Dark Souls II - Prepare to Die, Again

[routeburn]

I'm finding the same. I'm up around level 70 and my fire longsword is still my main. I have other toys that I used to preserve the longsword, but that's about it.

I agree. It is a bit odd.

[robdood]

I am on my second play through, going pure melee. I am finding it very, very easy so far. Lost Sinner went down on the first go, which I wasnt expecting.

I am using a claymore, which is incredible, the R2 poke > R2 spin attack pretty much kills anything in a couple of hits. Is there any point infusing it? I havent put any points into INT/FAI so would the bonus be worth it at all? Im not sure I understand the damage system still! without being infused, it shows the damage as 273 or something. If I select lightening, it changes to 203 physical/203 lightening. Does this mean it would do 406 total to anything that doesnt have lightening/slash resistance? Or does it not work like that?

Also, I am going for a pure strength build like I said, but cant imagine I will use anything other than the claymore. My STR is at 40, my DEX is at 15 or something. It is got to the point where my weapon damage only goes up every other level I put into STR. Its the same with DEX, but I think I read that DEX only scales at 50% of STR anyway? The claymore has C scaling in STR and DEX, so is there any advantage in choosing to level up STR or DEX now??

Re: the infusion, yes it's how you imagine, ie both damages together. I'd say it's good practice to keep backup weapon of different affinities as they can be very useful.

But it's better practice to just keep a stack of resin and not sacrifice high pure scaling

The claymore is beast, but the scaling is only C.. Try the large club (S rank) , or Pursuer ultra Greatsword (A rank) for ridiculous damage. The sun sword is neat (A and A) too.

As for the last bit, I found with my Str build that once you go over 40ish strength the scaling on dex would have more bonus per point, on certain weapons at least. I wouldn't worry about it too much

[df0]

Ancient Dragon one hits me every fucking time with that fire breath. And the run to him is such, such a bitch.

Help me rllmuk.

Clear the path. In the end it saves you time, plus you get a nice amount of souls. I summoned help at the bonfire, that way I cleared the path quickly. Then either fight the boss and die or teleport out and repeat.

[El Spatula]

The Fire Longsword is kinda like this games Drake Sword. It's powerful compared to what you start with and so people continue to use it. Get a Bastard Sword or Claymore up to a decent level and marvel at how much more damage it does.

[Varsity]

Same with the Heide's Knight Sword as well I imagine. Used it from the time I got it all the way through to the end. Only now changed it out for Blacksteel Katana + 10 as I've respecced into dex over str and it's S scaling with dex. All the better for NG+.

Tempted to forget Darklurker complete and roll a sorcerer as an alt character just to get that down since acquired spells seem to be across characters with the item box. Itching to start NG+ but I know I need to do more prep first lol.

[Girth Certificate]

yeah, I used Bastard for my lost character, was using Drangleic Sword for a while which is great but needs twinkling titanite to upgrade and the two handed attacks are a bit pish so I've a Claymore at the moment. Spent a while smashing fuck out of gray invader choobs in the gargoyle belfry with it last night. Satisfying.

I wish the ultra greatswords were less shit

[El Spatula]

My current build is ace. Magic Claymore +10, Fire Bastard Sword +10, Dark Uchigatana +10 along with 50 Int and 30 Faith. Smash, magicy, darky, lightningy fun. Casting Resonant Weapon on a Dark Uchi +10 or, bizarrely, the Magic Claymore +10 = mega ouch.

[LiMuBai]

Ancient Dragon one hits me every fucking time with that fire breath. And the run to him is such, such a bitch.

Help me rllmuk.

The approach to him will be empty soon enough, don't worry.

Set up Tips:

Go solo. You can't as easily control his aggro with summoned help.

Get naked, and as much stamina as you can manage. He one hit kills me with my best armour and shield still, so what's the point. Get your stamina to its max, and recharging it's quickest. So cloranthy ring, 2nd/3rd dragon ring, stamina regen shield on your back.

2 hand your weapon.

If you have it, equip the red tearstone ring and go in with minimal health for that extra melee damage boost.

Gold pine resin is your friend, or other strong lightning weapons

Fight tips:

I did it melee, and here's what I did.

Use green blossom immediately before boss fog

Enter boss fog and sprint straight to him. By the time he breathes fire, you should be at his feet. Use gold pine resin.

From inbetween his back legs, hit on foot a few times, but don not use up all of your stamina. Keep camera facing front, so you can see the dragon's front legs. If he stomps, move over to other foot and hit it a few times. If he rears up on his hind legs, get out from underneath him as he'll breathe fire between his legs. Use this time to regain stamina, or hit his legs some more. If he starts flapping his wings stop what you are doing immediately and find his tail and run in that direction.

[NecroMorrius]

The Fire Longsword is kinda like this games Drake Sword. It's powerful compared to what you start with and so people continue to use it. Get a Bastard Sword or Claymore up to a decent level and marvel at how much more damage it does.

I've levelled up Heide's pike thing, an enchanted falchion and something else, none of them out DPS the longsword+5 yet. I've got a twinblade which I want to get to at least +5, that could be interesting.

How do I create items from the boss souls in this one? I've saved all of them but have no idea how to craft the items.

[df0]

There is no crafting needed for Boss weapons. Hand is a Boss Soul and a handful of souls and there you go.

Both Boss Soul vendors are quite hidden, check the wiki for more info. That said, Boss Soul weapons are pretty much terrible.

[El Spatula]

Except the ones that aren't. Those are great.

[friedgold]

I love the Sun Sword. Packs a real wallop with the scaling and suits my build perfectly.

[NecroMorrius]

It's more that they look fucking cool than anything else.

My character is SUCH a dork, I'm wearing chunky green armor with a terrible helm and orange gauntlets. I look like I've just done a smash 'n' grab at a charity shop.

I need a nice bow and I'm assuming there's a boss soul one as there usually is.

[El Spatula]

There is indeed a nice boss bow.

[CrispinG]

seriously, wtf is going on with equipment durability? i've just killed 3 skeletons and my Syan's Halberd +10 is down to 50%.

[kempstar]

Re: the infusion, yes it's how you imagine, ie both damages together. I'd say it's good practice to keep backup weapon of different affinities as they can be very useful.

But it's better practice to just keep a stack of resin and not sacrifice high pure scaling

The claymore is beast, but the scaling is only C.. Try the large club (S rank) , or Pursuer ultra Greatsword (A rank) for ridiculous damage. The sun sword is neat (A and A) too.

As for the last bit, I found with my Str build that once you go over 40ish strength the scaling on dex would have more bonus per point, on certain weapons at least. I wouldn't worry about it too much

OK I will try out infusing it.

I have the large club but to be honest I dont like the move set. The 2HR2 is great (the pancaker ) but I find all the moves miss occasionally, especially when the enemies are faster moving. I really like the normal club, as its a lot faster, and I can get two hits in quicker than 1 hit with the large club.

I will try out the pursuer greatsword, I havent actually got any boss weapons so far, because none of them are of any use to a pure caster (apart from the MLGS, but I opted for the spell instead). Where do I get the sunsword from?

[robdood]

Hunter's blackbow is the best though.

[NecroMorrius]

seriously, wtf is going on with equipment durability? i've just killed 3 skeletons and my Syan's Halberd +10 is down to 50%.

Yeah, it's fucked up. I played for hours yesterday without a single problem, then in the Copse I broke three not-delicate weapons in twenty minutes.

[Mogster]

My halberd seems to break really quickly too. I think it's because I end up hitting the floor quite a lot. I've switched back to swords now which seem to last much longer for me. Apparently there is a ring that increases weapon durability too.

I quite like the lower durability in principle as it forces you to think more about how you attack, and what supplies you have. Stuff like repair powder now has a legitimate use for instance. However without knowing for sure what does the damage it feels a bit too random at the moment.

[Lovelyman]

It's gotta be a bug.

[MrCarrot]

I know dood was raving about them on his strength build, but powerstanced clubs are hilarious. Couldnt believe it when I tried the L2 combo on one of the FoFG turtles for the first time and one-shotted it

[Varsity]

seriously, wtf is going on with equipment durability? i've just killed 3 skeletons and my Syan's Halberd +10 is down to 50%.

This. Just started my NG+ playthrough and my katana went from full to at risk while clearing out the area between Majula and the Cardinal Tower.

Hunter's blackbow is the best though.

<3 That bow. +10 with poison arrows and it's unstoppable. Unless the target can't be poisoned that is.

[Mr. Gerbik]

Heads up for PC players experiencing the HDMI bug - it has been fixed. At least, the patch that is now live has fixed it for me.

[El Spatula]

Did it just affect ATI cards, as I've been playing it through HDMI (via a monitor) since day one

[Mr. Gerbik]

Did it just affect ATI cards, as I've been playing it through HDMI (via a monitor) since day one

Nah, I have an Nvidia card and I couldn't play it on my telly either. I've been playing without any problems on my monitor though, so I wasn't that bothered. Anyway - DARK SOULS

[Varsity]

Question about bonfire ascetics. I used one at the cardinal towers bonfire at the end of my normal playthrough, going into NG+ will it still be there? Essentially making that area NG++ or do they reset? Heard numerous different answers from different sources. Figured it won't make a huge difference either way just wondering.

[Exit Chamber]

It will be NG++.

[Lovelyman]

Who's that ginger girl?

I hope it's fixed for me. I almost had it working using my laptop and remoting onto my PC with the HDMI unplugged but the controller wouldn't work.

[K]

Managed to take out Freja on my first go, which was properly THRILLING. I'd got up to the fog door once before, bottled it, and used a homeward bone, so I was properly pumped after taking her down first time (with about 0.1% health left at one point).

That

dude afterwards, though - jesus. Not the first guy you meet facing away from you, the guy with the huge blades in the downstairs bit. Any hints for him? He seems loads harder than Freja. I'm a melee build with a decent bow, and that worked gangbusters for Freja - just keep circling and firing arrows, with occasional break for crowd control on the spiders - but the final guy with the blades is so quick and closes the distance so quickly that I'm struggling to use ranged weapons on him. It's a proper ballache that there's no bonfire right after Freja, either.

Brightstone Tseldora (I've probably got the name wrong) is a proper bastard - the layout is mind-fucking. it looks pretty ugly as well, to be honest. Am I right in saying that there's no route back out once you're in the sandy bit?

[kempstar]

Managed to take out Freja on my first go, which was properly THRILLING. I'd got up to the fog door once before, bottled it, and used a homeward bone, so I was properly pumped after taking her down first time (with about 0.1% health left at one point).

That

dude afterwards, though - jesus. Not the first guy you meet facing away from you, the guy with the huge blades in the downstairs bit. Any hints for him? He seems loads harder than Freja. I'm a melee build with a decent bow, and that worked gangbusters for Freja - just keep circling and firing arrows, with occasional break for crowd control on the spiders - but the final guy with the blades is so quick and closes the distance so quickly that I'm struggling to use ranged weapons on him. It's a proper ballache that there's no bonfire right after Freja, either.

Brightstone Tseldora (I've probably got the name wrong) is a proper bastard - the layout is mind-fucking. it looks pretty ugly as well, to be honest. Am I right in saying that there's no route back out once you're in the sandy bit?

I didnt even realise there was a room after Freja until yesterday! Got a bit of a shock when I met that guy!

You will have no chance trying to beat him with ranged weapons, he is much too fast. If you are melee though, just let him attack a few times so you can see what his combos are, then attack a couple of times at the end of each combo, rinse and repeat.

He is optional, but definitely worth killing him