Starting Gift.

I said master key because I don't care bout trophies so I don't need firebombs for that hammer. Don't use blessings at all. The other stuff you can get in the game. Witch's ring has no use to me. Twin hum would be good but I always store them. Lastly, to comment on the age old question or remark on a members name, "What does the pendant do?" It's no use to me either.

WhatDoesThePendantDo? wrote:lol. I think it's being proven that the Binoculars are an awful choice. Who would take a gift they can grab for themselves the moment they land in Firelink?

 Actually, on my first playthrough I did take the binoculars.  A couple of hours later, I nearly facepalmed through the back of my head.

The lack of love for the pendant makes me sad

Psshh you can get a free Souvenir of Reprisal from the pendant. Those things count if you have a DMB build that depends on that to win.  

I would say either twin humanities or the old witches ring. You can't go wrong with more humanity. The lore behind Blighttown and Izalith has always interested me so I've chosen the old witches ring as a starter gift a few times as well.

WhatDoesThePendantDo? wrote:It's not even that unique though, Onionbro gives you one for simply killing 3 basic enemies. If you want the Witch ring you have to give up your Sunlight Maggot.

 Unique was the wrong word, I meant easily obtained. Thanks for correcting me, though.

TheMeInTeam wrote:Master key is overrated.  It's very easy to run into lower blighttown through darkroot basin, and moonlight butterfly is one of the game's easier bosses.  Those are the two *main* areas where the master key is relevant.  Cage key ---> shortcut to logan is another one.

However, the other starting gifts are all subpar also.  Of them, old witch ring and black firebombs have the most appeal, the former for lore and the latter to trivialize an early boss or two of your choice.

The reason people pick the master key anyway is that it saves the most time, even if it's only 5-10 minutes tops total time saved it's still more time than any other option, which saves close to none and gives nothing you can't get easily later.

 Well in order to get to lower blight town without the master key you have to go through the burg, the parish, the basin and the valley, that can be quite time consuming.

Most people chose Old Witch Ring in their first playthrough because the description incorrectly stated that it increased pyromancy damage (or that was just in my game?).

Mine didn't say anything about pyro damage. I recall the "seemingly useless" description which is why I took it. I was torn between that and the pendant. That had "no effect" so I took it on faith. I only got caught up in the pendant stuff after I was nearing the platinum trophy. The "seemingly" part of the Witches ring piqued my interest as it was less definitive than the pendant's description.

 Well in order to get to lower blight town without the master key you have to go through the burg, the parish, the basin and the valley, that can be quite time consuming.

While true, most people will fight the gargoyles first for a number of reasons (even speedrunners, though the time master key saves means they always pick it regardless).

At that point, it's a question of homeward bone --> parish bonfire --> darkroot or running back down to firelink and going to new londo.
 
Firelink is faster, but this time difference isn't nearly what people claim unless you're willing to skip all bonfires between firelink and gargs.  Parish bonfire --> firelink --> New londo is probably a minute faster than parish bonfire --> basin --> VoD.  A + for the basin route is that you can pick up the grass crest shield on the way though.

Don't get me wrong, master key is still the "best" option, but only because it helps you in a significant way at all.  Its utility is mild convenience, which of course still beats nothing or very close to nothing.

Yeah, none of the starting gifts are meant to be that important for the whole game, more for just a boost at the start.

That brings up an interesting idea, though. What if some of the rings available throughout the game were only available as a starting gift? Poison, Lightning, Flame, Magic, etc. AND you wouldn't be able to give them away.

That would create suddenly create a big need to plan out your build ahead of time, something which I think From is trying to prevent. But it is interesting.