[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.
Tuesday, 30 October 2012
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.
Friday, 26 October 2012
White titanite slab location - Artorias DLC
I was fighting my way down through some of the deeper parts of the Artorias DLC areas yesterday and came across a very rare item - a white titanite slab. As you may remember from some of my other posts, these slabs are extremely rare and there is only 1 of each of them in the main game (with the exception of a normal titanite slab I think, the second of which you can get by completing Seigmeyer of Catarina's quest line) unless you are prepared to do a lot of grinding.
[possible spoilers]
Make your way down through the low-town past the Colosseum until you reach the Oolacile Dungeon bonfire. Rest here and progress down through the dark areas with the ghosts in. Just before you get to the Manus white mist door the path will fork, however it's not so easy to notice as the other path is behind you. The easiest way to spot it is by reaching the Manus mist door, turning around, and running back up the path you came. You will see that the path forks, so now just take the other path. Be careful as there are a couple of ghosts in this [narrow] tunnel. I found a spear worked quite well as you really don't want to get too close to them. Once you've defeated them continue through the tunnel and you will find a white titanite slab on an undead's body.
Note: this slab can be used for upgrading a divine weapon to +10, or an occult weapon to +5; and there are associated achievements/trophies for doing each.
[possible spoilers]
Make your way down through the low-town past the Colosseum until you reach the Oolacile Dungeon bonfire. Rest here and progress down through the dark areas with the ghosts in. Just before you get to the Manus white mist door the path will fork, however it's not so easy to notice as the other path is behind you. The easiest way to spot it is by reaching the Manus mist door, turning around, and running back up the path you came. You will see that the path forks, so now just take the other path. Be careful as there are a couple of ghosts in this [narrow] tunnel. I found a spear worked quite well as you really don't want to get too close to them. Once you've defeated them continue through the tunnel and you will find a white titanite slab on an undead's body.
Note: this slab can be used for upgrading a divine weapon to +10, or an occult weapon to +5; and there are associated achievements/trophies for doing each.
Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Sanctuary Guardian Guide
You will encounter the Sanctuary Guardian shortly after entering the new DLC area and traversing the first white mist. Fortunately there is a bonfire just before going into the arena, and there are usually a lot of summons signs on the floor if you are in human form.
Before you challenge the Guardian I would recommend having the Thunder Stoneplate Ring which can be purchased from the crestfallen merchant in Sen's Fortress for 15,000 souls. I would also advise players to have a good shield with them, preferably one which has 100% physical damage reduction and a high lightning damage reduction %. I used the Silver Knight Shield which I looted from a silver knight in Anor Londo. This shield has 65% lightning reduction which is helpful when the Guardian does ranged attacks.
First of all don't expect to beat this boss first time, unless you are with a party of good online players. It's important to try and learn the Guardian's move set, and this can be done quite easily thanks to the bonfire just before the white mist. He uses a combination of ranged lightning attacks and close range slashes, however his most powerful attack is the large lightning ball he will shoot at you. Try to get up close and circle around him, he should then do a string of slash attacks. I found he did 2 slashes quite a lot and would then jump away. It's when he jumps away that you have a small window to use estus, or recover stamina.
It's quite obvious when he is about the use his lightning ranged attack as you will see sparks around his face, if you time it correctly you can roll sideways to dodge the large lightning ball, however there is no way to tell whether he will fire one large ball or several smaller balls. If you're unsure or don't want to risk it, just block; however you will still take some lightning damage through your shield.
Occasionally the Guardian will also inhale briefly and do a very powerful breath attack. He usually does this up close, and when you see him inhaling, either immediately raise your shield or roll to the side of him. Each time he did this attack it drained my entire stamina bar, but if you hold the left trigger/L1 even whilst your on the floor, you should raise your shield before he does his second attack. Just after this second attack you have an opportunity to get a couple of hits in.
Successful Method:
The method I used to defeat the Guardian was staying up close, as close as I could get. I was constantly circling him, and each time he did 2x/3x slash attacks and stopped I would land 2 hits and then back away to regain stamina before charging in again. If i took hits from his lightning ranged attack I would get up close again, wait for him to jump away after his slash attacks; and then use an estus flask. Eventually I had the confidence to roll sideways to dodge his main lightning attack, but if you're low on health I would NOT recommend this.
A final note: I was on NG+ as a Lvl 65 pure warrior with high strength/endurance. I placed my summon sign before the door and was summoned into another player's game in his first playthrough. The boss was significantly easier, so if you're beyond NG+ be very careful! The Guardian's physical attacks and lightning attacks deal HIGH damage, so block a lot and don't become complacent.
Good luck!
Before you challenge the Guardian I would recommend having the Thunder Stoneplate Ring which can be purchased from the crestfallen merchant in Sen's Fortress for 15,000 souls. I would also advise players to have a good shield with them, preferably one which has 100% physical damage reduction and a high lightning damage reduction %. I used the Silver Knight Shield which I looted from a silver knight in Anor Londo. This shield has 65% lightning reduction which is helpful when the Guardian does ranged attacks.
First of all don't expect to beat this boss first time, unless you are with a party of good online players. It's important to try and learn the Guardian's move set, and this can be done quite easily thanks to the bonfire just before the white mist. He uses a combination of ranged lightning attacks and close range slashes, however his most powerful attack is the large lightning ball he will shoot at you. Try to get up close and circle around him, he should then do a string of slash attacks. I found he did 2 slashes quite a lot and would then jump away. It's when he jumps away that you have a small window to use estus, or recover stamina.
It's quite obvious when he is about the use his lightning ranged attack as you will see sparks around his face, if you time it correctly you can roll sideways to dodge the large lightning ball, however there is no way to tell whether he will fire one large ball or several smaller balls. If you're unsure or don't want to risk it, just block; however you will still take some lightning damage through your shield.
Occasionally the Guardian will also inhale briefly and do a very powerful breath attack. He usually does this up close, and when you see him inhaling, either immediately raise your shield or roll to the side of him. Each time he did this attack it drained my entire stamina bar, but if you hold the left trigger/L1 even whilst your on the floor, you should raise your shield before he does his second attack. Just after this second attack you have an opportunity to get a couple of hits in.
Successful Method:
The method I used to defeat the Guardian was staying up close, as close as I could get. I was constantly circling him, and each time he did 2x/3x slash attacks and stopped I would land 2 hits and then back away to regain stamina before charging in again. If i took hits from his lightning ranged attack I would get up close again, wait for him to jump away after his slash attacks; and then use an estus flask. Eventually I had the confidence to roll sideways to dodge his main lightning attack, but if you're low on health I would NOT recommend this.
A final note: I was on NG+ as a Lvl 65 pure warrior with high strength/endurance. I placed my summon sign before the door and was summoned into another player's game in his first playthrough. The boss was significantly easier, so if you're beyond NG+ be very careful! The Guardian's physical attacks and lightning attacks deal HIGH damage, so block a lot and don't become complacent.
Good luck!
How to get to the Artorias of the Abyss DLC areas
Today the new DLC was released for Dark Souls on consoles and I wanted to write a quick guide on how to actually reach the new areas from the standard game, as it's not so simple.
First of all you need to go Darkroot Basin and defeat the Hydra (I have written a guide elsewhere on this site for defeating that boss - please use the archives tab or search bar to find it if you're having trouble). Once you have defeated it go around the large pool it was in and into the cave at the back. Inside you will find a golden golem, kill it. This frees Dusk of Oolacile, who then asks whether you will help her - select 'yes'. Note: if you are on NG+ etc. and saved her in your previous game, you will need to do it again to be able to reach the new areas.
Once you've done this make your way to the Duke's Archives, this is located in Anor Londo near the start of the area and past the large statue of Smaug the Executioner. If you haven't reached that area yet you will have to progress through Anor Londo and defeat Ornstein and Smaug to be given the Lordvessel. Once you have the lordvessel remember to fast travel back to Firelink Shrine and give it to Kingseeker Frampt in order to open the portal leading to the Duke's Archives.
Once inside the Archives, get to the first bonfire and use the elevator to the floor above where you will be shot by a channeler from the next room and attacked by several skeletons. In this room you will find a large blue golem, the same as the ones located near the Hydra. Kill this golem and you will receive the broken pendant.
Take this back to the area you freed Dusk of Oolacile from (inside the cave behind where the Hydra was), and you will now find a purple portal leading to the DLC area.
Enjoy, and good luck! I will be uploading some more content and guides soon.
Sunday, 21 October 2012
How to get past the two dark knight archers in Anor Londo
Today I wanted to upload a guide on how to get past the two dark knight archers found on the battlements before entering the palace in Anor Londo. You will know you are at this point as the archers are both using very large bows, and you have to fight your way through several bat wing demons to reach them. I personally think this is one of the most aggravating parts of the game, especially as the nearest bonfire is near the start of Anor Londo; requiring you to run all the way down the elevator, across the bridge, and fight through the bat wing demons again.
There are a few different ways to do this part, but I will list the two most successful of those here. First off I would recommend watching the video below, as this is a great technique to getting past the archers.
Method 1:
The main thing to focus on here is that you should NOT BLOCK AT ALL when approaching the right-hand archer, instead roll to dodge the arrows being fired at you. If you try to block, even when facing the wall on the left, the arrows will knock you down. The other key to this method is to make sure you run into the angle in the wall on the left-hand side when you are right near the archer. This is absolutely essentially as he will be unable to hit you with arrows if you continue running into this section of the wall, and the other archer cannot shoot you in the back either. Each time the archer pauses to pull another arrow out just edge around the corner slightly to try and tempt him into switching to his sword. Once he has done so block his first attack and run back down the way you came a bit, making sure to keep the large pillar behind you blocking the other archers shot. As the author of the video states: the knight doesn't always pull his sword out, and I have also noticed that sometimes he will pull his sword out but if you run away too quickly he will resume firing arrows. If this happens the first arrow will likely hit you and knock you to your death, so be sure he is following you before running away.
If you are successful, the right-hand archer should fall down to his death and you will know when this happens because some souls will be added to your meter. Quite often the reason this happens is because he will try to do a medium-range slash attack at you and fall from the roof due to poor footing. Be careful not to get hit by the left-hand archer as you run back up the rails and into the palace. Just be calm and remember not to stop at any point unless you are sure neither of the archers can shoot you. You should also wear some fairly protective armour, as you may be hit in the back by the other archer. Although the left-hand archer is essentially blocked by a pillar, sometimes his arrows slightly curve around it and hit you in the back, so watch out for those. A final point to mention is not to try and use estus whilst you are up there. This will waste time and won't really help as you don't have time to drink it before being shot again. Instead, make sure you have full health before attempting the technique.
Method 2:
This method is very different to the one above, and requires a bit more waiting; but is much safer. Before starting make sure you have a healthy supply of poison arrows, these can be purchased from the witch merchant near Firelink Shrine in the large aqueduct area leading to the Undead Burg (she is the one who also sells, and has an unusual passion for, moss clumps). These arrows are quite expensive, but this is probably the best area in the game to use them, so it's worth spending enough souls to buy a lot (~50/more for NG+).
Once you have the poison arrows (and a bow to shoot them with!) clear your way to the two archers, don't try to sprint past the bat-wing enemies as you will need the previous area to be clear. Kill the two bat wing demons immediately before the archers and get your bow out. Equip the poison arrows and try to snipe one of the archers from this platform. You will need to allow for a lot of curve due to the distance, but once you get the hang of it this should be quite straight foward. You will know when you have successfully poisoned the archer because you will be able to see points of damage detracting from his health bar. Now you just need to wait for the poison to run it's course until the enemy is dead. You may need to poison each archer twice before they die (as it runs out after a while), so make sure you go for the right-hand archer first (in case you run out of arrows, and because this is the area you need to get to). Be careful because the archers can also shoot you when you are on this platform, so if they do just hide and wait for them to stop shooting before trying again.
Hope these methods help, and at least one of them works for you. If you're getting annoyed don't worry, this is an aggravating part of the game for almost all players, even experienced ones. Please note: the archers will be more difficult in a new game+ etc. so make sure you take more poison arrows with you for method 2. Good luck!
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