Dark Souls Low% Glitchless Attempt 2¶
Day 1¶
After our lesson in the pitfalls in Pyromancy in the first attempt, trying a Knight this time due to well rounded stats. Probably still get Power Within due to the low investment but I won't have access to it until after Qualaag as that will be the first Pyromancy Flame I can get. Master Key as it is necessary.
Asylum is uneventful as per usual. I put my first 2 levels into Strength. I loot around Firelink Shrine and the cemetery for gear (especially the Zweihander, souls, and the Cracked Red Eye Orb). Next order of business is to start upgrading my Estus Flask early. I grab the Fire Keeper Soul in New Londo Ruins and die to the Ghosts. Back at Firelink, I upgrade my Estus.
I head back down, this time heading to the Valley of Drakes, making sure to grab the gear from the Undead Dragon. I head towards the Darkroot Basin, resting at the tunnel bonfire. I then double back to grab the Red Tearstone Ring and Darksign back to the bonfire.
On the way up to the Undead Parish, grab the Grass Crest Shield and the Leather Armor Set. I then headed up to the Undead Parish, stopping at the bonfire. After, I make a mad dash through the church, grabbing the Fire Keeper Soul and going down the shortcut to Firelink. While here, I upgrade my Estus Flask again as I know relatively soon I'll lose access for a bit.
I plan to head back to the Asylum now, mainly for insurance reasons. I jump to Firelink roof and grab the Undead Asylum F2 West Key. I curl up as an egg and head back to the Undead Asylum.
I take out the 4 Torch Hollows, then trade Snuggly the Cracked Red Eye Orb for Purging Stones. Then I run through the Asylum, ignoring everything just to grab the Rusted Iron Ring. I leave just as quickly as I got here.
I have enough souls for 1 level so I put it into Strength. I head back to the Undead Parish, then run through the churches, under the Sunlight Altar Church and under the bridge, essentially going in reverse of the typical way. I kick the ladder down to the battlements for an easy bonfire to use. I farm some shards and souls on the bridge. Enough to get 2 Strength + 1 Endurance. I rest one last time at the Sunlight Altar bonfire, then proceed to head back to the Undead Parish bonfire through the gate.
On my way back to the Undead Parish bonfire, I get killed by the Armored Boar and as I am dying, the Hollow closes the portcullis. I have to make my way through the basement which is a small time sink, but a sad one.
I stop at Firelink to restock on Estus as it is kindled. Then I pop some souls and get 1 more Endurance. I also go to Andre to buy the Weapon Smithbox and upgrade my Zweihander to +3. Time to try Gargoyles. They end up taking a few tries, but the Zweihander stunned them well enough when they weren't teaming up to be able to take them out.
I kindle the Undead Parish bonfire as sooner or later it'll likely ends up being the base of operations. I use the souls from the Gargoyles to get 2 Vitality, 2 Strength, 2 Intelligence (to get the Pyromancy Flame) (Strength for eventually one-handing the Zweihander). I start making my way toward Blighttown.
It takes 5 tries to grab the Fire Keeper Soul on the way down mainly due to dying to toxic and the dogs before I can grab it. Probably an unnecessary time loss as when I die after grabbing the soul, the Fire Keeper is already dead. I should at least get it before Quelaag so I can give it to The Fair Lady. I grab the Dingy Armor Set. Attempt 6 makes hit down to the bottom of Blighttown. On the wheel I equip the Rusted Iron Ring. I make it to the bonfire.
This will be base camp for likely a bit. I go around the swamp grabbing what I can, then head to The Great Hollow with one specific goal in mind, the Cloranthy Ring. With some souls I picked up around the bottom of the swamp, I get 1 Endurance. Otherwise, I target the ring. I drop down, grab the Cloranthy Ring and a few Titanite Chunks for my trouble. Miss a branch, fall, die, and move on. I got my main objective.
I double back to the main swamp bonfire and begin my attempts at grabbing Power Within. It takes about 11 tries, mostly due to trying to manage health between poison, toxic, and damage with only 5 Estus Flasks, but eventually, I grab the Pyromancy and move on to the main event.
Quelaag
It goes better than expected without much to say. She gets taken out first try. No armor so I can fast roll with the Zweihander. The second bell gets rung.
I go down to the Chaos Servant Covenant for a few reasons. Allocate souls for 6 Strength so I can now one-hand the Zweihander. I attune Power Within. I reinforce my Estus with Fire Keeper Soul from Blighttown. I join the Chaos Servant Covenant.
Next up is the Demon Ruins. The only way for me to get a Pyromancy Flame is from Eingyi and the only way to get one from him is to have 11 Intelligence and get infected with Egg Head. So I get infected with Egg Head, talk to Eingyi, get my Pyromancy Flame.
I climb out of Blighttown and back to Undead Parish/Sen's Fortress through Firelink. On the way through Firelink, I feed Frampt my Large Titanite Shards to get some Titanite Shards. I know I won't be able to use Large Titanite Shard due to the Large Ember being in The Depths. I use the Soul of Quelaag and take my Zweihander up to +5. Use the rest of the souls to buy the repair box and 1 Endurance.
I'm realizing I should've taken out Ceaseless before coming back up but at this point, not going to worry about it.
End of Day 1 Time: 3:02:20
End of Day 1 Level: 26
Day 2¶
I second guess leaving Ceaseless, so I go back. Takes about 15 minutes but it's easy enough souls.
The way back is uneventful. I decide to buy the Crest of Artorias and try to knock out Sif. I grab the Stone Armor Set on the way to the fight.
Sif
Using all my Humanities and fat rolling in Stone Armor Set, Sif goes down without too much of a hassle on the fourth attempt. Power Within helps early, while I spend the entire fight 2-handing the Zweihander. The souls from the fight fund 1 Vitality, 6 Endurance.
Sen's Fortress
Trying to play cautiously as I have 5 soft Humanities, but 2 wrong moves while walking across the beams ends that quickly. Those are gone. I throw caution to the wind. I rush through most parts of the the fortress. The only item really on my radar is the Gold Serpent Ring as I know I'll need to farm Humanities later. Otherwise, I climb up, sit at the bonfire, and do runs for more trinkets. I go back down for Slumbering Dragon Crest and try to get to the bottom for the items down there. I miss my drop, fall to my death. I don't worry about going back down. When I respawn, I grab the Flame Stoneplate Ring. Otherwise, it's time to move on.
Iron Golem
I can now fat roll in full Stone Armor Set, so that's my starting strategy.
First attempt gets it down to about 30%. I was stunlocking it until I wasn't… it then combos me and I die. Second attempt it grabs me through its legs, I die. Third attempt gets it done. No major issues, some close calls with Power Within, but otherwise fine.
Anor Londo
I spend the souls from the Iron Golem on 5 Vitality.
My Anor Londo muscle memory is awful. 3 attempts for rafters. 8 attempts to get past the archers.
I finally make it to the bonfire and kindle it as I know I'll need it. I grab Havel's Armor Set and proceed to open the shortcut. Clearing out Silver Knights easily, 2 heavy attacks and a light attack from the Zweihander keeps them stunned. Open shortcut. 1 more level of Vitality. Time to start boss attempts.
Ornstein and Smough
Zweihander, Pyromancy Flame, Grass Crest Shield, Silver Knight Gauntlets, Havel's Leggings (perfectly 30/60 weight for my current stats). The first 6 attempts are pretty lackluster. 3 made it to Super Smough. The 7th attempt, everything somehow clicks. Ornstein goes down quick. I only use one Estus. Still have Power Within going for Smough. At one point get crushed as I got greedy, but it isn't enough to stop me. Victory is mine. I spend the souls from the bosses plus a few smaller hard souls to get 6 levels in Endurance. Hoping to be able to slowly wear more armor during bosses.
Lordvessel
Before leaving Anor Londo, I open the castle gate and the Giant Blacksmith shortcut as I still don't know what upgrade path to go down. I then warp to Firelink to place the Lordvessel. I attempt to start heading towards Nito.
This is a game of inches for this challenge seeing as I can't kill Necromancers or Skeletons as Divine weapons are behind Moonlight Butterfly. Also every death until I get a bonfire starts with a fast travel as Firelink cannot be rested at.
1st attempt gets the door open. 2nd attempt gets Vamos to open the tunnel wall. Can't light or rest at the bonfire because so many Skeletons fell down. 3rd and 4th attempts I fall to my death. 5th I finally get down with no Skeletons, light the bonfire.
I consider upgrading to Fire. I look at what possible upgrades I could get vs my stats. At this point, Fire seems like the best option. Maybe this time I'll also go past +5? I haven't tried to grab the Large Flame Ember without killing the Burrowing Rockworms so no clue. It's been a while since I grabbed it.
Warp back to Anor Londo to buy some more Green Shards from the Giant Blacksmith using Soul of Sif to buy the last 3 shards I need. Homeward Bone back to Vamos. On to Pinwheel. Pinwheel gets 3 shot by Fire +5 Zweihander 2-handed heavy attacks. I get a Mask of the Child. On to the Tomb of the Giants.
I fall to my death with 25k souls. Great start. I retrieve my souls, get down to the bonfire, when I Giant Skeleton lands on it. I take it out, but was definitely concerned on that ledge. Rest at the bonfire, 2 more levels of Endurance. Trust fall Patches, grab the Skull Lantern. Homeward Bone out. Don't accept his forgiveness for the Twin Humanities and onto Nito.
Nito
Nito takes 12 attempts. Mainly deaths to being toxic'ed while being hit by the AOE attack and Power Within chipping me down. Probably the first time in a long time I've struggled with Nito, but I blame myself for being too close as well as RNG for a lot of AOE attacks. Final fight only takes about a minute with Power Within ending right after the fight.
I warp to Firelink. Buy a Mask of the Father from Patches. I consider buying some Humanities but decide against it. I'll just farm them at some point. Walk to Undead Parish, use some hard souls and with the remaining souls from Nito, get 4 Vitality.
I stop there for the night, unsure who I want to target next.
Compared to last time, I spent a lot of time at Nito and some time at Sif. This run has had a better early game but so far a messy late game. In comparison progress wise, we are 40 minutes ahead, but swapped Sif for Seath. Unless The Duke's Archives and Seath only take 40 minutes, I think it's safe to say I'll fall behind on time compared to last time.
End of Day 2 Time: 7:06:23
End of Day 2 Level: 51
Day 3¶
For a change of pace, I decide to start targeting the Rats under the Sunlight Altar bonfire for Humanities to open the Chaos Servant Covenant shortcut. I figured I can see if the Large Flame Ember is obtainable before beating all the bosses so I could potentially have a better upgraded weapon down the line. Also Bed of Chaos doesn't really have stat requirements so the sooner the better to put the souls elsewhere. I put on the Covetous Gold Serpent Ring and pop Humanities as I find them to increase my Item Discovery. Even with that, I get on average less than 1 Humanity a run. It takes 42 minutes to farm the 29 I need. I warp to the Daughter of Chaos, offer my 30 Humanity and decide to start heading towards the Bed of Chaos. On the way, I plan to grab the Chaos Flame Ember and if possible, the Large Flame Ember. I equip the Slumbering Dragoncrest Ring in hopes it helps. I grab the Chaos Flame Ember of my first suicide run. Next up is Large Flame Ember. Get it my first run through, but my equipment gets damaged by the Burrowing Rockworms before I die. Pop one of my soul items to repair all my gear and now it's onto the Bed of Chaos gauntlet from the beginning of the Demon Ruins. Run to the Bed of Chaos is for once uneventful.
Bed of Chaos
It's well known I suck at Bed of Chaos. First attempt I take out both sides, then get swiped and Fire Tempest. Back to Demon Ruins. Second attempt I miss the root barely, falling to my death. Third attempt same as the second. Fourth gets it done.
I warp to The Catacombs and give Vamos both embers to compare. Unsurprisingly, Fire +6 is the winner without Humanity, so it's the route I decide to go down. I get it to +6 (I only have 1 Red Titanite Chunk). I use the rest of the souls plus some saved hard souls to get 5 levels of Endurance. Almost can mid roll in decent armor now. I decide to target Seath next and warp to Anor Londo.
As per usual, the Armored Boars in the archive hassle me the first time. Second time goes much better and I get to the elevator. Some close calls on the way up, but we make it to Seath. I throw on the Dingy Armor Set for curse prevention and take the scripted death. I get the tower key, accidentally fall to my death and on respawn, the music is off. Much easier trip down. I beeline for the key, die to the snakes, then leave the archive tower. By the time I get to the next bonfire I look like a pincushion but I get there. On to Seath. I was worried about the clams seeing as there's no Fog Gate the first time, so I try to take them out first… I end up using ⅘ Estus. So I'm going into Seath with 1 Estus, 1 Humanity.
Seath
Starting off, I'm doing the damage. If I had more healing items, I probably would've got it done, but alas, can't heal, die. On to round 2. At least the Fog Gate will be there. Round 2 knocks Seath out without much trouble. Just tanked everything with Havel's Armor and Dingy Gloves/Blood-Stained Skirt for the curse.
With some hoarded souls to supplement, 4 more levels of Endurance.
On to New Londo Ruins. I warp to Firelink. For once, the Ghosts go well. Funny how that works with better equipment. I 1 shot all the Ghosts, picking up 6 Transient Curses and 1 Jagged Ghost Blade along the way. Get the Key to the Seal, open the seal, run through the Valley of Drakes, and rest at the Darkroot Basin tunnel bonfire. I only have 1 Humanity so I can't even kindle it… guess we'll try the Four Kings without it.
It goes horribly. I decide to pop all the soul items I have and buy the 3 Humanity Patches has. Second attempt is over in like 20 seconds. Me and dying to AOE attacks… 3rd attempt gets it done without too much issue. Left with 6 flasks so it did matter kindling it. More levels into Endurance, hitting 40. I place the Lord Souls into the Lordvessel, 1 boss left.
Gwyn
First attempt I get him down to like 30%. He combos me into a grab/explode, I die. I can do this though. Also realized as I started fighting I still have the Covenant of Artorias on, so swap that for the Flame Stoneplate Ring. 2nd attempt, around 30% again. Just kept getting comboed and couldn't keep up. 3rd and 4th attempts end quickly. 5th attempt I finally get the rhythm. 6 or so parries and some heavy attacks and it is over. Probably one of my smoothest Gwyn fights ever for me. I light the First Flame and the credits roll.
End of Day 3 Time: 9:54:19
End of Day 3 Level: 63
Closing Thoughts¶
My main goal with this second run was to try and route things better and possibly figure out gear to use. I did better in some regards (Knight was better than Pyromancer in most cases, I'm more comfortable with Zweihander than Claymore), but also some things could've been better (just should've left Sif until later, forgetting Ceaseless and going back took like 20 minutes, number of attempts on Nito, Sif, and Gwyn). I grabbed some stuff in Darkroot Basin not remembering what it was, ended up just being the Knight Armor Set and some souls. Avoidable.
Things learned: skip Chaos Flame Ember, possibly skip Large Flame Ember, as I only found 1 Red Titanite Chunk, so my Zweihander only ever reached +6. Further, I really should have considered sooner how many upgrade paths are inaccessible. I finally sat down and reviewed the all of the embers while writing these closing thoughts. Being cut off the Large Ember in The Depths is really limiting, my options are Fire, Chaos, Magic or Enchanted. Magic and Enchanted add Intelligence scaling but then it essentially turns into a double investment (stats and weapons) which I don't think would be worth the time investment. So really Fire just ends up on top unless you can keep Humanities for Chaos. And even then, +5 is probably fine for Fire.
Considerations. I really don't need to farm Titanite Shards unless it's early game, seeing as I cannot possibly use the Large Titanite Shard. Easy enough to feed the Large Titanite Shard to Frampt. I'll consider upgrading my armor next time too if I have extra shards around. Didn't want to waste resources but I had access to regular shards. Should I just leave the Sunlight Altar to late game if I'm not using the Claymore? Then I won't possibly get trapped due to dying to the Boar. Maybe always do Bed of Chaos first in terms of Lord Souls? Don't waste time grabbing the Stone Armor Set, I'll already have Havel's if I route Sif to later.