I'm sure others have already commented this, but the Four Kings are actually a unique case when it comes to the Lifehunt Scythe gimmick. You take increased bleed build-up on that boss because you are technically hitting two enemies at once - the visible Kings, and an invisible one that's loaded in to produce the boss healthbar.
@@Doomsday_Report I mean, DS2 isn't really the 'worst' its just the most divergent. Makes sense that the most different game would have the most unique mechanics.
@@Doomsday_Report Partially correct. While it doesn't bypass shields in DkS1, it absolutely does have sweet spot damage, as do all weapons in the halberd class (which the Scythes somewhat count among in DkS1). If you hit with the blade portion, you do more damage than hitting with the stick portion, it's just that in DkS1 the moveset is better for doing so 2 handed.
Honestly though, kudos to Rhea at 10:20 for watching three of her friends/protectors die only to give death himself a mean right hook. Like, that took guts. Didn't change anything, but I respect the attitude
Fun little tip for Quelaag, if you use the light attack with the great scythe and aim for her head you can stun lock her because she will stagger with each hit.
I remember once doing a Priscilla themed run in Dark Souls 2 and having LOADS of problems with the Scythe because of WALLS In fact that run made me realize how many walls there are in Dark Souls 2 and how easy it is to hit them with a giant wheat harvester
@@COMMANDandConquer199In pvp maybe but scythes are actually pretty good in ds3 if you two hand them. At least if my memories of my first playthrough are anything to go by.
The best part about this run is that I've actually already done two scythe builds, almost exactly like this. I went and got the Bloodbite ring early, and I yelled at the screen when Lemon was back in Anor Londo without the bloodshield on his back. Simply put, it feels nice to see a Backlogs video of a run you've already mastered. Big props. Loved the video.
I think my favourite build I've made has to be the scythe build. Scythe pyromancer (With a little bit of miracles) I find very fun and versatile as a build. The only problem with it is spending the time in the lower undead burg for the hollow theif hood...
@@VakovoSheggorri Oh I know that hood grind. Did it for an offensive miracle build that turned out really well. It looks gorgeous paired with Chester's longcoat.
@@justsomenumpty The normal scythe itself is good. High Dexterity scaling and safer, with less bleed benefit. It can also be infused as well as buffed, so if you like spells which aren't pyromancies, you have your options.
@@novidei7991 oh that’s a good tip. I’m planning on using Abyss spells along with the scythe build so I’ll keep that in mind. Also, do you mean the _regular_ scythe or like the great scythe?
A note on the darkness ending: 2 establishes that it doesn't matter. Eventually a Chosen Undead *will* rekindle the First Flame, and the cycle will continue. That's why 2's non-Aldia ending doesn't show whether you reject the First Flame or rekindle it, because it doesn't matter. And honestly, that's part of why I like 2's story, it constantly tells you nothing matters and then gives you the option to go "well, if nothing matters, it doesn't matter if I say 'fuck this entire deal' and go on my own path." And it's why I choose (I forget the exact name) the ending in 3 where you don't try to continue the cycle of the First Flame, but you also don't establish yourself as a ruler for doing so. The Age of Humanity can figure its own shit out, and sure, my characters would try to help, but the First Sin was caused by being unable to embrace change, and it seems unfair to establish yourself as the Lord of Humanity before the new age even begins.
yeah, 2 and 3 ruined the lore. not surprising though since miyazaki never wanted to make sequels to dark souls but was pressured into it because dark souls is a money printing machine
I choose the End of Fire. There's no time to find another lord, and it's time a new age begun anyway. The darkness is scary, but there's hope on the other side. I consider it the canon ending
@@lloydirving6209 all the souls games are really good no reason to hate on any of them but 3 has some of the best bosses in the series so idk how you think its bad. forgot to add that they dont ruin the lore at all? ds2 shows that whatever you do has no meaning and ds3 gives a really good end to dark souls.
The Lifehunt Scythe is definitely one of my favorites. I love doing a "Holy Grim Reaper" build where I use it and miracles, while dressing up in light robes and a hood.
And on that day Lemon discovered my favorite weapons in Dark Souls 1. The Great Scythe, and it's little brother the Lifehunt Scythe. For those wondering second favorite is the Chaos blade. The other one that makes you take damage when you use it. ...don't read too much into it.
It’s wild to think that you’re playing the great scythe for the first time, remembering back in the day one of the first ever videos on dark souls about “becoming overpowered in 10 minutes” was grabbing the great scythe and upgrading it to a fire scythe.
On my first dark souls playthrough, my first ever invader handed me the great scythe and it carried me not only through the game, but through the following duel with the invader. Bless you random invader for sparking my love with the series and showing me to look for light even in the darkest places
I like these sort of “casual” runs. I’ve never used scythes in Dark Souls since I’ve just never thought to use one. So it’s kinda cool to see the potential of weapons that I never think about
It's always fun to just run through a full NG cycle using a setup you've never used before. Knowing how to get absurdly strong early makes it even more enjoyable to just annihilate early game bosses' health bars.
@@nateklempner561 Its funny cause I've beat DS1 so many times, to the point where I know where everything is and exactly how to achieve a build I want, and it doesn't get boring. Its like re-watching my favorite show.
Man, how the times have changed. I remember back in the day where the great scythe was almost universally considered overpowered, but it seems like that memory is lost to a lot of people. Love the vid!
There was a very famous video like 8 years ago that explained scientifically why the great scythe is the best weapon overall, can't find it anymore tho
I watched this video last night, and playing about in elden ring I found the Winged Sythe. But I just need sooo much faith. The downside to throwing most of my runes into intelligence, I get all the best drops (got greatsword from the chest next to the gatefront flame where you normally get torrent) lol
It was so popular that you HAVE TO know how to avoid dead angles and how to parry specifically the running attack and/or the follow-up heavy 2H . Graet times.
This video has become a comfort video I find myself watching it a few times a week. Anytime I need some good background noise this has been the go to. Keep it up man love all the content souls or other
I recently started a scythe run myself, and so I came back to rewatch this video. I also themed my character around bringing death to many across Lordran, I gotta say I love scythes. Such fun, niche weapons
Runs like this that mostly showcase a weapon or playstyle I've never used before are super fun, especially with the little narrative twists. Great to see you breezing through and showing off the inevitability of death!
Scythe only was my first ever challenge run in Dark Souls. I also used the gold-hemmed set and the skull lantern for a Grim Reaper look. Really cool to see someone make a video about it, like 8 years later.
The best part of around this is those somber moments after the death of each npc. Really makes you feel for the npcs and kinda feels like you’re relieving them of the pains of the world yknow?
19:03 reminds me of that family guy clip “D-did I just die? But I’m death!” “Sorry bro, super death here. Your done.” “So what happens when a death dies?” “Oh, you just get reincarnated back to life”
The Great Scythe is actually considered one of the best PvE weapons in Dark Souls 1. Incredible reach, decent damage and bleed is a deadly combination.
I distinctly remember someone doing a DPS test of different weapons with the stats in a sweet spot (soft cap) and no buffs and the Great Scythe came out in the top 3! I believe even first place because of its attack speed compared to something like BK halberd
"decent damage" dude I'm on my second playthrough and I grabbed the great scythe, upgraded it to +5, entered the capra demon fight and swung the heavy attack once killing both dogs and taking a quarter/third off of the capra demons healthbar immediately lol. If that's just "decent" then the game is easy lmao.
Using the Lifehunt Scythe is probably the only time I can think of where having bloodred moss clumps on your item bar is a good idea. I can't think of a single time I've ever actually used one before.
@@CopeAndSeeth it's part of ped0 cult who target children, did you see Balenciaga bsdm ads or how they send kids with naked me in in uk? they try to act normal then groom children and act like the vitcim when it happens
"You are no hollow. You are..." "DEATH. And I don't mean it metaphorically or rhetorically or poetically or theoretically or in any other fancy way. I'm Death. Straight up."
Me: You keep Saying I have no Maidens. But WHERE ARE YOURS!? WHERE ARE THEY?! I DON'T SEE THEM- * dies * YOU DIED TheBackLogs: Dabs on my dead body swagging on me *
I know that you probably don't need any suggestions for future runs, but I've been playing dark souls 2 recently and was wondering if someone could beat the game with the lost sinner sword with 30 sin. For people that don't know the lost sinner sword loses ar based on sin and attacks also damage the player. Good luck anyone that tries this run.
The shown stats are misleading. At max penalty it shows 0 AR but what it actually has is 0 scaling. In practice it still has all of its base damage, which is the highest in the game for a UGS. So a Raw or elemental infusion would effectively negate the penalty almost completely.
Yes and it's piss-easy because the Great Scythe is one of the strongest weapons in the entire game, and you can get it by walking into the catacombs at the start of the game if you get out of Asylum. Also, yes the 1-handed moveset is actually useful. The vertical attack is extremely fast if you don't miss enemies, and also doesn't make your attack deflect off walls in tight corridors. Especially if you combine the vertical attack with a weapon buff, your damage output is insane.
The scythe 1H has also a left and right swipe for strategic use near walls at either side. It also has long reach so you can cut enemies not having to be close to them (I think it also does more damage with the blade part). In other words - this vid should've been named: "Can you NOT beat DS1 with only scythes?" :D
Please do this for the rest of the from soft catalog this was so funny, id love to see how the weapons evolved through the Series. Im looking forward to a ds3 scythe run if you do choose to do more runs with them in later games.
In retrospect, you might have liked some bloodred moss for the Lifehunt Scythe. Actually decided to give this one a go. The scythe as a weapon trivializes the game almost as much as a bkh or zweihander. I'm in Anor Londo much faster than i usually progress in a game.
a much better choice would have been hooking the neck and either slashing (maybe just reuse and tweak that hollow thief animation) or kick them in the back and send them tumbling forward without their throat. wasted opportunity.
My favorite weapon type! A shame how few scythes there are in most Fromsoft games... I am somewhat confused by the fact that in Elden Ring two of the four scythes are holy damage weapon, which is odd considering the other two scythes are undead related.
Undeath in elden ring isn't unholy or the opposite of holy, it's more of a consequence of the way the golden order rules. That's also why the blade of death, despite it being used to kill godwyn, deals holy damage because everything comes from the erdtree/elden ring
@Deep_Blue a fair point I guess, I just kinda wish there were some form of scythe that does base damage for the other damage types, a magic or lightning scythe sounds very cool
@Bognog 04 I had actually included that one, the base one, the grave scythe, the halo scythe, and the winged scythe. What is this fifth one I haven't heard of yet?
I think this might be my favorite vid of yours. I've watched all your souls challenge videos a few times over now and this one just hits the right way. Fun theming, love the gimmick of killing all the possible NPCs, just a fun watch. Admittedly, I do enjoy seeing runs that need devoted problem solving but maybe that could happen with the later games. I genuinely hope you make Scythe Runs in the other FromSoft games!
15:20 For the record my kitty is a precious fluffy angel and he's entirely welcome to eat my face after I die. It's not like I'm using it at that point lol Of course he did also pee in my bathroom sink this morning and prance his little piss-covered paws all over my bedspread, so idk 🤔🐱💙 Yeah good video too, it's a bit sad seeing all the nice NPCs like SunBro and PyroBro eat it but if we're being honest Dark Souls isn't exactly the kind of place you'd want to spend an undead eternity going insane in anyway.
Oh hell yeah, the lifehunt scythe was always my favorite when I played the original DS1. I'd usually offhand Priscilla's dagger with it, the light attack was great for building up enemy bleed before using the scythe (and parrying always felt cooler with a dagger lol)
@@phyllotaxis I was asking as it looked like the purple section of the bar was increasing when he equipped the ring despite not having any bleed build up originally.
@@jaye4157 Oh, yeah that's a weird thing that happens whenever a piece of equipment boosts your resistance to a status effect. The game treats the increase to that stat as though it had already been built up to that amount, then the buildup wears off like normal. No idea why it works like that.
Fun thing about the "scythe" (bardiche labeled as a halberd), its name is actually correct, sort of - I'll get back to that Scythes were actually used as weapons of war, but not the kind you use in this video Instead, the scythe (called a war scythe) was angled similarly to a spear but with a long, curved tip The war scythe in Dark Souls, however... is folded the wrong way, making it a bardiche indeed Which is a bit of a shame, considering how close we came to having an actual war scythe in Dark Souls only to have a mislabeled bardiche lol
@GustavoLeaoValente I didn't know that! I've never played Demon's Souls (being a PS exclusive and all) but it's cool to see an actual war scythe in a game like that!
this just made me think of an insane challenge run. called the 'Death Run' you must use scythes only and the only armour youre allowed to have is blackhemmed. the challenge is you cannot die, you cannot rest at bonfires. and when you finish the game, everything that is killable in the world must be dead. that includes every single mob, killable npc, boss, and then finally. yourself. after killing gwyn and entering ng+. you must then die. but for areas like anor londo travel, painted world and dlc. just gotta make sure absolutely everything is dead before you leave and youre good. this not only forces a ds2 style run for both rings. it also forces the use of only 10 flasks permanently. cursing you to only humanity, and the souls of those you killed. which also means no leveling up either. the only leveling up youre allowed to do is one time at firelink to get the permitted strength to two hand a scythe. anyone willing to give it a try? sounds pretty wild
Sounds like you'd probably want to basically save your leveling as late as possible to collect a huge number of souls. Easiest way I can think of would probably be to do reverse parish to unlock the shortcuts back to firelink and the burg bonfire, and basically just clear the knights in parish, birb back to asylum, birb back to firelink, repeat, occasionally visit Andre for repairs and upgrades, eventually save up the souls to softcap Dex, Vit, Res, and Edu, and gain the necessary Str and 18 Fth, then level at firelink and restore humanity, rush pinwheel, rush Leeroy for Sanctus, then endlessly grind rats in parish or depths depending on which is faster to reload. This gives you a bunch of humanities for combat healing and an out of combat recovery tool. Now you're ready to clear Lordran. Is this an incredibly cheap strategy? Yes. ... that's it, comment over
Very fun video. Was actually funny to see you breeze through the bosses. Plus the role playing death for this run. Very fitting and very enjoyable. Definitely learned quite alot from this video.
The great scythe + uchigatana have always been my 2 weapons for dex builds. Scythe handles the big enemies and uchi in narrow spaces or when I need faster attacks with less recovery frames. Glad you are doing a video on it!
This (but way less optimized) was actually my first Dark Souls build. It's really fun to bleed bosses and the damage seems to be good (although I never did as much damage as in the video due to worse stat allocation). Also BloodShield, Livehuntsythe and Chester set look very good together and have insane bleed resist.
@16:10 My wife used the Lifehunt scythe for almost all of her playthrough and I thought the four kings fight was so interesting. The bleed was never really a problem until this part, my theory is that because you are technically draining two separate life bars, the bleed adds to the user for both.
Your theory is correct! The damage to the placeholder king (the one with the healthbar) is considered separately, therefore it adds even more bleed damage.
Scythes have always been my favourite weapons in Souls games, ever since I used the great scythe for a large portion of my first DS1 playthrough. They have a great mix of speed, power, and range, and the sweet spot mechanic makes spacing fun. There also tend to be some pretty unique boss weapon versions, which can encourage even more variety in gameplay.
Just a suggestion you also could have used blood red moss clumps, they usually aren't that useful in Normal runs but since you have to tank so much bleed with the lifehunt scythe I feel it would have come in handy.
As soon as I saw that fluffy tail, I was waiting for the reveal of the off-screen mass purchase. The pyromancy was a good touch for additional resistance, I hadn't seen that used before 🤣
Lemon making another great hit video. I'll say man your quality keeps going up and it always brightens my day when you upload. There's been some rough days where the one shining light as just been enjoying a newly released video of yours. Keep doing amazing work man we all love you
I'm speechless. I never used the Great Scythe or Life Hunt Scythe because the treck there seemed way too annoying to be worth it. But... that damage is kinda nice.
Did a similar run once! On my way through new londo, the ghosts pulled me through a wall and I died to out of bounds... which gave me the same post-death message as if you jump into four kings without the appropriate ring. The Grim Beeper was "taken by the abyss" which is still hilarious to me like five years later Anyways scythes OP, fun run
"The One handed attack isnt worth mentioning" If youve never heard the phrase "Thanks ENB" it stems from old EpicNameBro videos where he discovered that the Great Scythe one hand R1 spam yields the highest DPS in the game lol
Glad to see how much the channel has grown. Have you thought about a dark hand or crystal weapons only run. I feel like they would be more on the easier side of challenge runs while still giving you some form of difficulty.
At 7:55, the moment the boss becomes transparent against the backdrop of the crack in the wall, it continues to block the bloom lighting around the crack but doesn't reduce the brightness of the direct light. Very strange transparency shading, I wonder if the original version did this.
I just finished my scythe run of ds1 and I can say that precilla's scythe is definitely op. Went through the whole game with minimum stats in damage categories. Ended the game with 50 vigor and 50 endurance. Still did tons of damage per hit too
I used Priscilla's scythe on my second playthrough of DS1 and it really does break the whole game. 500 bleed is ridiculously powerful even with the risk of inflicting it on yourself if you don't pay attention.
Nice! Thanks for yet another entertaining vid! 5:05 - I'm pretty sure it always been the case - weapons don't bounce (unless it's a solid wall) if you use a two-handed grip.
Did this last time i played DS1, was a bit rough early but besides that, it was fun(except for having to kill Priscilla for what turned to be a side grade). Also not that bad a run in DS2/3.
This video inspired me to swap my main weapon in my first ever run of DS from the Drake Sword (I know, I know, I was planning to change once I beat Quelaag, trust me) to the Great Scythe, so thank you for making me suffer a half hour of the Catacombs. Totally worth it, I hit like even more of a truck and I actually enjoy playing the game again!
My weapon of choice for my first playthrough of this game was the great scythe and it became my favourite weapon type in each game where scythes appear, so seeing them get love from lemon brings a smile to my face
So this is the run that inspired me to FINALLY try and finish dark souls after a year of cursing and muttering through the four kings. I started a new save and went and grabbed the scythe through much anguish. This is the video that made me find my love for the Dark Souls universe. And it was miserable to play DS2 after this masterpiece of a game. Thanks Backlogs you inspired my triumph over evil.
while i'm not sure using the best dex weapon counts as a challenge run (maybe next to the balder side sword) it is a nice themed run non the less. I like running lifehunt on ng+, just ads a fine extra layer to think about not bleeding yourself to death
I actually did this exact challenge and I can say it was some of the most fun I’ve had in ds1 the scythes are really awesome (although this video did kinda hurt me seeing his damage as when I did this I isn’t know what weapon scaling was and I majorly messed up my build)
The Great Scythe was one of the most dominant weapons in ds1 and was everywhere in pvp after the epicnamebro video. It's kind of a shame how it fell from grace after that
I'm doing it again.. life hasn't been the same after 100% Dark Souls 1, so im doing it again on a 2nd account and this is the run that's going to start my Meat Grinder running. Love this build , love this video. It got me through DS1 , multiple times and encouraged me to 100% the games achievements and now I'm going to do it again. Thank you Lemon for giving me this urning to completely conquer a game that once brought me to my knees
I love how the back attack has you shove the whole scythe through the body way past the blade
Gonna shove this invader's entire spine out his body - mortal kombat style
Yeah that probably hurts
I hate it. If they do a remake that should be one of the first things they fix
@@PleabianFae the couldve used the ultra greatsword animation, its literally swinging the thing
@@aokyoutsuki7744 wouldn't that look awkward tho?
I'm sure others have already commented this, but the Four Kings are actually a unique case when it comes to the Lifehunt Scythe gimmick. You take increased bleed build-up on that boss because you are technically hitting two enemies at once - the visible Kings, and an invisible one that's loaded in to produce the boss healthbar.
That's awesome, genuinely thank you for sharing this was neat!
Yep, encountered this when I was maining the scythe in my first run
So if I use the katana "blade of chaos," I will take double the damage bc i will be hitting two targets?
IS THAT WHY I WASTED ALL THAT TIME ON MY FIRST PLAYTHROUGH GETTING HIGH BLEED RES?!
@@JonathanFarmer100just not sure why red moss isn’t an option
So fun fact if you didn't know lemon, but the scythe actually has sweet spot damage and does damage around shields too \o/
Not in DS1 sadly, also not sure for 3, but definitely in 2, weird how many fun and interesting mechanics they put in the "worst" game of the series.
@@Doomsday_Report it is in ds3
@@Doomsday_Report I mean, DS2 isn't really the 'worst' its just the most divergent. Makes sense that the most different game would have the most unique mechanics.
@@Doomsday_Report Partially correct. While it doesn't bypass shields in DkS1, it absolutely does have sweet spot damage, as do all weapons in the halberd class (which the Scythes somewhat count among in DkS1). If you hit with the blade portion, you do more damage than hitting with the stick portion, it's just that in DkS1 the moveset is better for doing so 2 handed.
@@rayhatesu why do you call it "dks"
Honestly though, kudos to Rhea at 10:20 for watching three of her friends/protectors die only to give death himself a mean right hook. Like, that took guts. Didn't change anything, but I respect the attitude
especially after the bosses he fought not getting a single hit on him
Respect among enemies
something so cathartic about a healer not having any weapons so they just give someone the fucking HANDS because they refuse to do nothing.
I have now learned that Nico's death sound is just a satisfied "Mmnnn"
@@Auscarsy well she does have a weapon technically. She'll just beat you death with a piece of cloth
Fun little tip for Quelaag, if you use the light attack with the great scythe and aim for her head you can stun lock her because she will stagger with each hit.
Works with bows too
I remember once doing a Priscilla themed run in Dark Souls 2 and having LOADS of problems with the Scythe because of WALLS
In fact that run made me realize how many walls there are in Dark Souls 2 and how easy it is to hit them with a giant wheat harvester
totally
@candyman Can look pretty cool though
It doesn't help that the scythes kinda sucked in DkS2, and 3 for that matter.
@@COMMANDandConquer199In pvp maybe but scythes are actually pretty good in ds3 if you two hand them. At least if my memories of my first playthrough are anything to go by.
Can't imagine even attempting that challenge in the sunken king DLC.
The best part about this run is that I've actually already done two scythe builds, almost exactly like this. I went and got the Bloodbite ring early, and I yelled at the screen when Lemon was back in Anor Londo without the bloodshield on his back.
Simply put, it feels nice to see a Backlogs video of a run you've already mastered. Big props. Loved the video.
I think my favourite build I've made has to be the scythe build. Scythe pyromancer (With a little bit of miracles) I find very fun and versatile as a build. The only problem with it is spending the time in the lower undead burg for the hollow theif hood...
I’m thinking of starting Dark Souls Remastered soon, and I wanna know I should do this build even though it’s my first time playing DS
@@VakovoSheggorri Oh I know that hood grind. Did it for an offensive miracle build that turned out really well. It looks gorgeous paired with Chester's longcoat.
@@justsomenumpty The normal scythe itself is good. High Dexterity scaling and safer, with less bleed benefit. It can also be infused as well as buffed, so if you like spells which aren't pyromancies, you have your options.
@@novidei7991 oh that’s a good tip. I’m planning on using Abyss spells along with the scythe build so I’ll keep that in mind. Also, do you mean the _regular_ scythe or like the great scythe?
I love how Lemon killed all 4 Gywn Knights in this playthrough. And it fits so well with the dark lord ending
he killed everyone lmao
Literally killed everyone possible. Nothing special about the Gwyknights
A note on the darkness ending: 2 establishes that it doesn't matter. Eventually a Chosen Undead *will* rekindle the First Flame, and the cycle will continue. That's why 2's non-Aldia ending doesn't show whether you reject the First Flame or rekindle it, because it doesn't matter. And honestly, that's part of why I like 2's story, it constantly tells you nothing matters and then gives you the option to go "well, if nothing matters, it doesn't matter if I say 'fuck this entire deal' and go on my own path." And it's why I choose (I forget the exact name) the ending in 3 where you don't try to continue the cycle of the First Flame, but you also don't establish yourself as a ruler for doing so. The Age of Humanity can figure its own shit out, and sure, my characters would try to help, but the First Sin was caused by being unable to embrace change, and it seems unfair to establish yourself as the Lord of Humanity before the new age even begins.
yeah, 2 and 3 ruined the lore. not surprising though since miyazaki never wanted to make sequels to dark souls but was pressured into it because dark souls is a money printing machine
@@lloydirving6209yeah 2 and 3 were superior games to 1, too bad Miyazaki had his head too far up his own ass he made a somehow worse ds2 in er
@@thatitalianlameguy2235 2 and 3 aren't superior to 1 lol they are the two worst soulsborne games
I choose the End of Fire. There's no time to find another lord, and it's time a new age begun anyway. The darkness is scary, but there's hope on the other side. I consider it the canon ending
@@lloydirving6209 all the souls games are really good no reason to hate on any of them but 3 has some of the best bosses in the series so idk how you think its bad. forgot to add that they dont ruin the lore at all? ds2 shows that whatever you do has no meaning and ds3 gives a really good end to dark souls.
the backlogs really is a drop everything and watch kind of channel, just nothing but bangers
Yep, soon as I saw this show up in my feed, didn't even scroll past to see if there were any other good videos.
Facts. Watching this in my firebomb academy hoodie 🤗🤗🤗
The Lifehunt Scythe is definitely one of my favorites. I love doing a "Holy Grim Reaper" build where I use it and miracles, while dressing up in light robes and a hood.
Ooooh im gonna try that next run
@@jacobhobson6971 eh pretty much your normal Dex Faith build, just with different gear
@@MyH3ntaiGirl Okay?
Noted
The scythe is one of, if not, the highest scaling Dex weapon in DS1. You can have insane damage when using it and pyromancy buffs.
It is the highest, it's straight up the best DEX weapon in the game.
Also the bleed proc on the life hunt scythe is easily delt with using the bloodbite ring, and with how much DMG it does you hardly need the extra slot
Yep. I found this out when I did a dex build and decided to make it extra edgy by using scythes. Super effective!
@@matheusmoreira9951 The Great Scythe is because it has better scaling than the Scythe. Lifehunt Scythe applies Bleeding faster.
@@kaltaron1284 I know that
Always a pleasure seeing Lemon doing what he does best. 😀
Committing mass homicide
Playing Dark Souls 1
@@chance713 Yeah. He always finds an amuzing way to play.
And on that day Lemon discovered my favorite weapons in Dark Souls 1. The Great Scythe, and it's little brother the Lifehunt Scythe.
For those wondering second favorite is the Chaos blade. The other one that makes you take damage when you use it.
...don't read too much into it.
It’s wild to think that you’re playing the great scythe for the first time, remembering back in the day one of the first ever videos on dark souls about “becoming overpowered in 10 minutes” was grabbing the great scythe and upgrading it to a fire scythe.
On my first dark souls playthrough, my first ever invader handed me the great scythe and it carried me not only through the game, but through the following duel with the invader. Bless you random invader for sparking my love with the series and showing me to look for light even in the darkest places
I like these sort of “casual” runs. I’ve never used scythes in Dark Souls since I’ve just never thought to use one. So it’s kinda cool to see the potential of weapons that I never think about
The Great Scythe is one of the best dex weapons in DS1, And you can get it almost immediately. Super fun to use.
The Great Scythe is always on the first spot on any top 10 weapon list for DS1. Top tier meta.
It's always fun to just run through a full NG cycle using a setup you've never used before. Knowing how to get absurdly strong early makes it even more enjoyable to just annihilate early game bosses' health bars.
@@nateklempner561 Its funny cause I've beat DS1 so many times, to the point where I know where everything is and exactly how to achieve a build I want, and it doesn't get boring. Its like re-watching my favorite show.
Man, how the times have changed. I remember back in the day where the great scythe was almost universally considered overpowered, but it seems like that memory is lost to a lot of people. Love the vid!
There was a very famous video like 8 years ago that explained scientifically why the great scythe is the best weapon overall, can't find it anymore tho
Kind of a silly video that way.
I watched this video last night, and playing about in elden ring I found the Winged Sythe. But I just need sooo much faith. The downside to throwing most of my runes into intelligence, I get all the best drops (got greatsword from the chest next to the gatefront flame where you normally get torrent) lol
@@paulx3274 chest items are always the same
It was so popular that you HAVE TO know how to avoid dead angles and how to parry specifically the running attack and/or the follow-up heavy 2H .
Graet times.
This video has become a comfort video I find myself watching it a few times a week. Anytime I need some good background noise this has been the go to. Keep it up man love all the content souls or other
I recently started a scythe run myself, and so I came back to rewatch this video. I also themed my character around bringing death to many across Lordran, I gotta say I love scythes. Such fun, niche weapons
Runs like this that mostly showcase a weapon or playstyle I've never used before are super fun, especially with the little narrative twists. Great to see you breezing through and showing off the inevitability of death!
It's a Fun i have With Dark Souls, playing several styles and weapons
Scythe only was my first ever challenge run in Dark Souls. I also used the gold-hemmed set and the skull lantern for a Grim Reaper look. Really cool to see someone make a video about it, like 8 years later.
That's what I was going for too! I also added in Gravelord Sword Dance for the extra death.
Oddly enough, the same is true for me as well! Although mine was a lot more recent.
Uses what is literally considered the best Dex weapon in the game and calls it a challange run... Exactly my type of humor
@@SadoMessiahLP I'd call it a build but it is what it is
I'm so glad you tried and enjoyed the scythes. In my first playthrough I mainly used the lifehunt scythe so its nice seeing them get some love
The best part of around this is those somber moments after the death of each npc. Really makes you feel for the npcs and kinda feels like you’re relieving them of the pains of the world yknow?
19:03 reminds me of that family guy clip
“D-did I just die? But I’m death!”
“Sorry bro, super death here. Your done.”
“So what happens when a death dies?”
“Oh, you just get reincarnated back to life”
The Great Scythe is actually considered one of the best PvE weapons in Dark Souls 1. Incredible reach, decent damage and bleed is a deadly combination.
Great Scythe buffed with DMB or Crystal Magic Weapon shreds. Then again almost any weapon with those buffs do a lot of damage
Carried me through an entire DEX playthrough.
I distinctly remember someone doing a DPS test of different weapons with the stats in a sweet spot (soft cap) and no buffs and the Great Scythe came out in the top 3! I believe even first place because of its attack speed compared to something like BK halberd
@@toni1399 yess!! haha I watched that exact same video and used the great scythe from then on and was very happy.
"decent damage" dude I'm on my second playthrough and I grabbed the great scythe, upgraded it to +5, entered the capra demon fight and swung the heavy attack once killing both dogs and taking a quarter/third off of the capra demons healthbar immediately lol. If that's just "decent" then the game is easy lmao.
Using the Lifehunt Scythe is probably the only time I can think of where having bloodred moss clumps on your item bar is a good idea. I can't think of a single time I've ever actually used one before.
Bro what is that groomer pfp
@@CopeAndSeeth you aren't a chad groyper you're a lonely teen who spends too much time online n suffers from a complete lack of parental affection
@@CopeAndSeeth get back on 4chan troll
@@CopeAndSeeth it's part of ped0 cult who target children, did you see Balenciaga bsdm ads or how they send kids with naked me in in uk? they try to act normal then groom children and act like the vitcim when it happens
@@CopeAndSeeth yeah lol
MY FAVORITE WEAPON TYPE!!!
Same
HIS FAVOURITE WEAPON TYPE!!!
I love to dual wield them on DS2 I nickname it the mantis style
Yah baby
Hell yeah mine too
"You are no hollow. You are..."
"DEATH.
And I don't mean it metaphorically or rhetorically or poetically or theoretically or in any other fancy way. I'm Death. Straight up."
Me: You keep Saying I have no Maidens. But WHERE ARE YOURS!? WHERE ARE THEY?! I DON'T SEE THEM-
* dies *
YOU DIED
TheBackLogs: Dabs on my dead body swagging on me *
When I first picked up this weapon, it was love at first scythe
Laughed my head off!
Nah. Nah. Thats bad
yea. yea. thats good
Thanks, I hated it.
HAH
I know that you probably don't need any suggestions for future runs, but I've been playing dark souls 2 recently and was wondering if someone could beat the game with the lost sinner sword with 30 sin. For people that don't know the lost sinner sword loses ar based on sin and attacks also damage the player. Good luck anyone that tries this run.
A ye of little faith video discussing the challenge, at least?
The shown stats are misleading. At max penalty it shows 0 AR but what it actually has is 0 scaling. In practice it still has all of its base damage, which is the highest in the game for a UGS. So a Raw or elemental infusion would effectively negate the penalty almost completely.
Sorry to say: The Lost Sinner is the best UGS. I was thinking the same as you, than I typed and I beated the game faster then usual.
Now we know why Aldritch has the Lifehunt Scythe. Weapon's hit hard as heck!
I absolutely love your addition of the risk of rain sound track in the background at 5:30 ish. Two of my favorite games at once, it must be heaven
I would very much love an entire series with this concept ! It's really cool !
Yes and it's piss-easy because the Great Scythe is one of the strongest weapons in the entire game, and you can get it by walking into the catacombs at the start of the game if you get out of Asylum.
Also, yes the 1-handed moveset is actually useful. The vertical attack is extremely fast if you don't miss enemies, and also doesn't make your attack deflect off walls in tight corridors. Especially if you combine the vertical attack with a weapon buff, your damage output is insane.
The scythe 1H has also a left and right swipe for strategic use near walls at either side. It also has long reach so you can cut enemies not having to be close to them (I think it also does more damage with the blade part).
In other words - this vid should've been named: "Can you NOT beat DS1 with only scythes?" :D
"1H has also a left and right swipe for strategic use near walls"
whaoh epic
Please do this for the rest of the from soft catalog this was so funny, id love to see how the weapons evolved through the Series.
Im looking forward to a ds3 scythe run if you do choose to do more runs with them in later games.
10:56 "By the lords, are you a fool!"
"You must be a heretic, or have you gone plain Hollow!?"
" *mmmmnnn* "
"In the interest of waking up together - no, not like that"
...
"Hey you, you're finally awake!"
*shudders* ageed
In retrospect, you might have liked some bloodred moss for the Lifehunt Scythe.
Actually decided to give this one a go. The scythe as a weapon trivializes the game almost as much as a bkh or zweihander. I'm in Anor Londo much faster than i usually progress in a game.
I have.. _several concerns_ with the backstab animation for scythes using a stabbing motion.
I mean don't the clubs also use a stabbing animation?
@@jaye4157 pretty sure hammers actually use an appropriate swinging animation as do most great swords.
a much better choice would have been hooking the neck and either slashing (maybe just reuse and tweak that hollow thief animation) or kick them in the back and send them tumbling forward without their throat. wasted opportunity.
@@jyxtheberzerking4824 really funny because Elden Ring's crit animation for reapers is exactly that.
My favorite weapon type! A shame how few scythes there are in most Fromsoft games... I am somewhat confused by the fact that in Elden Ring two of the four scythes are holy damage weapon, which is odd considering the other two scythes are undead related.
Undeath in elden ring isn't unholy or the opposite of holy, it's more of a consequence of the way the golden order rules. That's also why the blade of death, despite it being used to kill godwyn, deals holy damage because everything comes from the erdtree/elden ring
@Deep_Blue a fair point I guess, I just kinda wish there were some form of scythe that does base damage for the other damage types, a magic or lightning scythe sounds very cool
@@deep_blue7353 I think undeath in elden ring is generally related to those who live in death / godwyns corruption of the erdtree roots
there are 5, you forgot the base scythe found in the cliffbottom catacombs
@Bognog 04 I had actually included that one, the base one, the grave scythe, the halo scythe, and the winged scythe. What is this fifth one I haven't heard of yet?
I think this might be my favorite vid of yours. I've watched all your souls challenge videos a few times over now and this one just hits the right way. Fun theming, love the gimmick of killing all the possible NPCs, just a fun watch. Admittedly, I do enjoy seeing runs that need devoted problem solving but maybe that could happen with the later games. I genuinely hope you make Scythe Runs in the other FromSoft games!
Monster you killed soliar
Solaire
I didn't make the reaper connection instantly so at first I was wondering why Lemon was being so poetically dark all of a sudden
15:20 For the record my kitty is a precious fluffy angel and he's entirely welcome to eat my face after I die. It's not like I'm using it at that point lol
Of course he did also pee in my bathroom sink this morning and prance his little piss-covered paws all over my bedspread, so idk 🤔🐱💙
Yeah good video too, it's a bit sad seeing all the nice NPCs like SunBro and PyroBro eat it but if we're being honest Dark Souls isn't exactly the kind of place you'd want to spend an undead eternity going insane in anyway.
Oh hell yeah, the lifehunt scythe was always my favorite when I played the original DS1. I'd usually offhand Priscilla's dagger with it, the light attack was great for building up enemy bleed before using the scythe (and parrying always felt cooler with a dagger lol)
Can I ask why his bleed bar was purple?
@@jaye4157 That's just how all the status bars look.
@@phyllotaxis I was asking as it looked like the purple section of the bar was increasing when he equipped the ring despite not having any bleed build up originally.
@@jaye4157 Oh, yeah that's a weird thing that happens whenever a piece of equipment boosts your resistance to a status effect. The game treats the increase to that stat as though it had already been built up to that amount, then the buildup wears off like normal. No idea why it works like that.
@@phyllotaxis ok thx, that was bugging me on why it was like that and I didn't know if it was a glitch or what.
Fun thing about the "scythe" (bardiche labeled as a halberd), its name is actually correct, sort of - I'll get back to that
Scythes were actually used as weapons of war, but not the kind you use in this video
Instead, the scythe (called a war scythe) was angled similarly to a spear but with a long, curved tip
The war scythe in Dark Souls, however... is folded the wrong way, making it a bardiche indeed
Which is a bit of a shame, considering how close we came to having an actual war scythe in Dark Souls only to have a mislabeled bardiche lol
Yk what's funny? Demon souls had an actual war scythe as you describe it lol
@GustavoLeaoValente I didn't know that! I've never played Demon's Souls (being a PS exclusive and all) but it's cool to see an actual war scythe in a game like that!
this just made me think of an insane challenge run. called the 'Death Run' you must use scythes only and the only armour youre allowed to have is blackhemmed. the challenge is you cannot die, you cannot rest at bonfires. and when you finish the game, everything that is killable in the world must be dead. that includes every single mob, killable npc, boss, and then finally. yourself. after killing gwyn and entering ng+. you must then die. but for areas like anor londo travel, painted world and dlc. just gotta make sure absolutely everything is dead before you leave and youre good. this not only forces a ds2 style run for both rings. it also forces the use of only 10 flasks permanently. cursing you to only humanity, and the souls of those you killed. which also means no leveling up either. the only leveling up youre allowed to do is one time at firelink to get the permitted strength to two hand a scythe. anyone willing to give it a try? sounds pretty wild
Sounds like you'd probably want to basically save your leveling as late as possible to collect a huge number of souls. Easiest way I can think of would probably be to do reverse parish to unlock the shortcuts back to firelink and the burg bonfire, and basically just clear the knights in parish, birb back to asylum, birb back to firelink, repeat, occasionally visit Andre for repairs and upgrades, eventually save up the souls to softcap Dex, Vit, Res, and Edu, and gain the necessary Str and 18 Fth, then level at firelink and restore humanity, rush pinwheel, rush Leeroy for Sanctus, then endlessly grind rats in parish or depths depending on which is faster to reload. This gives you a bunch of humanities for combat healing and an out of combat recovery tool. Now you're ready to clear Lordran.
Is this an incredibly cheap strategy? Yes.
... that's it, comment over
Very fun video. Was actually funny to see you breeze through the bosses. Plus the role playing death for this run. Very fitting and very enjoyable. Definitely learned quite alot from this video.
The great scythe + uchigatana have always been my 2 weapons for dex builds. Scythe handles the big enemies and uchi in narrow spaces or when I need faster attacks with less recovery frames. Glad you are doing a video on it!
Scythes are my favorite weapons in games. So cool to see you using them. :)
If a game has a scythe im 100 percent gonna play it
I love the idea that the grim reaper, upon killing everyone and bringing about the age of dark, only regrets it because there are more kathees
I beat of all Dark Souls 1 and never knew there were scythes, what an incredible run
This (but way less optimized) was actually my first Dark Souls build. It's really fun to bleed bosses and the damage seems to be good (although I never did as much damage as in the video due to worse stat allocation). Also BloodShield, Livehuntsythe and Chester set look very good together and have insane bleed resist.
man nice to see this challenge, scythes are my favourite melee weapon in any rpg.
keep up the good work +1
@16:10 My wife used the Lifehunt scythe for almost all of her playthrough and I thought the four kings fight was so interesting. The bleed was never really a problem until this part, my theory is that because you are technically draining two separate life bars, the bleed adds to the user for both.
Your theory is correct! The damage to the placeholder king (the one with the healthbar) is considered separately, therefore it adds even more bleed damage.
This was literally my 2012 Darkroot forest PvP build.
Witch robes, lifehunt scythe, and blood shield
Finally now that I finished dark souls 1 I can watch these videos now
there’s SO much ds1 content to watch, enjoy
Scythes have always been my favourite weapons in Souls games, ever since I used the great scythe for a large portion of my first DS1 playthrough. They have a great mix of speed, power, and range, and the sweet spot mechanic makes spacing fun. There also tend to be some pretty unique boss weapon versions, which can encourage even more variety in gameplay.
There’s actually a third scythe in sens fortress amply named “scythe”. If I remember correctly it’s behind one of the titanite demons in the tar pit.
He commented on it, "the scythe that is actually a bardiche but classed as a halberd, thank you Dark Souls."
Just a suggestion you also could have used blood red moss clumps, they usually aren't that useful in Normal runs but since you have to tank so much bleed with the lifehunt scythe I feel it would have come in handy.
As soon as I saw that fluffy tail, I was waiting for the reveal of the off-screen mass purchase.
The pyromancy was a good touch for additional resistance, I hadn't seen that used before 🤣
20:10 And that, kid, is why ranged weapon are so powerful
Love seeing videos like this. My Dark Souls skills are super limited so it's fun to watch someone just using weapons for the fun of it.
Lemon making another great hit video. I'll say man your quality keeps going up and it always brightens my day when you upload. There's been some rough days where the one shining light as just been enjoying a newly released video of yours. Keep doing amazing work man we all love you
I'm speechless. I never used the Great Scythe or Life Hunt Scythe because the treck there seemed way too annoying to be worth it. But... that damage is kinda nice.
Did a similar run once! On my way through new londo, the ghosts pulled me through a wall and I died to out of bounds... which gave me the same post-death message as if you jump into four kings without the appropriate ring. The Grim Beeper was "taken by the abyss" which is still hilarious to me like five years later
Anyways scythes OP, fun run
"The One handed attack isnt worth mentioning" If youve never heard the phrase "Thanks ENB" it stems from old EpicNameBro videos where he discovered that the Great Scythe one hand R1 spam yields the highest DPS in the game lol
I absolutely love the “no” at 20:30 it’s so perfect lol. Another great video lemon!
Glad to see how much the channel has grown. Have you thought about a dark hand or crystal weapons only run. I feel like they would be more on the easier side of challenge runs while still giving you some form of difficulty.
This exact build was one of my favourites to use in the OG game. Also pretty viable in pvp with how the scythes hitbox worked.
At 7:55, the moment the boss becomes transparent against the backdrop of the crack in the wall, it continues to block the bloom lighting around the crack but doesn't reduce the brightness of the direct light. Very strange transparency shading, I wonder if the original version did this.
15:20 I have many cat scares
I still love them
This man has been bribed by the great scythe to make this video
I just finished my scythe run of ds1 and I can say that precilla's scythe is definitely op. Went through the whole game with minimum stats in damage categories. Ended the game with 50 vigor and 50 endurance. Still did tons of damage per hit too
I used Priscilla's scythe on my second playthrough of DS1 and it really does break the whole game. 500 bleed is ridiculously powerful even with the risk of inflicting it on yourself if you don't pay attention.
Nice! Thanks for yet another entertaining vid!
5:05 - I'm pretty sure it always been the case - weapons don't bounce (unless it's a solid wall) if you use a two-handed grip.
Side note, the audio quality of your mic is really amazing across all your videos, truly a joy to listen to, keep it up man
The way this guy talks about death is actually really calming and nice
Did this last time i played DS1, was a bit rough early but besides that, it was fun(except for having to kill Priscilla for what turned to be a side grade).
Also not that bad a run in DS2/3.
"Can you beat Dark Souls only using the best dex scaling weapon in the game? Science has no way to know!"
This video inspired me to swap my main weapon in my first ever run of DS from the Drake Sword (I know, I know, I was planning to change once I beat Quelaag, trust me) to the Great Scythe, so thank you for making me suffer a half hour of the Catacombs. Totally worth it, I hit like even more of a truck and I actually enjoy playing the game again!
I love the video so much, i watched it 5 times and i am also playing the build right now
20:06 - I can't hear Chester talk anymore without expecting to hear him call me maiden-less.
My weapon of choice for my first playthrough of this game was the great scythe and it became my favourite weapon type in each game where scythes appear, so seeing them get love from lemon brings a smile to my face
Suprised you haven't used the Great Scythe before. It's such a amazing weapon I used it on my first playthrough.
I can forgive the comment about cats. I can forgive killing Priscilla. I can even forgive killing Solaire. But 23:31? Never!
So this is the run that inspired me to FINALLY try and finish dark souls after a year of cursing and muttering through the four kings. I started a new save and went and grabbed the scythe through much anguish. This is the video that made me find my love for the Dark Souls universe. And it was miserable to play DS2 after this masterpiece of a game. Thanks Backlogs you inspired my triumph over evil.
Lifehunt Scythe actually lives up to its (in lore) hype. Wasn't expecting that.
while i'm not sure using the best dex weapon counts as a challenge run (maybe next to the balder side sword) it is a nice themed run non the less. I like running lifehunt on ng+, just ads a fine extra layer to think about not bleeding yourself to death
I actually did this exact challenge and I can say it was some of the most fun I’ve had in ds1 the scythes are really awesome (although this video did kinda hurt me seeing his damage as when I did this I isn’t know what weapon scaling was and I majorly messed up my build)
The Great Scythe was one of the most dominant weapons in ds1 and was everywhere in pvp after the epicnamebro video. It's kind of a shame how it fell from grace after that
I'm doing it again.. life hasn't been the same after 100% Dark Souls 1, so im doing it again on a 2nd account and this is the run that's going to start my Meat Grinder running. Love this build , love this video. It got me through DS1 , multiple times and encouraged me to 100% the games achievements and now I'm going to do it again.
Thank you Lemon for giving me this urning to completely conquer a game that once brought me to my knees
"Embrace death as an old friend, not as a foe." Most philosophical and comforting things I've heard came from a challenge run.
15:25 and it is her right to do so.
4:38 For reference, using the Dragon Greatsword, which requires 35 strength TO TWO-HAND, kills the gargoyles in 6 hits.
Scythes OP
I'm surprised you didn't go for the grasscrest shield early on or the chloranthy ring early. Both help with the Great Scythe's stamina issue.
Just finished my first play through of dark souls used the scythe the whole time then i found this video
There actually is a third scythe in DS1, you can find it down in the tar pit at the bottom of Sen’s Fortress
That's a halberd. It shouldn't be, but it is.