Talk:The Pursuer/@comment-173.20.187.103-20140317042657/@comment-13858305-20140424185947

The Pursuer is still completely optional. There are two routes to get to the Bastille.

The easier one is through the Forest of Fallen Giants, beating the Last Giant, and the Pursuer, then taking the bird.

The harder one is through Heide's Tower of Flame, defeating the Dragonrider, then going through No Man's Wharf, and beating the Fexile Sentry, and taking the boat.

However, I had 1,000,000 soul history long before I beat all four of the Old Ones, without using a single Bonfire Ascetic, and without farming, so it's perfectly reasonable to say that those are all optional.. I don't believe, however, that you're able to do it without beating at least one of them, but the four Old Ones can really be beaten in any order, can't they? So that makes them all optional, as well as any bosses leading up to them.