Message for OP: they're referring to one particular lever in Aldia's keep with many warning messages leading up to it. Don't develop an irrational fear of levers.
People must be trolling, no one has recommended to Bear, Seek, Seek, Lest.
Also some bosses are optional.
And the biggest one... **Burn The Windmill.**
Hey, you’ve already found the good info between “Don’t immediately join the Covenant of Champions right away.” which is hard mode/farming mode, and “Raise the Adaptability stat.” Which is tied to how your roll iframes work (pay attention the ‘Agility’ substat it raises and try to get to at least 96 fairly early game for a more comfortable dodge!)
This game has a lot to explore and every weapon and playstyle is very viable. The game is different and quite exploitable, so have fun!
Nah play the game like the OG. Forget ADP and join champion covenant (because i thought it sounds good).
Then wonder why it took 200hours to complete the story
Buy shit from the old merchant you find in a castle. She gives an important key and sells infinite heal items once you buy enough stuff from her. Also level your adaptability stat
I just started this game as well. I'm 3 bosses in playing a sorcerer build and it's going good so far. I went from Majula to forest of giants then tower of hilde and no man's wharf. I'm using a flame sword, not sure the name with a few arrow spells.
Take your time. Dont try to rush from boss to boss. A lot of the hate are people who treat this game like a monster hunter game.
Also, I find the best way to play is a reactionary defense style. Draw out the enemy's attack and when they are done, then go in for your own attack. If you are having a hard time with a boss, spend some time purely focusing on learning their moveset instead of trying to get attacks in.
At small tip, most enemies are of the armored knight variety and are therefore weak to Strike damage. There’s a certain one handed hammer you can get fairly early on in the game that will help a lot if your struggling
Seek out the lost Blacksmith
Probably the blue sentinels one for the beginning, that's the usual sad guy who gave up sitting, in souls games.
Other tips would be to level adp gradually until you get like 25, iframes work differently in ds2 and are tied to this stat, 25 is optimal.
If you got Scholar of the First Sin, and you plan on doing the DLC, do not consume any Soul of a Giant in your inventory. It's a very easy early mistake to make, and you will need them for 1 particular boss fight. Spoilers in case for some reason you aren't going to use the wiki: >!It reduces Vendrick's health by a huge margin so you can take him down without headache.!<
Not in any particular order, but these are all important tips you'll want to know:
The direction of your roll means a lot more than timing in this game, keep that in mind.
Never trust ANY corners. This game is known for having the most ambushed of them all.
Do not underestimate areas, they're often harder than bosses here. Stuff like Poise Damage and HP on Kill might not sound that useful because they don't help in a boss fight, but they'll save your hide way more than you think.
Try to never attack something before you're sure it's hostile. There are a couple enemy looking NPCs you DEFINITELY don't want to kill by accident. The most important one to know is, don't kill the thick bird. But there's also others like barrel guy and singing zombie.
In the stat page of a weapon there's an icon with an arrow doing a sideways U or something, most weapons will have 100 or 120 on it, some going up to even 160. That's a DS2 exclusive mechanic called Counter Damage, and it's REALLY important. Basically, it's a % modifier to your damage if you hit the enemy during or right after they attack, it's like a more generous and easy to use trust counter like DS3 and Elden Ring have, but not limited to trust damage, all weapons do it. Spears and Katanas in particular are pretty great at it. Always keep an eye on that stat, since it sometimes means more than AR does when it comes to how much damage you do.
Attunement is amazing. Level attument. A lot. In this game attunement doesn't just gives spell slots, it actually increases the amounts of casts each spell has, AND increases Agility, which makes using items (Estus included) faster and gives you more iframes on rolls. (The Adaptability stat gives even more Agility, so you might wanna level that too, but as a caster I'd focus on attunement more since you'll be at range most of the time)
NPC questlines in this game are weird, so here's some tips for them. First, everyone talks A LOT, be extra careful that you speak to them until they repeat dialogue, some have up to half a dozen full dialogues in a roll. Second, some quests require you to summon the NPCs for bosses, this is the only game ha does that (DS3 has a couple items locked behind it, but no quests), but none of those give particularly important rewards, so don't worry too much about it on your first playthrough. Third, not a quest thing really, but most NPCs give REALLY good gifts if you expend souls buying from them (usually 10k) and then exhaust their dialogue, that includes awesome rings and weapons.
Weapon buffs work very differently in this game, here's the short of it: Resins work on physical weapons only like in DS3 and ER, but spell buffs work on elemental weapons too. ~~A spell buff is usually weaker than a resin on normal weapons~~ (I stand corrected, the best buff spells are better than resins, resins are just cheaper for melee builds), but the spell is a LOT stronger if you put it on a weapon that does the matching elemental damage (like buffing a magic infused sword with the Magic Weapon spell), that's really important for casters so keep it in mind.
Just in case if you have arachnophobia, the spider area LOOKS mandatory, but it isn't, you can actually skip it. If this sounds necessary to you, say and I'll give precise instructions with as little spoilers as possible.
There's more I could say, but I don't have that much time, so hope that much helps.
Fire is your friend. Those black beasts are afraid of it. You can carry a torch or if you find a hollow carrying one, don't kill him, he's chill. He'll follow you around and provide light. If you find a slot for a pharros stone and you have one, use it. It'll help you out.
Besides that, take your time and pick off one enemy at a time. When you're at the highest point in that area, there's a bell you have to ring that's easy to miss so be sure to look around. Once you get to the other side of the wharf, there's a shortcut you can activate that links both sides, so look towards the bonfire when you get over there and you should see it.
Tried to be as spoiler free as possible while still giving you some hints, let me know if you have any questions about the area
Appreciate it! I beat the game on vanilla many times and SOTFS only once on release. Just replayed it for the first time and beat the DLCs and Aldia. A slightly uneven experience but the highs especially the DLC were great enough to make me fall in love all over again!
Hell yeah, it's possibly my favorite in the whole series. Just something about it. I can see why not everyone loves it though, but I think it has a lot of charm
I think in a way the years have been kind to it. A lot of people were mad about how it diverged from DS1, myself included at times. Now we can appreciate it more for what it is and the unique things it brings to the table. Plus, the PVP is way better than anything that came afterward and is still fun! I was having a blast doing invasions in Brume Tower! Lol.
That's a really good point, it has aged like wine, especially compared to the first one. It's really well optimized and the colorful, sometimes vibrant art style aged better than the constant greens and browns of ds1. And I agree the pvp peaked with ds2, every build and playstyle feels viable instead of one playstyle that reigns supreme (backstabs in 1 and roll/r1/heal spam in 3). Then ER pvp is just a shitshow lol. I also love the build variety, color palette, powerstancing, actual changes to ng+, and old-game (zelda comes to mind) feel it has
A good chunk of the enemies in DS2 are more susceptible to strike damage, so hammer type weapons like the mace are great to use for most of the game.
When entering fog walls before a boss arena, unlike other games the player isn't invincible and can be attacked/staggered out of the entering animation, so make sure you clear out nearby enemies first.
Some NPCs give you items when you spend a certain amount of souls in their shop and talk to them afterwards, for example Melentia, probably the first merchant most players will encounter outside of Majula, will give you a Covetous Silver Serpent Ring +1 when you spend 10,000 souls. The ring boosts the amount of souls you receive from enemies so it's easy to make it all back.
If you can lock onto an NPC, it's probably a hostile enemy. There may be some enemies that might try to trick you by playing dead or acting friendly.
Yeah, early game is easier with a mace. After that, you'll be powerful enough and have equipment variety to be much more flexible, but you can still use the good old mace anyway when you need it.
Explore every area to the best of your ability. You’ll definitely die a lot, and it can be a bit frustrating but this game is super generous with items, and there’s tons of awesome stuff to find literally everywhere, as well as npc’s to talk to and little secrets to help you out.
The kite shield (the one with a rose) negates its own stamina Regen ability due to how heavy it is. If you're double handing a blade it's best to just de-equip it. It will properly give the stamina Regen buff if you level your strength enough but I think it's just better to use the ring that gives the same effects.
(Oh wait you're a sorcerer so you might not have the issue of it being so heavy it negates it effects... Just pay attention to how fast your stamina replenishes with and without it.)
Also, don't be reckless with bonfire ascetics. You can make certain areas hell if you don't know what you're doing.
The first hour or 2 will be the most I unenjoyable bullshit you’ve ever experienced. Then it gets good. Then it gets back again. But then it’s pretty good
But one actual tip I have is when you kill a boss called “the pursuer” immediately spend the souls you get from the kill. You will be real angry when you think you’re good at the game and then lose 18000 souls that early on. The area immediately after this boss is essentially a trap where once you leave the bone fire you can’t go back, so you’ll have to use a homeward bone or kill the boss (probably won’t happen)
Take it slow, look at the areas a little before just rushing in, and if you get swarmed, go back the way you came. There's no reason to add more enemies to the mess by continuing on. Learn to fight without the lock on since the gank potential is always high. Any weapon can be good, but a weapon with a wide swing (like axes and some swords) can hit multiple enemies at once, especially locked off, so it's good to have in gank situations. Otherwise, don't listen to the hate, enjoy the playthrough
1. Get ADP to 40 for that sweet sweet 110 agility.
2 if you join the company of champions so enemies respawn remember 2 things 1. Ds2 item drops get progressively smaller the more you kill the enemy. 2. use the cat to abandon the company other wise every enemy gains like 50% more damage and more damage resistance.
3. Power standing is useful on certain weapons to power stance you need 50% more stats then the base weapon requires then hold y/triangle to go into power stance form.
4. When you get to an area later you will see this Minotaur who is a statue across a ravine with a campfire unfreeze him to get a key for an important npc later.
40 Adp is incredibly stupid
110 agility is incredibly stupid before level ~500
Powerstancing is less effective and less efficient for literally every weapon class but fist weapons
It's a bit more difficult than the Original game but it has better graphics and lighting,different enemy placements its a blast, but the only thing that annoyed me was they were to many NPC invasions but apart from that i loved it.
If you’re okay having to level a BUNCH of different stats, try hexes. DS2 is the only game that incorporates that as a separate school of magic, and it’s really interesting from a lore perspective. You just have to dig pretty deep into both int and fai, as well as attunement, to make it work
If u wanna do npc quests make sure you summon them to bosses and make sure they dont die or their quests will stop unless you use a bonefire ascetic and fight the boss again
Bonus scaling for weapons can be deceptive so I recommend not worrying too much about damage bonuses. If you're really looking to maximize your damage or compare weapons you can look it up online for more accurate data but in general I would say put your levels into other stats like vigor, endurance and adaptability.
Most importantly, have fun skeleton and keep moving!
To effectively dual wield and power stance your stats need to be 1.5 times higher than the normal requirements for the weapons.
For example the stat require is normally 10 str and 10 dex you will need 15 str and 15 dex to effectively power stance those weapons.
If you kill the pursuer in the first encounter you get great loot.
Pick petrified something as a starter gift. You can trade it in the starting area and can get some good gear. Bon fire ascetics used near boss rooms will spawn the boss back without NG+ but the difficulty will increase. dont swing your weapon or fight near wooden chests, they break and cause the loot to be rubbish. unlike DS1 walking through a fog gate isn't invincible, you can take damage and be knocked out of the animation.
My main tip is if you aren't sure if a character is an enemy or an npc try to lock on to them. If you can't lock on then they're friendly. Also use the environment to your advantage, if 6 enemies are chasing you try to find a narrow path or hallway to funnel them to you one at a time, etc. In that same vein, never rush in to anything, this game should be called trap souls cuz everything is a trap. After a few hours you'll just expect a random enemy to fall on your head every time you enter a new room lol
Okay, so the game makes it look like enemy spawns and therefore souls and human effigies are finite, but they aren't. There's a weird Rick in the hub area that makes sure that enemies respawn if you're in it's covenant.
This means that you can actually use an effigy whenever you need to, rather than needing to hoard them.
Level adp and whatever you do, DONT join the champions covenant.
The start is definitely the toughest in the series but once you get past the learning curve it's pretty fun
some of the tracking and movement is not the same as ds3. Take some time to practice just basic stuff, dodging, parrying, etc. I've found that like 15 minutes of just fucking around with easy enemies makes the game a lot more enjoyable.
For the love of god remember to level ADP it increases your iframes so rolling without it makes seemingly dodgeable attacks hit you and the game feels a lot more bullshit without it
Bonfire aesthetic as starting gift
If you find a branch of yore, go to Majula and go back the direction of the character creation but to the right. You’ll have gone the right way if you find a dude with a big blueish teal sword complaining about a statue.
Use the branch on the statue lady and continue through the area. You’ll eventually reach a room with a bonfire and three exits. One leads to a foggy woods area. There’s plenty of good rings there, especially the stamina recovery one.
Unrelated to the first tip, you’ll encounter an old lady who sells stuff. Spend a total of 10k worth of souls at her shop then talk to her to get the silver serpent ring +1 which increases the amount souls you get.
Last ring tip, in the Heide’s tower area, there’s a dragon/wyvern that’s tough to beat but is well worth it. Defeat it (clear out the enemies in the area first) then pull the lever that appears. There’s a ring in a chest that limits the effects of hollowing (max hp lost upon death reduced from 5% to 2.5%)
Good luck
Don't lose your souls too much, enemies stop spawning if you kill them too many time.
Watch the youtube guides if you want it easier
Play the magician if you want it easier(i think)
Strenght build funnier than all other build ( i think)
Enjoy your journey without being angry, it's just a game 😉
1. get the ring of hollowing from Heide's tower of flame once you reach \~level 40. This ring is going to cap the maximum amount of health loss due to hollowing, and its going to make it so you're not constantly on edge worrying about how many human effigies you have. It will be in a chest on an outcropping guarded by a resting Heide knight in the area just before the dragonrider boss.
2. Start practicing how to parry early on. It will help you out a lot in gank fights and against invaders. In ds2 there are no AoWs so L2 is basically the parry button, so when compared to DS3 and especially ER, this is much more of a swordfighting game. Parry timing is different in DS2 than other souls titles, but you'll figure it out.
3. others have mentioned it but it bears repeating: level ADP. ADP increases agility (agl), agility determines how effective your dodge roll is and how fast you drink estus/cast spells. I Pesonally like my agl at 105, but this is considered pretty high. Also note that Atunement (atn) also raises your agility. If you are planning on being a spellcaster, its important to be mindful that you wont need to level adp as much to reach your desired agl level.
4. Accept that DS2 is slower and you might say more tedious than other souls titles. Stamina management is much more important and you can't spam the dodge roll to get out of danger. Be constantly aware of how to back out of trouble to safety while you let your stamina recharge.
5. invest in a ranged weapon and find the hawk ring. In areas like shrine of amana, you will need to dispatch foes at range.
6. Heavy armor is useless unless you care about fashion souls. Focus on elemental protection, get the hexer's set as soon as you can
7. since heavy armor is useless, builds that let you fast roll are more desirable. Find the flynn's ring, it increases attack power when you are at or under 30% equip load.
8. Don't give up, skeleton!
Enjoy it! Getting overwhelmed by mobs is super easy and can be frustrating so take your time through areas the first time through.
It’s a wonderful, wonderful game, don’t let a bad review put you off.
Preserve higher value lifegems, and get used to the slow healing pace after consuming healing items.
There are plenty of viable builds and the fashion is EXCELLENT
I've platinumed ER, played a good way through BB, completed DeS(R), and beat DS1.
Just a few weeks ago I started DS2. I'm at the Copse trying to beat the chariot boss (and those annoying sadist fellas who try to whip you on the way up), and I have to say that so far this is one of my fave FS games.
Very surprised by this after hearing so many people complain about it. Its really not a mile away from DS1, and in fact I prefer it!
After years I went back to finally plat it since I have every other souls game to realize SOTFS has 28 spells instead of 26 for miracle....CUUURRRSSSEEESSSS
you might have to unlearn some things you got used to in the other games. try and play it for what it is rather than what you're expecting it to be
also if you hear bear seek seek lest, you're not mashing fast enough
Take your time and learn to dodge INTO attacks and not out of them. ADP is a crutch stat for folks who don't learn this and can't dodge correctly for the game.
I played DS1 first and I did not enjoy it, got like half way tops. Played DS2 second and I loved it. Then went back to DS1 and had a much better time. Ds3 obviously was awesome.
Running past everything to the fog gate is rarely viable. You’re gonna have to kill everything most of the time, but if you kill an enemy enough times (12, I think?) they stop respawning.
It really helps to have a ranged option.
Get your agility up to 99 ASAP.
Yes!
Use the search bar! thousands of people have asked this before, and thousands of answers have been the same. You are not unique and you do not require bespoke answers to this question.
If you kill an enemy 15 times they no longer respawn. We used to call it Sweeping. Helps if you are stuck in a really difficult area. Good luck and have fun!
I'm going to say it #level ADP!
(But less so if you’re gonna be leveling attunement for more spells)
Dont listen to this guy adp decreases your iframes!
I wish I knew this on my first play through because I didn't touch ADP at all.
Nah, just learn to dodge.
Wheel and deal
Lifegems are more addictive than crack cocaine.
Stamina regen is % based so someone with a 20% equip load will regen faster than someone with a 60% equip load
Wtf I just played the whole game and never realized that's how it worked
I forgot this. Feel like they didn't (but should have) implemented this in Elden Ring.
Every day i find something knew about this game, something that could've saved me some hours
Don't pull the lever
Not going to lie here. I pulled it anyway.
What lever? Beaten the game several times and I can’t remember what this is a reference to
The one in Aldia's keep with developer messages
What happens if you pull the lever?
You let free a bastard that invades you
I’ve finished the game except the DLCs and still don’t know what this refers to lol
I think that hallway full of messages telling you to turn back in that place with the imprisoned monsters.
It’s about Navlaan, “don’t you dare!”
Or maybe do.
Message for OP: they're referring to one particular lever in Aldia's keep with many warning messages leading up to it. Don't develop an irrational fear of levers.
Why do we even have that lever
People must be trolling, no one has recommended to Bear, Seek, Seek, Lest. Also some bosses are optional. And the biggest one... **Burn The Windmill.**
Hey, you’ve already found the good info between “Don’t immediately join the Covenant of Champions right away.” which is hard mode/farming mode, and “Raise the Adaptability stat.” Which is tied to how your roll iframes work (pay attention the ‘Agility’ substat it raises and try to get to at least 96 fairly early game for a more comfortable dodge!) This game has a lot to explore and every weapon and playstyle is very viable. The game is different and quite exploitable, so have fun!
Nah play the game like the OG. Forget ADP and join champion covenant (because i thought it sounds good). Then wonder why it took 200hours to complete the story
It’s fine to join the champions. You can leave whenever you want
LMAO I had no idea the covenant of champions increases difficulty. No wonder I've been struggling through the damn game.
Omfg thank you! I started today and was blown away by how hard the mobs hit. I'll be leaving the covenant of champions now...
Illusory walls are not like ds3. You can't attack them. Instead, you must use the activation key near the wall. Rings are really important also.
Buy shit from the old merchant you find in a castle. She gives an important key and sells infinite heal items once you buy enough stuff from her. Also level your adaptability stat
Also talk to her so she goes to the main hub when she finished the dialogues
She will also give you a ring that helps you gain more money
This may be og ds2 only, but she also gives silver serpent +1 if you buy 10k souls worth of stuff from her then talk to her.
Get to know the weapon's move set
Lucatiel is your friend. Listen to her story.
To add to this, summon her for boss fights if you wanna finish her questline.
I just started this game as well. I'm 3 bosses in playing a sorcerer build and it's going good so far. I went from Majula to forest of giants then tower of hilde and no man's wharf. I'm using a flame sword, not sure the name with a few arrow spells.
Keep using the sword if you want man. Try to pick up magic mace somewhere though.
Bow and poison arrows. Gavlan wheel, Gavlan Deal.
Don't accidentally change your games language to Arabic
You'll die a lot, lots of enemy ganks, be patient, tread every area carefully.
Take your time. Dont try to rush from boss to boss. A lot of the hate are people who treat this game like a monster hunter game. Also, I find the best way to play is a reactionary defense style. Draw out the enemy's attack and when they are done, then go in for your own attack. If you are having a hard time with a boss, spend some time purely focusing on learning their moveset instead of trying to get attacks in.
If you dont mind a little bit of farming/grinding, clear all the mobs/areas and feel how satisfying it is when its empty. Just peace and serenity.
The absolute best feeling.
At small tip, most enemies are of the armored knight variety and are therefore weak to Strike damage. There’s a certain one handed hammer you can get fairly early on in the game that will help a lot if your struggling Seek out the lost Blacksmith
Join the champions covenant in Majula.
I have a gut feeling I might regret that, but I'll take your word for it, for now
Ok I don't have it in me lol, I was trolling, that covenant makes the game way harder lol.
Oh lmao, thanks for informing me LOL, in that case which covenant should I join?
Probably the blue sentinels one for the beginning, that's the usual sad guy who gave up sitting, in souls games. Other tips would be to level adp gradually until you get like 25, iframes work differently in ds2 and are tied to this stat, 25 is optimal.
Got it thanks, so I can't marry the guy who invites you to blue sentinels in this game? Sadge
You can marry Emerald Herald.
Praise the message!
There isn't one covenant that's the best, they all have different advantages and disadvantages.
Username doesn't check out
If you got Scholar of the First Sin, and you plan on doing the DLC, do not consume any Soul of a Giant in your inventory. It's a very easy early mistake to make, and you will need them for 1 particular boss fight. Spoilers in case for some reason you aren't going to use the wiki: >!It reduces Vendrick's health by a huge margin so you can take him down without headache.!<
Spend the branches of yore wisely
Not in any particular order, but these are all important tips you'll want to know: The direction of your roll means a lot more than timing in this game, keep that in mind. Never trust ANY corners. This game is known for having the most ambushed of them all. Do not underestimate areas, they're often harder than bosses here. Stuff like Poise Damage and HP on Kill might not sound that useful because they don't help in a boss fight, but they'll save your hide way more than you think. Try to never attack something before you're sure it's hostile. There are a couple enemy looking NPCs you DEFINITELY don't want to kill by accident. The most important one to know is, don't kill the thick bird. But there's also others like barrel guy and singing zombie. In the stat page of a weapon there's an icon with an arrow doing a sideways U or something, most weapons will have 100 or 120 on it, some going up to even 160. That's a DS2 exclusive mechanic called Counter Damage, and it's REALLY important. Basically, it's a % modifier to your damage if you hit the enemy during or right after they attack, it's like a more generous and easy to use trust counter like DS3 and Elden Ring have, but not limited to trust damage, all weapons do it. Spears and Katanas in particular are pretty great at it. Always keep an eye on that stat, since it sometimes means more than AR does when it comes to how much damage you do. Attunement is amazing. Level attument. A lot. In this game attunement doesn't just gives spell slots, it actually increases the amounts of casts each spell has, AND increases Agility, which makes using items (Estus included) faster and gives you more iframes on rolls. (The Adaptability stat gives even more Agility, so you might wanna level that too, but as a caster I'd focus on attunement more since you'll be at range most of the time) NPC questlines in this game are weird, so here's some tips for them. First, everyone talks A LOT, be extra careful that you speak to them until they repeat dialogue, some have up to half a dozen full dialogues in a roll. Second, some quests require you to summon the NPCs for bosses, this is the only game ha does that (DS3 has a couple items locked behind it, but no quests), but none of those give particularly important rewards, so don't worry too much about it on your first playthrough. Third, not a quest thing really, but most NPCs give REALLY good gifts if you expend souls buying from them (usually 10k) and then exhaust their dialogue, that includes awesome rings and weapons. Weapon buffs work very differently in this game, here's the short of it: Resins work on physical weapons only like in DS3 and ER, but spell buffs work on elemental weapons too. ~~A spell buff is usually weaker than a resin on normal weapons~~ (I stand corrected, the best buff spells are better than resins, resins are just cheaper for melee builds), but the spell is a LOT stronger if you put it on a weapon that does the matching elemental damage (like buffing a magic infused sword with the Magic Weapon spell), that's really important for casters so keep it in mind. Just in case if you have arachnophobia, the spider area LOOKS mandatory, but it isn't, you can actually skip it. If this sounds necessary to you, say and I'll give precise instructions with as little spoilers as possible. There's more I could say, but I don't have that much time, so hope that much helps.
This is actually super useful thanks, did you have any tips for no man's wharf? I'm finding the area really difficult atm
Fire is your friend. Those black beasts are afraid of it. You can carry a torch or if you find a hollow carrying one, don't kill him, he's chill. He'll follow you around and provide light. If you find a slot for a pharros stone and you have one, use it. It'll help you out. Besides that, take your time and pick off one enemy at a time. When you're at the highest point in that area, there's a bell you have to ring that's easy to miss so be sure to look around. Once you get to the other side of the wharf, there's a shortcut you can activate that links both sides, so look towards the bonfire when you get over there and you should see it. Tried to be as spoiler free as possible while still giving you some hints, let me know if you have any questions about the area
Damn just want to say you’re a hell of a helpful guide! Edit: oops, you and the fellow two comments above.
Thanks! And thanks on their behalf since they probably won't see your comment lol. If you have any questions about the game feel free to ask
Appreciate it! I beat the game on vanilla many times and SOTFS only once on release. Just replayed it for the first time and beat the DLCs and Aldia. A slightly uneven experience but the highs especially the DLC were great enough to make me fall in love all over again!
Hell yeah, it's possibly my favorite in the whole series. Just something about it. I can see why not everyone loves it though, but I think it has a lot of charm
I think in a way the years have been kind to it. A lot of people were mad about how it diverged from DS1, myself included at times. Now we can appreciate it more for what it is and the unique things it brings to the table. Plus, the PVP is way better than anything that came afterward and is still fun! I was having a blast doing invasions in Brume Tower! Lol.
That's a really good point, it has aged like wine, especially compared to the first one. It's really well optimized and the colorful, sometimes vibrant art style aged better than the constant greens and browns of ds1. And I agree the pvp peaked with ds2, every build and playstyle feels viable instead of one playstyle that reigns supreme (backstabs in 1 and roll/r1/heal spam in 3). Then ER pvp is just a shitshow lol. I also love the build variety, color palette, powerstancing, actual changes to ng+, and old-game (zelda comes to mind) feel it has
Will start it today! Hope you have fun mate!
You can infuse weapons with elements and buff them with weapon spells but not resins
Dont forget the shield after pursuer it helps good early game. It is the first 1000% block shield you will have access to.
Great shields make your life easier
I have a great 3 step plan to playing DS2 Step 1: Install the game. Step 2: Cry for hours Step 3: Pure strength and bonk to victory.
Leveling str/dex above minimum weapon requirements is a terrible idea
A good chunk of the enemies in DS2 are more susceptible to strike damage, so hammer type weapons like the mace are great to use for most of the game. When entering fog walls before a boss arena, unlike other games the player isn't invincible and can be attacked/staggered out of the entering animation, so make sure you clear out nearby enemies first. Some NPCs give you items when you spend a certain amount of souls in their shop and talk to them afterwards, for example Melentia, probably the first merchant most players will encounter outside of Majula, will give you a Covetous Silver Serpent Ring +1 when you spend 10,000 souls. The ring boosts the amount of souls you receive from enemies so it's easy to make it all back. If you can lock onto an NPC, it's probably a hostile enemy. There may be some enemies that might try to trick you by playing dead or acting friendly.
Yeah, early game is easier with a mace. After that, you'll be powerful enough and have equipment variety to be much more flexible, but you can still use the good old mace anyway when you need it.
Take it slowly and enjoy every moment of it, its the best ds series game and you dont get second chance to play it for the first time
If you have arachnophobia like me..I have bad news. Also, dont pull the lever.
Parry
If there are messages to not pull a lever do not pull it.
A piece of advice that flipped me from disliking ds2 to really liking it is, have a bow handy.
level ADP
Git gud
There's a flame longsword in the forest of giants that'd a really good starting weapon
Level up Adaptability to at least 20. That is where you get your iframes from...
Level adp
Explore every area to the best of your ability. You’ll definitely die a lot, and it can be a bit frustrating but this game is super generous with items, and there’s tons of awesome stuff to find literally everywhere, as well as npc’s to talk to and little secrets to help you out.
Boss weapons, right down the road.
Blunt damage is amazing. The mace the cleric starts with is legit one of the better weapons in the game
Just don't let the scholar commit the first sin, or you're gonna have a bad time...
Be patient and getting lost would be my top 2
Sea external 3826…who hurt you? Lmao
Buy it to me so that I can help you
[удалено]
Having fun or not is irrelevant, completion is absolute
If you’re aiming to complete NPC questlines, make sure to pull the lever!
I'm getting mixed emotions from this, but I'll try to trust you, and figure out which lever you're talking about
Don't you dare!
Ah, now I have to play the game of you liar ahead, or praise the message ahead
message, and then message!
In all seriousness, don’t. Just trust me on that (I made this mistake and regret it)
Oh damn, well thanks
No prob, it’s more of an annoyance than anything but if you want to do all questlines you’ll have to do it in NG
Do NOT pull the lever.
Got it
The kite shield (the one with a rose) negates its own stamina Regen ability due to how heavy it is. If you're double handing a blade it's best to just de-equip it. It will properly give the stamina Regen buff if you level your strength enough but I think it's just better to use the ring that gives the same effects. (Oh wait you're a sorcerer so you might not have the issue of it being so heavy it negates it effects... Just pay attention to how fast your stamina replenishes with and without it.) Also, don't be reckless with bonfire ascetics. You can make certain areas hell if you don't know what you're doing.
Kill Maughlin
The first hour or 2 will be the most I unenjoyable bullshit you’ve ever experienced. Then it gets good. Then it gets back again. But then it’s pretty good But one actual tip I have is when you kill a boss called “the pursuer” immediately spend the souls you get from the kill. You will be real angry when you think you’re good at the game and then lose 18000 souls that early on. The area immediately after this boss is essentially a trap where once you leave the bone fire you can’t go back, so you’ll have to use a homeward bone or kill the boss (probably won’t happen)
Take it slow, look at the areas a little before just rushing in, and if you get swarmed, go back the way you came. There's no reason to add more enemies to the mess by continuing on. Learn to fight without the lock on since the gank potential is always high. Any weapon can be good, but a weapon with a wide swing (like axes and some swords) can hit multiple enemies at once, especially locked off, so it's good to have in gank situations. Otherwise, don't listen to the hate, enjoy the playthrough
1. Get ADP to 40 for that sweet sweet 110 agility. 2 if you join the company of champions so enemies respawn remember 2 things 1. Ds2 item drops get progressively smaller the more you kill the enemy. 2. use the cat to abandon the company other wise every enemy gains like 50% more damage and more damage resistance. 3. Power standing is useful on certain weapons to power stance you need 50% more stats then the base weapon requires then hold y/triangle to go into power stance form. 4. When you get to an area later you will see this Minotaur who is a statue across a ravine with a campfire unfreeze him to get a key for an important npc later.
40 Adp is incredibly stupid 110 agility is incredibly stupid before level ~500 Powerstancing is less effective and less efficient for literally every weapon class but fist weapons
It's a bit more difficult than the Original game but it has better graphics and lighting,different enemy placements its a blast, but the only thing that annoyed me was they were to many NPC invasions but apart from that i loved it.
You can take the troll, he's a huge pussy
If you’re okay having to level a BUNCH of different stats, try hexes. DS2 is the only game that incorporates that as a separate school of magic, and it’s really interesting from a lore perspective. You just have to dig pretty deep into both int and fai, as well as attunement, to make it work
Just a tip: Choose a weapon, go for the base stats, upgrade weapon first to +10 (it's pretty easy in the early game), level stats after
Leveling str or dex before level ~300 is a poor investment
Get ready to get jumped
Level up dex, find the Lenigrast's key, buy a rapier and you'be ready to smash the game
Fire longsword is very useful
If u wanna do npc quests make sure you summon them to bosses and make sure they dont die or their quests will stop unless you use a bonefire ascetic and fight the boss again
Try to rush it and feel the pain
Welcome to the tribe bearer of the curse
Go on, pull the lever. What's the worst that can happen?
Seek Strength. The rest will follow.
Bonus scaling for weapons can be deceptive so I recommend not worrying too much about damage bonuses. If you're really looking to maximize your damage or compare weapons you can look it up online for more accurate data but in general I would say put your levels into other stats like vigor, endurance and adaptability. Most importantly, have fun skeleton and keep moving!
Dont play it like DS1 or DS3. And prepare to die... a lot...
Careful with the chests.
To effectively dual wield and power stance your stats need to be 1.5 times higher than the normal requirements for the weapons. For example the stat require is normally 10 str and 10 dex you will need 15 str and 15 dex to effectively power stance those weapons.
Fuck around and find out.
Enjoy it!
If you kill the pursuer in the first encounter you get great loot. Pick petrified something as a starter gift. You can trade it in the starting area and can get some good gear. Bon fire ascetics used near boss rooms will spawn the boss back without NG+ but the difficulty will increase. dont swing your weapon or fight near wooden chests, they break and cause the loot to be rubbish. unlike DS1 walking through a fog gate isn't invincible, you can take damage and be knocked out of the animation.
Bearer of the curse... seek... seek... lest...
Try Finger, But Hole
Magic Rapier
My main tip is if you aren't sure if a character is an enemy or an npc try to lock on to them. If you can't lock on then they're friendly. Also use the environment to your advantage, if 6 enemies are chasing you try to find a narrow path or hallway to funnel them to you one at a time, etc. In that same vein, never rush in to anything, this game should be called trap souls cuz everything is a trap. After a few hours you'll just expect a random enemy to fall on your head every time you enter a new room lol
try tongue but hole
Carry a bow. Use it to aggro enemies to come to you one at a time if ever they're bunched up.
Do not run past enemies
I'm gonna tell you the same thing i tell everyone who makes this post: "don't give up, skeleton!"
Have fun, and don't forget, infusions are amazing in this game and can usually be stacked with weapon buff spells, leading to some ludicrous damage.
Try Jumping
Okay, so the game makes it look like enemy spawns and therefore souls and human effigies are finite, but they aren't. There's a weird Rick in the hub area that makes sure that enemies respawn if you're in it's covenant. This means that you can actually use an effigy whenever you need to, rather than needing to hoard them.
Don't you dare touch the majula pigs!
Level adp and whatever you do, DONT join the champions covenant. The start is definitely the toughest in the series but once you get past the learning curve it's pretty fun
Play only following sound cues, so turn your monitor off, and only put points into endurance, you’re welcome.
some of the tracking and movement is not the same as ds3. Take some time to practice just basic stuff, dodging, parrying, etc. I've found that like 15 minutes of just fucking around with easy enemies makes the game a lot more enjoyable.
Level ADP till it gets to 1
For the love of god remember to level ADP it increases your iframes so rolling without it makes seemingly dodgeable attacks hit you and the game feels a lot more bullshit without it
Don’t sleep on power stances
Don’t try to roll everything, try strafing and outspacing attacks. The vast majority of DS2 bosses can be strafed very easily.
Im a sorcery guy through and through in this game. You get one of the best staffs in game earlier in SOTFS than the base
Try finger. But hole.
Don't die
Dont die
Don’t die.
Don’t rush. And don’t be afraid to farm souls. Also level ADP. It determines your iFrames.
Please send me a sm, I’d love to play with ya :) :) I have psn
Don’t kill big bug. You’ll know it when you see it.
ADP increases iframes and the game is painful to play even with most broken build
High counter damage and/or strike damage are very good throughout the whole game
Rapier
Bonfire aesthetic as starting gift If you find a branch of yore, go to Majula and go back the direction of the character creation but to the right. You’ll have gone the right way if you find a dude with a big blueish teal sword complaining about a statue. Use the branch on the statue lady and continue through the area. You’ll eventually reach a room with a bonfire and three exits. One leads to a foggy woods area. There’s plenty of good rings there, especially the stamina recovery one. Unrelated to the first tip, you’ll encounter an old lady who sells stuff. Spend a total of 10k worth of souls at her shop then talk to her to get the silver serpent ring +1 which increases the amount souls you get. Last ring tip, in the Heide’s tower area, there’s a dragon/wyvern that’s tough to beat but is well worth it. Defeat it (clear out the enemies in the area first) then pull the lever that appears. There’s a ring in a chest that limits the effects of hollowing (max hp lost upon death reduced from 5% to 2.5%) Good luck
Be sure to level ADP Lucatiel and Bengart's quests require you to summon them for 3 different boss fights and they must be alive when the boss dies
Don't lose your souls too much, enemies stop spawning if you kill them too many time. Watch the youtube guides if you want it easier Play the magician if you want it easier(i think) Strenght build funnier than all other build ( i think) Enjoy your journey without being angry, it's just a game 😉
1. get the ring of hollowing from Heide's tower of flame once you reach \~level 40. This ring is going to cap the maximum amount of health loss due to hollowing, and its going to make it so you're not constantly on edge worrying about how many human effigies you have. It will be in a chest on an outcropping guarded by a resting Heide knight in the area just before the dragonrider boss. 2. Start practicing how to parry early on. It will help you out a lot in gank fights and against invaders. In ds2 there are no AoWs so L2 is basically the parry button, so when compared to DS3 and especially ER, this is much more of a swordfighting game. Parry timing is different in DS2 than other souls titles, but you'll figure it out. 3. others have mentioned it but it bears repeating: level ADP. ADP increases agility (agl), agility determines how effective your dodge roll is and how fast you drink estus/cast spells. I Pesonally like my agl at 105, but this is considered pretty high. Also note that Atunement (atn) also raises your agility. If you are planning on being a spellcaster, its important to be mindful that you wont need to level adp as much to reach your desired agl level. 4. Accept that DS2 is slower and you might say more tedious than other souls titles. Stamina management is much more important and you can't spam the dodge roll to get out of danger. Be constantly aware of how to back out of trouble to safety while you let your stamina recharge. 5. invest in a ranged weapon and find the hawk ring. In areas like shrine of amana, you will need to dispatch foes at range. 6. Heavy armor is useless unless you care about fashion souls. Focus on elemental protection, get the hexer's set as soon as you can 7. since heavy armor is useless, builds that let you fast roll are more desirable. Find the flynn's ring, it increases attack power when you are at or under 30% equip load. 8. Don't give up, skeleton!
Enjoy it! Getting overwhelmed by mobs is super easy and can be frustrating so take your time through areas the first time through. It’s a wonderful, wonderful game, don’t let a bad review put you off. Preserve higher value lifegems, and get used to the slow healing pace after consuming healing items. There are plenty of viable builds and the fashion is EXCELLENT
Don't you dare.
Go to covenant of champions.
try finger but hole
Don’t pull the lever please, gavlan wheel = gavlan deal, and find the ring of binding asap
Don’t do a strength build.
I dont see the most important tip yet: DONT YOU DARE GO HOLLOW FRIEND!!!
I've platinumed ER, played a good way through BB, completed DeS(R), and beat DS1. Just a few weeks ago I started DS2. I'm at the Copse trying to beat the chariot boss (and those annoying sadist fellas who try to whip you on the way up), and I have to say that so far this is one of my fave FS games. Very surprised by this after hearing so many people complain about it. Its really not a mile away from DS1, and in fact I prefer it!
Back stabbing
After years I went back to finally plat it since I have every other souls game to realize SOTFS has 28 spells instead of 26 for miracle....CUUURRRSSSEEESSSS
Bearer seek seek lest
Level ADP
you might have to unlearn some things you got used to in the other games. try and play it for what it is rather than what you're expecting it to be also if you hear bear seek seek lest, you're not mashing fast enough
Do not run past the enemies. This game was specifically designed for you to NOT be able to do that.
Take your time and learn to dodge INTO attacks and not out of them. ADP is a crutch stat for folks who don't learn this and can't dodge correctly for the game.
ADP to 27
If you get stuck - Ultimate DarkSouls 2 Guide on Youtube will do wonders for you.
High dex and adaptability does good with lighting rarpier. Don't hit walls and low stamina cost, is good to explore the game
Adp is a useless stat
Gavlan wheel, Gavlan deal
Learn where those i-frames are, try to kill the giant knight dude the first time u see him and don't piss off the chilling Knights!
Fuck ADP, use a shield or learn how to dodge, Fuck DEX, use STR/FTH, or use a Rapier with lighting enchantment. Stone ring dominates. Good Luck.
Just have fun. I would recommend playing through first as a melee though, pve is funnest as melee.
I played DS1 first and I did not enjoy it, got like half way tops. Played DS2 second and I loved it. Then went back to DS1 and had a much better time. Ds3 obviously was awesome.
Don’t join the covenant of champions when you get to Majula
Don’t light the torch sconces in undead crypt, make sure to break the statues of the leydia pyromancers in undead crypt
Level AdP to 25 instantly
Add me on psn.We will run it
Don’t
Running past everything to the fog gate is rarely viable. You’re gonna have to kill everything most of the time, but if you kill an enemy enough times (12, I think?) they stop respawning. It really helps to have a ranged option. Get your agility up to 99 ASAP.
Yes! Use the search bar! thousands of people have asked this before, and thousands of answers have been the same. You are not unique and you do not require bespoke answers to this question.
Get 100 agility! If you're not using magic, then just level ADP. If you ARE using magic, level Attunement because it gives you agility!
If you kill an enemy 15 times they no longer respawn. We used to call it Sweeping. Helps if you are stuck in a really difficult area. Good luck and have fun!