The difficulty of Dark Souls has become legendary at this point, with many people considering the game to be brilliant for its unwavering focus on forcing players to learn the ropes of this title instead of being spoon-fed every step of the way. It's a game that still holds up strikingly well to this day, with its difficulty being trivialized by many players who know the best ways possible to exploit the title's mechanics in many new and ingenious ways.
However, there are also some players who like placing self-imposed challenges on themselves to make their playthroughs of Dark Souls even more engaging. Numerous popular challenges have cropped up as a result, with some of these tasks being so impossibly hard that most people wonder if there's any fun to be enjoyed from beating their heads against a brick wall over and over again.
7 No Hit Run
One of the most popular challenge runs in Dark Souls is to go through the entire game without being hit even once. This is obviously one of the hardest challenges anyone can attempt, especially since some enemies in Dark Souls can have such unpredictable attack patterns that trying to dodge them becomes a massive test of patience.
Any player who is hit by an attack during a run has to restart from the very beginning, which is easier said than done. Players need to be well-versed with the movesets of each and every enemy in the game if they wish to go through this challenge run without too many issues.
6 SL1 Run
Leveling up is the bread and butter of Dark Souls, with players being encouraged to invest as many Souls in their character as possible to improve their stats and help them face off against the many tough foes in these games. However, if players remove the aspect of leveling up in these games, then the title becomes nightmarishly hard to get through.
Players can't rely on strengthening themselves anymore — they have to push their raw skills to the very max instead. This is quite stressful, especially since a single hit can lead to a player's death in record time.
5 No Healing
The Estus Flask is one of the most important things in Dark Souls, with players having to carefully manage the uses of this healing item until they manage to progress toward the next bonfire. However, players who want to make things infinitely harder for themselves can place a restrictive ban on the very act of healing itself.
The idea of not being able to rely on Estus Flasks in a tough situation can make things pretty challenging in the game. Players need to hone their reflexes to a T and avoid any damage as possible since any loss of health is essentially permanent.
4 Broken Sword Run
Players start off with the Straight Sword Hilt when they get out of their prison in the Undead Asylum, which is essentially one of the worst weapons in the game. It takes a while for players to get their equipment, following which they can deal substantial damage to enemies who were giving them a tough time.
However, if players want to truly challenge themselves, then a great course of action to take is to stay with this weapon for the entirety of the game. Suffice it to say, dealing damage becomes a test of patience, but it's doable, as long as players have the reflexes required to avoid any unnecessary damage while constantly chipping away at an enemy's health.
3 No Weapon Upgrading
While improving stats is definitely useful when it comes to increasing the damage dealt against enemies, there's no denying that upgrading weapons is one of the best ways to enhance damage significantly. Enemy health bars decrease at a significant rate when players use weapons that have been upgraded quite a bit.
So, if players go for a challenge that prevents them from upgrading their weapon, then they'll be in for a tough time indeed. The Chosen Undead needs to land a lot of hits while avoiding damage to get through this run unscathed.
2 Permanent Curse
There's a reason why many enemies fear the Basilisk in Dark Souls and consider it to be the most annoying enemy in Dark Souls — the sheer amount of damage this foe can cause by inflicting the Curse status is immense. Aside from being able to hit ghosts, there's virtually no other benefit to being cursed, and the negatives far outweigh this solitary benefit.
The idea of having to go through such a tough game with half health is a nightmarish proposition that most people would want to avoid. Reversing their Hollow state and kindling bonfires is also restricted with this status effect, making it even more painful to deal with for players who hate such punishing status effects in the game.
1 No Equipment Run
While players can definitely attack with their fists in Dark Souls, the damage is so negligent that players will barely make a dent in the enemy's health bar. This makes it imperative to equip the best weapons and armor around so that players can easily get through the game without too many issues.
However, if players decide to go through the No Equipment Run, then this advantage is severely hampered. Having to bombard every enemy in sight with their fists alone can be pretty hard, even if pyromancies can make things slightly easier for them.
Dark Souls is available on PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Switch, and PC.