From Software The Dark Souls II Megathread™

[Vaarna_Aarne]

I have not played NG+ but I have heard that some enemies have a few extra attacks is that true?

I have heard this but I can't confirm or deny it.

First I've noticed so far in terms of changes (besides extra black phantom variants in addition to normal enemies) is Lost Sinner being assisted by two pyromancers that cast Flame Swathe (at least two per pyromancer, didn't let them live for more) and various fireballs.

 

[Shadenuat]

What I don't understand if why bosses in DS2 feel so...straightforward

There are just too many goddamn knights and variations on knights. And the first part of the game is full of them, and they can't hit you for hell, many have AI which even gets stuck sometimes on one place or doesn't know what to do. I even had Najka stuck behind pillar once walking on one spot, doing nothing for half a minute, eating my magic missiles.
Replaying game as a paladin now, like I did in DS1, and it feels that melee with shield is even easier than magic. Also, so many enemies seem vulnerable to lightning. And lightning spell which I decided to get for once unlike DS1 to kill archers and other annoying stuff is godly. Compared to shitty magic missiles, it destroys enemies. Seven shots with Faith just to be able to cast it kills Pursuer for example, and you get 11 in the beginning.

Eh, I like Faith builds, so friendly and allow for calm exploration by forgiving mistakes. This time I found Gargoyles for example, who I think are the most tense boss fight up to Lost Sinner. Also nice to know there are some ways of using torch, even if they are scripted.

Lost Sinner being assisted by two pyromancers

Throwing more bodies on player seems like game's favorite way to ramp up the difficulty.

 

[Invictus]

A case could be made that since this is an age of man mostly most of the enemies would be humanoid...but I call bullshit on that myself
Bossess like the congregation are fine; they are more like mini bosses warming us up for bigger monsters but still kind of disaspointing

 

[Shadenuat]

Stylistically Congregation is an interesting idea, it's like walking into a cathedral in Diablo. But they could be so much more if developers allowed themselves to be more imaginative. Like, I would make multiple priests doing a ritual to summon a demon, with zombies trying to hold the player. So you either kill them quickly or have to deal with second powerful boss. Something like that, you know, with a story behind it.
But they're just a bunch of spellcasters and zombies stuck in one room...

 

[Jaedar]

So I finished the game. Shit makes no sense and doesn't even explain anything. And the final boss was shit, but at least it wasn't a big dude with a big weapon so at least there's that.

Spoiler

So apparently nashandra is Manus and she wants the throne of want, whatever that is. Also the giants invaded drangleic(whose king is a giant, but not that kind) because the king stole something from them, but its never said what. Then when you kill the giants king in a memory you get their kinship for some reason, which makes the dead/golemed giants make a bridge for you to the throne room... because.

Oh and the emerald chick has a name and was named by dragons because she was made by someone to break fate but it didn't work.

Oh and in the final cutscene it mentions a choice but right after cutscene it skips right to credits so there is no choice.

Wot a fucking mess.

It took me 30 hours to finish the game, but it felt like a lot more. For comparison, it usually takes me 50 hours to beat the ds1, but its never felt like more than 20.

 

[Murk]

Huh, so I'm not the only one who has no idea wtf the motivation/plot is?

Faith build is definitely easy as piss. At level 97 I refuse to use shields or heavy armor (keeping my load below 30%) simply to give me a challenge (and to to learn to dodge-roll). Parrying while two-handing a weapon is butts but shields are too easy I'm finding.

Shit just kind of... doesn't make sense. I don't know WHY anything is happening.

People bitch about DS 1 having no direction but the game clearly gives you a fucking goal every time. "go get the bell; also there are two bells -- one above and one below" then after "go through sens to anor londo, get the soul vessel; kill and fill the soul vessels -- they are assholes anyway; ok now go light flames like gwyn also gwyn lol"

Not much but enough that you knew WHAT to do and WHY you were doing it. Here... umm... go see the king. I honestly thought the King was an NPC I was supposed to find, so far I am 20 hours in and no King. I did however kill damn near everything and wen through some neat and some dumb areas.

And what the fuck is up with that misty forest? is it seriously just an arbitrary game of hide and go seek with invisible rogues? I got (I think) all the treasure + vengarl (sp?) but that area did not need to exist, at all.

Edit: I am bitching but the game IS fun. I am looking forward to making a dex char and then a heavy weapons str char. I also like that armor has secondary bonus effects so it's not always a case of poise poise poise.

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

I hate it when I press L3 for jump, but my char doesn't jump and instead falls down. I swear I'm dying more from delayed jumping than dying properly. Also, a Hutt, a Medusa and a Rat walk into a bar...

Wtf, shittiest bosses ever.

I still love the game though, but it can't hold a candle to DaS1 due to inferior leveldesign.

 

[DragoFireheart]

but it can't hold a candle to DaS1 due to inferior leveldesign.

Makes you wonder if a whole new team made this game.

 

[UndetectedButthurt]

I hate it when I press L3 for jump, but my char doesn't jump and instead falls down. I swear I'm dying more from delayed jumping than dying properly. Also, a Hutt, a Medusa and a Rat walk into a bar...

Wtf, shittiest bosses ever.

I still love the game though, but it can't hold a candle to DaS1 due to inferior leveldesign.

Just change jump back to DS1 button in options.

 

[Hobo Elf]

What I don't understand if why bosses in DS2 feel so...straightforward

To me the feeling comes from the fact that the bosses are waiting for you in conveniently placed arenas. You see a fog gate and you can pretty much expect what will happen next: you enter and duel the boss to the death and move on. Executioner's Chariot is a neat boss because it's a race to the other side of the building while fighting against skeletons, necromancers and avoiding the actual Executioner. Gwyndolin is neat too because you have to haul ass in a infinitely looping corridor while avoiding his magical attacks. They at least inspire some level of creativity without losing credibility of being a proper boss fight like the gimmicky pieces of shit that are Bed of Chaos and the Dragon God. Of course these aren't the norm but DaS had less boss fights so you weren't hit by boss fatigue, I suppose.

 

[Yaar Podshipnik]

Fuck Belfry Luna, fuck the little dwarf dudes going for your knees, and fuck the asshole gargoyles.

 

[Perkel]

Fucking Great

I started new char, played for 3 hours got into Sun Convenant, then i helped people near that pharos or something halbard boss got like 10 sunlight medals.

Then i thought well lets just kill old dragon slayer and get those miracles. Then i got invaded by some dark spirit clown. Quick fight and i get almost 800k souls just like that.... souls which could get me from lvl 35 to almost 135.. So i jump of clif two times te get rid of that shit and guess what. I still have it in my souls counter. Which means that instead fucking 20 signs on ground to get help now there is like 1 or 2.

Wasn't that supposed to be lvl req not souls got req ?


And fucking devs should fix that shit with dark spirits which hoard shit ton of souls because devs don't give a shit about game balance...

 

[aris]

What I don't understand if why bosses in DS2 feel so...straightforward
They have 2 standard attacks, one closing in attack or jump and an AoE
Bosses like Vendrick are more annoying and stressful than challenging; I mean 20 minutes battles where you can die in one mistake? What makes things worse is that besides O&S the best bosses from the Dark Souls games were the bosses from the DLC; they had the most distinctive movesets yet with great FUN and challenging fights
I have not played NG+ but I have heard that some enemies have a few extra attacks is that true?

They made great improvements to the trash mobs though. In DS1 most of the time, the only challenge was taking on the bosses. In DS2, the whole game is a challenge.

 

[aris]

Fucking Great

I started new char, played for 3 hours got into Sun Convenant, then i helped people near that pharos or something halbard boss got like 10 sunlight medals.

Then i thought well lets just kill old dragon slayer and get those miracles. Then i got invaded by some dark spirit clown. Quick fight and i get almost 800k souls just like that.... souls which could get me from lvl 35 to almost 135.. So i jump of clif two times te get rid of that shit and guess what. I still have it in my souls counter. Which means that instead fucking 20 signs on ground to get help now there is like 1 or 2.

Wasn't that supposed to be lvl req not souls got req ?


And fucking devs should fix that shit with dark spirits which hoard shit ton of souls because devs don't give a shit about game balance...

800k souls? WTF? And why the hell did you try to get rid of them. All souls that you have ever gained, lost or spent are kept in your soul memory.

By the way, is it just me, or is summoning pretty much dead once you reach NG+? Waited for 5 minutes. Admittedly not long, but in normal, it took seconds to get summoned

 

[Cowboy Moment]

I think the bosses are just a bit too samey, too many humanoid-sized dudes swinging large, heavy weapons. A lot of them are also very plain looking - Last Giant and Iron Golem are basically the same bossfight, for example, but the latter looks cool and imposing as hell (and you also fight him on a relatively small platform, which makes it somewhat more challenging). It's kind if a pity, really, as for example the Sentinels seemed quite interesting - they have a good variety of attacks (the shield throw in particular is very cool, pity they don't use it more often), and the small room with no safe spots forces the player to be careful about healing and casting; however, they look really dull. When DS1 did humanoid boss fights, it went to great lengths to give them a sense of gravitas and tension through their aesthetics. This is why Artorias, who is mechanically much simpler than Sentinels, feels a lot more fun and tense in practice.

That said, Belfry Gargoyles are great. Again, they kinda look like crap (least intimidating gargoyle design ever, and this after DS1 Gargs and Maneater, ffs From), but this kind of bossfight, which demands the player to be active and take risks rather than strafing around, waiting for the perfectly safe opening, is what Souls games need more of.

Also, Skeleton Lords was quite cool and unusual for Souls, even though it was also quite easy. I wonder how it is on NG+...

Edit: About trash mobs, fuck the purgatory guardians. And in particular fuck that greatsword-wielding phantom in front of the Purgatory gate.

 

[meanwhileInPoland]

What I don't understand if why bosses in DS2 feel so...straightforward
They have 2 standard attacks, one closing in attack or jump and an AoE
Bosses like Vendrick are more annoying and stressful than challenging; I mean 20 minutes battles where you can die in one mistake? What makes things worse is that besides O&S the best bosses from the Dark Souls games were the bosses from the DLC; they had the most distinctive movesets yet with great FUN and challenging fights
I have not played NG+ but I have heard that some enemies have a few extra attacks is that true?

They made great improvements to the trash mobs though. In DS1 most of the time, the only challenge was taking on the bosses. In DS2, the whole game is a challenge.

in Ds1 Silver/Black Knights were parry school for noobs. yet in DS2 people bitch because mobs are more unpredictable and have more versatile and fast attacks and finally your stats and shields make difference in parrying.

inb4 infinite stamina Dragonkeeper faggots from Dragon Shrine and their 8 hits combo bullshit in melee i have never managed to kill one without getting tagged once...

Also, Skeleton Lords was quite cool and unusual for Souls, even though it was also quite easy. I wonder how it is on NG+...

the same shit at least as a mage/hexer/lighting spammer. i always kill them second time with bonfire ascetic in my ng run for that awesome ring they drop.

 

[Perkel]

Yeah, i got rid of that shit because it is fucking cheat.

I just started game with new char trying to see how i will be playing with miracle based char, 4 hours in i get so much souls that this render my playtr meaningless

 

[Murk]

Oh man, Skeleton Lord. Ok, so I inadvertently blasted that fight apart. I had seen this in a preview video and so I knew that bonewheels cometh.

So, about 2 light bolts per lord/mage... and I knew there was an army of them. I was paranoid of getting gang raped so I kept moving around only to realize... they... kind of just... didn't really give much threat. Yeah, a bonewheel would roll now and again but mostly I could just walk away/roll away.

So, I stood behind a pillar for a moment of respite and spammed 2-3 castings of the "random lightning strike" spell.. uhh heavenly thunder? I forget the name now.

Nearly wiped them all out. Then I meleed the remaining 4 or so. I was... honestly afraid for that fight. And then it was easy as fuck. Congregation? That wasn't a fucking boss that was just a trap/ambush room.

 

[UndetectedButthurt]

Congregation is dangerous the first time when you don't realize that 2 lightning bolts are coming to rape you.

 

[Murk]

I had more trouble with the spider room when one JUMPED ON MY FACE AND RAPED IT TO DEATH.

Fucking spiders.

Dear Freja was a pretty cool fight. I did it alone and had a frantic pace of outrunning the little spiders and trying to smack its head-butt. That was pretty cool and was slightly gimmicky but different enough. If not for the little spiders it would be too easy, they added a bit of "keep dodging" pace -- I was looking forward to the giant rat for that reason and then toxic and then I QQd =(

Also, fuck that Doors of Pharros area. My desire for completionism is overpowering with thoughts like, "WHAT IF THERE'S THE CAST SPEED +2 RING IN THERE!??"

Also, I guess the Rat King covenant works in that area too? I got invaded by some grey shade (rather, I was summoned to his world). He died. I got a lockstone for it. P dope; guess I can try to farm them that way.

So far nobody wants the help of Urric Dajusss (retardo version of Ulric the Just) or I am not human for long enough.

 

[Cowboy Moment]

On an unrelated note, I can't for the life of me understand people who apparently played the previous Souls games, decided to roll a caster in DS2, and are now complaining that the game is too easy (although apparently the balance of power was flipped, and miracles are now overpowered, while sorcery is shit).

I mean, I've seen some absolute halfwits one or twoshot O&S on their first playthrough, because they just happened to pick sorcery and actually found Logan in Sen's. Lots of "difficult" stuff in Souls games can be trivialized through casual use of ranged weapons in general, as well. If challenge is what you're after, roll a melee character. I have no faith whatsoever in From ever balancing ranged combat properly in these games.

The ones who complain about challenge while at the same time admitting to summoning help constantly (I really should stop reading neogaf...) I don't even have words for.

 

[meanwhileInPoland]

On an unrelated note, I can't for the life of me understand people who apparently played the previous Souls games, decided to roll a caster in DS2, and are now complaining that the game is too easy (although apparently the balance of power was flipped, and miracles are now overpowered, while sorcery is shit).

I mean, I've seen some absolute halfwits one or twoshot O&S on their first playthrough, because they just happened to pick sorcery and actually found Logan in Sen's. Lots of "difficult" stuff in Souls games can be trivialized through casual use of ranged weapons in general, as well. If challenge is what you're after, roll a melee character. I have no faith whatsoever in From ever balancing ranged combat properly in these games.

The ones who complain about challenge while at the same time admitting to summoning help constantly (I really should stop reading neogaf...) I don't even have words for.

i played Des after DS1 , rolled royalty, spammed magic shit and beat the game in 11hours without any wiki shit knowledge and in boss fights died only to t.knight and maneaters than i played pure melee and ohh boy that was fucking different especially when aiming for pure black tendency and fighting those fucking black phantoms.
SCIRVVVVVIIIRRRRRR , SELEEEEENNAAAAA, SATSUUUUUKIIIIII

 

[Shadenuat]

To me the feeling comes from the fact that the bosses are waiting for you in conveniently placed arenas.

Game worlds always benefit greatly from creatures living in their natural habitat, and I think DS1 took a few hints from games like Shadow of the Colossus, hinting their existance or even making them NPCs, like say Priscilla--
ooh, Priscilla
...

(drools)

Even Kalameet successor has a huge flat empty arena...

On an unrelated note, I can't for the life of me understand people who apparently played the previous Souls games, decided to roll a caster in DS2, and are now complaining that the game is too easy

Well one might hope developers will improve on balance between various types of play, but I think the only improvement was shield of a Glass Knight

 

[toro]

I just beat the shit out of the Smelter boss after dying like a retard for 20-30 times ... don't play this game if you are tired. I melee him with Bastard Sword +10 and it was like old good times of DaS1

 

[Kanedias]

The game does have lore and story and it does make sense but it's not really explained to you in any way (this is the least accessible of the three games). Like I said before, Dark Souls 1 always had Oscar and Frampt to guide you and give you direction (even if what they said wasn't the whole truth) and then if you were interested in the lore you could research more and start finding out new things.

This game doesn't have an Oscar or Frampt equivalent because the Emerald Herald is completely useless, the closest thing you get is Shalquoir.

I can try to explain some stuff about the story if anyone wants.