Welcome to the first real area in the game. Notice the two enemies to the left as soon as you get to the top of the stairs. Take them out . There are also two more enemies around the next corner, one who will just stab at you, and one who will throw fire-bombs.
Notice the fog wall. If you don’t want to take the small detour I’m about to describe then skip ahead to where I tell you that you can pass through it.
Detour. Notice as you came up the stairs from Firelink, there was a section blocked by some planks of wood that you passed near the top of the stairs. Once at the top, you can bypass that blockage by dropping down on the other side of the planks. If you do, then there is a doorway to the house on the right side that has some loot in it. Otherwise continue forward and be aware that two hollows will climb over the ledge ahead and attack.
Once dispatched, head ever forward, across the small bridge and into the next building. There are no enemies in here, but as soon as you exit, four hollows will climb up over the edge just like before. If you hit them before they’re over, they’ll fall. Otherwise, take them on one at a time and use the doorway as a funnel if you need to.
Once they’re all dead, head up the ladder. Head over to the loot at the end of this wall for a bit of humanity. Then use the broken section a bit back to hop back down to the stairs from Firelink that you came in on.
Now, you can clear out any hollows left over up here and head through the fog wall safely. There’s nothing waiting on the other side but some loot off to the left. Go ahead and climb up the stairs in this room and out the door to the right.
This will be semi-hard for a beginner. A few hollows should run towards you, while a hollow with a crossbow shoots arrows at you from up above. Take em one at a time, and retreat into the house if the arrows bother you too much. Once the standard baddies are taken out, run to the archer and kill him. The tower he was standing on has a door on it, which leads to some new equipment that you may like.
From the archers tower, head across the short wooden bridge, to the left of the stairs, to find another bonfire. Rest.
So, clear out the same area again, killing the archers and the melee hollows, then note the two spear hollows over to the left across the wide stone bridge. You can kill these the normal way, or use firebombs. If you do it the normal way, then be aware that they can attack without lowering their shields. If you do this the standard way, be sure to let them hit your shield before countering, because their shield is almost always up, even when they attack.
So, in the area they were at, notice the boxes. There is a stairway hidden by them so go ahead and break em, then head down the stairs and through the doorway ahead. Here is the undead male merchant. He has a repair box, and sells a residential key also, which I recommend picking up if you have the spare change. Otherwise he sells armour and weapons of various sorts. I also recommend you purchase the short bow and a number of arrows from him as well.
Note: He also sells the orange soapstone, which lets you make and rate the notes left by others. If you find a good note, give it a plus rating.
When you’re done shopping, head back into the building and to the left, where a hollow will break some boxes and assault you. Kill him and continue forward, through the walkway, and down the stairs.
In this area note the four hollows at the far end. They will rush you if you get too close. Take them on one on one like normal, and when they’re all dead, climb the ladder behind them.
From the roof here, you can jump to the small platform on the right, then go through that building, up the stairs, and to the right to find some new goodies to play with. Once you have said goodies, head down the stairs and fight your way back to the bonfire.
Once well rested, you need to head across the narrow stone bridge across from you. Three hollows will be throwing fire-bombs at you the whole time. If you bought the bow and some arrows, you can snipe them before heading across, or just go for it, and get into the building. Once inside, there are two hollows with axes who will attack, and a shield hollow will soon enter. If you are having trouble, run back across the bridge and use it as a funnel so you don’t have to deal with more than one at a time.
Once they’re all dead, head out the other doorway, and then into the door on the right. There’s another hollow in here, and a second past the doorway farther on in this building. Kill both, then explore the building to find a chest with some goodies in it.
Now that the loot’s been had, exit and climb the stairs to a new area where three hollows await you. One will be throwing firebombs. Use whatever means needed to slay them, and if you need to kill the firebomb throwing guys from before, you can climb the ladder against the wall to do so.
There is also a door that leads to a house that can be opened with the master or residence key, which leads to some good loot. Also, climb the tower in this area and slay the bowman on the top of it.
All that done? Good. Now notice the two shield hollows that are down the stairs. Kill them normally or via firebomb, and be wary of the spear hollow off to the right. Once they’re all dead, you can head up the stairs straight ahead or down the ones to the right. If you go right, there is some loot, but it’s guarded by a black knight who will almost certainly dominate you.
If you feel like picking on the knight, at least make sure you don’t mind dying, and if you do, then lure him away and run to grab the loot before he slaughters you.
Anyway, if you go up the stairs, be wary of the barrel the hollow will send down at you. Avoid by running back down the stairs when he pushes it. Kill the hollow, and then go into the next building and up the stairs.
Be aware that if you break some boxes on one of these levels a titanite lizard will appear. He won’t respawn once killed, but if he gets away he will reset if you sleep at a bonfire.
So, go up the tower till you see the fog wall, and then prepare yourself for the boss fight. Go back and level if you have too many souls, buy the things you need, and when ready, pass through.
Before you go any farther, turn to the right and note the ladder. Climb up and kill the two hollows up there. This will make the boss fight vastly easier.
Boss Fight: Taurus Demon
When you walk about 3/4 of the way down the path, he will jump up out of the far tower, and start his assault.
Strategy 1 – Difficulty: Easy
As soon as you see him hop from the tower, run like a little frightened girl back to the ladder. Climb up. Now he should have followed you and now be standing at the base of this tower. Don’t hang out here, but quickly walk off the ledge and do a plunging attack, which, depending on your weapon, will take 1/4 to 1/3 of his health.
Now, run like your mother’s, father’s, and unborn children’s lives depend on it, to the other side of the wall. Perhaps another 3/4 of the way. Then, turn around and run back toward the extremely pissed off demon that is barrelling toward you, and when he attacks, roll past him. Going under the legs if he does an overhead leap swing is fairly easy, otherwise, a roll to the side will suffice.
Now, run back to the ladder. Lather your hands, rinse, and repeat until clean. Wait. I mean dead. Yes. Until dead.
Strategy 2 – Difficulty: Luck
So, before you get him to hop out of the tower, notice the large gap in the wall to the left, about in the middle. That’s where you need the luck.
Now go and piss the demon off. And flee toward that gap, and a little past it. This way the demon should be standing on the wall next to the gap. Now battle and dodge like normal, and if you’re lucky, he will hop off, dying instantly.
Strategy 3 – Difficulty: Hard
Get the demon to follow you. Climb up the ladder. Wait for him to jump up with you. Fight the normal way.
His attacks are these. He will sometimes do a jump/overhead swing, where the easiest way to dodge is to go between his legs. Indeed, for most of the fight I recommend staying really really close to him. His attack set is actually fairly similar to the Asylum Demon’s, so when you see him swinging, rolling left is preferred to rolling right.
All in all, this will get you killed. But if you want the extra challenge for some ungodly reason, this is the way to kill him.
Once he falls, return to the bonfire in the Burg, because you’re about to die again, and probably in a way where recovering your souls will be very difficult. Once rested and levelled, head back to the boss area and through the newly opened doorway.
So break the boxes against the back wall for some stuff, then head down the stairs. Keep going through the buildings till you pop out the bottom of the tower. When you do, head to the right and down the steps till you meet Soltare.
Talk to this NPC a few times, giving the appropriate responses, until he gives you the white soapstone. This wonderful item allows you to engage in CO-OPERATION with your fellow players.
So, that done, head back up the stairs and take a look at the bridge that stretches before you. Notice the scorch mark ahead. Yeah. Also notice the slew of enemies that are about the middle section. What you want to do, is unequip things such that you have under 25% equip load, then run like Forrest Gump to the middle section of the bridge, right next to the enemies, while dodging their arrows and spears, and take a hard right and go down the ladder.
Hooray for run on sentences. But in this case it was necessary because if you don’t run like I said, the dragon you met earlier will happily toast you into an undead steak. You have just enough time to make it to the middle and down the stairs, but no more. You may die a few times trying to do this. If you do, try not to worry about getting your souls back until you successfully make it at least once.
Anyway, once you’re down the stairs, head to the doorway that does not’ lead to the underside of the bridge, but the one that has a stairway in it. Head down this stairway, and boot the ladder at it’s end for a handy shortcut to the previous bonfire. Rest if need be. Once this is done, collect lost souls from above if you need to.
When ready, head out the door that leads to the underside of the bridge. Move forward around the pillars and kill the shield hollow that is in between two of them, and the spear hollow that is on the left edge of one.
Now if you bought the bow like I told you too, and have at least 50 arrows, you can now take aim at the dragons’ tail, which will be dangling over the right side. Get the timing down, and continue loading arrows into it until it pops off and gives you the drake sword. This sword has a base 200 attack but no scaling, but at a low level, it’s absolutely great.
So, get the sword or don’t, but either way, head out along the small ledge the spear hollow was on, and into the archway there. Be wary of the rats that will attack you, as each hit they land pushes your poison counter up, and if it reaches the top, you will be slowly damaged by the poison for some time.
Rats dispatched, go to the far left of this chamber and climb the ladder.
Welcome to the Parish…
Tags: Dark Souls
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