Shrine of Amana #1

I'd heard only bad things about this area from my dipping into the boards.ie thread and so was very cautious and tip-toed through the early satges. It's narrow paths through often deep water can make for slow dodging but finding your way without falling into the depths isn't too taxing. The first part is straight-forward enough. The templar knight guys are fine on their own but in numbers can be devastating as they swing through their halberd combos. The added mermen appearing from the water weren't really a bother as you can spot them a mile off. The "Milfitano" NPC encountered in a small hut reveals little in the way of lore.

The next part is a bit of pain. The heatseeker soul-arrows coming from the long distance leaves little room for maneuver. every time I found the sorceress who was casting them there was another on the horizon doing the same. After a few deaths I decided to beef up my magic defense - I equipped the Spell Quartz Ring +2 and returned to McDuff to infuse a Silverblack shield with magic to give it 88% protection after a few upgrades. This made blocking the soul arrows much less deadly but I was still getting unstuck at an area with 2 long range sorceresses and 2 templars to deal with when you get close!

After a few unsuccessful attempts I decided to explore a path off away into the water. Lighting a torch helps see where the underwater paths fall away but unfortunately this attracts the mermen. Guarding the treasures were 2 more sorceresses and its here I got out the bow and played them at their own game. With this strategy I easily dealt with the previous impasse and made it to the next bonfire.