@yaodema I looked around and it doesn't seem like he spawns at all until you go through the whwite mist

@yaodema or is he in a different place entirely that you can't access from the pre-boss room

@Felthry Hi yeah no, that spawn timing bit is a complete lie. He's around. I think you have to pass through a fog gate in the level to get to that area, but he spawns before the boss arena. he's just up high.

@yaodema oof, sorry, that was just the impression I got from trying to kill him before then, I didn't mean to upset you or anything

@Felthry nah, I just misinterpreted what you meant by "looked around." I thought you meant people online were telling you he spawns late.

@yaodema okay sorry

the phrasing "hi yeah no" just kinda sets something off that makes me feel like I did a wrong thing >.<

@Felthry oops. will keep that in mind for the future. I don't wanna come across as spiny.

@Felthry and just to make sure: I'm sorry. I'm the one who should be, given how I came across with that. You didn't do or say anything wrong there.

Between us who've responded, I hope we've helped! Gaping is a bit of a difficulty spike. I remember getting summoned there a lot.

@yaodema okay, sorry for the misunderstanding, and your apology is accepted! it was just a misunderstanding.

@Felthry The best timing to get a bunch of hits in is right after it charges. Chase but not too close, the legs have large hurtboxes when moving. Then smack the tail a bunch. Its recovery time from that charge is immense.

@yaodema I was told something about cutting off its tail to get an item, is that worth doing

@SCP1471 Astora's Straight Sword

@Felthry Ah that's a pretty alright one. Do you have the Faith stat to back it up? It's a weird weapon in that half of its actual damage is magic which most dragons are fairly resistant to (which is probably some of why gaping dragon is giving you this much trouble)

@SCP1471 I mean it has a minimum faith requirement of 14 so I leveled faith to that but other than that not any further

@Felthry yeah its possible you might just not have a great weapon for this fight. Gaping is tough.

Have you been killing the Black Knights that you've found so far? if you get ANY of their weapons your life is gonna get so much easier

@SCP1471 I tried to fight one and got completely destroyed

are the weapons guaranteed drops?

@Felthry Nah its entirely random, unfortunately, and they don't respawn. Those guys are tough too but if you're lucky enough to get a weapon from them it's way worth it.

@SCP1471 okay but are there ways to improve drop rate? I read something about humanity boosting that but that's so hard to get any significant amount of. the loading screens mention a golden serpent ring but I don't know where to find that

@Felthry Yeah, having "liquid" humanity (the number next to your health/stamina bars) can boost drop rate up to a maximum of 10 humanity. The gold serpent ring is unfortunately only found in Sen's Fortress (which is post-gaping dragon if you don't have the master key)

The best bet is to just go back to kill all the dark knights you've encountered so far and hope for the best

@SCP1471 is there any way to farm humanity by any chance

I occasionally just. get some for no apparent reason, or rarely find one in item form on a corpse, but it costs two humanity to kindle a fire and that's a lot

@Felthry Since you're down there in the Depths, the enemies with the best chance to drop humanity items are the rats. Just kill em, rest, repeat, until you got enough humanity to spare

Getting random liquid humanity is weird cuz it's a random chance from any enemy in an area where you haven't killed the boss yet, up to 5 humanity per area.

@SCP1471 what about the random times when I get humanity immediately after reviving from a death, though?

@Felthry from recovering your bloodstain? or just entirely randomly?

Oh also i forgot co-op: putting down a white summon sign and successfully helping the host kill a boss will net you a liquid humanity (and a portion of the souls the boss usually drops)

@SCP1471 like the _moment_ I revive in front of the fire, there's the soul drain animation playing and I suddenly have a humanity

also we don't do online play as a rule, our xbox isn't even connected to the internet

@Felthry that's... weird. It could just be an enemy dying out of nowhere and you getting lucky enough to snag a liquid humanity. Otherwise i have no idea

Also fair. online would make you susceptible to invasion too which blows

@SCP1471 @yaodema @ShugoWah@snouts.online okay well uh. I beat the gaping dragon with advice from all of you nice people and now I have 26390 souls and no idea what to do with it

the most I've ever had at one time previously is 5000ish

@Felthry time to level the HECK up!

or get back to Andre the blacksmith and get your armor upgraded if you haven't yet

@SCP1471 @yaodema @ShugoWah@snouts.online should i buy the crystal straight sword this guy is offering? should I get a couple miracles from that priest guy at firelink shrine? should I level up? should I level up items?

@Felthry Crystal stuff is bad unless you know what you're doing. They have good stats but can't be repaired at all. once they break they're gone for good

@SCP1471 oh, that's... odd

what about this armor he has, helm of the wise/armor of the glorious/gauntlets of the vanquisher/boots of the explorer

is that any good?