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

Onemic

Member
I gotta say, From really dropped the ball in terms of giving players a sense of progression, which is probably due in part to worse level design vs DS and BB. If I didnt have the DS2 wiki I dont think I'd finish the game since there are so many required locations in the game that are hidden and finding these places are pretty unintuitive(i.e. Undead Purgatory)
 

pa22word

Member
...How in the hell is the Undead Purgatory (a 100% optional place btw) "unintuitive" to find? It's not even hidden!

Yeah if anything it's the more common route to take vs the path to skeleton lords as it comes directly across your path first. I mean most people turn tails at either the whip dude gank squad or the dark spirit shenanigans, but it's like you said...it's right there.
 
Welp, done my NG+. Don't think I'll be getting my last three achievements though, cuz I just do not have the time to get through NG++ while I'm in the midst of exams. That said...

There's another way to get those miracles
NG++ you can buy them off a guy in dranglegic castle

Is it enough just to get there? I heard you had to
kill Nashandra
 

Novocaine

Member
I gotta say, From really dropped the ball in terms of giving players a sense of progression, which is probably due in part to worse level design vs DS and BB. If I didnt have the DS2 wiki I dont think I'd finish the game since there are so many required locations in the game that are hidden and finding these places are pretty unintuitive(i.e. Undead Purgatory)

This may shock you, but a lot of people finished the game without using a wiki. So maybe it's just you and not the game?

I will say though, the one thing I do think they fucked up on is having to talk to Licia multiple times in order for her to move to the rotating room to get to Huntsman's Copse.
 
Hi guys, recently dived into DS2 SOTFS after beating bloodborne. I reached
throne of want but the throne bros are messing up my day. I read Bradley of the Old Guard is supposed to be here, but he doesn't show up. Anyone know what's going on?
 

Onemic

Member
This may shock you, but a lot of people finished the game without using a wiki. So maybe it's just you and not the game?

I will say though, the one thing I do think they fucked up on is having to talk to Licia multiple times in order for her to move to the rotating room to get to Huntsman's Copse.

I never said everyone has to use a wiki. I was specifically talking about my experience vs other souls games.
 

Mistel

Banned
Hi guys, recently dived into DS2 SOTFS after beating bloodborne. I reached
throne of want but the throne bros are messing up my day. I read Bradley of the Old Guard is supposed to be here, but he doesn't show up. Anyone know what's going on?
You've not met the requirements for his sign to be available, you may be too early for him at this stage but there are other summons available.
Whoops, I meant Hunstmans Copse. Whichever area where you need to talk to some girl in the path leading to Heides tower
Well she tells you what to do and there's multiple ways to get her there it's not like it's obtuse or anything like the painted world can be.
 

wiibomb

Member
Really weird, do NPC summons desappear after the first time I summon them?

I had 1 summon and 1 shade available in the black gulch but after I died when I summoned them, they stopped appearing in those locations.

Also, late, but I just realized that there is a path for a story line of lucatiel, I defeated the firt boss with her easily (the lost sinner) but I never found her on the smelter demon or now in the black gulch. Should I do something for her to appear? Like talking somewhere with her?
 

Onemic

Member
You've not met the requirements for his sign to be available, you may be too early for him at this stage but there are other summons available.

Well she tells you what to do and there's multiple ways to get her there it's not like it's obtuse or anything like the painted world can be.

It's not at all obvious that you need to talk to her to progress the story or that she's even there at all. The only hint you have is the symbol above the path shining brightly, which is extremely easy to miss.

I dont mind obtuse locations, as long as those locations are optional and can be skipped. That's why I never saw a problem with how difficult accessing painted world can be. Doing that for a required location is bad level design imo.

Anyway, Im on the right path again, so it's all water under the bridge.
 

Mistel

Banned
Really weird, do NPC summons desappear after the first time I summon them?

I had 1 summon and 1 shade available in the black gulch but after I died when I summoned them, they stopped appearing in those locations.

Also, late, but I just realized that there is a path for a story line of lucatiel, I defeated the firt boss with her easily (the lost sinner) but I never found her on the smelter demon or now in the black gulch. Should I do something for her to appear? Like talking somewhere with her?
Forgive my naivety for asking but are you still hollow at that point? Lucatiel has her own quest and story where you met her at separate locations and summon and successfully kill three bosses with her.
 

GulAtiCa

Member
I started a new character a few days ago. Doing a heavy style build with no magic allowed. At like 105 now and will stop at 150 with the soul stopping ring.

Right now using a great sword. Mainly Drangleic great sword you get after beating the pursuier and dropping down.

Doing invasions and such. At least till Tuesday when DkS3 comes out.
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
I gotta say, From really dropped the ball in terms of giving players a sense of progression, which is probably due in part to worse level design vs DS and BB. If I didnt have the DS2 wiki I dont think I'd finish the game since there are so many required locations in the game that are hidden and finding these places are pretty unintuitive(i.e. Undead Purgatory)

It's just a different approach, in my opinion. I find Dark Souls II to be the most rewarding in terms of exploration.

I played through the entire game on PS3 when it first came out without any kind of Wiki or guide. Honestly, though, how was Undead Purgatory hidden or intuitive? You just follow a path.
 
Goddamn Tseldora Cove on NG+5 is a bitch. They deal out so much damage it's ridiculous.

I started a new character a few days ago. Doing a heavy style build with no magic allowed. At like 105 now and will stop at 150 with the soul stopping ring.

Right now using a great sword. Mainly Drangleic great sword you get after beating the pursuier and dropping down.

Doing invasions and such. At least till Tuesday when DkS3 comes out.

You guys get it Tuesday? Steam says April 11th for me, at first I thought that's when it will be available for pre-load but pre-load was a couple days ago. Are they giving it to PC first to make up for what happened with DaS 2 :D?

Edit: Wow, they made it super easy to get from the 2nd bonfire to the 3rd. It's like 10 steps and you're there...
 
Licia was never a problem because I always exhaust dialogue on every NPC in every Souls game, as I should. :p

I did.... I also found the Great Hollow but it was thanks to a user-message.

I kinda found it on my own. Not sure if people didn't play DaS 1 here, but just in case...
My friend told me to go back to get the most valuable ring in the game, so I went and explored found the doll by accident, then I wanted to examine the painting and it ate me.
 

wiibomb

Member
Forgive my naivety for asking but are you still hollow at that point? Lucatiel has her own quest and story where you met her at separate locations and summon and successfully kill three bosses with her.

That must be it, I'm not 100% human..

Yeah, This should be now my last fight with her, I talked with her at the 3 locations and also won 2 out of the 3 boss battles with her alive, now I need just to do this one (the rotten) and I should be finishing the questline
 

Tarkus

Member
That must be it, I'm not 100% human..

Yeah, This should be now my last fight with her, I talked with her at the 3 locations and also won 2 out of the 3 boss battles with her alive, now I need just to do this one (the rotten) and I should be finishing the questline
I can give you many effigies if you need them.
 

Mistel

Banned
This questline is kind of a mess isn't it?
It's much more cut down than the similar DS 1 quests and generally less well planned but at least for Lucatiel's specific quest altering her locations in SOFTS compared to vanilla does her no favours at all.
 

Neoweee

Member
You found the painted world yourself?

Painted world is actually possible through simple exploring. It just has to be after a certain something has happened.

Definitely not the most well-hidden optional area in the series, and probably not in the top few, either. Even in Dark Souls 1 the DLC is layered in far more BS.
 

wiibomb

Member
Painted world is actually possible through simple exploring. It just has to be after a certain something has happened.

Definitely not the most well-hidden optional area in the series, and probably not in the top few, either. Even in Dark Souls 1 the DLC is layered in far more BS.

I never understood why that doll was in the undead asylum.. in one own's cell.

Neither why the hell that crystal golem had the broken pendant
 

Tarkus

Member
Painted world is actually possible through simple exploring. It just has to be after a certain something has happened.

Definitely not the most well-hidden optional area in the series, and probably not in the top few, either. Even in Dark Souls 1 the DLC is layered in far more BS.
Name some other ones then.
 

Corpekata

Banned
Finding painted world yourself is mostly a matter of luck having found the doll already. I imagine a lot of people found the painting themselves without it in their inventory and moved on. Those that found the painting, then went to get the doll, and connected that the doll was the key, I imagine, are far fewer in number.
 

Morrigan Stark

Arrogant Smirk
Painted world is actually possible through simple exploring. It just has to be after a certain something has happened.

Definitely not the most well-hidden optional area in the series, and probably not in the top few, either. Even in Dark Souls 1 the DLC is layered in far more BS.
Yeah, the DLC was way more hidden than the Painted World. Actually, I did look up how to reach the DLC when it came out, because, well, once I bought it, there was nothing in-game that let you know anything (no key added to your inventory or anything like in DS2, where you could read the item description and go "ahhh ok I gotta go there then") and I wasn't about to re-tread the entire game to know where it was, so I looked it up. And the steps were so convoluted and ridiculous.

In the PTD edition, which included the DLC, my boyfriend almost missed the whole DLC too, because after he killed the hydra in the basin the first time, the golden golem doesn't immediately appear even though he went exploring that lake (you have to return to a bonfire and come back, or quit and reload... stupid-ass mechanic). He went "uh, nothing here, weird." So even though he hates it when I give him the tiniest of hints, I still gave him a really subtle hint to make sure he re-explores the lake area, which he did, and found Dusk of Oolacile.

So when he later found the broken pendant, he managed to connect the mention of Oolacile with Dusk, returned to the basin, and found the DLC area. But without me hinting at something about that empty lake, he might have never found it either.

If anything it's not really the DLC that is hard to find, it's Dusk and the golden golem. The only reason I actually found it myself the first time is that I sucked; I defeated the hydra with 0 Estus left and was too scared to continue exploring, so I returned to the bonfire to refill my Estus and that triggered the golem spawn. I remember on a later playthrough, where I was better and defeated the hydra without issues and continued into the lake I was baffled that the golem wasn't there and thought my game had glitched and even Googled it, then read about the "quit and reload" thing.

So glad they stopped having this quit-and-reload thing locking up secrets. I hope DS3 doesn't have anything like that.

I never understood why that doll was in the undead asylum.. in one own's cell.

Neither why the hell that crystal golem had the broken pendant
Yeah they don't really make sense. But Dark Souls 1 gets a pass for things like that, if anything like that happens in DS2 it's because "the lore is bad because no Miyazaki"... xD
 

Morrigan Stark

Arrogant Smirk
This isn't the place to spoil Dark Souls 3!

It doesn't. Mechanically, the game is much better than Dark Souls 1.
Good to know.

Since you seem to be in the know, mind telling me something? Is NG+ triggered like in Dark Souls II, i.e. manually, or is it automatic after beating the boss like in all the other games? (You can spoiler-tag the answer just in case there are some even more sensitive than I am, lol.)
 

wiibomb

Member
Well, I'm now kinda stuck, I defeated the rotten and I now have 3 great soul: the lost sinner, the rotten and the old iron king. I don't want to go to interner to find out, but where is the other(s) supposed to be?

If someone could please point it out from majula? I don't remember another path I haven't visited. I even found the drangleics castle but I think I shouldn't be there yet.
 

Mike M

Nick N
Well, I'm now kinda stuck, I defeated the rotten and I now have 3 great soul: the lost sinner, the rotten and the old iron king. I don't want to go to interner to find out, but where is the other(s) supposed to be?

If someone could please point it out from majula? I don't remember another path I haven't visited. I even found the drangleics castle but I think I shouldn't be there yet.

You need to head back to Shaded Woods and explore more thoroughly. You're looking for a path beyond the section with the super dense fog and Vengarl's head.
 

wiibomb

Member
You need to head back to Shaded Woods and explore more thoroughly. You're looking for a path beyond the section with the super dense fog and Vengarl's head.

That's literally the only area I avoided just because of the fog, I supposed it had something to do with drangleics castle.. stupid me.

Thanks, I'm on my way there
 

Novocaine

Member
Well my copy arrived a day early guys. See you on the other side!

ZbDQ4th.jpg
 

Dance Inferno

Unconfirmed Member
Think I'm going to jump back into SOTFS now that the Dark Souls 3 hype train is in full effect. I don't want to pick DS3 up until the Deluxe Edition is on deep discount, and I never actually got around to beating DS2. Playing it will probably get my mind off DS3 and occupy me for a few months. I think I stopped at the
giant memories
and I never got around to playing the DLC, so I think I have quite a bit of gameplay ahead of me.
 

wiibomb

Member
Well my copy arrived a day early guys. See you on the other side!

Nice! But why the hell I only see collectors from EU? I have been wanting to know the look of the US contents and there's only images of the EU ones, lol.

Enjoy the game! I'll be joining in some time hopefully after this game and Quantum Break
 
Holy hell The Rotten scales in difficulty quick! Albeit I am in NG+ which explains why his grab attack LEFT ME WITH LIKE 10HP! I have like 2100 HP or something.

Also screw from for not having a single bonfire between
The Fork and Drangleic Castle. They give a bonfire after going like 10 meters, but not a bonfire after fighting hordes of enemies :mad:.


I thought Steam was gonna unlock DaS 3 at midnight today, nope it's 6:00 PM EST :(
 

MUnited83

For you.
Holy hell The Rotten scales in difficulty quick! Albeit I am in NG+ which explains why his grab attack LEFT ME WITH LIKE 10HP! I have like 2100 HP or something.

Also screw from for not having a single bonfire between
The Fork and Drangleic Castle. They give a bonfire after going like 10 meters, but not a bonfire after fighting hordes of enemies :mad:.


I thought Steam was gonna unlock DaS 3 at midnight today, nope it's 6:00 PM EST :(

To be fair, The Rotten is super easy to dodge :p. Still my prefered boss for soul farming and unlocking the castle early.
 

2AdEPT

Member
Think I'm going to jump back into SOTFS now that the Dark Souls 3 hype train is in full effect. I don't want to pick DS3 up until the Deluxe Edition is on deep discount, and I never actually got around to beating DS2. Playing it will probably get my mind off DS3 and occupy me for a few months. I think I stopped at the
giant memories
and I never got around to playing the DLC, so I think I have quite a bit of gameplay ahead of me.

You could have a lot of play time indeed! Perhaps you want to try a vanquisher's seal run? (early DLC spoilers in this video.)
 
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