Dark Souls

[chronovore]

Thanks!

I've got Havel's Ring as well, but I'm using it wrong, since I'm already at 25% natural weight cap according to the menu readout.

Come to think of it, my light armor and blocking policy is pretty poorly thought out.

[chronovore]

Wearing real armor, Ring of Steel Protection, and Human, I summoned the Iron Turk or whatever Phantom, who pretty much carried me through the fight.

That dude is TOUGH; made Iron Golem sit down and weep like a baby.

ANOR LANDO. Jesus, what a view!

[fistfulofmetal]

the real dark souls starts here

prepare your anus (to die)

[chronovore]

the real dark souls starts here

prepare your anus (to die)

 :'( :'( :'(

Yeah, it's clear they're putting me in a whole new region -- AND Sen's Fortress was a test to even get to this region. So when the bats dropped me off, and I could walk into the next thing -- I had 48K Souls on me, and I said, "HELL NO" and wandered VERY CAREFULLY back to Undead Parish bonfire and leveled up three stats in one sitting. First time I've been able to do that.

I think if I'd perma-lost that 48K I'd have a hard time convincing myself to to continue.

[fistfulofmetal]

I think most people did that. But you'll kick yourself pretty quickly.

[chronovore]

I'm actually thinking, since I haven't cleared Darkroot Basin, and the area around Moonlight Butterfly's keep, and whatever was in the Valley of Drakes... AND the other side of Blight Town's swampy floor, maybe I should do that and level up a little more before Anal Lando?

[Madrun Badrun]

no Anor first.  Have you done the asylum again yet?


Also prepare for hurt. 

[thisismyusername]

No. Anal Rodeo first. Worry about reaching the boss before anything else.

[The Legend of Sunblade]

You went back to Undead Parish from the Anor Londo entrance? I guess that's a thing you could have done.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

...If you went a bit into Anor Londo, you'd have found a completely safe bonfire right there instead of having to trek back through Sen's Fortress with all those souls. 

[close]

[Steve Contra]

Anor Londo is the best part of any game in like 10 years.  Enjoy

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Until you get to the boss and put your fist through the TV

[close]

[chronovore]

I'm looking forward to Anal Lando, and was OK with the other boss fights being tough -- the only really angering things about Dark Souls are when it combines its toughness with overreach on its technical capabilities:

- Blight Town's framerate
- Capra Demon's combat in a linen closet camera
- Target-lock which disengages when horizontal plane LOS is broken but doesn't check for vertical LOS blockage

You went back to Undead Parish from the Anor Londo entrance? I guess that's a thing you could have done.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

...If you went a bit into Anor Londo, you'd have found a completely safe bonfire right there instead of having to trek back through Sen's Fortress with all those souls. 

[close]

Yeah... oddly enough, I wasn't feeling super-trusting of Dark Souls to do anything friendly like that for me. I was pretty sure it was going to give me three ways to choose from, two of which would result in instant anal rodeo.

[The Legend of Sunblade]

Based on what you've said, you prob never the bonfire inside Sen's fortress. Which makes sense cuz its really deviously hidden.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

See that crack in the fence? You have to jump down there and land right on top of it.

[close]

[chronovore]

Thanks! Yeah, actually, I've lit it, and used it just prior to the Iron Golem, but I'll probably never use it again. You're right that I could have used that instead of Parish's bonfire, but the Sen's one has not been Kindled, and I wanted 10 Estus with which to roll into the next area.

"Deviously hidden" is the perfect description for that bonfire though.

[chronovore]

I ran back to Darkroot Garden to get the Covenant of the Kitty there, and ended up staying long enough to fight the Doggy with the Oversized Butterknife.

I quit avoiding Anor Lando and went in for the first time, feeling a sense of abject dread. The first area's not horrible, but I have a hard time considering going against the giants without the +10 Zwei and STR 30 build I'm using. They're basically impervious from the front, and avoiding the sweeping or crushing attacks is exciting.

I'm doomed.

[Madrun Badrun]

You'll get really good at avoiding the giants attacks

[chronovore]

You'll get really good at avoiding the giants attacks

Yeah, at 1500XP per kill, they're the "easiest" way to level up I've seen. I'm at 18,000+ per level at this point, so I may rinse these guys a few times.

[fistfulofmetal]

are you trying to fight the initial giants right when you arrive?

[chronovore]

are you trying to fight the initial giants right when you arrive?

Yeah, they're in the halls to either side of the initial bonfire originally mentioned earlier in this thread by Legend of Sunblade.

[fistfulofmetal]

you know you don't have to fight them. they aren't hostile unless you get right up next to them.

[chronovore]

you know you don't have to fight them. they aren't hostile unless you get right up next to them.

Yeah, I figured that out straight off. I finally activated one when I tried to stroll past the furthest one, who's guarding a stairway up to the first non-fog gate in the game. The key for me is making sure to only activate one at a time, and then retreating to make sure I can maneuver.

Right now they're worth the fight.

[Madrun Badrun]

Has a bow and arrow guy been a bitch to you yet?

[chronovore]

Has a bow and arrow guy been a bitch to you yet?

No, I'm still trying to figure out where to go after the gargoyle. No clear path.

[Madrun Badrun]

O ya, lol, got to start thinking like you're the prince of persia. 

[chronovore]

O ya, lol, got to start thinking like you're the prince of persia.

I CAN REWIND TIME? THAT'S GREAT~! I CAN'T WAIT!

Oh, you mean the part where he runs on walls or leaps from ledges.  :'(

There was a soapstone message at the end of the "pier" where the gargoyle was: "Try jumping." I looked, and decided even Dark Souls' level designers were not cruel enough to require that level of a leap of faith.

[The Legend of Sunblade]

Maybe not a leap of faith but... something like it. 

[Atramental]

Finally defeated Ornstein & Smough and retrieved the lord vessel.

And the snake guy rattled off 4 different things for me to kill... so which one of those is probably the best to tackle first?

[fistfulofmetal]

Seath is closest and IMO probably the easiest of the four.

[chronovore]

Atra is getting so far ahead of me!  :'(

I'm at the base of the church with the painting. Trying to figure out what to do next. The Sentinels in front of the church were not any worse than the previous ones, though they looked gold and not black. Might have been lighting.

The bat-demons in front of the church flew away and didn't come back. Kind of sad.

[Madrun Badrun]

You need an item to enter the painting, fyi. 

[chronovore]

Has a bow and arrow guy been a bitch to you yet?

Found these guys today. Took me four tries to get past them. I only killed the one; killed the fucker twice, actually. The first time, he and I both mêlée'd off the parapet. I was sad that he respawned. I hoped they'd be like the toxic dart bastards in Blight Town. Anyway:


Those goddamned arrows. What are they shooting at me? Tree trunks? Saplings?

I also have found the difference between an Eagle Shield and my Knight Shield - - the additional damage resistance to Lightning will wreck the Poise of those albino bat-demons, allowing two sloppy L2 Zwei strikes, which ends them unquestionably.

You need an item to enter the painting, fyi. 

Thanks!

I've abandoned that direction until I can find that item. Oddly, I'd entirely missed the direction which leads into the church.

[Madrun Badrun]

"What are they shooting at me? "  Dragon arrows.  You can actually get their bows.

[chronovore]

"What are they shooting at me? "  Dragon arrows.  You can actually get their bows.

You said "you," I'm pretty sure you mean "skilled players."

I felt SO LUCKY to get past the one archer, and his body slipped off, and I can't picture a scenario where his corpse stays on that ledge.

After I get the boss whacked, I'll probably give it a few tries if there's a bonfire nearby to that path. The one I just found does not allow for reverse-traversal back to the archers.

[The Legend of Sunblade]

You're making the assumption that Dark Souls is nice enough to give you that beast of a bow just from killing the archer using it. 

spoiler (click to show/hide)

It IS found in the general vicinity though!

[close]

[Madrun Badrun]

Ya, lets just assume that will be the last archers you come across. 

[chronovore]

Ya, lets just assume that will be the last archers you come across.

I feel like you're trying to trick me...

ô_ó

[Atramental]

Decided to take a detour yesterday and visit Ash Lake.

Most soothing place in the whole entire damn game (once you kill that Hydra). If I weren't sheltered and knew how to score weed in my area I would get some, smoke it, put on some Brian Eno, and just soak that place in. 

[chronovore]

Got my ass handed to me by the Gold Sentinels before Smough and Or-wassisname. Their healing and knockback spells makes some difference, but mainly I was futzing the controls and mismanaging my approach, activating them at the same time... Hell, I even retreated out the front doors once before remembering that two more standard Sentinels out there, who gave me what-for before I realized my error.

I feel like the Gold Sentinels also have a faster ground move, and possibly faster attack speed.

Possible tactical error in upgrading from +10 Zwei to Lightning Zweihander, as Silver Knights were two heavy strikes, and now they have (at least) 40HP remaining at the end of two lightning-enhanced strikes. Makes it troublesome to get that 3rd strike in when I’m out of stamina.

Also, I recall beating Titanite Demons in Undead Parish and Sen’s Fortress without much hassle, but the on in Anal Lando has taken me out four times so far. I think this is the Lightning Zwei as well, because the thing throws its own lightning, so it’s probably sucking as much damage down as I’d like.

Feels good to be playing again.

[Madrun Badrun]

+10 Zwei to Lightning Zweihander


this was a mistake.

[Atramental]

Heh. My fully upgraded lightning zwei has been my weapon of choice as of late. 

[The Legend of Sunblade]

A lightning Zwei in general isn't a bad choice. It's just... really unfortunate that he decided to go that route now of all times. 

[chronovore]

:-(

[Madrun Badrun]

Have you attempted the boss yet, Chrono?

[chronovore]

Not yet.

While looking up what you meant about the Dragon-whatsits Bow, I watched a vid of some guy doing it (badly) with a Soul Level 1 character, and feel like I'll probably do alright -- but it looks do-able.

But, yeah, it looks like both have lightning ability -- maybe they're lightning immune.

[Atramental]

Ornstein is immune to lightning. Smough isn't (unless he absorbs Ornstein during the 2nd phase?).

I went after Smough first with my zwei and then switched over to my gravelord sword to finish off Ornstein.

[The Legend of Sunblade]

Not immune, just resistant.

Which is still bad for Chrono, mind you, just not THAT bad.

[Madrun Badrun]

Ya, its still going to make the hardest battle (with the possible exception of the DLC), even harder.  I'm really excited for Chrono.  I miss this game. 

[chronovore]

**weeps openly**

We’ll see. I might just bump my still-awesome Great Axe for the fight, and see if they’re vulnerable to anything I can weapon-coat, like Pine Resin. I’ve also got Fire Orb, and the pyromancy which bumps damage for leeching my own HP.

Still: BAD TIMING.

[The Legend of Sunblade]

This is just me thinking to myself, but I don't think you're gonna have much time to apply any coating to a weapon once you're actually in the fight. 

I only half agree with Dandy's previous statement though.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

You're going against the most legitimately hard non-DLC boss fight in the game, but I'd rank two later bosses as way harder for unfair reasons. 

[close]

[chronovore]

My problem is I’m pretty sure I accidentally nerf’d my Zwei, but it still does more damage than any other weapon I’ve got, because I’ve not upgraded them as religiously.

My Great Axe is only +5 -- that’s easily remedied, but it still won’t be as devastating as the Zwei.

Then again, part of the Zwei’s charm is its ability to wreck the Poise of its targets, sometimes flattening them out utterly. That’s not a side-effect which will be in play for this boss fight. Hm.

[Himu]

Still going through this and I just can never get over how cheap everything is. I'm not talking about difficulty, I'm talking the engine, the budget, the camera, the lock on, the combat, everything. It feels like it was all made with duct tape and glue and lacks any semblance of polish. I've played a lot of jank games in my time, but the level of jank present in Dark Souls befuddles me considering the amount of praise the game has gotten in light of games such as God Hand or Way of the Samurai games, which have far more polish than Dark Souls in spades. One prime example is the Capra Demon fight, which fully exposes every single weakness the game has in one single encounter: terrible camera angles, a lock on that cripples player movement and awareness, confusing elements (I thought I killed a dog, turned out it was alive, I ended up dying and had no clue how I died and then a dog floated from the sky to the ground ), tight area that leaves little space. It's just a terribly designed encounter from the ground up and is not fun in any sense of the word. I've played a lot of jank Japanese in my time. A lot. And Dark Souls is one of the few games where it feels like it actually hampers the experience. It's so fucking cheap and I have no idea why Namco Bandai did not give them a noticeable budget increase because this is pathetic.

[chronovore]

Though I agree with everything you said, I still think it's a classic.

Going back without nostalgia-specs on, I think you'll find a lot of Japanese games are janky, and are great because of the jank in many cases.

[Himu]

I managed to kill the dogs but then the camera killed me because it's too close up and I couldn't see SHIT because the lock on.

I know a lot of Japanese games are janky, I even mentioned some, but they're rarely this janky.

[chronovore]

I’m not debating anything you said. That encounter has killed me a dozen times in my two play-throughs, and 80% of the time it’s due to the camera or lock on not working as expected.

[Himu]

If the game wants to use a crap encounter, I'll answer in kind. Just beat the Capra Demon without going through the fog door by throwing dung over the wall. Fuck you, From.

The Depths aren't bad so far.

[chronovore]

I made my first pass at Smough and Ornstein today. Lasted about 20 seconds.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

30 seconds if I count the intro cinematic!

[close]

[Atramental]

Current progress:
Nito
The Four Kings
Seath
Bed of Chaos

[chronovore]

Go get 'em, champ!

[Steve Contra]

If you're not using a guide, please use a guide for Bed of Chaos.  Worst fucking boss ever.

[Madrun Badrun]

ya its stupid fucking shit 

[fistfulofmetal]

bed of chaos is not hard. just follow video game logic™ 101 and follow the lights. simple.