Dark Souls Catch-All

Soloing the Gaping Dragon is tedious. You inevitably run out of Stamina running back and forth trying to hit fast and stay safe.

Going light and fast is helpful, although it makes a one hit death more likely. Yet, even with Solaire and Lautrec a slow tank has a hard time not getting hit. You will likely be able to weather the blow, but then you have to run around for a while healing up before you can make another run.

As has been said, go for the tail first. It makes the rest of the fight a little safer if you can chop it off. It is easy to whiff when going for it. Might need to get a little closer before unleashing a two- handed chop.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

Anytime I think anything I'm doing in Dark Souls is cheap, I try to remember that it's Dark Souls, and it will smack you down with no remorse if you start to think you're above succeeding in any way you can.

You mean like using stairs / a lower elevation to avoid horizontal attacks?

S0LIDARITY wrote:

With enchanted scaling, the Winged Spear does about 400 dmg around 30 INT. It does about 430 with +5 lightning as well. I played around on https://mugenmonkey.com/darksouls/ and it appears to be the best choice if you're not spending many points in STR/DEX, outpaces the spear and partizan by about 30 on all the variations I considered.

EDIT: You can't do an Enchant build on the Silver Knight Spear or Dragon Slayer Spear, and the lightning spear tops out at 400 dmg.

Ah yeah, if you're going for an int scaling build, that's a little different. Winged Spear is probably a very good choice in that case.

I haven't really looked into it, but how do I get rid of the splash screens? I am attempting to get 80 dragon scales from the crow and getting rid of the opening screens will save me a lot of time.

Gimpy_Butzke wrote:

I haven't really looked into it, but how do I get rid of the splash screens? I am attempting to get 80 dragon scales from the crow and getting rid of the opening screens will save me a lot of time.

You can edit a value in DSfix.ini to get rid of them. There is a note saying it's possible that it will cause issues, but people on here have done it without issue.

Gimpy_Butzke wrote:

I haven't really looked into it, but how do I get rid of the splash screens? I am attempting to get 80 dragon scales from the crow and getting rid of the opening screens will save me a lot of time.

How? I thought they fixed duping.

I just want to say

F*CK KALAMEET #%)@&*()*(@%^)*&

This is the first encounter that has really made me rage. I cannot freaking get him for nothing. After breezing through Artorias and Oolacile Township, Kalameet is serving me a hot plate of death every damn time. Argh.

Omaha wrote:

I just want to say

F*CK KALAMEET #%)@&*()*(@%^)*&

This is the first encounter that has really made me rage. I cannot freaking get him for nothing. After breezing through Artorias and Oolacile Township, Kalameet is serving me a hot plate of death every damn time. Argh.

FYI, you may need to explore more or see a wiki.

Omaha wrote:

I just want to say

F*CK KALAMEET #%)@&*()*(@%^)*&

This is the first encounter that has really made me rage. I cannot freaking get him for nothing. After breezing through Artorias and Oolacile Township, Kalameet is serving me a hot plate of death every damn time. Argh.

Platform? Level? I've helped a few people with that one now.

Sounds like I should start heading for the DLC.

Had to join the Forest Covenant and buy some cool swords and then kill some dudes for their drops, mwahaha. Finished off Sif before that while I had the forest friendly. Then while I was in Blightown I went ahead and found Siegy again. And since I have the LordVesesel might as well run down into the tree since I can warp out. Took out that hydra just a few min ago.

Seems like a good point to head for the DLC. Only other idea that is tempting me is to head down to the Catacombs and get the Kindling Rite. That might be fun, since you guys mentioned something about the DLC bonfire leading to multiple paths. 20 Estus might be nice.

Dyni wrote:
Omaha wrote:

I just want to say

F*CK KALAMEET #%)@&*()*(@%^)*&

This is the first encounter that has really made me rage. I cannot freaking get him for nothing. After breezing through Artorias and Oolacile Township, Kalameet is serving me a hot plate of death every damn time. Argh.

Platform? Level? I've helped a few people with that one now.

PC, 75 I think?

My problem is that I keep going for the tail. Well actually, no, that's not the problem, because even when I don't try for it he still kills me way too quick. He's just a tough boss. The only one so far that I've really struggled with.

(And yes, he is grounded)

Omaha wrote:

I just want to say

F*CK KALAMEET #%)@&*()*(@%^)*&

This is the first encounter that has really made me rage. I cannot freaking get him for nothing. After breezing through Artorias and Oolacile Township, Kalameet is serving me a hot plate of death every damn time. Argh.

Is Kalameet on the ground? Other than that all I can say is that you must take your time and make sure you stay away from his status effect move. The status effect doubles all damage you take.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

How? I thought they fixed duping.

They might have, or I messed up. I just tried it and I can't drop the item again.

If you want to try it for yourself this is the method.

I can't imagine getting Kalameet's tail cut without homies. Seems like most summoned folks will default to cutting the tail, so that's nice.

I can't get past the Sanctuary Guardian, so your troubles seem like first world problems to me.

I've got a character that can probably help. I will go for the tail as much as possible.

How are your stats? I would make sure you have enough END and a good enough shield to block the majority of his melee attacks.

Also, this is the 2nd time I've tried making a full dragon covenant character and messed it up. Is anyone willing to help my lvl 30 (pc) character get some dragon scales? At this point I'm done trying to make new characters to see if I can get the Snuggly trade to work.

Woah, I thought the Crystal Caverns were scary. That place has nothing on the Tomb of Giants. Even with the lantern I find myself holding my breath...

Also, those wheel skeletons are jerks.

Gimpy - Can't you farm scales in the valley of drakes?

I'm Xbox, or you could have the 8 or so I've accumulated.

I've never gotten a drake to drop a scale. I still don't believe they drop items.

Gimpy_Butzke wrote:

I've got a character that can probably help. I will go for the tail as much as possible.

How are your stats? I would make sure you have enough END and a good enough shield to block the majority of his melee attacks.

Also, this is the 2nd time I've tried making a full dragon covenant character and messed it up. Is anyone willing to help my lvl 30 (pc) character get some dragon scales? At this point I'm done trying to make new characters to see if I can get the Snuggly trade to work.

Sounds good. I haven't actually seen any summon signs for Kalameet yet, so I'm not sure where people normally drop them. I'd assume right outside the gate to his area?

I don't feel like trying it anymore tonight, but I'll be on tomorrow probably. I'll message you on Steam.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

Seems like most summoned folks will default to cutting the tail, so that's nice.

Seems to be the case with every tail-boss. :cooL:

BNice wrote:

Woah, I thought the Crystal Caverns were scary. That place has nothing on the Tomb of Giants. Even with the lantern I find myself holding my breath...

Also, those wheel skeletons are jerks.

Yeah, if it's giving you too much trouble, do Demon Ruins first and get the Sunlight Maggot. I never do Tomb of the Giants without it.

Omaha wrote:
Dyni wrote:
Omaha wrote:

I just want to say

F*CK KALAMEET #%)@&*()*(@%^)*&

This is the first encounter that has really made me rage. I cannot freaking get him for nothing. After breezing through Artorias and Oolacile Township, Kalameet is serving me a hot plate of death every damn time. Argh.

Platform? Level? I've helped a few people with that one now.

PC, 75 I think?

My problem is that I keep going for the tail. Well actually, no, that's not the problem, because even when I don't try for it he still kills me way too quick. He's just a tough boss. The only one so far that I've really struggled with.

(And yes, he is grounded)

I think I'm in the 90's on PC. If Gimpy can't help you, get a few more levels and I can come in to help.

Dyni wrote:
BNice wrote:

Woah, I thought the Crystal Caverns were scary. That place has nothing on the Tomb of Giants. Even with the lantern I find myself holding my breath...

Also, those wheel skeletons are jerks.

Yeah, if it's giving you too much trouble, do Demon Ruins first and get the Sunlight Maggot. I never do Tomb of the Giants without it.

Good tip. I almost forgot about that. On my first sorcery character I had that spell for casting light so I never worried about it much. But on my 2nd character, that helmet came in handy.

Kalameet summoning area:

Spoiler:

Same as Artorias - right outside door to the Artorias fight!

I had an uneventful Dark Souls night. Co-op'd some O&S for souls. Pumped those souls into my ascended flame to +5 and bought some Twinkling Titanite and then boosted my Silver Knight Spear to +5. I also progressed the plot with Kingseeker Frampt and he told me to go get 4 pieces of the Lord's Soul. I'm not exactly sure where to go next, but I went to the Darkroot Garden. I had a lot of fun fighting the humans in the garden outside the crest door, mostly because I have changed my opinion on parry/riposte.

Spoiler:

It's really fun. My tip is to watch the shoulder of the weapon-hand.

I finished The Depths. On to Blighttown now.

Wow. I had the easiest Catacombs run in all my games and NG+'s tonight. Well I still have to beat Pinwheel, but the parts leading up to that bonfire were the easiest ever. Faith at 32 or so, Strength at 22, and Astora's Sword +3. :cooL:

I've used that sword before, I've used the one Divine Club you find, and I've even used a Blessed Mace or something I whipped up one time. But I never had enough Faith to really make them pack a punch. This sword tonight did a 1-2 combo on every skeleton I ran across and put them down for good.

Granted I'm probably a little higher leveled (60 or so) but honestly I usually do the Catacombs after Anor Londo so I can warp back out, so this is around the normal time in the game I have done it every previous time. Having the right stats and weapon for the enemies has made a huge difference. Very fun night. If I make the last jump down to fight Pinwheel I might have a no-death run through the Catacombs for probably the first time ever.

Gimpy_Butzke wrote:

I haven't really looked into it, but how do I get rid of the splash screens? I am attempting to get 80 dragon scales from the crow and getting rid of the opening screens will save me a lot of time.

Infinite item swapping with Snuggly was patched out in 1.05, unfortunately, Gimpy, it will not work anymore. The only option would be perhaps to backup your saves, uninstall the game, reinstall and play offline without patching until you have all your trades taken care of. And I don't know if that would even work, but it seems if you're really desperate, you could give that a try.

As for farming scales off drakes, you just need to hold a bunch of humanity while doing it, that will boost your drop rate. I've found good results farming other things with 6-8 held humanity. Not sure if being alive also helps.

Last night I tackled 3 black knights with my new zweihander build, easily killing them all. I took out the Capra demon first try as well, then wiped a couple times due to stupidity on GD. I got the Dragon King axe whatever at least. I think I'm going to avoid killing GD for a bit though and try to kill Kirk; I'd really like to see that thorns armor in action! I would also like to see what some of these high strength weapons can do. I think 32 strength is my next plateau, but 18 dex is something else I also need for the black knight weapons.

What's the advantage of making a weapon raw?

Dakuna wrote:

What's the advantage of making a weapon raw?

Basically, it raises the base dmg of the weapon, but reduces the stat scaling. Makes them more effective at low levels, but kind of useless as your character progresses.

http://darksouls.wikidot.com/raw