Dark Souls(Demon's Souls successor)

[Griddlelol]

Well looks like I'm going to ghost town. 

 

Unfortunately I've not touched Int, and I killed Smough second, so I didn't get Orn's soul. Doesn't look like there's going to be any unique weapons I'll use. Quelaag's fury is alright, maybe if I upgrade it a lot then it'll be good.

[prettyunsmart]

Have you picked up any Black Knight weapons? I know you're running with a Dex build, so they might not be as good for you, but I ended up going with a Black Knight halberd pretty early on. It has nice range, and you can fully upgrade it by just hanging out by the cathedral in Anor Londo and buying enough materials to upgrade it from the big blacksmith.

[Griddlelol]

No, none, although I do have the gargoyle's halberd. That scales better with Dex, has a lower Str requirement but overall looks weaker. 

I like having the katana/spear combo as it allows me to attack at a long range, or a short range, so maybe upping another weapon with a long reach like a halberd wouldn't be a bad idea. 

[osmosisch]

The gargoyle halberd has probably my favourite moveset in the whole game. The light one-handed attack is so fast and has amazing range.

Besides the boss souls spears the most interesting spear is probably the one that the gargoyles in Anor Londo use. it's got built-in lightning and looks creepy. Oh, and the channeler's trident of course.

Oh, and the silver knights can drop their spear, that one's pretty schmexy also.

[Griddlelol]

Oh I have the silver knights spear. I forgot about that. I got Uchi to +12. Those ghosts SUCK. Now I decided to go off and explore (with a little help from the wiki since I'd never have thought there'd be a ladder behind that waterfall), and hopefully find the materials to get it to 15 along the way.

[Reyturner]

 I'd never have thought there'd be a ladder behind that waterfall

 

Did you go any further? 

[Bjorn]

Oh, you never explored the second half of Darkroot?  Is that what you're talking about?  That's a super important area.  Definitely go there before further into New Londo. 

 

There are also at least 3 areas which can be very, very difficult to ever find.  Like straight up hidden levels.  Two are related to each other, one is its own area.  If you want any hints towards finding those, we can set you on the path towards them.

 

For those who have played, I'm talking about

 

the return to the Undead Asylum, the Painted World and the hollow tree/Ash Lake.

[Griddlelol]

I did. I took out the boss in that area and got the ring I needed for the staircase that I couldn't figure out.

 

Four Kings is the hardest boss I've faced by far. Having a "dps timer" before another one arrives to fuck you up is horrible, it's really not how I like to play. I prefer to take my time and ease into things. Plus they really like to chain their attacks together to stun lock you which just feels incredibly unfair. 

 

Anyone got tips for taking down Four Kings? 

[osmosisch]

Maximum poise (fatroll is fine for them, they do little damage when you're next to them anyway except the grab), a max-upgraded weapon and/or pyro flame with great/regular combustion. A helpful trick is also to keep swinging once one dies, the healthbar still takes damage while they're doing the disappearing animation.

[eot]

Do the Catacombs before you do 4-Kings. Farm Darkwraiths for chunks until you get to +14 (+15 if you have a slab which you probably don't). Put Charcoal Pine Resin on your weapon, they're weak to fire. Like osmosisch said, putting on high poise gear (Havel's set) so that you can just keep swinging is the easiest way to beat them. Two hand your weapon and whack away.

[Sno]

The boss for the return trip to the asylum is a guaranteed drop for a titanite slab, and it's the only guaranteed drop for one in the game.

[Griddlelol]

I just did the catacombs. The boss was a cakewalk compared to 4 Kings. I think I had him down in about 10 seconds, although I managed to lose the 20k souls from the boss by falling off the edge twice in Tomb of Giants - slightly annoyed about that!

 

Yeah Uchi is level 14, so I'm on the look-out for that slab. Still, 14 does a good amount of damage, just not enough to deal with 4 kings. I'll get the charcoal pine resin and give them another shot tomorrow. I'm super close each time, it's just very frustrating when the second one appears and they chain attacks together stun-locking you. 

 

Where can I find Havel's set? Lol just looked it up. This game can be so silly.

 

Would be useful if I could just go in there and swing until they're gone.

[Bjorn]

The boss for the return trip to the asylum is a guaranteed drop for a titanite slab, and it's the only guaranteed drop for one in the game.

 

There is at least one other guaranteed drop from an NPC storyline.

 

You have to take the Onion Knight's storyline to its completion with his daughter, and then you get a Slab. But that is a bit more work, particularly not botching how to handle him in the next to last encounter with him.

[Griddlelol]

Ok thanks all. Havel's set + fire sword turned that fight into a farce. I was just waiting around for the next one to spawn. I would never have found Havel's set without looking it up, but I suppose I could have bought Smough's set which has the same poise benefit if I'd really thought about it.

[eot]

There is at least one other guaranteed drop from an NPC storyline.

 

You have to take the Onion Knight's storyline to its completion with his daughter, and then you get a Slab. But that is a bit more work, particularly not botching how to handle him in the next to last encounter with him.

There is also:

a slab in a chest in the place where you fight Kalameet

[Gormongous]

I just killed Havel. Man, that was a rush, especially since it feels like my first legitimate victory over a major enemy (the Taurus demon glitched on some rubble, two summons killed the first gargoyle for me, one Black Knight fell to its death and the other got stunlocked at range by my Drake Sword cheese). I'm not even going to fuss over the thirteen tries it took me. I used the time running from the bonfire to practice counters and kicks. I almost managed to kill Havel legit, toe to toe, but after I realized what a small margin for error it was, I used the roll-and-backstab strategy that the internet recommended.

 

I'm thinking of going to the Undead Parish to farm for Balder Leggings. I might just be stalling for time, considered that I listened to the Jumping the Shark podcast for months a couple years ago and heard all about how the Capra demon ruined Bill Abner's life.

[JonCole]

I BEAT THE CAPRA DEMON 

 

after 7 pitiful tries

 

YEEEEEEEEAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!  

[Griddlelol]

Woot! I can't believe that I killed him on my first try on my 2nd play through  attempt after dying easily 20 times on my first. I was absolutely dreading that fight. Usually the adrenaline kicks in on a boss fight when they're about 1/4 health left, but the Capra had me feeling that horrible stomach sinking from the moment I saw the fog gate. 

 

I've still not gotten the Drake Sword, I'm kinda glad! Sounds like it makes the game harder in the long run. 

[osmosisch]

For high poise the Giant's armour set is also pretty amazing (under the bridge with Alvina in Darkroot).

[eot]

That's the Stone set (which is also good for poise). Giants is sold by a blacksmith (guess which one).

[osmosisch]

Er, derp, yes, sorry. It's the armour worn by the stone giants which is where my wires got crossed.

[Griddlelol]

I've decided to stop for a while. I'm at the crystal caves (which I'm not happy with the pathways), and I won't be able to play for a week, so I'd rather just wait it out.

30 hours in...much left to go? I've got 2 of the souls for the Lord Vessel.

[Dewar]

It's hard to tell since people get hung up in different ways.

 

Location details follow:

From the sound of it, you have the Tomb of Giants, Crystal Caves, and the area past Quellag to do, then the boss. Also, the DLC areas, which are well worth doing. That section of the game (including DLC) took me around 10 hours.

[Sno]

The crystal caves had those invisible paths, right? Use the prism stones to check the paths, buy a whole bunch so you don't run out. (Prism stones can also be used to tell you if a fall would be fatal, based on the noise it makes when it lands.)

Arrows would probably work too, i guess. Stock up on cheap arrows.

[Griddlelol]

The paths have little crystal flakes land on them and mark them, so it's easy to see where they go. It's just fighting the golems on the narrow paths that is the pain for me. Too scared to roll dodge, and their knockback takes me off. 

 

I've already done Tomb of the Giants, that was quite rapid: finished off that boss today. The crystal dragon seems like it'll be a pain since it's hard to get in melee range. Although I only fought it once then got stuck in prison, so the fight may change for all I know.