Dark Souls

[Pete for President]

I have a question. I know there are levels to Poise, at which point certain types of weapons will no longer be able to stagger you as easily. Is this the case for shield stability? If so, at which level will a shield be able to hold against a heavy weapon?

Shield stability and poise are two different stats and are not related in terms of blocking. I'm not too sure whether there is an actual breakpoint besides running out of stamina.

For a shield to withstand a heavy weapon you want to upgrade it to 60+ stability at least. The super-light Heater Shield has 68 stability when upgraded to +14 and works pretty well for me in PvP, usually withstanding two heavy hits. The commonly used Grass Crest Shield (63 stability at +14) usually only withstands one hit.

If you want to effectively block heavy PvE enemies/bosses you're probably looking for 70-80 stability. Black Knight shields work great if you have at least 16 strength to wield it and upgrade it to +5 (73 stability). As for greatshields, they can be really useful in some bossfights (blocking multiple swipes of Seath's tail for example). I like the Greatshield of Artorias for strength builds, it's not too heavy and has a whopping 88 stability. Although you do need 34 strength to wield it...

[Quindiana Jones]

Ah right, so there's not actual a specific breakpoint for each type of weapon? That's cool. I'm looking at Black or Silver Knight Shield, since they have pretty nice Stability whilst still being able to parry. Of course, I still haven't got my Xbox back yet, so at the moment I'm just building dreams. xD

[TrollHunter]

Ah right, so there's not actual a specific breakpoint for each type of weapon? That's cool. I'm looking at Black or Silver Knight Shield, since they have pretty nice Stability whilst still being able to parry. Of course, I still haven't got my Xbox back yet, so at the moment I'm just building dreams. xD

Don't rely on blocking too much in pvp, a lot of people use weapons that inflict bleeding, or weapons that tear through stability.
I'd recommend the heater shield for pvp, it's the lightest shield with 100% block (I think it's like 2.1 lbs, it's been months since I've played this game, but I know it's light as hell...) and it has usable stability for pvp if you use it sparingly. (Also, it can obviously parry as well).

If you have enough wiggle room to use the silver/block knight shield, go with those, but if you need to better meet a weight requirement, go heater.

[Quindiana Jones]

Nah, I've managed to get a guy with 56 poise and 76 stability whilst remaining under 25%. I'm pretty happy about it, and I really want to try it out.

EDIT: Have no idea why I started that with "nah". The Heater shield is indeed a great little shield and yours was sound advice. xD

[Pete for President]

Starting a new build, was thinking of giving some uncommon Miracles some love as well as pump decent strength and dexterity to be able to use most weapons. Will probably be a SunBro or troll eventually;

Dark Souls Character Planner

[Pete for President]

I have a dilemma. So I started a new build with the aim of leveling Faith/Quality (a.k.a. semi-Strength semi-Dex). But then I read the Arena in the upcoming DLC has level matching systems going from 0-50, 51-100, 100-200 and 201+. So here's the thing, a Faith/Quality build has really spread out stats. With only level 100 to aim at I need to lose 20 levels compared to the build I planned in my previous post (120-125 being the current commonly used PvP level).

This got me thinking, and this is what I'm not sure about:
With a lower level cap than the usual 120, are quality builds indirectly being nerfed? I fear the lower level cap might also lead to a rise in elemental weapon users, something I resist from using as a main weapon, as I believe it's just not cool.

And then there's another issue I thought of. Will existing characters even be usable for the DLC, or do we need to start new characters to 'trigger' the extra content?

I'm... confused. Please help me clarify.

[Jowy]

from what i've read all of the DLC is triggered by an event that'll be patched in. you shouldn't have to worry about rerolling to hang out in oolacile.

[Quindiana Jones]

In that vein, Pete, I've seen a lot of threads on the topic of character creation that use 99 as the target level, so everything needs to be done by then. It was pretty interesting seeing what they came up with.

My Int build, with the direction I intend to take it, is level 113 at its completion, so I'm gonna have to knock of 13/14 points from Vitality if I want to compete in that bracket, which'll make it considerably harder for me.

Having said that, I read in a few previews that the Arena system what a total clustersmurf and that it just doesn't work well enough to make it practical.

[Pete for President]

Thank you both for clarifying. I tweaked the build for level 99: Dark Souls Character Planner

Because I never had a decent Faith build there are a lot of Miracles I never tried out. Some of them (Vow of Silence, Great Magic Barrier, Karmic Justice) seem perfect for an underdog, uncommon build. The low Vitality can be turned to an advantage with the Red Tearstone Ring and Karmic Justice combo. As for weapons, I'm thinking Claymore or two-handing the Greatsword. I think it'll be a really fun, versatile and uncommon build.

[Quindiana Jones]

That looks pretty darn nifty. Love that you managed to cap it right on the 25% weight limit xD.

[Pete for President]

Thanks : ) The rapier as a secondary weapon is obviously optional as swapping weapons removes weapon buffs. I'm curious to see how the Red Tearstone Ring will work in PvP. Also, I might give the Zweihander a shot as I'll have enough strength to one-hand it and it's two points lighter than the Greatsword - my usual Light-Ultra-Greatsword of choice. It's definitely not my style to roll with a commonly used weapon, but I haven't seen too many Zwei's around lately and there's just something goofy about a half naked warrior swinging his humongous weapon into enemies' faces.

[TrollHunter]

So, I got to hang out with my brother over the weekend, and I got to show his friends Dark Souls. I decided to hop in on some PvP because they were interested.... and over 5 matches, I didn't lose a single one.
I've still got it baby.
Also, I got one of my friends addicted to Dark Souls... yes... YES

[Pete for President]

Soooo..... the DLC is coming.... this week! Getting it a.s.a.p, who else?

[Quindiana Jones]

I bloody wish. I probably won't be able to play Dark Souls again until I get a new laptop.

[Madonna]

I am looking forward to it.