Dark Souls (Project Dark) - October 4, 2011

[quote name='io']I have a question about those geckos though. I killed one early on in a tower in the castle. Then I saw one in Darkroot and, annoyingly, there was no message about it (till I got below it). I ran up and started attacking but it just disappeared below the ground. The one in the castle was easy to kill and didn't disappear very quickly at all considering I was very low level then and had to hit it several times. I remember these things being key in Demon's Souls yet I hardly see mention of them in this thread. Are they not as big a deal? Also, do they respawn once you clear certain bosses like they did in Demon's Souls? So far the first one has not come back even after I did the first Bell (plus a lot of other bosses). The open world nature of this game makes progress a little more unclear than in Demon's Souls where it was clear when you finished a section of each world because you could teleport right to the beginning of each section from the Nexus.[/QUOTE]

Crystal Geckos aren't as annoying in this game.

In the previous game if they ran away and disappeared and you never killed it it would count as one of its 'spawns' and as you remember it only got a limited number of spawns.

In this game each lizard spawns ONCE per NG, but it'll keep reappearing till you acftually kill it.

I almost had one drop into an endless pit in the Crystal Cave. I'm not sure if I would've lost the loot completely if that happened.

Honestly though, the only worthwhile thing they drop are Twinkling Titanite, since they take forever to farm. The other fchunks, like Blue/Red/TItanite/White chunks are farmable in the last level, and they're a guaranteed drop from the respawnable enemies. So if you lose out on the geckos it's not a huge deal.

Make sure you do a lot of exploring to find one red slab, one blue slab, and one white slab.. There are only one of each of those slabs per NG.
 
[quote name='IRHari']Crystal Geckos aren't as annoying in this game.

In the previous game if they ran away and disappeared and you never killed it it would count as one of its 'spawns' and as you remember it only got a limited number of spawns.

In this game each lizard spawns ONCE per NG, but it'll keep reappearing till you acftually kill it.

I almost had one drop into an endless pit in the Crystal Cave. I'm not sure if I would've lost the loot completely if that happened.

Honestly though, the only worthwhile thing they drop are Twinkling Titanite, since they take forever to farm.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the info. I did get a Twinkling Titanite from the first one. And good to know the other will be back.

I also noticed there appears to be no carrying limit like in Demon's Souls. That was a huge pain and I'm glad they got rid of it. On the other hand, you can buy a bottomless box (which I did). Is there any point to this since you seem to be able to carry everything? I guess it can be used to make your inventory a little cleaner (I have tons of longswords and such). Also, in NG+ do you keep the box and all its contents?
 
I remember reading somewhere that you can carry something like 1,9xx seperate items before having to use the box.

Not sure though.
 
[quote name='IRHari']Crystal Geckos aren't as annoying in this game.

In the previous game if they ran away and disappeared and you never killed it it would count as one of its 'spawns' and as you remember it only got a limited number of spawns.

In this game each lizard spawns ONCE per NG, but it'll keep reappearing till you acftually kill it.

I almost had one drop into an endless pit in the Crystal Cave. I'm not sure if I would've lost the loot completely if that happened.

Honestly though, the only worthwhile thing they drop are Twinkling Titanite, since they take forever to farm. The other fchunks, like Blue/Red/TItanite/White chunks are farmable in the last level, and they're a guaranteed drop from the respawnable enemies. So if you lose out on the geckos it's not a huge deal.

Make sure you do a lot of exploring to find one red slab, one blue slab, and one white slab.. There are only one of each of those slabs per NG.[/QUOTE]

It's not entirely true that they'll only spawn once per game. A couple of them will spawn multiple times (there's one in the great hollow that supposedly spawns like 5 times). The ones in Great Hollow also have the ability to drop titanite slabs.

As for blue/red/white slabs, there are enemies that drop each at a low drop rate (although the one that drops blue slabs is pretty much impossible). I was lucky enough to get one of the enemies to drop a red slab without farming.

[quote name='io'] Also, in NG+ do you keep the box and all its contents?[/QUOTE]
Yes, it's the only one of those type of items that you keep (you loose the upgrade things and the repair thing)
 
[quote name='io']What level are you at? No way I can kill those dogs in one hit. At least I can't kill the ones outside in one hit and I assume the ones inside are at least as tough. I have a lot less health and stamina than the screen shots in the Gamespot guide (where they said it was easy). I'd imagine if you are level 30-40 it would be much easier. I'm at 21 I think.[/QUOTE]

I'm at level 25 right now (first playthrough) and like the other person said, I had the Drake Sword, and those dogs go down in one normal swipe. The Taurus Demon was a joke with the Drake sword as well. There's really nothing to getting the sword, you just shoot the tail off of the red dragon (on your way to the Capra Demon).

Glad to hear you got past it though. I'm still trying to decide what to do next. I need to level up and also purchase all the miracles and spells I can before I progress any further.

Also, about the geckos, I think there's some other creature as well. I saw one out of the corner of my eye in the Undead Burg just inside the entry way to that mini-tower where the second skeleton Archer is (just before those 3 armored zombies outside the main tower that leads to Havel and to Darkroot).

Before I could tell WTF was going on, it had disappeared. It looked like some kind of round white thing. I haven't seen it since, so whatever it was, it definitely does not respawn.
 
[quote name='Brainberry']At cap I would get in about 3 pvp's per hour.

At 99 I get then consecutively.

I would love for cap to be able to get 30-40 pvp's per hour so I can use different weapons but it doesn't.

Also @ max cap I always had more luck getting into pvp's at kiln of first flame.[/QUOTE]
Well you got me there, it's nothing that quick but it was still a ton more than my first playthrough. I think what happened was my first game I was just ahead of the curve by a lot and covenant PvP hadn't really taken off yet that I could tell.

As for geckos, I probably killed like 5-10 my whole game save. I wouldn't worry about it Io because you naturally get a ton of stuff just exploring. My guide covers the rare ones you need, so just focus on making sure to get those.
 
Plus, here's a method to get infinite twinkling twilight. you CANNOT have already traded the item for twinkling twilight:


Drop Purple Moss
Exit
Load
Drop Purple Moss
Pick up Twinkling Titanite
Exit
Load
Drop Purple Moss
Pick up Twinkling Titanite

repeat
 
^^
You can also just save at the bonfire to the right of the door and drop off the cliff afterwards.

Heard about this after I traded for all the good items (of course).
Was only able to do it with Eggs for Dragon scales before running out of items.
 
[quote name='AzzidReign']When you go into the main lobby area with the two giant knights inside the castle before entering to fight the boss, the item that the fire keeper in Firelink Shrine dropped, Black Eye Orb, will start to shake, and the way to restore the fire keeper there is to use the Black Eye Orb, that way you invade the world of that knight in the yellow armor so you can her soul back.[/QUOTE]

ahh thanks man,i had a feeling it was him hehe. when i head back there i'll check it out

going to do a bit of farming and clear the basin and maybe get sith too:)
 
[quote name='IRHari']Plus, here's a method to get infinite twinkling twilight. you CANNOT have already traded the item for twinkling twilight:


Drop Purple Moss
Exit
Load
Drop Purple Moss
Pick up Twinkling Titanite
Exit
Load
Drop Purple Moss
Pick up Twinkling Titanite

repeat[/QUOTE]

Where do you have to be to do this? I tried it at the bonfire in the tunnel to the Catacombs in Darkroot, and there was no Twinkling Tritinite when I loaded...
 
[quote name='jh6269']

Before I could tell WTF was going on, it had disappeared. It looked like some kind of round white thing. I haven't seen it since, so whatever it was, it definitely does not respawn.[/QUOTE]

I think this is the thing I mentioned a few days ago and no one responded to it. I fought it up close. It was a little red phantom looking crab (pincers and all) but it had a round white globe at the center - almost like it was wearing a space helmet. It was a very odd thing. It spawned by the altar where you get the first fire keeper soul (the church in Undead Parish). I went down the elevator to Firelink shrine, and then back up and I heard all this noise behind me and little white things shooting around. I turned around and there it was and I just beat on it with my spear until it died. I got a twin humanity from it.
 
[quote name='jh6269']Where do you have to be to do this? I tried it at the bonfire in the tunnel to the Catacombs in Darkroot, and there was no Twinkling Tritinite when I loaded...[/QUOTE]
Wow...

[quote name='io']I think this is the thing I mentioned a few days ago and no one responded to it. I fought it up close. It was a little red phantom looking crab (pincers and all) but it had a round white globe at the center - almost like it was wearing a space helmet. It was a very odd thing. It spawned by the altar where you get the first fire keeper soul (the church in Undead Parish). I went down the elevator to Firelink shrine, and then back up and I heard all this noise behind me and little white things shooting around. I turned around and there it was and I just beat on it with my spear until it died. I got a twin humanity from it.[/QUOTE]
I've never actually seen one, and I can't be sure this is what you're talking about, but items that players drop have the ability to turn into monsters and invade other people's worlds.
 
[quote name='ChibiJosh']Wo
I've never actually seen one, and I can't be sure this is what you're talking about, but items that players drop have the ability to turn into monsters and invade other people's worlds.[/QUOTE]

Freaky - that's the kind of thing that makes this game so cool though.

So, I just went to the dragon in The Depths with 2 summons. I didn't get invaded this time. I did not see Solaire's summon sign though so that kind of sucked. Would it be right in front of the mist area? It looks like I can get plenty of sun medals or whatever they are from helping other people though. In any case, I was concentrating on the tail and pretty early on one phantom got killed, and then a while later the other. I kept going for a while after that tail and never got it before getting wiped out. Man, I thought it would be a cinch with 3 players after it... Now I have to try to do it myself since I don't have enough humanity to keep wasting.
 
[quote name='io']
So, I just went to the dragon in The Depths with 2 summons. I didn't get invaded this time. I did not see Solaire's summon sign though so that kind of sucked. Would it be right in front of the mist area? It looks like I can get plenty of sun medals or whatever they are from helping other people though. In any case, I was concentrating on the tail and pretty early on one phantom got killed, and then a while later the other. I kept going for a while after that tail and never got it before getting wiped out. Man, I thought it would be a cinch with 3 players after it... Now I have to try to do it myself since I don't have enough humanity to keep wasting.[/QUOTE]
You can only summon 2 people, so if you already had 2 people, Solaire wouldn't appear. For that one, his sign is at the top of the stairs leading to the fog.
 
[quote name='ChibiJosh']You can only summon 2 people, so if you already had 2 people, Solaire wouldn't appear. For that one, his sign is at the top of the stairs leading to the fog.[/QUOTE]

Yep, summoned one other person and then got him as well. Of course he died like the punk that he is... First I had gone in there by myself and hacked off the tail and got the axe - but then got killed (confirmed that you keep it in case anyone was wondering - but that's always how these games work so no surprise). I can't believe when I went in with those other 2 people they were so bad at it. Once I figured out the strategy it was pretty easy. When I went back in with Solaire and another person, other than Solaire dying, it was pretty easy. Also, no invasions tonight though I didn't spend much time in human form - pretty much just headed straight down to the mist.

Then I tackled Darkroot basin a bit (fought the black knight down there) and finally cleared out Blighttown down to the waterwheel (including all the dart spitters by the ladders - weren't bad at all with the Spider Shield). I got the fire keepers soul but damn if that bastard Lautrec hadn't killed her when I went back to redeem it! He was there when I headed down. Oh well... I know there's a way to get her back but I take it that is a while later in the game.

Another strange thing: before I left, Petrus had his companions there and was about to leave. Jodou warns in his guide that he may be gone for a while so you should buy what you want from him. Well, when I came back from upper Blighttown he was already back and saying he got separated from the others. Does that mean he's already back for good? He wasn't really gone at all.

So the question is, where next? I know I need to get down and fight that Quelaag. But it seems from the Gamespot guide that there are some goodies in the normal part of Blighttown that I may want. I just found those speedy guys that jump on you even tougher to deal with than the hairy things with the clubs, so I only poked around a bit at the entrance there (before going around the other way).

I take it you ride the waterwheel to get down to the rest of Blighttown if you go the back way? I didn't want to risk it since it looked like it would be very easy to fall. But I guess I have to do that to get to Quelaag if I don't want to go the normal way.
 
[quote name='io']
So the question is, where next? I know I need to get down and fight that Quelaag. But it seems from the Gamespot guide that there are some goodies in the normal part of Blighttown that I may want. I just found those speedy guys that jump on you even tougher to deal with than the hairy things with the clubs, so I only poked around a bit at the entrance there (before going around the other way).

I take it you ride the waterwheel to get down to the rest of Blighttown if you go the back way? I didn't want to risk it since it looked like it would be very easy to fall. But I guess I have to do that to get to Quelaag if I don't want to go the normal way.[/QUOTE]

Just ride the waterwheel down and go fight Quelaag. It's actually pretty easy to ride; don't worry about falling. Head left when you get down to get to a bonfire. Quelaag can be a bitch to fight - wear fire resistant gear if you have any. I think she's the Flamelurker of this game (fire damage and hard at first and can kill you quickly if you make a mistake or get unlucky, but probably not as bad your second time through).
 
[quote name='ChibiJosh']
I've never actually seen one, and I can't be sure this is what you're talking about, but items that players drop have the ability to turn into monsters and invade other people's worlds.[/QUOTE]

Yep, sounds like a drift item. The guide describes them, but I've never seen one. They're supposed to give you good items or equipment (and I'd say twin humanity is pretty good). It's unclear how they spawn. I read somewhere they spawn from dropped items, but since there's no max load in this game and you can trade extra items for souls, there's not much incentive to ever drop anything.

[quote name='jh6269'] The Taurus Demon was a joke with the Drake sword as well. [/quote]

What? You can't get the sword until after you beat the Taurus Demon.
 
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[quote name='Backlash']
What? You can't get the sword until after you beat the Taurus Demon.[/QUOTE]

Sure you can if you have the master key. It is well worth the ensuing death.
 
[quote name='jmbreci']Sure you can if you have the master key. It is well worth the ensuing death.[/QUOTE]

How? By going through Darkroot Basin and then the Undead Parish backwards? That sounds harder than just beating the Taurus Demon straight up. Or is there another shortcut somewhere?
 
[quote name='Backlash']How? By going through Darkroot Basin and then the Undead Parish backwards? That sounds harder than just beating the Taurus Demon straight up. Or is there another shortcut somewhere?[/QUOTE]

In order to do that, you have to go New Londo > Valley of Drakes > Darkroot Basin > Darkroot Garden > Undead Parish. And on the way, you have to get past the undead dragon and drakes, the hydra and crystal golems and the lightning demon. Most of which are more difficult than the Taurus Demon.
 
[quote name='ChibiJosh']In order to do that, you have to go New Londo > Valley of Drakes > Darkroot Basin > Darkroot Garden > Undead Parish. And on the way, you have to get past the undead dragon and drakes, the hydra and crystal golems and the lightning demon. Most of which are more difficult than the Taurus Demon.[/QUOTE]

Exactly what I was thinking. Just get the Drake sword after beating the Taurus Demon.
 
Okay so it looks like the guide is wrong, and the max level is ~709, not 792. I've got 99 in all stats except ~94 in attunement, and I'm at ~705. What's up with that? Did I not level something up? I'm I missing some really obvious stat?
 
[quote name='Backlash']Exactly what I was thinking. Just get the Drake sword after beating the Taurus Demon.[/QUOTE]

Yep, my bad. I was thinking of Astoria's sword. Right...the Drake is the drop from the dragon tail.

Anor's is definitely the place to get invaded. I have only been invaded one other time. Clear the painted world and get invaded < 10 seconds after coming back. I feel bad for the guy cause I pulled the plug because I was going to bed. Got back on the next day and was invaded < 2 minutes into my session. Bad luck for that person in the fact I was fighting those lightning demons and got my @ss handed to me about 10 seconds after that.
 
[quote name='Backlash']Yep, sounds like a drift item. The guide describes them, but I've never seen one. They're supposed to give you good items or equipment (and I'd say twin humanity is pretty good). It's unclear how they spawn. I read somewhere they spawn from dropped items, but since there's no max load in this game and you can trade extra items for souls, there's not much incentive to ever drop anything.



What? You can't get the sword until after you beat the Taurus Demon.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I'm sorry, I think I'm thinking of Astora's Sword.
 
You can easily go through the Quelaag fight without ever getting hit (apart from some slight damage from the spider's jump back) without blocking. If you get right up in her face and she starts doing sword attacks, position yourself between the spider's head and legs while touching the boss. She will whiff every attack and you can attack to your heart's content. If you see Quelaag herself slump over roll the fuck away. If the spider's legs start raising up over the course of 20 minutes, roll the fuck away. If the spider looks like he's choking on something, head to the rear/side and attack. If he spits 1 lava glob get back in front of him. If he spits lots of lava globs, attack the side some more till he stops.

Whatever you do, don't approach her from the front at a reasonable distance. She'll do a jumping attack that shoots 4-5 lava globs a fair distance and will probably kill you if it hits. Thats the only tricky part to the fight, just don't get hit by that and you will win. I beat this bitch with an estoc +5 and no healing. It took like 20 mins but the point is that you can do it without ever taking damage.
 
Ok, need some advice. I'm level 34.

Vit - 15
Att - 14
End - 16
Str - 16
Dex - 15
Res - 10
Int - 14
Fai - 15

What should I focus on to upgrade? I want to be able to handle some of the good weapons and I also want to be able to use magic. Is there anything that will make the road ahead much easier?
 
Anyone want the CE items? PM me



[quote name='jh6269']Ok, need some advice. I'm level 34.

Vit - 15
Att - 14
End - 16
Str - 16
Dex - 15
Res - 10
Int - 14
Fai - 15

What should I focus on to upgrade? I want to be able to handle some of the good weapons and I also want to be able to use magic. Is there anything that will make the road ahead much easier?[/QUOTE]

You should definitely start specializing in an area now. I would get the minimum INT if you want the basic spells (I believe around 15). Pump some points into VIT/END and then after around 20 or so you can just do STR/DEX depending on the weapon you'd like to use.
 
[quote name='jh6269']Ok, need some advice. I'm level 34.

Vit - 15
Att - 14
End - 16
Str - 16
Dex - 15
Res - 10
Int - 14
Fai - 15

What should I focus on to upgrade? I want to be able to handle some of the good weapons and I also want to be able to use magic. Is there anything that will make the road ahead much easier?[/QUOTE]

If you're mainly going to do melee, endurance to 40 is a must.
 
[quote name='Backlash']Just ride the waterwheel down and go fight Quelaag. It's actually pretty easy to ride; don't worry about falling. Head left when you get down to get to a bonfire. Quelaag can be a bitch to fight - wear fire resistant gear if you have any. I think she's the Flamelurker of this game (fire damage and hard at first and can kill you quickly if you make a mistake or get unlucky, but probably not as bad your second time through).[/QUOTE]

[quote name='crystalklear64']You can easily go through the Quelaag fight without ever getting hit (apart from some slight damage from the spider's jump back) without blocking. If you get right up in her face and she starts doing sword attacks, position yourself between the spider's head and legs while touching the boss. She will whiff every attack and you can attack to your heart's content. If you see Quelaag herself slump over roll the fuck away. If the spider's legs start raising up over the course of 20 minutes, roll the fuck away. If the spider looks like he's choking on something, head to the rear/side and attack. If he spits 1 lava glob get back in front of him. If he spits lots of lava globs, attack the side some more till he stops.

Whatever you do, don't approach her from the front at a reasonable distance. She'll do a jumping attack that shoots 4-5 lava globs a fair distance and will probably kill you if it hits. Thats the only tricky part to the fight, just don't get hit by that and you will win. I beat this bitch with an estoc +5 and no healing. It took like 20 mins but the point is that you can do it without ever taking damage.[/QUOTE]

I tried to get right up next to her but I didn't fare too well. I got slaughtered in less than a minute. I'll try it again tomorrow.

I wasted a lot of time today. I basically made no progress. After Quelaag I went to the Hollow and Ash Lake. Right near the beginning I fell into a pit of those black spidery things and got cursed almost instantly. So I spent the rest of the time cursed and just trying to pick up some treasures. I lost several thousand souls and 4 humanity - most I've ever had banked :bomb:. Then, since I had nothing to lose, I tried my hand at the hydra - yeah, that wasn't gonna happen :lol:. At least I did get that spell way out there and did the dragon covenant which got me my first trophy in like 30 hours of play.

I want to start upgrading weapons. I got my winged spear to +5. That was easy considering you can buy the shards for that. But from now on it is rarer stuff, right? The question is, what should I upgade? And is there a shield I should put some upgrades into? I did snag the Grass Crest one which seems useful for the stamina regen.

If any particular shard is easy to find, though, I can just go for that. Which ones are the easiest? If something is easy to come by (for higher upgrades) then I can just experiment.

My combat style tends to be winged spear + shield and moderately light armor. I know there is a lightning spear somewhere as well. Should I wait for that and upgrade it? Is there some awesome medium weight armor that I should hold out for?
 
medium armor has no use in this game unfortunately and light armor has no use once you can equip your stuff and be under 50%. when you get the wood grain ring you'll be flipping around like you were wearing nothing.
 
[quote name='IRHari']Jodou I C&P'd your guide to PS3trophies.org:

http://www.ps3trophies.org/forum/dark-souls/131371-dark-souls-perfect-run-roadmap.html

Hopefully it gets stickied, or at least gets added to that Trophy Guide thread.[/QUOTE]
Ha, looks like they thought you were plagiarizing. Haters gonna hate. No worries though, if I were going to post it on that site I'd have to majorly clean it up because they're complete assholes about a lot of stuff. I can appreciate it though, because the same shit wouldn't fly on Elitist Jerks which I frequently post whenever I'm playing WoW.
 
[quote name='crystalklear64']medium armor has no use in this game unfortunately and light armor has no use once you can equip your stuff and be under 50%. when you get the wood grain ring you'll be flipping around like you were wearing nothing.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, Gold-Hemmed is probably the best armor in the game so you can equip a good sword 'n board and be under 25%. The only time I'd equip heavy armor like Havel's is for bosses like Four Kings and Nito where you need to just get in their face and swing for the fences.
 
I wear mostly pieces of the gold-hemmed set, which you can get right after you beat Quelaag (though I didn't know that and got it much later). If I need extra protection I wear Havel's ring and use the leather gauntlets and stone helm with gold-hemmed robe and skirt.

I did go ahead and upgrade the Hollow Soldier Shield to +10. The only thing that increases is stability, but that really helps prevent stamina drain and guard break if you tend to fight with your shield a lot (which I'm guessing you do if you prefer a spear). It's a great overall shield for its weight - 100% physical block and good stats for magic, fire, and lightning defense compared to most shields its size (surprisingly), and I only switch it out for Crest or Dragon Crest if I have a particular need for magic or fire defense, respectively.

You will get the lightning spear soon, so I'd hold out on upgrading your spear any more. The lightning spear is great for quite a while, especially if you upgrade it to +4 (doesn't really take rare materials for that). In fact, I'm still switching between lightning spear and Quelaag's Fury Sword, and I just beat Anor Londo. Those will hold you for quite awhile, I think. And they don't require hardly any strength or dexterity, letting you put more points into Vitality and Endurance.
 
[quote name='io']I tried to get right up next to her but I didn't fare too well. I got slaughtered in less than a minute. I'll try it again tomorrow.

I wasted a lot of time today. I basically made no progress. After Quelaag I went to the Hollow and Ash Lake. Right near the beginning I fell into a pit of those black spidery things and got cursed almost instantly. So I spent the rest of the time cursed and just trying to pick up some treasures. I lost several thousand souls and 4 humanity - most I've ever had banked :bomb:. Then, since I had nothing to lose, I tried my hand at the hydra - yeah, that wasn't gonna happen :lol:. At least I did get that spell way out there and did the dragon covenant which got me my first trophy in like 30 hours of play.

I want to start upgrading weapons. I got my winged spear to +5. That was easy considering you can buy the shards for that. But from now on it is rarer stuff, right? The question is, what should I upgade? And is there a shield I should put some upgrades into? I did snag the Grass Crest one which seems useful for the stamina regen.

If any particular shard is easy to find, though, I can just go for that. Which ones are the easiest? If something is easy to come by (for higher upgrades) then I can just experiment.

My combat style tends to be winged spear + shield and moderately light armor. I know there is a lightning spear somewhere as well. Should I wait for that and upgrade it? Is there some awesome medium weight armor that I should hold out for?[/QUOTE]

I tried that winged spear (it was a good weapon in the last game), and in this game, it's not that good. I've been grinding a bunch. I'm doing that strategy where you run around in the Darkroot Garden and lure those men (mage, warrior, hunter, and another guy with a mace) to the edge of a cliff and they just jump off. You get 7K souls each time, and the bonfire is right there. So you can easily rack up 100,000 souls in no time. The hard part is trying to grind to 20K souls to buy the key from the blacksmith to gain entry into the area. I ended up grinding in the Darkroot basin, and letting the Hydra kill off the golems for about 800 souls per run.

I've been mainly using that Drake Sword, and so far, it's the best weapon. I think the other ascended and upgraded weapons will be better, but i have to figure out which ones.
 
[quote name='crystalklear64']medium armor has no use in this game unfortunately and light armor has no use once you can equip your stuff and be under 50%. when you get the wood grain ring you'll be flipping around like you were wearing nothing.[/QUOTE]
I still have yet to get that ring, does that mean if I wear Havels armor it will be like the armor's weight decreases by 90%?
 
[quote name='AzzidReign']I still have yet to get that ring, does that mean if I wear Havels armor it will be like the armor's weight decreases by 90%?[/QUOTE]
It increases how much equip weight you gain from stamina by 50%. It's actually the one piece of equipment I've never taken off my entire game.
 
[quote name='Jodou']It increases how much equip weight you gain from stamina by 50%. It's actually the one piece of equipment I've never taken off my entire game.[/QUOTE]
Which makes it better than Havels ring?
 
[quote name='AzzidReign']Which makes it better than Havels ring?[/QUOTE]
Oh whoops, reading fail. I meant Havel's ring is what I use. Wood Grain just affects your roll animation and that's it. If you're already under 25% it's not worth equipping.
 
I don't have the Dark Wood Grain one, but from what I've read it surpasses Havel's because it makes you flip when under 50% equip burden, as well as allowing running and stamina as if you're under 25%. Haven's increases equip burden by 50%, which is not as much.

Quick examples: Max equip burden = 60. With no ring you can be "fast" at 14.9 (just under 25%). With Havel's ring, max burden goes up to 90, and you can be fast at 22.4. With Dark Woodgrain, max burden stays at 60 but you can be fast at 29.9.

FWIW, the one ring I have so far that I almost never take off is the Cloranthy ring. The fast stamina regen just helps so much.
 
[quote name='Backlash']I don't have the Dark Wood Grain one, but from what I've read it surpasses Havel's because it makes you flip when under 50% equip burden, as well as allowing running and stamina as if you're under 25%. Haven's increases equip burden by 50%, which is not as much.

Quick examples: Max equip burden = 60. With no ring you can be "fast" at 14.9 (just under 25%). With Havel's ring, max burden goes up to 90, and you can be fast at 22.4. With Dark Woodgrain, max burden stays at 60 but you can be fast at 29.9.

FWIW, the one ring I have so far that I almost never take off is the Cloranthy ring. The fast stamina regen just helps so much.[/QUOTE]
You know, that's entirely possible since I never put on heavy armor with it. It just makes your roll a somersault from what I saw.

Cloranthy seemed like a waste if you know how to guard properly. I almost never had my guard broken because I just time dropping guard between attacks.
 
Yeah I've gotten pretty good at dropping my guard to allow stamina to regen, but it also allows extra swings with a fast sword (e.g. Quelaag's) and then quick regen to get your guard back up or roll away. Basically, you can use up all or al most all of your stamina more safely without worrying about keeping that "just in case" reserve.

I might find as time goes on that I prefer other rings. And once or twice I realized after a boss fight or other big fight that I had forgotten to put it back on after using the Gold Serpent ring or something. I just learned that the Bellowing Dragon one boosts pyromancy as well as sorcery, which interests me.
 
Finally was able to kill the Stray Demon in the return to the Asylum, think the hit boxes on his charge slam forward attack is messed up because in addition to it extending forward quite a bit, it also strikes the area just behind him as well. That makes it a pain in the ass to avoid when his ass is pressed up pretty close to a wall.
 
Ugh, I still need to go back and kill the Stray Demon. I gave up on my trip back because he kept killing me so easily with that stupid pink fire blast attack. And falling down so you start with half health or whatever sucks. I have better fire-resistant gear, a better weapon, and the Flesh Sweat spell now, so I could probably go back and kill him when I'm done with the Crystal Cave.
 
[quote name='guardian_owl']Finally was able to kill the Stray Demon in the return to the Asylum, think the hit boxes on his charge slam forward attack is messed up because in addition to it extending forward quite a bit, it also strikes the area just behind him as well. That makes it a pain in the ass to avoid when his ass is pressed up pretty close to a wall.[/QUOTE]
The Stray Demon reminded me of the tutorial boss in Demons Souls, but more beefed up, so if you played DS this battle is just a little more challenging just because of his "power wave".
Did you have heavy or light armor when fighting it?
 
[quote name='AzzidReign']The Stray Demon reminded me of the tutorial boss in Demons Souls, but more beefed up, so if you played DS this battle is just a little more challenging just because of his "power wave".
Did you have heavy or light armor when fighting it?[/QUOTE]
Light armor is the way to go, as rolling quickly is really important to quickly get out of the path of the huge weapon and to get back when he goes for the blast attack (which according to the wiki is actually a magic based attack which would explain why it was shredding through my shield so easily).

As soon as you start to fall, pick a direction and start repeatedly mashing roll. As soon as you land you will still take damage but you will roll to get some distance away. If you roll away from him you might even land without aggroing him which lets you heal.

2-handed the drake sword and then just chipped away at him. Try to maneuver him so that he doesn't get backed into a corner, but if he does, rush to the opposite corner to pull him back into the center of the room. Keep in close and to the back area of him whenever he is moving. If he floats up into the air, roll kinda diagonally away so that when he slams down you'll be near one of his legs, but far enough away that the slam doesn't hurt you. As soon as he comes down, rush over, couple of chops to the leg then roll behind him.

If he is on his feet and stops rotating that means he is probably going to do a slam attack, get behind him and far enough away that the slam attack won't hurt you, as soon as fire disappears, roll in, press up against the ass and go for 3 swipes, then back away. If you're lucky he will think that you were in front of him and go for another slam attack in that direction. There have been times when I've been able to chain 3 or 4 of these in a row before he wises up. If you were hit, when he goes for a slam attack is a good opportunity to get behind him and go for a flask, you would probably even have enough time to use a heal miracle.

When his health gets low he goes into "pissed off" mode and he will move and attack quicker so only go for 1 strike on butt slams and 2 strikes on slam attacks.

Pretty much the main reason I would die the 15 or so attempts I made is I would either walk back too soon after a slam attack and get hit with ass fire. Or he would move too close to a wall and as I circled him why he was turning I would get trapped between him and the wall and he would hit me with a quick found. In front of and at mid-far range is death as he can knock you down with quick overhead strikes and keep you from getting away. Only time you are safe in front of him is when you are REALLY far in front of him so that he can't reach you with his pole.
 
[quote name='guardian_owl']Light armor is the way to go, as rolling quickly is really important to quickly get out of the path of the huge weapon and to get back when he goes for the blast attack (which according to the wiki is actually a magic based attack which would explain why it was shredding through my shield so easily).
[/QUOTE]

Hmm, the guide claimed it was fire-based, not magic-based. That's why I was thinking of using Flesh Sweat and fire-resistant gear. Either could be right, though. Guess I'll try one and if that doesn't help I'll try the other.
 
Yeah, it's funny about PS3Trophies. They claimed I was plagiarizing.

Yet, when the game first came out, someone created a post completely C&P'd from the FuturePress guide with the required weapons for the trophy, and it's still up there (though corrected, since the FP guide has weapons like the Ghost Blade which apparently you don't need). I said 'hm should the poster really get credit since it's really from the FuturePress guide?'
 
[quote name='jh6269']I tried that winged spear (it was a good weapon in the last game), and in this game, it's not that good. I've been grinding a bunch. I'm doing that strategy where you run around in the Darkroot Garden and lure those men (mage, warrior, hunter, and another guy with a mace) to the edge of a cliff and they just jump off. You get 7K souls each time, and the bonfire is right there. So you can easily rack up 100,000 souls in no time. The hard part is trying to grind to 20K souls to buy the key from the blacksmith to gain entry into the area. I ended up grinding in the Darkroot basin, and letting the Hydra kill off the golems for about 800 souls per run.

I've been mainly using that Drake Sword, and so far, it's the best weapon. I think the other ascended and upgraded weapons will be better, but i have to figure out which ones.[/QUOTE]

Wait, I need to do that. You saying you need the 20,000 to get into that area? Is this the "hidden" bonfire by that locked door with the blue glowing dealie in it? Is that what you open with the 20,000? I was confused because earlier people were talking about joining some covenant to get access to a door and I thought that was it.

Plus, also there's a path beyond the bonfire and I haven't gone down there yet (there's a white mist there, with the 4 plant guys that jump you in the little side room with a treasure). What's down in that white mist area? Is that where the crystal golem things are and something off in the distance that shoots magic at you? The Hydra maybe? I saw it up close in Ash Lake (from swamp -> Hollow). I take ie the hydra is in two places then - or at least you see it from two different areas.

I gave up on the Cloranthy ring because I didn't find it in the Hollow (found lots of shards though). I got cursed so easily there and not only did I lose a lot of souls and humanity, I had to make my way all the way back to the bell tower and grind for 3000 to get the curse removed.

I guess I can grind the plant guys for a while near that door - I used quite a few of the purple mosses they drop when I was down in the swamps, and I'll have to go back there again for Quelaag. I'd also like to get my faith limit reduced for Solaire's covenant. So far I've helped on 2 bosses, so I'm at 40. But my faith is only 14...

As for weapons, I have taken to switching to swords occasionally but I can only use Astora's right now. I'll have to grind some levels to get my strength to 16 for Drake I guess. That takes like 6000-7000 now, though. So I suppose I should get the 20K first, then get to where I can farm the 7K per shot, then level up some more. I take it that Flash Sweat spell will help against Quelaag, too, right? How does the effect work - is it on constantly (till you die or rest), or does it wear off after a while?
 
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