[Spoilers] Dark Souls 2 part Deux

[TheEvilKing]

Finished my first playthrough, clocking in at 60+ hours and 160 SL.

Tossing up over whether to play NG+, make a new character or play something else. The thing that's putting me off is that I want to make a PVP build, but half of my PVP battles so far have seem to have resulted in people teleporting behind me and backstabbing me. Very aggravating. Yes I've got cross-region restriction on. It's just shitty Australian internet, I think.

[Muttering Bill]

Tossing up over whether to play NG+, make a new character or play something else. The thing that's putting me off is that I want to make a PVP build, but half of my PVP battles so far have seem to have resulted in people teleporting behind me and backstabbing me. Very aggravating. Yes I've got cross-region restriction on. It's just shitty Australian internet, I think.

No, it's a glitch that people are exploiting. I don't know how to do it, but it has something to do with the Binoculars.

They just put out a patch too but didn't incluse a fix for it.

[Muttering Bill]

I thought I finally got away, and then... DLC!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcjmioTofm8&feature=youtu.be

:bowdown: :drool: :wub:

Crown of the Sunken King on 7-22

Crown of the Old Iron King on 8-26

Crown of the Ivory King on 9-23

Season pass is $25 (so probably $10 per episode seperately?) and apparently available on Steam already.

[aceluby]

Was coming to post about the DLC. YES!!!! And I love that they are staggering it. Can't wait.

[Slurktan]

So three bosses presumably just like the DLC for DS1. Is From just on the DLC money train with this one? Or is it stuff that was held out of the main game due to time constraints like the DLC stuff from DS1? Either way I'm buying all of it.

[Fez]

Just beat the Dragonrider. That was a hell of a thing. I actually beat him on my second try (I know a sample size of 2 is nothing, but the NPC summons seem a lot more powerful this time around), what took forever was figuring out how to consistently beat the enemies leading up to him; particularly once I was stuck running around with 50% max HP but didn't want to use one of my human effigies before being right outside his door (in case I screwed something up).

Although now I'm wondering if human effigies are as rare as I thought. First I found a cache of 5 off to the side of the flame tower (in front of another mist door that I didn't go through; too many messages saying 'help me' and player summon signs out in front), than I found either 1 or 3 (can't remember) lying around the tunnel that's after Dragonrider, and then an enemy in that tunnel dropped 1. That's either 7 or 9 in a matter of about 15 minutes.

[mcbigski]

If you're willing to put down a white summons sign and help others with boss battles, then there are plenty of effigies.

Tossing up over whether to play NG+, make a new character or play something else. The thing that's putting me off is that I want to make a PVP build, but half of my PVP battles so far have seem to have resulted in people teleporting behind me and backstabbing me. Very aggravating. Yes I've got cross-region restriction on. It's just shitty Australian internet, I think.

The thing about PvP builds is that it seems to me like it's pretty much a bunch of Avelyn/dark fog/Havels builds running around. Maybe if the balance is really good the optimal builds will evolve though.

They ought to have a PvP zone where you're somehow forced to use the same equipment, or maybe some sort of doppelganger invasion covenant along the same lines.

[Slurktan]

Just beat the Dragonrider. That was a hell of a thing. I actually beat him on my second try (I know a sample size of 2 is nothing, but the NPC summons seem a lot more powerful this time around), what took forever was figuring out how to consistently beat the enemies leading up

Although now I'm wondering if human effigies are as rare as I thought. First I found a cache of 5 off to the side of the flame tower (in front of another mist door that I didn't go through; too many messages saying 'help me' and player summon signs out in front), than I found either 1 or 3 (can't remember) lying around the tunnel that's after Dragonrider, and then an enemy in that tunnel dropped 1. That's either 7 or 9 in a matter of about 15 minutes.

Effigies are somewhat rare but once you get a ring of life protection they aren't necessary the rest of the game.

[AndrewJ]

Speaking of which - the Ring of Binding is in a chest right outside the door of one of the two bosses in the area you were playing in. You should grab it ASAP.

[Inigima]

The one he just killed, I think :lol:

[TheEvilKing]

No, it's a glitch that people are exploiting. I don't know how to do it, but it has something to do with the Binoculars.

They just put out a patch too but didn't incluse a fix for it.

Nah, I've seen the binocs glitch in action. I'm talking about pure lag.

Just beat the Dragonrider. That was a hell of a thing. I actually beat him on my second try (I know a sample size of 2 is nothing, but the NPC summons seem a lot more powerful this time around), what took forever was figuring out how to consistently beat the enemies leading up to him; particularly once I was stuck running around with 50% max HP but didn't want to use one of my human effigies before being right outside his door (in case I screwed something up).

Although now I'm wondering if human effigies are as rare as I thought. First I found a cache of 5 off to the side of the flame tower (in front of another mist door that I didn't go through; too many messages saying 'help me' and player summon signs out in front), than I found either 1 or 3 (can't remember) lying around the tunnel that's after Dragonrider, and then an enemy in that tunnel dropped 1. That's either 7 or 9 in a matter of about 15 minutes.

There's a shitload of effigies mate, I just finished the game with 20 still sitting in my inventory. Feel free to use them whenever you need.

[Muttering Bill]

Considering that I died 375 times on my first playthrough... I'd say conserve your Effigies. At first anyway. They're more abundant later in the game. Use them, just not every time you die. Wait out a few deaths until your HP starts getting toward 50%.

I wouldn't recommend the Ring of Life Protection on a first playthrough. Repair costs are going to end up too high if you're dying a lot. But do go back and get the Ring of Binding if you didn't pick it up (in a chest right next to the 5 Effigies). It will cut the health penalty of Hollowing in half.

You'll also want to save a decent supply of Effigies if you are going to fight Darklurker; each attempt cost 1 Effigy.

So three bosses presumably just like the DLC for DS1. Is From just on the DLC money train with this one? Or is it stuff that was held out of the main game due to time constraints like the DLC stuff from DS1? Either way I'm buying all of it.

AotA had 4 bosses - Sanctuary Guardian, Artorias, Manus and Kalameet. 5 if you count the double Sanctuary Guardians.

I'm expecting at least 2 bosses for each expansion. Hopefully they'll be harder than the ones we got in the main game. Looks like one of them may be a Primordial Serpent, so maybe we'll get an explanation on why they didn't turn up in DS2. Maybe because we killed them all in the past. :cool4:

I'm most excited for the Old Iron King level. I'd like to see some more evidence to prove (or disprove) the possible OIK/Mytha/Sinner love triangle. And the potential of meeting a human OIK. I also wonder if they're going to retcon the Old Iron King story with the DLC, like they did with Artorias. Maybe Smelter didn't kill him after all, and it was really our character.

Sunken King probably has something to do with Heide's, so that'll be great too. The Heide Knights were a great design, but sorely under-used. And there's very little lore on the place. I'd love to get a non-tattered Heide Knight armor set. There's a Heide Knight in the video. It also metions Vendrick, so maybe we'll get to meet him in his prime too.

Ivory King... yeah, I don't really have a guess.

My biggest question: is the trailer for the entire series, or only the Sunken King part? I had assumed the whole set, but the description only talks about Sunken King. If it's just the one part, then these will be big expansions.

[Fez]

Good to know about the effigies, I've got 11 right now I think. And even though my playtime is already 7 hours, I know I haven't done that much yet.

I do have the Ring of Binding, so I'm set on that. I haven't put it on yet though, since I was in the zone after beating the Dragonrider while human last night, I played another 30 minutes or so and didn't die once. It helps that I've started to figure out the best times and places to be switching between melee and casting (which, even though I only have 10 INT and the regular Soul Arrow, already seems kinda overpowered).

Something I've noticed is that the world seems much less connected than Dark Souls. In the first game every couple hundred steps there was another shortcut leading back to a place you already were, and there was a really cool sense of the place really being a single massive thing. Here, thus far, I'm not getting that. There were a couple shortcuts in the Forest of Fallen Giants, but the area as a whole seems completely cut off from Heide's and the Wharf. And the path all the way from Majula to my current bonfire (just outside the wharf, meet someone wearing a mask) has been pretty a single linear path. There's been some detours for hidden treasures of course, but no looping back or such. Its a small thing, but I'm hoping this changes when I get further in.

[Muttering Bill]

The world isn't connected like DS1 was. The only thing like that is the two paths converging on the Lost Bastille, but those areas aren't really connected either. It's 4 different paths leading outward from Majula. 2 of them bring you to the same place. 1 of them branches into 3 more paths for the 2nd half of the game. There are a some side areas to check out, but the levels don't link up to each other.

[Fez]

The world isn't connected like DS1 was. The only thing like that is the two paths converging on the Lost Bastille, but those areas aren't really connected either. It's 4 different paths leading outward from Majula. 2 of them bring you to the same place. 1 of them branches into 3 more paths for the 2nd half of the game. There are a some side areas to check out, but the levels don't link up to each other.

That's a shame. I like DSII more than DSI, but that was a really cool feature of the first game.

[MerenthaClone]

Good to know about the effigies, I've got 11 right now I think. And even though my playtime is already 7 hours, I know I haven't done that much yet.

I do have the Ring of Binding, so I'm set on that. I haven't put it on yet though, since I was in the zone after beating the Dragonrider while human last night, I played another 30 minutes or so and didn't die once. It helps that I've started to figure out the best times and places to be switching between melee and casting (which, even though I only have 10 INT and the regular Soul Arrow, already seems kinda overpowered).

You can also use your small white soapstone to get back to human really, really quickly. For instance, killing something like three enemies in Heide's will be enough to fulfill your Duty and send you back with full health, humanity, full charges/durability, and a lottery ticket. Drop that lil guy everywhere and you'll never worry about going fully hollow again.

[Slurktan]

So I'm wandering around trying to figure out where you are going to enter the DLC/it forces you in. I think the Shrine of Winter is a strong possibility. Also the door that doesn't open in the sewers beneath Heide's. Any other ideas?

[Muttering Bill]

I got the sense that it's supposed to be time travel again. If that's the case then it could be anywhere.

The Shrine of Winter and Dragon Shrine are probably the biggest candidates, since the trailer does show the same carving/picture that is featured at both locations.

If the Sunken King does have to do with Heide's, then probably something in there. I think there is a door or two on the path between Majula and Heide's they could open. There's definately one in the area after the Dragonrider, before leaving to No Man's Wharf.

[Centrist Simon Steele]

Just beat the Dragonrider. That was a hell of a thing. I actually beat him on my second try (I know a sample size of 2 is nothing, but the NPC summons seem a lot more powerful this time around), what took forever was figuring out how to consistently beat the enemies leading up to him; particularly once I was stuck running around with 50% max HP but didn't want to use one of my human effigies before being right outside his door (in case I screwed something up).

Although now I'm wondering if human effigies are as rare as I thought. First I found a cache of 5 off to the side of the flame tower (in front of another mist door that I didn't go through; too many messages saying 'help me' and player summon signs out in front), than I found either 1 or 3 (can't remember) lying around the tunnel that's after Dragonrider, and then an enemy in that tunnel dropped 1. That's either 7 or 9 in a matter of about 15 minutes.

Pretty rare if you use them consistently. What I'd recommend if you get in that 50 percent health situation again is drop the small soapstone and if you make it through ten minutes alive helping another player then you go back to your world with your humanity restored. Also instead of using effigies for bosses you should just drop your regular soapstone. When you beat the boss with the other player you get humanity. Also if you die while trying to help you just go back outside the fog wall and all you lose is any items you used. If you win, in addition to the humanity, your estus is refilled and your weapons and armor are brought back to 100 percent (if they're not already broken).

[Fez]

Pretty rare if you use them consistently. What I'd recommend if you get in that 50 percent health situation again is drop the small soapstone and if you make it through ten minutes alive helping another player then you go back to your world with your humanity restored. Also instead of using effigies for bosses you should just drop your regular soapstone. When you beat the boss with the other player you get humanity. Also if you die while trying to help you just go back outside the fog wall and all you lose is any items you used. If you win, in addition to the humanity, your estus is refilled and your weapons and armor are brought back to 100 percent (if they're not already broken).

If I beat a boss in another player's world does that count as beating him in my world too? Or do I still need to beat him myself?