Dark Souls DLC: Artorias of the Abyss, and Prepare to Die edition announced!

Hi everyone, as promised I've been keeping an eye on the updates about the Dark Souls DLC, and made a search today and discovered a new articles giving specific details on the first DLC - Artorias of the Abyss, and a new edition of the game called 'Prepare to Die' edition. There will also be a re-vamped PVP mode making it easier for online players to organise battles against one another. The DLC will be available for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 later this Winter for 1,200 Microsoft points (or equivalent for PS3 users), and is already available in the form of the prepare to die edition for PC users. The prepare to die edition also includes a few new collectible items with the game, newly designed case; and supports Games for Windows capability.

Video: Dark Souls Prepare to Die Edition (available now for PC and steam):

According to Dark Souls director Hidetaka Miyazaki there will be 3 to 4 new areas within the DLC, 3 to 4 new boss battles, and more NPCs. The equipment of those NPCs will also be available for the player to wear (though if this means you need to murder those NPCs to gain their gear is unknown - knowing DS it probably will, unless of course they are merchant NPCs). Miyazaki also stated that the new area will fit in around the middle of the story, and after Sen's Fortress, and will feature completely new content, though they did have the idea when they were developing the game but it wasn't taken seriously. This leads me to believe it could be something to do with the huge door, blocked by rubble after you defeat the Iron Golem boss at the top of Sen's Fortress - though this is completely sceptical. This would seem like an appropriate point to place something like this, especially as the way you progress to the next area is by air, and the fact that Miyazaki specifically stated it will be 'after Sen's Fortress'.

It has also been confirmed that there will be no ability to create mods on the PC release; unlike, for example, the creation kit in Skyrim. There will also be limited support for the keyboard and mouse, as the PC release is a straight port from the console version, therefore any PC players should probably use a joypad as having precise control over your character in this game is vital.

A full version of the article can be found here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2012/apr/17/dark-souls-pc-dlc-news

The video below also shows some E3 2012 gameplay coverage for the new edition, including a new boss battle - some of you may recognize this enemy from the original limited edition artwork book.

Greatshield of Artorias Guide

Today I'm going to write a guide for obtaining the Greatshield of Artorias, arguably the best shield in Dark Souls. Firstly you will need to ascend any ordinary shield to +10 at the blacksmith (preferably not a rare one like a black knight shield, just go for a wooden shield or something common like that), and secondly have the soul of Sif - the giant wolf. The easiest way to get the soul of Sif is to travel to the first blacksmith (near the Undead Chapel) and purchase the crest of Artorias from him. This will grant you access to the sealed door in Darkroot Basin (which can be found on your way to the Moonlight butterfly area, and right next to an illusionary wall) - it's the blue glowing door, you can't miss it!

Beware when entering through the door however, there are a number of strong NPCs in there who belong to the cat covenant, and some have the invisibility spell active. Don't hesitate to kill these NPCs as they will respawn next time you visit a bonfire (apart from a couple who give you a greater number of souls, and some unique items - but you will end up killing them anyway probably). Alternatively you can sprint past these characters if you are too weak to fight them, or want to save time. Immediately after you enter the first area bare left along the cliff edge being careful not to slip down and you will find a broken stone room on the top of a small hill (there is a cleric outside who will attack you). Inside you will find Alvira - the leader of the cat covenant (Note: you can join the covenant here if you wish, and this will stop the NPCs on the way in being aggro'd) - and a stony bridge. Follow the bridge and just keep going through the woods until you see a massive door emitting white light in the distance - this is your target!

Travel all the way to the door and once inside you will be in Sif's boss area. Approach the giant sword in the ground in front of the gravestones and Sif will attack you. Once you've beaten him you will get his soul and the ring of abyss walking. Now travel to the blacksmith in Anor Londo with your +10 ascended shield and soul of Sif and go to create new weapons. Navigate across to the boss soul category in the forging menu and you will see the Greatshield of Artorias ready to be created. Note: ONLY the smith in Anor Londo can forge unique weapons from boss souls, so don't try and make them elsewhere.

Personally this is my favourite shield in the game. It has a great balance of weight and protection so you can still move quickly, and it also has a very high stability meaning you will not be knocked around as you're fighting. As a result of this combination of stats, you lose far less stamina when blocking, and if you have a high endurance you can block and absorb massive hits from most enemies. Dropping your shield between blows means you can recharge stamina, and consistently block all attacks coming at you. Just remember to raise your shield at the right time, or perhaps a little earlier with fast-attacking enemies.

Be careful when using the soul of Sif, as it can be used to forge 3 unique items: 2 swords and 1 shield. So if your going for the 'Knights Honour' achievement/trophy, it will require a minimum of 3 playthroughs to forge all of these items. Fortunately this is the only boss soul which goes into making 3 unique items, nonetheless it means getting all the achievements takes quite a long time.

Good luck and if you have any questions leave a comment.

Dark Souls DLC rumour

Hey everyone, today i read online about a rumoured DLC for Dark Souls and thought i'd share it on this blog to raise the awareness of it. Apparently the DLC is reaching finalisation and is due within the next few months, a reliable source told egmnow.com (http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/exclusive-dark-souls-dlc-exists-coming-soon/). This is very exciting as FromSoftware originally announced that there would be no extra content for Dark Souls, and if this rumour is true then it would seem they have done a great job to keep the development of this DLC quiet.
There are some disputes going around online that the DLC is almost compulsory for the game but will obviously come at an extra cost, and others claiming that the game itself was unfinished. To be honest i think that it absolute rubbish, the game was perfectly fine as it shipped and any balancing issues have already been resolved in the update, likewise extra features added. Personally i am very pleased to hear about the DLC, and perhaps FromSoftware realised it might be a good idea after the sales for Dark Souls became very high, not only in Japan but elsewhere around the globe.

I will keep my eyes peeled for any more updates about this, and add them to my blog to keep you informed.

Souvenir of reprisal - update

I just went online to collect some more souvenirs of reprisal and i can confirm after the latest update the drop rate has been massively increased, so please ignore the rarity emphasised in my previous post. After less than half an hour of solid grinding i had the 4 remaining souvenirs i needed to donate to the darkmoon blade covenant, and i saw one more fall off the edge of the map.

I don't know if this is just pure chance but when i used to farm this item it took me a lot of runs before i even found one, and in just one run earlier i found 3! Prior to the update i hadn't heard of 3 dropping in a single run anywhere on the internet so something has obviously been changed.

In case you're wondering how to check if you have the latest update the easiest way is to visit a bonfire and see whether the required amount of souls to your next level are displayed (they will be highlighted in red if you don't have enough). If you can see that text in your game it means you have the latest update installed. You have to use this method because the update doesn't show the conventional 'update' screen when you put the game into the disc tray and launch it.

Thanks a lot to From Software for making this pain staking grind a lot easier. I'm not sure whether the update will automatically install for Xbox live silver customers but if not I would definitely recommend at least connecting to Xbox live to find out, because this will seriously save you a lot of hours.

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.