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[RecursiveFault]

Solo-ing S&O is super possible. I've recently done it with a lightning weapon actually. It really requires you to play extremely defensively and land a few hits here and there. It's not what I'd call an amazingly designed fight, it's just waiting for a good chance to get a few hits in. Fighting the second half is a fun bossfight though.

Dark Souls 2 has a ton of dual boss fights that are everything bad about the first half of S&O.

 

[Caoz]

I've seen a lot of people complain about the curse frogs across the internet, and I didn't really know what was coming when I got there, but for whatever reason, they were never an issue for me. I don't think they ever cursed me. If it helps, I would have been using either an upgraded Claymore or Astora's Straight Sword paired with Gargoyle's Shield. It's all about locking on, backing out of the danger zone, and attacking when there's an opening.

I'd imagine you already know this, and this advice may not be helpful now, but if you're still dealing with them, good luck.

I think the problem for me was: a) no curse resistant gear of any kind. b) freaking out when I found myself circled by them. This was on my first playthrough, a Zweihander build.

Now I am on a pyromancy run, managed to fall in the traps a couple of times but this time I stayed calm for the most part. You just need to wait for them to come to you.

 

[turbocat]

Solo-ing S&O is super possible. I've recently done it with a lightning weapon actually. It really requires you to play extremely defensively and land a few hits here and there. It's not what I'd call an amazingly designed fight, it's just waiting for a good chance to get a few hits in. Fighting the second half is a fun bossfight though.

Dark Souls 2 has a ton of dual boss fights that are everything bad about the first half of S&O.

Being cautious and landing hits when you can is 100% of my Dark Souls strategy always.

 

[NeoGiff]

Wow, Pinwheel is an absolute joke of a boss fight.

Although, I was SL69 when I took him on. To clarify my progress, I recently beat Ornstein and Smough, then headed down to the catacombs.

Am I leveling too much?

 

[v1perz53]

Wow, Pinwheel is an absolute joke of a boss fight.

Although, I was SL69 when I took him on. To clarify my progress, I recently beat Ornstein and Smough, then headed down to the catacombs.

Am I leveling too much?

Nah, you're fine. Pinwheel is just a huge joke. Not really sure why he is so easy, but he is just as easy at SL1 as he is at SL70, that is to say pathetically easy. You're gonna want all the levels you can get for some of the bosses to come.

 

[Orochinagis]

I wouldn't really class O&S as a multi-enemy encounter in the context of the DS2 criticisms - Capra demon possibly. The DS2 criticisms are more about throwing multiple smaller enemies at you in a boss encounter in order to up the difficulty (or keep you distracted from damaging the boss). O&S are both bosses, neither is a trashmob even before supersizing.

When DS2 does it well, I don't mind it - Skeleton Lords is a boss I always enjoy, even if it is easy, because the mechanic is initially a surprise and you can then make it as difficult or as easy as you like by either taking out the Lords asap and then dealing with a room full of skellies or taking them out one by one and dealing with each of their spawned underlings in turn. Covertous Demon is similarly a unique mechanic where you can use the enemies to distract him, again another interesting idea wasted on an otherwise terrible design and easy boss fight.

Nito is probably the closest DS1 boss to the DS2 model of multi-enemy boss room fights.

It was a letdown to only see the wheel skeletons only appearing there and being nerfed to only takes you 1/4 of your health and less stun.

Wow, Pinwheel is an absolute joke of a boss fight.

Although, I was SL69 when I took him on. To clarify my progress, I recently beat Ornstein and Smough, then headed down to the catacombs.

Am I leveling too much?

Nah, the NPC summon can solo him even

 

[KittenMaster]

Pinwheel is a joke until you die on a repeat PT fighting him thinking too hard how much of a joke he is.

 

[Mistel]

Nah, the NPC summon can solo him even

Leeroy does wipe the floor with Pinwheel quite a lot. If you wanted you could get the right of kindling right when you get to firelink.

 

[RecursiveFault]

Leeroy does wipe the floor with Pinwheel quite a lot. If you wanted you could get the right of kindling right when you get to firelink.

Yup. I'm pretty sure that's a speedrun/get strong quickly strategy actually, especially since he drops a decent amount of souls. Hardest part is doing the rest of the level and wheel skeletons.

 

[KittenMaster]

Yup. I'm pretty sure that's a speedrun/get strong quickly strategy actually, especially since he drops a decent amount of souls. Hardest part is doing the rest of the level and wheel skeletons.

Yeah even with the shortcut in mind getting past the graveyard and the first round of skeletons is insanely scary, and the bonewheels can be very uncooperative.

 

[Ruuppa]

Pinwheel is a joke until you die on a repeat PT fighting him thinking too hard how much of a joke he is.

This almost happened to me on my last run. Absentmindedly ran up to him for halberd poking, and got hit by two fireballs in quick succession when I failed to do enough damage. Really had to put my gameface on then, since dying to Pinwheel is just the worst.

 

[Mistel]

Yeah even with the shortcut in mind getting past the graveyard and the first round of skeletons is insanely scary, and the bonewheels can be very uncooperative.

With Leeroy if you stay on the ledge he moves naturally towards pinwheels boss gate. That solves most of the bonewheel issues. If he dies you can just save and reload for another summon chance.

 

[Orochinagis]

This almost happened to me on my last run. Absentmindedly ran up to him for halberd poking, and got hit by two fireballs in quick succession when I failed to do enough damage. Really had to put my gameface on then, since dying to Pinwheel is just the worst.

The only way Pinwell can kill you is if you hesitate to kill him I think, he is pretty much a glasscannon boss or if you are way under leveled to resist his fireballs

 

[Ruuppa]

The only way Pinwell can kill you is if you hesitate to kill him I think, he is pretty much a glasscannon boss or if you are way under leveled to resist his fireballs

I think I had a basic +5 Halberd when I went for him. Might have whiffed a few hits as well.
Lesson learned: Dark Souls can kill you even with scrubs if you don't have your head in the game.

 

[Sulik2]

Finished the painted world. Man you rack in some souls in that area. Queelegs Firesword was worth its weight in gold. Didn't get Priscilla's dagger. Stupid tiny tail.

 

[v1perz53]

Finished the painted world. Man you rack in some souls in that area. Queelegs Firesword was worth its weight in gold. Didn't get Priscilla's dagger. Stupid tiny tail.

Farming the phalanx mobs in the painted world was my go to soul farming method on my first character (when I was still bad enough at the game that I needed to overlevel everything). 30 second turnaround time for around 10k souls, probably over a million souls per hour with constant farming. Great Scythe was OP for farming that too, took like 2-3 swings to kill all of them. Though I remember I was so bad at the game at that point I was using medium armor to do this. In a run where I never got hit and wanted to do it as fast as possible, for some reason I kept my armor on slowing me down...

 

[NeoGiff]

I coasted through 4 bosses for the very first time today; Dark Sun Gwyndolin, Sif, Ceaseless Discharge, and Demon Firesage.

Gwyndolin - Gave me a bit of trouble and I died about 5 times. I did eventually regain my patience and take the approach slowly and methodically, though.

Sif - Beat him on my first try. Poor guy.

Ceaseless Discharge - Used the fog gate trick and beat him first time.

Demon Firesage - I imagine he would have been tough if I hadn't fought the exact same boss twice before. The approach was much more difficult than the boss fight itself.

 

[turbocat]

Demon Firesage - I imagine he would have been tough if I hadn't fought the exact same boss twice before. The approach was much more difficult than the boss fight itself.

This gave me a ton of trouble until I realized it's all about staying close, sprinting away when the fire attack is coming, and not locking on. DON'T LOCK ON!

 

[v1perz53]

This gave me a ton of trouble until I realized it's all about staying close, sprinting away when the fire attack is coming, and not locking on. DON'T LOCK ON!

I think that it depends on whether you fight Demon Firesage or Stray Demon first, since they are essentially the same boss. Once you have beat one, you will likely find the other to be much simpler. But the first time seeing either of these, I feel like most people will have a bit of trouble until they work out how the explosions and avoiding the damage works.

 

[Mistel]

I think that it depends on whether you fight Demon Firesage or Stray Demon first, since they are essentially the same boss. Once you have beat one, you will likely find the other to be much simpler. But the first time seeing either of these, I feel like most people will have a bit of trouble until they work out how the explosions and avoiding the damage works.

There's three of them counting the asylum demon so the you could argue beating them makes it easier too.

 

[emperorspride188]

This gave me a ton of trouble until I realized it's all about staying close, sprinting away when the fire attack is coming, and not locking on. DON'T LOCK ON!

Yeah most ppl who find asylum demon difficult are the guys who try to lock on. The game starts off asking us to lock on during combat, and then suddenly the first boss shows up- swinging the axe wide and make it difficult to dodge when locked on :|

 

[KittenMaster]

Dark Souls kinda evolved the gameplay from Demon's Souls where locking on was insanely useful in Demon's, while in Dark Souls you need to find blind spots and exploit them much more.

 

[emperorspride188]

Yup thats because dark souls has many bosses which are larger in size, so locking on doesnt really help in such situations.

 

[v1perz53]

There's three of them counting the asylum demon so the you could argue beating them makes it easier too.

Yea technically, but the asylum demon doesn't have the explosions tied to his attacks like the other two, so I don't think it helps as much when it comes to being prepared for the other two fights. Asylum demon can be beat by strafing around him, that strategy will get you exploded on the other two. But those two are more or less carbon copies in different rooms.

 

[turbocat]

Yea technically, but the asylum demon doesn't have the explosions tied to his attacks like the other two, so I don't think it helps as much when it comes to being prepared for the other two fights. Asylum demon can be beat by strafing around him, that strategy will get you exploded on the other two. But those two are more or less carbon copies in different rooms.

I will say, in a game with such interesting and original feeling enemy and character design, having to fight what is essentially the same boss three times is a little bit of a downer. What makes each big encounter strong is that it feels drastically different from what you've experienced before, and when that's not the case, it's disappointing to say the least.

 

[Red Liquorice]

Stray Demon is forgivable since it's like a proper version of the intro boss in the same place. Firesage Demon is bullshit, but the cut'n'pastes in the Ruins and Lost Izalith has been discussed at length before. It is what it is, just a shame they went and did it again in DS2. Blue fucking Smelter Demon? Come on now!

 

[v1perz53]

Stray Demon is forgivable since it's like a proper version of the intro boss in the same place. Firesage Demon is bullshit, but the cut'n'pastes in the Ruins and Lost Izalith has been discussed at length before. It is what it is, just a shame they went and did it again in DS2. Blue fucking Smelter Demon? Come on now!

I wouldn't have minded the blue smelter as much (since he technically has a lore reason for being there which is interesting enough) if they didn't give him the same exact moveset. I know it enrages a lot of people, but I don't mind palette swaps and re-using boss models as long as the new boss has a unique moveset and is fought in a different arena. Smelter 2.0 had the same damn moveset down to the chest stab and was in virtually the same arena.

Anyway, I never minded Lost Izalith because after the quite difficult (at the time) path up to the Demon Firesage, I was glad for a rehashed fairly easy boss. And I always unlocked the shortcut, so I never had to deal with the garbage lava part. But it is certainly not well designed, thats for sure.

 

[zweifuss]

I gotta say I'm addicted to this game. Took me a long time to even start it, but after seeing GAF recommend it so much I finally took the plunge. I take it a few hours at a time, and give myself a few days to deflate between plays, because it's so intense. I have become so used to hand-holding games, games that coddle you, that this game was a breath of fresh air. I have to admit I've consulted the wikia a lot, so I have really cheated myself to that discovery aspect, but I still enjoy the game very much.

O & S I ended up beating on my own, because I ran out of humanity. Solaire just ends up dying at the second stage anyway, so you end up being solo regardless. Right now I'm actually playing in tandem on xb360 and on PC, depending on when the wife is using the TV or not. Weapon of choice is a regular ascension Zweihänder (+13 at this point), so satisfying to knock fools down who have no poise. Slow windup doesn't even bother me, it's just so fun.

Is it me or is the Great Hollow and Ash Lake just a big waste of time? I didn't find anything useful in either area. I don't play online so the dragon's covenant is useless to me. Right now I've beaten 4 Kings and Seath, and I've ventured out to the Demon Ruins in one game and to the Artorias of the Abyss content on the other game.

I really don't want to try DS2 because I've heard a lot of what makes DS1 so charming has been taken out of this game. But I may get it on a Steam sale, if the price is right.

 

[emperorspride188]

Great hollow has a lot of loot.. full of titanites. and it looks gorgeous, apart from that nothing much.

Do try DS2, yes it wasnt as good as DS1 but its still great.

 

[Ruuppa]

Great Hollow has the highest concentration of Crystal Lizards to farm, and is an early place to grab some Chunks. Plus there's one of the best rings in the game to be found there.

Ash Lake is just purdy, I loves it. Also a good place to rack up a couple of early Dragon Scales and a lot of Twinkling Titanite. And a cool dragon weapon.

There are many ways that DkS2 is weaker than DkS1, and I gripe about them all the time. Despite those, it's still a solid game with a lot of DkS1's charm.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

I wouldn't have minded the blue smelter as much (since he technically has a lore reason for being there which is interesting enough) if they didn't give him the same exact moveset. I know it enrages a lot of people, but I don't mind palette swaps and re-using boss models as long as the new boss has a unique moveset and is fought in a different arena. Smelter 2.0 had the same damn moveset down to the chest stab and was in virtually the same arena.

That, and it's a DLC boss, where people are excited to discover new content. A palette swap in the same game is a bit eh, but it happens and as you said, if the moveset or something else changes that can still be interesting. But in an extra DLC you pay for, urgh, very disappointing.

 

[CyberPunked]

Just finished a strength playthrough with the Black Knight Sword, and have just started a new character. I'm trying to do a dex build but find the Black Knight Great Sword too tempting not to use. It just feels like easy mode, is it op or something?
What's the best dex weapon? I have the uchigatana and great scythe.

 

[emperorspride188]

Yeah black knight sword makes it a bit easy.

For Dex build uchigatana, scotel and great scythe are best. If you want to be a bit more badass don't use shield and get the dark wood grain ring for faster dodging.

 

[Ruuppa]

Balder Side Sword. It's the most bad-ass straight sword in the game, and gives S scaling in Dex when fully upgraded.

 

[Red Liquorice]

Look at rapiers too if you like doing critical damage. My favourite build style is a spellsword using a rapier with magic buffs and support spells/miracles, very varied and fun playstyle after doing a run where you're just smashing things into the ground (which is also a lot of fun!)

Estoc <3

 

[emperorspride188]

Look at rapiers too if you like doing critical damage. My favourite build style is a spellsword using a rapier with magic buffs and support spells/miracles, very varied and fun playstyle after doing a run where you're just smashing things into the ground (which is also a lot of fun!)

Estoc <3

I had a feeling I missed something when I previously mentioned uchi, great scythe and stohel.. Its Estoc <3 and Richerds Rapier as well.

 

[Tarkus]

Balder Side Sword. It's the most bad-ass straight sword in the game, and gives S scaling in Dex when fully upgraded.

It's A scaling. A scaling at +14 too if you don't want to spend a slab.

 

[turbocat]

NG+ update: In the last couple of days, I've ran through Sif, Seath, and Pinwheel...I had more trouble with Pinwheel than I remember, but he didn't kill me. What I DID have trouble with was the room full of bonewheels. I eventually put on Havel's Armor and made it through, but I died in that room two or three times in a row.

I went all the way through The Catacombs with a Divine Zweihander, and the heavy attack with that weapon...I'm in love.

 

[daninthemix]

I have a lore question for anyone who might know: how come folks like Iron Tarkus don't respawn like the player character? I mean, everyone is under the undead curse, right? So he fell off the rafters in Anor Londo, how come he didn't just respawn back at a bonfire like you do?

 

[Laurentius]

I have a lore question for anyone who might know: how come folks like Iron Tarkus don't respawn like the player character? I mean, everyone is under the undead curse, right? So he fell off the rafters in Anor Londo, how come he didn't just respawn back at a bonfire like you do?

I assume that either Tarkus wasn't an undead or else he went hollow after falling off the rafters. Why that means his clothes got left behind after he spawned at a bonfire as a full fledged, mad hollow would probably be just a gameplay consideration.

But yeah, I think it's possible that some of the people that you meet or hear about in Lordran aren't undead. Whether or not that's the case with Tarkus is uncertain. It's up to interpretation.

 

[Ruuppa]

It's A scaling. A scaling at +14 too if you don't want to spend a slab.

It is? Damn. I should fact check stuff before relying on my crappy memory. It's still a really good Dex weapon, the moveset is godly.

I have a lore question for anyone who might know: how come folks like Iron Tarkus don't respawn like the player character? I mean, everyone is under the undead curse, right? So he fell off the rafters in Anor Londo, how come he didn't just respawn back at a bonfire like you do?

Like Laurentius said, he's probably a normal human. But Hollows can die properly as well, as we can see at the end of

Spoiler

Siegmeyer of Catarina's

questline, but even that is up for interpretation.

There are a few non-undeads around in Lordran, like Sieglinde.

 

[Hiko]

Didn't know where else to post this but I found this awesome music box version of Sif's theme

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY-WlQrUoUg

 

[Orochinagis]

I have a lore question for anyone who might know: how come folks like Iron Tarkus don't respawn like the player character? I mean, everyone is under the undead curse, right? So he fell off the rafters in Anor Londo, how come he didn't just respawn back at a bonfire like you do?

Not all undead can revive after suffering a fatal wound, the chosen undead type is the one who can still retain their will after dying several times so it can overcome death and continue moving in need of more souls and finally tranforming into a Great Soul (and possibly a Dark Soul) while tarkus havent got the will to revive after falling from the roof or maybe he was already too hollowed to try to revive compared to Oscar (the guy from the asylum) who took his time to revive but got hollow.

 

[BossRush]

Ok so question, I'm trying to decide what kind of build I want to run in Dark Souls, but I have no idea what I want to run. The most basic idea I have is that "I like doing lots of damage, I like ending fights quickly." Strength build?

 

[Laurentius]

Ok so question, I'm trying to decide what kind of build I want to run in Dark Souls, but I have no idea what I want to run. The most basic idea I have is that "I like doing lots of damage, I like ending fights quickly." Strength build?

Yeah, strength probably. Grab a big weapon and start crushing things. Is this your first Dark Souls playthrough? You can grab a Zweihander early on.

 

[Booshka]

Ok so question, I'm trying to decide what kind of build I want to run in Dark Souls, but I have no idea what I want to run. The most basic idea I have is that "I like doing lots of damage, I like ending fights quickly." Strength build?

Buff build with power within for PvE, buff build for PvP. Strength build or Dex build is good for PvE, but in PvP STR is a bit tougher to do well with. You can always just do the old buff a +15 Falchion (40 Dex), 2 hand and R1 your way to victory. Faith or Sorcery buffs are about the same in damage, unless you plan on going to +3 in Darkmoon for Darkmoon Blade.

Lingering DragonCrest Ring with Power Within and a Weapon Buff is amazing in PvE, and pretty damn effective in PvP too, so long as you are very aggressive and are able to get all your buffs going.

 

[BossRush]

Buff build with power within for PvE, buff build for PvP. Strength build or Dex build is good for PvE, but in PvP STR is a bit tougher to do well with. You can always just do the old buff a +15 Falchion (40 Dex), 2 hand and R1 your way to victory. Faith or Sorcery buffs are about the same in damage, unless you plan on going to +3 in Darkmoon for Darkmoon Blade.

Lingering DragonCrest Ring with Power Within and a Weapon Buff is amazing in PvE, and pretty damn effective in PvP too, so long as you are very aggressive and are able to get all your buffs going.

Could I perhaps go a hybrid build with more focus on STR than DEX? so I can wield the strong melee weapons but also carry a bow?

 

[Booshka]

Could I perhaps go a hybrid build with more focus on STR than DEX? so I can wield the strong melee weapons but also carry a bow?

Try a 27 STR and 20 DEX build, use the Composite Bow, or the Greatbows. 2 Hand scaling falls off hard after 27, and you can still 2 hand the Demon Great Machete, one of my favorite STR weapons, perfect for Crystal reinforcement as well, because the Durability is so high and you can buy/farm more and more DGM's to reinforce when necessary.

If you don't want to bother with Buffs, a 27/40 or 40/40 quality, will get you plenty of damage with pretty much every weapon at +15. I have a SL 120 build that is a 36/40 Quality and it is probably my favorite build, tons of weapon options, and no bothering with spells, just ready right when I spawn into the Invasion.

 

[BossRush]

Actually, what about this build? http://darksouls.wiki.fextralife.com/Artorias+the+Abysswalker+Build

 

[Booshka]

Actually, what about this build? http://darksouls.wiki.fextralife.com/Artorias+the+Abysswalker+Build

Seems a little too spread out stats wise, I would focus a bit more on what you really plan on using, and get your stats to their most efficient values.

Try this link for build making. Mess around and see what you can come up with.

I suggest trying to get to 40 END and 45-50 VIT for pretty much every build that is going to be primarily melee.