Wednesday 29 September 2010
Demon's Souls: the five tips every new player should read
From Software's complex multiplayer RPG is proving a substantial challenge even for veteran role-playing adventurers. So we asked two leading experts to give Gamesblog readers some exclusive tips...A demon-filled fog has enveloped the kingdom of Boletaria and now the bravest warriors must penetrate this gaseous hell to save the land. The setting sounds like familiar RPG hokum but Demon's Souls is not your average dungeon crawler. Cult Japanese developer From Software has instead constructed a deep, imposing and tactically rich adventure with a rewarding combat system and masses of character customisation. Complete with online co-op and asynchronous multiplayer elements, it's been a leftfield hit in the West, despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that it's punishingly difficult.If you're new to the game, or already deeply absorbed but in need of guidance, help is at hand. We've spoken to Matthew Whisker and Wayne Gibson, the writers of the official Guide to Demon's Souls and administrators of the Demon's Souls Wikidot. Here are their quick hints for Demon's Souls success...1. At the start you have the option of about eight or nine different characters. Which one gives you the best chance of success and why?Wayne: When you start for the very first time, a Royalty class is, in my view, the best choice. The main reason is you get a decent spell with ranged ability, and it helps until you learn the techniques of dodging, parrying, and the habit of always keeping your shield up.Matthew: Another good choice is the Temple Knight, which has an excellent set of stats for a melee combat-orientated character, and starts with a full set of armour, a good shield and a halberd which is deadly when wielded in two hands. Remember to un-equip some of the heavy armour at the beginning though, as you won't have the Endurance to wear it all and still roll/sprint normally. Wayne: Once you get those habits and skills under your belt, then there is no real "best choice" for a starting class. It just depends on what type of character you would like to make. I would recommend that you visit the wiki and look at the Character Builds page that the users have submitted.�Everyone can vote on how good they think a build is, so you can get a sense of which ones might have more merit than others. You should certainly read the top five or 10 and see if any of them fit your preferred play style.� 2. What tips do you have for defeating enemies in one-on-one combat?Wayne: Learn to Parry/Riposte! A parry/riposte will take down almost, if not every, enemy in the game except for bosses.�The damage output on a riposte is insanely high.�The best method for practicing this is on the dreglings in the first world (Boletarian Palace).�You can usually survive at least one hit on a dregling, so it gives you two or three shots to practice before you die, assuming you miss the parry. It can be frustrating to get the hang of it, and you'll still miss from time to time, but once you get it, it is deadly. Matthew: It also comes in handy for dealing with the rolling skeletons in the Shrine of Storms. Raise your shield and block them rolling into you, then parry when they swing their sword. With practice, parrying and riposting can be adapted to work well even against other players. Weapons like daggers and rapiers have an innate bonus to backstab and riposte damage too, especially with the Fatal upgrade.Wayne:�Use your shield! Keep it up all the time.�Things jump out at you constantly when you walk through doors, or around corners, or sometimes just up a flight of stairs.�The shield is not decorative.�This is not Call of Duty, you can't just run into a room spraying bullets everywhere.�If you run straight into a room in this game, especially if you've never been there before and have no idea what is waiting for you, you're just going to die a lot.� So, use the shield and take your time. Ironically, the more patient you are while progressing through a level, the faster you'll finish the level.�Rushing through and dying three quarters of the way into a level sends you back to the start and you have to go through again and all the enemies have respawned.� Matthew: The best shield in each category would be the Dark Silver Shield +5 for small shields and the Purple Flame Shield +10 for large shields, the DSS being my personal favourite for its versatility, parrying ability and 100% Magic damage resistance on block, as well as a passive bonus to Magic Defence.3. Do you have any useful general tactics on good combinations and how to maximise weapon power?Wayne: A good tactic to bear in mind is the "maximize weapon power" option. A weapon is upgraded with stones that you find, and there are over a dozen types of those stones.�Each stone does a particular type of upgrade on a weapon and you cannot have more than one type of stone upgrade on a weapon at a time. The stones are gone once you apply them to a weapon. Most weapons require some number of shards, large shards, chunks, and one or two pure types of stone.�The latter two can be difficult, and sometimes impossible, to find on a single play through. Please go to the wiki and carefully review the information on the stones. More info is available there on the the various upgrades and the weapons. It's worth planning out your weapon upgrade path before you play.�I didn't do this, and used stones on things that really didn't help me that much.�I regretted it, since I had to start over and they are so hard to come by.Matthew: In terms of tactics, the most important thing is to use a weapon with a moveset that compliments your playstyle. You also need to remember that some weapons perform much better in a two-handed style, eg: the Great Axe. It's one of the deadliest weapons in the game in both PvP and PvE, yet this only applies if you wield it in two hands, meaning you have access to its great rolling attack and powerful three hit combo. Polearms like the Mirdan Hammer are also much more effective in two hands, so experiment!For purely PvP combinations, some of the most common setups have an Uchigatana of some variety in the left hand. This is because the L1 Uchi attack is very fast and has a wide angle, allowing you to prevent an opponent from circling around you, and lock them in a combo with your right-hand weapon.Buffs of some form or another are also essential for any kind of play in Demon's Souls. Second Chance is a must-have no matter what you plan on doing, and Warding can almost completely nullify physical damage for a short period of time, making it very effective against other players and demons alike. A term you will see thrown around a lot is the 'Cracked ToB' referring to the Talisman of Beasts, which, with the right stat setup (18 Int, 6 Magic, 16 Faith is the usual one) will allow you to get Curse Weapon without suffering the huge percentage HP drain that offsets the 50% damage bonus of the buff. However, it takes a little more explaining than that, so please look it up on the Wiki for info on exactly why this happens, and how useful it can be. Light Weapon performs very well on faster weapons using the Insanity Catalyst and around 30 Magic, especially those with innate magical damage like the Blueblood Sword, so the LW BBS (as we abbreviate it) is another common sight in the self-made PvP arena of 4-1.4. How about collecting souls? How do you get as many as possible?Wayne: The Wiki page has a good section on finding good areas for farming souls. Generally speaking though there are quite a few tips on this.�My personal favourite (because I like using bows) is killing the grim reaper in world 4-2 (4-2 is also called the Adjudicator Stone).�The reaper is almost right at the beginning of the level at the bottom of what is best described as a pit.�There are shadow lurkers all around him, and if you shoot him two to four times (depends on attack power of arrows and bow) he dies and all the shadow lurkers die as well.�The best part is, you get ALL of their souls.� Matthew: Another good trick is to use the Silver Bracelets, Ring of Avarice and Soul Thirst, if you have them, and kill all the enemies in 4-3 using Stormruler before touching the Archstone and warping out. Don't forget to pick up any upgrade stones they might have dropped!5. Do you have any advice on defeating the end-of-level bosses?Wayne: This varies a lot.�In fact, each boss is fairly unique in what it takes to kill them. For some players, Flamelurker is the hardest, at least the first time you fight him.�I will warn you about one other boss that should be super easy but not always, as I had the misfortune of finding out.� When you fight the boss named Penetrator, if you have freed an NPC named Biorr, then Biorr will help you with the fight, and this results in the Penetrator focusing pretty much exclusively on Biorr. Since you can just attack him without really attracting his attention, this makes Penetrator an easy boss.� However, as I found out, if you don't free Biorr or you kind of kill him just to see what will happen if you do then you fight Penetrator alone, and he suddenly becomes a lot more difficult.�Not impossible ? just a lot more difficult.�For details on how to defeat each boss, visit the wiki again ? the boss section is our most often visited page according to Google Analytics tracking.Matthew: Another boss worth mentioning in terms of difficulty is the final boss of Boletarian Palace ? the False King. He used to give me real trouble when I first started playing the game, as he is very fast, aggressive and has some of the most damaging attacks your character will ever be exposed to. The important things to remember for him are to try and summon some help ? it's very beneficial to have him going after two people instead of focussing on one, as this will help you avoid getting soulsucked by him. If you do get soulsucked, you can get them back easily enough, and the souls you get as a reward for beating him will more than likely pay for any levels you lose. Finally, when you see him plant his sword in the ground, don't run away and try and avoid his area-of-effect attack like you would logically do. instead, run up to him and hit him, it makes him flinch and he stops charging the attack. The mistake I would make would be to run away from it ? it has incredible range and is nearly impossible to avoid unless you make him flinch. If I had any general advice for the game as a whole it would be to be patient, don't take risks and don't let the game get the better of you. If you die in the game, it is because you, as the player, made a mistake. Sure, the game can be brutal, the enemies are tough, the bosses are sometimes downright unfair, and you can't control it when another player decides to rain on your parade (except by playing offline, and we all know that's boring), but as time goes on and you get better at the game, you'll realise that the deaths are down to you usually being too aggressive, too reckless or sometimes not reckless enough. I'll leave it to you to find the right balance!Coming soon: yet more tips and insider info courtesy of the From Software development team! (We're just getting it all translated...)GamesGame culturePlayStationPS3Keith Stuartguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
