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[Akuun]

I've done the archers legit the first couple times, but now i just use poison arrows and make myself a cup of coffee.

I did that the first time through, but these days I just run up, roll under the arrow and then parry.

There's something DEEPLY satisfying about taking on something that used to give you so much trouble and showing how much you've learned by going NO SON *parry* *2h riposte*.

 

[Deified Data]

Fuck The Catacombs. Where are all the bonfires?

The second one's

Spoiler

hidden behind an illusory wall

.

 

[The_Hitcher89]

The second one's

Spoiler

hidden behind an illusory wall

.

Found it, its pointless though. It takes about 20 seconds to get from the first to the second

Need to get to the warpable bonfire in ToG, so I can come back when I have some items that let me see where I'm going. The first giant skeleton killed me because I couldn't see where I was running when I was trying to get behind it

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Most frustrating part of the entire game for me......getting all the way through the bridge / walkway in anor londo with the archers trying to pelt you. I always end up getting shot from behind and knocked off the ledge while I'm trying to take care of the knight on the right. Both of my characters so far have been light armor / low poise, so it's probably a lot easier with heavier gear on.

Heavy armour and high poise won't help, I'm afraid, you still get knocked back by those "arrows".

That part is always stressful to me, but these days I just run up to the knight on the right (have to roll through one arrow usually, blocking can work but you need to be facing the arrow perfectly straight, if you're "hugging" the wall you'll fall, lol) and parry his ass. When you're close to him the left knight's arrow won't reach you, and the right one usually switches to his sword.

Sometimes though the AI just isn't cooperating and he's not switching to his damn sword. xD In those times you have to melee him normally and avoid his point-blank arrows, though I find one Great Combustion, if you have it, usually take care of him quickly enough.

Found it, its pointless though. It takes about 20 seconds to get from the first to the second

Oh it's not pointless. The first bonfire in the Tomb of the Giants is still past quite a few obstacles that can kill you really fast, so if that happens you restart there instead of at the very beginning of the Catacombs.

Need to get to the warpable bonfire in ToG, so I can come back when I have some items that let me see where I'm going. The first giant skeleton killed me because I couldn't see where I was running when I was trying to get behind it

Yup, you need a source of light. There are 3 possible ones.

Spoiler

One is the skull lantern item. Necromancers in the Catacombs sometimes drop one. If you weren't lucky, you can still get one, but it's somewhere inside the Tomb, though fairly early on. You have to use it instead of a shield so it's not the most practical. Another is the Light spell, if you have at least 15 INT. Temporary light but it lasts for a good while. And the other is a helmet piece you find in Lost Izalith that illuminates your area. Extremely useful as it's permanent and doesn't waste your left-hand item slot.

 

[The_Hitcher89]

Yup, you need a source of light. There are 3 possible ones.

Spoiler

One is the skull lantern item. Necromancers in the Catacombs sometimes drop one. If you weren't lucky, you can still get one, but it's somewhere inside the Tomb, though fairly early on. You have to use it instead of a shield so it's not the most practical. Another is the Light spell, if you have at least 15 INT. Temporary light but it lasts for a good while. And the other is a helmet piece you find in Lost Izalith that illuminates your area. Extremely useful as it's permanent and doesn't waste your left-hand item slot.

Off to Lost Izalith I go then

Shame I'll have to go all the way through the Catacombs when I com back though

 

[Red Liquorice]

Sometimes though the AI just isn't cooperating and he's not switching to his damn sword. xD

This peeves me too. When you're going towards him and see he's not switching weapons and continues firing arrows point blank! Like you say Great Combustion etc do the trick, but still!

Off to Lost Izalith I go then

Shame I'll have to go all the way through the Catacombs when I com back though

If you make it to the first bonfire and

Spoiler

Patches

, the free Skull Lantern is

Spoiler

in the pit with Rhea.

 

[Seanspeed]

Getting through the Catacombs isn't so bad on a 2nd run so long as you killed all those guys that reanimated the skeletons.

 

[The_Hitcher89]

Getting through the Catacombs isn't so bad on a 2nd run so long as you killed all those guys that reanimated the skeletons.

I'm using Astora's Straight Sword anyway for the skeletons

So I have to figure out how to get to the Warpable bonfire from the Catacombs without beig able to see 3ft in front of me. Fun times ahead

 

[sixghost]

I'm using Astora's Straight Sword anyway for the skeletons

So I have to figure out how to get to the Warpable bonfire from the Catacombs without beig able to see 3ft in front of me. Fun times ahead

Do you have prism stones? That's just about the only way you'll get through that area without the other lighting methods.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

In my experience, they don't help at all in this place. They're super-useful to reach the

Spoiler

blue slab beyond the invisible platform/labyrinth

in the Crystal Cave, though.

 

[sixghost]

In my experience, they don't help at all in this place. They're super-useful to reach the

Spoiler

blue slab beyond the invisible platform/labyrinth

in the Crystal Cave, though.

It's still a pain, but you can do it. Just use them sparingly to mark safe areas every 20 or so feet. Drop two in one spot to mark a ramp. It's certainly better than nothing.

 

[Sorral]

Heavy armour and high poise won't help, I'm afraid, you still get knocked back by those "arrows".

That part is always stressful to me, but these days I just run up to the knight on the right (have to roll through one arrow usually, blocking can work but you need to be facing the arrow perfectly straight, if you're "hugging" the wall you'll fall, lol) and parry his ass. When you're close to him the left knight's arrow won't reach you, and the right one usually switches to his sword.

Sometimes though the AI just isn't cooperating and he's not switching to his damn sword. xD In those times you have to melee him normally and avoid his point-blank arrows, though I find one Great Combustion, if you have it, usually take care of him quickly enough.

It is possible to poison-kill the archers even if they do not take damage from your arrows due to the distance.
If you are on NG+, you can throw them off the edge by using the dragonslayer bow/arrow they are using or Hawkeye's bow.

I personally did the second one in my second play-through.

Video for the poison tactic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSVN3bwQp8w#t=20m26s

 

[Onion_Relish]

I'm using Astora's Straight Sword anyway for the skeletons

So I have to figure out how to get to the Warpable bonfire from the Catacombs without beig able to see 3ft in front of me. Fun times ahead

If you kill a bunch of the necromancers they will drop the skull lantern. Use it in your offhand and you can see everything.

The nice thing about the skull lantern is that it gives you enough light to see enemies but you're still far enough to not trigger their agro radius. So you can see the skeleton dogs or warriors. assess the situation and go from there. Setting a mental map and remembering the area helps because you will invariably pull out a shield and you better remember not to roll off a cliff or into another enemy.

 

[ArynCrinn]

If you kill a bunch of the necromancers they will drop the skull lantern. Use it in your offhand and you can see everything.

The nice thing about the skull lantern is that it gives you enough light to see enemies but you're still far enough to not trigger their agro radius. So you can see the skeleton dogs or warriors. assess the situation and go from there. Setting a mental map and remembering the area helps because you will invariably pull out a shield and you better remember not to roll off a cliff or into another enemy.

Best thing about the Skull Lantern is it gives you a Ring of Fog. Otherwise I'd just recommend getting the Sunlight Maggot or doing ToTG old-school. I like to two-hand at base SL and the Skull Lantern just gets in my way, Ring of Fog however can replicate the DeS Thief Ring in many ways.

 

[Boogdud]

Thanks so much for the advice guys, downed the 4 kings easily once I had on Havel's stuff. I guess I was gimping myself with the elite knight+4 'ish gear I've been wearing. I can't help it, it looks so dang cool.

That's one area I still suck at. I don't know what kind of armor I should be wearing. I'm SL50 with I think around 25 vit, 30 end and 28 str (just a guess, not looking at it atm) but I typically go with what looks good and lets me roll well enough to evade. I haven't really updated much armor, just a few pieces of the elite set and I have a +10 zwei and a +5 lightning man serpent greatsword that I use on occasions (mostly zwei).

Any advice from purely pve perspective for armor?

 

[AnonymousTipster]

Thanks so much for the advice guys, downed the 4 kings easily once I had on Havel's stuff. I guess I was gimping myself with the elite knight+4 'ish gear I've been wearing. I can't help it, it looks so dang cool.

That's one area I still suck at. I don't know what kind of armor I should be wearing. I'm SL50 with I think around 25 vit, 30 end and 28 str (just a guess, not looking at it atm) but I typically go with what looks good and lets me roll well enough to evade. I haven't really updated much armor, just a few pieces of the elite set and I have a +10 zwei and a +5 lightning man serpent greatsword that I use on occasions (mostly zwei).

Any advice from purely pve perspective for armor?

If you upgraded the Elite Knight set to +9 you'd be in great shape. In terms of armor I try to go for a good weight to defense ratio that also looks cool. I tend to mix and match pieces from different sets as well, in order to stay under 50% encumberance. And depending on the situation you may want to put on armor that has particularly high curse or magic or whatever resistance.

Sets like Havel's and Smough's have great numbers but can't be upgraded. Also they're heavy as hell and slow down stamina regen.

 

[Huevos de Oro]

I started playing this game a few days ago. Playing with a knight and doing melee fights because when I played Demon's Souls I always overused Soul Arrow and also magic, so I never got to play melee.

So far I'm a few hours in, in the Garden. SL 22 I think and I've focused on leveling up STR (still at 22 or so), VIT and END. I'm using the drake sword, elite knight set (which I upgraded to +4 and +3 since I ran out of titanite and just found the wolf ring. I've been assing around the garden, mostly. Getting used to pick up fights with giants.

 

[AnonymousTipster]

I started playing this game a few days ago. Playing with a knight and doing melee fights because when I played Demon's Souls I always overused Soul Arrow and also magic, so I never got to play melee.

So far I'm a few hours in, in the Garden. SL 22 I think and I've focused on leveling up STR (still at 22 or so), VIT and END. I'm using the drake sword, elite knight set (which I upgraded to +4 and +3 since I ran out of titanite and just found the wolf ring. I've been assing around the garden, mostly. Getting used to pick up fights with giants.

I'd recommend looking for (and upgrading a few times) a weapon with good strength scaling. Your strength is high enough now that you should easily be able to top the damage output from the Drake Sword, which doesn't scale.

 

[Huevos de Oro]

I'd recommend looking for (and upgrading a few times) a weapon with good strength scaling. Your strength is high enough now that you should easily be able to top the damage output from the Drake Sword, which doesn't scale.

Any particular recommendation? I have a halberd and a myriad of shitty swords.

 

[ebullientprism]

SON OF A BITCH!

The first non INT build I am making in since forever and the Channeler in the Depths drops the Trident. In like the 2nd hour of the game. I mean, come on!

:/

 

[Booshka]

Thanks so much for the advice guys, downed the 4 kings easily once I had on Havel's stuff. I guess I was gimping myself with the elite knight+4 'ish gear I've been wearing. I can't help it, it looks so dang cool.

That's one area I still suck at. I don't know what kind of armor I should be wearing. I'm SL50 with I think around 25 vit, 30 end and 28 str (just a guess, not looking at it atm) but I typically go with what looks good and lets me roll well enough to evade. I haven't really updated much armor, just a few pieces of the elite set and I have a +10 zwei and a +5 lightning man serpent greatsword that I use on occasions (mostly zwei).

Any advice from purely pve perspective for armor?

There is a Very Large Ember in the New Londo Ruins, if you haven't picked it up, go get it, then give it to Andre, the Blacksmith in the Undead Parish. Then upgrade that Zwei to +14 or +15 if you have another slab (too bad you wasted a Slab on that Lightning Man Serpent Greatsword), then you will be wrecking everything.

As for armor, I like to mix up light and medium weight gear, light armor offers much better elemental defense than most medium armors, and then you can use the medium armor to get more physical defense and poise. You can also do this with light armor and heavy armor, if you have enough Endurance.

I find that wearing light armor coats/robes then using medium to heavy leggings and gauntlets usually works out perfectly for looks, poise and defense. Elite Knight will do you fine if you keep upgrading it, and it looks cool, but mixing armor is usually the best for results and unique looks.

 

[Deified Data]

Found it, its pointless though. It takes about 20 seconds to get from the first to the second

Need to get to the warpable bonfire in ToG, so I can come back when I have some items that let me see where I'm going. The first giant skeleton killed me because I couldn't see where I was running when I was trying to get behind it

I suggest rushing the Tomb of the Giants bonfire. You only have to fight one giant skeleton. Just rush down the first two ramps until you see Patches ahead of you. The bonfire is behind you. It'll be handy to have that warp point in the future even if you don't feel like doing it now.

Thanks so much for the advice guys, downed the 4 kings easily once I had on Havel's stuff. I guess I was gimping myself with the elite knight+4 'ish gear I've been wearing. I can't help it, it looks so dang cool.

That's one area I still suck at. I don't know what kind of armor I should be wearing. I'm SL50 with I think around 25 vit, 30 end and 28 str (just a guess, not looking at it atm) but I typically go with what looks good and lets me roll well enough to evade. I haven't really updated much armor, just a few pieces of the elite set and I have a +10 zwei and a +5 lightning man serpent greatsword that I use on occasions (mostly zwei).

Any advice from purely pve perspective for armor?

Honestly it's just a conflict between poise and mobility, so just equip what you need for any given challenge. As far as PVP goes everyone is either wearing something light or Havel's. I've gotten my ass kicked by a naked dude with a dagger. Armor isn't hugely important so long as your mobility/poise demands are being met.

 

[AuthenticM]

I'm having a hard time with Four Kings in my NG+. I'm a melee character with a soul level of 133. I have 50 VIT, 40 END, and the rest pretty much in Strength. I have a maxed-out man-serpent sword with a +9 Elite Knight Set and a +5 Crest Shield. I'm pretty sure I am well equipped; they are just so much more powerful than the other bosses. Any tips ?

 

[sixghost]

I'm having a hard time with Four Kings in my NG+. I'm a melee character with a soul level of 133. I have 50 VIT, 40 END, and the rest pretty much in Strength. I have a maxed-out man-serpent sword with a +9 Elite Knight Set and a +5 Crest Shield. I'm pretty sure I am well equipped; they are just so much more powerful than the other bosses. Any tips ?

Are you using any sort of weapon buff or green blossom?

 

[AuthenticM]

Are you using any sort of weapon buff or green blossom?

Both. Fire buff for my sword.

 

[Booshka]

Both. Fire buff for my sword.

Use Power Within, it makes NG+ bosses a lot easier, especially 4 Kings because it is a DPS race. The health loss isn't a big problem, and you get an extra 200 damage every hit, so it makes it much easier. Just make sure you dont grass, because Power Within is a stamina buff too, so if you use a grass, it wont let you cast Power Within until the grass wears off.

 

[Seance]

Do many of you guys mod your game? I think i just found my favourite ever mod:

http://darksouls.nexusmods.com/mods/194

 

[AnonymousTipster]

I'm having a hard time with Four Kings in my NG+. I'm a melee character with a soul level of 133. I have 50 VIT, 40 END, and the rest pretty much in Strength. I have a maxed-out man-serpent sword with a +9 Elite Knight Set and a +5 Crest Shield. I'm pretty sure I am well equipped; they are just so much more powerful than the other bosses. Any tips ?

The 4 Kings get a very problematic damage boost on NG+.

In terms of damage output you are well equipped, but I would recommend stacking armor that has high magic resistance. To that end Havel's is a boon; it has bonkers poise, high physical defense and high magic resistance.

 

[sixghost]

I've got a PvP question for some of the guys here that are into that. What roll speed should I be aiming for with a zweihander build? All of the builds I can find were pre-DWGR nerf and were based on getting the fast roll speed at 50% with that ring. Is it a good idea to use the wolf ring to make up the poise I'm missing out on from not being able to use the giant's armor?

 

[Seance]

I've got a PvP question for some of the guys here that are into that. What roll speed should I be aiming for with a zweihander build? All of the builds I can find were pre-DWGR nerf and were based on getting the fast roll speed at 50% with that ring. Is it a good idea to use the wolf ring to make up the poise I'm missing out on from not being able to use the giant's armor?

SHIXTY-SHIX ENDURANCE

 

[Sullichin]

I've got a PvP question for some of the guys here that are into that. What roll speed should I be aiming for with a zweihander build? All of the builds I can find were pre-DWGR nerf and were based on getting the fast roll speed at 50% with that ring. Is it a good idea to use the wolf ring to make up the poise I'm missing out on from not being able to use the giant's armor?

yeah, fast roll with wolf ring for poise is very popular now. Something like this:
http://mmdks.com/14vb

 

[Arjen]

Made a new character last night to focus completly on dodging and not using a shield.
I used artorias greatshield for the most part before, and blocked my way trough everything, so i was a bit worried. But 3 hours later i was at the top of sens, got Capra on my first try just dodging, suprised myself with that.
Did tons of co-op as well, whole undead burg until Gargoyles basicly, really awesome stuff.
This game just doesn't get boring.

 

[ArynCrinn]

Do many of you guys mod your game? I think i just found my favourite ever mod:

http://darksouls.nexusmods.com/mods/194

I'm using the lastest SweetFX preset from the Nexus. Color saturation and texture pop looks 10x better!

 

[The_Hitcher89]

The Elite Knight Armour is the best designed armour in any game ever.

Also killed my first invader yesterday when I forgot I was unhollowed. He bowed to me before we started but I couldn't reciprocate as I had 2 skeletons coming at me, then we had a duel, but my Quelaag's Fury+4 got the better of him just about. I think his endurance must have been pretty low, or he was using a poor shield for physical+fire defense as I was doing quite a lot of damage even though he was blocking

 

[chunk3rvd]

Do many of you guys mod your game? I think i just found my favourite ever mod:

http://darksouls.nexusmods.com/mods/194

Clearly the greatest Dark Souls mod: The Kramer

 

[PetriP-TNT]

Clearly the greatest Dark Souls mod: The Kramer

Lmao, hopefully that comes as DLC on the PS3 version.

 

[Seanspeed]

If you kill a bunch of the necromancers they will drop the skull lantern. Use it in your offhand and you can see everything.

Necromancers dont respawn, so if you dont get one from killing them, you wont ever get one until going into Tomb of Giants.

Any particular recommendation? I have a halberd and a myriad of shitty swords.

Halberd is a beast. It was probably my most used weapon my first playthrough. I was also a knight playing melee-only.

 

[Arjen]

Necromancers dont respawn, so if you dont get one from killing them, you wont ever get one until going into Tomb of Giants.

If i remember correctly, if they don't drop one, the last Necromancer you kill has a guaranteed drop. So if you kill them all, you will have a skull lantern.

 

[Seanspeed]

If i remember correctly, if they don't drop one, the last Necromancer you kill has a guaranteed drop. So if you kill them all, you will have a skull lantern.

Oh ok. Thats pretty nice of the game!

Also, when you're in Tomb of the Giants, is that Lost Izalith/Demon Ruins down below? Can you see ToG when you're down there at some point? I've looked a bit but didn't notice anything.

 

[The_Hitcher89]

If i remember correctly, if they don't drop one, the last Necromancer you kill has a guaranteed drop. So if you kill them all, you will have a skull lantern.

Hmm. Looks like I have some exploring to do then, missed a couple of the pitfalls leading to items. Fairly sure I killed all the necromancers I met so far. Could kill the skeletons with normal weapons, and the ones that reassemble themselves will be near a surviving necromancer, right?

What happens if you just turn the brightness up in the ToG?

 

[Red Liquorice]

Also, when you're in Tomb of the Giants, is that Lost Izalith/Demon Ruins down below? Can you see ToG when you're down there at some point? I've looked a bit but didn't notice anything.

I think it is the Demon Ruins you look out on. I've tried looking around when in the Demon Ruins but can't make out where TotG is supposed to be.

Related: Never noticed this until yesterday, but the Centipede Demon room can be seen from the Demon Ruins above. I was dealing with the Taurus Demons along the path to the large Flame Ember and noticed below the part of the wall directly across from the fog door that looks like a stone doorway but isn't (any else totally miss the path to the first Izalith bonfire on first playthrough and thought you had to go through that archway -- "Why isn't it opening! I killed the Centipede Demon!" - I think I missed it because of the retina-searing lava)

 

[AnonymousTipster]

Hmm. Looks like I have some exploring to do then, missed a couple of the pitfalls leading to items. Fairly sure I killed all the necromancers I met so far. Could kill the skeletons with normal weapons, and the ones that reassemble themselves will be near a surviving necromancer, right?

What happens if you just turn the brightness up in the ToG?

There are at least two necromancers that are in slightly hard to find/out of the way areas. And yeah, the best way to look for them would be to go through the 'combs with a normal weapon.

I haven't tried it, but I don't think jacking up the brightness would fix much. You can buy Cast Light from Dusk, it only requires 16 INT if I remember right.

 

[Arjen]

Hmm. Looks like I have some exploring to do then, missed a couple of the pitfalls leading to items. Fairly sure I killed all the necromancers I met so far. Could kill the skeletons with normal weapons, and the ones that reassemble themselves will be near a surviving necromancer, right?

What happens if you just turn the brightness up in the ToG?

There's one pretty well hidden,

Spoiler

If you go over the bridge from the second bonfire, go down the stairs. There's an illiosionay wall, go trough that, there's a ring on the end in a tomb, if you go right trough the broken wall there you will find him.
The one at the end where the wheelskeletons are is also easy to miss.

 

[The_Hitcher89]

There are at least two necromancers that are in slightly hard to find/out of the way areas. And yeah, the best way to look for them would be to go through the 'combs with a normal weapon.

I haven't tried it, but I don't think jacking up the brightness would fix much. You can buy Cast Light from Dusk, it only requires 16 INT if I remember right.

You're giving me these Tips, but I don't know who you are



Cheers, don't have a clue who Dusk is though

edit: Thanks Arjen

I've probably lost more souls in the Catacombs and Tomb of Giants than any other area through impatience

 

[Soulhouf]

Also, when you're in Tomb of the Giants, is that Lost Izalith/Demon Ruins down below? Can you see ToG when you're down there at some point? I've looked a bit but didn't notice anything.

I remember dying in Lost Izalith in one of the 1st versions of the game and I saw my bloodstain from TotG.
That was mind blowing.

 

[GoddyofAus]

I'm really getting a move on now. I'm level 26 with the Black Knight Greatsword. Just killed the Gargoyles and now I'm on my way to the Garden to get the Elite Knight Armor and Havels ring.

Found an awesome way to grind souls at the Undead Parish Bridge with the Drake. Piss the Drake off, run back to where the stairs are, run to the top to cause the Drake to flame up the bridge, run back down the stairs to safety quickly, fire kills the undead on hte bridge, bam easy 555 souls. Run to the bonfire to reset the undead, rince and repeat.

 

[The_Hitcher89]

I'm really getting a move on now. I'm level 26 with the Black Knight Greatsword. Just killed the Gargoyles and now I'm on my way to the Garden to get the Elite Knight Armor and Havels ring.

Found an awesome way to grind souls at the Undead Parish Bridge with the Drake. Piss the Drake off, run back to where the stairs are, run to the top to cause the Drake to flame up the bridge, run back down the stairs to safety quickly, fire kills the undead on hte bridge, bam easy 555 souls. Run to the bonfire to reset the undead, rince and repeat.

I must have done that about 75 times. It blows my mind how paltry 555 souls are later in the game, and how happy I used to be to bet that many

 

[6for8]

Cheers, don't have a clue who Dusk is though

Take a trip to the Darkroot Basin and kill everything you see, then quit and reload your character and explore the lake.
A lightning weapon and the Rusted Iron ring can help in this area.
When you have your spells, explore the lake again for an “Amazing Item(s)”.

 

[The_Hitcher89]

Take a trip to the Darkroot Basin and kill everything you see, then quit and reload your character and explore the lake.
A lightning weapon and the Rusted Iron ring can help in this area.
When you have your spells, explore the lake again for an “Amazing Item(s)”.

Ah, yeah I have her available.

Think the guy who drops the Skull Lantern may have fallen down a hole, and the item disappeared when I died or something. Scoured the entire level, nothing

edit: Damn, think I missed one off the room with the Darkmoon Seance Ring. Already left the catacombs

 

[sixghost]

I'm really getting a move on now. I'm level 26 with the Black Knight Greatsword. Just killed the Gargoyles and now I'm on my way to the Garden to get the Elite Knight Armor and Havels ring.

Found an awesome way to grind souls at the Undead Parish Bridge with the Drake. Piss the Drake off, run back to where the stairs are, run to the top to cause the Drake to flame up the bridge, run back down the stairs to safety quickly, fire kills the undead on hte bridge, bam easy 555 souls. Run to the bonfire to reset the undead, rince and repeat.

I love how every single person who plays this game discovers that exact same griding trick.

The BKGS is an amazing drop if you get it near the drake. You could easily use nothing but that sword the entire game.