SL 1, One shot boss challenge

So with the news of DkS II
and needing to take a break from 200 hours of monster hunter, I decided
log back into Lordran for a bit to mess around. I was playing with a
new character and on a whim I decided to see if it was possible to one
shot the Taurus demon with an SL 1 using only equipment legitimately
available, meaning no BB glitch or save editing to give yourself gear you can't reach yet. After seeing it was
possible it took off from there. My "Everything possible before
gargoyles" series is still by far my most popular as it seems many
people enjoy unconventional challenges, so it lead me to come up with this idea.


At first I tried to see how many bosses I could take on just staying
at SL 1 with those rules, but I didn't get very far. So I added some
new rules to allow myself to continue, but still remain very strict. I
figured some of you that are looking for a new challenge or something to
spice up the game may be interested so here are the rules of the
challenge.


*Note Asylum Demon doesn't count as it's impossible to one shot him at the start of the game.

1. Start as an SL 1 pyro
   
2. No glitches/hacks, must be 100% legit play.
   
3. For every boss you kill in one shot, you are allowed to gain 2 levels.
   
4. For every boss you kill in two shots, you may gain 1 level.
   
5. You may gain 1 level for one shotting any sub boss(BK's, prowling
   demon's, hydra, havel, etc..). If it takes more than one hit, you gain
   nothing.
   
6. Single attacks that hit multiple times do count. Meaning ripostes
   that hit twice, spells like firestorm, etc.. Knocking an enemy off of a
   cliff with your attack counts, however goading them into fire, off a
   cliff or other hazard does not.
   
7. When you reach the point where it is impossible to kill the next
   boss in 2 or less hits, the challenge is over. Whatever level you are
   determines your challenge score.
   

Plain and simple, the goal is to get as far into the game as possible
before it becomes impossible to kill a boss in 2 or less hits. Think of
levels as points, so people that successfully one shot more bosses will
gain more advantage for equipping higher level gear. I added the "2
shot" clause only because there are some early bosses that are
impossible to one shot due to the amount of hps they have, so the
challenge would end much sooner. This allows it to go further without
changing the actual difficulty. Rely on too many 2 shot kills and you won't gain enough levels to continue.



The entire challenge revolves around the order you do things, and
what priorities you give to stats. Do you give up and allow yourself to 2
shot a boss to reach powerful equipment located beyond at the cost of
only gaining one level? Or do you find a way to gain the power needed to
ensure a one shot kill and get 2 levels? You really have to think ahead
to know what weapons/spells/equipment you want to use, in what order to
gain levels, what order to kill bosses, etc.. to ensure you can make it
as far as possible. Just remember this isn't about beating the game,
you won't be able to with these limits, it's about getting as far as you
can and reaching the highest level possible.


If one person reaches the same sticking point as another, but is
higher level due to successfully one shotting more enemies then that
person ranks higher on the challenge. The interesting part is that not
everyone will take the same path or choose the same gear, so outcomes
might be drastically different.


Anyways I'm having fun with this right now so I thought I'd throw it
out there in case anyone else might be interested to try something
different. I may make a video of some of my run, though it will mostly
be highlights due to the amount of farming and retries it would take.


Note: Remember the entire point of the challenge isn't "can you one shot any particular boss at SL 1"... Allowing yourself this gear from the start makes it very easy to do so. Working through the game legitimately using only gear you earn yourself, while focusing on one shotting all bosses along the way is much more difficult. How do you plan on upgrading that pyro glove if you can't take out the Capra? That +10 fire/lighting club you had your mind set on is unreachable without taking out Quelaag, who btw is nearly impossible to one shot without access to the gear located after her..

Qualagg can NOT be two shot with any type of gear you can obtain at that level. The strongest item you could have is a +10 Greatsword buffed with electric pine resin. If you use it's strong attack with the leo ring (which you can't get at that point in the game), with the RTSR active and power within, you'll still need 3 shots to kill her with 40/40 stats.

I fcking love the idea of this, luring powerful enemies into positions where you can hit them off a cliff or plunge them, just so you could go lvl up seems like fun >:3

But as Rynn says, no one could ever get past Quelaag.
Quelaag can't be plunged, backstabbed or parried; there's no way of critting her. And even with the red tearstone ring and power within you wouldnt be able to 2 shot her with regular attacks.

But you'd kill her and then continue playing; only without levelling up right? Or does your game end after using 3 shots?

Whatabout a faith build? Get as many points as possible to lvl up faith. Do catocombs get wog. With dusks crown, bellowing ring etc and using the synergy you maybe could do it? If you are willing to go through all the trouble?

You can't 1 shot Quelaag at SL 1 with the gear available, but that's why I added the ability to level by earning it. If you play your cards right there is gear available at that point in the game to successfully 2 shot her and possibly one shot(I'm working on it). Remember that 2 shotting allows you to continue, but you only gain 1 point which could hinder you later. It at least allows you to proceed into Sen's and Anor Londo and/or access the chaos and large flame embers should you manage to make it past Ceaseless.

The point of the challenge is that some bosses probably aren't going to be one shot-able given the leveling limitations, however you may be able to pull off a 2 shot with the right strategy and move forward. You aren't supposed to beat the game, just get as far as you can until even a 2 shot is impossible. I'll say that I've made it up to about 20 total points while still being level 1 and having to start spending them to get further.

lalliman wrote:I fcking love the idea of this, luring powerful enemies into positions where you can hit them off a cliff or plunge them, just so you could go lvl up seems like fun >:3

But as Rynn says, no one could ever get past Quelaag.
Quelaag can't be plunged, backstabbed or parried; there's no way of critting her. And even with the red tearstone ring and power within you wouldnt be able to 2 shot her with regular attacks.

Quelaag can be plunge attacked, there is just no actual animation for it(still does the same bonus damage) and it takes the right positioning to do so.

If you can make it to anor you can create a buff build using darkmoon blade XD wich would make your life way easier^.^ awww man i wish my ps3 wasnt broken so i could do this -_-

XDHappyDX wrote:If you can make it to anor you can create a buff build using darkmoon blade XD wich would make your life way easier^.^ awww man i wish my ps3 wasnt broken so i could do this -_-

Problem is just to get there you would need to burn through most of the levels you've earned and not have enough left over for putting into faith. There are only so many bosses and sub bosses in the game to gain points from so any dreams of having a full scaling build to take advantage is slim.

Halicarnassis wrote:But you'd kill her and then continue playing; only without levelling up right? Or does your game end after using 3 shots?

The idea is that the game is over if you can't 2 shot a boss. Which is the problem cuz it seems impossible against Quelaag. But Vegeta is just saying it IS possible?? so i dunno.

I was thinking perhaps using karmic justice or wog to get to the point of anor londo, ergo i wouldnt have to bother using melee weapons. If wog was not sufficient then perhaps karmic justice plus maxed out pyro flame would work XD on top of that perhaps miracle synergy and and spell boosters would work?

Okay, I am keen for this but Vageta can you provide a list of the "sub-bosses" please?

For instance; the creature guarding the spell PowerWithin; is that a sub-boss? Also; does a kick count as an attack?

^ i wouldn't count a kick as an attack since it doesn't do damage. (unless you have Kirk's boots or the orange charred ring) And i think anything that counts as a (mini)boss has too much poise to chain-kick him off a cliff anyways.

Interesting....i'd do it to. But i'm not that good. Side note, if you can one shot the hydra, under these guidlines, being lvl 1, or even lvl 20ish, i say you win.

Halicarnassis wrote:Okay, I am keen for this but Vageta can you provide a list of the "sub-bosses" please?

For instance; the creature guarding the spell PowerWithin; is that a sub-boss? Also; does a kick count as an attack?

Basically any enemy that is tougher than the surrounding ones and doesn't respawn on death. Black Knights, Armored Boars, Bereneke Knights, Havel, Butchers, titanite Demon's, etc... The only one that fits that description that I wouldn't count would be the first channeler in the Parish because he's a pushover and easy to one shot anyways.

As to your original question, sure that guy can be considered a sub boss, but unless you can 1 shot him then you don't get any points. The "2 shot" clause only exists for bosses since I think it may be necessary for a few under these rules.

Also a kick isn't an attack that counts for one shotting...Think bigger. The goal is to overpower your character at every boss encounter and keep him OP as you gain levels. Instead of trying to kick something off a cliff, think more along the lines of riposting/backstabbing them while in hyper mode and wearing the hornet ring to do 1k+ damage. If you can manage to get something near a drop and backstab it off, then that would be fine.

As somebody who did SL 1 run up to NG+7, I'm pretty sure you can one shot most, but not all, bosses.

Red Tearstone Ring, Power Within, Dragon Roar, Crown of Dusk and Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring with Ascended Pyro Glove can one shot lot of bosses, but you will most likely die in the process.

But doing it fair and square on NG is a different story.
You can get RTSR, PW and Bellowing Ring fairly easy.
Going to Ash Lake to join Dragon Path and dueling for Scales will take A LOT of time, but it's doable. Just place the sign in Burg/Parish and go build a house, or something.

With my low SL Pyro, with Pyro Glove +0 and only available Pyro being initial Fireball and PW (not even equipped), I found Quelaana already sitting in Blighttown. If it wasn't a bug, or something, she can be acessed without killing any boss and can upgrade your Pyro Glove and sell you Fire Strom, which has a two part attack, that could one shot most bosses, if it hits properly.

Even if not, with the above setup, it should be fairly easy to one shot Capra with a mere Fireball.

After upgrading Pyro Glove, I'd go kill Hydra, to get Crown of Dusk and Hornet.

My only dilemma is how to deal with Quelaag. Only option, that I can think of, is to raise my Int, so I can use (Great if possible, but probably no) Heavy Soul Arrow, with Oolacille Ivory Catalyst and hit her in her female body. That does critical to her and could two shot her.

I could probably jump on her, but I'm not sure if it will do more, or less damage. I don't like beating sexy (what? don't like spiders?), naked women.

After her...O&S would be an issue, especially if the one shot applies on both parts of the fight, or if I can have two attacks on both normal and Super Sayian version.

I'm not doing the challege as I have my hands full with recreating my characters after data loss and I would love to record this. Without recording, it would bore me to no end...

Quelaag will truly be the sticking point for most I think. While I believe most will go the spell route, I've been going pure melee up to this point just for the fun of it. Other than PW I haven't cast a single spell. To make it a bit more interesting, I'll be doing as much as I can at actual SL 1 and just saving up the levels until I hit he point where I truly can't go further without leveling.

I'm having a lot of fun with the challenge, mostly because it's all about the preparation and planning. You don't want to waste levels on something you won't use later, nor do you want to resort to 2 shotting a boss and getting less reward if there was a way to actually do it in 1.

^ keep in mind that one of the towerknights respawns. He doesn't count of course otherwise you could farm levels off him

Question:

If I can see, that I can't one, nor two shot something, after my first attack, or if I simply fail in an attempt, can I disengage/Homeward out and try again later, or does that count as a failure and game over?

Sentiel wrote:Question:

If I can see, that I can't one, nor two shot something, after my first attack, or if I simply fail in an attempt, can I disengage/Homeward out and try again later, or does that count as a failure and game over?

You can definitely disengage and try as many times as needed. I probably worded it bad, but I just meant that when you get to a point where you can't find a way to kill another boss in 2 shots then you effectively throw in the towel. Maybe you need just one or two more levels to pull it off, but there is nothing left to kill. Maybe the item you need is past the boss you can't beat, so you're screwed.

That's why planning out your path and ensuring you maximize how many points you get while you progress is key. Someone may be tempted to settle for a 2 shot kill in order to quickly gain access to better gear, but that one level may kill them later. Same goes for Hydra which is considered a sub boss and only gives a point if you can one shot it.

I haven't tried one shotting Hydra, but, in theory, each of her head can take damage, so if using an AoE, like Fire Storm, it should hit more of it's heads in one attack, making it possible to one shot it like this.
If timed correctly, it could do a counter damage as well...if it applies to Hydra at all. I know it applies to most, if not all bosses, that's why I said that my way of doing it, will probably kill the user as well, as it is intended to be done in couter.

Dying is a small price to pay for a successful one shot kill.

Rynn wrote:Qualagg can NOT be two shot with any type of gear you can obtain at that level. The strongest item you could have is a +10 Greatsword buffed with electric pine resin. If you use it's strong attack with the leo ring (which you can't get at that point in the game), with the RTSR active and power within, you'll still need 3 shots to kill her with 40/40 stats.

i've fought her with +15 weapons, all you have to do is kill Ingward. the tricky part is which +15 weapon would be strong enough if you are bellow SL10?

is there any magic that might do it?

Question time:

Can I summon a friend to buff me with Channeler's Trident?

Can I use Undead Raport to make mobs kill each other?

Do you count Bed of Chaos as a kill?

If I understand it correctly, all sub boss enemies that doesn't respawn kill counts as a point.
Are the following counted as sub bosses?

Necromancers
Deformed Undead in New Londo
Parasitic Wall Hugger in Blighttown
NPC Invaders
Hostile NPCs
Non-hostile NPCs
Giant Rat
Chanellers outside of Archives (1 in Parish and 1 in Depths)
Undead Dragons
Giant in Sen's Fortress
Mimics
Dual Sanctuary Guardians
Gravelord BP enemies
Gold Crystal Golem (with Dusk and Sieglinde)
Giant Cats in Forest

Sentiel wrote:But doing it fair and square on NG is a different story.
You can get RTSR, PW and Bellowing Ring fairly easy.
Going to Ash Lake to join Dragon Path and dueling for Scales will take A LOT of time, but it's doable. Just place the sign in Burg/Parish and go build a house, or something.

when i'm dueling for scales, i've had the most luck in the Burg at a low soul level, i've earned 18 scales there in less than two hours once (pretty sure that was an anomaly though). the strange part is that some of the hosts had summoned me and they said they didn't even have a dragon scale? i always thought that was a requirement?

anyway, low level dueling for scales in the Burg is definitely the fastest route to getting the Dragon Body.