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

[Inigima]

Holy shit is this game frustrating. I might have chose the wrong class (swordsman) for someone very inexperienced. This is brutal.

Two thoughts on this: First of all, traditionally class doesn't actually matter very much in this series except that the starting stats lean towards the expected role. If Swordsman isn't working out for you, just build your stats out different (respec if you have to) and start playing a way that you like more. Second, I haven't tried Swordsman (I kind of want to) but as I understand it their big thing is dual wielding. I would expect that to be difficult to do as a beginner, especially since you don't get the crutch that is a shield. (Not that you can't equip one instead of a second weapon, if you want.) I'd say try a Warrior maybe.

I beat the Last Giant tonight. Holy fuck am I going to have nightmares about that thing's appearance. I don't think I've ever gone blind into a boss fight in this series before, but I'm sort of trying to do this game "right." I didn't think it was too hard. Here were my strategies:

First, my main weapon is a Spear (purchased from the blacksmith), but I also have a shortsword. The shortsword does slightly more damage. My shield is useless in a fight like this, so I tested and found that 2-handing my shortsword did a little more damage and wasn't appreciably slower.

Phase 1 is pretty straightforward: bait an attack, roll away, run back in and hit. Repeat. After a few tries at this, it will typically jump away. But! If you fight it somewhere where its back is to the wall, it will probably just stay there, making this part slightly repetitive but pretty simple. One thing -- getting greedy is what's most likely to kill you. Don't try for more than one hit, no matter how much time you think you have, unless you are certain your second blow will kill it.

Phase 2 took me by surprise. I wasn't expecting a change; I'd only tried once before this attempt, and I didn't make it to Phase 2 because I was still learning the fight. But I did fine. My existing strategy of rolling backwards didn't work anymore, because his reach is much too long in this phase. So I would go to the opposite end of the arena from the boss, and just charge straight at him, aiming for the gap between his legs and jumping/rolling through them. HIs attack will land harmlessly in front of him and you can stab him in the leg from behind. Run away, repeat til dead.

If you're very careful, you can drink from your Estus flask during this fight. Be careful -- make sure the boss is far away from you so you don't get nailed while drinking. At my 50% health, a single hit nearly killed me.

I stopped at Heide's, having a rough go with the second guy.

[Centrist Simon Steele]

Thanks for the invasion responses guys--I hope that is something that gets fixed in a patch, because I like being invaded and getting unbelievably pissed. I actually got to a boss last night and beat it on the first try, dragon rider or something. I couldn't believe I did that!

I haven't killed any white knights yet, and I'm wondering if I keep on this path if something will happen. Probably not, but hell, this is Dark Souls, who knows right? Also, anything that doesn't attack me on sight I feel immediately grateful to, and I feel bad attacking it.

Mexal--I chose swordsman too and I beat Demon's Souls and Dark Souls (many times) and I've mostly been getting my ass kicked in this game. Even switching to a shield early on didn't help much. This is just the way these games are. I tried a certain boss twice who people have complained about and he whipped me soundly each time, so I humanized and brought two phantoms with me and we handled it well enough. Don't forget co op is a great way of getting through tough areas. Some players like playing through the level with you, so you aren't always so alone as you feel. Problem is humanity is way more rare this time through it would seem.

[Muttering Bill]

I've been having a lot of trouble deciding on a weapon too. I started Cleric which came with a Mace. I've taken to it though, and will keep it as an alternate. I wanted a Scythe but that's not happening any time soon. The Great Machete turned out to be a lousy replacement.

Spent some time trying out all of the weapons I have now. Settled on the Bastard Sword and respec'd accordingly. But I have no material to upgrade it, so for now I still just have a Mace.

Got to Befry Luna. Looks like that's the new Darkroot Forest. And joining the Conenant doesn't help. \Went in fully Hollowed and got invaded 4 times in less than 10 minutes. I was Ok with it, but I went offline so I'd have a little time to check the place out. And I still got invaded (by an NPC). Whatever. Took a shot at the Gargoyles...

They seemed fairly easy at first, but they just keep coming. I killed 2 of them, and then got surrounded by 3 more.

Going to save that fight for later. Best to leave it open if I'm in a PVP mood anyway.

Moved on to Sinner's Rise. Didn't have much trouble with the area, but I haven't attempted the Lost Sinner yet.

I guess after this I'll be heading down the well. I don't see anywhere else to go.

[Muttering Bill]

There is a petition up for From to change the limited enemy spawns and Soul Memory systems. Not sure if it'll do anything, but I signed. Might as well make sure they know what the problems are so they can be fixed.

https://www.change.org/petitions/namco-bandai-remove-the-soul-memory-and-limited-respawn-system-in-dark-souls-ii

[KiDisaster]

There is a petition up for From to change the limited enemy spawns and Soul Memory systems. Not sure if it'll do anything, but I signed. Might as well make sure they know what the problems are so they can be fixed.

https://www.change.org/petitions/namco-bandai-remove-the-soul-memory-and-limited-respawn-system-in-dark-souls-ii

I don't have any issue with the limited spawns, but the Soul Memory thing seems kinda stupid.

[Muttering Bill]

I'm on the fence with the limited spawns. I think that if it is removed then some enemy placements will need to be adjusted with it.

What I don't like about it is that it removed farming for souls and materials and limits our ability to experiment with different weapons and armor. You're kind of getting locked in to your starting gear until far into the game when you can find a vendor that sells unlimited materials.

[RumHam]

I mentioned my concerns about the limited spawns earlier in the thread, but now that I'm further in the game I can't imagine it being an issue. As someone here pointed out you can farm extra souls in other player's worlds. Also you can use that ring to remove the risk of losing huge amounts of souls at once.

[Mexal]

Errr, just did a stupid thing. Had my mace break, then died, then died trying to get back to my soul, which means I lost all my souls and now I have no souls to repair my mace and no real decent weapon to progress. Errr!

[RumHam]

Errr, just did a stupid thing. Had my mace break, then died, then died trying to get back to my soul, which means I lost all my souls and now I have no souls to repair my mace and no real decent weapon to progress. Errr!

Do you have any of the soul items on hand? ("Soul of a lost undead", etc) You can use those to get some souls. I always try to save those items for emergencies.

[Mexal]

Do you have any of the soul items on hand? ("Soul of a lost undead", etc) You can use those to get some souls. I always try to save those items for emergencies.

Oh good call. I have loads of them. I didn't even think about that. Thank you sir :)

[RumHam]

Oh good call. I have loads of them. I didn't even think about that. Thank you sir :)

Oh just make sure not to use any of the boss souls. Those were used for crafting weapons in the last game.

[AndrewJ]

I might as well add my experience with the game so far.

The game came out on Thursday here in Australia and I was still finishing Southpark on Friday. I put in something like 16 hours over the weekend, though.

I almost always play paladin/knight type characters (and rarely, if ever, replay games with different character types - too many games to play is it is). I wavered for a little, considering trying a full out warrior or a cleric, but wound up clicking on kinight as usual. I'm focussing mostly on strength and want to put points into the HP stat and equipment load ones so I can be a full tank (I forget the names - vigor and vitality or something). I put enough Dex to use the short bow and would like to supplement with endurance and faith as much as possible, but that looks like being difficult to achieve.

I noticed the path to the Giant's Forest when I first arrived in town, and promptly forgot about it. After I finished exploring, I headed down the stairs into Heide's. I hadn't been able to find were to level up and hadn't upgraded my equipment at all. I got one or two shotted by the first giant dude and thought "damn... this game really is much harder than the first game if these are the yard trash!" After a few attempts, I managed to take out the first guy - and then the second. I'd collected a decent number of souls by this stage (for only having completed the tutorial and killed a couple of mobs) and thought "screw this... I really need to find out how to level up before I lose them all". So I explored town fully, finding how to level up and, in the process, rediscovering the way to the Giant's Forest.

I'd actually already spoken to the girl who levels you up a couple of times. I think the problem is you need to talk to her about 4 times before you get the option. Anyway... I headed down to the Giant's Forest and found things a lot more manageable (though never "easy").

My knight/paladins are normally "sword and board". I found a shield fairly soon and quite a bit later a morning star. That looked pretty cool and I switched to that and have upgraded it to level 3 now. I'm still trying to decide whether I'll keep that as my main weapon or switch to something else. Like Simon said above, I don't generally kill guys who aren't trying to kill me. I'm wondering if the sword mentioned might be worth picking up (and if I can live with the guilt of attacking somebody who means me no harm). I bought a tower shield, but haven't upgraded it yet - I'm still trying to decide whether I go with a tower shiled or a kite shield. (And if I decide to stick with a tower shield, whether I'm willing to bear the weight of the one dropped by the Old Dragonslayer - which I don't quite have the strength to wield just yet).

Anyway... I mostly finsihed the Forest Giant area, though I had two attempts on the Pursuer and didn't even get close, so I gave up for a while. I've levelled up a bit more since, so it might be time to have another try (and possibly get assistance). Somebody asked where large titanite shards can be found - detailed spoiler for the location of one in this area is below...

Below the room with the ballistae trap, there's a chest that is also trapped - you know the location, if you've been there. There's two secret areas down there. You probably saw comments on the floor re an illusory wall. You need to put a "Pharaos Talisman" or something like that (I forget the exact description) in the mouth of the face on the wall nearby. It may only show up when you light the torch in the room, I'm not sure. Anyway - that will open up a room with a couple of chests. I'm pretty sure that has the large shard.

I had read upthread about attacking doors that "don't open on this side". I tried it out on the door down here and, sure enough, the mobs on the other side opened it (and proceeded to kill me - bastards!) Anyway, I came back and took them out. And there is just a single room on the other side with a chest in it. So... far from hitting the door and getting it's occupants to open it being a cheat, it seems this is the only way to acces rooms such as there. There's no possiblilty of going round and accessing the other side of the door via another route.

Anyway... so now I've completed Heide's Tower. Took out the Dragonrider first try (if I'm not mixing the names up - the larger of the two). Had about 5 or 6 runs at the Dragonslayer and then called for assistance and took him down.

I've jumped down the well and explored down there quite a bit. The last thing I did was get down to the pirate ship area and explored maybe half of the area before dying to one of the black creatures. My souls are still lying there waited to be collected (or lost, accompanied by a string of curses).

One quick question - I saw people mentioning an area called the "Lost Bastille" (I think) being accessible from the Forest Giant area. Is that only accessed by going through the Pursuer? Or have I missed it somehow?

[Migey]

How fare are all you guys? I started playing on Friday and just got my third great soul (Old Iron King. Iron Keep is the best zone in DS2 so far, and a contender for one of the best DS zones ever.) 20 hours played. No idea how far through the game I am, and how far I have to go...

[Azzanadra]

How fare are all you guys? I started playing on Friday and just got my third great souls (Old Iron King. Iron Keep is the best zone in DS2 so far, and a contender for one of the best DS zones ever.) 20 hours played. No idea how far through the game I am, and how far I have to go...

Wow, i'm 30 hours and only have 2 lord souls. Cant get past this damn Smelter Demon... Any advice on how to beat him?

[KiDisaster]

I don't have any great souls yet :P I've got 14 or so hours played on my main guy and 7 hours on the first guy I made and sort of abandoned.

I'm making my way through Earthen Peak at the moment. Reminds me of Sen's Funhouse, so it's a blast of course.

[Migey]

If you don't want zone names spoiled, don't read.

KiDisaster, if you don't have any souls, I wouldn't be in Eathen Peak. That whole chain of zones is quite hard. The easiest and most advisable first soul path is from the Lost Sinner, which means you take the path of Heides Tower - No Man's Wharf - Lost Bastille - Sinner's Rise. After that, I did The Rotten, but I can't honestly say that chain (Grave of Saints - Gutter - Black Gulch) is easier then the Huntsman's Copse - Harvest Valley - Eathern Peak - Iron Keep, although without the souls and advancement I got from doing the Rotten path first, I feel I would have really struggled with Earthen Peak and Iron Keep.

I'm on the fourth chain now, and am just starting the Shaded Ruins. No idea what's coming next!

Azzanadra, for one, try the fight as a human, Lucatiel has a sign just outside the Smelter's room, so you can have some help. I copped out and got a second person too after a few tries, because I got tired of dying after whittling him down to half health.

He's pretty standard, though. Just gotta be really careful, stay close to him and keep circling around (until he does that fire pulse, of course) and score a hit whenever you can. Blocking his attacks didn't seem very effective for me, but once you have the timings down dodging them all became fairly easy. On the whole he's one of the toughest minibosses I've faced though, a ton of health and that damage...

If you just find yourself unable to beat him, you can theoretically skip it, although if you die the run will be insane because you won't have access to the bonfire you get after him. I assume you've turned off the fire in that central room (the one on your left as you go to the Smelter). If so, just go up the ladder in that, and the ladder at the end of that walkway, and you're just outside the door where the post-Smelter bonfire is. The next bonfire is quite a way aways, but if you play carefully, it should be possible.

[KiDisaster]

If you don't want zone names spoiled, don't read.

KiDisaster, if you don't have any souls, I wouldn't be in Eathen Peak. That whole chain of zones is quite hard. The easiest and most advisable first soul path is from the Lost Sinner, which means you take the path of Heides Tower - No Man's Wharf - Lost Bastille - Sinner's Rise. After that, I did The Rotten, but I can't honestly say that chain (Grave of Saints - Gutter - Black Gulch) is easier then the Huntsman's Copse - Harvest Valley - Eathern Peak - Iron Keep, although without the souls and advancement I got from doing the Rotten path first, I feel I would have really struggled with Earthen Peak and Iron Keep.

I had no issues with Huntsman's Copse (Aside from dying a couple times at the Skeleton Lords, or Papa Nito's Family Circus as Reddit has lovingly dubbed it, but that's normal for bosses) or Harvest Valley. So far no problems with Earthen Peak either but I haven't gotten to the boss yet so we'll see how that goes.

I did Heide's, Wharf and Bastille already but I read somewhere that Sinner's Rise is hard as shit and that it made more sense to go this route first :dunno:

[AndrewJ]

Has anyone attempted and/or succeeded in killing this guy in Giant's Forest area (near where you get the fire sword)?

[spolier]

The big, fire-spitting snake-like creature. I figured he'd be simple to take down, as the fireballs he shoots didn't extend beyond the door to the left. So right after first obtainig a bow, I bought a bunch of arrows and figured I could stand out of his range and slowly whittle him down. But nope... as soon as I hit him once, he suddenly remembered how to aim. So I tried ducking in and out of the side room to shoot him but couldn't get the hang of it and died a couple more times. So I thought charging him and getting close might prevent his ranged attacks. But nope - he was out of reach of my weapon and still blasted me to ash.

I kind of gave up on him after that. I think archery must be the only option and I just didn't have the hang of the timing. I've played around with the bow a little more since then and might be ready to give it another go.

Any strategies/advice? Does he drop anything of significance?

[KiDisaster]

Made it to Iron Keep. Earthen Peak's boss is pretty tough, one of her abilities could one shot me and is very, very hard to dodge. Sticking close makes it doable though, since she only uses that one ability at range.

Has anyone attempted and/or succeeded in killing this guy in Giant's Forest area (near where you get the fire sword)?

Any strategies/advice? Does he drop anything of significance?

No I didn't try to kill it. I think you can get down into the room where he is later on and kill him though, there's items in there. Maybe you can drop down with the cat ring and enough HP.

ETA: Also where the hell is the damn large titanite? I found enough to raise one weapon to +5, but that was a while back and since then I've seen nothing but normal shards. I'm getting bored of using this Heide Knight sword, it was supposed to be temporary but at the moment it does way more damage than anything else I have since I can't upgrade them.

[Muttering Bill]

I justify killing those white knights since in earlier builds of the game they were very aggressive and would attack on sight. Now they just sit there, but I'll kill them anyway.

I'm 25 hours into the game, and have no great souls. I made it to the Lost Sinner. Sinners' Rise wasn't that tough. Got killed by the Sinner a couple of times and decided to move on. I think I could beat him, I just don't really care right now. Went over Huntsman's Copse to find the ore merchant. Haven't found it to be that hard so far. Took a wrong turn and got jumped by 4 big axe wielding guys. Took the alternate rout through the caves and necromancers. Hoping that's the right way to Harvest Valley.

Has anyone attempted and/or succeeded in killing this guy in Giant's Forest area (near where you get the fire sword)?

Any strategies/advice? Does he drop anything of significance?

I took him out with arrows. You just have to find the right spot. It doesn't drop anything of worth, and is a dead end. You can see an opening behind it, but it has a knee high wall and undeads aren't able to step up. (WTH, the spirits of Demon's Souls could pull it off.)

ETA: Also where the hell is the damn large titanite? I found enough to raise one weapon to +5, but that was a while back and since then I've seen nothing but normal shards. I'm getting bored of using this Heide Knight sword, it was supposed to be temporary but at the moment it does way more damage than anything else I have since I can't upgrade them.

The map you posted earlier says that the ore merchant is in Harvest Valley. I'm on my way to find her now. Is she hiding?