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[Manmademan]

I think I'll be skipping Dark Souls II...I stopped at Sen's fortress. I loathe the new hollow/humanity system. It just makes me want to stop playing if I carry lots of humanity and in human form, like I am at the moment. I already invested 40+ hours into the game. Demon's Souls humanity mechanism was perfect.

Can't say i agree.

are you confusing souls with humanity? There's literally no reason to run around with a ton of humanity in that area (humanity boosts item discovery and the damage of chaos weapons, and that's it) and no reason to go there in human form at all unless you're spoiling for a fight.

since there's no penalty to going through the area hollow (as there is with demon's souls) run through it in hollow form, open up the shortcut, then go through it again (this takes about a minute once the shortcut is open) in human form if you need assistance with the boss.

 

[Polo67]

So I just found some huge bird. I guess I'm not suppose to go there yet.. Also if you die twice in a row you loose all your souls right?

 

[Manmademan]

So I just found some huge bird. I guess I'm not suppose to go there yet.. Also if you die twice in a row you lose all your souls right?

yep.

you can go anywhere you want in the game- it's more or less "open", but if you're just starting out then the only path that won't be ludicrously difficult is "up the path" from firelink shrine towards the undead burg.

 

[arglebargle]

So I just found some huge bird. I guess I'm not suppose to go there yet.. Also if you die twice in a row you loose all your souls right?

if you die once you leave a bloodstain. if you make it to that bloodstain without dying you get your souls and humanity back. if you die before getting there, you lose the souls and humanity.

are you in the asylum still? go to the huge bird.

 

[Polo67]

Wow ok. This game is awesome . Seriously. And souls are used for? Leveling up?

 

[Manmademan]

Wow ok. This game is awesome . Seriously. And souls are used for? Leveling up?

leveling up your character, improving your weapons (you can't do this yet), and buying things.

 

[I H8 Memes]

Can't say i agree.

are you confusing souls with humanity? There's literally no reason to run around with a ton of humanity in that area (humanity boosts item discovery and the damage of chaos weapons, and that's it) and no reason to go there in human form at all unless you're spoiling for a fight.

since there's no penalty to going through the area hollow (as there is with demon's souls) run through it in hollow form, open up the shortcut, then go through it again (this takes about a minute once the shortcut is open) in human form if you need assistance with the boss.

IIRC 10 humanity maxes discovery and 30 maxes curse resistance. I was up to 50 at one point from using humanity in boss fight so I could regain full health.

 

[Polo67]

if you die once you leave a bloodstain. if you make it to that bloodstain without dying you get your souls and humanity back. if you die before getting there, you lose the souls and humanity.

are you in the asylum still? go to the huge bird.

I went to the huge bird and the skeletons killed me.. its super hard over there

 

[I H8 Memes]

I went to the huge bird and the skeletons killed me.. its super hard over there

Yeah go up the stairs and into the sewer type thing. Even this area is hard at first, but a couple of hours in combat becomes much easier. You could come back through here later with the same exact low level gear and just walk through all these guys you thought were hard before. The sword and shield combat has real depth. But the cost for that is that it takes a little bit of time to learn it and get the feel for it.

I really dont see how I could play Skyrim again after the combat in this game. Sure they are 2 different games that arent exactly the same, but for me I just cant go back to that completely lifeless and uninspired combat in Skyrim.

 

[Sol1dus]

Hey guys, I stopped playing before Christmas break because I was out of town. Now that I'm getting back to the game I forgot what I'm supposed to do. I rang one of the bells, after killing the gargoyles. Where do I go from here?

 

[Sorral]

Hey guys, I stopped playing before Christmas break because I was out of town. Now that I'm getting back to the game I forgot what I'm supposed to do. I rang one of the bells, after killing the gargoyles. Where do I go from here?

Remember where the hellkite drake (the red dragon on the bridge) is? There is a door all the way at the end/left side (not under the drake) that you should have the key for.
Go there and down the long ladder. Don't forget to open the shortcut to the right before you go through the lower undead burg.

I suggest using the way under the bridge and through where the first boss was. This way you can avoid the drake completely if you want.

 

[Krelian]

I'm relatively new at this game too, although I've been playing for a good couple of hours already (level 33 I think). I've been using the katana I got by killing the undead merchant in Undead Burg. Is this a good weapon in the long run? Can I just upgrade it and use for a while? I've heard so much about different weapons, Drake Swords, Lightning Spears or whatever that I'm unsure if I should run with it or find another one.

 

[Sorral]

I'm relatively new at this game too, although I've been playing for a good couple of hours already (level 33 I think). I've been using the katana I got by killing the undead merchant in Undead Burg. Is this a good weapon in the long run? Can I just upgrade it and use for a while? I've heard so much about different weapons, Drake Swords, Lightning Spears or whatever that I'm unsure if I should run with it or find another one.

SINNER SINNER SINNER! D:

In all seriousness, just use something you have a good feel with and that you think you will fight good with. That merchant drops a Uchigatana which is a DEX+ build weapon. If you will level up DEX, then it is a good choice for a long time especially if you reinforce it which you should. It is also a good PvP weapon in my opinion.

The Drake sword may give you more damage early on, but if you level your char only to use it, it ends up being really not worth it as it will be outdamaged soon enough.

As for the lightning spear, if you will use shields a lot and so much blocking/tanking, it end up being really good for a long time. Depends on your build of course.

 

[ambientmystic]

I'm relatively new at this game too, although I've been playing for a good couple of hours already (level 33 I think). I've been using the katana I got by killing the undead merchant in Undead Burg. Is this a good weapon in the long run? Can I just upgrade it and use for a while? I've heard so much about different weapons, Drake Swords, Lightning Spears or whatever that I'm unsure if I should run with it or find another one.

That's a pretty sweet weapon for a DEX build, and a rare one at that too.. there're only 2 ways to get that weapon AFAIK. One is by killing that merchant and looting his body, the other is by unlocking another merchant and buying it from him which involves joining a certain hippie covenant.

I've a question for the long term players, does the Greatsword of Artorias +5 max out for scaling after a certain threshold to your stats? My primaries at all at 50 (STR, DEX, FAITH and INT) and I notice putting one more point into either of those 4 stats does nothing to increase the damage of the weapon right now.

Pretty sweet damage although at C C B B I was expecting the scaling to be much better.

 

[Sorral]

I've a question for the long term players, does the Greatsword of Artorias +5 max out for scaling after a certain threshold to your stats? My primaries at all at 50 (STR, DEX, FAITH and INT) and I notice putting one more point into either of those 4 stats does nothing to increase the damage of the weapon right now.

Pretty sweet damage although at C C B B I was expecting the scaling to be much better.

Sounds like you made the cursed GS and not the normal one. Did you use a hilt/broken(makes normal) sword or a straightsword/dagger(makes cursed) to make it?

Or check the status. The cursed one should be all physical damage while normal should have magic. They don't have a different name. If I remember all of this right.

 

[ambientmystic]

Sounds like you made the cursed GS and not the normal one. Did you use a hilt/broken(makes normal) sword or a straightsword/dagger(makes cursed) to make it?

Or check the status. The cursed one should be all physical damage while normal should have magic. They don't have a different name. If I remember all of this right.

Nah.. I'm pretty sure I made the "true" Greatsword, I ascended a +10 Broken Hilt. It also has Magic Damage and can't hit ghosts.

The cursed one only has a C C C C stat scaling, and the normal one scales with C C B B (to STR,DEX,INT and FAITH respectively). I'm just surprised that the scaling doesn't fare so well after having 50 to those 4 stats, I'm only getting 670-ish damage on the menu.

It's still a pretty sweet weapon for its 10.0 weight though. Only other greatsword I enjoy more than this weapon would be the Claymore, what a versatile GS that one is, and it only weighs a 6.0. Has a nice rapid 1H strong attack with minimal start up time unlike the ages it takes for the GS of Artorias to charge up its own 1H strong attack.

It's just too bad you can only get one per playthrough. I only have a +5 Occult and +5 Lightning variant at the moment, being at NG+.

 

[Krelian]

SINNER SINNER SINNER! D:

In all seriousness, just use something you have a good feel with and that you think you will fight good with. That merchant drops a Uchigatana which is a DEX+ build weapon. If you will level up DEX, then it is a good choice for a long time especially if you reinforce it which you should. It is also a good PvP weapon in my opinion.

The Drake sword may give you more damage early on, but if you level your char only to use it, it ends up being really not worth it as it will be outdamaged soon enough.

As for the lightning spear, if you will use shields a lot and so much blocking/tanking, it end up being really good for a long time. Depends on your build of course.

Since it's a DEX weapon I guess STR is not important for it? I started with a knight and wanted to use heavy armor, so I wanted to concentrate on END and STR. That sword doesn't seem to fit entirely then. I guess I could focus on DEX now, though, right?

Another thing: I accidentally attacked the merchant in the sewers just in front of the shortcut to the Depths. Was that bad? I don't think she had anything important to sell, but I don't know

 

[ambientmystic]

Since it's a DEX weapon I guess STR is not important for it? I started with a knight and wanted to use heavy armor, so I wanted to concentrate on END and STR. That sword doesn't seem to fit entirely then. I guess I could focus on DEX now, though, right?

Another thing: I accidentally attacked the merchant in the sewers just in front of the shortcut to the Depths. Was that bad? I don't think she had anything important to sell, but I don't know

Ermm.. She sells quite a few special kinds of arrows like Poison arrows (makes your life so much easier against certain encounters), and Fire arrows (less useful) and you're down another merchant after you offed the 1st one. Also sells purging stones to cure cursed status and transient curses for fighting ghosts. She's arguably more important than the 1st Male merchant you encounter.

 

[Krelian]

Ermm.. She sells quite a few special kinds of arrows like Poison arrows (makes your life so much easier against certain encounters), and Fire arrows (less useful) and you're down another merchant after you offed the 1st one. Also sells purging stones to cure cursed status and transient curses for fighting ghosts. She's arguably more important than the 1st Male merchant you encounter.

Crap. I hope there are other sources for the transient curses.

 

[ambientmystic]

Crap. I hope there are other sources for the transient curses.

Yep, there are. If I remember correctly, there will be 2 freebies from a breakable urn right before you cross the bridges to "the zone" where the ghosts reside. Also, ghosts drop them when they're defeated.

 

[Sorral]

Nah.. I'm pretty sure I made the "true" Greatsword, I ascended a +10 Broken Hilt. It also has Magic Damage and can't hit ghosts.

Don't know what to tell you then other than that it is CCBB in scaling and not A's which you already knew. The only thing I heard about it that it had highest dmg at the character's max level due to these scalings. This could be totally wrong now as it is very old information and before the DLC.

Since it's a DEX weapon I guess STR is not important for it? I started with a knight and wanted to use heavy armor, so I wanted to concentrate on END and STR. That sword doesn't seem to fit entirely then. I guess I could focus on DEX now, though, right?

Another thing: I accidentally attacked the merchant in the sewers just in front of the shortcut to the Depths. Was that bad? I don't think she had anything important to sell, but I don't know

STR won't do anything for the Uchigatana as far as I know. It only has DEX scaling. I started the same way as you and big word of advice is that don't do what I did...which was trying to be jack of all trades because you will end up master of none unless you level up so much and you do not care about PvP'ing as much as I did. What other weapon of choice that depends on STR that you want to use? Do you like to use the Uchigatana with its speed/bleed damage or you want go to the heavy but slow damage?

As for the merchant, she is important because of the arrows she sells and the purging stones that remove a curse if you happen to get one early on. If you haven't killed her, go absolve yourself of sins at the NPC where the first bell was at the top of the cathedral/church. It should make her not hostile, but I am not 100% certain. Worth a shot for sure.

Edit:

Yep, there are. If I remember correctly

You remembered right.

Also, I'm going to get some sleep. PM me if you still need help, I don't mind.

 

[Minamu]

All stats drop massively in effectiveness around 40-50 so it doesn't have much to do with the weapons themselves. Going over 50 is usually pretty pointless (no pun intended).

 

[ambientmystic]

All stats drop massively in effectiveness around 40-50 so it doesn't have much to do with the weapons themselves. Going over 50 is usually pretty pointless (no pun intended).

Oh okay. There're some weapons that require beyond 50 STR though. I think one of them is Smough's Hammer which requires a massive 58 STR to wield 1 Handed effectively.

 

[Krelian]

As for the merchant, she is important because of the arrows she sells and the purging stones that remove a curse if you happen to get one early on. If you haven't killed her, go absolve yourself of sins at the NPC where the first bell was at the top of the cathedral/church. It should make her not hostile, but I am not 100% certain. Worth a shot for sure.

Oh, I didn't think of that. Thanks for the advice! Hopefully it works.

 

[Sorral]

I forgot about the massive drop in stats and now I feel like a dork. I just need to get some sleep...

 

[Minamu]

Oh okay. There're some weapons that require beyond 50 STR though. I think one of them is Smough's Hammer which requires a massive 58 STR to wield 1 Handed effectively.

Yeah but the scaling itself from those 8 points wouldn't be very noticable at all compared to the first 50. Endurance is special too, with the green stamina bar maxing out at only 40/99, yet it continues to add to the weight limit slowly all the way up.

Edit: At some point, you gotta take theme into it as well. That's probably what's going on with that hammer. It's thematic

 

[Violater]

I hate when im invaded

 

[Ice 9]

Making a Washing Pole build and I'm currently level 40.

Not sure if I should just invest in VIT / END and use a +5 Lighting and Fire WP or level up STR, DEX, and FAITH to be able to enchant it with something like Darkmoon Blade.

Hopefully the latter wouldn't require me to start over due to poor stat allocation.

VIT: 24
END: 25
STR: 20
DEX: 16
INT: 9
FAITH:9

 

[Minamu]

Oldie but goldie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ5gLGWcKBY

 

[Mileena]

finally managed to get my Man-serpent clean

shitty graphics cuz I like to keep my game at 60fps

 

[Johnas]

I beat NG+ for the first time ever last night.

My character was a Dex build (using Scimitar +15 the whole way through) and it really wasn't as difficult as I imagined it would be. Even the dreaded Four Kings weren't too much trouble. Where I did surprisingly get hung up was Nito. What ended up working best was just running in there asap and wailing on him. Not tanking him, but playing fairly aggressively.

I've also gotten really good at fighting Gwyn (not parrying). He gave me so much trouble the first time through the game.

 

[ambientmystic]

finally managed to get my Man-serpent clean

There's a clean Man-serpent sword mod? Link please!

 

[Mileena]

There's a clean Man-serpent sword mod? Link please!

http://darksouls.nexusmods.com/mods/7

 

[Sorral]

Making a Washing Pole build and I'm currently level 40.

Not sure if I should just invest in VIT / END and use a +5 Lighting and Fire WP or level up STR, DEX, and FAITH to be able to enchant it with something like Darkmoon Blade.

Hopefully the latter wouldn't require me to start over due to poor stat allocation.

VIT: 24
END: 25
STR: 20
DEX: 16
INT: 9
FAITH:9

My washing pole+15 set is just normal. I did not like it pre-enchanted/magic/raw much. I just go with sunlight blade (previously darkmoon blade) and resins (or switch to black knight weapons+5 for heavier damage). I need to try a uchigatana+15 and compare them, but been so lazy about it...

Oldie but goldie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ5gLGWcKBY

Never seen this one. Thanks for posting it o.o lol

 

[TheJollyCorner]

well, I did it.
Over the long weekend I managed to:
-kick ass through The Tomb of the Giants
-beat Nito's ass (solo'd him)
-explored the Great Hollow and

Spoiler

joined the Dragon Covenant

.
-got through the Demon Ruins and Izalith.
-beat the Bed of Chaos (solo)
-beat Gwyn (with help)

Hot damn. Feels good, man. Even with help along the way, this was a game I never imagined I would be able to get through. To be honest, I'm really not that good at most games, but this one just clicked.
The ending was... pretty underwhelming, but the journey, not the destination, was well worth it. So pumped for Dark Souls II. Give me a release date!

Downloaded Demon's Souls from the PSN yesterday and playing up to/beat the Tower Knight. I like it so far, but I miss some of the changes that were made with Dark Souls.
I guess I will work my way to one of the LTTP: Demon's Souls threads.
Been a pleasure talking to you guys!

 

[The_Hitcher89]

Is there any way of getting from the bonfire in the Depths to the fog gate without going near those bastard basilisks?

When you go down to the lower level, is it impossible to get back to the top?

How hard is this Kirk guy?

How hard is the boss?


The Capra Demon was very easy. First time, one of the dogs ran in front of the other when I attacked, and got itself killed. The other jumped back and ended up on the stairs, so I took it out on the way up. The rest was a piece of piss

 

[Shin Kojima]

Is there any way of getting from the bonfire in the Depths to the fog gate without going near those bastard basilisks?

When you go down to the lower level, is it impossible to get back to the top?

Spoiler

Go into the Depths, take the chute behind the butcher that will take you to the giant rat room, kill it, find the waterslide that goes down, hug the left wall and go on it. This will make you not drop and end up in the big hall right before the locked door to Blighttown (there's some rats and some slimes there). Boss is to the right when you're looking in the direction of the Blighttown door. There's also a shortcut door in that area that will take you back up some stairs and close to a bonfire.

And no, it's not impossible to go back up.

 

[The_Hitcher89]

Spoiler

Go into the Depths, take the chute behind the butcher that will take you to the giant rat room, kill it, find the waterslide that goes down, hug the left wall and go on it. This will make you not drop and end up in the big hall right before the locked door to Blighttown (there's some rats and some slimes there). Boss is to the right when you're looking in the direction of the Blighttown door. There's also a shortcut door in that area that will take you back up some stairs and close to a bonfire.

And no, it's not impossible to go back up.

Cheers. Wanna kill this wizard guy first, as I hopefully won't ever be coming back to this area. Never really liked the tight corridors in Demon's Souls either

 

[Morrigan Stark]

finally managed to get my Man-serpent clean




shitty graphics cuz I like to keep my game at 60fps

What armour is this?? Must be another mod...

 

[The_Hitcher89]

I feel like the level and shortcut design has fallen off a cliff a bit between The Depths and Demon Ruins. Where have all the shortcuts gone?

At SL50, am I ready to take on the Great Hollow?

Do I have to backtrack through Blightown and The Depths to get back to Firelink Shrine? I couldn't find the shortcut to the Valley of Drakes

 

[Johnas]

I feel like the level and shortcut design has fallen off a cliff a bit between The Depths and Demon Ruins. Where have all the shortcuts gone?

At SL50, am I ready to take on the Great Hollow?

Do I have to backtrack through Blightown and The Depths to get back to Firelink Shrine? I couldn't find the shortcut to the Valley of Drakes

Yeah, most people lament the drop-off in level design in those later areas. Hopefully this isn't an issue in Dark Souls II. The quality should remain consistent, if not improve as you progress further into a game.

SL50 should be perfectly fine for Great Hollow.

Not really clear on your last comment, but the shortcut from Firelink to Valley of Drakes is via the very beginning of New Londo Ruins. If you're trying to leave Blighttown and go back to Firelink, from the swamp, ride the elevator up, then proceed upwards through there, head back down the long cavern hallway (with three ogres), cross the narrow plank bridge, and hang a left. Go into that small building, you'll be in New Londo, enter the next small building and there's your elevator back to Firelink.

 

[The_Hitcher89]

Yeah, most people lament the drop-off in level design in those later areas. Hopefully this isn't an issue in Dark Souls II. The quality should remain consistent, if not improve as you progress further into a game.

SL50 should be perfectly fine for Great Hollow.

Not really clear on your last comment, but the shortcut from Firelink to Valley of Drakes is via the very beginning of New Londo Ruins.

Does it pick up again after going through the opened gate?

I just

Spoiler

rang the bell in Quelag's lair opening Sen's Fortress (I think)

Do I have to go back through Blighttown and The Depths to get there, via Firelink?

Unexplored areas open to me:

Spoiler

New Londo
Demon Ruins
Great Hollow
Sen's Fortress

Not sure what to do first

edit: D'oh! Completely forgot about the elevator *facepalm*

Cheers

 

[Johnas]

Does it pick up again after going through the opened gate?

I just

Spoiler

rang the bell in Quelag's lair opening Sen's Fortress (I think)

Do I have to go back through Blighttown and The Depths to get there, via Firelink?

Unexplored areas open to me:

Spoiler

New Londo
Demon Ruins
Great Hollow
Sen's Fortress

Not sure what to do first

edit: D'oh! Completely forgot about the elevator *facepalm*

Cheers

You should pick Sen's Fortress as your next destination, ideally. Save Great Hollow for later, I can tell you why specifically if you want, but you really should delay it until after you complete Sen's and the area after Sen's, if you want to avoid some potential serious frustration. Not a huge deal, but still.

 

[The_Hitcher89]

You should pick Sen's Fortress as your next destination, ideally. Save Great Hollow for later, I can tell you why specifically if you want, but you really should delay it until after you complete Sen's and the area after Sen's, if you want to avoid some potential serious frustration. Not a huge deal, but still.

Cheers. Might go for a run through the Demon Ruins and leave New Londo/Great Hollow til later

 

[I H8 Memes]

You should pick Sen's Fortress as your next destination, ideally. Save Great Hollow for later, I can tell you why specifically if you want, but you really should delay it until after you complete Sen's and the area after Sen's, if you want to avoid some potential serious frustration. Not a huge deal, but still.

Yes tell me why. I remember someone mentioning what I needed and why but I've forgotten what it was and where to get it.

Cheers. Might go for a run through the Demon Ruins and leave New Londo/Great Hollow til later

From what I remember you want to save Demon Ruins for the same reason.

If yu are still in Blighttown Swamps then you need to go up via the water wheel where the merchant is. The rest of the way is easy to figure out naturally.

And Sens Fortress is by far the best level design in the game. So if you haven't done that yet then you still have an amazingly designed level ahead of you.

 

[Mileena]

What armour is this?? Must be another mod...

gold mod for Ornsteins

 

[Manmademan]

Yes tell me why. I remember someone mentioning what I needed and why but I've forgotten what it was and where to get it.

it's not a spoiler. The great hollow is a fairly difficult area leading down to ash lake. Getting down is tricky enough, but getting back UP is nigh impossible. There's a lot of ridiculous drops, and unclear footing.

You really want to wait until you have the item that allows you to teleport from one bonfire to another, which you get after you complete new londo.

Does it pick up again after going through the opened gate?

I just rang the bell in Quelag's lair opening Sen's Fortress (I think) Do I have to go back through Blighttown and The Depths to get there, via Firelink?

There's a shortcut leading out of blighttown RIGHT next to where Quelaag's lair is- it's at the top of that scaffolding with the giant rotating platform wheel on it. Climb up that, open the chest at the top and get the key out of it, and you'll open a shortcut that lets you get back to firelink. there's no need to go through the depths ever again.

 

[sixghost]

Does it pick up again after going through the opened gate?

I just

Spoiler

rang the bell in Quelag's lair opening Sen's Fortress (I think)

Do I have to go back through Blighttown and The Depths to get there, via Firelink?

Unexplored areas open to me:

Spoiler

New Londo
Demon Ruins
Great Hollow
Sen's Fortress

Not sure what to do first

edit: D'oh! Completely forgot about the elevator *facepalm*

Cheers

When he says "the later areas" he means the last set of 3-4 dungeons in the game. You really aren't close to that point yet. The parts you are about to do, Sen's Fortress, Darkroot Forest, and Anor Londo, is where Dark Souls peaks.

 

[I H8 Memes]

it's not a spoiler. The great hollow is a fairly difficult area leading down to ash lake. Getting down is tricky enough, but getting back UP is nigh impossible. There's a lot of ridiculous drops, and unclear footing.

You really want to wait until you have the item that allows you to teleport from one bonfire to another, which you get after you complete new londo.

But what about

Spoiler

The 4 Kings in New Londo. I've already drained the water so I've gotten that far.

Am I really ready for that?

 

[Mileena]

But what about

Spoiler

The 4 Kings in New Londo. I've already drained the water so I've gotten that far.

Am I really ready for that?

they're extremely easy if you have a good weapon buffed

if not, yea good luck