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[Jimnymebob]

yeah i think i'm gonna find gavlan and get some poison arrows but i don't think i've seen him since no man's wharf. he is supposed to appear in harvest valley/doors of pharros but he wasn't there. i'll need to go check. my current shield seems to block spells quite well. i checked my item box and wasn't anything better. the spells are quite easy to dodge/block but it's just the amount of enemies attacking at once that is killing me.

He should be in Harvest Valley, near the poison area, and once you visit him there he moves to Doors of Pharros, where he'll stay and then supply an unlimited number of arrows and stuff.

Edit: Oh, that's good. I think you're pretty much done now, unless I've mentally blocked any really annoying parts from my memory. As I said, it's not too bad an area.

 

[nightmare-slain]

He should be in Harvest Valley, near the poison area, and once you visit him there he moves to Doors of Pharros, where he'll stay and then supply an unlimited number of arrows and stuff.

Edit: Oh, that's good. I think you're pretty much done now, unless I've mentally blocked any really annoying parts from my memory. As I said, it's not too bad an area.

beat the demon song so now onto the undead crypt!

 

[Jimnymebob]

beat the demon song so now onto the undead crypt!

Nice, good job. Undead Crypt is a pretty cool area, aside from one room which was hell to get through for me.

 

[nightmare-slain]

Nice, good job. Undead Crypt is a pretty cool area, aside from one room which was hell to get through for me.

what one is that? i've unlocked the shortcut and just need to head down the long path to the fog gate. i hate these mages.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

I'm assuming they mean the part with all the statue mages and the bell-ringers and oh my pillars of fire everywhere

 

[Jimnymebob]

what one is that? i've unlocked the shortcut and just need to head down the long path to the fog gate. i hate these mages.

I'm assuming they mean the part with all the statue mages and the bell-ringers and oh my pillars of fire everywhere

Yeah, the room you drop down into past the guys with the shields. I spent a good while dropping down and getting absolutely destroyed there. I lost my Souls in one of those branching path dead ends, so I was dropping in, grabbing them, and dying again.

 

[nightmare-slain]

Yeah, the room you drop down into past the guys with the shields. I spent a good while dropping down and getting absolutely destroyed there. I lost my Souls in one of those branching path dead ends, so I was dropping in, grabbing them, and dying again.

i agree that area was quite annoying. after dying a few times i just ran past to the next area.

i'm now at the throne of want. these throne guys are doing my head in.

 

[Mistel]

i agree that area was quite annoying. after dying a few times i just ran past to the next area.

got both the King Ring + Ashen Mist Heart today! now off to do these giant memories.

I'm pretty sure that's the intention other destroying the gravestones to prevent them from spawning as once one dies another spawns from essentially the big mass grave of them.

 

[nightmare-slain]

I did it!

 

[Jimnymebob]

Congrats!
That torso armour looks pretty cool.
Do you have the DLC for the game? If you do, or even if you don't but are planning on getting it, I'd advise not going into New Game Plus, because you need to have the Ashen Mist Heart to fully complete one of them, and as you now know you get that super late in the game.

How did you find the final boss by the way?

Spoiler

I mean difficulty/fun wise, not the location lol

 

[nightmare-slain]

Congrats!
That torso armour looks pretty cool.
Do you have the DLC for the game? If you do, or even if you don't but are planning on getting it, I'd advise not going into New Game Plus, because you need to have the Ashen Mist Heart to fully complete one of them, and as you now know you get that super late in the game.

How did you find the final boss by the way?

Spoiler

I mean difficulty/fun wise, not the location lol

Thanks! That's the full Alva set I was wearing. I don't know...I just bought Scholar Edition. I thought it included the DLC or do I need to download it? Anyway I'm not doing DLC yet. I'll just be moving onto DS3 then Bloodborne. Might replay all the games again at some point with a different build and do all the DLC.

Nashandra or Aldia? I never got to fight Aldia. I think because I answered No to a question..not sure. Nashandra was probably the easiest boss in the entire game. I just summoned Benhart who she focused on while I fired poison arrows into her.

 

[Jimnymebob]

Thanks! That's the full Alva set I was wearing. I don't know...I just bought Scholar Edition. I thought it included the DLC or do I need to download it? Anyway I'm not doing DLC yet. I'll just be moving onto DS3 then Bloodborne. Might replay all the games again at some point with a different build and do all the DLC.

Nashandra or Aldia? I never got to fight Aldia. I think because I answered No to a question..not sure. Nashandra was probably the easiest boss in the entire game. I just summoned Benhart who she focused on while I fired poison arrows into her.

Cool, I don't remember seeing that set, or I may have just forgot about it.
The actual Scholar of the First Sin Edition (not the vanilla version with the patch that added Aldia and stuff) comes with the DLC. You access it via the three shrines you see, near Black Gulch, Iron Keep and Shrine of Winter, and each DLC requires you to have an item to access them, which are all fairly well hidden.

You get to fight Aldia if you beat Vendrick in Undead Crypt before fighting Nashandra. Nashandra was definitely underwhelming to me too; I died once because I decided to drink an Estus in front of the big laser that she does because I'm an idiot, but on my second go it took 3 sets of 3 2-handed R1s with my Lightning Grand Lance to kill her.

If you enjoyed the game I'd definitely recommend going back and doing the DLC. It contains some of the best content in the game, and one of the best fights in the series. Plus, if you've not played through Dark Souls Artorias of the Abyss DLC, you absolutely need to at some point.

 

[Pantaghana]

Cool, I don't remember seeing that set, or I may have just forgot about it.

The Alva set is sold by Maghlin in Majula after you spend 15k souls in his shop, it provides decent defense for how light it is.

 

[Jimnymebob]

The Alva set is sold by Maghlin in Majula after you spend 15k souls in his shop, it provides decent defense for how light it is.

Oh, I don't think I ever really bought anything from him. If I did, I certainly didn't spend 15k Souls, that's for sure.

 

[nightmare-slain]

i have to say that when i started DS2 i really didn't like it. the changes to levelling, estus, humanity, health really put me off it and the controls felt really awkward. after a while everything but the controls weren't much of a problem. i actually prefer the way DS2 works. as for the controls even once i had put about 22 points into ADP it still felt a bit slow. it did feel a bit better but there was still a noticeable delay between pressing the roll/dodge button and it actually happening. not really a huge problem but would really like a more fluid/smooth combat experience.

now i've got through the game i think DS2 is my favourite. DS1 is still a fantastic game and i really enjoyed it but DS2 just feels much bigger and i'm not quite sure i understand the hate it gets. when i started the game i was almost about to skip it and go straight to DS3 since i heard it was similar to DS1 but now even though i am sure it will be a great game i'm a little worried it won't live up to DS2.

 

[Ferr986]

i have to say that when i started DS2 i really didn't like it. the changes to levelling, estus, humanity, health really put me off it and the controls felt really awkward. after a while everything but the controls weren't much of a problem. i actually prefer the way DS2 works. as for the controls even once i had put about 22 points into ADP it still felt a bit slow. it did feel a bit better but there was still a noticeable delay between pressing the roll/dodge button and it actually happening. not really a huge problem but would really like a more fluid/smooth combat experience.

now i've got through the game i think DS2 is my favourite. DS1 is still a fantastic game and i really enjoyed it but DS2 just feels much bigger and i'm not quite sure i understand the hate it gets. when i started the game i was almost about to skip it and go straight to DS3 since i heard it was similar to DS1 but now even though i am sure it will be a great game i'm a little worried it won't live up to DS2.

For me, DS3 offers the best controls by far, and the best bosses. But the game is more linear and felt to small to me, and would dare to say a little unispired too.

DS1 is my fav, but I love them all almost equally. I'm sure you'll enjoy DS3, but it's strengths are different than DS2 strengths.

 

[TheGreatLugia]

I just finished the game yesterday, and I'm torn on whether to try the DLC areas now or come back to them later on after I play Dark Souls III.

I keep hearing the DLC is better than the main game, but I didn't like Dark Souls II as much as the other Souls games I've played. I enjoyed it enough to finish it, but it definitely felt like it went on too long. The levels and bosses felt like quantity over quality to me. There were a lot more of them than in other games, but I didn't enjoy them nearly as much. Most of the locations and bosses came off as unmemorable to me, and it felt like the game sometimes went overboard with how many enemies it would throw at the player. See Heide's Tower of Flame. I also wasn't a fan of some of the enemy hitboxes, the way enemy auto-tracking worked, and rolling invincibility frames being tied to a stat. But that's opening a whole other can of worms.

Anyway, going by what I've posted so far, would you guys recommend trying out the DLC soon or just moving on to play Dark Souls III for now?

 

[Novocaine]

Play the DLC now.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Play the DLC now.

.

 

[Tarkus]

Yup, it's sounds as if the person doesn't go into the DLC now, they will never come back.

 

[Trakan]

I just finished the game yesterday, and I'm torn on whether to try the DLC areas now or come back to them later on after I play Dark Souls III.

I keep hearing the DLC is better than the main game, but I didn't like Dark Souls II as much as the other Souls games I've played. I enjoyed it enough to finish it, but it definitely felt like it went on too long. The levels and bosses felt like quantity over quality to me. There were a lot more of them than in other games, but I didn't enjoy them nearly as much. Most of the locations and bosses came off as unmemorable to me, and it felt like the game sometimes went overboard with how many enemies it would throw at the player. See Heide's Tower of Flame. I also wasn't a fan of some of the enemy hitboxes, the way enemy auto-tracking worked, and rolling invincibility frames being tied to a stat. But that's opening a whole other can of worms.

Anyway, going by what I've posted so far, would you guys recommend trying out the DLC soon or just moving on to play Dark Souls III for now?

Other than a few side areas, I feel like the DS2 DLC is the best content the Souls series has to offer. Play it now.

 

[Mistel]

Yup, it's sounds as if the person doesn't go into the DLC now, they will never come back.

Well some of the best items are dlc so it's understandable.

 

[TheGreatLugia]

Thanks to everyone that's replied. I guess there's a few reasons why I'm leaning towards skipping the DLC for now.

For one, I might just feel a bit fatigued from playing the same game for so long. Dark Souls II is already a massive game on its own, and the prospect of playing three DLC releases in a row immediately after finishing it is a bit off-putting to me right now. It doesn't help that I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as the other Souls games. Due to the DLC being split into three separate parts, I think I would enjoy it more if I play one part every few months whenever I'm in the mood for it instead of forcing myself to play through all three parts in a row right now.

The second aspect of it is that I want to finally play Dark Souls III soon. The trailers and small amount of footage I saw before release made me way more interested in it than Dark Souls II, and I've been trying to stay on blackout with Dark Souls III since it launched. My spare time is also going to get more limited in a few weeks so if I don't start Dark Souls III soon, I might not have a chance to play it until December at the earliest.

I do appreciate everyone's input here but after giving it some more thought, I think I'd have a better time if I play Dark Souls III next and do each part of the Dark Souls II DLC when I'm in a better mood to play it.

 

[Garrett Hawke]

If it helps the DLC is pretty short. There is one bullshit bit in Crown of the Old Iron King that will take forever unless you look up a guide but I think I finished all three of them in about 2-3 hours each, and they are definitely the best parts of Dark Souls II.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

There is one bullshit bit in Crown of the Old Iron King that will take forever unless you look up a guide

Huh?

 

[Tarkus]

Huh?

Prob the Fume Knight healing thing.

 

[.Anema]

Goddamn, I'm having a terrible time trying to get the platinum for this game (vanilla, not SOTFS) :/
I need help for the 30 sunlight medals! WHY FROM SOFTWARE! WHY!

 

[Novocaine]

Goddamn, I'm having a terrible time trying to get the platinum for this game (vanilla, not SOTFS) :/
I need help for the 30 sunlight medals! WHY FROM SOFTWARE! WHY!

Yep it sucks. In SotFS they are almost impossible to farm solo too.

 

[ajb1888]

WOAHH!!

So I started tackling the Pilgrims of Dark areas. I'm on the Drangleic Castle portal and had died to Havel 2 prior attempts. But hey, third times a charm right?? So I change strategies. Instead of tanking melee, I switch to faith and equip a chime to use Force for blowing Havel off the edge of the chasm. I also lower my equipment load, keeping only the elite knight helmet and throwing on a skirt for fashion souls lol...

BUT I go to give the effigy to Darkgiver Grandad guy, and he suddenly starts freaking out and attacks me!! Totally confused, I flee to the bonfire in the other room, reset and return. But Mr Wheelchair zaps me again! What did I do?? Something I said?

"Is it the chime I've equipped?" I wonder if maybe Faith sets him off, so I unequip the chime, reset the bonfire, and try again to present an effigy for passage to the chasm.

Nope. Attacked again!

Dumbfounded at this point, I fast travel to Tseldora to see Cromwell the Pardoner. His job is to pardon my "sins" against NPC's and make them non-hostile.

Cromwell begins the process, much to my relief.... when suddenly he starts coughing and pulls a SCYTHE outta NOWHERE!! I'm like "ohh noo" as I defended myself. Now Cromwell attacks me on site and I cannot be pardoned...

Utterly flabergasted... I just googled trying to determine what was going on... and just discovered the craziest thing..

Seems the "skirt" I threw on is part of the Butterfly set, which actively. poisons. all. npcs. you come into contact with!!! :/

What an infuriating, yet admittably Souls-ish experience lollll xD

Had to share/rant on this one. I need to Kill Cromwell and wait for his grave which will hopefully pardon me.....

Oh and yes, I took that whole Butterfly set and stashed it away. Farrr away haha. Sheesh!

lol its late

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Hahahahaha

Sorry you had to go through that but that's just hilarious. Live and learn eh

At least the game lets you talk to his grave to sorta undo the damage...

 

[ajb1888]

Hahahahaha

Sorry you had to go through that but that's just hilarious. Live and learn eh

At least the game lets you talk to his grave to sorta undo the damage...

Hahah yeah, thankfully!

Sharing stories like this are part of what makes me love these games.

A fellow souls player understands

 

[Pantaghana]

So...
I have the Vanquisher's Seal...
And Engraved Gauntlets...
About to start journey 4 through Drangleic...

Am I about to make a huge mistake?

WOAHH!!

And holy shit, this is hilarious.

 

[SlipperyFishes]

WOAHH!!

So I started tackling the Pilgrims of Dark areas. I'm on the Drangleic Castle portal and had died to Havel 2 prior attempts. But hey, third times a charm right?? So I change strategies. Instead of tanking melee, I switch to faith and equip a chime to use Force for blowing Havel off the edge of the chasm. I also lower my equipment load, keeping only the elite knight helmet and throwing on a skirt for fashion souls lol...

BUT I go to give the effigy to Darkgiver Grandad guy, and he suddenly starts freaking out and attacks me!! Totally confused, I flee to the bonfire in the other room, reset and return. But Mr Wheelchair zaps me again! What did I do?? Something I said?

"Is it the chime I've equipped?" I wonder if maybe Faith sets him off, so I unequip the chime, reset the bonfire, and try again to present an effigy for passage to the chasm.

Nope. Attacked again!

Dumbfounded at this point, I fast travel to Tseldora to see Cromwell the Pardoner. His job is to pardon my "sins" against NPC's and make them non-hostile.

Cromwell begins the process, much to my relief.... when suddenly he starts coughing and pulls a SCYTHE outta NOWHERE!! I'm like "ohh noo" as I defended myself. Now Cromwell attacks me on site and I cannot be pardoned...

Utterly flabergasted... I just googled trying to determine what was going on... and just discovered the craziest thing..

Seems the "skirt" I threw on is part of the Butterfly set, which actively. poisons. all. npcs. you come into contact with!!! :/

What an infuriating, yet admittably Souls-ish experience lollll xD

Had to share/rant on this one. I need to Kill Cromwell and wait for his grave which will hopefully pardon me.....

Oh and yes, I took that whole Butterfly set and stashed it away. Farrr away haha. Sheesh!

lol its late

Haha oh wow this game is a gift. A real gift 😭😄

 

[Morrigan Stark]

So my friend got this game for his birthday so I made a 3rd character for coop. Gonna try fists/claws this time, since I never played with them in this game. I did in DS3 and it was fun, though it sucked at first. Now it seems the power-stanced caestus are actually kind of decent from the get-go? There's something fun about pummelling big-ass knights to death haha.

I hear the fist weapon from the DLC sucks though.

So...
I have the Vanquisher's Seal...
And Engraved Gauntlets...
About to start journey 4 through Drangleic...

Am I about to make a huge mistake?

You are already dead

 

[Pantaghana]

I hear the fist weapon from the DLC sucks though.

I want to love it because powerstanced LT/L2 is a HADOKEN, and dropkicking fools with the running attack is always amusing, sadly the damage is a big meh even fully upgraded.

You are already dead

I'm undead, that's hardly a setback.

[EDIT]
Not gonna start it right now, gonna try defeating Darklurker again.

[ANOTHER EDIT]
Darklurker dead, now I'm wondering what else should I do before committing myself to this insanity.

[UPDATE #1]
After a lot of faffing about, warped to Majula and found the Herald in her cheerful animation twice in a row, it must be a sign to get on with it. Wish me luck.

[UPDATE #2]
This is going surprisingly well (famous last words). Most enemies die in only a few punches, but dealing with groups is a pain in the ass, I'm allowing myself pyromancy/bow for such situations. Have yet to die to a boss, only deaths were gravity related.

[UPDATE #3]
At Drangleic castle.

Death count:

Gravity x3

Some Asshole Invader 2x

Bosses:
Royal Rat Authority 2x (those little fuckers)
Smelter Demon 1x

Regular enemies:
One Alonne knight, serves me right for trying to figure out their parry timing, I swear you have to do it before their attack animation even begins.

In other news, parrying Pursuers and then introducing your fist to their groin is so immensely satisfying.

 

[MCD]

After beating my first Dark Souls (3) I went ahead and bought 2 when it went on sale on Xbox.

As someone who is new to the series I have so many mixed feelings about 2 compared to 3.

I hate the human effigies. I hate the annoying things this game was designed around or throw at you. I am looking at you Black gulch. I am looking at you Iron keep nasty falling off every second. I am looking at you Shrine of Shitty Amana and its constant magic spam. The 20 or so bossess that ranged from super super easy then batshit insane. The muted music compared to 3. This game got some really baaaaaad designs.

And yet, I kept coming back for more. Maybe I am a masochist? I guess something in the combat and the bosses made me crave more and more.

All videos I made can be found here: http://xboxdvr.com/gamer/McDragon Live/videos

P.S. I beat some Tiger boss by wandering there without knowing it's a DLC area and noticed how the difficulty spike rose to insane mode. Managed to beat it woth 3 NPCs but the boss afterwards is unfair solo. I don't think I can do this solo like most of the base game and there is hardly any summon sign there.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

What is unfair about the tiger boss? You mean Aava right? 'Cause

Spoiler

Lud & Zallen

I could understand it being called unfair (it's doable, but it kinda is unfair haha), but Aava is perfectly fine to solo.

What is wrong with Human Effigies? They work pretty much the same way as Embers or Stones of Ephemeral Eyes... in fact I prefer this system over the Humanity mechanic of DkS1 by far.

 

[MCD]

What is unfair about the tiger boss? You mean Aava right? 'Cause

Spoiler

Lud & Zallen

I could understand it being called unfair (it's doable, but it kinda is unfair haha), but Aava is perfectly fine to solo.

What is wrong with Human Effigies? They work pretty much the same way as Embers or Stones of Ephemeral Eyes... in fact I prefer this system over the Humanity mechanic of DkS1 by far.

Yes, Aava. His damage was INSANE. Coupme that with his long backward dodge and range of movement just made me furiuos. I was like level 170 too lol.

As for human effigies, I couls farm embers without burning bonfires and I didn't have to worry about my good looks or halving my HP. And there is no Dark portal area that made me waste soooo much human effigies. Fuck that.

 

[Pantaghana]

Yes, Aava. His damage was INSANE. Coupme that with his long backward dodge and range of movement just made me furiuos. I was like level 170 too lol.

As for human effigies, I couls farm embers without burning bonfires and I didn't have to worry about my good looks or halving my HP. And there is no Dark portal area that made me waste soooo much human effigies. Fuck that.

Aava was my "git gud" moment, and I faced her when I was lvl 300+.

I found the Ivory King to be much easier than Aava, the thing that made it difficult was surviving until he shows up.

Spoiler

You need to free other Loyce Knights to help with the first part of the fight.

 

[MCD]

Oh? So there is a trick to these endless spawns of knights.

I will think about it. I am ultra fatigue right now from just beating the game.

 

[Pantaghana]

Parrying Vestaldt with bare hands? Satisfying.

Most punches missing because his collision box is bigger than the hitbox? Pain in the ass.

Still managed to pummel him to death.

 

[MCD]

Beat Ivory King

Thanks to two NPCs + 4 Knights I beat that fire asshole down.

Funny that I completed the last DLC before the other two lol.

 

[Mistel]

Parrying Vestaldt with bare hands? Satisfying.

Most punches missing because his collision box is bigger than the hitbox? Pain in the ass.

Still managed to pummel him to death.

At SL1?

 

[Pantaghana]

Beat Sinh. Literally.

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

At SL1?

I am not LobosJr.

Spoiler

Currently SL478, have no intention of stopping any time soon.

 

[Mistel]

Spoiler

Currently SL478, have no intention of stopping any time soon.

Well at level you'd have a hard time of not beating everything.

 

[NoblesseOblige]

I finally got around to installing SotFS. Haven't touched DS2 in a long time, since before most its mechanics had all been worked out. So basically it's like I'm coming fresh into the game. So a few questions...

Are there any necessary mods for PC these days?
Any tips for min/maxing builds? ex. DS1 it was common to get END40 for max stamina.

 

[Pantaghana]

Sir Alonne would be such a great fight if there was an easier way to get to him, fuck those knights, their officers and their fire spitting lizards.

 

[Novocaine]

Sir Alonne would be such a great fight if there was an easier way to get to him, fuck those knights, their officers and their fire spitting lizards.

There are 2 NPC summons outside the area just use those.

 

[Jimnymebob]

Sir Alonne would be such a great fight if there was an easier way to get to him, fuck those knights, their officers and their fire spitting lizards.

They're not too much bad to get past. Just approach the knights one by one, and shoot the lizards with arrows. The lizards should never touch you, and as long as you take your time the knights are easy to take 1v1.

The only problem is that it takes a while, but you shouldn't get hit.

 

[Pantaghana]

There are 2 NPC summons outside the area just use those.

Trying to avoid summons.

They're not too much bad to get past. Just approach the knights one by one, and shoot the lizards with arrows. The lizards should never touch you, and as long as you take your time the knights are easy to take 1v1.

The only problem is that it takes a while, but you shouldn't get hit.

I have no problem clearing everything without taking damage, but how long that takes is exactly why it's a pain in the ass, especially if you die a few times to Alonne and have to slog through the entire thing again. I always end up clearing the area until everything stops respawning, takes too long and sours what is otherwise a great bossfight.

Moot anyway, beat him some 15 mins before I made that post.