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

Here are my stats. I'm a complete cleric melee build



Should I respec?

Respec only if you really want to. After all, none of us are playing your character but you. :p

How are you playing your character? Are you using a lot of miracles? Your build looks like full strength, so are you just doing melee weapons only?

Personally, I say you have too many points in Vigor. I would leave it at 18-20 ish. To give you an idea, I'm SL 164 and I have 28 Vigor with a pure strength build.

I would consider putting more points into either endurance for more stamina, but if you are using miracles, then up your Faith. Depending on the weapons you have, it can also up their damage if they use faith at all.
 
Every time you log online, it resets your world tendency to whatever the average player online is at, or something. That's just completely, insanely bad design. I... why? Why would they do that? It strikes me as one of the worst-conceived ideas I've ever seen in a game.

You pretty much have to play in one giant session, or play offline, for it to work as it should. Otherwise, you're at the mercy of whatever the servers are at.

Insight was a better implementation of the basic idea of World Tendency, though even that has its fair share of problems. It keeps some of the same concept, while decoupling it from online play.

I dunno, I still don't see how the idea of a shared world tendency is a bad thing...that's the whole point of it. It's a dynamic living world. Again, if you try to exploit it you're going to have a boring time and I can see how it would be a pain. Let it behave as intended and you'll be having a dynamic experience. I liked how they made the game all black tendency on halloween and all white at...christmas was it? No other game tried anything remotely like this. It's a new concept. Like I said maybe better in theory than excecution but that could be said for much of Demon's souls.
 
Here are my stats. I'm a complete cleric melee build



Should I respec?

Get your vigor and endurance to 20. If you plan on using spells your attunement to 13 and then 16. At the same time keep an eye on your agility to the right. You can either get it to 100 with attunement or adaptability. Once you are at 100 agility you will enjoy the game a lot more due to invincibility frames while rolling. It also increases your item use speed. Once you get these pretty essential milestones you can pump dex, str, fai or int to increase your offensive capabilty based on what weapons or spells you have. There is no reason to respec at your level. Your str is high but focus on upgrading a couple of str scaling weapons you already use and like. If you aren't feeling it then respec to use something else. My first priority in most characters are the milestones I pointed out though. I typically use the same weapons on every character until I get my defense up. Then I work on my specialty.

Edit: on my phone and misread your vigor. So disregard that. Leave it where it is. The only reason you would want to keep your vit so low is if you plan on acquiring a ring from the first DLC soon. Otherwise depending on what your equip load is, you may want to consider staying light weight so your stamina regenerates faster.
 

Wagram

Member
Finally defeated the
Fume Knight
after about 20 deaths. The feels of dodge mastering this SOB. Fantastic and punishing ass fight, especially on champions covenant.

I wish all DLC was as good as Artorias of the Abyss and the Crowns.

EDIT:

S
ir
A
lonne
is an absolute joke compared to
Fume Knight.
 

flowsnake

Member
Somehow doing Demon of Song shieldless was harder than I expected.

I mean, it just meant actually being careful instead of sleepwalking like the last couple of bosses, but its attacks seem hard to dodge.
 
I've been playing DS2 "offline" since i've forgot to renew my gold

Am i missing out or would it be a bad nuisance as i've got no friends that play the game
 

flowsnake

Member
I've been playing DS2 "offline" since i've forgot to renew my gold

Am i missing out or would it be a bad nuisance as i've got no friends that play the game

You miss out on messages (though there seem to be some added in Offline mode pointing out illusury walls).

There are so many NPC summons that I'm fine with it myself, but I've played most of the game before.
 

dolemite

Member
I've been playing DS2 "offline" since i've forgot to renew my gold

Am i missing out or would it be a bad nuisance as i've got no friends that play the game

I think every boss in the game has one (sometimes two) NPCs that you can summon for help. These help alot actually.
 
I think every boss in the game has one (sometimes two) NPCs that you can summon for help. These help alot actually.

i did the last giant last night within 5 minutes and this is my first souls game.

I don't find it exceptionally hard, mostly dying by stupid mistakes or learning a new enemy.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
What's the quickest way to manhandle Darklurker with a sorcerer build? Magic, hexes, or pyromancy?

Flame Swathe for phase one. When he's going to duplicate, run under him ASAP and cast Chaos Storm pyromancy.

On my build (50 int) the swathe did about 800 each. And the Chaos Storm took off about one third if both got hit. 2 CS sealed the deal. But I've seen guys do almost double damage.
 

Kama_1082

Banned
Respec only if you really want to. After all, none of us are playing your character but you. :p

How are you playing your character? Are you using a lot of miracles? Your build looks like full strength, so are you just doing melee weapons only?

Personally, I say you have too many points in Vigor. I would leave it at 18-20 ish. To give you an idea, I'm SL 164 and I have 28 Vigor with a pure strength build.

I would consider putting more points into either endurance for more stamina, but if you are using miracles, then up your Faith. Depending on the weapons you have, it can also up their damage if they use faith at all.
Playing a pure melee build with a +5 mace. In had thought about playing other levels first. I looks like I skipped a ton of stuff and should save this part for later.
 
Got extremely lucky and took down the fume knight on my first go, with one of the smelter thingies up still as i didn't have enough wedges to take 'em all out. Probably irresponsible, but i was just curious about the fight, i didn't expect to win

EDIT: silly typo
 
Here are my stats. I'm a complete cleric melee build



Should I respec?

Nope, just make sure to be upgrading your weapons and you want weapons with B or A in strength scaling. Make sure you're under 70% equip load and to make use of dodge.

For the rotten it's a very dodge heavy fight. You can bait out his attacks and roll back then hit him a few times and repeat. His arm falls off if you hit it enough.

I can't recommend doing more in faith because aside from the buffs (like resplendent healing, or great magic shield), I think playing strength melee is easier. Lightning spears aren't worth the investment. Anything works on NG though.

Yes, because I totally don't do that...

Yeah the co op sections of the dlc aren't that enjoyable. You can solo the boss but like he said it's a lot of running and ambushing them around the corner. I basically ran, jumped down, went up the ramp and waited around the corner where I hit them with my greatsword. Then ran to the other side of the level and did it with that ramp.
 
That feel when you beat Royal Rat Authority after getting dong'd over and over the night before. Got up this morning, did it in my second try before work!

Question: I'm at SL 84 I think. I kinda blindly made my way through the mist section of the shaded woods after beating harvest valley/earthen peak and ended up beating the Scorpion boss first try with help of a player summon (I was already human and just happened across one summon sign in front of the gate, so I went for it!).

I also cleared Pharros and got to Tseldora place (whatever the name is) but I decided to go back to Iron Keep. I got smelter down to less than half but died on my first try. So I think I can beat him. After I kill him, should I go back to the Gutter/Black Gulch and clear that? Basically I have access to all the Shaded Woods areas, Tseldora place, Gutter/Black Gulch, and Iron Keep right now. Is the order of these places important?
 
Loving my time with Dark Souls 2

Sure I was spoiled by Bloodborne's simple and mechanical upgrades (and visuals) but what is wonderful is how DS2 scratches a much different gameplay itch than BB

Its crazy. Its actually compelling to jump between both games to feed different experiences that I crave

This makes me SOOO excited for both teams and their diverging courses.

To get 2 Souls games with very distinct styles in a generation is fucking amazing.
 
That feel when you beat Royal Rat Authority after getting dong'd over and over the night before. Got up this morning, did it in my second try before work!

Question: I'm at SL 84 I think. I kinda blindly made my way through the mist section of the shaded woods after beating harvest valley/earthen peak and ended up beating the Scorpion boss first try with help of a player summon (I was already human and just happened across one summon sign in front of the gate, so I went for it!).

I also cleared Pharros and got to Tseldora place (whatever the name is) but I decided to go back to Iron Keep. I got smelter down to less than half but died on my first try. So I think I can beat him. After I kill him, should I go back to the Gutter/Black Gulch and clear that? Basically I have access to all the Shaded Woods areas, Tseldora place, Gutter/Black Gulch, and Iron Keep right now. Is the order of these places important?

Nope, for all the shit Dark Souls 2 gets about world design it's pretty open ended. You can do any of the first four primal bonfires in any order. The recommended order is
Lost Sinner, Rotten, Freja, Old King
. Though I think the last one's boss fight is the easiest, and the third one can be the hardest.
 

dolemite

Member
That feel when you beat Royal Rat Authority after getting dong'd over and over the night before. Got up this morning, did it in my second try before work!

Question: I'm at SL 84 I think. I kinda blindly made my way through the mist section of the shaded woods after beating harvest valley/earthen peak and ended up beating the Scorpion boss first try with help of a player summon (I was already human and just happened across one summon sign in front of the gate, so I went for it!).

I also cleared Pharros and got to Tseldora place (whatever the name is) but I decided to go back to Iron Keep. I got smelter down to less than half but died on my first try. So I think I can beat him. After I kill him, should I go back to the Gutter/Black Gulch and clear that? Basically I have access to all the Shaded Woods areas, Tseldora place, Gutter/Black Gulch, and Iron Keep right now. Is the order of these places important?

The order may matter if there's a specific item/spell that your built may use that can only be found in these areas. Otherwise there is no preference.
 

rhandino

Banned
...

Am I late to start gushing about the shortcut in Shulva that leads to the first bonfire? Because that was fucking awesome T_T

Please, I need more of this level design in the rest of the DLC and Dark Souls 3.
 

Trakan

Member
...

Am I late to start gushing about the shortcut in Shulva that leads to the first bonfire? Because that was fucking awesome T_T

Please, I need more of this level design in the rest of the DLC and Dark Souls 3.

You'll get more of it in the DLC 3 but DLC 2 is very vertical so it's not really similar.

I'd love to see more of it in 3 though.
 

elfinke

Member
...

Am I late to start gushing about the shortcut in Shulva that leads to the first bonfire? Because that was fucking awesome T_T

Please, I need more of this level design in the rest of the DLC and Dark Souls 3.

What shortcut is that? I'm venturing into the DLC areas for the first time, namely the Sunken King, and fuck that area. Didn't enjoy it at all. I must have missed either a shortcut or a bonfire, otherwise doubly fuck that area.

Lol.
 

Pons

Neo Member
Loving my time with Dark Souls 2

Sure I was spoiled by Bloodborne's simple and mechanical upgrades (and visuals) but what is wonderful is how DS2 scratches a much different gameplay itch than BB

Its crazy. Its actually compelling to jump between both games to feed different experiences that I crave

This makes me SOOO excited for both teams and their diverging courses.

To get 2 Souls games with very distinct styles in a generation is fucking amazing.

This is exactly how I feel, I love the dark souls series, but I love bloodborne also, in different ways. They scratch different itches.
 
I tried to respawn the spider boss with an ascetic so I can get the moonlight great sword in NG but the boss door isn't back. The crystal lizards are so something definitely happened.

What did I do wrong?
 
This is exactly how I feel, I love the dark souls series, but I love bloodborne also, in different ways. They scratch different itches.

Its nuts. I keep bouncing between them depending on my mood though I am pretty sure Ill finish BB first

Either way I am just casually enjoying plugging away at DS2. BB is like that balls to the wall stressful challenge while DK2 is more of a stroll.

Weird right? Isn't DK2 supposed to be MORE stressful after the update?

Not for me. For one... The pacing is completely in my control and the Co-Op and access to resources is easier than ever. Not to mention my previous knowledge from my past playthrough is really driving me forward. I get to see all the changes while still playing comfortably

I dunno I am having a hard time describing the feeling but I have never been happier to game than I have in a long time. Early 2015 has Given me BB, Dk2 Update and MH4u...

Im in bliss
 

Trakan

Member
I tried to respawn the spider boss with an ascetic so I can get the moonlight great sword in NG but the boss door isn't back. The crystal lizards are so something definitely happened.

What did I do wrong?

You have to ascetic the bonfire closest to the boss. In this case, the one next to Ornifex.
 

rhandino

Banned
What shortcut is that? I'm venturing into the DLC areas for the first time, namely the Sunken King, and fuck that area. Didn't enjoy it at all. I must have missed either a shortcut or a bonfire, otherwise doubly fuck that area.

Lol.

At the bottom of the Dragon Sanctum in the area full of tiny little Imperfects (the bipedal black monsters) there is a statue where you put a stone to raise a bridge, ahead there is a elevator that leads to that bridge or to other elevator to takes you to the first bonfire... or in that same area there is a bo

Also i liked that most of the bonfires so far are REALLY hidde and make you work for them like the one where you must
align the buildings and then jump from roof to roof to reach it
or the other one in the
Dragon Sanctum, in the room full of spikes and hidden behind a wall activated by a VERY HIDDEN switch

Awesome stuff really, I loved the levels of vanilla but damn if this area is hype...
 
Sure I was spoiled by Bloodborne's simple and mechanical upgrades (and visuals) but what is wonderful is how DS2 scratches a much different gameplay itch than BB

Its crazy. Its actually compelling to jump between both games to feed different experiences that I crave.

This is exactly how I feel, I love the dark souls series, but I love bloodborne also, in different ways. They scratch different itches.

BB is like that balls to the wall stressful challenge while DK2 is more of a stroll.

That's how I feel about it also, which compares to how I felt with Demon's compared to Dark Souls. Demon's and now BB feel faster and stressful, in a fun horror movie type of way, while the Dark Souls games feel more like epic adventures.

Both great, just different flavors.

This makes me SOOO excited for both teams and their diverging courses.

To get 2 Souls games with very distinct styles in a generation is fucking amazing.

Agreed.


Edit:

Has Durability been fixed yet? Sorry if this has been answered a thousand times. I have DS2 PS4 sitting here waiting for the patch before I jump in.
 

HeelPower

Member
I loved The Gutter in this version!!!!!

Its dark and the torch mechanic actually shines! Just wish it were longer now lol

I assume that shrine at the end of Black Gulch leads to the DLC area ?
 
I stopped playing BB to beat DS2 and all of the DLC. I'm so glad I didn't beat it on PS3. Love this game, even more so than DS.

Much better on PS4 right?

Looks clean but most of all play very smooth and hot damn all the multiplayer stuff seems to worth super fast and flawless
 

Nephtes

Member
I loved The Gutter in this version!!!!!

Its dark and the torch mechanic actually shines! Just wish it were longer now lol

I assume that shrine at the end of Black Gulch leads to the DLC area ?

Pretty sure that's the DLC, yes.
And ughhh Black Gulch... The poison statues can go right to hell! Glad I never have to go there again (till NG+... Sigh)
 
Much better on PS4 right?

Looks clean but most of all play very smooth and hot damn all the multiplayer stuff seems to worth super fast and flawless

Oh ya its fantastic. I'm going through and beating every single boss in this run through. So much fun. Especially when you are over leveled for where your at.
 
I stopped playing BB to beat DS2 and all of the DLC. I'm so glad I didn't beat it on PS3. Love this game, even more so than DS.

It's the only Souls I didn't complete, because I was disappointed and let my cousin have it. I'm hearing great things about the current gen changes though and never played the dlc, so I'm excited to for the new version.
 
Burned the ascetic, killed the silly spider and now I've got the MLGS! Can't believe I missed out on when this thing was buffable. Would have been stupid as shit lol

The Freja fight was still pretty simple but what the flying fuck at the 3rd bonfire at bright stone. As if it wasn't bad enough. Freaking
red phantom spiders with 3x health
!
 
It's the only Souls I didn't complete, because I was disappointed and let my cousin have it. I'm hearing great things about the current gen changes though and never played the dlc, so I'm excited to for the new version.

Its not a completely different game but I do think its a better version of the game. And it runs buttery smooth.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
The gank squad really isn't hard, I guess its depending on your build. I was pure melee and one backstab with a +5 BK UGS did 75%.

A 100% shield can tank most of their hits if you are melee. Backstabbing them is childs play and will ruin the bleed guy. With him gone the havel dude is fairly easy as he is slow. Reposition if an arrow hits you, he will have to do so too. I mostly fought at the starting platform.
 

Golgo 13

The Man With The Golden Dong
So I'm level 133 at Shrine of Amana and having a really hard time as a Sorcerer build. I have no idea what I did wrong. Here's my stats --

Vgr 28
End 22
But 9
Atn: 25
Str: 18
Dex: 11
Adp: 12
Int: 42
Fry: 21

I'm using a Sorcerers Staff +10 (more on that in a moment), Magic Mace +8 and the Forlorn set with Hexers Hood for magic bonuses. I use a mix of Great Heavy Soul Arrows, Soul Vortex, Dark Orb, and Soul Greatsword. I'm literally FUCKED if an enemy closes in. I usually end up running away and kiting enemies around, but I have a feeling I shouldn't be using such annoying tactics this far into the game, Sorcerer just seems fucking weak.

I have the Sunset Staff but don't use it because even at +5 it still gives me worse bonuses than my Sorcerer staff + 10, plus the casting time is slower, so why bother?

I'm in need of advice here. I can re arrange my stats if need be (I have 2 or 3 Soul vessels), if that would help. Or maybe I'll just reroll into a Faith build because on further investigation I've found that sorcery sucks ass in DS2 anyway (according to people with more knowledge of the mechanics than me).
 

Buburibon

Member
So I'm level 133 at Shrine of Amana and having a really hard time as a Sorcerer build. I have no idea what I did wrong. Here's my stats --

Vgr 28
End 22
But 9
Atn: 25
Str: 18
Dex: 11
Adp: 12
Int: 42
Fry: 21

I'm using a Sorcerers Staff +10 (more on that in a moment), Magic Mace +8 and the Forlorn set with Hexers Hood for magic bonuses. I use a mix of Great Heavy Soul Arrows, Soul Vortex, Dark Orb, and Soul Greatsword. I'm literally FUCKED if an enemy closes in. I usually end up running away and kiting enemies around, but I have a feeling I shouldn't be using such annoying tactics this far into the game, Sorcerer just seems fucking weak.

I have the Sunset Staff but don't use it because even at +5 it still gives me worse bonuses than my Sorcerer staff + 10, plus the casting time is slower, so why bother?

I'm in need of advice here. I can re arrange my stats if need be (I have 2 or 3 Soul vessels), if that would help. Or maybe I'll just reroll into a Faith build because on further investigation I've found that sorcery sucks ass in DS2 anyway (according to people with more knowledge of the mechanics than me).

Shrine of Amana seems to be a game of patience no matter how you slice it. I went through it last night with a strength 35, faith 30 build, and while I can handle one-on-one encounters fairly easily, I kept getting overwhelmed by several enemies all attacking at once. My solution was to use a lightning bow to snipe a few enemies from a distance, and/or attract them to my position where I could finish them off. Interestingly enough, I kept thinking throughout my struggle that a magic build would've been much better equipped to deal with it. :p
 

SkylineRKR

Member
So I'm level 133 at Shrine of Amana and having a really hard time as a Sorcerer build. I have no idea what I did wrong. Here's my stats --

Vgr 28
End 22
But 9
Atn: 25
Str: 18
Dex: 11
Adp: 12
Int: 42
Fry: 21

I'm using a Sorcerers Staff +10 (more on that in a moment), Magic Mace +8 and the Forlorn set with Hexers Hood for magic bonuses. I use a mix of Great Heavy Soul Arrows, Soul Vortex, Dark Orb, and Soul Greatsword. I'm literally FUCKED if an enemy closes in. I usually end up running away and kiting enemies around, but I have a feeling I shouldn't be using such annoying tactics this far into the game, Sorcerer just seems fucking weak.

I have the Sunset Staff but don't use it because even at +5 it still gives me worse bonuses than my Sorcerer staff + 10, plus the casting time is slower, so why bother?

I'm in need of advice here. I can re arrange my stats if need be (I have 2 or 3 Soul vessels), if that would help. Or maybe I'll just reroll into a Faith build because on further investigation I've found that sorcery sucks ass in DS2 anyway (according to people with more knowledge of the mechanics than me).

I have a Sorcerer Build with a maxed Moonlight Greatsword. My Faith and ATN is much lower. But my INT is 50 and my ADP 20. And I use a maxed Staff of Wisdom from diving into the Cove Camp area well.

Shrine of Amana is a hard area anyway, I struggled there with my melee build just as much. Its the only area I had to almost fully rely on my Bow (Magic Dragonrider bow) with Iron arrows. But Poison arrows work too. After so many retries I ended up with a shitload of Twinkling titanites which was great. Just farm while you're at it anyway.

For the rest I use Cloranthy Ring +2 (asthetic on undead crypt for Chariot... easiest boss in the game w/ bow), Third Dragon Ring (Second dragon ring at that point perhaps, I think you can't have third dragon ring yet?), and Blue Clearstone Ring+2 (boosts casting speed, asthetic skeleton lords... another easy boss) and I think Southern Ritual Band+1.
 
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