The M&K is great. You can also map dedicated keys for things like kick and drop attack which are combos or context sensitive commands on the controller. My son has a horrible time kicking reliably on the xBox. For multiplayer this might be considered a cheat dunno. Not a game changer by any stretch but definitely a nice to have.

I was farming souls to increase DEX for the Black Knight Sword and this Balder Strait Sword dropped. Looks like a pure DEX weapon but the reach is a good 25% greater than my Astora sword so I can see why you like it. I really like the feel of it too. The Black Knight Sword is going to be an adjustment given its ponderous feel but its such a great drop I have to at least try it.

You'll love the Black Knight Sword! Use it two-handed and keep that Grass Crest Shield on your back for the bonus stamina regen.

You could also do a Lightning enchant or something that doesn't get any stat scaling on the Balder Sword if you want to use it for the moveset but don't want to level dex past 20.

Another sword I really liked, mostly just for the look, was the Silver Knight Sword. I was so disappointed it didn't show up again in Dark Souls 2 or 3.

You can see it here in one of my favourite old screenshots! :)
https://i.imgur.com/iBkRAFf.jpg
And while I'm throwing around old screenshots, take a look at this one :biggrin:
https://i.imgur.com/uzvbIlb.jpg

Looks good! I've killed 2 Silver Knights but no sword unfortunately. I'm almost there. I had to go 17->20 in strength and 10->18 in Dexterity. I'm now 20 and 15 so 3 more levels…

OK hate the Black Knight Sword. I know its a huge damage dealer upgraded but I like my light weapon wielder. I experimented creating a +7 Longsword and the damage I'm dealing with it is a match to the Astora +2. All the stat increases I did for the heavy sword has given me some nice scaling and pure raw damage seems the most reliable. Now I've got longbow from Darkroot as well. I polished off that nasty butterfly and Carpra demon so I'm off in the Depths. That is a creepy place!

Atmosphere wise the depths is my favorite place in the entire souls series, enjoy.

I had to use one of the homeward bones yesterday. Fell down not one but two shafts into the bowels of the place. I agree it’s extremely atmospheric. One question: I ran across a spell caster who instead of attacking started dancing a jig while humming? Of course I killed him but that was incredibly odd!

Holy crap those ghost knights behind the forest door. That was a challenge! Great learning experience. They tought me the importance of dropping my guard and biding my time.

You were right to kill him, if you don’t you will have to deal with him in the boss fight.

Great place to grind souls if you want. There’s an easy way to kill all 3 ghosts. I didn’t discover it until my second play through. I wont spoil it, but if you want to find out just do a quick google search for dark root garden and you will find several videos.

It’s so easy I’d consider it a cheat. So spoil at your own risk. I do believe the developers put it in on purpose though. Maybe as a way to help people that are having trouble. Just my theory.

I already killed them. They were tough but as always bide your time and don't be greedy. I couldn't believe it when I saw the second one though. The cleric was a pain because he kept backing up to heal and he always seems to aggro the thief. The magic user pah useless! I'm starting to risk power combos now as long as I sense their poise is toast. The big scary boss in the depths was so easy to flank with <25% encumbrance. Are you saying the magic user joins that fight? And what was the purpose of that giant rat? One plunge attach took it out. It wasn't an NPC I hope!

I might be wrong but if you speak with cat at the other end in a broken structure and enter a covenent then these guys won't fight you - in fact one of them (ninja) will be an npc that will sell rare weapons later on!

I rejected the cats offer. It’s minions are too valuable for the harvest!

They should respawn and be ripe for the farming. Giant rat is just a mini boss if you approach it from the other direction you cant plunge attack it but its still not a very hard fight.

If you say yes to the cat you will join the covenant and get access to a couple rings also nothing in that area will attack you. It’s worth it to get the rings and you can easily break the covenant by attacking anything in the area. So no locks you out of the covenant but there is another way to join but i wont spoil.

Most npc’s are killable and some have great rewards. The trick is timing though as killing some too early can lock you out of covenants and the rewards that come with it.

Blight town is my new favorite area. I love the fact that the enemies are unpredictable and use the ladders as much as I do. And what an ominous place.

Sen's Fortress is a MASSIVE buzz kill. Losing motivation :(

Keep going, the area after that is pretty awesome though you should stack some nerves calming pills hehe.

Maybe 100K souls lost in the process but I made it to the roof and fought a bunch of mini bosses. I still haven’t located a damn bonfire. Now that I’ve got the traps down it’s not bad running around. I’ll keep looking!

In the meantime streamer Happy Hob has finished his God Run, i.e. beat all soulsborne games consecutively back to back in one go without ever getting hit once.
Anyone interested in souls games should check it out on twitch. It's absolutely inhuman.

Yeah I don’t see that encouraging me at all

That's actually pretty damn impressive (or sad depending on how you choose to look at it). I can't begin to imagine the amount of time he sunk into those games to be able to do that.

I can't even get out of the Undead Asylum without taking a few shots. :)