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What? Stockholm Syndrome? Never heard of it. La la la can't hear you!
OK I'm not funny. Blighttown is such a horrible place, yet it never bothered me even remotely as much as the Valley of Defilement. A bow (or since you're bumping strength, the large crossbow) is an effective tool against those mosquitos. It may be best to avoid locking-on while up on the platforms (or at least moving while locked on).
The poison can mostly be ignored, since it's HP drain is so slow. But slogging around without the Rusted Iron Ring can get pretty old. There's actually a better place to farm large titanite, but it's only available after you've gotten through Anor Londo.
Nice going with Quelaag. Her most dangerous move is that area-affect thing, and if you're whaling away at her up close, it's not always easy to see her "tell" for that attack and know to back off. Your physical attack weapon was a good choice. Any fire-based weapon is completely useless. Magic works well though.
Rule #2: Double-tap
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Thanks SB. I think I was lucky with Quelaag, in that she only did that blast attack once during the whole fight. But still, when I realised how low her HP bar was, you could've knocked me over with a Dark Souls feather covered in poisoned iron spikes.
I'm now switching between getting stomped at Sen's Funhouse and running to the Darkroot Garden forest area to farm souls and make up for all the ones I'm losing at SF. I'm having some great fights there. I'm finally levelled up enough to wield the Black Knight greatsword one-handed - man, it's got a long wind-up, but get the timing right and it rocks.
On a different topic: Helmut's reaction to my confession of reverting to an earlier save game did make me wonder whether I had broken a DS rule I wasn't aware of. I had used the same technique/cheat much earlier when facing Taurus Demon - back then, I still felt like a such a massive noob that the thought of battling through all the enemies between the Undead Burg bonfire and TD over and over and over again was too much to bear. So I kept a copy of a savegame file from where I was in front of the TD fog gate, and just quit the game and reloaded that file each time TD handed me my derriere.
And after 4-5 times I stopped doing that and went back to fighting my way through all the enemies. One, fighting was more fun; two, it didn't take as long as I thought it did (I had got gud by then); and three, it was a much better warm-up for facing TD than a fiddly quit/reload exercise. And I never did it again. Until Blighttown.
And knowing the swamp like I do now, maybe I didn't need to quit - after finding my way around using the iron ring, I climbed back out (eventually - I still hate that lift and those platforms) to restock equipment, went back in with full armour and Havel's ring and was happily rolling around like a pig in a poisoned swamp. But -
I dunno. On that first visit, it had taken me about a hour just to get down to the swamp from Firelink Shrine and find the bonfire (and yes, this was using the shortcut - I'm someone who managed to fall to my death in the lift room below FLS because the lift wasn't there. Twice). I had then spent another hour trudging around the swamp, wearily fighting off mosquitoes/leeches/whatever, and when I belatedly discovered that the crossbow (which I had barely used up till then) was finally useful for something, i.e. the mosquitoes, I realised I had hardly any ammo for it.
Anyway, blah blah blah. Frankly, coming back to Bt loaded up with crossbow bolts to take out the mozzies was a huge factor in making the swamp bearable. Still hate those platforms and that lift though. Have I mentioned that? Oh. And, I'm still here. Which, apparently, is more than can be said for many others.
tl,dr: I'm mostly sure I did the right thing reverting to an earlier savegame. Interested in what others think though.
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Actually, it wasn't me, I didn't understand that you were creating a true savegame. I used to do the same thing with Nethack. How do you avoid the dialog that says the local savegame is out of sync with the cloud? I guess you just overwrite the cloud version. Just be careful, for here be tygers.
I don't think it's bad, although it is unnecessary, generally. The reason I think that you can learn a new area cheaply with suicide runs as long as you don't spend any hard resources. In my first playthrough I had a ton of churn. I was spending resources and then having to go somewhere else to earn money to fund my burn rate. Back and forth, back and forth. This time around I have invested in a little magic so I can have some magic arrows so that I can wander an area with no resource use at all. I don't get too attached to souls, even at the 20-30-40K level. Soul inflation makes quibbling over small amounts a waste of time and energy. There's a chamber, just after Pinwheel that's filled with giant skeletons. A royal pain if you try to clear the area, and I spent a lot of money on fireballs in the effort. But in the end one suicide run was all it took to pillage the corpse at the end, and the experience changed my perspective.
Having a bit of an issue with New Londo ruins. Don't really get the Darkwraith Knights. Taking turns whomping them and getting whomped in return, making exploration of the area a bit expensive. I should create a savegame. Anyway, I have the gates open, and can't seem to find the fog door to the Boss. There's a large area off to the left as you cross over the bridge from firelink shrine area. Is that area open to exploration? There's a handrail keeping me from jumping off the bridge, and there doesn't seem to be a way back there from the main areas.
My Dark Souls single player sensibilities are protected by a +10 GfWL Firewall of Ineptitude
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Actually, it wasn't me
Yup, sorry, it was SB. Should've checked.
How do you avoid the dialog that says the local savegame is out of sync with the cloud?
Er - I don't get that dialogue. What I do get, if I delete all my DSfix-generated savegames, is Steam re-downloading them all before it boots up the game (so I've stopped bothering trying to delete them).
I don't think it's bad, although it is unnecessary, generally.
I think you're probably right. I thought about going back to the savegame from where I was before I gave up in Blighttown to see if I could get through after all, but realised I can't unlearn what I've discovered since then, so it's academic. In retrospect, that's my one regret about loading the savegame - I'll never know whether I might have made it after all. (But then again, I have to remember - it's a video game.)
Anyway. Getting further each time in Sen's. Just got killed on that high walkway with four irregular swingaxes and a serpent mage on the left. And I've just thought of a way I may be able to take him out.
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You're probably, in some peoples' eyes, committing an unpardonable sin by reverting saves, but I was just messing with you. It does kind of go against the mindset of the game so to speak. I agree that it's unnecessary, since you never lose anything you've found. And I would argue that it could ultimately ruin the "fun". It removes the hard consequences from the equation, which is a big part of the thrill and sense of accomplishment.
On a related note, I don't miss the old days of manually saving a game every 5 minutes, because it screwed up the pacing. I consider the modern day auto-save or checkpoint systems a vast improvement.
Helmut, the Darkwraiths have several moves, and their timing is odd, so getting used to fighting them can take a while. And if you're the farming type, you will be fighting them A LOT. If you've opened the flood gates, I'm surprised you haven't found the fog gate to the boss. I won't spoil if for you - just know that there is a shortcut near where the narrow bridge ends. You can use prism stones to find out if a fall will be fatal. But remember to take heed of Ingward's warning.
Rule #2: Double-tap
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RL is intruding heavily on my progress. I looked at an online map of New Londo yesterday and I feel really guilty. In 30 seconds I had all my doubts dispelled and all the uncertainty cleared away. It was different than reading a walkthrough which are generally difficult to follow and not that clear anyway.
My Dark Souls single player sensibilities are protected by a +10 GfWL Firewall of Ineptitude
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New Londo is a rough place to visit - it was the last of the four Lord's Soul missions I undertook and I still found it disorienting, probably because it works so hard to take you out of your comfort zone. Darkwraiths and curses are hardly ideal.
Simplen00b, down in the Blighttown swamp there's an entrance to two small optional areas if you're in the mood to explore. I wouldn't go too far in at this point, however, but at the very beginning of a place called the Great Hollow you'll find a delightful item called the Cloranthy Ring. I would marry the Cloranthy Ring if man-ring unions were legal in my state. Bigotry is what it is. You can marry socks and necklaces from hell to breakfast, but try to declare your love for a ring and it's world war three.
Be sure to spend some time exploring Sen's (and invest in a bow with poison arrows for Mr Golem throwing firebombs up on the roof). The mechanism that spits those big Indiana Jones rolling balls at you can, given time, reveal some useful and/or hilarious possibilities.
Life is the misery we endure between disappointments.
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Not to counter someone who has actually finished, but the fireball throwing Golem on top of Sen's is pretty weak and shouldn't require the extreme cost of poison. In two playthroughs I've yet to take any damage whatsoever from the poor guy, who is very slow and telegraphs terribly. More difficult is finding your way around when you first stick your head in the open with all the crap that flies around up there. Exciting times.
My Dark Souls single player sensibilities are protected by a +10 GfWL Firewall of Ineptitude
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Really? But I hate him so very much! Up to now the only true constant of Dark Souls has been Buy Poison To Kill The Stupid Firebomb Golem. You've rocked my world, Helmut.
Of course, you also made it halfway through the game without ever sprinting or locking onto a target, so as Simple says, you might just be way better than me. Like, way better. Which actually wouldn't be that hard, but still.
Life is the misery we endure between disappointments.
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Ah, well, actually I had stocked up on poison arrows, but wasted them on the other, 'rock dropping' Golem, he looked so scary and I thought he was throwing the boulders when I poked my head out, so natch he had to go down, but then the boulders kept raining down, heh, and I had no poison arrows left when I got to the real fireball dude. So, this theory of 'better' is full of holes.
My Dark Souls single player sensibilities are protected by a +10 GfWL Firewall of Ineptitude
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At the risk of sounding disgustingly smug, I took out the rock-dropping golem and the firebomb golem with wooden arrows (but only after I had stopped crying from the FBG's initial onslaught - man, when you can't first see where they're coming from, it completely freaks you out). I've upgraded my short bow and light crossbow to +5, and even if they suddenly became completely useless, they've more than earned back what I spent upgrading them. (The golems took about 50 each.) Definitely one of the soundest investments I've made.
@Steerpike: I did actually find the Great Hollow entrance; at least, I got onto that tree, thought "This looks like it could go somewhere" and followed it round. Not sure I'd have found the entrance if there hadn't been a message about an illusory wall, which reminds me: is there any way of spotting whether a wall is illusory or not? I've never been able to 'see' one without a message, and blindly smashing away at walls in the hope of finding one gets pretty boring. (Oh look. A wall. Maybe I should attack it to see if it's not real. Oh look. Another wall. Well, how many walls can there be in this game? Surely no more than 5 or 6. Oh. Look. A wall.)
I didn't go far into GH; my hazy plan is only to revisit Blighttown when I can warp with the Lordvessel - I really cannot stand the climb up and down those wretched platforms. However, this plan is currently impeded by my total inability to stay on the platform with Iron Golem long enough to land any hits. I've read the wiki - stripped down for speed and agility? Check. Staying on his axe-hand side? Check. Double handing my weapon? Check. Able to land any strikes on him at all before falling or getting knocked or thrown off the platform UNCHECK UNCHECK UNCHECK UNCHECK UNCHECK curse you iron golem. Starting to think Quelaag was a fluke after all. Ah well. I'll get there.
And last word on reverting to old savegames: I absolutely totally 100% promise never to do it again unless I've been banging my head against a brick wall and making utterly no progress whatsoever for at least five minutes. OK ten. ALL RIGHT FIFTEEN HAPPY NOW oh my aching sides etc
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Iron Golem got you down? There's an NPC thereabouts who's been known to take him all by himself. But if you're set on soloing Iron Golem, following all of those tactics you mentioned will work soon enough. Stay behind him, but more importantly always work your way to the center of the "arena".
There's no way, visually, to tell if a wall is illusory.
That firebombing golem lobs so slowly, it's easiest just to work your way up to him and take him out melee-style. Less tedious too.
Rule #2: Double-tap
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The Four Kings have fallen.
My Dark Souls single player sensibilities are protected by a +10 GfWL Firewall of Ineptitude
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Iron Golem got you down?
Not no more. Finally got him on my 8th or 9th or 10th time. Or 11th. 12th? It's all a blur doctor.
But if you're set on soloing Iron Golem
Not set on soloing - with the major boss battles, it works for me to do some solo runs first to learn how to avoid each boss's attacks before spending humanity on a summons. It's just that with Quelaag and now IG, I managed to bring them down before calling in help. Which was nice.
After downing IG, I learnt that, when invited to examine a ring of light after a boss fight, best option to choose is "Thanks ever so much but I think I'll just go back to the bonfire first and level up if that's OK, ta for the offer". Didn't realise saying 'Yes' would summon the gargoyle express to Anor Londo - thought I had lost 49,000 souls there after I got stomped by the ninja dudes (painting guardians?) before I had found the bonfire. But then I remembered about Homeward Bone; went back, and - oh joy! - the souls were just by the broken window entrance. Picked em up and HB'd the heck out of there.
So now I'm wondering - Anor Londo/Lordvessel? New Londo Ruins/Very large ember? Or Catacombs/Kindling rites thing? Or, as they all seem quite daunting at the moment, maybe something else? Still got Darkroot Garden/Basin to explore. (Tbh, right now it's totally academic as I'm too tired to actually play, so gonna carry on watching EpicNamebro's LP series.)
There's no way, visually, to tell if a wall is illusory.
Boooo.
(But it's nice to know I haven't been missing something obvious.)
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The Darkroot basin might be something to finish up? Have you run across the big, very big boss, at the bottom? You'd know it if you had. There are some things and creatures down there that are advantageous to discover now. Anor Londo is really the only place to be at this time. Going to the other areas you mentioned is somewhat out of order, which is not a bad thing, but you can't really accomplish much without the lordvessel.
I've only just gotten strong enough to clean out completely and map the area behind the wall opened by the Crest of Artorias. In my first through, I'd climbed up the looong ladder and gotten my hat handed to me by the rolling rat bastards. They make some nice throws.
My Dark Souls single player sensibilities are protected by a +10 GfWL Firewall of Ineptitude
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No, haven't finished Darkroot (I assume you're referring to the Hydra - ??), but I've decided to hang out at Anor Londo for a bit. I've also taken another momentous decision; I'm pretty welded to Havel's Ring and wanted to try some other stuff out, so - I took off the Ring of Favour and Protection.
Currently picking completely unnecessary fights with the big knight guys to get the hang of fighting/dodging without it. It makes a difference, but so far I'm about 3-3 with the big fellas, which isn't too bad. We'll see.
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And Seath has fallen. There is only one more soul to fetch for the Lordvessel. Starting to feel a little sad... the end is nigh.
My Dark Souls single player sensibilities are protected by a +10 GfWL Firewall of Ineptitude
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Starting to feel a little sad... the end is nigh.
There's always NG+. I'm still having fun poddling around Anor Londo but part of me's already thinking about how I'm going to approach my next playthrough. Which will start sometime in March 2017 at my current rate of progress.
I seem to have adjusted OK to losing the Ring of Favour & Protection. Got my Black Knight Greatsword up to 5+ and usually manage to one-shot the silver knights, although it's so slow they still sometimes kill me during the wind-up. Not sure it's going to work with Laurel and Hardy - had two rounds with them and don't think I've managed to get a scratch on them yet. Considering heading back to Firelink and getting some weapons scaled up along divine/magic lines to have as options to brute force.
Really need to remember to practise just avoiding bosses in my first few attempts. I always try piling in and just get schooled.
UPDATE: Just had a fantastic session with Omsberg and Smew. Still didn't lay a finger on them. Not sure the Occult Club is the weapon of choice. But I lasted three, maybe four minutes before I ran out of estus, and shortly after that, the other stuff. Y'know. Life. It was GREAT.
Love this game.
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The Daughter of Chaos burgers are UP!
The sadness I have is mostly because I haven't really followed the story all that closely. I dabbled in Steerpike's diaries at the end and I do know there's a whole lot more going on than I'm aware of. I feel a little bit like I'm hurtling into a precedent setting grand jury trial only having glanced at the case notes while in the loo the morning of.
But I am the chosen undead. Me! Of all the others who've helped me online, the last asshat who invaded in Lost Izalith, all those who have written, all those vids and wiki's, all for my benefit. Therefore, I think I'll shift this pup into seventh and get this done.
Edit: Just helped two obviously staged characters finish Gwyn online. How that fits into my authoritative, chosen narrative, I do not yet understand.
My Dark Souls single player sensibilities are protected by a +10 GfWL Firewall of Ineptitude
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But...I thought I was the chosen undead...
Yeah, most of the story is bypassing me in the game but I'm getting enough of it from videos and stuff like Matt's diaries to let me fill it in as I go along. Tbh, some of it sounds so depressing I don't mind not getting every single inference. I can go along with really dark heavy atmospheres for a while if the gameplay's enjoyable (cf Dishonored, Limbo), but if the ambience is just relentlessly downbeat, I'll stop playing (cf Dishonored, Limbo). It may yet happen with DS, but so far there's enough beauty and humour (however twisted) in place to keep me going.
Talking of which - I have got so, so close to beating O&S, but SuperSmurf always ends up getting me, either with the Electric Botty Slam, or by me being stupid. (I had one bout where Smough went down first, leaving me and Solaire facing SuperZippy. "Hey!" I thought, "Maybe I'll buck the trend and actually win by defeating Super Ornstein!" And - yeah. (No.))
So, despite probably being already over-levelled for where I am in the game (I'm about 71/72 iirc), I'm having a break farming and exploring Darkroot.
Man. It's HUGE. Spent best part of a couple of hours last night just doing the perimeter of the forest area behind the Crest of Artorias. Probably won't do it again (the humans foes are fine, but the ents are a pain, especially when there's more than one of them; I spent most of the circuit trying to spot them and lure them out one at a time, which was a bit of a chore tbh), but I did find the path to the bridge overlooking the Hydra, and the ladder that presumably leads down to it. Shot a few wooden arrows over at H from the bridge in the vain hope I could cheese it, and chickened out of exploring further. Maybe tonight.
There is no danger of me finishing this game in the forseeable future.
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