A good build for a newcomer to the Soul games?

[Adrian]

I'm new, so I was thinking a tanky forgiving build would suit me, with a shield and stuff, thing is... I don't know how much VIT/END/STR I must aim to have.

Any help would be deeply appreciated ^^

[MaenaZ]

Most melee builds have a good chance of being rookie-friendly. Issue is there is a LOT of options to have in Dark Souls and by the time you finish your first playthrough your build will still be considered incomplete.

Strenght's 'hard cap' is 40, so depending on the weapon you use you'll want to hit 27/28/40 (because strength is considered 1.5 its base value when a weapon is two handed). If your weapon of choice will scale only with Strength, you can go ahead and go all the way up to 40, otherwise avoird that.

Endurance caps at 40 in terms of stamina provided, but equip load never stops and is always 1 point per point of endurance. Generally endurance is the stat you'll find points into are almost never wasted.

Vitality hard caps at 50 but it is very improbable you'll hit that on your first playthrough. However, I thoroughly recommend that no matter what build you end up doing your first character has 25 vitality *at the absolute minimum* as a buffer against mistakes. If you want to feel properly 'tanky', above 30 + items buffing HP will be required by the end of your first playthrough. Like Endurance, Vit is hard to 'waste points' by investing in.

[Dvalinn]

there is a "b" button on your game pad hopefully. click it :D
(pls dont hate me :bibblethump:)

[WSlord]

Make sure your shield is 100% physical damage reduction too if you’re going to dependent on it.
Sometimes dodging is far more appropriate, don’t be afraid to take off armor pieces to lighten your load in certain situations. You can also upgrade your armor along with your weapons and sheild.

[supersand]

Go strength and wield the biggest weapon you can, that is the best new player advice. Do not rely on a shield, it will only teach you bad habits. Just two hand a big weapon, maybe keep a weapon you can parry with in the left hand.

If you need a parry, you can just switch to 1h mode and immedietly be able to parry with it. The only times you should need a shield is if you are dealing with Ranged enemys.

[Nerevar]

MaenaZ eredeti hozzászólása:

Most melee builds have a good chance of being rookie-friendly. Issue is there is a LOT of options to have in Dark Souls and by the time you finish your first playthrough your build will still be considered incomplete.

Strenght's 'hard cap' is 40, so depending on the weapon you use you'll want to hit 27/28/40 (because strength is considered 1.5 its base value when a weapon is two handed). If your weapon of choice will scale only with Strength, you can go ahead and go all the way up to 40, otherwise avoird that.

Endurance caps at 40 in terms of stamina provided, but equip load never stops and is always 1 point per point of endurance. Generally endurance is the stat you'll find points into are almost never wasted.

Vitality hard caps at 50 but it is very improbable you'll hit that on your first playthrough. However, I thoroughly recommend that no matter what build you end up doing your first character has 25 vitality *at the absolute minimum* as a buffer against mistakes. If you want to feel properly 'tanky', above 30 + items buffing HP will be required by the end of your first playthrough. Like Endurance, Vit is hard to 'waste points' by investing in.

all true aside the hard cap at 50 for vit. that is factually false. it has no hardcap. just 2 softcaps. first is at 30 and second at 50. but you still gain hp after 50. just only about half the amount. a hardcap means you wouldnt gain anything anymore.

[Mr. Death]

MaenaZ eredeti hozzászólása:

Most melee builds have a good chance of being rookie-friendly. Issue is there is a LOT of options to have in Dark Souls and by the time you finish your first playthrough your build will still be considered incomplete.

Strenght's 'hard cap' is 40, so depending on the weapon you use you'll want to hit 27/28/40 (because strength is considered 1.5 its base value when a weapon is two handed). If your weapon of choice will scale only with Strength, you can go ahead and go all the way up to 40, otherwise avoird that.

Endurance caps at 40 in terms of stamina provided, but equip load never stops and is always 1 point per point of endurance. Generally endurance is the stat you'll find points into are almost never wasted.

Vitality hard caps at 50 but it is very improbable you'll hit that on your first playthrough. However, I thoroughly recommend that no matter what build you end up doing your first character has 25 vitality *at the absolute minimum* as a buffer against mistakes. If you want to feel properly 'tanky', above 30 + items buffing HP will be required by the end of your first playthrough. Like Endurance, Vit is hard to 'waste points' by investing in.

I like the detail in your comment, but let me contradict u :).
I think it would be best for Adrián (Hola Adrián, sos español de casualidad?) is to Level up Vitality and Endurance and keep the base stats for the weapons he want's to weild in orther to infuse them with any elemental path, such as Fire +5, Fire +10, chaos +5, Divine +5 (for the skelleton in the catacombs). This way, Adrián, u will have a very nice damage output and a lot of Vitality to tank damage, and a lot of Endurance to stack defenses and poise, which will make u withstand hits whitout staggering.
Also I would recommend u to use the Ring of Favor and Protection (FAP) and Havel's ring, to be able to use weapons/catalysts/shields in the two slots of the right hand, and to use a good defensive set being able to fast roll. I hope my comment is helpful, cya.

[TrueArchery]

The OP should just pray for a lucky Black Knight weapon drop, hit min requirements to wield it and then pump Vit and End.

[TrueArchery]

Although just the heaviest and best armor plus the best (great-)shields can carry you just as easily throgh the game. You don't even have to roll.

[nomoreblues]

str doesn't help "tankyness" in any way btw.

[Giblix]

If you have 25vit, 25-30endurance and 30 strength you can brute force most things I've noticed. You can get a Claymore fairly early on. But there are other nice/strong weapons to pick up along the way. Just swing them, check their attack/move sets and choose the one you prefer too play with. Then upgrade it as soon as you have the materials for it. at +15 you can take on most everything. Don't forget too apply fire/lightning resins in tough fights for drastic increase in damage output. They buff a lot more then I originally thought they might.

Level up those 3 atributes almost at equal pacing with strength 1 or 2 points ahead. Otherwise your damage output will fall behind early on. Staying alive is nice, but if you don't do damage it doesn't help at all.

As soon as you hit 30 in strength/endurance you can pretty much level any other stats alongside. Perfect moment to experiment. You can grab some faith and/or intelligence to see how basic magic spells work. DEcide if you want some more of those with you as well. And you can, what I did, level up dexterity to 25-30 as well. That way your Claymore+bows do even more damage.

Other then that all you need is patience and progress methodically. Don't rush in. Don't be affraid to use knives or bows to pull opponents one at a time. Mid rolling is still ok if you got armor that gives overall high poise/resistances. With some bosses you can just use full physical shield. Others you can stay in close range and roll through their attacks. I really like using Grass Shield + another ring that gives you fast endurance regeneration. You can roll around and keep hitting with 2h swings.

Also switch around rings. It does help ussing fire/lightning defence rings when fighting in certain areas/opponents.

I'm pretty much a newbie to this game as well. Didn't really play it till a week or so ago. After playing Nioh I'm finding all the Darksouls opponents so far rather copy/paste and underwhelming. Capra Demon is just annoying if his dogs stunlock you. In Anor Lando there is a big giant Titanite Demon in a very small room that took me more tries then care to admit. But Smough and Ormstein + Four Kings took me 3-4 attempts at most. Had a harder time getting to them from the nearby bonfire. Only things left are catacombs, giants crypts, archives, izalith and dlc. Can't wait for the game to get actually challenging.

[Hermes Thrice Great]

Giblix eredeti hozzászólása:

If you have 25vit, 25-30endurance and 30 strength you can brute force most things I've noticed. You can get a Claymore fairly early on. But there are other nice/strong weapons to pick up along the way. Just swing them, check their attack/move sets and choose the one you prefer too play with. Then upgrade it as soon as you have the materials for it. at +15 you can take on most everything. Don't forget too apply fire/lightning resins in tough fights for drastic increase in damage output. They buff a lot more then I originally thought they might.

Level up those 3 atributes almost at equal pacing with strength 1 or 2 points ahead. Otherwise your damage output will fall behind early on. Staying alive is nice, but if you don't do damage it doesn't help at all.

As soon as you hit 30 in strength/endurance you can pretty much level any other stats alongside. Perfect moment to experiment. You can grab some faith and/or intelligence to see how basic magic spells work. DEcide if you want some more of those with you as well. And you can, what I did, level up dexterity to 25-30 as well. That way your Claymore+bows do even more damage.

Other then that all you need is patience and progress methodically. Don't rush in. Don't be affraid to use knives or bows to pull opponents one at a time. Mid rolling is still ok if you got armor that gives overall high poise/resistances. With some bosses you can just use full physical shield. Others you can stay in close range and roll through their attacks. I really like using Grass Shield + another ring that gives you fast endurance regeneration. You can roll around and keep hitting with 2h swings.

Also switch around rings. It does help ussing fire/lightning defence rings when fighting in certain areas/opponents.

I'm pretty much a newbie to this game as well. Didn't really play it till a week or so ago. After playing Nioh I'm finding all the Darksouls opponents so far rather copy/paste and underwhelming. Capra Demon is just annoying if his dogs stunlock you. In Anor Lando there is a big giant Titanite Demon in a very small room that took me more tries then care to admit. But Smough and Ormstein + Four Kings took me 3-4 attempts at most. Had a harder time getting to them from the nearby bonfire. Only things left are catacombs, giants crypts, archives, izalith and dlc. Can't wait for the game to get actually challenging.

this is one of the easier souls games (dont hate me) but everything gets almost double the damage and health in ng+ making bosses like 4 kings a bit of a pain on specific builds.

[Giblix]

Nevermore eredeti hozzászólása:

this is one of the easier souls games (dont hate me) but everything gets almost double the damage and health in ng+ making bosses like 4 kings a bit of a pain on specific builds.

Will play DS2 and 3 in due time as well. I do hope at least DS3 will be a lot more fun and challenging. In all honesty. Finishing the rest of DS1 feels like a chore and not really looking forward to it. Having very little fun and don't see myself resuming it in NG+ due to the clunky controls.

This game probably was great when it was first received upon release. Playing it now for a first time is apparently a bad thing. This game did not age well at all. A lot of the times graphics look as if its a model without any textures put on them. Controls are clunky. The game plays as if everything is in slow motion. And I really don't understand why people say its a difficult/hard game. Most bosses go down in a handful of attempts. Often it is more difficult to actually get to the fog gates then the actual fight.

A lot of room for DS2 and 3 too improve on that's for sure.

[MaenaZ]

Nerevar eredeti hozzászólása:

all true aside the hard cap at 50 for vit. that is factually false. it has no hardcap. just 2 softcaps. first is at 30 and second at 50. but you still gain hp after 50. just only about half the amount. a hardcap means you wouldnt gain anything anymore.

You're right in the strictest sense, but it takes a really specific item setup (i.e. RoF&P + Mask of the Mother + Tiny Being's Ring) to justify going above 50 vitality since the gains are so small on their own.

[TrueArchery]

Giblix eredeti hozzászólása:

Nevermore eredeti hozzászólása:

this is one of the easier souls games (dont hate me) but everything gets almost double the damage and health in ng+ making bosses like 4 kings a bit of a pain on specific builds.

Will play DS2 and 3 in due time as well. I do hope at least DS3 will be a lot more fun and challenging. In all honesty. Finishing the rest of DS1 feels like a chore and not really looking forward to it. Having very little fun and don't see myself resuming it in NG+ due to the clunky controls.

This game probably was great when it was first received upon release. Playing it now for a first time is apparently a bad thing. This game did not age well at all. A lot of the times graphics look as if its a model without any textures put on them. Controls are clunky. The game plays as if everything is in slow motion. And I really don't understand why people say its a difficult/hard game. Most bosses go down in a handful of attempts. Often it is more difficult to actually get to the fog gates then the actual fight.

A lot of room for DS2 and 3 too improve on that's for sure.

Dark Souls isn't about bosses being the main attraction, the opposite actually. Most bosses are a pushover, it's usually the gimmicks that make them "difficult" (trident dude in the gaping dragon fight, 2x dogs in capra fight, 2x archers in taurus fight, BoC being BoC, etc., just a few examples).
Difficult is the wrong word anyway. The game just punishes you for mistakes and in an intensity which most "casual games" don't have. There's tons of ways to work around the "difficulty", like summoning, having a good build (balance is pretty bad in this game). Your environment is you main enemy, not the next boss.

On the other hand, if you have your Drakesword +1, unupgraded Knight Shield and Hard Leather Armor, picked the Master Key, cheesed the Gargoyles with the Solaire summon and Quelaag after some attempts with Mildred and are now entering Sen's Funhouse, well, you're ♥♥♥♥♥♥. Like, completely ♥♥♥♥♥♥. Good luck. I bow to the noobs who make it thru to Anor Londo (although the bossfight is ez pz if you summon maddafakking TARKUS), you aren't just a filthy guide reading noob any more.

[DevonShire]

nomoreblues eredeti hozzászólása:

str doesn't help "tankyness" in any way btw.