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

Oh... I was wondering if that woman from the Cathedral area came back to Majula, I chose to go to her first, those poisoned woods tho... :S

also, is it just me or are the bonfires way more often in this game compared to DS1?

Oh, I forgot to tell you there are two bosses in Heide's,

And yeah there are about like 3 or 4 bonfires per area. two of them are usually one in the starter zone of the area and one right to the boss.
 

DaciaJC

Gold Member
I can't get my head around the Old Chaos boss fight though, what a clusterfuck. It's like the exact opposite of what I want from Souls. I think this would be a decent preview of what the increased player PvP will be like in the upcoming GOTY edition, just a mess of spells and staggering hits from every which way. Strange that they would go in such a direction for the series, but I guess it's where they want to take it.

It certainly has me worried for Dark Souls III, if it's in the works. And not just Old Chaos, but all three DLCs had me pretty soured. Yes, the area design was pretty good (though I'd say there was a decrease in quality over the course of the three expansions), but enemy designs were pretty conservative, there were many cases of frustrating encounters - the pit battle and some of the ash statue scenarios in Brume Tower, getting one-shotted by invisible backstabbing phantoms in Eleum Loyce - and the bosses were, but for a few exceptions, forgettable or downright fucking silly.
 

Anustart

Member
Beat dark souls 1 a couple weeks ago, cousin bought me 2 today. First impressions!

Movement seems off to me, seems like there's no weight to my character if that makes sense. In one it felt like moving a person around but here something seems different. Its no big deal, but something irks me about it.

First big enemy, the white pig dude things look off. Hopefully this isn't representative of things to come because I enjoyed most of the enemy designs in the first game.

Other than that I'm having a good time so far!
 

neoism

Member
Beat dark souls 1 a couple weeks ago, cousin bought me 2 today. First impressions!

Movement seems off to me, seems like there's no weight to my character if that makes sense. In one it felt like moving a person around but here something seems different. Its no big deal, but something irks me about it.

First big enemy, the white pig dude things look off. Hopefully this isn't representative of things to come because I enjoyed most of the enemy designs in the first game.

Other than that I'm having a good time so far!
lol no sure why but I feel the opposite. DS1feels floaty to me and ds2 feels like it has weight to it. but you will get used to it.
 
Basic movement, combat, walking, running, jumping is way off in DS2. You learn to deal with it and work around it, but I'm not sure I ever got used to it, it's a constant niggle.
 
I can't wait to play this again. I sold my desktop - where I owned this game on, and I miss this game so much. Especially because of all the great reviews of the expansion. I loved the game but I agreed with the opinions of people saying that Dark Souls was superior.

How many hours of gameplay does the first expansion add?
 
Wow the symbol of avarice's health drain seems much less than in DS1. I can be AFJ (joypad!) for quite a while without having to worry about death. I'd forgot it was even in DS2.
 

2AdEPT

Member
I can't wait to play this again. I sold my desktop - where I owned this game on, and I miss this game so much. Especially because of all the great reviews of the expansion. I loved the game but I agreed with the opinions of people saying that Dark Souls was superior.

How many hours of gameplay does the first expansion add?

The first expansion can take a while depending on whether you do bosses solo or bend to the developers wish to hire help...they almost force you to do so but of course, its not necessary with enough practice and enough attempts. The 1st DLC can add 4-6 hours if you do it quick, but as many as 20 if you die a lot or really want to slow play and find all items etc. Putting your summon sign down always extends the time as well. BEs thign about the 1st DLC though is that you can do a much earlier and faster Vanquisher's Seal Run! (DLC and Covenant of Champions spoilers) edit: all hours counted it took me more time to do this dam video!!

Wow the symbol of avarice's health drain seems much less than in DS1. I can be AFJ (joypad!) for quite a while without having to worry about death. I'd forgot it was even in DS2.

Still heavy as ever though...really wrecks trying to stay light.
 
Wow the symbol of avarice's health drain seems much less than in DS1. I can be AFJ (joypad!) for quite a while without having to worry about death. I'd forgot it was even in DS2.

Yep, it is so slow to be negligible. Don't know why they bother having the health penalty with it be so low.
 
I would love if they had more puzzle DLCs. I liked the first because of the puzzles, also made you look around more. I can't wait for the expansion though, those random encounters look wicked.
 

Mistel

Banned
Yep, it is so slow to be negligible. Don't know why they bother having the health penalty with it be so low.
Considering it is only 5 health every 2 seconds you can effectively regen 4 health in that time with the ring of restoration meaning that you only lose 1hp for the symbol. You can actually make its affect non existence by coupling that ring with the loyce shield or the charred loyce shield.
 
I would love if they had more puzzle DLCs. I liked the first because of the puzzles, also made you look around more. I can't wait for the expansion though, those random encounters look wicked.

Yeah, this game has some of it's best moments with exploration and even better with puzzle solving exploration.

The other two DLC's still had some unique environmental "puzzles" with regards to the implementation of Ashen Idol's and finding the Loyce Knights. Not as direct as the puzzles of Sunken King, but still fun.
 
Yeah, this game has some of it's best moments with exploration and even better with puzzle solving exploration.

The other two DLC's still had some unique environmental "puzzles" with regards to the implementation of Ashen Idol's and finding the Loyce Knights. Not as direct as the puzzles of Sunken King, but still fun.
Only problem with the second exploration is that you shot yourself in the foot by doing it. The third is a contrast to that though which was a nice touch.
 
Yeah, this game has some of it's best moments with exploration and even better with puzzle solving exploration.

The other two DLC's still had some unique environmental "puzzles" with regards to the implementation of Ashen Idol's and finding the Loyce Knights. Not as direct as the puzzles of Sunken King, but still fun.

The second dlc puzzle is bad for people who explore outside the devs game progression sandbox punishing you in some sort against a boss and the third DLC mechanic about the loyce souls is grinding for gaining your prize maybe the real puzzle is re exploring the zone after you take dowd the blizzard and make the zone harder than it is.

Saying this the second DLC is pretty much a fun interesting elevators zone but still it really awful to seeing the devs putting enemies in small rooms for the feeling of difficulty.
 

Anustart

Member
Anything I need to know when playing a swordsman? I rolled with a shield all through Ds 1 so I figured I might try dual wielding roll master.
 
Anything I need to know when playing a swordsman? I rolled with a shield all through Ds 1 so I figured I might try dual wielding roll master.

Get your agility stat to 100. It is increased with Adaptability and Attunement. Learn the timings to roll and keep you equip burden low for fast roll. Below 70% at a minimum, but less than 50% is preferable.
 
Only problem with the second exploration is that you shot yourself in the foot by doing it. The third is a contrast to that though which was a nice touch.

Thought that was a clever touch. Only zone in the game like that. It only works on the player once, so it isn't that big a deal.

The second dlc puzzle is bad for people who explore outside the devs game progression sandbox punishing you in some sort against a boss and the third DLC mechanic about the loyce souls is grinding for gaining your prize maybe the real puzzle is re exploring the zone after you take dowd the blizzard and make the zone harder than it is.

Saying this the second DLC is pretty much a fun interesting elevators zone but still it really awful to seeing the devs putting enemies in small rooms for the feeling of difficulty.

I thought the 3rd dlc was genius in the way it encouraged a 2nd round through the area to re-explore with a twist to the environment and enemies. Great labrynthine layout, tons of shortcuts to open and secrets to find. A great juxtaposition on the heels of the 2nd dlc that punished heavy early exploration.
 
I thought the 3rd dlc was genius in the way it encouraged a 2nd round through the area to re-explore with a twist to the environment and enemies. Great labrynthine layout, tons of shortcuts to open and secrets to find. A great juxtaposition on the heels of the 2nd dlc that punished heavy early exploration.

I like the idea of re exploring the area to open new shortcuts and somewhat changes the gameplay but damm it turned into NG++ if you clear the rooms and revive the golems.
 
I like the idea of re exploring the area to open new shortcuts and somewhat changes the gameplay but damm it turned into NG++ if you clear the rooms and revive the golems.

I only did it on ng++, it was pretty nuts. Granted, you don't need all the Loyce Knights if you have good backup, but they don't hurt to have around. That golem room was pretty nuts. Had to try and pull 1 at a time.
 

Anustart

Member
Is there only one way to go at the start? I went to a forest of giants which was seemingly a dead end for now and the only other place I could find was heide's tower of flame.

No shield seems like it's going to be annoying. Boss I found in that tower has moves where you seemingly have .02 seconds window to roll to not get hit.
 

Mistel

Banned
Is there only one way to go at the start? I went to a forest of giants which was seemingly a dead end for now and the only other place I could find was heide's tower of flame.

No shield seems like it's going to be annoying. Boss I found in that tower has moves where you seemingly have .02 seconds window to roll to not get hit.
There's four ways you can go towards the beginning. Explore the forest of fallen giants a bit more. There's stuff there that will help with heides or you can carry on with the dragon rider then after that you can go other places.
 
There's a few shields you can pick up for free in the very early areas. It seems like a fun idea to dual wield since it's new for DS2, but coming from DS1 takes some getting used to - the i-frames of your roll is locked to a stat and equipment burden determines the length of your roll, plus there's often no visual cue (other than the healthbar) for when you take damage during a roll - so evasion as your only defense can be rough going initially til you get used to the new engine.

I suggest a compromise of using a small shield until you get your agility up too 100-ish.

A tip about NPCs and progress - exhaust their dialogue until they repeat the same lines, this will move them along to their next destination (often Majula), one early NPC especially is required to do this in order to progress
Licia, the faith spell seller after the Dragonrider boss in Heide's Tower
- name, location spoiler, no story spoilers.
 

ElFly

Member
Beat dark souls 1 a couple weeks ago, cousin bought me 2 today. First impressions!

Movement seems off to me, seems like there's no weight to my character if that makes sense. In one it felt like moving a person around but here something seems different. Its no big deal, but something irks me about it.

First big enemy, the white pig dude things look off. Hopefully this isn't representative of things to come because I enjoyed most of the enemy designs in the first game.

Other than that I'm having a good time so far!

The same happened to me when I started DS2.

I think it is the change in framerate, but it may depend on platform.

Going from DS1 PC to DS2 PS3 is certainly a shock. The PC version of DS2 is way smoother tho.
 
I have returned to Dark Souls 2 PVP and have brought the almighty Bird King out of retirement. He builds a nest out of the remains of his enemies! ALL HAIL THE NEST!

birdking2_by_realghostvids-d8cpp11.jpg


Unfortunately Bird King was out-pecked by the most formidable foe of all: LAG.

http://a.pomf.se/tgjnhi.webm

He continued to hit me even as I fell to my death :') Ahh, classic Dark Souls 2.
 
Just defeated Ancient Dragon for only the second time ever (only tried twice, after the first time I swore off doing it again). This time only took 3 attempts got really good RNG on the last time, he only flew up once and foot stomps the rest of the time. RTSR or bust, it's a one hit kill any way, so may as well use it. Feels good.

Now back to farming Loyce Souls :/
 

SoldnerKei

Member
Dark Lurker, Ancient Dragon & the Twin tigers of the DLC are the only bossed that I need to kill in this game, DL never really cared much about it, AD looked so relaxed that I would feel bad if I kill it lol, and the twin tigers, well screw those cheap bastards in their stupid gantlet map

I don't feel like farming all those Loyce souls, for some reason co-op was pretty much dead for me last time I played
so hopefully with the PS4 comming out there is something new to do
 

E92 M3

Member
Howdy guys, been a while. Any noticeable recent changes? Last I played double cross-bows where the thing to do for trolling lol.
 

Anustart

Member
There's four ways you can go towards the beginning. Explore the forest of fallen giants a bit more. There's stuff there that will help with heides or you can carry on with the dragon rider then after that you can go other places.

Thanks! Dunno how I missed this stuff in the forest hah. Progressing nicely now :)
 
Dark Lurker, Ancient Dragon & the Twin tigers of the DLC are the only bossed that I need to kill in this game, DL never really cared much about it, AD looked so relaxed that I would feel bad if I kill it lol, and the twin tigers, well screw those cheap bastards in their stupid gantlet map
The last time I fought Darklurker it didn't even split or go up in the air, only ever did it's lightsaber type attack - easiest win ever!
 

Anustart

Member
Killed a boss who tried to beat me to death with his arm.

I'm probably one of the few, but I'm liking the locations more than in DS 1. Or it could be that they're new so I'm enjoying them, who knows. I'm also really liking not rolling with a shield. In the first game I'd basically just tank everything, but here I'm being forced to learn the timings of the enemies and every battle feels more exciting without a shield.
 

NixForlorn

Neo Member
I used to do a lot of level 1 runs in Dark Souls 1, and just few days ago, I decided to do one in Dark Souls 2 for the first time.

After completing the game, I decided to see how far can I go with Fume Knight. And just yesterday I killed him on NG+7 with the Company of Champions as my covenant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCm41LxrKq4

It felt soooo good when I actually killed him, but there's no way I'm going to do something like that ever again.
 
Killed a boss who tried to beat me to death with his arm.

I'm probably one of the few, but I'm liking the locations more than in DS 1. Or it could be that they're new so I'm enjoying them, who knows. I'm also really liking not rolling with a shield. In the first game I'd basically just tank everything, but here I'm being forced to learn the timings of the enemies and every battle feels more exciting without a shield.

The starting zones in DS2 are really fun to play lots of details and exploration, be careful of the fire lizard dudes maybe you can feel a downside after reaching the Bastille
 
I used to do a lot of level 1 runs in Dark Souls 1, and just few days ago, I decided to do one in Dark Souls 2 for the first time.

After completing the game, I decided to see how far can I go with Fume Knight. And just yesterday I killed him on NG+7 with the Company of Champions as my covenant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCm41LxrKq4

It felt soooo good when I actually killed him, but there's no way I'm going to do something like that ever again.
You're nuts! Really impressive. :)

I've done a few SL1 runs in DS1 and DeS, but I couldn't imagine doing it in DS2 especially not the DLC areas and NG+7, congrats!
 

NixForlorn

Neo Member
You're nuts! Really impressive. :)

I've done a few SL1 runs in DS1 and DeS, but I couldn't imagine doing it in DS2 especially not the DLC areas and NG+7, congrats!
Thank you so much :D
You should try to do it in Dark Souls 2 as well. Sure you will die millions of times like I did, but it just feels so good and different from playing with a high leveled character.
 

Anustart

Member
You can't repair items until they break? And how the hell do you use repair powder? I used it and my broken sword wasn't fixed.
 

Anustart

Member
If your weapon is broken, you have to bring it to a blacksmith to fix it. Repair powder doesn't do anything on broken equipment.

And a blacksmith can't fix a weapon if it isn't broken completely? Game said scimitar at risk, go to blacksmith -> you have nothing to fix. Couple more whacks, the sword breaks.
 
You can't repair items until they break? And how the hell do you use repair powder? I used it and my broken sword wasn't fixed.

Only once your weapon has completely broken (Red text telling you it is broken will pop up on the screen and the texture will change to a really grungy looking one) you can get it repaired at the Blacksmith. To repair regular wear and tear just sit at a bonfire or use a repair powder.
 

Anustart

Member
Only once your weapon has completely broken (Red text telling you it is broken will pop up on the screen and the texture will change to a really grungy looking one) you can get it repaired at the Blacksmith. To repair regular wear and tear just sit at a bonfire or use a repair powder.

Ah, didn't know bonfire did it. Was used to how it was in the first game. Wonder why my sword would break so fast though, only probably hit 8 enemies.

Anyway, made it to Bastille, went back to majula and bought a ring and jumped down the well, then got kerploded by a kamikaze.
 

2AdEPT

Member
I used to do a lot of level 1 runs in Dark Souls 1, and just few days ago, I decided to do one in Dark Souls 2 for the first time.

After completing the game, I decided to see how far can I go with Fume Knight. And just yesterday I killed him on NG+7 with the Company of Champions as my covenant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCm41LxrKq4

It felt soooo good when I actually killed him, but there's no way I'm going to do something like that ever again.

Congrats!!! I liked your vid! I certainly recommend SL 1 runs normally, and no upgrades even more, but yeah the no fast roll was a killer of it for me on DS2 so far....I just finished a Vanquisher's Seal run all the way through the NG and DLC but leveled up pretty high and tried no health loss challenges instead here and there....ironically if I were to do a SL1 run the Vanquisher's seal would be the way to do it, there are no weapon requirements etc. and the fists have a high DPS...the trick is getting the 50 awestones to get the seal. My new strat for this involving the DLC is viable at low level though as any starter weapon will knock Rhoy the explorer of the bridge. Geez as much as I am done trying to do fist only stuff you may have inspired me to do a SL1 now as well Damn you!!!! ;D What are the rules for it in DS2 though...just start with any character but no upgrades? Can you start with the explorer and use a soul vessel to put more points in ADP and less in others later?
 

NixForlorn

Neo Member
Congrats!!! I liked your vid! I certainly recommend SL 1 runs normally, and no upgrades even more, but yeah the no fast roll was a killer of it for me on DS2 so far....I just finished a Vanquisher's Seal run all the way through the NG and DLC but leveled up pretty high and tried no health loss challenges instead here and there....ironically if I were to do a SL1 run the Vanquisher's seal would be the way to do it, there are no weapon requirements etc. and the fists have a high DPS...the trick is getting the 50 awestones to get the seal. My new strat for this involving the DLC is viable at low level though as any starter weapon will knock Rhoy the explorer of the bridge. Geez as much as I am done trying to do fist only stuff you may have inspired me to do a SL1 now as well Damn you!!!! ;D What are the rules for it in DS2 though...just start with any character but no upgrades? Can you start with the explorer and use a soul vessel to put more points in ADP and less in others later?
Hahaha, I'm glad I inspired you to a SL1 run :D

As far as rules go, you have to choose Deprived as your character, since it is the only SL1 character. And forgive if I'm wrong, but I don't think you can you a Soul Vessel with a SL1 build and change you stats. I found the best the thing to do if you want more ADP is to equip the Simpleton's Ring. Strength and Dexterity rings are also useful to give you more weapons choices.

Also, thank you for telling me about SL1 Vanquisher's Seal run!
I haven't thought if that before. I might try that with
Burnt Ivory King
, since I still haven't killed him.
 
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