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1v3'ing the ~GANK SQUAD~ is one of my favorite DLC fights too, as dumb as it is to just kite a bunch of NPCs around. You're more or less done with Shulva from what I can remember (there's still a secret or two you haven't found iirc), and you need a certain key item from the main questline to be able to interact with the glowing armor thing in Brume Tower. tiistai fucked around with this message at 06:00 on Jan 12, 2017 |
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Jan 12, 2017 05:44
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Unless I'm mistaken, Gank Squad is also why you kept finding chests inside the sanctum that had already been looted. Remember how you found the Catarina Helm? Looks like the gear of other old and famous civilisations and heroes were kept in there as well. Some people found them and put them on for themselves, which explains why Varg couldn't quite step to Havel's might. The real thing is still pretty scary, and I only ever killed him by dropping four lingering flames on him at once.
frozentreasure fucked around with this message at 21:28 on Jan 12, 2017 |
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Jan 12, 2017 14:36
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The gank squad was really fun, imo. In general, PVP-like bosses and encounters throughout levels have been pretty fun. I'm glad From put them in. Nice break from routine.
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Jan 12, 2017 17:56
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Unfortunately for the two of you, while the gank squad is great the other two co-op DLC fights are bland at best. In general the community considers the co-op areas to be a blight on the DLC, and with the exception of the gank squad I can't disagree. The Afflicted Graverobber is actually a woman - listen back to any time someone hits her.
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Jan 14, 2017 03:17
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Y'all need to come back to the glowy armor once you gain the ability to explore the memories of the long dead. Don't. Forget.
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Jan 14, 2017 08:06
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NGDBSS posted:Unfortunately for the two of you, while the gank squad is great the other two co-op DLC fights are bland at best. In general the community considers the co-op areas to be a blight on the DLC, and with the exception of the gank squad I can't disagree. One of the three remaining ones is pretty fun, but it's also barely a co-op area. It can be easily soloed and, unlike the gank squad, the boss isn't really designed with a co-op fight in mind. The other two are pretty bad, though. One of them has a neat idea that isn't implemented very well, and the last one...Just...I'm pretty sure I taught my neighbors some interesting new combinations of profanity when I was working my way though THAT part. That said, I don't know what your policy on Sunbro Support is, but if you need it, I can see if I can come help. My characters are all pretty high Soul Level right now, but they might be within Engraved Ring range by the time you get to those areas.
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Jan 14, 2017 12:26
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Gothsheep posted:That said, I don't know what your policy on Sunbro Support is, but if you need it, I can see if I can come help. My characters are all pretty high Soul Level right now, but they might be within Engraved Ring range by the time you get to those areas. I think Fume Knight has been the only time we've pulled in another player, in either DS1 or DS2 — though I could be misremembering. We're trying to avoid it if we can.
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Jan 14, 2017 22:23
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We run in circles a lot in Castle Drangleic, which is hopefully more amusing for the audience than it was for us! 
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Jan 14, 2017 22:44
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If you haven't put it together yet, golems are activated by souls. Some golems are doors.
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Jan 14, 2017 23:40
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Fish Noise posted:If you haven't put it together yet, golems are activated by souls. Some golems are doors. 
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Jan 15, 2017 00:01
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With that information in mind... You guys might want to explore that dark room full of statues outside of the first castle bonfire closet. The one that has all those ruin sentinel minibosses once you got some of the doors opened.
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Jan 15, 2017 01:25
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The encounter in front of the castle gate is supposed to teach you this, as the only way to open the gates is to kill something near the two golems at each side. Before the gates open, royal soldiers spawn infinitely so you can't screw yourself out of opening the gates. Somehow you guys never noticed that the little soul globs flew to the golems instead of you...
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Jan 15, 2017 02:03
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That Frozen Flower you picked up is actually the last DLC key, so if you want to go there then you're set. Oh man, that Ruin Sentinel hallway is brutal if you end up fighting all of them without taking a break to replenish estus.  On the other hand, since they're now minibosses you can farm them for their armor set.Does that cursed portrait look familiar at all to you? The Majestic Greatsword is one of the best weapons in the game, given its moveset and the damage boost when used in the left hand. Its only real flaws are the relatively high stat requirements (not so onerous for DS2, mind) and the fact that you can't backstab left-handed.  Gower's Ring of Protection used to negate damage from behind, but got nerfed due to abuse in PvP among other things.
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Jan 15, 2017 03:49
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Tarezax posted:The encounter in front of the castle gate is supposed to teach you this, as the only way to open the gates is to kill something near the two golems at each side. Before the gates open, royal soldiers spawn infinitely so you can't screw yourself out of opening the gates. Somehow you guys never noticed that the little soul globs flew to the golems instead of you...
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Jan 15, 2017 05:02
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The castles are a good summation of the difference between Dark Souls 1 and 2. One castle has various side rooms and wraps back around on itself intelligently, the other is a largely straight line. One castle allows you to commit horrible sin and hopes that you won't do it (without asking questions to give reasonable cause for doing so), the other refuses to even give you the option. Anyway the black bow is the same black bow that Pharis, who I don't believe Tempest ever met in Dark Souls 1, wielded. But they can't actually say the name of an NPC from the previous game unless it's Havel, so it's just a black bow. It's far and away the best bow in the game, for sure. Also.
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Jan 18, 2017 13:57
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In this update, we remain lost in Drangleic Castle until we find ourselves in a mirror, darkly. 
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Jan 19, 2017 04:52
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Fun fact: on release, Mirror Knight's lightning attacks had a bug with the sound where it did not respect your sound settings. And it also played at really high volume. I haven't watched the videos yet, but invaders in this area are added to a pool where Mirror Knight can summon you from his mirror during the boss fight. It's a mechanic that I wish FROMSoft had used in later titles, though the boss invasion bug in Dark Souls 3 sort of approximates this.
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Jan 19, 2017 04:57
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Tarezax posted:Fun fact: on release, Mirror Knight's lightning attacks had a bug with the sound where it did not respect your sound settings. And it also played at really high volume. Huh. We did not get any invaders, just standard soldiers.
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Jan 19, 2017 05:03
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Addamere posted:Huh. We did not get any invaders, just standard soldiers. That's probably a function of multiplayer in this game being pretty dead at this point. In the first months after release it was constant player invasions for Mirror Knight IIRC.
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Jan 19, 2017 05:09
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Tarezax posted:That's probably a function of multiplayer in this game being pretty dead at this point. In the first months after release it was constant player invasions for Mirror Knight IIRC. That must've been a real clown show, and probably would have made him the hardest boss ever. You'd think they would make the summoned soldiers at least be properly PVP-programmed phantoms.
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Jan 19, 2017 05:13
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Addamere posted:That must've been a real clown show, and probably would have made him the hardest boss ever. You'd think they would make the summoned soldiers at least be properly PVP-programmed phantoms. You'd think it would make him hard, but oftentimes the player invaders would spawn into the battlefield before they'd properly loaded into the game, and the big obvious summoning animation meant that players + phantoms could easily gank the invader before they could move.  edit: I think it may also prioritize player invaders for people who bring phantoms into the fight. Tarezax fucked around with this message at 05:23 on Jan 19, 2017 |
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Jan 19, 2017 05:16
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Addamere posted:I don't like being in water. *SPLOOSH* Addamere posted:That must've been a real clown show, and probably would have made him the hardest boss ever.
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Jan 19, 2017 06:14
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Fish Noise posted:What have we learned? You know what, maybe this whole human sapience thing was a bad idea.
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Jan 19, 2017 06:22
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Most weapons have mirrored movesets depending on which hand you're holding them in, even when using two hands, except being able to backstab only in the right hand. The upside of this is that if a weapon swings from right to left when two-handed in the right hand, it will do the reverse when two-handed in the left hand, which neatly bypasses the Mirror Knight's shield. Also, despite him having perhaps three or four variations on that lightning attack the movesets are similar enough that you can just roll to the right whenever he performs it.Tarezax posted:You'd think it would make him hard, but oftentimes the player invaders would spawn into the battlefield before they'd properly loaded into the game, and the big obvious summoning animation meant that players + phantoms could easily gank the invader before they could move.
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Jan 19, 2017 06:46
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Weren't mirror night invasions ng+ only?
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Jan 19, 2017 12:27
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If you ever want to return to the Dark Chasms, here's how they work (yes, there are several, three in fact - you should be able to figure out where, if not, ask): the big basin you immediately hit is actually full of oil. Setting this on fire is how you "win" a Dark Chasm, though you also do have to leave it at the end. You were almost there when you fell into the hole, it's crazy how easily you took out Havel - he's widely considered to be, and I hope you'll understand my Dark Souls Pro technical language here, "a real motherfucker". Still would have had to return to light the basin though! If you do light all the basins and leave the final Chasm, you'll have a neat surprise waiting for you! Covenant rewards are for the first basin lit and chasm left, then for the third of both, and getting the surprise wrapped up maxes out the Covenant. The rewards are all crazy good Miracle and Hex stuff, including the best Chime in the game for pure Lightning damage, if you're into that at some point! Also an armor set which you might remember from DS1... And finally, the three Chasms will stay open forever, freeing you of the Effigy cost. There are a few more interesting details about the Chasms: they're probably the best source of Bonfire Ascetics, as the black phantoms there frequently-ish drop them. You can also invade in there, and killing the host will award you with an Ascetic 100% of the time. You can, however, also kill another invader to get that. And the black phantoms will be automatically hostile to you! Sounds fun, practically never happens though. Not really a popular PvP hotspot.
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Jan 19, 2017 16:34
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I remember Havel hitting a lot harder and taking a lot more hits. Also those weren't the Gank Squad; I believe the idea with the black phantoms of the Dark Chasms is that they are all of the old friends you slaughtered in Lordran, like the actual peoples, now pilgrims of dark themselves. That was Havel and Ricard you killed, and I'm not sure who the lady phantom was. Anyway there's literally no penalty for switching covenants, and you don't even need to actually be a Sunbro to summon others, so there's really no need to fret over being asked to swap covenants. Especially to covenants that may have very, very, very useful rewards, particularly for you two. I'm really looking forward to hearing "it's not hard" regarding every boss for the rest of the game, too. The reason your rolls kept not working, also, Nietzschean, is because you were being hit, either during your own incredibly slow swings or during recoil from hitting the shield, and you then would spam roll until your stamina was gone, which pretty much always loses against Souls enemies because their attack hitboxes aren't coming out and reaching you that quickly. Rolls are invincible starting from frame one of the animation, and big swings like that are going to meet you halfway through the roll almost all of the time, after invincibility is gone. Also you're weighed down, so you don't go very far with the roll itself.
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Jan 20, 2017 11:03
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frozentreasure posted:I'm really looking forward to hearing "it's not hard" regarding every boss for the rest of the game, too. The reason your rolls kept not working, also, Nietzschean, is because you were being hit, either during your own incredibly slow swings or during recoil from hitting the shield, and you then would spam roll until your stamina was gone, which pretty much always loses against Souls enemies because their attack hitboxes aren't coming out and reaching you that quickly. Rolls are invincible starting from frame one of the animation, and big swings like that are going to meet you halfway through the roll almost all of the time, after invincibility is gone. Also you're weighed down, so you don't go very far with the roll itself. Am... am I bad at this game? No, that can't be it. It's the controller who's wrong.
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Jan 20, 2017 19:57
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In this update we venture into the Shrine of Amana whereupon we are given cause for the following quotes: "This level is garbage," by DrTempest  "That was the dumbest thing," by me. DrTempest hates this level because his colour-blindness makes it difficult for him to tell the difference between shallow water and death water, and I dislike it for the lack of a rusted iron ring. There's some pretty funny deaths and also a boss fight.
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Jan 20, 2017 21:32
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Deep water is made more obvious with a torch. And while the Shrine of Anime (as it's jokingly nicknamed) has the perennial problem of being a water level in a Souls game, it's still fairly manageable so long as you liberally use a bow.* (Hint, hint.  ) Getting through is certainly possible without one, as you've done here, but doing so without losing a lot of resources requires either careful pulling or use of cover. Honestly, of the water levels I've played in Souls games I'd put it about even with Blighttown. In the former you have to worry about the sudden dropoffs and magic snipers, while in the latter you have to instead care about poison and poor visibility. (The Shrine of Amana is drat pretty for a level in any Souls game.)The Demon of Song is a fairly easy boss for this late in the game. The trick is actually to bait out her attacks, and then to perform a combo before she covers her head again. Generally she won't complete her longer combos if you're already out of the way, so you can really shorten the battle by ducking out and then in at the right time. Fire, on the other hand, isn't so great against her because she's wet. ("Wet" status, which anyone can get by wading in water or by being splashed by a jar of water as in the Iron Keep, increases your fire resistance and decreases your lightning resistance. It doesn't last definitely when on dry land, but is still fairly persistent.) *On a lark I once did a run through this level with a greatbow and lightning greatarrows as my principal weapons of choice. It's weird to manage all that stamina loss per shot, but at the same time very satisfying to knock the priestesses down so that they can't immediately retaliate.
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Jan 21, 2017 05:57
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In case you want to find the bonfire you missed in Drangleic Castle, look around here. It's not going to be very useful to you at this point anyway though. Speaking of stamina, there's a mechanic in DaS2 that I don't think has been brought up yet (maybe? I don't remember): if an attack causes you to go to negative stamina, it deals proportionally less damage.
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Jan 21, 2017 14:58
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If you're having vision problems, Try torch. Also, the boss' crime isn't being a dumb boss. Its crime is letting you (the player) get away with fighting him in a dumb way with no good way to discourage the boring methods. Bow-only runs aren't run very often. There's a couple other bosses like it. If you're fighting a boss and you tell yourself "well this sure is a dull and unfun way to fight it", there's probably a better way available to you.
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Jan 22, 2017 02:52
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Man, you guys got through Amana with like no problems at all, don't bitch. There's people who spent HOURS wading through knee-deep water (uphill both ways and we loved it!). The boss is kinda dumb but mostly for how simplistic it is - you can absolutely just bait out an attack and then hit it in the face. Doing it with a bow is probably the most exciting way, to be honest - he gets to show off his ranged attack, and the charge is honestly rather scary. If he does it. Also, there's of course billions of things lying around hidden in the water which you missed, but I don't blame you for thoroughly exploring just yet. Of note: - A super neat halberd-type weapon that has a unique R2 which pokes and extends a small extra spike to hit again if you are the right distance from the enemy, dealing massive damage (Helix Halberd) - An Estus Flask Shard and Sunlight Blade (the miracle) - something to check out after you killed an optional boss later I'll leave it up to you to look up locations if you really care, unless you want me to tell you in detail. Navigation is hard in that swamphole. Thanks Amana! tiistai posted:Speaking of stamina, there's a mechanic in DaS2 that I don't think has been brought up yet (maybe? I don't remember): if an attack causes you to go to negative stamina, it deals proportionally less damage.
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Jan 24, 2017 00:30
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Now that we're through the obligatory water level, it's time to go someplace darker and perhaps soulser. 
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Jan 24, 2017 01:47
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That locked door at the start of episode 101 doesn't have a key or anything, there's another "method" to opening it up. Key to the Embedded IS a keyblade. It's a useable weapon. Or, well, was until you used it up on that poor lock.
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Jan 24, 2017 16:58
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So you might recognize Velstadt. You've seen him before. In the fight with Elana, the first boss in the Crown of the Sunken King DLC. You might remember she teleported around and blasted you with spells (usually the delayed fireball) but could also summon one of two things: Either a pack of gilded skeletons, or a single big dude. That big dude was Velstadt.
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Jan 24, 2017 20:09
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That burning-tree-face doesn't respond differently based on your answers, but he's another reminder that Scholar added to remind you that The Quest is not just the broad search for Vendrick and the Great Souls. Instead, there's also a personal element- how are you going to deal with the continuing death and resurrection that is the Undead Curse? Will you find samsara, and the slow purging of the bardo, sufficient? Or will you seek moksha, a oneness with everything that accompanies liberation? (The latter cause is part of the purpose of seeking the DLC crowns.) Running with dual fist weapons is...weird. They're fast as hell but have very short range, sometimes to the point that an enemy can dodge a straight just through their posture pulling back their abdomen. And as you've noted, this speed makes the Stone Ring really good for poise-breaking weaker enemies. No you killed Agdayne.  He gave you a warning, just so you wouldn't disturb the dead, but you instead believed the trolls. Though I'm surprised he wasn't being more aggressive, considering that the sword he uses is one of the best in the game.The Smelter Hammer has the affectionate nickname of the "chicken wing", given the obvious similarities. I recall someone else applying Lightning Blade to it to make it yellow, which made me wonder if it had been dipped in honey mustard. And despite the 70 Str requirement to use it one-handed, you can actually powerstance it if you have 99 Str. No other weapon requires nearly so much to wield, so From decided to make a cute little exception to those maniacs who wanted to go all in on a heavy weapon build. Leydia Pyromancers will keep spawning so long as a nearby bell is ringing/you're up close and their statues are still whole. You can snipe said statues from a distance with various means, though it helps to do something like Cast Light to better aim your shots. Speaking of Velstadt, the reason Elana can summon him is that he's dead, like Agdayne or Gravelord Nito. (Check the things you can make from his soul for this.)
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Jan 26, 2017 03:47
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Oh, also fun note now that you've killed both: Fume Knight hated Velstadt. He hated him so much that if you go into the Fume Knight fight while wearing Velstadt's armor, Fume Knight will skip his first phase and immediately go into his second.
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Jan 26, 2017 03:59
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Gothsheep posted:Oh, also fun note now that you've killed both:
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Jan 26, 2017 05:03
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NGDBSS posted:No you killed Agdayne. Yeah. He gives you his set and sword if you have the King's Ring, but since you killed him they end up being sold by Melinda, like usual.
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Jan 26, 2017 12:52
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