From Software The Dark Souls II Megathread™

[cvv]

I killed ALL the DS2 vanilla bosses first or second try and I'm super average at Souls. DLC bosses is where it's at.

 

[CthuluIsSpy]

Is Huntsman Copse the worst area in the game or something? I'm getting really annoyed with its bullshit enemy placement and spam.
Those torturers are bullshit. They deal absurd amounts of damage for just a human sized grunt.

 

[v1rus]

Where teh fuck are fragrant branches of yore in regular version of the game? From googling, it seems like ill have to go through huntsman corpse again, and i really dont want that

 

[cvv]

Where teh fuck are fragrant branches of yore in regular version of the game? From googling, it seems like ill have to go through huntsman corpse again, and i really dont want that

Eventually you should have enough branches for all the vanilla statues except one, I think. Just go do something else, you'll find more.

 

[CthuluIsSpy]

Where teh fuck are fragrant branches of yore in regular version of the game? From googling, it seems like ill have to go through huntsman corpse again, and i really dont want that

They seem to be very rare. I've already been through Bastille, Heide and Forest of Giants, but still no branch. Which sucks, I want to unpetrify that guy in front of the bonfire.

 

[v1rus]

Where teh fuck are fragrant branches of yore in regular version of the game? From googling, it seems like ill have to go through huntsman corpse again, and i really dont want that

Eventually you should have enough branches for all the vanilla statues except one, I think. Just go do something else, you'll find more.

Ng+, only thing i want to do is unpetrify the chick blocking access to castle Drangelic, so i can get to ng++ :D

 

[CthuluIsSpy]

On a hilarious note, I found that the big fat guys with sickles can't hit something right in front of them.
If you stand directly in front of them when they do their downward slash, it just lands either side of you and you can continue face fucking them.
The hitboxes in this game are weird. I've seen boss attacks go right over my head, while in DS1 that would probably have been a hit.

 

[Gentle Player]

Where teh fuck are fragrant branches of yore in regular version of the game? From googling, it seems like ill have to go through huntsman corpse again, and i really dont want that

I can't give you exact figures and locations offhand, but in vanilla there are more than enough branches to unpetrify everything. In a normal playthrough you'll probably have one or two left over. In Scholar there are many more branches, but also many more statues - I think overall it balances out and the situation is the same as vanilla.

 

[bataille]

I'm replaying the game on the new game plus setting, and I must say it feels very alien, and that's pretty strange considering that I've completed it a few days prior. That thought in the back of my mind that something might be different just paints the overall experience in somewhat new colours. I mean, the very idea 'expect the things to be somewhat rearranged' is stimulating enough to make me want to play for an hour or so almost every day, which is interesting, since I've replayed maybe two or three games in my entire life.
I just wish they remixed new game plus in the third game the same way.

 

[Gentle Player]

I'm replaying the game on the new game plus setting, and I must say it feels very alien, and that's pretty strange considering that I've completed it a few days prior. That thought in the back of my mind that something might be different just paints the overall experience in somewhat new colours. I mean, the very idea 'expect the things to be somewhat rearranged' is stimulating enough to make me want to play for an hour or so almost every day, which is interesting, since I've replayed maybe two or three games in my entire life.
I just wish they remixed new game plus in the third game the same way.

I'm actually astonished that neither Bloodborne or DSIII made new game plus interesting and different in the way that DSII did. One of DSII's strongest features.

 

[cvv]

I'm actually astonished that neither Bloodborne or DSIII made new game plus interesting and different in the way that DSII did. One of DSII's strongest features.

Yeah, it's pretty shocking. People loved non-linear level design in DS1 and hated the more linear one in DS2. So which one From chooses for DS3? A linear one. People liked levelling up by the bonfire and disliked having to run to the Herald. So what does From do in DS3? They make people run to the chick. People love NG+ from DS2 so what does From do for NG+ in DS3? Fucking nothing. Similar for poise, magic, covenants and on and on. And then people say DS3 is the best in the series. I can't even.

 

[v1rus]

Turns out I got how shrine of winter works completely wrong. Thought it requires 2m soul memory to open, turns out it needs 2m soul memory in the current play through to open. That means i have to beat Old Iron King, Dukes Dear Freja, Last sinner and the rotten two more times.

Not sure I can be arsed with that, so, no 100% achievement completion it seems.

 

[Mozg]

Just bonfire ascetic and re-kill the rotten a few times. Rotten because the bonfire you burn an ascetic at to respawn him is like 10 seconds away from the boss door.

Edit - don't forget you can pop the two boss souls for like 80k per ascetic on top of the kill souls

 

[CthuluIsSpy]

Is that really viable though? Won't that make the area much harder as well, especially in NG+?
Anyway, killed a bunch of bosses in like 4 hours.
Earthen peak is pretty easy, actually. Should have done that before Belfry. You get like, 3 branches too.
Killed Belfry (terrible, annoying boss. And you have to kill them to get that damned key), lost sinner (second try), skeleton lords (by accident. How was I supposed to know that fog gate in the building would lead to a cave?), covetous demon (exploits ahoy!), Medusa lady, then smelter (second try with luca. Because apparently you get a kickass sword if you finish her quest)

 

[Lazing Dirk]

Is that really viable though? Won't that make the area much harder as well, especially in NG+?

If you're never going back there again, it doesn't matter. As noted, the boss door is basically right next to the (second) bonfire (if you found it), so it doesn't really matter how strong they are; you'll never fight them. Use ascetic, run to boss.

 

[Kutulu]

You can bonfire ascetic Giant Lord, that way you never lose any ascetics & its just as easy.

 

[sullynathan]

You can bonfire ascetic Giant Lord, that way you never lose any ascetics & its just as easy.

yeah, I did this and got a fuck ton of levels.

 

[Mozg]

You can bonfire ascetic Giant Lord, that way you never lose any ascetics & its just as easy.

The point of his question was to get through the Shrine of Winter in NG+. Can you get into the giant memories immediately in NG+? I thought you had to get the plot advancement key for that again.

Bonfire ascetics cap out at NG+8 I think and it's only moderately buffed up further from NG+ IIRC. Well, in terms of how much damage it takes to kill shit, they do way more damage although still usually not enough to one-shot a 50 vig.

 

[CthuluIsSpy]

So...I'm beginning to understand why Dark Souls 2 is considered the worst in the series.
The level design is atrocious in later areas; the devs had the strange idea that putting enemies that are just there for the sole purpose of wasting your time and blocking your way is want people wanted, and arbitary instant
Remember how in DS1 you can run past nearly every enemy? Well, here its as if the Devs are going "no, fuck you. You have to waste your time dealing with them"

Some examples -
the tunnel filled with corrosive bugs in shrine of amana. Why are they there? You can't run past them without breaking your equipment, you have to waste your time shooting them with a bow.

The shield guys in Undead Crypt. They are litterally just there to block your progress. That's the whole point of their design. Its dumb.

The Velstadt boss door. So, you have seven soldiers, two of which are right in front of the door and will camp there, meaning that if you try to make a run for the fog gate, they'll immediately start attacking and knock you out of the animation, wasting your time and potentially killing you. And of course you have that fucker with the bell at the bottom of the stairs, who will summon more guys.

Instant death bullshit in Aldia's keep. Fuck those ogres, fuck that dragon, fuck everything.

I really don't mind the spawn limit, because without it, having to deal with that bullshit every time you need to get somewhere would get old really fast.

Its like every area is Lost Izalith. What a load of shit.

 

[cvv]

So...I'm beginning to understand why Dark Souls 2 is considered the worst in the series.
The level design is atrocious in later areas; the devs had the strange idea that putting enemies that are just there for the sole purpose of wasting your time and blocking your way is want people wanted, and arbitary instant
Remember how in DS1 you can run past nearly every enemy? Well, here its as if the Devs are going "no, fuck you. You have to waste your time dealing with them"

That's...not the reason the level design in DS2 is bad.

 

[CthuluIsSpy]

So...I'm beginning to understand why Dark Souls 2 is considered the worst in the series.
The level design is atrocious in later areas; the devs had the strange idea that putting enemies that are just there for the sole purpose of wasting your time and blocking your way is want people wanted, and arbitary instant
Remember how in DS1 you can run past nearly every enemy? Well, here its as if the Devs are going "no, fuck you. You have to waste your time dealing with them"

That's...not the reason the level design in DS2 is bad.

Well, its one of the reasons. The enemy placement is off, the areas feel too large in some places and nothing feels particularly consistent within the world.
But timewasting pisses me off the most.

 

[meanwhileInPoland]

playing vanilla ds2 instead of sotfs

 

[CthuluIsSpy]

Didn't Scholar add a bunch of bullshit as well though? Like, OP NPC phantoms and crap?
I should probably pick that up as well.

 

[Hyperion]

From added a bunch of encounters from Black Phantoms to the Pursuer 'pursuing' you, yes. This is hardly a bad thing. While The Forlorn isn't quite as amazing as Moldron the Assassin or Jester Thomas, he's still pretty good.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Moldron is a prick.