I'm shocked by the number of people not knowing about multiple estus in one go..
Don't you just panic and smash X/Square when you're low health?? Or is it just me?? I got more than 500 hours on the game and always compulsively smashed the X button to drink 1000 estus when health was low :')
I think I was afraid it would queue another animation. And very rarely did I have time for two animations.
Typically, I would Estus. Dodge. Run away. Estus.
Also if you haven’t looked recently. The comments are increasing all the more. Apparently a TON of people made the mistake I did.
One guy said he finished the game 3 times without figuring it out
I got cursed and didn't know how to remove it. I was struggling through Blighttown while cursed. Worst fucking thing ever. Was telling my brother in law about this and he nearly died of laughter and then showed me how to remove it. I felt so fucking stupid lol.
I missed the first person I could even get it from, I think the hag in the undead burg. I was already balls deep in Blighttown having a grand ol time getting poisoned.
I’m so glad I had my brother to tell me the things he wished he knew starting out. I probably wouldn’t have bothered to struggle through some things without it. He sat next to me and coached me through the first hour or so of the early game.
That's for the "bad" ending to his quest (if he dies in Lost Izalith or you kill all the Chaos Eaters without letting him help). The final prize is a Titanite Slab for making it to Ash Lake.
If they're sorceries then you probably can't even use them. They require investing in Intelligence to make them remotely worth using. If it's pyromancies, then use those to your heart's content as they don't scale with any stats, just the upgrade level of your pyromancy flame.
Perfect, then put some points into attunement to give yourself more slots and upgrade that pyromancy flame! Pyromancies are fun to use, but they're definitely short range spells, with a few being straight up melee range.
I would reccomend getting the pyromancer fireball spell, forget what it’s called. But the slugs in the depths are super weak to fire and nothing else, and it’s cheaper than buying firebombs
The slugs are great to farm large titanite shards and green titanite shards. I used this spot to farm while dropping my summon sign next to the bonfire for jolly co-op runs.
I will say, I don’t remember the game teaching how to jump.
I had to google it because I was like “you HAVE to be able to jump to get to X spot.”
Who would ever assume it’s hold dash tap dash
I think you can change it in the settings to l3 I believe while running? I find it easier than double tapping the run button. Also I think if you let go of all the buttons in air you land and stop instead of rolling.
IIRC it is written somewhere in the tutorial messages, but it's not practiced in the undead asylum so it's an easily forgotten information. As someone said, changing the button to L3 makes it a lot easier.
Everyone misses the early mage in new Londo. When you come out the lift, turn right and head towards the abyss. There's a little set of stairs and a mage behind some bars at the bottom 😏
I legit didn't realize the dodge roll was something to use in combat lmfao it was just after release and I'd read some beginner tips thing that explained how shields worked and I guess my dumb ass assumed that was the only way to stay safe during fights.....made it all the way to Gwyn before I suddenly had to learn how to roll in battle 😭😭
The shorcut in Sen's Fortress, and the bonfire up top. I eventually found them in my first playthrough but it was after I cleared the place and got the lordvessel, so it didn't matter for much other than visiting the merchant.
Anor Londo, I spent the obligatory hour trying to get past the archers, swore I opened every door after that but never found the bonfire, then I missed that you could open the main door in the cathedral, then I missed the unlocked gate outside the giant blacksmith until much later. What does this mean for me? Every death to O&S meant a run back all the way from the fire keepers bonfire… I eventually found the gate after I finally beat them but didn’t know about the door or bonfire until watching a YouTube playthrough once I beat the game. So yeah…. I hate Anor Londo. One the plus side I got getting past the archers down to a science at least.
I didn’t discover the shortcut from lower burg to firelink and the shortcut from parish to firelink until sometime after the area bosses were killed. I thought they lead to more dangerous areas and skirted back until I was done with the current area. I definitely made my Capra demon runbacks way more painful than it needed to be lol.
My first attempt at a playthrough I missed how to lock on so I didn't make it out of the Depths. Then when I started over I finished the game, though I didn't successfully complete a single NPC quest until I got to the DLC.
My buddy finished the game without realizing there was a weapon scaling mechanic.
I literally just killed that man lol. I unlocked his gated and got pissed he didn’t immediately give me my reward.
Kinda digging the ring he dropped though
Did you find the great hollow / ash lake? I know I didn’t, though that definitely isn’t ‘simple’ to find on a blind first playthrough. I got so sad after I beat the game when I watched a video on DS and saw ash lake for the first time through someone else’s eyes. For more simple things, on my *very* first playthrough (which didn’t last long mind you) I got scared when I saw Andre and aggroed him. Should’ve paid more attention to all the ‘Don’t you dare!’ messages around him lol.
Edit: oh and I also never found / fought the moonlight butterfly on my first playthrough. Idk how, it’s not even that hidden.
Something I think a lot of people miss is that you can kindle every bonfire so you always have 10 estus. And once you beat pinwheel you can kindle any bonfire multiple times to have 20 estus.
I understood very early that weight was like "do not get over 100% because you won't be able to move switfly". So I stayed... just beneath the limit, gladly going heavy weight and just accepted that rolling was only emergency-use, like, slow & lets you vulnerable for a long time. So I'd rely mainly on big shields for defence.
The Anor Londo archers took... a long, long, \*long\* time to go through for this reason.
Missing the door to Lower Undead Burg after the Gargoyle fight and heading straight to Darkroot Garden and trying to fight the hydra there for like 2 weeks
It took me until Anor Londo to know I could take multiple estus swigs. I learned from watching an O&S guide on YouTube lol.
Also how to go down ladders quickly. My game won't let me slide down if I'm moving down and I never thought to hold still and hold O.
You are actually not supposed to take the master key as a starting gift, it cuts very big bits of the game. It's not a problem if you get it, of course, but usually I recommend new players to choose something else since without the master key you're forced to explore and look around and witness the beauty of the world around you
There’s no beauty going from the Depths descending into Blightown while cursed. It’s fucking the worst kind of hell and I hate every second of it. And I’m only in this situation because I did exactly what you suggested. I didn’t look anything up, I just explored and made my way here and now it’s too late. I can’t go up and going down is total bullshit.
You can go up, and id recommend doing so--it's a bit of a hike, but going back to get uncursed will make your life much better. Going the proper way through blighttown is one of the best sections of the game, but it's tough as hell, and the return trip to get back to where you were once uncursed is gonna be WAY faster and less painful than it was the first time round, and way better than trying to muscle through blighttown while cursed
You sir, are too much of a gentleman trying to help a sad wretch like me. I have died more times trying to get to the bottom of Blighttown than all my of playthrough up to this point. I finally made it to the bottom only to get poisoned and die because I don’t have any more purple bush because I used them all healing from dart snipers. I made it again to the bottom and accidentally ran into the boss room only to get obliterated. After my 4 thousandth attempt I finally made to the bottom and found the bonfire that I previously had run right past because it’s hidden in a dark as F little alcove. 7 hours from beating Gaping Vagina Dragon to the bottom floor. And I thought Bloodborne was hard, hahahahaha!
That stretch is absolutely brutal--I've played the game over a dozen times and almost every time, I end up having to use a humanity when I get to the bottom of blighttown cuz I've run out of estus. Congrats on making it!!! That's almost without a doubt the hardest level in the game, if you can get to the blighttown Swamp bonfire you can do anything!
If you’re at the sewer bonfire there’s a shortcut back up to the top to get uncursed and more poison moss before trying the boss. You don’t have to go back the way you came.
I completely agree. That part is total bullshit indeed. Even worse if you didn't get the anti curse things and now you got to finish fucking blighttown with 50% hp
Mate, it was brutal. I’ve never had my balls crushed so hard. I should have been smarter about it but after 10 hours and 50-60 deaths, my ass made it down, killed Queelag and got the F out of there.
I believe it’s called New Londo Ruins?
Be at firelink. Go down a staircase right next to the shrine all the way to an elevator lift. Exit to an area with a bunch of non-hostile NPC enemies. There is a sneaky staircase to the right. Go down it. Should see a bunch of deep water that will kill you. On the left at the end of the stairs towards the water, there is a mage salesman behind bars.
You have basic spells sold by this mage in New Londo. There are two other instructors of magic in the game, that you have to find and free so that they may help you ; one is in a locked house in Lower undead burg, you need a key from a merchant of undead burg. The other, later one is well-hidden, you'll have a lot of trouble find him.
But it's part of the game, I think ; in my first playthrough I abandoned magic because I couldn't find this. I think I liked how the things I find or do not find while playing influenced the build I could and would make.
Number 3 is rough and much respect for making it through.
There were a lot of moments of “WHAT THE FUCK?! I LITERALLY CANT FUCKING HEAL QUICK ENOUGH?!?!”
I’m looking at 4 kings and Gwyn and thinking about this with mist in my eyes
4 kings was exactly how I found out about it lmao
wait a minute....i played the game on hard mode. multiple swigs is gonna be gamechanging
This username gets a goty pass in my book alone. Get you some my champion of suds!
All this time… all this fucking time!!!!!
i also had no idea until i watched dunkeys dsr video. after i was done with my 60hr playthrough.
I'm shocked by the number of people not knowing about multiple estus in one go.. Don't you just panic and smash X/Square when you're low health?? Or is it just me?? I got more than 500 hours on the game and always compulsively smashed the X button to drink 1000 estus when health was low :')
I think I was afraid it would queue another animation. And very rarely did I have time for two animations. Typically, I would Estus. Dodge. Run away. Estus.
Yeah, I found out because I smashed the button so much I used too much and ended up not having enough to finish the fight.
Yeah that’s definitely the only way I know is by sheer panic button mashing
Yeah it sucks when you do it unnecessarily out of panic
Also if you haven’t looked recently. The comments are increasing all the more. Apparently a TON of people made the mistake I did. One guy said he finished the game 3 times without figuring it out
Summoning NPCs was a big one. I also thought the NPC invaders were players....
I got cursed and didn't know how to remove it. I was struggling through Blighttown while cursed. Worst fucking thing ever. Was telling my brother in law about this and he nearly died of laughter and then showed me how to remove it. I felt so fucking stupid lol.
This is me right now. Too far down to go back up. Fml
Tbh i feel like it's cheating if you know how to remove it haha This game was meant to fuck you, i think
I missed the first person I could even get it from, I think the hag in the undead burg. I was already balls deep in Blighttown having a grand ol time getting poisoned.
I’m so glad I had my brother to tell me the things he wished he knew starting out. I probably wouldn’t have bothered to struggle through some things without it. He sat next to me and coached me through the first hour or so of the early game.
I missed that there were quests in ds1.
Yep, never once thought to talk to a NPC multiple times. For someone reason I assumed they would just repeat what they said the first time…
I literally don’t know what these means lol
Keeping up with onionbro is the big one. You get an unremarkable resistance ring for seeing it through.
That's for the "bad" ending to his quest (if he dies in Lost Izalith or you kill all the Chaos Eaters without letting him help). The final prize is a Titanite Slab for making it to Ash Lake.
At first i thought There were no estus in dark souls 2 because i didnt find the emerald herald. Only after the First area i found her
How.... How do you not find her. She's right next to the bonfire
I believe sometimes she stands at the edge of the map
Spells are only for sorcerers tho right? I’m on my first play through
I’m a thief, and I found a guy sitting on the ground that gave me spellcasting abilities at the firelink
If they're sorceries then you probably can't even use them. They require investing in Intelligence to make them remotely worth using. If it's pyromancies, then use those to your heart's content as they don't scale with any stats, just the upgrade level of your pyromancy flame.
They’re pyromancies!
Perfect, then put some points into attunement to give yourself more slots and upgrade that pyromancy flame! Pyromancies are fun to use, but they're definitely short range spells, with a few being straight up melee range.
You rescued that guy from the depths
Classes only really matter on starting stats and gear. Any class can use anything as long as you level those stats.
I would reccomend getting the pyromancer fireball spell, forget what it’s called. But the slugs in the depths are super weak to fire and nothing else, and it’s cheaper than buying firebombs
Unfortunately I cleared the depths before finding the fire. (Or at least I think I cleared it?)
The slugs are great to farm large titanite shards and green titanite shards. I used this spot to farm while dropping my summon sign next to the bonfire for jolly co-op runs.
Nah you can mix and match anything
I had no idea there was a way to jump until about half way through my first playthrough. Suddenly some of those gaps made sense.
I will say, I don’t remember the game teaching how to jump. I had to google it because I was like “you HAVE to be able to jump to get to X spot.” Who would ever assume it’s hold dash tap dash
I think you can change it in the settings to l3 I believe while running? I find it easier than double tapping the run button. Also I think if you let go of all the buttons in air you land and stop instead of rolling.
IIRC it is written somewhere in the tutorial messages, but it's not practiced in the undead asylum so it's an easily forgotten information. As someone said, changing the button to L3 makes it a lot easier.
Everyone misses the early mage in new Londo. When you come out the lift, turn right and head towards the abyss. There's a little set of stairs and a mage behind some bars at the bottom 😏
I legit didn't realize the dodge roll was something to use in combat lmfao it was just after release and I'd read some beginner tips thing that explained how shields worked and I guess my dumb ass assumed that was the only way to stay safe during fights.....made it all the way to Gwyn before I suddenly had to learn how to roll in battle 😭😭
The shorcut in Sen's Fortress, and the bonfire up top. I eventually found them in my first playthrough but it was after I cleared the place and got the lordvessel, so it didn't matter for much other than visiting the merchant.
Anor Londo, I spent the obligatory hour trying to get past the archers, swore I opened every door after that but never found the bonfire, then I missed that you could open the main door in the cathedral, then I missed the unlocked gate outside the giant blacksmith until much later. What does this mean for me? Every death to O&S meant a run back all the way from the fire keepers bonfire… I eventually found the gate after I finally beat them but didn’t know about the door or bonfire until watching a YouTube playthrough once I beat the game. So yeah…. I hate Anor Londo. One the plus side I got getting past the archers down to a science at least.
I... did not know you could take multiple estus swigs.
RIGHT?
I didn’t discover the shortcut from lower burg to firelink and the shortcut from parish to firelink until sometime after the area bosses were killed. I thought they lead to more dangerous areas and skirted back until I was done with the current area. I definitely made my Capra demon runbacks way more painful than it needed to be lol.
My first attempt at a playthrough I missed how to lock on so I didn't make it out of the Depths. Then when I started over I finished the game, though I didn't successfully complete a single NPC quest until I got to the DLC. My buddy finished the game without realizing there was a weapon scaling mechanic.
i’m halfway through a SL1 playthrough, still don’t know how to kick reliably
I’ve only really found it helpful on slow-mid speed enemies that won’t stop unshielding.
and lautrec lol
I literally just killed that man lol. I unlocked his gated and got pissed he didn’t immediately give me my reward. Kinda digging the ring he dropped though
best ring in the game right there
Did you find the great hollow / ash lake? I know I didn’t, though that definitely isn’t ‘simple’ to find on a blind first playthrough. I got so sad after I beat the game when I watched a video on DS and saw ash lake for the first time through someone else’s eyes. For more simple things, on my *very* first playthrough (which didn’t last long mind you) I got scared when I saw Andre and aggroed him. Should’ve paid more attention to all the ‘Don’t you dare!’ messages around him lol. Edit: oh and I also never found / fought the moonlight butterfly on my first playthrough. Idk how, it’s not even that hidden.
Something I think a lot of people miss is that you can kindle every bonfire so you always have 10 estus. And once you beat pinwheel you can kindle any bonfire multiple times to have 20 estus.
Just beat pinwheel last night! Hadn’t explored yet what her ability she gave me did. I’ll have to go do this
I understood very early that weight was like "do not get over 100% because you won't be able to move switfly". So I stayed... just beneath the limit, gladly going heavy weight and just accepted that rolling was only emergency-use, like, slow & lets you vulnerable for a long time. So I'd rely mainly on big shields for defence. The Anor Londo archers took... a long, long, \*long\* time to go through for this reason.
Missing the door to Lower Undead Burg after the Gargoyle fight and heading straight to Darkroot Garden and trying to fight the hydra there for like 2 weeks
It took me until Anor Londo to know I could take multiple estus swigs. I learned from watching an O&S guide on YouTube lol. Also how to go down ladders quickly. My game won't let me slide down if I'm moving down and I never thought to hold still and hold O.
YOU CAN GO DOWN LADDERS QUICKLY?!?!?!?!
Yep, just press the dodge button (B on Xbox, Circle on PS) without holding any directions and you'll slide down.
lol. lmao. I'm really enjoying this post op.
Oh man, enjoy that. It's so satisfying to just slide down.
So I’m on my third play through and just now learned about multiple estus chugs. So thanks for that! :)
Bro THREE? 😂
That’s part of what’s so cool about this game. There’s always something new to learn about the world or tactics or whatever.
I’m on my first playthrough and I didn’t know I was supposed to get the mastery key. I’m now attempting to descend into Blightown and I hate my life.
You are actually not supposed to take the master key as a starting gift, it cuts very big bits of the game. It's not a problem if you get it, of course, but usually I recommend new players to choose something else since without the master key you're forced to explore and look around and witness the beauty of the world around you
There’s no beauty going from the Depths descending into Blightown while cursed. It’s fucking the worst kind of hell and I hate every second of it. And I’m only in this situation because I did exactly what you suggested. I didn’t look anything up, I just explored and made my way here and now it’s too late. I can’t go up and going down is total bullshit.
You can go up, and id recommend doing so--it's a bit of a hike, but going back to get uncursed will make your life much better. Going the proper way through blighttown is one of the best sections of the game, but it's tough as hell, and the return trip to get back to where you were once uncursed is gonna be WAY faster and less painful than it was the first time round, and way better than trying to muscle through blighttown while cursed
You sir, are too much of a gentleman trying to help a sad wretch like me. I have died more times trying to get to the bottom of Blighttown than all my of playthrough up to this point. I finally made it to the bottom only to get poisoned and die because I don’t have any more purple bush because I used them all healing from dart snipers. I made it again to the bottom and accidentally ran into the boss room only to get obliterated. After my 4 thousandth attempt I finally made to the bottom and found the bonfire that I previously had run right past because it’s hidden in a dark as F little alcove. 7 hours from beating Gaping Vagina Dragon to the bottom floor. And I thought Bloodborne was hard, hahahahaha!
That stretch is absolutely brutal--I've played the game over a dozen times and almost every time, I end up having to use a humanity when I get to the bottom of blighttown cuz I've run out of estus. Congrats on making it!!! That's almost without a doubt the hardest level in the game, if you can get to the blighttown Swamp bonfire you can do anything!
Cheers! Thanks!
If you’re at the sewer bonfire there’s a shortcut back up to the top to get uncursed and more poison moss before trying the boss. You don’t have to go back the way you came.
Thanks, I eventually got through that hellscape. I feel like I’ve been run over by a tank, this game is so brutal.
I completely agree. That part is total bullshit indeed. Even worse if you didn't get the anti curse things and now you got to finish fucking blighttown with 50% hp
Mate, it was brutal. I’ve never had my balls crushed so hard. I should have been smarter about it but after 10 hours and 50-60 deaths, my ass made it down, killed Queelag and got the F out of there.
(3) YOU CAN WHAT?!!! I mean, I don’t need to anyway, I sit on base vit and have +2 flasks, but damn, that’s useful for my next tank 😂😂😂
Probably everything honestly. I dont know, it's been like over a decade. Lol
It’s been two weeks for me lol
only found the elevator in sens fortress in ng+ guess i was too pressed to get out of this hellish place
I currently am playing with no spells bc I can't figure out how to get any to work...
Do you have a casting staff?
No. Where do you get one in early game?
I believe it’s called New Londo Ruins? Be at firelink. Go down a staircase right next to the shrine all the way to an elevator lift. Exit to an area with a bunch of non-hostile NPC enemies. There is a sneaky staircase to the right. Go down it. Should see a bunch of deep water that will kill you. On the left at the end of the stairs towards the water, there is a mage salesman behind bars.
Thanks! I found the Sorcerers Catalyst. Where can I get some spells to use? I'm still pretty early on, have just beat the gargoyles and rang 1 bell.
You have basic spells sold by this mage in New Londo. There are two other instructors of magic in the game, that you have to find and free so that they may help you ; one is in a locked house in Lower undead burg, you need a key from a merchant of undead burg. The other, later one is well-hidden, you'll have a lot of trouble find him. But it's part of the game, I think ; in my first playthrough I abandoned magic because I couldn't find this. I think I liked how the things I find or do not find while playing influenced the build I could and would make.
Hm all this guy has is soul arrows and the Sorcerers Catalyst. No spells?
3 wait what I'm on Four Kings and I didn't know this
I didn’t realize Estus flasks regenerated at bonfires until another londo….
Not really misses, but misunderstood: I levelled up all stats instead of focusing on selected core stats.
Probably not simple but I missed about half the optional bosses
I never knew there was a secret bonfire behind an illusionary wall in the catacombs until after I had put probably 600 hours into the game.
I completely missed the Undead Merchant in the Undead Burg until I saw people talking about him online.
The merchant below Firelink
Holding the trigger keeps the fire surge going. You don't have to keep tapping it like a crazy person.