Demon’s Soulsis a great game to play, no matter how weathered you are as a Souls player. As a complete novice, this game represents the ideal starting point as this is the first-ever FromSoft Souls game. Then, if you happen to be a Souls Veteran who missed the boat when this one launched back in 2009, this remake gives you the opportunity to see where it all began, albeit with a modern coat of paint.
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No matter what your motivation to play this one, much like every other Souls game out there, this one has a steep learning curve, and because this game is a like-for-like remake of the original, there are a few strange and unintuitive systems that take some getting used to. So, in a bid to help you hit the ground running in Boletaria and beyond, I have a few helpful beginner tips that will serve you well as you begin yourDemon’s Soulsadventure.
1Learn Some Magic
While I would usually be someone who would urge any new Souls player to be brave and go with a strength-based melee build,Demon’s Soulsstands as one of the few exceptions. This is because while you can get through the game with a big ol' bonk stick and nothing else, magic proves to be very helpful in a variety of situations.
Whether it’s using Soul Arrows to take down Flamelurker by exploiting his weakness to magic or using Cloak to make the fight against Dragon God a little less irritating, the point I’m trying to make here is that there is a strong argument thatmagic is near essential for beginner players in Demon’s Souls.
So I would suggest having at least 10 Magic and 10 Intelligence so you can buy spells in The Nexus, and equip them. Then, as for starting classes, Royalty is probably the one you want to go for if you want a wee-rounded character with the ability to learn and cast spells.
2Go With The Easiest World Order Possible
One thing that setsDemon’s Soulsapart from most Souls games on the FromSoft catalog is how you engage with the world. UnlikeDark Souls’intricate and interconnected world, for example,Demon’s Soulsissplit up into five unique locationsthat can all be explored in any order you like. You are never told what order to take these on, but there is a clear order that should be followed if you don’t want to give yourself an unnecessarily hard time.This is the order I would suggest for the first few hours of the game:
If you follow this order, you’ll be able to get your hands on all the beginner loot from all the different regions of the game, and it will take you up to the point where you get your first Archdemon Soul. Obviously, if you feel like messing around with this order, feel free to do so, but in terms of the easiest path of progression, we would say this is the order that will yield the best results.
3Get All The 1-1 Gear Before Going Forward
If you’re someone that’s played a few Souls games, you would expect the early areas of the game to have some okay items, but for most of the best items in the game to be hidden in late-game areas. Well, inDemon’s Souls,you’ll actually find some amazing items in the very first area of the game that will serve you well throughout. There are quite a few worthwhile items to source, such as:
Cling Ring
Increases your Max HP in Soul Form, depending on the player’s current World and Character tendency.
Thief’s Ring
It becomes harder for enemies to detect you.
Demonbrandt
Large Sword that deals physical and magical damage
Flame Resistance Ring
Adds 40 Points of Fire Resistance
Ring of Great Strength
Increases equipment capacity weight by 50%.
The Cling Ring is a must-have, as you will spend the vast majority of your time in Soul Form.The Thief’s Ring is near-essentialfor the Dragon God and Old Hero fights.The Flame Resistance Ring is a lifesaverin the Digger King’s World and when up against Flamelurker specifically, andthe Ring of Great Strength will stop you from fat rolling in heavy armor. The only one that may be a big ask for beginners is Demonbrandt, which can be gained from Old King Doran in the Masouleom, but he’s really tough, so don’t beat yourself up if you don’t pick this one up.
4Get A Solid Beginner Weapon
While there are a lot of great items to be had at the Gates of Boletaria, one thing that is lacking is a decent beginner weapon. You’ll have some okay options like the Mail Breaker and the Bastard Sword, but neither should be weapons you stick with long-term. Instead, you should head over to the other archstones and go looking for the following weapons depending on the build you want to run.
These are all strong options that will serve you well in the early to mid-game, and some may even see you right through to the end if fully upgraded. My pick of the bunch would be Uchigatana due to its bleed build-up and its piercing damage to make 2-1 and 2-2 a little easier, but go with whatever works best with the playstyle you tend to go for.
5Farm Hardstone And Sharpstone
Speaking of good weapons, they’ll only serve as good weapons if you take the time to upgrade them, and to upgrade them, you’ll need the necessary materials to do so. These materials can vary wildly depending on the weapon you choose to run with, butchances are that your beginner weapon will use either Hardstone or Sharpstone to upgrade its stats. These upgrades can be done at The Nexus by speaking to Blacksmith Ed.
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This costs souls and requires a decent amount of materials, so a good idea early on is to seek these stones out in bulk. Sharpstone and Hardstone can be purchased in 2-1 from the Filthy Man Merchant for 500 Souls a pop. Then, as for chunks, the Cave Lizard at the beginning of 2-2 is a great option and can be farmed repeatedly.
6Use Area 4-1 To Farm Easy Early Game Souls
As you go about creating your build, upgrading your gear, and buying spells and miracles at the Nexus, one thing will become clear very quickly: you need a lot of Souls to get ahead in this game, and aside from beating bosses, they don’t usually get handed to you in large quantities. Soit would help if you found good farming spots within the game that allow you to kill enemies fast and efficiently. There are some good early-game spots, but none compare to the opening area of 4-1.
I’m speaking specifically about the area from the moment you enter via the Archstone, to the point where you reach the gates with the two archers up top, at which point you should head back to the Archstone and reset the level. If you clear all the enemies on the path leading up to these gates and get good at using backstabs, you’ll be able to clear this section in under a minute, even as a beginner player, and this will net you about 1,800 Souls per loop. So utilize this to get up and running and dump some points into vitality if you know what’s good for you.
In more modern Souls games likeElden Ring, running a heavy-load build isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Because of all the modern systems, the wealth of items on offer, and the more refined mechanics, you’re able to lean into this lack of mobility and reap huge rewards. In fact, a few of the builds frommy recent Shadow of the Erdtree Build Ideas Guidelean into this very thing. But inDemon’s Souls, if you find yourself fat rolling, I assure you, in this game, that is essentially signing your death warrant against certain enemies.
So, to ensure you aren’t fat rolling and can avoid attacks with precise dodges, you’ll want to keep your equip load under 50%.Anything more and you’ll be less mobile.Also, a good way to ensure your equip load is low without having to worry too much about what armor you wear is by equipping the Ring of Great Strength, which, as mentioned above, can be found in 1-1, near where the Dragons hang out.
8Rescue Sage Freke And Saint Urbain As Soon As Possible
Throughout the game, you’ll come across several NPCs that will prove very useful to you, along with some that are, let’s say, less useful. No Spoilers, but just be wary of Patches, okay? But tangent aside, arguably, none will be more important than Sage Freke and Saint Urbain, depending on how much you’re into magic and miracles.
These NPCs can be found and freed from their respective captivity to join you back at The Nexus, and this will give you access to stronger spells and miracles than the measly selection available from the NPCs that occupy The Nexus by default.
Freke can be found in the Prison of Hope, and you’ll need to find the key to his cell to open it. Then,as for Saint Urbain, you’ll need to drop down the pit near the area where you encounter the Reaper enemy in 4-2. This means you’ll need to defeat the Black Phantom when you’re down there. It takes a little bit of legwork, but it’s worth it for the spells and miracles they can teach me, trust me.
9Understand Every Boss Gimmick Before Going In
Something that you need to know aboutDemon’s Soulsis that, compared to most Souls games, the bosses are pretty easy overall, with a few notable exceptions. In fact, many bosses have clear weaknesses, items that work insanely well against them, and most notably,a lot of bosses have gimmicks that make them more like puzzles than actual fights.
Take the Dragon Lord, for example. This is a fight that completely relies on stealth and timing your runs to get to the ballistas on each side of the boss area. Then you have the Old Hero fight, who is a blind enemy and, therefore, can be easily cheesed with the Thief’s Ring and the Familiar’s Prank spell. Basically, what I’m saying here is that many of the boss runs in this game are harder than the bosses, and it would be a shame to get to their fog gate just to die because you don’t understand their gimmick. So do yourself a favor, read up on each boss before you walk through that fog.
10Keep Your Weapon In Good Shape
Lastly, before we sign off and let you get stuck into everythingDemon’s Soulshas in store for you, I have to talk to you about weapon degradation. It’s a thing inDemon’s Souls, and if it happens at an inopportune time, it can all but guarantee that your encounter with the boss at the end of the section you’re working on will crush you as you do measly damage with your broken sword. So there are two things I would suggest to prevent this from happening when on the way to a boss.
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Demon’s Souls
Demon’s Souls is a remake of the title that helped to propel From Software into the limelight and inspire the Dark Souls series. The newest version features game tweaks as well as heavily-updated graphics. Players can now experience the original journey in a completely new way. Face fierce enemies and challenge yourself in PvP combat.
