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simplen00b

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Posts posted by simplen00b

  1. You always want to kill Ornstein first

    Ah, cool. I knew there was one it was better to kill first but could never remember which.

     

    I'm now calling them Zippy and Porkchop. I will aim to kill Zippy first according to the following plan: -

    010 Check whether I'm still alive

    020 If YES, go to 040

    030 If NO, DIE

    040 Land hit on Zippy

    LOOP

    I've missed out the subroutines about running away and squealing like a four-year-old girl at regular intervals cuz they pretty much take care of themselves.

    • Like 2
  2. You're now ahead of me again :) ...mainly because I got distracted by other games.

    I'm playing only DS at the moment, mostly cuz I really like it, but also, I think that I'm still developing Xbox controller muscle memory, and if I go off and play a 'normal' game, I think all the KBM muscle memory will come flooding back and the Xbox muscle memory will dissipate and vanish like a bagful of souls in Sen's Fortress. Yes, I really do think this might happen. Someone, please, help.

     

    Anyways, plan is to keep having a go at the Chuckle Brothers while trying to (i) last more than three minutes, and (ii) land at least one hit on at least one of them, then give up and try clearing out Darkroot Garden & Basin. Or do something else.

  3. Currently poddling around in Anor Londo. Really enjoying picking totally unnecessary fights with the sentinels (or cheesing them with wooden bolts), and just had a fanTAStic session with Ormsberg and Smew. Laurel and Hardy. You know the guys. Only my third round with em, and this time I concentrated on dodging and hiding behind pillars instead of piling in and getting whomped within 20 seconds like the previous two times.

     

    This time - I lasted 3-4 minutes. Got through all my estus. And on both of them I inflicted absolutely no damage whatsoever. IT WAS FUN. I suspect Occult Club may not be the weapon of choice, though. But then again I could probably rain down the Carpet Bombs of Sif on their heads and I'd still miss.

     

    This is a great game.

  4. Pretty sure I'm in a minority on this, but I ended up enjoying Thief more than I did Dishonored. I loved the player movement/control in DH, and really liked the graphic design, and that helped me overlook the cardboard characters and paper-thin story for about 2½ playthroughs. But after the umpteenth time of crouching down in a pile of fly-blown rubbish/corpses in the hope of finding another one or two coins, and seeing another body getting torn to pulp by rats, I thought "This is actually utterly revolting" and stopped playing. It's also totally humourless, and if any game needed at least a few laughs it was that one. I mean, I'm currently playing Dark Souls, and even that's had some moments that make me smile.

     

    Yes, overall Thief's nothing amazing, and the main story was borked big time, but there were glimpses of what could have been. Erin had the seeds of being a genuinely tragic character instead of the irritating emo-teen/psycho-witch the game turned her into. And some of the side missions are really good, and it's genuinely funny at times, for which I can forgive it a lot. Apart from the burning bridge sequence. And the collapsing Keep sequence. And the final boss fight. But apart from that...

  5. Ah.

     

    Well, the good news is, there aren't spiders.

     

    Just one. One very very big one.

     

    This may not help, but for me she's been the easiest boss fight so far - I got her second time in, with no help at all. (Sorry if it sounds like I'm boasting, but believe me, I was more surprised than anyone.)

     

    But - yeah. It's a spider boss. And you have to beat her to ring the bell and open Sen's Fortress. Which is where I'm now dying nineteen-to-the-dozen.

    • Like 1
  6. Yeah, Bt was the first time it felt like the game design sucked rather than my playing abilities. I'm fine with the swamp part - it took a while but I got there - and it is good for teaching you that getting poisoned isn't the end of the world. But those platforms....anyway.

    Don't tell me there'll be spiders...

    Er...have you rung the second bell yet? :ph34r:

  7. I decided to play DkS again.

    This is playthrough #2, right? ;)

     

    My only experience of New Londo Ruins so far has been doing the suicide run to get the Very Useful Item. Didn't hang around long enough to get a handle on the ghosts' hitboxes I'm afraid.

     

    Me, I'm still in Blighttown. I may have committed an unforgiveable act in that, after 1-2 hours trudging wearily around the swamp, I annoyed-quit (the experience was too tiresome to count as rage) and reverted to an earlier savegame (thanks DSfix). Got tooled up with various arrows/bolts and the rusted iron ring and went back in and had a much better in the swamp. Haven't fought the boss yet (or even got the Another Very Useful Item Like The One In NLR), but I'll get there.

     

    My main beef now is with those wooden platforms - is it just me, or is it impossible to slow walk on them? My feet keep getting trapped in those wretched slats and I've fallen to death at least half-a-dozen times trying to get free. Up till now I've felt DkS has rewarded me for taking things carefully and slowly, but either it's now changed the rules or it's just got crummy game engine mechanics. Or am I just whining? [/whine]

     

    At least that main gate route is optional. I had a fantasy of taking out all the enemies on those platforms with range attacks, but now - no.

     

    Quelaag! Your arachnoid behind will soon be mine oh that just sounds so wrong

  8. And Gaping Dragon is down.

     

    Man, those Depths are gut-churningly tense. Don't think I explored half of it - once I had lucked out on finding the route to the boss, I stuck to it until I beat the little darling. Got to admit, I made a few mistakes - I took Solaire in with me for the very first time. Probably should have gone the Bell Gargoyle route and taken a few deaths in the arena to get my eye in, but no, I took him in first time. Without taking out the magic bolt guy on the balcony. And with over 11,000 souls under my belt.

     

    Yeah. It didn't go well. Solaire got vanquished pretty quickly, and shortly afterwards, so did I. But knowing those 11,000 souls were there gave me a steely determination to get those suckers back.

     

    So I went back. And back. And back. And back. Took me five tries altogether, but in the end I came out of there with 49,000 souls. Ooh mama. Another three strength level-ups and I'll be able to handle the Black Knight Greatsword one-handed. (Assuming I understand the stats correctly, that is, which I possibly don't.) Oh and oh and oh - I vanquished Kirk Spiky Knight. This has been a good session.

     

    But man - those Depths. And they're not the worst, from what I gather. Nowhere near.

     

    *Checks next destination on AB's list of recommended areas*

     

    Oh. Great.

     

    Think I'll be taking the back route to that place.

    • Like 2
  9. Gargoyles are down. Ended up being pretty easy with Solaire's help.

     

    Now need to do the fish-slapping dance with Capra D and get into them thar Depths. :ph34r:

     

    UPDATE: And he is down. Must've lucked out as I have no memory of taking the dogs out - just rolled up the stairs to the arch and waved my weapon around frantically between bouts of boosting my health. Had my usual success with a plunging attack on CD i.e. absolutely none whatsoever, found myself right in front of him and somehow managed to RT him to death before he got any decent hits in.

     

    As far as technique goes, skillful calculated attacks came a distant second to madly flailing around with my claymore, but it worked and was still v. satisfying.

    • Like 3
  10. Achieved through sucking at it for long enough to git gud :unsure:

    That's my gaming philosophy right there in a nutshell.

     

    Timings, skill and practice just goes out the window and all you get is ***xxDeathBlade2014xx*** doing the "lol 2 ez n00b" emote.

    Is there a "Just kill me now and get it over with" gesture you can get anywhere? (If there was, I'd probably wear it out if I stopped going around hollow.)
    • Like 1
  11. My personal favorite shield you can get early as well, but I wont tell you why or where it is :P

    post-9265-0-84299200-1401556407.gif post-9265-0-84299200-1401556407.gif post-9265-0-84299200-1401556407.gif post-9265-0-84299200-1401556407.gif post-9265-0-84299200-1401556407.gif post-9265-0-84299200-1401556407.gif post-9265-0-84299200-1401556407.gif post-9265-0-84299200-1401556407.gif post-9265-0-84299200-1401556407.gif post-9265-0-84299200-1401556407.gif post-9265-0-84299200-1401556407.gif post-9265-0-84299200-1401556407.gif post-9265-0-84299200-1401556407.gif post-9265-0-84299200-1401556407.gif post-9265-0-84299200-1401556407.gif post-9265-0-84299200-1401556407.gif post-9265-0-84299200-1401556407.gif post-9265-0-84299200-1401556407.gif post-9265-0-84299200-1401556407.gif post-9265-0-84299200-1401556407.gif

     

    (j/k. From what I've read, one of the great things about DS is how you can make it through to the end with pretty much any weapon/shield combo if you like it.)

     

    "Thus Gwyn, Lord of Sunlight, did say:

    ."

    Aw, that's really sweet! (he said with not a hint of condescension at all, no, none) Read some of the comments for that video - had no idea what LARP meant and before I googled it, I wanted it to mean Let's All Really Play. Ah well.

     

    Too taken up with RL at the moment to do much DS, but I'm toying with the idea of going back to an old gamesave. I think I've got one from after killing Havel but before getting to Undead Parish; I may try to get hold the Claymore more quickly and focus on upgrading that, plus I should have some lightning resin stuff (which I had completely wasted in bouts with the Taurus Demon; I may ignore him this time round too) which could be useful for the gargoyles.

     

    I'm just aware that so far I've done a lot of grinding and cheesing mini-bosses, which has led me to being fairly levelled up but still lacking in some basic combat skills. Really seriously genuinely don't think I've done a backstab on an alerted opponent yet. :(

    • Like 1
  12. Inspired by an LP video, I took off somewhere completely different - went back to Firelink Shrine, then took the steps and lift down to New Londo Ruins. Didn't explore there much (I've read about NLR), just picked up what I could in the immediate vicinity and then went to the dead-looking dragon in Valley of the Drakes. I woke it up before I could grab all the items near it but justjustjust managed to roll back along the path and survive with a teenyweeny sliver of health.

     

    What happened next was, well, weird. I guess it couldn't see me, and because you're right next to a precipice there, I didn't feel there was enough room for me to try and take it in a 'fair' fight and so - I just started shooting it with arrows. And it just sat there and took em. No complaints, no roaring or lunging - this empty ruined shell of a once magnificent creature just sat there and slowly died as I pumped arrow after arrow into it.

     

    So I killed it and got some really good stuff, but I'm confused cuz out of nowhere this game has made me feel sad and how did that happen? :( I'm such a wuss.

    • Like 3
  13. I'm usually so focused on the first one, the first indication I get that the second one's appeared is dying in his fire. :smile: I'll try that running away technique - is it better to head toward the bell tower? I find if I go back to where you enter, I just get pinned to the wall and stuffed.

  14. Had about 15 goes against the gargoyles on my own to try and get my hand in. I'd say at least half the time I get stomped without even landing a blow, but I've managed to chop off No. 1's tail (twice) and a few times got his health down to about 20-25% before No. 2 turns up and toasts me. Even when I do relatively well though, I feel like it's about 20-30% skill and 70-80% flukey button-mashing. I'm not recognising the signs for the different attacks, and still frequently roll into him instead of away/to his side. I'll do a bit more practice tomorrow and then try summoning Solaire and see how I go.

     

    I really like the way dying in this game isn't a failure. It's a lesson. And yes, I can understand why liking this game has been compared to a form of Stockholm Syndrome.

  15. If another player kindles a bonfire that you're near in your game, it gives you an extra estus flask. It has happened to me occasionally but it's never been a deal breaker. Sometimes it's quite cool seeing the phantoms of other players but it's not vital (and sometimes freaks me out). Oh, and if you're near the Bell in Undead Parish, you can hear it when someone succeeds in ringing it. Again, nice but not exactly a deal-breaker. I've been going around hollow to avoid being invaded but thinking about it, it may be better if I disconnected from the internet before a session so I can go around human, which seems to have some good advantages. AB, do you disconnect to play offline, or have you got a more sophisticated method?

     

    Re the Forest Hunter's Woods: yeah, I used the ledge exploit to get enough souls to do a couple of level ups, but going any way into that wood got me stomped. Even the ents in there are harder to take down (so getting surrounded by three of them didn't go well).

     

    Right now I think my options are (i) explore the area of DR Garden with the Stone Giant Knights; (ii) explore Lower Undead Burg - went down there yesterday and killed a few dogs then scampered back up; (ii) go human, summon Solaire and take on the Bell Gargoyles, but I think that's a step too far up for me at the mo. Really want to practice combat with larger enemies, so I may see if I can find a clear area in DR Garden where I can take on some SG Knights without getting caught in trees. And when that doesn't work I'll do something else. Got quite a few options now with all the shortcuts that have opened up. Man, the map design in this game is brilliant.

  16. I guess it doesn't appeal to everyone.

    Absolutely. I'm actually fine with charging through the same area killing the same AI over and over again but I completely see how it would drive other people insane.

    When I beat the boss all I get is a feeling of "all right, finally. Can we get on with this now?"

    That sums up my experience with the major bosses I've killed so far (all two of them) pretty well. The great thing about the game design is how non-linear it is - I've got loads of areas to explore at the moment without having to get past a major boss.

    But for everyone who enjoys this game I have a recommendation

    I think I'm going to be taken up with DS for the forseeable future (probably about a year at my current rate of progress, although it's still possible I'll hit a wall and give up too). :smile:

     

    Speaking of which - ground out enough souls to buy the Crest of Artorias and open That Door, and am getting zapped and stabbed to death within one minute of entering. I'm sure I'll learn how to survive for, ooh, two minutes.

  17. Put my summoning sign down 7 times and every time it vanished within 30 seconds - 5 mins. :( Checked my firewall settings and no problems there. (I can see phantoms of other players so presumably I'm on-line.) Either 'tis not meant to be for now, or could I again be missing something?

     

    I took the decision to attack Toulouse Lautrec Prisoner in the Church Guy based on something I had read about what he does later in the game otherwise, and actually beat him. No idea what the consequences of killing him now might be, so maybe I've made things worse. (Don't tell me, happy to find out later if I've piled all kinds of awfulness on my head through my actions.) Got a couple of good drops from him -

    5 humanity and the Ring of Favour & Protection.

    I'll probably delay putting the Ring on until I'm getting really hammered.

     

    @MurcDusen - you're going to lap me at this rate. I'll probably still be faffing about in UP when you come back on your NG+. :) (Not that I mind. I find most of the time that the game really fits my play style - not so much 'Look before you leap' as much as 'Have a look, have another look, go away and think about it for a bit, come back and have another look, go and have a nice cup of tea and a kip, come back, have another look and then - edge slowly forward'.)

    With backstabbing...you need to move more to their right
    A-HA! I'll try that - for some reason I've usually circled round to my right. Thanks for the advice.

     

    If anyone had told me a month ago I'd be playing and enjoying this game, I would not have believed them.

  18. In order to upgrade to +6 you need the Large Ember

    Ah, OK. The Depths. Fine. Great. No, seriously, that's helpful to know. Finding out this kind of thing on the wikis isn't easy.(Not for me anyway.)
    if you're feeling brave you can usually endlessly back-stab the black knights
    Really haven't got the hang of backstabbing so far - however much I circle/roll around, AI usually still end up facing me, and the few times I do end up behind them, I'm too slow to take advantage. But I'm sure it'll come. (It used to take me ages to deal with those really slow spear-carrying guys as I'd just be waiting for their attack to give me an opening. Now it's just kick/stab/job done.)
    if you walk instead of running, most enemies won't hear you coming
    That's one of the few techniques from Thief/TDM I've been able to apply in this game. :smile:
    or it's a dash through the door/arch that it can't get past
    That was my technique (rush to that passage then firebomb him as he retreated). It was made a lot easier by the fact that I came to that area from the Undead Parish/Blacksmith fire so I was already behind him. (Still wasn't easy-easy though. That guy's fast.)

     

    @MurcDusen - you've got further in 9½ hours than I have in 30. (If I did a Let's Play of this game, it'd end up taking over all the server space on the planet.)

  19. OK, not sure how I did it but I've just - finally - beaten Taurus D. Felt more like a relief than a triumphant victory, tbh. Couldn't land a falling attack on him to save my life - always seemed to land a few feet in front of him/to the side of him. Wearing a 'Krush Me Kwik lol' hat.

     

    Anyway. Whatever. He's done.

     

    Had a far more satisfying battle before that - I was actually regretting firebombing/arrowing all the mini-bosses in the area as it had left me fighting either normal enemies or full-on bosses with nothing in between, and I really wanted some face-to-face combat that was challenging without being impossible.

     

    And then I remembered.

     

    Black Knight. At the top of the tower.

     

    Lured him down, got him up onto the broad set of steps leading up to the church so I had some space, and then had an amazing fight that felt like it lasted for ages but was probably only five minutes, maybe less.

     

    And

    I

    beat him.

     

    That felt like a victory. B)

     

    Next time, I'm considering a session of getting creamed by the Bell Gargoyles on my own just to get some idea of their attack patterns, and then leaving my summon sign by the church to see if I can help anyone out. But I may do something else instead.

     

    P.S. Got the claymore up to +5; for some reason it doesn't come up on the list when I speak to Andre about upgrading further, despite the fact I have various titanite chunks in my possession. I must be missing something.

     

    Gonna go beddy-byes now. This here mighty warrior's dang tired.

    • Like 1
  20. For a STR build you want to get the claymore, found here

    That's useful to know.
    You'll definitely need to upgrade it, so it's a shame that you did so with the longsword already

    I had a hunch, but I don't mind grinding around Undead Parish to buy more titanite shards from Andre.

    don't try to kill them, just try to dodge their attacks

    Which is how I learnt to defeat the Asylum demon - I'd go in expecting to die, but try to delay how quickly that happened. :smile: It's also my problem with the Taurus demon - there's hardly any room to dodge.

    99.9% of the skill required in Dark Souls is dodging

    Is there a strategy regarding turning target lock on and off that helps with this? If I don't have target lock on, I usually end up whaling around in empty air behind my opponent and wearing a 'Backstab me now' t-shirt. If I do have target lock on, rolling just seems to take me right into them rather than around them. Just wondered. As I say, this game is my first time ever using a controller rather than kbm, so it's probably just a case of practicing.

     

    I'm about three hours in... got to the Taurus Demon after about two hours

    Whoa. Two hours? Took me about 15. :)
    I guess simplen00b had the master key and unlocked the door at the base of that tower? Is that what the "basement key" is for I found somewhere in Undead Parish?

    Yup, I've got the master key. Not sure what the basement key is but I don't like the sound of it. :ph34r:

     

    Anyway. I think I'll just get back to Undead Parish before I wrap up for the night, and tomorrow, get ready for lots of helpings of Rear End of Simplen00b, served with a redcurrant and port jus on a silver platter by Maitre Demon Taurus. When I stop to think about it, I'm really not sure why I call this a 'game'.

    • Like 2
  21. :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o

    Just watched the first ten minutes and that's...just...*ULP* (Please don't tell me you did that on your first playthrough.)

     

    Thanks for the offer of help/advice. I've gone with a warrior build and I'm doing OK with an upgraded longsword (+5) and hollow warrior shield (+2) against most enemies except the bosses and mini-bosses - at the moment, any attempt at hand-to-hand combat with those guys ends up with them taking my bottom, putting it onto a plate, and handing it back to me.

     

    I like the speed of the longsword but I'm not sure how far it'll take me. All I've managed to get to is Undead Parish via Undead Burg and Darkroot Basin/Garden. Taken out most of the mini-bosses so far though, mainly via firebombs and range attacks (the Lightning Bolt Guy on the balcony in Undead Parish church didn't even see me). Only boss I've managed to kill is the Asylum Demon. :( I've gone back to Firelink Shrine to upgrade my estus flask and may try getting back to UP using a halberd to see how I get on with that.

     

    Any suggestions welcome though. These yer are what my stats is: -

    post-9265-0-82207800-1400963837_thumb.jpg

    (Yes. My character is called Nigella.)(I wanted to call her Nigella Higginbottom-Calthorp III, but the game wouldn't let me.)

  22. Yeah. If you've just started playing, I think my advice would be - don't view it as a Thief game. On its own, it's an acceptable but ultimately pretty forgettable game with some good bits; compared to the other Thief games, it's a crushing disappointment.

    • Like 1
  23. Re the skeletons near Firelink Shrine: yeah, they're not for beginners. From what I've gathered, you need magic rather than strength to beat them.

     

    Re the big black knight guy - I took him out with fireballs too. I took ruthless advantage of a glitch (don't read if you want to defeat him 'honourably' :smile: ): -

     

    Get him coming after you then leg it back up to the courtyard with the small ladder that leads to the rooftop area with the fireball throwers. Climb the ladder (better get rid of the fireball throwers first) and jump onto the small balcony area on your left. The black knight gets 'stuck' in the courtyard below you and you can safely fireball him. NB: Every throw of a fireball moves your character forward slightly. Nudge yourself backwards after each throw or you'll end up falling down right in front of him, which will make him very happy.

     

  24. I bought it just over a week ago, along with an Xbox 360 controller. Wasn't sure I was doing the right thing cuz (i) I suck at combat; (ii) not keen on horror games; (iii) never used a gamepad before; (iv) I suck at combat.

     

    What swayed me were the look of some videos on YouTube - it looked so huge and bleak but in a beautiful way - and reviews which talked about how you needed to take it slowly and patiently. And I can testify that running away has often been the best strategy, which is a big plus in my book. (I love games that reward you for running away.)

     

    Anyway. After 20+ hours playing I've finally managed to make it to Undead Parish and the only boss I've killed so far is Asylum Demon. I took Havel out with firebombs and man, that was fun. Couldn't kill Taurus Demon at all, so still got that to do. I'm enjoying it, but it's mostly been above ground and sunlit so far. Not sure how much I'll enjoy it in the lower, darker areas, so I'll probably be taking some Adam and Joe podcasts with me when it starts getting really heavy.

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