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

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.

Agreed, Pinwheel is weirdly tuned to be an early game boss, like if you made it right down there after showing up at Firelink. Which some people do, I guess, but then you have to backtrack all the way out, if you don't want to keep going through the Tomb? This is why I always do it post-Anor Londo (and because I also don't enjoy the tomb).

I'm enjoying the tomb now, got trigger happy and killed a man down there (his name was Patches) and lost some 40000 souls and 2 humanity after wandering into a skeleton-infested pit and failing to retrieve-and-warp

How on earth did people enjoy this game as a console title? it is so great for short handheld bursts

I'm doing OK with it on Ps4, but now ironically regretting not getting it for Switch.

OK, similar to you fgti I fucked up. I finally made it past the archers and was running around Anor Londo all hopped up on victory, killing everything, and ... I accidentally made the Onion bro mad. Now, I understand I can absolve myself, but that means going back to the first belltower, right? Which means coming all the way back to Anor Londo and, assuming I've died during the trip (because I die all the time), getting past the archers again. Is that right? So am I screwed? Does it matter that I made him mad? Do I have to fight him now? Do I want to reverse his grudge? Is there any other way to do that?

Um I would finish Anor Londo, then it will be easier to go back to the belltower.

All it means is that you can't finish his questline, which is purely optional. You could also kill him if you're feeling heartless, but don't do that if you want to keep going with his questline. Congrats on getting past the archers though. :)

key was switching to the katana, a lighter stabby weapon that didn't knock me around. I also did Google and somebody said I can open up the front gate and zip out of Anor Londo that way if I wanted to, avoiding archers on my return. mostly feel bad for making one of the few nice guys in the game angry at me.

I was getting deaded over and over again by Six Angry Skeletons in this weird pit in the Tombs. Went online and found zero workable strategies for melee characters. What to do?

Figured it out on my own. I waited til Three of the Six were clustered near me, swinging at the wall, and did a drop attack. With my fiery sword? all three were dead immediately.

Ha, decided to make amends later and do Anor Londo, then mid battle Onion Knight ran up behind me and killed me.

Alright, now here's a prototypical Dark Souls story. I had planned to save absolving myself for later, but while I was exploring Anor Londo and specifically trying to take down the titanite demon (so close!), an angry Onion Knight would every once in a while run out of nowhere and relentlessly chase after me. One time he chased me all the way back to the bonfire, where I rested - and he was still there when I woke up! (And killed me.) So I decided to first figure out how to open the front gate (which introduced me to the giant blacksmith, who I enlisted to upgrade my Heater+10 to the Great Shield of Sif that I'm not strong enough to carry yet), hoofed it all the way back to the belltower, and discovered it would cost me 35,000 souls to clear my conscience. So grind I did, saved the souls, was absolved, then hoofed it all the way back to Anor Londo (skipping the archers this time, though avoiding more giant magic knights), found my way back to the bonfire, and ... now Solaire is gone? He was there before, where did he go? He's not going to try and kill me now, is he?

did he go missing only after onion knight chased you to the bonfire? i don't recall precisely when he moves on from sitting at the bonfire, maybe it's after killing the boss, maybe it's before that (meeting the blacksmith, opening the shortcut)? i'd say don't worry about it, afaik using oswald will not mess with other npcs storylines

Yeah, he went missing after onion knight chased me, or at least, I didn't know he was missing until I came back from my boondoggle. Don't think I opened the shortcut (unless you mean the front gates?) and I haven't encountered the boss yet, just the titanite demon.

there are 2 shortcuts, the big front gates opened with the lever inside the main hall with the magic giant knights, and the small side gate outside the blacksmith's

Yeah, I haven't left the blacksmith route yet, maybe I'll open that door just to do it. Still need to kill the titanite demon, which is tough. Oh, wait, just looked at fgti's summary, don't have to kill that demon! Fuck that guy, I'll skip it.

I love how no two people will play this game the same way. There is almost always another way, another order, another weapon, another cheese, another strategy or shortcut.

I don't know if he's a titanite demon or what but he's my least favourite recurring creature. Surprisingly dangerous (to me, also) are those serpent mages? they don't look like shit but they always get me

I did really appreciate that the Beast Skeletons in the Tomb Of The Giants were extremely fucking me up and it was only because I'd fallen into a set battle rhythm with the majority of the other creatures, and they required me to tighten things up. They were murdering me! and then I just started fighting them faster and then they were murdered

Yeah, snake people fuck me up, too.

Have you summoned anyone for help yet? I generally play skeleton, because I die all the time, but I know it's an option for boss battles if you turn human first.

Yeah I summoned for Bell Gargoyles and Quelaag. Maybe one or two others.

I haven't made it to the Anor Londo bosses, though I know where they are and am probably ready, but every time I'm about to dive in I look and see I have 2/3rds of the souls I need to level up. So I grind for more souls until I have enough, spend them and level up, then make my way through the keep and then ... accumulate a lot of souls again. And so on. I did beat the titanite demon, though, so there's that. I think next time I spark up the PS4 I'll tackle the bosses. Oh, and I did get my STR up enough to wield that shield, and it seems to be going well, though it does also seem to add enough weight to make rolling slower. A better compromise for now seems to be two-handing whatever weapon with the grass shield on my back, esp. as I start fighting enemies whose attacks are better to avoid or dodge than to block with a shield.