From Software The Dark Souls II Megathread™

[Gentle Player]

Faith builds are still great if treated primarily as "Paladin"-style melee fighters with support spells and elemental damage. Very few enemies are strong against Lightning compared to other elements, and a good number of bosses are actually vulnerable to it. Even in the expansion areas where elemental resistances are beefed up considerably, I found myself doing more damage against enemies and even bosses with Lightning infused Drakeblood Greatsword than with a pure physical Mirrah Greatsword at 40 Dexterity - and on NG+ to boot!

With that build you can have the best of both worlds: handy support spells and ranged damage to fall back on if need be. The fewer casts of Lightning Spears won't be an issue as it isn't your primary source of damage.

 

[80Maxwell08]

Faith builds can be stupidly powerful in DS2. Especially with the focus on dark elemental bosses. The fewer casts, which were later patched in, don't matter too much when each cast does several hundred to over a thousand damage.

 

[Grimlorn]

I tried a hexer in the latest patches and it honestly just sucked, even in base game content. Nuking never worked very interestingly in souls but it at least had the fun of being overpowered. Giving magic "balanced" DPS just exposes how little of the game's design is built for it.

I think the problem is a lot of stuff is resistant to Dark due to hollowing and stuff. Almost everything is vulnerable to either fire or lightning from what I remember of looking at the boss stats.

 

[Murk]

Lightning more so than Fire, but yeah. There's a few notable exceptions, like Looking Glass Night, but strike damage fucks up heavy armor so bad that it's whatever.

the dragon fights are legitimately a fun little stroll if you view them as a puzzle-fight where your goal is to stack fire resist up to 900. at that point, you can just face tank and pew pew them to death or whatever you want.

 

[Jezal_k23]

Is it possible to tank a hit from the

Spoiler

ancient dragon?

 

[Multidirectional]

Can I go pure caster and beat the game without crying myself to sleep?

In both DS games I'd say best start is melee with some pyromancy backup. I never really got into full caster in neither of them though, melee is where the fun is at for me. I'll always use pyromancy though because it doesn't require stat investment to be useful, just upgrade the pyro glove. I also recommend having a croswbow with some bolts around, cool thing about it you can shoot it with one hand, unlike bow.

 

[Invictus]

That is exactly what I am doing for this playthtough; I want to play a hexer but since the class is available later on I focused on melee while upgrading the fire longsword and so far it has been a blast. Since fire scales with the stats I needed to upgrade anyway for hexing its been fun, in fact maybe so fun I might scrap my plans for hexer (since those are mostly for pvp) and go full melee

 

[Caim]

Is it possible to tank a hit from the

Spoiler

ancient dragon?

Up your fire resistance all the way and you are immune to it, you'll only get knocked down.

Actually killing the thing... well, I hope you're patient.

 

[Cromwell]

I just started as warrior and will put points into faith and int now to be ableto cast spells after I find out where to get them. From what I have read the game is not very item dependent so if I get a good weapon early I just infuse it and upgrade it and cann roll through the game without thinking twice about hunting after special items?

 

[Mozg]

Any weapon is fine, although I suggest getting a small collection of 2-3 you like and swapping between them, both because sometimes you'll run low on weapon durability and because variety is useful.

 

[Murk]

Is it possible to tank a hit from the

Spoiler

ancient dragon?

Yes, with 900+ fire it does no damage at all (literally, 0 damage).

However, in current post-nerf state, even with much lower resistance you can facetank the flames and survive in various cases.

The physical hits are a bit different, as that resistance is linear, meaning that at some point (sufficient ng cycles, cov of champs, summons) it'll one-shot with certain attacks no matter what.

Cromwell

You can, but I'd say that some weapons are clearly better than others. It's just that every weapon is viable in single-player/pve. Find the one that you like the moveset of, and go with that.

As for magic, class doesn't matter at all -- just the stats + casting catalyst + spell in question.

 

[Cromwell]

Yeah I only asked since I dont really plan on getting strenght and dex higher than the 12/11 the warrior started with.

 

[Mozg]

Stat scaling doesn't work like DS1 - infused weapons still scale, just a little less. Even with an infused weapon you'd get a lot of benefit from 20 in whatever stats it scales with, and slight improvement up to 40 or 50.

DS2 scaling has a lot less weird irrational From bullshit in general, and you get very little stuff like stats scaling faster as they approach 40 and then 40-99 being worth absolutely nothing.

 

[Cromwell]

So a big bird just dropped an even bigger shiny knight on my head and I had to run away. After I was down a small ladder the guy just disappeared in smoke, what is he?

 

[praetor]

So a big bird just dropped an even bigger shiny knight on my head and I had to run away. After I was down a small ladder the guy just disappeared in smoke, what is he?

The Pursuer. you'll have a chance to fight him again, don't worry

 

[Rolk's Drifter]

Cromwell It's a mini boss that only appears at that location once. You'll meet him again. And again. And again... Iirc you get more souls for beating him there but it's no big deal. Plus the other arena is much nicer imo.

Also... you don't need to hunt for special items but items and equipment can make an enormous difference.

Some other general advice:

• Combat is quite puzzley. It pays to stop and think things through. As bullshitty as the game seems sometimes there is almost always an easy way. So if you're frustrated, try rethinking your strats/methodology.
• Use your environment.
• Crowd control is your friend.
• As enemies have elemental weaknesses, they also have combat weaknesses, ie some are weak to stunlock, some are weak to parries or backstabs etc.
• Stamina management is very important in DS2. Greed kills.
• Rolling twice is the new roll once.
• Enemy attacks have different parry timings (as do weapons/shields) but there is always an easy one. If you want to git gud at parrying, try to find the easy option then wait or bait.
• Parrying is harder but you'll be surprised at how many things you can parry. The early enemies are oddly some of the hardest tho so don't use them as typical of the whole game. Some of the mobs you might not think to parry are actually the easiest and most fun.
• Damage type is very significant. It's probably a good idea to at least have a thrust and strike weapon.
• If you're getting bored try switching weapon types/playstyles. Or try invading/coop. I find switching things up now and again really helps to keep the game interesting.
• Running/backstep/rolling attacks can be important.
• Some attacks 'flow' into each other better than others. Ie a slow attack can be speeded up if it follows another specific attack. Exploring, finding and using these is awesome.
• Some weapons have special properties/moves when used in certain dual wield combinations.
• Both locked and unlocked play have their advantages/disadvantages.
• Some weapon attacks might seem shit if you are just trying them out but can be really useful in actual combat.
• Running is not just for getting to places quicker.
• Many enemies and bosses punish healing hard. As many healing items as there are, they are slow. Don't panic heal.
• Free aiming is awesome. Especially against enemies that dodge a lot if you aim straight at them. Example: the greatsword running twirly attack can be started facing away from an enemy then cut back in. I find this helps against NPC phantoms quite a lot.

 

[ghostdog]

So a big bird just dropped an even bigger shiny knight on my head and I had to run away. After I was down a small ladder the guy just disappeared in smoke, what is he?

You've had your chance at fighting him in a nice wide area and you blew it. Now get ready for punishment later

I think I fought him at least 15 times with my hollow low-vitality mage, whom he could one-shot most of the times, before managing to beat him for the first time.

I love this guy

 

[Rolk's Drifter]

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.

Case in point: delusional apologist who speaks for entire community.
I like both games but DS1 is superior in every aspect save for netcode and FPS cap

Sure there are exceptions but Bester's point holds largely true throughout the interwebs. Within the last 5 pages or so there are at least two people asking DS2 fans to justify their liking of the game. How many times have you seen that in DS1 threads? It doesn't happen. I don't know the stats/percentages but there is a strange phenomena of certain DS1 fans that simply can't accept some people prefer DS2. It's like they can't sleep at night until everyone hates DS2 as much as they do.

 

[Rolk's Drifter]

It's hard to be invested in the story, because the game doesn't tell you anything. DS1 intro cutscene had meaningful information. DS2 intro told you you're going hollow. You're told to seek souls, but you won't know anything about the great old ones. "Oh, great soul embraced? Neat." When you visit Izalith, you know you'll find the Witch, and in the Tombs, you'll face Nito. In DS2, it seems that you just keep stumbling upon important stuff, without really knowing why.

It's hard to try and gather the lore, when it seems most of the stuff don't have answers, at least not satisfying ones. As far as I know, Ornstein doesn't have a reason for being in Heide. It's disappointing when you're playing blind and hoping to find answers by yourself. It's hard to bother after that anymore. "The Dragonrider is a boss in Heide, because he just is." Meaningless, most likely.

PvE seems to be designed for co-op, because the enemies sure ain't designed to be fought as a group. (If two Manikins attack you simultaneously, they'll both stunlock you with their 4-5 hit combos, which inflict bleed. They can also poison you with throwing knives before attacking) Also, some enemies have bullshit moves: hollows with greatswords have an attack as fast as if they were wielding a dagger, Heide Knights have an attack that does instant damage, and that Drakekeeper who wields a hammer is just awful.
PvP is better, though.

There were a couple of memorable moments, including Vendrick and the giant memories. Dragon Aerie and the Shrine of Amana were beautiful.

And if you're going to complain about geography, complain about the fact that you have to beat the 3 old ones to open the Shrine of Winter, because the main road is blocked by some rubble you could easily climb over. (To be honest, didn't realize it myself. Only after watching Matthewmatosis' DS2 critique video, which I recommend.)

I don't give a shit about about lore, story or transitions making sense. This may seem strange to you but some of the things you like, others don't. It's crazy but that's just how the world is.

As for the actual combat criticisms... yeah those Manikins are nasty. But they are easily countered. The worst moment is the two that drop from above the platform you can raise. THE PLATFORM YOU CAN RAISE.
Bastard sword hollows can be bastards. It's poetic Just lure them round a corner and you'll be fine. Corner cheese is an RPG classic.
No, the sword wielding Heide Knights have a move where they stop still for a long time, telegraphing the fact their next attack will be super fast. It's cool and a I love it. Much better 'danger move' than yet another zombie flail. IMO of course...
Haha yeah... them Drakekeepers... the hammer one is much more manageable if you play unlocked. You can just walk around him pretty easily for 90% of the time. I don't know what the fuck is happening with the warpick/greatshield one. I will probably never figure out a strat for them. Just hit and heal which is sucky but that's probably my own failing.

 

[Cromwell]

Dont know about ds1 vs 2. I played the first up until the gargoyles and gave up in frustration (mind you I am not good at such games),the second one holds my interest even if I am progressing only slowly and getting frustrated very quickly dont know why that wasnt the same in the first one.

Since I only got frustration out of the first (which I own) and still had to try the second I found it on the high seas but now I am not sure if I have to buy it since my weapons break incredibly fast. After I played my warrior a bit I managed to break 4 broken shortswords and a dagger which led to me being out of weapons and souls, so I thought to myself maybe I suck at this and started new with a cleric which was my second choice at starting class. So I maced my way through the forest a few minutes and after the first ladder 3 enemies down my mace already broke again.

I read somewhere this has something to do with framerate and should be fixed, so do I have to buy the stupid Game now just to get a patched version, or is this intentional? I was saving for balrum and on steam the game is 39 euroshekels right now. From my general enjoyment at the moment I would buy it but knowing me I run the risk to invest the money in a game that frustrates me to no end 10 hours later <.<.

 

[Mozg]

I thought pirates patched stuff nowadays?

Anyway like most everything on steam if you want to pay reasonable old game prices you wait for a sale, but it'll have reasonable weapon decay rates and online stuff.

 

[Cromwell]

I thought pirates patched stuff nowadays?

Anyway like most everything on steam if you want to pay reasonable old game prices you wait for a sale, but it'll have reasonable weapon decay rates and online stuff.

as with all games I end up enjoying despite beeing not sure I will buy it later as soon as I can afford it, its more matter of howmuch money I have right now instead of how much it costs (although I never pay 50 or 60 for a game anymore no matter how bad I want it 40 is pretty much the most I would shell out)

Fix for the durability issue (for SotFS version)

From what I've heard, the devs essentially said "It's fixed now, we patched it" but issues remained. The fan fix works though.

ah thanks very much

 

[Cromwell]

Is there a recommended order in which to do the areas or is it linear anyways? I just did the Forrest and now I am on my way to heides tower with level 27

 

[ultimanecat]

I'm still working through myself, but I don't think there's necessarily an order other than needing to do certain things to unblock certain paths.

Both Heide's and the Forest eventually go to the same place (you can go in the bird's nest after fighting The Pursuer to go there) but you need to clear Heide's to be able to go the other way through the mechanism on the path there from Majula.

 

[Amazing chest]

I don't give a shit about about lore, story or transitions making sense. This may seem strange to you but some of the things you like, others don't. It's crazy but that's just how the world is.

I can understand that, but they should be taken into account when comparing these two games.