Maybe I'm over reacting but I've just been cursed at the start of The Great Hollow, capping my HP at roughly 350. I have nothing to cure it and the thought of running back through to the Undead merchant is enough to make me start over entirely.

Realistically can I expect to make it through The Great Hollow in this condition?

If it makes any difference I'm level 37 and currently wearing the armour found by Ceaseless Discharge and a combination of either my Spear+4 or the Drake Sword.

Thanks.

No shortcuts closeby?
 
If not, well...Dark Souls.

Well, you could probably get through it but I would advise you to leave this zone till later, you are going to have to revisit it anyway. I am assuming here that you didn't get past a certain campaign point at SL37 which involves Anor Lando.

Great Hollow ain't that bad, I think you're fine. Feel free to run past most of the baddies, they won't follow you that far and aren't very hard.

Just pretend your playing Demon's Souls minus the ring that gives you 75% health.

...dude.....that really, really, blows. As a fellow dark souler that suffered at the hands of that curse I feel your pain.

@jozzy: I thought this was the way to go?

I rang the second bell, beat the Ceaseless Discharge, then got my ass handed to me by the guys on the pathway once the lava had subsided. It kind of indicated to me that I should go through The Great Hollow (I had stumbled upon it when I hit the swamp).

I'm guessing this isn't the way back to the start then.

Your biggest danger in The Great Hollow is falling.  As long as you can keep your footing and run the hell past those mushroom dudes, you can easily get through to The Ash Lake.  Once there you'll want to walk down the path so as to avoid attracting the attention of the Hydra.  Head down the tree root and once you reach the end, make a hard right and you should see the nearest bonfire.
 
You probably shouldn't be heading through these areas just yet though, but whatever.

@Blaze4Life86 said:

@jozzy: I thought this was the way to go?

I rang the second bell, beat the Ceaseless Discharge, then got my ass handed to me by the guys on the pathway once the lava had subsided. It kind of indicated to me that I should go through The Great Hollow (I had stumbled upon it when I hit the swamp).

I'm guessing this isn't the way back to the start then.

That is not the way to go no. Remember the closed big gate by the bonfire near the first bell with the Blacksmith? That gate is open now.

You're going to have to run a long way in some direction,sounds like you don't have the ability to warp, and the Great Hollow ends in a dead end with a covenant. I'm guessing yo're going for the second bell in which case you want to go to the other end of blightown basin where the spider domain is.

Pretty much exactly this happened to me. I got cursed, made my way to the bottom of the Hollow and promptly died. I lost a few thousand souls and some humanity but no big deal.  
 
I used the fact that I was now cursed as an excuse to go wail on some ghosts in the ruins for a bit. Fuck those ghosts... 

As others have said, there isn't much down there but death for you right now. But if you are up for exploring, than go for it. As for being in a bad situation, I see a yes and a no. If you have to climb BlightTown > The Depths > Lower Undead Burg > Upper Undead Burg, then yeah that sucks. If you don't have the Rusted Iron Ring and some Purple Moss Clump, then that kinda sucks as well. But if possible, and I had to do this a few times myself, equip the Rusted Iron ring to allow easy passage through that sludge crap. Rest at a bonfire to get your flasks back. Proceed to the part of BlightTown with the big wheel, which is kinda near Quelaag's Domain. And ignore the enemies along the way, it's not worth the stop. If you have the Purple Moss Clump, than go ahead and use some to cure the poison. If not, than keep an eye on your health and proceed up the wheel elevator and exit onto the platform. From there I would suggest proceeding up the ladders as fast as you can, because of those dumb mosquitoes, and ignore any enemies along the way up (all are avoidable I believe except one near the top). Once you reach the top, either let the poison play out or proceed forward. There will be three of those big club dudes in that green tunnel. Because they are slow, dodge and run if you can, if not than be careful fighting them as they hit for a lot. Exit the tunnel to Valley of Drakes, turn left on the wooden planks and hopefully the gate is either already open or you happened across the key? somewhere. Finally, once inside New Londo Ruins, head up that elevator to Firelink Shire and you are basically home free!

Short version - Full Flasks, Rusted Iron Ring, Purple Moss clump > Wheel elevator in BlightTown > Up the ladders fast > Through the tunnel > Cross wooden planks in Valley of Drakes, and open gate > Elevator in New Londo Ruins > Home free to Firelink Shrine.

It sounds like a lot, I know. But if that gate is open, you avoid the enemies, and you have that ring, it should only take a couple of minutes to reach Firelink Shrine. Hopefully this helps.

herp derp everyone told me that the gold hemmed set is the best herp derp i got cursed oh what ? the crimson set has amazing curse resistance and is lying on the floor in blighttown? oh man i wish i had paid attention to available equipment before heading ionto one of a few limited areas with curse enemies ..

@Errordotocx:You just saved me 17 hours, thank you doesn't quite cut it. Hadn't even been to the Valley of the Drakes or New Londo before so without your help I'd still be battling my way back through Blighttown. Seriously mate your a fucking star.

@Gabriel said:

Just pretend your playing Demon's Souls minus the ring that gives you 75% health.

Haha

I really hate the curses in this game. Its probably the only thing that makes this game truly unfair. Im cursed right now as well. I think I might just quit.

@Inf225: The curses really aren't to bad, they take awhile to take effect and you gain so much gear that has curse resist on it, that it makes it so you would have to stand in a cloud to get caught by it. Not to mention post patch curses no longer stack and the undead merchant sells the cure. Hell there is even a few enemies (clamshell things) that drop the cure at the bottom of the great hollow.

wow I can't believe how many people fear curse... the frogs in Depths were extremely easy to avoid, their attack pattern when they blow the smoke is extraordinarily long, giving you enough time to attack them and interrupt/kill them. you don't even have to dodge to get out the way. and the cure for curse is so easy to get. just going into Blighttown now, thought that place was rife with poison not Curse. if you're low on Clumps just head to Darkroot garden and kill the easy trees there 1 in 4 or so drops a Clump 1 in 6 of those clumps are Blooming purple... have about 10 or so for those now and about 30 of bloodred and normal purples... Preparation is the key to victory... and don't skimp on curse resistance... there's a Skirt on a corpse where you fought the golden Crystal Golem that has 78 curse res on it's own and it's other stats are damn good too. it might look girly but at least you'll live.

@Blaze4Life86: Great Hollow might a little tough when you're level 35. I went to Great Hollow pretty later part of my game play. I recommend go back, farm some souls, and get cured at Firelink Shrine.

@Blaze4Life86: Go to the vendor where you rang the first bell at the undead parish. He will sell something that can lift the curse

@jozzy said:

@Blaze4Life86 said:

@jozzy: I thought this was the way to go?

I rang the second bell, beat the Ceaseless Discharge, then got my ass handed to me by the guys on the pathway once the lava had subsided. It kind of indicated to me that I should go through The Great Hollow (I had stumbled upon it when I hit the swamp).

I'm guessing this isn't the way back to the start then.

That is not the way to go no. Remember the closed big gate by the bonfire near the first bell with the Blacksmith? That gate is open now.

Hmm, still closed - still closed!

@Chavtheworld said:

@jozzy said:

@Blaze4Life86 said:

@jozzy: I thought this was the way to go?

I rang the second bell, beat the Ceaseless Discharge, then got my ass handed to me by the guys on the pathway once the lava had subsided. It kind of indicated to me that I should go through The Great Hollow (I had stumbled upon it when I hit the swamp).

I'm guessing this isn't the way back to the start then.

That is not the way to go no. Remember the closed big gate by the bonfire near the first bell with the Blacksmith? That gate is open now.

Hmm, still closed - still closed!

Then you didn't ring the second bell yet. Ringing the second bell opens that gate (or you have a weird bug).

Same thing happened to me. I sucked it up and made it to the bottom and killed the hydra while cursed.

(After about 6-7 deaths)

The clamshell dudes at the bottom drop the curse-remove item as well. Made going back up a bit easier.

@jozzy said:

@Chavtheworld said:

@jozzy said:

@Blaze4Life86 said:

@jozzy: I thought this was the way to go?

I rang the second bell, beat the Ceaseless Discharge, then got my ass handed to me by the guys on the pathway once the lava had subsided. It kind of indicated to me that I should go through The Great Hollow (I had stumbled upon it when I hit the swamp).

I'm guessing this isn't the way back to the start then.

That is not the way to go no. Remember the closed big gate by the bonfire near the first bell with the Blacksmith? That gate is open now.

Hmm, still closed - still closed!

Then you didn't ring the second bell yet. Ringing the second bell opens that gate (or you have a weird bug).

Eh? Oh wait I haven't rung the second bell no but I was just quoting that dude, cause he's awesome.

@Chavtheworld said:

@jozzy said:

@Chavtheworld said:

@jozzy said:

@Blaze4Life86 said:

@jozzy: I thought this was the way to go?

I rang the second bell, beat the Ceaseless Discharge, then got my ass handed to me by the guys on the pathway once the lava had subsided. It kind of indicated to me that I should go through The Great Hollow (I had stumbled upon it when I hit the swamp).

I'm guessing this isn't the way back to the start then.

That is not the way to go no. Remember the closed big gate by the bonfire near the first bell with the Blacksmith? That gate is open now.

Hmm, still closed - still closed!

Then you didn't ring the second bell yet. Ringing the second bell opens that gate (or you have a weird bug).

Eh? Oh wait I haven't rung the second bell no but I was just quoting that dude, cause he's awesome.

Ugh, I feel dumb now.

Also, for the record, Great Hollow and Ash lake are completely optional areas. I completed my game without ever even stepping foot inside of them.

The only real draw that I know of are some crystal lizards, the dragon covenant, the unique weapon from the dragon covenant NPC's tail, and a pretty miserable spot to farm clams for Twinkling Titanites (As an aside, they also drop curse cures!).

@jozzy: Haha it's okay! Did you mistake me for the OP?

The main reason to traverse the Great Hollow is for the multitude of Chunks you can find on the way down. Not to mention a small handful of crystal lizards. It will take a number of throwing yourself to your death to grab them all, just make sure you pick up the Ring of Cloranthy from the central area of the tree. You will go inside the hollow and fall through the floor, it is on the ledge just outside.

The second reason for traversing the Great Hollow is to get into Ash Lake, home of the Stone Dragon Covenant. This is also a dead end, so if you don't have means of teleportation, touching bonfires down here means you will have to walk all the way back up the Great Hollow. Ash Lake has one major danger that persists throughout the area until you take care of it, so living may not be an easy task your first time through here.

As far as progression, if you just killed Quelaag and rang the 2nd Bell, you don't want to dive further into Demon Ruins, even killing the first boss, Ceaseless Discharge is ahead of your path. When you rang the 2nd bell you saw a cut scene of a gate being lifted. That is Sen's Fortress and you can access it near the bonfire located inside the Undead Parish, near Andres the Blacksmith.

You can either go into Sen's, or go to Darkroot Garden/Basin and kill a few bosses there, or take the bird back to Undead Asylum and get the Peculiar Doll item and kill Stray Demon, heck you can even kill Pinwheel the first boss in Catacombs. I just wouldn't attempt plowing through Minor Capra Demon's and Minor Taurus Demon's in the Demon Ruins, seeings as though you just beat those bosses a short time ago.

Edit: And yes, for curse you want to buy a Purging Stone. Oswald sells them in the Bell Tower. I think the Undead Female merchant might have 1 or 2 also, but perhaps I am mistaken on her.