[Newbie help] Lautrec and I

[Sojiro]

I'm playing DS for the first time, and I'm now facing a dilemma. I'd like the help of more experienced Dark Souls players to make sure I don't irreversably screw myself over without having to dig through heaps of spoilers.

This is about Sir Lautrec. I saved him from an eternity of imprisonment and he promised to reward me richly! Yay! I got a mostly useless token that doesn't seem very hard to obtain anyway. Meh, he's a stingy ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ but that's nothing around here. And since he helped me a lot when fighting the gargoyle on the Parish, that's OK.

Problem is that the precious information he sold me is where to find a defenseless maiden I could slay to feast on her humanity. That is the sort of news that's worth a lot of souls to him. He also added that he got it from a terrified cleric he robbed and murdered.

Yeah ... I'm now firmly convinced that 'Sir' Lautrec is bad news. And since he immediately followed that by saying we should not get friendly since we don't know what the future holds for us, I'm 95% sure I'm going to have to fight him to the death at some point later.

But right now, here he is, sitting on his ♥♥♥ in the Firelink Shrine. Facing another helpless maiden replete with humanity, actually. At first I didn't think much of the way he seemed to keep staring at the mute firekeeper... Didn't that Firekeeper soul I found in the Parish say that it's filled with unlimitted humanity or something?

Given Lautrec's obsession with robbing humanity from others, I'm starting to get really concerned here.



So. Given how Dark Souls has worked up until now I'm pretty sure I can attack and potentially kill Lautrec now. If I don't, I'm guessing he's going to murder someone (most likely cute and defenseless) and he'll become a boss fight. If I start things early I might save someone, but I will probably completely screw over that quest line.

Also, fighting him much earlier than I'm supposed to means I'm much weaker than the game expects me to be, so I'm in for a bad time. Given how actions have consequences in this game, I'm sure he'll stay hostile after he kills me and I respawn, and having a boss vastly stronger than me stomping around the Firelink Shrine would be very bad.



I'd be very grateful if someone could tell me enough to make a decision here. Is fighting him now likely to lock myself from important things or make my life hell? If I spare him, will I come to bitterly regret it?

[Bonkers]

Wait and see what happens. His questline will be entertaining (He'll take something but you can gain it back while unlocking something new).

[Ixen]

I am really interested in knowing how this goes for you. Please report back once you decide. ; )

[dishiki]

don't kill him and you will get something fashionable.

[Martin]

just let him go for your first time through. You CAN kill him now and save yourself some ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ later, but its better to see the story through and you'll get some nice gear out of it down the line.

When the THING happens, come back and we'll tell you what not to do with the certain item.

[nomoreblues]

yea I mean he wasn't really aggressive vs you yet so you might want to wait and see
IN GENERAL: beware of spoilers, don't be afraid to do anything wrong - being patient and not blindly aggressive will do the job. I'd stay away from forum completely (unless emergency) until you saw the whole "story" through at least once

[Conte Curatori]

After the first time, i've always killed him in the firelink shrine.
Just sharing what i did and what i do.

[Vexation]

I gotta say hou have very good deduction skills, as your predictions are spot on. Secondly, if you let him live now and kill him later, you will unlock some cool items and get to play some more hours while seeing how the story unravels. It´s the best choice. Let us know what you did :)

[Starfox1985]

I also made the mistake of freeing lautrec, not realizing he would make a beeline for firelink. As soon as I saw him there, I knew time was running out to save the fire keeper, so I fought him, and killed him. It took a couple of tries, but you can do it. Lautrec can be parried, but it's kind of hard because he's very fast. I would recommend picking up the claymore, or the drake sword, if you haven't already. Equip your best armor, and shield, and keep your guard up. Like I said, I killed him, essentially, right after I met him in undead parish, so it can be done. It just took me a couple tries.

[nomoreblues]

Originally posted by Starfox1985:

I also made the mistake of freeing lautrec, not realizing he would make a beeline for firelink. As soon as I saw him there, I knew time was running out to save the fire keeper, so I fought him, and killed him. It took a couple of tries, but you can do it. Lautrec can be parried, but it's kind of hard because he's very fast. I would recommend picking up the claymore, or the drake sword, if you haven't already. Equip your best armor, and shield, and keep your guard up. Like I said, I killed him, essentially, right after I met him in undead parish, so it can be done. It just took me a couple tries.

u claim to hate the game so u do spoilers?

[[D]Mit.]

Wait till you ring both bells.

Go back to where he was at the firelink altar and you will get a black eye item.

Somewhere in Anor Londo you will use it and it will be worth it.

[Jamchow]

Originally posted by Starfox1985:

or the drake sword, if you haven't already.

Um, have you gone Hollow?

[Jamchow]

Originally posted by Sojiro:

and he'll become a boss fight

What am I even reading anymore?

[Starfox1985]

Originally posted by nomoreblues:

u claim to hate the game so u do spoilers?

As difficult as it may be for you to imagine, I genuinely dislike DS. This shouldn't surprise anyone. DS is probably the most divisive (and least fun) games I have ever had the misfortune to play. DS is a niche series for a niche audience. The sales figures clearly reflect this, as does the abnormally (but, in this case, predictably) high attrition rate.

The player already knows, or at least strongly suspects, lautrec will murder someone, probably a woman. As such, I didn't really consider this a 'spoil.' I was just trying to tell them that I had the same problem, that I successfully killed lautrec even at a similarly low soul level, and the specific method I used to do so. That was the point. I suppose I could have left that tidbit out, but, again, I don't see that it really matters, as the player basically already knew that.

[Starfox1985]

Originally posted by Ramfow:

Um, have you gone Hollow?

I know the drake sword is somewhat controversial, but the fact is that it is one of the strongest weapons one can acquire at the very beginning of the game. I also recommended the claymore as an alternative. My point was that lautrec can be challenging for players at the very beginning, and that he should use the deadliest weapon he can lay his hands on. If that's the drake sword, then that is what he should use. In fact, that is what I used to kill him. Of course, I'm assuming he is using a melee character. If not, then I have no advice to offer.

[Инрико Пуччэ]

He would have escaped if you wouldn't free him, so there's nothing to worry about if you did anything wrong.