Dark Souls 2

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Maigrets
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MasterAub wrote:Yep you're right taht was the DLC
Well it was part of it at least.. :)
The last two nights I've been doing a lot of Co-Op killing the final two bosses in the main game, helping people out and having a ball. This my Golden aspect as a phantom, due to the Covenant I'm in - The Heirs of the Sun.
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I see you there rats, but you won't attack me will you as I'm temporarily on your team. Steam dropped offline so I rushed through the PVP areas and killed the bosses. Otherwise it's a PITA.
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Amid the flaming pillars in the Salamander pit.
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This King Vendrick in his memory. A sad man, which is understandable considering the circumstances leading up to it. A previous screenshot I posted showed him as completely hollowed, but the DLC added some new features. You can enter his memory as long as you have the Ashen Mist Heart. You don't need to finish the DLC to do it and he talks about the Crowns. Very little dialogue. but it may be added to as the next 2 DLC's arrive.
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Some humans would do anything to see if it was possible to do it. If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, with a sign on it sayingEnd Of The World Switch PLEASE DO NOT TOUCHthe paint wouldn't even have time to dry. Terry Pratchett
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"The Heirs of the Sun" that is a cool name for a covenant. :)
Yeah there will always be people who are so * begin sarcasm * brilliant * end sarcasm * that they do not see how stupid they actually are.
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Getting my characters through the DLC which is not easy. I don't know how my mage is going to manage since all the enemies are highly magic (and poison) resistant and she can't afford to be hit more than once by them.

I'm looking forward to the next installment later in the month.

This Elana the Squalid Queen, the first boss. My character is the golden one..I'm co-oping since she's dead in my world. Elana hasn't at this stage summoned, but she summons a variety of creatures including skeletons, a previous boss (which is pretty weird) and uses several dark magic spells...AOE and others.

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Next is Sinh, the Slumbering Dragon. He just woke up and is not happy...lol Besides dive bombing you, tail swiping, biting and other attacks on the ground, he has fire and toxic breath and you don't want to be caught by either of them, even with resistances.
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Some humans would do anything to see if it was possible to do it. If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, with a sign on it sayingEnd Of The World Switch PLEASE DO NOT TOUCHthe paint wouldn't even have time to dry. Terry Pratchett
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The one with Sinh looks great, lighting up the place with it's flame breath.
Yeah there will always be people who are so * begin sarcasm * brilliant * end sarcasm * that they do not see how stupid they actually are.
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Sinhs fight was glorious, I hope there are more dragon bosses to come. :)
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Gork712 wrote:Sinhs fight was glorious, I hope there are more dragon bosses to come. :)
I agree, it was a great fight. :ninja: That's what a dragon should be like. I wouldn't be surprised if there are fire and snow dragons to come, guarding the crowns, at least I hope.

Not so fond of the "gank squad" as everyone is calling them though. Thankfully they are optional, but I did it anyway for completion sake and the upgrade materials. I can't take them on my own though. They are too fast and have ridiculous amounts of health, even the archer. The NPC summons were both useless and most of the time never even followed down the holes on the way to the boss so I had to fight a triple buffed boss without them ...and died of course. I ended up calling on my Sunbros and then returning the favour.

That flower skirt.... :roll: I suppose we get the rest of the outfit in the next installments, but it's not my cup of tea. At least it does look better than the purple priestess headgear. Fashion Souls.... :cheese:
Some humans would do anything to see if it was possible to do it. If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, with a sign on it sayingEnd Of The World Switch PLEASE DO NOT TOUCHthe paint wouldn't even have time to dry. Terry Pratchett
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Hacking and invasions. The first is out of control, especially on PC and the last is an inconvenience a lot of the time, but unavoidable as I don't want to play offline.

There's been a lot of talk on the NamcoBandai forums about hacking, especially the PC version of the game. Invaders are leaving drops for others to pick up which are hacked weapons that effectively cause the game to crash and corrupt saves. Others are hacking spells and weapons to Petrify, Curse or immediately kill players as soon as they spawn when summoned for duels, or when being invaded. And more. Just a lot of senseless crap that ruins the game for genuine players and I can't see what they get out of it.

The forums are full of threads complaining about hacking which isn't localized to the PC but also the consoles, albeit at a lesser rate. Anyway, it seems that FROM are going to reintroduce VAC sometime soon according to this topic and it can't come too soon:
http://forums.bandainamcogames.com/show ... mco-Bandai!

I must say though that I haven't come across the level of griefers that many others have, but that may or may not be due to me not being interested in PvP, but I have a had a couple of invasions in PvE that were obvious hackers. I jumped off a cliff for one and the other killed me before I had even noticed him as I seem to have missed the invasion message.

It's very sad people have to behave like this to get their cheap thrills. I'm not a fan of PvP anyway and even though invasions are part of the game, like co-op, sometimes it just annoys me when I'm trying to get somewhere or minding my own business and I have to fight off an invader to progress. That's life in Dark Souls though and I don't really mind that much when it's a genuine player and not a hacking troll.

I truly enjoyed this one though and a couple of others like it in the past where I managed to prevail....they weren't hackers though. The other night I was in the Forest of the Giants to revisit the Memories of the Giants to talk with an NPC. I was invaded by a player decked out in Smelter armour, the Tower Shield and wielding the Curved Dragon Greatsword. I was wearing the Defender's armour and also the Tower shield, wielding the Black Knight Greatsword infused with fire, which you would think wouldn't be great in that situation with his high fire defense. Didn't have time to switch as he was on me in seconds.

Anyway, I thought I was going to be massacred (as usual) but I got in some good hits and stunned him, lowering his health drastically, but not after he nearly killed me. I briefly retreated to a clearer area just around the corner so I could fight without being caught up on stairs and the tree near the bonfire, and so I could heal. He invaded me, I get to heal so all bets are off, like it or not, which he didn't.

He (or she,) did the Decapitate gesture which really ticked me off and made me want to win this fight. It backfired on him badly as I'm pretty sure he thought he was going to win. Instead of backing off I went for him in full aggressive mode and only at half health, and I think he was surprised because he didn't react fast enough. I put him down in a few swings. Black Knight sword has a good poke stab on R2 which got past his shield. It was over in seconds...lol.

I imagine he was pretty annoyed with me and I would have got hate mail except that's not possible on PC unless I'd added him as a friend which isn't likely to happen...lol. I wasn't rude enough to mock him afterwards though which happens a lot with invaders. I'm pretty sure this same guy invaded me earlier in the DLC with the same gear, but he got me that time, knocking me back so I fell off a ledge.

Another one that I really liked was in the Doors of Pharros Rat area. The player had activated all the traps and enemies in his world thinking it would hinder and kill me, but he didn't plan it very well as I was across a chasm from him and pelted him with arrows until he finally decided to move. Then he came for me, but he had to cross a
narrow bridge and I was able to chase him and whack him a few times with my lightning Murakumo...how I love that sword.

Then I went on to frustrate myself trying to kill the Royal Rat Authority..which took many tries before I got him (it). Damn annoying fight that one with all the little rats that pretty much instantly petrify you, even with defense against it, if you don't put them down fast enough before the BIG one appears.
Some humans would do anything to see if it was possible to do it. If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, with a sign on it sayingEnd Of The World Switch PLEASE DO NOT TOUCHthe paint wouldn't even have time to dry. Terry Pratchett
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Maigrets wrote:Anyway, I thought I was going to be massacred (as usual) but I got in some good hits and stunned him, lowering his health drastically, but not after he nearly killed me. I briefly retreated to a clearer area just around the corner so I could fight without being caught up on stairs and the tree near the bonfire, and so I could heal. He invaded me, I get to heal so all bets are off, like it or not, which he didn't.

He (or she,) did the Decapitate gesture which really ticked me off and made me want to win this fight. It backfired on him badly as I'm pretty sure he thought he was going to win. Instead of backing off I went for him in full aggressive mode and only at half health, and I think he was surprised because he didn't react fast enough. I put him down in a few swings. Black Knight sword has a good poke stab on R2 which got past his shield. It was over in seconds...lol.
lol Nicely done :twisted:
Maigrets wrote:I imagine he was pretty annoyed with me and I would have got hate mail except that's not possible on PC unless I'd added him as a friend which isn't likely to happen...lol. I wasn't rude enough to mock him afterwards though which happens a lot with invaders. I'm pretty sure this same guy invaded me earlier in the DLC with the same gear, but he got me that time, knocking me back so I fell off a ledge.
I am not sure i would not have mocked him, sounds like a to overconfident person to me. Mastering the use of a certain weapon type...skill and reaction time count more to the end result then good equipment alone. It is not always the case that some one has all those things together, or a combination of those.
Maigrets wrote:Another one that I really liked was in the Doors of Pharros Rat area. The player had activated all the traps and enemies in his world thinking it would hinder and kill me, but he didn't plan it very well as I was across a chasm from him and pelted him with arrows until he finally decided to move. Then he came for me, but he had to cross a
narrow bridge and I was able to chase him and whack him a few times with my lightning Murakumo...how I love that sword.
Ha those are always great moments. :)
Maigrets wrote:Then I went on to frustrate myself trying to kill the Royal Rat Authority..which took many tries before I got him (it). Damn annoying fight that one with all the little rats that pretty much instantly petrify you, even with defense against it, if you don't put them down fast enough before the BIG one appears.
I know the feeling.
Yeah there will always be people who are so * begin sarcasm * brilliant * end sarcasm * that they do not see how stupid they actually are.
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I am not sure i would not have mocked him, sounds like a to overconfident person to me. Mastering the use of a certain weapon type...skill and reaction time count more to the end result then good equipment alone. It is not always the case that some one has all those things together, or a combination of those.
I thought about it, but you only get a moment before they return to their world and I was so happy to defeat him. :happy: I think he was over confident, that's for sure. He seemed to think he had me dead, and had more than likely murdered someone else before he invaded me. I tell you it gives you a rush of adrenaline when you win against someone who thinks they are so good...and then they FAIL.. :hang:
Some humans would do anything to see if it was possible to do it. If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, with a sign on it sayingEnd Of The World Switch PLEASE DO NOT TOUCHthe paint wouldn't even have time to dry. Terry Pratchett
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Maigrets wrote:I tell you it gives you a rush of adrenaline when you win against someone who thinks they are so good...and then they FAIL.. :hang:
I know. :)
Yeah there will always be people who are so * begin sarcasm * brilliant * end sarcasm * that they do not see how stupid they actually are.
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Well, I've been abusing my blood pressure playing the 2nd DLC (The Crown of the Old Iron King) which is a LOT harder than the 1st and pretty much set up for Co-op, or at least large parts of it. I did a lot of stuff by myself but the bosses are a tad over the top IMHO. But it's not so much that the bosses are more difficult, it's the long trek through hordes of enemies to get back there if you die, which is practically guaranteed. Even so, there's one optional boss I decided to leave alive in his little hidey hole because he's a rehash of a generally hated boss from the main game, and more irritating, and because I'm sick of running the gauntlet using my potions and other resources to get there. There's no real reward anyway, except to say you did it, and a useless mask, but I don't feel bad about it...lol.

The level design is top notch in my opinion, but unfortunately it's let down by other problems. I'm also not the overly patient type who gets a kick out of trying a boss 20 times even for the great satisfaction when it's finally dead. That's why I co-op on bosses and don't feel guilty for it. Getting help for myself and helping others in return. Otherwise I wouldn't get anywhere. I do everything else myself though.

That would be one of my only real complaints about this game and particularly the DLC's which have ramped up the difficulty. The artificial difficulty of odd enemy placement and hordes of them with inflated health pools, not to mention ambushes so you're caught between groups. A lot of enemies is fine in some games, but in one like this where basic hollow is enough to kill you if you make a tiny mistake, it gets tiresome.

It's made worse by the so called balancing patches of the past couple of months. Stamina reduction, spell nerfs, weapons and armour being downgraded and often have less durabilty, and more. The game is, in my opinion and most other players, supposed to be based around PvE, after all it's necessary to do anything else. But whoever FromSoft have been listening to when they develop these patches needs to do a huge rethink, or people are going to leave the game and never come back. As it is, since I've paid for the 3rd DLC, due later this month, I'm going to wait and play it and probably stop, at least for a break. I've played though completely six times with different builds, but because of the "nerf" patches those builds are barely distinguishable from one another. Pure Faith especially and magic builds are useless with out becoming hybrid now.

I have no interest in PvP and I don't care about invading others to mess up their lives. I hate being invaded myself for the most part. I had such a hard time with this DLC in NG that I can't imagine doing it in NG+ and further. I have one character part way through the game in NG+ but I'm not going to bother with it anymore. Too many changes to the base game has taken a lot of the fun out of it. Plus a lot of the changes were made to accommodate items added into the DLC's, (usually rings,) which is a blatant money making scheme to me. People who don't have the DLC's for one reason or the other, have had their characters nerfed. There are 4 ring slots in the game which might sound like a lot, but there are also a LOT of rings so you need to choose the best ones for each situation. Many of them are rarely, or never used and sometimes at least one two rings can't be swapped out because of spell uses or other reasons.

Anyway, I can't say I haven't had my monies worth because I was addicted to the game for a couple of months, but I dread to think of what's going to be in the 3rd DLC.


Some screenshots.
This is the Crown of the Sunken King from the 1st DLC. When all three are gained something is supposed to happen, but no-one knows what yet.
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The Crown of the Old Iron King. Tonight's hard won victory. It doesn't fit as well as the first one...lol.
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Piercing the heart of the Ashen Idols. They are fragments of the soul of Nadalia, Bride of Ash. You collect 12 fragments to get the complete soul. These idols also buff the health and defense of nearby enemies until you deactivate them, as if it weren't hard enough. Four of them are outside of the main boss arena and restore his health when he gets near if you haven't destroyed them beforehand.
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Throne of the Iron King. Reached after killing the Fume Knight who is not optional.
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Sir Alonne fight. Fourth try. Myself and two phantoms...one a human player and the other an NPC. The setting for this was amazing. The floor is like a mirror and the architecture is beautiful.
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Sir Alonne again. Same fight. He is a like a Samurai and has the most incredible animation set and is very, very fast. I've read that if you bow to him before the fight, he will nod his head and will be a bit less aggressive...or something like that. You'd have to be quick about it though as he's active within seconds of entering the arena.
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Some humans would do anything to see if it was possible to do it. If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, with a sign on it sayingEnd Of The World Switch PLEASE DO NOT TOUCHthe paint wouldn't even have time to dry. Terry Pratchett
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If you manage to beat alonne without taking any damage he commits suicide with his sword. :P
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Gork712 wrote:I you manage to beat alonne without taking any damage he commits suicide with his sword. :P
I've seen him commit Seppuku in a Let's Play video on Youtube after the player defeated him with no damage taken. On the other hand I am crap in boss fights so getting through unscathed is next to impossible..... :grin:

Also if you wear any part, or all of Velstadt's armour the Fume Knight will go into his enraged cycle straight away. The lore of his souls tells you why.

BTW Have you tried out the Majestic Great Sword...aka Artorias sword? Wielded in the left hand it has the Artorias animations and it hits really hard. Can't be infused or buffed though, but it doesn't need it. HINT: use a Seed of the Tree of Giants against that coward invader with his blasted Great Lance, then look below as all the enemies kill him, even though he's right next to the idol that's reviving him. Revenge is sweet. :cheese:
Some humans would do anything to see if it was possible to do it. If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, with a sign on it sayingEnd Of The World Switch PLEASE DO NOT TOUCHthe paint wouldn't even have time to dry. Terry Pratchett
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The last two look great indeed, with the red sky and the fight going on...on the reflecting floor. :)

As for the Crown of the Old Iron King...that looks a bit comical to me. It would be more of a Ceremonial Crown i guess then a practical Crown worn into battle as well. Either that or the Old Iron King hat a really big head. :grin:
Yeah there will always be people who are so * begin sarcasm * brilliant * end sarcasm * that they do not see how stupid they actually are.
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Fessels wrote:The last two look great indeed, with the red sky and the fight going on...on the reflecting floor. :)

As for the Crown of the Old Iron King...that looks a bit comical to me. It would be more of a Ceremonial Crown i guess then a practical Crown worn into battle as well. Either that or the Old Iron King hat a really big head. :grin:
I agree. It certainly doesn't fit on a female head very well, but I haven't got that far with my male character to see if there's a difference. Maybe there's a reason besides that it did belong to a King and not a Queen, and probably with a bigger head, lol, but the Sunken Crown from the 1st DLC also belonged to a King. Most of the royalty and some others are giant sized as well, as can be seen in previous screenshots when I was talking to King Vendrick in his memory.

The Iron crown does have a use, at least for spell casters, as it buffs you to return spell uses every so often when worn. I found it to be a bit useless since it does it even when you haven't used any spells and not when you have, so eating herbs and other items is still the safer way to go. As you said, more ceremonial than practical.
Some humans would do anything to see if it was possible to do it. If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, with a sign on it sayingEnd Of The World Switch PLEASE DO NOT TOUCHthe paint wouldn't even have time to dry. Terry Pratchett
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Maigrets wrote:I agree. It certainly doesn't fit on a female head very well, but I haven't got that far with my male character to see if there's a difference. Maybe there's a reason besides that it did belong to a King and not a Queen, and probably with a bigger head, lol, but the Sunken Crown from the 1st DLC also belonged to a King. Most of the royalty and some others are giant sized as well, as can be seen in previous screenshots when I was talking to King Vendrick in his memory.
Oh yeah that is true.
Maigrets wrote:The Iron crown does have a use, at least for spell casters, as it buffs you to return spell uses every so often when worn. I found it to be a bit useless since it does it even when you haven't used any spells and not when you have, so eating herbs and other items is still the safer way to go. As you said, more ceremonial than practical.
That is odd, i guess it is a Bug? But it is good then that there are still Herbs.
Yeah there will always be people who are so * begin sarcasm * brilliant * end sarcasm * that they do not see how stupid they actually are.
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Sir Alonne's katana after I traded his soul for it. It has a great moveset, but the only drawback is low durability. After around ten hits it's easily broken if you don't take care and wear a specific ring or use repair powders. It would be very impractical to use in a boss fight, but it has good reach for other mobs. You can also buy the Boss armours from Magerold in the Iron Keep
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Scar, my male character about to embark on his journey. It's a lot easier with a tank in some areas and harder in others when you need a lot of speed, but with sufficient carry weight I still have ample dodging room. Also knowing what's coming after playing through previously makes it not so daunting. BTW, that white area I'm standing on is ash, not snow.
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Are you quite finished? The Ashen Idol tries to flame me while I wait out of reach...lol. That spell can be obtained after collecting the 12 soul fragments and is pretty devastating. It costs 45000 souls though.
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This is what happened to a trolling NPC invader (Maldron the Assassin) when I used a Seed of the Tree of Giants. It turns enemies against invaders, players as well as NPC's. This invader runs to the enemies at the bottom of the stairs after a certain time or damage taken (not sure which as it seems to be random) where you get cursed, which means losing large portions of your overall health. There's another idol down there which also heals him and other enemies so it's harder to "kill" it. There's an item I found behind a secret wall this time though, called the Hollow Skin which nullifies Curse completely, but it's hard to find without trial and error. I didn't have it at that time though.
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Some humans would do anything to see if it was possible to do it. If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, with a sign on it sayingEnd Of The World Switch PLEASE DO NOT TOUCHthe paint wouldn't even have time to dry. Terry Pratchett
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The second one looks really great with Scar on the Ash and the background. It is a good thing then that you have the Hollow Skin now, that should help with the curses...or does it only protect against a certain curse, like the one you mentioned?
Yeah there will always be people who are so * begin sarcasm * brilliant * end sarcasm * that they do not see how stupid they actually are.
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Fessels wrote:The second one looks really great with Scar on the Ash and the background. It is a good thing then that you have the Hollow Skin now, that should help with the curses...or does it only protect against a certain curse, like the one you mentioned?
No, there's only one type of curse thankfully, and it protects you from that. The Hollow Skin is so well hidden I imagine most won't find it without a hint. I just got lucky..lol. There is a ring you can buy in the main game that also has some protection, but even so you will still be cursed if you are not careful or unlucky. It just takes a little longer for the curse to build up so you can get away from what's causing it.
Some humans would do anything to see if it was possible to do it. If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, with a sign on it sayingEnd Of The World Switch PLEASE DO NOT TOUCHthe paint wouldn't even have time to dry. Terry Pratchett
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Luck is part of the game. :)
Yeah there will always be people who are so * begin sarcasm * brilliant * end sarcasm * that they do not see how stupid they actually are.
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