From Software The Dark Souls II Megathread™

[Average Manatee]

Anyone making a sequel for a audience carries a heavy curse.

 

[dnf]

Interview with the director.



He doesn't talk in retarded PR language. I think that game is in good hands.

Very nice interview. I particularly liked the bit about giving players a variety of deaths to enjoy. Who else in mainstream gaming today would say something like this? Everyone else is touting how many insta-kill QTE finishers their game has, and how hard the game is willing to physically suck your dick and tell you how amazing you are at popping moles in a glorified Dragon's Lair.

There was the marketing in Dead Space about player deaths, problem is that it is to hard to die in DS

 

[DragoFireheart]

There was the marketing in Dead Space about player deaths, problem is that it is to hard to die in DS

Thankfully, lack of death is not an issue in the Souls games.

 

[Zep Zepo]

He looks like the first run ins with Capra demon did not go well about 40 times. After a rage quit and some time away, he's now a beaten shell of what once was a man and is on the way to enlightenment.

The real Dark Souls starts here...

Zep--

 

[dnf]

Interesting to see how people rage over certain bosses that i never got problem with. Capra demon being one of them. Ceaseless discharges on the other hand... In my defense, i was underlevelled.

 

[Cowboy Moment]

Interesting to see how people rage over certain bosses that i never got problem with. Capra demon being one of them. Ceaseless discharges on the other hand... In my defense, i was underlevelled.

Everyone plays differently. I've seen a dude two-shot Ornstein and Smough on his first playthrough, and then die 20+ times to the Titanite Demon in Catacombs.

 

[DragoFireheart]

Everyone plays differently. I've seen a dude two-shot Ornstein and Smough on his first playthrough, and then die 20+ times to the Titanite Demon in Catacombs.

Titanite Demons w/ ranged attacks: 1/10

Tinanite Demons w/ melee: 8/10

Don't melee Tinanite Demons.

 

[Cowboy Moment]

Everyone plays differently. I've seen a dude two-shot Ornstein and Smough on his first playthrough, and then die 20+ times to the Titanite Demon in Catacombs.

Titanite Demons w/ ranged attacks: 1/10

Tinanite Demons w/ melee: 8/10

Don't melee Tinanite Demons.

They're not too bad with a shield, you can circle around them clockwise while blocking, and you'll straight up avoid most of their combos. The primary reason they're challenging, imo, is that they mostly appear in closed spaces with little room to maneuver, which also makes avoiding their jump attack quite difficult.

Personally, when playing 2h melee with a Zweihander, I think I died more to Titanite Demons than to actual bosses.

 

[pocahaunted]

The harder titanite demons in Sen's fortress are definitely more challenging that most bosses, fuck them.

 

[DragoFireheart]

The harder titanite demons in Sen's fortress are definitely more challenging that most bosses, fuck them.

Pretty sure From made them to troll people that try to use a big weapon and heavy armor. They're a complete joke with ranged weapons though.

 

[meanwhileInPoland]

The harder titanite demons in Sen's fortress are definitely more challenging that most bosses, fuck them.

i raged so hard in that pit. some of their attaks goes through the walls so no cheap kitting in corridor and sometimes lizard mages one-shot me with lighting spells just when i needed a break for an estus flask i also did not have that rusty iron ring from asylum on my first blind run

 

[DragoFireheart]

The harder titanite demons in Sen's fortress are definitely more challenging that most bosses, fuck them.

i raged so hard in that pit. some of their attaks goes through the walls so no cheap kitting in corridor and sometimes lizard mages one-shot me with lighting spells just when i needed a break for an estus flask i also did not have that rusty iron ring from asylum on my first blind run

Spoiler

Problem?

 

[Fat Dragon]

Some pics of that DS2 knight armor they made.
http://imgur.com/a/Uflsl#0

 

[Cowboy Moment]

The harder titanite demons in Sen's fortress are definitely more challenging that most bosses, fuck them.

i raged so hard in that pit. some of their attaks goes through the walls so no cheap kitting in corridor and sometimes lizard mages one-shot me with lighting spells just when i needed a break for an estus flask i also did not have that rusty iron ring from asylum on my first blind run

Spoiler

Problem?

Spoiler

 

[Zep Zepo]

Da fuk. That's the same thing down the stairs from the blacksmith? You tellin' me that ain't a one off semi boss?

:

I just run past that fucker now...that there is more of them is SPOILERS!

This game...


Zep--

 

[pocahaunted]

The harder titanite demons in Sen's fortress are definitely more challenging that most bosses, fuck them.

Pretty sure From made them to troll people that try to use a big weapon and heavy armor. They're a complete joke with ranged weapons though.

Yeah, I ended up cheesing them with a bow or lightning miracles on both of my chars.

 

[Grimlorn]

Interesting to see how people rage over certain bosses that i never got problem with. Capra demon being one of them. Ceaseless discharges on the other hand... In my defense, i was underlevelled.

I think they moved one of the dogs in a patch or the pc version. Both use to be right (one on the left, one on the right) at the entrance, but when I played the PC version a few months ago, the dog on the left was by the stairs.

 

[Zep Zepo]

The 2nd dog is way to the back on the right in an alcove (now?).

The dog on the left charges immediately, the dog in the back moves if you can actually dodge/roll the first dog, not get one shotted by Capra's jump stun attack, and try to make it to the stairs.

Still (IMHO), too much stun locking/insta death for so early in the game.

Zep--

 

[Average Manatee]

Can't remember what it was called, but there is a rule of thumb in the military which states that the impact of numbers is N^2 (or N^1.5, something like that). This certainly seems to hold in Dark Souls, where the must frustrating boss fights are the ones involving 3 and 2 enemies at a time (Capra and O&S respectively).

 

[Cowboy Moment]

I don't know about "frustrating". O&S isn't frustrating, it's just hard for someone whom the game trained to watch for obvious openings and exploit them to the maximum. It's only frustrating insofar as not making progress at anything difficult can be. Also, Nito has the most "combatants", but is neither frustrating nor particularly difficult.

Imo, Bed of Chaos is the most frustrating, because it feels like completely arbitrary bullshit. Personally, I also find Centipede Demon frustrating as hell, easy as he is. I think Gargoyles is actually a better example of what you're describing, it's like O&S, but without any of the variety or opportunities for clever play. Also really early in the game. Capra Demon is way easier for a new player than Gargoyles with no summon, imo.

 

[dnf]

Bed of Chaos was another easy boss for me. Only died 1 time.

 

[Cynic]

The 2nd dog is way to the back on the right in an alcove (now?).

The dog on the left charges immediately, the dog in the back moves if you can actually dodge/roll the first dog, not get one shotted by Capra's jump stun attack, and try to make it to the stairs.

Still (IMHO), too much stun locking/insta death for so early in the game.

Zep--

Capra is an interesting fight because it forces you to be very aware of blocking for possibly the first time in the game, specifically, that blocking can actually be a bad thing due to the way you can get locked into animations or have your stamina used up before you really know it. It teaches you how to dodge properly in situations where blocking doesn't work, which is an integral skill for the rest of the game.

The fight is pitifully easy once you get the dogs down. The real problem is that this "tough love" approach means the difficulty of that fight is completely front-loaded and doesn't actually come from the boss itself, which is either good or band design depending on the mood I'm in.

I thought Capra was the worst designed fight in the whole game. It's the only one where I just thought "this is just fucking ridiculous".

Yes it's easy once you kill the dogs, but even doing that is quite tough and can be pretty randomised. If they run into you while you go up the stairs, which is pretty much based on luck, you are dead.

It was the only one I died a lot on.

 

[chubs]

I remember the first couple times I died to the capra demon due to dogs, I just went ahead and grabbed a spear then did the block + spear poke on them till they died. Made it a million times easier.

Dying at the bed of chaos was probably the only time I ever thought that when I died, it wasn't even my fault. What a crappy, shitty boss fight. It was neither fun nor challenging and I hope DS 2 doesn't make a mistake that bad again when designing a boss fight.

 

[dunno lah]

The harder titanite demons in Sen's fortress are definitely more challenging that most bosses, fuck them.

Pretty sure From made them to troll people that try to use a big weapon and heavy armor. They're a complete joke with ranged weapons though.

Yeah, I ended up cheesing them with a bow or lightning miracles on both of my chars.

A real man goes in with a longsword and rolls all over the place whilst dealing 30 dmg a hit.

Spoiler

I took 50 tries over 3 hrs to beat the Titanite Demon in the Catacombs because I couldn't let it Win. Like. That...

 

[Jick Magger]

Yeah, Bed of Chaos was pretty bullshit. I think she's more bullshit than the Capra demon (who's overall just a poorly designed but overall straightforward boss fight), because it's basically a shitty puzzle-boss in a game where all the bosses until that point were just straight up 'hit the enemy until he dies' affairs, with varying levels of preparation and strategy involved (or to spice things up, 'hit the giant glowing fuck-me crystal, then hit the boss until he dies') which required you to memorize the way in which the floor collapses underneath you and hope to god you don't fuck it up again.