Dark Souls

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Slime_Beherit said:
oh wow, thats pretty damn amazing! Congrats. Who did you take out last?
The fight was a huge rush. My heart was racing like crazy at the end. I really wanted to be able to knock them out in the first try, and knew that a single mistake could rob that from me, so I was extremely cautious in those final few moments. It was nerve-wracking. The last time a boss battle absorbed my attention in that way was The End in MGS3.

I took out Ornstein first, since he was easiest to draw away from Smough. After that, just whittled Smough away over time. I'm not trying to gloat, because I don't consider myself to be particularly great at this game, but I really didn't think it was that difficult in hindsight. I'd read that many consider this to be the toughest boss fight in the game, but other than that I knew nothing about it. Conversely, some of the most frustrating fights for me are considered pushovers by others.
The Iron Golem at the top of Sen's Fortress kept knocking me off the tower over and over and over. I would have him dead to rights, then fail to dodge, so I'd block and get pushed over the edge from the impact.
Also, a regular old Titanite Demon killed me twice a few rooms earlier, though admittedly I wasn't playing nearly as cautiously.

I suppose a lot of it comes down to playstyle. My guy, GAISERIC, is a dex-heavy melee with a taste for curved swords, now using a newly minted Queelag's Furysword+2. My armor isn't the best, so I depend on rolling and timing to survive most fights. Some others spec as tanks, like Aaz, or casters like a friend of mine, and have less trouble on other fights.

Anyway, in case it isn't obvious, I'm really, really loving this game. It comes highly recommended. As I think I said on the podcast, I honestly can't remember the last time I was this dedicated to a game. It's been a decade or so, I'd say. Also, the game is gorgeous if you have a good enough system. Check this: http://i.imgur.com/8x7d9.jpg & http://www.abload.de/img/screenshot_2012-09-091yshw.png
 

Oburi

All praise Grail
Walter said:
My guy, GAISERIC, is a dex-heavy melee with a taste for curved swords, now using a newly minted Queelag's Furysword+2.

Haha nice.

Walter said:
Anyway, in case it isn't obvious, I'm really, really loving this game. It comes highly recommended. As I think I said on the podcast, I honestly can't remember the last time I was this dedicated to a game. It's been a decade or so, I'd say. Also, the game is gorgeous if you have a good enough system. Check this: http://i.imgur.com/8x7d9.jpg & http://www.abload.de/img/screenshot_2012-09-091yshw.png

Yea its such a great game. One of my favorite rpgs ever.
 

SlimeBeherit

[FIGHT][SPELL] [SACRIFICE][ITEM]
Walter said:
I took out Ornstein first, since he was easiest to draw away from Smough. After that, just whittled Smough away over time.

I was too impatient to draw Ornstein away from Smough, so i just used "Power Within" (Berserk Armor effect) and rushed Smough. What a mistake that would turn out to be, Mega Ornstein was one scary dude. I would run for minutes at a time without attacking trying to find that spot that wouldn't get me instantly killed. It indeed was a great fight, all 30 tries of them :judo:
 

Dar_Klink

Last Guardian when? - CyberKlink 20XX before dying
Nice Walter! Don't forget that Kellogg's Fury Sword scales with humanity up to 10. So to use it the most effectively have soft humanity on you at all times.
 

Infinte

They see me rollin', they hatin'.
Walter said:
Ornstein & Smough -- beat them on my very first attempt. My heart is still pounding. What a fight! :mozgus:

Nice :ganishka:, I remember that cool sense of relief you get when you beat them for the first time btw Join the Darkwraith Covenant for PvP and since you're going with a Dex build you would end up doing great against most folks and it's a great way to get "liquid" Humanity(the ones that aren't in your inventory) :beast:. My tips for you are that you learn counter backstabs, parry+riposting and master the art of (t)rolling and you won't have any sort of problems against anyone but spammers(Wrath of The Gods or
Pursuers for PtD edition
) and Hackers :femto:.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Infinte said:
Nice :ganishka:, I remember that cool sense of relief you get when you beat them for the first time btw Join the Darkwraith Covenant for PvP and since you're going with a Dex build you would end up doing great against most folks and it's a great way to get "liquid" Humanity(the ones that aren't in your inventory) :beast:. My tips for you are that you learn counter backstabs, parry+riposting and master the art of (t)rolling and you won't have any sort of problems against anyone but spammers(Wrath of The Gods or
Pursuers for PtD edition
) and Hackers :femto:.
PvP doesn't really interest me particularly. I've had the displeasure of running into a few of these troll-gankers in my time playing through. Dueling would be cool if it were something on equal footing. But it never is. Just a bunch of asswipes, for the most part.
 
Walter, I love to read your Dark Souls updates. Your sentiments are well thought out and it is as if I were playing through again for the first time.
 
Release date for the DLC that adds the added PC content to the console versions is out:
October 23rd in North America and October 24th in Europe and Australia/Asia.
That's actually earlier than I expected.
Now what to do... I heard that you have to have the
godvessel
in order to access the new areas, and the only char I have that has this is in NG+... guess I will start over again, not that I would mind :guts:
 

Dar_Klink

Last Guardian when? - CyberKlink 20XX before dying
Gaahl said:
Release date for the DLC that adds the added PC content to the console versions is out:
October 23rd in North America and October 24th in Europe and Australia/Asia.
That's actually earlier than I expected.
Now what to do... I heard that you have to have the
godvessel
in order to access the new areas, and the only char I have that has this is in NG+... guess I will start over again, not that I would mind :guts:
Yep you need to have that because you need to access
Duke's Archive
to get to the DLC area. How to proceed spoilers ahead, if you care about exploring/finding it on your own:
Save Dusk from the Crystal Golem behind the Hydra boss battle, then when you have the Lord Vessel go to Duke's Archive and fight a golem right at the beginning, it'll drop a broken pendant. From there go to the area where you fought the Crystal Golem and you access the DLC from a warp there
 
You guys are in for a treat with the DLC, especially Berserk fans. The last boss of the DLC will remind a lot of people of a certain giant sword wielding bad ass mercenary monster slayer.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Blazed through the end of the game tonight,
Tomb of Giants+Nito, Lost Izalith+Bed of Chaos, and Kiln of First Flame+____, but I can't fucking beat Gwyn! I do decent damage against him, but his attacks are just devastating to me. Three hits and I'm gone, and I can never seem to find a spot to use flasks safely.
 

Th3Branded0ne

I'll be back.
here's what helped for me
I had a good stamina bar, even bigger than my health bar. I used the rock and ran around it until he did one of his attacks and I replenished my health. At what level are you? I was 71 when I beat him. With the black knight great axe. I didnt use parrying, I just dodged his attacks, no armor, I tried speed and the strength to beat him. Took me 3 tries to get his pattern figured out. Good luck!
 
Hope this helps.
I just defeated Gwyn a couple of days ago. I was level 98. First I tried with a shield and sword (+5 black knight sword and +5 black iron shield with Havel’s heavy armor). I quickly did a lot of damage and almost killed him a few times, but he would break trough my shield defense and kill me with a few swings (and I have good stamina). So I switched to pyromancy (+15 pyromancy) and light weight armor but kept the shield. With my shield up I back tracked to one of the larger pillars in the chamber. I went in circles around the pillar always keeping the pillar between me and Gwyn with the raised shield. He would spend most of the time hitting the pillar and only scratching my shield. As soon as I see him go for a grab, I would quickly hit him with a fireball and then retreat behind the pillar again. Rinse and repeat and 9 fireballs later he was dead and I suffered almost no damage.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Gwyn's tricky because he moves very quickly and homes in on you with his attacks. And does a lot of damage. But he's got one terrible weakness in that he's extremely vulnerable to parrying. It's how I beat him after trying a few other techniques without much success. Just parry each of his attacks and he'll be dead in no time. It's kind of regrettable because it almost makes him too easy once you figure it out.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Thanks guys, but I think the trick for me might just be SUCKING LESS. :ganishka:

I'll give it another go tonight until he's finally laid to rest. Poor guy... I don't really want to kill him. :sad:
 
Parry his moves and show him who's boss.

I'm on NG+ hanging around the Ornstein and Smough area farming souls for weeks now and helping those who may need assistance with the boss fight. I want to be super buff in time for the DLC. :puck:
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Beat it. I tried to NOT do the parry/riposte method, because I thought the last boss deserved better. But after 10 tries of being fair, I succumbed and ended his poor life. :judo: Man, that ending sure was brief! I'd love to talk about the game in more detail on the podcast, but don't want to spoil anyone about it. Maybe we could just talk about it here? Who's pretty well versed on Dark Souls lore? I still can't say I totally understand a lot of the game. I have so many questions still.
Does relighting the kiln of the first flame simply repeat the cycle that Gwyn started? What the hell happened that created the Demon Ruins and Lost Izalith? The Bed of Chaos? Some of that stuff was just super, SUPER weird.

This game left me totally drained by the end, in the best possible way. It's one of the most unique game experiences of my life. And while it was satisfying, after nearly 60 hours of toiling in a series of nightmare zones, I can't believe they throw you back in a New Game + scenario right after the ending credits. What kind of masochist do they think I am?

The only major complaint I have is that the story feels like a missed opportunity. There's plenty to say about the world itself, but so much of it is buried, having to be pieced together by reading item descriptions and in a few cases, equipping certain items at certain times. That kind of stuff makes me roll my eyes, honestly. Holding back the game's story for the sake of a few a) pioneers who figured it out, b) people who are following a game guide. There's a lot to like, why not let us in on it all?

Graphics, world design, character design, monster types (dozens and dozens, it's insane), these are all absolutely top-notch. There's nothing else out there like this game. It is simply amazing.
 
I probably missed about 80% of lore in my playthrough being too busy dying, but have found this video to be extremely helpful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Balq4yCcAJg. This was made before Prepare to die, so that part is missing. The guy that made the video (EpicNameBro) also has in-depth videos about specific parts of the lore, well worth a look.

It's really amazing how deep, interesting and tragic the story is, but they really like to make you work for everything in this game.
 
I can understand your disappointment with the way the story was handled, but I personally liked it. I'm a sucker for this kind of minimalist storytelling, especially in games. The mystery makes everything all the more fascinating and trying to make sense of it from what little you can gather is fun to me. I dunno. :slan:

Anyway, concerning Lost Izalith and the Demon Ruins...
after the First Flame began to die out the first time, the Witch of Izalith attempted to use her Lord Soul to recreate a Flame of her own. It...didn't work as intended. The flame it created consumed her, transformed her into the Bed of Chaos, which birthed all the demons you say there. Most of her daughters were also caught in it, which drove them either insane or twisted their bodies (as is the case with Quelaag and her sister). Quelana is the only daughter who managed to escape it unscathed, and she's since been residing in Blightown hoping to one day put her family out of their misery.

As for the ending you got, well the following is just my personal interpretation, but
yeah, in a way you could say you repeated the cycle. The Flame has been reignited and the Age of Fire will last perhaps another thousand years, with you burning alive for that entire time. It's unknown if the process can actually be repeated, though, and it's up in the air if this is really a good thing. The Lord Souls are all spent and the only god left to rule Lordran is Gwyndolin.
 
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