Question on Human form and humanity

Hi,

I just can't understand the game mechanics with regards to Hollow/Human form.... I spend 95% of the time in Hollow form because gathering Humanity is rather difficult and as soon as you do it and convert you human, you inevitably die. The whole concept of the game is to die constantly.

However they say that being in human form is beneficial for weapon damages and drop percentage but it is just impossible to maintain this form...

what percantge of time do you guys spend being human vs hollow form ?

Thanks

Being human has reward/risk. You can summon help, but you can be invaded (if you boss for the area is alive).

When you reach the Depths, you can farm humanity from the rats. After you place the Lord Vessel on Fireshine Altar, you can go the the area before Nito and farm baby skeletons for humanity. If you have the DLC, you can go to the Abyss Chasm and farm the sprites (ghosts) for humanity.

If you are afraid of maintaining human form because you do not want to be invaded, put a homebone in your hot slot. It will darken and give you plenty of time to quit your game.

Being able to farm humanity as an item is what makes the game mechanic work (and they're much easier to farm than the Stones of E.E. were in DeS for example).

Even before the Depths you can farm the three rats under the bridge near the Sunlight Altar. If you do it after you kill the Gargoyles you're safe from invasions too. Actually use the first few humanity you collect to increase the drop rate. It's tedious but farming always is.

Also the Way of White convenant pretty much keeps you safe from invasions in my experience. If you summon you will quickly become a target however.

Also if you stay at a low SL you don't really get invaded once you're past the Burg. The game's difficulty is far more dependent on your weapons and armour than your stats in my opinion so staying at a low level doesn't actually make the game much harder at all.

@Tharzul- Putting it simply the game becomes much, much more enjoyable when you play it humanity intact, as you never know when you're going to be invaded, and it opens up the jolly world of co-op if you're that way inclined.

I stayed hollow for the whole of my first playthrough.. You dont have to go human, it just means you have to face all the bosses solo. All my toons now are always human, and carry n excess of 50 humanities.

As soon as you get the red stone/orb you dont need to worry about finding humanties.. Just beating hosts..

Thanks guys for the input, I take it I need to farm for Humanity in order to build a stock and use it.

I never really witnessed any invasion yet although at a certain point I was able to summon another player to help me defeat the gargoyle boss, I guess I must have been in human form by then (I am new to the game and I didnt know the benefits/advantages of being human/hollow)

I just recetnly defeated the dragonfly boss (moonlight something) and the smith told me that he will make a magical weapon for me... I am wandered arounf and came back but he still isnt giving me the said weapon... I dont know what to do now... all routes are already explored... and the big gate is still closed.

No what the Blacksmith meant was that if you give him the Divine ember he will fashion a divine weapon for you, but you will need to provide him with the weapon (which needs to be upgraded with titanite to a +5) in order for him to do this. You'll know when you've used enough titanite as the modify weapon option in the Blacksmiths menu will allow you to ascend the weapon to a Divine +1. But remember you will need Green shards, White Chunks, and a White Slab, to continue along the divine upgrade path. Check out the upgrades section of this wiki to find out more... G

In the beginning when you are still getting used to the game it is hard to hold onto much humanity or souls. I remember feeling constantly desperate my first playthrough.Try to stay hollow until you are ready to go against the areas boss, and then reverse hollowing so that you can look for summon signs for help, if you want.

Also, don't sweat it if it seems like you just cant save up any humanity or souls, by the time you get about half way through the game you will be getting the hang of things and have more control over your death addiction.

Dying in this game kinda grows on you... you start anticipating and asking for it and if it doesnt happen for a while you feel weird and dirty...

1st toon is still humanity starved. Likes to stay human. Rest of my toons have loads of soft humanity due to co-oping. One has a bunch a consumable humanities, I think due to killing all the level creatures over and over. ( u get a humanity for every 10 killed or some such).

I stay human 99%. Of the time especially my girl toons ( they look terrible hollow) and I hate to show up to co-op hollow. But you may find yourself doing it just to earn a humanity so you can summon help for the boss fight.

Tharzul wrote:Hi,

I just can't understand the game mechanics with regards to Hollow/Human form.... I spend 95% of the time in Hollow form because gathering Humanity is rather difficult and as soon as you do it and convert you human, you inevitably die. The whole concept of the game is to die constantly.

However they say that being in human form is beneficial for weapon damages and drop percentage but it is just impossible to maintain this form...

what percantge of time do you guys spend being human vs hollow form ?

Thanks

Being human does nothing for weapon Dmg or drop percentage.

You only need to have the humanity in the counter but dont need to be human to have it increase drops.

^^^^^ Like he said.. ^^^^
Having at least 10 soft humanity in your upper left counter has a beneficial effect of some sort. ( that's really the only thing I hate losing, when I can't get back to retrieve them)

Odinbear wrote:I stay human 99%. Of the time especially my girl toons ( they look terrible hollow) and I hate to show up to co-op hollow. But you may find yourself doing it just to earn a humanity so you can summon help for the boss fight.

You turn human temporarily when summoned as a hollow.

DMC wrote:Being able to farm humanity as an item is what makes the game mechanic work (and they're much easier to farm than the Stones of E.E. were in DeS for example).

demon's souls system for humanity was still allot better than dark souls imo. you didn't need to farm ephemeral eyes at all, just co-op and beat the boss for your host, bam, human. being hollow with only half your life sucked, so being human was preferable for the most part. i found that this system actively encourages co-op and invasions.

in dark souls, it doesn't really matter at all if you are are hollow or human, so most roll in hollowed form. which makes finding co-op and invasions more difficult, unless the host is actually seeking co-op or pvp. there's also bonfires and having to be human to kindle them, but there are so many of them that the base five estus is enough to get by easily enough, so there is no real need for that either.

back to the op, if you stay hollow and leave the area boss alive while you're farming, your humanity counter on the top left will increase faster. you get random humanity from killing enemies in an area where the boss is still alive. also drop your summon sign every chance you get, you get one point of humanity for each boss you help beat and you can follow the host through the level to learn a few tricks along the way. before long you will be replete with humanity.

also having humanity in your counter doesn't just improve the drop rate, it also gives a boost to your defenses as well as your resistances, depending on how much you have. it's almost as good as wearing a second set of armour.

Rarayn wrote:

Odinbear wrote:I stay human 99%. Of the time especially my girl toons ( they look terrible hollow) and I hate to show up to co-op hollow. But you may find yourself doing it just to earn a humanity so you can summon help for the boss fight.

You turn human temporarily when summoned as a hollow.

Hmmm, I did not know this ( never noticed ). . Interesting. I always put a helmet on if hollow and being summoned.

quote="Nybbles"]

DMC wrote:Being able to farm humanity as an item is what makes the game mechanic work (and they're much easier to farm than the Stones of E.E. were in DeS for example).

'demon's souls system for humanity was still allot better than dark souls imo. you didn't need to farm ephemeral eyes at all, just co-op and beat the boss for your host, bam, human. being hollow with only half your life sucked, so being human was preferable for the most part. i found that this system actively encourages co-op and invasions.'


True, at the height of online activity you could just co-op to get human. But you certainly can't rely on being summoned now and that's been the case for quite some time. And if you want to do the PBWT events you really need those eyes. But I agree about the system encouraging more online interaction. One ring slot and and down 30% on your health really sucked lol

Odinbear wrote: ( u get a humanity for every 10 killed or some such).

Is that the ratio? It seems to be a bit higher for me; I had to go through 3 bonfire sittings and killing everything in the burg to earn 1 humanity last night. Does anyone know if it is a set ratio, or random?

anath wrote:

Odinbear wrote: ( u get a humanity for every 10 killed or some such).

Is that the ratio? It seems to be a bit higher for me; I had to go through 3 bonfire sittings and killing everything in the burg to earn 1 humanity last night. Does anyone know if it is a set ratio, or random?

From what I've read it is different depending on the area you are in. The 1st humanity takes the most kills, then the others are less. You must also be killing the same type of mob too.

joemann wrote:

anath wrote:

Odinbear wrote: ( u get a humanity for every 10 killed or some such).

Is that the ratio? It seems to be a bit higher for me; I had to go through 3 bonfire sittings and killing everything in the burg to earn 1 humanity last night. Does anyone know if it is a set ratio, or random?

From what I've read it is different depending on the area you are in. The 1st humanity takes the most kills, then the others are less. You must also be killing the same type of mob too.

It's the other way around. You have to kill X of a certain type of humanoid enemy in an area, and the total amount required to gain a humanity increases slightly for every humanity you get.

From what I've read it is different depending on the area you are in. The 1st humanity takes the most kills, then the others are less. You must also be killing the same type of mob too.[/quote]
It's the other way around. You have to kill X of a certain type of humanoid enemy in an area, and the total amount required to gain a humanity increases slightly for every humanity you get.[/quote]

Well crap, don't I feel stupid right now. HAHA! Thanks for setting me straight.

[quote="Nybbles"]

DMC wrote:
in dark souls, it doesn't really matter at all if you are are hollow or human, so most roll in hollowed form. which makes finding co-op and invasions more difficult, unless the host is actually seeking co-op or pvp.

I agree completely. For anyone who didn't play Demon's Souls, just imagine that when you're hollow, it's like being cursed - only half your HP (unless you wear a special ring that makes it 3/4 health, but of course, you lose a ring spot). If that was the case in DkS, we'd see more and more people looking for coop to gain back humanity.