Dark Souls - Discussion Thread

[Gannu]

Excellent progress man. Looks like you're doing just fine. Were you able to take out the Armoured Tusk in Undead Parish?

Yeah. After taking down the undead spearman, I quietly walked to the right side towards the stairs, cleared out the bunch of undead there and picked up some alluring skulls. Threw one down behind the corpse on fire. The tusk charged towards it, caught itself on fire and almost died. One last slash to its exposed arse and it was dead. I am sure I wouldn't stand a chance head on.

There are not many black knights in the game compared to the ones we had encountered in Boletarian Palace in Demon’s Souls. I love to take these chaps head on and do some parry + riposte. I have almost perfected this move and can take on most foes with ease, albeit those that can be parried. Some of them cannot be parried at all which we wouldn’t know unless we parry whilst they attack. The worst part is even the enemy can riposte if we attack them when their shields are raised. Those assassins in lower undead burg for instance. There were two ahead of me and I slashed one only to be riposted back! The assassin grabbed me by my back and slashed my neck – somehow managed to survive with the last bit of health though.

Completed Darkroot Garden and slayed the Moonlight Butterfly. This was perhaps the easiest of all the levels. Heck, even the stone knights were pretty easy. Summoned Witch Beatrice for the boss battle and she almost solo’ed it making it a very trivial battle and hardly lasted a minute! :ashamed: The reason why I summoned her is because she can be summoned for a boss battle later, only if she is summoned here. Haven’t invested much in magic so took a few shots using the arrows and the short bow while the witch managed to fire a few shots using her long range spells. Those ents managed to surprise me a few times by spawning behind me; fortunately I’ve upped the volume of the speakers so even the slightest movements are recorded. Collected all the loot in this level as well.

Shall now proceed towards Darkroot Basin.

Allwyn was this similar to your progress route? Not counting the firelink shrine visits i.e.

Undead Asylum>Firelink Shrine>Undead Burg>Undead Parish>Lower Undead Burg>Darkroot Garden>Darkroot Basin

Or did you visit the Depths before the Darkroot Garden?

 

[Ethan_Hunt]

Yeah. After taking down the undead spearman, I quietly walked to the right side towards the stairs, cleared out the bunch of undead there and picked up some alluring skulls. Threw one down behind the corpse on fire. The tusk charged towards it, caught itself on fire and almost died. One last slash to its exposed arse and it was dead. I am sure I wouldn't stand a chance head on.

Yeah. I remember it being a dumb-arse and ramming right into the fire. Sadly, mine was too busy shoving me around to even head towards the fire, but I got him fair and square. You'll find 2 more of them on your way to the Dukes Archives and believe me, you would be battling them in a small hallway, with very limited room to dodge.

There are not many black knights in the game compared to the ones we had encountered in Boletarian Palace in Demon’s Souls. I love to take these chaps head on and do some parry + riposte. I have almost perfected this move and can take on most foes with ease, albeit those that can be parried. Some of them cannot be parried at all which we wouldn’t know unless we parry whilst they attack. The worst part is even the enemy can riposte if we attack them when their shields are raised. Those assassins in lower undead burg for instance. There were two ahead of me and I slashed one only to be riposted back! The assassin grabbed me by my back and slashed my neck – somehow managed to survive with the last bit of health though.

The enemy riposte animations are so f*cking cool. I mean you should see one of those videos with the Demon's Club riposting an enemy, it makes your bones cringe. Wish it had more gore and possibly, decapitation. I rarely do that though. Speaking of enemies riposting - been there, done that.

Completed Darkroot Garden and slayed the Moonlight Butterfly. This was perhaps the easiest of all the levels. Heck, even the stone knights were pretty easy. Summoned Witch Beatrice for the boss battle and she almost solo’ed it making it a very trivial battle and hardly lasted a minute! :ashamed: The reason why I summoned her is because she can be summoned for a boss battle later, only if she is summoned here. Haven’t invested much in magic so took a few shots using the arrows and the short bow while the witch managed to fire a few shots using her long range spells. Those ents managed to surprise me a few times by spawning behind me; fortunately I’ve upped the volume of the speakers so even the slightest movements are recorded. Collected all the loot in this level as well.

Any particular reason why you need to summon help? I was always presented with this opportunity, but never once took advantage of it. It gives you a supreme amount of please decimating those bosses on your own. You'll get owned a lot, sure, but then the payback would be much sweeter. In Demon's Souls, I was too busy enjoying the easy ride to be even bothered with the summoned people helping me with the boss. But not this game. I don't care even if it takes me 100 tries, but I'll do it on my own. I haven't invested close to 50 hours in this game for nothing. P

Allwyn was this similar to your progress route? Not counting the firelink shrine visits i.e.

Undead Asylum>Firelink Shrine>Undead Burg>Undead Parish>Lower Undead Burg>Darkroot Garden>Darkroot Basin

Or did you visit the Depths before the Darkroot Garden?

My progress was pretty random. I didn't visit the Lower Undead Burg until I cleared Blighttown and Depths. This made the Capra Demon battle for me a lot easier, as I had quite a lot of stamina and those dogs were just one shot kill. That fight hardly lasted me for 5 minutes or so. I spent a lot of time moving through the Catacombs and that area must have been the longest area I have spent so far; dying and exploring. Made a brief visit to the Tomb of Giants, only to realise, I was over-powered by the enemies and pitch black area added to that aggravation. Darkroot Garden and Basin's first half is quite easy. The second half has quite a few tricks up it's sleeve. I'm almost done with that area now.

Sen's Fortress is another hell, followed by Anor Londo. You could keep these area for the time when you have a good gear and level up. Also, for heaven's sake, DO NOT SUMMON anyone during the boss fight with Smough and Ornstein. That is one challenging battle that you need to perform on your own.

 

[Gannu]

Thanks to the Monday morning blues, I forgot to update the progress!

Spent the weekend mostly with parents and some Dark Souls playthrough. Currently at SL 45, 19 humanity, beat Great Grey Wolf Sif at the Darkroot Garden, Hydra at the Darkroot Basin, eliminated all the members of the Alvina’s clan (and joined the clan later!), Stray Demon at the Undead Asylum and completed The Depths sans the boss battle.

Thank goodness I decided to pay a visit back to the Undead Asylum, I was able to collect the Rusted Iron Ring which greatly helped me with the Hydra mini-boss battle and defeating the golem that spawn adjacent to it inside the cave. The Stray Demon undoubtedly was the mightiest boss I’ve faced until now (hell, even battling Sif was much easier compared to this dude!) and turns out, he (i.e. the Stray Demon) has the highest HP among ALL the bosses in the game. Took me at least 7~8 minutes of circle strafing around the guy and hitting his arse continuously with the Drake Sword. Earned me 20k souls which was well worth it I say. Next stop was Darkroot basin. The hydra initially killed me after shooting those balls of water which had the AoE damage – the shield did not help. Finally sprinted in a zig-zag way towards the hydra and stood next to the creature with the shield raised. The moment the heads came hitting towards the ground, slashed it twice and recovered the stamina. Few minutes and this creature was history. Rescued Dusk of Oolacile from the golem and slayed each of Alvina’s forest hunter clan one by one. The sorcerer was a b1tch who kept spamming me with soul arrows but he was easy once I was fighting close to him. Earned me some 10k+ souls here. And then I joined her clan.

Next stop – Sif! Sif was easy once I figured out his moves. Stood underneath his belly and kept slashing him. Moved towards the bonfire and did all the necessary upgrades. I then decided to wind up the game (since it was 10 past midnight by then!) but decided to just have a stroll inside The Depths and then continued until the fog door of the boss. :ashamed: But it would have hardly taken me 40 minutes to clear this level since most areas were interconnected by drains and walkways. And other than the Giant Rat, there weren’t any formidable foes. The butchers were easy and so was the Channeler. Standing from afar, I could get a clear shot at the Channeler using the long bow. His soul arrow shots kept hitting the barricade. 4 shots using the heavy arrow, he was down. He did buff the small rats there in the meantime though.

Today's objective - slay the boss of this area and pause it. Got to fold sh1t loads of clothes and watch the recent episodes of Dex. and Homeland.

 

[Ethan_Hunt]

Made a lot of progress this weekend. After my last post, I managed to clear out the entire Darkroot Basin, but screwed up on the conversation with Alvina. I chose 'No', when prompted for a choice and then it just kept saying "Be gone from here, pernicious caitiff!". So f*ck it!

Proceeded towards the Great Grey World Sif's area and had a slightly tough time dodging his attacks. But then got all the patterns right and got my victory with all my Estus flasks were almost depleted. Used the Homeward Bone to make my way back to the bonfire. Then moved onto New Londo Ruins. The ghosts were butchering me and I didn't have a clue of what to do. Found out later on that we either need a cursed weapon or be in cursed form to inflict any damage to them. Used the Transient curse item and hacked away at them with my Drake Sword. Got another Fire keeper's soul here. I had almost managed to snag a Firekeeper's soul off invading Lautrec's world and finish him off. But I'll get to that later. As I went deeper down the New Londo Ruins, I encountered these Darkwraiths who were quite intimidating in the beginning, but found since my Lightning spear is now upgraded to +4, I can easily take them down with a few hits. Released the water from this area and opened up the short-cut to the Valley of Drakes.

Killed the Undead Dragon in this area with a few shots of my Dragonslayer bow and arrows. Next up, I decided to take on the 4 Kings boss fight and they massacred me in the beginning, but found out their attack patterns pretty soon and then it was only a matter of time, before all of them bowed to me. Also decided to clear off that meddling Hellkite dragon on the bridge of the Undead Parish, near the Sunlight altar. Melee was just getting me killed, as the fire attacks were way too much for me to handle. I used the Dragonslayer bow and got the job done.

With nearly 80% of the game done and most of the areas cleared, I finally decided to venture into the Demon Ruins to see if my fire resistance had built up to take down the Ceaseless Discharge and it was indeed. With my Gold Hemmed Black set armour, Fire resistance ring and the black knights shield I was easily able to block most of it's attack. Finished this boss off with the Lightning Spear. Resumed the game today and ventured a bit further into the Demon Ruins and boy this place has multiple mini Taurus demon's charging at you and smaller versions of Capra demons in here and all of them re-spawn on you death and re-birth. Made my way through the fog which revealed the Demon Firesage boss, who was pretty much a clone of Asylum demon. Wasn't a big deal to beat him as well. Stopped here for the day. Currently at soul level 85 and have around 60 Humanity's with my and 6-7 Twin Humanities.

I'll now be focusing on building some good weapons and beefing up my shield. My Kite shield is at +10 now and Crescent shield is around +8. Need a freaking Titanite slab to perform my next upgrade on the Lightning Spear, but can't seem to find any till now. Grrr! Anyway, will keeping digging.

 

[Gannu]

Slayed the Gaping Dragon. This one was pretty easy and the intro sequence was cool. I judged the size of the boss going by the large arena with the pillars. Chose to do away with the shield, two-handed the Drake sword and kept hacking it each time it slammed its mouth on the ground. It took a few seconds before it recovered so that was the perfect time to land all the blows. After its HP was down by some 50% or so, it began puking sh1t loads of some acid and kept running away from it. Also managed to chop off its tail for a great axe which requires 50 str. to wield it. Heh no thanks, I guess I'm fine with the lesser swords and weapons.

I must say however, the character designs in the game (and Demon's Souls as well) are really commendable. From Soft. has employed some really skilled artists and designers. The titanite demon and gaping dragon for instance.

Allwyn, how hard is Blighttown? I just saw the dark entrance after I unlocked the door using the key obtained from the Gaping Dragon. Is this place anywhere related to the Tower of Latria?

@Ethan_Hunt

 

[Ethan_Hunt]

Blighttown is pretty easy. Just need to watch out for the narrow ledges, the toxic dart shooting snipers (get hit and you're HP detiorates very quickly) and the poison swamp area. If you're asking in terms of spook factor, nothing I have encountered till now, rivals Demon's Souls Tower of Latria. There were some jerky movements, but nothing which creeped me out, as the environment of that stage. Tomb of the Giants was slightly close, but still not comparable.

Tower of Latria was special mainly because of it's level design, enemies and the sound.

 

[Gannu]

OK that's comforting to know. And now that I've rescued Laurentius, should I head back to the Firelink Shrine and get some pyro. training from him?

 

[Ethan_Hunt]

OK that's comforting to know. And now that I've rescued Laurentius, should I head back to the Firelink Shrine and get some pyro. training from him?

Not really worth it, to be honest. I got my Pyromancy upgraded to +7, but never really used it. You can browse through what he has to offer and see if you see anything you like. My suggestion, don't purchase anything which costs you huge amount of souls, if you're going the melee way only.

 

[Gannu]

So looks like you've gone completely melee this time. I intend to do the same except that there're some AI prone to fire damage much more than melee. For instance, those slimy creatures encountered in The Depths are a one shot kill from the pyro. flame whereas it takes some 7~8 hits from the Drake Sword.

What of Iron Flesh? Did you not get this from Laurentius?

 

[Ethan_Hunt]

Yes. I have gone completely melee. The only boss I ever used Pyromancer's flame was on the Moonlight Butterfly, as it required range attack. Forget the Drake Sword now and get hold of the Lightning Spear, it's way better.

I didn't purchase Iron Flesh and now I can't seem to find Laurentius. He isn't at the Firelink shrine anymore. It's weird how these NPCs keep shifting their locations. May be it's the chain of some events which triggers this.

 

[Gannu]

Yeah that's the thing. Without the guide, it's impossible to know about the NPC's events. As for Laurentius, he must have gone hollow if you have met Quelana which I assume you have. I want the Iron Flesh spell and it seems only Laurentius sells this one. The remaining stuff (most of it) can be had from Quelana. Most NPCs once rescued are stationed at the Firelink Shrine but few of them change their locations based on a sequence of events that happen during the normal course of the playthrough.

So I guess today I'll head back to Firelink Shrine, get the spell from him and head back to Blighttown. It's a frikking long way but I hope as hell it's worth it. Allwyn, is there a shortcut from Blighttown to Firelink Shrine that you are aware of?

 

[Ethan_Hunt]

So I guess today I'll head back to Firelink Shrine, get the spell from him and head back to Blighttown. It's a frikking long way but I hope as hell it's worth it. Allwyn, is there a shortcut from Blighttown to Firelink Shrine that you are aware of?

From Firelink Shrine? Nope. However, there is one from the Valley of Drakes. This is where the Lordvessel really helps. Warping saves a great deal of time in unwanted travel.

 

[Gannu]

Yeah but acquiring the lordvessel is still a long shot for me. That's after Blighttown, Sen's Fortress and Anor Londo.

Anyways, don't think i'll have much time with me today. Have to go for Cloud Atlas. Let me see if I can manage to head back to the Firelink Shrine. Thanks for the support man.

PS: Looks like we're the only two currently playing and enjoying the title. Going by the discussions.

 

[Ethan_Hunt]

Looks like we're the only two currently playing and enjoying the title. Going by the discussions.

It's really disheartning to see so many people ignoring it, either because of the "difficulty" level or for God knows what reason. Ah well, doesn't matter, as long as there is more than one person involved in this disucssion, I have no problem.

Almost forgot to ask, how did you get back to the Undead Asylum?

 

[Gannu]

Almost forgot to ask, how did you get back to the Undead Asylum?

From the Firelink Shrine, you need to get the Undead Asylum West key from a corpse lying atop the arched ceiling. For this, head back towards the twin elevator section that leads you to Undead Parish and then as the elevator moves up, you will get a cutout on the wall facing towards the shrine. Quickly move ahead and from there you need to drop towards a wall by sprinting and jumping. And then there's this spiral stairway which leads to the place where the crow's nest is perched. But before this, you need the key. The key is adjacent to the stairway. However, you will have to do this elevator exercise twice. Once you source the key, head back to the nest and curl up. After around 10 seconds, the crow will transport you back to the Undead Asylum. Here's the video that explains how to get the key:

Tread carefully here though. There are 2 black knights and Oscar of Astora who gave you the first estus flask in the game when you started. The stray demon is also a lot more harder to kill compared to the asylum demon and will take a lot of hits but is easy otherwise. Just stay behind his arse all the while and keep away from that flamed shot of his. Don't forget to completely scout the area. There's a special thing waiting for you in the cell where you were imprisoned before.

Dude, if you did not get here before, how did you kill that Hydra back in the Darkroot Basin? I mean without the Rusted Iron Ring? That would have been insanely hard! :scared14:

 

[Gannu]

Got back to the Firelink Shrine, upgraded the flame to +9, increased Faith to 19 and got the Iron Flesh spell from Laurentius. All the major stats are at 19 now barring intelligence, attunement and resistance.

There was this shortcut from Undead Parish through the drain on the opposite side of where the Undead Woman merchant is located. So that was helpful. Can quickly get to the bottom of the Depths towards the Blighttown entry by falling down through the sloped water fall area. The devs. have thought about a lot of shortcuts that way.

 

[krugur]

I am gonna start this ... so what class do you guys recommand. And how to kill that aslym boss, i tried as warrior and my hits do little to nothing and all my dodging dont help as all it needs is 4 shots for him.

 

[Gannu]

Fcuking finally! Another undead joins the battle. Welcome aboard.

Both of us are currently playing as pyromancers. It's a good choice for starters as laid out in a lot of guides and help. You can tame your build anyway you want later on so don't be bothered much with the starting class. You can end up wielding heavy weapons (and not use any pyromancy at all!) and a knight'ish armor with a heavy poise.

The asylum boss is perhaps the easiest boss in the entire game. Did you fight him when you first met him? If yes, do not do that. With that sword hilt initially you cannot do much attacks (although he can be beaten with that!) so leave him be and take that door to the left and continue. Later, you will come across a fog door which will lead you to the top of the arena where the demon jumped from. From that location, make a plunging attack on him below by jumping and pressing R1/RB on the controller. Plunging attacks are deadly and take away a large chunk of health, in this case almost 40% of his HP. Once done, keep slashing him using the axe (i.e. if you have chosen the pyromancer, the axe will be the starting equipment) while evading/rolling the attacks.

Above all, understand that this game is completely different from most RPGs out there which will let you save your progress and load them at your wish. But not in Dark Souls. Every step taken and every decision chosen has consequences so play very VERY patiently. Some starter guides in YouTube can help you acquainted with the gameplay. Good luck!

 

[krugur]

Ya i tried to kill it in first meeting. I was like :1ign22:, i haven't event killed anything yet and it suddenly puts me into a boss fight. Will reroll and try it out.

 

[Ethan_Hunt]

Defeated the Centipede Demon from the Demon Ruins and that takes care of the entire bosses in that area along with all the loot. Figured I'd scope out Lost Izalith later and headed for the Sanctuary Garden to check out the stuff that the DLC content had to offer and it didn't disappoint at all.

As soon as I landed into that place, the next fog door instantly greeted my with a boss fight; motherf*ckin' Sanctuary Gadrian. He beat the shit out of me on my first 5 tries. Then I mixed things up by experimenting with different weapons and shield. Then found the perfect recipe to take him down, all managed by gobbling just 2 Estus flasks. I won't reveal the gear right now, but it's best if you guys try it out on your own. This beast is no pushover and his moves are extremely deadly and damaging. So be very careful. I'm now heading back to the Undead Asylum. Kept falling off that stupid jump along the narrow pathway which takes us up to the which takes leads to the staircase. Now I just curled into a ball and nothing happened. What the hell am I supposed to do?

*sneakily checks guide* :angel:

krugur: Welcome aboard! Hope you keep playing.