@Libellule

Nope, you can't use Turpentine with both the Bows and the Crossbows, but you'll be able to do a Lava Bow further along the game, which has Fire Arrow properties to it ;)

It's the best bow in the game if you don't go over 30 Dexterity, at which time, Sticky Compound Long Bow +5 becomes the best one.

Finally finished the game! The challenge, the adrenaline rush, the feeling of accomplishment: it's been so long since I've experienced those in a game.

GOTY indeed.

*Mild spoilers*

I passed all the bosses in soul form, alone, and most with sword and shield. Haven't cast a single spell. Unfortunately, I do have some regrets: I cheated on the Tower Knight, going with bow and arrow. It has haunted me since, the epic fight that would have been, that SHOULD have been.

My greatest fights: Flamelurker (the rush!), Maneater and the False King.

Favorite stage: Tower of Latria.
Most hated stage: Valley of Defilement.
Most hated enemy: Giant Depraved Ones.
Greatest weapons: Dragon Knight's sword +5 and Blessed Mace +4.

Great summary of your experience WyldRage :)

What class where you throughout the game? Since you said that you passed it mostly with Sword and Shield, did you pick either Soldier or Knight?

Tower Knight's fight is pretty epic going head-to-head with him, but it's also pretty hard as well, his attacks are almost all OHKO, especially if you are in soul form, like you did.

I also Hate both the Valley of Defilement (especially 5-2) and the Giant Depraved Ones, especially when three of them rush you on 5-2, it was one of the most haunting experiences in the game.

Are you going to try NG+ now?

I just got invaded by a BP for the first time and I have to say, as soon as it flashed up the warning on screen I thought oohhh s**t! I saw the guy running up some stairs near to me (on 1-3) whilst I was fighting some spearmen so I went into a panic to try and kill them quickly so I would only have to face the BP withough extra enemies as well. Managed it just before the BP reached me and then the dual began!

He used the Baby's Nail (I assume) to poison me but then carried on using that weapon and so he was never really able to deal too much damage. I constantly beat him down to low health but it took me nearly 15 minutes to finally kill him as I could never catch him to prevent his herb spamming!

Anyway, I'm looking forward to invading someone myself now! (hopefully non of you guys though as I don't think I'd last long)

@CrazyHorse

I know that feeling, even after being invaded dozen of times, sometimes I still have that "OH crap!" feeling, especially if i'm in the middle of a tough stage.

My most hated invasion was on 5-2 >_
What Soul Level are you? I can only invade people who are SL 19-39 :P

Just ordered DS! Though I have to wait about 10 days for it to arrive.

I was a wanderer, and I used his starting falchion until 1-3, when I bought a knight's sword. It became my large sword of searching.

I don't intend to play NG+. I beat the Phalanx pretty easily, to unlock the upgrade possibility (I was running around with 300k souls), but that's it. The learning aspect was great, the constant trial and error, especially against the bosses, and the exploration aspect.

Now, these parts are gone, and the appeal of the game is greatly reduced for me.

I am currently farming for stones but damn some are annoying.

Also, I accidentaly hit the 2-2 vendor and he hates me now. I did turn off the PS3 so hopefully when I restart he wont hate me anymore, lol.

@lestatdark

My soul level is around 41 so looks like I'm just safe from you for now!

I've not tried world 5 so far, just finished 4-1 now and have already cleared 1-1,1-2, all world 2 and 3-1 so maybe I'll brave 5-1 tomorrow.

I made the mistake of feeling overconfident after killing the invading BP in 1-3 and was killed by the very next enemy, an angry red-eyed knight with a very large sword!

@WyldRage

Trust me, NG+ makes you rethink your whole strategy, everything you have learned will not be enough to survive further down NG+. Just do yourself a favour and go fight Tower Knight, see if it's as easy as you think :)

@marciosmg

When you hit the vendor at 2-2, did a small orb near the right top corner of the screen appear? That's the auto-save sign, if it had appeared, then you're screwed with that vendor :P

@CrazyHorse

The Red Eyes are really painful if you aren't very careful, they are the most damaging normal enemies in the game, especially when you reach 1-4. The Giant Depraved Ones in 5-X are also very damaging, but they attack slow, thus not inputing as much damage as the red knights.

Of course, their damage is nothing compared to a Black Phantom Black Skeleton, even his normal hits can OHKO, and he's pretty much like a very hard Boss in terms of difficulty to beat.