Discussion
aww999 said:
I get absolutely hammered, many times over, by every guy in the game as I try to progress. So I am pretty-much resigned to playing the whole game on half-health! Currently trying to get past the illusory wall near the second Land of Giants bonfire, can lure the two spear-zombies out without alerting the firebomb thrower, but then (after going dwon the aldder) I always get killed by the four sword-guys that rush out of the room with the bolt-throwers in it.
I've made it past the second boss now and not been human since the start of the game. Once you get the restoration ring it becomes a lot easier to explore as you can kill an enemy and then wait for your health to recharge before pressing on, meaning you can save your estus flasks for the tough bits.I have my eye on the ring that restores health when you kill an enemy (that the cat sells) but it sounds like I should bide my time and wait for this other one. I remember slavishly following some walkthrough with Demon Souls, I enjoy the game much more taking a relaxed attitude to it but I am getting nowhere fast! Parrying seems much harder, but I always sucked at that as well so I am probably not the best judge . . .
aww999 said:
I get absolutely hammered, many times over, by every guy in the game as I try to progress. So I am pretty-much resigned to playing the whole game on half-health! Currently trying to get past the illusory wall near the second Land of Giants bonfire, can lure the two spear-zombies out without alerting the firebomb thrower, but then (after going dwon the aldder) I always get killed by the four sword-guys that rush out of the room with the bolt-throwers in it.
Climb back up the ladder and range them from aboveTook the plunge and bought Dark Souls 2, it is friggin' awesome, i tried going melee and failed miserable so running about as a sneaky sourcerer.
The amount of detail they've put into the game is amazing, i tried heavy armour and kept falling over whenever i tried to dodge, and the attack animations whenever i try to use anything bigger than a dagger is laughable.
The messages and blood stains keep the game entertaining (nothing better than laughing at other peoples mistakes), and give it a strange feel for what is basically a single player game. i had checked the gaming stats on their website the other day and there was 30 mil deaths and it had been cleared 5 times.
Just leveling up now that i worked out how to (thought it was automatic), are there any good points to farm. currently hovering around the start to the giants tower place next to the bonfire, a sits pretty easy to get quick souls and use the bonfire to reset them quickly.
The amount of detail they've put into the game is amazing, i tried heavy armour and kept falling over whenever i tried to dodge, and the attack animations whenever i try to use anything bigger than a dagger is laughable.
The messages and blood stains keep the game entertaining (nothing better than laughing at other peoples mistakes), and give it a strange feel for what is basically a single player game. i had checked the gaming stats on their website the other day and there was 30 mil deaths and it had been cleared 5 times.
Just leveling up now that i worked out how to (thought it was automatic), are there any good points to farm. currently hovering around the start to the giants tower place next to the bonfire, a sits pretty easy to get quick souls and use the bonfire to reset them quickly.
aww999 said:
Gald you are enjoying it! As previously mentioned, the enemies stop respawning afer you have killed/reset them a certain number of times. This (I think) is to discourage you from farming and encourage you to strike out and explore.
That would actually be really good as i can only ever get so far before i run out of magic juice for my point stick of doom, and I'm left with a dagger to poke them with.On a side note i have now made up a 'things not to do' list for the GF, was playing for about 2 hours and had built up a hefty amount of souls, on my way to level up she decides to start harassing me to do some real life stuff (obviously of lesser importance), and i end up running off a cliff. normally not too bothered when playing other games (she does this repeatedly) but did feel quite sad.
Anyone else had any similar experiences?
Yes, I was saving up for the key to that Pharros contraption thing, had 3600 souls, opened a trapped chest and died. Ran back to get my souls, but got cornered by a guy with a sword and battered to death, so they are lost. Veedub -you do realise you can pick up lost souls if you run back to where you died, right? (If you die again before reaching them, as I did, they are gone for good though!)
Made it to the first boss last night, almost had him (after a few attempts) before he squashed me. Tonight, he dies!
Made it to the first boss last night, almost had him (after a few attempts) before he squashed me. Tonight, he dies!
Veedub -you do realise you can pick up lost souls if you run back to where you died, right?
I thought because i fell into the murky depths it wouldn't count and rage-quit the game (first time in almost 20 yrs).
Made it to the first boss last night, almost had him (after a few attempts) before he squashed me. Tonight, he dies!
[/quote]
Good luck with that, if its the giant, try either staying miles away or get up close, and when he does his sweeping attack it leaves him open to quick stabby attacks.
Just tried fighting the Dragon-Knight and got mullered in 1 strike, unfortunately i rely on either staying miles away or up close and lotsa dodging, as i have no armour or health. What type of char are you building ?
I thought because i fell into the murky depths it wouldn't count and rage-quit the game (first time in almost 20 yrs).
Made it to the first boss last night, almost had him (after a few attempts) before he squashed me. Tonight, he dies!
[/quote]
Good luck with that, if its the giant, try either staying miles away or get up close, and when he does his sweeping attack it leaves him open to quick stabby attacks.
Just tried fighting the Dragon-Knight and got mullered in 1 strike, unfortunately i rely on either staying miles away or up close and lotsa dodging, as i have no armour or health. What type of char are you building ?
I had a crack at the Flexile Sentry in No Man's Wharf last night, he doesn't seem too tough. I nearly had him on the first attempt but I got greedy and he killed me with about 1 sword strike worth of health left. Bugger. Also, collecting all the estus flask stuff I can get my hands on, I can now drink from my flask 4 times between bonfires and it's reinforced to +1. I still have not been human since the start of the game.
My guy is a sword-swinger, so I am building up strength and dexterity. I am using the Heike (?) sword I got from the knight asleep under the tree, it does lightning damage as well which is an unexpected bonus. Finally killed the Last Giant yesterday, got wiped out by the Mirror Knight a few times before giving up on him, and just started exploring the Fire Tower area with the giant viking-dudes in it.
I only just realised that summoning only works when you're 100% human, which is a shame because I always found it quite fun. I used up an effigy, summoned someone to help me with the giant dude, died, and couldn't summon again. Was that the same in Dark Souls I?
I only just realised that summoning only works when you're 100% human, which is a shame because I always found it quite fun. I used up an effigy, summoned someone to help me with the giant dude, died, and couldn't summon again. Was that the same in Dark Souls I?
aww999 said:
I only just realised that summoning only works when you're 100% human, which is a shame because I always found it quite fun. I used up an effigy, summoned someone to help me with the giant dude, died, and couldn't summon again. Was that the same in Dark Souls I?
Yup - you could only summon (or be invaded) when you were human.I got stuck at the Capra demon on my first play through and got so frustrated that I rage-quit and didn't return for 9 months (!), mainly because I didn't have any humanity and so couldn't return to human form to summon help....
I'm only 3 hours or so into DS2 - mooching around the Forest - and I've spent 99% of that time hollow. I haven't been invaded yet, but I'm not sure whether that's down to the servers apparently being borked at the moment. I can't say I had been looking forward to the change in DS2 where you could be invaded while hollow.....
aww999 said:
Was Humanity easier to find in I than effigies are in II? I don't remember it being such a big deal before about being hollow/human.
Yes, it was much more plentiful and as regular enemies never stopped respawning, you could farm enemies dropped humanity, like the rats in the undead burg or the depths, to boost your stocks. I spent 99% of Dark Souls 1 as a hollow and it looks like I'll be doing the same again in 2.I beat the Flexile Sentry after four hours or so faffing around at the top level of the Wharf this afternoon. Luckily I whooped him on my first go, but I was over level 60. I didn't find the demons on the cliff so bad, simply because you could engage them one at a time and draw them backwards. Most of their attacks are easily dodged, but the left/right hand sweep can inflict some big bleeding damage on you if it catches you.
I was playing around with summoning last night, never really bothered in DSI but I had a great time. I got summoned a few times to beat The Pursuer, got nailed by the ballista things a few times but eventually managed to help a team of two others defeat him. Win or lose, though, when you get back to your own world you are full health and fully human, so it is very rewarding and a lot of fun!
(DISCLAIMER) I’ve still to finish the steps for the Large Soapstone items and uses
Had a rather smart fellow in my wok give me a few tips today on how to farm XP pretty quickly, I’ve listed the tips below as I’m finding them really useful:
1st (Large) Soapstone Location: Forrest of Giants - just past the room with the 4 ballistica’s in it, you’ll see a man (Pate) sitting down at the end of the path. After exhausting the dialogue continue forward and you’ll get trapped. Complete the area (can be tough) and escape then go back and exhaust the dialogue with Pate again and he gives you the item. (allows longer duration when summoned into another players realm)
2nd Go to the bonfire at Heide’s Flame Tower (just to the right before the first large knight). Rest your weary head then place the (Large) Soapstone Sigil on the stairs from the bonfire leading up to the first knight. If your confident enough fight some NPC’s while you wait. When I tried this location I got summoned constantly and was farming a huge amount of souls. If you don’t think you can last too long in the area just use the Small Soapstone which lasts about 3-4 knights before extinguishing.
3rd On return to your world you’ll be placed exactly where you left, enemies and all so take care. Now spend you souls so you don’t lose them.
4th **** THIS STEP IS FOR SMALL SOAPSTONE USE ONLY **** You should have received a Smooth and Shiny Stone. Remember the bird’s nest in the tutorial section just before you enter Majula well the want shiny things. Go to the nest and ‘LEAVE’ do not discard the stones in the nest, there will be a short dialogue and then pick up the new item (will look the same). The items range from usable health items to rings and a rare weapon. Save up any rusty coins to help boost your luck with the drops.
Additional Tips
If you killed Pate, go back to where you killed him, and there will be a gravestone. Activate the gravestone, pay 2000 souls, and he will come back as a ghost... Talk to him while he's a ghost and you'll get the White Sign Soapstone....This can be done with [almost] all NPCs.
Smooth and Shiny Stones can also be used to restore health.
Keep at least 3 unusually large Souls as you need these to face the final boss. (cryptic hint from the Emerald Herald)
Bonfire Ascetic – use this at the bonfire in Majula, now in the mansion basement where you fought the skeleton, here will be two now, both of which I have been promised will drop a Human Effigy each. Take care as they will be a lot tougher but worth it. (Bonfire Ascetic ramps up the difficulty in the area to next level e.g. NG to NG+)
Had a rather smart fellow in my wok give me a few tips today on how to farm XP pretty quickly, I’ve listed the tips below as I’m finding them really useful:
1st (Large) Soapstone Location: Forrest of Giants - just past the room with the 4 ballistica’s in it, you’ll see a man (Pate) sitting down at the end of the path. After exhausting the dialogue continue forward and you’ll get trapped. Complete the area (can be tough) and escape then go back and exhaust the dialogue with Pate again and he gives you the item. (allows longer duration when summoned into another players realm)
2nd Go to the bonfire at Heide’s Flame Tower (just to the right before the first large knight). Rest your weary head then place the (Large) Soapstone Sigil on the stairs from the bonfire leading up to the first knight. If your confident enough fight some NPC’s while you wait. When I tried this location I got summoned constantly and was farming a huge amount of souls. If you don’t think you can last too long in the area just use the Small Soapstone which lasts about 3-4 knights before extinguishing.
3rd On return to your world you’ll be placed exactly where you left, enemies and all so take care. Now spend you souls so you don’t lose them.
4th **** THIS STEP IS FOR SMALL SOAPSTONE USE ONLY **** You should have received a Smooth and Shiny Stone. Remember the bird’s nest in the tutorial section just before you enter Majula well the want shiny things. Go to the nest and ‘LEAVE’ do not discard the stones in the nest, there will be a short dialogue and then pick up the new item (will look the same). The items range from usable health items to rings and a rare weapon. Save up any rusty coins to help boost your luck with the drops.
Additional Tips
If you killed Pate, go back to where you killed him, and there will be a gravestone. Activate the gravestone, pay 2000 souls, and he will come back as a ghost... Talk to him while he's a ghost and you'll get the White Sign Soapstone....This can be done with [almost] all NPCs.
Smooth and Shiny Stones can also be used to restore health.
Keep at least 3 unusually large Souls as you need these to face the final boss. (cryptic hint from the Emerald Herald)
Bonfire Ascetic – use this at the bonfire in Majula, now in the mansion basement where you fought the skeleton, here will be two now, both of which I have been promised will drop a Human Effigy each. Take care as they will be a lot tougher but worth it. (Bonfire Ascetic ramps up the difficulty in the area to next level e.g. NG to NG+)
I have been doing some more summoning, apparently I got lucky when it restored my humanity first time round. I read somewhere that it's random, I have done about ten more "assists" and it's never happened again. I am pretty sure that you can only summon people with similar rank as you, so if (like me) you are still struggling with boss #3 despite being level 50 you don't get a lot of summon signs to choose from.
I managed to beat the Ruin Sentinels boss earlier, what a pain in the f
king arse. If you're trying to do this solo, good luck to you, you almost certainly won't make it. Defeating the first sentinel on the little platform is easy enough, but once you kill him the other two join the battle, they'll jump up onto the little platform and hammer you with barely any room to move, if you jump off the platform you'll take significant fall damage, if you get knocked off by them, the fall damage will add onto the damage they've dealt to you and you will almost certainly die if you're hollow.
I used a human effigy in the end, the first time I've been human since the start of the game, and summoned another player into my game, who was a knight, and I summoned the game's choice of help for this battle, who is a mage with a really powerful magic missile spell. His summon sign is in a jail cell just before the mist wall into the boss arena. Me and the other player killed the first sentinel pretty fast, then once we got down to the ground floor we just ran around in circles, leading the sentinels away from the mage character, who pummelled them with his magic missile. At this point it was barely worth attacking the sentinels, far better just to save stamina for blocking their viciously powerful attacks, so I was just running loops around the room, taking a swig of the estus if I needed it, and letting the mage do the work.
I'm glad I'm past this boss, as it's had many players saying they've quit the game over this one. It does seem the developers have dropped the ball here, with Dark Souls it was always about forcing the player to learn, and punishing their mistakes. I cannot envisage a character build or how skilled and patient a player must be to be able to solo the sentinels, though it has been done, but then the game hands you a practical get-out card with the NPC summon who makes the fight a total doddle. It ruins the sense of achievement, to know that the boss is, for many character builds, as good as impossible, but there is a free pass through it if you've got a human effigy, and unless you're terrible at the game, you'll have loads by this point. The developers seem to have forgotten that the balance of difficulty and satisfaction is what DS1 so brilliant.
Still, if you're coming up to this point, I'd recommend having a good few goes solo, so you know how to beat the first sentinel easily and reliably, before realising how hard it is to get past the second two, but learning their attacks and tactics by dying here plenty of times to get the feel of it. The last thing you want to do is waste a human effigy by using it, summoning in help and then dying like an arse.
king arse. If you're trying to do this solo, good luck to you, you almost certainly won't make it. Defeating the first sentinel on the little platform is easy enough, but once you kill him the other two join the battle, they'll jump up onto the little platform and hammer you with barely any room to move, if you jump off the platform you'll take significant fall damage, if you get knocked off by them, the fall damage will add onto the damage they've dealt to you and you will almost certainly die if you're hollow.I used a human effigy in the end, the first time I've been human since the start of the game, and summoned another player into my game, who was a knight, and I summoned the game's choice of help for this battle, who is a mage with a really powerful magic missile spell. His summon sign is in a jail cell just before the mist wall into the boss arena. Me and the other player killed the first sentinel pretty fast, then once we got down to the ground floor we just ran around in circles, leading the sentinels away from the mage character, who pummelled them with his magic missile. At this point it was barely worth attacking the sentinels, far better just to save stamina for blocking their viciously powerful attacks, so I was just running loops around the room, taking a swig of the estus if I needed it, and letting the mage do the work.
I'm glad I'm past this boss, as it's had many players saying they've quit the game over this one. It does seem the developers have dropped the ball here, with Dark Souls it was always about forcing the player to learn, and punishing their mistakes. I cannot envisage a character build or how skilled and patient a player must be to be able to solo the sentinels, though it has been done, but then the game hands you a practical get-out card with the NPC summon who makes the fight a total doddle. It ruins the sense of achievement, to know that the boss is, for many character builds, as good as impossible, but there is a free pass through it if you've got a human effigy, and unless you're terrible at the game, you'll have loads by this point. The developers seem to have forgotten that the balance of difficulty and satisfaction is what DS1 so brilliant.
Still, if you're coming up to this point, I'd recommend having a good few goes solo, so you know how to beat the first sentinel easily and reliably, before realising how hard it is to get past the second two, but learning their attacks and tactics by dying here plenty of times to get the feel of it. The last thing you want to do is waste a human effigy by using it, summoning in help and then dying like an arse.
Gassing Station | Video Games | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff