From Software The Dark Souls II Megathread™

[Kanedias]

It really boggles the mind that so much time has passed since the release of the game and we still don't know the formulae. I don't know if it's because no one did a serious testing effort or if they are so obscure and inconsistent that no one figured them out yet.

They also seem to have changed during patches, despite these changes being unlisted. Like UndetectedButthurt said, the patch that nerfed heavy armor only changed the defenses of armor by very little, but in practice the difference in damage vs a heavily armored player was extremely high. Physical defense got some diminishing returns or something, because it used to be way more effective than it is now (and was pretty overpowered pre-patch).

 

[UndetectedButthurt]

Goddamnit guise... I didn't realize i switched to fume sword to check the numbers, and ended up losing to a black witch waifu in the arena. And mah longsword 2hr2 pokes were gone.

It really boggles the mind that so much time has passed since the release of the game and we still don't know the formulae. I don't know if it's because no one did a serious testing effort or if they are so obscure and inconsistent that no one figured them out yet.

They also seem to have changed during patches, despite these changes being unlisted. Like UndetectedButthurt said, the patch that nerfed heavy armor only changed the defenses of armor by very little, but in practice the difference in damage vs a heavily armored player was extremely high. Physical defense got some diminishing returns or something, because it used to be way more effective than it is now (and was pretty overpowered pre-patch).

That sunken king patch... Oh man, all the armor sets they listed in the notes... In the end they just changed the AR/DEF reduction ratio. Some of the changes in armor stats don't even reduce 1 point of damage with the current "system". Yet you see all these posts on reddit/4chan about how Havel's was nerfed and shit. I just put on the 2nd best armor combos after Havel's and I'm not a shitter anymore! "Oh he's wearing that gyrm warrior armor, how derpy!"

Even numbness is useless now. You're better off using Iron Flesh since it reduces well over 35% physical damage. At least it seems kinda balanced with the fat rolling and short duration?

 

[praetor]

they changed how the buffs work in a patch. they (both spell buffs and resins) used to be like in the guide, that +50 *1.3, but then they changed it in a patch and now they're borderline random (f.e. in that straightsword test vs "dark neutral" enemies the sun and varangian sword with dark weapon did exactly the same damage, while the damage was different with the dark resin or without any buff... and fume was consistently outdamaged by pure physical weapons with or without buff. it seriously makes less than 0 sense ) edit: and there was somebody who had done some pretty extensive tests with flame weapon using 2 PS3s and the numbers were so wild they might as well be random. fuck you team B

 

[Kanedias]

they changed how the buffs work in a patch. they (both spell buffs and resins) used to be like in the guide, that +50 *1.3, but then they changed it in a patch and now they're borderline random (f.e. in that straightsword test vs "dark neutral" enemies the sun and varangian sword with dark weapon did exactly the same damage, while the damage was different with the dark resin... and fume was consistently outdamaged by pure physical weapons with or without buff. it seriously makes less than 0 sense )

This is what happens when you try to understand buff calculations: http://a.pomf.se/fllyqv.webm

EDIT: I had completely forgotten that the next DLC will most likely introduce the Dark Clutch Ring. My Sanctum Crossbow / Fume Sword character will be very pleased.

 

[UndetectedButthurt]

I had completely forgotten that the next DLC will most likely introduce the Dark Clutch Ring. My Sanctum Crossbow / Fume Sword character will be very pleased.

Btw I think I remember from some testing that clutch rings take away a bit more than 80 physical defense. You can also go into negative armor even when it shows you have 0.

Also, you can have 0 physical and 0 magic defense with clutch rings and blue daggers. You'd think this would make damage tests make more sense...... Nope.

 

[Murk]

I honestly NEVER trust numbers when using PVE enemies -- even the 'humanoid' ones like phantoms or NPC invasions. I don't think enemies even have primary stats like STR/DEX but just derived ones. Take the old knights at heide -- people use them to derive pre-patch post-patch changes but old knights are ridiculous. Hitting them with strike damage gives bonus damage where-as there's no such thing on actual human players. IMO, only trust numbers if tested on real people.

That Dante guy used them for magic testing and I thought it was retarded; spells like CSS do way different damage to PVE enemies than to players -- especially when taking shit like NG + cycles into account. I suppose it might show 'relative' differences but those relative differences will be based on faulty calculations.

Basically, research methods 101, big fucking confounding variable(s).

http://darksouls2.wikidot.com/resistance here's probably THE most extensive research done on enemy resistances in a souls game ever. ridiculous amount of work put in this (latest patch)

btw, Team B doing their usual Team B shenanigans, put some "special" spell resistance "stat" for PvE enemies in game (the DLCs are by far the biggest offender)... so some enemies that are usually weak to magic, will be damaged much more by a moonlight greastword than a full geyser or a CSS. based team b

This is great for PVE, but my point is that you can't generalize that to PVP which many people do.

EDIT: they say it has the same % reduction rate on PVE enemies as it does in PVP so I guess it should hold up. Phys damage however is completely different, that much I'm 100% certain about.

 

[AngryEddy]

I guess they released the DLC a day early, because im running around and killing ice monsters.

 

[praetor]

http://imgur.com/a/ULrHc gallery with DLC 3 loot. again shitloads of swords and barely anything else. goddamnit, from!

edit: better gallery

so.. (read at your own risk)

Spoiler

-final boss is apparently "BoC done right", i.e. some moving scenery while you fight the ivory king, allegedly it looks "quite cinematic" and, again allegedly, IK has a moveset that is a mix of gwynn and allant (source for the latter is 4chan, so take it with a grain of salt). last fragment of manus pretty much explicitly states she's a fragment of manus. her form is allegedly the embodiment of his fears (so manus feared chaos?). the city is huge and mazelike. loyce knights are lorewise pretty much silver/black knights 1.1

and symbol of avarice is back because we really needed more pointless shit from DaS1

edit2 (on the all 3 crowns bonus stuff):

Spoiler

if it's confirmed, than it's the most pointless, disappointing shit they could've given us: a shitty short cutscene where the king's crown glows and your char nods in approval, and you get immunity to curse. that's it... literally the same shit as wearing hollow mask

 

[DragoFireheart]

Can't say I'm surprised about the crown reward being shitty. I think we all knew this was happening.

 

[AngryEddy]

So I'm fighting the last boss with 4 knights, and I really love how none of the knights take aggro, and it seems like every time the cunt boss is spawning while one gate remains glitched and open while continuing to spawn Black Knight rip offs. Faggot shit.

 

[praetor]

Can't say I'm surprised about the crown reward being shitty. I think we all knew this was happening.

shitty would be getting an unremarkable ring, or a "buffed" king's crown, or only some new dialogue... what we got instead is so pathetic there are no words to describe it. it would've been better if we got nothing and they kept quiet

 

[Jaedar]

So now that all 3 dlcs are out.

Are they werf 25 euros? Are they all about as good or is there one that is particularly good/shit ?

 

[praetor]

dunno about the 3rd (from what i've seen it has more reused assets [for enemies/npcs/bosses] than the previous 2 + DaS1 combined, loot seems disappointing, the actual level is allegedly awesome.. huge and mazelike). if it's close in quality to the other 2, then yeah, they're worth the 25 jewros (1st DLC is one of my favourite areas in the whole series, it's just disappointingly small once you map it in your head, while it seems huge when you play though it for the first time, has one meh boss and one great [that can get very and tedious annoying in a way... think of the moonlight butterfly], the optional "boss" is the culmination of everything that is wrong with DaS2, by far the shittiest "boss" in the souls series, loot is kinda meh. 2nd dlc has some fine loot, cool pyros, 2 great bosses, one shitty recycled one, the area is pretty good [better than most in the base game] with quite a bit of side content if you want to explore and get everything)

 

[AngryEddy]

Anyone know how to get to the 5th bonfire with the unicorns and shit?

 

[StaticSpine]

fuck that invisible horse:D

 

[meanwhileInPoland]

So now that all 3 dlcs are out.

Are they werf 25 euros? Are they all about as good or is there one that is particularly good/shit ?

(+)
-much better area design and better boss fights than the main game
-shitton of new weapons
-great looking new armors sets
-couple new spells/catalysts
-couple new tracks
-overall(all 3 dlc) at least twice as big as Artorias DLC or even bigger
-improved red phantoms invasions

(-)
-one shitty reskin boss in 2nd dlc
-retarded rage inducing run to him
-some of the new weapons/spells are rather useless/gimmicky shit
-there is some (IMHO) unnecessary fan service
-FROM still have hard on for greatswords

yes its worth 25 bucks

also seems like From is listening to the fans

Spoiler

- npc invaders using white phantom ring
- npc invaders using "duel bow" immediately after they backstabbed you

 

[UndetectedButthurt]

Just started the 3rd DLC thing... First noticeable thing - it really takes a bit of effort to get to the next bonfire. They seem to have been increasing the treks between bonfires since Shulva. Playing at intensity 8 is ok so far... Brume tower seemed harder. Not sure if some BPs only appear at 8 since because Brume had that shit too.

Also those idle dudes just sittin' around... So far they've been just item farms but I guess we'll find out later what they're for.

Edits:

Invisible ladders - the peak of B-Team design.

1st boss

Spoiler

Wog? Soulmass? "Ice" firestorm/scraps? Easy to counter with magic resist.
The really slow wind up swipes are terrible though. 180 degree tracking with barely a tell.
75% HP per swing with 2.5k + 1k armor + Steel Ring+2 at intensity 8. Fun times...
Out of all the DLC bosses this one has been the toughest so far? Definitely not as telegraphed as the rest of them...
At least Chaos Rapier got some use since this mofo is weak to fire.
Overall ok?

Also I'm very excited to go back through the entire level just to get the thawed shit.

 

[AngryEddy]

Lol, the first boss is the optional superboss at the end of this dlc x2. Not only that, but apparently we can't get the armor of the Ivory King. This DLC is such garbage, rush-job, amateur-hour, horseshit.

 

[praetor]

Lol, the first boss is the optional superboss at the end of this dlc x2. Not only that, but apparently we can't get the armor of the Ivory King. This DLC is such garbage, rush-job, amateur-hour, horseshit.

huh? it has all the in-game descriptions and shit so it's definitely obtainable. maybe it's just not the usual 2 suspects

btw, there are apparently more items with no text in the game files, so it's possible there'll be more dlcs

 

[AngryEddy]

Lol, the first boss is the optional superboss at the end of this dlc x2. Not only that, but apparently we can't get the armor of the Ivory King. This DLC is such garbage, rush-job, amateur-hour, horseshit.

huh? it has all the in-game descriptions and shit so it's definitely obtainable. maybe it's just not the usual 2 suspects

Weird, I checked the 2 armor guys and didn't find it, maybe the woman hidden by ice branches has it.

 

[meanwhileInPoland]

one of the new tracks

Lol, the first boss is the optional superboss at the end of this dlc x2. Not only that, but apparently we can't get the armor of the Ivory King. This DLC is such garbage, rush-job, amateur-hour, horseshit.

yet you persist in playing this fucking game that love-hate relationship... BASED B - TEAM

 

[praetor]

so the laz0r sword is completely useless. drains 10 durability per hit (repair powder restores only 30, lol), does pretty pathetic damage, the 2HR2 is probably one of the slowest moves in the game, and it's very noticeably the slowest straightsword

 

[UndetectedButthurt]

So apparently I am retarded? I just spent an hour backtracking all over the place, not realizing that I could speak so a Shart of Muh-anus by stepping on that shitty pedestal in the cathedral...



B-Team: 1
Me: 0

Hmm... Apparently re-exploring the area without the snow storm stuff is kinda cool? And this entire DLC was made for Chaos Rapier spam.

so the laz0r sword is completely useless. drains 10 durability per hit (repair powder restores only 30, lol), does pretty pathetic damage, the 2HR2 is probably one of the slowest moves in the game, and it's very noticeably the slowest straightsword

BUT DUUUUUDE IT'S A STRIKE WEAPON GO USE THE 2HR2 ON OLD KNIGHTS OR SOMETHING

EDITS:

Uhhhh.... The whole thing with:

Spoiler

The area with covetous demon? Just no words...

At intensity 8 (or maybe lower too) you get 2 BP porcupine things along with Covetous/Maldron. Just touching them takes 40% of HP away... Oh lawdy lawd...

Maldron the Assassin seemed completely invincible until one of those abyss trees cast Unleash Magic on him... Good times.

So all those poor souls that spent an eternity farming Catarina Set/Durgo's Hat now get it for free? Thanks B-Team!

Regarding the patching of roll-punches... B-Team's incompetence knows no bounds... They slowed down vanq. seal L1s, but you can steal roll punch (it's tougher to time it now). All other fist weapons still work the same. This whole action-cancelling thing must be an engine problem that's impossible for them to fix.



The mundane dagger nerf is pretty good... At 99/99 level shadow dagger ends up being the best as far as I can tell from basic PvE backstabs. You will actually have to put str/dex into dagger crits now.

 

[Murk]

the challenge route can go fuck itself and the horse(s) it rode in on

worst shit ever, ruining an otherwise atmospheric and novel idea

 

[Murk]

Lol, the first boss is the optional superboss at the end of this dlc x2. Not only that, but apparently we can't get the armor of the Ivory King. This DLC is such garbage, rush-job, amateur-hour, horseshit.

huh? it has all the in-game descriptions and shit so it's definitely obtainable. maybe it's just not the usual 2 suspects

Weird, I checked the 2 armor guys and didn't find it, maybe the woman hidden by ice branches has it.

From what I'm told, you gotta farm the souls of the knights in the drop down area before final boss guy

on that note; that archer guy with the bell was a legit good NPC, p much the reason why I beat the final dude on my 2nd try (didn't summon him the first time and hadn't freed the 3 other knights)

that whole thing was pretty cool

it's weird how the 'challenge route' bosses are always such horse-shit but the main end boss is usually pretty neat... and by weird i mean holy fuck are they phoning it in with the only part that is open to everyone (nice advertisement)