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[Quote]

You know you can aim crossbow bolts and spells without locking on or 1st person aiming right? You don't even need a bow to pre-aim.

How? The center of the screen?

 

[Speevy]

I've played a couple of co-op attempts on Smough/Ornstein, but I have yet to be invaded by anyone.


I want to kill some red bastards. No one is available for invasion either.

 

[Sullichin]

stuck on the last boss, of course

 

[MechaX]

lol one of the bonfire warp locations is the abyss? The fuck would I want to go back there?

Spoiler

If you aligned yourself with Kaathe rather than Frampt, the Abyss warp makes perfect sense, as Kaathe will be there and Frampt will just flat out leave the game until your next cycle.

I saw a video of it although I'm not sure how it works. The guy used the AoE and then proceeded to run through a bunch of enemies and they all just randomly take damage and die.

It's a spell swap glitch. I don't know exactly how it works, but if TWoP lands, it will do continuous damage as long as TWoP would have been in effect.

Pretty cheap in the sense that it does damage beyond what you can reasonably recover from unless you dodge TWoP flat out.

 

[Charmicarmicat]

So I managed to defeat

Spoiler

Four Kings

before

Spoiler

ringing the bells

, just to see what happens.

Spoiler

Kaath just appears as usual, asks you if you want to know the truth, then tells you to go to Anor Londo. Forgot to go back to Frampt after ringing the bells though to see if he has new dialogue. Also, the game is nice enough to let you warp out of the Abyss thank god.

 

[kodt]

Spoiler

I admit, that pretty much sucks for you, the player, but it's probably not all that bad for the world in general.

Personally, I think the hypothetical best ending is

Spoiler

for you to kill Gwyndolin and link the fire. There's nothing to indicate that the Darkwraiths are any bit less awful than they seem on the surface, and whatever the connection is exactly Kaathe is definitely in bed with them. Gwyndolin's implied to be the reason the other gods left Anor Londo, and with him dead they can come back. With Gwyn's Firstborn disgraced and de-deified and Gwyndolin dead the obvious successor is Gwynevere, who is never implied to be anything other than benevolent, beloved, and generally pretty swell. She comes back to Anor Londo, becomes queen of the New Age of Fire, her hubby takes up a purely ceremonial position and makes the occasional embarrassing public remark, everybody lives happily ever after.

Until the fire starts to go out again and some other poor schmuck needs to kindle it again. Which sounds pretty bad until you realize, hey, sequel time!

I don't think so. Humans are cursed with the curse of undeath. They become undead and then are sent to the Undead Asylum to rot away. As long as it remains the age of fire this will keep happening.

Only by bringing about the age of man will you stop the cycle.

 

[Speevy]

Spoiler

I aligned myself with Frampt then unwittingly triggered Kaathe's ending.

 

[Otheradam]

Where do people usually leave summoning signs for 4 kings? Outside of the fog door?

 

[maomaoIYP]

How? The center of the screen?

Where you character faces dictates the left and right angle.
The camera (RS) dictates the up and down angle.

 

[Mortrialus]

Spoiler

I admit, that pretty much sucks for you, the player, but it's probably not all that bad for the world in general.

Personally, I think the hypothetical best ending is

Spoiler

for you to kill Gwyndolin and link the fire. There's nothing to indicate that the Darkwraiths are any bit less awful than they seem on the surface, and whatever the connection is exactly Kaathe is definitely in bed with them. Gwyndolin's implied to be the reason the other gods left Anor Londo, and with him dead they can come back. With Gwyn's Firstborn disgraced and de-deified and Gwyndolin dead the obvious successor is Gwynevere, who is never implied to be anything other than benevolent, beloved, and generally pretty swell. She comes back to Anor Londo, becomes queen of the New Age of Fire, her hubby takes up a purely ceremonial position and makes the occasional embarrassing public remark, everybody lives happily ever after.

Until the fire starts to go out again and some other poor schmuck needs to kindle it again. Which sounds pretty bad until you realize, hey, sequel time!

Spoiler

1. You end the Darkwraiths and their masters regardless of the ending of the game. Plus both Kaathe and Frampt pledge allegiance to you in the Dark Lord ending. They are no longer a threat any way you slice it.

2. In the Dark Lord ending, you literally rule the world. Whether or not this ending is good or evil is literally up to you, the player. The differences between the two endings is one of control. In the Link the Fire ending, you have no say or knowledge of what happens to the world after you kindle the flame.

 

[prodystopian]

Anyone found a good katana for NG+? So far I'm still using Lightning Iaito +5, but I have a feeling it's not going to hit very hard against the bosses in or after Anor Londo...

Maybe I'd settle for a different sword, but I'd prefer to stay on the DEX track (meaning nothing that requires a strength stat above 30) since the patch might fix the scaling and make on of the normal +15 katanas worth using.

 

[Thagomizer]

Fuck you great Hollow, fuck you so much

 

[ixix]

I don't think so. Humans are cursed with the curse of undeath. They become undead and then are sent to the Undead Asylum to rot away. As long as it remains the age of fire this will keep happening.

Only by bringing about the age of man will you stop the cycle.

Spoiler

Kaathe never says anything about the Age of Dark ending the Undead curse. Frampt, faux-Gwynevere, and Anastacia say that linking the fire will end it, Kaathe never says anything about it one way or the other.

I think there's more evidence to suggest that it's the fading of the First Flame that is causing the Undead curse, and that re-kindling it will end it until it begins to fade and someone else has to kindle it again.

I get the impression that in the Age of Dark everybody is undead, and from the evidence the game presents I get the distinct impression that being undead pretty much blows.

Spoiler

1. You end the Darkwraiths and their masters regardless of the ending of the game. Plus both Kaathe and Frampt pledge allegiance to you in the Dark Lord ending. They are no longer a threat any way you slice it.

2. In the Dark Lord ending, you literally rule the world. Whether or not this ending is good or evil is literally up to you, the player. The differences between the two endings is one of control. In the Link the Fire ending, you have no say or knowledge of what happens to the world after you kindle the flame.

Spoiler

Unless letting the fire go out turns everyone undead, and the general sentiment aligns with Anastacia's that being undead is basically a never-ending sort of purgatory. If that's the case you're a ruler, but you're a ruler of a world of depressed zombies with a tendency to go insane.

I don't think the Dark Lord ending is good for anybody other than the player character.

Spoiler

I aligned myself with Frampt then unwittingly triggered Kaathe's ending.

I would like to propose that this course of action be called the

Spoiler

"Et tu, Undead?"

ending.

 

[Alucrid]

Hrrrm, I just got enough strength to use the Black Knight Greatsword. Is that worth it? Any other swords worth using? Also, I assume that the Ring of Favor and Protection is one of the best in the game right?

 

[Mortrialus]

Spoiler

Kaathe never says anything about the Age of Dark ending the Undead curse. Frampt, faux-Gwynevere, and Anastacia say that linking the fire will end it, Kaathe never says anything about it one way or the other.

Spoiler

Frampt and Gwynevere are completely untrustworthy. Anastasia doesn't seem knowledgeable on the subject.

Spoiler

I think there's more evidence to suggest that it's the fading of the First Flame that is causing the Undead curse, and that re-kindling it will end it until it begins to fade and someone else has to kindle it again.

I get the impression that in the Age of Dark everybody is undead, and from the evidence the game presents I get the distinct impression that being undead pretty much blows.

Spoiler

Unless letting the fire go out turns everyone undead, and the general sentiment aligns with Anastacia's that being undead is basically a never-ending sort of purgatory. If that's the case you're a ruler, but you're a ruler of a world of depressed zombies with a tendency to go insane.

I don't think the Dark Lord ending is good for anybody other than the player character.

I would like to propose that this course of action be called the

Spoiler

"Et tu, Undead?"

ending.

Spoiler

There isn't any solid evidence that linking the fire ends the undead curse, either. Dark Lord or Linking, either way it is a complete shot in the dark. There are also a few NPCs that don't seem to mind being undead as well, like Laurentius.

 

[Cloudius12]

I kind of screwed myself out of my Large shield.

Upgraded my Eagle Shield to +10 to be converted into Greatshield of Astoria only to find out that I need 34 STR to use it properly :/

My options are to level up at least 10 times to up my STR and use a alternative shield I currently have in my inventory, which are small shield with lower stability.

on NG+ at level 90+, it will take a bit to level up, not too bad though. I could find the eagle shield in Blighttown again, but I don't feel like going back there.

I also can change it back to a Eagle shield, but then I would just be wasting the boss soul.

 

[AlphaDragoon]

Spoiler

Kaathe never says anything about the Age of Dark ending the Undead curse. Frampt, faux-Gwynevere, and Anastacia say that linking the fire will end it, Kaathe never says anything about it one way or the other.

I think there's more evidence to suggest that it's the fading of the First Flame that is causing the Undead curse, and that re-kindling it will end it until it begins to fade and someone else has to kindle it again.

I get the impression that in the Age of Dark everybody is undead, and from the evidence the game presents I get the distinct impression that being undead pretty much blows.

I got a different impression of it.

Spoiler

It seemed to me that the Fire (or rather, the mixing of Fire and Dark) was actually causing most of the screwed up stuff to happen rather than fixing it. It just makes life good for the gods (who get to keep being immortal and powerful) and nobody else (as linking the Fire doesn't actually stop the curse of the Undead). Look at it like this:

- Linking the First Flame reduced Gwyn to a Hollow, and killed all his knights.
- The Dark Soul is said by Kaathe to actually remove the curse and prevent you from ever going Hollow.
- The Four Kings were all fine and dandy in the Abyss until Gwyn gave them part of the Fire. Then they nutted up.
- The Darksign is actually a ring of Fire.

It seems like Kaathe is correct, in that the Age of Dark (or the Dark Ages, the Age of Man) is the way nature intended for the world to go. But Gwyn fully lives up to his Zeus-esque tendencies by destroying anything and everything that can threaten him and the gods' claim to power. First the Dragons (who I'm pretty damn convinced weren't even really "evil" at this point) and now you.

 

[Dresden]

I kind of screwed myself out of my Large shield.

Upgraded my Eagle Shield to +10 to be converted into Greatshield of Astoria only to find out that I need 34 STR to use it properly :/

My options are to level up at least 10 times to up my STR and use a alternative shield I currently have in my inventory, which are small shield with lower stability.

on NG+ at level 90+, it will take a bit to level up, not too bad though. I could find the eagle shield in Blighttown again, but I don't feel like going back there.

I also can change it back to a Eagle shield, but then I would just be wasting the boss soul.

You could just see if you have a Silver Knight or Hollow Soldier Shield.

 

[Cloudius12]

You could just see if you have a Silver Knight or Hollow Soldier Shield.

I do have them, I believe they do not have as much stability as an eagle shield nor have to ability to keep some enemies attack from bouncing off of it.

I never tried upgrading it however, but my point on deflecting attack stands.

 

[Saren is Bad]

So I'm at Anor Londo. Have a Iaito +5, Lightning Spear, Eagle Shield +5, and my Knight Armor+5'd. Am I in a good position?

 

[Dresden]

I do have them, I believe they do not have as much stability as an eagle shield nor have to ability to keep some enemies attack from bouncing off of it.

I never tried upgrading it however, but my point on deflecting attack stands.

The hollow soldier shield, upgraded, will have one more stability; silver knight shield, one less.

Or you could just go down into Blighttown again.

 

[Cloudius12]

So I'm at Anor Londo. Have a Iaito +5, Lightning Spear, Eagle Shield +5, and my Knight Armor+5'd. Am I in a good position?

You will manage. The lightning spear is too good.

The hollow soldier shield, upgraded, will have one more stability; silver knight shield, one less.

Or you could just go down into Blighttown again.

but but I'm lazy to go back after going through it already. I pretty much rushed the Blighttown in NG+ just to get it over with.

 

[abstract alien]

I feel like I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. Currently fighting that queen flame spider and getting absolutely NOWHERE. I tried to fight the hydra...same thing. I though maybe if I killed the six drakes it would drop something to proceed. Nope. Now I have no idea what to do or where to go.

Do I just level up from this point? Go to Londo?

Fake Edit: Just discovered the catacombs. LOL, no.

 

[JVIDICAN]

So after defeating Gwyndolin you can no longer be invaded in dark anor londo? :|
Da fack?

 

[ixix]

Spoiler

Frampt and Gwynevere are completely untrustworthy. Anastasia doesn't seem knowledgeable on the subject.

Spoiler

They're no less trustworthy than Kaathe, though. We have multiple sources claiming that linking the fire ends the curse, and no sources whatsoever claiming that extinguishing it ends the curse. Kaathe's position is that Gwyn's sacrifice goes against nature, and so you should kill him and become the Dark Lord. He doesn't elaborate much at all beyond that.

For all his "The truth I shall share, without sentiment" posturing he actually says very little of substance.

Spoiler

There isn't any solid evidence that linking the fire ends the undead curse, either. Dark Lord or Linking, either way it is a complete shot in the dark. There are also a few NPCs that don't seem to mind being undead as well, like Laurentius.

Spoiler

But Laurentius goes insane and you have to kill him.

I do agree that the endings are intentionally ambiguous. I just don't understand why the Dark Lord ending is so frequently referred to as the "Good" or, at least, "Better" ending, or why anyone would think that Kaathe was the least bit more trustworthy than Frampt or Gwyndolin.

Spoiler

- Linking the First Flame reduced Gwyn to a Hollow, and killed all his knights.
- The Dark Soul is said by Kaathe to actually remove the curse and prevent you from ever going Hollow.
- The Four Kings were all fine and dandy in the Abyss until Gwyn gave them part of the Fire. Then they nutted up.
- The Darksign is actually a ring of Fire.

Spoiler

- True. What Gwyn did is referred to as having been a sacrifice. I don't think anybody claims that linking the flame is all sunshine and roses for the poor schmuck who's doing it. Gwyn certainly seems to have departed to link it with the full understanding that there was not a chance in hell that he was ever coming back.
- When does Kaathe say this? You can see his whole speech on the subject of why you should kill Gwyn here, and he never mentions the Undead curse.
- The Four Kings are stated to have fallen to the Dark, which led to the decision to seal New Londo to stop them and the Darkwraiths. That's written from the third-person omniscient viewpoint of an item description, and Dark is rendered as a proper noun. The Darkwraiths, in general, are stated to be adherents to the Dark (again, proper noun) and they are pretty much complete and utter douchebags. It's also worth noting that it was Ingward, Yulva, and the third Sealer who sealed New Londo and the Four Kings, and they aren't stated to be agents of Gwyn, Gwyndolin, Frampt, or anyone else with an agenda against Kaathe. They're actually stated to be healers who regret having to destroy the city to stop the Four Kings greatly.
- I think it looks more like an eclipse, personally. The Darksign's incredibly vague in general.

 

[GhostRidah]

any tips for the four kings? had them down to 10 percent but failed

 

[Beats]

So I managed to defeat

Spoiler

Four Kings

before

Spoiler

ringing the bells

, just to see what happens.

Spoiler

Kaath just appears as usual, asks you if you want to know the truth, then tells you to go to Anor Londo. Forgot to go back to Frampt after ringing the bells though to see if he has new dialogue. Also, the game is nice enough to let you warp out of the Abyss thank god.

Thanks for trying that. I was wondering about it before. Does the

Spoiler

crestfallen warrior still go hollow? I would think that Frampt would disappear once you go near him after siding with Kaathe. And if the crestfallen warrior is still alive when you do that he won't go hollow later possibly.

 

[Dresden]

I feel like I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. Currently fighting that queen flame spider and getting absolutely NOWHERE. I tried to fight the hydra...same thing. I though maybe if I killed the six drakes it would drop something to proceed. Nope. Now I have no idea what to do or where to go.

Do I just level up from this point? Go to Londo?

Fake Edit: Just discovered the catacombs. LOL, no.

You need to kill the spider. What's your weapon like? Are you summoning people?

 

[Thagomizer]

I feel like I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. Currently fighting that queen flame spider and getting absolutely NOWHERE. I tried to fight the hydra...same thing. I though maybe if I killed the six drakes it would drop something to proceed. Nope. Now I have no idea what to do or where to go.

Do I just level up from this point? Go to Londo?

Fake Edit: Just discovered the catacombs. LOL, no.

Go human at the bonfire closest to the spider nest. Kill the NPC dark phantom. Summon a human phantom.

Just outside her room, summon the NPC you just killed. Proceed to wreck her shit. I did the above and killed her without taking a single hit.

 

[AlphaDragoon]

Spoiler

When does Kaathe say this? You can see his whole speech on the subject of why you should kill Gwyn here, and he never mentions the Undead curse.

IIRC, it's

Spoiler

when you talk to him after placing the Lordvessel and he gives you the option to join the Darkwraiths. It's also worth noting that Kaathe also sees the Darkwraiths besides yourself, who go out and gank people indiscriminately as "failures", meaning he probably gave them power and they went off and subsequently abused it.

He specifically says:

"If you wish, I shall grant you the power of Lifedrain, the legendary power of the Dark Lord. It can preserve your Humanity while Undead, and cast off the shackles placed upon your brethren (aka the curse)."

 

[Sotha Sil]

Well, a human summoner just gave me a titanite after I helped him defeat a black phantom, and sent me home. Awesome. I had completely forgotten you could drop items for other phantoms to take (it's been a while since Demon's Souls). I'll do that from now on.

 

[Saren is Bad]

So how peeps using the Spear with a shield still up?

 

[AlphaDragoon]

So how peeps using the Spear with a shield still up?

You can use a spear with a shield, just hold the Guard button and then hit the attack button with a spear equipped, if it's anything like Demon's Souls.

 

[toastyToast]

I finally know what the daughter of chaos is saying and why I have to give her humanity

Spoiler

Poor girl is devastated because you killed her sister and thinks you're her spirit or some such when you wear the Old Witch's Ring. She wants the humanity because she believes it'll break the curse on her and possibly Queelag had you not killed her

I'll give you all the humanity you want my spider queen

Spoiler

I'm sorry ;_;

 

[mudkyp]

Okay punishing sinners is pushing this game over the edge from great to amazing Revenge is delightful.

 

[ixix]

IIRC, it's

Spoiler

when you talk to him after placing the Lordvessel and he gives you the option to join the Darkwraiths. It's also worth noting that Kaathe also sees the Darkwraiths besides yourself, who go out and gank people indiscriminately as "failures", meaning he probably gave them the power and they went off and subsequently abused it.

He specifically says:

"If you wish, I shall grant you the power of Lifedrain, the legendary power of the Dark Lord. It can preserve your Humanity while Undead, and cast of the shackles placed upon your brethren (aka the curse).

Spoiler

He's saying that the Dark Hand can preserve your humanity and prevent you from going hollow. And it does so by stealing other people's humanity and making them go hollow.

It ain't a good guy weapon, is what I'm saying.

And man,

Spoiler

if Kaathe is all torn up about how all the people he gives a humanity-stealing magical hand and a grim reaper costume to just end up going around stealing humanity and pretending they're the grim reaper, maybe he should quit handing the damn things out all willy-nilly.

 

[AlphaDragoon]

I finally know what the daughter of chaos is saying and why I have to give her humanity

Spoiler

Poor girl is devastated because you killed her sister and thinks you're her spirit or some such when you wear the Old Witch's Ring. She wants the humanity because she believes it'll break the curse on her and possibly Queelag had you not killed her

I'll give you all the humanity you want my spider queen

Spoiler

I'm sorry ;_;

Yeah, I feel bad for Quelaan. Her douchebag sister, though? No mercy.

As for the storyline,

Spoiler

I see it as a similar situation to Soma in Castlevania. Just because the power is Dark doesn't make the user evil. The user makes the user evil.

As for Gwyn, him and his are all exactly like the Greek gods as opposed to some black and white, good and evil situation...meaning they're self-serving assholes (except for Gwynevere who we never even really get to meet) and they deserve all they get for screwing over the dragons to stay in power then locking your character away for what they hoped to be the end of your days because you had enough power to challenge them. Bring on the Age of Man.

 

[Cloudius12]

any tips for the four kings? had them down to 10 percent but failed

What weapon are you using?

Spoiler

For the most part, this is pretty much a boss you just tank with Iron flesh, 2 handed weapon all day. Take damage? Heal it when it gets low.

If youa re not using this strategy and you got him to 10%, thats is pretty good.

 

[mudkyp]

I finally know what the daughter of chaos is saying and why I have to give her humanity

Spoiler

Poor girl is devastated because you killed her sister and thinks you're her spirit or some such when you wear the Old Witch's Ring. She wants the humanity because she believes it'll break the curse on her and possibly Queelag had you not killed her

I'll give you all the humanity you want my spider queen

Spoiler

I'm sorry ;_;

Not only that but

Spoiler

she's in constant pain from the dead eggs hanging off her body

. Dark Souls is a very depressing world when you think about it

 

[Thagomizer]

Not only that but

Spoiler

she's in constant pain from the dead eggs hanging off her body

. Dark Souls is a very depressing world when you think about it

Her and Eingyi have some fantastic voice acting, probably the best in the game. They sell those parts perfectly.

 

[abstract alien]

You need to kill the spider. What's your weapon like? Are you summoning people?

I don't have any good weapons because I didn't realize what I was really doing until about 25 hours into the game...then I accidentally killed the blacksmith while attempting to buy a smithing box lol. I found another one in

Spoiler

Londo

, but I can't get him to ascend anything. All I have is a damn ghost dagger, which is pretty decent on regular enemies, but does shit against this beast.

Go human at the bonfire closest to the spider nest. Kill the NPC dark phantom. Summon a human phantom.

Just outside her room, summon the NPC you just killed. Proceed to wreck her shit. I did the above and killed her without taking a single hit.

I tried that, and the aggro he pulled was pretty good, but since I get killed in two hits, I keep dying :^/

Wait, summon two people? Didn't know you could do that...

 

[Neutrality]

So should a +5 Lighting Iaito mess people up?
Or have I just wasted a lot of souls...

 

[Dresden]

I don't have any good weapons because I didn't realize what I was really doing until about 25 hours into the game...then I accidentally killed the blacksmith while attempting to buy a smithing box lol. I found another one in

Spoiler

Londo

, but I can't get him to ascend anything. All I have is a damn ghost dagger, which is pretty decent on regular enemies, but does shit against this beast.


I tried that, and the aggro he pulled was pretty good, but since I get killed in two hits, I keep dying :^/

Wait, summon two people? Didn't know you could do that...

He's the most important blacksmith in the game, you might want to consider starting over.

Good news is that with your knowledge of how the early game goes it'll take you only a few hours to get back on track.

 

[AlphaDragoon]

So should a +5 Lighting Iaito mess people up?
Or have I just wasted a lot of souls...

Lightning Iaito +5 will wreck shop. It's the weapon I use, outdoes my Iaito +15 in most situations and I have 42 DEX.

They really need to launch that patch to fix scaling, speaking of which.

 

[Neutrality]

Lightning Iaito +5 will wreck shop. It's the weapon I use, outdoes my Iaito +15 in most situations and I have 42 DEX.

They really need to launch that patch to fix scaling, speaking of which.

Alright good.
I really need to get my Souvenirs of Reprisal, but can't seem to take anyone.
:/

 

[toastyToast]

So should a +5 Lighting Iaito mess people up?
Or have I just wasted a lot of souls...

It's my weapon of choice. I have a +10 Fire Partizan as backup for lightning resistant enemies (or if I feel like poking stuff)

It's ridiculously powerful and if you equip the hornet ring (boost crit damage) the backstab damage is insane. Like, 750+ insane

 

[MomoPufflet]

Is Tranquil Walk bugged somehow or just considered really cheap for what it does?

 

[abstract alien]

He's the most important blacksmith in the game, you might want to consider starting over.

Good news is that with your knowledge of how the early game goes it'll take you only a few hours to get back on track.

The blacksmith

Spoiler

in the stairway connecting the church and garden

? Oh damn...I really messed up :^/

 

[AlphaDragoon]

Is Tranquil Walk bugged somehow or just considered really cheap for what it does?

It's just cheesy as fuck. And getting adjusted (aka nerfed) in the next patch.

 

[maomaoIYP]

Okay punishing sinners is pushing this game over the edge from great to amazing Revenge is delightful.

I get a lot of hate messages for punishing sinners though.

Also for some reason, sinners like to stay in human form and go AFK. I met two of those last night back to back. Just standing at the bonfire not doing anything. I punished them for their sins appropriately.