Dark Souls II - share your experiences, stories and builds!

Started by Hemingway, March 26, 2014, 12:14:17 PM

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Inkidu

Quote from: Shjade on May 18, 2014, 11:26:31 PM
Somewhat. Though it's also pretty close to Majula, which is where most other NPCs end up after they tell you they're moving somewhere else.
I'm guessing Fragrant Branches of Yore are less crucial to exploration advancement now? (I refuse to call it plot advancement because there is no real plot)

I say that because I have several non-advancey places to use it, and that could really screw someone up if it were crucial. Like what if they were to use their very first one at the cell near the unlit bonfire in the Lost Bastion? (or thereabouts). How would they get to the shaded woods?

EDIT: Oh, Huntsman's Copse. You and I are going to have words. I don't know what it is, probably the twilight effects on it, but my eyes do not work right in that area. :P

Also is there a way to kill skeletons for realsies? I get paranoid that they're following behind me. Seeing as this game works more on arbitrary agro radii not line of sight (at least not consistently).
If you're searching the lines for a point, well you've probably missed it; there was never anything there in the first place.

Shjade

There's a fragrant branch of yore at the bottom of the Gutter as well. The only petrification that's required to fix for progression is the one blocking the way to the Shaded Woods. Everything after that is optional.

Skeletons stay dead when you kill the mages that revive them.
Theme: Make Me Feel - Janelle Monáe
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Inkidu

Quote from: Shjade on May 19, 2014, 11:32:01 AM
There's a fragrant branch of yore at the bottom of the Gutter as well. The only petrification that's required to fix for progression is the one blocking the way to the Shaded Woods. Everything after that is optional.

Skeletons stay dead when you kill the mages that revive them.
Thanks.
If you're searching the lines for a point, well you've probably missed it; there was never anything there in the first place.


Nachtmahr

What would really give me chills would be the sound of a flurry of super-tracking spells and stun-locking polehammers swung about like twigs. ._. That area is possibly the cheapest in the game. It's definitely the only area in which I had to restart so many times that the mercy spawn-stop kicked in before I got to the boss.
~Await the Dawn With Her Kiss of Redemption, My Firebird!~
~You Were the Queen of the Souls of Man Before There Was the Word~

Doomsday

Ugh, yeah, those stupid priests. I had pushed them out of my memory... I just stood back, shooting them with poison arrows, simultaneously laughing and crying.

Nachtmahr

Quote from: Doomsday on August 22, 2014, 07:43:32 AM
Ugh, yeah, those stupid priests. I had pushed them out of my memory... I just stood back, shooting them with poison arrows, simultaneously laughing and crying.

Been there, done that. Thought it wasn't cool - Tried to take them head on.

Cried even more.

Back to arrows.

No but really - What was From thinking with that place? But to be honest, I feel like they have almost intentionally discouraged melee-fighters since day one. Look at the Shrine of Armana - If you're stubborn and don't want to do ranged combat, well then f*ck you! Look at the ogres, with their 360* attacks and grapples that will kill you. Combine those, and any other grapples in the game with the absolutely broken hitbox that makes even offline PvE feel like PvP with the worst of lag-stab fishermen..
I struggle to think of any boss in the game that's not an absolute joke when using magic. The Darklurker is outright unfair when trying to take it down strictly with melee, because you literally need an eye at the back of your head to have any inclination of what's going on. The same goes for the dual-Dragonriders - If you can't take that archer down first, well then enjoy having him harass you. What makes that even more ridiculous is trying to do that fight without killing the archer first, and without a shield. (Yes, I know you can coax his friend into breaking his platform, but that doesn't really change the fact that he's going to be shooting at you.)
The gargoyles are possibly my least-favorite boss in the game, because it's really just a very lazy Gargoyles from DS1, but with artificially inflated difficulty because of the ridiculous number of enemies. Again, as a mage that fight is a walk in the park. My favorite fight just might be Ruin Sentinels, but alas - Coax the guys to fall off the platform, snipe them, done.

The list goes on and one - With my most recent example being the poison-infused knights of Shulva. Those guys are literally made with anti-melee mechanics, and they're all melee themselves, meaning you get punished for actually fighting them, with no punishment whatsoever for just standing around and blowing them up. In fact, you're encouraged to do that.

And I know that a lot of you guys (Anyone who bothered to read this post) will say 'Well.. Just don't use any magic then?' but we all know it's not that simple, especially once you move on to NG+ and beyond. Melee becomes increasingly underpowered, to the point where, around NG4-5 the hollows on your way to the Last Giant are suddenly posing a very real threat, and need to be taken down with the same amount of care and thought as the Old Knights in Heide do on your first play through the game. If you decide to go with a pure melee build, you'll suffer, and everything will be far harder for you - And not the Dark Souls-kind of hard, but broken game mechanics hard..

So yeah - That's my theory/rant out of nowhere. Melee is broken in Dark Souls 2, the point where it's nearly useless. If you think I'm wrong, or just whining: Try and look at spellcasters staves, chimes and whatevers at the endgame, and compare them to the ones you start with. Then look at 'endgame' melee weapons, and compare them to the ones you start with. The difference between a standard-issue Broadsword, and the Red Rust Sword aren't really that big.
~Await the Dawn With Her Kiss of Redemption, My Firebird!~
~You Were the Queen of the Souls of Man Before There Was the Word~

Inkidu

You know what turned me off to Dark Souls II? For a game about exploration and experimentation there sure are a lot of people to tell you what yur doin' wrong. :|

That and it just does not engender itself to me. It doesn't really make me what to keep playing.
If you're searching the lines for a point, well you've probably missed it; there was never anything there in the first place.

Nachtmahr

Quote from: Inkidu on August 23, 2014, 06:58:06 PM
You know what turned me off to Dark Souls II? For a game about exploration and experimentation there sure are a lot of people to tell you what yur doin' wrong. :|

You're forgetting: In a game about exploration, and being the savior of all things green and good in the world - It sure is odd to be bested by a small, mildly inconvenient pile of rubble.

I'm not scared of you pal! You're going down!

Nope, definitely can't see any way that I'd ever make it past this point.. Alas, this is where my journey ends.
~Await the Dawn With Her Kiss of Redemption, My Firebird!~
~You Were the Queen of the Souls of Man Before There Was the Word~

Inkidu

I'm sorry I don't think I'm getting the joke. I never made it past Huntsman's Copse before it got lost under all the other game boxes.
If you're searching the lines for a point, well you've probably missed it; there was never anything there in the first place.

Shjade

Nacht's suggesting that a game with an emphasis on exploration that doesn't give you the ability to climb over a pile of rocks is a source of humor.

It is to be of making the joke laugh! Oho ho! Ho!

(But no seriously that is pretty irritating in some spots.)

Regarding the weakness of melee, I'll just say this: when I get invaded/try any kind of pvp in Dark Souls 2 and see that my opponent is some kind of mage build, I instantly breathe a sigh of relief. Why? Because yes, magic does hit like several trucks tied together and fired at mach 5, but it's also much more easily and consistently (that second bit is very important given all the lag shenanigans) evaded or negated than melee attacks. I'd say my win percentage against magic-focused players is around 85-90%: just roll-advance through their spells and crush them, game over. The remaining 10-15% are usually the dreaded "Havelmonsters" with basically infinite casts of everything, massive defenses and an unwillingness to do anything other than spam magic and healing items until they win by attrition, but those guys are annoying to fight whether they're mages, Avelyn-abusers, curved dragon greatsword spamers or whatever. That's more of a problem with DS2's defensive mechanics than magic.

PvE, magic is a lot more effective for a lot of things simply because the AI is too dumb to dodge it, so it can unleash all that nuclear power much more effectively. That said, my character finished NG+5 as an almost pure melee build (technically mundane build, meaning I had a good short bow and weapon buffs as well, but wasn't using any magic nukes) and did just fine. The only things that gave me real grievous problems were the Looking Glass Knight (I just freaking hate that guy and his damn bounce-everything shield) and the ogres you mentioned. I don't know if there's some secret to fighting ogres in melee or if you're just meant to never do it at all, but they freaking WRECK you. Jeebis.

Everything else, though? No problem. Heck, for a while I was farming souls and bluebro tokens/talismans/whatever just by white phantoming the Ruin Sentinels fight for people and crushing them in pure melee, usually while my summoner sat up on the original platform throwing spells that may or may not have actually hit their targets.

Melee makes the pve exciting, at least for a while. Magic, eh. Target enemy, spam until dead, repeat. z.z
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Nachtmahr

Quote from: Shjade on August 24, 2014, 06:42:31 PM
Nacht's suggesting that a game with an emphasis on exploration that doesn't give you the ability to climb over a pile of rocks is a source of humor.

It is to be of making the joke laugh! Oho ho! Ho!

I.. I don't know if I'm suppose to be offended? ._. Not sure I get it..

Either way - The only basic-build I've not tried so far is Mundane - I don't really get the whole point, but judging from everything I've heard about it, it seems to be decent enough. As for the PvP thing you mention - I definitely disagree. Having to dodge about like a crazed toad on a hotplate just isn't fun even if it works. And in my experience, 75% of the casters are going to pull out their Washing Pole and lagstab you from 5 yards away as a last resort anyway, so in the end it doesn't really make a difference. And while Melee definitely makes the game more exciting, it also leaves you severely underpowered. Once a Strength or Dexterity builds gets to around SL 75-100 you just stop gaining any kind of power in my experience, and the enemies get stronger and stronger until things like ogres and the drakes later on just end your playthrough like a small pile of rubble in an archway.
~Await the Dawn With Her Kiss of Redemption, My Firebird!~
~You Were the Queen of the Souls of Man Before There Was the Word~

Shjade

Why would you be offended? ._.

Mundane's about being well-rounded and making weapons that normally wouldn't be that dangerous much more lethal than normal. It gives a broad variety of options as opposed to making one or two things really strong (stronger than they need to be, really).

For instance, my mundane character's current loadout:
Right hand: Dark Chime Hammer, Mundane Shortbow, Mundane Shadow Dagger
Left hand: Defender's Shield, Dark Black Witch Staff, Dark Ruler's Sword.

And then whatever armor I feel like wearing (usually LGK helm, watcher armor, havel gaunts and black witch skirt - Fashion Souls!). I can't nuke you from orbit, but I can bring heavy slams against less agile targets or to punish, poke and harass at range or to outrange spear/lance-focused builds, swap in the dagger to deal with the super lightweights (beat a good friend of mine the other day who was using a sealed fists build by baiting with the bow and swapping to dagger for some final stabs), dual wield with the ruler sword for nasty damage combos, buff and heal with the staff and have great all-around defense with that shield. I'm not the best at anything (except maybe backstabs with that dagger, it has nasty crits), but I can bring a lot of threats into play which forces enemies to deal with things they might not be well-equipped to counteract.

As opposed to being a mage with a washing pole, in which case all they have to worry about is eating a resonant soul/soul spear or getting lag-ranged with pole pokes, both of which are fairly obvious and not too hard to counter.

As for pve: I don't fight ogres. There aren't any in the game you have to kill. I just run around them. If I really badly want to kill one, poison arrows. Drakes are cake. Smash dem toes.
Theme: Make Me Feel - Janelle Monáe
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Nachtmahr

And here we go again: Crown of the Old Iron King.. What a steaming pile of utter, inexcusable bullshit. Wauw, am I disappointed. Watching From Software plunge to such depths almost makes me want to cry. It's just horrid and completely unfair to their fans everywhere.
~Await the Dawn With Her Kiss of Redemption, My Firebird!~
~You Were the Queen of the Souls of Man Before There Was the Word~

Inkidu

Quote from: Nachtmahr on August 26, 2014, 03:10:51 PM
And here we go again: Crown of the Old Iron King.. What a steaming pile of utter, inexcusable bullshit. Wauw, am I disappointed. Watching From Software plunge to such depths almost makes me want to cry. It's just horrid and completely unfair to their fans everywhere.
Look I don't even think their good games are anything remarkable, but what's so bad about it.
If you're searching the lines for a point, well you've probably missed it; there was never anything there in the first place.

Nachtmahr

Quote from: Inkidu on August 26, 2014, 03:37:31 PM
Look I don't even think their good games are anything remarkable, but what's so bad about it.

I do think that..

However - You essentially face the same boss twice, just with different skins and added cheapness on one. Of course there's then a few rather vital, completely unexplained mechanics, but sure - It's Dark Souls, whatever. These two eerily similar bosses are a copy of yet another boss in the game, one of them even nothing more than a blatant copy/paste job with a different color to it. The last boss is a mess of broken hitboxes and movement so fast that any kind of melee build is just pointless.

That's very, very roughly what's bad about it, without spoiling it since it came out today.
~Await the Dawn With Her Kiss of Redemption, My Firebird!~
~You Were the Queen of the Souls of Man Before There Was the Word~