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Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin |OT| Your weapons are weak, old man
- Thread starter VisceralBowl
- Start date
Got the Platinum on PS4, just over 90 hours. As a Souls game, it was a mixed bag. Level design was pretty linear, and the abundance of bonfires just goes to illustrate the lack of shortcuts and "circular" design. The DLC areas were fantastic, however, and given the problems in the early development phase, I'd say its likely that Tanimura has a good handle on what it takes to make a Souls game. Dark Souls 3 could be the next DMC3, and at least we didnt get a completely aborted second entry to get to 3.
So what order in terms of difficulty would you folks rate the DLC bosses?
Crown of the Sunken King:
Crown of the Old Iron King:
Crown of the Ivory King:
Scholar of the First Sin:
Crown of the Sunken King:
Sinh (really tough) > Elana (tough) > Gank Squad (medium).
Crown of the Old Iron King:
Fume Knight (really tough) > Smelter Demon (tough) > Sir Alonne (Below Medium).
Crown of the Ivory King:
Lud and Zallen (Ridiculous due to weather) > Aava (medium) > Burnt Ivory King (Below Medium).
Scholar of the First Sin:
Aldia (below medium).
Intheflorsh
Banned
Looks good to me, but I would put the
Ivory King above Aava. The 5 minute fight that takes place every time before he spawns made that battle a pain.
True, it does just seem like a Dark Souls kind of thing at a certain point. The pain is real though. Trying to get to a boss with your favorite weapon and by the time you're there it's down to a nub. Repair Powder is expensive, so you better have a few favorite go-to killers, really.
Just went through Amana yesterday and I don't understand why people think its easier.
It feels the same to me...And a bow still seems necessary.
Some things might even be a touch harder because of some new enemies.
I'm not a fan of the weapon degradation speed. But it encouraged me to drop soap stones around more often. I never really had any troubles with breaking weapons combining that with the Bracing Knuckle Ring.
paragonpro
Banned
Any tips for smelter? I'm shieldless sword wielder, two handing the falchion which is at +7 right now. My stamina is great, I'm built for rolling as my primary means of defense and speed attacks.
If you have good fire defense, the fight will be much easier for the 2nd phase where he casts a constant aoe which continuously do fire damage to you if you stand close to him. Items such as flame quartz ring and small orange burr will help.
If you use Pyromancy, flash sweat also works wonders.
That durability patch must be live for PS4 at this point right? I beat both Sinh and Fume tonight with my rapier not even coming close to breaking (which has been very close to breaking for me in PvE many times).
Sinh has never not broken my mace before, and Fume would always bring it pretty close. Weird not needing a secondary weapon queued up for these bosses.
Sinh has never not broken my mace before, and Fume would always bring it pretty close. Weird not needing a secondary weapon queued up for these bosses.
It's funny, I actually had more problems with
Elana
Sinh
Gank Squad
Still struggling with
Fume Knight
Maybe I am crazy but I think that they made Amala like it was before the nerf... because the spells now have that crazy tracking back and months ago when I was there with my Faith build I didn't have trouble with them X_x
I definitely noticed the tracking.
I played Amana on the super vanilla version and then straight to here for my second run.
Its not any easier.You gotta be careful and get a bow.
This order is entirely backwards for me. Sinh was by far the simplest with attacks that are very manageable to avoid and handle. Soloed it with ease and felt like a joke compared to the less predictable elana just prior. Gank squad is absolutely brutal for my dex build however. The limitless stamina they have(ugh) and the low survivability of your companions makes that fight one of the toughest to negotiate in the entire game! Oh and the boss run is garbage too...
paragonpro
Banned
Awesome thank you, I'll try that. I'm not sure If I have that ring yet, I'll check when I get home tonight.
No, not live yet.
- Sinh has a durability degradation mechanic. His head is soft, his body is stone. If you land head hits, there is basically no risk, at all, of your weapon breaking, and the mechanic does not depend on framerate at all anyhow.
- There is nothing at all in the Fume fight that would make a rapier break, not at 60 fps, not at 30 fps. What corpses and walls would you be hitting during that fight?
I didn't know about that for Sinh, that's interesting. For him I focus on the body though, I don't think you can lock on to the head can you? It would be harder to noscope with a rapier. ~5 attempts and not a single warning about durability was a first for me though.
For Fume maybe he has better strike resist (vs mace) so rapier requires fewer hits. Mace has more durability than rapiers though, which leaves me confused. I'll have to pay more attention next time.
Yeah, you can't lock on to Sinh's head, but you can still hit it if you position yourself relative to your lock point.
Sinh and the King's Pets have soft heads and hard bodies, to discourage the Souls-standard of "hit their asses" for quadrupedal enemies.
Durability loss is usually only around 0.5 durability per hit, and no boss takes 80~100~120 hits to kill if it is just them alone. If you've killed enemies or lost durability on the way to Fume, sure, but the fight alone isn't going to take 80 hits. Sinh and Aava are freebies due to the bonfire placement-- as long as you aren't focusing the body, you won't get breakage.
toastyToast
Member
I've got the gist of the fume fight after a couple more attempts. I keep getting caught with no stamina though, holy shit.
Jin
Member
You'll get there. Are you using a shield? I two-handed that fight on this second phase because I find blocking does nothing but drain even more stamina. I learn his pattern after 10+ tries and just roll roll roll. That guy is an asshole.
toastyToast
Member
Yeah just rolling. A lot of the time by the time I get to an opening I can't get a hit in with enough stamina to roll away. I reckon I switch to the cloranthy ring instead of the ring of blades I'm using now.
Augemitbutter
Member
same here. beat the game including dlc. no problems at all.
toastyToast
Member
Beat fume. I left the game and got something to eat, when I came back i forgot to switch my sound output back to my speakers and did it without any volume. Go it on the second try without sound. Would have been the first but I stupidly went for a 3 hit combo to close it out and ate a huge hit. Really helped me focus on what he was doing. The enraged stabs kept getting me before but then I realized he does a little running wind up which I didn't pick up on earlier. I don't think there are any significant audio cues tbh
Onto DLC 3 now. Can I use my magic again yet?
Onto DLC 3 now. Can I use my magic again yet?
Augemitbutter
Member
for my builds and playstyle
Crown of the Sunken King:
Sinh (easy-medium) > Elana (medium-hard) > Gank Squad (easy-medium).
Crown of the Old Iron King:
Fume Knight (medium) > Smelter Demon (hard) > Sir Alonne (easy-medium).
Crown of the Ivory King:
Lud and Zallen (hard) > Aava (easy-medium) > Burnt Ivory King (medium).
Scholar of the First Sin:
Aldia (easy-medium).
Crown of the Iron King spoilers, I guess...
Finally, the
is no more...
Was one of the most frustating yet FUN bosses in the game tbqh, he made me sweat bullets every time he
or prepared to unleash his
... The fact that I received one of his weapons, his badass armor and
was just nice.
Now, let me tell you something, Memory of the Iron King? This area can fuck itself. The boss at the end is incredible fun yet the travel to the fog gate is annoying and hair pulling
Oh! and who the fuck thought that having to pass 2 load times to get to him was a good idea?
Finally, the
Fume Knight
Was one of the most frustating yet FUN bosses in the game tbqh, he made me sweat bullets every time he
buffed his sword with fire
explosion of fire + fireballs
The Iron Crown
Now, let me tell you something, Memory of the Iron King? This area can fuck itself. The boss at the end is incredible fun yet the travel to the fog gate is annoying and hair pulling
(A bunch of Samurais + Fire Lizards is NOT GOOD ENEMY PLACEMENT!)
No, you are going to keep struggling because this DLC is just for cool people who play physical builds...
I explored a bit, it seems most enemies are weak to Pyromancy =P
toastyToast
Member
Oh yeah, guess I'm not done. Went back to the suit of samurai gear and I can enter that memory now too. Fuck whoever did the enemy placement here in the ass. It's just fucking dumb. I found out that these are supposed to be coop areas with the statue things. Who gives a shit? These enemies are nothing but a nuisance and having more people would make only a milder nuisance but a nuisance nonetheless. Haven't I made it clear I can dispatch this amount of enemies on multiple occasions? I'm being annoyed to death.
Compare the end of DS with the 5 Black Knights before Gwyn. Huge spacing between them, difficult to agro more than one at a time. If the DS2 guys designed that area I'm sure there would be 20.
Compare the end of DS with the 5 Black Knights before Gwyn. Huge spacing between them, difficult to agro more than one at a time. If the DS2 guys designed that area I'm sure there would be 20.
Hmm? I don't remember having to go through two loading screens, unless you're talking about warping to the bonfire outside him. Also, you don't have to fight the Alonne Knights while anywhere near the Salamanders.
The way to the
DLC Smelter Demon
kaos.
Member
I don't have scholar, but in ds2 vanilla you could farm about 450000 souls in less than 2 minutes!
https://youtu.be/1OSW49Bym9k
jacob armitage
Banned
Ugh, K
V
is kicking my ass consistently. I should go to bed and try again in the morning, wanted to get him down before starting NG+
ing
endrick
Red Liquorice
Member
Stick to his left foot.
Hug his left leg, and roll foward (not sideways) so you're behind him when he swings at you. He'll never hit you.
Maedre
Banned
YES, gank squad was so hard for me. The rest was easy in comparison.
toastyToast
Member
Forever Alonne down. That was a pretty fun fight. Stamina management was a big issue. Had to let a lot of openings go because I couldn't dodge the follow up. Eventually figured out how to avoid the stupid dash slash.
. When I did beat him I didn't get hit outside of an errant slash right near the end, didn't have to heal. Speaking of healing I'm pretty sure all my deaths were estus related.
After the fight I got another smelter wedge which I'm not sure what to do with. That's all the bosses down and I've still got 2. What do I do with them?
The delayed dash doesn't cover as much distance as the quick one so whenever he goes into the stance just dodge back immediately and both will miss
After the fight I got another smelter wedge which I'm not sure what to do with. That's all the bosses down and I've still got 2. What do I do with them?
SkylineRKR
Member
You probably missed a few Smelter Wedge locations. I used every one of them. There is one close to the foyer bonfire, where you will be cursed down the stairs. That one is easily missable. Another 2 are in optional towers bound by huge chains outside the main building, one of them can be reached by not going into the foyer mist door but taking the stairs up (easy to miss).
Alonne took me more tries than Fume, though I also died on the way there a few times.
Alonne's timing was somewhat borked, but he doesn't have much to go for. Fume has more moves, but I found him easier after the buff.
Alonne took me more tries than Fume, though I also died on the way there a few times.
Alonne's timing was somewhat borked, but he doesn't have much to go for. Fume has more moves, but I found him easier after the buff.
Sanctuary
Member
I was considering getting this just for the remix, but I have to ask the question that I'm sure has already been asked hundreds of times:
Does the new lighting actually improve the atmosphere compared to what GeDoSaTo could already do with the postprocessing, or does it make it too bright in most areas, somewhat killing the atmosphere? Screenshots don't really show much, and I don't like watching playthroughs.
Does the new lighting actually improve the atmosphere compared to what GeDoSaTo could already do with the postprocessing, or does it make it too bright in most areas, somewhat killing the atmosphere? Screenshots don't really show much, and I don't like watching playthroughs.
I'm enjoying this game much more than BB. The different armor sets and number of attributes to level up makes the grind enjoyable. I am liking this just as much as the first DSouls.. I just got to the Lost Bastille. I am still wondering why some folks are so down on this. The graphics makes this very immersive for me so no complaints so far......
Never tried the PC port of DS2, but the torch is now actually useful on PS4. Any locations meant to be dark are actually blinding to run through without a torch. Mostly blackness where in vanilla it felt greyed over with full visibility of the environment.
The torch effect itself is stunning always, even in bright areas, the lighting is brilliant looking and never takes away from the visual aesthetic. Assuming the PC mod futzed with normal conditions as you describe, this is not the case here even using a torch in pure daylight.
jacob armitage
Banned
This is what i've been doing, but occasionally he'll jump back and it'll throw my routine off and i'll just crap out around 30% or so.
EDIT: What the hell happened here? Hilarious.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI5BvB-fZPI
Augemitbutter
Member
i used the alternate way. the lever stuff was so random. doing it for the loot once was enough.
Sir Alonne
killed himself at the end
The key is stamina management it seems and this was a good fight to re-learn that sometimes an opening is better used for healing than to try to get that last hit =P
Oh, and that attack
similar to the one used by the Pursuer that even buff his sword, yikes...
I get full the impaled animation.
Now, let's see how bad is the optional boss in the
Iron Passage
Oh, I counted 2 (Death load screen and warping load screen) and I despawned almost all the enemies there but used the souls to buy some bosses armor and weapons since I am at level 180 =P
T_T
The lighting just looks better overall. The tone of the game is different in places, but it seems to be really dark where they intend for it to be dark.
lowhighkang_LHK
Member
A lot has been said about the importance of putting points into ADR and increasing your agility. And consequently then not relying on a shield.
It's just so interesting to see how time and time again as I play through this game this notion is further reiterated.
I was helping people with the DLC Smelter Demon fight, and this guy who was rocking havel gear with a shield just had problems with him. After several co-op attempts, I just told him to stay on the outside and use long-range attacks and I'll take care of the rest with my evasions + strength build.
Relying on a shield has so many negatives.
1) It creates a passive play style. And although not so much like Bloodborne, sometimes being aggressive does play a benefit in Dark Souls 2. When you rely on the shield too much, you'll eventually run into a situation when your stamina breaks and then you're fucked, pretty much against a boss.
2) You're heavy, low stamina recharge ,can't two hand or dual wield weapons, making your playstyle predictable, which is a negative in PvP.
3) You then have to invest points into areas outside of str, dex, int, and fth. Tank builds need then high HP because they can't rely on evasion. You need high stamina so that shield drain from shield use won't leave you staggered. And you probably put in quite a few points into vitality to increase equipment load to avoid the fat roll. Like I said this prevents you from putting points into other "cooler" areas. Mind you, by the time you get NG+ you're at such a high level you can start soft-capping essentially all stats...
4) You stop playing the game, and you become more of a stamina bar lawyer. Granted, micro-managing your stamina bar in regards to stamina depletion from shield defense, to attacking, to slow recharge with shield up, to fast recharge with shield down, sort of becomes a mini-game in of itself....
I remember in OG Dark Souls 2 I couldn't beat Venderick and the Ancient Dragon. Granted, I didn't try that many times, maybe only a few times on each, but I realized that relying on a shield just made me a shitty Dark Souls player. If my shield and stamina management tactics couldn't cut it, I wouldn't know how to beat a boss. You loss that 'offensive' confidence that an evasion build brings. Venderick hits hard and so does the Ancient Dragon. So even if you shield takes the brunt of it your stamina is drained.
Anyway, I beat Venderick and the Ancient Dragon. And I did so on the second attempt on each. I think playing through the DLC might have made me over-leveled a little. But by and large the biggest reason the Ancient Dragon was so easy was because I have high faith and wore the fire quartz ring +3, so my fire defense was high so he couldn't one shot me.
King Venderick
Ancient Dragon - also, can anyone explain to me wtf just happened at the 1:10 mark?
It's just so interesting to see how time and time again as I play through this game this notion is further reiterated.
I was helping people with the DLC Smelter Demon fight, and this guy who was rocking havel gear with a shield just had problems with him. After several co-op attempts, I just told him to stay on the outside and use long-range attacks and I'll take care of the rest with my evasions + strength build.
Relying on a shield has so many negatives.
1) It creates a passive play style. And although not so much like Bloodborne, sometimes being aggressive does play a benefit in Dark Souls 2. When you rely on the shield too much, you'll eventually run into a situation when your stamina breaks and then you're fucked, pretty much against a boss.
2) You're heavy, low stamina recharge ,can't two hand or dual wield weapons, making your playstyle predictable, which is a negative in PvP.
3) You then have to invest points into areas outside of str, dex, int, and fth. Tank builds need then high HP because they can't rely on evasion. You need high stamina so that shield drain from shield use won't leave you staggered. And you probably put in quite a few points into vitality to increase equipment load to avoid the fat roll. Like I said this prevents you from putting points into other "cooler" areas. Mind you, by the time you get NG+ you're at such a high level you can start soft-capping essentially all stats...
4) You stop playing the game, and you become more of a stamina bar lawyer. Granted, micro-managing your stamina bar in regards to stamina depletion from shield defense, to attacking, to slow recharge with shield up, to fast recharge with shield down, sort of becomes a mini-game in of itself....
I remember in OG Dark Souls 2 I couldn't beat Venderick and the Ancient Dragon. Granted, I didn't try that many times, maybe only a few times on each, but I realized that relying on a shield just made me a shitty Dark Souls player. If my shield and stamina management tactics couldn't cut it, I wouldn't know how to beat a boss. You loss that 'offensive' confidence that an evasion build brings. Venderick hits hard and so does the Ancient Dragon. So even if you shield takes the brunt of it your stamina is drained.
Anyway, I beat Venderick and the Ancient Dragon. And I did so on the second attempt on each. I think playing through the DLC might have made me over-leveled a little. But by and large the biggest reason the Ancient Dragon was so easy was because I have high faith and wore the fire quartz ring +3, so my fire defense was high so he couldn't one shot me.
King Venderick
Ancient Dragon - also, can anyone explain to me wtf just happened at the 1:10 mark?
Because I was accidentally hitting dead spiders and just killed durability. That's why it was bad.
BouncyFrag
Member
I just reached Black Gulch. The area looks fantastic but its pretty fucking creepy. I'm getting sick of getting poisoned since I'm holding onto the few bits of poison moss I have left and the only merchant who sells it has run off somewhere again.
Make sure you look closely for the 2nd bonfire.
GreyOcelot
Member
wait, whaaaaat? luckily i was able to beat the rotten in 4-5 tries, but i did it by running to the mist and having to heal up before entering because i was poisoned.
i wonder if i missed anything else in that area