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

Brakke

Banned
If I were to purchase this game, do people still do coop PVE frequently? Or is it mostly PVP?

I really just want to play PVE with people, since I've exhausted everything on Vanilla DSII.

Yes? Certainly fewer than did summons when it released. But you can still find people especially on classically difficult bosses.

Is Moonlight Greatsword the best for sorcery build?

I dunno. But make sure you've got the real one >.>
 

2AdEPT

Member
Got the vanquisher's seal and beat Lost Sinner in just over 2 hours. It's a lot of fun! Most of my problems are figuring out the range on the punches.

Yeah the range isnt great...but obvioulsy you tried powerstance right? THe DPS you get is just ridiculous, the stamina cost is low (and is not significatn if you throw some ponts there) and no other weapon comes close, not even Bone FIst. I went through loyce before finishing the tougher DLC bosses and although I was using bone fist for regular mobs, the bosses all had to deal with the powerstanced seal punches.

Sinner is one of my favourite bosses, I was able to do a no health loss on her inthe dark, obviously using the powerstnaced R1 seal punches. PLayed piano myself for the music part also, the mood there with the moon and all was just beautiful. Beautiful surroundings but ugly sinner with the roach in her eye...awesome art direction!

Yes? Certainly fewer than did summons when it released. But you can still find people especially on classically difficult bosses.



I dunno. But make sure you've got the real one >.>

Meh, moolight sword, is ok but sorcery in general was pretty meh compared to hexing. Hexing was the "new" thing in ds2 at launch and was definitely waaaaay more powerful (could have been nerfed since), and had cooler options, than sorcery alone. Since hexing allows for all three of dark, lightning and sorcery, why limit yourself to just sorcery? The only people that did that I think were doing nostalgia runs. If you dont even know what hexing is really here is a video I did getting people started on hexing, Use the hotlinks in the description to save time watching the whole thing.

I think the go to weapon ended up being dark infused (or better yet not infused but buffed with dark) chaos blade...not moonlight as much. A few other cool ones were the faith based lightning infused ones, especialy the one that had a lightning buff with R2 and you didnt have to take up a spell slot (sorry forgotthe name but i think you get it with watcher and defender souls.)...defender greatsword maybe?

moolight sword had its run in the other games and its not like its terrible, but in general (and there may have been nerfs and modifications) Dark> Lightning> Magic. Also the powerstancing, plus the need to have different catalysts meant that most mages had different set ups...another strong suit of ds2 over all other games...weapon variety is literaally awesome, and despite that there were a large percentage of people who believed there was only one or two "best" weapons still, like the first two games, they were not really right about that .

ANother one of my favs was the curved dragon greatsword as it scaled with dex not str as a great sword and still swung decently quick...sort of a hybrid weapon idea. Similar to how the Murakumo worked in DS1.

here is a vid of me taking on Darklurker on my initial playthough with curved dragon greatsword buffed with lightning...please excuse the melodrama...i had just grinded for more effigies as it took me a lot of tries to beat DL solo back then...was getting frustrated and since the runs were continuing over the span of two days, more swearing and melodrama than normal! ;) BE sure ot use the hotlinks int eh description if dont want to watch the whole hour long let's play video.
 
Yeah the range isnt great...but obvioulsy you tried powerstance right? THe DPS you get is just ridiculous, the stamina cost is low (and is not significatn if you throw some ponts there) and no other weapon comes close, not even Bone FIst. I went through loyce before finishing the tougher DLC bosses and although I was using bone fist for regular mobs, the bosses all had to deal with the powerstanced seal punches.

I've been mostly using powerstancing. Any reason not to? I didn't do any real testing, but the quick two hit from left hand powerstance seems really powerful.
 

Korezo

Member
Meh, moolight sword, is ok but sorcery in general was pretty meh compared to hexing. Hexing was the "new" thing in ds2 at launch and was definitely waaaaay more powerful (could have been nerfed since), and had cooler options, than sorcery alone. Since hexing allows for all three of dark, lightning and sorcery, why limit yourself to just sorcery? The only people that did that I think were doing nostalgia runs. If you dont even know what hexing is really here is a video I did getting people started on hexing, Use the hotlinks in the description to save time watching the whole thing.

I think the go to weapon ended up being dark infused (or better yet not infused but buffed with dark) chaos blade...not moonlight as much. A few other cool ones were the faith based lightning infused ones, especialy the one that had a lightning buff with R2 and you didnt have to take up a spell slot (sorry forgotthe name but i think you get it with watcher and defender souls.)...defender greatsword maybe?

moolight sword had its run in the other games and its not like its terrible, but in general (and there may have been nerfs and modifications) Dark> Lightning> Magic. Also the powerstancing, plus the need to have different catalysts meant that most mages had different set ups...another strong suit of ds2 over all other games...weapon variety is literaally awesome, and despite that there were a large percentage of people who believed there was only one or two "best" weapons still, like the first two games, they were not really right about that .

ANother one of my favs was the curved dragon greatsword as it scaled with dex not str as a great sword and still swung decently quick...sort of a hybrid weapon idea. Similar to how the Murakumo worked in DS1.

here is a vid of me taking on Darklurker on my initial playthough with curved dragon greatsword buffed with lightning...please excuse the melodrama...i had just grinded for more effigies as it took me a lot of tries to beat DL solo back then...was getting frustrated and since the runs were continuing over the span of two days, more swearing and melodrama than normal! ;) BE sure ot use the hotlinks int eh description if dont want to watch the whole hour long let's play video.

I remember hexing in Dark Souls, it was incredibly good. Reason I rulled out hexing is because you need to spend alot of points on Int+faith for some spells and I was going to cap my character at 120, or w/e the new pvp meta lvl is. In my first playthrough of the original Dark Souls 2 I did have a faith build with the Defenders greatsword +5. that faith build was real good but I wanted to try something different, might just do the same faith build again, but I saw your hex build was SL 86, are later spells not useful?
 

2AdEPT

Member
I remember hexing in Dark Souls, it was incredibly good. Reason I rulled out hexing is because you need to spend alot of points on Int+faith for some spells and I was going to cap my character at 120, or w/e the new pvp meta lvl is. In my first playthrough of the original Dark Souls 2 I did have a faith build with the Defenders greatsword +5. that faith build was real good but I wanted to try something different, might just do the same faith build again, but I saw your hex build was SL 86, are later spells not useful?

I didnt even take that character further than what you saw, the video was just to get people started ...despite that you need points in both INT and FAI it really isnt that tough to keep your stats low, but why bother?!?! There is no SL meta really for DS2 as the SM was never scrapped....people quickly built whatever character they wanted with insane stats. Unless you are part of a strict fight club with honest members you can bet you are fighting someone in the range of LV 200-300 with Soul Memory being the only matching qualifier built into the game. but I dont think I missed too many advanced hexes, had to deal with all the different stuff in PVP with my fist only character...the Dead again hex was by far my favourite hex in the game , potentially my favourite spell in the series.. and I did do a video on it before moving on to fist only. there were many better videos that came later though uisng the hex and some were very creative...the best I think were in Sinner's rise on the elevator!

I've been mostly using powerstancing. Any reason not to? I didn't do any real testing, but the quick two hit from left hand powerstance seems really powerful.

Nope. You are right, I couldnt think of how to explain it as my reflexes are built in now but ineed. L1 powerstanced all day. I tried using the spin one and two handing, but they just didnt cut it in enough situations. You wll find that the toughest bosses only let you get in one or two combos at the most, but this damage you do is sufficient with only one L1 combo per go.
 

JJD

Member
Anyone knows if the Memory of Jeigh farming method still works?

I want to get the Benhart of Jugo set, and I have already beat the other bosses where he appears. I've found out that he appears at Memory of Jeigh too and you can do the 3 bosses kill there (with bonfire ascetic) before speaking with him on Memory of Orro (since I've already found him on Drangleic).
 

Tarkus

Member
I finally got to the IK bridge with my low SM character (300,000) and nobody was there to duel:( Switched to my high level build and red signs were everywhere. Looks like I need to progress a little more. Off to the Chariot.
 
How do you turn off the poisonous mist in Harvest Valley? I burned the giant windmill but that didn't get rid of it. Is this a bug, or is this a change for SOTFS?
 

Tarkus

Member
You can't as far I know. It just turns off the mist in the boss room,

Edit: apparently, burning the windmill is supposed to remove some of the poison pools in Harvest Valley. TBH, I've never gone back there after Earthen Peak.
 

2AdEPT

Member
Play both. DaS first.

Play Demons' on PS3 first, then Dark then DS2. If you can do PC, both Darks are waaaay better than ps3, PS4 is ok for ds4 if that's all you got but the graphics mods really improve things, plus then you can save your progress/characters etc..
 

UberLevi

Member
Having trouble beating this game. I played the original up until the D
emon
of S
ong
boss fight, then Scholar came out and I had to restart.

After that, I reached Drangleic again only to end up buying a new computer mid-playthrough. Unfortunately, because Dark Souls II doesn't have cloud saving my save file ended up getting wiped.

I'm now on my third playthrough and struggling to progress back up to where I left off.
 

2AdEPT

Member
Yeah I don't have a gaming PC. Why does everyone say to play DaS first? I guess I already own DaS so there is that.

The biggest reason is that the lore is set in the same world...ds2 happens eons later in the same world, so there are lots of easter eggs and callbacks to da1 in da2. Going backward wouldnt be as nostalgic? Also, despite that most feel that certain changes made in ds2 were hurtful while others felt other changes were obvious improvements...helps you to be on top of your opinion with others to go the same direction. The first souls game you play is usually your favourite, mine was Demons' and that wont likely change. Yours may stay as bloodborme. But Mosst people know you will like ds1 better than 2 if you play 1 first and that confirms that they have one more person that will likley agree with them which is better. ;P

you can play in any order you want! :p
 
Does anyone know how I'm able to get this, right before the Doors of Pharros.

http://i.imgur.com/7vUROWX.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/rqaSwFo.jpg?1

I have a feeling I may have had to use the Scorpioness Najka boss to retrieve them, like get her to smash it or something, but I've defeated her. If that's the case, then I suppose I'm out of luck.

You can't. As you predicted, you need the Scorpioness to knock that tree down during the fight and if she didn't you can't pick it up. Don't worry about it though, I can't quite remember what it is but I remember it being nothing that important, like 2 alluring skulls or some healing orbs or something.
 
If you are desperate, I think you can bonfire aesthetic her back to collect the item. That said, I had a quick search and can confirm it is definitely not worth doing, I believe it is a single flame butterfly up that tree.
 

zXe

Member
Oh really, haha? nah it's cool. thanks for checking it out though. I'll continue onward and leave it I think.
 

gunstarhero

Member
Hi all -

Just picked up the game today - never played the previous games, except Bloodborne (beat it) and got some useful tips in another thread in regards to what stats to focus on (sounds like I should be dumping mostly into Adaptability to raise Agility).

Quick question tho - any advice on which class to start out with? I know next to nothing about this game. Does class effect weapons you can use, etc.

In Bloodborne I main used the Kirk Hammer, LHB and Stake Driver. Really liked the quickness of the Stake Driver, but the range was tough to deal with on bosses.

Any tips would be appreciated - thanks!
 

acsn

Member
Hi all -

Just picked up the game today - never played the previous games, except Bloodborne (beat it) and got some useful tips in another thread in regards to what stats to focus on (sounds like I should be dumping mostly into Adaptability to raise Agility).

Quick question tho - any advice on which class to start out with? I know next to nothing about this game. Does class effect weapons you can use, etc.

In Bloodborne I main used the Kirk Hammer, LHB and Stake Driver. Really liked the quickness of the Stake Driver, but the range was tough to deal with on bosses.

Any tips would be appreciated - thanks!

Starting class doesn't really matter. It only determines your starting stats/gear.
 

Greddleok

Member
I respec'ed to a Str/Fth build last night to try it out. God damn it's so useless. I bought all the miracles I could find but other than lightning spear, none of them have any use during combat. Even lightning spear is slow and boring as shit to use.
Bashed my head against a couple of bosses then immediately went back to my straight strength build. Maybe I missed something that was key to the build to make it good (and fun) but it just felt like I had wasted 40 level up points.
 
Man, you cannot believe how badly I fucked up. Like really, really badly.

So I was playing the game blindly for the NG0. No FAQs etc. I was planning to do everything that is needed for achievements in NG+ and NG++ - just like I did in Demon's. So no biggie, I will kill the bosses again (I planned to do NG+ anyway) and then trade their souls for achievement required spells & miracles.

After I beat the game I started NG+ with a FAQ. Oh, some spells are obtainable on-line or in NG++ sold by Chancellor in the Castle. Well, no biggie, I think I can handle Rotten and Freja in NG++. I will not have to beat Gargoyles, Executioner's Chariot or any other side boss including all the DLC bosses.

Oh, I have to beat some optional bosses in order to get Benhart and Lucatiel achievement? No biggie, I can and did handle them and got the two achievements.

Well it seems I have to farm Sun Medals and Mad Warriors for a Miracle and a Spell. Well, no biggie, I grinded for Pure Bladestone in Demon's after all. So I spent 7 hours (!) doing mindless shit and got 30 Sun Medals from Falconers. Then I spent another 2 hours killing Mad Warrior 30 times.

Okay, perfect, only 2 Achievements missing:

- Master of Miracles
- Master of Pyromancy

Off to NG++ I go but better let me check with the FAQ one last time if I really did everything this time before moving to NG++.

Checking spells (after I got the achievement)... done... wait a minute, there are two new spells in my inventory and they are not on the FAQ list. Ah I got them in the DLC! But... does that mean they calculate into the achievement?

Let me quickly check Pyromancies... oh shit... oh shit, shit, shit... after 141 hours I am missing 2 Pyromancies from Brume Tower. I DID NOT PLAN TO SET MY FOOT IN THE DLCS IN NG+... ALL I HAD TO DO WAS CHECK THE FAQ BEFORE STARTING NG+ AND I WOULD ALREADY OWN THIS SHIT. JESUS CHRIST :[

The first one is quite easy - just turn on the elevators and open one door, the second one...

...

...
......
.........

the second one requires me to kill FUME KNIGHT. Again. In NG+. (and Alonne but I remember he was piss easy)

...

...
......
.........

Okay... let's grind my teeth and try to reach Fume Knight. Let's see how the battle goes.

It went really, really badly. I simply could not beat him :( He killed me 20+ times and sometimes even in his first form. Wow, I forgot how hard that fucker is (reminder: he killed me 63 times in NG0).

I had to "cheat" and used Velstadt helm. I was out of my mind trying to adapt my reflexes to two of his forms. With the helm on he still killed me 5+ times but in the end I got him, wow. Ironic because I was using the Fume Knight's Armor Set for this fight :)

SUCK IT DOWN FUME BASTARD. AGAIN.

Okay, only Alonne to go and I can start NG++. Double checked the list of Pyromancies and Miracles and after I beat Alonne I will be 100% ready for NG++. Then it's just a matter to opening Drangleic Castle which should take me 10-15 hours max.

[side note: I cannot for the life of me kill the Double Pursuers. They killed me 20+ times already, I tried every strategy under the sun and they still kill me in 2-3 minutes. Luckily they are not needed for anything so I can leave them be. After I get the platinum I will try them in NG++ a couple of times. Or not. Fuck this game after 141 hours.]
 
I just started playing this on PS4. Can someone remind me about the ring that limits your health loss so it never goes below 75%?

I feel like I found that ring pretty early when I played on PS3 but I'm not finding it. Did they change its location? Can someone give me a hint on where it is?

If I could remember what the ring is called, I'd just look it up myself.
 

Caderfix

Member
I've played a LOT of this game on my PS3, however, I didn't play the DLC... I'm thinking about getting this for my PS4, but I'm not too sure about it, as I could simply buy the DLC to the PS3.

The bump to 60fps makes a big difference, gameplay wise? Is the new balance any good? Was online improved? Aside those points, is there any other big change?

If anyone could help me with the questions above, it would be great :)
 
I've played a LOT of this game on my PS3, however, I didn't play the DLC... I'm thinking about getting this for my PS4, but I'm not too sure about it, as I could simply buy the DLC to the PS3.

The bump to 60fps makes a big difference, gameplay wise? Is the new balance any good? Was online improved? Aside those points, is there any other big change?

If anyone could help me with the questions above, it would be great :)

I was in the exact same position. I played about 70 hours on PS3 and knew the whole time the game didn't run great but I dealt with it.

Have been thinking about buying it on PS4 since it came out and finally did this weekend. The performance increase makes a HUGE difference. And watching streams of the game doesn't do the resolution increase justice. You kind of have to see it for yourself.

If you played a lot on PS3 and want to do the same again, the upgrade is worth it.

I'm certainly no expert on the game but I noticed different enemy placement almost immediately. It seems a bit harder, especially the first few hours until you start getting your legs back.
 
I just started playing this on PS4. Can someone remind me about the ring that limits your health loss so it never goes below 75%?

I feel like I found that ring pretty early when I played on PS3 but I'm not finding it. Did they change its location? Can someone give me a hint on where it is?

If I could remember what the ring is called, I'd just look it up myself.

It used to be in the chest just outside the Covenant of Blue building. They moved it to the chest just outside the Dragonrider boss instead, but there's a Heide knight in front of it that you need to kill first (triggering the others). They will aggro after the boss anyway.
 
It used to be in the chest just outside the Covenant of Blue building. They moved it to the chest just outside the Dragonrider boss instead, but there's a Heide knight in front of it that you need to kill first (triggering the others). They will aggro after the boss anyway.

Great, thanks. That's about where I left off so at least I know I'm close.
 

Morrigan Stark

Arrogant Smirk
Soooo I just got this for PS4. I beat the vanilla (+ DLC) game many times but the new enemy and item placement is pretty exciting, makes me rediscover the game.

What's with the statue in the tutorial area? Do I need a fragrant branch just to reach the crows now?
 

Dresden

Member
Soooo I just got this for PS4. I beat the vanilla (+ DLC) game many times but the new enemy and item placement is pretty exciting, makes me rediscover the game.

What's with the statue in the tutorial area? Do I need a fragrant branch just to reach the crows now?

Scholar does some nifty things with new enemy placements but they also went way overboard with the statues. Don't need a branch for the crows but you do need one to reach that gender coffin.
 

Greddleok

Member
Huh...I beat the watcher and the defender last night. I thought that'd be the end, with only DLC left, but nothing happened...


I guess I'm missing another king's door. Oh and the ancient dragon gave me something that I have no idea how to use, and no idea what it is...


Anyone got a non-spoilery hint in which direction I should go?
On a related note, what soul level should I try handling the DLC? I'm about 110.
 

Morrigan Stark

Arrogant Smirk
Huh...I beat the watcher and the defender last night. I thought that'd be the end, with only DLC left, but nothing happened...


I guess I'm missing another king's door. Oh and the ancient dragon gave me something that I have no idea how to use, and no idea what it is...


Anyone got a non-spoilery hint in which direction I should go?
On a related note, what soul level should I try handling the DLC? I'm about 110.
Read the item description of the item the dragon gave you. And yes you forgot a king's door... one very early into the game. ;)

Level sounds good for the DLC, I wouldn't go there below that level tbh.
 
Huh...I beat the watcher and the defender last night. I thought that'd be the end, with only DLC left, but nothing happened...


I guess I'm missing another king's door. Oh and the ancient dragon gave me something that I have no idea how to use, and no idea what it is...


Anyone got a non-spoilery hint in which direction I should go?
On a related note, what soul level should I try handling the DLC? I'm about 110.

You are almost at the end of base game. Non-spoilery hint: explore Forest of Fallen Giants a bit more. You missed one door there.

Your level is pretty good for the DLC. Be warned though all DLCs are tough as nails - even trash mobs not to mention the bosses. The real Dark Souls 2 starts there :)
 
I feel like i'm making some more progress on this after a week or so off, beat the Lost Sinner yesterday and have cleared Huntsmans Copse so I can use the shortcut to get to the Skeleton Lords and i'm not sure if it's worth doing the chariot boss or not but I guess I might as well as i'm in the area.

It's funny how some areas click and others don't, the amount of times I died stupidly in the Lost Bastille yet a couple of runs through Huntsmans Copse for instance for a bit of farming and opening up the shortcut yielded no deaths at all, in fact not even close, maybe it's a frame of mind thing as you always have to be on it to make progress (or I do anyway) but it does seem to be like that for me.
 

Tarkus

Member
I feel like i'm making some more progress on this after a week or so off, beat the Lost Sinner yesterday and have cleared Huntsmans Copse so I can use the shortcut to get to the Skeleton Lords and i'm not sure if it's worth doing the chariot boss or not but I guess I might as well as i'm in the area.
Definitely worth it if you want to PvP. You can also get an essential melee item by burning an ascetic at UP bonfire and fighting the chariot again.
 
Done deal. 142 hours:

img_4754qvlsp.jpg


And my NG++ char, Fume Knight's set + Throne Defender shield:

img_4753mrx0f.jpg


Thank you for this game, From Software. What an amazing title!

I still cannot kill the Duo Pursuers :(
 

Tarkus

Member
Done deal. 142 hours:

img_4754qvlsp.jpg


And my NG++ char, Fume Knight's set + Throne Defender shield:

img_4753mrx0f.jpg


Thank you for this game, From Software. What an amazing title!

I still cannot kill the Duo Pursuers :(
You should keep trying the Pursuers. They give you another essential melee item. Play online and co-op them. Then afterwards, you could respec a bit and have some fun with dueling, which is far and away the best part about this game IMO.
 
Some of the PvP in this is full of cowards, I'm by no means any good but I'll always have a fair fight, the last few invasions I've had have been utter wankers!
 

Tarkus

Member
Some of the PvP in this is full of cowards, I'm by no means any good but I'll always have a fair fight, the last few invasions I've had have been utter wankers!
That's why I love using the Red Sign Soapstone in places like the IK bridge. It's either people who want to duel you or gank you. A lot fewer people run away or chug flasks with every hit.
 
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