Dark Souls: Review of 2/6/13's adventure (Plus Bed of Chaos VOD)

Mounted this one on the wall

Goals that were set:

1. Upgrade weapons I am trying to decide between ACCOMPLISHED
2. Test out these weapons in PvE/PvP(when possible) ONGOING
3. Try invasions out in different zones I've never invaded INCOMPLETE(ish)
4. Farm - I know this is normally not the goal but a side effect, but I want to make sure I focus on getting all the right information out of this character so I am ready for the next one... that requires souls and crafting materials.
1. humanity (so I can do New Londo with at least 10 humanity) ACCOMPLISHED
2. chunks/shards/etc (upgrade weapons/armor) ACCOMPLISHED (W/SLAB FROM NEW LONDO!)
3. souls (for upgrades) ACCOMPLISHED
5. HAVE FUN ONGOING

Details (and a fun Bed of Chaos video) after the jump!

1. Upgrade weapons ACCOMPLISHED

I upgraded the Murakomo, Washing Pole, Flamberge, Ricard's Rapier, Great Scythe, Balder Side Sword, Barbed Straight Sword, and some others I'm not even remembering to +10.  I upgraded my Fire Claymore to +9.  I also ascended and upgraded a Quelaag's Fury Sword to +5.  This was less painful than I thought it'd be.  The Giant Blacksmith sells Large Titanite Shards for 3,800 souls, so I'd PvP a bit, go farm a bit, and warp back to Anor Londo (Chamber of the Princess) to spend those souls on shards and large shards.  

I consider this a success because I have plenty of stuff to choose from.  The only problem with this mentality is that I also have things like the halberd family of weapons that could prove useful as well... but it's starting to get a bit crazy.  On top of that, the Gargoyle Halberd is not a guaranteed drop and the others have slightly different weight, requirements, and move sets from there.  I'm sure if I really wanted one I could end up getting one on my "low level dex/pyro" but I'd rather not start with something that could frustrate.  I'd rather have a good idea of where I'm getting my main weapon from.  

I also marked this as success because I have plenty of "new to me" weapons to try out and could spend the next month messing around until I find the "perfect" setup.

2. Test out these weapons in PvE/PvP(when possible) and 3. Try invasions in different zones. ONGOING

I took myself over to Sens Fortress to give some upper Sens invading a try.  I had some decent success with the Flamberge and really started to love it.  I caught someone off guard near the bonfire and started the fight with a big ol back stab followed by staggering him with 1HR1 as he was in The Sealer's gear.  I caught a few other dudes running around Sens and really enjoyed invasions that felt like true INVASIONS and not just joining someone who wants some PvP blood (READ: Anor Londo/Dark Anor Londo).  Sens made me feel like I was raining on parades in a way I haven't felt in quite a while.  I'm not a Darkwraith to grief, but I'm also not a Darkwraith to duel.  I don't mind if the host is ready for me, but it sucks when you run directly into a trap, a PvP monster who has set the stage for the fight, etc.  Sens also offers a vast array of environmental challenges that the host will have to deal with in order to fight.  I found this to be both useful and dangerous.  I mentioned this above, but the first guy didn't see me coming.  The next one timed up a fire storm to roast me as I came running around the corner.  This is also where the weightyness of great swords is great in conjunction with ledges.  People freak out and want to just roll in any direction... often to their death.  I ended up cancelling an invasion to go back and rest at the bonfire after a handful of fights by putting down my summon sign.  I was almost immediately picked up for an Iron Golem fight and scored some quick and easy souls.

I left the PvP world for a while after Sens, but the difference in the feel of invasions from zone to zone is very noticeable.  I can tell this whole Darkwraith thing is going to be a lot of fun.  Especially when I can do my darkwraithy thing of being a spoiler once in a while.

I have concluded that the best way to reliably test my weapons in a semi-PvP situation as quickly as possible is to rest at the hidden bonfire near the Artorias Gate and wipe out the forrest covenant NPCs.  They at least have "player-like" AI and each one of them behaves a little differently from the last.  I want human and ran around a bit to see if any ForestBros were on duty, but I must have caught them on a union break (or level 40 was too low).

After some initial testing, I felt the Flamberge was going to be the far and away winner of the elusive slab upgrade to +15.  The katanas feel... limited... for some reason.  They just don't feel as dangerous as the Flamberge. The Uchi and Washing Pole are basically the same weapon with reach differences.  They both lack a reliable horizontal attack and they both move at about the same speed.  The Iaito has the horizontal attack, but it's slow and lacks the "dead angle" advantage of the Great Scythe, Flamberge, Claymore, and Zweihander (from what I can tell).  The katanas DO have bleed and require less endurance to use, but you have to make contact to inflict bleed and I'm not feeling so confident with the move set.  Also, they are a favorite of many dex-running undead, so people who note your weapon choice will feel more confident vs a katana.  This is the same limiting factor for the Claymore.  It's an elegant solution in just about any situation, but it's used by so many that it feels like the vast majority of people will have no trouble timing its attacks.  I also use the Claymore on another character, so I'd like to branch out.  

I dismissed the Murakumo early in the adventure for being "too slow" and "too heavy."  Later in the night I started to fall in love with it.  It's got a solid move set and inflicts huge "poise" damage on contact.  I had a blast fighting the forest covenant NPCs with it and am looking forward to testing it in PvP.  I just ran out of time.

The Gravelord Sword was an early contender, but in the end it's too heavy for what it can do.  It may make a lot of sense for a build targeted in the 100s, but I'm just not enjoying it on this guy.  For how amazing it looks and how fun it is to swing I find myself catching enemy weapons with my teeth mid swing way more with the Gravelord Sword than I have with anything else.  I originally was going to upgrade it to +5, but I just can't drag myself to farm the Demon Titanite for a weapon with an uncomfortable move set.  PvP may be a completely different animal, but all my PvE testing so far leads me to believe it will take a looooong time to learn.  A high skill ceiling is a good thing, but there are just so many options I like more right now.

The Great Scythe is my favorite at the moment, but even at 34 dexterity the +4 Lightening Great Scythe I've been messing around with does 130ish more damage per hit (the non elemental is at +10).  Luckily, MDragonFrost dropped me both a Claymore and Great Scythe when we co-oped together.  This means I can test them out vs their elemental counterparts in real time.  I really don't have to "choose" so I will keep both for the time being and get a really nice picture of how scaling vs elemental works.  So, why is the Great Scythe in the lead?  It's got a GREAT running attack in both 1h and 2h.  The 1HR1 and 2HR1 have amazing reach (and connects way more often than you'd expect with it's slow animation... especially when backing up).  The 1HR2 and 2HR2 attacks have a huge danger zone that stretches far enough side to side that you end up with massive dead angles.  You don't even need to be locked to pull of great things with R2.  Plus, I've been using it for most of my PvE because it looks cool.  It doesn't quite "jibe" with the Elite Knight set, but I haven't seen another one in PvP since I picked it up and just love it.  I will take it to +15 for sure.

The straight and curved swords all have the same ups and downs for me.  They all have cool animations in 1h and 2h with great utility, but they are all short and easily parried.  The Barbed Straight Sword seems like an interesting candidate for ascention to lightening damage, but it won't take the place of my backup Shotel.  None of these weapons have the reach and poise damage of the other weapons I've noted, but there is definitely a place for  them.  Is this the type of character for a Scimitar, Long Sword, or Balder Side Sword build?  Well, at their super low requirements a lot of these weapons look like they may come in handy for a  less than SL20 build.  Only time will truly tell... and that's why this character exists... TO LEARN!

The rapiers I've tried all have the same strengths and weaknesses.  They all have massive critical damage, quick attacks, can attack from behind a shield, and weigh very little, but none have a decent horizontal attack (even the Estoc's horizontal attack isn't much).  They STINK for PvE unless your parries are reliable (mine aren't.)  Getting to the point where I've opened up enough of the world to actually start PvP combat would be BRUTAL without swapping in something more PvE friendly.  All I can think of when I think Estoc is trying to kill the mosquitoes in Blightown. I tried that on this character.  It was one of the few times I wanted to throw my PC through the window. When it comes to PvP the thought of trying to poke someone who's back-flipping all over Anor Londo makes me a little sick.

I don't know if this is a leftover from my strength character, but I really am leaning heavily towards bigger, heavier, slower weapons with the only difference being that they scale on dex... with one exception:

Quelaag's Furysword.

This weapon has it all.  It's got really fast, hard hitting attacks.  It scales well with dexterity.  It's light, so I'm not so concerned about skilling into extra points of endurance.  Its horizontal attacks combo very nicely.  The running attack is solid.  It's fun to use.  And it looks cool as hell.  When you swing the sword it catches fire!  It sure intimidated the pants off me when I first saw it in PvP.  The only real cons are that it requires 10 soft humanity to do max damage and it does fire damage which most people resist well.  I've learned quite a bit about farming this play through and don't see myself running out of humanity anytime soon, so that "downside" may be a wash.  I don't really have much interest in any other boss soul weapons (besides MAYBE the one from Priscilla's soul) so the Demon Titanite wasn't a big deal.  I already have it at max (+5).  If nothing else it will be a really solid weapon to switch to when I'm tired of whatever else I'm using.  

4. Farm ACCOMPLISHED

I started out farming humanity in The Depths.  After I finally got my bearings and was able to get back and forth to the different places the rats spawn I was all set.  I also swapped in a fire claymore to take care of the slimes which netted me some titanite shards.  They are very short and weak to fire so the 2HR2 attack cleaned them up much more quickly than any of the other weapons I was packing.  They are right outside the bonfire, so they are actually a pretty convenient crop to reap.  It's not the most interesting thing to do on stream, but running from slimes to rats nets a ton of humanity and shards.  I haven't reached The Tomb of The Giants yet, so this is the best I've got until the tiny skeletons.  The fact that you can warp to a spot with a good group of titanite dropping slimes right outside the door and 10 or so rats 15 seconds away makes this a strong candidate for early humanity farming or that quick activity when you've only got a few minutes to play.  All in all I'd say this is a really good spot to hang out a little bit each day... especially if you are a Gravelord and need Eyes of the Dead.  They drop very frequently from the frog demons that curse you.  Be sure to bring plenty of Homeward Bones so you make the most of your time.  The 500 souls per will pay for itself in sanity.

I started The Depths at about 4 humanity in my inventory.  10 or so runs through and I had 30.  After this I moved to New Londo to try and farm some titanite chunks from the darkwraiths.  On run number one my heart nearly stopped when one of them dropped a TITANITE SLAB!  I was only sitting at 9 soft humanity and was wearing my Gold Serpent Ring.  It was like hitting the lottery.  I am really hoping I see another one, but I'm not going to hold my breath.  The odds are mind crushing and the farm is not easy.  

I had about 10 Transient Curses on me and used them to plow through the ghosts at the end of the bridge plus the ones on the way to The Four Kings door.  After a while I stopped using the Transient Curse in favor of a Jagged Ghost Blade.  This worked, but it sure made things interesting when I had both darkwraiths and ghosts attacking at once.  I also learned that your shield doesn't interact with ghosts when you are curse free, so you might as well two hand that Jagged Ghost Blade.  I tried both ways multiple times and it's just not worth it to run without a curse.  It makes the run more "interesting" to swap to a JGB and back to your main weapon, but you end up dying more and running back without soft humanity too many times while you're recovering your blood stain.  

This run is pretty straight forward.  Run around New Londo killing everything, homeward bone (to Firelink Shrine) and repeat.  The darkwraiths are really good parry practice, but they hit like a truck, so be ready to GTFO when you take damage.  I didn't get a good count on chunks, but this was a high intensity farm and I came away with a good pile of stuff... including A SLAB, so this one is getting a big ACCOMPLISHED regardless of how efficient it was.  I will be using New Londo as a way to get both souls and chunks (AND SLABS...yeah right) for a long time.  Once I unlock The Kiln I'll have another place to score all flavors of chunks, but for the straight Titanite... it's all New Londo, baby!

The final place I "farmed" was Darkroot Garden.  I was not in the market for a ton of souls or any specific gear, but I was going in there to farm something... knowledge.  At this point in the night I had about 15 weapons upgraded through +10 that I really needed to test vs "human" opponents, but I didn't want to waste any time waiting on invasions and was up waaaaaaaaay later than I wanted to be.  I was in The Undead Parish anyways, so I just scooted on down to the forest, rested at the bonfire and started swinging away with each weapon.  I was out of souls when I got there as I had leveled up a couple times and upgraded the "last" of the weapons I wanted to try to +10.  When I was done I had close to 100,000.  I didn't realize how fun a farm or how quick a farm the forest NPCs would be.  People had mentioned this place quite a few times in chat, but I was in the Forrest Covenant on my Cleric and didn't really stop to smell the roses on my sorcerer, so I had zero perspective.  You are basically IN the farming spot when you rest at the bonfire and there is a good mix of styles to fight against among the NPCs.  you have your sorcerer, your faith/strength cleric-y type, the battle axe wielding bandit, and the back stab baiting "rogue."  I thought there was an archer, but I guess he doesn't respawn after he's dominated... regardless, these are all fun fights and they feel "like" low skill (aka my skill) pvp.  I don't try to fool myself into thinking I'll learn to be the greatest Darkwraith ever by killing some AI opponents, but I will learn how to fight enemies who spam their attacks, swap from 1h to 2h frequently, block with shields, and even parry your attacks if you get lazy.  It's like PvP with training wheels and results in a nice pile of shiny new souls.  

5. HAVE FUN! ACCOMPLISHED

This one is by far the most important.  I'm marking this one down as a win because the game play was fluid and fun, the chat was active and interesting, and at the end of the night I felt like I got somewhere.  That "somewhere" wasn't just in-game progress... it was advancing my understanding of the game, the gear, and the world that will carry over from character to character, NG to NG+7.  I feel like a better Dark Souls player today than I did yesterday, and in the end, that's the best result.  I even got down to stupid Vamos to upgrade my fire Claymore to +10... but forgot that I didn't get my red slab yet, so I'll have to go down there again.  

I have to say it again... the chat... the people that come here... the people that follow me on twitter... the people who take the time to click "like" on my YouTube videos... you guys make this so damn fun.  I'm honored that so many of you come by and actively take part in the adventure.  I really consider you guys friends and you fill a very important part in my life as a night shift working dude who connects with very few people off line during my awake time.  Thank you all so much.

And as a special thank you, I've highlighted the VOD of my Bed of Chaos "fight."  I wouldn't have wanted it to end any other way.  Here it is on YouTube: