Dark Souls (Project Dark) - October 4, 2011

[quote name='jh6269']I didn't get that lucky. The black knight killed me (I was at a very low level at the time), and must have fallen off the cliff as I died. I went back and there was no drop.

I still can't figure out how to get that treasure over on the other side of the gap (right were you see the light from the Ash Lake area). I know it's the Silver Serpent Ring, and I really want it, but I hate those MFing skeleton dogs.[/QUOTE]
Yes, the guide was not helpful at all with this as they show you to drop off in the wrong location. After you bust through that fog gate with the black knight and the giant skeleton archer, near that archer is a hole and a ramp down. Don't go down, but go over to the cliff and look for the corpse which previously held a soul. Stand on it and face perpendicular to the cliff and roll / take a running start and jump off the cliff. You will land on a platform which curves around to the treasure.

If you want to make sure you found the right location, stand at the edge on that corpse and toss a prism stone over the edge. Take the ramp down and as you approach the left turn to the second bonfire you should see the lighted stone up above on the platform.

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Was summoned at the second bonfire in Tomb of the Giants to fight Nito and a weird thing happened. All the way down to where the crystal gecko was, there were blue lights regularly spaced on the wall lighting the way, they weren't prism stones. The only thing out of the ordinary is one of the phantoms was of the sunlight covenant, does the tomb of the giants light up for members of the sunlight covenant? Has anyone else seen this?
 
[quote name='guardian_owl']
Was summoned at the second bonfire in Tomb of the Giants to fight Nito and a weird thing happened. All the way down to where the crystal gecko was, there were blue lights regularly spaced on the wall lighting the way, they weren't prism stones. The only thing out of the ordinary is one of the phantoms was of the sunlight covenant, does the tomb of the giants light up for members of the sunlight covenant? Has anyone else seen this?[/QUOTE]

I think those lights always appear if you use the skull lantern.
 
[quote name='guardian_owl']Yes, the guide was not helpful at all with this as they show you to drop off in the wrong location. After you bust through that fog gate with the black knight and the giant skeleton archer, near that archer is a hole and a ramp down. Don't go down, but go over to the cliff and look for the corpse which previously held a soul. Stand on it and face perpendicular to the cliff and roll / take a running start and jump off the cliff. You will land on a platform which curves around to the treasure.

If you want to make sure you found the right location, stand at the edge on that corpse and toss a prism stone over the edge. Take the ramp down and as you approach the left turn to the second bonfire you should see the lighted stone up above on the platform.

---

Was summoned at the second bonfire in Tomb of the Giants to fight Nito and a weird thing happened. All the way down to where the crystal gecko was, there were blue lights regularly spaced on the wall lighting the way, they weren't prism stones. The only thing out of the ordinary is one of the phantoms was of the sunlight covenant, does the tomb of the giants light up for members of the sunlight covenant? Has anyone else seen this?[/QUOTE]


I got it. Just after I posted, I took a look at the wiki again and saw that it's just by the archer and decided to give it a shot. Pretty easy to get. I really wish I could get a weapon that could kill those giant skeletons in one hit. They're the most freaking annoying enemy in the game.
 
I finally got the platinum trophy! I rushed my 3rd playthrough; rang both bells, killed Sif and reached the blacksmith in Anor Londo in 2-3 hours. Still deciding if I should download the new 1.05 patch and start a new character or replay Demon's Souls and try to plat it too.
 
[quote name='snowsquirrel']Well that is pretty much how I am using it; just to find goodies after doing an area, or to glance at a map. The guide itself is pretty light on details anyways, which is why I like it more than a walk through.

Well, Quelaag, Blighttown are done now, so maybe I'll farm a bit to get my Uchi up there.

What's the word on Magic scaling weapons, was that fixed in 1.05? Or is lightning still the way to to go. Magic is my primary, but I am pretty well rounded (roughly mag=27, str=22, dex=16, end=16, vit=18), and will likely continue to upgrade in this pattern.

~S[/QUOTE]

You absolutely should not continue to upgrade in that pattern. Find a weapon you want to use, upgrade Str/Dex to meet those requirements and then put the rest of your points into Int and Vit.
 
So, on the negative side there is the nerfed armor and pyro.

But on the plus side...

I decided to make a run into The Depths to get Eyes of Death just to finish off Nito's covenant. I already had 7. I used to run down there while I was waiting to get summoned to help on Gaping Dragon and I might get 1 every 4 or 5 trips. I also, stupidly, farmed them in the Great Hollow (waste of time).

Last night I got FOUR in one trip. I also got 2 humanity off the 3 big rats on my way to the frogs. That is incredible. I had 30 humanity and was using the covetous ring of course - but I was using that before when I rarely got them. They definitely beefed up the drop rate on those. And of course I'm now getting souls from the slimes and even the stupid bugs in the swamp. It is kind of frustrating because I'm pretty much done with the areas where I the non-soul giving enemies were and I spent lots of time in those before. Oh well...

The True Greatsword of Artorias is worth using, right? The only problem with it is that I have lots of stats to upgrade. I was only at 18 on int and faith and you need 20. And I was only at 16 or 18 on strength and you need 24 there, I think. I had been putting nearly all my recent levels into endurance - trying to get to the point where I can wear heavy stuff at 25% equip burden.
 
[quote name='gettinmoney662']You absolutely should not continue to upgrade in that pattern. Find a weapon you want to use, upgrade Str/Dex to meet those requirements and then put the rest of your points into Int and Vit.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the tip. Does strenght not increase my physical attack? I thought physical damage scaled with Str/Dex? fuck-knucles.

Yeah, in Demon Souls I hardly upgraded Str/Dex, but magic seemed much more powerful in that game. I was kicking ass with the souls arrow through the whole game. In Dark Souls, the soul arrow feels like I am flicking boogers at enemies: it annoys the hell out of them, but nothing more.

I guess I need to buy a new spell two. Heavy Soul Arrow looks slow, and only 10. I think I am going to get the middling one, where you get 20, but it should be more powerful that regular.

I do like me some endurance though too.
 
You can never go wrong putting points into Vit and End (up to 40 anyway). Don't put any more points into Str or Dex unless there's a specific weapon you really want that requires them. You'll get some pretty good spells later which are good in PvE but still relatively useless in PvP. Certain weapons scale with different stats (Str, Dex, Int, or Faith) and you can see that on the weapon stat screen - there's no general rule. Lightning and Fire weapons are generally quite good and don't scale with any stat.
 
Yeah, just came across this: http://sites.google.com/site/darksoulstats/dark-souls-calculators

If this site is still valid after 1.05, then upgrading str/dex pas minumum for uchi was a complete waste in my case. Also even at 50 magic, and 50 dex, the Magic+10 Uchi, is still not as good as Lightning Uchi +5. Seems nuts to not do a lightning weapon.

I contacted the owner of the site to see if he has updated his data after the 1.05 patch.
 
Generally it's only worth upgrading past weapon minimums for strength and dex unless you are using a normal/crystal or unique/dragon/demon weapon which scales well with strength and/or dex. For instance, the serpent great sword along the normal path has B strength scaling. With the lightning, fire, chaos, divine, occult, etc. the scaling for STR/DEX gets dropped to D or E, which is terrible.

Another alternative Io, is to do the forest covenant and kill shiva's bodyguard for the 50% rolling ring, it is awesome.

Great Sword of Astorias is quite powerful, the R2 stab attack is pretty slow though so it takes some getting used to. The benefit is whatever it connects with (except for some larger enemies) will get knocked to the ground. It's not a good idea to jump from say the Quelogs fury sword directly to the Great Sword as they have radically different move sets. I used a divine claymore as an intermediary while I was raising my stats to use the sword as it has the same move set, only faster.

Faced the Firesage demon in Demon Ruins, lol, they sure do love to reuse that asylum demon boss, makes you wonder if they ran out of time and said "fuck it, just paint the asylum demon orange and put it in a giant rectangular room"

So is Iron Flesh basically worthless now? Priscilla kept kicking my ass so I thought I would cast it so that I wouldn't stagger when she hit me while invisible, but every hit staggered me until bleed built up enough to kill me.

Side note, it looks like every tail cut off (or at least Priscilla's tail) now goes directly into inventory after the patch. Guide said to pick it up, but as soon as it cut off it showed up on my screen as picked up and asked me to press OK. Same thing happened with the black knight drops when it fell to his death in the tomb of the giants.

The stat planner on that site mentions the 1.05 patch so I assume at least that is updated correctly.
 
Isn't there a penalty for switching covenants? I keep meaning to look into that.

Havel's ring will give me the fast roll too won't it? (By boosting my max equip load)

I think i am going to go find Havel after I finish ash lake.
 
[quote name='snowsquirrel']Isn't there a penalty for switching covenants? I keep meaning to look into that.
[/QUOTE]

Technically, there is. You get sin, but it doesn't really do much. People can look you up in the Book of the Guilty, and come invade you.
Sin gets reset on NG+ though.
 
[quote name='snowsquirrel']Isn't there a penalty for switching covenants? I keep meaning to look into that.

Havel's ring will give me the fast roll too won't it? (By boosting my max equip load)

I think i am going to go find Havel after I finish ash lake.[/QUOTE]
It lets you do a fast roll, though the 50% roll rings gives it a new animation; you spring forward, land on your hands, do a flip, and land on your feet. The new animation covers like 1.5 the distance of a 25% roll so you can get farther away with a single roll.

Say you have 100 equip burden right now, Havel's ring multiplies that by 1.5 for 150 equip burden. Then to fast roll you need less than 150/4 = 37.5. With the Dark Wood grain ring if you are 50% or less of equip burden you can do a quick flip. Using that same example of 100 equip burden, 100/2 = 50. So with the 50% quick flip ring you can have 12.5 more equip burden. Or you can combine them both and then you can use 75 equip burden.
 
Generally speaking, if you want to act like you're under 25% (fastest roll, etc) then you're best off using the Dark Woodgrain ring. If you only care about being under 50% then you're best off using Havel's ring.

And, yes, one of the single best changes from the patch is the automatic pickup of any loot from non-respawning enemies, including tails. No more worrying about hitting crystal lizards off of ledges, or Seath's tail getting lost in the wall.
 
[quote name='Backlash']And, yes, one of the single best changes from the patch is the automatic pickup of any loot from non-respawning enemies, including tails. No more worrying about hitting crystal lizards off of ledges, or Seath's tail getting lost in the wall.[/QUOTE]

An amazing change, for sure!
 
For those going for the Great Sword Of Astorias I highly recommend putting 2 more points of dex so you can use the dragon slayer bow. It is officially the funnest weapon ever. I needed a decent bow for the dinosaurs in the area below the demon ruins and didn't want to burn up any of my rarer titanite yet so I put 2 more dex to try that.

Was messing around with it when I was summoned into dark Anor Londo and it was so much fun. Blue phantoms LOVE to turn and run to prolong the fight / get to an area that is to there advantage so when they do I would switch to the bow, go into first person and try and nail them with it. Made a sweet shot from the top of the long staircase as they were about to step on the staircase platform which rotates. Hit any part of their body and they get knocked to the ground.

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Didn't feel like killing crow demons for souls of reprisals so I decided to try and do it the "proper" way by invading. Decided to try in the forest just beyond the seal of astorias and it actually worked pretty well, got 6 in about 40 minutes, then it got too late and it took about an hour and 15 minutes to find enough to invade to get the final 4. In that time I only ran into a couple of dual-mongers waiting with 2 white phantoms to ambush invaders.

Half the fights I was able to finish with just blasts of great combustion, other times I would get in a backstab with the Astorias sword which often killed them. If you find you cannot kill them with a single backstab, get in close and follow up the stab with a fire whip. As they start to stand up begin casting fire whip, its a long, figure-8, continuous blast of fire so as soon as their invulnerability wears off during the standing up animation they will begin taking damage and get stunned. If your flame is leveled enough it should be enough to kill them.

In between dry spells I tried invading by the bonefire, I wouldn't recommend it, everyone I invaded there was always super tweaked out with really high level gear. Apparently that's one of the unoffical places to duel for dragon scales. All I have is the dragon covenant and the sunlight covenant to do now.
 
Was all excited to try out the dragon covenant to use the head stone blast. Upgraded to lvl 2 to get the dragon torso, put on the head, fired it at an enemy...21 fucking damage. Which would maybe be ok if it was 21 per piece of fire like the Fire Whip, but no, the flame only hits the enemy once per cast...for 21 damage. 30 dragon scales for 21 damage, ugh.

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Finally cleared out all the dinosaurs from Lost Izalith, cleared a 1/3rd of them by hand which was a slog, but by that point I found a better way. Bring a pile of the cheapest arrows you can find. Put on the charred ring and the ring of fog, sprint to the north east, pause on the island with the stone chamber and drink a flask if needed. Sprint east past the dinosaurs with your shield raised and climb up the root to the top of the second, higher tower.

Equip the black pharis bow (or long bow if don't have it) and the hawk ring to max out your bow range, pick a dinosaur and hit it 1-3 times, the further away it is, the more times you will have to hit it in rapid succession to get its attention so that it will move next to the tower. As soon as one moves next to the tower, aim at another dinosaur and hit it to lure it in. As they futility try to attack you they will damage and kill each other. Pretty much every dinosaur which will be an obstacle between the 1st bonfire and fortress can be hit from this tower. If I had known that I could have saved myself about an hour of grief clearing out the dinosaurs on the west side.
 
[quote name='guardian_owl']Was all excited to try out the dragon covenant to use the head stone blast. Upgraded to lvl 2 to get the dragon torso, put on the head, fired it at an enemy...21 fucking damage. Which would maybe be ok if it was 21 per piece of fire like the Fire Whip, but no, the flame only hits the enemy once per cast...for 21 damage. 30 dragon scales for 21 damage, ugh.

---

Finally cleared out all the dinosaurs from Lost Izalith, cleared a 1/3rd of them by hand which was a slog, but by that point I found a better way. Bring a pile of the cheapest arrows you can find. Put on the charred ring and the ring of fog, sprint to the north east, pause on the island with the stone chamber and drink a flask if needed. Sprint east past the dinosaurs with your shield raised and climb up the root to the top of the second, higher tower.

Equip the black pharis bow (or long bow if don't have it) and the hawk ring to max out your bow range, pick a dinosaur and hit it 1-3 times, the further away it is, the more times you will have to hit it in rapid succession to get its attention so that it will move next to the tower. As soon as one moves next to the tower, aim at another dinosaur and hit it to lure it in. As they futility try to attack you they will damage and kill each other. Pretty much every dinosaur which will be an obstacle between the 1st bonfire and fortress can be hit from this tower. If I had known that I could have saved myself about an hour of grief clearing out the dinosaurs on the west side.[/QUOTE]

I thought those things respawn every time... At least the ones I killed did. Do they ever drop anything? I climbed the second tower and shot them with Great Heavy Soul Arrows. I'd use the bow to lure them, and to aim, then I'd switch to magic with the Bellowing Dragon Ring and killed them.

I got stuck in the Painted World. I didn't realize that the painting sucked you in and trapped you there... Is there any way to get out of the Crow Demon's death grip before they kill you?
 
^^ I'm surprised you are talking about clearing out Lost Izaleth and yet don't know about the Painted World. I have no idea where/when Lost Izaleth happens but I'm not there yet. Meanwhile, I did the Painted World a long time ago and it is pretty easy at this point (and I think from previous discussion that we have equivalent levels). It is best to avoid letting the Crow Demons grab you of course, but even when they do, they never killed me if I was at full health. They'd take me down about 2/3-3/4, even when I first went in there (around level 65-70). Now I'm 95 or so and they are pretty easy to deal with.

[quote name='guardian_owl']
Another alternative Io, is to do the forest covenant and kill shiva's bodyguard for the 50% rolling ring, it is awesome.
[/QUOTE]

Is this the woodgrain ring or whatever? I am pretty sure I have that but don't remember killing anyone's bodyguard. I always thought Havel's was better for both 25% anf 50% loads. I'll have to play around with it.

I have to admit, I am losing interest in this game - stopped playing every night and now when I think about playing, I just think how much more tedium I have to go through for everything and just end up not playing anything at all. Though some of that has to do with being online constantly for all the deals the last few days(though Dark Souls did make me miss the $79.99 Dynex TV at Best Buy - was playing and missed it by 2 minutes).

I'm not even sure what to do next. I stopped at the Crsytal Cave/Seath and went and did the souvenir of reprisal farming and a bunch of other things. I couldn't even figure out how to get down that first ramp in the cave (though I think I know now) and kind of got frustrated and gave up on that. Now, even though I think I know how to deal with it, I just don't feel like it will be any fun to do. I have to go into the Catacombs and find Nito to finish up that covenant (then I'm done with all covenant related stuff until the Sunlight one in NG+). But I really should push myself at least to finish the game once at this point - I've sunk well over 100 hours into it!
 
[quote name='io']^^ I'm surprised you are talking about clearing out Lost Izaleth and yet don't know about the Painted World. I have no idea where/when Lost Izaleth happens but I'm not there yet. Meanwhile, I did the Painted World a long time ago and it is pretty easy at this point (and I think from previous discussion that we have equivalent levels). It is best to avoid letting the Crow Demons grab you of course, but even when they do, they never killed me if I was at full health. They'd take me down about 2/3-3/4, even when I first went in there (around level 65-70). Now I'm 95 or so and they are pretty easy to deal with.



Is this the woodgrain ring or whatever? I am pretty sure I have that but don't remember killing anyone's bodyguard. I always thought Havel's was better for both 25% anf 50% loads. I'll have to play around with it.

I have to admit, I am losing interest in this game - stopped playing every night and now when I think about playing, I just think how much more tedium I have to go through for everything and just end up not playing anything at all. Though some of that has to do with being online constantly for all the deals the last few days(though Dark Souls did make me miss the $79.99 Dynex TV at Best Buy - was playing and missed it by 2 minutes).

I'm not even sure what to do next. I stopped at the Crsytal Cave/Seath and went and did the souvenir of reprisal farming and a bunch of other things. I couldn't even figure out how to get down that first ramp in the cave (though I think I know now) and kind of got frustrated and gave up on that. Now, even though I think I know how to deal with it, I just don't feel like it will be any fun to do. I have to go into the Catacombs and find Nito to finish up that covenant (then I'm done with all covenant related stuff until the Sunlight one in NG+). But I really should push myself at least to finish the game once at this point - I've sunk well over 100 hours into it![/QUOTE]

Yeah, I'm not following any walkthrough or anything, just going from place to place as I explore. I'm about 130 hours into the game, and I think my Soul Level is 94. I did the forest hunter thing almost near the beginning of my game, so I could get the Ring of Fog. Then I finished the Undead Burg, Killed Sif next, did the Catacombs, did the Depths, went through Blighttown, killed Ceasless Discharge. Then I went to Sen's Fortress and finished that (skipped the painted world since I didn't have the doll). I think then I went back to the undead asylum. I then went back to the Tomb of Giants and killed Nito (farmed Humanity first). Then I went back to the Daughter of Chaos and leveled the Chaos Servant to +2 and opened the path to Lost Isalith (an open area on the right-hand side when you're facing that huge Flame Asylum Demon). I went to New Londo and screwed around there for awhile, and opened the Flood Gates. I had picked up the doll in the Asylum, and I went back to Anor Londo to check on something, and I ended up looking at the picture and I got sucked in. My stats are probably weaker than yours b/c I didn't add too much to Vitality. I think I increased it maybe 5 or 6 times, then I started buffing endurance and my magic stats, and just enough strength and dexterity to wield some of the heavier weapons.

If I were you, I would open that up and go down there to get the Sunlight Maggot before going to the Catacombs and the Tomb of Giants. I just got it, and it would really help a lot in that pitch black area. You have to keep casting the Light miracle, and it became a PITA to keep putting on the Lingering Dragon ring, casting the Light spell, then swapping it for another ring, getting killed by giants, then having to repeat. If you go the shortcut route to Lost Isalith, you can kill the bug for the Sunlight Maggot.

Anyway, sounds like you're kind of getting burnt out. I started to get that a little b/c I was grinding too much. I since stopped and continued the main quest, and it's gotten better. I just feel like I want to get my stats to a certain point so I don't have to use Havel's Ring to wear the better armors. I also spent a ton of time farming rocks. It's really a pain that the blue titanite isn't for sale at any of the merchants. I think the patch added red titanite to one of the merchant's wares, but I haven't found the right merchant yet.
 
[quote name='gettinmoney662']You guys sure are taking your time. I got my platinum in about 109 hours or so, holla![/QUOTE]

I'm at 110. Granted, at least 10-12 hours were probably just me sitting at a bonfire while I did other stuff (like in here reading this thread or the Wiki or just forgetting I had the game on).

[quote name='jh6269']
If I were you, I would open that up and go down there to get the Sunlight Maggot before going to the Catacombs and the Tomb of Giants. I just got it, and it would really help a lot in that pitch black area. You have to keep casting the Light miracle, and it became a PITA to keep putting on the Lingering Dragon ring, casting the Light spell, then swapping it for another ring, getting killed by giants, then having to repeat. If you go the shortcut route to Lost Isalith, you can kill the bug for the Sunlight Maggot.

Anyway, sounds like you're kind of getting burnt out. I started to get that a little b/c I was grinding too much. I since stopped and continued the main quest, and it's gotten better. I just feel like I want to get my stats to a certain point so I don't have to use Havel's Ring to wear the better armors. I also spent a ton of time farming rocks. It's really a pain that the blue titanite isn't for sale at any of the merchants. I think the patch added red titanite to one of the merchant's wares, but I haven't found the right merchant yet.[/QUOTE]

By "open that up" you mean the Chaos Servant shortcut? How does that open? I just re-leveled myself in Chaos Servant covenant to +2 and nothing is open. I had it before but then lost it when I joined other covenants.

Now I realize I have to rejoin the Forest Covenant to get that stupid wood grain ring. I don't have it. I realized that I did see it though - that guy who moves to the swamp sells it, i think (Shiva's bodyguard). I had a ton of souls when I saw him specifically to buy some uchigatanas for upgrading and I passed on it assuming I'd only ever use Havel's ring. Oh well... Maybe I can just do without it anyway.

I don't think anyone sells slabs - at least I haven't seen it. You get a blue one from the Crystal Cave, though - just got it tonight and used it to upgrade a magic weapon. I did the quit via XMB trick to save it tor later. I took my magic winged spear to +6, then used blue chunks and the slab to get it to +10. I then quit right after getting the trophy and got the slab plus all the chunks back that I used beyond +6. Now I can make that an Enchanted weapon and maybe just keep the upgrade on that one.

So, yeah, I did get back into the game and had some fun tonight because I finally decided to deal with Seath. First of all, he was super easy - one of the easiest bosses yet. But maybe some of that has to do with my soul level (95 when I fought him). The hard part, of course, was getting that stupid tail. The first time I was attacking the wrong one, as I only saw the one at first. It is much harder to run all the way behind him and attack the big one because he keeps turning. It is especially impossible to hit the crystal to allegedly "stun" him then go after the tail. He might have been stunned for a few seconds, but I couldn't even get halfway behind him during that time (and that is running at < 25% equip load).

So the first time I figured it out about half way that I was on the wrong tail. I started going after the main one but then I had him down to about 10% and no tail, so I figured I'd better die and retry. It was actually a pain to get killed! I stood right in front of him and it took a while for him to finish me off - and then when he did, annoyingly, it was with a curse so I had to recover from that. The second time I went after that middle tail from the start and got it when I had his health down about half way. This time I went in lighter (first time was full Havel gear) so he was hurting me a lot more - tail swipes would knock half my health out. But once I got the tail I just got in close and two-handed the Fury sword till he was dead. He would have been cake if it wasn't for the tail.

Then I took care of Logan and much to my surprise got the trophy for having all the sorceries. So I was actually trophy-popping in the game tonight which is a rare thing (Seath, sorceries, and magic weapon).

Now, I guess, I have a choice - that lava place, or the place beyond the catacombs, right? Should I have a shortcut from the Chaos Servant now? But yeah, my grinding is pretty much done (have all the covenant stuff and all the tails done). All I have to farm later are the black knight equipment and maybe some chunks for weapon upgrades.

Oh yeah, and I can also verify that Seath's tail was auto-picked up (new behavior with the latest patch) which I can see was a nice thing since he moves it into that rock so often. I also auto-picked up the crystal lizard drops from the tunnel in the crystal cave. I guess this will come in handy when I deal with that Leeroy guy (who I think is the last one I need to deal with in terms of missable items). Big Hat Logan's stuff, on the other hand, including that last spell, did not auto-pick up and when I killed him he was right up against the edge of the "arena" area (where you first meet Seath) and I didn't even see his drops. But when I went over there, it prompted me to pick it up - glad I didn't lose that stuff! So I'm not sure about Leeroy - will just make sure I have a current PS+ backup before I get to him.
 
@io,

I was also confused about the "Opening up" the shortcut as well. I first thought it was that smooth wall in the tunnel next to the Chaos Witch, however it's actually down the path where all the egg bearers are. You make a sharp right-hand turn and start going down those stairs where the Capra Demons are. As you follow the stairs along, they'll head down and there's a door blocked by a huge ogre-demon thing with an Axe. Behind him is the long way (forward) to Lost Isalith (you need to go that way at some point b/c you need the ring that allows you to walk thru lava; and you only get that from the centipede demon), and directly to your right, the short cut. It's like a hole in the wall with a big tree root; you follow the tree root down, and there will be a wall that you touch, and it opens up. There will be these "Chaos bugs" that are pretty harmless. If you kill all of them, there's one of them that gives you the sunlight maggot. You can wear it as headgear, and it does the same thing as the Cast Light spell. It will make the Tomb of Giants easier b/c you can use both ring slots and an extra spell slot (you won't need Cast Light taking up a spot).

I recommend using the Broadsword of Artorias (made from Sif's Soul) to kill the skeletons. I can kill those MFers in one hit (not the big ones).

I have yet to do the Seath part. I fell asleep on the couch last night and didn't get to play :lol:
That's really cool about the auto-pickup. I may even venture down into the Great Hollow again to find those lizards.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, one thing about this game that makes it kind of monotonous, is you really are forced to grind if you want to buy ALL the spells and miracles AND also level up your guy. Most of my time grinding was trying to get the 40K souls per freaking spell from some of the NPCs. I think NG+ will be more fun because I won't really need to worry about buying all the stuff, since I plan to buy most or all of it on my first playthrough.

I'd go through the Catacombs and Tomb of Giants first. Once you get all the crap, you don't really need to go back there unless you're wanting to farm humanity with the baby skeletons (I thought you had been there BTW).
 
Leeroy's stuff is not auto picked up; I just got it a couple of days ago. Just don't knock him off the ledge where you fight him, I guess. Pyromancy works well against him and won't knock him off.

You have to kill the ninja (Shiva's bodyguard) to get the woodgrain ring - he doesn't sell items. So make sure you don't need to buy anything else from Shiva or be a Forest Hunter anymore before you kill him. Havel's ring is best if you want to stay under 50%; Woodgrain ring is best if you want to stay under 25%.

Glad you're enjoying the game again Io. If it ever feels like a chore, then just play through it instead of grinding shit for platinum. At least that way you can enjoy it :)
 
[quote name='gettinmoney662']You guys sure are taking your time. I got my platinum in about 109 hours or so, holla![/QUOTE]

Yeah, I've been grinding a lot and trying to get better weapons, buy all the spells, and buy armor from the merchant under the bridge.
 
[quote name='io']I'm at 110. Granted, at least 10-12 hours were probably just me sitting at a bonfire while I did other stuff (like in here reading this thread or the Wiki or just forgetting I had the game on).
[/QUOTE]

Yeah, but you still have another playthrough and a half to complete.

[quote name='jh6269']Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, one thing about this game that makes it kind of monotonous, is you really are forced to grind if you want to buy ALL the spells and miracles AND also level up your guy. Most of my time grinding was trying to get the 40K souls per freaking spell from some of the NPCs. I think NG+ will be more fun because I won't really need to worry about buying all the stuff, since I plan to buy most or all of it on my first playthrough.[/QUOTE]

You only need to grind if you want to get all the spells and miracles on one playthrough, which (no offense) is dumb if you're going for platinum since you need to do 2 and a half playthroughs anyways and spells/miracles stay with you through playthroughs. NG+ gives you a ton more souls so buying the more expensive spells/miracles is very easy.
 
[quote name='Backlash']Leeroy's stuff is not auto picked up; I just got it a couple of days ago. Just don't knock him off the ledge where you fight him, I guess. Pyromancy works well against him and won't knock him off.

You have to kill the ninja (Shiva's bodyguard) to get the woodgrain ring - he doesn't sell items. So make sure you don't need to buy anything else from Shiva or be a Forest Hunter anymore before you kill him. Havel's ring is best if you want to stay under 50%; Woodgrain ring is best if you want to stay under 25%.

Glad you're enjoying the game again Io. If it ever feels like a chore, then just play through it instead of grinding shit for platinum. At least that way you can enjoy it :)[/QUOTE]

I am almost positive he was selling it when he was in the swamp (he's only there when you are a member of the covenant). I'll check it out again once I get through the shortcut. Will that Izaleth shortcut stay open even if I leave that covenant?

Edit: Ah, OK, I was thinking of Shiva himself. (So confused by the names - I though the cat was Shiva and thus the actual Shiva was his/her bodyguard).

http://darksouls.wikidot.com/shiva-of-the-east

He sells the East Wood Grain Ring which just slows weapon degrading. That's why I didn't buy that. So, then, I'm not sure who it is that I am supposed to kill to get the other wood grain ring.

As for grinding for the platinum, well, I might as well now as I have done most of the grinding. As jh said, NG+ should be fast as I have already bought nearly all I need and farmed for the covenant items. NG+ and beyond will be simply to power through to the boss souls that I need for the last weapon upgrades.
 
[quote name='io']I am almost positive he was selling it when he was in the swamp (he's only there when you are a member of the covenant). I'll check it out again once I get through the shortcut. Will that Izaleth shortcut stay open even if I leave that covenant?

Edit: Ah, OK, I was thinking of Shiva himself. (So confused by the names - I though the cat was Shiva and thus the actual Shiva was his/her bodyguard).

http://darksouls.wikidot.com/shiva-of-the-east

He sells the East Wood Grain Ring which just slows weapon degrading. That's why I didn't buy that. So, then, I'm not sure who it is that I am supposed to kill to get the other wood grain ring.

As for grinding for the platinum, well, I might as well now as I have done most of the grinding. As jh said, NG+ should be fast as I have already bought nearly all I need and farmed for the covenant items. NG+ and beyond will be simply to power through to the boss souls that I need for the last weapon upgrades.[/QUOTE]
Near Shiva is a bodyguard wearing a fog ring and the darkwood grain ring, I'm not sure where he is standing in the forest, but I wouldn't recommend fighting him there anyway as he might roll off the cliff and then you will lose the drop. Join the covenant, then immediately warp to the Daughter of Chaos and backtrack into blightown. Shiva will have moved down to next to the water wheel and he will be leaning against a large, vertical plank of wood. Directly on the other side of that plank of wood is his bodyguard wearing a ring of fog. Make sure you are ready because when you attack the bodyguard Shiva will start to attack you as well and you will have sin which breaks the covenant and I believe will cause them to disappear if you die. Then you will have to pay for absolution before you can rejoin again.

Basically if you want to roll like you are 25%, it's best to use the dark wood grain ring (at 100 max equip, 50 equip for 25% roll). If don't mind the slower 50% roll, then havel is better (at 100 max equip, boosted to 150 by the ring, 37.5 for 25% roll and 75 equip for 50% roll).

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Ya, painted world is a bit of a pain if you don't bring enough blooming moss with you since you get locked in. I didn't realize there were enemies which cause toxic when they die (engorged zombie) so I went through my stock of 3 fairly quickly. Pretty much anything which gets you in a grab attack you can't break free unfortunately. That's why you can't get too close to the evil trees, the crow demons, etc. From what I remember, you can get through the level while avoiding most of the crow demons, you just won't be able to grab all the items this time if you want to come back when your stronger. Sounds like you have a ranged attack so avoiding toxic when they die should be pretty easy. If you don't, the R2 thrust attack on certain large swords / spears should allow you to kill them from just outside of goosplosion range if you position yourself far enough back to knick them with the tip at the apex of the thrust. Going human to summon helpers also isn't very productive as most everyone farming for souvenirs of reprisal will also be trying their blue orb. I also kept getting invaded by red phantoms too.

---

I had a really hard time finding out exactly where that Shortcut is too, don't worry though, if you don't care about farming for demon titanite it's not that big of deal as I found it quicker to retry the Bed of Chaos boss by running from the Lost Izy 2nd bonfire than trying to navigate by the prowling demon. Lost Izy is beyond the 2nd bell down in blightown. Head down the stairs (or warp to daughter of Chaos bonfire) and there will be a hole knocked in the wall which leads to the demon ruins and a boss.

Kill the ceaseless discharge boss, move past the capra demons, go down the stairs, walk through the archway, turn right at the Firesage Demon Fog Gate, go straight through the tunnel and touch the wall at the end to open it up. Since you were previously lvl 2 you might still have the ability to open the gate even if you join at lvl 0. Though the chaos bug with the sunlight maggot is on the other side of the shortcut door so it is probably worth trying rejoining the covenant to get that because it makes the catacombs and the Tomb of the Giants a lot easier.

The huge dinosaurs in the lava don't respawn, there are just a shit ton of them you probably just thought they did. They don't drop anything, they are just good for a decent amount of souls and its a good idea to clear them so you can return to the Bed of Chaos unencumbered if you fail. A few dinos are guarding some divine blessings in the south-east corner of the lava.

As for the Bed of Chaos boss, its similar to Dragon God, it's a puzzle boss, but unlike Dragon God, it is actually challenging. I would recommend fighting it wearing the charred ring as that appears to stop it from trying to use its lava attacks on you.

Invading NPC phantoms you still have to pick it up off their bloodstains. For Leeroy I just pulled him into the narrow tunnel with the crystal lizard to avoid losing his drop if he fell off, it's wide enough that you can still circle around him to avoid his weapon swings.
 
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I thought the area past that second bell was Tomb of Giants? (Edit: Ah, OK, that is Demon's Ruins). I went there and killed Ceaseless Discharge and got the gold-hemmed set a long ways back. But I didn't venture down into the lava area after that. I'm thoroughly confused as to where that shortcut is or isn't supposed to be, but I will need to play through that area before I understand I guess. It looks like that is clearly the next place for me to go. Though I could also go into the Tomb the other way from the Catacombs, right?

And where do I find Leeroy in all this? I don't want to be in human form until absolutely necessary but then again I don't want to miss him.
 
Leeroy is past the second bonfire in Tomb of the Giants, so turn human there. The only entrance to TotG is past where you faught Pinwheel at the bottom of the Catacombs.
 
[quote name='io']I thought the area past that second bell was Tomb of Giants? (Edit: Ah, OK, that is Demon's Ruins). I went there and killed Ceaseless Discharge and got the gold-hemmed set a long ways back. But I didn't venture down into the lava area after that. I'm thoroughly confused as to where that shortcut is or isn't supposed to be, but I will need to play through that area before I understand I guess. It looks like that is clearly the next place for me to go. Though I could also go into the Tomb the other way from the Catacombs, right?

And where do I find Leeroy in all this? I don't want to be in human form until absolutely necessary but then again I don't want to miss him.[/QUOTE]
In the Demon Ruins, you walk across the cooled lava to the east under the bridge you crossed to reach ceaseless discharge. A linear path will curve along the cliff which features about 8 capra demons (the miniboss you faced with 2 huge knives in lower undead burg). At the end of that path is a long staircase, this is where the Kirk will invade you if you killed him in the Depths. At the bottom of the staircase is an archway, under that archway is a taurus demon (the miniboss you faced at the end of the Undead Burg). Just beyond that archway is the boss Fire Sage fog gate, don't enter it, turn to the right and you will see a branch wind down to a long tunnel. The tunnel dead ends in a wall, but if you examine the wall you will touch it and it opens up to create a shortcut to Lost Izzy.

For Leeroy, at the 2nd bonfire of the Tomb of the Giants, follow the path out and it will curve down to the left. Kill the 3 skeleton dogs (or use the ring of fog to sneak past them) and you will see a path wind down to a short ladder. Go down the ladder and follow the cliff path. There will be a fork in the road, to the left the path continues along and dead ends, to the right will be a narrow tunnel with a crystal lizard. Once you get about halfway into the tunnel, Leeroy will invade, spawning at the end of that fork to the left outside the tunnel.
 
[quote name='Rosterking']What should I start as?[/QUOTE]

Short answer: Pyromancer.

Long(er) answer: It doesn't really matter, since you can upgrade the stats any way you want. But starting with a pyro hand is pretty great, and the pyro's starting stats are good.
 
Master key can be purchased in-game now once you reach the Depths after the patch so it isn't as important to start with it now. If you just want to maximize available stat points, the best choices are the Wanderer and the Pyromancer. Biggest difference between the two is the pyro starts with a pyroflame (otherwise you have to wait till the start of the Depths) and the Wanderer starts with a lot more dexterity.

I started pre-patch and picked a Thief as well to get the pendant and the master key, things might be a little hairy at the start but the weapon he starts with is pretty easy to backstab with so I would recommend doing that whenever you can. Or you can put 1 more point in str, 3 more points in faith, and use the master key to grab Astora's straight sword from the valley of the drakes which will tide you over until you can get the drake's sword.
 
^ Stopped where - are you still in the Asylum?

I actually restarted my game after about 5-6 hours in so I could get the Master Key (at first I was a Wanderer and picked the Tiny Being's Ring which just gives a small health boost). That was a good choice for class, but a bad choice of item. Of course, post-patch it wouldn't have been necessary for me to restart. But I made good use of the Valley of the Drake shortcut so it was well worth it even though I never really used Astoria's sword all that much. You might want to venture down to the graveyard area below Firelink to get the winged spear but prepare to get killed by the skeletons - that was my go to weapon early on. If only the skeletons had given souls back then when I first started playing - I would have thought that was a level-up bonanza! I killed them probably 10-20 times getting the items down there and got nothing for them (except for the big tough one) in those pre-patch days. I actually didn't notice the stairs leading upwards and to the right of Firelink shrine at first, so I thought I was supposed to head down to the graveyard first. Turns out you should do that much later - but I was glad I got that winged spear anyway.

As for weapons, once I got the Drake Sword I used that occasionally but I mostly stuck with the winged spear until I got the lightning spear. Now I use lightning spear and occasionally Quelaag's Fury Sword on some boss fights.
 
Got a reply back from Futurepress via twitter regarding posting the changes to the guide from the patch.
Hey, we're going to cover changes as soon as our new website is launched.
Click to expand...
It's too bad that we'll have to look at the website to see the changes but at least we'll have the correct information at our fingertips.
 
[quote name='Rosterking']Now I'm in Lormad (or whatever it's called).[/QUOTE]

Lormad? You mean Firelink Shrine? If so, what you do next is head up the hill (along the cliff) and into the castle up ahead. It took me a while to find that path when I was first playing (like I said I went down to the graveyard area which is very tough in the beginning).

So last night I ventured into the Demon's Ruins. I'll have to re-read what you guys posted about the shortcut and such as I wasn't seeing it. I killed the Taurus Demons and got the ember off the lava. Then I went and found the worms and the second bonfire after all the Capra demons. Those worms and their equipment breaking slime are pretty annoying. There is some path leading past respawning Taurus demons and more worms that I stopped at last night after having my equipment broken twice. I'll try to get down there tonight (to the left of the fog door).

I saw some people talking about dinosaurs and killing them from towers and such. Have I not seen that yet, or are they talking about the Taurus Demons?
 
[quote name='io']Lormad? You mean Firelink Shrine? If so, what you do next is head up the hill (along the cliff) and into the castle up ahead. It took me a while to find that path when I was first playing (like I said I went down to the graveyard area which is very tough in the beginning).

So last night I ventured into the Demon's Ruins. I'll have to re-read what you guys posted about the shortcut and such as I wasn't seeing it. I killed the Taurus Demons and got the ember off the lava. Then I went and found the worms and the second bonfire after all the Capra demons. Those worms and their equipment breaking slime are pretty annoying. There is some path leading past respawning Taurus demons and more worms that I stopped at last night after having my equipment broken twice. I'll try to get down there tonight (to the left of the fog door).

I saw some people talking about dinosaurs and killing them from towers and such. Have I not seen that yet, or are they talking about the Taurus Demons?[/QUOTE]
The only thing I can think of are the legs of the dragons that are in Izliath, you said dinosaurs which means there's more than one and Taurus Demons definitely don't look like dinosaurs.
 
[quote name='Rosterking']Yea, It is Firelink Shrine, but I swear I read something with an L in it. :/
I'll probably put an hour today or go to the next camping place.[/QUOTE]
Maybe you're talking about Lordran. That sounds more like what you were trying to say.
 
[quote name='Rosterking']Yea, It is Firelink Shrine, but I swear I read something with an L in it. :/
I'll probably put an hour today or go to the next camping place.[/QUOTE]

Lordran. It's the name of the entire world.
 
[quote name='io']Lormad? You mean Firelink Shrine? If so, what you do next is head up the hill (along the cliff) and into the castle up ahead. It took me a while to find that path when I was first playing (like I said I went down to the graveyard area which is very tough in the beginning).

So last night I ventured into the Demon's Ruins. I'll have to re-read what you guys posted about the shortcut and such as I wasn't seeing it. I killed the Taurus Demons and got the ember off the lava. Then I went and found the worms and the second bonfire after all the Capra demons. Those worms and their equipment breaking slime are pretty annoying. There is some path leading past respawning Taurus demons and more worms that I stopped at last night after having my equipment broken twice. I'll try to get down there tonight (to the left of the fog door).

I saw some people talking about dinosaurs and killing them from towers and such. Have I not seen that yet, or are they talking about the Taurus Demons?[/QUOTE]

The "dinosaurs" are in Lost Izalith. You actually skip past them if you use the shortcut, though you can look down and see them from the bridge.

The shortcut is off to the right just before the boss fog door. There's a root going down into a big hallway sort of thing.
 
[quote name='io']So last night I ventured into the Demon's Ruins. I'll have to re-read what you guys posted about the shortcut and such as I wasn't seeing it. I killed the Taurus Demons and got the ember off the lava. Then I went and found the worms and the second bonfire after all the Capra demons. Those worms and their equipment breaking slime are pretty annoying. There is some path leading past respawning Taurus demons and more worms that I stopped at last night after having my equipment broken twice. I'll try to get down there tonight (to the left of the fog door).

I saw some people talking about dinosaurs and killing them from towers and such. Have I not seen that yet, or are they talking about the Taurus Demons?[/QUOTE]
Ya, the worms are really annoying. Thankfully the only one you really have to kill is the one guarding the bonfire. The path off to the left you are mentioning with the worms and the respawning taurus demons dead ends with a chest holding another ember. I just ended up doing a suicide run to grab the ember as I have no luck killing those worms without breaking my equipment.

The tunnel which leads to the shortcut is like 50 feet ahead and then to the right if you ignore that path to the left. You have placed the Lordsvessel right? You can't access the boss fog gate or the shortcut tunnel if you haven't placed the Lordsvessel.

After you kill the boss (its a repeat of the Asylum Demon), make sure to head up the stairs before going down to unlock a shortcut to the Daughter of Chaos Bonfire. After a short area with stairs and weak enemies you will be at another boss. Beyond that boss is the area with the dinosaurs. Side note, if you tend to carry a lot of souls try very hard not to die on the lava as it is very difficult to locate your bloodstain on the very bright, orange lava.
 
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