SuperStiltzkin
Member
Time your healing better.
The agape ring isn't a perfect fix but it should serve. As should the name-engraved ring which greatly increases the soul memory range. I've done full coop runs with different friends and we did our own solo adventures/farming/etc. on the side and it was never an issue.
As for the hitboxes, it's been discussed before, and it's true they are generally weaker than in the other games, though raising agility to 99 makes it not too bad. I don't recall the enemies hitting you at the start of their animation to be a common problem though? I think it might have happened once or twice but it's greatly exaggerated IMO.
Sometimes the hitboxes are surprisingly good. The giant knights in Heide, for instance, will whiff their horizontal sweep if you are "ducked" (from casting something, for example) because they are so tall. I found that neat. The worst hitboxes are grab attacks which have a vacuum bullshit property to them, they're really frustrating (but also present in other Souls games, though none of them is quite as bad as the mimic's which can grab you from behind LOL).
I time my healings the best. The best. No one times their heals better than me. I'm a great healer. But it is impossible to use estus during the Old Ornstein fight with sub 95 agility without getting hit. At least as a shieldless character.
As for the animation hitboxes. Heide Knights and spear hollows are the most egregious offenders. Try to do a lunging attack against a spear hollow even when it has its shield down. Still looking forward to pickaxe hollows in Brightstone Cove. Honestly I think agility is my main issue. I'm powerbombing magic because apparently magic is dope in DS2. So everything in general feels so much slower than even in Dark Souls 1. Which, I think it's a mistake to gimp all the animation and action speeds to make the stat valuable.