The Let's Play Archive

Dark Souls III

by IGgy IGsen

Part 5: - Undead Settlement Part 2



Unfortunately I forgot to make a weapon showcase for this video and only noticed once it was already uploaded. Instead I will do it at the beginning of the next video. Please forgive me!



The Curse-Rotted Greatwood

The community calls this thing Treeballs and the game calls it a Greatwood.
As far as Dark Souls bosses go this is an odd one because you can only damage it in specific weak spots: The bulbs. Not only that, you barely do any damage until you've dealt enough to the weak spots. Then the weak spot explodes, blood gushes everywhere and a huge chunk of health gets blown off of the bosses health bar. The trick is navigating the various attacks while continuously dealing damage to the bulbs that make up the weak spots.

Most prominently, right in the center between the legs are the community namesake of the boss: The tree's balls. While you can take them out first it's best to destroy some of the other bulbs first because as soon as you got his balls phase two starts. So taking out other weak spots before makes the much more difficult second phase shorter. The easiest ones are probably the ones on his left hand and leg. Take those out alongside with the balls and he's down to 50% health.

In Phase #1 he can sweep or crush you with his arms. He can also roll over, which looks harder to avoid than it is. The most annoying attack is him lifting his wooden butt up into the air to drop back down and release some yellow/brown-ish stuff. Which is fairly annoying. It's acid and will deal damage to your equipment's durability. It's best to stay away until it's gone.

The second phase starts once you've killed the balls for the first time. They will reform and a giant arm will emerge from them. He can do all of the attacks from the first phase in addition to some new ones. Most of them are related to his newly formed hand which can hit horizontally or do a hard-hitting pound. He can hit multiple times with his arm two, it's best to steer clear of his frontside until you're absolutely sure he's done. Another attacks is his patented flop. He gets up and just falls down. This'll do a number on you but is easy to avoid and gives you an opportunity to hit some of the more difficult to reach bulbs. Like the one on his elbow.

I recommend always going for the bulb on his back first in phase two because he can't really do much of use against you just destroying it. Attack the others as they present themselves to you. If you somehow destroyed all of them and the boss is still alive, which shouldn't be possible, the hand is there as a failsafe. It can't be destroyed, so you can just keep attacking it until the health bar is completely gone.



Below will only cover the boss soul and weapons we can make from it, the rest of the items will follow as soon as we've finished the entire area.

Transposing Kiln
An old transposing kiln from Courland, crafted with stitched crystal lizard hide
Give to Ludleth, Lord of Cinder to conduct soul transposition. This kiln can transpose twisted souls to craft special items with their concentrated essence.
Deemed forbidden by those unable to make proper use of it.

Soul of the Rotted Greatwood
Soul of the Curse-rotted Greatwood.
One of the twisted souls, steeped in strength.
Use to acquire many souls, or transpose to extract its true strength.
Ever since its establishment, all manner of curses have managed to seep into the Undead Settlement. The worst of them were sealed away inside a spirit tree, but eventually the curses took their toll.

Hollowslayer Geatsword
Dark Souls III:
Greatsword used for a lifetime by a masked knight. Harbors the fears that lurk within the mind of Hollows, and is particularly effective against them.
Bestowed to a proper Mirrah knight long ago. Two-hand to execute special sword techniques.
Skill: Stance - While in stance, use normal attack to break a foe’s guard from below, and strong attack to slash upwards with a forward lunge.

Dark Souls II (Mirrah Greatsword):
Greatsword issued to the proud knights of Mirrah's official order. This one was wielded by Lucatiel.
This greatsword demands advanced skill in a rare and unique sword technique.
A tiny message is inscribed on the blade, a promise to someone special.

Note: That someone special in the Dark Souls II description supposedly is Alsatiel of Mirrah, Lucatiels Brother. Lucatiel was a Dark Souls II character whose arc revolved around the process of her going hollow and losing her identity ever so slowly as well as the angst that comes with losing ones mind while staying just sane enough for long enough to notice it. It ends with her demanding of the Player to remember her name. Alsatiel is an NPC invader who appears in the area that follows that event


Arstor's Spear
One of the curses that festered within the belly of the Greatwood, and a terrible weapon favored by Earl Arstor the Impaler.
The spear is enwreathed in rotten, heavily poisonous meat. Defeating foes restores HP.
Skill: Shield Splitter - Take a large step forward and make a single focused thrust to puncture enemy shields and inflict damage.