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Those horse head statues 
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May 17, 2014 18:58
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Jose posted:Those horse head statues I really wish they dropped a hat. 
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May 17, 2014 18:58
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Flytrap posted:Yeah, because you're using their memories as a way to go back in time. It's why you're able to take poo poo as well. It's not like you're set to some default loadout either, you've still got everything you had. And what King of Solomon quoted of Shalquior implies it's their memories, not yours. The intro with the coy "have you been here before?" thing seemed more an allusion to the last game than anything. edit: also Benhart calls you old friend because you're supposed to have seen him multiple times throughout the game by that point. He doesn't even show up there if you don't talk to him again after opening the way to Shaded Woods. Jose posted:Those horse head statues Fun fact, if you break their heads before they activate they won't get up. You get no souls for it though. Manatee Cannon fucked around with this message at 19:01 on May 17, 2014 |
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May 17, 2014 18:59
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fuxxo posted:From a couple pages back but just so you know if you straight up kill the Emerald Herald you can pay additional souls to use her services again (each time you want to). Yeah, I may go that route and see how it works. I'm not far into the game so it wouldn't take long for a fresh character to get where I am, but I would hate to lose all that sweet gear.
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May 17, 2014 19:05
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buzzsaw.gif posted:Why not? She clearly knows a lot more than she's letting on. I also doubt very highly that she is, even, in fact a cat; but that's beside the point. The description for the silvercat ring says "legend has it that when cats grow old, a force brews within them, and they are reborn as something new." Shalquoir seems to be a cat who got really old and became magic, which is A Thing in Japanese mythology. There's a part of me that wants to say she may even be Alvina but I'm pretty sure the actual evidence suggests the opposite conclusion and I'm just going "there was a cat in the first game and there's a cat in this game, ergo they must be the same cat." Manatee Cannon posted:edit: also Benhart calls you old friend because you're supposed to have seen him multiple times throughout the game by that point. He doesn't even show up there if you don't talk to him again after opening the way to Shaded Woods. Opposing Farce fucked around with this message at 19:25 on May 17, 2014 |
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May 17, 2014 19:06
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Jose posted:Well I really shouldn't have worried about summoning. Even at 2 million soul memory co-op is common in Drangleic castle. on the other hand there seem to be a fair few really bad players which might explain why Pyromancy was a lot better in DS1, now it feels like a caster "sub-class" compared to the other options. Despite that, Flame Swathe is actually both quite strong as well as surprisingly long-ranged for a pyromancy. Not quite as satisfying as laying down a Chaos Storm directly under the Guardian Dragon, though. If you're not averse to looking up wikis, there's enough Fire Seeds before Drangleic Castle that you could get your pyromancy flame to at least +8, maybe +9 with a bit of footwork. Also now it's tied to a Fire Bonus stat, which is derived from both Int and Faith.
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May 17, 2014 19:07
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turtlecrunch posted:Gedosato Alpha 5 released - http://blog.metaclassofnil.com/?p=526 He may have overdone it a little bit:
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May 17, 2014 19:10
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Just reached Shrine of Amana for the first time. Hopefully its not as horrible as the thread thinks.
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May 17, 2014 19:15
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Opposing Farce posted:You find Benhart sitting right next to the giant whose memory he's in, so maybe he literally just follows you inside. That requires us to assume that the Ashen Mist Heart creates a 'portal' of sorts that other people can follow you into but it makes as much sense as anything.
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May 17, 2014 19:16
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Yeah I didn't know about that line of Shalquior's, so I guess that idea's out.quote:There's a part of me that wants to say she may even be Alvina but I'm pretty sure the actual evidence suggests the opposite conclusion and I'm just going "there was a cat in the first game and there's a cat in this game, ergo they must be the same cat." She subtly references that one guy in the forest covenant and the Chaos Blade, along with several other characters from DS1, so I think you're supposed to assume she's Alvina's reincarnation.
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May 17, 2014 19:24
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Jose posted:Just reached Shrine of Amana for the first time. Hopefully its not as horrible as the thread thinks. Make sure you have binoculars.
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May 17, 2014 19:26
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Jose posted:Just reached Shrine of Amana for the first time. Hopefully its not as horrible as the thread thinks. I've basically put the game down for going on two weeks now because I keep trying to force my way through as melee "Because I can". It isn't going well.  E: Also no one ever drops their damned sign at the bonfire, is there some other summon spot that I'm missing?
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May 17, 2014 19:27
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But Not Tonight posted:I've basically put the game down for going on two weeks now because I keep trying to force my way through as melee "Because I can". It isn't going well. The boss door, probably. If you're talking about Amana there's an NPC phantom in the hut after the second bonfire, just before the cave with the third.
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May 17, 2014 19:31
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RBA Starblade posted:Who could be the unnamed hero who defeats the giants besides you, the person in the memories who defeats them? Captain Drummond acknowledges your existence in the memory as well, so it's not like you're just an observer. Plus in the intro the firekeeper brings it up then sarcastically dismisses it. The Giant Lord seems like he recognizes you during your rematch as well. It doesn't really gel with what Benhart says though unless you've also met him before, though (he calls you "old friend"). I'm pretty sure the idea behind the memories is you're not literally the old hero of the war, but just assuming the role that hero played in the memories. The game is about cycles, and how undead like you have risen and fallen before countless time. The one that fought off the giants was another heroic undead, but not actually you. The Last Giant could just be pissed off upon seeing you because you're a human. Also it doesn't make sense that you would of lost so many memories that you can't remember ANYTHING and also are suddenly a weak useless undead. You're not hollow yet after all. Flytrap posted:Yeah, because you're using their memories as a way to go back in time. It's why you're able to take poo poo as well. I chalked that up to the items you get just being created by the giant's souls. It sounds weird but you can make all sorts of poo poo out of souls in these games. When you use the ashen mist heart your enter their memories, but what you're seeing is a recreation created by the giant's souls. You're not going back in time, you're entering a replica of the past.
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May 17, 2014 19:33
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The hardest part of Amana is that fog door with 2 casters 2 melee and a healer all in the same area, with a few of the lizardmen hiding for good measure, if you don't kill the caster on the right quick enough the melee will be on top of you and they move absurdly fast in water, it's practically a death sentence if you get caught in the water and can't get out of range of their combos, and if you can't kill one immediately the healer is added insult to injury.
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May 17, 2014 19:34
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But Not Tonight posted:I've basically put the game down for going on two weeks now because I keep trying to force my way through as melee "Because I can". It isn't going well. Just dodge. The magic missiles home in on you but they don't turn quickly enough to catch you if you roll out of the way once they get close. In some spots you may need to hide behind pillars between salvos, and in that one room after the cave full of acid cloud bugs you may need to be hopping in and out of cover to pull the tongue dudes somewhere safer, quickly cut down one of the mages before hiding from her friends, that kind of thing, but even though the place seems intimidating it's really not that rough. The water isn't as debilitating as it seems. Ra Ra Rasputin posted:The hardest part of Amana is that fog door with 2 casters 2 melee and a healer all in the same area, with a few of the lizardmen hiding for good measure, if you don't kill the caster on the right quick enough the melee will be on top of you and they move absurdly fast in water, it's practically a death sentence if you get caught in the water and can't get out of range of their combos, and if you can't kill one immediately the healer is added insult to injury. I forget how I dealt with that spot but I don't think it took more than one or two tries. You just need to approach slowly and try to aggro as few of them as you can at a time. The melee guys aren't bad if you just roll past their swings and backstab them; a good dagger will take them down in one hit and with how quickly the mages die the healer isn't even a factor. Opposing Farce fucked around with this message at 19:40 on May 17, 2014 |
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May 17, 2014 19:35
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Opposing Farce posted:I forget how I dealt with that spot but I don't think it took more than one or two tries. You just need to approach slowly and try to aggro as few of them as you can at a time. The melee guys aren't bad if you just roll past their swings and backstab them; a good dagger will take them down in one hit and with how quickly the mages die the healer isn't even a factor. The first time I got there, I backed off after aggroing the group, and the healer promptly walked off the ledge into one of the pits  I didn't actually figure out what kind of enemy that one was until later, when I was going through the area backwards for some reason.
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May 17, 2014 19:41
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Hyper Crab Tank posted:Yeah, the big problem with PvP right now is that there's just such a huge obstacle to actually getting to PvP unless you're in the rat, bell or dragon covenants. The whole Way/Sentinels of Blue arrangement signals from the start that From wanted invasions to be a thing even at early levels. It's a pretty good idea in theory, but the reality of it is that the whole cracked eye orb system is time-consuming, unreliable, and tied up with this boring secondary system (the arena) that I don't think appeals to the kind of people who want to do invasions/counter-invasions. It's so much easier to just become a bellcop or ratbro and get your duels on that way. Of course, the dragon covenant is right at the end of the game and I guess is mostly for NG+ players. That would be fine, if the blue/red covenants actually worked. "huge obstacle to get into pvp unless if you ignore these 3 parts of the game" with the ease of multiplayer now if they made red invasions too easy regular players would hardly ever get to progress without getting stomped by some twink.
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May 17, 2014 19:46
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Ra Ra Rasputin posted:The hardest part of Amana is that fog door with 2 casters 2 melee and a healer all in the same area, with a few of the lizardmen hiding for good measure, if you don't kill the caster on the right quick enough the melee will be on top of you and they move absurdly fast in water, it's practically a death sentence if you get caught in the water and can't get out of range of their combos, and if you can't kill one immediately the healer is added insult to injury. You can pull the melee guys away with a bow or magic unless you just absolutely refuse to use anything other than melee. The moral of the story is always, always have a ranged option. Manatee Cannon fucked around with this message at 19:50 on May 17, 2014 |
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May 17, 2014 19:48
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NihilVerumNisiMors posted:He may have overdone it a little bit: On the other hand it makes casting Sunlight Spear pretty glorious. 
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May 17, 2014 19:50
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I'm streaming invasions and arena duels. http://www.twitch.tv/stokes79
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May 17, 2014 19:50
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socialsecurity posted:"huge obstacle to get into pvp unless if you ignore these 3 parts of the game" with the ease of multiplayer now if they made red invasions too easy regular players would hardly ever get to progress without getting stomped by some twink. The game gives you a few cracked red eye orbs at the start, doesn't it? I think you're intended to use those pretty early if you want to do some early invasions. Still, I think some kinda full-on Orb should be obtainable. At least on NG+ or something. I miss being able to just invade over and over at high levels.
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May 17, 2014 19:52
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There is clearly some point in between "grand total of zero red phantom invasions in an entire playthrough" (which was e.g. my experience) and "players can't progress through the game because of invasions". The game would not become an unplayable mess with a functioning eye orb system. The fact that the covenants are in the game at all is, I hope, clear indication that From Software did intend them to actually be used, and designed accordingly. The rat and bell covenants are strictly area-limited, and the dragon covenant only opens up at the very end of the game, so they're not really satisfactory for a lot of people.
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May 17, 2014 19:53
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Manatee Cannon posted:You can pull the melee guys away with a bow or magic unless you just absolutely refuse to use anything other than melee. Eh, I did fine my first time through the game and the only time I really used ranged attacks was to kill the last two salamanders in the bottom of the Cardinal Tower (because gently caress those things). If you take it slowly enough I think you can actually pull just part of that last group without having to deal with all of them. At least I'm pretty sure that's how I did it, I may have just dealt with the magic missiles and stabbed the melee guys quickly enough that they didn't become a problem.
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May 17, 2014 19:56
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Internet Kraken posted:I'm pretty sure the idea behind the memories is you're not literally the old hero of the war, but just assuming the role that hero played in the memories. The game is about cycles, and how undead like you have risen and fallen before countless time. The one that fought off the giants was another heroic undead, but not actually you. The Last Giant could just be pissed off upon seeing you because you're a human. Also it doesn't make sense that you would of lost so many memories that you can't remember ANYTHING and also are suddenly a weak useless undead. You're not hollow yet after all. Ah, but you are. You start the game fully hollowed, remember? You also start the game so weak that you have 1 in every stat. Weaker even than a Deprived.
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May 17, 2014 19:56
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Hyper Crab Tank posted:There is clearly some point in between "grand total of zero red phantom invasions in an entire playthrough" (which was e.g. my experience) and "players can't progress through the game because of invasions". The game would not become an unplayable mess with a functioning eye orb system. There was a good middle ground, it was just in the last game. Do any of the covenants but the sentinels actually require use of a cracked eye stone? I've not touched the Brotherhood of Blood but I assumed they rank up through duels and the red soapstone. You need a Token of Spite to join, sure, but you get one through the course of the game without ever having to invade/kill an invader.
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May 17, 2014 20:02
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quote:Also it doesn't make sense that you would of lost so many memories that you can't remember ANYTHING and also are suddenly a weak useless undead. You're not hollow yet after all. The implication at the start was that you were a stone's away from being a hollow, having forgotten entirely who you were and what you looked like before being given the human effigy. And the oldest memories go first.
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May 17, 2014 20:03
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Not to mention it isn't that much of a stretch considering that From Software did this before. I mean that was the DLC of Dark Soul was pretty much. (aka traveling to the past and realizing that it was you who stopped Manus and not Arotias)
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May 17, 2014 20:05
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RBA Starblade posted:The implication at the start was that you were a stone's away from being a hollow, having forgotten entirely who you were and what you looked like before being given the human effigy. And the oldest memories go first. I get the sense from the opening cutscenes that the character you generate when the fire keepers ask who you see in the effigy is not the person you start the game as at all, but a new identity that person creates on the brink of madness so they can start anew. Opposing Farce fucked around with this message at 20:08 on May 17, 2014 |
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May 17, 2014 20:06
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RBA Starblade posted:The implication at the start was that you were a stone's away from being a hollow, having forgotten entirely who you were and what you looked like before being given the human effigy. And the oldest memories go first. Yeah, it's also why you listen to Emerald when she tells you to go do poo poo. You really don't have any other plans, you just came here because it might make you less crazy.
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May 17, 2014 20:06
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NihilVerumNisiMors posted:He may have overdone it a little bit: Surely there are settings you can change to make it not look like that.
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May 17, 2014 20:07
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King of Solomon posted:Ah, but you are. You start the game fully hollowed, remember? You also start the game so weak that you have 1 in every stat. Weaker even than a Deprived. This is where the Souls games get confusing for me since its not exactly clear on what it means to be Hollow. There seem to be two states in the curse; undead by retaining your mind, and mindless undead known as hollows. The process of turning into a hollow is called hollowing. Also, when you lose your humanity you are called hollow even though you still have your mind. Plus the games suggests that the process of becoming a mindless hollow is irreversible, but you can reverse being hollow itself. Not the mindless kind of hollow, just the not human kind and also  Its really confusing. I'm reading the story under the impression that once an undead loses their mind, they can't get it back. Acquiring souls and humanity will slow the process, but not reverse it. At the start of the game you don't remember anything but then your humanity is fully restored, so you can't be permanently hollow like the mindless undead are. I could be completely wrong about this though. Hollows are hollow due to hollowing which makes them hollowed!  EDIT: The other problem I have with this theory is that its been shown that hollows don't lose their strength when they go mindless. You see a ton of pathetic zombies, but also lots of hollowed out soldiers that are still relatively strong. Vendrick and Gwyn were both hollow and still absurdly strong, just dumb as bricks. If you were old enough to have fought the dragons and saved Drangleic from the giants, you wouldn't be a total whimp undead. Internet Kraken fucked around with this message at 20:12 on May 17, 2014 |
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May 17, 2014 20:08
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Manatee Cannon posted:I've not touched the Brotherhood of Blood but I assumed they rank up through duels and the red soapstone. Just duels. Part of the "hilarity" of that covenant is that invading people, via cracked eye orbs or soapstone, doesn't actually contribute towards your rank. Someone said you can gain rank by killing blue phantoms, too, but that's an increasingly unlikely constellation of circumstances - not only do you need an eye orb or get someone to bite your soapstone message, but that person needs to be in Way of Blue (which no one is later in the game), and a Sentinel has to be summoned, and you have to kill the sentinel.
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May 17, 2014 20:09
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Internet Kraken posted:This is where the Souls games get confusing for me since its not exactly clear on what it means to be Hollow. There seem to be two states in the curse; undead by retaining your mind, and mindless undead known as hollows. The process of turning into a hollow is called hollowing. Also, when you lose your humanity you are called hollow even though you still have your mind. Plus the games suggests that the process of becoming a mindless hollow is irreversible, but you can reverse being hollow itself. Not the mindless kind of hollow, just the not human kind and also Vendrick and Gwyn were incredibly powerful people in life, giving them more staying power, and when you fight them they are hinted to be significantly weaker than they were before (though for different reasons). It's not that they don't get weaker, it's that those two examples were incredibly badass in life. If they had stats Gwyn would probably have 3 digits in it as opposed to our two. Flytrap fucked around with this message at 20:18 on May 17, 2014 |
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May 17, 2014 20:13
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Hyper Crab Tank posted:Just duels. Part of the "hilarity" of that covenant is that invading people, via cracked eye orbs or soapstone, doesn't actually contribute towards your rank. I dunno, now and then I still get summoned to help pubbies against invaders. It's very rare, but not any more rare than it was in the beginning of the game.
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May 17, 2014 20:14
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Hyper Crab Tank posted:Just duels. Part of the "hilarity" of that covenant is that invading people, via cracked eye orbs or soapstone, doesn't actually contribute towards your rank. Which is dumb, but it does mean that the scarcity of that particular item doesn't affect any covenants at all so you never really need them. I feel like the blue sentinels should get an unlimited invasion item if only to take pity on the poor bastards. They'll definitely need to rethink their pvp and covenant systems for the next game. Though, while some things can't change in this game (blue sentinels will always be stuck with Way of the Blue people only since otherwise that covenant is pointless) they can definitely make some quality of life changes. Like dropping the duel wins for all the covenants and removing the awful thing where if you lose a duel in BoB you lose a point towards your total wins. Who thought that was a good idea?
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May 17, 2014 20:16
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Blue Sentinel's don't need an unlimited invasion item because they can't find sinners outside of NG+. They can't find sinners because its so hard to invade prior to NG+ because of the way red eye orbs work. I'm not sure how you don't see the connection here. The function of the Blue Sentinels and Way of the Blue rely on people using red eye orbs, which is why making them hard to get is dumb.
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May 17, 2014 20:18
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Can someone please do a good write up on what the gently caress ratbro/sunbro/bluebro/whatever-bro convenant actually do/Does? I'm halfway through the game with 3 characters, haven't joined any covenants on any of them and ofcourse no invasion style pvp happens till NG+ apparantly but someone please do a good write up of these factions/what they do/what kind of rewards and what kind of play style you're looking at. The OP of this thread pretty much loving sucks.
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May 17, 2014 20:19
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You're forgetting the obvious added boundary of the fact people need to be in the Way of Blue for sentinels to be summoned, thus shrinking the invasion pool immensely but ok sure everything is about red phantom invasions.
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May 17, 2014 20:20
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KoldPT posted:Make sure you have binoculars. I've been using them regularly since the start of the game so fairly good at casting using them now. As for homing magic arrow doing Freja with 2 bonfire ascetics got me decent at avoiding that from the mages too
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May 17, 2014 20:21
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