Part 6: Harvest Valley

Poison! Poison everywhere! But our real foe is gravity.



The Elite Knight Set was the iconic set of Armor from the first game. It was featured in a ton of promo art and on all of the box art in one way or another. It's also my favorite set from the first game.


I'm not really too happy with this outfit but it's the first time we wear what I would qualify as Heavy armor: The Drakekeeper set. It would probably better had I not decided to use the Royal Soldier helm. But still, we are well protected. If you can wear something as heavy as this and stay under 70% equip load so you don't get the fat roll there isn't really anything that should stop you. Aside maybe from the slightly slower stamina regeneration due to the higher equip load.




Covetous Demon

The Covetous Demon is a rather easy boss. While he does have some moves that can catch you off guard your first time around he is rather slow and the moves have rather obvious tells. The basic strategy should be to get away whenever he starts moving his arms or stands suspiciously still. Staying by his side and waiting for him to attack is generally a good idea. He can attempt to hit you with either of his arms. Unless your far enough away to retreat you should dodge against the attack. He can also raise his entire body and drop it on you. Sometimes he drives this to the logical extreme and just jumps into the air right onto you if you decide to just stand there picking your nose. Very rarely he'll also spit a yellow substance, which is acid. It doesn't deal a lot of damage but degrades your gear's durability.

The last of his attacks that he does when in front of you is probably also the nastiest: He'll just slurp you up and chew on you for a bit. After spitting you out you'll be butt naked. Don't worry, your gear isn't gone but you'll have to equip it again which can be quite a task in a boss fight. When near his Tail he'll obviously sometimes try to hit you with it. Rather than sweeping he raises it and smashes it down on the ground several times.

And now for my favorite attack: The roll over! When hugging his sides he'll eventually do this. He'll stand still for about a second or so and then roll over, crushing you in the process. Unless of course you run away. He'll then be lying on his side. If he's facing you with his back he'll roll again after a couple seconds. When facing his exposed underbelly he'll flop around like a fish out of the water instead. Well worth running to the other side of him just to see that.

If you have trouble with him somehow you can whip out a crossbow or bow and aim for the jars hanging over the arena. You'll need Heavy Bolts or Iron Arrows to do that. You can conveniently get a Crossbow with Heavy Bolts in the side area that requires you to perform a silly jump that'll probably kill you. If you hit those jars a hollow will fall out. The Covetous Demon well crawl towards it and eat it. While eating his defenses are raised significantly and you'll only be able to do chip damage. They probably intended that to be a way to heal during the fight, but if you find the time to aim at a jar up above and shoot it you could also heal in that same time.

And yes, he is somewhat reminiscent of the forever alone meme. Let's not talk about that, please.


Boss Weapons
Soul of the Covetous Demon, that devours all things.
Eating is an expression of desire. There once was a man whose deep affections were unrequited. He transformed into the Covetous Demon, which only made him lonelier than before.

Bone Scythe

Moveset/Weapon Class: Reaper
Physical Damage (+0/+5): 112/280
Scales with: STR (B)
Requirements: 28 STR, 20 DEX
Damage Type: Slash

In-Game Description:
Scythe forged from the soul of the Covetous Demon.
The curved spine of the Covetous Demon is hard as rock, and rather than slicing through flesh, this weapon seems to grind it apart.
That thing that ended up as a monstrous fiend, what was it to begin with, and why did it never leave the queen? Perhaps it was entranced by some perversion of love


Covenant: Heirs of The Sun (Fanboy -Covenant)
Ah yes... how could they not acknowledge the memetic ascension of sun worship from the first game. There's little reason for this covenant to be in the game aside from fanservice and to have a dedicated co-op covenant. To level it up you just do co-op. As long as you're in the covenant your summon sign and phantom will have an orange color rather than the usual white. Every time you help someone or are being helped by someone in the covenant you will receive a Sunlight Medal. But only one per fight.

For joining the Covenant you get the Sun Seal, slightly increases miracle damage.
For offering 10 Sunlight Medals you will receive the Sunlight Parma, the fan-made fan-service shield featuring Solaire
For offering 20 Sunlight Medals you get the Sun Sword, which is one of the better plain Straight Swords in the game.
For offering 30 Sunlight Medals you get the Sunlight Spear, the most powerful version of Lightning Spear.


Item Descriptions
Sun Seal
Ring of the Heirs to the Sun covenant. Slightly increases miracle attack power.
Worship of the sun, now a lost belief, was once widespread amongst great warriors.
Members of this covenant can leave their golden signs to be more easily summoned to join their brethren in jolly cooperation."

Sunlight Parma
A small shield depicting a hero of yore.
Perhaps these famed champions are no more, or perhaps they have no desire appear in public view.
But their very absence has made tales of their brave deeds all the more alluring, and this shield memorializes one of their brethren
Note: The shield features a yellow silhouette of Solaire of Astora, kinda cool character from the first game who ascended to becoming a meme, sadly.

Sun Sword
Dark Souls II: A well-forged long sword. Of unknown origin, and exhibiting no special power, but sturdily crafted.
Perhaps it does not live up to its name, but nevertheless, merely wielding this sword seems to cause warmth to well up within one's bosom.
Dark Souls: This standard longsword, belonging to Solaire of Astora, is of high quality, is well-forged, and has been kept in good repair.
Easy to use and dependable, but unlikely to live up to its grandiose name.
Note: In the first game it was actually called Sunlight Straight sword and dropped after killing Solaire. The description makes a point of it not having any special powers, much like the flavour text for all of Solaire's Gear from the first game

Miracle: Sunlight Spear
Dark Souls II: A miracle that launches a spear of sunlight. Powered with immense wondrous souls.
One of the ancient original miracles, said to have existed from infancy of the very world.
Dark Souls: Miracle born from the fading soul of Gwyn. Hurl sunlight spear.
In the war that marked the dawn of the Age of Fire, Gwyn wielded these rays of sunlight, which remains fierce even as they fade.

Fragrant Branch of Yore
A Fragrant tree branch with a faint sweet smell. Restore the life of things turned to stone. Extended inhalation of the branch's scent can lead to coughing and nausea.

Hexing Urn
Hexed black lacquer urn. Explodes, inflicting dark damage.
With the dark art of hexing strictly forbidden, who would dare fill an urn with such power?
The very origin of the art are unclear, yet another reason hexing is feared.

Fire Seed
A tiny waning flame. Used to strengthen a pyromancy flame.
A pyromancy flame serves as the catalyst for pyromancies, and scales the strength of each spell according to its level. Fire is a common object of worship, It can never be grasped, and its mystery stokes human imagination.
Note: In the first game you could just upgrade your pyromancy flame like that making it possible to have ludicrously powerful magic early on. Fire Seeds put a damper on that balancing Pyromancy a bit, since you need special items to upgrade the Pyromancy Flame.

Sorcery: Chameleon
Dark Souls II: A sorcery that dates farther back than recollection. Allows you to blend into your surroundings.
Those who fear the unseen are cowards.Those who never doubt their eyes are fools.
Dark Souls: Ancient sorcery of the lost land of Oolacile. Transform into something inconspicuous.
A separate stealth spell from Hidden Body. A skilled stealth sorcerer must be aware of his or her surrounding and of which objects are prime candidates for imitation.