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Sakurazuka
Jan 24, 2004

NANI?

You can't run past any of the big knights either

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Merauder
Apr 17, 2003

The North Remembers.
Yeah, figured out its tied to the big Knights. Have to kill them all at least once. After that the whole place leaves you alone, and you can run past the big Knights after that without being attacked.

Sakurazuka
Jan 24, 2004

NANI?

Oh poo poo really? That's why I never bothered trying to kill the Ancient Dragon because I figured I'd either have to kill them all again or aggro the whole place running through. Obviously assuming I didn't do it first time....

Merauder
Apr 17, 2003

The North Remembers.
Yeah, I ran past them constantly in my Ancient Dragon attempts in NG, which is why I was confused when I got there in NG+ and everything was attacking me.

Raxivace
Sep 9, 2014

So I'm playing through this game for real finally, and I'm surprised at how active the PS3 version still is. Two questions:

1) Is there ever a point in the game where I can easily farm Human Effigies?

2) Does weapon durability increase with upgrades? Even with a +6 weapon, it feels like my sword is still breaking fairly quickly, though maybe I'm just hitting walls too much or something.

Bass Bottles
Jan 14, 2006

BOSS BATTLES DID NOTHING WRONG

Raxivace posted:

So I'm playing through this game for real finally, and I'm surprised at how active the PS3 version still is. Two questions:

1) Is there ever a point in the game where I can easily farm Human Effigies?

2) Does weapon durability increase with upgrades? Even with a +6 weapon, it feels like my sword is still breaking fairly quickly, though maybe I'm just hitting walls too much or something.

Human effigies are a limited resource and you can easily run out. If you can, trying helping people beat bosses to regain human status. Also, try just living with half-health a lot, only using an effigy when you feel like you've learned the area and have a shot at moving forward.

Your weapon durability is repaired every time you sit at a bonfire. You only have to repair if it breaks.

Sakurazuka
Jan 24, 2004

NANI?

Use the ring (that I've forgotten the name of) that caps your health loss to 25% if you're having trouble at 50% too. Since you get four ring slots it's not a huge deal.

Rubellavator
Aug 16, 2007

The best way to farm Humanity is just to ascetic the first bonfire in FoFG and loot the wooden chest at the beginning for 5 humanity each time. I had to do that a few times on my SL1 run because I ran out of humanity for Darklurker.

Ineffiable
Feb 16, 2008

Some say that his politics are terrifying, and that he once punched a horse to the ground...


Yeah every time I play ds2, I always accept the humanity gift, try to horde humanities and only use them when I need to. Once you unlock several areas, just drop your sign outside one of your recent bosses, give someone some help and go to human for free.

I try to stockpile humanities so I can do lots of pvp or eventually go after darklurker.

Raxivace
Sep 9, 2014

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm making more progress now.

This is an odd game. In some ways it feels more like a Demon's Souls sequel that takes some influence from Dark Souls rather than the other way around.

Raxivace
Sep 9, 2014

Can someone explain these fake Sunbros to me? Several times now in the past few days I'll summon a dude, we'll fight through the level, and then they'll just go home upon getting to the boss fog.

That is not some jolly cooperation. I wanted a Sunlight Medal from you dammit!

The Zombie Guy
Oct 25, 2008

Raxivace posted:

Can someone explain these fake Sunbros to me? Several times now in the past few days I'll summon a dude, we'll fight through the level, and then they'll just go home upon getting to the boss fog.

That is not some jolly cooperation. I wanted a Sunlight Medal from you dammit!

Are they using the small summon sign?
They might be fulfilling their enemy kill quota before getting to the boss.
If they are using the black crystal to leave, then I don't know what is going on. Seems they are shaming their Sunbro ancestors.

Raxivace
Sep 9, 2014

No it's the big Summon Signs they're putting down, and yeah they're using the Black Crystal.

Rubellavator
Aug 16, 2007

There's also a bug where you will sometimes be forced to leave the world when the host challenges a boss. You get the "host has left the world" message instead of the "host has challenged the boss" message, and then you go home. Not sure what causes it, but it's pretty rare.

Raxivace
Sep 9, 2014

I think Cave of the Dead might be my least favorite area in any Souls game I've played.

FireWorksWell
Nov 27, 2014

Let's go do some hero shit!


Raxivace posted:

I think Cave of the Dead might be my least favorite area in any Souls game I've played.

Is that the extra area in Sunken King? I did Iron Passage and Frigid Outskirts but I actually enjoyed those areas/bosses.

Raxivace
Sep 9, 2014

FireWorksWell posted:

Is that the extra area in Sunken King? I did Iron Passage and Frigid Outskirts but I actually enjoyed those areas/bosses.

Yeah. The poison statues are a questionable game mechanic to begin with, but on top of getting the AI to actually survive the claustrophobic journey to the fog door they end up being a bit worthless against Fake Havel and his two buddies. I haven't even beaten them yet.

Rubellavator
Aug 16, 2007

Cave of the Dead is there to ensure that petrification is something that people can actually die to.

TaurusOxford
Feb 10, 2009

Dad of the Year 2021

Raxivace posted:

Yeah. The poison statues are a questionable game mechanic to begin with, but on top of getting the AI to actually survive the claustrophobic journey to the fog door they end up being a bit worthless against Fake Havel and his two buddies. I haven't even beaten them yet.

I pulled it off with the two AI buddies, but by the time RNG favoured me and let them live throughout the whole boss fight, I had completely depopulated the entire zone.

Happy Noodle Boy
Jul 3, 2002


So I need sun bro medals. I'm clearing through NG+ right now and I've yet to see any signs or anyone grab mine. Are there any specific hotspots for cooperation or is it just luck / playing only at night?

im cute
Sep 21, 2009

Happy Noodle Boy posted:

So I need sun bro medals. I'm clearing through NG+ right now and I've yet to see any signs or anyone grab mine. Are there any specific hotspots for cooperation or is it just luck / playing only at night?

Which version/console? If you're playing the 360 or xbone versions you may just be out of luck, as it is very dead. In any case, the DLC areas are the hotspots for co-op.

Double check that you're on Unrestricted matchmaking and consider using Dried Fingers. Sporting an engraved name ring and picking Velka might help, since that was a popular choice a while back.

Happy Noodle Boy
Jul 3, 2002


SOTFS/PS4. I allowed cross region play and I'm using the name ring. Guess I just gotta reach the populated areas.

Raxivace
Sep 9, 2014

I picked this game back up and beat the Cave of the Dead trio.

However I'm now sure Ancient Dragon is the worst boss ever put into a video game.

im cute
Sep 21, 2009

Please be wary of the shockwaves.

Raxivace
Sep 9, 2014

Finally took down the Ancient Dragon! Saw a tip online about using a Gyrm Greatshield. I happened to have one laying around, I upgraded it to +10, had a Black Knight Ultra Greatsword that I upgraded to +5 as well, and then was finally able to figure out to fight the boss now that I could actually survive his fire breath attacks. Did the strategy of hitting the front feet 2-3 times, trying to bait a grounded fire breath and if he flew up instead I put my shield up- luckily I had enough stamina to survive two hits from the fire now, though if the dude had landed on me I would have been done. Ended up only having to heal once the whole fight.

I sort of see what people mean now when they say the run up to the boss might be harder, once you learn how to survive his OHKO's. It certainly helped that I had run through that part so many times with other players that the enemies stopped spawning on the path to him. Ended up killing the Ancient Dragon as a solo though.

im cute
Sep 21, 2009

I just ended up picking up SOTFS today after beating DS2 a second time last year. Been a while since I've read the thread. Anyone have any hot tips?


Raxivace posted:

Finally took down the Ancient Dragon! Saw a tip online about using a Gyrm Greatshield. I happened to have one laying around, I upgraded it to +10, had a Black Knight Ultra Greatsword that I upgraded to +5 as well, and then was finally able to figure out to fight the boss now that I could actually survive his fire breath attacks. Did the strategy of hitting the front feet 2-3 times, trying to bait a grounded fire breath and if he flew up instead I put my shield up- luckily I had enough stamina to survive two hits from the fire now, though if the dude had landed on me I would have been done. Ended up only having to heal once the whole fight.

I sort of see what people mean now when they say the run up to the boss might be harder, once you learn how to survive his OHKO's. It certainly helped that I had run through that part so many times with other players that the enemies stopped spawning on the path to him. Ended up killing the Ancient Dragon as a solo though.

The run-up is brutal but I still want one of those warpicks to drop. One day...

...!
Oct 5, 2003


Eldarion'd again!

Raxivace posted:

Finally took down the Ancient Dragon! Saw a tip online about using a Gyrm Greatshield. I happened to have one laying around, I upgraded it to +10, had a Black Knight Ultra Greatsword that I upgraded to +5 as well, and then was finally able to figure out to fight the boss now that I could actually survive his fire breath attacks. Did the strategy of hitting the front feet 2-3 times, trying to bait a grounded fire breath and if he flew up instead I put my shield up- luckily I had enough stamina to survive two hits from the fire now, though if the dude had landed on me I would have been done. Ended up only having to heal once the whole fight.

I sort of see what people mean now when they say the run up to the boss might be harder, once you learn how to survive his OHKO's. It certainly helped that I had run through that part so many times with other players that the enemies stopped spawning on the path to him. Ended up killing the Ancient Dragon as a solo though.

Raxivace posted:

Finally took down the Ancient Dragon! Saw a tip online about using a Gyrm Greatshield. I happened to have one laying around, I upgraded it to +10, had a Black Knight Ultra Greatsword that I upgraded to +5 as well, and then was finally able to figure out to fight the boss now that I could actually survive his fire breath attacks. Did the strategy of hitting the front feet 2-3 times, trying to bait a grounded fire breath and if he flew up instead I put my shield up- luckily I had enough stamina to survive two hits from the fire now, though if the dude had landed on me I would have been done. Ended up only having to heal once the whole fight.

I sort of see what people mean now when they say the run up to the boss might be harder, once you learn how to survive his OHKO's. It certainly helped that I had run through that part so many times with other players that the enemies stopped spawning on the path to him. Ended up killing the Ancient Dragon as a solo though.

That whole area is a lot easier in SotFS. The only enemies you actually have to fight are four drakeblood knights, and they don't respawn. Just don't run past them if you don't want to get ganked by the dragon knights watching you fight. There may be one dragon knight you do have to fight but he won't respawn either.

That's it; kill five guys one time and after that you can just run straight from the bonfire to Ancient Dragon with no enemies to fight. It's a lot less of a pain in the rear end than vanilla Dragon Shrine. And you can completely skip Dragon Aerie if you want. I really like those changes.

Raxivace
Sep 9, 2014

...! posted:

That whole area is a lot easier in SotFS. The only enemies you actually have to fight are four drakeblood knights, and they don't respawn. Just don't run past them if you don't want to get ganked by the dragon knights watching you fight. There may be one dragon knight you do have to fight but he won't respawn either.

That's it; kill five guys one time and after that you can just run straight from the bonfire to Ancient Dragon with no enemies to fight. It's a lot less of a pain in the rear end than vanilla Dragon Shrine. And you can completely skip Dragon Aerie if you want. I really like those changes.

...! posted:

That whole area is a lot easier in SotFS. The only enemies you actually have to fight are four drakeblood knights, and they don't respawn. Just don't run past them if you don't want to get ganked by the dragon knights watching you fight. There may be one dragon knight you do have to fight but he won't respawn either.

That's it; kill five guys one time and after that you can just run straight from the bonfire to Ancient Dragon with no enemies to fight. It's a lot less of a pain in the rear end than vanilla Dragon Shrine. And you can completely skip Dragon Aerie if you want. I really like those changes.
That's interesting. I'm still stuck on last gen so I haven't been able to try the real SotFS (Or Bloodborne or DSIII), but I had heard a lot of the game is rebalanced like that. I think I saw some people say Ancient Dragon's AOE attack does less damage too?

Eventually I plan on getting a PS4. I might check out SotFS later on down the line.

...!
Oct 5, 2003


Eldarion'd again!

Raxivace posted:

That's interesting. I'm still stuck on last gen so I haven't been able to try the real SotFS (Or Bloodborne or DSIII), but I had heard a lot of the game is rebalanced like that. I think I saw some people say Ancient Dragon's AOE attack does less damage too?

Eventually I plan on getting a PS4. I might check out SotFS later on down the line.

Yeah, the AOE's not quite as powerful. I think the point of the new Dragon Shrine is that it's the dragon covenant's arena, essentially, and they're all about honorable one-on-one fights. So the dragon knights are content to just watch you fight the drakeblood knights unless you try to run past the drakeblood knights or you attack the dragon knights. The dragon knights (and there are a LOT of them here in SotFS) can't even be locked onto unless one of those things happens, so they're technically friendlies. Beating the drakeblood knights earns the dragon knights' respect and on subsequent trips through the area, they'll just bow/kneel before you when you go by. And that annoying caster in the tower at the beginning of the area doesn't exist in SotFS. It's pretty great.

Edit: Also, don't summon in the Dragon Shrine. There's an NPC summon but it's a trap. Running through with summons goes against the whole one-on-one thing, which DOES aggro the dragon knights. That's suicide as eight or nine will attack at once when you get to the huge staircase.

...! fucked around with this message at 21:24 on Aug 3, 2016

Raxivace
Sep 9, 2014

I don't think I like the Frigid Outskirts area.

Rest of this DLC is pretty good but the run to the boss rivals the Ancient Dragon run in terribleness.

In Training
Jun 28, 2008

It's probably the worst soulsborne area of all time

Raxivace
Sep 9, 2014

In Training posted:

It's probably the worst soulsborne area of all time
It's certainly up there. Like the idea of the blizzard affecting visibility is fine, but in practice it just slows you down while Santa's Reindeer Army From Hell attack.

The two giant versions of the cat from Watchmen are starting to annoy the piss out of me too.

Paracelsus
Apr 6, 2009

bless this post ~kya

Raxivace posted:

I don't think I like the Frigid Outskirts area.

Rest of this DLC is pretty good but the run to the boss rivals the Ancient Dragon run in terribleness.

If you're on SotFS, here's the easy-peasy way to cheese the area:

Be human.
Summon all three NPCs.
Follow the right-hand wall (the sunward one) up until you hit the chasm, killing horsies as you go.
Keep the summons rather than dismissing them.
Fight the boss.

StrangeAeon
Jul 11, 2011


Picked this back up in my unending quest for Soulsborne Platinum trophies, of which I have zero.

Today I explored around Things Betwixt with a spare fragrant branch, and discovered that yes, Scholar is still a terrible, terrible troll.

Guw
Jan 10, 2013

I think that this is the easiest souls to plat. You just have to be willing to get halfway through ng+++ and grind a red phantom for a while.

im cute
Sep 21, 2009

Scholar is a real motherfucker. Still an improvement over base DS2 though. Heide still a viable spank and bank.

StrangeAeon
Jul 11, 2011


Okay, so I was a fool and I lit the torch sconce in the front foyer of Aldia's Keep.

Any advice for dealing with the consequences?

StrangeAeon fucked around with this message at 20:13 on Sep 18, 2016

...!
Oct 5, 2003


Eldarion'd again!

StrangeAeon posted:

Okay, so I was a fool and I lit the torch scone in the front foyer of Aldia's Keep.

Any advice for dealing with the consequences?

MURDER EVERYTHING

StrangeAeon
Jul 11, 2011


Welp. Just got to the Dragon's Aerie for the first time in Scholar.

Every time I think FromSoft could not possibly top themselves in assholery, they prove me wrong.

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im cute
Sep 21, 2009

StrangeAeon posted:

Welp. Just got to the Dragon's Aerie for the first time in Scholar.

Every time I think FromSoft could not possibly top themselves in assholery, they prove me wrong.

Isn't that the part where they put in the shortcut to bypass the entire area?

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