Can You Beat DARK SOULS 1 With Only Daggers?

...look, I needed a break, alright? Besides, who knows? You might learn something.
Daggers are quick. Daggers are fun. Daggers are not very good when it comes to DPS. But if you have the proper build, know what to look for when it comes to status effects, and are willing to parry the world, who knows? They might just be some of the best weapons you can use.
Can you beat Dark Souls 1 with only daggers? Probably. But HOW easily can you beat Dark Souls 1 with only daggers is the true question.
|| Music ||
Windy and Co. - Conker's Bad Fur Day
Abandon Ship - Subnautica
Boss Room Calm - Zelda Twilight Princess
Bob Boss - MUCK
The Grind - Going Under
Two Little Bums - The Great North Sound Society
Little Samba - Quincas Moreira
Cubic Z - Diamond Ortiz
Overdrive - Corbyn Kites
Onett - EarthBound
Lude Illa - Joe Bagale
Confronting Myself - Celeste
Trouble Maker (Shake-Shake Mix) - Mischief Makers 2
You Are The End - Furi
Reflection - Hollow Knight
|| Lemon's Socials ||
Twitter | / thebacklogs
Discord | / discord
2nd Channel | / thebacklogsshortcutunl...
|| Support the Channel ||
Patreon | / thebacklogs
KZbin Members | Click "JOIN" below the video!
|| Business Inquiries ||
Email | [e-mail]
#thebacklogs #challengerun #darksouls #daggers

[@FearlessVid1]

It's not weird that's it's called the bandit's knife. Being the thief class, it kinda implies it was... stolen, maybe 🤣

[@Mateusblegal]

That's canon

[@kolerder]

Or, a much easier explanation - the “bandit’s” refers to you, a thief(bandit)?

[@bluzo9499]

@@kolerder nah its stolen why would a thief have a bandits knife if it wasnt stolen

[@TheCvlt]

@@kolerder thieves are not bandits tho . A thief may only resolve to trickery, sleigh tof hand, and stealing. A bandit resorts to threats, violence and the occasional murder

[@propheticrain-maker1486]

@@Mateusblegal it's in the lore

[@FalconPLT333]

I actually like those "obviously doable challenges" - I mean, yes, we know it's technically possible to beat the game with daggers, but trying to only use them gives a lot of cool things to see and learn. Tips & tricks that may have been overlooked, different playstales, etc... which is very enjoyable to watch :) !

[@karlosrolero]

Not joking, but this was done by a friend of mine when we played DS1 back on the day (like 2012?). He noticed the bleed and went all the game with it. I went with the Zweihander and mad the brute build.

[@mrultima9466]

Honestly the dagger is an exceptionally powerful way to play the game if allowing non-direct-attack miracles/sorceries (like Darkmoon Blade.) That extra damage applies every time the weapon connects, and daggers swing very fast.

[@theinternetpolice2078]

The point of a challenge is that it's a hard - but doable - goal, after all.

[@Wewerefunny]

I learned that technically, one could argue that a knife isn't always a dagger in the same way a rectangle isn't always a square. Daggers are a subset of knives (being sharpened on both edges instead of just one) and thus technically the single edged Bandit's Knife is not a dagger.

[@starofaetherius]

There are single edged daggers, but also classifying bladed weaponry has always been a game of semantics anyway so meh.

[@CallMeMimi27]

@@frankroidlight3293 you call that a knife 🔪? this is a knife 🥄!

[@pink-flower.]

​@@CallMeMimi27 that's a spoon

[@pink-flower.]

@Frank Roidlight you haven't played knifey spoony before

[@pink-flower.]

@Frank Roidlight fool you have to use the secret 27 rooftop snipers

[@andrewbartlesby7958]

So Priscilla's dagger -> incredibly underated when used correctly. For boss fights you should have off handed it and used it to proc the bleed you built up with the bandits knife, getting best of both worlds (or simply swapped to it)

[@stenly97]

No matter if its a difficult challange run or a small challenge to ease the mind after a hard playthrough, your runs are one of the most enjoyable things to watch on youtube. Wheather it is the overcomming of a difficult challenge or the lighthearted commentary of the run, your videos are always fun to watch. Can't wait to see what else is yet to come.

[@CaesarTheMighty]

Same he’s my favorite gaming channel on KZbin and is why I want to start a gaming channel

[@stenly97]

@@CaesarTheMighty Give it a try, As a wise Lemon once said: it always seems impossible until its done

[@Kirhean]

On the topic of "getting bored" with otherwise good games: You're right, it's not a failing on the games' part. What's happened is you've identified what it is about gaming that motivates you. You're the type of gamer who lives for the rush of overcoming a great challenge, either by wit or by will. Games which cater to that need are going to hook you and keep you hooked. This is not to cast dispersions on other games, they're just not about challenging yourself. They set challenges and expect you to overcome them, but they do not offer the tools to handicap yourself and see just what you can do within the rules. In a sense, many games are man vs art; the games you like are man vs himself. I'd love to see you do some rogue-lite style games. I enjoyed FTL: Faster Than Light; and if you've not tried Payday 2, build variety and off-meta options abound and can make challenge runs very fun.

[@manboy4720]

big agree on payday 2. thekknowley does some really fun challenge runs. payday 2 does suffer a bit of meta-slavery and power-creep, so using the weapons and strats that nobody would ever bother using normally makes it more interesting.

[@renmcmanus]

I think the issue is partly that some games don't feel like you are accomplishing anything. I recently played The Forest and even with all the jank and limitations I ended up liking its building mechanics more then games like No Mans Sky or Ark specifically because the game actually shows you what you are doing. You see every log being placed. So it feels like you are actually doing something. Where as with the other two you might go grab 9000 of some arbitrary material from a arbitrary source and then use an amount that probably makes no sense to build whatever parts of a base that you feel like. I get the same feelings from souls games. I can always see my progress. I have stats and I know what they do for me. And I have my own skill and I always either know what I did wrong or how to go about figuring that out. So I can feel my acomplismint. Sorry. A bit rambley. I hope something I said makes sense.

[@treywindrem7023]

I'm the exact same

[@NokoFace]

This is why every new game I play, I play on the hardest difficulty. Even games where I know I will have a hard time with. I just get so... bored otherwise. I want to struggle. I want to fall flat on my face. I want the game to FORCE me to get better, or I don't progress.

[@thenthson]

Payday 2 on ps3 was fun. I was a menace with an enforcer build and pump shotgun.

[@BB_Promoter]

Honestly really hope you do this challenge for DS2 & 3, especially 2 having so many more parriable enemies *and* the whole dual-weapon mechanic, that would be a simply excellent video. 👌

[@tunar_karimov]

ds3 with parriable bosses would be fun too ngl

[@canadiancanucklehead8310]

Hey man, sometimes you don’t have to subject yourself to CBT just for our entertainment. You’re witty enough, silly enough even during a chill challenge. :) Edit: STOP KILLING PRISCILLA PLEEEEEEEEASE

[@CertifiedElite420]

haha priscilla tail cutoff go brrrrr

[@vasto5952]

Atleast he didn’t kill solaire this time

[@nicholaskoa1371]

bro you dont get it. it's not that he's straining himself. it's the opposite.

[@chuggaa100]

He's not gonna fuck you

[@tricmagic]

Best hope they forget one day. Like the Doll. The Glove. Or the Chest.

[@Jeff.Turtle]

I'm kind of surprised you didn't "forget" about the taurus demon so you could one shot him with the plunging attack once you had a +10 dagger. Also, the montage of parrying the black knights at the kiln was so satisfying.

[@zechsmarquis]

my guess taurus wasn't 1 shot, he wasn't using 'Red tearstone ring', From what I could tell

[@molkwi9077]

Taurus wasn't one shot, the plunge got him to about half health. Though you can one-shot him early with about 16 STR and 18 DEX with BKS, if you're lucky.

[@zechsmarquis]

@@molkwi9077 I used the red tearstone ring with, any weapon along with adding gold pine resin, but for NG+ > I used grant or greatsword of artorias (divine version), and adding power within allowing the attack rating to reach over 1000 once red tear range hits equipping sanctus of slightly offset the hp drain

[@WeBeJamin]

@@zechsmarquis if you get lucky with the black knight nearby and get his sword, then grind some hollows for enough strength to two-hand it, you can one-shot the taurus demon without RTSR

[@zechsmarquis]

@@WeBeJamin I know that already, I was just commenting on ways to use daggers to 1-shot Taurus demon. But the topic strayed into other 1-shot methods outside from the daggers only challenge.

[@limenade5941]

Imagine poking your way through tens of chaos demons, 3 dragons, gargoyles, an iron clad golem, two legendary knights, an executionner, a half-breed, 5 kings, the father of DARKNESS and 3 litteral gods, just to set yerself on fire. When life gives you a lemon, don’t crush it and send it into the realms of despair, torture and torment! Give them a well earned break. Jeez

[@camramaster]

Easier than the immolation run.

[@blunderingfool]

Spear boys!

[@kaltaron1284]

@@blunderingfool A spear run with the heaviest armour and shield he can have? Might actually be more difficult than it sounds at first.

[@zash6277]

Monster Hunter Frontier with lance That was a nightmare I suck at lance But i poked my way to victory

[@Wendy-zhou]

lemon actually kinda have done that.......?with catalysts only. in case you never knew (why would you XD) catalyst's heavy attack in ds1 is either a poke or a smash, in one of the previous run lemon completed the run with mostly demon's catalyst and the banishment catalyst, both have a heavy attack of poking (and the numbers are infinitly better than you might think), if memories serves the only exception is aslyum demon with the bonking sorcer's catalyst

[@donavanh7776]

I'm so glad you had fun with this run. You put yourself through so much aggravation with these that sometimes I worry about you. Was very nice to see you have some real fun for a change. Good on ya. Wouldn't mind seeing more of that.

[@ramza675]

man this video was edited and made so well, also gotta respect the skill shown here to make the bosses look that easy. great job

[@virtualnightgaming]

I'm really glad there was still commentary over the bosses after your build was officially complete. The montages are fun, but your wit and unreal comedic timing is a big reason I watch your videos.

[@gwingcommander]

Honestly I kinda like seeing chill runs like this occasionally. Just a simple challenge to keep things spicy and a chance to enjoy classic Dark Souls again. Good stuff

[@alacer8878]

Gosh, this was a nice breath of fresh air after the immolation run. It's nice seeing you have fun with a challenge. Glad you took a break to unwind with something nicer. Challenges are fun and all, but sometimes the really hard ones can *suck.* Keep up the good content.

[@flusterfluff]

Lovely to see this~ I hope to see more. You're really great at telling stories with your runs, no matter the challenge level. Keep up the good work, Lemon.

[@Daidalus2]

I have listened an uncounted number of times to the vod to fall asleep, because Lemon has such a soothing voice and smooth presentation. I also regularly come back to all the videos while painting warhammer. Always such a pleasure.

[@firestarr5812]

Good to know I’m not the only one who listens to these while painting Warhammer!

[@Dasgewt1]

After that Immolation run, you deserved a "Can you beat Salt and Sanctuary with Greatscissors" run.

[@hernana5700]

4:26 the existencial crisis here, right in the heart

[@garrycowan4394]

It's not just the gameplay I like about your videos it's the commentary that's both interesting and insightful which often makes me look at dark souls in a whole new light...bravo 👏👏👏

[@anthonyacosta5660]

My favorite thing about this channel is the commentary, not specifically the runs, and I feel like most people feel the same. I’d much rather see a video where you enjoy yourself with a run rather than the mental torture you put yourself through with some of these crazier challenges

[@thegary5151]

A huge thank you from me and the other people that just listen to these videos for the audio based context, it has been very welcome.

[@BadassStealthFace]

It took me the whole of this video to suck out a piece of carrot that was stuck between my teeth. It dislodged just as Gwyn fell.

[@bed22455]

Man I'm glad you were able to sink your teeth into a nice easy-ish enjoyable run! You deserve that after some of the crazy ones recently, as always it was a great video and I enjoyed seeing you have a more relaxing time! You deserved that!

[@Jounzey]

This might’ve been a lighter run than your usual ones, but seeing you genuinely having fun can be just as entertaining as watching you face challenges (sometimes even more entertaining) when it’s got to do with an honest and good personality such as yours. The humor you always manage to put into these videos - regardless of difficulty - is the kind ones can laugh goodheartedly at with ease. Keep being you, buddy!

[@Jeff.Turtle]

OH! DS1 Dagger only? I'm glad you did this run several months back. I found it so much fun.

[@nathanrappaport7984]

I like the slipped in "Girl from Ipanema" at 15:58

[@polarbearlikescake3304]

how you even spot thar

[@abrahamwolvers5505]

Once again an amazing run through. I admire your commitment and strength to do these. I would've quit ages ago.

[@farlie3204]

stumbled upon ur channel a few days ago and ive binged all of ur videos they're so entertaining

[@cefalu63]

I absolutely love this channel. I stumbled across it a while back when it was a small channel and have watch it grow organically over time. To me it's proof that you can have a successful channel on the merit of fun content and you don't have to do all the youtube bullshit like stupid shock face thumbnails that other "creators" do. Keep up the good work lemon.

[@julietbutler4368]

Thank you for recapping what you did for those who were listening! Loved that. Great video, too 💕

[@jonathanrivas9469]

I really enjoyed this run, it was nice seeing you take on something hard but not mind crushingly difficult like the dks2 immolation run

[@Integer_Overload]

If Lemon's mind is a bowl of murky soup, that's 100% gonna be a poison swamp in a future Fromsoft game

[@leksikkeksik]

😍 love the run. Ability to do simple but challenging runs like this one made the game so good.

[@snaccpacc651]

It's crazy how different your dagger only run was from mine... and how much I'm kicking myself for getting the DStracer with only 3 bosses left. Great vid mate!

[@seanthebarrelshooter7776]

Why did I just so happen to find this video while im clearing out my backlog as well? Dude I get it, best way to approach it so you dont get board is to think of it as your accomplishing a goal you've had for a while. It helped me a lot when it comes to my backlog while also feeling like I'm not eating away my days playing video games. I'll even record some on my other (actual) KZbin channel and it boosted that even more. Although I just found you, your content is great! Keep it up and dont stress brother.

[@XenophiliusX]

Creativity and ingenuity thrive within limitations and rules. Even when you aren't forced to an extreme, placing simple limiters encourages you to think outside your regular patterns and come up with something new and interesting. This was a fun run to watch, and it was obvious that, although more simple than other runs, you had fun playing it.

[@kaltaron1284]

There are some pretty decent daggers in DS1, so this should be a fun and relaxed one. Edit: Didn't disappoint. Daggers are indeed fun. Too bad you didn't use the Ghost Blade, even cheating it in would be fine as the drop rate is indeed annoying. The move set is quite fun. Although I agree that the Dark Silver Tracer is probably the best one. Too bad the Painting Guardian Sword is no dagger as well, that one is quite fun too. IMHO most of the starting weapons are pretty good and a decent pick to carry you through the whole game if you want to.

[@AnubisHades]

I’ve been in a bit of a rut with video games, and this vid reminded me of what my favorite runs used to be, not challenge runs per say, but runs where I had an objective that I’d planned out before hand, a particular build or playstyle

[@alfiebeale3295]

I love having your videos on in the background while I'm working on stuff for college or gaming

[@wingedfish1175]

Good lord what timing

[@softsnake188]

Hiba a verme el directo pero siendo sincero amo mas verlo editado con tus chistes Este se est volviendo mi canal favorito de dark souls y creo que me empezare a ver mas cosas aparte de dark souls Eres un buen youtuber sigue asi

[@thestralner6335]

a proper nice run. no matter how many runs i do or see of ds1 i always learn something new. definitely my comfort game too.

[@rox_2122]

I discovered your channel not long ago, and it's amazing ! I love your challenges on Souls game !

[@benjamintim3542]

I knew the Silver Tracer would be the end game! Love that dagger. It sucks that using the "canon moveset" for the tracer set requires a curved sword in the off hand but it's still fun.

[@AxonRift]

If you found hollowknight meh because of lack of challenge, there's a randomizer mod you can get that splits attacks, dash, cdash and wall cling up into left and right (Meaning you have to essentially find the item that lets you dash right and a separate item to dash left) this changes the pace of the game and the way you have to explore as you're limited with movement. It's a great way to change up the game and add some challenge.

[@sucks_atchoosing_names9403]

great vid mate, i would love to see more builds like this.

[@Ultra5212]

I love your channel - the commentary about how you love what you do helps me love your channel more

[@randomperson10101]

If you're looking for some fun hollow knight challenges, one of my favorite challenges is the nail only playthrough. Only using the spells for exploration purposes rather than combat since there's a few spots where the dive spell breaks floors. Conversely, trying to beat it without using your nail is a much harder challenge if you want that.

[@Fadsy]

Whenever I see any DS1 challenges, I'm conditioned to ask, 'How's that gonna do in the 4 kings fight' Also nice to learn about the parrying dagger being that good. Friendship with buckler might be ended

[@jacquelinebowling6651]

your videos have improved in quality so much since I started watching! keep up the great work and be sure to take care of yourself❤

[@j0k1g]

Good stuff! Just found your channel! Loving it!

[@sideways5153]

I never realized that the crit multiplier applied to plunging attacks (at least the ones with animations). It makes sense, I just never noticed

[@shnobrin7928]

Gotta say, after almost 12 months of watching Elden Ring Speedruns and seeing all sorts of various challenge runs, I can really appreciate a light dagger only DS1 run.

[@spelwerdzrite]

Your rant about only liking challenge runs really resonated with me. I'm exactly the same and never realized it until the words you said.

[@DannehBoi90]

This is a fun style of challenge, I did this in DS3 and only got hard stuck on some of the DLC bosses. Before actually watching the video, I'm going to make a guess based on my experiences and say it's definitely doable, but some bosses will become immensely harder due to the short range and low DPS. Light rolls and Ninja Flips for days though, making bosses much easier! Edit: No ninja flips, but besides that this went about how I expected. Bleed resistant bosses causing some problems, the rest not being too bad. Glad this was a good break, I'll have to try this run myself!

[@Deltaguy447]

Omg the waving lemon at the end! Also great work as always Citrus papa, always fun to see ya have fun with a run pluss it is good seeing daggers getting some love

[@bensosnowski1128]

You inspired me to play my third play through of ds1 with no shield and only the parry dagger in my left hand. It was actually fun having a challenge instead of killing everything quickly with +15 weapons and blocking all damage. I felt like I actually got better at the game! Especially for bosses like the iron golem. Daggers do like 35 damage per hit so the fight takes so long that I get to learn every move he has and how to dodge it.

[@simplyhuman479]

I love the fact you still try to come up with challenge runs for this game. I enjoy these videos of Dark Souls franchise but I don't want to spoil the games to myself so it takes a lot of time before I can watch them (rn my progress is Dark Souls 2, I just killed the scorpion lady boss and Skeleton Lords)

[@mossystoneproductions905]

I get what you mean about needing that extra layer of difficulty in games to keep you interested. For me it's needing an immediate audience, otherwise I seldom get sucked into things.

[@Zamerus]

I like that you're taking on easier challenges to spice things up. Being stressed out for every challenge run would get tiring I bet.

[@JediSandwich]

Crazy hard challenge runs? Funny editing? Good commentary? Subbed as quick as I could!

[@lach7324]

I really relate to that challenge run thing. I tend to force myself into certain styles to avoid being overwhelmed with choice in a lot of games.

[@AllergyPuppy]

I’d love to see a Lord of the Dance run with that Priscilla dagger for the sheer showmanship of it

[@Zorgdub]

"For the sake of challenge, we're using only daggers, no shields." I personally like using the Parrying Dagger in my offhand, so I don't see why that would be an issue.

[@darktitanium2435]

Im super glad your doing a dagger run. Good chance to enjoy the game and do something that you love doin.

[@johnathonchristie6395]

I loved your videos so much that it made me finally pick ds1 back up after getting stuck on O&S

[@merpsthederp9887]

Give ds3 bandits knife only a try with a pure luck build its so fun and weirdly broken once u can start using hollow gems just use raw infusion till that point ps. You can uses blood greese on luck weapons

[@Sc-yc5ln]

Yes

[@laurenholderman1931]

Love you lemon! Your content is always a really good pick me up after I get done with work

[@terribleawful]

you're savin my life here making so many good videos man

[@cocopo3975]

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES

[@SalmoneusPrime]

Good to know my 2nd run through the game isn’t impossibly hard Enjoyable video as usual

[@80nt]

great run. as much as i like the tough challenge runs, the simple yet effective ones are also fun to watch. especially with a weapon class i normally dont give much thought to

[@DoubleCrowSeven]

You earned a sub, I completely understand not enjoying games unless I’m feeling challenged, sometimes even to the point of anger/frustration, Hollow Knight has incredible “challenge-run” ability. I would love to even see content if you decide to do them!

[@clinnt]

Nice run mate, enjoyed it. Never tried the Silver Tracer, the riposte damage is pretty sick.

[@desuite2413]

It's amazing seeing How much your Channel grew i watch your since less than 1000 subs

[@niklashestermann1543]

Love how you used the music of the games you said you are playing rn

[@legendofthebaconburner8691]

After starting ds for the third time in two years (I’ve never gotten very far) I’m grinding the undead burg because I’m too afraid to move on. I’m also being stubborn and trying to mostly parry instead of dodging so much. But seeing you be so comfortable with the bosses and other enemies that scare me and STILL dying to the weakest ones sometimes makes me feel a little better about myself. Thank you for sharing this. I still want to parry often and use only certain weapons, but I’ve learned not to be so OCD about my play style from this video. Then again, getting good at this game feels like a job. I might just stick to easier games.

[@0800andru]

this is very chill and enjoyable to watch, thank you, really

[@huntertx57]

man i like your videos so much its just so fun to watch

[@vasudean]

Ironically this has inspired me to do this challenge run as well as like you, Dark Souls is my comfort food.

[@sorensouthard927]

I'm pretty happy to watch a chill video.

[@mDoThis]

I love this 'if you're just listening not watching' explanation - I love to listen your vids when cleaning or something :D

[@littlebaron5573]

Ayyy love this my man

[@PSatori]

As someone who listens to the backlogs of their own youtube watch later list I wanna thank you for taking the time to give a shout out to those of us who just listen to videos while at work and also for giving a detailed description of what's going on. :D

[@uncanalporahi]

6:54 "If it bleeds, we can kill it" The Giant Crow: And I took that personally

[@AmazingMezmer]

I just realized the song you used in the intro for the immolation run is abandon ship from subnautica. I'm impressed I could recognize that song from like a second of audio

[@shinigamisway1645]

"In case you're listening to this video instead of watching it " man I love your editing , but the vids definitely get me through a rough night at work. Ty

[@HauntSilver]

I really love watching your videos. Informative, funny and always refreshing. I was wondering though, would you ever do a scythe run? Trying this myself atm, but would love to see your take on it

[@TheBacklogs]

I imagine we will cover every weapont type eventually! Great scythe is a good time for sure.

[@InkyGw2]

you really produce a good content, the joke/mood is on point also thank you

[@RickPerfectWorld]

I love watch these kind of challenges that you make, i would love watch you playing this type of runs in other games, just like the flamethrower only in Dead Space. Maybe a only pistol Resident Evil 4? (i did this a while ago)

[@edoardoapra4303]

A usually watch your video only for the entertainment and di enjoyment on the way but today I learned something new, I didn't know that you can enter Sif's arena without triggering the boss fight. Gotta replay the entire game just to try. Thanks.

[@flamehad3630]

It wasn't the biggest challenge run, or the most exciting. However when the music started playing at the end and your closing monologue started, I found it really touching. Peaceful even, which I thing was your goal. It's funny there is almost a story within the story of these individual challenge runs. I don't know if that's the point or even intentional. However, it makes even these smaller challenge runs really enjoyable. Almost like this video is a peaceful bonfire one can rest at before pushing ahead to whatever, crazy or intense, challenge run comes next. You know, I think I kind of like that. Thanks Lemon

[@jonanderssunde]

I agree, this was one of my favorite challenge runs for this exact reason. I loved it! The music if you're interested is from the game "Hollow Knight" and called "Reflection" :)

[@Hgamern]

Nice to see a fairly smooth run for a change, while I bash my head against the brick wall that is Elden Ring endgame. 10/10 would watch again!

[@Thertra70]

I really liked this one honestly was a nice change of pace

[@xokk2335]

i love watching these kinds of videos because I learn so much more about the game.

[@GretgorPooper]

I did a very similar challenge run recently! So cool to see you doing something similar!

[@ianxiris1990]

I did a challenge similar to this a couple years ago and loved it. Good video.

[@MirdBird]

I don’t know if this was just a little haha moment, but when you said “In case you’re just listening to the video” I really appreciated the extra detail. I found your channel recently and have been listening to your videos in my car while I drive for work.