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

bremon

Member
My lightning heide spear and mace are both +10, STR 40 and FTH 42. They are comparable damage, spear seems quicker and has better reach. I switch up depending on the enemies I encounter.
 

Chitown B

Member
Best path to take, easiest imo, is the one in Shaded Ruins, i died a lot in there, and in the end, well i only had the last enemy to beat. They are more easy imo than the mobs in other area.

yeah that's the one. I didn't have problems the first time. Now that it's lit already it seemed like they're faster and do more damage.
 

Mistel

Banned
My lightning heide spear and mace are both +10, STR 40 and FTH 42. They are comparable damage, spear seems quicker and has better reach. I switch up depending on the enemies I encounter.
A Lightning Spear like you said the first time is something completely different to a Heide Spear with lightning infusion first is a miracle the later is a spear.
yeah that's the one. I didn't have problems the first time. Now that it's lit already it seemed like they're faster and do more damage.
I found the one under Drangleic castle to be the easiest one for Darklurker runs you might want to try that one if you're struggling with that one.
 

Chitown B

Member
A Lightning Spear like you said the first time is something completely different to a Heide Spear with lightning infusion first is a miracle the later is a spear.

I found the one under Drangleic castle to be the easiest one for Darklurker runs you might want to try that one if you're struggling with that one.

you found the one with Havel and a thousand holes the easiest....?
 

bremon

Member
A Lightning Spear like you said the first time is something completely different to a Heide Spear with lightning infusion first is a miracle the later is a spear.
I mentioned in a previous post that it was a heide spear. Discussing melee weapons I thought my point was clear. Maybe the miracle lightning spear was viable at one point but one toss with my character and it was pretty apparent to me that it's a piece of crap miracle. Still, I apologize for the confusion, I should have been more clear, and I do appreciate your input on my questions and comments.
 

nightmare-slain

Gold Member
You can pick up a ring in one of the other starting areas which will cap the health you loose at 80% and make it a lower burden, plus effigies are infinite and you can farm them in multiple ways so don't worry about using them. You should raise ADP until agility is between 100-120 for the I frames within roles.

thanks! i have read about that ring but don't feel ready to take on that area yet. i have tried but died a lot. i'm doing the forest of fallen giants at the moment but i will make sure to pick up the ring.

also, how am i to maintain the 25% equip load? i have levelled up the appropriate stat and have 25.3% load. another lvl and i will be fine but i tried equipping a better piece of gear and it went to 30%. do i really need to stick to under 25% or should i be happy with 50% load? i just feel like i will need to constantly lvl up this stat to keep under 25%.

i'm feeling a bit more confident and familiar with the controls of the game now. managed to make a little progress today! i have also obtained the fire longsword and it's at +3 right now. i can easily manage to the area where you look out to the sea and there is a fog gate. also in this area there is an ambush when you go up a protuding structure to reach an item. about 4 enemies fall from above to attack. i guess beyond that fog gate is a boss?
 

Mistel

Banned
thanks! i have read about that ring but don't feel ready to take on that area yet. i have tried but died a lot. i'm doing the forest of fallen giants at the moment but i will make sure to pick up the ring.

also, how am i to maintain the 25% equip load? i have levelled up the appropriate stat and have 25.3% load. another lvl and i will be fine but i tried equipping a better piece of gear and it went to 30%. do i really need to stick to under 25% or should i be happy with 50% load? i just feel like i will need to constantly lvl up this stat to keep under 25%.

i'm feeling a bit more confident and familiar with the controls of the game now. managed to make a little progress today! i have also obtained the fire longsword and it's at +3 right now. i can easily manage to the area where you look out to the sea and there is a fog gate. also in this area there is an ambush when you go up a protuding structure to reach an item. about 4 enemies fall from above to attack. i guess beyond that fog gate is a boss?
You really don't need to maintain below 25% equipload in this one there's not really a benefit like there is within 1 you'll be fine with with below 70% although your rolls are slightly shorter its not really an issue as the I frames are what you should be concerned with. As for the Forest that's not the boss that's basically the front door of the place you'll know once you meet the bosses, as for the weapon you might want to ditch the fire longsword as it'll come back to bite you. You might have more like with Heide now you've practised a bit more it's somewhat easier than it first appears and is probably the easiest of the starting areas in SOTFS.
 
Holeee fuuuuuckin shit this fight I just had with that piece of shit Darklurker, I should NOT have won that fight. Got the Hex master trophy for it too and I think the remaining spells lie in NG+.
 

Novocaine

Member
Holeee fuuuuuckin shit this fight I just had with that piece of shit Darklurker, I should NOT have won that fight. Got the Hex master trophy for it too and I think the remaining spells lie in NG+.

There are 4 in NG+ and 2 on NG++ unless you have done all of the PvP stuff IRRC.
 

Mistel

Banned
Don't the 4 primal bonfire bosses give you one with NG+ Souls? I can't remember exactly but I do at least remember needing one off of Lost Sinner .
They do but they're not limited to NG+ as you can get them via ascetics. Sorry I phrased that badly the first time around.
 

nightmare-slain

Gold Member
You really don't need to maintain below 25% equipload in this one there's not really a benefit like there is within 1 you'll be fine with with below 70% although your rolls are slightly shorter its not really an issue as the I frames are what you should be concerned with. As for the Forest that's not the boss that's basically the front door of the place you'll know once you meet the bosses, as for the weapon you might want to ditch the fire longsword as it'll come back to bite you. You might have more like with Heide now you've practised a bit more it's somewhat easier than it first appears and is probably the easiest of the starting areas in SOTFS.

oh ok that's good to know, thanks. i went back to heide's area and managed to beat all the giant knights! i never made it past the second one when i first played the game. i got right up to that chest but there was someone sitting in front of it. almost killed him but couldn't heal fast enough. beat the giant boss in the forest but the pursuer is killing me all the time. is he an optional boss?
 

bremon

Member
Well I got to the bottom of Brume Tower last night and I have to say, Fume Knight is a real jerk. Tried him roughly 6 times but impatience was getting the best of me. I had him quite close to death twice but he exploited small mistakes on my part and punished me haha. Can't think of another boss that has challenged me quite this much in SotFS so far. Defeating him will be delicious.
 

nightmare-slain

Gold Member
just beat the dragonrider. not sure what way to go now. either through that dark passage with skeletons below the cardinal tower or towards the area after the second bonfire in Heide's. went both ways but had to retreat. i'm lvl 44 right now (swordsman), still use my starting gear (not sure what to replace it with), my fire longsword is +4.
 

Chitown B

Member
They do but they're not limited to NG+ as you can get them via ascetics. Sorry I phrased that badly the first time around.

Hmm.... so I could just ascetic the 4 bonfires, beat the bosses, and go to NG+, farm 2 million souls, go to the Shrine, then beat the game and start NG+, farm 3 million souls, go to the Shrine and go talk to Chancellor?
 

Chitown B

Member
just beat the dragonrider. not sure what way to go now. either through that dark passage with skeletons below the cardinal tower or towards the area after the second bonfire in Heide's. went both ways but had to retreat. i'm lvl 44 right now (swordsman), still use my starting gear (not sure what to replace it with), my fire longsword is +4.

keep leveling up your fire longsword. It's really good for the first half of the game at least.
 

Mistel

Banned
just beat the dragonrider. not sure what way to go now. either through that dark passage with skeletons below the cardinal tower or towards the area after the second bonfire in Heide's. went both ways but had to retreat. i'm lvl 44 right now (swordsman), still use my starting gear (not sure what to replace it with), my fire longsword is +4.
There's several end game weapons available to you already you can either get a Mace from the blacksmith or farm the Heide Knights for the Heide Knight Sword the fire longsword is really a hindrance and is not a benefit at all plus get some stronger armor from Maughlin. You can press though in either direction with both offering equipment you can use.
oh ok that's good to know, thanks. i went back to heide's area and managed to beat all the giant knights! i never made it past the second one when i first played the game. i got right up to that chest but there was someone sitting in front of it. almost killed him but couldn't heal fast enough. beat the giant boss in the forest but the pursuer is killing me all the time. is he an optional boss?
The Pursuer is sort of optional but you probably want to do that route realistically as you generally gain more.
Hmm.... so I could just ascetic the 4 bonfires, beat the bosses, and go to NG+, farm 2 million souls, go to the Shrine, then beat the game and start NG+, farm 3 million souls, go to the Shrine and go talk to Chancellor?
Course that's what a lot of people do on the runs for the NG++ gear.
 

Novocaine

Member
Got really ready for the Darklurker fight. Was doing really well, had her on the ropes. Then somehow I cast Flame Swathe and nothing happens. You can see it below. Afterwards the one next to me does FOUR swipes in a row, which I'd never seen and wasn't ready for so I ran right into it.

http://xboxclips.com/Shadow+XBL/c151dbd8-a548-456f-a569-994236b360db

I hate this stupid boss. I can't move on to NG+ without beating it.

As much as I've played DS2 I've never managed to use Flame Swathe effectively on a consistent basis. How's your faith? Darklurker melts to lightning damage.
 

nightmare-slain

Gold Member
There's several end game weapons available to you already you can either get a Mace from the blacksmith or farm the Heide Knights for the Heide Knight Sword the fire longsword is really a hindrance and is not a benefit at all plus get some stronger armor from Maughlin. You can press though in either direction with both offering equipment you can use.

The Pursuer is sort of optional but you probably want to do that route realistically as you generally gain more.

Course that's what a lot of people do on the runs for the NG++ gear.

i've bought the elite knight set from that merchant in majula. not sure if i'll stick with it. i want the set he sells after you spend 16,000 which is the Alva set. not sure about my weapon yet. the fire longsword +4 is easily killing enemies right now but i will probably replace it eventually. i will return to the pursuer. just wondering if he was optional.

i went through that dark passage below the cardinal tower but seem to have hit a dead end unless i've missed something. went back to heide's tower and progressed down towards no man's wharf. i think i've cleared that out as i managed to reach the area where you ring the bell and the ghost? ship docks. that's what i'll be checking out next. also there was a pharros contraption i activated but didn't notice anything happen.
 

Mistel

Banned
i've bought the elite knight set from that merchant in majula. not sure if i'll stick with it. i want the set he sells after you spend 16,000 which is the Alva set. not sure about my weapon yet. the fire longsword +4 is easily killing enemies right now but i will probably replace it eventually. i will return to the pursuer. just wondering if he was optional.

i went through that dark passage below the cardinal tower but seem to have hit a dead end unless i've missed something. went back to heide's tower and progressed down towards no man's wharf. i think i've cleared that out as i managed to reach the area where you ring the bell and the ghost? ship docks. that's what i'll be checking out next. also there was a pharros contraption i activated but didn't notice anything happen.
The pharros contraption lights the area stopping the Darkstalkers from moving out of the shadows. Though it's easily killing things now its actually not as strong as it appears both as it is not a innate element which lowers its damage and it dealing split damage on top of that a longsword of the same level is far stronger for example. That path is dead end it leads to something interesting but other than that nothing important.
 

Chitown B

Member
As much as I've played DS2 I've never managed to use Flame Swathe effectively on a consistent basis. How's your faith? Darklurker melts to lightning damage.

I think it's like 22. I wasn't having problems with FS until that moment. I cast it right near them and just nothing happened for some reason. I was expecting them to die or be really close to death and I was fooled.
 

bremon

Member
Got really ready for the Darklurker fight. Was doing really well, had her on the ropes. Then somehow I cast Flame Swathe and nothing happens. You can see it below. Afterwards the one next to me does FOUR swipes in a row, which I'd never seen and wasn't ready for so I ran right into it.

http://xboxclips.com/Shadow+XBL/c151dbd8-a548-456f-a569-994236b360db

I hate this stupid boss. I can't move on to NG+ without beating it.
Once he split I used two fire tempests and he was dead. That or heavenly thunder would be a decent way to go I think.

On another note, beat Fume Knight last night. Great feeling. Now the gauntlet to Alonne, who is quicker and more unpredictable than I anticipated.
 

Mistel

Banned
used an ascetic on the Giant Lord bonfire and the twinkling titanites didn't respawn. What gives?
That was changed for SOTFS.
Once he split I used two fire tempests and he was dead. That or heavenly thunder would be a decent way to go I think.

On another note, beat Fume Knight last night. Great feeling. Now the gauntlet to Alonne, who is quicker and more unpredictable than I anticipated.
As she's very weak to lightning heavenly thunder would be the better choice.
 

nightmare-slain

Gold Member
just cleared No Man's Wharf and defeated the boss! i had cleared most of the area but didn't realise i could jump down after ringing the bell. at first i thought i might die but when i went back i seen there was a safe area to jump. got another Branch of Yore so up another estus charge! (at +1. need more sublime bone dust).

i assume i now need to examine that map in the ship for it to set sail. i will go back and check that out but decided to go farm some souls for a bit. i'm at lvl 50 now. picked up a varangian sword which seems better than my fire longsword +4 so will stick with that and see how it goes. also bought a new shield off the merchant in Majula. still using my elite knight armour set. i'm trying to get the merchant to sell me the Alva set. i must be close to having spent 16,000 on him.

i'm definitely settled into the game now. at first i wasn't sure about sticking with it but i'm doing alright. the health/humanity system took a while to get used to but i'm dying a lot less now and have the ring of binding so that's helping a lot. my only real complaint are the bosses. i've only beat 3 main ones so far but they really aren't that difficult and they don't have that same kind of fear i got from the bosses in DS1 and to be honest i think that's what i enjoyed most about the first game. i felt genuinely scared of what was on the other side of that fog gate. so many memorable bosses. taurus, capra, quelaag, O&S, 4 kings, sif, and gwyn. once i defeated them i felt victorious but i'm not getting that feeling here. i know it's still quite early so i will keep playing but if it's just more of the same then i might just stop playing.
 

Chitown B

Member
That was changed for SOTFS.

That sucks. Oh well, at least the farming still works. Killed Giant Lord like 8 times last night and leveled up a ton. I don't care about PvP, just want to get the 1000G. That'll help me on Darklurker. Gained a ton more Pyro slots and power.

FYI you can't hit him with Pyro when he's in his wind-up. He's immune during that time. Example:

http://xboxclips.com/Shadow+XBL/fd59a2f2-2da4-4fa8-a3d3-c28e83913e72

(I also rolled but the B button didn't register for some reason)
 

Saya

Member
just cleared No Man's Wharf and defeated the boss! i had cleared most of the area but didn't realise i could jump down after ringing the bell. at first i thought i might die but when i went back i seen there was a safe area to jump. got another Branch of Yore so up another estus charge! (at +1. need more sublime bone dust).

i assume i now need to examine that map in the ship for it to set sail. i will go back and check that out but decided to go farm some souls for a bit. i'm at lvl 50 now. picked up a varangian sword which seems better than my fire longsword +4 so will stick with that and see how it goes. also bought a new shield off the merchant in Majula. still using my elite knight armour set. i'm trying to get the merchant to sell me the Alva set. i must be close to having spent 16,000 on him.

i'm definitely settled into the game now. at first i wasn't sure about sticking with it but i'm doing alright. the health/humanity system took a while to get used to but i'm dying a lot less now and have the ring of binding so that's helping a lot. my only real complaint are the bosses. i've only beat 3 main ones so far but they really aren't that difficult and they don't have that same kind of fear i got from the bosses in DS1 and to be honest i think that's what i enjoyed most about the first game. i felt genuinely scared of what was on the other side of that fog gate. so many memorable bosses. taurus, capra, quelaag, O&S, 4 kings, sif, and gwyn. once i defeated them i felt victorious but i'm not getting that feeling here. i know it's still quite early so i will keep playing but if it's just more of the same then i might just stop playing.

Do you have the DLC? You'll find most of the hardest bosses there. They're really fun too.
 

Mistel

Banned
just cleared No Man's Wharf and defeated the boss! i had cleared most of the area but didn't realise i could jump down after ringing the bell. at first i thought i might die but when i went back i seen there was a safe area to jump. got another Branch of Yore so up another estus charge! (at +1. need more sublime bone dust).

i assume i now need to examine that map in the ship for it to set sail. i will go back and check that out but decided to go farm some souls for a bit. i'm at lvl 50 now. picked up a varangian sword which seems better than my fire longsword +4 so will stick with that and see how it goes. also bought a new shield off the merchant in Majula. still using my elite knight armour set. i'm trying to get the merchant to sell me the Alva set. i must be close to having spent 16,000 on him.

i'm definitely settled into the game now. at first i wasn't sure about sticking with it but i'm doing alright. the health/humanity system took a while to get used to but i'm dying a lot less now and have the ring of binding so that's helping a lot. my only real complaint are the bosses. i've only beat 3 main ones so far but they really aren't that difficult and they don't have that same kind of fear i got from the bosses in DS1 and to be honest i think that's what i enjoyed most about the first game. i felt genuinely scared of what was on the other side of that fog gate. so many memorable bosses. taurus, capra, quelaag, O&S, 4 kings, sif, and gwyn. once i defeated them i felt victorious but i'm not getting that feeling here. i know it's still quite early so i will keep playing but if it's just more of the same then i might just stop playing.
The memorable bosses in this one are far later on into the game and in the DLC mainly this game is a lot larger with much more bosses than 1. As for the Varangian sword it is the strongest straight sword by the numbers and scaling.
 

bremon

Member
I can't even imagine that lol. Finished Ivory King DLC tonight. Wasn't feeling the locale initially but it eventually grew on me, and that last boss fight was certainly memorable. Plus the additional info dump from the NPC was enjoyable as well.
 

nightmare-slain

Gold Member
That has all the DLC already.

thanks!

made a bit of progress today. beat the boss in lost bastille. i thought for sure i was going to die because i ran out of health items but got lucky and didn't take much more damage. didn't have a pharro's key to get to belfry luna so just headed to sinner's rise. beat the lost sinner without too much trouble. since i didn't have the bastille key i had to fight in the dark but i wouldn't say added light would've made it easier. so now i need to decide where to go next. either move that contraption in majula or depetrify the women.
 

Mistel

Banned
thanks!

made a bit of progress today. beat the boss in lost bastille. i thought for sure i was going to die because i ran out of health items but got lucky and didn't take much more damage. didn't have a pharro's key to get to belfry luna so just headed to sinner's rise. beat the lost sinner without too much trouble. since i didn't have the bastille key i had to fight in the dark but i wouldn't say added light would've made it easier. so now i need to decide where to go next. either move that contraption in majula or depetrify the women.
Added light does make it easier mainly you can see her better but as you've already done it I doubt it was of any hindrance to you. Which way you go doesn't make much of a difference in this version although you may find through the contraption easier.
 

nightmare-slain

Gold Member
Added light does make it easier mainly you can see her better but as you've already done it I doubt it was of any hindrance to you. Which way you go doesn't make much of a difference in this version although you may find through the contraption easier.

i have paid 2000 souls to move the contraption so that's where i'm off to next. was farming souls for a little while and ended up in Belfry Luna. Defeated the gargoyles! nice throwback to DS1 boss fight. Got the covetous silver serpent ring +1 so now getting 20% extra souls!

as i understand it, i need to collect 4 great souls but was just wondering how big a part of the game that is? for example, in DS1 i thought the whole objective of the game was to ring both bells but the game just kept going after that and i had to then collect the 4 lord souls. in DS2 do i just need to collect the 4 great souls or is there another goal after that? i'm just trying to get an idea of how much there is to do in the game.
 

Meccs

Member
Ok, after having played 200 hours of DS2 when it came out I bought the Scholar edition last week thinking I would play it again. After having played now for 5+ hours I have to put it down. The controls feel terrible, combat is a floaty mess that has no weight or impact to it. Half the time I don't even know why something hit me or how I just lost that HP because there is almost no feedback to hits. I can not remember it being that bad! Did they change something in SotFS? I have played this game non stop back in the day, how can it feel that shitty now? It blows my mind! Has Bloodborne and Dark Soul 3 spoiled me that much?
 

Mistel

Banned
as i understand it, i need to collect 4 great souls but was just wondering how big a part of the game that is? for example, in DS1 i thought the whole objective of the game was to ring both bells but the game just kept going after that and i had to then collect the 4 lord souls. in DS2 do i just need to collect the 4 great souls or is there another goal after that? i'm just trying to get an idea of how much there is to do in the game.
Getting the 4 great souls account for approximately the opening 45 to 50% of the game, there's other goals after that point.
Ok, after having played 200 hours of DS2 when it came out I bought the Scholar edition last week thinking I would play it again. After having played now for 5+ hours I have to put it down. The controls feel terrible, combat is a floaty mess that has no weight or impact to it. Half the time I don't even know why something hit me or how I just lost that HP because there is almost no feedback to hits. I can not remember it being that bad! Did they change something in SotFS? I have played this game non stop back in the day, how can it feel that shitty now? It blows my mind! Has Bloodborne and Dark Soul 3 spoiled me that much?
DS2 handles very differently to that of the of the later games in terms of speed but I don't know how you managed 200hrs of vanilla as those things have been there since the start.
 

Morrigan Stark

Arrogant Smirk
I could switch between Bloodborne and DS2 SotFS pretty easily myself. It was a bit weird at first, especially dodging which was not nearly as generous, but the buttery smooth 60 FPS helped counter-balance it, I think ^^, and I'd get used to DS2's controls just fine after a few minutes. *shrugs*
 

gaugebozo

Member
Ok, after having played 200 hours of DS2 when it came out I bought the Scholar edition last week thinking I would play it again. After having played now for 5+ hours I have to put it down. The controls feel terrible, combat is a floaty mess that has no weight or impact to it. Half the time I don't even know why something hit me or how I just lost that HP because there is almost no feedback to hits. I can not remember it being that bad! Did they change something in SotFS? I have played this game non stop back in the day, how can it feel that shitty now? It blows my mind! Has Bloodborne and Dark Soul 3 spoiled me that much?

I just got SotFS after about a year of Bloodborne and DS3 only, and it is totally different. I platinumed vanilla DS 2, but back then I played exclusively sword and shield. Bloodborne really forced me to git sort of okay with dodging, and in DS 3 I mainly dodged with some shield use.

Going back to try SotFS, the controls are so floaty and there are dodges I felt would be perfect in DS3 that I get tagged in. I still really like it because it adds some variety to the series. I think it goes DS1=DS3>DS2>Bloodborne, but they're all really close. (Bloodborne's summons and builds completely broken, environment gets oppressive, but the combat/lore/bosses were really good.)
 
As I loved Bloodborne (Beat it with the three endings and 100% the DLC), I did the next logical thing : I bought Dark Souls II SotFS.

Any tips for a newcomer who began with Bloodborne ?
What type of build should I use in order to ease the transition ?
Thanks.
 

Mistel

Banned
As I loved Bloodborne (Beat it with the three endings and 100% the DLC), I did the next logical thing : I bought Dark Souls II SotFS.

Any tips for a newcomer who began with Bloodborne ?
What type of build should I use in order to ease the transition ?
Thanks.
It's a lot more floaty and you want to invest in AGI till 100 to 120 for more I frames. Builds depend on what you want to use really.
 

Novocaine

Member
As I loved Bloodborne (Beat it with the three endings and 100% the DLC), I did the next logical thing : I bought Dark Souls II SotFS.

Any tips for a newcomer who began with Bloodborne ?
What type of build should I use in order to ease the transition ?
Thanks.

Do you want to be a tank or a more aggressive player? Slow or fast weapons? Magic? Etc.
 
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