Andre of Astora

Andre of Astora is a character in Dark Souls. He is a blacksmith that will likely prove invaluable to the player throughout the game. Andre is voiced by Sean Barrett, who also voiced Ingward and Petrus of Thorolund.

Location
Andre of Astora is located directly below the bonfire in Undead Parish, between Darkroot Garden and Sen's Fortress.

Plot
Often the first blacksmith new players comes across, Andre of Astora can be a welcome sight. Andre of Astora is the only that can ascend weapons down the Standard path from +5 to +6 and from +10 to +11. He is also the only blacksmith that can ascend weapons down the Raw, Divine and Occult paths.

He also sells some basic upgrade materials, as well as many weapons (some of which are unique to him). Finally, he sells the Crest of Artorias, which is required to open the door to Darkroot Forest, a more dangerous section of Darkroot Garden.

Lore
Andre is from Astora, however, little else is known about him, but his dialogue suggests that he was betrayed by someone some time ago, although he never elaborates on this.

Strategy
Despite what common sense might dictate, Andre does not use his Blacksmith Hammer to fight, preferring to simply use his bare hands. This certainly does not mean that he is a pushover, however; his heavier punches can knock players off their feet, while his jabs are fast and can quickly deal a lot of damage. Andre has a roster of moves unique to him, including a drop kick that has heavy knockback and high damage. He also sports unusually high health for an NPC of his stature, so it may take a while to wear him down.

Trivia

 * Judging from Andre's accent and choice of words, it appears that he was inspired by Gaelic influences.
 * Andre is one of the few characters that do not disintegrate when killed. This may be because he uses a unique model.
 * From interviews, it was originally intended that Andre was to be Gwyn's firstborn, but this idea was scrapped.