[Spoilers] Official Dark Souls 2 Thread - Prepare to Die... again.

[Inigima]

I'm around 42 hours in late Drangleic as well. I estimate about five hours of that it was on but I was temporarily paying afternoon to something else. Still quite a lot of game for the money.

I'm also soloing, and going into most boss fights blind; some of them would have been a damn sight easier with help.

[aceluby]

Wow, 45 hours and not there yet?

I finished the entire thing in 33 hours. I am a DS1 veteran, but still.

I put in around 1,000 hours in DS1, most in PvP and Co-op with 120 hours on my first playthrougs, and about 80 hours for my first Demon's Soul playthrough, so this is about par for me.

[RumHam]

I'm at 45 hours and haven't gotten to the looking glass knight yet. I haven't even fought the Bell Gargoyles yet somehow. I do have at least three great souls.

[Francis Buck]

Man, Iron Keep reveal was SO badass. Daunting as fuck. The fiery skies, the lava, the crumbling jagged black architecture. That was a classic Dark Souls moment for me. So far the Iron Keep, Majula, and the Lost Bastille are the best environments in the game as far as I'm concerned (they live up to some of the best from the first game in my opinion). Harvest Valley/Earthen Peak had interesting concepts but the execution was lackluster and a lot of it just looked kind of ugly.

ETA: Oh and Huntsman's Copse. Very classic Souls area.

[aceluby]

Man, Iron Keep reveal was SO badass. Daunting as fuck. The fiery skies, the lava, the crumbling jagged black architecture. That was a classic Dark Souls moment for me. So far the Iron Keep, Majula, and the Lost Bastille are the best environments in the game as far as I'm concerned (they live up to some of the best from the first game in my opinion). Harvest Valley/Earthen Peak had interesting concepts but the execution was lackluster and a lot of it just looked kind of ugly.

ETA: Oh and Huntsman's Copse. Very classic Souls area.

Don't forget The Gutter. IMO it's the best level they've ever come up with. Absolutely stunning design, dificult, but not dauntingly so. Great use of lighting and fire as well.

[Francis Buck]

Don't forget The Gutter. IMO it's the best level they've ever come up with. Absolutely stunning design, dificult, but not dauntingly so. Great use of lighting and fire as well.

Haven't got there yet, gonna try to clear Iron Keep and then it's down the well for me...

[aceluby]

I'm at 45 hours and haven't gotten to the looking glass knight yet. I haven't even fought the Bell Gargoyles yet somehow. I do have at least three great souls.

Same, except I only have 2 great souls.

[aceluby]

Haven't got there yet, gonna try to clear Iron Keep and then it's down the well for me...

Oh man, you are in for a treat. Expect to die at least twice before taking 2-3 steps in the level ;)

[Centrist Simon Steele]

It is funny how we're all kind of progressing through the game at the same pace. I don't have the same patience for the solo game though like Ini, I'm impressed the speed at which you're moving through it!

[Inigima]

Dude. Dude.

Apparently in NG+ Looking Glass Knight

If you put down your invasion mark he will summon YOU through his shield, that ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuules

DARK SOULS

It is funny how we're all kind of progressing through the game at the same pace. I don't have the same patience for the solo game though like Ini, I'm impressed the speed at which you're moving through it!

Thanks, Drangleic Castle is kind of arresting my progress though. Haven't tried Looking Glass Knight today though!

[Migey]

Man, Iron Keep reveal was SO badass. Daunting as fuck. The fiery skies, the lava, the crumbling jagged black architecture. That was a classic Dark Souls moment for me.

That was my reaction too at first, and then after I got the to bonfire after Smelter Demon, something struck me. So I warped back to Harvest Valley and looked around in the sky, and thought to myself "How the fuck they manage to hide a giant see of lava, torn skies, and a giant skyscraper of a flaming keep behind that spindly windmill?". It does seem a little incongruous, considering you can see some of the landscape around it, that you walk out of a damp, fallen down windmill area into... that.

Still one of the better zones though.

[Muttering Bill]

Dude. Dude.

Apparently in NG+ Looking Glass Knight

If you put down your invasion mark he will summon YOU through his shield, that ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuules

Is that only in NG+? I thought it was all the time. Nothing new for this series though.

In Demon's Souls Old Monk worked the same way. Except that you had to face only the player, instead of the boss and the player.

That was my reaction too at first, and then after I got the to bonfire after Smelter Demon, something struck me. So I warped back to Harvest Valley and looked around in the sky, and thought to myself "How the fuck they manage to hide a giant see of lava, torn skies, and a giant skyscraper of a flaming keep behind that spindly windmill?". It does seem a little incongruous, considering you can see some of the landscape around it, that you walk out of a damp, fallen down windmill area into... that.

I play with the assumption that distances are greater than what they appear to be in game. This is an entire continent of space, but they have to shrink it for gameplay. Same way that you descend waaaaay down underwater, then come out at No Man's Wharf. There was likely meant to be a lot more cave that would gradually ascent, but they can't fit all that in.

[Inigima]

GOT HIM

SORCERY WINS WARS BROS

Looking Glass Knight

(redacted because the spoiler tag would not cooperate no matter what I did. fight writeup in next post)

[Inigima]

Attempting to un-fuck spoiler tags. This fucking board.

Reason #1 is hitting the fucker safely. His attacks aren't hard to dodge or block, but he changes patterns slightly when he gets lower on health, around halfway, and I found it safer to deal with him at range. If you want to melee, it's fine, just roll away from his attacks at the last second and they'll miss. Problem is that when he gets lower on health his two, sometimes three hit combo will become a three, sometimes four hit combo, and I don't have the stamina to dodge or block all of them. Plus it's hard to tell how many hits he's going for.

Reason #2 is the adds. He's moderately annoying on his own, but when dealing with his summons he can become lethal. I generally used a big spell, followed by a little spell, to kill these quickly. One Flame Swath + a smaller soul arrow or two will kill them, or two Soul Spears and the same. These need to go down quickly. When casting keep an eye on him; better to take a little longer and not cast and avoid getting hit by a big attack.

At range he'll do one of a few things. First, sometimes he'll leap back -- that's great news, because he is open to casts and you can easily get 2 casts in on him. Second, sometimes he'll leap at you -- block or dodge, dodge preferred, then counterattack. Third, sometimes he'll straight up charge at you -- block or dodge, dodge preferred, then counterattack. Lastly, he'll sometimes do his lightning sword thing. I circle strafe around this and try to get behind and to the side, around 120 degrees from the front of his leg. Ideally that will make everything he can do miss you or not fire -- but keep your shield up. My shield doesn't absorb all the damage but better that than nothing. A warning: when he's low on health I think the blast will always hit you. Keep that shield up.

At all times, keep your health up -- if he hits you with a really big attack it will likely leave you very low, and you don't want it to just kill you. Good news: he has a long delay between every attack. Normally this is when you hit him, but if you're missing more than a little bit of health, drink estus instead. This is one of the most forgiving bosses to drink on.

It took me roughly 15 tries (enough for the enemies before him to stop spawning) before I started trying this approach instead of melee. I got it in three more tries. I highly recommend a ranged campaign against him if at all possible, just because melee becomes so dangerous halfway through the fight.

A word of caution: when this fight concluded I had 3 casts left. I had two spells reflected off his shield for a total of 5. That's not a huge margin. Be smart about your casts, or else start the fight melee and finish it ranged when it gets too dangerous to stay close.

[Muttering Bill]

Looking Glass Knight is going to have to wait a bit.

Spent the night farming out Hall of Kings. Ended up with the Llewellyn Armor and Shoes, and 2 Titanite Slabs (and some other stuff I don't care about). Was a little disappointed that I didn't get the entire Llewellyn set. But then I found out it takes Twinkling Titanite to upgrade, and I didn't feel so bad anymore. It looks awesome, has better defense than the Elite Knight armor and is lighter. Next respec I can drop a point or 2 out of Vitality. No Poise though, so I better not get hit.

Now I have to find more Crystal Lizards.

[aceluby]

Been playing around w/ pyromancy... holy crap is Flame Swathe a powerful spell. In Dragonleic castle right now and 2-3 of those takes out one of the two bosses. Firestorm is also pretty kick ass, though it does leave you quite open. Really good for traps when you'll be surrounded. Still need to go back and do the brighstone and rat authority levels, but it's fun progress anyway. Seems like you don't need all 4 major souls for Dragonleic.

[Inigima]

Everything does a lot to them. They don't have much health.

Flame Swathe is mostly good for add duty IMO.

[aceluby]

Everything does a lot to them. They don't have much health.

Flame Swathe is mostly good for add duty IMO.

What do you mean 'add duty'? For me it's by far my most powerful spell, doing upwards of 1,000 damage after upgrading my pyro glove and pumping stats into INT like it's going out of style.

[Inigima]

Sorry, MMO term -- an add is a mob enemy that joins the fight after it starts. Usually they are small and weak compared to the bosses. I like it for clearing groups of weaker enemies. I don't consider it a boss killing spell because you get only a few casts' worth.

[aceluby]

So I have to say, the Rat Covenant is a pretty novel idea. Really great add. In fact, I'm really digging all of the covenants so far, though I'm not entirely sure what the blood covenant does yet.

It's a covenant where if you are a part of that covenant you won't get hit by the enemies and you summon others into your world to deal w/ the enemies and traps you've laid out. I'm about to go join it and then breeze on through Pharros again and take on the boss. Clever way for a new 'invasion' IMO

Sorry, MMO term -- an add is a mob enemy that joins the fight after it starts. Usually they are small and weak compared to the bosses. I like it for clearing groups of weaker enemies. I don't consider it a boss killing spell because you get only a few casts' worth.

Yeah, but couple it w/ a few soul spears and just those two spells will take off a good chunk of health. I took out those guys in the castle solo w/ just those 2 spells...