Hey all, I found another titanite slab within the Artorias DLC a while ago and thought I would share the location with you all. Remember, this is a standard, non-coloured shard and can be used to upgrade standard weapons to +15 or lightning/crystal weapons to +5.
First, make your way through the Royal Wood until you reach the Knight Artorias mist door location. From here turn around and head down the path into the riverbed gully. Continue along this path, slaying the few undead dogs you encounter along the way. You will now reach another mist door (depending on your progress within the DLC storyline). *potential spoiler*
If you enter this door without progressing a particular part of the DLC storyline you will be killed. So make sure you don't have a lot of unspent souls on you, or humanity you do not wish to lose. Before entering also make sure you remove all items of armour and weaponry as you will need maximum speed to reach the slab. Now climb down the ladder (or jump down the outcropping ledges) and sprint across the arena to the waterfall on the opposite side. The chest is hidden behind this waterfall and you should just have time to open it and retrieve the item before being killed by dragon fire.
Thursday, 27 December 2012
Tuesday, 30 October 2012
New Great Wolf Sif cut scene, and a little background speculation
[potential spoilers]
After making my way through the Artorias DLC recently I returned to the main game world and fought the Great Wolf Sif again. However when I started the fight and Sif jumped down from the grave of Artorias, something a bit strange happened... Instead of instantly attacking me, Sif paused and sniffed me instead. At this point the music will change slightly and Sif will let out a lamenting howl, presumably for his old master Artorias. I'm not sure what triggers this, perhaps just entering the DLC does; however I would presume you must have defeated Knight Artorias in order to view the extra cut scene.
Another obscure fact to mention is that the ring located behind Artorias's tomb - the Hornet Ring - belonged to the Lord's Blade Ciaran, who was also one of Gywn's four knights. Ciaran can be found in the large coliseum within the Royal Wood after defeating Knight Artorias. She is lamenting the loss of her dear friend and asks for his soul in exchange for 2 unique weapons. A little off-topic but I think this would imply Ciaran and Artorias shared some form of relationship. The Lord's Blade set which can be gained from murdering Ciaran is also extremely similar to the Artorias armour set in appearance.
Lord Gwyn's other two knights are: the Dragonslayer Ornstein, and Hawkeye Gough. The latter can also be found in the Artorias DLC and thanks you for ending Artorias's life honourably. Ornstein on the other hand seems to have no emotions towards his former companions, and offers the player no opportunity to communicate.
After making my way through the Artorias DLC recently I returned to the main game world and fought the Great Wolf Sif again. However when I started the fight and Sif jumped down from the grave of Artorias, something a bit strange happened... Instead of instantly attacking me, Sif paused and sniffed me instead. At this point the music will change slightly and Sif will let out a lamenting howl, presumably for his old master Artorias. I'm not sure what triggers this, perhaps just entering the DLC does; however I would presume you must have defeated Knight Artorias in order to view the extra cut scene.
Another obscure fact to mention is that the ring located behind Artorias's tomb - the Hornet Ring - belonged to the Lord's Blade Ciaran, who was also one of Gywn's four knights. Ciaran can be found in the large coliseum within the Royal Wood after defeating Knight Artorias. She is lamenting the loss of her dear friend and asks for his soul in exchange for 2 unique weapons. A little off-topic but I think this would imply Ciaran and Artorias shared some form of relationship. The Lord's Blade set which can be gained from murdering Ciaran is also extremely similar to the Artorias armour set in appearance.
Lord Gwyn's other two knights are: the Dragonslayer Ornstein, and Hawkeye Gough. The latter can also be found in the Artorias DLC and thanks you for ending Artorias's life honourably. Ornstein on the other hand seems to have no emotions towards his former companions, and offers the player no opportunity to communicate.
Monday, 29 October 2012
Knight Artorias boss battle guide
I thought it might be useful to post a quick boss battle guide for Knight Artorias - the second boss from the Dark Souls DLC. I played through this boss on two different character classes: a pure warrior, and a sorcerer. The guide I have posted below will include general tips from both characters, and what worked best. I will also briefly go through his attack set, but there may be some attacks which I am forgetting.
Artorias has various attacks but the most powerful of which are his AoE, and leaping attack. Usually when you first enter the arena he will leap towards you, you'll need to roll to dodge this but don't roll too early as he can adjust his positioning in mid-air. Once you're up close Artorias will typically do a chain of swiping attacks, so don't think he can't hit you if you're behind him. Wait until he finishes his chain and you will have an opportunity to counter attack or roll away and heal. He does sometimes link more than one chain attack though, so watch out for that! He will also occasionally jump away after performing a chain attack so don't rush to try and attack him again.
As I mentioned before Artorias also has a deadly AoE attack, but it's very obvious when he's about to do it, and can be easily dodged. He will crouch down and become shrouded in purple mist, just roll backwards a couple of times to get out of range. You can hit him with ranged attacks whilst he's powering his AoE, however he will be more resistant to damage including sorceries.
Be careful as he sometimes does his leaping attack from across the arena if he is focused on you. Again, be sure not to roll too early, and if you successfully dodge it you will have a good opportunity to land a couple of close-range attacks. If you are at medium-range he will also do a lunging attack, holding his sword stretched out in front of him. This can be easily dodged by rolling sideways and you may have a brief opportunity to attack him afterwards depending on the speed of your weapon.
There are usually a lot of white soap signs outside the white mist door, so be sure to reverse hollowing at the previous bonfire and summon some other players in to help. This makes the fight a lot easier, especially if you have a sorcerer firing ranged attacks. If you are short on humanity, more can be purchased from the nearby merchant Chester across the small stone bridge for 10,000 souls each. You can also leave your white soap stone mark down to earn extra souls and humanity, and learn Artorias's move set.
A good tactic is for a warrior to get his attention first and focus on dodging and blocking his attacks. If Artorias turns his attention onto the ranged players, it's not too difficult to dodge his attacks and block until somebody else gets his attention again. On my warrior character I was using the Greatshield of Artorias and this seemed to block his attacks very well - I wasn't losing much stamina at all. In case you don't have high endurance or a shield with high stability, you can purchase green blossom from Chester the merchant which significantly boosts your stamina recovery speed during battle.
A final note for co-op is for the host to remember to keep an eye on the other players' health and use estus to recover if necessary, especially if a summoned player is taking all the attention.
Once you have defeated Artorias you will get his soul, this can be used to forge a unique greatsword using a +10 sword - the Abyss Greatsword. It can also be given to Lord's Blade Ciaran if the player returns to the arena later on after re-zoning or saving, quitting and loading. She will award the player with two unique daggers: the Dark Silver Tracer, and the Gold Tracer. I would however recommend killing Ciaran as she drops a unique armour set - the Lord's Blade set, and the two weapons mentioned above; you also get to keep the soul of Artorias!
Artorias has various attacks but the most powerful of which are his AoE, and leaping attack. Usually when you first enter the arena he will leap towards you, you'll need to roll to dodge this but don't roll too early as he can adjust his positioning in mid-air. Once you're up close Artorias will typically do a chain of swiping attacks, so don't think he can't hit you if you're behind him. Wait until he finishes his chain and you will have an opportunity to counter attack or roll away and heal. He does sometimes link more than one chain attack though, so watch out for that! He will also occasionally jump away after performing a chain attack so don't rush to try and attack him again.
As I mentioned before Artorias also has a deadly AoE attack, but it's very obvious when he's about to do it, and can be easily dodged. He will crouch down and become shrouded in purple mist, just roll backwards a couple of times to get out of range. You can hit him with ranged attacks whilst he's powering his AoE, however he will be more resistant to damage including sorceries.
Be careful as he sometimes does his leaping attack from across the arena if he is focused on you. Again, be sure not to roll too early, and if you successfully dodge it you will have a good opportunity to land a couple of close-range attacks. If you are at medium-range he will also do a lunging attack, holding his sword stretched out in front of him. This can be easily dodged by rolling sideways and you may have a brief opportunity to attack him afterwards depending on the speed of your weapon.
There are usually a lot of white soap signs outside the white mist door, so be sure to reverse hollowing at the previous bonfire and summon some other players in to help. This makes the fight a lot easier, especially if you have a sorcerer firing ranged attacks. If you are short on humanity, more can be purchased from the nearby merchant Chester across the small stone bridge for 10,000 souls each. You can also leave your white soap stone mark down to earn extra souls and humanity, and learn Artorias's move set.
A good tactic is for a warrior to get his attention first and focus on dodging and blocking his attacks. If Artorias turns his attention onto the ranged players, it's not too difficult to dodge his attacks and block until somebody else gets his attention again. On my warrior character I was using the Greatshield of Artorias and this seemed to block his attacks very well - I wasn't losing much stamina at all. In case you don't have high endurance or a shield with high stability, you can purchase green blossom from Chester the merchant which significantly boosts your stamina recovery speed during battle.
A final note for co-op is for the host to remember to keep an eye on the other players' health and use estus to recover if necessary, especially if a summoned player is taking all the attention.
Once you have defeated Artorias you will get his soul, this can be used to forge a unique greatsword using a +10 sword - the Abyss Greatsword. It can also be given to Lord's Blade Ciaran if the player returns to the arena later on after re-zoning or saving, quitting and loading. She will award the player with two unique daggers: the Dark Silver Tracer, and the Gold Tracer. I would however recommend killing Ciaran as she drops a unique armour set - the Lord's Blade set, and the two weapons mentioned above; you also get to keep the soul of Artorias!
Saturday, 27 October 2012
Guardian armour set locations
Thought it might be a good idea to upload a location guide for the new guardian armour set in the Artorias DLC. I have listed each piece of the set below with images (sorry again for the quality!). I have also put them in a specific order which is the quickest way to collect them from entering the Royal Wood via the Sanctuary Garden bonfire. I have also inserted a picture of the entire set at the bottom of this post to provide an overview of the weight and stats.
Gauntlets:
Enter the Royal Wood and stick to the right-hand path. Defeat the trees which attack you and continue hugging the right-hand wall until you see a small broken tower on your left (which later becomes a shortcut near the merchant). Inside the tower, follow the stair case up to the second floor and you will find the gauntlets on a corpse.
Helm:
Inside the glade you will be able to see a small stone bridge in the opposite direction of where you entered. Cross this, being careful of the stone knight which sometimes drops down from above. Around the corner (in case you haven't already been here before) you will find a crystal lizard who will run away from you and towards a large hole, be careful not to fall down! Continue around the large holes in the floor sticking to the left-hand side and you will encounter a couple of tree enemies again. Defeat these and you will reach an area with some more trees snipping away. They won't notice or attack you until you either attack them, or loot the nearby corpse.
Turn around once you reach this area and you will see a small hill leading up to two more tree enemies. Kill them and drop down into the area below. Go around the large hole in the ground and you will see a small hill with a jump leading up to a glowing corpse. Make you sure you are light enough to effectively jump the gap by removing some armour, and then collect the helm from the corpse!
4. Chest:
Turn around from where you collected the helm, jump back across the gap and continue heading straight in that direction. You will shortly encounter a few tree enemies and a couple of stone knights. Be careful not to aggro them all at once, instead picking them off one at a time. Continue heading in the direction of the stone knights and take them both out, again being careful to only get their attention one at a time. You will nor reach a cliff edge, overlooking the small stone bridge you crossed earlier. The chest piece of located on a corpse overhanging this cliff.
Finally, I have put an image below of the entire armour set showing their weight and stats. As you can see this set is rather heavy but does offer very high physical and magical protection, and also has an extremely high durability limit. Note: it cannot be upgraded at a bonfire or a blacksmith.
Gauntlets:
Enter the Royal Wood and stick to the right-hand path. Defeat the trees which attack you and continue hugging the right-hand wall until you see a small broken tower on your left (which later becomes a shortcut near the merchant). Inside the tower, follow the stair case up to the second floor and you will find the gauntlets on a corpse.
Boots:
Come back out of the tower and head right, to the other end of the Royal Wood opening area. Here you will find a glade with around 5 tree enemies and a stone knight. It's quite easy to pick the trees off with sorcery from a distance as you can lock onto them before they notice you. Once you have defeated all the enemies in the area head into the corner behind where the stone knight was standing and you will find a corpse with the guardian boots.
Inside the glade you will be able to see a small stone bridge in the opposite direction of where you entered. Cross this, being careful of the stone knight which sometimes drops down from above. Around the corner (in case you haven't already been here before) you will find a crystal lizard who will run away from you and towards a large hole, be careful not to fall down! Continue around the large holes in the floor sticking to the left-hand side and you will encounter a couple of tree enemies again. Defeat these and you will reach an area with some more trees snipping away. They won't notice or attack you until you either attack them, or loot the nearby corpse.
Turn around once you reach this area and you will see a small hill leading up to two more tree enemies. Kill them and drop down into the area below. Go around the large hole in the ground and you will see a small hill with a jump leading up to a glowing corpse. Make you sure you are light enough to effectively jump the gap by removing some armour, and then collect the helm from the corpse!
4. Chest:
Turn around from where you collected the helm, jump back across the gap and continue heading straight in that direction. You will shortly encounter a few tree enemies and a couple of stone knights. Be careful not to aggro them all at once, instead picking them off one at a time. Continue heading in the direction of the stone knights and take them both out, again being careful to only get their attention one at a time. You will nor reach a cliff edge, overlooking the small stone bridge you crossed earlier. The chest piece of located on a corpse overhanging this cliff.
Finally, I have put an image below of the entire armour set showing their weight and stats. As you can see this set is rather heavy but does offer very high physical and magical protection, and also has an extremely high durability limit. Note: it cannot be upgraded at a bonfire or a blacksmith.
Blue titanite slab location - Royal Wood
Came across another titanite slab last night in the Royal Wood - blue titanite slab. Make your way across the bridge from the Sanctuary Guardian bonfire. Once there take the left-hand path and turn right at the top of the hill into the middle of the Royal Wood. Inside you will find some stone knights similar to those encountered in Darkroot Forest near the moonlight butterfly, accompanied by some tree-like enemies. Be careful not to aggro too many knights or tree enemies at once because it can be difficult to fight several of them alone.
Roughly in the centre of the Royal Wood you will find a small pool guarded by a stone knight and a few trees. Behind some reeds in this pool you will find the blue titanite slab inside a chest. It's not that visible and if you aren't looking it's quite easy to miss. I have inserted a picture below, apologies for the quality as it was taken with my phone! The chest is just to the right of where the dead stone knight is lying.
Roughly in the centre of the Royal Wood you will find a small pool guarded by a stone knight and a few trees. Behind some reeds in this pool you will find the blue titanite slab inside a chest. It's not that visible and if you aren't looking it's quite easy to miss. I have inserted a picture below, apologies for the quality as it was taken with my phone! The chest is just to the right of where the dead stone knight is lying.
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