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Other Things => Gaming => Topic started by: Acid on October 10, 2011, 05:40:02 AM

Title: Dark Souls
Post by: Acid on October 10, 2011, 05:40:02 AM
I don't think I will get many replies, but it's worth a try:

If you desperately want a Metroidvania in 3D, but done well, get Dark Souls.

I kid you not. The game got everything you want from a Metroidvania.

-Nonlinear exploration (punishment for venturing too far too early included, but good players can finish anyway)
-Loads of paths and shortcuts to unlock
-Truckloads of equipment and spells
-Great difficulty (though not unfair, as some claim)
-Great designs for environments, equipment and monsters
-Soundtrack is an orchestral orgy or calm and menacing, it covers the whole program

I can't believe how this game is absorbing me.

Here is music

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUfbdZF_3VM[/youtube] [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-e_ccem4lE[/youtube] [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mERtxPGJeQ[/youtube] [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_UJz04oGwU[/youtube]

Though even if you're not big on CV but want a challenging game that practically devours your freetime, get this.

Holy [parasitic bomb] I love it.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: lizardcommando on October 10, 2011, 06:40:38 AM
Is this game as tough as Demon's Souls or is it harder?
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Bueno Excelente on October 10, 2011, 10:56:27 AM
Supposedly harder but with more stuff to exploit and a bigger number of items/weapons.

I honestly can't wait, but between this and Arkham City, Arkham wins...
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Acid on October 10, 2011, 02:25:44 PM
Is this game as tough as Demon's Souls or is it harder?

It's been a while since I played Demon's Souls.

But if my memory serves right... Dark Souls is indeed harder.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Rayl on October 11, 2011, 12:30:44 PM
I have Dark Souls now, i don't know how they made it harder but they did.

Also whoever from the team said they made riposting easier is a god damn liar, it was perfectly fine in Demon's Souls now it feels almost random.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Acid on October 11, 2011, 01:31:11 PM
I prefer backstabbing anyway.
Though riposte deals more damage.

Also, I GOT SILVER KNIGHT ARMOR.

I LOOK PIMP AS [tornado fang].
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Bueno Excelente on October 11, 2011, 02:05:17 PM
Too bad that once you get the Drake Sword, you won't switch weapons in the entire game again.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Acid on October 11, 2011, 02:06:20 PM
You haven't played very far yet have you?

Drake Sword gets outclassed later on. It' just a good beginning weapon.

And wasting dragon scales on upgrading it really isn't worth it.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Bueno Excelente on October 11, 2011, 02:15:30 PM
Don't have the game yet, just heard it was too good of a weapon to be outclassed by others.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Acid on October 11, 2011, 02:41:56 PM
Well, I stopped using it.

It's overpowered as hell for the early parts of the game. But nobody should stick with it forever. Seriously.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Rayl on October 11, 2011, 06:36:55 PM
I like riposting ='(

Yeah i got the Drake Sword as well but i can see it being outclassed soon enough. I wondered into the DarkRoot Basin and i found enemies that didn't get one shot by it! D:
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Acid on October 11, 2011, 10:05:50 PM
I traversed into Anor Londo and the Drake Sword is useless!
I will now have to forge a proper weapon to proceed.

Also, Darkroot Basin is where the Hydra is.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Sub Tank on October 17, 2011, 07:17:40 AM
THEY
RUINED
MULTIPLAYER




Holy [parasitic bomb] I just wasted two hours of my life trying to get into a game with someone.  I finally see my friend's soapstone and then I get the message "SUMMONING FAILS."  Now we're back to square one.  This is total bullshit and I want you all to know.

Don't get this game if you have any intention of playing with people you know.  It's just not going to happen.  The only reason why I haven't returned my game is because I am hoping for some sort of resolution to this problem.  Like a patch or something.  Totally ruined my weekend.  I was so psyched for this coop.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Bueno Excelente on October 17, 2011, 09:36:00 AM
THEY
RUINED
MULTIPLAYER




Holy [parasitic bomb] I just wasted two hours of my life trying to get into a game with someone.  I finally see my friend's soapstone and then I get the message "SUMMONING FAILS."  Now we're back to square one.  This is total bullshit and I want you all to know.

Don't get this game if you have any intention of playing with people you know.  It's just not going to happen.  The only reason why I haven't returned my game is because I am hoping for some sort of resolution to this problem.  Like a patch or something.  Totally ruined my weekend.  I was so psyched for this coop.
Ruining multi is different than having an error.

I honestly haven't heard any complaints, and the forum I go to is pretty Dark Souls-discussion heavy.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Sub Tank on October 19, 2011, 03:00:15 AM
It's not just one isolated event.  I never had any trouble playing Demon's Souls with friends, so I think I know what I'm talking about.

Everyone has been complaining about the online.  Even the devs are aware of it.  They just announced a new matchmaking patch, so hopefully that does something.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Acid on October 20, 2011, 01:59:35 AM
I just got the Darkwraith equipment. The whole set.

Looks boss as [tornado fang], but kinda sucks.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Sub Tank on October 20, 2011, 02:58:30 AM
Isn't that supposed to be slightly better than the Elite Knight armor?  That's what I've been using for a while.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Acid on October 20, 2011, 03:04:49 AM
My Elite Knight set is around +6 or +7 I think. And I just received the Dark set. So the knight set is obviously better. I'd be surprised if it wasn't.

Dark sword is a nice one handed weapon, but I will keep my Black Knight Sword+4
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Sub Tank on October 20, 2011, 05:29:21 AM
I need to get to Gwyn so I can draw her
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Acid on October 20, 2011, 04:04:01 PM
But Gwyn is the old bearded guy.

You mean Gwynevere.

(http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/7387/1319046297128.png)
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Align on October 20, 2011, 04:16:11 PM
Quote
Be wary of amazing chest
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Acid on October 20, 2011, 06:09:28 PM
Be wary of amazing chest

+1
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Sub Tank on October 20, 2011, 11:56:49 PM
But Gwyn is the old bearded guy.

You mean Gwynevere.

(http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/7387/1319046297128.png)

Oh [parasitic bomb] there actually is art of her.

And yeah the dude's name is Gwyn too, it's confusing.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Acid on October 21, 2011, 11:59:27 PM
Hey Sub Tank, what Soul Level are you?

If they patch the co-op mode so people can play with specific other players instead of random people, would you be up for some dark souling?
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Sub Tank on October 24, 2011, 05:58:51 AM
Acid you never told me Bit and Byte were in this game.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Acid on October 24, 2011, 03:06:02 PM
I'd never dare and spoil the game for you.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on June 04, 2014, 08:17:31 PM
gonna bump this topic back up since there's now gonna be DS2 DLC.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_24S4j-jWU#ws (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_24S4j-jWU#ws)
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on June 05, 2014, 03:44:28 AM
Ooo, more content is always welcome; but oh god who decided to make those poison statues from the gutter mobile!?

Crown that grants immense power? Sounds like a Shadow Tower 1 reference to me, Dark Souls II was full of King's Field nods too.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on June 05, 2014, 04:14:28 AM
Yeah, I kinda like how they're planning this out.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on July 23, 2014, 08:14:45 PM
Crown of the Sunken King is out now.

Over all thoughts? Well worth the $9.99 price.

Level design is fantastic, the two areas are huge and full of hidden paths and multiple ways at progressing, the idea of using switches to alter the geography was genius and I'm sure I missed a few things. Speaking of switches there alot of hidden ones in the temple area and it very much feels like a LoZ dungeon.

Enemy variety was also really good, the enemies are all hard to stun lock and hit hard or can inflict poison or break your equipment but the level design often lets you inflict damage on them ahead of time to balance the playing field. Bosses on the other hand were more of a mixed bag, certainly not as good as Artorias of the Abyss from Dark Souls 1, the last boss is fun and challenging but one of the optional bosses is just a lazy NPC gank squad. I have yet to face the second optional boss so I can't comment I believe it's a dragon so maybe something like Kalameet?

The new weapons/armor/spells and rings are all usefull or should be fun to play around with. Some of the consumable items added in are neat too.

If the next two DLC are this long and have this much new content I'll be getting them too, all they need to work on is boss design a little more. This DLC really brought back nostalgia for King's Field 4 for some reason, the sunken city reminds me of the Ancient City.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on July 26, 2014, 05:25:28 PM
DLC is really huge, especially considering that was only 1/3 of the whole extra content (parts 2 and 3 will come out in Aug and Sep). Overall, I'd say it's worth the $8-10 for the exploration and new items, but sadly not for the bosses.

You can see that they had to design X bosses to populate these gigantic new areas plus 2 more DLCs, and at some point they must have realized it was easier to alternate recycled stuff and new exciting stuff. One of the bosses is expectedly epic (the "final" boss), but the others are lazy and dumb. DkS1's DLC bosses kick this DLC's ass.

Still, I don't know if it's because I played on NG++, but the bosses were no piece of cake. I could generally tank them with a billion healing items, but I still relied on NPC summons and a little luck. The levels were fairly simple to survive, at least. I was dealing good damage, and the Alonne Greatbow could handle most rooms from a distance. The new regular enemies aren't as obnoxious as you'd expect. Only bosses killed me. Most bonfires are well placed, and sometimes well hidden. And I didn't see any Black Phantoms outside of scripted NPC invasions.

That all said... holy hell, these new areas are sweet. One of them has a Tomb Raider/Indiana Jones vibe, with traps, switches and secrets. When you first enter the DLC and see the enormous temples in the distance, wondering if you'll get to explore them... whoa. I kinda regret playing online because the messages spoiled some secrets that would have been interesting to figure out on my own. There are new consumable types (like temporary STAT increase!), new rings, and some interesting weapons/spells. I gotta farm enemies to see if they drop anything good.

Looking forward to the next DLC, but I hope the bosses are more creative.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on July 26, 2014, 07:01:30 PM
I think I'm going to wait until they're all out, then start a new character from scratch.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on July 27, 2014, 09:40:03 PM
Make sure to visit Vendrick after getting the crown because that Ashen Mist memory hints at story to come, to say nothing of the description of a certain DLC boss soul.

I'm calling it now, Primordial Serpents are going to be part of this; the design of shrine of winter and in the area after the Rotten seems to hint at them heavily.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on July 27, 2014, 09:48:51 PM
If I had known there would be DLC I wouldn't have started NG+. Shulva alone is kicking my ass.

then again, the DLC came with a buttload of balance changes, so theres that too.

And this [parasitic bomb] is clearly intended to be endgame content, while I'm not done with NG+

Also using the full heide set, which while all around strong, isn't the best.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on July 27, 2014, 10:16:32 PM
I'd say the Ancient City..err Shulva is best tackled with a character at the 90+ level range, honestly you can be that strong around the half way point if your build doesn't require too many purchases outside leveling up. Honestly the trick of the enemies of the DLC is to not be an R1 spammer, this DLC was designed to punish stun lockers and reward players who fight smart.

Playing through the DLC again on my mundane duel dagger build, lots of fun still making me nostalgic for King's Field IV due to the level design. XD
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on July 27, 2014, 11:49:15 PM
pretty sure Im like level 200+

problem is more that everything hits like a truck, armor or no armor. One guard break with low stamina and half my health is gone.

I'll manage
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on July 28, 2014, 01:25:45 AM
Heres a few tips that might help you out.

1) The humanoid enemies here can't be staggered at least not without two or more hits, this means spamming attacks won't get you far in this DLC. Bait an attack and roll away then quickly counter.

2) Use the switches to you're advantage, the rising pillars can harm the early mobs greatly, later ones can be used as cover.

3) The lizzards with the poison spitting statue shells can be killed, either smash them with a hammer type weapon (downward swings) or arrow/magic the fleshy parts in first person view

4) The ghosts later have a puzzle around them solve that and you can damage them normally, unless you want spoilers I'll just say look at the environment around the first two and you'll figure out what you need to do.

5) The large monsters later are weak to lightning damage, stick near their rear by the feet and roll to avoid their stomp or jump attack. The bite attacks are FAR more dangerous.

6) Try to backstab the knights in the final area, I honestly haven't figured a better way of dealing with them due to their agile attacks.

Hope that helps a little, honestly be as mobile as you can and don't get greedy with attacks and the enemies aren't too bad.

Title: Bloodborne Gameplay Trailer<3
Post by: The Drunken Dishwasher on August 13, 2014, 01:28:02 AM
Looks Amazing :D!!! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WsqQtqwP9E&feature=youtu.be)
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on August 13, 2014, 01:43:47 AM
Blood Souls---err Borne looks very nice, I love the new era they are using.

Transformable weapons - I'm curious how this will turn out, maybe it's treated like power stancing in Dark Souls II where you hold the triangle/Y button for a second to activate it.

Improved Agility - The new dodging looks really useful, we already know rolling is the basic dodge maneuver and with shields no longer a thing I can't wait to see what kinda evasions I can master.

Enemy Behavior - It looks like enemies have some neat things they will do when not in battle, much better than just standing around in mobs waiting for the player.

Interconnected City - I'm really looking forward to seeing the exploration of Dark Souls I with the dark atmosphere of Demons Souls. Interviews said that theres many ways to draw enemy attention as some mobs will be way to large to safely handle in normal combat.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on August 13, 2014, 02:48:35 AM
It's looking pretty good... I'm curious to see just how many of the weapons are transformable.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on August 20, 2014, 06:03:49 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-25S6bxg-6E (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-25S6bxg-6E)

Silver Mont has a game play analysis video up. I love how the infected talk...some screaming murder at you others begging you not to kill them, that's unnerving and way better than that groans of the hollowed undead or soul starved from the previous three games.

Also the Darkness Mechanic better make it into the final game unlike Dark Souls II  -_-
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on August 27, 2014, 07:45:21 PM
Dark Souls 2, second DLC impressions. Finished the whole thing in about 4 hours.

Quality is about the same as the first DLC. The new area is bigger than Sunken City, and very pretty. The enemies are okay. I don't like the constant spamming of a certain enemy type, but at least the ambush situations are super predictable. There were tons of Black Phantoms, dunno if that's an NG+ thing or if they're always there. As for the bosses... well, I liked one of them a LOT. At the very least they all fight solo, which is a plus after the ridiculous gank squad of the first DLC.

Can't say I like the damage I'm doing with my weapons. I can't tell if it's a nerf or if NG++ is that brutal there.

Mini Review now that I've mostly 100% the DLC

Crown of the Old Iron King continues to push game play design not often found in the Vanilla Dark Souls II, while the Sunken City of Shulva had a focus on puzzle solving both in combat and in manipulating the environment to progress through it's bow triggered switches, the tower of Brume offers a highly vertical design as you slowly descend the tower and discover keys needed to unlock other areas of the tower. While the initial areas of Brume are more linear than Shulva once you find some keys you begin to discover there are quite a few areas off the beaten path to explore and suddenly Brume is one of the largest areas in the game.

Enemy diversity is better than in Sunken King, you encounter the basic soldier type enemies in three flavors, however you also encounter possessed armor that can separate their body parts to attack from various angles and a new mage type of enemy that's challenging at both range and melee. Several giant enemies also exist and offer a neat way to punish players who just strafe larger targets to avoid their attacks, you also encounter several hollowed enemies that do not react well to fire and can be used to open some hidden passages if exploded correctly.

This DLC has three bosses like Sunken King, and only one boss is one that is reused however said boss has had it's A.I. and attack patterns tweaked and is quite challenging yet feeling fair compared to the gank squad of the challenge path of Shulva. The next two bosses are completely original and feel fresh.

Over all this DLC is beautiful, it's offers many breath taking views as you move outside during your decent and the artistic design within Brume is also top notch, mobs feel fair and playing smart can save you a lot of deaths. There is one red phantom mob I feel is kinda cheap but over all this content is balanced and enjoyable, there are a ton of new weapons, several new armor sets, more than few new rings and three new spells (1 Hex and 2 Pyromancies).

Like Crown of the Sunken King this DLC is well worth the $9.99 cost and is full of content. I got through the Tower of Brume in about 5 hours and missed two enemy drop weapons and one part of the Brume Mage set (gloves). If you love Dark Souls II I would recommend picking this up.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on August 31, 2014, 03:44:30 AM
The DLC is pretty fantastic.

Sinh is a great fight, and I didn't mind Elana being a reskin that summons a reskin. the Velstadt clone was VERY unnessecary, but as long as she only summons skeletons, the fight is a neat one.

so far, Iron king is cool as well.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on September 18, 2014, 01:59:45 AM
Looks like we've finally got screenshots of the Ivory King DLC.

FINALLY, SNOW

(http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac71/Flame-G102/General/1410989571263_zps03b303e8.jpg)

(http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac71/Flame-G102/General/1410989590194_zps489f944d.jpg)

(http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac71/Flame-G102/General/1410989654106_zpsdd642c60.jpg)

(http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac71/Flame-G102/General/1410989718577_zps83a98f5b.jpg)

(http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac71/Flame-G102/General/1410989781297_zps7eb3c7f8.jpg)

looks like we've got some more non-humanoid enemies. Including icy versions of those Vendrick Golems
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on September 18, 2014, 04:46:41 AM
I love the design, although thats been true of all the DLCs so far.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on September 18, 2014, 09:15:11 AM
more screenshots.

The place is as pretty much everyone guessed, accessed from the Shrine of Winter, most likely the serpent cup fire thing behind that sealed door.


(http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac71/Flame-G102/General/1411017591714_zps27015e69.jpg)

(http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac71/Flame-G102/General/1411017561952_zps8ff1764e.jpg)

looks like that street fighter moveset people found in the PC version WILL be an actual item.

(http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac71/Flame-G102/General/1411017664522_zps79e6ee13.jpg)

(http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac71/Flame-G102/General/1411017734845_zps44e40fcd.jpg)

(http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac71/Flame-G102/General/1411018048265_zps50112ffe.jpg)

(http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac71/Flame-G102/General/1411018113359_zps511976a8.jpg)

apparently also, once you have gotten the 3 crowns, you can visit Vendrick in his memory for some sort of "surprise"
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Kieran on September 21, 2014, 04:22:22 AM
I suppose I should actually pick up the DLC at some point.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on September 22, 2014, 07:50:24 PM
Ivory DLC got delayed until the 30th.

http://kotaku.com/dark-souls-ii-dlc-delayed-crown-of-the-ivory-king-par-1637546285 (http://kotaku.com/dark-souls-ii-dlc-delayed-crown-of-the-ivory-king-par-1637546285)
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on September 23, 2014, 02:18:29 AM
Yeah a shame but apparently the recruiting mechanic for the final boss was causing some serious performance issues. Rather have it late than have game breaking issues either way.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on October 01, 2014, 08:23:26 AM
Finished Crown of the Ivory King, and the full DLC quest.

Well, technically I still have one optional boss to fight. It's located in what has to be the most obnoxious area in the whole game, and since the boss is just another rehash of a previous fight, I don't really care about it right now.

I loved the real boss fights in this DLC, though. The first boss is sort of like a guardian, not very difficult but (as expected) has something unique about it that'll make you scratch your head. In my case, I got lucky because I found the solution to the boss puzzle before I actually fought the boss. Needless to say, people are pretty mad about this one on the message boards.

The final boss is absolutely insane, but in a good way.

*SPOILERS*
This fight has an interesting concept: you can recruit four other NPCs (plus the regular phantoms that appear before bosses!) to help you win the fight. The idea is that these knight NPCs will sacrifice themselves to seal the portals from which the boss's minions are summoned. Seal the portals and your reward is a (still tough) 1v1 fight. The problem is that the four knights are all locked somewhere on the icy land, and you need to do some hardcore exploration to find them all. But man, when you save them and go fight the Ivory King, it is such a great sight watching those 4, 5, 6 phantoms trade hits with the boss and his minions.
*END*

As for the DLC area, it was okay. Less complex than Iron King, still massive. I think I liked the Sunken City better, but maybe it's because I wasn't in such a hurry to finish that one. There were several parts of the snowy land that I just kinda rushed through, and I also used a guide to find one of the knight NPCs.

The "big surprise" that From was promising us for beating the DLC quest was very disappointing, to say the least. Bleh.

Still, it was a fun ride. I did the whole thing in NG++, so there was plenty that I didn't explore because I wanted to fight the bosses ASAP and see if I could beat them. I will take my time and explore these areas more carefully in some other opportunity.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Kieran on October 01, 2014, 01:40:33 PM
I think I'll see if the DLC package gets a discount during the next Steam sale.  Sounds like it's worth picking up, but I just don't want to pay full price for it.  I didn't pay full price for the game either, so it's a matter of principle at this point.

However, I am almost done with Demon's Souls, and I need some new areas to explore afterward. :V  The itch must be scratched, even if Dark Souls 2 is my least favorite game in the series.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on October 01, 2014, 11:50:18 PM
The reward for gathering all four crowns was fine, it's an awesome advantage without breaking the game and it fits the story. People shouldn't over hype things, it was never going to be rematch with Manus or a new ending.

The Frozen City kinda reminds me of the Bolataria, and it easily the largest of the DLC areas. I really like how many new areas open up after thawing the ice, and there was a nice new twist on the Manus Fragment story. Not sure what DLC is my favorite though.

Also Bone Fist power stanced with another fist weapon = Hadokens! =D
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on October 02, 2014, 12:44:07 AM
People shouldn't over hype things

The Vendrick memory conversations were clearly building up with each new DLC, From promised "surprises" for clearing the whole quest, and the memory area is a lot bigger than what you have access to. It's understandable that people would expect something better at the end.

Don't get me wrong, the DLC is a great pack (sans lame rehashed bosses), and the journey matters most, but there were enough reasons to be excited at the possibilities there.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on October 02, 2014, 01:00:12 AM
True but the build up does go somewhere if you think about it.

[spoiler]by merging the power of all four crowns you finally gain away to break the curse while maintaining your immortality. In other words the Cursed Undead finally broke the cycle, and Vendrick's dialogue hints this power will soon spread and effect the rest of the undead. Combine this with the base ending and it gives me some nice ammo for my character's own ending. I'm satisfied honestly.[/spoiler]

Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on October 02, 2014, 03:05:54 PM
I don't really care about the story, though. :P It's cool that the reward was satisfying to you, but saying I was overhyping the surprise isn't fair. I didn't play the DLC solely for the reward at the end, it's just one little thing that was disappointing to me.

Anti-curse is not something that can help me at this point. I have 10+ Rings of Life Protection, and those also protect my souls... (Plus that crown is butt ugly!)

I definitely want to find that Bone Fist, though! :O
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on October 03, 2014, 02:24:14 AM
That Buff works with all the crowns, not just Vendrick's and unlike the rings they don't break AND offer stat enhancements. The hidden lore of the Souls series is a huge part of why I love it, the end of the 3 DLCs gave some hope to a happy ending for my character beyond being kindling.

In the end all three DLCs were quality adventures and improved on the vanilla game by leaps and bounds so I'm satisfied, the ability to become immune to cures and hallowing is just an added bonus.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Kieran on October 03, 2014, 01:36:27 PM
Did you mean "curse" and "hollowing"?
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on October 03, 2014, 04:12:12 PM
Yeah, those are basically the same thing in that context. When you get cursed in Dark Souls 2, you become hollow and your max health bar decreases a bit (like when you die in hollow form).

The stat buff isn't necessary at the point in the game where you get it. Early on, when you actually need to worry about being hollow, the game provides convenient solutions like Ring of Binding and Human Effigies. In my case, if a ring breaks, I pay 3000 souls to fix it (which is nothing at this point) and I keep my 10 million souls + human form. I understand why people would want the extra ring slot, although that depends a lot on the build (my character is a STR melee, there's not much else to add in terms of pure strength).

I can imagine the HP regen crown + buff being useful in SL1 runs, where your curse resist is super low and any help is welcome. But that means doing the entire DLC plus the areas necessary to access the DLC realms. You are pretty much done with the game if you can make it there.

Also very important: the buff doesn't even carry over to NG+. You have to keep getting the 3 DLC crowns over and over in every cycle.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Kieran on October 03, 2014, 08:04:52 PM
Oh, I know that.  I was referring to Valkyrie mangling the words.  Being immune to "cures" in Dark Souls would be kind of terrible.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on October 03, 2014, 08:55:01 PM
Oh, sorry. I'm dumb. :D
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on October 06, 2014, 05:45:23 PM
Yeah meant Curse sorry, the upgraded crowns makes you immune to the curse status effect as well as hollowing when you die. Nashandra's curse orbs and the fog areas in Brume Tower will no longer affect you like if you wore the Hollowed Mask item found in Brume tower. (Curse Jars obviously no longer affect you as well.)

I agree though not being able to carry over the effect to a NG+ run is kinda lame but I rarely go past NG+ anyway since I just tend to PVP with that character.

My only real complaint of the DLCs now is that damned Fridged Outskirts area, now THAT is artificial difficulty at it's worst. What was FROM thinking there, you don't even get anything for killing the two bosses there outside copies of Aava's Soul. At least the other challenge areas cave you neat armor parts. (The Flower Skirt and the Giant Dad-esq mask)
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on October 06, 2014, 06:41:50 PM
I tried Frigid Outskirts a couple times, made it to the Pharros healing spring. Then I died a second time and said [tornado fang] it, I'm not in the mood for this crap, haha. Since then, people have made videos showing how to get around there, and also a map (https://i.imgur.com/qJsdEYK.jpg). I'll give it a try some other time (being in NG+2 doesn't help...).
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on October 06, 2014, 07:31:06 PM
I'll only go there for one reason, to get the Ring of the Living from right before the boss room. It lets you look human without the phantom effect while in Co-Op and Invasions. That is very important for Fashion Souls!
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on October 07, 2014, 07:36:19 PM
I beat all 3 DLC's in NG+

That was quite an adventure since everything chunks you.

Ivory king fight was definitely fantastic, and having the 4 Loyce Knights to help out (mainly as aggro for the Charred Loyce Knights)

As far as the whole plot surrounding Ivory king goes, I loved it. It was nice to see Chaos again. it made for some variety. Sort of expands the chaos plot in DS1.

Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Kieran on October 09, 2014, 07:29:22 PM
I'm still sort of fumbling my way through the Brume Tower after picking up the DLC.  Haven't made it to any of the other DLC zones yet.

So far I'm finding the whole thing kind of bullshit.  It feels like the whole tower, instead of the devs trying to make it interesting or challenging in any meaningful way, just decided "let's throw five hundred enemies at the player at once.  That's hard, right?"
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on October 09, 2014, 07:49:01 PM
The numbers seem bad at first but if you look around carefully it's possible to thin their numbers using the hazards to your advantage at a bit of creative item use. I actually enjoyed dealing with the two mob rooms.

The first major mob can be tackled in two ways. One, climb down and run to the Ash Idol and use the Smelter Wedge to destroy it and remove it's buff then deal with the two or three Ashen Soldiers. (Don't run too far and you shouldn't agro the other one. The second way is to jump from from those ladders to the balcony above the room and fall behind that one near the far wall the slowly draw the others to you with arrows one at a time.

The Second major mob room is easy to deal with if you have some fire arrows, Alluring Skulls and some patience. Chase the barrel enemies so they fall down the trap door then wait for them to approach the Giant and use arrows to blow it up. You don't even need to go down there just back off and fire an arrow from the ladder hole. Alluring skulls can be used with some good aim to get all the enemies together. The bomb throwing knight on that unreachable ledge can be taken care of by going to the locked door and using a bomb to blow up the barrels on the other side or a weapon that clips through the door. Once the giant is out of the way you can deal with the minor threats at your leisure and take out the next Ashen Idol.

The large out door area I found it was best to snipe the first Fume Sorceress then trigger the enemies on the path and run back to where you first entered dealing with them on your own terms. The key to the lower ash field is to deal with the first three enemies then agro the one's hiding in the wall one at a time.

For the rest of the tower just use the sliding bull traps to damage them and use arrows to draw agro. The area you need to drop down for is best beaten by just careful avoiding the damaged floor areas and dealing with the enemies one at a time rather than all at once.

Hope that helps you out. ((I play way to much Souls =D ))
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Kieran on October 10, 2014, 06:37:26 AM
I already managed to claw my way to the boss room.  I'm just sick of fighting the [tornado fang]ing Iron Warriors, not to mention the possessed armors that will not die in the room above, despite being nowhere near a goddamn ashen idol.  Not helped by the fact you can't leave the final bonfire to approach the boss room without aggroing at least two of the bastards.

This isn't fun.  It feels like a slog.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on October 11, 2014, 06:04:27 AM
If you hug the wall closest to Fume Knight's room you can avoid agroing them at all. For the floor above I just ran past them to the elevator and once the four ashen idols below were gone I went back up to grab the Magic Clutch Ring.  For the Iron Warriors it's honestly best to stay right in front of them, they can't get you with their flame attacks and it's pretty easy to dodge their swings from there if you roll toward them.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Kieran on October 12, 2014, 02:42:37 AM
Well, I killed the Iron Warriors in the Fume Knight area until they stopped spawning, so that's no longer a problem.

Now I just can't [tornado fang]ing survive against the Fume Knight himself.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on October 12, 2014, 03:20:21 AM
The key to Fume Knight is to adapt to his delayed swings, don't try to block his attacks ever they will almost always guard break you. Will depend on on player but if you prefer his second phase to his first wearing Vestalt's armor will send him into a fury and start the second phase right away.

You may want to watch a youtube video and see how some players deal with him, if not all I can say is don't dodge to soon and you'll roll through most of his attacks. Maybe summon help although that puts his strength, defense and health through the roof.

Fume Knight is my favorite boss in the whole soul series, even above Manus Father of the Abyss, he's a blast to fight and evenin co-op is a serious challenge.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on October 20, 2014, 10:42:55 AM
it's really just the Velstadt helm that he recognizes.

it's the little things, really, that make DS2 worthwhile.

like the fact that the game presents you with the Artorias greatsword, the majestic greatsword, at the bottom of that curse deathtrap tower. which specifies that all it's previous users were left handed.

Then you fight Fume Knight and realize upon the shift to phase 2 of the fight, that Raime is actually left handed, and neither of his 2 weapons are his original gear, and he had a Greatshield he left behind, lost in the salamander pit in the Forest, and a ring that reduces stamina loss when blocking, and you realize he was a left handed sword and board [chameleon sting]er. And that majestic greatsword had to come from somewhere. I mean, it's not on a corpse, but in an iron chest.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Kieran on October 20, 2014, 03:11:59 PM
I actually spent some time, after a friend of mine helped me beat the Fume Knight, getting my stats in order to use the Majestic Greatsword.  Fighting left-handed is... weird.  (Plus, you know, that sword is so big it's very difficult to use in tight quarters.)
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Phi on October 20, 2014, 03:43:53 PM
(Plus, you know, that sword is so big it's very difficult to use in tight quarters.)

Perfect wording here. I approve.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on October 20, 2014, 04:24:50 PM
If you have the stats two handing the majestic great sword in the left hand and another great sword in the other also has some neat moves.

But yeah I like all the little nods, Ivory King has the same throw backs to a certain Witch from the first game.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on October 21, 2014, 07:01:44 AM
If you have the stats two handing the majestic great sword in the left hand and another great sword in the other also has some neat moves.

But yeah I like all the little nods, Ivory King has the same throw backs to a certain Witch from the first game.
to be fair, The Lost Sinner was already a throwback to that.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on October 21, 2014, 10:19:21 PM
to be fair, The Lost Sinner was already a throwback to that.

True but they reference the Witch of Izalith in pretty different ways.

The lost sinner was obviously a queen of her own time (popular theory is she was Princess of Venn) but at some point acquired the Old Witch's Soul much in the same way we would from a previous owner. But it's her actions that make her really interesting, she punishes herself for some forgotten sin committed. We all would figure that would be trying to recreate the first flame like the Witch originally did but Shalqouir's comments seem to contradict that.

"Once, people tried to round up the Undead and hide them away from the world. They thought that imprisoning the Undead would solve the problem. They created a towering bastille to contain them, but in the end, it did no good. The Lost Sinner lives deep within the bastille. The fool. Trying to light the First Flame..."

Perhaps she like Vendrick had a shard of Manus manipulating her and like him hid herself away to avoid some catastrophe? Who knows, fun to speculate though.

As for The Ivory King, Eleum Loyce seemed to have been built upon the mountain where below Lost Izalith was still located (although it seems most of the old city had been consumed by the lava at this point). My theory on that is that the Flame of Chaos (what the witch of izalith tried to make to mimic the first flame in Dark Souls I)) can rekindle it's self at the start of new cycle like the first flame can.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on October 22, 2014, 05:11:05 AM
thats some mighty theory crafting there.

Lost Sinner was a pyromancer, evidenced by putting out the lights with a swipe of her sword, and having pyromancer red spirits accompanying her halfway through her fight in NG+

she just, like The witch before her, tried to [tornado fang] with the first flame. only instead of trying to recreate it, she tried to re-light it. Obviously this seems to have ended in disaster of some sort.

the old Chaos is very much related to the original bed of chaos. apparently it sprouted chaos everywhere, not just that one place
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on October 22, 2014, 05:36:58 AM
thats some mighty theory crafting there.

Thank you I love the souls lore and all the fan theories thats poped out of all three games. XD

Lost Sinner was a pyromancer, evidenced by putting out the lights with a swipe of her sword, and having pyromancer red spirits accompanying her halfway through her fight in NG+
Agreed, the Red Phantom Pyromancers basically confirmed she was either one or had a close connection to them. Odd she never uses pyro attacks, but that might be out of atoning for her sins.

she just, like The witch before her, tried to [tornado fang] with the first flame. only instead of trying to recreate it, she tried to re-light it. Obviously this seems to have ended in disaster of some sort.

This is where I'm a little stumped, we know what re-lighting the first flame does; it begins a new cycle and restores souls to the hollowed shells of all the races. (Humans aren't the only race that can go hollow and in the intro scene of Dark Souls 1 prior the first flame everyone who wasn't a dragon was a hollow before claiming the lord souls. The Pygmy was the one who split the Dark Soul and gave birth to humanity.)

So what could have happened? She didn't try to "Re-create" the first flame like the Witch did the in game text from Shalqouir specifically says relight, as in to rekindle. Sadly theres not enough to draw a solid theory.

the old Chaos is very much related to the original bed of chaos. apparently it sprouted chaos everywhere, not just that one place
I still think it's Lost Izalith where you fight the Ivory King, the ruined platform has the same style of stone work as the city of Lost Izalith and while it's possible the Bed of Chaos' roots spread throughout the earth I don't think it's a new location. Remember all these kingdoms were built on the ruins of Lodran. Brightstone Cove is obviously the Duke's Archive/Crystal Forest for example.

Plus the way the lava is being sucked into a vortex could symbolize where the Bed of Chaos was destroyed by the Chosen Undead in the first game.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on October 22, 2014, 05:48:58 AM
Perhaps the Lost Sinner decided to not rekindle the first flame in the end after all, much like what could be done by the chosen undead in the first Dark Souls? In the end, she may have ended up regretting the decision.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on October 22, 2014, 06:10:36 AM
Perhaps the Lost Sinner decided to not rekindle the first flame in the end after all, much like what could be done by the chosen undead in the first Dark Souls? In the end, she may have ended up regretting the decision.

It's possible.

Although you have to wonder how much of that desire to punish herself was her own doing and what was caused by the Old Witch soul, each of the old lords you fight all suffer fates not unlike the Primeval lords from the first game. Or at least are influenced to share a similar traits.

Old Witch Soul
"Soul of the ineffable.
This once magnificent soul continues to exert influence over the land, even after the eons have reduced it to these remnants."

This is shared among all the old souls acquired in NG+

Also I just noticed while reading descriptions from items and equipment...the Penal mask (the head piece from the Lost Sinner armor set) has spikes facing inward on the eyes. Yech. D =
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on October 22, 2014, 11:07:24 AM
keep in mind the REASON the Witch of izalith's attempt turned out badly. (if im remembering this right)

She tried to use souls to recreate it, but most beings, all beings really, specially humanity, are by nature, creatures of the dark. hollows.

So chaos = fire + dark

I assume The Lost Sinner attempted to kindle the first flame much in the same way that you kindled bonfires in DS. It probably didn't cause as much of a problem as a botched cloning attempt, but it must have done something to cause Lost Sinner to seal herself away.

Worthy of note is the chaos bug that possesses the Sinner right before the fight.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on October 22, 2014, 05:55:43 PM
The main reason the Flame of Chaos came to exist was due to the Witch's inability to control it. Quelana in Dark Souls 1 has this to say before she asks you to defeat the Bed of Chaos

Quelana: "Hmm... I have a favour to ask... My mother, The Witch of Izalith, was one of the primeval Lords... Her power came from the soul that she found near the First Flame. She focused this power to light a flame of her own, but she failed to control it. The Flame of Chaos engulfed Mother and my sisters, and moulded them into deformed creatures. Only I escaped, and now I am here. But my mother and sisters have been in anguish since. I beseech you. Free Mother and my sisters from the Flame of Chaos. I cannot do it myself; I lack the strength, and the bravery... But you... I realize what I am asking. But please, free their poor souls... Mother's ambitions were misguided, no doubt, but surely a thousand years of atonement is enough! "

Sounds more like the witch simply lacked the strength to control the flame, and not anything to do with the Dark. Remember in the first game Chaos was an example of fire being misused just like the Abyss is an example of Darkness being misused.

I kinda wished one of the DLCs would have given us some more information on the Sinner, she's an interesting character with her obvious connections of the Bell Covenant story line and the Witch of Izalith. Maybe she's a daughter of Chaos? One or two were not in Dark Souls 1 outside the intro and Quelana might have not been the only one to escape the destruction of Lost Izalith.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Kieran on October 23, 2014, 01:10:56 PM
Man, part way through Crown of the Sunken King--I haven't even encountered a boss yet--and I am pretty much ready to never play Dark Souls 2 again.  The team working on it obviously had no [tornado fang]ing clue what made Demon's Souls and Dark Souls so fun to play, and the DLC for DS2 only exemplifies that tenfold.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on October 23, 2014, 03:32:20 PM
Man, part way through Crown of the Sunken King--I haven't even encountered a boss yet--and I am pretty much ready to never play Dark Souls 2 again.  The team working on it obviously had no [tornado fang]ing clue what made Demon's Souls and Dark Souls so fun to play, and the DLC for DS2 only exemplifies that tenfold.

Wut? How does the placement of the bosses have any baring on the quality of the DLC? Shulva has excellent level design and it's mobs punish people who just try to stun lock everything, or spam magic. Only real issue with the DLC ((all three really)) is the crappy optional challenge areas and their bosses. Main bosses are honestly some of the best in the franchise though minus Elana whos a bit of reskin.

Are you having issues with a particular spot or something?
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Kieran on October 23, 2014, 07:13:57 PM
No, and I wasn't complaining about the placement of the bosses, just pointing out that I hadn't progressed far enough to actually see one in Shulva.

Honestly, I'm just... sick of Dark Souls 2.  The game has never managed to make me like it as much as its predecessors, for a whole slew of reasons (bosses bypassing armor so they always kill you in 2-3 hits, sloppy hit detection from enemy attacks, character actions being slowed way the [tornado fang] down for the sake of what seems to me like artificial difficulty).

It's not that I can't get through the DLC, it's that I don't want to.  It, and a significant chunk of DS2 as a whole, feels far more like a bloody chore to me than anything in Dark Souls or Demon's Souls ever did.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on October 23, 2014, 07:25:34 PM
Fair enough, Hit detection can be iffy on all three games though. It's honestly not worse than the last two outside one or two weapon types. I'm not sure what game of the three I like the best, each has it's flaws and advantages.

Maybe you'll enjoy Bloodborne more when it comes out.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Kieran on October 23, 2014, 07:47:37 PM
When I say sloppy hit detection, I'm talking about situations like... my character abruptly teleporting into a Mimic's mouth, when I was standing my character's height behind it, and it was lunging in the opposite direction from me.  Yeah, Dark Souls and Demon's Souls had some questionable hit boxes, but Dark Souls 2 cranks it up to ridiculous extremes.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on October 23, 2014, 07:49:03 PM
Man, part way through Crown of the Sunken King--I haven't even encountered a boss yet--and I am pretty much ready to never play Dark Souls 2 again.  The team working on it obviously had no [tornado fang]ing clue what made Demon's Souls and Dark Souls so fun to play, and the DLC for DS2 only exemplifies that tenfold.
The DLC is some of the best areas in Souls, period. Definitely the best in DS2. Shulva and Brume Tower are the best DS2 areas, and have the best Bosses. (barring a few exceptions, which still weren't that bad for the most part) Fume Knight and Sir Alonne are the best bosses in a souls game since Artorias. (which is to be expected, considering Fume is practically artorias 2.0 lorewise)

Shulva in particular is some King's Field tier mazelike dungeon design the likes of which I havent seen in ages, and the puzzlelike nature of it was something i really appreciated. And mind you i played all 3 DLC's on NG+ first, so everything hit frustratingly hard. Shulva's enemies also have a ridiculous amount of poise.

Quote
bosses bypassing armor so they always kill you in 2-3 hits,
Mind telling me which bosses? I dont remember this. Your own fault for trying to block everything with a shield when some bosses are designed for rolling. Fume Knight comes to mind.

Quote
sloppy hit detection from enemy attacks,
Quote
When I say sloppy hit detection, I'm talking about situations like... my character abruptly teleporting into a Mimic's mouth, when I was standing my character's height behind it, and it was lunging in the opposite direction from me.  Yeah, Dark Souls and Demon's Souls had some questionable hit boxes, but Dark Souls 2 cranks it up to ridiculous extremes.
looks like someone never leveled ADP. there ARE some weapons with stupid hitboxes, but you will mainly encounter that in PVP, not so much PVE. That is, if you actually leveled ADP at all.

Quote
character actions being slowed way the [tornado fang] down for the sake of what seems to me like artificial difficulty.
they are not that slow.

sounds to me like someone just needs to
[spoiler]
git gud[/spoiler]

Dont try to play DS2 like DS1, play it like DS2. It has many fundamental changes that make it very different from 1.

Poise and ADP come to mind as the biggest differences, with despawning enemies and reduced health while hollow as a close second.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Kieran on October 23, 2014, 08:03:59 PM
Mind telling me which bosses? I dont remember this. Your own fault for trying to block everything with a shield when some bosses are designed for rolling. Fume Knight comes to mind.

Any boss (or random enemy) that does strike damage, which all armor in the game is laughably ineffective at protecting against.  The most you can do is crank up your poise to ridiculous levels so you still take the same amount of damage, but it doesn't stagger you.  Rolling has... issues that present themselves in the PC version, and for the game seeming to rely on it so heavily I find it aggravatingly inconsistent.

Quote
looks like someone never leveled ADP. there ARE some weapons with stupid hitboxes, but you will mainly encounter that in PVP, not so much PVE. That is, if you actually leveled ADP at all.

My ADP is 26.

Quote
sounds to me like someone just needs to git gud

Sounds like someone needs to not be a prick.  Apparently I'm good enough to tackle every last challenge in Demon's Souls and Dark Souls, up to and including Artorias and Kalameet, without anything remotely approaching the same level of frustration Dark Souls 2 causes me.  I feel like in DS2 I'm fighting the game itself more than I'm fighting enemies.

Quote
Dont try to play DS2 like DS1, play it like DS2. It has many fundamental changes that make it very different from 1.  Poise and ADP come to mind as the biggest differences, with despawning enemies and reduced health while hollow as a close second.

Health reduction after death is not new.  It was a major thing in Demon's Souls, and was in fact more harsh--you dropped to 50% max health after ONE death.  Poise is unquestionably important, but it only takes you so far--even if you don't get staggered when you take a hit, you still lose the same amount of health.  Strike damage working the way it does, no amount of poise is going to save you if you're relatively low on health and a boss with a large weapon manages to get in a glancing blow.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on October 23, 2014, 08:26:47 PM
Odd, i've never encountered any issues with Rolling on the PC version, my agility was at 100 where you gain the most I-Frames from your roll. As for the high damage from bosses? That should only be an issue on NG++ and beyond, as long as you have 25 points of Vig or higher you should be able to take at least three to four hits before you need to chug an estus.

By NG+++ though the damage is high enough that you should be trading out heavy armor to maximize your mobility, like the last two games heavy armor just can't guard against the damage output of mobs and bosses anymore. Well unless you have enough equip load to fast roll.

Example: On NG++++ with 50 points of Vig I can tank two swipes from Aava in Co-op wearing the following gear
Crown of the Ivory King+5
Black Robe+5
Drakeblood Gauntlets+10
Raime's Leggings+3 (currently)

That set up is purely fasion souls and is hardly giving me any defense or poise and I've been doing okay. I co-op against a lot of the hardest hitting bosses and I rarely die even if I get combo'd twice. Even in PvP dueling I do okay.

Kieran whats your build right now I might be able to help you out if you want?
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Kieran on October 23, 2014, 08:36:33 PM
You actually gain the most iframes at 120 AGI--100 is 12 frames, which is what I've got (120 AGI is 16 frames).  The thing of it is, and bear in mind this seems to vary wildly with hardware specs of the PC in question, but there's a weird issue with the game where running it at 60 FPS messes with the timer values of certain things like durability and iframes while rolling.  The durability thing is well known--weapons degrade twice as fast in the PC version, generally speaking.

The rolling thing is less known, and for some reason it seems to affect some people worse than others.  In my case, with the game running at 60 FPS, I still only get 12 iframes when rolling, but the game is counting enemy attacks as doing damage for twice as many frames, and so instead of a half-second worth of invincibility I get a quarter of a second.  I have managed to work around this by limiting the game's FPS to 30 in my video drivers, and it makes a world of difference, but it causes other issues like increasing input lag.  So... damned if I do, damned if I don't.

I'll post a screenshot of my status screen later.  I haven't got time right now.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on October 23, 2014, 08:41:50 PM
Quote
Any boss (or random enemy) that does strike damage
I had no more problem with them than any other boss/enemy type. they all hit hard if they catch you.
honestly I shouldnt criticize, since most of my playthrough in NG and NG+ was with a greatshield.

Quote
My ADP is 26.
then im surprised you have much trouble. I had 20 adp and I had minimal trouble with dodgy hitboxes.

Quote
Apparently I'm good enough to tackle every last challenge in Demon's Souls and Dark Souls, up to and including Artorias and Kalameet, without anything remotely approaching the same level of frustration Dark Souls 2 causes me.  I feel like in DS2 I'm fighting the game itself more than I'm fighting enemies.
DS1 gave me far more frustration than DS2 personally. on the matter of slower animations, DS1 felt slower to me. even more so with the locked 3fps on consoles

Quote
Health reduction after death is not new.  It was a major thing in Demon's Souls, and was in fact more harsh--you dropped to 50% max health after ONE death.
Still, its that combined with other things like poise and whatnot.

DS2 is very much a bizzare combo of DkS and DeS elements

Quote
Kieran whats your build right now I might be able to help you out if you want?
this. im curious to see your build/stats
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on October 23, 2014, 09:46:57 PM
You actually gain the most iframes at 120 AGI--100 is 12 frames, which is what I've got (120 AGI is 16 frames).  The thing of it is, and bear in mind this seems to vary wildly with hardware specs of the PC in question, but there's a weird issue with the game where running it at 60 FPS messes with the timer values of certain things like durability and iframes while rolling.  The durability thing is well known--weapons degrade twice as fast in the PC version, generally speaking.

The rolling thing is less known, and for some reason it seems to affect some people worse than others.  In my case, with the game running at 60 FPS, I still only get 12 iframes when rolling, but the game is counting enemy attacks as doing damage for twice as many frames, and so instead of a half-second worth of invincibility I get a quarter of a second.  I have managed to work around this by limiting the game's FPS to 30 in my video drivers, and it makes a world of difference, but it causes other issues like increasing input lag.  So... damned if I do, damned if I don't.

I'll post a screenshot of my status screen later.  I haven't got time right now.

Sorry 120, derp on my part. Really wow I had no idea about the issues plaguing the PC version, I play the PS4 version, and only tried the PC version for a run at my friend's place.

But yeah send a pic my way when you can I might be able to recommend a few changes.

(My current main character)
Ruelia
Soul Level 262
Soul Memory (blegh) 19485984
VGR 51
END 40
VIT 30
ATN 30
STR 50
DEX 50
ADP 24
INT 25
FTH 25

Black Knight Greatsword+5/Bone Fist+5
Bone Fist+5/Retainer Staff+10
Head - Crown of the Ivory King+5
Body - Black Robes +5
Arms - Drakeblood Gauntlets+10
Legs - Raime's Leggings+2
Ring 1 - Ring of Blades+2
Ring 2 - Ring of Steel Protection +2
Ring 3 - Chloranthy Ring+2
Ring 4 - Ring of the Living (To appear as a human rather than a phantom when in co-op/invasion)
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on October 24, 2014, 12:59:06 AM
The only issues I've had on the PC version was the durability, really. Then again, I rarely used a shield in DS2 so dodging was my jam (since the parry timing was changed to something that was not to my liking).
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on October 24, 2014, 01:00:48 AM
Not having a shield equipped is also a huge buff to you're fashion souls power levels.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on October 24, 2014, 03:39:59 AM
figure I might as well post my stats then

(http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac71/Flame-G102/General/Untitled2_zpsf9d6b995.png~original)
(http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac71/Flame-G102/General/Untitled_zps512f1e59.png~original)
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on October 24, 2014, 03:43:17 AM
That stash!
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Phi on October 24, 2014, 04:00:12 AM
With a name like Sir Wagner, I doubt he's allowed near children.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on October 24, 2014, 04:25:08 AM
With a name like Sir Wagner, I doubt he's allowed near children.
i dont get it
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on October 24, 2014, 03:04:27 PM
It's weird, though... so many people complain about the hit detection (even with ADP through the roof) that I wouldn't doubt there being something odd happening. I don't have a lot of hit detection issues in DkS2 personally, but maybe I don't remember too well, or maybe my whiffed attacks should have connected and I just shrugged it off.

I've shared my opinion on the DLC here, but I understand Kieran's frustration. One thing I noticed is that, for good or bad, sometimes it's hard to pinpoint exactly just what the hell DkS2 is trying to do.

If it helps, I did the whole DLC in NG++, and I played through it in the mindset of knowing I'd be frustrated somewhere, but also that I would see interesting things. Overall, that was the ideal mindset for me. Sunken City was a blast to explore, I took my time and really enjoyed the nuance of the level design. The bosses, not so much. The other two DLCs were more of a struggle, but I'm convinced now it's probably because I was anxious about being in NG++ and not wanting bosses to take forever to die (which they do, and I still don't agree with). The level design in Iron King and Ivory is definitely interesting enough, often brilliant.

I'd say they're worth slugging through, despite most of the bosses being really uninspired. I don't agree that they're among the best in the series, not even Sir Alonne, which is a pretty cool fight. I feel that Artorias of the Abyss handled the bosses much better, making them increasingly more epic (sorry for using that cliche word), challenging, and not relying on recycled content, numerical advantage or super long treks to make them difficult. I generally don't mind running a long distance to fight a boss in these games because there's always a way to make the trip less painful and I kinda enjoy figuring it out. But I guess because I was in NG++, the added Black Phantoms, overall enemy defense and boss HP were a little discouraging every time I died. It's like they want you to consider despawning enemies as a solution, but they don't necessarily understand how much of a bore that is if you're doing it on purpose. It's a trade, but not the best trade in these DLCs because (again IMO) for the most part, the bosses aren't worth the long trip.

Nothing I'm saying here is set in stone, though, it's just impressions and I could be wrong. I will definitely do the DLC in regular NG one of these days, and hopefully will change my opinion for the better.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on October 24, 2014, 03:20:27 PM
Maybe but the areas were so lazily designed, re-skinned Dark Root Garden and Oolacile Township was just a watered down Undead Burg, while the Abyss was a slightly less cheap version of the Tomb of the Giants (slightly).

Overall DS II's DLC are individually superior, the level design for all three are superb and they are all different.While the mobs are a little samey and some of the bosses are hit and miss. Well...all I can say is Fume Knight and Aava. two of my favorite bosses in souls ever.  8D

Honestly I enjoyed the NG+ runs more than NG, I found the challenge refreshing and I started approaching each threat in different ways rather than "Draw enemy or charge in swinging". Again just my take, still PvPing like mad in Dark Souls II and occasionally running the whole game with friends in Co-op.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on October 25, 2014, 12:27:18 AM
Quote
One thing I noticed is that, for good or bad, sometimes it's hard to pinpoint exactly just what the hell DkS2 is trying to do.
IMO, that's because its trying to be both Dark Souls, and Demon's Souls, while half baking both, resulting in a very weird mishmash that doesn't have the strengths of either.

Quote
If it helps, I did the whole DLC in NG++, and I played through it in the mindset of knowing I'd be frustrated somewhere,
NG+ here. that must have been harsh. God knows NG+ Shulva murdered me the first time in. I realized it was a feature though, since all the enemies in shulva have unnatural poise.

Quote
The bosses, not so much.
I didn't mind the Shulva bosses much. Elana may LOOK like a Nashandra reskin, and she is- and Summoning a fake Velstadt is absolute bullshit, but she otherwise really fights nothing like Nashandra.

And Sinh was pretty cool IMO. And tense, since attacking him corrodes your durability. Ganksquad IMO was stupid, but amusing, given the joke nature of the fight.

Quote
The level design in Iron King and Ivory is definitely interesting enough, often brilliant.
IMo all 3 have brilliant level design, but Elleum Loyce suffers from it's interiors being ridiculously lifeless and dull. just empty rooms. even the bastille had tables and chairs in the servants quarters and [parasitic bomb].

Quote
I'd say they're worth slugging through, despite most of the bosses being really uninspired.
How are they uninspired?
Alonne and Fume Knight are pretty inspired. Aava isn't half bad either despite being rehashed as the other 2 later on, and Sinh is pretty cool despite being Kalameet 2.0. Even Elana is passable outside of her bullshit velstadt clone (I don't care about how "muh lore" it is, it's still bullshit and could probably have been handled differently if anything)

And ivory king is an amazing fight, at least presentation-wise.

Quote
I don't agree that they're among the best in the series, not even Sir Alonne, which is a pretty cool fight.
whaaaat? I honestly wouldn't put Either above each other, (Alonne/Fume and Artorias and co.) but I feel all of them are amazing Souls bosses. I mean, Alonne and Fume are definitely the best DS2 bosses IMO, that's for sure. It was refreshing, dying to fume a hundred times before I managed to get him down. He really is a battle of endurance. your biggest threat isnt him, it's you. getting greedy or mistiming a roll due to anxiety. Then Alonne, well, OIK's memory is bullshit and I hate having to go through a fire lizard gauntlet to get to him, but I like the boss fight, Alonne is fairly unpredictable, with long possible stretches of him just doing nothing, or in his parry stance, which again, adds anxiety and tension.

then again, that's all just my opinion. and the NG intensity WOULD make a heavy difference.
Quote
and not relying on recycled content, numerical advantage

what recycled content? Smelter cool ranch and Lud+Zallen yes, MAYBE gank squad if you wanna go there, but Elana extends only to 1 move, and the rest are hardly recycled content, unless you wan to count being similar to other bosses. (BIK being similar in moveset to Pursuer and Alonne being vaguely similar to Ornstein) Numerical superiority is hardly new to souls, though souls 2 definitely does it more often... And even then, personally, I find that despite some of that [parasitic bomb] they are still pretty enjoyable. 

 
Quote
But I guess because I was in NG++, the added Black Phantoms, overall enemy defense and boss HP were a little discouraging every time I died. It's like they want you to consider despawning enemies as a solution, but they don't necessarily understand how much of a bore that is if you're doing it on purpose.
well to be fair, the game is designed for NG and NG+ going further than NG+ is your own fault if the challenge becomes too frustrating. I know I entered NG+ before the DLC was announced, so it became a bit of a challenge to go through them, but after seeing how easy the areas were in NG with fully upgraded gear and high enough a level, im pretty glad I took them on NG+ for an actual challenge. I wouldn't dare go beyond NG+ though. not even for that one Ivory King sword that scales on NG's
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on October 25, 2014, 03:40:31 AM
I just finished my run on NG++++ the DLCs are still doable, nothing is one shotting me. Bosses hit like trucks but thats my own fault for not dodging at the right time or getting inpatient.

One thing to add to you're Fume point, another big threat he posses his attack speed; his animations are slower than most other bosses and that was a clever way to force us to adapt to a new boss, we are all so used to the twitch reflex dodging in the other three games it seriously made me jump when I rolled into his wide slash attack during our first encounter. The other bosses in the DLCs do this to an extent as well, like Smelter Demon 2.0, Aava and even the Ivory King to a lesser extent.

Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on October 25, 2014, 11:02:12 PM
How are they uninspired?

Gank squad, Elana, Smelter 2.0, Wilykit & Wilykat. I dunno, it's hard to defend the DLC bosses when half of them have major rehashed elements. Especially since everyone looks forward to fighting bosses in Souls games. It's a big deal. The levels foreshadow these fights, they build the suspense and make us wonder. Regardless of the things the DLC does right, I see that as a missed opportunity.

In my defense, other than the really obvious cloned fights, it's not like I hate these bosses. Sinh, Fume Knight and Sir Alonne are really fun. Aava and Ivory King aren't so bad. I'm just saying most of them didn't blow me away in their originality. But I'm not a lore guy, maybe these fights have a greater meaning than I'm giving them credit for.

Quote
well to be fair, the game is designed for NG and NG+ going further than NG+ is your own fault if the challenge becomes too frustrating.

I think the game should be designed for the entire game. But anyway, it's not that the challenge becomes frustrating, because I do appreciate the difficulty. This is something I don't know if I'm explaining very well, but just to be clear, I don't have a problem with a difficult mode being difficult. That is usually the point, after all.

The problem is that my character is at the absolute peak of his strength and I barely scratch the DLC bosses. I did beat them, yeah, I can dodge their attacks okay, but my hits do not reflect the work that I've put into building this character. In Dark Souls 1, and especially Demon's Souls, you can keep building your character way beyond NG+ to make him/her ridiculously powerful. This includes stuff like hypermode, buffs, pyromancy and leveling up, all of them having severely diminished returns in DkS2. I have a SL1 DeS file at NG+8, my character is a melee glasscannon, and I can still kill late game bosses in 5-7 hits with the right setup.

I'm not saying the bosses are cheap or that their attacks are too hard to dodge, I'm saying that the 300 hours I put into building this character could have been more rewarding in this one aspect.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on October 25, 2014, 11:10:23 PM
Speak for your self, my NG+4 character feels godly right now I don't need to kill bosses in less than ten hits to feel that. I'm honestly okay it's harder to cheese bosses now, that killed a lot of the fun of NG+ for me in the original games. Whats the point of upping the difficulty if your so strong you can one shot nearly every minor mob?

Seriously try casting firestorm on Phalanx in Demons Souls, it's moronic how easy that fight becomes. (Yeah it's the first real boss and is already easy, but it should at least be a threat in NG+)
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on October 26, 2014, 12:19:54 AM
Whats the point of upping the difficulty if your so strong you can one shot nearly every minor mob?

The point is that you adapt to that higher difficulty by being clever, which DkS2 does not allow (not to the same extent).

And it's not simply 1-shotting everything. You make increasingly tough sacrifices, such as having your HP at 30% or less most of the time in order to activate hypermode, being in Soul form in order to trigger tendency bonuses. These sacrifices pay off. The strategies change as the difficulty rises, which I think is really good game design.

As for what's the point of being so strong, come on now. If I'm dedicating 300 hours of my life to carefully building this dude, hell yeah I want him to be a goddamn powerhouse. That's like the one rule of RPG design. I don't want to crush bosses with my eyes closed, but I want my effort to be rewarded somehow.

Again, you guys are probably taking this way too seriously, I love DkS2 and this is just one thing that bothers me about it. You can't possibly believe that the game is perfect.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on October 26, 2014, 12:49:56 AM
Again, you guys are probably taking this way too seriously, I love DkS2 and this is just one thing that bothers me about it. You can't possibly believe that the game is perfect.

You shouldn't assume what others think or what their thoughts are, I've raised my criticisms of Dark Souls II multiple times in this topic, go back and read my posts, I clearly don't think it's perfect. But I just don't agree with you're point of view. Don't belittle me just because I have an opposing opinion.

As for what's the point of being so strong, come on now. If I'm dedicating 300 hours of my life to carefully building this dude, hell yeah I want him to be a goddamn powerhouse. That's like the one rule of RPG design. I don't want to crush bosses with my eyes closed, but I want my effort to be rewarded somehow.

That isn't the one rule of RPG design...at all though. What about RPGs like the SMT series where no matter how strong you get the game can still curb stomp you if you make a mistake? Souls is like that in this reguard, yes you are stronger but the game should still be able to school you if you get over confident.

Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on October 26, 2014, 01:34:07 AM
Don't belittle me just because I have an opposing opinion.

It's okay that you don't agree with me. Actually, it's great. I've never learned anything from people who know the exact same things I know. When you said that your NG+4 character feels godly, I was intrigued, because I want my character to feel the same way. If I'm wrong about my impression, I will gladly concede, because that means there's a solution to my problem and the game will be infinitely more enjoyable than it is to me right now. But so far, no one has ever presented anything too obvious that I might be missing. This sounds more like a personal preference where you don't mind the things I do mind. And that's okay.

So yeah, don't take things personal. This is a simple discussion, I'm not assuming your thoughts and I'm not belittling anyone. In my post that you guys picked and tore back there, I made it very clear that this is just my impression and that my opinion can change. That's literally the opposite of not being open to other people's views.

Quote
Souls is like that in this reguard, yes you are stronger but the game should still be able to school you if you get over confident.

I agree. But this still has to be done with proper balance.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on October 26, 2014, 01:37:17 AM
It's okay that you don't agree with me. Actually, it's great. I've never learned anything from people who know the exact same things I know. When you said that your NG+4 character feels godly, I was intrigued, because I want my character to feel the same way. If I'm wrong about my impression, I will gladly concede, because that means there's a solution to my problem and the game will be infinitely more enjoyable than it is to me right now. But so far, no one has ever presented anything too obvious that I might be missing. This sounds more like a personal preference where you don't mind the things I do mind. And that's okay.

So yeah, don't take things personal. This is a simple discussion, I'm not assuming your thoughts and I'm not belittling anyone. In my post that you guys picked and tore back there, I made it very clear that this is just my impression and that my opinion can change. That's literally the opposite of not being open to other people's views.

I agree. But this still has to be done with proper balance.

Whats your build, if your damage output is lacking you may need to tweak something. Weapons, Armor, Spells, Stats, Ect...
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on October 26, 2014, 01:45:35 AM
I'm SL300 if I'm not mistaken. Melee STR build. My STR is through the roof, DEX is okay (minimum required to wield the Alonne Greatbow).

I'm using a Red Iron Twinblade, but sometimes I switch to Great Club or Greatsword. They are all fully upgraded.

Rings: Life Protection, Third Dragon, Blades+2, Cloranthy+2
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on October 26, 2014, 02:22:11 AM
Vigor should be no lower than 25-30 on NG++ and onward it will give you enough HP to at least take one or two hits. Armor like the other games isn't that essential but for a melee build and since your weapons are slower I'd at least try to work in some mid-heavy armor. (As long as your Fasion Souls are not negatively effected. =P)

I'm assuming you've got 50 points in strength? I believe 40 is when the diminishing returns kick in but 50 is best for a Melee build in my own experience. If you have no more than 10 points in vitality you can use Flynn's ring to get an extra 50 AR to increase your physical damage output, although you'll need to be more careful of equip burden. 25 or so points into Adaptability is typically enough for dodge rolling pretty much anything safely. Other wise you'll want to have your Vigor and Endurance really high to offset being open to counter hits with those slow weapons. You might also want to invest in the Stone Ring and Ring of Steel Protection+2 instead of the Life Protection and Third Dragon Ring. The Extra defense and the ability damage poise is very useful on your weapons IMO.

How do you approach most enemy mobs and bosses by the way? Trade blows, hit and run?

My build is similar, although it's more of a Quality build with a bit of Hex thrown in.
(Some of the stats might be from the crown, I didn't check.))
Ruelia
Soul Level 262
Soul Memory (blegh) 19485984
VGR 51
END 40
VIT 30
ATN 30
STR 50
DEX 50
ADP 24
INT 25
FTH 25

Black Knight Greatsword+5/Bone Fist+5
Bone Fist+5/Retainer Staff+10
Head - Crown of the Ivory King+5
Body - Black Robes +5
Arms - Drakeblood Gauntlets+10
Legs - Raime's Leggings+2
Ring 1 - Ring of Blades+2
Ring 2 - Ring of Steel Protection +2
Ring 3 - Chloranthy Ring+2
Ring 4 - Ring of the Living (To appear as a human rather than a phantom when in co-op/invasion)

Hope that helps?
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on October 26, 2014, 02:36:25 AM
That's really awesome, thanks. I'll check my build later.

As for how I fight enemies in this game, lately I've been using a combination of careful approach, sniping from a distance with Alonne Greatbow, and switching the melee weapons when it's more convenient. Doesn't help that they keep nerfing the weapons whenever they feel like it.

I think most of the problems I have with adapting to DkS2 is that I can't find a weapon I'm comfortable with. :\
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on October 26, 2014, 02:45:23 AM
I've found baiting out attacks first then attacking works best in NG+ since you can't really afford to trade damage anymore. Other wise drawing enemies is the smart thing to do so keep doing that, The three weapons you mentioned are all great Str weapons so you've just sorta gotta use the one that works best in the current area you are in. If you strike as an enemy or player are still in their attack animation you deal extra damage too so baiting and countering will help out.

Also since you are using large weapons with wide hitboxes try and group mobs together and get them all at once if possible, otherwise against bosses try to master dodging you'll feel godly after you avoid all their attacks. Otherwise don't get impatient or greedy and you'll do okay.

You said you don't have much dex right? Even so you may still want to use throwing daggers, they are surprisingly awesome.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Kieran on October 26, 2014, 06:31:30 PM
Oh, here.

Player info: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=332260039 (http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=332260039)
Player status: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=332259937 (http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=332259937)

This is NG.  The robes of judgment I have equipped are upgraded to +3; I have a mixed set of medium/heavy armor that's fully upgraded but I switched to this for the Fume Knight battle since it wasn't helping anyway (with the lighter armor I took maybe 20-30 HP more damage per hit than with the heavy armor), and rolling was a lot easier without it.  Normally I have the 3rd Dragon Ring equipped so I can wear the medium armor and have some more health/stamina, but I swear the latest patch has reduced its durability drastically, because it keeps breaking constantly now and I'm sick of having it repaired.

I have a fully upgraded Fire Longsword and Lightning Broadsword, the Majestic Greatsword is +4 (I'm having a very difficult time adjusting to that thing, and I might just stop using it if I continue to claw my way through the DLC), that King's Shield I have equipped is upgraded to... uh, close to max, I think +4.  Dragonrider Bow is +4.  My pyromancy flame is maxed out, but I don't utilize it too much at the moment, mostly just to soften up big enemies so they don't take forever to kill.  I've got a couple of upgraded maces in my inventory which I can't seem to get a handle on using, and a regular ol' Bastard Sword +10 which I was playing around with until I levelled up enough to use the Artorias sword.

And yes, I have beaten the core game.  I didn't start NG+ because I was waiting for the DLC.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on October 27, 2014, 02:55:53 AM
Your stats as a whole seem a little too spread out, I'd recommend re-locating some points into Strength and Dexterity and getting them to 30-40 points if you want to switch between weapons. You'll get more damage out of them. Do you just use Pyromancies for magic?
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Kieran on October 27, 2014, 01:59:18 PM
Yeah.  I don't use any other magic.

I'd considered reallocating some levels to Dex and Str, but I really don't know what I'd sacrifice to do so.  I can drop 3 points each in Vit and Adp without too much of a hit (I would still have 12 iframes while fast rolling with 23 ADP instead of 26 although I'm not sure how much I'd slow down otherwise), but that isn't quite enough to get both Dex and Str up to 30 each.  I kind of need Faith and Int for the lightning and fire damage bonuses (particularly fire, which was kind of weak until I pumped up the relevant stat to 20), and I'd rather not lose any more stamina than I already have by ditching the Third Dragon Ring, so taking points out of End is kind of iffy...

This is one aspect of DS2 I really do not like compared to DS1 and DeS.  You still need to have your "primary" attack stats in the 30ish range for them to do any good, but then you've got two extra stats that also need to be in the 20-25 range if you want to survive, so you are given far less leeway to play with the numbers than in the previous games.  Something or other becomes a dump stat purely out of necessity.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on October 27, 2014, 08:25:44 PM
I'm pretty sure the bonus your weapons get off Strength and Dex out weigh the bonuses from Int-and Faith though. You could likely stand to lose some points from them.

I'd say lower them for now then pump stats into them at a later date (but if you aren't planning to use sorcery or Miracles then no more than 20 points IMO)
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Kieran on October 28, 2014, 12:52:55 AM
20 Faith/Int is part of the stat requirement for the Majestic Greatsword, which is really the only reason I pumped those stats all the way to 20 in the first place.  (I really have no idea WHY, considering it does purely physical damage and only scales off STR and DEX.)  But considering what a pain in the ass it's been to adjust to, I might just consider dumping it in my item box and forgetting I ever found it.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on October 28, 2014, 03:02:42 AM
Mostly because of the requirements of the Artorias Swords from Dark Souls, they were in turn references to the Blue Blood Sword from Demons Souls I believe?

Either way It'll be until the 200 levels before you start having solid 30s across the board. You could either just push on, focus on one weapon with less stiff requirements for the time being (putting the extra points from Strength/Dex/Faith and Int into the required stat) or use the Giant Lord Memory and increase the intensity at the bonfire prior to it to grind souls off the boss till you feel more confident in your chances. There is an item to raise it in the memory that gets restored each time you raise the intensity.

That last option will skyrocket your Soul Memory however so it'll be tougher to get Co-Op on the New Game server.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Kieran on October 28, 2014, 12:19:50 PM
I've been against the idea of going out of my way to make this game more irritating than it already is by burning bonfire ascetics.

In any event, I dropped 2 points each from Faith and Int and took my DEX and STR up to an even 30, then switched back to my bastard sword.  Also found that updating my graphics drivers screwed with the FPS limiter I set up and all of a sudden I couldn't dodge any more, but that's neither here nor there.

So I went in and fought Not-Nashandra and then immediately spent the souls I got out of it on replacing the points I took out of ADP, because god damn, I did not realize how much difference the 1/8th of a second those three points represent actually made.  Felt like my character was covered in cement whenever I was trying to heal or raise my shield after attacking.

For the record?  Not-Nashandra will not summon anything beyond the first pack of skeletons if you leave one skeleton alive the whole fight.  Then all you have to worry about is her casting Flame Swathe seventeen times in a row while a skeleton is trying to stab you in the back.

I have not fought Sinh yet.  I don't like the idea of trying to fight something that does double durability damage to your equipment when the PC version's glitches already do double durability damage to your equipment.  Bracing Knuckle Ring +2 and Repair Powder are going to be in order, I think...
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on October 28, 2014, 04:57:18 PM
Once you get his tells down he's not to bad, just try not to stay in front of him unless you plan to get out the way quickly. Not-Nashandra has summoned her clone of Vestalt while clone skelies were still out but that may just be a NG+ change. (Or I remembered it wrong XD)

I find the fight is even easier if you have a human phantom or ever Transcendent Eddie who is a monster of a tank. The other NPC summon isn't worth it though. But yeah repair powder isn't a bad idea, or even a backup weapon just in case. It honestly depends if he spams his flying attacks or not, that can draw out the battle a lot, try to cut off his tail it'll get rid of one of his annoying AOE melee attacks. Don't bother with lightning, he's oddly enough resistant to it despite being a dragon.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on October 28, 2014, 05:58:42 PM
I fought Sinh with the phantom NPCs and yeah, one of them is a freaking tank, survived the whole thing in NG++. The other one RIP'd on the first half of the fight.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Kieran on October 29, 2014, 12:26:10 PM
Well, if I can't take Sinh on my own I'll try summoning Eddie.  I figured I'd just stick with the Bastard Sword, since it's my primary non-elemental weapon, but I'll keep the Fire Longsword on standby.

Makes me recall fighting Kalameet.  My loadout was such that I could still fast-roll with the Greatshield of Artorias, so given my love of defend-then-counterattack strategies, you can imagine how that battle went.  Sadly, I haven't got the stats to use any of the suitable greatshields for Sinh.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on October 29, 2014, 04:13:24 PM
Don't bother trying to block him, his attacks are too powerful; rolling is the best way to survive. I believe most of his attacks will guard break you?
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Kieran on November 01, 2014, 04:43:16 PM
Yeah, probably.  I just two-handed my weapon from the start.  Finally beat him on my... fourth try?  Had to summon Eddie, like you said, but I could've taken the bastard alone if he didn't take off into the air every time I got close to him.  Seriously, it's a little difficult to hit a boss when they spend maybe 5 seconds out of every minute on the ground.

In any case, the Bastard Sword worked well.  Even when Sinh's defense was boosted from summoning Eddie, I was doing 250-300 damage per light attack when two-handing.  Up that to 450 when I was by myself.  With the Bracing Knuckle Ring +2 on, I never really had to worry about the durability drain.

I've since left the area and started poking around Eleum Loyce.  I'm actually enjoying wandering around in this blizzard.  It's a much different environment than I'm used to in a Souls game, and the change is welcome.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on November 02, 2014, 01:10:54 AM
It might just be the way the area plays out or the castle wall/town location but it gives me a Bolataria Castle feel for some reason. I mean just replace an unfortunately named knight with a stabbing sword with a giant doom kitty! But yeah Eleum Loyce is a joy to go through and I like re-visiting it once the ice melts and new areas are opened up. Although Bonewheel Skelies 2.0s can go die in a fire.  X(

Was using my Duel Bone Fist punchy build on NG, leveled my Agility to 110 rather than the typical 100 and it's made a huge difference for dodging. I'll need to rework all my builds because I've had no issues evading things on this character at all. Beat Aava twice for the two Bone-Fists and didn't get hit once on either fight.

Also confirmed Elana will summon a Vestalt clone on NG, even if you don't have a partner.

-Beat Sinh with my punchy build, that means my character beat a dragon to death with her bare hands...and thats hilarious to me.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Kieran on November 02, 2014, 06:59:39 AM
I guess I got lucky when I fought Elana then.

The invisible enemies on the Eleum Loyce ramparts are a right dick move, though.  Gotta figure out how to get my souls back and get out of there in one piece...
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on November 02, 2014, 03:18:50 PM
Oh the two knights? Yeah just head left, you'll get them to show up normally later once you get a certain key item.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on November 05, 2014, 03:54:39 AM
Drum Souls - Ornstein and Smough (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02my_zhX4Bs#ws)
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on November 05, 2014, 04:15:18 AM
Havels? "Wut R U Casul?"

No seriously thats awesome.  XD
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on November 25, 2014, 06:05:58 PM
So this happened

Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin - Announcement Trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0GxBZcVmHc#ws)

get hype I think.

At least until Bamco actually clarifies the details.

So far, it seems that all existing DS2 owners will receive some form of uberpatch with some of the [parasitic bomb] that this contains,

but 360/PS3 and Direct X9 PC's will only get some of the changes, and will NOT get the improved graphical tweaks and the 6 player co-op expansion, which is reserved for PS4/Xbone and Direct X11 PC

the one thing here that's unclear, is what that means, DX9 and DX11. Some speculation is that the regular version of the game is DX9, and therefore PC might still need to rebuy the rerelease, but that remains to be seen and clarified. otherwise there wouldnt really be a need to specify between DX9 and DX11.

also, while the regular purchase will basically be the "prepare to die" edition of DS2, with all the DLC and the new [parasitic bomb], existing owners do NOT get free DLC. they get the uberpatch, but they dont get the DLC if they didn't already have it.

Oh, did I mention the 6 player co-op?

here's some images

(https://dl1.volafile.io/get/K7IEPZN0VEW5/B3QxuodCIAAthwg.jpg%20large.jpg)

(https://dl1.volafile.io/get/GiE2P5N0VEW0/15869851932_288e411527_o.jpg)

(https://dl1.volafile.io/get/AlMhPpN0VEWy/dark_souls_2_ps4_xbox_one_scholar_of_the_first_sin_5.jpg)

(https://dl1.volafile.io/get/RSBWPZF0VEVv/15684725047_a96878b78b_o.jpg)

(https://volafile.io/get/VtBnP5N0VEW1/15869851702_23dbf0a3b6_o.jpg)
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on November 25, 2014, 06:59:01 PM
I'm planning to get the PS4 at some point this year for Bloodborne, I might end up picking this up too. If the new content in this ends up being on par with the DLCs I'm all for it. Still kinda cool we'll be getting the new content for free regardless.

On a story related noted I wonder if the Scholar is the guy talking in the trailer? Also that weird fiery tree thing was definitely not in the main game or DLCs so that new,
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on November 26, 2014, 09:52:41 AM
I belive the scholar is vendric. Iirc its his voice, and he is the one who "peered into the essence of the soul" so it will basically be the crowns dlc for vendrick himself. The last of the 4 dranfleic ongs
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on November 26, 2014, 05:50:24 PM
I belive the scholar is vendric. Iirc its his voice, and he is the one who "peered into the essence of the soul" so it will basically be the crowns dlc for vendrick himself. The last of the 4 dranfleic ongs

I don't know the voice doesn't really sound like Vendrick/Marvelous Chester. I'm thinking it's one of the new NPCs perhaps Lord Aldia, I would pretty happy to meet the guy responsible for most the background stuff in the game.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on November 27, 2014, 12:42:31 AM
that would be nice.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Phi on December 14, 2014, 02:42:14 AM
Thread intercepted

(http://i.imgur.com/hhzTBev.gif)
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on December 14, 2014, 04:58:52 AM
Thread intercepted

(http://i.imgur.com/hhzTBev.gif)
You'd like some of the stuff that guy makes

[ThePruld] DEMON'S DARK SOULS Ep1 - La triade (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9mfbhLySdU#ws)

make sure subtitles are on


also,

(http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac71/Flame-G102/General/DarkSoulsII2014-12-1321-56-49-82_zps669fb052.png~original)

(http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac71/Flame-G102/General/236430_2014-12-13_00006_zpse80513c8.png~original)

(http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac71/Flame-G102/General/DarkSoulsII2014-12-1322-43-30-75_zps0292abd4.png~original)
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on December 18, 2014, 01:50:53 AM
So Dark Souls 1 is finally on Steamworks.

Also, From accidentally released the Debug version instead of the actual one for a short while.

There's some neat stuff in there. For example, at some point, they had a ranking system for phantoms and whatnot.

Also, you can take control of NPC's and enemies and play as them.

http://a.pomf.se/ikeuai.webm (http://a.pomf.se/ikeuai.webm)
http://a.pomf.se/uefvlg.webm (http://a.pomf.se/uefvlg.webm)
http://a.pomf.se/wecwha.webm (http://a.pomf.se/wecwha.webm)
http://a.pomf.se/chzyzr.webm (http://a.pomf.se/chzyzr.webm)
http://a.pomf.se/yfwhgf.webm (http://a.pomf.se/yfwhgf.webm)
http://a.pomf.se/bigvef.webm (http://a.pomf.se/bigvef.webm)
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on December 18, 2014, 06:06:46 AM
Thats...kinda awesome.  XD

1: Mimics scare the hell out of me.

2: Red Phantom Slim? That is also kinda terrifying.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on December 18, 2014, 06:18:08 AM
Playing as monsters against other people would be pretty cool, actually.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on December 18, 2014, 06:39:06 AM
I'd want to play/invade as throes mobile Poison/Petrifing lizzard statues from Shulva in Dark Souls II, they may be one of the most annoying enemies in the whole souls series. XD
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on December 18, 2014, 03:45:11 PM
Playing as monsters against other people would be pretty cool, actually.
Doesnt work online. Only clientside. other people would only see you bugging the [tornado fang] out.

I'd want to play/invade as throes mobile Poison/Petrifing lizzard statues from Shulva in Dark Souls II, they may be one of the most annoying enemies in the whole souls series. XD
or just DaS2 bosses in general, but that isn't happening until we get a debug copy of THAT.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on December 18, 2014, 06:29:55 PM
Doesnt work online. Only clientside. other people would only see you bugging the [tornado fang] out.
Well yeah... it was probably a test run to see if it would be fun/functional to do, and wouldn't put any effort in replication unless they actually fully went for it.

I was speaking in hypotheticals, you see, merely saying that it would be cool to do. Hence the word would in my previous post.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on December 19, 2014, 03:29:35 AM
Doesnt work online. Only clientside. other people would only see you bugging the [tornado fang] out.
or just DaS2 bosses in general, but that isn't happening until we get a debug copy of THAT.

Fume Knight or Alone would be fun to play as, or maybe the Pursuer? Fumetime Funtime!
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on December 20, 2014, 10:47:35 PM
It actually IS a shame this [parasitic bomb] doesnt work online. Invaded by Dark Spirit [insert boss]?

I wouldn't even be mad. That would be rad as [tornado fang].

Also, Fumetime Funtime indeed, imagine invading as Fume Knight and watching players [parasitic bomb] themselves.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on December 23, 2014, 02:53:43 PM
So I was doing a mini-marathon of Souls the past few days. Played through all 3 games from scratch, then I messed around in my main DkS2 file a bit. Man, it feels great to replay these games.

In Dark Souls 2 I revisited DLCs 2 and 3 for a second impression, 'cause they didn't impress me all that much at first. I had more fun this time, probably because I wasn't in such a hurry to get things done. Found a ton of items that I didn't find my first time through (Smelter Hammer!) and I fought a couple mini-bosses/spirit invaders for the first time. Frozen Covetous Demon wasn't as bad as I thought it would be after I got rid of the White Phantom with arrows.

Anyway, a couple months ago I posted here about my DkS2 character not feeling as powerful as I wanted him/her (depends on the mood :D) to be past NG+. I've dedicated an extra 5-6 hours to testing buffs, items, stat adjustments and bonfire ascetics, and I still have more or less the same impression. On the plus side, I fought Giant Lord about a billion times to farm souls and I can deal decent damage to him even on the highest bonfire intensity. So I don't think the main game bosses are an issue.

But I think my problem with this game (in this specific aspect) is that the buffs are so weak. In Demon's Souls, you cast Cursed Weapon and that adds an extra 50% damage to your melee attacks no matter what. In Dark Souls, the Red Tearstone Ring gives you a 50% damage boost. The equivalent to those in DkS2 are both seriously nerfed, and there aren't any great alternatives. I'm not even comparing stuff like DeS's hypermode 'cause it would just be unfair.

I tried to use Sacred Oath, but it only adds a fixed 50 value at the cost of at least one ring slot (2 'cause I don't have Chime of Screams or base FTH for casting, but ideally it's one). Considering that my weapon has a base 500 attack plus rings and scaling, that's like a 5% increase. Elemental buffs are okay, but only when the enemy is seriously weak to it. Brightbugs... might be a solution, but they're so rare that I don't know how I can apply them as a regular thing.

Anyone got any ideas on how I can improve my character?
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on December 23, 2014, 08:05:01 PM
If your Vit is lower than 10 you'll get a seriously nice bonus to physical attack from Flynn's Ring, you find that in the bug infested room near the Puzzling Short Sword room. A few of my physical builds make use of it, like my Duel bone fist character.

This is my main PvP Build, Ruelia. She fights with a Black Knight Great sword mainly, and I'm currently on NG+++ .

Current stats
Lv. 269
Soul Memory. 22069568
Vigor. 51
Endurance. 40
Vitality. 30
Attunement. 20
Strength. 50
Dexterity. 50
Adaptability. 26
Intelligence. 28
Faith. 27

Magic/Miracles/Pyro/Hexes
Dark Weapon - for added weapon damage
Dark Orb - for the rare ranged attack that my bow won't cut it against.

HP. 2136
Stamina. 140
Equip Load. 83.0
Cast Speed. 81
ATK Str. 155
ATK Dex. 155
Magic BNS. 109
Fire BNS. 138
Lightning BNS. 95
Dark BNS. 148
Poison BNS. 150
Bleed BNS. 150
Phys DEF. 145
Magic DEF. 148
Fire DEF. 147
Lightning DEF. 147
Dark DEF. 147
Poison DEF. 147
Bleed DEF. 147
Petrify DEF. 152
Cure Resist. 144
AGL. 104
Poise. 7.8

R.Weapon 1 559
R.Weapon 2 160
R.Weapon 3 160
L.Weapon 1 600
L Weapon 2 224
L Weapon 3 160
Defense Vs Strike 610
Defense vs Slash 634
Defense vs Thrust 620
Poise 28.8

Equipment
Black Knight Great Sword+4
Blue Moon Longsword+10 (The Longsword re texture)
X2 Majestic Greatswords+5
Greatsword+10
Aged Smelter Sword+5
Eleum Loyce+3 (still leveling it)
Curved Nil Greatsword+2 (Still leveling)
X2 Washing Pole+10
Magic Ice Rapier+5
X2 Bone Fists+5
Pyromancy Flame+10
Retainer Staff+10
Hunter's Black Bow+10
Alone Greatbow+10
Watcher's Shield+2 (Still leveling)

Crown of the Ivory King+5 (Purely for no hollowing and fashion souls)
Black Robes+5
Drakeblood Gauntlets+10
Raime's Leggings+2 (still leveling mostly for fashion souls)
Ring of Blades+2 (For added physical attack brings my right hand attack from 509-559)
Ring of Steel Protection+2 (For added physical deffense, brings my defense vs strike from; 510-610, vs slash from 534-634, and vs thrust from 520-620)
Chloranthy Ring+2 for better stamina regen
Ring of the Living for summoning fashion souls but I use the Stone Ring to reduce my opponent poise faster when I'm invaded.

I never inflict less than 200 damage to anything, even the DLC bosses and all my weapons take advantage of my 50s in strength and Dex. If you use weapons high scaling in them you need to get them 50 to maximize the enhancement. You just can't one shot things in Dark Souls II, you're best bet to succeed is to master how to dodge enemies and hit them without taking any real damage in return, it's not possible to get the overpowered builds you could often get in the older games and I believe this was an intentional design choice. That being said Resonant weapon is pretty overpowered, if you can cast it I'd say use it; most bosses without dark defenses take a hilarious amount of damage from attacks buffed with it.

Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on December 23, 2014, 08:31:55 PM
Thanks for the help. I'll try Resonant Weapon and will post my stats and items later.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on December 23, 2014, 08:35:17 PM
Thanks for the help. I'll try Resonant Weapon and will post my stats and items later.

Hopefully my stuff gives you some ideas in future builds.  :)
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on December 23, 2014, 09:59:25 PM
Wow. I read about Resonant Weapon and people suggested Dark Weapon as well. I tried DW first 'cause the stat requirements are lower, and with Stone Ring and Red Iron Twinblade, this thing is annihilating big enemies including Giant Lord. I assume dark-elemental enemies must not even flinch but it helps everywhere else. Thanks for the help!

I respec'd my SL to be able to cast DW, but my stats are fairly similar to what I had before:

SL256
VGR 47
END 40
VIT 37
ATN 10
STR 85
ADP 35
INT 16
FTH 14

Weapons
Red Iron Twinblade+10 (540 ATK)
Smelter Hammer+10 (728 ATK)
Great Club+10 (648 ATK)
Greatsword+10 (670 ATK)

Rings
Cloranthy+2
3rd Dragon
Blades+2
Stone (this changes though)

Armor
Raime's Helm+5
Raime's Armor+5
King's Gauntlets+5
Alonne Knight Leggings+10
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on December 24, 2014, 02:12:52 AM
Nice, glad things are working out better. Dark and Resonante Weapon are great spell buffs, you'll find them useful in the DLC boss fights, none of them are that resistant to dark elemental attacks.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on December 24, 2014, 02:01:54 PM
Anything to do with hexes, buffs included, is pretty OP in DaS2. Balanced by the fact that most of them require souls to work.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on December 24, 2014, 02:13:44 PM
Anything to do with hexes, buffs included, is pretty OP in DaS2. Balanced by the fact that most of them require souls to work.

True, although by NG+ the number of souls you get from most enemies pretty much makes the cost a non-issue. Great Magic Barrier is also quite popular for self-buffing defenses, although at least you can't stack it with other non weapon buffs anymore.

Can't remember how many duelists I attacked mid buff animation when they tried to stack every buff under the sun, thats pushing it for me a little. XD
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on December 24, 2014, 03:18:03 PM
By the way, any melee weapons or shields worth trading souls for (Ornifax/Straid)? I already have all the spells but I don't think I've traded any weapons except the Moonlight Greatsword.

I also kinda wanted a small or medium shield. I have 3 greatshields and they're good, but with my current armor and equipment, it would be nice to carry something lighter. I rarely even equip my shields 'cause they're so heavy.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on December 24, 2014, 10:11:23 PM
Notable weapons?

-Flexile Sentry's Soul for the Warped Sword is great for dex builds
-Bewitched Alone Sword from Sir Alone is an interesting weapon
-Butcher's Knife from The Rotten's souls is much improved from the DK1 versions and still has the HP absorb per hit effect.
-Chariot Lance from the Executioner's Chariot Soul is a great lance.
-Drakewing Ultra Greatsword from the Guardian Dragon Soul.
-Curved Dragon Greatsword from the Ancient Dragon Soul. (from the memory in Brightstone)
-Throne Defender and Throne Watcher's greatswords are both good for faith/sorcery melee builds and both have special buffs with their two handed heavy attack. Watcher for magic Defender for faith.
-Dragonslayer Spear is pretty good
-Fume Ultra greatsword works as a makeshift shield with one of it's attacks
-Pursuer's Ultra Great sword is a good weapon.

As for shields
-While it's a light shield the Throne Watcher's shield is amazing, while not 100% physical block it's incredibly well rounded in all other defenses.
-The Drangliek Shield is good but it requires twinkling to upgrade, but other wise one of the most well rounded medium shields in the game.
-The King's Shield is also a good choice, certainly looks nice and it's stats aren't that different.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on December 25, 2014, 11:51:54 AM
Awesome, thanks again.

Didn't play much since, I only warped to all the merchants and bought a ton of consumables for future use.

Seriously considering a SL1 run... as much as I know I'm going to suffer, haha... but I've done one in the other Souls games, this one can't be that worse, right? Right? ;^;
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on December 25, 2014, 05:35:15 PM
DLCs might give you some issues but the main game it should be possible with all the ways to buff yourself. I mean like other soul games it'll be tough either way. XD
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on December 26, 2014, 09:18:38 PM
Finally encountered and killed Wilykit and Wilykat in Dark Souls 2. Jesus goodness, how awesome it feels to be done with this.

I guess I wouldn't mind this fight if you didn't have to cross the Frigid Outskirts... the fight is pretty manageable, especially with NPC summons distracting one of them. It only took me 4 or 5 attempts. But the trip, man... ugh. By far the worst area in the whole series there. I'm glad you find the new ring near the boss at least.

Also, I definitely like Aava as a boss. Reading their attacks today was really fun. I should fight the solo tiger again one of these days.

Red Iron Twinblade with Dark Weapon, I love you.

Officially beaten all bosses in the game now. I'm probably ready to move on to NG+3, but there might be some more farming and experimenting to do.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on December 27, 2014, 02:33:15 AM
Plus any bosses the First Sin expansion adds too.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Kieran on December 27, 2014, 08:19:00 AM
My desire to play it seems to have petered out again.  I stopped about two thirds of the way through the last DLC a month ago, and honestly I can't really seem to work up any motivation to finish it.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on December 28, 2014, 11:35:03 AM
I just went through Amana in NG+2 as practice for a possible, but currently not likely No Death run in NG+X. It went smoothly with Alonne Greatbow + Destructive Arrows. As long as I keep my distance, I can snipe almost every enemy one at a time, without them noticing me. And the Torch helps with the sudden drops (although I do have them memorized now after many many deaths).

I also truly explored the Iron Passage for the first time ever (my first run through it was literally just a dash to the boss). I do quite like this place. At least compared to the other DLC challenge areas. There is an alternate path, which I always think is cool, and you can fire arrows with good positioning. Still a tough gauntlet, but I'm satisfied with the strategy here.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on December 28, 2014, 04:25:48 PM
Plus Smelter 2.0 is kinda fun too since they altered the way some of his attacks work like adding some pause between his combos, that threw me off the first few attempts. Also Blue > Red, not that I'm biased or anything right?  8D
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on December 28, 2014, 09:09:53 PM
both of Fume's boss weapons are pretty good.

Fume straightsword has regulr longsword R1's, but the R2's are like a rapier's.

the UGS is probably the strongest (and heaviest) UGS in the game, with a good moveset. the R2 is particularly good, like Valkyrie said. it blocks for a second or two before swinging down.

the 2HR2's are a really good thrust as well. i think it's 2HR2, i might have em mixed up
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on December 28, 2014, 10:03:25 PM
Nice, thanks. UGS looks a bit more interesting... I have to choose well 'cause I only have one soul, but I will be fighting this guy a lot in future runs.

I was farming Giant Lord + Petrified Somethings now. Bless the random soul at GameFAQs who mentioned that the Giant Lord bonfire also ascends all the other Memories in the forest, or I would have never tried this. I walked out of that session with 20 Petrified Somethings and a crapton of Crimson Waters.

Anyway, I wanted stones to get the rare items from the crows. I don't know if they're not so rare or if I got lucky, but I scored all rare weapons and the White Ring without having to farm again. Phew.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on December 28, 2014, 11:05:14 PM
That being said the Drake Keeper's Sword is still the go to Longsword if you ever do consider the Fume Straight Sword.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on December 29, 2014, 12:21:09 PM
Of course there's a really cool armor set in Dark Souls 2 that requires fighting a boss over and over until the NG+ lackeys drop all the pieces. Oh, Souls, the things I do because I love you.

To be fair you can quit the game and reset the boss fight + lackeys if you don't get the drop. Still annoying, though, because well... it's the Flexile Sentry's ninja helpers.

Let's give it a try.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on December 30, 2014, 01:56:31 PM
Of course there's a really cool armor set in Dark Souls 2 that requires fighting a boss over and over until the NG+ lackeys drop all the pieces. Oh, Souls, the things I do because I love you.

To be fair you can quit the game and reset the boss fight + lackeys if you don't get the drop. Still annoying, though, because well... it's the Flexile Sentry's ninja helpers.

Let's give it a try.

Honestly the quitting method is the best way to do it, minimal hassle that way, and with item dropping gear on and the coins you should get a few pieces of the shadow gear pretty quick.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on December 30, 2014, 03:03:33 PM
Yeah, it didn't take long at all, thankfully. :)

Did a bunch of stuff in Dark Souls 2 yesterday...

- Shadow set: I got it, and as I mentioned, it wasn't as difficult as I thought. With good item discovery, the ninjas drop the armor pieces fairly quickly, and you only have to quit the game to respawn before the fog gate. I even got their weapons. The chest piece looks great, but I'm not a fan of the leggings. Nothing I currently have goes with the top. Bummer. #FashionSouls

- Company of Champions/Vanquisher's Seal: I farmed the Black Phantom invader at Grave of Saints (Rhoy?) for Awestones. That spot is nice because you don't need to fight the boss when you ascend the bonfire. The Vanquisher's Seal is amazing, especially with powerstance, but I wish it boosted all fist weapons and not just the unarmed guy. I'm going to have a lot of fun with this thing anyway.

- Rat King Covenant/Slumbering Dragoncrest Ring: Same bonfire as the above. I noticed that I was getting quite a few Rat Tails when I was farming Awestones, so I decided to rank up here as well. No idea where I would use that ring considering Dark Souls 2 is a massive gauntlet fest, but I'm glad I have it. Also, Great Club+10 OHKOs the rats even in NG+7. Good to know.

Gotta dig through the Wiki for more interesting items to find. I'll try to come up with something to do today.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on December 31, 2014, 02:24:51 PM
Well, damn. No new content in Dark Souls 2 Scholar of the First Sin after all, except for... an NPC? Bleh.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/12/29/dark-souls-2-scholar-of-the-first-sin-director-reveals-new-details (http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/12/29/dark-souls-2-scholar-of-the-first-sin-director-reveals-new-details)

Oh well. Still interested to see the new enemy placement and hopefully *good* balancing (aka please stop nerfing my favorite weapons).
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on December 31, 2014, 02:33:57 PM
Apparently this NPC will be rather important, but hey free content is free content right?

Also my Build a character called "Flare" (original I known); is about complete.

Demon Great Hammer+5
Pyromancy Flame+10
Lion Warrior Helm+10
Desert Sorceress+10
Havel Gauntlets+5
Executioner Leggings+5

Great Chaos Fireball
Acid Surge
Fire Weapon

((Don't have the character stats in front of me so I'm remembering off the top of my head))

But 50s in Str and Dex, 50 in Vitality, 40 in Endurance, 40 for Equip Load, 40 in Agility for maximum dodge potential. 22 for spell attunement. and I ignored faith and intelligence all together.  8D

Demon Great Hammer is an awesome weapon and surprisingly quick for it's size, won a few PvP matches with it.


Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on January 03, 2015, 01:15:12 AM
so this is the new NPC with the Scholar update/version

http://imgur.com/a/F4Rtl (http://imgur.com/a/F4Rtl)

also, one of the lore changes

http://i.imgur.com/Bg7yQxN.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/Bg7yQxN.jpg)


and the new title screen

http://imgur.com/t/dark_souls/UJvZf (http://imgur.com/t/dark_souls/UJvZf)
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on January 03, 2015, 04:52:08 PM
Aha so that explains why the Last Giant was so angry when it sees you in that cutscene. Nice; I'm going to have to make a new character to see all these changes when this comes out.

Not going to spoil myself on the new NPC though, I want to experience the new story bits on my own.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on January 05, 2015, 08:20:34 PM
Farmed more Loyce Souls in the Ivory DLC (enough to get the final reward, which... eh) and fought the Ivory King again. I had to ascend the bonfire because I ran out of enemies to farm Loyce Souls, so the boss was alive and I decided to fight him a second time. I really don't like certain things about this fight. His range is unbelievable and he seems to ignore i-frames when it's pretty obvious that you should have dodged clean past the attack. And of course, the fact that you have to do the whole Charred Loyce gauntlet every time you die isn't the greatest.

I beat him again though. Solo this time, no phantoms! \o/ Felt pretty good.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Kieran on January 06, 2015, 01:28:24 PM
Enemies ignoring i-frames has been kind of a thing for me.  One reason I do not like Dark Souls 2 very much. ¬_¬
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on January 06, 2015, 06:08:49 PM
Pump Adaptability.

It may be a less than perfect stat, but it exists. The more Agility you have, the more iframes you have on rolls.

Agility also factors into estus drinking speed.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on January 07, 2015, 01:10:50 AM
Good news, bad news about my first attempt at a No Death run in Dark Souls 2.

Bad news first: well, I failed it. Very early into the run, even. I got knocked off a bridge in the Gutter by one of those exploding zombies (I honestly just forgot he existed).

The good news: I'm pretty confident that I can do this, even if I need to do it in NG+7 later. I was originally going to kill Rotten over and over for the SM requirement, but because I died, I ended up doing the four Great Soul paths. They were a piece of cake with my character. I did die a couple times, more so due to my lack of attention than any fight being extremely tough. Lost Sinner got destroyed by the Red Twinblade, which was a beautiful surprise (her lackeys died in just a couple of hits). Also, best news: not many deaths after opening Drangleic Castle.

At the end of NG+3 now, ready to enter +4, but with most of the current cycle open for exploration. I'll revisit some other time.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on January 08, 2015, 05:08:04 PM
My Demon's Great Hammer character is really fun so far, even on NG+++ I'm really destroying things with the two-handed strong attack.

Surprisingly fast when you use light attacks one-handed, I recommend it for anyone with a strength build; assuming you have enough strength and equip load to use it. It is quite an investment.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on January 11, 2015, 02:48:59 PM
Did anyone catch the Dark Souls 2 speedrun at AGDQ? It was pretty sweet.

The quest for 100% items in Demon's Souls is close to the end...

Main file, NG+8, almost done. I only need 3 of the 18-20 items I was missing when I started this run: Gargoyle Crossbow, Spiral Rapier (both rare drops in 3-2, will need PBWT), and the Broad Sword (1-2 merchant).

I had to kill human Selen Vinland for her armor, which brought my Character Tendency down a couple of points. So I turned that world PB, killed the Black Phantom there, and did the same in W2 to regain PWCT. I needed PBWT in W2 to farm Iron Knuckles anyway, so it worked out okay. Both worlds are back to PWWT with their Black Phantoms, Primeval Demons and bosses dead.

It feels so great to play this game after Dark Souls 2. Enemies are stupid in comparison, but in a good way. They don't track your movement like a fighting game's AI, and they're easier to read. And of course, hypermode obliterates everything.

I hope the gargoyle items don't take too long to farm.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on January 11, 2015, 04:45:24 PM
The only real issues I have with Demons Souls is it's garbage tendency and multiple player systems. It's so annoying having to commit suicide to get certain things over and over or just so I can be summoned again. I get the plot reasons but I'm glad they changed that in Dark Souls.

Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on January 11, 2015, 08:38:29 PM
Yeah, suiciding to trigger events is pretty dumb.

(http://i.imgur.com/cKUF9LL.jpg?1)

Do you see that second item that my character, Angry Josh Brolin, is staring at? Yeah, that took longer to farm than the Pure Bladestone. With PBWT and Large Sword of Searching.

I guess I would be okay with the odds if the run back wasn't so tedious. There are only 3 crossbow gargoyles in 3-2, and it takes two minutes to suicide, watch load screen, run back and get another chance vs. the closest guy. Got old pretty fast.

Also, notice the bottom right corner and how it doesn't say 8 million souls? That's how much this cost me. I lost my souls several times while backtracking to that one guy. It's not like you can't make souls fast in NG+7, but still, it's always a bummer to lose that many.

Anyway, 100% items! Woo. First Souls game where I got a full inventory. Time to finish the game.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on January 11, 2015, 11:37:01 PM
Funny thing is I got like five of those things on my older runs. Purestones were my bane though, I HATE crystal gekos in every souls game.  8D
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Kieran on January 11, 2015, 11:57:37 PM
I hate them more in Demon's Souls than anything, considering they have a semi-limited spawn count.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on January 12, 2015, 04:24:15 PM
They each spawn 3 times I believe? Then when you beat any of the bosses all the geckos have their spawns reset.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on January 12, 2015, 04:36:57 PM
I think it's 4 or 5 times total, counting post-boss spawns. The number is pretty low.

There's a trick if you didn't get what you wanted and you need another spawn. When the item prompt appears after you kill the lizard, you have a short window to quit via XMB before the game autosaves. Most of the time, that lizard will respawn and you get another shot.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on January 15, 2015, 06:16:34 AM
http://steamcommunity.com/app/236430/discussions/0/622954747287715320/ (http://steamcommunity.com/app/236430/discussions/0/622954747287715320/)

Seems this is a full list of what the free update will bring. A new ring is added that when equipped will absorb all souls gained preventing Soul Memory from increasing, as well as broadening the range of soul memory and allowing NG players to interact with NG+ and beyond.

This patch fixes a good chunk of stuff that annoys me and if this is it for fixes thats not to shabby honestly. Also the idea of bonfires showing you how active online is in an area is kinda neat.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on January 15, 2015, 12:29:42 PM
Goddamn, that is one nice list of updates. I am impressed. Can't wait!
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on January 15, 2015, 06:12:38 PM
I really excited about the new NPC and the redone item descriptions,  can't wait to learn new stuff about the lore.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on January 17, 2015, 02:07:04 PM
Dark Souls, main file, NG+7. Not the most thorough quest for 100% inventory now, but I'm at least getting as much as I can.

Coming from Dark Souls 2, I feel so much more powerful in this game, even at max NG+ and SL125 (aka not 300 or whatever my SL is in DkS2). I used to have an issue with the Man-serpent Greatsword's speed, but it's doing the job so far. And <3 Gough's Greatbow. Just wish you could do more in terms of hypermode.

Paused right after beating O&S. I killed Ornstein last for his soul, and Jesus, does Dark Souls 2 make most DkS1 bosses a piece of cake. I was surprised at how fair this whole fight was compared to the sequel's OP hitboxes and gank squads.

I already killed Four Kings. Tanked them with Stone armor and MSGS spam + Power Within. Still not totally happy with this strat, but it is consistent at least. I just don't know how to fight these guys legit. My SL1 fight was a disaster.

I'll play up until Gwyn later and then I'll try to find/farm some weapons that I'm missing. I might do the DLC too.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on January 17, 2015, 03:46:49 PM
Wow, that was SO fast. At Gwyn already, took me less than an hour of gameplay.

I learned the best trick ever for cheesing Nito, which is great because he was usually a big pain in higher NG+s. Just equip Fog Ring and Slumbering Dragoncrest Ring and the skeletons won't wake up -- not even the small skeletons that always show up near where you land. Then run to the right of the landing area until you can get Nito's attention with arrows. I got lucky and he got stuck behind the central pillar so I just killed him with arrows. Really cool strategy. Bless the soul who posted this method on YouTube.

Bed of Chaos 1st try as well. Always feels good when you don't die to that a-hole. (I did die to Pinwheel, but no one has to know, right?)

Like I said before, I'm gonna stick around and explore, look for items I don't have, and maybe do the DLC + other optional bosses.

Had a great time with this run, damn. I should play my main file more often.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on January 17, 2015, 04:46:45 PM
Speaking of replaying old Souls games I really want to start a new Demons Souls run, I'm thinking of a pure mage build. You want to feel powerful play a full mage in Demons Souls, now that is power.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on January 18, 2015, 10:08:21 PM
Everything feels powerful in Demon's Souls. ;)

Finished Dark Souls NG+7.

Killed all remaining bosses plus DLC. It was great fun. I am definitely more comfortable with this difficulty than a few months ago when I cleared it for the first time.

Surprisingly close to 100% inventory too. Only need a talisman, 5 miracles and some pieces of armor. The talisman and miracles that I'm missing are all related to covenants, which I didn't want to touch this time around. Will get all that next time, for sure.

The last weapon I had to farm took the longest of all: Oolacile Catalyst. Wiki says it's a 0.5% drop, which is crazy considering that that enemy has another rare drop at 1%. Max item discovery didn't seem to help much. That was one tedious farming session.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on February 04, 2015, 04:31:59 PM
The patch for the PS3 and Xbox360 (likely the PC version too?)) is out, this is the new content and balancing by the way. Rumor is ontop of the new story we get a new final boss as well! Downloading as we speak!  8D
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Kieran on February 04, 2015, 09:24:10 PM
I haven't heard that rumor.  I wouldn't put too much stock in it; from the coverage I've seen, From is holding back any significant content additions for the DX11 version.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on February 04, 2015, 09:42:31 PM
Uhh..it's not a rumor it's a fact. The footage is on youtube right now.
Just look up "Scholar of the First Sin ending."

There is a completely new final boss and ending scene.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Kieran on February 05, 2015, 05:10:01 AM
Then why did you call it a rumor in the first place?
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on February 05, 2015, 05:17:36 AM
Bad choice of words, although I'm not sure how it's triggered. Some are saying he'll appear at the last two primal bonfires you visit while others are saying he'll first appear at the ones in the Gultch and in the room past the Duke's study.

Either way after that he'll pop up in certain areas until the end of the game where you are given a new final boss after Nashandra and a Dark Souls 1 esq ending choice.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on February 06, 2015, 01:38:35 AM
So this guy is a new NPC invader for the scholar rerelease

(http://s16.postimg.org/fhikbvvn7/1423179010591.jpg)

(http://s16.postimg.org/46fwnios3/1423150121980.jpg)

he seems like a guy who will invade you at several places, as the trailer for the rerelease shows him in Aldia's as well,

also, seems like it is basically the PC version with sharper textures, and slightly better lighting, in other words, it no longer has that disgusting grey filter over everything. Contrast seems upped.

Enemies and chests and loot has been entirely rearranged, as have been enemy positions, for example, there's now some swordsmen up on the pursuer's platform, along with loot, there's more clutter in the levels, like barrels, boxes, etc

A Pursuer seems to show up in things betwixt, probably in place of the second ogre,

Vengarl's body has been moved to Shaded woods, where it really SHOULD be, there seems to be Syan Knights now guarding King doors, apparently you will actually find Heide Knights at Heide's, there's a flexile sentry at Sinner's Rise,

and, the big one-

DARK AREAS ARE BACK

the game unfortunately does not look like it did in the demos and previews. but they at least brought back dark areas, which even the already downgraded network test game had.

new trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abNBkRHCckQ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abNBkRHCckQ)

vaati's gameplay video, showcasing some new enemy placements for forest, and dark areas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg3vnui8OyQ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg3vnui8OyQ)
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on February 06, 2015, 03:24:10 AM
Just going to correct you on one point. Confirmed as I just finished the new content myself. I admit the new last boss is rather challenging.

The new NPC is not an invader, he'll show up at the last primal bonfire you reach, then again in the Undead Crypt and finally in the Dragon Shrine before finally appearing after Nashandra if you have already beaten Vendrick. You can talk to him to get some info on what Vendrick was trying to accomplish, and finally he's a new final boss.

This also adds the option to leave rather than link the flames for a new ending.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on February 06, 2015, 06:24:55 AM
Just going to correct you on one point. Confirmed as I just finished the new content myself. I admit the new last boss is rather challenging.

The new NPC is not an invader, he'll show up at the last primal bonfire you reach, then again in the Undead Crypt and finally in the Dragon Shrine before finally appearing after Nashandra if you have already beaten Vendrick. You can talk to him to get some info on what Vendrick was trying to accomplish, and finally he's a new final boss.

This also adds the option to leave rather than link the flames for a new ending.
I think you need to reread the post.

I didn't mention the Scholar because he's already part of the scholar patch for the "last gen" version.

Im talking strictly Scholar rerelease.

That said, I'll correct myself- if im remembering right, the new NPC Invader, named Forlorn, will, according to From/Bamco, invade you anytime, anywhere.

basically, Pursuer's original concept.

Some more screenshots, including 2 shots of Forlorn

[spoiler]
(http://s11.postimg.org/rxzwpvl81/pursuing_intensifies.jpg)

(http://s11.postimg.org/603fw367l/fun_times.jpg)

(http://s11.postimg.org/6r0rflxyp/906047_813599285379784_8425528358056064872_o.jpg[img]

[img]http://postimg.org/image/vmu733kmn/full/)

(http://s11.postimg.org/qzo51bx9t/10873369_813599225379790_6085685087078935250_o.jpg)

[/spoiler]

Worth noting, is the fact that enemies will now chase you forever. So if you aggro a crowd, you can't just run away till they de-aggro and move back to their spots, they will chase you all the way to the ends of the level.

Also

http://a.pomf.se/fhldhu.webm (http://a.pomf.se/fhldhu.webm)

I hope there's more details like this, I was surprised to see it
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on February 06, 2015, 07:04:08 AM
Ah your post makes it seem like you are talking about the only new NPC in the main update.

The Pursuer being in more places is always good, they still haven't fixed it's soul description in the patch however. It should roughly says the Pursuer was basically one of many undead hunting weapons, hence why you see another in the Iron Keep and two in Vendrick's throne room, rather than some one off warrior. Oh well.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on February 06, 2015, 12:40:21 PM
I'm going to check out the new patch probably tomorrow. Looking forward to that new boss!

I really hope the PS3 load times are better like they promised...
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on February 06, 2015, 04:47:37 PM
Menu icons seem to load a little faster for sure, transition between locations seems a little faster but nothing amazing sadly. Then again the load times never bothered me that much, Dragon Age 3's on the PS3 are much much worse for example. 
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on February 06, 2015, 05:48:10 PM
maybe its just me, but the animation for using cracked orbs seems faster too.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on February 06, 2015, 05:53:59 PM
I really need to invade people more often. My Pyramid head build hasn't been used in awhile!  8D
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on February 07, 2015, 04:30:05 PM
Downloaded and finished the Scholar of the First Sin stuff in DkS2.

The new boss is pretty easy, kind of a relief after the DLC jerks. He's practically stationary, which I assume was a decision based on how he has only like one animation, haha. But yeah, everything he throws at you is fairly simple to avoid. The only attack I couldn't figure out how to dodge properly is easily blocked (fire bomb). I was in NG+4, but the bonfire was +5 because Nashandra had to be alive in order to trigger the new boss.

The new ending is nothing special, but I'm not a lore guy. I would have preferred an item or something.

The load times seem faster in some places and slower in others. When I open menus, icons take a while longer to appear, but I think loading areas in general is a little faster. Maybe it's just an impression. I will do a full playthrough one of these days and confirm.

I also bought the new ring but I don't plan on using it.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on February 09, 2015, 12:56:56 PM
Last night I ended up beating Darklurker and Ancient Dragon again on my main DkS2 file. I think they were the only main game bosses that were still alive in NG+3 (it was +3, not +4 as I said earlier). Learned a pretty cool defensive ring setup for Darklurker. His attacks aren't dealing that much damage now (aka no more OHKOs). I don't deal as much damage as I'd like, but whatever, that's DkS2 being DkS2.

Ancient Dragon was literally the same fight as always. And I can finally run past all the enemies before the boss. Saves some time when I die.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on February 19, 2015, 11:20:24 PM
Just tried to get back into Dark Souls 1 and duel some players, as I figured it was all try hards circling around for 1-shot back stabs with the occasional high level magic spam and everyone using the same weapons and armor. In short boring and frustrating. Thats WHEN the online decided to function correctly at all.

Dark Souls 1 is better than Dark Souls 2? Yeah bullshit.  8D
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on February 19, 2015, 11:44:17 PM
Online was the one thing DS2 did better than the first. Otherwise, we'll have to agree to disagree :P
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on February 20, 2015, 12:35:46 AM
Online was the one thing DS2 did better than the first. Otherwise, we'll have to agree to disagree :P

Better controls, you forgot about that. Not moving and attacking like you are in slow motion. A dodge roll that works correctly like in Demons Souls. Oh they nerfed the horrid poise system. Does more than one thing better IMO.  8D

Edit: Maybe I'm being unfair to Dark Souls 1, it's a great game amazing even but I've beaten it 30+ times and it has nothing left to offer me in new experiences. It doesn't help that the only community left are the "try hards" who would rather min-max than experiment with fun weapon and armor combinations. In other words the online is basically dead outside of rare co-op.

In Demons Souls and Dark Souls II I'm still having fun, nothing feels like a chore and I encounter all sorts of players who are going about dueling like me. But I legitimately feel Dark Souls 1 is the weakest game in the series,both in design and in execution and I started with Dark Souls 1 so I'd like to think I'm a veteran player. I think thats all I'll say on the matter now that I vented.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on February 20, 2015, 04:35:09 AM
Ehh the rest of the stuff is debatable, hence why I kinda left it to only the online. It depends what the player wants to get out of the game.

Which leads me to my opinion. I'm going to be honest here, I'm not a fan of the online pvp in general in the series. I'll get that out of the way. It never felt solid to me, and rarely have I seen people experiment in the games.

The concept is good on paper; in execution it's kind of hit and miss. It's very rare that I have a duel that felt good, more often than not some technical issue drops in that makes it feel like someone was jipped out of a fair fight (whether it was my opponent or myself).

I guess this could be due to my playing the majority of the series on PC though, which has its own set of issues that the console versions most likely do not possess (different computer setups, whether someone is using DSFix or not which changes a bunch of settings, PC specific issues, and so on).

As far as controls... I dunno, I guess I kinda liked the slight clunkiness to it in DS1. You had to be a bit more deliberate with your approach, and it felt more planned out overall.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on February 20, 2015, 05:14:44 AM
It was odd going back to dark souls after playing the other two games so much, I think I just prefer the twitch reflex concept for dodging. As for varying builds, I see quite alot of different stuff in Dark Souls II when I put down my sign for dueling and even co-op. Demons Souls has less to work with but I don't see too many repeating builds.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on February 20, 2015, 10:27:51 PM
This whole past week I did a big SL1 playthrough of Dark Souls 2. All bosses defeated, including DLC + Aldia.

(http://i.imgur.com/fMj9RRU.jpg?1)

I'm proud of this one because it was quite tough for me. Everything that I dislike about this game is especially a problem in this kind of run. You heal too slow, stamina punishment is harsh, i-frames don't exist, hitboxes are all over the place, enemy tracking is unfair, and some of the bosses and enemy placement are definitely designed with resistance and leveling in mind (have fun @ Iron Passage if you guys ever try this challenge). I had a good time because Souls is always fantastic, but sadly that was my least favorite of the SL1s.

I do appreciate the DLCs more, though. Especially Sir Alonne, what a cool boss. <3

No idea what to do next in Souls. These past couple of months I did a LOT of stuff, from (almost) 100% inventory in DkS1 to a Hands of God playthrough of DeS. Really can't get enough of these games. :)
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on February 20, 2015, 10:53:31 PM
In Dark Souls II I've been doing alot of themed and cosplay builds.

Just did a Hyrule Warriors Zelda build after seeing a neat youtube video.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on February 20, 2015, 11:03:37 PM
Nice. :) I still haven't done themed runs in DkS2, except SL1 I guess. Gotta try 'em one of these days.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on February 20, 2015, 11:15:28 PM
I found it easiest to do so in Dark Souls II since it has the largest number of weapon and armor choices you are bound to find something that fits.

I believe the throne watcher armor set and Ivory King Crown worked well for the fashion souls elements. Her light magic can be filled by Miracles. Any of the better Rapiers for a weapon?
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Phi on February 20, 2015, 11:23:45 PM
If I were to try this franchise one day, where would I start?
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on February 20, 2015, 11:27:34 PM
Hard to say honestly. Each game is mostly self contained, I'd say Demons Souls or Dark Souls II personally. Dark Souls 1 can be a tough one to start out with since it's slower than the other two and has it's easy to wander into areas you are not ready for yet.

One thing you need have in your head is you will die, you will likely die a lot; take things slow don't treat this as a hack an slash and just fight smart and you'll succeed. 

Demons Souls and soon Bloodborne are PS3/4 exclusives, but Dark Souls 1 and 2 are on all systems. Avoid the PC version of Dark Souls 1 however as it's [parasitic bomb].
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Phi on February 20, 2015, 11:45:15 PM
Okay, I'll keep all this in mind.

Thanks.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: ViperAcidZX on February 21, 2015, 12:11:22 AM
One thing you need have in your head is you will die, you will likely die a lot; take things slow don't treat this as a hack an slash and just fight smart and you'll succeed. 

Demons Souls and soon Bloodborne are PS3/4 exclusives, but Dark Souls 1 and 2 are on all systems. Avoid the PC version of Dark Souls 1 however as it's [parasitic bomb].
As some who has been dabbing into Demon's Souls on my older brother's PS3 from time-to-time, I can attest to your statement. Not because I was trying to play it like a hack-and-slash, but because the game took me by surprise a couple of times.

-EDIT-
An "HD" version of Dark Souls II is coming out this year and people are already bitching about it (especially from the PC players)? Lovely.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on February 21, 2015, 12:12:37 AM
Being took by surprise is the joys of a first run through any souls games. I envy you.  O^O
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on February 21, 2015, 12:26:55 AM
I'd say go with Demon's Souls.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on March 06, 2015, 02:27:35 PM
100% inventory in DkS1. The last items I was missing were 3 armor sets that were pretty easy to obtain (Favor, Dingy and Paladin).

That was really fun. I will definitely revisit this file from time to time to help people online and just have fun with this character. :)

I want to redo my SL1 file in DkS1 because I missed a bunch of things that would've made it easier (and more fun). Maybe that'll be my next Souls project.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on March 09, 2015, 08:19:58 AM
Avoid the PC version of Dark Souls 1 however as it's [parasitic bomb].
It's still the best version. With DSFix you can set the framerate to 60, and downsample to fix the terribad resolution
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on March 09, 2015, 10:47:29 AM
I didn't have any issues with it at 30 FPS to be honest, and at least it remained stable during good ol Blighttown.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on March 09, 2015, 01:37:12 PM
It's still the best version. With DSFix you can set the framerate to 60, and downsample to fix the terribad resolution

It's really not.  XD
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Kieran on March 12, 2015, 08:48:23 PM
*siiiiiiiiigh* I think I have Stockholme Syndrome when it comes to this game.  After one of my friends got into it and we were talking at length about it, I reinstalled it, tweaked a few stats, grabbed a Black Knight Greatsword and started NG+.  I think I'm actually having an easier time with it at this point.

I also installed a few mods here and there to tweak things a little bit more to my liking.  And this is why we buy the PC version of Souls games, folks.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on March 12, 2015, 08:54:43 PM
Going to pick up the Bloodborne PS4bundle I think, have enough spare cash to finally update to PS4 might as well get the snazzy looking Bloodborne PS4.  8D
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on March 16, 2015, 11:20:11 PM
This is pretty nifty. (http://www.tettix.net/lordran/art/Lordran_large.png)
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on March 17, 2015, 03:20:39 AM
Kinda reminds me of how worlds look on the Kingdom Hearts world map for some weird reason.  XD

But yeah pretty awesome.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Phi on March 17, 2015, 03:33:17 AM
That should be the final location in Mana-Verse! 8D
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on March 17, 2015, 03:35:01 AM
Only if Pema solos New Londo and the Four Kings  8D
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Sakura Leic on March 17, 2015, 03:39:00 AM
It looks like some unholy fusion of Traverse Town, Hollow Bastion, Castle Oblivion and Twilight Town.  On steroids.  And that's not even a good description of this mess.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on March 17, 2015, 03:49:27 AM
It's kind of a cartoon-esq representation of how all of the areas in Dark Souls 1 fit together, not exact obviously but the artist got a a lot of key details right surprisingly.

 
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on April 04, 2015, 11:02:24 AM
So, bout that Scholar re-release.

[spoiler]
(http://s2.postimg.org/54mlljkqf/335300_2015_04_04_00001.png)

(http://s2.postimg.org/5rlib2hmf/335300_2015_04_03_00004.png)

(http://s2.postimg.org/mtecd5whj/335300_2015_04_03_00006.png)

(http://s2.postimg.org/mqugqbstz/335300_2015_04_03_00002.png)

[/spoiler]

its pretty good so far.

Also, new mechanic.

if a bunch of people have died to the same thing, their bloodstains become a blood pool that shows all their deaths at once.

By FAR the most hilarious addition

http://a.pomf.se/jwcpws.webm (http://a.pomf.se/jwcpws.webm)

http://a.pomf.se/rtyqoq.webm (http://a.pomf.se/rtyqoq.webm)

http://a.pomf.se/lcrpzy.webm (http://a.pomf.se/lcrpzy.webm)

http://a.pomf.se/tgdecn.webm (http://a.pomf.se/tgdecn.webm)
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on April 04, 2015, 11:00:42 PM
Bloodpools officially the best addition ever.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on April 05, 2015, 12:45:05 AM
Oh god can anyone imagine The Fume Knight's area with that mechanic? Blood pool becomes blood tsunami?
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on April 05, 2015, 05:30:55 AM
also, hello, this is new

(http://s14.postimg.org/mfssm0qu7/335300_2015_04_04_00012.png)

he's in the gutter, and drops the iron mask now, along with the heide lance
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on April 05, 2015, 06:14:25 AM
Huh kinda neat they added the unused heide stuff.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on June 10, 2015, 05:27:33 AM
thoughts?
http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/06/09/dark-souls-3-art-confirms-early-2016-release (http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/06/09/dark-souls-3-art-confirms-early-2016-release)

https://imgur.com/a/c08Bb (https://imgur.com/a/c08Bb)
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on June 10, 2015, 06:02:03 AM
Not enough to really make any real comments on. Looks as good as Bloodborne from the scenes?
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on June 11, 2015, 12:52:52 AM
Has potential, I suppose. I hope Miyazaki is more involved than DS2, since chances are it's that team that started development on it.

Going to be hard to go back to Souls style after Bloodborne, though.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on June 12, 2015, 07:47:49 AM
Has potential, I suppose. I hope Miyazaki is more involved than DS2, since chances are it's that team that started development on it.


I dunno, leaked image says 2016, which means it was already in development while Bloodborne was finalizing it's own

We'll have to see.

it clearly uses Bloodborne's engine, so there's that
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Phi on June 15, 2015, 07:26:28 PM
http://youtu.be/FAbJaCo4X8I (http://youtu.be/FAbJaCo4X8I)
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on June 16, 2015, 05:11:51 PM
trailer was neato.

supposedly this will be the last Dark Souls game.

which is about right for From.

they only made 4 King's Field games, and only 3 of them were in the same setting, 4th was it's own thing.

Kinda like Demon's Souls to Dark Souls.

speculation, but going by imagery and dialogue, seems like this is the closest we have ever seen the first flame get to being completely out.

grey ash everywhere and cinders, everything is returning to the grey formlessness from which it came
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on June 17, 2015, 02:57:59 AM
You could really hear the Motoi Sakuraba in the music. If it turns out to not be him doing the soundtrack again, it's someone who clearly can impersonate his style well.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on June 17, 2015, 08:10:49 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/NdymcNC.jpg)

(http://i.imgur.com/jACWvQy.jpg)

So weve had lots of revelations today.

there was a demo played for a small audience, and Miyazaki had some sort of round table interview.

First the biggie.

Dark Souls 3 will NOT actually be the end of the Dark Souls Franchise like everyone thought.

Miyazaki was somewhat vague here, but basically, Dark Souls 3 was already set to happen before he became president of From Software.

We all thought Bloodborne was the last game before he became president, but turns out Dark Souls 3 was, in fact, the last of the games set into motion by the previous generation of management.

that said he specifically mentioned that since Dark Souls has such a unique worldview, its not a good idea to just keep churning them out. So while it's not the end of Dark Souls, it is a "turning point" for both the franchise, and the company as a whole. So after Dark Souls 3, I suppose we shouldnt expect to see another Dark Souls for quite a long time, and the next time we DO see it, it very well may not be the Dark Souls we know.

http://www.videogamer.com/ps4/dark_souls_3/news/dark_souls_3_isnt_the_last_game_in_the_series_miyazaki_clarifies.html (http://www.videogamer.com/ps4/dark_souls_3/news/dark_souls_3_isnt_the_last_game_in_the_series_miyazaki_clarifies.html)

personally, I'm forseeing Dark Souls evolving with time periods. So Im gonna go ahead and call it- eventually we'll see Dark Souls in the Victorian Era, or in a sci fi fantasy setting.

most things apparently seem more like Dark Souls 1. it uses the Bloodborne engine and definitely shares it's art people, confirmed by Miyazaki. It's a different dev team to Bloodborne, with only himself and a 'few people" and art folks having worked across both. There's stuff taken straight from BB as far as grass and statues and stuff it seems. but since it uses the BB engine, it therefore uses the updated DaS1 animations. which is fine, DaS2 did a lot of neat things but the animations werent one of them.

they showed off the stances thing, but it seems hard to really grasp without seeing it.

torches are back, but like bloodborne, have no timer.

yet again, there's a dragon really early on that forces you to take a detour, and Miyazaki comments that he likes putting dragons really early in.

some stuff mentioned on Reddit, fextralife and I think 4chan, mentioned that it SEEMS like they are doing that lore thing that Bloodborne did, where you find tombstones that you light up to read small lore tidbits from. though I wasnt fond of that in Bloodborne myself.

no central hub, though if that refers to the nexus style from DeS and BB or even the Majula/Firelink type is unknown. Interconnected world is confirmed,

apparently the plot revolves around the resurrection of a character called "Lord of Cinder." Yeah. Gwyn hype. Though its being kept ambiguous if this is actually Gwyn. And I heard something about it being open to interpretation or something like that.

Rumors like to think it's the chosen undead from 1.

conflicting info on another combat aspect- Kicking is back, and DaS1 backstabs are back. BUT, at leasy 2 sources said backstabs were Dark Souls 2 backstabs. And in general, it took the guy playing like 30 minutes to get a successful backstab on an enemy. So if they brought back DaS1 backstabs, they might have tweaked the conditions to make it less exploitable.

they didnt talk about the online.

your secondary weapon will appear on your character, corresponding with the screens weve seen.

the gameplay shown had no HUD to speak of and no menus, and at one point the guy picked up a weapon and it instantly equipped, so who knows how that works.

apparently development on this coexisted with BB for about a year, and Miyazaki Only joined in when the prototype was completed, but has since taken over world design personally.

interestingly, this game will be co-directed. By both Miyazaki, and Isamu Okano. Though Yui Tanimura, (DaS2 director) will also be involved in a non-directoral role.

Oh, and Praise the Sun WILL still be there

here's some stuff

new images
https://imgur.com/a/fr3Pi (https://imgur.com/a/fr3Pi)

some links
http://www.videogamer.com/ps4/dark_souls_3/news/dark_souls_3_is_being_developed_by_a_different_team_to_bloodborne.html (http://www.videogamer.com/ps4/dark_souls_3/news/dark_souls_3_is_being_developed_by_a_different_team_to_bloodborne.html)

http://fextralife.com/dark-souls-3-e3-info/ (http://fextralife.com/dark-souls-3-e3-info/)

http://www.reddit.com/r/darksouls3/comments/3a4763/i_was_present_during_the_closed_door_e3_handsoff/ (http://www.reddit.com/r/darksouls3/comments/3a4763/i_was_present_during_the_closed_door_e3_handsoff/)
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Phi on June 24, 2015, 06:36:16 PM
I ordered Bloodborne and it should be arriving some time soon.

PM me your PSN ID, if you want.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on June 25, 2015, 05:12:25 PM
Once I get back I'll send you mine if you want another person for the hunt!  8D
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on June 26, 2015, 03:46:09 AM
look me up, FlameG102 or some such thing
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on August 04, 2015, 10:36:39 PM
new trailer for DaS3

http://www.gamersyde.com/hqstream_dark_souls_iii_gc_gameplay_reveal-35231_en.html (http://www.gamersyde.com/hqstream_dark_souls_iii_gc_gameplay_reveal-35231_en.html)

im trying not to get hyped, but im getting hyped anyway
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on August 04, 2015, 11:13:12 PM
I'm so happy to see Dark Souls III is using the bloodborne engine, looks amazing.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on August 05, 2015, 03:05:48 AM
It's looking good... the monsters seem to have more variety already than DS2, so that's cool.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on August 06, 2015, 08:54:12 AM
and we got some gameplay

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha8eRiP0DmI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha8eRiP0DmI)

looking good, but after DaS2 and Bloodborne, I cant help but pick apart "what will be removed in the downgrade"

like that random chair at the start.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on August 11, 2015, 04:14:27 AM
Dark Souls II suffered for that more than Bloodborne though, like a whole mechanic that it took an HD release to kinda put back in. X_x

Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Kieran on August 12, 2015, 02:47:45 AM
Which particular mechanic was that?
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on August 12, 2015, 03:02:21 AM
They boasted about how important the torch mechanic would be in Dark Souls II but they basicly removed it for unknown reasons. They kinda but it back in the HD version although it was not the same as the early releases.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Kieran on August 12, 2015, 06:02:50 AM
"Unknown reasons" essentially being "there's no way the PS3 and 360 can handle these lighting effects, so let's go back to DX9 and dumb everything down so the game will actually run on consoles."

And I don't know how high you people crank your brightness settings, but there were plenty of places in the vanilla PC version where I needed to use a torch to see what the hell I was doing.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on August 12, 2015, 03:19:30 PM
It blows my mind that someone actually thought being forced to light a torch to see anything would have been interesting for the entire game. You should never have to sacrifice like 3 different play styles just to see what's in front of you. Double handing, shielding, dual wielding, powerstancing, all of that would have been hurt if you had to choose between fighting or having a decent light. It's just a really dumb idea and I have trouble understanding why people go out of their way to defend it.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on August 12, 2015, 10:13:59 PM
Because a torch and dark areas add soooo much to the game's atmosphere and level design and allow the devs to do neat an interesting things with the darkness, people defend it because they want to be immersed in a creepy environment and thats like half the point of the Souls series.  >.>

Plus not being able to block while using a torch keeps things interesting, and keeps the player out of their safe zone. At least thats my reasoning.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on August 12, 2015, 11:58:45 PM
You wouldn't just be unable to block, though. You wouldn't be able to block, parry, double wield, powerstance, buff. So many things that you'd lose and/or be forced to alternate with having the ability to see. Just imagine doing 120+ hours of that. There is no way that that sacrifice would be worth it for atmosphere (even because these games already do atmosphere pretty well, so why would people not want to see all those beautiful areas? It's just... so dumb...).

To me this sounds more like a cool idea in people's minds than anything. I'm glad they never went through with it. Horror games have been doing atmosphere well since forever and being trapped in a dark place does not mean you shouldn't be able to see the game you're playing.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on August 13, 2015, 12:47:52 AM
Slight flaw with your WHOLE argument though. No one EVER said all of Dark Souls II was going to need the torch just certain areas where it made sense. NO ONE is saying the whole game should be like that or Dark Souls III for that matter.

Also they did go through with the "cool" idea, Bloodborne. And again in Dark Souls III this isn't some untested idea--it's a tried and true mechanic that dates back to Shadow Tower. Hell Demons Souls had some dark areas in the same vein--people complained that Dark Souls 1 was too bright (minus the tomb of the giants) and it was so they wanted to make the sequel literally darker with more dynamic lightning and a torch system that would be used in certain darker areas.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on August 13, 2015, 01:47:56 AM
I'm not saying they can't do clever things with darkness, and I'm not saying the dynamic lighting wouldn't have looked great. I'm talking about the idea of making people choose between seeing things and fighting with their own preferred style. And there is nothing mechanical about darkness. It's just an obstacle, no matter how far back it dates (there are even older games that do that... and it was still dumb... >_>).

In Dead Space you feel like you're in a crazy dark place simply because the presentation is good. But everything you see is perfectly clear. They don't have to hinder the player to get them scared.

And YES (http://kotaku.com/yes-dark-souls-ii-looks-different-than-it-did-last-yea-1543149728), it was going to be the entire game. I'm sure there would have been bright areas still, but the bulk of the game was definitely supposed to be indoors without a proper source of light. Just look at the actual game and count how many areas are buildings, towers, caves and dungeons. Huntsman's Copse and FoFG were extremely dark in early videos. It would get old super fast.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on August 13, 2015, 01:59:12 AM
No it wasn't, they just showed it a lot in early footage since it was a new mechanic; the dev team NEVER said it was going to be. As for not being able to fight as well with one--you DON'T NEED to block or use powerstance all the time to win.

besides you could fight just fine with a torch in Bloodborne--the old city it was a great weapon choice for the enemies there even. Torch is also a popular side weapon for Arcana heavy builds.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on August 13, 2015, 02:03:44 AM
Again, they didn't have to say it, all you have to do is look at the game's areas. You don't need to block or use powerstance to win, but you may want to, and that's a very unwelcome limitation in such an open and customizable game like Dark Souls.

Actually, now that I think about it, there are games where I think drowning the world in darkness works pretty well, like in Silent Hill. But in that game your choice is always between fighting or running. My beef with this idea in Dark Souls is that the combat is so good and technical, it doesn't make a lot of sense to force people to be conflicted about it.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on August 13, 2015, 02:07:25 AM
Again, they didn't have to say it, all you have to do is look at the game's areas.

The only areas we ever saw the early lighting in was Forest of the Giants (beta) version and the Hunter's Copse from the network test. Not even 10% of the game's content, not even 5% really. >.>
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on August 13, 2015, 02:11:24 AM
Because Gutter, Black Gulch, Amana, Undead Crypt, Wharf, Bastille, Darklurker caves, Grave of Saints, Drangleic Castle and literally every single building must have looked so much brighter than those? >_>
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on August 13, 2015, 02:15:42 AM
Out of all those areas only Gutter, Black Gulch and the Crypt really lacked any light though.

The rest either had some light source (moon, magic or other wise) or were at least dimly lit. What I'm saying is they stated it the torch system was going to be used in SOME areas not all. That article you linked even says that.

Ever notice how the Abyss isn't really dark just a well lit black void? >.>
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on August 13, 2015, 02:20:40 AM
In the final game, sure, they do have light sources. But if FoFG and Copse were that dark, just imagine the rest. But to be honest, I guess I'm not being totally fair just wondering how everything might have been.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on August 13, 2015, 02:56:03 AM
Well I meant you can see light sources, more than a few areas are either at dusk or have a visible moon. The Warf you can see the moon out that opening for example.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on August 13, 2015, 03:47:07 AM
Do understand that the game underwent 2 MAJOR catastrophes in development.

First, when it was just Shibuya as Director, DaS2 was going to be an open world game. early concept art specifically shows vast distances between the CU and the destination. They make a big deal about the game taking place on the whole continent of Drangleic.

Bamco decided they didnt like that and told them to make it more like Dark Souls 1. At which point, Tanimura was inserted as co-director, and they had to completely reimagine everything, but without starting from scratch because they didnt have the time. From there they also ended up having to downgrade the game and rush it out.

So you have some poorly connected areas, like Earthen peak to Iron keep, where Earthen peak was originally going to lead to the undead crypt, where the Rotten was going to be the boss. (which is why EP has those crypt guardians) Harvest valley was originally about you activating windmills to blow away the poison fog, not burn a windmill.

Amana would have led to Shulva, and the Dragon Shrine would have been the actual Castle Drangleic. Something painfully obvious from the intro to the game, which was clearly made very early before the development troubles.

in all this is the torch and lighting mechanic. DaS2 has in many areas, dynamic lighting of some sort. So, certain areas would be pitch black and need a torch to traverse. It was a gimmick. That hallway in the forest, and also The Lost Sinner, who is clearly meant to be in pitch black darkness to sort of motivate you to do the gargoyles for the key to light the room up. And the Gutter. The lighting was scrapped because lolconsoles, and so we'll never know what the game with the original lighting wouldve been like.

Personally, I'm of the theory that DaS2 was originally meant to be on the PS4, but that Bamco made them push it back onto the last gen so it wouldnt have to compete with Bloodborne.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on August 13, 2015, 04:56:22 AM
I heard about that, I admit I would have liked to see how it would have been in it's original form. Not that I dislike the DS2 we got, more repayable than Bloodborne for me.   8D
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on August 15, 2015, 03:21:24 AM
It's amazing how much these games that are quite similar in nature can cause people to have such differing opinions about them. For me, Bloodborne is at the top of the replayability list, while DS2 is at the bottom.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on August 15, 2015, 04:29:21 AM
Oh I love Bloodborne but it lacks a wide variety of weapons and armor and the online is pretty limited compared to Dark Souls 1 and 2.

They may be similar true but playing Bloodborne feels very different than souls. Like night and day.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on August 16, 2015, 07:11:43 AM
gotta agree. Its fun, but IMO its just not worth more than the initial playthrough. and theres next to no content. in past souls games, especially the dark souls games, getting random drops of sets and weapons from enemies added to the diversity of content and playstyles. in BB, you cant get so much as a shitty axe. the only things you find are the pre-set items that will always be optained from the same corpses or killing the same NPC. The only variety is in gems you can get from enemies, and even then, ONLY from high level enemies, same from bloodstone. which of course, means you have to grind chalice dungeons for them. which themselves just have nothing to offer. Sure, there's 2 unique sets and 1 weapon, but thats it. And there's how many chalices? with how many layers each? and the loot is basically just blood gems or more ritual material? Or just different versions of the weapons you already have, whos only difference is having different gem slots and a fancier name? thats just lame.

its just a lacking game. And while I hope the DLC adds more content, (DaS2's DLC added s shitton of it, especially to the gameplay aspect) I'm seriously considering just selling my PS4, since Bloodborne just wasnt worth it.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on August 16, 2015, 06:09:01 PM
I kinda like that every weapon is actually viable and different in its own right in Bloodborne. You can't say that whatsoever for the Souls games, particularly in the PVP aspect of the game where the majority of people tend to gravitate towards the same items anyways.

As far as random drops... you liked grinding the same enemies over and over just to get a specific weapon or to complete a set? Or in Dark Souls 2's case, having to up the difficulty of an area with a Bonfire Ascetic just so that you can continue grinding said enemies some more for the potential chance of getting a random item drop? Go for it; I can live without that.

As for game content... I'm satisfied with what I got. Is it shorter than the Souls games? Yeah, it is, I'm not going to deny that. Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily; I'm more inclined to go through Bloodborne again than trudging through Dark Souls 2, that's for sure. The areas are designed well and are fun to play through, which is more than enough for me. All the optional areas certainly add length to the game as well.

"But what about the lack of magic?" you may ask. I never cared much for the magic in the Souls games, to be perfectly honest. I tried making mages a few times, and I pretty much got bored halfway through (or earlier) each time. Then we have the PVP mages, who are expert chickens that hide behind every enemy along the way because they don't do melee (doesn't apply to every player obviously, but this is the majority of my experience). Having a game that focuses more on the melee aspect? Just right for me.

The weakest link for me in Bloodborne is the Chalice dungeons. They clearly put a lot of effort into them, but due to their random nature they lose all the atmosphere and tight level design that the main game has. The unique boss fights in them just doesn't make up for the rest of the stuff in there.

Anways, I'm looking forward to the DLC for Bloodborne, as well as Dark Souls 3. The Stance stuff they have going in Dark Souls 3 looks like it borrows aspects from the Trick weapons of Bloodborne, which makes me look forward to the melee fighting. I might use a spell here or there like in the other Souls games, but unless they do something more interesting with it I'm most likely not ever going to have a mage.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on August 17, 2015, 03:22:38 AM
There is kinda magic in Bloodborne or rather artifacts that do similar things. They are pretty much useless though.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on August 17, 2015, 04:10:15 AM
Yeah... most people don't count them though. The only ones I used more than once was the Old Hunter's Bone and the Empty Phantasm Shell. The rest I haven't found too useful, largely due to the Quicksilver Bullet cost.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on August 17, 2015, 05:05:05 AM
Replaying Dark Souls 1 right now now that I think about it, Knight of Astora build at the moment with the sword and shield as well as Elite Armor and some miracles like heal and lightning bolt to round things out.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on August 22, 2015, 08:00:32 AM
I kinda like that every weapon is actually viable and different in its own right in Bloodborne.
in DaS2 practically any weapon short of intentionally shitty weapons like a broken sword, are viable if used right.

of course, this DOES come at the expense of your second point. many weapons in DaS2 have the same moveset, which is party of why 90% of them are viable. But the point still stands that DaS2 had far more equipment variety than Bloodborne, with the balance as well. because the same goes for outfits. outfit stats really dont matter all that much in Bloodborne aside from something like frenzy res. in DaS2, they also dont matter much outside of hyperarmor. yet it has far more.
 
Quote
particularly in the PVP aspect of the game where the majority of people tend to gravitate towards the same items anyways.
To be fair, the PvP is never the main focus of a souls game, nor should it be, as DaS2 has shown with its many patches and nerfs just for PvP. Though of course DaS2 PVP is also a different beast from DaS1 PVP

Quote
As far as random drops... you liked grinding the same enemies over and over just to get a specific weapon or to complete a set?
Yeah. Nobody likes grinding for an hour to get a balder shield, of course, but the fact is the option is there. If you want, you can stick with your starting shield, or, take the time to get a different shield from an enemy. Or you might think that one enemy's set looks mighty fly, so you can take the time to obtain it. Bloodborne gives you no such option. The Cathedral Ward guys have a pretty cool set with their wide brimmed hats. You can't get it. The townsfolk in the forst have a nice white set. can't get that. You can't even get that handcannon that one wheelchair dude in upper cathedral uses. There's no element of surprise from enemy drops therefore. in Souls games, you might be pleasantly surprised when you killed an enemy, by his weapon or shield, or a part of his set you can mix and match with. Bloodborne has no such thing, making killing enemies just unrewarding and boringly static outside of getting souls or blood vials. 

Quote
Or in Dark Souls 2's case, having to up the difficulty of an area with a Bonfire Ascetic just so that you can continue grinding said enemies some more for the potential chance of getting a random item drop?
Different strokes for different folks, but that's how I got the Heide Knight set in vanilla DaS2. I never regretted it. [parasitic bomb] was worth it. currently they fixed that though. You can join the company of champions and enemies dont despawn.

And again, it was still an option for those who were willing to take the time to do so. Bloodborne just doesnt give you the option, period, making item progression very linear. You can't take a detour to kill an enemy or bunch of enemies for their sets, you have to reach specific areas in specific parts of the game to get a specific set or specific weapon. It's just boring and makes making new characters a chore when the starting game is identical for every single one down to the [parasitic bomb] I can choose to wear.

Quote
I'm more inclined to go through Bloodborne again than trudging through Dark Souls 2, that's for sure.
See, this is where my problem lies with Bloodborne. Due to the lack of content and lack of gameplay variety, I just have very little inclination to replay it. I tried making a skill character and got bored of it very quickly. And theres not much else for me to try to freshen things up, considering if I plan a character I have to trudge and speedrun through everything to get to the specific place where I can get the specific item i want.

like arcane items. Those are so late game it's ridiculous. So if i want to make a hybrid character with arcane, I lose interest when i remember that until I reach the point I get the items I want, it will be just another generic strength or skill build like my last one. Dark Souls 2 at least lets me do whatever the hell i want and build however I please enough to make for some variety. Youve even got your choice of 2 starting stages, with 3 starting bosses, and unique gear and weapons to get from each of those areas to customize with so no 2 playthroughs will ever be entirely alike after the first area I try.

 
Quote
The areas are designed well and are fun to play through
Eh, id disagree. I feel the level design sort of goes downhill after Cathedral ward and old yharnam. The Nightmare Frontier/of mensis areas are terrible, areas like Lecture Hall and Bergenwyrth are blatantly unfinished chunks of level, and Mergo's Loft becomes a gauntlet the likes of Demon Ruins after Micolash, complete with a rehashed boss as the stage enemy. Forest was good but drags on and is mazelike for all the wrong reasons, and the giant snakes are not very fun enemies. Unseen Village was good, but post-Rom becomes a slog with the terrible gimmick of the buffed ressurrecting enemies who 2 shot you, AND move in groups.

Feels like they dumped all their effort into Central Yharnam and Cathedral Ward


Quote
The weakest link for me in Bloodborne is the Chalice dungeons. They clearly put a lot of effort into them, but due to their random nature they lose all the atmosphere and tight level design that the main game has. The unique boss fights in them just doesn't make up for the rest of the stuff in there.
no argument there. the concept was good, the execution was horrible. They should have just been another pre-designed level under yharnam that tied into the story more than they do, which is not at all.

Anways, I'm looking forward to the DLC for Bloodborne, as well as Dark Souls 3. The Stance stuff they have going in Dark Souls 3 looks like it borrows aspects from the Trick weapons of Bloodborne, which makes me look forward to the melee fighting. I might use a spell here or there like in the other Souls games, but unless they do something more interesting with it I'm most likely not ever going to have a mage.
[/quote]
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on August 22, 2015, 05:04:17 PM
To each their own; I can only remember one time where I used a random drop in each of the souls games (Silver Sword in DaS1, Llewellyn chest piece in DaS2). The rest of the items I always went back to using whatever it was I was using before that.

It's great that other people feel like it gives them extra options. for me personally though, the random drops never did anything for me. 9 times out of 10 I end up using stuff that is always present to find or is something I bought, which is why the lack of randomness didn't faze me at all in Bloodborne.

I do wish the armours in Bloodborne had more variety though. Oh well, maybe in the DLC (although I won't get my hopes up).
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on August 28, 2015, 04:19:43 PM
Our brave warrior Juan has crossed the half point of his journey through Dark Souls SL1 NG+3.

I've beaten O&S and Four Kings already, so the rest of the run should be a lot shorter than that first session. Took about 2 hours and I only fought the mandatory bosses so far. Thinking about going after Capra and Stray Demon to have a maxed Grass Crest Shield. We'll see how I feel closer to the end.

Four Kings, man. Never had a Souls boss go from my top hated to one of the most genuinely fun fights. I was especially happy this time because I figured out a great setup for RTSR hypermode mid-fight. The homing magic spear thing is the one attack I can never dodge, and I know in NG+max you can just heal and block it with Cracked Round Shield and it'll put you right back into hypermode. But in these middle NG+s, Cracked Round Shield actually blocks too much of it and you don't get hyper. Thankfully, the solution was simple: Grass Crest Shield. It has lower magic defense, just enough to trigger RTSR. And of course, as a bonus, you get fast stamina regen (still used a Green Blossom, though).

The rest of the fight was smooth and it didn't take me a lot of attempts. I used my Lightning Hand Axe+5 this time instead of Fire Reinforced Club. You can cancel with a roll much faster compared to RC, and the damage isn't bad. I killed the first king with the axe, then the rest with Great Combustion.

O&S were a total gamble as usual. Made it to Super Smough a few times and I'd always die to something stupid like his butt stomp AoE. Ornstein still dies fast at least. In the end, it's all about getting a lucky pattern and landing 3 Great Fireballs. But when the game refuses to cooperate, this fight is so infuriating.

If everything goes well, I'll finish tonight.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on August 28, 2015, 05:10:30 PM
You are more patient than I.  XD
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on August 28, 2015, 06:00:38 PM
True, this challenge is pretty much all patience. I've done it in Demon's Souls all the way through NG+7 and it was great fun. It's harder for me in DkS because you can't cheese as many bosses with hypermode, but I've been doing okay. \o/
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on August 29, 2015, 01:43:58 AM
SL1 NG+3 is done!

I always feel like I forgot something when I finish this game, especially in these runs where I don't want to do annoying stuff again next time. Case in point...

I got through the rest of the game quickly enough, so I decided to go fight Capra and Stray Demon for upgrades. The path to Capra Demon was actually harder than the boss this time, thanks to dogs and the bridge dragon deciding to 1-shot me. Capra, as usual, was all about somehow escaping that initial cheap rush and rolling upstairs. Then there's killing the dogs and not getting hit by Capra's attack... but I got lucky and the planets aligned. Got the Large Ember and then Very Large at New Londo for that Grass Crest Shield+15. Stray Demon was cake and he gave me the Titanite Slab I needed.

I also made a Fire Hand Axe+10, mostly 'cause I was so enamored with the Lightning one vs. Four Kings. And whoa, getting through the Catacombs in these conditions was nuts. There are just so many skeletons, and it's not always easy to isolate them. Divine Reinforced Club+10 kills them in one hit as long as it's a backstab, otherwise it takes like 4 or 5. Either way I couldn't afford having more than one enemy following me. I died before I activated the second bridge and I ended up making a leap of faith from the first bridge, onto one of the platforms that leads to the shaft where Vamos' shop is. Phew.

Hope I don't have to make new weapons for NG+4 through 6 because Jeez, that was rough. But still a good time. At this point everything kills me in one hit, so the last NG+s shouldn't be all that different strat-wise.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on September 17, 2015, 09:58:01 AM
well, magic bar confirmed for a return. First time since demon's souls.

it is used for both magic casting, AND sword arts moves.

SO I guess they decided instead of having to deal with a stack of casts for spells, AND a counter for sword arts was a bit much, so they just combined both to a magic bar.

that means however you now also have that second blue estus flask, which seems to be for the magic bar. it has very few charges, so remains to be seen how that works, considering how they had earlier talked about sword arts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6QL1Nm2b5A (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6QL1Nm2b5A)

also this gem

Quote
"Because of the character of Bloodborne’s gameplay, its battle style, as well as the role-playing elements, it’s limited compared to the Dark Souls franchise," he explains. "It doesn’t necessarily mean Bloodborne was bad. However, while working on [it] I realised, I want to [create] something which has a wide range of battle styles, or features magic, or those things which allow players to wear awesome armour. Those elements are what actually made me come [back] to the Dark Souls franchise."
http://www.gamesradar.com/bloodbornes-limitations-inspired-dark-souls-3s-battle-styles-says-miyazaki/ (http://www.gamesradar.com/bloodbornes-limitations-inspired-dark-souls-3s-battle-styles-says-miyazaki/)
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on November 05, 2015, 04:24:02 AM
*Dusts off thread*

Well, I finally got around to playing the Dark Souls 2 DLC (via the SOTFS edition on PS4). Not bad, although the Brume Tower was the best one by a mile. Interesting bosses, interesting area. The other DLC areas were better than the main game to be sure, but they didn't really compare to Brume Tower.

... Too bad the rest of the game is still kinda lame. That weird input delay is still there too, and the game still feels sluggish. Oh well, just gonna go up until Drangleic in NG++ for the final spells, then I'll move on to something else. (aka Bloodborne DLC when it comes out)
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on November 05, 2015, 04:36:25 AM
I liked all three DLCs for various reasons.

Shulva for the puzzels and moving geometry. It also reminded me of King's Field IV the ancient City. It's dragon fight was also way better than the snore fest that was Kalameet.

Brume Tower had awesome vertical design and back tracking in just the right way. Also kinda reminded me of the Fire World from Shadow Tower. Also Fume Knight (Raime) and Sir Alonne are two of my favorite Souls Bosses. So much fun.

Eleum Loyce had some very Demons Souls-esq design-very much like the 1-1, with the whole traveling the outer castle wall. It has the most complex design of all three DLCs, with some really good use of level design once you melt the ice. Ivory King might just be the most awe inspiring boss fight of the whole souls series. That intro-and that Lost Izalith throw back.

Off topic but I face palm when I see fans trying to deny that Eleum Loyce was built over whats left of Izalith. "Old Chaos" helloooo?
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on November 05, 2015, 04:45:24 AM
Yeah, it's clearly built over Lost Izalith. The Ivory King fight arena was indeed clearly meant to evoke that area, with some hints of overgrowth around.

It's odd, in that sense, that the Ashen Idols of Brume Tower evoke a Chaos Witch more than anything in Eleum Loyce (Old Chaos aside). Makes me wonder if they did some repositioning of stage elements in the design phase.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on November 05, 2015, 04:56:50 AM
Yeah, it's clearly built over Lost Izalith. The Ivory King fight arena was indeed clearly meant to evoke that area, with some hints of overgrowth around.

It's odd, in that sense, that the Ashen Idols of Brume Tower evoke a Chaos Witch more than anything in Eleum Loyce (Old Chaos aside). Makes me wonder if they did some repositioning of stage elements in the design phase.

Not exactly.

"The Old Iron King began his days as a little-known and unestablished lord, with a lust for power and glory. He was approached by Sir Alonne, a great warrior from the east, who helped him forge a kingdom for himself from the old Kingdom of Venn. Doing so cost him what little resources he had, but in the process, he discovered an iron-producing miracle, which allowed him to freely shape and harness the powers of iron."

Brume Tower was a massive Forge, so the flame theme fits.

As for Eleum Loyce. The ice was created by Aslanna who froze the kingdom to keep the Chaos Flame sealed away, notice if you try to use a torch the curse puts it out right away. So it makes sense to only see fire type stuff deep below in the ruins of Lost Izalith.

Oh also outside the tree roots if you compare the stonework of the battle arena with Lost Izalith it's a match, obviously the city sunk into the lava completely over the countless years.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on November 05, 2015, 11:34:23 AM
I know what it ended up as... I'm just saying they might have had different plans at first :P Mainly because the Chaos Witches and Lost Izalith have such a strong connection.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on November 05, 2015, 02:06:26 PM
I know what it ended up as... I'm just saying they might have had different plans at first :P Mainly because the Chaos Witches and Lost Izalith have such a strong connection.

I know-just saying thats not the case. Izalith only factors into DLC 3. Besides it's less chaos flames and more smoke. Brume means mist or fog, and thats the effect the idols have around them-even their pyromancies are kinda black flame-esq. I doubt anything from Brume was ever meant to be in Frozen Eluem Loyce.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on November 06, 2015, 12:30:19 AM
Right... that's how it turned out, but as I said, I was just noting that there are similarities that may have been remnants from the design phase. For example:

1. The first Ashen Idol uses Outcry, a Dark Flame version of Chaos Storm. Chaos Storm, who's description says this:

"The chaos flame is said to have devoured the mother of pyromancy.
Create multiple pillars of chaos flame.

Those who sought great power were consumed by their own desires.Where are these lost souls now?"


2. Visually, there's some similarities. It may just be coincidence, but who knows with From.

Chaos Witch:

(https://i.imgur.com/MR5xK1y.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/nsvXGK3.jpg)

Ashen Idols:

(https://i.imgur.com/WEop8fh.png)(https://i.imgur.com/gJKYnkk.jpg)


Things can change drastically from conception to actual implementation(s). I've seen it happen in action so many times over the years. Whether that was ever in the cards or not, eh... only From knows. I was just having some fun examining it.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on November 06, 2015, 12:39:02 AM
It's possible of course I just don't think it's the case. I mean she's not the only daughter of manus to use pyromancies-and there have been NPCs in Dark Souls 1 and 2 to use chaos pyromancies and have no connection to the Witches.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Kieran on November 16, 2015, 04:11:16 AM
The ice was created by Aslanna who froze the kingdom to keep the Chaos Flame sealed away, notice if you try to use a torch the curse puts it out right away.

I kind of thought that was the 60 mile per hour wind howling around the area.  Torches work indoors, and outdoors after the blizzard dies down (once Aava is defeated, in other words).
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on November 16, 2015, 05:14:00 PM
Well that wind is the curse, torches working indoors yeah, but there are few areas where that is possible to be fair. Either way the blizzard/wind was to prevent the chaos and it's demons from escaping from the city into the world.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on December 05, 2015, 03:27:38 AM
It is done. Brave warrior Juan, the SL1, has completed his Dark Souls journey to Mount NG+7. \o/ All bosses killed in NG+max.

(http://i.imgur.com/XPcRceX.jpg)

I was in NG+4, had to do 3 more runs. Like DeS, the difference from one NG+ to the next is small, but between +1 and +max it adds up considerably. And there's no better (worse) way to feel this difference than SL1. Certain attacks that wouldn't OHKO you suddenly do, and it's the opposite with your powers. That said, I still think that if you can beat SL1 NG+, you can beat NG+max.

Combined with Red Tearstone Ring, Great Combustion takes care of most enemies/bosses even in NG+max. Of course, cheap a-holes like Bed of Chaos are still cheap, but then there are bosses like Four Kings, who I have a greater respect for now that I know how to read them. The fact that you have to defeat 4K without getting hit only makes the fight more epic. There's still some unfair things about it, like getting sniped by an off-screen King, but at least I know how to handle 1v1 properly now. As I climbed the NG+s, I genuinely started to look forward to this fight.

O&S were the big roadblock in these last few runs, but strangely I didn't mind dying to them. This fight is clearly BS in these conditions anyway, so maybe I just accepted that and relaxed. It helps that fighting O&S means you got through the archers + lightning demons, who are such an enormous pain in the higher cycles. But yeah, O&S... I always knew I was 3-4 hits from winning the fight, since Great Fireball roasts Ornstein like he's not even there. And I knew eventually I'd get the God RNG and S wouldn't block O when I throw a decently timed fireball. The RTSR setup is easy, there isn't a lot of running to the boss gate... not much to hate about this scenario other than the brutal nature of the fight.

As for the DLC... Sanctuary Guardian and Artorias were simple enough. Lock, raise shield, punish. Manus and Kalameet were very difficult. They just have so much health and resistance that even knowing their pattern you eventually get trolled by a split second of bad luck. A bad camera angle, eaten inputs... it's all part of the endurance test here. The fights were really awesome, though. I'd do it again for sure.

The rest of the game was a series of tiny learning experiences. Killing Ingward with Heavy Crossbow + Binoculars instead of entering the House of 1000 Corpses... finding better RTSR setups... safer backtracking to boss gates... that kind of thing.


Had more fun than I thought I would, especially coming from my first attempt back then (almost gave up before I cleared NG). Officially retiring Juan in DkS1, though one day I may decide to revisit for fun. DkS2, though... bleh. I don't see myself doing SL1 NG+1, let alone all of them.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on December 07, 2015, 08:03:36 AM
Right... that's how it turned out, but as I said, I was just noting that there are similarities that may have been remnants from the design phase. For example:

1. The first Ashen Idol uses Outcry, a Dark Flame version of Chaos Storm. Chaos Storm, who's description says this:

"The chaos flame is said to have devoured the mother of pyromancy.
Create multiple pillars of chaos flame.

Those who sought great power were consumed by their own desires.Where are these lost souls now?"


2. Visually, there's some similarities. It may just be coincidence, but who knows with From.

Chaos Witch:

(https://i.imgur.com/MR5xK1y.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/nsvXGK3.jpg)

Ashen Idols:

(https://i.imgur.com/WEop8fh.png)(https://i.imgur.com/gJKYnkk.jpg)


Things can change drastically from conception to actual implementation(s). I've seen it happen in action so many times over the years. Whether that was ever in the cards or not, eh... only From knows. I was just having some fun examining it.
late reply is late- and take it for what it's worth, but Nashandra was originally supposed to be the Nito Reincarnation, which is why she's made of skeletons, and her general design evokes nothing of curse. The whole children of Dark plot seems to have been thought up later in development. And all 3 of the DLC's are from leftover and cut content, so thats why the chaos theme is a bit disjointed. I mean, stuff like Shulva was supposed to be accessed from Shrine of Amana, (which is why the enemies have that dragon theme and have the slumbering dragon shield and all that) And Brume Tower is basically From deciding to "do over" Iron keep, which we know got gutted the most horribly out of the stages that made it in.

So if you see chaos themes in both Brume and Loyce, and you feel that something doesnt quite line up, thats likely why.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on December 07, 2015, 06:09:56 PM
So Dark Souls III is going to be the last Souls game and Miazaki want's to drop the whole thing even spin offs like Bloodborne (unless the last game FROM needs to make for Sony is a bloodborne sequal? Demons Souls and Bloodborne were the first two exclusives obviously.)

Now interference from their publishers or sony could change that but I admit I'm getting burned out on souls lately-Bloodborne was pretty meh-and certainly not as repayable as Demons Souls and Dark Souls 1/2.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on December 07, 2015, 08:30:28 PM
I doubt it will be the last one forever. but for now, definitely. if we are to ever get another souls game, expect it to maybe happen in another decade if that. Miyazaki was very particular with his words- mostly the fact that the Souls games offer a very unique experience and view, so he doesnt want to pump them out regularly, since that cheapens their effect.

Personally i wouldnt mind a return to King's Field proper, although that probably falls under their souls type category, considering Demon's Souls was King's Field 5
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on December 07, 2015, 09:08:19 PM
As someone who's played all the KF and Shadow Tower games they pretty much are proto souls games-honestly I'd like a new IP at this point.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on December 07, 2015, 11:45:07 PM
I'm alright with it being the last for a while. I just hope it's better than DS2.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on December 07, 2015, 11:50:15 PM
I'm alright with it being the last for a while. I just hope it's better than Bloodborne.

Fixed.  8D

Also Flame can you cite your source on Nashandra there-because interview or something because no one on youtube that I watch for souls stuff has ever brought that up as far as I remember.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on December 08, 2015, 01:30:14 AM
Would be cool, since Bloodborne is my favourite of the bunch so far! 8D
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on December 08, 2015, 01:51:34 AM
Despite having poor level design, limited weapons and armors, useless magic and cheaply designed bosses with little to no visable tells where some will hit you despite clearly dodging?  8D

Oh and the story and lore are more simplistic than Demons Souls and thats--kinda hard to do.  O^O

I'll give the DLC credit for the Research Area (the most atmospheric area and only well designed location in the whole game) though. If you liked it cool-but it's from a technical stand point the most lazy game in the series, clearly rushed out without much testing on a lot of it's features. Still a good game but not better than Demons Souls or Dark Souls I and 2 for many reason.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on December 08, 2015, 02:42:56 AM
I uhh... completely disagree on pretty much all those fronts, actually. Especially compared to Dark Souls 2.

For level design, the levels all looped together believably in Bloodborne, particularly when it came to the shortcuts. They also had plenty of little side nooks and crannies, oftentimes ones that you could see well before you could reach them (which encouraged you to explore to find them). The only area I wasn't a fan of at first was the Forbidden Woods due to how easy it was to get lost in, but then it clicked that that was the whole idea. The only time I ever felt the level design was good in Dark Souls 2 was the Brume Tower; The rest was usually underwhelming at worst, and meh at best.

As stated elsewhere, I liked the limited weapons in Bloodborne because each one had a potential use. Each one feels like it could be good for someone's build (particularly with the new batch with the DLC). This is far from the case in Dark Souls 2. I concede that the armour variety is a bit lacking in Bloodborne though (not that the majority of the armour in the other souls games really served a purpose either).

As I said elsewhere (again; it's almost like I'm repeating myself) I didn't care for the magic in the Souls games, so I'm squarely in the "good riddance" camp for the magic aspect of Bloodborne. Hell, they nerfed the only spell type I even liked in DS2 SotFS, I used it even less there than the first playthrough!

As for the cheaply designed bosses... hahaha. They all have plenty of tells in Bloodborne, they just tend to not last as long as the ones in the rest of the Souls games (although I vaguely recall some of the bosses in DeS having shorter tells like these... I think, it's been a while). Dodging seems to work perfectly fine to me. DS2, on the other hand, I still got hit plenty by things I shouldn't have been hit by. Sloppy input lag didn't help things either (which I didn't experience in Bloodborne, I should note).

The story and lore is fine... it's actually plenty deep, although it seems to be even more vague in certain instances than the Souls games.

On the technical side, I actually find it to be a lot more solid than DS2. The controls are solid, as is the combat. DS2 felt like it wanted to be faster than DS and DeS, but the actual engine behind the game couldn't keep up which led to a bunch of issues. This is why I'm glad DS3 is running on a modified version of the Bloodborne engine, it has a chance of controlling normally instead of running through molasses.

Bloodborne is shorter than the other games, yes; but I have fun the whole way through. When a game feels like a slog like DS2 did for me (both times I got all the achievements/trophies), it feels more like a chore than enjoying my little time off. In the end, this is the most important aspect to me.

You can not like Bloodborne as much all you want, but I just don't agree with your reasoning. We'll have to agree to disagree on this one.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on December 08, 2015, 04:12:03 AM
I originally had a long post typed up going into detail about my issues with Bloodborne's level design mechanics, odd spikes in difficulty and otherwise unmemorable boss encounters but I don't really see a point in posting it now to be honest. If you like it more cool-I like bloodborne too it's just my least favorite in the series-it feels like it took one step forward and three back when it came to advancing the design of the franchise. But as you said we have to agree to disagree.

Going to say something though-I want citation on ALL behind the scenes discssion we had on Dark Souls II-because to be honest it all sounds made up-not sure why I didn't ask before but looking on that Nashandra bit posted below I feel like people are just making stuff up-interviews and official material will suffice, I followed Dark Souls II's pre release development pretty closely and I don't remember anything about open world exploration or Nashandra's origin being moved around. Literally curious as to were this information came from because I would love to learn more.


Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on December 09, 2015, 01:47:32 AM
Just like I can't fathom how DS2 is your favourite for very similar reasons actually... but it's all good, really. Our gameplay approach is likely different enough that we appreciate different aspects of the games.

As for the behind the scenes stuff... don't ask me. I was merely stating conjecture based upon the odd design dissonance I saw in the final game. I've seen enough stuff behind the scenes at studios over the years that informs some of the impressions I had too. Perhaps Flame could provide the info.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on December 09, 2015, 07:48:40 PM
Just like I can't fathom how DS2 is your favourite for very similar reasons actually... but it's all good, really. Our gameplay approach is likely different enough that we appreciate different aspects of the games.

As for the behind the scenes stuff... don't ask me. I was merely stating conjecture based upon the odd design dissonance I saw in the final game. I've seen enough stuff behind the scenes at studios over the years that informs some of the impressions I had too. Perhaps Flame could provide the info.

Demons Souls is my favorite actually. Dark Souls II just has the best build variety for it's massive number of weapons/armors and spells. Plus I was able to deal with the PvP in that one like with Demons Souls. Dark Souls and Bloodborne PvP is garbage.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on December 10, 2015, 01:29:34 AM
Ah, Demon's... that one I can get behind. I think the PVP was at its most solid there too. Dark Souls was backstab heaven, and Bloodborne it's usually the fastest weapon that won (huzzah for Blades of Mercy). Dark Souls 2 was weird... the backstab mechanic was far too wonky for my liking (like... too much in the opposite direction of DS). The hit detection was about as hit and miss as the rest of the game in my experience too.

I'm curious to see how DS3 fares... not sure I like where the backstab mechanic is headed though. Oh well, I guess I'll find out whenever I get to play it.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on December 10, 2015, 03:52:32 AM
Back stabs are Dark Souls 1 with the chance of escape that Dark Souls II had if the beta remains true on that mechanic.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on February 09, 2016, 02:40:37 AM
Yeah, that's why I'm kinda iffy on it. Depends on how they tweaked the escape chance, I guess.

Anywho, opening cinematic was used as a trailer, which is nice to see I suppose:

[youtube]! No longer available (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zDZYrIUgKE#)[/youtube]
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on February 09, 2016, 04:24:14 AM
Yeah, that's why I'm kinda iffy on it. Depends on how they tweaked the escape chance, I guess.

Anywho, opening cinematic was used as a trailer, which is nice to see I suppose:

[youtube]! No longer available (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zDZYrIUgKE#)[/youtube]

Back stabs are for scrubs anyway-if you use it you should take the damage rather than your target and feel bad for not getting Gud.  8D
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on February 09, 2016, 05:21:00 AM
Actually, it's the whiff going off instead of another attack. Most annoying. If they leave their back open to me, it shouldn't miss at point blank range as they casually walk out of the way due to latency / positioning where I thought it wouldn't go off / both :P
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on February 09, 2016, 06:05:44 AM
Actually, it's the whiff going off instead of another attack. Most annoying. If they leave their back open to me, it shouldn't miss at point blank range as they casually walk out of the way due to latency / positioning where I thought it wouldn't go off / both :P

Nah the user should just explode--also hey we get to fight the Giant Lord again in Dark Souls 3  8D
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on February 09, 2016, 09:56:55 AM
Haha, tell that to all the facestabbers 8D (Note: this will always be a thing)

Sure seems to be the case, but with fire this time. Makes me think of Laurence :P
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on February 09, 2016, 02:25:01 PM
Haha, tell that to all the facestabbers 8D (Note: this will always be a thing)

Sure seems to be the case, but with fire this time. Makes me think of Laurence :P

Hey face stabbing is an ancient skill passed down by the old warriors of Lordran-taught to 98% of the PvP community-That last 2% use the ancient art of Dark Magic spam.  8D

Also pretty sure we're on fire in Dark Souls III too---*runs away arms failing*
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on February 11, 2016, 01:13:00 AM
Yeah, EVERYONE's on fire. I feel OK with that somehow.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Phi on April 02, 2016, 04:10:56 AM
http://youtu.be/fETc77XokxE (http://youtu.be/fETc77XokxE)
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on April 02, 2016, 04:33:23 AM
Not gonna lie that made me smile.  XD

Is it the 12th yet Phi?   O^O
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Phi on April 02, 2016, 05:23:01 AM
Almost there, Blue, almost there
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on April 02, 2016, 05:41:09 AM
I am prepared to die (again) Phi, my body is ready.  8D
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on April 22, 2016, 10:59:15 PM
Ruelian/Ruelia is born again in Dark Souls 3  8D

Standing
[spoiler](http://i1291.photobucket.com/albums/b541/RueCeles/DARK%20SOULStrade%20III_20160422023605_zpseeudlens.jpg)[/spoiler]

Close Up
[spoiler](http://i1291.photobucket.com/albums/b541/RueCeles/DARK%20SOULStrade%20III_20160422023622_zpsgar2yosn.jpg?t=1461270978)[/spoiler]

Stance
[spoiler](http://i1291.photobucket.com/albums/b541/RueCeles/DARK%20SOULStrade%20III_20160422023719_zpsbq15tyxs.jpg)[/spoiler]

Got my Dragon Rider bow Back  8D
[spoiler](http://i1291.photobucket.com/albums/b541/RueCeles/DARK%20SOULStrade%20III_20160422023948_zps9fb12ppj.jpg)[/spoiler]

And one because it looked cool.  >w<
[spoiler](http://i1291.photobucket.com/albums/b541/RueCeles/DARK%20SOULStrade%20III_20160422024035_zpshu33gwfc.jpg)
[/spoiler]

A graphical glitch let me summon a sunbro elevator.  8D
[spoiler](http://i1291.photobucket.com/albums/b541/RueCeles/DARK%20SOULStrade%20III_20160421110349_zpsx9mgkymr.jpg)[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on May 02, 2016, 05:00:29 PM
I made Simon Belmont

(https://a.pomf.cat/rkuplg.png)
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Amatiramisu on May 02, 2016, 06:24:05 PM
I... Wasn't aware we had a DaS thread.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on May 14, 2016, 11:25:20 PM
so now that ive finished DaS3, i have to say, it's actually kind of disappointing overall. while 2 had tons of flaws and is arguably the inferior game, I'd still prefer to play it over 3. if I had to rank them, now that ive played every souls game, id say

DeS > DaS > BB = DaS2 > DaS3

or something along those lines.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Amatiramisu on May 15, 2016, 06:00:57 AM
Personally:

DaS > BB > DaS3 > DeS > DaS2

DeS is just far too dated for my tastes and I don't like a lot of the design decisions. DaS is a superior game by all regards.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: ViperAcidZX on May 15, 2016, 07:12:31 AM
The only Souls game I ever really played is Dark Souls III since I got that from a giveaway (though I'm still on my very first playthough). I only played Demon's Souls a bit and some of Shadow Tower to get an idea of what the Souls games and it their spiritual predecessor King's Field is like.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Amatiramisu on May 15, 2016, 08:30:24 AM
Honestly Souls is a massive departure from Shadow Tower and Kings Field. I wouldn't compare them.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on May 15, 2016, 02:30:02 PM
Honestly Souls is a massive departure from Shadow Tower and Kings Field. I wouldn't compare them.

Well no you should compare them since a majority of their themes come from those two series as well as some of the more basic game play elements. Yeah they are not first person but theres way to much lifted from the older games to say they shouldn't be compared.

My order of the games-still not sure how I'd place Dark Souls 3, but I've enjoyed my 5 Newgame+ runs overall and lookforward to the three DLCs coming later this year and next.

Demons Souls >> Dark Souls 3 >>> Dark Souls 2 >>> Bloodborne >>> Dark Souls

Shadow Tower Abyss is better than all of them though--It has Rurufon.  owo

(http://img.gamefaqs.net/screens/7/8/d/gfs_6062_2_9.jpg)
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Nexus on May 30, 2016, 07:40:54 AM
Well I mean, if you really want to simulate a modern King's Field on crack..

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDShspLkux0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDShspLkux0)[/youtube]
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on June 02, 2016, 04:22:27 PM
Link is broken but I know the mod your talking about. More like Rayman Field--Souls..Borne.  8D
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Amatiramisu on June 02, 2016, 08:40:27 PM
http://youtu.be/nDShspLkux0 (http://youtu.be/nDShspLkux0)

gotchu fam
Title: Dark Souls III: Ashes of Ariandel - October 25th, 2016
Post by: ViperAcidZX on August 25, 2016, 03:23:37 AM
Trailer for the first DLC of Dark Souls III.

[youtube]youtu.be/u5JCsO6eblw[/youtube]

In Ashes of Ariandel, you get to explore an frozen, undiscovered land to uncover its secrets. The DLC will also add new equipment, spells, challenges, a new PvP arena, and expands on Dark Souls III's story. It comes out on October 25th for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC and will go for $14.99 USD. I guess I need to finish up Dark Souls III then...
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on August 25, 2016, 04:05:52 AM
Painted world of Aramis much.  8D

Trailer sadly doesn't tell us much else. Kinda disapointed it's not Londor but hey theres still one expansion to go.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Amatiramisu on August 25, 2016, 10:00:03 AM
There's a few hints that it actually is Ariamis from what I've read 'round the net.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on August 30, 2016, 01:05:57 AM
It's interesting to see how everyone rates the games differently. Mine is more or less along these lines:

BB > DaS > DeS = DaS3 > DaS2

Do note I'm more of a PvE guy for these games, although DaS3 I've dabbled a bit more into the PvP due to the trophy requirements. Rolling doesn't cost nearly enough stamina, and people seem to run away less when invading than in previous games (guess they're happy that I'm always alone instead of having 2 phantoms like most of their invasions).

The first DLC looks interesting, although I think Londor would have been cool. Oh well, From's DLC track record is pretty awesome so I'm sure it'll be good.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on September 01, 2016, 07:40:44 AM
Honestly Souls is a massive departure from Shadow Tower and Kings Field. I wouldn't compare them.
Demon's Souls is highly similar to King's Field though. for all intents and purposes, Demon's Souls is a third person King's Field. It's Dark Souls that is a big departure, mostly because it is derivative of Demon's, and therefore further removed from KF.

Dark Souls 2 however, gives me heavy King's Field vibes, and I'm not just talking the PS1 graphics.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on September 01, 2016, 03:58:08 PM
Dark Souls 2 however, gives me heavy King's Field vibes, and I'm not just talking the PS1 graphics.

The hidden sliding doors gave me warm KF fuzzies right away-as far as PS1 graphics all the games actually borrow some textures from KF and Shadow Tower.  8D
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Amatiramisu on November 11, 2016, 09:48:23 PM
Blue...

I really hate Dark Souls 3.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on November 11, 2016, 10:04:12 PM
Blue...

I really hate Dark Souls 3.

Alright?  8D
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Amatiramisu on November 11, 2016, 10:50:56 PM
I WANT to like it but it railroads you so hard compared to 1 and 2 and it's just... Not as hard as the others. I'm up to Irithyll now and it just... Hasn't hit me yet. I've had my share of deaths sure, but it wasn't nearly as much of a hurdle for me to end up coming out on top.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on November 11, 2016, 11:24:26 PM
I WANT to like it but it railroads you so hard compared to 1 and 2 and it's just... Not as hard as the others. I'm up to Irithyll now and it just... Hasn't hit me yet. I've had my share of deaths sure, but it wasn't nearly as much of a hurdle for me to end up coming out on top.

I think I died more in the Boreal Valley than I did in Anor Londo and Drangliek Castle combined honestly, it's a pretty challenging area IMO.

As for progression it's hardly a straight path.

Road of Sacrifices leads to Cathedral of the Deep and Farron Keep. Catacombs of Carthus lead to Irithyll of the Boreal Valley and to a hidden optional area While Irithyll leads to *insert Spoilers* and Irithyll Dungeon the later also leads to a hidden area.

The final area Lothric Castle also has two areas the castle and the garden the latter has a hidden area to find too.





Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on November 12, 2016, 02:03:54 AM
Hmm... I think Irithyll Dungeon, Lothric Castle and one of the later hidden areas were the only spots that I feel hold up difficulty-wise (and ID is mostly in one room in particular), so I can sort of see that complaint. You might appreciate the DLC as it's kind of a step up from most of the main game, although it could be seen as being a little short.

What type of character are you playing?
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Amatiramisu on November 12, 2016, 06:56:50 AM
I know spoilers for DS3 so no needing to hold back.

Still, having only a couple options for movement in 3 isn't really that much of an improvement where 1 let you traverse anywhere up to an orange fog or Sen's Fortress before the bells and 2 gave you Forest, Heide, and the Majula Pit from the getgo. Shaded Woods if you found a couple branches. In 3 you got... Swamp Episode 2 or Undead Settlement Episode 2 ft. the first of way too many cathedrals.

As for difficulty, Irythill had some trouble near the beginning until I realized I can literally just bait every enemy there into a combo and poke away with an estoc.

I'm running a melee quality build because DS3 seems to hate anything that can't attack in a split second. Estoc/Skill Shield/Farron Greatsword/Greatshield.

Above all it's just... So easy. I've had a good few deaths in catacombs and Irithyll sure, but at no time did I feel that I had to improve to overcome an area so much as "figure out how to bait a combo and also maybe upgrade a weapon sometimes."

Also it doesn't help that 3 really hates certain playstyles. The only boss that gave me issue was Abyss Watchers and even then that's because I was trying a greatsword because using my estoc felt like cheesing them. Everything in this game is too fast for so many of the strength weapons unless you're really good at spacing or have prior experience with the enemies. I end up wanting to use my FG (because I favor STR builds on my first run through each Souls game, 1 and 2 namely.) but ultimately I have to switch to the estoc because it's twice as effective.

I don't know. DS3 is still an above-average game but coupled with banking much of it's lore on DS1 nostalgia, completely retconning 2 (including the improvements like powerstancing and lances/twinblades, lifegems), little replayability, and entirely invalidating some builds because it thinks it's Bloodborne, I think it's just... Lazily designed.

Also I don't have the DLC because I've been playing my brother's pirate copy to gauge if I want to buy it properly, so that also eliminates co-op (which I rarely used in the other games anyway) and PVP (which isn't that great in 3 anyway).

Once again though, I really want to like DS3 more because it's still a Souls game which puts it above a lot of games released this year, and I have a lot of fun fighting the faster, more Bloodborne-inspired enemies. Abyss Watchers was [tornado fang]ing TIGHT, dude. I just feel like DS3 is... So lazy compared to DS1 which respected player agency more than any other game in the IP and DS2 which pushed it's own lore separate from 1 and added so many QoL improvements.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on November 12, 2016, 03:26:07 PM
Heavier slower weapons will have a tougher time over R1 spammy weapons like the longsword.

I personaly use a Lothric Greatsword and thats it, so playing carefully is my bread and butter since I don't use heavy armor at all.

I will agree DS3 is a little R1 spammy but thats kinda trained me to deal with such players through the PvP thankfully.

As for the bloodborne comparison I agree, I kinda wish they gave us the same speed as Bloodborne because I feel a lot of the damage I take is mostly due to some weapons lacking the speed to react.

I still feel Demons Souls is the best game in the series as no other game favored slow and fast, melee and ranged combat so equally.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Amatiramisu on November 12, 2016, 05:58:46 PM
I still haven't played DeS or Bloodborne (though I impulse bought the latter not long ago) due to lacking the consoles, but didn't DS3 take it's fast/fatroll only system from DeS?
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on November 13, 2016, 03:13:05 AM
I still haven't played DeS or Bloodborne (though I impulse bought the latter not long ago) due to lacking the consoles, but didn't DS3 take it's fast/fatroll only system from DeS?

I'd say Demons Souls feels faster than Dark Souls 1 but still slower than Bloodborne. So yeah not to much off from Dark Souls 3 although the enemies are not Bloodborne levels of fast.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Amatiramisu on November 13, 2016, 05:53:49 AM
Much flak as it gets, I think the distinction between Souls and Bloodborne is best shown by DS2. The combat in 2 involved a lot, and I mean a LOT more careful spacing and stamina management (because almost everything ate up stamina like a [sonic slicer], even rolls) and was all-in-all very, very, very methodical. Almost everything was viable because of the way combat worked, and there's even proper arguments for playing locked-on versus unlocked combat styles. I agree that 2's balancing is heavily biased with PVP in mind but it loans itself to PVE just as well.

3 trying to mix the two was a misstep because the very nature of Souls combat loans itself to defensive gameplay when 3's mechanics want you to be even more offensive because of the hyper-aggressive enemies invalidating your defense. Rolls throw you around way too far to follow up on a good dodge. (Which could've been alleviated by just... Actually following through on the Bloodborne emulation and making the character only step aside when targeted.) Way too many times I find myself just mashing B to get some damn breathing room (which should be punished, not encouraged, as panic rolls were easy to punish even by AI enemies in 1 and 2) and then just getting to stunlock the enemy - again - with an estoc R1 spam.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on November 13, 2016, 02:33:49 PM
Much flak as it gets, I think the distinction between Souls and Bloodborne is best shown by DS2. The combat in 2 involved a lot, and I mean a LOT more careful spacing and stamina management (because almost everything ate up stamina like a [sonic slicer], even rolls) and was all-in-all very, very, very methodical. Almost everything was viable because of the way combat worked, and there's even proper arguments for playing locked-on versus unlocked combat styles. I agree that 2's balancing is heavily biased with PVP in mind but it loans itself to PVE just as well. 

I feel a majority of the flak DS2 gets is unfair, yes their was some drama leading to some odd level design in the main game but the DLCs more than made up for it by giving us some of the most creative areas in a souls game. I really enjoyed 2's combat, and it remains the most solid PvP experience for me. As you said everything was viable in Dark Souls 2 (well minus lightning spells I guess XD) so there was also alot of replay value to the game.

3 trying to mix the two was a misstep because the very nature of Souls combat loans itself to defensive gameplay when 3's mechanics want you to be even more offensive because of the hyper-aggressive enemies invalidating your defense. Rolls throw you around way too far to follow up on a good dodge. (Which could've been alleviated by just... Actually following through on the Bloodborne emulation and making the character only step aside when targeted.) Way too many times I find myself just mashing B to get some damn breathing room (which should be punished, not encouraged, as panic rolls were easy to punish even by AI enemies in 1 and 2) and then just getting to stunlock the enemy - again - with an estoc R1 spam.

I feel Miazaki has been having a hard-on for super fast aggressive enemies since Artorias of the Abyss, with bosses like Orphan of Kos pushing it waaaay to for into "How the hell do I react to this [parasitic bomb]?!" territory.

I feel Fire Lurker, Artorias, Manus, and Fume Knight, Farron Knights and Soul of Cinder (to give dark souls 3 credit) are some of the best examples of fast aggressive bosses done right though.

Pontiff Sullivan, Orphan of Kos, and Sanctuary Gaurdian can do die in a fire, terrible bosses.  8D
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Amatiramisu on November 13, 2016, 10:40:40 PM
Oooh yeah. I noticed that in AotA as well. I genuinely had to change my entire set from EK/Havel to full Gold-Hemmed Black (and later Chester set) in order to stay competitive in that entire DLC, which is a major no-no. (Granted, Chester + Pharis Hat became my Fashion Souls set for NG+ so I can forgive it a bit.) It forced me out of the mid-roll tank playstyle I was accustomed to into DODGE EVERYTHING OR [tornado fang]ing DIE. Which I thought was cool at first but then later realized that this is not exactly balanced.

Fume Knight is the best example imo, because while he was difficult, without changing my playstyle I was still able to overcome him after only a few tries.

Also I forgot to mention earlier that BB also had the whole rally HP-regen system that I entirely forgot, which made aggressive play more viable than DS3. I'd forgive a lot if you could regen from counterattacking in 3.

But uh... Yeah... Miracles in DS2 are... Sad. I'm amazed even after all the massive nerfs Sorcery got since vanilla, it's still the twink magic of choice.

Honestly, given my bias for DS2, my rankings have shifted to:

DS2 > BB > DS1 > DeS > DS3

Which, again, I'm heavily biased with 2 being my favorite. I know 2 has a lot of problems. Plus actually playing DeS (I've at least had BB in my hands for a good ten minutes as well as watching a fuckton of streams) would prooobably shift that around a bit.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on November 14, 2016, 12:41:52 AM
Oooh yeah. I noticed that in AotA as well. I genuinely had to change my entire set from EK/Havel to full Gold-Hemmed Black (and later Chester set) in order to stay competitive in that entire DLC, which is a major no-no. (Granted, Chester + Pharis Hat became my Fashion Souls set for NG+ so I can forgive it a bit.) It forced me out of the mid-roll tank playstyle I was accustomed to into DODGE EVERYTHING OR [tornado fang]ing DIE. Which I thought was cool at first but then later realized that this is not exactly balanced.

Fume Knight is the best example imo, because while he was difficult, without changing my playstyle I was still able to overcome him after only a few tries.

Also I forgot to mention earlier that BB also had the whole rally HP-regen system that I entirely forgot, which made aggressive play more viable than DS3. I'd forgive a lot if you could regen from counterattacking in 3.

But uh... Yeah... Miracles in DS2 are... Sad. I'm amazed even after all the massive nerfs Sorcery got since vanilla, it's still the twink magic of choice.

Honestly, given my bias for DS2, my rankings have shifted to:

DS2 > BB > DS1 > DeS > DS3

Which, again, I'm heavily biased with 2 being my favorite. I know 2 has a lot of problems. Plus actually playing DeS (I've at least had BB in my hands for a good ten minutes as well as watching a fuckton of streams) would prooobably shift that around a bit.

The Rally system honestly should have been in Dark Souls 3, otherwise I feel like I'm just trading blows 90% of the time.

Thankfully I eventually adapted in DS3 and despite having no heavy armor or a shield I've become pretty good at dodging around fast weapons and timing my heavier blows in PvP.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Amatiramisu on November 14, 2016, 12:51:29 AM
I kind of love AND hate how DS3's PVP has gone from the more focused 1v1 duels of DS1 and 2 to more chaotic all-out brawls between hosts and white, gold, red, and purple ganksquads. It's stupid and it's a mindless healfest but goddamn is it entertaining to watch.

Plus you still get your fightclubs so.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on November 14, 2016, 05:54:11 AM
The New arena from the DLC has also made choosing the type of PVP you want far easier too!
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Amatiramisu on November 15, 2016, 05:21:58 AM
Now THAT is convenient. I heard a lot of griping about Ashes of Arandiel being too PVP arena-focused but so far it seems like that's a non-issue.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on November 15, 2016, 05:47:14 AM
Now THAT is convenient. I heard a lot of griping about Ashes of Arandiel being too PVP arena-focused but so far it seems like that's a non-issue.

Once you beat the second boss of the DLC in the frozen lakebed area it unlocks a new option at the Firelink Shrine bonfire where you can pick the kinda duels you wish to do. It remains unlocked forever even after NG+ as well!
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on November 19, 2016, 03:28:33 AM
I really disliked Ashes of Ariandel. Holy [parasitic bomb] could it be any more uninspired and absolutely irrelevant to the main game.

"hey, remember bloodborne? well here's some more bloodborne enemies!"
"hey remember painted world? Here it is again!"
"Hey, remember lady Maria? here's a rehash of that."
"Remember Sif? here, have this turbo dogger that you fought before as a stage enemy but this time fights you near a grave as a boss"

the viking looking enemies were cool though i guess. But I just can't be bothered to finish the damn place.

That said, the arena is somewhat enjoyable.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on November 19, 2016, 04:15:48 AM
"I really disliked Ashes of Ariandel. Holy [parasitic bomb] could it be any more uninspired and absolutely irrelevant to the main game."

Disagree so much, my only complaint is that it's too short, but given it was one part of the originally planned expansion that can be expected. That being said how can you say it's irrelevant when the story isn't finished yet.

"hey, remember bloodborne? well here's some more bloodborne enemies!"

All of Dark Souls 3 is heavily influenced by Bloodborne.

"hey remember painted world? Here it is again!"

Whats wrong with revisiting a popular location, besides we learned ALOT about both this painted world and the old one in this DLC alone.

"Hey, remember lady Maria? here's a rehash of that."

Characters are completely different both in design; backstory and fighting style.

"Remember Sif? here, have this turbo dogger that you fought before as a stage enemy but this time fights you near a grave as a boss"

Knights of Faron have a presence in the painted world; considering their relationship to Knight Artorias the wolf at least makes sense. It's the same species of wolf as the corpse from the swamp too.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on November 19, 2016, 05:45:59 AM
Quote
"hey, remember bloodborne? well here's some more bloodborne enemies!"

All of Dark Souls 3 is heavily influenced by Bloodborne.

"hey remember painted world? Here it is again!"

Whats wrong with revisiting a popular location, besides we learned ALOT about both this painted world and the old one in this DLC alone.

The problem is it has no identity of it's own. Brume Tower, Elleum Loyce, Shulva, those were all unique and brought something new. they were true expansions.

AoA is just a painted world rehash on a larger scale. And thats fine- but I would have preferred something totally different, considering the rest of the game is already a "greatest hits" series of rehashes and callbacks to previous souls games, including heavy Bloodborne influence that it suffers from.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on November 19, 2016, 04:03:55 PM
The problem is it has no identity of it's own. Brume Tower, Elleum Loyce, Shulva, those were all unique and brought something new. they were true expansions.

AoA is just a painted world rehash on a larger scale. And thats fine- but I would have preferred something totally different, considering the rest of the game is already a "greatest hits" series of rehashes and callbacks to previous souls games, including heavy Bloodborne influence that it suffers from.

I don't feel comparing the two painted world works very well though.

The original painted world is just a left over test area, it was designed to test their level design and enemy placements hence why it was so varied it also allowed them to use Priscilla who was meant to be the new "Maiden in Black" of Dark Souls 1 but was ultimately cut from that roll in the story. It's a cool area but outside shedding some light on velka's followers and Havel's rebellion it's not important too the story and certainly doesn't have must personality beyond "Jesus bonewheel skelies ruuuun".

Ashes of Ariendel is a fully realized community, we visit multiple locations from a snowy field to the ruins of an ancient tribe of barbarians to the settlement of velka's followers finally delving into the depths of the church and finding the source of the rot afflicting the painted world.  All the while we see hints of the turmoil the corvians are facing as the ones still loyal to showing flame to the painter girl are cruelly hunted down and killed by Corvians loyal to Sister Friede who is also an interesting character as she is one of the three sister of Londor and even comments on you being lord of hollows if you followed that story line.

Painted World of Ariendel is in short a fully realized world with packed with life, and a full story; we see from an outsider's perspective the danagers of clinging to the old world and learn they did not make the same mistakes as Lord Gwyn until Sister Freidie arrived and influenced their culture with her own, the Rot is the Painted World's abyss after all.

DLC#2 will likely involve finally creating this new Painted World, Miazaki promised the second DLC will be story heavy and I feel like DLC1 was setting something up, plus it sounds like these two expansions were meant to be one thing originally like Bloodborne's own was (two DLCs merged into one large one)
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Fxeni on December 06, 2016, 02:04:35 AM
I feel like we didn't get to see enough of what was under the church; A giant room with a few hallways wasn't enough (and the giant room was more of a chore than anything else). Otherwise, I liked AoA well enough.

... So sad the Corona is useless though.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Amatiramisu on January 19, 2017, 07:16:44 AM
Finished my DS3 fashion souls, finally!

[spoiler=Main set - Profaned Greatsword/Parrying Dagger](http://i.imgur.com/KApDYDB.jpg)[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Secondary set - Irythill Rapier/Grass Crest Shield](http://i.imgur.com/XunIs0o.jpg)[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Face detail](http://i.imgur.com/TPEvWXZ.jpg)[/spoiler]

Armor is Pharis Hat/Mirrah Vest/Black Knight Gauntlets/Black Leggings. As for rings, I'm running Carthus Milkring/Untrue Dark Ring/Chloranthy Ring/Ring of Favor (and Protection :P).

I finally have my fashion souls set up for all three Dark Soulses. Feels good, man.

If I haven't posted my DS1 and 2 builds yet I'll do that too.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on January 19, 2017, 03:16:29 PM
Your fashion levels are maximum!

Shall I post my Dark Souls 3 and Bloodborne fashion souls too? (I still need to do my current fashion souls to Demons/Dark Souls 1 and 2)  8D

One common thing of my character Ruelia is she uses a light greatsword and thats about it, focusing on dodging and maybe miracles depending on the game. She's based on an old DnD character.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Amatiramisu on January 20, 2017, 04:11:57 AM
Please do!

And yeah, that character (Lorian, who has nothing to do with the boss and I swear to god I made up that name before DS3 even released since she was my DS2 sorceror [tornado fang]) started out as rapier/estoc but I switched to profaned after realizing finally how based it is for PVP.

Anyways, I'll post my DS1/2 characters in a moment. Just have to take some screenshots.

EDIT:

[spoiler=DS2 Snake]
Easily the most generic character I've ever done but WOO JOUSTING
(http://i.imgur.com/ZCHKzwk.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/58wMyf4.jpg)

Set is Grand Lance/Greatsword on right, Tower Shield and Pyromancy Flame on left. Armor is Durgo's Hat/Robes of Judgement/Drangleic Leggings/Drangleic Gauntlets. Rings are Leo Ring/Third Dragon Ring/Royal Soldier Ring/Stone Ring.
[/spoiler]

[spoiler=DS2 Lorian]
I made her to be my edgelord character (hence leveling dex). And yes, I know I got the tattoo location wrong in the DS3 version but I handwaved that away in her faux-backstory anyways.

(http://i.imgur.com/zsgBJxt.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/9EIzh6o.jpg)

Her fashion souls isn't entirely complete but right now I'm satisfied with no helm/Grave Warden Top/Imported Manchettes/Alonne Knight Leggings. Running a Rapier/Sorcery build with Blossom Kite Shield on offhand. Ring set is Covetous Silver Serpent Ring/Southern Ritual Band/Clear Bluestone Ring/Stone Ring.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=DS1 Scarlett]
My first actual Dark Souls character period. Build's horribly unoptimized and also part meme.

(http://i.imgur.com/in64mQL.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/HOG97Mh.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/HKJACAd.jpg)

Set is Chaos Zweihander on main, Grass Crest Shield on offhand. Yes. I'm THAT guy. And yes, the zwei IS modded to say Bass Cannon. When NOT shitposting, I run Quelaag's Furysword/Miracles. Rings are Havel's Ring/Ring of Favor and Protection, naturally. Armor set is Pharis Hat/Chester's Long Coat/Elite Knight Gauntlets/Elite Knight Leggings. (Leggings not pictured because I needed to fastroll since I had to kill the Anor Londo firekeeper.)[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on January 20, 2017, 02:19:44 PM
Dark Souls 2 had the best potential for fashion AND cosplay
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on January 20, 2017, 03:27:37 PM
Please do!

And yeah, that character (Lorian, who has nothing to do with the boss and I swear to god I made up that name before DS3 even released since she was my DS2 sorceror [tornado fang]) started out as rapier/estoc but I switched to profaned after realizing finally how based it is for PVP.

Anyways, I'll post my DS1/2 characters in a moment. Just have to take some screenshots.

EDIT:

[spoiler=DS2 Snake]
Easily the most generic character I've ever done but WOO JOUSTING
(http://i.imgur.com/ZCHKzwk.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/58wMyf4.jpg)

Set is Grand Lance/Greatsword on right, Tower Shield and Pyromancy Flame on left. Armor is Durgo's Hat/Robes of Judgement/Drangleic Leggings/Drangleic Gauntlets. Rings are Leo Ring/Third Dragon Ring/Royal Soldier Ring/Stone Ring.
[/spoiler]

[spoiler=DS2 Lorian]
I made her to be my edgelord character (hence leveling dex). And yes, I know I got the tattoo location wrong in the DS3 version but I handwaved that away in her faux-backstory anyways.

(http://i.imgur.com/zsgBJxt.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/9EIzh6o.jpg)

Her fashion souls isn't entirely complete but right now I'm satisfied with no helm/Grave Warden Top/Imported Manchettes/Alonne Knight Leggings. Running a Rapier/Sorcery build with Blossom Kite Shield on offhand. Ring set is Covetous Silver Serpent Ring/Southern Ritual Band/Clear Bluestone Ring/Stone Ring.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=DS1 Scarlett]
My first actual Dark Souls character period. Build's horribly unoptimized and also part meme.

(http://i.imgur.com/in64mQL.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/HOG97Mh.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/HKJACAd.jpg)

Set is Chaos Zweihander on main, Grass Crest Shield on offhand. Yes. I'm THAT guy. And yes, the zwei IS modded to say Bass Cannon. When NOT shitposting, I run Quelaag's Furysword/Miracles. Rings are Havel's Ring/Ring of Favor and Protection, naturally. Armor set is Pharis Hat/Chester's Long Coat/Elite Knight Gauntlets/Elite Knight Leggings. (Leggings not pictured because I needed to fastroll since I had to kill the Anor Londo firekeeper.)[/spoiler]

"Well What is it?"  XD

They all look quite fashionable.

Dark Souls 2 had the best potential for fashion AND cosplay

That it did, Dark Souls 3 isn't too bad either sadly it's more challenging for Demons Souls and Bloodborne.  O^O
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Amatiramisu on January 21, 2017, 12:46:04 AM
Dark Souls 2 had the best potential for fashion AND cosplay

Easily. Had a really good balance of heavy and light armor sets, hats, hoods, helmets, gloves, gauntlets. Even had an ecchi set. (The desert sorceress chest looks good on guys by the way. I put it on for manly fistfighting sessions.)

"Well What is it?"  XD

They all look quite fashionable.

That it did, Dark Souls 3 isn't too bad either sadly it's more challenging for Demons Souls and Bloodborne.  O^O

Haha, thank you! I'm still working on Lorian in DS2 since she's only about halfway through NG (since I had to restart my saves when I bought the game). I'll update when she's finished.

DS3's fashion souls potential is pretty good but some of the sets just... Don't look that great. The sunless set comes to mind for instance.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on January 23, 2017, 11:39:09 PM
That it did, Dark Souls 3 isn't too bad either sadly it's more challenging for Demons Souls and Bloodborne.  O^O
I personally have trouble with DaS3's fashion souls. everything just sort of blends together in a way that makes it hard to stand out. its a similar problem to bloodborne. Where everything technically matches well, but nothing stands out because everything is a variety of dark trenchcoat and dark boots and dark gloves

Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Amatiramisu on January 30, 2017, 07:21:52 PM
So... I tried the DLC arena for the first time last night. Something very mystical happened.

The first two guys I fought were twinks who used quickstep weapons (I think bandit's on the first, bringand's on the second), both with Darkmoon Blade... And they shredded my [parasitic bomb] to nothing. I don't know how they did it, if they just leveled exclusively DEX and FTH (they had next to no HP, since I got an R1 on each of them and it tore off like half their health), but it was weird as [parasitic bomb].

I have never seen that before and I haven't seen it since. I was just sitting there like... "Man how many levels of meta am I on right now?"
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on January 30, 2017, 09:40:21 PM
So... I tried the DLC arena for the first time last night. Something very mystical happened.

The first two guys I fought were twinks who used quickstep weapons (I think bandit's on the first, bringand's on the second), both with Darkmoon Blade... And they shredded my [parasitic bomb] to nothing. I don't know how they did it, if they just leveled exclusively DEX and FTH (they had next to no HP, since I got an R1 on each of them and it tore off like half their health), but it was weird as [parasitic bomb].

I have never seen that before and I haven't seen it since. I was just sitting there like... "Man how many levels of meta am I on right now?"

I stopped trying to understand meta a long time ago-I just swing around a giant piece of iron and hope it smooshes fools.  8D
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Flame on February 01, 2017, 08:48:42 PM
I dont bother with the 1v1 myself. I like the 3v3. The more the merrier.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Amatiramisu on February 06, 2017, 04:19:49 PM
My only problem with that arena mode is actually finding people to play. Matchmaking takes ages.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Amatiramisu on February 11, 2017, 10:02:34 AM
Decided to sit myself down and blow through the last couple bosses today. Finished it. (Didn't move into NG+ since The Ringed City is in a month and a half, may as well wait.)

I can now say I've beaten all three Dark Souls titles. I can finally resume being a regular human being. Least 'til I get DeS and BB.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on February 12, 2017, 12:55:43 AM
Can you guys help me out w/ something? I just bought the Bloodborne DLC but nothing was downloaded or added to the download list/history.

I checked the game and I have the latest update. I am definitely down $20 or whatever the cost. Did I get screwed? :\ Is there anything early on that can be checked in-game to see if the DLC is there (only played a little bit of BB so far)? The title screen seems the same.
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Amatiramisu on February 12, 2017, 03:19:15 AM
Maybe not in-game, but can you check your PSN account?
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Da Dood on February 12, 2017, 03:34:56 AM
Yeah, my download history doesn't list this purchase, that's why I'm kinda worried :\
Title: Re: Dark Souls
Post by: Blue Valkyrie on February 12, 2017, 10:07:29 PM
Well after killing Vicar Amelia the item needed to enter the DLC appears in the Hunter's Dream so if it's on the steps near the doll you know it's installed.

Once you have it let the Amygdala outside the church ward (the area that leads to the either old yharnam or the upper cathedral ward area) grab you and you'll be taken to the DLC area.