DARK SOULS: if you need me i'll be in an induced coma so mvrch comes tomorrow

Yeah, Dark Souls rarely rewards just rushing into an area, except for suicide runs to grab items.

OK, made my mace divine (and yeah, Andre spilled all about the undead), I think +5 is the max, and it already made all the difference in the Catacombs, at least the start. Without a divine weapon I assume it's possible to fight the skeletons en masse, but how? Just by speed running? Because those skeletons chase you and can kill you fast. Anyway, made it to the first necromancer and killed him, so I guess one could run past the skeletons, take out their master, then deal with the skeletons after, but what a pia that would be.

I like the Dark Souls world a lot, and in fact a few of my favorite things are how little of it makes sense. Like, the skeletons are undead, but ... you are a zombie yourself, aren't you? And so are half the skeleton/zombie soldiers you're fighting. But my fave is the NPCs who basically just hang around the corner from war zones. How funny (and hard) would this game be if the NPCs always moved around, because they have to hide from all the roving gangs of monsters? Anyway, all just part of its charm.

so I guess one could run past the skeletons, take out their master, then deal with the skeletons after, but what a pia that would be.

That's what I do. Or deconstruct them and kill the necromancer before they're revived.

Since you guys are curious about online, you might enjoy this video of someone running through Undead Burg on new game plus (so they're already at a high level) and getting invaded, with a good attitude. And trivializing the early bosses with late-game magic. Buuuut it starts with the final boss + ending, so click on at your own risk (should start after that though).

https://youtu.be/5JQaJWgauTc?t=386

I like the Dark Souls world a lot, and in fact a few of my favorite things are how little of it makes sense.

It's clearly well thought out yet weirdly totally ignorable. There's more intriguing mystery and lore in a game like "Hollow Knight" (which took a lot from Dark Souls) than there is in this one, imo. Doesn't hurt it at all, of course. I can't even remember the exposition at the start, and I have no idea exactly what these creatures I am fighting are or why I am fighting them. I just know most of them are mad at me.

I have no idea exactly what these creatures I am fighting are or why I am fighting them. I just know most of them are mad at me.

OK, doofed around in Catacombs a few days back. With no skeleton killing weapon I think it would have been as hard as Blightown without the purple moss. Which is to say, a frustrating drag. Skeletons are still tricky, though, so after making it pretty far I decided to come back later and zipped out of there back to Firelink.

Now I'm working on Anor Londo, and once again totally missed something - actually, a couple of things - simply because I couldn't see it. One was a chest that was essentially blending into the background. The other was a stupid ass rafter that was camouflaged to the point of invisibility. After killing a gargoyle and exploring between farming souls (giant knights can be a pain in pairs, but they're slow and predicable and easy to lure out) I gave up and had to look up the way to go. I was this close to just jumping off ledges hoping to find the correct path.

Going up that rafter definitely has the feeling of "how could this possibly be the right way?" It feels like you discovered an out-of-bounds glitch or something.

Something about the quiet of early Anor Londo makes me wish there was a bonfire every 20 ft.

Had to look up another route mere inches later, when I couldn't figure out how to get to those fucking archers. After running off the edge and dying numerous times, I finally learn there's another invisible buttress ramp to ascend. I know this game is dark, but if I can't see something huge because it's in a shadow ...

Now I wanna see your screen, because that really shouldn't be in shadow?

I don't know how to take a screenshot.

I mean, it's not super dark, as in night dark, but multiple times I've walked along that ledge and had no idea I could even turn left, let alone find something there. I just keep walking off the end hoping that i would land on something else. I am perfectly willing to concede user error. Maybe I'm just not looking carefully, or maybe I have the settings wrong. But I do know my game is as bright as it can be, and I don't have any picture problems with anything else I watch. TV shows, movies Etc.

Maybe check out a video for comparison's sake? Idk.

Soooo...you got past the archers ok?

josh the switch has a dedicated screenshot button!

https://d1fs8ljxwyzba6.cloudfront.net/assets/editorial/2017/03/take-screenshots-nintendo-switch-joy-con-1.jpg

the problem is that the irl joycon doesn't have an arrow pointing to it that says "capture button"

josh sent me his screenshot
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Future_earth.jpg

I'm playing on PS4.

And no, not past the archers yet. Was taking me enough time just to get to them that when I finally looked up how to get to them I decided to leave it till another day. Probably today. How hard can it be? Famous last words.

got to say, none of you will be laughing when I successfully complete the first literally blind walkthrough.

not so much blind as too many cooks: https://www.wired.co.uk/article/twitch-plays-dark-souls

https://assets1.ignimgs.com/vid/thumbnails/user/2013/05/07/PS4share_270h.jpg

josh the ps4 has a dedicated screenshot button!

https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.As3AJc523RAUohEgnFIKoAHaFv%26pid%3D15.1&f=1

If I hit the "share" button, where does the screenshot go? And how would I get it here?

Also, might be hard to take the screenshot, because the spot is right where I need to run past the archers! Which means I think I need to beat them first then backtrack to take the picture. Unless I do a recon suicide run just to take the shot. But probably won't do that.

here, this'll help: http://bfy.tw/KmQE

Har. Anyway, if I did that I'd need to put it on a USB drive, but then I still don't know how (googling aside) to get/share it here from there without a hosting service and/or PS4+.

Perhaps my visibility issue could be as simple as glare, because I don't like to play in the pitch dark (too scary).

I played a lot the past couple days.

The archers took me about ten tries. I stopped melee'ing the big knights and the demons and just kept going for a speed run. I found success once I stopped using my shield and just ran for it-- my shield got hit once when I was circumventing the middle column and I fell into the depths. Didn't even try fighting the archer-on-the-right, just had him draw his sword, backed away back onto the buttress, used a pillar for cover from the archer-on-the-left, and waited until the loser slipped on the gutter.

I very meticulously explored the interior of Anor Londo and picked up all the things, but kept having trouble with the Silver Knights. Grass Crest Shield +10, Lightning Spear +3/Falchion +10, Silver Knight armour. I had accumulated about 40000 souls by the time I got to the Titanite Demon. Kept failing and failing and failing to defeat him, each time recollecting my souls and trying again. I checked a guide and realized that the Giant Blacksmith was nearby, and that I didn't need to kill the Demon to get to him, so I decided to retrieve my souls and press on. It was after I made this decision that I failed to retrieve my souls and the Demon had the second-to-last-laugh.

But I made it to the Giant Blacksmith in the end. Cashed in some stuff and was ready to make use of Quelaag's soul. My intention was to use my Falchion +10 for the transition, and I used it, and immediately regretted it-- my Falchion was superior to this thing, wasn't it?

Even stupider, I had upgraded my Knight Shield to +6 and was planning on getting it up to +10 to get the Greatshield. But I forgot that was my plan, and accidentally got rid of the Grass Crest Shield instead. My strength was at 30, I couldn't use my new shield, Quelaag's Furysword was a disappointment, and I'd lost 40000 souls to a Titanite Demon, and I felt annoyed and embarrassed.

Happily, I still had my Eagle Shield and my Lightning Stick so I did about an hour of grinding on the big Knights in the great hall and the Silver Knights in the area. Got my strength up to 34 so I could use the Greatshield-- it is an amazing shield! Upgraded it and the Furysword up to +4 with Demon Titanite. Bought the Giant Set from the Giant Blacksmith and upgraded it to +2/+3. I'm at (I'm told) a very unusually high level for this point in the came (lv. 69), and suddenly Silver Knights were now made of butter, my character seemed fairly unstoppable.

I sailed into Ornstein and Smough without any support and beat their golden assholes on the second try. Took on Smough first and Ornstein second. Got the warp machine and now I feel like I have far too much freedom to know what to do next.

I sailed into Ornstein and Smough without any support and beat their golden assholes on the second try

Whoa, that is pretty amazing! It took me muuuuch longer the first time through.

Maybe Quelaag's sword feels underwhelming because it's slower than the falchion, which is one of the fastest weapons in the game? It's still pretty great, but everyone has their preferences for what feels good. Also fyi it gets bonus damage if you have humanity on your counter, up to 10.

Oh, no, I love Quelaag now, since I upgraded it to +2 (it's now at +4) I like.. get it. The Greatshield is a revelation though... I was worried I'd miss the fast-stamina boost of the Grass Crest, but the "no damage, only tiny stamina" reality of the Greatshield's blocking is so amazing

I feel very similarly about this game as I do about my long-time favourite game, Ancient Domains Of Mystery. There's a lot of stuff you just have to research online to understand, and the game feels impossible at first, but then the feeling of getting a character airborne is the greatest feeling. (Worried that, as in ADOM, that the game becomes boring once your character starts to shine)

Oh I wouldn't worry too much. Sure, your level is pretty high for this point in the game (I usually finish the game around lvl 80, I think?), but there are still some areas meant for that, like everything that was originally the dlc.

Man, fgti lapping me. I was just coming to post that the archers are assholes. Though I have also been running past some of these hard-hitting pia enemies, like the big knights and flying demons, both of which are more annoying obstacles than adversaries.

I haven't been upgrading my Grass Shield or any shield. Is that something I can and should do?

It increases stability (so you lose less stamina when blocking). Not tooo big of a deal, but if you have extra upgrade materials and souls, it's better than upgrading armor.

And the aforementioned Greatshield, that is something I get from Sif's soul? I upgrade a regular shield, than transform it into a Greatshield? I went back to the blacksmith to buy more arrows, anyway, so maybe I will mine souls there and do that, since I have materials, i think.

Yeah, you have to upgrade a +10 shield with Sif’s soul. It will automatically give you the option (if you have a +10 shield). I planned to do it with the Knight’s shield, but accidentally did it with Grass Crest. The Greatshield needs 34 strength to use, fyi! I am so happy with it though

Ugh, going to have to mine some souls forever to get up to 34, assuming I want to go that route. I guess that's easier to do in Anor Londo than earlier. The blacksmith that can make the great sword, that is after the archers, right?

yup

Basically you only have to fight two Silver Knights after archers before blacksmith. Silver Knights net you 1500 each, the big Knights net you 3000. You don't have to grind very long at all to get your strength up (unless you're already at a high level). I'm at Level 70 now and the levelling requirement is ~30000 but it's still pretty quick to get that many with the shit they're throwing at you

Oh no, my mistake, I forgot, you have a bunch of shit to do before you can get to blacksmith, there's a route through the side rooms to open a shortcut that I forgot you needed to do. Lots of Silver Knights. They were taking pieces off me until I narrowed the arc of my circle dance, changed my angle from 2 o'clock to 1 o'clock and found I was able to get behind them much quicker

Goddamn, three times I've taken out the second archer, three times I got knocked off in the process. I did cheese my way to killing the left archer. He's within, ironically, bow range, and given the buttress builds in shielded places where his arrows can't get me, that gave me a safe perch to (slowly) fire with impunity. The second one, though, I can't reach him, so I have to figure out how to get to him without getting knocked off.

Most people ignore the archer on the left, but you do you!

I didn't know it was optional, because I don't know which way to go. I assume that means I go to the right?

Um... who's to say! Not me.

in the 25th-ish attempt on my 1st playthrough, i belted up the buttress, immediately turned left, killed the knight in super quick time, then turned around just the second archer came across, sword drawn. I kept my shield up, gradually backing him towards me, until he was on a piece of the leftmost buttress with a bit of width. I circle strafed the fucker till I got get a backstab in. my heart was beating the hardest it ever has in a video game from there till the bonfire.

The archers beat me my first play through. Must’ve ran it a few dozen times unsuccessfully. Was also WAY too heavy, didn’t get the weight thing. Ended up not playing it for a while and lost the nerve to return. Came back to the game a few years later and started from the beginning and beat it.

Anyway, y’all are a lot better than I was on first playthrough. Beating O&S on the second try seemed inconceivable.

I beat Sif on the second try too!

I went back to Asylum at Level 70 or whatever in my tankity tank tank armour and megaweapons and the Stray Demon STILL killed me three times before I got him.

So far the enemy that caused me the most number of deaths was likely the first couple of Black Knights, Havel, and the Dual Gargoyles

Only boss that's given me real trouble was Capra, but of course the boss is the least of that fight. Oh, Stray Demon, yeah, that was a PIA, until I figured out to hit and run. For regular villains, black knights have been a pain, archers (ongoing) for sure, also those ninjas, and I have real trouble with the snakes, for whatever reason.

It's a truism of Dark Souls that one person's bete noire (sometimes literally) is a cakewalk for another, depending on play style and build.

catacombs: disappointing environment
Pinwheel: disappointing boss
Tomb of the giants? I faffed about for fifteen minutes and stopped playing. Checked a guide. Lantern in the shield spot? Ok.

This game does strike a delicate balance between difficult and pain in the ass just for the sake of it.