Topic: You Died. The Dark Souls Series Discussion Thread

@Th3solution @xeofate Personally I would never save scum, as it would feel like those were not 'my' endings.

I can totally understand why people would do it to get trophies etc though.

Jeepers, this Blighttown place is annoying. 😅 I’ve heard the name mentioned a lot, so the reputation was well known, but it’s an effin’ maze. It’s definitely inspired by the Valley of Defilement in Demon’s Souls, but without the organization. 😄

Made it to the bottom, only to be flanked by the fire shooting crab things and poison spewing mosquitoes. I think I had like 5 enemies on me simultaneously whilst standing and fighting them off on a 2 x 4 plank of wood. 😆 Lost a bunch of Souls and Humanity, to say the least. Then when you finally make it past the rickety labyrinthine death climb, you have a pool of poisonous swamp to trudge through. Good grief.

@Th3solution Imagine playing it but then it runs at something like 15fps! 😂 That area was infamous for the performance tanking on the consoles when it first came out.

@JohnnyShoulder Oh gosh… I can only imagine trying to cross one of those wobbling bridges at 15 fps! 😂 I think part of the reason I liked Valley of Defilement better than Blighttown is because the 4K and improved lighting HDR etc makes seeing what you’re doing in the Demon’s Souls level so much better. The 60 fps of Dark Souls Remastered is quite nice but I’ve fallen to my death a few times when I couldn’t tell based on the darkness below and the poor draw distance where the landing was below. Also I’ve ran around for several minutes and ended up rolling off platforms while trying to find a way to get to the next level when I couldn’t see the ladder right in front of me because it just blends into the background. 😅

@Th3solution I actually think the Valley of Defilement was simply a better designed area that Blighttown if I’m honest sol… particularly the swamp sections of both. It might come down to the fact that Demons Souls was my first and favourite souls game though.

Oh you're at Blight Town now @Th3solution? Have fun with the Toxic blowdart snipers everywhere! 😄

... I'd argue both poison areas aren't that great myself. The one in Dark Souls 3 doesn't have any ladder or falling shenanigans at least

@Th3solution I was watching a YouTube video of how to get to an item in the Valley of Defilement, and it was almost like watching an anime as they had changed the TV settings so you could see everything clearly. It was quite cool and almost like watching a different game.

Saw my Nintendo Switch "Year in Review" thing. Most of it was no surprise, but apparently I pumped 76 hours into Dark Souls Remastered over the course of eleven days.

Geez.

@Ralizah I've clocked up an inconceivable 464 hours in Edlen Ring on PS5, which was 45% of my total annual playtime. Yikes.

I must be due another run through of Dark Souls. I want the platinum in 3 but I can't be bothered to farm those stupid items you need for it in the online bit. Or in the offline bit.

@JohnnyShoulder Wow.

I think I got about 80 hours out of ER before I felt like I'd seen what was worth seeing and moved on. Which is still a pretty long time to spend with a game.

Granted, I've never been one to endlessly dump time into open worlds.

The game I spent the most time with this year was the new Monster Hunter game, which I had about 135 hours on. 134 on Xenoblade 3. 95 on Triangle Strategy. ER at 80. DS at 76. Then a ton of games around the 45 - 60 hour range.

@Ralizah I don't normally spend that long in open world games, with the average being around the 130 hour mark for FromSoftware's previous games, and titles like Ghost of Tsushima. The Witcher 3 I spent 400 hours in too, and that was without starting the dlc. Games like Fifa
can be a time sink for me as they are kinda endless.

I think I’m done with that blasted Blighttown. Quelaag is down. She wasn’t too bad - only died once to her, thankfully, and didn’t have to summon help. In fact, so far I haven’t summoned any help, NPC or online neither one.

I think I’ll revisit the backside of Darkroot Garden before doing Sen’s Fortress or New Londo Ruins or the Catacombs. I wandered into the Darkroot Garden / Forest area and decided not to join the Forest Hunter Covenant and that’s a real death trap. I guess I have to join them to have any hope of navigating the forest without a thousand hunters charging me at once 😅

There’s so much variance with how you can proceed through this game and what order to do things in. The interconnection of the different areas is starting to crystallize in my memory finally. I’m learning the routes to and fro a lot better than I did in the first 20-30 hours in the game.

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Tagging Dark Souls aficionado @TheBrandedSwordsman — haven’t seen you around much and wondering how you’re doing. Also letting you know I’m have a ball with DS1. 😄

That’s insane! That’s some Skyrim level game time right there.

@Th3solution After leveling up a bit you should be able to tackle the forest area properly and do some lucrative soul-farming to level up even more, if you get the Symbol of Avarice (Google it) it can be even more lucrative.

What gear are you using? I did a GiantDad (Google it) build with the Chaos Zweihander and loved it, that was for an earlier playthrough, more recently I did a Guts (Berserk manga antihero) build with the Greatsword, that wasn't as good as he was more vulnerable than the GiantDad but I still enjoyed it early on.

@Th3solution Curious to know what you think of Sen's Fortress. It was my favorite part of the game.

I never quite gelled with Skyrim. Not sure why. I enjoyed it then eventually got a bit overwhelmed by everything and gave up. Did sink a load of hours into it but nowhere near any of my times with From Software games.

@TheBrandedSwordsman Yeah I think I should be better prepared for the Forest area now. I’m level 50 and I think I was around level 30 on my first attempt when I wandered into it.

As far as guide and build, I’m not following a specific build per se, but have put some ideas together that I have seen online. I’m doing melee and strength type build but have now stated putting a few points into other areas and I’ve recently purchased some pyromancy to mix in. I even have a touch of faith points and use the healing miracle, which I really like so that I can mostly save my estus flasks for the boss fights. My equipment I use is mostly the Knights armor set, the Dragon Crest shield (used Spider Shield for Blighttown though) and my weapon is the very awesome Black Knight Halberd, which I’ve leveled now to +5 and it slices most common enemies in 1-2 hits. I used the Zweihander for the first couple hours until I had the strength to wield the BN Halberd and it was pretty good too and would have been decent to go with for a main weapon and level it up, but the Black Knight Halberd is a really good combination of potency, reach, and quick striking ability. I also use the long bow on occasion, but honestly haven’t used it much. I also obtained the Dragon King Greataxe from cutting off Gaping Dragon’s tail but I’m not strong enough to wield it yet. Do you know if it worth pouring points into strength to be able to use it? The BN Halberd has worked well for me so I haven’t devoted my souls that way yet and am currently increasing vitality.

I wish I could utilize magic, but I have to focus on Vitality, endurance, and strength I think. I like how pyromancy can be utilized without having to worry about stat building.

And the Symbol of Avarice looks like it is an awesome farming enhancer. Unfortunately I haven’t been to the required location to get it yet but I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for it! 😄

@Ralizah I think Sen’s Fortress is the area I’m “supposed to” go next based on the cut scene after ringing the second bell, but I want to clean up some optional areas first. Did you do Sen’s before or after the Darkroot boss? At what point did you do the New Londo Ruins with those ghosts? I’m really intimidated by them.

@Th3solution Very detailed response, thank you, I don't know about the GreatAxe. With further regard to the Symbol of Avarice you can get it by either obtaining an item which increases your loot finding ability and killing the required enemy that will grant you the SoA a few times till you get it (item is either the covetous silver serpent or gold serpent ring I believe, Google it), or killing every one of that enemy type in the game and getting it that way (it is guaranteed that the last one you kill will drop the SoA).

Sounds like you have a good build, I used Mask of the Father, Giant Armour, Gauntlets and Leggings and Chaos Zweihander for my GiantDad build. I believe all the BK weapons are highly coveted by many DkS players.

Also have you found the hidden bonfire near the forest, behind an illusory wall? it's just outside, on the left of the forest door

Might be useful.