Anyone jumping on this? I'm still conflicted on if I want to pick this up for 360 (necessitating a re-up on Live, which I'm loathe to do if I get a PS4) or for PC (which comes out late April, but comes with "enhanced graphics options).

But if I get it for 360, then that means I'm gaming on a 60" instead of a 24", and THAT is hugely appealing. Plus if Titanfall reviews well on the 360, then I've got another excuse to re-up Live.

DS2's currently scoring a 92 on metacritic though, so I'm gonna be on this sooner rather than later. From what it sounds like the early game can be a bit more forgiving, but the classic frustration rears its glorious head a few hours in.

I'm not up on the series at all, but it looks like a hit.

>Anyone jumping on this? I'm still conflicted on if I want to
>pick this up for 360 (necessitating a re-up on Live, which I'm
>loathe to do if I get a PS4) or for PC (which comes out late
>April, but comes with "enhanced graphics options).
>
>But if I get it for 360, then that means I'm gaming on a 60"
>instead of a 24", and THAT is hugely appealing. Plus if
>Titanfall reviews well on the 360, then I've got another
>excuse to re-up Live.
>
>DS2's currently scoring a 92 on metacritic though, so I'm
>gonna be on this sooner rather than later. From what it
>sounds like the early game can be a bit more forgiving, but
>the classic frustration rears its glorious head a few hours
>in.


______________________________
http://i.imgur.com/81XSukd.jpg

>I'm not up on the series at all, but it looks like a hit.

dark souls is very fun and engrossing

it's also not as difficult as people claim it is. you just need patience to play it. dark souls has a very deliberate and punishing nature that runs counter to most big AAA games, which imo is really refreshing. it feels like the logical extension of difficult 8- and 16-bit era adventure games

nice...that sounds pretty good, actually.

>>I'm not up on the series at all, but it looks like a hit.
>
>dark souls is very fun and engrossing
>
>it's also not as difficult as people claim it is. you just
>need patience to play it. dark souls has a very deliberate
>and punishing nature that runs counter to most big AAA games,
>which imo is really refreshing. it feels like the logical
>extension of difficult 8- and 16-bit era adventure games

helps that i just got around to playing dark souls for the first time a few months ago. i should be able to beat dark souls with my current character and then make the second "i actually know what i'm doing this time" run before 2 comes out

then the mod community goes crazy with the PC version. Since they're getting it at roughly the same time, that's a big draw too. Seems like From Software's been listening to the PC community since the semi-debacle from the DS1 PC port, so that'd be great if they made DS2 mod-friendly.

I sorta still consider myself new to the series. I had Dark Souls, but didn't get that far in it.

I spent like two hours on one part of the game, just trying to relearn the controls.

Couple of game reviewers said they beat it after pouring 60 hours into it.

I look forward to playing this one more which is supposed to be harder. I ordered the guide which should be here tomorrow.

The graphics are great, and so is the atmosphere. Lots of nooks and crannies to get into. Probably the last new game I'll buy for 360 before I upgrade this summer.
______________________________________________________________________________

cscpov.blogspot.com

"There's a fine line between persistence and foolishness..."
-unknown

"To Each His Reach"

I nothing to prove. didn't really get into Dark Souls though. might give DS2 a chance after some wikis appear.

---
Stoicism and chill.
---
Stay +.
---

I am about 30 hours in since I have no life, only two of the four primordial bonfires lit.

I fucking love this game. I think this might be the first souls game I actually beat. I never really quit because they were hard, more that I would get distracted with other games and not come back. Playing this makes me want to go back and beat the other two.

I think it is the best in the series so far. It feels as brutal as it should, still rewarding as hell. Some of the bosses are a joke, but some are memorable and pretty difficult.

I'm rolling in a tanky shield and sword kind of guy. Some fights tho I have needed to drop some armor for speed rolls. I am looking at you asshole smelter demon.

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*Note to self: Add Sig*

Fucked up that he's more difficult than the Old Iron King, but I guess he is optional.

He leaves no room for error is mostly what it is. His moveset isn't too difficult.

I have been trying to help dudes out there as much as I can. Success rate is slow since people love to run into his aoe burst.

He wasn't my least favorite boss tho(spoilers probably)

Scorpioness whatever was a shit fight but luckily I got two quality summons.

I hated skeleton lords even tho it was easy I kept dying by getting caught by those fucking wheels.

Giant Rat pissed me off too

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*Note to self: Add Sig*

As long as you don't kill the Pyromancer one first, as that's the one that spawns Wheels.

That said, this game could have used a more diverse set of bosses. Too many of the boss fights are dedicated to dodging three-hit combos (usually involving a very large and/or long sword) and then attacking once or twice in that window. And the fights that aren't like that seem to be stupidly easy.

Ultimately, these games aren't really about the bosses, but I miss some of the exotically bizarre demon creatures from the first one.

Not sure how many hours in I am, but I'd guess about 25. I'm still in the Old Bastille.

To be fair, I have been taking my time and just soul farming until enemies have stopped spawning. This is the first Souls game I've really gotten into.

And honestly, for some bosses, I had to punk out and summon help. For some reason the Pursuer was getting in my ass even when I was following good strategies.

but this game has me totally absorbed.


______________________________________________________________________________

cscpov.blogspot.com

"There's a fine line between persistence and foolishness..."
-unknown

"To Each His Reach"

First thing I need to do in order to enjoy this is not try to compare it to the Elder Scrolls series which are the only RPG games I've ever managed to complete.

I started as a knight with the HP ring. Still figuring everything out. When I killed something for the first time, I turned green and I keep getting uglier looking (my dreads fell out) the more people I killed. Is this "soul farming"?

Also -- the online element is strange, are all of these messages left there by other players? They spoil if there's enemies up ahead so I try not to read them, but if that's the only real perk to the online play, seems sort of pointless.

Only played for about an hour or two yesterday. Thought it was funny when I died for the first time, I unlocked an achievement called "this is dark souls". Yeah, I'll be getting used to the "you died" screen. Looking forward to getting deeper into it today.

Esteemed author of the celebrated, double-platinum post: "Drake - Wu-Tang Forever".

you can warp to other players game to help them with quests

atleast thats how my friend explains it that has me hyped about this game lol

I'm not all too familiar with DS2, but in DS1 there was a variety of ways to interact with other people once you get deeper into the game.

The notes are what you see early on(which can be used for both helping others AND trolling, so be wary, lol), and I recommend reading all of them. Trust me, it's not a "spoiler" if people give help since most times people are helpful and warn you about some shit gonna go down. Once you're holding a shit ton of souls you'll be happy they did.

The real meat of the multiplayer is once you start getting access to the covenants; basically different factions within the game that have different objectives. In DS1, there were nine total, like the Warriors of Sunlight (who have a higher chance of helping others in co-op), the Path of the Dragon (who seek other people holding dragon scales to challenge them in 1v1 pvp) or the Forest Hunters (who automatically invade anyone entering the Darkroot Garden to help defend it). Then you have directly opposed factions like the Darkwraith (who invades others to steal their humanity, thus commiting "sins") and the Blade of the Darkmoon (who invades and punishes players who are sinners). Depending on what faction you want to jump into, you can aim for more co-op or more PVP, but in a single playthrough you'll likely experience tons of both.

I haven't looked up DS2's factions (it's a MUCH better overall experience if you DON'T spoil things for yourself) but I have heard about one Rat covenent, where you draw people into your lair to kill them? Something like that... sounds hilarious, haha.

Honestly, the Souls multiplayer system is literally the most innovative I've ever seen, and is a big reason why I'm such a huge mark for the games.

im waiting for ds2 on pc


but i get the feeling ill enjoy ds1 also

It looks like there's been a recent uptick in PC users too:

http://store.steampowered.com/stats/

I actually rebought DS1 on PC (originally played on 360) to play again before DS2 came out but I haven't had the time lately. There are a number of great mods out there, especially regarding frame rate and textures, so that's why I wanted to jump back in.

The good thing is it sounds like DS1 and DS2 are in entirely different worlds, so DS2 will still be fresh. And I gotta say, the level design in DS1 is effing brilliant. You'll reach a point in the world where you feel you're far from home base, then a some sort of shortcut will show itself then you'll be like... "wtf?!?! this shit connects?" without resorting to a cheap warp portal or anything like that. The world feels both gigantic and accessible, without it feeling forced.

Entirely worth playing, and cheap to boot nowadays.

cosign everything wallysmith says in the post above

these days you can usually get it for a song. the standard non-sale price is $19.99 at amazon, steam, gmg, etc. you could also wait for a sale and get it for $5 or $10. we may see another steam sale soon plus namco bandai might cut the price a few weeks before II comes out

A lot more options I feel like than 1. Rat Covenant has certain areas that you get sucked into as a grey spirit and have to fight them, the enemies, and avoid the traps they set up.

I was a sunbro, and lots of great coop going on right now.

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*Note to self: Add Sig*

>I haven't looked up DS2's factions (it's a MUCH better overall
>experience if you DON'T spoil things for yourself) but I have
>heard about one Rat covenent, where you draw people into your
>lair to kill them? Something like that... sounds hilarious,
>haha.

it's also the only or best way to grind a really useful item. it can also be extremely detrimental as it's pretty easy to destroy your own armor in the process :(

>Honestly, the Souls multiplayer system is literally the most
>innovative I've ever seen, and is a big reason why I'm such a
>huge mark for the games.

i completely missed out on the MP for DS1 because i started playing after they shut down the MP servers on pc. summoning, being summoned, and invading are really fun. it's a unique take on MP. really well done

As you get used to it you'll really start to enjoy it I think. Definitely don't compare other games to it.

I think the hardest thing for most people to get is be patient and don't care as much about dying, cuz you're going to.

Online has a lot more than just messages. Bloodstains can be super valuable, so can ghosts fighting around you. You can summon people to help you in fights or areas, you can be summoned to do the same. You can invade peoples world as a dark spirit and ruin their day and join covenants that help in this purpose one way or another. The online makes the game really interesting honestly.

If you want to go in blind you'll probably be really confused, but just be patient and have fun with it

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*Note to self: Add Sig*

I really loved it. There is something about it that makes you want to push on where Dark Souls 1 made you kind of want to just put down the controller or put it through your TV.

Stats were:

Soul Level 140 as a tank knight. I used a greatsword and shield. Tanked up in armor.
53 hours play time. Less than I expected
207 Deaths
and 1 broken controller

The later areas of the game really open up and are beautiful. Some of the last fights are great as well. I still didn't beat one gigantic asshole of an optional boss but I will probably go back.

This game is just great and I can't wait to go through and try different builds. I am replaying Dark Souls 1 now. I think I am a masochist

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*Note to self: Add Sig*

>As you get used to it you'll really start to enjoy it I
>think. Definitely don't compare other games to it.
>
>I think the hardest thing for most people to get is be patient
>and don't care as much about dying, cuz you're going to.

I've died a whole bunch, but I started as a new character once I realized what I was doing and what I was missing and went with the Swordsman. Dual-wielding the swords is a good combat technique for me and I'm really learning the benefits of the roll. I don't know if this is "soul farming", but I've been regenerating at my bonfire's a lot so I can kill nearby enemies over and over again and take their souls so that I can level up and buy things. So far I've leveled up health, stamina and armor and bought the key to the blacksmith. Now I just need to find estus flask shards.

>Online has a lot more than just messages. Bloodstains can be
>super valuable, so can ghosts fighting around you. You can
>summon people to help you in fights or areas, you can be
>summoned to do the same. You can invade peoples world as a
>dark spirit and ruin their day and join covenants that help in
>this purpose one way or another. The online makes the game
>really interesting honestly.

The bloodstains are confusing right now. I click on them and sometimes I do see spirits randomly but why are they there? They seem to have no effect on the gameplay right now, I guess as I continue on and join different covenants they eventually will begin to serve a purpose. Is there any online PvP in this game?

>If you want to go in blind you'll probably be really confused,
>but just be patient and have fun with it

I did, but after 2-3 hours I realized what the hell was going on and started fresh. I like the challenge.

Esteemed author of the celebrated, double-platinum post: "Drake - Wu-Tang Forever".

>I've died a whole bunch, but I started as a new character once
>I realized what I was doing and what I was missing and went
>with the Swordsman. Dual-wielding the swords is a good combat
>technique for me and I'm really learning the benefits of the
>roll. I don't know if this is "soul farming", but I've been
>regenerating at my bonfire's a lot so I can kill nearby
>enemies over and over again and take their souls so that I can
>level up and buy things. So far I've leveled up health,
>stamina and armor and bought the key to the blacksmith. Now I
>just need to find estus flask shards.
>
Estus flask shards are pretty rare but they do pop out throughout the game. I'm sure I missed a couple. If you are going dual wielding, check what weapon you are using and if it scales off of strength or dexterity. I would definitely recommend upgrading one. Upgrading equipmnet is just as, if not more, important than leveling up your guy.

You are doing farming right. Best way to farm I found is to use your summon stone to help other people with bosses. Get ton of souls and the feel good feeling of helping someone else.


>The bloodstains are confusing right now. I click on them and
>sometimes I do see spirits randomly but why are they there?
>They seem to have no effect on the gameplay right now, I guess
>as I continue on and join different covenants they eventually
>will begin to serve a purpose. Is there any online PvP in this
>game?
>

Bloodstains are showing you the last moments of another characters life in that spot. That is where they died. The bloodstains can be useful because it shows you maybe an ambush is about to happen or something. Sometimes you'll see ghosts just running around, those are players doing the same part you are and it is just kind of cool to see. There is a healthy PVP community in dark souls. One way to do it is invade someone else's world. you go into it as a dark spirit and try to kill them. Really fun to do since you can hide and you know they are looking for you, terrified. There are also a few covenants that are PVP focused in different ways. PVP generally means going to someone else's world and fighting them. I won't spoil what covenants do what if you are trying to go through it blind.

__________________________________

*Note to self: Add Sig*

somehow managed to avoid nearly all talk and footage of the game, save the GB quick look(s) which only showed off a small portion of one area of the game. i'm extremely ready for this game

---------

the guy who wrote DSFix was commissioned to write an article or two for pc games magazine and came up with some tweaks for nvidia inspector users:

http://www.pcgamer.com/2014/04/21/dark-souls-2-pc-tweaking-guide/?ns_campaign=article-feed&ns_mchannel=ref&ns_source=steam&ns_linkname=0&ns_fee=0

i imagine we'll get a higher res texture pack in a week or so and maybe even some ui tweaks/fixes. until then i'm going to try to downsample my way to visual victory, as that worked out really well for dark souls on my pc:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=247888345

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=247537892

i beat dragon rider and got a good way into the pirate ship level before i realized i had gone the "wrong" way. i was really confused as to why i wasn't picking up any new weapons ~90 minutes into the game and why enemies were taking so many hits + dropping so many souls so early on. didn't manage to beat "ornstein" but ended up first setting foot in the forest of fallen giants with the knight set. also made it the bottom of the well, which was very reminiscent of the great hollow from dark souls 1. i don't think i'm supposed to be at the bottom at my level but i managed to run past a lot of enemies and grab some really good items. i have 4 rings at level 22 :D

i really like that there is still a "suggested" route that gets you acclimated to the systems, eases you into the combat, and gives you good starting gear and also a few other ways that offer really powerful items if you can maneuver through the hazards. can't wait to see the speed runs of DS2

the game feels harder than dark souls 1 but that may be because i was trying to play in a dark souls 1 end game style: reckless and full of hubris. the enemies in DSII seem to have smaller windows in which you can attack them and the shield is definitely slower

>i was
>really confused as to why i wasn't picking up any new weapons
>~90 minutes into the game

What does any of that have to do with why you weren't acquiring new weapons?

But yeah, the open-ended structure is definitely a highlight of these games (as I'm sure you already knew). Did you end up not finishing No Man's Wharf?

>>i was
>>really confused as to why i wasn't picking up any new
>weapons
>>~90 minutes into the game
>
>What does any of that have to do with why you weren't
>acquiring new weapons?

i misspoke. i got a halberd i couldn't use because of stat requirements that would have taken >10 levels to get to (i started as a knight). maybe i was getting unlucky with item drops but i didn't see any other weapons at all. i was thinking that the forest had more drops and weapons in chests/as pickups but i could be wrong. when i went through the forest it seemed like i was getting weapons that didn't have high stat requirements

>But yeah, the open-ended structure is definitely a highlight
>of these games (as I'm sure you already knew). Did you end up
>not finishing No Man's Wharf?

i didn't. i felt like i had skipped something and was wondering why i hadn't found the key for the blacksmith so i decided to go to back to majula. i think i found the knight set (and maybe the halberd) on the way back

the prior boss was really interesting. i summoned 2 people to help me and they showed me the trick to beating her. i don't know that i would have figured that out on my own. maybe some flavor text somewhere hinted at it. the ladder guy mentioned that she got her power from poison but i didn't associate poison with the method used to beat her

finally got some pyromancy spells for that dark pyromancy hand i've been holding onto for ~10 hours and finally found a use for every single boss soul i've been holding onto since dragon rider. i'm sure if i was using a faq i would have sought that de-petrification item out immediately

now that i'm used to the "nerfs" (slower shield animation {at first}, fewer estus flasks, increased weapon degradation, etc) i'm really enjoying myself. i'm even enjoying the pvp, though my current covenant (bell tower) doesn't make sense to me. i feel like i'm getting invaded as much as i'm invading. maybe that's the point. maybe i messed up somewhere and killed something i wasn't supposed to kill. speaking of, i think i killed a covenant thing in the gutter. i didn't get a "talk" prompt from it and i thought it was blocking something useful

>the prior boss was really interesting. i summoned 2 people
>to help me and they showed me the trick to beating her. i
>don't know that i would have figured that out on my own.
>maybe some flavor text somewhere hinted at it. the ladder guy
>mentioned that she got her power from poison but i didn't
>associate poison with the method used to beat her
>

Yeah, there's really no indication that you're supposed to do what you do to clear the poison. They probably should have had more reasons to use the torch to do that sort of shit in order to teach the player to think of that solution. I spent a lot of time thinking there was some puzzle with the vats of poison that you can raise in different rooms.

>now that i'm used to the "nerfs" (slower shield animation {at
>first}, fewer estus flasks, increased weapon degradation, etc)
>i'm really enjoying myself. i'm even enjoying the pvp, though
>my current covenant (bell tower) doesn't make sense to me. i
>feel like i'm getting invaded as much as i'm invading.

Bell Tower invasions work as such:

1. Are you wearing your covenant ring in a location near a Bell Tower but not IN the Bell Tower? If so, you get summoned to invade fools.

2. Are you in a Bell Tower zone? Covenant members will be summoned to kill you to collect titanite chunks.

>speaking of, i think i
>killed a covenant thing in the gutter. i didn't get a "talk"
>prompt from it and i thought it was blocking something useful

There's a covenant NPC in the Tomb and one in the Black Gulch, but not in the Gutter. The Tomb one is easier to mistake as an enemy (kinda) and gives entrance to a better covenant, so that would suck if you killed him.

man i love pyromancy in these games. they did seem to nerf it a bit, as the splash damage is pretty non-existent for the lower level spells (fireball, fire orb, etc.) and the spells that do have splash damage are slow and hitting enemies with them can be inconsistent. still, after getting the gloves from beating the prisoner and about 5 upgrades i just blew through iron keep and black gulch (though i accidentally burned a chest )

i feel like spent ~10-15 hours of the game with the same broadsword +6 and had no trouble with any particular enemy. i opened up a lot of the game in those hours and i didn't grind, beyond the "grinding" of going through a level again to retrieve your bloodstain, which didn't happen too often (if i got stuck somewhere i just abandoned my souls and went somewhere else). even bosses weren't too tough, although i usually had at least one summon to help (i beat dark souls with zero summons so i wanted to experience the co-op in this one, plus the bosses seem like a chore sometimes as they aren't as interesting as the ones in dark souls) and i was still doing pretty good damage. that same sword helped me rack up 30+ kills for the rat covenant. i haven't been dumping points into str and dex either. nearly every stat is at or around 20, save for faith and int

admittedly, i haven't messed with the boss soul weapons, but i did unlock boss soul weapons guy pretty late in the game (soul level 60 or so). has anyone had any luck with these weapons? i got the barbed club and didn't like it. i just made the gargoyle spear but it seems like it has bad reach. the dragonrider bow doesn't seem too good either

I count it as my first Souls game even though I had Dark Souls. I never played it much and probably didn't get past the first two levels.

For some reason DSII was just the game I needed, just at the right time. I was all in from the start.

Had a swordsman character, but used a shield most times instead of dual wielding. Mainly a melee character, but I poured enough into magic to get soul arrow early in the game when I couldn't figure out how to get past some enemies without long range attacks.

Really loved the customization, and finding loot, learning new weapons. I'm sure a second playthru is in my future. I've already started a cleric character.

I pretty much used summons for half of the bosses in the game. Haven't checked my death total yet, but I have about 110 hours in the first play through. I have the guide book and used that to find all the little secrets and plus I did a good bit of soul farming, so that time added up.

All in all, a really great game.
______________________________________________________________________________

cscpov.blogspot.com

"There's a fine line between persistence and foolishness..."
-unknown

"To Each His Reach"

>Haven't checked my death total yet, but I have about 110 hours
>in the first play through. I have the guide book and used that
>to find all the little secrets and plus I did a good bit of
>soul farming, so that time added up.

jesus. what level were you at the end? what was your total soul count? where did you even spend all those souls? you're blowing my mind here

man, I died. A lot. I was blown too, cause I see game reviewers and other people saying they beat it in like 60+ hours.

Got no ideal what my total soul count was or even if there is a way to see how many I earned in total. I'm pretty sure though that I prolly lost at least 500,000. Probably closer to 800,000 if I had to estimate.

I lost 100k souls in one sitting -near the end of the game- thru some fluke shit.

I think I was level 152 when I finished? Again, take into account that:

a. a lot of the time I would read the guide book while playing, so my character just stood there while I read what to do in an area.

b. I died a lot. I haven't checked my count yet, but I'll eat my hat if I died less than 300 times.

c. for the most part, first time delving into a game in a series that brags about difficulty and dying.

d. I died a lot. Plus I like to meander in games and try new shit. Though it's Dark Souls II, in a way I treated it like Skyrim and explored and experimented a lot.

e. I probably suck at it. I've seen videos of guys beating bosses with very low powered characters that it took my powered up guy multiple deaths/summons to barely beat.

that's the only thing I can think of that accounts for the time.
______________________________________________________________________________

cscpov.blogspot.com

"There's a fine line between persistence and foolishness..."
-unknown

"To Each His Reach"

>man, I died. A lot. I was blown too, cause I see game
>reviewers and other people saying they beat it in like 60+
>hours.

yeah i think i'm going to clock in around 45 or so. i'm soul level 99 at 38 hours and i just got the 4th super soul. but i beat the first dark souls twice (spent ~80 hours on my first playthrough of that game, maybe 30 on the second) so i had already become acclimated to how these games work. that learning curve takes up a huge amount of time

>Got no ideal what my total soul count was or even if there is
>a way to see how many I earned in total. I'm pretty sure
>though that I prolly lost at least 500,000. Probably closer to
>800,000 if I had to estimate.

it's in the character status screen i believe. i'm pretty sure it's what the game uses to match people in multiplayer sessions

>I lost 100k souls in one sitting -near the end of the game-
>thru some fluke shit.

i think my greatest soul loss was ~80k in iron keep getting those damn chests that were in the lava. they were worth it but man that shit was frustrating

>I think I was level 152 when I finished? Again, take into
>account that:
>
>a. a lot of the time I would read the guide book while
>playing, so my character just stood there while I read what to
>do in an area.

ok. this is probably where most of your time went

>b. I died a lot. I haven't checked my count yet, but I'll eat
>my hat if I died less than 300 times.
>
>c. for the most part, first time delving into a game in a
>series that brags about difficulty and dying.
>
>d. I died a lot. Plus I like to meander in games and try new
>shit. Though it's Dark Souls II, in a way I treated it like
>Skyrim and explored and experimented a lot.

me too. the way i'm playing this game is to go in blind for the first playthrough and then get into faqs for the secrets after i beat it, although i've "cheated" a few times and checked the guide for a few item locations (after i beat the level). i played dark souls somewhat similarly; i'd run an area without guides, beat the boss, and then check an faq for what i missed

>e. I probably suck at it. I've seen videos of guys beating
>bosses with very low powered characters that it took my
>powered up guy multiple deaths/summons to barely beat.

you beat it so you can't suck too much. those guys that beat it a low levels have been playing since demons souls. they've spent hundreds of hours in those games, which all have the same mechanics and play very similarly if not identically. if you spent 500+ hours playing the same kind of game you'd be pretty good at it too

your second playthrough is probably going to be more fun than your first, since you now know exactly what you can and can't do within the purview of the game, where the good items are, which areas you're going to explore first, which bosses you're going to skip, etc. i had a lot of fun in my second playthrough of the first dark souls, as i was playing a fat-rolling tanky big weapon guy, which was the polar opposite of my previous magey/pyro/spears lady, and i knew where to get the good armor and weapons and what i could skip to get them. it was pretty cool getting the second best armor in the game ~15 minutes in

soul level 130-ish, about 52 hours play time. i really thought i was near the end of the game when i reached drangleic castle but the game just kept on going

still need to defeat ancient dragon, 2(?) of the memory areas, and do a bunch of pre-ng+ running around (read: killing npc's) to do but i am pretty much done with this playthrough. going for a magic/hex build for my next character. may mess around a bit in ng+ later

overall i really disliked the bosses in this game. maybe it's because i had seen their dark souls 1 analogs a few times just a week or so before i started 2. they weren't interesting to fight, or that hard, and when they were hard they were just unfair (see: getting 1-shotted by ancient dragon)

but i think that's about the only thing i didn't like. the only thing i really found lacking besides the bosses was the atmosphere. dark souls 1 did such a great job of creating an omnipresent sense of dread. i never got that feeling in 2. i know that i like ds1 more but i think 2 is empirically a better game because it looks better, plays better, more armor, more weapons, more areas, better multiplayer, etc. i think i'm going to have more fun with subsequent playthroughs in this game than i did with ds1

Man, I didn't know what NG+ carried over. Sold a bunch of armor and weapons off to bolster my stats for the end of the first playthru (shouldn't have. Could technically have beat the game at soul level 100ish if I was nicer with the joystick)

so now in NG+ I have a slightly over powered dude. Most of the first levels are cakewalk-ish. The No Man's wharf is the first that is somewhat of a challenge to me - boss wise.

I'm taking stuff for granted though, need more patience.

I'm gonna take all the pts I earn and dump them into magic since my character is already a hardy melee build.
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cscpov.blogspot.com

"There's a fine line between persistence and foolishness..."
-unknown

"To Each His Reach"

i do like that this:

>so now in NG+ I have a slightly over powered dude. Most of the
>first levels are cakewalk-ish. The No Man's wharf is the
>first that is somewhat of a challenge to me - boss wise.
>
>I'm taking stuff for granted though, need more patience.

is still a major part of this series. these games do a good job of fooling you into thinking that you are more powerful than you really are. it keeps you honest and on your toes. it's difficult to become complacent in these games and that's a great achievement for the designers

>I'm gonna take all the pts I earn and dump them into magic
>since my character is already a hardy melee build.

that may not work for you in ng+. it takes ~25 points in int or faith (or both!) to get some decent attack spells, and that's before you take into consideration the ng+ hp buff enemies get. but if you just go for enhancement spells (specificlally magic/dark/fire weapon) you may end up destroying ng+ since you already do a ton of damage with just melee

NG++ is when shit really starts getting crazy (and where I stopped playing after 120+ hours with the PS3 version).

But regarding Magic, don't neglect making use of the spices and putting them towards one or two key spells you'd like to use for a given melee-primary build. Though be careful you don't use them on spells that use hella slots (like most hexes) as it can be tough to have enough Attunement slots without spending a ring or armor slot on some Mage-gear.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=266699724

dodging and flasking are way harder/slower than they need to be at this point in the game (remaining bosses are the 4 lord souls or whatever they're called). i can take 2, maybe 3 hits from normal enemies. most bosses 2-shot me. i'm trying to beat all the bosses with no summons this time because hexes are almost broken and i shouldn't need a tank when i can do 702 damage per great resonant soul cast on smelter demon

i'm sure i just need to grind out 5-6 adaptability points + weapon/armor upgrades but i've been doing a good job of not grinding up to this point and i want to keep i that way

http://www.giantbomb.com/videos/dark-souls-ii-getting-trilogy-of-dlc-this-year/2300-8955/

this could be a really good thing considering how great the dark souls dlc was

As opposed to areas that you just teleport to from Majula or some such. Been a bit since I played, but I feel like there are a couple paths that seemed like they would lead some where but didn't.

i just hope the method to getting to the dlc is a bit less convoluted this time

http://www.darksoulsii.com/us/

i don't know if i'm going to get this any time soon. i went back to the first dark souls to try to get the dark wraith covenant on ng+ (4 kings on ng+ is really tough with a low hp character btw) and was and was reminded that I so much better than II. made me not want to go back to II for a long while

bought it on saturday, hated it saturday night. tried it again sunday and still kind of loathed it. went at it one more time monday night and now i want to just keep seeing what's next. had to force myself to go to bed last night.

still figuring out combat against multiple enemies and tougher single enemies. some dude in white came flying out of nowhere (on a dragon??) and started whooping my ass so i had to roll off a ledge and hide. then when i went back up there he was gone.

i think i need a good 4-6 hour stretch with this game.

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"I can't promise I'll try. But I'll try to try."

If you want two attack animations, push attack twice. Learn the timing of each animation, and learn the timing of each weapon. Once I figured this out, so much of the game made more sense to me.

And if starting out, it might be better to start with a shield so it will be easier to learn what types of attacks can interrupt others.

Your survivability is much more about maneuverability and overall health, and your agility stat (which is governed by Attunement and Adaptability) is one of the more important stats as it increases the number of "invincibility" frames when dodging and raises the rate with which you use items and drink Estus.

Plus, the heavier you are the more damage you take while falling and the worse your roll.