Dark Souls

[briareos_kerensky]

Only four Gargoyles per playthrough (2 in burg as boss, 2 in Anor Londo).

[hudson]

Keep in mind that humanity is lost on death but regained just like souls and with the latest patch it's much easier to get, not just as a drop, but bosses drop at least one too.
With 5 or so points in humanity you should be able to farm it with relative ease. Also, you can kill all NPCs before starting a NG+. One NPC (

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Rhea of Thorolund

) holds 7 and a Firekeeper Soul will give you five

Do you recommend me killing all NPCs?

[briareos_kerensky]

Do you recommend me killing all NPCs?

Just before facing the last boss. All NPCs respawn on NG+ with their initial behaviour toward you (friendly/neutral).

[hudson]

To be honest, I'm not too sure how far away from last boss I am. I've defeated bosses in erratic order. Not really sure what to do next. Let's see... The last bosses I did where in Darkmoon forest and basin, done Anor Londo and Devil Ruins. can't fight ghost in New Londo yet and catacombs looks to dangerous for me at the moment. Tried Valley of Drakes, but after killing 3 dragons, I started to get to see myself weaken the further I went. I remember visiting somewhere called King's Archive or something, it didn't seem to bad.

My only gripe with this game at the moment, is thatvsometimes I switch it on and find myself unsure of what to do next.

[jimtendo]

My only gripe with this game at the moment, is thatvsometimes I switch it on and find myself unsure of what to do next.

I would say that it a positive

As I am the complete opposite. I've loved the openess on how you could tackle certain areas in which order. Sure enough, there's not much point going to a few places unless you've aquired key items. But I loved reading how different everyones playthroughs and where they went as it was different from mine.

[briareos_kerensky]

can't fight ghost in New Londo yet and catacombs looks to dangerous for me at the moment.

The ghosts can be fought when cursed or under the effect of a transient curse. Being cursed cuts your HPs in half and I wouldn't reccomend it; transient curses are found just before the entrance to New Londo from Firelink Shrine and ghosts drop them too.
You can also use a cursed weapon without being cursed or under effect of a transient curse, but such weapons are extremely rare: right now only a dagger (dropped by the ghosts themselves) and a weapon made from a boss soul come to my mind.

For the Catacombs, be sure to carry a holy weapon so normal skeletons won't respawn.

And I'm sure you'll notice when only the last boss is left

[rmoxon]

To be honest, I'm not too sure how far away from last boss I am. I've defeated bosses in erratic order. Not really sure what to do next. Let's see... The last bosses I did where in Darkmoon forest and basin, done Anor Londo and Devil Ruins. can't fight ghost in New Londo yet and catacombs looks to dangerous for me at the moment. Tried Valley of Drakes, but after killing 3 dragons, I started to get to see myself weaken the further I went. I remember visiting somewhere called King's Archive or something, it didn't seem to bad.

My only gripe with this game at the moment, is thatvsometimes I switch it on and find myself unsure of what to do next.

Youre probably only about halfway through the game. Well I'd probably consider the completion of Anor Londo to be the halfway point, though it does depend on how many optional areas you have done so far.

Valley of the drakes is an optional area btw. It also doesn't feature a boss and is primarily a giant shortcut to a few other areas.

[hudson]

I've read a couple of posts on here from people who say that the second half of this game is a let down. What do they mean exactly?

[rmoxon]

I personally loved the second half just as much as the first however it is slightly different in feel due to the fact that it's more open and you can tackle the final four areas of the game in any order you like, I'm not sure why they wouldn't like that, but maybe that's why.

[hudson]

So, having beat Seath the Scaleless and Pinwheel recently, am I in this "second half"?

[jimtendo]

Pretty much.
Anything past Anor Londo/ aquiring the Lordvessel counts as the halfway point.

Currently love being a mid rank warrior (SL 56) where I'm helping out loads of randoms with

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Smough & Ornstein/ Seath/ Nito/ 4 Kings

[hudson]

Anyone got any tips for killing big t-rex things in Lost Izalith? Is it worth sprucing up a nice long bow?

[Synthesthesia]

I've not been on this for around 2 months, despite absolutely loving the 50-60 hours I put into it. I got to the crystal caverns (I think that's what it's called) and the tomb of the giants. I just kept dying and it wasn't fun at all, all the other bits I persevered through and enjoyed. But those parts just made me stop playing. I really want to go back but I'm not looking forward to doing them at all. Any tips from people who've pwned those parts? I've got a light spell for the TotG etc and I know you can walk on the

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invisible platforms at the crystal caverns.

[rmoxon]

Anyone got any tips for killing big t-rex things in Lost Izalith? Is it worth sprucing up a nice long bow?

They easily get stuck on scenery and cant fit in smaller spaces, plus they kill each other if you have several after you at once, basically the best thing to do is get a few of them to chase you and then stand somewhere where there attacks wont get you, then either watch them kill each other as they stom up and down or just take them out wth arrows.

There are four hiding places I would suggest:

The archway just before the area with them in.

The mass of broken pillars that you come across as you go a little ways into the area.

The first building you come across (it has a chest in it), once inside you can pick a few off with arrows from in there.

Finally the best place to kill them from is at the top of the structure that contains the bonfire, up a broken tree branch. Once on top of there you basicaly just have to fire a few arrows to get their attention and they will kill each other off.

I've not been on this for around 2 months, despite absolutely loving the 50-60 hours I put into it. I got to the crystal caverns (I think that's what it's called) and the tomb of the giants. I just kept dying and it wasn't fun at all, all the other bits I persevered through and enjoyed. But those parts just made me stop playing. I really want to go back but I'm not looking forward to doing them at all. Any tips from people who've pwned those parts? I've got a light spell for the TotG etc and I know you can walk on the

->Open Spoiler<-

invisible platforms at the crystal caverns.

Crystal Caves is actually a really short and easy area that basically just acts as a pathway from the Dukes Archives to the boss. Most of the enemies in there should be avoided, the butterflies will not attack unless provoked and the Clam things can easily be ran past. There is only actually one enemy you should probabaly kill down there (besides the boss) and thats the one after the first invisible platform. once you get rid of him the rest of the area is easy.

Tomb Of The Giants is a pain in the arse. You may be doing what I did though and simply not realising there is a bonfire down there and going the wrong way entierly. As you travel down there is a series of coffins you slide down, after either the second or third one (sorry i cant remeber which) if you turn around there is a very narrow path around the side of a wall that leads you to the first bonfire. Once you find this first bonfire the rest of the area is much easier to navigate.

[briareos_kerensky]

Crystal Caves is actually a really short and easy
<snip>
once you get rid of him the rest of the area is easy.

The Clams drop items for curse removal and the local boss cause curse, so if you don't have the Cursebit Ring and/or high humanity, it's worth farming them for a bit (they also drop Twinkling Titanite which isn't bad). It's easy to lure them out one by one, though their attacks can be quite damaging; the charge depletes a lot of stamina or can even break guard completely if your shield doesn't have a high stability.
I agree in dodging essentially any other enemy there, the gold golems take a lot of punishment and there isn't enough space for maneuvering, but the first can be lured with an arrow and can get struck in the scenery for an easy kill.
If you're lucky the Moonlight Butterflies drop Titanite Slabs, but unlike the boss in Darkroot Garden they won't land, so be prepared for a long-range fight...and hope that the drop will land somewhere you can reach.
Before the second gold golem there are three Crystal Lizards inside the small cave just above that golem: get there, quit, reload and have fun harvesting stones.