From Software The Dark Souls II Megathread™

[Murk]

Spoiler

Oh hey look its pyromancy nashandra and then FUCKING VELSTADT WHAT THE FUCK

 

[Murk]

Sooo I'd say there's a pretty sweet boss at the end. Preeeettty sweet. Like kalameet. :3

So, I beat it. I'm missing a bonfire and 1 item (on one of those raising tower things, I can see but no clue where it's switch is). Also, I remember seeing some guy fight against big tree looking monsters and I haven't encountered any of those, so I donno what that was about.

Got the two boss weapons. The spear has lance, spear, halberd, and twinblade moves. And one overhead smash that looks rather axe/ugs like. The axe is just a halberd with the typical halberd moveset. No clue why they wanted yet another boss halberd but whatever. The lance has decent gains per upgrade, the axe goes up by 11 points (shitty) for the first petrified bone. Not gonna use it yet, until I check how it infuses n stuff. Also, the spear reduces elemental resistance but increases status effect resistance. Heh.

I'm VERY upset about the whip sword tho. p shit base damage (but good scaling) and that stupid heide knight moveset. Bleh.

Guess I gotta farm the sanctum soldier n knight armor sets now.

 

[UndetectedButthurt]

I def. had more fun with Nash 2.0 than Nash 1.0

Kalameet/Guardian/Ancient dragon poison hybrid was pretty cool. The fight seemed more balanced for range than melee though.

I'm digging the poison mace lance as well... Now to find out if its 2H moveset can be parried...

 

[Murk]

There's a place where soldier's go to rest, or so I'm told...

I tried magic against the dragon and it was buutttsss. Ended up meleeing him to death. The good cleric died but Eddie n I prevailed in the end. Transcendence achieved.

EDIT: invaders who stand around trying to snipe, afraid to leave the enemies' areas are just the most obnoxious thing ever.

 

[StaticSpine]

4 hours atmosphere in Dark Souls is far more than 30 hours of kitsch in Divinity:Origin of Sin. 10/10 again. DLC is harder than the original game. Best DLC since Artorias of the Abyss.

http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/dark-souls-ii-crown-of-the-sunken-king

 

[LivingOne]

Anyone else checked

Spoiler

Vendrick's armour in the Undead Cript

after finishing the dlc?

 

[Kanedias]

I finished the DLC and despite the bad first impressions pre-release (screenshots looked boring, etc) turns out it's one of the best areas of the entire Souls series. Like you all know, I really liked the original game, but this is heads and shoulders above it. The level design is genius and nonlinear, on the vein of the DkS 1 Painted World of Ariamis, and perhaps even better. On an entire different level when compared to Oolacile Township. There 3 bosses, one of them is shit, the other 2 are really good, with the last boss being as good as Kalameet. Again, these 2 bosses are better than most of Dark Souls 2 bosses (I would say all of them, but Darklurker is in the game). The DLC is also pretty long, they lied when they said the 3 DLC would be 1.5 of AotA, as this is nearly as long or has the same length.

I think many of you that didn't like the original game are going to like it, because the main flaw of the game, the area design, is excellent here. The area has interesting mechanics, several well thought out shortcuts, and there's none of that silliness where you get to a point where you must warp out. Also, it has that Dark Souls 1 thing where you see very distant buildings and areas and you actually end up going there (from the start, if you look closely, you can even see a very distant bonfire which is li).

The only flaws the DLC has are the fact that most enemies have too much poise, which makes them feel like Dark Souls 1 Silver Knights (parry/BS fish them) and the extra area with the optional boss is quite bad. And this can even be excused (to a certain extent) because its free. People without the DLC can put their signs outside and they will be moved to this area. Normal enemies and bosses of this section have a chance to drop DLC stuff to people who don't own it. I really like the system, but I guess they could have put more effort into that section.

 

[meanwhileInPoland]

Anyone else checked

Spoiler

Vendrick's armour in the Undead Cript

after finishing the dlc?

Spoiler

 

[praetor]

I finished the DLC and despite the bad first impressions pre-release (screenshots looked boring, etc) turns out it's one of the best areas of the entire Souls series. Like you all know, I really liked the original game, but this is heads and shoulders above it. The level design is genius and nonlinear, on the vein of the DkS 1 Painted World of Ariamis, and perhaps even better. On an entire different level when compared to Oolacile Township. There 3 bosses, one of them is shit, the other 2 are really good, with the last boss being as good as Kalameet. Again, these 2 bosses are better than most of Dark Souls 2 bosses (I would say all of them, but Darklurker is in the game). The DLC is also pretty long, they lied when they said the 3 DLC would be 1.5 of AotA, as this is nearly as long or has the same length.

I think many of you that didn't like the original game are going to like it, because the main flaw of the game, the area design, is excellent here. The area has interesting mechanics, several well thought out shortcuts, and there's none of that silliness where you get to a point where you must warp out. Also, it has that Dark Souls 1 thing where you see very distant buildings and areas and you actually end up going there (from the start, if you look closely, you can even see a very distant bonfire which is li).

The only flaws the DLC has are the fact that most enemies have too much poise, which makes them feel like Dark Souls 1 Silver Knights (parry/BS fish them) and the extra area with the optional boss is quite bad. And this can even be excused (to a certain extent) because its free. People without the DLC can put their signs outside and they will be moved to this area. Normal enemies and bosses of this section have a chance to drop DLC stuff to people who don't own it. I really like the system, but I guess they could have put more effort into that section.

agreed with everything you said. on first impression, if this DLC had scarier/lovecraftian looking enemies and a bit more of a lovecraftian visual feel for the area (f.e. the weird angles like the beginning tunnel or oolacile), it would be by far my favourite levels in the Souls series. good atmosphere, good visual design, fucking excellent level design. and after all the level goodness, i'm mildly disappointed with bosses (kalameet 2.0 isn't all that impressive.. but i guess i'm a bit burnt out on dragons. and the levels overall are so good that i feel the bosses needed to be... better. dunno). good, but...

anyway, this has gotten me really excited for the other 2 DLCs and now i don't regret buying the season pass

 

[Murk]

I loved that enemies were super resistant to magic, hated that they were so easy to backstab. With how retardedly strong mundane daggers are, this area was a cakewalk for my +10 mundane bandit knife. Otherwise, very fun. Going through it again the 2nd time I can say it's not as big as it seems as first, but still fun. Atmosphere and design are great, and it has that very cool effect where you can see the whole level from the first bonfire. The boss fights are great; even the gank squad is interesting in that "oh ffs" kind of way. Just the most annoying set up possible; asshole with greatbow + katana douche and everyone's fucking favorite havel.

The dragon boss is great, and is totally "fair" in my opinion. Kalameet had some borderline ancient-dragon like moves where you just gotta unlike and sprint away but this one is tight and well played. It's also a VERY cool looking bossfight, achieving that level of awe that monster hunter or dragon's dogma fights have (tho not as involved, of course).

Now if only team B would give a shit about fixing the ridiculous PVP imbalances.

Oh right, the loot's a bit disappointing. I like the bones and twinkly titanites, but some of the stuff makes no sense. Destructive great arrows and magic bolts and catarina helm?

 

[potatojohn]

Far too many of the arguments rely on a rose-tinted view of the first Dark Souls.

I'd venture a guess that most of the negative reactions to DkS2 are attributable to "series fatigue".

Nope I played 1 after 2 and thought 1 was much better.

 

[Murk]

Run attack spammers. Run attack spammers never change.

EDIT: new whip sword is good for poke spam when 2h. Has 25 poise break and 2h p much guarantees breaking anyone's poise. Spam spam spam. Push push push.

Fucking denial. Kill a guy, I'm down to half health. Denial kicks in, he runs and heals and comes back with me at half health. I switch to parryable weapon, he takes bait n starts spamming parry. Kill him with CSS to the face while he tries to r2 poke with GS.

Seriously, fuck greatswords.

EDIT 2: Bridge is best for arena, all the "trolls" can't afford to run around avoiding combat like in the central arena with the wooden tower or the semi maze. (BoB arena)

A cheater using the 'no damage' hack just r2 poked himself off the bridge. Man, feels good.

 

[praetor]

consolebros, am i imagining things or the DLC areas load quite a bit faster? (probably the former... i'll have to time it next time)

 

[Kanedias]

I have no idea, I have the digital version so the loading times are decent all around.

By the way, my Flynn's Ring quality build has a Sun Sword with 500 AR - and this isn't even mentioning the Shadow Dagger. It's R1s do so much damage, hahaha.

 

[Mortmal]

Run attack spammers. Run attack spammers never change.

EDIT: new whip sword is good for poke spam when 2h. Has 25 poise break and 2h p much guarantees breaking anyone's poise. Spam spam spam. Push push push.

Fucking denial. Kill a guy, I'm down to half health. Denial kicks in, he runs and heals and comes back with me at half health. I switch to parryable weapon, he takes bait n starts doing same. Kill him with CSS to the face while he tries to r2 poke with GS.

Seriously, fuck greatswords.

EDIT 2: Bridge is best for arena, all the "trolls" can't afford to run around avoiding combat like in the central arena with the wooden tower or the semi maze. (BoB arena)

A cheater using the 'no damage' hack just r2 poked himself off the bridge. Man, feels good.

On pc i hope ? i was spared any cheating on pS3 so far .

 

[Murk]

I have no idea, I have the digital version so the loading times are decent all around.

By the way, my Flynn's Ring quality build has a Sun Sword with 500 AR - and this isn't even mentioning the Shadow Dagger. It's R1s do so much damage, hahaha.

How much does it add? I've been told 50 AR roughly.

Mortmal yes, PC. musturd race etc.

 

[Kanedias]

Exactly 50 AR at 14 vitality. But I was able to put the points I previously had in Vit into faith and attunement and grab Sacred Oath as well.

 

[Cowboy Moment]

Really liked the Elana bossfight. You guys called her "Pyro Nashandra", and the model/animations are certainly the same, but it plays very differently. Somehow reminds me of Darklurker, having to manage multiple enemies and dodge spells constantly. She also produces a similar feeling of being pressured, except unlike Darklurker there's real time pressure from having to kill her summon fast enough. Always nice to have bossfights in Souls that tax the player's endurance and not just threaten them with oneshot kills. During one of my early attempts, my Dragon Tooth actually broke, and I ran out of flasks.

Sinh is more of a traditional Souls boss, but it's nice to see him leave the poison clouds around. DaS2 bossfights have already experimented with positional hazards like Rotten's flame patches or Nashandra's curse orbs, and it's nice to see that B-team haven't forgotten about this.

 

[Murk]

Man, kill her summons? If you get lucky and get skellies. My first time I got Velstadt, killed him (barely) and then got another Velstadt. fuck that. I just go after her. She's clearly WAY better than Nashandra.

Also, funny that all of Manus' former pieces turned into evil gold diggers who just ruin other dudes' kingdoms.

 

[Mortmal]

I have no idea, I have the digital version so the loading times are decent all around.

By the way, my Flynn's Ring quality build has a Sun Sword with 500 AR - and this isn't even mentioning the Shadow Dagger. It's R1s do so much damage, hahaha.

How much does it add? I've been told 50 AR roughly.

Mortmal yes, PC. musturd race etc.

Superior graphics, highrez and hackers , or low rez console but with no hackers i'll stay peasant for this one and probably bloodborne and dark souls 3 too , in multiplayer this is a gamekiller . All i met is helpful people to kill bosses and "fair" pvp.

This was a good and honest Dlc, no bait and switch with absurdly powerfull items to force purchase. Maybe i missed something but the crown doesnt seem to add much to casters, i still prefer faster spell casting helm . The lightning ring help a lot my faith build , a few knight armors, nothing outstanding. Theres that drakesang sword with A dex scaling , but dex is lacklukster... Now to farm titanites to boost up those armors.
10H to complete it ,exceptionnal areas , nothing especially hard , except the 3 adventurers.

 

[Murk]

The cheaters are not too frequent -- annoying when they show up, but eh. I'd say I see one maybe once every 2 weeks at most.

 

[Zep Zepo]

There are (or were) hackers on PS3 I know (well, when I played a couple months ago).

There were talks about banning from From, but i don't think much came of that.

Zep--

 

[Cowboy Moment]

Man, kill her summons? If you get lucky and get skellies. My first time I got Velstadt, killed him (barely) and then got another Velstadt. fuck that. I just go after her. She's clearly WAY better than Nashandra.

Also, funny that all of Manus' former pieces turned into evil gold diggers who just ruin other dudes' kingdoms.

Heh, when my weapon broke I was in the process of killing my third Velstadt. I did try to kill her with Velstadt around, but it seemed more difficult than the alternative. If anything, one of the problems of that fight is how Velstadt is so much harder than skellies. Can she summon anything else?

I kind of wonder, since every DLC is a Crown of X King, will there be a Manus golddigger in every one? So like, you enter the boss room in the third DLC, and you're fighting Menandra, The Pallid Queen, same model with a different skin, and the first thing she does is summon two Havels wielding dual Helix Halberds. Then dubstep starts playing.

 

[Kanedias]

Decided to make a reddit thing about the Flynn Ring for if anyone is interested. Trigger Warning: PvP, SL 150.

Can she summon anything else?

Majula Pigs. Really.

 

[Murk]

Some guy made a video about things dark souls 2 did. I couldn't get past his stupid fucking hair cut and I hope he dies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9bpSQgecYM

Kanedias btw, 2h a dagger and use the r2 pokes. As fast as the slashes and more damage, plus leo ring for counters. I can get through damn near every setup on my retardo high level char but I often get destroyed by people doing that. It's ridiculous.