• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Dark Souls II |OT| The Dark Souls of Dark Souls

Status
Not open for further replies.

Randam

Member
the new "backstab" looks fucking stupid.

it isnt even a backstab.
that are two slashes across the back of the enemy..
 

perorist

Unconfirmed Member
the new "backstab" looks fucking stupid.

it isnt even a backstab.
that are to slashes across the back of the enemy..
It's weapon dependent, there have been some pretty cool animations. A lot of the streams are people with dexterity builds and a scimitar/falchion for some reason though.
 

Seance

Banned
I still want to make a DEX/INT build. With as little faith as possible. Not sure what class to pick for that yet. Swordman, Sorcerer or Deprived.

well u will be needing as many stats as you can get out of the starting classes other than faith. So lowest faith class is the one u want!

So go with sorcerer.
 

Sanctuary

Member
Right, it's as I said though. DS1 Dexterity didn't get broken up, it has never affected speed of any type except spell casting. Being able to increase movement/attack speed is a completely new mechanic to DS2

DS1 -
Dexterity: affects dex weapon damage, speed up for spell casting only
No stat that affects physical movement speed of any kind

DS2 -
Dexterity: affects dex weapon damage, increases bleed/poison effect from weapons
Adaptability (new): speed up for certain actions (rolling, raising shield, movement etc.), increase resistances

It's going to be silly if your default speeds were nerfed just to make Adaptability look good, and that once you reach the cap, all it does is makes your actions the default Dark Souls speed.
 

perorist

Unconfirmed Member
It's going to be silly if your default speeds were nerfed just to make Adaptability look good, and that once you reach the cap, all it does is makes your actions the default Dark Souls speed.
In the beta that was exactly what happened actually. It required something like 30-40 points in agility before everything felt like DkS1 again. So far in the streams though no one seems to be particularly encumbered without the adaptability stat.
 

H1PSTER

Member
Where are you guys going to buy your PC versions from? I believe the game is steamworks (I went to GMG and it said "DRM Steam".). The price of £39.99 for us UKGAFers is just insane to me for a PC game.
 

Sanctuary

Member
In the beta that was exactly what happened actually. It required something like 30-40 points in agility before everything felt like DkS1 again. So far in the streams though no one seems to be particularly encumbered without the adaptability stat.

Well that's ridiculous if it remains the same, and I have no idea who thought it was a good idea to keep slowing down your character. Demon's was faster than Dark, which is faster than the sequel without wasting points.

Is it normal for ads in Japan to use subtitled English? It seems like it wouldn't be a very good marketing strategy.


They were talking about how they were going to spend a million to advertise in Europe, so that might just be the commercial they planned on using. So it's actually smart when the majority of your sales are going to be going out to English speaking countries.
 

ElyrionX

Member
Got a question.

I have Dark Souls on PS3. Played it for a while and found the challenge to be fine. However, I couldn't bring myself to play more of it because I didn't like the setting and the environment. It was just too bleak and depressing.

Is this more of the same?
 

Visceir

Member
I still want to make a DEX/INT build. With as little faith as possible. Not sure what class to pick for that yet. Swordman, Sorcerer or Deprived.

I'll prob take that direction too. Use a fast weapon and switch to magic when I need to nuke some groups of enemies (seems this is quite common)

Will prob start with either swordsman or sorcerer.
 

Steez

Member
Got a question.

I have Dark Souls on PS3. Played it for a while and found the challenge to be fine. However, I couldn't bring myself to play more of it because I didn't like the setting and the environment. It was just too bleak and depressing.

Is this more of the same?

Most likely, yeah. Bleak and depressing themes are core elements of the Souls games.
 

Seance

Banned
Got a question.

I have Dark Souls on PS3. Played it for a while and found the challenge to be fine. However, I couldn't bring myself to play more of it because I didn't like the setting and the environment. It was just too bleak and depressing.

Is this more of the same?

Oh yeah. More so even. Except for the hub.
 

Kensuke

Member
I'll prob take that direction too. Use a fast weapon and switch to magic when I need to nuke some groups of enemies (seems this is quite common)

Will prob start with either swordsman or sorcerer.

It just gives you so much options. With INT and DEX you can use magic and bows to thin out a crowd or whittle down the HP of a tough enemy. But you can still go in with a cool sword if you desire some visceral combat. Too bad pyromancies require a bit of faith now though...

I might go with Swordsman instead of Sorcerer because I don't want to rely on magic from the very start.
 

Yu Narukami

Member
Many people seem to know how they want to build their character even before playing. Can I always level up in relation to the weapon that I want to use or is that a waste of souls? How should I know even before playing what stats I should upgrade in order not to waste souls?
 

Shinjica

Member
It just gives you so much options. With INT and DEX you can use magic and bows to thin out a crowd or whittle down the HP of a tough enemy. But you can still go in with a cool sword if you desire some visceral combat. Too bad pyromancies require a bit of faith now though...

I might go with Swordsman instead of Sorcerer because I don't want to rely on magic from the very start.

Pyromancies was really OP in Dark Souls 1. Add faith make it resonable
 

kamorra

Fuck Cancer
I tried to avoid every info about this game but I have one question. I got two builds in DS I really liked. First was a Dex/Faith with Uchigatana and Sunlight/Darkmoon Blade and a Str/Vit with Zweihander and Power Within.

I would like to go for something similar in DS2. Which class do I need to choose in the beginning to achieve that. Is it even possible?
 
the new "backstab" looks fucking stupid.

it isnt even a backstab.
that are two slashes across the back of the enemy..

There was something needlessly aggressive about the backstab in Dark Souls that I loved. That kick at the end is just brutal.

DS2 backstabs have more variety and some of them are cool like the halberd one but the straight sword one is a downgrade imo.
 

Carcetti

Member
Many people seem to know how they want to build their character even before playing. Can I always level up in relation to the weapon that I want to use or is that a waste of souls? How should I know even before playing what stats I should upgrade in order not to waste souls?

You shouldn't worry that much beforehand. Try to explore what you like, and if you start a basic melee character you'll have stats you can build to be able to use a lot of different weapons pretty quick. Some people love to min/max but it wasn't strictly necessary to enjoy previous soul games either, if you don't go 'little to all stats' route. I think the hard part is to know how to balance the four survivability stats instead of the killing stats.

What's really interesting is that the game now has anti-grind mechanics.
 

Steez

Member
Many people seem to know how they want to build their character even before playing. Can I always level up in relation to the weapon that I want to use or is that a waste of souls? How should I know even before playing what stats I should upgrade in order not to waste souls?

Just level up universal stats like endurance or vitality at first until you find a weapon you like. That way you won't waste souls before deciding on what kind of build you're going to use.
 

perorist

Unconfirmed Member
Many people seem to know how they want to build their character even before playing. Can I always level up in relation to the weapon that I want to use or is that a waste of souls? How should I know even before playing what stats I should upgrade in order not to waste souls?
Ideally you would build towards the exact specific weapon you plan to use, but without playing the game there's no way to know what's available and what kind of stats they require. People are just building towards general play styles.

Honestly I'm hoping the guide releases early and someone posts weapon data since I'm hoping for a claymore equivalent and basing my stats around that.
 

Yu Narukami

Member
Ideally you would build towards the exact specific weapon you plan to use, but without playing the game there's no way to know what's available and what kind of stats they require. People are just building towards general play styles.

Honestly I'm hoping the guide releases early and someone posts weapon data since I'm hoping for a claymore equivalent and basing my stats around that.

Yeah but what if I was STR builded because of a strong weapon and I find a stronger weapon that is DEX/Faith based. Should I stick to my old weapon or always aim towards the stronger one?
 

Carcetti

Member
Yeah but what if I was STR builded because of a strong weapon and I find a stronger weapon that is DEX/Faith based. Should I stick to my old weapon or always aim towards the stronger one?

It's better to plan in a more general way. Like if you want strong, slow, big weapons and big shields, go str. If you want a mobile playstyle with poking, backstabbing, rolling, go dex. If you want ranged, go bow or sorcery. That way you're not stuck with a specific weapon choice.
 

Toxi

Banned
Yeah but what if I was STR builded because of a strong weapon and I find a stronger weapon that is DEX/Faith based. Should I stick to my old weapon or always aim towards the stronger one?
Generally, you won't be able to tell which weapons are strong at a glance, and nearly any weapon is usable in-game. What matters more is finding weapons with movesets that fit your playtstyle. Experiment with different weapons until you find one that really fits you, and if you see something shiny then try that out too.

All of the combat classes start with average-good Strength/Dexterity scores, so you have more room to experiment with them.
 

MilkBeard

Member
Dat Explorer.

explorer.gif


Dig it.

Ha ha, that looks pretty goofy. I'd probably take off the beret and change the armor as soon as possible. I'm still going to go Explorer though, I like the high adaptability. I like going as a physical attacks kind of person but if the spells are more enticing in this game as opposed to DaS then I might try to go for a few basic ones to help out. I kind of enjoyed being able to have a mixed character in Demon's.
 

perorist

Unconfirmed Member
Yeah but what if I was STR builded because of a strong weapon and I find a stronger weapon that is DEX/Faith based. Should I stick to my old weapon or always aim towards the stronger one?
At that point in terms of min-maxing you'd be locked out of that weapon until you respec. Rather than pure numbers though you should choose based on the weapon's moveset since most weapons are upgradeable to be viable.

As far as physical goes just consider if you'd rather use slower stronger weapons like greatswords or faster weaker weapons like a katana or rapier. That could give you a general indication of whether you want to focus on strength or dexterity. Otherwise there'll likely be a recommended set of base values that let you try most weapons. In DkS it was 16 str 14 dex, which allowed you to try out a very large variety of equipment before deciding on which way you wanted to go.
 

Facism

Member
Did anyone from US GAF have any problems purchasing it from here? Activation won't be a problem, right?

If you're not in the UK i'd hold off until you know the game is region free. They generally get copies that will activate in the UK with no problem.
 

Yu Narukami

Member
So I cannot be a dual-wielding katana guy who wants to rely on heal spells and who needs a shield from time to time because he's an average player and needs a bow and nuking spells because sometimes he wants to attack from afar?
 
If you're not in the UK i'd hold off until you know the game is region free. They generally get copies that will activate in the UK with no problem.
If you're in the US buy it from here http://www.greenmangaming.com/s/us/en/pc/games/action/dark-souls-ii-na/
20% off with code OQE4LG-WEQPSE-SMCME1

The deal's good for another 5 and a half hours.
Thanks, y'all. I guess an extra $6-8 isn't the end of the world. Although they charge it immediately... Hmm.

Apparently, I have a $5 credit from Amazon that would bring it down to $44.99...until tax brings it back up to $49.26. Welp.
 

Kensuke

Member
So I cannot be a dual-wielding katana guy who wants to rely on heal spells and who needs a shield from time to time because he's an average player and needs a bow and nuking spells because sometimes he wants to attack from afar?

You can! Just invest in dex, int, faith and adaptability. You would have to sacrifice endurance, vigor and vitality though. So you can´t get hit. But your build would be very fast and aggressive anyway.
 

perorist

Unconfirmed Member
So I cannot be a dual-wielding katana guy who wants to rely on heal spells and who needs a shield from time to time because he's an average player and needs a bow and nuking spells because sometimes he wants to attack from afar?
For that specific case you can. You would want a dex/int or dex/fth build for the katanas but you wouldn't be able to switch to strength weapons all of a sudden if you went that way though.

You shouldn't spread yourself thinner than one physical stat and one magic stat but hybrid builds are pretty viable.
 

Corky

Nine out of ten orphans can't tell the difference.
Any nonspoilery podcast/youtube clip that I can listen to to satiate my ds2 thirst for now?
 

Yu Narukami

Member
Thanks for all the answers, only played Demon's Souls. So, there are katanas that require INT aswell? I can then invest a few points in INT for nuking and a few points in Faith for basic healing spells without wasting to much points in survivability? Shields require only STR, right?
 

Antiwhippy

the holder of the trombone
Thanks for all the answers, only played Demon's Souls. So, there are katanas that require INT aswell? I can then invest a few points in INT for nuking and a few points in Faith for basic healing spells without wasting to much points in survivability? Shields require only STR, right?

You can upgrade a katana to scale with a specific skill (let's say... int) if that's what you meant. In dark souls though doing that is worse than just upgrading it to the max regular path. Dunno about 2.
 

Garcia

Member
Quick impressions ... no spoilers here. Proceed with no worries.

Played almost 2 hours and quit in frustration. The game is even more difficult.

Technically the graphics are beautiful. Sometimes the frame rate seem to go up to something close to 60 FPS. Especially in the corners of the screen where are no enemies. Unfortunately screen tearing is eating the game away because of this non locked frame rate.

Regarding gameplay, these new movements mechanic with more flow and life like moves, made it worse to control your character. Not that the controls are bad, but it gives the impression that the character is slower because of that and you do not have total control as you had in the first.

On combat as a general rule, all thats yours lasts less and everything from the enemy lasts longer. Examples:
Stamina and duration of weapons last less. With an hour of play my sword already broke and I did not have a replacement, nor a blacksmith to fix it.
Life of enemies last longer and insist on getting a little bit left all the time you think you finished it.
Damage from the enemies increased in absurd ways. It is usual to die for common enemies from the beginning of the game.

Estus flask is useless to the point it takes two centuries to finish drinking it. By the time your bar is full again Dark Souls 5 is being released.

Lifegems healing is shitty as well because it gets your life back so slowly that you have to get rolling desperately to stand any chance.

Backstab is very difficult to get and even when enemies are facing away from you they quickly turn when you get close .

Scenario is gigantic and wide ... The "game hub" Majula appears soon after the start and now to level up is no longer at the bonfire, but a woman who is close to the bonfire of Majula. Demon's Soul legacy?

The initial impression is that the challenge may have turned into frustration. I think they got the prepare to die a lot motto which was a consequence of the first game and took it as the goal here. Honestly, after dying the fifth time in the same place and for a bunch of common enemies I've lost the will to keep going at that time and my hype went a little down.

I'll keep playing obviously and I do not want to get ahead of myself, but I finished this first session with the sad impression that they may have made the game a little bit "cheap ".
I do hope I'm wrong.

The game sounds brutal.
 

Visceir

Member
It just gives you so much options. With INT and DEX you can use magic and bows to thin out a crowd or whittle down the HP of a tough enemy. But you can still go in with a cool sword if you desire some visceral combat. Too bad pyromancies require a bit of faith now though..

Do they? Because
from the streams the little I've seen pyromancies don't seem to have any requirements and you still get a glove you can upgrade
 

perorist

Unconfirmed Member
Thanks for all the answers, only played Demon's Souls. So, there are katanas that require INT aswell? I can then invest a few points in INT for nuking and a few points in Faith for basic healing spells without wasting to much points in survivability? Shields require only STR, right?
Well there might be but it's not likely since none of the previous games had one. What you can do though is upgrade your regular katana into a magic/enchanted katana. Then the damage will scale off your magic stat as well. There will be a similar upgrade for faith as well.

In previous games if you were going to go heavy in a physical stat [str/dex] and doing a hybrid build you would only want a single magic type instead of spreading your stats thinner. In this game some magics seem to have both int and fth requirements though. Those may be intended specifically for pure magic builds or they might not, no one knows yet.

As for shields, most are wieldable with a negligible amount of strength and you'll probably have enough base strength to use them. Only the heavier greatshields require additional points usually.
 

2AdEPT

Member
Man, I really wanna play the Swordsman class but I can't even imagine not having a shield in a Dark Souls game.

I recognize that it is somewhat difficult to change up your style after playing one way so long...but I forced myself to learn how to switch out shield with two handing on the fly using triangle button and it was the best intervention ever. It allows so much flexibility to not have to get the one hand STR minimums and obviously you do not hit and shield at the same time anyway , so you never have to feel like you are missing anything when you toggle your shield on and your two hand weapon off. You just have to ensure you dont press attack while one handing if you dont have the stats to do so...can get ugly fast.

I will be crating many characters at start up and playing more than one out of the gate. My dual wielder will probably be the main character I will get going first, and WILL have a shield, tucked underneath the left hand weapon, and there will likely be a bow and or crossbow as well. The extra slots (you get 6 instead of 4 now IIRC) will come in handy, and there is no reason not to have a shield as a secondary or even primary weapon. You just want to get quick at changing stuff out on the fly. Swordsman, or any character for that matter isnt locked into holding two attack weapons only as a dual wielder, there are just rules for accessing the new moves ....and all classes can dual weld now, its just that the swordsman gets a head start in the right direction stat wise with king dex.
 

perorist

Unconfirmed Member
The extra slots (you get 6 instead of 4 now IIRC) will come in handy, and there is no reason not to have a shield as a secondary or even primary weapon.
Equip burden is the most obvious reason. Although 6 slots sound nice you'll probably need to invest in vitality to carry everything comfortably. The base equip burden you start out with is pretty low.
 

Garcia

Member
This famitsu reviewer knows what's he's talking about and I completely agree with the bolded part even when I haven't played the game yet.

Reviewer: 10

You die, devise a new strategy, do it all over again and bit by bit, you widen the area you can explore. That’s what we’ve come to expect from the series and it’s so much fun. Compared to the last game, there are more enemies and they are positioned in a way to make things harder for the player. You get the impression that the game is tougher on you. Therefore, the feeling of overcoming a difficult section gives you a huge feeling of accomplishment. You can warp between the bonfires from the start, which makes moving between different areas more enjoyable.

The tricky enemy placement and various other tricks the game plays on you make exploring feel tense. The boss in every area leaves you feeling overwhelmed. (both statements are meant in a positive way). You can fight with two swords, equip more weapons and choosing (changing) your gear during battle is easier.

They also fixed the enemy placement which was a major flaw in the original Dark Souls. Most enemies were wrongly placed like animatronics that would only react if you got close enough to them. I disliked that a lot.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom