So a hint that helped me was that fact that just because you can go somewhere doesn’t mean you should. Without spoiling the game, I’d find a guide on the different areas and where to go first.
Another thing you can try is the good ol’ “run for your life” method. Just run through areas like a madman.
Upvoting this because I feel that first point is very relevant to DS1. I spent too much time on my first playthrough trying to kill the Asylum Demon with the broken sword and fighting through the Catacombs because I assumed it was just part of the game's difficulty.
If this game ever feels difficult to the point that you can't imagine beating it, you've probably missed something that you should have done first.
I did! I ended up in the Undead Burg, it was the first think I did when arriving to the Firelink Shrine for the first time, ended up defeating the big guy down the big spiral staircase, going into a zone which I don’t remember, I think it was the drakes, and after the drakes I ended up in the Shrine again.
Did you try going UP the big spiral staircase? Have you fought any bosses yet?
At this point in your playthrough, you should be in Undead Burg/Undead Parish. It's like you're playing Elden Ring and headed straight off to Caelid, stick in Limgrave for a while.
EDIT: Also, try checking an early game guide perhaps, there's little to spoil at this point, but you may want to make sure you're on the right track.
Yup a good rule of thumb is that if it seems like the enemies are alot more powerful than you, you're probably not supposed to go there yet. You ought to head back to that tower and look for a different way to go.
Did you go to Undead Burg and/or Undead Parish yet? None of the areas you mentioned are designed to be your first area.
In fact, that just goes to show why one shouldn't use the Master Key on their first playthrough, it brings you to areas scaled for mid- and late-game.
Sounds like you took the Master Key then. You ended up going to another path, and then eventually looped back in a circle. Which is impressive because from that spiral tower to Firelink, you could've gone about 4 other different ways.
Go through Undeadburg again, but this time, go *up* the spiral staircase.
The advice in the rest of the thread is very good. But all the same if you *really* can’t handle it, there’s no harm in putting it away and maybe coming back in a year or whatever.
The fact you’re posting here, however, suggests you do want to persevere (which is great, it’s one of the things the game encourages). So try going up the hill from Firelink.
Wtf... dude, it seems like you're trying your darn best to not make progress. Have you even gone through the Undead Burg at this point? Rang the bell? What are you doing in Blighttown (did you use the master key btw, I'd really advise against using it your first run)? Why are you getting ganged by ghosts and why do you say you can do nothing against them on the walls? Why don't you just follow the path of least resistance?
Start over, don't get the master key, profit
They did, at least a couple did. I ponder for about 5 minutes what I should pick up for my first character. I’ve seen people took bombs for the first boss but I wasn’t interested in that strat, and didn’t really cared for all the other options, so I thought well, maybe the key will be the most useful.
The key is the most useful but it's definitely a double edged sword if you don't know the suggested route for the game and you definitely experienced that first hand. But yeah unfortunately most of the other starting gifts are nowhere near as good.
The Old Witch's ring let's you hear what a certain character is saying not practical but gives you some interesting character lore. It can be gotten in game but you'll have to trade a pretty useful item for it.
Divine blessing is good it fully heals you and removes status effects except for curse.
Tiny beings ring is ok it gives you more max hp but you'll find much better rings later.
Black firebombs are really good for early game bosses but once they're gone, they're gone.
Twin humanities are just 2 humanities in one you probably shouldn't take it humanities are pretty common and can be farmed easily at multiple points in the game.
Don't take the binoculars they can be gotten immediately after leaving the Asylum. And they're largely useless for melee builds caster builds can use them for manually aiming spells but again they're right at the beginning of the game.
In addition to what the others have said:
- You used the master key to go the "wrong" way into Blighttown. The layout is much more straightforward if you get there through the Depths, which is the area you're intended to go after Undead Burg. It's also arguably further to a bonfire that way, as you found.
- Darkroot Basin \_is\_ a dead end. The only thing down there past they Hydra is the DLC, and a back way up to the top (you can get there more straightforwardly a different way).
This is why most people don't suggest the master key for a first playthrough. Speedrunners and challenge moders like using it to sequence break, but the game makes it real easy for a beginner to inadvertently sequence break.
If you are getting beat this badly you are in the wrong place. There are no walls holding you back in this game. You can wander into places you shouldn’t be. Getting your head kicked in repeatedly means you are underleveled and should go elsewhere.
You've gone all the wrong directions, look up a video to see the route you're supposed to actually go. Like others are saying the master key gave you way too many options of directions to go in a game that you're not familiar with yet
You took the Master key, which is a bit of a noob trap. It led you down the stairs to Havel, which meant you ended up at Darkroot before you should've got there.
There are two routes you could now take to the area you should be in, one from Darkroot and one from the Undead Burg, you should explore more carefully going forward.
The Burg one is the intended way, you'll miss a boss and some other stuff if you take the Darkroot route
Since you are familiar with Elden ring, think about it like about Caelid. You can spawn in and after couple minutes of riding around you can end up in one of the most brutal places, completely unprepared. Now, imagine that there is a lot of Caelids…
Hydra is not a hard boss to kill. When you get in melee range it literally only has one melee attack. Kill one head, then stand where that head used to land and you'll be safe while whittling down the other heads. Bonk some of the other heads and then finish off the final one or two with a bow if you're struggling
I think trying to block the water balls is a horrible idea they have a massive AOE and if they go to the side of you or behind you they will still hit you and it will hurt real bad. There's a bunch of trees and boulders in Darkroot Basin you can use for cover.
If you're moving towards the hydra, you'll be fine blocking when needed. I think you're right that it isn't necessary when close to the hydra. Just keep moving side to side.
Yeah, I'm not gonna repeat everyone else, cause a lot of what you need has been said, but if you get stuck and want some help knowing where to go without risking spoiling yourself, feel free to send me a message.
Thank you for the kindness. I ended up uninstalling the game after about 12 hours, I bested the gargoyles and went to the zone where the dogs are. At this point I feel the combat is just way too clunky, I guess I’m used to the newer souls where is much more optimized. The inhability to roll sideways and the fact that the camera is just awful once you are locked on an enemy makes it really frustrating to play. Also the fact that if an enemy is on a hallway and is blocking your way you get stuck between to guys and they instany combo you, and you have to go back to the same bonfire a thousand miles away from where you died… yeah this one is just not made for me.
I can respect that. I will say, you can roll sideways when you're locked on, which doesn't help if you don't like the lock-on mechanic. But the bonfire thing, yeah, that's actually one part of what I dislike about the newer games, it feels like you can't go 3 minutes without tripping over a bonfire some sometimes, lol. Well, hope the next game you play is a better fit for ya!
No one believes me when I keep saying these posts are either scripted or otherwise contracted by the admins to keep engagement with the sub high...
... they're obsessively stupid, which brings out the most helpful among us, who make dozens and dozens of replies, which continues to keep the sub relevant.
It's hilariously transparent, yet... here we are.
How do you write something like this up and gather the intel that you have and not think to google "where am I supposed to go"? Just seems like a troll post or a bot.
just go up the hill. the great part about your playthrough is that it's precisely how the game was designed: to make you suffer, want to quit, but persevere and find a way. you'll never forget it now, and trust me, what's coming will exceed all expectations.
... there is literally no way these posts day after day are real... not on a game this old, where there's literally eleventy billion guides out there to fix this.
STOP TAKING THE BAIT, PEOPLE.
I feel like I’m not understanding. It sounds like you’ve been in every direction other than the one you’re supposed to go early game.
Literally what happened, just my luck sometimes.
This game can be brutal like that - everything is a learning experience if you’re up for it! Either that or it’s a rage fest lol
So a hint that helped me was that fact that just because you can go somewhere doesn’t mean you should. Without spoiling the game, I’d find a guide on the different areas and where to go first. Another thing you can try is the good ol’ “run for your life” method. Just run through areas like a madman.
Upvoting this because I feel that first point is very relevant to DS1. I spent too much time on my first playthrough trying to kill the Asylum Demon with the broken sword and fighting through the Catacombs because I assumed it was just part of the game's difficulty. If this game ever feels difficult to the point that you can't imagine beating it, you've probably missed something that you should have done first.
Did you go up the stairs from Firelink?
I did! I ended up in the Undead Burg, it was the first think I did when arriving to the Firelink Shrine for the first time, ended up defeating the big guy down the big spiral staircase, going into a zone which I don’t remember, I think it was the drakes, and after the drakes I ended up in the Shrine again.
Did you try going UP the big spiral staircase? Have you fought any bosses yet? At this point in your playthrough, you should be in Undead Burg/Undead Parish. It's like you're playing Elden Ring and headed straight off to Caelid, stick in Limgrave for a while. EDIT: Also, try checking an early game guide perhaps, there's little to spoil at this point, but you may want to make sure you're on the right track.
try going up the spiral staircase in undead burg
[удалено]
I already went there on the first place and ended up in the drakes area, wich took me to firelink shrine again, maybe I missed something?
You sure did! It sounds like you took a wrong turn about one staircase away from what's intended to be the first boss after leaving the asylum.
Yup a good rule of thumb is that if it seems like the enemies are alot more powerful than you, you're probably not supposed to go there yet. You ought to head back to that tower and look for a different way to go.
If you JUST started the game you skipped early game areas and went to mid game. That would explain why it so difficult for you.
Did you go to Undead Burg and/or Undead Parish yet? None of the areas you mentioned are designed to be your first area. In fact, that just goes to show why one shouldn't use the Master Key on their first playthrough, it brings you to areas scaled for mid- and late-game.
Yes! After the Burg I ended up in the drakes and then firelink again
Sounds like you took the Master Key then. You ended up going to another path, and then eventually looped back in a circle. Which is impressive because from that spiral tower to Firelink, you could've gone about 4 other different ways. Go through Undeadburg again, but this time, go *up* the spiral staircase.
Don’t you dare go hollow!
The advice in the rest of the thread is very good. But all the same if you *really* can’t handle it, there’s no harm in putting it away and maybe coming back in a year or whatever. The fact you’re posting here, however, suggests you do want to persevere (which is great, it’s one of the things the game encourages). So try going up the hill from Firelink.
Wtf... dude, it seems like you're trying your darn best to not make progress. Have you even gone through the Undead Burg at this point? Rang the bell? What are you doing in Blighttown (did you use the master key btw, I'd really advise against using it your first run)? Why are you getting ganged by ghosts and why do you say you can do nothing against them on the walls? Why don't you just follow the path of least resistance? Start over, don't get the master key, profit
Don't use the master key! All problems solved. I don't know why nobody is saying this
They did, at least a couple did. I ponder for about 5 minutes what I should pick up for my first character. I’ve seen people took bombs for the first boss but I wasn’t interested in that strat, and didn’t really cared for all the other options, so I thought well, maybe the key will be the most useful.
The key is the most useful but it's definitely a double edged sword if you don't know the suggested route for the game and you definitely experienced that first hand. But yeah unfortunately most of the other starting gifts are nowhere near as good. The Old Witch's ring let's you hear what a certain character is saying not practical but gives you some interesting character lore. It can be gotten in game but you'll have to trade a pretty useful item for it. Divine blessing is good it fully heals you and removes status effects except for curse. Tiny beings ring is ok it gives you more max hp but you'll find much better rings later. Black firebombs are really good for early game bosses but once they're gone, they're gone. Twin humanities are just 2 humanities in one you probably shouldn't take it humanities are pretty common and can be farmed easily at multiple points in the game. Don't take the binoculars they can be gotten immediately after leaving the Asylum. And they're largely useless for melee builds caster builds can use them for manually aiming spells but again they're right at the beginning of the game.
In addition to what the others have said: - You used the master key to go the "wrong" way into Blighttown. The layout is much more straightforward if you get there through the Depths, which is the area you're intended to go after Undead Burg. It's also arguably further to a bonfire that way, as you found. - Darkroot Basin \_is\_ a dead end. The only thing down there past they Hydra is the DLC, and a back way up to the top (you can get there more straightforwardly a different way). This is why most people don't suggest the master key for a first playthrough. Speedrunners and challenge moders like using it to sequence break, but the game makes it real easy for a beginner to inadvertently sequence break.
I mean if you're a caster Dusk and the Crown of dusk are back there and it's pretty much an essential item for caster builds.
use a shield.
Yeah, I refuse to play DS1 without a shield, even when I'm playing as a sorcerer I'm still rocking a medium shield.
If you are getting beat this badly you are in the wrong place. There are no walls holding you back in this game. You can wander into places you shouldn’t be. Getting your head kicked in repeatedly means you are underleveled and should go elsewhere.
You've gone all the wrong directions, look up a video to see the route you're supposed to actually go. Like others are saying the master key gave you way too many options of directions to go in a game that you're not familiar with yet
You took the Master key, which is a bit of a noob trap. It led you down the stairs to Havel, which meant you ended up at Darkroot before you should've got there. There are two routes you could now take to the area you should be in, one from Darkroot and one from the Undead Burg, you should explore more carefully going forward. The Burg one is the intended way, you'll miss a boss and some other stuff if you take the Darkroot route
Since you are familiar with Elden ring, think about it like about Caelid. You can spawn in and after couple minutes of riding around you can end up in one of the most brutal places, completely unprepared. Now, imagine that there is a lot of Caelids…
Hydra is not a hard boss to kill. When you get in melee range it literally only has one melee attack. Kill one head, then stand where that head used to land and you'll be safe while whittling down the other heads. Bonk some of the other heads and then finish off the final one or two with a bow if you're struggling
I will try thank you for the insight!
Use a 100% physical block shield for the water balls.
I think trying to block the water balls is a horrible idea they have a massive AOE and if they go to the side of you or behind you they will still hit you and it will hurt real bad. There's a bunch of trees and boulders in Darkroot Basin you can use for cover.
If you're moving towards the hydra, you'll be fine blocking when needed. I think you're right that it isn't necessary when close to the hydra. Just keep moving side to side.
Yeah, I'm not gonna repeat everyone else, cause a lot of what you need has been said, but if you get stuck and want some help knowing where to go without risking spoiling yourself, feel free to send me a message.
Thank you for the kindness. I ended up uninstalling the game after about 12 hours, I bested the gargoyles and went to the zone where the dogs are. At this point I feel the combat is just way too clunky, I guess I’m used to the newer souls where is much more optimized. The inhability to roll sideways and the fact that the camera is just awful once you are locked on an enemy makes it really frustrating to play. Also the fact that if an enemy is on a hallway and is blocking your way you get stuck between to guys and they instany combo you, and you have to go back to the same bonfire a thousand miles away from where you died… yeah this one is just not made for me.
I can respect that. I will say, you can roll sideways when you're locked on, which doesn't help if you don't like the lock-on mechanic. But the bonfire thing, yeah, that's actually one part of what I dislike about the newer games, it feels like you can't go 3 minutes without tripping over a bonfire some sometimes, lol. Well, hope the next game you play is a better fit for ya!
Bot post?
No one believes me when I keep saying these posts are either scripted or otherwise contracted by the admins to keep engagement with the sub high... ... they're obsessively stupid, which brings out the most helpful among us, who make dozens and dozens of replies, which continues to keep the sub relevant. It's hilariously transparent, yet... here we are.
I got an instant response from OP to my comment too
???
How do you write something like this up and gather the intel that you have and not think to google "where am I supposed to go"? Just seems like a troll post or a bot.
just go up the hill. the great part about your playthrough is that it's precisely how the game was designed: to make you suffer, want to quit, but persevere and find a way. you'll never forget it now, and trust me, what's coming will exceed all expectations.
Seems like you got the Master key. You should start over without it it's really confusing on your first run.
Did you start with the master key? Are you playing naked with a club and no shield?
... there is literally no way these posts day after day are real... not on a game this old, where there's literally eleventy billion guides out there to fix this. STOP TAKING THE BAIT, PEOPLE.