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[Yoshichan]

I edited my old post too late, I think!

Is it still worth buying the crest for 20k souls to power soul.level abit or did they patch that "trick" out?

 

[Hugstable]

I edited my old post too late, I think!

Is it still worth buying the crest for 20k souls to power soul.level abit or did they patch that "trick" out?

Is the Crest actually useful beyond that one door in the Garden area? I never bought it, don't know if I actually need it or not for the DLC. I keep thinking yeah since the DLC is named after who the Crest is named after Artorias. Should I buy, or just save my souls?

 

[Ruuppa]

I edited my old post too late, I think!

Is it still worth buying the crest for 20k souls to power soul.level abit or did they patch that "trick" out?

The one where you wave your butt at the Forest Guardians as they jump over you from the stairs and give you free souls? Unpatchable.

I think it's a good idea to open that place as soon as possible. Easy farming, relatively good loot, a boss and a covenant (and an extra merchant as a bonus from joining). 20k is pretty cheap for that.

Is the Crest actually useful beyond that one door in the Garden area? I never bought it, don't know if I actually need it or not for the DLC. I keep thinking yeah since the DLC is named after who the Crest is named after Artorias. Should I buy, or just save my souls?

It opens a really good shortcut to the Darkroot Forest, and you can open it really early to access that place. It's more of a convenience than anything else, but a really good one.

 

[Mistel]

I edited my old post too late, I think!

Is it still worth buying the crest for 20k souls to power soul.level abit or did they patch that "trick" out?

No you can still power level yourself there if you want to. So buy it if you want to.

 

[Red Liquorice]

The crest pays for itself in the first run of murdering all the forest defenders.

 

[v1perz53]

Another question. So I went ahead and demolished the Asylum beast, but one thing I was wondering about my Uchigatana... if I did a three hit combo, the last hit would do MASSIVE fucking damage. I'm talking like, the first two hits deal 90 damage and the last one would do like 300. What's up with that?

Edit: also, is it still worth buying the crest for 20k souls to power soul.level abit or did they patch that "trick" out?

Yea, assuming you are talking about killing all the phantoms through the door. I think you still get about 7000 souls for a full run through killing them all.

And yea, bleed as said before. Basically think about it like poison on your own character, every hit to an enemy increases their bleed bar. The bar diminishes over time, but if it fills up it does 30% of their HP in damage. So if you were to hit the enemy 2 times and then wait a while, you might need 2 more hits to fill the bleed bar because it decayed a bit. Also, enemies have varying bleed resist, so some guys it will take 6-7 hits to make them bleed, and most normal enemies will die well before you ever get the bleed bar to full.

 

[Hugstable]

The one where you wave your butt at the Forest Guardians as they jump over you from the stairs and give you free souls? Unpatchable.

I think it's a good idea to open that place as soon as possible. Easy farming, relatively good loot, a boss and a covenant (and an extra merchant as a bonus from joining). 20k is pretty cheap for that.



It opens a really good shortcut to the Darkroot Forest, and you can open it really early to access that place. It's more of a convenience than anything else, but a really good one.

Ahh alright I don't need to get it then, already way past that part of the game and already saw the other side of the door anyway, good to know that there isn't more doors like that so now I can save those souls to level up some more.

 

[Orochinagis]

or you can kill the hdyra and use the ladders there...

 

[KittenMaster]

20k eventually becomes easy money, so it's mostly a matter of if you want to spend the souls in early game or not.

 

[entremet]

Been playing marathons session and I'm taking a break for a bit. Game is totally exhausting. I forgot about that and Souls games. You can never "relax" lol.

 

[ObbyDent]

So I just installed the Aggression mode... holy fuck! With the aggression mode, NG+7, and perma-gravelord black phantoms, this is like an entirely new experience. Now this is where the true Dark Souls begins.

For those that don't know, the aggression mode is a mode that makes the enemies of the game pursue you far, far sooner than normal. For example, the Mimic from Oolacile Township started coming towards me as soon as I got off the bonfire.

 

[Orochinagis]

So I just installed the Aggression mode... holy fuck! With the aggression mode, NG+7, and perma-gravelord black phantoms, this is like an entirely new experience. Now this is where the true Dark Souls begins.

For those that don't know, the aggression mode is a mode that makes the enemies of the game pursue you far, far sooner than normal. For example, the Mimic from Oolacile Township started coming towards me as soon as I got off the bonfire.

For random note I never been gravelorded in my runs but saw the gravelord have been defeated notification once.

 

[Hyunkel6]

Omg, I just finished the game!! 39-40 hours. What a journey.

The game really teaches you patience and to keep your cool. I can't count the number of times I got greedy for "only one more hit for the finishing blow!" only to be mercilessly curb stomped to death, or when I rush through a room out of anger only to be cut to pieces.

Took me 2 years to get back into the game (Thank you 8-4 Play, for rekindling my interest in the game), but it was well worth it. I'm pretty sure it's the hardest game I have played and beaten over the last years.

My only regrets are that I used the BKGW (lucky drop) for 90% of the game and that I relied a lot on the wiki and GAF, especially for bonfires' locations and some bosses.

Taking a break of the series for a few days, but I intend to start a DS2 playthrough in a week or two, with minimal help from the community.

See you guys in the DS2 thread!

 

[Ruuppa]

For random note I never been gravelorded in my runs but saw the gravelord have been defeated notification once.

Was this on NG? I don't think you can get properly gravelorded until you hit NG+.

 

[Mistel]

Was this on NG? I don't think you can get properly gravelorded until you hit NG+.

The gravelord themself often gets killed before the phantoms show up.

 

[Donos]

For random note I never been gravelorded in my runs but saw the gravelord have been defeated notification once.

I see the notification now once every day when i play but only one time in Anor Londo, i had to actually fight a Black Phantom (Silver Knights). They get seriously buffed.

 

[Yoshichan]

Ah, The Great Hollow! Glad I got reminded why I always thought Dark Souls 1 is a big, massive shit - on par with astronomically huge turds like shovelware on the Wii.

I honestly have no idea why someone, with an average or higher mind-set of pleasure in life would appreciate this game and hate on an next-to-flawless-experience-in-comparison-to-this-turd, Dark Souls 2. Let alone people saying this is better than Demon's Souls.

When I say this game drops in quality faster than Fahrenheit drops in quality, I'm not over-exaggerating. I'm actually being nice to it. At least once Fahrenheit started getting shitty, it remained the same mechanics and proportions. Dark Souls (1) however? Oh, let's add shittier environmental hitboxes than some C-team platformer from the PS1-days. And let's also make sure that mechanics like curse exists (which is fine by itself) but the fact that it's RNG based on what kind of attack your opponent is doing is making this even more random than a roulette wheel. But everyone loooooves roulette wheels, right? Unlike Dark Souls, a wheel rewards you with something after a turn or two. Chocolate, candy, a teddy bear, etc. This game however? It rewards me with a throat that itches to the point where I feel like ripping it off out of frustration.

I have zero trust in Miyazaki and while Bloodborne is looking fantastic in its current state, I'm not gonna expect much because in the end - this is the same incompetent guy who made this horrible, horrible "experience" (if you can even call it that).

 

[Screaming Meat]

Ah, The Great Hollow! Glad I got reminded why I always thought Dark Souls 1 is a big, massive shit - on par with astronomically huge turds like shovelware on the Wii.

I honestly have no idea why someone, with an average or higher mind-set of pleasure in life would appreciate this game and hate on an next-to-flawless-experience-in-comparison-to-this-turd, Dark Souls 2. Let alone people saying this is better than Demon's Souls.

When I say this game drops in quality faster than Fahrenheit drops in quality, I'm not over-exaggerating. I'm actually being nice to it. At least once Fahrenheit started getting shitty, it remained the same mechanics and proportions. Dark Souls (1) however? Oh, let's add shittier environmental hitboxes than some C-team platformer from the PS1-days. And let's also make sure that mechanics like curse exists (which is fine by itself) but the fact that it's RNG based on what kind of attack your opponent is doing is making this even more random than a roulette wheel. But everyone loooooves roulette wheels, right? Unlike Dark Souls, a wheel rewards you with something after a turn or two. Chocolate, candy, a teddy bear, etc. This game however? It rewards me with a throat that itches to the point where I feel like ripping it off out of frustration.

I have zero trust in Miyazaki and while Bloodborne is looking fantastic in its current state, I'm not gonna expect much because in the end - this is the same incompetent guy who made this horrible, horrible "experience" (if you can even call it that).

wut

 

[RecursiveFault]

Ah, The Great Hollow! Glad I got reminded why I always thought Dark Souls 1 is a big, massive shit - on par with astronomically huge turds like shovelware on the Wii.
-snip-

Yoshichan
I've played over 500 hours of DMC2 and consider the game good.
(Today, 09:54 AM)

Seriously, even if this is your opinion why put it in a thread for people who love it? What do you expect?

 

[Yoshichan]

Yoshichan
I've played over 500 hours of DMC2 and consider the game good.
(Today, 09:54 AM)

Seriously, even if this is your opinion why put it in a thread for people who love it? What do you expect?

NeoGAF: Gaming Discussion
Video game news, industry analysis, sales figures, deals, impressions, reviews, and discussions of everything in the medium, covering all platforms, genres, and territories.

 

[turbocat]

There are always things to complain about in every game, but for me, the two worst in Dark Souls have been

Spoiler

Blighttown

and

Spoiler

The Bed of Chaos

. Everything else has been a matter of figuring out how to not let the game screw you.

 

[ObbyDent]

And let's also make sure that mechanics like curse exists (which is fine by itself) but the fact that it's RNG based on what kind of attack your opponent is doing is making this even more random than a roulette wheel.

You have no idea what you are talking about. It's not RNG based whatsoever.

Sounds like this is a case of you needing to relax, take a break, and come back to it later.

 

[Deitus]

NeoGAF: Gaming Discussion
Video game news, industry analysis, sales figures, deals, impressions, reviews, and discussions of everything in the medium, covering all platforms, genres, and territories.

When you go into the OT of a game and say "this game is a giant piece of shit and I don't understand how anyone could like it," you aren't engaging in discussion, and you are predisposing others to not engage in a discussion with you. You are basically trolling. So please, calm down, and try again with a level head.

If you want to have a discussion about the faults of Dark Souls, you will find many here willing to agree that the game has several weak spots. Great Hollow is absolutely a weak point (mechanically) because the mesh of the tree roots that you climb on and jump between is uneven and doesn't always match the texture, leading to parts where it looks like you can walk, but you can't, and other parts where you randomly slide off the side with no visual indication that it was too steep to stand on. It's manageable by walking slow and staying directly in the center of the root, but it's less than ideal. The area could have used more time to iron out the kinks, and definitely a lot more playtesting.

I completely disagree with you on curse though. There as absolutely nothing random about the curse mechanic, and the fact that you think it is random makes me suspect you don't understand how it works. Maybe if you could elaborate what your problem is instead of just complaining about how much you hate the game people might be able to discuss it in detail.

 

[Orochinagis]

Ah, The Great Hollow! Glad I got reminded why I always thought Dark Souls 1 is a big, massive shit - on par with astronomically huge turds like shovelware on the Wii.

I honestly have no idea why someone, with an average or higher mind-set of pleasure in life would appreciate this game and hate on an next-to-flawless-experience-in-comparison-to-this-turd, Dark Souls 2. Let alone people saying this is better than Demon's Souls.

When I say this game drops in quality faster than Fahrenheit drops in quality, I'm not over-exaggerating. I'm actually being nice to it. At least once Fahrenheit started getting shitty, it remained the same mechanics and proportions. Dark Souls (1) however? Oh, let's add shittier environmental hitboxes than some C-team platformer from the PS1-days. And let's also make sure that mechanics like curse exists (which is fine by itself) but the fact that it's RNG based on what kind of attack your opponent is doing is making this even more random than a roulette wheel. But everyone loooooves roulette wheels, right? Unlike Dark Souls, a wheel rewards you with something after a turn or two. Chocolate, candy, a teddy bear, etc. This game however? It rewards me with a throat that itches to the point where I feel like ripping it off out of frustration.

I have zero trust in Miyazaki and while Bloodborne is looking fantastic in its current state, I'm not gonna expect much because in the end - this is the same incompetent guy who made this horrible, horrible "experience" (if you can even call it that).

Seeing how FROM got moneys from DS2, I dont doubt they got more "resources" to make the game bigger and better but still I will wait to see it if the game is more an button game smash action game.

Ash lake is supposed to take a breath after descending the three, outside the scret covenant and the end of a side quest there is nothing to do there.

 

[v1perz53]

Ah, The Great Hollow! Glad I got reminded why I always thought Dark Souls 1 is a big, massive shit - on par with astronomically huge turds like shovelware on the Wii.

I honestly have no idea why someone, with an average or higher mind-set of pleasure in life would appreciate this game and hate on an next-to-flawless-experience-in-comparison-to-this-turd, Dark Souls 2. Let alone people saying this is better than Demon's Souls.

When I say this game drops in quality faster than Fahrenheit drops in quality, I'm not over-exaggerating. I'm actually being nice to it. At least once Fahrenheit started getting shitty, it remained the same mechanics and proportions. Dark Souls (1) however? Oh, let's add shittier environmental hitboxes than some C-team platformer from the PS1-days. And let's also make sure that mechanics like curse exists (which is fine by itself) but the fact that it's RNG based on what kind of attack your opponent is doing is making this even more random than a roulette wheel. But everyone loooooves roulette wheels, right? Unlike Dark Souls, a wheel rewards you with something after a turn or two. Chocolate, candy, a teddy bear, etc. This game however? It rewards me with a throat that itches to the point where I feel like ripping it off out of frustration.

I have zero trust in Miyazaki and while Bloodborne is looking fantastic in its current state, I'm not gonna expect much because in the end - this is the same incompetent guy who made this horrible, horrible "experience" (if you can even call it that).

Not that you really gave a single reason why you think that area is bad, but the Great Hollow is so optional that 99% of players would never even see it without some kind of guide or hint, would probably be worse if it was amazing and well done.

What are you talking about with curse though? There are literally two ways to get cursed and they are both extraordinarily obvious. The only thing they are more then obvious is easy to avoid. And in one of those ways, the enemies right outside the door drop the item to de-curse you.

I don't think DkS 2 is bad, I liked it a lot. But really, in that description of NeoGAF you posted it specifically mentions discussion, which requires you to actually post things that can be discussed. Through most of your post I just don't know what you are talking about or what you are trying to say, besides that you like roulette I guess?

 

[Ruuppa]

Ah, The Great Hollow! Glad I got reminded why I always thought Dark Souls 1 is a big, massive shit - on par with astronomically huge turds like shovelware on the Wii.

I honestly have no idea why someone, with an average or higher mind-set of pleasure in life would appreciate this game and hate on an next-to-flawless-experience-in-comparison-to-this-turd, Dark Souls 2. Let alone people saying this is better than Demon's Souls.

When I say this game drops in quality faster than Fahrenheit drops in quality, I'm not over-exaggerating. I'm actually being nice to it. At least once Fahrenheit started getting shitty, it remained the same mechanics and proportions. Dark Souls (1) however? Oh, let's add shittier environmental hitboxes than some C-team platformer from the PS1-days. And let's also make sure that mechanics like curse exists (which is fine by itself) but the fact that it's RNG based on what kind of attack your opponent is doing is making this even more random than a roulette wheel. But everyone loooooves roulette wheels, right? Unlike Dark Souls, a wheel rewards you with something after a turn or two. Chocolate, candy, a teddy bear, etc. This game however? It rewards me with a throat that itches to the point where I feel like ripping it off out of frustration.

I have zero trust in Miyazaki and while Bloodborne is looking fantastic in its current state, I'm not gonna expect much because in the end - this is the same incompetent guy who made this horrible, horrible "experience" (if you can even call it that).

That's some rage-induced vitriol right there. Hopefully Bloodborne will be a better experience.

 

[Hugstable]

Ah, The Great Hollow! Glad I got reminded why I always thought Dark Souls 1 is a big, massive shit - on par with astronomically huge turds like shovelware on the Wii.

I honestly have no idea why someone, with an average or higher mind-set of pleasure in life would appreciate this game and hate on an next-to-flawless-experience-in-comparison-to-this-turd, Dark Souls 2. Let alone people saying this is better than Demon's Souls.

When I say this game drops in quality faster than Fahrenheit drops in quality, I'm not over-exaggerating. I'm actually being nice to it. At least once Fahrenheit started getting shitty, it remained the same mechanics and proportions. Dark Souls (1) however? Oh, let's add shittier environmental hitboxes than some C-team platformer from the PS1-days. And let's also make sure that mechanics like curse exists (which is fine by itself) but the fact that it's RNG based on what kind of attack your opponent is doing is making this even more random than a roulette wheel. But everyone loooooves roulette wheels, right? Unlike Dark Souls, a wheel rewards you with something after a turn or two. Chocolate, candy, a teddy bear, etc. This game however? It rewards me with a throat that itches to the point where I feel like ripping it off out of frustration.

I have zero trust in Miyazaki and while Bloodborne is looking fantastic in its current state, I'm not gonna expect much because in the end - this is the same incompetent guy who made this horrible, horrible "experience" (if you can even call it that).

You died to the Capra Demon didn't you?

JK, seriously though, isn't Great Hollow optional

 

[Mistel]

Seriously though, isn't Great Hollow optional

It is purely optional along with ash lake at the bottom of it.

 

[Orochinagis]

It is purely optional along with ash lake at the bottom of it.

still better than the optional ones in DS2 for me

 

[Ruuppa]

still better than the optional ones in DS2 for me

Atmospherically both the Great Hollow and Ashlake are goddamn fantastic. The ones in DkS2 are just PVP arenas, which is pretty meh in comparison.

 

[DarkHeartedKill]

Ah, The Great Hollow! Glad I got reminded why I always thought Dark Souls 1 is a big, massive shit - on par with astronomically huge turds like shovelware on the Wii.

I honestly have no idea why someone, with an average or higher mind-set of pleasure in life would appreciate this game and hate on an next-to-flawless-experience-in-comparison-to-this-turd, Dark Souls 2. Let alone people saying this is better than Demon's Souls.

When I say this game drops in quality faster than Fahrenheit drops in quality, I'm not over-exaggerating. I'm actually being nice to it. At least once Fahrenheit started getting shitty, it remained the same mechanics and proportions. Dark Souls (1) however? Oh, let's add shittier environmental hitboxes than some C-team platformer from the PS1-days. And let's also make sure that mechanics like curse exists (which is fine by itself) but the fact that it's RNG based on what kind of attack your opponent is doing is making this even more random than a roulette wheel. But everyone loooooves roulette wheels, right? Unlike Dark Souls, a wheel rewards you with something after a turn or two. Chocolate, candy, a teddy bear, etc. This game however? It rewards me with a throat that itches to the point where I feel like ripping it off out of frustration.

I have zero trust in Miyazaki and while Bloodborne is looking fantastic in its current state, I'm not gonna expect much because in the end - this is the same incompetent guy who made this horrible, horrible "experience" (if you can even call it that).

In terms of graphical improvement, connectivity, FPS, sure DS2 is better. But I prefer the level design and overall boss fights of DS1. DS2 level design is quiet scrambled and makes little sense. Also the boss fights are either too easy, strafe around and hit every couple seconds or are difficult for the wrong reasons, being out numbered, or AoE OHKs. OHKs in themselves I don't mind and aren't bad since you're supposed to dodge a lot. However, when the OHK is a large area attack, that is pretty obnoxious.

All in all each game has it's pros and cons, if you took the graphical upgrades, the connectivity, the FPS, and other things I forgot, and replaced those elements of DS1, DS1 would be perfection imo.

 

[ObbyDent]

And once again a dark souls fan forgets about Demon's Souls.

 

[Ruuppa]

And once again a dark souls fan forgets about Demon's Souls.

Those of us on the PC have every right to do so.

 

[Orochinagis]

And once again a dark souls fan forgets about Demon's Souls.

Dont own a PS3 to play it....*sniff*

 

[ObbyDent]

You poor sons 'a bitches. ;_;

 

[DarkHeartedKill]

Ps3 has no games. But in all seriousness, I have tried Demon Souls, and I enjoyed it, a lot. Just not enough to go and buy a Ps3 for that game alone.

 

[Orochinagis]

You poor sons 'a bitches. ;_;

Speedy alt?

 

[KittenMaster]

Just went through great hollow for the first time myself (didn't even know it existed until I saw a stream). Some weird collision in places but overall it is one of the tamer places in the game since there aren't a lot of enemies.

Dark Souls 1 is a learning experience and a test of understanding its cruelty, and a fantastic one at that.

 

[Orochinagis]

Just went through great hollow for the first time myself (didn't even know it existed until I saw a stream). Some weird collision in places but overall it is one of the tamer places in the game since there aren't a lot of enemies.

Dark Souls 1 is a learning experience and a test of understanding its cruelty, and a fantastic one at that.

The dude was just hidding there and the music atmosphere really fits his feelings about being a forgotten race at the brink of extinction

 

[KittenMaster]

The dude was just hidding there and the music atmosphere really fits his feelings about being a forgotten race at the brink of extinction

I cheesed Ash Lake by accident

Spoiler

I didn't know what the point of the Hydra was until I took off my Fog Ring to put on the Covetous Serpent Ring

.

 

[DarkHeartedKill]

I cheesed Ash Lake by accident

Spoiler

I didn't know what the point of the Hydra was until I took off my Fog Ring to put on the Covetous Serpent Ring

.

Wait what? I'm confused.

Spoiler

The hydra had a significance other than just being annoying and launching magic infused water missiles?

 

[KittenMaster]

Wait what? I'm confused.

Spoiler

The hydra had a significance other than just being annoying and launching magic infused water missiles?

Spoiler

The fog ring breaks Hydra's AI and just makes it immobile (and also unreachable which made me wonder about it). It wasn't until I switched rings that its AI turned on and I went 'oh, that's what it's there for.'

 

[Mistel]

Wait what? I'm confused.

Spoiler

The hydra had a significance other than just being annoying and launching magic infused water missiles?

Ring of fog cuts hydra's aggro range in half pretty much. So it just sits still.

 

[SeventhSon]

Yoshichan
Gone Casul

 

[DarkHeartedKill]

Ring of fog cuts hydra's aggro range in half pretty much. So it just sits still.

O right, I forgot that Ring Of Fog also cut aggro range, I remembered it just made you transparent. It's coming back to me now heh. Thanks. I miss some rings from DS1, Rusted Iron ring and charred ring would have helped immensely and certain areas. Also tail cuts were nifty, they let you take a risk in a boss fights and kinda gave a little more purpose to the boss itself.

 

[Soodanim]

Booted up the game again, decided to start a new save. Pyro, ran around getting a bunch of items like dragon head, currently going back to the start area. My plan is to just help people with bosses until I get bored. I'm currently level 1, but is there any point staying at 1? The selection of weapons is boring and the dragon head seems to be the best choice I have, Obviously pyro upgrades exist too, but I haven't gotten as far as the 2 people that can help me there.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

You have no idea what you are talking about. It's not RNG based whatsoever.

Sounds like this is a case of you needing to relax, take a break, and come back to it later.

Indeed. The Great Hollow isn't a perfectly designed area, for the reasons Deitus outlined, but it's not a clusterfuck of level design either. It's just a bit wonky with collisions. The idea is kinda neat, actually, it's just frustrating to try to grab every piece of loot because it's way too easy to just fall to your death. Still, I just resign myself to the risk of falling. No need for "worst thing EVER" hyperbole...

And yeah the curse is perfectly fine. Easy as hell to avoid, but punishes you for not paying attention or playing poorly. The rage it induces is kind of comical at times. I've only ever been cursed once, on my second character even. The first character found the Depths's basilisk basement normally, and when I saw that skull icon pop I got freaked out and avoided the smoke that made the bar fill up, not knowing what it did but definitely not wanting to find out. On my second character, however, I went through another way, and fell through one of the holes and landed in the basilisk pit. I think I was low on humanity instead and so my curse resist was much lower, and I got almost instant-cursed. Oops. Then I saw what it did and went "oh you" @ From.

 

[Ruuppa]

Booted up the game again, decided to start a new save. Pyro, ran around getting a bunch of items like dragon head, currently going back to the start area. My plan is to just help people with bosses until I get bored. I'm currently level 1, but is there any point staying at 1? The selection of weapons is boring and the dragon head seems to be the best choice I have, Obviously pyro upgrades exist too, but I haven't gotten as far as the 2 people that can help me there.

You can level up to 11 (or 12?) and still be able to help SL1, and it also allows you to help SL20 players. SL 15 to 25 is a good fork for many of the early game bosses.
Unless you're doing an SL1 playthrough, there's little point in staying there.

 

[Orochinagis]

Booted up the game again, decided to start a new save. Pyro, ran around getting a bunch of items like dragon head, currently going back to the start area. My plan is to just help people with bosses until I get bored. I'm currently level 1, but is there any point staying at 1? The selection of weapons is boring and the dragon head seems to be the best choice I have, Obviously pyro upgrades exist too, but I haven't gotten as far as the 2 people that can help me there.

You can level up little and get the knights greatsword to destroy some key bosses. Its not like you need to stay in SL1 to help people anyway.

 

[ObbyDent]

Booted up the game again, decided to start a new save. Pyro, ran around getting a bunch of items like dragon head, currently going back to the start area. My plan is to just help people with bosses until I get bored. I'm currently level 1, but is there any point staying at 1? The selection of weapons is boring and the dragon head seems to be the best choice I have, Obviously pyro upgrades exist too, but I haven't gotten as far as the 2 people that can help me there.

If you want to make it interesting, you could try a SL1 challenge run. I did that with both Demon's Souls and Dark Souls and it was pretty fun.

Dark Souls 2, on the other hand, is pretty fucking hard at level 1. Partly due to i-frames being delegated to AGL and the only SL1 class being the deprived.