Impossible. To harass me again you'd have to have done it before.
I don't mind answering questions at all, so I wasn't bothered.

Of course, I'm not sure I'll be the person to ask by then. Skyrim's already pushed a lot of it to the back of my mind.

@Banded Never thought about that

@Cobalt Somehow, I knew you'd respond like that but prepare yourself for my noobery.

There's always room for noobery. You can't get good without being a newbie first.

I've gotten the knights armour and I am going to go for the water dragon with seven heads tomorrow. Should I unhollow and count on someone helping me with the boss or solo it? I've heard people like to just sit it out and get the final hit in.

I haven't even tried to clear the church roof (though clearing the inside is getting easier and easier ).

Man getting Havel's ring was a pain

You haven't cleared the Gargoyles yet? I can't advise going after that Hydra then. I've never seen a summon sign there, but that's mostly because that's not actually the boss of that area. Just a mini-boss.
Once you're well armed enough the Hydra's not a big problem, and you can even block its physical attacks with a good enough shield. In fact, that's the recommended way to fight it. Dodge its water attacks until you can get in close and into the water's edge (need the Rusty Iron Ring to move freely). You might survive being hit by one of its water attacks, but not all seven at once, so you have to keep close. Then just bait it into attacking, which it will always do if you're that close. From there just block and attack the heads in reach. At need, you'll want to pull out a bow to hit one that might be too far out. Be warned, there's a drop off a short ways into the water, and going after the head that swipes near it can make you fall off.

For the Gargoyles, you'll definitely want to go in with backup, even if its just Solaire. Get in there and attack (never exhaust your stamina though so you can block) fast as you can. With Solaire as a distraction, you'll have a much easier time of it. If you happen to see another summon sign, then call them up too. You lose no more from having two summons than you do from one.
And remember that while you have a summoned player, you're responsible for his/her healing! (NPCs can't be healed though) Just back off and drink your Estus when you see their health get low.

Scumbag summoners will sometimes let their phantoms get the boss close to dead and then let them get killed, or banish them so that they don't have to split the souls. There is no reason to do this at all. Souls are plentiful everywhere, and there's an infinite supply. A phantom, however, only came into your world because you called him to help. And chances are he had to wait quite some time to even be called. It deserves some compensation, don't you think?

In the guide I've watched three times now the guy kills they hydra first. Running in to get the knights armour I did get hit a few times by one or two blasts so no doubt all seven would go right through my shield and kill me. Anyways thanks for the tips, I think I'll try to summon someone to help with the gargoyles, hopefully they aren't like level 200 and just one hit the things hahaha. Does the item that banishes invaders (black separation crystal?) break after you use it or is it like the yellow guidance crystal where you can use it over and over?

I see why you call them a scumbag. Sheesh. How much less of a reward is there for summoning someone?

Who is solaire? Is he an NPC you can summon if no one is online?

When you summon someone, whether it's one or two people, everyone gets half of the souls earned. Ie, enemy is worth 1000, everyone gets 500. This is expected to change in an upcoming patch so that the host always receives the full amount, presumably to combat this behavior.

You haven't met Solaire? He's the guy you get the White Soapstone from. On the end of the bridge after the Taurus Demon, next to the big red dragon. You can't summon anyone unless you've talked to him and gotten it.
He's one of several NPCs you can meet throughout the game. These can be summoned in numerous places, typically before a boss door. They are always available even in offline mode.

Summoning friendly phantoms is (again, NPCs excluded) limited to them being within 10% of your level. If you're level 20, then you'll only see summon signs left by people level 18-22. You might well find some Low Level players though. These are people who've run through most or all of the game at very low levels using various means. Their levels may be low, but they'll be using top tier gear. Not often done to help other players though. Usually to grief them through invasions.

The Black Separation Crystal is an infinite use item. It's used to banish friendly phantoms (doing so gets you put in the Book of the Guilty and hunted by the Darkmoon Blades) or to return home when you've been summoned or have invaded as a phantom and have some reason to leave.

If you've watched someone on a New Game file take out the Hydra before the Gargoyles, then (unless he was using glitches) he's quite good. That's the thing about Dark Souls. If you can damage an enemy and avoid its attacks, then you can kill it. Doesn't matter if you're only doing one damage at a time. If you're skilled enough to do it, then you can.
People have beaten this game at Level 1.
Again though, the Hydra, while a relatively simple fight with proper gear, is a challenge best left for later. The reward you get kinda sucks anyway, though there is reason to return later after its defeat. I'll say no more on that.

Hydra dead.

Gargoyles dead.

Stray demon dead.

I'm liking this game. The boss fights are very difficult but fair. It's all about recognizing the attack patterns. Perfect example is the stray demon. At first I couldn't even get behind him consistently. Then once I got that far I wouldn't be able to dodge his flame attack (which goes through his legs which would explain his anatomy). Died a few more times never taking more than 10% of his health. Then wham, it all comes together in an inherently close fight (since I've just barely got the technique and am prone to botching it) and go from 10% then dieing to beating it. Very satisfying.

That single word sums up this series. Satisfying.

Like your mom. LOL I kid I kid. How have you been wolf? University kicking your ass?

You bet man. 4 months of holidays and they give me 12 weeks of placement to finish. And they make me write a report on each week.
Demon souls is nothing compared to an undergraduate degree...

But this doesnt stop me from enjoying either of them.

Veterinarian degree right? Keep at it man.

@cobalt Nerd mode engage. What level/class/equipment do you use? Are you on a New Game+?

I'll just focus on my second character, whom I made for PvP.
The accepted PvP focus level range is 120ish (though you can seek out areas where lower level PvP takes place too. it just takes digging online), so I went to around 125 or so (can't recall specifics; Skyrim). Just to round out my combat options and get stats so that I could effectively wield a little wider variety of weapons.
Class is largely irrelevant after the first area, but I did start as a Deprived.
My first character went through NG, NG+, and most of the way through NG++ just to finish out the trophies for the platinum. My second has been up through NG+ up to the last boss' area, which is one of the PvP hotspots.

My equipment is tailored to my build, which is primarily a magic user backed up by a big sword and shield.
50 Int for casting the strongest spell in the game (though its usefulness is arguable) and for scaling.
I think 20 Dex and 24 Str so that I could use the weapons I want effectiely.
I think 16 Attunement so that I have 4 spell slots.
Around 40 End so that I can wear medium or heavy armor while using large weapons and a shield and still retain the full roll, as well as effectively swing my primary weapon, the Claymore.
The rest is into 30 or so Vit in an effort to not die in one hit. Not always successful against some min-maxed builds, so I rely on my shields a lot for defense.
The other stats are completely untouched.

As for equipment, it's going to depend on what's happened in the patch. Some of it was nerfed pretty hard I hear, so I'll be shopping around when I start back up in the future. But I can tell you what I currently have.

Weapons:
Main Hand-
Enchanted Claymore +5. Damage scales with Int. Diverse moveset allows for greater adaptability than many other large weapons. Basic attack can stunlock a player with low Poise.
Logan's Catalyst. Second strongest sorcery catalyst in the game, strongest without a drawback. (The only better one cuts your spell uses in half.)
Ascended Pyromancy Flame +5. I don't actually know much pyromancy with this character. Mainly used for utility spells like Iron Flesh and Flash Sweat.

Rings:
Ring of Favor & Protection. Very good at high levels since its bonuses are percentage based.
Second ring varies between the ninja flip ring (can't recall the actual name) for better mobility, and the Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring for added Sorcery damage.

Spells are Homing Crystal Soulmass and Chrystal Soul Spear primarily.
Off Hand-
Lightning Washing Pole +5. A much swifter strike than my Claymore, and since Lightning (and Fire) enchantments don't scale with stats, it can do comparable damage. Other advantages include a good amount of reach, and the ability to parry.
Eagle Shield +14. A greatshield with high stability and good Lightning resistance. The high stability sharply drops the amount of Stamina it takes off when I block, as well as halting the animations of some attacks that a small shield lets through.
Black Knight Shield +5. Fair stability, nearly complete Fire resistance, and the ability to parry.

Armor:
Elite Knight Helm nearly, Elite Knight Armor maxed, Hard Leather Gloves nearly maxed, and the Antiquated Skirt +5. Sadly, all of this save the Gloves has been nerfed, so I'll be looking for better stuff when I start in again.

Didn't expect to see hard leather gloves. Is that there to keep you under an equipment load threshold? I started with a warrior so I should know how good those gloves are but I think I'm using the (non elite) knights gloves right now.

Why start with a deprived? I understand the challenge story wise but for PvP? I forget the names of all of the stats that can be leveled up but I know depriveds start with level 13 in everything. I'm sure having less than 13 in something would allow you to fight lower levels/put that into a more useful stat.

Beat the gaping dragon with the help of a white phantom. Man that was fun. First we just ran around and did one rat humanity farming run, pwned the curse frogs then demolished the boss (not going to lie it was mostly him/her). This person definitely knew what they where doing, I just don't know why they went to the rats.

I can't speak for now, but pre-patch, the Hard Leather Gloves are the best light gauntlets in the game when fully leveled, weight for defense wise. Others can offer more raw defense, but come at the cost of more weight and a stamina regen penalty, as does each piece of medium or heavy armor. A fully leveled Elite Knight set was the best set that didn't have a stamina regen penalty, except the gloves which sucked for some reason.

Close. Deprived start with an 11 in everything, and start at level 6.
I chose a deprived because I wasn't sure what direction I was heading with the character at the start, and having a solid stat base was a good jumping off point. Had I known for certain that I was going with a mage, then I might have started as a Sorcerer or something, but I wasn't sure. As it turned out, the only stat that was useless for my character was Faith, but had I decided partway through that I wanted to try some Faith, it would be much better to raise it from 11 than from 5 or so.
Plus, I wanted the challenge of playing the early game unarmed and unarmored. Could have just removed the armor, I suppose, but I'd rather remove the temptation. Turned out not to be a problem though. Was through the Depths and into Blighttown before I put any on. Poison resistance.

O.o you went through blighttown first.....without any armour?

The trick is not to let them hit you so that it doesn't matter.
Can't dodge the poison in the swamp though, so I had to put something on to bump my resistance.

Did you do it first just to get it out of the way? Did you use the master key shortcut from the valley of the drakes?

I just went through the game as normal, Taurus to Gargoyles to Capra, through the Depths, and down to Blighttown. Wanted the added challenge. Got a little too annoying in the Fortress, so from there on I started getting geared. I hope to try a full unarmored run at some point though.

I have some time coming up, and am hoping to dive back in to this. I miss it so.
The only problem is that I found Skyrim on sale... and bought it. Don't tell my wife! (I really hope she didn't buy it for me for Christmas)
I had to buy it, I NEED to play it... I want to play Dark Souls... I want to play Skyrim... I want to play Dark Souls... I want to play Skyrim... I want t- *snap*

=====

I figure my main could be pretty good for PvP, High End/Str pyro... we'll see. I haven't read up on the PvP at all.

another soul has been lost to skyrim. welcome!

Have no fear, Ry. The great thing about games is that they'll still be there later when you want to play.

I know... (Whiney voice) but I want to play nowww!

Ima tell your wife. Just coz I troll like that.

lol

Damn sen's fortress. Almost as annoying as blighttown.