A Walk Challenge?

Let me begin by saying that I may be crazy.

I'm thinking of doing a walking tank challenge where your equipment level will always be at 100% or over. This probably isn't possible while you are in Northern Undead Asylum for the beginning of the game so I suppose you would have to start with the Knight class because I think that is the heaviest beginning class.

I'm also thinking as starting as a Pyromancer because that is SL1, but using pyro immediately might make the beginning of the game too easy.

I think I should be able to level up because you're going to need stronger weapons to defeat the enemies before you run out of healing materials.

If you could not move faster than a walk, it would frustrate the host if you were summoned to help.

Do you see a problem finishing the game if you are never allowed to run or jump?

Has anyone attempted a challenge like this?

I think you would still get summoned pretty regularly. Hosts tend to prefer phantoms in tanky armor over the naked dudes, for example. I'm sure you could finish the game just bring a bow for the Bed of Chaos. No, I have never done such a challenge myself, and it isn't even because of combat reasons but more because of getting around reasons. I even hate normal mid roll when I'm running from location A to location B because I just feel so damn slow, 100%+ encumbrance would simply drive me mad. One of the main reasons why I much prefer the fast roll and its derivatives.

WhatDoesThePendantDo? wrote:I think you would still get summoned pretty regularly. Hosts tend to prefer phantoms in tanky armor over the naked dudes, for example. I'm sure you could finish the game just bring a bow for the Bed of Chaos. No, I have never done such a challenge myself, and it isn't even because of combat reasons but more because of getting around reasons. I even hate normal mid roll when I'm running from location A to location B because I just feel so damn slow, 100%+ encumbrance would simply drive me mad. One of the main reasons why I much prefer the fast roll and its derivatives.

This.
How long does it take to retry if you whiff and die to Gwyn? or O&S? or the 4 Kings?
There's also BoC and Seath.

Or when you're on your return trip from Blighttown

The only problem I see is invasions. You may die alot if you can hardly move. I may try this on my bbs build in Demons just to see how it goes

I guess another problem would be capra since he goes aggro on you. You might be in trouble there. Especially if he pins you.

I'd say test it out Green. You can always change it if you find it too difficult. And yeah, you is crazy LOL

Never attempted this challenge and probably wouldn't either, but good luck to anyone who is.

Just make sure you're big and scary once you get a decent ways in.
Havel's/Giant's armor
Dragon GS/DKGA
Havel's GS or any other Greatshield
Maybe throw in some faith for TWoP and WoG.

But yeah, moving from place to place is going to be pretty nightmarish, and certain bosses will give you issues, but I guess that could be part of the fun.

just do fat roll, i know its not the same but holy crap its gonna take forever to walk from one place to another, i would just not find that fun at all, just really annoying.

Without running you won't make it past sen's fortress. 
I think you cannot tank the pendulums.

If you're over 100% of equipment weight, you cannot roll. Your character does a little move that looks like you're stuck in mud.

I'm almost done with my tank challenge; just 4 Kings and Manus to go. I'm having fun playing with high strength weapons and their power damage output.

I kinda wish I had the equipment/better computer to record this one.

One does not simply walk to the Kiln of the First Flame. Ok seriously.

Seem slike an interesting challenge, but for mobility reasons I dont think I'd try it, I mean mid roll also is a bother to me its too damn slow, walking all over the place is more like a test of patience than a test of skill in combat. Still an interesting one tho.

I'm trying this in ng+ to get a taste of what it would be like.

You really feel like a tank; it's funny to saunter up, kill a guy; saunter onward; kill a guy, etc. Well... until you get to the Asylum Demon. Two hits, I'm dead.

As I sit now, I'm an hour and half into ng+ and just got back from killing Pinwheel (my first boss). I had to summon Paladin; I could not move fast enough, even with a ranged weapon, to kill the real Pinwheel in time.

You really have to think, too. I got lost in the Catacombs trying to find my way back to Firelink Shrine. You become used to running everywhere, but when you are forced to walk, you have a hard time finding your way.

Okay, about this build. Losing the Havel's Ring was a liberation. Even as a tank with full Havel's gear and shield, you need the ring of steel protection. Stamina is a problem during a fight that takes more than a couple of swings.

There are geographic hurdles, too. In the Northern Undead Asylum, to the right of the boss fog gate, there is a doorway that has a threshold that you have trouble walking over. Another problem is the staircase in the cemetery; you cannot walk up it unless you do a jumping attack. Surprisingly, you are able to do a jumping attack while being over-burdened. It's a necessary tactic to use to reach the Catacombs Blacksmith, too. If you simply walk off the ledge, you die.

I think I'm going to continue playing this guy; see what else this game has in store for me. BTW, I did have one guy invade me in the Catacombs (I'm SL78). One look at my full Havel's outfit with Dragon Tooth+5 and he b/c'd out. Good thing, too, because he would have OWNED me.

With super slow walk Havels and GSoA should be targets.  Havel's for anti-magic and GSoA because it's very easy to block with 88 stability.

Areas of Concern:

- Sen's (pendulums, boulders)
- Bed of Chaos (last drop onto the root, won't the arms just throw you sideways constantly?)
- Be sure to bring a crossbow for sif, since he'll jump away too much if you don't.
- This might be the only way gaping dragon can possibly be challenging on its own.  Maybe.

Otherwise a lot of the game would just be "block" ---> attack.

Here's an update on my progress:

The Bridge Wyvern was easy when you first walk onto it. You walk so slow the fire doesn't hit you. It doesn't breathe fire again so you can reach the shortcut to the bonfire. I was not able to find a way to open the Sunlight Altar gate. I found a couple of sniper spots and the Dragon Greatbow was doing substantial damage against him, but it took me awhile to realize it was probably healing itself. I thought I had it almost killed at one point, then noticed the health bar was longer. I seem to remember something about it does heal itself when you snipe it. Or at least, it used to. Trying to get past it on the bridge, using Flash Sweat, I could not live long enough to reach the bonfire. I had to give up.

I was not able to make the jumping attack work to reach the platform you usually roll onto to reach the Crow's nest to go back to Undead Asylum.

The Gargoyles were easy; Capra Demon was easy; ready to engage Gaping Dragon now.

I haven't had to resort to it yet, but I may have to reduce my weight to 100% in some cases just so I can run. The ball trap in Sen's will probably be the first instance where I'll be stuck. Unless high poise, 161 (I think) will keep me from being pushed backwards too far. I don't think it would be fair to summon someone to move the lever for me.

Last minute edit; there's a fog door before the lever; someone who was summoned wouldn't be able to go through it to reach the lever.

TheMeInTeam wrote:- Bed of Chaos (last drop onto the root, won't the arms just throw you sideways constantly?)

I see this as the biggest challenge.
I don't think Sen's pendulums swing fast enough that walking would be impossible if you don't try to take more than one at a time?

chantienyee wrote:

TheMeInTeam wrote:- Bed of Chaos (last drop onto the root, won't the arms just throw you sideways constantly?)

I see this as the biggest challenge.
I don't think Sen's pendulums swing fast enough that walking would be impossible if you don't try to take more than one at a time?

Can you fit between the top ones without doing at least 2 at once?  Even so, the boulders themselves might be a bigger hurdle.

Can you backstep at 100%+?
I've never tried with the Sen's boulders, but you can backstep through the Northern Undead Asylum boulder, taking minimal damage. Also, you could probably tank the damage enough and heal in between if necessary in Sen's?

chantienyee wrote:Can you backstep at 100%+?
I've never tried with the Sen's boulders, but you can backstep through the Northern Undead Asylum boulder, taking minimal damage. Also, you could probably tank the damage enough and heal in between if necessary in Sen's?

The problem is that they'll likely knock you over and backwards, so unless you can pull the i frames and get through them (they're larger than in asylum) it might be rough.  I don't think you can backstep anyway though, so you're limited to the very few i frames you get from a failed roll attempt.

Another short status update: I just reached Anor Londo (an hour past my bedtime).

Gaping was okay; his poison destroyed my talisman. Blighttown with the fog ring was alright. Queelag wasn't a problem. I had to resort to the Lightning Avelyn+5 for both Gaping and Queelag because they would move out of range faster than I could walk to them.

Sen's Fortress:

The first major hurdle was the rolling ball. I had poise of 161 so maybe it made a difference. The force of the ball rolling over you flips you UP the path a little bit without doing much damage. I stood and braced for each hit, just in case. That was quite a surprise for me and it worked for both paths.

The second major hurdle was the last two sets of pendulums. The four are so close together you cannot make it. The two sets of two have two pendulums so close together you cannot walk fast enough to get in the middle "sweet spot" before the next set of two pendulums. I had to manage my equipment to get me at exactly 100% (a major achievement, that!) so I could run past those traps.

The last major hurdle was the fire-bombing giant. Flash Sweat: No problem.

Oh, I forgot about Ceaseless Discharge. He was actually easy. I stopped in the safe area where you usually stop and fight him. Shot a feather arrow to aggro him. I had to bait him to attack and his hit hurt me; sometimes it almost killed me (I forgot about Flash Sweat, but I would have run out of the three castings before the fight was over, anyway). A two-handed attack and quick heal before baiting him again. I'll probably use this tactic in the future instead of my usual "grab the stuff and sprint for the exit".

Well, good night fellow Dark Soulers!

This may be my last update on the Walking Tank Challenge on ng+. I'm sick of this character; but more on that later. :-)

Anor Londo:
archers: I used the fog ring to get close before they started shooting at me. Even at 161 poise they would shoot me off the ledge. So instead of using poison arrows I would quit the game before the YOU DIED text came up. When I reloaded, I was back on the ledge and was able to advance slightly before being shot off again. If I do this again I will use the crossbow to interrupt the archer (I think you're in lock range when they start shooting at you).

O&S is not possible to do solo. So to make it fair to the challenge, I summoned another tank guy. I explained what I was doing and he was able to equip himself the same way I was. It was quite a sight to see two havel tanks walking off to war. I summoned a third to keep any invaders off our back (and she did), but she didn't enter the fog gate. Ornstein was killed first and Smough was easy after that. She stuck around to get the souls.

Moonlight Butterfly was easy. Sif was easy and I didn't have to resort to the crossbow; He stayed on top of me until his health was halfway down. He jumped around for awhile, but when he jumped on top of me again, my 2-hand r2 attack crippled him. Strange enough, my overconfidence at this point allowed him to hurt me before I put him down.

I'm convinced the Hydra is impossible with this challenge. I gave up.

New Londo Ruins:
I kept a stopwatch program running on my computer to monitor how long the Transient Curse would last. TC expired before I reached the Parry Dagger. There's also a curved edge before the doorway where the 2 green shards are that pushed me off the walkway to my death. I didn't try to get the shards a second time.

I also saw something I had no idea would happen. The mass of goop in the room with the chest will come outside to attack you. It allowed me to get a good look at it, and it didn't use any of its' attacks while outside so I was able to just whack away on it.

Now for something "timely". The TC lasts 5 minutes, which happens to be how long it takes to walk through New Londo to reach the boss gate. Quite handy. Sometimes I would have to wait 20-40 seconds for it to wear off so I could use Power Within.

I believe the Four Kings are possible to kill on ng+ (and I came close a couple of times). But I'm running low on Gold Pine Resin and I am NOT looking forward to farming this if I have to walk.

Oh, speaking of the mushrooms... I thought I would see what it would be like to go toe-to-toe with one. Bad Idea. BAD BAD IDEA. I survived, but his hit against my shield pushes me back without any damage. No Big Deal, right? Wrong. He pushed me off a ledge. I was surprised I wasn't dead. I started to look around and a giant cat attacked me. Grabbed me by my head and drug me backwards. Not a nice kitty. THEN the giant mushroom walked down to where we were to continue the fight. Luckily, the cat went away. It was all I could do to kill the mushroom guy while keeping an eye to make sure the cat didn't come back.

So, I think that's it. I'm tired of walking everywhere. I don't want to farm for G.Pine Resin. My Giant's Halberd+5 doesn't do enough damage to the kings because it takes too long to swing. I was thinking about getting a hand axe and upgrading that to a lightning+5 because the faster swings might take the kings out better. I like the damage the Demon's Axe+15 (I think that's what I was using) did with the Gold Pine Resin, but when I get to the third or fourth king, another will come up behind me and kill me.

I think my attitude on this guy would be better had I been able to kill the kings by now. I'm convinced that if I was doing a Walking Tank Challenge on ng, the kings would have been dead on the first attempt.

Boy, this post was a lot longer than I expected.

One last thing. Since starting this challenge I have been in four PvP fights. I won two of them. The two I won was when the invader did "cheap" shots. One used toxic on me while I was fighting a gargoyle in Anor Londo and the other backstabbed me in Sen's Fortress.

How did you cross pendulums in sen fortres?

The last two platforms that contain the pendulums I had to reduce my weight to 100% so I could run. The balls and giant were not a problem.

Green__Eagle wrote:The last two platforms that contain the pendulums I had to reduce my weight to 100% so I could run. The balls and giant were not a problem.

Why exactly 100%? is there a difference with being anywhere above 50%?

Only that this is a Walking Tank Challenge where you are always over 100% except in those certain situations where you need to be able to move faster so I reduce the weight to 100% for I'd be stumped in Sen's Fortress or the Hydra.

Hydra's blast keeps pushing me backwards and doing damage. I may pull this guy up sometime and see if there's a way to sneak down into the water, but I don't think the fog and slumbering rings fool the Hydra.
 
It is nice to lose the Havel's ring and play with the heavy duty weapons without worrying about weight ratios and rolling speed.

What do you guys think? Would it be considered cheating to go down to 100% weight to do some farming runs for Gold Pine Resin? I hate to think of the time it takes to walk through the forest each time.

Green__Eagle wrote:Hydra's blast keeps pushing me backwards and doing damage. I may pull this guy up sometime and see if there's a way to sneak down into the water, but I don't think the fog and slumbering rings fool the Hydra.

If your stats allow, you can shoot hydra with a bow from darkroot forest, on top of the ladder behind hydra.

You must have the patience of a saint