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On April 20 2015 22:11 Spiller wrote:Show nested quote +On April 20 2015 16:31 SixStrings wrote:On April 20 2015 10:06 Spiller wrote:On April 19 2015 18:15 SixStrings wrote: This is map-style is so different from DS1, and I'm not sure yet if I like it. Maybe it's just the Forest of Giants, but thus far, it's been really linear, with no intersections between the zones. I unlocked a couple of short cuts, but no branches to other zones that make this feel like a cohesive world.
Then again, I'm still in the Forest of Giants, which is probably supposed to be like a tutorial area, so maybe that'll change.
But god do I hate the max HP decrease! I'm now at what I assume is 50% health and I'm afraid to use an effigy quite yet because I don't know how frequently I can get them. There is a ring relatively early in the game that raises your fully hollowed form health from 50 percent to 75. If you don't like being human like I did when I played this ring is a must. Thanks, I'll have to keep an eye out for that! Just have to get past that darned Dragon Rider... The last giant was rather tame compared to him. Really? I found the last giant to be much more difficult mostly because he could pretty much 1 shot me at the level I was at so I had little room for error. I'm pretty sure I beat dragonrider first try but if it wasn't it was like 3 or 4 at most.
The Giant is so fucking slow. Good tip is, the bigger the enemy the closer you should get to him.
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The dragon rider pretty much one-shots me as well. His (easily avoidable) charge kills me in one hit, and his swipe / stab combo kills me, too. Maybe it's time to pop my first effigy...
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On April 20 2015 22:32 TerranHwaiting wrote:Show nested quote +On April 20 2015 22:11 Spiller wrote:On April 20 2015 16:31 SixStrings wrote:On April 20 2015 10:06 Spiller wrote:On April 19 2015 18:15 SixStrings wrote: This is map-style is so different from DS1, and I'm not sure yet if I like it. Maybe it's just the Forest of Giants, but thus far, it's been really linear, with no intersections between the zones. I unlocked a couple of short cuts, but no branches to other zones that make this feel like a cohesive world.
Then again, I'm still in the Forest of Giants, which is probably supposed to be like a tutorial area, so maybe that'll change.
But god do I hate the max HP decrease! I'm now at what I assume is 50% health and I'm afraid to use an effigy quite yet because I don't know how frequently I can get them. There is a ring relatively early in the game that raises your fully hollowed form health from 50 percent to 75. If you don't like being human like I did when I played this ring is a must. Thanks, I'll have to keep an eye out for that! Just have to get past that darned Dragon Rider... The last giant was rather tame compared to him. Really? I found the last giant to be much more difficult mostly because he could pretty much 1 shot me at the level I was at so I had little room for error. I'm pretty sure I beat dragonrider first try but if it wasn't it was like 3 or 4 at most. The Giant is so fucking slow. Good tip is, the bigger the enemy the closer you should get to him.
Yeah, the Last Giant was easy. Just had to stand behind one of his feet and alternate when he starts stomping.
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Both the giant and the dragon rider are easy as hell, just keep to their backsides. Particularly the dragon rider if you have the DX11 scholar of the first sin editions, will be a reoccurring enemy through the game. Same with belfry luna gargoyles. The problem I had was with The Pursuer boss. The proper boss has just such a large health pool that killing him without the use of the ballistae is annoying as hell. You need to parry him AT LEAST 20 times and pray your weapon doesn't break in the process. What the fuck were they thinking. And then come his lookalikes in various areas, of which there are 5(!) in the fucking Lost Bastille itself... goddamn parry teaching bots.
With the dragon rider, did you raise the outer rings? There are 2 switches needed to be pulled. Give you more room, but it also prevents him from falling to his death hilariously.
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On April 20 2015 22:00 Latham wrote:http://9gag.com/gag/a8YVMwp - LMFAO Anyway to take a break from my sorcerer hybrid I started another character who was supposed to be a quality build, but after reading some comments I realised that quality may not be as good of a choice in DkS2 as it was in DkS1, because frankly a lot of things were reworked from DkS1 and a lot weapons changed. The meta at SL150 seems to revolve around Flynn's Ring dickbags who either sunblade their katana or crystal weapon it and 3-shot people. Moreover now, you don't get natural resist to elements as you level up, but have to put points into INT/FTH yourself to get the resists, gimping any non-elemental builds hard. I dunno how good STR builds or DEX builds are, but it seems they'll eventually run into the same problem as a quality build. So basically, if you want a pure melee build you'll have to go past SL150, even if just for the pure resists. Say 180 or so.
I usually go up to level 200 anyway. Staying at 150 before the Agape Ring was completely unrealistic (probably still is for your older characters, unless you knock your SM down with CE), because scaling works differently than in DaS1, you don't have as many opportunities to just outplay your opponent, and most importantly, Soul Level matchmaking doesn't exist. Eventually you end up fighting level 300 - 400 monsters that kill you in 2 - 3 hits (even with 50 VIG, Life Ring +3, and decent armor), barely take any damage, and can use just about any weapons/spells they want.
Flynn's Ring/Buffs aren't really the problem, though. Their problem is their ridiculous tracking, phantom range, and insane damage output (mostly in the case of the Chaos Blade) for relatively little stamina cost. There is literally no downside to using most katanas. Don't get me wrong, you can play against them as they aren't too terribly OP (like the Helix Halberd + Mastodon Halberd meta used to be, THAT shit was unplayable), but they're kind of stupid sometimes.
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On April 20 2015 22:32 SixStrings wrote: The dragon rider pretty much one-shots me as well. His (easily avoidable) charge kills me in one hit, and his swipe / stab combo kills me, too. Maybe it's time to pop my first effigy... Stay mobile, stay right on top of him and circle around him in the direction of his shield. Most of his attacks will either flat out miss or are easily to evade. I have some bad news for you if you have trouble with what is by far the easiest boss fight in the game. + Show Spoiler +There is a bossfight where you will be fighting no less than three tougher and more agile enemies at the same time a little bit later in the game, although if you do it correctly you can isolate the first one in the beginning of the fight.
Also, the mace does wonders on armored enemies in this game. And there are plenty of armored enemies (hint). I don't know what your starting class was, but if it's the guy with two swords you basically started the game in "hard mode".
On April 20 2015 22:59 Latham wrote: Both the giant and the dragon rider are easy as hell, just keep to their backsides. Particularly the dragon rider if you have the DX11 scholar of the first sin editions, will be a reoccurring enemy through the game. Same with belfry luna gargoyles. The problem I had was with The Pursuer boss. The proper boss has just such a large health pool that killing him without the use of the ballistae is annoying as hell. You need to parry him AT LEAST 20 times and pray your weapon doesn't break in the process. What the fuck were they thinking. And then come his lookalikes in various areas, of which there are 5(!) in the fucking Lost Bastille itself... goddamn parry teaching bots.
With the dragon rider, did you raise the outer rings? There are 2 switches needed to be pulled. Give you more room, but it also prevents him from falling to his death hilariously. Persuer is hard until you actually learn that dodging under his attacks toward his shield is his huge weak spot. Basically becomes a game of dodge-hit-dodge-hit-dodge-hit. I usually find it rather tedious because of his ridiculous health pool.
I don't have the Scholar of the First Sin edition, but I'm glad that he actually appears more. I always had this feeling that he was supposed to be a recurring enemy that hunts the player throughout the game (what's in a name) and appears at random moments.
I also read that they changed the location of the Heide knights, for some reasons, as well as added a dragon on top of the Cathedral of Blue platform (which is ironic considering that the old dragon slayer is literally on the other side). I'm not a big fan of that change to be honest. It's a very sudden increase in difficulty that new players might not appreciate (Old Knights are jokes but Heide knights are definitely not and can mess players up badly). I also liked them more in their roles as vagabond or exiled knights gone hollow.
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On April 20 2015 22:59 Latham wrote: Both the giant and the dragon rider are easy as hell, just keep to their backsides. Particularly the dragon rider if you have the DX11 scholar of the first sin editions, will be a reoccurring enemy through the game. Same with belfry luna gargoyles. The problem I had was with The Pursuer boss. The proper boss has just such a large health pool that killing him without the use of the ballistae is annoying as hell. You need to parry him AT LEAST 20 times and pray your weapon doesn't break in the process. What the fuck were they thinking. And then come his lookalikes in various areas, of which there are 5(!) in the fucking Lost Bastille itself... goddamn parry teaching bots.
With the dragon rider, did you raise the outer rings? There are 2 switches needed to be pulled. Give you more room, but it also prevents him from falling to his death hilariously.
Outer rings? I'm talking about the Dragon Rider you come across in the forest, right after killing the Giant. It's on top of the wall, where there are also two ballistae.
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On April 20 2015 23:57 SixStrings wrote:Show nested quote +On April 20 2015 22:59 Latham wrote: Both the giant and the dragon rider are easy as hell, just keep to their backsides. Particularly the dragon rider if you have the DX11 scholar of the first sin editions, will be a reoccurring enemy through the game. Same with belfry luna gargoyles. The problem I had was with The Pursuer boss. The proper boss has just such a large health pool that killing him without the use of the ballistae is annoying as hell. You need to parry him AT LEAST 20 times and pray your weapon doesn't break in the process. What the fuck were they thinking. And then come his lookalikes in various areas, of which there are 5(!) in the fucking Lost Bastille itself... goddamn parry teaching bots.
With the dragon rider, did you raise the outer rings? There are 2 switches needed to be pulled. Give you more room, but it also prevents him from falling to his death hilariously. Outer rings? I'm talking about the Dragon Rider you come across in the forest, right after killing the Giant. It's on top of the wall, where there are also two ballistae. Oh, the persuer.. Yeah that one can be tricky. Dodge towards his shield and try to bait his charge attacks. Do NOT dodge towards his sword. All his attacks are blockable except the one where his sword glows blue (that attack will curse you), although I would not advise blocking because you risk getting guardbroken - his attacks drain one hell of a lot of your stamina.
+ Show Spoiler +He's actually an optional boss too, although you'll have to choose between him and the Flexile Sentry. Defeating the Persuer will let you get to the Drangleic armor set, defeating the Flexile Sentry will get you the Pyromancy Glove. Defeating either of these bosses will grant you transport to the Lost Bastille
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On April 20 2015 23:46 maartendq wrote:
I don't have the Scholar of the First Sin edition, but I'm glad that he actually appears more. I always had this feeling that he was supposed to be a recurring enemy that hunts the player throughout the game (what's in a name) and appears at random moments.
I also read that they changed the location of the Heide knights, for some reasons, as well as added a dragon on top of the Cathedral of Blue platform (which is ironic considering that the old dragon slayer is literally on the other side). I'm not a big fan of that change to be honest. It's a very sudden increase in difficulty that new players might not appreciate (Old Knights are jokes but Heide knights are definitely not and can mess players up badly). I also liked them more in their roles as vagabond or exiled knights gone hollow.
The dragon seems more geared towards the dragonrider also being in the same area. The heide knights only aggro on players after they've killed the dragonrider, meaning after players don't traverse Heide Tower to progress farther.
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On April 21 2015 00:11 maartendq wrote:Show nested quote +On April 20 2015 23:57 SixStrings wrote:On April 20 2015 22:59 Latham wrote: Both the giant and the dragon rider are easy as hell, just keep to their backsides. Particularly the dragon rider if you have the DX11 scholar of the first sin editions, will be a reoccurring enemy through the game. Same with belfry luna gargoyles. The problem I had was with The Pursuer boss. The proper boss has just such a large health pool that killing him without the use of the ballistae is annoying as hell. You need to parry him AT LEAST 20 times and pray your weapon doesn't break in the process. What the fuck were they thinking. And then come his lookalikes in various areas, of which there are 5(!) in the fucking Lost Bastille itself... goddamn parry teaching bots.
With the dragon rider, did you raise the outer rings? There are 2 switches needed to be pulled. Give you more room, but it also prevents him from falling to his death hilariously. Outer rings? I'm talking about the Dragon Rider you come across in the forest, right after killing the Giant. It's on top of the wall, where there are also two ballistae. Oh, the persuer.. Yeah that one can be tricky. Dodge towards his shield and try to bait his charge attacks. Do NOT dodge towards his sword. All his attacks are blockable except the one where his sword glows blue (that attack will curse you), although I would not advise blocking because you risk getting guardbroken - his attacks drain one hell of a lot of your stamina. + Show Spoiler +He's actually an optional boss too, although you'll have to choose between him and the Flexile Sentry. Defeating the Persuer will let you get to the Drangleic armor set, defeating the Flexile Sentry will get you the Pyromancy Glove. Defeating either of these bosses will grant you transport to the Lost Bastille
Where else could I go in the forest? I feel like I explored every nook and cranny. After I get the key from the Last Giant, I can either find the third bonfire or go up to the Pursuer, no?
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On April 21 2015 18:59 SixStrings wrote:Show nested quote +On April 21 2015 00:11 maartendq wrote:On April 20 2015 23:57 SixStrings wrote:On April 20 2015 22:59 Latham wrote: Both the giant and the dragon rider are easy as hell, just keep to their backsides. Particularly the dragon rider if you have the DX11 scholar of the first sin editions, will be a reoccurring enemy through the game. Same with belfry luna gargoyles. The problem I had was with The Pursuer boss. The proper boss has just such a large health pool that killing him without the use of the ballistae is annoying as hell. You need to parry him AT LEAST 20 times and pray your weapon doesn't break in the process. What the fuck were they thinking. And then come his lookalikes in various areas, of which there are 5(!) in the fucking Lost Bastille itself... goddamn parry teaching bots.
With the dragon rider, did you raise the outer rings? There are 2 switches needed to be pulled. Give you more room, but it also prevents him from falling to his death hilariously. Outer rings? I'm talking about the Dragon Rider you come across in the forest, right after killing the Giant. It's on top of the wall, where there are also two ballistae. Oh, the persuer.. Yeah that one can be tricky. Dodge towards his shield and try to bait his charge attacks. Do NOT dodge towards his sword. All his attacks are blockable except the one where his sword glows blue (that attack will curse you), although I would not advise blocking because you risk getting guardbroken - his attacks drain one hell of a lot of your stamina. + Show Spoiler +He's actually an optional boss too, although you'll have to choose between him and the Flexile Sentry. Defeating the Persuer will let you get to the Drangleic armor set, defeating the Flexile Sentry will get you the Pyromancy Glove. Defeating either of these bosses will grant you transport to the Lost Bastille Where else could I go in the forest? I feel like I explored every nook and cranny. After I get the key from the Last Giant, I can either find the third bonfire or go up to the Pursuer, no? From Majula you can go down the stairs to the right of the pit when looking at the pit from the bonfire.
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On April 21 2015 18:59 SixStrings wrote:Show nested quote +On April 21 2015 00:11 maartendq wrote:On April 20 2015 23:57 SixStrings wrote:On April 20 2015 22:59 Latham wrote: Both the giant and the dragon rider are easy as hell, just keep to their backsides. Particularly the dragon rider if you have the DX11 scholar of the first sin editions, will be a reoccurring enemy through the game. Same with belfry luna gargoyles. The problem I had was with The Pursuer boss. The proper boss has just such a large health pool that killing him without the use of the ballistae is annoying as hell. You need to parry him AT LEAST 20 times and pray your weapon doesn't break in the process. What the fuck were they thinking. And then come his lookalikes in various areas, of which there are 5(!) in the fucking Lost Bastille itself... goddamn parry teaching bots.
With the dragon rider, did you raise the outer rings? There are 2 switches needed to be pulled. Give you more room, but it also prevents him from falling to his death hilariously. Outer rings? I'm talking about the Dragon Rider you come across in the forest, right after killing the Giant. It's on top of the wall, where there are also two ballistae. Oh, the persuer.. Yeah that one can be tricky. Dodge towards his shield and try to bait his charge attacks. Do NOT dodge towards his sword. All his attacks are blockable except the one where his sword glows blue (that attack will curse you), although I would not advise blocking because you risk getting guardbroken - his attacks drain one hell of a lot of your stamina. + Show Spoiler +He's actually an optional boss too, although you'll have to choose between him and the Flexile Sentry. Defeating the Persuer will let you get to the Drangleic armor set, defeating the Flexile Sentry will get you the Pyromancy Glove. Defeating either of these bosses will grant you transport to the Lost Bastille Where else could I go in the forest? I feel like I explored every nook and cranny. After I get the key from the Last Giant, I can either find the third bonfire or go up to the Pursuer, no? Basically in this phase of the game you have to get to the Lost Bastille, which you can by either defeating the Persuer, or by gaining access to no-man's wharf after defeating the Dragon Rider. Technically you can also access Huntsman's Copse straight after defeating the Dragon Rider, but I do not recommend going there yet at that point in the game.
+ Show Spoiler + The routes for the great souls basically go like this: - Forest of the Giants - Lost Bastille - Sinner's rise: The Lost Sinner - Heide's Tower of Flame - No-Man's Wharf - Lost Bastille - Sinner's Rise: The Lost Sinner - Huntsman's Copse - Harvest Valley - Earthen Peak - Iron Keep: Old Iron King - Grave of Saints - The Gutter - Black Gulch: The Rotten - Shaded Woods - Doors of Pharros - Brightstone Cove Tseldora: The Duke's Dear Freja
Those are the four great souls. Some of these areas are a real drag though, and personally I find the game to be at its best after gaining access to Drangleic Castle. DS2 basically does things opposite from DS1: in DS1 you start out on a linear path toward the lordvessel, after which the game branches out, in DS2 it starts branched out and the game becomes linear after you obtain the four great souls.
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The path to the Lordvessel is absolutely not linear, unless you don't know what the master key is. You have to ring 2 bells in any order at some point to access Sen's Fortress, but you don't even have to visit Undead Burg, so....(I don't count the Monastery as part of Undead Burg)
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On April 21 2015 20:21 clusen wrote: The path to the Lordvessel is absolutely not linear, unless you don't know what the master key is. You have to ring 2 bells in any order at some point to access Sen's Fortress, but you don't even have to visit Undead Burg, so....(I don't count the Monastery as part of Undead Burg) I basically ignore the master key since it destroys the flow of the game. It's useful for speedrunners, or people who want to do a challenge run, but it's clearly not intended to be the way to play if you want to experience the game FROM intended most people to experience it.
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I picked the master key because it sounded the coolest, ended up getting the grass crest shield early on, which was perhaps a bit OP, but I didn't feel like my experience was diminished by this at all.
On the contrary, when I suddenly found myself back in Undeadburg, it felt like coming home (despite getting one-shot by Havel upon entering his tower...). Then again, I DID skip a large portion of the game by accident when I took the wrong entrance to Bligh Town, so I see your point.
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On April 21 2015 20:44 SixStrings wrote: I picked the master key because it sounded the coolest, ended up getting the grass crest shield early on, which was perhaps a bit OP, but I didn't feel like my experience was diminished by this at all.
On the contrary, when I suddenly found myself back in Undeadburg, it felt like coming home (despite getting one-shot by Havel upon entering his tower...). Then again, I DID skip a large portion of the game by accident when I took the wrong entrance to Bligh Town, so I see your point.
That's what I mean. It allows you to skip a significant and rather difficult part of the game. Actually climbing out of that damn swamp after having defeated Quelag gives you that classic Dark Souls feeling of reward and satisfaction: you just went down to, conquered and climbed out of a very dark and nasty place. Using the masterkey all but nullifies that because it reduces Blighttown to "jump down some platforms, run past some enemies, quickly kill Quelaag, climb back up, tadaa."
New players might find themselves both underleveled and underupgraded by the time they reach Anor Londo (if they get past Sen's Fortress at all).
I usually get the black firebombs as my starting gift because they enable me to make quick work of the first two bosses.
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On April 21 2015 20:31 maartendq wrote:Show nested quote +On April 21 2015 20:21 clusen wrote: The path to the Lordvessel is absolutely not linear, unless you don't know what the master key is. You have to ring 2 bells in any order at some point to access Sen's Fortress, but you don't even have to visit Undead Burg, so....(I don't count the Monastery as part of Undead Burg) I basically ignore the master key since it destroys the flow of the game. It's useful for speedrunners, or people who want to do a challenge run, but it's clearly not intended to be the way to play if you want to experience the game FROM intended most people to experience it. It's clearly intended, otherwise it wouldn't be in the game and also not be starting equipment for thieves...
It's not for beginner, it's a tool to take control of the game flow and to make full use of Dark Soul's world and mechanics. The game would simply be not as good as it is without.
FROM just put a bit of guidance in for new players, otherwise you would be completely lost.
Also, how do you even play a sorc without the master key :p
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On April 21 2015 20:56 maartendq wrote:Show nested quote +On April 21 2015 20:44 SixStrings wrote: I picked the master key because it sounded the coolest, ended up getting the grass crest shield early on, which was perhaps a bit OP, but I didn't feel like my experience was diminished by this at all.
On the contrary, when I suddenly found myself back in Undeadburg, it felt like coming home (despite getting one-shot by Havel upon entering his tower...). Then again, I DID skip a large portion of the game by accident when I took the wrong entrance to Bligh Town, so I see your point.
"jump down some platforms, run past some enemies, quickly kill Quelaag, climb back up, tadaa."
For me it was more like: "kill some giants, then get poisoned a bunch of times while climbing countless ladders, get poisoned some more, kill a seemingly infinite amount of mosquitoes, get invaded and assraped by an NPC twice, finally find a bonfire, get lost in a fucking worm-infested swamp, try to kill Quelaag five times before deciding to consult TL, fight my way up again to find the proper way, get sidetracked into the catacombs..."
That sounds like whining, but I enjoyed almost every minute of it. :D
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