Beating Dark Souls with Mathematically Optimized DPS

[@trevthedev6134]

A couple of quick notes that I didn't outright address in the video (and a correction!): - Sunlight Blade: While Sunlight Blade would do more damage per second to a resistant enemy (i.e., Seath), gett it locks us out of using Darkmoon Blade as it breaks the covenant and you need to be in the covenant to use DMB. I mistakenly responded to some people that DMB was better against Seath but that's not true; it's like 183 damage versus 62 damage. That'll teach me to not respond to comments in the middle of the night lol. A lot of the later game bosses are generally equal in terms of resistances to magic and lightning, especially Gwyn who has a lightning defense of nearly 2 so I think DMB is just better. - Canvas Talisman: Apparently, the canvas talisman outperforms the Darkmoon talisman based on the faith I was at in the run. I had no idea! Unfortunately, Patches may or may not have tripped and fell into a hole, so his services were unavailable... - I had a graph on screen that I was going to explain but I forgot to do so. The blue dots represent a weapon with an AR of 100, 200, and 300 with all physical damage, and the orange a weapon with those same ARs but split between physical and elemental infusion. As you can tell, an infused weapon is much worse than an uninfused weapon, as that graph doesn't even account for possible weapon buffs.

[@bloodalchemy]

Why weren't you using the FaP ring?

[@trevthedev6134]

@@bloodalchemy I actually want to keep my HP as low as possible to mitigate the HP loss from Power Within, so it ends up being a bit of a negative believe it or not.

[@hrtzz_undrskor]

​@@bloodalchemyim actually fapping right now

[@Fenom007]

​@@thabos8Getting all of that and grabbing the Crystal Lizards in the Great Hollow gives you enough twinkling titanite for like 2 +5 Black Knight weapons and a high chance at a Slab without you needing to beat any bosses.

[@suckmylol]

I may just be too high, but... in practice, it's been demonstrated that you *can* "one shot" every single boss in the game. Is the dps in this just faster? I guess it depends on from what timeframe you are measuring? Idk.

[@Solairik]

This made it to my recommended page within 5 minutes of posting because KZbin knows me too well

[@rayg9753]

Same😂

[@caiocouto3450]

people who say "youtube algorithm is shit" doesn't know how to use it

[@idaf.28]

Me paso lo mismo

[@HunterHerbst]

@@caiocouto3450this is so true. I see people complain on various social media platforms that KZbin never gives them stuff they're interested in. All I do is hit like on the occasional video I like, dislike and do not recommend on stuff I don't, and sub+bell on stuff I REALLY like and absolutely want to see more of. I'll also never forget the time I was reading a community post a YTer made, and someone in the comments was complaining about how they subscribed, but didn't ever see their stuff in their recommended... Absolutely ignoring the subscriptions tab

[@vanjaarsic1616]

​@@caiocouto3450 my problem with youtube algorithm is when you watch just one video on certain topic it starts bombarding your recommended page with videos on same topic. It can really kill the diversity of content you are going to watch.

[@RagvardGrimclaw]

My face when I click on the video with "Mathematically Optimized" in title, and there's *math* in it

[@diediedice]

"😟"

[@Mewseeker]

Viewer : "I can't wait to see which legendary weapon he'll use to destroy the bosses!" TrevTheDev : "AX!"

[@geenoix2357]

mathematically optimized FPS? Oh, DPS... thats fine too

[@SpecShadow]

would fit for PC port of Prepare to Die Edition...

[@feircy]

Lol just a list of pc settings that make blightown functional

[@TheJakeJackson]

Shit I actually misread the title like this and was so confused for a minute

[@MeistroEckhart]

You're telling me the HAND AXE is the second highest dps weapons in the game?!

[@JJPA32]

Hand Axe is just a curved sword pretending to be an Axe.

[@SanguineThor]

Chop chop chop 🪓

[@tacticalmattress]

It's funny cause when i first played the game around it's release. I basically cleared 70-80% of the game with it. I didn't even change the pyromancer garbs. 😂 Could definitely kill gwyn with it with little difficulty. DS3 is similar, the starting broadsword and the deep hand axe you find early on, can clear the game pretty much, if you're decent.

[@vicstoron]

@@tacticalmattress I wonder now if there's anything similar in Elden Ring, I feel A LOT of the starting gear of classes might be slept on by many people.

[@tacticalmattress]

@@vicstoron majority of the content in Elden Ring is recycled content from DS3. Down to the combat and movement. Theyre slightly different but almost identical.

[@Gonzakoable]

I'm sorry but not using the power of friendship is a strickly unoptimal choice

[@burymeinjhenny918]

LOL

[@Pumpkinhead9092]

I prefer the power of God and anime, it's slightly less optimized but makes for a more fun playthrough.

[@connortodd4538]

@@Pumpkinhead9092 and people can't "mess" with you

[@ryanhilliker375]

Love this crunchy, dense, nerdy shit. It's scratches my brain just right

[@DTPandemonium]

Finally a permanent red tear, power within setup video.

[@pwdempsey02]

You can always farm darkwraiths for titanite slabs. The drop rate is 0.21%

[@ChengLegend]

I once got it on my first try, I wasn't even farming.

[@feircy]

Takes me back to my SL1 run XD. I farmed those fuckers for HOURS for chunks 😂

[@ChengLegend]

@@feircy why you needed chunks for sl1 run?

[@feircy]

@@ChengLegend lightning weapons

[@C1yde902]

@@feircyjust run pyromancy lol

[@JellyJman]

I do find it a bit ironic that one of the best dps weapons is the SL1 weapon

[@er4din903]

Unsurprising - that’s why it’s used at sl1

[@GeorgMaUlWurf]

sl1 club gang

[@foefafee]

Your math focused approach is really nice to give you a unique angle vs other souls KZbinrs. You’ve earned my subscription for sure! I’d love to see you tackle Bloodborne

[@bangenergyenjoyer2567]

I remember my first playthrough in 2014 thinking that Richard’s rapier was underwhelming… boy was I wrong

[@tacticalmattress]

Thing will mess you up in DS3 as well. Don't play with that man, kill him quickly 😂

[@griglog]

Its only good with a bunch of buffs to overcome the sub-flat defense of enemies

[@TheRealBDouble]

I used that thing quite a bit in DS and DS3, even though I prefer (Ultra)Greatswords. I had fun with that and a parrying dagger in my offhand because I've been involved in SCA and HEMA rapier fighting for 20 years, so I have an affinity for the rapier/sidesword and dagger combo

[@Da_maul]

The challenge was given and you heeded it, you have my respect. Hand-ax tho. . . who'd'a thunk'it. . .

[@MrPsychojmnf]

The main piece of advice I saw on almost all soul level 1 runs was: hand ax or reinforced club. Stat scaling is great at high levels but for NG you can't beat speed + weapon buffs.

[@NAWWMANNN]

This is making me wanna do another DS1 playthrough

[@authenticbaguette6673]

"Sanctuary Guardian has high magic def" Me with 50 INT blasting the guardian to outer space in 4 casts of soul spear:

[@TheSynkin]

0:27 this time with even more meth

[@crumpuscrump]

I like how you can hear his pain when explaining his min maxing

[@trevthedev6134]

Just wait until Elden Ring lol. Especially with customization for ashes of war

[@pyromaniak2736]

Holy sh*tballs dude I was a detractor from the first vid had a few criticisms and none of them were even RELEVANT to this run (outside power and a weapon buff) like I was super confussed about banning tail weapons. I will say I think it's arguable that sunlight is more "optimal" just because it's a bossfight to get not a farm for 80 bird ears. You outdid yourself far more work than I would have done on a followup unless I was very annoyed lol. As for my weapon I would have guessed iether the black knight Halbert or the zweihander with buffs. Big swing make big numbers

[@trevthedev6134]

Thanks! I think this is more what I envisioned to be honest, but when I did that first one I though cataloging stuff like attack speed and everything was too tall a task. Glad I did so however!

[@TheSuperColonel]

Sunlight blade would have dealt more damage on many enemies than the Darkmoon blade. Eg Seath has 207 lighting defense but 690 magic defense.

[@Ornithopter470]

That does place an interesting dilemma, because you're locked out of Darkmoon blade and the covenant buff.

[@laeyein]

exactly the kind of content i like to see. i appreciate that you've stuck with it, revised previous mistakes, and further optimized your route. excellent video!!

[@765craven4]

Excellent video, just as last time. I knew from the moment the video started that Ricard's Rapier was gonna be the main receiver of Darkmoon Blade but did not expect the Hand Axe to be the secondary. I knew it was good but not *that* good. RTSR+Power Within with a powerful weapon buff like Darkmoon Blade can turn any weapon that can receive it into a powerhouse tbf but seeing the boss healthbars melt like that was definitely satisfying. With how short of a window many of the bosses died in I do think it's worth noting that the Dragon Torso Stone is usable while outside the Covenant, you'll just have to use the lowest level version of it which is still a large damage boost, just not as potent as any of the other ones present.

[@trevthedev6134]

Yeah honestly the main issue would be stamina. The roar takes a good chunk which kind of make it tough to get the 2hit combo without a huge stamina bar. You probably have to get close to the soft cap in order to hit everything in that 5second window. The rapier definitely surprised me as well. I didn’t even know about it until I did my platinum run, and even when doing set up for this I didn’t realize it could be buffed until messing around with online at calculators. It’s honestly a bit nuts how strong it ended up being.

[@ozberin]

Found this channel two weeks ago and I must say the output and quality you put out is amazing! Keep up the good work, I really enjoy these videos and would love to see some ds2 & ds3 action at some point as well.

[@SloppyDeck]

Hey i just watched the other video and was hoping to see your improvements. What a pleasant surprise to see you just uploaded

[@thahrdworkingingo]

This makes me feel happy because way back when I knew weapon buffs were weird in DS1 and specifically tried this set up of ricards rapier with dark moon blade (cheat engined it in just to see cause the farm would be a pain to get the covenant to max) and yeah... Those results were absolutely hilarious.

[@BodeOwO]

its absolutely incredible to melt the bosses instantly, loved the video :D

[@madelineritchie]

I just finished the other video moments ago. Well done thank you for this personalized service.

[@Glitchesftw]

more videos exactly like this please. 9/10 video rating, 1 knocked off for not farming the 0.21% drop rate Titanite Slabs (as already mentioned for ultimate DPS. Great work. Love math focus. Love statistics and DPS and calculations. Proud of you.

[@The-Anathema]

And there we have the BKS, I was wondering why that wasn't there in the previous video. This is indeed an improved version.

[@hb-robo]

This is so cool man, I have not done any exploratory work into DS1 but I dig into systems for optimality just like this for other games in my free time. I love your approach here, it’s similar to how I approach my projects but more rigorous. Looking forward to seeing what you do next, glad the algorithm finally delivered me to my people

[@trevthedev6134]

Glad you like it!

[@MrDarkBoy93]

Awesome video, your sifting through data def paid off. Do Dark souls 2 next!

[@thefeeblesheep]

Love finding a Souls player on KZbin I've never seen before. Nice

[@cheyhey2170]

randomly had this in my recommended. i didnt watch dark souls content in a while but i loved ds1 and spent way too much time in it.. great video

[@CassiusGreen]

Great video! Rare to see a video be so good on so many points. Good commentary and explanation, great editing and great execution in-game!

[@evilplugg_]

i don’t really have anything interesting to comment but i hope the interaction benefits your channel because ive been enjoying your content

[@Dr.RojoMcDelly]

Love the unique take on how you approached this! Earned a sub my guy

[@tristan_tds]

Been following for a bit, and I can tell that the work you put in these vids will definitely be paying off soon. I can't imagine your subs not shooting up in the near future. Great video as always, brother. Can't wait to see what the future holds for this channel! (y)

[@thiagomorais7419]

Ive just spoken to my girlfriend abt how I like to play dark souls optimizing my builds as fast as I can, AND THIS VIDEO SHOWS UP THATS LIKE HUGE THANKS MATE LOVED T

[@miguelchanjr]

Don’t let the backlogs watch this

[@Grimprospect]

Love this idea! I hope you do it for all the souls games!

[@ra_0374]

A vid like this for ds2 would probably be insane cause of the length of the game and amount of content

[@vladimirgaucan8832]

Dude will blow up and I'm here for it

[@midnighte7393]

Amazing KZbinr 🖤 can’t wait to see you with thousands of subs

[@zlr9022]

Great video i really enjoyed it and learned how dark souls damage works

[@chadpunte1731]

it's been like 15 years, but I distinctly remember that rapier being unable to be infused...

[@chadpunte1731]

buffed*

[@trevthedev6134]

@@chadpunte1731 I 100% thought so as well. It wasn't until I checked an AR calculator online that I actually saw it on the buffable weapons list. It CANNOT be buffed in DS3, so that's probably where the confusion is coming from.

[@trevthedev6134]

@@chadpunte1731 Scrap that last message, the wiki says it can't be buffed but people say that it actually can. Definitely gonna try this out in my next Ds3 run, if only it wasn't in Archdragon peak...

[@oumo]

The fact you only have 2k subs is criminal. Great content as always about my favorite game

[@OathOfRevenge]

Great video! A really cool followup could be showing the highest dps weapon PER CATEGORY

[@ianm2757]

As someone who's never delved into optimized damage, I guessed the Lifehunt scythe because it always seemed crazy strong

[@PandaStyle07]

Bro said math, and boss music started playing in my head

[@krishnansubramoni7801]

Amazing stuff. And I would love to see you do this for all the FromSoftware games ❤

[@satoshisiq9086]

awesome video, would love to see more of this in others souls games

[@Rossay]

Haven't seen the entire video but you can use the Sanctus shield to get to get a HO regen of 2HO every 2 seconds. This, with power within, curse and the rinf that halves your HP for a magic buff (I believe more magic uses?) makes you heal the same amount of HO lost from PW. This setup is basically a "safe" Hyper Mode. It helps because you can take your time in killing the boss as you will never die of natural HP loss

[@Rossay]

I meant HP, not HO. Sorry, YT mobile app kinda sucks on my mobile

[@trevthedev6134]

I actually ended up using that exact set-up. I actually had to micromanage my hp in some of the later fights as the hp regen will take me out of RTSR range.

[@Rossay]

​@@trevthedev6134I gotta do a run with this build one day

[@Soulessblur]

I kind of want to see how this would look on a NG+7 run with all the player stats at their soft caps - see what kind of weapon setups stand on top when both you and your opponents all have their limits broken

[@zerochan2915]

the answer is probably going to be one shot builds

[@Soulessblur]

@@zerochan2915 One Shot Builds are focused on maximizing AR, which is fundamentally different from DPS. Not to mention most One Shot Builds end up relying on magic, and these calculations are melee only.

[@zerochan2915]

@@Soulessblur The definition of DPS is literally damage per second. If you can one shot a boss, theoretically the DPS will easily surpass any other builds because it will by definition have the highest DPS. If you are to restrict yourself how the DPS is calculated, eg. melee only/non one shot only/no parry etc., the more restriction you have, the less meaningful it becomes. btw if there's one answer I think it would be Darkbead. It's just going to one or two shot every boss in NG+7.

[@Soulessblur]

@@zerochan2915 Trev himself does not use damaging or ranged spells in these videos. The melee only is not my restriction, it's his. I'm aware what DPS is, I didn't think that needed to be established. If 2 weapons can one shot a boss, it's still going to be the faster of the two to land it's first attack that has the higher DPS. And the majority of One Shot runs are in NG, because the majority of bosses cannot be one shot in NG+7. If One Shot Builds were the fastest to kill enemies, it would have been the case in this video as well, and the run would have been indistinguishable from a one shot build. One shot Builds DO NOT care about Damage Per Second, they are after a fundamentally different criteria. Even if you can one shot a boss, a two handed R2 on the dragon axe might still take more time than 2 two handed R2's from a knife, for example.

[@zerochan2915]

@@Soulessblur well.. no. If you one shot a boss you have the highest DPS possible, end of story. I think it needs to be established because I don't think you understand how DPS works. Let's say a boss have 10000 HP, and you can kill it in the shortest time possible, that will make your DPS 10000. (Theoretically it should be 600k because you deal 10000 within 1 frame, but since the max HP of the boss is capped at 10000 so any number above 10000 would be no difference.) And that's exactly how a one shot build works.

[@Skrub2AM]

amazing work! was really happy to see this on my home page so soon. keep it up ^^^^

[@mariogaviota4467]

Man i love this kind of videos

[@velvetbutterfly]

Seeing this for all the other games could be interesting.

[@trevthedev6134]

Working in ds3 now! I’m actually gonna do 2 runs there - one with weapons, and the other with magic / miracles / pyromancies!

[@ReidZer0]

This video is giving me the itch to replay Dark Souls

[@iamthehobo]

Great watch I look forward to more

[@sametekiz3709]

29:13 man that manus fight is so funny

[@Spectrum0122]

All this time I've figured claymore+power within+ maxed STR/DEX was the move. Had no idea darkmoon blade was so OP

[@DimIsHigh]

It was at this point, when I got ACTUALLY excited about the phrase "let's tackle DS with even more math" that I realized how happy I am to be a fucking nerd

[@mr.h3936]

I’m so god damn happy you uploaded Trev I’ve been binging your vids in the background while I do homework or play dark souls and your vids help me through a good deal of stuff! Keep it up man I wanna see more

[@BillyAW]

Hey just a quick note: For Four Kings, you can continue doing damage to any king during their death animation, and it will apply the damage to the boss's shared health pool (even though the king you're attacking is 'dead' already). You definitely had enough damage and time to get a 1 king kill!

[@s.e.n3264]

When I want big boy damage. I always go with. Man serpent greatsword crystal +5 Power within Sunlight blade Darkmoon blade Attunement 14 Strength 66 Faith 40 Darkmoon talisman Pyro flame (ascended is preferred) Dragon torso mode with roar FAP ring Rtsr Finally low health. With all buffs active you'll get over 2,000 damage with either of the weapon buffs. I think you can get this setup at around SL75, if I remember correctly.

[@masonguyman3074]

Fun fact: You can continue to damage the Four Kings' shared healthbar during a single King's death animation. Just keep swingin' till you stop doin damage

[@Foostini]

Honestly Ricard's Rapier is exactly what i would have guessed, six hits in the span of 2-3 second is huge for whar you're going for.

[@Probably_Laurence]

leaving a comment for the yt algorhythm to catch up on you

[@mattnsg13]

i don't know basic math but here i am watching this

[@bandanakid1337]

Really great video!

[@a_level_70_elite_raccoon]

Great stuff. I love a good spreadsheet, crunching numbers. Would love to see more of this, but I fear for your sanity if you ever do Elden Ring 😅

[@ComfortsSpecter]

Incredible Work Great Vibe I barely Understand the math Thank You

[@thefireman3476]

As for farming for specific items, you can copy paste your current game's save file somewhere before you kill the enemy, then kill the enemy, if you do not get your drop, overwrite the game file with the previous one you copied. This way you save time, don't remember exactly where the game file is located, something like "NBGI" and something with a long string of numbers. You would have to search it up, I haven't done that in some time.

[@trevthedev6134]

I actually did find where to do half at the back half of this playthrough when I was concerned about durability with the Rapier.

[@dracosapphire6821]

This is a great video! keep doing your thing.

[@FriskXI]

Quickest subscription of my life, amazing content, keep it up

[@giovanedamaso3043]

Painted Guardian Sword with Darkmoon blade

[@fuzzythoughts8020]

Before I watch, knowing the great scythe is the best weapon on a 40/40 quality build, I'm curious to see what wins best DPS under specialized builds.

[@lev1athan763]

The last-second heals are giving me second hand anxiety

[@lucasimoniello5618]

This is what the internet was made for

[@LinkageAX]

The faith meme build is real!

[@teddyhh9947]

Now beat Dark Souls with mathematically minimized dps

[@oblivionxt1]

Literally just watched the other dark souls vid yesterday, then this happens👍🏾

[@dillonqaphsiel7977]

Dont forget about the broken stright sword. Actually has really high dps

[@trevthedev6134]

I know you might be memeing a bit but it’s in the top half (maybe even top 3rd?) because of how stupidly powerful weapon buffs are in ds1

[@RadxPLord]

This is the build I was looking for

[@garrettschienschang7898]

I would have thought the great scythe would have been one of the highest dps weapons but I forgot about weapon buffs.

[@kingofhearts1156]

Hell yeah brother I was hoping we'd get another 😤😤

[@xxnicholas_farkasxx4373]

a litte engagement farming for you.

[@alessandromartini2243]

I think there's a crystal lizard in the great hollow that drops a slab too

[@vikings-pistons]

Subscribed. Love this type of content

[@kahlzun]

didnt even fully level the weapons in the end, mad

[@Cracks094]

I'd have honestly expected the basic Falchion or similar curved sword to be the highest DPS, but I also believe that your calculations assume optimal conditions with no-interruption pure output which of course would make other weapons far superior. That said I still believe in actual fight performance, a curved sword like the falchion might be able to technically outperform other weapons. The running attack and generally quick R1 attacks would allow for fast and reliable strafing/dodging of attacks and would make for slightly better uptime in non optimal conditions.

[@trevthedev6134]

Yeah they’re up there in terms of dps for sure. I think for r1 spam they generally sit behind the hand axe and dagger, but are better than daggers for enemies that have high elemental resistance. Fwiw I don’t think the rapier is the best weapon in the game or anything, I would generally rather use something like the PGS.

[@SableMonk]

I hope you can do the rest of the series.

[@trevthedev6134]

I certainly would like to as well! Hoping to tackle DS3 next most likely, easier game to route than some other titles.

[@dreamz1417]

​@@trevthedev6134Demon's Souls would be very interesting too. I always crescent falchion and dragon longsword 90% of the game (hiltless being the other 10 lol), I wonder just how far off from optimal that it, as convenient as these weapons are to use.

[@trevthedev6134]

@@dreamz1417 Well from a optimized standpoint I think Demon's Souls would be all magic lol. Maybe if I do that I'll do it without direct magic damage.

[@ivanlagayacrus1891]

Ok fair play, subbing out of sheer respect for the follow up

[@hamman706]

29:30 I fw this intermission

[@exodus9001]

Man, absolutely crazy.

[@DJkillerFILMZ]

If I remember correctly from an old video that tested all the DS1 dps weapons, the 2 highest dps weapons were the great scythe and the scimitar (pure dps using the entire stamina bar) great video tho. It’s an old ENB video so i dont even know if it still exists

[@trevthedev6134]

Yeah the per second part depends on how you define attack speed. I just chose the length of a 2 hit combo, as I think that is usually the most realistic scenario in a boss fight. Almost everything in the top 10 is a curved sword iirc except Ricards Rapier and the Hand Axe. Super quick attacks + good damage + weapon buffs make for a lethal combo!

[@SethAbercromby]

In terms of DPS I would've thought it'd be Chaos Blade at 10+ humanity, since it does gain some very high damage scaling. But I suppose the fact it can't be enchanted ends up putting it down a few ranks.

[@thomasspinola7417]

Thanks for the great amount of information.

[@rix0r222]

I plotted the iso surface defined by the table at around 2:55 and there is a massive discontinuity between the 2nd and 3rd parts. Are those numbers correct? All the other parts line up with each other.

[@trevthedev6134]

Honestly not sure… I know I did this one with a different damage formula that was reverse engineered instead of the one I’m using now which is datamined (although they are identical for most of the ‘tiers’). Might be where that inconsistency comes from as this was early on when I was learning about mechanics. Either that or there might be a typo in one of the formulas?

[@sensenmann3000]

@rix0r222 Do you have it somewhere? :)

[@ArcadiaP]

What the actual hek, that Rapier melted! Woa.

[@connerblank5069]

-claims to have done a mathematically optimized run -doesn't have 99 in every damage stat Heathen.