Dark Souls

[briareos_kerensky]

Rolling isn't strictly necessary with a good shield and armour...that's what knights are for Though there might be a couple of instances where fighting without armour is better than donning any, at least at low levels.

[Charlie]

This may have been mentioned already but speaking of armour and weight, when you're running great distances between areas it's a good idea to either go naked or don very light armour as it really reduces the time spent reaching your destination which is sometimes very long.

[112]

This may have been mentioned already but speaking of armour and weight, when you're running great distances between areas it's a good idea to either go naked or don very light armour as it really reduces the time spent reaching your destination which is sometimes very long.

Are you thinking the long stretches in anor Londo? I ate a whole sandwich traversing from the first Bon fire to the the main guardian...

Btw still playing this, on my first run through still (technically second, but first as I didn't get half way first time round) and I've clocked up 110+ hours and at level 101. It's got me hooked I tell you!

112

[Womble9]

Ok so I'm at a pretty decent level now (70 something from memory) with a mainly beat the feck out of things character but I'm finally wanting to start messing with pyro stuff. Which stat do I have to increase to make my pyro better as lastnight I spent a full 80k of souls on gaining two more points of Intelligence (the in game description of which led me to believe it would make my flame damage more powerful) only for it to make no difference at all ?

[fuse]

Pyro spells increase in power dependant on how much you've upgraded the catalyst rather than your Int stat.

[Womble9]

Ah right (bugger, that was a blooming waste of hard earned souls then eh!!) cheers for that. So where do I upgrade the catalyst then as i don't recall having had the option to do so as yet?

[Bort]

Ah right (bugger, that was a blooming waste of hard earned souls then eh!!) cheers for that. So where do I upgrade the catalyst then as i don't recall having had the option to do so as yet?

First Pyro trainers appears at firelink after you free him

->Open Spoiler<-

(he's in a barrel in the depths just after the second butcher (the room full of large barrels).
Second is just before the nest to Quelaag (next to one of the big columns) and the third is behind a hidden wall after you beat Quelaag.

[briareos_kerensky]

Second is just before the nest to Quelaag (next to one of the big columns)[/SPOILER]

But you have to meet certain conditions for this one.

[Womble9]

First Pyro trainers appears at firelink after you free him

Cheers mate. I remember the first one well but wasn't really bothered about pyro at the time and now he's buggered off (from where he went to after freeing him)? Anyway found the 2nd one and now indeed I'm blasting as opposed to hack n slashing all sorts! Jeeez this is one hell of a game!!

[Bort]

Cheers mate. I remember the first one well but wasn't really bothered about pyro at the time and now he's buggered off (from where he went to after freeing him)? Anyway found the 2nd one and now indeed I'm blasting as opposed to hack n slashing all sorts! Jeeez this is one hell of a game!!

It's normal for him to leave after a certain point.

Getting back to the important bit...

[Sketcz]

Struggling with Ornstein and Smough. In fact this might be where I put it back on my shelf.

I checked the DS Wiki and it recommended fire weapons, or if you didn’t have the flame ember from Lost Izalith then Quellaags Furysword. So I shlepped back to the Smith in the Cathedral, upgraded a Scimitar, then blew a whole bunch of souls upgrading the Furysword to +5. This also cost me 10 Demon Titanite.

It’s attack is now like 380, which is less than my Black Knight Sword +5, which is 430.

I enter the battle, and it does about half the damage as the BKS. Rubbish. And the Wiki said they were weak against fire.

I’ve done the battle about 25-30 times now. Each time I can get about half health off of one, or about a 3rd off of both, but that’s it. The best I’ve managed is beating Ornstein, but that required coming to life (wasting a Humanity), and summoning that guy on the stairs. Who promptly died during the battle. Now he’s no longer in the room with the fire where he was before. Is he gone for good?

I don’t feel like wasting another humanity just to check if I can still summon him, so I need some serious advice to help beat these two bosses with as little effort as possible

I’m level 55 and wearing Gaval’s Rock Armour and Leggings. Anti-lightning gloves, and that Child’s Mask for stamina boost. Strength is around 24, Dex 20.

I just can’t seem to connect. I go in close for Smough and he smashes me with his hammer while Ornstein finishes me off with lightning. When I try to attack Ornstein he dashes around like a madman. I can take about 2-3 hits before snuffing it. The Furysword swings fast but does FA damage, while the BKS does good damage but drains stamina and leaves me wide open.

[briareos_kerensky]

I’ve done the battle about 25-30 times now. Each time I can get about half health off of one, or about a 3rd off of both, but that’s it. The best I’ve managed is beating Ornstein, but that required coming to life (wasting a Humanity), and summoning that guy on the stairs. Who promptly died during the battle. Now he’s no longer in the room with the fire where he was before. Is he gone for good?

No, you can still summon him and you'll find him at his next spot in his sidequest.
Ornstein is somewhat weak to fire, Smough to lightning, but it's Titanite Demon-weak, meaning that their high defense will absorb all damage types up to a certain degree. Probably your best bet beside a strong physical weapon is a magic/enchanted weapon, but it really depends on your stats; if anything, 24 STR is a bit low if you're using a strength-boosted sword.
Anyway, the easiest way to approach the battle is to summon someone. Anor Londo tends to be filled by people searching for PvP but you should be relatively safe in the cathedral/palace/whatever it is before the boss.
Solaire won't last for both halves of the battle because he just sits there trying to cast offensive miracles but after entering the room he becomes O&S's primary target, letting you hack away at any of the two. As your strenght is so low, maybe you'll want to lighten your armour a bit to roll around Smough, his swings can be easily avoided by backstepping and do a running slash with your weapon, hit two or three times more and then dodge/retreat to see what Ornstein is up to and to avoid Smough's retaliation.
Magic also comes in handy, Soul Spear and other ranged spells with short casting times will do the trick. They are also excellent against Smough in the second part of the battle, while against powered Ornstein you have to get up close to avoid the tip of his spear.

[Sketcz]

Thanks for the advice. Sadly my spell power is weak - I've not bothered bumping it up at all, because without an MP bar and limited casts, what is the point really?

I think I'll switch back to the BKS and maybe grind for strength. I've got Gavel's ring, which has boosted my capacity, hence the heavy armour. I've heard the Giant's Armour sold by the smith is really good once upgraded?

Not sure I want to risk wasting humanity (things are so damn rare) on summoning when I might not make it...

[J0e Musashi]

Go in with Solaire and a real player. The three of you will take them down in no time. TBH I don't think you've levelled high enough, or indded evenly enough though. 25-30 times is too many times IMO. You need some form of offensive ranged magic IMO.

[briareos_kerensky]

Thanks for the advice. Sadly my spell power is weak - I've not bothered bumping it up at all, because without an MP bar and limited casts, what is the point really?

I think I'll switch back to the BKS and maybe grind for strength. I've got Gavel's ring, which has boosted my capacity, hence the heavy armour. I've heard the Giant's Armour sold by the smith is really good once upgraded?

Not sure I want to risk wasting humanity (things are so damn rare) on summoning when I might not make it...

The Giant's armour is good, but is very heavy, probably the Black Iron armour (found in the hall with the giant painting) is a better choice if you are already using Havel's Ring to increase your max load...though I don't remember which of the two weights more.
Anyway, what' your point spread? When you said that you had STR and DEX still around 20 I thought you started out as a caster.

Magic is far from required to beat O&S (done it with a BKS, Black Iron armour and shield on my first playthrough, but my STR was 40) but Joe has a point in your levels being spread too wide.