From Software The Dark Souls II Megathread™

[Vaarna_Aarne]

He's optional to the point that the first boss fight you encounter in Drangleic Castle can be the first boss the player encounters.

Got me thinking, lessee how many bossfights really are mandatory...

Spoiler

Twin Dragonriders, Looking Glass Knight, Demon of Song, Velstadt, Throne duo, Guardian Dragon, Giant Lord, and the final boss I think....

So out of 31 bosses, only 8 are mandatory, if I remember correctly.

 

[Hobo Elf]

Uhh, pretty much, yeah.

 

[Jaedar]

Wait, how would one get into drangleic without getting the 4 great souls?

Pursuers is optional in the sense that he unlocks a path to Bastille, but there's one other way to get there, and both paths go to the place in the end afaik.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Wait, how would one get into drangleic without getting the 4 great souls?

IIRC, the doors open just the same if you have a million Souls (Soul Memory? Souls actually spent on levels?).

 

[Hobo Elf]

one mirrion soul memory.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

 

[Jaedar]

Wait, how would one get into drangleic without getting the 4 great souls?

IIRC, the doors open just the same if you have a million Souls (Soul Memory? Souls actually spent on levels?).

That seems... very grindy.

 

[Elwro]

Wait, how would one get into drangleic without getting the 4 great souls?

Pursuers is optional in the sense that he unlocks a path to Bastille, but there's one other way to get there, and both paths go to the place in the end afaik.

Almost -- I don't think you can reach the top bonfire if you start from the coast.

Anyway, I guess it's either the Pursuer or FS, so neither is mandatory, but fighting one of them is.

 

[Jaedar]

Pursuers is optional in the sense that he unlocks a path to Bastille, but there's one other way to get there, and both paths go to the place in the end afaik.

Almost -- I don't think you can reach the top bonfire if you start from the coast.

Anyway, I guess it's either the Pursuer or FS, so neither is mandatory, but fighting one of them is.

I think if you kill the sentinels you can drop down to get there, but I'm not entirely sure.
But yes, pursuer or FS is needed.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Pursuers is optional in the sense that he unlocks a path to Bastille, but there's one other way to get there, and both paths go to the place in the end afaik.

Almost -- I don't think you can reach the top bonfire if you start from the coast.

Anyway, I guess it's either the Pursuer or FS, so neither is mandatory, but fighting one of them is.

I think if you kill the sentinels you can drop down to get there, but I'm not entirely sure.
But yes, pursuer or FS is needed.

Nah, you need to enter via Bastille to get to that particular area I think.

 

[Multidirectional]

Does anyone know for sure how character speed is decided in this? I've read somewhere it's based both on agility and weight and it's not breakpoint based but a linear scale, but I cannot see any difference in speed when I'm completely naked or fully equipped just below 70% load.
What I was hoping from this sequel was that they'll manage to better explain mechanics in game without me feeling the need to look up every little thing on internet, but no such luck, it seems.

 

[praetor]

from what i could see, only roll distance is affected by eq weight. i-frames are tied to agility, shield raising speed and estus chugging speed also are, supposedly (i thought so while playing for the first time. but after switching from my 25adp/20att char to my 9adp/base att, i'm not so sure any more). but yeah, their "wanting to trim all the fat" claim from early on is complete bollocks. they may have trimmed some, but then they added even more

 

[Elwro]

I see a definite difference in jump distance between 25% and 65% encumbrance.

 

[DragoFireheart]

Yeah, I'll do that...

Warf, Peak, Pharros.

 

[praetor]

random story/lore thought:

Spoiler

it kind of doesn't make any kind of sense and it's a mishmash of quite hollywoodian "idiot villains & good guys". so Vendick didn't want Nash Bridges to get to the Throne so instead of just offing her, he retires to the Crypt and locks away plot-mcguffins behind powerful servants that she cannot defeat... so, our dear Nash Briges, the good detective decides to "fool" you into doing exactly what the Emerald bitch is urging you to do anyway, since she apparently cannot defeat those foes... so after you defeat them she challenges you, the defeater of all those super-knights that she could neither corrupt nor defeat?! what the flying fuck?! chaotic stupid at it's best or am i missing something?

addendum: it's kind of... silly that the Throne Watcher and Defender aren't properly named, but the Ruin sentinels, later encountered as mobs, are... it's as if O&S were only named with their titles, while the Capra and/or Taurus demons had proper names in their boss forms

 

[DragoFireheart]

random story/lore thought:

Spoiler

it kind of doesn't make any kind of sense and it's a mishmash of quite hollywoodian "idiot villains & good guys". so Vendick didn't want Nash Bridges to get to the Throne so instead of just offing her, he retires to the Crypt and locks away plot-mcguffins behind powerful servants that she cannot defeat... so, our dear Nash Briges, the good detective decides to "fool" you into doing exactly what the Emerald bitch is urging you to do anyway, since she apparently cannot defeat those foes... so after you defeat them she challenges you, the defeater of all those super-knights that she could neither corrupt nor defeat?! what the flying fuck?! chaotic stupid at it's best or am i missing something?

Spoiler

Velstadt is highly resistant to dark magic so it's not too much of a stretch that he can cock-block Nashy. There's also the fact that you needed to go back in time to go get the Giant's Kinship to actually use the Throne. Nashy trying to beat you after the fact shouldn't be surprising since it's Manus reborn just doing what Manus does best.

Emerald Herald I still have no fucking clue.

 

[praetor]

Spoiler

Velstadt is highly resistant to dark magic so it's not too much of a stretch that he can cock-block Nashy. There's also the fact that you needed to go back in time to go get the Giant's Kinship to actually use the Throne. Nashy trying to beat you after the fact shouldn't be surprising since it's Manus reborn just doing what Manus does best.

Emerald Herald I still have no fucking clue.

Spoiler

neither the TW nor TD are particularly resistant to dark [damage-wise from the stats of their equipment] and she could't defeat them, and Vel was obviously slightly corrupted by the Dark for being so long in the UC [look at his soul]. she could also go back in time if she got the AMH from the ancient derper, i guess (unless there's a reason why the AMH would only work on humans or undead or cursed ones...

random side-thought: i guess Vendick somehow "consumed" his copy of the giant's kinship [it is, after all, very likely what he used to build and command the golems to construct the castle etc] and that's why he became giant?

anyway, it just doesn't make sense for Nash to attack the one undead who bested and defeated all the foes she could not. again, unless i'm missing something, it's just way too "hollywood villain chaotic stupid". and again, why didn't King Ven of Dicks just off her by himself [he's obviously capable] or order his collective of goons to do it for him [again, they're obviously strong enough... imagine a gangbang of Vel, TW, TD and the Mirror knight... she wouldn't stand a chance]

 

[DragoFireheart]

Spoiler

Velstadt is highly resistant to dark magic so it's not too much of a stretch that he can cock-block Nashy. There's also the fact that you needed to go back in time to go get the Giant's Kinship to actually use the Throne. Nashy trying to beat you after the fact shouldn't be surprising since it's Manus reborn just doing what Manus does best.

Emerald Herald I still have no fucking clue.

Spoiler

neither the TW nor TD are particularly resistant to dark [damage-wise from the stats of their equipment] and she could't defeat them, and Vel was obviously slightly corrupted by the Dark for being so long in the UC [look at his soul]. she could also go back in time if she got the AMH from the ancient derper, i guess (unless there's a reason why the AMH would only work on humans or undead or cursed ones...

random side-thought: i guess Vendick somehow "consumed" his copy of the giant's kinship [it is, after all, very likely what he used to build and command the golems to construct the castle etc] and that's why he became giant?

anyway, it just doesn't make sense for Nash to attack the one undead who bested and defeated all the foes she could not. again, unless i'm missing something, it's just way too "hollywood villain chaotic stupid". and again, why didn't King Ven of Dicks just off her by himself [he's obviously capable] or order his collective of goons to do it for him [again, they're obviously strong enough... imagine a gangbang of Vel, TW, TD and the Mirror knight... she wouldn't stand a chance]

Spoiler

Well if you'll note when you fight Nashy she utilizes cursing spirits that turn you Hollow. For someone with the Dark Sign already it's not a big deal but maybe Vendrick feared going Hollow and losing to her. As for going back in time, she couldn't reach the Ancient Dragon in the first place since Vendrick locked himself away. Maybe Nashy though she was strong enough to defeat the CHOSEN UNDEAD.

 

[Cowboy Moment]

Unavoidable PvP in Belfry Luna is about as fun as I expected it to be. Hilarious troll with the bossfight though, well played From Software.

And as much as I love the game I agree that level design overall leaves a bit to be desired; the previous games felt like real living places that had logic to their structure; if you entered a castle all the environment had a symetry and a purpose beside "monster closets" but here there are things clearly designed as videogame levels and not as functional environments like Iron Keep and to a certain extent Drangleic Castle

I don't really see how, say, Undead Burg, makes any more sense as a place people would actually live in than, say, No Man's Wharf. Or how 3-1 in DeS makes any more sense as a prison than Lost Bastille. Souls level design was always a bit abstract, and functional before realistic. Grand majority of environments in these games don't make much sense when you start thinking about it, they just look cool and play well.

So, again, I think this is a complaint about aesthetics by people who don't know what they truly dislike.

 

[DragoFireheart]

This isn't Skyrim. The levels don't have to have a fucking toilet to make it good.

Then again, looking for Iron Keep from the entrance of Earthen Peak isn't asking too much. FFS, where the hell does that elevator go to!?

 

[praetor]

This isn't Skyrim. The levels don't have to have a fucking toilet to make it good.

Then again, looking for Iron Keep from the entrance of Earthen Peak isn't asking too much. FFS, where the hell does that elevator go to!?

or from Aldia's to Derper Aerie... or the knee-high rubble "blocking" your way through Shrine of Winter requiring you to seek and defeat 4 powerful souls because lifting your foot a bit was too hard. or the trek from Heide's to Wharf where you descend from sea level to a cave... at sea level. plenty other examples of that... and Iron Keep really looks way too gamey, the SuperMario comparison isn't out of place (Bowser included as an enemy). or the long, twisting, boring corridors connecting every 2 levels (or long elevator rides) to try and mask (unsuccessfully) loading screens.

 

[DragoFireheart]

...and Iron Keep really looks way too gamey, the SuperMario comparison isn't out of place (Bowser included as an enemy).

If you say this enough times someone is going to make a youtube video of Iron Keep with 8-bit Super Mario music. The Internet listens...

 

[Shadenuat]

I don't really see how, say, Undead Burg, makes any more sense as a place people would actually live in than, say, No Man's Wharf. Or how 3-1 in DeS makes any more sense as a prison than Lost Bastille. Souls level design was always a bit abstract, and functional before realistic. Grand majority of environments in these games don't make much sense when you start thinking about it, they just look cool and play well.

So, again, I think this is a complaint about aesthetics by people who don't know what they truly dislike.

You're on an edge of making "it's all fantasy" argument. The reason why people didn't mind Lava level after Poison level in DS1 but can't get their heads around it in DS2 are not hard to understand, it's lack of connectivity and nonsensical geography in DS2. The lore plays a large part in it too, it's one thing to hear about Witches of Izalith somewhere in the movie and read about it, and then get to Izalith; or just take an elevator to a pit of magma with Diablo-juniour guarding his Diablo-dad. And whole DS2 is like that, it's a set of poorly connected vignettes which you remember because they have little photos in bonfire teleporting screen. In DS1 to get to a forest of trees holding the world you have to get deep into underground and climb down one of the trees itself; in DS2 that level would probably greet you after you have taken another elevator from some castle... hell, a thing like that does happen at some point, trying to mimic that feeling from DS1 with a well placed moment of silence and peace, but kinda fails because there are a ton of monsters and a boss around who punish you relentlessly.

I know a lot of people really like the universe and games and I don't want to shit on your happiness of getting another one, but why play Sawyer and tell people that they themselves don't know what they actually like or dislike? There's a lot of nonsensical stuff and odd little design decisions which together don't work that well. That video by a guy who, btw, also did a fairly good criticism of BioShock Infinite story, may be nitpicky, but many, if not all his points are valid.
Well except gender issues, cause nobody cares.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Spoiler

Velstadt is highly resistant to dark magic so it's not too much of a stretch that he can cock-block Nashy. There's also the fact that you needed to go back in time to go get the Giant's Kinship to actually use the Throne. Nashy trying to beat you after the fact shouldn't be surprising since it's Manus reborn just doing what Manus does best.

Emerald Herald I still have no fucking clue.

Spoiler

neither the TW nor TD are particularly resistant to dark [damage-wise from the stats of their equipment] and she could't defeat them, and Vel was obviously slightly corrupted by the Dark for being so long in the UC [look at his soul]. she could also go back in time if she got the AMH from the ancient derper, i guess (unless there's a reason why the AMH would only work on humans or undead or cursed ones...

random side-thought: i guess Vendick somehow "consumed" his copy of the giant's kinship [it is, after all, very likely what he used to build and command the golems to construct the castle etc] and that's why he became giant?

anyway, it just doesn't make sense for Nash to attack the one undead who bested and defeated all the foes she could not. again, unless i'm missing something, it's just way too "hollywood villain chaotic stupid". and again, why didn't King Ven of Dicks just off her by himself [he's obviously capable] or order his collective of goons to do it for him [again, they're obviously strong enough... imagine a gangbang of Vel, TW, TD and the Mirror knight... she wouldn't stand a chance]

Spoiler

Well if you'll note when you fight Nashy she utilizes cursing spirits that turn you Hollow. For someone with the Dark Sign already it's not a big deal but maybe Vendrick feared going Hollow and losing to her. As for going back in time, she couldn't reach the Ancient Dragon in the first place since Vendrick locked himself away. Maybe Nashy though she was strong enough to defeat the CHOSEN UNDEAD.

Spoiler

It seems Nash can't do these things herself because the Throne only accepts "the Heir", so she needs to kill you then and there. Another thing to consider is that it seems Vendrick himself wasn't really that much hot shit given how he didn't beat back the giant invasion, and so it might be that his only way to stop Nah from unleashing the Dark was to somehow invalidate himself as someone who can sit on the Throne by severing his own Soul and hiding in the bottom of the Crypt afterwards. Nashandra hasn't found the Soul, but urges you to kill the King hoping that'd lead you to the Soul and that the Soul itself would be the answer to why the Throne of Want doesn't work for her, though it becomes evident it is not the Soul that's the key to it.

One neat theory I heard was that the player character is actually literally Vendrick's and Nashandra's heir, since it's the only thing that could explain the woman whose face melts away as she's holding the baby in the opening cinematic. Due to gender option it means the woman can't be a reference to a wife, but it can refer to a mother. Further ahead you might notice why I think this makes an awful lot of sense.

The elephant in the room is Aldia though. Aldia is clearly the guy who made it possible for Vendrick to foil Nash by severing himself off his own Soul, and was probably responsible for lots of other things. But most importantly Aldia is the one who enables the Cursed to travel backwards in time by passing the Ashen Mist Heart of a long-dead dragon to the Cursed in an elaborate stage. One thing I personally noted is that I don't think the Ancient Dragon is just a construct made with a Giant Soul. I think that's Aldia himself.

Which brings us to the Emerald Herald, she's said to be the last firekeeper. But she also reveals further details about herself, such as how she was born of dragons but created by men and given her name by The Dragon (Aldia). She's Aldia's creation, and was part of the original plan to stop Nash that ended in failure that necessitated Vendrick to sever his Soul because something was missing in the Emerald Herald that was necessary for the task of stopping Nashandra. But she's still helping Aldia with his new back-up plan involving the Cursed, as she was the one who directed the Cursed to Drangleic with the projection of an old hag. Now Aldia is hedging his bets for stopping the Dark completely on the Cursed, and uses the Emerald Herald and himself to direct the Cursed on a fabricated Heroic Quest to make him strong enough to confront and defeat Nashandra. The hunt for the reincarnations of the Lord Souls, all that's just to pump you up for the real job of using the Ashen Heart Mist and facing Nashandra (hence why those 8 fights are mandatory). But the key difference to DaS1 here is that it seems Aldia has no sinister motivations at all, he's out only to make sure that the world is saved from the Dark and the new beginning for everything (that's another thing almost everyone talks about to you).

 

[Angthoron]

So um bros, I'm totally new to the series, planning to give this a whirl and die a bunch.

Any recommendations for a starting player (with kb+m, no less) to avoid the most retarded pitfalls? Like, what'd be a solid starting character/gift for a beginner, or whatever of relevance? Consumables and such that I should be using instead of hoarding? The interface isn't the most informative in the world, at a glance, so, yeah. Would appreciate a bro-tip or two.