From Software The Dark Souls II Megathread™

[aris]

Holy shit the trash mobs in DS2! Have they upped the ante on that one. I had little or no problem with the two first bosses, but I've lost count to how many times I've died and lost thousands of souls to trash mobs. Not only do they have a much more varied moveset that is way more difficult to predict, they also ambush you, pursue you much more relentlessly and they use abilities in synergy (one throws oil at you, the other fires fire arrows at you, which is pretty much a one shot kill on you, if you get hit). Especially in No-man's wharf. Holy shit, I've think I've died more than 20 times trying to wade through that area. And I still haven't figured out how to get through it, how to get to the next bonfire, if there is indeed one.

By the way, is there another way to proceed after having done the last giant and the boss in heide's tower of flame? I feel undergeared for that area.

 

[80Maxwell08]

Holy shit the trash mobs in DS2! Have they upped the ante on that one. I had little or no problem with the two first bosses, but I've lost count to how many times I've died and lost thousands of souls to trash mobs. Not only do they have a much more varied moveset that is way more difficult to predict, they also ambush you, pursue you much more relentlessly and they use abilities in synergy (one throws oil at you, the other fires fire arrows at you, which is pretty much a one shot kill on you, if you get hit). Especially in No-man's wharf. Holy shit, I've think I've died more than 20 times trying to wade through that area. And I still haven't figured out how to get through it, how to get to the next bonfire, if there is indeed one.

By the way, is there another way to proceed after having done the last giant and the boss in heide's tower of flame? I feel undergeared for that area.

Undergeared for No-Man's Wharf?

 

[aris]

Holy shit the trash mobs in DS2! Have they upped the ante on that one. I had little or no problem with the two first bosses, but I've lost count to how many times I've died and lost thousands of souls to trash mobs. Not only do they have a much more varied moveset that is way more difficult to predict, they also ambush you, pursue you much more relentlessly and they use abilities in synergy (one throws oil at you, the other fires fire arrows at you, which is pretty much a one shot kill on you, if you get hit). Especially in No-man's wharf. Holy shit, I've think I've died more than 20 times trying to wade through that area. And I still haven't figured out how to get through it, how to get to the next bonfire, if there is indeed one.

By the way, is there another way to proceed after having done the last giant and the boss in heide's tower of flame? I feel undergeared for that area.

Undergeared for No-Man's Wharf?

I'm struggling, let's say. My frustration of having lost so many souls, and being at 50% health, is probably handicapping me though. I can only take 2 hits before dying.

Ah, finally opened a shortcut, nice. Now I just have to find the damn bonfire.

 

[Shadenuat]

I really felt the new design direction in that one funny room in FoG, with a small entrance, which has 5 armed ballistas which shoot at you simultaniously. I just saw the bolts flying rapidly through the air with WHOOOM. And then 4 or 5 guys all armed with two handed swords run out of that room trying to kill you
It's not scary and not how I think about DS, it's pure comedy.

Also, hollows masters of acrobatics & team work. I had them run thin tree branches and almost spawn behind me sometimes if I didn't clean the area.

 

[80Maxwell08]

Holy shit the trash mobs in DS2! Have they upped the ante on that one. I had little or no problem with the two first bosses, but I've lost count to how many times I've died and lost thousands of souls to trash mobs. Not only do they have a much more varied moveset that is way more difficult to predict, they also ambush you, pursue you much more relentlessly and they use abilities in synergy (one throws oil at you, the other fires fire arrows at you, which is pretty much a one shot kill on you, if you get hit). Especially in No-man's wharf. Holy shit, I've think I've died more than 20 times trying to wade through that area. And I still haven't figured out how to get through it, how to get to the next bonfire, if there is indeed one.

By the way, is there another way to proceed after having done the last giant and the boss in heide's tower of flame? I feel undergeared for that area.

Undergeared for No-Man's Wharf?

I'm struggling, let's say. My frustration of having lost so many souls, and being at 50% health, is probably handicapping me though. I can only take 2 hits before dying.

Ah, finally opened a shortcut, nice. Now I just have to find the damn bonfire.

There's only one bonfire in the wharf and it's the one at the beginning. If you have a pharros lockstone use it in the one place you can there since it illuminates a huge amount of the whole area. Also wait for the human soldiers to attack you and wait for them to bounce off your shield. They get stunned really easily. Also the long armed enemies are absurdly hard to dodge so always attack from the back if possible and if they attack back up as much as possible.

 

[aris]

Could someone give me a hint to where to go? I've reached the guy sitting at the doc with the blue robes that told me to fuck off. I thought that would be the right direction to go, but I see nowhere to proceed from from here..

 

[80Maxwell08]

Could someone give me a hint to where to go? I've reached the guy sitting at the doc with the blue robes that told me to fuck off. I thought that would be the right direction to go, but I see nowhere to proceed from from here..

Did you bring the ship in to get on?
EDIT: Never mind I just looked at the map of the area. Instead of turning where those enemies hanging over the side are go straight instead. Bring a torch if you are having trouble seeing the deck leading to the ship.

 

[aris]

Bring the ship in, how do I do that? I have been going towards the deck that goes towards the ship, but the ship is in the middle of the water, as far as I can tell.

 

[80Maxwell08]

Bring the ship in, how do I do that? I have been going towards the deck that goes towards the ship, but the ship is in the middle of the water, as far as I can tell.

When you get to the top of the area and pass that building full of dark stalkers (the name of those long arm enemies) there's the building you go up then end up on the roof of the building overlooking the area. It has that part you can jump off of to go down. On the roof before you jump is a lever that rings a bell that calls the ship in. Also at the shortcut at that building with the soldiers sleeping at the tables is a summon sign for lucatiel.

 

[Visperas]

The game is good but the control problems are inexcusable. Didn't they notice that doing jumping attacks and guards breaks with mouse and keyboad is not working?? Sheeeeeeeet...

 

[aris]

Bring the ship in, how do I do that? I have been going towards the deck that goes towards the ship, but the ship is in the middle of the water, as far as I can tell.

When you get to the top of the area and pass that building full of dark stalkers (the name of those long arm enemies) there's the building you go up then end up on the roof of the building overlooking the area. It has that part you can jump off of to go down. On the roof before you jump is a lever that rings a bell that calls the ship in. Also at the shortcut at that building with the soldiers sleeping at the tables is a summon sign for lucatiel.

Thanks!

Btw, do you mean the building where you find the the crazy dwarven trader "you wheel you deal?"

Edit: Holy shit I'm stupid! I've walked past that bell at least 5 times without noticing it. At least now I got it.

 

[Kanedias]

Some laggy PvP matches make me wonder if From didn't in fact go with Real Time With Pause for the sequel.

 

[80Maxwell08]

Bring the ship in, how do I do that? I have been going towards the deck that goes towards the ship, but the ship is in the middle of the water, as far as I can tell.

When you get to the top of the area and pass that building full of dark stalkers (the name of those long arm enemies) there's the building you go up then end up on the roof of the building overlooking the area. It has that part you can jump off of to go down. On the roof before you jump is a lever that rings a bell that calls the ship in. Also at the shortcut at that building with the soldiers sleeping at the tables is a summon sign for lucatiel.

Thanks!

Btw, do you mean the building where you find the the crazy dwarven trader "you wheel you deal?"

Yeah that's the building full of dark stalkers. Pass that then go up the next building, cross over the the building you need to jump/drop to go farther and there will be a lever on the roof before you jump/drop.

 

[aris]

Phew, boss fight was extremely easy compared to going though the area. Did him on the first try with barely a scratch.

 

[Surf Solar]

You can also just shoot the bell with a bow - no need to go up there

 

[Murk]

is the last giant boss supposed to be a joke? i kept waiting for him to sucker punch me with some crazy swipes but he was piss easy to dodge.

then he died. like... what? is it just there to make you drop your guard so you can get butt raped later?

 

[Bradylama]

Attention PC users, Durante has already released his first alpha version of the DS2 tool.

http://blog.metaclassofnil.com/?p=487

Right now it's primarily for downsampling if your rig is hardcore enough to handle it.

Spoiler

GeDoSaTo DARK SOULS 2 edition by Durante -- README
==================================================

**Please read this whole document before running anything!**

What is it?
===========
The incredibly imaginatively named GeDoSaTo is a generalized downsampling tool for PC games.
Its goal is to obviate the need for (often limited and hardware dependent) driver modifications
to use downsampling in games.

What is the DARK SOULS 2 edition?
=================================
This version of GeDoSaTo is extended specifically for Dark Souls 2, and adds several visual
effects to the game.
Note that you need to ENABLE IN-GAME ANIT ALIASING in order to use these effects.

How do I use it? (INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS)
===========================================
1) Extract the contents of the zip to some permanent directory
2) Adjust the settings in GeDoSaTo.ini and GeDoSaToKeys.ini as desired
3) [optional] Add your game executable names to "whitelist.txt" in the "assets" folder
(dark souls 2 is already included!)
4) Run GeDoSaToTool.exe *as Administrator*
5) ENABLE IN-GAME ANTI-ALIASING in Dark Souls 2

What are the advantages and disadvantages compared to driver-level downsampling?
================================================================================
Advantages:
- Essentially no resolution limits (beyond those of the GPU)
- Downsampling from more than 4x the resolution is useful (multi-stage downsampling)
- Selection of downsampling methods (not just linear sampling)
- Downsampling in linear color space
- Support downsampling to high-frequency (e.g. 120 Hz or 144 Hz) target modes
- Not limited by display hardware
Disadvantages:
- Compatibility is limited compared to driver-level downsampling
(only DirectX9 and DirectX9Ex supported currently)
- Bugs

What additional features are there?
===================================
- take screenshots of either the pre-downsampled full buffer or the actual image displayed on screen
(automatically sorted in per-game folders!)
- generic texture overriding for all textures loaded using D3DX
- framerate limiting using double/triple/quadruple V-sync
- [Dark Souls 2] VSAO2, Bokeh DoF, Postprocessing and SMAA

Will it work?
=============
It currently works relatively reliably for a number of games, but fails to work for others.
Compatibility will hopefully improve with future versions.
*I can not and will not guarantee that it will work for anyone else,
or not have any adverse effect on your game/computer. Use at your own risk!*

Are there known issues?
=======================
The mouse cursor position and/or click detection is broken in some games.

Will it cause performance problems?
===================================
That depends on your system configuration.
Usually, performance scales rather linearly with framebuffer size.

Can I donate to motivate further GeDoSaTo development?
======================================================
You can find donation links on my blog, where I'll also release new versions:
http://blog.metaclassofnil.com/
You can also simply Paypal to peter@metaclassofnil.com

How can I contribute?
=====================
GeDoSaTo will be on github soon, if it isn't already.

How can I uninstall it?
============================
Simply remove the files.
If you want to be ultra clean, also remove the registry key "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Durante\GeDoSaTo".

Contact information
===================
Contact me at peter@metaclassofnil.com

Scaling on GPU was already enabled for me. I'm gonna have to keep digging to figure out how to fix my ctds on launch.

 

[aris]

Seriosuly, weapon durability in this game is just ridiculously low. It really needs to be patched. I need to use all three weapon slots through one area, just so that not all my weapons get broken along the way.

 

[Bradylama]

http://steamcommunity.com/app/236430/discussions/0/558754259683457381/

1st Work-around
For AMD graphics cards.
- Go to the AMD control center.
- Go to Properties (Digital flat-panel)
- Enable GPU scaling.
- Apply and start the game

For Nvidia graphics cards.
- Open your Nvidia Control Panel
- Go to "Adjust desktop size and position"
- Set "Perform scaling on" to "GPU" // Some people seem to not have the GPU option.
- Apply and start the game

2nd Work-around
- Select Dark Souls 2 in Steam.
- Unplug your HDMI/DVI/VGA Cable
- Hit Enter (this will start the game)
- Plug it back in.
// Using this workaround the game is locked to windowed mode 1280x720
// After setting your resolution and Fullscreen mode in the options menu, restart the game using the same technique. For some people this will allow the game to be played at their desired resolution and in fullscreen mode.
// As a result of this workaround, there will be no sound sent through your HDMI cable.

3rd Work-around
If you are using a multi-screen setup disabling either screen might solve the issue.

4th Work-around
For AMD graphics cards.
- Open Catalyst Control Center, navigate to the Gaming section and select 3D Application Settings.
- Locate section Texture Filtering and turn off Surface Format Optimization.

5th Work-around
- Launch the game.
- When you see white screen press Win+P and select Duplicate.
- The game should launch.
- Press Win+P again ans select Extend.
- Navigate to the video setting, select Windowed to access all available screen resolutions.

6th Work-around
Originally posted by Jordan:
Here's a step by step guide for Strobelight
(This only works if the issue is caused by your monitor running above 60Hz.)

1. Download Strobelight: http://www.monitortests.com/strobelight-beta4.zip
2. Run Strobelight-Setup.exe (You don't even have to unrar the file)
3. When you reach screen pictured here:
http://i.imgur.com/ZaH6Xkj.png
Select those options ONLY and then click install refresh rates. If you don't want to click the link then you've just to select 120Hz Strobed and ONLY 60Hz on the other side.
4. Reboot the computer (Yes, I know what your thinking. Just DO IT.)
5. Game should run properly now. Rerun that file and select reset this display if you wish to uninstall the program (when DS2 is fixed for example.)



_______

Workaround 2 worked for me.

 

[Surf Solar]

Seriosuly, weapon durability in this game is just ridiculously low. It really needs to be patched. I need to use all three weapon slots through one area, just so that not all my weapons get broken along the way.

wat

 

[Edward_R_Murrow]

Seriosuly, weapon durability in this game is just ridiculously low. It really needs to be patched. I need to use all three weapon slots through one area, just so that not all my weapons get broken along the way.

Dexterity weapons have incredibly low durability, yeah. My STR/FTH character can go through a level twice over on NG+ without having to hit a bonfire or use Repair Powder, but my Dexterity-based character has to have a couple extra weapons on-hand to round out a larger zone.

Also, avoid hitting corpses with your weapons. Destroys durability like no-one's business.

 

[Invictus]

I think of praetor as Hopper X in the "what's a nubiian" skit of Chasing Amy with me and Drako playing his straight men

 

[80Maxwell08]

Seriosuly, weapon durability in this game is just ridiculously low. It really needs to be patched. I need to use all three weapon slots through one area, just so that not all my weapons get broken along the way.

I think the weapon durability thing was supposed to be because the high amount of bonfires & because bonfires restore durability now. For your problem try avoiding hitting walls as much as possible I guess.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

is the last giant boss supposed to be a joke? i kept waiting for him to sucker punch me with some crazy swipes but he was piss easy to dodge.

then he died. like... what? is it just there to make you drop your guard so you can get butt raped later?

It's the first boss. The next one people are likely to face is more of a "I'MA RAPE YOU TILL LOVE ME WHITE BOY" deal for most people.

Seriosuly, weapon durability in this game is just ridiculously low. It really needs to be patched. I need to use all three weapon slots through one area, just so that not all my weapons get broken along the way.

Dexterity weapons have incredibly low durability, yeah. My STR/FTH character can go through a level twice over on NG+ without having to hit a bonfire or use Repair Powder, but my Dexterity-based character has to have a couple extra weapons on-hand to round out a larger zone.

Also, avoid hitting corpses with your weapons. Destroys durability like no-one's business.

Later in the game you can also aim to get a ring (Bracing Knuckle Ring) that greatly reduces weapon durability damage, though before that you want to find the weapon you're going to stick with for most of the game and start upgrading that so you need less swipes per enemy.

If you want to know what location you can find the ring in (+2, reduces weapon durability decrease by 50%, also reduces ring and armor durability decrease by 45%), check spoiler.

Spoiler

Undead Crypt.

Check spoiler for more specific location.

Spoiler

Tombstone area, found on a corpse in a corner at the second room after the first room and its bonfire.

 

[UndetectedButthurt]

Aristocracy codex style:

Spoiler