Quote: Originally Posted by Killbomb The worst part about dying in Dark Souls to me is trudging back through enemies you've already beaten to try to get back to a boss. Usually there's somewhat of a shortcut but it can still be a pain.

That's the point - you're NOT supposed to make "mistakes." The penalty for dying is enemies respawn in the entire area.

On the flip side - if you die and lose your Old Souls; get kicked back to last Bonfire (checkpoint); hack off more enemies and get their New Souls; make your way back to where you last died and get your Old Souls back; you'll have your Old Souls + New Souls. It'll be MUCH easier to level-up for battles - and you can actually die purposely if you're secrewed (i.e. No Flasks; don't have the item to send you back to last Bonfire) as a strategy just to actually grind more.

Quote: Also, if you play the game "blind" (no wiki or guide) it can become very frustrating since you can easily waste souls on useless stats and some key items are very difficult to find on your own. For example, there is no way to know which weapon to level up to use a Boss soul without checking a guide or wasting materials. I do love the game and I'm not saying they should hand us everything on a platter in DS2 but a little more clarification/direction regarding certain game mechanics would be appreciated.

There's patterns to beating most bosses. They might take numerous deaths to figure out, but it is doable.

Such as, with the Capra Demon...
...Though, the Capra Demon is HELL to get down right, b/c of how that battle begins and the onsalught of dogs and Capra rushing you out the gate can be brutal, if you don't time things right.
1. Since you're being ambushed - RUN and get up to the stairs; then get to the ledge.
2. Battle the dogs while up there (cornering yourself, so they'll come at you one-by-one); get them out the way.
3. Try NOT to take Capra head on. Throw things at him while on the ledge (firebombs, poison knives, etc) - until he comes up those stairs.
4. When he comes up those stairs, drop down below; wait for him to drop down behind you; attack him once; run back up the stairs to ledge; go back to Step 3.
5. If he is ever beneath you do this step - plunging attack! Those do MASSIVE damage. Then run back up the stairs to the ledge; go back to Step 3.
6. He should be dead, if you hit this step 6. Congrats.