Dark Souls 2

[Falconeer]

I don't understand what the torch time counter (it's somewhere in your char sheet) is for and since I didn't use any torch afraid of gimping myself in case I needed them later, I am playing in the usual bleak, dark world. But I am curious, what's the timer for? And since you loot torches from time to time, are they one-use or what?

[Signe]

Fucking hell this game is hard!  I'm not entirely sure I can finish it!

[Bann]

I don't understand what the torch time counter (it's somewhere in your char sheet) is for and since I didn't use any torch afraid of gimping myself in case I needed them later, I am playing in the usual bleak, dark world. But I am curious, what's the timer for? And since you loot torches from time to time, are they one-use or what?

1 torch = 5 minutes of burning time (I think.) Looting more torches just increases the burn time counter. As far as a use, Some things are scared of light. I also sometimes like to light the torch stand things because I don't love the bleak dark world. Im not sure if they have other uses.

[Ghambit]

You light the braziers with them, which in turn can be used to light torches.  They might have a use with tar barrels but I havent tried.

[jakonovski]

I was just wondering because they're clearly a vestige of a discarded mechanic, but there might be a payoff to lighting them anyway.

[Yegolev]

It's always interesting to see how other people are playing this game.  I've mostly given up blocking anything and roll out of danger.  Die fifteen times in an area?  Ridiculous!  Now, my sorceror was first and she died until she got to half health before I rolled up a deprived.  Before that, she was killing knights in Heide's realm, using a dagger when the soul arrows ran out.  Stupid 3 Strength.

My deprived is doing alright, cleaning house around the second bonfire in the forest with a mace until I found the fire sword.  He has a shield but that shit doesn't work and so I just two-hand my weapon and dodge everything.

Sometimes the firebombs get me, but that's always when I'm rolling in to whack the guy.

By the way, I'm in the "finite spawns make the game harder" camp.  Easy now, hard later.

[Arinon]

For me the worst thing, by far, about this game is the load times (on PS3). 

Finite mob respawning is a nuisance but it really hasn't affected my play much.  Not being able to grind out mats to upgrade a variety of weapons is the main thing I'll miss.

Knowing there are respecs, I've taken just enough Int/Atn for a renewable ranged option, then stats to let me equip whatever weapons/shields I come across.   About 15 hours in and none of the weapons stand out yet.  Been using the fire sword with the occasional Ricard's rapier or halberd swap in.

[Falconeer]

They compensated the lack of respawns by giving out more souls for helping other players, actually pushing to coop. Problem is, helping gives too many souls in my opinion. It's addictive to get 4000+ souls for each boss fight, and that led me to overlevel and now there's a chance I kind of ruined the experience by making it a bit too easy. I am tempted to restart.

One tip that might be useless for you all, but it worked very well for me: buy the "club" from the old lady for 800 souls. If you put enough points in STR (if that is your thing) it becomes a very powerful weapon early on. Or at least it did for me. I am tempted to upgrade it, although I am sure better options will come. So far I am underwhelmed by the halberd. It was my weapon of choice in Dark Souls because it had a very long range in a straight line, actually making it impossible for enemies to get close to you. Here it has a different attack pattern and it is definitely underperfoming. It's OK as it really was too powerful in DS1, but I feel lost not knowing what to go with yet.

[Velorath]

I don't understand what the torch time counter (it's somewhere in your char sheet) is for and since I didn't use any torch afraid of gimping myself in case I needed them later, I am playing in the usual bleak, dark world. But I am curious, what's the timer for? And since you loot torches from time to time, are they one-use or what?

1 torch = 5 minutes of burning time (I think.) Looting more torches just increases the burn time counter. As far as a use, Some things are scared of light. I also sometimes like to light the torch stand things because I don't love the bleak dark world. Im not sure if they have other uses.

There are occasionally some one-off uses for torches that I have seen.

[jakonovski]

I'm currently using a mace, at first because some enemies were weak to it. Now I realize it true power, which is in long hit combos that hit in a quick succession and stagger the enemy. Even some bosses can be hit this way, and it's hella cool. It's even better with the stagger ring. It helps that I have relatively high strength in order to use the Old Knight Shield.

[Falconeer]

That's another thing that bothers me. I killed all the giants in Heide and only dropped their pants. My son killed them all too and got the whole set, pants, helm, chest, gloves, sword and shield. Now that the mobs are not gonna respawn anymore, there's probably no way for me to get those pieces. Not sure I am OK with this...

[Khaldun]

"I only got the giants to drop their pants".

------->Things that can be taken the wrong way outside of context +1.

[Margalis]

It does appear that the game went through some pretty serious last-minute changes.

I suspect the torch stuff was a combination of performance problems and being too annoying. Personally I hated Tomb of the Giants (I had the skull lantern and not the helmet that lights up). I can't imagine a whole game like that. But from what I've read (waiting for PC version) it does feel like the torch stuff now is the vestigal remains of what was once a much more important system.

[Ghambit]

You're still compelled to use it for the simple reason of y'know... sight.  Tactically, there are places you'll want to illuminate for future exploration/grinds.  Minimally you should light the braziers so you dont have to carry the torch.

[Yegolev]

I haven't found the place where I need a torch to see.  I have lit a few, thinking there must be some use, but I can't say.

If you are not getting item drops, you can always wear the item hat that I assume you already know where to get.  It looks awful, but I could start my own store: Hollow Infantry and Soldier Gear.

I didn't buy the club or mace since I have the morning star (?) from outside Majula.  It works great, just not as great as the fire sword.  I've learned, however, that the Black Knight Sword has returned and so I'm preparing my stats for it.  I basically used that sword for the entirety of Dark Souls.

[Falconeer]

I've only downed five bosses so far, but damn is it me or they are ridiculous? Especially, but not just, compared to the previous two games. Only Pursuer gave me a hard time. This can't be right?

[Velorath]

I've only downed five bosses so far, but damn is it me or they are ridiculous? Especially, but not just, compared to the previous two games. Only Pursuer gave me a hard time. This can't be right?

I think I've got about 15 bosses done now. The first several bosses are fairly easy. There are a few that are hard but become easy if you do particular things before you get to them. A few are difficult mostly because you have to deal with multiple enemies which I feel is a bit of a crutch the game leans on a bit. There is a small handful though of ones that are legitimately hard.

[Falconeer]

So, I am loving the game. Seriously, so happy in love and happy that 'Souls is back. Even with all the issues, I am in love with it. But can we safely agree that it's the weakest of the three 'Souls games? I personally consider Demon's Souls the best of them all, but even when compared to Dark Souls 1 it feels like this one does not add anything while tiny deisgn changes and major setting tweaks make it less powerful and intense than its predecessor.

[Velorath]

I'm just going to ramble a bit here and throw out my thoughts as they come to me.

I'll reserve final judgement until I'm finished with my first playthrough. That I'm already contemplating a second though somehow puts it above the first Dark Souls for me. I played Demon's Souls through multiple times, but with Dark Souls I was done as soon as beat it. Part of the reason I want to do another playthrough is just that I've seen a few non-specific comments that they throw enough new stuff into NG+ and NG++ to make playthroughs worthwhile. The other part is that I'm enjoying the multiplayer aspect of this one more. I'm not entirely sure why that is. I played Demon's Souls and Dark Souls pretty almost entirely solo. Maybe it's some of the stuff they've done with Covenants or maybe it's just that three games in I'm just willing to take the path of least resistance more often now. Either way I'm actually enjoying playing with other people.

Also I think I've just come to realize that the previous games were never actually as hard as people liked to say. Plenty of people who would be the first to admit their not great at games have managed to beat them. Much like escaping from Shawshank Prison it just takes patience and time. If Dark Souls 2 is easier overall than the other games I don't see that as some horrible thing either. I mean partly it's just natural that we're so familiar with the gameplay at this point that it's going to feel easier regardless. I also feel like a lot of my time in the previous games was finding ways to break the system like farming Manta Rays in Demon's Souls with the Storm Ruler sword, or exploiting the fuck out of the Crystal Ring Shield in Dark Souls and demolishing bosses in a few hits (I understand it was later nerfed). In Dark Souls 2 I've been more inclined to stay within the normal boundaries of the game and not try to find ways to completely cheese boss fights and such. I guess maybe a more casual entry in the Souls series just feels like it's a nice change of pace.

Ideally, I'd like to see a return to more of a Demon's Souls style game as far as the basic world setup goes. I think From struggles a bit with making the open world's of the Dark Souls games feel cohesive. That's something they didn't have to worry about in Demon's, you just go through a portal and you're in a completely different environment. Also, the Tower of Latria still remains the greatest and most atmospheric area in any souls game. I miss the world tendency stuff too, although I might be in a minority on that.

[Yegolev]

I think the D*Souls difficulty is basically a different type of difficulty.  Most games are hard because they perpetrate bullshit against the player, while these games not only allow but encourage the player to improve and move forward.  That still exists in the latest game, but I've been to this rodeo a couple times already so it doesn't seem as hard or as scary as Demons' Souls.

I don't have any issue with cheese.  That's how I beat the flame spider, and that's how I'll beat anything that comes at me if I can.  Kick them off a cliff, put 150 wooden arrows in them, or use a ballista (latest cheese in FFG that I have worked out), it's all fine to me.

[schild]

I never finished Dark Souls. The level design had not 1/10th the brilliance of Demon's Souls. Demon's Souls had something else going for it as well. It was almost arcadey in its structure. Reasonably small levels that looped through and around themselves. A very cohesive and understandable progression, as well as absolutely brilliant boss design, that while incremental in Dark Souls was simply not as earth-shattering to me as a gamer because I'd already seen it.

I'm on the fence about even buying Dark Souls 2.

Demon's Souls 2, if that ever happens, I will be all over like a fly on shit.

[Falconeer]

Anyway, souped-up Ultra Greatsword seems to do the usual gamebreaking massive damage, especially when used with the (new?) up+R2 jumping attack. Hilariously devastating, if that is your thing.

[Morfiend]

In general im enjoying the game. I'm not super far in, currently working on Lost Bastion. I think my biggest gripe is the stat inflation. I really don't think we need so many stats. Also, removing the obscurity from the stats to the extent they did makes the game feel more stat driven. Next you thing you know people will be posting DPS meters.

[Quinton]

I'm on the fence about even buying Dark Souls 2.

Demon's Souls 2, if that ever happens, I will be all over like a fly on shit.

Hell, I'd be happy with a nice solid Demon's Souls Ultimate Edition for PS4 and/or PC -- just spiff up the graphics a little and resolve the few laggy bits, done, sold, where do I send my money?!

[Nerf]

Finally beat the Iron Castle tonight, for anyone saying that DS2 isn't hard enough...just wait.  I think I burned through 9 humantiy to get thru the level and down the boss, and I'm overleveled for the zone (SL98 mage, +10 archduke staff, lions mage armor, +1 rings, etc)

Also, check out the Yearn spell.  Doesn't do much in castle, but in some of the zones where you get ambushed walking into a room, throwing in a decoy to group them up and AoEing the whole lot in 1 hit is hillaaaarious.

[Velorath]

It should be noted that the really hard boss in Iron Keep is optional and the main boss there is one of the easiest in the game. There are some tricky parts in the area itself though to be sure. There are a couple other fairly annoying zones that I've been through also, that really overload on poison. Overall though I still think this game is much easier than the others. I managed to breeze through 3 more boss fights in a few hours of play today. Up to 19 bosses downed now I think.

[jakonovski]

Man, I put on the Belltower ring and got to invade, but you really have to be careful when you do that. Right now it's prime time in Asia, so my ping was so high I wasn't able to even hit people.

edit: is it just me or is the  fight entirely dependent on luck? They seem to choose their moves randomly.

[Aza]

I beat Dark Souls 2 a couple nights ago, (slight game length spoilers ahead) level 135, Sorcerer, clocking in at about 50 hours having having done most of the bosses. I was probably underlevelled, because Sorc can make the game pretty easy. Sorcs are versatile and can kite proficiently (like previous games).

I thought the game was good, and on par with Demon Souls and Dark Souls in both quality (combat enjoyability and level design) and difficulty, with some minor tweaks to the formula.

-Level design harkens back to Demon Souls in that it feels more linear and less focused on open world connectivity, this is probably due to how easy they made it to teleport between bonfires (great change for removing tedious travel)
-No bosses were harder than other DS games, but there is an explore section that is probably harder than any previous game
-Torch is good for a couple 'puzzly' things and for lighting danger spots in shallow water, never annoying, rarely used,so fairly well implemented I guess
-Weapon/Armor upgrades are well handled and less confusing, you can also buy almost unlimited materials as you progress through the game, so no need to farm low end enemies
-Stats when levelling up are well explained (you know when you are hitting your next soft cap), the separation of Str from carry load seems like a smart change, and the new agility stat that inproves your speed and rolls is a nice addition
-I got about 8 respecs throughout 1 playthrough, so if you hate or mess up your build you'll have no problem switching it up
-co-op is well implemented and dedicated servers is a big upgrade from Dark Souls (no more connection limbo)
-New Game plus offers harder enemies that do new moves, it's nice that they put the effort in

Overall a good game, I plan to sell my PS3 version and buy the PC version (which looks graphically way superior) for another playthrough as melee.

[Margalis]

I did Dark Souls all solo and didn't cheese anything. It was pretty hard!

It was "hard" in that it demands patience and attention in ways few games these days do, but it was also hard in the more traditional "takes skillz to beat" way.

There's also a subtle hardness in understanding the effects the equipment and such -  I didn't really understand much about shields until most of the way through the game for example. And I struggled on Sif until I realized that I had heavy equipment and a slow roll. (I only used guides when super stuck, which was rare)

I expect DS2 to be easier just because I understand those systems or know what to look for even if they've changed.

Dark Souls is pretty good about letting you adjust your difficulty - you can farm, you can summon PCs or NPCs, you can exploit. I did none of those. I used the Gargoyle Tail Axe the entire game just because I thought it looked cool.

[jakonovski]

My current opinion is that the game relies way too much on exploiting large groups to create difficulty. It's really cheap considering how they haven't done anything to the game to accommodate group fights. It's feels super janky. The best fight so far has been , by a huge margin.

[jakonovski]

Jesus, an example of what byzantine level unlocks do to a player like me:

[Velorath]

Finished it off today. Respecced from my DEX build to a Sorcerer for the last 20% of the game or so which really did end up being easy mode once I got used to the playstyle. Or at least most bosses ended up being easy mode. A decently upgraded short bow was still useful in getting through regular enemies in order to conserve spells. Maxed out sunbro covenant and Pilgrims of the Dark. Got 1/3 of the way through the Dragon covenant winning 8 out of 11 duels I think (plus already had 2 Dragon Scales). There's a fairly powerful optional boss I didn't beat either although I wouldn't really get anything out of it at this point. Enjoyable game overall. Want to do another playthrough at some point, but will take a break from it to play through Infamous or mess around with Hex a bit first.

[Falconeer]

I finally finished the game and I miss it already. Sure I could go with NG+ but that's not really my thing. I play for the exploration, for the surprise factor, and once I know what to expect I lose interest. I will try to take out the optional Great Old One From The Deep eventually even though I am annoyed that the attempts are limited by the number of human effigies you have, but that will be it. I've done (once) everything else.

This is a sad day though, cause I loved every single one of the 92 hours it took me to finish. That's right 92 hours, it's the longest it has ever taken me to finish a game and while it could have been due to the fact that I have a self-imposed veto on magic and ranged weapon, I think it's safe to say that the game is longer than its predecessors.

It's a great game. If it weren't for D'S and DS this would be the best game ever. Coming in 2014, it's just the third best game ever.

With all that said, I think the "memories" were really cool, and the amount of weaponry positively insane. The lenght of the journey was very satisfying, and many systems have been streamlined or improved and that's all good. But then, the bosses felt less unique than in the previous games, and so did the NPCs and the general setting of the game. It's still "Dark", but not as dark as before. I hope this won't be a continuing trend. Concepts like fog, dark, emptiness and lack of hope should be always reinforced in this series, never watered down. I also felt that even though it is longer, the game is generally easier, if anything due to the non-respawning mobs and the way less punishing death penalty.

As I said, a great dark journey. Now, three more years of emptiness and despair until the next chapter.



BONUS: A ridiculous article from someone who claims this game is harder than the others. Pffffttt.

[grebo]

I think it's harder.  I'm in Dranglec castle and pushing forward through sheer dumb force of will.  It's just not fun anymore.  My deaths have deaths.  I see YOU DIED in my dreams.  I will finish.. I will.

[Falconeer]

Seriously? And here I thought I was having it hard because I forbid myself to use any magic or ranged. Not sure what you are doing wrong, but I guess it has to do with some builds having an easier time in some sections and an harder time in some others. By the time I got to Drangleic Castle everything felt too easy, with the exception of the memories of the giants. And the only part that reeeeeeeeeealllly kicked my ass over and over and over has been Shrine of Amana, although it would have been obviously ten times easier if I allowed myself to use a bow. EDIT: Also, a good example of an area that I eventually got past because the mobs stopped respawning. I would have eventually made it, but I think it's fair to say I did it by attrition and not by skill. I still hate this change.