Dark Souls II

Mickeroo

Thought vit was the new resistance in this myself, didn't level it at all. Might be more important for strength characters thought i suppose.

Kirby

If you want to wear good armor, you need to level some Vitality. You need to level it to atleast 30 to stay under 100% load if you want to wear heavy armor and a greatshield ....even more if you want the 70% and under roll. A dragon ring or similar will help a little but it wont do the job on its own.

Some of the weapons weigh a ton too.

Mickeroo

Kirby wrote: »

If you want to wear good armor, you need to level some Vitality. You need to level it to atleast 30 to stay under 100% load if you want to wear heavy armor and a greatshield ....even more if you want the 70% and under roll. A dragon ring or similar will help a little but it wont do the job on its own.

Some of the weapons weigh a ton too.

Ah right that makes sense, my character is a dex build so all the weapons and armour are really light. I've levelled adp a good bit though.

quarryman

Kirby wrote: »

If you want to wear good armor, you need to level some Vitality. You need to level it to atleast 30 to stay under 100% load if you want to wear heavy armor and a greatshield ....even more if you want the 70% and under roll. A dragon ring or similar will help a little but it wont do the job on its own.

Some of the weapons weigh a ton too.

I try to stay under 55% as I'm playing a character that rolls rather than uses a shield. How noticeable is it if I go below 40/50% or nearer to 70%? I get annoyed when I don't time my roll JUST right and get hit.

Also, having some trouble with the Last Sinner. I've used 4 effigies now and still haven't beat him. 1st time I summoned a phantom he died pretty much immediately. 2nd time I summoned 2 phantoms and I died very quickly, oops! 3rd time I summoned 2 guys, got him down to 20% health, my phone rang and I was distracted for a second and I got killed. Arrrrrggghhh!!!

So I'm chewing through the effigies. However, I've read that if i get the key to the doors before the mist then things can be made....easier.

I was genuinely pissed off going to bed last night due to "wasting" 4 effigies (I'm down to 7 now)! Ah Dark Souls...
On the positive side, all my attempts to kill the sinner meant that I clocked up a ton of souls killing the 3 huge mutated monster guys before him. Rather than losing them I've been pumping them into stats that I'm not sure I need yet.

Also, as I've been getting stuck on this bit for a while I've found myself looking up youtube walkthroughs and tips online to help. This has been taking the fun of exploration out of things a bit so hopefully I get over this hump soon.

Mickeroo

Apparently the next patch will make becoming human after a successful co-op a permanent feature.

DinoRex

Last Sinner is actually a lady or maybe it's someone else who hopped in the coffin at some point.

The roll speeds bit more subtle this time around. But I've been keeping mine under 70% while wearing Mastodon armor and am pretty happy with the speed.

Wooden Jesus

Sinners Rise is absolutely sadistic on NG+. Spent nearly an hour grinding through there last night with no one to summon, just the thoughts of going back .....

Noopti

Thanks for the help guys. I guess I want a tank who doesn't have to roll that often, as I would prefer being able to block attacks as much as possible

ShadowHearth

Another great guide.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhDBihev4G8

Zero-Cool

Noopti wrote: »

Thanks for the help guys. I guess I want a tank who doesn't have to roll that often, as I would prefer being able to block attacks as much as possible

I don't like complete tank characters but if you get your STR up to 32, you can hold an excellent Great Shield and wear brilliant armour. Get your Equip stat up enough to wear them. Greatshields are brilliant, huge difference from normal. I keep my stats bordering on 70% just to avoid the slow roll. I regret pumping my Dex to 25. ADP is very important as well for Poise an agility (speed you raise your shield, drink flash, etc.) Ring of Giants for extra poise, ring of blades to do extra damage, ring or cloranthy for fast stamina regen and of course the Binding ring which halves your HP reduction when you are hollow.

calex71

Wooden Jesus wrote: »

Sinners Rise is absolutely sadistic on NG+. Spent nearly an hour grinding through there last night with no one to summon, just the thoughts of going back .....

I'm finding signs literally very thin on the ground on NG+ yet the minute I throw mine down I get summoned :mad:

ShadowHearth

sheehy83 wrote: »

I don't like complete tank characters but if you get your STR up to 32, you can hold an excellent Great Shield and wear brilliant armour. Get your Equip stat up enough to wear them. Greatshields are brilliant, huge difference from normal. I keep my stats bordering on 70% just to avoid the slow roll. I regret pumping my Dex to 25. ADP is very important as well for Poise an agility (speed you raise your shield, drink flash, etc.) Ring of Giants for extra poise, ring of blades to do extra damage, ring or cloranthy for fast stamina regen and of course the Binding ring which halves your HP reduction when you are hollow.

I was always chasing that 70% lower mark, but after Hovel + Hovel shield I am around 77-80% and Could not care less. I just dont see roll needed at all with heavy build like that. I would still keep load in about 85% lower mark though as it does effect your stam regen. I do use stam regen ring +1 all the time too. The only boss, which was able to hit with my shield up and stamina max was Veldrick and his "**** off" slap. I could cleanly block 3 any normal attacks he was doing.

So yeah, if you go full on "**** truck" character, then keeping it under 70% is not needed at all.

calex71

sheehy83 wrote: »

I don't like complete tank characters but if you get your STR up to 32, you can hold an excellent Great Shield and wear brilliant armour. Get your Equip stat up enough to wear them. Greatshields are brilliant, huge difference from normal. I keep my stats bordering on 70% just to avoid the slow roll. I regret pumping my Dex to 25. ADP is very important as well for Poise an agility (speed you raise your shield, drink flash, etc.) Ring of Giants for extra poise, ring of blades to do extra damage, ring or cloranthy for fast stamina regen and of course the Binding ring which halves your HP reduction when you are hollow.

I swap in a heavy set now and then , but if you combine the third dragon ring with the royal soldier ring (only found out a few days ago you can stack those) you get around 25% to equip load plus the extra hp and stamina from the dragon ring.

quarryman

Mickeroo wrote: »

Apparently the next patch will make becoming human after a successful co-op a permanent feature.

That's a very welcome update.

Wooden Jesus

calex71 wrote: »

I'm finding signs literally very thin on the ground on NG+ yet the minute I throw mine down I get summoned :mad:

Im exactly the same, Im getting invaded a lot more and getting summoned as a bell keeper almost constantly but very rarely see a summon sign around

Mickeroo

What SL are you guys? I'm 130 and not sure I should level up anymore. Will be hitting NG+ soon.

Wooden Jesus

Mickeroo wrote: »

What SL are you guys? I'm 130 and not sure I should level up anymore. Will be hitting NG+ soon.

I finished first playthrough on 150 and im 155 at the moment. Think ill stick with that for now

ShadowHearth

Mickeroo wrote: »

What SL are you guys? I'm 130 and not sure I should level up anymore. Will be hitting NG+ soon.

I havent played in ages, but I think I am 140. I can get another 20 more levels right now too. I want to get 30 Bro medals get the rewards and Trophy, before NG+.


Just a question on NG+. Is it just harder bosses or is there something more then that? I guess there is no new gear?

Wooden Jesus

ShadowHearth wrote: »

I havent played in ages, but I think I am 140. I can get another 20 more levels right now too. I want to get 30 Bro medals get the rewards and Trophy, before NG+.


Just a question on NG+. Is it just harder bosses or is there something more then that? I guess there is no new gear?

Its harder because

****ing red phantoms everywhere, they even jump you in certain boss fights and appear from thin air

and there's a lot of player invasions.
There's some new gear iv noticed so far like the butterfly armor and shield

chickenboy

Wooden Jesus wrote: »

I finished first playthrough on 150 and im 155 at the moment. Think ill stick with that for now

SL doesn't matter any more when it comes to summoning. It's all about soul memory these days, which is the total amount of souls you've collected over the course of the game.

I think that once you get into NG+, this goes out the window aswel, and you can summon and be summoned by anyone in NG+.

calex71

I'm at 175 just got to iron keep , and have around 500k in hand

Sgt Hartman

Currently at level 90 with a Quality Faith build. I'll need to pump about ten more levels into my VIT as I'm taking way too much damage atm. Fire Bombs, Lightning Spears, Flame Swathe, +10 Bastard Sword and Dragon Bow are my weapons of choice atm.
In the Shaded Woods yesterday I went down the hole after killing the Giant Basilisk, got attacked by regular basilisks and then my weapons and rings all broke, wtf caused that? Got the key from the petrified Lion and went back to repair my stuff. I'll b going back down that hole later to open the door. On a ledge there I see some guy sitting on a throne. I have to get to him

Mickeroo

Sgt Hartman wrote: »

Currently at level 90 with a Quality Faith build. I'll need to pump about ten more levels into my VIT as I'm taking way too much damage atm. Fire Bombs, Lightning Spears, Flame Swathe, +10 Bastard Sword and Dragon Bow are my weapons of choice atm.
In the Shaded Woods yesterday I went down the hole after killing the Giant Basilisk, got attacked by regular basilisks and then my weapons and rings all broke, wtf caused that? Got the key from the petrified Lion and went back to repair my stuff. I'll b going back down that hole later to open the door. On a ledge there I see some guy sitting on a throne. I have to get to him

It's the pools of liquid that broke your equipment, stay out of those and you'll be grand.

ShadowHearth

Sgt Hartman wrote: »

Currently at level 90 with a Quality Faith build. I'll need to pump about ten more levels into my VIT as I'm taking way too much damage atm. Fire Bombs, Lightning Spears, Flame Swathe, +10 Bastard Sword and Dragon Bow are my weapons of choice atm.
In the Shaded Woods yesterday I went down the hole after killing the Giant Basilisk, got attacked by regular basilisks and then my weapons and rings all broke, wtf caused that? Got the key from the petrified Lion and went back to repair my stuff. I'll b going back down that hole later to open the door. On a ledge there I see some guy sitting on a throne. I have to get to him




















my equipment,

Acid m8. On the ground. My repair bill was around 30k thanks to that area.... Needless to say I was not going there back in a rush!

chickenboy

ShadowHearth wrote: »

Acid m8. On the ground. My repair bill was around 30k thanks to that area.... Needless to say I was not going there back in a rush!

If you didn't meet the two NPCs in the area, you should head back. One eventually sells you weapons, the other is the way to get into one of the more convoluted covenants, but the one that sounds like the most fun!

Zero-Cool

calex71 wrote: »

I swap in a heavy set now and then , but if you combine the third dragon ring with the royal soldier ring (only found out a few days ago you can stack those) you get around 25% to equip load plus the extra hp and stamina from the dragon ring.

Where do you get those rings?

Wooden Jesus wrote: »

I finished first playthrough on 150 and im 155 at the moment. Think ill stick with that for now

I'm 114 and the only level I would push now is ADP for Agility and Poise. I'm about to head to Vendrick but heard about the Throne of Want so have that after him. Running low on effigies after the Giant Lord so I used that soul protection ring, balls travelling back to majula when I die but I'm near end game so really just using it for hard as nails bosses.

Speaking of, what is up with run up to the Ancient Dragon boss? load of giant knights and 3

Ornsteins

??? Wouldn't even think of trying to fight them all.

Mickeroo

sheehy83 wrote: »

Speaking of, what is up with run up to the Ancient Dragon boss? load of giant knights and 3

Ornsteins

??? Wouldn't even think of trying to fight them all.

The only reason I'm not going to fight it is because of that approach even if Vendrick ends up being a bit easier afterwards.

johnny_ultimate

As someone invaluably advised me earlier, using bonfire ascetic in the gulch is a much easier way of procuring an extra giant soul than tackling the dragon. Just make sure to use it on the first bonfire - the second one's closer, but isn't the right area of effect!

Zero-Cool

Mickeroo wrote: »

The only reason I'm not going to fight it is because of that approach even if Vendrick ends up being a bit easier afterwards.

I got there twice, fairly easy to run past and they stop chasing you when you get into the dragon but how easy it is for the dragon to one shot you only for you to have to make that run again just puts me off. I heard you can summon your mans

head

for the fight though, would nearly try again just to see what that looks like!

Yupp, 4 souls looks like Vendrick will have 2x the defense instead of 16x defense with 1 soul.

Zero-Cool

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

As someone invaluably advised me earlier, using bonfire ascetic in the gulch is a much easier way of procuring an extra giant soul than tackling the dragon. Just make sure to use it on the first bonfire - the second one's closer, but isn't the right area of effect!

Ah might do that if Vendi is still giving me problems. Thanks!