Board 8 > Holy Dark Souls! *SPOILERS INSIDE*

(+) Yeah! (+)

MariaTaylor posted...

... how can you not see that this is exactly what you are doing?

Ah yes, the "no u" strategy of trying to get the last word in.

You can do it, Maria. Prove me as wrong and stupid as you say I am and don't respond to anything else in this topic.

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mccheyne posted...

It was a terrifying area, to be sure. Catacombs and Tomb of the Giants were a slog to get through too, soooo many goddamn skeletons, giant skeletons, and weird skeleton dog beast things.

Though these crystal soldiers and such aren't exactly easy, because holy fuck do they hit hard. Makes sense, since they're wielding crystal weapons, but damn. Will play more when I get home and try and get out of jail.

Also, trying to figure out how many lord souls there are. Nito, Seath, and the Witch of Izalith I assume. That Pygmy thing also, that was talked about in the opening video? I don't think the witch's daughters are, as I already killed Quelaag and she didn't have a lord soul.

There are a total of four, after you placed the lord vessel it showed four orange fog gates dissipating.

As far as the dlc goes - you could do it right now, but i personally suggest that for your first time you wait until after you've collected the lord souls. Otherwise you'll probably be way overleveled for whichever one you do last.

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I found Duke's Archive to be a really fun area personally. I generally liked fighting the humanoid enemies.

armored pigs i never figured out but thankfully they don't respawn so i didn't have to (if they had i'm sure i would have been forced to learn them but since they didn't they were always terrifying)

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foolm0r0n posted...

1 medium-sized post is enough to have a pretty good judgment of someone, let alone a dozen 300-word posts. Not sure why angry people on this board have such a hard time understanding that. You're not that complex.

I don't think I'm complex at all, no. I'm a very simple and straightforward person.

but I don't know what point you are trying to make here. this doesn't change the fact that cly is salty and biased against me, and that he obviously didn't read my posts. do I need to be a complex person for someone to have a bias against me? his refutation to me saying that he didn't read my posts was... "maria posts a bunch of words" and to double down on the factually inaccurate statement that he originally made. does this sound like someone who actually read all of my posts and understood them?

it's pretty obvious this is just a case of someone who already dislikes me using a topic where, once again, I'm the bad guy, as an excuse to engage in some group bullying tactics. there's nothing complex about that either.

do you actually see kevwaffles above post? he is repeatedly trying to get the last word in by accusing me of trying to get the last word in... I'm like, seriously not even doing anything. I was addressed first, after not posting anything for days. he's just trying to make himself look stupid and accusing me of trying to make him look stupid. I don't get how you could possibly side with this level of intellect.


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Responding to foolmo about me is still not letting it go, bud.

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xp1337 posted...

I found Duke's Archive to be a really fun area personally. I generally liked fighting the humanoid enemies.

armored pigs i never figured out but thankfully they don't respawn so i didn't have to (if they had i'm sure i would have been forced to learn them but since they didn't they were always terrifying)

Yeah, I basically just stayed at its side, took a swing, and pivoted with it. Couldn't stay behind it as it would back kick me. Seemed to work, just had to be patient.

Here's a question for people who have played this to completion: What is the most amount of souls you lost at one time? By that, I mean you died, and then died again before you could get to your lost souls. I think mine was either 14 or 15k, in Darkroot Garden. Got surrounded by like, 6 of those stupid tree things (the powered up ones, up the ladder from the Hydra area), and beat down fast.

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Armored pigs are definitely way easier when you're using a big ole blunt weapon.

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mccheyne posted...

Here's a question for people who have played this to completion: What is the most amount of souls you lost at one time? By that, I mean you died, and then died again before you could get to your lost souls. I think mine was either 14 or 15k, in Darkroot Garden. Got surrounded by like, 6 of those stupid tree things (the powered up ones, up the ladder from the Hydra area), and beat down fast.

I dunno, probably well over 100k, but only after I stopped caring about leveling.

Of course in this game you lose stored humanity that way as well, so it's possible I never played it that reckless with souls as I do in the others.

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kevwaffles posted...

I dunno, probably well over 100k, but only after I stopped caring about leveling.

Probably something like this.

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Oh yeah easily hundreds of thousands of souls at one point in ng+

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As someone who hates wasting anything in games like consumables or stuff and tries to cling on to everything I acquire, losing souls was such a painful experience for a long time

as you get further into the game, you always feel like "oh my god that was such a huge amount of souls this is such a setback" but then you continue on and begin gathering more and more souls to the point that the amount you lost didn't really matter much. Then you lose an even higher amount and the cycle starts again... but you just learn to accept this as part of your dark souls life

but still... still i steel myself, determined to get those damn souls back before I die again

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Also when I'm actually worried about losing them is when I slap on Ring of Sacrifice.
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Soul loss, the most ever for me in DS1 amounted to 250,000 at one time. But, of course, once you hit the 200+ level range, a quarter million doesn't even cover one level up, so, that total really isn't all that much.

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MariaTaylor posted...

do you actually see kevwaffles above post?

No, I've just been reading yours, and they just don't look good at all

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I think I've definitely lost around 6-7 levels worth in the mid-game before. But after that happens you feel so free so it was kinda nice.

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foolm0r0n posted...

No, I've just been reading yours, and they just don't look good at all

It's cute that he didn't think you were thinly veiling an insult earlier.

Unrelated note, the site is back to not nesting quotes?

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foolm0r0n posted...

No, I've just been reading yours, and they just don't look good at all

fair enough. I have no interest in looking good.

kevwaffles posted...

It's cute that he didn't think you were thinly veiling an insult earlier.

lol what... I mean, it's not that I didn't think he was insulting me, it's just that... it doesn't bother me. like, he told me that I wasn't complex. I'm not complex. do I really need to get butthurt that he said something that was true? I'm not you....

also for your own sake you should probably ignore me. you clearly can't handle the mental strain of knowing that I exist and I don't want you to have a mental breakdown or something. hell, block me if you need to. it's not like I will miss out on anything from not seeing your posts.


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Man, you are really overestimating your ability to affect my or anyone else's long-term disposition via text on a message board.

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Sounds like losing 15k souls isn't too terrible then lol.

Ran around the Duke's archives, killing a bazillion crystal hollows. Those archers and channelers are absolute assholes too. Those octopus-headed snake things that came out when the alarm went off after I got out of jail were terrifying. Died the first time, but then went through the whole area slowly. Finally found another bonfire on a balcony, as well as a secret staircase leading to a fog gate. That led me outside where a bunch of crystal golems were, as well as a golden one. Stopped there last night, and will continue with that today!

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mccheyne posted...

Sounds like losing 15k souls isn't too terrible then lol.

I mean it's all relative to where you currently are in the game, but as much as it can suck at the time, in the long run it doesn't really have any lasting consequences.

Except in DS2 if you care about pvp, because lol Soul Memory.
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kevwaffles posted...

I mean it's all relative to where you currently are in the game, but as much as it can suck at the time, in the long run it doesn't really have any lasting consequences.

Except in DS2 if you care about pvp, because lol Soul Memory.

Thats totally fair. I lost 16k just a little bit ago. These stupid invisible walkways in crystal cave ugh.

So I got to crystal cave, after killing a bunch of golems, and freeing the onion guys daughter from the golden golem. First walkways arent that bad, but then I hear things hitting the ground, and it seems snow is hitting invisible walkways? Needless to say, multiple deaths occurred while traversing this area. Also holy fuck moonlight butterflies everywhere! Seems Im able to stay far enough away from most of them, though aggroed one getting an item. Found a titanite slab though, a blue one I think. Best upgrading material?

Got to a bigger cave lower down where a bunch of those clams from ash lake are. Got a few twinkling titanite and a purging stone, which cures curse. Not fully sure what curse does tbh. Walked into a giant room which is an obvious boss area, and holy fuck Seath is back!

Kept trying to circle Seath and hit his tails, but though it showed me a damage number, he wasnt losing any hp. After a couple minutes of that, I saw that blue glowy stick thing in the back, and went to hack at it. Suddenly, the damage was sticking. My bleed (or curse?) meter almost filled a few times, and his tail slam and tail sweep hurt bad. Killed him just before I was gonna get tail slammed again!!

if there was a tail weapon though, I didnt get it :(

Thats two lord souls down. Though Id like to check out the initial room that had Seath in Dukes Archives, I also want outta here lol. From my memory, of places I havent been yet, its either Demon Ruins, New Londo Ruins, or Valley of the Drakes.

edit: I was also out of estus at the end, so I was very dead if that tail slam had hit.

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mccheyne posted...

Found a titanite slab though, a blue one I think. Best upgrading material?

Slab is the top upgrading material used for the final tier. The different colors are for different upgrade paths. Blue is if you make it a Magic weapon IIRC. Maybe Divine too?

mccheyne posted...

Not fully sure what curse does tbh.

causes death and when you respawn your HP is restricted to half its max

mccheyne posted...

if there was a tail weapon though, I didnt get it :(

There is and I also did not get it despite trying for it and I'm still a bit mad not gonna lie. >_>

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Despite being somewhat of a mediocre boss, Seath has possibly the hardest tail cut of the base game.

And that was Curse you were getting.
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If you noticed a bunch of crystallized corpses that fall apart when you hit/roll into them near Seath (and anywhere there are basilisks), those are actually other players who got cursed.
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xp1337 posted...

There is and I also did not get it despite trying for it and I'm still a bit mad not gonna lie. >_>

I kept swinging for it, but it didnt want to detach. Oh well, I think thats the only one Ive missed.

kevwaffles posted...

Despite being somewhat of a mediocre boss, Seath has possibly the hardest tail cut of the base game.

And that was Curse you were getting.

Yeah he wasnt super difficult. It was basically staying close to him to avoid the crystal spike breath, and then avoiding the tail stomps and smash. After I found out how to actually hurt him of course.
kevwaffles posted...

If you noticed a bunch of crystallized corpses that fall apart when you hit/roll into them near Seath (and anywhere there are basilisks), those are actually other players who got cursed.

Thats super interesting and definitely makes sense.

As for where to next, Ive chosen New Londo Ruins. Time to go explore!

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Jesus fuck these ghosts suck. They die in one hit, but they go through walls, and come from above and below. Supremely annoying, especially when the transient curse runs out and I have to back off to reapply it.

Anyway, got through it, got the seal from the guy on the roof, who mentions that he has the seal for the Four Kings. Well fuck, hopefully it's not a 4 on 1. Used the seal and drained the water. Saw three mini dragons and the outside area looked like a link to the Drake Valley. Fought some dark knight wraith things, and a giant fucking mass with a face on it, that spat out those exploding heads. And a random spear with crazy range somehow.

Anyway, through the fog door, down a crazy long spiral stair which leads into black. Is this the Abyss? I equip Artorias' ring just in case. Fall down a crazy long way and yep, the Abyss. Also, haven't been at a bonfire since Firelink.

Oh shit, suddenly Four Kings! Though there's only one. But he has his own health bar, AND I'm doing damage to the boss health bar...... Nearly kill the first one, and get hammered behind from the second one that randomly showed up. Long story short, I killed the third one before the fourth showed up, was able to heal, and killed the fourth. Thank the good lord a bonfire showed up afterwards.

Got the lord soul. Was gonna give the fire keeper soul to the fire keeper, she said some things, and suddenly the Firelink shrine is kindled to 20 ESTUS FLASKS!! Thank the lord.

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I believe you meant to say "Praise the Sun!"
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kevwaffles posted...

I believe you meant to say "Praise the Sun!"

Hahah you are most correct!!

Going to play again in a bit. I do wanna go back to see what was in that first room that Seath murdered me in, if theres anything. Then I guess to the Demon Ruins

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I'll never forget one of the first super best friends vids was them playing dark souls and they got to the ghosts and swung right through it, their reactions are priceless.
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Just a head's up now, once you beat the game it immediately takes you to NG+, so it's advisable to do the DLC before then.

I think someone explained how to get to it at some point, but boy is it convoluted.
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Emeraldegg posted...

I'll never forget one of the first super best friends vids was them playing dark souls and they got to the ghosts and swung right through it, their reactions are priceless.

lollllllllllllllllllllllllll

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Playing the 360 version and dont have the DLC. At least, not yet. I can see how much it is and likely get it though!

Ceaseless Discharge is dumb. Died a few times because I literally could barely dodge anything it did. Not a fan of that boss.

Kept exploring the Demon Ruins a bit, had to kill 7 Taurus Demons that were randomly there. Then a Capra Demon. So apparently bosses are regular enemies now? Thats all the progress I made yesterday, so will play more later today.

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Demon Firesage was literally a stray demon clone, while being on fire. Was just annoying to get behind him before his magic explosion because he kept jumping back first.

Centipede Demon was fucking terrifying. Add in the tiny walkable arena, and it was a bit dicey. Killed me once because one of his attacks put me in the lava.

Found a bonfire, and Solaire was there, seeming quite upset.

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These lava T-Rex things are super annoying. Sometimes itll jump up and Ill block its attack coming down and take no damage. Sometimes itll take a decent chunk of hp away. Thankfully they dont respawn, and Ive killed a few, but ugh.

Explored Lost Izalith for a bit, found the bonfire hidden in one of the towers. I thiiiink I know where to go, but itll take a lotta traversing the lava. Praise the Sun for that ring the centipede demon dropped

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Even I haven't killed most of the T-Rex things, and I kill almost everything at least once in my first playthroughs. They're just too awful to fight and too easy to run past.

Also given the path you're taking I'm legit confused how you got sad Solaire. Though maybe that encounter happens anyway and I am not remembering right.
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Bed of Chaos is such bullshit. Having to dive onto that branch while getting swept away is infuriating. Then I died once when I was almost at the centre because of that fire stuff. Brutal, but done.

Also brutal was having to kill Solaire :( He found his own sun I guess, but he was attacking me, so I had to do it. RIP Sunbro.

Kiln of the First Flame has 5 respawning black knights, and they keep dropping titanite chunks, so that's sweet. And bits of their armor. The shield is quite sweet actually. Since you can see I've traversed this multiple times, you can tell I have not beaten Gwyn yet. He's fast and he hits like a goddamn truck. I've been able to parry a few times, and gotten him down to about 1/5 hp on two occasions, but haven't beaten him yet. I'm thinking successfully parry his opening attack (which I've done a couple times), circle and go two-handed as he gets up, and hit him at least once there. Then stay in close (his range has been absolutely destroying me), wait for his grab, sidestep/dodge around, hit him twice with a two-hand swing, hope for a stagger, get one more hit, then back away a little to recover stamina.

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Beating Gwyn is the end of the game (which I figure isn't really a spoiler by this point). If you have the DLC I highly recommend doing that first, but since you're playing one of the original console releases you might not.

And yeah, Bed of Chaos is the worst boss in the series by far.

It's actually possible to keep Solaire alive by joining a covenant you might not have even found and offering up 30 Humanity to unlock a shortcut (which the game doesn't even tell you happens iirc) that bypasses Centipede Demon and the lava portion and allows you to kill the Sunlight Maggot before Solaire can get to it. (That's why I got confused about you getting the sad Solaire encounter. I thought it only happened if you did all this.)
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Nah, sad Solaire is part of the normal chain though it's optional because you can easily skip/miss it if you use the Chaos Servant shortcut. He's all sad at the very first bonfire in Lost Izalith and you can talk to him there but if you progress any further into Lost Izalith from that direction he gets the Sunlight Maggot. You can talk to him there and immediately turn around and enter Lost Izalith through the alternate route and still save him though.

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Yeah I dont have the DLC, and Im playing the original 360 version on xbone, so I cant even download it. Heard its really good though.

I did see the chaos servant covenant when I found Quelaags sister (daughter?) and that bonfire. But didnt progress in it.

Going to give Gwyn another shot when I get home.

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GOT HIM!

Killed him during my first try this evening, though if he had gotten one more hit off, I was quite dead. Parried his opening flying attack, then got a couple two handed swings in to stagger him, and one more for good measure. That started the battle off right, and I was able to hit and run to whittle his health down. Got another parry, but wasn't able to riposte for some reason.

For those wondering, yes I linked the fire. I didn't know that you could actually walk away from it until my friend told me afterwards. Cool ending cinematic, then I was back in the Northern Asylum cell again. Killed the Asylum Demon just for fun (though he seemed to have more health, as I had my endgame equipment), which took 5-6 hits. Not going to go through the whole thing again though, at least not yet. Going to play Halo 5 to give myself a break, and then likely start in on Dark Souls 2: SotFS. Going to watch a Let's Play of the DLC part, as I've heard it's quite good. In terms of quick boss rankings, from best to worst, factoring in overall experience:

1. Dragonslayer Ornstein and Executioner Smough
2. Gwyn, Lord of Cinder
3. Four Kings of New Londo
4. Bell Gargoyles
5. Great Grey Wolf Sif :(
6. Gravelord Nito
7. Seath the Scaleless
8. Dark Sun Gwyndolin
9. Chaos Witch Quelaag
10. Iron Golem
11. Asylum, Stray, Firesage Demon (because they're basically all the same)
12. Gaping Dragon
13. Moonlight Butterfly
14. Capra Demon
15. Taurus Demon
16. Centipede Demon
17. Pinwheel
18. Ceaseless Discharge
19. Bed of Chaos

Of the ones I found anyway.

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woo good job beating the game. sunlight for life!

Here's some fun videos to enjoy now that you're done.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3d94pxVRQU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9x_koRZ2bA

Second one kinda explains some lore and some of it you won't recognize at all since you didn't do the DLC. Up to you if you wanna wait till after you watch the DLC to look at this.

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mccheyne posted...

Going to watch a Let's Play of the DLC part, as I've heard it's quite good.

Yeah, it is. Knight Artorias is the boss fight I said I felt was even better than Ornstein and Smough though yeah out of the base game that's the best fight. Kalameet and Manus are pretty fun fights too and would probably round out my Top 5 in Dark Souls 1 (along with Gwyn)

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Too bad no dlc. It's some of the best! Congrats on beating one of the best games of all time.

This topic inspired me to replay ds2. Not gonna try and reignite the fight in this topic, but I'm enjoying myself

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I think Priscilla and the Painted World is DLC as well, right?

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CoolCly posted...

I think Priscilla and the Painted World is DLC as well, right?

Nope! That's in the base game

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Yeah I just left her alone, since she was just trying to save her world (even though her world tried to kill me multiple times). Probably should have fought her too, but meh.

Still, bed of chaos was the absolute worst. That stupid jump onto the branch, then running up it, all while hoping she didnt decide to sweep you off of it, was rage-inducing.

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Priscilla is a really fun boss fight. it's somewhat unfortunate that the game gives you an emotional incentive to spare her, and allows you to do so. it's much more fun to do the fight. but at the same time, you can kinda feel bad for killing her.


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I believe the design-based line of reasoning was that since you can get stuck there accidentally, they didn't want to force a boss fight that the player might feel they were unprepared for. Good that they don't present it that way, though.
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Artorias is basically a DS3 boss

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