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[Soulhouf]

I have a question regarding Dragon Aerie in SotFS.
Is this area optional now or the fact that the ladder is down first time you get there is a bug?

 

[gift of 100 gab]

Iron Passage is quite the gauntlet... I've been slowly chipping away at it in a moderate pace so it's fine but I can see how it's frustrating. Those astrologists are so fucking annoying, and the way the level is set up with several of these ranged enemies and a bunch of hard-hitting melee dudes makes it for a challenging run. I think I have about 100k of souls in SD's lair now after reaching him 10+ times with 1-2 estus left and not quite managing to kill him, lol.

 

[Ferr986]

All of that Staff of Amana farm for nothing. Damage is good if you're in human form, but considering i'm a DEX/INT build (more suited to buffing my weapon, with spells as a ranged attacks), the cast spell is too slow for me (mainly in PvP, everyone avoids them). And I know the Staff of Wisdom is also slow. I think I should just settle with the Witchtree Branch with it's fast cast.

I have a question regarding Dragon Aerie in SotFS.
Is this area optional now or the fact that the ladder is down first time you get there is a bug?

You can pretty much skip it if you want.

 

[kewlmyc]

Never finished DaSII, but after beating BB and DaS, Idecided to upgrade to this before tackling it again.

Are dexterity builds still not as viable as strength builds due to a lot of enemies being weak to strike damage?

 

[Snuggles]

I've spent more on str than I normally do because there's a lot of good weapons with higher str requirements and because stun locking is super helpful when dealing with hordes of enemies or big dudes which are both plentiful in this game.

Question: did I just waste a bunch of pharros lockstones in Grave of Saints / Rat town? I opened a room with a few useless items and made a couple statues puke acid...

 

[Soulhouf]

You can pretty much skip it if you want.

I mean, that's intentional right? Because it wasn't in the original and it looks like a weird/dumb choice thrown like that TBH.

Never finished DaSII, but after beating BB and DaS, Idecided to upgrade to this before tackling it again.

Are dexterity builds still not as viable as strength builds due to a lot of enemies being weak to strike damage?

The main problem with dex builds is that the scaling is shit. S dex scaling is equivalent to B strength scaling or something like that.

 

[Ferr986]

I mean, that's intentional right? Because it wasn't in the original and it looks like a weird/dumb choice thrown like that TBH.

Yes, it's intentional. It was weird for me too, that's for sure.

Never finished DaSII, but after beating BB and DaS, Idecided to upgrade to this before tackling it again.

Are dexterity builds still not as viable as strength builds due to a lot of enemies being weak to strike damage?

I guess so. STR scaling is better than DEX scaling, although the latter is still viable (Im more of a DEX guy and I completed everything with a DEX only char).

I've spent more on str than I normally do because there's a lot of good weapons with higher str requirements and because stun locking is super helpful when dealing with hordes of enemies or big dudes which are both plentiful in this game.

Question: did I just waste a bunch of pharros lockstones in Grave of Saints / Rat town? I opened a room with a few useless items and made a couple statues puke acid...

I think so, yeah. Some lockstones are for the ratbros trolling.

 

[StoppedInTracks]

Any tips on how to defeat that giant cat in the ivory dlc? By this point in this game she is pretty much roadblocking me from making any more progress with that dlc. My current build is focused on hi-str, low equip load with using rolls to keeps out of trouble, although I am not against rebuilding my character should the boss require it.

You cannot really tank her - I tried with Havel's and ton of END - you just have to time your rolls better. The delayed paw attack is the bane of many Souls players. She was a big roadblock for me (hardest boss in the game next to Fume Knight) - and I only killed her once I dropped my shield and rolled like a mofo (exactly like in my first Pursuer kill) *and* I levelled up my i-frames. High i-frames are crucial for this fight.

I noticed rolling to the left worked a bit better than rolling to the right but pro speedrunners roll INTO her attack - even into the AoE explosion... you might try doing just that.

tl;dr she's a bitch and will kill you dozen of times. You just gotta roll around. Did you level up your AGI stat?

 

[gift of 100 gab]

Damn, Fume Knight was so amazing. Co-op:ed that fight 3 times after beating him because it was so much fun. Made up for losing almost 200k worth of souls in fucking Iron Passage/Smelter Demon.

 

[One Foul Note]

tl;dr she's a bitch and will kill you doze of times. You just gotta roll around. Did you level up your AGI stat?

Damage avoidance through rolling is the main focus of my build, so if that is the build that cope with Aava then I should be okay on that front. Currently sitting pretty on 100 agility.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

You cannot really tank her - I tried with Havel's and ton of END

Hmm really? What about the baneful bird ring? I'm pretty sure my strength build could tank some hits at least, just not the grabs (and obviously not the projectiles).

 

[daxy]

Holy the shit the invasions in Iron Keep are driving me up the wall. Just a handful throughout the game up to this point and now it's every other minute. I think I might just disconnect for a while and get through it calmly. It wouldn't even be that bad if I wasn't getting killed by dudes that are somehow hitting me even though I am way out of their range. I thought I set players to my own region, so that's fucked. Under normal circumstances I can manage most invaders.

 

[Morfeo]

If it's the Scholar of the First Sin version, it comes with the DLC. I think the 360 requires Gold for message and stuff, but it's been a while since I last played it so not sure 100%.

I would personally wait if you're gonna get a PS4/One. 60 FPS are nice.

Indeed. Unless you have no way to get it on a decent PC and don't plan on ever switching to current gen, I see no reason to get this game on last-gen even if it's cheap.

Thanks for the answers! It kinda pisses me off that I have to pay for the online stuff in the next gen versions, so I guess that is one reason to go with the PS3 at least? But yeah, guess I might as well wait.

 

[natethegreat409]

Holy the shit the invasions in Iron Keep are driving me up the wall. Just a handful throughout the game up to this point and now it's every other minute. I think I might just disconnect for a while and get through it calmly. It wouldn't even be that bad if I wasn't getting killed by dudes that are somehow hitting me even though I am way out of their range. I thought I set players to my own region, so that's fucked. Under normal circumstances I can manage most invaders.

Burn a human effigy. I think that gives you some time where you can't be invaded.

 

[Manu]

Wow, I didn't realize so many people had problems with Aava. Got her on my second try and I suck at these games lol

 

[Lasthope106]

"Finished" the game yesterday and so far I'm super impressed. I had a really good time and the DLC was simply amazing. The Ivory Crown just kept going and going. I beat the King without realizing that you have to

Spoiler

free the Knights. I summoned two other guys and we had an intense fight.

I've never really summoned other players in the previous games and Bloodborne, but this time around I did and it was a lot of fun.

Going to try to platinum this one and do NG+. Seems like they actually put effort into making NG+ worth it.

 

[Snuggles]

Just joined three other players in a battle against. Skeleton Lord / horde, that was amazing. Pure chaos. Highly recommend it.

 

[Bl@de]

After always playing with huge weapons and shields I want to make a mage/hex build for SotfS. Does someone have a good (PvE) build or general tipps?

 

[Morrigan Stark]

After always playing with huge weapons and shields I want to make a mage/hex build for SotfS. Does someone have a good (PvE) build or general tipps?

Hexer is the ultimate glass canon. I picked the deprived for that, because why not, but you can also pick a sorcerer or something. Never levelled up str or dex so I have no shield or decent weapon beyond a dagger. xD Focus on int, faith and att at all times, sometimes endurance for stamina and HP if you can spare it.

Dark Orb, Resonant Soul, Dark Hail are your go-to ammo, and Great Resonant Soul can be your nuke for bosses.

To start pew pewing as soon as possible, pick up the cleric chime in Majula of course and get to Huntsman Copse asap to get your staff from the hexer guy on the chair. You need 20/20 faith/int however. But you can get there pretty early, all you need to do is beat the Dragonrider after all and he's quite easy. Once you have that staff however, you won't ever need to replace it.
For a chime (needed to cast Resonant Soul and GRS) the best chime is Caitha's, then the Chime of Want but those are all fairly late game. I don't recall which is the best before that to replace the starting cleric chime - maybe the Witchtree Bellvine? Found in that hidden door inside the Majula pit. Or the Archdrake one sold by Felkin, not sure.

Since it can take a while to reach 20/20 at first you might need to rely on sorceries, and you can find some from Carhillion in No Man's Wharf (you need at least 10 int for him to sell you spells and relocate to Majula I think).

 

[daxy]

Burn a human effigy. I think that gives you some time where you can't be invaded.

Thanks. This was super useful for me!

Does anyone have tips for what to do with my build? I'm running a UGS, no shield, trying to keep my carry weight down. My vitality is 25, I get +2 from the helmet. I was thinking about pumping 5-10 more into vitality for longer rolls and faster stamina regen. I don't want to get 100 ADP as I rarely use the backstep and it would require two points. Is endurance worth it after 20? It only gives one point to stamina for each level now. I don't feel like I would get an extra swing or roll out of it even if I go to 30 END. I'm using the Greatsword (UGS) and the raw damage beats infusing so I won't be doing any of that, and my next pickup will probably be the Fume UGS.

I also saw that some people were getting dexterity on UGS builds, but the scaling is D on both the Greatsword and Fume UGS. I guess it might be better on a Zweihander, but not for me then? Or does dexterity have effects other than weapon damage scaling?

Here's my stats screen:

edit: just found out that Fume UGS needs 30 DEX. Guess I now know where my next 20 points are going.

 

[gift of 100 gab]

Getting completely smoked over and over by Sir Alonne.

No co-op signs to be found (there are two NPC dudes, but I want my sunbros) and my effegies are running out... I'm gonna try to tank him and see if that works, I still need like 15 more levels of STR to use Havel's shield. I'm guessing my VGR at 20 might be on the low side

edit: and then I beat him while talking on the phone. I guess it wasn't that bad

 

[Cat Party]

Finally beat Darklurker. Takes some luck, of course, but bringing flame swathe to go along with my sun spears was the key. And a successful heavenly thunder ended it.

Now I need to work on the slumbering dragon, who seems impossible.

 

[Ferr986]

Getting completely smoked over and over by Sir Alonne.

No co-op signs to be found (there are two NPC dudes, but I want my sunbros) and my effegies are running out... I'm gonna try to tank him and see if that works, I still need like 15 more levels of STR to use Havel's shield. I'm guessing my VGR at 20 might be on the low side

edit: and then I beat him while talking on the phone. I guess it wasn't that bad

I wonder what SMs are people at in the DLC areas. Neither of my two characters on SOTFS get much action there. Would like to do some challenge areas on coop but I don't feel like leveling up more (I like to cap myself).

 

[daxy]

Finally beat Darklurker. Takes some luck, of course, but bringing flame swathe to go along with my sun spears was the key. And a successful heavenly thunder ended it.

Now I need to work on the slumbering dragon, who seems impossible.

You can farm effigies from the dogs near the McDuff bonfire in Lost Bastille if you're in the Champion's Covenant. Put on some magic find gear like the Merchant's or Jester's hat.

 

[gift of 100 gab]

I wonder what SMs are people at in the DLC areas. Neither of my two characters on SOTFS get much action there. Would like to do some challenge areas on coop but I don't feel like leveling up more (I like to cap myself).

I think I'm at 3 million or so. Does it scale with SM? The Iron Passage and The Memory were the worst parts, just because getting to the boss was such a test of patience every time. The tower itself turned out to be fine besides a couple of rooms. The bosses were real cool though, I liked all three of them despite all being very similar.

 

[Ferr986]

I think I'm at 3 million or so. Does it scale with SM? The Iron Passage and The Memory were the worst parts, just because getting to the boss was such a test of patience every time. The tower itself turned out to be fine besides a couple of rooms. The bosses were real cool though, I liked all three of them despite all being very similar.

Welp, I'm at 1,9M so I guess I fall short.
Coop matchmaking is based by SM yeah, there's different tiers depending on your SM.
Here's a good SM calculator for any online interaction (be coop or the different pvp actions minus arena, arenas are SL based)

http://darksouls2.wiki.fextralife.com/Summon+Range+Calculator

DLC is real good, just doing another run with my second SOTFS character Challenge areas are a pain and not much worth tho, considering the boss is a reskin. Exception is Sir Alonne, that was an awesome fight!

 

[Yoshichan]

Hey guys, I'm looking for the three man gank squad, either the naked ones or the ones that were dressed in animal heads. Youtube link plx ♥

Bumping this once!

 

[Cat Party]

You can farm effigies from the dogs near the McDuff bonfire in Lost Bastille if you're in the Champion's Covenant. Put on some magic find gear like the Merchant's or Jester's hat.

I am actually very stingy with my effigies and still have 40 in inventory, even after dropping 15-20 to beat Darklurker.

I watched some videos and it looks like the slumbering dragon can be soloed if you're patient and don't get greedy, especially with melee attacks.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

if you're patient and don't get greedy

Rule #1 of Souls combat

 

[NinjaBoiX]

I just ran through Dragon's Aerie to get to Dragon's Shrine, getting my arse kicked.

I've put about 60 hours in now, don't know whether I can be arsed to continue. I just want at least see the main game out but argh! It's such a chore at times.

 

[Cat Party]

Rule #1 of Souls combat

And yet so easy to forget sometimes.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

I know. I didn't say I followed it. I die all the time breaking that rule and then I slap myself "whyyyy"

 

[Fhtagn]

So, are there any particularly good builds for Iron Crown? Because I am finding it absurdly tough in a mostly not-actually-fun way while attempting it solo, even though my character is level 160+ with fully upgraded weapons; I killed Darklurker melee style in a single attempt and yet I'm getting slaughtered by goons here that seem to ignore my heavy armor entirely.

The worst was when I died a couple times in a row to the "you are locked on, but why would you really want to aim that way? Here, swing at empty space" bug/feature. There's no room for that kind of error in this DLC.

The level design is great, the enemy placements and attack patterns are great, but the raw numbers just feel way off to me.

In particular: the path from the second bonfire to the third bonfire is a brutal tough room where I found it easiest to just suicide run to pull the lever (couldn't get the barrel guys to do anything useful in the room), followed by two wizards that are heavily protected by ambushing goons. If there's a way to tackle this that is somewhere between "speedrun past" or "kill everything one at a time methodically with bows, magic and staggering greatswords" I'd like to see it.

I remember really liking this DLC back when it was new but I wonder if I co-op'ed most of it?

 

[surjective]

Unfortunately, the easiest way to clear that first room is with some kind of range. You could try alluring skulls to try and bait the soldiers, it should work since I've used Yearn on them. Once the soldiers are out of the way, the giant club guy shouldn't be too tough.

As for the next gauntlet, you can trigger the first three soldiers to come out and then fall back, taking them on one at a time. Once the 3 are dead, you can then bumrush the two sorcerers. As for the final set of soldiers, I guess you can try alluring skulls to distract them and run to the fog gate.

I've used the rapier+10/winged spear+10 and it does well, usually a 2HKO on the soldiers through counter damage+Leo Ring.

 

[Fhtagn]

I tried the skulls but they don't last very long. I got to the next bonfire by using arrows on the first mage, then fighting the goons, then the next Mage, etc. just had a frustrating time of it and am feeling like everything hits like a boss instead of like an enemy.

 

[Manu]

I just ran through Dragon's Aerie to get to Dragon's Shrine, getting my arse kicked.

I've put about 60 hours in now, don't know whether I can be arsed to continue. I just want at least see the main game out but argh! It's such a chore at times.

They added a ladder at the start of Dragon Airie that lets you skip it altogether.

 

[NinjaBoiX]

^ yeah, I noticed that, ta.

I just finished the main game, ganked Nashandra with four summons, lol.

I finished the Brume Tower DLC too, beat Fume Knight I just don't know what to do with that glowing Armour Set in the smelter throne room. What do I do with it?

Also, how do I kill Vendrick? I have 4 giant souls but he just says "foolish" when I attack him.

Any other tips for stuff I should finish up before I put it down?

 

[Ferr986]

^ yeah, I noticed that, ta.

I just finished the main game, ganked Nashandra with four summons, lol.

I finished the Brume Tower DLC too, beat Fume Knight I just don't know what to do with that glowing Armour Set in the smelter throne room. What do I do with it?

Also, how do I kill Vendrick? I have 4 giant souls but he just says "foolish" when I attack him.

Any other tips for stuff I should finish up before I put it down?

You should be able to fight Vendrick (the undead) after you land some hits. Are you hitting the one in the memory? cause you can't fight that one.

The glowing armour gives you access to a new Memory (with a cool boss fight). You should be able to enter after killing Fume Knight :/

 

[gift of 100 gab]

I had to hit Vendrick a lottt for the fight to start so perhaps that's what you need to do. I had 4 souls and did about 200 damage to him, which was fine for that fight as it's not that hard.

Absolutely love getting a bunch of summons for bosses. Co-oping Fume Knight with 3 others is so much fun.

 

[NinjaBoiX]

Ah, OK, I just need to hit him a few times. Fair enough.

The glowing armour gives you access to a new Memory (with a cool boss fight). You should be able to enter after killing Fume Knight :/

Really? I beat Fume and now the armour is glowing with this pink hue. I try to interact with it and it just says "nothing happened". Are you sure there isn't more to it than that?

 

[Ogre]

Ah, OK, I just need to hit him a few times. Fair enough.

Really? I beat Fume and now the armour is glowing with this pink hue. I try to interact with it and it just says "nothing happened". Are you sure there isn't more to it than that?

You need the Ashen Mist Heart (because

Spoiler

the armor acts similarly to a Giant memory

), although if you've already beaten Nashandra, that means that you should already have it.

EDIT: Did you make sure to actually pick up the crown after Fume Knight?

 

[Quikies83]

Welp, I'm at 1,9M so I guess I fall short.
Coop matchmaking is based by SM yeah, there's different tiers depending on your SM.
Here's a good SM calculator for any online interaction (be coop or the different pvp actions minus arena, arenas are SL based)

http://darksouls2.wiki.fextralife.com/Summon+Range+Calculator

DLC is real good, just doing another run with my second SOTFS character Challenge areas are a pain and not much worth tho, considering the boss is a reskin. Exception is Sir Alonne, that was an awesome fight!

I could do some co-op with you. I'm around 2 million SM. I'm on Xbox.

 

[NinjaBoiX]

You need the Ashen Mist Heart (because

Spoiler

the armor acts similarly to a Giant memory

), although if you've already beaten Nashandra, that means that you should already have it.

EDIT: Did you make sure to actually pick up the crown after Fume Knight?

Ah, OK, the Ashen Mist Heart, of course! That makes sense, I'll try that.

I did pick up the crown, do I need that too?

 

[neoemonk]

I got into this game too late. I finished vanilla DS2 but never played the DLC and really want to explore it some more. One playthrough isn't enough, but I also wanted to dig into Bloodborne before DS 3 hits.

TOO MANY GAMES

 

[Ferr986]

I could do some co-op with you. I'm around 2 million SM. I'm on Xbox.

I'm on PS4 :/

 

[MoonsaultSlayer]

So on the vanilla version on PS3, I just defeated the Rotten. Before examining the fountain near the primordial bonfire, I looked it up before potentially triggering some point of no return end game thing and found out it was the gateway to the dlc. Ok, so I figured since I didn't buy it, let's see what it will say. It transported me to the new area.

Looking in the PS store, I never bought the dlc, what gives?

 

[Tarkus]

So on the vanilla version on PS3, I just defeated the Rotten. Before examining the fountain near the primordial bonfire, I looked it up before potentially triggering some point of no return end game thing and found out it was the gateway to the dlc. Ok, so I figured since I didn't buy it, let's see what it will say. It transported me to the new area.

Looking in the PS store, I never bought the dlc, what gives?

If you're in Shulva, Sanctum City, then go onward and rest at the first bonfire.

Do you have the Scholar of the First Sin edition on PS3?

 

[Morrigan Stark]

So on the vanilla version on PS3, I just defeated the Rotten. Before examining the fountain near the primordial bonfire, I looked it up before potentially triggering some point of no return end game thing and found out it was the gateway to the dlc. Ok, so I figured since I didn't buy it, let's see what it will say. It transported me to the new area.

Looking in the PS store, I never bought the dlc, what gives?

You won't be able to go further into it if you never bought the DLC. However, you can still drop your summon sign at the entrance where all those statues are, and you can be a phantom in someone else's world without buying the DLC.

 

[MoonsaultSlayer]

If you're in Shulva, Sanctum City, then go onward and rest at the first bonfire.

Do you have the Scholar of the First Sin edition on PS3?

You won't be able to go further into it if you never bought the DLC. However, you can still drop your summon sign at the entrance where all those statues are, and you can be a phantom in someone else's world without buying the DLC.

Just the regular edition for me. I didn't realize there would be something preventing me from continuing once I teleported. That makes sense.

When would be a good time to explore all of the DLC (I do plan on buying it)?

 

[Tarkus]

Just the regular edition for me. I didn't realize there would be something preventing me from continuing once I teleported. That makes sense.

When would be a good time to explore all of the DLC (I do plan on buying it)?

I always viewed the DLC as near-end game areas. For example, at the area your were at, the enemies have ridiculous amounts of poise and hardly ever stagger. You gotta roll or block...or better yet, parry, or you'll get destroyed.