TedEH
Cromulent
Not sure if this goes here or the Elden Ring thread, but I've discovered one of my least favourite Fromsoft enemies: The pinwheel skeletons. Just brutal.
What game are you playing?
- Thread starter mark520
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wankerness
Well-Known Member
In DS1 they’re ridiculous. They made them a lot easier in subsequent entries. I don’t even attempt to fight them unless I have a good shield (greatshield of artorias is my go-to). Even with that you’re usually dead if you pull more than one or two at the same time. That big room in the bottom of the catacombs is terrible, I always hang wayyy back and slowly attract one at a time. The ones in the painted world are sometimes even worse cause you’re in narrow hallways where they basically can’t miss. If they hit you head-on and without a very good shield and full stamina you’re pretty much dead.
MFB
Banned
I'm 99% sure I know exactly where you are in the game if you've encountered pinwheel skeletons, but know this: they don't get any better either. Worst part is that they've also spread to other games, Nioh having their own version called Wheelmonks, and they also happen to do fire damage in their wake/spit fire at you; real tedious SOBs that I'm tired of dealing with, and I've only encountered them maybe a handful of times.
wankerness
Well-Known Member
The ones in ds1 are still the worst though. Ds2 and 3 they won’t ever 1-shot you unless you have like zero armor and zero points in HP, and they do way less stamina damage if you try and block them.
Wheelmonks are worse in some ways (fire trail, explosion every time they get back up after a knockdown) but are generally much easier to dodge, safer to block, and once you have half decent gear you can usually stun them in like two hits and take them out before they get up.
Wheelmonks are worse in some ways (fire trail, explosion every time they get back up after a knockdown) but are generally much easier to dodge, safer to block, and once you have half decent gear you can usually stun them in like two hits and take them out before they get up.
TedEH
Cromulent
I've gotten as far as beating the pinwheel boss guy in his little library pit (which was pretty trivial), where you get the mask from him. Then climb up the ladder, follow the glow-y lights to some kind of giants tomb or something, but I never made it out of the dark area. I get stomped by the giant skeletons before getting very far. I normally try to run from the wheel-skellies instead of fighting, but it feels like luck. Sometimes I run through unscathed, other times one gets you from the wrong angle and you're done for. Or they all hit you at once. Feels like a cheap enemy. But then everything from the catacombs area onward feels pretty brutal so far. I think there's a necromancer guy I've missed somewhere because some of the skeletons keep resurrecting still, even though I could have sworn I got them all. Does one of them resurrect? Is there a new one spawned after pinwheel dies?
wankerness
Well-Known Member
You must have missed a necromancer. In the catacombs, they only respawn if there's a connected necromancer still alive. That area has a lot of weird paths and hidden areas so it's not surprising. Like, did you find the skeleton blacksmith? I think maybe there's one down by him. Getting to him requires falling off a ledge at the bottom of a thing that looks vaguely like a spiral staircase. I usually die at least once trying to do it. Also if you accidentally lure a bonewheel skeleton towards the entrance to the blacksmith they'll kill him and you're screwed.
Did you beat Ornstein and Smough and then place the lordvessel underground? There's like, a big yellow impassable wall that you'll hit in tomb of the giants if you haven't yet, so you definitely are going to have to backtrack if you didn't. If you have, then yeah, Tomb of the Giants just sucks. I NEVER do it unless I've gotten the flashlight helm (sunlight parasite, I think it's called?) from the shortcut in Demon Ruins (the only way to get it is to talk to that spider lady after quelaag that's behind an illusory wall - first join the covenant and then give 30 humanity to her, and then there's a huge wall that will be open when you get to the area down the path after beating CEASELESS DISCHARGE, the best-named boss in the game). If you don't have that, then you're stuck holding the offhand lantern, which basically nullifies your defense, which is very bad considering you basically need either a huge 2H weapon or a greatshield to be able to deal with those awful dog skeletons that can kill you in the blink of an eye that are everywhere.
MFB
Banned
Seeing all this written out, it REALLY makes me wonder why I've invested so much time in this company's games
TedEH
Cromulent
I did. I found him before finding the other way into the pinwheel area.
This doesn't ring a bell. I also haven't yet done that invasion thing where the flame keeper was taken or however that works. I assume I need to un-hollow before using the eyeball.
wankerness
Well-Known Member
Ornstein & Smough are the main boss in Anor Londo. They're pretty universally considered the hardest/best boss in the game (well, pre-DLC). You've gone there, right? You go there after Sen's Fortress. Basic progression for the game is 1) gargoyles boss, ring bell 2) blighttown boss, ring bell 3) sen's fortress
If you haven't gone there yet, hoooo boy. You really dug yourself in deep. I did that on one playthrough where I purposely went for Pinwheel first to get the ability to kindle bonfires early. It's a lot of work to get back out of the catacombs and back to firelink, but you're going to need to do it. Tomb of the Giants is a late game area, and you're completely blocked from getting to the final boss anyway until you've placed the lordvessel.
Seeing all this written out, it REALLY makes me wonder why I've invested so much time in this company's games
This stuff is pretty specific to Dark Souls 1, every subsequent entry is much more user-friendly. But yeah, if you don't know what you're doing in DS1 it can be absolutely brutal. I'm glad I played through for the first time with a walkthrough, that's for sure. I don't think you can screw yourself over nearly as badly in any subsequent game (well, apart from killing the blacksmith in DS2/3 or whatever).
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TedEH
Cromulent
Yeah, I think I ran ahead. I saw a cave, and just insisted on pressing ahead. Managed to kill pinwheel and get back out, and I got the kindle item, but there's a ton of stuff I haven't done yet. I think I can get back out pretty easily since I'm saved right by the first fire in that area. I'm not sure I've even rung both bells yet. I definitely got one, on top of the big church thingie, but I can't remember the other. I made a mild mistake in that I started the game, then played the ER DLC, then resumed a game in progress instead of starting over, so I forget what I did at the beginning, but I wasn't very far from it. I suspect what I really should be doing next is trying to find that other bell. I imagine I've strayed pretty far from the "intended" order.
wankerness
Well-Known Member
The other one requires going alll the way down in blighttown to the swamp at the bottom and killing the boss there. It's a big spider with a topless woman on top, it's pretty memorable!
MFB
Banned
Blighttown sucks ass, anyone who thinks otherwise is lying to themselves
wankerness
Well-Known Member
It's not bad at all if you choose the master key for your starting item and just go down the elevator in valley of the drakes, it spits you out on the scaffold right next to the end of the level. But, you miss a firekeeper soul and a couple useful items. I can appreciate some of the design of it, some stuff like the rickety moving bridges is cool and it's really intricate (too intricate for the original systems, it's like a slideshow on Xbox 360). But it sure is awful to play. Those little sniper assholes that give you toxic in two hits and spam nonstop, the big club guys that will hit you off the ledge instantly and have a ton of HP, etc.
Still, it's so much less bad than Sen's Fortress, the crystal caves, Tomb of the Giants, and Anor Londo's rafters and archery sections that I never think of it as one of my least favorite sections. Boy, DS1 is rough compared to the follow-ups. Good thing the bosses are all easy.
TedEH
Cromulent
I made it through blighttown once, but I didn't explore much of the swamp yet. I had no estus left, so I hugged the wall to avoid the poison, and went back up this big machine thing, which led to getting.... I forget, a key? And then a shortcut back to other areas. I probably should have explored more swamp.
Yeah, that one. I came back up that way instead of finishing the exploration, so it shouldn't be too hard to go back there and continue searching around.
I actually don't mind the big club guys, they're easy to just circle around and keep backstabbing them. That area isn't tooooo bad IMO if you do a few suicide runs to kill the dart guys, then for the "real" run just approach slowly enough that you can fight everything one-on-one. I did the same with necromancers - sprint through to chase down the necro targets, then do a real run when stuff doesn't re-spawn anymore.
TedEH
Cromulent
I like how my current playstyle has been to rush into areas unprepared, struggle through areas I shouldn't be going yet, and then skip the actual stuff that advances the game's progress. Did I git good yet?
