From Software The Dark Souls II Megathread™

[toro]

Sigh, I'll post seriously. Rapiers are OP and Katanas are OP and so is the Warped Sword. In terms of STR weapons, Craftsman's hammer or bandit/battle axe are OP (but with much less range than the rapiers or katanas.)

If you are doing PVE, any of those weapons will carry you through _the entire game_. If you are doing PVP, then go with a rapier if dex or an axe if str. If you want to spam run attacks like a limp dicked bastard, then go with the warped sword and 2h that shit.

High counter damage, never ever doubt how much of a difference that 120-150 counter rating can make.

In the end I settled for Heide Spear.

 

[Cowboy Moment]

new AI is cheating like crazy
fucking hitboxes

casul confirmed

Perhaps. I finished vanilla version but I simply cannot into DS2: SotFS.

I just finished an 8h session with the game. I had to rebind all the fucking keys and now it works.

Killed Sinner on first try and died a lot on the Sentinels. Because I'm an idiot I've burned a bonfire ascetic for the sinner boss and afterwards I got raped. NG+ is not for casuals. I will have to revisit this area sometime.

The mobs placement is better in SotFS and there are a couple of new characters. Once again I cannot decide between STR or DEX builds.

Lost Sinner has one of the largest difficulty spikes between NG and NG+, so that was a bad place to use an ascetic indeed.

 

[Kanedias]

http://www.reddit.com/r/darksouls3/comments/3a6b9t/dark_souls_iii_will_be_the_last_souls_game_made/

According to the Italian vg247 site, Kadokawa wants to make From develop open world games instead.

Apparently Dark Souls 2 was also supposed to be open world but Namco said no and they had to scrap the process and repurpose the areas as regular Souls areas.

I don't know if I believe this, but if its true it'd explain the problems during Dark Souls 2 development that we know happened plus the open world-ish map that came with the collector's edition, as well as some of the early concept art that looked weird for a typical Souls game.

Spoiler

 

[toro]

I just spent 4 hours trying to kill the Fume Knight. I failed.

I'm lvl 100 and I will go visit other places but then I will murder this asshole.

 

[Murk]

It's ok, some bullshit stat I heard said that Fume has a 90% fail rate.

Fume's the best <3

 

[Seaking4]

I just beat Fume and it was amazing. What a phenomenal boss fight. The DLCs have been much better than the base game. Sinh and Fume have easily been two of the most fun fights I've had in either DS or DS2.

 

[DramaticPopcorn]

Not trying to be edgy or anything but I had no problem beating Fume Knight... Sir Alonne, on the other hand

 

[Seaking4]

The first half is easy but once he powers up he becomes quite lethal.

I died a bunch of times to him but each time was just so disappointing because it came as a result of a dumb mistake. I kept getting baited into attacking or healing when I shouldn't have. I think the majority of the times I died to him I had barely healed at all in the fight and it was just two hits real quick that got me.

Fuck it was fun though. Knowing that if you got hit once you really couldn't make any more mistakes.

 

[toro]

It's ok, some bullshit stat I heard said that Fume has a 90% fail rate.

Fume's the best <3

I won against your beloved Fume at lvl 120. Solo. More stamina did the trick. He really did not touch me for the last 2 thirds of the fight. It was nice.

 

[Murk]

Good for you m8

Now do it at SL 1 with no adp/agi gear ;DDD

 

[Ivan]

stahp

 

[MapMan]

Hi! I got a question to all the min-maxin and other pro scrub rekking players. What are some currently fun and viable builds? I previously played a quality build with sunsword and estoc and it was really fun. I'm looking for something either wacky/fun or a DEX build. Any tips what are the best choices here?

t. scrub baron

 

[UndetectedButthurt]

I did SL1 fume.... Just sayin...

Hi! I got a question to all the min-maxin and other pro scrub rekking players. What are some currently fun and viable builds? I previously played a quality build with sunsword and estoc and it was really fun. I'm looking for something either wacky/fun or a DEX build. Any tips what are the best choices here?

t. scrub baron

50 VGR/9 VIT/Third Dragon Ring/Life Ring +3/Ring of Blades +2/Flynn's Ring with a straight sword/curved sword/rapier of your choice is the most viable thing in PvP. Warped Sword/Longsword/Estoc/Chaos Blade top tier best tier etc. Some people prefer infused weapons with Flynn so that you can get more VGR/END with base weapon requirements.

 

[toro]

I did SL1 fume.... Just sayin...

And? You can beat any boss once you learn his shit.

 

[toro]

Just had one awesome run through Shrine of Amana. Defeated 4 invaders and Velstadt without dead. Some adrenaline

Question: I'm using Heide's Spear +10 and all Heide's Knights are attacking me on sight. What's the deal?

 

[UndetectedButthurt]

And? You can beat any boss once you learn his shit.

SL1 is more of a you-have-no-iframes challenge in DaS2. Last patch gave Peasant gear an ADP bonus though.

Question: I'm using Heide's Spear +10 and all Heide's Knights are attacking me on sight. What's the deal?

They get up after you kill Dragonrider.

 

[toro]

And? You can beat any boss once you learn his shit.

SL1 is more of a you-have-no-iframes challenge in DaS2. Last patch gave Peasant gear an ADP bonus though.

I'm replaying the game in order to fight the DLC bosses. But tbh I don't have patience for a SL1 run. You must be a little bit mad. Kudos

Second question: I'm bored of Heide's Spear but it's also awesome. Is there any way to increase the dmg output on this thing? Without infusion stuff.

Edit: It seems Lightning +10 is the way to go.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Rings? Ring of Blades, Flynn's Ring, there's a thunder one as well.

 

[toro]

Rings? Ring of Blades, Flynn's Ring, there's a thunder one as well.

Yes. There is one.

http://darksouls2.wiki.fextralife.com/Lightning+Clutch+Ring

Edit: Flynn's Ring is out of question as I'm at 90 weight units (or some).

 

[UndetectedButthurt]

You can respec to 9VIT + Third Dragon or 14VIT to get the most (50) out of Flynn's. RoB+2/Flynn's/Leo Ring/Lightning Clutch is probably the most OP setup for Heide Spear. Sunlight Blade on top of that and it's GG. Oh yeah, make sure that your opponent is wet for extra damage too.

 

[MapMan]

This is a pretty cool tactic. How can you make someone wet? There's a miracle for that AFAIR? Some questions:

• What are the main differences between straight and curved swords?
  
• Are poision/bleed builds any fun or viable in pvp?

• Warped Sword/Longsword/Estoc/Chaos Blade top tier best tier etc

  What does that even mean? Those are considered the best choices?
• Powerstancing and dual weapons are still a thing? Were they ever?
• What's the standard SL in SotFS? What are the general meta guidelines?

Thanks in advance!

 

[UndetectedButthurt]

This is a pretty cool tactic. How can you make someone wet? There's a miracle for that AFAIR?

I haven't tried it myself but some people said that Holy Water urns can make the opponent wet. Pharros Mask makes you wet. Of course you can just invade or fight in Shrine of Amana or Sinner's Rise or something.

What are the main differences between straight and curved swords?

Straight Swords have better tracking generally. Some curved swords have bleed and/or higher counter. 1h curved swords are faster. 2h curved sword run attack is OP.

Are poision/bleed builds any fun or viable in pvp?

Poison is pretty good. A Poison Spotted Whip usually poisons the target on riposte. Manslayer is probably the best choice for good damage/poison. Sanctum Gauntlet and Rat Covenant Ring increase poison on weapons.

Bleed is a good bonus, but not worth losing AR for. Bleed Bandit Knife is really good on opponents with no poise since 1h light attacks are really fast and move forward.

Bleed Forlorn GS is supposedly good (if you're fully hollow). Bleed Ivory King UGS has crazy bleed values too. You can use Shadow Gauntlets/Brotherhood of Blood ring to get higher values.

What does that even mean? Those are considered the best choices?

The PvP is arguably more balanced a year after release but light and fast weapons have become too stronk because of Phys. defense nerf and introduction of Flynn's ring. These 4 weapons are just the best overall choices out of each class. Even with lower AR, it takes much less effort to win with these vs medium or ultra weapons. Longsword probably has the most versatile moveset in the whole game. Oh yeah... Bandit Axe is also insane now. The roll punishing 1HR2s are just too much.

Also nearly every weapon in the game has a move that ignores poise and recognizes only hyper armor. It's pretty easy to invalidate poise with fast weapons. Of course, most 2h attacks can't be poised at all.

Poise information here: https://www.reddit.com/r/DarkSouls2/comments/2n8aqd/everything_you_ever_wanted_to_know_about_poise/ (i.e. it's not broken, you just have to know which attacks you can poise)

Powerstancing and dual weapons are still a thing? Were they ever?

More damage but less poise damage than 2h. These attacks are also easier to parry because they hit twice. If you can figure out combos that work for you then it can be fun.

What's the standard SL in SotFS? What are the general meta guidelines?

150 has been the meta since release. BoB arena now has SL priority matchmaking so you'll see a lot of twitch.tv spazzers at 150.

200 is a less popular choice but you'll find people there too. Being mindful of your soul memory is more important though

 

[MapMan]

Great post, thanks. So, about 150 SL equipping the agape ring is advised (unless I really need a 4th ring)?

 

[Murk]

In pve and conventional pvp (invasion, etc.) yes. in Arena you don't need it, as you don't get any souls.

 

[toro]

You can respec to 9VIT + Third Dragon or 14VIT to get the most (50) out of Flynn's. RoB+2/Flynn's/Leo Ring/Lightning Clutch is probably the most OP setup for Heide Spear. Sunlight Blade on top of that and it's GG. Oh yeah, make sure that your opponent is wet for extra damage too.

Ring of Blades +2 is NG+ therefore I cannot loot it in this run. But with the rest of these things and I've reached 561 attack rating which is alright. I think max I can get with this is 599 AR.

To test this, I've burned a Bonfire Ascetic for Fume and I've beaten him on NG+ but ... it still took me like 2h. I rushed the main areas and I did not have the patience to fight him so I lost like an idiot. Needed a break and then Victory Achieved

This boss is really something special however I would not rank it above Artorias for the simple balls of fire shit. They can be dodged but one touch and I'm dead. Also I like that the best strategy for this boss is to go alone.

Kudos for fighting this on SL1. I think it took a while.

2 DLCs down, only the frozen shit remains. Also I'm filled with souls and I dump them in Faith cause I have no idea what to do with them.