Dark Souls Remastered

[Sméagol]

Ah I though you meant something glitchy. Yeah, I did notice the sound was bad quality, though I actually thought it had always been that way. Won't affect my enjoyment in any case.

[killthenet]

My copy arrived earlier replete with the 'metal plate' from the Nintendo store which is pretty much just a flimsy tin foil sheet print of the box art, didn't cost me any more than RRP to get it alongside the game but I was hoping to be able to offload it on eBay at some point but it seems too flimsy for anyone to be interested in it.

I managed to put a little bit of time into the game, played in handheld mode so couldn't really test the audio but otherwise it runs great. I got wrecked by the Taurus Demon so left it at for this afternoon, hoping that I'll feel completely attuned to the controls again when I play it later on. 

[Sméagol]

Received the game this afternoon, and play a little bit before going to bed (.. yes, that means I went to bed in the afternoon).

Did the Asylum, cleared the graveyard at Firelink Shrine (with that I mean I killed the skeletons with my starting level and gear, not avoided them and suicide run towards the items like a pussy ), and did Undeadburg Burg.

"I wrecked the Taurus Demon" (  ), but wanted to go to bed, so crossed the bridge.. And quit at the bonfire. Not going to lie though.. Red Drake almost got me.. Twice!  Dunno how I survived, but got caught in its fire twice. Once at the beginning, and once near the end.

First thing to kill me.. Was walking off a cliff while backing up from the skeletons at the graveyard.
Second thing to kill me.. Was that same cliff while I was running towards the graveyard to kill the skeletons.
Skeletons never got me though. They did get a lot of new players, as evident from the bloodstains. 

Did not get invaded at Undeadburg. Almost disappointed.

I'll continue my adventure tonight. I'll be doing Undead Parish. I had plenty of Practice during the network test, so should be no problem. Maybe the Great Sword Black Knight haha. If I have enough time, I'll go to Blight town, and probably back to the Asylum before that. 

I will post or edit this post to mention where my summoning signs are. I don't know how the password system works though.

Oh and, now I'm playing the retail version.. Admittedly, the sounds is a bit garting yes, but I won't let it ruin my fun. It's easily patched, and I hope they will. Also.. Why the fuck is cancel / confirm button remapping greyed out in the settins?

Edit:

I'm off to play. After quickly getting my daily login reward in AoV. Since I'm in Undead Parish.. I'll leave my summoning sign in fron of the black knight tower if I'm near the beginning, or around the corner next to the side entrance of the church when I'm near the boss (a bit hidden, this is also one place where I love to drop items by the way) .

Edit:

No invasions yet, but plenty summons! Feels great to help out with a boss!

Edited October 19, 2018 by Sméagol

[killthenet]

I played it docked last night with headphones and the sound is just really weird, the music seems to be normal quality but the ambient sound and the dialogue just has a weird funk to it as if its been run through a filter. I'd compare it to the sound in the Shenmue remasters, though its not as poor quality as that, in that its jarring at first but you get used to it eventually. Hopefully its something they can improve with a patch though.

I don't think I've ever legitimately beaten the Taurus Demon, I was making good progress on him when I picked the game up again yesterday evening but got nudged off a ledge and fell to my death but he decided to follow me and jump to his death so I was met with a 'Victory Achieved' notice before I respawned. Undead Parish was a cakewalk after the practice I had during the network test, took out the Gargoyles first try, but the Capra Demon gave me a bit of trouble, mainly those bloody dogs, so it took me a few tries to defeat him. 

 

[Sméagol]

Yeah, so I ended up playing this all weekend, and missing out on Splatoween.

I'm the opposite in a few ways @killthenet.. Like I said, Taurus Demon was no problem.. But funnily enough Gargoyles took me more tries than during the network test. That said, I'm trying to fight a little bit differently even though I'm using roughly the same build as before.. Didn't use the gold pine resin, and didn't use my fireballs in the end in fact. The level itself was no problem though, well apart from the black knight. I always find the greatsword black knights the hardest.

Wanted to clear the asylum right after that, and I did.. But the Asylum demon took again a few tries. I know what to do, but I'm doing very little damage, and one mistake usually kills me. Plus you have to get a bit lucky right at the start of the fight. Lost 18 Humanity and around 30000 souls to that guy I think? But I did it, and I got my Titanite slab! .. Which I won't be using until much later. But anyway. Of course I also did get the rusted ring which will prove its worth much sooner.

I did the Capra demon on first try, which surprised me (because those bloody dogs indeed). Funnily enough I did have more trouble fighting him "normally", so I decided to play it safe and used the stairs for fireballs and plunging attacks.

Then the depths, well they are no problem at all. Gaping dragon is easy.. Though I forgot about the tail swipe.. The most dangerous move for me when I was trying to cut his tail. Farmed the slimes while waiting for summons.. The both combined resulted in roughly 200000 souls and some humanity. Plus the large titanite shards I was after. Enough to upgrade a few things.

After that.. I wanted to do things a bit differently, and try to get better gear. So I went to New Londo Ruins in order to get the very large ember. Everything went pretty well actually. Going very slowly through the level, and the ghosts won't be much of a problem. I only died once, due to something stupid in fact ( thought I was far enough away, so opened up the menu, then got hit by a Banshee's lightning). But luckily I had the foresight to wear a ring of sacrifice (never used those before), so lost nothing. Killed all the ghosts, picked up everything I could, and met Ingward.. Then I arrived at a locked gate, which I totally forgot about. So no very large ember for me yet. Well at least I have an extra fire keeper soul.. And a rare ring of sacrifice.

Then the next logical stop: Blight town. Same thing as with New Londo Ruins.. Not much of a problem when going through it slowly. Picked up my favourite sword, the Iaito, immediately.. Making that jump actually makes things easier as you get to the bonfire quickly. Went to search for Quelana with 200000 souls to spend.. Except she wasn't there. Googled it, and went back to Firelink Shrine. On my way up.. I finally died due to a combination of toxin from those annoying blowdart guys, and those fucking mosquitos. But again.. I had the foresight to wear that rare ring of sacrifice I picked up in new Londo ruins.. So I lost nothing. Made a detour to Andre, leveld up some stuff, bough even more crossbow bolts (incredibly handy for those mosquitos amongst other things), and went back. Found Quelana, spend all my souls I had left, and I now have an ascended pyromancy flame. Tried to get summoned.. But at this point one of the remastered version's new "features" fucks me over I suspect.. I can't get summoned because I have too powerful weapons for my level and for this part of the game. That sucks man. So I just head over to Quelaag.. Got her first try. She's not that hard for me anymore apparently. Went to visit the Fair lady, joined the chaos convenant, and offered 10 humanity, reinforced my estus flask.. And that's where I'm at. Oh and I made a very brief detour to The great Hollow to pick up the cloranthy ring.

Next stop is probably going to be Sen's fortress.. I can make some other detours, but most of it won't be worthwile until I've done Anor Londo.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 21, 2018 by Sméagol

[LazyBoy]

Hello all. It's been a long long time since I've posted here. 

Thought I'd join the Dark Souls discussion and see if anyone wanted to co-op?

I played this on the PC, but only years late, and as such the community was very quiet. Playing it now on the switch with so many people to co-op with and invade makes it a whole different experience. I've breezed through the game so far, just arriving at Sen's fortress. However I'm planning on taking a couple detours now to get some special kit, and maybe join a covenant.

Anyway if anyone's up for some co-op please say! Safety in numbers!

 

 

[killthenet]

Welcome back @LazyBoy! I'd be up for some co-op with people on here, I've never played Dark Souls online before so wouldn't really know where to start though. I had a pretty annoying moment in the Depths when I fell down one of those holes and got overwhelmed by those bloody toxic frogs, cost me a couple of thousand souls and a significant chunk of time while I returned to Undead Parish and farmed for souls for a while to buy a couple of Purging Stones. Went pretty smoothly after that and I felt kinda bad beating the Gaping Dragon so easily. 

Blightown was similarly frustrating at first but after I reached the first bonfire it went pretty smoothly until I reached Quelaag. I had one attempt at fighting her before I went out earlier and failed miserably, will have a few tries later on - I'm sure I'll be alright once I learn her attack patterns again.

[LazyBoy]

Well I'm happy to help with Quelagg if you want, I've just gotten past her on my current run. My pike build isn't too effective on her but I can at least get her attention whilst you hit her. 

Have you beaten the Man-eater Mildred phantom in the approach to the bonfire?

[Sméagol]

Just a tip: but online is actually a great way to practice bosses. Put your summoning sign somewhere (there are popular spots for each level), and just practice without real consequenses during a co-op run. Though that said, co-op runs aren't exactly the same as solo runs.

I cleared Sen's Fortress (well except the giants, left those alive).. Getting to the bonfire and to the boss wasn't that hard anymore.. But clearing the complete fortress was. It's annoying to get into the pit with the Titanite demons while getting blasted by lightning, but I defeated them all, and got rewarded with a Titanite catchpole (which I can't use (effectively)). Died a few times, but also miraculous survived a few times after falling in the pit accidentally. Always managed to retrieve my stuff though. The boss is easy when you're a pyromancer (though probaby also when you're not). That said..

It's a fast and easy 20000 souls though, when you're play a few co-op games. Well, most of the time. 

Made some detours and went back to a couple of places for upgrading and co-opping, finally got some summons this time in Blighttown.

Next stop will be Ariamis.

@killthenet if you want to co-op, let me know in advance, I can make some detours to where you need me. I could offer the same to @LazyBoy, but it seems he won't be needing my help.  Welcome back, and nice blast from the past avatar. By the way, I suspect I played it even later than you on PC, as in March this year, and online is.. Or was rather, pretty active with the right 3rd party mods back then. Now it seems to be actually quiet with the release of the remastered version, from what I hear on Steam.

Edited October 22, 2018 by Sméagol

[killthenet]

Thanks guys, I'm feeling really sick at the moment so online at the moment is probably a no-go, would probably have to go into standby quite a bit to sort myself out. Will try your tip of placing a summon sign near Quelaag after I've gone back to Blighttown - opened up the shortcut to Firelink and went to give the second Fire Keeper Soul to the Firekeeper but obviously she wasn't there when I went to her cell, had completely forgotten about that quest line. It's surprising how familiar I am with some of the areas over two years after I played it, definitely doing a lot better than the first time I played this - was at at least 20 hours the first time round getting to Blighttown. 

[LazyBoy]

11 hours ago, Sméagol said:

Just a tip: but online is actually a great way to practice bosses. Put your summoning sign somewhere (there are popular spots for each level), and just practice without real consequenses during a co-op run. Though that said, co-op runs aren't exactly the same as solo runs.

I cleared Sen's Fortress (well except the giants, left those alive).. Getting to the bonfire and to the boss wasn't that hard anymore.. But clearing the complete fortress was. It's annoying to get into the pit with the Titanite demons while getting blasted by lightning, but I defeated them all, and got rewarded with a Titanite catchpole (which I can't use (effectively)). Died a few times, but also miraculous survived a few times after falling in the pit accidentally. Always managed to retrieve my stuff though. The boss is easy when you're a pyromancer (though probaby also when you're not). That said..

It's a fast and easy 20000 souls though, when you're play a few co-op games. Well, most of the time. 

Made some detours and went back to a couple of places for upgrading and co-opping, finally got some summons this time in Blighttown.

Next stop will be Ariamis.

@killthenet if you want to co-op, let me know in advance, I can make some detours to where you need me. I could offer the same to @LazyBoy, but it seems he won't be needing my help.  Welcome back, and nice blast from the past avatar. By the way, I suspect I played it even later than you on PC, as in March this year, and online is.. Or was rather, pretty active with the right 3rd party mods back then. Now it seems to be actually quiet with the release of the remastered version, from what I hear on Steam.

Would be great to team up some time. It's not so much about difficulty, the game is just so much more fun in a team.

Went off to kill the Hydra last night, with the aim of getting the Oolacile catalyst from Dusk. I want to be using Magic weapon (and in the future GMW) but without putting too much into Int. So I did that, and figured I'd head up to the forest and pick up the Ninja ring whilst I'm there. Well I got recked by gankers obviously. Going to try again tonight.

[LazyBoy]

Just had a Leeroy moment. I've got two summons helping me get around he inards of the cathedral at Another London. Those silver knights can reck  you if they want. We're progressing well, getting in plenty of backstop. Then we get to that room with the four silver knights. I'm squaring up to run in and out and draw one out of the room so we can pick him off, when the white summon just pushes past and runs straight in the room. Us other two run in after, and despite a valient effort they crush us. 

On the plus side I've be summoned into a few Ornstein fights now and my soul arrows are so effective. They were a knightmare when I had to face them alone on my first run.

[Sméagol]

On 23/10/2018 at 7:29 AM, LazyBoy said:

Would be great to team up some time. It's not so much about difficulty, the game is just so much more fun in a team.

Went off to kill the Hydra last night, with the aim of getting the Oolacile catalyst from Dusk. I want to be using Magic weapon (and in the future GMW) but without putting too much into Int. So I did that, and figured I'd head up to the forest and pick up the Ninja ring whilst I'm there. Well I got recked by gankers obviously. Going to try again tonight.

Oh that's true, but I want to solo the bosses for the challenge, so that's why I never summon myself, unless it's an emergency invader repeller!  Though weirdly enough I've never been invaded until I got to Anor Londo. I was going to create new characters anyway, I'll probably make a sun bro (well, sun sister) dedicated to co-op.

I did the Drake early on, so I already got all the stuff from Dusk. I did not go into the forest yet though, I'm not going there unless I actually intend to kill Sif. Sif was what made me quit the game the first time around.

So my adventure in the Painted world.. I think the level is cool, but it's also hard. All the enemies are tough, even the hollows are stronger than before. The birds have this grab attack that's a one hit kill if it connects, with my stats. It's super scary when fighting them in tight spaces or more than one at a time. I had one drop on my head out of nowhere! But the thing to lose me 10+ humanity and almost 200000 souls (if I recall correctly) were, of course, the bonewheel skeletons. Even though I know I should be careful, and I was careful, only aggroing one at a time, but one got me anyway. I was trying to escape, but died near the entrance. But since your bloodstain is left where you were a few secons before your death.. It was somewhere deeper down the basement. Went back in there, was careful, but a second got me anyway, and I didn't even locate where my bloodstain was.

Anyway, it's all good, I was not going to leave until I got my bonewheel shield, so I cleared the level, and farmed enough to get 200000 souls and 10 humanity, then left. Didn't kill the boss for role playing purposes, because she's so fluffy.

Anor Londo on the other hand wasn't so hard. Farmed this enough in my previous playthrough that the silver knights don't scare me, eventhough I still often mess up the parry. But it's one of my favourite spots to co-op. But then the boss.. Should have been easy, but gave me a bit of trouble. It's probably because I initially wanted to "fight them properly", so I tried to only use my weapon, and not my maxed out ascended pyro flame (which does ridiculous damage against them). And because I was adamant at defeating Smough first. And because I was lower level than in my previous playthrough. Lost my humanity again to them, when I died I was so excited to try again, than I completely forgot to retrieve my bloodstain. Didn't lose any souls because I spend them all at the blacksmith. I finally got Smough using only my weapon (well, buffed by Great magic weapon), but then died to Ornstein. With my current stats, he has one unblockable one hit kill. That was definitely different from my previous playthrough. After that I couldn't be arsed anymore, and just burned them to a crisp, though that still took a couple of tries. But I got them, and I'll get his cool armour later. This probably would have been a first try kill if I went for Ornstein first. Smough is almost always catching up and has no ranged attacks, so you can pretty safely focus on Ornstein, while if you focus on Smough, Ornstein is pretty much always on your case.

After checking an amazing chest, I finally warped back to a rekindled Firelink shrine. That's where I'm left, not sure where I'll head to next, but I think I'll go back to Anor Londo for farming / co-opping.

[Sméagol]

So I made the terrible mistake of entering Oolacile directly after Anor Londo at level 32.  Got the first boss (and the tail), cleared the forest, but I still have to beat Artorias. Should be doable, already got close. He's not the real problem.

Dids take a break from trying to beat him, and besides playing a bit of AoV again, I also started a 2nd character. Technically also a pyromancer (I like starting at level 1), but this one's strenth and endurance based, though I still use some pyromancies. I'm using a Claymore for this one at the moment, for my first character I've upgraded to Qualaag's Fury Sword +5. I'm not restricting this character much regarding levels, so I have more options for weapons.. Already have various exotic weapons to consider. I'm about to enter Anor Londo, though unlike the first character, I've already fully explored and cleared The great Hollow and Ash Lake (apart from a few twinky lizards, they're annoying). I reached the end.. And then realized I couldn't warp yet.  But yeah, I made it back up, beat Qualaag, then cleared Sen's Fortress pretty quickly.

 

[LazyBoy]

I  bloody love this game, an absolute bargain for 30 quid. Just beat the 4 Kings for the first time, having stopped and given up here previously. I'm understanding the game better now, and having a build that I'm slowly mastering makes the game so much more enjoyable. Ive got this DEX/INT Ninja flip build (CMW a big part of it), and last night I was beating all-comers in Darkroot, having just a great time playing in a way that works on the strengths of my character. I've only got the path down to the bed of chaos to complete now, before I do Oolacile and the final boss, but Im already thinking about my next build. 

For NG+ I've got the idea of one-handing an Ultra Greatsword in the right hand, and off-handing a small quick sword like the rapier in the left. Kind of like Cervantes from Soul Caliber. @Sméagol Any suggestions/tips if I was to go down a STR path like this?

[nekunando]

1 hour ago, LazyBoy said:

I  bloody love this game, an absolute bargain for 30 quid. Just beat the 4 Kings for the first time, having stopped and given up here previously. I'm understanding the game better now, and having a build that I'm slowly mastering makes the game so much more enjoyable. Ive got this DEX/INT Ninja flip build (CMW a big part of it), and last night I was beating all-comers in Darkroot, having just a great time playing in a way that works on the strengths of my character. I've only got the path down to the bed of chaos to complete now, before I do Oolacile and the final boss, but Im already thinking about my next build. 

For NG+ I've got the idea of one-handing an Ultra Greatsword in the right hand, and off-handing a small quick sword like the rapier in the left. Kind of like Cervantes from Soul Caliber. @Sméagol Any suggestions/tips if I was to go down a STR path like this?

Haha.. and here's me struggling to overcome the Bell Gargoyles 

This is my first ever Dark Souls experience, though.. and, so far at least, I think I kinda love it too

[LazyBoy]

4 minutes ago, nekunando said:

Haha.. and here's me struggling to overcome the Bell Gargoyles 

This is my first ever Dark Souls experience, though.. and, so far at least, I think I kinda love it too

Its all about summoning mate. My practice is always to use the white soapstone to leave my mark before a boss door first, and help someone else beat it for practice in the knowledge I won't lose souls. Learn their patterns and how you can be effective. Then once you've beat it a couple times, and you've returned with some humanity, reverse your hollowing and summon some friends to help you out. Get into that practice and you'll start to worship the game - otherwise you can run the risk of getting frustrated by the whole experience.

And of course I would be happy to lend a hand if you ever needed it in co-op.

[Hero-of-Time]

26 minutes ago, LazyBoy said:

Its all about summoning mate. My practice is always to use the white soapstone to leave my mark before a boss door first, and help someone else beat it for practice in the knowledge I won't lose souls. Learn their patterns and how you can be effective. Then once you've beat it a couple times, and you've returned with some humanity, reverse your hollowing and summon some friends to help you out. Get into that practice and you'll start to worship the game - otherwise you can run the risk of getting frustrated by the whole experience.

And of course I would be happy to lend a hand if you ever needed it in co-op.

I always thought of summoning as a bit of a cheat. I've only played Bloodborne out of the Souls games and I never once called for help. I figured the whole point of these games was to learn the mechanics of the bosses and slowly but surely make yourself a component fighter against them. 

[LazyBoy]

3 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

I always thought of summoning as a bit of a cheat. I've only played Bloodborne out of the Souls games and I never once called for help. I figured the whole point of these games was to learn the mechanics of the bosses and slowly but surely make yourself a component fighter against them. 

Thats not the first time I'v heard that sentiment voiced, and I completely respect the hardcore approach. However the days are gone though where I have the patience or the time to suffer a boss for the first 10 times of playing it and getting slaughtered(the problem may also just be that I suck). I remember Alba from Ninja Gaiden Black taking me days to beat as a teenager - time which I just don't have now. So yeah its a little easier, but I get a lot more of the game for my time.

Plus I just love co-op, always have. It works especially well in this game if you play with people who know how to take turns aggro-ing.

[nekunando]

2 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

I always thought of summoning as a bit of a cheat. I've only played Bloodborne out of the Souls games and I never once called for help. I figured the whole point of these games was to learn the mechanics of the bosses and slowly but surely make yourself a component fighter against them. 

I've been playing Dark Souls offline so haven't even been tempted to go online and use summoning at this stage and the main reason for that is that I'm trying to figure things out for myself and, ultimately, tackle the challenges with perseverance and learning.

It may eventually get to the stage where I feel I'll need help and be more than glad for the help but I have noticed that the mere mention of Dark Souls seems to make everyone suddenly want to offer advice and tips that haven't been asked for.

Perhaps I'll be desperate for help at some stage but for now just let me enjoy the ride

[Sméagol]

10 hours ago, LazyBoy said:

I  bloody love this game, an absolute bargain for 30 quid. Just beat the 4 Kings for the first time, having stopped and given up here previously. I'm understanding the game better now, and having a build that I'm slowly mastering makes the game so much more enjoyable. Ive got this DEX/INT Ninja flip build (CMW a big part of it), and last night I was beating all-comers in Darkroot, having just a great time playing in a way that works on the strengths of my character. I've only got the path down to the bed of chaos to complete now, before I do Oolacile and the final boss, but Im already thinking about my next build. 

For NG+ I've got the idea of one-handing an Ultra Greatsword in the right hand, and off-handing a small quick sword like the rapier in the left. Kind of like Cervantes from Soul Caliber. @Sméagol Any suggestions/tips if I was to go down a STR path like this?

 

Spoiler

Nopes.  It's the first time for me playing a strength character (well apart from a very quick unfinished playthrough on Steam). Not sure what I'm going to do. Currently using the Claymore, but may upgrade to the Man serpent sword, because it looks damn cool. I personally like using shields though.. I don't think I'd give one up for a 2nd sword. I like to tank stuff. From what I hear, that's actually a great tactic against 4 Kings. First time beating them I also had trouble against them, I was also playing an int / dex pyromancer, but didn't level beyond level 48, so I wasn't doing much damage when my pyromancies run out. Key tip I got then was to use my great magic sword. But I hear having massive armour (and therefore poise) really helps as well. It's what I'm going to find out with my 2nd Switch character.

 

9 hours ago, nekunando said:

Haha.. and here's me struggling to overcome the Bell Gargoyles 

This is my first ever Dark Souls experience, though.. and, so far at least, I think I kinda love it too

Wait 'till you meet Laurel and Hardy. 

But again, glad to hear you like it so far!

8 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

I always thought of summoning as a bit of a cheat. I've only played Bloodborne out of the Souls games and I never once called for help. I figured the whole point of these games was to learn the mechanics of the bosses and slowly but surely make yourself a component fighter against them. 

 

8 hours ago, LazyBoy said:

Thats not the first time I'v heard that sentiment voiced, and I completely respect the hardcore approach.

 

6 hours ago, nekunando said:

I've been playing Dark Souls offline so haven't even been tempted to go online and use summoning at this stage and the main reason for that is that I'm trying to figure things out for myself and, ultimately, tackle the challenges with perseverance and learning.

Yeah, I completely understand the sentiment, it's exactly why I personally don't summon for bosses, for the challenge. But I love co-opping, so I love to be summoned, and I personally think online is the way it's meant to be played. Developers use the same orange messages, and they put NPC invaders in the game. If you feel that's too big of an advantage, well this is exactly why you can also use messages to deceive people, and invaders will ruin your day! I'm absolutely crap at pvp, but I love the thrill of an invader regardless. What I like to do is play hide & seek, and / or just run for the boss. Even when I'm getting one-shotted with dark beads.. I don't care. It's all in the game. If I feel like I've got all the bosses down, I'll summon myself just for fun.

Spoiler

 

I did the Painted world with my 2nd character yesterday.. Even though I have way more health and armour.. The birds still one-shotted me with their grab attack.  And again the skeletons got me as well. Played some hide & seek there.. Got invaded but I was on top of that building, so I had a great overview. Saw where the invader was coming from, and ran to the boss using the toproute (I forgot to open up the door), then waited there to see how long it would take before he gave up or find me here.  Took 10 minutes I think but he finally found me, so I just went through the fog gate. Then went back because I hadn't cleared the level yet. So I did just that, than ran passed the fluffy lady. Again. I will never ever kill her in my own playthroughs.

The Anor Londo, where I still am, playing hide & seek with invaders. Had a dark bead sorcerer who would one shot me if he got a full hit. But he took 10 minutes to find me. I was just hiding around the corner at that roof terrace, with the two towers and the bow using silver knight. Without chameleon or hidden body.  When he finally checked this particular spot, I surprised him with a great combustion blast, which barely did any damage at all, than ran passed him, taking a partial dark bead blast, but ran all the way to the fog gate. Bye bye!  Then died at the boss. My 2nd character is doing much more damage per sword swing.. But is also much slower. So I need to learmn using a different fighting style.

 

I love my look for my 2nd character by the way.

 

Edited November 2, 2018 by Sméagol

[killthenet]

I've been making slow progress with this, have been spending most of my time playing Red Dead over the last week so have only put a bit of time into Dark Souls - mainly while watching TV. I defeated Quelaag with the help of a summon and Mildred, then after that I headed to Darkroot - beat the butterfly and the hydra then decided to head to Sen's Fortress. I made it through there without much trouble but couldn't for the life of me find the bonfire so I just left and farmed for a while to stock up on poison arrows - I knew I'd need them in Anor Londo. I'm in Anor Londo at the moment, those bloody knights got me a couple of times but it was a lot less stressful than the first time I went through it! I've opened up the cathedral doors but haven't attempted Ornstein and Smough just yet, I wanted to defeat Lautrec first but I can't seem to invade him - the orb has quivered a couple of times but not when I've wanted it to, what conditions do you have to meet to invade him? 

[Sméagol]

Maybe your in the wrong spot. The orb wouldn't work for me near the top windows for some reason.. Try the floor. If that's not it, I don't know.. You don't need to be human for that orb.

[killthenet]

I had only tried it on the floor of the cathedral so knew I was in the right place, it just wouldn't work. It was weird, I'd walked in and out of the cathedral like a dozen times trying to get it to work last night but the orb never became active and then the first time I tried it tonight it worked fine. Lautrec was pretty easy too, I must have been so bad at this game the first time I played it to have struggled a few times against him and his lackies. Just gave Ornstein and Smough a try with Solaire and did a lot better than I thought I'd do, though it's annoying that you can't get Solaire to focus on the same one as you, probably would have got rid of one of them if he hadn't wasted so much damage on Smough. Think I figured out Ornstein's patterns pretty quickly but Smough's charge took me by surprise and I wiped out, doesn't feel as daunting a proposition as it did the first time round but I'm sure it'll still take me a few goes.

[killthenet]

Basically just been tooling around doing nothing, left Anor Londo without trying to beat Ornstein and Smough, decided to go and farm for a while so spent a good chunk doing that. Realised I hadn't been to the catacombs so I went down there, died a couple of times on the way to Pinwheel through sheer stupidity mostly but it didn't take very long. Forgot what a pushover Pinwheel was, but thankfully remembered what a bugger the Tomb of the Giants was so went in very cautiously. Got wrecked more than a few times by those damn four-legged skeletons but picked up most of the items and dealt with her ladyship's guards before realising I couldn't yet reach the tombs boss.

Stocked up on arrows again and have headed back to Anor Londo but decided to go into the painted world - those crow boys might be the creepiest thing in the game. I opened up the shortcut before I left the house, will try and beat it when I get home.