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.