Isn't the Washing Pole a better option?

Also, I'm really, really thinking of quitting. Came along well with the sipderqueen until she released an UNBLOCKING UNEVADEABLE INSTAKILL MOVE. Talking about fake difficulty...

It's really a shame. So much potential in the game, if it weren't for the cheap thrills.

Washing pole works well too. It has better range than the Iaito. It's just my personal preference to use the Iaito over the washing pole.

And for the spiderqueen, watch her movements, she telegraphs her explosion attack. She kinda bends over right before doing it. Strafe around her, hit her a couple of times, then back off.

To make it easier, go human and summon Mildred the NPC character. She can just about beat the spiderqueen by herself. The trick is to get her to get the spider's attention while you strike from the back and avoid the lava.

Actually, I'm pretty sure my max equip load increased past 40.
I remember so because I couldn't midroll with a certain helm equipped, so I boosted it up and got it so I could midroll with my weight at 61.5 or so.

The boost in equip weight is drastically smaller, though.

EDIT: Yeah, I checked the wiki. Apparently stamina stops increasing past 40, according to it, but I don't think that's correct either. I'll have to check when I get the chance to play again.

EDIT2: Apparently VIT soft-cap is at 50, according to the wiki.
I actually didn't know that.
I thought it was at 40, as well.

What move is that?
Because I remember being able to mid-roll dodge all of her attacks, provided I timed it right (couldn't block the fire damage, IIRC, so I two-handed my weapon and tried dodging where I could). It could be possible she didn't use whatever move she used on you on me.

Was it the one where she charges up and unleashes a big AOE attack?
I seem to remember there being time to get away from her once she starts charging.
EDIT: Yeah, she'll start to bend over slowly. When she does that, get the hell away from her as fast as possible.

Wait, Mildred can beat Quelaag herself? I mean, I know she can tank, but I don't think I've ever even seen her hit Quelaag. she just kind of... hangs out in the lava.

Anyway, on the Washing Pole: If you want to go towards Katanas, I'd recommend using the Washing Pole and the Iaito. The Washing Pole's scaling is lower and it's slower, but it's reeeeeally long. You can use the Washing Pole for most situations and then switch to the Iaito when you need to come in closer.
Aye, this is an issue at times. The best way of dodge rolling is probably towards the opponent. That way you duck under their attack, so they can't correct their swing arc.

SimonG, if you happen to have a PS3, I definitely would recommend checking out Demon's Souls. The difficulty's definitely overall less cheap. More linear, though.

I like the linearity of Demon's Souls

I think the World 1-1 to World 1-4 and so on is better that the Metroidvania esque world in Dark Souls imo.

Allright, I've beaten the Queen. Thanks to Mildred and another PC. Nice. I bought the washing pole and now just need to bump strength towards 20. The Only reason I didn't get the Iato is because it is way up there on some fickly scaffolding. Urg.

Yeah, the Iaito's a pain to get. You have to jump from above near the start of Blighttown. It took me a lot of tries my first time around, fewer my second. In case you don't know, because I don't thinkl it ever tells you, you can jump by pressing roll while running.

Believe me, 20K souls will be just spare change in a few hours, and most likely you are are gonna lose a lot more going ahead... do not get upset by that, from mid-game on, not only bosses and mobs will throw much more souls at you, but you'll also find some easy&fast farming spots, if you ever feel the need for more.

Also, backup saves (the ones made by DSFix) do work correctly as far as i've tried; just don't' mess with your GFWL account...

There is no unavoidable attack from Quelaag that i'm aware of...

You mean the "Homeward" miracle? If so, skip it: it is a waste of an attunement slot; the Homeward bones are sold very cheap by more than one merchant, and some will also be found around... you can stack up at will.

Wow, I just found the perfect farming spot.

The Forest Convent. While I was formerly a member, I know left it to enter another convent. While I was in the area, I thought I check up on the old guys. Noew increasingly more deadly, I made short work of the puny mages/clerics and thiefs. Each giving at least 1000 souls. And the big elite knights don't respawn, which is good as they were my only fear.

I actually wanted to get that special bow, but the stupid huntress fell of a ledge :-/....

Ah yes, you found the key farming spot. There's actually an even easier way of farming those guys. You know the stairs leading down from the big door? What you do is get the Thief, Cleric, and Mage to follow you and then you head over to the side of the stairs with the ledge, near the back. If you're in the right place, the dudes will run up the stairs, run at you, bounce off your head, and fall off the ledge. Sometimes the Mage won't follow, but he's easy to kill.

Oh, and for enemies that drop things who fall of ledges: If you quit the game and then reload, the item will be sitting where the enemy fell. I believe it'll be gone for good if you've visited a bonfire or left the area though, not sure on what the rules for it are.

How does the backup system work?

If I rename the 001352418478_DRAKS0005.sl2.bak into

DRAKS0005.sl2

The load button disappears.

What am I missing?

This is about 40.000 souls and 2 humanity....

Edit:

Any ideas? I would hate to see it go ...

That should be enough... make sure you are completely out of the game (so that the GFWL client is not logged in) before doing that.

I did. Still no "load game" button. :-(

Yup... later, you'll find a ring that increase the soul count drops, and also an even more amazing spot in Painted World, very safe and fast if you have access to a AoE spell (i'm talking about 100K souls in 10 minutes, game-breaking if abused....)

You should be able to get that anyway.
Quitting and reloading, as suggested, should do the trick; it happened the exact same thing to me in that spot, and i didn't even know it was supposed to drop a bow..... I came back in the zone, days later, and saw the yellow drop on the ground by pure chance: the bow and hat were there