Ivory knight felt more relentless to me, giving no healing windows, I guess 🤔🤔🤔 though sir alonne is a different story.

Did we miss anything?

What's their deal with the pursuer on SOFTS? He just keeps coming after my ass and it's honestly getting funny since he also appears on the same area on the opposite side and I remember the double pursuer fight on the castle (and if I remember it right he also appears in iron keep?). Should I just expect him to appear from time to time in random areas?

I decided to come back to ds2 after ~8 years of playing the other souls (I still love it since it was my first souls) and I'm still getting used to the clanky movement and combat plus the differences from the original to SOFTS.

Having so much fun though! The game is simultaneously much better and worse than I remember!

Also, sorry if that's on the original ds2 and I just don't remember it.

I was going to sleep yesterday when I realized that king vendrick married nashandra for a long time that he was able to cross the sea and slave the giants and for his entire kingdom to fall, and the game doesn't explain how nashandra hide her true form behind that normal looking woman we saw in drangleic castle, did she change her own body to look normal or just cursed anyone who looks at her into thinking that she's beautiful? Because if she wasn't changing her own form then king vendrick fucked that thing

I'm sure this has been pointed out before, but its pretty interesting regardless. This inherently implies there's some sort of crossover either religiously or societally between the people of Shulva and those of the Dragon Shrine, both of which worship dragons. Nothing groundbreaking but kinda cool.

EDIT: Sorry for the screenshot quality. Somehow got compressed like crazy from my original pic.

In fact it’s really good

Enemy placement in DS2 isnt that bad. I think there are plenty of areas in DS3/DS1 where it’s really bad. DS1 has Izalith, Demon Ruins, Painted World can be really tedious, and and Tomb of the Giants with the action at the end. DS3 has smouldering lake, Faron keep and undead settlement have some really ganky parts I don’t like, and Ariamis can be real pain too.

DS2 has like two big areas that kinda suck in terms of enemy placement, and that’s Iron Keep and Shrine of Amana. Those undoubtedly have a bit too many, but the rest of the game is honestly fine (I’m not counting the DLC hell areas, those are meant to be played in multiplayer). Black gulch is so short I barely even count it as an area. And you can just run through it in like 20 seconds.

DS2 is really built around enemy encounters in a way I really enjoy, and you’re supposed to take the game slowly. The only real bad run backs (minus DLCs) are smelter demon, demon of song, and that’s it.

I don’t get why people see this as such a huge flaw in the game. The game has so much more than “shitty enemy placement”. I’d argue 97% of the time it’s really good and adds a lot of fun to the game. Hell I even like iron keep. Although shrine of amana is still kind of ass cancer.

I will say the only bad thing about ADP is that it’s a trap for new players, and that it can harm your experience. And the only real unfun mechanic in DS2 is the hollowing. I think it’s a bit too punishing for new players. But for returning players, it’s very easy to work around.

Honestly the only criticism I still agree with is that a lot of the bosses are boring, and yes they really can be. But honestly I don’t even think that’s that bit of an issue because I get a lot of my enjoyment out of the areas themselves. People spend so much time complaining about how “it sucks compared to DS3 and Elden Ring” and sure the bosses might not be as good but the game is also just a product of its time. Compared to DS1 and DeS, the bosses are fine. The focus is a lot more on the experience as a whole than the individual bosses. It’s similar to the older fromsoft games like kingsfield, where the focus is on the experience as a whole than the individual encounters. Like we remember kingsfield for the progression the builds and the enemies, ie the dungeon crawling nature. The bosses are a small highlight. DS2 is a lot like a dungeon crawler. and if you don’t like that, then that’s okay. But it’s a real crappy thing to say it’s bad instead of it’s different.

Anyway, peak souls 2.

Apologies for the low pixel count, My pc cant can't handle the fumes.

So I'm running a Vig/End/Adp gouge style build for my current run with a focus on non-scaling weapons, and while there are a fair number of options that just don't have scaling, like Santier's Spear, the Black Scorpion Stinger, the Bluemoon Greatsword, the Malformed Skull, the Avelyn, among others. I'm looking for weapons that have scaling but are bad enough at it that infusing them with Raw is potentially an "optimal" route for the weapon. It doesn't need to be the absolute best route for the weapon, but good enough that maxed out Raw is competitive with the other infusions in terms of base damage and wouldn't be obviously beaten by the weapon at reasonable soft-caps for a build using a given relevant infusion at something like SL 150 or so.

I know about the Blue Flame being quite good Raw and being able to exploit spices to let you cast Magic Weapon buffs and the like at low levels, but I was curious if there were other weapons in that vein, where infusing them raw is arguably competitive with other infusions because the weapons scaling is relatively mediocre in those states. And it may well be that the answer to this is "there really aren't any besides the Blue Flame to some extent, use the non-scaling weapons", but I thought I'd check with the community to see if anyone knew of any secret tech out there.

This is just a little story about me figuring out a way to beat this boss.

This is my first time playing dark souls 2 and I have only played dark souls 1 before. Fume knight was BY FAR the hardest boss I have faced so far in the series. For me this was especially hard because I tend to go for strength builds with a big shield which just doesnt work here and I really suck at dodging attacks that are a little more difficult. So after failing many times I followed some tips and added some changes based on my playstyle. Using a summon didnt do it for me, neither did a weaker but faster weapon because my adhd brain fails me and when the fight goes on for too long I will make mistakes eventually and die. So I tried a different approach. I equipped velstadt's helmet because I read it triggers phase 2 immediately due to lore reasons. I did it mainly because I struggled with switching my reflexes from phase 1 to phase 2. This way I had to memorize at lot less. Also his attacks are slower giving me enough time to hit him with my greatsword, dealing significantly more damage. I used it in combination with the brightbug to deal lots of damage quickly while also taking less damage. That was a big deal because I knew I wouldnt be able to dodge or survive his aoe attack very often. The less often I had to do it the better. Though there was one more thing I had to change to succeed. At the current level of my hp, I am pretty much always 2 hit in phase two. So I put on the life ring +3, which in combination with the third dragon ring, gives me just enough hp to survive 2 hits. And with that I finally made it.

And yes, I am aware that there are way harder bosses down the line, especially in elden ring, but Im not really good at these games so this is a huge accomplishment for me :)

I haven’t played this game in probably 10+ years. Back then, I never beat any of the DLCs. A couple of months back, it called to me.
I’ve taken my time going through each level and collecting all the goods, and killing all the bosses.
All that’s left is Frozen Eleum Loyce and all of its glory. I remember it being the hardest of the 3 DLCs, so wish me luck!
Also enjoy this quick clip of me getting a satisfying kill on the last member of the gank squad.

For context, it's the second giant knight with a greatmace in dragon aerie. I can't fathom how fucking insane you have to be to make a normal enemy like this. Can't beat this fucker and can't run past him either

I jist finished the main story, did the true ending and chose to leave the throne. I gotta Say the game was so damn epic, like the final walk to the final bosses felt like i traveled many miles around the world and i finally reached my destiny. With the end cinematic giving the undead another purpose.

Was so enjoyable to explore, But my absolute favorite part is the walk up to the qncient dragon and the soldiers respecting the duels, its like the game acknowledge you and gave you your final test to prove your worth.

The only Con of the game is royal rat authority, i fucking hate that dog. but it being optional makes up for it

Just now starting the DLC ivory king, but so far, What an epic adventure...

It's almost like I'm not suppose to play this way!

Yo gng I am new to souls game and ds2 is my first one I have seen and read many post about ds2 to learn new things and stuff

I just need advice on what armour should I get which will be best for my build

And a weapon better than fire longsword+5

My current stats are in second photo

How do f*** do you spect me to find a place where LITERALLY you cannot see!! I've searched everywhere and with the help of you guys (reddit community) I found it.

I feel like i cheated but I needed some help. In DS 1 happened the same. I couldn't find one of the Old Ones and had to search on the internet.

I hear it calling to me again.

Screenshot was coz I found it funny and frustrating to get so close to beating him but dying, beat him the next attempt tho.

Unplayable!