Is it worth saving Solaire on a first playthrough?

[OneStepBeyond]

I'm nearing the end of my first run and if I'm correct in saying this, the only benefit is that you are able to summon him for Gwyn? I've summoned twice so far (Moonlight Butterfly and Quelaag) and I would rather defeat that encounter on my own than have assistance. I also want his armour and weapon/shield for the sake of it, so there's that. There's no penalty for killing him by joining the Warrior of Sunlight covenant either.

On that very topic, I've been following the 100% achievement guide, and you need 25 faith to enter that covenant. I've kind of screwed up a bit as I haven't raised that attribute at all since the start and without online (I haven't tried any mods, but I might soon), I'm unable to decrease the faith requirement to get in, so it looks like I have to farm a lot of souls for it. I'm currently soul level 76 and I only have 11 faith. Should I bite the bullet and grind souls for the next 14 levels or is there some better way? It feels like a waste ignoring my other stats as I've been focusing on vitality, endurance and strength up to this point, but I do need to join that covenant if I want 100%.

I was tempted to cheat for some easy levels, but I don't know if that will effect my save or disable achievements somehow. If not, I can go to the Painted World and equip the soul boost ring and farm the Phalanx for a fair while. I need to level my intelligence as well, because I still need to purchase a lot of sorceries too. What do you think?

[WickedRequiem]

Well, to start out with, you're not going to 100% the game in the first run (as you probably have found out).
You need to go through the game three times (well, you can stop in the middle of the third run).
So... should you kill or save Solaire? It's up to you for this run, although you eventually will have to kill him for his armor to 100% the game.

Having that said... the medals.
Since there is no coop currently, working with Solaire is one of the few ways of collecting them.

Oh, and don't worry about levels.
You'll level up soon enough as you go through the game.
You don't have to join the convenant this run (and medals carry over), so you don't have to focus on grinding faith for the next 14 levels if you don't immediately need it.
You do get some useful lower req support spells, so 25 faith won't be a waste, though, later in the game.

[nomorevideos]

Originally posted by WickedRequiem:

Well, to start out with, you're not going to 100% the game in the first run (as you probably have found out).
You need to go through the game three times (well, you can stop in the middle of the third run).
So... should you kill or save Solaire? It's up to you for this run, although you eventually will have to kill him for his armor to 100% the game.

Having that said... the medals.
Since there is no coop currently, working with Solaire is one of the few ways of collecting them.

Oh, and don't worry about levels.
You'll level up soon enough as you go through the game.
You don't have to join the convenant this run (and medals carry over), so you don't have to focus on grinding faith for the next 14 levels if you don't immediately need it.
You do get some useful lower req support spells, so 25 faith won't be a waste, though, later in the game.

You can obtain 3 medals as pick-up per game, can't recall where. Solaire isn't needed at all basically. 3 runs = 9 medals + 2-3 other methods of getting one.
Wikidot has the answers.

[OneStepBeyond]

Thanks for the replies. Having looked up the medals on the wiki, you can get three from Anor Londo (which I have currently) and you can get one from Solaire if he assists you with any boss as long as he survives, and another from talking to Lautrec after you free him. It's also a 3% drop from Chaos Bugs and the rest are from co-op, which isn't an option for me right now.

I'm leaning towards killing him this run, and I can then work on my faith, join the Warrior of Sunlight covenant and save him in my second playthrough.

[NightmareGats]

You kill Solaire as soon as you see him in Undead Burg, all sunbros must die.

[OneStepBeyond]

Originally posted by NightmareGats:

You kill Solaire as soon as you see him in Undead Burg, all sunbros must die.

The hardest actions require the strongest wills. I will put him out of his misery this run.

[Last Place]

It can be tricky to keep Solaire alive on your first run, where you're not even supposed to know he dies if you don't do a few specific things.

If you know what to do is easy, sure, but honestly; don't worry about it if this actually is your first run.

[OneStepBeyond]

I knew what to do, but I'll get it done next time round. It's not important in the grand scheme, anyway.