First thing: I'm in NG+7, so everything is much, much harder than NG or NG+ (yes, NG+7 is fuck-tons harder than NG+1, especially due to a couple bosses having attacks that'll one-hit a full-Havel 99 Vigor build).

Old Iron King was scary as fuck. One hit from his fire breath and you're dead. You either dodge (very squirrely hit-boxes on the breath attacks) or you die. All I have left is Throne Watchers and Nashandra.

Why: You didn't know you get a unique item for beating the game without dying? I'm not fucking with you. You totally do.

My very basic plan: Beat the Throne Watchers, then either wait for my phantom helpers to die on Nashandra or just (assuming they're already dead at this point) press Start and exit the game so I can get a breather before fighting Nashandra for real. I'll also have the benefit of going in with fully-prepped allies if I do this.

Besides that, I got nothin'. Any special gear I should use? I'm SL 330 and have most items in the game, so I can respec to just about anything. I've been using a "highest-defense" build up to this point, with 80 Vigor, 70 Vit, and 99 Endurance, dual-wielding an appropriately-enchanted Mastadon Halberd in left hand and Helix Halberd in right (gives you a really fast, really long poking attack on all your power-stance attacks that deals over 700 damage, and you usually get 2 hits in; totally devastating).

Why this shit is important to get right: If I die, I gotta start all over. You know that much. But since this is my "main" character, I can't just quit and start again; I have to finish the dang game first and then start all over.

I don't wanna have to restart when I've come this far. You might think I could just run straight to the Shrine of Winter with my 57 million soul memory, but nope. It requires that you get a certain (unknown?) number of souls on that playthrough, so it ain't that easy. I tried going there prior to killing the Old Iron King, and it didn't work, but afterward it let me in.

Although I welcome plenty of tips on fighting Nashandra, I need the most help on the Throne Watchers. They are relentless at this point. You have time to get one hit in at the most, and then they're on your ass again. Watcher can kill me in 3 hits. Defender can kill me in 2 hits. I am completely at a loss for a good strategy there.

My first advice : Kill the Throne Watcher and Defender BEFORE getting the Giant Kinship.

Doing this makes it much easier because you can then return to your bonefire, to prepare for Nashandra. You can cheese her by summoning at least one NPC phantom, as they seem to draw much more aggro than PC phantoms, then you just spam Flame Swathe in her face until she is dead. Beware her rays of doom though, because I think it would be instant death... and if you are casting a Flame Swath when she begins that move, you will be hit. So, make sure she isn't targeting you before casting any spell. Fire weapons and pyromancy do the most damage to her. Dark weapons and Hexes are out of the equation, as she is very resistent to darkness damage.

For Throne Watcher and Defender, it's a bit more tricky, since they seem to switch their target much more often than Nashandra. Pyromancy isn't as efficient, mainly because they move too much (especially the Watcher) and you wouldn't hit them with the Flame Swath. Fire Tempest, Fire Storm would do tons of damages, but the the idle animation while casting means you WILL get hit and it seems you don't want that. I don't see how ou could beat them without help... and NPC phantoms wouldn't be a good help, since they brainlessly rush to their death. Even if they can take a lot of punishment, they will die before the fight ends, so PC phantoms is much advised, because they survive more easily.

Depending on who helps you, you should tank or snipe them. As said, pyromancy, even if it seems to do the most damage to them, isn't recommanded, because of their mobility. A good strategy is to equip the Moonlight Butterfly Armor and tank with a shield, letting them be poisoned to death. A good shield is a must for this strategy, since you will be close to them. Just make sure you don't have one on your right, left or behind you, unless they are far enough, especially if you bring help : Since they switch their target, it would makes you too vulnerable.

What item do you get ? Spolier tag if needed.

A stupid ring.

And how is he going to use it with a soul memory of around 60 million? Good luck with matchmaking.

He could very well want it for the sake of completion too.

I think Soul Memory caps at 12 million in regards to matchmaking.

Throne Watcher/Defender are by far your biggest hurdle left; sort of just comes down to how patient you are. For Nashandra I usually summon both guys; don't know how viable that is in NG+7; simply makes it really easy to unload on her. She's not too bad either way but I'm guessing everything she does will kill you in one hit at this point.

@soldierg654342: Pretty sure NG+ is just determined by SL not soul memory; but not much chance of running into too many people at his SL either.

You talking about in terms of matchmaking? Could be. But yeah, I haven't noticed that big of a decrease in multiplayer activity. I get invaded all the damn time; far more than at lower levels. I can fight in BoB no problem. The only significant decrease in activity I've seen is on the bridge in Iron Keep; though even then I still see 3-4 dragon signs and 1-2 red duel signs on any given trip through there. If you think higher soul memory is a big deal, it's 'cause you haven't gotten it.

And it isn't stupid if you do tons of pvp. Sounds like jealous-talk to me.

@development: No, the rings are just stupid. I have the one for no bonfire. Working on the no death one now myself (for personal completion issues I have). But they don't do a damn thing in PvP fights. People know about them. And them not seeing a weapon in your hand doesn't change how they fight you. Not many people are dumb enough to just rush in if they don't see a weapon. I guess maybe having the left hand that way might be more useful. Because most people don't expect a weapon in that hand. But I've yet to "trick" anyone with a hidden right hand.

Also there is a spell that hides the right hand weapon. So you encounter that much more often than you might think.

@myrmicus: Hah, didn't think of the Butterfly armor. In my experience, though, the poison takes foreverr to take effect. I only tried it in PVP, though. You sure it works quickly enough for that fight? I'd prefer not to be in there for crazy periods of time.

But besides that, yeah, I'm definitely summoning phantoms for help (real humans), and just staying back to do ranged damage. Maybe I'll try some poison bolts with dual-Avelyns. What other bolt-type would be good? It seems like they both have good resistance to every kind of enchantment, except... Dark, maybe?

@sterling: I used the rings in PvP, with the ring that give your bare fists pretty damages and I trick PvP opponents almost every time. They start thinking I'm in for a fist fight, then get smashed by the demon hammer, then get the three bolts from avelyn in their face. It's not about making the ennemy rush, it's about making them unsure what moveset you have.

EDIT : @development: Well, the Moonlight Butterfly armor is a long strategy, but a pretty solid one. You just have to stand there, shield raised, looking for your stamina and making sure they don't flank you. If you want to speed up the process, the rat covenent ring is a must have and a poison infused spotted whip +5 is good. Poison strategy will take time, no matter what. But from my experience, wanting to end a fight too quickly is the best way to end it with your death. Plus, this strategy is good if you want to go solo on them.

I have a soul memory of 16 million and joined the dragon's yesterday to start work on getting their rewards for my own collection problem. I think the longest it took for me to get summoned was 5 seconds. I had enough wins in an hour and a half. I'm seeing less dragon icons there too but there certainly wasn't a lack of people summoning.

@sterling: I donno bout that, in my experience. A person has absolutely no idea what's in my hand: a shield, a wand, another weapon, or a crossbow. They don't know how much time they have after attacking before I can close in and hit them. They don't know how close I need to be to hit them. I'm speaking coming from the other side: having fought numerous people using both rings (or maybe just Hidden Weapon?). If I see a katana, they're done. Easy. If I see a halberd, they're done. Easy. If my brain is saying they have a crossbow, then they lunge at me with that super long katana with the ring on... I'm done. That thing does serious damage. Factor in lag and you have a significant advantage wearing those rings. I should clarify that I don't suck at PVP. I'm probably close to rank 3 in the BoB through arena dueling, averaging probably 5 wins for every loss.

But... maybe 50% of the reason I want the ring is the same as you; I just want it.

And, off-topic: getting that other ring was fucking lame. The only hard part was keeping my stupid head from pressing the x button near a lit bonfire.

@myrmicus: Hmm... that sounds like a great idea. I didn't know about the poison bonus you get from the rat covenant crest. I'm real afraid of getting hit once and dying, though, so I might just keep my highest-defense armor and use poison weapons. Does the crest ring increase the speed that they get poisoned, or does it increase the damage the poison does?

@development: I didn't asked this question to myself, just went "if you want a poison build, use the rat covenent crest".
Wiki says "+50 to poison attack" which means the poison builds up more quickly... since, from my experience, doesn't change the damage dealt by poison.

I did it. I died.

Took a hit. Was down to 1/3 health. Had to choose whether to heal now or wait for a better time to heal. I waited... and then missed a dodge.

Fuck.

I'm so sorry

Should have used the ladle.

Damn. Would it make you feel better knowing that my whole FTL crew suffocated to death as the last boss did its dying animation?

@thunderslash: Been there. Done that. This was worse.

A sad day for madmen everywhere.

Eh, I'm sorry for you.

@development: Just so you know, and to ease your pain, the "no death" condition might include any deaths in previous NGs.

I have seen people who have said they didn't get the ring in NG+, and some people who said they did. So no guarantees.

It might have all been for nothing.

@gerrid: Well I got the other ring in NG++, so I think it's more than likely it'll work. If not, I'm sure they'll patch it before I ever do it.

@gerrid: For a no death run you must not die in anyway in the run... Dying while wearing the life saver ring does count as a death. Dying while helping other players as a White Phantom does count as a death too.