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

That's not true. The green aura only appears when you have it in your hand, or on your back when two-handing your weapon. If you switch out the shield for something else (even if you still have it on your equip screen) you lose the green aura and thus the bonus stamina regen.

Ah well I meant on his back.
 

elfinke

Member
So those of you into PvP, what SL are you at and what are your strategies and builds? I stopped at SL120 some 30 hours ago, which I think is a nice spot, but I feel as though I'm running up against a lot of people with more hp than what SL120 would allow.

More to the point of my interest, what strategies do you employ to counter the heavy lag that afflicts every encounter? Spells are useless for that reason, as are parry and back stab attempts. The most success I've had is with my trusty great sword +10 with various enchants or infusions, due to it's wonderful sweep attack, but I've grown bored of that.

I'm thinking about packing stamina and taking on a power stanced thrust weapons (estoc? Espada? Warped Sword + Washing Pole? Ice?) with poison build, along with Flynn's ring. To hell with armor, it doesn't help me against the many ghost and lag stabs I'm on the end of anyway.

Or go the other way, and pack as much armour and poise as possible and just stand and deliver with Fume UGS?

Actually, I'm kind of at a point now (and this happened to me in vanilla), having completed all the PvE content, where I'm more interested in theory crafting some PvP builds than I am in actually playing the PvP, largely due to how annoying the laggy PvP can be.
 

phoenixyz

Member
So those of you into PvP, what SL are you at and what are your strategies and builds? I stopped at SL120 some 30 hours ago, which I think is a nice spot, but I feel as though I'm running up against a lot of people with more hp than what SL120 would allow.

Matchmaking is based on Soul Memory, not character level.
 

elfinke

Member
Matchmaking is based on Soul Memory, not character level.

Indeed. That was my all-too-subtle point :) I may just push on to SL150, as it seems to be the place that more people have settled on. Or I might just give DSII away, and move on to other games in my list now!
 
Just wanted to add that if anyone is waiting to pick up the game that it's on sale at target for $48.

Not a great sale but decent none the less.
 

klee123

Member
Hey guys I just wanna make sure.


I'm on the road to get the plat for this game and going through the second run.

Since I'm not a fan of PVP, I plan to get the remaining spells from the npc in Drangelic Castle in NG++.

Just to make sure, is NG++ the third or fourth run of the game?
 

MikeDip

God bless all my old friends/And god bless me too, why pretend?
So was it confirmed the patch fixed whips too? Really want to use a whip in this game.

(Also, without spoilers, how soon can I find the first whip?)
 

Zocano

Member
(Also, without spoilers, how soon can I find the first whip?)

Depending on your luck, you can get one like ten minutes into the game otherwise it depends on which areas you get to and explore first. You can find your first anywhere from two to fifteen hours in.
 

MikeDip

God bless all my old friends/And god bless me too, why pretend?
Depending on your luck, you can get one like ten minutes into the game otherwise it depends on which areas you get to and explore first. You can find your first anywhere from two to fifteen hours in.


I am willing to try farming for it to let me go through the whole game with a whip. Don't want to go to a wiki to get unwanted spoilers though, can you tell me what monster to try and farm?

I do know monsters eventually stop spawning, but I can just keep restarting the game if it's literally just 10 minutes in.
 
I am willing to try farming for it to let me go through the whole game with a whip. Don't want to go to a wiki to get unwanted spoilers though, can you tell me what monster to try and farm?

I do know monsters eventually stop spawning, but I can just keep restarting the game if it's literally just 10 minutes in.

Start with a Petrified Something and leave it in the nest in Things Betwixt. Walk away for a few seconds and come back and pick it up. It has a chance of being an Old Whip.

I believe this is the one he is referring too.
 

Beaulieu

Member
welp it looks like Darklurker and Sir Alonne are going to make me abandon my quest for platinum.

that's a shame.

edit : just killed alonne... lol
 
Scaling/weapon question for everyone.

I'm going pure melee in this game, PvE only, and am currently using (and loving) the bandit axe. I have my str at 36, and my bandit axe is at +9. Two questions:

when I get to +10, the scaling increases. Does it increase forever as long as I increase my str? Is there a cap?

Knowing how I'm building my character, is there any reason to infuse it? If so, would I continue to pump souls into str?
 

Ferr986

Member
Guys, I'm kinda lost of builds right now.
I wanted do to a dex/magic, mainly for weapon buffing and some spells.

I was going to make a dex/fth like my first even char on DS2, but I head fth got nerfed hard?
Then there's piromancy but some spells are still locked on NG+? And what about hexes? is viable for a build like that? Never tried it in vanilla.
 

Trakan

Member
Guys, I'm kinda lost of builds right now.
I wanted do to a dex/magic, mainly for weapon buffing and some spells.

I was going to make a dex/fth like my first even char on DS2, but I head fth got nerfed hard?
Then there's piromancy but some spells are still locked on NG+? And what about hexes? is viable for a build like that? Never tried it in vanilla.

Lightning spears were nerfed from OP to normal. That's about it. A lot of the stuff in the game is still weak to lightning and a Sunlight Blade buffed weapon is still amazing. Still completely viable, you just can't solo the game with lightning spears anymore.
 

Kevyt

Member
Hey guys, my character is now level 118 and it's mostly a strength character.

How viable are strength characters in PVP? The stamina depletion seems to be much more than in Dark Souls I, so I worry that might be a problem.

Are dexterity builds simply better?
 

Ferr986

Member
Lightning spears were nerfed from OP to normal. That's about it. A lot of the stuff in the game is still weak to lightning and a Sunlight Blade buffed weapon is still amazing. Still completely viable, you just can't solo the game with lightning spears anymore.

Thanks! Yeah I remember the Lightning Spear being stupidly OP lol
But if it's still viable I'll probably go for it (either that or plain magic). Sunlight Blade with some normal spears here and there is where I wanted.
 

rhandino

Banned
Started a new playtrough as a Sorcerer, will use Sorcery + Pyromancy and for attacks will use a Rapier or Longsword... No shield again.

Hopefully the DLC is doable with a magic character X_x

I used Bandit Axe + 10 and Battle Axe+10 and stopped puting poinst of STR at 50 during my whole time during the main game + DLC and and both of them are awesome =D

But if memory serves me right there is no much point to get your STR beyond 40-50 because diminishing returns, I just didn't know what to do with all those souls since I didn't wanted to invest on FTH or INT in that character and the other stats I had where were I wanted them...
 

_h8bit

Banned
The Iron Keep can go screw itself. Those Alonne Knights are no joke.

At what level/point in the game do people start diving into DLC content?
 

Ferr986

Member
Holy shit at the way to the Old
Dragonslayer?
What's the point of putting one of the easiest bosses behind such an infuriating trek? If only the dragon did any kind of damage to the Heide Knights...
 

Zocano

Member
I am willing to try farming for it to let me go through the whole game with a whip. Don't want to go to a wiki to get unwanted spoilers though, can you tell me what monster to try and farm?

I do know monsters eventually stop spawning, but I can just keep restarting the game if it's literally just 10 minutes in.

Like the other poster who responded to you said, basically just have to make a new character and trade petrified somethings to the crows in the tutorial area until you get the "old whip".

You have a chance to get it with small smooth and silky stones and regular smooth and silky stones, too, but the chance is much less and you're more likely to get it from a petrified something. Remaking a character over and over again, though, is probably really tedious if you really want to customize your character. Dunno how you feel about that. Petrified Somethings are very rare and they're not reliably farmed until waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay later into the game so that's your best bet if you want one *right way*.

But yes it's quite literally just 10 minutes into the game.

It's also the best whip in the game by a hilariously huge margin so you'll be set for a long long time and probably destroy most bosses you come across for a decent bit of the game.
 

Danny 117

Member
Patch is live for Xbox One. I have the 'update star' beside the game on the dashboard and theres a % progress bar which means it's downloading an update. :D
 

zoobzone

Member
The 1.02 update for durability fix is up on PSN now.

vrdfzevc.qhs.jpg
 
Finally found what I think is my favorite weapon/combo!

Power Stancing a Drakeblood Greatsword in the right hand and Blacksteel Katana in the left (this may change, but I don't like its moveset on its own so using it to supplement the drakeblood works)

I get a thrust on the Right Handed Strong attack, which is great for single enemies. Then I get a huge horizontal sweeping attack with both R1 attacks, perfect for multiple enemies. L2 is a big vertical power slam that does a ton of damage. One-shots most hollows. I love it!

Also, I finally got summoned as a Blue Sentinel for the first time. Working my way through Lost Bastille and forgot I was wearing the ring. Then I got up to eat dinner and I heard a weird noise so I ran back to my controller and saw I had been summoned. So I sprinted down the wall and found that the invader had the poor guy on the ground doing a riposte attack. So I made it to the invader and L2 Power slammed him before he could finish his move. Killed him. It felt awesome! I saved that guy!
 

sappyday

Member
Does the farming spot in one of the
memories
later in the game still work? I heard something that they changed it in order to prevent it.
 

BizzyBum

Member
I hate people who invade and apply lightning or fire to their weapon. Just fight me straight up and have some honor. lol
 

gogosox82

Member
Scaling/weapon question for everyone.

I'm going pure melee in this game, PvE only, and am currently using (and loving) the bandit axe. I have my str at 36, and my bandit axe is at +9. Two questions:

when I get to +10, the scaling increases. Does it increase forever as long as I increase my str? Is there a cap?

Knowing how I'm building my character, is there any reason to infuse it? If so, would I continue to pump souls into str?

Str stops scaling at 50 so that's when most people stop. As for infusions, you should infuse if you plan on using buffs like sunlight blade, dark weapon, great magic weapon, or crystal magic weapon but if your not, you can just keep it as pure physical.

Guys, I'm kinda lost of builds right now.
I wanted do to a dex/magic, mainly for weapon buffing and some spells.

I was going to make a dex/fth like my first even char on DS2, but I head fth got nerfed hard?
Then there's piromancy but some spells are still locked on NG+? And what about hexes? is viable for a build like that? Never tried it in vanilla.

Sunlight blade is still good. Lightning spears aren't that great anymore but they were too powerful anyway. Some spells are locked behind covenent rewards but if you don't want to farm them by doing pvp, you can go to ng++ and buy them from Wallengar. Almost any build is viable, its just that some builds take more work than others. Hexes are still pretty good iirc so you could use hexes but the good hexes usually take up 2 attunement slots and some cost souls to use.
 
Str stops scaling at 50 so that's when most people stop. As for infusions, you should infuse if you plan on using buffs like sunlight blade, dark weapon, great magic weapon, or crystal magic weapon but if your not, you can just keep it as pure physical

Thanks for the help.

And Holy shit at the size of the update on Xbox One!
 

Buburibon

Member
Does the farming spot in one of the
memories
later in the game still work? I heard something that they changed it in order to prevent it.

The updated PC version still allows farming at that particular spot. The only difference is that now you have to
fight a red phantom every time you burn the bonfire ascetic before being granted access to the memory
.
 

Vamp

Member
I am now in the poisonous area of the game and I die really quickly because I leveled up strength, agility etc.. no poison resist.
Any tips for this area? When I go down in hole I can not see anything.
 

Zocano

Member
I am now in the poisonous area of the game and I die really quickly because I leveled up strength, agility etc.. no poison resist.
Any tips for this area? When I go down in hole I can not see anything.

Use lifegems to counteract the poison and just buy a ton from Melentia.

Don't bother with worrying about resistances. It's not really a problem. Move quick and pop lifegems and you'll be fine.
 

elfinke

Member
Re-rolled a powerstance Blue Flame character tonight (with MLGS and a Bandit Axe as backup). You can switch up your playstyle mid-fight so easily that opponents seem to really struggle (Crystal Soul Mass, slow homing missiles, Soul Greatsword, CMW of course). The MLGS and Bandit Axe each have wonderful tracking on their horizontal swipes, which helps with spacing against the tankier builds, even when lag is against you.

Good times.
 
In need of some help.

I've been using the same hand axe forever. i have plenty of other weapons ready but when i equip them it always has the small red X on the icon. Though i've levelled up my strength and what not i still cant use it?

Does it all depend on how much im carrying at one given time? Shield/armour or with how much shit i've got in my inventory?
 

elfinke

Member
In need of some help.

I've been using the same hand axe forever. i have plenty of other weapons ready but when i equip them it always has the small red X on the icon. Though i've levelled up my strength and what not i still cant use it?

Does it all depend on how much im carrying at one given time? Shield/armour or with how much shit i've got in my inventory?

Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence and Faith are the attributes that gate weapon usage. So I guess check that you have the minimum stats in those areas for the weapon you are looking at. You can 2hd most weapons, which will aid with overcoming a deficit in Strength.
 
My original complaints about the art direction in this game being up to snuff compared to Dark Souls I were clearly wrong. While I don't feel as though the level design is as good as Dark Souls or Bloodborne, some of the later game locations are beautiful.

One complaint I have is the bosses though. A lot of them feel very copy pasta, with the same strategies having to be employed for each. For the most part, most of the bosses I've fought so far are humanoid with lances, shield or swords or combinations of them. None of them feel particularly memorable and none of them have presented me with much of a problem except
the Darklurker and the Belfry Gargoyles
.

I'm just hoping this team come up with better bosses in Dark Souls III. It's a perfect example of how quantity isn't always the best option. Aside from that, I'm loving the game a lot more than I did when I played the first 10 hours on PS3 when it launched last year.
 
This is my first time doing the DLC and I just finish the first DLC, screw the boss fight with Graverobber, Varg, and Cerah. Doing the next DLC now the Crown of the Old Iron King. Looking forward to finally seeing the Fume Knight...
 

Vamp

Member
When I start NG+ can I choose different character or do I continue with the same one? I want to play as a sorcerer this time.
 

drotahorror

Member
Re-rolled a powerstance Blue Flame character tonight (with MLGS and a Bandit Axe as backup). You can switch up your playstyle mid-fight so easily that opponents seem to really struggle (Crystal Soul Mass, slow homing missiles, Soul Greatsword, CMW of course). The MLGS and Bandit Axe each have wonderful tracking on their horizontal swipes, which helps with spacing against the tankier builds, even when lag is against you.

Good times.

I would imagine you're quite the high level to powerstance weapons like that (I honestly don't know just assuming). What's your soul memory? Is there much PVP in that bracket? I figured most PVP would be around the 1.5-2m soul memory which is right around where my first PVP character is.
 

Ferr986

Member
Well, I'm about halfway at Iron Keep. Loving playing this at 1080p 60 fps (I only played it before on 360) ans some QoL changes, but honestly I liked the enemy layout on vanilla better. It's not much aout being harder but more annoying, especially with the new agro range.

Oh well, time for...

c81.gif
 
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