.

[Samus Aran]

yeah blighttown is lame, worst part about it tho is those assholes that shoot toxic darts. gotta have the spider shield to block that shit

[Kalahari Inkantation]

not to mention the silky smooth 15fps

[Nyerp]

beat quelaag!!

[spoiler]i summoned for the first time ever (maneater mildred) because i was human when i was at the boss door and why the fuck not?

she was easy [/spoiler]

i love how this game disguised an npc as a regular enemy, whom i shot on sight and then killed!! there goes that guy!!! fucking bullshit

[Nyerp]

aaaand i just accidentally sent another pyromancy merchant to his death (laurentius) by answering a fucking yes or no question!!! now my only chance for upgrading my pyromancy is some lady hidden in the fucking swamp of blighttown who i luckily got to spawn in my game somehow or else i'd be completely fucked!!!!! DARK SOULS: PLAY WITH A GUIDE OR FUCK YOU

yes im mad

[Samus Aran]

disguised an NPC as a regular enemy? You mean quelaags sisters egg servant dude? I can see how you'd make that mistake lol

[Nyerp]

yeah i mean him. "oh of course this game would put an enemy right before a post-boss bonfire. i'll just shoot him with an arrow to lead him to an open area. wait why is he talking to me."

you can chalk this one up to me making stupid assumptions, but i think the vague npc interactions & questlines are still my least favorite thing about these games. they're designed for you to fuck them up on your first time through the game and then try to learn from your mistakes on subsequent playthroughs. but i'm an impatient fuck who wants to see all the good stuff happen the first time damn it

[Kalahari Inkantation]

you really do have to be extremely careful when you come across anything that looks like an enemy but seems isolated or otherwise out of place

a quick r3 test in such situations will indicate whether not they're actually enemies lol

[Kalahari Inkantation]

but i think the vague npc interactions & questlines are still my least favorite thing about these games. they're designed for you to fuck them up on your first time through the game and then try to learn from your mistakes on subsequent playthroughs. but i'm an impatient fuck who wants to see all the good stuff happen the first time damn it

but yes, i agree

[spoiler]

it's why i keep a trusty guide by me at all times, it's the only real way to optimize your first playthrough[/spoiler]

[Thyme]

this happened to me with
[spoiler]that cat thing in the forest[/spoiler]

[Samus Aran]

Lol

Thankfully I had already learned about the R3 trick from someone else to tell between npcs and hostiles

[Nyerp]

after iron tarkus and i destroyed the iron golem in like a minute flat, i ignored the weird yellow circle thing and went back to the blacksmith to buy the crest of artorias. should i go to that area in darkroot garden yet?

[Samus Aran]

you don't technically need to buy the crest of artorias to get in there. the back entrance is up the ladder at the waterfall in darkroot basin. but having the crest is convenient because it allows you to have access to the bonfire right outside that door when going through the area.

you can do that area at any time before new londo ruins, basically. its boss, sif, is not particularly hard nor particularly easy. you just need to do it eventually because once you beat sif, you get a ring that will allow you to finish new londo ruins (you can't fight the boss there without said ring)

but new londo ruins' boss is probably the hardest of the "big four" you have to do once you have the lordvessel, so i always save it for last. still, i do sif way before then, usually.

by the way, are you planning on doing the dlc? if so, i would suggest doing it right before doing the last area of the game (so do it after you have all four lord souls, basically)

i would personally say you should go ahead and do darkroot garden now, because the only other direction to go right now is anor londo...and you will want to be well-prepared for it. the anor londo boss, which awards you the lordvessel, is easily the hardest boss in the main game.

[Nyerp]

yeah i plan on doing the dlc but i haven't bought it yet lol

and yeah i'm definitely dreading ornstein & smough so time to procrastinate!!!

[Samus Aran]

you can definitely do some procrastinating. before you fight ornstein and smough, you could fight two other bosses in anor londo. gwyndolin, near one of the bonfires (note that killing gwyndolin will enrage a fire keeper of anor londo's first bonfire and you will be forced to kill her and make this bonfire stop working, but oh well), and priscilla (in the painted world)

but yeah ornstein and smough are going to give you issues, they give everyone issues. the first time i played dark souls, i honestly died at least ten or twelve times before beating them, so don't be surprised if you do too. it's a long fight that will try your patience and your resources, and make you try all sorts of strategies.

[Thyme]

but having the crest is convenient because it allows you to have access to the bonfire right outside that door when going through the area.

it also gives you easy access to one of the best grinding areas in the game tbh