For the Glory of Alvina

How great would it be for a farmer to get the exact same message from multiple hunters. Total mind games. Puns just make it better

May I suggest starting a "Forest of the Damned covenant event" thread to boost visibility of what seems to be burgeoning interest? It will attract more people to the cause, and free up this thread to focus on forest tactics. I will gladly sticky the covenant thread. I am thinking I would like to jump in on this!

Emergence wrote:May I suggest starting a "Forest of the Damned covenant event" thread to boost visibility of what seems to be burgeoning interest? It will attract more people to the cause, and free up this thread to focus on forest tactics. I will gladly sticky the covenant thread. I am thinking I would like to jump in on this!

Hell yes! I'll create a thread tomorrow unless one of my fellow forest hunters has time before then. A sticky would be awesome. Thanks, Emergence.

Glad to help, I think we have just scratched the surface with all these covenant events. It has been pretty neat to watch the covenants develop organically.

As soon as that spot gets posted I'll join in how I can, I will admit the changing topics in here has caused me to often forget about the event haha.

Alright back to some tactics, I'm going to be talking about items set up.

My common items set up is Black Crystal, Lloyd's Talisman, and Prism Stones. I'll also be pointing out other useful set ups and items which I just don't carry for the purpose of quick switching.

Lloyd's is an obvious choice, the denial of Estus. This thing has helped me out so much in killing hosts who are just oblivious. They run away to flask and heal their phantoms which you kill as they sit their turning over the tonic with a dumb look on their face. As well I use it as a means of harassment at times, forcing the host to move where I want them to, people who do understand the effect will often avoid it like the plague. They should, but it just makes things all the easier for this purpose. You can easily separate enemies using this tactic and give yourself a 1v1 for a short time rather than a 2v1, or a 2v1 instead of a 3v1. This doesn't sound like much time, but just a few seconds alone with a summon is all it takes to kill them if you are using certain weapons and attacks, like dead angling while two handing a Murakumo. With this I must say never lock on with the Talisman in hand. Always look directly at them then remove lock on and swing in a direction to throw it. The higher you aim the further it goes, and do your best to avoid trees. As well if you know a host is behind a wall toss it right at the wall not the opening. They won't see it hit but still be given the effect. Often this will be a, "Left or Right?" type choice, but you can usually notice the host favouring a direction.

Prism Stones, this is not one I recommend given its low use. This can be useful as a taunt, but more so I use them to indicate spacing. If I spawn in certain areas I use it to mark spots and help keep myself going in the right direction in the forest. As well it can be used to mark jumps or mark false jumps to kill your target. Again this one is very rarely useful, but still can make or break a fight.

Black Crystal, this should be obvious. I like to carry this not only to avoid a definite death, but also so I can leave alone people who are just there to kill Sif or are new and don't even understand what being human does. As well with these people sometimes I like to just jump off and give them souls, just because we are hunters doesn't mean we can't help others out. Remember, if you feel you are going to lose a fight you are in a loser's mind set. You may want to crystal out, because the mind is very important in combat.

Grass, for those who do not use a Grass Shield or Mask of the child. I almost always have a grass shield, but many wish to keep their offhands a bit more open and variable. As well it can give more of a boost so it isn't a bad choice, it is just a personal taste to not use it. The use of it is quick, as well it can make it so you can easily catch up or run from a farmer. I'd say this is a must have, but I can't say I use it all too often. I probably should though.

Humanity/Twin Humanity, for healing purposes. Using this will heal you to full as many of you know. Get some space before using of course because it is a somewhat long animation in the grand scheme of things. There are times when an enemy is using a low stagger weapon where you can merely face them and use your humanity, as well if they have a low critical weapon. This should only be done if you know it is either "Humanity now or death." Hiding while using this item or getting great distances is advised, but there are always ways to sneak this in. A personal favourite is going around a corner and making them believe you are casting firestorm or gravelord dance.

Dung Pies, pure harassment. This item is a bit overlooked sometimes but the toxin makes for great harassment, as well you can force enemies into certain positions using it. When I do carry it I almost use it as an attention getter to get them to follow me on a path carrying enemies, people love to take up the offense on someone trying to toxin them. if you yourself are toxined it does minimal damage, as well you can really quickly go through your menu to use a Blooming. A bit of advice to go with this, do not put your moss in your equip slot. Instead go through your menu and "use" it, it is very fast and can be done in under a second. This goes hand in hand with my advice about how to hit with the Talisman, not locking on and actually aiming.

For practising with none lock on items you can always buy some and merely practice on NPC's, watching the pathing and trying to hit them as they are on their way to you. Practicing with a moving erratic target is the absolute best, if you want to take it the full mile I find practising on Bonewheels to prepare you perfectly for PvP use.

I'll be going over more items later, these are merely the ones I felt were most important in my book.

Hey guys Ive been in the shadows for quite a while, but I've been really interested in the strategies on the Forest farmers however! I really suck anytime because I cant stand those gangbangs (guess I'm TONS much better at dueling) but I'm always willing to help my fellows FHs. I wish I had more fun in there but its kinda hard, however I got my Marakumo +15 yesterday from a 1st try slab on the DW in new londo [yay], and I'm still training the monster a little since I'm not used to big weapons at all (I keep CMW R Rapier as main weapon still and some other +15 weapons). I'll tell results in the future expecting to be quite more successful :pirat:

PS. : I don't hate farmers on the forest tho because they are what make the forest a place filled with raw emotions of despair and revenge. They're what keep me returning there :evil: *verydangerousplace*

No need to hide in the shadows, feel free to post in here and chat it up about Forest Exploits and ideas. Though I am not above hiding in the shadows waiting to spring on some unsuspecting farmers haha. Also feel free to talk about your set up if you want to, CMW set ups from what I've seen can be incredibly destructive, though I can't say first hand since I never make int characters.

Alright I think I'm going to talk about another weapon and a bit of sportsmanship this time.

First off, the Gargoyle Halberd, you might see me mention this thing from time to time. It has a decent move set and reach, as well it does a good amount of damage. It is like a spear in that you can get strikes quite easily due to lag since some may see a delay in the animation and suddenly be hit by the long reach of it. I currently use a +5 Chaos Version(Great Thanks to Reim), as I've noticed many use Giants and heavy Physical and lightning resistance in the forest. Now of course this will depend on what armor they are wearing and I can't say for scaling exactly but I imagine with the proper str and dex it will deal more damage than my Chaos version. Now then, another thing I love about this weapon is its high damage. Given its weight it isn't too bad for the damage it deals allowing for a hornets ring backstab to instantly kill someone who is not a great tank. If I see Ornstein's, a Full Dragon Farmer, or anyone with weaker sets I will target them outright and BS them for a kill. Now you might say this is a cowardly tactic, mind you I'm fighting two-three people at once here. They obviously are not looking for a fair fight so why give them one in this regard? If I see the person is definitely a duellist I switch the ring out and properly fight, but this can be a great way to thin out the numbers of farmers. With hornets ring I've never even seen anyone survive a Riposte with it. You may need to wear a lighter armor to carry this weapon since though it is medium in weight with more than likely DWGR and the possible Hornets or Wolf, you'll have to use your base carry weight unless going with a mask of the father. The eastern set is a common one I use if going for a full set.

Alright onto a bit of sportsmanship, duelling. I personally love to duel so if I see someone is alone I will bow and fight them. However sometimes there are phantoms hidden as well or they are waiting for a summon. A simple trick for this is if when you arrive they are hugging the stairs closely. As well when you get near to them spam lock on to check for a hidden person. There is also of course Chameleon, but fake shrubs are pitch black so they are easy to spot. Now for seeing if they are waiting for a summon or not if they seem to be dodging around and all out avoiding conflict they are more than likely waiting out for a summon or just BS fishing. If BS fishing punish them for it, if waiting for a summon destroy them for it. One trick is keeping the hornets on during the duel and if you suddenly see a summon go straight for a BS kill if their health is low. If you carry WotG or force use it and run, either crystal or drag them towards enemies heal up and get ready for a kill.

Please tell me I didn't post something like this already, towards the end of typing this as I grow weak I just have that feeling and don't have the energy to check. :pale:

Thanks a lot for your infos Tolvo, you're like my inspiration in the Forest lol jk. I think I quit BS since a while because I think it is a way of punishing and I'm there to fight you know like rough style. Yet I end up being killed by a BS most times but hell this is me. I often use MoM in head to boost my hp with also RoF&P which gives me about 1930 and while I know it is a big number I get easily killed in few hits LOL. I also wear the Armour of Thorns on the chest and heavels legs/arms to boost poise, and the other ring is DWGR. This set is made for my light weapons because like I said Im used to light weapons like QFSword, R Rapiers, the sword from the Paint guardians,, well I'm guessing these are the wrong choices to use in the Forest, yes? //

See once bleed comes into the picture I'd say it isn't a bad weapon off of that alone, though the reach of the Painting Guardian sword is pretty poor you can still deal a lot of damage with it if used properly. What is the best for fighting group is arcing weapons that can hit multiple farmers at once, usually with the Mura I can stun lock three targets at once if I funnel them. Rapiers are great for poking and harassing but unless you deny estus they'll just constantly be healed up so that is why I try to stick with heavy hits for kills. Katana can do well but again you are going to need to keep that bleed up on them, I'm about to test out the Great Scythe and see how that holds up. I'm not a fan of the fury sword but it can deal decent damage and swing fast enough so I can see it as being powerful. I think what is important is staggering them because otherwise farmers usually carry great swords and other heavy weapons to pound you into the ground. If you get a lot of ripostes off on them though the Rapier is a great choice given the huge amount of damage to can deal.

By the way I can parry with my Gargoyle Halberd for over 2k HP haha. And I do hope we can inspire more to join the hunters and have some fun, it is a bit difficult to advertise this covenant.

"Hey there join us, you get few rewards and often have to try and fight three people at once! Sign up!"

I'm merely the hunter who can post the most often I think haha.

Yeah I still have a Lig.5 G Halberd full of dust, it need to get to action again! I don't know about the ripostes since I haven't work that out lately but it certainly is the best (and sometimes the remaining) way to finish off a battle. I love using the target shield even though it is overlooked by now and some will have more caution. I'll be heading there now for a while and test some new techniques I've been seeing in this thread. Wish me luck!

i usually invade the forest for hunt the sinners and kill the farmers

thx for the tips and tricks

edit: what thing i always do vs farmers is go (if 1v2) rush to the fantom with DMB and drop a WotG and spam the trust ataxk of the spear for delete the host or either the phantom and they dont spet dat risky move or that massive damage just kill them in little window of time

dominoboy wrote:Hey guys Ive been in the shadows for quite a while, but I've been really interested in the strategies on the Forest farmers however! I really suck anytime because I cant stand those gangbangs (guess I'm TONS much better at dueling) but I'm always willing to help my fellows FHs. I wish I had more fun in there but its kinda hard, however I got my Marakumo +15 yesterday from a 1st try slab on the DW in new londo [yay], and I'm still training the monster a little since I'm not used to big weapons at all (I keep CMW R Rapier as main weapon still and some other +15 weapons). I'll tell results in the future expecting to be quite more successful :pirat:

PS. : I don't hate farmers on the forest tho because they are what make the forest a place filled with raw emotions of despair and revenge. They're what keep me returning there :evil: *verydangerousplace*

Dominoboy - greetings to a fellow hunter. Any of the people on this particular thread (and couple of other forest hunter related threads) would be able to give you some excellent tips on increasing your chances of being victorious in the forest. You may also want to review information contained in previous posts about forest hunters. We are few in number so have to use your noodle to successfully battle against farmers - trust me you will come to enjoy the 2v1,3v1,1v1v1, etc. Plus you should able to leverage your dueling skills to some extent.

The Murakumo is my primary weapon - it can be devastating if used correctly plus its stun-locking abilities are fantastic. Tolvo and I have been trading tips on its use in this thread so you may want to review previous posts in this thread (also there a some videos posted which will allow you to see its use in action). Since you have it maxed along the normal chain - you definitely will come to love its buffing versatility - I especially love buffing with poison (nuff respect DxV04 )

You could probably use your rapier to soften your opponent up then the Murakumo to complete the deal. Once you get your dexterity high enough (since the weapon scales with a A Dex rating ) you will be able to kill an opponent with efficiency. Also, you should practice dead angling since you can do some decent damage while completely avoiding an opponent's shield - this should be the primary reason for using the running jumping attack.

Again welcome as an active member of the forum.

Good luck man!

Broke I've noticed a few things while messing around with the Mura recently. First of all, never running attack while two handing it. Second, the dead angle box is bigger if you two hand it. Third you may deal a bit less damage but you can stagger lock them for much longer if you one hand the weapon, it lowers the hit box but it will give a longer stagger which with the lessened stamina consumption actually does more damage in the long run.

I really should get sunlight or DMB to test on this character, he is a faith toon after all so I might as well make something of that. I'm going to start work on an Int toon soon so I will be giving my findings on how well it fairs in the forest, I have heard great things about one shotting a host with CSS.

Tolvo wrote:Good luck man!

Broke I've noticed a few things while messing around with the Mura recently. First of all, never running attack while two handing it. Second, the dead angle box is bigger if you two hand it. Third you may deal a bit less damage but you can stagger lock them for much longer if you one hand the weapon, it lowers the hit box but it will give a longer stagger which with the lessened stamina consumption actually does more damage in the long run.

I really should get sunlight or DMB to test on this character, he is a faith toon after all so I might as well make something of that. I'm going to start work on an Int toon soon so I will be giving my findings on how well it fairs in the forest, I have heard great things about one shotting a host with CSS.

Tolvo - I agree 1H the weapon is the best option in a lot of situations - especially if your opponent has high poise or greatsword class weapon. This way you can have some defense up but yet deal some good damage - increasing the longevity of the fight (so another hunter can invade). And yes I have been able to achieve some very good stun-lock on my opponents while 1H'ding. I usually will 2H my Mura if my opponent is a spell caster with low poise or I know for sure I can overwhelm my opponent quickly without much fear of being stun-locked myself (e.g. opponent is using a low stun-lock weapon).

I may try out my GH - I have never used it but I think the moveset is similiar to Scythe - which used to be my primary weapon when I first started to play DkS. So it should not take long to use it effectively.

Keep those campers on the ropes!!!

It will seem a bit sluggish at first, but soon you'll realize despite the speed it is really easy to get strikes in because of its reach. It is a very deceiving weapon, kind of like a Demon spear, but not as ridiculous.

Boy do I hate casters at a range, but man once you roll through that first CHSM, it is usually easy street and a quick death for them.

By the way I have a flurry instant death tactic I use with low poise farmers if I see any. I sometimes keep a Shotel or Falchion in my offhand, and if you two hand the Falc there is something very special about it. I use a +4 Chaos Variant, so if I see that one or two hits will stagger I just ready it up and go to town. If you stagger someone with it they are dead, outright. I can out damage a summon who is being healed by Estus, it is pretty great. This goes well hand in hand with the quick item switching trick that Befowler and I were discussing.

Tolvo wrote:It will seem a bit sluggish at first, but soon you'll realize despite the speed it is really easy to get strikes in because of its reach. It is a very deceiving weapon, kind of like a Demon spear, but not as ridiculous.

Boy do I hate casters at a range, but man once you roll through that first CHSM, it is usually easy street and a quick death for them.

By the way I have a flurry instant death tactic I use with low poise farmers if I see any. I sometimes keep a Shotel or Falchion in my offhand, and if you two hand the Falc there is something very special about it. I use a +4 Chaos Variant, so if I see that one or two hits will stagger I just ready it up and go to town. If you stagger someone with it they are dead, outright. I can out damage a summon who is being healed by Estus, it is pretty great. This goes well hand in hand with the quick item switching trick that Befowler and I were discussing.

Yeah - I also use a +4 Enchanted Falchion (since I have pretty good INT) in my off-hand and you are correct the speed on its attacks while 2H'ding is pretty impressive - especially against low-poise targets. I try to use it when I'm doing hit and run tactics - frustrating the campers. I am always trying to mix-up my damage-output types to keep the farmers off-balance. 2H'ding the Chanellers Trident has been working out well on the 1-2 times I have used it, the reach is decent - haven't had an opportunity to get off the AoE buff dance though - but once the right opportunity arise I am going pop it off !!

I am going to make Chaos Shotel as soon as I can to see if I can get some decent shield avoidance when I off hand it.

Are you (or strangjoy)going to arrange the creation of the sticky for the mass forest evasion event? If not I can contact site admin to create one - or I can do it if I have the rights - haven't checked if I can. I think Emmergence idea for the name (Forest of the Damned??? I think) of the event will do. Just let me know.

I'm not really expereinced with Forumspring so I'm really not sure what the proper channels are for getting such a thread going really. I know strangejoy said he would but I haven't seen him post in a bit so maybe he is busy.

I do think you would probably do a better job in making the post for it, I know I can get side tracked very easily and start jabbering on and on about pointless things.

The Chaos Shotel is a beast with ten humanity, I love to finish off turtles with it, such fast swings and reach with the R2 can easily catch them off guard.

Alright testing time! I'm heading off with a new set up that I've seen done in videos, and I really need to see how it does. it basically involves using Pyromancy to blow up Farmers, by using rings and a certain head piece that increases the damage done by all magic. using this apparently two through three Great Combustions will kill most players, GCFB will kill most in one, and Fire Tempest will kill three people at once. Wish me luck in testing this!

Excellent thread! Thank you guys for the great tips. Could help me a bit against forest trolls.

Brokewilly wrote:We are looking to plan a mass forest invasion event within the
next two weeks. I will be creating a sticky post that will provide the
pertinent information. Stay tuned!!!!

Nice, I can hardly wait!

Ignus-Dej wrote:Excellent thread! Thank you guys for the great tips. Could help me a bit against forest trolls.

Ignus-Dej - not a problem at all. We have some very good hunters, GLs and Forest DWs on the board so the information on the various tactics has been a great help to me. Hopefully some of these tips will help you out in the forest. We are looking to plan a mass forest invasion event within the next two weeks. I will be creating a sticky post that will provide the pertinent information. Stay tuned!!!

Good hunting!!!

So far the Pyromancy tactic has been very interesting. The explosive battles are pretty nice as well as the extreme damage Great Comb can do with the Crown of Ocatile or whatever it is called and Power Within, sadly I don't have the int to buy the Bellowing ring. Essentially it is good to have a weapon you can kick with, wait for an enemy to swing with a big weapon and then nuke them which usually results in a death on their part. I'm not too much a fan of this build, but you can definitely kill farmers.

Now then a little situational awareness. Most of you probably know but near to the Pharis spawn point there is a set of trees that is so thick it is actually a dead end. Running into here as a farmer is most certainly suicide, however I tend to trick farmers into it. First off I run into it and wait for them to realize my error. As they get close I make it look like I'm doing a final stand when suddenly I roll past them as they attack. I turn and start dead angling with the Mura and given the tight space there is no escape, if they escape the stagger as well they can try and roll away but your big swings will merely lock them down along with the fact that their staggered allies will block them. It doesn't always work, but from what I've been testing it is an absolute great kill zone.

As soon as my interenet stops acting up I'm going to start sending messages on the PSN to try and raise interest and awareness as well as sending people to the forums.

And Welcome, it's always great to see another hunter in the ranks!

EDIT: By the way I thought it might be worth mentioning, my main computer might actually be having the chance of being repaired soon, and while I will still be focusing on Dark Souls I'll go back to an old love of mine...Making videos. So I might be able to rig some things up and buy the proper cords and devices to record from my PS3, and upload videos of Forest Hunter tips, which I really hope I can manage!

I would love to see videos of your tips, Tolvo. Wish I knew how best to record, some of the things I've seen in the forest (and elsewhere) defy belief without video proof.

The whole issue is conversion I'm pretty sure, so that will take time but hopefully it will happen and I can help out spread the cause of invading in the forest. There are some crazy lag related glitches in this game, the other day I BS'ed a host who went flying into the air at a rapid speed. He messaged me after his death asking what hack I used and I said I honestly had no idea what happened. He then complained about how I was a forest hunter hacking to kill the noble farmers, and that apparently he landed in Firelink haha.

Though it also becomes the issue, I should cover up the names of farmers shouldn't I so that it isn't seen as some sort of harassment?

By the way in my sig you'll notice a new link, The Forest of the Damned Event, join on in everyone!

Tolvo wrote:The whole issue is conversion I'm pretty sure, so that will take time but hopefully it will happen and I can help out spread the cause of invading in the forest. There are some crazy lag related glitches in this game, the other day I BS'ed a host who went flying into the air at a rapid speed. He messaged me after his death asking what hack I used and I said I honestly had no idea what happened. He then complained about how I was a forest hunter hacking to kill the noble farmers, and that apparently he landed in Firelink haha.

Though it also becomes the issue, I should cover up the names of farmers shouldn't I so that it isn't seen as some sort of harassment?

By the way in my sig you'll notice a new link, The Forest of the Damned Event, join on in everyone!

That is crazy - the farmer landed in the Firelink area - WTF!! Now that is a crazy glitch.

I am trying to get my Hauppage DVR up and running by the mass invasion event so I can record and post some of the action to YouTube. Also, I want to record some my invasions so I can do some self-critiquing of my tactics when I invade.

I will also add the link the "Forest of the Damned" event in my signature line to increase visibility of the event.

Haha, I'd love to see some videos of you taking it to the farmers.

Man I find it kind of funny that about a month ago I would practically hear nothing about the Forest Hunters, and now it is seems like we are getting a bit popular with the event and thread here.