From Software The Dark Souls II Megathread™

[NJClaw]

Ah shit, here we go again.

 

[Caim]

Twin maces in the nigerian prince robes? My man.

 

[NJClaw]

Twin maces in the nigerian prince robes? My man.

I can't remember the last time I started a playthrough without murdering the poor guy. On the other hand, I can't bring myself to kill the homeless woman, so I always wait for her to gift me the covetous silver serpent ring +1 instead of looting it from her corpse.

It's the first time I play with two maces and one-shotting the turtle knights truly is something else. But the best thing so far has been killing the first ruin sentinel without giving her the chance to attack: with the stone ring, the R1 L1 L1 combo halves her life and stuns her, giving you enough time to recover your stamina and finish her with the same combo.

 

[Caim]

Twin maces in the nigerian prince robes? My man.

I can't remember the last time I started a playthrough without murdering the poor guy. On the other hand, I can't bring myself to kill the homeless woman, so I always wait for her to gift me the covetous silver serpent ring +1 instead of looting it from her corpse.

It's the first time I play with two maces and one-shotting the turtle knights truly is something else. But the best thing so far has been killing the first ruin sentinel without giving her the chance to attack: with the stone ring, the R1 L1 L1 combo halves her life and stuns her, giving you enough time to recover your stamina and finish her with the same combo.

Yeah, twin maces is extremely powerful despite its simplicity. Slap on the Stone Ring, the Ring of Blades because that extra damage really adds up, the Chloranty Ring for better stamina recovery (which you will need because of how stamina hungry the swinging and rolling with the twin maces is), and the silver serpent ring for even more souls than you'd get from the nigerian prince robes. Because of your poor defence you'll want ample Agility so crank up those stats as well, make sure to at least reach the soft cap of Vigor, then crank that Strenght all the way up for maximum damage. A good number of things in DS2 are weak to strike damage, and DLC bosses aren't close to immune to physical damage like they are with elemental damage.

 

[Cryomancer]

Guys, a honest question. Why do people keep saying that Hexers are OP? I mean, I had way easier time as a Sorc than as a Hexer. Having to lv up both, INT and FHT is way harder than having only one stat to level up. And most powerful hexes costs souls which messes with your soul memory

Anyway, here is I killing the ancient dragon as an Hexer

 

[Child of Malkav]

Because most enemies and bosses have little to no resistance against dark damage. There are exceptions but still.

 

[Silverfish]

The hexes are op meme was also bolstered by the early days of DS2 pvp, when hex builds were wrecking everyone who hadn't adjusted to the game's mechanics.

 

[mediocrepoet]

The hexes are op meme was also bolstered by the early days of DS2 pvp, when hex builds were wrecking everyone who hadn't adjusted to the game's mechanics.

As I recall, there was also a damage adjustment where hexes were nerfed. Spells like Climax and Great Resonant Soul were one shotting people.

 

[Blaine]

Stop fucking bumping this thread right this instant, this isn't a good time in my life to start playing DS or DSII again.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Stop fucking bumping this thread right this instant, this isn't a good time in my life to start playing DS or DSII again.

What builds have you played? What are your favourites? There are just so many things you can do in them, it's great. You know it's almost Christmas, you have time to reinstall...

 

[Blaine]

What builds have you played? What are your favourites? There are just so many things you can do in them, it's great. You know it's almost Christmas, you have time to reinstall...

My previous posts in this thread would be a much better source on those specifics (I need to check them myself), but I do remember using hexes at one point due to the white-limned black fireball graphics.

I finished the main game, Sunken King, and Ivory King, but I believe I threw up my hands and declared my playthrough finished at the gank room of Old Iron King—not even from actually trying to navigate it, mind you. I just remembered the videos I'd watched about it, and bounced.

And that's okay. Dread of how you're about to get fucked as soon as you stand up from the bonfire is what makes these games great, and it never goes away. I can still feel it now, dreading actually reinstalling and loading up the game.

Arguably, the pinnacle of computer gaming is to spend dozens of hours suffering, only to realize afterward that you've actually enjoyed yourself immensely.

 

[NJClaw]

Slap on the Stone Ring, the Ring of Blades [...], the Chloranty Ring [...], and the silver serpent ring [...] the nigerian prince robes. [...] ample Agility [...] reach the soft cap of Vigor, then crank that Strenght

Get out of my head

 

[Wunderbar]

Where is the fun in wrecking everything in one-two hits?

 

[NJClaw]

Where is the fun in wrecking everything in one-two hits?

DS2 is the only souls that I haven't finished without dying, and I still find it pretty easy to die in a 50 hours playthrough even while wrecking everything in one or two hits.

 

[cvv]

Hexes and blues were balanced into the ground years ago. Plus it's a boring ass way to play anyway, smash is the way to go in souls.

 

[Child of Malkav]

Last time I played as a pure hexer using only great resonant soul, unleash magic and other damage increase gear. It was pretty good for base game. You drop bosses fast but for mobs it's a pain especially because of the lock on system. I used cheat engine to extend the range of the lock on and it was way better. Plus the old iron king crown to restore spells. Good times. Again, only base game.

 

[Cryomancer]

it's a boring ass way to play

Disagreed. Being the master of ancient mysteries, capable of creating literally a mini sun and throwing at the enemy(Forbidden sun), a geyser of soul energy(soul geyser), throw lightning like Zeus or create 5 quasi-sentient mass of a mysterious black energy who can act like a homing missile and each one hits like a ballista shot(affinity) is very cool. Also, the most iconic weapons in DS2 scale with magical attributes.

Moonlight Greatsword, Roaring Halberd, Chaos Rapier, Ice Rapier...

Again, only base game.

In DLC's, using a magic weapon like moonlight greatsword is way more effective than magic as even regular mobs can soak 3 soul spears.

 

[Silva]

I admit I never played the expansion. And don't have any desire to do so. Because all I see in vids are gank squads and overleveled enemies. Seems artificial difficult territory, way different from, say, BB's Old Hunters, which is difficult in a more organic way.

 

[Elwro]

The DLCs are very good. The ridiculous stuff can be easily skipped; it's tangential to the main design.

 

[Blaine]

I admit I never played the expansion. And don't have any desire to do so. Because all I see in vids are gank squads and overleveled enemies. Seems artificial difficult territory, way different from, say, BB's Old Hunters, which is difficult in a more organic way.

There's much more to the DLCs than just the gank squads, I promise you. They are all worth playing. At the very least, try out Sunken King; it seems to me that it had the least of what one might describe as "bullshit." Also, the atmosphere is great, as you descend into a dank, dark cavern peppered with old ruins.

The bullet sponge effect, however, is very real. Reading back on my old posts reminded me of this: http://darksouls2.wikidot.com/resistance#toc4

This might not seem so bad until you check the key above and realize that "medium resistance" (by far the most common on the table) indicates around a TWO-THIRDS damage reduction—and many enemy resistances on that table are substantially higher than medium. Very few are in a low category.

My biggest mechanics-related gripe with DSII was how hard magic was nerfed compared to DS, and it's nerfed to near-uselessness in the DLCs due to the across-the-board resistances. Magic-scaling weapons (as opposed to spells), however, still deal good damage.

 

[Silva]

I admit I never played the expansion. And don't have any desire to do so. Because all I see in vids are gank squads and overleveled enemies. Seems artificial difficult territory, way different from, say, BB's Old Hunters, which is difficult in a more organic way.

There's much more to the DLCs than just the gank squads, I promise you. They are all worth playing. At the very least, try out Sunken King; it seems to me that it had the least of what one might describe as "bullshit." Also, the atmosphere is great, as you descend into a dank, dark cavern peppered with old ruins.

The bullet sponge effect, however, is very real. Reading back on my old posts reminded me of this: http://darksouls2.wikidot.com/resistance#toc4

This might not seem so bad until you check the key above and realize that "medium resistance" (by far the most common on the table) indicates around a TWO-THIRDS damage reduction—and many enemy resistances on that table are substantially higher than medium. Very few are in a low category.

My biggest mechanics-related gripe with DSII was how hard magic was nerfed compared to DS, and it's nerfed to near-uselessness in the DLCs due to the across-the-board resistances. Magic-scaling weapons (as opposed to spells), however, still deal good damage.

Thanks. Would a dex-dodge-parry build be recommended? That's my default Souls build.

 

[RoSoDude]

I admit I never played the expansion. And don't have any desire to do so. Because all I see in vids are gank squads and overleveled enemies. Seems artificial difficult territory, way different from, say, BB's Old Hunters, which is difficult in a more organic way.

There's much more to the DLCs than just the gank squads, I promise you. They are all worth playing. At the very least, try out Sunken King; it seems to me that it had the least of what one might describe as "bullshit." Also, the atmosphere is great, as you descend into a dank, dark cavern peppered with old ruins.

The bullet sponge effect, however, is very real. Reading back on my old posts reminded me of this: http://darksouls2.wikidot.com/resistance#toc4

This might not seem so bad until you check the key above and realize that "medium resistance" (by far the most common on the table) indicates around a TWO-THIRDS damage reduction—and many enemy resistances on that table are substantially higher than medium. Very few are in a low category.

My biggest mechanics-related gripe with DSII was how hard magic was nerfed compared to DS, and it's nerfed to near-uselessness in the DLCs due to the across-the-board resistances. Magic-scaling weapons (as opposed to spells), however, still deal good damage.

Thanks. Would a dex-dodge-parry build be recommended? That's my default Souls build.

I ran this my first time. It works, just make sure it's a GOOD DEX weapon. Rapiers are better than curved swords. Also, Stone Ring may still not be enough to stagger your opponents, so make sure you're good with that parry (DS2 parry/riposte mechanics are different from the other games; there's a startup delay for active parry frames like in DS3, and you have to wait for your enemy to be in the middle of falling to the ground or lying still there to get a successful riposte, and you are not immune but rather have damage reduction for the duration). Some kind of infusion is recommended to keep your damage up, look for weapons that already have some innate magic damage for good double scaling.

 

[Average Manatee]

I admit I never played the expansion. And don't have any desire to do so. Because all I see in vids are gank squads and overleveled enemies. Seems artificial difficult territory, way different from, say, BB's Old Hunters, which is difficult in a more organic way.

There's much more to the DLCs than just the gank squads, I promise you. They are all worth playing. At the very least, try out Sunken King; it seems to me that it had the least of what one might describe as "bullshit." Also, the atmosphere is great, as you descend into a dank, dark cavern peppered with old ruins.

The bullet sponge effect, however, is very real. Reading back on my old posts reminded me of this: http://darksouls2.wikidot.com/resistance#toc4

This might not seem so bad until you check the key above and realize that "medium resistance" (by far the most common on the table) indicates around a TWO-THIRDS damage reduction—and many enemy resistances on that table are substantially higher than medium. Very few are in a low category.

My biggest mechanics-related gripe with DSII was how hard magic was nerfed compared to DS, and it's nerfed to near-uselessness in the DLCs due to the across-the-board resistances. Magic-scaling weapons (as opposed to spells), however, still deal good damage.

lmao that table

Normal game: High is 50% Magic resistance
DLC: Very low is 56% Magic resistance.

Yeah people talk about how spells are OP but they feel balanced for the normal game while as soon as you step foot in the DLC they are tedious as hell. If you're playing someone with a spellcasting stat then you're best just using that to buff weapons.

 

[Caim]

Thanks. Would a dex-dodge-parry build be recommended? That's my default Souls build.

I ran this my first time. It works, just make sure it's a GOOD DEX weapon. Rapiers are better than curved swords. Also, Stone Ring may still not be enough to stagger your opponents, so make sure you're good with that parry (DS2 parry/riposte mechanics are different from the other games; there's a startup delay for active parry frames like in DS3, and you have to wait for your enemy to be in the middle of falling to the ground or lying still there to get a successful riposte, and you are not immune but rather have damage reduction for the duration). Some kind of infusion is recommended to keep your damage up, look for weapons that already have some innate magic damage for good double scaling.

For some insane reason Dexterity doesn't scale as much a Strength in Dark Souls 2. The theory is that it's because they're faster than strength weapons, but it's still something to keep in mind when picking a weapon. That's not to say that Dex weapons are inherently bad, it's just that they don't deal as much damage as Str does.

Also keep in mind that the special attack on Ricard's Rapier looks neat, but because of how durability works in DS2 (that is, not at all) you'll wear your weapon down after even a few uses. Does make for an interesting tool to apply poison or bleed though.

 

[Silverfish]

I admit I never played the expansion. And don't have any desire to do so. Because all I see in vids are gank squads and overleveled enemies. Seems artificial difficult territory, way different from, say, BB's Old Hunters, which is difficult in a more organic way.

That's a pretty accurate description of Iron King, but the other two are pretty good.