From Software The Dark Souls II Megathread™

[Invictus]

Why the hatin on Amana? It is 1000 times better than Izalith and I was ganking that place anyway with either magic shield or an actual magic resistant shield plus sniping those magic missle chicks.
Nerfing Flame Swathe...
I am thinking that I won't download the patch then; I might leave my PS3 version as the "hard" version and make do with the PC version then

 

[praetor]

^definitely not true at all. it's better if you're not 50% hollow, but if you are Dark is definitely the right choice. someone at reddit tested out both, and laid down the numbers. also, take into account that with higher sin you can go below 50% so it may scale even better (i don't know if anybody tested it)

btw, some damage data on FotFG hollows post nerf from gaemfags:

First number is damage with calibration 1.03, second number is with 1.04.

Forbidden Sun: 675 -> 573 - ~18% nerf in power.
Flame Sweathe: 1388 -> 974 - ~30% nerf in power.
Chaos Storm: 1117 -> 921 - ~17% nerf in power.
Soul Geyser: 1008 -> 582 - ~42% nerf in power.

yeah... From at it's best

 

[DragoFireheart]

yeah... From at it's best

Agree or disagree with changes?

Also:

 

[praetor]

Agree or disagree with changes?

my stance is and has always been "From sucks at balancing. so hard not even CA could best them". so yeah

more bumbers courtesy of gamefags:

The weapon I use for flame weapon is a Mirrah Greatsword +10 with 40 dex and 20 str.

I tried out all these damages at the first bonfire in the forest of fallen giants NOT in NG+. I just attacked the hollowed soldiers in the area.

This build has only 3 int and 8 faith.

Great Fireball: 433 dmg
Great Combustion: 542 dmg
Flame Swathe: 681 dmg
Flame Weapon: 381(w/out buff) 461(w/buff)

And then I used a soul vessel and made a build with 40 int and 40 faith and did the exact same thing.

Great Fireball: 594 dmg
Great Combustion: 663 dmg
Flame Swathe: 994 dmg (oofta!)
Flame Weapon: 381(w/out buff) 461 (w/buff)

Invictus
no, Amanda is definitely not better than Izalith in any way other than the boss and atmosphere. it's a crappily, lazily designed area where by far the best and most efficient method of doing it is "cheese". it's shit, just like Izalith was shit, not an ounce more or less. as it has been pointed out, it's basically "popamole souls", and that's just inexcusable shit (and that retard "huge acid mushroom" next to the bonfire? holy fuck who was the moron at from who designed and put it there? probably the same retarded asshole who put the exploding mummies next to the straid bonfire or the 3 xbowmen next to the saltfort. beyond stupid)

 

[DragoFireheart]

my stance is and has always been "From sucks at balancing. so hard not even CA could best them". so yeah

more bumbers courtesy of gamefags:

The weapon I use for flame weapon is a Mirrah Greatsword +10 with 40 dex and 20 str.

I tried out all these damages at the first bonfire in the forest of fallen giants NOT in NG+. I just attacked the hollowed soldiers in the area.

This build has only 3 int and 8 faith.

Great Fireball: 433 dmg
Great Combustion: 542 dmg
Flame Swathe: 681 dmg
Flame Weapon: 381(w/out buff) 461(w/buff)

And then I used a soul vessel and made a build with 40 int and 40 faith and did the exact same thing.

Great Fireball: 594 dmg
Great Combustion: 663 dmg
Flame Swathe: 994 dmg (oofta!)
Flame Weapon: 381(w/out buff) 461 (w/buff)

Scaling is more important for Flame Swathe.

Also, some GameFAGs are claiming that Soul Geyser did not get a damage nerf.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/693331-dark-souls-ii/69005430?page=7

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/693331-dark-souls-ii/69004419

May be some enemies got defense boost?

 

[Invictus]

Whoa!
Was the lighting patched or what is that is looks different

 

[Kanedias]

I just did Shrine of Amana in NG+ (post-patch of course) and I noticed some things. First, I saw a video where the Amana priestesses shot spells that didn't home in at all. This is not true. They still home in, you can avoid them by zig zagging, but they're not linear projectiles.

They're much more manageable now, I like the change. I wish they had changed the aggro range instead of the homing capability, though. My problem wasn't that the spells were hard to dodge, it was that they shot from max draw distance.

The melee Archdrakes are still OP as hell (and I like them this way). They got me three times. I don't know if this is placebo or not, but the first group of knights always aggroed as a group, I wasn't able to pull them one by one. Fighting 3 of them at once is not pretty, hahaha.

I really don't agree with the boss changes but this one made Shrine of Amana more fun. I see a lot of whining about "From making the game easier" but bringing a bow and cheesing every sorcerer from range is not exactly "difficulty".

 

[praetor]

The melee Archdrakes are still OP as hell (and I like them this way). They got me three times. I don't know if this is placebo or not, but the first group of knights always aggroed as a group, I wasn't able to pull them one by one. Fighting 3 of them at once is not pretty, hahaha.

iirc, they aggro in group only in NG+ and beyond. i'm 100% you can pull them one by one in NG

 

[DragoFireheart]

I just did Shrine of Amana in NG+ (post-patch of course) and I noticed some things. First, I saw a video where the Amana priestesses shot spells that didn't home in at all. This is not true. They still home in, you can avoid them by zig zagging, but they're not linear projectiles.

They're much more manageable now, I like the change. I wish they had changed the aggro range instead of the homing capability, though. My problem wasn't that the spells were hard to dodge, it was that they shot from max draw distance.

There are rumors that the Xbox version made them only fire straight, but PS3 still curves.

LOL

 

[Kanedias]

Did any of you get the Black Witch Veil, by chance? I'm interested in it for my mage build (or for the next build I'm going to make) and I can't find any info on what its special effect is (Black Witch Hat is +1 slot and Black Witch Domino Mask gives magic damage in exchange for some HP, but no idea about the Veil). I would love to find out about it without having to farm this obscure item for ages, so yeah, any help is appreciated.

 

[80Maxwell08]

Did any of you get the Black Witch Veil, by chance? I'm interested in it for my mage build (or for the next build I'm going to make) and I can't find any info on what its special effect is (Black Witch Hat is +1 slot and Black Witch Domino Mask gives magic damage in exchange for some HP, but no idea about the Veil). I would love to find out about it without having to farm this obscure item for ages, so yeah, any help is appreciated.

From what the strategy guide says the veil has no special effect. The hat allows you to equip more spells but the veil has nothing. Of course the guide has a couple of problems though so that might end up being wrong. I might have gotten one eariler and I can check in the morning.

 

[Kanedias]

Oh thanks you for the info. I thought it'd have some effect since the other two Black Witch headpieces have one, but oh well.

 

[Palikka]

 

[praetor]

since we're on the topic of trades... anybody has a spare Lizard Staff at around 600k soul memory? (yes, i'm still farming it from time to time )

 

[Volrath]

So I restarted again and went for a pure strength build, because big ass swords and shields are cool. I did some exploring and just finished Iron King, but I seem to have a soul level of 1.1 million. Is this going to fuck me over in the long run?

 

[DragoFireheart]

So I restarted again and went for a pure strength build, because big ass swords and shields are cool. I did some exploring and just finished Iron King, but I seem to have a soul level of 1.1 million. Is this going to fuck me over in the long run?

If you go to Drangleic Castle now? Nah.

Just do any other areas before NG+.

EDIT:

http://darksouls2.wiki.fextralife.com/Summon+Range+Calculator#.U0lpUvldVvY

Apparently from recent rumors SM DOES impact NG+.

 

[80Maxwell08]

Well I just got the Black Witch's Staff on my sorcerer so I'm getting pretty luck with these drops.

 

[DragoFireheart]

Well I just got the Black Witch's Staff on my sorcerer so I'm getting pretty luck with these drops.

Dual Magic Blue Flames is where it's at bro!

http://darksouls2.wiki.fextralife.com/Blue+Flame#.U0ltJvldVvY

Hints and Tips:

• Its Strong Attack will cast sorceries, making it a versatile option for Int builds.
• It however cannot cast staff Hexes, only sorceries.
• Unlike catalysts, Blue Flame can be buffed.
• Buffing the Blue Flame will increase the effectiveness of spells cast with it.
• A player dual-wielding Blue Flames can use one Blue Flame to buff the other, and vice versa. This is the only known way to have two weapons buffed with the same sorcery at the same time.
• When Blue Flames are powerstanced, the left handed strong attack will function as it would with regular straight swords. The regular right hand Strong Attack will remain able to cast spells. This is the only known way to power-stance whilst also able to cast sorceries.
• Using the "enchanted" infusion on this sword will not change its damage at all, it will however reduce the dmg scalings to: E, E, D
• Using the "magic" infusion will increase INT scaling significantly while remaining C and reduce the rest, otherwise it will behave like other items, magic dmg goes up and phys goes down.
• Using the "poison" infusion changes magic scaling to B, but it gives less bonuses than the "magic infusion" C scaling, but more than normal.
• If looking for a dual wield build with sorceries Blue Flame is an excellent choice. (Be sure to wield Blue flame in the right hand, as the Power stance overrides the Sorcery casting.)

Smart mages will start picking these up if they want an alternative to MLGS.

Also, to whomever found that Bat Staff + Dark Fog trick: I LOVE YOU i will have your kids.

 

[80Maxwell08]

Well I just got the Black Witch's Staff on my sorcerer so I'm getting pretty luck with these drops.

Dual Magic Blue Flames is where it's at bro!

http://darksouls2.wiki.fextralife.com/Blue Flame#.U0ltJvldVvY

Hints and Tips:

• Its Strong Attack will cast sorceries, making it a versatile option for Int builds.
• It however cannot cast staff Hexes, only sorceries.
• Unlike catalysts, Blue Flame can be buffed.
• Buffing the Blue Flame will increase the effectiveness of spells cast with it.
• A player dual-wielding Blue Flames can use one Blue Flame to buff the other, and vice versa. This is the only known way to have two weapons buffed with the same sorcery at the same time.
• When Blue Flames are powerstanced, the left handed strong attack will function as it would with regular straight swords. The regular right hand Strong Attack will remain able to cast spells. This is the only known way to power-stance whilst also able to cast sorceries.
• Using the "enchanted" infusion on this sword will not change its damage at all, it will however reduce the dmg scalings to: E, E, D
• Using the "magic" infusion will increase INT scaling significantly while remaining C and reduce the rest, otherwise it will behave like other items, magic dmg goes up and phys goes down.
• Using the "poison" infusion changes magic scaling to B, but it gives less bonuses than the "magic infusion" C scaling, but more than normal.
• If looking for a dual wield build with sorceries Blue Flame is an excellent choice. (Be sure to wield Blue flame in the right hand, as the Power stance overrides the Sorcery casting.)

Smart mages will start picking these up if they want an alternative to MLGS.

Also, to whomever found that Bat Staff + Dark Fog trick: I LOVE YOU i will have your kids.

Well I just picked one up in a couple of kills so I could go back and get another. Also I just got my lizard staff to +10 then realized I had 3 staves of amana so I'm an idiot. Now I'm having one last hurrah with my lizard staff before I retire it.

 

[praetor]

Also I just got my lizard staff to +10 then realized I had 3 staves of amana so I'm an idiot. Now I'm having one last hurrah with my lizard staff before I retire it.

i hate you so much

 

[DragoFireheart]

Also I just got my lizard staff to +10 then realized I had 3 staves of amana so I'm an idiot. Now I'm having one last hurrah with my lizard staff before I retire it.

i hate you so much

The weeboo OCD is strong in this one.

Did you try and get pink tails in FF4/ American 2?

 

[praetor]

so far it's the only OCD thing in did in any game. unless you count farming for other rare shit in other Souls games (that took nowhere near as much. not. even. fucking. close... not even pure bladestone and the fucking trident). i usually give up after 2-3 hours because fuck the RNG, but for some reason i've invested so much in this (well over 10hours as of today... something like 15), so giving up would be admitting defeat, in a way... in a very weird way that i cannot explain. am i... am i a sperg?! i just puked a little

 

[DragoFireheart]

so far it's the only OCD thing in did in any game. unless you count farming for other rare shit in other Souls games (that took nowhere near as much. not. even. fucking. close... not even pure bladestone and the fucking trident). i usually give up after 2-3 hours because fuck the RNG, but for some reason i've invested so much in this (well over 10hours as of today... something like 15), so giving up would be admitting defeat, in a way... in a very weird way that i cannot explain. am i... am i a sperg?! i just puked a little

You don't know the horrors of farming until you take on The Quest For The Pink Tail or The Search For The Goo King Sword.

felipepepe

 

[UndetectedButthurt]

I'm about halfway through my SL1 playthrough and I just realized that by dicking around and dying a bunch of times with lots of souls I'm screwing my soul memory. Why the fuck didn't they make soul memory count only when you spend souls? Doesn't really prevent me from twinking and griefing noobs when I didn't spent most of the souls in my soul memory. Funny thing is that I'm still getting invaded by magic spamming MLGS dudes.

 

[DragoFireheart]

I'm about halfway through my SL1 playthrough and I just realized that by dicking around and dying a bunch of times with lots of souls I'm screwing my soul memory. Why the fuck didn't they make soul memory count only when you spend souls? Doesn't really prevent me from twinking and griefing noobs when I didn't spent most of the souls in my soul memory.

Because you'll still be paired up with others with equal soul memory.