[Traveller]

The Tomb of the Giants is sort of opposite the Demon Ruins, at about the same level. Below the Demon Ruins is Lost Izalith.

But below the swamp at the other end to Quelaag, is a hollow tree, that goes down and down, all the way to Ash Lake at the bottom. It has another Hydra in it.

So not sure where Gaping Dragon comes from.. I think he just hangs around in that sewer pool.

This post has been edited by Traveller: 01 April 2013 - 05:54 PM

[amphibian]

Oh shit! This game is immense.

It's on a world tree then. This is awesome. I'd found the chest up the tree root/branch, but didn't realize you could get inside the tree even further. I've yet to beat the first hydra though, so I'll put it off until then.

[tiam]

You guys are saying loads of stuff i dont know

ive just killed that lightning demon by the bonfire and the smith. I had no idea the lift was a shortcut to fireshrine and i ended up running all the way back to reinforce my flasks which i dont know what it did tbh. What does humanity do aswell? I got nailed by that bell gargoyle thing he fucking ruined me in 2 hits. Lost about 5k souls and some humanity but hopefully its still there. Gonna have another crack at him. Also do i need better spells just got soul arrow and heavy soul arrow and im 2 hitting most things. Casting time is a while though not sure what stat lowers it either. Ive used all my shards to do up my current armour which is the stuff i started with except the helm. I dont like being significantly slower but more than that you get used to what your guy can do so any small changes makes a big difference.

Im enjoying this but finding the lack of map difficult. I get worried im missing alot so im trying to find everything. Do you guys use guides.

Posting from my phone is hard when i have so many questions. Thanks in advance.

[Traveller]

Ash Lake is at the bottom of the world tree... very surreal area, can't believe how deep it is at this point.
There's a hidden door at the back of the alcove in the tree - you have to hit it to make the wall disappear.

You should see the Dragon that's past the Hydra.

Edit.. Estus flasks give you way more health once they're reinforced.

And there's a Dark Souls wiki I've looked at for weapon builds, and what npcs do what, because seriously, the game gives you nothing. Its possible to waste materials on weapons that you won't use, but if you're careful you'll find yourself with a few really decent ones.

This post has been edited by Traveller: 01 April 2013 - 10:32 PM

[Defiance]

There's really no reason not to kill every boss. Dark Sun Gwyndolin is an exception if you want to join the Covenant.

And yeah, the game's size really wowed me the first time I played through. Did you make it past Sen's Fortress yet? Anor Londo (the following area) is awesome, one of my favorite areas in the game. Also, you'll be glad to know that Sen's Fortress was one of my top 4 hardest areas the first time through the game.

The others:
Bed of Chaos. It still frustrates me. The only absolutely terrible fight in the game, in my opinion.
Anor Londo archers. Died so many times trying to get by them the first time. Now they pose me no problem.
Tomb of the Giants. This place still gets on my nerves until I get to the Bonfire. After that it's not bad at all.

I remember Duke's Archives gave me some problems the first time through too...those 6-eyed seer caster guys were a pain in the ass.

Humanity lets you revive yourself into human form, after which you can kindle bonfires to get more Estus flasks every time you rest at them (limit one kindling until you kill the Catacombs boss, which gives you 10 Estus flasks). It also increases your item finding and defenses including curse resistance, plus it scales with weapons that do Chaos damage.

Being human gives you a chance of being invaded by other players (Darkwraiths, my current covenant). Players who invade you will be no more than 10% higher in soul level. Sometimes NPCs will invade as well; one example is Maneater Mildred in Blighttown once you reach the bottom. If you kill her, you can then summon her for the boss (assuming you're in human form). You'll also be able to summon phantoms - both player and NPC - to help you kill area bosses. That's assuming you have online. If not, only the NPCs will appear.

[Morgoth]

You've also got a higher chance of item drops when human.

On the question of New Londo, it might be worth entering just to acquire the parrying knife early. If that's the sort of build you're using that is.

[amphibian]

I do parry sometimes, but most times I strongly prefer the stay just out of range and slice at them with my +10 Halberd from the side or back.

I'm a very mobile (lightweight armor) pyro, so I either hit them with a Great Fireball/Great Heavy Soul Arrow if they're slow enough or I run around them and poke away.

This is why Sen's is so damned difficult - all the hallways, walkways and traps remove my mobility.

I guess I'd better really learn how to parry now. And get a magic/lightning shield.

[tiam]

I think i kindled the firelight bonfire thats why i got ten estus flasks. Do i have to turn myself human then kindle the bonfires then ill have ten estus flasks?

Do i stand a chance against the bell gargoyle or is it v difficult? Im unsure whether to give it another go or not. Also is resistance just general defence and if so shud i put it up

[Tattersail_]

I have recently bought this game and it is awesome. I'm at the same point as Jean Claude. Fucking gargoyles yes plural cause once you get one to halfway health another appears. I'm stuck. I picked sorceress to start and all stats are on 15. I world an axe with shield. I have soul arrows. I have killed two main bosses I think.

[amphibian]

Do not level up resistance ever.

Also, yes, you can beat the Gargoyles if you try again. It is particularly doable if you turn human and summon an NPC like Solaire or another online player to help you.

If you want to do it solo, watch out for the fire attacks and chop the tail of the first one for a bit, then switch to the main body.

The gargoyles aren't that tough. The next boss is tougher.

[Tattersail_]

How do you summon?

[amphibian]

Ganoes Paran, on 01 April 2013 - 09:06 PM, said:

How do you summon?

For NPCs (online and offline): Be human, find a white glowing patch on the ground very near a boss fight location and when the game asks if you want to summon phantom, say "Yes".

For players (online play only): Be human, find a white glowing patch wherever you find one, summon phantom and hopefully that player shows up (they usually do).

I play offline, so I can't do the player vs. player or player co-op like this, but I hear it's awesome, even if you die.

[Tattersail_]

It worked. I couldn't summon because I wasn't human. Very easy with his help.

[tiam]

I did it solo. Only took a few more goes. As with anything in this game its about learning the attack patterns what are narrow vertical attacks that have to be siderolled and what horizontal ones have to be back dodged.

Not sure what to do. I think i need 20k souls to unlock a forest door. Other than tht the enemies are too hard in the forest basin so i may turn back and try the catacombs place.

Why not resistance is says general defense in the description aswell as poison defence

[amphibian]

Your defense will go up if you level intelligence, endurance, strength and vitality. Resistance is basically throwing away expensive points when you can just equip a bunch of clothes for specific situations (most times).

I didn't unlock the forest door (yet). What I did was find the neatly hidden bonfire next to that door and then go to Lower Undead Burg (the bridge where the dragon/Solaire are, there's a door that you can probably now open).

From there, it's kind of a free path as to which way you go, but explore a bunch and be extraordinarily wary/creeped out by the levels.

Man, I already love this game.

[Malaclypse]

I know that some respondents to this thread have some sort of problem with farming - and more power to you narcissistic, masochistic...people. However, through that door you speak of amph, is the best farming spot in the game (and I've tried all the rest, trust me), especially on NG+. If it makes you feel better, fight 'em every time, and if that's too difficult just get their attention and run back to the stairs and watch them jump to their deaths until you're strong enough to fight them. If you have no interest in fighting them at all, just run through to the log and follow that around and run straight back to the stairs, adjusting your speed so they don't lose track of you - there's a narrow path beside the stairs, follow it to the end and watch as they jump to their doom and the souls roll in - sometimes one or more of them will be recalcitrant, mostly it's the mage but anyway, lure them onto that narrow shelf, block for all you're worth and they will fall. You can also kill the mage then lure the others, cuz the mage is the worst of them for fucking the system. At some point, you might as well kill them all, it's quicker. This is a very useful little enclave.

[Defiance]

If any of you get stuck and are playing on PS3, I can create a new character and rush through to help you guys out. Jean is also correct about the bosses - it's all about learning their moves and what to dodge/block and when you have time to attack. The first time you face a boss, I'd recommend you spend most of your time being defensive and just figuring out how their attacks work.

Yeah, to kindle you have to be human (2 humanity; 1 to reverse hollowing and 1 to kindle; once you get Right of Kindling you can kindle it 2 more times). From then on, you'll have 10 Estus flasks every time you rest at that bonfire, regardless of whether you're undead or human.


Yeah, Resistance sucks. There's absolutely no reason to get it until you hit the soft cap for all of your other stats (soft cap is 50 for everything except Endurance, which is 40 I believe). If you're having problem with a certain type of attack, such as poison, lightning, or bleed, I'd suggest changing your armor to something that has a better resistance for the time being. As a sorcerer, even though I run around in light armor mostly I switch to heavy armor for certain fights so that I can take a few hits.

There's a path RIGHT by the forest door (also a bonfire right there, slap some walls around!) that you can take if you'd like. After the gargoyles, the Lower Burg -> Capra Demon, then down into the depths is the route to go in order to progress the story a bit. You will never get locked out of an area, so it's okay to save optional bosses for later. Also, amph some tips for Sen's: use Great Soul Arrow rather than Heavy Great for taking out the lightning throwers. I'm not sure if you're having a problem with them, but if you are having Great should give you an easier time since it's quicker. I would also recommend. Also, can you attack from behind a shield with a Halberd? I don't think you can. You might want to switch over to a spear for Sen's; while you might lose some damage, it'll be made up for by the fact that you can perpetually block while attacking.

[Traveller]

I've just opened up a load of shortcuts - the ladder below the Red Dragon on the bridge; the lift back to Firelink; and the gate in the tunnel by the female Undead Merchant that links the Depths with Firelink. Then I went down and killed the Capra Demon to get the key for the Basement. It took about four goes... to get to a spot up the steps where I could use Heavy Soul Arrow without getting hit.

Just another question now I'm a sorcerer - is it worth buying 'magic weapon' if I use my catalyst in my right hand and a shield in my left? I'm using the Drake sword at the moment; I flip between that and the catalyst, while blocking with my shield. I don't think 'magic weapon' works on the Drake sword anyway, but I want to know if there are any better weapons for a sorcerer without putting my strength above 16.

And, do I need to bother upgrading a shield if I have 'Magic shield'? How effective is it?

This post has been edited by Traveller: 01 April 2013 - 11:17 PM

[Defiance]

If you're a sorcerer there's not much point to magic weapon in my opinion. Magic weapon is more for people who are primarily melee and use sorcery/pyromancy/miracles to supplement their offense (or defense). It can only be used on regular weapons, so any weapon that is ascended to magic/fire/lightning/chaos doesn't work with it. With 16 strength and 28 intelligence, you'll be able to get what is - at least in my opinion - the best weapon for magic users. This is Moonlight Greatsword, and you get it from cutting of Seath's tail. You won't encounter him for awhile, and his tail can be a little tough to cut off, but it's definitely worth it. The weapon has "S" scaling with intelligence, which is awesome (the higher your intellect, the more damage you will deal with it). The Moonlight Butterfly Horn is also pretty good. I think it has "B" intelligence scaling, and since it's a spear you can attack from behind a shield. It has a pretty long reach as well.

Of course, given that both weapons deal magic damage, some enemies will not be harmed as much by them. I haven't encountered too many enemies that are super resistant to magic weapons, though. But it's always good to have a fire/lightning (or even just regular) upgraded weapon for backup.

Shield upgrades give the benefit of improving stability. Higher stability means you'll lose less stamina when you block an attack, which lets you block more attacks or have more stamina left to make attacks or your own/roll out of the way.

EDIT: Moonlight Butterfly Horn can be acquired by leveling any spear to +10 and then talking to the giant smith you encounter later in the game. You'll also need the Moonlight Butterfly's Soul for this.

This post has been edited by Defiance: 01 April 2013 - 11:40 PM

[amphibian]

Fuck. Fine. I'll farm the souls and open the door. Probably work the sewers so I can get shards and humanities while I'm at it. I don't mind the basiliks either.