Your First Time Playing. Impossible?

So, I finally beat Dark Souls today, but it was on like the 4th character I've made.  Looking back at my first character, who I kind of stopped around SL 65 with, I don't think he could ever finish the game.  Having never played a Souls game before this, I messed up the character a lot (ie lots of skill points in the wrong places, upgrading wrong weapons).  So in my opinion, my first character is a lost cause due to bad choices.  Of course, since SL1 playthroughs are possible, I could go back to the character now and figure out a way to cheese through the rest of the game, but I never would have been able to do it back when I made him, without all that knowledge.

So my question to you is, did anyone actually beat the game on their first character? And if you did, did you play Demon's Souls in the past?

I beat dark souls with my second character.

My first I quit because I aggro'd the crestfallen warrior and I couldnt kill him... yeah

I beat it with my first. Platinum with it actually. I didn't worry about level cap so I'll admit it wasn't a perfect character but it was good enough to finish.

I did play Demon's first. I also got platinum with my first character on that game too though. I didn't even have a second character in Demon's until this summer (you can read about his exploits linked in my signature below)

I beat it on omy second. On my first, I didn't have my ps3 online and I got fed up with losing once-per-playthrough things when Kirk fell to his death in the Demon Ruins and I couldn't retrieve his stuff.

Beat it with my first. Plat in DeS, so I wasn't inexperienced. But, that isn't to say it was an easy victory at all.

I beat it on my first,I quit for a month or so after I reached Gwyn and had to swap to a black iron greatshield to beat him.I had no idea what the hell I was doing when I made this build,I never upgraded vitality or endurance until I was far into NG+.Earning the Dark Set took me quite a while which I also did on NG+ a while after beating the game.The build was something like this,I may edit it later if I load up the character to check my stats.

(This was pre-DWGR nerf,when you could use it above 25% equip weight)

http://mmdks.com/3tea

I beat it on my third character.

I accidently aggro'd the crestfallen warrior on my first character and got cursed twice on my second c character.

I beat it with my first character as well, though like most new people, I put stats in bad places. Didn't make beating Ornstein solo any less sweeter though lol.



I had no Souls experience before this.

I actually had a Knight as my first character, when I pre-ordered the game on a whim. Called him Roland. Made it through all the way to Blighttown (and what an infuriating adventure that was). I found the Iaito out of dumb luck, and tried using it, didn't understand which stat to increase in order to use it effectively. Sunk a lot of stat points in the wrong places.

Made it to the bottom of Blighttown, not knowing where to go. Kept dying because of poison, having to restart from the bonfire on the bridge. Got pissed, sold the game.

Couple months later, I traded in Skyrim to give Dark Souls another chance. Started over with a Knight again, played through. Did better stat-wise, and discovered EpicNameBro's videos looking for guides. Got through the game that way. Felt happy, and made more characters.

Basically, I've purchased Dark Souls four times at this point. I'm glad I decided to give it another shot. My first character was horrendous, to say the least, but that second time around was really worth it.

I kinda miss Roland, actually. :')

Roland?

Deschain?

Now that's a knight!

And if so it's appropriate given the circuitous nature of the story

I beat the game with my second character. Not because I got stuck somewhere or I made some grave mistake, but rather, I ragequitted.

You would ragequit too, if you spent your first 20 hours going down the Catacombs, into the TotG, then climbed back from that underworld...only to casually find the way into the Burg...and demolish it. EXPERIENCE RUINED. There can be no greater evil!

Otherwise, I would have beat the game on my first character...and yes, I did play Demon Souls.

Beat it with my first character, and I hadn't (still haven't, :C) played demon souls.

I did put some points into places I shouldn't have, but I usually have pretty good instincts with RPG's as to what stats are good/overpowered to put points into.

I don't remember exactly how easy it was or at what level I beat the game, but it was probably at some high level. It's been a while and I deleted my save, so I don't remember. I know my biggest difficulty was memorization. Figuring out what to do and my timing for doing them was easy for me, but memorizing attack patterns and how to avoid them was hard. I remember dying to Quelaag quite a few times before I got used to reading her tells, and sen's fortress was pure evil with all the traps and paths I had to memorize.

Now, I can beat the game much easier and at a much lower level than I could before. I don't even die to Quelaag anymore. (That rhymed.)

Beat it on my first character. first death was on gargoyles.

I've played Demon's Souls so I had a good idea of the player mechanics. I recommend using a spreadsheet to keep track of your guys. Very helpful, especially with 10 save slots and someone asks you for help.

My first character for Dark Souls was a Hunter and I finished the game in a month at SL109 and 154 hours of game play.

My stats were all over the place as I would level up to experiment with different weapons as I found them.

Like mostly everyone who posted, I played Demon Souls and after a couple days of getting constantly killed I met a player who helped me out with the game and I beat Demons with my 1st and only character.
Dark took 3 toons because I wasn't used to the builds yet, (still not 100% on them). After my 3rd attempt, I beat the game. Didn't die too often with any of them, it was just my stats being in the wrong place. Never platinumed Dark, (don't care about trophies). But, now I can make any build and beat the game.
BTW, it only took me a week to finish it.

I beat it on my second character. First was a Knight, and things were going pretty well for him. I was fat rolling my way through everything, then I accidentally aggro'd Andre. Didn't know I could run away and absolve my sins and make everything ok, so I killed him. My Bandit did much better, and I eventually platinumed with him.

skarekrow13 wrote:Roland?

Deschain?

Now that's a knight!

And if so it's appropriate given the circuitous nature of the story

You and I are going to be the best of friends. :b

Elite Knight wrote:

skarekrow13 wrote:Roland?

Deschain?

Now that's a knight!

And if so it's appropriate given the circuitous nature of the story

You and I are going to be the best of friends. :b

One of my favorite book series of all time.

EDIT: +1 to both of you.

Amazing story. Definitely my favorite. There's even an implied scarecrow!

Back on topicish my first character for both games (and almost every game actually) is:

Ded

This shows my age but when I first started gaming there were a lot of arcades and places with arcade games around. Those and many of the first console games only allowed you to use an identity if you achieved a high score and the limit was three characters. Rather than use my initials like a normal human being I figured that the only time my play earned me anything was when I was out of lives. Aka "dead" or "DED" in the old arcade style. I keep using it since those three letters have always meant I achieved something big and I want all my video game personas to continue that.

My first time was pretty rough. He [Dark Souls] wasn't very considerate of my feelings and was very rough. I thought he was the one. Anyways, all those stories about being pregnant the first time being possible are true. I don't mind being married to him, though. It was the best thing that could have ever happened, and he's definitely a better lover now. He's even letting me kill people with his +5 lightning bonewheel shield with a red tearstone ring, how kinky is that?!


Yeah I beat it on my first character using a bandit's knife, quelaag's furysword, and a pyromancy glove. I didn't get leveling up so I leveling up resistance, strength, and intelligence. 

I completed the game with my first character, without playing demons souls first. I was heavily considering to make a new character on multiple occasions, as it often went wrong for me, and I knew that if I had a second chance I could make much better decisions.

I went to New londo as my first location when I got to firelink shrine (followed by the graveyard).
I got stuck on the gargoyles. I spent an eternity searching for the sewers.
I kept entering the exit of blighttown (and thus had no idea of where I was suppose to go AND I kept getting exposed to toxic).
I died more times to several black knights then I am proud to admit.
I went all the way down to the golden fog gate in the catacombs, without a divine weapon and without knowing I had a lanturn (and this was of course long before I had the lordvessel).
It never occurred to me that I could summon other players or NPCs.
I was fatrolling through the entire game.
I never read the description of any of the item I found, mainly because I never took the time to find out how to do so.
I was leveling resistance up to level 30.

Really, I could go on and on, but that would literally take all day to write down. Point is, is wasn't impossible, but it sure was difficult.

I completed the game with my first char but i´ve had some help from my buddy. He is on his fifth playthrough right now and he gave me some nice tipps and helped me out a lot. Right now i´am in the middle of my second run with my lvl 130 character and i still love to play that game!

I never played any Souls games before and I managed the game with my first toon but it took me a long time! And each boss was a challenge! After a few dyings I always studied videos on youtube. And I used this forum and the wiki a lot for help. After this I managed the bosses but I can remember that for some bosses it took me ages! At the end boss Gwyn I had sl 117 or so. After that I started a new toon and was much better, though. And I didn't use co-op in my first run.