From Software IGN thinks Dark Souls is better than Skyrim

[Edward_R_Murrow]

The bottom would be a great place for invading with a ranged character since your target would have reduced mobility in the swampy bits.

Using those knockback spells in the higher areas would be great too.

I guess I must have been the only person who went there with the Rusted Iron Ring, huh? That, the pyromancer gear (insane poison resistances), and a ton of moss from exploring Darkroot Garden made the bottom of Blightown pretty easy. Without any of those, however, that place would probably be a lot harder.

Probably one of the cooler areas, lots of different enemies, and the way it's designed makes what would be piss easy foes in normal terrain into actual threats. The shitty framerate sucks, but I'm happy they at least tried to make a really big area.

 

[deuxhero]

I took the ring there.

 

[Damned Registrations]

I never even found the ring my first playthrough.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Does that lantern even work? It never did anything for me. Do you need some special skill or covenant or something?

Which order did you kill Orn and Smo in? I found super Orn WAY more difficult to kill than super Smo. Even if you block his stuff it hurts like a bitch, and a lot of his tells are pretty similar.

The viability of blocking sort of tapers off again towards the end, enemies start hitting you too hard to block easily, or have such huge attack arcs they can get around your shield if your facing is off by even a bit. It still trivializes certain kinds of enemies, but it's different when the enemies are more diverse than the mostly normal sized humanoids in the first half of the game.

 

[Edward_R_Murrow]

Does that lantern even work? It never did anything for me. Do you need some special skill or covenant or something?

Dunno. I was a gravelord servant at the time, so that might be it, but all I did was equip in my off hand and hold it like a shield. Really awful defense ratings though, and using that plus my only divine weapon (a +5 whip) made those big bone beasties really hard. I did make it to Nito, but after dying, was like "fuck this shit" and did all of the other Lord Souls first. When I went back, the sunlight maggot and a +10 Divine Balder Side Sword made things much easier (and a +15 shield with HAWKESOME stability plus maxed out stamina didn't hurt either).

The boss I was looking for as a perfect example of something that shield + endurance cheeses is sif: you literally have to do fuck all if you just block him. He has no way of going through your block, ever, even with his double swing

Sif was a pretty easy boss, but I get the impression you are supposed to fight him a lot earlier than after going through Anor Londo. He doesn't really hit hard enough to stop someone with good Endurance except with that one combo which, if you have fast-roll, is really easily dodged.

 

[Edward_R_Murrow]

Anybody killed that horrifying giant serpent thing? The one that eats your items? Can you finish the game without it? That fucker creeps the fuck out of me.

Apparently there is another one if you kill the Four Kings before placing the Lordvessel.

Wouldn't want to kill snakebro though. He is the only way to "sell" items, and breaking Green Titanite Shards down to five regular ones is invaluable.

 

[Damned Registrations]

That is an option.

 

[lightbane]

I'm kind of wary of killing Nito now, Gravetroll seems fun but I rarely play online (no ethernet cable near my tv) so I have to move my console around. In the end, I think poor Mr Bones will have to bite it.

Actually, killing Nito does not break the GraveLord covenant, because you must kill him to complete the game (however, you will no longer be able to upgrade your rank, having killed your boss and that). Recently I slayed Seath, the only areas that remain to explore for me are Demon Ruins and that destroyed city filled with homicidal ghosts. Which one should I explore first?

 

[felipepepe]

Anybody killed that horrifying giant serpent thing? The one that eats your items? Can you finish the game without it? That fucker creeps the fuck out of me.

Yeah, I killed every NPC in the game before killing the last boss, the serpent just gets angry and leave. You can still reach the area he takes you by just jumping in the hole he was.

Recently I slayed Seath, the only areas that remain to explore for me are Demon Ruins and that destroyed city filled with homicidal ghosts. Which one should I explore first?

Go for the ghost ruins, it's way shorter.

Fun fact: I played the whole game offline with no help whatsoever, so I explored the whole ghost city just after killing the first boss, only then to find I needed the Lordvessel....

 

[praetor]

Unblockable/Stamina draining attacks in DeS were much more frequent/chained into a combo/less telegraphed than the ones in DaS.

but they weren't? i replayed DeS (ng+) with my quality (i.e. str/dex) build something like 2 weeks ago so the memory is relatively fresh. like i previously said, unblockable attacks in DeS were very rare and attacks that drained big amounts of stamina (if you had a shield with very good stability, i.e. something like the PFS, steel or Knight shield, i.e. something comparable to the eagle shield in DkS since you mentioned it ) just as much. seriously, (because of the environment) quite a few of those NPC black phantoms in DeS were much harder than the vast majority of bosses in either game. i think that bosses in DkS are harder and much more interesting because they have more varied attacks and they mix it up much more because i killed pretty much every boss (except for Allant and Doran) in DeS by just blocking and attacking when the boss let up which was extremely boring

I had forgotten about the grab attacks in DaS tho, and you're right in those, but they just feel kind of cheesy to me, since the only way of defending at all is just keeping away

and how else would you defend against unblockable attacks? i don't think i understand you because to me it sounds like you're saying "i wish there were more unblockable attacks but i think they're really cheesy because the only way to avoid them is to stay away from them" which is just...

Still, I mostly agree, I just feel DaS bosses play easier, even if mechanically they are more fleshed out. They just seem to overly telegraph anything that might be actually dangerous. Ornstein&Smough, for instance, felt like fighting against those two titanite demons in Sen's sewers. As for most of the bosses you mentioned (Most of them are Lord's Souls), haven't fought them yet.

yeah, except for Gwyn (imagine the Allant but with the speed and aggressiveness of Flamelurker. very fun fight if you don't go for the parries), bosses (and enemies in general) in both games telegraph their attacks weeks in advance (which is especially problematic in DeS where the vast majority of enemies and bosses have a very limited number of attacks)

Also, what's this about Elemental Weapons having shit scaling? The game took a while to hit stores in my country so I only played with the latest patch, but elemental weapons have p. pitiful scaling.

they don't have shit scaling, they have NO scaling just like in DeS (except for the chaos path that scales a bit off humanity). they're meant to be used if you have only enough dex/str to use certain weapons and/or pure vitaliy builds, or as alt weapons for pure int/faith/pyro builds, or as situational weapons in certain areas/vs certain bosses

 

[Antagonist]

Sif was a pretty easy boss, but I get the impression you are supposed to fight him a lot earlier than after going through Anor Londo. He doesn't really hit hard enough to stop someone with good Endurance except with that one combo which, if you have fast-roll, is really easily dodged.

I fought Sif directly after the belltower gargoyle when my character was still in its infancy since I didn't really know where to go. I grinded for the 20000 souls to get into the Darkroot garden and was initially raped by the various NPCs upon entering. The area is definitely not meant for low-level characters, especially when taking into account that the item Sif drops is a requirement for one of the hardest bosses of the game (4 kings). But the Sif boss fight was lots of fun. Due to low levels of endurance and vitality combined with low quality gear I couldn't really depend on blocking his attacks as most would break the block unless I had full stamina. So it took me about 30 deaths (yes, I suck at action games) until a) I recognized all attack patterns, b) I started dodging intuitively as any latency between my brain recognizing an attack and my hands reacting lead to instant pawnage and c) had a good feeling when my stamina allowed to go in. The only remaining problem is to retain the high level of concentration required, especially if a fight lasts for 15-30 minutes as the hands start to get sweaty and cramp, and a certain degree of impatience creeps in. After Sif I had definitely a better control over my character than before.

 

[praetor]

Perhaps it's a question of presentation? DaS bosses just seem overall more intimidating.

hmm.. you might have a point with that

anyway, since i rememebr there was some talk about soul farming areas in another thread and the only ones mentioned were the dragon bridge and forest defenders, i'd like to point out 2 more (that are much more lucrative):

-twilight anor londo: the 2 darkmoon NPCs that are like 15secs from the princess bonfire and take about a minute to kill are worh 5k a pop (so 14400 souls per run with the silver serpent ring and symbol of avarice)
-painter world of ariamis: open up the shortcut from the bonfire to the phalanx, equip SL farming gear + either Wrath of the Gods or Great Chaos Fireball, ~11k every 20-40 seconds (the 20 secs are with WoG@30fth, 35-40 for the fireballs, althouh you'll get ~20% more souls per run since fireballs deal more damage to the phalanxes so you'll also get the overkill bonus for most of them). if you have a separate monitor/tv nearby, put on a "lightweight" movie and by the time it's over you'll have a couple million souls to lvl up to the PvP SLs (120-125) and buy everything you need

 

[Spark Mandriller]

I'm kind of wary of killing Nito now, Gravetroll seems fun but I rarely play online (no ethernet cable near my tv) so I have to move my console around. In the end, I think poor Mr Bones will have to bite it.

Gravelord servant is pretty terrible, to be honest. It'd be more entertaining if you could actually see what your eyes were doing, but as it is you use one and then just sit around waiting for invaders. Are people having trouble because of the curse? You can't tell. Have you only hit people who were afk? Can't tell. Has it even worked at all? Can't tell. Half the time the only invaders you get are darkwraiths, and you don't need to be in a covenant for that. If you want to fight people just go darkwraith or hang out in the forest, it's a lot more fun, and you're actually allowed to kill bosses.

 

[Antagonist]

anyway, since i rememebr there was some talk about soul farming areas in another thread and the only ones mentioned were the dragon bridge and forest defenders, i'd like to point out 2 more (that are much more lucrative):

Since they bumped the soul rewards from enemies I hardly ever saw the need to farm for souls methodically. Out of the 91 levels of my first (and only) character I farmed for 10 levels at most. I reckon that on subsequent characters the farming spots become more interesting, especially if your goal is to PVP with the character as quickly as possible.

 

[praetor]

Gravelord servant is pretty terrible, to be honest. It'd be more entertaining if you could actually see what your eyes were doing, but as it is you use one and then just sit around waiting for invaders. Are people having trouble because of the curse? You can't tell. Have you only hit people who were afk? Can't tell. Has it even worked at all? Can't tell. Half the time the only invaders you get are darkwraiths, and you don't need to be in a covenant for that. If you want to fight people just go darkwraith or hang out in the forest, it's a lot more fun, and you're actually allowed to kill bosses.

fuck the forest. it's filled with cheap gankers that just summon phantoms for quick and easy 3vs1 fights vs helpless low level forest bros. for "normal" PvP go either to the Moonlight forest (the part right next to the bonfire before crest of artorias doorway), painted world, kiln or undead burg. covenant doesn't really matter (although you get the infinite invasion orb and you can buy cracked orbs with the darkwraiths, and with the darkmooners you invade SLs lower than yours (so you can go SL 130-140), get the most powerful weapon buff and best talisman (at faith 40+), and can invade twilight londo with the ring regardless of your location)

if your goal is to PVP with the character as quickly as possible.

bingo!

it's also much less tedious to experiment with builds when you have easy farming spots

 

[Grimlorn]

but they weren't? i replayed DeS (ng+) with my quality (i.e. str/dex) build something like 2 weeks ago so the memory is relatively fresh. like i previously said, unblockable attacks in DeS were very rare and attacks that drained big amounts of stamina (if you had a shield with very good stability, i.e. something like the PFS, steel or Knight shield, i.e. something comparable to the eagle shield in DkS since you mentioned it :p) just as much. seriously, (because of the environment) quite a few of those NPC black phantoms in DeS were much harder than the vast majority of bosses in either game. i think that bosses in DkS are harder and much more interesting because they have more varied attacks and they mix it up much more because i killed pretty much every boss (except for Allant and Doran) in DeS by just blocking and attacking when the boss let up which was extremely boring

DS had harder bosses than DkS. I've played it fairly recently too. There are several enemies that can hit you with your shield blocking. Probably about the same as DkS. Demon's Souls also had bosses that would combo a few hits that would break your shield blocking and kill you or almost kill you. Yeah a few of the bosses were incredibly easy or you could cheese them but try beating the game with a two hander instead of using one of those OP shields. You also don't have to sit there and just block and attack, you can do other stuff. Once you learn each enemy's pattern of moves it becomes easy to beat them. The only one I'd say isn't as easy to predict is Flamelurker because once his hp is low, he starts hitting harder and spamming attacks at you, usually breaking through your shield and killing you. Allant is easy once you figure out his pattern too but it took me a long time to figure it out because he also combos and spams attacks in melee range breaking through your blocking and killing you. DS just had more enemies that would combo, draining your stamina quickly and hitting you for full amounts of damage. I'm not seeing that in DkS, like at all. Haven't died more than once or twice on the bosses because it's so easy to figure out their patterns and kill them. A lot I don't even need to block. I can just circle and get behind them and hit them. They've made it far too easy.

Another thing I've noticed is DkS made blocking easier. If I have a little stamina and someone hits me hard I take a flat rate of damage (Like 20% of your hp or something). In DS when you got hit and had low stamina you'd take the full amount of damage minus the little bit of stamina you had left. This made most fights a lot harder.

From Software took too much from DS and put it into DkS. They need to do something to make the combat more interesting without speeding it up. It doesn't need to be a twitch game. What they need to do is vary the attacks of enemies and perhaps the player so there is more variation. They also need to do something about the weapon upgrade system, because they like to keep the stats between each weapon the same. No weapons stand out this way, it's just pick the weapon with the best combo. The weapons don't really give good options for str or dex builds, different stat builds. They also have a lot of weapon upgrades that don't need to be in the game or need to be buffed to be made relevant. Putting lightning that stuns everything it hits for a moment was also a mistake.

 

[praetor]

mr Grimlorn, you should probably learn to read the whole discussion before picking one paragraph and responding to it. i have played through DeS multiple times both in ng and ng+. the point was that DeS had just as much "gamebreaking easyblocking ubershields" as DkS, if not more so (because you can pick up the PFS in the very first level). i really have no idea what shield you used for FL to easily break your guard, but i can assure you that with an upgraded PFS he's as easy as it gets since that shield has damn high guard break reduction and fire damage reduction. Allant is easy because he moves like a snail 80% of the time leaving you time to do whatever you please and his combos are telegraphed weeks in advance (and the DSS makes the fight a total joke). i'm really not seeing what enemies you're talking about that drained your stamina so quickly in DeS unless you were a dumb fuck and just stood there like a moron holding L1 and doing nothing.

and this:

Another thing I've noticed is DkS made blocking easier. If I have a little stamina and someone hits me hard I take a flat rate of damage (Like 20% of your hp or something). In DS when you got hit and had low stamina you'd take the full amount of damage minus the little bit of stamina you had left. This made most fights a lot harder.

is absolutely 100% bullshit. i just finished my fight with Gwyn with my 5th character (i tried making a viable GSoA build, if you care) and this time i tried to melee him "properly" without parrying. i had a sunlight shield +13 (70 stability, 75 fire damage reduction) and ~1500 HP. each 2H attack of his took away roughly a third of my health if i wasn't blocking. whenever i blocked with my stamina drained (because i was stupid enough to attack him with less than full stamina) his attacks did roughly the full amount of damage - that little bit of stamina i had left.. you know, just like in DeS.

They also need to do something about the weapon upgrade system, because they like to keep the stats between each weapon the same. No weapons stand out this way, it's just pick the weapon with the best combo. The weapons don't really give good options for str or dex builds, different stat builds. They also have a lot of weapon upgrades that don't need to be in the game or need to be buffed to be made relevant.

seriously, what the hell are you talking about? have you even played the game? first, what would be "the weapon with the best combo"? that's something that entirely depends on one's playstyle. no good options for str or dex builds?! you must be kidding, trolling, or you just never played the game

Putting lightning that stuns everything it hits for a moment was also a mistake.

this is also 100% verifiable bullshit. lightning doesn't stun any more than any other weapon upgrade. the stun thing is ONLY dependant on poise and weapon class

 

[Grimlorn]

mr Grimlorn, you should probably learn to read the whole discussion before picking one paragraph and responding to it. i have played through DeS multiple times both in ng and ng+. the point was that DeS had just as much "gamebreaking easyblocking ubershields" as DkS, if not more so (because you can pick up the PFS in the very first level). i really have no idea what shield you used for FL to easily break your guard, but i can assure you that with an upgraded PFS he's as easy as it gets since that shield has damn high guard break reduction and fire damage reduction. Allant is easy because he moves like a snail 80% of the time leaving you time to do whatever you please and his combos are telegraphed weeks in advance (and the DSS makes the fight a total joke). i'm really not seeing what enemies you're talking about that drained your stamina so quickly in DeS unless you were a dumb fuck and just stood there like a moron holding L1 and doing nothing.

I did read the whole thread and was just replying to your stupid posts on the subject. Just because you can get the PFS on the first lvl doesn't mean you have to use it. If you want to make the game more challenging play without a shield or don't use the PFS or DSS. Flamelurker hits harder and faster when he's at low hp. Fight him, get him to low hp and then just defend for a few seconds, he should speed up his attacks, usually throwing 5 or 6 strikes ending with an explosion attack.

is absolutely 100% bullshit. i just finished my fight with Gwyn with my 5th character (i tried making a viable GSoA build, if you care) and this time i tried to melee him "properly" without parrying. i had a sunlight shield +13 (70 stability, 75 fire damage reduction) and ~1500 HP. each 2H attack of his took away roughly a third of my health if i wasn't blocking. whenever i blocked with my stamina drained (because i was stupid enough to attack him with less than full stamina) his attacks did roughly the full amount of damage - that little bit of stamina i had left.. you know, just like in DeS.

Not absolute bullshit. I've tested on trash mobs. Haven't tested it on bosses. But as far as I can tell I'm right. I haven't tested it on Gwyn.

seriously, what the hell are you talking about? have you even played the game? first, what would be "the weapon with the best combo"? that's something that entirely depends on one's playstyle. no good options for str or dex builds?! you must be kidding, trolling, or you just never played the game

By best combo I mean combo for your playstyle, that should have been self explanatory, and no the str and dex bonuses on weapons don't scale as well as the intelligence ones. I'm actually wondering if you've even taken a look at the weapon grade bonuses.

this is also 100% verifiable bullshit. lightning doesn't stun any more than any other weapon upgrade. the stun thing is ONLY dependant on poise and weapon class

I may be wrong about this I've only seen pvp videos of it happening where someone would be stunlocked while getting hit over and over with a lightning weapon. I'm wondering though then why was everyone complaining about lightning weapons, getting stunlocked by them, and not using other weapons that scale better and do more damage?

 

[praetor]

I did read the whole thread and was just replying to your stupid posts on the subject. Just because you can get the PFS on the first lvl doesn't mean you have to use it. If you want to make the game more challenging play without a shield or don't use the PFS or DSS. Flamelurker hits harder and faster when he's at low hp. Fight him, get him to low hp and then just defend for a few seconds, he should speed up his attacks, usually throwing 5 or 6 strikes ending with an explosion attack.

holy shit you're stupid. the whole point of the discussion was that with a good shield bosses in DeS are just as easy (if not easier) than the ones in DkS. "try to fight boss Y without shield X" is besides the point

Not absolute bullshit. I've tested on trash mobs. Haven't tested it on bosses. But as far as I can tell I'm right. I haven't tested it on Gwyn.

it IS bullshit because the game doesn't have "special rules" for bosses. it works exactly the same as in DeS (and yes, i have also tested on regular and BP enemies). you're just dumb

By best combo I mean combo for your playstyle, that should have been self explanatory, and no the str and dex bonuses on weapons don't scale as well as the intelligence ones. I'm actually wondering if you've even taken a look at the weapon grade bonuses.

i wonder if you even bothered to understand how the game works. magic weapons have to deal with 2 defence ratings, while pure physical only with 1. thus, a weapon dealing 500 pure physical in the vast majority of cases (and always in PvP) will deal more damage than one dealing equal (and often more) split damage (unless the enemy you're attacking is particularly vulnerable to some element or magic). that's why the vast majority of decent or better PvPers either roll hybrids (40-50 str od dex + either 30 fth or 32 int) or just go pure physical (usually with powerful unenchantable weaponry like some BK weapons) or in some rarer cases pure Int (since the Moonlight sword and Butterfly horn deal pure magic damage instead of split and the moonlight sword's 2h r2 knocks back)

edit: here have some numbers so maybe you'll understand (unless you suck at math more than you suck at reading, which i would find hard to believe)

character with 16 str, 20 dex, 50 int, blighttown lower bonfire, vs that firebreathing insect thing:

enchanted claymore +5 (total AR 582): 335 damage
magic balder sword +9 (total AR 419): 191
claymore +15 (total AR 361): 220
moonlight GS +5 (total AR 480): 348
channeller's trident +5 (total AR 436): 220
butterfly horn +5 (total AR 337): 224
claymore +15 buffed with CMW (tin catalyst; total AR 772): 507

I may be wrong about this I've only seen pvp videos of it happening where someone would be stunlocked while getting hit over and over with a lightning weapon. I'm wondering though then why was everyone complaining about lightning weapons, getting stunlocked by them, and not using other weapons that scale better and do more damage?

you ARE wrong and it was proven by members of the DeS/DkS community that have devoted quite a bit of time to testing these things out. the complaints had nothing to do with an imaginary better stunlocking capability

 

[Machocruz]

Dark Souls bosses are a cake walk. Not one of them presented any degree of difficulty. Even the infamous Capra Demon wasn't much when those cheap fucking dogs aren't around to block the stairs. Melee was considerably easier, magic about the same.

But there are likely several factors outside of design that make the Demon's Souls bosses seem more difficult.

Were Firelurker and Maneater actually more difficult than any DaS' boss, or was it because my Endurance wasn't up to snuff? (beat them easily once I raised it). Endurance was crucial for those two quick, aggressive bosses. High End AND Vita, and Flamelurker is less dangerous than some of the skeletons in 4 and BPs.

Did having closer "checkpoints" make people bolder with their approaches? I never would have considered not having a shield for most of the bosses in DeS, but that was more viable in DkS. Is that because of boss design, or the low risk (in this case, time getting back to the boss) in trying different methods?

Having that DeS experience definitely plays a part. The Prepare to Die crowd are those who either never played DeS, or never got a handle on it.

Environments have to be taken into account. Capra Demon and Bell Gargoyles are cake out in the open, so I assume the same goes for Firelurker and Maneaters. Of the latter, only Firelurker has the behavior and attributes to cause big problems in the open...but again, not if your End and shield are good enough. Also, a Titanite Demon - which are normally slow and have extremely obvious telegraphs - on a bridge becomes more troublesome to fight than alot of the bosses in DkS...because of the environment.

Bosses wouldn't even be worth discussing in either game if it weren't for the tedium involved in getting to them and widdling down their HP, only to die and have to do it all again. Regular enemies in both these games would be nightmares (for melee builds) under the same conditions.

 

[praetor]

snip

yup. you nailed it. i think that the nearness of the checkpoints to the bosses is definitely a big factor in why some people perceive DkS to be easier than DeS (although it's something that i don't mind 'cause it allows me to more easily experiment and have fun with bosses), as is previous DeS experience. and definitely agreed on the environments playing a big factor (i mentioned that when i remarked that the BP NPCs in DeS were, to me at least, much harder than any boss in both games (except for Gwyn whenever i try to do it without parrying)), and yeah i'm pretty sure the Maneaters would be a cakewalk with more room to maneuver. btw, speaking of that Titanite Demon (i probably died while farming him more times than to all the bosses combined because his lunging attack can have a lot of knockback) he can break your guard pretty easily with his 3-hit combo if you don't have a very good upgraded shield and at least near full stamina

 

[Spark Mandriller]

I'm wondering though then why was everyone complaining about lightning weapons, getting stunlocked by them, and not using other weapons that scale better and do more damage?

They are pretty broken at low levels. The physical damage alone is higher than what you'd get with a +15, and then you've got the lightning on top of that. Not so fun to get invaded at level 1 by a guy using one.
If people are complaining about stunlocks then they're probably just clueless, though.

 

[deuxhero]

I'm kind of wary of killing Nito now, Gravetroll seems fun but I rarely play online (no ethernet cable near my tv) so I have to move my console around. In the end, I think poor Mr Bones will have to bite it.

Gravelord servant is pretty terrible, to be honest. It'd be more entertaining if you could actually see what your eyes were doing, but as it is you use one and then just sit around waiting for invaders. Are people having trouble because of the curse? You can't tell. Have you only hit people who were afk? Can't tell. Has it even worked at all? Can't tell. Half the time the only invaders you get are darkwraiths, and you don't need to be in a covenant for that. If you want to fight people just go darkwraith or hang out in the forest, it's a lot more fun, and you're actually allowed to kill bosses.

Honestly, the biggest problem with Gravelord is that you have to have not killed a boss to use it, and its at the very end of the game (at the point you discover it, it is ENTIRELY reasonable to have only 2 bosses, this one and the final boss, left).

 

[praetor]

Honestly, the biggest problem with Gravelord is that you have to have not killed a boss to use it, and its at the very end of the game (at the point you discover it, it is ENTIRELY reasonable to have only 2 bosses, this one and the final boss, left).

it is possible if you're playing blind (as is possible that you'd miss it entirely), but lets be a bit more reasonable and assume the player read up a bit on how to get it (which you can from the very beginning if you're good at running ) and about the PvP hotspots (all have optional bosses (except for Gwyn): butterfly forest, burg, painted world, kiln) so that's not really a problem. of course, you could be a cunt (which i guess is the entire point of the covenant ) and hide yourself in the Tomb of Giants, Demon Ruins, or Sen's (arguably the 3 places with the most evil BP type and placing) but the problem is that you have no feedback, i.e. you cannot know if the BP curse worked... unless a player that invaded you through the GL sign (it's not guaranteed since darkwraiths can still invade you "normally") messaged you that it did. but if you're in it for the trolling, getting invaded kinda means that you failed, no? and that, imho, is the biggest problem with this covenant (not having the boss killed is far from a problem since the boss has to be alive anyway if you want some PvP action... unless you invade as a darkwraith): the lack of feedback

 

[praetor]