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

justjim89

Member
Is there a way to disable the new enemy placement? I'd love the DLC and the DX11 but holy shit the new enemy placement looks way too hard. DS2 was hard enough as it was.
 

Dimmle

Member
Is there a way to disable the new enemy placement? I'd love the DLC and the DX11 but holy shit the new enemy placement looks way too hard. DS2 was hard enough as it was.

It's not actually harder in most cases; just different.

Except Heide's Tower, that is objectively harder, holy shit.
 

hawk2025

Member
So, Adaptability.



Is it really worth leveling up significantly? Meaning, are the differences in iframes actually significant and relevant? What else is agility governing?
 
It's not actually harder in most cases; just different.

Except Heide's Tower, that is objectively harder, holy shit.
Man, I screwed myself over pretty hard defeating the Dragonrider before finding the Old Dragonslayer. Can't go anywhere in that zone without Heide Knights fucking me up.
 

Yoshichan

And they made him a Lord of Cinder. Not for virtue, but for might. Such is a lord, I suppose. But here I ask. Do we have a sodding chance?
So, Adaptability.



Is it really worth leveling up significantly? Meaning, are the differences in iframes actually significant and relevant? What else is agility governing?
Holy shit, yes it is significant as living heavens!

w4bhqqL.jpg


It's the one stat that I first start pumping to a satisfactory level (which is 115 in my world - that resembles the iframes of a DkS1 roll).
 
So, Adaptability.



Is it really worth leveling up significantly? Meaning, are the differences in iframes actually significant and relevant? What else is agility governing?

If you want to play similarly to the other Souls games, with rolling and iframe-ing through everything, yes. The initial amount of iframes in DS2 is less than previous games.

It is possible to play through without increasing it at all, but you will definitely need to play differently, like shielding more and dodging earlier and outranging instead of through attacks.
 

Hugstable

Banned
Holy shit, yes it is significant as living heavens!

w4bhqqL.jpg


It's the one stat that I first start pumping to a satisfactory level (which is 115 in my world - that resembles the iframes of a DkS1 roll).

Oh damn, I heard a long time ago that 20 ADP was sufficient, but that's only around 95 Agility. I need to start pumping up my ADP a little bit more maybe.


How are my current stats looking as someone who just beat Smelter Demon?

Level 91

25 VGR
20 END
23 VIT
4 ATN
30 STR
13 DEX
20 ADP
3 INT
6 FTH
 

Yoshichan

And they made him a Lord of Cinder. Not for virtue, but for might. Such is a lord, I suppose. But here I ask. Do we have a sodding chance?
ADP it is then.


I'm pumping that thing all the way up! :p Which ADP level gets me 115 agility?
Depends on the other stats that also gets you agility!
 

Neoweee

Member
It's not actually harder in most cases; just different.

Except Heide's Tower, that is objectively harder, holy shit.

Eh, the net effect is that OD is not an early game boss anymore, but you have a source of Heide's gear farming like never before. Doing the first part is only slightly harder.
 
They repair at bonfires for free?
And then every enemy in the area respawns forcing you to kill them all again and break your weapons....again. Derp. Or are you suggesting just kill every enemy in every area until they stop respawning? So sick of hearing that silly bonfire defense. It makes zero sense.
 

Divius

Member
Progress! Got the four
boss souls
and then it took me a while to figure out what to do next until I remembered an area with locked doors and am now chilling at the first bonfire of
Drangleic Castle
.
 

Dimmle

Member
And then every enemy in the area respawns forcing you to kill them all again and break your weapons....again. Derp. Or are you suggesting just kill every enemy in every area until they stop respawning? So sick of hearing that silly bonfire defense. It makes zero sense.

This is probably my farewell tour through DS2 so I'm glad I'll never use a weapon that is plagued with this evidently game-breaking problem. I can't imagine how completely it seems to change one's experience.
 

Hugstable

Banned
And then every enemy in the area respawns forcing you to kill them all again and break your weapons....again. Derp. Or are you suggesting just kill every enemy in every area until they stop respawning? So sick of hearing that silly bonfire defense. It makes zero sense.

It's meant for as a thing to repair your weapons at each bonfire as you pass by in the level to repair for free and not have to deal with any menus or spending any souls to repair it. But sure, keep going on being an ass and wasting tons of time on a topic for a game you are destined to hate and make snarky comments on.
 

Mejilan

Running off of Custom Firmware
Also worth considering for those looking to pump up their Agility.
ADP is the most efficient way to go (up to a point), but Attunement surprisingly boosts AGI as well, though as a slower rate.

If you're hitting an ADP soft-cap and are also looking for more spell attunement slots, you have another option.
 

psy18

Member
Just reached
Frigid Outskirts
Damn this area is still tough as hell.

Tried normal run with 3 phantoms through the area and 2 of my weapons are already broken when I reached the door. The 3rd weapon breaks during boss fight >:[

Looks like it will be back to the farm till despawn for those annoying deer/horse.
 

Mejilan

Running off of Custom Firmware
And then every enemy in the area respawns forcing you to kill them all again and break your weapons....again. Derp. Or are you suggesting just kill every enemy in every area until they stop respawning? So sick of hearing that silly bonfire defense. It makes zero sense.

Still going on about your ignorant little crusade?
Interesting how bonfires are scattered throughout levels as you progress.
Unless you're suggesting that every time you get to a new bonfire, you go back the way you came because derp? It makes zero sense.

;p
 

Joey Ravn

Banned
I thought the area of
Drangleic Castle
with the stone enemies and the seemingly enormous leashes was bad... then I entered that area's
Dark Chasm of Old
.

Let me tell you something, FROM. Fuck you.

I had to cheese the enemies with poison arrows. That one fast dude completely stunlocked me to death every time he attacked me with that flurry of stabs.
 

Dimmle

Member
I'm noticing that a lot of human invaders simply aren't prepared to deal with a man who speaks with only his fists (with the assistance of dual caestus). It works surprisingly well against many builds.
 
ADP it is then.


I'm pumping that thing all the way up! :p Which ADP level gets me 115 agility?

Around 32 got me to 105 which I felt was enough. No idea how many more it takes for the rest but it's not fast. You won't be getting a point for each level.

So I killed Lost Giant and then went on to Pursuer and killed him. I found a bunch of armor and equipment and stuff that has crazy high stat requirements, so i feel like I'm not supposed to be in this area. I made it to Lost Bastille by the bird and it's weird, because once I go forward from the original bonfire I can't go backwards to it. Like the path is one way. Is this normal? I got to a point where there's a guy at the top some stairs and an exploding barrel up there. But the whole way here, all the monsters are set up to look like they're expecting me to come from the other direction. And at the bottom of those stairs is a cracked wall, so I'm wondering if I'm supposed to come from the other direction and have the guy kick the barrel at me so it explodes the wall. I think I see a bonfire on the other side of it too, which is annoying since I can't get to it (the guy won't kick the barrel down the stairs since I approach from behind and just engage him directly), and there's no way for me to get back to the other bonfire either.

You can walk into it to push it down yourself.
 
So I killed Lost Giant and then went on to Pursuer and killed him. I found a bunch of armor and equipment and stuff that has crazy high stat requirements, so i feel like I'm not supposed to be in this area. I made it to Lost Bastille by the bird and it's weird, because once I go forward from the original bonfire I can't go backwards to it. Like the path is one way. Is this normal? I got to a point where there's a guy at the top some stairs and an exploding barrel up there. But the whole way here, all the monsters are set up to look like they're expecting me to come from the other direction. Like this guy with the barrel is facing down the stairs looking like he wants to kick the barrel at me as I approach from the bottom. And at the bottom of those stairs is a cracked wall, so I'm wondering if I'm supposed to come from the other direction and have the guy kick the barrel at me so it explodes the wall. I think I see a bonfire on the other side of it too, which is annoying since I can't get to it (the guy won't kick the barrel down the stairs since I approach from behind and just engage him directly), and there's no way for me to get back to the other bonfire either.
 

Red Hood

Banned
Before you entered
Drangelic Castle
you definitely had to do the same thing to get the doors to open :p You might not have noticed though.

I did hear a "success" sound, similar to the Pharros' Lockstones, but I somehow didn't know what I explicitly did. I thought the door just opened because I killed the baddies. :p Anyhow, at least now I know for future references.
 
Could someone explain to me how the soft caps work on levelling up?

When you reach a softcap, each point will give less benefit than before. Using completely made-up numbers, let's say softcap for STR is 30. Every point up until 30 will give you 4 attack. After, every point will give you 1. You still get a benefit, but it is nowhere near as much. A hardcap would be where it would just not give you anything.
 
Are there any important missables or quests that I should be aware of? I've found a number of NPCs so far. A guy sitting down outside of the gate that closes behind you in Forest of Fallen Trees and a girl in Lost Bastille who says she'll help you. And then in a few places I've found a silver guy sitting down that won't talk to you.

Seems like all these people are involved in quests somehow, but I don't want to do anything that would mess up the questlines and/or prevent me from getting the best outcomes.
 

Captcha

Member
Are there any important missables or quests that I should be aware of? I've found a number of NPCs so far. A guy sitting down outside of the gate that closes behind you in Forest of Fallen Trees and a girl in Lost Bastille who says she'll help you. And then in a few places I've found a silver guy sitting down that won't talk to you.

Seems like all these people are involved in quests somehow, but I don't want to do anything that would mess up the questlines and/or prevent me from getting the best outcomes.

Silver guy is not an NPC but a passive enemy. The rest of those people you're talking about have a questline/rewards that are missable. Their placement is different in this version, but the wiki can tell you the areas in general where you can find them and advance their storylines.
 

void666

Banned
I'm stuck bashing my head against the wall trying to kill
Fume Knight
(dlc 2 boss spoiler). I'm a pure dex build dual wielding rapier weapons and I can't do it. Doesn't help that there seems to be no summon signs here, what soul memory level are people normally doing this?

Probably not what you want to hear at this point. But it's a boss you have to learn. His attacks and patterns.
In the end when i finally beat him i couldn't believe how easy it felt. I dodged almost all of his attacks.
 

Brandon F

Well congratulations! You got yourself caught!
I just went to Best Buy and picked this up. I'm still neck deep in Bloodborne, but besides about an hour with Demons Souls I've never played Souls games before. I'm so hooked on Bloodborne I felt compelled to buy this. What major differences should I expect? Do you think this will seem more difficult? I'm both excited and nervous, lol.

Far more flexibility in how you choose to approach combat overall, though very few builds cater to the fast and flashy hit/dodge feel of Bloodborne if that is what you choose to adopt. It will feel extremely rigid and sluggish at first given how leveling certain stats adds quite a bit to your rolling maneuverability prowess. Just stick out the rather rough early patch and there is a massive game awaiting you.
 

Captcha

Member
The game is great. I loved the vanilla version and this is even better. The durability bitching had me worried, but even in vanilla I used two weapons (a slasher and a thruster) so it hasn't been an issue even once for me.

The only drawbacks for me are weakened spells/miracles/pyromancies (although a fair few of those were OP; I still miss them ;_;), and some of the bosses seem easier. I can't tell if the latter is just down to experience, but I recall some of them being much harder. I have one shot every boss so far
I've done all the areas/bosses leading to Lost Sinner and Old Iron King
. I have died to platforming more than anything else.
 

Joey Ravn

Banned
Well, that's it. I was enjoying Dark Souls II, despite my previous experience with it. But trying to beat the phantoms in the
Black Gulch Dark Chasm of Old
is the straw that broke this camel's back.
Whoever thought that making this phatom dual weild two massive hammers fast like daggers is completely out of their mind
. How the fuck am I even supposed to even get near him?

This is not "hard". This is completely unfair. And definitely not hard.
 

Dimmle

Member
Well, that's it. I was enjoying Dark Souls II, despite my previous experience with it. But trying to beat the phantoms in the
Black Gulch Dark Chasm of Old
is the straw that broke this camel's back.
Whoever thought that making this phatom dual weild two massive hammers fast like daggers is completely out of their mind
. How the fuck am I even supposed to even get near him?

This is not "hard". This is completely unfair. And definitely not hard.

You should give the Dark Chasm of Old a rest. It's made to drive men mad.
 

Steel

Banned
The game is great. I loved the vanilla version and this is even better. The durability bitching had me worried, but even in vanilla I used two weapons (a slasher and a thruster) so it hasn't been an issue even once for me.

The only drawbacks for me are weakened spells/miracles/pyromancies (although a fair few of those were OP; I still miss them ;_;), and some of the bosses seem easier. I can't tell if the latter is just down to experience, but I recall some of them being much harder. I have one shot every boss so far
I've done all the areas/bosses leading to Lost Sinner and Old Iron King
. I have died to platforming more than anything else.

The bosses are probably easier because you know how to upgrade your weapon fast + the fact that the dull ember is in early game now. I had a +8 weapon before even fighting
the sentinels.

Well, that's it. I was enjoying Dark Souls II, despite my previous experience with it. But trying to beat the phantoms in the
Black Gulch Dark Chasm of Old
is the straw that broke this camel's back.
Whoever thought that making this phatom dual weild two massive hammers fast like daggers is completely out of their mind
. How the fuck am I even supposed to even get near him?

This is not "hard". This is completely unfair. And definitely not hard.

I actually found those guys to be one of the funner fights in the game. The attacks may strike fast, but there's a long recovery anim.
 

Kai Dracon

Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
Is the DLC content accessible early on? Easy to access?

The new zones that used to be DLC have really obvious entrances after required bosses in the first half of the game. However they've changed how each area is unlocked. Each of the three keys is now hidden somewhere in the game that kind of makes sense thematically, but can be tricky to find.
 

Mogwai

Member
I thought the area of
Drangleic Castle
with the stone enemies and the seemingly enormous leashes was bad... then I entered that area's
Dark Chasm of Old
.

Let me tell you something, FROM. Fuck you.

I had to cheese the enemies with poison arrows. That one fast dude completely stunlocked me to death every time he attacked me with that flurry of stabs.
Hear hear. Dark Chasm is poo. It's easily the worst designed area in the series. Overpowered enemies, hassle getting to the boss, insane favoring of certain builds, yuck...

People keep saying that DS2's lows weren't as low as "second part" of DS1. I'd say that Dark Chasms and Ancient Dragon are much lower than anything in DS1.
 

Mejilan

Running off of Custom Firmware
I believe each soft cap is a point where the returns in stat increase per level decrease, if that makes sense. Preeeeetty sure that's it. Not entirely.
That's pretty much it. A soft cap is the first major point when diminishing returns starts to rear its ugly head. A hard cap is further down the process, when you need a stupid number of points in that stat to budge their dependent parameters at all.
 
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