So, anyone playing this on the Switch?

I actually had it on PS3, got to the legendary Blighttown, stop playing for a bit (not because it was too hard, just other games came along) and then my PS3 died on me. I decided to give it another go.

Actually making pretty good progress to get back to where I was. Just beat the Bell Gargoyles, which I remember having a LOT of trouble with my first time through but if you summon Solaire and the other guy at once you can basically just blast right through it without much effort.

This is a great game people! If you haven't played it yet, now is your chance!

Nice! Glad to see you give this game another go. I'd love to read more updates as you make your way through.

I beat it on Switch a couple of weeks back, playing it for the first time. Really good game.

Was so scared of Blighttown when I got there, but it turned out to be one of my favourite parts of the game. Have to assume a lot of the hate for that place has to do with bad framerates and stuff that has been dealt with in the remastered version, 'cause I had a great time there. A tense and gross time, but great nevertheless.

Well I got to the butterfly boss and was getting wrecked and trying to remember how I beat it in the past but couldn't remember. So I looked up some tips online and was like oh yeahhhh if you just stay right in front of it it is easy to dodge the homing attack with a roll.

So that one is down, time to move forward! Though I forget how. I got a key to some door and I don't remember where it is lol.

I was loving this game but sorta quit it cuz I accidentally attacked an important NPC by complete accident (literally wiping my Switch screen in handheld mode, hitting the trigger) and now I need to farm for souls (it's a lot) just to fix the mistake which is fucking monumentally stupid game design IMO.


Huge turn off. Why this ridiculous punishment for a simple mistake like this???

@carlosrox
There is some shit design in the game. I'm more upset with how the game gives you choices without actually presenting them. You speak to one character before another character, despite the first one being all up in your face and the other one hours away from as much as giving a hint of its own existence - boom, you've now chosen your path for the rest of the game.

Just get through the souls farming and get back on the horse. The game's worth it in the end. What areas are you currently exploring? There are some pretty sweet souls farming spots in places, depending on your progress and level.

@Zero
You could also summon that witch from the stairwell just before the boss. I did, and she took care of the entire boss fight for me. Which didn't feel very rewarding, but in a game like Dark Souls I'm not gonna complain about getting a helping hand every once in a while.

@r_hjort
What are you talking about?

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I finally got past that big gate near the blacksmith and that onion looking knight.

I hit the blacksmith just before going to the new area where I feel I pretty much need a bunch of arrows/bolts to beat it comfortably. The fucking guy SELLS ARROWS. So now if I want arrows (which I currently need cuz I'm low as hell) I have to backtrack like crazy to find someone who sells. I had to attack him now, when I need him most. Just perfect. He's like 2 rooms away from the new area.

Just to remind you; the area beyond the gate has those sharp pendulum things, pits, and that new snake man enemy. Some of them wait beyond the pendulums and arrows/bolts are perfect for them.

But nooooooooo, I had to attack the fucking blacksmith.

@carlosrox
Hahaha, I didn't want to give any specifics, 'cause they're kind of spoilery. I'm talking about a few things, but for example the two ugly snake-ish monsters, one of which hangs around Firelink. There's one that just won't come out if you speak to the other one first, effectively locking you out of certain content.

Ah, I know where you are now. Then you're unfortunately kind of far away from either of the two places I was going to suggest for soul farming. I ran back and forth between the fortress and the bonfire, killing the two snake dudes over and over again when I first got there. It was tedious, but fairly easy souls to earn at that point, especially when I managed to lure one of the enemies into the arrows from the trap. But if you're high enough a level they'll obviously only net you peanuts.

My other alternative back there was to run through the Undead Burg and just killing everything in my path, which was more fun and gave more souls, but was a much lengthier trip obviously.

@r_hjort I was in human form and didn't see a summon. You have to talk to the summons somewhere else first right?

@Zero
Not necessarily, I don't think. There are a few summons that I never met outside of, well, summoning them. But her summoning rune is kind of hidden away. I found it more or less by accident as I dodgerolled from nothing and ended up under the stairs leading up to the bridge with the boss. The rune was partially hidden in a bush or some other foliage under there.

Btw, what kind of builds are you guys playing as?

@r_hjort
Basically just a strong knight with higher defense. Obviously I'm pretty slow.

If I really need to I can strip or equip different armor, but I'm basically going for a tank for the most part.

@Zero

That key probably leads to The Depths. You got it by beating the Capra Demon, right? You can find the door in Lower Undead Burg.

@carlosrox

You're better off being able to dodging hits than tanking them. Or at least getting a really good shield. Dodging is waaay more fun and rewarding though. Relying on shielding a lot would be like if Little Mac used a shield in Punch Out. Kind of lets you ignore the enemy design.

There's a ring that increases your equip load, but maybe you'd rather find it naturally (or have found it and still hit the weight limit?). If you want, I can point you in the direction of the ring in addition to some optional areas you may have missed (which would also be a good way to get souls without grinding.)

@r_hjort

I'm totally cool with Kaathe being a secret. But I guess it depends on how you frame it. I see his storyline as a reward for exploring different boss orders, so it ends up being this really cool prize for players who get creative. Or at the very least a fun option to explore for players who look it up after beating the game. But if you see it as an equally valid alternative for first time players, I can see how it would be frustrating.

@carlosrox@Hero_Of_Hyrule
I started out as a knight, changed my mind and wore light armor for most of the game, dodging and dashing my way out of trouble, but whenever things got hairy I went back to tanking.

I beat a lot of the bosses in the game by just taking their punishment and whaling on them with my biggest sword, having myself a bit of a drink every now and then. Artorias, Manus, Gwyn, Nito, Four Kings.

EDIT: The fates of certain NPCs are handled with the same hidden mechanics as Kaathe, though. Solaire's and Siegmeyer's especially. It's hard for the player to change their ways on second and third runs when they don't even get to know what they did or didn't do for things to end up the way they do.

@r_hjort

Nito can fuck off with some of his attacks. But tanking some of those other bosses (outside of a last resort) may have robbed you of much of their appeal. I'm a big advocate of no shield or limited-shield runs (barring a few instances, like the Anor Londo archers). I think it's the most enjoyable way to play.

@carlosrox I pretty much never use arrows, just melee and magic.

@Hero_Of_Hyrule Nah it was the moth thingy. I'll figure it out.

@Zero

Oh okay, I found what you're talking about. The Dark Souls wiki says it leads to the bottom of the watchtower in Undead Burg

@Hero_Of_Hyrule
Yeah, I'm sure it would have been more rewarding and more along the lines of what the devs intended if I hadn't tanked, but I'll use whatever's at my disposal as long as it works, 'cause that's kind of how the game tells you to do business in general.

Also, yes, fuck the Anor Londo archers. There are only, like, two instances where I feel that the game is cheap or employs artificial difficulty, and that's one of them.

@Zero
Dude, poison arrows are amazing! They saved my hide a ton of times.

Never tried any magic at all, but I think that's what I'm gonna go with next time, if I decide to NG+.

Pyromancers are great you can take down most enemies in like 1-3 blasts of fire. Of course you only start with 8 and I have no idea how to upgrade that. Still, it's good to have for pesky enemies or big groups of enemies (you can hit a bunch in a single blast.)

Magic is also very good against a bunch of bosses. I've gotten a lot of bosses down to under half health with just 8 fire blasts.

@Zero
Fire is amazing. I've used weapons infused with fire on several bosses, and it just eats them up!