From Software The Dark Souls II Megathread™

[abija]

I only need g-l-spear to throw at people who cast soul/dark geysers/pyromancies all the time, heal, throw bombs or dick around with ranged weapons. And isn't there that blue ring with faster cast rate?

They'll hit you and have time to avoid the spears.

 

[AngryEddy]

Syan's Halberd says hello. Faster, longer and wonkier poke hitbox than any lance. You can poke people in mid-rolls 90 degress from you. You can't parry it either. Make sure you powerstance it with Helix halberd for ~1k pokes. GG!

Just tried this exact build because of this post, against some idiot wearing dragonrider armor, and was only hitting for 600 damage with both weapons connecting, and being fully upgraded, and having Ring of Blades +2. The suggestion I made earlier is much better than this.

 

[UndetectedButthurt]

The idea is to combine your best hitting halberd with mundane/infused+buffed helix halberd and make sure both are buffed + leo ring. Syan's halberd is much more efficient on its own because of the attack speed/reach/hitbox.

 

[UndetectedButthurt]

Oh and similar to sword/barbed club combo - I had a guy infinite stunlock me with two crescent dragonslayer axes. L1, R1, L1, R1 etc. He didn't seem to have too much stamina but it was enough for half of my health.

 

[Shadenuat]

Finished farming sun covenant on Najka. Felt like

Sun sword has a nice move set. Like Varangian but with poke. I'd want that but with better scaling...

 

[DragoFireheart]

Syan's Halberd says hello. Faster, longer and wonkier poke hitbox than any lance. You can poke people in mid-rolls 90 degress from you. You can't parry it either. Make sure you powerstance it with Helix halberd for ~1k pokes. GG!

Just tried this exact build because of this post, against some idiot wearing dragonrider armor, and was only hitting for 600 damage with both weapons connecting, and being fully upgraded, and having Ring of Blades +2. The suggestion I made earlier is much better than this.

I find it odd that for someone that thinks Dark Souls 2 is shit that you are still playing it (never mind playing it at all).

 

[Drakron]

I find it odd that for someone that thinks Dark Souls 2 is shit that you are still playing it (never mind playing it at all).

Well this is the RPG Codex but hole

 

[Murk]

Met a few running spammers with grand lance; IMO they are very easy to avoid provided you don't take the bait and let them run you down.

Buffed weapons are mega retarded tho. I was PVPing with my standard rapier on a light armor guy and I would get like 6-7 hits in, taking them down to about 20% hp or so and then I'd get 2 shotted with a resonant weapon.

EDIT: I was under the impression Eddy thought the game was OK but inferior to the first and a product of decline due to outright lies and really bad design decisions that cause as many problems as they fix.

But whatever.

 

[Zeriel]

I find it odd that for someone that thinks Dark Souls 2 is shit that you are still playing it (never mind playing it at all).

Well this is the RPG Codex but hole

Therefore, all is well.

 

[AngryEddy]

EDIT: I was under the impression Eddy thought the game was *shit and inferior to the first and a product of decline due to outright lies and really bad design decisions that cause as many problems as they fix.

*Just a quick fix for you

 

[Murk]

And here I am trying to walk the middle ground for you.

 

[Edward_R_Murrow]

Soul Memory really sucks.

Been in the 15M+ Soul Memory bracket with a few characters and the matchmaking for Red/Blue invasions (both hosting and visiting), arenas, and RSS/Dragon Signs has become a real crapshoot. Too many total mismatches, wherein my SL125/150 character is pitted against one, or more, SL400+ characters that are a real chore to fight. Trouncing someone relying on a "broken", but one-dimensional, tactic (e.g. Monastery Scimitar, Greatsword/Lance Stunlock) isn't impossible when you are on even Soul Level footing. But when the opponent can gouge VIG/VIT/END/ADP, it becomes far harder.

Lots of my matches seem damn near unwinnable; I'm playing at a pretty high level, but my margin for error is extremely thin, whereas the opposition can afford to make many, otherwise grievous, mistakes. Taking down Hex, Avelyn, Buff, Spin-To-Win, Monastery Scimitar, or any other kind of spammer is within the realm of possibility when Soul Levels are somewhat even. But when they can attack with all of those strategies, fast roll with 14+ i-frames, pack 3000+ HP, and 1.5x the amount of stamina your SL150 has...it's brutal.

I've abandoned most of the "built-in" PvP and gone solely to fight clubs on my high Soul Memory characters. Kinda sad, seeing as the PvP in this game is much better than DkS1 (and leagues better than the SPS PvP of DeS), but much more of a pain in the ass to make the most of.

 

[Murk]

I am curious if they could just implement a cross-check where you use both SM and SL to match-make? Surely it cannot be that difficult. Why wouldn't they do that in the first place? They obviously had to foresee low-level characters? Or to put in an in-game stop on soul acquisition? An obvious fix is a ring but they could also throw in an NPC who just stops you from getting souls until you enable it again.

Jesus look at this fucking SL370 shit: http://imgur.com/a/hFRD5#0

 

[praetor]

I am curious if they could just implement a cross-check where you use both SM and SL to match-make? Surely it cannot be that difficult. Why wouldn't they do that in the first place? They obviously had to foresee low-level characters? Or to put in an in-game stop on soul acquisition? An obvious fix is a ring but they could also throw in an NPC who just stops you from getting souls until you enable it again.

Jesus look at this fucking SL370 shit: http://imgur.com/a/hFRD5#0

since SM was only thought up to stop low-level twinks and loses every bit of purpose later, they could just make SM until you unlock the Shrine of Winter, and then matchmaking based purely on SL. it's so obvious it hurts (among the million other implementations that the average joe could cook up in 30 seconds that are leagues better than the current idiotic system)

 

[Murk]

The other thing I'm curious about is why not just fucking let there be low-level twinks? I realize it's a pain in the ass but so is it getting invaded by SL 120+ when I'm SL 12 or 1 and doing a low level run. It's not like they actually fixed the issue of "disproportionately strong" invasions.

Nevermind that you can beat people higher level than you with fucking GSR or some other broken ass shit. It boggles my mind that the fix is so badly thought out.

Unrelated thought not worth posting new post for:

I guess with the buy-out a proper/canon DLC is out of the question? I wonder if any patches will follow either.

 

[abija]

Let's say you have:
A) SL 135/150 guy with cherry picked items/spells and full upgrades vs SL 500 guy
B) same SL 135/150 guy vs SL 150 "regular joe discovering the game"
Matchup A should be fairer most of the time. They were right to drop SL only, it's quite terrible.

Should either implement a real match up system or maybe allow people to switch freely from SM to SL in game and match accordingly.

 

[Zetor]

Not all character types spend souls in the same distribution. If I understand correctly, a pure sorc upgrades a good scaling staff to +10 (until getting the ultimate staff near the end of the game, then +5ing that one) and buys a handful of spells, and that's it -- everything else goes into levelling int/atn and maybe survival stats, thus increasing SL a lot faster compared to a melee build that needs to upgrade armor/shields/multiple weapons.

 

[praetor]

Let's say you have:
A) SL 135/150 guy with cherry picked items/spells and full upgrades vs SL 500 guy
B) same SL 135/150 guy vs SL 150 "regular joe discovering the game"
Matchup A should be fairer most of the time. They were right to drop SL only, it's quite terrible.

Should either implement a real match up system or maybe allow people to switch freely from SM to SL in game and match accordingly.

no. you understand very little of the game and particularly PvP if you honestly think that A) is fairer. it's exactly the opposite. and you don't even need SL500. SL350 is more than enough to outclass pretty much all SL150. the difference in raw power between a SL150 and 300+ is enough that a mediocre SL 300+ player will win over a top one more often than lose. a SL300 has much more health, much, much more armour and still fast rolls, and he has all the spells and weapons at his disposal. that means all the cheesy OP stuff rolled into one character that can pull it off consistently and constantly since it requires very little skill. edit: and a regular joe at SL150 will have a pretty decent stat distribution since there is no "dump stat" any more, and he'll most certainly have at the very least least one weapon at +10 (but that's more "average scrub" than "average joe") and a shield, plus some decent armour (and possibly spells)

SM has all the problems of SL-only but it also adds many more (like, f.e. being pretty much out of the control of the player probably being the most important) that make matchmaking more than retarded, and the only thing it "solves" is low level twinks (but, funnily enough, it actually makes it worse when you take into consideration the MM and cheating). so yeah, SM is the worst matchmaking ruleset ever devised in the history of gaming

 

[abija]

A regular joe with decent stat distribution will get raped very consistently by someone with a proper pvp build (those usually manage to do shit tons of dmg even at SL 135/150).
High lvl gives higher defense and versatilty, damage doesn't go up that much. A good player has at least a fighting chance vs a high lvl mastodont.
Decent stat distribution with some weapon at +10 and upgraded shield/armor vs 50 vigor, resonant chaos blade and 1000ish dmg +2 fast cast GRS... that sure is balanced.

 

[fizzelopeguss]

wait a sec, did they seriously put some of the more revealing areas lore and story wise behind a time limit?

 

[praetor]

A regular joe with decent stat distribution will get raped very consistently by someone with a proper pvp build (those usually manage to do shit tons of dmg even at SL 135/150).
High lvl gives higher defense and versatilty, damage doesn't go up that much. A good player has at least a fighting chance vs a high lvl mastodont.
Decent stat distribution with some weapon at +10 and upgraded shield/armor vs 50 vigor, resonant chaos blade and 1000ish dmg +2 fast cast GRS... that sure is balanced.

are you being dense on purpose? why are you trying so hard to defend what is the shittiest new addition to a Souls game ever, the one thing that is unanimously hated with good reason?

your average joe will still be matched with dudes with "proper" pvp builds, and shittons of other cheesy builds that will one-two shot him. SM does not prevent that, quite the contrary because "the average joe" who spent half the souls that he earned because he lost the rest will consistently be matched with better players who lost nothing. and with SL based, your average joe by playing more and more and staying at the "accepted meta" after a point would encounter other players who are only better players, not ones who have effectively 3-4 times (if not more) the hitpoints (due to how defense works) and more damage with every weapon imaginable, every counter to everything that you have, plus shit for which you likely don't have counters at the ready, significantly more stamina that will allow him to both roll, block and swing more than you, and his stamina will likely regen faster.

try fighting at SL150 someone that's 200 or more SLs above you who sports havels + GMB (effectively almost nullifying elemental and physical damage. and they pretty much all wear it), can powerstance mundane avelyns, can spam GRS, affinity, bat fog, forbidden sun etc, and can use to the full potental all the weapons in the game while your swings barely scratch him. the difference is much bigger because of how defences work: the "regular joe" will still be able to do some decent damage vs a similarly levelled player, no matter how "pro" he is, while the "pro" will do a third of the damage to the overlevelled havelyn mage (who also has more actual health). oh, and unless you sacrifice 1-2 things considerably (or spice down GRS and RW), you won't be able to get both 50vig and be a good hexer. so yeah, don't be a fucking idiot

 

[AngryEddy]

And here I am trying to walk the middle ground for you.

 

[Murk]

wait a sec, did they seriously put some of the more revealing areas lore and story wise behind a time limit?

Huh? Which areas?

--------

Made a fisticuffs character; damn fun dual wielding. Surprsingly doable, too? With Stone-ring I imagine I could stun-lock quite a few chumps. Gonna keep it going. Made me think of a spess merengue build

Electric claws for the power-claw + fire avelyn (for the bolter, since they always fire incendiary rounds) and I'm leaning towards either the steel armor or the ironclad armor for that more terminatorish look. Unfortunately, no chain-fist or chain-blade similarities.

Syan's armor could also pass -- it is pretty ornate. The roundish aspects fit with the steel armor ("plasteel") and possibly smelter demon for a more chaos approach.

yeah i probably won't do any of that =(

 

[praetor]

Huh? Which areas?

Giant memories, i'd wager

 

[Spark Mandriller]

Let's say you have:
A) SL 135/150 guy with cherry picked items/spells and full upgrades vs SL 500 guy
B) same SL 135/150 guy vs SL 150 "regular joe discovering the game"
Matchup A should be fairer most of the time. They were right to drop SL only, it's quite terrible.

Soul memory is worthless for matchmaking. The way it counts souls spent on repairs/consumables/items that have stopped being used/just plain lost makes it totally pointless. They may as well just delete it and make matchups totally random, since if you take two different people with the same SM they'll probably be at a totally different power level anyway. You think a guy who rushes through the game being efficient is gonna be a fair fight for a guy who did coop a few times with the silver serpent ring and then spent the souls on lifegems and titanite? Yeah, probably not.

 

[abija]

your average joe will still be matched with dudes with "proper" pvp builds, and shittons of other cheesy builds that will one-two shot him. SM does not prevent that, quite the contrary because "the average joe" who spent half the souls that he earned because he lost the rest will consistently be matched with better players who lost nothing.

So how come all the leet playes are complaining about being matched with havel mages if you can keep SM low?

oh, and unless you sacrifice 1-2 things considerably (or spice down GRS and RW), you won't be able to get both 50vig and be a good hexer. so yeah, don't be a fucking idiot

This is like the first think I've watched when I was done with my blind run and was curious about pvp (buddy linked it to me): http://www.twitch.tv/brandon505/b/524166597?t=25m
Ofc a lot of SM qq while he does retarded dmg.