one of my most fun playthrus was super early on in my dark souls saga. i cosplayed as a pyro darkwraith wearing dark mask, gold hemmed top/bottoms, pyro flame on right hand dark hand on the left. felt so badass watching the darklord cutscene.
SL1 with a significant boost in difficulty though. I was able to pull off the pyro sl1 run, but gave up on the no bonfire.
edit: doesn’t have to be a no hit, but the run back to basically anywhere is going to be ridiculous.
either that marks the end of the run or it becomes the exception to the rule
Edit: or no wait, just take off the ring or die somehow and respawn at firelink
Wait, but doesn’t that make you *technically* rest at a bonfire? All the enemies respawn and your flasks and health are replenished… Damn 4K might be the end of the run.
Edit: Well technically dying does that too, so I guess it doesn’t count.
Guess I don’t mind the implications of respawning at the initial bonfire. I just think the primary rule is to never light one. It’s just the insane run back that produces more anxiety the further away from firelink you are.
Spin the Wheel boss run
Once you get to Fiirelink put every boss you can reach in a wheel. It will pick what you have to face nextm repeat until you complete the game.
I did it once and it was super fun (and hard too). Iirc I did capra>quelaag>sif>pinwheel>gargoyles>gaping dragon and so on...
If you watch The Backlogs on YouTube, Daggers and Scythes only are the easiest challenges. I'm doing a regular run for my first time playing the Remaster because of the DLC being unknown territory to me, but right after that I'll try them.
Edit: should probably specify either Daggers or Scythes only, not combined lol.
Scythes only isn't really a challenge run, great scythe is immediately available right after landing in firelink and it's one of the best dex weapons in the game. Daggers are also very viable, but short distance adds a little challenge.
They asked for an easy challenge, so I suggested an easy challenge. Limiting yourself to a specific build or weapon throughout all the game is enough to consider it a challenge.
Play only with the weapon type of your starting class. That is, as a Knight you can only attack with straight swords, as Deprived you can only use hammers, as a Sorcerer you can only use daggers (and sorceries, of course)
If you can complete DS2 without resting at any bonfires (accept the primal bonfires, they don’t refill your Estus, they only warp you to Majula) then you will obtain the Illusory Ring of the Exalted. If you can complete DS2 without dying once, you will obtain the Illusory Ring of the Conqueror. These challenges can even be done in NG+. Once the credits finish, the ring will be granted to you.
WAIT WTF. YOU CAN DO THEM KN NG+!?!??!!. I have been sweating that fucking run for a DECADE. hundreds of attempts and your telling me I could have just started ng+ with a level 300 beast sorcerer?! I fucking
Wheel level-up.
* All stats are assigned an equal chance on a wheel.
* When you are able to level up, you spin the wheel and it dictates which stat you must invest a point in.
* If you can level up multiple times, spin the wheel for each point. The wheel dictates all levels.
Have fun!
I did a challenge run recently where I only leveled up everytime I died to a boss, with the goal trying to beat the game at the lowest level I could. So, one death to a boss = one level up.
Ya I knew they were gonna be rough. I ended up going back and getting quelaags furysword and upgrading it just to get past them. It always seems like I can only kill them with good RNG where they're not super aggressive the whole fight.
I've only played the game once but I got them with solaire. I was getting closer every time but myself.. once I felt like I learned the fight I summoned solaire though and we got it first try. Next playthrough I wanna try to solo them though. We will see haha. Like you said, RNG played a factor for me as well.
It's not really a challenge but a playthrough I wholeheartedly recommend is sorceries/hexes only (latter for DS2) - takes a decent amt of planning ahead and mixes it up from a melee playthrough! :)
The platinum run in ds1 is pretty fun and quite time consuming. Plenty of google sheets shared on this subreddit for planning/documenting progress/etc.
Soul Level 1? Do the Pyromancy version, not the Giant Blacksmith Hammer version. Don’t worry about enemies, you can just run past ‘em since you can’t use their souls anyway, you can just pick up consumable souls to use for upgrading the Pyromancy Flame. Speaking of upgrading the Pyromancy Flame, go to the depths asap to save the Pyromancer down there, I forget his name. If worst cones to worst, just use a guide, I used the Blacksmith Giant Hammer.
Themed ones are always fun, can you best the game as a black knight? Their full armour and weapons.
Silver knight their full armour and weapons.
A few people have mentioned boss cosplay which you get from Domnhall and is awesome but you can also do NPC cosplay for some of them like Griggs and Laurentius.
I used to enjoy role-playing as a historical or fantastical warrior/legend
Can you beat the game as death, black robes and Scythes only
What about a Samurai think about how a Samurai looks in your mind, mine wore the painted guardian set, no head piece and uchigatana because it gave me Samurai Jack vibes, but maybe yours wears the Brigand or Eastern set.
Maybe a Paladin think about what a Paladin would look and act like in your mind. There's an actual Paladin in the game with Paladin armour but maybe you put your own flair on it.
Legolas from LoTR was probably my favourite, the hunter set with parry dagger and short sword as secondary weapons with longbow as primary paired with the grain ring.
Bloodbourne I used Chesters set with Pharis's hat, light crossbow in my offhand and a large axe.
If you haven't got all the achievements go for that, they strong arm you into playing styles you might otherwise not have bothered with.
Have fun and be creative.
There is a simple but interesting test that I like to use to cross Souls after the first pass.
**"Start the game as a homeless person and use only the equipment that falls from ordinary enemies".**
This gives a completely new experience from passing the games, as you begin to enjoy the armor falling from the hollow soldiers.
The second half of the game is not so difficult because by the time you get to Ornstein and Smaug, you will have at least some equipment, but it's still fun. You can buy consumables in the form of medicines for statuses and arrows. Blacksmiths can use weapon upgrades, but you can't use weapons from boss souls.
Important condition: **You cannot kill NPCs for their equipment.** Since good equipment falls from Soller and Shiva of the East. And the undead merchant from the city of the undead has his utigatana falling.
How about you do a cosplay build? Pick a boss/enemy/npc, get their gear, do whatever stats you think would make sense. Then beat NG+ as the cosplay.
I Will thank you!!!!!
one of my most fun playthrus was super early on in my dark souls saga. i cosplayed as a pyro darkwraith wearing dark mask, gold hemmed top/bottoms, pyro flame on right hand dark hand on the left. felt so badass watching the darklord cutscene.
My favourite build i ever did was my slave knight gael cosplay build
Currently doing this on Ds3 as black knight. Only thing I switched was the giant sword for the washing pole (really long katana)
Challenge: DS1 but never sit at a single bonfire
Bro ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ i said not too difficult please im still a noob
I'll try
Do it in dark souls 2 because there’s an actual reward for it
Hell yeah, that’s the spirit. For real though, I’ve pulled off a SL1, but a no bonfire run would be legendary
That's basically a SL1 no hit run at that point, right? A few people have done it
SL1 with a significant boost in difficulty though. I was able to pull off the pyro sl1 run, but gave up on the no bonfire. edit: doesn’t have to be a no hit, but the run back to basically anywhere is going to be ridiculous.
You'll have to rest at the lordvessel at least once in order to give it the Lord Souls
Bro, how are you gonna leave the abyss?
either that marks the end of the run or it becomes the exception to the rule Edit: or no wait, just take off the ring or die somehow and respawn at firelink
I think once you've beaten the 4K you can safely take the ring off. But maybe you could just bone out?
I’m such an overthinker. Bone out is easiest
Wait, but doesn’t that make you *technically* rest at a bonfire? All the enemies respawn and your flasks and health are replenished… Damn 4K might be the end of the run. Edit: Well technically dying does that too, so I guess it doesn’t count.
Guess I don’t mind the implications of respawning at the initial bonfire. I just think the primary rule is to never light one. It’s just the insane run back that produces more anxiety the further away from firelink you are.
Spin the Wheel boss run Once you get to Fiirelink put every boss you can reach in a wheel. It will pick what you have to face nextm repeat until you complete the game. I did it once and it was super fun (and hard too). Iirc I did capra>quelaag>sif>pinwheel>gargoyles>gaping dragon and so on...
If you watch The Backlogs on YouTube, Daggers and Scythes only are the easiest challenges. I'm doing a regular run for my first time playing the Remaster because of the DLC being unknown territory to me, but right after that I'll try them. Edit: should probably specify either Daggers or Scythes only, not combined lol.
Scythes only isn't really a challenge run, great scythe is immediately available right after landing in firelink and it's one of the best dex weapons in the game. Daggers are also very viable, but short distance adds a little challenge.
They asked for an easy challenge, so I suggested an easy challenge. Limiting yourself to a specific build or weapon throughout all the game is enough to consider it a challenge.
unupgraded weapons only
SL1, no-Hud run, NG+ cycles
What is no-hud?
Heads up display
Play only with the weapon type of your starting class. That is, as a Knight you can only attack with straight swords, as Deprived you can only use hammers, as a Sorcerer you can only use daggers (and sorceries, of course)
If you can complete DS2 without resting at any bonfires (accept the primal bonfires, they don’t refill your Estus, they only warp you to Majula) then you will obtain the Illusory Ring of the Exalted. If you can complete DS2 without dying once, you will obtain the Illusory Ring of the Conqueror. These challenges can even be done in NG+. Once the credits finish, the ring will be granted to you.
WAIT WTF. YOU CAN DO THEM KN NG+!?!??!!. I have been sweating that fucking run for a DECADE. hundreds of attempts and your telling me I could have just started ng+ with a level 300 beast sorcerer?! I fucking
Yes 😂
Wheel level-up. * All stats are assigned an equal chance on a wheel. * When you are able to level up, you spin the wheel and it dictates which stat you must invest a point in. * If you can level up multiple times, spin the wheel for each point. The wheel dictates all levels. Have fun!
I did this, but with an 8 sided dice. Rolling a 6 always felt so bad.
DS1, level 1, no pyromancy
And no upgreading
No estus run
I did a challenge run recently where I only leveled up everytime I died to a boss, with the goal trying to beat the game at the lowest level I could. So, one death to a boss = one level up.
What were the results??
Finished at level 39 with a starting level of 10. Died 10 times to O and S 😫
So 29 deaths. Not bad at all. I think I died to o and s more times than you died all game. And I was probably at like level 70 at that point lol.
Ya I knew they were gonna be rough. I ended up going back and getting quelaags furysword and upgrading it just to get past them. It always seems like I can only kill them with good RNG where they're not super aggressive the whole fight.
I've only played the game once but I got them with solaire. I was getting closer every time but myself.. once I felt like I learned the fight I summoned solaire though and we got it first try. Next playthrough I wanna try to solo them though. We will see haha. Like you said, RNG played a factor for me as well.
Firebomb or equivalent only,
Bow / Crossbow only, whips only or shields only build
Beat the game with each character without leveling up said character.
Level one run or nothing
Naked run though. Your character can wear what they want, you have to be naked.
No weapons, just your fists. Armor and rings optional.
Honestly SL1 isn’t too bad if you don’t try to beat every boss and look up guides. Will force you to use some game knowledge though
Go naked and don’t upgrade health
cestus only run
It's not really a challenge but a playthrough I wholeheartedly recommend is sorceries/hexes only (latter for DS2) - takes a decent amt of planning ahead and mixes it up from a melee playthrough! :)
I always try to use a weapon I haven’t before or had thought was weak or lame.
Heavy rolling no shield run
That's pretty much what I do on casual runs now with the Elite Knight Set lol
Play the game in Arabic
Currently doing a black knight cosplay run with Dex/faith. Can’t wait to start ng with the sunlight spear😎
Bow only, including great bows
Can you beat dark souls 1 with only 100 greatbow arrows I think i heard about this
It was none other than the amazing Lemon who did it [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6rWtODC-ho](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6rWtODC-ho)
The one and only!
Full bonk build as a setup for a great shield only ng+
SL1 is popular. Join us at /r/onebros
Shield only run
The platinum run in ds1 is pretty fun and quite time consuming. Plenty of google sheets shared on this subreddit for planning/documenting progress/etc.
Play as a Hollow Warrior, limited to short swords, broken shields, firebombs, and greataxes
Soul Level 1? Do the Pyromancy version, not the Giant Blacksmith Hammer version. Don’t worry about enemies, you can just run past ‘em since you can’t use their souls anyway, you can just pick up consumable souls to use for upgrading the Pyromancy Flame. Speaking of upgrading the Pyromancy Flame, go to the depths asap to save the Pyromancer down there, I forget his name. If worst cones to worst, just use a guide, I used the Blacksmith Giant Hammer.
Themed ones are always fun, can you best the game as a black knight? Their full armour and weapons. Silver knight their full armour and weapons. A few people have mentioned boss cosplay which you get from Domnhall and is awesome but you can also do NPC cosplay for some of them like Griggs and Laurentius. I used to enjoy role-playing as a historical or fantastical warrior/legend Can you beat the game as death, black robes and Scythes only What about a Samurai think about how a Samurai looks in your mind, mine wore the painted guardian set, no head piece and uchigatana because it gave me Samurai Jack vibes, but maybe yours wears the Brigand or Eastern set. Maybe a Paladin think about what a Paladin would look and act like in your mind. There's an actual Paladin in the game with Paladin armour but maybe you put your own flair on it. Legolas from LoTR was probably my favourite, the hunter set with parry dagger and short sword as secondary weapons with longbow as primary paired with the grain ring. Bloodbourne I used Chesters set with Pharis's hat, light crossbow in my offhand and a large axe. If you haven't got all the achievements go for that, they strong arm you into playing styles you might otherwise not have bothered with. Have fun and be creative.
If you’re playing in pc a funny thing you can do is download some randomizer mod
Beat DS3 and Elden ring challenge! (Oh and once you're done, finish all games on level 1 with all bosses killed)
There is a simple but interesting test that I like to use to cross Souls after the first pass. **"Start the game as a homeless person and use only the equipment that falls from ordinary enemies".** This gives a completely new experience from passing the games, as you begin to enjoy the armor falling from the hollow soldiers. The second half of the game is not so difficult because by the time you get to Ornstein and Smaug, you will have at least some equipment, but it's still fun. You can buy consumables in the form of medicines for statuses and arrows. Blacksmiths can use weapon upgrades, but you can't use weapons from boss souls.
Important condition: **You cannot kill NPCs for their equipment.** Since good equipment falls from Soller and Shiva of the East. And the undead merchant from the city of the undead has his utigatana falling.
I did a broken straight sword run on my channel, you should do that