StoppedInTracks
Member
Been stuck there for a while as well. Hint: remember how you entered the Castle itself? The doors were closed and yo had to do an action to open them... Repeat this action now.
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Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin |OT| Your weapons are weak, old man
- Thread starter VisceralBowl
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Been stuck there for a while as well. Hint: remember how you entered the Castle itself? The doors were closed and yo had to do an action to open them... Repeat this action now.
funkystudent
Member
Ok firmly in the end game.
What order should I do the DLC? I see 3 schools of thinking when I google it. When the DLC was releases OR by when you originally arrived at the area where you can first access the DLC teleport or just do whatever, its all balanced the same and they are not designed to be played in a order.
What order should I do the DLC? I see 3 schools of thinking when I google it. When the DLC was releases OR by when you originally arrived at the area where you can first access the DLC teleport or just do whatever, its all balanced the same and they are not designed to be played in a order.
StoppedInTracks
Member
Good choice. Buy the Mace ASAP and upgrade STR to be able to wield it.
I suffer now... but I shall be rewarded with unprecedented might if I persevere through the darkness.
One of our new writers just published a great piece about Dark Souls, thought some of you might appreciate the read:
Dancing with Death: Why You Should Play Dark Souls: http://gamespew.com/2015/07/dancing-death-play-dark-souls/
Dancing with Death: Why You Should Play Dark Souls: http://gamespew.com/2015/07/dancing-death-play-dark-souls/
StoppedInTracks
Member
So yeah the Dark Chasm boss... seems tricky. Don't have a strategy yet after it gets to 50% health. Quite annoyed that you have to redo all the enemies before him in order to fight him and lose 1 effigy. Luckily the Shaded Woods path seems the easiest (died 10+ times to Havel Phantom before I started to Great Fireball his ass from afar, ha!)
Cannon Goose
Member
Any of the Firestorm-type Pyromancies can be great and potentially end the fight if you pop one off right as they split.
MillionStabs
Banned
Is the Pursuers Gr8sword considered OP? I have it Fire +5 and it's stunlocking every NPC I've fought, even Havel.
JadedWriter
Member
So...Dark Souls 2 SOTFS is $40 at game stop and I have a $15 gift card. I've enjoyed Demons and Dark Souls and love Bloodborne to pieces. Is Dark Souls 2 really that bad? I'm most likely about to pick it up after work.
funkystudent
Member
Its not "bad".
It just lacks some of that special flavour from Demons and Dark 1. Basically the setting just isnt as iconic and have a few too many samey bosses. Other then that its still Souls. Moment to moment gameplay is as great as ever.
It's not a bad game at all. It's a disappointing sequel at worst.
A "bad" Souls game is still better than most games out there.
For what it's worth, I think it's the most fun to play out of the whole series.
Beat Sir Alonne. Tried 5 times solo before I decided to abuse the two summons they give you and beat him on the first try. I don't even feel bad since FromSoft decided it would be fun to make my spells all do bullshit damage to every boss in this lame ass DLC. All I have is the snowy DLC left and I'm done with all this garbage forever.
Lanrutcon
Member
From have...issues...balancing magic. Normally magic is balanced out by having the character be slower or weaker or more fragile than a melee character (for example), but since the Souls games have 'open' character progression there's nothing stopping me from making a fucking tank that can cast spells, thus throwing balanceout the door. From's solution was to make lightning miracles completely shit and most of the DLC very VERY anti-magic.
Nah, Dark Souls 2 is awesome! Has it's fair share of issues for sure... (online lag, lag backstabs from across the room, enemies hitting you without them actually physically touching you, etc). Not sure what of those issues are present or fixed in new version of course.
But, I spent over like 300 hours on the game on PS3. I actually like it more then Bloodborne (which I LOVE!) due to multiple play styles and NG+ actually has meaning here.
But, I spent over like 300 hours on the game on PS3. I actually like it more then Bloodborne (which I LOVE!) due to multiple play styles and NG+ actually has meaning here.
Tarkus
Member
I'm with you man, those DLC are such a step back from the game, it's worse than the vanilla version of DS2.
Some pretty cool designed boss but everything else is such a bore.
Just killed Elana in the Sunken DLC. So that's two zones with crowns at their end, and two dark-identitied queens. What's the deal here? Are these zones in the past? The history of Nashandra corrupting shit? Or are these parallel kingdoms where Nashandra's sisters(?) are fucking things up?
Looks like I just have one more Sunken boss (?), then on to Ivory and then the end. Don't think I'll NG+ this. Might read up an achievement guide right before you make the NG+ decision, see how much it would take to get the S rank.
It's lame that you go to the DLCs through portals. Screws up my mental map of what nation looks like.
I *love* the design in Sunken King. Very Cthulhu-y. Good sense of dread. There's a real paucity of enemy designs though... some new knight guys, a new witch lady, some t-Rex dudes, and...? The ghost knights with the cursed sarcofogi are cool anyway.
Looks like I just have one more Sunken boss (?), then on to Ivory and then the end. Don't think I'll NG+ this. Might read up an achievement guide right before you make the NG+ decision, see how much it would take to get the S rank.
It's lame that you go to the DLCs through portals. Screws up my mental map of what nation looks like.
I *love* the design in Sunken King. Very Cthulhu-y. Good sense of dread. There's a real paucity of enemy designs though... some new knight guys, a new witch lady, some t-Rex dudes, and...? The ghost knights with the cursed sarcofogi are cool anyway.
JadedWriter
Member
Got it for less than 20 bucks, finally completed the soulsborne collection.
They're in the past, yes.
SPOILERS:
Just like Nashandra was born from a piece of Manus so did the other queens. They travelled to other kingdoms searching for kings to corrupt them as well. Nadalia was too late and the Old Iron King was already long dead by the time she reached the kingdom.
Then you have Alsanna, she was also born from Manus but she became good for some unexplained reason.
Then you have Alsanna, she was also born from Manus but she became good for some unexplained reason.
StoppedInTracks
Member
That's... not exactly true in my case.
But let's start from the beginning: I did it. I beat this fucker after 3 hours of trying and 89 - 51 - 10 - 2 = 26 Effigies lost. That means I tried to beat this boss TWENTY SIX TIMES... and in the end I succeeded (you get the Yellow Rags Armor Set as a reward).
For me personally this was the hardest boss in the game and even harder than Flamelurker, Maneater and False King Allant in Demon's. About 90 minutes ago I died to him when he had only 1% of health left... a naked punch would kill him... you have no idea how that wrecked me (the later 10 attempts were disastrous - I would sometimes die even before the split). Then later on I miscast Soul Arrow instead of Heavy Soul Arrow (which would have killed him)... he punished me... That gives two times where I was this ---> <--- close to achieving victory.
I've been trying different strategies:
1) equip the Rebel's Shield to block and mitigate 90% of Dark attacks (the fucking orbs). <--- not a good idea when the orbs attack you from the side especially later in the fight
2) pure melee with Greater Magic Weapon <--- forget it. First boss in Dark Souls 2 that I did not even touch with melee.
3) Pyromancy after he hits 50% health. Well it didn't pan out exactly as I planned. My strongest Pyromancy spell: Chaos Storm took away maybe 22% of his health VERY RARELY. Most of the time it took between 15-20% so I had to cast it TWO times and the boss still would have some health left. Does Pyromancy scale with INT? I have Dark Pyro Flame +10.
They key to this fight (for me), besides incredible amount of luck, was to:
- unfocus and run around hugging the walls whenever Dark Orb is being cast (same exact strategy as in Scorpioness Najka boss fight when she casts the Arrows) and pray
- PRAY that when he gets close to 50% of health the last attack he does is the airborne laser one. THIS WAS CRUCIAL as it allowed me to Heavy Soul Arrow him a few times so when he drops and splits he had ~40% of health left. Of course you cannot trigger the airborne attack so it was PURE LUCK.
- bait him constanlty for melee attack (keep close range at all the times)
- throw the fuck away Havel's set and equip anything that has high Dark and Flame resistance i.e. Hexer's Set.
- equip the Blossom Shield for Stamina regen.
So he got airborne, landed and started to split. I cast Chaos Storm which takes away 20% of his life. Of course there is NO staggering and he attacks me when I stand up. I bail the fuck out by rolling to the side and run away. Usually I tried to bait the two of them to group together and melee me at the same time which would give me time to second cast the Chaos Storm. This time however (last time) I noticed one starts teleporting in the huge dark bubble and the other one melees me. I avoid the attack and Chaos Storm him. He has about 10% of health left. I calculate in my mind that is 2 Heavy Soul Arrows or 3 Souls Arrows. I run like a mad man getting hit for 30% of heath and instead of healing I cast HSA. He gets hit and I roll away IN THE VERY LAST SECOND to heal. Now the time almost stopped for me. I can see they are both grouped together on the FAR SIDE of the cavern doing I do not even know what. Coming at me I guess? Nothing was shining (Dark Orb) or glowing (Fire Orb) they just moved head on at me. In slow motion I cast HSA. I watch as it flies to the top of the screen and hits that fucker.
I stand still.
The Victory Message comes on screen.
I drink Estus.
It is done.
IT HAS BEEN DONE.
loaf of bread
Member
I'm fucking done. This game is fucking trash and I've had it. The entire fucking game has been bullshit. I'm so fucking sick of having every single encounter pit me against 3+ guys at the same time. These bosses are fucking bullshit. They aren't fun.
Why the fuck can enemies swivel on an axis mid animation? I can't fucking do that, why can they? I'm fucking tired of enemies raising their weapon to attack and me dodge out of the way only for them to swivel 90 degrees on one foot and bash me anyways.
Everything is fucking overkill. Lets have you fight three guys at the same time who ganksquad you, but thats not enough, lets have unreachable guys shoot arrows at you while you're getting ganged up on, now lets make this trashfucker cast spells to slow you down. Fuck off.
Lets have 30 fuckers casting spells at you that have unlimited range and will chase you to the ends of the earth.
Why the fuck did they change the estus flask to take three times longer.
This shitboss isn't hard enough so lets have it fucking spawn in this other shit boss in the middle of the fight just fucking because. Oh you managed to beat it? Well lets just immediately spawn it in again! FUCK OFF.
Also what the FUCK with arrows. Arrows fucking ATTRACT towards you in mid air. Thats the most fuck you bullshit I've ever seen, my arrows don't fucking curve towards enemies.
This game focuses way too much on trying to be hard. Its not the good kind of hard. Its the bullshit kind. I'm just trying to have fun, not be fucking punished at every turn. If I fucking spawn in phantoms to help with a boss its because I'm having trouble and I need help to make it easier. But no, we can't have that, lets crank up the bosses health 3 times and make it fucking impossible.
I'm done with this trash, I don't even want to play anymore. Fuck this game. I'm not playing another Souls that doesn't have Miyazaki at the helm.
I've been fighting this blue magic smelter fucker demon for the past two hours and I just don't have the time to waste anymore fighting against this bullshit that isn't even enjoyable. I have other games to spend my time on. And apparently the fume fucker is harder. No thanks. Done.
Why the fuck can enemies swivel on an axis mid animation? I can't fucking do that, why can they? I'm fucking tired of enemies raising their weapon to attack and me dodge out of the way only for them to swivel 90 degrees on one foot and bash me anyways.
Everything is fucking overkill. Lets have you fight three guys at the same time who ganksquad you, but thats not enough, lets have unreachable guys shoot arrows at you while you're getting ganged up on, now lets make this trashfucker cast spells to slow you down. Fuck off.
Lets have 30 fuckers casting spells at you that have unlimited range and will chase you to the ends of the earth.
Why the fuck did they change the estus flask to take three times longer.
This shitboss isn't hard enough so lets have it fucking spawn in this other shit boss in the middle of the fight just fucking because. Oh you managed to beat it? Well lets just immediately spawn it in again! FUCK OFF.
Also what the FUCK with arrows. Arrows fucking ATTRACT towards you in mid air. Thats the most fuck you bullshit I've ever seen, my arrows don't fucking curve towards enemies.
This game focuses way too much on trying to be hard. Its not the good kind of hard. Its the bullshit kind. I'm just trying to have fun, not be fucking punished at every turn. If I fucking spawn in phantoms to help with a boss its because I'm having trouble and I need help to make it easier. But no, we can't have that, lets crank up the bosses health 3 times and make it fucking impossible.
I'm done with this trash, I don't even want to play anymore. Fuck this game. I'm not playing another Souls that doesn't have Miyazaki at the helm.
I've been fighting this blue magic smelter fucker demon for the past two hours and I just don't have the time to waste anymore fighting against this bullshit that isn't even enjoyable. I have other games to spend my time on. And apparently the fume fucker is harder. No thanks. Done.
How far did you get?
What I have been saying about those shitty DLC. The game is fine but man what did they think with those DLC. All three are like that, sometimes you have 6 ennemies banking you, even immortal like the fucking knights in Shulva.
This is shitty "hard", not at all justified.
The hatboxes feel even worse in the DLCs too, I have seen some pretty outstanding bullshit, I even have screenshots of arrows getting stuck in the fucking air, 20 cm from any walls.
I have also begun to hate those ennemies without, it seems, any stamina bar, hitting non stop for like 20 hits....
loaf of bread
Member
In the main story I got all the way to the ancient dragon and completed Sunken King and most of Iron king.
Dance Inferno
Unconfirmed Member
I'm not a fan of hard games that punish you for no reason but I've enjoyed this game quite a bit. The regular mobs aren't really all that bad even when they gang up on you, just usually have to put some distance between you and them and try to bait them one at a time.
With bosses if I find one particularly hard or frustrating I'll just summon help. I don't care, I'm not trying to prove anything to anyone. That being said, I've been able to take out most of the bosses solo up to this point.
loaf of bread
Member
Once you get later in the game most of the summons just end up fucking you over because they make the boss' health multiply by 3 and they fucking suck and do shit for damage and get hit by every attack the boss does and die, then you're screwed into an impossible solo fight against a boss with like 500% health.
I tried Sinh while being summoned, the fight was impossible, so many hp it was ridiculous, while I killed it on my first try solo, I was doing so much more damages the fight was too easy.
Cannon Goose
Member
Glad you beat the Darklurker! You're right, it's definitely one of the harder bosses in the game for sure. The first time I fought it I used over 30 Effigies and had to use a Soul Vessel to completely change my build in order to win. Then the second time I did it pure melee on my third try!
As for your Pyro flame, the Dark version scales with your hollowing. The more times you've died (and the less HP you have), the more powerful it will be. However, I'm not sure this trade-off is ever worth it over just using a normal +10 Pyro flame.
I'm towards the end of the 3rd (snowy) DLC and I'm actually kind of liking it compared to the other 2. It's been relatively straight forward in comparison. No confusing puzzle-platform switches or elevators to navigate, just some good old fashioned Dark Souls style room clearing. I have only killed the first boss tho, so those could still potentially annoy me.
Haha, boy, I thought I was having problems. I just beat that DLC and both of those bosses took me exactly 2 tries. Are you summoning NPCs? It's easy to think they're not worth it because they make the boss stronger and have shit AI, but I find just having them distract the boss is a godsend most of the time. My build affords me both strong ranged (hex) attacks and a good melee solution (Crypt Blacksword) so I'm flexible in what I can do to bosses. If I were playing solely a melee character (especially STR based) I think I would be having an even tougher time in the DLC.
I agree with all the shit you're saying for the most part. This game, more than the first Dark Souls has a lot of developer middle fingers directed at the player, but even with all that against us I still personally have found this game (DLC excluded) vastly easier to the first Dark Souls. The first Dark Souls has a handful of deviously memorable situations that I was stuck on for a very long time on my first playthrough (Capra, Anor Londo snipers, O&S etc) where I felt like I was just done progressing in the game, that I'd have to give up because I wasn't good enough of a gamer to pass them. Dark Souls 2 I've been pretty quick to recognize the cheap ass ruleset that the enemy AI plays by and there's definitely ways around it. A lot of the complaints about stuff like enemy attacks tracking to the player can be circumvented by just knowing how to use your iframes. If you start your roll at the precise moment the enemy attack would have landed on you, you will dodge it 100% of the time, regardless of where it hit you.
It's a shame you have to give up but I understand. I actually probably came pretty close to quitting in Shulva too.
Haha, boy, I thought I was having problems. I just beat that DLC and both of those bosses took me exactly 2 tries. Are you summoning NPCs? It's easy to think they're not worth it because they make the boss stronger and have shit AI, but I find just having them distract the boss is a godsend most of the time. My build affords me both strong ranged (hex) attacks and a good melee solution (Crypt Blacksword) so I'm flexible in what I can do to bosses. If I were playing solely a melee character (especially STR based) I think I would be having an even tougher time in the DLC.
I agree with all the shit you're saying for the most part. This game, more than the first Dark Souls has a lot of developer middle fingers directed at the player, but even with all that against us I still personally have found this game (DLC excluded) vastly easier to the first Dark Souls. The first Dark Souls has a handful of deviously memorable situations that I was stuck on for a very long time on my first playthrough (Capra, Anor Londo snipers, O&S etc) where I felt like I was just done progressing in the game, that I'd have to give up because I wasn't good enough of a gamer to pass them. Dark Souls 2 I've been pretty quick to recognize the cheap ass ruleset that the enemy AI plays by and there's definitely ways around it. A lot of the complaints about stuff like enemy attacks tracking to the player can be circumvented by just knowing how to use your iframes. If you start your roll at the precise moment the enemy attack would have landed on you, you will dodge it 100% of the time, regardless of where it hit you.
It's a shame you have to give up but I understand. I actually probably came pretty close to quitting in Shulva too.
That was me. And my big mistake. After Bloodborne, I might return to the DLC and respec so I get some magic in there. DLC excepted, I definitely found DS2 easier than DS.
Dance Inferno
Unconfirmed Member
So at what point would you recommend playing the DLC? I'm in Drangleic Castle at this point.
right before the final boss.
Dance Inferno
Unconfirmed Member
Will it be clear to me who the final boss is? It's my first play through.
Ah, okay. I think it should be clear enough. If you're not sure, just ask.
That said going ahead and killing the final boss pre-dlc won't hamper your progress or anything, so don't worry too much about it.
You will 100% know when you're on the path to the final boss. It has a definite air of finality to the approach.
edit: btw, I'm not sure what justification people are using to recommend the DLC before beating the final boss, but I'm going to go ahead and say do the opposite. Killing the final boss gives you access to unlimited titanite chunks from the blacksmith's daughter, and that boss is drastically easier than the DLC. I love that I don't have to worry about my stock of upgrade mats running dry when I want to change my character's outfit, I just +10 anything I want now and it's great.
I did a bonfire ascetic in Bulk Gulch to respawn the dudes that live in the oil puddles. I thought I would farm up chunks but the ascetic doesn't reset kill counts. I those guys killed beyond respawning and they still don't respawn after ascetic. Oops.
Put a bop on the Rotten for no particular reason though. The balance was weird, we each did massive damage to each other. It was fun. Don't miss a dodge or you're fucked, but it only takes a few hits to punch his clock. On this kill he dropped his Rotten Soul and another one that looks different than the others 0_o
Put a bop on the Rotten for no particular reason though. The balance was weird, we each did massive damage to each other. It was fun. Don't miss a dodge or you're fucked, but it only takes a few hits to punch his clock. On this kill he dropped his Rotten Soul and another one that looks different than the others 0_o
You have to ascetic the bonfire closer to the boss fog I think.
Jesus christ this Ivory King DLC was SO close to not being an annoying piece of trash then they threw in this snowy shitstorm and these god damned murderhorses. I'm actually legitimately upset at Dark Souls 2 right now. Not even in a frothy, buttmad, "oh I keep dying, woe is me" kind of way, but in a "come the fuck on already, you god damned morons..." kind of way.
Ohhhh wait. I think it's the opposite. I did the one closer to the boss fog because I prefer going that way to kill all the stones on the first farming run. But must be that bonfire only governs the Rotten. The bonfire at the top of the cave governs the monsters. Will try it out.
Do kindlings persist across to NG+?
SiegfriedFM
Member
But if you kill the "final" boss, you don't get to do the new final boss after clearing all the DLC.
Also, can't help chuckling a bit at all the salt. Yes, enemies don't let you casually walk around them as they flail at air like in Dark Souls 1 anymore. You need to actually roll most of the time, or walk out of range.
After doing my pyro run, it's annoying how the DLC pretty much forces you to change your play style if you were a pure caster, and how Amana is really, really annoying without a bow. But it's not like the game doesn't give you an oportunity to change, with the soul vessel and stuff.
Just barely poked my head into Loyce, seems cool so far. What's that about Chaos?? There's a weird thing with Dark Souls 2, where there are obvious callbacks to Dark Souls 1, but I can never tell if Drangleic *is* Lordran but in the future or if it's a neighboring nation or what the heck the relationship is. The whole main story of 2 revolves around the war with the Giants, which doesn't seem to have anything at all to do with 1.
Maybe I'll go down a YouTube lore hole after I Defeated. I never knew anything about the lore first time through--just listened to podcasts the whole time and never read an item. Now I'm kind of into it.
Maybe I'll go down a YouTube lore hole after I Defeated. I never knew anything about the lore first time through--just listened to podcasts the whole time and never read an item. Now I'm kind of into it.
Yeah its the worst designed area in a souls game by far. Either get some summons or use the ai summons and run to boss door.
Not even worth it. I was only getting 5 or 6 every hour when I did it.
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