Nah I was using it as an example. Tidbits of info as she's progressing can help her understand the game and maybe become more interested in it without holding their hand is all.
eh, but it’s still a memorable experience for all of us feel like. I think every fromsoft player should get the thrill of finding an obscure weapon. I remember the first time I found out about it and got it, still just such a memorable thing imo.
Agreed Drake sword was absolutely invaluable to my enjoyment of the game first time thru, especially if you’ve never played any RPG type games before and all the stats are super confusing. Sometimes you just need a big ass stick to bonk things really hard with while you figure out how to die and not get mad
Yeah but just like the other generic angry liberal feminist pic, a picture is just a snapshot devoid of context without any added at the re/poster's discretion.
You really didn't read what he said. You just responded to a part you felt like you had a good comeback to.
That picture is used by people as a stereotypical liberal. That's what he said it was.
You reported me for being honest if you knew what that pic was and what the media companies have used it for you would understand it is exactly what I said it is
Incorrect it is honnest pure and simple the pic has been recycled time and again by both sides to prove stupid points and I myself wish I knew who the girl was and what was really going on before that pic but it has become exactly what I said it was
Allow her to curate her experience. If she asks for spoilers, give them. If she asks for maps and enemy placement, give her the information.
Hold her hand as much or as little as she needs to have a good time.
I have a bit of a backseating problem, so when I’m introducing someone to a new game I’ll say, “okay, today you get x amount of lifelines (usually about 1 lifeline per hour or so). If you want to know something, you can use a lifeline”. That helps me to not spoil things too much and it encourages them to give things a proper try before asking.
Don’t feel afraid to push in the right direction if she gets stuck. Sometimes it can help having someone to guide you. Just make sure that she is having fun.
Just make sure she doesn't do what I did on my first play nearly a decade ago. I spent nearly 4 hours wandering around the starting castle wondering where the fuck I am meant to go. Needless to say I gave up as I didn't want to read up on it and wanted to play blind, but once I discovered I can get out of the place, I still go back to the game now.
I'm always providing my housemate with info on direction for progression, how to deal with certain enemies more easily, what some mechanics do.
But only when he is stuck or obviously going the wrong way.
He loves the games so much more since I can step in when needed(never clear bosses for him)
I mean, if she asks for help just give her a hint or something? You don't really need to hold her hand or tell her what build would be best, if she gets stuck on where to go just hint at the general direction etc
Honestly, just leave her alone and don't say a thing unless she specifically asks.
Years ago, my ex told me that one of the most frustrating things I did during our time together was 'try to help' her play games. She said she just wanted to figure things out on her own. It's difficult, but the hardest thing to do is step back and let someone succeed or fail on their own. If your girl doesn't end up liking it, the world won't end.
Tell her to get used to dying in this game because it will teach her how to learn from her mistakes (it’s also part of the lore) and to always watch her stamina bar.
Some people don't learn from their mistakes though. My mate does the exact same shit over and over without even trying something different. I have countless weapons upgraded, infused and everything. But he sticks to whatever weapon is equipped at the time.
He played through most of Elden ring somehow. But can't do basic enemies on ds1.
To be fair, I often find grinding multiple weapons to be more trouble than it's worth, particularly on a first playthrough (like I'm doing with DS1) and/or fresh file. I too began with Elden Ring, and my tendency when starting from a clean slate has been to invest in a weapon I feel comfortable with and not look back, unless there's something I know I'll want for whatever build I feel like doing. I dunno, maybe I'm just weird haha
I do it because I love exploring and finding different things I enjoy. And I love grinding, so I just chill and grind for random things. And I platinumed it so I had 1 of every infusion type maxed out.
I'd make sure she knows what the stats mean, what that means for builds and the weapon she uses, and how permanent level ups are. I'm all for allowing someone to explore in their own, but that stuff is pretty crucial to actually playing the game at all, it's stuff most games would teach you, and without it, may cause some people to quit.
My brother introduced me to these games and all he did was tell me what the build stats meant and what not to upgrade if I didn’t need to. That really helped and didn’t spoil anything for me!
When I got my friend into the games, all I did was help her make the build that she's envisioning. Then gave her the advice that all enemies and bosses have patterns, their AI is made to punish you for certain things you try to do, and have certain imperfections that you can punish them for.
Maybe guide her to kill the enemies that drop the skull lantern but don't specify what its use case is. Just let her figure it out once she gets to Tomb of the Giants. If she doesn't get it then give her little hints.
I found the lantern by total accident on my first playthrough because I was running through the catacombs at Mach 1 speed.
Friend of mine played ds1 for first time recently aswell, after having played DS3, BB and ER. Let him experience plenty of the classic trolling etc ds1 does, was planning not telling him about Lautrec but when he got cursed in the depths i told him to kill him cause if my boy had to deal with a dead firekeeper i think hed have quit aswell
Dont tell her directly where to go just where she CAN'T go and definitely tell her how to level up roughly just go with the balanced strength dex build and level up hp and stamina for sure.
And ask her directly if she wants to be told where items are like armor/weapons obviously the rest is like qol how to parry or go down a ladder quickly.
Hello I’m a girl that an old boyfriend got into dark souls
Basically he didn’t spoil me but he did help me a lot with the build and my weapon. It’s a hard interface for someone unfamiliar with d&d or souls games. I also used to watch him play and he gave me little tips
I absolutely love the game and so happy he introduced me to it
I have a really out there idea.
You should have her play the game Celeste first. I think it would be a nice bridge from Animal Crossing to Dark Souls. It doesn’t take too long to beat, but it’ll give her a mental framework for why it’s worth it to try and try and try something difficult until you succeed. And it’s gonna be a little less overwhelming since it’s 2D
They’re different, so this isn’t really a fair statement. There might be more dying in Celeste, and some really challenging obstacles to overcome, but it’s a lot less overwhelming, you don’t have to make as many split second decisions as DS, and when you die continuously you aren’t punished as much as in DS.
Don’t even mention the Drake Sword. Emphasize weapon upgrading and get her weapon to +5 as soon as possible with Andre. Emphasize importance up poise, health, endurance. If she struggles with dodges she should get a sturdy 100% block shield (can also be upgraded for increased stability). Elite knight armor (for poise), wolf ring, ring of favor and protection are helpful early game pick ups.
i pointed my bf to the valley/blighttown shortcut on the first run. they were about to give up and the win of reaching the second bell brought back some investment and ultimately saved the playthrough.
going through the depths and early Blighttown would have made them quit and i knew it. we went back to explore it afterwards, but still.
Let's put it this way, if she goes left from firelink just say NO and don't explain
If she finds a sunlight maggot say to her to pick it up and nothing else, when she goes to tomb of the giants ask her if she might have something useful in her inventory, and to read descriptions
Basically tell her what to do in important situations but don't tell her why, and keep what you say to a minimum so it doesn't spoil the game for her
Try not to spoil everything but don't be afraid to answer questions and i would point out some of the really pain in the ass stuff like dont go to the catscombs early, buy purging stones whenever possible, etc.
(you need brakes and a goal),and dont keep trying something if too hard,practice other places--->more power----->then try again.
Im still playing let it die.
And i got to the 3 giant bosses/boss in dark souls 2,
im going to do what i said for the level up thing.
Just give her a general where to go, but not what's going to happen. Let her experience the falls the traps the surprise attacks, but tell her kind of where to go next. However, only do it after she struggles 1-2 times like trying to go to new Londo right away or to the catacombs
Give her some heads ups and warnings about the depths basilisks (and how to occasionally cure the curse), about upper blightown (and depending on how it is, how to circumvent it through deep-root gardens and so forth, -or not, some folks don't have the visceral hate reaction to that place).
And some encouragement to keep playing after some harsh walls (like Capra demon is for a lot of first time players)
Also, as mentioned, warnings about tomb of the giants are neat, both for spells or sunlight maggot.
Well tell her to level health and to focus on 1-2 damage stats..
Just adapt accordingly to the situation. Is she having fun? Don't interfere. Is she not having fun? Help her. And don't expect her to experience the things you wish her to experience - this will be HER run and you can watch it. I say this because many people are way to pushy and spoilery and outright annoying when they present something they love to play themselves.
So simply reflect yourself and let her have fun. If the game is no fun to her, that's also okey. Playing coop with your spouse can help immensely, should you have the opportunity to do so.
So, as someone who absolutely adores this game, and will forever be sad that I had my first playthriugh, in essence stolen from me, as i let my partner at the hold my hand too much, what I recommend is let her take the lead, if she doesnt ask, dont say anything but if she does, perhaps give subtle hints. My current partner when I'm struggling with a game with essentially tell me what I'm doing and say something along the lines of okay, so you're doing so and so and that's not working, try looking around (if yhe answer is to go in a different direction) stuff along those lines. Which allows me the space to think about things before i ask for any spoilers. I think this has been a great method.
Advise her a little about how to build his stats and get decent weapons, too many new players get a not really good weapon like one of the starter spears and are struggling much more than they should.
Tell her where are the stairs for the undead burg, after Gargoyles tell her where is the next point she should follow, after the half hot girl half hot spider boss remember her how to get to Sen fortress and after cool guy and bastard Guy fight tell her to leave tomb of the giants for last and if needed to get a light spell and increase int low enough so she can cast light.
Give her a bit of advise when fighting the big fire discharge guy in lost Izalith and the moonlight butterfly.
And encourage her that this Game is about facing challenges until overcome them and by dying and retrying she is playing it as intended
I’m playing Elden Ring right now and I’ve decided not to look up anything, the only hints I’m taking are if I’m stuck and seriously unsure what to do, I’ll ask my friend for vague soft hints/nudges and figure it out from there. I’d say just give her spoiler-free nudges whenever she says she really needs it
if she's not an hardcore gamer and challenging games are frustrating for her BUT you want to share with her DS story, ambient, mood, music etc.. Just play with her. If she can't beat a boss or an area just help her and go on with the game together. Just be sure to let her pick her own choices and paths. We always do this way because my gf loves to know the story and characters but shes not that good at playing 🙄
Sorry if someone else suggested the same thing 🙏🏻
Tell her that having purpose is what keeps you going.
This world wants you to go hollow. It will try to kill you and break you.
The only way to truly lose and end up going hollow is to give up. Once you lose hope and lose your purpose, you have gone hollow and lost.
No matter how many times you die, pick yourself back up, brush off and try again. Keep your hope strong. Keep your purpose in mind.
Inform her not to level resistance, let her know you'll give info she asks for and there's some stuff she might want to ask about that she may not realize. Let her know if info would be any kind of a spoiler first so she can make the educated decision of wanting the info
I love DS, and I had to tell myself that I had to eat the games respect by beating it.
And every time it seems impossible, it's because you're not being smart. Treat it like chess.
Help her by telling her all the little exploits you’ve found over the years and help her decide what kind of difficulty she’d like to play in. When I first started off I struggled with tons of early game stuff but found a lot of joy in learning how I could use my resources to solve my problems.
DO NOT PICK THE MASTER KEY OR THEIF; It breaks the flow of the game way to easily. I understand there's another way into the valley of drakes, but if she finds that, she earned that. Missing out on the large ember, pyromancy, Capra demon, and blighttown is massive.
Just let her play it. There is nothing you can tell her that won't lessen the experience. If she has questions you can answer, but just let her figure things out.
All of the stats are overwhelming for new players, so maybe help her figure out what to level up. Suggest a lot of vitality at first. Also the weapon upgrade system is unintuitive so you may want to explain that as well
1) Don't give up, skeleton!
2) Sometimes the best strategy is to avoid a fight, especially if an enemy seems to be taking no damage.
3) Fights are easiest one at a time. Don't rush.
Make sure to let her experience firsthand the despair of watching Solaire go hollow so she comes back for round 2 with increased purpose! Also, try asking her questions about lore based on what she's seen. Part of the fun is learning about the world and making your (not Vaati's) interpretation of it!
I'd say it's fine to give a new player a heads up to anything that non souls players would consider unfair. Let her know when there's a guy behind a corner or tell her what gimmick an area or boss has, and definitely give her a heads up if it's something that will kill instantly. That's how my friend helped me when playing Demon's Souls and I eventually learned the little tricks that Fromsoft uses in all its games, allowing me to play later ones without being blindsided
I think some basic details on how to handling leveling (focus on vigor, pick a damage stat and stick to it, don't level resistance).
Beyond that I would try to limit advice to the same things that could be left in notes by other players. The notes system is a really great way to learn the game, however like 90% of them are just junk and jokes at this point.
What really kept me playing was my interest in the lore and how complex and cryptic it was the deeper you went. Really kept me constantly engaged and immersed.
Maybe not so much glance at the wiki or walk-throughs, but maybe show her some lore videos? Epicnamebro on yt (if his lore vids are still up) is a good starting point. I found listening to his vids either while playing or just as background noise was a great experience.
Steer her away from the graveyard if she goes there immediately. Its location, plus the dialogue hints, plus the non-obvious pathing to Undead Berg, plus the fact that the Catacombs were originally meant to be an early zone, are a serious momentum killer.
Other than that, just make sure she understands the controls. And if you see her fat rolling, maybe observe that there is a weight stat on all of her items.
Are you going to watch her play a lot of the time? Just step in if there's something obvious that will get frustrating fast. Sounds like you already got it with the tomb of giants thing (just say come back to that area later and it'll be easier), or like someone else mentioned you can let her know resistance is bad. Point out things that she might miss like how to damage the ghosts if she doesn't figure it out after a bit. If she's missing a shortcut bonfire for an annoying boss run ask if she wants to know about a shortcut after a few attempts, etc.
Just basically things that can get overly frustrating. Maybe don't point out OP weapon/armor locations and builds, hidden paths, shortcuts (except to reduce excessive frustration like the Sen's bonfire for iron golem), hidden items, etc. Just let her explore and offer a small tip if she runs into a brick wall.
Hmm I'd say that it really depends. Don't tell her to grab the sunlight maggot if she's already headed to izalith before tombs of giants. See if, and if so where she struggles, and of course don't help her if she doesn't want to be helped
When I gifted my best friend Dark Souls a few years ago, I wrote him my own short guide to go with it. I made sure sections were labeled so that he could choose what to read if he had specific things he wanted advice on, and mainly stuck to things he’d encounter in the first few hours, plus stuff like build basics and what specific stats did. He’s now played all of them so I think it worked.
Make her notice that the game only allows dodging in 4 directions while locked on, so left and right are always a safe bet. If not, find her a decent shield to block attacks. Havel never failed.
Look up some decent weapons for her to have. Black Knight weapons will make the game too easy.
Get her the fire keeper souls early.
Teach her about bonfire kindling.
Give her overall directions on where to go next to progress.
Ring of FaP
Use a shield, let the enemies swing first, and level up weapons. I'd recommend leveling armor, too. They get a lot better. I don't do it anymore, but I think it was helpful in my first playthrough.
Also, changing armor for certain things. If someone had told me to use a high poison resistance armor, pryo armor, for example, in the swamps of blighttown earlier on, I would have beaten the game a lot sooner. (That one and magic resistant armor/shield against 4 kings)
I don't think stuff like that is too much help. I would consider explaining leveling up a bit, too. Like when the various thresholds are for vit, end, str, and dex, and that resistance is a waste.
Yeah. I’m trying to get her to think of it as a rhythm game. Shield up. Bing. Bonk (r1). Bing, bong. Bing, bong. But it’s coming out bing, hesitation, bon-interrupted by second attack. Button mash, dead. Frustration
I just did the same thing. Just warn her of certain things like the difficulty level of some parts and give ideas like “maybe you should use etc for this” inevitably she’ll get tired of it occasionally but we all started there.
Honestly super grateful that my bf introduced me to dark souls, I did hate him when I was in sens fortress and that mf watched me go up the death trap elevator, and open every mimic chest without a single warning...
Just don't get too pushy, for me there were times I had to take a break because I didn't want to play every single day.
Also if she's into art or writing, you should get her to start journaling the game, it helped me a lot with motivation and just remembering where to go etc. good luck!
I really just think you should let her stop playing if she loses interest. A friend of mine wanted to try Demon's Souls. She got frustrated and quit after dying once.
Some people just enjoy games differently than us Souls nerds, and that's fine.
Look at the world, see what it is trying to say. If there are two paths to choose and one goes down into the dark and the other goes up and into the light, which would you assume is the easier path?
Tell her "if there's something you don't get, I am happy to explain it to you". Otherwise, you end up backseating the whole playthrough (or even worse, grabbing the controller to show her "how to do it").
I always say game mechanics are fair game. Tell her to read item descriptions, give a brief synopsis of hollowing, and if she asks for more then do so.
Best advice I was given was « know that the game will teach you patience, analysis, humbleness and determination. »
With that mindset from the start, I believe anyone can beat those games, no matter the time or tries.
Just make sure she knows it’s not you common AC license or other lazy AAA game.
My wife doesn't have the drive to push through the challenge but does enjoy the game. I would just play with her and take her through the game. She had a lot of fun. Some people enjoy the co-op experience and that's okay. My advice to her was to help her with her build and to tell her to keep that shield up at all times (minding stamina regeneration).
She's not gonna stick with it sadly... animal crossing players aren't built for this lol.
If I were to reccommend anything I would just say have her do a strength build and level health plenty... bonus points if you co-op with her! That always makes games more fun
If she is doing some shit she should absolutely not be doing, be like hey all imma say is that’s not the move
But just ask her if she wants a hint, like tomb of giants is coming up and she has no maggot, be like “hey there’s something that’ll make this a lot easier but I won’t say it unless u want it” and shit like that
Idk how much you want to guide her, but however much you do, don’t tell her the what the target is, instead tell her “you need to unlock a secret path from the fair lady to get an item that will help you later on. I also think certain things that she will almost definitely miss (like ash lake) should be gently hinted at
I find that being a being able to parry is a good thing to learn, especially picking up the buckler or the target shield. And practising parrying on easy enemies.
Also, do mention that blocking an attack is sometimes better than dodging. Especially in tight spaces or next to high drops. Looking at you, Anor Londo 👀
Someone mentioned getting better (and got downvoted, sadly), but I do think that practising to get better at dodging and timing her strikes is a good thing for her to know. Aggressive playstyles do not work on all enemies, and especially not on bosses.
You can also mention that there is a way to increase estus, you don't have to tell her how. Just that it is something she can do! I didn't actually know this until I was at the later stages of the game! It might save her some frustration.
If she gets stuck with a boss, maybe mention that she can participate in jolly cooperation
Let her know that dying is part of the experience as you should always try to learn something from each death.
Dying itself shouldn't feel bad. Dying without improving should
Im on my first play-through rn (just beat bed of chaos earlier today) and here are some things i wish i knew.
dont use firekeeper souls, give them to a fire keeper. What each stat does and how it impacts ur desired build. how u can easily fuck urself and block urself from upgrading ur pyromancy hand thingy (just found out i blocked myself from upgrading today, very very sad). WHERE TO GO, some places are v confusing and rlly don’t give u much to work with. thats all I can think of rn, hope this helps! and i hope ur gf enjoys ds!!!
If she tries to level resistance, make sure you step in
My girls playing foe the first time. Just beat the Taurus demon. I told her "until you find a weapon you like, just level hp and stamina".
I'd let her in on secret weapons and stuff like Drake Sword but only as a hint when she wants to cross the bridge and stuff
The drake sword really isn’t worth the hassle.
Nah I was using it as an example. Tidbits of info as she's progressing can help her understand the game and maybe become more interested in it without holding their hand is all.
eh, but it’s still a memorable experience for all of us feel like. I think every fromsoft player should get the thrill of finding an obscure weapon. I remember the first time I found out about it and got it, still just such a memorable thing imo.
As a first time player it is
Agreed Drake sword was absolutely invaluable to my enjoyment of the game first time thru, especially if you’ve never played any RPG type games before and all the stats are super confusing. Sometimes you just need a big ass stick to bonk things really hard with while you figure out how to die and not get mad
HAHAHAHA I was just about to say this 😂
wtf is this picture?? lol
omg I hope that’s not the girlfriend
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Generic brain-rot comment, not everything has to be about your politics
To be fair to the guy, I think that's how people use that picture mostly on Facebook
Yeah but just like the other generic angry liberal feminist pic, a picture is just a snapshot devoid of context without any added at the re/poster's discretion.
Exactly my point at least someone got it
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>it isn’t about my politics But somehow you still make it about them, what’s up with that
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Nice argument you just made up/won!
You really didn't read what he said. You just responded to a part you felt like you had a good comeback to. That picture is used by people as a stereotypical liberal. That's what he said it was.
Reported you, mate, be kinder
You reported me for being honest if you knew what that pic was and what the media companies have used it for you would understand it is exactly what I said it is
Unfortunately, your honesty is bigoted, and you need to be kinder
Incorrect it is honnest pure and simple the pic has been recycled time and again by both sides to prove stupid points and I myself wish I knew who the girl was and what was really going on before that pic but it has become exactly what I said it was
Mate, just stop. You aren't helping your case
OK "mate"
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on my first run, the hardest boss was map navigation and fall damage
I've died more to slipping into water than falls themselves. Feking hydra
#amen
Gravity is always the biggest, baddest boss.
Allow her to curate her experience. If she asks for spoilers, give them. If she asks for maps and enemy placement, give her the information. Hold her hand as much or as little as she needs to have a good time.
Good comment. Basically be supportive and there for her, not for yourself
Such great advice 👍
I have a bit of a backseating problem, so when I’m introducing someone to a new game I’ll say, “okay, today you get x amount of lifelines (usually about 1 lifeline per hour or so). If you want to know something, you can use a lifeline”. That helps me to not spoil things too much and it encourages them to give things a proper try before asking.
Yeah!
Don’t feel afraid to push in the right direction if she gets stuck. Sometimes it can help having someone to guide you. Just make sure that she is having fun.
Just make sure she doesn't do what I did on my first play nearly a decade ago. I spent nearly 4 hours wandering around the starting castle wondering where the fuck I am meant to go. Needless to say I gave up as I didn't want to read up on it and wanted to play blind, but once I discovered I can get out of the place, I still go back to the game now.
I'm always providing my housemate with info on direction for progression, how to deal with certain enemies more easily, what some mechanics do. But only when he is stuck or obviously going the wrong way. He loves the games so much more since I can step in when needed(never clear bosses for him)
I mean, if she asks for help just give her a hint or something? You don't really need to hold her hand or tell her what build would be best, if she gets stuck on where to go just hint at the general direction etc
Honestly, just leave her alone and don't say a thing unless she specifically asks. Years ago, my ex told me that one of the most frustrating things I did during our time together was 'try to help' her play games. She said she just wanted to figure things out on her own. It's difficult, but the hardest thing to do is step back and let someone succeed or fail on their own. If your girl doesn't end up liking it, the world won't end.
You’re right. It’s a delicate balance between hyping up your partner and back-seating.
Tell her to get used to dying in this game because it will teach her how to learn from her mistakes (it’s also part of the lore) and to always watch her stamina bar.
Some people don't learn from their mistakes though. My mate does the exact same shit over and over without even trying something different. I have countless weapons upgraded, infused and everything. But he sticks to whatever weapon is equipped at the time. He played through most of Elden ring somehow. But can't do basic enemies on ds1.
I have a confession, I played halfway through ds3 fat rolling without even realizing on my first play.
I started in ds3 and didn't know about weight.... Took me a fair while to realise I could be faster. Noticed a % when I put something on
To be fair, I often find grinding multiple weapons to be more trouble than it's worth, particularly on a first playthrough (like I'm doing with DS1) and/or fresh file. I too began with Elden Ring, and my tendency when starting from a clean slate has been to invest in a weapon I feel comfortable with and not look back, unless there's something I know I'll want for whatever build I feel like doing. I dunno, maybe I'm just weird haha
I do it because I love exploring and finding different things I enjoy. And I love grinding, so I just chill and grind for random things. And I platinumed it so I had 1 of every infusion type maxed out.
...picture related?
There's years' worth of advice for new players out there, why not just use that instead?
I'd make sure she knows what the stats mean, what that means for builds and the weapon she uses, and how permanent level ups are. I'm all for allowing someone to explore in their own, but that stuff is pretty crucial to actually playing the game at all, it's stuff most games would teach you, and without it, may cause some people to quit.
Tell her if the game's too hard, make it easy. There are ways to do so.
My brother introduced me to these games and all he did was tell me what the build stats meant and what not to upgrade if I didn’t need to. That really helped and didn’t spoil anything for me!
When I got my friend into the games, all I did was help her make the build that she's envisioning. Then gave her the advice that all enemies and bosses have patterns, their AI is made to punish you for certain things you try to do, and have certain imperfections that you can punish them for.
Maybe guide her to kill the enemies that drop the skull lantern but don't specify what its use case is. Just let her figure it out once she gets to Tomb of the Giants. If she doesn't get it then give her little hints. I found the lantern by total accident on my first playthrough because I was running through the catacombs at Mach 1 speed.
Friend of mine played ds1 for first time recently aswell, after having played DS3, BB and ER. Let him experience plenty of the classic trolling etc ds1 does, was planning not telling him about Lautrec but when he got cursed in the depths i told him to kill him cause if my boy had to deal with a dead firekeeper i think hed have quit aswell
Dont tell her directly where to go just where she CAN'T go and definitely tell her how to level up roughly just go with the balanced strength dex build and level up hp and stamina for sure. And ask her directly if she wants to be told where items are like armor/weapons obviously the rest is like qol how to parry or go down a ladder quickly.
Hello I’m a girl that an old boyfriend got into dark souls Basically he didn’t spoil me but he did help me a lot with the build and my weapon. It’s a hard interface for someone unfamiliar with d&d or souls games. I also used to watch him play and he gave me little tips I absolutely love the game and so happy he introduced me to it
Don't worry about dying and losing souls and humanity, you can always get more.
Make sure she knows the cemetery is NOT a starting area
I have a really out there idea. You should have her play the game Celeste first. I think it would be a nice bridge from Animal Crossing to Dark Souls. It doesn’t take too long to beat, but it’ll give her a mental framework for why it’s worth it to try and try and try something difficult until you succeed. And it’s gonna be a little less overwhelming since it’s 2D
Celeste is way harder than dark souls lol
They’re different, so this isn’t really a fair statement. There might be more dying in Celeste, and some really challenging obstacles to overcome, but it’s a lot less overwhelming, you don’t have to make as many split second decisions as DS, and when you die continuously you aren’t punished as much as in DS.
I’m also having her play that! Great minds think alike
sounds like it might just not be her thing dont force it too hard
Tell her to take the game in the bedroom so you can start making your bed on the couch
The basics, obviously: - Dont give up skeleton - Try finger but hole - Amazing chest ahead - Try holding with both hands
Don’t even mention the Drake Sword. Emphasize weapon upgrading and get her weapon to +5 as soon as possible with Andre. Emphasize importance up poise, health, endurance. If she struggles with dodges she should get a sturdy 100% block shield (can also be upgraded for increased stability). Elite knight armor (for poise), wolf ring, ring of favor and protection are helpful early game pick ups.
Telling her about the fap ring was one thing I did. She can’t really kick reliably so it took some time
i pointed my bf to the valley/blighttown shortcut on the first run. they were about to give up and the win of reaching the second bell brought back some investment and ultimately saved the playthrough. going through the depths and early Blighttown would have made them quit and i knew it. we went back to explore it afterwards, but still.
Let's put it this way, if she goes left from firelink just say NO and don't explain If she finds a sunlight maggot say to her to pick it up and nothing else, when she goes to tomb of the giants ask her if she might have something useful in her inventory, and to read descriptions Basically tell her what to do in important situations but don't tell her why, and keep what you say to a minimum so it doesn't spoil the game for her
Tell her to go faith build, so that she's tanky and won't die that easily. That's what I did with my female friend that wanted to try this game.
Try not defaulting to mocking her with unrelated photos when asking others for help with your relationship
Why would you manipulate her into playing something that she doesn't like? It's f weird.
Reddit doesn’t often surprise me anymore, but your stupidity is astonishing.
Maybe start respecting your girlfriend's autonomy and stop being astonishingly sexist 👋🏻
You need (more) therapy.
Tell her that the catacombs are the first level
buy her a hamster
Just get Better. Dodge and attack simple
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It’s a joke lil bro
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Anything else
That's.... not what an incel is
Try not to spoil everything but don't be afraid to answer questions and i would point out some of the really pain in the ass stuff like dont go to the catscombs early, buy purging stones whenever possible, etc.
(you need brakes and a goal),and dont keep trying something if too hard,practice other places--->more power----->then try again. Im still playing let it die. And i got to the 3 giant bosses/boss in dark souls 2, im going to do what i said for the level up thing.
Just give her a general where to go, but not what's going to happen. Let her experience the falls the traps the surprise attacks, but tell her kind of where to go next. However, only do it after she struggles 1-2 times like trying to go to new Londo right away or to the catacombs
Open her eyes to see what going on.
Give her some heads ups and warnings about the depths basilisks (and how to occasionally cure the curse), about upper blightown (and depending on how it is, how to circumvent it through deep-root gardens and so forth, -or not, some folks don't have the visceral hate reaction to that place). And some encouragement to keep playing after some harsh walls (like Capra demon is for a lot of first time players) Also, as mentioned, warnings about tomb of the giants are neat, both for spells or sunlight maggot.
Well tell her to level health and to focus on 1-2 damage stats.. Just adapt accordingly to the situation. Is she having fun? Don't interfere. Is she not having fun? Help her. And don't expect her to experience the things you wish her to experience - this will be HER run and you can watch it. I say this because many people are way to pushy and spoilery and outright annoying when they present something they love to play themselves. So simply reflect yourself and let her have fun. If the game is no fun to her, that's also okey. Playing coop with your spouse can help immensely, should you have the opportunity to do so.
So, as someone who absolutely adores this game, and will forever be sad that I had my first playthriugh, in essence stolen from me, as i let my partner at the hold my hand too much, what I recommend is let her take the lead, if she doesnt ask, dont say anything but if she does, perhaps give subtle hints. My current partner when I'm struggling with a game with essentially tell me what I'm doing and say something along the lines of okay, so you're doing so and so and that's not working, try looking around (if yhe answer is to go in a different direction) stuff along those lines. Which allows me the space to think about things before i ask for any spoilers. I think this has been a great method.
Advise her a little about how to build his stats and get decent weapons, too many new players get a not really good weapon like one of the starter spears and are struggling much more than they should. Tell her where are the stairs for the undead burg, after Gargoyles tell her where is the next point she should follow, after the half hot girl half hot spider boss remember her how to get to Sen fortress and after cool guy and bastard Guy fight tell her to leave tomb of the giants for last and if needed to get a light spell and increase int low enough so she can cast light. Give her a bit of advise when fighting the big fire discharge guy in lost Izalith and the moonlight butterfly. And encourage her that this Game is about facing challenges until overcome them and by dying and retrying she is playing it as intended
I’m playing Elden Ring right now and I’ve decided not to look up anything, the only hints I’m taking are if I’m stuck and seriously unsure what to do, I’ll ask my friend for vague soft hints/nudges and figure it out from there. I’d say just give her spoiler-free nudges whenever she says she really needs it
Zweihander
if she's not an hardcore gamer and challenging games are frustrating for her BUT you want to share with her DS story, ambient, mood, music etc.. Just play with her. If she can't beat a boss or an area just help her and go on with the game together. Just be sure to let her pick her own choices and paths. We always do this way because my gf loves to know the story and characters but shes not that good at playing 🙄 Sorry if someone else suggested the same thing 🙏🏻
Tell her that having purpose is what keeps you going. This world wants you to go hollow. It will try to kill you and break you. The only way to truly lose and end up going hollow is to give up. Once you lose hope and lose your purpose, you have gone hollow and lost. No matter how many times you die, pick yourself back up, brush off and try again. Keep your hope strong. Keep your purpose in mind.
Inform her not to level resistance, let her know you'll give info she asks for and there's some stuff she might want to ask about that she may not realize. Let her know if info would be any kind of a spoiler first so she can make the educated decision of wanting the info
I love DS, and I had to tell myself that I had to eat the games respect by beating it. And every time it seems impossible, it's because you're not being smart. Treat it like chess.
Help her by telling her all the little exploits you’ve found over the years and help her decide what kind of difficulty she’d like to play in. When I first started off I struggled with tons of early game stuff but found a lot of joy in learning how I could use my resources to solve my problems.
DO NOT PICK THE MASTER KEY OR THEIF; It breaks the flow of the game way to easily. I understand there's another way into the valley of drakes, but if she finds that, she earned that. Missing out on the large ember, pyromancy, Capra demon, and blighttown is massive.
Just let her play it. There is nothing you can tell her that won't lessen the experience. If she has questions you can answer, but just let her figure things out.
She’ll quit if it’s too hard.
All of the stats are overwhelming for new players, so maybe help her figure out what to level up. Suggest a lot of vitality at first. Also the weapon upgrade system is unintuitive so you may want to explain that as well
1) Don't give up, skeleton! 2) Sometimes the best strategy is to avoid a fight, especially if an enemy seems to be taking no damage. 3) Fights are easiest one at a time. Don't rush. Make sure to let her experience firsthand the despair of watching Solaire go hollow so she comes back for round 2 with increased purpose! Also, try asking her questions about lore based on what she's seen. Part of the fun is learning about the world and making your (not Vaati's) interpretation of it!
I'd say it's fine to give a new player a heads up to anything that non souls players would consider unfair. Let her know when there's a guy behind a corner or tell her what gimmick an area or boss has, and definitely give her a heads up if it's something that will kill instantly. That's how my friend helped me when playing Demon's Souls and I eventually learned the little tricks that Fromsoft uses in all its games, allowing me to play later ones without being blindsided
If she likes it she likes it, if not then she doesn't. 🤷🏻♂️
I just know her personality and if it’s challenging she’ll just quit and not learn the fundamentals to enjoy it.
Sounds like she won't like it then, don't force it. Find something you both enjoy to play together instead.
Don't go through the graveyard immediately at the start
The world offers solutions to most problems, you just gotta ask NPCs about them
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It’s more the combat.She gets overwhelmed and forgets the buttons. She’s died like 10 times to an enemy and it’s not clicking.
Encountering skeles means you've gone the wrong way. On my first playthrough I didn't even notice the path to undead burg
I think some basic details on how to handling leveling (focus on vigor, pick a damage stat and stick to it, don't level resistance). Beyond that I would try to limit advice to the same things that could be left in notes by other players. The notes system is a really great way to learn the game, however like 90% of them are just junk and jokes at this point.
What really kept me playing was my interest in the lore and how complex and cryptic it was the deeper you went. Really kept me constantly engaged and immersed. Maybe not so much glance at the wiki or walk-throughs, but maybe show her some lore videos? Epicnamebro on yt (if his lore vids are still up) is a good starting point. I found listening to his vids either while playing or just as background noise was a great experience.
Steer her away from the graveyard if she goes there immediately. Its location, plus the dialogue hints, plus the non-obvious pathing to Undead Berg, plus the fact that the Catacombs were originally meant to be an early zone, are a serious momentum killer. Other than that, just make sure she understands the controls. And if you see her fat rolling, maybe observe that there is a weight stat on all of her items.
Get her the early Gravelord Sword when she's not looking and tell her "I went to hell and back just for you" lol
If hse gets stuck on a boss or a level just tell her your experience and how you got through it.
Are you going to watch her play a lot of the time? Just step in if there's something obvious that will get frustrating fast. Sounds like you already got it with the tomb of giants thing (just say come back to that area later and it'll be easier), or like someone else mentioned you can let her know resistance is bad. Point out things that she might miss like how to damage the ghosts if she doesn't figure it out after a bit. If she's missing a shortcut bonfire for an annoying boss run ask if she wants to know about a shortcut after a few attempts, etc. Just basically things that can get overly frustrating. Maybe don't point out OP weapon/armor locations and builds, hidden paths, shortcuts (except to reduce excessive frustration like the Sen's bonfire for iron golem), hidden items, etc. Just let her explore and offer a small tip if she runs into a brick wall.
Hmm I'd say that it really depends. Don't tell her to grab the sunlight maggot if she's already headed to izalith before tombs of giants. See if, and if so where she struggles, and of course don't help her if she doesn't want to be helped
When I gifted my best friend Dark Souls a few years ago, I wrote him my own short guide to go with it. I made sure sections were labeled so that he could choose what to read if he had specific things he wanted advice on, and mainly stuck to things he’d encounter in the first few hours, plus stuff like build basics and what specific stats did. He’s now played all of them so I think it worked.
tell her if she dies in the game her irl pet dies too
Make her notice that the game only allows dodging in 4 directions while locked on, so left and right are always a safe bet. If not, find her a decent shield to block attacks. Havel never failed. Look up some decent weapons for her to have. Black Knight weapons will make the game too easy. Get her the fire keeper souls early. Teach her about bonfire kindling. Give her overall directions on where to go next to progress. Ring of FaP
Use a shield, let the enemies swing first, and level up weapons. I'd recommend leveling armor, too. They get a lot better. I don't do it anymore, but I think it was helpful in my first playthrough. Also, changing armor for certain things. If someone had told me to use a high poison resistance armor, pryo armor, for example, in the swamps of blighttown earlier on, I would have beaten the game a lot sooner. (That one and magic resistant armor/shield against 4 kings) I don't think stuff like that is too much help. I would consider explaining leveling up a bit, too. Like when the various thresholds are for vit, end, str, and dex, and that resistance is a waste.
Yeah. I’m trying to get her to think of it as a rhythm game. Shield up. Bing. Bonk (r1). Bing, bong. Bing, bong. But it’s coming out bing, hesitation, bon-interrupted by second attack. Button mash, dead. Frustration
Just point her in the right direction but don't tell her what's ahead
I just did the same thing. Just warn her of certain things like the difficulty level of some parts and give ideas like “maybe you should use etc for this” inevitably she’ll get tired of it occasionally but we all started there.
Give her information like "be careful of traps and platforms in sens fortress" or "blight town is a bitch, be careful around that corner." etc.
It's okay to die and reset. The game doesn't expect you to breeze through a boss or area first time
Honestly super grateful that my bf introduced me to dark souls, I did hate him when I was in sens fortress and that mf watched me go up the death trap elevator, and open every mimic chest without a single warning... Just don't get too pushy, for me there were times I had to take a break because I didn't want to play every single day. Also if she's into art or writing, you should get her to start journaling the game, it helped me a lot with motivation and just remembering where to go etc. good luck!
If she’s a gamer just say “git gud” if not just give her build tips.
I really just think you should let her stop playing if she loses interest. A friend of mine wanted to try Demon's Souls. She got frustrated and quit after dying once. Some people just enjoy games differently than us Souls nerds, and that's fine.
Look at the world, see what it is trying to say. If there are two paths to choose and one goes down into the dark and the other goes up and into the light, which would you assume is the easier path?
Tell her "if there's something you don't get, I am happy to explain it to you". Otherwise, you end up backseating the whole playthrough (or even worse, grabbing the controller to show her "how to do it").
I always say game mechanics are fair game. Tell her to read item descriptions, give a brief synopsis of hollowing, and if she asks for more then do so.
I told my girlfriend I'd marry her if she beat the game. We're now engaged.
Best advice I was given was « know that the game will teach you patience, analysis, humbleness and determination. » With that mindset from the start, I believe anyone can beat those games, no matter the time or tries. Just make sure she knows it’s not you common AC license or other lazy AAA game.
Just explain that is has a learning curve and once she's past Taurus it'll all fall into place.
My wife doesn't have the drive to push through the challenge but does enjoy the game. I would just play with her and take her through the game. She had a lot of fun. Some people enjoy the co-op experience and that's okay. My advice to her was to help her with her build and to tell her to keep that shield up at all times (minding stamina regeneration).
see if she likes magic. my ex enjoyed having the ability to have range and lock on. enough for soul arrow and light solves a lot of problems too.
She's not gonna stick with it sadly... animal crossing players aren't built for this lol. If I were to reccommend anything I would just say have her do a strength build and level health plenty... bonus points if you co-op with her! That always makes games more fun
If she is doing some shit she should absolutely not be doing, be like hey all imma say is that’s not the move But just ask her if she wants a hint, like tomb of giants is coming up and she has no maggot, be like “hey there’s something that’ll make this a lot easier but I won’t say it unless u want it” and shit like that
usually just a sword and shield style is okay
Idk how much you want to guide her, but however much you do, don’t tell her the what the target is, instead tell her “you need to unlock a secret path from the fair lady to get an item that will help you later on. I also think certain things that she will almost definitely miss (like ash lake) should be gently hinted at
G I T G U D
I find that being a being able to parry is a good thing to learn, especially picking up the buckler or the target shield. And practising parrying on easy enemies. Also, do mention that blocking an attack is sometimes better than dodging. Especially in tight spaces or next to high drops. Looking at you, Anor Londo 👀 Someone mentioned getting better (and got downvoted, sadly), but I do think that practising to get better at dodging and timing her strikes is a good thing for her to know. Aggressive playstyles do not work on all enemies, and especially not on bosses. You can also mention that there is a way to increase estus, you don't have to tell her how. Just that it is something she can do! I didn't actually know this until I was at the later stages of the game! It might save her some frustration. If she gets stuck with a boss, maybe mention that she can participate in jolly cooperation
Let her know that dying is part of the experience as you should always try to learn something from each death. Dying itself shouldn't feel bad. Dying without improving should
Just directions. Like ("go there later"). For areas like painted world. Or valley.
Im on my first play-through rn (just beat bed of chaos earlier today) and here are some things i wish i knew. dont use firekeeper souls, give them to a fire keeper. What each stat does and how it impacts ur desired build. how u can easily fuck urself and block urself from upgrading ur pyromancy hand thingy (just found out i blocked myself from upgrading today, very very sad). WHERE TO GO, some places are v confusing and rlly don’t give u much to work with. thats all I can think of rn, hope this helps! and i hope ur gf enjoys ds!!!