From Software The Dark Souls II Megathread™

[Cowboy Moment]

I'd be willing to consider this DLC the best one, if not for the painful annoyance of having to fight the burnt knights every time you want to attempt Ivory King. Level design is certainly among the series' best, and the city looks really good as well (as contrasted with Shulva, which was a bit plain, and Brume Tower, which I found ugly). The idea of having some paths blocked, and requiring the player to perform some action, and then backtrack through the level in order to access them, is executed much better here than in Brume Tower, where the initial descent was a bit of a linear slog. Eleum Loyce has more breadth even with the frozen paths, and it also delivers on the promise of being able to visit every prominent location the player can see as they enter the city. It also feels bigger than the previous DLC locations.

Aava is an easy boss, but is fun to fight, and has a beautiful theme, making the fight reminiscent of Sif. Burnt Ivory King, if we disregard the annoying knight spam before him, is decent, pretty unusual moveset for a melee character, but he doesn't stand out in any way - moveset is not as well-designed as Fume Knights, and he's not as cool as Sir Alonne.

All in all though, I think I enjoyed this DLC the most, just really liked the look and feel of the area. Except those fucking ice hedgehogs, fuck those little shits.

 

[AngryEddy]

Symbol of Avarice gives me more souls than any other headpiece. Just a quick fun fact.

 

[Murk]

Giant Lord farming +1

This DLC is probably the best and also has the most disappointing misuse of a challenge path that is otherwise an original and inventive area... full of horse-rape. Seriously From, wtf. Such a neat idea, and you shit all over it with horse dicks. Patch that shit and redeem it.

Last night UndetectedButthurt and I killed Ava twice while he was invisible. It's... sadly easy. Really makes a repeat of the DLC faster as you can get everything in one go, and while revisiting those areas with a clearer sky is neat -- that's for the first time.

I personally like the knight fight at the end and I think you're better off milking fighting the knights while you have backup. You're gonna farm them anyway, might as well do it now with backup.

 

[UndetectedButthurt]

So at SL1 Aava almost seems like the hardest boss in the game, but I think Alonne takes the cake... Aava seems to have less HP than Alonne and way too many attack openings. Otherwise, some of the attacks are just impossible to dodge with such low AGL.

Aava died on 2nd try just because of soulmass spam. Shit man, what are you doing? Why are you giving me free counter hits?

 

[StaticSpine]

So, is there any bonus for collecting all three crowns? A new dialog maybe?

 

[Murk]

If you have all 4 crowns from that cycle (king's crown from shrine of amanda) you get a special cinematic if you talk to the memory of the king and he enchants the crowns (not sure if all 4 or just 3) to be resistant to curse and hollowing on death (you still drop bloodstain tho, just don't lose human form).

get it

you beat the curse


you are now free from being undead/hollow






so long as you wear a crown, and why wouldn't you, you look so kawaii in it, m'waifu

 

[praetor]

yeah, the "reward" is major bullshit and 100% worthless by the time you get it particularly since the Ring of B-Team does a better job at the cost of a ring slot and 3k souls... not to mention the effect doesn't carry over NG cycles, and even from a lore standpoint in the current state it makes absolutely 0 sense. "a reward for veteran players" my fucking ass. it would've been better if they didn't advertise anything and didn't give us anything

 

[Murk]

It also nullifies an item you got just barely from the last DLC and turns the idea of "curse resist" gear into a joke. Why not just have them give a big boost to curse resist instead of outright removing it?

They do too many things in a purely reactionary order -- like a car that lost control and is over-correcting into a light pole or tree.

I get the sneaking suspicion they slowed the magic regain rate of the iron crown -- it seems to take a lot longer for it to go off, tho that could just be my own (mis)perception.

Donno why they didn't give it (the buffed other 2 crowns) some utility like how the ivory and iron crowns do something other than +2 endurance or what have you.

So, the Loyce GS is p dope. This is exactly how the bastard sword should have been but that'd require some thinking brains. It's still not good against fast spammers like katana or SS so you still need a fall back weapon for those, but against most other people it's very good. If it had the longsword poke for both r2s (when 2h) it'd be way too much, and it's damage isn't as beastly as the majestic GS.

I also like the ice rapier, it's a shame it does less damage but it does have more range and has some more utility that makes up for the lack of AR. Then there's shit like the knife that I Just don't get; why even include that other than the graphic already being done for it. It's a pointless weapon -- unless it has some hidden effect I don't know about.

The bonefist moveset makes no sense to me and I have no clue when/how to dodge most of it. It also has multiple attacks that stun you (like an earthquake) and ones that send you flying even if you don't get hit directly/take damage.

Also, according to some guy on reddit item discovery does NOT influence loyce soul drop rates... so maybe avoid farming gear. Tho I have no confirmation on that other than some guy saying it.

 

[Kanedias]

Ivory King Ultra Greatsword does so much damage. It's much more than the listed AR. What seems to happen is that the energy damage isn't taken into account by its listed AR, and it's added on top of the physical damage when you hit with the blade.

I still prefer the Fume UGS for normal fights but the Ivory King UGS is great against turtles.

 

[Murk]

It seems to be magic damage on top; Havel's shield took like 15 damage from it per swing implying it would have done about 150 magic damage extra. I haven't tried but I'm curious how buffing/infusions would play a role (assume you can even buff/infuse).

I can't tell if it swings faster or not but it actually seems usable.

Also the hat is leaving; it's people need it

http://imgur.com/a/Q44qA

also also also

spoilered cuz challenge route boss but cheggit

Spoiler

 

[praetor]

Mikayel

speaking of pointless weapons, the small lightsaber just looks cool, everything else about it is absolutely abysmal. i wouldn't be surprised if even the possessed armour sword was better in every way other than weight

another one is azal's staff... it's barely better than the other 2 top staves, at the cost of 4 fucking durability (seriously, what's the point? cast some magicks 2-3 times and bye bye?) and a cast speed that begs to be backstabbed... not to mention the severely reduced spell casts. at the end of the day, the efficiency/DPS/D per minute of that staff is probably worse than even the basic sorc staff even when uninfused. goddamn it's stupid. the retainer staff is also questionable. at 18 int a magic witchtree is better for magic, and the same staff is better for dark when dark infused at 18 both. and it has barely more than half the cast speed. or the new lance that's just another lance with the exact same moveset. or sorc's twinblade with those insane req stats to wield but shitty base damage and no scaling... candidate for the most pointless weapon ever.

and speaking of weapons... anybody ever figure out why the fuck they redesigned the black knight sword, but kept the exact same design for all the others?

have you tried hitting with the ice rapier special R2 with both blade and projectile? supposedly it does shitloads of damage (at least in PvE) so it may be worth a try (i personally can't be arsed to farm for more twinklies to upgrade it)

and i have no idea what influences loyce souls drops, but every time the full 3-man party was decked in item drop gear, i got at least one, often 2, while a lot of the times when only i was in farming attire i got 0 or 1

btw the loycebro with the shortsword actually wields the blue flame and he casts magic... rarely. just had him cast soul vortex that did almost no damage. lol

 

[Phage]

yeah, the "reward" is major bullshit and 100% worthless by the time you get it particularly since the Ring of B-Team does a better job at the cost of a ring slot and 3k souls... not to mention the effect doesn't carry over NG cycles, and even from a lore standpoint in the current state it makes absolutely 0 sense. "a reward for veteran players" my fucking ass. it would've been better if they didn't advertise anything and didn't give us anything

It doesn't carry over NG cycles..?

................................

Holy fucking shit that's even worse than I thought it was

 

[Murk]

Mikayel

speaking of pointless weapons, the small lightsaber just looks cool, everything else about it is absolutely abysmal. i wouldn't be surprised if even the possessed armour sword was better in every way other than weight

another one is azal's staff... it's barely better than the other 2 top staves, at the cost of 4 fucking durability (seriously, what's the point? cast some magicks 2-3 times and bye bye?) and a cast speed that begs to be backstabbed... not to mention the severely reduced spell casts. at the end of the day, the efficiency/DPS/D per minute of that staff is probably worse than even the basic sorc staff even when uninfused. goddamn it's stupid. the retainer staff is also questionable. at 18 int a magic witchtree is better for magic, and the same staff is better for dark when dark infused at 18 both. and it has barely more than half the cast speed. or the new lance that's just another lance with the exact same moveset. or sorc's twinblade with those insane req stats to wield but shitty base damage and no scaling... candidate for the most pointless weapon ever.

and speaking of weapons... anybody ever figure out why the fuck they redesigned the black knight sword, but kept the exact same design for all the others?

Yeah I had totally forgotten about the twinblade -- worst fucking thing ever. I don't get why they keep making absolutely shit melee weapons that can "cast spells", they all p much suck. The sanctum shield is probably the only exception, and even then, it's still not great (tho it _used_ to shield bash well). Hell, they shoulda just made the stupid twinblade a greatbow -- that way it might actually be used for something, it already looks like one anyway.

The glass cannon staff should have been made with like a 130 counter. That'd make it useful for bosses for bonus damage, at least.

The possessed sword was actually useful in this area, especially if fire infused, as it can poise break the basic enemies that don't have spikes on their back (2h). Tho otherwise it's kind of a joke in other settings. I did use it against Ava and it wasn't bad, but way outclassed by chaos rapier or even red iron twinblade (both resin'd).

On that topic, try infusing chaos rapier with mundane -- it's fuggin weird (good).

have you tried hitting with the ice rapier special R2 with both blade and projectile? supposedly it does shitloads of damage (at least in PvE) so it may be worth a try (i personally can't be arsed to farm for more twinklies to upgrade it)

I have -- and my guess is that the counter damage of the rapier carries over the projectile too, cuz it did some good damage (like 800 on a hit, 2h r2). I infused one with bleed and another just standard and it's a pretty fun weapon. On the topic of useful weapons, I guess the greatbow is alright? It outdamages the other ones but I have no clue if its slower/whatever than them. I haven't used greatbows since they got their tracking nerfed -- but my god were they glorious for a while.

and i have no idea what influences loyce souls drops, but every time the full 3-man party was decked in item drop gear, i got at least one, often 2, while a lot of the times when only i was in farming attire i got 0 or 1

btw the loycebro with the shortsword actually wields the blue flame and he casts magic... rarely. just had him cast soul vortex that did almost no damage. lol

So far I'm averaging .5 loyce souls per 3 I kill in full farming gear, no rusty coin tho. I'll see if it changes without... tho I'm curious if maybe phantoming is a better idea -- if only to have a less monotonous experience.

Sword bro used soul vortex for me a few times, I couldn't tell what it did tho cuz I feel like magic is p weak to them (css does 500 damage) and his own stats are probably shitty. Still, a distraction I guess? That whole fight was cool with the knights. Some people are saying it sucks cuz you have to repeat it but I had fun.

The phantom there with the greatbow is surprisingly effective too. He would run from the boss's AOE, heal, snipe from a distance, and was overall just useful. Not sure if I had a good experience atypical of the norm or if his AI is actually p good. Fought Ivory king twice -- first time with 1 knight. 2nd time with all 4 and summoned bell bow bro and ivory king got his ass fucked up. Was a neat fight but I didn't learn shit all of his moves.

 

[praetor]

Was a neat fight but I didn't learn shit all of his moves.

if you played DeS, you don't need to, he's almost copypaste False Allant

 

[Murk]

pc musturd race only no desu souls for me =(

 

[AngryEddy]

So I'm using Crypt Blacksword with Poise Ring and Havels armor with Minotaur head right now, why do people think Gyrm armor gives better poise when the numbers say otherwise? It is amusing to just rape rapier people and forcing them to trade with me.

 

[Murk]

The armor doesn't, the helmet does. At least, it used to -- haven't checked comparison of them since the latest nerfs to GG helm. Still, gyrm helms > everything for a while and still outclass most helmets, even most "heavy" helmets.

Tho minotaur is most poise on helmet now so yar.

My typical armor load out is havels legs+arms cuz 30 poise go fuckyerself and they look decent, dark chest or royal swordsman chest, and either regular gyrmhelm or imperious helm.

Tho I'm kind of at my limit and getting a bit too bored with the game. Nothing to do and pvp is either weird spazzotrons or me stabbing my way to victory too easily cuz no one wants to do a normal attack anymore.

 

[Grimlorn]

So, is there any bonus for collecting all three crowns? A new dialog maybe?

Here's all the dialog from Vendrick. I was hoping for some explanation or understanding of what was going on with the curse and the flame, but nothing really, just nonsense.
http://darksouls2.wiki.fextralife.com/Memory+of+the+King

 

[AngryEddy]

Tested out symbol of avarice again on giant lord instead of pvp and the bonus is the exact same amount as Tseldora cap. Worthless shit.

 

[Jaedar]

It's a shame powerstancing twinblades seems to remove the entire point(ie fast attacks). Otherwise I might totally go for dragonrider twinblaed bleed/poison powerstancer.

 

[dr. one]

Finished the DLC with few of my characters and enjoyed it a lot.

I found the level design excellent, enemy and weapon variety pretty good, all three bosses fun (really liked how they´ve tied the two main encounters with exploration and the final showdown on NG++ with the greatbow dude, Lucatiel and 4 knights in tow was rather epic), though I don´t think any of them surpasses Fume Knight who is probably my favourite boss in the series, continued to be impressed with the work on NPC phantoms (don´t mind the cheese) and liked the general atmosphere of the place.

Besides that, From managed to fulfill some of my minor wishes, like inclusion of mimics, Pharros contraptions, Chameleon-ing phantom and an area that notably changes during a playthrough, a bit á la Anor/Dark Londo in DS1. Also, I really appreciated the inclusion of a talkative NPC, though I certainly wouldn´t mind more.

I found the challenge area to be pretty annoying on my initial visit, but once I became familiar with the layout all that was left was an interesting change of scenery that didn´t overstay its welcome.
The reward for getting all the crowns was rather underwhelming, but at the same time I appreciate there´s at least something.

Finally, I also appreciate that From fairly successfully managed to avoid being formulaic when it comes to some major aspects of each DLCs´ contents - the exploration in the first two leans towards being vertical, whereas in the last one it´s more horizontal, each DLC features some unique type of environmental manipulation, each shard gal is encountered in different ways, bosses come with a good level of type variety and, thanks to the last DLC, the main ones are not always placed at the end of the content.

The cons in my book would be lack of interior clutter, lack of new items in some of the weapon categories, while some of the added ones being less powerful than they should be, and overkill grinding requirements for the DLC´s semi-covenant.

All in all, I think From did hell of a job on the DLCs and with all three in place the game now features enough quality content for me to consider it overall (slightly) better than its predecessor.

So at SL1 Aava almost seems like the hardest boss in the game, but I think Alonne takes the cake... Aava seems to have less HP than Alonne and way too many attack openings. Otherwise, some of the attacks are just impossible to dodge with such low AGL.

Yeah, though personally I´ve found the other two boss fights more difficult on my sl1 playthrough - had problems reliably dodge some of Ivory dude´s attacks and the knight spawn phase was a clusterfuck (which I´ve enjoyed though), the case of the challenge boss is obvious .

In case anybody´s interested, I´ve uploaded all three sl1 successful attempts on youtube.
Here´s the main boss encounter, which was all kinds of ridiculous and involved a lot of luck:

Spoiler

 

[AngryEddy]

weird spazzotrons

Why do people do the spinny unlocked circle thing? I always end up raping these fucking faggots, but it's annoying to know they're trying to exploit something.

 

[UndetectedButthurt]

weird spazzotrons

Why do people do the spinny unlocked circle thing? I always end up raping these fucking faggots, but it's annoying to know they're trying to exploit something.

It kinda abuses lag? 2H running attacks on curved swords are especially bad that way.

 

[Servo]

This is probably a stupid, but can you undo an upgrade to a weapon? I upgraded a shield to +1, then realized I meant to upgrade a different one. Not a big deal since it didn't cost very much - just wondering.

 

[Murk]

Nope; you can undo infusions but not the incremental upgrades.