My favourite game of the last 5 years. The last thread on DS died pretty quick, but I'm glad to see there's another one.

Some tips/advice for beginners:

  • Don't be too scared to lose your souls. You will die and you will be surprised by things. Remember: you can always retrieve your souls if you can get back to where you were when you died. But even if you fail at retrieval and lose the souls forever, don't fret. By the end of the game, those 5000 souls you were so careful not to lose will be chump change.
  • You can do most things without taking damage. DS is not about tanking damage or attrition (although you can play that way too). Being observant, patient, and careful will almost always net you a victory.
  • Pure stats won't win it for you. If the base damage of Sword 1 is higher than Sword 2, don't just toss Sword 2 away. Consider attack speed and attack range. Also, make sure you test out the variety of moves for each weapon. Each one comes with R1, R2, L3+R1, L3+R2, running + R1, and running + R2 attacks for both single- and double-handed wielding. That's 12 possible attacks for every one of the hundreds of weapons in the game. Bottom line: try stuff out, see what works. Not all of it is useful always, but sometimes just 1 out of those 12 possible attacks clicks so well with you that it can carry you through whole portions of the game.
  • Also, be mindful of stat modifiers for each weapon. If you have a high Dexterity character, you will deal more damage with a B-scaling scythe than the Drake Sword. Stats scale from E (lowest) to S (highest). The higher your stat for a scaling weapon, the more damage you will do every time you level up that stat.
  • Parrying is difficult at first, but try it out on low-level enemies to get the timing down. But remember: only humanoid enemies can be parried.
  • Backstabs are great for a quick kill (plus more XP). Remember to be directly behind your enemy and have your shield down before pressing R1. Backstabs won't always initiate for you at first, but once you get a feel for the "sweet spot" it'll become muscle memory. Again, only humanoid enemies can be backstabbed.
  • For the easiest time through the game, my suggestion is that you pick a major attack stat (Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, or Faith) and go with it almost exclusively. Wielding some weapons requires certain values in one or more of the stats, but don't go out of your way to level up Faith on your Strength character just because Astora's Straight Sword seems cool. There are hundreds of weapons in the game. There is always one you can find for yourself.
  • In my experience, the most important non-attack stat is Stamina. Upgrade this often when you can. Stamina controls both how much you can carry before being encumbered, and how much stamina cost it takes to attack and block. At 50%+ of your carry weight, you can no longer roll effectively. So the more carry weight you have, the heavier the armor you can mix and match before becoming completely flat-footed (although, again, having a slow-dodging, high-poise tank is great for some people).
  • The Master Key. This item is the most useful for those who are already familiar with the game world and want to sequence break to find certain items out of order (which is a viable way to play and clearly designed into the game). However, it can also save your butt as a first-timer. All locks require a certain key to open, but most of them are unlockable using the Master Key. You never know when you'll find a much-needed bonfire behind a locked door whose key is hidden somewhere else in the level.

    Yeah, you can get yourself into some hairy situations by accidentally walking into high-level areas early, but you'll also get a chance to see how the world connects. The great part about DS's world design is how connected it is and how many short cuts a player can find. Case in point: the Undead Burg level -more or less, the first place you're pointed to go- is completely optional if you know the game's layout. 90% of Blighttown -the place everyone hates- is also bypass-able.