THE BORE

General => Video Game Bored => Topic started by: The Sceneman on March 06, 2014, 04:00:59 PM

Title: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on March 06, 2014, 04:00:59 PM
Out in a week! Got mine pre-ordered. Will update OP with videos etc. when I have time

In this thread we can be the most obnoxious fanbase of all time. Because Souls is so much darker and hardcore than all those other common action games that the publishers think that they are so marketable.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Madrun Badrun on March 06, 2014, 04:06:41 PM
Waiting for PC  :( :( :( :( :(
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Steve Contra on March 06, 2014, 04:54:10 PM
Esch, sucks at videogames, sucks at photoshop
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: hampster on March 06, 2014, 05:02:02 PM
Respec. Early game fast travel. :rejoice

:heart Prepare to Casual :heart
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 06, 2014, 05:03:54 PM
blah blah blah I'm a basic bitch who can't handle real difficulty in my games
leper this filth
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on March 06, 2014, 05:21:37 PM
Thread is instant quagmire, all going according to plan

(http://www.mediavida.com/imagenes/2009/7/consolas/47678_tokyo_game_show_2009_2427_septiembre_0.png)
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on March 06, 2014, 05:24:50 PM

I already made this photoshop


(http://i.minus.com/jclbjjDMZFzck.jpg)

Enjoy!

This photoshop is very accurate as it depicts how Dark Souls 2 is going be a figurative "slam-dunk" for From Software, and dedicated hardcore gamers alike.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Himu on March 06, 2014, 05:27:23 PM
Respec. Early game fast travel. :rejoice

:heart Prepare to Casual :heart

You can respec? Fuck yes.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: archie4208 on March 06, 2014, 05:33:16 PM
this game is gonna suck, this series sucks

Jank controls shit graphics

No character/environment interaction worth a damn its 2014

People only like it cuz its japanese/an exercise in trial and error

I already made this photoshop


(http://i.minus.com/jclbjjDMZFzck.jpg)

Enjoy!

git gud
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 06, 2014, 05:39:08 PM
apart from being really excited to play this game, I'm also interested to know what its sales performance will be. If it manages to do even better than the first game I'm sure Namco will be very pleased.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: StealthFan on March 06, 2014, 08:43:00 PM
I think the difficulity is overrated. Still love Demon Souls tho.

Watching a stream makes me...curiuous however. I don't like how nimble you can be now.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on March 06, 2014, 08:55:42 PM
they equippin lightweight gear bra
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: StealthFan on March 06, 2014, 08:58:44 PM
they equippin lightweight gear bra

I am aware, breh. They move faster than previous iterations.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: benjipwns on March 06, 2014, 09:03:20 PM
Hope they get the Game Genie codes out quick for this one.

Infinite Health  :aah
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: brob on March 06, 2014, 09:10:27 PM
let's not pretend like they didn't patch Dark Souls right quick to make that shit babby compliant for all the massive babbies that couldn't handle curse stacking and skeletons not dropping souls n w/e. Of course DS2 is gonna be more babby. That's the natural order of things. Namco wants to sell more Dark Souls 2 than they did Dark Souls 1, not less or even equal.

All the complainers should go play Kings field 4 instead, that game kills you arbitrarily for clipping the floor tiles. all kinds of hardcore real gamer(tm) gaming to be had.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 06, 2014, 09:27:43 PM
King's Field :aah
Shadow Tower :lawd :whew :noah
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on March 06, 2014, 09:34:27 PM
Hope they get the Game Genie codes out quick for this one.

Infinite Health  :aah

:pacspit

I'ma be all over the infinite ammo tho
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Yulwei on March 06, 2014, 09:34:50 PM
real men play dungeon crawl stone soup.

Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: StealthFan on March 06, 2014, 10:36:13 PM
Kings Field IV is due for a revisit. Once I am done with Ground Zeroes, which won't take long of course, I am rerenting that shit :aah
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Third on March 09, 2014, 05:09:52 PM
I might be getting the game after all (http://www.nextgenupdate.com/forums/ps3-trophies-gamesaves/720770-dark-souls-ii-modded-starter.html)

Going to play it just for the lore and environments. Fuck the tough battles.  :punch
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: magus on March 09, 2014, 06:43:08 PM
I might be getting the game after all (http://www.nextgenupdate.com/forums/ps3-trophies-gamesaves/720770-dark-souls-ii-modded-starter.html)

Going to play it just for the lore and environments. Fuck the tough battles.  :punch

it's still going to end up like this because if it's like the previous game is going to be choke full of cheap shit that instantly kills you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpAsrmpPgNM
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Madrun Badrun on March 09, 2014, 10:05:18 PM
36$ for Russian keys

http://www.direct2play.com/steam-drm/501-dark-souls-ii-steam-cdkey.html
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Great Rumbler on March 09, 2014, 10:48:46 PM
Yeah....no.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: archie4208 on March 09, 2014, 11:21:02 PM
DS2 keys are region locked.  Buying from a Russian reseller is a bad idea.  It's like $40 at GMG if you use a promo code.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Madrun Badrun on March 10, 2014, 01:03:22 AM
what promo?
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on March 10, 2014, 01:06:35 AM
I might be getting the game after all (http://www.nextgenupdate.com/forums/ps3-trophies-gamesaves/720770-dark-souls-ii-modded-starter.html)

Going to play it just for the lore and environments. Fuck the tough battles.  :punch

it's still going to end up like this because if it's like the previous game is going to be choke full of cheap shit that instantly kills you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpAsrmpPgNM

Yeah thats because that guy is str8 n00b. "Equip Elite Knight set cos DEF dont matter", if DEF dont matter then why equip anything? n00b
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: archie4208 on March 11, 2014, 08:21:10 AM
spoiler (click to show/hide)
The first boss in the game accidentally fell off the platform.
[close]

GOTY
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: magus on March 11, 2014, 08:39:43 AM
spoiler (click to show/hide)
The first boss in the game accidentally fell off the platform.
[close]

GOTY

sounds exactly what i'd expect :neogaf

reading the review of this is painfull, i've read a gamespot review of DKC:TF that called the game cheap but when it comes to this it's "THIS GAME IS HARD AND AMAZING"

i've read on another review that everytime you die you lose some max health up to the point where you only have half of your health bar,this is the kind of frustating bullshit-kick in the ball of the players that makes me not wanting to do anything with the game and scream at the people acting like this game is made of unicorn farts and i know it would be like this because the original dark souls is full of frustating bullshit-kick in the ball of the players

if this was another game it would be a big deal but since it's dark souls, the game with the obnoxious fanbase that only plays HARD games for HARDcore players, it's no biggie

</spergrant>

EDIT:

Quote
Most significantly of all, enemies eventually stop respawning. This serves two purposes: shutting down soul farming, and removing the frustration of making a mistake against a grunt you’ve already killed a dozen times on the well-travelled route from bonfire to boss

yeah this is how i would have opened the review "ehy guys! backtracking to a boss when you die is now slightly less chorish"
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: archie4208 on March 11, 2014, 10:23:53 AM
Apparently I'm a dumbass and went to the equivalent of the Catacombs first. 
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Atramental on March 11, 2014, 11:39:00 AM
Will get/play once I get around to beating the first one. :noah

Hopefully I don't have to work this weekend.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Himu on March 11, 2014, 12:55:26 PM
Reading reviews, they've addressed every problem I've had with the franchise - aside from JANK, because I hate jank - apparently. Getting pc version.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: archie4208 on March 11, 2014, 01:32:39 PM
Game seems a bit more harsh than Dark Souls.

spoiler (click to show/hide)
Your health scales downwards while hollow ala DeS and you only get one Estus Flask at the start and have to find shards to increase the number.
[close]
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: FatalT on March 11, 2014, 04:19:36 PM
I rented this for PS3. Can't wait to play it later tonight. Installing it now so it's ready to go though. THE REAL DARK SOULS (2) BEGINS HERE!
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: archie4208 on March 11, 2014, 08:42:50 PM
This game is fucking awesome.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: tiesto on March 11, 2014, 09:03:52 PM
Got the PS3 collector's edition today. I think I'm gonna finally sit down and play through the series come winter break...
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on March 12, 2014, 12:07:17 AM
street date is tomorrow here  :'( Gonna be playing in 24 hours :hyper

I've got the "Black Armour" edition reserved, that comes with steelbook case and cd soundtrack. I wasnt paying 100$ extra for a doll
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 12, 2014, 12:23:07 AM
I'm so jelly of y'all that are playing it already :'( I can't wait to dig into this game
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: G The Resurrected on March 12, 2014, 02:11:55 AM
I'm so jelly of y'all that are playing it already :'( I can't wait to dig into this game

Is demi really buying it for you?
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 12, 2014, 02:56:58 AM
demi is lovely man :-*
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: G The Resurrected on March 12, 2014, 03:57:48 AM
you need a ce guide to go with it?
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: demi on March 12, 2014, 11:04:58 AM
Game will get patched and nerfed, guide will be useless.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Himu on March 12, 2014, 11:21:27 AM
people still buy guides?
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Rufus on March 12, 2014, 11:56:42 AM
people still buy guides?
As collector's items.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 12, 2014, 01:03:24 PM
yeah fuck a guide, I want this game to penetrate me with no protection
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: G The Resurrected on March 12, 2014, 01:27:31 PM
I buy them for the art usually. I've recently started to go digitally for guides since they take up so much space.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on March 12, 2014, 04:10:45 PM
my copy is gonna be in my hands in 3 hours :hyper

I'll be stuck at work for the rest of the day but can enjoy the soundtrack CD at least, it will pump me up!!!!1
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: FatalT on March 12, 2014, 06:58:16 PM
I've put about 7 hours into this game and it's amazing. I love the teleporting between bonfires and all the new features. I haven't really tried out dual-wielding because I'm rolling as a battle mage.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on March 12, 2014, 09:00:19 PM
Battle mage? Pffft, pick a side man - anal play or bows.

Just got my copy :hyper

I got the "Black Armour" edition which comes with DLC code for weapons and armour and stuff. Got the code queued on my 360. PREPARE TO CASUAL WITH OP STARTING GEAR
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: drew on March 12, 2014, 09:17:49 PM
still need to beat Dark Souls before I play this.  which...might take awhile, maybe I should just get it?
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 12, 2014, 09:19:31 PM
I have a feeling if you play this it'll probably be tough to go back to Dark Souls. Do what you want, but my suggestion is play DS1 first. Lots of people still play it and it's still a fantastic game. Yes it will take you a long time to beat (anywhere from 60-100 hours depending on your build/how often you get stuck) but it's totally worth it and DS2 isn't going anywhere.

If you play on 360 or PC I can help you get through the game faster if you don't mind doing that, but personally what made me fall in love with Dark Souls is how easy it is to lose dozens of hours meandering around the levels looking for hidden stuff.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: drew on March 12, 2014, 10:33:37 PM
holy shit :o that long?  I'm about 20-30 mins after the bridge with the big dragon perched at the end of it - right when some very cool looking skeleton faced knights start showing up.  I keep getting killed by this fatty with a huge shield in a church.  My guy just isn't nimble enough to attack then evade fast enough. Just really started having fun with it, though.  The only thing I wish it had was a moves list in menu like Ninja Gaiden, you shouldn't have to use wikia for that.

I am playing on 360, would love to have some help :)  although I'm not playing it as my main game right now, in fact I just picked it back up recently cause of DS2, I'm still playing South Park and BF4...but I'd make an exception sometime to play with you, that'd be great.  my GT is volta volta
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 12, 2014, 10:37:14 PM
added you, just post here or PM me if you wanna play sometime and I should get back to you. If you're having trouble evading, try putting points into endurance or just remove the heaviest pieces of armor ;)
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on March 12, 2014, 11:28:09 PM
So apparently the DLC gear just gets dumped into your inventory when you start a game. Hmmm, seems like a bit of a cop out. Hopefully it isn't too OP or anything. That being said you could get the Zweihander straight away in Dark Souls and that was one of the best swords in the game so.....
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: WanderingWind on March 13, 2014, 02:19:26 AM
The game is really good, don't get me wrong, but it is absolutely full of cheap shit that wasn't in Demons Souls or Dark Souls Uno. Enemies who miss you by a mile still damage you, attacks going through walls, button lag on recuperation from stun locks and some questionable lock on issues that cause the camera to spaz the hell out.

It needs patching for sure. The health slowly diminishing might be a problem if the effigies are non-replenishable from the vendor, so I don't know if that's going to cause an issue.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on March 13, 2014, 03:53:11 AM
fuck this game has been incredible since I've entered my name!

(http://evergreenterrace.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Thrillhouse2.gif)

Character name is Maxidic - going warrior with focus on DEX. Bows it is, fuck anal play
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Himu on March 13, 2014, 04:42:13 AM
Watched the Quick Look. Really like what I saw.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Steve Contra on March 13, 2014, 02:41:57 PM
Should have waited until the next patch.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on March 13, 2014, 03:26:11 PM
So I couldn't get online which sucks. Will try again tonight.

The DLC loot is pretty fun. It just gives you a basic array of weapon types, you've got a big dagger and axe and mace etc.

Game is incredible of course, but damn it's difficult starting off. Been dying a lot so health bar is at like 50%. Worried to use my effigies as I'm afraid they'll be in short supply. Help!

I've been enjoying the new NPCs and the of course the butt pirate enemies.

I'm trying the get through the Giants Forest (or something), is this the right location to start off with?
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Steve Contra on March 13, 2014, 03:39:20 PM
I died several times last night when arrows missed me by a good bit and they still stuck in.  Hopefully they get shit like that sorted, because fuck making it even more frustrating.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on March 13, 2014, 03:43:16 PM
eeep :X

hmm according to this: http://support.namcobandaigames.com/index.php?/News/NewsItem/View/23/dark-souls-ii-server-information

server issues should be sorted. I want to get online yo
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: FatalT on March 13, 2014, 08:14:01 PM
I'm about 11 and a half hours in now.

(https://scontent-a-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/t1/1891261_293160814174113_1395954825_n.jpg)

DEM STATS
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on March 13, 2014, 09:40:33 PM
How on earth are you lvl 74 after 11 hours :anhuld

where are you supposed to go after you get to Manjula?
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: drew on March 13, 2014, 10:53:40 PM
He always plays his games way too fast and in binges. basically he is a beast :bow
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: magus on March 14, 2014, 08:37:08 AM
(http://s9.postimg.org/xjx2hdsdp/Dark_Souls_is_Hard_I_don_t_see_the_challenge_e2.gif)

i'm sorry if i'm coming off as annoying but this is the most hilarious thing i've seen this whole week :neogaf

Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: drew on March 14, 2014, 09:00:43 AM
beat the fatty knight in the church and the gargoyles pretty handily last night, I think I'm finally getting a good grasp of this game (DS1, of course)

dumped all my available upgrades into my set of elite knight armor, not sure how smart that was but it felt like the right thing to do at the time...running with the Drake sword now, but am gonna look into other weapon's movesets to see what I should go with beyond that. Really starting to have fun with this, can't believe it took me so long to play.

edit: oh and the wizard on the second story in the church, kicked his ass too 8)
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 14, 2014, 10:54:18 AM
dumped all my available upgrades into my set of elite knight armor, not sure how smart that was but it felt like the right thing to do at the time...running with the Drake sword now, but am gonna look into other weapon's movesets to see what I should go with beyond that. Really starting to have fun with this, can't believe it took me so long to play.
that is a complete waste. good news about the other stuff tho!
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: drew on March 14, 2014, 12:50:43 PM
eh, I know there's better armor out there, but I had just gotten that set and figured I wouldn't be coming across anything better for awhile, and the game is starting to throw bigger enemies at you around the same time.  I can always grind shards around the church I hear or just buy them so I feel ok about it.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Steve Contra on March 14, 2014, 12:51:36 PM
:ufup
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 14, 2014, 02:08:42 PM
It's not that there are better sets, it's that armor is sort of useless. If you like the elite knight set, just roll with that for the rest of the game. The only thing worth upgrading at the smith is your weapon, but right now you're wielding the noob-cannon of Dark Souls which is purposely designed to wane in use outside of the starting areas because it doesn't scale well with any stat and the material required for upgrade isn't easy to come by.

Find a normal weapon with a move-set you like that scales off the stats you've been leveling the most (either STR or DEX) and level that weapon forever. It will last you the entirety of the game. Btw some hot combat tips:

Pressing B without pressing the analog stick gives you a back dash which will escape most attacks if timed correctly, and pressing RB immediately after executes a special, post-dash move that has quick recovery. Ditto for pressing attack directly out of a side-roll. These moves are really useful in the right situation, and exist with every weapon.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: FatalT on March 14, 2014, 03:27:57 PM
How on earth are you lvl 74 after 11 hours :anhuld

where are you supposed to go after you get to Manjula?

He always plays his games way too fast and in binges. basically he is a beast :bow

Bahahah you guys made me laugh out loud. I'm not gonna lie, the Dark Souls games intimidate me. To get past that intimidation I use a guide :P

http://www.ign.com/wikis/dark-souls-2/Walkthrough

UNFORTUNATELY THE PLACE I'M AT NOW ISN'T ON THERE SO I'M HAVING TO GO IN BLIND FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUU
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: brob on March 14, 2014, 03:37:13 PM
I am spending the evening drinking beer and playing dark souls 2 because I'm a mature hardcore gamer man.

I picked the dual swordsman, which in retrospect seems a bit of a poor decision since I don't really like dual wielding swords. Just beat what I presume is the first boss (last giant). got an achievement and everything.

I'm not fond of these turtlemen tho. takes like five stabs to kill one and I can only get in one attack between theirs, so it takes a lot of time to go through an area where there are several.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: FatalT on March 14, 2014, 03:44:55 PM
I'm gonna take Dark Souls 2 back to Red Box and wait for the PC version. I'll make my same character when it comes out though. Until then I'm gonna play through Dark Souls 1 again on PC.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: drew on March 14, 2014, 08:16:05 PM
what makes that set of armor useless? because it doesn't do anything special? I keep hearing about Havel armor (browsing the old gaf thread), the elite knight set is by far the coolest looking set I've come across and also the most effective, looked at it earlier and i didn't go too crazy - the highest upgrade was +3 with one +2 and the rest just being +1...I mean it's not like I went balls out and +5'd everything (thank god)

I liked the Claymore before I got the Drake sword, is something like the longsword viable throughout the game as long as you keep upgrading it? Can you change it into a completely new weapon with a Boss soul sometime down the line?  speaking of I just killed that giant moth 8)

didn't know about the post dash/roll quick attack, thanks.  I always seem to forget about the backdash while in combat :lol
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 14, 2014, 08:47:52 PM
Armor doesn't really defend against damage in Dark Souls. It's useful for poise so you aren't easily staggered when hit, but you shouldn't be getting hit anyways. Havel's is a popular armor because I think it has the highest poise rating in the game. There might be one other set that beats it.

Yes, the longsword is viable, but the damage is a little lower than the claymore if you compare both weapons at +15. Yes, you could turn it into a different weapon with a boss soul, but unless you're going for achievements don't bother. From Software pulled the ultimate cocktease by making all the rad-looking boss weapons some of the worst in the game with regards to damage/animations. There is ONE boss weapon that has the second-highest damage in the game paired with an incredible move-set, but you only need the broken sword hilt to make it.

You can also enchant weapons like the longsword or claymore with fire/magic/divine damage, you just have to find the blacksmith who'll do it for you. Imo I'd stick with the normal upgrade path and make a separate divine weapon, as it'll come in handy when you get to the Catacombs.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: drew on March 15, 2014, 11:50:59 AM
it doesn't? Then what does the physical defense stat have to do with? or do you mean it technically does but realistically doesn't do much when it comes to protecting you from your health bar being depleted.

I liked the Claymore because of it's high damage output, at the time it was the most powerful weapon I had come across, the moves list is good though, it has a natural and relatively quick side to side swipe with a nice overhead chop as a heavy attack.  What was your favorite weapon when you played through?  I'm also liking the Halberd, I switch to it sometimes for poking at range or it's spin attack.  Is something like the swashbuckling/fencing style sword viable throughout the game?  Because I actually like that one too, it seems to me it would be easy to get quick attacks from behind a shield with it.

I noticed that the boss weapons sucked, even though I like how the Gargoyle shield/axe combo looks (I'll even switch to them when just running around for dat swagger)...but anyways whats the boss weapon that you were saying is second best? telling me would save me time searching wikias looking for it.

I was actually thinking about heading on down to the Catacombs because I'm feeling pretty cocky with all my recent kills :lol  the one guy I'm still having trouble with is the weird looking guy right after the first blacksmith that shoots balls of electricity.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 15, 2014, 12:04:24 PM
it doesn't? Then what does the physical defense stat have to do with? or do you mean it technically does but realistically doesn't do much when it comes to protecting you from your health bar being depleted.
That.

The Claymore was my favorite weapon. I used it from beginning to the very end and it served me well. The one-handed heavy attack was especially good at saving my ass. Yeah, the fencing/curved sword weapons are viable, but again they're gonna have lower damage than something like the Claymore. The Halberd is a great weapon though, with comparable damage.

The boss weapon I'm talking about requires Sif's Soul, but you can also make a really good greatshield with it if that's the kinda thing you want. And ah, the guy near the blacksmith is a titanite demon, and they're never really all that fun (or necessary) to fight. You can zone the one in that area to death by standing behind a piece of debris and just plugging away with arrows if you want.

You might be able to take on the Catacombs at this point, but if you've only just rung the first bell the next place to go as far as progression is concerned is the Depths/Blighttown. You can also return to the starting area (it's different than how you left it) by getting on top of the building at Firelink, getting the Undead Asylum key, and curling up in the crow's nest.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on March 15, 2014, 04:51:31 PM
Is anyone playing this? :noah

I found the game totally nut busting to begin with, the gangs of soldiers with halberds/greatswords in the Forest of Fallen Giants fort area were reaming my butthole with extreme prejudice. Their combos were simply so bloodthirsty and could easily one shot me if I got caught in em.

I've beaten a couple bosses now and got my STR up to like 32. I'm rocking a plain 'ol club because it has A grade STR scaling. It basically annihilates anything I come across.

The Ring of Binding is a HUGE help. This makes your HP cap at 75%, as opposed to the default 50%. From what I can tell HP modifiers from other rings are applied after this, so I seemed to be locked at 80% or so HP.

@brobzoid those turtle men go down with 2 quick swipes with my club set up. Try strike type weapons!
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: brob on March 15, 2014, 05:10:43 PM
ah, I don't have any blunt weapons yet. Found a fire longsword, which is ok at +3. I've yet to find any large titanite shards so +3 is as high as my shit's gotten. I suppose I could buy a club or something, but eh. fukk it.

Made my way to the a boss called The Pursuer earlier. who looked real cool. Kinda reminded me of the penetrator from Demon Souls.

Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: archie4208 on March 15, 2014, 05:36:14 PM
I'm playing.  Stuck at a few bosses right now so I'm taking a break.

Been running as a paladin smiting bitches with my mace and throwing bolts of lighting from the heavens.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 15, 2014, 06:28:41 PM
demi :bow2
(http://i.imgur.com/CFdbV7Y.jpg)
well guys, it was nice knowing ya!
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: demi on March 15, 2014, 07:21:55 PM
That's weird, I'm pretty sure I ordered the "Black Armor Edition"
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Madrun Badrun on March 15, 2014, 08:18:33 PM
it doesn't? Then what does the physical defense stat have to do with? or do you mean it technically does but realistically doesn't do much when it comes to protecting you from your health bar being depleted.

I liked the Claymore because of it's high damage output, at the time it was the most powerful weapon I had come across, the moves list is good though, it has a natural and relatively quick side to side swipe with a nice overhead chop as a heavy attack.  What was your favorite weapon when you played through?  I'm also liking the Halberd, I switch to it sometimes for poking at range or it's spin attack.  Is something like the swashbuckling/fencing style sword viable throughout the game?  Because I actually like that one too, it seems to me it would be easy to get quick attacks from behind a shield with it.

I noticed that the boss weapons sucked, even though I like how the Gargoyle shield/axe combo looks (I'll even switch to them when just running around for dat swagger)...but anyways whats the boss weapon that you were saying is second best? telling me would save me time searching wikias looking for it.

I was actually thinking about heading on down to the Catacombs because I'm feeling pretty cocky with all my recent kills :lol  the one guy I'm still having trouble with is the weird looking guy right after the first blacksmith that shoots balls of electricity.

Grab the zweihander.  I used that the entire game.  It's sexy.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 15, 2014, 08:22:20 PM
That's weird, I'm pretty sure I ordered the "Black Armor Edition"
Yeah the invoice said as much, but it just came in the regular box. I already opened it tho soooohhh... :yeshrug
Game is amazing so far. Zappin niccas with soul arrow.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on March 15, 2014, 11:17:14 PM
I hope it at least came with the DLC token  :fbm

Club +5 is my main weapon, it's boring but gets the job done lol. I'm experimenting with the Halberd for funneling groups of mobs and taking them out, it's a stamina hog and hard to handle, but effective if used right. I never used polearms in DS1 so I'm enjoying it. Not sure whether or not to put more points in DEX so I can use more advanced spears, or to just keep pumping STR, in the hope that a beefier blunt weapon turns up soon. I havent used a single spell yet, becuase I picked my side. I went bows over anal play :(

From the loading screens I can tell Zweihander is back, can't wait to get my hands on that badboi again.

I'm still not sure of the eventually non-spawning baddies is good or not. It makes getting around way easier but also rules out farming of any kind. I've found that bosses drop an assload of souls and I have like 20 soul giving items in my inventory (not even counting boss souls) so souls are plentiful.

I'm loving the new messaging system, with the particles and new phrase building structure, theres potential for some richly poetic messes, HAHA. Best one I've seen so far: "tongue but hole"
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Damian79 on March 16, 2014, 12:28:51 AM
Probably for the best but i will just run through this game on the pc on normal and wash my hands of it.  Diablo 3 would be calling me too much in the same time frame.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: iconoclast on March 16, 2014, 01:43:58 AM
I finished my first playthrough (with a pure melee dexterity character). I did everything I could think of (all sidequests and optional bosses) but I'm sure I missed plenty of secret areas and such. Going to do a simple +/- review because it's easier for me. I'll try to keep spoilers to the bare minimum, but I'll put it in tags just in case:

spoiler (click to show/hide)
+ Combat is pretty much the same as always, but the enemies are a bit smarter. It seemed harder to run away from them and heal (and health recovery felt slower after drinking a flask), and it's definitely harder to avoid attacks when you're really close to someone. For example, when enemies do big overheard attacks, it seems to track you a lot better. If you try running behind them or roll too early, you're probably going to get smashed.
+ Backstabs seem harder to abuse. You can take damage during the animation now and it seemed harder to get behind most of the enemies. You also have to initiate backstabs with a punch or kick, so it's easier to miss them.
+ 4 ring slots make builds more customizable, as does the higher equip burden (fast roll until 70%).
+ Online play seems better. I only tried it for a couple hours, but everything felt nice and smooth (minus one or two laggy battles). You can also be invaded while hollow, which is a nice change (the more invasions, the better).
+ The weapon upgrade system is more straightforward, as are the boss soul weapons. (I kinda miss collecting the embers from all over the world, but that also became a nuisance after a while)
+ None of the areas feel rush or unfinished, like some of the final bits of the original.
+ The boss fights might be the best in the series (I'll have to play it a few more times to say for sure). A few of them are pointless because they're so easy, but none of them are bad like the Bed of Chaos, and several of them are really good.
+ Special rewards for challenge runs (rings for beating the game without dying and beating the game without using a bonfire). A good first step, but it would've been great if they had even more for beating the game at SL1, beating the game without equipping any armor/rings, beating the game under a certain time limit, etc.
+ Good performance on the 360. It seems to run at 30-40 fps pretty much the entire time, at the cost of some screen tearing (which typically doesn't bother me).
+ New Game+ is better. It's no longer a straight damage increase, there are new enemies, new items, and apparently new secrets to discover.

= The difficulty is about the same as the previous game. It's actually probably harder than the current version of Dark Souls, since that game got easier with every patch. :D
= You're no longer invincible during most of the animations (you can get hit while pulling a lever, opening a door, entering a fog gate, etc). I think this is a positive, but it can be annoying in certain areas because it's harder to run by the enemies and enter the fog without taking any damage. That will probably be painful in SL1 runs. (I think SL1 will be much harder in general, especially if you're doing a naked/no shield/melee only run)
= The lighting "downgrade". I'm actually glad that they backtracked on their emphasis on darkness. The early previews made me think this was going to be Tomb of Giants: The Game, and that never sounded any good to me. But on the other hand, the game looks pretty bad in some areas due to flat lighting or ugly textures that probably would have been masked by the darkness. The lighting/shadows do look really good when you light bonfires, use Pharros Stones in certain areas, or hold a torch, though.

- Soul Memory. Just seems like a pointless wall they put in place that further reduces the amount of players you can connect to.
- Most of the areas aren't as memorable to me as the last game's. They aren't bad by any means, but almost nothing stands out as being as awesome as Sen's Fortress, Anor Londo, Ash Lake, the Duke's Archives, etc.
- Likewise, most of the bosses aren't as impressive. (I'm not talking about their patterns, just the visual design and their significance in the world)
- I don't like the story or lore as much as the original's, but maybe that's just because I already know so much about that game and DS2 is brand new. I'm sure it'll grow on me over time.
- Maybe I missed it, but there doesn't seem to be an infinite-use item for invasions...

? None of the merchants sell somewhat essential items, like poison moss. It doesn't bother me because I'm always incredibly stingy about resources in RPGs, but that seems like an oversight.
[close]

Probably forgot a few things, but TLDR; It's a great game and a worthy successor to Dark Souls (which is probably my favorite RPG of all time). It didn't grab me as much as the original, but I think that's because Dark Souls was a complete evolution of the Demon's Souls formula, whereas DS2 is just a refinement.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 16, 2014, 03:21:45 PM
I'm finding this game a lot tougher than the first, as cheap tactics like circle-strafing and the parry aren't nearly as effective. It might be me, but I also have a hard time dodging a lot of attacks, especially from larger enemies. Lots of feint that keeps me guessing. Haven't even found a boss yet and I'm kinda stuck with regards to where I go next, but I'll keep digging around.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: archie4208 on March 16, 2014, 05:20:26 PM
Having only 1 Estus charge and lower max HP after death makes the early game harder than DS1.

It evens out later on though.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Himu on March 16, 2014, 05:27:03 PM
Can't wait. enemy Ai is one of my biggest complaints with the series. No more crappy ragdoll either. :bow
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: brob on March 16, 2014, 05:32:25 PM
No more crappy ragdoll either.

:'(
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on March 16, 2014, 07:29:18 PM
Having only 1 Estus charge and lower max HP after death makes the early game harder than DS1.

It evens out later on though.

Yeah, the game smooths out once your stats and gear improve, but it's damn rough at the start. I've killed 7 bosses as per my soul collection, and progress is going pretty smooth at this point in the game.

PROTIP FOR EASY EARLY ESTUS CHARGE UPGRADE:
spoiler (click to show/hide)
In Manjula, theres a well next the largest building (the one behind the big circular pit). Attack the rock sitting on the side of the well, it will drop down and pull up a corpse holding an Estus Shard! Afaik you can get this right at the beginning of the game.
[close]
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 16, 2014, 11:55:28 PM
I rerolled and picked Explorer, and decided to use the halberd. Beat a couple bosses, got my halberd to +5 and my estus to 3, and I'm finally starting to get the hang of dodging enemies and knowing when it's okay to run past. Definitely starting to feel the hooks sink in.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on March 17, 2014, 12:04:48 AM
the "Penal" gear set :bow

"Penal Skirt" is going into the books as one of the greatest videogame item names of all time
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on March 18, 2014, 12:06:57 AM
Thread is dead. Enjoy your mobile future fuckers
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on March 18, 2014, 12:32:16 AM
lmao at this custom Dark Souls merch: http://www.redbubble.com/shop/dark+souls+t-shirts

I want this so bad:

(http://ih0.redbubble.net/image.15125561.2230/fig,silver,mens,ffffff.u1.jpg)
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: drew on March 18, 2014, 12:42:21 AM
Thread is dead. Enjoy your mobile future fuckers

really is surprising and disappointing...

fuckers.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 18, 2014, 01:14:53 AM
We're just too busy playing the game.

I beat another area
spoiler (click to show/hide)
No Man's Wharf
[close]
I'm starting to see what icono meant by "bosses so easy they're pointless", I had a much harder time getting through the stage than fighting the boss. It's really starting to bother me how quickly weapons degrade in this game. I know the bonfire repairs them but the last area especially broke my halberd twice because of how many enemies I had to cut through.

Also finallly found a couple places where Pharros' Keystone can be used and the results were :jawalrus
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on March 18, 2014, 01:22:03 AM
Yeah the weapon degradation means you gotta pack backup weapons and focus on having a more sweet loadout. All good IMO

Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on March 18, 2014, 04:00:35 AM
one person on TA already has 1000/1000 :anhuld

I let my flatmate play my copy of Dark Souls 2 tonight, so I'm punishing myself by playing Undertow :noah
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: FatalT on March 18, 2014, 03:52:03 PM
Dark Souls on PC doesn't cooperate with the PS4 controller. The right analog (camera) just spins around over and over. I need to use the PS3 controller to play it I think, damn.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: El Babua on March 18, 2014, 11:21:16 PM
Game is pretty good.

I miss the disgusting body horror of Demon's Souls and the dinginess of Dark Souls though. The world of DS2 is a lot more "clean fantasy" so far.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on March 19, 2014, 12:05:34 AM
ah theres plenty of dingy shit in Dark Souls 2. Wait until you get to:

spoiler (click to show/hide)
No-Man's Wharf
[close]

Man this is a great track:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kl2DIKbtGc
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 19, 2014, 01:02:55 PM
:aah this game is getting so fun. The session I just finished had me seeing the end of the Tower of Flame, The Lost Bastille and Belfry Luna. I really love all the weird throwbacks to the first game in this.
spoiler (click to show/hide)
The gargoyle fight was tough at first but so fucking awesome when I beat them all by myself 8) Also the "Old Dragonslayer"? :lol I was grinning ear to ear for the entire fight.
[close]
oh and I got my estus to 5 charges, finally
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Steve Contra on March 19, 2014, 02:09:36 PM
Fuck I'm crazy busy right now where too after

spoiler (click to show/hide)
The last of the giants?  I wish I had more time to play this :(
[close]
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 19, 2014, 02:44:32 PM
There are a couple areas you can go to connected to the Forest of Giants once you've beaten it, start at the second bonfire. You can also go to the Tower of Flame which you can get to from Majula.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on March 19, 2014, 03:33:29 PM
:aah this game is getting so fun. The session I just finished had me seeing the end of the Tower of Flame, The Lost Bastille and Belfry Luna. I really love all the weird throwbacks to the first game in this.
spoiler (click to show/hide)
The gargoyle fight was tough at first but so fucking awesome when I beat them all by myself 8) Also the "Old Dragonslayer"? :lol I was grinning ear to ear for the entire fight.
[close]
oh and I got my estus to 5 charges, finally

How the hell do you get to the Belfry? I'm just going through Huntsman's Copse atm
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 19, 2014, 04:15:40 PM
Wtf is Huntsman's Copse(Corpse?), haven't been there yet! How many goddamn areas are in this game? You get to Belfry's from the Servant's Quarters bonfire in The Lost Bastille, right after the sentinels.

I found a bunch of new areas and I'm convinced this game has way better/more memorable level design than Dark Souls. The Gutter :bow2
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: drew on March 19, 2014, 04:46:18 PM
Game is pretty good.

I miss the disgusting body horror of Demon's Souls and the dinginess of Dark Souls though. The world of DS2 is a lot more "clean fantasy" so far.

I love the dark and as you said dingy look to DS.  When I was a kid I was into this shit too and even back then I would look around in the forest during the Fall/Winter and be like "if someone actually went on an adventure in the real world it would be depressing and miserable as hell"

growing up in the Ohio former (at least in most places) swamp land :bow
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on March 19, 2014, 05:28:20 PM
Wtf is Huntsman's Copse(Corpse?), haven't been there yet! How many goddamn areas are in this game? You get to Belfry's from the Servant's Quarters bonfire in The Lost Bastille, right after the sentinels.

I found a bunch of new areas and I'm convinced this game has way better/more memorable level design than Dark Souls. The Gutter :bow2

From what I can tell theres a LOT of areas in this game, from what I reading the game is twice the size of DS1. Huntsman's Copse is found by:

spoiler (click to show/hide)
Talking to the Miracle vendor in Heide's Tower of Flame, exhausting her dialogue, she'll move to the "contraption" in Manjula. Pay her 2000 souls and she'll move the rotunda and open a new area.
[close]

How the heck did I miss the Belfry? I thought I had gone through the Bastille with a fine tooth comb. Damn this game is massive, I love it.

Also:

copse
noun
1. a small group of trees.
synonyms:   thicket, grove, wood, coppice, stand, clump, brake; More

The more you know!
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 19, 2014, 05:58:32 PM
Game is pretty good.

I miss the disgusting body horror of Demon's Souls and the dinginess of Dark Souls though. The world of DS2 is a lot more "clean fantasy" so far.

I love the dark and as you said dingy look to DS.  When I was a kid I was into this shit too and even back then I would look around in the forest during the Fall/Winter and be like "if someone actually went on an adventure in the real world it would be depressing and miserable as hell"

growing up in the Ohio former (at least in most places) swamp land :bow
oh you're gonna love Dark Souls 2
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: drew on March 19, 2014, 06:16:22 PM
it's getting hard to not just say fuck it and pick up a copy.  I mean I'm not gonna do it, I would never play through DS1 if I did.  :spin
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 19, 2014, 06:22:48 PM
where are you at in DS1 now, drew?
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: drew on March 19, 2014, 11:15:40 PM
i think the next step is to go down to the darkroot basin and kill that fucker down there...still need to ring the second bell, forget where that smug asshole in the chainmail by the firelink bonfire told me it was.  hell, I forget why I even need to ring the bells. :lol

oh, and I killed that gold knight you can free from jail, got a nice ring, almost took it off right away to see how much health and stamina it gave me, ALMOST.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Madrun Badrun on March 19, 2014, 11:29:35 PM
You won't have a chance against the hydra now unless you are talking about Havel. 
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: drew on March 19, 2014, 11:33:29 PM
nope, Lautrec I believe his name was.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Madrun Badrun on March 19, 2014, 11:35:24 PM
No, I was referring to 'that fucker'. 
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 19, 2014, 11:46:32 PM
i think the next step is to go down to the darkroot basin and kill that fucker down there...still need to ring the second bell, forget where that smug asshole in the chainmail by the firelink bonfire told me it was.  hell, I forget why I even need to ring the bells. :lol

oh, and I killed that gold knight you can free from jail, got a nice ring, almost took it off right away to see how much health and stamina it gave me, ALMOST.
Ah, the next place you go is Blighttown. There are two ways to get there, one's through the Lower Undead Burg and eventually The Depths which is rather challenging, and you can access that by using the locked door on the far end of the bridge guarded by the giant red wyvern. The other way can only work if you have the master key, which you do by taking the elevator from under Firelink Shrine and hanging a right as soon as you step out into New Londo Ruins. You can forget about the sea monster in Darkroot Basin for now.

And once you ring the bells, you'll open... well, you'll see.

Anyways I played more of Dark Souls 2. Beat The Gutter, Black Gulch, and Huntsman's Copse (thanks for the tip Sceneman ;)) and found some really cool-looking areas afterward. About 13ish hours in with a level 79 character and I'm already confident about saying this is a better game than the first. I think the balance with regards to the player's strength is much improved and the level design is so deliciously evil. Poison becomes a motherfucker later on.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 20, 2014, 04:03:10 PM
three out of four great souls embraced, this fucking game :noah lost sinner :whew :lawd

demi, seriously thank you so much for buying it for me :heartbeat :heartbeat :heartbeat this is gonna be like my favorite 360 game by the time I'm done
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: demi on March 20, 2014, 04:13:12 PM
Hopefully it stays on your concious when you try to leave in a huff.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 20, 2014, 04:14:06 PM
it does :-[ :-*
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on March 20, 2014, 06:11:02 PM
three out of four great souls embraced, this fucking game :noah lost sinner :whew :lawd

demi, seriously thank you so much for buying it for me :heartbeat :heartbeat :heartbeat this is gonna be like my favorite 360 game by the time I'm done

Lost Sinner is so much (http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h52/mad_chump/Photo-on-12-03-14-at-517-PM-3_zpsa22ee192.png)

probably my favourite Dark Souls boss of all time (so far). So badass. I'm rocking full Lost Sinner armour set, you can buy it from the vendor in Majula
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 20, 2014, 07:53:57 PM
You can get her armor!? :gladbron
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on March 20, 2014, 09:51:26 PM
well its rags with a mask and shackles, but yeah lol. Its light and the stats arent bad, looks great with my shield and stick. I'm rocking a way more hobo style than most players lol
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 20, 2014, 10:02:52 PM
My merchant wasn't the selling them and I couldn't figure out why, turns out you need to spend at least 1000 souls before he sells you special armor. The Lost Sinner's armor is EXPENSIVE, but I was able to get the mask.

What a kooky game. I love how populated Majula gets the further you play.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on March 20, 2014, 10:20:41 PM
Yeah I dropped like 30 stacks on that shit :win
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: FatalT on March 21, 2014, 01:25:53 AM
The latest DS4 Tool fixes the PS4 controller on Dark Souls for PC. I'm at Sen's Fortress now. Beat Quelaag, awww yiss. I tried to fight Sif but lost so I'll work on that another time. I played for 6 hours straight today. :X I love Dark Souls. can't wait for the PC version of 2.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on March 21, 2014, 02:16:27 AM
Sif is one one of the biggest PITA bosses in DS1. Worse than the Dynamic Duo
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: archie4208 on March 21, 2014, 09:04:10 AM
Beat it.  Good stuff.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Steve Contra on March 21, 2014, 12:31:50 PM
Sif is one one of the biggest PITA bosses in DS1. Worse than the Dynamic Duo
Really?  I killed Sif the first time.  Ornstein and Smaugh though :(
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 21, 2014, 01:01:34 PM
Yeah I never had problems with Sif. Capra Demon was way harder for me.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: magus on March 21, 2014, 02:22:55 PM
sif is sort of annoying because if he hit you right he hits you twice and that often either put you close to death or kill you

honestly i never had much problem with any of the boss except for ornstein and smough and the bed of chaos like sure a few death here and there but i think i died more times on ornstein and smough than on all other bosses put together

seriously fuck ornstein and smough
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 21, 2014, 03:55:25 PM
they're so fun though :noah
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Madrun Badrun on March 21, 2014, 04:10:05 PM
So is it as good as the first?
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Steve Contra on March 21, 2014, 04:55:18 PM
Finally got back into this.  Killed the Dragonrider boss.  Felling like Dark Souls again.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 21, 2014, 05:07:18 PM
So is it as good as the first?
Most of the impressions I've read from people who've beaten it say it's as good but that they like the first game more.

Personally I find the sequel to be way better. The level design is improved, the enemies are a lot more fun to fight, and From just generally made a lot of changes that are in service of making the game more enjoyable and less like work. People often compare Dark Souls to the original Legend of Zelda, and following that analogy, Dark Souls 2 is A Link to the Past.

Without Miyazaki there's definitely this je ne sais quoi that's noticeably absent. But ultimately the game just has more thought put into the balance and design, which adds up to a much better experience for the player.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Himu on March 21, 2014, 05:08:56 PM
Finally got back into this.  Killed the Dragonrider boss.  Felling like Dark Souls again.

Did they patch?
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: archie4208 on March 21, 2014, 05:19:00 PM
So is it as good as the first?

Yes, but it's not particularly better.

The systems are more refined than DS1.  From learning from their mistakes.  Less annoying farming for Titanite is a godsend.

The level design is better and worse than DS1.  There is nothing as brilliant as Anor Londo, but there is nothing as godawful as Lost Izalith.  DS2 has more consistently good level design but is somewhat less exciting.

The game feels laggier than DS1, but I'm attributing that to the PS3 version running like garbage.

DS2 ~ DS1 > Demon's Souls
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: El Babua on March 21, 2014, 05:25:24 PM
It seems whatever someone's first souls game was, is their favorite.

Demon's Souls is still da bes so far. The entirety of the Tower of Latria may just be the single greatest example of level design. I'm enjoying DS2 more than the first. Online actually works and the level design is overall pretty good, nothing outstanding so far, but not as inconsistent as the first Dark Souls.

I just made it to

spoiler (click to show/hide)
Sinner's Rise and Huntsman's Copse. Now THIS is the dinginess I was looking for. No Man's Wharf was the Disney ride version of Blighttown, animatronic ship and all. (Still a good level though)
[close]
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 21, 2014, 11:53:28 PM
It seems whatever someone's first souls game was, is their favorite.
I am the exception to this rule! I legitimately enjoy Dark Souls 2 a lot more than its predecessor, which was my introduction to the series. I don't agree with some of the folks here that it doesn't have as memorable areas. I played the first game through to New Game+++ and after all that time, I definitely got to know the levels intimately. I'm confident the same will happen with the second as my first impressions of the levels are much, much more positive this time around.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: magus on March 22, 2014, 06:18:36 AM
be honest guys

how rage inducing is this game?
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: archie4208 on March 22, 2014, 07:04:54 AM
be honest guys

how rage inducing is this game?

There are a few bosses that pissed me off
spoiler (click to show/hide)
The Rotten :piss2 :piss2 :piss2
[close]
but nothing too bad.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: iconoclast on March 22, 2014, 05:18:01 PM
Darklurker can be rage inducing if you're pure melee. By far the hardest boss in the series imo.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on March 23, 2014, 08:41:36 PM
Word is that Darklurker and the area he's the boss of is a total nutbuster. Pretty scared to be honest!

Game is nothing but :lawd. Better than DS1 probably, definitely smoother and more consistent.

I been rocking lots of PVP in the bell towers, fun stuff. I like how the levels are designed with PVP in mind, lots of tricks and traps. My favourite thing is landing on someone when they try and escape through the floorboards in Belfry Luna. Bell Covenant is well worth it, you get chunks and slabs as prizes.

I like to rock the Porcine Shield during PVP to psyche out my opponents, the item description is one of the best:

Quote
"A strangely porcine shield. The pig head looks eerily authentic, but is an imitation. Though the shield's defensive capacity is ordinary, it may spook an unsuspecting foe."

LMFAO, what does that even mean. I love how a lot of the copy in this game seems a little lost in translation.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on March 23, 2014, 08:54:14 PM
be honest guys

how rage inducing is this game?

Not as bad as DS1.

The first level got me bad because I had joined the "hard mode" covenant without knowing what it was, and I was wondering why the first enemies were destroying me  :lol

Other annoying bits so far were the stupid chariot boss and the exploding zombies in the bastille. Other than that the game has been pretty gravy
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 23, 2014, 10:12:29 PM
So, I beat it. For the most part I really enjoyed it but I think there's a pretty noticeable drop in quality at the end. That, and I felt the story didn't wrap up as nicely as it does in the first game.

Still, I definitely find the majority of the game to be more enjoyable than the first. The pacing is better and the game is constantly trying to push you to the next thing which keeps it from testing your patience more than it needs to.

EDIT: I will probably try and fuck around in NG+ and look for the hidden bosses, but honestly I'm kinda waiting for the PC version so me and my PC gaming friends can co-op through the game for ultimate shenanigans.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on March 24, 2014, 12:26:43 AM
Did you get those vocal emote items? They make multi so much fun
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 24, 2014, 11:22:08 AM
Yes, I loved hearing Gough's voice again. Very good!
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Steve Contra on March 24, 2014, 01:23:57 PM
I realized that I had had beat like a fourth of the game with the Champion's Covenant :(

It does mean I'm really good now.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Shaka Khan on March 24, 2014, 01:31:38 PM
I'm holding out for the PC version. Assuming it's optamized and doesn't run like shit on my ROG. It's either that or I'm waiting for a PS4 version. It's either that or I'm going back to the PS3 version like a bitch. 
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: El Babua on March 29, 2014, 11:15:05 PM
spoiler (click to show/hide)
Almost 40 hours in. Why are there a bonfires every thirty feet?
[close]

This is not SUPER HARDCORE!  :maf
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 30, 2014, 12:08:36 AM
I think it's partially because they force you to warp when you need to level up, so they don't want to deprive the player of being able to spend their souls when they want. It's just an added bonus that the bonfires restore health, flasks and durability
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: El Babua on March 30, 2014, 12:31:40 AM
It just kinda destroys the sense of desperation present in DS1 and Demon's Souls. I'm enjoying myself, thinking "oh shit how am I gonna get out of this precarious situ- oh a bonfire".

Keep in mind I may still be early on

spoiler (click to show/hide)
At the top of Earthen peak, about to fight the Medusa boss. Only got one of the four major soul lords.
[close]
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on March 30, 2014, 12:52:49 PM
No, bonfires stay plentiful from start to finish. But there are a couple areas that have less, like No Man's Wharf and Dragon Aerie. Personally I kinda dig that they at least give you the option, but I got in the habit of only lighting bonfires and not actually resting at them while I was making my way through an area. It wasn't often that I felt like I needed them.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on March 30, 2014, 03:27:38 PM
yeah, the game definitely feels easier overall, more bonfires does help of course, theres also the fact I'm a vet of DS1 and know the ins and outs of the gameplay.

Eh, hard mode (Covenant of the Fittest) is there for people that want it.

I have 2 Great Souls embraced and almost up to the 3rd, but I've been playing other stuff the past week. Time to get back into this and finish the shit off
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Steve Contra on March 31, 2014, 02:16:20 PM
I went into the Lost Sinner fight with a half bar of health thinking I'd have to figure the fight out before I used an effigy but I ended up killing her the 1st time and only getting hit twice. 
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Steve Contra on March 31, 2014, 04:34:35 PM
Also what happens to the various merchants throughout the game?  I need the guy who sells poison stuff and he disappeared after the first time :(
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: iconoclast on March 31, 2014, 06:37:01 PM
Also what happens to the various merchants throughout the game?  I need the guy who sells poison stuff and he disappeared after the first time :(

He moves to a cave in the first poisoned area of Harvest Valley after you speak to him at No Man's Wharf. Then he permanently moves to the Door of Pharros, I think.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on April 02, 2014, 11:08:17 PM
So I decided to go back in with my endgame character and fight the Darklurker, shit is really tough. I feel like I can beat him using Great Lightning Spear alone but I keep getting impatient/greedy and dying in the most humiliating ways possible. As people have mentioned before, the impact is worsened when you have to fight through the tougher-than-usual enemies on the way to the boss, but I think I finally got the hang of the setup at the Shaded Woods portal, so that's the one I've been rushing.

It's quite the contrast hopping between this and Diablo 3.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Steve Contra on April 08, 2014, 02:30:26 PM
Almost finished, so far it's a step down from DS1.  The world isn't nearly as cool, shit is just levels off the hub with no connections, no boss has made me cry yet (some are stupid easy) and none of the levels save running through No Man's Wharf the first time have that feeling that you're going to fucking die at any second.  Still pretty good though, and I finally got a message that's been rated hundreds of times.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Great Rumbler on April 23, 2014, 12:34:55 PM
From a PC Gamer write-up in conjunction with Durante:

http://www.pcgamer.com/2014/04/17/dark-souls-2-pc-port-mod-god-durantes-verdict/2/

(http://i.imgur.com/eq8YF74.png)

Quote
In short, everything indicates that the 5 GB difference [between the PS3 and PC version] is caused by higher quality asset data, and a preliminary analysis of the content of these archive files confirms this assumption.

Quote
With Dark Souls 2, From Software and Namco Bandai deliver a PC version of their game which not only fulfills all the standard expectations in terms of resolution and framerate support, but also adds additional options beyond that. Crucially, they have included high-resolution texture assets which generally fit even the expectations of gamers who play beyond 1080p.

One might also claim that, even if they never acknowledged the modding of their first port, they did certainly learn from it. Whether it is large changes like the inclusion of ambient occlusion, higher resolution textures and good mouse controls, or smaller but equally useful additions such as the ability to turn off the UI or skip the introduction logos, there is a lot in Dark Souls 2 at launch which modders only added to the PC port of the first game over time.

While it is not quite the (almost generational) leap which was initially shown in previews, Dark Souls 2 on PC is a better experience and a more beautiful game than even a fully modded Dark Souls 1, and it also performs well on a wide range of hardware. It adds effects which greatly enhance the visual impact of some scenes, such as dynamic godrays, improves the resolution of environment textures, greatly improves shadow resolution and filtering, and maintains the highly detailed equipment models, textures and ambient specular reflections which were a hallmark of the original Dark Souls’ graphics.

Of course, we wouldn’t be PC gamers if we were not always looking to get even more out of our games. In future articles we will look at some tweaks using generic tools in order to further improve Dark Souls 2’s graphics, and later on investigate its technology in more depth to determine what else might be possible with game-specific modifications.

:obama
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Great Rumbler on April 24, 2014, 08:48:21 PM
Already died twice. This game is super-hard, you guys! :'(
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: archie4208 on April 24, 2014, 09:29:41 PM
The PC version makes the console one look like an alpha.  I'm playing on medium and it still looks significantly better.  Also 60 fps and 3 second load times.  :drool

From did good.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on April 24, 2014, 09:52:15 PM
mfw I see half my steam friends list playing this game
:mynicca
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: thisismyusername on April 25, 2014, 12:02:44 AM
The PC version makes the console one look like an alpha.  I'm playing on medium and it still looks significantly better.  Also 60 fps and 3 second load times.  :drool

From did good.

Indeed. I'm glad I waited instead of dropping $60 on the PS3 version.

Though I'm gonna have to downgrade eventually to double-platinum it like I did Dark 1. Not looking forward to sub-par 24 FPS.  :'(
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: FatalT on April 25, 2014, 01:14:35 AM
This is the real Dark Souls. I'm using SweetFX and the nVidia Inspector to make the graphics look even better than they would normally. MAX SETTINGS AND 60 FPS AND PURE AWESOMENESS YO!

I'm 4 hours in and at No Man's Wharf. Going through a bit quicker than I did on the PS3 since I have a general idea of what I'm doing and where to go now.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: archie4208 on April 25, 2014, 07:26:45 AM
pfft.  I killed
spoiler (click to show/hide)
Lost Sinner
[close]
after 4 hours.  Casuals.   :wag

spoiler (click to show/hide)
Also they nerfed her hardcore.  I beat her on my second try.  The only reason I died the first time is because I was goofing off with the Greatsword.
[close]
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: fistfulofmetal on April 25, 2014, 08:44:50 AM
Don't forget to download GeDoSaTo to downsample the fuck outta this

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=807472
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: fistfulofmetal on April 25, 2014, 12:32:45 PM
originally started with Explorer and had a terrible time. daggers are awful.
restarted as Swordsman and having much more fun.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on April 26, 2014, 03:12:01 AM
lol, you can find a weapon to replace a dagger in like 5 seconds. git gud

j/k

I need to git gud myself, I've spent an hour trying to get all the loot in the giant salamander area in Forest of Fallen Giants, those things are raping me!!!

I need to knuckle down and beat this already. I got hooked on Terraria again in the interim  :'(
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Steve Contra on April 26, 2014, 02:25:57 PM
lol, you can find a weapon to replace a dagger in like 5 seconds. git gud

j/k

I need to git gud myself, I've spent an hour trying to get all the loot in the giant salamander area in Forest of Fallen Giants, those things are raping me!!!

I need to knuckle down and beat this already. I got hooked on Terraria again in the interim  :'(
Poison arrows
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: fistfulofmetal on April 26, 2014, 03:13:35 PM
Daggers just suck and the Explorer class starts at such a low level in dex and strength it can't use any weapons you pick up. shit class.

Swordsman is badass. Starts with two upgraded swords. Managed to kill the knight you find sitting at the tree early on. (then died shortly after and lost all the souls LOL).

if you're bored watch my first hour as Swordsman:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h08M3TEC47c
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: fistfulofmetal on April 27, 2014, 10:13:38 AM
streaming DS2 http://www.twitch.tv/fistfulofmetal
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: fistfulofmetal on April 27, 2014, 11:15:33 AM
the movement and animations don't feel as tight as DS.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: SantaC on April 27, 2014, 02:28:59 PM
this is fucking dumb. I got a VAC ban in original CS 8 years ago and cant play DS2 online!

reading Vavle own FAQ on this, you should not be banned in Dark Souls 2. Hey I paid full price on this fucking piece of shit service.

(http://i.imgur.com/AA5soqi.png)
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Joe Molotov on April 27, 2014, 03:16:44 PM
DS2 is not even VAC secured.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: SantaC on April 27, 2014, 04:12:26 PM
DS2 is not even VAC secured.

wtf?!
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: fistfulofmetal on April 28, 2014, 11:37:25 AM
summoned some peeps and demolished Heides Tower :rock
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Space Jam is Canon on April 29, 2014, 07:19:17 AM
I just finished NG+++++, the last two runs being SL1 Champions and Champions no death/no bonfire, and before I put this shit back on the shelf forever, I feel like I need to special fellow out and do a braindump. For PC folks just starting, these are the most useful things I learned about PvE:

spoiler (click to show/hide)
-  Strike weapons in this game are silly -- most enemies in the game are weak to them, so the standard mace can literally carry you through the entire game. As a result, Cleric is prob the casual's best bet as a starting class. Can't go wrong with a STR/FTH build, especially since nearly every boss in the game is weak to Great Lightning Spears.

-  Carry a dagger.  It has an obscene backstab damage multiplier, meaning a +10 uninfused dagger will dispatch pretty much anything in the game that can be backstabbed. It's always worth holding one, irrespective of your build. 

-  For infusions, the rule of thumb is to consolidate your damage type. For each element imbued on a weapon, each of the enemy's individual resistance to that element are factored into the damage output. Meaning if you have a Dark Avelynn with lightning bolts, your damage will be much lower on average than someone who has a Lightning Avelynn with lightning bolts.

-  Mundane is a fun infusion to mess with, and you can make some very powerful combinations with it, but requires all your stats be at least 30 to be worth using.

-  DEX scaling is nonexistent at the moment, so avoid it

-  Make sure you give yourself a ranged option. DEX builds have bows, STR have crossbows (can be aimed when two-handed), casters have magic (can be aimed with binoculars).

-  Between the scarcity of 100% physical resist shields, the increase in unblockable attacks, and the addition of agility, From's made it clear that shields are a fucking bandaid that you need to rip off. Getting your agility to 100+ is much more important, as the increased i-frames in your roll and faster estus chug is way more dependable than the board on average. If you don't want to learn how to dodge, be a caster.

-  Sorceries are worth the investment, although I think they've been toned down a bit. Last time I checked, I was one-shotting most bosses with Soul Geyser. Homing Crystal Soulmass, Crystal Soul Spear, and Soul Greatsword are all good stuff, too.

-  Miracles are better this time around. Great Lightning Spear has infinite range, AoE, and you get a ton of charges. Sunlight Spear is also okay, but not really worth the investment. Heals are also nice, but the rest are mostly situational or PvP-oriented.

-  Hexes are mostly shit, with the exception of Dark Fog, Great Resonant Soul, and Resonant Weapon. The Resonant Weapon hex is the best weapon buff, and the cost (2000 souls) is trivial later on. If you're not a hexer, you can spice down the requirements to 10/10 with no penalty. GRS hits like a train for barely any cost, and Dark Fog paired with the Bat Staff catalyst is AoE poison that almost instantly procs.

-  Pyromancy is a high damage, low investment option just like in the first DS -- scales with INT/FTH by a small amount. Only use and upgrade the standard Pyromancy Flame you find in No Man's Wharf, as the other option, Dark Pyromancy Flame, scales to hollowing and requires a ring slot to be worth the marginal damage increase it confers. As far as spells, Flame Swathe is really all you need for PvE -- high base damage + large AoE

-  You no longer need to artificially cap your soul level like in previous games for co-op/PVP. The determinant for player matching now is based on soul memory, which is the total accumulated value of all souls you've absorbed, whether they be spent, lost, or saved. You're placed in a quadrant based on your current memory pool, but nerds are still trying to figure out how its delimited. Being a sunbro increases the range for coop by an unknown amount. It's all very fucking stupid

-  NPC summons got buffed big time in one of the recent patches, and have a much easier time soloing bosses. Wouldn't recommend using them if you want to preserve the challenge, as the bosses aren't very hard as it is.

-  Never waste your time farming for souls. There's a spot near the end of the game where you get a consistent yield of 500k, 2 twinkling titanite, a fire seed and a bonfire ascetic, making it self-sufficient. Takes like three minutes.

-  There's an item you can burn at bonfires, Bonfire Ascetic, that will increase the difficulty of the corresponding zone to NG+ after you've taken out the boss. It's worth doing this a few times in your first run, as the NG+ iterations of bosses will drop +2 rings, some of which are incredibly useful. Ones of note:

Chloranthy Ring +2 (Undead Chariot): stamina regen
Southern Ritual Band +2 (Scorpioness Najka): +3 attunement slots
Clear Bluestone Ring +2 (Skeleton Lords): 55% increase in casting speed
Covetous Silver Serpent Ring +2 (Mytha): for farming

-  Baby mode: spec INT/FTH, get Great Resonant Soul, Dark Caitha's Chime+10/Chime of Want +5, and the game becomes a joke, but you should probably just get good instead, breh
[close]
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: thisismyusername on April 29, 2014, 09:07:49 AM
DS2 is not even VAC secured.

It is now.  :lol Durante's "tool" will probably get you banned.  :lol :lol

I just finished NG+++++, the last two runs being SL1 Champions and Champions no death/no bonfire, and before I put this shit back on the shelf forever, I feel like I need to special fellow out and do a braindump. For PC folks just starting, these are the most useful things I learned about PvE:

spoiler (click to show/hide)
-  Strike weapons in this game are silly -- most enemies in the game are weak to them, so the standard mace can literally carry you through the entire game. As a result, Cleric is prob the casual's best bet as a starting class. Can't go wrong with a STR/FTH build, especially since nearly every boss in the game is weak to Great Lightning Spears.

-  Carry a dagger.  It has an obscene backstab damage multiplier, meaning a +10 uninfused dagger will dispatch pretty much anything in the game that can be backstabbed. It's always worth holding one, irrespective of your build. 

-  For infusions, the rule of thumb is to consolidate your damage type. For each element imbued on a weapon, each of the enemy's individual resistance to that element are factored into the damage output. Meaning if you have a Dark Avelynn with lightning bolts, your damage will be much lower on average than someone who has a Lightning Avelynn with lightning bolts.

-  Mundane is a fun infusion to mess with, and you can make some very powerful combinations with it, but requires all your stats be at least 30 to be worth using.

-  DEX scaling is nonexistent at the moment, so avoid it

-  Make sure you give yourself a ranged option. DEX builds have bows, STR have crossbows (can be aimed when two-handed), casters have magic (can be aimed with binoculars).

-  Between the scarcity of 100% physical resist shields, the increase in unblockable attacks, and the addition of agility, From's made it clear that shields are a fucking bandaid that you need to rip off. Getting your agility to 100+ is much more important, as the increased i-frames in your roll and faster estus chug is way more dependable than the board on average. If you don't want to learn how to dodge, be a caster.

-  Sorceries are worth the investment, although I think they've been toned down a bit. Last time I checked, I was one-shotting most bosses with Soul Geyser. Homing Crystal Soulmass, Crystal Soul Spear, and Soul Greatsword are all good stuff, too.

-  Miracles are better this time around. Great Lightning Spear has infinite range, AoE, and you get a ton of charges. Sunlight Spear is also okay, but not really worth the investment. Heals are also nice, but the rest are mostly situational or PvP-oriented.

-  Hexes are mostly shit, with the exception of Dark Fog, Great Resonant Soul, and Resonant Weapon. The Resonant Weapon hex is the best weapon buff, and the cost (2000 souls) is trivial later on. If you're not a hexer, you can spice down the requirements to 10/10 with no penalty. GRS hits like a train for barely any cost, and Dark Fog paired with the Bat Staff catalyst is AoE poison that almost instantly procs.

-  Pyromancy is a high damage, low investment option just like in the first DS -- scales with INT/FTH by a small amount. Only use and upgrade the standard Pyromancy Flame you find in No Man's Wharf, as the other option, Dark Pyromancy Flame, scales to hollowing and requires a ring slot to be worth the marginal damage increase it confers. As far as spells, Flame Swathe is really all you need for PvE -- high base damage + large AoE

-  You no longer need to artificially cap your soul level like in previous games for co-op/PVP. The determinant for player matching now is based on soul memory, which is the total accumulated value of all souls you've absorbed, whether they be spent, lost, or saved. You're placed in a quadrant based on your current memory pool, but nerds are still trying to figure out how its delimited. Being a sunbro increases the range for coop by an unknown amount. It's all very fucking stupid

-  NPC summons got buffed big time in one of the recent patches, and have a much easier time soloing bosses. Wouldn't recommend using them if you want to preserve the challenge, as the bosses aren't very hard as it is.

-  Never waste your time farming for souls. There's a spot near the end of the game where you get a consistent yield of 500k, 2 twinkling titanite, a fire seed and a bonfire ascetic, making it self-sufficient. Takes like three minutes.

-  There's an item you can burn at bonfires, Bonfire Ascetic, that will increase the difficulty of the corresponding zone to NG+ after you've taken out the boss. It's worth doing this a few times in your first run, as the NG+ iterations of bosses will drop +2 rings, some of which are incredibly useful. Ones of note:

Chloranthy Ring +2 (Undead Chariot): stamina regen
Southern Ritual Band +2 (Scorpioness Najka): +3 attunement slots
Clear Bluestone Ring +2 (Skeleton Lords): 55% increase in casting speed
Covetous Silver Serpent Ring +2 (Mytha): for farming

-  Baby mode: spec INT/FTH, get Great Resonant Soul, Dark Caitha's Chime+10/Chime of Want +5, and the game becomes a joke, but you should probably just get good instead, breh
[close]


Funny, I heard Hexes are actually good. But I've been struggling with the first boss for hours now since I need to level up more as a Depriaved or something to do decent damage. Bleh.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: fistfulofmetal on April 29, 2014, 11:33:39 AM
everything about how the game feels is worse than the previous game.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: BobFromPikeCreek on April 29, 2014, 05:29:02 PM
Cruising through the game with a halberd and the tower shield. Basically the same way I played DS1.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on April 29, 2014, 05:44:18 PM
everything about how the game feels is worse than the previous game.

(http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view/836410/best-cry-ever-o.gif)
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on April 29, 2014, 05:45:19 PM
Cruising through the game with a halberd and the tower shield. Basically the same way I played DS1.

Always wondered, whats the story behind your status? It's pretty sweet/funny but I don't know the context or anything
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: fistfulofmetal on April 29, 2014, 05:46:49 PM
no i mean it legitimately is. the animations are floaty. the timing is slower and it just doesn't feel as snappy as DS1. I always felt in control of my character in DS1. I don't feel that way in DS2.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on April 29, 2014, 05:48:37 PM
Are you sure? Youre not just using a different weapon or something?

Feels more or less the same to me, maybe I'm a gaming philistine after all :yeshrug
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: fistfulofmetal on April 29, 2014, 05:54:12 PM
i'm playing the same way I played DS1. Sword and shield.

I dunno. Everything just feels a bit off.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: BobFromPikeCreek on April 29, 2014, 09:28:09 PM
Cruising through the game with a halberd and the tower shield. Basically the same way I played DS1.

Always wondered, whats the story behind your status? It's pretty sweet/funny but I don't know the context or anything

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6PMnqLVkK4
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on April 29, 2014, 09:42:48 PM
i'm playing the same way I played DS1. Sword and shield.

I dunno. Everything just feels a bit off.
Yeah cuz it's a different game, dork.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on April 29, 2014, 09:49:42 PM
Cruising through the game with a halberd and the tower shield. Basically the same way I played DS1.

Always wondered, whats the story behind your status? It's pretty sweet/funny but I don't know the context or anything

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6PMnqLVkK4

:rofl that was awesome
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Damian79 on April 29, 2014, 10:08:14 PM
I played all 3 of these games and all three i hated.  Sub par graphics and sub par gameplay to me anyway.  That said i made mistakes in the other 2 like starting off on a ridiculously high difficulty.  But playing this game on normal or deprived class is still boring as fuck.  Maybe I am just bitter that this game sold well and those card games on the game cube sold like shit.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on April 29, 2014, 11:15:25 PM
I played all 3 of these games and all three i hated.  Sub par graphics and sub par gameplay to me anyway.  That said i made mistakes in the other 2 like starting off on a ridiculously high difficulty.  But playing this game on normal or deprived class is still boring as fuck.  Maybe I am just bitter that this game sold well and those card games on the game cube sold like shit.

(http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view/836410/best-cry-ever-o.gif)
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: fistfulofmetal on April 29, 2014, 11:57:00 PM
i'm playing the same way I played DS1. Sword and shield.

I dunno. Everything just feels a bit off.
Yeah cuz it's a different game, dork.

yeah, a worse one :\
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: BobFromPikeCreek on April 30, 2014, 09:04:54 PM
Any tips for
spoiler (click to show/hide)
the dumb giant spider boss?
[close]

Even with two summoned phantoms I still couldn't beat it. :'(
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: BobFromPikeCreek on April 30, 2014, 09:13:00 PM
I'm also stuck with the
spoiler (click to show/hide)
dumb giant rat boss.
[close]

 :'(
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Great Rumbler on April 30, 2014, 10:03:03 PM
14 hours in:

(http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/577895197260705947/1CA42A7EF0B008737936583AFE8E62C69380824A/)
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on April 30, 2014, 10:08:29 PM
Any tips for
spoiler (click to show/hide)
the dumb giant spider boss?
[close]

Even with two summoned phantoms I still couldn't beat it. :'(
Just ignore the spider adds and try and trigger the laser attack (one of its heads will rise) and then just run under her legs, parallel to her body to the rear head and get two-three hits in. Once you get into the rhythm it becomes a cakewalk.

I'm also stuck with the
spoiler (click to show/hide)
dumb giant rat boss.
[close]

 :'(
Now this guy is kinda hard no matter what. Just focus on killing his minions as quickly as possible and do your best to stay underneath his belly and attack the hind legs. He won't be able to hit you.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: BobFromPikeCreek on April 30, 2014, 10:10:52 PM
I just hate how fucking hard it is to hit the 4 small rats. Like three quarters of my attacks don't connect.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on April 30, 2014, 10:17:11 PM
do you have any attacks that are a vertical slash? say you do a three-hit light attack combo and only the first hit lands, try to wait for the first hit to finish animating and simply repeat it instead of going into the combo. Out of curiosity what weapon are you using?
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: BobFromPikeCreek on May 01, 2014, 12:30:08 AM
I have a +10 Halberd and +10 Mace. UGH. FUCK THIS RAT. I beat the spider at least.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Space Jam is Canon on May 01, 2014, 12:52:57 AM
.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: BobFromPikeCreek on May 01, 2014, 01:30:56 AM
You can one or two-shot it with Chaos Storm from Old Iron Keep. He's not worth the effort

Had to look up Old Iron Keep. Thanks for alerting me to an entire string of levels I didn't know I had access to.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: BobFromPikeCreek on May 02, 2014, 01:52:44 AM
Really loving how Titanite grows on trees in this game. I felt like in DS once you committed to investing in a weapon you were stuck with it. Ditched my mace and halberd and play exclusively with a great club now.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on May 02, 2014, 12:57:16 PM
yeah, I felt like getting a +10 was attached to finishing the game in DS1, but in 2 you can fully ascend three or even four weapons before rolling over. Amazing.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: demi on May 02, 2014, 01:59:27 PM
I played all 3 of these games and all three i hated.  Sub par graphics and sub par gameplay to me anyway.  That said i made mistakes in the other 2 like starting off on a ridiculously high difficulty.  But playing this game on normal or deprived class is still boring as fuck.  Maybe I am just bitter that this game sold well and those card games on the game cube sold like shit.

They made Kings Field Dark Souls well before Lost Kingdoms. I'm one of those hipsters who liked Kings Field Dark Souls before it was cool. :yeshrug
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: BobFromPikeCreek on May 02, 2014, 08:38:59 PM
Wait wait wait wait.... the rat authority was an optional boss?
:snoop
I spent so much time sweating that asshole, and when I finally beat him I just get access to a covenant I already long since had access to??
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on May 02, 2014, 08:41:28 PM
You're welcome :P
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: BobFromPikeCreek on May 02, 2014, 08:56:02 PM
Well now I'm at Drangleic so FUCK EVERYTHING.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Great Rumbler on May 02, 2014, 09:32:31 PM
:patel
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: archie4208 on May 02, 2014, 10:29:36 PM
spoiler (click to show/hide)
Looking Glass Knight++
[close]

Fucking kill me. 
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Great Rumbler on May 05, 2014, 09:05:55 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/aSUcv5b.jpg)
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: BobFromPikeCreek on May 05, 2014, 09:41:12 PM
I'm in Dragon Aerie right now and man is that a pretty area.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on May 05, 2014, 10:13:56 PM
It looks great sure but man I wish it was a little more interesting design-wise. You can juke the dragons with relative ease and there really isn't much going on as far as hidden paths/exploration.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: BobFromPikeCreek on May 05, 2014, 11:33:00 PM
Yeah. Just finished up there. Was pretty boring. Did you kill the Ancient Dragon? I gave up and moved on. I wanted his giant soul so I could kill Vendrick but I guess there are easier ways to get them.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on May 05, 2014, 11:56:14 PM
No, and there most certainly are now that you have the Ashen Mist Heart. I tried a few times but it's just a cheap-ass boss fight. The gauntlet leading up to it is a little too insane for a boss that can end you in one shot.

You can actually finish the game from where you're at, but if you're adamant about felling Vendrick there's some optional content that I had a blast doing. Just go sniffing around the petrified giants near the beginning of the game.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Space Jam is Canon on May 06, 2014, 12:01:35 AM
both of those fights are awful -- probably the worst in the game. i'm not sure if there's a way to cheese Ancient Dragon, 'cause i killed it once on NG and never again. all you have to do with Vendrick

spoiler (click to show/hide)
is stay behind his left leg. at 4 Giant Souls he's still got 2x defense, but still less of a slog than Ancient Dragon
[close]
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on May 06, 2014, 12:06:39 AM
Generally I'd put DS2 above the first game in just about every possible metric, but as far as ultra-hard optional bosses go, the first game's (that being Kalameet) is orders of magnitude better than all three (Vendrick, AD, and Darkluker) in the sequel.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: BobFromPikeCreek on May 06, 2014, 01:55:30 PM
:neogaf Nashandra was a joke. Beat her first try... Well, I want to mop up the side stuff before rolling into NG, but I'll probably take a break and play something else first. DS2 gameplay mechanics > DS1 gameplay mechanics. DS1 world and bosses > DS2 world and bosses.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: fistfulofmetal on May 07, 2014, 01:03:59 AM
yeah i'm done. i really don't know what From did to the games feel but it's all wrong. hit detection and animations are wonky as fuck. i never feel like i have control over my character. whatever they thought they were going for in this i just really don't like.

really sucks man. DS1 is one of my favorite games. why'd they have to go and muck it all up?  :-\
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: BobFromPikeCreek on May 07, 2014, 02:06:59 AM
Gotta boost your agility, dude. That's the miracle stat.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: fistfulofmetal on May 07, 2014, 11:40:22 AM
that sounds really lame to me. i don't like the idea that the inherent movement and gameplay feel is being limited by a stat. that's the thing i liked about DS1. i could always rely that even if my weapon didn't do a lot of damage or my resists may not be super high, i knew i had complete control over my character. it was a constant.

meh. maybe i'll come back to the game some other time.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: BobFromPikeCreek on May 07, 2014, 03:32:58 PM
Once you get your Agility to a decent level, which really doesn't take very long, the game starts to feel more like DS1 in terms of i-frames in rolls and estus chug speed. I don't know. Maybe it was a bad choice, maybe it was a good choice; all I know is it's pretty easy to make the game feel like DS1, and it'd be silly to miss out on a great game because of it.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Great Rumbler on May 07, 2014, 05:05:01 PM
I've played for about 25 hours and the combat seems just like DS1 to me. :yeshrug
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: BobFromPikeCreek on May 08, 2014, 12:10:56 PM
Went back to Vendrick with four giant souls. Dude is still a stupid, boring damage sponge. Might not bother.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on May 08, 2014, 01:49:26 PM
How fun are those Giant memories? :hyper they look so fucking cool
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: BobFromPikeCreek on May 08, 2014, 01:55:37 PM
The memories were super cool! Weird being in an area with lots of activity in a Souls game. Was a nice change of pace from the isolation you feel in the rest of the game.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: FatalT on May 15, 2014, 12:02:34 AM
(http://cloud-3.steampowered.com/ugc/487824553620579816/5F169F4BDA1D8D88A051FF1A66BDF5FF1C85322B/)

I just beat the two dragonriders. I'm enjoying the hell out of this one!
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: The Sceneman on May 15, 2014, 01:40:03 AM
WTF @ your build
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: BobFromPikeCreek on May 15, 2014, 12:33:59 PM
That's actually a pretty ok build. He can dish some serious damage with both magic and weapons (if he uses one that doesn't heavily rely on scaling).
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Great Rumbler on May 19, 2014, 08:37:52 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/4fUU2g9.jpg)

PRAISE THE SUN
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: thisismyusername on May 20, 2014, 12:39:07 AM
WTF @ your build

That's actually a pretty ok build. He can dish some serious damage with both magic and weapons (if he uses one that doesn't heavily rely on scaling).

Dump 4 into INT, 16 into FTH. Infuse a Mundane weapon. Go to town.

Of course, I'm in the process of farming the last few souls I need from the starting Merchant, killing them for their soul-sucking gear and then grinding souls to level up myself since I'm doing a similar build as he is, but as a "glass cannon" until I can get enough souls/levels into raising VGR.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Great Rumbler on May 21, 2014, 01:33:11 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ecS0yKnNLA
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on May 21, 2014, 01:52:50 PM
:dead @ the Blucher and Guile ones. the editing in that video is really fun.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Rufus on May 21, 2014, 03:11:22 PM
Love it. :lol That's such a nice look into player behaviour.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: thisismyusername on May 23, 2014, 08:09:49 AM
I did the same thing with the chameleon spell in Dark 1 as a Forest Invader. Cast the spell, go into the forest and plant myself somewhere out of the way but "not suspect" and watch people do things. Some went for the boss gate (good), others would just sit there waiting to farm souls/me but couldn't (bad).
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on May 23, 2014, 11:56:33 AM
yeah, another thing you can do is kill one of the forest NPCs and then join the covenant, stand in their place and just wait. The problem is that it looks like a lot of fun in video, but really it's just hours of doing nothing in your game. Still kinda funny to watch people slowly lose it, tho.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Great Rumbler on June 04, 2014, 12:48:52 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ioo0ukZ6P-4
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: archie4208 on June 04, 2014, 12:50:08 PM
Season pass is $25.  :yuck

Might wait a bit.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Great Rumbler on June 04, 2014, 12:51:11 PM
It's lame that they're piecing it out, but I can wait until after all three are out to go back to DS2.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: BobFromPikeCreek on June 04, 2014, 12:51:15 PM
Will buy at deep discount on Steam in a year.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on June 04, 2014, 01:27:40 PM
looks rad but yeah I'll probably wait on it. really love the aesthetics of the areas in that trailer
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: BobFromPikeCreek on June 04, 2014, 05:01:25 PM
I'll get it day one if I can get the Season Pass through greenmangaming with a 20% off coupon.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Steve Contra on June 04, 2014, 06:13:49 PM
Holy fuck yes
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Madrun Badrun on June 29, 2014, 09:42:59 PM
Dark souls 1 player;  what do I need to really know for 2?  No spoilers.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: thisismyusername on June 29, 2014, 10:38:02 PM
Dark souls 1 player;  what do I need to really know for 2?  No spoilers.

Humanity is dropped in place of Human Effigies replacing those.

Stats split. Nothing majorly ground-breakingly-shocking but they changed a few.

Hexes were introduced.

That's about it.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: fistfulofmetal on June 29, 2014, 10:59:15 PM
Dark souls 1 player;  what do I need to really know for 2?  No spoilers.

it's a significantly worse game.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on June 29, 2014, 11:47:34 PM
Dark souls 1 player;  what do I need to really know for 2?  No spoilers.
it's a more difficult game in the beginning and easier towards the back half, adaptability is a very important stat and worth putting points in early on. otherwise a lot of what you learned in the first game translates unchanged to the second. upgrading a vanilla weapon/consider one or two ranged spells/make sure to exhaust all NPC dialog, etc. and it's worth mentioning that in order to complete some of the NPC sidequests this time around you are required to summon them for the boss fights that they're available for and make sure they survive the ordeal.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Great Rumbler on June 30, 2014, 08:55:33 AM
Dark souls 1 player;  what do I need to really know for 2?  No spoilers.

it's a significantly worse game.

You're definitely in a minority, there. I found it to be not quite as good as DS1, although part of that was because it's just reiterating on the same formula, but in virtually every category it was, at worst, only lagging behind a very little bit.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Madrun Badrun on June 30, 2014, 11:18:22 AM
Welp haven't got to a boss yet and I'm cursed.  This is dark souls.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: BobFromPikeCreek on June 30, 2014, 11:33:03 AM
Curses are much less inconvenient in this one at least.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Madrun Badrun on July 06, 2014, 03:13:06 PM
rrrrrr, the 3 sentinel bosses. 
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: Raban on July 06, 2014, 03:15:22 PM
man I know a lot of people that really felt the hurt on that boss fight but for some reason I breezed through it. I died more in the actual Lost Bastille than in that boss fight.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: SantaC on July 06, 2014, 07:09:29 PM
rrrrrr, the 3 sentinel bosses.

kill them one and one at the tiny platform, or you're screwed.
Title: Re: Dark Souls 2 |OT| of only the most hardcore gamers on the planet
Post by: chronovore on July 07, 2014, 07:49:42 PM
one person on TA already has 1000/1000 :anhuld

I let my flatmate play my copy of Dark Souls 2 tonight, so I'm punishing myself by playing Undertow :noah

If you are ever inclined to co-op grind out 'cheevos on that, lemme know.