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[Palette Swap]

So, I've been asceting the Aerie to farm minerals, I'm currently at 4 and plan to continue. Is there any downside to continuing, something I should be aware of?

 

[GRIP]

Encountered some assholes lately at Iron Keep so I stopped bowing.

I'm at the end of NG+ and mainly doing co-op at the

Spoiler

Drangleic Castle

to get at rank 3 of the

Spoiler

sunbros

and I have to say that it's quite frustrating so far since either the hosts drop like flies in the

Spoiler

Nashandra

fight or some people summon me to kill one sentinel and then send me back...I don't want to believe that people have problem with

Spoiler

Nashandra

and I'm guessing they just get too greedy.

Any other hot spot for jolly co-operation? because it's getting tiresome at this point. I am at 217slvl with 10m soul memory.

Freja, Old Iron King, and Lost Sinner are usually pretty good spots to get summoned. My SM is around 12M and I was getting summoned at OIK very frequently last night. Lost Sinner usually has the highest success rate for me, but it shouldn't be too hard to get Sunlight Medals at any of these bosses. Might even want to give the Ruin Sentinels a shot.

 

[Feindflug]

Freja, Old Iron King, and Lost Sinner are usually pretty good spots to get summoned. My SM is around 12M and I was getting summoned at OIK very frequently last night. Lost Sinner usually has the highest success rate for me, but it shouldn't be too hard to get Sunlight Medals at any of these bosses. Might even want to give the Ruin Sentinels a shot.

Thanks, I'll give those a try today.

BTW where do I get the Flame Quartz +2 ring? I've read that it's a drop from

Spoiler

Guardian Dragon

at NG+ but I didn't get it.

 

[Red Liquorice]

Most of the game becomes a joke with ranged sorcery/miracles.
I'm trying an INT character now but it never feels like you're actually fighting something.
You just run around going PSHW PSHW while staying at a safe distance. I can't understand how people actually enjoy playing this way but to each their own I guess.

It's a nice break from melee

I'm on a dual wield build atm and I'm itching to start a new magic build, I want my pew-pews and shield!

 

[Backfoggen]

What the hell. I just ran to Sinner's Rise from Lost Bastille and climbing up the ladder to the bonfire heard a pretty long screeching sound. It definitely wasn't a sound enemies in the area made and there wasn't anything new around.


Weird.

 

[Leunam]

You missed a little background event in the sky.

 

[Jackben]

Yep, next time you're there, look up!

 

[Palette Swap]

Thanks, I'll give those a try today.

BTW where do I get the Flame Quartz +2 ring? I've read that it's a drop from

Spoiler

Guardian Dragon

at NG+ but I didn't get it.

Don't forget

Spoiler

there are 3 more Guardian Dragons to fight in the Aerie. As described above, I've been using ascetics there and I have like 3-4 FQ+2 rings now, without trying or looking for it TBH.

 

[catashtrophe]

Nearing the end of the game I think as I've gained access to the memories areas and really enjoying the game. But once I finish this play through I don't feel like doing a new game+

Can this get platted in one play through?

 

[Septimius]

I think I'm approaching the end of the game, although I have no idea. I just got a circular means of opening a few doors. Anyway. I hear people talk about "end game", and I don't want to suddenly waltz into a fog-gate that, when I defeat whatever's in there, I'm thrown into NG+ and lose a lot of my stuff. Are there any sure ways to identify not making that mistake, or identifying 'the end of the game', like the last area was in Dark Souls 1?

EDIT: Thanks!

 

[Leunam]

You don't get thrown into NG+ automatically. You choose to do so at a certain bonfire.

 

[Jackben]

Nearing the end of the game I think as I've gained access to the memories areas and really enjoying the game. But once I finish this play through I don't feel like doing a new game+

Can this get platted in one play through?

Sure, as long as you win 1000 rounds of PVP (500 invasions or arena rounds as a Blue Sentinel and 500 in the Brotherhood of Blood).

 

[Mr Git]

So I beat

Spoiler

Darklurker

last night on my first attempt, had left it until the end of NG+. A friend had hyped it into oblivion so I went in expecting it to be ridiculous but it was actually fairly straightforward and quick with sorcery.

 

[Charmicarmicat]

What the hell. I just ran to Sinner's Rise from Lost Bastille and climbing up the ladder to the bonfire heard a pretty long screeching sound. It definitely wasn't a sound enemies in the area made and there wasn't anything new around.


Weird.

Spoiler

If you turn around and look back over the bridge to the rooftops you see one of the Belfry Gargoyles fly across.

 

[ElFly]

Most of the game becomes a joke with ranged sorcery/miracles.
I'm trying an INT character now but it never feels like you're actually fighting something.
You just run around going PSHW PSHW while staying at a safe distance. I can't understand how people actually enjoy playing this way but to each their own I guess.
Raised agility helps dodging sure, but you can dodge the sword with lowest agility possible if you just time it right. Once you're under him and kind of know his attacks he's really not a problem even for a lvl1 char. You just gotta know in which direction to roll when he attacks.

Eh, it's true that I went through the game frying everything with a healthy dose of Lightning Spear to the face, and the help of summons, but I am slowly going through it with melee only; I melee soloed the gargoyles and now the lost sinner.

First time(s) through the game -> beat it in any broken way possible
Subsequent tries -> try to do it all with melee

 

[rybrad]

I always do all melee builds in Souls games (did the same for console playthrough of DS2) and want to do more of a hybrid for the PC release. Is Str/Faith the best way to go for a build I can still melee with a lot and throw in some casts when the situation calls for them?

 

[maomaoIYP]

I always do all melee builds in Souls games (did the same for console playthrough of DS2) and want to do more of a hybrid for the PC release. Is Str/Faith the best way to go for a build I can still melee with a lot and throw in some casts when the situation calls for them?

STR + FAI, STR + INT, or STR + FAI + INT are all viable builds.

 

[Arjen]

I always do all melee builds in Souls games (did the same for console playthrough of DS2) and want to do more of a hybrid for the PC release. Is Str/Faith the best way to go for a build I can still melee with a lot and throw in some casts when the situation calls for them?

I'd go for base stats of the weapon you want and pump the rest in faith and int. Then infuse your weapon. My dark infused mace is still doing it's job at the end of NG+ even without resonant weapon.

 

[KoreanBarbecue]

So I beat

Spoiler

Darklurker

last night on my first attempt, had left it until the end of NG+. A friend had hyped it into oblivion so I went in expecting it to be ridiculous but it was actually fairly straightforward and quick with sorcery.

You should try it with melee! I did, and eventually ended up respeccing to magic.

 

[Feindflug]

Don't forget

Spoiler

there are 3 more Guardian Dragons to fight in the Aerie. As described above, I've been using ascetics there and I have like 3-4 FQ+2 rings now, without trying or looking for it TBH.

So I have to ascetic the first bonfire huh? when I killed the

Spoiler

dragons

I had the Gold Serpent +2 equipped plus some item discovery boost gear and I didn't get it.

On another note I'm outside

Spoiler

Freja

and it's crazy how fast I get summoned plus the fights also have a great success rate so far. Oh and btw From changed the scaling of

Spoiler

Zwei

, it's Str C, Dex D now when it was the opposite IIRC, at least it makes sense now.

 

[Skellig Gra]

Spoiler

If you turn around and look back over the bridge to the rooftops you see one of the Belfry Gargoyles fly across.

I thought it was

Spoiler

a dragon

 

[Shin Kojima]

First time(s) through the game -> beat it in any broken way possible
Subsequent tries -> try to do it all with melee

Haha I was exactly the other way round.
First time through -> Company of Champions/Melee/no FAQS at all
Subsequent tries -> Using some summons/ trying different classes/seeing what I missed with FAQS

I figured the first playthrough of the game will always have the most impact so I wanted a good amount of challenge right from the start and have a nice memorable first experience.

 

[SoldnerKei]

Spoiler

If you turn around and look back over the bridge to the rooftops you see one of the Belfry Gargoyles fly across.

first time it happened I freaked out, I was like "shit, shit, shit, a dragon, shit, shit" and ran to the bonefire...

 

[rybrad]

STR + FAI, STR + INT, or STR + FAI + INT are all viable builds.

I'd go for base stats of the weapon you want and pump the rest in faith and int. Then infuse your weapon. My dark infused mace is still doing it's job at the end of NG+ even without resonant weapon.

Great, thanks for the info guys. I actually forgot about respeccing so I guess I can't really mess anything up permanently anyway. Are there any particularly good weapons to keep an eye out for?

 

[140.85]

SO...my zero-death run was put to a heartbreaking stop. 100+ hours of nervous, conservative play with many horrifying close calls - just up in smoke. I knew it would be some stupid unexpected shit that did me in.

/// ATTENTION ///

Be warned! If my fellow Soulsians haven't already noticed, FROM made a few small but significant changes to

Spoiler

Memory of Jeigh

in the 1.03 patch. It caught me totally off guard because I played the area many times my first few times through, and is what put a halt to my beautiful zero death run.

-

Spoiler

More fire. And it seems to land more often. Mercifully, it still has a predictable, albeit harder to avoid pattern.

-

Spoiler

The giant stone head no longer rolls down after a certain amount of time like a world event. Now it's triggered by where you are. Previous playthroughs I could wait at the beginning of the map for it to roll down and do some free damage to the two giants in that area. And then ran under it once they were dead. Now it waits for you to get near and rolls at you. Standing in the alcove to the left is a good place to trigger it and wait.

-

Spoiler

Standing under the stone head is no longer safe. Fire rains down directly upon it. =_=

-

Spoiler

Ben the hit man hart and Capt. Drummond are still dumb as rocks. No change there. They charge into that shit and are usually dead by the time I get to the boss.

Some questions:

Does NG+ reset your death count? I'm wondering if a NG+ run is eligible for the zero death ring.
Can you summon humans in the

Spoiler

Memory sections

? I need human help!

Be wary of patch, in short, fuck you FROM

 

[KoreanBarbecue]

At what point does agility stop being useful? Right now my agility is sitting at 110 and I have an equip load of about 115 (of which I'm using about 55%). My ADP is at like 37, too. Should I just stop putting points into it? I'm NG++ and literally don't have anything else to spend souls on, so have just been allocating them willy nilly.

 

[Arjen]

Holy shit dude, that would make me rage so hard.

 

[140.85]

At what point does agility stop being useful? Right now my agility is sitting at 110 and I have an equip load of about 115 (of which I'm using about 55%). My ADP is at like 37, too. Should I just stop putting points into it? I'm NG++ and literally don't have anything else to spend souls on, so have just been allocating them willy nilly.

I believe all stats start diminishing returns around the 40-50 mark. Raising you ADP in conjunction with END nets you poise. That is, if your END is 40 and you raise your ADP to 40, you get a bunch of poise added.

 

[maomaoIYP]

Are there any particularly good weapons to keep an eye out for?

I'm of the opinion that most weapons are viable as long as you upgrade. Rare upgrading material may require farming to get enough for you to fully upgrade more than one weapon in one playthrough though.
edit: Also, there are a lot and I mean A FUCKLOAD of different weapons to find in this game, so don't be afraid to experiment.

 

[Mr Git]

You should try it with melee! I did, and eventually ended up respeccing to magic.

I went in with the intention of doing so (powerstancing greatswords at the ready), expected spells to dry up fairly quickly but was really surprised by how much damage they did. When it/he/she split into two I got sudden Maneater dread and expected two health bars. I'll go pure melee next time.

 

[Minamu]

I believe all stats start diminishing returns around the 40-50 mark. Raising you ADP in conjunction with END nets you poise. That is, if your END is 40 and you raise your ADP to 40, you get a bunch of poise added.

ADP stops at 38 for agility, 40 for resistance.

 

[Leunam]

SO...my zero-death run was put to a heartbreaking stop. 100+ hours of nervous, conservative play with many horrifying close calls - just up in smoke. I knew it would be some stupid unexpected shit that did me in.

/// ATTENTION ///

Be warned! If my fellow Soulsians haven't already noticed, FROM made a few small but significant changes to

Spoiler

Memory of Jeigh

in the 1.03 patch. It caught me totally off guard because I played the area many times my first few times through, and is what put a halt to my beautiful zero death run.

-

Spoiler

More fire. And it seems to land more often. Mercifully, it still has a predictable, albeit harder to avoid pattern.

-

Spoiler

The giant stone head no longer rolls down after a certain amount of time like a world event. Now it's triggered by where you are. Previous playthroughs I could wait at the beginning of the map for it to roll down and do some free damage to the two giants in that area. And then ran under it once they were dead. Now it waits for you to get near and rolls at you. Standing in the alcove to the left is a good place to trigger it and wait.

-

Spoiler

Standing under the stone head is no longer safe. Fire rains down directly upon it. =_=

-

Spoiler

Ben the hit man hart and Capt. Drummond are still dumb as rocks. No change there. They charge into that shit and are usually dead by the time I get to the boss.

Some questions:

Does NG+ reset your death count? I'm wondering if a NG+ run is eligible for the zero death ring.
Can you summon humans in the

Spoiler

Memory sections

? I need human help!

Be wary of patch, in short, fuck you FROM

Damn dude, sucks you went down like that. But hey you got crazy far in the game.

 

[SeventhSon]

Death count remains in NG+

 

[Arjen]

I'm thinking of doing my NG++ rum no bonfire. But i was thinking, after undead crypt you have a hell of a walk back. Or am I missing something? And can you use the primal bonfires to warp back to majula?

 

[140.85]

Death count remains in NG+

Good to know.

 

[140.85]

Damn dude, sucks you went down like that. But hey you got crazy far in the game.

Honestly, as much as it sucked, near the end it had gotten so rewarding to play the game this way that it became worth it. It really helped me appreciate the game on a whole new level. You really have to make the most of every little thing you get. And then there's the adrenaline rush from the intensity and danger of it all...

 

[zma1013]

So there's this weird phenomenon going on in my NG+ playthrough where background details that weren't there before are now suddenly there. During NG, Drangleic Castle was just there with nothing but black sky around it and no rain at all and now in NG+ there's like an entire moonlit/sun peaking through the stormy weather and there is now rain everywhere? Wat da fuuuu

Also, in Undead Crypt where

Spoiler

the King is shuffling around, there are now eerie statues all over the place in the background that weren't there before.

Glitch much?

 

[Leunam]

Honestly, as much as it sucked, near the end it had gotten so rewarding to play the game this way that it became worth it. It really helped me appreciate the game on a whole new level. You really have to make the most of every little thing you get. And then there's the adrenaline rush from the intensity and danger of it all...

Besides playing safer obviously is there anything you changed about your gameplay at all? More consumables/thrown items, different weapons, more ranged weapons, etc?

 

[Kai Dracon]

And there's the platinum done. Took a break last week and went back to push to the castle this morning and buy those damn covenant locked spells from the NPC.

126 hours on the character; now I can play something else for a change.

 

[ElFly]

So there's this weird phenomenon going on in my NG+ playthrough where background details that weren't there before are now suddenly there. During NG, Drangleic Castle was just there with nothing but black sky around it and no rain at all and now in NG+ there's like an entire moonlit/sun peaking through the stormy weather and there is now rain everywhere? Wat da fuuuu

Also, in Undead Crypt where

Spoiler

the King is shuffling around, there are now eerie statues all over the place in the background that weren't there before.

Glitch much?

Sometimes the backgrounds won't load for me, but only lasts for a few seconds at worst

I think it was more of an issue for some people but it was fixed in the last patch, like a week ago or more.



edit: I think the

Spoiler

head

in

Spoiler

memory of Jeigh

has always rolled depending on position; I know it happened to me in my first playthrough and that was def before 1.03.

Haha I was exactly the other way round.
First time through -> Company of Champions/Melee/no FAQS at all
Subsequent tries -> Using some summons/ trying different classes/seeing what I missed with FAQS

I figured the first playthrough of the game will always have the most impact so I wanted a good amount of challenge right from the start and have a nice memorable first experience.

You are a radder dude than me.

 

[Mr Git]

So there's this weird phenomenon going on in my NG+ playthrough where background details that weren't there before are now suddenly there. During NG, Drangleic Castle was just there with nothing but black sky around it and no rain at all and now in NG+ there's like an entire moonlit/sun peaking through the stormy weather and there is now rain everywhere? Wat da fuuuu


Glitch much?

This happened to me, I assumed it was due to the patch. Drangleic castle was a huge anticlimax for me in my first playthrough as the sky was entirely black with no lighting. It looked pretty bad. Moonlight was there for Ng+ and suddenly there was atmosphere.

 

[Dreaver]

Finally finished the game. Loved it. The beginning and map design of Dark Souls I is better but apart from that Dark Souls II is better in pretty much every aspect. About to dive into NG+, I'm still using the Black Knight Halberd +4 or so, any tips for a better melee weapon before I start?

 

[140.85]

Besides playing safer obviously is there anything you changed about your gameplay at all? More consumables/thrown items, different weapons, more ranged weapons, etc?

The biggest change for me was how much I used the bow and poisoned arrows even if there was a slight chance I might have trouble. I was pure melee on my usual runs. I never took on more than one enemy, lol.I made sure to be offline unless I needed to summon for bosses since there's no way for invaders to know I'm trying to do a zero-death run. I didn't risk fighting

Spoiler

Iron King

. Screw that. The lava is too risky. Also didn't go to the Rats. Wasn't going to risk the run on that one jump you need to make. Made sure to buy the most expensive ladder from the dude. I ground a lot so that I could get to Dangleic Castle without fighting some bosses and came back and trounced them later. I picked one weapon and stuck with it so I could max it out early. In my case it was an early Bastard Sword drop. Its a really solid weapon. Saved all my Twinkling Titanite for Vengarl's set and Havel's shield. Lastly, lots and lots and lots of HP to minimize the danger of close calls and mistakes. (50 VIT, Ring of life+2, Third Dragon Ring). I was up to SL ~150 when I died. and probabaly should have ground some more to make the end game easier.

 

[KoreanBarbecue]

ADP stops at 38 for agility, 40 for resistance.

Good to know, thanks. Guess I'll put one more point into ADP and then start pumping up my INT and FTH.

 

[ElFly]

The biggest change for me was how much I used the bow and poisoned arrows even if there was a slight chance I might have trouble. I was pure melee on my usual runs. I never took on more than one enemy, lol.I made sure to be offline unless I needed to summon for bosses since there's no way for invaders to know I'm trying to do a zero-death run. I didn't risk fighting

Spoiler

Iron King

. Screw that. The lava is too risky. Also didn't go to the Rats. Wasn't going to risk the run on that one jump you need to make. Made sure to buy the most expensive ladder from the dude. I ground a lot so that I could get to Dangleic Castle without fighting some bosses and came back and trounced them later. I picked one weapon and stuck with it so I could max it out early. In my case it was an early Bastard Sword drop. Its a really solid weapon. Saved all my Twinkling Titanite for Vengarl's set and Havel's shield. Lastly, lots and lots and lots of HP to minimize the danger of close calls and mistakes. (50 VIT, Ring of life+2, Third Dragon Ring). I was up to SL ~150 when I died. and probabaly should have ground some more to make the end game easier.

Wait, you skipped

Spoiler

Iron King

but risked going to

Spoiler

Grave of Saints / the Gutter / Black Gulch ?

e: oh the rats I guess means grave, I read that as door of pharros

 

[Soulhouf]

SO...my zero-death run was put to a heartbreaking stop. 100+ hours of nervous, conservative play with many horrifying close calls - just up in smoke. I knew it would be some stupid unexpected shit that did me in.

/// ATTENTION ///

Be warned! If my fellow Soulsians haven't already noticed, FROM made a few small but significant changes to

Spoiler

Memory of Jeigh

in the 1.03 patch. It caught me totally off guard because I played the area many times my first few times through, and is what put a halt to my beautiful zero death run.

-

Spoiler

More fire. And it seems to land more often. Mercifully, it still has a predictable, albeit harder to avoid pattern.

-

Spoiler

The giant stone head no longer rolls down after a certain amount of time like a world event. Now it's triggered by where you are. Previous playthroughs I could wait at the beginning of the map for it to roll down and do some free damage to the two giants in that area. And then ran under it once they were dead. Now it waits for you to get near and rolls at you. Standing in the alcove to the left is a good place to trigger it and wait.

-

Spoiler

Standing under the stone head is no longer safe. Fire rains down directly upon it. =_=

-

Spoiler

Ben the hit man hart and Capt. Drummond are still dumb as rocks. No change there. They charge into that shit and are usually dead by the time I get to the boss.

Some questions:

Does NG+ reset your death count? I'm wondering if a NG+ run is eligible for the zero death ring.
Can you summon humans in the

Spoiler

Memory sections

? I need human help!

Be wary of patch, in short, fuck you FROM

Oh man, it really sucks. I'm sorry to hear that
Regarding that area, if you time it right, the NPC can reach the boss untouched. That boss kicked my ass so many times that now I can do it with my eyes closed. It's all about how you time your navigation from a safe spot to another.

 

[140.85]

Wait, you skipped

Spoiler

Iron King

but risked going to

Spoiler

Grave of Saints / the Gutter / Black Gulch ?

e: oh the rats I guess means grave, I read that as door of pharros

Yeah, sorry. I meant Grave of Saints. Not much there, anyway. The gutter and black gulch are manageable as long as you're careful. I ventured down there for the Titanite Chunk drops.

 

[140.85]

Oh man, it really sucks. I'm sorry to hear that
Regarding that area, if you time it right, the NPC can reach the boss untouched. That boss kicked my ass so many times that now I can do it with my eyes closed. It's all about how you time your navigation from a safe spot to another.

Yeah it reminds me a lot of the Dragonfire pattern you have to dodge to get up the stairs and fight Allant in Demon's.

 

[Jackben]

So why is it that Raulmond could wear all three rings but we can only wear one? I'm assuming he wore them all since he's stated as the owner of each one and "cherished them until his death". At which point they somehow ended up in the hands of a magic rock, a manscorpian and a chest under guard by dragon guardians. I guess this probably wasn't thought through very much lore wise, but in that case they could have given the Dragon rings different flavor text at least.

 

[Backfoggen]

That Giant Lords first smash is definitely my biggest DS2 nemesis. Wish I had a tactic to consistently dodge that one-hit kill. Once I'm up by the thing next to him he's done. I can beat him even with a bow from there. But that first hit got me so often it's riddick.

And then the double load times after you die, gross. GROSS