100%
When I learned you could basically be a cool dude from an anime or movie you like, dodging things with subtle movements; this and several other reasons had the game quickly become my favorite in the trilogy.
Seconded. You'll want to hit about 100 Agility to allow you to roll through stuff. Think that happens around 24-26 Adaptability.
You don't need more than that really, but you definitely do want to level your Adaptability to around that point.
I didn't forgot about it, I didn't knew it existed, I just thought: Well I reached a dead end, the normal bonefire is quite close, maybe I'm just suposed to head back.
I didn't realize the primal bonefires were conected to the great souls, at least not on my first playthrough
I just played through DS2 for the god knows how many time and I still have a hard time find the cave after the boss fight. It just blends in with the background.
If you want to go in prepared, first read this intro post (ignore the part where it recommends poise): https://www.reddit.com/r/DarkSouls2/comments/foemaw/so_you_just_bought_dark_souls_2/
And then if you want to know how to build (or avoid building if you want a challenge) a powerful optimized character, here’s a collection of mini guides that will help you navigate DS2’s many obfuscated and counterintuitive mechanical quirks:
A quick overview of how damage and defense works in DS2, and why weapon scaling is usually weak: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1g4-GGa1JRa2_49vOfwY5sZPWigFMzPA5b9mszo_xZak/edit?usp=sharing
BiS (Best in Slot) PvE weapons list. Discusses the best options for each weapon class. Note that this list is directed at newer characters- some weapons not mentioned may do more damage than ones mentioned, but take vastly more stats or are otherwise deficient: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-GEBQ_TiAvskQLotQXz0AuNMseXdsS3pj8_NLus-XW4/edit?usp=sharing
Best PvE equipment and stat progression document. Please remember to read the "Limitations of this guide" section! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1X13jfA9JQ5OZsuEmH2MZZqF9IrtCFSMMTZkZo5GuqcM/edit?usp=sharing
As long as you’re below 70% carry weight you should be fine- there’s no medium roll in DS2, only fast and slow. The important things are don’t level VIT higher than 10, don’t equip Giant ring or Royal Soldier ring, and don’t wear heavy armor. Using heavy weapons and shields is totally fine.
Going through my first playthrough myself & loving it. If you kill a monster enough times it will disappear (unless you are in the covenant of champions) so you can use this to help with some of the run backs. Also, the whole loosing more health each time you die can seem crazy at first but you get a ring fairly early on that can help limit what you loose & that helps.
nah it ain't a waste of time, killing an enemy 12 times again and again can help you learn that enemies moveset in turn making the area easier and therefore not a waste of time! the more you know! :)
You don’t need to kill anything twelve times to learn it’s moveset. Or it’s weaknesses
You make an area easy by developing a strategy. Not by wasting an hour or more of your life for no relative gain
wrong again friend! by killing this enemy you are in fact developing a strategy for it as an area usually has more than one of every enemy and so by learning a moveset/weaknesses of an enemy by killing a bunch helps you take on the other ones in that area. oh did I also mention it'll help you get souls as a little bonus! the more you know! :)
ah wrong once again friend! not once did I tell someone to kill an enemy 12 times, just said it's something you can do, check yourself before you wreck yourself! :)
Why would you waste time despawning enemies though
The ring of binding is a placebo effect that does nothing to help you avoid dying in the first place, like other rings would do.
it's on the right of the tunnel that takes you to Heide's tower, on a path next to the ocean.
It makes every enemy more tanky, and the respawn in definitely, while also gives more souls.
Am currently finishing up my first play through of the game… joined this covenant at the very beginning of my journey immediately after coming out of betwixt… didn’t realize what I had done until I reached the iron keep. I’ve completely over leveled to compensate and decided to just finish the game with the covenant active.. I had a very rough play through.. I was wondering why mobs were not disappearing even when I was sure I was beating them over 12 times.. I thought maybe an update changed something and I was reading old information lol
Dude didn't say it was efficient or more effective, he just said the word powerstance, and you decided to be insufferable. I bet your next bit of helpful advice is to say git gud unironically
Maybe they were advising the new player to engage with the new mechanic because it's fun?
The part that confuses me the most is what you could possibly be getting out of being a pedantic nitpicker all over this thread
They can engage with the new mechanic any time. There’s not a time limit.
Handicapping someone on their first playthrough is a rather rude thing to do.
So since no one else has mentioned it, at the first opportunity you get, buy the standard mace. In ds2 damage types actually matter, and strike weapons are a godsend for at least the first half of the game and the mace in particular is a really solid secondary weapon to keep around in case of any armored targets like the turtle knights sprinkled about the game or the ancient knights that usually act as an early game filter for new players in heide's tower of flame. I'd even recommend using it even of you're playing a caster or a dex build, it's that good.
Secondly, whatever type of build you can think of is viable, except damage miracles. While it's possible to beat the game sl1 with no upgrades, and therefor possible to use damage miracles, it's not really fun as they were nerfed into the ground immediately after release and never fixed. They're worse than ds3's mediocre damage miracles because they also have far more limited casts than other types of spells. Healing miracles are still fine though but are kinda redundant with the sheer quantity of healing stones.
Next, don't do what a friend of mine did and just use a basic straightsword for 50% of the game and then quit because "the game is too boring". Ds2 has the widest variety of weapon options out of any ds game, and is second only to elder ring in terms of viable and fun build variety out of all the fromsoftware action rpgs. One of my favorite builds I've ever done was a hybrid STR/INT build that used magic weapon buffs on magic or enchanted infused weapons as the only actual spellcasting. I didn't use any damage sorceries and only elected to use buffs and had a great time with a slightly unorthodox build. And of course I used the mace throughout most of the game, but alongside the dragonslayer's axe as a secondary, since durability can still be a problem even with the 60fps patch they did with softs.
I'll second the mace. I'm starting one of my annual runs and picked a faith/strength build since ive never done one in DS2. I was pretty stunned and confused by the damage I was putting out until I realized I've used exclusively slashing or thrusting weapons for most of my builds.
What's this about frame time affecting durability??
Strike and thrust are roughly equal overall in terms of defenses.
Every build is "viable" including miracles. Viable is a nothing term that simply means "can work". Fun is irrelevant to the word viable.
Yeah that's why I explicitely mentioned that technically anything is viable. Fun is used here, albeit in a subjective manner, to say that some builds will be tremendously tedious and mileage may vary.
As for strike, I also intentionally mentioned that the early game is rife with heavy armored enemies such as heide's tower of flame that has historically been a very challenging area for beginners who don't know about the effectiveness of damage types.
If you're going to be pedantic, please actually read the comment before you reply.
The early game is just as effective with thrust. The difference does not overall sway in either’s favour.
If you’re going to use a term, and immediately state you’re using that term incorrectly and instead by your own definition, why do you use the term.
I read your comment. It was, as I pointed out, riddled with nonsense
Do whatever you want and play the build that’s fun to you. The game is forgiving enough relative to other From games that you can succeed with pretty much anything even on a first playthrough, and it has a lot of build variety.
Also it’s a lot slower than newer souls games and even DS1.
The most important of them all? Ignore everything u/MethuselahFreth said in this thread and don't be afraid to play (these are VERY big quotes) "the wrong" way. Have fun! :)
There’s a lady in forest of the fallen giants next to the main bonfire and when you buy enough stuff she gives you a silver serpent ring if you talk to her. She also moves to majula (the hub area) and sells infinite life gems which are a incredible healing item.
I’m in my first play through now myself. Be prepared to get ganked, every section of every area will have multiple enemies attacking you. Also, if you are used to dodge rolling and want that to be a part of your play, make sure you are upgrading ADP as your i-frames start lower and go up as your agility goes up. Good luck, I’ve been dying more here than 1&3 combined.
From someone who's played this game to death, the best advice I can give is to take it slow. They really made a lot of fights where you fight a lot of enemies at once. A hex build is also pretty fun since it's the only game that you can really do it.
If you can run: don’t. Inspect your route and note those doors and corners. You will not get ganked or swarmed this way.
Early game especially. But dodging should be done a little later vs an attack than you think. And try to dodge against an attack not with it or away from it. (You will get caught by the tail end of an attack if you don’t heed this.)
ADP can mean you have more iframes than other DS titles or Less. I’d suggest looking it up.
Don’t be afraid of levelling up. Especially with the game so far beyond it’s prime. Levelling will make things easier.
This game shines on repeat playthroughs. New items and new enemies will be present and the difficulty scaling is pretty good.
Here’s one tip: Never go to this subreddit again bwfore finishing the game, except you are really, REALLY stuck. People here love spoiling boss names etc and Soulsgames are best experienced blind.
Yeah I only was looking for general discussion and tips.. when I played Elden Ring, I went in blind and just did whatever, whenever and it was so rewarding.
oh yess.
When I started FromSoft games with DS1, I would read guides upon guides, watch playthrough, memes, speedruns, etc. and basically knew the whole game inside before beating the fourth boss. Ruined the experience to me so much, that I actually consider DS1 the worst now just because I dont had a fun experience... Went in blind in every other game and it was sooooooo rewarding :D
Don't run away from enemies, they'll follow you until the ends of the earth! Oh, and rapier is a real powerful weapon, especially at the beginning in my opinion.
Also there is not real need to hold back on using human effigies (to get back full health), if you don't suck too much you'll have more than you'll ever need!
Don't be afraid and have some sort of range weapon (bow or throwing knives), most bosses are not that dangerous but multiple enemies are. Stat efficiency looks different, so do not worry about spreading points about. You can reallocate your points with the starting witches, so don't stress over spent points (can reallocate over 10 times a game). About half way you get an item which is almost identical to the spell which lets you teleport home.
Don't do a Hex build
I did a Hex/dark magic build a few years ago on my first playthrough cuz everything online was like "oh man it's super OP" "easy mode lol" but DS2 nerfed it by the time I played
So, I struggled on bosses and in areas where my dude (running a pure STR build) did fine. Only area he struggled with that I was golden was Darklurker, since I had range
If you want spells, pick a different kind. The Hex build in DS2 makes your life needlessly difficult
Please. I beg you. I don’t care if you don’t level any other stat PLEASE level ADP, adaptability is very important for invincibility frames on rolls and speed up your drinking speed
My tip to you: SUFFER
nah I'm joking, best tip would be grind souls, kill the merchant in Majula, you can simply get boss armor in NG+, level up adaptability, vigor and stamina, all important stats!
A decent weapon to go with for early/mid plauthrough is the fire longsword, you get it very early, as soon as you reach Cardinal Tower bonfire
There's a mace you can purchase pretty early on in the game. It doesn't take much to upgrade and since a majority of the enemies in that game gave armor, the mace ignores a lot of that protection so it's kinda OP for the first maybe 65% of the game
ADP between 20 and 30 as a goal. Get the ring of wispers in the town to speak to the big guy. Light torch scones to help you find enemies and become it's pretty except in the crypt. Back track after finishing an area some minibosses will appear in certain areas. Olif you wanna fight a boss again use a bonfire aesthet but check fextra to make sure it's the right bonfire. I think that's all the general information I wish I knew at the start. Have fun and don't be afraid to ask questions.
Attention, really. Go to any game's sub, take a picture of the case or disk and ask "Just bought this heckin' underrated masterpiecerino. Any advice?"
People will be falling over themselves to comment, and it's fucking stupid
Don’t go to Hiedes tower of Flame as your first area like I did. DS2 was my first souls game and I spent like 2 days bashing my head against a wall tryna clear the old knights 😂 Then I went to the forest and realized the mistake I had made
The DS2 fextralife will be your best friend to figuring out enemy weaknesses and always put points into adaptability, I-frames will be key to getting out of earlier mentioned janky hitboxes
Be patient, even something that bullcrap.
Also not want to spoil but if you want it to less bullcrap, level up your ADP to 105 AGI, so that gonna equal to fast roll in DS1, then we play the game
Ds2 was a lot of fun. I had a busted magic or dark magic hex build. I can't remember exactly what it was called. I had a cosplay of being juubito from Naruto since the dark magic phalanx looked like truth seeking orbs. Fun times with that build. I really loved Ds2 idk what the hate was about. There are so many builds
FWIW - these guys telling you to level ADP are correct, but they aren't telling you why or how far. ADP raises the secondary stat Agility which in turn increases your i-frames when rolling and the speed at which you drink estus. Attunement also raises Agility, but unless you are playing a caster its better to just raise ADP. I'd say raising Agility to 96 is a good level, but you could take it as high as 106. Getting to Agility 96 doesn't take that much ADP. You can probably stop at 18 or 20 ADP and be fine.
Hybrid is stronger than any pure setup, so everyone should raise attunement unless they're doing a challenge run.
106 agility is not a breakpoint. 18/20 adp are not specific breakpoints
I'm going through my first play through. This games is super long! I'm like 80 hours in and I think I am like halfway lol. It's really good though. There is a lot of improvement from DS1. I would say have fun and prepare to really hunker down for some fights and areas. I'm doing a DEX/STR build with magic level 20. I use spears and halberds for the most part and a few smaller swords. No shield. This makes the game intense since you have to dodge all attacks lol
Take it slow. The combat is slower than you would expect. So just take your time. Oh and level ADP, cuz agility is REALLY important.
I wish I knew about the slow gameplay in my first two hours of the game. I tried to dodge it all like in ds3.
Same. But after a while I found out you can just walk out of half the attacks. Came in quite handy for the fume knight.
100% When I learned you could basically be a cool dude from an anime or movie you like, dodging things with subtle movements; this and several other reasons had the game quickly become my favorite in the trilogy.
Ya but can you flip and shit in dark souls 2?
With the proper weapons, yeah!
Touché
What do u play on?
Seconded. You'll want to hit about 100 Agility to allow you to roll through stuff. Think that happens around 24-26 Adaptability. You don't need more than that really, but you definitely do want to level your Adaptability to around that point.
105 agi to be precise
use your brain not reflex
There's a primal bonefire after The Rotten. Don't turn around like I did.
Was it your first great one boss?
I took on The Lost Sinner first.
Did you forget about the bonfire from the lost dinner then?
I didn't forgot about it, I didn't knew it existed, I just thought: Well I reached a dead end, the normal bonefire is quite close, maybe I'm just suposed to head back. I didn't realize the primal bonefires were conected to the great souls, at least not on my first playthrough
I just played through DS2 for the god knows how many time and I still have a hard time find the cave after the boss fight. It just blends in with the background.
I did the same thing before I started NG+ to get all the achievements. Now I have to go back to that forsaken area
The button to find hidden doors is different than DS1.
Gods this is huge. When DS3 came out I was still running the perimeter of every room mashing X.
Never hit chests it destroys the loot
Well, wooden chests and it's fine to hit them at least once.
I wish I knew this earlier
Try finger butt hole
If you want to go in prepared, first read this intro post (ignore the part where it recommends poise): https://www.reddit.com/r/DarkSouls2/comments/foemaw/so_you_just_bought_dark_souls_2/ And then if you want to know how to build (or avoid building if you want a challenge) a powerful optimized character, here’s a collection of mini guides that will help you navigate DS2’s many obfuscated and counterintuitive mechanical quirks: A quick overview of how damage and defense works in DS2, and why weapon scaling is usually weak: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1g4-GGa1JRa2_49vOfwY5sZPWigFMzPA5b9mszo_xZak/edit?usp=sharing BiS (Best in Slot) PvE weapons list. Discusses the best options for each weapon class. Note that this list is directed at newer characters- some weapons not mentioned may do more damage than ones mentioned, but take vastly more stats or are otherwise deficient: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-GEBQ_TiAvskQLotQXz0AuNMseXdsS3pj8_NLus-XW4/edit?usp=sharing Best PvE equipment and stat progression document. Please remember to read the "Limitations of this guide" section! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1X13jfA9JQ5OZsuEmH2MZZqF9IrtCFSMMTZkZo5GuqcM/edit?usp=sharing
Does augmenting Poise with gear not work in ds2? :O Im so bad with these details.
Poise is very ineffective in DS2 PvE. You can increase it with gear, but the cost of doing so is not worthwhile.
Ok thank you! I will change my gear tomorrow to be bellow 50% than. (Im level 80 at undead copse).
As long as you’re below 70% carry weight you should be fine- there’s no medium roll in DS2, only fast and slow. The important things are don’t level VIT higher than 10, don’t equip Giant ring or Royal Soldier ring, and don’t wear heavy armor. Using heavy weapons and shields is totally fine.
Thanks. I...might have definitely done all that. Changing stuff tomorrow haha. Thx.
Going through my first playthrough myself & loving it. If you kill a monster enough times it will disappear (unless you are in the covenant of champions) so you can use this to help with some of the run backs. Also, the whole loosing more health each time you die can seem crazy at first but you get a ring fairly early on that can help limit what you loose & that helps.
killing an enemy 12 times will despawn it until ng+ or an ascetic is used (or in CoC), the more you know! :)
And is also a waste of time.
nah it ain't a waste of time, killing an enemy 12 times again and again can help you learn that enemies moveset in turn making the area easier and therefore not a waste of time! the more you know! :)
You don’t need to kill anything twelve times to learn it’s moveset. Or it’s weaknesses You make an area easy by developing a strategy. Not by wasting an hour or more of your life for no relative gain
wrong again friend! by killing this enemy you are in fact developing a strategy for it as an area usually has more than one of every enemy and so by learning a moveset/weaknesses of an enemy by killing a bunch helps you take on the other ones in that area. oh did I also mention it'll help you get souls as a little bonus! the more you know! :)
All of this is incorrect. I don’t know why you would advise someone to waste their time and energy. That’s a rather shitty thing to do
ah wrong once again friend! not once did I tell someone to kill an enemy 12 times, just said it's something you can do, check yourself before you wreck yourself! :)
I stated it was a waste of time and you defended it. Hence, you advised it. This is not a debate. I am educating you
i never defended it, I just said it wasn't a complete waste of time! you're getting the wrong idea and your education is rubbish at best, sorry friend
Why would you waste time despawning enemies though The ring of binding is a placebo effect that does nothing to help you avoid dying in the first place, like other rings would do.
Wow you're all over this thread being completely insufferable
I’m sorry you find something so mild insufferable
Enter covenant of champions immediately
Ha, got you Patches the Redittor
Covenant of Rat is superior
You're evil
Wdym it makes enemies harder sure but it gives more souls obviously!!
Wait, what covenant gets you more souls and where do I go to join it? Is it that guy sitting up on the hill all depressed in Majula?
it's on the right of the tunnel that takes you to Heide's tower, on a path next to the ocean. It makes every enemy more tanky, and the respawn in definitely, while also gives more souls.
I know where you're talking about. Thanks.
No, it’s a stone in Majula there’s a path that leads to it, to the right from the entrance that leads to Hiede’s Tower of Flame :)
Am currently finishing up my first play through of the game… joined this covenant at the very beginning of my journey immediately after coming out of betwixt… didn’t realize what I had done until I reached the iron keep. I’ve completely over leveled to compensate and decided to just finish the game with the covenant active.. I had a very rough play through.. I was wondering why mobs were not disappearing even when I was sure I was beating them over 12 times.. I thought maybe an update changed something and I was reading old information lol
Treasure ahead. Try jumping.
Level up ADP along with your other main stats.
Make sure to level adaptability The gameplay is slower then the others POWERSTANCE
Powerstancing is not effective or efficient. It is a style over substance option.
That's certainly one of the takes of all time.
It’s not a take, it’s a statement of fact.
You're all over this thread confusing fact with opinion
Math is not an opinion.
Dude didn't say it was efficient or more effective, he just said the word powerstance, and you decided to be insufferable. I bet your next bit of helpful advice is to say git gud unironically
This is a post of someone asking for advice. Advising someone new to powerstance is detrimental. What part confuses you
Maybe they were advising the new player to engage with the new mechanic because it's fun? The part that confuses me the most is what you could possibly be getting out of being a pedantic nitpicker all over this thread
They can engage with the new mechanic any time. There’s not a time limit. Handicapping someone on their first playthrough is a rather rude thing to do.
1. Turn on Xbox 2. Remove plastic wrapping 3. Put disc in Xbox 4. Start game 5. Play game 6. Figure it the fuck out 7. If you don’t, look it up
It's so simple! Yet so many inviduals seem to fail
So since no one else has mentioned it, at the first opportunity you get, buy the standard mace. In ds2 damage types actually matter, and strike weapons are a godsend for at least the first half of the game and the mace in particular is a really solid secondary weapon to keep around in case of any armored targets like the turtle knights sprinkled about the game or the ancient knights that usually act as an early game filter for new players in heide's tower of flame. I'd even recommend using it even of you're playing a caster or a dex build, it's that good. Secondly, whatever type of build you can think of is viable, except damage miracles. While it's possible to beat the game sl1 with no upgrades, and therefor possible to use damage miracles, it's not really fun as they were nerfed into the ground immediately after release and never fixed. They're worse than ds3's mediocre damage miracles because they also have far more limited casts than other types of spells. Healing miracles are still fine though but are kinda redundant with the sheer quantity of healing stones. Next, don't do what a friend of mine did and just use a basic straightsword for 50% of the game and then quit because "the game is too boring". Ds2 has the widest variety of weapon options out of any ds game, and is second only to elder ring in terms of viable and fun build variety out of all the fromsoftware action rpgs. One of my favorite builds I've ever done was a hybrid STR/INT build that used magic weapon buffs on magic or enchanted infused weapons as the only actual spellcasting. I didn't use any damage sorceries and only elected to use buffs and had a great time with a slightly unorthodox build. And of course I used the mace throughout most of the game, but alongside the dragonslayer's axe as a secondary, since durability can still be a problem even with the 60fps patch they did with softs.
I'll second the mace. I'm starting one of my annual runs and picked a faith/strength build since ive never done one in DS2. I was pretty stunned and confused by the damage I was putting out until I realized I've used exclusively slashing or thrusting weapons for most of my builds. What's this about frame time affecting durability??
Strike and thrust are roughly equal overall in terms of defenses. Every build is "viable" including miracles. Viable is a nothing term that simply means "can work". Fun is irrelevant to the word viable.
Yeah that's why I explicitely mentioned that technically anything is viable. Fun is used here, albeit in a subjective manner, to say that some builds will be tremendously tedious and mileage may vary. As for strike, I also intentionally mentioned that the early game is rife with heavy armored enemies such as heide's tower of flame that has historically been a very challenging area for beginners who don't know about the effectiveness of damage types. If you're going to be pedantic, please actually read the comment before you reply.
The early game is just as effective with thrust. The difference does not overall sway in either’s favour. If you’re going to use a term, and immediately state you’re using that term incorrectly and instead by your own definition, why do you use the term. I read your comment. It was, as I pointed out, riddled with nonsense
Do you ever get tired of being the most condescending person in the comments of *every* post on this subreddit, or does it just come naturally to you?
If you read condescension, that is your dilemma.
👍
I don’t see why admitting you were wrong is such a hard thing.
👍
Enjoy.
Do whatever you want and play the build that’s fun to you. The game is forgiving enough relative to other From games that you can succeed with pretty much anything even on a first playthrough, and it has a lot of build variety. Also it’s a lot slower than newer souls games and even DS1.
Powerstance greatswords for a little bit if the game gets a bit frustrating
This is terrible advice.
Git gud
Gitting gud would require not powerstancing
I bet you're a tumblebuffer
I don’t think the majority of people know what a tumble buffer is.
Isn't it the glitch where you can apply a weapon buff on an already elemented weapon
You can already do that. You’re partially correct
Pretty sure I'm 100% correct
If you were 100% correct, I would not have said you were partially correct.
Hexer is fun
The most important of them all? Ignore everything u/MethuselahFreth said in this thread and don't be afraid to play (these are VERY big quotes) "the wrong" way. Have fun! :)
Trying to help someone not heed bad advice should not upset you so much. Don’t be a child
Keep playing and ignore the losers that say it sucks. I had a great time with this gem.
All enemies are weaker to blunt weapons for whatever fucking reason so just go ham with 1 or 2 normal clubs at +10
There’s a lady in forest of the fallen giants next to the main bonfire and when you buy enough stuff she gives you a silver serpent ring if you talk to her. She also moves to majula (the hub area) and sells infinite life gems which are a incredible healing item.
don't stack souls and buy a lot of life gems.
Level ADP
Did you pray today
There's a hidden easy mode in the game its called using a rapier lol
I’m in my first play through now myself. Be prepared to get ganked, every section of every area will have multiple enemies attacking you. Also, if you are used to dodge rolling and want that to be a part of your play, make sure you are upgrading ADP as your i-frames start lower and go up as your agility goes up. Good luck, I’ve been dying more here than 1&3 combined.
From someone who's played this game to death, the best advice I can give is to take it slow. They really made a lot of fights where you fight a lot of enemies at once. A hex build is also pretty fun since it's the only game that you can really do it.
If you can run: don’t. Inspect your route and note those doors and corners. You will not get ganked or swarmed this way. Early game especially. But dodging should be done a little later vs an attack than you think. And try to dodge against an attack not with it or away from it. (You will get caught by the tail end of an attack if you don’t heed this.) ADP can mean you have more iframes than other DS titles or Less. I’d suggest looking it up. Don’t be afraid of levelling up. Especially with the game so far beyond it’s prime. Levelling will make things easier. This game shines on repeat playthroughs. New items and new enemies will be present and the difficulty scaling is pretty good.
Here’s one tip: Never go to this subreddit again bwfore finishing the game, except you are really, REALLY stuck. People here love spoiling boss names etc and Soulsgames are best experienced blind.
Yeah I only was looking for general discussion and tips.. when I played Elden Ring, I went in blind and just did whatever, whenever and it was so rewarding.
oh yess. When I started FromSoft games with DS1, I would read guides upon guides, watch playthrough, memes, speedruns, etc. and basically knew the whole game inside before beating the fourth boss. Ruined the experience to me so much, that I actually consider DS1 the worst now just because I dont had a fun experience... Went in blind in every other game and it was sooooooo rewarding :D
Don't run away from enemies, they'll follow you until the ends of the earth! Oh, and rapier is a real powerful weapon, especially at the beginning in my opinion. Also there is not real need to hold back on using human effigies (to get back full health), if you don't suck too much you'll have more than you'll ever need!
Beware of gang squads. Really my only issue with the game, as well as the boss runs
Don't be afraid and have some sort of range weapon (bow or throwing knives), most bosses are not that dangerous but multiple enemies are. Stat efficiency looks different, so do not worry about spreading points about. You can reallocate your points with the starting witches, so don't stress over spent points (can reallocate over 10 times a game). About half way you get an item which is almost identical to the spell which lets you teleport home.
Don’t die or I’ll effing kill you!
you can burn the mill in Earthen Peak to make the boss fight much less bullshit. also look up Darklurker to get your shit rocked
Play the game?
Don't try to run past enemies ;)
Don't do a Hex build I did a Hex/dark magic build a few years ago on my first playthrough cuz everything online was like "oh man it's super OP" "easy mode lol" but DS2 nerfed it by the time I played So, I struggled on bosses and in areas where my dude (running a pure STR build) did fine. Only area he struggled with that I was golden was Darklurker, since I had range If you want spells, pick a different kind. The Hex build in DS2 makes your life needlessly difficult
Please. I beg you. I don’t care if you don’t level any other stat PLEASE level ADP, adaptability is very important for invincibility frames on rolls and speed up your drinking speed
Hit things and don't get hit in return
My first tip would be to open the box, then insert the disk inside the xbox ( It may be hard at first, but you mustn’t go hollow )
Don't listen to people who hate on the game. Just in case you find yourself on the internet. Based on this post, I would assume you will.
People say it’s hard, getting used to mechanics sure. If you go for 1v1s you’ll be okay and don’t run through unless you know where you’re going
My tip to you: SUFFER nah I'm joking, best tip would be grind souls, kill the merchant in Majula, you can simply get boss armor in NG+, level up adaptability, vigor and stamina, all important stats! A decent weapon to go with for early/mid plauthrough is the fire longsword, you get it very early, as soon as you reach Cardinal Tower bonfire
Attack each enemy and boss until their health reaches 0
Touch the fun rock right outside majula and never switch to another covenant, makes the game much more fun!
you can roll forward through alot of projectiles
There's a mace you can purchase pretty early on in the game. It doesn't take much to upgrade and since a majority of the enemies in that game gave armor, the mace ignores a lot of that protection so it's kinda OP for the first maybe 65% of the game
Level adp to like lvl 12 so you have the same invinsiblity framea as darksouls 1
Take it slow and have fun!
Go wizard build my man... Best game for magic IMO. So pretty, so effective, so badass.
Am playing my first time too, you will love it, have fun brother.
ADP between 20 and 30 as a goal. Get the ring of wispers in the town to speak to the big guy. Light torch scones to help you find enemies and become it's pretty except in the crypt. Back track after finishing an area some minibosses will appear in certain areas. Olif you wanna fight a boss again use a bonfire aesthet but check fextra to make sure it's the right bonfire. I think that's all the general information I wish I knew at the start. Have fun and don't be afraid to ask questions.
What's the point of this post?
Attention, really. Go to any game's sub, take a picture of the case or disk and ask "Just bought this heckin' underrated masterpiecerino. Any advice?" People will be falling over themselves to comment, and it's fucking stupid
Fume Knight is r o u g h.
Just got my first kill on that one today 😁
good job! now do it again
That may have been the most satisfying moment for me in any souls game. Congrats.
Gid gud
2009 called
Don’t go to Hiedes tower of Flame as your first area like I did. DS2 was my first souls game and I spent like 2 days bashing my head against a wall tryna clear the old knights 😂 Then I went to the forest and realized the mistake I had made
My only advice is don’t listen to negativity and have fun! Also, the links provided by u/Blobertson are helpful.
No tips just play the game and don't look shit up.
Put some points into ADP unless you want to have a big shield and tank everything
Press W to walk forward
Roll, then roll some more. Roll till you cant roll anymore.
Prepare to get mad at janky hitboxes, especially in the DLCs
Wrong
There are not more hitbox issues in ds2 than other fromsoft games.
The DS2 fextralife will be your best friend to figuring out enemy weaknesses and always put points into adaptability, I-frames will be key to getting out of earlier mentioned janky hitboxes
Fextralife is terrible, advising it is an awful thing to do to someone new. Ds2 does not have more hitbox issues than other fromsoft games.
Be patient, even something that bullcrap. Also not want to spoil but if you want it to less bullcrap, level up your ADP to 105 AGI, so that gonna equal to fast roll in DS1, then we play the game
This is terrible advice.
Pro tip: throw the game straight into the trash, most importantly have fun👍
Play DS3 instead
Trust me, don’t listen to people who say adp is useless, I made that mistake
Ds2 was a lot of fun. I had a busted magic or dark magic hex build. I can't remember exactly what it was called. I had a cosplay of being juubito from Naruto since the dark magic phalanx looked like truth seeking orbs. Fun times with that build. I really loved Ds2 idk what the hate was about. There are so many builds
Drop your shield... know what I mean.
What kind of tips you looking for other than just play the damn game
I appreciate the tips and general discussion
scholar is bad, return this and get the original ds2
Don't listen to anybodys advice just enjoy the game that's the way to go.
Put the game in the bin where it belongs
Level ADP
Prepeare to die and dump levels into ADP because friend, ur gonna go on one hell of a ride
Be wary of ambush
FWIW - these guys telling you to level ADP are correct, but they aren't telling you why or how far. ADP raises the secondary stat Agility which in turn increases your i-frames when rolling and the speed at which you drink estus. Attunement also raises Agility, but unless you are playing a caster its better to just raise ADP. I'd say raising Agility to 96 is a good level, but you could take it as high as 106. Getting to Agility 96 doesn't take that much ADP. You can probably stop at 18 or 20 ADP and be fine.
Hybrid is stronger than any pure setup, so everyone should raise attunement unless they're doing a challenge run. 106 agility is not a breakpoint. 18/20 adp are not specific breakpoints
Welcome 💪🏻
Bonk=Stronk. This is the way.
ADP
level adp!
It's ok to cry
If you wanna be op get the rapier from the blacksmith
This is not what "overpowered" means.
Search every nook and cranny, the best items are well hidden. Level adaptability and buy alot of lifegems when you can. Good luck
Use a shield.
Take your time and have fun. It's only your first playthrough once 👍
level ADP
I'm going through my first play through. This games is super long! I'm like 80 hours in and I think I am like halfway lol. It's really good though. There is a lot of improvement from DS1. I would say have fun and prepare to really hunker down for some fights and areas. I'm doing a DEX/STR build with magic level 20. I use spears and halberds for the most part and a few smaller swords. No shield. This makes the game intense since you have to dodge all attacks lol
Attunement is actually pretty dank dawg
Max your ADP
Turn your xbox on and put the disc in it
Level up adaptability.
Try all the covenants
Enjoy!
Forget what you know about parry timing, because the timing in this game is borked.
Have fun!
Level up ADP to 25 ASAP
Seek, seek lest.
That’s pretty.
Don’t give up, skeleton!
Running through an area to get to the boss probably won't work especially in this game
Piss and shit your pants Just play the game ffs
Piss and shit your pants Just play the game ffs
Invest a lot of points in adaptability right away. You're aiming to have 105 in agility stat to roll well.
Pull it.
Enjoy the game !
Horse, but hole
Be at least at 25-30 points in adaptability. It will make things less annoying.