From Software The Dark Souls II Megathread™

[Kanedias]

I was told the strong/light attacks and manual aiming for sorcery was removed for balance reasons. I kind of see why it would be overpowered, but I wish they were able to balance it somehow, as it would have made sorcery more dynamic and fun.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Finished. Methinks you get a lot more Souls than last time, having finished at SL188.

Also it's even faster to farm for mats by going to Dragon Aerie, where all the Crystal Lizards live.

 

[80Maxwell08]

So about the belfry areas. Are they worth going through for anything special since they look optional so far.

 

[meanwhileInPoland]

So about the belfry areas. Are they worth going through for anything special since they look optional so far.

kicking gankers in the balls is aways worth it. just remember to take Forbidden Sun/WoG/GRS with you

 

[Kanedias]

Belfry Luna: Skeptic's spice, plus Bastille key.

Belfry Sol: Simpleton's Spice, some other loot I forgot about.

 

[praetor]

So about the belfry areas. Are they worth going through for anything special since they look optional so far.

you really want to get through Luna for the key you get (nothing else comes to mind other than a semi-cool/half-familiar boss with the same music), Sol only if you want the Predator armour (the NPC spawns at the beginning) and a black knight weapon (great or ultra) and the immolation pyromancy (so not really )

 

[AN4RCHID]

None of the bosses seem difficult so far, except The Pursuer before I learned how to dodge all his moves.

Modifying this; The Lost Sinner is hardcore. Gargoyles were pretty fun too.

 

[toro]

Finished. Methinks you get a lot more Souls than last time, having finished at SL188.

Also it's even faster to farm for mats by going to Dragon Aerie, where all the Crystal Lizards live.

SL188 in one run?

Modifying this; The Lost Sinner is hardcore. Gargoyles were pretty fun too.

Not if u turn on the light.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Finished. Methinks you get a lot more Souls than last time, having finished at SL188.

Also it's even faster to farm for mats by going to Dragon Aerie, where all the Crystal Lizards live.

SL188 in one run?

It's all in getting the groove down and never losing souls if possible to avoid. Though the farming runs for Twinkling Titanite and Petrified Dragon Bone did pump up some more. It just kinda ended up going like "I need more load weight" -> "well now I think I need more hp" -> "I wonder how much effect Agility has" -> "I think I'll give Hexes a go" -> "Havel's Greatshield looks p. boss" -> "I need more load weight". It's an endless spiral of want.

 

[Tribal Sarah]

iron keep was bullshit. i got a cool mask off the roof but that whole area sucked. the optional boss was a pain in the ass and the end boss was bullshit. run left, run right, spam arrows. game better improve real fast

 

[felipepepe]

I'm avoiding this thread to play without any spoilers, so I'm just dropping in to say DaS2 is fucking glorious. Is like Fallout 1 & 2 again; DaS 1 was smaller and tighter, but DaS 2 has so much more content, things to find out and stuff I want to try out... goddamn, I love this game.

 

[Canus]

I'm starting to hear that Soul Level is actually totally meaningless in NG, and possibly NG+*, whilst Soul Memory is the primary designator of PVP\Co-Op ranges.
If that's true there's no reason to stop levelling, unless you're willing to basically just stop collecting any souls.

 

[Kanedias]

I min maxed my build further and the result was quite impressive.

The previous iteration of my build had 40 strength and dexterity and 10 intelligence and faith - I had spiced down Resonant Weapon and Resonant Flesh in order to use both buffs.

The damage that build did was 290+155 unbuffed, with Resonant Weapon adding 75 damage (+50 dark +50% dark damage)

I was not very happy with the scaling, as I said before, so I thought about dropping Strength and Dexterity to 30 and upping intelligence and faith to 20. I did this, which sadly meant that most of my spice-gathering efforts were completely for naught. I also decided to give the Ruler's Sword a try. Ruler's Sword is special in that it scales with the amount of souls held, up to one million souls. It has C/C scaling so it's a quality weapon but it requires 16 intelligence and faith, even though it has no dark damage or dark scaling. Since I was planning on making my buffs more powerful and I was interested in how the weapon behaved when infused, I made it Dark. It turns out that the bonus damage from the souls splits if the weapon is infused - some goes to the physical scaling, some goes to the elemental scaling.

The damage output of the thing is quite ridiculous: 196 + 127 physical damage, 196 + 101 dark damage unbuffed. Resonant weapons affects all the dark damage the sword does, so it'd be (196+101+50)x1.5 = 520 damage.

Yes, this weapons deals 323+520 damage when buffed, as opposed to 445+75. Quite a difference, huh? And this is why physical scaling sucks :/ It's a shame they tried to balance buffs by changing how they work, and then they messed up physical scaling so weapon buffs are overpowered again. The good thing is that with 30/30 stats I can still wield most weapons in the game, except a couple of ultra weapons I'm not interested in anyways.

P.S.: All of these calculations were done with the Ring of Blades +2 on.

I'm starting to hear that Soul Level is actually totally meaningless in NG, and possibly NG+*, whilst Soul Memory is the primary designator of PVP\Co-Op ranges.
If that's true there's no reason to stop levelling, unless you're willing to basically just stop collecting any souls.

I don't think this is true, that may have been about arena, which has really lax level restrictions. Soul Memory is completely unnoticeable for me in NG+, I was always able to summon my friend whenever I wanted and I'm not seeing fewer summon signs or anything.

 

[Kanedias]

On another note, look how underpowered mundane is in PvP...

 

[Jaedar]

Crossbows are viable now? That's awesome.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

iron keep was bullshit. i got a cool mask off the roof but that whole area sucked. the optional boss was a pain in the ass and the end boss was bullshit. run left, run right, spam arrows. game better improve real fast

You actually don't need to spam arrows to beat the final boss there. As for Smelter Demon, all you need is a shield with 100 physical and fire resist and high stability, something that exists and you can get before getting to Iron Keep: Gyrm Greatshield. With that, the Smelter Demon becomes your bitch.

 

[praetor]

iron keep was bullshit. i got a cool mask off the roof but that whole area sucked. the optional boss was a pain in the ass and the end boss was bullshit. run left, run right, spam arrows. game better improve real fast

Iron Keep has to be one of the worst levels in Souls history. it's not plain, it's not unfinished, it's not easy, it's not small... it's just plain bad. it's more of a supermario level (i forget who said it first), and it never feels like a location, but like a game level. it's retarded how bad it is. from the crappy enemies (armoured ninjas... lol), to the lame layout, generic, cliched visuals, to the way too obvious "set piece rooms" and "traps"... maaaan, it sucks

Smelter demon is nothing special, imho, his attacks are telegraphed and read quite easily (except for the tell if he'll do the AoE or not when he plunges), just keep right armpit and it's pretty much game over. it's a mostly lame, boring boss (both mechanically and visually... only the "plunge sword in fiery chest" looked somewhat cool). took him down on 2nd try (would've killed him on first if i remembered to attune flash sweat and toxic mist, and didn't mistime every single effing roll on his downward slash attack )

and as it befits a shitty level, the final boss is one of the shittiest in Souls history. give me BoC over this piece of shit "iron king" any day of the week. visually, easily the crappiest boss of the franchise (i sense a theme here...), they couldn't have made it more "generic fire demon" if they tried. and the fight is just bullshit/tedium/stupidity incarnate. with decent ranged (and/or poison) it's over quick and painless (you only have to worry about the laser), without it's just a frustrating exercise in "wait for a hand slam/laser" that sometime doesn't come for fucking minutes (not to mention that the platform is so small and full of holes that if you mistime a single roll or get caught in his laser it's pretty much game over because the knockback on his attacks is huge, and the hitbox on the firebreath an enormous, wonky piece of shit). as much as i don't like Izalith/BoC at least they had the excuse of "lack of time", but for this area, i want to murder whoever thought it up.

I'm starting to hear that Soul Level is actually totally meaningless in NG, and possibly NG+*, whilst Soul Memory is the primary designator of PVP\Co-Op ranges.
If that's true there's no reason to stop levelling, unless you're willing to basically just stop collecting any souls.

afaik, SL is for NG+, while SM for NG. SL is indeed meaningless in NG with regards to co-op (can't confirm for PvP/invasions), since i read about people with the megamule getting in the hundreds SL cooping with ones in the teens SL. fuck you, megamules. in DaS1 it was OK, imo, 'cause both the glitch (BB) and MM came quite late in the game-cycle when everybody into PvP finished the game over 9000 times, but releasing it now, after 2-3 weeks?! whoever did it, needs to get cancer ASAP.

EDIT: and another thing. whoever at From thought it was a good idea to make the Lizard staff a very fucking rare drop from 4 goddamn enemies in the entire game, of which 2 do not respawn even once (unless you use an ascetic, of course), and the other 2 are in a boss room, needs to be shot. sometimes this game is so stupid and frustrating it really feels as if they gave some design decisions to a coffee machine. it features some really really awesome stuff, easily among the best moments in the franchise, but it's also home to, by far, the lowest points

 

[Hobo Elf]

Actually after much testing it has been pretty much confirmed that SL plays no role even in NG+. It's all about the SM. That's why not leveling yourself up past a magical arbitrary level for PvP will end up gimping yourself for no reason at all. For example people in NG+ at SL120 and so have reported that they have been invading peeps between SL60 and 180. It's crazy.

 

[Invictus]

Have any of you guys gone back to play DS after the sequel? Wonder how it will feel in comparison, especialy things like the combat gangups and the limited spawns
I think that some things will feel more "videogamey" in comparison as yatzhe said like the level design and enemy types feel more like Super Castlevania rather than Souls you know? While places felt like functional locations in DS and Demons too, on DS2 they actualy feel like videogame levels where you climb up this out of the way ladder to turn off the switch that makes the minotaur statues spew fire while running and jumping to this plataform...
I am really enjoying the game but it somehow feels more gamey than both of its predecesors

 

[praetor]

^yup, that's why i hate IK with a passion. by far (faaaaar) the most gamey level (and it's not even good in a gamey way). the nadir of the series. other locations ranged from "cool visually, bland mechanically" (like Heide) to fine/solid and even some great ones (Forest/Cardinal tower is probably the best opening level in the franchise) and utter, retarded shit (black gulch with the "lol here's hundreds of poison statues" is waaay worse than Izalith's "lol here's dozens of dino asses on lava") so far (still have to do a bunch of the later ones)

Kanedias
a couple of quick (not really :D) questions:
-Manslayer: infuse with poison or not (40 dex)? is the increase in poison worth the damage decrease?
-Spotted Whip: same question
-Santier's Spear: really can't decide here... on one hand Raw would give the most raw damage with my current build, but like you did, i plan to maybe get 10Int/Fth for some Dark buffs and i heard mundane is pretty awesome even at 10 in a stat (any conclusive info on that?), while on the other hand, the unbreakable 2H twinblade moveset would make for a pretty cool poison weapon (a better ricardo's raper, in a way ). decisions decisions... help! :D

btw, from wikidot regarding the ruler sword:

At SL 361 with 99 str and 99dex, with a ring of blades +2, this weapon reaches an attack rating of 713, which makes it one of the, if not the strongest all physical weapon in the game.

That's the theory, anyway. In practice, this sword is hopeless outclassed by the Black Knight Greatsword in all the damage tests done (normal and fire infusion on the rulers sword), even with massively higher AR and a similar moveset. The reason is not clear, so more testing is required to understand what's going on.

 

[meanwhileInPoland]

give me BoC over this piece of shit "iron king" any day of the week

thats a bit of overstatement. iron king is shit lika a cheap god of war rip off while bad of chaos is shit entirely. i farmed that fucker for 20 sun medals and from 3rd bonfire that was probably one of the easieast ways to do. i prefer iron mario keep with raids on smelter demon every 5 minuts over that piece of unfinished empty shit called lost izalith.

also pvp at iron bridge is great

whoever at From thought it was a good idea to make the Lizard staff a very fucking rare drop from 4 goddamn enemies in the entire game, of which 2 do not respawn even once (unless you use an ascetic, of course), and the other 2 are in a boss room, needs to be shot

i got lizard staff on my str/faith and str/dex characters but my hexer in ng+ have only heard about that legendary staff so 2 necros in executioner room and two in that cave after 3rd bonfire? shiiiiiiiiiit

i really hope they will patch those fucking drop rates. they patched ds1 a lot so there is hope

 

[praetor]

thats a bit of overstatement. iron king is shit lika a cheap god of war rip off while bad of chaos is shit entirely. i farmed that fucker for 20 sun medals and from 3rd bonfire that was probably one of the easieast ways to do. i prefer iron mario keep with raids on smelter demon every 5 minuts over that piece of unfinished empty shit called lost izalith.

at least Izalith looked and felt like a fucking location and had some atmosphere and some... "interesting" enemies (the lovecraftian chaos eaters ). IK is just a shitty level from a shitty arcade game. plus, BoC at least looked cool and different, had cool music and could be finished in a matter of seconds (with the firebomb trick). OIK is just shit across the board, absolutely nothing redeeming about it (regardless of the ease of co-op, which is entirely irrelevant), and Smelter is ok, but nothing special and i wouldn't miss it if he wasn't there

also pvp at iron bridge is great

again, relevance? it's still a shittily design area, regardless of the very beginning being a good place to PvP

i got lizard staff on my str/faith and str/dex characters but my hexer in ng+ have only heard about that legendary staff so 2 necros in executioner room and two in that cave after 3rd bonfire? shiiiiiiiiiit

i really hope they will patch those fucking drop rates. they patched ds1 a lot so there is hope

yeah, drop rates on some shit is beyond fucking retarded. which would be ok if enemies respawned infinitely or the RNG seemed at least somewhat affected by the +drop rate stuff (i swear i got more Alonne gear while doing them regularly then farming them with +1 GS ring & prisoner robes & jester hat). the best part of the game are easily among the highlights of the series, but the worst are at the bottom of the well, scraping for the shit that dropped from Izalith a couple of stories higher

 

[meanwhileInPoland]

dude iron keep might be average at best but at least it doesnt have dragons asses as enemies or 7 taurus demons standing in the middle of nowhere. those ninja knights are good mid-game trash mobs.

also smelter demon/iron king/pursuer 2.0 against bed of shit/firesage/ceaseless retard/asylum demon 3.0? you cant be serious

the amount of co-op/pvp in area is not a redeeming quality? than why in ds1 everyone play in undead burg/anor londo/townshit and late game locations are fucking empty?




i treat demons ruins/lost izalith as one long piece of shit location

 

[praetor]

dude iron keep might be average at best but at least it doesnt have dragons asses as enemies or 7 taurus demons standing in the middle of nowhere. those ninja knights are good mid-game trash mobs.

also smelter demon/iron king/pursuer 2.0 against bed of shit/firesage/ceaseless retard/asylum demon 3.0? you cant be serious

dead serious. Pursuer is the only good of the bunch, and you fight him elsewhere anyway. the whole area is gamey utter shit

the amount of co-op/pvp in area is not a redeeming quality? than why in ds1 everyone play in undead burg/anor londo/townshit and late game locations are fucking empty?

are you being dense on purpose? are you trolling? because if not, you're a goddamned retard

everyone plays DaS1 PvP in those locations not because they're good levels, but because they are arena-like with optional, non-mandatory bosses (you know, unlike those other "late game locations") very close to bonfires. it doesn't take a fucking genius to figure it out. please, enlighten me how IK is a good level because the bridge at the beginning is the PvP hotspot

 

[meanwhileInPoland]

everyone plays DaS1 PvP in those locations not because they're good levels, but because they are arena-like with optional, non-mandatory bosses (you know, unlike those other "late game locations") very close to bonfires.

what ?

so undead burg/anor londo is a good location for pvp/co-op not because of its level design and great boss fights but because it is arenalike area with bonfire nearby?do i understand you correctly?

so is iron keep than.

people co-op O&S because they are hard. Smelter Demon is hard so we co-op him. and he is hard because not everyone have 32 str build with fucking gyrm shield

please, enlighten me how IK is a good level because the bridge at the beginning is the PvP hotspot

the same as oolacil townshit? you want pvp you stay at iron keep not in black gulch. also not liking black gulch...whar are you casual?

i never said that iron keep is good location because of its level design/boss fight. it has great pvp spot and great co-op raids therefore its not "1/10 would not play area again" like demons ruins/lost izalith. are we clear?