joms5

Gallery

Praise be to Giantbomb!!!

I was stubborn and refused to summon. I wanted to do this mono e mono. So I tried going 2 handed. Never ever got to the second part of the fight that way. Just couldn't dodge Ornstein to leave me with a favourable chance to strike. So I went back to my strategy, but this time when I made it to part 2 I switched to two handed for the extra damage. It was rough the first couple of attempts. Every time I'd get close to him I feel like he'd hit me with his swinging mallet or with the butt stomp. Eventually I just got into this groove of predicting when was the opportune time. I can't tell you how much my hands were sweating when I was out of Estus flasks. But when I saw his health in that 2nd screenshot I told myself the next time he swings his mallet down i'm running in and going for broke. And then it happened.

This game is fuckin brilliant and I really wish I hadn't let it scare me off for all these years.

Both invaluable pieces of information. I had no clue having 2 weapons equipped added to the weight. I could have sworn I tested it but clearly I must have not been paying attention.

I will keep this in mind for future fights. I started the game with the fat roll and hated it. When i got Havel's ring, I immediately noticed the different and can never go back. I don't want to know how much better the fast roll is. If I did there's a good chance i'd never go back.

Thanks again for all the help. It feels nice to brag about this defeat simply because there was a chance last night where I was going to throw in the towel. This game has the highest highs and the lowest lows. But if this is indeed the most difficult boss then that will make me breathe easier.

Next up, Ceaseless Discharge and the Four Kings. Also going to save up for that Silver Knight Armour (looks badass). Thanks again everyone!

Okay so

@justin258 said:

@joms5 said:

@mgalchemist said:

Dude, get ready for the boss fight of your life.

You fucking said it.

Holy shit. I really hope this is the hardest boss in the game because it's defeated me for the night. Been playing for about 2 hours straight and I can say without 100% absolute certainty that this fight is BS. Any before you say "git gud", let me explain.

First, I am going with the strategy to kill Ornstein first because killing Slough first is damned impossible. I have no problem killing Ornstein. So that's not the issue. The problem is after about 20 minutes of carefully placed hits, I get to Slough who I can't get even close to, and when I do it's like a 1 hit kill. Did I mention that he gets all his health back? WTF? I haven't even got him down to 1/5th health yet. It's mainly his AOE butt slam that kills me because I just can't get away from him fast enough. When i'm not dying because of that it's any one of his other attacks. I can't block his attacks because I still take lightning damage and anytime i try to get close to him get does the butt slam.

I've given up for the night because I find myself just getting more angry and it's making all my runs worse.

Please tell me other people here pulled their hair out fighting these guys. It's bad enough that I hate games that through 2 bosses at you at the same time. But this is masochistic. HE GETS ALL HIS HEALTH BACK!!! Give me a break. I'll update if I ever beat them.

So you're still using the Battle Axe? Can you post a picture of your stats? I don't know how powerful the Battle Axe gets when it gets up to +15, but I seriously doubt it's the most powerful you could be right now. You say you've dumped a bunch of points into endurance, so you ought to have a pretty high equip load and you ought to be able to roll a lot.

Here's some shots of my current stats: (Battle Axe is actually at +14 and not 15 like i previously stated)

Gallery

I was thinking of upgrading the Black Knight sword as far as I can as it's base damage is not far off from my Battle Axe. I'm going to give it a few more tries with a level head right now. If nothing comes of it I may have to try a different weapon. Do you guys really think I should go in there without the armour? I would assume 1 or 2 hits would decimate me without much covering me.

Sorry but what is fast roll? I've got havel's ring equipped which helps but i feel as though I can't get away quick enough from the butt stomp. Perhaps i'm not fast rolling. I basically am hitting back on the A-stick and the roll button (sommersaulting backwards) some people have said that 2 backstep's is enough but that hasn't been successful yet. I'm going to try your 1 hit and walk away strat.

Those two sentences are making me want to persevere. lol

Yup. Went into New Londo rather early. Shot red robe guy with arrows till he gave chase, got scared and ran from him (slid down the ladder quickly). Only he followed me all the way down so I had to fight him. Lucky for me he got into this routine of backstepping constantly into the fireplace where the ladder was. Don't know if it was a glitch or not but I just laid into him with firebombs and that was that. Sif was a pain in the ass though. Just couldn't get the dodge timing correct.

So i'm going to try one handing them. Also take off armour. Might even try a different weapon. I'll let you guys know how it goes. :)

You fucking said it.

Holy shit. I really hope this is the hardest boss in the game because it's defeated me for the night. Been playing for about 2 hours straight and I can say without 100% absolute certainty that this fight is BS. Any before you say "git gud", let me explain.

First, I am going with the strategy to kill Ornstein first because killing Slough first is damned impossible. I have no problem killing Ornstein. So that's not the issue. The problem is after about 20 minutes of carefully placed hits, I get to Slough who I can't get even close to, and when I do it's like a 1 hit kill. Did I mention that he gets all his health back? WTF? I haven't even got him down to 1/5th health yet. It's mainly his AOE butt slam that kills me because I just can't get away from him fast enough. When i'm not dying because of that it's any one of his other attacks. I can't block his attacks because I still take lightning damage and anytime i try to get close to him get does the butt slam.

I've given up for the night because I find myself just getting more angry and it's making all my runs worse.

Please tell me other people here pulled their hair out fighting these guys. It's bad enough that I hate games that through 2 bosses at you at the same time. But this is masochistic. HE GETS ALL HIS HEALTH BACK!!! Give me a break. I'll update if I ever beat them.

Okay so it's been a while but i've been busy and I seem to have gotten a hang on the game.

Went back to a number of areas to defeat certain bosses as well as explore areas that I didn't feel i was high enough level to explore. Needless to say i'm still in Anor Londo. Just outside of a white gate in a huge cathedral. Pretty sure it's a boss. For those interested of my exploits:

- went back to the Hydra looking boss and wrecked shop since I was a bit overpowered

- defeated Sif and got the Astorias (sp?) ring that allows be to enter the Abyss. Entered the Abyss (which I had to look up because Castlevania II). Immediately died and haven't looked back to the Four Kings fight. Will go back after Anor Londo prolly

- went down below Quelag's Lair and fought this giant lava boss (i'm sorry I don't remember his name). Got him down to about halfway and got ruined in 1 hit. Again I will have to go back to him

- FINALLY found the murdered of the Firelink Shrine firekeeper and killed him. Man was that satisfying. Had to kill his ranged buddy first though, since he was a real pain in the ass. Didn't realize how difficult this game was when you can't estus.

So i'm guessing i'm reaching the end game soon. But I have a couple random questions for those still following my progress. All your help these last couple weeks has been wonderful and has really made this game a bit easier to wrap my head around.

1) So i'm prepping weapons for the end game. Got my mind set on the Black Knight sword and still rocking that Battle Axe. Currently my battle axe is at +15. And I don't have the option to upgrade it more unless I go down the lighting route which doesn't do as much damage. So is +15 the max I can upgrade this?

2) Is there any benefit to upgrading strength or dex above the minimum of what you need to use a certain weapon. At this point when I level up i just keep putting it into Endurance. Not sure if i'm wasting my time doing that.

Thank you both for the explanation. Weapon stats makes so much more sense now.

WOW! So this is a scripted event?

Will I get more clues at the games goes on? I'd hate to kill an NPC that it may be only for it to be the wrong on. Although I have a fairly good idea of who it is. He's no longer at Firelink anymore and even when he was he didn't really do anything for me there. Now that I say that though, there are 2 people like that. But one of them is still at Firelink the other is missing.

I knew i should have let that guy rot in the cell.

I'm at around 41 hours into the game and I am currently here. Absolutely stunning. I would assume this is the halfway mark, but who knows. All I know is that whenever Dark Souls gets brought up, I hear the words Anor Londo. Either it's one of the best or worst areas of the game or its just simply gorgeous.

Well not much of an update to give. I finally got through Blighttown which is without a doubt my most hated area of the game so far. I'd take New Londo Ruins any day of the week. Defeated Quelag which was a long fight. Talked to her spider sister who made me feel really shitty about killing her sister. Got to the lava area (forget it's name) and had that boss down to half health before he basically took me out with 1 hit. I feel like he should almost be the end boss but clearly not if you get to him this early. Will attempt at a later date.

So i'm getting my ass kicked in Sen's fortress now, falling to my death more times than I can count and those f**king swinging axes. Lost 12,000 souls which was probably the first time in the game I felt true rage. But onward and upward. So i'm thinking about upgrading some weapons here to make some parts a bit easier. I need a bit of advice.

Option 1: Battle Axe (currently+5) - I've used this for almost most of the game so far and love it. I just don't know if after upgrading it to +10 whether or not it will be as powerful as the Darkesword which i'm currently using to get through Sen's.

Option 2: Drake Sword (default stats) - It does a shitload of damage and i've got 2 dragon scales to upgrade it. Looks like the first one will add +20. So i'm guessin 240 when all is said and done.

I just don't want to waste any of my Titanite if those weapons won't be able to carry me to the end game.

The other problem i'm having is reading the weapon stats screen. I've read a number of explanations but they're either contradicting what users are saying or simply don't make much sense to me. So there's 2 columns of numbers. The first one is just raw damage that the weapon does, the second column is what? I see that the Black Knight sword has -177. I don't understand what that is supposed to signify. My upgraded weapons seem to have a +40 or something like that beside them which looks to be what the Titanite Shards have added to it. If that's true then why would the Black knight sword have a -177 next to it?

Some clarifications:

1) Can that creature in Blighttown be killed that is stuck to the wall? I've tried ranged attacks with nothing. Then I tried hitting it from behind (again nothing) as well as from the front (surprise, nothing) which led to my death. A simple yes or no will suffice. Don't need to know how.

2) My bonfire at Firelink is out and cannot be relit. What's going on? Is that normal? Did I do something wrong?

small update.

I've only been playing since Monday. Playtime is at approx. 45 hours. This game is amazing. I won't go into everything that makes it a phenomenal experience, because most of you have known for years now. All I will say is that i've never felt so responsible for each and every death of mine that takes place. As someone who gets mad pretty easily on difficult games, I have yet to actually get angry. So onto the important stuff.

Still rolling with the battle axe upgraded now to +5. Feel like i've done everything around Undead Burg except for the Valley of the Drakes (just don't do enough damage of the dragons to explore it enough yet) and Darkroot Garden (I can't even get close to that squid like water monster that shoots projectiles at you). So i'm not sure if there's anything i'm missing over there. Also have to purchase that talisman that opens that door in Darkroot Garden. But given that it's 20,000 souls i figured that's late or end game content. We'll see. So a couple questions:

1) When or if I want to upgrade my battle axe more, it doesn't seem like I can use the shards anymore. So then do I move onto chunks? Or can those weapons only be upgraded to +5?

2) Also whenever I go to the blacksmith he keeps asking if I would like to give him my ember (I believe it's the one I picked up off the Butterfly). It says that it can use it to create a unique weapon or exchange it for a ton of souls. Recommendations?

While i'm on the topic of the Moonlight Butterfly, wow. What a boss. A bit on the easy side but the music combined with the atmosphere of that bridge gave me goosebumps. Something that I will always associate with Dark Souls. Fought the two Gargoyles on the roof of parish (beat them on my first try!!), same with the Demon and dogs (i panicked when I immediately saw them thanks to many people in here) which was probably intended as an early boss given how easy he was. Explored the depths fully, which sucked really hard. Fell down a hole and got my cursed. Didn't have a stone on me to get rid of the curse so went back down like a hero to recover my shit, and succeeded like a boss. Oh yeah and also found the Drake Sword by accident. Haha spent about an hour firing arrows into that damned dragon on the bridge, worth every minute.

Right now i'm trying to find Blighttown. I refuse to look it up online because exploring in this game is half the fun. But i could be looking in the complete wrong area. I have a key to it so i'm starting to think it's hidden behind a door. But while looking for it I decided to traverse New Londo Ruins. F************K that place. Easily the worst area of the game so far. I pray that I never have to venture back there ever again. I can't tell you how many times my curse wore out and I didn't notice, only to be slashing away not noticing that my hits weren't registering. Some more general questions:

3) I seem to be seeing a lot of items (loot on bodies) around the world that I can't get to. Specifically at Firelink (on top of roof), now without telling me how to, will i eventually find a way to reach that or is there a platforming sort of trick to make my way to that area? There also seems to be a staircase just opposite the bird that you can make your way to the top, or maybe you get in from the top to get to the bottom, not sure. Should I worry about this stuff now or will I come back to it?

4) I keep picking up souls of nameless soldiers and other soul consumables. Should these be saved for later or emergencies or can they be popped right away and used to level my character? Is there a best practice with these?

5) Is it ever helpful to enchant(?) your weapon with lightning or fire? Do enemies have weaknesses to these and if so is it just trial and error to figure out what they're weak to?

6 Finally, I bought some magic (pyromancy) off a guy in Firelink. I'm super confused on how to use it? I still have the up button on the D-pad empty. I can't figure out if that's where it belongs or even if i can use pyromancy. I didn't really spec my character to use magic so did I just waste souls? Super confused on all the spells and elemental stuff in this game. Any help is appreciated as always.

Thanks again guys. The best part about falling in love with this first title is that I know i've got DS2, DS3 and Bloodborne all waiting for me when i'm done. :)

Okay well here's a small update as well as a few small and probably meaningless questions.

Looks like i've finished most of undead parish which was awesome. Can't get close to the dragon to kill it, burned every time. But a great place to farm souls. Tried hitting the armored bull in the tail since that was the only part without armor and only got 5 damage. Tried it a couple more times and the look on my face when my sword enters it's behind must have been priceless. Good lord. Killed the two black knight looking enemies in the parish atop the stairs. Explored it and found a jail cell in the upper floors. Refused to let the guy out inside because i'm worried its a trick. But I think i'm going to do it anyway. He said he'd pay handsomely so maybe the risk is worth the reward. But I did find a shortcut back to Firelink (can't express how good it feels to find a shortcut).

After a number of attempts i've killed the headless lighting scorpion thing just below the blacksmith. Entered Darkroot Garden. Found a secret bonfire behind a wall (happy I figured that out without a message). Found a wall of light, decided not to traverse it. Went to Darkroot Basin, got scared and went back up. Here comes some questions.

1) I've tried a ton of times to backstab the tree people. I'm guessing this is not possible. Am I wasting my time?

2) Are you stuck in a boss fight when you traverse the white light? Or can you run back?

2) Is it normal to be afraid as much as I am? Maybe it's because of the previous humanity I lost but I'm afraid to traverse any white light or go anywhere it's dark.

Now I haven't upgraded any weapons yet. Currently using the battle axe because it does a bit more damage. So let me get some things straight here.

So based on this comment. How do i know if something scales well? Someone mentioned the letters. S is the most best at scaling. I'm just trying to figure out what letter in the stats screen I should be looking at?

Then when I want to upgrade it basically costs souls and a piece of titanite?

But I should use shards first and then chunks? Is there a limit to how much a weapon can be upgraded?

Finally, all the comments about the dogs are scaring the hell out of me.

Thank you guys so much for the advice. I'm feeling a bit better now that I beat the Taurus Demon. Even kept all my souls after having fought him 10 or so times. And then I got destroyed by dragon fire, bit annoying.

Having said that I wish I had checked this sooner so that I learned a bit about humanity and kindling bon fires. Didn't know you lose humanity (that number in the top left) if you die a second time. I thought it was just the souls. So there goes 5. Arg. So then here's my next question.

1) Is there anyway to store humanity (i noticed that the vendor in Undead Burg sells a bottomless box) so that it's not actually on you?

I did figure out that you can jump by sprinting and then tapping roll. It allowed me to get into a house that had a crossbow and bolts. Next question.

2) Are arrows even useful in this game from a damage perspective? I haven't tried them yet but it seems like something that wouldn't shoot fast enough to be useful. Just would like to know if there's any point in investing in arrows or bolts?

Also for those interested PC version with the DSfix.

Currently in Undead Parish getting mauled by the steel boar. All I keep thinking about is all that humanity that I lost. Sigh.

I never thought that my first post to these forums would be about Dark Souls. The game always scared me away with people ranting about it's high difficulty. But the art style and atmosphere of the game was so intriguing to me that I would find myself thinking about the game constantly without ever having touched it. So I jumped in.

Now this is where I need a bit of help from the community. I've read many threads on here, Neogaf, reddit and many more so I will try not to repeat advice that has already been given. Also I would appreciate any secrets or spoilers kept to a minimum. I would like to experience the game and exploration for myself, so I don't want to know where the Drakesword is or other items (that might make my time easier or more difficult).

First off, I am a knight and my gift was the Witch's Ring. I have made it to fire link shrine (I apologize in advance if I make any mistakes with names) finally got through most of undead burg and the 2nd boss which is some sort of demon on a bridge. I died.

Here come some questions.

1) I had 10 estus flasks at Firelink, but my new bonfire in Undead burg is only giving me 5. Am I right in assuming that the bonfire at Firelink was already kindled?

2) Are the materials that you use to kindle bonfire's prevalent? Or should I be selective with what I kindle? Basically can I kindle all fires I come across?

3) I found an NPC that seems to sell spells or magic. I am going with a melee class. I was thinking about killing the NPC to see if he had anything great on him (I feel like i've picked up through osmosis that some NPC's if killed can provide you with great equipment), is this a bad idea.

4) I killed a Black Knight(?) last night and got a sword from him that I can't use right now as well as some other gear. Should I or can I sell this stuff?

5) When it comes to dealing more damage to enemies, should I upgrade my current weapon or will i find better gear throughout the game?

That's all I will ask for now since those may spawn new questions themselves. I find the game to be quite overwhelming to start. There's very little info to go on and after learning that one of the gift descriptions is in fact not true I feel like this game is out to screw me. Having said that, I played till 2am last night and went to bed thinking about how to kill that demon. Just getting to him will a full 5 flasks is proving difficult.

Thanks for any help or advice provided. Sorry for the long read. :)