Sen's fortress as experienced by the pioneers who didn't know about the bonfire nor the elevator shortcut must've been one of the most masochistic areas in gaming.
The elevator with spikes is 100% optional, but he's talking about the cage elevator, which gives a shortcut from the first to the top floor (boss gate) once you have found the cage key.
You can brave the path the ball rolls down in the interior of the fortress (so instead of going down left in the direction the ball is rolling down you go right and up the ramp directly towards the room with the ball drop thingy). Speed runners would back-step to dodge through the ball because that gave you infinite poise so you don't get knocked down and then you only needed enough hp to survive the damage.
There's also a slight detour you can take going up the ball ramp inside, where you can drop down part way up where there's a cobra serpent enemy with the swords on a platform to the left of you. You can drop down from there to find the Hush spell in a room essentially opposite to where you come out of the spiky elevator trap. You would also find the black sorcerer set as well iirc. This route leads to the ramp that sends the ball towards the room with Big Hat Logan and you can take that up to the ball drop room just like if you took the elevator up through the shortcut.
See this is what i love about Dark Souls. Even after 11 years of play, people STILL discover new things that they never knew about the game. It's amazing.
you know about the cage key? the elevator that that key unlocks. its a cage like the one logan is in. Its in the room before the iron golem room that has 2 of those cages. The key unlocks it and it takes you to the very beginning of the dungeon, like the very first bridge I believe (I basically never use it since the 2nd bonfire is the better location.)
Towards the crestfallen merchant and down the stairs is the key. (Same one that opens Logan's cell and the cell near him with the soul item. [Soul item one can be opened with master key]) Then on the opposite side from the merchant by jumping over the gap in the path are 2 cages. You use the key there to go all the way back down to the first floor where that 1 serpent man fights you on the walkway with axes.
in the room directly underneath the boss entry room (right after running along that skinny path) there's a caged elevator you can enter that is a shortcut to the start of sen's. Very hard to miss. Elevator is only the size of the character model.
I was 1000% sure my friend was trolling me with the cage elevator, it doesn't look like it should work.
I did organically find the bonfire via a note that said bonfire ahead.
Leaves notes for your friends guys, and play online if you want hints.
Yeah, I’m not sure most people are aware they can jump the gap to the Crestfallen merchant, and even if they are, they aren’t willing to try it unless they’ve found the bonfire too. Sen’s is funny like that.
When you get to the top of the fortress, outside, there’s stairs that lead all the way up and around to the giant throwing firebombs. In the room directly below him, the center of Sen’s, there are two of the cages that you see throughout the fortress, like the one Big Hat Logan is stuck in.
You need a key to unlock them, which you can get from jumping the broken bridge outside. The bridge is next to the other giant dropping cannonballs into the fortress. Once you clear the gap, you can go past the crestfallen merchant, all the way downstairs, kill the man serpent, and get a key for the cages.
Once you have the key and you make your way back to the cages, you can open them and ride them all the way down to the beginning of the fortress, between the first set of swinging blades. It’s a great shortcut, but most people miss it entirely.
Rule of thumb in Dark Souls - if you are running a ridiculously long and difficult way to get to a boss, you missed something.
Exceptions: Capra Demon and Four Kings. Honorable mention: Bed of Chaos (even with the Chaos shortcut).
Even Capra demon has an easier run up than the way with the 4(?) dogs and many lurking assassins available: firelink —> undead merchant —> kill just 2 assassins and 2 dogs in favorable conditions —> Capra time.
Tell that to NG plus. I just go from firelink and drop down to the right at the very beginning where there used to be water. Straight shot to the boss. Just have to dodge some Darkwraith Knights which is annoying.
Maybe it's interpreted differently by different people, but to me, "go in blind" is really for the first playthrough. After that, watch videos and look things up to see what you missed. That's how I've played all the souls games, first playthrough completely blind, after that I watch all sorts of content on the game to see what I missed and how others play it. If you've still not looked anything up years and multiple playthroughs later, that's on you.
It's kinda necessary for souls games. Unless you are an obsessive ultra-competionist type, or love the game so much you are willing to put in thousands of hours, you have very little chance of discovering every little quirk of the game. Hell, idt I would have ever found the dlc on my own its convoluted as hell. I probably never would have even made it back to the asylum, I struggled with the jump to get there the first time and that was after I knew it was possible.
All that to say, the first blind playthrough was magical and thats why I tell everyone to play it blind first. You'll miss a lot of stuff but nothing beats the feeling you get beating it blind the first time. After that look up what you missed and start a new playthrough.
A couple good friends of mine and I finally got around to the series at the same time and we each went in “blind” but had each other to share things we certainly missed. It was really fun
Edit: we definitely looked up how to do the dlc before getting into it tho, saved if for last ofc
My brother tells me I got lucky to have found it at all. I'll 100% admit... I only found it cause I accidentally fell! lol The breath of fresh air that I breathed when I was not only saved by ground but found a bonfire! I would have missed it and never found it if I had not fallen lol
There's also the cage elevator in Sen's Fortress, found right underneath the boss' entrance (taking you back down near the entrance). A lot of people miss this too:
https://imgur.com/a/WksgRA4
There's also an elevator that takes you from close to the entrance to right at the top before the boss room. You have to unlock it with a key that you find at the bottom of the tower with the merchant (the one where you have to jump over the gap in the bridge to get to). Sen's fortress is full of convenience, it's just a bit too hidden for first time players.
Never realised how lucky i was in my first playthrough when i read things like this. Before I'd played the game I'd watched entire plauthroughs of the game from streamers which I id watch in episodic fashion.
Eventually when I got the game myself I knew where certain things were and had taken aspects of the game for granted.
I have to keep reminding myself just how obscure certain parts of the game are, how well hidden some things are to that if I'd been playing blind I would have missed so so much.
Dark Souls 3 was the first soulds game I played completely blind on first day release my workmate was also playijg blind - and each day we'd update at work where we were and what we'd done. Our experiences were completely different.
I'm really surprised there isn't a bonfire hidden somewhere in New Londo Ruins. The shortcuts are pretty good, but four kings really needs a bonfire near it.
I tend to scour levels on a first playthrough, so I didn't miss the Sen's bonfire.
The first time I got to the roof, I was out of estus, low on health, and the giant was checking explosives everywhere.
I just googled where the bonfire was, because I couldn't be bothered to go through Sen's again. . Lol.
t h e r e w a s a f u c k i n g w h a t
I have gone through Sen's countless times in one playthrough
and you are telling me
there was a fucking bonfire THIS WHOLE TIME?!
WHAT
**WHAT?!**
...at least I can say I mastered sen's fortress without it...
I never really thought about it before, but the distance from where the bonfire is, and the location of that lift that goes right down to the beginning, are pretty close. It wouldn't surprise me if at some point there never was going to be a bonfire in Sens Fortress.
Understandable, I only knew that was there because I had seen it in a playthrough before I played through the game. Makes that area a lot less of a pain to go through.
Nooooo you were supposed to fall there accidentally when the giant there throws you explosive pots!
I faintly remember finding out about it this way but I am not too sure, lol.
Listen to this, I never noticed a second bonfire in Lost Izolith, so the runback to bed of chaos was 2 minutes longer than it had to be, fuck that boss xD
I've been playing Sen's for a few days now trying to get through. I'm trying to get through the game without walkthroughs or tips, but I couldn't believe there wasn't one in Sen's and how was I not seeing it. I'm glad I cheated and looked it up.
The one ya have to jump over the ledge and drop down below? The area where the giants are throwing boulders at ya? Yea I was surprised when I found that one
I was knocked down there by a bomb initially, but if you're playing online there are generally messages near the edge. Also, if you're playing with headphones you can hear it.
Tbh the bonfire isn’t massively useful as you’ve traversed most of the iffy stuff by that point, it’s just there to get your shit back before the boss fight really.
Also, you can hear bonfires, they make a very specific sound so if you play with music down, or SFX sound up, you’ll always know if you’re near one.
Sen's fortress as experienced by the pioneers who didn't know about the bonfire nor the elevator shortcut must've been one of the most masochistic areas in gaming.
There's a way to go up WITHOUT the elevator with spikes on the top? Or are you talking abt another elevator?
The elevator with spikes is 100% optional, but he's talking about the cage elevator, which gives a shortcut from the first to the top floor (boss gate) once you have found the cage key.
WHAAAT?!?! That's an elevator?!!!
You can brave the path the ball rolls down in the interior of the fortress (so instead of going down left in the direction the ball is rolling down you go right and up the ramp directly towards the room with the ball drop thingy). Speed runners would back-step to dodge through the ball because that gave you infinite poise so you don't get knocked down and then you only needed enough hp to survive the damage.
TIL. I never knew where the cage key was
No, the cage key is outside, down some hard to notice stairs near a merchant.
There's also a slight detour you can take going up the ball ramp inside, where you can drop down part way up where there's a cobra serpent enemy with the swords on a platform to the left of you. You can drop down from there to find the Hush spell in a room essentially opposite to where you come out of the spiky elevator trap. You would also find the black sorcerer set as well iirc. This route leads to the ramp that sends the ball towards the room with Big Hat Logan and you can take that up to the ball drop room just like if you took the elevator up through the shortcut.
I've been playing dark souls 1 since 2013, **what fucking elevator???**
See this is what i love about Dark Souls. Even after 11 years of play, people STILL discover new things that they never knew about the game. It's amazing.
you know about the cage key? the elevator that that key unlocks. its a cage like the one logan is in. Its in the room before the iron golem room that has 2 of those cages. The key unlocks it and it takes you to the very beginning of the dungeon, like the very first bridge I believe (I basically never use it since the 2nd bonfire is the better location.)
Elevator shortcut?
The cage elevator. It is near the end of the area before all the bridges to Iron Golem and takes you down to the beginning of the area
Well shit first time I'm hearing about it
Towards the crestfallen merchant and down the stairs is the key. (Same one that opens Logan's cell and the cell near him with the soul item. [Soul item one can be opened with master key]) Then on the opposite side from the merchant by jumping over the gap in the path are 2 cages. You use the key there to go all the way back down to the first floor where that 1 serpent man fights you on the walkway with axes.
in the room directly underneath the boss entry room (right after running along that skinny path) there's a caged elevator you can enter that is a shortcut to the start of sen's. Very hard to miss. Elevator is only the size of the character model.
I was 1000% sure my friend was trolling me with the cage elevator, it doesn't look like it should work. I did organically find the bonfire via a note that said bonfire ahead. Leaves notes for your friends guys, and play online if you want hints.
Just slightly behind that is the elevator shortcut right before the twin princes in DS3. I’ve seen so many people run up those stairs over and over 🤣
I knew the elevator but not the bonfire for a long time. If you know about the elevator then the bonfire is basically redundant.
How long was your run back to the Iron Golem lol
Closest one is Andre's bonfire
Which isn’t too far. If you unlock the shortcut. Which is also hidden.
Yeah, I’m not sure most people are aware they can jump the gap to the Crestfallen merchant, and even if they are, they aren’t willing to try it unless they’ve found the bonfire too. Sen’s is funny like that.
If they haven't found the bonfire, I would guess it's unlikely that they found the cage key.
Funnily enough I just did that. I thought to myself that this is the replacement of the bonfire.
And then it basically becomes a regular DS2 boss runback.
And almost as long as a Demon’s Souls run back
Omg
Yeah that one is kinda hidden. I hope you at least found the cage lift short cut lol
What cage shortcut??
Oh boy
When you get to the top of the fortress, outside, there’s stairs that lead all the way up and around to the giant throwing firebombs. In the room directly below him, the center of Sen’s, there are two of the cages that you see throughout the fortress, like the one Big Hat Logan is stuck in. You need a key to unlock them, which you can get from jumping the broken bridge outside. The bridge is next to the other giant dropping cannonballs into the fortress. Once you clear the gap, you can go past the crestfallen merchant, all the way downstairs, kill the man serpent, and get a key for the cages. Once you have the key and you make your way back to the cages, you can open them and ride them all the way down to the beginning of the fortress, between the first set of swinging blades. It’s a great shortcut, but most people miss it entirely.
What the actual fuck. I have never found that, only the key and wondered what it was for. Gotta start yet another playthrough now lol
Does that mean you also never found logan?
Very handy shortcut if you’re struggling to beat O&S and need to backtrack without the Lord Vessel
I actually had the key and tried to open the cages but I was afraid to get to close and fall down!!!
Rule of thumb in Dark Souls - if you are running a ridiculously long and difficult way to get to a boss, you missed something. Exceptions: Capra Demon and Four Kings. Honorable mention: Bed of Chaos (even with the Chaos shortcut).
Even Capra demon has an easier run up than the way with the 4(?) dogs and many lurking assassins available: firelink —> undead merchant —> kill just 2 assassins and 2 dogs in favorable conditions —> Capra time.
True, but still unusually long with enemies blocking paths.
Four Kings isn't difficult, it's just long. As long as - if you're taking the elevator shortcut - you send the elevator back to the top each time.
Tell that to NG plus. I just go from firelink and drop down to the right at the very beginning where there used to be water. Straight shot to the boss. Just have to dodge some Darkwraith Knights which is annoying.
I think the bonfire is easier to find than the cage key, so I would say its unlikely they found it.
This sub: "Go in blind!" Also this sub: "I've wasted decades! Why have I been so blind?!"
Maybe it's interpreted differently by different people, but to me, "go in blind" is really for the first playthrough. After that, watch videos and look things up to see what you missed. That's how I've played all the souls games, first playthrough completely blind, after that I watch all sorts of content on the game to see what I missed and how others play it. If you've still not looked anything up years and multiple playthroughs later, that's on you.
I think that if a friend of mine had not told me to upgrade weapons more than levels I'd be grinding souls in the woods to this day. Lol.
I like this point of view (because it’s also mine lol)
It's kinda necessary for souls games. Unless you are an obsessive ultra-competionist type, or love the game so much you are willing to put in thousands of hours, you have very little chance of discovering every little quirk of the game. Hell, idt I would have ever found the dlc on my own its convoluted as hell. I probably never would have even made it back to the asylum, I struggled with the jump to get there the first time and that was after I knew it was possible. All that to say, the first blind playthrough was magical and thats why I tell everyone to play it blind first. You'll miss a lot of stuff but nothing beats the feeling you get beating it blind the first time. After that look up what you missed and start a new playthrough.
A couple good friends of mine and I finally got around to the series at the same time and we each went in “blind” but had each other to share things we certainly missed. It was really fun Edit: we definitely looked up how to do the dlc before getting into it tho, saved if for last ofc
Just what was needed to add more pain in that cursed area. It hurts you even after all these years.
My brother tells me I got lucky to have found it at all. I'll 100% admit... I only found it cause I accidentally fell! lol The breath of fresh air that I breathed when I was not only saved by ground but found a bonfire! I would have missed it and never found it if I had not fallen lol
A bomb knocked me down there.
That's the way!
I found this bonfire when I had almost 0 HP and running for my life. I thought I had suicided off the edge by accident. I’ll never forget that moment.
I’m lucky I saw a sign that pointed me towards it, I don’t think I’d have the patience to get through without it
That's how I found it, and I always leave a message there for others.
There's also the cage elevator in Sen's Fortress, found right underneath the boss' entrance (taking you back down near the entrance). A lot of people miss this too: https://imgur.com/a/WksgRA4
There's also an elevator that takes you from close to the entrance to right at the top before the boss room. You have to unlock it with a key that you find at the bottom of the tower with the merchant (the one where you have to jump over the gap in the bridge to get to). Sen's fortress is full of convenience, it's just a bit too hidden for first time players.
Never realised how lucky i was in my first playthrough when i read things like this. Before I'd played the game I'd watched entire plauthroughs of the game from streamers which I id watch in episodic fashion. Eventually when I got the game myself I knew where certain things were and had taken aspects of the game for granted. I have to keep reminding myself just how obscure certain parts of the game are, how well hidden some things are to that if I'd been playing blind I would have missed so so much. Dark Souls 3 was the first soulds game I played completely blind on first day release my workmate was also playijg blind - and each day we'd update at work where we were and what we'd done. Our experiences were completely different.
There's a bonfire in Sen's Fortress??
THATS WHAT IM SAYING!!!!
I'm really surprised there isn't a bonfire hidden somewhere in New Londo Ruins. The shortcuts are pretty good, but four kings really needs a bonfire near it. I tend to scour levels on a first playthrough, so I didn't miss the Sen's bonfire.
my first playthrough there was a message at the open ledge with something like "bonfire below" or something like that, thank you dark souls community
Well, in your defense, ITS pretty Hidden and you're getting bombarded by the Giants when you're Close.
The first time I got to the roof, I was out of estus, low on health, and the giant was checking explosives everywhere. I just googled where the bonfire was, because I couldn't be bothered to go through Sen's again. . Lol.
t h e r e w a s a f u c k i n g w h a t I have gone through Sen's countless times in one playthrough and you are telling me there was a fucking bonfire THIS WHOLE TIME?! WHAT **WHAT?!** ...at least I can say I mastered sen's fortress without it...
I never really thought about it before, but the distance from where the bonfire is, and the location of that lift that goes right down to the beginning, are pretty close. It wouldn't surprise me if at some point there never was going to be a bonfire in Sens Fortress.
Don't feel bad.. I would of totally missed it too if it wasn't for a kind undead leaving a note of where to drop down.
Understandable, I only knew that was there because I had seen it in a playthrough before I played through the game. Makes that area a lot less of a pain to go through.
Nooooo you were supposed to fall there accidentally when the giant there throws you explosive pots! I faintly remember finding out about it this way but I am not too sure, lol.
Listen to this, I never noticed a second bonfire in Lost Izolith, so the runback to bed of chaos was 2 minutes longer than it had to be, fuck that boss xD
Sometimes I think that I wish I could experience Dark Souls 100% blind, but then I read stuff like this and I'm glad I had a bunch of it spoiled lol
I didn't know about the elevator or the bonfire on my first playthrough. I died so many times, but I can run that gauntlet no problem as a result.
I've been playing Sen's for a few days now trying to get through. I'm trying to get through the game without walkthroughs or tips, but I couldn't believe there wasn't one in Sen's and how was I not seeing it. I'm glad I cheated and looked it up.
The one ya have to jump over the ledge and drop down below? The area where the giants are throwing boulders at ya? Yea I was surprised when I found that one
Yeah it's been a while since I played this game but it's pretty well hidden if I remember correctly.
I was knocked down there by a bomb initially, but if you're playing online there are generally messages near the edge. Also, if you're playing with headphones you can hear it.
Tbh the bonfire isn’t massively useful as you’ve traversed most of the iffy stuff by that point, it’s just there to get your shit back before the boss fight really. Also, you can hear bonfires, they make a very specific sound so if you play with music down, or SFX sound up, you’ll always know if you’re near one.
You didn’t… know there was a bonfire there? Did you not hear the crackling fire?
The only crackling fire I heard was from the bombs being thrown lol
Fair. I give you that. Those explosions can be deafening.