There's a pair of binoculars just off a ledge as you enter Majula. They're only handy if you're a mage as you can fire spells with first person view while looking through them.
Gaming Dark Souls II
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
That's exactly what i'm doing at the momentRookie mistake! As with all Souls games, the order in which you do things is vital. Been a while but I recall a ring in the Cathedral of Blue (which you should go to after the Forest of Fallen Giants) which means you don't go below 75% health, which is a must-have item, especially as I didn't use a single Human Effigy in the whole game (I am a hoarder and was paranoid about needing them at the end).
Even as a veteran of the Souls games, the beginning of 2 was really difficult...the Pursuer was an incredibly difficult 2nd boss but by the time I got to No-man's Wharf and The Lost Bastille, I found it a lot easier and I did the last 7/8 bosses without dying once.
Not sure what build you are but I was a melee/strength character, so upgrade strength, vitality and stamina...after a while upgrading weapons is far more beneficial than levelling up, so ensure you do that. I think I used the Claymore for most of the game (same with the first) and when levelled it's a good all-rounder. Also as enemies stop spawning after they've been killed (I think) 12 times (although you can bring them back permanently with an item, although their difficulty increases), losing souls is even more of a handicap, so be cautious and cash in if they start getting high.
Good luck!
It's such a difference now that the difficulty is back to normal... although, part of me actually preferred the struggle previously. I've put 5 hours into and i'm still very early into the Forest of Fallen Giants.
I've read about that ring and I want to make sure I get it. I'm a little worried i'm going to miss it however.
Strength, vitality and stamina (endurance?) are the exact three I have been working on (my Bloodborne experience coming into play). I also read about the killing enemies 12 times thing but it doesn't seem to be the case? Did they change it for SotFS?
The ring can be got quite easily from an area directly from Majula (you may have to beat the 1st boss to unlock the area - I don't recall), although you may have to do a runner past some hulking knights...saying that if you're level 28+, you should be able to take them on. It's a small area, so you can't really miss it and either way, you can always go back to an area if you miss things.
As for the respawns, it's because of the covenant you were in, although I'm not sure what they changed in the new one as I did the original on the 360.
I'm playing Bloodborne at the minute but this conversations makes me want to put on Dark Souls!
As for the respawns, it's because of the covenant you were in, although I'm not sure what they changed in the new one as I did the original on the 360.
I'm playing Bloodborne at the minute but this conversations makes me want to put on Dark Souls!
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SotFS has the same rule, though I think it's 15 times before an enemy stops respawning.
Level 50... only just beat The Last Giant (and did a small bit of wandering afterwards). What seems strange to me though is that i'm not exactly finding it easy yet despite what seems like a very high level for essentially doing feck all? I've put about 5 hours into the game and i've done a fair bit of farming at Heide's Tower. It wasn't even intentional farming, it's just those knights are bloody relentless. Also lost my biggest amount of souls so far up there... 9500 
Well, levelling your character is less important than getting good at the mechanics of the game and improving your weapon(s). What level you are doesn't really tell us much about whether things will be hard for you or not.
Apparently a lot of the Knights on the tower were added for the PS4 version, which is why it feels more difficult than used to be. Either way, I just beat The Pursuer after 23 tries and now I feel glorious. Now do I go back and tackle those knights are continue along the path that has opened up?
Just beat the Ruin Sentinels. I had to summon for the first time... I feel empty a little inside
That doesn't count as beating it. You need to restart the game.
No shame in that - Dark Souls for me is all about being fair and punishing you for mistakes and a lack of patience. The Ruin Sentinels just felt like the game cheating, especially at that point in the game.Just beat the Ruin Sentinels. I had to summon for the first time... I feel empty a little inside
The irritating thing is that I nearly beat them quite a few times on my own. The first one is obviously easy, but then it was a case of getting isolated hits on the other two until I got it down to the last one. I could never get that second one killed.
I also wasted about 5 human effigies by messing up that bloody shortcut.
I'm loving it though. 18 hours in and counting and I've barely done anything other than die.
I also wasted about 5 human effigies by messing up that bloody shortcut.
I'm loving it though. 18 hours in and counting and I've barely done anything other than die.
It has that 'one more go' thing - for my addictive personality it meant some late nights! Just finished Bloodborne and need another 'souls' fix...guess it'll be the 3rd next year...looks good and by then you'll have finished the 2nd...maybe .
.Had one attempt at the Belfry Gargoyles and thought 'feck that.' Summoned again and beat them fairly easily. It feels like the game is encouraging you to summon with bosses like that.
In other news, I beat The Lost Sinner after three goes and thought it was a relatively easy boss fight.
In other news, I beat The Lost Sinner after three goes and thought it was a relatively easy boss fight.
I'm owning it now.
I ended up summoning another player at the Iron Keep out of curiosity and he led me through the area pretty much destroying everything and pulling levers and shit. The problem was I hadn't lit a bonfire and had 40 000 souls racked up... He died... and I proceeded to shit myself.
I ended up summoning another player at the Iron Keep out of curiosity and he led me through the area pretty much destroying everything and pulling levers and shit. The problem was I hadn't lit a bonfire and had 40 000 souls racked up... He died... and I proceeded to shit myself.
Ha, we've all been there. To be honest, after the Ruin Sentinels, the only boss I had trouble with was the Smelter Demon, which was really easy after getting a 100% fire damage resistant shield. Basically, the game got really easy for me.
Well The Gulch is an absolute cnut of an area. Then The Rotten... don't get me bloody started on the bloody Rotten. About 50 tries and suddenly I cut an arm off and it feels like bullying a child.
The Gulch is absolute shit... have to be so cautious and smack those statues every half an inch... gah. I found the Rotten fairly easy, though. Got him first or second try, I believe.
Really enjoying this game so far, even more so than even the original, my one issue is how hard it is to soul farm, you kill an enemy 10 times and boom, gone for good.
There are ways of bringing the enemies back infinitely (and can still be undone). I levelled up a fair bit by (accidently) being in the Covenant of Champions.
Started playing this again today. Brightstone Cove can feck off. Seriously, that boss run is an absolute cnut.
Just picked up the remaster of this for £10. I have never played any of the others in the series so was just wondering whether this was a good one to start with? Don't have a PS4 or PS3 so it was really the only option other than waiting for Dark Souls 3.
There's always Bloodborne.
DS2 is cool, but from what I understand they ramped up the difficulty a bit in SotFS. The hitboxes aren't all that clean so I found myself annoyed at getting hit when it seemed that the enemy had missed, and missing when it seemed that my strike had connected.
Anyway, you've picked it up.. Take it for a spin, you'll know soon enough. Just know this: levelling your weapons is more important than levelling your character or armor, and the key is to be perceptive and figure out the mechanics of the game and the movesets of the enemies, as well as choosing a weapon that suits you and getting familiar with the different moves you can do with it. People plough through this game without levelling up their character and weapons, etc. once they get good at the mechanics. There's even a run with a dude completing this game using nothing but a wooden spoon
Cheers. I'm looking forward to playing one finally after all the hype around them though the supposed difficulty is intimidating. I get easily frustrated so it may end badly.There's always Bloodborne.
DS2 is cool, but from what I understand they ramped up the difficulty a bit in SotFS. The hitboxes aren't all that clean so I found myself annoyed at getting hit when it seemed that the enemy had missed, and missing when it seemed that my strike had connected.
Anyway, you've picked it up.. Take it for a spin, you'll know soon enough. Just know this: levelling your weapons is more important than levelling your character or armor, and the key is to be perceptive and figure out the mechanics of the game and the movesets of the enemies, as well as choosing a weapon that suits you and getting familiar with the different moves you can do with it. People plough through this game without levelling up their character and weapons, etc. once they get good at the mechanics. There's even a run with a dude completing this game using nothing but a wooden spoon
Might check out the video of that wooden spoon run. Sounds hilarious
Didn't Twitch complete one as well?Twitch did a Dark Souls run, not DS2. Man, that was tedious viewingCheers. I'm looking forward to playing one finally after all the hype around them though the supposed difficulty is intimidating. I get easily frustrated so it may end badly.
Might check out the video of that wooden spoon run. Sounds hilarious
Do yourself a favor and make sure you get to and clear at least one boss. Once you know that rush, you get more of an incentive to go on
Managed to bear Freja and now ive got the bug again! Bring on the next boss (have no idea where the feck I go next though)!
The difficulty is ramped up by a fair way.There's always Bloodborne.
DS2 is cool, but from what I understand they ramped up the difficulty a bit in SotFS. The hitboxes aren't all that clean so I found myself annoyed at getting hit when it seemed that the enemy had missed, and missing when it seemed that my strike had connected.
Anyway, you've picked it up.. Take it for a spin, you'll know soon enough. Just know this: levelling your weapons is more important than levelling your character or armor, and the key is to be perceptive and figure out the mechanics of the game and the movesets of the enemies, as well as choosing a weapon that suits you and getting familiar with the different moves you can do with it. People plough through this game without levelling up their character and weapons, etc. once they get good at the mechanics. There's even a run with a dude completing this game using nothing but a wooden spoon
You are spot on about the collison detection, I also remember the dodging being far wonkier because of it too.
Like Eriku said, at least do the first boss before you think of giving up, it does click with perseverance. Good luck!
Urgh, the Iron Keep is ridiculously hard. I must have dropped about 50,000 souls in total and now i'm just counting down till everything despawns and I can have another go at the Smelter Demon (who is a cnut and owes me about 20,000 of those souls!)
I kept hearing that it was so ridiculously hard that it wound up feeling like it wasn't all that bad.
Then again, I called on some help with the Smelter Demon... It would've taken me a fair bit longer if I was going to get past that bugger on my own.
Lucatiel Of Mirrah can take tonnes of punishment if you are able to summon her for the Smelter Demon fight.
I managed to beat him with the help of a summon. In fact, was very easy with the summon. Had a little trouble with the Old Iron King initially but then I nailed down his attack pattern and managed to solo I fairly easily.
Then, I got to Draenlic Castle... feck that. Is there even a bonfire? 20,000 souls I'm not getting back.
Then, I got to Draenlic Castle... feck that. Is there even a bonfire? 20,000 souls I'm not getting back.
There's 4 bonfires in Drangleic Castle! It's not too bad difficulty wise.
It's hard enough for me to spell!
You have another option: the first Dark Souls. It's €5 on Steam.
This one is slightly more accessible for completely new players though. Just don't forget to level Adaptability early on, the game is a nightmare without that.
If you are really struggling with it (as I did) Smelter Demon is technically an optional boss. But if you're making headway then just persist.
I managed to beat him.
Optional bosses are not optional for me. The game is all about the bosses. Much like Bloodborne, I appreciate that there is a huge amount of lore but it's something I prefer to read up on afterwards.
I skipped the Smelter Demon because the run to him is such a pain. But I want to go back and do it now I've beaten the game.
feck the Ancient Dragon though. That thing is going to stay alive.
Shrine of Amana was super annoying, now the Undead Crypt is being equally as irritating (fecking Shadow of Yharnam spirits spawning from fecking rocks). Please tell me the areas from here to the end are better designed to be challenging as opposed to annoying.
I'm playing DS1, what should I level up? What effects how fast you move? I'm running around like a fat bastid, roll like one too. Can't remember what stat that was attributed to in DS II.
I think you could beat him easily if you finished it. He is a damage sponge. I was finding it easy to get hits but eventually id lose concentration and he would kill me in one or two hits.
Having a companion made it easy in the end. Wish I didn't but as you said, the run was very hard. I manage to despawn everything on that run.
That makes my co-op list:
Belfry Gargoyles
Ruin Sentinels
Smelter Demon
Im slightly ashamed as id rather do it all solo, but it's not too bad.
Im nervous about some of the stuff coming up though. Shrine of Armana seems to be something that gets mentioned a lot.
Any gear tips? Most of my gear is Dreaglic (whatever it is). Needs Twinkling Titanite to upgrade
I believe it's Endurance, but also remember your weight load.
Iirc in DS1 the roll mechanic is more scaled to your weight load, I think DS2 had a level below 60-70% as fast roll, then adaptability really made you faster/more invincible frames, whereas in DS1 it goes in stages based on your percent. So for example, the fastest roll might be below 20% with different speeds at 30,40,50,etc.