My Experience Playing Dark Souls Blind (no guide/no coop)

As the title suggest, these are some of the crazy things that happened to me in my 120+ hour blind run in Dark Souls. This was my 2nd character, first one had like 25 hours and was used to get a feel for the game. I didn't use the guide or summon any help. I beat every boss on my own. IT CAN BE DONE! :face: I chose Pyromancer as my starting class and focused on STR, END and VIT. I also used a Lighting Battle Axe and Fire Scythe pretty much the whole game. I was level 85 when I finished..


I'll list more of these as I think of them. Enjoy!


1. Taking the Master Key as my starting gift. Maybe there's a reason this door is locked and maybe I shouldn't open it right now. Screw it! Oh hey, what are you doing down here all by yourself. BOOM! (Havel)

2. Meeting the Red Dragon right after taking down Taurus. I tried to run across that bridge at least 10 times. Each time = Death. I conclude that I must go down from Firelink instead of up. Huge mistake. This changed my whole game. Made it far more difficult but all the more enjoyable.

3. Going into the Catacombs after thinking the Red Dragon wasn't doable. Skeletons that don't die. Great! So I had a brilliant idea. That dude in Firelink sells a Force spell. Use it to "nudge" them off the cliff. haha. It actually worked really well. I didn't discover what Divine did until it was useless. :evil:

4. Moving onto New Londo Ruins after being destroyed by the Catacombs. I almost peed my pants the first time those ghosts came out. Oh great! I can't kill these things either. So I precede to do at least 200 suicide runs to learn the level and pick up all the treasure. Good thing is that I found a FireKeeper soul really early in the game. Keep in mind all of this up till now is after beating Taurus. I am around level 10 or so. Another good thing is I can now run through New Londo Ruins with my eyes closed not using Transient Curses.

5. Thinking that the Transient Curses let you "hurt" other people's ghosts that you see at bonfires and randomly throughout your game. :roll: I wasted all of them before realizing what they actually did.

6. Going into Lost Izalith and when you get to the bottom of the tree root there was a message that said "try jumping off", so I did. I jumped on to the little ledge, the one that is about character height off the ground, started walking away from the fog gate and all of a sudden an "invisible" wall pushed be back towards the opening to Lost Izalith and I was trapped there. Couldn't move. This was about 110 hours in and I almost cried. No homeward bone, nothing. I couldn't get out and I couldn't die. My file was screwed. So I humbly exited thinking I'd never finish the game. At the start screen I said, why not load it up one more time. Like I expected, I was still in the corner and couldn't move. As I was sitting there feeling horrified, my character randomly died! YEAHHHHHHH!!!! I"M OUT! I can actually finish my game. Now I don't know if that was some sort of sick trap that the developers created, or a glitch but seriously, stay away from it!!! I warned you.

7. Playing in the DarkRoot Garden Pre-patch and meeting those invisible guys that are part of the Forest Hunters. I've never panicked so much in a game before. I can't target them! WTF!? I thought I was a pure genius when I ran into that little corner to hide near the cliff, and low and behold, they killed themselves. Now I realize it's a common tactic. LOL. I used it as a great place to grind souls early in the game. Side note: I ran past that cat like 20 times before I seen it. AHHHH! What the hell is that.

8. Having Frampt show up and me not knowing if I should kill him or not. I seriously thought it was sent to murder me or to spy on me or something. I must have sized him up for 10 mintues. LOL. Now we are best buds. I call him Peter Frampton Do you feeeel like I do....?

9. Creeping my way through Sen's Fortress (or The Obstacle Course Of Death as it became affectionately known to me) thinking that the game was almost over. Beat the Iron Golem, felt amazing but slightly let down. This is the end!? Really? Well....alright, it was a fun ride. Let's go touch this white ring thingy and get it over with. I swear to you that I got chills, goose bumps and heard the faint sound of angels singing when I was lifted over that wall. . OMG! It has just begun...This place is freaking enormous! It was the greatest feeling I had in the game. Hands down. It came out of left field and punched me square in the face. At that point, I thought there was no way the game could get any more brutal or any bigger. You know the rest of the story...Smough and Ornstein, I HATE THEE!!!. :shock:

Thanks for sharing these - Nice reading.

My first playthrough = kill every npc cas I thought they were useless

That was enjoyable to read, that you for posting this.

I honestly don't remember much from my first playthrough, I've played the game so many times now.

However, I do still remember pre-patch getting cursed twice and having 1/4 of my HP bar. Lurking New Londo Ruins for Ingward to cure me was an extremely intense experience. I didn't know Purging Stones existed at the time. Lol.

Awesome. IF you did have someone assist you, (coop) what would you want them to help you with, if anything? Do you think them explaining game mechanics would hurt or help? Things like poise, weight, stability for sheilds, weapon damage vs poise...

Would that help or hurt your experience? Just about to start a coop with a friend on PS3.

Nice one, frog. Also nice avatar.

Uparkaam wrote:Nice one, frog. Also nice avatar.

...i was gonna say... ribbit?

interesting stuff shroom, i too creeped through every level, died repeatedly to things that were obvious, went the wrong way, got ganked by ghosts, spent 5 hours trying to beat just the gargoyles boss, just as long on oandsmo..

1ts playthrough is the most fun you have though because it's all so new, and it's all so different to what usually applies to games right now, especially if you were new to the series like myself.

IV_Mark_VI wrote:Awesome. IF you did have someone assist you, (coop) what would you want them to help you with, if anything? Do you think them explaining game mechanics would hurt or help? Things like poise, weight, stability for shields, weapon damage vs poise...

Would that help or hurt your experience? Just about to start a coop with a friend on PS3.

Thanks for all the nice comments. I'm glad everyone is enjoying it.

Honestly, playing like I did is not for everyone I'm not trying to brag or sound like I'm some gaming god or something. I'm just weird and love, love a challenge. haha. You'll need copious amounts a patience and a resilience you never thought you had in you. That is where the triumphant feeling comes from at the end. Wanting to give up, but not and pushing forward against all odds. I eat that **** up. It's sort of a metaphor for life in a strange way. There were a few times, well more than a few, that I wanted to freak out and never play again. Seriously, the mosquitoes in Blightown still piss me off. The blowdart dudes as well. They can suck on my scythe....lol. But when I got to the end, I just stood there in complete silence. Did I just beat this game? I think I did. This can't be real....I have to be dreaming.

I felt I ruined Demon's Souls by using the wiki/guide and made a promise to myself that I wouldn't do that with Dark Souls. I am also stubborn as hell and have OCD. So even when I was stuck, I soldiered on. It was painful but the victory was all the more sweeter. If I'm honest, I almost gave up in Blightown. But...I didn't stop and now I own that swamp. The hardest thing was not using my guide that I had bought to go along with the Collector's Edition. It sat on my bookshelf for at least a year mocking me. I never even opened the little art book, lol. I need to do that...

But to the point: I feel this game was meant to be played with minimal assistance, no guide, no wiki, nothing, at least on your first time through. Co-op is an option as is the wiki/guide and I would consider them to be the equivalent of an easier difficulty. Playing completely alone adds a whole 'nother layer into this game. To me, seeing "ghost" of another player in my game was actually comforting. They even helped me discover ladders a few times and hidden walls and what not. And hearing the bells ring from across worlds, so sweet, reminds you that your not alone and it can be done. Everything is more mysterious, makes absolutely no sense and scares the crap out of you. It becomes YOUR game and your OWN personal experience. I doubt anyone played exactly like I did, or went through the levels in the same order. I wasn't bothered with using the best weapons, or following the best upgrade paths, finding out where I should go next or looking up the best strategy to beat a boss. I just went in, immersed myself, and had the greatest gaming experience of my life. Worrying about the best gear and all the little secrets your first time ruins the core game. That is the reason PVP is boring. To me anyway. Everyone uses the same setup and knows about all the tricks/exploits, no originality. What fun is that? Really?

I'd say to play blind as long as you can, but don't give yourself and aneurism while doing it. Or only use co-op as assistance, not to lead you around and spoil all the secrets. If your both new to Dark Souls, it wouldn't matter as you'd both be lost.

On poise: I didn't know what it was until about a week ago. LOL. I'd say it isn't that important until maybe the end game or for PVP or certain builds. The most I ever had was 40 and I think that was from the ring. Didn't see a noticable difference, so I never wore it again....until I met Gwyn.

Don't worry, you don't sound like a gaming god lol.

Lots of people on here, including myself, did the same thing. Played offline, prepatch. I've beaten the game with a SL1 without help, but haven't done some of the insane Vegeta runs. I didn't do things in the same order at all; I don't understand how you were stopped by the dragon. The tutorial showed you how to run from a fight you can't win. My hardest boss was actually gaping dragon, and queelag took awhile. Killed her with a bow, and back pedalling.

I'm put a ton of hours into this game, and forget the new feelings, so asking someone with a fresh perspective. The answer to "What would you tell someone in a coop game" can't be "No coop"... it will make it easier, but the point is to play coop.

So, when my friend asks me questions, most I won't answer, but I'm considering game mechanics, such as 2handing a weapon increases your str stat by 1.5x and corresponding damage, or weight thresholds are at 25% and 50%. Nothing about best gear or stats or anything, although I'm considering telling him to leave resistance alone.

Shroomerz420 wrote:
5. Thinking that the Transient Curses let you "hurt" other people's ghosts that you see at bonfires and randomly throughout your game. :roll: I wasted all of them before realizing what they actually did.

Awesome...thanks for the memoirs. This one made me LOL. Must have been you I saw doing what I assumed was a ceremonial war dance around the fire...

IV_Mark_VI wrote:Don't worry, you don't sound like a gaming god lol.

Lots of people on here, including myself, did the same thing. Played offline, prepatch. I've beaten the game with a SL1 without help, but haven't done some of the insane Vegeta runs. I didn't do things in the same order at all; I don't understand how you were stopped by the dragon. The tutorial showed you how to run from a fight you can't win. My hardest boss was actually gaping dragon, and queelag took awhile. Killed her with a bow, and back pedalling.

I'm put a ton of hours into this game, and forget the new feelings, so asking someone with a fresh perspective. The answer to "What would you tell someone in a coop game" can't be "No coop"... it will make it easier, but the point is to play coop.

So, when my friend asks me questions, most I won't answer, but I'm considering game mechanics, such as 2handing a weapon increases your str stat by 1.5x and corresponding damage, or weight thresholds are at 25% and 50%. Nothing about best gear or stats or anything, although I'm considering telling him to leave resistance alone.

As for the Red Dragon. Fear...that is what stopped me. I would run towards it with my shield up, FIRE = Death. So I try again. Death. After a few times I conclude that the dragon is there to stop you until your level is high enough to kill it or withstand its fire. Later I discovered the stairway on the right you can go down. I did not know this at first. I thought I had to run the whole way across and fight it face to face. That little misunderstanding changed my whole game.

I get what your saying now. I honestly don't think telling him those hints would hinder the overall experience. It would make it less frustrating for sure. Definitely keep things secret like, level layout, traps, what Lautrec is doing in Firelink, the Anor Londo archers, you know all the fun stuff that will have him screaming. haha

Serious_Much wrote:

Uparkaam wrote:Nice one, frog. Also nice avatar.

...i was gonna say... ribbit?

interesting stuff shroom, i too creeped through every level, died repeatedly to things that were obvious, went the wrong way, got ganked by ghosts, spent 5 hours trying to beat just the gargoyles boss, just as long on oandsmo..

1ts playthrough is the most fun you have though because it's all so new, and it's all so different to what usually applies to games right now, especially if you were new to the series like myself.

Yeah, fortunately for me I was one of the crazies who played Demon's Souls back when it was unheard of. So I was more than ready when Dark Souls came out. I can't imagine going into this game without having played Demon's first. Although, it might have made it easier because you had a fresh start where as I had expectations and crazy ideas of what could and would happen. After completing both of them though, Demon's is a better game IMO. There's just something about it. The Nexus, the Archstones, World Tendency. You had to be there I think a lot of it was because it was a niche game and it was something unique at the time. Not to be an elitist, but Dark Souls ruined that feeling for me with all the hype and promotion. Kind of made me sad that it went mainstream....but hey, more exposure means more money and more SOULS!