Apt, on 05 February 2016 - 10:40 AM, said:
WinterPhoenix, on 05 February 2016 - 10:30 AM, said:
Was going to suggest a great way to cheese the Taurus Demon, involving a jump slash from the tower with the two bow-wielding undead with pine resin equipped (which you can have by that point in the game), half it's health in one hit, plus no pesky arrow fire during the battle either.
I did sort of cheese the Taurus Demon. I did the jump down attack on it and afterwards just threw a bunch of fire bombs in its face, stabbing it when ever I got too close.
WinterPhoenix, on 05 February 2016 - 10:30 AM, said:
You can kill that dragon on the bridge as well without it ever landing, so long as you have a bow/ammo combo that does enough damage to offset it's healing when it covers itself with it's wings, just stand underneath the bridge close to the room with 3 rats (kill the rats lol) and fire away until it dies and drops juicy souls, uber cheese

Though I'm not sure it's possible with the first bow you can acquire, it's been a very long time since I played DS1 only had a digital copy on an old 360.
How many arrows are we talking about here to kill it? Would I need to invest in some of the more expensive arrows or bolts?
Is it actually possible to fight it? I imagine if you had 100% fire resistance you could walk up to it and stab it in the face but I imagine that would turn into a boss fight.
WinterPhoenix, on 05 February 2016 - 10:30 AM, said:
Have you tried to fight any of the Black Knights yet? As of the Warthog encounter there are two you could've encountered iiirc, one in an alleyway in the Undead Burg, and the other atop the circular tower right before the Hog itself. Fun encounters, plus a great way to force yourself to learn backstabbing.
Yeah I met both of those guys. There's also some evil asshole with some kind of bone club at the bottom of the tower in Undead Burg. I don't feel good enough to fight any of them quite yet, all though I did get the first Black Knight down around 50% one time. Unfortunately he likes to throw direct attacks at me that drain my stamina.
I will get him when I have levelled up some more.
Much as I love the game, it does somewhat invite cheese with a number of the boss fights lol
Yes it is possible to fight it one on one, to literally stand toe to toe with the beast, however, requires a fully upgraded full set of heavy armour (the Black Iron set is best) with massive fire resistance, a ring which increases that resistance further and the Flash Sweat pyromancy which further increases said resistance. There is a method for fighting it with no/very light armour, which requires good timing to both avoid his flame attacks and land your own quick enough so his healing doesn't overwhelm your damage, but I've never tried it - honestly the bow method is easier than both melee methods. It's also possible I believe (though, don't quote me on this) to simply run by the beast with a decent level of Vitality (sorry I can't be more specific) and little to no armour on, the lack of poise means the flames will knock you down and you'll take no further damage during the animation, once you get back up, you should be able to run straight past it into the room beyond, opening up a shortcut and meeting Solaire (praise the sun

) in the process - but again, I can't be 100% sure of the efficacy of that any more. As for the number of arrows it would take, I really can't be sure anymore, it varies of course depending on the damage you can do with your bow - which in itself varies with what bow it is, what level the bow is and your dex stat - I think using the standard bow, you'd want to buy a goodly amount of large arrows and upgrade the bow a few levels as well perhaps - plus it never hurts to pump a few points into dex either, the stat most bows scale with. All in all, I'm not sure how viable it is for you yet, but it's worth considering, and certainly a ton easier than meleeing the beast lol
'Evil asshole with some kind of bone club', ahhhhh Havel, how I love thee

He is worth killing btw for his ring which drops when he is defeated (he does not respawn), it increases max equip burden by 50% which is sweet

Iirc neither of the Black Knights are guarding anything special, the main reason for killing them is in hope that they drop one of their weapons or their shield when they die, the shield is great and at least the Halberd and the Sword are useful weapons on a first run through - though I never really got much from them.
I'll echo what Traveller said above, find a shield and some kind of spear/thrusting weapon and stick with it, the reason being that with such weapons you can attack from behind the relative safety of a raised shield, which is invaluable if you suck at or just plain don't want to learn parrying. Playing a Dex/Strength build is quite easy in the long run, relative to the Souls series anyhow lol. Recommendations, when you find the Halberd praise it forever! It won't out damage the Drake sword straight off, but the sword scales badly and is quickly left behind, plus the Halberd offers more in the way of versatility. On the playthrough that got me all the achievements, I used the Halberd right through new game (once I got it) at first simply because it offers superior range - the Great Scythe is even better, but it'll be awhile before you venture into the Catacombs which are it's residence. As for a shield, one that is available very early is the Balder Shield (from Balder Knights carrying the larger shield, not the buckler) just kill them till it drops, honestly it's worth it because it's weight to protection ration is actually one really good, plus it has great stability for a medium shield. Both the Knights and the Halberd are basically right on the other side of the currently closed gate behind the Warthog dude for what it's worth
Bleh, wow I can ramble about this game, my apologies for the huge walls of text lol
This post has been edited by WinterPhoenix: 05 February 2016 - 11:39 AM