Dark Souls II |OT2| Prepare to Vengarl

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You only proceed to the next cycle by picking it from a list at the far fire bonfire, so there is no risk in pushing to the next + just by beating the last boss.
Yes, you can.
The game does not end after you beat the final boss.
You can go to NG+ by accessing the bonfire in Majula.
Yes you can continue playing, but I think you have to defeat ALL the bosses for him to give you his stuff.
Umbasa! \o/
 
Essentially: ohyou.gif
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Heeeey, don't you bring Scully into this! XD

It isn't my fault that you prefer Western Medieval aesthetics over the innate, blinding coolness of combining a Predator with a Samurai.

YzjrGXV.png


Best looking armour in the entire Souls series, if you ask me. Worth every painstaking moment it took to farm.
 
Runaway thoughts:

Why the hell is the
Guardian Dragon
the boss of Aldia's Keep? On my second playthrough now, and its dawned on me how really damn cool the area is. It oozes with atmosphere, creepiness, and overall is ominous and unsettling from the moment you enter the gate. Bunch of wagons shaking and shit, grotesque creatures, shady looking scientists, blood and bones littered around, several torture devices, a room filled with corpses of Giants - I mean damn! And then you get to the boss - fucking COOOL! Badass looking boss in one of the, in my opinion, best looking arenas. Boom, you defeated him!

No complaints so far. AND THEN, you goto the next area and it becomes painfully obvious that there are
shit tons of Guardian Dragons flying around - hell, even three additional Guardian Dragons can be fought in Aeries i.e. THE BOSS OF FUCKING ALDIA'S BADASS KEEP IS KIND OF A TRASH MOB
. In hindsight, I wish FROM would have utilized the elements of the area and then created a completely unique boss, cuz the place instantly reminded me of WoW's Blackwing Lair/Naxxramas. /shrug

I sort of wish that Aldias Keep had a weird freak-creature-feature type of boss. The setup is great for it - all sorts of weird experiments/etc going on. Then having the
Guardian Dragon be the boss of Dragon Aerie
- but made it even more bad ass. Sort of wish all the dragons in the Aerie were a little more bad-ass - with the final one being a Kalameet-level of kickass.

With the current setup, it feels like the
Guardian Dragon
is more like an 'entry-guard' to the Aerie instead of the boss of the keep - despite the level name that they actually reside in.

Such a cool arena to fight in also - one of the better looking/unique feeling ones too.
 
God damn gargoyles. They seem like should be so easy!
they are pretty easy. Beat them first try in NG and NG+. Melee build only altho I also recommend any AOE Pyros to soften them up.

The key is to constantly move around them and get some hits in. they're pretty easy to block.
 
I know I said I'd call it a night but I played for another hour and a half or so. I really feel like I crippled myself by killing off the firekeeper in Things Betwixt. This was originally meant to be a joke character where I went around killing NPCs but somewhere along the way he became my main. I'll try to power through it but it would be nice if I could
change up my stats.
 
Heard they no longer respawn after patch. Thank gawd. That was BS after I opened all the doors and didn't realize that prepatch.



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

Huh? They still spawn for me. Killed all 5, and then reset and they still are at it again.
 
Challenge wise (going back to the discussion last page), I thought this was the toughest Souls game yet, but not in a good way. Not that I'm a great player, but I did put in a ton of time on both Demon's and Dark, and there's a bunch of encounters here that I thought were pure bullshit compared to the encounters in the previous games. I don't like how the challenge seems to be about going through a bunch of mobs at once that can three-shot you, or have infinite stamina, or have incredible tracking that completely breaks the rules set up by the game itself. The intimacy of engagements in Dark or Demon's are mostly gone, and I miss that feeling of carefully going from encounter to encounter, trying to limit the number of enemies involved. Now you just trip some unseen sensor range and you get mobbed at once by like seven greatsword wielding zombies. It feels like a slog.

And the poison spitters of Gulch and the Gutter are way more annoying than the swamps of 5-2 and Blighttown, because these fuckers can headshot and stagger you. :s Not harder, but just a pure pain in the ass.

I'm not sure if it was your intention but for me the big problem with the enemies is that the important ones are "banalised". Instead of putting few enemies well positioned, to distinguish them among the "normal" ones, they are instead thrown everywhere.
Why the Red Eye Knight or the Dual Wielding Black Squeleton were so memorable in Demon's Souls? They had nothing special about them but they were well positioned with a lot of care and that makes the difference. When you overdo something, it loses its value. It goes the same for level design, it requires finesse.
The same goes for bosses. I feel DS2 bosses were less memorable because most of them have so little mise-en-scene, there are too many of them and they are overused notably as regular enemies.
I would prefer seeing fewer bosses and enemies with more care put into them.
 
I think that you are overreacting a bit, besides Lost Bastille and Shaded Woods I can't think of any other notable "throw lots of mobs to make it hard" spots in the game.


Most of the challenge in this game is from there being tons of mobs thrown at you.

Why is 3 sentinels hard? Because theres 3 of them.

Why is Velstatd hard? Because of the hallway of 4000 enemies you have to fight before you can even get to him.

Why is Freja even remotely difficult? Because of her endless spawning spider minions that gang attack you.

I can list even more. This was my biggest complaint of the game. I felt like FROM took the lazy route in alot of situations and just put endless enemies in areas to make the game feel harder. Most of the bosses in the game are a cakewalk. The only ones that are hard are ones where there are multiple bosses at once or enemies+bosses.

NG+ is actually based off this entire ideology.

"Aw what do you mean it aint hard enough? Well, just throw a few pyromancy red phantoms in that boss fight! That will make it hard!!!"
 
I'm not sure if it was your intention but for me the big problem with the enemies is that the important ones are "banalised". Instead of putting few enemies well positioned, to distinguish them among the "normal" ones, they are instead thrown everywhere.
Why the Red Eye Night or the Dual Wielding Black Squeleton were so memorable in Demon's Souls? Simply because they were well positioned. When you overdo something, it loses its value. It goes the same for level design, it requires finesse.
The same goes for bosses. I feel DS2 bosses were less memorable because most of them have so little mise-en-scene, there are too many of them and they are overused notably as regular enemies.
I would prefer seeing fewer bosses and enemies with more care put into them.

That's a pretty common complaint I've heard. More doesn't mean better. They definitely should've toned down the amount of bosses and enemies in some areas. For example, I don't understand why they had to make a mob for the Royal Soldiers in Lost Bastille. They're pretty tough enemies and just piling in 4 guys who will rush you at once is just poor design. If they were separated out a bit more and maybe had 2 guys max at once, the fights would've been more methodical instead of a bum rush.
 
I dunno, I've never beat Dark Souls melee. I only used a OP mage, and didn't find it fun. Last time I used a melee I got wrecked by Capra and gave up. Now? I steam rolled through Capra and Taurus. Black Knight was difficult because I did hardly any damage to him, and he punished me. He reminded me of the Pursuer.

Most of the challenge in this game is from there being tons of mobs thrown at you.

Why is 3 sentinels hard? Because theres 3 of them!"


The Ruin Trio are still difficult alone. Once they spam the spin2 win shit, it's pretty fun getting 50% damage and being unable to dodge. They love to spin 2 win.
 
I think
Velstadt
is one of the broest bosses in the series. Just seemed like a cool dude - unfortunate you had to kill him.
 
I dunno, I've never beat Dark Souls melee. I only used a OP mage, and didn't find it fun. Last time I used a melee I got wrecked by Capra and gave up. Now? I steam rolled through Capra and Taurus. Black Knight was difficult because I did hardly any damage to him, and he punished me. He reminded me of the Pursuer.
Not even with a spear plus a greatsheild to block most attacks? You could of completed it with vigorous thrusting action providing you have the stamina to endure till the climax...
 
Yeah, I like you got to see his face. He looked sad. )= Honest I didn't struggle through this game as much as I thought I would. In DS1 I gave up at capra. I was OP and using the Drake Sword too. I didn't think I would beat this game. Many of the bosses were too easy. Rotten, Iron King, Freja, Giant, Guardian, Covetous, etc all too easy. I died less on the bosses and more on the mobs.

I think Dark Souls 1 is much harder. Capra hits hard, and he's faster then any boss in DS2, even the Taurus Demon has more moves and hits harder.

Not even with a spear plus a greatsheild to block most attacks? You could of completed it with vigorous thrusting action providing you have the stamina to endure till the climax...

I didn't get too far. I gave up and my save got corrupted so I never bothered. I only recently went back and beat the game using an OP Mage. Wasn't any fun. Felt cheating. Hell, i almost quit at the Undead Burg. I couldn't get past all those enemies, I couldn't I rage quit for a month before I finally tried and got to the boss.
 
Yeah, I like you got to see his face. He looked sad. )= Honest I didn't struggle through this game as much as I thought I would. In DS1 I gave up at capra. I was OP and using the Drake Sword too. I didn't think I would beat this game. Many of the bosses were too easy. Rotten, Iron King, Freja, Giant, Guardian, Covetous, etc all too easy. I died less on the bosses and more on the mobs.

I think Dark Souls 1 is much harder. Capra hits hard, and he's faster then any boss in DS2, even the Taurus Demon has more moves and hits harder.

The only enemies that match them in DS2 are the mace-wielding Old Knights and Drake Knights. Super fast and they hit super hard.
 
they are pretty easy. Beat them first try in NG and NG+. Melee build only altho I also recommend any AOE Pyros to soften them up.

The key is to constantly move around them and get some hits in. they're pretty easy to block.
Yeah I dunno. I think I was just at the end of a long session. The mechanics of the fight seem pretty straightforward but I kept getting caught from behind when there were 3 at once. I'm confident I'll get them today.
 
Yeah I dunno. I think I was just at the end of a long session. The mechanics of the fight seem pretty straightforward but I kept getting caught from behind when there were 3 at once. I'm confident I'll get them today.

Yea, they don't hit hard. The only thing that might be dangerous is when they do their fire breaths (air or ground). But not bad with a 100% physical block shield.
 
I didn't get too far. I gave up and my save got corrupted so I never bothered. I only recently went back and beat the game using an OP Mage. Wasn't any fun. Felt cheating. Hell, i almost quit at the Undead Burg. I couldn't get past all those enemies, I couldn't I rage quit for a month before I finally tried and got to the boss.
Don't take this the wrong way but maybe your just not that good at it like at all with melee. Taurus is 3 aerial attacks and it's dead. Capra you can kill without even going through the fog door if your smart. It seem's that they hit harder as you had inferior equipment in demon ruins they are complete push overs really.

I think they're the same colour. The Alonne parts are quite nicely interchangeable.
#FASHIONSOULS
How are they a same color? They don't match at all like in any way...
#Fashion souls Screaming meat has none.

You also need the right protection and a good rhythm, then you can completely paste anyone.
Exactly don't wont to prematurely finish and disappoint.

Alonne Captain high five Neolith :D.
 
How are they a same color? They don't match at all like in any way...
#Fashion souls Screaming meat has none.

XD

The Predator armour is blue, the same kind of blue as the Alonne Knights stuff. Honest. I've tried out an awful lot of combos looking for the right one... :)

I can even take pictures to prove it!
 
Don't take this the wrong way but maybe your just not that good at it like at all with melee. Taurus is 3 aerial attacks and it's dead. Capra you can kill without even going through the fog door if your smart. It seem's that they hit harder as you had inferior equipment in demon ruins they are complete push overs really.
.

I didn't know how to play. I couldn't roll-dodge, I had no idea what I was doing. I beat'em first time a minute ago. I beat the Gargoyles in 1 too. They were piss easy, much, much easier then the ones in DSII. 2 of them is better then 6.
 
Homing Crystal Soul Mass, Lightning Spear, Old Sun Ring, Chameleon and some Lance to complete the Predator build, along with the Mad Warrior headset.
 
Kinda disappointed there's no hat or tunic that is similar to Link's outfit. Would be nice to see modders finally create a Link skin for a Souls game. They got the shield and sword done in DS1 PC.
 
I can list even more. This was my biggest complaint of the game. I felt like FROM took the lazy route in alot of situations and just put endless enemies in areas to make the game feel harder. Most of the bosses in the game are a cakewalk. The only ones that are hard are ones where there are multiple bosses at once or enemies+bosses.

Isn't that true of Dark Souls as well? Capra Demon is just a normal enemy from later in the game, but with dogs added. S&O are tough because there are two of them.

You can probably trace it all back to the fact that Maneater is considered one of the hardest bosses in Demons.
 
Ah ok, so I'll just let her get the first hit in to be safe.

That's what I did and it still counted as sin. And make sure you've recruited everyone to town before you do this, because it won't give it to you if you kill her before getting everyone.
 
That's what I did and it still counted as sin. And make sure you've recruited everyone to town before you do this, because it won't give it to you if you kill her before getting everyone.

Oh yea, already recruited all characters with my first character. So not worried about that anymore. Ah well, one Sin point.

Even though I have a +10 Ultra Greatsword, it's still a poo poo sword.

Kinda wish we could increase out weapons to +15 in NG+.
 
XD
I can even take pictures to prove it!
Well pic away then. Did you get that life protection ring in the wharf?
I didn't know how to play. I couldn't roll-dodge, I had no idea what I was doing. I beat'em first time a minute ago. I beat the Gargoyles in 1 too. They were piss easy, much, much easier then the ones in DSII. 2 of them is better then 6.
Well you learn as you play the gargoyles in 1 can be faced one on one if your fast enough.
 
Even though I have a +10 Ultra Greatsword, it's still a poo poo sword.

They c/p the upgrade from DS1 and forgot that in DS2 weapons upgrade stop at +10.
This issue needs to be fixed ASAP either by increasing the scaling or the base damage for the standard upgrade path.
 
Honestly the
Shrine
didn't strike me as cheap. If you always observed your surroundings before moving forward you could pick off the casters, and there was a lot to hide behind even if you missed one. There are a few different areas with completely hidden mobs that have no way of telling where they are or what the escape plan is without having already done it before. That is the kind of trail and error game play that the souls games tried to keep away from before.
It is actually a little cheap, because initially you have no idea about the place from which the spells come: if you proceed very slowly, checking every possible direction, you notice the casters, but that's true for every area of the game.

Please tell me which these few different areas of trial and error are because I didn't notice them:
if you consider Undead Crypt an area like that, I think that the design of that area is great, if you rush through it you're going to have a hard time, you need to take your time in understanding how the area work, the ghost stones, the bells, all of it
.

The first game doesn't just pile on the enemies to up the challenge, this being most noticeable here on ng+ and above.

Overall, I've died far less in DkS2 than the first, but it doesn't mean I can't recognize - or comment on - the flaws I see of its design. Just because I can handle going through the mobs of shit they toss at you doesn't mean I'm going to like it.

So you problem is that there are areas in DkS2 with too many enemies all at once?

That's a pretty common complaint I've heard. More doesn't mean better. They definitely should've toned down the amount of bosses and enemies in some areas. For example, I don't understand why they had to make a mob for the Royal Soldiers in Lost Bastille. They're pretty tough enemies and just piling in 4 guys who will rush you at once is just poor design. If they were separated out a bit more and maybe had 2 guys max at once, the fights would've been more methodical instead of a bum rush.

The reason for this is very simple: DkS2 is MUCH more varied than DkS1. There are areas with few enemies that can be challenged one at a time, and other areas where you need to be more strategic. DkS2 is ALL about strategizing your way on: every area poses a different challenge and you need to really think about the way to proceed, maybe trying a few different strategies. This is not a game for someone who wants to play a melee close-ranged only character - you still can, obviously, but you'll feel frequently frustrated -, you'll need to use a bow or a crossbow, you'll need to use magic and miracles, you'll need to use items, a lot of items.

This kind of design is not worse than the design of DkS1, it's just different, and constantly comparing the second game to the first is not going to make justice to DkS2. That the same with all those absurd complaints about stats and scaling: people who expect to play DkS1.5 and don't even try to understand what's behind some design choices.

They c/p the upgrade from DS1 and forgot that in DS2 weapons upgrade stop at +10.
This issue needs to be fixed ASAP either by increasing the scaling or the base damage for the standard upgrade path.

No, this is not an issue and they must do nothing about it: DkS2 is a different game than the first one, the way stats work is completely different.
 
It's weird, I still don't remember ever being invaded outside of Belfry Sol/Luna. Maybe it happend once or twice. SL 166 and currently in NG+... seeing tons of messages/summon signs and I have no trouble summoning either, so I don't think there's something wrong on this part...
 
It's weird, I still don't remember ever being invaded outside of Belfry Sol/Luna. Maybe it happend once or twice. SL 166 and currently in NG+... seeing tons of messages/summon signs and I have no trouble summoning either, so I don't think there's something wrong on this part...

Cracked red eye orb drops are much rarer from my experience so I think that also explains less invasions. Altho anytime people invade me while I'm on coop run, I just suicide. Hope they like the loading times. Haha.

The reason for this is very simple: DkS2 is MUCH more varied than DkS1. There are areas with few enemies that can be challenged one at a time, and other areas where you need to be more strategic. DkS2 is ALL about strategizing your way on: every area poses a different challenge and you need to really think about the way to proceed, maybe trying a few different strategies. This is not a game for someone who wants to play a melee close-ranged only character - you still can, obviously, but you'll feel frequently frustrated -, you'll need to use a bow or a crossbow, you'll need to use magic and miracles, you'll need to use items, a lot of items.

This kind of design is not worse than the design of DkS1, it's just different, and constantly comparing the second game to the first is not going to make justice to DkS2. That the same with all those absurd complaints about stats and scaling: people who expect to play DkS1.5 and don't even try to understand what's behind some design choices.

I'm not saying DkS1 is better than DkS2. I like a lot of the changes they made. But it definitely feels like they like to put these mobs of enemies to ambush you to cause fear or just troll you. While this was novel if it was in a few select areas, they seem to use it as a crutch too many times.
 
Are you implying that pure physical builds being underpowered compared to everything else is a good idea?

Are they? I have had way more success with pure melee in DS2 than in DS1. If I die in a PvP fight it's usually because I'm either too eager for a kill, I get distracted by an enemy/other PvPer or I mistime a roll.

I probably haven't come across any serious players yet, though.
 
I find myself in a nice place in the game. Thanks to an all powerful white phantom named ThrashMantis I blasted through the Iron Keep in a single go and the two of us plus Lucatiel gave that Smelter Demon a whoopin! I bonfired back to the starting level bonfire and then farmed a bit of Alonne Knights. They are really dangerous to my sorcerer but also very fun and I love the bright and pretty Dark Souls levels.

I also paid off Giligan to make all his ladders, explored the pit, and found the first bonfire to the Grave of Saints. This is some dark and ugly DS crypt. I know what I'm getting into before stepping foot inside. It's a torch level and I will treat it as such.

It's just nice to have these two options - high in the sky and full of farmable knights and way down low in the dark with the (presumably) undead. Can't wait to get back to it!

Has anyone done good work with the Melu Scimitar? It seems quite lovely, a nice moveset and higher than average base damage. What have people done with this trusty blade?
 
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