• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

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

So whats the correct order for the 4 great ones? Is there even a recommended order?

Going blind I went.

Lost Sinner
Giant Spider
Iron King
The Rotten
 

LiQuid!

I proudly and openly admit to wishing death upon the mothers of people I don't like
I dunno, so far I've killed Sinner and Rotten and haven't seen the other 2 yet. Honestly don't think it matters too much. This game doesn't seem to have any apparent "wrong" ways to go like DS1 did. Since I started I've pretty much been able to go to any area I've opened up without any real trouble killing things
 

Vaporak

Member
So whats the correct order for the 4 great ones? Is there even a recommended order?

Going blind I went.

Lost Sinner
Giant Spider
Iron King
The Rotten

There is no order, but since the Lost Sinner is the only direction of the 4 that doesn't have something blocking the way most people likely go towards her first.
 
Jesus Christ just fuck the Earthen Peak. Spend 2 hours exploring every nook & cranny and I have enough of this poisonous, shitty area. I think I discovered it all - best part was all the planks hugging the walls in the big central room where I found Lightning Spear miracle and that one hidden door that brought you to a small balcony outside with the Sorceress. Going around on a small walkway on the outside was fun as well. IMO this was the best dungeon when it comes to "secrets" so far and reminded me for this reason alone of Latria 3-2.

Special fuck you goes to:

- Pharos contraption that poured poison through it's eye sockets
- the Mimic in the same damn room

What is (not) funny is that I started exploring The Earthen Peak from the top. I basically ran upwards killing stuff and not picking treasures etc. from the bottom and somehow found the top most (hidden) bonfire. Then I tackled the Snake Lady boss, killed her, and moved on to The Iron Keep. When I came back to explore the Peak I started from the top and moved my way downstaris. Imagine my surprise when at the ground level you find a... Poison Resistance Ring.

Shit.

It would make the whole area a lot of easier yet I found it as the last item in The Earhern Peak. It will get some use in the Valley before the Peak, tho! That area is also full of poison.

-----------------------------------------------

In the meantime I killed the 2nd Rat Boss (WTF??? this game has an unhealthy obsession with RATS) and entered The Gutter.

Yeah, that looks like Valley of Defilement 5-2 alright. Will be fun!
 

LiQuid!

I proudly and openly admit to wishing death upon the mothers of people I don't like
Jesus Christ just fuck the Earthen Peak.

I just did that place for the first time and I'm of same mind. I particularly love how the game kept tricking me into thinking I had a room figured out and under control and then they'd throw another flippy ninja fuck at me from practically out of nowhere.
 
Wow, The Gutter was *fantastic*. It starts out totally black but then you light up all the torches along the way and in the end it looks like a christmas tree. What's up with the huge bug near the end? And I am sure I missed something but I cannot get anywhere from Central Gutter bonfire - it is a dead end for me for now. And the vertical ladder maze near the end - genious. And just like in Latria 3-2 you get to the bottom of the pit. Crazy good stuff.

Not my pic but I love the area:
dark-souls-2-scholar-gutter.png


This is how you do Atmosphere in the game. Unlike The Earthen Peak which is greenish bright all the fucking time...

So far my favourite area in the game but then I loved the Valley and Latria in Demon's.

---

/not a spoiler plea but rant:

Got kind of stuck on The Rotten boss. I can manage to get him down to 30% of health but then I always roll into the fire or cannot make up my mind whether to block or roll and end up getting killed, eh. Blocking works and seems to be safer than rolling (lava). He has so much HP I need to attack him 30-40 times to kill him, eh. Maybe I will look at some other weapon to get that number down to 20 or some spell? I can always do the Iron Keep first... it doesn't help that my baby was crying during all the times I faced him so I got kind of sidetracked in my mind many times, bah.
 

Brakke

Banned
Yeah the Gutter is much improved in Scholar of the First Sin imo. There are *way* more torches to light and the lighting effects are much better.
 

Sakuraba

Neo Member
WAS big fan of demons souls and DS1...

Should I invest 50$ in this game for xbone???

never played it so far...sold my 360 1 month before it came out...



Should I read wiki or not before playing it?
 

Sakuraba

Neo Member
Buy this game now.

Do not read FAQs at all. Leave all the wiki/ FAQs stuff for NG+ or another character.

Ok thanks for the advice.

I remember ordering a DSouls copy from Japan to play it on PS3. Lmao shit was amazing. Dark Souls 1 was so enjoyable too...I found other game boring becuz the combat is so tight in Soul's
 
/not a spoiler plea but rant:

Got kind of stuck on The Rotten boss. I can manage to get him down to 30% of health but then I always roll into the fire or cannot make up my mind whether to block or roll and end up getting killed, eh. Blocking works and seems to be safer than rolling (lava). He has so much HP I need to attack him 30-40 times to kill him, eh. Maybe I will look at some other weapon to get that number down to 20 or some spell? I can always do the Iron Keep first... it doesn't help that my baby was crying during all the times I faced him so I got kind of sidetracked in my mind many times, bah.

I got him!!!

I made some preparations before the fight: equipped Magic Weapon spell (did not use it, lol), equipped Lifegems (which for me are borderline cheating/easy mode) in addition to Estus Flask and changed the Restoration Ring (HP restore) to the Physical Defense Ring +1 (that saved my ASS - more on this later on). Same weapon as before and no ranged magic.

Started at the bonfire and made the run towards the fog gate. For the first time I did not get poisoned on the way to the boss! Don't know how it happened but I managed to avoid every poison spit and every enemy down there... pure luck I guess?

So I enter the gate (and forget to cast Magic Weapon) and start the battle. This time I was blocking like crazy but I circled him counterclockwise. Somehow that was the key to victory because he swinged his sword less and punched me more but I blocked all the punches. Now get this, he has 1% of health left, my heart is racing and somehow... he comboes me. That Dirty Colossus-wannabe comboes me with his sword and my block doesn't work and I am smashed TWICE. I was already dead in my mind cursing my stupid mistake (first time I ever put him in less than 30% of health). But... here I am standing with 1% of health left and 0 stamina.

Immediately, I raced towards him. I know this is a mistake in Souls games - those moments where you are in a hurry, not thinking clearly, not being patient. But there was no time to think. We both had 1% health left and I forgot (!) that I can heal this amount easily by running away from him and drinking Estus which I had 4 left.

I rush towards him while he starts his arc swing animation. I barely touch him and whack my trusty Mace +10... who dies first? who died firts?!?

He did :)

What an ending. You know why I survived this combo? Because I had the Physical Defense Ring +1. That saved my skin. W/o that ring those hits would kill me on the spot.

So yeah... nice boss fight. Even though I had the same exact fight before in Valley of Defilement 5-2 :)

This game is crazy. Cannot wait to fight the one boss everyone is talking about: Fume Knight. He seems to be DaS2 Flamelurker, no?
 
Ok thanks for the advice.

I remember ordering a DSouls copy from Japan to play it on PS3. Lmao shit was amazing. Dark Souls 1 was so enjoyable too...I found other game boring becuz the combat is so tight in Soul's

This game is C R A Z Y. The beginning is tough as FUCK but after 4-5 hours it will start to become easy.
 

Exuro

Member
I've been addicted to this game all weekend. Just beat the king, so now I have a few choices of doors to go through. I'm not sure what it is but these are the only types of games where I have to tell myself to stop playing.
 

Manu

Member
I got him!!!

Those are the fights that make the whole game worth it.

The ending especially reminds me of how my fight against Fume Knight went. Out of estus, just a sliver of health, and I went for the final hit.

Skip to the end: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBkSsQDxLD0&feature=youtu.be

So, I've been playing a lot of co-op before jumping into NG+, I think I've made the final three bosses a lot of times now, but it's so fun helping other people.

That Sun Sword will be mine soon.
 
WAS big fan of demons souls and DS1...

Should I invest 50$ in this game for xbone???

never played it so far...sold my 360 1 month before it came out...



Should I read wiki or not before playing it?

Totally. If you liked Dark and Demons you will like 2. It scratches that itch well.


Maybe worth looking out for a deal instead of paying $50 though. Already have seen a few 50% off discounts recently. I would keep a eye on Amazon for a discount.
 

LiQuid!

I proudly and openly admit to wishing death upon the mothers of people I don't like
WAS big fan of demons souls and DS1...

Should I invest 50$ in this game for xbone???

never played it so far...sold my 360 1 month before it came out...



Should I read wiki or not before playing it?

Worth it. I went into it with fears that it was going to be drastically worse than DS1. It is mildly worse in some ways (some of the areas and the overall game layout is pretty bad IMO), pretty cleverly better in some ways (weapon refining is brilliantly simplified here, and there are a TON of new cool weapons and armor sets to make the character YOU want to play), and it equals out to great Souls package that you're going to love.

--

As for me, I embraced the madness and become a Bell Keeper for my first foray into actual PVP and.... I had a blast. I went into it with my 2nd character who wears 3 pieces of elite knight and 2-hands a rapier with a poison whip backup and was slaying a LOT. Turns out the PVP in this game is a lot fun when you're not being a victim of it while trying to be a carebear. Victories like this provide a rush that you can't get while playing PVE. Ended up PVPing for something like 6 hours straight since this morning and got about 8 slabs all day and enough chunks to +10 my entire kit.

I originally tried to get some PVP done with the Blue Sentinels, but aside from dueling, which seems boring, there was so little opportunity to get called into help defend invadees.

I feel like kind of a goober that with all the awesome looking new armor in this game I went back to my old standby elite knight set. It just looks too good. At +10 it's only BARELY better than the +ZERO Dranglaic set I got... Am I winning Fashion Souls at least?
 
D

Deleted member 325805

Unconfirmed Member
After finishing Bloodborne I've decided I want to get this, can you play it offline like Bloodborne? And will I gimp myself by not using the shield? I'd rather not but I don't want to handicap myself. I watched a beginners guide and it seems very similar to Bloodborne so hopefully I can pick it up, I've never played the previous games.
 

Manu

Member
After finishing Bloodborne I've decided I want to get this, can you play it offline like Bloodborne? And will I gimp myself by not using the shield? I'd rather not but I don't want to handicap myself. I watched a beginners guide and it seems very similar to Bloodborne so hopefully I can pick it up, I've never played the previous games.

Going shieldless is absolutely viable, there's even a class that dual-wields swords by default.

Keep in mind though, the game isn't nearly as fast as Bloodborne and that your movement speed and reaction time will be affected by how much weight you're carrying.
 
D

Deleted member 325805

Unconfirmed Member
Going shieldless is absolutely viable, there's even a class that dual-wields swords by default.

Keep in mind though, the game isn't nearly as fast as Bloodborne and that your movement speed and reaction time will be affected by how much weight you're carrying.

I think I will definitely prefer Bloodborne's faster gameplay and health recovery mechanic, but I'm hoping DS2 isn't so slow that it's not fun. I need something meaty to keep me busy until Uncharted Collection and I know DS2 packs content.
 
I think I will definitely prefer Bloodborne's faster gameplay and health recovery mechanic, but I'm hoping DS2 isn't so slow that it's not fun. I need something meaty to keep me busy until Uncharted Collection and I know DS2 packs content.

My only 2 characters on SoTFS haven't used a shield at all. One is a dex/hex with rapiers and a lightweight Flynn ring build. My newest one is a sorcery and a bit heavier weapons build. The most important part is getting your AGL (agility) to 100 or 105 for invincibility frames while rolling. ADP is the stat you will want to invest in. I get enough offensive stats up to feel comfortable then just throw my points in to ADP, it is the most important stat IMO. Along with getting endurance to 20.
 

Manu

Member
The ice horses in Frigid Outskirts are the worst design choice in a Souls game ever.

"Hey! Let's make it so you can't see shit, and then put these enemies who move really fast and hit really hard so that you can only see them when they're already charging at you."
"Genius!"

So, so fucking stupid.
 
The ice horses in Frigid Outskirts are the worst design choice in a Souls game ever.

"Hey! Let's make it so you can't see shit, and then put these enemies who move really fast and hit really hard so that you can only see them when they're already charging at you."
"Genius!"

So, so fucking stupid.

Yeah I cleared that area on my last guy. Even with a video that area sucked. I actually liked the fights with multiple horses but the frequency of the storms was a bitch.

Just killed fume knight on my sorcerer. Took me about 6 tried this time. Pretty sure my last guy I either one or two shotted him. Don't know what the problem was this time.
 

White Ring?

I kind of accidentally finished the game on my pyromancer, I didn't know that you couldn't leave after Nashandra to pursue the DLC ending. Oh well, I'll probably just grab the Brume Tower pyromancies and move on anyway.

Forbidden Sun is kind of neat. I'm not sure if it's worth three attunement slots but it's certainly a useful smart bomb for nuking high priority targets. I did some coop last night and had a blast, but pyromancy is almost too powerful sometimes. Having learned to deal with many bosses on my own, it feels bad cheesing them down for someone else. Then again, there's always the option of not summoning.
 

jb1234

Member
Beat it tonight! Final boss was a disappointing joke, especially compared to the awesome one in the first game.

Not sure if I'm going to bother finishing up the DLC areas. They're really just hard for the sake of being hard and the bosses are giant HP sponges that are way overpowered. I kinda want to move on to Bloodborne but maybe I'll feel differently tomorrow.
 
Stuck in the office and all I can think about is this damn game... crap. I want to explore the Iron Keep tonight. Only one Old One left (3/4 dead already) for me.

It's slightly disappointing how the Drangleic Set especially the Shield is the equipment I have been using since the very beginning of the game (Pursuer was my 2nd boss) so for the past 30 hours. I have, I think, 30+ different shields but they are all "worse" than the Drangleic one - either too heavy (16-20 wght) or not having 100% Physical Resistance.

I never was a "fashion Souls" type of player, I wear only what I think is optimized best for my playstyle. And currently no item in my equipment is as optimized as the Drangleic Set... That also means I am wearing the UGGO headwear that increases the item drop rate for the last 30 hours:

traveling-merchant-hat-lg.png


So sick of this look but it gets the job done :( I will post a real photo of my character after I get back home.
 

Brakke

Banned
Swept out the last of the Great Lords last night. Did a little tidying up and found the items to go to two of the DLC zones. Didn't realize it'd be possible to do those now, thought they'd be post-game. Might check those out.

Meanwhile I have a zillion rocks, a couple Vessels and I haven't popped a single solid state soul yet; I think it's time to respec. My build is kind of dumb right now, like I took some INT just to be able to get Carhillion back to Majula. I've been using Faith for extra heals but now I have a million items and eight Estus flasks so I don't think I need that any more... Going to give it some thought.
 

Ultrabum

Member
Swept out the last of the Great Lords last night. Did a little tidying up and found the items to go to two of the DLC zones. Didn't realize it'd be possible to do those now, thought they'd be post-game. Might check those out.

Meanwhile I have a zillion rocks, a couple Vessels and I haven't popped a single solid state soul yet; I think it's time to respec. My build is kind of dumb right now, like I took some INT just to be able to get Carhillion back to Majula. I've been using Faith for extra heals but now I have a million items and eight Estus flasks so I don't think I need that any more... Going to give it some thought.

I think the dlc is supposed to be harder than the base game, I'm doing it after the main game.
 
So when should I do the some of the DLC areas?

Right now I have the 4 Lord Souls and I guess I got to go find a king. Seems like it might be a good time to go do something off the beaten path.

Currently around SL90 if thats any help.
 

Ultrabum

Member
So when should I do the some of the DLC areas?

Right now I have the 4 Lord Souls and I guess I got to go find a king. Seems like it might be a good time to go do something off the beaten path.

Currently around SL90 if thats any help.

I think you can do it anytime, it's just a question of how hard you want it to be. You can do everything at level 1.

I believe the dlc is balanced around the end of the game.
 

Manu

Member
I did it in this order:

Base game until getting the four Great Souls > progress up to Giant Memories > DLC > endgame.

I was totally overleveled for the final stretch of the game but it was worth it because of how it fits in the lore.
 
Hey folks. so I'm still playing the original PS3 release... Can I still post in here?

My soul level is quite high I believe in relation to my progress but I feel I may have over spent somewhere and at a point of diminishing returns.

I'm in the 90s and I've reached the Iron keep and I've also accessed the Shaded Woods without exploring it yet. I'm still swinging a +1 Black Knight sword or something (I'm not at my console obviously). My strength is 28, Dex is mid-high teens. And damage is decent on normal folks but the Smelter boss crushed me. I'm a melee only build with the minimalist pyromancy spell available to me. How can I maximize my efforts and raise my defenses and stamina while being able to wear the armor I want without slow rolling? I can provide more info later if needed.
 
Not wanting to be a smart-ass (I hate smart-asses telling people how to play) but:

1) SLVL90 and you are using +1 weapon? Umm... I was swinging +8 at SLV36. Upgrade your weapon ASAP. There is plenty of Titanite in Tseldora which is in fact on the Shaded Woods path...
2) STR 28 is too low - try to get it to 40, DEX as well depending on your weapon of choice (BK Sword scales with STR or DEX? I forgot.)
3) If all else fails do you have a Soul Vessel? You could respec. I mean SLV90 and 28 STR and <20 DEX is kinda very low. Are you an INT/ FTH user? Are you Soul Arrowing everything that moves?

Anyway, given the tips above I would just go the Shaded Woods... they open up a huge chain of areas with not that hard bosses. And while you are uncharting Shaded Woods you can always upgrade your weapon and level up in the most wanted stats but after SLVL90 you need a lot of souls to level up - I guess around 15-17k. I need 26k now (SLVL132).
 
1) SLVL90 and you are using +1 weapon? Umm... I was swinging +8 at SLV36. Upgrade your weapon ASAP. There is plenty of Titanite in Tseldora which is in fact on the Shaded Woods path...
2) STR 28 is too low - try to get it to 40, DEX as well depending on your weapon of choice (BK Sword scales with STR or DEX? I forgot.)
3) If all else fails do you have a Soul Vessel? You could respec. I mean SLV90 and 28 STR and <20 DEX is kinda very low. Are you an INT/ FTH user?

I was keeping Vitality stamina and endurance equal for a long while. How do I get the soul vessel? I may have it. My issue is I play in spurts and rarely play around with the crafting/upgrading systems. No faith/int. Just swinging swords and depleting my stamina too fast and managing my load.

As for Tseldora, I haven't been there. I've only approached from unpetrifying the woman at the Majula gate side.


Basically, I know I'm doing something wrong. I'm glad someone can help.
 
I was keeping Vitality stamina and endurance equal for a long while. How do I get the soul vessel? I may have it. My issue is I play in spurts and rarely play around with the crafting/upgrading systems. No faith/int. Just swinging swords and depleting my stamina too fast and managing my load.

That's fine, you can still "salvage" your build. Just focus on upgrading your weapon (BK Sword I think requires Twinkling Titanite to upgrade? that is quite hard to find...) or changing it to some other weapon that requires normal Titanie to upgrade but has the same moveset (I guess you are used to BK Sword moveset).

In any case I'd really go to the Shaded Woods in your place. See if you can beat the boss there and if not then maybe think about respeccing.

What is your armor of choice BTW? What are you wearing?

EDIT: have you been to Heide's? You had to because you unlocked Huntsman Copse. Have you done No Man's Wharf?

I really want to help.
 

Tarkus

Member
I was keeping Vitality stamina and endurance equal for a long while. How do I get the soul vessel? I may have it. My issue is I play in spurts and rarely play around with the crafting/upgrading systems. No faith/int. Just swinging swords and depleting my stamina too fast and managing my load.
Well, your Black Knight Greatsword drains a lot of stamina for its class. The most of the greatswords I think and you have to increase faith and int to get good returns. Not to mention it upgrades with Twinkling Titanite. 2-hand moveset is trash too. Try the Claymore.
 
That's fine, you can still "salvage" your build. Just focus on upgrading your weapon (BK Sword I think requires Twinkling Titanite to upgrade? that is quite hard to find...) or changing it to some other weapon that requires normal Titanie to upgrade but has the same moveset (I guess you are used to BK Sword moveset).

In any case I'd really go to the Shaded Woods in your place. See if you can beat the boss there and if not then maybe think about respeccing.

What is your armor of choice BTW? What are you wearing?

I'm not wearing what I want to wear but at the same time, I haven't found a decent set (I don't bother looking at what's for sale in case I find the set later...). I forget exactly what I'm wearing but I'm only wearing it because it had the highest defenses for the weight I'm allotted. I refuse to upgrade for the same reason as above. I don't want to waste resources if I'll eventually find something better/to my liking.
 
Understood. Good job on the Gargoyles they were tough for me.

Go bravely into the Shaded Woods :)
I had my wife watching for my final 3 tries and she was getting into it so I think that helped haha.

What am I looking to do there though? Acquire the shards/chunks? I may just switch to a different weapon. Any comparable and worthy boss soul weapons?

Should I invest in upgrading pyromancy as a secondary long range option?

Thanks for the advice. I always get sucked into the gameplay but I'm at a loss when it comes to the management aspect of the game. I just select things that do big damage and good defense and go on my way.
 
I had my wife watching for my final 3 tries and she was getting into it so I think that helped haha.

What am I looking to do there though? Acquire the shards/chunks? I may just switch to a different weapon. Any comparable and worthy boss soul weapons?

Should I invest in upgrading pyromancy as a secondary long range option?

1) What am I looking to do there though?

Nothing, just play the plot if you can't progress in the Iron Keep. BTW I am also at the Keep right now :) Did every other path already (3 Big Bosses down) and have nowhere else to go but the Keep!

2) Acquire the shards/chunks?

Yeah, lots of them in Tseldora. Miners drop them.

3) I may just switch to a different weapon. Any comparable and worthy boss soul weapons?

Can't help you cause I do not know how to unlock boss soul weapons yet. (Please do not spoil it for me). You seem to like heavy weapons so why not try a Club/ Great Club or Claymore? Just to see if you like them. See if they require normal Titanite Shards to upgrade first.

4) Should I invest in upgrading pyromancy as a secondary long range option?

What's your first long range option? Anyway can't help you here cause I use only the lowest level, lowest damage Soul Arrow spell for range attacks/ aggro.
 

Tarkus

Member
I had my wife watching for my final 3 tries and she was getting into it so I think that helped haha.

What am I looking to do there though? Acquire the shards/chunks? I may just switch to a different weapon. Any comparable and worthy boss soul weapons?
.
Acquire the Claymore from there and thank me later when it's +10.
 
Top Bottom