Quickest way to join Darkwraith covenant?

[Odokuro]

Hey. I just beat the game for the first time and arrived in NG+. Besides the occasional invasion i didnt PvP very much but now i want to get into it. Whats the quickest way to join the Darkwraith covenant? Is it:

1. Asylum
2. Undead Burg, kill Taurus Demon
3. Buy Seal, Darkroot Garden, Kill Sif
4. New Londo, kill the guy on the roof for key
5. Lower Waterlevel, kill 4 kings
6. Join Darkwraiths

Did i make a mistake?

Is the other snake guy only showing up once i got the Lord Vessel? Also, whats the preferred soul level for NG+ PvP? Currently i'm at 90. Better start over with a fresh char and PvP in NG first?

[Hey! It's me, Nana!]

You need the Lordvessel and to place it at Firelink Altar. You need to beat the Dynamic Duo and talk to the Princess and get the Lordvessel. Kaathe will appear in the Abyss and offer you to join his covenant after you place it.
Kingseeker Frampt will disappear, though, so if you value his services, then there's that.

[Fnarr]

You don't need to go through Undead Burg if you have the master key, just take the elevator down to New Londo, through Valley of the Drakes into Darkroot Basin and you're at Andre in no time.

Kaathe will show up after you kill the 4 Kings, you don't need to have the Lordvessel.

You can pvp with your SL90 character in the Forest or Oolacile Township, you're a bit too high level for other areas of the game, although I did get some action in Royal Wood at around SL80-90. People pvp-ing in Oolacile and Forest level up to between 100-125, you'll find plenty of action there at that level.

[Odokuro]

Originally posted by TopperstheHat:

You need to beat the Dynamic Duo and talk to the Princess and get the Lordvessel.

Originally posted by gwwtbg:

Kaathe will show up after you kill the 4 Kings, you don't need to have the Lordvessel.

Im confused now.

[ZirconVulpine]

I typically sequence break to get some good items, get them to around +3 at the blacksmith (no bosses defeated to this point, drake isnt even at bridge yet) then i backtrack through drake valley and kill fourkings with around +3/+5 weapons/gear (+5 with crystal lizard kills x2). When I enter newgame + im usually SL 30-40 on a normal playthrough, tough on my firstrun ever I had been SL124. My SL was so high because i was cautious and farmed painted world buttloads. Now that I got the game down, Me and a friend have been competing for fastest SL1 playthroughs.

[bozohontas]

Lordvessel is not required, therefore you don't have to beat O&S.
Basically way is right, but Taurus can be skipped too as you'll start with the master key.

But you may have to do some optional stuff or you'll face 4 Kings with starter gear or just some +5 weapon and 10 estus.

[SundownKid]

Originally posted by TopperstheHat:

You need the Lordvessel and to place it at Firelink Altar. You need to beat the Dynamic Duo and talk to the Princess and get the Lordvessel. Kaathe will appear in the Abyss and offer you to join his covenant after you place it.
Kingseeker Frampt will disappear, though, so if you value his services, then there's that.

That's not true, placing it without Frampt will cause Kaathe to disappear as well. You can only see kaathe if you have not yet placed the Lordvessel.

The OP's route is forgetting that you don't have to kill Taurus demon or go in Undead Burg to get the key to Sif. You can just use the Master Key shortcut in New Londo and run the other way and up Darkroot Basin.

[ZirconVulpine]

Originally posted by bozohontas:

But you may have to do some optional stuff or you'll face 4 Kings with starter gear or just some +5 weapon and 10 estus.

I like my +5 weapons and armor thank you.

[Hey! It's me, Nana!]

You can get to Darkroot from New Londo? How? o.o

[Odokuro]

Originally posted by bozohontas:

Taurus can be skipped too as you'll start with the master key.

Originally posted by SundownKid:

You can just use the Master Key shortcut in New Londo and run the other way and up Darkroot Basin.

Thank you for this advice. I actually started with the Master Key since i wanted to explore everything in my first playthrough.

Originally posted by RahZiiGhear:

When I enter newgame + im usually SL 30-40 on a normal playthrough, tough on my firstrun ever I had been SL124. My SL was so high because i was cautious and farmed painted world buttloads.

Same. I was playing very slow and didnt want to miss something since this was the first time playing DS.

Originally posted by gwwtbg:

You can pvp with your SL90 character in the Forest or Oolacile Township, you're a bit too high level for other areas of the game, although I did get some action in Royal Wood at around SL80-90. People pvp-ing in Oolacile and Forest level up to between 100-125, you'll find plenty of action there at that level.

Thank you. I will keep that in mind and i will try not to further raise my SL and rather invest the souls into gear.

[ZirconVulpine]

Originally posted by TopperstheHat:

You can get to Darkroot from New Londo? How? o.o

Master Key starting gift.
1. Newlondo, unlock gate with masterkey.
2. Drake Valley, go left into drake valley after crossing bridge, ignore zombie dragon or get shield and run like hell.
3. Run moar deeper into drake valley.
4. Roll like a badass past drakes and go right at the bridge into the ruins, should be an opening int he wall that has an elevator to darkroot.
5. Say Hi to to the black knight and welcome to Darkroot.

[SundownKid]

Originally posted by TopperstheHat:

You can get to Darkroot from New Londo? How? o.o

Take the elevator down and then go right and enter the other staircase directly to the right of where you come out. Pop open the door with the Master Key and run past the Undead Dragon and stick to the right side, then go up the other elevator and you will get to the Darkroot Basin bonfire. Then go up the ramp and you get to Unded Parish bonfire.

[Odokuro]

Originally posted by RahZiiGhear:

Originally posted by TopperstheHat:

You can get to Darkroot from New Londo? How? o.o

Master Key starting gift.
1. Newlondo, unlock gate with masterkey.
2. Drake Valley, go left into drake valley after crossing bridge, ignore zombie dragon or get shield and run like hell.
3. Run moar deeper into drake valley.
4. Roll like a badass past drakes and go right at the bridge into the ruins, should be an opening int he wall that has an elevator to darkroot.
5. Say Hi to to the black knight and welcome to Darkroot.

God, i love the asymmetrical leveldesign. Played tons of DS2 but compared to DS1, its pretty linear. All the shortcuts and secrets really invite you to explore and test stuff in DS1.

[Hey! It's me, Nana!]

Ooooh. I always went to the Bonfire after the Black Knight but never went down the elevator. THAT'S where that leads? o.o

[ZirconVulpine]

Originally posted by GITREKD:

God, i love the asymmetrical leveldesign. Played tons of DS2 but all the shortcuts and secrets really invite you to explore and test stuff.

So to answer the other part of your question you had asked for the fastest way to kill fourkings? It can actually be done at level 1, but the lower level of your gear and soul then the more actual skill you will need. I can give some pointers to help with that. when i make a low level pvp toon I use str mainly because of a super easy weapon early on. So here goes.

1. You will want to do a graveyard run so dont worry about dieing. Spend your souls as soon as you start at the hub and run in the graveyard, you are looking for a certain two handed sword here. Thats going to be used in slaying of the Fourkings later.

Alternatively my friend just told me that he does this with DEX instead and for that he actually rushes catacombs early on ignoring most enemies so he can grab the scythe.

2. If you fall down the elevator you can find 3 chests in the hub, its a little secret off the side.
Go to New Londo and grab the firekeeper soul there.

3. You will want to run to drake valley like above and grab the 'Dragon Crest Shield' form the zombie dragon and/or the 'Astoras Straight Sword' infront of the dragon. This shield is great for fire defense and the Astoras Straight Sword is not a bad starting weapon if you have the faith for it. (literally)

If you die, you can run back no problem, but fast rolling will come in handy here so i hope you dont equip much otherwise you's gona get smacked down again.

4. Takeing the shortcut from drake to darkroot you can find the second vital piece for the fourkings fight, or atleast it is for me since im a stamina kind of guy. The Grass Shield should be right outside of the cave where you enter from Darkroot from Drake Valley. Careful of the Dark Knight, I usually just grab the shield and run upwards. There will be a crystal lizard up there if you are fast enough, which could help get anything you want to use to +5. The leather armor is somewhat better here if you can get it too. It will be on a ledge.

5. If you look out into the enviroment you will see the hydra in the lake, you should recongnize this area. Head up and backtrack past the Demonite Monster ignoring him fully as you probably dont have anything strong enough. Welcome to the blacksmith now. smithing options unlocked without a single boss killed, woooo...

6.You will now navigate undead perish BACKWARDS, this is probably my favorite part of darksouls. Collect souls, the Baldurs tend to drop titanite for upgrading to +3 gear, farm them if you want your crap now. Should take about 10-15 minutes. Could even run into the chapel belltower thingy and grab the firekeeper soul.

7. You will reach drake bridge but notice that there is no drake. There is a crystal lizard right before the Taurus demon that you want aswell, if your lucky you might have a +3 or +2 weapon so you could also grab havals if you are good at backstabs.

8. Once you find the second lizard in undead parish I would go upgrade whatever you want to use, make sure you can fast roll, you should be SL10-18 ish. though you can spend asmuch time farming here as you want, keep in mind you asked for fast.

9. in keeping with fastest way to kill fourkings, well thats the next step, backtrack back through drakevalley, or take the fogwall in undeadparish and spawn the bridge drake. Go to New Londo, kill the red guy and for your first boss of the game. Four Kings!

Fastest Ive ever done this was in about 30 minutes. Toon was then setup for pvp.

[Bocchi Did Nothing Wrong]

Originally posted by SundownKid:

Originally posted by TopperstheHat:

You need the Lordvessel and to place it at Firelink Altar. You need to beat the Dynamic Duo and talk to the Princess and get the Lordvessel. Kaathe will appear in the Abyss and offer you to join his covenant after you place it.
Kingseeker Frampt will disappear, though, so if you value his services, then there's that.

That's not true, placing it without Frampt will cause Kaathe to disappear as well. You can only see kaathe if you have not yet placed the Lordvessel.

The OP's route is forgetting that you don't have to kill Taurus demon or go in Undead Burg to get the key to Sif. You can just use the Master Key shortcut in New Londo and run the other way and up Darkroot Basin.

You don't even need the Master Key if you drain the water in New Londo and run past the dragons.

You also need to remember you need a way to kill the bosses. I guess summoning someone would work though.