A Celestial Emissary and then NOPE

I really should have been able to add the Celestial Emissary to the ranks of Witch of Hemwick, Shadows of Yharnam, and Amygdala as my one-shot bosses, but I got greedy on my first attempt, wailing on the boss without checking my six (or three or nine) and getting swarmed by the other guys. The second go, though, I was a little more careful and made quick work of him, only getting one scary moment when he hit me twice with his melee attacks once he enlarged.

From there, I went into the top of the Cathedral, only to discover that I couldn't go back unless I killed Ebrietas and got her lamp or just, you know, died. Thankfully, the daughter of the cosmos was well-equipped to grant me the latter scenario. I think I'll come back here after the Nightmare of Mensis.

So I went off to Yahar'gul and dashed my way to The One Reborn. I suspect that there's a lot in Yahar'gul that I've missed, and I'll have to make another pass at it eventually.

I made one attempt on the One Reborn, but I barely got up to the stairs alive and managed to kill one bell-ringer (I hope - she fell off the edge after I hit her) and then the boss melee'd me a couple times up on the balcony to take me out.

I hope I can figure out a quicker corpse run, maybe using the elevator near the first lamp instead of going from the chapel. Anyway, I'm excited to go to the Nightmare of Mensis, primarily because I want that big skull cage helmet! (Also, you know, to progress through the game.)

I've got to say, Upper Cathedral Ward and Yahar'gul are feeling tough enough that I might actually go back and try progressing through the Hunter's Nightmare a bit more. I'm close to getting my strength and vitality to 30. What I'd really like is to see more Bloodstone Chunks drop, which I expect will start happening more in the Nightmare of Mensis. Luckily, with the Cosmic Eye Watcher Badge I can now purchase Twin Bloodstone Shards, which, while expensive, are at least now farmable. At some point I might go back and basically upgrade every weapon I might consider using to +6 now that it's just a matter of farming. The Hemwick route is certainly lagging behind on leveling me up, but it's still about 15000 echoes per run (with runes that can improve that) and I don't think the prices at the messenger shop are going to go up anymore (at least until New Game+.)

I'm also thinking about what my next character should be. Given that I've got a decent amount of Arcane on this guy, I don't know if a pure Arcane build would be the next thing (though I did just pick up A Call Beyond, which requires a whopping 40 Arcane to use.) I think I'll probably do a Skill-based character, given that my current one basically has the bare minimum skill to use his various weapons.