I've seen a lot of posts where people are stuck on boss X or having difficulty with area Y. Here's the answer to finally defeating that boss who's been giving you trouble for days: farm souls. Farm them for hours until you want to die. Get 5-10 level before attempting the boss again. Upgrade your weapons, get boss weapons, something to give you an edge.

I make it a habit of farming before each boss until the cost for leveling becomes too high. It honestly makes most of the bosses a breeze when you have 5 more points of vitality than your last attempt or have the ability to use that new weapon you've completely upgraded.

It might sound unappealing to kill the same things for hours but your Dark Souls life will be much easier if you just take the time. Fighting Ornstein and Smough at level 30? Shit, that sounds frustrating as hell and I'm sure most of you would agree.

You can make it through the whole game without farming. When I hit smough and ornstein I was about level 45. It's just about how good you are at keeping / recovering souls.

This is a good way to make this game not fun. A better way to beat bosses is learning their patterns and weaknesses and planning accordingly.

It might sound unappealing to kill the same things for hours but your Dark Souls life will be much easier if you just take the time. Fighting Ornstein and Smough at level 30? Shit, that sounds frustrating as hell and I'm sure most of you would agree.

To potential soul farmers: don't just walk through an area killing dudes, sit at a bonfire, repeat.  Set down a soul sign and try to white phantom for the boss you are stuck at.  You get souls when you win, and you gain valuable experience actually fighting then.

@Jimi: of course you can. 45 is around the same level I fight Ornstein and Smough but I keep reading posts where people from level 25-30 are complaining about not being able to beat them for weeks on end. 15 levels can make a huge difference. If you find yourself stuck on bosses or areas you should probably head back and level up a bit through farming instead of bashing your head against the same things for hours without making any progress.

@MonetaryDread: there's no way in hell you are fighting Ornstein and Smough at level 80 on your first playthrough without grinding.

My common procedure for this game, is to go into a new area and find the first bonfire. Sit there, farm souls and repair/upgrade them as much as I can before fighting the boss. It makes the game a whole lot less stressful when you die to a boss and you only have a handful of souls to lose.

I've seen a lot of posts where people are stuck on boss X or having difficulty with area Y. Here's the answer to finally defeating that boss who's been giving you trouble for days: farm souls. Farm them for hours until you want to die. Get 5-10 level before attempting the boss again. Upgrade your weapons, get boss weapons, something to give you an edge.

I make it a habit of farming before each boss until the cost for leveling becomes too high. It honestly makes most of the bosses a breeze when you have 5 more points of vitality than your last attempt or have the ability to use that new weapon you've completely upgraded.

It might sound unappealing to kill the same things for hours but your Dark Souls life will be much easier if you just take the time. Fighting Ornstein and Smough at level 30? Shit, that sounds frustrating as hell and I'm sure most of you would agree.

It's a game, play it how you want. I was 50 at Smough and Ornstein, but I had to leave Anor Londo to find a better way to attack them. Grinding is a quintessential part of every RPG; this game is no different.

Yup. I was around level 25+ when I tried to kill stray demon at undead asylum. My weapon was doing minimal damage and a lot of his attacks would almost instantly kill me. Sure I could have toughed it out and finally killed him with 20 minutes of poking - but I just moved on. Came back waaaaay higher level. Beat him without breaking a sweat. Super satisfying.

Beat Ornstein and Smough at level 55-ish. I did it with the help of a phantom. They were giving me trouble and I got a little too impatient and wanted to move the game along. I kinda regret it because I now wish I just buckled down, grinded my teeth and got those patterns down to beat Ornstein second and get his armor but oh well.

@Canteu said:

This is a good way to make this game not fun. A better way to beat bosses is learning their patterns and weaknesses and planning accordingly.

Exactly. The game is supposed to be challenging, not mind-numbing.

@Fribain: I feel that farming souls only helps so much. I fought Ornstein and Smough at level 60 and still got killed constantly not because I hadn't done any grinding (I'd obviously done a ton) but because I wasn't playing it right.

- Using the wrong weapon for the job with Ornstein. I was using something electric, slow and with bad reach that he could easily evade and counter.

- Using the wrong evasion techniques with Smough (blocking his attacks and backing up instead of rolling towards and counter-attacking).

- Being slowed down by armor that gave me great lightning resistance, but was too heavy to roll away from their 2nd form's electric area-of-effect attack. Made me use up all my Estus.

- Not having anything to take advantage of their weakness to ranged attacks (optional, but helpful).

Knowing what I know now, I'm sure I could beat them at level 25. My high level meant I could withstand damage a bit better, but with the wrong techniques and equipment, they would just wear me down.

I just did some farming up at the forest and am now Level 52 heading into Sen's Fortress. Bring it on I say!

Another one of my problems with this game is that I am overly cautious. I was lvl 20 by the time I rang the first bell. I could only imagine what lvl I'll be when I finish the game.

If you're having trouble with an area, it's not where you should be, or you suck.

If you're having trouble with a boss, and you were able to make it through the area leading up to it, summon white phantoms to help you.