Dark Souls

I was able to kill them with the Black Knight Sword so speed isn't really the issue. I let Solaire distract Ornstein then got round his side and killed him in four swings.

Then again I was somewhere near SL 100 when I got around to fighting them.

If in doubt, more health, more strength, more defence. If you still die you need even more. Everything can be killed if you just grind hard enough.

Though you shouldn't level strength past 40 or so because it starts to give piss poor results after a while.

I honestly despise overlevelling just to get past a challenge.

SL 100? Fucking christ man I'm at 55.

And I was told all the stats stop being useful at 40

I know it's hard not to use your favorite weapon. But trust me, it's good to branch out. Zwei is a good woman, but you can't be afraid to let her go if she's killing you.

She's holding you back right now, and losing her own opportunities for growth. It's best for both of you if you just take a break for a little while.

Besides, I know this lovely katana you might like... she's tall, sharp, and curvy as they come. Ask Shiva to introduce you.

edited 9th Jul '14 6:55:59 PM by Dragon573

I hope it's not the Uchigatana, I accidentally fed that to Frampt

Apparently only Vitality stops being useful at 40. I've seen screencapped level 700 character loadouts with 99 in everything but Vitality.

Nope: the Chaos Blade. Granted, you WILL need a katana-type at +10 to make it anyway.

edited 9th Jul '14 6:55:57 PM by nomuru2d

I meant the Washing Pole.

Chaos Blade sounds cooler, what is it?

Screw the Chaos Blade, get Quelaag's Fury Sword. Same as the Blade, but faster, and with fire damage.

It's a katana you get from fusing a +10 katana-type weapon with Quelaag's Soul.

edited 9th Jul '14 6:58:53 PM by nomuru2d

Oh, I ate her soul so that won't happen.

x10 Overleveling is my natural response to a challenge. Worry about getting good at the game after you've beaten it. Though some may say it's against the spirit of the game, but I could care less about such things. I've never been good at fighting under pressure, so in order to play at my full potential I need to be in a position of relative safety compared to the enemies I'm fighting. I know I'm not an elite Dark Souls player and I don't care, because I still beat the game and that is all that matters to me.

Damn, that was basically everyone in the thread Ninja'ing me at once.

edited 9th Jul '14 7:01:17 PM by OmegaKross

Chaos blade is the edgy bad-girl of weapons. Very powerful, but she'll hurt you during the action. She's not worth it. Plus she's very materialistic. You have to be shining with ten humanity before she really starts warming up to you.

edited 9th Jul '14 7:02:17 PM by Dragon573

She only hurts you if you don't have the Ring of the Evil Eye equipped.

Or if you do, but slash at enemies during their dying animations.

Or if you don't do a backstab or riposte.

edited 9th Jul '14 7:03:16 PM by nomuru2d

You could always try summoning a human ally to help you. There must be a few camped near the boss room.

Can I summon them and Solaire?

She'll hurt you either way. Putting a ring on it just means you get health back when you kill something together.

You can have up to two summoned allies, be they NPC or human.

edited 9th Jul '14 7:05:44 PM by OmegaKross

Well that is awesome news. I'll go find some more humanity and summon two people this time around.

If you want to keep the Zwei but it's too slow, stack poise and carry a huge-ass shield with a ton of stability. Don't let go of L1 until you can get a free swing on any of them. Rinse and repeat.

Really, that's what stability and poise are for. If you're slow and hit hard you'll need that kind of support to fight those two. Rolling is useless if you can block for ages without losing your stamina.

edited 9th Jul '14 10:31:49 PM by 2Zak

I like my current armor and shield. I wear them in memory of Oscar.

Plus they're actually pretty nice. I wouldn't be entirely opposed to a different weapon, I just love that hella stagger power you get with the Zwei

Elite Knight Armor, I guess? It's pretty awesome, actually. The Crest Shield is good (I already stated my love for it many times), but lacks the sheer stability of a greatshield like Havel's, Tower or Black Iron, which seems to be what you need right now. It's either that or going for a swifter setup to fastroll.

Well, you always have the option to practice in your current state again and again until you finally beat them, too.

edited 9th Jul '14 10:49:15 PM by 2Zak

Some survival tips:

1. Never exhaust all your stamina by attacking. Leave some left for blocking or rolling.

2. Don't heal at random, look for safe times to do this. Usually, whenever you could land a hit, you could instead chug some Estus if necesarry.

3. Judge your healing! Watch your health and how much things hurt and heal accordingly.

4. When a large enemy moves and you don't know whats coming, it's best to just get some distance.

If you want a good mid-sized shield, the Silver Knights might drop theirs. The Silver Knight Shield has the highest stability of all mid-shields, and served me well many times.

But Crest Shield and Oscar's memory...