[Spoilers] Dark Souls 2 part Deux

[Muttering Bill]

Interview about the DLC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Vhy8MnrOZA

Supposedly going to be harder than the main game. And each pack will have 2 routes through, one of which being much harder "challenge route."

[aceluby]

Project Beast @ E3. Love the atmosphere so far.

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

Also, spent a good 3 hours last night trying to solo Smelter Demon. Damn is he hard. Definitely the toughest boss so far in my playthrough. The old iron king was absolute cake after the fight. Took him out and didn't even get hit. I'm debating whether I want to go do the gutter, shadow forest, or finish up the lost sinner now and none of them sound appealing because of the exploding mummies, and the optional areas w/ the rats or Belfry even less appealing.

Decisions, decisions. Doing the replay of the entire series has been SO much fun!

[Muttering Bill]

Bloodborne looks good so far. But without any gameplay footage it's hard to tell just how different from a Souls game it will be. The city does seem to have a Latria-esque atmosphere.

Also, spent a good 3 hours last night trying to solo Smelter Demon. Damn is he hard. Definitely the toughest boss so far in my playthrough. The old iron king was absolute cake after the fight.

No. Smelter was a little bit of a challenge the first time, but after that. Just dodge left/forward and circle around behind him. Watch out of those AoE's though, really the only dangerous move he has.

I thought OIK was a more difficult boss. But that's mostly due to the risk of falling off the platform.

[aceluby]

Bloodborne looks good so far. But without any gameplay footage it's hard to tell just how different from a Souls game it will be. The city does seem to have a Latria-esque atmosphere.

No. Smelter was a little bit of a challenge the first time, but after that. Just dodge left/forward and circle around behind him. Watch out of those AoE's though, really the only dangerous move he has.

I thought OIK was a more difficult boss. But that's mostly due to the risk of falling off the platform.

Yeah, I'd already had OIK down from my previous playthrough. Toughest part of the Smelter fight is that he'd get me cornered and then do his jump smash and AoE to kill me. I had him under 25% health at least a half dozen times and had him to a sliver of health twice only to die at the last minute each time. I would also constantly get caught rolling too early on some of his attacks.

With that being said... it was a really fun fight. Enjoyed it thoroughly and probably did it 30 times between helping others and doing it myself.

[Muttering Bill]

According to PSN Bloodborne will be out on 3/31/15. I was expecting a fall release so they could distance it from DS2 a bit more, and avoid criticisms of it being rushed or rehashed. Maybe Miyazaki alone will be enough that it gets a pass on any flaws.

And they've released some new screenshots. Shields are out. I just hope they kept character customization. The best part of Souls games is how may build options there are, and keeps each playthrough feeling a little different.

http://www.gametrailers.com/news-post/75687/sony-offers-new-details-screens-to-ps4-exclusive-bloodborne

Yeah, I'd already had OIK down from my previous playthrough.

OIK gave me a fair bit of trouble the first time I fought him without any magic. It so easy to cheese him, but it's a pretty fun fight melee only.

[aceluby]

According to PSN Bloodborne will be out on 3/31/15. I was expecting a fall release so they could distance it from DS2 a bit more, and avoid criticisms of it being rushed or rehashed. Maybe Miyazaki alone will be enough that it gets a pass on any flaws.

And they've released some new screenshots. Shields are out. I just hope they kept character customization. The best part of Souls games is how may build options there are, and keeps each playthrough feeling a little different.

http://www.gametrailers.com/news-post/75687/sony-offers-new-details-screens-to-ps4-exclusive-bloodborne

OIK gave me a fair bit of trouble the first time I fought him without any magic. It so easy to cheese him, but it's a pretty fun fight melee only.

I'm cautiously optimistic about Bloodborne. I'm excited that it's coming out next March, may be getting a PS4 sooner than expected.

I practiced a lot with OIK by getting summoned and learning his moves w/ my last melee only character. He telegraphs his attacks and all his melee attacks are dodgeable and his fire attacks you can hide or run away from. Just gotta stay right up in his face and stay away from the edges and he's one of the easier bosses.

Won't have time to play again until tomorrow, but I think I'm going to head to the gutter first since it's my favorite level.

[Muttering Bill]

I'm cautiously optimistic about Bloodborne. I'm excited that it's coming out next March, may be getting a PS4 sooner than expected.

I got a bit of a DMC vibe fromt he trailer, and that's getting stronger with every new bit of info that leaks out. Which makes me even more excited.

[aceluby]

I got a bit of a DMC vibe fromt he trailer, and that's getting stronger with every new bit of info that leaks out. Which makes me even more excited.

That'd be ok if it's less button mashing arcade and more strategic and smart. Never enjoyed the DMC series all that much TBH because it got boring really quick.

[Muttering Bill]

That'd be ok if it's less button mashing arcade and more strategic and smart. Never enjoyed the DMC series all that much TBH because it got boring really quick.

Supposedly it still plays mostly like a Souls game, only faster and more offense-minded. The character shown has the look of a set main character (which could certainly be wrong, since you might well have assumed the same from the Souls trailers). They talk about the weapons being multi-functional, but I didn't get the impression that there were going to be a lot of weapons. Just a few with a couple of ways to use them. And of course guns. Said to be more for stunning enemies than doing a lot of damage. Which screams DMC to me.

Then there is the big interconnected gothic city - kind of like the castle from the first DMC. Or any Castlevania, I suppose.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJtzLXg9AB0&feature=youtu.be

Edit - Character customization has been confirmed. So nevermind on that one.

Edit 2 - Another impressions video.

http://www.gametrailers.com/videos/96i0v0/bloodborne-e3-2014--eyes-on

[Muttering Bill]

and.... gameplay!

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

[MerenthaClone]

One thing I find interesting about both DaS games is how some bosses are wildly different for some people. For instance: Ruin Sentinels, OIK, and Smelter were walks in the park. But the Demon of Song somehow killed me more times than the above three combined. Same with the Mirror Knight: I died three times to him. Freja, on the other hand, killed me at least 6 times, probably more. Enough to despawn the enemies and then some. The Gargs killed me well over that, too.

[aceluby]

Looks like a souls game w/ no lock on and no shields.

Ok... now I'm excited. Looks like a PS4 is going to be purchased w/ next year's tax return.

[Muttering Bill]

Back to Drangleic with me. A couple weeks off and I completely forget how to play this game. It felt so fast coming from AC4. Had to take 20 minutes to adjust.

Dusted off my mage, went and took out Mytha, Najka and Smelter. Smelter was frustrating because I got that 'stuck in the wall' glitch 3 times during the fight. He still couldn't beat me though.

So... what are the good spells I should be aiming for? Right now I'm using Great Soul Arrow (x2), Great Heavy Soul Arrow, Dark Orb, Flame Swathe and Fire Whip. It's a Hex setup, only 20/20 atm, so there's a lot of stuff I can't use yet. I know what Miracles are good, and obviously I'm going to want Great Resonant Soul, but what else?

Also, any advice on what Staff is best (for using both Magic and Hexes) would be appreciated.

Looks like a souls game w/ no lock on and no shields.

Ok... now I'm excited. Looks like a PS4 is going to be purchased w/ next year's tax return.

I'm guessing it still has lock on. Why wouldn't it!? Probably just the person playing didn't use it since the demo was more about showing off the world than the combat. Either that or they just haven't added it in yet; it's an alpha build at best.

[aceluby]

Back to Drangleic with me. A couple weeks off and I completely forget how to play this game. It felt so fast coming from AC4. Had to take 20 minutes to adjust.

Dusted off my mage, went and took out Mytha, Najka and Smelter. Smelter was frustrating because I got that 'stuck in the wall' glitch 3 times during the fight. He still couldn't beat me though.

So... what are the good spells I should be aiming for? Right now I'm using Great Soul Arrow (x2), Great Heavy Soul Arrow, Dark Orb, Flame Swathe and Fire Whip. It's a Hex setup, only 20/20 atm, so there's a lot of stuff I can't use yet. I know what Miracles are good, and obviously I'm going to want Great Resonant Soul, but what else?

Also, any advice on what Staff is best (for using both Magic and Hexes) would be appreciated.

I'm guessing it still has lock on. Why wouldn't it!? Probably just the person playing didn't use it since the demo was more about showing off the world than the combat. Either that or they just haven't added it in yet; it's an alpha build at best.

If you're going to do mainly hexes just use the Sunset Staff as it can cast sorceries as well. If you want to min/max, infuse w/ dark and switch to a stronger sorcery staff. Dark Orb is a beast and you get a ton of casts with it, so it was my go-to spell for most of a level. GRS I believe needs a chime, which is a big reason I never used it. Other than that you're pretty good until you get the late game spells.

[Muttering Bill]

I don't want to use only Hexes. I'd like to have a variety of spells from all schools in rotation. Maybe not optimal, but this is likely the only mage I'm going to make so I might as well use them all. My plan is to keep Staff/Chime/Flame equiped in the left hand and 3 Rapiers in the right. I'll use the Dragon Chime since it has good #'s for both Lightning and Dark, and I want to find a comparable Staff. But I don't want to start upgrading one only to find a better one later.

Damage from Dark Orb hasn't been too impressive yet, but I've still got fairly low stats and only the starter Staff +4. Right now it's only a little better than regular Soul Arrow.

[Slurktan]

I don't want to use only Hexes. I'd like to have a variety of spells from all schools in rotation. Maybe not optimal, but this is likely the only mage I'm going to make so I might as well use them all. My plan is to keep Staff/Chime/Flame equiped in the left hand and 3 Rapiers in the right. I'll use the Dragon Chime since it has good #'s for both Lightning and Dark, and I want to find a comparable Staff. But I don't want to start upgrading one only to find a better one later.

Damage from Dark Orb hasn't been too impressive yet, but I've still got fairly low stats and only the starter Staff +4. Right now it's only a little better than regular Soul Arrow.

I think Dark Orb is awesome mainly because you can spam it, and it staggers things hit by it which a lot of sorceries don't. I've just started my third run, going for a 20's mundane/hexer build. One thing I will say that is leaps and bounds better than Demon's or DS1 is that NG+ and beyond is actually significantly better so I've been playing a lot of that,

[aceluby]

I don't want to use only Hexes. I'd like to have a variety of spells from all schools in rotation. Maybe not optimal, but this is likely the only mage I'm going to make so I might as well use them all. My plan is to keep Staff/Chime/Flame equiped in the left hand and 3 Rapiers in the right. I'll use the Dragon Chime since it has good #'s for both Lightning and Dark, and I want to find a comparable Staff. But I don't want to start upgrading one only to find a better one later.

Damage from Dark Orb hasn't been too impressive yet, but I've still got fairly low stats and only the starter Staff +4. Right now it's only a little better than regular Soul Arrow.

I'd go w/ a regular sunset staff then IMO, or else you could just use the black witch staff which can cast everything. And as the other poster stated, Dark Orb is good for staggering and gets a boost as you get better dark stats. At 40/40 it was doing more damage than everything except my most powerful spells.

[Muttering Bill]

Black Witches Staff it is! Maybe a little weaker, but not too bad. And it will simplify matters.

One thing I will say that is leaps and bounds better than Demon's or DS1 is that NG+ and beyond is actually significantly better so I've been playing a lot of that,

And considering that it takes that long to get build set up, we're going to be spending more time in NG+ and beyond.

Of course, I haven't spent that much time there, since I'm always coming up with a new build that I want to make.

[MerenthaClone]

Black Witch is a great all-rounder. Dark Sunset is probably the best hex staff, Dark Caitha's is the best hex chime, Lightning Dragon is the best faith chime, and Staff of Amana/Staff of Wisdom are probably equal for best sorcery staves. Even on my hexer, I'm just planning to go with the Black Witch for ease of use.

The best way to stay an all-rounder is just to not infuse. A vanilla Black Witch staff is going to be fairly powerful regardless, plus the pvp utility of ridiculous hidden spell flexibility is very tempting.

[Muttering Bill]

So I just found out that there is a promotional event (?) for the DLC, where the chest in the Majula mansion basement is being filled with a new item each week. First week (which is already over) was 3 Petrified Somethings. I guess it updated today, and now there are 2 Twinkling Titanites.

Not OMG wondeful stuff. But it's a neat idea and worth taking the trip down when you're in the neighborhood.