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#277 Apr 09 2015 at 1:36 PM Rating: Good
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I managed to make it one pull away from the first boss with no gun(I missed seeing the pickup) before my first death(second if you count the one before I had any weapon) the day I decided to goof around with the character creator. I'm real good at the "slow, patient one pull at a time" thing.

This whole game is going to be an interesting experience for me. I've never done a no shield melee build in a souls game(shield with chip damage was the closest). Done several no shield caster or archer runs, but never melee. So I suspect I'ma die A LOT.
#278 Apr 27 2015 at 6:59 PM Rating: Good
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I see you lurking Locke...

How is your DS2 run going now that you got it working? I'm looking forward to SoTFS after I completely drain all the fun out of Bloodborne. (Possible? not sure)

Edited, Apr 27th 2015 6:00pm by Shojindo
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#279 Apr 27 2015 at 10:27 PM Rating: Good
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I'm not sure I wanna play the PS4/Xbone/DX5940000(or whatever) version. Apparently, a lot of mob placements make little sense, and they added more casters to Shrine of Amana.
#280 Apr 28 2015 at 1:32 PM Rating: Good
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Just what the shrine needed! I'll still bite most likely. I may need a break though from the souls universe before I do it. Witcher 3 might be just the thing.
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An old silent pond...
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splash! Silence again.

~ Matsuo Basho
#281 Apr 30 2015 at 5:58 PM Rating: Excellent
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Shojindo wrote:
I see you lurking Locke...

How is your DS2 run going now that you got it working? I'm looking forward to SoTFS after I completely drain all the fun out of Bloodborne. (Possible? not sure)

Edited, Apr 27th 2015 6:00pm by Shojindo

Unfortunately, I've barely managed to get to play since I've been studying like crazy for my GMAT exam next month Smiley: frown I'll be putting much more time into it later in May

I haven't even hit The Last Giant yet; I'm still getting used to the controls, but not THAT much has changed from DS1. I think the change that takes the most adjustment is the insanely fast degradation of weapon durability. I'm using the Longsword and Heide Knight Sword, and typically I need to switch from one to the other in between bonfires because they break* after about 10 enemies. I heard it's an issue based on frame rates on the PC, but it's really frustrating.

I've also spent a fair amount of time watching Let's Play videos of Bloodborne, and I admit, it feels like a bit of a step down going back to DS2 after. I mean, I know that DS2 is solid, but it still feels a tiny bit disappointing, especially when I hear people point out its faults compared to BB (such as level design). I also love watching the videos the folks here are posting Smiley: grin

*Edit: I take it back, I haven't had one break yet; they just get down to like 10-20% durability and then I switch them out. Not sure what happens if they go to zero, but I don't have the blacksmith unlocked yet, so I don't want to find out!

Edited, Apr 30th 2015 8:00pm by LockeColeMA
#282 Apr 30 2015 at 6:22 PM Rating: Good
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They break, and are unusable until the blacksmith repairs them. Can be spendy for some things. I never had durability issues in the DS2 except on some of the Katana's. I believe they know that the high frame rates are a problem and will be patching it finally to not hurt as bad if you take an extra swing at a falling corpse.
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An old silent pond...
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splash! Silence again.

~ Matsuo Basho
#283 May 02 2015 at 9:35 AM Rating: Good
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Shojindo wrote:
I never had durability issues in the DS2 except on some of the Katana's.
Twinblades used to be atrocious for durability. I think they buffed them a bit, but they still chew through it fairly quickly.
#284 May 03 2015 at 6:42 PM Rating: Excellent
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Played several more hours, and... well, I really suck at this game Smiley: blush Sometimes I have runs where I go through enemies like a warm knife through butter... and sometimes I die on the earliest parts of the game. I can't quite figure out where my mistakes lie, besides not getting the timing right.

On my original character I managed to beat The Last Giant on my fourth attempt. Unfortunately I found out that you need to summon Pate (and have him survive) to get his stuff later... so I started a new character. My first one was a knight to start with, and I mostly threw points into strength, dex, and stamina. This new one started as an explorer (which gave me the hat right away, a dagger, and twice as many life gems), and I've mostly run with the dagger. Sometimes the dagger is my favorite, and sometimes it bites. I'm doing a bit better with her (far fewer deaths, and some jolly cooperation), but again, I seem to mess up all too often. If I do a run around to kill enemies and get some extra souls, I usually burn through all four of my estus flasks in between bonfires. I feel like I shouldn't be getting hit if I was doing it right...

Also, f*ck the Pursuer. Haven't managed to beat him on his first appearance either time, even though I summoned a phantom to help me on the most recent attempt. I did make the unpleasant discovery that he can curse you, though Smiley: rolleyes Not looking forward to his fight, which I think is the next one.

Edit: As for the durability, no idea what was my issue before. I was using the broadsword, not the longsword, and it seems to decrease a bit faster in my recollections... I don't have as many issues this time, though if I take a longer route I may need to switch out my weapon once. Since Explorers end up with two daggers, it hasn't been a problem. Anyone have a good recommendation for early weapons? I like the dagger for its speed, but the Heide Knight Sword does more damage and has a poking move that's not too shabby. Not sure if I should be looking for something else. I ran my last Dark Souls run with just the Reinforce Club... ah, that was amazing. Not sure if there's an equivalent here, or if it would be as effective, as enemies seem to be super aggressive, travel in packs, and are too damn good at surrounding me...

Edited, May 3rd 2015 8:46pm by LockeColeMA
#285 May 03 2015 at 7:08 PM Rating: Good
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If you're planing to switch to a strength build use a regular club, which you can buy from the merchant woman for 800 souls. Since almost everything in the game wears armor, they're all weak to blunt/strike damage and the Club caps at an A or S Str rating..
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#286 May 03 2015 at 7:27 PM Rating: Good
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Being a cleric and using a mace is also a good way to early blunt damage, plus miracles.
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An old silent pond...
A frog jumps into the pond,
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~ Matsuo Basho
#287 May 08 2015 at 7:02 PM Rating: Excellent
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Shojindo wrote:
Being a cleric and using a mace is also a good way to early blunt damage, plus miracles.


Decided to try as a Sorcerer; I liked my Explorer for her extra goodies, but the dagger feels like more of a fall-back weapon than Plan A.

But Sorcerer? HOLY MOLEY. I feel like I unlocked early game easy mode. The Ogres? Simple; six Soul Arrows and they're down. That's 3000 extra souls right off the bat. The Heide Knight? He didn't even get close. I'm making my way through Pate's gauntlet and I haven't died yet. The range isn't as amazing as a bow might be, but it's pretty awesome to have 30 shots of 150-170ish damage right from the beginning.

I think magic is going to be my friend... well, up until I discover resistant enemies Smiley: tongue Raising my strength and dex so I can at least use my Fire Longsword. But I'm loving this "Sit back and nuke it from orbit" style for now!
#288 May 09 2015 at 7:25 AM Rating: Good
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Also a good way to get a feel for the game. That fire Longsword will definitely be your friend with a Sorc build.
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An old silent pond...
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splash! Silence again.

~ Matsuo Basho
#289 May 09 2015 at 8:52 AM Rating: Good
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Fire's good, but if you can afford the stats to wield it, I'd suggest trying to find something with a good base damage that has no scaling and use that one enchant that gives it Int scaling. Or get a Moonlight Greatsword. Smiley: nod
#290 May 09 2015 at 8:55 AM Rating: Good
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Use the Heide Knight's Sword, since it has great lightning damage and can be infused with double lightning or another effect once you get the Dull Ember.
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#291 May 09 2015 at 10:33 AM Rating: Good
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The One and Only Poldaran wrote:
Fire's good, but if you can afford the stats to wield it, I'd suggest trying to find something with a good base damage that has no scaling and use that one enchant that gives it Int scaling. Or get a Moonlight Greatsword. Smiley: nod


Good advice but I think he is a ways off from that yet. He could also throw down some FTH and get the hexer set and staff in the near future.

Shaowstrike the Shady wrote:
Use the Heide Knight's Sword, since it has great lightning damage and can be infused with double lightning or another effect once you get the Dull Ember.


Also a good caster sword. I read they patched some of the dead swing durability problems but it's still bad at 60 FPS so having a fall back weapon should help.
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An old silent pond...
A frog jumps into the pond,
splash! Silence again.

~ Matsuo Basho
#292 May 09 2015 at 11:20 AM Rating: Good
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Shaowstrike the Shady wrote:
Use the Heide Knight's Sword, since it has great lightning damage and can be infused with double lightning or another effect once you get the Dull Ember.
Early on, it's an excellent choice, but since lightning scales with faith, it will probably fall behind as stats start getting higher.

Unfortunately, there's a real problem in having a weapon with multiple damage types(phys + elem, usually) due to both damages being fully hit by resists. It can work out fairly well if you're using a weapon with a high percent of the damage from the element with an enchant spell, but generally speaking, having a weapon that does a single damage type tends to be better from a purely dmg per swing perspective. At least, that's been my experience. Others have said differently.


Shojindo wrote:
The One and Only Poldaran wrote:
Fire's good, but if you can afford the stats to wield it, I'd suggest trying to find something with a good base damage that has no scaling and use that one enchant that gives it Int scaling. Or get a Moonlight Greatsword. Smiley: nod


Good advice but I think he is a ways off from that yet.
Not as far as you might think, if you're willing to murder the right NPC and get a little lucky with the crows(or, if you're not lucky, go to Harvest Valley and loot a chest for a Raw stone). Smiley: grin
#293 May 09 2015 at 4:59 PM Rating: Excellent
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Sorcerer is love, Sorcerer is life.

The difference between this run and my previous two is like night and day. I've cleared Forest of the Fallen Giants, Tower of Flame (and Cathedral), No Man's Wharf, and Lost Bastille today. I has only watched LPs up through the Forest, so most of it was blind... ended up not being difficult at all, though. I think my total deaths are about a half dozen. Worst so far was Lost Bastille, just because I ended up dying a couple of times from rushing. Tried to regain my humanity through jolly cooperation and quickly realized why the small white soapstone is superior to the regular one: more time in the host's world means more chances for him to die stupidly and me to get shafted.

I need some Pharros Lockstone items; the one in Dead Man's Wharf was a total waste, and I've seen two since without being able to do anything. I think Sinner's Rise is next. Praise the sun!
#294 May 09 2015 at 5:25 PM Rating: Good
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☼ \[†]/ PRAISE THE SUN!
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An old silent pond...
A frog jumps into the pond,
splash! Silence again.

~ Matsuo Basho
#295 May 10 2015 at 5:46 AM Rating: Excellent
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jolly cooperation


Well, except it would be Lucatiel in this case, as she was kind enough to take some hits on the chin during the Lost Sinner fight Smiley: grin

Probably the toughest part so far were the three Undead Abominations in the sewer right before the Lost Sinner. Jerks resist magic like whoa, and have a jump attack that would take off around 75% of my health. Died to them probably 4 times before realizing that poison is their weakness. A few knife throws and they went down no problem.

Lost Sinner was... interesting. I guess I was supposed to find Belfry Luna and do that first to make the boss fight easier... instead I went through it in the dark. The constantly broken targetting was frustrating, but JOLLY COOPERATION saved the day (though Lucatiel went down to like 20% health by the end).

Not sure if it's worth going back to Belfry Luna now, or if I should save my Pharros Lockstone for something else. Thinking of using my Fragrant Branch of Yore on the petrified merchant in Sinner's Rise, and I think I can buy another from the hag merchant for the petrified girl near Bernhart of Jugo in Majula.

Edit: Also, am I right that there's no better staff for sorcerers besides the basic one until a while further in the game? Haven't seen any others, and don't have hexes yet (not sure if I'll use them).

Edited, May 10th 2015 7:58am by LockeColeMA
#296 May 10 2015 at 6:55 AM Rating: Good
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LockeColeMA wrote:
Lost Sinner was... interesting. I guess I was supposed to find Belfry Luna and do that first to make the boss fight easier... instead I went through it in the dark. The constantly broken targetting was frustrating, but JOLLY COOPERATION saved the day (though Lucatiel went down to like 20% health by the end).
The cat in Majula sells a ring that makes enemies target you as a much higher priority than your allies. Wear that and a good shield and Lucatiel can pretty much solo Sinner(at least in the older version). Works really well for upping the area difficulty to get the soul for the flame weapon enchant.


LockeColeMA wrote:
Edit: Also, am I right that there's no better staff for sorcerers besides the basic one until a while further in the game? Haven't seen any others, and don't have hexes yet (not sure if I'll use them).
I think that's the case until you get to the Dragon Shrine area. Definitely infuse that one ASAP if using purely magic and not hexes.
#297 May 10 2015 at 9:22 AM Rating: Good
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The One and Only Poldaran wrote:
LockeColeMA wrote:
Edit: Also, am I right that there's no better staff for sorcerers besides the basic one until a while further in the game? Haven't seen any others, and don't have hexes yet (not sure if I'll use them).
I think that's the case until you get to the Dragon Shrine area. Definitely infuse that one ASAP if using purely magic and not hexes.


The Hex Trainer NPC outside of Huntman's Corpse will give you a decent one if your INT and Faith is at 20.

http://darksouls2.wikidot.com/sunset-staff
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#298 May 10 2015 at 11:36 AM Rating: Good
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It's the best around for hexes, but for pure sorcery, it doesn't upgrade as well. And it requires twinkling titanite to upgrade. Absolutely should be used for a hex build, though.
#299 May 11 2015 at 8:20 AM Rating: Excellent
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The One and Only Poldaran wrote:
It's the best around for hexes, but for pure sorcery, it doesn't upgrade as well. And it requires twinkling titanite to upgrade. Absolutely should be used for a hex build, though.


Looks like I'll stick with what I have for now, then!

Managed to down a few more bosses; Executioner's Chariot SUCKED until I read that Yearn makes it much more manageable. Skeleton Lords were easy, although the holy water spam suggested online didn't work; only the first vial did any damage. Jabba the Covetous Demon seemed more like a difficult enemy than a boss; didn't take a single hit, just ran circles around it while firing magic. And Mytha was pretty easy with the water drained and the Jester Thomas NPC lighting her up.

Earthen Peak felt like Sen's Fortress 2.0... which was both good and bad. As for Iron Keep... that's, uh, a fascinating transition. "Let's ride an elevator up to the top of this tower, which... houses a castle submerged in lava?" So far it's not too bad, although I'm curious as to how I'm going to get all the treasure in the firey parts. Between the super-fast swordsmen enemies, my inability to lock on to the greatbow wielding snipers, and being constantly invaded... it seems like a pretty unfriendly place.

This guide seems to recommend skipping it for the time being and exploring the Pit instead. May try that and come back when I'm a bit more leveled.
#300 May 11 2015 at 8:55 AM Rating: Excellent
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LockeColeMA wrote:
So far it's not too bad, although I'm curious as to how I'm going to get all the treasure in the firey parts.
There are three parts to doing it. One's intuitive, one's a spell, and one's sort of a puzzle element. I'll spoiler the latter two.
1. Fire Resist gear
2. Spell: Pyromancy - Flash Sweat
3. Puzzle Element: There are jars filled with water in several parts of the level. Break them by rolling through them and you'll get wet, highly increasing FR. or Use a lockstone to fill the hot spring and get soaked there.
#301 May 18 2015 at 8:38 PM Rating: Excellent
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The One and Only Poldaran wrote:
LockeColeMA wrote:
So far it's not too bad, although I'm curious as to how I'm going to get all the treasure in the firey parts.
There are three parts to doing it. One's intuitive, one's a spell, and one's sort of a puzzle element. I'll spoiler the latter two.
1. Fire Resist gear
2. Spell: Pyromancy - Flash Sweat
3. Puzzle Element: There are jars filled with water in several parts of the level. Break them by rolling through them and you'll get wet, highly increasing FR. or Use a lockstone to fill the hot spring and get soaked there.


Ended up leaving them behind for now; Flash Sweat + Orange Burr + Flame Resist ring + about 150 Fire Resist on my gear... still had me dead in under 5 seconds Smiley: glare

But that's ok, as I've now finished Iron Keep (crap, I need to go back and kill the Pursuer in a rematch though...). End boss was simple; went in with no real idea of the fight and soloed it the first time. Now, GETTING to him was a pain... but a ton of souls. Hit S.Lvl 100. I have 40 Attunement, 50 Int, and a smattering among Health, stamina, weight limit, faith, strength and dex (the last three mostly for secondary weapons/spells/unlocks). I run with three Soul Arrows, 2x Great Heavy Soul Arrows, and then the last two slots with whatever's needed (Fall Control most recently, and maybe Great Soul Arrow as a third damaging spell). My gear is still the item discovery Traveling Merchant's Hat, Alva Armor +5, Leather boots and gloves +4, and my basic sorcerer's staff, which is +8 by now I think. Have the Heide Knight Sword as a melee weapon.

Also went down the Pit and through the Grave of Saints... interesting areas. Not much use in them, though. Next went through the Gutter, which gave me flashbacks of Blighttown. I died several times from falling at bad times and I still think I missed some things. Had to go back for the last bon fire for completion's sake. Black Gulch was... interesting. Short short area, but takes forever to clear out those statues. Managed to discover the Forgotten Door with the help of some signs; the giants scared the crap out of me but were pretty easy with ranged attacks (still loving Sorcery). Two-shotted the boss, second time was with Lone Hunter Schmidt who died in about three hits. Wimp. Had to go back after to find Lucatiel after I learned she was there. Would have been nice to have her for the fight, but it seems like the poor gal is losing it Smiley: frown

Looks like I'm off to the Shaded Woods soon!
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