Dark Souls II

[Nicolas]

Can boss weapons be infused too?

Does anyone know how the level-matching works in NG+ by the way? I've invaded a few times in NG+, and I might be wrong, but it at least seems like I've invaded players of very varying levels. I've heard that the soul memory apparently doesn't matter anymore at least.

It actually does it based on Soul Memory range. This should explain it for you. Well, at least the first comment should give you how it works very roughly. But it seems that can be changed on the fly and they might have lowered it to get people around your levels.

[Pete for President]

Infused the Sacred Chime Hammer with Dark. It goes bananas when buffed with resonant weapon.

Been PvPing in the Covenant of Blood. Had some fun fights in the arena but I don't like the mechanics behind levelling the covenant much. Every loss deducts the kills count to gain a rank and I think that makes the arena a bit too serious. The scarcity of the prize for winning gives the fight enough value imo.

Still I did ok, somewhat like a 50/50 k/d ratio and managed to land my first parry+riposte. Ran into some of the problems often stated on PvP forums like katana phantom range and such.

Tried out the Magic Magic Shield like Trollhunter suggested, but it has too low stability for my taste. Switched to a Llewellyn shield which has some pretty awesome resistances for a shield weighing only 2.5 as well as fair stability so I can setup parry

Done about 15 invasions in (SPOILER)Dragon Aerie/Shrine and that was a lot more fun than the arena.

Gonna give the Blue Sentinels a go next.

[Ultima Shadow]

It actually does it based on Soul Memory range. This should explain it for you. Well, at least the first comment should give you how it works very roughly. But it seems that can be changed on the fly and they might have lowered it to get people around your levels.

Ahhh... that explains a few things. See, I just beat NG+ and am almost at 7m in soul memory, but have kept my level at 150 and only bought lots of cracked eye orbs and other usable items for all the souls. And I sometimes encounter fast-rolling havel mages with enough inteligence to have 5x Crystal Soulmass orbs while also having enough strength to carry Havel's sheild. Aww well.

[Pete for President]

Gave the Blue Sentinels a try and it was a lot of fun. Was summoned to the world of a host in distress through the ring and it was one of the most awesome invasions I've ever done.

There was the host, a white, an invading red and I spawned right in the middle. We brawled the red and a Drakekeeper, when the red decided to run to go hide behind more enemies. I chased him and funny thing; the enemies don't aggro on you when summoned to the hosts' world with the ring.

It was a tense battle to the death, but won . It was one of the most satisfying experiences I've had in any Souls game.

In other news, this guy (SPOILER)the Ancient Dragon has wrecked me quite a lot.

[Pete for President]

Beat the (SPOILER)Ancient Dragon today. Used a Dark Mace +9, running naked for maximum mobility and took about 20 tries in total.

So beat all the optional bosses, grabbed all worthwhile treasure and moved on to NG+ where epic PvP will finally commence.

[Ultima Shadow]

Aaand, I've made it all the way to Drangleic Castle on NG++ and got WoG and Great Chaos Fireball. Also, beat the NG+ and NG++ bosses so far without help from summons. The Lost Sinner was a big pain both times. And right after I beat it on NG++, they nerf him/her and the pyros in the patch released the next day. I'm glad I could manage to beat the Lost Sinner while he/she was still at his/her hardest though.

I've also managed to win my first 3v1 invasion, in the Sinner's Rite - right after going down the elevator. Lured the first phantom out while the host and the other phantom were being chickens and staying back in the elevator room. Got a a few hits in, then killed with a backstab. One phantom fell down the elevator hole by accident while trying to cast great lightning spear and then rolling away after I rolled through it (the elevator had gone up again for some reason) and then I beat the host 1 v 1. Very satisfying, even though the second phantom basically just suicided.

[Pete for President]

Aaand, I've made it all the way to Drangleic Castle on NG++ and got WoG and Great Chaos Fireball. Also, beat the NG+ and NG++ bosses so far without help from summons. The Lost Sinner was a big pain both times. And right after I beat it on NG++, they nerf him/her and the pyros in the patch released the next day. I'm glad I could manage to beat the Lost Sinner while he/she was still at his/her hardest though.

Those phantoms are no joke! Even Flexile Sentry became a lot harder. Currently stuck on Smelter Demon on NG+...

Been PvPing for a while and so far I'm enjoying duels a lot more than random invasions cause I get ganked a lot. Challenging dragon-bro's on the Iron Keep bridge has been the most fun.

Anyone up for some friendly duels? I want to get parry timings down. I'm on PS3.

[TrollHunter]

Ive skipped smelter demon for now with the shortcut.
Oh right, I havent left this thread. Ive just been busy.

Update: got the ring of people who rule things in ng+ got some cleaning up to do and ill be ready for pure pvp and co-op

Powerstance rapiers are amazing. Screw the longsword, the estoc is the most beautiful weapon ever in dks2. Its so perfect in every way.
Estoc best waifu <3

Also, im so glad the MLGS was nerfed as its one of my favorite weapons to use but it cheesed the pve and pvp really bad. Its still a fantastic weapon, but its no longer broken. Me and my dubstep sword can continue to be together without guilt. Hoorah.

[Pete for President]

I see what you mean now with Estus being OP in PvP Trollhunter. Today I summoned a (SPOILER)Dragonbro for a duel and he was a pure caster. Not only did he cast seemingly infinite amounts of affinity and great resonant soul, he probably had 40 adaptability for his healing (note the duel blasphemy here) was just not punishable enough.

Other than that I'm really enjoying PvP. Dual avalyn wielders can be dealt with, most casters can be dealt with and I've been getting some parries+ripostes which is still the most satisfying thing in all of PvP for me.

[black orb]

>>> Any familiar face from the first DS in this game? Someone like Logan or the Catarina knight?
I loved the NPCs from Dark Souls..

[Pete for President]

>>> Any familiar face from the first DS in this game? Someone like Logan or the Catarina knight?
I loved the NPCs from Dark Souls..

Click to read (SPOILER) there are no Dark Souls 1 NPC's in this game in person, although there are familiar armour sets. An NPC Catarina knight invades in NG+, but it probably isn't Siegmeyer. He drops Catarina gear when defeated. Other returners in the form of armour equipment are Havel's and the Pyromancer set.

There is also one familiar figure on the enemy side; (SPOILER)a boss called the Old Dragonslayer is actually Ornstein, or someone resembling Ornstein. The armour and spear he uses are the same although he has no longer lightning powers but dark instead. I don't really like that he's in the game.

Hate to say it but I think From really played it safe with the characters this time around and therefore I don't feel like many stood out, let alone cared for. There's a couple, but it's definitely not as impressive a cast as DkS1 imo.

[black orb]

>>> I was afraid that DS2 would not care much about NPCs, kind of sad because they were really awesome..

[TrollHunter]

>>> Any familiar face from the first DS in this game? Someone like Logan or the Catarina knight?
I loved the NPCs from Dark Souls..

Click to read (SPOILER) there are no Dark Souls 1 NPC's in this game in person, although there are familiar armour sets. An NPC Catarina knight invades in NG+, but it probably isn't Siegmeyer. He drops Catarina gear when defeated. Other returners in the form of armour equipment are Havel's and the Pyromancer set.

There is also one familiar figure on the enemy side; (SPOILER)a boss called the Old Dragonslayer is actually Ornstein, or someone resembling Ornstein. The armour and spear he uses are the same although he has no longer lightning powers but dark instead. I don't really like that he's in the game.

Hate to say it but I think From really played it safe with the characters this time around and therefore I don't feel like many stood out, let alone cared for. There's a couple, but it's definitely not as impressive a cast as DkS1 imo.

stuff
Its not that there werent any good npc's, this game is full of them. The issue lies in the fact that you dont see many around on quests and they dont get fleshed out as much. They all just go back to majula and thats it for them. There are some that have quests, but they just arent nearly as well done as the ones in dks1.

[Pete for President]

>>> Any familiar face from the first DS in this game? Someone like Logan or the Catarina knight?
I loved the NPCs from Dark Souls..

Click to read (SPOILER) there are no Dark Souls 1 NPC's in this game in person, although there are familiar armour sets. An NPC Catarina knight invades in NG+, but it probably isn't Siegmeyer. He drops Catarina gear when defeated. Other returners in the form of armour equipment are Havel's and the Pyromancer set.

There is also one familiar figure on the enemy side; (SPOILER)a boss called the Old Dragonslayer is actually Ornstein, or someone resembling Ornstein. The armour and spear he uses are the same although he has no longer lightning powers but dark instead. I don't really like that he's in the game.

Hate to say it but I think From really played it safe with the characters this time around and therefore I don't feel like many stood out, let alone cared for. There's a couple, but it's definitely not as impressive a cast as DkS1 imo.

stuff
Its not that there werent any good npc's, this game is full of them. The issue lies in the fact that you dont see many around on quests and they dont get fleshed out as much. They all just go back to majula and thats it for them. There are some that have quests, but they just arent nearly as well done as the ones in dks1.

You're right. (SPOILER)They do just sorta hang around and nothing else as opposed to DkS1 where everyone had more important business to attend to rather than talking to the player. I also loved running into characters in different locations, and while Benhart and Lucatiel do move around there's not nearly as much going on as let's say Solaire, Siegmeyer, Sieglinde, Reah & crew, Logan and Lautrec. Add the fact that no-one goes hollow like they did in 1 and the result is a dull cast with very few memorable moments.

Stuff about areas; (SPOILER) some are really starting to grow on me. The Gutter, Black Gulch, Castle Drangleic, Lost Bastille, Undead Crypt; the more time I spend in them the more I see how cool these areas are.

Went through Shrine of Amana on NG+ and while I was still in doubt what the verdict on this area would be I have to conclude it is not very well designed. I love the vibe, the music, the aesthetics and the boss, but the enemy placement and their attacks/abilities from the second bonfire onwards are just borderline retarded.

I tried many times to go through melee only and there's just no fun in it, and it's challenging in the wrong ways. We get punished for bravery and storming the mages by the underwater creature ambushes, and how come the archdrake enemies are able to run fast in the water while we can't?

People started calling it 'Shrine of Aimbots'. Thought it's spot-on.

Edit: I've done something bad and apologies for being a negativitron. I know my obsession with the first Dark Souls praised it to unreachable heights and some of my negativity results from it. I tried to be a realist and lower my expectations of Dark Souls 2 before release. I knew I felt pro's on the technical, mathematical side of things and cons on the more emotional and mentally challenging side while playing through 2, but still couldn't quite put my finger on it why I'm not too hyped. And then I watched this video:

(Warning: there will be spoilers in it)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UScsme8didI

And it pretty much sums it all up. (SPOILER) I don't agree on everything, but definitely on a lot. Seeing the Dark Souls and Demon's Souls footage in there really showed the contrasting atmosphere in this instalment and it made me want to dive back into them, rather than Drangleic.

Every time I play I want to love this game, but I'm having a hard time to do so. I even underestimated how important atmosphere is for the PvP I loved so much. Invasions lack tension due to the environments they're in. Not to say there is no potential; so far the most memorable invasions I've had were being summoned as a Blue Sentinel, or being summoned by the Looking Glass Knight. Either way I've enjoyed these 120 hours in Drangleic, but I think the world is starting to wear me out.

[I Took the Red Pill]

(SPOILER)Went through Shrine of Amana on NG+ and while I was still in doubt what the verdict on this area would be I have to conclude it is not very well designed. I love the vibe, the music, the aesthetics and the boss, but the enemy placement and their attacks/abilities from the second bonfire onwards are just borderline retarded.

I tried many times to go through melee only and there's just no fun in it, and it's challenging in the wrong ways. We get punished for bravery and storming the mages by the underwater creature ambushes, and how come the archdrake enemies are able to run fast in the water while we can't?

Dude, yes. This was by far the most rage inducing section of the entire game for me on the first run-through (pure melee). Slowly trudging through the water while trying to dodge 3 or 4 EZ-lock spells at once is infuriating. I ended up having to cheese like all of the casters with poison arrows. A very poorly designed section in my opinion.

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