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Post by Ex on Jan 16, 2023 16:39:31 GMT -5
You've "stumbled" upon the DLC alright. Gonna wanna save that until just before beating the base game's final boss. The dragon is Kalameet, and that is the true final boss of Dark Souls in my opinion. However, there are other bosses in the DLC that you oughta take out first. I'd save Kalameet as the final boss you beat before the base game's official final boss.
45 hours ain't shabby. It took me 63 hours to beat the base game and DLC without using any guides.
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Post by Xeogred on Jan 16, 2023 17:47:28 GMT -5
Discovering how to access the DLC and some of the other secret areas throughout on a first run... pretty wild. I'd advise returning to Demon Ruins and knocking out the base game first.
Do NOT fight the final boss until the DLC and everything else is done. Beating the final boss puts you into NG+ with no choice. Demon's Souls and Bloodborne do this too... glad the others give you an option to start NG+ when you want.
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Post by Ex on Jan 16, 2023 21:35:52 GMT -5
Do NOT fight the final boss until the DLC and everything else is done. Sage advice. Beating the official final boss is the very last thing that should be done on a first run.
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Post by Sarge on Jan 16, 2023 22:05:16 GMT -5
Gotcha. Well, I should be ready, now, since I just worked my way through all the DLC content (I think). Managed to get to the Chasm of the Abyss and take out Manus, came back out, ended up talked to the big giant blacksmith, who offered to help me with Kalameet. Popped him good with a big ol' arrow, and I'm guessing that makes the fight much more doable as he stays mostly grounded. I still died several times, but finally figured out how to get in and get some attacks, as well as how to get clear and heal. The reward... wasn't worth it, haha. A ring that doubles the amount of damage taken, whew.
Also, I definitely found my Humanity farming spot down in the Chasm. Actually pretty ridiculous, especially if you equip the Covetous Gold Serpent Ring.
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Post by Ex on Jan 16, 2023 22:13:19 GMT -5
The reward... wasn't worth it, haha. Killing Kalameet is reward unto itself! Such a fun fight. I took it down on my second attempt. The first attempt Kalameet killed me before I figured out how to ground him. I don't know if it's possible to kill that black dragon if it's still permanently airborne. Did you take out Knight Artorias while you were in the Royal Wood?
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Post by Sarge on Jan 16, 2023 22:47:28 GMT -5
Yah, got him beat down, too. You're probably right, it's meant to be a scripted thing with Kalameet, I'm guessing, much like Seath.
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Post by Ex on Jan 16, 2023 23:28:24 GMT -5
You don't have much left now, but you do have a few more interesting boss fights ahead. Including another infamous one, but I doubt it'll give you much pause.
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Post by Sarge on Jan 17, 2023 11:51:04 GMT -5
Yeah, I think I'm close to done. Got through the Demon Ruins, although I actually found a path to Lost Izalith first - there's apparently a back way in from the Demon Ruins. Dashed around in a bunch of lava, too, think I got most of the good stuff. Took out the bosses in this area pretty easily, except for the Bed of Chaos, which saw me take out one side, dash out and roll to try to avoid his attack but he smashed the floor out from under me and I plummeted to my doom. That's where I stopped for the night. Also, really surprised how non-threatening almost everything is in Lost Izalith - not a ton of enemies in general, and the flamethrower statues in particular are incredibly simple to beat.
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Post by Ex on Jan 17, 2023 12:02:57 GMT -5
Did you fight Ceaseless Discharge or Centipede Demon? What were those fights like for you?
The Bed of Chaos is the infamous fight I was talking about. It's a puzzle boss, the only overt puzzle boss in the whole game.
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Post by Sarge on Jan 17, 2023 13:26:47 GMT -5
Yeah, I wasn't sure what to do at first, but the big glowy things were something I needed to investigate. Figure I'll get it done this evening.
Fought both of those. You have to fight Ceaseless Discharge anyway, and I came back to fight the Centipede. The alternate route to Lost Izalith was right before the Demon Firesage. They were both ridiculously easy fights. Ceaseless Discharge was literally "roll to avoid slamming fist, whack with Iaito". Centipede Demon was "wait for him to get close and start whacking him with the Iaito", which was actually complicated by the fact that I had summoned Solaire for that fight. Probably would have been faster otherwise! Basically, it turns out that a committed DEX build with a weapon that scales well with it hits hard. Speaking of which, I've hit 40/40/40 in VIT/END/DEX, and... I've decided that I'm still getting enough out of DEX to throw a few more points that way. At 43 now. I've heard pretty much all stats start leveling off at 40, though, and I've seen that in all three of those. I might start putting more points into STR to get more weapon/shield options.
I've also discovered that I probably need to upgrade a different shield. In a "read the manual, dolt" moment, I finally found out that stability wasn't just the ability to not get staggered (I'd assumed that's what it was about), but what percentage stamina reduction it knocks off. So the Bloodshield, as solid as it is, is probably outclassed by some other stuff as far as stability goes. Although I'm also discovering that many of these later bosses pretty much require dodge rolls and not blocking - the block is if you miss your timing or get in a bad spot. I still end up blocking a lot, though, although a bit less than before. The fight against Artorias was one where the rolls were much more required, both for damage avoidance and positioning to actually get in a counterattack.
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