The number of missiles homing soulmass creates scales with your intelligence. If you just barely meet the prereq, it makes two missiles. Now that my int is 24, it makes three missiles. Eventually, yes, it gets to five - but it doesn’t start there, unless you radically exceed the int requirement.
It’s disappointing to hear that they’re nerfing the pyromancy glove, since it takes almost a million souls to upgrade it to ascended +5, and that’s a massive fucking investment, since the spells themselves do not scale in any way.
I’ve always gotten 5 missiles from my homing soulmasses - I would have had way over the requirement for it when I first got it, though.
I’m a bit sad that my Dusk Skirt is being nerfed, but 65 physical resist from a skirt that weighed almost nothing was pretty OP.
Couple more things- it’s being reported that all enemies are dropping more souls, possibly double. Also, ghosts and skeletons now drop souls.
The Silver Knight Shield is allegedly the best medium shield now. However, it seems that if you want stability in the 80s, you’ll have to use greatshield.
E-phonk
1583
That explains it. I think it is adviced to kill it while wearing the rusted iron ring, which lets you walk through water normally.
SlyFrog
1584
Ah. I don’t have that. And no, I don’t want to know how to get it until I find it myself first! :)
I’m not sure you will. Technically you don’t have to ever go to where it is if I’m remembering correctly. Which I could easily not be.
I killed it in melee without it. It’s definitely possible but the last head was difficult I remember. Just try different positions until its head comes down near enough. I was way to the left of the lake when it finally happened.
So did I. In fact, I was on land for the entire fight.
metta
1588
Me too: killed it with some pyro, and the Drake Sword. I had to die once to figure out where I could stand without getting hit. Killed it on the second try.
Avtar
1589
I was using the Black Knight Sword, and had a hell of a time on the last head. I hadn’t really gotten a feel for the edge of the water yet, so was not really into chasing it down for fear of falling off. I ended up equipping a bow and fired off my few remaining arrows at it’s core instead of it’s head. I ran out, and whipped out a heavy crossbow and a handful of bolts that I had never tried using, they were just whatever I had picked up so far in the game(I haven’t found a way to sell anything yet, and I don’t think Demons Souls had a way either, right? I can never bring myself to just DROP useless stuff.)
My LAST bolt killed it. Awesome.
Sad to see my cheesy crystal ring shield tactic is getting nerfed. Dammit!
I discovered last night you can slide down ladders.
metta
1592
Eventually, you’ll meet a being who will eat your items and vomit souls for you to spend :D
Also, the game has its own version of a portable hole into which you can thrust your various and sundry crap that won’t fill up as far as I know.
How do you do this on the 360?
Get on a ladder. Hold down B (no directional movement needed). Be aware that if the enemies down below are facing away from you, this counts as a loud sound when you hit. But it’s definitely a lifesaver for the many long ladders and one of the best applications of complaints from the previous games.
Avtar
1596
I’ve been sticking armor and weapons I KNOW I’m not gonna use in the box, love it. But everything else goes with me, just in case. The Hydra battle was one of those cases.
You can also knock enemies down if you slide down a ladder onto their heads.
Just a small correction, you only have to tap the button, not hold it (on PS3, anyway). Also, if you try to do it while moving, it won’t work.
It looks like most scaling weapons are having their coefficients increased by about 20%. That’s pretty huge for something like the Moonlight Greatsword, which. Got most of its damage from scaling already. It should go close to 500 attack power (all magic) at 50 int.
Ornstein’s set has gotten a major buff by the looks of it. It looks like it now has one of the best defense/weight ratios in the game.
Silver knight Sheild, the new best medium shield, has 76 stability at max reinforcement. So being able to use greatshields is now a major benefit for Str characters.
metta
1600
Interesting article on Gamasutra about game difficulty. It uses Ninja Gaiden Black and Demon’s Souls as its examples:
Both Ninja Gaiden Black and Demon’s Souls, from the very beginning, are designed around several key mechanics. With Ninja Gaiden Black it’s constant movement, reading enemy tells, and knowing when to attack and when to move. Demon’s Souls is similar, with the added mechanic of keeping track of the character’s stamina, which allows them to block and roll out of the way.
If the player doesn’t learn these mechanics at the start of the game, there will be no way for them to finish the game, as both games’ combat models are designed around these concepts.
Starting the game at a higher than normal difficulty introduces the concept of “Darwinian Difficulty”, which can be summarized by the motto “adapt or die.” Button mashing doesn’t work with either title, nor does standing still and holding the block button down all day. Both titles rely heavily on telegraphing strong attacks, cluing the player in that if they get hit, it could be fatal.
source: Gamasutra
