Support NeoGAF

[Jackben]

Indeed all of the spells in the game.

Well, they are spells, so yes. It's a pretty easy covenant for most part. Lightning and Fire spells work well for boss.

wait I must be confusing covenants. I was thinking brotherhood of blood max rank was required for their spells. That isn't true is it? Sounds like a huge pain to win 50 times without losing once.

 

[Soulhouf]

it'd be hard to fix the weird hitboxes and limited movesets and such, but

- forbidding estus use in arenas
- removing token cost for Blue Sentinel arenas
- removing the ability to enchant infused weapons & turning buff spells into a flat AR bonus rather than a percentage boost
- increase cast time for some hexes, or tone down damage
- decrease WotG's range and damage a little further, and make it a two-slot spell rather than one
- increased physical damage scaling on weapons
- reevaluation of poise
- introduction of a reusable invasion item for red & blue in ng+, and letting players buy infinite invasion items in ng
- chameleon granted by silver tokens to be targetable
- fast roll limit reduced to 60% rather than 70% equip burden (with different roll plateaus being 20/40/60%)

and of course,

- remove soul memory

would help.

Word.
Removing the invasions when hollowed/boss dead would help as well. I don't want to be invaded every single time when I go to McDuff to do some smithing or buy items from Wellager.

 

[GulAtiCa]

wait I must be confusing covenants. I was thinking brotherhood of blood max rank was required for their spells. That isn't true is it? Sounds like a huge pain to win 50 times without losing once.

Isn't it 500 times? :lol

Anyways, no. Luckily you can get that spell in NG++ from the guy in

Spoiler

Spoiler

Drangleic Castle

 

[Stillmatic]

Smelter at 100 is definitely overleveled, but the bosses are really easy either way. Demons and Dark had a bunch of joke bosses too but it seems like there's more in DS2 because the game has way more bosses in general. There's just no wall like S&O, that's the only difference.

Alright I'm going to stop leveling! Maybe I've been doing things in a wonky order, I think the area with the Smeltor is the only are I can access that I haven't been to yet, maybe I should've come here earlier. I thought I had my first wall with

Spoiler

Mytha the Baneful Queen

, but exploring after getting beaten down by her repeatedly, I drained

Spoiler

the poison

not knowing what

Spoiler

burning the windmill

does. They should've made the

Spoiler

poison

compulsory!

FWIW, this is the order I've done bosses in so far:

Spoiler

1 | Last Giant
2 | Dragonrider
3 | Flexile Sentry
4 | Pursuer
5 | Old Dragonslayer
6 | Ruin Sentinel
7 | Lost Sinner
8 | Belfry Gargoyle
9 | Royal Rat Vanguard
10| Rotten
11 | Scorpioness Najka
12 | Royal Rat Authority
13 | Prowling Magus and Congregation
14 | Duke's Dear Freja
15 | Skeleton Lord
16 | Executioner's Chariot
17 | Covetous Demon
18 | Mytha the Baneful Queen
19 | Smeltor Demon

 

[Dorrin]

just watch this guy and see how broken this game is.
http://it.twitch.tv/rbfrosty

Yeah I was watching him earlier today. The whole spice all the spells down to run 10 int and 10 faith is just a joke.

 

[Mistel]

I'll get on that as well. Also, mess around with daggers and parrying. After 200 hours I need to change up my style a little bit lol.

Tried dagger really not for me at all I've been spoiled by maces really. If you do infuse it do tell me about it I'm interested to hear.

The dragon slayer great bow is maybe worth checking out it does less damage compared to a base Alonne greatbow but it's got B and C scaling instead of double C's. It's made from the old king soul it's a boss weapon so your dragon bones might be used on something else more effectively. I mean considering how easy normal upgrade materials are (other than shards *scornful glare*) to get you might as well go Alonne.

 

[Alric]

Stared a new game and trying to get 50 awestones to complete the Champions Covenant with only killing 5 bosses total so I can play the rest of NG as Fists only. Only thing left now is farming the Awestones because I did all other preparations up to this point.

If anyone else is interesting it can be done in like 3-4 hours following Vagetas guide.

 

[TraBuch]

And I just got my third platinum trophy. Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, and Dark Souls 2. Weirdly, I've never felt the urge to platinum any other games.

 

[Sullichin]

i hate the scaling in the souls games. in dark it was so important but it seems useless in 2. What should i throw on my claymore +10? i have a very even build which makes it so hard for me to have any idea what would give the most benefit

28 str
20 dex
17 vig
8 vit
20 end
26 att
4 agility or whatever the stat is
21 int
22 fai

how do dark weapons scale? dark weapon seems like the strongest infusement....but would that be most beneficial for that build? i have no idea. and for some odd reason my chimes and staffs dont work with hexes right. i have the stats for them but like my lightning sacred chime wont infuse dark weapon but will cast GSR even if the setup is correct, and my sorcerers staff wont cast GSR but will infuse dark weapon (yes i am aware of the hands needing to be right), WTF!

whats a good weapon to infuse poison? I keep hearing the spotted whip, but why? why not the old whip? that seems like the strongest whip i've found so far. i like the whips and claws but they break so quick. i was gonna try dual bleed claws since nothing else seems to be good for bleed (maybe a flamberge) cos i feel like fucking wolverine but the fun lasts so shortly.

whats the item that was in lost bastille, near that wall you destroy just before mcduffs workshop? with the 3 exploders that come up from the well? bc i killed them, then there was a sign in front of the elevator that came up which blocked me from getting the item, and when i reloaded it was gone. i've missed a bunch of items because of that shit or because of wooden chests being killed due to battles in the areas with them. its fucking dumb.

also the new patch gives me this weird glitch where if you coop a boss with someone else your fog wall on the boss will be gone and you can enter and leave the boss arena as you please sometimes. fucking weird but made a few bosses piss easy bc i was curious if it really would work and it did.

is it worth going above 20 end? end seems like the most important stat in ds2 but the fact that you only get one point per level after 20 just seems so futile compared to the benefit other stats give you even past 20

You can only use Dark weapon with a staff, GRS with a chime etc. It says what type of catalyst you need to use at the end of the spell descriptions.
Infusing with dark and then using dark weapon (or better yet, resonant weapon) is probably the best for yor build.

 

[Mistel]

Stared a new game and trying to get 50 awestones to complete the Champions Covenant with only killing 5 bosses total so I can play the rest of NG as Fists only. Only thing left now is farming the Awestones because I did all other preparations up to this point.

If anyone else is interesting it can be done in like 3-4 hours following Vagetas guide.

What's the scaling like for the vanquisher's seal? I mean I assume it pushes fists far above the damage output of a caestus dramatically so.

How is the pure fist more set I mean can you like power stance at all and is the moveset anywhere near the abilities of the caestus?

 

[See You Next Wednesday]

I noticed a weird trend in Dark Souls 2 discussions about how the game looks, especially in respect to the gameplay reveal.

While I think that there was a downgrade in general lighting quality, I stand by my opinion that most of the changes are related to specific choices that FROM made to make the game more playable, because the extreme contrast, extreme darkness and crushed blacks of the gameplay reveal would have made basically all indoor areas unplayable due to the fact that you couldn't see the enemies before they came very near to you even using a torch.

But in the side-by-side comparisons between gameplay reveal and retail game, like these for example, the retail game images look very bad mostly because the brightness at which these images were taken is completely wrong.

In fact, every time I read someone writing that DS2 "looks like crap" they always refer to these images or videos, and when someone writes that "the torch is not needed" I think that both criticisms come from an incorrect brightness setting while playing the game.

To me, the game should be played with the in-game brightness set all down to 0, and without strong backlighting from the TV (this obviously also depends on the current light level of your room). Also, high contrast (white levels) and mid-to-low brightness on your TV settings help. Setting in-game brightness to 0 brings all the darkness everyone is craving for, and makes the torch practically essential to properly navigate caves and close environments. Also, it makes the game look really gorgeous: even with the downgrade, and the fact that the lights are not always consistent - not every source of light casts shadows, but I guess this is related to resources optimization - the lighting is beautiful to look at. The real ugliness, in my opinion, comes from the fact that certain specific areas have repeated textures that look bad and break immersion, but that's another story.

I always felt that way too.
Lowering the in-game brightness will make a lot of places look as dark as the reveal.
It's crush details, but that was the entire point for the torch mechanic.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Weird. I went to Drangleic to farm some souls and figured dropping a coop sign in front of the Twin D

Spoiler

ragonriders

would be quick for my level (and it was), but I still saw signs for phantoms (not shades, but phantoms) even though I beat the Twin D

Spoiler

ragonriders

and the

Spoiler

Mirror Knight

. How come?

Spoiler

Is it because of Nashandra/Throne Watcher/Keeper that are part of Drangleic's coop zone? I don't have the King's Ring yet.

 

[mickcenary]

I always felt that way too.
Lowering the in-game brightness will make a lot of places look as dark as the reveal.
It's crush details, but that was the entire point for the torch mechanic.

Si. My in-game gamma settings are at two notches above nothin'.

I've stupidly fallen to my death many a time due to the dark darkness of the dark.

 

[See You Next Wednesday]

Si. My in-game gamma settings are at two notches above nothin'.

I've stupidly fallen to my death many a time due to the dark darkness of the dark.

I fell to my death within seconds in the Abyss Chasm & in the Shrine of Amana.
I played with the brightness maxed in those levels.

 

[Mistel]

Spoiler

Is it because of Nashandra/Throne Watcher/Keeper that are part of Drangleic's coop zone? I don't have the King's Ring yet.

It's exactly that I believe they are treated as one and the same as far as I can tell. I got summoned and cleared a room of ruin sentinels with my Alonne greatbow earlier.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

i hate the scaling in the souls games. in dark it was so important but it seems useless in 2. What should i throw on my claymore +10? i have a very even build which makes it so hard for me to have any idea what would give the most benefit

28 str
20 dex
17 vig
8 vit
20 end
26 att
4 agility or whatever the stat is
21 int
22 fai

how do dark weapons scale? dark weapon seems like the strongest infusement....but would that be most beneficial for that build? i have no idea. and for some odd reason my chimes and staffs dont work with hexes right. i have the stats for them but like my lightning sacred chime wont infuse dark weapon but will cast GSR even if the setup is correct, and my sorcerers staff wont cast GSR but will infuse dark weapon (yes i am aware of the hands needing to be right), WTF!

whats a good weapon to infuse poison? I keep hearing the spotted whip, but why? why not the old whip? that seems like the strongest whip i've found so far. i like the whips and claws but they break so quick. i was gonna try dual bleed claws since nothing else seems to be good for bleed (maybe a flamberge) cos i feel like fucking wolverine but the fun lasts so shortly.

whats the item that was in lost bastille, near that wall you destroy just before mcduffs workshop? with the 3 exploders that come up from the well? bc i killed them, then there was a sign in front of the elevator that came up which blocked me from getting the item, and when i reloaded it was gone. i've missed a bunch of items because of that shit or because of wooden chests being killed due to battles in the areas with them. its fucking dumb.

also the new patch gives me this weird glitch where if you coop a boss with someone else your fog wall on the boss will be gone and you can enter and leave the boss arena as you please sometimes. fucking weird but made a few bosses piss easy bc i was curious if it really would work and it did.

is it worth going above 20 end? end seems like the most important stat in ds2 but the fact that you only get one point per level after 20 just seems so futile compared to the benefit other stats give you even past 20

I was wondering about the exact same thing. I got a Claymore +10 also, but when I infuse it, the physical attack becomes noticeably weaker even with the element on it. I think it depends on your character build and since you have higher FTH/INT than my character, the results might be different. I think lightning would be a good choice since I do not see to many players or enemies resistant to it. I am debating on which is better between the Claymore+10 or the Drangleic Sword +5. So far, I think the Claymore is edging it out a little.

 

[GulAtiCa]

hehehe. I LOVE messing with invaders. My latest is hanging out at Iron Keep near the 2nd bonfire, hiding on top of roof of the area that you have to jump to to get the dull ember. Anyways, I just killed off two Blue Sentinels without actually moving or doing anything.

I used the Seed Of The Giant item, which then turns the enemies onto the invader themselves. So much fun to see them panic and run around. 1st guy was killed off, and since effect doesn't go away or is rather long live, 2nd invader died off after probably killing a lot of them. So much fun to use.

Interesting enough you actually get souls from red phantom enemies in the game, even if a Blue invader kills them.

Edit: The effect doesn't go away, even if you use a bonfire.
Edit 2: Two more down!

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Edit: The effect doesn't go away, even if you use a bonfire.

Oh? Interesting. How long does the effect last? Warping removes it I assume?

 

[Mistel]

Where do you get a seed of the giants? If I'm going to be naughty I might as well punish those who seek to rectify my sins.

 

[GulAtiCa]

^^^
Hangs from one of the Giant trees near 3rd bonfire after an invasion. Not 100% drop, but chance at getting it after each new invasion.

I wish you could buy it. I'd gladly pay 100k souls for each one. :lol

Oh? Interesting. How long does the effect last? Warping removes it I assume?

Well, it's been 10 minutes already and 5 dead Blue invaders, so likely doesn't go away. I'd assume warping somewhere does.

 

[Mentok]

So is it generally agreed that Dark Souls 2 is a lot easier then Dark Souls?

Anyways, I take back what I said about Hexes. Holy fuck, I fucking demolish everything that gets in my path.

Glad you came around on Hexes. I'm having a blast in this playthrough!

 

[Mistel]

^^^
Hangs from one of the Giant trees near 3rd bonfire after an invasion. Not 100% drop, but chance at getting it after each new invasion.

I best break out the notched whip and start sinning on my co-op character then. Add a bit of spice to the experience. Once I'm a sinner I've just got to kill them/keep Screaming Meat alive. I'm going to get a kick out of this...

 

[LiK]

Does Hidden Weapon require PVP or can I get it offline somewhere?

 

[Mistel]

Does Hidden Weapon require PVP or can I get it offline somewhere?

You can use the mad warrior spawn to rank up the bell covenant offline.

 

[LiK]

You can use the mad warrior spawn to rank up the bell covenant offline.

Ah, is he NG+ and does he respawn or do I need to use ascetic?

 

[Mistel]

Ah, is he NG+ and does he respawn or do I need to use ascetic?

I assume he's in new game plus he's in default already. Infinite spawns without using an ascetic it's just a bit random when it does, sometimes it's there 3 in row then not.

An ascetic just resets his drops that's all.

 

[jacksepticeye]

I was wondering about the exact same thing. I got a Claymore +10 also, but when I infuse it, the physical attack becomes noticeably weaker even with the element on it. I think it depends on your character build and since you have higher FTH/INT than my character, the results might be different. I think lightning would be a good choice since I do not see to many players or enemies resistant to it. I am debating on which is better between the Claymore+10 or the Drangleic Sword +5. So far, I think the Claymore is edging it out a little.

If you're a melee/STR build I wouldn't infuse your weapon at all. Unless maybe if you make it raw to bring up the physical attack of it but otherwise you're better off leaving it vanilla +10 or whatever

 

[InfiniDragon]

Only remove Soul Memory in NG+ onward IMO. Too much risk for assholes griefing at the lowbie areas again without it.

Rest of that stuff I agree with, especially buffed weapon and hex nerfs.

Word.
Removing the invasions when hollowed/boss dead would help as well. I don't want to be invaded every single time when I go to McDuff to do some smithing or buy items from Wellager.

That would be nice too, at least when Hollow.

 

[SargerusBR]

Well that final boss was an absolute joke...

I always assume anyone who says the final boss is easy is clearly playing a caster build.

 

[ElFly]

Guys, I fucked up.

I wore the butterfly skirt while talking to the bell covenant dwarf, and it aggroed him.

I fled, and then I took it off and went to the other bellfry (luna) and the dwarf was aggroed too (which means they are the same dwarf?).

This dwarf committed suicide by jumping off the bridge then!

Am I fucked with the bell covenant? Should I burn an ascetic in a bonfire to reset it?

 

[InfiniDragon]

I always assume anyone who says the final boss is easy is clearly playing a caster build.

Nah, I beat the last boss' ass with a pair of rapiers.

Just sit back out of the area of the curse things and dodge the pathetically slow lasers and the boss will move to you, or the curse things will dispel and then you go to the boss.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

About the final boss...

Spoiler

Wearing the cursebite ring I can usually take out an orb without being cursed, and just barely... but without it, I am usually cursed before I can even destroy it. Is this normal? I tried a bow from afar but with no luck.

 

[LiK]

I assume he's in new game plus he's in default already. Infinite spawns without using an ascetic it's just a bit random when it does, sometimes it's there 3 in row then not.

An ascetic just resets his drops that's all.

Ok, thanks. Good to know I don't need to go online for it.

 

[mickcenary]

I always assume anyone who says the final boss is easy is clearly playing a caster build.

Nah, brah.

Gyrm Greathammer.
A Greatshield of some variety.
Curse-resistant gear.
Zero ranged attacks.

I found her quite easy. Her melee attacks are super telegraphed and easy to dodge. As others have said, just stay out of the curse orbs' range.

 

[NEOPARADIGM]

An easy final boss is nothing new - ever play Demon's Souls?

And

Spoiler

Vendrick is the "real" final boss anyway.

 

[UpsideDownAce]

An easy final boss is nothing new - ever play Demon's Souls?

And

Spoiler

Vendrick is the "real" final boss anyway.

Do you mean King Allant or Old King Allant?

 

[Augemitbutter]

About the final boss...

Spoiler

Wearing the cursebite ring I can usually take out an orb without being cursed, and just barely... but without it, I am usually cursed before I can even destroy it. Is this normal? I tried a bow from afar but with no luck.

Spoiler

i haven't found a reliable way to kill her without getting cursed in melee range at least once. if you don't want to get cursed, snipe her down with a bow. it's a bit boring, but what can you do. FS seems to treat melees a bit rougher than ranged people.

 

[Guevara]

NG+ armor: what is everyone using?

I'm using

Spoiler

Faraam +10

, which is ok for now. Really don't want to be just another

Spoiler

Havel

clone.

 

[demidar]

Spoiler

i haven't found a reliable way to kill her without getting cursed in melee range at least once. if you don't want to get cursed, snipe her down with a bow. it's a bit boring, but what can you do. FS seems to treat melees a bit rougher than ranged people.

I haven't had much trouble with the final boss, even as full melee. The two bosses before her gave me much, much more trouble. I just

Spoiler

kited her out of the dark orb area.

 

[iori9999]

Does Hidden Weapon require PVP or can I get it offline somewhere?

You can farm mad warrior but it takes forever for him to spawn at times.. It's pretty easy to level up in the bell covenant if you are a popular SL, because more often than not you are 2 on 1 against a player..

 

[Varna]

I have been on a media blackout until the PC version is released and I have asked my friends to not tell me anything about this game... one of them slipped up and told me a recent patch nerfed some bosses... that true?

 

[GulAtiCa]

Well, that was fun while it lasted. Now no longer a sinner.
died like 4 times due to Blues. Twice due to lag, so couldn't use magic. Though one of those two was from me falling off into the lava lol. Another was due to guy rightly blocking my magic and killing me off, was slightly close though. And last one killed me without me paying attention. Was elsewhere in the area, and dumbly not expecting the invader to come from behind me. lol

Otherwise, was a fun experience. I'm all out of seed of the giants though. Already knocked that area to NGx4 level, so will have to do this again.

Really do hate lag at times, mainly because it makes the fight just useless when I can't use magic at all. Can't even hit them either. So you end up dieing for no reason..

Anyways, only thing left to do is to become a sinner again! Also, currently level 337. Not to far from level 400. Though might stop at level 350, who knows.

 

[isual]

did they nerf the ruin sentinels in the castle? they don't spawn 10 times anymore

 

[Interrobang]

I just beat Velstadt (sp?). Is this wandering giant king supposed to be

Spoiler

Vendrick

? This is such a cool emotional moment, regardless of if this is him or not. Is there any upside to letting him live? I haven't attacked him.

 

[Tevious]

Did a lot of PVP over the weekend. Never really got too into it in the other Souls games. Now I see why people say mages are overpowered. Mages are mobile with lightweight armor so they can easily dodge attacks, they have ranged and AoE spells (some even heat-seeking), and the damage output they do is insane. I've always played a knight/melee based build in these games and its a bit ridiculous getting one-shot killed or even 80%+ damaged with some of these spells.

 

[vvise]

I just beat Velstadt (sp?). Is this wandering giant king supposed to be

Spoiler

Vendrick

? This is such a cool emotional moment, regardless of if this is him or not. Is there any upside to letting him live? I haven't attacked him.

he's very strong

 

[Interrobang]

he's very strong

So, don't attack him? What if you can defeat him now? Anything special happen?

 

[thunker 9000]

Continuing my run at

Spoiler

Ancient Dragon

if anyone wants to stop in and give me hot tips.

 

[Jaeger]

NG+ armor: what is everyone using?

I'm using

Spoiler

Faraam +10

, which is ok for now. Really don't want to be just another

Spoiler

Havel

clone.

Lost Sinner Set, but using thise gauntlets you get from

Spoiler

Pate/Creighton in the Cove

.

I just beat Velstadt (sp?). Is this wandering giant king supposed to be

Spoiler

Vendrick

? This is such a cool emotional moment, regardless of if this is him or not. Is there any upside to letting him live? I haven't attacked him.

There's no reason to keep him alive. He's optional, but the bonus is in defeating him. And yes, that is the King.

 

[LiK]

did they nerf the ruin sentinels in the castle? they don't spawn 10 times anymore

Heard they no longer respawn after patch. Thank gawd. That was BS after I opened all the doors and didn't realize that prepatch.

So, don't attack him? What if you can defeat him now? Anything special happen?

You can fight him whenever. You get a trophy/achievement and his boss soul. But it's in another area.