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[AJLma]

It seems my copy is waiting for me to go and pick it up.

This will be my first time playing Dark Souls. I do know the "basics" from Bloodborne and in some lenght from Lords of the Fallen, but for the most part, I'm going in blind (and I like it).

Is it possible to make a paladin archetype character? I'm thinking heavy armor, huge shield, maybe a hammer or sword and healing/holy/light magic. So starting class would be warrior, knight or cleric? Would this be viable? I'm not looking to min-max, but if this would totally suck, I'd like to know.

There seems to be a lot more attributes in this game. What attributes should I focus if I'm going for this kind of character build?

Sounds like a perfect cleric build.

Stick to that gameplan and you'll end up min-maxing regardless, and that's a good thing since these games reward a thought out build. Clerics are usually one of the most fun builds to play in my opinion.

Spoiler

Lightning Spear.

You'll need to decide your balance of vigor/vitality/endurance/adaptability mostly, but Cleric is probably the best class for a first time player.

 

[Rhaknar]

Thats pretty much what I did but they are still annoying lol. Oh shit, Havels GOTTEN.

Damn it it's mine, give it

 

[Hugstable]

Was Pursuer always like this in Vanilla? Dude is poppin' up all over the damn place. Open an illusory wall, SURPRISE BITCH it's Pursuer!

 

[Rhaknar]

Was Pursuer always like this in Vanilla? Dude is poppin' up all over the damn place. Open an illusory wall, SURPRISE BITCH it's Pursuer!

Nope that's new, he only showed up again in the

Spoiler

smelter demon room in iron keep

in vanilla

 

[StaffyManasse]

Sounds like a perfect cleric build.

Stick to that gameplan and you'll end up min-maxing regardless, and that's a good thing since these games reward a thought out build. Clerics are usually one of the most fun builds to play in my opinion.

Spoiler

Lightning Spear.

You'll need to decide your balance of vigor/vitality/endurance/adaptability mostly, but Cleric is probably the best class for a first time player.

Sounds good, thanks. So those four + strenght and faith, then?

 

[Hugstable]

Nope that's new, he only showed up again in the

Spoiler

smelter demon room in iron keep

in vanilla

Haha that's great, this is probably my most favorite change about the game so far, he had a few times where he just came outta nowhere and got me a bit worried for my life.

 

[Dance Inferno]

I have yet to actually die to Pursuer, but fighting him is always exciting. Especially when it's on a platform that you can fall off of. :O

 

[ArclightBorealis]

So I spent about an hour or two in Scholar of the First Sin, getting some ways into the Forest of Fallen Giants. Just some thoughts, as far as this being my first time playing anything of Dark Souls II.

This definitely has its own feel compared to the last game, and while that feel isn't anything like what Demon's Souls was like, I might be fine with this alternative. That is, as soon as I get more acquainted with how glacial this game is compared to the reactionary style in Bloodborne. In a way, Dark Souls II almost immediately strikes me as more King's Field-like than even Demon's or Dark 1, considering this whole series has been considered a successor to KF for a while now.

The stuff about this game being more difficult in regards to control, parrying, tracking hits and what not I actually don't mind. Dark Souls' regular encounters were fucking piss easy, either being able to circle around and backstab with relative ease or use that game's wide as fuck parry window. Although I guess the problem I ran into myself before I stopped playing for the night was everything I heard regarding Adaptability. I know it affects agility and people have said upgrading it so that you have 100 Agility as soon as possible is recommended. Thing is, I've had no problem avoiding most of the attacks that come at me from enemies anyway, so long as they're singled out, but with different paths leading me to groups that all start coming at me I don't have the stamina or strength to manage it easily. Starting as Deprived certainly isn't helping with that, but considering I beat Demon's as a Barbarian, Dark 1 as a Deprived, and now Bloodborne as Waste of Skin, I figured I'd go for the advanced starting class once again here. I don't want to go with another class, but I might do a start over just to mess around with other starting stats to level I'm not seeing myself hindered by a lack of Adaptability.

Also, tired as fuck subject of discussion I know, but weapon durability has been of little issue for me. Going back to old From Soft references, my time spent playing the Shadow Tower games where everything on your person wears out and breaks from use has helped me in knowing how to preserve my weapon's integrity. The dagger I got from Thing's Betwixt was very useful in the narrow corridors thanks to its R2 attack. No needlessly hitting walls from me.

I'll play around with this some more and try to better figure out how to proceed through the rest of this game while also keeping my habits from Bloodborne as separate as possible. Because I don't know if I can keep myself from playing one of them while ignoring the other for a while.

 

[Phat Michael]

I was looking at some screens in the console screenshot thread and the game looks pretty dang good to me (visually).

Bloodborne is my first "Souls" experience and I'm loving it, and I'm contemplating on getting this. I realize mechanics have improved through BB since it's newer but what are the main differences I should be aware of if I choose to get this? Thanks guys.

1) you can play a caster now. It is so much fun.
2) You can use a shield now.
3) Your equipment has weight - so armour sets actually matter now.
4) Estus is way better than blood vials. they refill everytime you rest at a bonfire.
5) the world is more varied than bloodborne and i like the theme better.
6) i like the backstabs better in bloodborne.
7) Parrying is a LOT more difficult
8) There are a lot more different weapons - bows, swords, clubs, spears etc
9) You can augment weapons with more things - fire/ice/bolt etc
10) you can enchant weapons to scale with magic and things like that.

it's a lot deeper than bloodborne - im not saying it is better, bloodborne is a lot faster and looks better and is smoother - but Dark Souls 2 is a very good game and now that you know souls difficulty you will be fine with it.

 

[Moon_frogger]

What the hell is the point of the bonfire in forest of the Giants at the NPC invader? There's nothing there.

ahhhh is that why so many people have been poo pooing their placement? because they are hard to farm at low levels? I thought they were a perfect addition and the way they come to life later on is awesome. I love the new placement and enemy choices

 

[iRAWRasaurus]

I was looking at some screens in the console screenshot thread and the game looks pretty dang good to me (visually).

Bloodborne is my first "Souls" experience and I'm loving it, and I'm contemplating on getting this. I realize mechanics have improved through BB since it's newer but what are the main differences I should be aware of if I choose to get this? Thanks guys.

Personally I been playing BB and dark souls 2 back and forth. It's does feel a lot slower compared BB, you can't attack as aggressively as in BB and roll out of the way as well ( maybe that's due to my Agility being low tho), your stamina doesn't recover as fast too. Besides that and what has been mention above, the game feels really smooth due to the higher fps and there's a lot of content. my friend didn't like any of the souls games but he really likes BB tho.

 

[brickarts295]

I think I'm going mad, I'm not even half way done with Bloodborne and I already got Dark Souls 2 (never played a Souls game until BB). There was just something about the setting that got me excited to jump in on as well. Going to be so weird switching from fast pace BB to slow pace DS2 every now and then XD.

 

[takriel]

I was looking at some screens in the console screenshot thread and the game looks pretty dang good to me (visually).

Bloodborne is my first "Souls" experience and I'm loving it, and I'm contemplating on getting this. I realize mechanics have improved through BB since it's newer but what are the main differences I should be aware of if I choose to get this? Thanks guys.

DkS 2 pros:

- Build variety
- Location variety
- arguably PVP
- Reallocation of your attributes

DkS 2 cons:

- Quantity over Quality
- Level design not nearly as good
- Atmosphere not nearly as good
- OST not nearly as good
- Story debatable
- Slower combat and clunkier mechanics

If you have the possibility to play DkS 1 on PC, play that instead!

 

[addyb]

So I'm no invading expert. How the hell do you do it on this game? I'm with the sentinels. In wearing the ring. Im human. Is there a particularly popular place to go? My cracked blue eye orb is always greyed out so I can't use it.

 

[Hugstable]

Holy crap that L

Spoiler

ast

S

Spoiler

inner

boss fight was insane!

Spoiler

Dark room and he was super aggressive, and never really let up on the attack.

That fight was intense.

 

[idonteven]

the dlc's boss fights sure ramps up the difficulty

 

[addyb]

Is belfry luna worth doing. Just unlocked it but I hear it's an optional area?

 

[_DrMario_]

So is the 20$ PC upgrade worth it for someone who played about 100 hours of the DX9 version?

I beat the game 3 times I think and the first DLC once.

 

[Mendax]

Is belfry luna worth doing. Just unlocked it but I hear it's an optional area?

yes its super short but good treasure to be found.

So is the 20$ PC upgrade worth it for someone who played about 100 hours of the DX9 version?

I beat the game 3 times I think and the first DLC once.

only if you were planning to replay DKS2 sometime anyway. It is still very much the same game.

 

[Phat Michael]

Is belfry luna worth doing. Just unlocked it but I hear it's an optional area?

FUCK i hated that place. so many invading dickheads.

 

[CrackaF3tt]

Love being in this covenant

Spoiler

Rat Covenant (Doors of Pharros Area)

http://gfycat.com/FaithfulRegularGerenuk

 

[shaneskim]

This is what happens when you take a couple months off away from DaS2 and play Bloodborne. I have to get use to not being able to go all out for an attack.

I really like the new enemy placement. It makes the game feel even more challenging.

Perfect timing for the trophy screenshot!

 

[Braag]

I got invaded by a NPC called Caller of Sin at Dragon Aerie. I don't know if it's a glitch or some sort of joke from From but he was able to attack me from a distance with his estocs (at least believe he was wielding those). The whole fight was just really annoying, he was nowhere near striking distance of me but his blows still landed on me. It was like fighting someone with really bad latency.
He killed me and I'm trying to get him to invade me again to see if it's again like that.

 

[gelf]

Nope that's new, he only showed up again in the

Spoiler

smelter demon room in iron keep

in vanilla

He showed up in

Spoiler

the throne room in the castle along with a twin

in vanilla as well. I think just in NG+ though.

 

[Retrozocker]

Lol returning from Bloodborne I nearly fell asleep fighting Ornstein 2.0. because how slow everything feels compared to BB...

 

[Rurunaki]

Lol returning from Bloodborne I nearly fell asleep fighting Ornstein 2.0. because how slow everything feels compared to BB...

Felt the same when I tried to replay Dark Souls 1. It feels "slow."

 

[Moofers]

I can't say enough how much of a rager I have for this new improved version. I almost didn't open mine and returned it when I heard about the weapon durability issue, but it hasn't mattered to me much.

I'm so in love with this game in ways I just wasn't with Bloodborne. Dont get me wrong, Bloodborne was good, but dammit everything about this game feels like it's the very best that Souls has to offer.

Npc's, summon shades, and items are also remixed along with enemies. I'm seeing new enemy behaviors but also summon shades do little things like greet on arrival or cheer on boss victory. It's so cool. My first one almost had me wondering if it was a real player.

Can't say enough how happy I am with this.

 

[Robot Pants]

I can't say enough how much of a rager I have for this new improved version. I almost didn't open mine and returned it when I heard about the weapon durability issue, but it hasn't mattered to me much.

I'm so in love with this game in ways I just wasn't with Bloodborne. Dont get me wrong, Bloodborne was good, but dammit everything about this game feels like it's the very best that Souls has to offer.

Npc's, summon shades, and items are also remixed along with enemies. I'm seeing new enemy behaviors but also summon shades do little things like greet on arrival or cheer on boss victory. It's so cool. My first one almost had me wondering if it was a real player.

Can't say enough how happy I am with this.

I agree. I think its a huge improvement over the original.
Still not as good as Dark Souls 1 in my opinion but a lot better. And the new enemy placement is so much better than the original. And the new shades and invaders are great.
One of the NPCS i summoned in belfry sol threw a "hello!" Statue at me. And taunted the invader after we killed him. Good stuff

 

[Victus]

Coming off of Bloodborne I already foresee dying so many times as I readjust back to Dark Souls 2. But I can't wait to sink hundreds of hours into this game again.

 

[jacob armitage]

So i picked this up as i'd played Dark Souls on the Xbox 360 and enjoyed my time with it, but the performance issues really put me off from playing above about 15 hours or so.

Really enjoying it so far, it was a toss up between this and Bloodborne, but i felt that i'd enjoy playing Dark Souls 2 more before diving into Bloodborne.

 

[Htown]

So I'm no invading expert. How the hell do you do it on this game? I'm with the sentinels. In wearing the ring. Im human. Is there a particularly popular place to go? My cracked blue eye orb is always greyed out so I can't use it.

Okay so, as someone who has spent probably too much time in Blue Sentinels, lemme tell you. It kinda sucks.

It's a covenant with a really cool idea, but it doesn't really seem to work out as far as invading goes.

Okay so, if you're wearing the ring, you need to look up at your life bar. If the Blue Sentinel symbol is flashing, that means the game is searching in the background for people to invade. Theoretically, if a player in the Way of Blue covenant is invaded by another player, you will be summoned from wherever you are to help them, even across zones. In my experience, this is fairly rare.

You can also invade a "world of the guilty" with the blue eye orb. A guilty player is a player that has accrued "sin", by invading and killing other players or by killing NPCs. Even when the item isn't greyed out, you'll get "cannot find a world to invade" messages 90 percent of the time you use it. That said, when you use it make sure you're in a regular invasion/coop eligible area. It won't work in Majula for example, or other non combat areas.

Also, if you're in an area where you've beaten the boss, make sure to go to a bonfire and remove the effect of the human effigy; beating a boss now turns off invasions in the area for a half hour unless you cancel the effect.

The third thing you can do is take those tokens of fidelity you get from helping players beat bosses, and spend them to engage in duels with other Blue Sentinel players. There are statues next to the bonfire in the Cathedral of Blue.

 

[Shinjica]

re asking my question.

red cracked orbs are still locked in NG+ or the vendor now sell it in NG?

 

[Htown]

According to wiki, you can buy 5 from the vendor in NG and unlimited in NG+

They also can supposedly drop from the pigs in Majula, the whip guys in Huntsman's Copse, and the flame lizards in Forest of Fallen Giants.

 

[addyb]

Okay so, as someone who has spent probably too much time in Blue Sentinels, lemme tell you. It kinda sucks.

It's a covenant with a really cool idea, but it doesn't really seem to work out as far as invading goes.

Okay so, if you're wearing the ring, you need to look up at your life bar. If the Blue Sentinel symbol is flashing, that means the game is searching in the background for people to invade. Theoretically, if a player in the Way of Blue covenant is invaded by another player, you will be summoned from wherever you are to help them, even across zones. In my experience, this is fairly rare.

You can also invade a "world of the guilty" with the blue eye orb. A guilty player is a player that has accrued "sin", by invading and killing other players or by killing NPCs. Even when the item isn't greyed out, you'll get "cannot find a world to invade" messages 90 percent of the time you use it. That said, when you use it make sure you're in a regular invasion/coop eligible area. It won't work in Majula for example, or other non combat areas.

Also, if you're in an area where you've beaten the boss, make sure to go to a bonfire and remove the effect of the human effigy; beating a boss now turns off invasions in the area for a half hour unless you cancel the effect.

The third thing you can do is take those tokens of fidelity you get from helping players beat bosses, and spend them to engage in duels with other Blue Sentinel players. There are statues next to the bonfire in the Cathedral of Blue.

Thanks so much. Very informative and helpful buddy. I'm not too fussed about invading I was just confused as to the whole setup. If I did decide I want to turn invader which is the best covenant to join?

 

[Braag]

Jeez, the enemy placement at dragon shrine is insane..

 

[idonteven]

Jeez, the enemy placement at dragon shrine is insane..

Yeah,some placements in this game are weird

 

[Rhaknar]

fuck off with having a statue in front of the gulch bonfire

these random statues are annoying me because im not finding THAT many new fragrants :/

 

[addyb]

fuck off with having a statue in front of the gulch bonfire

these random statues are annoying me because im not finding THAT many new fragrants :/

Having never played vanilla I was running round in circles trying to find the lost bastille boss. Discovered it was behind a statue door. Just used a fragrant by chance and lo and behold it was in there.

 

[ArclightBorealis]

Okay, started the game over and distributed more of my souls towards Endurance and Strength/Dexterity, depending on what I need for a particular weapon. To further make things harder on myself I decided to join the Covenant of Champions and I've gone all the way up to beating the Last Giant as of now.

Getting into the swing of things now, even with my adaptability still being fairly low. Though with the hollow armor I have along with an axe for my main weapon, my dude looks like a medieval fireman.

 

[addyb]

Do the statues you remove stay removed in NG+ or are they reset?

 

[Ayt]

I'm playing a light build for the first time across 3 souls playthroughs, and I have to say all of the anti-shield elitists have a point. It makes many of the encounters (especially against huge, poise destroying guys like the Smelter Demon) substantially easier and the gameplay feels more dynamic. Plus backstabbing is one of the most satisfying things in video games and now I can pull them off regularly.

I still enjoy the stamina management focused gameplay that comes with shields, but this is a truly refreshing way to play a souls game.

I'm trying out a duel estoc build right now. I was doing an estoc in the right, rapier in the left but wasn't parrying at all so decided to drop the rapier. In the past I had played either a somewhat tanky build or a battle mage type who still could fight melee without a problem. A light build with no blocking is a new experience.

I'll change it up as I get higher stats to dual wield other weapons (probably try the warped sword and maybe an estoc), but I can seriously dish out damage from distance right now.

 

[Rhaknar]

I forgot how utterly pointless

Spoiler

grave of saints

zone is >_>

 

[Lollipop Dave]

I forgot how utterly pointless

Spoiler

grave of saints

zone is >_>

I had fun just hanging around being summoned into

Spoiler

Rat Covenant members

worlds and destroying them.

Apart from that, yeah, it's completely pointless. A good place to burn all your Pharros lockstones for nothing.

 

[SRTtoZ]

Yea so durability isn't an issue anymore. I main 2 weapons, a +8 mace and a +8 fire longsword with the durability ring. I can clear out an entire area and still have 50% durability on 1 weapon.

Ok so I want to make a mage for my next character since its something I've never done in Dark Souls or Demons Souls. What's the most OP type of build? Is it still hex? What type of stats should I be looking for besides INT?

 

[addyb]

So past the royal rat brigade there is nothing of worth there?

 

[Rhaknar]

so if I already killed 3 bosses with Lucatiel, she isnt summonable for the gulch boss? I dont see her sign anyware

edit: nvm found it

 

[Ayt]

So past the royal rat brigade there is nothing of worth there?

It is a small area. You can continue to proceed downward in the hole in the floor after the boss.

 

[zoobzone]

Just beat the Last Giant, how do I fight the Pursuer? there is a black fog that prevent's me from entering, I haven't had this issue when I played on PS3.

 

[Spiritreaver]

I'm getting invaded in NG and it's amazing. This is Dark Souls for me, none of that wait until NG+ or only behind coop invasion bullshit.

I even beat Wharf and got invaded on my return after while I was looking for people to invade with cracked.

My guardian ring has worked a few times too, as well as the cracked blue eye orbs even at a lower level. So glad they made it easier for reds to invade.

 

[Mogwai]

Just beat the Last Giant, how do I fight the Pursuer? there is a black fog that prevent's me from entering, I haven't had this issue when I played on PS3.

Patience, young padawan.

The game is downloading.