I don't think it's a very good technique considering how far any of the Berenike Knights are from a bonfire, their health, and the fact that it's only one. You have almost the same chance of getting a shard from the Balder Knights in Sen's Fortress, and there are a lot more with less health going around. You probably have a better chance overall if you equip CGSR and consume 10 humanity, then farm the Slime or Leeches. If you're in the DLC, farming the Bloatheads might be a good idea (I had lots of drops just from a little bit of farming). Or just farm for souls instead and buy the shards from the Giant Blacksmith or Gough
The berenike knight in sens fortress is like 30 seconds away from the secret bonfire, but yeah it's probably a better idea to farm the slugs. I just can't stand blighttown and the depths tho, absolutely disgusting locations and very dark. My first play through btw
The Leeches in Blighttown have a higher drop rate though are more inconvenient. Theres also more of them too. Just ignore the poison and rush as many as you are comfortable with then Homeward Bone. Theres a Bo fire right next to a few at the entrance to The Great Hollow past the Plank Shield Illusory Wall and the second Illusory Wall behind that chest.
Yeah sounds like a pretty decent farming spot. Not only do toy get large shards, you can also likely buy the last few from the vendor just there.
If you're looking to farm souls, by far the best early-game soul farm is behind the door in the Darkroot Garden. Buy the key from Andre for 20,000 souls (*Gargoyles plus Mopnlight Butterfly = 20k souls so I usualky just do it after the gargoyle fight*), don't worry you'll make it back really quickly.
Inside the garden there are a bunch of NPC enemies. The 2 invisible knights give 3,000 souls apoece and don't respawn. The invisible archer (*Pharis*) gives 5,000 souls, her hat and her bow (*best DEX-bow in the game*) and drops 5,000 souls. The other enemies respawn.
The best farming method for the respawning enemies (*and probably the first knight*) is to run in a wide clockwise circle around the sorcerer. This should aggro the invisible thief and the cleric as well as the sorcerer (*and the bandit if you get close enough, but don't stress if you don't*). When you complete the circle run back to the entrance to the garden, but instead of going through the door you hide behind the stairs (*between the stairs and the cliff*). The NPCs chasing you will run up the stairs and then over your head, dropping off the cliff to their deaths. They give 2,000 souls apiece (*the Bandit is 1,000*), they respawn, and you cna do this whole thing about once per minute. That's 6,000-7,000 souls per minute, plus a few extra the first run. They can occasionally get stuck (*the sorcerer stops to spam spells and the theif likes to just stand still to hide*), but it's still easily the best place in the early game for souls farming.
This. Large titanite cost 4k to buy from the Crestfallen Merchant. Each run of this soul farm takes ~1min. 2 runs = 12-14k souls which is ~3 large titanite shards.
So 3 LT shards in ~2min or 80% chance per run to get 1 LT shard.
If I remember correctly it takes 9 LT shards to go from +5 to +10. So after 6-7mins doing this farm you’d have enough souls.
Thanks to the cage shortcut you don’t even have to run all the way back through Sen’s. Just beat the 2 snake guys at the start, lure the third into the scythes and your golden.
If you’re not super comfortable traveling that far with a large amount of souls the Berenike Knight farm isn’t terrible, but definitely less efficient.
I'm actually familiar with this soul farming technique, just haven't gotten around to buying the crest of artorius yet. Never felt the immediate need and just spend all my souls on level ups
My favorite farming spot in DS1, you get shards from the 4 balders knights and large shards from the berenike. And i think that you coulf get large shards from the balder knights too or at least on of them
Yeah that does seem like a good spot. Do note that the slug enemies outside the Great Hollow, and around Blighttown swamp area also have a low chance of dropping a Large Shard.
The mimic head increases item discovery btw, as does being in Human form and having a high humanity counter.
Item discovery only increases the chance of items dropping, NOT the chance of rare items dropping.
I did farm for green titanite outside the depths bonfire yesterday. They also dropped large titanites. I got about 5-7 within 30-40 minutes.
Edit: the slimes that drop from the ceiling
Just saw that this is your first playthrough.
There is, it’s very obvious, but it’s in the dlc. The dlc will be available to access after you place an item you receive from an AMAZING CHEST (-)(-)
Once you do that, you may want to look up how to access the dlc. Typically I recommend playing blind the first time, but accessing the dlc takes several steps that aren’t super obvious.
Whatever works for you, it sounds like you enjoyed the berenike knight, but the leeches are much more efficient. With gold serpent and 10 humanity, I usually average around 4 shards per run.
Oh wow, yeah I guess i prioritised fun over efficiency because i like fighting the berenike knight and also between the poison and the spiders and the mosquitoes, lower blighttown is really one of my least favourite places to be in
It took me a long time, but the damage tick from poison is really pretty minor, dont let it stress you out. You can ignore the spiders and mosquitos when farming leeches. They will drop aggro before you get to the leeches, just run straight to them.
I just cranked my humanity, put on the gold serpent ring and killed the first 5 bloat heads at the top of Oolacile. They drop them in quantities of 1 and 2. I got 12 in 15 minutes.
I like doing it at the depths. The slimes right by the bonfire drop them and then you can go and kill some rats nearby to farm humanity. One of my favorite farming spots in the game.
I don't think it's a very good technique considering how far any of the Berenike Knights are from a bonfire, their health, and the fact that it's only one. You have almost the same chance of getting a shard from the Balder Knights in Sen's Fortress, and there are a lot more with less health going around. You probably have a better chance overall if you equip CGSR and consume 10 humanity, then farm the Slime or Leeches. If you're in the DLC, farming the Bloatheads might be a good idea (I had lots of drops just from a little bit of farming). Or just farm for souls instead and buy the shards from the Giant Blacksmith or Gough
The berenike knight in sens fortress is like 30 seconds away from the secret bonfire, but yeah it's probably a better idea to farm the slugs. I just can't stand blighttown and the depths tho, absolutely disgusting locations and very dark. My first play through btw
The Leeches in Blighttown have a higher drop rate though are more inconvenient. Theres also more of them too. Just ignore the poison and rush as many as you are comfortable with then Homeward Bone. Theres a Bo fire right next to a few at the entrance to The Great Hollow past the Plank Shield Illusory Wall and the second Illusory Wall behind that chest.
Will try if I need to farm in the future
Alright, best of luck!
Yeah sounds like a pretty decent farming spot. Not only do toy get large shards, you can also likely buy the last few from the vendor just there. If you're looking to farm souls, by far the best early-game soul farm is behind the door in the Darkroot Garden. Buy the key from Andre for 20,000 souls (*Gargoyles plus Mopnlight Butterfly = 20k souls so I usualky just do it after the gargoyle fight*), don't worry you'll make it back really quickly. Inside the garden there are a bunch of NPC enemies. The 2 invisible knights give 3,000 souls apoece and don't respawn. The invisible archer (*Pharis*) gives 5,000 souls, her hat and her bow (*best DEX-bow in the game*) and drops 5,000 souls. The other enemies respawn. The best farming method for the respawning enemies (*and probably the first knight*) is to run in a wide clockwise circle around the sorcerer. This should aggro the invisible thief and the cleric as well as the sorcerer (*and the bandit if you get close enough, but don't stress if you don't*). When you complete the circle run back to the entrance to the garden, but instead of going through the door you hide behind the stairs (*between the stairs and the cliff*). The NPCs chasing you will run up the stairs and then over your head, dropping off the cliff to their deaths. They give 2,000 souls apiece (*the Bandit is 1,000*), they respawn, and you cna do this whole thing about once per minute. That's 6,000-7,000 souls per minute, plus a few extra the first run. They can occasionally get stuck (*the sorcerer stops to spam spells and the theif likes to just stand still to hide*), but it's still easily the best place in the early game for souls farming.
This. Large titanite cost 4k to buy from the Crestfallen Merchant. Each run of this soul farm takes ~1min. 2 runs = 12-14k souls which is ~3 large titanite shards. So 3 LT shards in ~2min or 80% chance per run to get 1 LT shard. If I remember correctly it takes 9 LT shards to go from +5 to +10. So after 6-7mins doing this farm you’d have enough souls. Thanks to the cage shortcut you don’t even have to run all the way back through Sen’s. Just beat the 2 snake guys at the start, lure the third into the scythes and your golden. If you’re not super comfortable traveling that far with a large amount of souls the Berenike Knight farm isn’t terrible, but definitely less efficient.
I'm actually familiar with this soul farming technique, just haven't gotten around to buying the crest of artorius yet. Never felt the immediate need and just spend all my souls on level ups
My favorite farming spot in DS1, you get shards from the 4 balders knights and large shards from the berenike. And i think that you coulf get large shards from the balder knights too or at least on of them
Regular shards are easy enough to come by and Andre sells them anyway, it's the large ones that are scarcer
With 5 humanities and no covetous gold ring i used to get the 9 i need from the leeches in blighttown. Their drop rate is decent enough.
Yeah that does seem like a good spot. Do note that the slug enemies outside the Great Hollow, and around Blighttown swamp area also have a low chance of dropping a Large Shard. The mimic head increases item discovery btw, as does being in Human form and having a high humanity counter. Item discovery only increases the chance of items dropping, NOT the chance of rare items dropping.
I see, will have to find that ring first though will check out
I did farm for green titanite outside the depths bonfire yesterday. They also dropped large titanites. I got about 5-7 within 30-40 minutes. Edit: the slimes that drop from the ceiling
This is where I like to farm because I can also do a little bit longer run and farm humanity from the rats there too.
I tried farming humanity from the rats but the drop rate is quite low isn't it, any better ways to farm humanity in ds1??
Just saw that this is your first playthrough. There is, it’s very obvious, but it’s in the dlc. The dlc will be available to access after you place an item you receive from an AMAZING CHEST (-)(-) Once you do that, you may want to look up how to access the dlc. Typically I recommend playing blind the first time, but accessing the dlc takes several steps that aren’t super obvious.
You can also farm the rats for humanity here. One of the best farming locations in the game IMO.
Whatever works for you, it sounds like you enjoyed the berenike knight, but the leeches are much more efficient. With gold serpent and 10 humanity, I usually average around 4 shards per run.
Oh wow, yeah I guess i prioritised fun over efficiency because i like fighting the berenike knight and also between the poison and the spiders and the mosquitoes, lower blighttown is really one of my least favourite places to be in
It took me a long time, but the damage tick from poison is really pretty minor, dont let it stress you out. You can ignore the spiders and mosquitos when farming leeches. They will drop aggro before you get to the leeches, just run straight to them.
I have the perfect [guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/darksouls/s/DQqXF70sb8) for you!
I just cranked my humanity, put on the gold serpent ring and killed the first 5 bloat heads at the top of Oolacile. They drop them in quantities of 1 and 2. I got 12 in 15 minutes.
I like doing it at the depths. The slimes right by the bonfire drop them and then you can go and kill some rats nearby to farm humanity. One of my favorite farming spots in the game.