Dark Souls 2

TB has a video exclusively on the quality of the port, I didn't play it myself yet, but it looks like a solid port.
The only problems seem to be with somewhat wonky mouse acceleration, so playing it with a controller is recommended.
And, of course, since TB has a pretty beefy computer there's not much to say in terms of performance.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
It seems like it has a few bugs, but all reports on performance, graphic options, etc. are positive, so I don't know why you think it's a bad port? Granted, I can't even fathom playing Dark Souls with a mouse and keyboard, the game simply isn't designed for that control scheme.
 
I've killed quite a number of bosses with just the mouse and keyboard. The camera control is a bit wonky indeed, but that's all really. After adjusting the keybinds and installing dsfix and ds mousefix it's quite alright.
 
I finally decided to try using the Giant Warrior Club.

Holy crap, at +10 it has 460 base damage with an A in Strength scaling.

I'm doing almost 700 damage with a single swing.

Not to mention that nobody's shields can take it's two-handed strong attack.

At least nobody who has invaded me so far.

Takes 60 strength to use one-handed, but seriously, two-handing it is the way to go.
 
generalissimofurioso said:
I finally decided to try using the Giant Warrior Club.

Holy crap, at +10 it has 460 base damage with an A in Strength scaling.

I'm doing almost 700 damage with a single swing.

Not to mention that nobody's shields can take it's two-handed strong attack.

At least nobody who has invaded me so far.

Takes 60 strength to use one-handed, but seriously, two-handing it is the way to go.
Click to expand...

Stack stamina with the third dragon ring and vitality of 20 minimum. You'll have enough for two regular swings with a sliver of stamina left for the strong attack (you only need a minimum of 1 stamina for an attack, regardless of the attack cost). It's basically 4 hits for a stamina bar and you drop 3-4k damage.

Weapon is also great in PVP. R1 horizontal swing attacks with no-target lock on are a great way to tag people, plus the weapon does a shit ton of damage and goes right through poise (half the time when I would hit people I'd get another 1-2 hits in because of the stagger). The R2 is a 360 attack, so you can run away from people then 'surprise' them and smack them with the R2 as they try to catch up. One of my favourite weapons, next to Santier's. I'm seriously horny for the club's R2.
 
Last edited:
I distinctly remember already replying, but uh, guess I didn't. Anyway, as far as clubs go, I prefer the Large Club: simple, efficient, S strength scaling on top of that. It's not a class of weapons I like much for PvP because they're easy to dodge and I'm not good on predicting enemy positioning based on lag, though actually hitting with an R2 is a delight. Also, lol, are there seriously people that invade and then turtle up behind a shield? That's news to me.
 
Yeah, they usually have a greatshield and greatsword and just kind of hope you'll get close enough for them to swing at.

My current build is basically a deceptive strength build.

I've got an estoc in one of my right-hand slots and the giant warrior club in another.

They run up thinking "Haha, puny man does stab with girly sword."

AND THEN I SMASH THEIR FACE IN.
 
WorstUsernameEver said:
Also, lol, are there seriously people that invade and then turtle up behind a shield? That's news to me.
Click to expand...

Haha, I was, for a brief while, invading people with a havel's in two-handed stance with ironclad armor and a gower's ring of protection just to be annoying. That said, gower's ring of protection is another sweet and possibly underrated item. It literally negates all damage coming from behind (up till the ring breaks). If you play in unlocked mode you can literally quick-turn and absorb big damage hits if you don't have time to do anything else or you can use it to bait people into chasing you, then quick-turn so you can hit them while they're running. The back protection ensures they don't tag YOU first. Carry a stack of repair powder and get a few extra rings with bonfire ascetics and you'll have a good supply of back defense.

Some people do invade with a havel's and win though, there are a lot of builds that a havel's is a good counter for, like the santier's spear. A magic infused havel's is also great for fighting battle mages since it gives 100% arcane resist.

Probably another one of the most OP (and common) weapons is the moonlight greatsword. You'll see a lot of "battle mages" rocking that with a crystal enchant. The damage scales with their int which makes it a real heavy hitter and basically gives them all the strength of a melee character with an arsenal of big damage spells. I hate those mag builds because they just spam 1-2 hit kill spells until they tag you with something. Or spam the moonlight's R2. Very bothersome that their melee is also exceptionally powerful as well.
 
Moonlight Greatsword can't be crystal enchanted anymore after the patch, so it's not nearly as OP now. As for full Havel's, my only experience with one has been a guy that was using a puny dagger (probably bandit's knife?) and couldn't damage me at all. I was rocking a Lightning Washing Pole+10 (not *that* great of a weapon IMO but a lot of people can't seem to deal with the range properly) and handily killed him.
 
WorstUsernameEver said:
Moonlight Greatsword can't be crystal enchanted anymore after the patch
Click to expand...

That was such a good decision, haha... that thing was bananas.

WorstUsernameEver said:
...my only experience with one has been a guy that was using a puny dagger (probably bandit's knife?) and couldn't damage me at all. I was rocking a Lightning Washing Pole+10 (not *that* great of a weapon IMO but a lot of people can't seem to deal with the range properly) and handily killed him.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I haven't seen a lot of success with short range weapons like that... it has a bleed affect (30-50% (?) health instantly, if you can actually apply it) and probably some pretty high crit damage but it's unlikely that you can get that many hits in or actually get behind for the stab. Washing pole is friggin' awesome too with its excellent range, though I don't see it very often. Bandit knife would probably be pretty effective with a riposte if you can actually do it. Always nice to see someone using something less common.

Related/unrelated:
 
Last edited:
So, trading? How does it work? I'm soul level 60 but I have no idea how to trade with players.
 
There's formal trading, but while I never tried in Dark Souls II, you could drop items for other players when summoned in DkS1.

EDIT: Also, holy shit, loved that Rock Lobster video. For all the "git gud" bullshit, the Souls community can produce some really interesting stuff.

EDIT 2: Speaking of which, this has to be my favorite video so far:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Has anyone used the Throne Defender Greatsword?


I did a Faith/Str Build and at Faith 40 it was doing around 560-600 damage per hit after I infused it with Lightning and got it to +5, it's crazy how powerful it is.

Something to note for people in future playthroughs: if you want an excellent greatsword that can carry you through the entire game with low-requirements and won't eat up Twinkling Titanite as well as being achievable very early on, go for the Bastard Sword.

You can get it after killing The Last Giant and getting the Soldier Key.

In the room just below The Cardinal Tower and right next to the somewhat large open area that connects to the Mine with Cale inside (The room with the kneeling Undead Soldier next to the hole in the wall) there is a door unlocked with the Soldier Key.

The area it is in is littered with Ironclad Knights, but if you rush through you can just about make it to the cottage at the end of the area, inside the cottage is a chest with the Bastard Sword.

It's really an excellent weapon and I could have used well into NG+ if it weren't for my discovery of the Throne Defender Greatsword.

On another side note, does anyone subscribe to the theory that Drangleic is Lordran?

Personally I don't like the idea, but what with the Four Lord Souls being spread about Drangleic and the constant phrase said by NPCs: "Many Kingdoms have risen and fallen on this very spot!", it seems very likely.

I did always think Heide looked a bit too similar to Anor Londo.

Also, post your characters!

Here is Tiberius, he's a rather generic Knight.

TiberiusTheGenericKnight.jpg

I've been switching between the Knight set and Alva's armor, they both look great (In my opinion Alva's set should have been the Cover Armor rather than Faraam.)
 
Last edited:
I much prefer the Claymore to the Bastard Sword, myself. Very similar stat-wise, but it has a more comfortable move-set to me at least. I've been struggling with finding a larger sword I really like. I can't deal with the ultra greatswords, they're just too slow and unreliable. The Mastodon Greatsword is the best I can find, but side-to-side with the Claymore, the latter wins. Damage is not that far behind, and it's much lighter and faster.

As for the lore, I think the game makes it pretty obvious that Drangleic is supposed to be at the same location Lordran was. It's not Lordran, per se. Thousands of years may have passed, and what remain are rather souls and artefacts, not architecture. But I may be wrong. That's why I love DkS lore, it's always open for debate.
 
I used the Claymore extensively in Dark Souls I, but I didn't think it was fitting to use it again in Dark Souls II. As I said before, you should check out the Throne Defender Greatsword if you have the chance, it's an excellent weapon.

I somewhat disagree with you on the Architecture being gone, simply look at the Cathedral in Heide, it looks identical to the one from Anor Londo, and that's not mentioning the fact that Ornstein dwells within.
 
I got the Throne Defender Greatsword on my Faith build but haven't had the STR to try it out yet. He's mainly DEX, poking away with Syan's Halberd. It's a shame, I feel like I have a lot more diverse and interesting weapons to play around with on my DEX build. Few STR weapons scale well, unless you go to some of the super big weapons. And most of the bigger STR weapons are very similar in move-sets from what I've tested. I'm actually considering skipping big weapons and going back to smaller weapons, maybe dual-wielding. I just upgraded a Fire Longsword to +10 and find it just as useful, if not more so, than the Fire Claymore +10 I've used about 75% of my playtime on this guy. Bigger damage for less stamina and in shorter time, and easier to stun-lock enemies. I mainly used a Longsword in the beginning, having a hard time leaving it behind since I liked it so much. But I was dead set on using bigger weapons. So far, they all feel kinda 'meh'.

Hm, I'll have to take a closer look on Heide then. Never really noticed the similarities, but I wasn't even looking for them.

Anyway, this is my STR-focused character:
 

Attachments

  • 2014-06-03_00001.jpg
    2014-06-03_00001.jpg
    350.4 KB · Views: 464
I've always found large weapons to be more effective and more satisfying to use than small weapons, but I suppose it is up to preference.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top