Dark Souls - I'm Prepared To Die (Again)

[Glongpre]

Surprising realy after reading alot of the comments i notice almost no one has mentioned the usefullness of a ranged weapon, even if you only ever use it to pull enemies from range then finish them with melee, it is still an near indispensable tool for breaking ambushes and sometimes outright killing enemies before they become a problem.

My recomendation is to get the short bow, the stat requirments are fairly low and most equipment will have you over those requirments anyway, unlike the crossbow it can be aimed, if as above you just use it to pull then wooden arrows and no upgrades is totatly fine.

I have read that online, but I don't think I have ever used one. For some of the things, like the maneater clams, you can easily agro them one by one. Through my two playthroughs, I don't think I have ever thought, "wow a bow would make this way easier". Probably just me.
The only time I have thought about a ranged attack was thinking that I should start an int build, with like the moonlight butterfly spear and sorceries.

EDIT: Actually now that I think of it, a bow would have been useful killing a couple of those tentacle things before jumping down with the onion knight.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Surprising realy after reading alot of the comments i notice almost no one has mentioned the usefullness of a ranged weapon, even if you only ever use it to pull enemies from range then finish them with melee, it is still an near indispensable tool for breaking ambushes and sometimes outright killing enemies before they become a problem.

My recomendation is to get the short bow, the stat requirments are fairly low and most equipment will have you over those requirments anyway, unlike the crossbow it can be aimed, if as above you just use it to pull then wooden arrows and no upgrades is totatly fine.

Here are ten locations in the game i think can be made much easier with a bow or other ranged attack, i'll put it in spoilers for the sake others who dont want to read it, i have tried to be vague aswell just for spoilery reasons.

Spoiler: The ten locations list

(1) Undead burg, i can think of atleast three locations using a bow to lure single enemies instead of groups, you can also shoot the fire bombers and the barrel rolling guy.

(2) Undead parish, the channeler on the upper floor can be sniped from below, the titanite demon can be cheesed if you are having trouble in melee.

(3) Sen's Fortress, the lightning shooting snake women, particularly the one at the top near the last swinging blade trap, can also be used to kill the giant putting balls into the trap. (kinda pointless though since there is nothing there, you can jump to him aswell if you realy want to)

(4) Anor londo, the painting guardians can be knocked off the rafters or atleast weakend before they get to you, the ones in the catherdral below tend to agro in groups if you get too close so ranged pull is advantageous.

(5) Painted world, the toxic hollows and the fire shooting ones are realy nasty and always in groups, pulling individuals or just outright ranged killing them is a good tactic.

(6) Blighttown, the parasitic wall hugger can cometimes be difficult to hit in melee, likewise the mosquitos in the second half are somtimes hard to hit, also the area with the toxic dart blowers and fire breathing dogs that guard the firekeeper soul is made easier with range.

(7) The catacombs, in some sections necromances can be seen and killed at range before hand, making the skeletons much easier to deal with.

(8) Tomb of the giants, second half past the lordvesel barrier has a very narrow ledge with two skeletons at the end one archer and one melee to the side, killing the archer first makes the encounter easier.

(9) Crystal Cave, the 'crab clams' infront of the boss fogwall are very dangerous, well placed arrows can save you the trouble of group attacks.

(10) New londo ruins, after draining the water there is a certain room with a large 'slime' and several darkwraiths pulling individuals is again very useful.

Crap, I'm actually kind of ashamed to have forgotten this. This was how I usually used the bow. To add to this: Poisoned Arrows. There are some enemies you can snipe(especially once you have the binoculars), poison them with 3 or so arrows and then wait for them to die or the poison to wear off(in which case do it again). It doesn't work on every enemy but some of them it does, particularly that bomb throwing asshole on top of Sens Fortress(who doesn't respawn).


It's also a nice way to deal with the Archers in Anor Lando. Archers are vulnerable to poison. There's one spot where you can shoot the right archer and he can't hit you(at least in my game there was). Problem pretty much solved.

Funny story, the first time I beat the bomb thrower I actually was using that strategy....and then ran out of arrows a little over half way through his bar. I knew I would since I wasn't really prepared for his relentless onslaught, thinking I was in the clear just making it to the top...yeah right. I also wasn't yet aware of the rooftop bonfire yet, so getting by him on that narrow platform was a pretty harrowing experience to say the least.

Once I was finally able to gather my nerves and run past, I just stood in the round perch for a few minutes, then saved and quit for probably a week lol. He was actually pretty easy to bait with soul arrows in the opening to his turf. He'd be vulnerable after his firebomb stomp or whatever engulfed the screen in flames. My view was obscured because I didn't dare charge into his domain, being out of Estus and a powerful hit away from ending up back at the bottom.

Needless to say it was satisfying to finally hear his death knell.


Glongpre, another good one to bait with a couple poison arrows are the hordes of Capra Demons in the ruins. One by one, they'll all fall for it like an invitation to duel.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Surprising realy after reading alot of the comments i notice almost no one has mentioned the usefullness of a ranged weapon, even if you only ever use it to pull enemies from range then finish them with melee, it is still an near indispensable tool for breaking ambushes and sometimes outright killing enemies before they become a problem.

My recomendation is to get the short bow, the stat requirments are fairly low and most equipment will have you over those requirments anyway, unlike the crossbow it can be aimed, if as above you just use it to pull then wooden arrows and no upgrades is totatly fine.

Here are ten locations in the game i think can be made much easier with a bow or other ranged attack, i'll put it in spoilers for the sake others who dont want to read it, i have tried to be vague aswell just for spoilery reasons.

Spoiler: The ten locations list

(1) Undead burg, i can think of atleast three locations using a bow to lure single enemies instead of groups, you can also shoot the fire bombers and the barrel rolling guy.

(2) Undead parish, the channeler on the upper floor can be sniped from below, the titanite demon can be cheesed if you are having trouble in melee.

(3) Sen's Fortress, the lightning shooting snake women, particularly the one at the top near the last swinging blade trap, can also be used to kill the giant putting balls into the trap. (kinda pointless though since there is nothing there, you can jump to him aswell if you realy want to)

(4) Anor londo, the painting guardians can be knocked off the rafters or atleast weakend before they get to you, the ones in the catherdral below tend to agro in groups if you get too close so ranged pull is advantageous.

(5) Painted world, the toxic hollows and the fire shooting ones are realy nasty and always in groups, pulling individuals or just outright ranged killing them is a good tactic.

(6) Blighttown, the parasitic wall hugger can cometimes be difficult to hit in melee, likewise the mosquitos in the second half are somtimes hard to hit, also the area with the toxic dart blowers and fire breathing dogs that guard the firekeeper soul is made easier with range.

(7) The catacombs, in some sections necromances can be seen and killed at range before hand, making the skeletons much easier to deal with.

(8) Tomb of the giants, second half past the lordvesel barrier has a very narrow ledge with two skeletons at the end one archer and one melee to the side, killing the archer first makes the encounter easier.

(9) Crystal Cave, the 'crab clams' infront of the boss fogwall are very dangerous, well placed arrows can save you the trouble of group attacks.

(10) New londo ruins, after draining the water there is a certain room with a large 'slime' and several darkwraiths pulling individuals is again very useful.

Yeah, I've been on the bow kick for a while now, rocking a +5 Longbow actually; I DEX'd up for the Uchigatana and halberds early on, so even though I'm not a ranged build, my bow hits respectably hard. I've even used it when fighting Super Smough when I've got a pillar between us, but it requires I lock on which has proven to be a dangerous prospect.

 

[Xprimentyl]

I don't thinks it's been mentioned yet, but Ornstein is weak to pyromancies and Smough is weak to lightning magic. As you can imagine, they are also resistant to the opposite.

 

[Xprimentyl]

I don't thinks it's been mentioned yet, but Ornstein is weak to pyromancies and Smough is weak to lightning magic. As you can imagine, they are also resistant to the opposite.

Unfortunately, I'm a melee build and haven't dumped any souls into magic, and the only elemental weapons I have are a lot worse than my BK Halberd with which I'm able to make pretty quick work of Orny during the first phase.

 

[Xprimentyl]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!! Loosely translated: ?Super Smough is a huge, pulsating, white-hot burning rash on my dick.?

Are my stats too low/equipment under-matched for this fight?

VIT: 25
END: 30
STR: 32
DEX: 30
Wearing full Silver Knight set
Wielding +3 BK Halberd and +5 Longbow (RH)
Silver Knight Shield (LH)
Wolf Ring
Havel?s Ring

Also, does poise, weight or any other stat affect the speed at which you get up after being knocked down? Super Smough?s hits, in addition to depleting HALF my health apiece, keep putting me on my ass where I?m subject to a quick nap and a 4 second getting up animation which I?m pretty sure I?m not invincible during because he inevitably follows up with ANOTHER hammer smash that ends me. I really am being patient; I played ring-around-the-rosy with that tiny-headed fucker for 20 minutes this afternoon, got him down to a third of his health before he decided to hit his ?easy? button and took me out (through a pillar, mind you) with two consecutive Super Shovel-Uppercut attacks, the second one landing as I was still getting up from the first.

 

[Fox12]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!! Loosely translated: ?Super Smough is a huge, pulsating, white-hot burning rash on my dick.?

Are my stats too low/equipment under-matched for this fight?

VIT: 25
END: 30
STR: 32
DEX: 30
Wearing full Silver Knight set
Wielding +3 BK Halberd and +5 Longbow (RH)
Silver Knight Shield (LH)
Wolf Ring
Havel?s Ring

Also, does poise, weight or any other stat affect the speed at which you get up after being knocked down? Super Smough?s hits, in addition to depleting HALF my health apiece, keep putting me on my ass where I?m subject to a quick nap and a 4 second getting up animation which I?m pretty sure I?m not invincible during because he inevitably follows up with ANOTHER hammer smash that ends me. I really am being patient; I played ring-around-the-rosy with that tiny-headed fucker for 20 minutes this afternoon, got him down to a third of his health before he decided to hit his ?easy? button and took me out (through a pillar, mind you) with two consecutive Super Shovel-Uppercut attacks, the second one landing as I was still getting up from the first.

Range typically affects what attacks he'll use. If it's a close range attack then keep a decent distance until he does a butt stomp, then smack when he's vulnerable. If it's a long range charge then try staying close, and waiting for an opening. When a boss has a single attack that messes me up then I've learned there's typically a strategy that stops them from using it. Have you tried summoning Solaire?

Edit: also, try dodging sideways instead of back. Otherwise you may be dodging into his next attack.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Range typically affects what attacks he'll use. If it's a close range attack then keep a decent distance until he does a butt stomp, then smack when he's vulnerable. If it's a long range charge then try staying close, and waiting for an opening. When a boss has a single attack that messes me up then I've learned there's typically a strategy that stops them from using it. Have you tried summoning Solaire?

Yep, Solaire is a staple; he works great for the first phase and on rare occasion manages to not be entirely useless with his last sliver of life during the second phase, but as he's inevitably killed off, one-on-one with Super Smough is what it comes down to. I learned a lot about my distance relative to and how it affects bosses AI managing the Gaping Dragon, but Super Smough doesn't do anything except walk towards me and super attack. When I'm close and have him on the other side of a pillar, he just walks around it (hence our playing ring-around-the-rosy if I increase the distance, he Shovel-rushes me and catches me with that goddamn upward swing. The only time he seems to do a normal swinging attack is when he's fighting Solaire, so I even tried getting in his face like Solaire does, but I get an electrical butt slam which I can't evade whilst medium rolling, get knocked over where I'm greeted with the Shovel-Rush uppercut.

My next attempt, I'm going with lighter armor; gonna try to get to a <25% encumbrance fast roll. I like the apparent protection of the Silver Knight set and I really don't want to see what kind of damage they're going to do to me with lighter armor, but seeing as Super Smough is already two-shotting me, it can only get one shot's worth of damage worse, right?

 

[Fox12]

Range typically affects what attacks he'll use. If it's a close range attack then keep a decent distance until he does a butt stomp, then smack when he's vulnerable. If it's a long range charge then try staying close, and waiting for an opening. When a boss has a single attack that messes me up then I've learned there's typically a strategy that stops them from using it. Have you tried summoning Solaire?

Yep, Solaire is a staple; he works great for the first phase and on rare occasion manages to not be entirely useless with his last sliver of life during the second phase, but as he's inevitably killed off, one-on-one with Super Smough is what it comes down to. I learned a lot about my distance relative to and how it affects bosses AI managing the Gaping Dragon, but Super Smough doesn't do anything except walk towards me and super attack. When I'm close and have him on the other side of a pillar, he just walks around it (hence our playing ring-around-the-rosy if I increase the distance, he Shovel-rushes me and catches me with that goddamn upward swing. The only time he seems to do a normal swinging attack is when he's fighting Solaire, so I even tried getting in his face like Solaire does, but I get an electrical butt slam which I can't evade whilst medium rolling, get knocked over where I'm greeted with the Shovel-Rush uppercut.

My next attempt, I'm going with lighter armor; gonna try to get to a <25% encumbrance fast roll. I like the apparent protection of the Silver Knight set and I really don't want to see what kind of damage they're going to do to me with lighter armor, but seeing as Super Smough is already two-shotting me, it can only get one shot's worth of damage worse, right?

Speed definitely trumps strength in that fight, unless your rocking a great shield and super heavy armor. If you really want a boost to rolling then look up where to find the dark root crest ring. It's game changer for lighter builds. Different fights favor different attributes. High poise will be incredibly helpful during the four kings boss fight, for instance.

 

[Glongpre]

Glongpre, another good one to bait with a couple poison arrows are the hordes of Capra Demons in the ruins. One by one, they'll all fall for it like an invitation to duel.

I guess. You can just walk up to them and agro them separately though. Seems like a lot more work with a bow.

snipple

Stats don't really matter too much in this game to be honest. The most important I find, are weapon damage, shield block percentages, and endurance (for more rolls!!). Encumbrance is kinda an all or nothing stat. You either go for a shield which has really great poise (but heavy), or you go for the fast roll (and the ring that makes you do handsprings).

Your weapon should be fine, maybe think about getting it to +5 (I believe the giant blacksmith sells the titanite for 8000 a piece).

Maybe you should try going without Solaire? I find he is super useful during the first phase, but because summons increase the amount of health bosses have, the second form becomes a little more difficult, since Solaire isn't useful during this phase at all.
Also, does Smough have a sweet spot where he will always do his leaping overhead hammer smash? That move is pretty easy to punish.

 

[Xprimentyl]

For me they are easier to isolate with a bow, and the poison is nice for residual damage. The first time I ran into them pure melee I aggro'd half of a horde and got tag teamed something fierce.

 

[Dalisclock]

Out of curiosity, have you found the grass crest shield? It's almost useless for defense but ups your stamina regen a lot. Equip it, wear it on your back so you can two hand your preferred weapon. Thus you get more damage(or can use heavier weapons) and enough stamina to keep on the run most of the time.

Just a thought anyway. I tended to fall back on this because I've found that shields were fairly useless for a lot of the boss fights for me. Since I can't equip and don't want to use uber heavy shields, most boss weapons will cut through my shields like they aren't even there. So I tend to two-hand weapons during boss fights and concentrate more on not getting hit.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Maybe you should try going without Solaire? I find he is super useful during the first phase, but because summons increase the amount of health bosses have, the second form becomes a little more difficult, since Solaire isn't useful during this phase at all.

It's pick your poison. With Solaire, I'm guaranteed to die in the second phase; without him, I'm murdered quite quickly in the first.

Also, does Smough have a sweet spot where he will always do his leaping overhead hammer smash? That move is pretty easy to punish.

I'm struggling to find that sweet spot. I've found several sweet spots that trigger his shovel attack, that's for goddamn sure...

Out of curiosity, have you found the grass crest shield? It's almost useless for defense but ups your stamina regen a lot. Equip it, wear it on your back so you can two hand your preferred weapon. Thus you get more damage(or can use heavier weapons) and enough stamina to keep on the run most of the time.

Just a thought anyway. I tended to fall back on this because I've found that shields were fairly useless for a lot of the boss fights for me. Since I can't equip and don't want to use uber heavy shields, most boss weapons will cut through my shields like they aren't even there. So I tend to two-hand weapons during boss fights and concentrate more on not getting hit.

Yes, I've got the Grass Crest Shield, but as I'm a fucktard when it comes to not getting hit (read: "dodge-rolling,") I'm pretty dependent on 100% shields. The idea of two-handing sounds great, but I'm pretty sure that'd be an immediate death sentence for this guy right here.

 

[Xprimentyl]

You shouldn't have to dodge roll for Super Smough. He's too slow to keep up with you attacking at his side, and his swipe / butt slam are both slow enough to just run from. That's when you can take a breather behind a pillar for Estus.

Dont let them rattle you. You've already faced technically more difficult enemies, so keep calm and finish them.

 

[Xprimentyl]

You shouldn't have to dodge roll for Super Smough. He's too slow to keep up with you attacking at his side, and his swipe / butt slam are both slow enough to just run from. That's when you can take a breather behind a pillar for Estus.

Dont let them rattle you. You've already faced technically more difficult enemies, so keep calm and finish them.

Appreciate the vote of confidence; getting ready to take my lunch hour and give it another shot... pray for me.

EDIT: I forgot my last futile attempt robbed me of my last humanity and I refuse to cross that fog wall without Solaire, so farmed a few humanity, got my BK Halberd to +5 and invaded Lautrec and won, #BeastMode.) I'm nothing if not a productive coward, but I'm worried I'm running out of reasons to procrastinate...

 

[Xprimentyl]

I BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was such an ass-whooping , Solaire even lived through it!!!!!!!!! It was GLORIOUS!!!!! Thank you all so much for the tips!!!!!!

 

[Dalisclock]

I BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was such an ass-whooping , Solaire even lived through it!!!!!!!!! It was GLORIOUS!!!!! Thank you all so much for the tips!!!!!!

Congrats. Now, go forward to the Amazing Chest and take the lordvessel. Enjoy, because now the rest of the game starts, where you get to choose from 4 different ways to screw yourself. I honestly don't know which one to recommend, but I would recommend going and beating Sif and the moonlight butterfly now if you you haven't already.

 

[Glongpre]

I would save Lost Izalith for last (beyond Quelaags Domain). Dukes Archives is kinda annoying, Tomb of the Giants isn't too bad once you know the layout, and the four kings can be a tough boss. Hmmmm, I would say go to the Four Kings first, just to get that crap outta the way (New Londo Ruins). Oh yeah, you need to kill Sif before you can do the Four Kings boss fight.

 

[Souplex]

*Is about to suggest you kill Smough first so you can get THE BEST weapon in the game*
*Sees that you already beat them*
*Walks away*
Edit: Have you been back to Undead Asylum yet? It's a fun place to go. You can get back there through a jumping puzzle involving the Undead Parish elevator. After you do there's a bonus area you can visit in the church full of the Klansmen Ninjas.
Have you been down the Great Hollow yet? It's found on the bottom floor of BlightTown.

 

[Xprimentyl]

I would save Lost Izalith for last (beyond Quelaags Domain). Dukes Archives is kinda annoying, Tomb of the Giants isn't too bad once you know the layout, and the four kings can be a tough boss. Hmmmm, I would say go to the Four Kings first, just to get that crap outta the way (New Londo Ruins). Oh yeah, you need to kill Sif before you can do the Four Kings boss fight.

If you go this route, stock up on Transient Curse, which will be invaluable to surviving this area since you can't kill ghosts with normal status/weapons. Equip the Covetous Gold Serpent Ring (which you should've already found in Sen's Fortress) to help this item's drop rate.

Or, you could just get the Cursed Greatsword of Artorias forged since it's an awesome weapon to have anyways.