Walker of Darkness

Dark Souls 2

Asuras said
It summons these specific types of human-like phantoms that are always one of two variations:A) A heavy armor dude with an ultra-greatswordB) Med-armor dude with a large shield and halberdThese enemies also appear in Aldia's Keep in a similar manner as they do during the Mirror Knight boss; through mirrors. They're relatively weak in terms of defense and health, but can throw out some considerable damage.I managed to beat Mirror Knight on my third try, but I must say he is one of the most difficult bosses in the game, even with NPC aid.

While this is true, the boss can, and will, summon players within your Sl range(and in NG, your SM range) if they place their red summon sign down in the hall before it. I had it summon a few players in my fight with it.

Dark Souls 2

mdk said
Tonight I got into a pretty serious groove, and passed a bunch of areas, and long story short, I got ratted out. It was the coolest thing ever, and so now I'm a brodent. You don't get 'invaded,' per se. You get, like, abducted, into the rat's world, and then the rat kills you. You can't get out and all the creatures attack you, and there's like a thousand Pharos traps he can set up beforehand to assist in the slaughter. It's.... fucking.... beautiful.

You can escape, and escaping gets you a lockstone just the same as killing the Rat Bastard. But they do have a rather distinct advantage. I go back there every once in a while, rodents get more than they bargain for though. Now have 20-30 in EVERY stat and poison claws. The poison infusion, while on most weapons lowers the base attack and other elements/effects if the weapon has them, raises both the base attack and the bleed of the claws. Add that with very fast attacks and high stamina, by the time they can get away from me, I've poisoned them and bleed them out, giving them only seconds to heal before they die or I catch them in another flurry of attacks.

Also being such a high level and having a high Soul Memory, I can't really co-op anymore, but get invaded a LOT. And I still haven't even gotten halfway through the game yet....

Dark Souls 2

Hunter of Shadows said
Well I'm hearing that poise is bugged, and that hitboxes are screwy as fuckTo the point that big names like OnlyAfro are commenting on it

Hitboxes, maybe a bit. but I've noticed the major thing is about adaptability. It's not just about the I-frames for the roll, but before and after I-frame damage reduction. Also, Soul memory for summoning is retarded. For invading, I can understand, but for co-op, it makes things absolutely stupid. I have over 1.5 mil SM but only at SL92 and I can not summon anyone(or be summoned) in a area I know is heavy in people near my own SL because of other forums. Most people near my SL only have half a mil SM compared to me, I just used a lot of souls to upgrade a wide swath of items due to my Jack of all Trades set up.

Also, people thinking it's a % for SM and summoning are very likely to be wrong. Bandai-Namco has stated it's a gap of "roughly" 50k SM between players for summoning. A firend and I tested that, with the name engraved ring(special summoning server for each 'god') and we could only summon each other once he had gotten his SM withing that 50k stated. That was a few days of trying, several hours waiting for signs to show up and whatnot. At low levels, no big deal. Higher levels, where you've likely farmed a bit to upgrade(as I have) and did a lot of side/back tracking, co-op...and dying, you get a VERY high SM but not so much in SL. Some others, on the other hand, may have been on one track, did little farming(or bare minimum) and not have collected near as many souls but be the same SL. Like, one million souls less.

In short, Soul memory should remain that, just a number and a memory, not a mechanic.(co-op wise. For invading, it's a solid concept.)

Dark Souls 2

I only counted them as one, as I only looked at the item list of souls, not uses/amounts of them.

Dark Souls 2

Huh, I counted 34(unique souls, at least) in the CE Guide. Maybe it does count mini bosses.

Dark Souls 2

Asuras said
I had knowledge of The Forest of Fallen Giants and Heide's Tower but that was it.I'm now sitting before the last boss (I think?), but I don't know how to get to it. I know it's there, but I just don't know how to activate the fight/get to the area.

Unless you've killed 34 other bosses(and that's just the ones that give you a unique soul) I doubt it's the last. I could be wrong, but I know there are 34+ bosses in the game, not counting mini bosses.

Dark Souls 2

Mostly been goofing off with multiple build ideas, tossing them out after a while. Like a nice green Hulk that used a pair of cestus and one large club. That one kinda leveled a lot of the bosses. Have a red skinned Darth Maul, and found the twin blade kinda early. That blade staff is awesome, though it's strikes are individually weak, it combos a lot of them together quickly. Has a nice move set as well.

But as for my main, now at 7 bosses, taking things slow, mixing my dual swords with sword and board as needed. Leaning towards curved swords and medium armors, like Elite Knight and Alva. Though I do like the Drangleic set for it's stats, don't care much for the cape. Not that hard hitting, but quick cuts and easy stamina management. Armored, but still agile enough to avoid danger. Mixing in some spells as well, jack of all trades over all. My classic set up.

Dark Souls 2

I noticed the no respawning part. Think of it lore wise. "One who dies over and over goes hollow. Once completely hollowed, they die one last time." It could be that us killing the hollows over and over is driving them to become completely hollow, meaning that final time we kill them, it was the breaking point and they are no more.

You can now be invaded while hollow(had it happen to me a couple times) and in areas where you have already beat the boss(es).

Summons are cut down. Using the small sign stone, you can kill a handful of enemies before your "Duty is fulfilled" and you're forced to return home. The normal sign stone is more like a few dozen before you're set back. As before, however, beating the boss sends you back with a nice fist full of souls. White phantoms/"Shades" can use any and all healing items now. Black phantoms/"Dark Shades" can not use any healing at all save for miracles.

More info to toss about once I learn more, and slightly more sober to process said information.

Turtlicious said
Waiting for the PC port.
Question: Is offline more or less viable now?

Very much so, I would say. Several NPC phantoms, a covenant that makes it so you cant summon phantoms at all(for that offline feel though you can still be invaded) and a plethora of NPC invaders. And NG+ has more BPs than you can crack a whip at tossed in every area as normal spawns.

Dark Souls 2

Asuras said
Any opinions on the standard difficulty so far? I've been watching snippets of play and to be quite honest it seems like Dark Souls 2 is a large step down in difficulty compared to the first from what I've seen. :\I'm really hoping it's still really difficult. Otherwise I'll have to join the Difficulty Covenant on my first run. I'm getting my copy in the mail tomorrow. I am so psyched you have no idea.

The gameplay you're seeing is likely from mainly people that got the early copies(so time to get used to the changes from one) and true blue Souls Vets. The game is actually harder, but at the same, time easier. For a vet, it will be a quick refresh and figure out of the changed parts. For someone who's had the game down for a while, it will be a harsh, but rewarding, challenge. But for both, it's a new experience.

You can watch all the gameplay you want, most of it is from AFTER they have figured things out, such as Peeve's streams and videos(he had a early copy from Namco, so was on NG+ before the 11th). But for those going through the first time, it will be a fight.

Dark Souls 2

mdk said
So I played for a little bit today (oh who am I kidding, I played a LOT today), and suddenly turned a corner to where now I'm like, SL50 all of a sudden from dropping the soap in front of_____ .I don't know what to do with all of this power.

Yeah, I did the same for a while. How I got all of that upgrading done on my weapons and armor. About four hours worth. Now in the next area, Co-Oping to get a feel for the area and farm more souls.