Polygon: How Dark Souls II will make life even harder

Magic vs. weapon balance is also being looked at. They're off to a good start, since a lot of spells now have alternate attacks just like weapons.
 
Magic vs. weapon balance is also being looked at. They're off to a good start, since a lot of spells now have alternate attacks just like weapons.

Oooh, I didn't know that. Sounds good.

I never played Magic before because it looked so boring, but it seems a lot more fun in DS2.
 
The last guy who invaded me killed me in 2 hits.

we were fooling around and he dropped a couple of souls that raised my level like sixteen times before we fought, though. first time I got invaded, I had no idea what the hell I was doing, and the second time the guy just kept backstabbing me

Yeah, pvp needs some improvment

Hmm...I wonder if they're going to put a cap on how many souls you can get through a single person from PvP (the higher your level the bigger the cap?). You can get hundreds of thousands just from killing one person who's running around with a lot of souls they're not spending.
 
I really don't get why people are frustrated with being invaded as hollow. With the changes of backstab, riposte, magic, elemental weapons and dedicated servers, PvP will be way more balanced than Dark Souls ever was.

On a side-note, SL 1 runs will be more harder to do because of elemental weapons now scaling with stats
 
You can grief without using a BB glitch. You can get fully maxed elemental weapons that do tons of damage at SL1.

According to EpicNameBro's new video elemental damage is now tied to stats. Obviously From is going to balance the game with the changes in mind. Stuff like this is why you can't judge a game with incomplete info.
 
The more I hear the more I get excited about this game ..I like how they have added more demon's souls elements back in the game. And the pvp elements are great improvements on the old system as well IMO.

The only thing that still irks me is that this is not coming out on the PS4....
 
Most of the info about stats came from here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CGvXh_pEWs

Dark Souls 2 map on his twitter:

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26 minutes...

post-6769-aint-nobody-got-time-for-that-tfIL.gif


Someone sum this up for me.

Also where does he get all this information from?
 
I love all of it except I'm reserved on the "invasion while being hollow" part. I'm hoping PvP is insanely better than it currently is in Dark Souls, otherwise I could see this as more of a hinderance to the game. But then again, there are betas coming up, so they may tweak these things.

Either way, I'm ready to pre-order!
 
Anyone want to summarize? Can't watch at work.

Elemental buffs/damage scale with stats:

- Fire/Magic (Sorceries) scale with Intelligence
- Lightning/Dark magic scale with Faith
- Bleeding/Poison scale with Dexterity
- ENB didn't see any scaling for Strength

This might mean there is no longer things like Lightning/Choas in Dark Souls 1 which scale with nothing, should be more balanced in theory.

There is a new stat parameter called Agility which boosts movement (rolling speed?) and apparently trap disarming.

Other things:

- When you die you lose some of your health (maybe like Demon's Souls?)
- You can be invaded in soul/hollow form this time
- New covenants called Way of Blue and Guardian of Blue (might be a temporary name)
- White Phantoms are on limit to prevent them from carrying the player
- Attunement boosts casting speed and no longer by dexterity

There's more info, It's worth a watch.
 
According to EpicNameBro's new video elemental damage is now tied to stats. Obviously From is going to balance the game with the changes in mind. Stuff like this is why you can't judge a game with incomplete info.

Even then, a max upgraded weapon is always going to do way more damage than a base weapon, even with minimum stats. People are always going to complain about twinks and I will never understand why. It's part of the game, just like regular enemies.
 
Not sure how I feel about being invaded while hollow. I get invaded pretty much instantly every time I go human. Being invaded is kinda broken as well. Being an invader you shouldn't be able to heal, but you can anyway because you can use humanity. :/ Seeing how they changed how humanity works at least part of the issue is gone.
 
Sounds amazing, but they REALLY need to work on level scalling if they are allowing invasion at all times. On DS I was very oftenly invaded by players that could just stand still while i was attacking and I barely scratched then XD

Or at least, work on better rewards when you managed to kill someone who is overwhelmingly more powerful than you XD
 
I think another way to balance hollow invasions is that if there's a real risk to invading. Perhaps the only way to invade hollows is to use a certain consumable (like cracked red orbs) and a more "permanent" item (like the red eye orb) can only invade humans? Or maybe losing an invasion makes you lose health, or something like that. People might think twice about dickwraithing then.
 
I think another way to balance hollow invasions is that if there's a real risk to invading. Perhaps the only way to invade hollows is to use a certain consumable (like cracked red orbs) and a more "permanent" item (like the red eye orb) can only invade humans? Or maybe losing an invasion makes you lose health, or something like that. People might think twice about dickwraithing then.
Nah, we'll never think twice about dickwraithing. No matter what the risk or reward, it's the tears that count.
 
I do think there should be some increased risk on part of the invader when invading someone who is hollow. That would balance things nicely, and it just doesn't seem to make sense that there is no risk for invading at all.
 
I do think there should be some increased risk on part of the invader when invading someone who is hollow. That would balance things nicely, and it just doesn't seem to make sense that there is no risk for invading at all.

If you invade someone who is hollow, and they kill you, they should get your souls >:]
 
Don't the the roll/agility stat at all. Think it's a dumb as a Souls vet. Hopefully that'll get enough hate during the beta they switch it back to OG Demon's Souls rolls.
 
Don't the the roll/agility stat at all. Think it's a dumb as a Souls vet. Hopefully that'll get enough hate during the beta they switch it back to OG Demon's Souls rolls.
Why do you dislike it? Just from reading about it it seems like a good idea to make someone invest in having an agile character (just like it seems a good idea to make people invest in having high elemental damage).
 
Why do you dislike it? Just from reading about it it seems like a good idea to make someone invest in having an agile character (just like it seems a good idea to make people invest in having high elemental damage).

Well I do base-SL runs 99% of the time, so the fast roll is sort of essential without needing to pump any stats into it.
 
I hope they streamline some of the stuff like that you can you use a bunch of covenant items at once and not one by one, or that you can see what the items are before you pick em up that would help to reduce the inventory clutter.
 
I really hope they weaken magic by alot its insane that a range attack does like 5 times as much damage as the slowest hardest hitting close range weapon in the game... and dont even get me started on the dlc and pursuers, dark bead holy shit O_O

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6A7zbDFJCQs

Don't you worry, magic will probably be even more OP. Have you seen some of the magic skills this time? Not to mention if attunement results in faster cast speed RIP every other class.

I can see it now 20 AT, 50 VIT, 50 INT all under LVL 100.

They seriously need to fix magic. Either make more magic resistant armour and shields or tone the damage down. One shot kills should never be in PvP unless the other guy has notably low VIT, let alone being able to cast numerous beads in quick succession at wide spread.

Also ENB didn't mention Poise....is it still in? Please say no.
 
Also ENB didn't mention Poise....is it still in? Please say no.

He mentioned the changes he noticed, and given that he likes the poise mechanic (so do I) and he appearantly went through every single description, I'm pretty sure it's here to stay.
 
He mentioned the changes he noticed, and given that he likes the poise mechanic (so do I) and he appearantly went through every single description, I'm pretty sure it's here to stay.

I really hope that all gear is like universally efficient in regards to Poise/Weight ratio or that something else is done so that I don't have to look like a homeless bum when I'm pushing the limits of a build.
 
Maybe invaders go down a level if they fail to kill the host, like in Demon's Souls.

I don't know why they got rid of that, but now it seems like they're blending Demon's and Dark Souls.
 
My Design-A-Dark-Souls-2:

PvP -- Upon character creation you are given the choice of PvP interaction or PvE only. Once you make your selection, you are locked in with that character.

Levels are divided into Tiers. PvPers may only invade others of their same tier or higher (EDIT: Although you may choose an option that allows your character to be invaded by higher tiers if you want more challenge). The victor gains the current soul amount from the defeated player + a set tier bonus for winning a match. Defeated player loses those souls permanently.

Summoning others to your aid in case of invasion remains the same as planned in DS2; invaders can also summon others to their aid. Victorious allies are awarded souls + soul bonus among themselves.

Death -- No more Hollow or Human -- you are always Human, period. Upon first death, you lose 25% maximum health and all souls + damage to all equipped weapons/armor (second death loses another 25% for a maximum loss of 50% + more equip damage). Souls are recovered upon contact with your own blood stain. Max health is regained by an item (expensive on merchants, semi-rare drops, or sometimes found in environment loot). May be how DS2 is going to be already?

Travel -- Organic with shortcuts like Dark Souls 1. An option to warp to visited checkpoints from some central location opens up later in the game (players may still hoof it foregoing warps if they wish). An item must be consumed to return to the central "nexus location." Maybe replace campfires with something else.

Difficulty -- PvE only characters have the option to up game difficulty upon creation if they wish in lieu of PvP interaction. (EDIT: PvPers may select this option as well for more challenge.)

All I can think of for now. I wanted the game to be more of a customizable experience offering choices to the player.
 
^ I am so glad you are not on the Dark Souls creative staff. Yikes.

Well I do base-SL runs 99% of the time, so the fast roll is sort of essential without needing to pump any stats into it.
Well then, no more base-SL runs for you. Or you'll have to do them with all the handicaps that come with being base-SL.

Maybe invaders go down a level if they fail to kill the host, like in Demon's Souls.
That doesn't happen in Demon's unless you die to the environment as an invader (fatal fall, dragon fire, etc.). Only red stone summons lose an SL when dying, but the flipside is that the host also loses an SL if he dies to the summoned BP.
 
Hmm...I wonder if they're going to put a cap on how many souls you can get through a single person from PvP (the higher your level the bigger the cap?). You can get hundreds of thousands just from killing one person who's running around with a lot of souls they're not spending.

The amount of souls you get from an invader is a function of their level, it has nothing to do with how many souls they're carrying.
 
Well I do base-SL runs 99% of the time, so the fast roll is sort of essential without needing to pump any stats into it.

Those are already less viable now that elemental weapons scale off stats. I don't think there's any way traditional low level runs can exist if they're taking measures to prevent beefed up low level invaders. But all that means is you can do low gear runs or something, which will have a similar effect since wearing upgraded armor is like having base vitality anyway.
 
This is all based on me thinking that the majority of the people play though the game hollow; I wonder if since there will be a much larger group of people that can be invaded now, the chances of you getting invaded all the time will decrease.
 
This is all based on me thinking that the majority of the people play though the game hollow; I wonder if since there will be a much larger group of people that can be invaded now, the chances of you getting invaded all the time will decrease.

Or maybe the players who would've just stayed hollow will go offline instead and there will be less players doing coop to invade and the invaders will just end up invading each other :)
 
I'm sure that From improve the invasion or even multiplayer level formula in general. They wouldn't make that decision (hollow can be invaded) without acknowledging the problem that the game have especially with griefer in early game.
I have a sealed copy of Dark Souls and the strategy guide that I bought launch day but never opened :(

Open and play it now. There is no such word like "late" to join the party.
 
If I made Souls I would get rid of leveling.

At character creation you'd have a fixed amount of points to distribute among the various stats dex/vit/end etc. Each attribute could have up to 12 points or something. Investing a lot in something like strength would make your character visibly more muscular or whatever. Also, the more you add to strength (for example) beyond a certain threshold would remove your ability to add to dexterity. Or even better, for every one point you add to STR, it's one less point available for DEX. You could have a character with average strength and dexterity, but you could not have a character high in both. It would lead to well defined classes. (and starting classes would actually matter!)

This would be the most fair way to do pvp. It would only be about player skill and equipment.
 
I had kind of hoped Dark Souls II would have a fully co-op campaign as a bonus for completing the games. Yes, I know - it is not in the spirit of the game. Nevertheless, I think it would be a nice bonus for completing the game as co-op itself extends the lifespan of any game.
 
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