Page 375 • Dark Souls II • Gaming • General Gaming • Eurogamer.net

Telepathic.Geometry 30 Jul 2014 08:12:23 12,422 posts
Seen 4 years ago
Registered 15 years ago

Yes. And they all have the same weakness.

Armoured_Bear 30 Jul 2014 09:19:28 31,233 posts
Seen 2 days ago
Registered 10 years ago

Armoured_Bear wrote:
So,

I'm now SL58 (Sorcerer)
VIG 7
END 6
VIT 5
ATN 16
STR 12
DEX 15
ADP 8
INT 22
FTH 20

II'm rocking the Hexer's Hood and Sunset Staff, I've gotten to the third bonfire in Huntsmen's Copse but the shieldless idea was a real struggle at times.
I'm thinking that I need to up attunement and Dex but maybe I should improve my defensive side and up VIT or ADP?

Stupid how addicted I am with this, bed after 1am the last 2 nights...

Duffking 30 Jul 2014 09:56:30 16,964 posts
Seen 8 hours ago
Registered 15 years ago

Furtive_Pygmy wrote:
I see, I can't say I've noticed any other glowing objects near all the other ghost guys. Maybe I wasn't looking hard enough?

The first area's a bit of a red herring in that regard, they aren't all that close to their bodies.

That said, the bodies are very close to the room with the retractable spikes in the floor.

teamHAM 30 Jul 2014 13:04:00 3,847 posts
Seen 4 weeks ago
Registered 14 years ago

Ok so I've done the Nashandra lookalike, the Dragon, and the Gank Squad.

Is....is it over?

Duffking 30 Jul 2014 15:06:29 16,964 posts
Seen 8 hours ago
Registered 15 years ago

Aye, think that's your lot for now.

Armoured_Bear 30 Jul 2014 15:09:11 31,233 posts
Seen 2 days ago
Registered 10 years ago

Armoured_Bear wrote:
So,

I'm now SL58 (Sorcerer)
VIG 7
END 6
VIT 5
ATN 16
STR 12
DEX 15
ADP 8
INT 22
FTH 20

II'm rocking the Hexer's Hood and Sunset Staff, I've gotten to the third bonfire in Huntsmen's Copse but the shieldless idea was a real struggle at times.
I'm thinking that I need to up attunement and Dex but maybe I should improve my defensive side and up VIT or ADP?

BTW what's a good, light shield for occasional use such as in Huntsman's Copse?

Duffking 30 Jul 2014 15:17:44 16,964 posts
Seen 8 hours ago
Registered 15 years ago

Depends, do you want one that will block 100% of physical damage? You can get the Drangleic shield which is a medium shield from just after you beat the Pursuer, not too heavy and blocks all physical..

The only other 100% block shields I can think of that are light-ish are the King's Shield and Defender shield but those are very late game.

Ideally you'll want something with reasonable stability (so blocking doesn't use too much stamina) and damage block.

SomaticSense 30 Jul 2014 15:22:16 15,062 posts
Seen 3 years ago
Registered 16 years ago

The shield the Lost Bastille blacksmith sells (Royal Kite?) is, to my knowledge, the lightest 100% physical block shield in the game.

Armoured_Bear 30 Jul 2014 15:30:45 31,233 posts
Seen 2 days ago
Registered 10 years ago

Thanks guys, I don't want to use a Shield, it's just for areas where you're being sniped at. As I have low END, high stability makes a lot of sense.

What about levelling up?
Should I be more defensive now or get stuck into Dex?

SomaticSense 30 Jul 2014 16:18:28 15,062 posts
Seen 3 years ago
Registered 16 years ago

OMFG. The Cave of the Dead Gank Squad. It's an Anor Londo archer, a broken hitbox Havel, random Alva knight, Black Gulch cunt statues, and those annoying moving cunt statues. ALL IN ONE ROOM, plus a pit with knee high water you have to wade through if you choose to drop down there for some respite from all the shit. It's basically all the aggravating shitty parts of the previous games.

I think From forgot to throw some Blighttown framerate in there for the full house.

Fuck that. Like the misguided AD boss, I'm refusing to even bother. I can't find any player summons anywhere, and the AI ones the game offers are useless. They just stand there while everything attacks me.

Edited by SomaticSense at 16:26:04 30-07-2014

Duffking 30 Jul 2014 17:00:31 16,964 posts
Seen 8 hours ago
Registered 15 years ago

SomaticSense wrote:
OMFG. The Cave of the Dead Gank Squad. It's an Anor Londo archer, a broken hitbox Havel, random Alva knight, Black Gulch cunt statues, and those annoying moving cunt statues. ALL IN ONE ROOM, plus a pit with knee high water you have to wade through if you choose to drop down there for some respite from all the shit. It's basically all the aggravating shitty parts of the previous games.

I think From forgot to throw some Blighttown framerate in there for the full house.

Fuck that. Like the misguided AD boss, I'm refusing to even bother. I can't find any player summons anywhere, and the AI ones the game offers are useless. They just stand there while everything attacks me.

Yeah it's bollocks. I did it eventually by focusing on the Archer first and basically running laps of the place. Run up to him, TRY to get a hit in, then leg it back toward the entrance. Facing the entrance there's a ramp between the two levels of the room on the right side about 1/3 from the entrance. I just ran laps dropping into there and going up the ramp. They don't immediately follow you into the water so that gives you enough distance to heal and repeat.

Once it's only Havel and the other guy I backstabbed Havel to death then killed 2 swords man last.

Had to use all my Estus though.

teamHAM 30 Jul 2014 18:57:40 3,847 posts
Seen 4 weeks ago
Registered 14 years ago

Yeah it's terrible. Gank Squad plus those ridiculous statues = meh.

Done it now though. Thank christ for that. Lucky I only use two main characters so I only have to go through it once more.

Kami 30 Jul 2014 19:16:01 2,711 posts
Seen 11 hours ago
Registered 19 years ago

Uhh... I one shot them. Solo. At SL99.

That fight is all about priorities and pacing. They move slightly slower in the water below (and there's a notable delay before they follow you off the edge into the water), which can buy precious seconds to use a dragon charm (easily farmable really, and effective healing). First I got rid of the ranged - not terribly difficult, although it did roll out of melee range a couple times. Then I got the fast melee down, then Half Havel, all the time moving, all the time going in and out of range.

Keep it near the front entrance of the area, and use the water pool to the right - the left side has a statue turtle you might want to avoid. It's a bit of a grind, and yes, I used up all my estus flasks learning this and five dragon charms. But then, as I said, I got them first time.

And all I got was a fucking flower skirt. Wow. I'm not sure why I bothered.

teamHAM 30 Jul 2014 19:18:03 3,847 posts
Seen 4 weeks ago
Registered 14 years ago

Kami wrote:
Uhh... I one shot them. Solo. At SL99.

That doesn't make it good game design.

Kami 30 Jul 2014 19:27:24 2,711 posts
Seen 11 hours ago
Registered 19 years ago

@teamHAM; Says you. I think it was great design and it wasn't until I poked around afterwards looking for any extra loot that I appreciated how clever the arena is; plenty of line of sight for those quick estus chugs, ramps to help exploit weapon swings. And Cerah, Varg and AG make you prioritise targets; which is the bigger threat to you, in your spec?

I had a few issues with Elana and her bloody summons so believe me, it was not an easy ride through the DLC. But where Elana was kinda random, and Sinh was predictable to the point of embarrassment, I happened to really genuinely enjoy the "bonus" fight. It felt a little like PvP, I guess.

The statue-filled area before it can go pleasure itself with sharp razor-like objects though.

teamHAM 30 Jul 2014 19:29:24 3,847 posts
Seen 4 weeks ago
Registered 14 years ago

Ok. Capra Demon was good game design too, amirite?

SomaticSense 30 Jul 2014 19:33:51 15,062 posts
Seen 3 years ago
Registered 16 years ago

If that's "good game design" in B-team From's eyes, then I'll steering clear of Dark Souls 3.

Kami 30 Jul 2014 20:03:20 2,711 posts
Seen 11 hours ago
Registered 19 years ago

@teamHAM; Exactly what does this fight have in common with the Capra Demon?

I kinda don't want to know how you link them up... and yet I'm asking anyway. I know. That's just weird.

(note; Elana and Sinh were terrible though, I can't argue the DLC was an overwhelming success story when it pretty clearly isn't...)

Edited by Kami at 20:04:49 30-07-2014

teamHAM 30 Jul 2014 20:24:31 3,847 posts
Seen 4 weeks ago
Registered 14 years ago

If you don't know how i link those two fights then there's probably not a lot else to say to be fair.

To summarise, you think the first two bosses were horrible, but the bumrush gank squad was quality.

Fair enough. Opinions and all that.

Fonzie 30 Jul 2014 20:53:36 3,492 posts
Seen 2 days ago
Registered 15 years ago

I've enjoyed all the dlc so far. Beat the first boss and the three extra boss people but only with the help of summons.

Haven't used any of the stuff I've found so far though. I was hoping to find something like armour or weapons that are better than what I have.

Armoured_Bear 30 Jul 2014 20:57:07 31,233 posts
Seen 2 days ago
Registered 10 years ago

I just tried Dark Weapon, that's a nice hex :-)

Fonzie 30 Jul 2014 21:44:08 3,492 posts
Seen 2 days ago
Registered 15 years ago

Armoured_Bear wrote:
I just tried Dark Weapon, that's a nice hex

Not used hexes at all in any of my playthroughs.

Kami 30 Jul 2014 22:47:03 2,711 posts
Seen 11 hours ago
Registered 19 years ago

@teamHAM; Indeed, although I believe the accurate collective name for them is "The Lost Party".

But your troubles with it lead me to presume you haven't done much PvP, or experimented with PvP stuff or builds. That might be the difference; that fight is pseudo-PvP, or "So offliners, you thought you could get away with not doing any PvP stuff in our game, eh? SURPRISE BITCHES!"

Capra Demon is everything that is bad about what could be done with Souls bosses though. Really. I certainly would be careful using it as a comparative point...

FanBoysSuck 30 Jul 2014 23:06:18 1,668 posts
Seen 3 days ago
Registered 12 years ago

The gank squad fight is fun if you do it properly, ie with 2 player summons. Fuck doing it alone. I like the fact From are experimenting with coop focused content as it was he strongest aspect of Dark Souls 2 in my opinion.

What's truely bullshit is the dark diver stuff. I need to clear it all if I'm going to get the platinum (something I only do for souls games) but fighting 3 tough NPCs twice in a row with my nerfed faith character, with a limited supply item being used for each attempt, can fuck right off.

Duffking 30 Jul 2014 23:59:00 16,964 posts
Seen 8 hours ago
Registered 15 years ago

Armoured_Bear wrote:
I just tried Dark Weapon, that's a nice hex

Wait until you get resonant weapon

I liked Capra Demon, actually. Maybe as I never had any trouble with him but it always felt like a reasonably consistent fight to me despite the dogs.

The Gank Squad to me are symbolic of a sort of Kitchen Sink mentality form had with DS2 which is when they run out of ideas, they just go for overwhelming numbers instead. You liked those Gargoyles from last time? Well here's even mooooore of them, etc.

I thought the design of the area was the only saving grace of the gank squad's fight. Beyond that it was just a lazy excuse for a boss complete with some rather silly AI.

Dark Souls II • Page 375