Just yesterday I completed my SL1 run. Gwyn could one shot me, so I rolled in with a sliver of health and powered up from the Red Tearstone Ring. It took only 4 hits from Great Combustion.

Now I'm spending time helping people with Taurus and Gargoyles, and giving away black knight weapons (I collected a couple of those...).

I'm by no means a Dark Souls master- this is one of my proudest gaming moments. What's the greatest thing you've done in this game? No achievement is too big OR small- let's hear it!

That's pretty rad man. I remember trying to make a low level pvp build with a friend and we kept getting fucked up by the four kings. How did you beat them? Also people are actually low enough at gargoyles to summon you?

That's awesome duder!

Just beating the game normally without needing a lot of summons was an achievement for me. I beat Artorias on the second try? I dunno if that's worth mentioning.

PRAISE THE SUN!!!

High five man, I just did Gwyn about a weeks ago, and I feel the same way as you

I think beating the game with an SL3 Sorc is actually hardest (8 vit/8 endurance) But yeah, hurray for Pyromancy being silly.

@hippocrit: OK just googled SL1 and am most impressed. I'm playing DkS for the first time, so no crazy challenges for me. Nice work, you!

@buneroid: I leveled to 10 on NG+ to better coop there and use a claymore.

4 Kings: I used the Crest Shield for magic attacks and fast rolled. You have to stay calm and dodge. I had a high level pyro flame with combustion and a +5 lightning battle axe that got the damage done.

My proudest moment is winning a PvP match against a fast rolling Great Scythe while wearing the Cleric set and using the Greataxe. Fuck me the Greataxe is terrible.

Goddamn, congrats. I still need to finish the game for the first time myself. Haven't had much time to game lately.

I think I was trying with a lightning battle axe too. Guess I was just sucking haha.

Oh man I thought you beat it already. What the last boss you finished?

Beat Dark Souls (pc) a couple days ago. I think my proudest accomplishment was either defeating those two gargoyles on the church or performing a parry. Yeah, I think performing a parry is my proudest moment.

...Sigh.

@noblenerf: dude the first time I FINALLY got the parry right I went ape shit. Totally worth a nod.

Duder, you should totally be kicking new players off the map in Undeadburg instead of helping them.

@buneroid: Hmm, it's been so long that I don't even remember. Think I died on the Four Kings the last time I played.

I never even attempted a parry until I beat the game and started up a new character. By the time I wanted to try to Parry, my shield was one that could only bash. It took me about 5-10 minutes of trying on the hollows in Undead Burg with the new character to start getting parrying down.

It also took me until the church to figure out backstabs. Spent a few minutes on the skeletons where the Bonfire route goes.

I could never do that. SL1 on Dark Souls feels like gaming suicide. You deserve all the cookies.

1 shot Nito with the Moonlight shield on vanilla DKS ... that was awesome and also I fooled an invading red phantom and made him fall from the turning bridges on the catacombs .... just seeing the invader down right stoping at the middle of the bridge with confusion and trying to go back then looking him fall as the bridge turns over , ah priceless. Also S ranked the game and the only game I´ve ever done it for.

My greatest Dark Souls achievement was beating Manus at SL 30 with crappy gear and a lightning Uchigatana. Manus could basically one shot me (I could survive 1 hit if I blocked, but his dark magic was a 1 shot kill) and I believe I dealt 60 dmg with two hands. I could take down half of his health with my max pyro glove, but then I needed to finish him off with my lightning Uchigatana.

I didn't use the red tearstone ring or any other way to boost my attack. It was just me and Manus. The fight lasted around 10 minutes and it was the most intense thing ever. I used 3 flasks during the fight and almost died at the end when I rushed into the final hit as his dark magic came down on top of me. Here is the moment of triumph.

@hippocrit: @golguin:I forgot to say, low-SL runs require such crazy skill! I bow before you. I couldn't even begin to imagine doing it at a SL lower than what I had (mid 80's).

I've only ever parried the Undead Burg hollows. I wasn't ever able to figure out the timing or distinction for parriable enemies afterwards. Once I found greatshields I began to exclusively use them, though I don't think I shield bashed for anything other than novelty.

Backstabs are soooo inconsistent; it makes me feel like I'm playing a laggy MMO. They didn't seem very strong either, though clubs are probably not the best weapons to backstab with...

I only began to understand the invincibility frames of the dodge and its usefulness during my battle against Ornstein & Smough. Such a tough fight. Defeating Ornstein last seemed impossible at the time, so props to everyone that manages that!

I'm at undead burg and die every time I get anywhere far from there.

My proudest moment was either beating O&S solo and taking out Ornstein second for his gear, or beating Artorias. Both are pretty common things to do, but the adrenaline rush I got was just outstanding. That feeling really exemplifies the greatness of the game for me.

@noblenerf:

I disagree, backstabs feel completely weird, but at some point something just clicked and I could get them down 90% of the time. Doesn't feel laggy at all (though admittedly sometimes you have to backstab the spot where the enemy was a split-second before).

@belegorm: I suppose inconsistent is the word I was loooking for.

I think everyone has that same experience! Just wait until you start encountering non-hollow enemies... You'll wish you were back in the Burg.

My proudest achievment in Dark Souls is quite simple. I understand the game. I know what all the tools the game gives you are, I know what they can be used for and I can synergize them in fun or practical ways.

I'm usually not skilled enough mechanically to do very challenging runs, and quite regularily make simple mistakes. But I personally measure my progress in knowledge. And Dark Souls is one of few games I consider myself to have mastered in the metagame.

Not really sure if it comes through what I'm trying to say here, but there it is I guess. :P

Currently working on SL1. I have Manus, Kalameet, and Gwyn left. Without thinking, I gave Snuggly my Sunlight Maggot and Skull Lantern, completely forgetting that you need one (or the light spell) to get the silver pendent. Manus has been a little more challenging than he should have been since I need to beat him without the pendent. Dodging his magic hasn't worked out for me.

I would like to eventually do a low SL run without any pyromancy. Pyromancy made a number of the boss fights far too easy.

@noblenerf: The only enemies that ever give me a lot of trouble with backstabs are Black Knights; I think the window on them is tiny. I can backstab most things pretty easily, and yeah, I don't know about using clubs but using my scythe deals pretty damn worthwhile damage on backstab.

I might give up using them in Dark Souls 2 though except single enemies, since they said they've removed all those invincibility animations and frames. The animation just takes too long with 2+ enemies around.

@capum15:

Backstabs in DS2 are waaaaayyyy faster however, if the other enemies are a small distance away you should probably have enough time to safely backstab.

@hippocrit Super congrats! I'm in the middle of a SLv1 run myself (just finished up O&S) and am currently deciding where to go. Playing the game this way is definitely an interesting experience. If you're not up to snuff on your parrying, rolling, and blocking then this is the run that's gonna make sure you are.

I actually just started a Level 1 run the other day. My friend and I are going to do it together.

Did you get invaded often at SL1? We really don't know what to expect. I know the Darkwraith covenant is popular with SL1, did you run into a lot of other SL 1 PVP'ers?

I'm working on the achievements right now, who knows how much longer GFWL will be around for. I've been focusing on the Knight's Honor cheevie and grinding like there's no tomorrow, buying as many large titanite shards I can get my hands on. I accidentally attacked the Giant Blacksmith and had speak to Oswald for like the first time. Praise the sun for that guy.

Simply completing the game. I was so strong that on the third try I gave up trying to dance with Gwyn, and simply kept him in place and beat him down with my Halperd. Felt bad doing it too. I suspected he was a sympathetic foe and was brave for eschewing a shield. I didn't enjoy his death cry.

Next time I will also leave another potential foe alone too, cost me souls for absolution from that tower hustler. He was almost gleeful charging me for being drenched in sin. I may let my weapon slip when I am around him at a cirtain point, if a next playthrough. That would be a proud moment...

I've beaten this game many times with various builds but never did much in ng+

You've inspired me, good sir/madam!

In Dark Souls alone? Nothing no one else hasn't done I reckon. Well, I did beat the game in NG+++ because some people claimed doing NG+ and beyond was so much harder than just NG, but I found that to be a big fat lie.

I guess I did finish the game once dying 6 times total in that run. Not great, you could potentially do it dying only once. When you die, it's always because you fucked something up, but sometimes frustration just gets the better of me, which causes me to make mistakes.

Nothing noteworthy I guess. But while I admire SL1 runs and find them impressive, I have no desire to do one myself.

Rarely. It happened a couple times between the Burg and the Parish, but not after that. It's a double edged sword, though- there's also nobody to summon for help in the (normally) higher level areas. I actually joined the Darkwraiths during that play-through to try low level invading. It sucked. Either I invaded somebody else who was better than me and got murdered, or I so outclassed my opponent (mostly due to equipment) that I just felt guilty. So I joined the Sunbros and began helping out instead. Much more fun! I could kill Havel with 2 fire orbs, Taurus Demon with one plunging attack, and the sorcerer + most of his sidekicks in the Parish with a casting of Fire Tempest :)

Oh really? In that case, backstabs forever!

That is some awesome news, thanks for the info.

Rad duder!

I dance for your victory!

@skankinpacman: That was a great moment. \-+-/

I never figured out how to get the item near there on the lava-encircled cliff.

However, after over a dozen deaths, I managed to get the other item, in the lava. This was before I learned of the lava resistance ring...

@skankinpacman: DO NOT TAUNT THE DEMONS