Dark Souls 2 is the easy one?

[druss]

How the fucking hell is Dark Souls 2 regarded as the "easy" one?

I feel like there must be a button I'm missing or some sort of obvious strategy that is eluding me because I have played this for fucking hours and am still getting nailed every other fight. DS1 was hard to learn but once you've mastered the mechanics it's pretty easy to not die, but DS2 is ridiculous. The camera alone has caused me dozens of deaths, randomly unlocking and making me freeze still in front of some cunt.

One of two things must be happening, 1) There is some piss easy strategy/tactic that I'm missing, in which case someone please tell me because I can't find anything online or 2) It's clearly not the easiest Souls game because I could start up 1 today and not die until Blightown without too much difficulty.

[Sin Agog]

Who told you that?  I've mostly heard the opposite.  Bloodborne's the easy one for me, but probably because it's less languorous and more responsive, plus stamina is almost never an issue.

Haven't played it for a few years, but my instinctive, lame-ass strategy was to mow down all the cunts in the way until they stopped spawning, but then after I did that I realised the only thing stopping me from speedrunning past 'em was my imagination giving a few lumbering pixellated meanies too much credit. 

[druss]

Just read a few people online saying it was the easy one. I'm playing Scholar of the First Sin edition, don't know if that makes a difference.

I only ever played Dark Souls Remastered on PS4, maybe that one was easier than the original or something.

All I know is that after being a parrying and rolling invincible cunt in DS1 I feel like I may as well just hit myself in the head with my shield instead of parrying as it might distract them for a second whilst they laugh at me.

[madhair60]

No, it's the shitty one.

[Sin Agog]

Well they're all the kind of games that start off much harder than they end up, so stick with it unless you've got something productive you should be doing.  I get the vibe that DS1 has the harder environment, with loads of poisoned areas and tiny, packed ledges, whereas the actual enemies are much less squishy in DS2.  DS2 also doesn't have the easy mode known as Pyromancer.

I always preferred the sequel, but that's mostly 'cause I'm a mark for all the pretty open spaces and whatnot.

By the way, I've been a 2-Hander since day dot.  Immeasurably cuts down on the length of fights, and as you probably know the longer a battle goes on the more opportunity you get to fuck it up by doing something stupid.

[druss]

Yeah I'm two handing, mainly used shield for parries in DS1 and I'm useless at them in this game so sticking to rolling.

It's fun when you perfectly time a roll knowing the enemy has only one hit until they die and when you are right in front of them you swing and inexplicably miss and they kill you, love that mechanic.

[Sin Agog]

Your problem is being in front of them in the first place.  Never a good idea.  Just turn off the lock-on and spend every fight trying to get as close to their arseholes as possible before attacking.  Also roll into them, not away from them.  Seem to remember upgrading the invincibility frames on the roll was a major deal for me.

(I know, entry-level shit, but I haven't played any of these games in ages. Boston will mosey on by in a bit no doubt).

[druss]

I try to get behind them every time, but my guy moves with the mobility of an aids infested pensioner. Rolling towards them usually ends up in being smacked, which is weird because I remember it working in Ds1.

What do you mean by turn off the lock on? You mean R3?

[Inspector Norse]

I started this one a while ago and it's pretty hard, yeah, but having got through the first one I know that however stuck I might think I am, I will get through it. That said I'm on the Lost Bastille and there's just two locked doors and one other blocked by a frozen dude, and if I turn back some one-hit-killer bastard materialises in a courtyard full of dogs and archers and GAH

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

The question is: Can you get through it before boredom sets in?

Because Dark Souls is boring.

[druss]

The question is: Can you get through it before boredom sets in?

Because Dark Souls is boring.

I didn't find the first one boring at all but this one is very boring. I feel like it's down to bad luck most times I die, either due to an annoying move by the enemy or some random camera jolt or my guy not moving where I want him to. Most areas I'm clearing because the enemies start to despawn rather than me figuring out how to consistently get by them. Felt like a powerhouse when I figured out how to play DS1 but I feel like an old man in this game.

I'd never be able to have the patience for it but I find it pretty plausible that people manage to do no death runs on DS1 but I can't comprehend how they do it for DS2. Controls are too shitty.

[Thursday]

There's some weird things going on with enemy lock-ons in Dark Souls 2, I think, where even at a slow heavy attack they can still sometimes, spin around at the last possible moment and hit you.
And yeah there's a lot of encounter design issues where it's like "throw a ton of enemies at you at once and put you into a situation where it's impossible to force one-on-one's." So you just have to really wait to sneak in a moment to get a hit in and it's just not fun.

There is one stat that affects things quite significantly in dark souls 2 which is adaptability - It actually increases the number of frames you're invincible for during rolls. (Of course it doesn't tell you this, so it's a useful one to upgrade.) People tend to sleep on it, because it sounds like a useless stat like resistance is in DS1, but it's actually very good.

Also just to be sure - you did go to Forest of Fallen giants after Majula right? If you go to Heide's tower of Flame, you'll have a bad time.

But yeah Dark Souls 2 isn't easier, I think it's just people were used to Souls mechanics so it's less of an initial hurdle.

[druss]

I went to Tower of Flame at first and was having a pretty shit time. Marginally better at Forest but I turned it off after losing a few thousand souls.

Maybe I need to upgrade adaptability because rolling seems utterly useless right now. I thought I'd roll a cleric as I never did one in the original, tempted to reroll if adaptability is vital.

Any weapon recommendations? I've tried a few swords, settled on a mace for now but they all feel really clunky compared to anything in DS1.

Any big fuck off swords lying around near the start? First play through of DS1 I did with a claymore and then Zweihander which felt pretty cheap but I'll take cheap at this point. Was much more satisfying completing DS1 with a katana as it felt skilful but I can't ever imagine being skilful at DS2.

[Sin Agog]

Any big fuck off swords lying around near the start?

If you do start again, the second you leave the training area and the sun starts shining in from across the ocean, if you walk off the edge of the cliff (maybe youtube the exact spot) there's a weapon on a ledge that should put you in good stead for ages.  Otherwise, Bastard Swords rarely do you wrong early game.  Relatively fast, wide arc, and much quicker recovery than those claymore-looking fuckers.  The moves are glacial enough in DS2 without Greatswords making them even slower, but you'll wanna upgrade to a better scaling weapon eventually.  For the first 45-50 levels of a Strength Build a Bastard is great.

[madhair60]

The question is: Can you get through it before boredom sets in?

Because Dark Souls is boring.

the shit taste man has arrived

edit: lmao just kidding. that's totally me. i have the worst gaming taste on CaB

[Thursday]

I went to Tower of Flame at first and was having a pretty shit time. Marginally better at Forest but I turned it off after losing a few thousand souls.

Maybe I need to upgrade adaptability because rolling seems utterly useless right now. I thought I'd roll a cleric as I never did one in the original, tempted to reroll if adaptability is vital.

Any weapon recommendations? I've tried a few swords, settled on a mace for now but they all feel really clunky compared to anything in DS1.

Any big fuck off swords lying around near the start? First play through of DS1 I did with a claymore and then Zweihander which felt pretty cheap but I'll take cheap at this point. Was much more satisfying completing DS1 with a katana as it felt skilful but I can't ever imagine being skilful at DS2.

Cleric is a bit of an odd choice, never really messed with them. I guess it wouldn't be that different from the mace, but there is a morning star somewhere in Majula on a ledge.

You should be able to get an item called a Soul Vessel and if you talk to one of the ladies at the start you can reroll your stats instead of starting again, (not quite sure if that was what you meant by reroll)

[The Crumb]

Scholar of the First Sin is definitely pretty brutal in its enemy placements, and Heide's tower is just ridiculous. If you can clear the early game hump, it does become easier, as it throws mad amounts of souls at you, so you can level up like nobody's business and have loads left over to buy lifegems. It could be said to be easier than DS1 in the sense that the bonfire warping means you can't get lost/stuck in the same way.

I think the mace is a really good basic weapon, something like loads of enemies are weak to blunt damage in DS2. The clunky, floaty feeling of the combat is just part of the game unfortunately. Poison's actually good in DS2, I recommend a bow and poision arrows as a backup.

[Jerzy Bondov]

Dark Souls 3 is the easy one (the one I've completed)

[Inspector Norse]

Poison's actually good in DS2, I recommend a bow and poision arrows as a backup.

Huh, I found poison arrows to be a bit of a cheaty get-out clause in DS1 as you could pick off almost any enemy with them by pumping three or four into them then hotfooting it out of aggro range. So far in DS2 I've only found the one guy who sells them and he only had a dozen then next time I went in his shack he'd vanished. I guess they're easier to get hold of later in the game?

[The Crumb]

Huh, I found poison arrows to be a bit of a cheaty get-out clause in DS1 as you could pick off almost any enemy with them by pumping three or four into them then hotfooting it out of aggro range. So far in DS2 I've only found the one guy who sells them and he only had a dozen then next time I went in his shack he'd vanished. I guess they're easier to get hold of later in the game?

Maybe I was just underusing them in DS1 then. Found the dual wielding with one poison weapon great in 2, as it even works on a lot of bosses. You can get unlimited poison arrows later in the game when you meet beardy man again in the Doors of Pharros. There's one of the DLC bosses you pretty much need to cheese with poison or something.

[Inspector Norse]

I managed to find two separate exits from the Lost Bastille now: one by smashing some previously unnoticed boards in the courtyard and going up ladders, the other by unfreezing frozen man and - after getting killed half a dozen times by a massive swarm of soldiers; one way in which this one is certainly harder is that you often get backed into a corner by big hordes of weak enemies - getting past the boss (or three bosses, as it turned out).

And so far I've not really had any trouble with any bosses, though the game is pretty generous with giving you phantoms to summon near them. But they seem a bit more basic in their patterns and slower in their movement than the first game's bosses.

Apart from that one dude who keeps materialising out of thin air and one-hitting me. Not sure if he's officially a boss or just a cunt, though.

[H-O-W-L]

Apart from that one dude who keeps materialising out of thin air and one-hitting me. Not sure if he's officially a boss or just a cunt, though.

He's only officially a boss once, but he's very weak to Strike and Magic damage. If you get the Craftsman's Hammer and smear some Aromatic Ooze on it you can batter the granny out of him.

[druss]

Ok I found a greatsword and I also looked in to getting that aurora's armor set so things are going a little better. It still isn't as engaging as Dark Souls though.

[druss]

Absolutely murking every cunt with this greatsword. I think I'm hilariously over levelled as well due to my struggles at the start.

The map doesn't all feel as linked as the original, and despite the graphics technically being better the world doesn't look as nice. Going to complete it now obviously but it's not wowed me the way the first game did.

Waiting for PS5 for DS3 and Bloodborne as I can't take 30fps.

[The Crumb]

Unfortunately the DS1 style world never really comes back. Bloodborne manages to have its own magic through atmosphere, weirdness and general quality. The queasy hell of 20fps and chromatic aberration is all part of the charm. DS3 is the most linear of all and replaces original ideas with endless DS1 callbacks.

[H-O-W-L]

I don't get how people say Dark Souls 3 is better than 2. Is it really just because it's new? Dark Souls 3 plays like absolute shit and looks like warmed up Bloodborne leftovers (which it is) with a bit of bollock-tweaking callbacks for the insufferable sort of shits who own a "PRAISE THE SUN" T-shirt and think that crusader helmets are innately funny.

[Thursday]

Oh I think Dark Souls 3 plays better, Dark Souls 2 plays like Dark Souls 1 but lots of little things are slightly off in a way that makes it less enjoyable. Dark Souls 3 goes for a middle-ground between Dark Souls and Bloodborne.

I do think Dark Souls 2 is a much more interesting world to be in though has more of it's own ideas (well apart from Old Dragonslayer and Gargoyles fights)

[The Crumb]

Dark souls 3 also has a reputation for good bosses but they're shit. Just alternate between silly gimmick boss and ones that summon loads of magic orbs that fly at you after a delay. Maybe you get an awkward delayed combo too.

[Inspector Norse]

And so far I've not really had any trouble with any bosses, though the game is pretty generous with giving you phantoms to summon near them. But they seem a bit more basic in their patterns and slower in their movement than the first game's bosses.

Bosses in the Iron Keep held me up for absolutely ages. Finally managed to get past the Old Iron King yesterday but the Smelter Demon still keeps mashing me.

Apparently the Old Iron King is supposed to be relatively easy but it took me ages to just not keep getting knocked into the bloody lava.