So... wtf? I've fought through the ridiculous frame rate, the bullshit mosquitos, all the blowdart dudes, and now I'm at the fire near the swamp. I've tried to fight Quelaag a couple of times, with no luck yet.

Here's the fucking problem.... I can't get to quelaag without getting poisoned, and I am going to run out of poison cures pretty soon. Does anyone know how I can get the fuck out of here through a shortcut to buy some moss or something? I don't mind fighting the boss a bunch of times, but I'm not fighting her while poisoned. This is fucking dumb. Also, I'm not convinced there is any way that I could climb all the way out of blight town anyway. Can anyone shed some light on this?

Just keep healing yourself. The poison will wear off. That's what eventually worked for me.

Tomb of Giants is worse

Blightown pissed me off a lot for those reasons you mentioned. Honestly the boss was the easiest part of all of it. I had a lot of extra poison cures from earlier in the forest so it wasn't a problem.  
 
Also that building that has the watermill looking thing will eventually take you out to a shortcut to drake valley which takes you to new londo which takes you to firelink. 

That's all fine and good... I can deal with the poison (although it's total bullshit), but i just want to GET THE FUCK OUT OF THIS AREA. I will come back later and fight the boss, but I simply cannot find a way to leave Blight town. So sick of this.

Also that building that has the watermill looking thing will eventually take you out to a shortcut to drake valley which takes you to new londo which takes you to firelink. 

Ugh, finally found the way out for now. I'll go back after I'm stocked up on purple moss. Thanks for the responses everyone. I'm sure that boss is fine once I learn it, but I was so pissed off from that whole area that I couldn't even concentrate. By the way, how the hell do you anticipate that damn exploding move the boss does? From my position I had no indication anything was coming, but then I was one-shotted by a bullshit explosion or something. Other than that, I totally had her down.

Edit: Just for the record, it's complete bullshit to not put a vendor in your goddammned poison-infested shithole of a zone.

@bcjohnnie said:

but I was so pissed off from that whole area that I couldn't even concentrate.

I know that feel

And it's especially egregious in this game, cause THAT's when it REALLY fucks you over. It's like that scene in Blood In Blood Out where Miklo thinks Popeye's got his back in San Quentin, but then TA-DOW he tries to rape him.

That's Dark Souls for you, the cell mate who keeps trying to rape you...

@bcjohnnie To get out from Blightown if you go right out of the 2nd bonfire and defeat 2 of those flame blowers and hug the wall till you get to a ramp going to a ladder (which is still on the right). Climb the ladder and you'll find a watermill lift thing that takes you up to another ladder. You will run into some flying bugs and another flame blower, ignore him and keep climbing. You'll eventually get to the top and go toward the big tunnel leading out. You will come across 3 big fat monsters with the clubs, defeat them and you'll come to the Valley of the Drakes. Hopefully you can unlock (if you haven't already) the gate that is on the other side of the ridge.

Note: Keep climbing those ladders up until you see a tunnel leading out, If you cannot find a ladder to climb to the top, keep looking, they are there. Good luck! Also when you get out, go to the Darkroot Garden. There are tree monsters that drop poison and toxic cures.

The game is a bitch. Like one of the many characters I have Beaten in one of my favorite games said to me a million times "You are not prepared!"

Best way to anticipate the Explosion attack from Quelaag is to watch her naked body when you are attacking. Once she goes limp, she is about to explode. This means that it will be better to stay in front when you attack so that you can see her as she only does it when you attack her more than about three times.

Hope this helps man.

@Veridiyagooru22 said:

watch her naked body

I'm sure you typed other stuff. But this is all i read.

She is an extremely easy boss with very little in the way of 'uh oh' moves it is pretty long though. Depending on your armour, stamina and general nimbleness you should be able to run out of range of both her frontal melee attacks. The only difficult thing about the fight is managing the lava on the floor. you want to make sure you hang around one side with two escape routes at all time so no matter what happens you can get away. She telegraphs her attacks pretty well and gives you about 2 swings of a drakes blade attack window.

The general strategy should be to run around a small area and when you see her coming start doing a wide arch around her. This will allow you to 1) get distance if its her quick melee types moves and 2) keep you close enough that if she DOES spit lava, you can quickly go in, attack and get out.

@bcjohnnie:

If you are Human when you go to fight her you will be invaded by a NPC phantom, after you beat her (shes super easy) you will be able to summon her for the fight. She takes no dmg from the boss and actually does a decent job at dealing dmg, you need to keep your distance because the Queen will sometimes do a really fast aoe.

To get out all you do is go up the big ass rotating water wheel thingy, and start climbing up ladders. There is a shit ton of toxic guys but if you just try to kill one each life you will get up eventually (To Firelink Shrine)

Put on your highest Poison Resist set of armor just to get to the boss area. There is a full Shadow armor set in Blight Town which is what I used. You should be able to get to her from the bon fire without getting poisoned.

Just turn human and summon some dudes. Should make the entire thing much easier.

@Jeffsekai said:

@bcjohnnie:

If you are Human when you go to fight her you will be invaded by a NPC phantom, after you beat her (shes super easy) you will be able to summon her for the fight. She takes no dmg from the boss and actually does a decent job at dealing dmg, you need to keep your distance because the Queen will sometimes do a really fast aoe.

She does indeed take damage from the boss. She died halfway through my fight with the boss.

Yeah Mildred can definitely take damage from the boss if you summon her. Also, if you are human, there are usually a few user phantom signs offering assistance. With the additional distraction the boss becomes quite easy.

the other place is the most demonic thing in the whole game.  Fucking starter bosses as enemys.

@biospank: haha it isn't so bad when you come back later.

I always just put my stats towards whatever equipment I wanted to be using for the most part. Strength is huge for some large weapons and shields I wanted, then just enough attunement/faith/intelligence to use the few spells I wanted.

I had my first player invasion in the sewers which I successfully fended off, and I killed the gaping dragon with blue phantom help on my first attempt. I was feeling pretty good, so instead of stopping by fireshrine to repair/upgrade/level, I decided I was feeling good enough to power right on through to Blighttown.

I probably lost somewhere around 30000 souls in Blighttown. The vertical level design is frustrating (probably fell about 3-4 times, an easy mistake to make once you get fed up) and the whole level runs at 25 fps.

Those bugs? The ones that infinitely respawn and hover exactly in the dead-zone of my weapon so I can't attack them and constantly chip away at my health bar? The ones that clip halfway into the floorboards underneath you, making them impossible to hit? THOSE ARE COOL GUYS. FROM SOFTWARE ARE COOL GUYS FOR DESIGNING THEM.

Fuck Blighttown. Fuck it into the hottest sun in the universe. The first chance I had, I took the shortcut out to New Londo/Fireshrine. I'm now almost regretting this decision, as this means inevitably, I will have to go back. Ughhhhhhhhhhh.

I have to admit though, the shinobi armor is pretty rad.

@Itwastuesday said:

I have to admit though, the shinobi armor is pretty rad.

WHAT. Tell me more of this shinobi armor.

@xobballox: It's around the beginning of Blighttown. Low phys resists, but high poison and bleed resist. The poison resist is really useful for much of Blighttown. Looks like http://www.consoleclassix.com/info_img/Revenge_Of_Shinobi,_The_GEN_ScreenShot1.jpg

@Itwastuesday said:

@xobballox: It's around the beginning of Blighttown. Low phys resists, but high poison and bleed resist. The poison resist is really useful for much of Blighttown. Looks like http://www.consoleclassix.com/info_img/Revenge_Of_Shinobi,_The_GEN_ScreenShot1.jpg

Awesome dude, thanks. Just opened up Blighttown and I was wandering around other places to see what's up with other places. I'm scared of Blighttown, I HATE poison, but if I can get shinobi armor, I must go.

@xobballox: Godspeed. You may want to buy some arrows, it's the best answer for the annoying mosquitoes that respawn. I do not recommend clumsily swinging and cursing at them, as I did.

There is a full set of fire resist armor after you go up the water well.

When you go up the water wheel, you will fight a flying bug dude and a fire crawler guy. Around the corner from the fire crawler guy you'll fight another flying bug dude. There is a branch looking thing that extends across and over the water wheel. Cross this branch and follow the ladders, you will eventually come to a chest with a full set of fire resist gear. Wear this while fighting the boss and it will help out quite a bit. When crossing the branch, be careful for poison dart snipers to your left. Cross the branch fast and cross it carefully.

The lady in the sewer bridge that is next to the spiral staircase that leads into the actual sewers sells poison cures and toxic cures. The poison cures are 500 a piece and the toxic cures are 1000 a piece.

Another tip for defeating the queen is to summon the phantom that will invade you if you are in human form here. Rest at the bonfire near the water wheel and become unhollow. When you exit the bonfire area, you will get invaded by a butcher chick. She is super easy to deal with, just circle her and stab her after she swings. After you kill her, you get an awesome cleaver and you get the ability to summon her just outside the bosses lair. Touch her summon sign and she will fight alongside you. If you die, you will need to unhollow again in order to see her summon sign again. If you reach her area hollowed, the sign will not be there since you can't summon while hollow.

Hope these tips help! Make sure to get the fire resist gear no matter what. I am sure it will come in handy later!

I have only found one way into Blighttown (Drakes Vally entrance) whats the other way in? I managed to get down to the bomfire, but just couldn't see where else to go.

I'm back to Blight Town now and just lost 10k souls because I got signed out of xbox live, even if my internet didn't go down. Ive just found the first campfire and came to that huge wheel in the swamp. Hope there is a new campfire soon!

There's a second bonfire in Blighttown before the poisonous swamp? Or is it after? Regardless, I hate this place. It's exactly like world 5 in Demon's Souls, which I also hated.

I found one just before the big wheel, lit it and went on. That obviously wasn't enough, so when I died I ended up at the first bonfire again, FML.

Ugh, finally found the way out for now.

@FluxWaveZ: You have to climb all the way out. I was getting stuck because that place is hella confusing. It's hard to explain, but just keep looking for ladders up. If you can make it to the upper bonfire, you're real close. All I can tell you is that you may have to climb some ladders in that tunnel in the wall at some point. Just stick with it and you'll get there.

Pro Tip for anyone struggling with the poisonous swamp: Go to Firelink and go back to the Asylum to get the ring found there (you need to the key from the rooftop in Firelink), it allows you to walk through water, etc. without effecting your mobility.

@SuperfluousMoniker said:

@Geo7877: I already went back to the Asylum and killed the boss there but never got the ring. Do you remember where it is?

It's that item on that broken staircase that you couldn't get during the tutorial because the door is locked. In Firelink, as you're heading up the stairs to get to the bird's nest you can see the roof of a ruin with an item on it, jump and get it because it's the key to that door. Then once in the Asylum go up to the balcony above the tutorial-boss and go into the room next to it. There is a door in there that uses the key and leads to the staircase with the ring on it.

These Dark Souls threads are fucking great to read, but also make me more and more certain I do not want to play this game. I love hard games but this game seems crazy. Keep making threads though, maybe one day they'll change my mind on this weird, weird game.

Oh man Blighttown was such a bitch!!! Fuck those fire breathing dogs, fuck those poison bugs, and fuck those blow dart guys. It got to a point where I didn't even care that I was poisoned. What I did after running of moss was just go explore the swamp to learn the terrain and because you can get some decent souls and loot from the enemies in it; the poison will go away eventually. I kept an eye on my health and returned to the second bonfire if I needed to.

It took me hours to even get to Queelag and it made killing her so satisfying and liberating because it meant I didn't have to be in Blighttown anymore.She's pretty easy you just gotta learn her attack patterns and stay close to her.

If you can get to the Valley of the Drakes, then you can reach Firelink Shrine without any difficulty.

This Blighttown place sounds just as great as 5-2 from Demon's Souls. Can't wait.

I'm really tempted to use a guide to get through that place, it sounds really frustrating, but I know once I start using a guide I can't let it go again, eliminating some of the surprise and mystique the game has, which is one of it's strongest suits.

There's an exploit to killing Quelaag if you don't mind being a bit dishonorable. There is a staircase in the back of her room, a big one then a small one. Stand at the top of the small one. If you stand with your ass backed into the corner, she'll simply keep trying to walk towards you instead of attacking. Its necessary to keep your guard up because its possible she'll decide to attack with her sword, but for the most part she just walks at you. Stand back and fill her with arrows or magic.

Now if I could only cheese the Ornstein and Smough fight... /cry

Sen's fortress is fucking me up way worse than blightown.

Well, that wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. Beat Blighttown and Quelaag without dieing once. The frame-rate was atrocious, however. Glad that place is over with (other than me not knowing how to get out as of right now, but I will work on that).

Maybe it's because I essentially explored everything else before I hit Blight Town (I did discover the place, though I skipped it once I found myself unknowingly being shot at by toxic darts) and was overleveled, but I found it all fairly easy. I'm surprised to learn that that Maneater Mildred was an NPC... I gathered as much when she invaded me, but once I summoned her to actually fight with me, I thought that it must of been a player... found it hilarious at the time thinking the player I just killed is now going to help down a boss with me.   
 
Oh, but the framerate is laughably terrible during that part. It's playable, and it never caused me any ire, but it did give me a headache after a while.
 
@Chop said:

Tomb of Giants is worse

Where's the 2nd bonfire near the big wheel? Do you have to get on the platform above it or is it before you reach it? I just lost 18k souls and possibly an additional 12k because I couldn't find it.

@FluxWaveZ said:

Where's the 2nd bonfire near the big wheel? Do you have to get on the platform above it or is it before you reach it? I just lost 18k souls because I couldn't find it.

It's down in the swamp. Hug the wall nearest to the wheel and run south/away from the boss.