Dark Souls

[Arinon]

I normally don't go past Ceaseless until I have the Lordvessel.  Mostly because backtracking on replays sucks.

I'd head for Ash Lake if you need twinkling titanite, or for the Painted World of Ariamis as it's a good spot to farm up souls if you are looking at weapon switching and haven't hoarded what you need.

[jakonovski]

Cool, seems it was the right choice to head for Anor Londo then. I killed the Gargoyles and got the black armor set, which I think shall me my next thing to wear (it seems perfect for the bridge dragon, time for some payback). I got a crapload of 2H weapons that could potentially be made divine, but for now the halberd is still kicking ass.

[Yegolev]

Yes, get the Lordvessel before you go to Ash Lake, unless you like slipping from narrow paths to your death.

[jakonovski]

I didn't feel like running the archer gauntlet in Anor Londo so I wandered around, killing the wolf and the hydra. Then got my ass kicked by some black cat dog beasty.

I'm way too tired now, but tomorrow I think I'll try and see if Force works on the stupid archer knight dudes.

[Yegolev]

Real Dark Souls begins now!

[jakonovski]

I hope not, because it's a sorry excuse for a platforming level. I came here to fight, not fall off ledges once every three minutes when I'm not corpse running.

fake edit: yes, I spent some time trying to get to them today.




 

[jakonovski]

Whew, finally got past the stupid archers. For some reason none of the guide videos worked for me, had to do it my own way. Now it's back to awesomeness, the castle feels really creepy. I'm getting good at killing mimics.

When is an appropriate time to go to the Painted World? IIRC you're not able to get out until you clear it, so I hesitate.

[Pagz]

Not knowing what it was I got sucked into the painted world as soon as I got there. It's not that hard (other then the crow men) so you should be able to do it now if you're far into anor londo. There is a black phantom there though that you can only do the first time you enter, so make sure you have a few humanity sprites before you go in.

[Muffled]

You don't actually have to kill the area boss to leave, so I don't see why you wouldn't be able to go back and kill BP Jeremiah on a later trip if you wanted to. 

[murdoc]

It's not that hard (other then the crow men) so you should be able to do it now if you're far into anor londo.

I went in there by accident without a fire weapon and it went... poorly.

[Yegolev]

On the other hand, it's a decent place to get souls.  I don't know about Jerry the Q-Tip returning, but you don't have to defeat the boss to leave.  I think you can even skip the midboss.

[murdoc]

The Phalanx is awesome for farming souls once you open up the big door at the beginning.

[Arinon]

You're ready for the painted world as soon as you can reach it.  You have to unlock some things to leave but that's not as hard as the stuff you have to do to get there in the first place.  You don't have to kill any bosses either.  The most annoying parts for me are the risk of going toxic from the walking pimples and the spikey wheel guys in the tunnels.

The Phalanx is awesome for farming souls once you open up the big door at the beginning.

This is the reason to make a point of stopping here early.  If you don't need the souls or are opposed to leveling up then no reason to prioritize the painted world.

[Yegolev]

Yeah that's right.  Toxin.  I can't remember if the Spider shield helps here, but wear the witch robes.

Wheel skeletons are not a problem once you know where they are.

Phalanx isn't hard, just annoying and a crappy homage to the first boss in Demon's Souls.  You can probably firebomb him for old times' sake.

[jakonovski]

I crafted Artorias' Greatshield and Quelaag's Furysword and went to the Painted World. Everything seems to die pretty easily (to the Raw Halberd +5, what's in there that needs fire?), save for the crow dudes who are a bit of a learning process. I'm also gathering a fuckload of souls since it's easy to retry clearing out the pimple men without getting toxic. I have a bunch of the purple stuff for emergencies but as always I'm reluctant to use it.

[Yegolev]

Well, since you're past the archers I'm not sure how interesting the rest of this is.

[jakonovski]

Smough & Orrenburger seem like a really good opportunity for foaming at the mouth, so stay tuned for that once I get out of the painting.
 

[Khaldun]

I need to start this up again and try to get deeper into it with a guide. I got distracted the first time I played it when it came out and haven't really had the time to get back into it.

[Yegolev]

Smough & Orrenburger seem like a really good opportunity for foaming at the mouth, so stay tuned for that once I get out of the painting.

My advice is to kill the fat one last on the first playthrough, then the fat one first on NG+.  Or maybe I have that reversed.  Probably what I said.  I think Smough is probably an asshole on NG+.

[apocrypha]

I need to start this up again and try to get deeper into it with a guide. I got distracted the first time I played it when it came out and haven't really had the time to get back into it.

Yeah same here, don't think I even got past Blighttown.

[murdoc]

Quelaag's Furysword

This totally makes the Painted World a cakewalk.

I think I killed the fat one first, as I wanted the weapon that the skinny one dropped.

[jakonovski]

This totally makes the Painted World a cakewalk.

I actually never realized you can avoid toxicity by burning the pimple men. Turns out the halberd's max range is enough to keep you healthy if you're careful.

[Morfiend]

I have to confess that I have never managed to kill Smough and Orrenburger by myself. I always had to use a humanity and then summon another person. I have played through the game 3 times.

[Yegolev]

Have you upgraded your beginner weapon?

[jakonovski]

Welp I roflstomped Smossen and Ornstorg on my first try, helped by Solaire cos I was human and his sign was there. Greatshield of Artorias just plain stopped all their attacks, even the big ass butt smash from super Smough wasn't enough to go more than 25% of health past my block.

Have I perhaps overleveled in my ocd'ness of scouring every nook and cranny? Soul level 67 atm.

[jakonovski]

This is becoming a bit of a monologue, but I placed the Lordvessel and wandered all over the place. Tried to fight 4 Kings, but my attacks wouldn't connect for some weird reason. Perhaps a bug? Disappointed by that so I went up and am now clearing the Duke's Archive. Poison arrows are worth their weight in gold against the stupid wizards.
 

[Muffled]

67 is a bit high for Smossen and Ornstorg, but not outrageous by any means.  Not many people have the Greatshield of Artorias and the strength to use it by that point, that would make things quite a bit easier.

The four kings may have awkward hitboxes for a halberd, assuming you're still using that.  I wouldn't know specifically, I hated the halberd and never used it seriously.

Out of curiosity: are you using any sorcery/miracle/pyromancy or just plowing all your souls into strength/endurance/vitality?

[jakonovski]

I'm focusing on strength and faith, and I'm favoring endurance over vitality (the only HP you need is the last one!).

The halberd does have some issues with hitboxes, I had to attack Smough slightly from the side to avoid poking between his legs. Other than that I'm loving the weapon, it's got incredible reach and works in small spaces. The two handed heavy attack is a great aoe, had great fun instagibbing up to six phalanxes in Ariamis. I love the weapon so much that last night I even made a divine Gargoyle Halberd just so I could use one (getting to the point where my stats scale better than the Raw upgrade). It seems the game noticed my obsession as well, since I got a Giant Halberd off of one of the guards in Anor Londo. Now for some twinkling titanite.    

[Yegolev]

the only HP you need is the last one!

I think the more important thing when selecting a weapon is one that fits your style.  I have heard of crazy assholes that use the painting guardian "sword", probably the same ones that wear the ninja suit.  Personally, I like the black knight sword.  I'm planning on raising stats eventually so I can use something bigger (and giant armor), but so far it's just perfect.

[Arinon]

Claymore all the way baby! 

[Morfiend]

Uchigatana. My favorite weapon move set from Demons and Dark souls.

[Nightblade]

Uchigatana. My favorite weapon move set from Demons and Dark souls.

Started a second playthrough getting this weapon early on, made me wonder why I did my first playthrough with the zweihander.

[Yegolev]

I didn't really try any of the other large straight swords since the BKS is just so much more powerful, but maybe I can check out the uchigatana.  I think it's curved.

[Morfiend]

I didn't really try any of the other large straight swords since the BKS is just so much more powerful, but maybe I can check out the uchigatana.  I think it's curved.

It is curved. It has fantastic reach, and swings very fast. Every other long sword feels slow after using the Uchigatana.

[jakonovski]

I'll have to cut back on Dark Souls for a few days because of other stuff, but for some reason I'm already planning my return to Demon's Souls. I wonder if it'll feel any different now.