Support NeoGAF

[SkylineRKR]

Your weapon gets fucked if you hit Sinh on anything else than the head.

For Aava idk, I rekt him with Smelter Sword which is known to break easily but it never broke. Perhaps also because I made rather short work of him.

 

[HK-47]

Eh? Katanas are awesome, and fun. They're good but not broken-good. I mean, most enemies and bosses are more vulnerable to strike damage anyway, pure dex/slashing weapons are not even that strong in the game.

In pvp they are bullshit. Especially with all the unnecessary perks they get like bleed build up or high counter dmg and they always have phantom range problems. The chaos blade in 2 is especially notable for just being too bullshit.

 

[Star Falcon]

Both Velstadt and the Looking Glass Knight weren't too difficult but are two of my favourite encounters. The visual design for the Drangleic higher ranking knights is excellent and the atmosphere/music made both of those encounters super fun.

My copy of Scholar of the First Sin arrived today! Got Defiled Amygdala and the final chalice to clear then i'll take a break from Yharnam to see whats new in this edition of DS2 can't wait.

 

[spliced]

I like that they come to life after the fact. It transforms the area into a higher range zone after you clear the first boss of the zone.

I feel like it's actually better to head to another zone after dragonrider. It kinda makes some level of sense to just head back through the rotunda, since huntsman's copse and harvest valley/earthen peak are easier than the rest of that spoke.

I like that touch, especially because I wasn't sure if I was supposed to attack them when I originally played.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

I fought Aava earlier on and my bandit axe was at risk by the time he had 1/4 HP left. I did the fight with the same weapon back in the vanilla game and had no issues, so it really ticked me off. I feel like if my weapon's durability can be depleted just from fighting the boss then something clearly isn't right - I mean, what am I being punished for? Landing hits? It just got in the way of the fight :/

There's no way I'm doing the other two pets if that's what fighting one of them is like!

Well, no other boss so far has been problematic for my weapon's durability. It's only been Aava and Lud & Zallen. So I guess you'll be fine for the pets if you just keep a backup weapon, or hotkey repair powder.

In pvp they are bullshit. Especially with all the unnecessary perks they get like bleed build up or high counter dmg and they always have phantom range problems. The chaos blade in 2 is especially notable for just being too bullshit.

*shrugs* Katanas have always been pretty good in PvP, but not to the point where nothing else is viable. I really can't understand what the fuss is about.

Also just about every weapon has ridiculous phantom range, it's been like that since Demon's Souls.

 

[Neoweee]

That's weird. Is that new in Scholar? I don't recall that from the vanilla game at all.

No, soft heads and armored bodies was always in the game. So if you hit them in the head rather than hugging their legs you wouldn't have noticed much of a difference.

It's there to undercut the standard "stand underneath their crotch" strategy.

 

[ramyeon]

I'm really not a fan of the amount of stuff that's blocked off by petrified Hollows needing the Fragrant Branch of Yore to get through in this game. There just seems to be way too many and its such an arbitrary and lazy way of roadblocking sections of the game.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Eh, they give plenty of branches too. In the vanilla game you had more than you knew what to do with, so I dare say it's actually more balanced now, especially since you can get to Shaded Woods much, much earlier now.

 

[ramyeon]

Eh, they give plenty of branches too. In the vanilla game you had more than you knew what to do with, so I dare say it's actually more balanced now, especially since you can get to Shaded Woods much, much earlier now.

Where do they give lots of branches? I've only found a couple in the overworld so far - one in the Lost Bastille and one is No-man's Wharf I think. The other I had to buy for 12,000 souls and there was only 1 in stock. I've already used all 3 (Tutorial area for the Shard, Shaded Woods entrance and Lost Bastille boss entrance) I need a few now and I have no idea where to get them from.

It still seems like a really lazy way of blocking certain areas that could have been done in a more interesting way.

 

[Neoweee]

Where do they give lots of branches? I've only found a couple in the overworld so far - one in the Lost Bastille and one is No-man's Wharf I think. The other I had to buy for 12,000 souls and there was only 1 in stock. I've already used all 3 (Tutorial area for the Shard, Shaded Woods entrance and Lost Bastille boss entrance) I need a few now and I have no idea where to get them from.

It still seems like a really lazy way of blocking certain areas that could have been done in a more interesting way.

You actually get them earlier and in more volume than the original game. The fifth route out of Majula can be opened much sooner as a result.

 

[bidguy]

Your weapon gets fucked if you hit Sinh on anything else than the head.

For Aava idk, I rekt him with Smelter Sword which is known to break easily but it never broke. Perhaps also because I made rather short work of him.

never noticed anything like that on bosses other than lud&zallen. weapons broke so easily against them especially when they go into rage mode.

doesnt help that they are pretty hard to begin with. i had a lot more problems with lud&zallen than i had with fume knight or sir alonne.

 

[ramyeon]

You actually get them earlier and in more volume than the original game. The fifth route out of Majula can be opened much sooner as a result.

Where can I get one easily besides the ones I mentioned? I need one to unpetrify Straid.

 

[Cat Party]

What is the recommended order of the DLC dungeons and when should I head for them in NG?

 

[Neiteio]

Both Velstadt and the Looking Glass Knight weren't too difficult but are two of my favourite encounters. The visual design for the Drangleic higher ranking knights is excellent and the atmosphere/music made both of those encounters super fun.

My copy of Scholar of the First Sin arrived today! Got Defiled Amygdala and the final chalice to clear then i'll take a break from Yharnam to see whats new in this edition of DS2 can't wait.

My fight with Looking Glass Knight went on for 10+ minutes! That includes three minutes where he had 1HP left and I was trying to get in just one... more... hit.

In hindsight, I think it would've been shorter if I circled left instead of right, to avoid hitting his shield, but even when I had what looked like a clear shot, he'd move just enough that I'd hit the edge of the shield. His moves have strong tracking, and of course he can summon Dark Spirits to complicate matters. Thankfully I didn't have to deal with any human-controlled ones...

And yeah, Velstadt is another great battle. A bit easy in the second half, when you can bait him into a predictable routine of casting spells by running away, at which point you can punish him while he winds up and cools down. Still a fun battle, though.

Both bosses have incredible designs. They mark a stellar stretch of the game (Drangleic Castle --> Shrine of Amana --> Undead Crypt). Can't wait to see what's next, but I'll have to wait because I have work to do!

 

[Sanctuary]

*shrugs* Katanas have always been pretty good in PvP, but not to the point where nothing else is viable. I really can't understand what the fuss is about.

Chaos Blade in Dark Souls 2 used to be utterly ridiculous though before it was nerfed. Now it's just still a really strong PvP weapon, but not to the point that it's better than almost everything else like it was before.

 

[TheSpaceBetween]

Both bosses have incredible designs. They mark a stellar stretch of the game (Drangleic Castle --> Shrine of Amana --> Undead Crypt). Can't wait to see what's next, but I'll have to wait because I have work to do!

As I said, I really believe DkSII has the best climax of all the Souls games, even if I was let down by the final boss. You're getting close now...

 

[ramyeon]

Got through the Ruin Sentinels and Belfry Gargoyles today. The former was one of the best bosses yet. Smart design and fun to fight once you got the hang of them. Stuck around to help a few people co-op it so I could experience it a couple more times. Very satisfying.

Not so much can be said for the Gargoyles. It was just more of a "How many of these things can we throw at the player until they throw the controller down in frustration?" kind of boss. Not really interesting or fun to fight. I'm glad I had some Gold Pine Resin on hand - my Bastard Sword powered up by that made short work of each Gargoyle before I could get overwhelmed by them.

 

[Neiteio]

Got through the Ruin Sentinels and Belfry Gargoyles today. The former was one of the best bosses yet. Smart design and fun to fight once you got the hang of them. Stuck around to help a few people co-op it so I could experience it a couple more times. Very satisfying.

Not so much can be said for the Gargoyles. It was just more of a "How many of these things can we throw at the player until they throw the controller down in frustration?" kind of boss. Not really interesting or fun to fight. I'm glad I had some Gold Pine Resin on hand - my Bastard Sword powered up by that made short work of each Gargoyle before I could get overwhelmed by them.

The Belfry Gargoyles are actually a returning boss from Dark Souls 1. Only in that game, I believe they were capped at two gargoyles, IIRC.

I actually quite like the battle in DS2. I had four gargoyles on the field at once, with a fifth joining after I killed one of them. It was epic ducking and weaving past their lances, lightning bolts and fire breath.

And yeah, Ruin Sentinels are great. I had some cool moments where they both did their spinning attack, so I was rolling one step ahead of a whirling blender! Another time I was rolling backwards as each slammed their halberds repeatedly into the ground. Bam, BAM! Bam, BAM!

You mentioned making yourself available as a summon so you can play them again. So does that mean people can summon you to help fight that boss even after you've already beat the boss? I'm still not clear on how summoning works.

I'd love to be summoned to help with the Looking Glass Knight fight. Or better yet, to summoned by the knight itself to fight as one of his Dark Spirits! (Yes, the fight can be a boss and two human fighters vs. the player -- nasty!)

 

[The Xtortionist]

You mentioned making yourself available as a summon so you can play them again. So does that mean people can summon you to help fight that boss even after you've already beat the boss? I'm still not clear on how summoning works.

You can be summoned regardless of your progress in an area, however you cannot summon players in areas where the boss has already been defeated. Though you may still be able to summon shades (via small soapstone signs).

 

[ramyeon]

The Belfry Gargoyles are actually a returning boss from Dark Souls 1. Only in that game, I believe they were capped at two gargoyles, IIRC.

I actually quite like the battle in DS2. I had four gargoyles on the field at once, with a fifth joining after I killed one of them. It was epic ducking and weaving past their lances, lightning bolts and fire breath.

And yeah, Ruin Sentinels are great. I had some cool moments where they both did their spinning attack, so I was rolling one step ahead of a whirling blender! Another time I was rolling backwards as each slammed their halberds repeatedly into the ground. Bam, BAM! Bam, BAM!

You mentioned making yourself available as a summon so you can play them again. So does that mean people can summon you to help fight that boss even after you've already beat the boss? I'm still not clear on how summoning works.

I'd love to be summoned to help with the Looking Glass Knight fight. Or better yet, to summoned by the knight itself to fight as one of his Dark Spirits! (Yes, the fight can be a boss and two human fighters vs. the player -- nasty!)

I guess I've just never been a fan of the quantity over quality approach to boss fights. Making something difficult on its own is much more interesting than taking a kind of difficult enemy and then just multiplying it until the player is overwhelmed to create the illusion of difficulty. Ruin Sentinels and Shadows of Yharnam in BB were good examples of multiple enemy boss fights - interesting attack patterns and not that difficult to overcome when you learned how to manipulate them around the field and take advantage of openings. The Gargoyles were just everything I don't like about multiple enemy boss fights tbh.

Yeah you can put your summon sign outside the boss room to fight them again as a co-op partner even if you've beaten them! As far as I know there's no limit to this. I don't know much about the Soul Memory mechanic but from what I gather accumulating too many Souls can be detrimental though so I've been trying not to do it too much.

 

[Orochinagis]

What is the recommended order of the DLC dungeons and when should I head for them in NG?

Probably by release date, Sunken needs rotten to be defeated, Iron needs the iron keep boss defeated and Ivory needs the Winter Shrine.

There is a special boss in Iron King that need the ashen mist (a late item) to enter the memory and get acess to that boss unless it was changed in SotFS

 

[SiegfriedFM]

Gargoyles only spawn if you've done a specific amount of damage in the fight. That means that if you swing wildly at whoever is close, you can end up with 4-5 at once. If you only damage one at a time though, it should be almost dead by the time the next one spawns.

Once again, the game is smarter than people give it credit for...

 

[ramyeon]

Gargoyles only spawn if you've done a specific amount of damage in the fight. That means that if you swing wildly at whoever is close, you can end up with 4-5 at once. If you only damage one at a time though, it should be almost dead by the time the next one spawns.

Once again, the game is smarter than people give it credit for...

I was only damaging one at any given time.

I understand that people are very defensive about this game since it gets a lot of unnecessary hate but understand I am playing this for the first time and just giving my impressions as I go along - I have no bias against or towards this game.

I have made many very positive comments about the game and I am generally enjoying my experience with it. Nothing is perfect though and there are going to be times I will criticise it or have issues with boss design - the same as I would any other game.

 

[Neiteio]

On another note, inspired by Velstadt the Royal Aegis, I made a thread on his inspiration, Garl Vinland from Demon's Souls. Velstadt got me thinking about Vinland.

 

[ramyeon]

I tell you what, I love the voice acting in these games. It's so well done that it makes it really difficult to skip over dialogue even if I've heard it before. It helps that it's so rare to stumble upon NPCs when you're outside of Majula that it's always refreshing to bump into someone who'll talk to you as opposed to try and kill you.

 

[Neiteio]

I tell you what, I love the voice acting in these games. It's so well done that it makes it really difficult to skip over dialogue even if I've heard it before. It helps that it's so rare to stumble upon NPCs when you're outside of Majula that it's always refreshing to bump into someone who'll talk to you as opposed to try and kill you.

I'm glad I was able to revive Grave Warden Agdayne. He has some great lines.

 

[Star Falcon]

I'd love to be summoned to help with the Looking Glass Knight fight. Or better yet, to summoned by the knight itself to fight as one of his Dark Spirits! (Yes, the fight can be a boss and two human fighters vs. the player -- nasty!)

It took me about an hour of dicking around outside his arena before I eventually got summoned in. It was cool though - something that's fun to try once at least.

I tell you what, I love the voice acting in these games. It's so well done that it makes it really difficult to skip over dialogue even if I've heard it before. It helps that it's so rare to stumble upon NPCs when you're outside of Majula that it's always refreshing to bump into someone who'll talk to you as opposed to try and kill you.

Absolutely agree. When you talk to someone you're never actually taken out of the game either into some cutscene (except a couple of pre-boss fight intros). So the dialogue feels like part of the games natural flow and not some interrupting nuisance.
Whilst it is wooden at times, that is part of the charm for me. The voice actors do a great job at portraying human rather than hollywood - which when paired with some of the ridiculous archaic words they speak makes for some quite funny & memorable conversations (Solaire, Patches, Micolash and so on!)

 

[Clear]

Well, no other boss so far has been problematic for my weapon's durability. It's only been Aava and Lud & Zallen. So I guess you'll be fine for the pets if you just keep a backup weapon, or hotkey repair powder.

I find it really odd that people seem to never want to use repair powder. Its not like its unreasonably costly or difficult to buy, and actually using it is no more disruptive to the flow of battle than chugging some estus.

Repair powders are precisely the sort of thing where having them, but not needing to use them is a whole lot better than needing them and not having them! I treat them like poison mosses; vital counter-measures that I keep a quantity on-hand for at all times.

 

[superseohyun]

Chikage is one my favourite weapons in BB. It might lack a cool transformation but it makes up for that since it's so unique in its use of the Bloodtinge stat in its secondary state. Its the only weapon I use on my Skill/BT character and it destroys. So good.

I can buy a Katana now from McDuff - I notice it scales with Dex. Are there other Katanas in DS2? Do they all scale with Dex? I've mostly been focusing on Str until now.

because it is the same katana in past 3 games and it is getting old ;p Here is the hope that miyazaki will come to his sense and design something good in the DLC for the JAPAN STELL™

Which dlc area? sunken king is the best designed area

old iron king is ok. Other two are pretty good. Bosses fights are cool, much better than the base game.

 

[NEO0MJ]

The Belfry Gargoyles are actually a returning boss from Dark Souls 1. Only in that game, I believe they were capped at two gargoyles, IIRC.

Yeah, you only fought two, and the later woke up only after you depleted half the health of the first and was actually weaker. In DaS2 they're all of equal strength and have been given a new move where they summon lightning.

I was only damaging one at any given time.

Health is one indicator of when another Gargoyle will awaken, but also time. If you take too long another will wake up regardless of how much damage you did, similar to how the Four Kings won't wait for you to deplete health from the first one you fight.

 

[Neiteio]

Health is one indicator of when another Gargoyle will awaken, but also time. If you take too long another will wake up regardless of how much damage you did, similar to how the Four Kings won't wait for you to deplete health from the first one you fight.

Four Kings was the most pressure I ever felt in a Souls game to finish the boss quickly. Amazing fight.

 

[offtopic]

Where can I get one easily besides the ones I mentioned? I need one to unpetrify Straid.

Not sure if you are still looking for one but there is one fairly accessible in the Gutter. This video shows the run...enemy placement slightly different but shouldn't be too difficult.

 

[ramyeon]

Not sure if you are still looking for one but there is one fairly accessible in the Gutter. This video shows the run...enemy placement slightly different but shouldn't be too difficult.

Cheers! Haven't been to the Gutter yet but I'll definitely keep it in mind for when I do. Hopefully I find some more in the meantime as well - there are so many petrified statues I want to get around.

Is Huntsman's Copse the logical next step from the Bastille? Thinking of hitting that up next.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Is Huntsman's Copse the logical next step from the Bastille? Thinking of hitting that up next.

Yes, that's a good place to go.

 

[ramyeon]

Yes, that's a good place to go.

Just beat the Skeleton Lords. Fun fight, if a bit easy. Also met a couple of invaders including that Forlorn guy again - and the NPC Creighton who seems to be after Pate's blood... Something tells me Pate is a bit more trustworthy than this guy, but you never know!

I think I heard there was another boss in this area but I didn't find it on my first run through - all those poison clouds are turning me off Harvest Valley for now so I might take another look around.

 

[Neiteio]

Cheers! Haven't been to the Gutter yet but I'll definitely keep it in mind for when I do. Hopefully I find some more in the meantime as well - there are so many petrified statues I want to get around.

Is Huntsman's Copse the logical next step from the Bastille? Thinking of hitting that up next.

You defeated the Lost Sinner, right? That's the main objective of the Lost Bastille area.

 

[ramyeon]

You defeated the Lost Sinner, right? That's the main objective of the Lost Bastille area.

Not yet, I found the bonfire for Sinner's Rise but haven't gone further than that yet.

 

[Aces&Eights]

Just beat the Skeleton Lords. Fun fight, if a bit easy. Also met a couple of invaders including that Forlorn guy again - and the NPC Creighton who seems to be after Pate's blood... Something tells me Pate is a bit more trustworthy than this guy, but you never know!

I think I heard there was another boss in this area but I didn't find it on my first run through - all those poison clouds are turning me off Harvest Valley for now so I might take another look around.

Those clouds are not as bad as they seem. Once you get through the initial area you can do a suicide run through the hole in the ground to get the loot. Then it's really just fighting enemies inside after that. I think it's a great level once you are out from the elements and get into Earthen Peak.

 

[Iva Demilcol]

Just beat the Skeleton Lords. Fun fight, if a bit easy. Also met a couple of invaders including that Forlorn guy again - and the NPC Creighton who seems to be after Pate's blood... Something tells me Pate is a bit more trustworthy than this guy, but you never know!

I think I heard there was another boss in this area but I didn't find it on my first run through - all those poison clouds are turning me off Harvest Valley for now so I might take another look around.

Form the second bonfire you find in Huntsman's Copse, if you look carefully you'll see a suspension bridge from there. If you look around the area that follows the bonfire you'll eventually find a somewhat hidden path that leads you to a small area where you'll find a boss (a very interesting one, if you ask me).

If my memory serves me right, the path to that area must be before the place you met Creighton.

 

[Maddrical]

The Skeleton Lords are definitely one of my favourite bosses in the game. It's a very easy fight, but the atmosphere in that boss room is fantastic and the location of the boss is great.

Gonna give Fume Knight a beating tonight. After he beats me 20 times, anyway.

 

[ramyeon]

Those clouds are not as bad as they seem. Once you get through the initial area you can do a suicide run through the hole in the ground to get the loot. Then it's really just fighting enemies inside after that. I think it's a great level once you are out from the elements and get into Earthen Peak.

Form the second bonfire you find in Huntsman's Copse, if you look carefully you'll see a suspension bridge from there. If you look around the area that follows the bonfire you'll eventually find a somewhat hidden path that leads you to a small area where you'll find a boss (a very interesting one, if you ask me).

If my memory serves me right, the path to that area must be before the place you met Creighton.

Thanks! The Chariot is frustrating. I make it to the second necromancer before getting mobbed by skeletons. Doesn't help that the road to get back to it is annoying as hell with that mob of enemies urghh. Hopefully this is the last time I have to try it.

 

[NEO0MJ]

Gonna give Fume Knight a beating tonight. After he beats me 20 times, anyway.

One of my favorite things about that boss is aside from how strong it is

Spoiler

I love how he rises into the ground to grabb his sword.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Thanks! The Chariot is frustrating. I make it to the second necromancer before getting mobbed by skeletons. Doesn't help that the road to get back to it is annoying as hell with that mob of enemies urghh. Hopefully this is the last time I have to try it.

Yearn and/or alluring skulls really help with this fight. Also, chloranthy and blue tearstone! I once got caught in a corner after killing a necromancer and got swarmed by skeletons, but I survived because the last few hits did little damage due to the blue tearstone activating and then the chariot knocked them out just in time for me to heal.

 

[ramyeon]

Yearn and/or alluring skulls really help with this fight. Also, chloranthy and blue tearstone! I once got caught in a corner after killing a necromancer and got swarmed by skeletons, but I survived because the last few hits did little damage due to the blue tearstone activating and then the chariot knocked them out just in time for me to heal.

I wish I had thought about that! That's the same thing that happened to me on my first two tries - I went slower this time though and made sure to keep any skeletons off my tail before trying to take out the second necromancer and managed to do it. Felt good to see that horse fall on its arse haha.

Now to decide between Harvest Valley and Sinner's Rise - although I think I might be done for the day so it'll be something to look forward to tomorrow. Might finish off Sinner's Rise just to tie up loose ends.

 

[NuclearSpy]

try tongue and then try thrust

Thats my contribution to DS2

 

[Neiteio]

Not yet, I found the bonfire for Sinner's Rise but haven't gone further than that yet.

The Lost Sinner has one of the four Great Souls. She's the main reason you're there. I'd recommend defeating her before you move onto other areas.

 

[Neiteio]

The Skeleton Lords are definitely one of my favourite bosses in the game. It's a very easy fight, but the atmosphere in that boss room is fantastic and the location of the boss is great.

It's pretty cool seeing the three Skeleton Lords descending from their bone thrones, and how each lord erupts into fireballs when defeated. And then the wheelie skeletons come out of nowhere. And then an entire freaking army, lol.

 

[ramyeon]

The Lost Sinner has one of the four Great Souls. She's the main reason you're there. I'd recommend defeating her before you move onto other areas.

Yeah gonna do that next, I just needed a bit of a change of pace after spending so much time in the Bastille that's all. I am glad I did Hunstman's Copse now though - it felt pretty appropriate for my level, would have been a bit too easy if I'd left it much longer I think.

 

[Neiteio]

Yeah gonna do that next, I just needed a bit of a change of pace after spending so much time in the Bastille that's all. I am glad I did Hunstman's Copse now though - it felt pretty appropriate for my level, would have been a bit too easy if I'd left it much longer I think.

I did that one after Lost Sinner. I see you beat the Executioner's Chariot -- what did you think of it overall? I thought the hardest part was the path leading to it, with the axe-and-whip-wielding enemies up on the pillars. I took the time to despawn them for the sake of my sanity, lol. The boss itself was great, once I realized what the hell was going on (which admittedly took a few tries).

I'm so happy you and I are playing this game around the same, BTW. Haven't had much time to play this week, but it's nice to know my Bloodborne buddy is discovering this game with me.

 

[MurkyZebra2417]

Finished it yesterday. DLC was great but the

Spoiler

New final boss

was a Joke, well I was kinda overleveled.

Probably going for plat, but have to Start Ng+ because i freed a certain asshole that sells 2 unique spells