one handed sword, which might have to take priority.
The tendency stuff is actually a lot of fun, once you realize how much you are going to have to survive in one run with no nexus time. It’s gently challenging on top of what you’ve already mastered, and the only downside is really having to be offline. Hopefully in DS2 they make that kind of choice a non-issue. But seriously, get to murdering and have Mephistopheles hook you up. You can kill all of the useless vendors and NPC followers to get your tendency down to where she shows up, and then take it from there.
That’s also my biggest criticism of the world tendency system - you more or less have to play disconnected to move predictably to full black and to full white. It is a shame to see a poorly developed system (the WT) sabotage one the game’s more brilliant systems - the ghostly multiplayer.
Yeah, I got a bit impatient in my first playthrough so I ended up skipping a lot. In NG+ I intend to spend more time dickering with stuff. This game is unique in that the second playthrough is actually more fun than the first. There is just so much stuff to dig into.
I am also bummed about having to go offline. The invading phantoms and ghosts really add a cool touch.
JZigish
1806
Finally beat it the first time through today. Beat it at soul level 73 after 27 hours. Great game. Hardest level for me was 4-2, I think I died about 20 times between the wraiths the skeletons and the boss. The 4-3 boss was so trivially easy after that too.
I ran through 1-1 so I could spend 4 levels worth of souls, but I think I may be done now. I like the feeling of accomplishment at beating the game, and there’s no way I’m playing this enough to get like the platinum trophy.
Vesper
1807
Just got the game today, and have only played a bit of the tutorial so far. I like what I’m seeing so far, but I ran into one enemy that I had trouble killing (he actually made me lose all my health, although it didn’t kill me.) The first guy you run into with a tower shield after a tip about switching off the shield.
Any good ‘starter’ guides? I just spent some time reading the wiki at wikidot, but I could use a “Demon Soul’s for dummies” primer.
For enemies with shields, it depends a great deal on what you are equipped with. A Royal has the option of blasting them repeatedly with soul arrow until they croak. Others will have to back away (easiest if you lock on then sprint in reverse), slow down so they commit to an attack, and then dart in and strike while they are finishing their attack. If you want to practice an advanced skill, you can roll past them (ideally without heavy armor equipped so you can roll smoothly, and without locking on so you can roll past rather than strafe), then lock on and backstab them with your R1 attack (no L1 shield can be held up in order for this to work).
Any good ‘starter’ guides? I just spent some time reading the wiki at wikidot, but I could use a “Demon Soul’s for dummies” primer.
The best advice I can give you is to power through the first level as best you can and focus on opening doors and collecting items vs stressing out about soul loss if you get killed twice before recovering your bloodstain. Deal with every enemy as if it’s a mortal threat, and if any foe injures you consistently, rethink your strategy because odds are you could be doing it better. The first level is there to train you on consequences, and if you pay attention it has most of what you need to know in order to succeed.
Also, start as a Royal if you are finding it at all challenging. It’s much easier than any other character class, because the magic missile spell is very multipurpose and the magic regeneration ring is obviously very useful.
Handy DS farming guide (for those wondering what soulsucker is good for…the answer is one enemy in 4-2 if you are in full black tendency. I did get it to work on Satsuki, once, but that was more for the fun of it than for souls). Obviously, this is targeted towards people in New Game + trying to complete things.
Jazar
1810
Always walk slowly with your shields up. Watch our enemy’s attack before striking. Only fools rush in.
Ok, just for fun I brought out the Meat Cleaver on 1-3, just to test it on the Red Eyed Knights in that level. That thing is ridiculously awesome…the rolling attack just floors everyone, and the regular attacks do a buttload of damage.
Basically, it’s all offense…but it seems to be a ton of fun. Dunno if I can actually use it when running a level for real, though.
Yeah, I was doing 1-4 on my first play through and got invaded a couple of times. I killed the first guy (Homing Soul Arrow FTW!) and the second guy waved at me and started killing enemies so I followed him through the level.
In retrospect, I probably should’ve just killed the second guy too - I feel like I missed out on the experience of playing through that level, since having the BP wipe out all the enemies really is “easy mode”. I played through it again solo a few times, but the toughest enemies don’t respawn so it’s not the same.
Jab
1813
Stupid question, how do you do the emote commands during multiplayer? A quick look at the manual didn’t turn it up.
Hold the X button (pretty sure it’s X) until a menu pops up.
Well, it was on 2-2, and I don’t know of anyone that enjoys killing bearbugs.
JZigish
1816
I played through 6-7 levels using the meat cleaver as my primary. It’s great against fodder enemies because of the knock down. It’s bad against bosses because it’s too slow. I killed a few black phantoms with it too.
Yeah, that’s pretty much what I thought when I used it. It’s just such a radical change of playstyle from what I had used (shield, dodging, reactive attacking).
But, can I say that the Anti-Magic Field rocks. Used it against the black octopi phantoms in 3-2 and 3-3, and then against the Old Monk’s black phantom in 3-3…
Yeah, just re-ran that level today because there were some bits at the very bottom that I had never cleared (stuff down in the lava). I’d forgotten just how tedious it was, especially for me as a magic user.
On the flip side, I found I could easily replenish my mana by stabby-stabby-stabbing with Giri’s Stiletto on those big guys (they can’t hit through my shield), so at least I didn’t have to waste spices or wait for regen.
That’s a good idea, and I’m thinking how well that might pair up with soulsucker since that kills them instantly. Also, I’m wondering if the lava burn rate remains constant throughout ng+s, since I skipped it in the original playthrough and I’m going to need some of that crap to complete the trophy for the fire weapon. Because that lava was pretty quickly lethal in og, and I had to go to great lengths to survive long enough to scoop it all up.
Reed
1820
GameSpot named Demon’s Souls their Game of the Year. I thought it’d be a long shot that it would be that well received in the US, and am delighted to see that it has been.
And after watching that video with them talking about it, I have the sudden urge to start up a new character…
