From Software The Dark Souls II Megathread™

[toro]

Something like this.

 

[toro]

At lvl 200 I'm done with SotFS.

Got all the crowns. Solo-ed Fume twice. Cheesed Sir Alone with two NPC summons. Lost 500k souls on Vendrick (don't ask how this is possible). Killed a few invaders in Heide's Tower. Started NG+ and left the character in Majula so he can watch the sea for eternity.

DLCs areas are a huge improvement over the vanilla game. I would say that they are on par with DaS1 but the rest of the game is way more shitty than DaS1.

The Heide's Spear build recommended by UndetectedButthurt is awesome in PvP. It's simply OP. Killed invaders with 5 hits in a row because the suckers were stunned. Fuck, I didn't realize how much I love spears.

I think DaS are the only games in which I can actually enjoy playing with a katana or a spear.

And now I'm ready for DaS3.

 

[Silva]

Started NG+ and left the character in Majula so he can watch the sea for eternity.

 

[praetor]

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

the idiots still insist on the nonsensical SL150 thing? wow, i suspected most Souls streamers/"pros" are dumb, but i didn't know they were diabolically dumb. at 150 dex/fast weapon builds are even more powerful relative to everything else than at higher SLs (200 is too much, imo, but 175 seems like a good medium point)

 

[UndetectedButthurt]

the idiots still insist on the nonsensical SL150 thing? wow, i suspected most Souls streamers/"pros" are dumb, but i didn't know they were diabolically dumb. at 150 dex/fast weapon builds are even more powerful relative to everything else than at higher SLs (200 is too much, imo, but 175 seems like a good medium point)

They want to play the game like a fighting game and end up getting fucked by bigger numbers. Everything on twitch is just the worst.

 

[toro]

DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin Current Players: 4,196

Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition Current Players: 2,944

DARK SOULS™ II Current Players: 993

 

[Ivan]

started a simultaneous 2nd run for both games. for all the shit DaS2 get's thrown on it I'm enjoying it a lot more this 2nd time around. I would also say The Pursuer is one of the best bosses in the entire series. I love his moveset and I think he's a perfect "first hours" boss encounter.

dancing around him, chipping away at his health in the first encounter is awesome good fun

 

[UndetectedButthurt]

stats and stuff

Last day of the summer sale brought around 2k players. PvP was a bit slow before the sale started.

 

[Ivan]

Butthurt. Q about pvp. If I want to find more players should I not beat Gwyn + final boss of DaS2? Or are there more than enough pvp players in NG+ early areas?

 

[UndetectedButthurt]

Butthurt. Q about pvp. If I want to find more players should I not beat Gwyn + final boss of DaS2? Or are there more than enough pvp players in NG+ early areas?

In DaS1 PvP is level-based so it doesn't matter which bosses you beat (unless you want to get invaded). Typically people will get master key and skip killing Taurus demon to leave Burg open to invasions. Forest is a hotspot so leaving Sif alive is not a bad idea. There's activity all over the place but the end-game PvP is SL120. SL1 twinks are always invading new players at the Burg. ~SL60 for Anor Londo shenanigans. Burg/Forest/Township/Kiln are the popular ones. Township is unique since you can get invaded even if you killed Manus. tl;dr organized pvp is end-game stuff at SL120 otherwise you'd have to estimate approx SL based on each area.

In DaS2 your Soul Memory is what matters - http://darksouls2.wikidot.com/online-matchmaking
You can still get invaded even though the area boss is dead (you just have to disable the effigy effect at bonfire). 200k-400k is a good spot for Belfry Luna stuff. Community meta is 1.5-2m at SL150. 2m-6m+ is end-game PvP SL200+. Iron Keep bridge, Dragon Shrine and Belfry Luna/Sol are the most popular PvP spots.

 

[praetor]

In DaS2 your Soul Memory is what matters - http://darksouls2.wikidot.com/online-matchmaking
You can still get invaded even though the area boss is dead (you just have to disable the effigy effect at bonfire). 200k-400k is a good spot for Belfry Luna stuff. Community meta is 1.5-2m at SL150. 2m-6m+ is end-game PvP SL200+. Iron Keep bridge, Dragon Shrine and Belfry Luna/Sol are the most popular PvP spots.

did Heide drop out of favour because of the SotFS changes?

 

[UndetectedButthurt]

did Heide drop out of favour because of the SotFS changes?

I imagine de-spawning them is a pain for some but I don't remember Heide being as busy as Iron Keep. The game is just not as active as it used to be. New tiers and Agape Ring fucked SM too much. The 15-999m range was unbalanced but at least there was non-stop action.

 

[toro]

Restarted DaS2 just for PvP. I'm using a Bastard Sword this time and I'm totally raping all my invaders

But yes, Heide's tower invasions are pretty low. Waiting is needed and the Cracked Blue Eye Orb doesn't work.

Edit: At around 500k souls, I'm walking around Heide's Tower and nobody is there. I cannot invade, I'm not invaded and I'm summoned at around 30 min.

The funny thing is that one summoner has challenged Ornstein and then he rushed him. He got full face combo and I could not do anything.

 

[UndetectedButthurt]

500k is a bit high for heide. This is Bastille/Copse range. Servant's Quarters and Straid's Cell are good.

Red invasions always work instantly. Blueberry invasions are dead. New SM tiers and Agape Ring destroyed them. There aren't going to be a lot of sinners at low SM too.

 

[Villagkouras]

I'm currently playting SotFS and I'm having a blast (no surprises here, I'm a fanboy). It's time to play the 3 DLCs as well.

I don't know what style of play suits me best, I used to be a tanky player and now after Bloodborne, I want to play with a DEX build with lots of rolling/dodging.

I'm currently using Firesword (the one in this little room in the Forrest of Giants), but I don't think its worthwhile to upgrade it.

Any thoughts/suggestions for weapons?

 

[praetor]

as usual, use what you like, everything is good for PvE (yes, the longsword is really good, even in PvP, as undetectedasspain already pointed out). i'm partial to weapons with fun movesets so santier's and whipsword always rank pretty highly try dual wielding scimitars/falchions/manikin falcatas or claws

 

[UndetectedButthurt]

I recently tried dicking around with your typical noob setup (drangleic armor, vengarl helm with greatsword/greatshield and fatrolling). If you know how poise works and delay your attacks well, it can be surprisingly good for PvP. Infused Greatsword 2-3 shots everyone even when used 1h at low SM. Obviously twitch pros would destroy me (though i did beat some of them in arena with this "build" at 150) but bell rank 3 was mine pretty fast. A lot of 1v2s and healing, but Captain Drangleic was victorious in the end. Oh yeah... Blue Tearstone is absolutely OP in PvP. Ring of Steel Protection has a hidden % damage reduction in PvE (in case someone doesn't know).

manikin falcatas

A recent patch added bleed to the sabre. Now the infusions are broken like Barbed Club used to be. It has more total infused AR than infused warped sword + bleed.

 

[BLOBERT]

BROS FINSLLY AT THE DOC HAVING FUN

FUME KNIGHT RAPEF ME FOR HOURS BUT FINALLY GOT HIM

USING A TOO HANF DEX BUILD NONSHIELDS OBVIOUS ROLLING ROLLING

FUNNY HOW SOME BOSSES ARE EASIER FR DIFFERENT PLAY STYLES

I KILLED VENDRICK FIRST TRY BARELY PAYING ATTENTION WHILE I HAD TONS OF YROUBLEB IN TWO PREVIOUS RUNS

OF COURSE DODGING THE BRUME KNIGHT MADE VENDRICK SEEM SLOMO

 

[UndetectedButthurt]

DEX BUILD

U LVLD DEX GEAM OVRE FEGT

 

[MapMan]

It really does seem that certain builds make it very easy or very hard to kill a boss. I think I killed fume on my first try with sun sword and estoc. Meh.

Anyway, having a lot of fun with the heide spear build. Gonna try something more speed oriented soon. I wanted to level up Blue Sentinels but it seems impossibru without grinding a ton of BCEOs... Such a shame they didn't fix the convenant.

 

[UndetectedButthurt]

I wanted to level up Blue Sentinels but it seems impossibru without grinding a ton of BCEOs... Such a shame they didn't fix the convenant.

Blue invasions were amazing back when 15mil+ was the top SM tier. Everyone just went into NG+ and bought tons of orbs without caring about SM. Introduction of Agape Ring and new SM tiers killed the "free" feeling of end game PvP. SM is worse than ever and now requires micromanagement.

 

[toro]

Blue Sentinels is broken. Got one summoning in like 10 hours of playing.

Anyway I've started the game again because I want to try the Lost Sinner's sword.

But I cannot help notice again that the vanilla part of the game is really shitty:
- Go through a cave and suddenly you are in Heide's Tower which is in the middle of the sea.
- Take a lift from a tower and you get to Iron Keep which is surrounded by lava.
- Sun Covenant is placed in one awful area and ... so on.

I cannot wait to finish the original content.

 

[praetor]

mmmm-hmmmm! fuck yeah somebody trying to bring that shilling, plagiarising cunt down. fingers crossed this results in huge drama and vaati becoming jobless

 

[DragoFireheart]

as usual, use what you like, everything is good for PvE (yes, the longsword is really good, even in PvP, as undetectedasspain already pointed out). i'm partial to weapons with fun movesets so santier's and whipsword always rank pretty highly try dual wielding scimitars/falchions/manikin falcatas or claws

Longsword is easy mode for PvP.

Tracks well, quick swings, solid moveset.

Only issue I have with the longsword is its damage is somewhat low.

 

[toro]

Anyway I've started the game again because I want to try the Lost Sinner's sword.

Got the sword but lost the interest in it. Black Scorpion Stinger FtW!

Also got depressed after I watched some crazy german dude on twitch while he killed Fume and Allone in less than 1 minute. And then he killed Alva ... the invisible Alva.

Anyway, low SM level pvp is absolutely awesome. At 900.000 - 999.999 souls, I'm summoned quite fast and I can also find other people to invade.