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Dark Souls II PC |OT| Give us smooth, Give us silky

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Anyone else play through the whole game with a friend? Thank you From for adding that ring that lets you choose a God, thanks to that I was able to play the whole game with a friend.
 

Bucca

Fools are always so certain of themselves, but wiser men so full of doubts.
Okay you know what, go fuck yourselves FROM. Keep your shit ass boss V
endrik
.

Fucking done with that, like throwing my face against a brick wall over and over.
 

Facism

Gold Member
Okay you know what, go fuck yourselves FROM. Keep your shit ass boss V
endrik
.

Fucking done with that, like throwing my face against a brick wall over and over.

Did him first go. Easy boss. All you do is lock on and stay behind his left leg.

Do you have the
giant souls
?
 
My last 60 deaths have probably been through trying to do the platforming in
Iron's Keep
. Good thing I don't care about my total death count.
 

Rich!

Member
Although the limited enemy spawns concern me, I feel a certain satisfaction from rendering certain enemy types extinct. Big, tanky enemies will bother me no more.

Yeah, in some ways it's good. in others (farming human effigies), it's bad. But then you get given the dilemna of leaving the area as-is or using a bonfire aescetic, which is a fantastic way of changing things up
 

eot

Banned
I think complaining about "too many bonfires" fails to take into account the differences between DS and DS2. While their basic "refresh" function is the same the way they interact with the rest of the games mechanics and their "design purpose" as such are different. To give an anecdotal example, playing a pure sorcerer character, generally in DS1 magic was stronger and there were less enemies but the longer gaps between bonfires meant that I was generally out of spells and maybe estus by the time I hit one. In DS2 magic is weaker and there are more enemies, so again I'm generally out of spells and maybe estus by the time I hit a bonfire (and durability on my main weapons as well). So in terms of resource management they feel pretty similar, though in general I find DS2's pacing/distribution to be smoother than its pre-decessor. The relative rarity of bonfires in DS made them feel like a stopping point, whereas in DS2, given the increased number of enemies, etc. they feel more like a staging point, I enjoyed both, but they do feel different which is why I think directly comparing the two without acknowledging their different context feels off.

I haven't touched magic in either game so I can't comment on that, but there are areas which don't have a lot of bonfires (N
o Man's Wharf
for example) and the mechanics apparently still support magic users getting through those. I'm not saying they're too frequent just because they're more frequent than in Dark Souls, I think they're too frequent because when I get to them I usually feel like I could've gone a lot further without one. You said you're usually out of Estus so naturally it feels about right for you, but I don't think I've been out of Estus since I got 5 flasks. Lifegems probably have something to do with that, but that's the mechanics suggesting the distance should be longer between bonfires.

As for the weapons breaking, that seems like something which would be easy to tune once the levels are done. I can't imagine they gave the weapons low durability and changed the level design as a result of that. When there are bonfires I've only rested at once because the next one was so close it's hard to not feel like they're redundant.

Anyway, does anyone know how to maximize backstab damage every time? Sometimes I do ~800 in damage, while in others, I do ~500 on the same enemy. I don't know what determines it; is it a random critical hit, maybe?

Not sure why that happens. Are you using a club weapon? They seem to hit several times in the same animation, when I backstab from some angles things get weird and all the hits don't trigger. Mostly noticed it with the guys dual wielding sickles.
 
I was determined to take out those damn sentinels alone and I fucking did it.
Tried to help a bunch of other dudes but they all died during the fight lol.
 
Why the heck is there a fog door that gives a "Enter mist from behind" prompt? I'm scared.
Not sure why that happens. Are you using a club weapon? They seem to hit several times in the same animation, when I backstab from some angles things get weird and all the hits don't trigger. Mostly noticed it with the guys dual wielding sickles.
I'm using a Heide Knight Sword.
 

Sullichin

Member
Why the heck is there a fog door that gives a "Enter mist from behind" prompt? I'm scared.I'm using a Heide Knight Sword.

You're just approaching it from the opposite side you're likely to. There's a few places it can easily happen. In Demon's Souls, and I think Dark, you couldn't go through them backwards.
 

LeBart

Member
Oh for fuck sake... that's the second time I die at the exact moment I kill a crystal lizard, in one session...
I think I'm done for today.
 

impact

Banned
Heide is invasion central on NG+

Would be fine if there wasn't so many knights. Some people have no shame

Okay you know what, go fuck yourselves FROM. Keep your shit ass boss V
endrik
.

Fucking done with that, like throwing my face against a brick wall over and over.

Just stand behind him at all times and he's a joke. If you're complaining about the king one shotting you... he's a king (with slow ass attacks)
 

Sullichin

Member
Oh for fuck sake... that's the second time I die at the exact moment I kill a crystal lizard, in one session...
I think I'm done for today.

Don't worry, you just missed out on rare upgrade materials. :)

But really missing out on a lizard is nothing compared to doing that in DeS.
 

Garcia

Member
Okay you know what, go fuck yourselves FROM. Keep your shit ass boss V
endrik
.

Fucking done with that, like throwing my face against a brick wall over and over.

Have you collected all the 5
Souls of a Giant?
Vendrick
turns into a regular boss once you have those.

Also holy crap this game is huge. I've been checking out the wiki to find all the locations that I missed during my first and 2nd. runs and there were quite a lot of things (items, souls, etc) that I completely overlooked.

I truly wish these guys were given an extra year of development, so that all the rough edges were trimmed down to a minimum.

Another important thing I learned from all this situation is that it is the last time in my life that I buy the console version of a game that will be eventually ported to PC. Not anymore. I completely renounce to that as an option.
 

knitoe

Member
I was determined to take out those damn sentinels alone and I fucking did it.
Tried to help a bunch of other dudes but they all died during the fight lol.

LOL. I thought they were easily. Did it on my Magic char at first, she was hard for almost ever other bosses, and did it again on my melee char.

Kill the first one on the platform you drop on. You can almost kill the second on the same platform before the third one gets there. Then, drop to the bottom, finish off the second one, and now, it's easy 1 vs 1 against last one.
 

Grief.exe

Member
I heard you guys discussing the acquisition of Wrath of the Gods earlier, and how it is much easier to do it on NG++ rather than grinding the covenant.

Is it easier to do the 'acquire all spells/faith/hexes/miracles/etc' on NG++? Or just for that specific miracle?
 

Hawkian

The Cryptarch's Bane
Finally got to really sink my teeth in a bit... mmmm this is good stuff.

True to form, I went way off course for the "intended" path and made things way harder on myself than I needed to. I had the
Dragonrider
down to about 75% after multiple attempts before realizing I was not likely supposed to be there yet. Backtracked and found the
Forest of Fallen Giants
... that's more like it.

Got the first bonfire there and spent way more time than I needed to in the area practicing my parry/riposte timing against the scrub enemies. I think I actually reallllllly like the way it works now- it's very different, but oh so satisfying to pull off. Made pretty quick work of the place once I felt comfortable with my dagger.

Based on all the comments I've heard about how much harder parry/riposte is supposed to be in this (definitely gonna be raising my ADP a bunch), I think I'm in good shape. Can't wait til I feel confident enough to ditch my shield and dual-wield blades as my character was meant to. Got the
blacksmith's key, avoided some worm spitting fire at me and found a bunch of items before calling it a night.
Still obviously very early in the game but I have a better sense of the world than I would have if I'd gone through as quickly as possible.

Very much enjoying my cleric-as-assassin, the heal certainly comes in handy as I scrape by.

Questions for those who like to help:

  • Uhhh enemies
    no longer always respawn
    when you sit at a bonfire? What's the story here, totally threw me off!
  • Is this Broken Thief Sword I found in
    Heide's Tower of Flame
    considered worthless garbage? I actually really like its move set and animations :p
  • I'm gonna want to get my hands on a parrying dagger ASAP, any hope of one being available early on?
  • Have I missed how to go about playing co-op?
and finally, I'd asked about where to get some thief-ish armor early on, and someone said this
There is a thief-ish set in
Heide's Tower of Flame
. It's either in one of the chests (by
Dragon Rider
just before
Old Dragonslayer's
boss fog). Either that or it drops in there. I was definitely wearing some light armor w/ my cleric set while fighting them and it was the first place I went.
Is this true? I spent quite a while in there and I didn't spot any armor on the ground or in chests at least. Then again if it's after
Dragonrider
I wouldn't have spotted it yet :p
 
Foggity.

It's fine it just means you've gone the other way round. At iron keep perchance?
Yeah.
It's because you used creative platforming or hidden paths to sequence break that zone. I've done it a time or two.
Oh god damn it. All those souls...

I then ended up talking to a dwarf near
Belfry Sol
, but got stabbed during the conversation... When I got back at the bonfire, it seems my covenant changed. Hope I didn't miss an interesting conversation.
 

Arjen

Member
I heard you guys discussing the acquisition of Wrath of the Gods earlier, and how it is much easier to do it on NG++ rather than grinding the covenant.

Is it easier to do the 'acquire all spells/faith/hexes/miracles/etc' on NG++? Or just for that specific miracle?

There's a pyro spell that's way easier to get in NG++ then grinding out that covenant.
 

fallagin

Member
Finally beat that
royal rat authority
that was extremely difficult, but it only gave you ~14000 souls? The 30000-40000 bosses were way easier than this...

Luckily I had a lot of strength to hold a giant shield which made it easier to block. Just tons of attrition and hoping I dont get 1 shotted. Yikes.
 
I heard you guys discussing the acquisition of Wrath of the Gods earlier, and how it is much easier to do it on NG++ rather than grinding the covenant.

Is it easier to do the 'acquire all spells/faith/hexes/miracles/etc' on NG++? Or just for that specific miracle?

If you're going for that cheevo you should just get them in NG++. There is a pyromancy that otherwise requires 500 successful invasions as a red phantom that you can buy there as well. As a warning, you should take care of
Hidden Weapon and Sunlight Spear
as soon as possible, since they are only available through covenant rewards which are dependant on coop and PVP, which may be easier when still in NG.
 

Sullichin

Member
I heard you guys discussing the acquisition of Wrath of the Gods earlier, and how it is much easier to do it on NG++ rather than grinding the covenant.

Is it easier to do the 'acquire all spells/faith/hexes/miracles/etc' on NG++? Or just for that specific miracle?

Hidden Weapon
isn't bad as a
Bell Covenant reward
, I get it every playthrough because I'm farming there for easy chunks anyway. And maxing out Sunbros is the only way to get
Sunlight Spear
which is also easy. For WotG or the
pyro from the blood covenant
though... they're way too much work to get through the covenant. Especially the latter. It's insane and takes like 500 straight wins with no losses. I think the ranking system is broken on that covenant.
 

MG310

Member
Uhhh enemies
no longer always respawn
when you sit at a bonfire? What's the story here, totally threw me off!

They stop after I believe 15 deaths - basically if you want to farm the same area over and over after 15 times you'll have to use a Bonfire Ascetic, which takes that area up to NG+ level enemies/bosses.
 

Hawkian

The Cryptarch's Bane
I think taking your thumb off the analog stick in the air will prevent that? I haven't tested it fully.
Plunging attakc definitely prevents the roll.

edit @above: ...unless you do a plunging attack, I'm quite sure I noticed this last night.
 

Uthred

Member
I haven't touched magic in either game so I can't comment on that, but there are areas which don't have a lot of bonfires (N
o Man's Wharf
for example) and the mechanics apparently still support magic users getting through those. I'm not saying they're too frequent just because they're more frequent than in Dark Souls, I think they're too frequent because when I get to them I usually feel like I could've gone a lot further without one. You said you're usually out of Estus so naturally it feels about right for you, but I don't think I've been out of Estus since I got 5 flasks. Lifegems probably have something to do with that, but that's the mechanics suggesting the distance should be longer between bonfires.

As for the weapons breaking, that seems like something which would be easy to tune once the levels are done. I can't imagine they gave the weapons low durability and changed the level design as a result of that. When there are bonfires I've only rested at once because the next one was so close it's hard to not feel like they're redundant.

The weapons breaking was an example of one of the many different things about the game that fed into the different level design, were they the only or a major reason? Of course not, but they were a reason, you seem to be using a weirdly off-kilter contextless frame of reference to compare it to its pre-decessor.

As for areas that have few bonfires, of which No Mans Wharf is the longest I think, they were tougher with my sorcerer than with my strength guy, I think the first time through with my sorcerer I was more or less out of magic when I hit the boat, though I'd opened the shortcut which made getting back a bit easier. At that point I hadnt adopted my now standard boss approach of dropping a white soapstone first as I didnt realise it regenerated your resources, so I had to trod back to the bonfire and then fight back through via the shortcut. That didnt make the area more difficult or more fun, it just made it more tedious. I also said that maybe I'd be out of Estus at times, not that I was always out, but like the bonfires estus flasks also function differently (which feeds back into bonfires working differently), with the additional healing items you arent reliant purely on spells or estus for healing. Which means you arent relying solely on bonfires to charge them, which in turn means finding a bonfire isnt a big event, which in turn means that how many of them there are doesnt particularly matter as it doesnt have as big an impact on difficulty either way. Again I think your perception of what the bonfires are is tied up in what they were in DS. But hey, this is all subjective so Im happy to agree to disagree on it.

To be honest with how smooth the multiplayer is and the fact helping kill a boss replenishes everything makes it feel like the distances between bonfires is sort of irrelevant, you only really need to worry about your resources (in any of the games) when you need them for a big confrontation. But assuming you take the time to help someone out you can always have full resources for a big confrontation.
 

Firebrand

Member
Stuck on trash mobs... :| the
purgatory guardians in huntsman's copse
just before the
chariot boss
fog gate, I just can't get past them. At first I was able to lure them out one a time, but after the first one despawned the three others will always attack together for some reason.

Or well, I did get past them a few times, but then either died at the boss instantly or fell off the bridge trying to jump to the loot on the ledge.

I've got a few other areas open though so I guess I can go look there a bit, like
Harvest Valley
.
 

Bucca

Fools are always so certain of themselves, but wiser men so full of doubts.
Just beat the game at around 30 hours. Funny way to keep the series continuing if they choose.

The final boss was an absolute joke.
 

Jackben

bitch I'm taking calls.
Just beat the game at around 30 hours. Funny way to keep the series continuing if they choose.

The final boss was an absolute joke.
I thought you were complaining just a few posts ago that they were bullshit? So you ended up beating them after all?
Vendrick is the true final boss

Plunging attakc definitely prevents the roll.

Plunge attack in mid air.
Hey, I never thought of this. Pretty good idea to control your movement post-jump.
 
LOL. I thought they were easily. Did it on my Magic char at first, she was hard for almost ever other bosses, and did it again on my melee char.

Kill the first one on the platform you drop on. You can almost kill the second on the same platform before the third one gets there. Then, drop to the bottom, finish off the second one, and now, it's easy 1 vs 1 against last one.

That's exactly what I did but during the part where I had to deal with 2 I kept screwing up. That fucking jump attack lol.
Previous bosses only took me 1-3 tries.
Finding it easier than the previous games, I'm starting to understand the complaints regarding bosses, they're all too similar. Too many humanoids with very similar attack patterns.
Considering most bosses in the previous games were absolutely memorable and unique, this is disappointing.
Still having a blast though.
 

Grief.exe

Member
Hidden Weapon
isn't bad as a
Bell Covenant reward
, I get it every playthrough because I'm farming there for easy chunks anyway. And maxing out Sunbros is the only way to get
Sunlight Spear
which is also easy. For WotG or the
pyro from the blood covenant
though... they're way too much work to get through the covenant. Especially the latter. It's insane and takes like 500 straight wins with no losses. I think the ranking system is broken on that covenant.

I'm naturally working on sun bros anyways as I put my sign down in front of bosses until I am confident enough in beating the boss by myself.

Around 27 Sunlight Metals right now.
 

Hawkian

The Cryptarch's Bane
They stop after I believe 15 deaths - basically if you want to farm the same area over and over after 15 times you'll have to use a Bonfire Ascetic, which takes that area up to NG+ level enemies/bosses.
Whoa, like, they stop forever? If you use a bonfire ascetic do they then respawn indefinitely or another 15?
 

Bucca

Fools are always so certain of themselves, but wiser men so full of doubts.
I thought you were complaining just a few posts ago that they were bullshit? So you ended up beating them after all?
Vendrick is the true final boss



Hey, I never thought of this. Pretty good idea to control your movement post-jump.

Was complaining about
Vendrick
even though I knew he was optional.

If N
ashandra
is supposed to be presented to the player as the final boss, then yeah it was a joke.
 

Zeliard

Member
I had Uchigatana and a Blacksteel Katana with just straight +10 upgrades. Powerstanced the whole game, no magic, high adaptability to make 100 agility. May not be the most powerful build out there but it can still do the job pretty good and what it might lack in PVE, it makes up for it in PVP, assuming you're good at dodging.

I power-stanced Katanas most of the time going through PS3 and I've basically replicated my build on PC and I find it more than adequate in both PvE and PvP.
 
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