Black Gulch #2

I'd been back to Black Gulch a few times since first discovering it (the wonders of bonfire warping). It's not somewhere I stayed for long though as those poison-spitting statues really get my goat. The boss actually isn't too far in but the run to him is a pain (as is he!).

On one of my ventures I brought a torch and discovered 2 things. 1 - the black puddles on the ground can be set on fire and 2 - there's a series of ledges below the main path. The fire in the puddles doesn't really do much to deter the octopus/hand monsters but the ledges are a god send. I met Lucatielle down there in the throws of madness and also a couple of giants. I read a message saying to try poison against them so 3 squirts of Toxic Mist and they were almost dead. They hide a lift which brings you very close to the boss.

The Rotten is a tough one. He has powerful cleaver attacks and a mountain of HP. To make it worse he's surrounded by flaming areas which drain your life. I couldn't get a read on his attacks and he was regularly flattening me. He also didn't seem susceptible to any elemental damage which is my normal fallback for tough enemies. I resorted to calling in a couple of Sun Bros which eventually did the trick and gave me my fourth great soul.