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[Yaoibot]

That's the problem, I'm playing pure INT. My only melee weapon is the starting dagger for ripostes & backstabs. That gives me no choice but to supplement my casting needs with pyromancy. I've gotten all 4 great souls but I'm still relying on the same spells and equipment I had over 100 levels ago.

Pure INT works perfectly fine with the Moonlight Greatsword as an offhand and that shield that has a C scaling with INT. Just need a few pts in DEX and STR, the latter of which you should have anyway to use a shield. Four Soul Vortexes and I can kill the Ancient Dragon, in group, on NG+. And I one shot nearly any idiot that tries to PVP me too, with a single Crystal Soulspear.

I'll probably dabble in Hexxes next, enough to be able to silence and make myself officially unkillable Have the spell, just need to invest another 10 levels or so into faith.

Pro tip: Soul Greatsword can gank people hiding behind pillars or using stairs or doors to block LoS. Always keep one of those on hand. Oh, and I agree with others that Soul Vortex is trash.

Pro tip #2: You can stop your casting animation just before it starts with a roll, then cast again immediately to catch those pesky roll-twinks in PVP with a quick enough spell (Soulspear, usually). "Clipping" basically, ala DCUO.

 

[Acageron]

PLATINUM ACHIEVED!!!

Few tips for those looking to do the same:
1.

Spoiler

you can buy the three covenant reward spells from chancellor wellager on NG++.

2.

Spoiler

if you are having trouble reaching 2nd rank in bell cov. (for a spell), farm the red phantom in belfry sol offline. You need 30 kills for rank 2. Plus, chance he may drop a berserker blade.

3.

Spoiler

If you can, do the lucatiel and benhart summon trophies in NG. It's harder to keep them alive in NG+ like I had to. Lost Sinner(no lights) was impossible. Luckily, you only need 3 of 4. It's definitely doable though. You'd just be better off in NG.

All in all, this one felt easier than the other souls' platinums. Just glad there was

Spoiler

no all weapons or rings

trophy

 

[Revolutionary]

Ancient Dragon is probably the lamest boss I've ever come across in the series. It literally would not stop spamming the aerial AOE. Fortunately after many tries I was able to use that to my advantage, but jeez...

 

[SharkJAW]

I'm on my 2nd NG run as a sorc/hexer, spent all my effigies attempting to get the MLGS, but ended up being able to do it on my own, and, goodness, have things gotten easier.

 

[Yaoibot]

PLATINUM ACHIEVED!!!

Few tips for those looking to do the same:
1.

Spoiler

you can buy the three covenant reward spells from chancellor wellager on NG++.

2.

Spoiler

if you are having trouble reaching 2nd rank in bell cov. (for a spell), farm the red phantom in belfry sol offline. You need 30 kills for rank 2. Plus, chance he may drop a berserker blade.

3.

Spoiler

If you can, do the lucatiel and benhart summon trophies in NG. It's harder to keep them alive in NG+ like I had to. Lost Sinner(no lights) was impossible. Luckily, you only need 3 of 4. It's definitely doable though. You'd just be better off in NG.

All in all, this one felt easier than the other souls' platinums. Just glad there was

Spoiler

no all weapons or rings

trophy

Sadly, I'm stuck doing number 3, atm. Its not that bad with a ranged/ magic character. 2/3 for each of them so far in NG+

 

[saturnine]

How many Bell Fry locations are there?

Also found out how to S

Spoiler

melter

D

Spoiler

emon

yesterday.

Take off armor
Remove shield
Dual hand your best weapon

Spoiler

>Get gud

Worked for me.

Got to

Spoiler

Drangleic castle

too but I see I'm not supposed to be there yet, I think this is the first time I've seen rain in a Souls Game.

yeah, he's basically the newer, fatter flame lurker. the only way to beat him melee and solo is to git gud. the real fun is to try to keep the summon npc alive.

Spoiler

it's impossible.

it rained in world 5 of DeS too !

 

[Yaoibot]

Ancient Dragon is probably the lamest boss I've ever come across in the series. It literally would not stop spamming the aerial AOE. Fortunately after many tries I was able to use that to my advantage, but jeez...

You can bait it into using its frontal attack by staying near its head. Its the people - in group - that run for its tail or back legs who cause it to do the mass AOE. In NG+ it also breaths fire over its loins. Sounds weird, but that's what it does, drops its head and blasts its crotch while still on the ground.

Had a chuckle the first time I saw that. I assume its a NG+ thing, as it certainly didn't do that before.

 

[maomaoIYP]

Pure INT works perfectly fine

Great tips, gonna try them out later thanks.

 

[saturnine]

Sadly, I'm stuck doing number 3, atm. Its not that bad with a ranged/ magic character. 2/3 for each of them so far in NG+

you can use an ascetic and redo the same boss, it counts toward the total.

Spoiler

did it with the first brightstone cove boss for jugo, should have done it with the flexile sentry for lucatiel because fuck smelter demon

 

[AlienKebab]

yeah, he's basically the newer, fatter flame lurker. the only way to beat him melee and solo is to git gud. the real fun is to try to keep the summon npc alive.

Spoiler

it's impossible.

it rained in world 5 of DeS too !

I can't remember it raining in DeS, guess I'm replaying that after I'm done with this game.
But yeah, he does feel A LOT like Flamelurker.

 

[demidar]

I really like Soul Vortex, but it requires some setup. The great thing about it is that against staggerable foes, it just carves them up. You know those Dragon Knights on the last flight of stairs in D

Spoiler

ragon

S

Spoiler

hrine

? If they touch the Soul Vortex, they get staggered and take a step back in to the Soul Vortex again. This leads to them getting hit about 7 times for 1000+ damage. Soul Vortex also pierces and deals more damage the longer it stays in a target (Soul Spear pierces but only damages an enemy once) making it great for large enemies, though you could make the same case for Soul Bolt.

 

[AlienKebab]

I can't remember it raining in DeS, guess I'm replaying that after I'm done with this game.
But yeah, he does feel A LOT like Flamelurker.

I just remembered what World 5 is.
PASS.

 

[theSlacker]

Just wrapped up my platinum after 85 hours of playtime. In a fitting coda, I immediately got murdered by an invader after it dinged.

A few tips for anyone else interested in doing the same (major full game spoilers below):

Spoiler

Kill all of the optional bosses (Vendrick, Ancient Dragon, Darklurker) in NG. You'll need their souls in order to complete the spell collection trophies. These guys are all super hard, and only get harder in subsequent plays. Might as well knock them out early.

Do you really have to kill A

Spoiler

ncient

D

Spoiler

ragon

for anything trophy related? I didn't see anything that required that.

 

[takriel]

So from when on is it possible to enter

Spoiler

Drangleic Castle

? Can you access the

Spoiler

Shrine of Winter

with only two

Spoiler

lord souls

?

 

[Vitten]

Questions about getting the bell cov reward:

Do you have to stay in the cov and get your 30 kills in a row without leaving the cov or is it OK to get a few kills, join another cov and then join them back later and get a few more kills ? Also, can I check my progress somewhere to see how many kills I have ?

 

[Eusis]

Do you really have to kill A

Spoiler

ncient

D

Spoiler

ragon

for anything trophy related? I didn't see anything that required that.

Far as I know he only drops

Spoiler

a big pile of souls (as is usual) and a Giant Soul. Which will make Vendrick easier afterwards, but if you can beat Vendrick with just four souls it isn't necessary then, even on NG+ you'll keep the souls so long as you don't spend them all and can get another 4, and any more than 5 won't have an additional effect anyway.

 

[theSlacker]

So from when on is it possible to enter

Spoiler

Drangleic Castle

? Can you access the

Spoiler

Shrine of Winter

with only two

Spoiler

lord souls

?

Spoiler

To go though the Shrine of Winter you either need the 4 boss souls, or 1 million in your soul memory for your first run, and a million more for every NG+ after that I hear

Spoiler

Or you can just get the ladder guy to make you a few ladders and use them to get over it, then over the pit in the last area as well

Spoiler

Not really.

 

[batbeg]

poison/bleed knives really piss people off

time for corrosive urns

I dual wield curved blades imbued with poison. I love seeing the people I fight freak out and try to cure themselves as I madly chase them.

 

[saturnine]

I just remembered what World 5 is.
PASS.

ahahahah
I remember it well because 5-2 is the longest level to clear. wading through so much poisonous filfth to get every shiny on the biggest map of the game. that certainly lacked in gross incandescence.

I still think that S

Spoiler

hrine of

A

Spoiler

mana

is way worse a level than the valley of defilement.

Questions about getting the bell cov reward:

Do you have to stay in the cov and get your 30 kills in a row without leaving the cov or is it OK to get a few kills, join another cov and then join them back later and get a few more kills ? Also, can I check my progress somewhere to see how many kills I have ?

I believe that the game keep your covenant levels this time. you can speak to shalquoire the cat in Majula to check your level, but I don't think you can check how much kills you have.

 

[Eusis]

I dual wield curved blades imbued with poison. I love seeing the people I fight freak out and try to cure themselves as I madly chase them.

I should probably have upgraded my maneater for that purpose.

And the one time someone kept pelting Corrosive Urns at me I jumped into lava. Fuck it I surrender just let my gear not be destroyed!

Spoiler

I broke my Curved Dragon Sword immediately afterwards because I forgot to rest and make sure it got repaired at the bonfire.

 

[HeelPower]

In NG+ it also breaths fire over its loins. Sounds weird, but that's what it does, drops its head and blasts its crotch while still on the ground.

It can do that in regular NG.

It did that to me when I tried to cling to its feet.

No area is safe with that asshole of a boss.

 

[Footos22]

So you have to beat him to beat

Spoiler

Vendrick

?

Nope I beat

Spoiler

Vendrick

without him hes easily doable with 4. infact i got him first time hes just another slow boss where its easy to get behind him and let off a few slashes.

I beat the

Spoiler

ancient dragon

last night, and it was awful it took me 12 tries of bullshit. its easily the worst boss in the whole souls series and you get fuck all for beating him wasnt even satisfying.

In fact you can save the bullshit and just go back to

Spoiler

dukes dear freja

and get the last soul there by interacting with that red stuff.

Regarding that Spolier:

Spoiler

Is that a ruined Ash lake, ashen mist heart kind of gives it away and that dead dragon is quite similar to the dragon at ash lake. Brightstone cove is kind of like crystal caves too

 

[Sande]

Soul Vortex sucks.

It has it's moments, especially against large enemies like Ancient Dragon. Sometimes it will completely wreck a roomful of people and sometimes do very little damage. Soul geyser though, wtf. I guess if you manage to get an enemy to stay completely still for 5 seconds, it could do something. I think I've only once managed to do more damage with it than with a soul spear. I believe I one-shotted a gargoyle then. Good times.

Edit: Soul vortex seems to do wonders with shields. I remember shooting one at some NPC with a huge shield and high stability. The vortex kept grinding at him doing damage all the time and staggered him in the end. Looked like the shield increased the damage. Got to do some testing to see if it was just a fluke or whether soul vortex is a serious shield build destroyer.

 

[Antiwhippy]

So what does making a weapon mundane do to it?

Also, disappointed that the (covenant spoilers)

Spoiler

sunbros covenant doesn't have a sunbro to talk to.

 

[Eusis]

So what does making a weapon mundane do to it?

Also, disappointed that the (covenant spoilers)

Spoiler

sunbros covenant doesn't have a sunbro to talk to.

Scales based on your lowest stat. Basically for those who went for an overly balanced build and DIDN'T treat ADP as a dump stat.

EDIT: And you can test on your next level up by turning something mundane you don't care about or think may benefit (I went for daggers) and see the stat changes while it's equipped.

 

[Arjen]

Started NG+ last night, some nice suprises in there, pretty fun.

 

[Yaoibot]

It has it's moments, especially against large enemies like Ancient Dragon. Sometimes it will completely wreck a roomful of people and sometimes do very little damage. Soul geyser though, wtf. I guess if you manage to get an enemy to stay completely still for 5 seconds, it could do something. I think I've only once managed to do more damage with it than with a soul spear. I believe I one-shotted a gargoyle then. Good times.

Soul Geyser is ridiculously OP.

 

[Sande]

Soul Geyser is ridiculously OP.

But who stays still for so long? As far as I've understood, the enemy need to stay right inside it for the whole duration for it to do all that much damage. I've just started using it though so I haven't fully grasped it yet.

 

[Eusis]

But who stays still for so long? As far as I've understood, the enemy need to stay right inside it for the whole duration for it to do all that much damage. I've just started using it though so I haven't fully grasped it yet.

I believe it's supposed to be a boss destroyer if I'm not confusing spells here. A human player would normally be smart enough to run the hell away if they got that far, but a boss might just stand there like an idiot.

 

[Antiwhippy]

Scales based on your lowest stat. Basically for those who went for an overly balanced build and DIDN'T treat ADP as a dump stat.

EDIT: And you can test on your next level up by turning something mundane you don't care about or think may benefit (I went for daggers) and see the stat changes while it's equipped.

Ah alright, guess it's not what I want.

Still unsure what to upgrade other than my staff. Made going through the shaded ruins a bit hard at first until you realise how ridiculously easy they are to backstab, even if it takes 6 backstabs.

 

[Freezasaurus]

Get the

Spoiler

Dragonrider

bow if you're strength, Longbow if you're dex, upgrade it a few times, stock up on wood arrows and that's your best bet for getting through that bullshit. The hardest area in the game for me, as a fellow melee build,

Spoiler

Good thing the boss was easy as shit though.

Edit: It would seem you're strength, if you still have the requisite soul I've answered your question.

Yeah, it made a big difference. I just rushed at the spell casters in the back which pulls in some other enemies right before the fog, and they all focused on her instead. The water slows you down too much to handle all that shit, lol.

Thanks for the tips, guys. Turns out I had a lightning shortbow+1 in my inventory along with 180 wooden arrows. That did the trick. And oh my god, (boss) D

Spoiler

emon

of S

Spoiler

ong

was super easy. He should have been the first boss. XD

 

[Eusis]

Is there any particular reason to used Wooden over Iron? Damage increase not worth it at higher levels? I just stock up on Iron and fire but maybe I should switch.

And poison, there's always going to be some assholes you want to slowly die rather than get close to at all.

 

[Antiwhippy]

Thanks for the tips, guys. Turns out I had a lightning shortbow+1 in my inventory along with 180 wooden arrows. That did the trick. And oh my god, (boss) D

Spoiler

emon

of S

Spoiler

ong

was super easy. He should have been the first boss. XD

To be fair the first boss is ridiculously easy as it is already.

 

[The_Hitcher89]

Having Pyromancy in one hand and sorcery in the other would be so cool if they didn't share the same attunement slot on the d-pad

Beat the

Spoiler

Belfry Gargoyles

first time

 

[theSlacker]

Is there any particular reason to used Wooden over Iron? Damage increase not worth it at higher levels? I just stock up on Iron and fire but maybe I should switch.

And poison, there's always going to be some assholes you want to slowly die rather than get close to at all.

Not that I know of. Here is a protip for you as well about the iron arrows.

Spoiler

They can break the curse pots.

 

[Eusis]

Not that I know of. Here is a protip for you as well about the iron arrows.

Spoiler

They can break the curse pots.

Oh, yeah, I found similar out via one of the bosses:

Spoiler

I kept breaking pots containing undead grunts over the Covetous Demon when being summoned as help and he'd go gobble them up. I switch to Wooden when I finally took him on and notably did NOT have this happen.

 

[B-Genius]

I dual wield curved blades imbued with poison. I love seeing the people I fight freak out and try to cure themselves as I madly chase them.

I'm also a fan of dual-wielding curved swords. Can't wait to get them imbued with something sinister :3

I'm trying to avoid this thread as much as possible for fear of spoiling the slightest cool little thing, but I would like to ask about the Blue Sentinels covenant.

I've been with the Sentinels for about 20 in-game hours, and only been summoned twice (both times I failed). I keep the Guardian ring equpped at all times and try to stay in human form most of the time. Usually the icon in the top-left is glowing.

I've been sparring when I can (which so far has been really fun and felt balanced), which earns me more Cracked Blue Eye Orbs. I currently have about 15 of them, but have not once been able to successfully invade a sinner's world with them. It almost always says "can't find host to invade", and only a couple of times has said "invasion failed".

I occasionally talk to the covenant leader, but his options remain the same, and it seems my level is still at 0 according to the cat in Majula.

My questions are:
1. What exactly does one have to do to level up?
2. What levels earn benefits? (I'd like to remain unspoiled on the benefits themselves)
3. Should there be a typical level range/area for getting summoned as a Blue Sentinel?

Thanks for any help. Really loving this game and slowly edging my way through. Can already tell subsequent playthroughs are going to be glorious once the community figures everything out!

 

[Shinjica]

I'm also a fan of dual-wielding curved swords. Can't wait to get them imbued with something sinister :3

I'm trying to avoid this thread as much as possible for fear of spoiling the slightest cool little thing, but I would like to ask about the Blue Sentinels covenant.

I've been with the Sentinels for about 20 in-game hours, and only been summoned twice (both times I failed). I keep the Guardian ring equpped at all times and try to stay in human form most of the time. Usually the icon in the top-left is glowing.

I've been sparring when I can (which so far has been really fun and felt balanced), which earns me more Cracked Blue Eye Orbs. I currently have about 15 of them, but have not once been able to successfully invade a sinner's world with them. It almost always says "can't find host to invade", and only a couple of times has said "invasion failed".

I occasionally talk to the covenant leader, but his options remain the same, and it seems my level is still at 0 according to the cat in Majula.

My questions are:
1. What exactly does one have to do to level up?
2. What levels earn benefits? (I'd like to remain unspoiled on the benefits themselves)
3. Should there be a typical level range/area for getting summoned as a Blue Sentinel?

Thanks for any help. Really loving this game and slowly edging my way through. Can already tell subsequent playthroughs are going to be glorious once the community figures everything out!

You get summoned for help in that zone. So if a way of blue player need help has to be in that zone, with the ring equipped and you, blue sentinels, need to be in the same zone with your ring equipped.

To much requisite for having fun with that covenant IMO, hope for a future patch who remove zone requirement

 

[Morrigan Stark]

After exploring each area, I've noticed that all of them are pretty short in retrospect. The only decent length one is

Spoiler

FOTFG

. I don't know if it's just my mind playing tricks on me but areas such as Undead Burg, Demons Ruins, Anor Londo, etc all felt long in comparison. I felt especially disappointed with the

Spoiler

Dragon Shrine.

such a beautiful place only to be done with exploring it in like 10 minutes.

There's a few secrets in the shrine, you sure you explored everything? Of course when you know the levels they only take a few minutes. Lost Bastille, No Man's Wharf, and Shaded Woods (fog + ruins), Drangleic Castle, are bigger than anything in the past games, really. Your memory is indeed fooling you. These areas in DkS1 are also very "short in retrospect". Especially Demon Ruins, lol, there's nothing there but a series of bosses. The longest area is probably Blighttown and it's technically optional...

So you have to beat him to beat

Spoiler

Vendrick

?

No. We beat him just to say we did it. Leave no boss undefeated.

 

[The_Hitcher89]

Anyone got any good pics/stat-screens of the

Spoiler

Bell Keeper Set

?

Wondering if its worth carrying on ranking up that covenant after reaching rank 1, not interested in the second reward


Not sure I made the right decision reinforcing the Fire Longsword to +10. Half damage against enemies immune to fire, decreased damage against those with high Slash defense, average stat-scaling, short range. Also, I've been ignoring my other weapons and armour as I upgrade it. Plus, I doubt it can be turned into a Special weapon with a boss soul, given it's fire-focus.

It does more damage than my other weapons though, is quick, and has a good moveset. A bit worried I'm about to find a weapon that's superior to it

 

[theSlacker]

Anyone got any good pics/stat-screens of the

Spoiler

Bell Keeper Set

?

Wondering if its worth carrying on ranking up that covenant after reaching rank 1, not interested in the second reward

If you want the platinum trophy you need to get to the second rank. Only place to get that spell.

 

[The_Hitcher89]

If you want the platinum trophy you need to get to the second rank. Only place to get that spell.

I very much doubt I'll be going for the Platinum

Think I might carry on with it anyway (aside from when I just want to progress, invasions interrupt when doing that) for the chunks and souls

Cheers

 

[Facism]

Soul Vortex sucks. Sorcery gets amazing once you have great magic weapon, homing soulmass, soul spear, and some great soul arrows. I really don't think pure INT is a great build in this game. A hybrid like INT/DEX makes you much well rounded.

I went STR/INT. Pure int would be boring, unless there's a possibility to dual-wield staffs and pop off spell after spell in quick succession Eventually i went with the Great Club, like i did in DS1. Dat 2 handed-R2 attack lol.

That's the problem, I'm playing pure INT. My only melee weapon is the starting dagger for ripostes & backstabs. That gives me no choice but to supplement my casting needs with pyromancy. I've gotten all 4 great souls but I'm still relying on the same spells and equipment I had over 100 levels ago.

Mate, do yourself a favour and get enough points in STR/DEX to use the Mace.

I'm also a fan of dual-wielding curved swords. Can't wait to get them imbued with something sinister :3

I'm trying to avoid this thread as much as possible for fear of spoiling the slightest cool little thing, but I would like to ask about the Blue Sentinels covenant.

I've been with the Sentinels for about 20 in-game hours, and only been summoned twice (both times I failed). I keep the Guardian ring equpped at all times and try to stay in human form most of the time. Usually the icon in the top-left is glowing.

I've been sparring when I can (which so far has been really fun and felt balanced), which earns me more Cracked Blue Eye Orbs. I currently have about 15 of them, but have not once been able to successfully invade a sinner's world with them. It almost always says "can't find host to invade", and only a couple of times has said "invasion failed".

I occasionally talk to the covenant leader, but his options remain the same, and it seems my level is still at 0 according to the cat in Majula.

My questions are:
1. What exactly does one have to do to level up?
2. What levels earn benefits? (I'd like to remain unspoiled on the benefits themselves)
3. Should there be a typical level range/area for getting summoned as a Blue Sentinel?

Thanks for any help. Really loving this game and slowly edging my way through. Can already tell subsequent playthroughs are going to be glorious once the community figures everything out!

On NG+, i got invaded roughly 6 times in 20 minutes at Heide's Tower of Flame by Yeast Sentinels. Annoying to progress, but good fun to be had with the Tree Seed.

If you want the platinum trophy you need to get to the second rank. Only place to get that spell.

Yup. Unfortunately the load times make it a cunt to earn.

 

[Vitten]

Not sure I made the right decision reinforcing the Fire Longsword to +10. Half damage against enemies immune to fire, decreased damage against those with high Slash defense, average stat-scaling, short range. Also, I've been ignoring my other weapons and armour as I upgrade it. Plus, I doubt it can be turned into a Special weapon with a boss soul, given it's fire-focus.

It does more damage than my other weapons though, is quick, and has a good moveset. A bit worried I'm about to find a weapon that's superior to it

It's an excellent melee back-up weapon for mages as it requires little investments in non-sorc stats. If you're a strength/dex build there's indeed much better options out there.

 

[MilkBeard]

Just got to the Gutter. I don't understand the complaints with this area, it is basically like

Spoiler

Blighttown/Valley of Defilement

in terms of aesthetics, but instead they actually played heavily on the darkness and lighting with this area. It also feels legitimately creepy. When I entered I was like...woah.

 

[The_Hitcher89]

It's an excellent melee back-up weapon for mages as it requires little investments in non-sorc stats. If you're a strength/dex build there's indeed much better options out there.

Shit. My points are mainly in Endurance, Vitality, Strength and Dexterity, sorcery is just a bare minimum backup, got it up to 10 Intellignce so I could use Soul Arrow and the basic staff.

Ah well. Does a palestone put it back to 0, or do you use one palestine for each level? Also, do you get the titanite back? I assume not, but worth asking

 

[Leezard]

Shit. My points are mainly in Endurance, Vitality, Strength and Dexterity, sorcery is just a bare minimum backup, got it up to 10 Intellignce so I could use Soul Arrow and the basic staff.

Ah well. Does a palestone put it back to 0, or do you use one palestine for each level? Also, do you get the titanite back? I assume not, but worth asking

The palestone only makes it non-fire, it does not remove titanite levels.

 

[Antiwhippy]

All int builds should at least have enough points to double hand the moonlight great sword anyway.

 

[Audioboxer]

Damn Ancient Dragon keeps 1 hit KOing me, grrrr.

 

[AlienKebab]

I wonder when From will put out a PC launch trailer.