Dark Souls II - I'll remember you forever, Lucille.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Dark Souls II - I'll remember you forever, Lucille.

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

I think someone asked early on in the thread, but I never saw an answer: is there a way to get rid of the pointer that appears whenever you open a menu and sticks around for a couple seconds after you leave the menu? I tried disconnecting my mouse's antenna, but that didn't do anything. Is it detecting the touchpad?

Did my first run as a halberd and twin dragon greatshield-wielding impression of a final fantasy dragoon (falconer set + hunter's cap) with pyro backup. Now I'm going for all the spells, and sorcery is definitely a lot weaker out of the gate than it was in DS1, with a major hump to get over in the form of the Ruin Sentinels if you want to start getting the good stuff. Water Giants are also nasty, taking nearly a full attunement of GSA to kill and shrugging off the fire longsword I use as backup.

In general it seems a lot harder to make an early-game rush to certain strategies like you could in DS1 with things like getting a fire great scythe in 10 minutes from arriving at Firelink or freeing Griggs before you even fight a boss.

I get what they were trying to do with soul memory, but it really seems like it will make it hard out there for a sunbro.

# ¿ May 9, 2014 20:34

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# ¿ May 10, 2024 13:34

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

Captain Oblivious posted:

Soul Memory has serious problems, but Sunbros are pretty much the last people suffering from it, if at all

Sunbroing is easy as it could possibly be.

Yeah, I'd forgotten about sunbros getting expanded range. I still don't like the feeling that if I keep helping people do a boss I'll be forced out of it.

turtlecrunch posted:

For the guy who wants to get rid of his mouse pointer: the latest gedosato version has an option for it in the ini file

I'll probably do that eventually, but I'm holding off on gedosato until its VAC status is clear.

# ¿ May 9, 2014 23:29

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

For casting time, is a higher chime/catalyst "cast speed" value faster or slower?

I've been really disappointed with the effectiveness of sorcery. I suppose they wanted to nerf it compared to DS1 easy mode, but getting rid of the BDCR, PW, and the CoD would have been enough. I haven't been able to use Soul Greatsword or the really high-end stuff yet, but I'm basically just leveling Int to keep up my hex damage and using miracles and Dark Orb for my mainstays; I feel like Yearn has been the most useful sorcery thus far.

Emit Force seems to own Belfry Luna.

# ¿ May 11, 2014 18:29

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

I've started getting red invaders in NG, although most of them were after I'd been sunbroing Covetous, Smelter, and OIK for a while so my SM was in the 1.3-1.6 mil range. None of them were obviously hacking, and the fights have generally been decent, although actually connecting with ranged attacks is unlikely and trying to figure out a whip's hitbox in online is a crapshoot. I did manage to catch one invader while he was spawning in Brightstone Cove on a ledge overlooking the sand pit. One Emit Force sent him merrily to his reward.

I got another one-hit kill with Emit Force while bellcopping when I spawned in with the host and a fellow bellcop fighting right across the room where the second staircase ends. I just locked onto the host, hit RB, and the damage and explosion of a nearby powder keg did 1334 damage and sent the host flying.

I've noticed a number of would-be bellringers trying to hide on the entry bridge with the door closed. All this really does is tell you exactly where they are, because nobody comes in and closes the door behind them, and they're sitting ducks out there once the door is opened.

Is there supposed to be a point to the multi-hit sorcery spells like Soul Shower and Soul Vortex? Every single one I've tested has done piddly damage, even to large enemies.

# ¿ May 12, 2014 23:55

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

Is Rosabeth likely to be the character that resulted from that odd bit of concept art with the girl wearing puffy short pants that seemed out of character for a Souls game? She does seem to have a more upbeat personality than is usual, which was the impression the art gave as well.

# ¿ May 13, 2014 20:47

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

Wasn't it humanity that kept one from hollowing in DS1?

# ¿ May 13, 2014 23:31

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

Captain Oblivious posted:

B) Humanity isn't evil per se, and it doesn't appear to be really consensual for the average person. You don't have a say in having it.

Unless you're an average person with a Dark Hand. Then you do have a say! The other guy, not so much,

# ¿ May 13, 2014 23:54

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

Zaphod42 posted:

I can't wait till vaatividya makes some Dark Souls 2 lore videos and everybody shuts up.

His videos are interesting and he has a good voice, but he's not exactly authoritative and sometimes takes things beyond what is fully supported.

# ¿ May 14, 2014 00:32

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

Genocyber posted:

Only if you have no effigies at all.

Does it work if you item box your effigies?

# ¿ May 14, 2014 19:17

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

Araganzar posted:

Turns out Old Ben was right about this team up getting him into trouble!

I'm pretty sure I got summoned by you guys last week.

# ¿ May 16, 2014 00:27

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

Attuning Soul Appease before putting down your duel summon sign: pure cheese, or just a valid medium-risk/high-reward strategy? Very few people seem to recognize what's happening, and with a +5 Dragon Chime and 50 faith it was hitting them for 900+. Certainly made getting my 30 scales a lot easier.

# ¿ May 16, 2014 09:07

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

Artificer posted:

If you are Hollowed, you get hosed by the spell.

Of course, if they're wearing armor and you can't see their skin you have no idea whether it will work, so using it then is a gamble and if you're wrong it's a free hit for them from a 2-handed R2/big spell/Avelyn. Trying to judge the range on it can be tricky, and the host can often be far enough away when it does trigger that they can escape to take a sip before you catch them.

The odd thing about Soul Appease is that it's useless for hosts, since phantoms aren't hollowed. Then again, once you get summoned by enough hosts with Soulmasses/Affinity already up, standing behind you hoping to get in an R1 chain the moment you're done appearing, you start caring about the cheapness a lot less.

# ¿ May 16, 2014 09:38

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

Broken Cog posted:

Would soul appease work on skeletons? I'm asking because it says it works strictly on hollows, but it affects the rats in Grave of Saints(making the boss very easy).

Tried it on the skeleton cave near the Undead Lockup a few days ago, it doesn't work. Pity, that would have been hilarious against the Skeleton Lords and the Executioner's Chariot. It does work on the dogs in Lost Bastille, which makes a certain DS1 callback a lot easier.

# ¿ May 16, 2014 18:19

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

Cyberventurer posted:

Edit: I'm about ready to give up on PVP. I can't do anything right.

What sort of PvP are you trying to do, and with what sort of setup?

# ¿ May 16, 2014 19:42

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

Cyberventurer posted:

My problem is that I almost never seem to land any attacks. Melee, spells, whatever. 99% of my stuff is just dodged no matter how I try to time stuff, and it seems like whenever I try to do the dodging, I'm struck almost all the time. Most of the time I'm still in range, sure, sometimes I'm not. It's frustrating. Only time I seem to land any hits is when it's a 2v1 and the other person is distracted and can't see me. Even then, I still lose half the time because if the host focuses on me, I just fall apart.

I found a lot of PvP for mages to be centered around creating situations where dodging is less effective. Just shooting a beam will let them dodge easily , even sequential beams. The trick is to mix up spells in a way that allows you to hit them as they're coming out of a dodge roll. Follow up the dodge of your Soulmasses with a Soul Spear, Soul Greatsword, or even melee attack if you're close enough. Having a decently leveled Blue Flame is great for this.

As for dodging, focus less on the position they're hitting and more on the timing of when they'd be dealing damage if they were going to connect.

# ¿ May 16, 2014 20:29

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

Rirse posted:

Mostly the constant homing magic everywhere, with the water slowing you down so you can't dodge them.

Roll towards the missile and to the side, or just plain walk perpendicularly to the path of the beam. Use available cover to approach whenever you can. Bows or spells make it easier to kill the Priestesses quickly. For the bit you're at, you probably want to bait out the mutated guys and draw them back to a more protected area before tackling the Priestesses they're near.

# ¿ May 16, 2014 22:55

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

nftyw posted:

The main complaint I have in terms of overused weapons is the Washing Pole. I see that weapon basically 95% of the time at Iron Keep.

I don't think I saw any when I was doing dragon duels at the keep. I tried it out in PvE and wasn't really impressed by the damage or speed, although it probably didn't help that this was on a guy with 20 str/25 dex fighting lion tribe guys in NG+.

I know in my head that the Blue Flame/Disc Chime combo is underpowered and bad, but man does it feel so right.

# ¿ May 18, 2014 04:59

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

If you have the int for it, Yearn will trivialize the Executioner's Chariot fight by giving the skeletons something else to do while you hop from alcove to alcove looking for the necromancers. Alluring skulls should work as well.

The Scythe of Want's 2h R2 looks really sweet, which I presume means that it's impractical and sucks. Scythes in general seem to have gotten the shaft when it comes to movesets.

# ¿ May 19, 2014 20:19

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

f#a# posted:

If you want to be a hexer, you're going to need an even split between INT/FTH (33 is a good stopping point), as well as a Caitha Chime and Sunset Staff.

Screw that. 50/50 (32 ATT) ALL THE SPELLS.

# ¿ May 19, 2014 22:50

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

ComaPrison posted:

Just an fyi that at 99/99 GRS will do about 1622 to Giant Lord, while 30/30 will do 1515. (both with abyss seal). The damage bonus for that extra 69 and 69 in int and faith is pitiful. I recommend that you save yourself 40 points (from 50/50 down to 30/30) and then pump the extra 40 into attunement. If you can hit 75 ATT, that'll get you your final attunement slot bonus. Better yet, put it in vigor, endurance, vitality, or adaptability.

30 FTH doesn't give you access to the good spells or Dragon Chime, and the returns on attunement after 30 are pretty bad and can be replicated just by wearing a Southern Ritual Band. I didn't go to mage school to be able to cast the same spell a bunch of times with 3 more attunement slots, I did it to be able to take off ~50% of a Dragonrider's health with a single Sunlight Spear and mix up miracle/hex damage with sorcery pressure in PvP.

Paracelsus fucked around with this message at 23:40 on May 19, 2014

# ¿ May 19, 2014 23:37

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

Captain Oblivious posted:

Emit Force is arguably the best offensive Miracle in PvP,

Not quite as effective as timing a Sunlight Spear to hit as they exit a roll you forced them into with Affinity/Soulmass, though.

quote:

If you want to totally melt poo poo to the max in PvE though yeah 50 Faith/Dragon Chime/Sunlight Spear is probably the most gratifying thing in the world.

If you go all in on casting there's a definite gap between a PvE loadout (Sunlight Spear, a bunch of GLS, a bunch of Dark Orb/Resonant Soul, maybe GMB or Soul Appease depending on the area) and a PvP loadout (Sunlight Spear, GMB, Affinity/Soulmass, Emit Force, Soul Greatsword), so if you get caught by an invader while PvEing you could be in trouble, but that happens only once in a blue moon and you just pay Lenigrast 3000 souls and move on if you die. But it's neat to be able to have a bunch of different options that all hit like a truck. I'm a bit too much of a soul scrimper to lean on GRS as my primary damage method.

# ¿ May 19, 2014 23:57

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

Hyper Crab Tank posted:

Look at your lowest stat. Mundane gives you +6 damage rating per point in that stat up to 20, and +3 from there on. If 22 dex is your lowest stat, you'll get +126 damage from scaling. The flat damage should be visible when you select the infusion before committing to it.

If you want to see the prospective total damage rating before infusing, equip the weapon, select "infuse weapon" from McDuff's menu, switch to the 3rd stat screen, and then choose the weapon to infuse. The rating shown for the slot that weapon is in should reflect the total result (including scaling) for the infusion currently highlighted, although it doesn't show you the split (if any).

# ¿ May 20, 2014 09:09

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

Opposing Farce posted:

You know I don't think there's anything in NG that can't be reasonably dealt with as a pure melee build (save those last two salamanders in the cardinal tower that just shoot rocks over and over and only give you a second in between bursts) but I don't think there's any good way to deal with the red phantoms leading up to the Undead Purgatory in NG+ without a bow to pull them down. It's a lot of fun to peel those dudes off one at a time and backstab them in NG but when there's no way to avoid pulling 4 at once good luck with that one.

You can lead them back to the narrow canyon where you enter that part, pull out a weapon with a good thrust attack, and have your own private Thermopylae. You should be able to take out a couple and damage the others before you have to retreat further.

# ¿ May 21, 2014 16:54

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

From is just waiting to unveil their true monetization plan for DS2: in-app purchases for cracked orbs and reduction of soul memory.

# ¿ May 21, 2014 18:38

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

Michaellaneous posted:

Are miracles OP now as well?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNGuA4XVaXU

I'm not sure it's a real OnlyAfro video if WotG isn't accompanied by Four Non Blondes.

# ¿ May 21, 2014 23:01

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

LtSmash posted:

Giant lord isn't even too bad asceticed a couple timees if you have magic although it can take a couple tries if benhart get crushed by the head or an unlucky hit.

Eventually you hit a point where the first two giants take long enough to kill that they do enough damage to leave Benhart rather beat up for the actual boss fight and you can't even heal him with a miracle because he just starts sprinting to the lord the second they're dead.

# ¿ May 22, 2014 01:16

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

MooCowlian posted:

I know it's kind of been done, but seriously. Does anyone have any tips for the dudes in amana who can shoot you with homing missiles across the whole goddamn level? There's not even any cover for the latter half of the stretch before the third bonfire, and there's like four of them camping the gate. I'm playing magic and even with the ranged attacks, it's a nightmare. I don't even have the ability to zoom in like if I had a bow, which was the only way I've managed to do it on my melee characters. I feel like a fish in a barrel.

Cast HSM/Affinity before you approach and concentrate on dodging the spells. They aren't much of a problem until you stop moving to attack, and those spells allow you to initiate the attack without rooting you in place at the same time.

# ¿ May 23, 2014 22:15

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

Bear Retrieval Unit posted:

Finally beat it at Level 155 with 3 mil SM . I'm bad at Dark Souls. Though I like to think it's because this is my first Souls game and I insisted on beating almost all the bosses solo (only summoned for Fredja and Lucatiel and Benharts bosses because I wanted their stuff).

I sort of feel like there's little point in getting worked up about how much you level and gain soul memory. Your SM goes up no matter what as long as you're doing things, especially if you're co-oping, often there's not much to do with all those souls aside from gain levels, and the level no longer affects matchmaking. Asceticing the Giant Memories will send your SM skyrocketing and you'll likely be spending much of that on levels, but that doesn't make someone who does that a bad player, it just means they want some *&%#! twinkling titanite.

# ¿ May 24, 2014 00:41

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

xNarUtoRKOrton420x posted:

I've been getting some strange graphics bugs which I'll screenshot for reference, not anything like giant purple blocks floating in the air. Just things like on the opening screen all the online information details are overlapping eachother and the face pictures for people I try to summon are replaced with big ol' text and numbers.

The same thing has happened to me, it comes and goes. The online information thing happened previously. I wouldn't worry about it, it doesn't seem to affect gameplay.

# ¿ May 24, 2014 18:27

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

Internet Kraken posted:

There's no kind of significance in the transition from Earthen Peak to Iron Keep. It just feels like a place where they had to cut out a level and didn't have time to connect the area in a better way.

If I had to guess, the lift in Earthen Peak originally went down to some tunnel area that led into Iron Keep. They cut that part out and just used the elevator to connect the two areas, which makes no sense but whatever.

The elevator itself is a bit dodgy, the ironwork on the sides are just lo-res texture planes that I wonder if they just copied straight out of King's Field.

Are there special conditions needed to get the Old Whip from the birds? I've gotten tons of Demon Great Hammers and Channeler's Tridents but never the whip.

# ¿ May 25, 2014 05:11

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

CJacobs posted:

Am I the only person that has never had a single problem with weapon durability degrading so fast? It's a poo poo system but I think I've had like two broken weapons ever, and they both had super low durability to start with. The only time weapons get close to breaking for me is in the very early stages of the game where you don't have many onhand and there are lots of enemies in your way.

I don't think I've ever broken a weapon other than Santier's Spear, and my first run was all halberds. I never used the Bracing Knuckle ring either.

# ¿ May 25, 2014 17:55

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

Nalesh posted:

stuck on the ghost blender after the two shield guys in the crypt

If you're talking about the area I think you are, there's an exit you can just run out of rather than fighting.

# ¿ May 26, 2014 03:35

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

Is the DS2 character builder at mugenmonkey not fully functional yet? I tried to use it but the gear lists didn't seem to be populated.

# ¿ May 26, 2014 04:45

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

Red Crown posted:

I caught the Emerald Herald just kinda hangin' out. She was sitting on a rock kicking her feet back and forth like she was bored.

She's also idly kicking the dirt in some of her standing poses. You get the feeling that her unending life of waiting around the Majula bonfire for a chosen undead to actually succeed is intensely boring. I do have to say that I really like her costume design; there are a lot of nice little details yet it doesn't descend into Nomuran excess.

Is there a chart showing the hidden crit modifiers on weapons? I know the regular dagger has one, but I haven't seen much about whether other daggers or thrusting swords do.

# ¿ May 26, 2014 18:43

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

I just found out how sweet the rapier is with a buff applied. I can't believe I missed this before. It's also helped me to parry a lot more easily. Is the 2h R2 a shield-piercing attack? It makes a sound like the other ones I've seen.

Stupid Lore Theory: The Aslatiel of Mirrah we fight in Aldia's Keep is actually Lucatiel. Part of the undead curse seems to involve the dependency of one's physical form on one's ability to see the image of the self; this is how the effigies restore our humanity, by reminding us of who we are, and the Chosen Undead can radically remake themselves using the soul vessels. Lucatiel's ability to remember herself is exhausted by the time we meet her in front of the Keep, and she disappears after talking to us. Shortly after this, we encounter and fight the black phantom of the very object of Lucatiel's quest, and never see Lucatiel again. Perhaps even as she forgot herself, she remembered the brother that she had been looking for all this time, and through the curse ended up remaking herself in the only image she still retained. The biggest problem with the theory is that the sword Aslatiel can drop has a slightly different name, but on the other hand the description is identical to Lucatiel's, down to the part about "A tiny message is inscribed in the blade, a promise to someone special," which certainly makes it seem like it's the exact same sword.

It seems strange to read about people being unable to get Blacksteel Katanas, my current character picked up 4 just randomly killing Allone Knights while waiting to be summoned.

# ¿ May 27, 2014 09:10

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

T.G. Xarbala posted:

On the matter of Lucatiel and Aslatiel, I'd like to think the theory is true, but the two character models have different hair.

Which is a shame, because I think the theory makes for a better story than what we got.

That's why I was talking about the ability to remake the physical form; the idea is that she did an uncontrolled version of what we did when we spoke to the old firekeepers and created an appearance and identity that we lacked up until then.

# ¿ May 27, 2014 16:34

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

RBA Starblade posted:

Why would you think that's what effigies do instead of just unhollowing you like popping some humanity? Plus it's nice because it shows that in undeath Lucatiel finally outdid her brother. She moves on past Aldia's Keep (or leaves the way she came, but that's less interesting); her brother falls there against you.

The effigy's lore text says that the form that appears depends on the person looking. The curse is a loss of memory and identity, and the effigies seem to stave that off. Lucatiel gives you an effigy, saying that she doesn't know what it is, so she certainly isn't using them, and we can see that she's unraveling as the game progresses. By the time she's in front of the Keep she's clearly about to forget herself, so I think the idea that she then continued to progress is too optimistic. Everyone succumbs to the curse in the end.

I'm reading a lot into the mechanics of character creation and respeccing, but given the nature of the curse I think it's internally consistent and thematically appropriate.

# ¿ May 27, 2014 17:13

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

GaylordButts posted:

I'm pretty sure you fight Aslatiel regardless of whether you've talked to Lucatiel outside or not. I actually didn't go in that shack before the manor proper, and had already defeated Aslatiel before talking to her. I suppose you can still site timey-wimey Drangleic but I'd guess it's supposed to be the hollow of her actual brother, just there to show you that nobody beats the curse and everyone is hosed forever.

I thought she disappeared if you didn't talk to her, but I guess I was mistaken. Oh well, fun theory.

Sorry for the double post, phone posting.

# ¿ May 27, 2014 17:16

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

Genocyber posted:

Explain how her Mirrah Greatsword suddenly turned into the Old Mirrah Greatsword.

I mentioned that in the first post as a problem with the theory, but the Old Mirrah Greatsword has the exact same stats and description, including the tiny promise carved into it, so the difference in name may not be especially meaningful. It wouldn't be the first time you got a weapon from someone while they're still running around with it. You also seem to conjure up your gear once you envision who you are (as opposed to starting with clothes and finding stuff in the Asylum in DS1), so it's not like you can't argue that finding an image of yourself can't produce material changes through ~magic/timeandspaceareconvoluted~. I mean, there's a coffin that changes your sex if you rest in it, stuff seems to be pretty malleable.

Part of what interests me about the effigies is why the writers specifically made them images of the self in a game about loss of memory and identity, rather than just lumps of humanity (even though they seem to be made of humanity). It's one of the aspects where it felt like they started to go somewhere, but couldn't follow through on the implementation.

# ¿ May 27, 2014 20:03

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# ¿ May 10, 2024 13:34

Paracelsus: Apr 6, 2009; bless this post ~kya

Red Mundus posted:

To whomever got a blue summon named Jesus sent into their world to protect them from an invader I would like to sincerely apologize for accidentally blocking you into a room with your invader while you were trying to get out. I was practically pissing myself for actually getting summoned for once and wasn't paying attention. Sorry about you getting stabbed in the back repeatedly!

There really needs to be a crown of thorns helm that still leaves the face visible (Looking Glass Helm has a mask) because I've seen multiple Jesus gimmicks, including one shade that used miracles and holy water to help me beat the Pursuer's first appearance.

# ¿ May 27, 2014 20:42

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