Should my first playthrough be Online or Offline?

[Blackfyre]

That's my question. Thanks.

[lekayrnthon]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Hautautuja:

Diposting pertama kali oleh ElALEX:

Believe me! You should never ever play this game Offline, maybe as a challenge (MEGA HARCORE) You're welcome.
ps: if an Asian invades you, it is certain death hahahaha

That is why you set the matchmaking to "local". Although if you play at odd times and want to summon someone, you can temporarily change it to "global" as well.

But just seeing other people's messages, specters and bloodstains is part of the experience and makes it worth playing online even if you don't care about PvP or Co-op. Not to mention drift item bags and vagrants, even though both incredibly rare.

This.

I JUST fought my first vagrant today. I started by the bonfire and saw these white sparkles floating towards me.

"oh, beautiful"

Then they hit me.

The Zweihander sorted it out not long after. Purely on reflex, of course. XD

[CB]

First of all you sound like a newbie to the Dark Souls Franchise while it's me who played all of them since their releases (on Xbox360 and Xbox One) so don't you think a veteran players opinion is worthier than

not even a little bit. if anything, you're more likely to be biased, so it's got *less* worth.

You can't say one single argument why someone should play any Dark Souls Game online the first time

it's fun.

[lekayrnthon]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Rapier User and Feetsucker:

Diposting pertama kali oleh SPACE NUGGETS:

This sounds extremely boring. Highly recommend you don't do what this stick in the mud's saying.

Seeing ghosts, messages, bloodstains, and hearing people ring the bell is one of the coolest parts of the game. Just don't read the messages if you think that will "destroy" the "experience". Half of them are telling you to jump to your death or tell you a regular ass wall is a secret.

First of all you sound like a newbie to the Dark Souls Franchise while it's me who played all of them since their releases (on Xbox360 and Xbox One) so don't you think a veteran players opinion is worthier than "oh online mode is better because of seeing ghosts, messages or bloodstains"? You can't say one single argument why someone should play any Dark Souls Game online the first time except the player "doesn't want to learn the way how to play" without destroying the blind game experience. It's easy to play Dark Souls with friends or randoms. Easy to find secrets because of other players (messages, bloodstains or even because of ghosts). The argument to say "if you don't like spoilers so don't read the messages" is weak. If you see a message in front of a wall you can already think what would be written there and you will find the secret.

You called me "this stick in the mud's" and it says a lot about your personality and your tolerance.

Dark Souls is a Hardcore Game. You need to learn how to play it or you will fail all alone. What's the point of being carried? What's the point of being spoilered about a trap or secret?

This is my last message to this post since I just wanted to say that offline is way better the first time you play. I won't argue with people just because I don't like to waste my time to them (already wasted too much time for this message here)

My recommendation: First time should be played offline if you want the true Dark Souls experience.

(When you won against the last boss I would recommend to play online mode for the experience and to find the secrets you missed.)

...you lost me at 'my opinion is worthier than yours.'

[Lahgtah]

Online until Anor Londo, then offline because it's next to impossible to walk more than a few steps before being invaded.

PvP in DS1 is horribly balanced, and builds that are good for PvE often just don't work well for PvP, leading you to be nothing more than a free kill.

Anyone telling you otherwise is just a red phantom looking for easy kills against a new player. To them, Dark Souls is all about fulfilling sadistic desires, because it's one of the few still-active games that allows you to be a total ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ and not punish you for it. For your sanity if you're going in blind, play offline for most of it, then if you want a little pvp action, you can switch to online.

You can find all the secrets on a wiki page anyways if you really need them, so it's not like you need orange "try finger but hole" messages everywhere.

[HTJA]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Lahgtah:

Online until Anor Londo, then offline because it's next to impossible to walk more than a few steps before being invaded.

That is not a stellar advice. First of all, you can always stay hollow instead of going completely offline. Secondly, there are only a few PvP hotspots in the game and outside those invasions don't occur nearly as frequently – usually not at all if you are progressing through them relatively swiftly.

- Oolacilee Township (to some extent Royal Forest and Chasm of the Abyss)
- Undead Parish
- Darkroot Basin
- Anor Londo

Outside of those areas the risk of invasions is rather minimal.

After Anor Londo the order people tackle areas varies a lot, as does their soul and weapon level. In other words it is more difficult for an invader to find someone to invade. The areas are usually split into many separate invasions zones, but people usually only try to invade near the warpable bonfires, meaning most of the area is safe to explore.

Not to mention if you are invaded during early game, they are almost always twinks and you have no chance to win against them by fighting normally. Later on you should – depending on your skill, wits and build – have much more chance against invaders. Many late areas are also rather sprawly, making it possible to simply hide from them and laugh when they run past you the fourth time before using Black Separation Crystal (requires you to be somewhat familiar with the layout though).

I would do almost the opposite: avoid being human during early game expect when you need to kindle a bonfire, but later on not fret about it outside of those PvP hotspots mentioned above.

Diposting pertama kali oleh Lahgtah:

PvP in DS1 is horribly balanced, and builds that are good for PvE often just don't work well for PvP, leading you to be nothing more than a free kill.

Nope, builds that can get you by in PvE might ♥♥♥♥ at PvP – however, a solid PvP build is always a great PvE build as well, whether it is focused around strength, dex, intelligence, faith or pyromancy.

The most common mistake is to make your strength build too one-dimensional. Combine that with predictable movement, poor tempo and understanding of latency and you will get parried and backstabbed instantly.

But there is no shame of having some utility spells, pyromancy and for example faster elemental backup weapon to mix things up a little, while choosing the moment to swing your main strength weapon carefully. Might not be perfectly ideal for PvP, but you don't need min-maxed meta PvP build to win fights – just enough damage potential and something that allows you to hit the opponent without getting punished immediately.

Also don't forget to level up vitality. For late game 1500 hp should be minimum unless you are deliberately choosing to go full glass-cannon.

Diposting pertama kali oleh Lahgtah:

Anyone telling you otherwise is just a red phantom looking for easy kills against a new player. To them, Dark Souls is all about fulfilling sadistic desires, because it's one of the few still-active games that allows you to be a total ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ and not punish you for it.

Sounds like you need to join the Blades of the Darkmoon.

[Lahgtah]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Hautautuja:

Diposting pertama kali oleh Lahgtah:

Online until Anor Londo, then offline because it's next to impossible to walk more than a few steps before being invaded.

That is not a stellar advice. First of all, you can always stay hollow instead of going completely offline. Secondly, there are only a few PvP hotspots in the game and outside those invasions don't occur nearly as frequently – usually not at all if you are progressing through them relatively swiftly.

- Oolacilee Township (to some extent Royal Forest and Chasm of the Abyss)
- Undead Parish
- Darkroot Basin
- Anor Londo

Outside of those areas the risk of invasions is rather minimal.

After Anor Londo the order people tackle areas varies a lot, as does their soul and weapon level. In other words it is more difficult for an invader to find someone to invade. The areas are usually split into many separate invasions zones, but people usually only try to invade near the warpable bonfires, meaning most of the area is safe to explore.

Not to mention if you are invaded during early game, they are almost always twinks and you have no chance to win against them by fighting normally. Later on you should – depending on your skill, wits and build – have much more chance against invaders. Many late areas are also rather sprawly, making it possible to simply hide from them and laugh when they run past you the fourth time before using Black Separation Crystal (requires you to be somewhat familiar with the layout though).

I would do almost the opposite: avoid being human during early game expect when you need to kindle a bonfire, but later on not fret about it outside of those PvP hotspots mentioned above.

Diposting pertama kali oleh Lahgtah:

PvP in DS1 is horribly balanced, and builds that are good for PvE often just don't work well for PvP, leading you to be nothing more than a free kill.

Nope, builds that can get you by in PvE might ♥♥♥♥ at PvP – however, a solid PvP build is always a great PvE build as well, whether it is focused around strength, dex, intelligence, faith or pyromancy.

The most common mistake is to make your strength build too one-dimensional. Combine that with predictable movement, poor tempo and understanding of latency and you will get parried and backstabbed instantly.

But there is no shame of having some utility spells, pyromancy and for example faster elemental backup weapon to mix things up a little, while choosing the moment to swing your main strength weapon carefully. Might not be perfectly ideal for PvP, but you don't need min-maxed meta PvP build to win fights – just enough damage potential and something that allows you to hit the opponent without getting punished immediately.

Also don't forget to level up vitality. For late game 1500 hp should be minimum unless you are deliberately choosing to go full glass-cannon.

Diposting pertama kali oleh Lahgtah:

Anyone telling you otherwise is just a red phantom looking for easy kills against a new player. To them, Dark Souls is all about fulfilling sadistic desires, because it's one of the few still-active games that allows you to be a total ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ and not punish you for it.

Sounds like you need to join the Blades of the Darkmoon.

Or I could just not play online and avoid all that nonsense.

[Phat Phyuck]

The pvp portion of this game is my least favourite part of it. I have not had one invader with a stable connection so when i swing my weapon they don't take damage for 2-3 seconds after i swing.

Not to mention the amount of hackers i have seen. I was invaded by someone who was just a Barrel that shot Soul Arrows at me like a machine gun even though only getting hit by 1 of them 1 shot me. Or people with infinite health that 1 shot you with 1 melee swing.

What i dislike about PvP is that my experience with it is mainly just people camping the hardest sections of the game.

[qnang5284]

Do you like playing with and against people? Go Online.
Do you not like hints and (often misleading) tips and unwelcome invasions? Go Offline.
Not sure which is better? Start the game online, remain hollow, then restore humanity whenever you want to PVP or coop.
There's more to this: you can set the game to start online or offline at any point during your playthrough and change it back at any point, there is no penalty for that.

It is up to you how to enjoy the game.

There is not such thing as "the Real Dark Souls Experience". Nobody cares how you choose to play it more than you. It is a game, and the point is to have FUN.

So go have fun.

[𝕊𝕠𝕡𝕙𝕚𝕒]

What's the difference you will die again and again anyway lol

[MundM]

Online, but you shouldn't summon help unless you really can't stand trying anymore. You'll miss out on overcoming the well made challenges, if you fight bosses with summons before trying it yourself a few times. Anyway, it's up to you. If you enjoy coop partners, feel free to play like that, but I'm sure the majority of people who played the game blind solo for the first time, will have vidid memories who they shared with friends for years.

PS I would buy Dark Souls again, if that would whipe my memory so I could experience it blind again.

[N4pfkuchen!]

Online for sure.
Those passive online features like hearing other players ringing the bells, seeing their ghosts walking near you, etc. are so unique and awesome.
Also, if you play as a hollow you wont get invaded (only in rare situations).

Imo you should try bosses solo, but thats no reason to play offline because nobody is forcing you to summon other players online.

The only negative side of playing online could be "spoilers" through text notes on the ground. But there are so many funny or troll notes, that you will never know if the message is true or false until trying out.

[Rush2112]

You will make the game more difficult by playing online so its up to you. For one, you will be hunted and killed by trolls if you are human. Summon only works if the other player is decent/knows what they are doing/is also not a troll. Hence, you are rolling the dice. This makes offline play more consistent and reliable. you play at your own pace and dont depend on summons who are often not very good anyways.

[N4pfkuchen!]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Rush2112:

You will make the game more difficult by playing online so its up to you. For one, you will be hunted and killed by trolls if you are human. Summon only works if the other player is decent/knows what they are doing/is also not a troll. Hence, you are rolling the dice. This makes offline play more consistent and reliable. you play at your own pace and dont depend on summons who are often not very good anyways.

How ist offline play more reliable?
Just dont summon other players and if you dont want to get invaded stay hollow.

You dont have to play offline to avoid other players.

[Wolverine 1974]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Blackfyre:

That's my question. Thanks.

I have mixed feelings about it myself. I have played a lot of the series many times over. Usually it's with a friend of mine who excels at these games. He knows them in and out and I call him my " Tour Guide" lovingly. Co-op is extremely fun with a friend. Randoms are fun too because the emote system can be used to communicate in a way. Every now and then you get some really helpful people who try to make sure you get all the important stuff hidden on the map and/or drop items for you to have.

I'm admittedly not very good at the PvP side of the game. Whenever I'm invaded I can feel my heart rate increase. It's nice to be able to summon others that are PvP centric to help with these invasions. All that being said it really does feel good when you win a one-on-one. The main sour points to PvP is ganking (ganged up on) and twinks ( people who get high level stuff really early without raising their soul level a lot so they get paired against low level people with poor gear basically).

I personally recommend the covenant (blue sentinels?) that way if you play alone and get invaded they are automatically summoned in to help you (they will be blue in color). They're the police force of the game lol.

For anyone that is new to the game the messages can be funny and useful. (gorgeous chest ahead. Try from behind etc.) sophomoric sure but it breaks up the tension. Some messages can be misleading and even deadly but I think that adds to the charm of the game as well. There are some advantages to onlline play that you just won't have offline. If you do play offline there are NPCs that can be summoned to help fight alongside but some you have to sort of unlock by meeting first so they're not as readily available as real people.

I like to grind a lot so if you do too I recommend offline mode or stay hollow for that. last thing you want is to get ganked past a bunch of tough enemies that you have to fight your way back through to get your souls back and take a chance of losing them because of a fatal mistake somewhere.

Messages may tell you of a secret here and there but the game is so convoluted and secret heavy with questlines that must be performed in a certain order to fulfill and so on that they won't ruin the mystery of the game for you.

Tl;Dr: Play online is my recommendation for a fuller experience.

[MundM]

You gain no fun from online pvp anymore. All who still invade online are twinkers in early areas who abuse and exploit balancing issues and who use advanced glitch combat techniques like animation cancelling, rolling backstab etc.
It's fun to coop for a boss fight, but can easily ruin the challenge aspect and the reward you feel for beating a boss.