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

And Fume Knight finally goes down... loving the DLC. Now for Sir Alone and the Iron Passage, then on to the final DLC area!

It's getting hard to summon/get summoned though, I'm at SL 150 with about 2.39m soul memory and hardly see anyone. I wish I knew about the Agape Ring prior to this! But, my following characters will have an easier time ;)
 

Tarkus

Member
And Fume Knight finally goes down... loving the DLC. Now for Sir Alone and the Iron Passage, then on to the final DLC area!

It's getting hard to summon/get summoned though, I'm at SL 150 with about 2.39m soul memory and hardly see anyone. I wish I knew about the Agape Ring prior to this! But, my following characters will have an easier time ;)
PS4? I might can help later. I'm at a similar soul memory.
 

Mistel

Banned
I'm pretty high soul memory and rarely have trouble getting summoned, but summoning for myself is a ghost town.
It's because you can be summoned in 4 different SM tiers down 3 up 1 with the normal white soapstone so you're probably being summoned down tiers rather than up.
 

RiggyRob

Member
Oh, you sweet summer child... :)

Spoiler:
his sword is a fake, the real sword is obtained... elsewhere

Yeah, Magerold in Iron Keep tells you as much.

I find this game staggeringly huge and obtuse at the same time - I had to go back to Black Gulch for Lucatiel and I ended up finding Black Gandalf for the Dark Chasm, and since I found him in a few other areas like Shaded Woods I'm guessing you can explore the chasm in each of the places, but trying to find Lucatiel was a fucking mess.

In Bloodborne, I could accept that the drop to the Abandoned Old Workshop was marked by the rope that extends to the platform, but the drop to the tunnel with Lucatiel is blackness next to infinite blackness - I really despise it when the game assumes you're playing online and so it doesn't give at least a vague hint of what to do.
 

Morrigan Stark

Arrogant Smirk
Eh? You can spot that landing if you use a torch or the light spell, which you should be doing in that area.

I liked finding these places by carefully exploring with the torch. It's a secret thing anyway, it's not meant to be that easy to find.
 
I hate sorcereres in this game as much as I hated them in Dark Souls 1. Playing Shrine of Amana now.

I found Shrine was mega-nerfed in this... on top of other nerfs, if you summon the NPC in the second area (forget the name) he's basically an archer that 1-shots everything. There are only 1-2 places where you need to keep him alive (I think he's got red tearstone and his health is very very low... basically 1 hit takes him out). I actually really enjoyed Shrine, loved the atmosphere, and I didn't have problems with the enemies. But, I always play souls with a bow, and I make heavy use of it in Shrine. But if you have trouble, summon that NPC and it's practically a free pass to the boss.
 

Unai

Member
I found Shrine was mega-nerfed in this... on top of other nerfs, if you summon the NPC in the second area (forget the name) he's basically an archer that 1-shots everything. There are only 1-2 places where you need to keep him alive (I think he's got red tearstone and his health is very very low... basically 1 hit takes him out). I actually really enjoyed Shrine, loved the atmosphere, and I didn't have problems with the enemies. But, I always play souls with a bow, and I make heavy use of it in Shrine. But if you have trouble, summon that NPC and it's practically a free pass to the boss.

It's more about being annoying than being hard. Same as duke's archives.
 

Tarkus

Member
zXPbDkB.jpg

Be a good fight club host and you'll have 99 effigies in no time.

Yes, I know the pants are ugly. I'm restricted by weight at the moment.
 

k1t4j

Member
Does anyone need any help for bosses which are not in the DLC?

I am grinding those 30 sun coins for the rank 3 miracle in Heirs to the Sun. It's super hard to find someone to summon or be summoned.

From the base game I need to go kill the dragon and the final boss in Throne of Want before I move on to the DLC areas.

I am at 4,7 million SM
 

RiggyRob

Member
Episode 3, myself vs. The Pursuer: https://youtu.be/rtum1cb_7iM

The Pursuer is so cool in terms of his entrance and appearance, I wish there was more about him.

What's the significance of him appearing in certain locations after the boss fight? I've seen him pop up in Lost Bastille, Iron Keep after Smelter Demon and Things Betwixt near the gender-swapping coffin, but they all seem kinda random/a way to farm Twinkling Titanite rather than for any story-related reasons.
 

Mike M

Nick N
Episode 3, myself vs. The Pursuer: https://youtu.be/rtum1cb_7iM

The Pursuer is so cool in terms of his entrance and appearance, I wish there was more about him.

What's the significance of him appearing in certain locations after the boss fight? I've seen him pop up in Lost Bastille, Iron Keep after Smelter Demon and Things Betwixt near the gender-swapping coffin, but they all seem kinda random/a way to farm Twinkling Titanite rather than for any story-related reasons.

There isn't any, really. He's probably the single most under developed story element in the game. Best theory I've seen is that he's a leftover animated suit of armor from the Old Iron King or a golem left over from Vendrick charged with chasing down/rounding up undead.
 

Mistel

Banned
There isn't any, really. He's probably the single most under developed story element in the game. Best theory I've seen is that he's a leftover animated suit of armor from the Old Iron King or a golem left over from Vendrick charged with chasing down/rounding up undead.
Have you not read any of the item descriptions related to it?
Episode 3, myself vs. The Pursuer: https://youtu.be/rtum1cb_7iMWhat's the significance of him appearing in certain locations after the boss fight? I've seen him pop up in Lost Bastille, Iron Keep after Smelter Demon and Things Betwixt near the gender-swapping coffin, but they all seem kinda random/a way to farm Twinkling Titanite rather than for any story-related reasons.
The Pursuer hunts you to abslove his sins and wont stop until you're dead, it basically hunts undead around Drangelic.
 

Mistel

Banned
Yeah, and they tell you practically nothing. They also refer to it as a single entity when it's clearly not.
That's the nature of the lore in the series as there's no grasp on what abilities the Pursuer may or may not have other than it being referred to a singular entity which is able to manifest multiple copies based on the throne room encounter and other areas where it appears. If it was like the possessed armor and controlled by fog then it being separate would be understandable but its not.
 
They're ridiculously easy to run right past. The one with the ultra greatsword is slightly less trivial since you have to get him away from the door and open it, but still far from hard to ignore.

Have you played Scholar? If you run past the giant enemies the
dragon knights will aggro you and gank you
and they're everywhere.

Can confirm, they don't agro if you just sprint through, I'm guessing it's only if you run away dishonorably, progressing forward is fine :p

So yeah, no need to fight anything on the way to the dragon.
 
Alright, respecced to 20 int and faith and did everything I needed with that (moved guy from NMW to Majula, bought spells from various people, got the staff to give to Navlaan), now I'm respeccing back and before I lock my stats in I have a couple questions.

Is it worth getting AGL to 105? I've been using 100 up until now and am wondering if I should pop the extra 7 points into ADP, I'd just be taking them from my HP.

Next up, are any spells a massive help for a strength build? I'm happy to pop a few points into ATN then either INT or FTH is it's worthwhile.

As of now I'm at 20 VGR, 20 END, 40 VIT, 40 STR, 18 DEX, 26 ADP with 13 levels leftover which were originally in VGR.
 

Mistel

Banned
Alright, respecced to 20 int and faith and did everything I needed with that (moved guy from NMW to Majula, bought spells from various people, got the staff to give to Navlaan), now I'm respeccing back and before I lock my stats in I have a couple questions.

Is it worth getting AGL to 105? I've been using 100 up until now and am wondering if I should pop the extra 7 points into ADP, I'd just be taking them from my HP.

Next up, are any spells a massive help for a strength build? I'm happy to pop a few points into ATN then either INT or FTH is it's worthwhile.

As of now I'm at 20 VGR, 20 END, 40 VIT, 40 STR, 18 DEX, 26 ADP with 13 levels leftover which were originally in VGR.
You'll gain one 1 frame in a roll if you spec to 105 AGL which might be helpful. As for spells for and miracles not really a great bow is better for ranged options on an STR build.
 
If I bump STR to 42 I can power stance Great Clubs, I wonder how fun that'll be compared to the Mastodon Greatsword I'm using atm

And yeah atm I have a Dragonrider Bow which is my ranged option so I'll pass on magic then. And I'll keep 100 AGI until I have points to spare, then bump it to 105.
 

6for8

Member
Interesting. Maybe you have to have already spoken to the dragon? And burning as ascetic resets that? Idk.

It appears to be connected to the dual wielding dragon knight on the stairs before the dragon. When he is alive you can't run by the drakekeepers. When he is dead (does not respawn) you can.
 

Lumine

Member
So I've been digging into this for the past 2 weeks or so. Enjoying it a lot, even if it seems a step back compared to the first in many ways. Anyway, I need some help/tips on how to proceed.

I'm almost 40 hours into it, been making steady progress. Black Gulch and Iron Keep are getting a little on my nerves though. It seems much of this game's difficulty comes from overwhelming me with enemies. Dark Souls' difficulty felt more balanced in general from what I can remember. Well except maybe for the two infamous Anor Londo archers.

Anyway, what I am liking is that I can respec now and that ores aren't quite as rare. As usual I just went in blind and ended up with a melee build with stats spread all over. Well except for Int and Faith. I don't need no stinkin' spells!

Then yesterday I noticed a different stat in there. Coming from Dark Souls, I completely missed it. For 40 hours long. Yes, it's ADP (adaptability?) It's still at 5, like faith and int are.

So how important is this stat? Should I respec and put points in there? I mean I've been doing reasonably well so far I think. Though I absolutely wouldn't mind making my 'build' stronger. It started out being slightly more strength-oriented as I used the Fire Longsword for the early bits of the game. Then I moved onto the Craftman's Hammer which was surprisingly strong. I also messed about with Drangleic Sword for a bit but I came to the conclusion that it was too slow for me. Heide Knights were suddenly kicking my ass again. Eventually I bought myself the Uchigatana. My weapon of choice in both Demon's Souls and Dark Souls and once again here. I've brought it up to +10 now and my Dex is around 40 now as well. My Adp is still sitting at 5.

So I was hoping maybe you guys could help me with how I should re-allocate my stats. Also - is the Uchigatana a good choice in DS2? I've been reading up on stats and it seems Dex isn't that good in this game...? I really didn't know what other weapon to pick though and the Uchigatana has always been my favourite that balances speed, range and power. At least that's how it feels to me, I'm clearly no expert. The shorter durability hasn't been much of a problem so far either. I'm also wearing pretty heavy armour, but not the heaviest stuff. Heide Knight chest +5 and Vengarl's (unupgraded) set for the other 3 slots keeping it under 70% weight limit. I've also avoided PvP and co-op as well. Solo'd everything as a Hollow so far.

Anyway, your help would be greatly appreciated! :)

Oh, one more question. What's the deal with the Pharros area? How can I possibly tell which doors I should open or not? I only have a few stones left and there's like a few dozen spots to put the stones in. Honestly I don't like this Pharros lockstone and Yore Branch system at all.

Thanks in advance guys. And sorry for the long post.
 
Level your ADP, it adds invincibility frames to your roll and makes you drink your estus faster.

You get a new i-frame at both 99 and 105 AGI so either of those is a good stopping point.

And you don't need to use any lockstones in Doors of Pharros, nothing important is behind them afaik.
 
Then yesterday I noticed a different stat in there. Coming from Dark Souls, I completely missed it. For 40 hours long. Yes, it's ADP (adaptability?) It's still at 5, like faith and int are.

So how important is this stat? Should I respec and put points in there? I mean I've been doing reasonably well so far I think. Though I absolutely wouldn't mind making my 'build' stronger. It started out being slightly more strength-oriented as I used the Fire Longsword for the early bits of the game. Then I moved onto the Craftman's Hammer which was surprisingly strong. I also messed about with Drangleic Sword for a bit but I came to the conclusion that it was too slow for me. Heide Knights were suddenly kicking my ass again. Eventually I bought myself the Uchigatana. My weapon of choice in both Demon's Souls and Dark Souls and once again here. I've brought it up to +10 now and my Dex is around 40 now as well. My Adp is still sitting at 5.
This might help you understand the adaptability stat more. But pretty much as mention above, you want to level it up to get your agility for more iframes during rolls.
 

Tarkus

Member
^^you could respec before.

The front end of Iron Keep is designed for two things: to show you to slow down and carefully lure one out at a time, and to allow a place where you can quickly level up if you need to.

Get some ADP.

This version is more fair and makes more sense for the most part.

Edit: Uchi is a top katana
 

Mike M

Nick N
The only (unique) thing of interest locked behind a contraption in Doors of Pharros is the Saintier's Spear. It's an interesting weapon, but probably not super viable.
 

Lumine

Member
Thanks guys!

Perhaps this is why I haven't really felt the need to roll in this game. Circle-strafing with my shield up has carried me this far at least. Drinking flasks faster should help me out though. I know that's caused a few deaths at least. So I think I'll just level ADP from now on an save my respec for later. Glad to hear that the Uchigatana is fine. I did find a Blacksteel Katana in Iron Keep, but I'm not sure yet I want to spend all of my ores on another katana. Don't know if it'd be any better anyway. Also glad I can skip all the Pharros contraptions in Doors of Pharros. At least for now.
 

GulAtiCa

Member
I'm starting to feel the urge to play this again.. I actually haven't finished my PS4 version run of this yet. Should do so before DS3 comes out.
 

RiggyRob

Member
Is there an unequivocal best weapon/item to use Twinkling Titanite/Petrified Dragon Bone on? At the moment I'm just hoarding it because I don't want to waste them, but that means I'm not actually using them either, which I've been doing with Smooth and Silky Stones and Simpleton/Skeptic's Spice as well now that I think about it.

The Fire Longsword+10 doesn't seem to be cutting it anymore, although my stats are a mess:

Vigour: 18
Endurance: 20
Vitality: 26
Attunement: 20
Strength: 25
Dexterity: 15/whatever you need for Drangleic Shield
Intelligence: 25
Faith: 15

Is there a more damaging spell than Great Heavy Soul Arrow? I'm thinking I need to respect to a Str/Int build or Int/Str, but I still want the ultimate spell that can annihilate bosses.

Also, fuck Darklurker. Just utter and complete bullshit. I think I've wasted 20 Human Effigies on that nonsense.
 

Morrigan Stark

Arrogant Smirk
Uh... yeah that build is a mess. It's all over the place, which is always a bad idea in Souls games unless you really know what you are doing.

What do you want to do? 'Cause that will affect on what you should spend your twinkling.

Great Heavy Soul Arrow is an early spell, nowhere near the strongest.

If you want an ultimate spell, you might want to respec with high int, or high int/faith, so you can deal massive damage. The best int (sorcery) spell is probably Crystal Soul Spear, which you can get by
using a bonfire ascetic on Freja and then trade the boss soul to Straid
. It requires 53 int but you can use skeptic spices to lower the requirement. Use a magic-infused Staff of Wisdom for stronger sorceries. And IIRC to upgrade the Staff of Wisdom you need twinkling titanite so you'd spend it on that.
The regular Soul Spear is also pretty decent and you don't need to use an ascetic, you find one copy in Huntsman Copse and can buy another copy from Agdayne.

If you prefer hexes, you need to pump both int and faith. Resonant Soul and Great Resonant Soul are the ultimate nukes. Though, they won't be that good against Darklurker, but still decent. You need a good chime for that, and the best one is the last boss's, so that might not be practical, but before that, the one you find in Drangleic, Caitha's, is good too. Infuse with dark and upgrades with regular titanite.

If you want a strong spell but still focus on melee, I would advise you respec by levelling up your Vigor (this is pathetically low, too many things will one or two-shot you), lower your vitality (you don't need it unless you insist on heavy armour), lower Attunement to just have enough rooms for one or two strong spells (though Resonant Soul requires 2 slots so be careful).

And yeah a fire longsword in late game is probably not a good idea. xD Good strength weapons include great clubs, greatswords, claymores, and of course, the red iron twinblade.
 

RiggyRob

Member
Uh... yeah that build is a mess. It's all over the place, which is always a bad idea in Souls games unless you really know what you are doing.

What do you want to do? 'Cause that will affect on what you should spend your twinkling.

Great Heavy Soul Arrow is an early spell, nowhere near the strongest.

If you want an ultimate spell, you might want to respec with high int, or high int/faith, so you can deal massive damage. The best int (sorcery) spell is probably Crystal Soul Spear, which you can get by
using a bonfire ascetic on Freja and then trade the boss soul to Straid
. It requires 53 int but you can use skeptic spices to lower the requirement. Use a magic-infused Staff of Wisdom for stronger sorceries. And IIRC to upgrade the Staff of Wisdom you need twinkling titanite so you'd spend it on that.
The regular Soul Spear is also pretty decent and you don't need to use an ascetic, you find one copy in Huntsman Copse and can buy another copy from Agdayne.

If you prefer hexes, you need to pump both int and faith. Resonant Soul and Great Resonant Soul are the ultimate nukes. Though, they won't be that good against Darklurker, but still decent. You need a good chime for that, and the best one is the last boss's, so that might not be practical, but before that, the one you find in Drangleic, Caitha's, is good too. Infuse with dark and upgrades with regular titanite.

If you want a strong spell but still focus on melee, I would advise you respec by levelling up your Vigor (this is pathetically low, too many things will one or two-shot you), lower your vitality (you don't need it unless you insist on heavy armour), lower Attunement to just have enough rooms for one or two strong spells (though Resonant Soul requires 2 slots so be careful).

And yeah a fire longsword in late game is probably not a good idea. xD Good strength weapons include great clubs, greatswords, claymores, and of course, the red iron twinblade.

Cheers, looks like I'm respeccing to Int/Str then. I have been using Vengarl's armour and the Archdrake Staff+10, but hopefully a magic greatsword/claymore/Dragon Tooth to fucking pulverise enemies and the Staff of Wisdom will be much superior.

I really wanted devastating magic/fire explosions/boss killer spells but pyromancies seem surprisingly weak, which I guess is the pay-off for not having to have stat requirements.

I don't like the idea of hexes, using souls for spells in a game where souls are everything seems extremely counter-intuitive.
 

GulAtiCa

Member
Finally started playing again last night. Still near the beginning, beat the Gargoyle bosses. Got caught off-guard by The Pursuer before the tower though. lol

Currently doing a Pyromancer + Melee character type. I like fire.

That summon inside the bell tower is a good idea IMO. Helps prevent against ganking from bell bros and helps against the boss if the player would need/want it. Esp since not always easy to get summons inside the tower. I usually leave a summon on the pathway sometimes.

I joined the bell-cov for a little bit, I'm enjoying the invasions. Little harder when they have a summon of course, but makes the fights little more fair.

One thing I really love about this game is the sense of fear/anxiety of being invaded and losing my souls. I love it, nothing else like it. Kinda like an adrenaline rush. Really didn't get that sense from Bloodborne (though did love the game)
 

Tarkus

Member
Finally started playing again last night. Still near the beginning, beat the Gargoyle bosses. Got caught off-guard by The Pursuer before the tower though. lol

Currently doing a Pyromancer + Melee character type. I like fire.

That summon inside the bell tower is a good idea IMO. Helps prevent against ganking from bell bros and helps against the boss if the player would need/want it. Esp since not always easy to get summons inside the tower. I usually leave a summon on the pathway sometimes.

I joined the bell-cov for a little bit, I'm enjoying the invasions. Little harder when they have a summon of course, but makes the fights little more fair.

One thing I really love about this game is the sense of fear/anxiety of being invaded and losing my souls. I love it, nothing else like it. Kinda like an adrenaline rush. Really didn't get that sense from Bloodborne (though did love the game)
Belfry Luna sucks for Bell Bros. There's that Masterless NPC they can summon under the stairway. He'll wreck ya. Belfry Sol is good. There's an NPC there but most people miss it. It's kinda hidden.
 
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