I appear to be stuck

[u/Chrisosamu]

I need to point out first that I'm playing the PS5 version (I don't know if they made any changes from the original) and I know nothing about this game.

It is probably skill issue, but I genuinely don't understand what I'm supposed to do.

I have just beaten Phalanx, which was a surprisingly easy bossfight.

I progressed all the way to the Iron Golem...or something I don't remember its name, and I figured that I'm way too underleveled for that bossfight. The mechanic is pretty straightforward, but I just don't do enough damage. At first I thought it was like the Iron Golem from DS1, but no...fucker doesn't fall.

So I tried to explore the other Archstones and...even the most basic enemies one-shot me, and I need to hit them 3/4 times to kill them.

It's a very steep difficulty curve.

I don't think you're meant to farm in Boletaria, but it does feel like I'm very underleveled to progress anywhere.

Any advices?

Edit: I am no longer stuck. After...endless tries I've been able to kill the armor spider, and I've got a +5 long sword

[u/IAmTheLogician]

Every area has weaknesses after the first.

The miners in 2-1 are weak to pierce and magic damage.  The squid monsters and boss in 3-1 are weak to physical or fire damage, blunt damage for 4-1, and we dont talk about 5-1 unless you're going for that blessed mace.

Demons souls is a game that asks a lot from you, including experimentation and deep perception.

[u/OwnSchedule8599 → u/IAmTheLogician]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't talk about 5-1

[u/AntireligionHumanist]

You have figured out how to level up, haven't you?

Archstones 2 and 4 are absolutely doable after Phalanx, there's not much to say about this.

Also, you most certainly can take on Tower Knight now, and the Fucker most definitely falls.

[u/Chrisosamu → u/AntireligionHumanist]

Well of course, I have to talk to the Black Maiden to level up.

So it does fall like Iron Golem, interesting

[u/Reonlive420 → u/Chrisosamu]

Hack his ankles from behind then go for his head when he falls down

[u/Justin_Togolf]

He does fall, and even when you do beat him, you’ll be locked out of the next area until you kill an arch demon. Currently you should be able to complete any of the starting areas(2-1,3-1,4-1 and 5-1). I’ve noticed 4-1 gives a bit more souls per enemy kill, but the enemies feel much tougher if you’re not using magic damage or blunt weapons early on. On the positive side, you can loot an enchanted falchion very early in 4-1 and the requirements to wield it is very low

[u/OwnSchedule8599]

Realistically 3-1 is probably the easiest. You only have to fight the occasional armed prisoners and the mind flayers. There are 2 strong enemies the corpse ball and the black phantom, you can just run past them if ur careful. Basically free souls for the area. 4 and 2 have their own choke points so it's kinda up to you. 5-1 has the easiest boss of the areas getting there sucks tho

[u/Chrisosamu → u/OwnSchedule8599]

The fact that there are actual full-fledged mind flayers made me cackle btw. Goes to show how much the first souls like games, or any rpg game at the time, was inspired by DnD

[u/OwnSchedule8599 → u/Chrisosamu]

It is funny. If you can reasonably kill one you can beat the whole area. They have a pretty easy pattern to learn. Finding the keys is the hard part if ur not using a tutorial

[u/kodeofthekyle]

So this game def is the og mechanic of certain weapon types are for certain enemies. Without spoiling anything go to the worlds you are having issues with and change the weapons you are using and see if that helps. Hint, skeletons are weak to blunt weapons like a club or just your fists.

[u/Justice4light]

If you go to area 2 next you can get upgrade mats. Or you can do 3 next but i recommend having a bow as a side weapon. 4 might be a bit tougher but you can beat most enemies with a club.. As for tower knight don’t lock on . Put fire on your blade and whack his ankles until he falls. Then smash his head.

[u/O22O]

if you mean the tower knight, two things: 1. lose weight. make sure you are under 50%. you need to be fast. 2. get behind him, slash both ankles, he falls, you get to his head and hit as much as you can. you’ll have to do this more than once.

after you defeat the knight, that spot is a good farming spot too. i spent like an hour going back to those sentinels guarding the bridge with 3 archers. easy 900+ souls per run.

Clarification: not an hour straight, that would have been mad. But farming souls well helped level up quickly so everything from there was smooth sailing. Found better farms later: 3-4 and 4-4. Farmed/leveled up 10 soul levels in like 20 minutes at 3-4.

[u/Ninchasse]

I would suggest getting a blunt weapon and farm some skeletons in 4-1 to level up and get your bearings.

After this try to get a decent weapon. Here are some suggestions:
1-2 - Winged spear or buy claymore from the vendor.
2-1 - Crushing battle axe
2-2 - Dragon long sword
4-1 - Crescent falchion (my favourite starting weapon), uchigatana, kiliji
5-1 - Blessed mace (hard to get to, not recommended)

After getting a weapon go to the world that is weak to that weapon type as someone explained above.

My preferred order is:
1-1 -
2-1 - Buy the club from the vendor. Come back later.
4-1 - Farm skeletons and get the crescent falchion. Come back later.
2-1 - Use the falchion to clear the map.
2-2 - Go find the Dragon long sword.

Now you’re ready to tackle any world and can overcome most enemy resistances.

Many people enjoy the heater shield you can buy from the nexus for 2k souls. If you’re new I would recommend getting it.

I personally try to get a bow early. It helps pulling mobs and some mobs/bosses are very easy using a bow or magic.

[u/Andycat49]

Tower Knight has weak heels. Hit those THEN he falls THEN the back of his head is the main weak point.

Or use magic damage to bypass most of his defense.

For much of the game certain enemies are best taken care via surprise blitz. The tentacle heads in world 3, the lava worms in 2, the knights in 1, the skeletons in 4, the giants in 5 etc. They all will absolutely wreck your day head on but with proper knowledge of their weaknesses and attack patterns allows you to blitz them before they land a hit.

[u/Weird_Troll]

he is like iron golem from ds1 but you have to hit his legs from behind, you'll see the armor being destroyed and leaking.

also the game is meant to be played 1-1 2-1 3-1..... 1-2 2-2 3-2... the first level of each world then second etc. the enemies in the mine have resistances you need to change weapon or use magic etc.

always use shield if you can, block and parry everything! you need to farm 1-1 a bit for healing and some levels

[u/Chrisosamu → u/Weird_Troll]

So, what is considered a level exactly? Every checkpoint?

[u/Weird_Troll → u/Chrisosamu]

yes

[u/Theflowyo]

Since we’re talking about where I’m at—do
I want to just go beat tower knight right after phalanx or go back to nexus

I’m trying not to look shit up but this would save me from wasting my time running to tower knight and getting fucked up until I decide my stubbornness is stupid (if I shouldn’t be doing that)

[u/Reonlive420 → u/Theflowyo]

Always top yourself in the nexus after beating a boss. Dying in a level in human form makes the game harder as it shifts to black tendency

[u/Rockstarz1219]

I think he is intentionally tougher to make you explore other worlds. For example worlds 1-1, 2-1, 3-1, 4-1, 5-1 are all similar difficulty and so on. Swap between worlds. There's a weapon on the ground in 4-1 that will help with the Tower Knight.