From Software The Dark Souls II Megathread™

[DragoFireheart]

And my initial complaint was the incredible cowardly behaviour of the majority of the invaders I've faced.

So go blue and hunt the scum?

Spoiler

I mean click that Unable to find world prompt furiously

Btw, they don't exactly get a view of your run and pinpoint the place and time to gank you...

Go to NG+ and use a Blue Orb.

Should get a hit within 5 seconds.

 

[Cowboy Moment]

So, I'm at Drangleic Castle. Pretty cool place, somewhat reminiscent of dark Anor Londo. Having to kill dudes close to those sacrificial bowls in order to activate stuff is cool, and that room with all the doors letting out Ruin Sentinels is kinda nasty. Dragonriders was really easy though, and not at all comparable to O&S.

Also, From seems to be continuing the tradition of having somewhat disappointing "checklist" bosses (although they're still better than the Lord Souls bosses in DaS1).

Lost Sinner is allright, and not having the lights on certainly made her noticably harder. However, it feels like she should do about twice as much damage with the moveset she has. Or maybe that was me fighting her at too high of an SL.

The Rotten is kinda unremarkable. He's basically Nito with a bunch of more threatening attacks. I did appreciate the flame patches forcing you to consider your position, rather than rolling around like a retard. I did find myself consciously "repositioning" him every now and again, which is something I don't think I've ever done for a Souls boss.

Old Iron King is pretty bad, easy turret diablo. Maybe he's meant to be a reward for getting through Iron Keep, which was a pretty challenging area for me. And I suppose he's somewhat harder if you're a genius like me and don't see the ladder leading up to the second bonfire.

Freja was quite refreshing, although the winning tactic of baiting the laser and running to the other head is disappointingly simple. Kudos for recycling Armored Spider into a decent bossfight, would not have thought it possible. Nice troll with Vengarl's body guarding the bonfire, I actually lost the ~50k souls there - he killed me after a brainfart with the Zweihander's R2 combo (the second swing is 100% useless), I ran back, and consequently found out that two enemies falling directly on my head is enough to instakill me from full health. Incidentally, fuck those white mages. Whoever designed that one crevice with four of them at different (and not easily accessible) levels is an asshole, and needs to design more areas.

 

[Shadenuat]

The only interesting and mysterious boss in game and you have limited tries to fight with him. And I'm all out of stuff because of Havels+Dragontooth retard in first "dungeon". Come on game, I want to play with you finally! Arghhhh
don't make me go and murder all NPCs in game for HE drops

 

[aris]

And my initial complaint was the incredible cowardly behaviour of the majority of the invaders I've faced.

So go blue and hunt the scum?

Spoiler

I mean click that Unable to find world prompt furiously

Btw, they don't exactly get a view of your run and pinpoint the place and time to gank you...

Go to NG+ and use a Blue Orb.

Should get a hit within 5 seconds.

Is it considered a sin to invade like this? Logically it shouldn't be.

 

[DragoFireheart]

And my initial complaint was the incredible cowardly behaviour of the majority of the invaders I've faced.

So go blue and hunt the scum?

Spoiler

I mean click that Unable to find world prompt furiously

Btw, they don't exactly get a view of your run and pinpoint the place and time to gank you...

Go to NG+ and use a Blue Orb.

Should get a hit within 5 seconds.

Is it considered a sin to invade like this? Logically it shouldn't be.

Nope. Punishing sinners is not sinful.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Incidentally, fuck those white mages. Whoever designed that one crevice with four of them at different (and not easily accessible) levels is an asshole, and needs to design more areas.

Oh don't worry, I'm sure he designed the shrine of amana. Fuck that place. SO MUCH.

 

[DragoFireheart]

Incidentally, fuck those white mages. Whoever designed that one crevice with four of them at different (and not easily accessible) levels is an asshole, and needs to design more areas.

Oh don't worry, I'm sure he designed the shrine of amana. Fuck that place. SO MUCH.

Amanda Homing Missiles!

 

[aris]

So, I'm at Drangleic Castle. Pretty cool place, somewhat reminiscent of dark Anor Londo. Having to kill dudes close to those sacrificial bowls in order to activate stuff is cool, and that room with all the doors letting out Ruin Sentinels is kinda nasty. Dragonriders was really easy though, and not at all comparable to O&S.

Also, From seems to be continuing the tradition of having somewhat disappointing "checklist" bosses (although they're still better than the Lord Souls bosses in DaS1).

I must say rehash of bosses/similar looking bosses isn't really something new. Two of the bosses in DS1 were just slight reskins of the asylum demon, with an extra ability and MOAR HP AND DAMAGE, and the asylum demon itself was just a slight redesign of the first boss you encounter in demon's souls. Overall, I think gameplay wise they did the bosses far better overall in DS2 than DS1.

 

[Admiral jimbob]

Old Iron King is pretty bad, easy turret diablo. Maybe he's meant to be a reward for getting through Iron Keep, which was a pretty challenging area for me. And I suppose he's somewhat harder if you're a genius like me and don't see the ladder leading up to the second bonfire.

Well, I think Smelter Demon is supposed to be the demon that rose up and killed/possessed the king, turning him into OIK. So after beating Smelter Demon, OIK being a pushover is canon!

 

[DragoFireheart]

So, I'm at Drangleic Castle. Pretty cool place, somewhat reminiscent of dark Anor Londo. Having to kill dudes close to those sacrificial bowls in order to activate stuff is cool, and that room with all the doors letting out Ruin Sentinels is kinda nasty. Dragonriders was really easy though, and not at all comparable to O&S.

Also, From seems to be continuing the tradition of having somewhat disappointing "checklist" bosses (although they're still better than the Lord Souls bosses in DaS1).

I must say rehash of bosses isn't really something new. Two of the bosses in DS1 were just slight reskins of the asylum demon, with an extra ability and MOAR HP AND DAMAGE, and the asylum demon itself was just a slight redesign of the first boss you encounter in demon's souls.

Which was just a re-design of a King's Field boss.

Probably.

 

[Shadenuat]

At least one of Asylum demon clones was optional, while in DS2 you can't walk around the corner not to be met by some idiot in armor who wants to either smack you with a sword or stab with a spear. Even bosses and scorpions and nagas love swords and spears. I'm surprised dragons don't wield them. Can't at least one of them get I dunno, a bow?..
oh wait

 

[DragoFireheart]

At least one of Asylum demon clones was optional, while in DS2 you can't walk around the corner not to be met by some idiot in armor who want to either smack you with a sword or stab with a spear. Even bosses love swords and spears. Can't at least one of them get I dunno, a bow?..
oh wait

 

[Cowboy Moment]

At least one of Asylum demon clones was optional, while in DS2 you can't walk around the corner not to be met by some idiot in armor who wants to either smack you with a sword or stab with a spear. Even bosses and scorpions and nagas love swords and spears. I'm surprised dragons don't wield them. Can't at least one of them get I dunno, a bow?..
oh wait

Yeah, they need more fat dudes with hammers.

 

[DragoFireheart]

At least one of Asylum demon clones was optional, while in DS2 you can't walk around the corner not to be met by some idiot in armor who wants to either smack you with a sword or stab with a spear. Even bosses and scorpions and nagas love swords and spears. I'm surprised dragons don't wield them. Can't at least one of them get I dunno, a bow?..
oh wait

Yeah, they need more fat dudes with hammers.

Drakekeepers say hi.

 

[Damned Registrations]

At least one of Asylum demon clones was optional, while in DS2 you can't walk around the corner not to be met by some idiot in armor who wants to either smack you with a sword or stab with a spear. Even bosses and scorpions and nagas love swords and spears. I'm surprised dragons don't wield them. Can't at least one of them get I dunno, a bow?..
oh wait

As opposed to the 3 stray demons, taurus demon, capra demon, quelaag, 4 kings, artorias, manus, and a fucking DOG. And like half a dozen more.

Seriously who didn't have some big smashy/slashy weapon in dark souls? Gaping dragon, seath, bed of chaos? Oh and the guardian. 4 bosses out of like 20. Gwyndolin too I guess.

 

[Murk]

Ceaseless Discharge, Kalameet, and I guess Manus "had a weapon" but he used his hands + magic. I wouldn't call him a one trick pony but he still had the staff.

+ Pinwheel (lol) and Centipede.

 

[Shadenuat]

Point is, bosses in DS1 were more grotesque, and so more interesting to look at and fight with.

 

[Kanedias]

I have been very busy lately and I may still be busy tomorrow, so I didn't get to write the stuff about lore that I intended to write here, I'll probably do so it soon, though.

Anyways this is another post about this game's geography and my theories that the game started development with an area layout similar to Dark Souls 1, and that they changed their mind mid-development for some reason, which resulted in the more fragmented sense of geography that this game now has.

The I Am Undone trailer was released 10 months ago and includes the following shot



Credit here goes to HellkiteDrake, who found that this was actually the Lost Bastille and took a similar shot in-game.



I actually prefer the atmosphere in the second picture, but it's really interesting to note how the lighting and decorations of the first shot match the Forest of Fallen Giants (the overall color palette, the roots). This leads me to believe that originally the Lost Bastille was going to be directly linked to the Forest, and that's why they have matching designs (by directly linked I mean that the areas were positioned next to each other in the world layout and you could walk from one area to the other)

In the final game, the Bastille is only accessible by "warping", either from the eagle's nest in the Forest of Fallen Giants, or taking the boat in No Man's Wharf, and it's another example of a geographical oddity (though not as obvious as the Earthen Peak - Iron Keep connection): the Lost Bastille is actually close to other locations in-game, but completely invisible. I must cite another thing HellkiteDrake found and posted on his blog:

An issue with the world not lining up properly in Dark Souls II like it did in the first Dark Souls is what you’re seeing here.

I died in he Lost Bastille, and from Heide’s tower of Flame I can see my bloodstain.

The Lost Bastille should be right there, but it’s completely invisible.

Several area locations do not really make sense, as Emarrel shows on this video:



Like I said before, I'm pretty sure this is the result of a very big change in development we know nothing about. I can't say why they'd change it, but it's very likely that they were building the game in a similar way as Dark Souls 1 and then they decided to change this, some areas they were already working on were moved to other locations, like the Lost Bastille or the Iron Keep. I explained why I think the Iron Keep was also moved in a previous post, I don't remember on what page it is so I'll link my thread on the wiki forums:

Iron Keep's Geography

As always, I don't have solid proof, but I find that this theory makes a lot of sense.

I found more proof about the Lost Bastille being moved mid-development and it not belonging on the spot it occupies now.

 

[Murk]

But that (being grotesque) was never the end-goal itself =(

I agree with those, basically summed up, think the first game had better direction, cohesion, internal consistency, and better "fluff" all around -- whether with item placement, boss design, location connectivity, or npc interaction.

The second games is still great and improves in some areas, but the overall experience is less magical.

 

[Cowboy Moment]

I'm planning to make a longer post about this once I actually finish the game, but my current feeling is that it's simply too big for its own good. To use Grunker's metaphor, DaS2 has more butter than DaS1, but it's also spread over more bread, and the overall experience feels "thinner". For instance, the bosses are significantly more varied overall, but there are so many, that they only get at most one "good idea", and generally have somewhat limited movesets.

 

[abija]

Incidentally, fuck those white mages. Whoever designed that one crevice with four of them at different (and not easily accessible) levels is an asshole, and needs to design more areas.

Oh don't worry, I'm sure he designed the shrine of amana. Fuck that place. SO MUCH.

Spoiler

Was pretty cool when I lit a torch and all the underwater mobs swarmed at me

 

[praetor]

broken shit in PvP, episode #142:

backstep parry is "a thing". by pressing circle and L2 at the same time you pretty much "leave" the parry hitbox in front of you while enjoying the plentiful backstep i-frames... all the reward of the parry, with severely reduced risks. and it's piss-easy to pull off

 

[Stonewolf]

Yeah, seems like they had a lot of chaos going on during the production. Look at this announcement trailer



The entire game I was fucking expecting to finally encounter those guys in white masks, which look badass in the trailer, or have that fight on snowy peak with a dragon protecting his nest. I mean to do something memorable.

Turns out the white masks dudes got turned into filler content in Huntsman Copse, and it took me a bit of research to even realize that those trash mobs in the Copse actually are those guys I was looking forward to. And the dragon, well, got cut/turned into Ancient Dragon garbage with the entire location altogether.

 

[Shadenuat]

Eh, for me there wasn't anything memorable in DS2, I'd say the only place where I felt genuine emotion was underground shrine with Demon of Song. The secret of a song you hear, and singers slowly turning undead, and the cage in a castle were all good. And boss was what I'd call a boss with an idea, not just a checkpoint.
Bonus points for me almost falling from my chair after

Spoiler

you unlock singer's cage with a key and "touch" her and she just fades away, but when you go back to elevator and ride down suddenly the song starts again with more real voice, like she's behind your shoulder

 

[aris]

Wait is black seperation crystal a reusable item, like the white soap stone? I thought it was single use, but I've only found one in the entire game.

Also, if I use it, do anybody know if it adds to this hidden counter, that if high enough, makes me unable to coop, but still make me invadable?

Also I joined blue bros, now how do I use the blue stone? I even equipped the ring, and it's still grayed out. And before you ask, yes, I am in a zone where PVP is possible.