You Have Died - Lets Play Dark Souls

Agreed. AGREED.

From the Sen's Fortress bonfire, I head down a bit. There are a couple of knights in Balder armor, who I kill without difficulty.



They're guarding a Flame Stoneplate ring, which gives fire resistance.



That's it for that direction. I head back and level up. I've decided just to pump up strength now for the Dragon King Axe and one-handing the greataxe.



I start backtracking from the bonfire to get all the stuff I missed in lower Sen's Fortress. I get careless with the bonfire so close and fall off the bridge.



You Died 68 Times.

I go back and use the lever to make sure the rolling balls are not on the path I want to go down. Off the edge of a ramp I see this:



I jump down and find the Slumbering Dragoncrest Ring. This makes me silent, which presumably lowers the distance at which enemies can detect me.



So at this point I save my game and quit. There's a lightning snake nearby but I'm hiding behind a wall. When I load up my save, somehow a regular snakeman has appeared behind me. I don't know if he fell off from above or glitched in somehow, but I'm totally disoriented and get killed by him and the lightning snake.



You Died 69 Times.

I go back and jump down a series of ledges in a nearby hole. What is this at the bottom?



It's a titanite demon, like the one I killed near Andre. I do a falling attack on him and finish him off with fireballs.



The floor is full of water, so I put on the rusted iron ring.



I walk a bit forward and see a big room with another titanite demon. There are some lightning snakes directly above me, and if I go into the room they can shoot at me. I pull the titanite demon back towards me. He's a bit glitchy with the geometry, though. He can reach through pillars to shoot at me, and he's able to jump through the low ceiling a bit. I get caught thinking I'm in a safe place one too many times.



You Died 70 Times.

So I go back to the hole in the ground with the dubious “Shortcut” label.



Turns out it's not actually a death trap and does quickly take me down a floor.

I don't even remember what happened next, but apparently I died.



You Died 71 Times.

My souls are at 0, so I might have missed a death in there somewhere – it was a long session that had a lot of dying.

I go back to the basement to fight titanite demons.



In an open area, there guys aren't that bad 1v1. In tight quarters, and/or with snakes or other titanite demons shooting lightning at you, they're a bit harder.



You Died 72 Times.

There is a way to get up to the three lightning snakes who shoot at you from above, and in a perfect world you'd clear them out first. Even that's hard, though – I tried it once at some point and died.

I try running past the titanite demon and fail. I make it into an alcove, but he hits me through the wall a time or two (You Died 73 Times. ). The next try I safely make it to the ladder in the alcove.



I climb up and come across a giant who appears to be chained to the wall.



I taunt him a bit, figuring he can't make it over to me. Too late I realize he isn't attached to the chain, and fall down the ladder in fear. Fortunately, it's non-fatal and I climb back up. He flies into a rage, kicking and punching all over the place, but tires himself out. I repeatedly hit him in the back while he's taking a break, and don't feel bad about it at all.



When I get closer to the chain, it appears that he broke it at some point.



There's a nice view of the bridge I took from the Undead Church.



There was also some treasure, I think, but it was so unremarkable I didn't take a picture of it. Seriously, this basement is not worth the effort.

Back to the basement for 3 more deaths, and I finally kill the second titanite demon.

You Died 76 Times.



Two more deaths, and I finally decide that there's nothing useful to be gained in the basement except for two pieces of Demon Titanite (a crafting material) than I don't need right now. I'll come back if I'm desperate for them.

You Died 78 Times.

I go back to the place where you can control where the balls roll down, and walk down one of the paths.



A ball here would not only smash the snake standing there, but also might bust through the wall. I rotate the lever until the balls head this way.



For some reason, the balls don't run over the snake (I take him out the hard way), but they do break down the wall. It's filled with hanging cells. Inside one is Big Hat Logan.



It's locked, but fortunately I have the Master Key.



He says he'll meet me back at Firelink Shrine.

I go down a different path, and find that the balls have filled up a hole in the floor and smashed through the wall.



Through here is the valuable Covetous Gold Serpent Ring.



This ring boosts your chance to find items from slain enemies, so it's fantastic for farming. I keep heading down the path. I thought I had the ball machine pointed a different way, but suddenly one is chasing me. I run down the path, hoping to find somewhere to hide. There's only blackness.




I jump off (or get knocked off – I don't remember well).



You Died 79 Times.

I rotate the balls so that Siegmeyer can pass and go down to check on him. Somewhere along the way I die (You Died 80 Times.), but I eventually make it to his spot.



He's gone. I guess he made it by.

I'm satisfied that I've cleared the bottom of Sen's Fortress well enough and head back to the top. I encounter a guy with a bow and a rapier.



Presumably his name was Ricard.



I continue up and the giant keeps throwing flaming pots at me.



You can see in the picture that there's a gap in the bridge you can jump across on the left. I get far away to make a running jump at it, and figure I'm far enough away that the giant will stop throwing fire bombs at that intersection. I'm mistaken and manage to time it exactly wrong.



You Died 81 Times.

I try the jump again, clear it, and head into a tower.



I meet a merchant, who appears to enjoy double entendres.



I go down a bunch of stairways to the very bottom of the tower, and come across a lightning snake who I've seen out of the window a bunch of times from Sen's Fortress. I kill her and find a Cage Key.



I had the Master Key, so I didn't need this to free Logan.

I continue on and come across the giant who drops balls down the hole all day. Poor guy.



I come across the giant who throws flaming pots all day. I feel less sorry for him.



Off in the distance, I see the boss, the Iron Golem.



I go back to the bonfire and upgrade my greataxe to +10 and my eagle shield to +5. I also become human and kindle the bonfire up a notch to give me 10 Estus Flasks.



I go to a tower near the boss and summon the NPC phantom Iron Tarkus.



He and I head to face the Iron Golem.



He can throw little blasts at you, he can stomp, he can swing his axe, and if you get to close he can grab you and throw you down. He's about what you'd expect from a giant iron golem. If you hit him enough, he'll fall over and you can whack him in the head a few times. You can also fall off the edge of his platform if you're not careful.

He's not that hard, especially with Iron Tarkus helping, who barely seems to take any damage from him. However, I catch a couple hits in a row and die.



You Died 81 Times.

I turn human, summon Tarkus again, and return to Iron Golem.



We kill him without too much difficulty.

A golden ring appears on the ground, and I go to pick it up.



Some gargoyles grab me and carry me away. It's a definite callback to the previous game, Demon's Sols.



They take me to Anor Londo.



Unlike everywhere else in the game, it's not dark and gloomy.



They set me down.



That's a good stopping place for now. I played a little more, so I don't have my total time just yet. Deaths stand at 81.

Hah, I had no idea you could go up on the battlements from the basement. 170 hours in and I keep learning new things ...

Still not going in the basement though. Doesn't seem worth it. :D

It's totally not worth it. As hanacker said, the titanite demons are generally easy, but become a pain when added to the snake men snipers.

It's worth mentioning - you can leap across to that giant that's dropping boulders into the mechanism, and kill him. There's loot on his rooftop, as well.

Unlike the fire bomb giant and the gate giant, however, he will respawn.

So, I'm starting to look at end-game greataxes and great hammers. Any advice here? Demon's Greataxe looks like a winner, but they all have subtle pros and cons.

I walk down the stairs into Anor Londo. There's a statue with a giant shield at the bottom.



Turns out it's not a statue, and it tries to kill me. That giant shield means that any attack from anywhere remotely in front of him doesn't do any damage. They can spin around surprisingly quickly, so these guys can be kind of tough, especially in tight quarters.

I kill him, continue on, and come across a bonfire.



This one has a Fire Keeper.



Well, you are a rare visitor.
Welcome to the lost city of Anor Londo, chosen Undead.
If you seek Lord Gwyn's old keep,
exit here and head straight yonder.
If you are the chosen one, a revelation shall visit thee.
… What follow thereafter, depends upon you…


What am I? Well… I am the Keeper of the bonfire.
If not for me, what beacon would there be in this lost city?
A gatekeeper, and a guide; that is my calling.


The bonfire attended by the Keepers are special.
They are linked to one another, and their flames never die.
Yet never shall the Keepers of these flames meet.
If you require rest, now is the time.
That is, after all, what the bonfire is for.


I missed the first two Fire Keepers, so I'm finally able to upgrade my Estus Flask. They now heal me for more health.



I level up while I'm here.



I continue on to the left, kill two more statues, and come across a chest. At this point I'm very fastidious about whacking every chest before opening it. In a shocking display of uncoordination, I still manage to get eaten.



Nom Nom.



You Died 82 Times.

I come back and kill him. Anor Londo is full of interesting statues. Fortunately, this one doesn't attack me (yet – dun dun dun).



I go up the path a bit and there's a portal blocked with a glowing yellow force. It won't let me through at this point in time.



I go back and head straight from the bonfire.



I go down an elevator and come across a gargoyle.



These guys aren't that tough, and they stay dead forever when you kill them. Yay.

I explore around a bit, and the only way to go appears to be up this helpfully labeled platform.



Another fortunate break is that one of the windows on this giant structure has been broken in.



I go inside.



I see you, gray dude!

He hops down and I kill him. He's called a painting guardian. You'll see why in a bit.

I climb up towards the ceiling.



I either forget to block or accidentally hop backwards. Either way, I fall off and die.



You Died 83 Times.

I go back and there's a chandelier with an item on it hanging from the ceiling. I slash at the chain and it falls.



I make it to the end and can see the painting that apparently needs guarding.



It's giant, creepy, and monochromatic. It looks like a bridge over to a mountain.

At the other end of the room is a giant statue of a large-breasted woman.



I exit out of the building and there's a contraption with a big wheel in the middle.



Turning it causes a large structure to rotate, going down and lining up a bridge to cross to a different level. There were probably easier (and safer!) ways to design this area, but apparently the people who built Anor Londo were big on being ostentatious.

Another gargoyle shows up and goes down.



I make it to an alcove with some treasure.



This ring boosts miracles or something, of which I don't have any.

There's also a statue of a guy with a big sword.



And a bonfire.



You Died 83 Times.
11 hours 41 minutes played.
One Death Per 8 Minutes.

I decide to stop there for the day.

Heh heh heh heh. I can't wait for what's coming next. something to keep in mind, Hanacker: Just because somebody says you have a special destiny doesn't mean you have to do whatever you're told. You may be undead, but you still have free will.....

Epic Chest ahead.

I use the rotating contraption to move the bridge and continue on from the bonfire. Up some stairs I see two more statues and a big, closed door.



I kill the two statues and on the left I find a door that doesn't open from this side.



I head right and come across a different kind of gargoyle below.



These guys have a lightning spear, hurl lightning bolts, and like to fly up and stab you on the way down. I kill them and move on. In this shot you can see the area I came from.



There's a sniper up top, shooting what looks like ballista bolts at me. I block one, but it still knocks me back about 10 feet. And off a ledge.



You Died 84 Times.

I go back, keep my distance, and this time the sniper doesn't see me.



I head down the ramp and kill two more lightning spear gargoyles. Around the corner I see two more snipers.



Those are no average arrows.



I rush up to the top and I'm in between two of them. I take a couple shots, but not at an angle that would knock me off the very narrow ledge. I lose more health than I planned and run back down. One of them chases me around a corner and I finish him off. Killing the other guy by himself goes smoothly after that.

I drop down, enter a building and come across my old buddy Solaire, chilling at a bonfire.



Oh, there you are.
You've been quiet these days.
Smooth summoning out there?
Anytime you see my brilliantly shining signature, do not hesitate to call upon me.
You've left me with quite an impression. I would relish a chance to assist you.

I talk to him again.

You really are fond of chatting with me, aren't you?
If I didn't know better, I'd think you had feelings for me!
Oh, no, dear me. Pretend you didn't hear that!
Hah hah hah!

Hah hah hah, indeed.

I continue on, exploring the building. It's filled with silver knights.



They're like black knights but shinier.

In this room I find a secret passage inside the fireplace.



It leads to a really dark room in the basement filled with chests, mimics, Havel's armor, and his Dragon Tooth club. I guess he had a second set. It's mine now.

I head up to the second floor.



I come across the guy who first sniped me to death.



I kill him.

I enter a room filled with somewhat creepy family portraits.



I guess this is dad?



And the large-breasted woman again.



I wonder how she fits into this family.

At this point I'm having too much fun posing next to portraits and trophies.



A silver knight comes and ruins the fun.



You Died 85 Times.

I enter a room and see a titanite demon down below. Fortunately, I don't see a way for him to get up to me.



I head up some more and it looks like I'm near the top.



I go down a nearby staircase and come across Seigmeyer again.



He's trapped in a room with a bunch of silver knights on the other side of the door. He assures me he's thinking of a plan.

On a side note, if you use the binoculars, you can see a bit of his face (you can actually see all of it – check Youtube if interested - but I couldn't figure out how).



I kill the three silver knights in the room. Fortunately, they're polite enough to come at me one at a time.

In thanks, Siegmeyer gives me a Tiny Being's Ring. It slightly increases your maximum life.



Siegmeyer also chastises me a bit for not giving him enough time to think of a plan. Next time he's totally going to solve the problem on his own.



I level up and now have enough strength to wield the greataxe in one hand.



I keep going and I come across a silver knight guarding two chests.



I kill him and find a set of silver knight armor.

I continue on and find the room with the Titanite Demon. Here's a move I didn't realize he had.



He stabs his trident onto you, lifts you up, and then shakes you until you die.

You Died 86 Times.

I go in for another shot at the Titanite Demon.



He has way more life than the last ones and probably does a bit more damage.

You Died 87 Times.

I retrieve my corpse and continue on. I've given up on Titanite Demons for now.



I enter into a giant hall with some blue statue-looking guys who don't even pretend to be statues. At one end I can see the portal into the boss chamber.



Before tackling that, I find my way to the door that I saw in the beginning that only opened on one side. It does open from this side.



I also come across the giant blacksmith.



He's not much for talking, but he can forge lightning weapons. They're good, but more useful for characters that aren't single-mindedly pumping up strength like I've been. When a weapon is changed to a lightning weapon it loses damage scaling based on strength, dexterity, or other stats. I'll probably do better to keep boosting my regular greataxe since it does more damage the higher strength you have.

At this point I decide that I'm sick of wearing the crimson skirt and slip into something more comfortable.



I go back inside the giant hall and find a window that's been broken (keen observers will note from the next picture that my story may not be perfectly chronological).



I go outside and see some treasure below.



I hop down and find the dragonslayer greatbow. This is the bow that the silver knight snipers have been using. I didn't check but I doubt I have enough dexterity to use it.

Back in the main hall I get this message.



I use my Black Eye Orb.



It sounds like the righteous thing to do.



I turn into this cool blue and black guy.



I walk forward and come across Lautrec and his two buddies. He taunts me a bit and rushes at me.



I lead him up the stairs, and he gets a bit separated from his friends. My greataxe finishes him in a few hits (I think I threw some fireballs as he was coming up the stairs too).



Yay.



Mission accomplished, I'm brought back into my regular world.



He drops some nice loot. The Ring of Favor and Protection increases life and stamina, but breaks if you ever take it off. I almost put it on, but I'm going to wait a bit to decide if I want to commit to it.

It's time for the boss, so I go back to the bonfire and become human so I can summon Solaire.



Sexy.

On the way back to the boss I get this message.



This means that another player has invaded my world to try to kill me. This can happen as long as you're in human form. I wander around a bit and he shows up.



He's wielding a rapier and a kite shield and he's glowing green. I have trouble hitting him. He has slightly more success, and my shield only blocks 95% of physical (and it looks like he also does some fire damage), so he slowly whittles me down. At some point there's a bit of lag, he appears behind me for a backstab, and I die.



He gloats over his victory.



You Died 88 Times.

I turn human again and go back to the great hall. There are a bunch of player summon signs near the Solaire bonfire, so if you wanted to be safe you could summon a person or two to help protect you from invaders. And make the boss fairly trivial. I decide against doing so.

I run around looking for Solaire's sign and die from some combination of the statue guys and the silver knight sniper who live in the hall.



You Died 89 Times.

I make it back and try to summon Solaire.



A statue guy and a silver knight rush up and kill me.



You Died 90 Times.

I go back, summon Solaire, and finish off the bad guys.



I walk through the white mist into a large room.



Dragon Slayer Ornstein and Executioner Smough make their dramatic entrances.



I fight Ornstein, the smaller one with a spear. He dashes around really quick, but his slashes don't seem to do that much damage. If you stay away from him he'll fire lightning, so I stay in close. Solaire takes Smough. I assume he walks around slowly and tries to hit you with his giant hammer.

I finish off Ornstein.



Smough smashes his corpse with his hammer.



Smash.



This somehow gives his crazy electrical powers and the ability to freak out and jump around like a Dragonball Z character.



He still swings his hammer around, but he also has a charge where he sticks out his hammer and runs at you, doing lightning damage. It's really hard to avoid since the hammer tracks you pretty well and now he runs pretty fast. He has some kind of jump up and lightning smash the ground, so you want to stay away from that.



Solaire and I are doing pretty well when Solaire eats it.



I get really close to victory, but come up just a bit short.



You Died 91 Times.

I reverse hollowing again and try to summon Solaire. For some reason, getting to the boss with Solaire in tow is harder for me than actually fighting the boss.



You Died 92 Times.

I try again, and with the Solaire summoning text flashing and some monsters beating on me, I don't even notice that another player has invaded. He shoots me in the back with some black projectiles, but I was in bad shape already anyway.



You Died 92 Times.

The proper way to do this would be to clear out the two statues and the silver knight and then summon Solaire. Far be it from me to things the proper way.

I go back, summon Solaire, and decide to rush into the boss room before killing everything outside. Solaire takes his sweet time getting in, and I run around waiting for him to show up.



Alright, no more rushing.

You Died 93 Times.

I take my time, and Solaire and I enter the fight together. We kill Ornstein, and take down Smough. Solaire survives, albeit just barely.



If you kill Smough first, you instead get the Soul of Ornstein. These can be used for crafting unique weapons.

I walk to the end of the hall. There's spaces for three statues, but only two are present – the sword guy and the large-breasted woman. I feel like this means something, but I'm not sure what.



There's a bonfire up an elevator and I level up a bit.



There's also a chest with a set of armor inside.



I think things are about to get a bit weird, so I decide to take a break here.

13 hours 26 minutes played.
You Died 93 Times.
One Death Per 9 Minutes.

You had the exact opposite experience of me...no issues getting to Law Firm, but they murdered me over and over. Though I wonder if I tried on another character if I'd have more luck.

Also, the silver knights shield is really good.

Finally, I guess you're liking the Great Axe. Are you using pine resin or another buff on it as well? How's the damage?

Hah, I never noticed the third missing statue. Nice bit of Sekrit Lore there.

Ugh, I had the day off so I played for about 5 hours today. That's gonna be a lot to write up.

You summoning Solaire for Ornstein and Smough? Having him tank one while you spank the other helps immensely in the first phase, and he serves as a nice distraction during the second. I've never beaten them truly solo.

Silver knight shield never dropped :(

I probably should use the pine resin, but I never get around to it. Damage is really nice anyway. It's not the safest weapon, but it is fun ping-ponging around and one-shotting everything. I really need to start upgrading the gargoyle halberd for a bit of range, though. Large club just dropped too, and some people seem to swear by that.

Large club is quite nice. I had to do a bit of farming for it, turned out worth it. I spanked the 4 Kings solo for the first time with it, and beat up Seath after he was giving me grief with my +15 Fire Zwei. Not sure what it is, but I think maybe it's just a little faster, and the range easier to intuitively grasp?

Silver knight supply is infinite, isn't it? I assume no luck after a bit of time with the Gold Covetous? Still, it's not the be-all end-all.

I'll give it a shot at some point, but I've also started upgrading a divine battle axe, a lightning gargoyle axe, and a demon axe.

I never really tried farming for it. I've got the strength and endurance for greatshields, so that's mostly what I've been going with.

I go into the next room, and there's the large-breasted woman reclining on a bed. The rest of her is quite large as well.



I don't really want to kneel before her, but it seems like my only option.



Her name is Gwynevere.



She's got a lot to say.

Thou hast journey'd far, and overcome much, chosen Undead.
Come hither, child…

O chosen Undead.
I am Gwynevere.
Daughter of Lord Gwyn; and Queen of Sunlight.
Since the day Father his form did obscureth, I have await'd thee.
I bequeath the Lordvessel to thee.
And beseech thee. Succeed Lord Gwyn, and inheriteth the Fire of our world.
Thou shall endeth this eternal twilight, and avert further Undead sacrifices.

Since the day Father his form did obscureth, I have await'd thee.
Once living, now Undead, and a fitting heir to father Gwyn thou art,
O chosen Undead
And beseech thee. Succeed Lord Gwyn, and inheriteth the Fire of our world.
A grave and arduous test of mettle, yea, it shall be.
Indeed we had felt the warmth of Fire, its radiance, and the life it sustaineth.
Without Fire, all shall be a frigid and frightful Dark.

Please. Father's role thou should assume, and inheriteth the Fire of our world.
Thou shall endeth this eternal twilight, and avert further Undead sacrifices.
Kingseeker Frampt, the primordial serpent, shall guideth thee.

It sounds like she wants me to take over for Lord Gwynn and bring the fire back to the world. That's basically what the giant serpent Frampt told me, too.

She gives me a Lordvessel.



It's a bowl that lets me warp between certain bonfires.



I warp to the sunlight altar and Solaire is there. He's sad that he couldn't find his sun in Anor Londo or Blighttown. He's going to try Izalith or the Gravelord's lair next.

The dragon is right there, so I see if I can take it yet.



Nope.



You Died 94 Times.

I go back to Firelink Shrine and Seigmeyer is there. He asks if I opened the gate into Sen's Fortress. When I say that he did, he gives me a reward.



I go down below the shrine, to where the Fire Keeper was.



I return her soul and she comes back to life.



Her name is Anastacia of Astora. If I had talked to her at the beginning of the game, she wouldn't have said anything. Apparently her tongue had been cut out.



Unfortunately, she refuses to talk dirty to me and tells me to go away.

Big Hat Logan is here too.



He politely tells me I'm too dumb to learn magic from him.

I go to see Kingseeker Frampt.



He's very excited to see me.



He swallows me up and takes me down into his hole.



I end up in the Firelink Chamber, which holds the Firelink Altar.

Frampt tells me to put the Lordvessel on the altar.



He's a bit pushy about it.



I decide to wait on the decision and homeward bone out. I go the priest guy to absolve my sins with the giant cat.



Expensive. I use most of my soul items and pay the price.



I go back to Darkroot Forest to the area where the humans hang out. I kill one and she drops Pharis' stuff. Apparently Pharis was a dude, so this is not Pharis. The bow is nice, but like all bows I'm not even close on dexterity.



I give the correct answers to the cat and she's happy now.



I join her covenant and receive a ring. I explore the rest of the area and find a set of stone armor. It's really heavy, but has really good physical defense.

In the distance, I see a door with light shining through.



I go the other way and see some mushroom kids.



I follow them, and they lead me to their angry father.



He's guarding a chest.



Inside is the Enchanted Ember, which lets me make more powerful magic weapons. I think they scale off of intelligence, which is useless for me right now.

I continue on and see a wolf/rat creature.



They roll at you, hop around quickly, and snap at you. I kill one, but I'm out of potions so I recall back to the bonfire.

I meet Shiva of the East near Alvina the cat.



He's part of the covenant and says something about how we have to defend the area and that there are no rules to it. I put on the ring and give it a try.



I end up in Flare Panda's game as a blue spirit.



Off in the distance I see Mr. Panda, himself.



He had a friend off in the distance, but I think he fights me by himself.



I lose.



I'm not sure these count as real deaths, since you don't lose any souls and it just sends you back to your world (at the bonfire). But the You Died screen pops up, so let's count it.

You Died 95 Times.



Oh, there's his friend.

Next up, Stitch090.



He has a buddy, and they both come after me.



I lose.



You Died 96 Times.

I get Stitch090 and his friend again and lose again.

You Died 97 Times.

Fourth time is the charm, right? Doctor Killgore this time.



He also has a friend helping.



You Died 98 Times.

And that's Dark Souls Forest Covenant PvP. From my sample size of three, everybody has a friend helping them and is geared in what looks like end-game gear. Supposedly other phantoms can show up and help you, but it was pretty late so I didn't see any of that. If you win three times you get a nice prize, but I'm not going to win at all in the near future and I'm not even remotely having fun. If you're geared up and have a friend, maybe this could be fun, and some people apparently swear by it, but I give up on it.

Back to the wolf-rats.



I kill the last two. I thought they were guarding treasure, but I seem to be wrong.

I go back to the glowing door and open it.



There's a grave marker and a big sword (and a hornet ring on a corpse hiding behind the grave).



When I get near the sword, a giant wolf named Sif appears.



He doesn't look happy.



He grabs the sword and attacks.



If you've never seen a grey wolf wielding a sword in it's teeth, that's what it looks like. He spins around a lot, and pounces back and forth really quickly. If you can get underneath him he has no way of hurting you (he can jump away pretty quick, though, and he'll swing his sword to prevent you from getting in close).

It's a good fight, but I lose.



You Died 99 Times.

I swap to a shield with more magic resistance, and the second time the fight goes smoother.



He drops his soul and the covenant ring of Artorias.



The ring lets me enter the Abyss. Sounds scary.

I go back to Anor Londo.



I enter the ground floor of the building with the giant painting.



It's crawling with painting guardians.



I find a set of Black Iron armor. I think it's heavy and has good fire resistance.



I get close to the painting.



I reach out to touch it, and it sucks me in.



It's the Painted World of Ariamis. They did a good job of making it look as bleak as that painting.



I went a while without grabbing the time off my savegame, but deaths stand at 99. I'll save the 100 milestone for next time. Or maybe there won't be any more deaths.

I would really strongly recommend waiting before you place that Lordvessal. Like I said before, there are.... other options to explore.

In fact, to be fair, I'll just come right out and say where my sympathies lie: I'm a Dark Wraith. I'm the guy who invades your game, looking for a fun battle. Before that, I was a Gravelord, a Dragon, and a Forest Protector. I'm out for a good fight in the Souls games, and people need to understand that by becoming human, they are implicitly consenting to that fight. Just as I'm consenting to being invaded by justice-seeking blue phantoms, when somebody sics the law on me by filing a sin report. It's a fundamental and incredibly important part of what makes Dark Souls what it is.
edit: (I should note - I say 'guy' here because my characters in question are dudes, in Dark Souls.)

This is my experience too, not to mention they've been doing it a lot longer than I have (that goes for pretty much anyone playing the game explicitly for PvP).

That's self-contradictory unless you meet other Dark Wraiths (i.e. other people who PvP), which I'm guessing is not the way it works.

If you play unhollowed, you're a person who PVPs, whether you've come to terms with that fact or not. It is one of the fundamental facts of Dark Souls.

Whatever you need to tell yourself.

Unhallowing is the only way to kindle and coop. That it opens you up to PvP would be pretty awesome, if it worked. Unfortunately every PvP match is tilted towards those who already embrace that part, which I fail to see the point of. It's never a "fun, fair battle" that you claim to seek, worse so because of hacker, exploiters and downright cheaters which seem to comprise the majority of that crowd (YMMV of course).

Fortunately Alt F4 and subsequent restart are fast on the PC.

I don't want to mess this thread up, so I'm done here. My original post was intended as a nod to Hanacker's PvP experience, let's leave it at that.

The black iron armor is Tarkus's :(

Alright, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here (I really need to be writing these up right now), but thoughts on where to go after placing the Lordvessel? There's the Demon Ruins (it's actually full of demons and not just a clever name) for a showdown with Witch Izalith, the Crystal Caves for Seath the Scaleless Dragon, or the Tomb of the Giants for Nito, the Lord of Death. I know which one I'm leaning toward, but I think any of the three are viable.

In the Painted World, I walk across the bridge. It leads to some stairs up a mountain.



There's a bonfire nearby.



I walk onto a structure and there's hollow undead and guys with giant red tumors on their heads. Some of them can shoot fireballs. They all release toxic nastiness when they die. If I had a longer weapon or more fireballs I could avoid it, but I don't so I end up eating a lot of poison.



There are also some big white rats.



They're mostly harmless and they drop humanity sometimes when you kill them. I like rats.

I reach a balcony and see a statue with some creatures with shields and spears surrounding it. Odd.



I continue on and see an undead dragon. I leave it alone for now.



A harpy jumps on my head and her thighs crush me to death.



They also have a weak strike attack, but the jumping on your head and crushing it with their legs is the attack you have to worry about.



You Died 100 Times!

I'd like to thank From Software for making this moment possible. There were those who said I'd never make it to 100 deaths, but with your help we've proven them wrong!

Anyway. I continue on and find a set of painting guardian armor.



It isn't terribly good armor, but I bet it looks cool.

I come across a door locked “by some contraption.”



I circle back and run past the statue and the weird creatures (they're slow but they throw spears). I come across some large doors, which I open.



It's a shortcut back to the bonfire.

I become human, kindle the bonfire, and continue exploring. The dark spirit King Jeremiah invades my world.



He looks goofy, but he can make lava appear out of the ground all over the place (sorry, I was too busy trying not to step in it to get a good shot).



I avoid stepping in it, and he quickly goes down.



He drops a notched whip, which I won't be using. I also find a pyromancy called Acid Surge nearby. I forget what it does, but acid usually corrodes equipment.

I go back to deal with the statue and its weird guardians.



I fireball a bunch of them, and pick off the rest of the stragglers.



Poison cloud would work well too, although I think it's a bit slow. Here's me with the statue.



I descend down a ladder and enter the basement.



It's full of these skeleton wheel guys. They're harmless until they decide to roll at you, then they become a spinning wheel of death. You can block them for a little while, but they run you out of stamina fast. The best way to deal with them (unless you have a great shield) is to get out of the way and chase them down after they've stopped rolling.



Here's one rolling at me.



The basement also has really obvious secret doors.



I find an annex key. Now to find the annex.



I also find a pyromancy called Fire Surge. I climb up a ladder and pop out of a well.



Here's the door to the annex. There's what looks like a little altar nearby.



I go inside.



I fight through some tumor guys and some harpies and find another stoned blacksmith.



I take his treasure.



The Dark Ember lets me make Occult weapons which are like Divine weapons but evil or something.

I also find Velka's stuff.



Apparently she was a dark cleric. I bet reading the item descriptions would tell me about her, but I'm an adventurer, not a scientist.

I go back to the room with the locked door and climb up a narrow spiral staircase (the lack of handrails is a clear OSHA violation).



There's a corpse at the top and a harpy in the distance.



On the corpse is a red sign soapstone.



I think this lets me put down a sign to invite others to invade me. I can't see myself using this any time soon. I pull out my binoculars to look at something, and when I go to put them away I accidentally take a step backwards. I do that all the time.



This time, unfortunately, it's fatal.

You Died 101 times.

I go back to the undead dragon and steal his treasure. He gets mad and kills me.



You Died 102 times.

I see that he chased me, so I make him angry and then run back the other way. He follows.



He can spit out this purple stuff (as opposed to Sunny D), which not surprisingly poisons you. It's easy to avoid it and poke in and out to attack him.

But it only takes one mistake to ruin everything.



You Died 102 times.

I decide to fight him the cheesy way.



That's shooting him out of his range with a crossbow, if you can't tell. I run out of arrows and have to actually get my hands dirty to finish him off.



There's something behind where he was sitting, but I have no idea what it is. Thoughts?



I could have sworn there was a way past it, but I can't find one, so I head back and level up.



Eventually strength scaling stops increasing my damage significantly, but I'm not quite there yet.