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Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin |OT| Your weapons are weak, old man

pa22word

Member
Coming fresh off Bloodborne into this and I'm wanting gaf to spoil some of the easily missable stuff in DS2 for me because that shit annoys me. Stuff like missable quests/areas/npcs.

You're better off consulting a wiki, because essentially everything in this game relating to quests and NPCs are missable. As such trying to make a list per area is basically impossible, and a lot of the time there's stuff you'll miss by just doing something in the wrong order that's basically impossible to not do unless you've got a guide sitting next to you or have played the game five or six times or so and know exactly where to go and when to get things lined up right.

I'm not trying to be disheartening, but the game is really massive and has tons of branching paths that you can mostly do in whatever order you want (especially in Scholar now that they changed how they handle Fragrant Branch of Yore), and unless you have more specific questions about an area/quest/encounter and where you've been in relation to that area before entering it, it's really hard to put you on the right path.
 
So I have passed D
ragon
A
erie
a few hours ago.

What's the point of that zone in SotFS? Just a glorified upgrade stone well?
I mean, they outright unlocked the shortcut that lets you bypass the entire area...that felt weird.

One other thing that felt weird was in A
ldia's
K
eep
, because that damned
dragon didn't move at all
>_<

I was extra careful when I noticed the second thing you mentioned, but dig around. They did interesting things with that area.
 

Noob Fu

Member
I platted DS2 on PS3 and on the PC, I knew ever nook and cranny. So I like the new enemies for the most part (alot are still the same however) but damn, Pursurer's are EVERYWHERE in Bastille. Go around the corner, new enemies and a Pursurer. They threw them everywhere. Have not been anywhere else but the forest, are they like that eveywhere else as well?

I like how a certain key is in Bastille now and not after the Gargoyle fight. I figured that would allow everyone to 'light' up the Sinner fight, but I helped out over 8 people in that fight and only one of them had it lighted.

I like many others on the PS4 are just coming from Bloodborne so my muscle memory is still on that, I can't tell you how many times I have pressed 'triangle' to heal only to two hand my weapon.
 

Rhaknar

The Steam equivalent of the drunk friend who keeps offering to pay your tab all night.
So I just entered Iron Keep but I also realized that I never went through that gate that has a petrified dude blocking the mechanism, with a large warrior with a blue sword sitting outside. Should I do that area first or should I keep moving ahead with Iron Keep?

Finish iron keep, I just did it earlier on my mage and i also haven't been to the other place
 

Kazuhira

Member
Coming fresh off Bloodborne into this and I'm wanting gaf to spoil some of the easily missable stuff in DS2 for me because that shit annoys me. Stuff like missable quests/areas/npcs.

The sidequests in this game are pretty simple tbh
Each npc´s sidequest requires that you summon him/her at least 3 times in different bossfights throughout the game and that´s it lol,try to be in human form so you can see the summon sign.
There´s really nothing that you can´t lose permanently if you miss it the first time,well except for the summoning thing as i mentioned before.
 

Neoweee

Member
Maaan...yeah did they ever make Earthen Peak miserable as hell this go around.

I don't see what people think is so bad about it. A handful of more Manikins? A moved Sorceress or two?

It isn't that big of a change, and that was one of the zones people always pointed out as having bonfires too close to one another (which I disagree with).

The sidequests in this game are pretty simple tbh
Each npc´s sidequest requires that you summon him/her at least 3 times in different bossfights throughout the game and that´s it lol,try to be in human form so you can see the summon sign.
There´s really nothing that you can´t lose permanently if you miss it the first time,well except for the summoning thing as i mentioned before.

And you can murder them to steal their shit, too. When I realized I couldn't do their quests (doing a Company run), I didn't have a choice.
 

Daigoro

Member
bought this late Saturday night and put about 6 hours into it so far. beat my first boss today
(the Last Giant)
and immediately lost all of the souls i got from killing it. lol

it's been quite a while since ive played a souls game, and while i feel like i have a big edge over someone who is just starting, it's pretty punishing. no idea where im going. i just find a path and push through as far as i can until it gets to hard. im running past as much as i possibly can because enemies are everywhere.

havent been able to figure out how to summon yet and thankfully havent been invaded.

gonna maybe check out a faq with minimal spoilers and keep plugging away here. i feel like i have a long way to go. (havent played vanilla, so i dont even know what stuff is DLC and what's vanilla. guess it doesnt matter now though)
 

Kallor

Member
The sidequests in this game are pretty simple tbh
Each npc´s sidequest requires that you summon him/her at least 3 times in different bossfights throughout the game and that´s it lol,try to be in human form so you can see the summon sign.
There´s really nothing that you can´t lose permanently if you miss it the first time,well except for the summoning thing as i mentioned before.

You're better off consulting a wiki, because essentially everything in this game relating to quests and NPCs are missable. As such trying to make a list per area is basically impossible, and a lot of the time there's stuff you'll miss by just doing something in the wrong order that's basically impossible to not do unless you've got a guide sitting next to you or have played the game five or six times or so and know exactly where to go and when to get things lined up right.

I'm not trying to be disheartening, but the game is really massive and has tons of branching paths that you can mostly do in whatever order you want (especially in Scholar now that they changed how they handle Fragrant Branch of Yore), and unless you have more specific questions about an area/quest/encounter and where you've been in relation to that area before entering it, it's really hard to put you on the right path.

Yeah I'm really just looking for anything easily missable that might lock me out of something. Thanks for the replies guys.
 

Daigoro

Member
huh, well just discovered why i couldnt figure out how to summon NPC's yet after a search.

mitsiguri answered:
You probably made an unintentional mistake a lot of people have. If you join the convenant at the top of the hill, not only does it make you do less damage, enemies will do more damage to you AND you can NOT see summon signs. Just leave the covenant.

lol oops. i was wondering about that. some vague shit.

life just got easier.
 
FU
ME
KNIGHT YOU MOTHER FUCKER I WILL SLIT YOUR GOD DAMN THROAT WHILE YOU SLEEP YOU SON OF A FUCKING MONGOOSE.


Fucker is doing its powerup magic flame sword shit THE SECOND IT WAKES UP NOW. I'm not sure what I did to piss it off. I've been nothing if not polite in all our encounters.
 

AmyS

Member
And people thought this was difficult many moons ago:

G6QXxpL.gif
 

Hugstable

Banned
Mid Game Spoilers

I'm really loving the level design for D
rangleic
C
astle
. This place has been alot of fun so far.
 

Rhaknar

The Steam equivalent of the drunk friend who keeps offering to pay your tab all night.
FUCK

I forgot you had to
trade at least 4 boss souls with Straid for him to give you his set, I've been using the souls for...well souls (except the ones that trade with spells).
I better not have locked myself out of getting it or I'll be pissed

And i dont want to use a ascetic :/

Edit: checked the stuff you can trade with him and I'm good, still enough bosses left
 
So it finally happened, after barely giving ds 1 a chance and quitting after only a few hours Ive put a substantial amount of time into scholars of the first sin on xbox one, and Im in love. I finally understand why people swear by these games. Now I might have to borrow my 360 back from my brother that I gave to him to replay ds1, and Im heavily considering a ps4 now for bloodborne.
 

Kazuhira

Member
Fucker is doing its powerup magic flame sword shit THE SECOND IT WAKES UP NOW. I'm not sure what I did to piss it off. I've been nothing if not polite in all our encounters.

Are you using velstadt´s helmet? if so,remove it.
I prefer to use it so i don´t have to learn 2 different movesets depending of his hp,i mean you have to fight his 2nd stage anyway(powerup magic flame sword shit)
i´m like "let´s get this over bitch,show me you full power from the start"
 
Crown of the old iron king DLC

FUCK. THIS. PLACE.

This area is just crazy, and to think this is after you beat Iron Keep. But at the same time, it's hard in a fair way. Also, the level design here is pretty good.

Fume Knight is like a rehash of Smelter Demon, except harder for some strange reason. His attacks are pretty predictable and I know how to dodge them all, but stamina management is a pain in the ass.

And then...there's fucking BLUE smelter demon. I wouldn't be too surprised if they threw in Flexile Smelter Demon in a future DLC. The path to the boss isn't that fun either. If you fight the enemies, there's mages you can't reach that shoot at you. If you run pass them, the mages will cast slow on you. Ridiculous.

Sir Alonne was pretty easy, but holy shit the path leading up to him is just bullshit. Archers and fireball spitting salamanders in a big open room. It doesn't help that it has a timer on the area (it's probably a long timer, but a timer nonetheless). I had to use on average 1-2 estus just running pass all the enemies.

Are you using velstadt´s helmet? if so,remove it.
I prefer to use it so i don´t have to learn 2 different movesets depending of his hp,i mean you have to fight his 2nd stage anyway(powerup magic flame sword shit)
i´m like "let´s get this over bitch,show me you full power from the start"

I think I would've flipped my shit if this happened to me.
 

Rhaknar

The Steam equivalent of the drunk friend who keeps offering to pay your tab all night.
Wiki says the witch vendor in Majula gives you
a +1 covetous silver serpent ring (the one to get more souls out of enemies) if you spend 10k at her but that must be changed because the fragrant branch alone is 12k and she didn't give me shit :/
 

ironcreed

Banned
Crown of the old iron king DLC

FUCK. THIS. PLACE.

This area is just crazy, and to think this is after you beat Iron Keep. But at the same time, it's hard in a fair way. Also, the level design here is pretty good.

Fume Knight is like a rehash of Smelter Demon, except harder for some strange reason. His attacks are pretty predictable and I know how to dodge them all, but stamina management is a pain in the ass.

And then...there's fucking BLUE smelter demon. I wouldn't be too surprised if they threw in Flexile Smelter Demon in a future DLC. The path to the boss isn't that fun either. If you fight the enemies, there's mages you can't reach that shoot at you. If you run pass them, the mages will cast slow on you. Ridiculous.

Sir Alonne was pretty easy, but holy shit the path leading up to him is just bullshit. Archers and fireball spitting salamanders in a big open room. It doesn't help that it has a timer on the area (it's probably a long timer, but a timer nonetheless). I had to use on average 1-2 estus just running pass all the enemies.



I think I would've flipped my shit if this happened to me.

I went there for the first time today and anyone who says that the level design in Dark Souls II is lacking must not have played this. The layout is amazing.
 

Steel

Banned
Wiki says the witch vendor in Majula gives you
a +1 covetous silver serpent ring (the one to get more souls out of enemies) if you spend 10k at her but that must be changed because the fragrant branch alone is 12k and she didn't give me shit :/

I got it from
the old hag that carries everything with her, if that's what you mean by the witch. I bought the fragrant branch and one or two more things extra.
 

Pancakes

hot, steaming, as melted butter slips into the cracks, drizzled with sticky sweet syrup OH GOD
Wiki says the witch vendor in Majula gives you
a +1 covetous silver serpent ring (the one to get more souls out of enemies) if you spend 10k at her but that must be changed because the fragrant branch alone is 12k and she didn't give me shit :/

I just bought a branch and some low level junk then talked to her and got it.
 

Rhaknar

The Steam equivalent of the drunk friend who keeps offering to pay your tab all night.
I bought the branch, the Lockstone and the blacksmith key :(

Maybe I just haven't talked to her since hmm
 
Are you using velstadt´s helmet? if so,remove it.
I prefer to use it so i don´t have to learn 2 different movesets depending of his hp,i mean you have to fight his 2nd stage anyway(powerup magic flame sword shit)
i´m like "let´s get this over bitch,show me you full power from the start"

HAHA. That's it. Thanks. I may try the boss like this for a bit tomorrow. Its AOE attack always ruins my shit but might as well get used to it!
 
Alright finally beat the game. General thoughts are:

I don't know if I'm familiar enough with the enemy places in the first game (only played it one and a half times) to really judge them much however my impressions were generally positive. It felt like easier parts of the game had some tougher enemies put in but not in ways that felt really "cheap". Meanwhile some of the more annoying sections of the game before feel significantly better. I really liked the new Dragon Shrine and how the place almost seems welcoming of you now.

I played as a dual ultra-greatsword user and purposefully went through the game without a shield and besides a slightly rocky start, everything went great. I actually think I had a much easier time than I did with my first magic-centric character. It helps that I could annihilate just about any enemy with one swing. Magic seems so feeble in comparison.

The really new content for me this time was the DLC and I gotta say... I was overall very impressed. I loved the new zones for the most part and I felt like each of the DLCs was 2/3 with awesome bosses (the pvp gank squad, reskinned smelter, and double cats being overall pretty disappointing fights). Fume Knight, Singh, and the Ivory King were all excellent fights, easily among the best in the series for me. I could almost see a Dark Souls 3 going back to a more Demons Souls world layout where they expand out the zones a bit and just have you warping to different areas of the continent with each map being very interconnected and winding into one another.

Not sure how quick I'll be jumping into NG+. Did this just after hopping off of Bloodborne so I think I may need to go on a Souls break for a while.
 

Hugstable

Banned
I really need some help right now in Drangleic Castle, I'm incredibly lost on what I need to do next.

After beating Twin Dragonriders, I got into that big room where you fight the Chariot, and then the next outside portion has that Gargoyle dude at the top, and that unopenable big blue door. What am I supposed to do after this? I found the shortcut yeah, but I can't figure out where the hell I'm supposed to go. I've checked throughout most of th elevel and just can't find what I'm missing or where I need to go. There is that room with the spiral elevator, but the lever doesn't work and the door there is locked with no key too.
 

Rhaknar

The Steam equivalent of the drunk friend who keeps offering to pay your tab all night.
You finished the game dual wielding ultra greatswords?

latest
 

Ac30

Member
Just run. After the worms stick right, by the edge and you will find another bonfire. Drop backwards out of that one and the boss is right near you. The actual area is probably the smallest in any souls game it's just littered with crap. There's really no reason to bother fighting down there tbh.

By the way, anyone have any fume knight tips? Also what the hell's up with the DLC? Everything's so overly difficult and packed with gank squads.

It's small, sure, but holy fuck is it just plain unfun. I don't know what FROM was thinking.

You can run through it in like a minute. There's also a bonfire right by the boss door.

Guess I'll go looking for it, thanks!

There's a shortcut that allows you to avoid some of the nasty bits of the poison gulch area. Toward the beginning, there is a drop off area to the right(sorry, don't remember the exact spot) that leads to an area further down right above those wall snakes. Makes it an easy run to the bonfire. I only found it because an enemy knocked me off onto the ledge haha

Shit, I need to try that haha, that would make it so much better.
 

maomaoIYP

Member
cool. i remember you were pretty into this game last year.

Yeah I was, I stopped after the DLC launched because 360 owners were not given the option to purchase them as a whole till much later. I only picked up the DLC a few months ago in anticipation for Bloodborne. Too bad most of the items from the DLC were pretty worthless.
 

Dance Inferno

Unconfirmed Member
Don´t worry about it,finish iron keep.

I'm going through that area right now while putting Iron Keep on hold for the moment, but it doesn't really matter which order to go in. If you already got good fire resistance, just knock out Iron Keep first.

Finish iron keep, I just did it earlier on my mage and i also haven't been to the other place

Thanks guys, I'll push through IK then. I don't have any fire resistance armor though, I'm just wearing the Drangleic Set. Will I be OK? Should I plan to go back to that area eventually once I finish IK?
 

Hugstable

Banned
It's small, sure, but holy fuck is it just plain unfun. I don't know what FROM was thinking.

It's not all that bad, especially compared to the nightmare that was Harvest Valley and Earthen Peak. A good strategy I had for it was going in there with the Poisonbite ring on, knock out some of the statues, and if I got poisoned, I wouldn't cure it. Instead I would just pop 2 lifegems and they would balance out the damage done by the poison, all the while the poison darts won't do shit to you til the current poison runs out.
 

Ac30

Member
It's not all that bad, especially compared to the nightmare that was Harvest Valley and Earthen Peak. A good strategy I had for it was going in there with the Poisonbite ring on, knock out some of the statues, and if I got poisoned, I wouldn't cure it. Instead I would just pop 2 lifegems and they would balance out the damage done by the poison, all the while the poison darts won't do shit to you til the current poison runs out.

Huh, I got through Harvest Valley dying only once and Earthen Peak after my 3rd try, but The Gutter and Black Gulch have been kicking my ass :( Also yeah I've been trying to do the same but the hands are damned annoying while avoiding dying due to poison...
 
In Harvest Valley near the room with the holes that drop into the poison tunnels is a breakable wall behind which is the big dude that shoots dark balls at you. Then behind him is a wall which looks breakable but isn't but has items behind it. How do i get back there? I've tried all the poison tunnels, can't find anything
 

Kemal86

Member
In Harvest Valley near the room with the holes that drop into the poison tunnels is a breakable wall behind which is the big dude that shoots dark balls at you. Then behind him is a wall which looks breakable but isn't but has items behind it. How do i get back there? I've tried all the poison tunnels, can't find anything

You need to lure the big guy into breaking it. It may take a few tries as he tends to not close in on you.
 

Joey Ravn

Banned
According to one of the two Dark Souls II wikis,
Fume Knight
is the hardest boss in the game:

"Stats collected by FromSoft reveal him as the hardest boss in the game, sporting a 93% failure rate."

Really? Is it that much harder than
Darklurker
? I'm finding it hard to believe.
 

Victrix

*beard*
According to one of the two Dark Souls II wikis,
Fume Knight
is the hardest boss in the game:

"Stats collected by FromSoft reveal him as the hardest boss in the game, sporting a 93% failure rate."

Really? Is it that much harder than
Darklurker
? I'm finding it hard to believe.

It's possible that he wrecks casters and shield users, rather than people who rely on dodging, not sure. Unless he can be tanked with a big greatshield?
 

Renekton

Member
I really need some help right now in Drangleic Castle, I'm incredibly lost on what I need to do next.

After beating Twin Dragonriders, I got into that big room where you fight the Chariot, and then the next outside portion has that Gargoyle dude at the top, and that unopenable big blue door. What am I supposed to do after this? I found the shortcut yeah, but I can't figure out where the hell I'm supposed to go. I've checked throughout most of th elevel and just can't find what I'm missing or where I need to go. There is that room with the spiral elevator, but the lever doesn't work and the door there is locked with no key too.
There's a ladder near the
elevator
 

SargerusBR

I love Pokken!
According to one of the two Dark Souls II wikis,
Fume Knight
is the hardest boss in the game:

"Stats collected by FromSoft reveal him as the hardest boss in the game, sporting a 93% failure rate."

Really? Is it that much harder than
Darklurker
? I'm finding it hard to believe.

I find
Alonne
,
Darklurker
and
Sinh
far more difficult to deal with it IMO
 

Ayt

Banned
Huh, I got through Harvest Valley dying only once and Earthen Peak after my 3rd try, but The Gutter and Black Gulch have been kicking my ass :( Also yeah I've been trying to do the same but the hands are damned annoying while avoiding dying due to poison...

It just requires patience. Put on your best poison gear and the poison ring if you have it. You can equip a shield that has a very high poison block rate and a weapon that allows you to attack from behind a shield to safely take out the statues in the more troublesome areas. You know there are going to be monsters in a few of the pools so lure them out and retreat back a bit to an area you already cleared of statues and murder them.

It is methodical but you can get through it without much trouble. The new invasions do kind of make it more difficult now, but you can always retreat to an area you cleared of statues to fight them.
 
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