So the recent flurry of discussion on Dark Souls prompted me to start a new game on the PS3. I never got comfortable with the PC version (controller + office chair feels weird to me), so an unnecessary $14.99 investment got me the Artorias of the Abyss expansion, and it was off to the races.

This game is so interesting. I may have moaned a couple times about gamer guilt - especially in my line of work, I often feel I don't "play games enough," or "play often enough," inevitably leading to questions about whether I'm losing interest in the hobby. You know, like when you get a headache and assume it's head cancer. Then I start up Dark Souls and it's like putting on comfy gloves. I played much of the weekend and all of last night, even putting off a start of Rome 2. No regrets. It's not me that plays less, it's the games that deserve less of my time.

Anyway, I've started Dark Souls on a couple of occasions. On my PC playthrough I got to Anor Londo; a few PS3 efforts saw me get variously past the Gargoyles and/or to the Depths before I sort of drifted off. This time, though, I want to play the new content (it will be a good barometer to see how I react to Dark Souls II), and as I told xtal last night, man, reading all the posts on this forum have had a profound effect on the way I play the game. I'm almost - almost - pretty good, compared to the bumbling incompetence that marked my first go-round. I pay attention to all equipment stats rather than just physical protection and damage. I know what Poise is. I'm trying - not always succeeding, but trying - to keep my level down. And what grinding I do is grinding with a purpose. It may seem like a couple hours of repetition to the non-expert, but to someone who knows the game, my decisions and behaviors are based in similar knowledge. That alone is totally different than my first experience with DkS.

I'm halfway through Sen's Fortress, at maybe the 20 hour mark. Much of that time was the aforementioned planned grinding. I intentionally built a Sorcerer, like my first Dark Souls character, but this time around I'm actually using magic. Following various Botch or xtal advice I was quick to upgrade a Pyromancy flame, I raced to New Londo right off to get the free Fire Keeper soul, and though at level 44 I'm hardly keeping it under control, my leveling is structured according to a plan.

Sen's lit me up when I first visited. I knew it was coming but was surprised by the scale of the pounding. My first visit wasn't for progress but to get the Covetous Gold Serpent Ring, which I planned to take off to Blighttown for some Large Titanite Shard farming. This took a lot of time. My Longsword +10 and +3-+6-ish Black Leather set couldn't hold their own against the snake men. But I endured and got what I needed, then spent an hour helping folks with Quelaag and clearing out leeches in Blighttown, carrying off 55 large shards and a hozillion souls that I reinvested not in levels but in everything the Pyromancy trainer down there offered. My Flame is +15 and I've got two copies of practically every major spell, useful since I miss a lot, and I'm slowly building to six attunement slots. I tend to swap back and forth between Sorcery and Pyromancy, and for the first time I finally understand the balance between miracles, magic, and pyromancy. I'm loving every minute of it. Well, except the initial Blighttown descent. That went more poorly than usual. Also I had to summon help to deal with an invader in the Depths, and then there the help was so I thought "let's just get Gaping Dragon out of the way," which had the unexpected negative of making me miss the Knight Kirk invasion since I hadn't actually done the Depths at that point. So.

But once I got the serpent ring I had it under control. Time in Blighttown got me the shards I needed, and fifteen minutes of the Undead Parish with that ring on netted me the one tool I've been really dying for - a Balder Side Sword. My return to Sen's Fortress was night and day difference with a +10 BSS and hardened leather over my old kit. You can't go wrong with the Balder Side Sword, people. Though now that I'm back in Sen's and found it for the first time, I gotta say, I could get used to the Shotel.

Also, weirdly, immediately after I beat the Bell Gargoyles I tried to put down a summon sign, but for some reason I invaded another world. I'm sure it was the White Soapstone I had out - that was the first thing I looked at when "invading another world" came up, but invade I did. A bug? I don't know.

Talk to me about Raw items. Also about ways to maximize my build without continuing to level, something I've already done more than I intended when I started out. I keep Hardened Leather plus an upgraded Pyromancer set for Blighttown; I swap between Wolf, Cloranthy, Steel Protection, Covetous Gold Serpent, Rusted Iron, and Bellowing Dragoncrest as needed. I need to become more amazing, and to become more amazing I need your wisdom. Also, the Artorias content - you have to be through Anor Londo? Past O&S? Then just kill the Hydra and talk to Dusk?

The seventh lasted a good long time. So long I thought the curse was broken. If memory serves, I got that one shortly after Alan Wake came out, which would be... 2010 I think. It was what Microsoft sent me through their warranty system, which is probably why it wasn't one of the nicer ones.

No idea what made it give up the ghost, but it still sits there because a hole would look funny. Unless the cubby itself is cursed, it's the future home of my Playstation 4.

Pokey: I'm sorry you've been having so much trouble. I myself have rediscovered Dark Souls after a long break. I just need to pick one platform and stick with it. Give yourself some time off, that can heal lots of wounds.