Support NeoGAF

[Triggerhappytel]

Just got this game the other day, and already need help!

Just finished the, maybe, 2nd boss? The

Spoiler

smile of death

boss or whatever it was.

Question is: now what? Been running around, but everything is dead end.

Did you find a Sanctuary a little while before the boss? After you enter the Village of Smiles and go down the first ladder, then run along left and at the edge drop down, and it's there. Well, go back there after you've defeated the queen, and then leave that room to the right. Climb down the ladder, head right again (watch out for a trap) and keep going, and you'll come into the next area, the Watching Woods.

 

[super-famicom]

Shit I left the game in Rest mode and it burned through all of my torches....Any place to buy them?

I think every creed's vendor sells them.

 

[F0rneus]

I think every creed's vendor sells them.

Oh God I am sooo dumb. Thank you.

 

[Stratosphere]

So I've been running most of the game with the Shrouded Bulwark

Spoiler

(Sodden Knight GS)

, and am looking to switch it up a bit. Can anybody recommend me some alternative strength based weapons in the same vein to try?
As far as progress goes, I just beat the

Spoiler

Inquisitor and Bird thingy

 

[Morrigan Stark]

So I've been running most of the game with the Shrouded Bulwark

Spoiler

(Sodden Knight GS)

, and am looking to switch it up a bit. Can anybody recommend me some alternative strength based weapons in the same vein to try?
As far as progress goes, I just beat the

Spoiler

Inquisitor and Bird thingy

If you want to break the game, Jaws of Death.

If not... uh I don't know. xD

 

[super-famicom]

If you want to break the game, Jaws of Death.

If not... uh I don't know. xD

Jaws of Death are pretty awesome. If you want something that packs a punch, try great hammers.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Yeah my str alternated between that and the Monstrous Greatmace (warhammer works also, probably -- it has better scaling so in end-game it might outdamage the Monstrous Greatmace) for slashing and blunt damage. Worked well against Tree of Men and other annoying slash-resistant bosses.

My dex in NG+ though.... holy shit does she struggle. ;_; I made that class 5 pistol but still, the dimishing returns are hitting and now I think I'll go with levelling up str or magic for some weapon that scales with both, 'cause my Headman's Voulge and Steel Centipede are just not cutting it (har har) anymore, even with S-scaling.

 

[Adaren]

Started the game co-op earlier. We beat the first boss, died a bunch to the Black Knight ripoff at the entrance to the village of smiles and lost half of our salt, but finally killed him! Having a blast so far.

Questions on my mind:
1. Can anyone give me a short rundown of how the Stone Offerings work? I used my co-op offering at the first Sanctuary, but I assume there will be other Sanctuaries down the line. Are the Stone Offerings reusable? Can a single stone offering be offered at multiple sanctuaries? Can I offer multiple offerings at one sanctuary? etc.
2. At some point, I picked up a Black Pearl on the ground, but my co-op partner (the Sellsword) didn't get one. Is that type of inequality common, and is there anything we can do to mitigate it and make it an "equal" co-op experience?
3. How does permanently losing Salt (from deaths) work in co-op?

 

[Labadal]

Started the game co-op earlier. We beat the first boss, died a bunch to the Black Knight ripoff at the entrance to the village of smiles and lost half of our salt, but finally killed him! Having a blast so far.

Questions on my mind:
1. Can anyone give me a short rundown of how the Stone Offerings work? I used my co-op offering at the first Sanctuary, but I assume there will be other Sanctuaries down the line. Are the Stone Offerings reusable? Can a single stone offering be offered at multiple sanctuaries? Can I offer multiple offerings at one sanctuary? etc.
1. You can only offer Stone offerings once. But they drop from enemies or found in chests. You can make a maximum of five stone offerings in a sanctuary.
2. At some point, I picked up a Black Pearl on the ground, but my co-op partner (the Sellsword) didn't get one. Is that type of inequality common, and is there anything we can do to mitigate it and make it an "equal" co-op experience?
2.That shouldn't happen. Was your partner dead at the time? In co-op, we have been getting everything equally, as long as we are alive.
3. How does permanently losing Salt (from deaths) work in co-op?
3. The same way it is handled in single player. The one who dies loses it, but you can retrieve it from the enemy that killed you.

I hope this helps.

 

[Mideon]

Just finished it such a good game. The bosses did get a little easy but I'm pretty bad at games like this so still had a hard time with a few of them. Overall I would recommend it definitely is an enjoyable experience.

 

[dreamstation]

Started the game co-op earlier. We beat the first boss, died a bunch to the Black Knight ripoff at the entrance to the village of smiles and lost half of our salt, but finally killed him! Having a blast so far.

Questions on my mind:
1. Can anyone give me a short rundown of how the Stone Offerings work? I used my co-op offering at the first Sanctuary, but I assume there will be other Sanctuaries down the line. Are the Stone Offerings reusable? Can a single stone offering be offered at multiple sanctuaries? Can I offer multiple offerings at one sanctuary? etc.
2. At some point, I picked up a Black Pearl on the ground, but my co-op partner (the Sellsword) didn't get one. Is that type of inequality common, and is there anything we can do to mitigate it and make it an "equal" co-op experience?

Have been playing it entirely in co-op with my partner and we also noticed that the sellsword doesn't get black pearls when picked up which we thought was very strange. The main (host) character does though. Both of us were definitely alive as well so it's not that. We've also had a bit of trouble when resuming/continuing from where we left off. If we're at a sanctuary that isn't of our creed, the co-op sellsword can't spawn in immediately and I have to head to another sanctuary where we have a stone to summon a sellsword. Bit of an inconvenience.

 

[Roussow]

I'm perpetually stuck in a loop, I've run into a bunch of red glowing barriers, I'm confident that another brand will remove these (or let me pass through them), in a similar way to the brand that let's me walk on platforms with my torch raised. Although I keep looping through the blue-lit caverns, the Mire Stench (not a hundred percent sure of the name, but I killed a boss there), then ended up in the Red Hall of Cages (again, forgetting names), where I last killed the Tree of Men, and then took a boat across the seas, went through the Dome of the forgotten, and I just have found myself repeating this loop, over and over. I'd just like to know where to go at this point.

 

[Labadal]

Have been playing it entirely in co-op with my partner and we also noticed that the sellsword doesn't get black pearls when picked up which we thought was very strange. The main (host) character does though. Both of us were definitely alive as well so it's not that. We've also had a bit of trouble when resuming/continuing from where we left off. If we're at a sanctuary that isn't of our creed, the co-op sellsword can't spawn in immediately and I have to head to another sanctuary where we have a stone to summon a sellsword. Bit of an inconvenience.

Maybe it's only the case for black pearls. I never thought about that when playing. You do get everything else, though. I compared inventories for weapons and armor and such. It's all the same.

 

[Chaos2Frozen]

I just checked, it's literally the first hallway going right one floor down from where you first come in.

Found it thanks, I was being an idiot lol, I saw the environment got darker and quieter and thought I was walking into something dangerous lol.

Couple other questions:

1) What's the 'specialty' of the House of Splendor? Like Devara's Light is good for Wisdom, Keepers are good for Magic, but what's the good thing about Splendor?

2) According to the wiki, the following monsters (Bloated Monstrosity, Court Sorcerer, Gaoler) I have access to can drop Amber Idols, a 10% drop rate is pretty good right? Especially with the Kismet ring?

3) I'm thinking of transmuting my pistol into the Dragoon Espingole, but I'm not sure what to do after that- Do I keep it till the Class 5 pistol, or are the Class 3/4 pistols worth it along the way?

4) I'm currently making a Dex character, but if for any reason I want to experiment with a Greatsword, would it still be viable to use something like say the Chitin Obelisk which have high base dmg but low STR scaling?

My dex in NG+ though.... holy shit does she struggle. ;_; I made that class 5 pistol but still, the dimishing returns are hitting and now I think I'll go with levelling up str or magic for some weapon that scales with both, 'cause my Headman's Voulge and Steel Centipede are just not cutting it (har har) anymore, even with S-scaling.

Oof... How badly underpowered are the Dex weapons? I was sort of warned about it before but I don't know the extent of it.

I'm currently making both a 'Hunter' loadout (Pistol+Sword Whip) and a 'Samurai' loadout (Tachi+Naginata) on my Dex character.

 

[Deleted member 325805]

It's almost unbelievable how low damage my dex/whip character is, bosses take maybe 3x as long which means I wipe as I run out of pots, it's night and day from my strength. Dex needs a buff and strength needs a nerf, respect to anyone who finished the game as dex/whip as it feels like a true hard mode.

 

[oldboss]

I'm at the

Spoiler

Castle of Storm's boss.

Could anyone tell me how far I am into the game? Have I got a lot left to see ?

I don't want to spoil myself too much so I avoid wikias etc

 

[F0rneus]

I'm at the

Spoiler

Castle of Storm's boss.

Could anyone tell me how far I am into the game? Have I got a lot left to see ?

I don't want to spoil myself too much so I avoid wikias etc

You are about

Spoiler

15%-20% in maybe. Game is humongous. It's really massive.

 

[oldboss]

You are about

Spoiler

15% in maybe. Game is humongous. It's really massive.

Holy mother of - !

Wasn't expecting that. Thanks a lot. I'm already getting lost sometimes. Wonder what late game will be like.

 

[Deleted member 325805]

Never used a blood stained page on a Sanctuary before, apparently the mobs it spawns are absolutely insanely difficult to kill as dex, just can't beat the second wave. That's that Sanctuary lost forever then. Dex really does feel more like torture than a challenge, I might have to put her on hold until the game sees a balance patch.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Found it thanks, I was being an idiot lol, I saw the environment got darker and quieter and thought I was walking into something dangerous lol.

Couple other questions:

1) What's the 'specialty' of the House of Splendor? Like Devara's Light is good for Wisdom, Keepers are good for Magic, but what's the good thing about Splendor?

Not sure, my dex joined them in NG+ and maxed them out, and I don't know about spells or whatever (they still seem to sell Dragonfire so they're good for mages too), but the buffing potion they sell help tons in NG+. It reduces damage taken and slightly increases damage dealt for about a minute or two.

2) According to the wiki, the following monsters (Bloated Monstrosity, Court Sorcerer, Gaoler) I have access to can drop Amber Idols, a 10% drop rate is pretty good right? Especially with the Kismet ring?

Yeah I once farmed the Bloated Monstrosity near the sanctuary before the Mad Alchemist. He dropped one after a couple of kills with the ring on but it took a few minutes.

3) I'm thinking of transmuting my pistol into the Dragoon Espingole, but I'm not sure what to do after that- Do I keep it till the Class 5 pistol, or are the Class 3/4 pistols worth it along the way?

My boyfriend used the class 3 one I think, the Lucent Musketoon, which has S-scaling in dex and does holy damage. You need an amber idol and a Hornet Steel's ashes, these are the flying archers in the Dome. It seems pretty good and helped him tremendously in some areas where I really struggled with my dex. (My dex didn't use pistols at all until NG+.)

4) I'm currently making a Dex character, but if for any reason I want to experiment with a Greatsword, would it still be viable to use something like say the Chitin Obelisk which have high base dmg but low STR scaling?

Not sure. Maybe.

Oof... How badly underpowered are the Dex weapons? I was sort of warned about it before but I don't know the extent of it.

I'm currently making both a 'Hunter' loadout (Pistol+Sword Whip) and a 'Samurai' loadout (Tachi+Naginata) on my Dex character.

Well it's still viable, just much, much harder.

And fuck I had the same ideas haha. I actually went samurai in NG, using mostly the tachi, and in NG+ I went Bloodborne fashion, wearing the top hat, a long coat, and using the Steel Centipede (it's like the Threaded Cane!) and a pistol. Though I use the Headman's Voulge too as a backup when I need a bit more power, it's my strongest dex weapon.

Thing is, most dex weapons are slashing, so if you're against enemies that are weak to it, you'll do well, because you can get many quick hits and combos and if you wear the charm that adds stagger damage, you can stunlock many enemies, even bosses. My boyfriend two-handed the Steel Centipede with this charm and he pretty much stunlocked the

Spoiler

Dried King

to death, haha. Pretty funny.

Pistols help with that, since they do strike damage, so you can stock up on tons of bullets (the lightning ones are nice, sold by the Mountainsmith merchants). He defeated bosses that are resistant to slashing mostly with those, such as

Spoiler

the Coveted

, against whom he did pitiful damage with his sword.

Your samurai might struggle a bit more than your hunter because of that. Poles are good, they have reach and quick attacks, but they're sadly all slashing too. If you want to wear a shield, that can make it easier. I used one for a long time and it really helped with some bosses, especially if you wear a shield that blocks the elemental damage they do. My boyfriend didn't use a shield and until he got a pistol (and/or against bosses that didn't require it) he struggled a lot more than I did, such as the

Spoiler

Kraeken Wyrm

.

Never used a blood stained page on a Sanctuary before, apparently the mobs it spawns are absolutely insanely difficult to kill as dex, just can't beat the second wave. That's that Sanctuary lost forever then. Dex really does feel more like torture than a challenge, I might have to put her on hold until the game sees a balance patch.

Make a pistol and/or use a shield, it will help. But yeah the sanctuary guards are hard as hell, even with my mage they'd sometimes kill me (because it was before I had dragonfire obviously ).

 

[hydrophilic attack]

I'm perpetually stuck in a loop, I've run into a bunch of red glowing barriers, I'm confident that another brand will remove these (or let me pass through them), in a similar way to the brand that let's me walk on platforms with my torch raised. Although I keep looping through the blue-lit caverns, the Mire Stench (not a hundred percent sure of the name, but I killed a boss there), then ended up in the Red Hall of Cages (again, forgetting names), where I last killed the Tree of Men, and then took a boat across the seas, went through the Dome of the forgotten, and I just have found myself repeating this loop, over and over. I'd just like to know where to go at this point.

In the room just beyond the room where you fought the boss in The Mire of Stench is the NPC that gives you the brand to deal with red walls. When you have the brand, use the torch to make these walls go away.

 

[Brick]

I'm starting to get a Dark Souls-sized itch. Is this worth picking this up on its own merit, or should I just wait a week for Dark Souls 3?

 

[Honome]

I'm starting to get a Dark Souls-sized itch. Is this worth picking this up on its own merit, or should I just wait a week for Dark Souls 3?

Totally worth, will surely keeps you busy for a week until Dark Souls 3.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

I'm starting to get a Dark Souls-sized itch. Is this worth picking this up on its own merit, or should I just wait a week for Dark Souls 3?

It's an amazing game, and more than just a Souls clone. I strongly recommend it.

 

[Deleted member 325805]

I'm starting to get a Dark Souls-sized itch. Is this worth picking this up on its own merit, or should I just wait a week for Dark Souls 3?

It'll definitely scratch that itch, it's a good game and well worth £15.

 

[MasterForm]

So I've finally discovered the two-handed moveset of the Jaws of Death. Until now, I've been using it one-handed and wondering what everyone saw in it. I see now.

I was stuck on the boss of

Spoiler

Hager's Cavern

and as soon as I discovered the two-handed moveset I destroyed him. Beastly weapon.

 

[Chaos2Frozen]

Yeah I once farmed the Bloated Monstrosity near the sanctuary before the Mad Alchemist. He dropped one after a couple of kills with the ring on but it took a few minutes.

I ended up farming the one Gaoler outside the Red Hall Sanctuary. Seems about right, 1 Idol every 10-20 kills. The Court Sorcerers are a pain to farm though.

My boyfriend used the class 3 one I think, the Lucent Musketoon, which has S-scaling in dex and does holy damage. You need an amber idol and a Hornet Steel's ashes, these are the flying archers in the Dome. It seems pretty good and helped him tremendously in some areas where I really struggled with my dex. (My dex didn't use pistols at all until NG+.)

K, I'll try working towards all these pistols.

Your samurai might struggle a bit more than your hunter because of that. Poles are good, they have reach and quick attacks, but they're sadly all slashing too. If you want to wear a shield, that can make it easier. I used one for a long time and it really helped with some bosses, especially if you wear a shield that blocks the elemental damage they do. My boyfriend didn't use a shield and until he got a pistol (and/or against bosses that didn't require it) he struggled a lot more than I did, such as the

Spoiler

Kraeken Wyrm

.

Don't worry, I justified using a pistol on my Samurai by saying that the real Samurais uses firearms as well @_@!

But that's also another reason why I brought up using the Chitin Obelisk because they also deal blunt dmg, and their high base dmg and low STR scaling might work with my Dex character.

 

[Spoo]

More questions!

My save was somehow corrupted, so I had to restart. Which I wasn't even that sad about, since I was playing cleric and not really enjoying it that much.

I started a mage, but I have also been trying to be a sword-wielding mage. Is the game okay with me splitting among those boundaries (strength/magic focus)? Or should I be spec'ing primarily in one thing?

Also, I just beat the

Spoiler

jester

, which is either the 4th or 5th boss I've killed. Now unsure of where to go. I found a place you can only get to using the obelisks, but it's a castle with some beastly wizard enemies / big sword/shield dudes that destroy me pretty easily. Assuming I missed something along the way.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

More questions!

My save was somehow corrupted, so I had to restart. Which I wasn't even that sad about, since I was playing cleric and not really enjoying it that much.

I started a mage, but I have also been trying to be a sword-wielding mage. Is the game okay with me splitting among those boundaries (strength/magic focus)? Or should I be spec'ing primarily in one thing?

Also, I just beat the

Spoiler

jester

, which is either the 4th or 5th boss I've killed. Now unsure of where to go. I found a place you can only get to using the obelisks, but it's a castle with some beastly wizard enemies / big sword/shield dudes that destroy me pretty easily. Assuming I missed something along the way.

Yeah, my mage spent some points in str/sword skills so I could use the Black Widow, a greatsword that scales well with magic. It's a decent melee backup when you're in a pinch. And spending those few points didn't stop my spells from being very powerful either. You can also transmute the scrimshaw cane pretty early to make the channeler's staff which is really good, lasted me pretty much the rest of the game.

The Castle of Storms is indeed the way to go. The obelisk/anti-gravity brand also allows you to reach a few other places but they're just secrets/loot. Your mage should have decent lightning spells by now (in fact I think a really good lightning spell is

Spoiler

right inside that castle, if you explore a corridor on the left?

), and if you joined the Stone Roots creed you can have access to some good poison spells that are useful against those big armoured guys.

 

[Eusis]

Thanks to Morrigan Stark's earlier post I decided to learn to use Warhammers and immediately used the Great Warhammer nearly maxed out against some enemies that were giving me issues.

Yeaaah, Scissors/Hammer OTP of weapons.

 

[Darkgran]

Man

Spoiler

The Witch of the Lake

is kicking my ass. Any tips?

 

[forgeforsaken]

Man

Spoiler

The Witch of the Lake

is kicking my ass. Any tips?

Jump then dash over the homing bullets. Then it's a matter of getting a feel for when she arcane barrages.

 

[Deleted member 325805]

Decided to plod on with my hard mode character, managed to down

Spoiler

The Tree of Men

on my 4th try which I wasn't expecting at all, and the start of the try went so badly I nearly wiped it on purpose to reset. I struggled with the

Spoiler

Disembowelled Husk

the most on my first playthrough and he's next, no idea how he'll go with such low damage, I still haven't found an Amber Idol to transmute my whip.

If anyone cares I've made a playlist of my kills as both strength and dex builds.

 

[Hippopuncher12]

Holy crap the jump in difficulty for me on NG+ is staggering. I don't remember any Souls games having that big a jump.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Holy crap the jump in difficulty for me on NG+ is staggering. I don't remember any Souls games having that big a jump.

Yeah it's brutal, I die so goddamn fast. Lost 100k salt one time to... the floating fiery skulls in Castle of Storms. ;_;

 

[Stratosphere]

Is there any recommended creed for a pure strength build?

I'm currently part of the Stone Roots. I'm thinking of switching to either The Iron Ones or The Three since their blacksmith sells the Kureimoa which I can transmute into different Greatswords.

 

[super-famicom]

Is there any recommended creed for a pure strength build?

I'm currently part of the Stone Roots. I'm thinking of switching to either The Iron Ones or The Three since their blacksmith sells the Kureimoa which I can transmute into different Greatswords.

The items you can get from leveling The Three include items that can buff your weapon with fire or lightning. They last a good while as well.

 

[Darkgran]

And she is down!

What an awesome feeling..

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Just beat NG+. Well,

Spoiler

Unskinned and Architect

actually gave me a bit of trouble there (dex build).

Spoiler

Witch

still wasn't so bad. She never killed me in NG and only 3 times in NG+ (got screenshots to prove it xD), I really don't see the fuss about that boss...

Spoiler

Nameless

was a pain, but I got him anyway. Pistols really help, dex is still gimped though.

Also, I really hate Saltfin Creatures. A lot. >_<

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXq-RdxC14Q

This asshole had stolen like 56k salt earlier too.

Some cute messages I saw (I see the last one a lot, haha):

 

[Triggerhappytel]

I'm making my way through NG+, and the difficulty spike is really pronounced. Just managed to defeat Kraekan Wyrm which gave me a ton of difficulty, and I probably died 20+ times against it. Then, having defeated it, I went back down through the castle and the big centre room, and got my arse kicked a couple of times by the flaming skulls - enemies I've never, ever had trouble with before, at all! I later realised that I probably had a charm on my weapon which was ineffective against them, but I'll give it another go tonight.

 

[Footos22]

I'm making my way through NG+, and the difficulty spike is really pronounced. Just managed to defeat Kraekan Wyrm which gave me a ton of difficulty, and I probably died 20+ times against it. Then, having defeated it, I went back down through the castle and the big centre room, and got my arse kicked a couple of times by the flaming skulls - enemies I've never, ever had trouble with before, at all! I later realised that I probably had a charm on my weapon which was ineffective against them, but I'll give it another go tonight.

Found the whole of ng+ fine apart from unskinned and then the last boss who I didn't beat. Strenght build goes from op to almost unless against him.

 

[Eusis]

Some cute messages I saw (I see the last one a lot, haha):

I finally beat NG myself and that last one was seen post-boss. Probably the most appropriate time for it!

 

[Triggerhappytel]

Found the whole of ng+ fine apart from unskinned and then the last boss who I didn't beat. Strenght build goes from op to almost unless against him.

I'm going for a strength build; using the Jaws of Death which felt very OP on my first playthrough, but is more moderate now. I pretty much just tanked my way through the first playthrough, so I might need to be a bit smarter about it now. I haven't put much into endurance and I've only been using my original level 1 armour, so I may need to address that.

 

[Eusis]

I maxed out heavy armor and almost did for light armor and it's arguably worth it for the options and endurance that make those options reasonable. Amazing to get some level 4 light armor and zip around with a heavy weapon.

 

[ced]

Finished it last night, I think I was way over-leveled towards the end though, lvl 91 or so.

Overall game is great, and only one boss I thought was complete BS.

Spoiler

Fuck you Tree of Men

 

[Deleted member 325805]

To me, to you!

(does the forum support .gifv or gfycat embedding? .gif is a bit slow)

 

[Transistor]

This has been amazing to scratch that itch until Dark Souls III comes out

 

[Neoweee]

To me, to you!

(does the forum support .gifv or gfycat embedding? .gif is a bit slow)

S&S could be renamed Lethal Fall Damage: The Game

Or Spelunker 2.

 

[Spoo]

Thanks for the help, various GAFers!

Managed to finish the game today. Had a few trying spots (there was one boss that just completely forced a gear reset on me), and the last boss was a straight up fight (he had major magic resist, so as a mage primary it turned into lots of evasion practice), but most things were at a good pace for me.

Really impressed with the game honestly. Price-point is incredible for what you get; the design of the areas feels really great, and I constantly had that "I'm lost" feeling that DS and BB give the player on a first go; opening shortcuts, especially ones to safe areas, brought that same kind of sigh of relief.

The metroidvania aspects work pretty well, but moreover, the platforming is actually *pretty* good. A few deaths from questionable antics, but overall really solid.

This is definitely the best DS game not called Dark Souls. I wish they didn't have the statue thing -- warping should just be allowed.

I don't think I'll play NG+. DS3 is too close to get wrapped up in it again. But yeah, super fun.

 

[Adaren]

How stingy should I be with Stone Idols? I assume there aren't any infinite sources of them (e.g. drops from respawning enemies). Any suggestions for how to use them? I'm finding it pretty hard to make decisions since I never know whether a Sanctuary is in a central location or not.