Dark Souls Dissected #18 - Seek Guidance & Hidden Messages 

Is it possible to add sex in dsr?

@@AssholeTingler69 Become a modder and the sky is the limit! So don't lose hope of your dreams, perhaps one day the Gaping Dragon will be f*ckable. edit: Hate to explain the joke but I think the comment got auto-hidden without my input. They asked if sex can be added to DSR, lmao.

​@@illusorywall🎶Vagina dentata~ What a wonderful phrase! Vagina dentata~ Ain't no passing craze!

Well I definitely noticed the vagrant in the undead burg (which I'm hoping is the most "obvious" one)

@@_Salok That's one of them! 👍 I'm able to self-spawn Vagrants in debug in PtDE, but not in DSR, where just modding them into the game is easier. That is the location of an actual potential Good Vagrant spawn location, but it's not there legitimately so I was counting it as one of the three. The other two things should simply never be there.

I like that idea a lot. Insight could've used more love.

Max insight reveals a message that reads "We're living in a videogame"

​@@okisemporiumself aware amygdala

@@okisemporiumI unironically believe this is the true plot of Bloodborne

@@okisemporiumnah. That kind of dumb shit would only ruin everything

I heard there's a super secret hidden message in the Kiln of the First Flame that tells you to press start on the title screen.

The irony of Pinwheel is that he's a pre Ringing of Bells Boss placed in an area that most players clear post Anor Londo. Unless you're doing Rhea's Questline (which is why I point at it being pre Ringing of bells due to Lautrec's dialogue triggering Petrous to admit he left her stranded there) there's not much reason to visit Catacombs that early unless you're a faith build desperate for some powerful Miracles. But with at best Divine Weapon +5/Base Weapons +10 he can be a pain.

​@@Jaquan018 I feel like I must have misunderstood. Did you just say that Pinwheel would be difficult with a +10 weapon?

I think is intended te be beaten just after Tauros demon. you know, with the lighting resine? have you ever tried it? is kindaaaaaa hard, kinda

@@Kayther33 I don't think you're expected to make a detour to the Catacombs right after the Taurus Demon. The Undead Parish takes you straight from the Taurus Demon to the Bell Gargoyles. Not to mention that you are directly told to head up to the Church and down to Blighttown, but you're not told to go to the Catacombs.

I like to think it was made for this sole purpose. So that when you're exploring darkroot garden you're like "HOLY SHIT IT MOVED!"

i like that it drops the format like a charector dropping their accent when scared

Also, is that tree the only enemy in the game that actually has a patrol path? Edit: I did notice a few Bloated Hollows in the Painted World of Ariamis that patrol

@@lukebrunekreef8259 Off the top of my head I can think of at least one other. That being a torch hollow in the depths.

No not for me but for grandpa?surely

you'd be surprised, but there are more vagrants in the game atm. I found 4 in my current playthrough, my brother has found 2 vagrant and he's at the capra demon

​@@stefanoninivaggi98Now that it's known how they're made, probably people are going out of their way to send them out. I know I did when I first learned how.

White or black ones?@@stefanoninivaggi98

@@Dustweaver Yeah.. I'll often drop an item (Which I now call a "Vagrant Fetus") every playthrough I do, and if I see a one that I know is a vagrant fetus, I'll leave it alone.

I was really happy to see a regular evil vagrant, a black phantom evil vagrant, and a black phantom good vagrant in my current playthrough. And just after watching his video on them again. Guess a lot more people are playing right now

Unpatched DaS is the way to play

​@@Guitar-Dog isn't that 50% rtsr too?

@@qwopiretyu I believe RTSR should've always had the same activation point, I found an edit to the wiki clarifying the 20% HP from Nov 2011. While the game had a couple small patches before then, that was still prior to any major balancing patches. I don't know for certain though. The DWGR was absolutely wild though until the DLC came out, that activated below 50% equip load so that might be what you're thinking of. Resulting in builds that should've been too heavy to flip, flipping around like mad during PvP. It was horribly OP, lol. Another fun one is that the Ring of Fog prevented locking on. While I know more advanced strategies for PvP mean getting good at not over-relying on locking on, to any two newer players, one player not being able to be locked on to gave them a MASSIVE advantage. It was brutal. Invaders would equip it to basically enable easy mode for killing hosts. That didn't last nearly as long as the DWGR ninja flipping Havels though, that was patched out much sooner.

​@@illusorywall50% rtsr activation would be a nightmare in pvp like any backstab or roll catch from a strong weapon would activate it

Ah yes, havel monsters were able to flip before dark wood grain ring was changed. I personally always viewed giantdad as the spiritual successor to havel flippers.

That's an awesome idea. I for one love that the messages aren't all "useful"! They add character to the game, intrigue.

Makes a lot more sense in the release version of the game as well. In 1.0, you didn't get homeward bones with boss kills, so getting back to the bonfire to spend your souls was a way bigger deal. I imagine a lot more people would have noticed the trees if they never added homeward bones to the boss drops

This tree is now my favorite enemy in dark souls.

In one of my first playthroughs, I actually did get lost due to the tree moving.

I didn't know about either of these trees, after hundreds of hours of playing. I'm pretty sure its movement has gotten me lost in the forest before.

Adding to this, when I first played the game on PS3, I didn't use Homeward Bones at all. So after the Moonlight Butterfly fight the tree having moved did actually manage to trick me into taking a different path, resulting in me being very confused. It was really cool in hindsight, so I wish they had utilized the mechanic a bit more.

Yeah I've had this happen to me one playthrough, I walked back instead of using a homeward bone, noticed the tree blocking the path and without thinking I ended up going the other way through the weird tunnel

Also while the second tree doesn't block the path as you enter, it will move to block your exit if you go up the path to the wolf ring, got me killed trying to run from the stone giants on my fist run through this area

It is my favorite, favorite thing that a few of us rushed to the comments to point this out despite the fact that the video itself remarks on this event not 3 minutes after introducing the developer message. Truly a Dark Souls/10 moment

People use homeward bones?

You mean you don't find "Safe Zone Ahead" in the Centipede Demon room helpful, when you're already basically there?? lol 😅

The miracle resonance could have been soooo good 😩

​@@albino5995i still feel it has a use in ps3 forest where its glitched out so that if theres a MR in any part of the game it also appears in forest. Its like a beacon showing ur not alone even in a 12 year old game.

@@furiousbanana I know I'm not alone in darkroot cause of all the WoG spamming phantoms lol

I think the worst thing a mechanic like Miracle Resonance can be in a Souls game is useful, it's the icing that brings it all together. There's no reason to see the ghosts of other players around the bonfire, but the game would be much worse without it.

Take the plunge. You wont die.

Me too! I never knew about that and I'm autisticicly passionate about Dark Souls 1

​​@@Guitar-DogYeah I was doing a Challenge to find out how many Bosses you can Kill with Barehanded No Dragon Form Base Game and DLC and found out attacks I didn't even know about from Bosses: Pinwheel, Four Kings, Queelag, Seath the Scaleless, and Gravelord Nito. Since I have 2 Damage for most of the game until I got Kirk Knight Gauntlets for 4 Damage on Seath the Scaleless and Gravelord Nito etc... I found a good amount of new attacks. Including some from enemies. Obviously I only allow killing Enemies with Dragon Form to make things easier. I decided this in order to speed up the run. Long Story Short the Base Game Run ended at Four Kings failing I mean I can see a possibility of winning with enough healing items but 2-3 spawn in very little time then the 4th some time after. I'm putting it as Impossible for now since I'm not sure even with Healing Items, Perfect Play, etc... That it could happen. Obviously I think that someone could do it with Healing if it's possible but they may need Online help to get Elizabeth Mushrooms and Divine Blessings to Complete it but either way they do it I would count that as something to be proud of because it means you can beat the Basegame. Edit: By what I mean by Only Allow I mean for Killing Enemies and getting Tail Severeds but no killing Bosses with it. Also I added some other Rules in to help speed things up in order to make this run happen before I f(_)cking die of old age. So basically Item Drops that are Grindable basically anything I Reach at Some Point a Shop or getting Souls or I get a Enemy that drops Stuff that Respawns I skip Grinding and at certain Progress Points I Level to help scale things down. And for Bosses I know are beatable but I can't beat I Allow Advantages there are 2 so far that aren't impossible without them but require Insane Amounts of Time and Patience. Also Moonlight Butterfly isn't included because it Heals Way too Fast and Forever. Also you can't get the Finishing Blow with your Fist at least when I used the Summon to see If I could get what I needed. It didn't work so I'm not sure how Lucky you need to be to get that Barehanded Fists Kill. Anyways so far there are not many Bosses left Basegame that I haven't yet determined are Beatable without Advantages.

Once I realized that this was basically my own mini "dumbshits guide" tucked within the video, I had to! Wasn't planned at all in the scripting process, but I realized it as I recorded my vocal audio.

​@@illusorywallDefinitely wasn't lost on me!

It's been great seeing all the love for the guide series that will never end. They remain quality viewing to this day.

@@jaredmulconry 😢

HOW DID I ONLY LEARN THIS NOW

You got to be kidding me

That sounds really helpful on a NG+ where you want to explore as much as possible.

mmm, hidden developer bacon. sounds like Castlevania meets Dark Souls.

I had to back to to confirm 😂

I dig it too, and it's the shortcuts that help make that palpable. If I was in charge of a remake I wouldn't add a bonfire down there.

Also it was underwater. Not so good for fires.

​@@cranapple3367No there can be you can light a Bonfire. They also could've added ones in still Watery Areas that can't be Relighted and Ones in the Areas you Get Rid of Water in. To add to the Atmosphere. But due to Lore I doubt it since even though Gwyn denied Dark he also still payed Tribute to their Way of Life but will still follow his way.

DS1 definitely said “convenience be damned” when it services the atmosphere or mood of the area, and I think it’s great, makes a lot of the more challenging areas very memorable.

@@greathorn I wish modern games would be more inconvenient

I'm glad i found another Wildpie enjoyer :D

I wasn't expecting a reference to the dumbshit's guide in this video, it made me smile and search in the comments to see if I wasn't alone :D

I feel like an old man, nobody even used the term zoomers when wildpie made guides yet here we are, discovering new secrets to this decade old game so long after vaati made his prepare to cry videos.

one of us one of us! @@juliuspoensgen4369

old people use youtube too @@eewweeppkk

Elden Ring does this! The item is called the scriptstone and you can craft as many as you need

​@@minerman60101do you know any cool messages in elden ring? There is dev messages and phantoms without seek guidance.. 2-1 in demon souls has a phantom pulling the lever

How do you not know the exit back to the Catacombs from the Tomb of The Giants there's Lore Intensive Stuff there related to the Divine.

One of the coolest things about Dark Souls' storytelling is all the implicit stories of characters you never see in action. I always wonder about the corpses strewn around Lordran too. Maybe the guy who left that message ended up dying and leaving his corpse up ahead.

@@evanseifert8858It's always interesting to see a new corpse show up with a set of armor when you kill an invader. You'll just be backtracking and suddenly there's a body with items that wasn't there before - or at least if the body was there, the items weren't. Then there's stuff like Leeroy. He'll help you in the Pinwheel fight, but after you remove the golden fog from the room right before Nito, he'll invade you. This implies he's against the Kingseeker plan and is trying to stop you from getting the Lord Soul so that you can't Link the Fire. Or the denouement of Solaire's story, where saving him will cause him to despair but then become available as a summon against Gwyn when he finds his resolve.

I like the idea of Way of White making them more findable! Even if it didn't make them entirely visible outright, which is not a bad idea to begin with, massively buffing the miracle would've been another option. There's an interesting supposed purpose of the Way of White which I'm pretty confident doesn't exist in DSR. I've mentioned this in a previous video, but it's supposed to make co-op easier to find, and make invasions less common. Some people still recommend it for this but I can't imagine how that could possibly work. It doesn't do anything like pull more summon signs into your game, at least not directly, and it doesn't expand their Soul level range or anything like that. In vanilla/ PtDE, it might've worked because of the limited pool of players you connected with. You could only connect with up to 20 players at a time, and it's those 20 players who would send ghosts/ messages / bloodstains, etc, and who were also potential candidates to find in multiplayer (if they currently met the conditions, which wasn't at all a guarantee). Those 20 slots would dynamically remove players and get refilled with others, probably prioritizing players currently within the same area as you, and possibly within closer level ranges. We don't have any idea what the sorting algorithm for the server looked like, but the promise of co-op covenants like Way of White was that you'd be "drawn closer" to others on the network. This almost certainly means that if you were in the Way of White, other members were among the criteria for prioritized connections. And given that the focus of the covenant was ostensibly co-op, that would've meant being connected to more players who are also looking for co-op. Not that Darkwraiths, Darkmoons, Forest Hunters, etc, can't also engage in co-op, or that Way of White members can't pop some cracked red eye orbs and invade you instead, but you can see how that would be a lower chance. This 20-player-limit is what made co-oping with specific friends so hard in the original version of Dark Souls. You'd often have to wait at least several minutes, sometimes up to 10 minutes in some pretty bad cases, to even find your friend, waiting to get connected in that smaller pool. But for DSR? The multiplayer just doesn't work that way any more. ANY player, who is within correct matchmaking parameters, will have their summon sign show up for you. Not even the password really helps for making connections. The password is critical in surpassing matchmaking restrictions, and also helpful for making sure randoms don't interact with your signs instead. But IF your co-op partner was within SL and WL ranges to begin with, the password doesn't help their sign appear faster; It would've arrived just as quickly with the password turned off. So the way in which summon signs from anyone on the entire server are basically guaranteed to work, this means the original "drawn together" concept of the Way of White can't possibly work in DSR. Hypothetically, DSR might've created an entirely new priority system for invasions, that protects Way of White members? But there's no evidence of this. In vanilla/ PtDE, you'd simply always invade whoever in your 20 slots that you had the best connection with (lowest ping), every time. Nothing to directly protect or avoid Way of White members, that's not a thing. So it's hard to imagine that DSR went out of its way to add a nuanced invasion mechanic, when lots of other online issues weren't really addressed. The TL;DR is that there's literally no point to being a member of the Way of White in DSR, at all. 😅

DS2's DLC has the Hollow Skin which gives you permanent Guidance. Of course it's behind an illusory wall halfway up an elevator so good luck finding it if you don't already know it's there.

@@thehittite6982 I forgot that even existed as an effect! That's pretty neat, but also pretty weird considering how it is found and the lackluster use of it with it being so late in the game. I suppose that's why I forgot about the guidance effect portion. What a well guarded treasure, haha.

Similarly, I think they should've made a Seek Guidance ring. You slap it on, and it's essentially ALWAYS going to be working to reveal developer messages. The downside is that you're using a ring slot for it, but I think it's a more even trade than taking up an attunement slot, and just functionally more useful

I would not rate it as "terrible", I mean, it doesn't do much, but it does well what it was meant to do.

@@maht.8016 Yeah, it does what it was meant to do, but the placement of hidden developer messages kinda stinks. Since the messages are in bad places, that makes the spell less useful than it could have been.

Ahh yes. The joy of going down the catacombs with no bonfire warp. Pinwheel is designed as an early game boss but he isn't in an early game area. Even for a miracle build with a divine blunt weapon the skeletons and necromancers are not tuned to fresh characters or new players.

​@@qwopiretyuThe catacombs are designed to be explored somewhat early on. The skeletons repel you at the start but remind you to return and press ahead when you get stronger, encouraging players who get stuck at later boss fights to try that direction instead.

I went down the Catacombs right after ringing the first bell and with no knowledge of the area's shortcut. Was it hard? Sure. But it was also some of the most fun I had playing Dark Souls. The challenges ahead never felt unsurmountable, I knew I was always just a Necromancer away from making some progress through the area. The fight against Pinwheel was the icing on the cake. I missed him a couple times with my stubby Battle Axe so he filled the area with his puppet-clones in no time. Their magic attacks melted my HP bar, and the fight ended in a climactic double-down. There are other boss fights in the game which have more thought put into them, but this was my favourite one. It was the perfect storm of adrenaline (especially right after running for my life from the Bonewheel Skeletons), challenge and role-playing (my weapon of choice mattered quite a bit). Plus, I love Pinwheel's design and boss music.

@@eewweeppkk I would argue that they are designed to NOT be explored early on, from the skeletons to the wheels, the place isn't for the weak and low level.

@@user-zk3dx9dd6p its meant to be both low and higher sl. It has a short cut to the boss which allows you to run past all the enemies and summon leeroy who can kill the boss in 2 hits. This way a more experienced player can have 20 estus and go through more difficult areas sooner and pvp faster. Running through the rest of the area requires more levels because of the damage and hp if enemies

Yeah me too, I used it once near Petrus after I bought on my first playthrough, it did nothing, so I never used it again.

Bearer, seek "Seek"

casting some spell over and over again so you can comb through the entire game for a handful of useless developer hints is peak Dark Souls game design

And at the end of the video when talking about Pinwheel and him being too easy -- everyone who loves DS1 should do themselves a favor and go fight Pinwheel at base level and unupgraded weapons, without Leroy. It's actually a really good fight when he doesn't die in 2 seconds. Much, much better than the DS3 version of the same fight, Crystal Sage

@@alpagator1372 I actually did this during my first playthrough by accident. I had a divine weapon to deal with the skeletons but that was it. I had maybe a handful of extra soul levels by the time I got to Pinwheel. The fight was pretty good, and I believe how it was intended to be fought - I think the game was probably far less linear at one point in development, and the Tomb was meant to be accessible in as an early game path branch. When they changed the layout of the game and the order of progression, they forgot or didn't have time to buff Pinwheel to match.

@@alpagator1372 The game tries to nudge players into going to catacomps early because of Petruses missing friends, but people rarely do that on their first playthrough. I did go there early and pinwheel kicked my ass.

because DS1 was insanely rushed?

@@battedbook5811 Domnhall also can tell you to go to the catacombs if you want to improve your kindling, but even among the small number who hear that hint, no who has already walked through 90% of the depths is gonna traipse all the way back through to firelink and then down to the catacombs before progressing.

I just learned about the blight town spiders havin a lava poop attack. Did you know you can see the Duke archives from hellkite bridge? That's one that surprised me

I did, only thanks to illusorywall though.

@@MisterOfuthat was one that popped up in his video that surprised me, the poop attack in this video was my shock (Das2 illusory wall messages aswell) Can you think of any others, proper secret secrets 🤔? Would love a thread somewhere with 'secrets in dark souls for people who have 100% dark souls"

I can't really think of anything equally obscure.

I'm a Shadow of the Colossus fan, we're still at it over there too. 19 years after release.

I get that but Demon's Souls started that Spark for Lore Intensive Detailing that lives on in every Official Souls Series to Souls Like. Also I like each Souls Game in their own Unique way but regardless nothing hits like the Original Demon's Souls for the Playstation 3.

Just hearing it made me want to go and replay it, especially after recently playing Lunacid. Truly evil.

Hearing it makes me want to play it again.

The skull lantern is from the Necromancers, isn't it?

Yes it is. The ones in the Catacombs have chances to drop them, but finding it inside the Tomb is much more likely.

The only other light sources are the sunlight maggot and dlc sorcery, neither of which a new player are going to find before tomb of the giants

saaaaame

My focus is forever spoiled.

That's an idea.. Maybe the design of seek guidance is a way to show players what sort of messages to write aswell.. If your using it to find messages it will encourage you to put some down

Lol I’m new to the series and I used it not knowing what it does

Y ..preety much and those who did , did it by curiosity then abandoned it

These are good ideas too!

"Turn it into an item" is Elden Ring's solution for this and a couple other non-combat spells

Maybe a ring which reveals messages. That way you're making a tradeoff of weakening yourself in return for more information and guidance.

Right? Patches got a "Liar", Lautrec deserved better than a mere Prisoner ahead down the hallway.

That seems very likely, they probably wanted to steer your towards the Wolf Ring on the return trip. It's a neat idea but totally falls short in execution. You can feel like the moving platforms of Shulva in DS2 is them working harder to make managing paths a lot more explicit and direct. But I like the idea of a magical forest alternating paths on you in a weird way like this, I'd love to see them revisit it and do it better.

Thanks! And yeah it would be cool if they returned to finish the series, it's a classic.

Oh haha damn, that was a brutally effective troll. That's SO much worse than lying about a survivable fall or secret path, lol.

What's the wall? I can't think where you get lautrec key, I always take master key

Which item?

@@zariotsgilbert9717 seek guidance is now an item called "scriptstone", which can be crafted with near-useless crafting materials

​@@zariotsgilbert9717 the "scriptstone" you can craft after getting the missionary's cookbook 2

Love the DNA of old games being in the new ones. I can't remember he enemy but in elden ring you can get hit with a stun projectile which has the exact stun animation as the squid mages in 3-1 demon souls

Edit: anyone else got old animations/items appearing in the newer games? Poop jars in the things betwixt house

In King's Field the Reapers (tree enemies) had a single eye just like the dragon gods. In Dark Souls the tree enemy moves when you approach the Moonlight Butterfly, which was created by Seath (one of the dragon gods). Deep Lore???

I have the exact same feeling. It reminds me of something like Toorum's notes in Legend of Grimrock, where a seasoned dungeon delver left notes for others to help them make it through."

Are you playing a pirated copy by any chance? (no worries if yes, the honest answer actually matters) The servers are quasi-offline, leading to some shenanigans.