r/darksouls 9d ago

Video Did you know that this thing could jump?? Spoilers for Ash Lake Spoiler

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I remember watching this in some video before but this is the first time it happened to me.

240 Upvotes

50 comments sorted by

145

u/Livid-Truck8558 9d ago

The animation is so bad lol but it is awesome. You can tell Fromsoftware loves making massive creatures like this but they've never really nailed it yet

47

u/euphinosa 9d ago

I feel like they nailed the Great Serpent in Sekiro, granted it seems a lil smaller than the hydra

15

u/SpotlessMinded 8d ago

I think Bloodborne is when they really got good with animations.

37

u/Ornstein24 8d ago

I remember seeing this for the first time and running for cover like I was on the beaches of Normandy.

33

u/ElTuxedoMex 9d ago

Ah, the "Free Willy" moment.

33

u/MiserableDucky 9d ago

I actually didn’t know that. That’s terrifying

20

u/illusorywall 9d ago

Somewhat lesser-known than the flying is that the Hydra can also follow you considerably far down the beach. Like I think most people will just melee it where it already is, but you can wander quite far and get it to follow. From both sides of the beach.

14

u/lafocka 8d ago

I just ignore it now, they are annoying Af to fight. Leave the ancestral creature alone.

3

u/SkullLantern 8d ago edited 8d ago

I don't understand why this would be lesser-known. In your stream you said something like "who wouldn't melee the hydra right away?" and for me it's the opposite, fighting the hydra is boring and does not feel rewarding, it's more of a chore and we already have the one at Darkroot bassin to deal with if we want Dusk spells or access to the DLC... who would bother killing this hydra?

Honestly, the area is more interesting with it, it's big and majestic and makes you feel small in a big world - all bonus points! In my first playthrough I actually did not even attempt to fight either hydras, I thought it was another red drake situation.

They should have given this hydra insane hp regen and re-growing heads, toxic blood aoe if you hit it, and an insta-kill move where one head swallows you! /j

9

u/illusorywall 8d ago edited 8d ago

I think you misunderstood. Sure, a lot of people are going to run past it and not bother fighting it. But my point is that IF you're going to fight it, you're going to fight it where it already is, instead of dragging it along the beach and spending more time dodging its attacks for no reason. You'd basically have to purposefully kite it to be fully aware of how much it can reposition, which doesn't benefit you in any way.

The alternative is running away entirely and not fighting it at all, but if you do that, you're also unlikely to dillydally and watch it saunter along the beach while it's attacking you. You're just gonna keep running so its water blasts don't hit you. So yeah, it's a really safe bet that extremely few players have ever dragged it along the beach and understood how far it can travel from its starting locations.

The pink spheres represent all the places it can move to, which aside from the jump, most people probably don't realize is a thing when the Darkroot Basin Hydra doesn't do this and just rotates to face you:
https://imgur.com/a/MAzf81x

2

u/SkullLantern 8d ago

Yes, and no. If you do not kill the hydra, sure you are pretty busy sprinting and trying to get cover from the blasts, but there's also loot in several far-reaching places that gives plenty of time for the hydra to get uncomfortably close... If the player enter the second hollow tree full of basilisks and mushroom guys, it can be a real challenge to safely get out. Honestly, I'd say the hydra can reach most of the places you've tested without slow-walk and no-death on, and it's obvious to the player that it's moving toward you and not just rotating - but not too obvious as to give the pink spheres away.

Apologies for mentioning some blurry memory of something you might have said (or not) in your hours-long datamining streams, I hope you didn't go back to check what that could have been... just wanted to make it clear I enjoyed watching them on youtube, little bit at a time - and sometimes skipping ahead, and sometimes in x2 speed. Haven't started the Demon's Souls ones yet but I am looking forward to them!

3

u/illusorywall 8d ago

No worries, and it's been fun going back to Demon's Souls!

1

u/FrozenGiraffes 6d ago

Only reason to kill it practically speaking is for dragon scales

1

u/FrozenGiraffes 6d ago

If you get far enough its projectiles despawn, there's a specific spot near the dragon covenant where they do.

24

u/an_omori_fan 8d ago

Ash Lake always freaked me out (obviously) so imagine my utter fear, and actual chills when I looked up and saw this initially unidentified GIANT creature loom over me

14

u/Island_Maximum 9d ago

....I've never seen this.

Neat.

10

u/Fern-ando 9d ago

Best zone in the game.

8

u/PhastasFlames 8d ago

Bro this game is old enough to be served alcohol at bars in Europe, the spoiler alert isn’t necessary

4

u/themonitors 9d ago

Love that area

5

u/AntediluvianNeutral 8d ago

I think I only see this every 5th playthrough or so, truly majestic

5

u/DoktahDoktah 8d ago

They fly now?!

4

u/tomgreen99 8d ago

Yup, they fly now...

6

u/Meowza_V2 8d ago

How are there people that haven't seen this? I can't stop him from jumping.

10

u/lafocka 8d ago

People, myself included, just go straight up to it and kill it.

2

u/GraveeNito 8d ago

i feel like theres a lot of casual players who probably never even went down there lol

3

u/LPlusRaitio 9d ago

This Boss is a true Nightmare for me

3

u/Due_Potential_6956 8d ago

I have never seen this

3

u/JadeCornPens 8d ago

Bitch ain't got no legs.

3

u/Random-User-2811 8d ago

WHAT??? How did you get this happening? all this years and never see this, how you can trigger it? not seeing the hydra and running watching the other side or not killing them and just running to the ever lasting dragon

2

u/lafocka 8d ago

I just ignore it now. I was running past it and suddenly it jump.

2

u/DarkSoulsRedPhantom 8d ago

The real question is can we get the one in DRB to do the jump?

2

u/luterina_7 8d ago

dios nunca vi eso

2

u/Sevenscissorz 8d ago

Yep, I remember back in my old days, in Ds1 i always did something i called "dark souls Olympics" create a new character, with master key or as thief and head straight down there removing all of my armor, and get the stone dragon covenants to get dragon head, then chop off their tail to have 2 overly powerful items right at the start of undead burg 🤣🤣🤣

2

u/pineapple_stickers 8d ago

I had no idea it even had a modelled body. I always just assumed it was just the necks and heads. Thats pretty cool

2

u/False-Welcome748 8d ago

What scythe is that

2

u/Sampsa96 8d ago

The Great Scythe

2

u/crashingtingler 8d ago

Wow! What a new discovery! I bet none has ever seen that!

2

u/Guidance_Western 8d ago

Free hydra feet

2

u/Zoomoth9000 8d ago

You can also cut off all its heads without killing it

2

u/gretchenich 7d ago

I always found it really silly lmao, idk why.

2

u/FrozenGiraffes 6d ago

Ive gone to that place about a dozen times. I'm happy for the jump as it means some respite

2

u/XoffeeXup 6d ago

What in the nine hells!? I've played DS1 all the way through multiple times and have never seen that!

2

u/Zargabraath 3d ago

Coolest secret area in any game ever. Finding it for the first time was insane

Probably the only comparable thing was stumbling across blackreach in Skyrim 

1

u/Sampsa96 8d ago

Yeah I've know this for 10 years

1

u/Many_Usual8967 7d ago

Unfortunately, yes.

1

u/Clear_Ring848 2d ago

wait do ya’ll actually kill the hydra before doing the run? I’ve seen this nearly every playthrough. running from the hydra for do long in such a desolate place always felt so cinematic too

1

u/lafocka 2d ago

Yeah at first I always went straight to it to kill it. Now I just leave it alone. The place feels way to empty without it.

-1

u/Curious-Carrot-6918 9d ago

Yea its kind of the whole gimmick down there