Demon's Souls SL1 NG+5 PBWT 'Easy Mode' - Part 16 - 5-2: Opening the Shortcut

Welcome to Demon's Souls, NG+5 PBWT SL1 for mere mortals.

No skills were used in the making of this series. =)

A lot of people consider this to be the worst level in the game, but it's really only because the map seems so daunting at first. It's rarely a problem beyond your very first run.

0:56 I begin 5-2.

1:28 I cast Regeneration. In total, I'm using Regeneration (from Adjudicator's soul), the Blessed Mace +1 (found just before the plague rats in 5-1), and the Regenerator's Ring from 4-1 to offset the damage from poison. You could also use the Adjudicator's Shield +5 rather than Regeneration, but I thought this was the lowest-effort configuration to demonstrate. It's even viable for a New Game run, unless you intend on using Adjudicator's soul for the Meat Cleaver.

1:39 You want to time and angle this fall just right. Fall off too soon and you'll die from fall damage, too late and the enemy here will hit you. The leeway is pretty huge, just be aware of it.

1:50 The map of this level seems overwhelming, but there are a few simple details that make it easy. The first is to realize that there are two halves of the map, the "first half" of the level, and the "second half". They are separated by a huge dividing wall across the center of the swamp. The easiest way to make your way from the first half to the second half is to simply run straight to this wall, and follow it all the way to the north, where the fog gate is to cross into the second half.

2:51 You don't want to move so slowly here that the Black Phantom catches you, but don't run so fast you fall off the walkway, which is just as bad. If you're having trouble, just toss a Soul Remains first to distract the enemies on the island.

3:00 You want to fall off this platform early, but not too early. Make sure you're over the short base of the barrier wall you can see in frame here. After landing, I follow the wall over to the small fence. I smash the fence and run this direction a bit longer to avoid BP Selen Vinland.

3:12 After escaping the range of Selen Vinland, you want to run at the four lights in the distance that form the square, until you see the large slug (who carries a set of Dull Gold Armor, oddly). Somewhere around here Regeneration will run out and need to be renewed.

4:07 Once I reach the slug, I turn and head toward the leftmost Eye of Sauron.

4:31 Once you reach the wall here, you just follow it around for the next fog gate.

4:45 I run in this roundabout manner to get to the Filthy Woman to shake any enemies who might try to pursue me.

5:17 Run through the swamp against the wall here, and make sure you don't try to return to land until you've passed the crucifix.

5:56 Once you get to this point, keep running until you reach the next point where you're standing on a stone outcropping instead of wooden bridges. There you can take time to adjust your setup.

6:10 I get overwhelmed fumbling with my inventory here, and accidentally use a grass instead of curing poison. So I have to wait even longer for Hyper Mode. Fortunately poison + Makoto makes it go pretty fast at SL1 HP.

7:00 I finish recovering from that mistake and have Hyper Mode ready.

For this next segment, you should know what you're dealing with. There are five mosquitoes (two pairs, then one loner), and then three Defiled Ones. Don't let them catch you off guard. Dying here before unlocking the shortcut is a horrible feeling.

8:15 The Lava Bow is better on these guys than Fire Spray because it does a heavier fire stun effect.

9:12 And there you have it. Probably the best shortcut in the game. Ideally you wouldn't need this shortcut and you could just beat Dirty Colossus first try, which is what speedrunners do. However under these conditions, his little fly shots are a OHKO and sometimes their pattern is random and hard to avoid, so this shortcut is definitely worth the diversion.