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[Sullichin]

I've always felt like leveling up too much makes the Souls games a bit too easy. Granted, I'm already level 30 in DSII a few hours in (which is 5 levels higher than I ever went in DSI), so I'm sure it will be different for me this time, but I'm still wary of significantly reducing the difficulty through brute force.

I get what you're saying but leveling is a bit different here. You'll naturally be a higher level by the end of the game than an average playthrough of the first game unless you intentionally didn't spend your souls / bought a shit ton of other things instead.

OK, that isn't so bad.

5 Times per playthrough? That seems reasonable.

It's incredibly generous considering the series never let you do it before (in a friendly way anyway). I feel like they give you so much because the PVP mostly happens in NG+ now. Was pretty easy to make a character in DSI and get them into PVP right away. Now you might as well modify one of the characters you already have.

 

[FloatOn]

I wasn't able to finish my playthrough on ps3 before this dropped so I'm going to have to put that playthrough on hold.

Which is fine. I always chalked that run up to a practice run anyway.

 

[Volcynika]

I laughed at this hint.

 

[Buggy Loop]

Adp is a shit stat, just pump up attune net as it will drag your agility up as well. Since avoiding faith and intelligence in this game is silly, and there are no level caps for pvp, attune meant is much better value and will give you plenty of I frames at 30

but... 0.25 vs 0.75 !

 

[Jito]

If you go to the depressed merchant in the Majula house and buy stuff, he will eventually start offering boss armor (and be less depressed. He has two more tiers of mood/armor beyond the starting one).

I think you need to "invest" 16000 souls for the first tier.

Thanks for that tip, thought he just stocked crap gear and I was planning on never going back!

 

[SonicXtreme]

but... 0.25 vs 0.75 !

Upon rethinking it, pumping adp to 20 early is a good idea. However, as soon as you have the means to respect to 30 attunement, might as well just dump the points there with a respec. 4 adp club for life. Adp is quite helpful in the early game but it's poor value later in the game when attunement exists and the magic stats are really op. You won't need more than 95 agility when great resonant soul is destroying everything.

 

[DukeBobby]

DS2 is MUCH more dependent on weapons than DS1 was. By the time I finished DS2, I had 40 Dex, 40 Str, fast roll, high equip load, all that. I think I was level 169 or something. Using my dex weapons (katanas w/ S scaling), I was still doing less damage than any of my friends using STR weapons. Seriously. Uchigatana +10 deals less damage than it did in DS1 by a mile. I was basically gimping myself by using it.

I get what you're saying but leveling is a bit different here. You'll naturally be a higher level by the end of the game than an average playthrough of the first game unless you intentionally didn't spend your souls / bought a shit ton of other things instead.

Ah, I wasn't aware of the differences. I'll level up then.

 

[Thrakier]

So if I want to use Durantes VSSAO 2, do I need to activate or deactivte the ingame AO solution?

Any1?

 

[gilljoy]

Anyone had any issues with game.co.uk not sending there code out? Along with charging them a delivery charge for getting the game?

 

[Rogue_Ledr]

Yuo can have more than 1 character going at one time, right? You don't have to beat the game to start another character? I'm asking because I didn't see any other profile slots when I started the game.

 

[Necromanti]

I get what you're saying but leveling is a bit different here. You'll naturally be a higher level by the end of the game than an average playthrough of the first game unless you intentionally didn't spend your souls / bought a shit ton of other things instead.

I kind of spent souls on everything under the sun (except leveling) in the first game, so I'll try to avoid doing that this time. Actually, the main reason I didn't before was because I didn't want to put more points into an already bad build, but now I can respec.

DS2 is MUCH more dependent on weapons than DS1 was. By the time I finished DS2, I had 40 Dex, 40 Str, fast roll, high equip load, all that. I think I was level 169 or something. Using my dex weapons (katanas w/ S scaling), I was still doing less damage than any of my friends using STR weapons. Seriously. Uchigatana +10 deals less damage than it did in DS1 by a mile. I was basically gimping myself by using it.

That's depressing as I prefer DEX. I thought it was the other way around, because I never felt gimped in the first game at low levels as I do now.

Then enjoy being weak when pvp happens. Bc pvp is all soul memory based so really the best pvpers will always be the ones who spend the most souls on leveling in ds2. Buying all the equipment and shit will set you back vs your peers every time you do it tbqh.

If your concern is being too powerful in pve just use less powerful, shitty weapons.

I chose an Explorer as I don't really care too much about min-maxing and super serious PvP, but I don't even know what PvP in DSII actually entails yet. I mean, in DSI, my crap build limited me to using the environment, an element of surprise, or good rolling and parrying to stand a chance against people at the same level as me, so I never got into dual-like PvPing.

I don't like the sound of "soul memory", though, as I like trying out and buying different items. Oh well. If there's no hard level cap for PvPing in the same way, then I'll either just let loose or wait for NG+.

Anyway, thanks for the advice.

 

[Booshka]

Upon rethinking it, pumping adp to 20 early is a good idea. However, as soon as you have the means to respect to 30 attunement, might as well just dump the points there with a respec. 4 adp club for life. Adp is quite helpful in the early game but it's poor value later in the game when attunement exists and the magic stats are really op. You won't need more than 95 agility when great resonant soul is destroying everything.

I use pure melee, no magic or attunement most of the time, so I try to get ADP to about 20-26 to hit 95-100 agility. Also, there are a ton of really good spells that don't rely on magic/faith scaling at all, so you can spice them down to base requirements of your catalyst/chime, then just use a ring to get 3 attunement slots. As long as you don't care about cast speed (though there is a ring and gear for that too) you can min/max stupidly hard to get really good spells for extremely low stat investment.

Just about every build should try to have 95 or so Agility, how you get there is dependent upon your build, but ADP is undeniably the more effective way of getting it up for mostly melee characters.

 

[Facism]

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE.

Steam support unlinked my cd key so i could register it to my account.

Thanks Steam Jimmy

 

[nbthedude]

20 ADP is crazy talk.

I just raise it to 13 or something around that and never invest more in it.



It's crazy how the better texture/resolution help the game. I used to think that the forest part in forest of the giants was butt ugly, but on PC it is actually passable.

I tink I really need to put some points in to this because I'm a Deprived and it's only at 6 and I am getting my ass KICKED in Forrest of Dying Giants and I thought I'm pretty decent at Dark Souls.

This is fucking hard, man.

 

[ElFly]

Thanks for that tip, thought he just stocked crap gear and I was planning on never going back!

Happened to me in my first playthrough.

I take it you use a shield for most things.

Anyone who relies on a roll to avoid damage wants high AGL. It's proven to make your dodges better in conjunction with low equip weight. Low weight alone isn't enough for a lot of enemy attacks and you get tagged on the late frames of your roll, while the enemy attack still has active frames.

I use a shield but also roll through stuff.

Mostly prefer to invest into the stat that raises your equipment cap. Much more effective all around IMHO.

 

[goldsoundz]

So hyped to play this all weekend staring in about 2 hours. No more shitty PS3 load times.

 

[InfiniDragon]

Adp is a shit stat, just pump up attune net as it will drag your agility up as well. Since avoiding faith and intelligence in this game is silly, and there are no level caps for pvp, attune meant is much better value and will give you plenty of I frames at 30

20 ADP is crazy talk.

I just raise it to 13 or something around that and never invest more in it.

So, gotten blown up by a lot of Soulmasses and Dark Orbs, gents?

ADP works a hell of a lot better than you give it credit for, especially in PvP where you're trusting your tiny i-frames to lag. And it takes a hell of a lot of Attunement to match ADP for the record.

Oh, and Namco said very recently that Soul Level does still determine summons and invasions so take from that what you will.

 

[fluffydelusions]

I feel weapons break/are at risk too easily. Seems my stuff is always at risk then broke a couple seconds later

 

[Finalow]

ya P

Spoiler

ursuer

is so hard.
also you can easily parry his first attack and do the same thing.

 

[ElFly]

So, gotten blown up by a lot of Soulmasses and Dark Orbs, gents?

ADP works a hell of a lot better than you give it credit for, especially in PvP where you're trusting your tiny i-frames to lag. And it takes a hell of a lot of Attunement to match ADP for the record.

Oh, and Namco said very recently that Soul Level does still determine summons and invasions so take from that what you will.

I mostly roll forward in PvP. If I roll to the side or back, I will get blown up, yeah. Forward you need almost no ADP.

 

[Booshka]

I tink I really need to put some points in to this because I'm a Deprived and it's only at 6 and I am getting my ass KICKED in Forrest of Dying Giants and I thought I'm pretty decent at Dark Souls.

This is fucking hard, man.

Try to stay under 50% equip load for longer rolls and better stamina regeneration, and try to get your ADP to around 90, then shoot for 100 if you really like the snappiness and i-frames it gives you. The game feels a lot better at 50% with around 100 agility.

It's unfortunate that you have to level up a stat to make the game feel closer to the previous ones, but that's the case so roll with it.

 

[a secret-boss]

game is so clear compared to the blurry console

 

[Thrakier]

Meh, Durante is crashing when alt tabbing. =(

 

[Misterinenja]

ya P

Spoiler

ursuer

is so hard.
also you can easily parry his first attack and do the same thing.

Also he's easy without tricks.

Ppl need to git gud or git out.

 

[Snacks the sober sea lion]

Lost Sinner is like Artorias, but with broken lock-on. If you're 2 frames off on that stupid stab, there goes half your health.

Has more active frames than Cammy's stupid Cannon Spike.

 

[Arkanius]

About area progression:

Spoiler

Guys, should I do Shaded Woods first or Huntsman Copse? Just finished Belfry Luna and Sinner's Rise

Another question about a building in Majula

Spoiler

The map room. What are the flames that are lit? Bonfires? Bosses that I have vanquished?

 

[EmptyCanO'wupass]

Three successful invasions today so far! I just wish I could find a better way to get more cracked red eye orbs.

 

[Lyonaz]

Bah, currently broke, must wait till wednesday before I can buy it.

 

[Timu]

This game has broken hit detection at times, sometimes I get hit when I'm away from the enemy.

 

[Stone Ocean]

Spoiler

The map room. What are the flames that are lit? Bonfires? Bosses that I have vanquished?

Spoiler

Those are the "main" bosses you've killed

 

[zma1013]

About area progression:

Spoiler

Guys, should I do Shaded Woods first or Huntsman Copse? Just finished Belfry Luna and Sinner's Rise

Another question about a building in Majula

Spoiler

The map room. What are the flames that are lit? Bonfires? Bosses that I have vanquished?

To the first, it doesn't really matter, the difficulty for both of those directions is about the same.

To the second, yes, that's what they are.

 

[undercoverb0ss]

Is SLI working?

 

[The_Monk]

Manage to play a bit more and it seems I'm still at this even if I'm loving it so much. Since I also finished Demon's and Dark Souls I shall continue on with my Dark Souls II adventure.

I beat

Spoiler

Dragonrider

and

Spoiler

The last Giant

Any tips where I should move to?

Also:

- I would love more healing items, but I also admit I need more practice.
- My weapons break really fast.
- Is it normal that I have only found one Convenant considering my progression/bosses beaten? Only discovered one according to my Achievements.

 

[DrBo42]

Should I be holding on to the named boss souls? Is there a crafting payoff that's worth it?

 

[Thrakier]

There is something I don't get:

I got my first flask shard after talking to that gurl.

Then I went over to the fountain and got the second one - so I thought. I got the item, but it doesn't show up in the menu and when I talk to the woman again, I get a message "you got no flask shard". Is that a bug?

 

[Facism]

I forgot i needed Lucatiel for her trophy when going to fight LS. Had already summoned 2 guys, so needed to get rid of one.

I opened the secret wall out to the sea and did the point gesture across it hoping one of my phantoms would do the right thing and walk too far.

It worked lol. Grief Souls still perfectly possible.

 

[nbthedude]

Try to stay under 50% equip load for longer rolls and better stamina regeneration, and try to get your ADP to around 90, then shoot for 100 if you really like the snappiness and i-frames it gives you. The game feels a lot better at 50% with around 100 agility.

It's unfortunate that you have to level up a stat to make the game feel closer to the previous ones, but that's the case so roll with it.

Wait. What is ADP and how do I increase it?

Mine is at 6 and you are saying 90.

 

[Sullichin]

Upon rethinking it, pumping adp to 20 early is a good idea. However, as soon as you have the means to respect to 30 attunement, might as well just dump the points there with a respec. 4 adp club for life. Adp is quite helpful in the early game but it's poor value later in the game when attunement exists and the magic stats are really op. You won't need more than 95 agility when great resonant soul is destroying everything.

If you're going to cast, yeah don't bother with ADP.
Not interested in making all of my characters OP hexers though. I did it once and it's fun, actually a lot more fun than using the spells in DS2, but my current character is pure melee which is my preferred way to play. Not going to pump int/faith on every character just because it's (unfortunately) more viable.

Wait. What is ADP and how do I increase it?

Mine is at 6 and you are saying 90.

Adaptability increases Agility. Agility would be at 90, not ADP.
Agility is the real stat we're talking about here. Attunement and Adaptability both increase it, but ADP increases it faster.

 

[cm osi]

Manage to play a bit more and it seems I'm still at this even if I'm loving it so much. Since I also finished Demon's and Dark Souls I shall continue on with my Dark Souls II adventure.

I beat

Spoiler

Dragonrider

and

Spoiler

The last Giant

Any tips where I should move to?

Also:

- I would love more healing items, but I also admit I need more practice.
- My weapons break really fast.
- Is it normal that I have only found one Convenant considering my progression/bosses beaten? Only discovered one according to my Achievements.

after the dragonrider there's no man wharf, or you can defeat the pursuer on the forest of the giant and go directly to the lost bastille

 

[Sinatar]

Should I be holding on to the named boss souls? Is there a crafting payoff that's worth it?

Yes and that holds true for all souls games.

 

[Polioliolio]

Anyone else finding issue with the way the analog stick controls in this game?

It's like an 8 way run or something. Try running in a circle. Your character will run in a square. Was it this way on PS3 also?

 

[Facism]

Wait. What is ADP and how do I increase it?

Mine is at 6 and you are saying 90.

Agility is a stat that is directly affected by ADP and ATT. As you pump points into either, your Agility increases. ADP increases it more so than ATT.

for instance, at 14 ATT and 4 ADP i have 86 Agility.

 

[ElFly]

About area progression:

Spoiler

Guys, should I do Shaded Woods first or Huntsman Copse? Just finished Belfry Luna and Sinner's Rise

Another question about a building in Majula

Spoiler

The map room. What are the flames that are lit? Bonfires? Bosses that I have vanquished?

Technically certain bonfires.

 

[cm osi]

That's depressing as I prefer DEX. I thought it was the other way around, because I never felt gimped in the first game at low levels as I do now. I chose an Explorer as I don't really care too much about min-maxing and super serious PvP, but I don't even know what PvP in DSII actually entails yet.

well, it make sense. dex weapon are supposed to be fast and with poise nerfed to death you can stunlock and deal some hit and roll away. let us STR player have higher damage at least.

 

[Mman235]

About area progression:

Spoiler

Guys, should I do Shaded Woods first or Huntsman Copse? Just finished Belfry Luna and Sinner's Rise

Do

Spoiler

Huntsman's Copse

; That route scales up slower (although it's arguably the toughest at the end) and there are items that will probably be more useful for most builds overall on that route (and help with the other route too).

 

[ElFly]

well, it make sense. dex weapon are supposed to be fast and with poised nerfed to death you can stunlock and deal some hit and roll away. let us STR player have higher damage at least.

I don't feel katanas are all that fast.

 

[Salcin]

Asking again how do I jump attack? (With keyboard)

 

[Thrakier]

There is something I don't get:

I got my first flask shard after talking to that gurl.

Then I went over to the fountain and got the second one - so I thought. I got the item, but it doesn't show up in the menu and when I talk to the woman again, I get a message "you got no flask shard". Is that a bug?

I just went back to the well, the item isn't there anymore. It definitely saved it. Help.

 

[Snacks the sober sea lion]

Adaptability essentially having a hidden effect with no distinctly discernible difference between roll "tiers" really sucks. Doesn't help that the game feels like playing underwater compared to a fast-rolling character in the first game.

 

[SweetJohnnyCage]

well, it make sense. dex weapon are supposed to be fast and with poised nerfed to death you can stunlock and deal some hit and roll away. let us STR player have higher damage at least.

It's also because they changed bleed. You no longer get the bonus damage from it, which is where the giant nerf comes from on DEX. Bleed in DS2 lowers your total stamina until the bleed bar goes away, but does no bonus damage.