VICTORY ACHIEVED!

5/5 - 4 Deaths / 20 Push-ups

Gwyn is down!

Crossing the Kiln (since I've done it 28 times) was easy enough, but I was still witness to at least one moment of classic Dark Souls despair.

STILL getting trolled by the Black Knights

I was close to going back to trying to parry his attacks but saw something impressive when comparing the stability values of shields. One choice stood out as having a very high stability - one thing Gwyn was able to best me against.

On your knees, for thou art vanquished.

In this case, the key to victory turned out to be the Greatshield of Artorias and the Wolf Ring. The amazing stability of the shield plus the poise of the ring allowed me to finally stand up to his attacks and be able to develop a strategy against him.

It was a grueling battle nonetheless, with a many close calls and both good AND bad luck moments. His four slash combos, burning my flesh even with a shield raised, his incredible reach, his ridiculous speed...

I cheered a victory unlike any other when he went down. It was finally complete...

Victory Achieved!

I beat Dark Souls.

Praise the Sun!

Linking the fires...

New Game + didn't take long to kick in. There was no real denouement, no telling me about my choice and the consequences of it. Did I have an alternative to lighting that final bonfire? I noticed that the fog gate was gone...

All of a sudden I'm reminded of the 'Gunslinger' novels by Stephen King.

Fear not brother; I AM the chosen one.

It felt good taking down the Asylum Demon on his first appearance.

Hello up there. I'm back, but I'm NOT the same.

One of the best scenes in the game.

Well look at that; I'm back at Firelink. Perhaps I should do some exploring...

Shield Designs up on Facebook

Posted some shields for the DaS2 Shield Design Contest...

Hope you like 'em!

PLEASE - Click the shield to go to the Facebook Page and Vote if you like any of them! :)

Battered Friend

Dragon Tooth

Trusted Friend

The Black Knight Farmer

5/2 - 26 Deaths (1 Stupid) / 135 Push-ups

MILESTONE: 2000th Push-up!

There's a really awesome shirt waiting for me. All I need to do to get it is kill Gwyn.

I tried... oh how I tried.

Kiln of the First Flame. Get comfortable...

Oh look! There's my blood stain.

I wish I could ask your assistance dear Solaire, but I must face these evils alone.

It was somehow encouraging to see the summon sign of my good friend Solaire. Oh how I wished to bring him along with me to face that evil, but to give in is to truly go hollow.

This fight is for me alone.

This. TWENTY THREE times. 

"Twenty three you say? But above it says 26 deaths!"

I also got invaded twice (went human just to mix things up). I really wanted to beat Gwyn as a human. Or just beat Gwyn. Lost to both invaders. One had a sword that lit me on fire, the other just beat me because I sucked.

They were honorable invaders nonetheless. Thanks for waiting for me to finish the Black Knights, chappies.

I also walked off the foggy stairs sideways while trying to sip scotch and walk at the same time.

Keep scrolling...

If there's one thing to take as a positive of the whole experience, I now have ~100 new misc shards, 18 new Black Knight weapons and 8 new Black Knight shields... So, I guess I'll pretend I was just farming today.

Yup, that was the plan all along... Farming.

Pure Massacre

5/1 - 3 Deaths / 15 Push-ups

Priscilla. Gwyndolin. Gwynevere. The Blacksmiths. The merchants. The Mages.

All these people who've helped me along the way... I feel bad, but time... time flows differently in Lordran.

For now, Gwyn is alone. I am alone.

Soon, one of us will be dead.

More Clean-up

4/29 - 2 Deaths / 10 Push-ups

I made a bunch of tradesies with Snuggly, the Ring of Fog looks cool as hell when equipped.

The only dying I did was during failed invasions as a Blade of the Darkmoon. Had a hilarious game of Cat & Mouse in Dark Anor Londo but lost when what I thought was a friendly boxing match turned out to be an enemy armed with Chaos Caestus. Oops!


Killed off the Fair Lady, harvested her soul, bought some armor from the chappie up in Sen's (but got warped to an invasion before I could kill him).

Terrible Screenshot.

Also realized that Stupid Petrus killed Rhea, so I avenged her...

Well, THAT isn't going to teach me a gesture...

Screw you and your pleasant covenant!

Dragon Slayer & Welcome to the Kiln

4/28 - 2 Deaths / 10 Push-ups

Valley of Drakes (& Red Tearstone Ring): Check.

Hellkite Wyvern: Check.

Finally put her to bed, with what seemed like a bit of luck and a good combo of hits without the 'fly away and burn you to pieces' bit she normally does.

The bridge is finally mine.

I visited the lordvessel to donate my souls, and finally opened the way to the Kiln of the First Flame.

The black knights were very generous in their drops, perhaps by design.

As I met Gwyn for the first time, I was not expecting a victory.

I was not surprised. He is fast, aggressive and powerful. I think fast-rolling may be the way forward on this one, but despite visiting the end-game arena, I will run a few errands before coming back.

I took the time to note what I could and couldn't carry with me, and as such will spend the remaining boss souls and harvest firekeeper souls from the unfortunate remaining humans scattered across Lordran.

Excuse me sir, your sword is on fire.

Bed of Chao- Oh is that all it was?

4/25 - 8 Deaths / 40 Push-Ups

Interestingly, one of the weakspots was already damaged when I arrived, meaning I only had to take out the second one. 

It took me five lives to figure out what to do with the Bed of Chaos after that. I hacked at his arms, shot arrows at his 'face', tried using fire weapons on the wood...

I was staring at the soft light of my bonfire thinking to myself 'I've attacked the left flank, the right flank, the top... what's left?

Is THIS the true form then?

So I blitzed down the middle. The AoE took me out on the first run, I jumped into the pit on the second, but try three was gold. I wish I took a screenshot of his tiny writhing form before I slayed that arboreal bastard.

Alas, dear Solaire is troubled...

I saw Knight Solaire once more near the shortcut door, surrounded by the little bugs. He was so sad... in his honour I went and joined the Sunlight Warrior Covenant. Praise the Sun!

My time in Lordran draws to a close, I can feel it. In this regard, I am now tying up some loose ends before entering the kiln. 

Finally, I can truly Praise the Sun!

My first stop was to say goodbye to the undead merchant in Undead Berg. Thanks for the help, I'll take good care of your dear friend Uchi.

Next, the Hellkite Wyvern needs to die. A simple task at SL 92 I'm su- OH WHAT THE HELL!? I STILL CAN'T BLOCK THIS?

Dark Souls.