From Software The Dark Souls II Megathread™

[Invictus]

Yeah all sorta of crazy builds were one of the stamples for DS2, it makes for quite intersting pvp options and all sorts of crazy combat
I am still deciding what sort of build I want to play for trying out the dlc areas I never got to play before, right now I am pretty vanilla but somewhat melee focused, thinking of going warlock again perhaps... In the meantime will try rasing adaptability and attunement and upgrading only the firesword to keep my stats on the level

 

[sullynathan]

I already have a +10 large club. I will most likely not grind this playthrough after seeing how easy the game already is and knowing that enemies will stop respawning after a point. I just beat the rotten.

I want a legal version so I can test the PVP.

 

[Rolk's Drifter]

Yeah all sorta of crazy builds were one of the stamples for DS2, it makes for quite intersting pvp options and all sorts of crazy combat
I am still deciding what sort of build I want to play for trying out the dlc areas I never got to play before, right now I am pretty vanilla but somewhat melee focused, thinking of going warlock again perhaps... In the meantime will try rasing adaptability and attunement and upgrading only the firesword to keep my stats on the level

I've never tried magic so I can't confirm, but I hear the DLC is pretty resistant to magics. You could always respec though, which is something I do quite often. Helps keep things fresh and interesting. You'll pick up a lot of soul vessels during the game so it's no worry. However the DLCs are all weak to backstab/parries so it's not too big of a problem. It's a bit more DS1 like in that way.

I'm not sure what you mean by warlock. Pyromancer? Dark magic? It's just there's a Warlock mask in the game but it doesn't indicate a type of magic or playstyle. It's pretty cool though. In a creepy, statanic kind of a way..

If I can make a suggestion, you should try the falchion. It's really low stats but a lot more fun than a longsword imo. Course it's all personal preference but it's probably my favourite weapon class in the game. Very well suited to a light/agile playstyle. Katana is another option. You can get the uchi after beating the Pursuer now. Either way don't worry about wasting upgrade materials, the DLC gives you lots.

I already have a +10 large club. I will most likely not grind this playthrough after seeing how easy the game already is and knowing that enemies will stop respawning after a point. I just beat the rotten.

I want a legal version so I can test the PVP.

Yeah, grinding is thankfully unnecessary. If you're using the large club then you might be interested to know, you can trade the Rotten's soul for the butcher's knife. It's a strength weapon as well. Very good one too.

PVP is much better imo but lag is quite common unfortunately.

 

[sullynathan]

I got the butchers knife, I found the two characters that do the trading for boss souls.

 

[sullynathan]

The game seriously inclined itself from earthern peak onward. It has that DS1 looping, shortcut level design. Earthen peak did have that super lazy overweight troll disgusting boss fight though. I did get tired of all of these poison shit though, five levels with all this poison stuff is really annoying.

Iron keep is so far the best level in the game and so far had the best optional boss so far. The smelter demon was pretty good and gave me the most challenge of all the bosses so far in the game. I'm really getting tired of the pursuers though, I'm tired of seeing them appear in nearly every location in the game as a mini-boss. They're bullshit. I didn't really like the Iron king boss fight so much, seems too difficult for a melee character. The area was too small to fight with too many pitfalls and the boss is annoying with most of his body being unreachable.

I still wonder how I will start the DLC though, I have reached Drangleic castle. It's also pretty good and I like the level design so far. The dual dragon riders was a cake walk.

I feel like DS2 has more locations and more content than DS1 but still somehow feels shorter. To put it in perspective, I'm already level 110 in DS2 and only 31 hours into this playthrough, while in DS1 when I was around the same level I had almost 100 hours in the game. Partly because leveling in DS2 is easier because you need far less souls than in DS1, I only need over 10,000 souls to level up while I'm over level 100 while in DS1 I would need 100,000 souls to per level.

This game comes off as far more rewarding than DS1 and its the reason why I feel like its easier. Enemies drop more loot, even farming for weapons and armor will almost always give you the right gear that you need more than the one I didn't. Couple that with the fast travel from every bonfire, not needing to rest at a bonfire before unlocking it for teleportation, all the numerous summons for most areas and most bosses and the overwhelming amount of loot-bloat at times make DS2 almost a cake walk but I am still liking it because it got a lot better as I progressed.

 

[Russia is over. The end.]

Iron keep is so far the best level in the game and so far had the best optional boss so far. The smelter demon was pretty good and gave me the most challenge of all the bosses so far in the game.

Iron Keep was always what stopped my deathless runs.

 

[Rolk's Drifter]

sullynathan Shit I forgot to mention the DLC.

Sunken Crown: In Black Gulch there are some giants. Kill them and you get a key. This opens a couple of places. One is a room in the big hole in Majula. In there you will get the key that opens the shrine after the Rotten.

Old Iron King: At the start of Iron Keep there is a key under a fire breathing statue. Probably the first loot you saw. That opens the door by the Last Giant boss fight. It's the area with fire breathing lizards. In there is the key for the shrine after Old Iron King.

Ivory King: You probably have this key. It's the Frozen Flower (?) you pick up early in Drangleic Castle. Go back to Shrine Of Winter that you passed en route to the castle.

---

Edit: Yeah some areas are stupidly small. Like you can walk from entrance to boss in 30 seconds. Thankfully the DLC is more fleshed out.

Also, it makes sense you level up quicker because you start off with less stamina, iFrames etc than DS1. So you need levels to get them back. Or not. Builds are a bit more important in DS2 imo cos of that.

I hate the farming in this game. From really need a shuffle bag approach. I farmed the monastery top in Aldias keep a while ago. It took until bonfire intensity 21 to get. Bad luck on my part but it shouldn't be like that. Having to fight those fecking legs... Also Lion stuff is a pain to get sometimes.

 

[Redlands]

Got through the base game and most of one of the DLC; then I couldn't play it for months because of a new job and Christmas. Too rusty to play my character in the DLC areas; don't even remember what I did.

Probably going to have to start again...

 

[MediantSamuel]

Got through the base game and most of one of the DLC; then I couldn't play it for months because of a new job and Christmas. Too rusty to play my character in the DLC areas; don't even remember what I did.

Probably going to have to start again...

That's a shame. Good time to try one of DS 2's many build options, though!

 

[Invictus]

Really enjoying Scholar of the first sin, the changes to the enemy positioning really liven things up for veterans of the older version. Just killed the drake by cheesing the hell out of it with arrows :D the pursuer is a cheap mutherfucker who got me looking an a chest in the bastille bit he is good for farming twinkies at least and I can handdle him easily enough.
Sullynathan did you really like Iron Keep? That gelt to me as the most videogamey level of the whole game I mean none of the actual structure of the level makes any sense, if it is supposed a castle like in Anor Londo it should have some proper room but is basicaly the castle from Super Mario Bros, steel turtles and lava
I may be blasphemong here but I have to say that I am enjoying DS2 more than I did Bloodborne, the pace of the combat is more my style and the differnt builds make the game feels so fresh and different while Bloodborne is so darb, brown and basicaly all builds just play the same but with different weapns
I was thinking of alternating this game with Dark Souls and calling it a day but I am thinking I will have some time till the release of DS3 I might play them all to get preped up for that, hell I even made my pre purchase of the metal case version for april

 

[sullynathan]

Yeah I like the iron keep. It's like it was built specifically for my character. I use great club/large club +10, full heavy armor but without fat roll so I one shot all the Knights there.

The only problem I had was getting to the boss with all the dropping, the main boss fight and the challenging smelter demon and that's because the boss is cheesy and the smelter demon catches me off guard once in a while.

It was the first level I found that there where illusionary walls without Pharros stone.

All in all I liked the level because it posed that challenge but was fair about it and I like how the level looks compared to how mundane and generic other parts of the game looked.

 

[Invictus]

Of the vanilla game I really liked undead woods, shrine of amana & black gulch, plus I have a soft spot for viking pirates and the forest of giants
I basicaly started this run to try out the dlc areas I never got to play but I gotta say that I am enjoying the areas of the vanilla just fine

 

[DramaticPopcorn]

undead woods, shrine of amana & black gulch

DO YOU LIKE ASS CANCER TOO

 

[Amazing chest]

I finally played some of the DLCs for the first time, since they were praised so much. Definitely the best DS2 has to offer. Maybe my level was too low (around SL 100), or maybe I'm just tired of playing Souls games so much lately, but I didn't enjoy them that much.

Old Iron King DLC

Great level design, two of the three bosses were great. Exploration was fun, with all the worthwhile items scattered around. The enemies and the amount of them was most of the time tedious. Destroying the Ashen Idols encouraged suicide runs. The challenge runs were absolutely retarded. I don't care about Blue Smelter Demon, won't be playing through that shit on possible future playthroughs, but Sir Alonne was ruined by that "fuck it I can't be bothered to even try and make it fun" run. The team behind DS2 knows how to make things challenging, hopefully they'll learn to make them fun as well in the future.

Sunken King DLC

Played only a small portion of it. More knights with a lot of HP and poise. Level design seemed good, though.

Ivory King DLC

More knights, with high HP and poise. Decent level design. Extremely boring, I stopped playing because I just couldn't bother with the enemies. Didn't get the fourth soldier.

I can't wait for DS3. Please, no more constant group fights with enemies that have 3-5 move combos, long reach, and high HP and poise. Waiting isn't fun. Also, reasonable drop rates for enemy equipment, those were retarded as well in DS2.

 

[Murk]

No Man's Wharf to Lost Bastille was the best in original. Great areas with great design. With recent stuff, DLCs obviously.

I used to loooooooooooooooooove doing low level invasions in No Man's Wharf.

 

[Jezal_k23]

I have a question for you guys. I'm currently replaying DS1 and will replay DS2 next (with the DLC since I haven't done it yet) and I can't help but feel that DS1's early game was a lot stronger than DS2's somehow. I may be mistaken, but I don't recall DS2 having anything as interesting as the whole segment in which you go from the Undead Burg all the way up to Blighttown (assuming you don't have the master key). Also, DS2 doesn't have anything as difficult as Blighttown in it as far as I can recall (I haven't played its DLC though). I don't know, how do you guys feel about it? I mean, I love DS2 but I think DS1's early game is better maybe? What do you think? Anyway it may also just be that DS1 is fresh in my mind again while DS2 is not. It's been a while. But I'm curious to know what everyone thinks.

 

[Villagkouras]

DS1 is probably the best game ever, so I think this sums it up.

 

[Gentle Player]

I have a question for you guys. I'm currently replaying DS1 and will replay DS2 next (with the DLC since I haven't done it yet) and I can't help but feel that DS1's early game was a lot stronger than DS2's somehow. I may be mistaken, but I don't recall DS2 having anything as interesting as the whole segment in which you go from the Undead Burg all the way up to Blighttown (assuming you don't have the master key). Also, DS2 doesn't have anything as difficult as Blighttown in it as far as I can recall (I haven't played its DLC though). I don't know, how do you guys feel about it? I mean, I love DS2 but I think DS1's early game is better maybe? What do you think? Anyway it may also just be that DS1 is fresh in my mind again while DS2 is not. It's been a while. But I'm curious to know what everyone thinks.

I think that the vast majority of players would agree with you there.

 

[Invictus]

Dark Souls up to annor londo is pretty much the best work of the whole series in pacing, design and enemies so naturaly almost any level pales in comparison, and yeah that includes Demons Souls since I think they had more experience to polish up their level design in Dark Souls.
replaying DS2 myself the game seems better than I remembered, the levels still make little sense and most are very straightfoward, but the combat feels good and better suited for the changes made in scholar of the first sin, so while it is no masterpiece (mostly derivate and a bit experimental) it is still a very good game and a good Souls game is wayyy better than 90% of the games out there
Watching Superbunnyhop or Mr btongue's videos on Dark Souls really set the feeling that the game really is a piece of art thanks to the unified vision of miyasaki, and DS2 is simply not.
Some of its changes worked, most did not and one of the things that make a Souls game a Souls game is interconected level design with shortcuts and secret passeways which DS2 simply didnt have
Seeing videos on DS3 the overall opinion is that the game feels like the original in almost every way that counts, be it combat, mechanics, level design etc
So perhaps the old you have to tear something appart to see what makes it tick to make a better version still holds up here, since ot looks like it has taken the best of all the lessons learned since Dark Souls to make a better game
I am almost in the demon ruins coming out of lost izlith and those levels could definetly have used a scholar of the first sin rebalance to make them a bit more interesting since the levels themselves are very straightfoward and the encounters are definetly very average compared to the rest of the game

 

[Russia is over. The end.]

But I'm curious to know what everyone thinks.

Half people love DS2 more, another half loves DS1 more. DS1 fans are toxic and have a loud mouth on them, they "reject" DS2 as non-canon and try to speak for the entire community all the time (see example two posts above), while DS2 fans appreciate both games, just love the second one more. That's all there is to know.

 

[sullynathan]

DS2 is just more open with far more locations, loot bloat and shit you would find in your normal open world rpgs.

 

[Caim]

Dark Souls 1 has a world to explore and master. Dark Souls 2 has levels that you beat so you can go on to the next.

Dark Souls 1 has an elegance to it, allowing you to do more with less. Dark Souls 2 has more, but with the same amount to do.

 

[Ivan]

Crown of the Sunken King + Old Iron King trump DS1 imo. The latter, along with Shrine of Storms + Valley of Defilement are my fav 3 Souls segments.

 

[Perkel]

DS2 is just more open with far more locations, loot bloat and shit you would find in your normal open world rpgs.

I think you don't want to see actual map of DS2.

In fact DS1 is the most open DS like game from all 4. DS2 is just hub with 4-5 paths and none of those path interact with each other. Just long corridors.


As for game design. Deamon's Souls is the best one. Simply put each and every place is amazing up until finish where DS1 losts its touch after anor londo and DS2 aside from few areas is just shit pile of corridors.

That, plus one bonfire per part of level makes DeS superior in every sense. In all other DS games you just go to bonfire before boss and spam yourself until you win.

 

[Ivan]

As for game design. Deamon's Souls is the best one. Simply put each and every place is amazing up until finish where DS1 losts its touch after anor londo and DS2 aside from few areas is just shit pile of corridors.

Fun Fact: Demons Souls was the only game that encouraged me to do a magic playthrough.


Also, I agree it's a shame that FROM included that boring gauntlet before Alonne. Probably the only blight, aside from the road to Blue Smelter, in that DLC gem.

I want to play Demon again.