☠ Souls Series Symposium ☠

[isiolia]

I don't know if I can bring myself to do a magic character, it'd be really hard for me to force myself to that play style, lol. I've been thinking I'll do it in Demon's someday.

DeS is probably the least interesting of them to do one in, I think. I found DS1 to be the most fun for it. Not balanced, mind you, but fun - though progression is overall better, as opposed to how limited DS3 early game is. DS2 it got nerfed to the point of not really being appealing, and DS3 it's mostly solid when all set up, but really, really sucks on some of the DLC bosses (at least).

I'll buy DS2 and DS3 on PC again as well for an excuse to replay them. I assume they are good to go at 1080p/60FPS out of the box? Scholar runs that well on the PS4.

Yep. I think there may be some gamepad tweaking people use for DS2 (I think there's a massive dead zone by default?), but I haven't messed with it.

Since DS1 is fresh in your mind, I forget but was there no way to see how much exp you need for a next level up in your stats menu? I think the only way to see that is at a bonfire while leveling up in this one.

Been some months now...I don't think so?

[Xeogred]

The bigger question, is there unique female armor sets or items and vice versa? I thought I heard that on a stream months back, but now I'm thinking it was just Demon's. Either way I'm playing a female character for once, but not like it really matters at all.

Wonder how fast I can beat it this time.

I did try an Int/Str and Crystal build for the initial chunk of my DS3 playthrough and even by late game with a fleshed out build, it was absolutely terrible. I reset my stats and literally just flipped Int to Faith, changed up weapons to match, and the difference was huge. They nerfed it for sure. I knew about DS2 Scholar getting nerfed, but still had fun with Lightning stuff. DS2 seems like it'd be the most fun to mess with magic in, since it has Hex and so many possibilities.

[isiolia]

I think your memory is correct regarding DeS being the only one to have any armor sets restricted to a particular gender.

[Exhuminator]

I plan to play through Dark Souls next year. If I use a bulky armored two handed weapon melee fighter, will I be screwed in DS like I was in DeS? Or is armor actually useful in DS? I can't remember what you guys said. I really don't want to be a naked rolling around magic user.

[Xeogred]

Armor is actually useful in Dark Souls. It's also a bit more complex because you can upgrade all four pieces (Dark Souls 3 dropped this and I don't miss it). Best to just hold onto the upgrade materials until a good chunk into the game when you've found some armor you really like and plan to stick with.

Rolls and skills are obviously still the most important thing. But you can definitely cheese some tough bosses and parts in Dark Souls with fat rhino armor.

I don't know how you were "screwed" in Demon's? I use big weapons in that one but just stuck with the Black Thief or other stuff and still had great maneuverability. I'm guessing you used heavy armor too or something.

[Exhuminator]

I don't know how you were "screwed" in Demon's?

I had heavy armor, heavy weapon, and heavy shield. I was so heavy, that when I rolled, I ripped a hole in the space time continuum causing a gravitational distortion effect where my body flopped around in slow motion. It was super defective!

[isiolia]

Melee is a more typical way to play Dark Souls (and 2 and 3 for that matter). Magic can be extremely strong (in DS1 especially), but it takes a focused, glass cannon setup to really see it be particularly great on later bosses.

Armor kinda depends. In DS1, the threshold for fat roll/slow run is still at 50%, and you don't have as many ring slots to play with (though you're also not semi permanently reserving one for Cling Ring...). So going with a heavier setup is still harder than it is in 2 and 3 where that gets bumped to 70% and four rings. That said, most any melee build is going to push Endurance up for Stamina, and end up with a decent equip load capacity. So if what you want is more wearing medium type armor and a greatsword, that'll be pretty simple, if not common, and easily pushed into mid roll with a Havel's or FAP ring if necessary.
What's less often seen is setting up for decent mobility in heavy armor. I think most players (on NG anyway) only tend to use that for relatively easy strategies on a couple bosses. Personally, even on others I'm not good enough to dodge reliably, setting up for a greatshield and gearing for element/status via light armor works better.

Regardless, you can make it work if that's how you want to play. I think it's a lot easier to mix, match, and experiment relative to DeS - there's no inventory weight, so every piece of gear you pick up is potentially a menu swap away (you can still store it to reduce clutter, of course).

[Exhuminator]

Basically, I don't enjoy roll dodging. I want to hit hard and take hard hits. My ideal design is a dude with a giant two handed sword and thick heavy armor. If that's not a practical build, I'd rather know up front. I've heard horror stories of people getting deep into DS, only to find themselves with a build they couldn't finish the game with. I don't want to do that.

[Xeogred]

I'm pretty sure Popo here plays these like an slow elephant tank. You can be a better big piece of metal in Dark Souls than you can in Demon's. Maybe it'll fit your playstyle better. Did you not focus on stamina in Demon's? Like isiolia said it's a good stat to focus on for melee builds. Usually in my top 3 alongside HP and STR.

isiolia, a glass build is what I'd like to try out sometime for laughs haha. Do you have a really basic general blueprint for how you'd start and build a character like that in DS1? Running around like a feather and can't take much more than a hit or two, but have some sorcery nukes.

[Exhuminator]

I'll probably start up Dark Souls in January. It's a winter game, need to play it before spring. When I do, I'll refer to you dudes' wisdom to make sure I don't create a shit build.