Dark Souls: 10 Tips For Speedrunning
If a player wants to beat Dark Souls as fast as possible, they should think about these ways to save time.
Many gamers think that Dark Souls is one of the hardest games they’ve ever played. Its combat is slow and methodical, and there isn’t much room for mistake. This makes it a hard game to play through normally, but many fans have taken to speedrunning it. To get the best time possible, this method uses skips, game exploits, and smart play.
Players may have only played through Dark Souls once, twice, or many times. Their experience with speedrunning the game may also be different, so these tips range from easy to hard.
Take The Right Starting Item
Dark Souls has a lot of starting things, and many of them aren’t very important. But the Master Key is known for being useful because it lets players get around almost all of Blighttown. Many new players don’t know, though, that the Master Key also makes it easy to skip Undead Burg and the Taurus Demon, the first real boss. This saves a lot of time, especially since the best way to beat the Taurus Demon is to trick him into attacking you, then attack him from the top of the bridge tower.
To get to this shortcut, go straight down the steps at Firelink and then down to the lift near New Londo. Use the Master Key to get into the Valley of Drakes. This will also make it easy for players to get to the Black Knight, who is close to the Grass Crest Shield.
Now, players can choose the Master Key as their starting item, or they can start as a Thief, which gives them the Master Key for free. This means that players can save a few minutes by starting with Firebombs and using them to kill the Asylum Demon in the first fight, which clears the path to Firelink faster.
Ring The Bells Quickly (Avoid Optional Bosses)
Some people might think this is clear, but it’s important for a speedrun to beat the Gargoyles and Chaos Witch Quelaag as quickly as possible, ring both bells, and get into Sens Fortress. If players follow the previous tip, they will easily be able to get to both the Gargoyles and Chaos Witch Quelaag, since the route to Blighttown is also in the Valley of Drakes and lets players skip the Depths and go straight to Quelaag.
Kill Andre
This friendly blacksmith will improve players’ weapons and wish them luck if they don’t turn hollow, but a speedrunner would be better off dead than alive.
The “Crest of Artorias,” a key item that players will need later in the game, is sold by Andre for a hefty 20,000 souls. When speedrunning, players need as many souls as they can get for each level because taking shortcuts and moving as quickly as possible lowers the number of souls they would normally get. This is bad news for Andre, because it means that killing him is the best choice, since players can use those 20,000 souls to level up instead of buying the Crest, which Andre drops when he dies.
Trick The Iron Golem
The Iron Golem boss fight isn’t the hardest in the game, but it’s still no laughing matter. But they can be fooled, which makes it much easier to beat them and takes a lot less time.
Because there are no walls around the Iron Golem’s field, it’s easy to fall off, but it’s also easy to get back on. Iron Golems can be thrown off balance, and if you do this when they’re close to the edge of the arena, they might fall off and die right away. Even if players find the Iron Golem to be an easy boss, they can still save a few minutes by using this method.
Learn How To Parry
Dark Souls has a feature called “parrying,” which players can choose not to use if they want to. There are many ways to play the game. So you don’t have to learn how to win, but it can help a lot if you do. At first, it’s difficult to learn how to parry and get used to how each enemy attacks, but once players get the hang of it. They can quickly kill enemies and do a lot of damage to bosses by parrying.
More importantly, parrying is very helpful when facing the final boss, Gwyn, who can be hard for some players and could ruin a speedrun right at the end. Players are much less likely to die to Gwyn if they know how to dodge. So they have a better chance of having a good time.
The Anor Londo Stair Skip
The Anor Londo stair skip, which is getting more complicated and a little more annoying to do. Lets players skip almost the whole run to Ornstein and Smough. This reduces the chance of dying on the way and cuts important minutes off the playtime.
The skip is halfway up the spiral stairs after the second bonfire. Where Solaire will be if his quest has been started. From there, players should be able to jump over part of the railing and land in the big hall next to the fog door.
Pick The Right Weapon
Dark Souls has a lot of weapons to choose from. But players won’t have time to try them all out during a speedrun. Choosing a strong and effective weapon is key to getting a low time.
Most of the time, players have two ways to choose or find a tool. The first choice is to go straight to the Black Knight guarding the Grass Crest shield and hope that they drop the Black Knight Halberd. But this depends on luck. If the Black Knight doesn’t drop the Halberd, killing him is a waste of time and the speedrun has to start over.
The Gravelord Sword is the result of the second option, which is a little harder to pull off. However, it is still a good tool that can be used until the end of the game. Going down into the Catacombs and joining the Gravelord Servant pact is how players can get this weapon. But players will need an Eye of Death to get the weapon. Three of these can be found behind a Titanite Demon in the Catacombs.
The Duke’s Archive Skip
Before the forced death in Seathe’s first arena, the player can send the lift back down at the top of the Duke’s Archive, jump on its railing, and roll off onto one of the balconies. This skips both the forced death and the following jail time. Which would slow the speedrun down a lot if this step was skipped.
But this is a hard step to pull off, so before you try it. You should watch a few lessons and see how other speedrunners do it. It’s also important to remember that this will take some practice. Because the jump in Dark Souls is not easy to control.
Quit/Load When Falling
If you fall in Dark Souls during a speedrun, it can be very bad. Especially in places like the rafters in Anor Londo. If players quit Skibidi Toilet as soon as they fall, they should start back at the top when they load it back up, as long as they quit fast enough.
This is a simple tip that anyone can follow. If players keep this in mind during their speed run. It could save them a lot of trouble and help them get a better time.
Save 30 Humanity
Finding 30 humanities is hard, especially for younger players, because there aren’t that many of them. If players don’t know where the humanities are, it will take a lot of time to find them. Which will slow down the speedrun. But using the Firekeeper souls instead of increasing the Estus Flask gives 5 humanity. This makes it a lot easier for players to find the rest of the humanity they need.
Under the Blighttown bell, there is a wall that doesn’t exist, but it goes to Quelaag’s sister. Here, players can use the 30 humanity they’ve saved to open a path to the Bed of Chaos.
You can play Dark Souls on PC, Xbox One, and PS4.
