Dark Souls!

[Rush]

I was wrong about my level, I'm actually still 35. The difficulty of the game is fantastic, and I'm trying to level as little as possible to keep the challenge at insane levels. Had no idea I was such a masochist.

I know my guy will need to be leveled soon, but for the moment the challenge is making the game so much more fun. I haven't even summoned help for any boss fight thus far.

Timman, I also took out the stray demon... that was a fun fight. Maybe I should go back to Blighttown for a suicide run past Quelaag's area -

Spoiler

I did take out the boss Kama mentioned and got the gold-hemmed armor, which my character is currently wearing. But once I ran through the drained area, I got destroyed badly by those Diablo-looking monsters, so I didn't bother venturing back. Can you tell me which direction to make the run in? To the left past those monsters, or to the right down the stairs before them.

One thing that's been helping me a lot - I upraded my heavy crossbow to +5, then I modified and upgraded it to a magic heavy crossbow +5. WOW, it does even more damage to most enemies than my lightning spear! I know you can't zoom-aim with a crossbow, but it allows me to target an enemy from medium distance and do great damage to them while staying out of their hitbox - and I can even wear my shield while using it. And since I have a decent amount of points in both dexterity and especially intelligence, damage is scaling quite nicely. I plan on doing the same with the composite bow once I get some extra souls from the next boss(es). I refuse to cheat like Timman!

[Kamakazie]

I'm SL 30 right now. My numbers are skewing more towards Str, Dex and End more than anything else.

Spoiler

And now that I got Havel's Ring, I don't think I'll need to raise my Endurance for a while.

I fought a big hydra out in Darkroot and pretty easily decapitated all but one head. That last head was going nowhere near me, so I charged after it and ended up learning I can't swim. Damn. Now I need to go find some arrows so I can go back and really take care of that thing.

[Rush]

I liked that Hydra fight!

Spoiler

I dodged/blocked while mostly staying behind the rock near the monster to avoid a lot of damage. After getting it to strike, I aimed fireballs as best I could toward its extended heads - NOT easy, but it was wild trying to aim those things without targeting. The shots that hit though... took out a head in one hit.

I'm glad I had a bow on me - I don't think you can hit that last head with melee, as it strikes further and further away based on your location.

[Timman_24]

You can hit it. Run around to the other side and he will start striking straight down. I tangoed with that one head for about 15 mins lol.

[Rush]

Question for you guys - did you burn any levels upping Faith so you can use the basic Heal miracle? I've been thinking about it, but I'd need to blow 4 level-ups as my Faith is still at its base of 8... not sure it's worth it at this point. The 5 extra heals would be fantastic, especially working from bonfires that I haven't kindled.

[Kamakazie]

I haven't raised my Faith stat at all, and it's also at 8 for me. I kinda want to get it to 12 just so I can use this holy sword I found...

Also, progress!

Spoiler

Killed the hydra, found and killed the butterfly, made my Winged Spear +5 a Magic Winged Spear and started using swords more prominently. And HOLY CRAP DARKROOT GARDEN! The invisible dudes are brutal.

[Timman_24]

I bumped my faith up to 14 so I could use the sword I found. It is pretty damn good. With only +2, I was at 268 attack with it.

[Rush]

I think I'll stay with base faith. Even if I got the heal miracle, it doesn't restore that much health.

Over lunch I took out

Spoiler

that huge wolf Sif in the Darkroot Garden on my first try. I was pretty disappointed by that whole area behind the crested door that you unlock - just a bunch of humans that are easy to beat and a crap ton of those tree monsters waiting to swarm you. Didn't bother with the Forest covenant as I've murdered all of their friends at this point. By the way - how the hell do you kill those ghosted humans? Looks like there are a ghost thief, archer, and possibly one other. I tried a transient curse but still was not able to engage them.

[Timman_24]

I think I'll stay with base faith. Even if I got the heal miracle, it doesn't restore that much health.

Over lunch I took out

Spoiler

that huge wolf Sif in the Darkroot Garden on my first try. I was pretty disappointed by that whole area behind the crested door that you unlock - just a bunch of humans that are easy to beat and a crap ton of those tree monsters waiting to swarm you. Didn't bother with the Forest covenant as I've murdered all of their friends at this point. By the way - how the hell do you kill those ghosted humans? Looks like there are a ghost thief, archer, and possibly one other. I tried a transient curse but still was not able to engage them.

I've heard the wolf is not bad when you have magic. I rolled in with a winged spear and no magic and couldn't do too much to him. I need to try again with light armor and some pyro.

[Kamakazie]

Mucho Progress! Me Gusta!

[Rush]

I've heard the wolf is not bad when you have magic. I rolled in with a winged spear and no magic and couldn't do too much to him. I need to try again with light armor and some pyro.

Pyro has a long casting time and a short range, so you may have a hard time hitting him. I didn't even try fire.

I just happened to have the right loadout on me when I went into the fight. Definite fight spoiler - will make it incredibly easy.

Spoiler

After trying the lightning spear on him, not getting very far, and using half my estus flasks, I backed off and studied his moves. He's fast as hell and swings quickly, but you can easily dodge every swing by rolling straight backward. I whipped out my +5 magic crossbow and got in 1-2 shots every time I dodged backwards or walked backwards out of his range. From that point the fight took maybe a couple of minutes - finished him off easily.

Have you guys figured out how to fight the ghost humans in the Darkroot Garden yet?

[Kamakazie]

Have you guys figured out how to fight the ghost humans in the Darkroot Garden yet?

Yep, I just spent a ton of time in that area last night. Those actually aren't ghosts, they are regular humans. You can do damage to them like every other creature, you just cannot target them. Also, if you go through that area in Human form, you're going to get invaded constantly.

Spoiler

That whole area is under the protection of a certain gray cat. He leads the Forest Hunter covenant, of which those translucent humans are members of. If you find this cat and appease him, he will offer to have you join the covenant. If you do this, the humans in the forest will no longer attack you as they are now your allies.

The cat also gives you a ring which allows him to summon you at will to invade another player who is trespassing in this forest. This is why I spent so much time in that forest last night. Getting a few kills and talking to the cat again will yield a Fog Ring which gives you the same properties as those translucent human NPCs. Very nasty for PvP!

[Kamakazie]

Haven't updated this in a while!

Spoiler

I'm currently in Anor Londo. I came to a point with two silver knight archers that annoyed me so much I stopped playing for a few days, but I hopped back on tonight and took them out on my first try of the night. Yay. So after much hacking and slashing and kicking ***, I made my way to Ornstein and Smough. A few seconds into the fight I tried rolling away from an attack but the game decided not to listen to me and I just stood there and took a hammer to the face followed by something else that killed me. I decided to call it a night.

Currently using Lightning Spear +3 and Quelaag's Furysword +3.

[Rush]

I've been crazy busy with work lately... was out of town for a week, then we moved offices as soon as I got back. I haven't been able to get much game time in, but here are my updates.

The painted world side mission from Anor Londo was pretty fun - the environment was unique, even for this game. That boss was REALLY frustrating because

Spoiler

you can't see her at all! You are attacking blind the whole time, just guessing where she is. Once you get several hits in, she eventually becomes visible - but not for long. Luckily I had pumped Attunement a bit and had enough casts of fire to allow for many misses. This is another boss where you can get an item by cutting off the tail.

After that I took out Anor Londo proper. I hated the annoying part Kama described - I eventually bum rushed one of them on that narrow ledge with my shield up and lit him up with combustion. Eventually got to the boss(es), and it took me a few tries to beat them:

Spoiler

I kept killing Smough first, which causes Ornstein to get much bigger and stronger. Not fun when he's already crazy fast and powerful. On the 4th or 5th try I got smart and focused on Ornstein first - he's weak to fire, so it only took about 4-5 fireballs to whack him. When Smough powered up after that, it was MUCH easier because, unlike Ornstein 1v1, Smough's size and mechanics stay the same. He just does a lot more damage. So I played it safe, dodged his attacks, and countered with my own mid-to-long-range attacks.

After Anor Londo I beat the Duke's Library area (or whatever it's called) - it gets unsealed after you beat Ornstein and Smough. The boss fight there was realllllly easy, probably the easiest yet. I was happy because, if you're a magic user, you can get your end-game equipment and spells there. I just need to pump Intelligence to be able to use it all now.

After Anor Londo, I went back to Quelaag's area to size up the mini Taurus beasts again. I was able to take them all out this time - mainly due to my newly-upgraded Eagle Shield. It might not have the resists of certain other shields, but it has GREAT poise, and I upgraded it to +10. I felt so confident after whooping them that I proceeded down into the temple area. I didn't realize there were 2 bosses basically back-to-back to fight there!

Spoiler

The first is basically an upgraded Stray demon, which you'll be so familiar with by now that the fight is ridiculously easy. The next is a centipede demon. He only took me 2 tries because, though he's powerful and moves quickly, my character is built to annihilate him. MAJOR fight spoiler:

Spoiler

he's very weak to magic and Crystal Homing Soul killed him in just a few casts

So that's where I am now, just past that boss, going ever-deeper past Quelaag's area. My character is SL55 or so due to the fact that I'm trying to pump intelligence to be able to use my new spells and gear. Currently using:

Demon Catalyst
Pyromancy Flame +15
Lightning Spear +3
Magic Crossbow +5
Gold-Hemmed armor except gloves (using my starting pyro gloves at +6).
Eagle Shield +10

[Kamakazie]

I also ended up getting out of Anor Londo!

Spoiler

After a few tries I actually found that killing Smough first worked better for me. Ornstein's charging attacks were easy to avoid while Lightning Smough's butt stomp just hurt too much. Gwynevere's boobs are huge.

I started going back through some of the places I hadn't fully explored before.

Spoiler

Went through some of the Catacombs but I wasn't doing a tremendous amount of damage with my Holy weapon, so I backed out shortly after the first bonfire. Went back and killed Sif pretty easily with Quelaag's Furysword then headed over to The Great Hollow because I hadn't gone inside very far previously. Made my way to Ash Lake and had to call it a night before I got the chance to fight the hydra that's down there.

My next goal is to go back and finally fight Ceaseless Discharge.

Lightning Spear +5
Quelaag's Furysword +3
Eagle Shield +4
All Gold-Hemmed armor

Where did you get your Demon Catalyst? I'm still stuck using the basic one!