Dark Souls SL1 Runs: Share your experiences!

[jawg_da_dawg]

I started one of my own with a character named "John Darksoul", and recently made it to Anor Londo, I can already tell the difficulty curve from this point onwards is gonna be steep lol

Right now I'm using the reinforced club +6, whatever armor I can medium roll with, and I am using pyromancies

So I was wondering if anyone in the forum has done any SL1 runs before and wanted to share their experiences/tips, doesn't just have to be Dark Souls 1 either, any souls game (DS2, DS3, Bloodborne, Elden Ring, etc.), or anything similar can be posted here too.

 

[Enclave]

All I know is you can cheese some boses and monsters with firebombs.

 

[Rocket2049]

what's a SL1 run? i've finished DS1 the original and remaster, not my kinda games but i love that people use Dark souls as a comparsion of "hard game" there's MUCH harder games that i can't beat...

 

[X y b e r - S k u ll]

what's a SL1 run? i've finished DS1 the original and remaster, not my kinda games but i love that people use Dark souls as a comparsion of "hard game" there's MUCH harder games that i can't beat...

It stands for “Soul level 1 run” basically; beating the game as a pyromancer (Only class that starts at level 1) without levelling up a single time (Weapon and equipment upgrades are allowed though).

Haven’t personally done one myself, but I might attempt one on my next inevitable play through of DS1.

 

[JellyjamLu]

I fired an untold amount of arrows into a Drake's tail. it was riveting gameplay,

 

[Ikagura]

It stands for “Soul level 1 run” basically; beating the game as a pyromancer (Only class that starts at level 1) without levelling up a single time (Weapon and equipment upgrades are allowed though).

Haven’t personally done one myself, but I might attempt one on my next inevitable play through of DS1.

There's a similar run in FFX with the No Sphere Grid challenge.

 

[Zerpina]

Be a real DS Player...
Beat it with only Whips.

 

[jawg_da_dawg]

Be a real DS Player...
Beat it with only Whips.

I love The Backlogs' stuff lol, I've definitely though about doing specific weapon runs too; But alas I am a lowly scrub as of right now lmao

Post automatically merged: May 4, 2026

It stands for “Soul level 1 run” basically; beating the game as a pyromancer (Only class that starts at level 1) without levelling up a single time (Weapon and equipment upgrades are allowed though).

Haven’t personally done one myself, but I might attempt one on my next inevitable play through of DS1.

I was in a similar position when I started mine, beat DS1 with a bunch of different builds and figured I wanted a fresh experience with SL1

 

[KamakoKamako's icon]

I've never tried an SL1 run, but every time I play a new Souls games I beat it without upgrading my HP stat.

Not as extreme a challenge admittedly, but I'm still very proud of sticking to that self-imposed rule.

I also beat all of Dark Souls II SotFS on my first playthrough with Covenant of Champions activated...that was also pretty grueling.

Here's a vid of me beating Mohg in Elden Ring on my first playthrough with 10 Vigor/Mind. I show my char's stat sheet at the end. My fave thing about the video is my emote has me hit the deck just as the bassline kicks up one final time. xD

Good luck with the rest of your run. I can imagine the New Londo Ruins and the DLC are going to be absolutely gnarly.

 

[Yousef Yousef]

Bonk life is the good life.