Unlock the doors (there's 4, I think?). At the end of one of them is an armor set with a shield and greatsword, all of which are pretty good in the early game, but are hard to upgrade until later.
The shield in particular can carry you a while.
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Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin |OT| Your weapons are weak, old man
- Thread starter VisceralBowl
- Start date
Unlock the doors (there's 4, I think?). At the end of one of them is an armor set with a shield and greatsword, all of which are pretty good in the early game, but are hard to upgrade until later.
The shield in particular can carry you a while.
What's so good about the staff of wisdom? I have it at +3 and it's still not better (damage wise) than my +10 branch. Is the jump that big on the last two upgrade?
It ends up 20 damage higher not much of a gap.
I've got to the Iron Passage and really got frustrated... I'm playing an incomplete hexer (slv 140 with 47 INTand 47 FTH, only 11 VGR 8 END and 8 VIT), that whole way leading up to he boss is a nightmare. Smallish small rooms cramped with enemies. No time or room to use spells. Anything touches me and I'm dead... This is not fun at all. 
I've got to the Iron Passage and really got frustrated... I'm playing an incomplete hexer (slv 140 with 47 INTand 47 FTH, only 11 VGR 8 END and 8 VIT), that whole way leading up to he boss is a nightmare. Smallish small rooms cramped with enemies. No time or room to use spells. Anything touches me and I'm dead... This is not fun at all.
Might have something to do with having near-starting vig and end. For a hex build, you only need 30 in int and faith - I'd reallocate those points into vig and end.
30/30 is the bare minimum for hex build.
Spirit of Jazz
Banned
I'm on my first play-through and I completely forgot that you couldn't power stance all weapon combinations so I spent my last 20 or so levels allocating stats to dual wield my Heide spear with a black knight halberd. Oh well, I can always respec but that build would have been so rad.
30 is the softcap, any AR gained beyond 30 is negligible. And more damage doesn't really matter if you're getting your ass kicked due to low vig.
It isn't the hard cap of 60/60 is worth the investment beyond that lot of hexes have high INT/FTH requirements plus dark scaling is actually pretty decent.
Orochinagis
Member
Faster casting and S scaling on Int, excelent for Sorcerers on mid game.
With 50 INT and css I do 1348 damage to a max level heide knight, 1165 with the branch. With higher INT and better scaling the gap will grow.
The branch has it's moments. It has faster casting and that can be useful in pvp and times when you can spam your spells. It also uses less stamina.
I've got to the Iron Passage and really got frustrated... I'm playing an incomplete hexer (slv 140 with 47 INTand 47 FTH, only 11 VGR 8 END and 8 VIT), that whole way leading up to he boss is a nightmare. Smallish small rooms cramped with enemies. No time or room to use spells. Anything touches me and I'm dead... This is not fun at all.
Iron passagr , Cave of the Dead and Frigid outskirts are more tuned as challenge multiplayer areas. I just sprint past everything when I go there solo :/
I've opened two I think, one lead to the phantom armourer Dennis + bonfire and the other lead to a chest, and then I think I've already opened the other two doors by breaking one down (where there's a creature that drops Titanite shards) and hitting one so the soldiers on the other side open it.
I don't think I picked up a great sword or shield in them, I guess I'll need to check my inventory again.
On what platform are you playing? And yes, it does still up your Bell Keepers Covenant.
SotFS on PS4. Got up to 15 kills and decided to clear the rest of the area. Got 2 summons to the tower along the way. 13 to go!
It really isn't you can get a good hex build going way before 200, it's like you've never tried it.
chaobreaker
Member
So I'm going through Scholar of the First Sin after playing a shit ton of last-gen DaS2 last year and man did they improve this game. The enemy placements is much more diverse. Who knew that would make the experience a bit better. For example, Drangleic Castle is much improved now that all the knight enemies have to break from their statue forms when approached. Enemies are also positioned on those statue soul absorbers so that even the dumbest player can light up rooms or open doorways. And that one room that used to be filled with archers now has some old knights and the chariot horse from the Undead Purgatory! That's just insane. It's crazy how much enemy placement mattered to the experience. It's also cool how they made some originally rarer items much more reasonably attainable, like the black witch veil.
Asking again for a new page. Is there a list of all the spells you need for the platinum? I'm nearing the end of ng and I want to make sure I have all the ones I can get before I make the game harder in ng+. I don't want to get to new game++ and realize I'm missing some crap hidden behind some hard area.
Arjen
Member
Just check one of the wikis
I meant the doors opened by the Iron Key. The one that leads to Armorer Dennis is one, there's a door across the bridge just below the Cardinal Tower bonfire that leads to another door you can't open yet, and there's one in the big room before you head back under Cardinal Tower to take the lift to the giant.
There's one more I'm forgetting, but the one before the boss area is the one you want. The loot's on a body
after another boss fight
Man, I'm struggling at this point. I'm at the Shrine of Amana and everything I have feels ineffective- my armor, my weapon, my build. Up till now, I was kinda just throwing points in random attributes depending on what I felt I needed at that point in time, with the hope of going towards a strength build, but I hate these slow weapons.
So my stats currently:
VGR: 20
END: 25
VIT: 15
ATN: 5
STR: 30
DEX: 22
ADP: 23
INT: 5
FTH: 5
Any advice would be appreciated.
So my stats currently:
VGR: 20
END: 25
VIT: 15
ATN: 5
STR: 30
DEX: 22
ADP: 23
INT: 5
FTH: 5
Any advice would be appreciated.
Tarkus
Member
Your stats are okay for a semi-quality build. Try a katana, Estoc, or Claymore. If you're getting killed by magic attacks, infuse the Rebel's Greatshield found in the Forest of Fallen Giants for 100% magic reduction and good stability.
On SOTFS you need all of them including the DLC so make sure you get all the DLC ones on NG or you're gonna end up running through the iron king in NG++ just to get to one chest you failed to open (or worse yet needing to beat Fume knight again to finish the shard collection.)
My favorite melee build is built around having a shield and giant club and switching between that and dual wielding rapiers as appropriate. A Dex/str hybrid. It's fun and works a lot with stun locking enemies and breaking poise.
I was considering trying a katana. Where do you think I should place my build points going forward? And any advice on armor?
Tarkus
Member
Put some into VGR and more DEX.
As for armor, I like the Llewellyn Armor, but it's tough to farm from the red eye knights before Looking Glass Knight's fog gate. The other pieces are mix and match.
What rings are you using?
If you plan on using a katana (You should be able to find a really good one soon) or similar weapon, you'll want more DEX. Getting extra VGR is always a good idea, just don't go past 50. Do consider re allocating your points if you feel like you no longer need the 30 STR as faster weapons (Katana, Thrusting, curved swords etc) tend to scale poorly with it.
In SOTFS it's no longer needed to farm the Llewellyn Armour.
Wellager gives the complete set to you after defeating the Giant Lord.
Son Of Sparda
Member
Just reached
. I gotta say, this game is HUGE and I'm absolutely loving it. I talked with
which I think resulted in showing ??? on the fast travel screen and it blew me away! Man, so many locations that I haven't discovered yet
Just recently found a
which looks absolutely gorgeous but seems to be a little out of my league for now so I have to come back to it later.
At first I wasn't really feeling the combat but now I've got the hang of it so I'm enjoying each encounter much more. Though, the combat still has its own share of problems that I hope they fix/address in DSIII.
Anyways, just dropped in to say how much I'm enjoying my time with the game and thank the guys who encouraged me to buy and try it when it was on sale.
Shrine of Amana
The Queen
Just recently found a
Frozen castle/environment
At first I wasn't really feeling the combat but now I've got the hang of it so I'm enjoying each encounter much more. Though, the combat still has its own share of problems that I hope they fix/address in DSIII.
Anyways, just dropped in to say how much I'm enjoying my time with the game and thank the guys who encouraged me to buy and try it when it was on sale.
Awesome, you guys are lessening my discouraged mood with all the advice. Currently I have on Ring of Giants +1, Ring of Restoration, Chloranthy Ring, and Spell Quartz Ring +2.
Any recommendations?
Whoa! I didn't even know you could reallocate points! Sweet!
First bonfire in Eleum Loyce or the king's gate bonfire are solid picks. Loyce can get you some quick medals unless they turn right then you best bring a sandwich. When you find a spot, put on the agape ring so you don't coop yourself out of range.
I like to put my sign down and burn an effigy at the bonfire, or enter a dead boss arena, and keep my amp pumping out the sound from the game. Knit a sweater and when the sound goes silent, put down those needles and get another medal.
If you are on the ps4, you could join a community as there are lots of people looking for phantoms.
Speaking of communities, is there an official Gaf souls community on the ps4? It would be nice to have for setting up some coop and posting pics of builds, maybe even some extreme coop requests.
Oh shit I totally forgot about that ring. I made it to the kings gate and managed to get a summon in so I think I will do that for a while. Maybe even clear out the Mirror Knight with the ring on.
I really hope DS3 allows summoning akin to how they do it in Bloodborne with the level scaling.
Should check out the communities. I joined the GAF one but never even check it :/
Swap the spell quartz ring and rig of restoration for ring of blades and the ring of stone.
Mirror knight tends to be hard to get a summon on compared to the kings gate.
So dark lurker....
Had more trouble with this boss than any other in dark souls 2 (thus far... I just completed the main game) and any boss in Bloodborne including the dlc. Died over and over and over.
I finally have a battle that goes my way. I have 3/4 health and I know my next attack will kill him.. I time it correctly, kill him, watch him fade away. As this is happening I drop my controller on the couch and start yelling and celebrating. Next thing I know, I realize a black ball of death is still active and I helplessly watch my character get blown up, with my controller out of arms reach, 5 seconds after the "victory" message play. No darklurker soul in my inventory, no counting it.
Somehow that actually got rid of all of my frustration.. Couldn't even be mad. Just kept saying "nooo waaaay" and my girlfriend from the other room just asked what happened? I told her and she said "that doesn't sound very fair". It was pretty embarrassing after my excessive celebration.
Funny thing is, I kicked his ass on the very next try.
Had more trouble with this boss than any other in dark souls 2 (thus far... I just completed the main game) and any boss in Bloodborne including the dlc. Died over and over and over.
I finally have a battle that goes my way. I have 3/4 health and I know my next attack will kill him.. I time it correctly, kill him, watch him fade away. As this is happening I drop my controller on the couch and start yelling and celebrating. Next thing I know, I realize a black ball of death is still active and I helplessly watch my character get blown up, with my controller out of arms reach, 5 seconds after the "victory" message play. No darklurker soul in my inventory, no counting it.
Somehow that actually got rid of all of my frustration.. Couldn't even be mad. Just kept saying "nooo waaaay" and my girlfriend from the other room just asked what happened? I told her and she said "that doesn't sound very fair". It was pretty embarrassing after my excessive celebration.
Funny thing is, I kicked his ass on the very next try.
Yeah might give that a try for a bit. Having to kill 3 bosses in a row isn't helping my cause. Although people seem to not understand that they have to activate the golem for the elevator.
chaobreaker
Member
Just beat the game. Aldia was a disappointment. Even worse of a final boss than Nashandra of all things. All in all, I'm quite impressed with the improvements they made to the game. If vanilla DaS2 didn't sour on me as much as it did, then I would have appreciated SOTFN a lot more. I would probably would've been more excited for DaS3 but for now I'll hold my breath.
Fortunately, I never explored the DLC content yet. I heard really good things about all the new areas.
Fortunately, I never explored the DLC content yet. I heard really good things about all the new areas.
Seems pretty self explanatory but I guess those are the people who are going through it the first time.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
Blacksteel and uchis are good to start with. I prefer the uchi's thrust r2 but some prefer the iaito-style moveset of the blacksteel (it has better dex scaling too).
idiots mistaken.
They don't scale with either in both of the games. People on Reddit are
The blacksteel is what you should get.
I cannot do the 3 person afflicted graverobber fight. The run up to it is very annoying as well.
The npc guys do no damage to them and die very fast, leaving them with extra hp. Can't believe how hard this fight is. Way harder than dark lurker and anything in Bloodborne. Really not sure if I can do this.
The npc guys do no damage to them and die very fast, leaving them with extra hp. Can't believe how hard this fight is. Way harder than dark lurker and anything in Bloodborne. Really not sure if I can do this.
All of them are very easy to backstab. The dude with the bow is the worst, lucky he is easiest to kill.
That tip doesn't give too much away.
I can't back stab them without the other two on my ass
Use the pair of npc summons to keep the other two busy as you run across and kill the archer. If you are solo, run around the room and try to sneak a backstab in. I find it easier with the summons but if the bosses behave, solo can be real quick.
If solo use a brightbug.
Tough boss, right up near the top along with the cats.
Son Of Sparda
Member
Finally beat the game last night. Man that was a blast. Took me around 36 hours to beat it. Last boss was kinda of a "meh" but overall enjoyed the game way more than I thought I would.
Gotta admit few of the locations had some the best atmospheres that I have seen in the souls series thus far. Stuff like
(I actually died crossing it the first time so it was pretty intense) or the rainy pathway leading up to the
or the arena that you fight
in it, were all really well done.
The main game is done but I still have tons of optional locations to discover and I haven't play through any of the DLCs either so I'm not done with DS II yet
Since the main storyline is finished, now, I'll welcome any advice or suggestions on checking out locations, weapons, armor sets, items, etc. For now, I thinking to go and check out that
since I really liked the way it looked and can't wait to see what kind challenges awaits me there
Gotta admit few of the locations had some the best atmospheres that I have seen in the souls series thus far. Stuff like
that long floating bridge with Dragons flying around you
Drangleic castle
Looking Glass Knight
The main game is done but I still have tons of optional locations to discover and I haven't play through any of the DLCs either so I'm not done with DS II yet
Since the main storyline is finished, now, I'll welcome any advice or suggestions on checking out locations, weapons, armor sets, items, etc. For now, I thinking to go and check out that
Frozen Castle
I've never used a bright bug.. Do I pop it after I go in? Any other consumables I can use to tip the scales?
Really having trouble.. Going on 15 deaths now. Run up to it is de spawned at least.
Edit: got them!!! Omg I didn't realize the archer doesn't really do much if you stay toward the beginning. when I would race toward him, the other guys would destroy my npcs or come randomly to me, but staying toward the beginning area made it really easy.