Greetings & Praise the Sun!

Hello,
Just wanted to introduce myself on the forum here.
Completely new to PS3 console and obviously DS. As in, still learning how to use the PS3 joystick. Usually a PC player but was completely drawn into DS and so had to give it a shot.

Currently in Sens Fortress, but having a hard time getting to the boulder throwing golems.

Would appreciate some advice on how not to get too worked up and upset when I get invaded and each invader seems so powerful as to 1 or 2 shot kill me. Or better yet, how to overcome these invaders?
Is it customary for invaders to always throw poison daggers at the host?

Anyway, I love the co op aspect of the game but absolutely hate the invasions...

Cheers all & a jolly co op to all!

Hey capricorn, welcome to the ds world! Im relatively new as well, so i know your pain and frustration...that said ive improved alot and have a couple things to share.

The people invading you have more often than not played this game ALOT more than you, meaning two things, 1, they have alot of experience that you dont. They have fought countless battles, learned weaknesses and tactics that you will still have to learn the hard way. 2, do to their experience, they know where to get items that you may not know about yet, they have equipment that you cant get yet and its improved further than you can improve your inferioir equipment.

Sooo they have alot if advantages and unfortunately time and experience is the only thing that can help you...and study. Read these forums, see how people build their characters and why, find a weapon/style your comfortable with and keep going. When you die, dont be discouraged, just learn from it and try again. If your a warrior of sunlight, summon friends as often as possible too, they can show you where to go and if invaded, let them take the lead, after all its their job to protect you!

Believe me, being new to DS, especially now that so many have spent Alot of time doing this already, guys like us are behind, just like me, you will die Alot before you figure it out. You will be frustrated, but the first time you use a new tactic or strategy to defeat an invader, it will all be worth it! That is after all pretty much what this game is about, trial and error, and PvP is the biggest trial and error of the game!

Welcome to the forum!

I agree with the above poster in regards to invaders. There is a particular glitch many have taken advantage of that allows folks to have end game gear on new characters which really puts you behind the 8 ball. I would suggest for any new player if you're not planning on summoning to stick to playing as a hollow so you don't get invaded. Then after you feel a bit more confident in you character and skills learn to PvP.

What Fed said. The term for those invaders is "griefer", and that's what they do. Play in hollow form or even offline. If you're offline, you can become human and summon NPC's for help without risk of being invaded by deebags.

I suggest getting a firm handle on PvE mechanics before exploring PvP. It can be brutal out here. Haha.

Welcome to the forums, by the way.

Thank you everyone for your support and kind words!
Glad to see the community here is so supportive and encouraging.

Yes, I agree that I'm waaaay behind the curve here, since I am still learning how to even use the console joystick. I'm mainly a keyboard and mouse person

So...it looks like time, effort, and experience is the only way to go then. But that's OK since I do love the game.

@ Ferderally - you are referring to the bottomless box glitch right? I've seen stuff like that online being mentioned/explained.

@ DamageCK - I thought you had to be online to even play DS? I'll have to give that a shot (about not being connected to the internet and still be human)!

Wow, I just re-read my original post and realized I wrote that at the height of my anger and frustration after having so much difficulty at Sen's Fortress that I just needed some co op help, but only to be invaded and instant-killed :x

Believe me, man, we've all been there. PvP is a disgusting thing sometimes, but it can also be glorious. You'll be riding that winner's high in no time.

And yeah, just sign out of PSN and you're good to go. I played offline for close to 200 hours before I even considered PvP. Haha.

Yes the bottomless box glitch is the one. It combined with D bag people and the game mechanics that weigh equipment strength much more the character strength have made a big problem in low level areas. Those guys can wear heavy armor for poise, a dark wood grain ring to maintain mobility and wield an elemental weapon capable of one or two shotting most people. This setup allows them to deal massive damage quickly and not get interrupted by your attacks. So there is now a plague of bad players who glitched to achieve their 'power' and hang out in low level zone crushing newbs who and experienced players alike who didn't cheat.

Luckily this strategy doesn't pay off at higher SLs since elemental weapons loose their dominant status and the douche bags have to actually fight a bit to win.

Also you can play Dark Souls offline but I suggest not. You're out of the Burg so most of the griefers are in the rear view mirror and you're never gonna get better if you hide offline. Invasions are part of the experience, and while I don't blame you for trying to play hollow, having risk to being human is part of the experience. You need to learn to deal and hiding offline won't teach you anything!

I agree, trial by fire is the best method for improvement

Another thing to do regarding PVP is to watch some videos on youtube.

Study the pro's, learns some of the better mechanics and practice, and you'll be killing darkwraiths in no time flat.

Remember, the greatest weapon in Dark Souls is the player....shortly followed thereafter by the Moonlight Greatsword.

Federally wrote:
Also you can play Dark Souls offline but I suggest not. You're out of the Burg so most of the griefers are in the rear view mirror and you're never gonna get better if you hide offline. Invasions are part of the experience, and while I don't blame you for trying to play hollow, having risk to being human is part of the experience. You need to learn to deal and hiding offline won't teach you anything!

Well, I'm OK playing as human form (being online). My problem is that I don't have a lot of humanity and sooner or later, I'll run out. So everytime I'm in a new area and get invaded, I've always died b/c my gear/weapons are always far inferior to the griefers.

My alternative solution has been to simply co op with other plays and hope to beat the area boss so that I can gain some humanity that way.

Noob-of-Artorias wrote:Another thing to do regarding PVP is to watch some videos on youtube.

Study the pro's, learns some of the better mechanics and practice, and you'll be killing darkwraiths in no time flat.

Remember, the greatest weapon in Dark Souls is the player....shortly followed thereafter by the Moonlight Greatsword.

You know, I just wish there were youtube clips that would show how the players use the PS3 joystick to execute their moves!

I'm such a noob at even using a PS3 controller, which is my biggest problem right now.

I can watch youtube clips on backstabs and parry/riposte all day, but unless I know exactly what buttons to press when, it won't do me a lick of good

I would LOVE any suggestions/guidance that anyone can provide me with.

Thanks for all the support though! This is really a great forum/community!

Capricorn77 wrote:

Noob-of-Artorias wrote:Another thing to do regarding PVP is to watch some videos on youtube.

Study the pro's, learns some of the better mechanics and practice, and you'll be killing darkwraiths in no time flat.

Remember, the greatest weapon in Dark Souls is the player....shortly followed thereafter by the Moonlight Greatsword.

You know, I just wish there were youtube clips that would show how the players use the PS3 joystick to execute their moves!

I'm such a noob at even using a PS3 controller, which is my biggest problem right now.

I can watch youtube clips on backstabs and parry/riposte all day, but unless I know exactly what buttons to press when, it won't do me a lick of good

I would LOVE any suggestions/guidance that anyone can provide me with.

Thanks for all the support though! This is really a great forum/community!

I think you'll find this useful



Can't help you with controller, but after a few hours you'll learn everything you need to know.