And depressing as well,

I loved this music so much, but its really depressing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCjHjI0l9hk&feature=PlayList&p=C43612BF6CCEF1D1&index=3

Anyways I started as a thief because i didn't know shit about what the stats meant when i started, so i chose the coolest looking one,

I could not finish stage 1 since he was quite weak,

So since it was the 1st stage i made another character since i heard Knights were good for begginners, and yes there's a big differnce i got further, but still couldn't defeat it,

I don't know what i'm missing here, but why it does it feel even harder than contra, does this game get any easier?

I defeated the blue knight and then i went inside and got all burned up, wtf jus happened,

any advice or tips, seems like a fun game, but the difficulty is way over the top,

This game punishes you for your own lack of skill, do not worry it punished me and it punishes every single person that plays it, if they say they found it easy they are lying to keep their gaming pride intact. Now when playing keep your shield up at all times and move slowly, when approaching an enemy click the R3 button to lock on and dispatch them slowly. There is no time limit so there is no need to rush. Conserve your health and only use health regaining items when you really need to they aren't to be wasted. Overall stick at it this is probably one of the hardest games you will ever play in your life, you will get better trust me.

is the boss @ the end of the stage super hard?

I jus can not imagine losing @ the boss and repeating the whole thing again

It is not that hard, just punishing to those who think they can just run in and slash everything to pieces. My first time I chose the royalty and got the Tutorial boss down to half health. Don't worry about losing at the first boss, you open some doors that make it easier to get back to where you were, and can always just pick up your bloodstain while fighting the boss. He is slow and weak against fire, so use the firebombs and turpentine if you're not doing well.

What you need to understand is this game is very difficult in the beginning, but as you develop your character it will get easier. I think the game is this way to teach you initial respect for each enemy. at a later point you will have nothing to fear from the beginning enemies but you will remember how they punished you for every sloppy move you made. Just remember every time you die you only lose souls, not items or equipment. build your stores of items, this will be hard for you to swallow initially letting your character die when you feel its unnecessary but it better in the long run. Ive walked away from 80k souls before because I felt it just wasn't worth going back for.

The first stage seems insanely difficult. I have not even come close to making it all the way through after an hour of playing.

I am confused, in the tutorial, you have full health. Then the giant beastie clobbers you and you get sent to the Nexus. Then you are a "phantom" and you start the first stage with half health? Is it supposed to be that way? Did I miss something? When do I get full health back?

And another thing. There is absolutely no way to regenerate your health? When you run out of grasses and you've been beaten down to a sliver of health - how do the designers expect you to proceed? Even when being very careful and blocking, enemy attacks chip away your health.

Please tell me this gets a bit easier. Do you get health regen later on? Do you get healing spells? I am fine with a challenge, but at least give me the tools to survive.

Yes u do get access to regen abilities. you just have to stick with it. farm the people at the beginning of the stage. they drop grasses and all you have to do is go in and out of the nexus to restore health and magic. you just have to suffer through level one to get the good stuff.

my Theif is SL 121,pay attention to your surroundings. the first level is just one big tutorial imo, it shows you traps, exploding barrels and gives you and oppurtunity to see the difference between armored and unarmed foes. Master your weapon and watch your durability. i literally only use curved sword. but i know my weapon and can dispatch my foes quickly. Research, uhis game can be trail and error or you can be prepared. goodluck

You get better as you get farther. Of course you still die a lot, but a lot less.

Try all sorts of things, if one thing doesn't work, sometimes you'll need to try another approach. Or you just need to wait until you get stronger.

Farm monsters at the beginning of the level for grasses? They drop them very rarely.

Go back to the nexus for health? Don't the monsters just respawn when you come back?

I just think it's BS that all the monsters respawn when you die, but not all the corpses along the way that supply grasses the first time through.

Can anyone answer my question about getting full health back? Why do I only have half health for this first stage?

Try different things? Like what? This is the first stage, i'm blocking, swinging my club and dodging my little heart out, but any hit from any mob takes off a quarter of my health and there is no way to replenish it. What specific strategies have worked for you?

leave messages, when people rate them u get health back. farm for herbs or buy them in nexus. yes you are suppose to be a phantom. what class did you pick?

quote Tirade

Farm monsters at the beginning of the level for grasses? They drop them very rarely.

My Royal's luck is at the default level, and almost every soldier and knight I killed dropped a grass. Plus, you can buy crescent grass in the nexus, but I've never needed to.

quote Tirade

Go back to the nexus for health? Don't the monsters just respawn when you come back?

Yep, and that's a good thing. More monsters to kill equals more souls for you.

quote Tirade

Can anyone answer my question about getting full health back? Why do I only have half health for this first stage?

You get your body (full health) back by beating a boss, using a stone of ephemeryl eyes, or killing a player as a black phantom. But being a soul isn't that bad. You find a ring in the first stage (cling ring) which gives you 75% health instead of 50%, and you don't make as much noise as a soul. So, you can sneak up on enemies much easier (esp. with the theif ring).

quote Tirade

Try different things? Like what? This is the first stage, i'm blocking, swinging my club and dodging my little heart out, but any hit from any mob takes off a quarter of my health and there is no way to replenish it. What specific strategies have worked for you?

Counter-attack. Use the first few enemies in the first stage as sparing partners so that you can perfect the parry-riposte combo. Also, most of the time when you hit a regular enemy they are stunned for a split second which is long enough for you to usually hit them again.

The game is difficult, but it rewards practice, perseverence, and cautious methodical play. Pretend like you are actually fighting the enemies. If had to fight someone who wanted to kill you, would you fly into them without any concern for your own safety, or would you fight intelligently?

quote Gambit

And depressing as well,

I loved this music so much, but its really depressing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCjHjI0l9hk&feature=PlayList&p=C43612BF6CCEF1D1&index=3

Anyways I started as a thief because i didn't know shit about what the stats meant when i started, so i chose the coolest looking one,

I could not finish stage 1 since he was quite weak,

So since it was the 1st stage i made another character since i heard Knights were good for begginners, and yes there's a big differnce i got further, but still couldn't defeat it,

I don't know what i'm missing here, but why it does it feel even harder than contra, does this game get any easier?

I defeated the blue knight and then i went inside and got all burned up, wtf jus happened,

any advice or tips, seems like a fun game, but the difficulty is way over the top,

Hey....I also started the game some days ago and I killed the 1st boss.....and I only died 3 times during the run ......and I got all the nice items in 1-1 and u know how and why for me was easy ?

Before get the game I read and watched videos for a week and when I was on 1-1 I knew already where to go and what to get

Here a nice walkthrough for the starting area

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6m_0bvV-J9Y

watch all the 5 videos and enjoy the game