Fuck! That’s sadistic, even for Dark Souls.
It was incredibly rough. It’s not often From admit they’ve gone too far but even they backtracked on that one.
I’ve posted my blog on getting stuck in Ash Lake with 25% health a few times but I’m going to do it again anyway because I still can’t believe I managed to get out: Let me tell you why I love Dark Souls – Ludowaffle
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Had a hard time with the Depths, but beat the Gaping Dragon. Now I’m messing about doing as much as I can without having to go down into Blighttown. Went down and got Havel’s Ring from that dude in Darkroot Basin, and went back to Undead Asylum which I really really struggled with. Don’t think there’s much else I can do now, just going to need to suck it up and make my way down. But I really don’t want to.
On the plus side I have a great big fucking axe and it’s really fun smacking everyone. Dying lots because I’m slow as fuck, but enjoying the high risk-high reward aspect of it.
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This is a great read 
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Thanks! It was a ridiculous situation to get myself in but naked sprinting has been my secret weapon in DS ever since.
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I’m trying to avoid reading too much about the game and figure it out for myself, but learning how to level up my weapons has helped loads. Also hadn’t realised you could hold a weapon two handed until the Blighttown boss. Couldn’t scratch it before I discovered that.
I’m watching the stream Matt from The Computer Game Show podcast did if I get really stuck on where to go next, but not watching how to actually beat the boss. Also listening to Dark Calls where two of the guys from that pod give slight clues to guide you towards your next goal. Just enough info to help, but not enough to spoil it.
I found Depths pretty hard too, as I kept falling down into that area full of frogs. Bosses were ok though and did them second time.
Blighttown wasn’t the ordeal I’d heard it could be either. Made it all the way to the 2nd bonfire on my first go once I figured out how to get past the initial enemies. Frame rate being sorted on Switch probably helped!
Definitely needed some help knowing where to go for the boss though as I got properly lost down there and fucked over with poisons / toxins.
Will remember it as a good experience though.
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Has anyone ever written a piece about the experiences of those who first played this game and pieced together the Lore, figured out the boss fights, worked out how to level up etc?
Finding it fascinating how the first raft of players managed to endure and get through this…
Not what you’re describing, but feel I should once again recommend Bonfireside Chat as a supplementary podcast
Ah yes I have a couple downloaded, along with Dark Calls and Twin Humanities.
Best to listen to them as you play?
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I’ve not read it but I understand Keza MacDonald of Kotaku’s book You Died goes into this:
Would recommend listening to the early areas as you go along (i.e. once you’ve done each area). They are spoiler-free for future areas up until episode 7.
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Made some good progress this week.
Really enjoyed the Sif fight, and the enemies leading up to him. Visually the high point of the game to date. Less enjoyed the Hydra. Didn’t kill the dragon on the bridge but made it to the bonfire behind it and enjoyed watching the dragon fly away. Took out Havel and all the Black Knights too. Feel like I’m getting closer and closer to the top of Sen’s fortress and also have a few decent weapons and rings out of nowhere after surviving with just a Longsword since the beginning.
Listening to a podcast about the lore, and had missed the secret area being Quelaag where her sister resides. Watched the storyline concerning her on YouTube and I’m a bit sad now 
I think I now love Dark Souls guys…
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One of us. One of us. One of us.
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Got my arse kicked by that guy so many times I had to look it up. Who would’ve thought the jumping slash would do the trick? Cleaned out the Chasm of the Abyss and found myself stuck at a crossroads with two pretty tough bosses to take on. Surprisingly, it only took half a dozen attemptes to take out Kalameet but Manus is truly ridiculous. At this point, he can easily one-shot me and I’m lucky if I can get three or four hits in before he does.
Think it might be time to grind up a few levels to give me the edge on him. Or I could try wearing armour.
I’ve spent a wholly depressing evening being battered by Lautrec / Smough and Ornstein. I’m going to be here for ages, grinding up levels, aren’t I?
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I have absolutely zero shame about summoning for o and s:there’s two of them why shouldn’t you have company?
Plus you’ll find a lot of invaders hanging around there as it’s such a popular summoning spot so there’s a whole game within a game as you attempt to make it to the fog gate alive
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Lautrec and his mates are tough, but you only need to beat them once. Try and get the wizard prick first (you should be able to get the jump on him from above) and then use the pillars to split the other two up. Alternatively, you can do what I did and be hollow the whole time. That way you never fight him until you randomly look up why Firelink Shrine is still not burning and you get a clean run through to O & S.
What level are you at the moment? More importantly: how is it split out? For those guys stamina is maybe more important than health, so you can keep moving.
As Scagden says, there’s no shame in summoning. Except for the obvious and total shame of summoning!
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I’m around level 45-50.
Mainly put souls into Strength, Vitality and Dexterity, with each around 22-25. Everything else is barely touched. I’m happy to put a few hours into killing those giant knights and getting up a tad if necessary.
I also have a huge bunch of Titanite saved up, which I’m totally unsure what to put into? I levelled up my Longsword into a Raw Longsword and that is pretty handy; also have a Heavy crossbow 3, but find that fairly shite. I have a few punchy weapons like Dragonbow, Crystal Halberd, Lightning Spear and various great axes that I’m not quite levelled up enough to use, so I haven’t put anything into them - should I?
I got the sense from O&S that something longer than a sword might be handy. I can get one of them down to half health ok, but then they gang up on me…
As for Lautrec, I used the Orb to invade his world. I heard on Bonfireside Chat he killed the Firelink Shrine keeper so I wanted revenge… Best to do this later on?
Higher stats will always help but I think you’ll get more immediate return on levelling up your weapon and you should be able to get something up to +10 with a bit of farming the large titanite shards.
You’ll get 100 different answers about exactly what direction to go there! I haven’t really bothered with elemental weapons apart from when they’re really essential for the area, but YMMV. It’s probably best to make a decision on whether you want to go with strength or dex based weapons then tailor your upgrades accordingly. Strength will get you into the axes and two-handed greatswords: slower but big hitting. Personally, I always favour the faster, dex-based weapons but that also makes you play in a certain way: much more reliant on dodging and rolling than armour and shields.
Also worth taking at a look at what stats your weapon’s damage scales with. For example, I’ve almost finished my first run and my main weapon has been the humble scimitar: think is that starts with B scaling on dexterity and jumps up to A once it’s fully upgraded.
I’d misremembered how you get to him. It’s definitely worth taking him out soon, but maybe concentrate on O&S first.
Not even sure how I look at that stat! Will investigate. Thanks, super helpful…