Message #343955

[Trijhak]

74157

git gud

But more seriously...

I used to have that exact same sentiment, you know, especially towards the beginning. I died a lot and only made incremental progress in Undead Burg/Parish and Darkroot Garden. Be patient, find a weapon that works for you, and do not be afraid to back off if overwhelmed. Try to stay under 50% equip load or you will roll very slowly and it won't be very useful, which is bad because rolling is the second best way of avoiding damage. The lower your equip load, the faster your roll and the more effective it is (<25% best roll, 25%-50% second best roll and perfectly usable, 50% + nearly useless roll). Parrying is the best way of avoiding damage if possible because of ripostes but I'm not very good at parrying and it carries heavy risk if you don't parry.

Many enemies can be lured to be alone, making them much more manageable. The big enemies at the start of Blighttown can be easily lured to fall off the edges one by one if you aggro them and go back up the last ladder you came down. Once you get to the Blacksmith, he sells an infinite supply of normal titanite shards, so get your weapon to +5. That makes a big difference and makes the game much more manageable in the early parts.

Don't be afraid to engage in co-operation by summoning, nobody likes being stuck at the same place for hours on end, like I did for a very infamous battle. After the second boss of the game, you'll get the item that lets you be summoned by other people.

As for stats, focus on a few, not a lot. Vitality (health) and Endurance (stamina and max equip load) are universally useful. Strength or Dexterity will determine what weapons you can use and how well you use them. Some weapons use strength, some use dexterity. So focus on the first two and one of the latter two stats I mentioned, I'm not including resistance because it's totally useless and ultimately makes very little difference, and I don't know enough about Intelligence or Faith, since they relate to magic like Sorceries and Miracles respectively and I didn't use them. Attunement is an interesting stat, it determines how much attunement slots for magic you can get.  At 10 you get 1 slot, at 12 you get 2, at 14 you get 3, and so on with diminishing returns over time. Most stats have a 'soft' cap of 40.

Pyromancy is a unique magic that doesn't require Intelligence or Faith so as far as I see it, there's no reason not to use it and some pyromancies.

For me, I was having quite a bit of trouble until the Depths, which I powered through. And also the infamous Blighttown. My weapon of choice was initially a Longsword but I later changed to a Claymore. The right weapon can make all the difference you need - more damage, things die faster. Go up the cliff when you reach Firelink Shrine, not into the graveyard or down the elevator, it's all spooky and scary in both those places and you're technically not 'meant' to be in either of them yet.

Once you get to used to the controls, they feel very good and are really quite responsive. Maybe, when you get used to everything, you might even start amazing yourself and wondering how you managed to do that. Because it can happen.

There's a few things you're not going to figure out, though, because they're so bizarrely obscure that it's a wonder anyone found them in the first place. Like the DLC! It can be very easily missed. Relatively early on in the game, you'll probably come across an area called 'Darkroot Basin'. At the very bottom of this basin, kill the Hydra. You'll know it when you see it, kind of hard to miss, also there's a very hard-to-see pit surrounding the hydra so don't get too close or you'll die. Once you've defeated it, leave and come back to the area. At the far end of the lake the Hydra was in should be a crystal-looking dude. Kill this and a NPC will appear and talk to them. Assuming you have not killed an enemy in an area that comes much later yet, that enemy will now drop an item that lets you access the DLC content. Go back to where the crystal-looking dude was and you'll be taken to the DLC.

And some general tips to round off:

* Loot out in the open is probably a trap. Observe the area. Especially above if you can't see anything around.
* Run to the left, up the stairs, and kill the dogs during that boss. You'll know it when you see it. It's what worked for me.
* Trees are very good at curing poison.
* Attack only when you're sure it's an enemy and not an NPC.
* You can switch between one-handing and two-handing weapons surprisingly quick. If you have a shield, take advantage of this. Block an enemy's attack and then two hand attack for slightly more damage.
* Don't have your shield up all the time, it'll slow your stamina regen down. Stamina is very important, it's what lets you roll, attack, block...
* People have done level 1 runs of this game so don't sweat it.