Update time:

While I didn't take out any bosses last night, I made some good headway into the Farron Woods and Cathedral of the Deep. Farron is hardly the evil swamp level we've seen in previous installments, so I'm totally expecting there to be a location we can call "that one area" granted, Blighttown wasn't really much a of a big deal compared to other poison zones either so maybe we lucked out in this entry. I am having a hard time finding the third fire tower, it's too easy to get turned around in this place.

I took up Yoel on his offer to draw out my power and he's been giving me some free levels which is nice. Not quite sure what the conditions are but not a bad deal so far, just waiting for the other shoe to drop. I did use one of the free levels to upgrade my Intelligence by a point which was enough to recruit Mr. Stuck up Vinheim wizard, course he wants scrolls but luckily for him I found one in the Farron Woods, course he's still ungrateful. I also got some coal for Andre, which now makes weapon crafting not as annoying as I thought. I also found one of the Braille Tomes for my blind Cleric which I still need to hand to her.

The Cathedral has been weird, the respawning zombies were super annoying and the parasite creatures even more so thanks to their bleed damage. Thankfully I read somewhere the torch removes them so I've been using that to deal with them. The Giant stage hazard is also interesting if a bit annoying. I wish they had set it up like the Dragon God in Demon's Souls where there were some safe zones but at least the exposed area is mercifully short. I unlocked the two paths back to the bonfire where Gael is groveling. I know he's connected to one of the DLC areas so I've haven't really bothered talking to him cause I don't need to be warped into an endgame zone at this point. Made that mistake in DSII with the Sunken City.

So I'm not sure which boss to go after next. The Farron Woods will likely lead me to the Abyss Walkers from what the Crestfallen Knight keeps saying, while I imagine that the Cathedral of the Deep leads me to Aldritch, since it's kind of his church.