YouTuber ymfah has completed a Dark Souls II dung pie challenge, clearing the entire game using nothing but dung pies—in-game throwable items that inflict poison damage—to defeat enemies and bosses. The final boss fell to exactly 42 hits of the poop-based projectile, capping off one of gaming’s most absurd yet technically impressive challenge runs.
Key Takeaways
- ymfah cleared Dark Souls II entirely using only dung pies as weapons.
- The final boss was defeated with exactly 42 hits of dung pie [title].
- Dung pie poison lasts 10 minutes, allowing sustained damage without constant reapplication.
- The challenge required extensive farming of dung pies before attempting the run [summary].
- Player removed armor for thematic appropriateness during the poop-only combat.
How the Dark Souls II Dung Pie Challenge Works
The Dark Souls II dung pie challenge is not a straightforward “throw poop and win” affair. Dung pies themselves deal minimal direct damage, making the poison effect the entire strategy. According to ymfah’s approach, the poison lasts for 10 full minutes once applied, meaning enemies tick down slowly without requiring constant reapplication. This poison-based attrition is the only viable way to kill anything using dung pies alone.
The farming trick that makes the run feasible involves a reload exploit. Players nearly kill an enemy using non-dung-pie weapons—fire bombs or standard attacks—then quit and reload the game to preserve the enemy’s weakened state. On the next encounter, they apply dung pies repeatedly until the poison kills the target, which then drops the farmed item. This cycle repeats hundreds of times to accumulate enough dung pies for a full playthrough.
Thematically, ymfah removed armor during the run, fighting naked with only dung pies as weapons. The visual absurdity of a bare-chested warrior flinging feces at Dark Souls II’s nightmare creatures is part of what makes the challenge entertaining beyond the technical feat itself.
Why Dark Souls II Dung Pie Challenge Stands Out
Challenge runs in Dark Souls are common—no-hit runs, SL1 runs, broken-weapon-only runs. But the Dark Souls II dung pie challenge is uniquely constrained. Dung pies are not a weapon class with scaling or upgrade trees. They are a gimmick item, a joke item, a literal pile of virtual excrement. Beating the entire game with them requires not just skill but obsessive farming and patience.
The final boss defeat—42 hits of dung pie to finish the encounter—demonstrates that even Dark Souls II’s hardest encounters fall to poison attrition given enough time [title]. No parries, no backstabs, no dodge rolls dodging. Just repeated throws of poop and a 10-minute poison countdown.
Related challenge runs exist. LilAggron tested Dark Souls Remastered with dung pies and found it possible through similar farming tricks. But ymfah’s full Dark Souls II clear is more comprehensive, proving the strategy scales across an entire game, not just a single boss or area.
The Broader Poop Marathon Context
The Dark Souls II dung pie challenge is part of ymfah’s larger “Poop Marathon” series, which covers Dark Souls 1, Dark Souls 2, Dark Souls 3, and Elden Ring using the same poop-only restriction. The full marathon spans multiple hours of content, with the Dark Souls II section occupying the middle portion of the video timeline. This broader context shows that ymfah is committed to the bit—literally playing through four massive games while restricted to a single gimmick item.
The Poop Marathon format pushes the absurdity further with each game. Where Dark Souls II relies on poison attrition, later entries in the series may present different challenges. The series is a test of both technical knowledge about game mechanics and willingness to engage in repetitive, tedious farming for entertainment value.
Is the Dark Souls II Dung Pie Challenge Legitimate?
The challenge is legitimate within the parameters ymfah set. The quit-reload farming trick is a core mechanic of Dark Souls, not a glitch or exploit—players have used it for item duplication and farming since the series began. The dung pies themselves are real in-game items obtainable through normal means. The poison damage is the game’s intended effect for the item.
What makes it a “challenge” rather than just an ordinary playthrough is the restriction: no other weapons, no magic, no consumables except dung pies. This artificial constraint is what generates the difficulty and the entertainment value. It is self-imposed in the same way that a speedrunner imposes a time limit or a no-hit runner imposes a damage restriction.
What Makes Challenge Runs Compelling?
Challenge runs like the Dark Souls II dung pie challenge appeal because they take a game players know and add a new rule that makes it unrecognizable. Dark Souls II is already hard; Dark Souls II with only dung pies is conceptually ridiculous. The gap between the ridiculous premise and the actual completion creates the appeal.
These runs also showcase deep game knowledge. To farm efficiently, to understand poison mechanics, to know where enemies spawn and respawn—these are not casual player skills. ymfah’s completion proves mastery of Dark Souls II’s systems, even if the weapon choice is absurd.
FAQ
How long did the Dark Souls II dung pie challenge take to complete?
The research brief does not specify the total playtime for ymfah’s full Dark Souls II dung pie run. The broader Poop Marathon covering all four Dark Souls games spans multiple hours, with Dark Souls II occupying the middle section, but exact duration for the individual game is not provided.
Can you actually beat Dark Souls II with only dung pies without farming?
No. The dung pie challenge requires extensive farming of dung pies before attempting the run [summary]. Without the quit-reload farming trick to accumulate enough dung pies, the challenge would be impossible due to insufficient item availability and poison damage output.
Does dung pie poison stack if you throw multiple pies at once?
The research brief does not detail whether dung pie poison stacks or refreshes when reapplied. It confirms that poison lasts 10 minutes once applied, allowing sustained damage without constant reapplication, but the mechanics of multiple applications are not specified.
The Dark Souls II dung pie challenge is a reminder that gaming’s most memorable moments often come not from official content but from players inventing their own absurd restrictions and following through. ymfah proved that with patience, farming, and a willingness to look ridiculous, even a pile of virtual poop can topple Dark Souls II’s final boss.
Edited by the All Things Geek team.
Source: Tom's Hardware
