Ornstein and Smough in a regular playthrough is almost perfectly balanced in difficulty. It is the first boss that (without some preparation with weapons, etc.) can not reliably be brute-forced by a new player. So one needs to strategize a little bit before the fight. A hitless run is another story. Now one really needs to keep track of what Smough is doing because him simply moving his hammer can alter the fight completely by either moving Ornstein or blocking him. Furthermore, Ornstein is deceptively elusive with his backsteps.
This was recorded during my first SL1 run and it was quite the challenge! Overall I think it took around 30-50 tries until I was successful. The main crux is keeping Smough in check while trying to get hits in on Ornstein. I am still quite new to Dark Souls-like games but I enjoy the challenge. Let me know if there are any other interesting challenges one could attempt in these games!
"SL1" or Soul Level 1 is a challenge type where the player is not allowed to level up at all. This creates a formidable challenge as such a character will be lacking the strength and dexterity required to wield more powerful weapons. A hitless run is a run where the player does not take any hits from the encounter.
The build used was a +5 Fire Reinforced Club with the Red Tearstone Ring and Ring of Favor and Protection. With a +5 Chaos Reinforced Club or higher upgrade Fire it would likely have gone smoother.
#darksouls #soulslike #darksoulschallenge
10 сен 2024
