torn between respecing to a mage or making one from scratch. not sure if I cba going through the whole game again so soon, but Im not a big fan of respecicng to a whole different style, I think thats something that grows with your characters as you play
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Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin |OT| Your weapons are weak, old man
- Thread starter VisceralBowl
- Start date
ArclightBorealis
Member
So I restarted Dark Souls II yet again because I figured I could approach the early game areas better and more efficiently, even though my previous character was already 11 hours in. But at least now I opened up the Cathedral of Blue and I don't have to worry about getting there when all the Heide's Knights are active. Also re approached how I was increasing some of my stats for weapons.
There's just one thing mechanics wise that I'm not entirely sure on and that is the counter damage system. My main weapons are the dagger you get off of a body in Thing's Betwixt, and a club that I bought from Melentia, so I've got a weapon that favors Dexterity and Strength each. I like that this game has counter damage similar to how it was in Demon's Souls, though where I am now, my club is dealing more damage per hit despite my strength being 5 points lower than dex, and while the dagger adds about 50% counter damage to an attack I'm not finding much reason to use it in normal encounters.
Is continuing to invest in upgrading dexterity for weapons with high counter damage something that will matter as I approach the late game and even new game plus? Granted, I didn't really start to notice the benefits of getting counter hits in Demon's Souls until I was close to beating the regular game, so maybe the situation is the same here where it's useful in ending battles quickly. Unless there's some other factor that affects whether or not an attack deals counter damage besides hitting an enemy during their attack animation.
There's just one thing mechanics wise that I'm not entirely sure on and that is the counter damage system. My main weapons are the dagger you get off of a body in Thing's Betwixt, and a club that I bought from Melentia, so I've got a weapon that favors Dexterity and Strength each. I like that this game has counter damage similar to how it was in Demon's Souls, though where I am now, my club is dealing more damage per hit despite my strength being 5 points lower than dex, and while the dagger adds about 50% counter damage to an attack I'm not finding much reason to use it in normal encounters.
Is continuing to invest in upgrading dexterity for weapons with high counter damage something that will matter as I approach the late game and even new game plus? Granted, I didn't really start to notice the benefits of getting counter hits in Demon's Souls until I was close to beating the regular game, so maybe the situation is the same here where it's useful in ending battles quickly. Unless there's some other factor that affects whether or not an attack deals counter damage besides hitting an enemy during their attack animation.
Personally I was surprised at how good it looks.
No. There's no reason to focus on 'counter hits'. It's a perk of dex stuff generally, and there is a ring that affects it, but that's really it.
If you're going melee, pick str or dex and go for a weapon (or weapons) that suit your personal preference.
As far as I know you can pretty much take anything the entire way (hell, the basic Club is one of the best 1h strike weapons in the game for pure str, if not the best).
Ugh, the durability bug makes this almost unplayable after messing around with bloodborne
I decided to start a run on this as a deprived, so my first weapon was a dagger which fell to 2/3rds durability after doing about a third of the tutorial.
How in the fuck they managed to ship this game twice without fixing this shit is unbelievable.
I decided to start a run on this as a deprived, so my first weapon was a dagger which fell to 2/3rds durability after doing about a third of the tutorial.
How in the fuck they managed to ship this game twice without fixing this shit is unbelievable.
You didn't consider to use some of the other weapons you may have picked up?
I won't defend the 60fps durability, but there are usually another weapon you can use when your main breaks.
SiegfriedFM
Member
Maybe it's just spite, but I'm starting to enjoy durability more and more. I used to upgrade a single weapon and then just run with that. Now I have a good reason to switch around, which makes the game more varied. I have the Bastard Sword for bosses, the Flamberge for trash and working on getting the Washing Pole up there through levelling dex.
you're in the tutorial. you can literally get through it with your fists.
not sure how you managed to mess up your dagger that much anyway.
wait a minute if you're in the tutorial as deprived, you don't even start with the dagger anyway. You get it after going through a few tutorial rooms.
Yeah the durability doesn't seem like an issue once you get further into the game. It's looking like it was put there make the start more difficult. I find it funny how my broken sword can flash up a weapon is broken error
Still plodding through with my +10 kantana, scimitar and falchion, none of which have flashed up a weapon durability warning once I'd got further than the three sentinals.
Really struggling on dragon shrine without a shield though.
Lanrutcon
Member
The Old Whip is pretty sweet, but the durability bug hits whips pretty hard. You have to be super careful with your swing timing and distance. Because of the range of whips you can't fight near corpses as you'll run a high risk of accidentally hitting one.
Robot Pants
Member
Well I beat it (still haven't touched the DLC areas yet) and the added stuff
makes the game make even less sense for me than the vanilla version haha. Does the DLC help?
to the ending
The narrative, such as it is, totally fell apart for me in the final stages of the game. I have no fucking idea what was going on about a lot of stuff I saw there.
The broad strokes of the story are pretty simple, but lots of finer details are confusing or obscure as hell.
Most notably (endgame spoilers)
The broad strokes of the story are pretty simple, but lots of finer details are confusing or obscure as hell.
Most notably (endgame spoilers)
I have no idea to what first sin the Scholar is referring, nor why Aldia is a bed of chaos head, or many other things relating to him, the ancient dragon, the ashen mist heart, etc.
Just backstab breh
SymbiantXenos
Member
Love the full looking glass armor set.
Shmeagatory94
Member
Can I just say the PVP for this game is INCREDIBLE? Someone invaded me at
and it got pretty intense. I had him down to like a sliver of health and he kept backing up so I made him back up into a hole with poison at the bottom lol this game is the shit!
Harvest Valley
lol this game is the shit!Ouch, which boss?
made a new char, a mage, man starting over is rough when you are near the end on another character. anyway, if I remember corrctly from vanilla, mages have a lot of stats to worry about correct? They still need end to cast spells, vig for life abviously, you can skin vit I guess since youll be rocking mostly light stuff, but then you need a ton of attunement, int obviously and also faith if you are a hexer (which I was in vanialla and want to be again) and then you still need some amount of str and dex to use a decent enough shield and weapon for when youre not casting since you cant exactly just rely on spells, especially earlier on.
Any tips on how ro proceed in the early game as a mage? I remember that fire sword from forrest of giants being a good all around weapon for a mage
Any tips on how ro proceed in the early game as a mage? I remember that fire sword from forrest of giants being a good all around weapon for a mage
jacob armitage
Banned
The summon icon for Lucatiel of Mirrah isn't showing but by the lever & gate in No-Mans wharf. I am human, am i missing something?
How many bosses have you beaten? You can do him much later in the game.
Are you in the Company of Champions? "Hard Mode" blocks all co-op as one of its effects.
grandwizard
Member
God damn this game is so good. The world feels so expansive and varied. It is full of items and weapons to find in clever places, off the beaten path and encourages exploration. There is so many stats, spells/skill, weapons and upgrading 'RPGness' that it makes you want to experiment different builds over and over and the easy rerolling encourages that. The 60fps smoothness just makes it pleasant as hell to play. The new graphics and lighting is excellent, places like No Man's Wharf and The Gutter look incredible as you slowly light them up one torch at a time. And I absolutely love Majula as the hub with it being bathed in dull sunlight and the peaceful slow tune, full of NPCs you have encountered.
For me this is probably the 'definitive' Souls experience, everything I love about this series is all here.
Also now that it's clear the developers intended the durability to be how it is maybe we can collectively agree to either mod it or move on? I think its obvious the PC version must have been their original main development platform and they balanced the durability around it's 60fps, making the 30fps console versions the 'bugged' ones. And I totally agree as in my many hours I've had so few true durability scares that if it were to be half the speed then the entire mechanic would be worthless. There is a reason they give you 3 weapon slots and free repairs at bonfires people!
For me this is probably the 'definitive' Souls experience, everything I love about this series is all here.
Also now that it's clear the developers intended the durability to be how it is maybe we can collectively agree to either mod it or move on? I think its obvious the PC version must have been their original main development platform and they balanced the durability around it's 60fps, making the 30fps console versions the 'bugged' ones. And I totally agree as in my many hours I've had so few true durability scares that if it were to be half the speed then the entire mechanic would be worthless. There is a reason they give you 3 weapon slots and free repairs at bonfires people!
Stallion Free
Cock Encumbered
It's on the dock heading towards the boat now.
jacob armitage
Banned
Kamina
Golden Boy
I didn't know that! Can you still be invaded though?
the_batman
Banned
why didn't you help people as a summon instead to become human?
The tutorial segments with the pillars that describe the gameplay happen after you pick your class, thus why I literally describe them as a "tutorial".
As for the the guy who told me to "backstab" or the guy who told me to "use my other weapons", I was attempting (as someone whom has completed the game 3 times) to backstab by default and still ended up as described + plus I started as deprived, so the dagger was my first weapon.
It's embarrassing that they didn't fix this, and I honestly feel embarrassed I spent money on this iteration, and honestly it's embarising any "fan" of the series is trying to defend this, because come the fuck on, this is a fix that by any reasonable metric should have been fixed by a paid upgrade with no other changes (to the PC version) other than what a fucking romhack 10 years ago could have done to super metroid achieved. .
Stallion Free
Cock Encumbered
If you are in human form (you can tell by looking at your skin) you should see white or gold sings on the ground, usually in front of boss gates, that pull other people into your world.
you need to be human and then hope there is a summon sign on the floor near a boss. but theres a lot of npc summons too
no luck because because no signs near
and i killed a npc so i cant ask that one for help so im just gonna wait hours until a sign shows up ?
jacob armitage
Banned
it rarely seems to take long in my experience, don't know why you'd assume hours. Some of the areas they won't spawn right in front of the boss door, like the (small spoiler)
pirate ship in No man's wharf
Its also always a good idea to aid other players and practice as a shade/phantom too.
You fight like 6 or so people in the tutorial. So you back stabbed all of them and your shit broke?
Instead of resorting to hyperbole I suggest you reread my post.
I was surprised to see it so early, as well. It's a terrific weapon and something you can use solely. The only time you may need repair powder with it is in Shrine of Amana.
I read it and it was embarrassing
Obviously not, I guess.
You said it happened as you described. so you had 3 daggers break in the tutorial area?
Edit. 2 daggers
Drop your own sign either near a bonfire or at a boss door and get revived to human form. If you use the lesser stone to place your sign, you'll revive as human after killing a bunch of normal enemies, if you use the large stone you have to stick around for a longer time or help to kill the boss.
Then look for summon signs nearby, they're typically placed at the fire or the boss door, but NPC summons may be located in other places. Most (all?) bosses have NPC help available nearby.
Helping to kill bosses to revive is also very helpful for you - you get the pile of souls for killing the boss.
Suspend resume fucks summoning's up.
jimmythepage
Member
Being this my first DaS (played DeS but gave up pretty much at the beginning because of the difficulty) I find the thing about durability balanced, after all you just need to hop back at the bonfire and you're not forced to fight everyone you find on your path, you can skip and reach other bonfires which lead to other enemies/npc/chests -> better weapons.
(also the durability ring)
One thing I find super weird is how I reached lv 74 now, cleared
and still my best weapon combo is the fire longsword (now +7) and the foot soldier sword (+5), and the crossbow.
Dropped bastard swords and many others but wither the animation is either too slow or the damage simply isn't enough to oneshot most common enemies.
Also, I can't parry, I tried so much but the command input is never perfect, I don't know if this happens for everyone or there is another way or simply you need to time the inputs more than perfectly, for some moments I thought my controller was broken.
(also the durability ring)
One thing I find super weird is how I reached lv 74 now, cleared
Forest of Fallen Giants, Heide's Tower of Flame, Cathedral of Blue, No-Man's Wharf
Dropped bastard swords and many others but wither the animation is either too slow or the damage simply isn't enough to oneshot most common enemies.
Also, I can't parry, I tried so much but the command input is never perfect, I don't know if this happens for everyone or there is another way or simply you need to time the inputs more than perfectly, for some moments I thought my controller was broken.
Don't compare upgraded weapons to freshly found ones - check their movesets, rather than their damage. If you like the way they feel and fight, upgrade them. Basically any weapon in the entire game can be used start to finish, as long as it's upgraded and you have the appropriate stats for it.
Parrying is tough, the timing varies not just from enemy to enemy, but also based on the item you're using to parry (there are some offhands/shields better at it, in terms of more frames that count as a parry). Really it's not something you should worry about unless you find it fun to do and learn, either use a shield or learn to dodge well.
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