Log In
Register
Home
Topic RSS
Offline
Gregg, the Gravelord Servant is probably the most complex covenant. I discovered it in the Catacombs near the Titanite Demon. There's an opened coffin in which you can lay; like the crow nest at Firelink, you need to wait for a bit before anything happens. Eventually you're taken into the lair of Gravelord Nito (he's not hostile at this point), where you can join the covenant and receive some weird miracle. Having no idea what this covenant did I pulled up the wiki.
In a nutshell:
There are items called Eye of Death. You pick up a few from behind the Titanite Demon in the Catacombs (convenient, since it's so close to the covenant). I accumulated a bunch from those curse frog things in the Depths a while back. Anyway, what a member of this covenant does it use an Eye of Death, and what this does it place summon signs in the worlds of 3 random players simultaneously. (I don't know if this can only happen in the Catacombs / Tomb of Giants or anywhere; I think the whole world is open to it, but not positive.) Subsequently, in the worlds of those 3 players there will now be several "enhanced" enemies who appear to be black with a bit of a red hue (similar to black phantoms from Demon's Souls). They're much stronger than normal enemies, and basically there to make your task more challenging.
There can then be several outcomes:
-If a player who was "cursed" by this Eye of Death drop dies the Gravelord Servant will receive an Eye of Death as a reward token, as well as a portion of that player's souls.
-If the player finds the summon sign that was left in their world they can activate it to invade the world of the Gravelord Servant. Interestingly, this is a unique invasion, since the Gravelord Servant has, to quote the wiki, "home field advantage" since they are in their own world; this means they can use Estus, while the invader cannot.
-The most interesting wrinkle, however, is that it's possible for all 3 of the victims to invade the Servant at the same time. I'm not sure if they would appear as red or blue phantoms; my guess is blue, because they would have no motivations to be hostile toward one another.
It's apparently possible for you to see one of these messages, something along the lines of the threat has ended and the Gravelord Servant has been defeated, without knowing your world was ever cursed. I've seen it 3 or 4 times in the last couple of days. This of course means that one of the other curse victims invaded the GS and vanquished them.
It's amazing ... these minor compartments in Dark Souls are more intricate than the entirety of most other games whole.
If being wrong's a crime I'm serving forever
Offline
That summoning spot turned out to be a good one. I tried others first and it wouldn't accept them. I decided to be summoned to help others to get experience. I got three rather quickly. I'd never done it before. The first was just starting the castle and I got knocked of the wall real quick. The second had the big door open but as soon as he stepped in, he was backstabbed by a phantom. The third summon was great. There were three of us and I thought I did my part. I usually hit the finishing blow on the knights and we killed Ornstein without much problem. Then we had Smough down to a tiny bit of life and I got too ambitious trying to kill him and I died. As soon as I returned to my world, I got the message "awesome job". That made me feel good even if I didn't get any reward. Next time I'll be more careful.
Offline
these minor compartments in Dark Souls are more intricate than the entirety of most other games whole.
QFT. The depth and complexity - all hidden - in the game make it like a delicious layered mystery. I'm playing Dragon's Dogma now - I actually randomly messaged Botch the other day because even though DD is a perfectly acceptable game it's no Dark Souls - and all I can think is how... moribund it is compared to Dark Souls.
Now that I know Atlus will be keeping the Demon's Souls servers online, I intend to revisit that and get it right this time!
The Gravelord Servant Covenant is anonymously meanspirited. I never got much exposure to it - in fact, I wasn't aware of the covenant until after I defeated Gravelord Nito - but I love the little additions like this. The Daughters of Chaos and Path of the Dragon Covenants have their own unique little aspects too.
Things like this are why I don't mind reading the wiki or seeing spoilers. Sure, some stuff is given away, but I'd have missed so much more great content otherwise!
Life is the misery we endure between disappointments.
Offline
Steerpike said
QFT. The depth and complexity - all hidden - in the game make it like a delicious layered mystery. I'm playing Dragon's Dogma now - I actually randomly messaged Botch the other day because even though DD is a perfectly acceptable game it's no Dark Souls - and all I can think is how... moribund it is compared to Dark Souls.Now that I know Atlus will be keeping the Demon's Souls servers online, I intend to revisit that and get it right this time!
For me that's exactly why Demon's Souls wouldn't be as interesting to revisit; Dark Souls has all these other little intricacies and improvements. It's clear that From Software have really driven the multiplayer elements home in addition to fine tuning lots of other things.
@xtal: Yeah I read a few things about how Gravelord Servants work but wasn't sure whether it was functioning properly yet because a few threads hinted at it being a bit flaky. I hope not because it sounds like bloody good fun to me! I might have to enlist.
The Pinwheel is dead. This time I ran in there without locking on to anything, bashing every copy/illusion that was within reach (this maintained the framerate and my chances of survival). Once I hit the real one I kept slamming into it and it eventually yielded. Shortly after that I lost my footing in the dark and fell to my death near the Tomb of Giants. Actually I fell into the Tomb of Giants. I had about 24,000 souls so the trip back through the pinwheel skeletons was a horribly tense one. Thankfully I succeeded and because it was late I homeward boned my way out of there. I have the Mask of the Mother so that provides a nice HP boost.
Offline
Exactly as you say, Steerpike, a bit of reading is almost necessary sometimes. I've read up on covenants mostly to learn what I can gain from them, but also their focus.
Right now I'm sticking with the Princess' Guard. It's one of the co-op focused ones, but I just like this one for some reason. I think it has to do with the fact that I kind of have a thing for Anor Londo. And Gwynevere herself. It's her voice, not her boobs. I swear. Sometimes when I'm bored I'll just warp to her bonfire and go in her chamber to hear the awesome music that sounds in there. And plus she's all "Oh Chosen Undead, you're pretty much the best thing since sliced bread."
And I got a miracle synergy ring for joining her covenant ... so yeah! I'm done with being a vengeful killer for the Darkmoon Blade. I went out on top though. My final invasion was a 1v3; I took out this guy's summoned white phantoms one at a time (their attention was divided on the Black Knight archer and one of the Royal Knights, so that helped) and then dispatched the host. 1v3 victory. That'll never happen for me again.
Looking at my trophies it looks like I have 2 more covenants to discover, or possibly 3, I can't remember. I know one will be the hostile invaders/red phantoms covenant, so I don't plan to even experiment with that one. The other one I'm guessing is this Dragon covenant I've skimmed by online.
Oh, last night I finished New Londo; I was human the whole time, didn't get invaded once shockingly, nor did I die once. I just walked through the place very slowly, fought a bazillion ghosts (thankfully they drop about as many Transient Curses as you need) and miraculously found one person to summon for the Four Kings boss fight. I also found the summon sign for Witch Beatrice, and her magic seemed to help quite a lot actually. It was not a very hard fight ... I did most of the damage, but my summoned help was decked out in some heavy armor, so I think he was absorbing the majority of the blows.
In any case, I don't have many areas left to explore. I haven't gone into the Great Hollow in Blighttown, and I haven't gone into the Demon Ruins yet. The time for procrastination has passed, I do believe.
If being wrong's a crime I'm serving forever
Offline
Lots of unrelated stuff follows:
I was going through some old posts that I had avoided before and found this from Pokey:
There is a way to use the shortcut to Blighttown without the Master Key. I discovered it when exploring the area earlier. It goes through Darkroot Basin.
Where is this shortcut? Is it from the bonfire which leads to Valley of Drakes?
So how would you guys rate Stray Demon for difficulty?
Gregg, I'm pretty sure you've rung both bells, but if not, don't read the next paragraph.
OK so the Firelink Shrine Keeper is dead. That black orb states that you can invade the world of her murderer. Without giving it away, how does one do this? I like that Frampt(on) guy. I don't see how to buy more than 99 dung pies though.
I joined the Chaos covenant, but didn't see any shortcut opened. I think Steerpike mentioned something about that before. What did I miss? Oh, and I abandoned the covenant after. Too creepy. Eggs on heads and stuff. I never would have seen that illusory wall to get to Quelaag's sister without wiki help.
I actually didn't find Blighttown so terrible. I think because I cheated and read the wiki. I feel kind of guilty about it. One of the toughest parts was retrieving the fire keeper soul. I fell off the ledge and was barely able to fight off all those flame dogs.
I'd like to try out the Sunlight covenant, but you have to get by that blasted bridge drake first. No idea how to do that.
Rule #2: Double-tap
Offline
I would rate Stray Demon as a good challenge. I don't know if there's a certain level you should be at to face him; more like a certain strategy you must employ. That would be to get a few shots in on him and then quickly back away. I found his most devastating attack to be the one when he floats in the air and then sits on you. And it can be hard to avoid if you're locked onto him simply because retreating when your camera is facing up can be tricky.
My advice to beat him: use melee, and always keep your shield up. If you try ranged attacks like I first did he'll simply smack you with his massive hammer. Get in close for heavy blows, then retreat fast when he does his floating attack. A handy item in this situation would be some Green Blossom. It speeds your stamina recovery for a time. I've only seen this drop from those weird frog/lily pad things in Darkroot Garden, but if you have some souls to blow you can purchase them for 1,000 souls a piece from the merchant in Sen's Fortress.
As for taking vengeance to Lautrec ... you will know when the opportunity arises, and it's in an area of Anor Londo that you have to pass through to continue the main quest. Be prepared though: it's not an easy fight. In fact I'd say it's an unfair fight in favour of Lautrec, but it's doable.
If being wrong's a crime I'm serving forever
Offline
Botch, you start from Darkroot basin.......
Go down the elevator to the Valley of the Drakes. There is a Drake in front of you to the left. Run past him and around to a path leading up. There is another Drake part way up the path. Then the Undead Dragon, who you can run past. He has some loot you might want. You will reach a narrow bridge going over to the closed gate. To the right, there is a chest with a key if you want to open it. Also, there is a key past the three big guys with clubs.
Poison arrows.
Offline
Thanks Pokey & Xtal.
I'm going clean up the rest of the Garden, maybe farm a while behind the tomb door and the Depths, then it's off to Sen's.
Steerpike, I for one would like to hear further comparisons between Dark Souls & Dragon's Dogma.
Dark Souls may have ruined the RPG for me, in the sense that nothing else can measure up. What From has crafted is so brilliant, everything else seems not worth the effort. Hyperbole? Maybe. I've yet to put it to the test. I just hope they don't stop here.
Rule #2: Double-tap
Offline
I would second what you said, Botch. I think of some other games in comparison and wonder where's the effort. It's not that simple though. Of course most developers exert great effort; but not all developers are equal. It's more like where's the effort to create; to become immortalized through your work.
What From Software has done in two games blows 95% of what came before it out of the water, in my mind. The Log of Shame will chastise me, but all I'll want to do after I finish Dark Souls is to play again.
Oh, I went to the Demon Ruins last night. Taurus Demons and Capra Demons and Rockworms, oh my. This place is just like ... a total area of boss fights. Although I can take out the Tauruses and Capras in two or three hits now the lava and Rockworms are deadly. Then the first major boss, the Ceaseless Discharge ... yeah that was an interesting fight. Not overly tough, but I died twice just by being careless and getting swept off a cliff. The Demon Firesage was a bit tricky, but seeing as it's basically the third time I've fought an Asylum Demon-class Demon (really, 3 times?) its patterns were not hard to predict.
I'm now waiting at another boss gate. Centipede Demon. Much trickier than the other two combined. I've helped a few others with it so I'm prepared when I go in myself. The lava-filled room doesn't leave much space to maneuver.
If being wrong's a crime I'm serving forever
Offline
You know guys, I'm enjoying (I guess) Dragon's Dogma; it's sort of like I messaged Botch - that it's sort of sad when you're sitting there, playing a perfectly adequate game, and all you can think is... it's not a Souls game. To tell the truth, if we start expecting every game to be a Souls game, we're going to have to find a new hobby.
Immense rant follows.
Dragon's Dogma is pretty fun; it's pretty pretty. It has many rough edges but none are dealbreakers. And to be clear, it isn't like I'd be licking Dragon's Dogma had I never known the lick of Dark Souls - the game has careless, stupid flaws, perhaps the greatest of which is that it's unmemorable. But it's not bad, not at all. What makes me think of the two in the same thought is that both are dark fantasy hack-and-slash.
But Dark Souls looks at you and is, like, "what? You want what from me? You want hand holding? You want me to tell you my story? Kiddo, FIND the story. MAKE the story. I'm not your mother. And if I were I still wouldn't give you everything, and you may hate me for it sometimes but when you finish, you'll thank me." And it's right.
Dragon's Dogma looks at you and is, like, "blah blah blah blah blah sword blah blah blah hack blah blah DRAGON blah blah GOBLIN blah blah inventory blah blah combine items blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah you died blah blah look giant monster blah blah." And it's... just what it is.
My biggest complaint about Dragon's Dogma is sort of difficult to describe, and it's rare - I experienced it last when I was playing Xenosaga: I've been playing for hours and hours, I know how to play, I know what to do, and I feel - constantly - like I don't know what's going on, as if I'm missing something and if I only knew what it was, I'd enjoy the game more. Does that make sense?
Coming right off Dark Souls, it's hard to find things that can hold a candle. I once said that other games entertain, but Dark Souls tells you who you are. In a way it is like a good parent in that. It's kind when it's right to be kind, and harsh when it's right to be harsh, but the best leaders are the ones who let you find your own leadership inside you. They guide but don't command. Every inch of Dark Souls (and its predecessor) is hard won but earned, and by earning it it makes you proud. Everything about games making you feel like a great hero is crystallized in Dark Souls, and even those who aren't able to finish it, even those who don't come close, have to appreciate that it confidently did precisely what it set out to do.
Ultimately the only thing about Dark Souls that disappoints me? Having played it I'll never again be able to play it for the first time. Gregg and I have discussed this regarding STALKER many times. I may replay that game a thousand times but it will never be the first time again. Little about Dragon's Dogma genuinely disappoints me, but little about it transports me either. And even games I really love just don't fall into the same category as STALKER and Dark Souls. I'm sure there are a couple of others that belong in that highest of pantheons; I'll think of a few later I'm sure.
Funnily enough, I had very low hopes for Dark Souls, because during development all they kept harping on is "it'll be harder, it's going to be harder than Demon's Souls," and that worried me because being hard isn't the point at all. But they knew what they were doing. And I sure hope there's more development along these lines, because if I can never play Dark Souls for the first time again, at least I can look forward to playing Dim Souls, or Drab Souls, or Drowsy Souls, or whatever. It would be a crime against gaming if they don't do it again.
I have a feeling we could gather around beers and talk about Dark Souls for hours and hours and hours. Possibly forever. Not many experiences can do that to you.
Life is the misery we endure between disappointments.
Offline
Does the silo have draught? If so, what's on tap? Hee hee. What's on tap? GET IT?!
*Ahem* oh back to Dark Souls. Ummm I'm still waiting by this damned bonfire and no one wants to be summoned to help me. Where is everybody?
If being wrong's a crime I'm serving forever
Offline
I see what you did there!
If we get an entire missile complex instead of just a single silo, maybe we'll fill up a whole silo WITH beer. Tap-Repeatedly Lager. We'll need a brewmaster.
Life is the misery we endure between disappointments.
Offline
It should probably be Helmut. He built a house made of straw ... you want a brew master dedicated to craft.
/derail
I waited around for probably 15 minutes staring at the ground for summons; wasn't happening, so I called upon my good buddy Solaire and we spanked that Centipede Demon. I don't know if I've imagined it, but it seems that Solaire's strength increases dramatically throughout the story. The Gaping Dragon made short work of both him and Lautrec, but here he was practically swimming in lava and still whipping lightning spears. He survived with a quarter health left. Yes!
Now I'm in Lost Izalith. I don't know what the giant sets of legs with tails are, but I found a safe little nook in the middle of the lava field where I can pick them off one at a time with my Fire Longbow+5. Ring of Fog (this ring is WAY better than the Thief's ring; I wore it last night for the first time, not wanting to attract these giant leg-things, and I didn't even notice there were some of those stone fire-spitting guys right in front of me. I rolled into one and it still didn't see me) plus the Red Tearstone Ring (I wondered when I'd get Dark Souls' version of the Clever Rat Ring; turns out I'd get it very late in the game, when I finally wandered into the Valley of Drakes!) is an excellent combo. I quit for the night still in my little hiding hut. Once I leave its safety I'm going to have to sacrifice Hyper Mode for the Orange Charred Ring again.
To be continued...
If being wrong's a crime I'm serving forever
Offline
OK, I'm a forest hunter now. I did a little farming with the glitch trick in the Garden but then got bored with it. So I discovered that cat and joined up. Before that I got invaded by one of the forest convenant. This guy seemed legit - bowing is a pretty good indicator as you noted Xtal. I may have even gotten him (we were pretty evenly matched), but I had to deal with that tough NPC sorcerer at the same time.
I'm going to play around with guarding the forest a while and see how it goes.
And I finally got that Titanite Demon in the Catacombs.
Rule #2: Double-tap
Offline
Botch, if you tire of that covenant and don't mind taking on a bit of sin you can get a pretty useful ring by killing the invisible ninja-type guy who stands slightly behind the dude who appears outside Alvina's perch: Shiva. Of course, if you attack him both he and Shiva will put up a good fight, along with any other Forest Hunter NPCs you aggro. I followed some hints urging me to kill this guy, and on the second attempt I received this ring of his: the Dark Wood Grain Ring. Makes you quite a bit more agile; if you've seen people doing backflips they're wearing this ring. It also makes you move faster if you're under 50% of your equip limit. In higher level PvP and even Co-op almost everybody wears this ring.
There is one caveat to this ring, but this is just my personal experience with it: It can turn on you in PvP if you rely on it too heavily. Brilliant as Dark Souls is, the online is of course susceptible to a form of PvP which I would refer to as "cheese." You are being "cheesed" by another player in PvP if they approach you and then seem to be constantly circling you. If you're like me and choose not to participate in exploiting the flaws of latency, you'll probably accept that, try as you might, you will lose this fight to said person of "cheese," also known as a lag back-stabber, or griefer. Carry Indictments on you at all times. Griefers deserve to die. Over and over.
I'm at the point where I don't mind being invaded anymore; if it's an honest to goodness fight, so be it. It's when I'm invaded and the person employs this cheap, no-skill strategy that irks me. Where the Dark Wood Grain Ring comes in is here: normally for PvE it can help you escape many sticky situations, as well as for honorable PvP. Where it can turn against you is cheese PvP: typically you'll be locked onto an opponent (unless you're crazy skilled) so naturally when you roll and leap away from them your back starts to turn at a weird angle. With normal rolls there's enough downtime that it creates a proper rhythm; with the DWG Ring you'll be hopping about so quickly that often you'll put your back square to your opponent, giving them an all too easy back-stab. So take care.
Wow, I just wrote another novel that is probably irrelevant! 
If being wrong's a crime I'm serving forever
Offline
Botch, if you tire of that covenant and don’t mind taking on a bit of sin you can get a pretty useful ring by killing the invisible ninja-type guy
That was the unstated intent. 
I'm all too familiar with the lag-backstab.
The thing is, I've settled on a build I really like, but it takes some skill I'm still developing. It's a Thief on which I've bumped up the Dex and am using quick-strike weapons such as the Iaito (Blighttown was a trove of cool equipment for this build) and the Bandit Knife (awesome starting weapon for the Thief). High damage, very quickly. But that includes making use of parrying and of course back-stab. Can you use the back-stab legitimately without looking like a griefer? I'm not really that interested in PvP, but I do want to try a few invasions as a blue phantom just to see what it's like. Experience more of what this game has to offer. I'll probably also try Darkmoon at some point.
Anyway, it's how I killed Havel, and several Black Knights. It's difficult, but oh so satisfying.
That ring is one thing that I guess sort of irks me about the game. There's so much you would just never see without doing the seemingly unthinkable. And how would you know in advance if there were even any benefits to doing it?
Rule #2: Double-tap
Offline
I assume a lot of the information on the wikis comes from strategy guides. If you didn't have the knowledge prior to going in ... yeah, it would just take forever to find everything.
Where are you at now? I should level up that thief I have to join in more jolly co-operation.
As for me, still working my way through Lost Izalith.
If being wrong's a crime I'm serving forever
Offline
Xtal I'm currently lvl 53 and technically ready for Sen's. I only played a little this past weekend and that was all spent doing invasions as a forest hunter. I don't know how the others work, but when you want to be summoned you put on a special ring. And let me tell you, you get summoned A LOT. I have a couple more boss-type battles left in the Garden I believe.
Rule #2: Double-tap
Offline
I was hoping there was no 11th Colossus in Dark Souls.
Lo and behold: the Bed of Chaos.
W.T.F.
I've died more times than I did at Flamelurker. Every time I get near it I'm just automatically swept into a bottomless pit. Blerg.
EDIT: I finally made it past the sweepy arms ... only to jump too far and fall to my death for what seems like about the thirtieth time. This is by far the most annoying boss in either Souls game. Until tomorrow.
If being wrong's a crime I'm serving forever
Most Users Ever Online: 252
Currently Online:
2 Guest(s)
Currently Browsing this Page:
1 Guest(s)
Top Posters:
Spike: 1187
Pokey: 894
Jarrod: 607
Finkbug: 468
Armand: 318
kaythomas: 307
Member Stats:
Guest Posters: 9
Members: 15063
Moderators: 18
Admins: 6
Forum Stats:
Groups: 1
Forums: 4
Topics: 816
Posts: 18549
Newest Members:
DennisWab, JasonAcert, MichaelVOP, KevinKabLy, Williamvog, WilliamgeogyModerators: Jen: 631, Orb: 0, Scout: 1205, Toger: 1488, Yapette: 836, Dobralov: 17, xtal: 1685, Meho: 82, Tap-Repeatedly: 0, geggis: 1435, Lewis B: 214, Mat: 245, AJLange: 200, Dix: 483, Cheeta: 0, LewisB: 0, Amy Louise: 12, l0vetemper: 3
Administrators: admin: 2, MrLipid: 31, Steerpike: 3310, Helmut: 795, Synonamess Botch: 1127, heddhunter: 27
