Anyone planning on getting a strat guide?

I know, I know....they're always obsolete after the first nerf, even if they get the stats right to begin with.  But I was thinking it would be nice to have something that lays out the upgrade paths, and explains what all the consumables do.  I never use them for getting info on areas beforehand, but for managing weapons and spells they're great.

Already got one.

Whilst I appreciate why one would get a guide, I just don't agree with it.

Now more than ever I appreciate just how much one can live Souls' games if you just plunge into the darkness and explore as much as you can whilst keeping your sanity. This for me means that in Dks2, I will not go to forums, I will not look at guides, I might not even read reviews. Everything in Dark souls will be there for us to discover, intuit and sometimes guess. But that's part of the core experience. The not knowing and the consequential gigantic sense of discovery that follows whence you discover something. It'll probably be tough to get the upgrading paths right, should they change dramatically, but I imagine managing to do this on your own will reap intellectual rewards little else in this world can match.

I may have over-thought this though. Guides are cool I guess.

Bassman Bob wrote:

Already got one.

Haha ! I see what you did there   

No.

Maybe, although I wouldn't use it till after I was done playing for a while. I would want to discover on my own, but after I beat the game, I would like to be able to find all the weapons and stuff. And besides, maybe I would use it for determining what weapons the boss souls make, so I can know what to do with them. I don't want to limit fun by using a strategy guide, but I would like to also be able to expand my fun, by letting me know the things that are irreversible once decided so I can actually think about it.

My countless deaths and failures will guide me!

Don't worry guys. I got you covered.

:p

Heh bought one for dark souls, never used it. Got a load of them for various games that i never used.

Soul of Stray Demon wrote:I would use it for determining what weapons the boss souls make, so I can know what to do with them. I don't want to limit fun by using a strategy guide, but I would like to also be able to expand my fun, by letting me know the things that are irreversible once decided so I can actually think about it.

This is the biggest reason I can think of to invest in one.  Some boss soul weapons were better for one build than others.  Although, like Fex says, the wiki will cover a lot of stuff.  And let's face it, any community always has a few people who get into an arms race to see who can get the info the quickest, and I'm betting someone will have the game finished by the end of week 1 just for this reason.

I'm pretty sure we'll be the Strategy Guide

Back Lot Basher wrote:

Soul of Stray Demon wrote:I would use it for determining what weapons the boss souls make, so I can know what to do with them. I don't want to limit fun by using a strategy guide, but I would like to also be able to expand my fun, by letting me know the things that are irreversible once decided so I can actually think about it.

This is the biggest reason I can think of to invest in one.  Some boss soul weapons were better for one build than others.  Although, like Fex says, the wiki will cover a lot of stuff.  And let's face it, any community always has a few people who get into an arms race to see who can get the info the quickest, and I'm betting someone will have the game finished by the end of week 1 just for this reason.

Even more so then, I'll have the information day 1. And laugh at everybody for being so slow.....

Why would I?

That's what the wiki and this forum are for.

Noob-of-Artorias wrote:Why would I?

That's what the wiki and this forum are for.

Yea this! I actually really enjoy consulting the wikis and learning cool stuff I missed, plus contributing new discoveries made

nawh, i didnt for demons or dark. so i think ill just stick with the wiki's for getting help after the first play through. plus sense im new to the forums i can hopefully contribute some info early on

Never. The one thing I'm looking forward to in DkS is just being able to get that feeling like I'm a complete noob again. No guide will be able to instruct me on how to fail in the game.

No guide or wiki.  Them's for noobs.

dunno, I bought the first one and never used it, much more fun suffering like a real man!

But. . it does looks nice on my coffee table, whats more it raised an 'ooh whats this love?' from my mum as she flicked through it. . .thats gotta be worth something

. . .at which point she was dragged in by the arm of Manus


not really

I don't really want or need a "strategy guide" for a 1st playthough, but knowing how to avoid permanently gimping a character such that it would have to restart to be competitively viable would be nice.

Upgrade paths, general rules/mechanics, *WHAT EACH STAT DOES (and how it scales)*, these are things that should be present in a basic game manual, but tend not to be. The only way not showing them to the player up-front would be acceptable is if stat distributions were not permanent and could be changed for some kind of in-game price.

"The only way to find out is to try it, but if you try it you are stuck with it, so if you guess poorly you're permanently screwed on this character" is not a good model. The combination of stuff like the resistance stat + no way of knowing how it scales at the onset of Dark Souls was a deliberate and mean-spirited noob trap in a game that's mostly fair.

I hate myself, therefore I will not be using a guide. May my bloodstains guide all you fine people.

TheMeInTeam wrote:I don't really want or need a "strategy guide" for a 1st playthough, but knowing how to avoid permanently gimping a character such that it would have to restart to be competitively viable would be nice.

Upgrade paths, general rules/mechanics, *WHAT EACH STAT DOES (and how it scales)*, these are things that should be present in a basic game manual, but tend not to be.  The only way not showing them to the player up-front would be acceptable is if stat distributions were not permanent and could be changed for some kind of in-game price.

"The only way to find out is to try it, but if you try it you are stuck with it, so if you guess poorly you're permanently screwed on this character" is not a good model.  The combination of stuff like the resistance stat + no way of knowing how it scales at the onset of Dark Souls was a deliberate and mean-spirited noob trap in a game that's mostly fair.

Actually, that seemed a lot like Dark Souls design. How many parts of that game were Noob Traps? Tauras Demon, Black Phantoms, Rusted Iron Ring, O&S speed gank, the boulder at the start, The second Gargoyle, Patches kicking you into the hole, (Which if you are unable to get out, and don't have homeward bones, results in lost humanity and souls). Why not just extend it the leveling system and stats as well?

Besides, in basic Dark Souls, most every stat is explained if you press back(select) in the stat menu. Resistance was meant to be effective, it just didn't work out to be worthwhile. Lots of games have stats that are just worthless.

Soul of Stray Demon wrote:Actually, that seemed a lot like Dark Souls design. How many parts of that game were Noob Traps? Tauras Demon, Black Phantoms, Rusted Iron Ring, O&S speed gank, the boulder at the start, The second Gargoyle, Patches kicking you into the hole, (Which if you are unable to get out, and don't have homeward bones, results in lost humanity and souls). Why not just extend it the leveling system and stats as well?

Besides, in basic Dark Souls, most every stat is explained if you press back(select) in the stat menu. Resistance was meant to be effective, it just didn't work out to be worthwhile. Lots of games have stats that are just worthless.

That's why it should show the exact scaling for every stat, so the user can decide for himself if the stat is worthless or not.

Also, why do you consider some of these things noob traps?
Taurus demon? O&S? Gargoyle? these are boss fights, not noob traps. the white fog tells the player that a boss might await him and by traversing the fog, he/she might risk his/her souls/humanity.

and how exactly is the rusted iron ring a noob trap???

actual noob traps are the bolder at the start or the mimic in Sen's fortress. you fall for them once, but even then, all you (eventually) lose is souls/humanity. you can get them back. but spent stat points? not so much. youre stuck with them.

I completely agree with the TheMelnteam:
I want to begin Dark Souls 2 with as few spoilers as possible, but i definitely want to know exact scalings, soft caps, etc. beforehand. It should be expected that these things are listed in the game or a manual, but unfortunately thats rarely the case. I dont think that i need a strategy guide for this stuff tho, a few (cautious) looks in the internet should probably be enough.

So nope, wont get a strat guide.