Support NeoGAF

[neoism]

I fucking LOVE this game <3. I have to say some og players probably hate it but whoever thought of having an enemy kill number is awesome.. lol I cleared the iron keep its soo awesome to run it empty... HOLY SHIT been playing DS melee only for sooo long... Faith fo LIF :O lighting spear <3 great lighting spear <3 <3 love it sooo much.

guys what is the best place to level sl98.. the best bonfire to use an bonfire ascetic on?? I have 3 right now and can get one more but just wondering like the best xp... does the iron keep get really harder on ng+??

 

[Cannon Goose]

My new Dualshock 4 is charging now and I'm really looking forward to using it in Dark Souls 2. For anyone else using a DS4 with this game, do I need to use the "Hide DS4 Controller" option in the Xinput wrapper?

 

[HoosTrax]

Am I going to be screwed on my next playthrough if I use like two dozen ascetics on one bonfire?

(does the mob scaling taper off?)

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

*enters Belfry Luna*

*get invaded in 4 seconds*

*get invaded by a second phantom 3 seconds later*

*die*

*enters Belfry Luna*

*get invaded in 4 seconds*

*get invaded by a second phantom 3 seconds later*

*die*

*enters Belfry Luna*

*get invaded in 4 seconds*

*get invaded by a second phantom 3 seconds later*

*die*

*enters Belfry Luna*

*get invaded in 4 seconds*

*get invaded by a second phantom 3 seconds later*

*dies*

*enters Belfrys Luna*

*get invaded in 4 seconds*

*get invaded by a second phantom 3 seconds later*

*die*

....

*plays offline*

 

[TheSeks]

Yep, good intentions but bad execution in those two areas. It's why I'm pretty much dreading going to Sol. :/

And apparently the Dust I'm missing is the one that drops off an enemy. GG From. :/ Means I can't get it this run but thankfully means I can get it in NG+ I guess. :/

Now to finish the game after getting the estus shards and exploring the last two areas I need to see.

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

Yep, good intentions but bad execution in those two areas. It's why I'm pretty much dreading going to Sol. :/

And apparently the Dust I'm missing is the one that drops off an enemy. GG From. :/ Means I can't get it this run but thankfully means I can get it in NG+ I guess. :/

Now to finish the game after getting the estus shards and exploring the last two areas I need to see.

I'm going offline to that other area, directly.

I ended joining the bell covenant, since it seemed very easy to rank up, and everytime I went to the sol area, the NPC phantoms either already took care of the poor guy or I joined to give the final blow lol.

Dosn't helps that the netcode in DS II is as bad as the other entries in the series...

 

[Alo81]

Edit: I'm listening to the DSII soundtrack right now and... really not finding too much that really stands out.

What were your guys favorite DSII songs?

What emerald herald says when you skip her dialogue.

Ah, I guess I button through it too fast =p

 

[Laurentius]

Edit: I'm listening to the DSII soundtrack right now and... really not finding too much that really stands out.

What were your guys favorite DSII songs?

Still haven't beaten the game, so there may be some I end up liking later, but so far not a ton. Then again, I'm generally so focused on the boss fights I don't notice the music too much.

Although I kind of like the Majula theme. It didn't do much for me at the start, but it's slowly grown on me. The dissonance really adds to the eerie, yet somewhat comforting, nature of the area.

EDIT: I liked the Smelter Demon (which is the same one for the Sentinals I believe?) song quite a bit. I thought it fit the fight really well.

 

[wrongway]

Hoo boy. Just had my first dedicated PVP session as a bellbro, looking to learn2play before NG+ and score some titanite along the way. I know it's been complained about a million times so I'll spare the rant, but man... that lag. That lag.

Pretty fun for the 1/5 fights that plays properly, though.

 

[Snacks the sober sea lion]

I don't like how every covenant is called "prefix-bros" now. The sunbros makes sense because they are in fact bros, since their primary purpose is to be helpful. But Bellbros? Rat-bros? Not so accurate.

Has anyone tried to figure out what's going on with the wall pictures in the Shrine of Winter?

 

[Laurentius]

I don't like how every covenant is called "prefix-bros" now. The sunbros makes sense because they are in fact bros, since their primary purpose is to be helpful. But Bellbros? Rat-bros? Not so accurate.

Indeed. Extending that to NPCs, before long the Emerald Herald will be the level-up-bro, Rosabeth will be the dress-up-bro, and Melentia will be the hag-bro. (Hey, makes as much sense as rat-bros. We didn't call Darkwraiths Darkwraith-bros back in DS1 days, after all...)

 

[BadWolf]

Tried NG+ for a bit, not sure if I'm liking it. The enemies don't seem that much harder but they just have more red enemies sprinkled all over the place. Ended up getting to the Forest of Giants and Heidi bosses in no time and taking both out without getting hit once. Don't know if I'll continue or take a break for now and just do a fresh start later with a new character.

 

[Riposte]

BoB covenant as lame as it sounds?

Also Dark Souls OT title is childish as fuck.

 

[Vazra]

BoB covenant as lame as it sounds?

Also Dark Souls OT title is childish as fuck.

I know and I find it stupid when it's a matter of preference.

 

[TheSeks]

I'm going offline to that other area, directly.

I ended joining the bell covenant, since it seemed very easy to rank up, and everytime I went to the sol area, the NPC phantoms either already took care of the poor guy or I joined to give the final blow lol.

Dosn't helps that the netcode in DS II is as bad as the other entries in the series...

I didn't even need to do that when I was a Bellasshole for the Hidden Weapon magic.

Basically use Heavy Soul Arrow/Great Heavy Soul Arrow and watch the stairs. If they start to come up, fire. If they move, move forward. They'll generally try to retreat. If they do, smack them again.

If they try to heal: "OH NO YOU DON'T!" *smack, dead*

Hit stun on Heavy Soul Arrow/Great Heavy Soul Arrow is insane. If you sit around and wait for a second invader even better as they can distract as you hit the person with GHSA's to stunlock for either of you to finish them. The whole area is stupidly designed because it's basically a "boss rush" area with (IMO) terrible PvP combat that From will never fix because it has a certain set of "fans" forever. :/

I'm 4/4 Great Souls now. I still got the Sol Bellfry to explore, but I'm gonna have to do that offline, I guess.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

lol @ "Bellasshole". Bellasshole > Bellbro

I say this as a proud Bellasshole by the way. What can I say, I wanted those chunks, and it made farming for something actually fun. Fantastic idea by From.

 

[Varna]

Requesting some advice on what would be the best route for me.

At level 129 right now and I'm pretty happy with my character.

VGR 20
END 20
VIT 20
ATN 20
STR 19
DEX 22
INT 35
FTH 6

Using Elite Knight armor and dual Blue Flames. Sitting on about 100,000 souls.

What would be the best route for me? I really don't like how small my stamina pool is... but I'm not sure if 1 point per level is really worth it. 40 INT seems like a good route since scaling stops at there right? It would free up a ring slot. More health is always a good option too...

 

[TheSeks]

lol @ "Bellasshole". Bellasshole > Bellbro

I say this as a proud Bellasshole by the way. What can I say, I wanted those chunks, and it made farming for something actually fun. Fantastic idea by From.

I did the Warcry taunt everytime me and a fellow Bellhole won the fight. Generally by me spamming GHSA potshots at the trespasser while they stayed around outside to try to summon some help.

Nope, not gonna let you into the belltower if you can't rush the boss. Too many people worry about those NPC's instead of just rushing through it if they aren't invaded yet to the boss gate.

Frankly, ringing the bell is the hardest part because it's too long/up a fourth floor and allows invasions. I'd rather do that offline and then take my chances, but given how long it takes to summon someone you're better of ignoring the entire area if you aren't into PvP since the key you get from the area (and boss soul, I guess) isn't really worth the hassle.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

I only ever do the bow/prostration gesture after winning a Belfry fight, because I know I'm the asshole invader here (yeah yeah "they're trespassers", please, you're all just using that as an excuse for murder and/or to get chunks, fess up.... XD) and taunting after winning what's often a 2v1 seems exceptionally dickish. I often toss the "I'm sorry" carving too.

 

[TheSeks]

I only ever do the bow/prostration gesture after winning a Belfry fight, because I know I'm the asshole invader here (yeah yeah "they're trespassers", please, you're all just using that as an excuse for murder and/or to get chunks, fess up.... XD) and taunting after winning what's often a 2v1 seems exceptionally dickish. I often toss the "I'm sorry" carving too.

Which is why I did the Warcry. Because Bellholes are supposed to be dicks. You're entering the wrong neighborhood, motherfucker.

 

[GorillaJu]

I'm still on NG and playing 95% blind but there are a few things I've looked up or happened upon and would like clarification -

You have to summon Lucatiel 3 times to "complete" her story, correct? I have summoned her for two boss kills (Smelter and Sinner), but I killed the Rotten without realizing I can summon her and found out later, since I went in as a human. Can I use an ascetic at the bonfire right before, resetting the boss and summoning Lucatiel on the second attempt?

Also I completely adore this game, and the best part is when I went back to get those treasures on the coals in Iron keep, I found the Pursuer hanging out in the Smelter Demon's chamber, and completely destroyed him on the first time. This was a big deal to me because I must have died 15-20 times the first time I beat him (afterward I looked up videos to see how other people killed him and found you can just parry him and then shoot him with the ballista lol). Being able to kill him in one go means I improved in the game, not just my character leveling up but player skill too. That's the best feeling - a lot of modern games don't give you that feeling as everything is designed to be a certain difficulty in relation to your characters progression, not player skill.

 

[demosthenes]

Made good progress today. Got to Shrine of Amala(sp?)

 

[BadWolf]

This was a big deal to me because I must have died 15-20 times the first time I beat him (afterward I looked up videos to see how other people killed him and found you can just parry him and then shoot him with the ballista lol). Being able to kill him in one go means I improved in the game, not just my character leveling up but player skill too. That's the best feeling - a lot of modern games don't give you that feeling as everything is designed to be a certain difficulty in relation to your characters progression, not player skill.

Good going and I agree, people complain about the difficulty but its all about learning and adapting. Sure a boss might kick your teeth in a ton of times but eventually you will stomp him so good every time he won't know what hit him.

 

[TheSeks]

I'm still on NG and playing 95% blind but there are a few things I've looked up or happened upon and would like clarification -

You have to summon Lucatiel 3 times to "complete" her story, correct? I have summoned her for two boss kills (Smelter and Sinner), but I killed the Rotten without realizing I can summon her and found out later, since I went in as a human. Can I use an ascetic at the bonfire right before, resetting the boss and summoning Lucatiel on the second attempt?

Yes. But NG+ will actually be NG++ for that fight because of the ascetic.

Though you only need her to SURVIVE THREE FIGHTS. If you've done three fights, you don't need to worry about summoning her again to continue her story line. Just talk to her at the other locations.

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

I didn't even need to do that when I was a Bellasshole for the Hidden Weapon magic.

Basically use Heavy Soul Arrow/Great Heavy Soul Arrow and watch the stairs. If they start to come up, fire. If they move, move forward. They'll generally try to retreat. If they do, smack them again.

If they try to heal: "OH NO YOU DON'T!" *smack, dead*

Hit stun on Heavy Soul Arrow/Great Heavy Soul Arrow is insane. If you sit around and wait for a second invader even better as they can distract as you hit the person with GHSA's to stunlock for either of you to finish them. The whole area is stupidly designed because it's basically a "boss rush" area with (IMO) terrible PvP combat that From will never fix because it has a certain set of "fans" forever. :/

I'm 4/4 Great Souls now. I still got the Sol Bellfry to explore, but I'm gonna have to do that offline, I guess.

I'm a dirty peasant DEX melee.

I strugle while magic users throw their shit and hit me even if I'm 4 meters away. I use every little dirty trick I can.

 

[SeventhSon]

BoB covenant as lame as it sounds?

Also Dark Souls OT title is childish as fuck.

True as ...

 

[Zeliard]

I'm a dirty peasant DEX melee.

I think you mean "remarkably brave and handsome" DEX melee

 

[MG310]

If i'm doing Bell covenant stuff and the person hasn't opened the gate yet I generally do the point gesture/bow to try to get them to go do it before I attempt to do my dark business.

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

I think you mean "remarkably brave and handsome" DEX melee

Once I have a couple of katanas I might feel like that.

 

[Amakusa]

Requesting some advice on what would be the best route for me.

At level 129 right now and I'm pretty happy with my character.

VGR 20
END 20
VIT 20
ATN 20
STR 19
DEX 22
INT 35
FTH 6

Using Elite Knight armor and dual Blue Flames. Sitting on about 100,000 souls.

What would be the best route for me? I really don't like how small my stamina pool is... but I'm not sure if 1 point per level is really worth it. 40 INT seems like a good route since scaling stops at there right? It would free up a ring slot. More health is always a good option too...

 

[Cannon Goose]

Hmm... Just had a guy swing his Claymore at me eight times in a row followed by a ninth swing after I died. 99 Endurance?

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Hmm... Just had a guy swing his Claymore at me eight times in a row followed by a ninth swing after I died. 99 Endurance?

I saw that yesterday. Dude wore full Havel in the BoB arena and swung his sword 10 times. I counted. He swung like 5x, I then attacked figuring he was out of stamina but he kept swinging 3-4 more times, stunlocked and killed me, and still swung two more hits in empty air. WTF? He took damage so he wasn't an infinite health glitcher but that was iffy as hell...

 

[GorillaJu]

Damn does everyone level up like that, spreading out Vig, End etc? I've got 16 STR so I can use black steel katana, 40 in dex, 45 in faith and everything else pathetically low :lol

I should probably at least increase my weight limit so I can use more than one slot of heavy gear. Currently wearing Alonne knight chest and the rest are some cloth/lightweight digs.

 

[Cannon Goose]

I saw that yesterday. Dude wore full Havel in the BoB arena and swung his sword 10 times. I counted. He swung like 5x, I then attacked figuring he was out of stamina but he kept swinging 3-4 more times, stunlocked and killed me, and still swung two more hits in empty air. WTF? He took damage so he wasn't an infinite health glitcher but that was iffy as hell...

Stunlocks are weird, I really don't understand them at all. I've got a decent amount of poise (~65) and have 105 agility and yet I just got stunlocked to death by a guy power stancing Drakekeeper's Greataxes. Just bonk, bonk, bonk, bonk, dead. I was holding back on the stick and mashing dodge as fast as I could to no avail.

 

[Snacks the sober sea lion]

I have a Halberd +10, strength 40 dexterity 37, and the damage I was dealing to the final boss was pretty pathetic, as well as nearly nonexistent (like 50-100) to

Spoiler

Vendrick

. Do they have resistance to slash/ thrust, or should I infuse it for NG+, and with what?

 

[Booshka]

I saw that yesterday. Dude wore full Havel in the BoB arena and swung his sword 10 times. I counted. He swung like 5x, I then attacked figuring he was out of stamina but he kept swinging 3-4 more times, stunlocked and killed me, and still swung two more hits in empty air. WTF? He took damage so he wasn't an infinite health glitcher but that was iffy as hell...

Well depending on your Soul Memory, the guy could have had bonkers Endurance and the Third Dragon ring, swing for dayssssssss.

Soul Memory is so dumb, no Soul Level restriction and healing allowed in the Arena is like a cruel joke.

Dark Souls 1 Arena was dead, but it had SL restrictions and you could only heal with attuned spells. Threw all of that out the window for Dark Souls 2.

 

[Garcia]

I can't believe this. I had 4 consecutive PvP matches and all of them were melee only (no stupid homing magic or OHK spells).

Is this real life??

 

[Oracle Dragon]

Man Demon of Song is on fire tonight, so many summons... yet so many hosts die to the giant jump Still pretty cool though, me and this other guy Conker must be the only people dropping summon signs, I've done 4-5 fights in a row now with him as the other phantom spaced only a few mins apart

On my new character, loving the pyromancer class in DS1 I figured I'd try rushing to the pyro glove... that wasn't so bad, though getting the fragrant branch from Black Gulch was a bit of a chore (this was all to kill as little as possible for minimum soul memory, so the only 2 bosses killed were Dragon Rider and Flex Sentry). But pyro seems kind of... underwhelming?

 

[Cannon Goose]

I can't believe this. I had 4 consecutive PvP matches and all of them were melee only (no stupid homing magic or OHK spells).

Is this real life??

I've seen a surprisingly good mix of builds at 13.4M soul memory, it's not all Havelmages and Havelyns.

Just fought a guy who was using Chameleon along with a 100% physical blocking shield, so I couldn't really hit him out of the Chameleon until I sprinted around to what I guessed was his back and managed to get a hit in.

Then he suddenly teleported into the backstab animation while he was in front of me -_- Brought me back to the good ol' days of Dark Souls 1 PVP.

 

[maomaoIYP]

I can't believe this. I had 4 consecutive PvP matches and all of them were melee only (no stupid homing magic or OHK spells).

Is this real life??

High SM arena duels rarely have magic casters, because spells are hilariously punishable.

 

[Booshka]

High SM arena duels rarely have magic casters, because spells are hilariously punishable.

Yea the only spells you want to cast in PvP are Great Magic Barrier and a weapon buff. You can sprint off and cast Great Heal as well.

 

[RVinP]

Man Demon of Song is on fire tonight, so many summons... yet so many hosts die to the giant jump Still pretty cool though, me and this other guy Conker must be the only people dropping summon signs, I've done 4-5 fights in a row now with him as the other phantom spaced only a few mins apart

What is the usual location for the summon signs?

I tried the boss once with two summons and died the same way too, also my human effigies are going down .

Trying again now.

Edit: Gained human form by helping a host and summoned a gold phantom into my game after that, we killed the boss. *(saint)*

 

[Oracle Dragon]

What is the usual location for the summon signs?

I tried the boss once with two summons and died the same way too, also my human effigies are going down .

Trying again now.

I always dropped mine in front of the fog door, but it usually seemed to be about 50/50 between the fog door and the top of the stairs. A couple were back by the last bonfire but not many, no one wants to watch the host slog through homing missiles

 

[Violentine]

I have a Halberd +10, strength 40 dexterity 37, and the damage I was dealing to the final boss was pretty pathetic, as well as nearly nonexistent (like 50-100) to

Spoiler

Vendrick

. Do they have resistance to slash/ thrust, or should I infuse it for NG+, and with what?

You need to collect 5 soul of a giant

http://darksouls2.wikidot.com/soul-of-a-giant

 

[Orthogonal]

What is the usual location for the summon signs?

I tried the boss once with two summons and died the same way too, also my human effigies are going down .

Trying again now.

Edit: Gained human form by helping a host and summoned a gold phantom into my game after that, we killed the boss. *(saint)*

For Demon of Song, putting your Sign at the Rhoy's Resting Place bonfire will get picked up quickly. Lots of folks want help through the last section and it becomes a lot easier when 2 folks are there to distract them.

 

[Cannon Goose]

I never used the Blue Tearstone ring in the DS1 but I'm finding it pretty handy in this one. It has allowed me to live through backstabs and ripostes that I wouldn't have otherwise.

 

[Booshka]

I never used the Blue Tearstone ring in the DS1 but I'm finding it pretty handy in this one. It has allowed me to live through backstabs and ripostes that I wouldn't have otherwise.

Blue Tearstone is really good in Dark Souls 2, the benefits proc even if you aren't in the range it says to be in for the benefits. If an attack will put you into that HP range, then it will decrease it by 35% regardless of how much HP you have. The more defense your character has, the more beneficial it becomes. I'm wondering why all the Havel Monsters aren't using it yet. It would be almost like fighting a second full health bar if a max defense high HP player used Blue Tearstone.

 

[Screaming Meat]

Dosn't helps that the netcode in DS II is as bad as the other entries in the series...

Not played DeS, but it's far and away more stable and playable than DaS.

 

[maomaoIYP]

Blue Tearstone is really good in Dark Souls 2, the benefits proc even if you aren't in the range it says to be in for the benefits. If an attack will put you into that HP range, then it will decrease it by 35% regardless of how much HP you have. The more defense your character has, the more beneficial it becomes. I'm wondering why all the Havel Monsters aren't using it yet. It would be almost like fighting a second full health bar if a max defense high HP player used Blue Tearstone.

Gonna do that right now.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Blue Tearstone is really good in Dark Souls 2, the benefits proc even if you aren't in the range it says to be in for the benefits. If an attack will put you into that HP range, then it will decrease it by 35% regardless of how much HP you have. The more defense your character has, the more beneficial it becomes. I'm wondering why all the Havel Monsters aren't using it yet. It would be almost like fighting a second full health bar if a max defense high HP player used Blue Tearstone.

Great, now you'll give the Havelyns ideas