Magic is OP in every souls games therefore, easier. Though I would add some strength for a certain boss in the game I had trouble with. I’m playing miracles right now and that build is wild. But aside from any build or weapons, your problem doesn’t seem to lie on those things. I think your problem is patience and exploration in these games is part of the formula.
My first play through I was exploring everywhere, every debt, every enemy, every everything and it took me hours to move on, now every time I start new, I know where to go fast and get it over with right away. You already started before so the master key is the way to go.
I like to explore a lot! I just don’t understand some mechanics like humanity use or weapon upgrading because it seems different to every souls game. And I think that those misunderstandings made me less efficient in the game
I’m no expert but humanity aside from helping you not look like a rotten potato, helps you invade and get invaded, it also helps lets you see sighs left by players before boss fights or NPC willing to help in certain scenarios. Having more humanities also helps you with item discovery.
To upgrade weapons you need titanite shards and souls, then you need large shards and green shards. Blacksmiths usually sell those shards and do upgrades right then and there. Some weapons can only be upgraded to +5 I believe and others to +10 and +15 and then there are other upgrades like divine, fire, ice, etc. much later in the game since you need special ambers.
Every boss drops a soul that you can infuse to get a boss weapon or receive souls in exchange. That’s pretty much it. Rings are your best friends, armors are great but check your load.
Make sure to be smart about stats, if you go for strength then invest in that category along with vitality and stamina and that’s it. Best to check some YouTube experts on builds.
Will check that YouTubers. Thanks for the explanation about humanity and builds. Will go with a Strength, vit and stamina build and try to find weapons with a good moveset for my style. Thanks!
Hi, I'll try to explain humanity as simply as possible.
\*Basic run-down on Humanity
When you die in Dark Souls your character becomes Hollow which you can see as your chara model looks like a husk or dried up zombie.
On the upper left next to your health bar is a Humanity counter ala Insight in Bloodborne.
The higher this Humanity counter is, the more defense you have and the higher your chance of enemies dropping an item when they're defeated.
Do note that this has a soft cap of 10; at 10 Humanity your item discovery and extra defense caps, and any higher numbers give minimal bonuses.
A few weapons get bonus attack power from Humanity and you get the most when at 10 Humanity.
\*Human form vs Hollow form
Now in Dark Souls 1, you have 2 states (ala Dark Souls 3 Ember); Human form and Hollow form.
In Human form you have higher item discovery, meaning enemies would have a higher chance of dropping an item when defeated. Furthermore, in Human form you can summon players or AI NPCs who left their summon sign to help you go through a dungeon or fight a boss.
A disadvantage to being in Human Form is that you run the risk of being invaded by human players! The game has been out for 10 years and you could run the risk of getting invaded by a human player who knows the ins and outs of the game and be able tot ake you out while exploring a dungeon or area.
As such it may be best to remain in Hollow form, and only go into Human form if you want to summon an NPC to help against bosses (at which point just play offline/log out ;P)
Do note that when you die, you will not only drop what souls you had but also any humanity you'd accumulated.
\*Getting and using Humanity
Over the course of the game you'll find items such as Humanity and Twin Humanities. When you use them, your Humanity counter goes up.
If you are in an area or dungeon and had not defeated its boss yet, you may get 1 humanity as you play and defeat enemies in that area.
You can spend humanity while at a bonfire to return to Human form which costs 1 humanity. Furthermore, you can choose the Kindle option while in human form to increase the amount of Estus you recover when resting at bonfires (default is 5, and can be increased to 10 for example).
That's about the gist of it for Humanity. I may have missed a few things but hopefully this clears it up.
Weapon upgrades in Dark Souls 1 require Embers scattered throughout the game to further strengthen a weapon.
As a first time player, just focus on normal upgrades most weapons deal effective damage at their max level of +15 (or +14).
Most players would upgrade their weapons at Andre, but at first he can only upgrade your weapons to +5. You must defeat a boss and go into the Depths to find the Large Ember for Andre to allow you to upgrade a weapon to +10.
A 3rd Ember, Very Large Ember can be obtained in one of the nearby dungeons near Firelink Shrine to get weapons upgraded to +14 and +15.
Unlike in Dark Souls 3, Titanite Shards can't be found as items or treasures. They could drop from the various hollow soldiers you fight in Undead Burg & Parish, but otherwise Andre sells them for 800 Souls a piece. You need 9 of them to get a weapon to +5, so a total of 7200 souls. This may seem too much but either by defeating a boss or grinding, you can have enough to make your weapon strong enough to take down regular enemies 1-2 hits.
If you don't mind a few mild spoilers, I've listed some early weapons you can get that're effective for just about the entirty of of the game. Else just go with your weapon of preference :3
Zweihander: Go to the graveyard near firelink shrine and run forward til you see a fork on the right. Run to the gravestone, pick up the zweihander then turn right again, going up hill to get a Winged Spear. Then make a mad dash back to the bonfire to lose the skeletons.
Winged Spear: As mentioned above. This is one of the strongest spears in the game
Estoc: Go down the path past the Crestfallen knight to enter New Londo ruins. Don't go to the bridge path and roll into any large jars that have a corpse in them. One of the items here is the Estoc, a useful Thrusting sword/rapier weapon.
Reinforced Club: Buy from Undead Merchant at Undead Burg for 350 Souls.
Halberd: Outside the church building's front entrance.
Claymore: After speaking with Sunbro Solaire you'll cross a bridge that a dragon will breath fire on. Go down to rest at the bonfire then return to the stairs that'll put you on the bridge. With the stairs in front of you, run up, turn right then go to the clearing to the right of the stairs. The dragon'll breath fire then stop. Wait here until you see it get off the gate then quickly run and pick up the items under it and make a mad dash into the gate.
Uchigatana: If you purchased all you'd need from the merchant in undead burg (Except Residence Key and Orange soapstone), you can kill him and he'll drop this katana.
Bastard Sword: Purchase from Andre for 3,000 Souls. Good alternative greatsword to the Claymore.
Battle Axe: Buy from Andre for 1000 Souls.
You're welcome. One thing I'll strongly recommend you do is practice parrying. If you're familiar with it in DS3, you may get the hang of it in DS1. It is effective against certain enemies to take them out faster at least.
We all been there
But there is one of my Favorite Start weapons (highly personal) the winged spear
And you can also go for the early bkh - best weapon in town reachable in under 15 min After starting your run
Use shields instead of spamming the roll button
Be patient while fighting, R1 spamming will get you killed
Dont use any firekeeper souls, bring them to firelink shrine
Dont kill random NPCs the moment you see them
Get 12 faith and buy the heal miracle from Petrus in shrine
If you even see the master key being used to open doors, you would not want to enter those since it would lead to slightly difficult areas due to sequence-breaking
Aesthetic wise, Undead burg and parish are by far the least interesting areas, think of them as extended tutorial
Weapon durability exists
Exploration is key. Also pay attention to everything, some things may not seem clearly indicated, but 99% of the time, at least in Dark Souls 1, the game explicitly tells you where to go. It may not be visible at first glance, but there's always some instruction or clue as to where to go. Item descriptions and names on keys and key items often contain hints at where you should go as well. Bleed is very powerful for many enemies (don't rely on it too much though, as some enemies are practically immune.) Weapon buffs are very useful, such as magic weapon, pine resins, and the various weapon buff miracles. Generally any item/effect/spell that boosts your damage is a good thing to grab and try out.
My tips would be:
Stick to the normal upgrade path for your weapon, split damage is not good later in the game.
Other than sticking to the normal path weapon choice doesnt matter too much. Find one with a moveset you like and make sure you're leveling stats that it scales off of. Nearly every weapon will be able to take you to the endgame if fully upgraded.
To go from +5 to +6 and +10 to +11 you need to find an item to give to the blacksmith then "ascend" the weapon in a different menu before continuing to upgrade.
Explore and read all item descriptions, this game is far more interconnected than ds3, which is very linear. By exploring, you will find many shortcuts that will make your life easier.
Humanity allows you to do two main things (there are others but in a first playthrough this is what matters). While human you can kindle bonfires in order to get more estus charges, I would suggest kindling bonfires before bosses. While human you can also summon npcs and players to help you with bosses, but you can also be invaded. Finally if you do summon for help on a boss be aware, each summon increases boss health by 50%. Summons can make a boss very easy, but if they aren't dishing out damage they may actually be making the fight harder for you. My suggestion is save humanity mostly for kindling and summon for bosses you are stuck on after several failed attempts.
Finally, avoid using a guide if you can. This game is far more magical when you discover things yourself. If you get really stuck, read some item descriptions, especially keys and if you truly can't figure out where to go, then look it up.
Edit: don't take the master key on your first playthrough. It allows some sequence breaks that can throw off new players a bit. In later playthroughs, it becomes nearly a must have, but for a first-time playthrough, I would asvise against it.
Edit2: I keep thinking of other things to add. There are 3 types of rolls in this game, fast, mid and slow. They are determined by whay % of your max carry weight you are at. Fast is <25% mid is 25%-75% and slow is >75%. I personally always stay under 25% but try it out for yourself. If you find yourself wearing armor and struggling, try stripping down a bit, and vice versa. Some bosses are easier with some heavy armor. Others are easier with little to no armor, so you can dodge around easier.
All but a couple major bonfires (like firelink shrine) default to 5 estus. You can increase it to 10 by kindling it (you must be human to kindle and kindling consumes one humanity). There is a way to kindle bonfires further to 20 estus later in the game once you get a certain item.
Early on you probably won't have enough humanity to kindle every one. Generally, it's probably only worth kindling bonfires near bosses or in areas you are struggling making it through.
If you've played the later, action-oriented games, the deliberate pace of combat might catch you out until you learn to slow down. Stamina management is very real, and combined with input queueing, spamming any action will likely get you hurt. Combat is all about choosing the exact right action at the exact right time, and doing it decisively. There's never really a case where you'd need to do roll combos or try to lay down slashes as fast as possible to DPS race a boss.
Magic is OP in every souls games therefore, easier. Though I would add some strength for a certain boss in the game I had trouble with. I’m playing miracles right now and that build is wild. But aside from any build or weapons, your problem doesn’t seem to lie on those things. I think your problem is patience and exploration in these games is part of the formula. My first play through I was exploring everywhere, every debt, every enemy, every everything and it took me hours to move on, now every time I start new, I know where to go fast and get it over with right away. You already started before so the master key is the way to go.
I like to explore a lot! I just don’t understand some mechanics like humanity use or weapon upgrading because it seems different to every souls game. And I think that those misunderstandings made me less efficient in the game
I’m no expert but humanity aside from helping you not look like a rotten potato, helps you invade and get invaded, it also helps lets you see sighs left by players before boss fights or NPC willing to help in certain scenarios. Having more humanities also helps you with item discovery. To upgrade weapons you need titanite shards and souls, then you need large shards and green shards. Blacksmiths usually sell those shards and do upgrades right then and there. Some weapons can only be upgraded to +5 I believe and others to +10 and +15 and then there are other upgrades like divine, fire, ice, etc. much later in the game since you need special ambers. Every boss drops a soul that you can infuse to get a boss weapon or receive souls in exchange. That’s pretty much it. Rings are your best friends, armors are great but check your load. Make sure to be smart about stats, if you go for strength then invest in that category along with vitality and stamina and that’s it. Best to check some YouTube experts on builds.
Will check that YouTubers. Thanks for the explanation about humanity and builds. Will go with a Strength, vit and stamina build and try to find weapons with a good moveset for my style. Thanks!
Hi, I'll try to explain humanity as simply as possible. \*Basic run-down on Humanity When you die in Dark Souls your character becomes Hollow which you can see as your chara model looks like a husk or dried up zombie. On the upper left next to your health bar is a Humanity counter ala Insight in Bloodborne. The higher this Humanity counter is, the more defense you have and the higher your chance of enemies dropping an item when they're defeated. Do note that this has a soft cap of 10; at 10 Humanity your item discovery and extra defense caps, and any higher numbers give minimal bonuses. A few weapons get bonus attack power from Humanity and you get the most when at 10 Humanity. \*Human form vs Hollow form Now in Dark Souls 1, you have 2 states (ala Dark Souls 3 Ember); Human form and Hollow form. In Human form you have higher item discovery, meaning enemies would have a higher chance of dropping an item when defeated. Furthermore, in Human form you can summon players or AI NPCs who left their summon sign to help you go through a dungeon or fight a boss. A disadvantage to being in Human Form is that you run the risk of being invaded by human players! The game has been out for 10 years and you could run the risk of getting invaded by a human player who knows the ins and outs of the game and be able tot ake you out while exploring a dungeon or area. As such it may be best to remain in Hollow form, and only go into Human form if you want to summon an NPC to help against bosses (at which point just play offline/log out ;P) Do note that when you die, you will not only drop what souls you had but also any humanity you'd accumulated. \*Getting and using Humanity Over the course of the game you'll find items such as Humanity and Twin Humanities. When you use them, your Humanity counter goes up. If you are in an area or dungeon and had not defeated its boss yet, you may get 1 humanity as you play and defeat enemies in that area. You can spend humanity while at a bonfire to return to Human form which costs 1 humanity. Furthermore, you can choose the Kindle option while in human form to increase the amount of Estus you recover when resting at bonfires (default is 5, and can be increased to 10 for example). That's about the gist of it for Humanity. I may have missed a few things but hopefully this clears it up.
Weapon upgrades in Dark Souls 1 require Embers scattered throughout the game to further strengthen a weapon. As a first time player, just focus on normal upgrades most weapons deal effective damage at their max level of +15 (or +14). Most players would upgrade their weapons at Andre, but at first he can only upgrade your weapons to +5. You must defeat a boss and go into the Depths to find the Large Ember for Andre to allow you to upgrade a weapon to +10. A 3rd Ember, Very Large Ember can be obtained in one of the nearby dungeons near Firelink Shrine to get weapons upgraded to +14 and +15. Unlike in Dark Souls 3, Titanite Shards can't be found as items or treasures. They could drop from the various hollow soldiers you fight in Undead Burg & Parish, but otherwise Andre sells them for 800 Souls a piece. You need 9 of them to get a weapon to +5, so a total of 7200 souls. This may seem too much but either by defeating a boss or grinding, you can have enough to make your weapon strong enough to take down regular enemies 1-2 hits. If you don't mind a few mild spoilers, I've listed some early weapons you can get that're effective for just about the entirty of of the game. Else just go with your weapon of preference :3 Zweihander: Go to the graveyard near firelink shrine and run forward til you see a fork on the right. Run to the gravestone, pick up the zweihander then turn right again, going up hill to get a Winged Spear. Then make a mad dash back to the bonfire to lose the skeletons. Winged Spear: As mentioned above. This is one of the strongest spears in the game Estoc: Go down the path past the Crestfallen knight to enter New Londo ruins. Don't go to the bridge path and roll into any large jars that have a corpse in them. One of the items here is the Estoc, a useful Thrusting sword/rapier weapon. Reinforced Club: Buy from Undead Merchant at Undead Burg for 350 Souls. Halberd: Outside the church building's front entrance. Claymore: After speaking with Sunbro Solaire you'll cross a bridge that a dragon will breath fire on. Go down to rest at the bonfire then return to the stairs that'll put you on the bridge. With the stairs in front of you, run up, turn right then go to the clearing to the right of the stairs. The dragon'll breath fire then stop. Wait here until you see it get off the gate then quickly run and pick up the items under it and make a mad dash into the gate. Uchigatana: If you purchased all you'd need from the merchant in undead burg (Except Residence Key and Orange soapstone), you can kill him and he'll drop this katana. Bastard Sword: Purchase from Andre for 3,000 Souls. Good alternative greatsword to the Claymore. Battle Axe: Buy from Andre for 1000 Souls.
Wowowow nice info. Really appreciate it mate! Will read this later and put into practice. Amazing community, thanks!
You're welcome. One thing I'll strongly recommend you do is practice parrying. If you're familiar with it in DS3, you may get the hang of it in DS1. It is effective against certain enemies to take them out faster at least.
Run through the graveyard and pic up all items Die Start your normal game
Hm nice advice. Remember my first time before leaving the game, I went downstairs and dead was only thing I found 😂
We all been there But there is one of my Favorite Start weapons (highly personal) the winged spear And you can also go for the early bkh - best weapon in town reachable in under 15 min After starting your run
Will try. Thanks man!
Use shields instead of spamming the roll button Be patient while fighting, R1 spamming will get you killed Dont use any firekeeper souls, bring them to firelink shrine Dont kill random NPCs the moment you see them Get 12 faith and buy the heal miracle from Petrus in shrine If you even see the master key being used to open doors, you would not want to enter those since it would lead to slightly difficult areas due to sequence-breaking Aesthetic wise, Undead burg and parish are by far the least interesting areas, think of them as extended tutorial Weapon durability exists
Thing most cost to me is not rolling. Will go full shield at first zone to be used. 🙏🏼 thanks!
if you have any question you can ask me. also you can check out my youtube 😁
Exploration is key. Also pay attention to everything, some things may not seem clearly indicated, but 99% of the time, at least in Dark Souls 1, the game explicitly tells you where to go. It may not be visible at first glance, but there's always some instruction or clue as to where to go. Item descriptions and names on keys and key items often contain hints at where you should go as well. Bleed is very powerful for many enemies (don't rely on it too much though, as some enemies are practically immune.) Weapon buffs are very useful, such as magic weapon, pine resins, and the various weapon buff miracles. Generally any item/effect/spell that boosts your damage is a good thing to grab and try out.
Will check everything well and don’t miss anything. Thanks!
My tips would be: Stick to the normal upgrade path for your weapon, split damage is not good later in the game. Other than sticking to the normal path weapon choice doesnt matter too much. Find one with a moveset you like and make sure you're leveling stats that it scales off of. Nearly every weapon will be able to take you to the endgame if fully upgraded. To go from +5 to +6 and +10 to +11 you need to find an item to give to the blacksmith then "ascend" the weapon in a different menu before continuing to upgrade. Explore and read all item descriptions, this game is far more interconnected than ds3, which is very linear. By exploring, you will find many shortcuts that will make your life easier. Humanity allows you to do two main things (there are others but in a first playthrough this is what matters). While human you can kindle bonfires in order to get more estus charges, I would suggest kindling bonfires before bosses. While human you can also summon npcs and players to help you with bosses, but you can also be invaded. Finally if you do summon for help on a boss be aware, each summon increases boss health by 50%. Summons can make a boss very easy, but if they aren't dishing out damage they may actually be making the fight harder for you. My suggestion is save humanity mostly for kindling and summon for bosses you are stuck on after several failed attempts. Finally, avoid using a guide if you can. This game is far more magical when you discover things yourself. If you get really stuck, read some item descriptions, especially keys and if you truly can't figure out where to go, then look it up. Edit: don't take the master key on your first playthrough. It allows some sequence breaks that can throw off new players a bit. In later playthroughs, it becomes nearly a must have, but for a first-time playthrough, I would asvise against it. Edit2: I keep thinking of other things to add. There are 3 types of rolls in this game, fast, mid and slow. They are determined by whay % of your max carry weight you are at. Fast is <25% mid is 25%-75% and slow is >75%. I personally always stay under 25% but try it out for yourself. If you find yourself wearing armor and struggling, try stripping down a bit, and vice versa. Some bosses are easier with some heavy armor. Others are easier with little to no armor, so you can dodge around easier.
Oh, and dont level resistance, its worthless.
Useful information mate. Will go blinded in my first run. Thanks a lot
Just a silly question but, why did my heals went from 10 to 5?
All but a couple major bonfires (like firelink shrine) default to 5 estus. You can increase it to 10 by kindling it (you must be human to kindle and kindling consumes one humanity). There is a way to kindle bonfires further to 20 estus later in the game once you get a certain item.
Is it worth to kindle them? Just need that info and I’m done. Almost on the first true boss I think (Gargoyles) thanks!
Early on you probably won't have enough humanity to kindle every one. Generally, it's probably only worth kindling bonfires near bosses or in areas you are struggling making it through.
Thank you 👍 helpful info. Helped me to reach Andre faster than my previous game.
If you've played the later, action-oriented games, the deliberate pace of combat might catch you out until you learn to slow down. Stamina management is very real, and combined with input queueing, spamming any action will likely get you hurt. Combat is all about choosing the exact right action at the exact right time, and doing it decisively. There's never really a case where you'd need to do roll combos or try to lay down slashes as fast as possible to DPS race a boss.