|
  Greetings everybody, welcome to my Let's Play of Dark Souls II: An Action game with RPG elements and the sequel of the critically acclaimed Dark Souls which in turn is a spiritual successor to Demon's Souls. It was released on PS360 on March 11th 2014 in the US and in the following days in Japan and Europe. On April 25th the game finally got released on PC as well. It continues the tradition of putting the player in a soon-to-die world letting them explore the remnants of a variety of settings. It features great art direction, atmosphere and uh... that thing the marketing team and the collective consciousness of the internet won't shut up about which just happens to make it the one thing the series is known for: Difficulty. The game is harder than most of your modern games. But honestly, the difficulty of Souls games is wildly exaggerated. Overall I'd say Dark Souls II is easier than the first one, though, the beginning is a little harder, giving newbies a little bit of a rougher start while, interestingly enough, being a little more accessible due to some small changes to the game's mechanics and design.  We'll be playing through the game as thoroughly as possible. Much like in my LP of the first game I'll aim to show as many of the armor sets, weapons and spells as I can. Rather than grinding a lot I'll play through the game with two characters this time around. One of them in New Game++. He possesses almost everything you don't have to do stupid MMO grinding for. Over the course of the LP either or both of those characters may respec in order to show certain playstyles/builds more efficiently, depending on how I feel about doing that at the time. And since NG+ and on adds more stuff, like extra enemies, we'll essentially see two runs of the game condensed into roughly the time it would take to do one thanks to the magic of editing. If at any point in time during the LP you think "Man, this seems like it's right up my alley, I definitely want to play it!" Then stop watching immediately and get the drat game. The Souls games are the kind of games you should go into as unaware of what's coming as possible. You can come back later to see if you missed anything important, sure, but if you have a chance and the will to play it then do that instead of watching me, or anyone for that matter, go through it. It's not required but having played the first game is definitely not an experience you should miss and it'll make things less confusing for you when I refer to the first game, though I'll try my best to explain things from the first game when they come up but I won't go too in-depth seeing as we're actually LPing the second game, not the first. Alternatively there's a couple great LPs of the first game you might want to check out if you can't or don't want to play it for yourself. Geop's LP: Blind, but thanks to editing and a good dynamic with his co-commentators very enjoyable Zain's LP: I haven't seen that one in its entirety but if you prefer a more skilled playthrough then look no further My own LP: Yes, I gotta at least plug that one.  (Pre-emptively Answered Questions, duh) Q: So, I noticed that the date of the first few videos are from before this thread was even up, explain yourself, f(r)iend! A: I started this LP about a month before the three moth rule expired because I started it on a forum that only has a two moth rule. I posted one of the updates I already had every few days but now since we have caught up I removed the explanation for this from above and moved it here instead in order to not make people think this thread is still lagging behind. Q: Are you a real pro at this game? I don't want to see no casual scrub stumblin' around. Git gud!!! A: I've extensively played this game since it came out but not as extensively as you because I actually have a job and friends. I wouldn't consider myself a "pro" I'm more of a "casual" player of this "core" game. Which is more an attitude thing than a skill thing, really. But don't worry I'm competent enough. And even if I weren't: I know how to edit. Still, I think I can consider myself a veteran, having started with Demon's Souls. Q: Man, are you, like, gonna talk about the lore? Because I'm diggin' that stuff, man! A: Yes, I do dig it too. I'll talk about the lore of this game and will also get into the lore of the first game where applicable. I'm also looking forward to other people's interpretations. In general, not specifically talking lore here, you can expect me to bring up both Demon's and Dark Souls as it gets relevant. Q: This game's hard bro, you'll die a lot!!! A: Once you get reasonably good at this game most of your deaths will be really stupid if they happen. Expect most of my deaths to be pretty stupid. Like... dodging into the punch of an ogre or into burning oil. Maybe I'll accidentally backstep into a pit, who knows. Due to the nature of this game I'll have to show a few deaths, so if I miraculously don't die until the game picks up a little all the deaths from that point on will be totally intentional, I swear. Q: Why aren't you playing the PC version? The PC version is, like, so much better!!!! A: It's indeed the definitive version and if you are going to pick up the game I recommend the PC version, however, since I'm uploading this to youtube we won't be able to actually appreciate the main perk of the PC version: The sweet sweet framerate of 60fps. Resolution is higher too but unfortunately my internet is only THIS fast and my hard drive THAT big. I also like to record big chunks of footage at once. Considering that I essentially record two playthroughs I'd quite simply run out way too quick. If the raw lossless footage for one episode is a bigger than 150 gigs with Lagarith you know it's not really worth it. Especially since I usually have footage for about 3 or 4 episodes lying around before I do commentary. Please! Just let me play the PS3 version! Q: There's DLC, are you gonna do the DLC? A: Yes. Q: There's going to be a rerelease that changes a couple things, it's called Scholar of the First Sin or something like that. Will you do that as well? A: Play through the entire game with different enemy placements again? No. Something else, though? Yes. By which I mean the parts of the content that are also available on PS360 and the old PC version.  If you just wanna watch on youtube click the banner. If you want to download the videos at a higher bitrate click the download button to grab the file from the internet archives. The download buttons next to the videos only feature the main videos however. If you want to also download the other videos you totally can, though, just click on the download button next to the playlist and pick the desired video. You COULD also stream the video from the archives, but keep in mind that their site is not actually made to stream video and you're better off watching on Youtube if you really don't want to download the videos.                                               For all of the DLCs: If you prefer a more relaxed and streamlined run through the areas look for the NG++ videos and there are also puns. These videos are marked with a ++ in the lower right corner of the banner. Or use this handy playlist.                         
IGgy IGsen fucked around with this message at 19:34 on Mar 2, 2015 |
#
?
Jun 11, 2014 15:31
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 20, 2024 05:24 |
|
|
 Fashion Souls Fashion Souls is the practice of choosing armor that looks nice rather than pieces that protect well. Since higher armor only really matters if you reach a breaking point that allows you to take one more hit you might as well look pretty. I'll try to be pretty (or scary (or at least not terrible, okay?)) for you with different outfits most episodes, I hope you appreciate that. This is a gallery of all of my totally sweet outfits. They may range from just wearing plain sets to mixing and matching because that's a thing you can do.  Below is a thing/are things that people in the thread did. I'll add more to this as people who participate in the thread do things of some variety. Or not if they don't.  FailAtMagic shows some glitches, speedrun strats some other stuff.  Video part 1 (Covers Episodes 1-6) Other stuff: EP 25 - Shrine of Amana - liquidypoo tells us an amusing anecdote IGgy IGsen fucked around with this message at 18:49 on Dec 13, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2014 15:33
|
|
|
Alright. Been interested in this since you brought it up in the Sandcastle. Lookin forward to watching you get killed a lot. My console died, so now I must enjoy this wonderful game vicariously through others.
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2014 15:43
|
|
|
A lot of the hardcore fanbase complains about Dark Souls 2 (amongst other things), but I think it's a very worthy sequel to the game! The overall game feels way better. I feel pretty bad for the Cleric, can't even hold a dagger properly! I love how they start off NG+, too. They make it clear that they're not messing around, anymore.
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2014 16:01
|
|
|
There's actually a bug related to the 60 fps of the PC version: your weapon durability is tied to your framerate, so your weapons actually degrade twice as fast as on consoles.RSCNyx posted:A lot of the hardcore fanbase complains about Dark Souls 2 (amongst other things), but I think it's a very worthy sequel to the game! The overall game feels way better. As a huge fan of the first game, I was actually kinda disappointed with the feel of 2 for the first month, but then I gave it another go and it's definitely a mechanically really well-built game and a fantastic sequel.
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2014 16:04
|
|
|
ChaosArgate posted:As a huge fan of the first game, I was actually kinda disappointed with the feel of 2 for the first month, but then I gave it another go and it's definitely a mechanically really well-built game and a fantastic sequel. Yeah, that was my initial reaction, too. I think it was more of me trying to get used to the game, but once I did, I appreciated how the combat felt smoother than it did in DkS1. Also, a lack of button queues. I hated that so much.
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2014 16:23
|
|
|
RSCNyx posted:Also, a lack of button queues. I hated that so much. Personally, I prefer the first game but also love the second. The first one just seems to have a little more heart, as vague as that sounds. Even considering the objective flaws it has. Dark Souls II improved quite a few mechanics, though. It's mostly simple quality if life stuff but it really makes a difference that makes you feel like you're in control more.
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2014 16:46
|
|
|
DaS1 felt more like a single cohesive world than DaS2. I love the sequel to piece, and adore how much more massive in scope the game is, but areas felt a bit more disjointed. It's that sense of interconnectedness that I really liked about the first game.
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2014 19:19
|
|
|
Dark Souls II - aka  the game. I like how NPCs have a lot of lore to give, and how you have to exhaust their dialogue to get poo poo, but it's annoying after the first playthrough and you have to spend a fair amount of time mashing through their dialogue.
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2014 19:42
|
|
|
Yeah. Since I recorded it I happen to know that the entire dialogue you can listen to when you first reach Majula is about 15 minutes long. That's MGS levels of cutscene length. I like the contents of it but wish it were a little more concise. It's especially bad when playing from the disc on PS3 since the dialogue takes a bit to load in and you can't skip it while it loads.
IGgy IGsen fucked around with this message at 13:24 on Jun 12, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jun 12, 2014 11:34
|
|
|
I guess I'm in the minority that doesn't like the game. While the combat and mechanics were all around improved, DS for me was always about exploration and unraveling the lore/plot - and this game feels lazy on that for some areas, eg Tower of Flame. It also fell back to one design cliché that pretty much says you've ran out of ideas for locations and enemies, but that's much later. edit: Crap, forgot about the spoiler policy. I think this one isn't too harmful, it's just a name of a place that didn't live up to its potential. I'll remove it if it's a problem. anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 11:53 on Jun 12, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jun 12, 2014 11:49
|
|
|
Bit of a twofer because the first video is mostly dialogue. The Majula episode almost exclusively features dialogue, if you want to skip straight to the gamplay then don't worry. If something the NPCs say becomes relevant I will bring it back up or even play back the audio. However, you may want to watch it for flavour. One thing I neglected to mention is that you can actually get the Moon Butterfly Shield from the chest in Maughlins room on NG+ I'll be covering most of the stuff below in future videos as it comes up, but I'm not going to really emphasize the importance of stats in them because I simply think it's best not to worry about it too much and just go with what seems most useful. But here's a basic description of the stats regardless. The idea is that the stats listed under Attributes, which you can level up yourself affect the stats listed under performance some of which influence the rightmost stats. And those are only Attack Ratings and Defenses.  VGR - Vigor: Like every other stat this one increases HP. This one does nothing else, though. But it DOES increase the HP more than any other stat. END - Endurance: This one mainly increases Stamina it adds 2 points of Stamina for every point in Endurance until it reaches 20, after that it's only one Stamina for every point of Endurance. It diminishes further down the line but there's no good reason to go much higher than 20. Along with Adaptability it also increases Poise. Whichever of the two stats is the lowest affects Poise. Higher poise pretty much only means that your attacks are less likely to be interrupted by enemies attacks. VIT - Vitality: Vitality increases Equip Load, which is needed to wear heavier pieces of armor or to wear them more efficiently. Movement Speed very subtly changes according to your percentage seen in the lower right (63.3% in this case). More importantly, though, it affects the speed of your dodge roll. It changes subtly as well, until it reaches 70% of the total Load, when it drops significantly to the equivalent of the "fat roll" from the first game. Generally, you will want to stay under 70% so you have an easier time dodging, unless you really want to tank hits. ATN - Attunement: Probably the most important stat for every build that uses magic because it influences the amount of Magic you can equip. With 10 points into Attunement you get one Attunement Slot, allowing you to equip most Spells (some will take more than one slot). You'll get one more slot after two extra points but it diminishes with every further slot, but may be worth it. Attunement also increases Cast Speed, amount of casts per scroll and Agility (AGL) STR - Strength: STR mainly affects damage scaling, as long as it's based on STR, and allows you to equip weapons that have a STR requirement. DEX - Dexterity DEX, much like strength DEX affects damage scaling but less so, which kind of butchers the stat. It also affects Damage bonuses to Poison and Bleeding, though. ADP - Adaptability ADP increases overall defenses but most importantly it increases Agility (AGL) which affects various things. We know for sure that it increases Estus Drinking speed and invincibility frames of your dodge roll. Additionally some people think it affects the speed or active frames of parrying. I could also swear it affects recovery time after weapon swings, but I may be horribly wrong. INT - Intelligence It affects Damage Bonuses for Magic, Fire (averages with FTH) and Dark (lower stat of FTH and INT) damage in addition to being one of the stats that may be required to equip certain gear. Mostly staffs. FTH - Faith It affects Damage Bonuses for Lightning (actually affects all miracles), Fire, and Dark damage in addition to being one of the stats that may be required to equip certain gear. Mostly Sacred Chimes. Now I did mention scaling above. Essentially certain stats will improve the effectiveness of weapons and armor the higher the stats they scale with are. There are five levels of scaling: D, C, B, A and S. However, it's not as simple as having five levels of scaling. It's actually more gradual. If you upgrade a weapon that has an S-Level scaling with some stat in its unupgraded version it will have a better S-Level scaling once you upgrade it. Generally speaking you'll want weapons with an A or S rank in scaling if you have the stats to go along with it. Otherwise you might prefer a weapon that has lower levels of scaling but higher base damage. Of course, now, each of the scaling stats influences the effectiveness of a weapon differently. STR and DEX increase the physical attack power of a weapon DEX also increases bleed and poison properties of weapons but in return helps physical damage a little less. Magic which is increased by INT only increases the Magic damage a weapon does. Lightning which is increased by FTH only increases the Lightning damage a weapon does. Fire which is increased by the average between INT and FTH increases Fire damage a weapon does. Although it's more of a bonus for people who invest in those stats as Fire scaling is not that high to begin with. This is slightly more true for pyromancies than weapons, though. It's good to mix up damage types. If you don't want to just do Magic, Lightning or Dark elemental damage. Dark which is increased by whichever stat of INT or FTH is currently the lowest only increases Dark damage a weapon does. Furthermore, you could now buff your weapon with an element using resins or spells. But it's recommended you only use buffs of damage types you're already dealing with your weapon as each additional damage type will slightly diminish the returns you get due to the fact that the damage will be cut by one more resistance of an enemy. Item Descriptions: Can be found in Things Betwixt: Darksign Dark Souls II: An accursed mark. The Darksign induces death, returning the player to the last bonfire rested at, at the cost of all souls held. Do what you must to gather the pieces, scraping them into some semblance of a whole, before the will to do so fades. Dark Souls: The Darksign signifies an accursed Undead. Those branded with it are reborn after death, but will one day lose their mind and go Hollow. Death triggers the Darksign, which returns its bearer to the last bonfire rested at, but at the cost of all humanity and souls. Note: The description of the Darksign from the first game actually gives us significantly more info on lore and the way it works which is why I included it here. Also: The first game's description mentions humanity, which was an in-game item. Also a concept. Human Effigy A warm, soft, shadow-like effigy. Use this item to reverse Hollowing. It also weakens the links to other worlds,vasions and most cooperation. Peer closely at an effigy, and one begins to perceive a human form, but whose form it takes depends on the person looking. Note: Opposed to the first game, where the loss of "humanity" was emphasized in the process of going hollow this time losing one's memory and self are the focus. That, however has always been an aspect of hollowing, they didn't add that in. Humanity (Only in the first game. Here for reference) Rare tiny black sprite found on corpses. Use to gain 1 humanity and restore a large amount of HP. This black sprite is called humanity, but little is known about its true nature. If the soul is the source of all life, then what distinguishes the humanity we hold within ourselves? Note: It's heavily implied that Humanities are fragments of the Dark Soul itself. We'll get a chance to learn a little more about what exactly this means later on into the LP. OR you could play the first game. Your call. Cracked Red Eye Orb Online play item. Invade other worlds. Defeat the master of the world you have invaded to acquire a Token of Spite. The residual sins of those who have succumbed to dark temptations are contained in the form of the Cracked Red Eye Orb Small Smooth and Silky Stone A smooth and silky stone. Use to slightly restore HP The shine of this stone is no ordinary polish, and can only be achieved over a long period. Some in this land are in search of such stones. Handmaid's Ladle An ordinary kitchen ladle. He who chooses this as a weapon either faces extenuating circumstances or has an odd sense of humor. If you care for your life, leave this one in the kitchen. Can be found in Majula: Estus Flask Dark Souls II: A green bottle of unknown make. Fill it with Estus at a bonfire, and drink from it to restore HP. The nature of the link between the Estus flasks and the bonfires that illuminate the world of the Undead is entirely unknown. But that is of little concern, for any Undead knows the value of these precious flasks. Dark Souls: The Undead treasure these dull green flasks. Fill with Estus at bonfire. Fills HP. The Estus Flasks are linked to the Fire Keepers. The Dark Tales also make reference: An emerald flask, from the Keeper's soul. She lives to protect the flame, and dies to protect it further Note:We're drinkin' liquid loving fire. And no, I don't think anyone knows what "the Dark Tales" actually are. Estus Flask Shard The shard of an Estus Flask. Shards are deeply soaked in Estus. Graft the shard to an Estus Flask to increase flask uses. Over the ages, countless souls rested their bones as they drank from the original flask. And now this shard remains, serving as a vestige of their hopes and dreams. Divine Blessing Dark Souls II: Holy water endowed with a divine blessing. Cures status effects and fully restores HP. Water blessed by an ancient goddess. Her name is long forgotten, and the Magic Academy of Melfia denies even her existence. In any age, there are those who refuse to see reason. It is their meddling that distorts the truth. Dark Souls: Holy water from Goddess Gwynevere. Fully restore HP and undo irregularities. The Goddess of Sunlight Gwynevere, daughter of the great Lord of Sunlight Gwyn, is cherished by all as the symbol of bounty and fertility. Note: The fact that no one remembers Gwynevere's name is a pretty good sign that a very long time has passed between the two games. Gwynevere was the daughter of Gwyn, Lord of Sunlight. Essentially the equivalent to Zeus in greek mythology. He even throws lightning. You wouldn't forget the name and role of the daughter of someone that important, would you? Homeward Bone Dark Souls II: A white-ashen bone. Return to the last bonfire rested at. Bonfires burn on the bones of Undead. And this bone, belonging to one whose journey was cut short, has the power to travel to bonfires. As if it yearns to resume its futile quest... Dark Souls : Bone fragment reduced to white ash. Return to last bonfire used for resting. Bonfires are fueled by the bones of the Undead. In rare cases, the strong urge of their previous owner's to seek bonfires enchants their bones with a homeward instinct. IGgy IGsen fucked around with this message at 11:44 on Sep 6, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2014 15:33
|
|
|
Looking forward to watching this when I get home since I unfortunately bought Dark Souls 2 before realising I couldn't be hosed with the stress and angst of playing the drat thing.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2014 15:40
|
|
|
I think that after some extensive testing adaptability / agility broke down into the following: Adaptability = +0.75 agility per point (more or less, this doesn't apply 100% at very low levels of ADP) plus some resists and a tiny amount of poise Attunement = 0.25 agility per point plus spell slots and cast speed and spell casts Agility linearly improves estus drink time (maybe some other animations, but not anything to do with shields or weapons) and increases iframes on rolling in a nonlinear way. 100 agility is optimal, 115 agility gives the most iframes. Ramagamma posted:Looking forward to watching this when I get home since I unfortunately bought Dark Souls 2 before realising I couldn't be hosed with the stress and angst of playing the drat thing. It really is not that difficult, it's just one of those games where it's easy to gimp yourself (at least relatively speaking) by missing an item or NPC or choosing to use the wrong weapons or spells, probably moreso than in the original.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2014 17:30
|
|
|
I really loving enjoyed Dark Souls 2. I need to start a second playthrough sometime. It's definitely not as tightly built as the first game (see how the world design is no longer almost completely seamless), but most of what made the first game click for me is definitely still there, and after having some time to chew on it I think I might like this game's lore better than Dark Souls 1's.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2014 17:36
|
|
|
RabidWeasel posted:Agility linearly improves estus drink time (maybe some other animations, but not anything to do with shields or weapons) and increases iframes on rolling in a nonlinear way. 100 agility is optimal, 115 agility gives the most iframes. From 85 to 105 Agi you gain one roll iframe every five points. 105 is most optimal since it gives you the same amount of iframes that the fastroll in Dark Souls had (13). 110 Agi gives nothing but 115 give 2 more iframes (15 total), which is equal to the number of iframes the ninja flip in Dark Souls had, with 120 giving 1 more iframe than that (16 total). quote:It really is not that difficult, it's just one of those games where it's easy to gimp yourself (at least relatively speaking) by missing an item or NPC or choosing to use the wrong weapons or spells, probably moreso than in the original. That's not even remotely true. One of the great things about the Souls games is that they are more skill-based than stat-based, so even if you stat yourself poorly you can still make it through the game easily enough. Since scaling in this is poor in general, it's very difficult to stat yourself poorly (as long as you can wield a weapon one-handed and keep it upgraded, you're fine) and if you do there is a respec option. To beat the game with relative ease, even if it's your first time, you don't need more than a decent weapon (which you can just by from a shop), a decent shield, and lifegems, none of which you can miss.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2014 17:50
|
|
|
Genocyber posted:To beat the game with relative ease, even if it's your first time, you don't need more than a decent weapon (which you can just by from a shop), a decent shield, and lifegems, none of which you can miss. These things are all very easily missable for people who aren't familiar with this type of game. The first person I introduced to Dark Souls 2 took several hours to find the Emerald Herald and didn't have enough game knowledge to be able to identify the difference between good and lovely weapons. I assume you're right about the frame data, I only vaguely remembered "100 agi is best" but that was probably based on faulty information. I thought that you only got 1 frame going from 100 to 115.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2014 20:52
|
|
|
RabidWeasel posted:These things are all very easily missable for people who aren't familiar with this type of game. The first person I introduced to Dark Souls 2 took several hours to find the Emerald Herald and didn't have enough game knowledge to be able to identify the difference between good and lovely weapons. Well if you're not familiar with the type of game of course you're going to be terrible and miss a lot of basic poo poo, same is true of any game genre or type. Assuming you have basic experience with RPGs and/or action games you shouldn't be missing that kind of stuff.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2014 20:56
|
|
|
Genocyber posted:Well if you're not familiar with the type of game of course you're going to be terrible and miss a lot of basic poo poo, same is true of any game genre or type. Assuming you have basic experience with RPGs and/or action games you shouldn't be missing that kind of stuff. Yeah, no. Dark Souls isn't much of an RPG in the first place and its action system is pretty different from just about everything else out there. The only real way to be familiar with DS2's system is having played a previous Souls game.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2014 20:59
|
|
|
^that^ Though, I agree that Dark Souls II and the other Souls games reward skillful play more than making numbers go high. But if you're not used to what Souls games might throw at you stats can be a crutch until they get better. But they have more of a placebo effect, really. While higher stats do make a difference it's also true that even if you have really high stats bad gameplay will be punished. Those who are good AND know how to use the stats can be so much more efficient or, if they choose so, purposefully not raise their stats beyond the minimum to carry whatever they want to use or not at all. SL1 runs in Dark Souls II are really hard. That said: I think the difficulty of Dark Souls, while relatively high, is so exaggerated that it scares away quite a few people who'd probably enjoy it. I like to tell newbies not to worry about the stats too much and just go with what appears useful, instead focus more on finding a weapon they like and upgrade that. Because that's something a newcomer is not very likely to know.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2014 21:07
|
|
|
Equip burden also affects your stamina regen rate. It refills super fast at 0%. And yeah, the difficulty of these games is pretty exaggerated. It would be more accurate to say that it's challenging, which is to say it doesn't hold your hand and explain everything as if you were braindead unlike many other modern games.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2014 22:26
|
|
|
It's not even that hard. The games expect you to play methodically and once you get into that mindset, it's a lot easier to get into the game. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't seem to understand that you need to play smart instead of rushing in stupidly.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2014 00:26
|
|
|
ChaosArgate posted:It's not even that hard. The games expect you to play methodically and once you get into that mindset, it's a lot easier to get into the game. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't seem to understand that you need to play smart instead of rushing in stupidly. Look okay, I've fought this guy FOUR TIMES NOW I just want to progr---aaaa why am I fallllliiinnng. Also: auto-repair gear - still have to pay for arrows >: (
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2014 07:42
|
|
|
ChaosArgate posted:It's not even that hard. The games expect you to play methodically and once you get into that mindset, it's a lot easier to get into the game. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't seem to understand that you need to play smart instead of rushing in stupidly. 
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2014 12:42
|
|
|
Genocyber posted:Well if you're not familiar with the type of game of course you're going to be terrible and miss a lot of basic poo poo, same is true of any game genre or type. Assuming you have basic experience with RPGs and/or action games you shouldn't be missing that kind of stuff. A lot of people miss the Emerald Herald the first time through Majula - this isn't down to "being terrible" or lacking "basic experience", this is down to her starting position being tucked away on the cliff edge blending into the scenery, and since you're naturally going to be heading to the big tower that dominates the skyline you're probably going to go straight past her. It's bad level design pure and simple, and not the only example of it in the early parts of the game. I really enjoyed this game, but it does definitely have its flaws and a lot of them come right near the beginning of the game, so I can see why they might sour people on it.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2014 13:03
|
|
|
Kloro posted:A lot of people miss the Emerald Herald the first time through Majula - this isn't down to "being terrible" or lacking "basic experience", this is down to her starting position being tucked away on the cliff edge blending into the scenery, and since you're naturally going to be heading to the big tower that dominates the skyline you're probably going to go straight past her. It's bad level design pure and simple, and not the only example of it in the early parts of the game. I really enjoyed this game, but it does definitely have its flaws and a lot of them come right near the beginning of the game, so I can see why they might sour people on it. Just the combination of low durability, emerald herald + no estus, getting used to multiple enemies. I now think DS1 and DS2 are different but equal, but man I hated the first 4-5hours.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2014 13:17
|
|
|
Looking forward to this. I really like Dark Souls as one of those "Watch it instead of playing it" games. Just could never get the controls down to a point where I didn't feel like I was flailing all over the place, but when people are good at it, they're really good at it.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2014 15:02
|
|
|
Kloro posted:A lot of people miss the Emerald Herald the first time through Majula - this isn't down to "being terrible" or lacking "basic experience", this is down to her starting position being tucked away on the cliff edge blending into the scenery, and since you're naturally going to be heading to the big tower that dominates the skyline you're probably going to go straight past her. It's bad level design pure and simple, and not the only example of it in the early parts of the game. I really enjoyed this game, but it does definitely have its flaws and a lot of them come right near the beginning of the game, so I can see why they might sour people on it. And they're idiots. Aside from the fact that you should always be thoroughly exploring any level before moving onto the next, aside form it being the first area and so probably has goodies if you look, there's also the fact that she's pretty noticeable from her original position of standing at the cliff's edge. She can be very clearly seen from the bonfire and when you move to and back from the monument. Unless you're paying virtually no attention you can't miss her.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2014 16:30
|
|
|
Call me an idiot but I missed the Emerald Herald the first time around despite looking around the area and talking to everyone else as well as collecting everything that could be found. She IS a little bit out of the way but now, looking back, I have no idea how I missed her. -------------------------- We're finally gonna fight our first boss. To avoid spoilers I recommend not actually scrolling any further down until you've watched the video.   This time our New Game++ hero is donning the Tseldora set. With a twist! Instead of the not so fashionable hat Maughlin is wearing with the set we are using the Chaos Hood. It may be hard to see that way but drat if it doesn't look good. The Tseldora set has the added bonus of increasing the amount of souls we get from enemies when we kill them. So it's err... okay looking AND functional. A dream come true. Whenever there's bosses or other interesting stuff I'll give some extra info in the update posts. If you don't want to read them that's fine, I'll mention the most important stuff in the videos the post is supplementing or in a later one if it's more relevant then. So don't worry about missing out on anything essential The Last Giant:  Being the first boss he is rather easy. Not sure if I'd say he's easier than the first boss of the first game but it definitely feels like a much slower fight. This is in part thanks to the Giant's size and age. Of course, we don't know just how long he's been in that room. Long enough for his brethren to turn into "trees" at least  The easiest strategy is to just get really close and hug his feet until you notice he's about to stomp, in that case get the hell away. They actually nerfed his stomp because it used to be able to one-shot you. Now it's just a nuisance. Of course there was some outrage from "core" gamers but considering that this may be a newcomers first Dark Souls boss I welcome the nerf. Plus, despite it being easy to dodge I tend to get hit by it occasionally. Also: Be aware that he will sometimes get mad and stomp three times in a row, alternating his feet. His other attacks are mostly various attacks with his arm. He's got a close ranged one that hits the ground in front of him and a really wide sweep depending on how far away and at what angle we are. Once at half health he tears his motherfucking arm right off and uses it to beat us to death. Well, all it does is increase the range of his attacks and it can only become problematic if you want to fight him with a ranged strategy. If you want to you can chop his arm off before he does that to keep his range shorter. Hard to do at that stage of the game, you'll have to attack the arm somehow. Mostly with ranged attacks or when it's down on the ground. The easiest way to get rid of the arm is probably to wait for the Giant to use his rarest attack: Tripping over to fall on you. This will most likely kill you instantly if it hits you. But once he's down he'll be there for a bit and you can wail on him like no tomorrow. Good opportunity to get rid of his arm. Boss Weapons: In this LP I'd like to showcase the boss weapons as they come up. Not because they are exceptionally good. Most of them aren't. But because they are interesting and always shed a little bit of extra light on the story of the boss or even the lore of the area we just beat (which isn't to say other item descriptions don't do that, because they do). Making boss weapons is much easier than in the previous games this time around. Instead of having to upgrade a weapon of the same type to a certain level we and then have a blacksmith infuse that weapon with the Boss' soul we just go to one of two NPCs and they will just make the weapon out of the soul. Those two NPCs are called Straid and Ornifex. We'll be meeting them later on in the LP. Below you'll find the weapon we can make from the Last Giant's Soul as well as some important stats regarding the weapon. From time to time I might chime in with additional thoughts concerning the lore and utility. Much like the rest of this and future posts important bits will be mentioned in the videos themselves, so don't worry about missing anything if you don't want to read. Soul of the Last Giant: Soul of the surviving giant, who was bound below the Forest of Giants. Many seasons had come and gone, and the giant prepared for his final rest. But his soul remained magnificent, testimony to his former strength. Give the Last Giant's Soul to Straid to make... The Giant Stone Axe:  Moveset/Weapon Class: Greataxe Physical Damage (+0/+5): 160 / 400 Scales with: STR D/C (Bad) Requirements: 45 STR, 8 DEX Damage Type: Slash In-Game Description: Greataxe forged from the Last Giant's soul. This weapon resembles a primitive stone tool, but is quite powerful owing to its immense size. The Giants were eventually defeated by an unnamed hero, but alas, victory came all too late. Personal thoughts: The weapons description confirms that Drangleics Army won the battle against the Giants but it was a pyrrhic victory. Where the Giants came from exactly and why they attacked is still unknown to us at this point. And the identity of that unnamed Hero is just as nebulous. It's not uncommon for Souls games to throw details like that at us expecting us to think they are important just to never expand on them. But who knows? Maybe we will learn more about that eventually. As a weapon it has really high base damage but not very good scaling. Normally those weapons are useful for builds that only get the bare essential stats to wield a weapon but this one's requirements are very high with 45 Strength. The soft cap for scaling is at 40 so you're better off using a different weapon of the same weapon class seeing as weapons of the same class often have very similar movesets.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2014 20:37
|
|
|
Killing Pursuers early gives you more souls than when you fight him later. Also the guy you could have summoned was using the bluemoon Great sword, which you can get early by killing Bernhart.
ldragon fucked around with this message at 21:31 on Jun 15, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2014 20:57
|
|
|
ldragon posted:Killing Pursuers early gives you more souls than when you fight him later. As far as I'm aware this is only true for phantoms as they will get full souls since he's technically a normal enemy in the first encounter. When helping with an actual boss encounter you only get a percentage. Or do you mean you also get more Souls when just fighting him one on one? I never really paid attention to the amount of souls received for killing him in either of the locations.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2014 23:13
|
|
|
I misremembered and you have it right. I forgot I fight him almost always as a phantom that it threw me off. Same 17k souls however you fight him.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2014 23:29
|
|
|
Thanks for this LP. I played Dark Souls II for 30 or so hours (after loving Dark Souls to pieces) and just lost the drive to complete it myself after a few specific areas and bosses, banking on there being a solid LP of it soon. The amount of stuff I had missed even in these first few areas is staggering me. I made a "no-wiki, no-Googling" promise to myself for my first playthough of DSII, and what I thought was a fairly meticulous, observant playstyle on my part now feels like I was bumbling through like a distracted toddler. I appreciate your editing and presentation style, and the fact that you are good enough for the videos not to be overlong, messy grinds.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2014 23:34
|
|
|
ChaosArgate posted:There's actually a bug related to the 60 fps of the PC version: your weapon durability is tied to your framerate, so your weapons actually degrade twice as fast as on consoles.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2014 23:44
|
|
|
Brumaldo posted:Some enemy animations are also sped up at 60 fps. If I'm not mistaken the Alonne Captains are an egregious example. I've seen a comparison video, and on the PC version they're basically in hyper mode. This says otherwise. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1yn5OD5WbM Alonne Knights can have absurdly sped up animations, but this also happens in console as well. As for the weapon durability, you only lose more durability when striking corpses and other non-hostile models (such as phantoms). Living enemies, walls, etc. aren't affected by this glitch. As a result only certain weapons that will hit the corpse with the same attack that kills an enemy (namely halberds and great hammers) will be at a disadvantage. Everything else is fine so long as you don't spam attacks after killing an enemy.
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2014 00:28
|
|
|
I really want to love Dark Souls 2, but playing through I kept running into a "For every one thing they fixed they broke something" kind of deal. I love the areas, but they feel disjointed. I'm happy that co-op is not super easy to set up, but invasions are a rarity until ng+. I like that they tried to stem twinking an whatnot, but soul memory is just plain ridiculous when it rears its ugly head later on. I could probably go on about this for a few hours.
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2014 01:33
|
|
|
I wonder now if the giants from Dark Souls have always looked like that beneath their armor, or if this is a separate race of giants. Either way, seeing a huge gaping hole where the face should be will never not be unsettling.
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2014 19:15
|
|
|
Veyrall posted:I wonder now if the giants from Dark Souls have always looked like that beneath their armor, or if this is a separate race of giants. Either way, seeing a huge gaping hole where the face should be will never not be unsettling. It's probably a different race. At least if all the Giant Skeletons in the Tomb of Giants of the first game are any indication. They had more human skulls. There's also something a little later into the game that would hint at that being the case. But I honestly like the design of the Giants in Dark Souls II more.
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2014 19:59
|
|
|
Why are you so down on twinblades.
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2014 20:53
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 20, 2024 05:24 |
|
|
ZenVulgarity posted:Why are you so down on twinblades. Oh, I'm just bad at actually using them properly. But eventually I'll have to revisit some of the weapon types because there aren't nearly enough to have a new one for the roughly 30 episodes this will take. So I'll probably give them another shot at some point. I do have to say though that they are good at controlling clustered enemies. As long as you switch your lock-on at the right moment you can just switch enemies mid attack and fairly easily keep a group of two or even three in check if you're positioned properly.
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2014 21:05
|
|