2741

Do you have a Black Knight Sword? I had it +5 and it was able to disrupt his charge up. I could get 2-3 hits in before he either finished charging or it was disrupted. I have read that the average club, leveled up, can do the same thing.

For the run in hug the right wall and you only have to deal with the two plant guys at the start.

I found for my build the best strategy was to stay as close to Artorias as I could. That kept him from doing some of his moves. I had a good shield, the BKS +5, average armor. When he started to back off to charge up I went right after him. When I did finally beat him I did it probably using only 2-3 estus flasks.

His one move I had trouble with was kind of a back handed sword flip that would send me into the air.

2742

For the Iaito+15 it would take four quick hits with the sword to stop his dark nova. If I didn’t start right as he was starting, he would get the nova off before I could get the fourth hit in.

As for getting to him, I had that down to a science pretty fast, so I’m sure krayzkrok does too: Run across the bridge, go to the right, kill the two guys, keep running along the right wall, then go through the trees in a straight line for the door from a certain angle, get inside, on the elevator to the far end. That way I walked across the switch at the bottom as I got off the elevator, which sent it back to the top so I wouldn’t have to wait for it on my next run. Sitting on the elevator gives you stamina back, so you run the rest of the way to the fog door, and cast crystal magic weapon right before the door and walk in.

2743

Just in case you didn’t know this the Grass Crest Shield can be worn on the back while wielding a weapon two hand and still prove it’s stamina regen. I went through most of the game with it on my back.

2744

Yea, using that option or the Chloranthy ring are good additions.

2745

I figured I’m not going to let him rich me, so used the gold rimmed set, had the coloranty ring and the crest shield on my back. I used the chaos blade 2 handed with 10 soft humanities.

And yes, try to stay close to him. After a while you’ll anticipate his attacks and be able to roll away.

2746

Dagger? Daggers are for wusses.

Real man use their fists!

2747

Speaking of Daggers; the two daggers I got in exchange for Artorias’ soul are interesting. I leveled the Gold one up fully to +5, and the silver one to +4, since I had spare Twinkle Titanite lying around.

But it’s sooooo weird dual wielding daggers. It means you have no option for a shield. At least when you’re two handing a weapon, when shit hits the fan, you always have the option of bringing back the shield on your back. But not when you’re dual-wielding daggers, it’s a different mindset, and I’m not sure if I can even learn it. Maybe if they’d given these to me earlier in the game, I could have learned to dual-wield while I was in the early areas of the game.

Also, it’s kind of funny how so many of us now are circling the wagons, doing what we can before filling the lordvessel, because we don’t really want the game to end. Maybe I’ll be up for New Game+, but I doubt it. Not with other Souls games out there to play, and Witcher expansions to play. But this is definitely one of my all time favorite games now. Right up there in the pantheon with the likes of Star Control 2, Civilization 2, System Shock 2, Fable 2, Doom 2, Prince of Persia 2008, The Witcher 3, Heroes of Might and Magic 2, Planescape Torment, and others. Now add to that list Dark Souls. AKA Demon’s Souls 2.

2748

I do indeed have it. It looks like it’s time for some grinding, although grinding is a lot more interesting if you have new areas to explore.

And yes, for the run there I do exactly what Rock8 describes. My shield is a Black Knight Shield +5.

Whoa, hold on a second. Crystal Magic Weapon? Anything that ups my damage output sounds like a good thing, but I need to get my int up to do any casting. As we’re now about 50k per level, that’s a shitload of time in Painted World!

I did not know that, no. Possibly because it doesn’t actually tell you that anywhere. :) However, I am using the Cloranthy ring (coupled with, as always, Havels).

I have to agree, this will go down as a classic. And to think it sat in my Steam library for years before I really got into it. I even played it to Gaping Dragon without it ever really clicking for me that first time. Perception is a funny thing.

2749

I had +5 Black Knight Sword with +5 BK Shield, wearing chloranthy ring with Havels ring.

You should know most his moves by now, stay close to him and when he goes to charge up rush him and hit him hard.

2750

I think few games are designed like Dark Souls where it is pretty much encouraged to share info with others. I think that really adds to the enjoyment.

2751

I’m trying the summons thing for the first time. Someone keeps leaving messages in front of the Kalameet area saying Need Tail, so I used my white soapstone for the first time, figuring I can offer help. No takers for the last 15 minutes though. How long do I sit here and wait?

Update: That was strange. I got a message saying my summons sign was gone, and when I tried to lay a new one down it took me 10 tries before I finally lay one down again.

2752

Ok, I now have +5 Black Knight Sword, plus I also got the Straight Silver Knight Sword +5. I actually didn’t have one, so I threw on the covetous serpent ring and tadaa, first drop! Amazing. (I mean, after all the dozens of silver knights that I killed, not one of them ever dropped that sword).

Equipped Cloranthy Ring, Grass Crest Shield, my +4 Black Knight armour set, Power Within, and Black Knight Sword +5.

LET’S DO THIS ARTORIAS!

First go…

…dead. Me, that is. I did chip off 10% of his health though, so there’s that! I got in close, but I can only block a couple of hits before he wears down my stamina. I actually do better further away from him, because I can see his moves coming and dodge out of the way. Still, practice. Damn this effing guy. At least I can stagger him now if he goes all dark nova on me.

2753

Well, the Black Knight Sword +5 does not stagger / interrupt his wrath spell (ok, I looked up the name of it). Tried it three times now, both normal and heavy attacks, neither works. The sword is doing slightly more damage than my gargoyle halberd was, but it’s hard to hit him with it (less reach), and it’s slow enough that he normally gets an attack in before I can put my shield up / roll away after the hit. Power Within actually doesn’t seem to be doing a thing, other than eating away at my health, so I’ve abandoned that idea.

I don’t feel like I’ve made any progress here. Without the ability to stop his wrath power-up, I don’t know what to do.

I’ll try the Straight Silver Knight Sword next, as that’s much faster and hopefully I can whittle away at him, but it doesn’t solve the wrath problem.

2754

Silver Knight Sword and <25% weight is definitely where it’s at for me. I can read and dodge his attacks really well now.

I tried a different approach to wrath. If I can’t stagger him, I’ll just stay out of his way. That’s all good, except when he does he leaping slam attack. When that happens, my usual “roll out of the way at the last minute” move doesn’t work, presumably because it’s a stronger attack. This is an instakill even at maximum health. So my last resort strategy now is to heal when he wraths up, then move in closer and try and dodge / attack, hoping to stop him from doing the leaping attack which seems to happen when you get any distance from him. I guess the wrath power up wears off eventually, but it’s hard to tell.

2755

I should just delete the last four messages and instead go AAARRRRRGGGHHH!!!

Two-handed dodging is kinda working, and when he powers up I’ve figured out how to dodge the leap attack (roll towards him before the moment of impact). Going pretty well, but he has this 360 degree swing that I find really hard to predict. I think he kneels first, then goes for it. Getting him down to about 2/3 health each time now, but still a long way to go. Still resisting going human and using a summoning sign, but my resolve is weakening.

2756

You can do it krayzkrok! We believe in you! Take a resolve potion!

Meanwhile, my battle against Kalameet’s tail finally came to a climax. One Obsidian Sword. I promptly went to the Painted World to get some souls so I could level the thing up. Once I had it upgraded to +5, I tried it out. Damage is quite high, but no scaling with stats, unfortunately. Still, I think it’s the biggest damage dealer I possess. Unfortunately, swinging this thing around is pretty slow. The description says to wield it with two hands to unlock its power, but I have no idea what that means, since the two handed animations aren’t any better, nor is there a special lightning attack or anything like with the weapon I made with Ornstein’s Soul.

I did go back and try to beat Kalameet. This time for realz! The most exciting battle came down to a hard-fought battle where I was on fire. I was dodging his every attack, kicking ass under his feet, swing-swing-swinging away with my Iaito+15. I had him down to about an 8th health, when suddenly, across the screen it said “WEAPON AT RISK!”

Oh shit! All these attempts at the tail and now him, I’d forgotten about weapon and armor repair. Would I be able to take him down, or would my weapon break before that? Slice, slice, dodge, dodge, run, slice, slice, dodge, slice. DEAD! Take that Kalameet.

And from his dead body, I was so ecstatic that I even forgot to put on the Covetous Silver Ring to get extra souls after his death. And as a reward, I didn’t get his soul. I got… well, I got a peace of equipment which just made me laugh and laugh. Well done Dark Souls. Well done. That was perfect.

2757

Thanks for the encouragement rock8. I am slowly surviving longer each time, but watching a video of someone else tackling it made me realise my damage output isn’t helping. They were doing 330 damage per hit, I was doing about 200 (same weapon, dual wield). So I’ve gone to the painted world for a vacation and some leveling. I shall return.

Congrats on Kalameet and his tail. There’s nothing else for you to do now is there, apart from Gwyn himself right?

2758

You’re getting him down to 2/3rds health means you are making progress. It’ll all click soon and you’ll beat him.

Congratulations!
I also wasn’t too keen on this sword’s move set. After using a Katana, waiting for these slow swings is exasperating. I figured you’de feel the same since you are using the Laito, but didn’t want to discourage you :)

BTW, try heavy attack while 2 handing the thing.

2759

YES! I gotcha.

This is actually exactly what I said, while fist-pumping the air twice.

Damn, at last. So, I went to Painted World and listened to Bonfireside Chat while farming souls, boosted my str up to 28. This, I thought, was the problem with the fight, I just wasn’t putting out enough damage.

Went back, reinvigorated, and got Artorias on my second attempt. By this stage I’d learned nearly all of his moves, and now finally my Black Knight Sword +5 was staggering him! No more Wrath of the Abyss, you bastard. What a huge difference that makes. Only used one estus as well. The rest of the strategy was as before; get my weight down <25% of max for fast / long roll, sling shield on back and two-hand the sword, and basically dodge everything and learn when I could get away with a strike.

Now, onto Kalameet. But first, I hear there’s a bonfire around here somewhere…

2760

Actually, you might want to do the rest of Oocacile Township first and find a certain key and open a certain locked door before you go after Kalameet. I didn’t know this at the time, since I never went down to fight Kalameet until later, but according to the cutscene I saw, he was flying around. I’m not sure how you can fight him if he’s flying. Or if it’s even possible.

Edit: And yes, the only thing left for me is whatever comes after filling the LordVessel. I assume it’s the guy on the cover of Dark Souls 3. I bet he’s Gwyn. Going in now.