Zhukov said:
Raku-Gosha said:
Zhukov said:
Bad checkpoint placement/ Also shows up in Dark Souls.
Huh. You had trouble with Checkpoints in Dark Souls? I'm not seeing it. In my experience bonfires were abundant and the level design accommodated you with shortcuts and teleporting(after you get the lordvessel) Shoot, you can exit the game at any point (so the game can also accommodate to your gaming schedule) and when you boot it back up, you're either exactly where you were or a short distance from it.
What exactly did you have trouble with in DS regarding checkpoints?
Every boss has a bit of a walk and a bunch of junk enemies between it and the nearest campfire.
So if you die to a boss, you have to walk your arse back and kill/avoid a bunch of basic enemies before you can take another tilt at the boss.
This is needless repetition and a needless waste of my time.
Yeah... no not really. I can't name a single boss that I wasn't able to reach in under a minute with full 20+7 Estus flasks from a bonfire.
For clarity's sake let's go over them shall we? (Note: just the absolute essentials side fluff like Priscilla, Helkite, undead dragons etc aren't covered)
In order of appearance (if you're playing the game in the proper order)
Taurus demon- there's a bonfire not a minute away. Run across the fire chucking bridge enter the area ignore/slay the baddies go up the stairs and ignore/slay the baddies and enter the tower. To be on the safe side I'd kill about half of the enemies or the more persistent ones, but they're the weakest mooks so you shouldn't have much trouble.
Bell Gargoyles- There's a bonfire not a minute away in the building housing the blacksmith. Only thing in your way are 3 skeletons you can run past and a handful of hollows near the ladder.
Capra Demon- You create a shortcut to Firelink shrine by opening a one way gate (where the female Merchant is) the run there is under a minute and the only enemies you'll deal with are the mooks in the beginning and a pair of thieves and dogs.
Gaping Dragon- Before entering the fight is a locked door that leads back up to the bonfire. Monsters encountered on the way to boss? 2 small rats that can be ignored.
Queelag of Izalith- There's the near unavoidable bonfire located at the bottom of blight town. if you run directly ahead from the bonfire and hug the wall you can reach her lair in under a minute without incurring the poison debuff as well. enemies necessary to encounter. zero.
Iron Golem- If you don't find this one in Sen's Fortress I can understand your rage at the run you'd have to do to get back to the boss, but if you jump off the roof where the first black markings are (locations where the Giant chucks his bombs) there is a bonfire. The trip to the giant is under one minute and once you've slain the bomb throwing giant(he doesn't respawn) there is but one archer in your way.
Ornstein and Smough- Here is where I'd assume you're complaining about. If you're using the common route of the Anor Londo bonfire than taking the elevator running across the bridge fighting past the 2 giants than entering the building to fight the 2 Royal sentinels and archer, you're doing it wrong.
Purely on a "fastest route to the boss" the bonfire where you find Solaire chilling is actually much faster. The route takes less than a minute and the only real obstacle in your way is a Silver knight who's blocking the door you need to take. Once you've slain him you can run past the halberd one go upstairs and exit only a short distance from the fog gate. You don't even have to fight the Royal Sentinel.
After you obtain the Lordvessel you're options open up dramatically but I'll continue the boss routes from the most ideal paths
Pinwheel Demon(He's next because you want the kindling)- There's a hidden wall to the left of the ladder that leads to the switch you push to upturn the bridge. From here you run down and roll past the skeletons as they form. Right before the entrance to the crypt you jump off and land on top of where Paladin Leeroys summon symbol will be If you're human from there you continue to fall and make a beeline towards the fog gate.
Enemies necessary to encounter? a few skeletons on the safe side you completely bypass the rolling skeletons and the hassle of getting down. Takes less than a minute, dudes easy regardless so this is a mute point.
Gravelord Nito- After your first bonfire there's a second one further in where you make a right along a narrow path. From here you merely follow a straight line to the boss. It takes less than a minute but the monsters you have to fight here are a bit more numerous with the 2-3 skeleton walls and skeleton giants, and some pinwheel servants. This one can be a bit of a pain I'll concede that, but you shouldn't die against Nito anyway.
After that I'd wager most savvy players would head to Darkroot Basin with the knowledge that they need the ring.
Sif- To the left of Artorias' shortcut(the wall with the glowing orb) is an invisible wall you can smack. There's an immediate bonfire right past it. Now you'll take the shortcut in front of you cross Alvinas' bridge and run straight towards the entrance. It takes less than a minute and after you've slain all the wannabe player npcs only 4 of them respawn who you can ignore entirely if you join her covenant (it can even be temporarily if you want) after that there's only mushroom children who don't engage without provocation.
Four Kings- If my first guess that Ornstein and Smough isn't where you've given up it's here. There's a substantial shortcut you can take that shortens your time down to... you guessed it under a minute. From Firelink Shrine take the elevator down to New Londo (retrigger it so it ascends back to the top, trust me) run down the steps across the bridge and into ghost territory.
Now here's the trick! the place is no longer flooded so instead of running up the steps,run to the right towards the edge of the land and fall off. You'll land in the shallow pool right after the area with a ton of Darkwraiths. Now you "CAN" entirely run past the three darkwraiths and two ghosts that spawn and enter the fog gate unscathed but it's tricky so it's safer to kill the mentioned dudes and give it another go.
Seath the Scaleless- This one appears to be a pain in the ass but isn't in fact you can make it to the boss in under a minute. from the second bonfire you find in the Crystal Archives (if you don't have it kindled you can warp to firelink shrine and warp back to this very one)
Now run to the right take the ladder and BOOK IT towards the cave. The golems will flail around, missing you by a large margin after you enter the cave you'll run past the first golem and just run run run. The Amber ones do not respawn and the butterflies are passive aggressive at worst. Now once you reach his chamber you can chose to either engage the five maneater shells or run past them. Your call.
Ceaseless Discharge- There's a bonfire under a minute away from it's location surrounded by those eggbearing guys. There is are no enemies you need to fight to reach him.
After him though things get a bit tricky. IF you already are a chaos Servant level 2 you can skip the Firesage and Centipede demon entirely. But in the unlikely event that you'd do that I'll mention them
Firesage Demon- On your way towards him you'll enter an area with a ton of capra demons standing guard (old looking ruins) Where you'll run into a grand staircase leading down. After the first set you can turn around and run along the wall (a floor under from where you have come from) there's a bonfire here. The run to the boss is again less than a minute and the run there is populated by slow moving/attacking stones and one Taurus demon you can kite past.
Centipede Demon- Literally in the area before the boss. You can not miss it. IT's atop of the branches you'll be taking down to face against him. Less than a minute. Clean run to the boss, no enemies.
Bed of Chaos- This one may be the longest run you'll have to make but it's safe. For this one I'd recommend joining the Chaos covenant and leveling it up to level 2 ( a total of 30 humanity needed. This carries over into New Game plus so don't worry about repeating this as long as you don't get wishy-washy with the covenants) From the above bonfire (centipede demon one) run back towards where you fought the Firesage demon and take a left. You'll head down a branch towards a dead end.
rigger it to reveal an incredibly useful shortcut that bypasses the entire level practically.
From here you'll run past the demon guy(there are slim chances of him hitting you so be careful) and running past the stone derps. In your first run through you'll engage the Eldest sister (she won't respawn) after that you're home free.
You'll most likely die a lot here, so you'll master the route in no time.
Gwyn Lord of Cinder- The lordvessel. This a linear run straight to the boss. Though you'll most likely have to reengage the 5 BlacK Knights as opposed to running past.
AND THERE YOU HAVE IT. Every essential boss has a checkpoint within simple reach pal. Now there's nothing stopping you besides your own stubborn bias.
Have fun.
Besides, most games set you back in some way when you lose to a boss. I'd be grateful that you don't have to slog through unskippable cut scenes before any of the bosses in Dark Souls. I'd say your ire is more deserved on games like that.
