Why do I dodge and run so slow in knight armor ?

[butchy]

I just started the game and i dodge and run so slow when I'm in knight Armor.

Even getting back to after dodging takes so much time. Do people actually play like this ? Or am I expected to first increase my equip load and till then just run around naked ?

I just reached the undead parish, please let me know what I can do to roal normally in knight Armor.

Thank you.

[Tentacle of Ozric]

You need to increase endurance. You will get a slower roll unless your equipment weight is lower than 25% of your max load. 25% - 50% gives you a mid roll, which imho is also pretty bad. What I usually do is to start off naked and then start putting on some lightweight armor pieces, like the ones dropped by the undead soldiers. Then I increase the endurance from time to time, until I get it to the point where I can equip the full armor set I want (and still get the fast roll ofc).
I typically go for really lightweight armors, so it's not a problem for me.

Also there is the Havel's Ring, go and kill the fatso in the shortcut between Undead Burg and Darkroot Basin. You need the master key or Watchtower Basement Key to access it though.

[Old Captain Yon]

You are basically over-encumbered and only can fat-roll. This is a thing in all souls games (even in ER there is a class that fat-rolls at the start). However, as DS1 is best Souls game and armor actually matters, there are many things you can do unless you level up Endurance.

1) You can take off some of your armor or choose another weapon until you go under fat roll threshold. You will still get some protection and unlike say DS3 your defences won't go into negative numbers for exposed parts. You will be rolling better, too.

2) Strip naked. You will roll faaast but in DS1 you can't really spam roll, and your defences would be not good.

3) Rarely roll and use a shield! You can block most attacks just fine, and with a good shield even some boss attacks.

4) Tank and burst enemies down. Poise in DS1 actually matters and at higher poise levels you will be literally unstaggerable, even by bosses. If you have a good weapon and enough HP and armor, you can outtrade bosses. However, at the beginning doing so is probably ill-advised because you have low HP , low damage and not enough Estus

5) Use items to lower equip load. If you have Master Key, you can get a cartain ring pretty early, that drastically lowers your encumbrance and lets you roll better. You can also get some other light armor pretty fast, but if you are new to the game you probably don't know where to get it.

[IronKnightAquila]

https://darksouls.wiki.fextralife.com/Equip+Load

Fast roll ftw