I saved the one with the big mace/hammer for last, the one who guards the door leading to a lake with a Hydra living in it. He killed me so many times, after so many attempts and so many careful backstabs to try and kill him, I finally ended him and claimed an awesome ring.
Its an extremely satisfying game when you overcome the challenges it throws at you. You learn the game and get better until you can overcome obstacles and when you do die, its pretty much always a fair death and one you could have avoided. There aren't any dumb unavoidable deaths, such as for example a predator missile in a call of duty game. Its not for everyone though, its near impossible to play the game casually and requires a lot of focus.
S & O was just a difficulty spike that was stupid and if I didn't have XboxLive I would've quit right there. I found out later you could summon Solaire, but I couldn't find his summon sign when I was looking for it.
First time I beat Ornstein and Smough I didn't know about Solaire and I didn't have live, I had to do it solo, and it still didn't take as long as four kings did. I HATED four kings. so much.
Right now I have three directions to go, I can go into the place underneath Firelink with the unkillable (?) ghosts, I can go into the Demon Ruins, or I can head into the Archives. I'm just screwing around in PvP now though.
Well ill just sum up the areas from memory, it cant be too hard. Well, easier than Dark Souls is, thats for sure.
But be forewarned i wont make indicate specific directions. Use an actual guide or your own pathfinding skills to get through the levels.
The area under Firelink is The New Londo Ruins. The Ghosts are killable, but they require you to be...
-Wielding a cursed weapon. One can be made with Sif's soul from (I think) a +10 straight sword. Others can be dropped by ghosts.
-Be under the effect of a transient curse. You find 2 of theese near the start of the first bridge over the water. Equip and use them when youre attacked then you can damage for a time until it expires. The female undead merchant sells some and the ghosts may drop more.
-The third, and least preferable, way is to fight them while actually cursed. This can save time in the long run but you better be able to get the hell out when you can go get the curse cured for the non-ghost enemies.
The first half of braving the New Londo Ruins is fighting your way to the top of the church biulding across the waterways. Its best to keep your camera angled down at all times because most of whats coming will have you ankle deep in water and you might walk off a ledge where you thought there was more walkway, especially in combat.
Speaking of the combat, Ghosts come in two variations. The basic and most numerous ones have a long range grabbing attack that doesnt do that much damage, but all of thier attacks ignore shields.
The second much less common variation is the Banshee (Banshees have red faces), i only recalled fighting one or two but theyre much more dangerous escpecially if you let them get away. In addition to thier melee attacks which are the same as the regular Ghosts they have a lightning projectile attack that can pass through walls, its heralded by it screaming, which is why its dubbed Banshee.
Both Ghosts and Banshees can move freely through walls and will use this to try and box you in tight areas and attack from all directions with pre-scripted ambushes scattered about the place.
Your objective is to reach the top of the ruined church, where youll meet an NPC. Assuming youve delivered the Lordvessel this NPC will give you a key, which is needed to access an area to lower the water level and make it to the Four Kings.
Its also worth noting this NPC will also cure curse status at the cost of a humanity point.
After lowering the water level you can take one of the several lifts down to the lower areas. There are no more ghosts down here, theres much worse.
A foreword, if youre of a squeamish disposition you might want to avoid looking at the floors, Darkwraiths and Dark Slimes too closely.
First thing youll probably notice are the Darkwraith Knights. If possible try to avoid engaging them because they are just that dangerous. They have a curb stomping attack that will likely break your guard and a grabbing attacks that causes immense damage and will steal humanity points if you have any.
And a fair warning, the Darkwraith Knights are not glorified Black or Silver Knights, you try to treat them as such and they will wreck your shit.
The second enemy are the Dark Slimes. Theyre considerably less frequent than Darkwraiths but are no less deadly. mostly because they have alot of health. At long range they can spawn exploding skulls similar to the ones in the Catacombs, and can spit goo that will slow you down and eat at your health if you stand in it. At close range itll attempt to spike you and may have a followup sweep attack. Its very weak to fire.
Also the area boss of the New Londo Ruins are the Four Kings, and you require the Coveneant of Artioras (ring) to fight them, which you need to go to the Darkroot Garden and kill the Great Grey Wolf Sif to get. If you want to complete this area, go back to Darkroot Garden and kill Sif for the Covenant ring. If you enter the Four Kings boss area without it equipped you will simply drop into the abyss.
Youre now looking to get into a squat tower that near-ish to the massive gate that leads outside into the Valley of Drakes. Once you fight your way to the Tower and get inside descend its spiral staircase until you see it suddenly cut off.
Assuming you do have the ring now, equip it, then walk off the edge youll land in a pitch black area safely then the Four Kings boss fight will start shortly afterwards.
Before the rebalancing patch the best way to pummel the Kings was to equip Havels armor (regardless of personal endurance level) then use the pyromance spell Iron Flesh. The result was you literally made of iron, quite unable to flinch when struck at and a defence so high i was seriously wondering what made the Four Kings a serious boss fight with this.
But then Iron FLesh was nerfed and i havent replayed to see if it still works since, but try it anyway its probably still your best bet.
The Kings appear in sequence, with about 30 seconds between each appearence. Therefore you need to be able to kill each individual King before the next one appears. So use the Havels/Iron Flesh tactic, go batshit crazy with the most powerful weapon you can wield two handed, and glug a quick Estus if the health looks a bit lacking and keep Iron Flesh active[/i].
The Kings are all the same and have 3 attacks. The first is a sword swing that always comes from the left (thier right arms are swords) and stops when it about reaches the centre. Thier second and most annoying ability is thier grab. It doesnt do much damage but it takes precious seconds to be let go of in which another King can appear, it also drains humanity points like the Darkwraiths. Thier third and most dangerous attack is a longrange magic projectile. It does massive damage but they only use it at long range.
Actually i just looked at the wiki and it turns out you can summon an assist NPC if you summoned the same one for the Moonlight Butterfly.
The remainder of the Demon Ruins is... irritating to say the least. If you already explored the limits before delivering the Lordvessel then the area behind the now unlocked golden fog door is more sub- and actual bosses. Including the Demon Firesage right behind that door.
The Firesage is literally the Asylum Demon, or more accurately the Stray Demon (you fight stray on asylum revisit) but hes on fire. Amusingly this doesnt grant him immunity to fire. If you havent fought the Stray Demon then keep attacking its legs from behind (youre probably going to have some... recurring memories of the Demons ass by the end of this) and roll away when it raises its hammer with the head towards the ground. Failure to roll away will result in you getting hit by a massive area of effect magic spell that does a shit ton of damage. Success at evading means you have extra seconds to hit him while he recovers.
He will also try to fly up, turn around and butt stomp. Just walk away from this and keep behind him. Keeping behind him also makes his other attacks a non-issue.
When you reach the Centipede Demon (final area boss, also you can have Solaire assist if you managed to keep up his storyline) cut off its tail, then kill the tail. Your reward (an auto-pickup) will be the Orange Charred Ring, which makes you nigh invulnerable to damage from standing on lava. Something which will become useful in the first area of Lost Isalith. and the Centipede demons actual boss fight if you get killed.
Also the area where the Centipede Demon is is mostly covered in lava. Theres plenty of ground to fight on but you should take caution. And unlike Demon Firesage, Centipede Demon is 100% immune to fire damage.
The Centipede Demon has a few attacks, but the outstanding ones include his longrange option, a strecthing arm, a jumping attack that may knock you into the lava, a tailsweep that he will perform often if you melee. He may also grab and chew on you if you stay too close in front of his legs, but to my recollection it didnt do too much damage.
When low on health (about a quarter remaining) he starts spitting homing fireballs ar range and his jumping attacks follow up with an explosion similar to but half the size of the Demon Firesage.
I severely reccomend you try to get the Orange Charred Ring, it will become useful in the first area of Lost Isalith.
The area after the Centipede Demon is one of the most terrifying areas to me. A huge cavern mostly flooded with lava, and freely wandered by the... rotting lower bodies of undead dragons. Cant make this shit up.
Before coming here youll probably want to get the Dragonslayer Greatbow, and as much Dragonslayer Arrows as you can afford for it. Dragonslayer Arrows are sold at 500 each from the Giant Blacksmith in Anor Londo. The undead dragon arses dont respawn and take about 6-12 arrows to kill each with minimal stats, and award 2000 souls each. 2400 if you have the silver serpent ring found in the Tomb of the Giants.[footnote]I never found this, unfortunately.[/footnote]
Also bring a regular bow with regular arrows. More on that later. but for now...
The Dragonslayer Greatbow is the shiny thing on top of a wall to the left of the entrance to the palace hall. Nearby where the Giant Blacksmith is. Go into the palace hall, head upstairs jump out the broken window above where the entrance is. Drop down the bottom of the steps. From there do a running jump to land on top of the smaller wall, if this is successful walk long it to pick up your Greatbow.
If you have a homeward bone/miracle jump from the bottom of the steps to land behing the nearby railings. Youll be able to pick up the Gratbow from behind the railings but then you must use your teleport because theres no other way out of the railing.
Assuming youve done that take your time inching into the area sniping the zombie-dragon-legs witht he greatbow. If one gets too close, run away. As if you couldnt tell from thier sheer size alone theese things will simply wreck your shit if they get anywhere near you. They have 2 attacks, a jump and a tail sweep, both do huge knockback and incredible damage. They can also trample you.
Navigating the cavern itself isnt actually lava free running away from undead draconic denizens arses, there is a path along the roots that is moderately safe and awards minimal lava running. When you get to the first tower in the lava kill the fire breathing statues around it withoug setting off any more dragon arses, then one of the walls is an illusion. Break it and head inside for a treasure chest. Use the tower as a sniping point for all the dragon arses between the two towers. And any you think deserve to die.
When you feel the way between you and the second tower is clear enough make a mad dash to it taking care to run up a root that leaves you on the second floor of the tower. If you make it equip and take out your regular bow then start provoking all the dragon arses you possibly can. They cant touch you and thier attacks hit eachother, so theyll kill and critically injure themselves trying to get to you. When youre down to one, finish it off.
The second tower also has an illusion wall at its base. This one hides a bonfire.
Inside Lost Isalith itself youll come to fight with alot of fire satues.
Theres also a new enemy, a tentacle demon. It has 2 attacks, fisrt an acid spit that will drain your equipments durability, reducing it to near-broken, and a grab-and-eat attack which does huge damage.
Also in an out of the way area is a pyromancy-using hollow. It can be a difficult fight but its ultimately no problem.
The way to the area boss is comparatively short and theres no bullshit traps unless you want to go exploring for the treasures.
The area boss of Lost Isalith is the Bed of Chaos. Its worth keeping in mind you dont actually fight this boss head on. Avoid its attacks, and break your way into the roots on either side of it and smash the glowing roots within. Note that after breaking the first root, the Bed will start causing the floor to cave in. After busting the second root start approaching the Bed directly along the center but a couple steps to the right, the floor should cave in and you land on a root that leads into the Bed. Make your way in and kill the twisted form of what was once supposedly the Witch of Isalith to win.
Of course the Bed will attack you with sweeping root attacks (roll under them), area of effect chaos spells (run away form them before they hit) and by caving the floor in (at certain areas, but never in a way that will stop you from beating the boss).
The Dukes Archives were a real pain in my opinion. You would think a library biult for a legless dragon would be larger, well they seemed to get the height right, but everything else is a clusterfuck of obstacles, Channelers and Crystalised Hollow Soldiers. Then theres this thing where you have to die to Seath (the Scaleless)'s attacks in a hopeless boss fight, then theres a jailbreak thing with theese lovecraft-esque things that one hit you if they grab you.
Though if you have a magic based character the best scorcery spells in the game become available here, if you freed Big-Hat Logan from Sens Fortress.
But the Archives arent the real nutcracker, the Crystal Cavern is. Hope you like heights.
The Crystal Cavern is where you actually fight (to defeat) Seath after finding the reason for his evident invulnerability within the Archives. Anyway the caverns are guarded by a multitude of crystal golems that are much stronger than the ones at Darkroot Basin and within the cavern theres Crystal Butterflies similar to the Moonlight Butterfly in the Darkroot Garden. The Crystal Butterflies arent agressive but if you tick them off they wont leave you alone until you leave the Cavern itself.
Speaking of the Cavern itself its mostly a vertical descent. Only its down a series of catwalks improvised from large crystals jutting from the walls that are linked by invisible platforms that are marked only by weather effects (it snows in the cavern).
At the bottom there are theese clamshell things that would probably eat you if you were stupid enough to stand in front of them for too long. Theese are also right outside Seaths boss door so go right ahead and ignore them.
Seath's fight isnt that difficult if you prepare for the right things. Seaths crystal breath is unblockable can inflict curse on you so steer clear of it and stay just outside the reach of his claws or he will stop trying to hit you with sweeping crystal breaths and unleash a massive area of effect crystal breath in all directions.
Two-hand your weapon, bait his attacks, aviod them, then attack the tips of his left and right tails. Watch out for when he thrashes his tails however, they can cause an amazing ammount of damage and double hit you if you get pinned against a wall.
You can cut off his center tail (at the tip) for the Moonlight Greatsword, but keep in mind it has an insane intelligence requirement for effective use.
My advice would be to go Wolf hunting in Darkroot Garden, get the Covenant ring and Sif's Soul, then go attempt the Duke's Archives. If you make a momumental failure and Seath curses you with his breath attacks, retreat and head into New Londo, where under your cursed state you can kill the ghosts as if they were normal enemies.
If you beat Seath without getting cursed make the Cursed Greatsword of Artioras[footnote]Note that any weapon/shield requiring a demons soul must be taken to the Giant Blacksmith in Anor Londo to be forged. Demon weapons/shields upgrade on Demon Titanite[/footnote] and learn to use greatswords very quickly as its your main weapon for the first half of the New Londo Ruins. The Cursed Greatsword does have a fairly hefty faith requirement but it should only affect the swords magic damage stat.
Also if you end up not using Sif's soul for the Cursed Greatsword then you can use it on a +10 normal shield to make the Greatshield of Artioras, one of the best in the game.
I would stress Lost Isalith last. If you ventured deep enough into the Demon Ruins to encounter the fire breathing statues before then you know theyre pretty hard to kill with any kind of melee attack. And youll probably want to hoard souls to use the Dragonslayer Greatbow or to get levels and upgrades to make it more effective.
Lol thanks, you didn't have to do that because honestly I'm not reading the detailed descriptions of the areas, I don't like using guides, but yeah I just killed the Ceaseless Discharge, but now I'm gonna turn around and go to the Archives.
I saved the one with the big mace/hammer for last, the one who guards the door leading to a lake with a Hydra living in it. He killed me so many times, after so many attempts and so many careful backstabs to try and kill him, I finally ended him and claimed an awesome ring.
Lol Havel was a fun fight because he was so slow for an NPC. Most of them are really fast, but he was slower than me and I had his armor on without the ring(but I had the Mask of the Father). Also, sort of sad that the Dragon King Greatsword isn't that good. My Black Knight Halberd is way quicker and the attacks are way better, it may have less damage, but it is so much better.
Lol thanks, you didn't have to do that because honestly I'm not reading the detailed descriptions of the areas, I don't like using guides, but yeah I just killed the Ceaseless Discharge, but now I'm gonna turn around and go to the Archives.
Also i would reccomend you pick up the Large Fire ember in the Demon Ruins. Assuming you have both a fire and lightning variant of your main weapon the Large Fire Ember will be needed to upgrade fire weapons to +10, which is equivalent to lightnings +5.
A fair warning though, i remember the Large Fire Ember being guarded by 4 burrowing centipede things that will all ambush you at once. They arent mobile, but they could take a fair bit of punishment and can grapple you for massive damage.
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