I wish I was joking. After I finished the game, I was talking to a friend (the same one who got me into Dark Souls), and he asked what weapon I ended up upgrading. I said, “Upgrading?”. After explaining that I never upgraded anything he was absolutely flabbergasted hahahaha.
Turns out I never used a single Titanite Shard. Not one.
But I’m not a psycopath tho I swear, there were a few reasons for this:
1. The same friend told me before I started that I should play my first run completely blind. No guides, no wikis, just vibes.
2. I’m mostly used to more “mainstream” games where you don’t have to read every item description to understand what it’s for, so I simply never paid much attention to consumables and materials ( I know I know, I should know better and I’m very lazy ngl)
3. Since everyone talks about how brutally difficult Dark Souls is, I just assumed the struggle was intended. Every boss that took me dozens of attempts? I mean, isn’t that like, the reason we like this games??
So I unknowingly finished the entire game with an unupgraded weapon.
The funny thing is despite all that, I absolutely loved it.
It’s genuinely become one of my favorite games of all time. The atmosphere, level design, world-building, and sense of accomplishment were unlike anything I’ve played before. Now I’m planning to play the rest of the Souls games and then ER, but I’ll actually read what my items do.

TLDR: I accidentally beat Dark Souls without upgrading a single weapon.

Hey everyone,

It’s about time for the annual community replay of DS1. Let’s all engage in some jolly cooperation.

Make a new character and do as much co-op as possible: summons, invasions, etc.

how we can be friend again

I got tired of being invaded by Dark Bead spammers and 1 shot hornet builds in low level Parish.

I love the spider-man pose, I had to almost break my back to get this posture, but it was so worth it. This was taken during Pixelmania photography event in Poland, Lubomierz. It is all from EVA foam, this was my first full EVA armor cosplay and big prop. The excellent photographer is @javillia_photography on IG. My account if anyone is interested is @rys_cosplay

Everyone told me this game was super hard. So, when I started, I was not surprised to find those skeletons in the graveyard. I got my ass kicked a lot, but I figured hey, the game is supposed to be hard. I eventually killed one and almost killed the other-- took about two hours or so of practice to get it juuuust right-- then I died and they both respawned and I was like ok maybe this isnt right. I googled it and sure enough, someone said nah, skip those skeletons-- take the stairs near Firelink Shrine.

So, naturally, I went to New Londo Ruins. I couldnt see, I couldnt even hit anything. I tried to sneak a couple times, which obviously didnt work. I tried just... sprinting. Just running for it lol.

After a little over an hour, I decided to make sure I had read the post right. Then I learned about Undead Burg. I had been playing for about 4 hours at this point?

Undead Burg was like heaven, man. Beautiful, beautiful heaven full of little guys that couldnt one shot you. I had a great time. Taurus demon was fun, killed him on the second go. Just loving it. All smooth sailing until I got to the Red Dragon. I mean I figured out pretty quickly I didnt stand a chance, but I must have tried like 10 times or so to fight it before I wised up, and each time I spawned back in Undead Burg and had to fight my way back...

So, basically by the time I hit the Gargoyle I was level 23 and I saw a sign to summon somebody and I didnt know what that meant so I was like okay sure. We killed it in like... maybe 2 minutes lol. And the second one too! I didnt even get a chance to hit that one. :/

Tbh the first fight really set the stage for this kind of play. Im a thief and I didnt realize you could just run away... So I just slashed at that fat fuck demon with my little broken sword. I had the bombs but I didnt wanna waste them. So I just grinded man. I think that one fight alone probably took a good 20 minutes, and that was just the time that I ended up actually winning.

I just rang the 1st bell, about 11 hours into my game. Then I started doing a little run through the catacombs afterwards because I couldnt figure out where to go next. Im level 24 now and it felt pretty difficult. Also I have no light source so I kept running into the abyss. But I figured hey man... its a tough game or whatever. And its easier than New Londo Ruins, so it must be the right way! And well. Now I am posting, so you probably know how that turned out.

Im trying my best to not look stuff up, because people say not to. But honestly? Im just really fucking stupid.

I dont know if this game was made for people like me that are perfectly content with just hitting their skull into the wall over and over until the brick crumbles, but I guess theyre gonna be because I like the whole fever dream ambiance and I dont want to ruin it with something as gauche as a wiki article. I am concerned I am overleveling and will ruin future boss battles, like I accidentally did for the gargoyles (very bummed about that, I was looking forward to them). But Im sure it evens out later on.

Anyway I just wanted to tell someone about it. Please dont be mean to me lol.

EDIT: You guys are very cool. Glad to know its not just me and were all a bunch of idiots running into the wall together.

EDIT 2: Ive had a couple people ask for my streaming link. Ive removed the link bc linking directly led to a big fat picture of my face as the header for the post lmao, but you can find me on twitch at username: zoddwalker.

Ive only used this to stream for my friends a couple times and idk if Im super comfortable with the idea of being like... an "internet" person. But my friends keep telling me to give it a shot and a lot of ppl said they thought it would be funny to watch me flail so lol

THE WHOLE TRIOLGY IS ON A 50% SALE

This is for all the people that continue to post/ask about the subject, and also to give myself closure. There has been so much negative misinformation about my departure from the community, and it's not a liability to share and address things now that I've left my job in the game's industry. I've also remained friends with a few other prominent creators since (ie: AGermanSpy, Quelaag), and consulted others for advice (ie: EpicNameBro, Illusorywall) that were aware of what occurred at my job and can corroborate.

It happened a long time ago, but frames everything that has occurred since: the real reason why I removed my cut content videos and eventually closed my YouTube channel in 2014 was because I landed my first job in the games industry (ie: Jed Lang alluding to this, another friend discussing this, my PS4 test/dev kit from 2013), and one of the AAA publishers we did 3rd party work for contacted my employers about my cut content videos being a conflict of interest. They expressed concerns and distrust about me having access to internal development assets/documents, because I could potentially leak and leverage the information for personal gain without any way to verify against it. To complicate things even further, we also did 3rd party work for Namco Bandai, which caused my employers to panic about getting blacklisted by them in association with my Dark Souls cut content videos. On top of everything, I was worried about getting sued because I had already signed multiple NDAs filled with broad stipulations. At first I was simply told to private my cut content videos, but eventually I was forced to choose between my employment or keeping my Youtube channel. I chose my employment, however closing my Youtube channel caused immense public backlash which spiraled into countless threads filled with derogatory assumptions about me as a person. The worst part is that I was not allowed to publicly state why I was forced to close my channel, so people filled in the blanks with speculation—which turned into the most negative interpretations possible. EpicNameBro was one of the first people I talked to about the issue, and the advice I received from my peers overall was to lay low until the situation blew over. I was eventually allowed to return to Youtube in 2015 under the condition I completely discontinue my cut content series, which is why I publicly refused to re-upload any of my older cut content videos.

I was unable to publicly discuss the actual reason why I was forced to close my channel because the backlash would have been redirected to my employers, and potentially the publishers we worked for as well. This is due to the fact we were publicly connected at the time, which is what prompted that publisher to reach out about the videos on my channel in the first place. There are plenty other examples of mass community backlash to companies striking or forcing creators to take down their videos, and it would have created a PR disaster for everyone involved. I was in an incredibly awkward position and didn't know what to say without implicating my employers, so I shortsightedly deflected by chalking the situation up to burnout from negative engagement and stress. I didn't know what else would have possibly made sense to people and hoped that would be enough to quell the response, but I failed to anticipate just how massive it would become.

Discussion online became that I had melted down over a small percentage of negative comments, that I was thin-skinned and neurotic, and even that I had done it out of spite to my viewers for a variety of petty reasons. None of that was true, and I also never stated it was due to supposed harassment, death threats, or complaints about being a "hacker" for using cheat engine to make my cut content videos. I don't know how people came to believe that last theory considering it makes little sense, but it became one of the most widespread. Despite my relative silence on the matter—or rather because of it, these ideas were widely circulated in a long game of telephone, becoming increasingly distorted and eventually repeated as fact despite lacking any proof. What they could latch onto were old unrelated posts I had made about feeling depressed, which ballooned into dozens of threads and hundreds of comments falsely attributing the closure of my channel to a mental health issue. I hope people can understand I said that when was 16—17 years old going through the most stressful period of my life, overwhelmed caregiving for my father with Parkinson's disease and coming to terms with his looming death. It's far too much to fully get into the impact this had on me without making this post longer than it already is, but the regular emergency room visits, close calls (choking, falls, GI dysfunction, heart attacks, etc), and watching his personality and body degenerate was incredibly traumatizing. Youtube was the least of my concern through all of this, but it was still disheartening to receive hundreds of comments and DMs weekly from people simply stopping by to tell me they were unsubscribing, or to leave complaints and jabs calling me juvenile/cowardly over the removal and discontinuation of my cut content series—which I was no longer allowed to even make or discuss at risk to my job. Even if I could have explained what had actually occurred, I had my own concerns doing so would damage my relationship to my employers and ability to obtain future work in the industry—which I needed to support myself and my father. He was physically unable to work, and the responsibility was entirely on me to care for his needs financially and as a regular caregiver. I was also still a teen and had just acquired my first major job, and picking Youtube over that was never feasible to begin with. I wasn't even old enough to join the adsense program or make a PayPal until 2014 and made all of my videos for free. When I finally started making money after returning in 2015, it was only around $50—150 a month because Youtube severely reduced payout to videos under 10 minutes, and mine all averaged 2 minutes in length.

Regarding my final departure in 2018, I was in a rough place after my father finally died from complications with his Parkinson's, and I wanted privacy to recover and grieve. I stated as much on Twitter (the post is gone but a few people responded with condolences)—but I clearly didn't give the post enough time or reach to get the message across before closing my accounts. I could have made a video announcement to reach my wider audience, but it wasn't something I felt comfortable doing with how distressed I was. Suffice it to say, his slow deterioration and death impacted me significantly, and I didn't feel I was in much of a place mentally to be a large public figure. I get if people can't understand why I wouldn't just take a break, but I was already burnt out as a creator after years of caregiving and working a full time job. Managing a large social media presence added pressure to my life without much in return, and continued to pose risks to my job due to the fact my employers monitored everything I posted, severely limiting what I could say or make. I could give plenty of reasons leading to my decision to step away from being a public figure, but I ultimately just wanted a sense of agency and control while I was struggling to cope with my loss. All I wanted was to be left alone to grieve, and I had already been thinking to retire for a while by that point as my experience running a Youtube channel was overwhelmingly negative, serving as the direct catalyst that nearly cost me my job and for people to tear apart my character for years on end. I felt I had done enough to explain my decision to step away, but speculation from people unaware just fed back into all of the previous narratives, and by that point I had already left my social media and didn't want to keep re-activating my accounts and stepping back in to engage. I was barely functional through my bereavement, and trying to address comments/threads/messages all over the internet was the last thing I was in any place or wanted to do. I ultimately decided to move on with my life to focus on my recovery and career, figuring discussion would eventually blow over—although people continue to repeat disparaging misinformation about what happened to this day. In fact, people trying to look up why I left Youtube in 2018 are instead overwhelmingly shown results from when I initially had to close my channel in 2014, which are filled with negative speculation and misinformation. The advice I consistently received from my peers was to ignore everything being said, which I have done for years now—but not addressing things has only served to exacerbate the negative conjecture, which brings me to my next point.

I perhaps could have posted this statement years earlier with less risk to my job after things mostly wound down, but I have honestly been wary about reengaging after how insane things became, and figured people would eventually move on. The mischaracterizations about why I temporarily closed my channel in 2014 directly led to people targeting me with harassment for years after the fact, which contributed to my decision to step away from the community after my dad died in late 2018. For anyone wondering why I've decided to break my silence after all this time, this is one of the primary reasons, because it has caused a subset of people to fixate on me negatively to this day, and the harassment is now spilling out onto other content creators. I experienced a lot of cruelty when I was initially forced to close my channel, which at multiple points crossed into: impersonation, stalking online, invasions of my privacy, and harrassive messages. Despite what people assumed, I was actually not experiencing harassment before I was forced to temporarily close my channel in 2014, but it has definitely been occurring as a result since. At this point of my life, I have not been a public figure for 7 years since late 2018, but still get brought up negatively in discussions about other peoples' fame/infamy, ex: every controversy Sanadsk/Garden of Eyes gets himself into. This is emblematic of the way people fill in the blanks, but people have jumped to wild conclusions in the comments of a re-upload of my video calling Sanadsk/Garden of Eyes out for plagiarism (I even directly state I discontinued my cut content series in this video), going so far as to accuse him of "running [me] out of the community" and sending his fans to harass me, which has forced him to refute this multiple times. These claims are entirely false and unfair to him, and there is no evidence of this ever occurring. I get people have plenty of other gripes with him, but please do not harass Sanadsk on my behalf as he had absolutely nothing to do with the closure of my Youtube channel. There were also people leaving comments on that reupload and others trying to spread a conspiracy that I'm Zullie, because she started covering cut content in 2016 after I closed my Youtube channel in 2014—this is despite the fact I actually returned a year later and regularly posted/streamed to my Youtube channel until my dad died in 2018, which should already be common knowledge. This feels ridiculous to acknowledge, but has been causing people targeting her as a female content creator to cross-contaminate with the people already negatively fixated on me, and drudge up all the same misinformation that incited people to harass me for years. I feel the need to address these things because not doing so has just left all the negative rhetoric to fester. I already went through years of harassment after I was initially forced to close my channel in 2014, and I'm concerned about having to go through that again and more. I experienced firsthand just how crazy people can get, and the tradeoffs to being a public figure weren't worth it to me.

It also doesn't seem like many people were aware of my age, and my voice probably sounded like an adult, but I was around 17—18 years old during the initial closure of my channel in 2014. I perhaps could have navigated the situation better, but I was still a teen without much perspective and just followed the advice I received from my employers and older peers. AGermanSpy and Quelaag in particular guided me through so much of the hardship I was experiencing as a teen and in the years since, and I'm sure they'd just reiterate everything I've already said here if anyone cares to ask. I consulted both of them and EpicNameBro for advice, and they all got to see the email chain from my employers before I was forced to close my channel. I understand and appreciate the majority of the initial discussion was made in good faith and with fair intentions, but people unwittingly bought into and spread so much misinformation—it spun narratives about harassment that wasn't even occurring, which ironically led to me experiencing actual harassment. Illusorywall was a subreddit mod at the time and was aware about what was going on, but there wasn't much he or any of the other mods could do to help, because removing posts/comments spreading misinformation would have drawn accusations of censorship and even more negative attention. I wasn't able to say what actually occurred without implicating my employers, so I just had to let the discussion run its course, but it destroyed my reputation and devolved into harassment that continues to this day.

I lastly want to express my appreciation to all the people that offered sympathy to me without even knowing the full picture. It's clear from the messages that have been passed along through my peers that many of you continue to think fondly of me, and I want you to know it has meant a lot. It honestly feels strange to know I have had any sort of lasting impact on the community, because I only made cut content videos for 2 or so years of my 6 year tenure on Youtube, and my 7 year absence is now longer than the duration I was actively uploading. To me, it was just a short chapter of my life—but to those that have still been wondering, confused, or concerned: know that I have been keeping well and doing fine. I had been back and forth about potentially returning as a creator, but I ultimately prefer my privacy and currently don't have plans to step back into the community beyond this post. considering everything I've been through and explained, I hope people can understand why. I've been retired from Youtube for a while now and my priorities have since shifted away from pursuing it again, but I'm grateful my creative endeavors from that time still seem to resonate with so many people.

*Edited to correct some of the years things occured and add sources for verification. I wrote a lot of this out from memory and misremembered some details (ie: I initially left youtube in 2014, not 2016). I've asked a mod to lock this post as I've said my piece and want to disengage myself from any further harassment.

EDIT: This post is getting archived and locked, (Apparently not! Welcoming new comments and questions!) so I'm adding a small FAQ section at the bottom! Hopefully this helps with some of the smaller, more common questions re: the build, and anyone with further questions should feel free to message me!

​

Almost two years ago, for the first Global Restart Day, I created a guide for what I called objectively the best build in Dark Souls. And now that Dark Souls Remastered is here, I've risen from my ashen cemetery to bring you THE CLERIC KNIGHT BUILD: REMASTERED.

Originally this was going to be an illustrated guide in the vein of the first guide, but a case of tendinitis has sadly prevented me from drawing these past few weeks (in fact, I'm not sure if I should even be typing this much). But that's fine, because all the info you need is still here (and this sub is better with text posts anyway). First:

TL;DR VERSION

Starting Class: Cleric

Stats

Gear

• Mace (standard) +15
• Claymore (Divine) +10
• Composite Bow (Standard) +14-15 (Optional but handy)
• Canvas Talisman
• Tower Kite Shield (Standard) +Any/ Crest Shield +5

Magic

• Heal
• Great Heal
• Sunlight Blade
• (Great) Sunlight Spear
• (Great) Magic Barrier
• Replenishment

That's it. That's all you need to know for this build to work. But Chosen undead, if you really want to wreck house, then by all means, keep reading! We'll get a little more in-depth.

The Cleric Knight build, AKA "Dark Souls on easy mode", is one of the most effective and, more importantly, most efficient PvE builds in the game. Unlike many other builds you will find, the Cleric Knight build requires no farming, no grinding, and no prayers to RNGesus becuase you don't need him. Everything you need for the Cleric Knight build (save Miracles) is obtainable by the time you've reached the second boss- sooner, if you have a master key and know where you're going. The point is, this build is very welcoming for both newcomers and veterans of the game alike. It's worth noting though, that this build is for Player vs Environment (PvE) play, and not Player vs Player (PvP) play. There will be no story, boss, or item spoilers in this guide, but links to item pages (which will provide stats and locations) are provided if you need them.

Now let's get the hell started here...

STATS - Here are the stat values you want, what they are, and why you want them.

• VIT - 30 - Your hit points. Soft-capped at 30.
• ATN - 19 - Determines how many spells you can equip at once. 19 gives you 5 spell slots.
• END - 35 - Determines stamina, equip load, and roll speed. 35 lets you mid-roll in full gear.
• STR - 30 - Determines the damage of STR-scaling weapons (like the mace)
• DEX - 8 - Base value. Determines the damage of DEX-scaling weapons, of which we have none. If you'd like to use a Composite Bow, level this up to 12 and no more.
• RES - 11 - Base Value. Useless stat. Supposedly increases resistance to poison and fire damage, but you'll get much better protection from the right armor sets. A level in RES is usually considered a wasted level.
• INT - 8 - Base Value. Determines the damage of sorceries and INT-scaling weapons. Typically for cowards and/or nerds.
• FTH - 30 - Determines the strength of miracles and FTH-scaling weapons. For the courageous and pure-of-heart.

Altogether, this stat spread will put you at a nice healthy Soul Level of 89-93 by the end of the game (assuming you started as a Cleric), with minimal-to-no grinding.

Not that for the purposes of this build, it's very important that you choose Cleric as your starting class. The first reason is that it's the best class for efficient stat distribution. The second reason to do this is for your gear.

GEAR - The tools that you need to become a Cleric Knight.

Mace - No piece of gear is more important. Though oft-overlooked, the mace is one of the best weapons you can use in PvE. Here's why:

• It scales with STR, and only STR. This is not a dig at DEX-users; the fact of the matter is that a weapon that has great scaling in one stat is much better than a weapon with mediocre scaling in two stats. On top of this, the mace has no DEX requirement at all, meaning you don't have to waste points in a stat that ISN'T STR to use a STR weapon coughZWEIcough
• It's available immediately. Unlike many of the more powerful weapons in the game, the mace doesn't have to be farmed, looted, forged, purchased, or cut off of the ass of a dragon. It's simply handed to you in the tutorial area.
• It deals "strike" damage. There are four physical damage types in Dark Souls- Normal, Strike, Slash, Thrust. Of the four, strike-type damage is the least resisted among enemies, particularly enemies of the "large" and "armored" variety. Of which there are more than a few. If you don't believe that makes a difference, well, you're about to be pleasantly surprised.

The other stuff - Though not quite as important as the mace, the rest of your gear is pretty important too, I suppose.

• Canvas Talisman - Starting equipment of the Cleric. Unless you plan on going above 40 FTH, this talisman is going to produce the strongest miracles.
• Claymore (Divine) - A weapon with a divine infusion is very handy to have in your arsenal when going through... certain areas of the game. While the Claymore is my favorite because of it's moveset, any weapon with high base damage and low physical scaling (like the Bastard Sword or Halberd) will do the trick.
• Tower Kite Shield - a simple, very sturdy shield that's available before the second boss. It has the second-highest stability value among medium-sized shields, and only weighs three... weight. If you know where to find it and/or if you like looking your best, also consider using the Crest Shield- while it has lower stability, it absorbs more magic damage than any other medium shield. Very, very handy for the Cleric Knight.
• Composite Bow (Optional) - Sometimes you need a ranged option to pick off or draw out enemies. If that's how you play, consider the composite bow. while the range is fairly short, it's long enough, and has better STR-scaling than any other bow of it's size. The catch is that it requires at least 12 DEX to wield.

MAGIC

• Heal - Starting equipment of the Cleric. A basic but invaluable heal spell, especially if you tend to take a lot of damage. With less pressure on your Estus reserves, you can fight harder and explore further. The more advanced version, Great Heal, is unlocked later.
• Lightning Spear - One of few offensive miracles in the game, but a very useful one to have. Very few enemies in the game have a high resistance to lightning, so these will help deal a good amount of non-physical damage. Great lightning spear is the more advanced version.
• Magic Barrier - One of the key components of the build, Magic Barrier allows you to absorb more magic damage. When coupled with the Crest Shield, you'll be able to outright tank a lot of the magical enemies in the game- including bosses. Great Magic Barrier is the more advanced version, but you'll have to find it...
• Sunlight Blade - A very powerful weapon buff that applies lightning damage to your weapon for 60 seconds. It's looted after a secret boss, so it's not imperative, but it's very good to have if you can find it. As mentioned above, there are few enemies with high lightning resistance.
• Replenishment - Gradually heals HP over time. Good for bosses that don't provide you much time to heal, or for jumping into mobs.
• Homeward - It's a homeward bone that you can re-use.

ARMOR

Something-something defenses, damage absorption, whatever. You want something that looks good, and the Cleric Knight is never out of season. Combining the Knight Armor with the Elite Knight Helm, Elite Knight Gauntlets, and Elite Knight leggings makes a subtle statement that still stands stout. Out. It will also provide a moderate-to-good amount of defense without being overly heavy. Of course, armor is largely up to preference, and is often swapped out according to the needs of the situation. Wear what you like. As long as it's not the hollow soldier leggings. Rings operate on the same basis; while it's fine to have favorites, you're going to be changing them fairly often depending on the circumstances.

COVENANT

Covenants are basically factions you can join that will give you rewards for playing online, usually through Player v Player combat. Normally they're incidental and optional for an offline, PvE focused build like this one. But the co-op focused Warriors of Sunlight covenant has some very useful rewards for the aspiring cleric. Typically, you're required to have a FTH stat of 25 in order to join; but every time you successfully defeat a boss through co-op as a summoned phantom, that requirement will be lowered by 5 FTH. Defeat one boss, and you can join with 20 FTH. Defeat 2, and you can join with 15 FTH. I recommend trying to beat at least one boss this way by the time you reach the end of the Undead Parish; the Bell Gargoyles and Moonlight Butterfly are both conveniently close and not terribly difficult (with two people). Once you've done that, go pray at the Altar of Sunlight beneath the hellkite drake on the bridge (If you don't know how to get to it: stand in the left alcove of the bridge, facing the dragon. It's fire attacks won't reach you here, so it will leave it's perch to come fight you on the bridge. As soon as you see it leave it's perch, run straight down the middle of the bridge towards the chapel that the dragon was sitting on top of. The dragon will land in front of you, and you want to just run straight between it's legs and into the chapel, where you can light the bonfire. If you've timed it right, you'll reach the fire right before the dragon is able to turn around and attack you ). You'll receive the "Lightning Spear" miracle as a reward, and if you have 20 FTH, you can start using it right away.

​

THAT'S IT

Seriously, honestly, that's it. That's all you need to tear-ass through this game. There's more that I could talk about, but it's not strictly related to the guide. If you need a STR/FTH build, or if you're looking for an easier way to play the game, this is it. You can't go wrong with a sturdy and reliable Cleric Knight build. If you have any further questions, feel free to ask- I'm always happy to help, and I typically answer in a timely fashion.

I'm also going to be playing through the remaster this weekend with a specialized co-op build; if you see Cleric Knight's summon sign, don't hesitate to call upon me! I'm here to help! And trust me, I know my way around these fights...

​

FAQ

• "I want to try this build, but fool that I am, I already created a character (that's not a cleric). Can I still use this build?"
  • YES. Starting class only affects starting stats and starting equipment, so you can spec into this build from any starting class. If you started as a high-DEX or high-INT class with low STR or FTH it's going to be very difficult to do so, but still possible.
• "As I mentioned, in my foolishness I did not start as a Cleric and so I do not have a Mace or Canvas Talisman. Is there another way to obtain these, and if not, what substitutions can I use?"
  • You CAN find another Mace in the game, and you can also buy them. The catch is that the Mace is hidden in a difficult area to tackle for early-game players, off of a particularly tricky drop, and the vendor isn't unlocked until you defeat one of the final bosses (I will not spoil, but see the item page for more details). Unless you want to make a suicide run for the Mace, I recommend replacing it with another weapon. You'll probably get the most comparable results from a Battle Axe; while the scaling isn't as good and it doesn't deal strike damage, it has high base damage which makes it strong. It can be bought from the early-game blacksmith, so there's no need to hunt or farm. The Club or Reinforced Club can be bought from an early-game merchant, and have most of the positives of the Mace- good scaling, light weight, and strike damage. The reinforced club in particular is a popular choice for it's Bleed effect. You can use these if you like, but be aware that the reinforced club has very low durability compared to other hammers and they kind of look like crap. The Morning Star is a tempting option, especially since it's a free treasure from Firelink and has a bleed effect, but ultimately I would advise against using this past the first one, maybe two bosses, and that's only if you have to use it at all. The base damage and scaling are both underwhelming, and the extremely situational bleed effect just doesn't make up for it. As far as talismans go, you can buy another canvas talisman from the late-game merchant that sells maces, but that will take a while. For the time being I recommend using the standard talisman that can be found behind Firelink. You can buy a Thorolund Talisman from the starting miracle merchant, which has fixed MagAdjust, but he charges 5k souls for it and that's awfully pricey in the beginning of the game. The regular talisman, on the other hand, is free (albeit hidden).
• "Can I infuse my mace to make it a Divine Mace? Doesn't this give it better FTH scaling?"
  • NO. I mean, well, yes it DOES give better FTH scaling. But you should NOT make your mace Divine. The reason has to do with Split Damage. I'll explain with an example: A Silver Knight, a common mob in the mid-game, has 128 physical defense. A +15 Mace, at 30 STR, has a total of 376 AR. Take away the Silver Knight's physical defense, and you're dealing 248 physical damage. But a Silver Knight also has 102 magical defense. A Divine Mace+10 at 30 STR/30 FTH deals 190 physical damage and 257 Magical damage- the total attack rating is 447. Take away from this the 128 physical defense AND the 102 MAGICAL defense of a Silver Knight, and you're doing only 217 damage. So despite a higher total attack rating, you're actually doing less damage. That's a very simplified version of damage calculation and if you want more information you can look up parameter bonuses/enemy resistances, but trust me when I say that a pure physical weapon is preferable in almost every situation. There ARE circumstances where enemies will take bonus damage from a magical or elemental infusion, or when an infusion will provide a bonus effect. That's why you have a Divine Claymore. However, a split-damage weapon is best reserved for those specific situations instead of being your main weapon.
• "That was pretty confusing."
  • I know, but please trust me. Split-damage weapons are a trap.
• "Should I start with the Master Key?"
  • Only if you know where you're going. If it's your first time, the Master Key tends to do more harm than good because it can easily get you lost in a difficult area of the game that you shouldn't have access to yet. If you're experienced and/or into sequence breaking though, then the Master Key is extremely helpful. As an alternative starting gift, I would suggest the Black Firebombs, Twin Humanity, or Old Witch's Ring.
• "Why do you recommend a Divine Claymore instead of the Crescent Axe or Astora Straight Sword, which also have FTH scaling and Divine Modifiers?"
  • In a word: accessibility. In seven more words, "The Astora Straight Sword kind of sucks". While the Crescent Axe is nice, it's only available in two ways: 1. Beat a late-game boss and unlock a vendor who sells it, or 2. Kill this Vendor in an early-game area before you've unlocked his services. This is a terrible option for new and low-level players. Not only is this a particularly challenging fight for newcomers just starting out, but half the purpose of a Divine weapon is to make a particular area easier to navigate, and you have to go halfway THROUGH this area just to get to an NPC to kill for this axe that will let you go through the area you just cleared. Awful tradeoff. However, if you really like the Crescent Axe and want to use one in the late-game just cuz, then hey, that is PERFECTLY fine. It'll probably make life easier in NG+. The Astora Straight Sword is in a slightly different situation. You need to do some light master key sequence-breaking to get it in the early-game, or you can simply wait until just before the mid-game. It doesn't make much of a difference since either way, you should get to it before the problem area. The catch, though, is that this sword sucks. It's good on paper, but the damage output is just lackluster all around (See: Split-damage weapons). With a couple upgrades it can be serviceable enough as a Divine sidearm, but it might not be worth the cost of rare upgrade materials. However, it's a much preferable alternative to making a death run for the Crescent Axe, and if you can't find/don't want to use the Green Titanite on your Claymore, then the A.S.S. (heh) is probably your best option.
• "In what order should I level up my stats?"
  • If you're new, the best thing to do is probably to very first put two points into DEX so you can use a Claymore. Put ONE point into ATN so you have two spell slots. Put SIX points into FTH so that you can use Lightning Spear once it's available (see the item page for specifics on getting it). After that, start putting points into END and VIT. You can save STR for later, because in the beginning of the game you'll see more damage from weapon upgrades than from scaling. Clerics are lacking in END however, so you want to raise that at your earliest convenience. VIT, of course, is a tank stat and always useful to have. Once you've raised all stats to satisfactory levels, level-up order is largely preferential and you can go in whatever order is most comfortable to you depending on your own playstyle! If you're still looking for pointers, I'd suggest VIT and END first to get mobility out of the way, and then ATN/STR/FTH to slowly increase your damage output as your enemies get stronger.
• "What rings u got"
  • Rings in Dark Souls are not a super vital part of PvE builds. There are a lot of rings available and a lot of situations that may demand a certain ring, so if you're wondering "What rings should I use?", the only real answer is "Whatever ring is useful right now"! There are a few that I like to keep on hand for general-purpose use (Ring of the Sun's Firstborn, Ring of the Sun Princess, Wolf Ring, Chloranthy Ring), but by and large you can and should swap your rings out depending on what the situation demands. Important situation-based rings to be on the lookout for would be the Rusted Iron Ring, Orange Charred Ring, and the Covenant of Artorias.

I believe that was all of the most common questions! Be sure to trawl the comments as well for answers I may have missed, and if you still have questions after that, shoot me a message! Go Dark some Souls!

Mine was a nightmare for two reasons that are linked :

I had almost no weapons available that allowed to make enough damage without engaging to much

The good weapons i had were almost all broken. "Just go see the giant" I COULDN'T why ? because the first time i visited him, i got attacked by the pink demon, fought back and hit the giant...

"Go back to forgive your sin" I DIDN'T KNOW I COULD JUST LEAVE ANOR LONDO i was stuck on this boss for 3 days... Managed to do it with a bonus, i did the 2nd part hitless (smough).

That, was my first time against O&S

What’s up everyone, hope you are all well and unhollow.

Yesterday I rung the second bell and finished up Blighttown. Up until that point I was using a guide to reference and get comfortable with the game.

Now that I am dialed in, I would like to finish the game guideless. I was wondering if there is any essential (non-spoiler) info I should know about items, NPCs, quests or locations before I move forward through the darkness. Or perhaps any mistakes to avoid.

I appreciate all of your support. Thank you, friends.

(Original artwork credit: Nolan192.artstation.com)

Ten years, 400+ hours, i dont know how many playthroughs.

For the first time tonight i beat the bed of chaos on the first try with no deaths.

I honestly did not think this was even going to happen. Its the reason ive never attempted a deathless run before. Its actually pretty common for me to go deathless for the entire game except the BoC.

My wife wont understand lol, so im sharing this monumental occasion with you all.

Praise the sun!

(may contain spoilers) okay² i accidently killed Gwynevere. Because i was curious what would happen if shot her with a bow and then suddenly everything goes dark until this dude appear. Im scared.