Yep, Straid is in The Lost Bastille. You get a branch after the Lost Sinner, probably where yours was from. There are a couple in Harvest Valley. And one in the Gutter (did you kill the Rotten? This one is pretty hard to miss). And one Brightstone Cove (after Freja). Without spoiling too much, there's another boss soul merchant who you'll need another branch for. You can get enough branches in one playthrough to unlock everything, just a matter of finding them all.
Nope, I tried to get to the end of the gutter a few times. Made it across a ton of platforms, fought through those large lizard things but I got killed on a bridge by one of those exploding zombies after taking so many of them out that I put that area on hold for a bit and went and did the medusa section again and then got stumped at iron keep after smelter got me with his AOE a few times. The only soul outta the 4 I believe I have is the soul of the lost sinner. I was also exploring that sandy area with all the spiders and the spider/people combos and was doing really really well till that phantom with the pick-axe broke my guard in like 1 hit and chewed me up. I was being super careful too and clearing everything with my bow and pulling only one at a time. I'm always slow and methodical when I play, trying to not miss anything but that also means I don't like to try and take risks that involve jumping to much or trying to get to treasures. Sometimes it's hard to decide if an item is worth going for when you have so little humanity and each death ticks off another bit of HP.
I feel like I can finish the gutter, I just went Rage mode on that place and needa a break. The enemies aren't tough, they die easy enough but all it takes is one of those dam exploders to stun me and it's GG it feels like.
You can also trade the boss souls for weapons with Orniflex (strange bird creature), rescue her at the ruin after misty part of shaded woods (shaded ruins think its called), she is in the pit just past the huge Basilisk (huge frog with boggly eyes) behind a door, be aware though when you drop down you get attacked by 4 small basilisks that can destroy your entire armour in seconds. Once rescued she moves to her workshop at the area with all the spiders (past the church with mini boss just outside Brightstone Cove), continue through the area and you will find her behind a closed door.
Secured a copy of the PC version that drops today I believe. Haven't really had the time I'd like to still play my PS3 copy but last night I did all 3 of the major bosses to open up the king's castle, (dear freja, rotten and iron king were the 3 I didn't do yet) and I cleared them up one, two, three, wham, bam in offline mode. Now I'm in this basement room with a ton of stone guys and more of those ruin sentinels. Pretty sure I gotta fill the golems in the room with the souls of the enemies I kill, just like I did to enter the castle, not sure if it's the stone dudes, the sentinels or how I should go about it. Problem is that I opened a buncha the sentinel doors and then rested at the bonfire close by. Now that room is a death-trap since I aggro the sentinels the second I enter (the doors stayed open) so I guess tonight I gotta see if the doors reset after a system restart or if I'm somehow boned for doing it the way I did. Seems like it's the only way to go in this new area. If anyone wants to friend me on steam. either sloth or anyone else on this thread feel free to send me a friend request. http://steamcommunity.com/id/ElowsEmporium
It's just one of the doors. The giants just light up the room. It's the first one on the right you need to open simply by killing an enemy near the door. Enter carefully to avoid waking up the stone guys, kill any Sentinels that aggro, then carefully approach the door so you only awaken the two guys guarding it and kill them near where they are waiting. You can hit them before they're targettable which helps quite a bit. Going through again on PC is going to be a breeze, but it'll be nice knowing what possibilities there are and how to make the most of them. Time to make the ultimate "f*** off" hex build that everyone else is doing. Steam
Well that's great news, thanks for the heads up, I'll be tacking a crack at it once work lets out, silly me starting on the opposite side. Shoulda picked the other door first XD!!! Slowly plodding my way to the end, chugga-chugga chugga-chugga choo choo.
I played through online and started most zones by putting down a summon sign and checking it out as a phantom. Helped avoid a few tricks like that! You've actually got quite a bit left, which is nice.
Finally got around to poking about on the PC version. Wayyy faster loading times and summoning times. Mouse and keyboard controls actually seem workable (still using controller). No network issues so far which is nice to see for a modern multiplayer game. Hardly noticed the change in graphics. Surprised that it uses character name rather than Steam name, so be ready for that. Not touching any third party graphics fixes because of supposed problems with VAC. I say poked about, but that really means co-op'd with two friends and killed six bosses. Adding a bit of challenge by going no shield, dual wield lances (well, halberds presently).
I too played a bit of the PC version this weekend Sloth and co-oped with friends. Worked 99% of the time with only 2 drops from the steam network so far but no idea if that was just my connection or steam going down for a minute or two and then coming back. Super solid 60 fps and I'm playing with a mouse and keyboard. It's workable with the controls for sure. I had a bit of trouble working out how to parry and do heavy jumping attacks since you need to double click to do strong attacks but there's buttons on the keyboard for jumping attack and parry/shield bash so you can still do them but you have to hit different keys that what I was originally trying to do which was double click and pressing forward. The one thing about the PC version that I found super frustrating was trying to co-op the bell towers. Since load times are nearly instant invasions happen super fast in that tiny area and since you need to have your sign dropped in the zone you have to expose yourself to an invader while waiting for the co-op symbol to appear. Feels like one of those areas where they should have some sorta cool-down because I know if I burn an effigy I won't be able to summon a friend to do the boss. Do you know a way to find people who you co-op with randomly after you leave their game or if you die? I played with a few on the first day or two, really nice guys with mics but I didn't catch their steam ID and since the game uses character names like you mentioned I can't seem to track them down which is a real shame. Guess I gotta just exchange details with people while we're in-game before the co-op ends? As for my progress in the game, I played a good chunk of the PS3 copy last night and went all the way from the Looking Glass Knight to the Dragon Aerie in about 5-6 hours while doing the Undead Crypt, Aldia's Keep and the Shrine of Amana. (seriously, this place is the bane of melee focused characters) I think I only have one area left in the bonfire menu after this so I guess I'm getting close to the end but I know there's still a ton of hidden content and areas I didn't get to explore due to time and my characters melee focus. I'm not using any magic or miracles or pyro on my PS3 character, just my weapons and a bow. I started to use miracles on my PC character and found that they really own everything. Lightning Spear does a truck ton of damage to most enemies and even bosses and I'm only at 30 faith with an un-upgraded casting chime. My friend who started a sorc seems to be having far more trouble doing damage than I am though he has about 6 times the casts of spells that I have. Maybe he's just doing something wrong but I doubt it because he's the one who got me into demon's souls when it came out and he's played dark souls as well. You try out the sorc stuff yet sloth? On a side note I found this video from a youtube user who did a Critique of Dark Souls 2, trying to compare and contrast the changes over the series and how he sees the game holding up to the two previous titles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UScsme8didI He does talk about spoilers and he mentions that before he gets to anything major so if you don't want any of that wait till you finish the game before watching but I did sit through it and he touches on a lot of things from the level design, gameplay changes for your character and leveling as well as upgrading equipment, NPC interactions and enemy AI/tracking abilities. He even picks at the story a bit and while I don't agree with every single thing he says I do think he brings up some really valid points about the game being slightly "phoned in" when it comes to some aspects of it. I don't want to show this to anyone to bring negativity to this thread or to make people not buy the game or anything like that. Merely trying to give a clear picture of what people can expect if they don't mind some spoilers or if they're on the fence about the game and want a passionate look at the new title. It might seem a bit of a letdown from the way he talks about it but it’s still a souls game and gives us more of what we liked even if it’s quite different in some ways from previous titles.
Steam should have a little "people you've played with recently" list somewhere. Haven't used it in ages but I remember it being somewhere. Beyond coordinating where they intend to place their signs, and wearing the name-engraved ring on the same god, there doesn't seem to be any way to find certain players. Bit of a shame, it would have been neat to see some Steamworks integration to summon friends. I have a SL130 character on PS3 that was trying out hexes. Never really mucked about with pure miracles or pure sorceries. They both seem weaker than just using hexes. The lightning spears do crazy damage but have a long wind-up (compared to the quintessential hex, great resonance soul) making them more relegated to PvE use only. The higher end sorceries can do good damage, but have so few casts and take relatively high stats. It all really comes down to: all casters are strong, but while you're at it you may as well go hexes. Pyromancies are a bit of another story. They're just so useful for any character. Even a pure caster can benefit from having a pyromancy or two, and pretty much any melee build is stronger with pyromancies. Flame Swathe is the big reason for this. One slot, two casts, 1,000+ damage with no stat requirements. It's quite easy to land on bosses for "free" damage, and powerful in PvP as well. Firestorm is also quite strong now (though I'd argue a caster is better off using Scraps of Life). The rest are decent, but there's little to no reason to not just equip more Flame Swathes or Firestorms. I saw that video too a couple days ago. Some fair points, some things that didn't bother me, some things that bothered me that he didn't mention. It's definitely something fans will totally understand, and outsiders will see as bashing the game. When following two great games, a just "good" game like DkS2 is easy to pick apart. Edit: Had my first invasion! It raised some very interesting questions for just what is possible in regards to twinking. To start, my soul memory was ~42k and I was waiting at the Cardinal Tower bonfire. The invader was wearing the jester set, and using a poison dagger. That's the really interesting bit. I can't think of any drops or treasure that give you that, meaning it would have required getting the Dull Ember from Iron Keep and giving it to the blacksmith in the Lost Bastille. The catch, to get to this point you must kill at least: Dragonrider, Flexile Sentry (easiest way to get to Lost Bastille), Skeleton Lords, Covetous Demon, and Mytha. In order to get replenishable red eye orbs you'd want to be in Brotherhood of Blood, so likely add Executioner's Chariot. Mentally running some numbers, that's stretching whether he'd still be able to invade me due to the soul memory gains. But, skipping every basic enemy, it might be possible. It's not a huge advantage having imbued weapons, but it opens many doors for other possibilities if you can get that far in without boosting soul memory too high.
However I really dislike the tutorial. Compared to the Asylum Demon it's atrocious - I was so bored at the end that I played Reaper of Souls instead. The respawn mechanic is something that will bug me all the time as well. See, I am a bit OCD about clearing a game: In DS 1 I considered an area done when the boss was slain and all items needed were looted. Now however I feel like I have to kill every enemy until it stops respawning, even those little walking soulbags in the forest before I can proceed. Yesterday I went to the Heide tower instead and thought: Yeah, this is Dark Souls! The fights there are much more fun as the knights there one hit me. I started as a sorcerer and will use hexes and miracles, but I will probably add a bit of STR and DEX down the road so I can use a scythe. Because they look cool. Jack of all trades, what could go wrong right? Unfortunately the investment in STR and DEX just to use a shield is quite high opposed to the first game. Is there a consent as to how much equipment load is ideal already? Even wearing cloth armor (Hexer set) I would have to invest more than 30 points in VIG to reach the 25% mark. Crazy.
Shields definitely got reworked, for better or worse. Only one class starts with one, the stat requirements are generally higher, and most don't block 100% physical. The weights of shields also seem higher. There's no specific value (as far as I'm aware), but there are a few guidelines. First, the "Agility" stat determines your invincibility while rolling (bear in mind it also affects item use speed). Here's a demonstration: And second, your equip percentage determines you roll distance. For everything under 70% you have the same animation, and most players seem to be staying under 70%. Mess around with it a bit and you'll get a feel for what you want out of you roll. It doesn't seem like many players are going for <25% anymore. More like <50 or <40 for a light character.
Gah, my post makes no sense. The beginning got deleted. that's what I get for posting from work I guess. I really like how the framerate is silky smooth this time around. And while the graphics don't have the realism of a Crysis the scenery is gorgeous.
ZOMG, so I finally finished DS2 last night, got a couple hours free and went through the last of the giant memories and did the throne guards and then nashandra. For a final boss, she sure was fairly straightforward and not really a boss that pressures the player other than avoiding her curse orbs. Pretty much just a tank and spank. Going to be digging into the PC version more now that my PS3 copy is done with a playthrough but I do want to mess around on NG+. I'm still a bit worried about the long time community and how soul memory will effect character levels. I really do miss just hanging out at SL 120 or SL 150 and just co-oping endlessly but I guess that won't happen until I hit the highest SM tier and hang out in NG+ since that's where all the top tier SM players will be. Hopefully it doesn't really become an issue for me. SM works but I do feel like there's quite a few tiers that could have been cut out to make the system easier to get into. If I understand correctly, NG+ players can't play with regular NG players, right? If that's the case I guess I'm missing the point of SM having so many tiers beyond maybe 4-5. Say 3 tiers for the NG and then another 1 or 2 top end tiers for anyone into NG+ and beyond. I hope FromSoft really takes a hard look at this system as more and more DS2 player data rolls in to their servers and on that tracking app they have on their website. I'd have killed to have that sorta feature in the first DS, hopefully it becomes standard for all souls games or souls-like games in the future so the game company can accurately track how the on-line community is using and playing their game.
Soul memory has already put me off of PvPing heavily for the time being, along with some other aspects. A key thing to remember is that different forms of player interaction actually allow going outside your SM bracket by various amounts. Once you're up to a coupe million, you're close enough to start getting the 12m+ unlimited bracket players. I've fought a few players who, using best estimate soul reward calculators, were levels 400+, even 800+. There's no drawback to levelling up, so few people stick to any certain level. It's not as fun duelling when you're rarely having an even match up. I already have enough complaints with SL150 as it is. It's too many points and pushes everything into caster or melee w/enchantment. Pure melee starts hitting soft caps before running out of points so grabbing low requirement spells is basically free. Doesn't need to be any higher than SL130 imo. All that said, invasions are my favorite thing in all the Souls games. No level cap, no manners to follow. But, with no whole orbs I just can't be bothered with invading. Arena battles are no fun and tedious to get them. Going NG+ and buying them is expensive and means not fighting players in NG. It really takes out the fun.
This info was posted today on the Dark Souls facebook page along with a few screenshots of the new areas. Looks like we are getting 3 DLC bundles/xpacs for Dark Souls 2. "Three chapters of harrowing Dark Souls II DLC are on the way for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC owners. The Crown of the Sunken King - July 22, 2014 The Crown of the Old Iron King - August 26, 2014 The Crown of the Ivory King - September 24, 2014"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Vhy8MnrOZA More info about the new DLC coming to Dark Souls 2 from one of the game Devs.
So far I'm not done with the first DLC yet but I'm enjoying it. Went for nearly 40 minutes without seeing a bonfire after the first one. Level design is very puzzle focused which is nice. Some of the enemies are no big deal but a few threw me for a loop in how I have to deal with them so that was refreshing. I can't say that all the areas of the DLC so far are really that pretty to look at. There's a lot of grey early on that seems to continue throughout most of the places I visited. There is one large room filled with water that is quite nice to wade around in though.
