Dark Souls 2
 

Re: Dark Souls 2
 

I haven't had a chance to play Dark Souls 2 yet, however, I have beaten Demon's Souls, and am about fifty or so hours into Dark Souls. Fun stuff.

Re: Dark Souls 2
 

This is my first initiation to the series, and loving it so far. (With the help of some knowledgeable heads from around this way :))

We've clogged the games tab up long enough tho, so we're bringing our travellers tales and tips here. We've totally promised to only discuss spoilers in esoteric and eldrich ways tho (or, like in spoiler tags), so should be safe to drop by ;)

Re: Dark Souls 2
 

If there's one thing I've learned with this damned game it's this: Don't ever rush.

It's tempting, especially if you've died 4 times in a row against a boss (or 3 bosses, to be exact), got really really close but now find yourself trekking back to your probable doom once more. I've fallen off walkways, been iced by Royal Guards who usually die in two hits and, most recently, plunged through a doorway to my death; all in trying to get back to that boss.

Also: Locations in the game get a bit eerie once enemies have de-spawned. I like the company. ;)

Re: Dark Souls 2
 

I fell through that ****ing door! I hate that door...I did the exact same thing - got frustrated by Ruin Sents and then started making mistakes on the way back. I was so bad, I de-rezzed the entire run by the time I got the boss down...

Re: Dark Souls 2
 

Yep, that area's bereft of anyone apart from me and the Central Casting Bernard Hill now. I even offed the Heide Knight.

Re: Dark Souls 2
 

You guys find the smith?

Re: Dark Souls 2
 

Yep, but can't do anything with him right now. He is Central Casting Bernard Hill though. ;)

It's similar to the shortcut you can unlock at the Cardinal Tower bonfire, one which I opened accidentally. And messily.

Yep, found the fella :) No idea where the Ember is, but I've just cleared out the Wharf too, so can attack from the other side now :)

Thanks to eavesdropping on you guys I did the ole Dragonrider on my second attempt, via the Drengey shield with the 100pc base block. Makes the giant knights a breeze too :)

Oh PS you know those 3 bosses you're on about, and the mist door I last saved in front of. IT WAS ONLY ******ING THEM :D (Despite having home all primed on the bone I got owned - 10000 souls spilt all over that floor. Ach well)

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http://i57.tinypic.com/206isyx.jpg

EDIT: Woo, got a side order of Ye Olde Dragonslayer out the way too. He seemed proper daunting at first (the lanky bastard), but once I was comfortable shield-dancing down the main drag with him it became clear how much time he was leaving open for a good whaling.

Guess most bosses end up like that? F-ing terrifying until you start managing to live with them, and then much more 'beatable looking' once you've spotted some openings.

No luck getting summoned to help out with either boss unfortunately. Must be because it was stupid o'clock ;)

Re: Dark Souls 2
 

Can you see other signs on the ground when human? If not, you may be past the Soul Memory level for that particular fight, in which case you won't see signs, and people won't see yours. Yeah, I dropped 54k souls in a boss room last night and then rolled into a massive spear strike on the way back - Goodbye, large stack of souls!

I had the boss to about 20% on my first attempt, so I think he will go down pretty easily next time!

Yeah, that's the way with Dark Souls! I have run up against bosses and levels that just seem impossible at first, but reveal themselves to be much easier to deal with once I decode attack patterns or unlock a shortcut. Love these games!

Make sure you search the Cathedral of Blue area thoroughly, Gol! There is a great ring to find...

Re: Dark Souls 2
 

My 360 pad that I use on PC died yesterday (less than a year old - those things are made of spit and fluff, I swear) and the one for the 360 isn't in much better shape. Games like Dark Souls on PC are awful with Kbam controls so I began browsing for a replacement.

I also was checking my RSS feeds and came on a Rock Paper Shotgun article which said that Microsoft have released PC drivers for the Xbox One pad, the one thing attracting praise from that console. Did a few price checks and they're only a tenner more expensive than a 360 pad so picked one up in Asda when I was doing my grocery shop this morning.

Have to say I'm liking it a lot. It's recognised in games as a 360 pad, all the buttons are familiar (but seem much nicer, clickier, more precise) and the D-pad actually seems to work like a D-pad should. ;)

Until Microsoft release a dongle I've got it connected with a micro (not Mini) USB cable.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b6...3.jpg~original

Obviously it'll make the game easier. *cough*

Re: Dark Souls 2
 

That d-pad looks like it FINALLY isn't shite. I abhor the X-box D-pad...

Re: Dark Souls 2
 

Yep, it now reminds me of the Sony D-pad and has a nice click to it. The analogue sticks are nice too, with less resistance than the 360 ones.

Oo, I saw one guy set one down, and then quickly remove it, but both boss zones did look surprisingly bare actually. That's probably it, dammit.

Yeah, it was that 'lack of focus' thing that did for me too on the way back. Thought I could nip in and bone out, but was so busy rushing over I got felled by a simple one-two from a Mummy. D'oh!

Oo really, I did wonder if there was anything squirrelled way. Was too busy trying to join up. Will have a smash n grab :)

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I'm realising my build is totally 'physical' at the moment (VIT, STR, DEX, ADP etc), with just some tentative deposits into FTH. Think I either need to embrace that entirely or go back to the crones & re-divvy my load. Would obviously make sense to have a sub-strand like your Faith-boosting-Lightning set up Seds, but I'm kinda attached to my fire sword, so I'm prevaricating. A few ranged magic spells couldn't hurt if I went that way, I guess, and would keep my load down for sprightly load outs. Seems like you need a hella points in Attunement etc to even get one slot running though. Hmmmmmm.

Re: Dark Souls 2
 

AH, that would have me rolling off ledges in no time!

I got to put a wee bit of time in yesterday before we went out to the Lissie show in Boston. I must spend a second complaining about the DAMNED BELL RINGING ZOMBIES IN UNDEAD CRYPT!!!! The shambling jerks ring these bells which spawn a slew of pyromancers that just SMASH me.

ARRRRRRRRGGG!!!!!!!!

OK, that's out of the way. I did manage to get past them, but man, that area was rough!

Go for the fire set-up instead! :) By the bye - i have both a Lightning Claymore +10 and Fire Greatsword +8 running...

I use lots of physical attacks, faith based spells, and several pyro spells as well with a +10 Pyro flame.

I put 16 points into attunement to get 3 slots, and then I wear a ring that gives me two more. Currently running Lightning Spear, Project Force, Soul Appease, Flash Sweat (pyro) and Firestorm (pyro). Lightning seems a tad OP in boss fights, so I tend to lay off of that and go mostly physical on the bosses. Unless the boss is totally owning me or there are multiple bosses, then I am scrambling to use everything I have just to have a chance.

Re: Dark Souls 2
 

Must admit that I've not done any work on my Magic skills. Found a Pyro glove though, which is kinda like a magic oven glove I imagine.

I'll probably get to a point where brute force and mad shield skillz (with the Endurance enhancing ring) won't be enough. That point if fast approaching, I fancy. :(

Re: Dark Souls 2
 

there are useful spells at the lowest tier, so putting just a few points into either FTH or INT, and then enough to get a slot or two from Attunement will be easy to get going.

Sounds like a fun mix :)

Gah, I'm quite conflicted about it. I'm not actually wedded to the moveset of the fire longsword (in fact it pretty much sucks), but it's done me proud so far. Got it running +5. What I'd really like to do is find a couple of key weapons which work for me and build to them, but I'm not really at that stage yet. Maybe once I find the ember. Any other changes I'm making right now feel really speculative, so I keep retreating back to the 4 core areas that are working for me and reinforcing them.

The problem is all this learning on the go, you only really realise you've made a mistake once you hit a wall. Reckon I'll prob keep going until I find myself totally unbalanced, or unable to take advantage of some cool kit, and then go let the crones work their magic on me :)

PS is the Lightning Spear the Dragonslayer one? Checked out a quick vid on it, looks like it has some badass aspects. (I figure doing some forward research is allowed - only really got time for one runthrough! I'll just say my character has telepathy or something :D)

Re: Dark Souls 2
 

Ah, it's a Miracle - I think it;s called Lightning Spear, but it might be Holy Lightning Spear. I will have to check! I am all about Great Swords for weapons, and I used them pretty much exclusively in DS1, and again here in DS2. I am a fast roller that hits like a truck while also spamming ridiculous lightning bolts, that do about 800 damage. Did you find the Claymore or the bastard sword yet? The reach on the fire long sword just isn't enough for me, and I lean on the Claymore's thrust R2 a while lot; having a slash AND a thrust works better for me than the vertical/horizontal slashing swords. If you want to use a sword, try out one of the lighter greatswords to see if you like it. You will be able to imbue your weapons later, once you run across the ember.

Alas, there are SO many weapons, and they all feel and run differently.

For the record, you can make mistakes and not get stuck. I ran a Black Knight Sword for about 3/5ths of DS1, and then ditched it for a sword with better scaling in the last part of the game. I was able to fully run that up fairly quickly as later on, Chunks and Slabs are a bit easier to come by.

EDIT: I know it looks goofy, but the Large Club is a GREAT weapon with huge damage and good reach doe STR characters...