This Sunday was the Super Bowl.  You may be surprised to learn that, since Super Bowl 30, I’ve made it a habit to watch every one.  I even (more or less) understand the rules associated with the game.  Perhaps it’s inherent to understanding rules and numbers in a video game – the two practically go hand in hand.  I feel like this is a good time to announce last year’s most valuable video game character (MVVGC), the one who raised the bar for what it means to be an engaging and developed part of the games that graced our consoles in 2011.  That award goes to Solaire of Astora from Dark Souls.

*POSSIBLE MINOR SPOILERS WITHIN*

Solaire first appeared before me after fighting my way up to the bridge wyvern.  This wasn’t very far into the game, mind you, but it was all I needed to be suspect of anything that moved.  He stood proudly facing the sun, a beacon of hope and confidence in an unwelcoming world.  Unlike most downtrodden NPCs speckled across the vast expanses of Dark Souls’ open world, Solaire was almost comically positive.  I think I actually laughed aloud when I first heard him say “Jolly co-operation”, or perhaps it was “grossly incandescent”.  Either way, in that laugh – that one moment of solace – the tension I’d accumulated up until that point dissipated.

I’m not alone in this positive association with Solaire.  This is clear from his adoption by fans of Dark Souls as something of an icon, repeatedly referenced in Dark Souls memes and comics:

For most players, the fact that this jolly fellow can exist in such a gloom drenched world is an obvious contradiction.  And yet, the deeper you delve in the game, the more it’s hinted that Solaire is a major part of the lore surrounding Lordran.  You meet him several times, can summon him to assist you on your journey, and pick up hints to his lineage from the game’s subtle clues.  And this subtlety is what breathes life and mystery into the world of Dark Souls as well as Solaire.

Depending on the player’s actions, Solaire will come to have two different fates by the game’s end – one more tragic than the other.  In my time spent gushing about Dark Souls with other players, this particular scenario is lamented by nearly every one of them.  Many wiki pages and forum threads are devoted to preventing this outcome, with fans sharing their personal experiences and carefully recorded variables.  Such adoration of an NPC is shocking among the often apathetic world of anonymous where almost nothing is sacred.

And so, without hesitation, I present Solaire of Astora with his rightly earned MVVGC award.  Thank you, sir for being a shining beacon in a frightening world falling away from its foundation like rotted flesh.  Thank you for making us laugh when sorrow seemed to be the only proper emotion.  And most of all, thank you for being lovable enough to break out hearts.  You won’t soon be forgotten.

This weekend was New Year’s, so I drank, wore a silly hat, and spent time with friends and family.  It was a rather low key but enjoyable way to end the year — certainly more low key than Christmas!  If you want to hear all about my Christmas exploits, listen to the holiday special episode of My Fair Hunter.

While hanging out with Joel (aka Nutgarden5), he asked me to make him a Dark Souls build which would allow him to PvP with the washing pole.  If there is one thing I enjoy doing for people, it’s telling them how to make a great character in a video game, so I gladly accepted the challenge.

The washing pole isn’t a fabulous weapon — Joel mainly wants to use it because its appearance is similar to Sephiroth’s Masamune.  What it lacks in punch it makes up for in two areas: bleed, and reach.  The sword has great range and it can attack rapidly.  Since it’s a katana, the washing pole can inflict the bleed status effect upon your enemy if you manage to keep dolling out blows.  Bleed causes the afflicted player to literally bleed out like a stuck politician, sapping their HP slowly and applying added pressure.

Knowing Joel, he probably won’t have the patience to have his character rely on stat scaling (which the washing pole sucks for anyway), so I decided to make his build focused on vitality and endurance.  This results in a ton of HP and stamina, extending the length of your average PvP match.  As for offenses, we will be imbuing the washing pole with Lightning+5 which will provide decent attack independent of stat scaling.  That means our buffed defenses and healthy quantity of HP will provide a small margin of error making this a great build for experimenting with PvP.

Here are the minimum stats, which result in a fighting-fit character at level 75:

This build is focused enough that you could probably raise a few other stats to use certain spells or equip a second off-hand weapon if you’d like.  The main idea is to keep your offensive stats as low as possible (in this case just enough to equip the desired weapon), allowing more points to be dumped into your defensive stats.  For a more detailed look at the build, including equipment, you can…

download the full build spreadsheet here.

That stat calculator spreadsheet comes courtesy of this site.

The basic idea for this build is something I first read about on Reddit.

To anyone similarly looking for a build like this, you can execute it in a few simple steps:

1. Pick your weapon to base the build around
2. Get your character’s stats to the bare minimum needed to equip the selected weapon
3. Enchant your weapon with Lightning+5
4. Dump points into vitality and endurance
5. Get out there and fight people

Once you’ve learned the finer points of Dark Souls PvP, you can experiment with more advanced builds which offer a greater variety of equipable weapons and spells.  I hope this helps some of you out there feel a little braver about delving into the world of PvP.  It can be greatly rewarding and offer a whole new means of entertainment in an already great game.

I had some other ideas outside of the “children’s cereal mascot” theme, so if this post generates some good feedback I may keep the trend going.  And with that, I leave you fellow hunters of souls with a final parting thought: two scoops.

You’ve no doubt heard of how unforgiving Dark Souls can be.  On numerous occasions I’ve watched helplessly as my own foolish mistakes caused me to lose tens of thousands of souls equating to no small investment in time.  When something like that happens, all you can do is swear under your breath and march on.  And yet there are those out there who wish to test themselves further — apply greater restrictions and barriers all for the sake of glory.  I learned of such an endeavor being undertaken by accomplished fans of the game on a number of forums I frequent (sup, /r/darksouls).

Many are aware of the challenge, but few attempt it: beating the game at Soul Level 1.  Let me explain just how this challenge inhibits the player:

• Multiplayer is virtually impossible: aside from earlier bosses, finding someone remotely close to your level to team up will only get harder as the bosses become bigger and badder.
• Equipment is limited: There is one job that starts at Soul Level 1: the Pyromancer.  Due to a low dexterity stat there are only a handful of weapons that this character can wield.  Not leveling up also keeps your equipment load low, requiring rings to boost it in order to actually equip decent armor.
• PVP is dangerous: Certain multiplayer interactions are mysterious as to how they pair players based on their Soul Level.  It should go without saying that a highly leveled player has numerous advantages against a lower level character, at least on paper.

I told my friend about the challenge over beers one weekend and he excitedly got to work.  Our initial plan was to each start at the same time so we could try to co-op against come of the rowdier bosses, but I am still poking my way through the story with my original character.  He’s now easily more than halfway through the game, which is incredible progress.  Here are the screenshots to prove it:

My friend’s new hobby, which I don’t entirely approve of, is to invade scores of low level players and show them just how unforgiving of a game they’re playing.  So if you’re invaded by a menacing phantom wielding a humble battle axe, don’t be surprised if you’re easily beaten to a pulp.  My advice?  Swear under your breath and march on.

A message bar appears saying I’ve been invaded by a Black Phantom.  My fingers rush to get the correct player-versus-player gear equipped.  I need to be agile but still provide some rigidity or I will surely buckle under the weight of any heavy weapon if hit.  I cast a spell that surrounds me with five homing orbs that will detect and strike my enemy once in range.  Then it happens.  My heart is beating.  Fast.  Cold adrenaline pumps through my chest.  Where could this Phantom be?  They could come at me from any direction…  Suddenly I see a red blur making its way towards me.  I lift my shield and we clash, trading heavy blows and dodging with lightning fast reflexes.  I’ve become a Dark Souls adrenaline junky, and once you’ve drank deep of its glory, no other game comes close.  Allow me to go over all the ways in which Dark Souls has managed to concrete its position deep within my Playstation 3 since its release.

Story – And the furtive pygmy, so easily forgotten

From Software provides the minimal framework for a story and lets the player fill in the blanks with subtle clues throughout their journey.  In this case, the story surrounds a world formally controlled by dragons.  Soon gods and humans appeared and their power increased to the point where they could challenge the dragons.  War between the two began and once the mighty beasts were more or less gone, their fire left the world as well, bringing darkness.  The darkness led to undead, many of whom were deposited in an asylum far from the survivors to spend an eternity going mad.  Your character just so happens to be one of the few who escaped the asylum.  Legend tells of just such a chosen undead who may be able to return fire to the world, casting the darkness out once and for all.

Everything aside from the above synopsis the player will have to absorb from the lore scattered throughout Dark Souls.  This includes a few NPCs who, given your involvement, will pop up from time to time and drop some clues.  Other hints can also be found in the humble item descriptions for the game’s numerous weaponry and armor.  These are the main ways the player will learn of the various factions that populate the world of the game.  There are no dense walls of text to sift through and bog you down, you must simply learn through osmosis.  After experiencing this method of storytelling I can say I am hooked; it keeps my momentum going, doesn’t affect immersion, and it leaves enough mystery so that I want to know more.

The ruins of New Londo, one city whose story will slowly be revealed to the player

Gameplay – Chaos+5

The game begins at character creation.  The player may choose their character’s gender, appearance, and starting class as well as a gift: a new feature unique to Dark Souls (a gift is an item to give you a slight leg-up out the door).  Pre-set appearances can be selected or the player may dive in further to adjust everything via an array of sliders.  While faces look better than in Demon’s Souls, don’t expect to make America’s next top undead model — the system is just not that robust.  Likewise, don’t expect your jobclass to weight heavily on the game, you’ll have tons of customization at your disposal.

There are a massive number of weapons and spells in the world waiting to be discovered, each with their own advantages and disadvantages.  Some have long reach but are slow and heavy, others are lightning fast but require intimate closeness to your enemy. What you can wield depends on your stats, but it’s best to try as many as you can — with so many armaments you’re sure to find one that agrees with your playstyle.  Speaking for myself, I experimented with loads of weaponry and was pleased to find many with unique move-sets allowing for richer strategies and  deeper customization.

Slain enemies reward the player with souls, which are the game’s currency used to buy items, spells and level up.  An update to this system involves an item called “humanity” which is either added to the players inherent humanity count or kept as a consumable item.  Humanity can be earned via drops or, rarely, by killing enemies.  Having a high humanity score increases your drop rate meaning walking around with humanity bears great rewards. However, if the player dies, in addition to dropping any amassed souls they also drop their humanity.  That means if you die again before you can reach your luminescent soul blob, you not only lose your souls but your (inherent) humanity.  It’s a terrible feeling, but this system really helps when seeking rare drops, a large bone of contention for many who Platinumed Demon’s Souls back in the day.  Souls and humanity become increasingly easy to find as you advance in the game, meaning the sting of losing them becomes less severe over time.

Bask in the warmth of a bonfire

The world is more or less open, with certain sections being unlocked as you play further into the story.  Scattered throughout the world are bonfires which are pivotal to your progression.  By resting at a bonfire, you are setting a checkpoint you will return to if and when you die.  This is also where you can level up and increases your various statistics.  Resting at a bonfire will reward you with a small bit of the bonfire’s essence in a flask which is the main method of healing.  You must budget your healing, or estus, flasks between bonfires, adding another layer of strategy.  You may also burn your humanity at bonfires allowing you to revive to a human form (rather than the wrinkled, discolored undead appearance) or kindle the fire, causing it to yield more estus flasks.  Exploring in human form also allows you to be invaded by other players (and NPCs) or summon others to help you on your quest.  In other words, humanity is the lifeblood of the game’s multiplayer — more on this later.

As with Demon’s Souls, the difficulty comes mostly in keeping a cool head under pressure.  Enemies will overpower or outnumber you.  Bosses will deal crippling damage.  You will be challenged.  If you panic you will most likely be quickly defeated, but with each subsequent attempt you will come closer to achieving the lucidity necessarily to defeat enemies you never thought you could.  And this is an amazing feeling.

Multiplayer – A Dark Phantom Has Invaded Your World

This is one of the game’s most impressive aspects.  Generally the inclusion of online functionality in most story-driven games feels like botched surgery.  Not in Dark Souls.  The creators cleverly use the world’s various factions as vehicles for different modes of multiplayer role play.  With each faction having a different role in the world, players can decide if they would rather assist in co-operation either by summoning players to help them defeat a boss, or requesting to be summoned by those who have yet to defeat a specific boss.  Alternatively they may invade or hunt down those who’ve wronged their faction.  There is quite a lot of depth, and unlike the predictability of the game’s engine, multiplayer experiences are always unique, extending the game’s already healthy shelf life.  This is the ultimate culmination of solid story and a multiplayer experience in one RPG package.

Presentation – A land of grey crags, archtrees, and everlasting dragons

Dark Souls has the most consistent and hauntingly beautiful yet frightening atmosphere of any game I have played in recent memory.  Nothing in the game’s massive world seems out of place, everything feels intentional, and it all contributes towards the overall package delivered to the player.  That package is a clear message that this is an uninviting world with a deep and twisted history.  If you want to survive you must carve a place for yourself.  Thankfully it never lays the medieval lingo on too thick, always maintaining a serious yet  mysterious tone.  The music equally reflects this gravity, especially when it’s time to fight a boss and a Gregorian chorus rises up in thunderous unison to set the mood.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Conclusions

Dark Souls built heavily upon the already impressive package that was Demon’s Souls.  The result, however, is capable of standing alone, boasting a deeper level of challenge and combat, immersive and expansive open world, and always intriguing lore.  All this is accompanied by what I consider to be easily the most engaging multiplayer experiences I’ve had on my Playstation 3.  The rumors of Dark Souls’ difficulty are true, but they pale in comparison to the rewards awaiting patient gamers within.

With all the buzz around Skyrim and Skyward Sword, I must be one of the few still kicking it in the world of Dark Souls.  For once I don’t feel compelled to keep up with the flow of what is current — I want to stick with what I am enjoying.  Yesterday morning I loaded up Dark Souls to grind for some materials while eating breakfast before the daily commute.  To my surprise I was interrupted with a notification that the game’s newest patch, version 1.05, was available.

Many hardcore fans, myself included, have been waiting for this patch for ages due to some much needed updates.  Here they are at a glance:

BALANCE ISSUES

• Stat scaling boosted across the board
• The much despised Ring of Fog no longer prevents locking on
• Pyromany nerfed slightly
• Various armor and shield stats corrected (including the ever popular Gold Hemmed Set)
• The overpowered Crystal Ring Shield’s long range attack has been significantly weakened
• Increased base equipment load

ENEMIES

• Bosses drop Humanity
• Enemy placement altered slightly in some areas
• Some enemies are worth more souls, and some enemies formally worth no souls new reward the player with souls

MULTIPLAYER

• Online player matching has been altered making it much easier to invade/be invaded or summon/be summoned

So what does all this mean?  Well, the game as a whole has been stabilized and is closer to what the developers intended.  The combination of balance in equipment and more robust online play means a more level playing field.  Personally, I began making some preparation for the patch earlier in the week.  Here is what I’ve been up to:

Stepping up my defense

Like many players, I slapped on the Gold-Hemmed Black Armor set and basically forgot about my armor needs.  The set is light as a feahter and has great resistances to some of the game’s punishing status effects.  It also formally had massive defenses — just to give you an idea, these stats were so high they’ve basically been cut in half.

Hearing whispers of this armor’s impending changes I decided to find anther option, one which would be unchanged post patch.  I found an exceptionally simple and informative wiki which had the stats of gear as it appeared in the Japanese version, which was patched some weeks ago.  I began combing it for the most sustainable gear, sets that would be versatile and best of all withstand the test of New Game+ if need be.

My research proved that many of the game’s earliest, most modest sets can be upgraded well beyond the levels of some end-game armor.  Thus I began increasing the pieces which met my satisfaction both for stats and appearance.  While the pieces I selected may not be maxed, they more than make up for the loss of the Gold-Hemmed Black set.

Stepping up my offense

With the possibility of people invading me on the rise, I need to stay sharp.  I am increasing my arsenal in a few different ways.  First, I want more long range options.  Every character who can lift a crossbow should equip one.  They deal consistent damage and there are a variety of ways to enchant your bow.  You can also fire some powerful bolts which are now easier to find after the patch.  I am also experimenting with the different spears in the game, trying to find one which is a perfect blend of long reach and power.  Spears also make good jabbing weapons, capable of creating an opening for a more heavy-hitting weapon.

As for my heavy-hitting weapons, I am looking to the long term.  That means weapons with good stat scaling which will grow with my character.  This is in contrast to weapons enchanted with either lightning of fire in place of stat scaling.  I already have a katana imbued with lightning, and it tears through most enemies like one of God’s nose hairs.  But I know that in time, other weapons will surpass it, and I want to own one of them.  My highest offensive stat is Intelligence, so I’ve combed the wiki I mentioned earlier for armaments which will be most affected by that stat.

Plotting out my final stats

This is a little more challenging as the effects of the updated stat scaling aren’t entirely clear as of the patch.  Still, here is a great stat planner which you can download and use to simulate any character build you can think of.  The general rule of thumb has been that raising just about any stat beyond 40 was a waste, but we will have to wait and see if this is still the case.

Another commonly held belief is that leveling beyond soul level 100 makes it harder to find others to play with online, as pairing is based on your level.  Again, it is possible that this isn’t the case now that the patch has been released, but it does make sense that there are considerably less level 200 characters than level 100 characters.

***

This is what I have been mulling over when it comes to the updated world of Dark Souls.  The changes make the game feel fresh and new and best of all, more fair for everyone.  So to those of you diving into the game over the long weekend, enjoy the updates and stay on your toes.  You never know who may be invading your game to take your heart of gold.

Despite the temptation out there to grow a beard or hit someone with a huge purple dildo, I’ve stayed faithful to one game in the month of November.  She may be a cold, unforgiving game, but something about our relationship is rewarding beyond explanation.  That game is Dark Souls.  Twitter has been my outlet for discussing my favorite items, but I figure putting them all in one place may get them more attention.

I want to start with some facts about weapons, because without the knowledge to wield one you won’t get far in the game.  There are a few different kinds of weapons, each with their own benefits and drawbacks.

1. Unique Rare Weapons: These are items which can only be had once per playthrough.  They may be forged using the soul of a boss or acquired by cutting a tail — either way, you’re only going to get one if any.  Generally speaking, this category of weapons is helpful in the short term as they have high attack values but poor stat scaling (see the vastly overused Drake Sword), meaning your character’s stats don’t get calculated into the damage you deal.  Finally, these weapons almost always have a unique attack or spell that is cast with R2 but causes its condition to degrade dramatically.  More often than not, this is simply a cool effect but not reason enough to wield one of these weapons.
2. Rare Weapons: These are dropped from lesser but still challenging bosses in the game, meaning it’s sometimes possible for more than one to be acquired.  They generally suffer the same affliction as the unique rare category: high attack values but poor scaling.  It is rare that the player can choose their upgrade path as it is most likely set.  However, there are some which do offer the same customization as common weapons (see Richard’s Rapier, Barbed Straight Sword, and a few other examples)
3. Common Weapons: These are basically everywhere: dropped from common enemies and available in chests and shops.  Their raw offense is generally low, and their stat scaling is marginal.  However, with a bit of shine (unlocked as you progress in the story) they become serious competitors with the unique weapons.  This is due to a higher ceiling of customization.  You can slap elements and magic on them, increase their scaling, or just increase their raw attack through upgrades.  If you decide to devote the resources to a certain weapon, be sure first off that you like the moveset.  Next, ensure that ultimately the weapon will have a high stat scale ranking in whatever your highest offensive stat is, be it DEX, STR, INT, or FAITH.  If you don’t want to find out yourself by wasting materials, the Dark Souls wiki is quickly compiling data on all the different upgrades for all the different weapons.

Basically, the unique weapons are good to start out, but once your character becomes more focused, enemies get more challenging, and more customization options are unlocked, common weapons catch up and become relevant fast.  So let me discuss some of my favorite weapons out there — the ones you should be on the lookout for:

Moonlight Great Sword

This weapon is designed with magic knights in mind.  It’s a greatsword, however, it does no physical damage, only magic damage.  This means a portion of most attacks will carry through shields and armor.  While its actual magic damage value is modest at best (even fully upgraded) it has an A rank in intelligence stat scaling.  That means users with especially high intelligence will get an added boost to their damage.  The only challenge is getting the sword as it requires cutting a certain boss’s tail.  Check the above link for details, but beware as spoilers surely lie within!

Avelyn

If a golden statue of Zeus made love to a crossbow, this would be the end result.  It’s a large golden crossbow capable of firing three crossbow bolts in fast succession.  The reload time is a little harsh, but if you have a clear shot it can be devastating.  Note that all crossbows lack stat scaling — their boost comes from the type of bolt you load.  The popular strategy with this weapon is to load lightning bolts (purchased in Anor Lando) and upgrade the bow itself to Lightning+5.  That results in a ton of long-range damage that most enemies aren’t prepared for.

Tin Crystallization Catalyst

This is really more of an end-game weapon, but still worth mentioning.  It’s a wand for magic slingers that dramatically boosts magic damage, but halves the amount of spells that can be cast.  In New Game+ or for PvP this weapon is very deadly.  Not so great for those long dungeon crawls when the warmth of a bonfire is far from sight…

Grant

Arguably the sexiest hammer in Dark Souls.  This baby does modest physical and magic damage and has the divine effect to boot, meaning those pesky skeletons in the catacombs will sit down for good — or what’s left of them anyway.  If that weren’t enough, it has great stat scaling for both STR and DEX.  This is basically the be all end all weapon for FAITH-based knights.  Hell, it’s reason enough to make a FAITH-based knight.

Crystal Ring Shield

Well technically, a shield is not a weapon.  Technically.  But this shield is definitely a weapon.  Instead of a parry animation, the L2 trigger sends out a long range attack that is quite devastating.  It appears that the strength of the projectile is based on that of your right hand weapon, meaning the stronger you are, the stronger the shield is.  Sadly, this shield has been deemed worthy of nerf-itude, and that is precisely what From Software will be doing in the upcoming Dark Souls 1.04/1.05 patch.  Enjoy it while you can!

Claymore

The humble claymore is one of my favorite common to rare weapons.  There is only one in the game, but it beautifully accepts any and all upgrades.  You can end up with a strong fire effect, or high INT scaling if enchanted.  But my favorite feature is the sword’s R2 attack, which is powerful and has a long thrusting reach.

Quelaag’s Furysword

Of all the weapons I’ve mentioned so far, this one is the sexiest (Avelyn comes close though, sorry Zeus).  While it may not be the strongest in terms of raw damage, it has a high fire damage value.  Being a chaos weapon, it also scales with the users humanity, meaning you can buff higher than its base stats.  Being one of the first fire weapons available, and having healthy DEX stat scaling make this the weapon of choice for many players.

These are just a few key weapons to watch for.  I absolutely encourage everyone to experiment with the different upgrades and move-sets for as many weapons as you can.  Once you find the perfect combination to suit your character’s stats and your own playstyle, you’ll be kicking hollows and taking souls.

Don’t worry, there won’t be any spoilers in this post.  In fact, spoilers are the topic of this post.  I did a great job controlling my intake of Dark Souls info right up to the game’s release.  I wanted to savor it — there are few games which I give this hands-off treatment to, but this was one of them.  But the game was released… and the levies broke.  Scratch that, they exploded.

You see, my friends (online and IRL) seem to have considerably more free time than I do lately.  They either don’t work the full 9 to 5, are continuing their education, or just have less responsibilities in general.  I am not complaining.  When you have less time it makes you focus more on what is actually important — you would be surprised how often video games falls to the bottom of that list.

So back to my friends.  In their wealth of free time they understandably got further in the game than I have.  In a game like Dark Souls, the story isn’t a big feature so it’s hard to spoil much in that regard.  However, the gameplay is everything.  And I’ve found gameplay can be easily be spoiled.

“Hey, check out where you can get this awesome sword.”

“There is a great grinding spot if you ________.”

“Watch out for this hidden enemy when you get here.”

This might not seem like anything game breaking but, in a game where the difficulty directly influences my enjoyment, this knowledge can be powerful.

And I am guilty of this as well.  Wikis are dangerous because they are available to you when a game may not be.  When the desire to play a game becomes its strongest at work, the closest I can come is studying a wikia on my lunch break.  I peek further than I should, I read about what’s just ahead, and when I return home to play, yet another surprise becomes nothing more than a scripted event.

To make matters worse, the burden of information on my shoulders has caused me to recreate my character at least a half-dozen times now.  I can’t settle on a play style and every time I learn something new I feel compelled to start from scratch.  Well, I’ve had it.  I am starting over and doing my best to abandon any information I didn’t earn.  That means avoiding all those great weapons fairly easy to acquire early on.  I’m on the straight and narrow from here on out — my only guidance will be my own wits and the vague messages scrawled by those who preceded me.

To those about to begin their journey in the world of Dark Souls, do yourself a favor and avoid learning anything.  Try to channel that aimless wanderer on your screen and explore for youself — you’ll find you have a much more rewarding experience.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Dark Souls has already been released in Japan and in a short time will be making its way to the West.  Between the acclaim the game’s predecessor (Demon’s Souls) received and the fact that Dark Souls is multiplatform, I expect quite a few beginners will be picking up Dark Souls this week.  For that reason I thought it would be helpful to write a starter guide on the character creation process.  So here goes:

As soon as you begin the game you will have five aspects of your character to settle on:

1. Gender

This is not as important a decision as it was in the previous work.  In Demon’s Souls there were gender specific armors which were entirely useless to the opposite gender.  An interesting mechanic, but it has been done away with.  Now all armors can be worn by all genders.  Got a dress with awesome bleed resistance but you’re a guy?  A little cross dressing never hurt anyone — you can equip it!

2. Name

This is your name.  It is not that important at all.  My recommendation for your character’s name is Grismax Barflaveon.

Grismax Barflaveon readies his Sword of Attacking +1

3. Class

This decision is important for a number of reasons. I’ll break it down for you:

Starting Gear

Each job starts with different items, equipment, and weapons.  Before you let that freak you out, know that this advantage is one that will quickly fade away.  There will be plenty of opportunities to buy and find better gear; no job starts with items you cannot find normally (with one small exception).  However for the early stages of the game, this decision can be pivotal to starting strong.

If you want a complete list of what job has what features, I will direct your attention to a Dark Souls wiki.  If you want a list of what gear among the starting classes actually matters and why, keep reading.

• The Thief job comes with the master key (more on this later)
• The Pyromancer comes with the fireball spell (a fire elemental, mid-range magic attack) as well as a Pyromancy Hand for using the spell
• The Sorcerer comes with the Soul Arrow spell (a non-elemental long-range magic attack) as well as a sorcerer’s catalyst for using the spell
• The Cleric comes with the heal spell and a talisman required to cast recovery magic
• The Hunter is the only class equipped with a bow, the only long range option aside from magic (as well as 30 arrows)

These are, at a glance, the most important starting gear aspects to consider.  Again, know that all starting armor, weapons, and spells can be found in the game.

Starting Stats

Stats, in addition to gear, will decide the most effective way that your character defends themselves.  For a complete breakdown of stats check out this wiki.  Below is a list of which jobs hold the highest of which stat:

Vitality [determines HP]

• Highest: Bandit
• Lowest: Sorcerer

Attunement [determines number of spell slots]

• Highest: Sorcerer
• Lowest: Soldier & Bandit

Endurance [determines stamina, carry weight, and bleed resistance]

• Highest: Bandit
• Lowest: Sorcerer

Strength [determines attack power for certain weapons]

• Highest: Bandit
• Lowest: Thief & Sorcerer

Dexterity [determines attack power for certain weapons]

• Highest: Theif
• Lowest: Cleric

Resistance [determines defense and poison defense]

• Highest: Wanderer & Pyromancer
• Lowest: Sorcerer

Intelligence [determines the power of spells and curse resistance]

• Highest: Sorcerer
• Lowest: Bandit & Cleric

Faith [determines miracle power and magic defense]

• Highest: Cleric
• Lowest: Wanderer, Sorcerer, Pyromancer

Starting Soul Level

Here is where things get a little tricky.  So what does soul level do?  Well, in Demon’s Souls it affected who you could invade, as players could only invade those close to their own soul level.  A friend of mine got enormous gratification from having a character with a very low soul level who could easily kill most newbies with high-level spells like Fire Storm.  Conversely, my high level character has a hard time finding players to invade these days.  This is of course something to consider, however most of the multiplayer elements of Dark Souls are still a mystery.

Total Stats

What follows is for only the most hardcore of the hardcore souls.  Each class has a combination of a starting soul level and a total number of stats.  Each time a character increases a statistic, their soul level increases by one as well.  By examining soul level and total stats, we can see which job classes actually have the most bang for the buck.  For instance the Deprived class has the highest soul level starting out at 6, and very well-balanced stats with 11 across the board.  That means at level 6 a Deprived class has a total of 88 stats points.  At the other end of the spectrum we have the Pyromancer with the absolute lowest possible soul level of 1.  The stat points total for the Pyromancer is 84.  That would make a difference of 4 skill points despite a 5 point difference in soul level.  Starting to see what I mean?

Certain classes start out with more total stat points than others, meaning at the same level certain jobs are inherently stronger than others.  The difference is small (the biggest stat variance is 4 points) but this fact should still be considered when making your decision.  What follows are the important stat distinctions between jobs:

• Most stat points for level overall [84 total points at level 1]: Pyromancer, Wanderer
• Least stat points for level overall [80 total points at level 1]: Magician
• Honorable mention for high stat points [83 total points at level 1]: Soldier, Bandit, Hunter, Cleric, Deprived
• Dishonorable mention for low stat points [82 total points at level 1]: Knight, Thief

So if you are a complete slave to perfection, then you’ll want to start as either a Pyromancer or Wanderer.  After all your stats, unlike your amor, are the only permanent in Dark Souls — gear will come and go, but stats are forever.

4. Gift

One final important decision relates to the option to receive a gift.  The player may choose from one of 8 different items including equips and consumables.  You may also choose to receive nothing, but frankly in a game as difficult as this you should take EVERYTHING.  Of the list of 8, 7 items may be found throughout the game normally.  There is one item which cannot be found exploring the game’s world: the master key.  You may recall this being the unique item the Thief class starts with.  That is the ONLY other way aside from gifts to acquire an all purpose key.

As of version 1.05, the master key can be purchased from Domhnall of Zena with any character

What the all purpose key does, is allow you to open doors with basic locks.  At this time, there is not a complete list of all the doors this key can be used to open, but many Japanese players are recommending it as the obvious selection for a gift.  I will be taking their advice, but this is up to you.  You can find a complete list of gifts here.  Hopefully more information will come out about the effects of these items soon.

5. Appearance

What your character looks like, it has no bearing on the game in any way, but may effect what other “real” people say about your character.

“You could land a jet on that forehead.”

“TAKE OFF YOUR TOP.”

And other familiar exclamations may be hurled at your character based on their appearance.  Use your best judgement to create either a beautiful chiseled god or a disfigured walrus of a person.

Conclusions

To simply beat Dark Souls, most of this information can be ignored.  As long as you make a genuine effort to understand the game’s mechanics and keep a cool head, you should do fine.  The deep number mumbo jumbo should be nothing more than a side dish for that.  So relax and enjoy what will surely be a difficult yet rewarding experience!

6. Making a build (NEW: Added 12/27/11)

How you raise your character is up to you, but there are some key details about your statistics you should understand:

• Many players agree that Resistance is the most useless stat to raise as it only raises defenses.  Leveling up any other stat will raise your defenses half as much, but also increase other more important attributes of your character like offenses.  This only works up to a certain point (around level 90 or so), at which point the character’s defenses will only increase by increasing your Resistance stat.  Even then it’s not worth the amount of souls you would need to level up.
• 40 is the sweet spot for the main stats you plan on raising. This goes for Endurance as 40 is the point at which your character will no longer get more stamina as well as HP when the return for HP begins to diminish.  The same is true of offensive stats (Faith, Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence) — anything past 40 is going to increase the damage of most weapons by a mere point or so.  Only raise stats past 40 if you need to equip a certain weapon, armor, or spell.  Also, it’s best to focus on one or two offensive stats to prevent your character from being all over the place.
• Pick your favorite weapon and create your build around it. This may require a couple of playthroughs with different character builds.  The weapon you’re meant to master is out there, you just need to find it.
• Don’t over level.  In Dark Souls there are a number of different ways to spend your souls that can strengthen your character, and leveling up is only one of them.  You can increase the level of your weapons or armor, you can strengthen your Pyromancy Hand, you can buy more consumable items.  The reason I say this is because leveling up too high may make it difficult to find other players to co-op with if you’re stuck at a certain boss.

The collective minds behind the .hack// franchise have revealed yet another project sure to extract more of my hard-earned money.  This time, it’s a straight to blu-ray CG film entitled .hack//TheMovie.  The film is a reboot of the events of the first games.  As you would expect with a reboot, some creative liberties have been taken which have caused some small amount of unrest in the Japanese fan-base.

Let’s start with the game’s characters:

• (Left) Yuuki Sora: 14 year old 2nd-year middle schooler. She never had an interest in games until the The World became popular and she was invited to play. She plays as Kite online.
• (Middle) Tanaka Kakeru: A fellow school mate of Sora’s, Kakeru is an easy-going guy whose mood can be unreadable at times. He is a huge gamer and was in The World before it became popular. He plays as Gondoo (the dude who looks like Orca) online.
• (Right) Okanko Tomohiko: A popular guy in Sora’s class. He is an optimist that loves playing with others rather than by himself. He plays as Baldor (the dude who looks like Balmung) online.

That’s right, Kite’s IRL player is a girl — start rolling police cars in the streets!  But seriously, this doesn’t bother me in the least.  Kite always was a bit feminine, and his IRL character was never very developed so this doesn’t shake things up as much as some are claiming.

The story is quite similar:  It’s the year 2024 — an era where everything and everyone is networked together by state of the art technology.  Sora is invited to play The World, a massively popular MMO.  Not long after playing a bizarre incident occurs, and soon its effects begin to trickle into reality:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The film is being released on a hybrid blu-ray disc, meaning there will also be special PS3 content.  Namco Bandai president Shin Unozawa confirmed that the hybrid would include a “small game”.  The way I see it, this can go two possible ways:

1. The game is something lame and cute revolving around gruntys or that yellow floating blob.
2. The game is an HD remake of .hack//infection, and further films are planned, each include the remaining episodes in the series

Obviously, this is pure speculation but I wouldn’t put it past CyberConnect2.  Their decision to mirror the marketing strategy of Tekken Blood Vengence is exciting as it’s something I was hoping more companies would emulate.  Ultimately the mystery content will be an important factor in determining if fans (myself included) will be willing to log in to the world once more.

UPDATE: In a recent article concerning .hack//TheMovie a correction was made stating that the film will NOT be on a hybrid blu-ray and thus not paired with a game.  That information was confused with Tekken Blood Vengeance.  Too bad!

[Sources: Yaraon!, My Game News Flash]