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Dark Souls II |OT++| Bearer of...Seek...Seek...Lest

chunk3rvd

Member
Are there any vendors eventually selling unlimited homeward bones? I'm always hesitant to use them as I seem to have so few. Just about to enter Shrine of Winter and have about 12 on me. Used to use them all the time in original Dark Souls but I'm more likely to run back to the bonfire this time
 

E92 M3

Member
Are there any vendors eventually selling unlimited homeward bones? I'm always hesitant to use them as I seem to have so few. Just about to enter Shrine of Winter and have about 12 on me. Used to use them all the time in original Dark Souls but I'm more likely to run back to the bonfire this time

Yes, the village kitty.

Guys, I have a soul hoarding issue. Have over 30 million now and don't want to spend them :(
 
Is it a common problem not to get notified when an invader comes in? A couple of times now - in Heide's - I've had red phantoms appear out of nowhere with no notification.
 

Leezard

Member
Is it a common problem not to get notified when an invader comes in? A couple of times now - in Heide's - I've had red phantoms appear out of nowhere with no notification.

Are you in NG+? If so, are you sure they were human?

There was a rumor about slumbering dragoncrest ring disabling notifications, but I think that one was proven false.
 

chunk3rvd

Member
Yes, the village kitty.

Guys, I have a soul hoarding issue. Have over 30 million now and don't want to spend them :(

Haha. Looks like I was too impatient. Her supply doesn't become unlimited till you open the Shrine of Winter which I'm about to do!
 

Mistel

Banned
Is it a common problem not to get notified when an invader comes in? A couple of times now - in Heide's - I've had red phantoms appear out of nowhere with no notification.
All red phantoms hate them learn this one simple trick for hassle free invasion...

It's a glitch I believe it's happened to me.
 
The game keeps trolling me in the Shaded Woods. Trying to make me waste Branches on useless shit. I have found two Petrified enemies, one of which blocks the path to an area you can reach in another way, while the other doesn't block anything at all. Yeah, I'm not wasting my branches on that shit. At least the third guy blocked off the path to a chest

Before I reached that area, someone had referred to
The N64 Woods
in the first thread. I had a good laugh when I finally arrived.


Haha, yeah it's definitely not pretty, which just adds to the shittiness of the area. This

There is also a
Gower's Ring of Protection
there as well, but that might only be NG+ only, not sure.

I looked it up, and apparently it's only in NG+, but you can get it with an Ascetic.
 
Are you in NG+? If so, are you sure they were human?

There was a rumor about slumbering dragoncrest ring disabling notifications, but I think that one was proven false.
I am in NG+ and not 100% sure on all NPC phantom locations, I know the one just outside the dragonrider door but a couple of times I've had one just appear in the central round with no notification or pad rumble.
 

Fhtagn

Member
I loved the Shaded Woods.

I had a really memorable moment where I thought I had one enemy cornered, fairly deep in the woods and then
I got hit by a second, ran away for a bit, turned around and realized I could see at least 4 if not 6 barely visible enemies running my way.
One of the best scares of the game; I turned around and ran like hell out of there.
 

E92 M3

Member
Haha. Looks like I was too impatient. Her supply doesn't become unlimited till you open the Shrine of Winter which I'm about to do!

She's one cool cat :p

Do you guys know if the Mad Warrior counts for ranks in online mode? I'm not getting summoned and really want to finish it off and get rank 3 so I can move on to BoB.
 
I loved the Shaded Woods.

I had a really memorable moment where I thought I had one enemy cornered, fairly deep in the woods and then
I got hit by a second, ran away for a bit, turned around and realized I could see at least 4 if not 6 barely visible enemies running my way.
One of the best scares of the game; I turned around and ran like hell out of there.

I had a very memorable moment where I was
backstabbed and OHKOd by an enemy I could barely see
:(
 

Mistel

Banned
She's one cool cat :p

Do you guys know if the Mad Warrior counts for ranks in online mode? I'm not getting summoned and really want to finish it off and get rank 3 so I can move on to BoB.
Mad warrior does count for ranking bell keepers.
 

Vazra

irresponsible vagina leak
Dark Souls 2 Tips
  • Return Estus Flask Shards to the woman you first meet in Majula to gain more Estus Flasks
  • Try to get through all possible dialogue with any NPC/Merchant you find, you are usually rewarded.
  • Using a Shield to block attacks lowers your Stamina, and holding your shield up refills your stamina slower. Dropping your shield when it's safe to refill stamina is a good tactic.
  • Mobility is usually more important than defense
  • Dodging is more important than blocking
  • Once you reach 70% on your weight, you will begin to do something called "Fat Rolling"- this makes dodging riskier and less reliable.
  • A weapon, that even at face value may seem less than ideal, can often times serve you well the entire game
  • Baiting enemies away from groups is often smarter than taking on a whole group at once. Try baiting use projectile weapons, like bows or crossbows
  • In Human form you can summon other players, you are subject to invasions while Human (more often) and hollow as well.
  • Upgrading your weapons is more important than upgrading your armor
  • Poise is useful but will occasionally get you killed
  • Never use all your stamina unless you know you're getting the kill. Always leave just enough so you can roll away after your last attack.
  • It is usually worth to study your environment
  • It is usually worth to read item descriptions
  • Always carry a homeward bone
  • Unless you aren't satisfied with the difficulty level of the game, Do Not Burn a Bonfire Ascetic in a Bonfire, as it makes the game much tougher and brings more enemies.
  • Always carry a bow on a melee character.
  • Armor is not always better if it's heavier.
  • Some pieces of armor have extra abilities so check descriptions.
  • Raw is not worthwhile on weapons with decent scaling.
  • Since crossbows don't scale based on stats, they make great candidates infusing with Raw
  • Infusing elements into a weapon reduces their scaling. So, low scaling weapons can be very good candidates for infusing with a various element
  • Petrified dragon bones, along with other later game upgrade materials are usually very rare. Be sure to pick and choose your upgrades carefully
  • Dual-wielded weapons can sometimes be used to attack faster compared to if you wielded just one at a time.
  • Caestus offer poor returns on investment in both upgrades and stat scaling.
  • You can hit treasure chests with a weapon once to see if it's a mimic. If you keep wailing on it, you will break it and get rubbish instead of the treasure." (not changed but you might want to add that coop partners and enemies can also destroy chests).
  • Illusory walls are activated by pressing X(PS3)/A(360) in front of them.
  • Your health is refilled whenever someone rates your message. You can leave 10 messages per character.
  • Ring of Soul Protection prevents you from losing humanity or souls on death. Unlike the similar ring in DS, it can be repaired at a blacksmith after it breaks, and can be used indefinitely if you have enough souls for the repair.
  • Some NPCs won't talk to you unless you have high enough INT or FAITH stats.
  • Don't forget about the room with the weird contraption in it on the way to Heide's. You need to return there later.
  • Weapons degrade quickly in durability in DS2 and break when they run out. If you are a melee class, you will probably need at least two weapons to switch between. Resting at a bonfire restores durability if the weapon hasn't already broken.
  • You need a special item to deal with the statues that block your path in certain areas. You will get it during the normal course of the game.
  • There are some NPCs that you must summon and have survive boss fights in order to get certain items and achievements.
  • Certain items and armor sets will be rewarded by merchants if you spend a certain number of souls with them. Talk to them after making large purchases.
  • Poison arrows are great for melee characters, as they let you deal more damage over time from a distance

Which Combinations Work For Dual Wielding
tablev2hdk2k.png


Weapon Priorities
Spears/lances > axes/ hammers > ultra greatswords/greatswords >straight swords/ curved swords/ katanas > thrusting swords > daggers
 

Warablo

Member
The game keeps trolling me in the Shaded Woods. Trying to make me waste Branches on useless shit. I have found two Petrified enemies, one of which blocks the path to an area you can reach in another way, while the other doesn't block anything at all.

The one that doesn't block anything drops a key for the door in trap/hazard area by where the guy was.
 

Pancho

Qurupancho
For a game where one of its selling points is dying a lot, its kind of lame the game doesn't keep a detailed counter of how many times you've died and how. The global counter is pretty cool, but it would've been awesome if they've added a detailed personal death counter.
Unless there is one in the game and I'm not yet aware of it.
 

ElFly

Member
For a game where one of its selling points is dying a lot, its kind of lame the game doesn't keep a detailed counter of how many times you've died and how. The global counter is pretty cool, but it would've been awesome if they've added a detailed personal death counter.
Unless there is one in the game and I'm not yet aware of it.

Be offline

Go to the counter.
 

Mentok

Banned
For a game where one of its selling points is dying a lot, its kind of lame the game doesn't keep a detailed counter of how many times you've died and how. The global counter is pretty cool, but it would've been awesome if they've added a detailed personal death counter.
Unless there is one in the game and I'm not yet aware of it.

Well you can see how many times you've died, but not how. You just have to be in offline mode. I'm about to start up ng+, but am nervous if I've stocked up on everything lol.
 
Be offline

Go to the counter.

For a game where one of its selling points is dying a lot, its kind of lame the game doesn't keep a detailed counter of how many times you've died and how. The global counter is pretty cool, but it would've been awesome if they've added a detailed personal death counter.
Unless there is one in the game and I'm not yet aware of it.

With their own servers they could offer up all sorts of cool data. Demons Souls had more for goodness sakes. They could have your PvE deaths, PVP deaths. PvE kills, PvP kills. All sorts of other meta data and world statistics broken down in myriad ways.
 
So SL doesn't mean poo for connection viability anymore?

That's annoying.

Mostly because I'm now torn as to whether to keep leveling to some arbitrary number - I hate arbitrary numbers - or just do some serious hoardin'.

I actually really like the idea of an SL150 build. I feel both extremely capable and specialized, which is cool. The idea of some Super Undead just isn't appealing to me outside of making things a little less painful, I guess.
 

test_account

XP-39C²
Godfuckingdammit. Having a real hard time getting away from the AD AOE fire breath. SO ANNOYING
Just stand next to his head, and as soon as he starts to flap his wings, run away from him (as in, run in the direction that his head is facing). This always works for me at least. Just make sure that you have enough stamina to run before he stars flapping his wings. Also make sure that you have enough space to run away (as in, that the dragon isnt close to a wall or something, then you cant run away from the fire).
 

Pancho

Qurupancho
Be offline

Go to the counter.

I know you can check your total deaths that way...but it's so bare bones. They could've done so much more. Pikmin does it, it keeps counter of every Pikmin you've lost, sorted by color and how they died. It's a neat feature.
 

double jump

you haven't lived until a random little kid ask you "how do you make love".
so ridiculously close to the miracles trophy but I forgot to invade Licia of Lindeldt.
now I have to do it while I'm on ng++ but I will persevere.
 

test_account

XP-39C²
Yes, the village kitty.

Guys, I have a soul hoarding issue. Have over 30 million now and don't want to spend them :(
Do you only play coop and/or PvP? Seems risky to run around with 30 million souls if you want to progress in the game at least :) (risky as in dieing at one point, and you need to progress up to that point again, with the risk of dying before you can recover your souls again).
 

Soulhouf

Member
So SL doesn't mean poo for connection viability anymore?

That's annoying.

Mostly because I'm now torn as to whether to keep leveling to some arbitrary number - I hate arbitrary numbers - or just do some serious hoardin'.

I actually really like the idea of an SL150 build. I feel both extremely capable and specialized, which is cool. The idea of some Super Undead just isn't appealing to me outside of making things a little less painful, I guess.

Exactly.
I feel I won't spend more than 2000 hours like I did in Demon's/Dark Souls.
Once I found everything I'm considering to move on if SM hasn't been changed/removed.
 
Soul Mem is still the deciding factor. The whole PvP is a bit underwhelming this time with the lack of invasions/ being invaded. It's made it all so predictable. I hope they patch it or put it back to it's previous state in any potential sequels.
 

ElFly

Member
I met a bell keeper that was idling. It was summoned to my Luna twice, and just stood there, doing nothing. Second time I used him to practice backstabbing.

Wish I could have broken his stupid ring, so he doesn't hog my bell keeper slot.
 

test_account

XP-39C²
Soul Mem is still the deciding factor. The whole PvP is a bit underwhelming this time with the lack of invasions/ being invaded. It's made it all so predictable. I hope they patch it or put it back to it's previous state in any potential sequels.
Are you sure? My Soul Memory is around 25-30 million i think, and i have no problem matching up with others. I played a lot, and i would be surprised if so many people have played about as much as i have, concidering that i get matched up easily.

How can you predict when you're getting invaded by the way?
 

Soulhouf

Member
Soul Mem is still the deciding factor. The whole PvP is a bit underwhelming this time with the lack of invasions/ being invaded. It's made it all so predictable. I hope they patch it or put it back to it's previous state in any potential sequels.

I'm getting invaded a lot in NG with 6M SM but that's not the issue.
The problem is that the more SM increases (which you can't prevent) the more you'll be encountering identical builds at a very high soul level.
Like mickcenary very well explained it, the idea of a high level super undead doesn't appeal to me, so I'm remaining low level and constantly fighting these clones. I don't blame them since the game permits it but it's completely ruining the experience for me.
 

RyanDG

Member
Are you sure? My Soul Memory is around 25-30 million i think, and i have no problem matching up with others. I played a lot, and i would be surprised if so many people have played about as much as i have, concidering that i get matched up easily.

How can you predict when you're getting invaded by the way?


I wouldn't say that Soul Memory is the deciding factor. From my understanding in NG+ onwards its either Soul Level range OR Soul Memory range. Which means Soul Level is still a factor, but the higher Soul Memory you are, the greater chances you will be matched up with someone else of equal Soul Memory (which means if you keep yourself at 150, you may be running into 200+'s). This is the problem I've been running into lately.
 

AngryMoth

Member
Having a lot of success with my new build. Respeced around the the Crypt Blacksword and gave myself an extra attainment slot so I can use affinity along with a buff. Half the time opponents don't dodge affinity and even if they do I can often take them out with a follow up combo.
 

test_account

XP-39C²
I wouldn't say that Soul Memory is the deciding factor. From my understanding in NG+ onwards its either Soul Level range OR Soul Memory range. Which means Soul Level is still a factor, but the higher Soul Memory you are, the greater chances you will be matched up with someone else of equal Soul Memory (which means if you keep yourself at 150, you may be running into 200+'s). This is the problem I've been running into lately.
I wonder if we will ever know exactly how the match making is working. I once co-op'ed with a guy who claimed he was soul level 800-something (which he admitted that he go by cheating, and that he didnt use that character for PvP). That was co-op though, maybe there are different criterias for PvP/invasion.
 

Grinchy

Banned
Man the rat covenant in the Doors of Pharros is so annoying. I got taken in as a grey phantom 3 times while I was exploring parts of the area I hadn't seen my first time through. Each time someone was waiting by the waist-high water for me. As soon as I spawn I have multiple enemies and an asshole shooting poison arrows or magic at me right away. By the third time I just stood still and waited for death.
 

test_account

XP-39C²
I'm getting invaded a lot in NG with 6M SM but that's not the issue.
The problem is that the more SM increases (which you can't prevent) the more you'll be encountering identical builds at a very high soul level.
Like mickcenary very well explained it, the idea of a high level super undead doesn't appeal to me, so I'm remaining low level and constantly fighting these clones. I don't blame them since the game permits it but it's completely ruining the experience for me.
Just wondering, does it matter if you level up if the ones that you're playing against is also a high level? And for offline play, bonfire aestics is possible, so despite being a higher level, you wont be a super undead because the enemies are much tougher. Might be a problem that there arent enough bonfire aestics though, unless its possible to buy unlimited amounts of them.
 

RyanDG

Member
I wonder if we will ever know exactly how the match making is working. I once co-op'ed with a guy who claimed he was soul level 800-something (which he admitted that he go by cheating, and that he didnt use that character for PvP). That was co-op though, maybe there are different criterias for PvP/invasion.

Yep.

In Dark Souls 1, it was absolutely possible for an invader to invade someone well over there level. So that's not really a big change right now.

Co-op was a little more restrictive, but I've seen some weird co-op match-ups in DS2. PVP in the arena seems weird as well, because I ended up getting matched up with a level 250 on my 135 character.

Generally all around it just doesn't make a lot of sense this time around.
 

Gorillaz

Member
The one thing I don't like now is there is no real reward from doing invasions. All you get is Token of Spite which is nothing more then opening your world to a bigger chance of invasions....

The thing is I want to invade others...Not the other way around. It's useless.
 
Man, I just got around to checking out some network test footage, and I can kind of understand why some people were so upset.

It seems like it runs, looks, and plays better than the final product. So weird that it had to be downgraded like it was.
 

E92 M3

Member
Do you only play coop and/or PvP? Seems risky to run around with 30 million souls if you want to progress in the game at least :) (risky as in dieing at one point, and you need to progress up to that point again, with the risk of dying before you can recover your souls again).

I do a lot of PVP and some coop now. Since I'm on NG++ and have all of the achievements, PVE progress is on a little halt. Beyond the multiplayer aspect, I'm also trying to get some rare items.
 
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