Current Events > Just started playing Dark Souls 2.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Why are there so many sconces and nowhere to light my torch? Am I supposed to literally carry the flame all the way from Mujala?

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Jabodie posted...

Why are there so many sconces and nowhere to light my torch? Am I supposed to literally carry the flame all the way from Mujala?

You use the Flame Butterfly item to light your torch whenever, and you can also light it from any bonfire, by cycling through the options while near one.

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Ah, gotcha. And I'm assuming these sconces stay permanently lit.

There's something satisfying about lighting them.

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Jabodie posted...

Ah, gotcha. And I'm assuming these sconces stay permanently lit.

There's something satisfying about lighting them.

An early build of DS2 played around with making the game MUCH darker (think DS1 catacombs dark) and the sconses were meant to be your main way of generating light. The eventually abandoned the concept but kept the sconses anyway. Feel free to light them, but IIRC it doesn't actually do anything.

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Well just got killed by a chest with a cross bow trap. *sigh*

Hopefully whatever was in it isn't important or useful.

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How much will I miss if I never open a chest again in this game?

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for some reason i've tried playing that game like 3 times, but around the time i get to the rooftop section of Forest of Fallen Giants, i lose interest

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The sconces in Things Betwixt actually do unlock something if you light all of them, but I don't remember off the top of my head what it was
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It's a good game fuck the haters

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Honestly fuck this area I'm probably just leaving until I can one shot everything in it.

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The early game had much more complex, darker lighting and there seemed to be a lot more encouragement to use a torch but since the game was a mess they massively changed the lighting system to make most areas flatly lit and clearly visible outside of a few, but left lightable things absolutely everywhere for some inexplicable reason

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UnholyMudcrab posted...

The sconces in Things Betwixt actually do unlock something if you light all of them, but I don't remember off the top of my head what it was

Spawns a red phantom enemy that drops an item. There are a few more instances of this happening like The Gutter. This is only for Scholar though.

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Coming from a PVE-only player, this is my favorite Souls game. Then 3, and then 1. I don't really enjoy 1 that much, honestly.

Well I went back to the Wharf and finished it after I found Knight's Armor. I've also upgraded the Longsword, where Mace was my main weapon before. Longsword seems way better against random mobs and the Mace works better against big guys with big attack windows. Now I am much more effective because I tank a lot more hits, drink Estus way faster, have a better mob killing weapon, and have some poise to keep a hit going through an enemy hit. Plus some attacks bounce of my shield now.

I've put some levels into VIT to avoid fatrolling with my gear on. I'm probably going to pump Vigor/Endurance to 20 then start putting points into STR.

So far the bosses haven't been very difficult (aside from the boss where I drank Estus so slowly one heal would guarantee death). 90% of the difficulty so far is dealing with multiple mobs. But that is now more manageable thanks to my aforementioned upgrades.

I've figured out the basics of how things work in this game I think, and I've adjusted away from my Bloodborne habits.

Edit: Also I got to the bell on my run where I rage quit, but I didn't see it and moved past it so I was wondering around. I probably could have finished the level a lot earlier if I had noticed it, but it's probably for the best since I've adjusted my game plan because of it.

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I find this game more rage inducing than the previous ones, but I may be looking at Dark Souls with rose tinted glasses. I am 100% sure I played the Undead Burg longer than any other area in Dark Souls or Bloodborne, especially if you count the first playthrough where I put a bunch of points into Resistance and ultimately gave up before restarting some time later.

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Well, I killed the Lost Sinner. That was a really easy fight. Two handed my longsword and dodge rolled behind to kill her first try.

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And that's the Skeleton Lords. That wasn't a very good boss fight lol.

Anyway, I think I settle on Elite Knight set for this playthrough, and some combination of Longsword, Mace, and Bastard Sword as my weapons.

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use ring of life protect

When it breaks, you can repair it

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That horse boss was pretty fun. Thank goodness you can i frame dodge through him when he's riding around in circles.

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Well I got to Iron Keep and went back to Mujala with the ladder guy to go deeper into the hole. I finally went back to take that other path in Heide. I was pretty disappointed that all that was there was a boss (although there might have been something there worth my while, idk). This game has been a lot easier since I pumped adaptability. Earthen Peak is probably where I had the most trouble due to all the poison bs going on (post adaptability pump, that is). Although I did find a Titanite slab by suicide running into the items pickups in the area before that, which is pretty sweet. Probably going to use it on the mace. It's really grown on me.

My thoughts right now:

• Souls is souls and I'm enjoying it. This game feels a lot easier than Dark Souls now that adaptability is pumped. I'm not sure if it's the mechanics or just the fact that this is my third game in this style. I think part of this is that when I'm dying a lot, it's usually because I'm venturing somewhere I don't necessarily need to go rather than strictly to progress, which is a less frustrating experience I guess.
• Health degrading isn't a big nuisance and I don't really worry about it. I'll pop an effigy if my health starts getting pretty bad but that doesn't happen very often. I can see it being very annoying if you're really struggling though.
• I feel like there's something missing in the level design here. Getting a lot more post Anor Londo vibs than pre Anor Londo vibes, if you catch my drift. Areas also seem to come and go more quickly than Dark Souls or Bloodborne.

Right now I think I prefer pre Anor Londo Dark Souls and Bloodborne to this. But I probably like this more than post Anor Londo Dark Souls.

Also, are there moments where I suddenly have a much better idea of what's going on? Like in Dark Souls after you ring the bells and find the illusion of Gwyn's daughter in Anor Londo?

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Jabodie posted...

Well just got killed by a chest with a cross bow trap. *sigh*

Hopefully whatever was in it isn't important or useful.

I only got hit with a chest trap once.

I started opening it before noticing that my AoE poisoning had started poisoning the chest.

I had JUST enough time to think "MotherFU-" before a Mimic ate my face and most of the things attached to it.

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DrizztLink posted...

I only got hit with a chest trap once.

I started opening it before noticing that my AoE poisoning had started poisoning the chest.

I had JUST enough time to think "MotherFU-" before a Mimic ate my face and most of the things attached to it.

I always attack chests before opening. It actually paid off in Earthen Peak I think. I also attacked every chest in Bloodborne despite there being no mimics in that game. After that first time (which basically got a jump scare out of me) I always need to attack first.

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I'm not sure I knew Mimics were even in the game before that.

I have Scholar, I need to get back into the game at some point.

Got to a little bit farther than you in OG DSII.

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So that boss was just a bunch of rats, eh? <_<

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Well I just killed The Rotten. Pretty neat boss fight, took a couple of tries and fairly punishing when I got careless. Tbh I thought going down the well was actually optional.

I have to say though I somehow have even less of an idea of what's going on than in the first Dark Souls lol.

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Jabodie posted...

I have to say though I somehow have even less of an idea of what's going on than in the first Dark Souls lol.

I want to say it all made sense by the end, but if you finish and you're totally lost just say so and I'm sure we can explain it.

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Killed the big spider. I was fortunate enough to have had a torch walking in. Is there a lore reason as to why I had to pick up the "great soul" to get the great soul embraced prompt?

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The great soul is the soul of the dragon corpse in the spider web, not the spider itself.
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DeadBankerDream posted...

The great soul is the soul of the dragon corpse in the spider web, not the spider itself.

Oh. I kinda fell down under the webs, then peaced the fuck out (I always try to rush to the next bonfire when I got a good amount of souls) so I didn't even see a dragon corpse lol. Oh well, I'll look up how it looks later.

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Just finished Iron Keep. Gotta admit it was pretty funny when the game bamboozled me and that fire blew up into that talking guy.

Quick question: I have my Longsword and Mace and +10. Should I put a magic/lightning/fire enchantment on one of them?

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I rolled with Heide spear or whatever mostly, lightning seemed most helpful.

But bear in mind I'm a complete idiot.

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Why aren't you playing dark souls 3

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SoundNetwork posted...

Why aren't you playing dark souls 3

I don't have it. I'll play it when it goes on sale with the dlc after I beat this one.

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Jabodie posted...

Just finished Iron Keep. Gotta admit it was pretty funny when the game bamboozled me and that fire blew up into that talking guy.

Quick question: I have my Longsword and Mace and +10. Should I put a magic/lightning/fire enchantment on one of them?

Nah, infusions typically are only going to be useful if the element you choose corresponds to your stats. Fire scales with a combo of INT and Faith (IIRC) Magic scales with INT and Lightning scales with Faith.

They're most often used in magic builds where you're likely only meeting minimum Str / Dex requirements to wield a weapon so, so magic builds can still do decent melee damage.

There are some exceptions. For example the Raw infusion works perfectly with Crossbows as they have no stat scaling at all, so the infusion provides only a benefit and no drawback

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Gotcha. I don't have any points in faith or intelligence so I'll leave it. Tbh the mace has really grown on me. In Dark Souls I used the Claymore mostly so I hated the range at first, but it's grown on me.

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Default Mace is pretty op in DS2 lol. Lots of the bosses are vulnerable to blunt type damage

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Just beat the Looking Glass Knight. Honestly I'd say Iron Keep and the Castle have been the best levels so far by a good margin.

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the castle is probably the best area in ds2. It's long, interesting, and it could use a bit more to explore but it's good by DS2 standards. Right up there with the forest of fallen giants and the bastille, though admittedly you have to grade level design in the game on a curve

unfortunately pretty much every level after it is a mess that they put way more effort into making look cool than actually do anything with them

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Twin Dragonriders best boss in the game, don't @ me
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Also, what caused all the bonfires I haven't visited to show up in my fast travel menu? It's kinda obnoxious lol.

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It happened after you talked to Nashandra
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MC_BatCommander posted...

There are some exceptions. For example the Raw infusion works perfectly with Crossbows as they have no stat scaling at all, so the infusion provides only a benefit and no drawback

I'm still really annoyed at the Crossbow Shield or whatever.

Seemed super dope at first but I have to have a bolt ready every time I lift it.

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Man this Shrine of Armana level feels like it was built by trolls <_<

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Jabodie posted...

Man this Shrine of Armana level feels like it was built by trolls <_<

What, you dont like being shot by enemies so far away the game has to render them at 15 fps?

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Well apparently an item I had just killed an NPC lol (I googled her when she seemed to disappear when I tried to talk to her).

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you're playing scholar of the first sin, right? if so, you're lucky. Shrine of Amana in the original DS2 had noticeably more of those wizards and they did way more damage and had way better homing on their spells


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ultimate reaver posted...

you're playing scholar of the first sin, right? if so, you're lucky. Shrine of Amana in the original DS2 had noticeably more of those wizards and they did way more damage and had way better homing on their spells

I am, and thank goodness. It was pretty ass as it is.

I admit now that I got jump scared when that fire guy showed up in Undead Crypt lol

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Velsadt was a really fun boss.

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Well CE I accidentally hit a lever trying to read a ground inscription and released a ridiculous amount of enemies in Aldia's Keep. This may be the end of this run lol.

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Never mind I just sprinted past them then smacked a dragon to death.

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