Souvenir of reprisal - Guide

Hi all, before I begin this guide I would like to apologise for not posting anything for quite a while! I haven't been playing Dark Souls that much recently as I have been busy with other commitments.

For any completionists out there you will know how important collecting souvenirs of reprisal is to getting full gamerscore/platinum trophy. There are basically two ways of getting this item, which are shown below:

1. Using the blue eye orb (obtained from joining the Blade of the Darkmoon covenant in Anor Londo) to invade the worlds of other players listed in the book of guilty.

OR: 2. Grinding the item from crow demons in the Painted World of Ariamis.

Option 1 seems the most likely way of getting the item, however I found myself at a high level when I finally got hold of the blue eye orb and therefore could not find anyone to invade online (around level 120). Players should try to get hold of the orb at as early as possible to start using it online to invade worlds. If you can defeat the player you have invaded you will receive 1 souvenir of reprisal per kill and the orb has unlimited uses. Keep the orb in your quick list and use it whenever, and wherever possible to attempt to get more souvenirs before you reach a high level. Finding players online may still prove difficult at a lower level, as you can only be matched with players +/- 10% of your level. Key places to search for a match are in the Kiln of the First Flame (area before the final boss battle), Anor Londo, and the Painted World. Blighttown may also be a good option for intermediate leveled players (around 50).

Option 2 requires grinding the items from in-game enemies, but for players without online access this is the only way you will be able to get 10 souvenirs of reprisal and thus complete the game 100%. Within the Painted World of Ariamis you will find some [strong] crow demons, these are the enemies you need to grind the item from. Using humanity and having it active besides your health bar boosts the item drop rate, likewise does wearing the covetous silver serpent ring (there is a guide on where to find this elsewhere on this blog).

Firstly you should clear out all the enemies from the Painted World apart from the area boss (Priscilla), open the gate to the first area and rest at the bonfire (the gate will remain open to the courtyard). Also go down the well in the courtyard, kill all the pinwheels down there and loot the annex key from one of them in order to open the door at back of the chapel. Once you have done this follow the next steps:

1. Run back through the gate into the courtyard with the phalanx type enemies who wield the shields and spears. Turn right into the chapel-like room and run through the door in the back up the flight of stairs. N.B. you will need to use the annex key to open this door.

Img. 1: This is the gate area just beyond the bonfire. Here you see the gate is already open to the courtyard beyond.

2. Once at the top of the stairs turn immediately left and again follow the stairs upward, killing the poison breathing husk at the top.

3. When you have reached the top of these stairs you will see 2 crow demons on the top of tower you have just climbed. When you approach them 2 more will drop down. N.B. the crow demons which drop down here are the ones from the area opposite tower you are currently in, so don't bother going to the other side to try and grind them too.

Img. 2: The crow demons are usually on the top of the broken tower I am facing (I already killed them when I took this picture), and the other two will jump down when I walk up there. Beware of the hole to the right as they fall down this a lot, so try and fight them up top instead, safely away from the hole.

4. The best way to defeat these crow demons is to use an AoE spell like chaos storm or fire tempest. There is also a good white magic spell but I didn't use this as my faith wasn't high enough - it's called wrath of the gods and requires 28 faith, bought from Reah of Thorolund for 10,000 souls.

5. When you've finished with the crow demons be careful to not knock their corpses off the tower as the majority of the areas around it are inaccessible, i.e. the hole seen in image 2. The textures around this area also seem very glitchy, especially the small staircase at the top and the corners of the roof - if a part of the crow's body gets stuck on a step for example, it will often fall straight through the stairs so try to fight on a flat surface. The most annoying thing is when a souvenir finally drops and you see the corpse roll off the edge of the tower. Mash the 'A' button when nearby to loot the bodies, but be careful not to walk into them before you are sure they do not have a drop.

6. Use the homebound miracle to quickly return to the bonfire and repeat the process again.

The crow demons are very tough enemies and have an almost 1-hit kill move - they will put their wings behind their backs and leap forward onto your head. Just keep moving around and rolling to avoid this and spam your AoE spells and other strong attacks whilst keeping an eye on the crow demons around the outside of the fight. It would be preferable to complete this grind on your first playthrough as the crows are significantly weaker then.

Hope this guide helps, and like i said at the beginning - this is essential to reaching 100% completion as without the 10 souvenirs you cannot donate them to the Blade of the Darkmoon covenant, and therefore not obtain all the miracle spells.