So, last week over the holiday, I hit 200 hours played in this game, which might make it the videogame I have played the most, at least among games that track this kind of information. The previous record holder was Knights of the Old Republic at something like 160 or 180 hours, where I'd scoured every nook and cranny for lightsaber parts, and hit the level cap while fighting wild rancors on the Unknown World. That was a pretty good game.
Anyway, I've been tying up loose ends since defeating the Bed of Chaos for the third lord soul. As far as the main game goes, I've got to fight Sif, the Great Grey Wolf in order to access the area where I'll obtain the the final offering to the Lordvessel. Makes tangling with Sif long go seem to have been . . . ambitious.
Other stuff: I killed the remaining titanite demons in the lower level of Sen's Fortress, and ground out Sunlight Medals from the bugs in the shortcut to Lost Izalith in order to level up in the Warrior of Sunlight covenant. I took another trip through the Great Hollow and explored Ash Lake, so I believe the only covenant I haven't discovered is the one tied to the Darkwraiths. Lots of goodies remaining in the Great Hollow, though, which I may never take the time to loot fully.
Also, I worked my way through most of the additional content, which had been another dead end earlier this year. I've defeated the necessary bosses, and tangled with an optional fourth boss a few times. I guess they're all optional, seeing as it's downloadable content, but I followed the area's storyline to it's conclusion, which meant three difficult, although ultimately satisfying boss fights (well, the first two were. I was getting impatient by the third). It's kind of an amazing feeling to learn an enemy's attack animations, to anticipate where one's openings will be to strike during a drawn-out encounter; or to time defensive tactics off an enemy's sound effects, to know when to have a shield raised to block, or lowered to restore stamina. This is a pretty good game, too.
My character's about level 105 now; I've been putting my points into Faith, Endurance, and Vitality, all of which are in the low 30s. I see now where the early raising of Strength and Dexterity, along with trying to max out vitality, was somewhat coarse and hasty for the character I wanted to develop, but that's part of figuring out this game. I'll also say that, the more I play, the more play skill seems to be the determining factor for success. Is it strange that I'm not accustomed to this, neither from roleplaying games specifically, nor videogames generally? Something to consider.
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
On the Level
So, after after feeling like I'd hit a wall in Dark Souls, and then letting it lie fallow for a few months, I've been on a tear since that little bit of grinding I did last week. Cast Light allowed me to navigate the previously impenetrable Tomb of the Giants, where I defeated Gravelord Nito for my first Lord Soul. He was defeated in less than half a dozen tries on my part. There are six skeletons in the chamber with him (three human, three giant), but the giant skeletons seem to stay in the opposite side of the chamber from where one enters, and left me alone as long as I didn't venture over there (which happened on my first attempt while trying to outmaneuver Nito).
The Gravelord's distance sword attack, where it appears from the ground underneath the player's character, was by far his most damaging attack, although he seemed to dispense with it once I closed. That, of course, left me susceptible to his toxic miasma, although by equipping the Bloodshield before the battle, I was able to keep the toxicity under control until I'd vanquished him. Bring Blooming Purple Moss Clumps, just in case.
I received enough souls from this battle that, combined with those I'd collected along the way, I was able to level up twice afterward, and I think I put both points into Endurance. Perhaps I was under-doing it previously, but getting my Endurance in line with my Vitality, Strength, and Dexterity seems to have made a considerable difference in how my character performs.
From there, feeling pretty pumped up, I returned to the Crystal Cave, steeled myself for the invisible walkways, and won my second Lord Soul from Seath the Scaleless. A couple tips for this fight: there's a crystal in the back of Seath's lair, which has to be broken at the start of the battle. Otherwise, Seath will be invulnerable. Also, I had the most success luring Seath to the far ends of the roughly oval chamber, which let me maneuver around him while shooting him full of crossbow bolts, before pulling him back tot eh other end and repeating these tactics. The Cursebite ring probably saved me some trouble, too.
Next, it was back to the Demon Ruins, past where the second Bell of Awakening was rung. There's a (not so small) mini-boss here, the Ceaseless Discharge, with whom I hadn't tangled much before. I equipped the Flame Stoneplate Ring and went for it. He stayed at range and kept blasting me with his flame attack, but I was able to tank it, rush forward to hack on one of his arms, and then drink an Estus Flask before the next blast. He went down on the first try.
Killing the Ceasless discharge ceases the lava flow in the area below, which opens up the way to the Demon Ruins and subsequently Lost Izalith. These areas have had some tricky bits (e.g. watch out for the large burrowing insects in the Ruins that will destroy your arms and armor), but they've been surprisingly linear compared to the exploration required of previously encountered areas of the game. It's a shame; it seems like there's nothing left to come that compares to linking the areas around the Firelink Shrine, or battling through Sen's Fortress, the Painted world of Ariamis, or the Catacombs.
Also, it's weird that after hours upon hours of scraping by, my character suddenly feels so powerful. I don't know if it's some of my gear (I've gotten a lot out of the Lightning Heavy Crossbow I made right after I started playing again, and I finished my Divine Longsword +10 after finding the White Titanite Chunk in the area before Gravelord Nito's chamber), higher defenses from leveling up (I've put almost all my points into Endurance and Faith), or better miracle usage (Lighting Spear is amazing and the short-lived hit-point regeneration of Replenishment has become a staple of significant encounters). This feeling, coupled with how relatively quickly I've exhausted these last areas, definitely creates the impression that I'm closing in on the end of the game.
The Gravelord's distance sword attack, where it appears from the ground underneath the player's character, was by far his most damaging attack, although he seemed to dispense with it once I closed. That, of course, left me susceptible to his toxic miasma, although by equipping the Bloodshield before the battle, I was able to keep the toxicity under control until I'd vanquished him. Bring Blooming Purple Moss Clumps, just in case.
I received enough souls from this battle that, combined with those I'd collected along the way, I was able to level up twice afterward, and I think I put both points into Endurance. Perhaps I was under-doing it previously, but getting my Endurance in line with my Vitality, Strength, and Dexterity seems to have made a considerable difference in how my character performs.
From there, feeling pretty pumped up, I returned to the Crystal Cave, steeled myself for the invisible walkways, and won my second Lord Soul from Seath the Scaleless. A couple tips for this fight: there's a crystal in the back of Seath's lair, which has to be broken at the start of the battle. Otherwise, Seath will be invulnerable. Also, I had the most success luring Seath to the far ends of the roughly oval chamber, which let me maneuver around him while shooting him full of crossbow bolts, before pulling him back tot eh other end and repeating these tactics. The Cursebite ring probably saved me some trouble, too.
Next, it was back to the Demon Ruins, past where the second Bell of Awakening was rung. There's a (not so small) mini-boss here, the Ceaseless Discharge, with whom I hadn't tangled much before. I equipped the Flame Stoneplate Ring and went for it. He stayed at range and kept blasting me with his flame attack, but I was able to tank it, rush forward to hack on one of his arms, and then drink an Estus Flask before the next blast. He went down on the first try.
Killing the Ceasless discharge ceases the lava flow in the area below, which opens up the way to the Demon Ruins and subsequently Lost Izalith. These areas have had some tricky bits (e.g. watch out for the large burrowing insects in the Ruins that will destroy your arms and armor), but they've been surprisingly linear compared to the exploration required of previously encountered areas of the game. It's a shame; it seems like there's nothing left to come that compares to linking the areas around the Firelink Shrine, or battling through Sen's Fortress, the Painted world of Ariamis, or the Catacombs.
Also, it's weird that after hours upon hours of scraping by, my character suddenly feels so powerful. I don't know if it's some of my gear (I've gotten a lot out of the Lightning Heavy Crossbow I made right after I started playing again, and I finished my Divine Longsword +10 after finding the White Titanite Chunk in the area before Gravelord Nito's chamber), higher defenses from leveling up (I've put almost all my points into Endurance and Faith), or better miracle usage (Lighting Spear is amazing and the short-lived hit-point regeneration of Replenishment has become a staple of significant encounters). This feeling, coupled with how relatively quickly I've exhausted these last areas, definitely creates the impression that I'm closing in on the end of the game.
Friday, November 7, 2014
Warrior of Sunlight
Lots of posts I meant to write, and then just stopped playing altogether for a while, but recently I've picked up Dark Souls again in earnest. Last night, I finally found my way into the coveted Warrior of Sunlight covenant. It was, as I suspected, uncovered at the ruined statue behind the drake in the Undead Burg, although inclusion was not tied to donating Sunlight Medals, but rather to my character's Faith statistic. I looked into the statuary garden and there was Solaire, who invited me to join the Warrior of Sunlight covenant by praying at the statue. Sunlight Spear miracle is slow, but does sweet damage.
Spent the last two nights grinding on the Phalanx in the Painted World of Ariamis, which nets almost 10,000 souls per run. I hit level 85 after raising my Faith to 25 and my Intelligence to 14. The latter lets me use the sorcery Cast Light, so I started exploring the Tomb of the Giants with slightly lessened chance of stepping off a cliff into a yawning chasm. Made it to the first bonfire and am journeying out from there.
I've got three points of loose Humanity, which is maddening even though I've died only once recently. Probably, I should use them to stoke the bonfire in the tomb before I get in over my head.
Fun to be making progress again. The impenetrable dark in the tomb was a big roadblock. Other roadblocks to overcome since we last left off: Great Wolf Sif, the chimera guarding the Sanctuary Garden, and the unnavigable Crystal Cave.
Spent the last two nights grinding on the Phalanx in the Painted World of Ariamis, which nets almost 10,000 souls per run. I hit level 85 after raising my Faith to 25 and my Intelligence to 14. The latter lets me use the sorcery Cast Light, so I started exploring the Tomb of the Giants with slightly lessened chance of stepping off a cliff into a yawning chasm. Made it to the first bonfire and am journeying out from there.
I've got three points of loose Humanity, which is maddening even though I've died only once recently. Probably, I should use them to stoke the bonfire in the tomb before I get in over my head.
Fun to be making progress again. The impenetrable dark in the tomb was a big roadblock. Other roadblocks to overcome since we last left off: Great Wolf Sif, the chimera guarding the Sanctuary Garden, and the unnavigable Crystal Cave.
Sunday, March 2, 2014
3/1/14: Dragons and Blighttown
After spending a lot of time in the depths and finding another merchant I started the evening at the door of the Gaping Dragon. I figured there was a boss through the door, and spent lots of time thinking if I should go back and rest at a bonfire.
But I decided against it and went into the fight with full health and two Estus flasks. The Gaping Dragon, for lack of a better term, was a push over. I don't know if the AI was busted but he literally never laid a hand on me. I stayed at range, which was pretty easy to do, and shot him with arrows until he died. Upon his death I got a great axe that I wont be able to use (Strength 50). With the Dragon dead I got the key to Blighttown and went through the doors.
I don't really like Blighttown very much. Most of the humanoid enemies are easy one hit kills, but the dogs and flies are just annoying. I spent time wandering down to the bottom of the town and waded through the bog. Good thing I had lots of moss clumps because I get poisoned really easily in the bog. Next to a bonfire in the bog I found a way back up to the back entrance I had used previously from the Valley of The Drakes. Since I don't think that is the way to go to get to the second bell, I am left wondering if an area across the bog is the way to go. There were large guys with boulders over there. They were so far away that I couldn't hit them with arrows. I guess next time I play I'll try to wander over there and see what I can do with them.
I also found more sets of gear. I found a wanderer set, a hard leather set and some set that I could buy from the merchant in the depths. I really think that gear is overrated. I'm still running around with my chain mail from early in the game and doing just fine. I have spent no money trying to improve any of the armor, so maybe I should do that. I wonder if armor scales with attributes the same way that weapons do. If so I should find what scales with Dex and work on that (assuming it isn't too heavy). My Dex is ~40, so I think that is really helping my weapons.
But I decided against it and went into the fight with full health and two Estus flasks. The Gaping Dragon, for lack of a better term, was a push over. I don't know if the AI was busted but he literally never laid a hand on me. I stayed at range, which was pretty easy to do, and shot him with arrows until he died. Upon his death I got a great axe that I wont be able to use (Strength 50). With the Dragon dead I got the key to Blighttown and went through the doors.
I don't really like Blighttown very much. Most of the humanoid enemies are easy one hit kills, but the dogs and flies are just annoying. I spent time wandering down to the bottom of the town and waded through the bog. Good thing I had lots of moss clumps because I get poisoned really easily in the bog. Next to a bonfire in the bog I found a way back up to the back entrance I had used previously from the Valley of The Drakes. Since I don't think that is the way to go to get to the second bell, I am left wondering if an area across the bog is the way to go. There were large guys with boulders over there. They were so far away that I couldn't hit them with arrows. I guess next time I play I'll try to wander over there and see what I can do with them.
I also found more sets of gear. I found a wanderer set, a hard leather set and some set that I could buy from the merchant in the depths. I really think that gear is overrated. I'm still running around with my chain mail from early in the game and doing just fine. I have spent no money trying to improve any of the armor, so maybe I should do that. I wonder if armor scales with attributes the same way that weapons do. If so I should find what scales with Dex and work on that (assuming it isn't too heavy). My Dex is ~40, so I think that is really helping my weapons.
Friday, February 28, 2014
2/28/14: This town stinks!
After a long escape through the New Londo Ruins I felt like I had found everything that there was. I got some loot, a nifty ring, found a guy that wanted to uncurse me, and found the way out (although it was locked). One thing that I did find was a balcony overlooking the Valley of the Drakes. So for a lack of anything better to do I decided to go back there. I fixed my curse and started wandering around.
In the Valley of the Drakes I beat one dragon in claw to sword combat then decided to just use arrows to kill the rest. The same could be said about the undead dragon I found clinging to a cliff. At this point I think I have shot somewhere around 1000 arrows. It is how I manage to control my fights so they stay one on one.
With all of the dragons/drakes dead (and me unable to open a giant door under the balcony) I walked past the spot where the undead dragon was. I found some bridges that got me to a closed gate (one that would eventually lead up to New Londo Ruins) and then there was a tunnel. In the tunnel I was warned to look out for "Fattys." I didn't really know what they were talking about, but I did spot some big oafs with clubs in the distance. Those fuckers hit hard, and there were two of them so I had to do a lot of maneuvering to avoid getting killed. They also poisoned me, but I had enough stuff to block the poison. With them dead I wandered forward into Blighttown. I've been poking around Blighttown a bit, trying to shoot anything I can rather than get into combat. I'm coming in from the top, so it involves lots of climbing down ladders. It is kind of disconcerting because I don't know what is on a lower level when I go down there, but so far things haven't been too bad. I have killed a bunch of mosquito things and some strange Fly looking things (like from the movie). I'm not a fan and don't want to fight them in close combat. I'm going to spend my time wandering around Blighttown for the time being.
Speaking of gear (?!), I found some Embers and have given them to Andre (the blacksmith under the Undead Parish). I also have been buying titanite shards from various people. I found a blacksmith in New Londo Ruins, but he seems to specialize in magic so I didn't really use him. I'm still wearing my chain mail armor with eastern helm. My weapons are the bow of Pharis+3, a winged spear +3, and I spent a pretty penny getting a Falchion up to +5. The Falchion apparently has all of the same stats as my Scimitar (which I started the game with) but is slightly heavier and has a longer reach. I think that is where I am going from now on since it ranks S with dexterity. Right now my dexterity is 35 (or so) and I don't plan on working any other stats until it is 40. But I am running into a problem. I don't really want to level up since I have killed so many things and haven't found a bonfire near my current stomping ground. I think that is why I am being so cautious. If I die now I'm pretty fucked.
In the Valley of the Drakes I beat one dragon in claw to sword combat then decided to just use arrows to kill the rest. The same could be said about the undead dragon I found clinging to a cliff. At this point I think I have shot somewhere around 1000 arrows. It is how I manage to control my fights so they stay one on one.
With all of the dragons/drakes dead (and me unable to open a giant door under the balcony) I walked past the spot where the undead dragon was. I found some bridges that got me to a closed gate (one that would eventually lead up to New Londo Ruins) and then there was a tunnel. In the tunnel I was warned to look out for "Fattys." I didn't really know what they were talking about, but I did spot some big oafs with clubs in the distance. Those fuckers hit hard, and there were two of them so I had to do a lot of maneuvering to avoid getting killed. They also poisoned me, but I had enough stuff to block the poison. With them dead I wandered forward into Blighttown. I've been poking around Blighttown a bit, trying to shoot anything I can rather than get into combat. I'm coming in from the top, so it involves lots of climbing down ladders. It is kind of disconcerting because I don't know what is on a lower level when I go down there, but so far things haven't been too bad. I have killed a bunch of mosquito things and some strange Fly looking things (like from the movie). I'm not a fan and don't want to fight them in close combat. I'm going to spend my time wandering around Blighttown for the time being.
Speaking of gear (?!), I found some Embers and have given them to Andre (the blacksmith under the Undead Parish). I also have been buying titanite shards from various people. I found a blacksmith in New Londo Ruins, but he seems to specialize in magic so I didn't really use him. I'm still wearing my chain mail armor with eastern helm. My weapons are the bow of Pharis+3, a winged spear +3, and I spent a pretty penny getting a Falchion up to +5. The Falchion apparently has all of the same stats as my Scimitar (which I started the game with) but is slightly heavier and has a longer reach. I think that is where I am going from now on since it ranks S with dexterity. Right now my dexterity is 35 (or so) and I don't plan on working any other stats until it is 40. But I am running into a problem. I don't really want to level up since I have killed so many things and haven't found a bonfire near my current stomping ground. I think that is why I am being so cautious. If I die now I'm pretty fucked.
Thursday, February 27, 2014
2/27/14: Cursed! Cursed? Cursed!!
The last one is a happy "cursed."
After spending a lot of time in the Catacombs, and eventually dying twice in the Tomb of the Giants (the kind of twice that cost me 26,000 souls) I decided to leave and see where I else I could go. Dan had pointed out that the other bell wasn't in the catacombs but rather through the depths. So off to the Depths I went. I had done a little bit of clearing house here earlier, but I wasn't sure what was going to come back to life. After running through some hollows and some dogs I was relieved that some sort of strange butcher didn't come back to life. Then, behind his table of meats, I noticed an exit. I decided to follow it and it led me to an balcony over looking a giant rat. I remember Dan talking about the gigantic rat, so I decided to lay back and shoot it to death with arrows. After that I wandered the balcony and decided to kills some rats before dropping down. I found a small corridor leaving that room off to the side, and again after killing some rats I made the mistake of falling down a hole. The game was struggling with the hole, because I was standing right on top of it and was fine (I ended up on top of it because the camera in the small hallway was shitty). As soon as I stepped off of it I fell again and was immediately set upon by some sort of giant eyed, thin legged monster.
Here let me take an aside to point out that I am long time arachnophobe. I remember distinctly the part of Resident Evil 1 where you first fought a bunch of small spiders that crawled on the ceiling, then fought a giant spider in a room. My tactic for the small spiders was to use rockets as soon as they saw them. I used fire rockets for the big one. What is lost in this retelling is after the first spider dropped on top of me I immediately threw the controller and stopped playing the game for a few hours. I don't like spiders.
So when I thought this was a spider (I think it is a kind of frog) I dropped the controller and had no ability to fight the curse I was getting. I died, and as a result was cursed.
Being cursed means having half life, accruing no humanity, and other stuff. I read online how to get rid of my curse and realized I could buy a cleansing. I was just about to head to get that done in the Undead Parrish when I read that I could now attack ghosts. I had previously ran from the ghosts I found in the New Londo Ruins, but now that I was cursed I figured why not. So have been running through the ruins, trying to figure out how to deal with the ghosts and managing the closest thing this game has to platforming. Having only half life certainly makes things difficult, but I have been able to make some progress. Aside from the ghosts moving and attacking through walls this fight hasn't been too tough. One type of ghost tries to stab me if I am close and shoots lightning if I am far away. The tightness of the corridors has eliminated my usual strafing tactic, so I am using a spear and just stabbing away. I don't know what is at the end of this road, but for now it is worth exploring.
After spending a lot of time in the Catacombs, and eventually dying twice in the Tomb of the Giants (the kind of twice that cost me 26,000 souls) I decided to leave and see where I else I could go. Dan had pointed out that the other bell wasn't in the catacombs but rather through the depths. So off to the Depths I went. I had done a little bit of clearing house here earlier, but I wasn't sure what was going to come back to life. After running through some hollows and some dogs I was relieved that some sort of strange butcher didn't come back to life. Then, behind his table of meats, I noticed an exit. I decided to follow it and it led me to an balcony over looking a giant rat. I remember Dan talking about the gigantic rat, so I decided to lay back and shoot it to death with arrows. After that I wandered the balcony and decided to kills some rats before dropping down. I found a small corridor leaving that room off to the side, and again after killing some rats I made the mistake of falling down a hole. The game was struggling with the hole, because I was standing right on top of it and was fine (I ended up on top of it because the camera in the small hallway was shitty). As soon as I stepped off of it I fell again and was immediately set upon by some sort of giant eyed, thin legged monster.
Here let me take an aside to point out that I am long time arachnophobe. I remember distinctly the part of Resident Evil 1 where you first fought a bunch of small spiders that crawled on the ceiling, then fought a giant spider in a room. My tactic for the small spiders was to use rockets as soon as they saw them. I used fire rockets for the big one. What is lost in this retelling is after the first spider dropped on top of me I immediately threw the controller and stopped playing the game for a few hours. I don't like spiders.
So when I thought this was a spider (I think it is a kind of frog) I dropped the controller and had no ability to fight the curse I was getting. I died, and as a result was cursed.
Being cursed means having half life, accruing no humanity, and other stuff. I read online how to get rid of my curse and realized I could buy a cleansing. I was just about to head to get that done in the Undead Parrish when I read that I could now attack ghosts. I had previously ran from the ghosts I found in the New Londo Ruins, but now that I was cursed I figured why not. So have been running through the ruins, trying to figure out how to deal with the ghosts and managing the closest thing this game has to platforming. Having only half life certainly makes things difficult, but I have been able to make some progress. Aside from the ghosts moving and attacking through walls this fight hasn't been too tough. One type of ghost tries to stab me if I am close and shoots lightning if I am far away. The tightness of the corridors has eliminated my usual strafing tactic, so I am using a spear and just stabbing away. I don't know what is at the end of this road, but for now it is worth exploring.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
2/25/14: More Wandering
Dan's information on how to get to the lower parts of the Undead Burg provided a long romp into unknown places. I was able to get to the lower parts, kill some dogs and then get ambushed by thieves a few times. None of this way very difficult because I am apparently over leveled and was able to kill the thieves in two hits. Normally fighting three things at once is really bad for me, but it was ok. I was also able to get the bottom level and then rolled through the dogs. Eventually I made it to the Capra Demon, who managed to kill me a few times before I was able to figure out how to keep it at bay. With that done, and at least part of the lower levels explored, I headed back up to the top to see what I could find. Next stop the catacombs.
I've been in the catacombs for 2 days now, and have made it "pretty" deep. I passed through one white wall and managed to beat another one of those gimped lightning throwing mini-bosses. I ran into some laughing guy next to a switch who I was pretty sure was going to backstab me. Fortunately he didn't and I think I just need to keep going "down" in the catacombs until I find the bell. The last thing I did was fall through a hole in the floor near the lightning guy and almost immediately get killed by a black knight with great tracking and an axe.
Oh, and I also wandered down to Old Londo, walked right by some hollows and failed to do any damage to a ghost before I got the fuck out of there.
I've been in the catacombs for 2 days now, and have made it "pretty" deep. I passed through one white wall and managed to beat another one of those gimped lightning throwing mini-bosses. I ran into some laughing guy next to a switch who I was pretty sure was going to backstab me. Fortunately he didn't and I think I just need to keep going "down" in the catacombs until I find the bell. The last thing I did was fall through a hole in the floor near the lightning guy and almost immediately get killed by a black knight with great tracking and an axe.
Oh, and I also wandered down to Old Londo, walked right by some hollows and failed to do any damage to a ghost before I got the fuck out of there.
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