LogFAQs > #967597461

I do not have the DLC, sadly. And that spoiler bar is mighty tempting, Kenri!

As promised, I kick things off by reading the description of every item in my possession. I don't learn too much tbh, but the sunlight medal references this former god of war, Gwyn's elusive firstborn. Seath the Scaleless (that's one of the ones I have to kill!) created the Moonlight Butterfly, and Quelaag was once daughter of the witch Izalith (that's another!). The description of the peculiar doll is very odd, and mentions its owner being an abomination who was pulled into a painted world. There was that painting in Anor Londo, maybe I can pull the trigger on that now? IDK it seems like a stretch, but that's something for me to remember when I'm next back there.

I leave the Stray Demon for now, and head to Darkroot Basin. Turns out I needn't have feared the 8-headed hydra before, because it's not nearly as imposing as it looks. The only threat here is falling out of the arena, where we immediately... drown? The animation is as if I'm falling off a cliff. Maybe water works differently in Lordren! We don't get much of a reward for beating this thing, though there is a backdoor into Sif's area so I guess we could've avoided paying for that seal to be broken.

I take the stairs up to Undead Burg, head to the Capra Demon's area and then retrace my previous steps for a while looking for new stuff. We kill the giant rat in the Depths (I am numb to the suffering I inflict on others now), and open up that bonfire. Then it's off to Blighttown, where the framerate drops hit me much harder this time as I pick up the items I'd left behind previously. Down on the swamp floor I try out my shiny new... old rusted iron ring, and glide through the poison swamp. Our Knight of Catarina friend is down here looking for an antitode, and we of course provide him with all the moss he requires. You can count on me, nameless Knight! There's some weapons and armour and the like around here, then it's off to Quelaag's domain.

...uh, was this here earlier? I definitely looked around that pit in the floor looking for a path to it, I haven't got a clue how I could've missed this massive staircase out in the open. So much for secret side areas, I can't even find paths right in front of my face >_> We enter Demon Ruins, the token lava level of this game. I know better than to bother the poor parasite ridden humans, so we work our way to the nearby mist gate. And the mist stays where it is, so it must be boss time.

Heading round the corner, we see a giant creature just chillin'. I don't initiate combat, but I correctly figure looting the nearby corpse will enrage the beast. Time for our boss, who must be named something like 'Lava Golem' or 'Infernal Demon' or 'Surtr the Tormented' or... sigh. Ceaseless Discharge. Come on, now. I doubt this was some messed up translation, they intentionally made this thing sound like that. Why, I have no clue, but it sets a low bar for this boss fight.

And as it happens, this fight is not very fun. In theory I like that the arena is so wide and you can freely move around it, but Ceas- the boss's attacks are ridiculous. It looooves to send this massive wave of fire my way that seems nigh undodgable, and when it's not doing that there's a whack on the ground that I swear hits me when I'm far from the point of impact. The worst part of this boss is trying to run back to the open area every time, half the time I don't make it because there's no room to dodge the fire attack on the way up, and the other half I've already drained a few potions and get one-shot by one of its wide radius attacks. I try wearing the armour I looted from the corpse to see if that distracts the beast, but no good. It does give me good flame resistance though.

I'm not proud of my tactics here, but in the end I cheese this boss. When I manage to get back into the wide open area, I find the perfect range just past where the fire attack spans out from, and do a double roll to the side when I hear the roar that indicates it's coming. Then I do the same thing 50 times until the deed is done. Thankfully there's no different attack, though I do have to reposition myself a couple times as the boss moves around the arena. It's an anticlimactic end to a fight that I probably shouldn't have found this frustrating, after all I could probably have come here a long time ago, but whatever, it's done.

I read the description of the armour- it belonged to a Quelana, who was the daughter of chaos and mother of pyromancy. From this I figure that she was probs the daughter of Quelaag (who has been established as a chaos demon), and judging by CD's behaviour I guess the boss was a creation of her and her pyromancy. Well whatever the case, the lava falls here and now we can explore the Demon Ruins properly. I'm fascinated by the aesthetic of this area, the roots above and lava below is such a bizarre contrast. Maybe it's a Tree of Life kinda deal.

Fittingly, the enemies here are mostly demonic. I reach a bonfire and come across another mist door, with paths spiralling out all over the place. First I go off down a grey corridor that leads to another contraption I can't move, then I go through the mist and am immediately one shot by the Demon Firesage. In my defence, I did not expect another boss this soon! How many pallet swaps of the Asylum Demon are there?!

It's later than I thought so I'm leaving it here today, I imagine the path I'm on will lead to Izalith so maybe I should go back and continue retracing my steps- I still need to check that painting again, and maybe try Drake Valley for real. There's also New Londo Ruins, as those 4 kings have been mentioned, but I don't think any of those lordvessel gates were down there. I will have a think, at least I downed another boss today.