Dark Souls 2
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EZ Mode Dark Souls:
Get the Zweihander in the beginning of the game, get enough str to use it, and make it into a Lightning Zweihander +5 asap. Use through whole game and stunlock 80% of all enemies, including bosses. 2Hand that bitch and put the grass shield on your back for the endurance regen. Can use it 1 handed for the same effect, but requires more str. Its even a respectable pvp weapon. In PvE use the strong attack most of the time, and then use the weak attack for PvP, catches backstabbers and all kinds of people off guard.
Use a little bit of pyromancy for icing on the cake.
Get the Zweihander in the beginning of the game, get enough str to use it, and make it into a Lightning Zweihander +5 asap. Use through whole game and stunlock 80% of all enemies, including bosses. 2Hand that bitch and put the grass shield on your back for the endurance regen. Can use it 1 handed for the same effect, but requires more str. Its even a respectable pvp weapon. In PvE use the strong attack most of the time, and then use the weak attack for PvP, catches backstabbers and all kinds of people off guard.
Use a little bit of pyromancy for icing on the cake.
I didn't backstab either. I tried to in the beginning, but I just wasn't landing them so I never bothered. I have to say that this first play-through was one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences I have ever had. The only other game that I can think of that had me thinking about it outside of playing it was the original Everquest. Obviously they are completely different games, but I got the same feeling playing both of these games. The difficulty, the feeling of not know what the hell to do. Actually discovering things without being forced down a path or have a glowing orb tell me to click on it. I don't mean to ramble, but it was nice to have that feeling again.
Also, the music during the Gywn fight was just perfect. I know I'm not the only person to feel this way, but I was expecting some cutscene and then epic music. What I got instead was sad, somber music with the shell of a god trying to stop you from ending his reign. Just perfect.
Also, the music during the Gywn fight was just perfect. I know I'm not the only person to feel this way, but I was expecting some cutscene and then epic music. What I got instead was sad, somber music with the shell of a god trying to stop you from ending his reign. Just perfect.
Vaclav
Bronze Baronet of the Realm
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Light on exposition really can work in some games and not others - and as you stated music plays a huge role in making some of it compelling and providing "depth" of story that you can piece together yourself with attitude and the like just from what the right music evokes.
Take EQ1 and Dark Souls with the sound off and much of the initial allure is gone to most people. [At least before compulsion sets in, heh]
Take EQ1 and Dark Souls with the sound off and much of the initial allure is gone to most people. [At least before compulsion sets in, heh]
ronne
Nǐ hǎo, yǒu jīn zi ma?
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I've fought a few people trying to use it in PVP. The explosion caught me off guard the first time but otherwise it has the same problem as every ultra greatsword in that you'll basically never hit anyone with it. Probably beastly for PVE, but I don't like the 0 scaling things anyway. My silver knight sword with 40 dex is like ~380 damage and I'll take that with the swing speed/stamina costs any day.
Szlia
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Obviously over 50% of equipment load!
Anyway I finished the game the other day without much compulsion to play NG+ as I did pretty much all I wanted to do in a single play through (thanks to some ridiculous soul farming in the Painted World - serpent ring, symbol of avarice, wrath of gods and high faith for overkill bonus = 13000+ souls a minute killing the phalanx near the first bonefire while watching tennis...).
I enjoyed the game, but it is hardly playable without massive spoilers (a number of key items are buried under three layers of secrets, quest lines - Siegmeyer of Catarina, Knight Solaire - are mostly impossible to resolve) and the narrative payoffs are very lame. The bleak tone of it all remains pretty unique and fascinating though, the level design remains clever, but I am convinced the game would be better if some things were less obfuscated (there is a number of things you miss or don't try simply because you have no idea wtf they are - and I mean core things like jumping or leaving messages for others, so let's not even mention treating curses or catastrophes... or core narrative elements like the primordial serpent in The Abyss). Covenants also seem like a great idea but poorly executed because of this 'mountain of mystery to hide molehill of content' design policy.
Compared to Demon's Souls I also felt there were less memorable boss fights and less need for equipment versatility (in Dark Souls I used my starting mace turned into a Divine one and then a Black Knight Sword that is ridiculously easy to boost to +5 and voil?).
PS: Killed Gwynn without parry because Solaire tanked like a champ!
Anyway I finished the game the other day without much compulsion to play NG+ as I did pretty much all I wanted to do in a single play through (thanks to some ridiculous soul farming in the Painted World - serpent ring, symbol of avarice, wrath of gods and high faith for overkill bonus = 13000+ souls a minute killing the phalanx near the first bonefire while watching tennis...).
I enjoyed the game, but it is hardly playable without massive spoilers (a number of key items are buried under three layers of secrets, quest lines - Siegmeyer of Catarina, Knight Solaire - are mostly impossible to resolve) and the narrative payoffs are very lame. The bleak tone of it all remains pretty unique and fascinating though, the level design remains clever, but I am convinced the game would be better if some things were less obfuscated (there is a number of things you miss or don't try simply because you have no idea wtf they are - and I mean core things like jumping or leaving messages for others, so let's not even mention treating curses or catastrophes... or core narrative elements like the primordial serpent in The Abyss). Covenants also seem like a great idea but poorly executed because of this 'mountain of mystery to hide molehill of content' design policy.
Compared to Demon's Souls I also felt there were less memorable boss fights and less need for equipment versatility (in Dark Souls I used my starting mace turned into a Divine one and then a Black Knight Sword that is ridiculously easy to boost to +5 and voil?).
PS: Killed Gwynn without parry because Solaire tanked like a champ!
Penance
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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I might have to say that this game is easily the best game of all time. I've already played it to NG++ on 3 characters and its the only game to this day that I've played through that many times. The setting, the difficulty, the little secrets hidden throughout the entire game. There is really so much to say about this game. The PVP is top notch and the PVE is just as good. You can Roleplay with all the different covenants, and the atmosphere is bar none the best in any game rivaled only by the Bioshock series.
Currently started a new game with a theif and gonna try to beat it with fist weapons only.
Some my favorite builds I've played
Thormund Cleric (This was more for RP purposes, went with Grant weapon)
Golem Axe Build (The R2 on this weapon was awesome for PvP)
Dragon Build (Went with Moonlight over Obsidian and of course went full dragon bitches)
I find the best PvP is around level 50-70. You can make some pretty unique builds and still find a decent amount of fights. I'm probably looking forward to DS2 more than any other game in my life right now. However, with how much I liked about DkS I'm scared there is going to be something I don't like about DkS2.
Now here the the sad thing, I don't have a PS3 anymore, and I never beat DS. What could I do to play this game without having to buy a PS3?
Currently started a new game with a theif and gonna try to beat it with fist weapons only.
Some my favorite builds I've played
Thormund Cleric (This was more for RP purposes, went with Grant weapon)
Golem Axe Build (The R2 on this weapon was awesome for PvP)
Dragon Build (Went with Moonlight over Obsidian and of course went full dragon bitches)
I find the best PvP is around level 50-70. You can make some pretty unique builds and still find a decent amount of fights. I'm probably looking forward to DS2 more than any other game in my life right now. However, with how much I liked about DkS I'm scared there is going to be something I don't like about DkS2.
Now here the the sad thing, I don't have a PS3 anymore, and I never beat DS. What could I do to play this game without having to buy a PS3?
ronne
Nǐ hǎo, yǒu jīn zi ma?
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I agree that they went a bit too far with the lack of information. Core parts of the game (such as equipment load, message writing, what covenants do, etc etc) were just completely devoid of information in the game. I made it to about level 60 and roughly halfway through the game before I had to go read a wiki to find out what buff icons on me were, what stats did what, how damage scaling actually worked, etc. I appreciate the very minimalist type of design they went for and even though I'm complaining about it here it was probably one of the things that will stick with me the most (reminded me a lot of old EQ in some ways, in the sense that you just have no idea what is happening). I just think they overdid it a bit, as everyone I know that played it was eventually forced to go wiki things.
ronne
Nǐ hǎo, yǒu jīn zi ma?
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I'm playing Demon's Souls right now, and I'm not sure if I can finish it. The way they handle healing items just seems so awful. It's like, if you're doing well and have a build that is working for you you'll have infinite healing items built up and can just spam your way through boss fights. But if you run in to a tough spot or have to try a boss a few times you run yourself out of them and eventually get to a point where you CAN'T try the boss anymore, and are forced to go farm bullshit mobs that drop 6 souls and maybe sometimes weaker healing items.
It probably wouldn't be such a big deal if I had played it before Dark Souls, but coming from the flask system the grass in Demon's just feels really, really bad.
Tuco
I got Tuco'd!
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I kind of liked the lack of information because it made me feel like I was traversing a real world instead of just visiting an amusement park. For some reason in any game I play anything I discover that isn't presented in a streamline fashion is always more interesting to me.
And for someone who plays so many RPGs it was just a nice change of pace to studiously go through a game the first time and then find out how much I missed by reading about it.
And for someone who plays so many RPGs it was just a nice change of pace to studiously go through a game the first time and then find out how much I missed by reading about it.
Szlia
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I like the idea of lack of information (I was questing in EQ!), but I don't like its implementation here. I like how it makes the world mysterious and ominous, I like how figuring out a mystery and finding something hidden is rewarding, I like how it should encourage the cooperation between players BUT, here, more often than not, it feels more like a trick to hide the lack of content (that's genius from a business standpoint, but not so much from a game design standpoint -- 1h37 from character creation to death of Gwynn with all bosses killed including those of the DLC is the current speed run record). Make the world mysterious, but don't make the interface mysterious! Encourage cooperation between players, but inside the game, not outside of it! Give us a chance to figure out mysteries without having to play through the game 10 times! And would it kill you to have narrative payoffs? And not have a third of your grand total of 100 lines be "hehehehe" or "zzzzzzz"?
Anyway I was entertained enough and I am still looking forward to Dark Souls 2.
Anyway I was entertained enough and I am still looking forward to Dark Souls 2.
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Yeah. Its actually kind of funny to play the hell out of a game like Dark Souls when you first get it, waste a ton of hours, then notice people's youtube videos. You watch them and say to yourself "holy shit I am so far away from that". haha
I play a lot of games, and its always refreshing to come across one that doesn't beat you to death with dialogue, tutorials, or checkpoint arrows.
I'm in exactly the same spot. Loved the hell out of Dark Souls. Around 300 hours played on XBox and PC. I want more before DaS2, so I bought a PS3 and Demon's Souls. It's good, but the healing system feels terribad.
I couldn't agree more. They probably took it a *little* too far. There are some really basic mechanics that should have been better explained. But the mystery is definitely part of the game's appeal, particularly in combination with the dreary, contemplative atmosphere. The total uncertainty you feel about WTF to do when first starting out reminds me of early EQ. In a good way.
Budos
Golden Knight of the Realm
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It's really just a few story arcs (Seigmeyer &maybeLogan) that aren't obvious. If you really try to explore every area and don't rush through things, the game is pretty self explanatory (except doing the Crystal Caverns in offline mode).
Personally, I like the mystery and the little things that make you want to revisit areas, do a NG+ or reroll because you missed things.
I just wish someone would rip-off DaS and make an MMO out of it.
Personally, I like the mystery and the little things that make you want to revisit areas, do a NG+ or reroll because you missed things.
I just wish someone would rip-off DaS and make an MMO out of it.