Dark Souls II

Well, I killed Smelter Demon with some friendly Phantoms helping me out. My damage isn't terrific, but I manage to three hit kill the Alonne Knights. Pity about Sunset Staff only having 30 durability.

I like Transgressor's Staff +5, and I really want to get it to Dark Infusion.

Is +5 the right time to Infuse?

You can infuse at any time. Just need the right material.

Oh, and the Old Ember is in the Iron Keep. Need to make a leap for it though. It's near the chest before the Smelter Demon boss room.

Ah, I see, that is no problem - the Alonne Knights were troublesome at first with how damn fast they can be despite their armor when you wear it being incredibly heavy.

And now I just need to get Darknight Stones.

My Hexer is starting to become less and less fragile - I capped off his Int and Faith at 42 and 42, and now I worked a deal on Vigor. I may just eschew STR and DEX entirely and pour the remaining 180 levels into Vigor, Stamina and Vitality.

180? What level are you going for? Not that it technically matters, since only Soul Memory is used for matchmaking, which has it's own problems compared to using Levels instead...

But yeah, hexers kinda gotta ditch STR and DEX to get any real milage out of their magic.

My first build was a sorcerer turned hexer. Was fun.

300.

It just seems like a perfect level for me.

Should I make my Faith and Intelligence any higher, or is 42 good enough?

Well, level doesn't really matter, only if you're into some community established Pv P scene or don't want somebody calling you a Scrub for "over levelling" despite the fact that another half of the player base calls you a scrub for staying at a specific level.

And 42 INT/FTH doesn't sound bad. But there are a few spells out there that go all the way to 60 or more in requirements, some of them DLC area only, which could be nice. But Soul Vessels are a thing for a reason: to try out if you want to have different stats or not.

Oh, 50 FTH/INT might be a good option if you want access to the best magic and lightning damage catalysts. The Staff of Wisdom and the Dragon Chime.

Damage is still way too low. Yeah, I'm gonna go to 50, 50.

Just died to Surprise Pursuer appearance. Fought him again, almost died, retreated...and...huh.

And when I entered the Smelter Demon area again, he didn't even appear again.

Did you beat him? If not, that's strange. But most strange occurances can be fixed by resting at a bonfire.

Oh, and Great Resonant Soul (GRS) is one of your power house spells. Though that thing consumes 500 souls per casting. Felkin sells it.

Hm, alright. I'll pick that up - I currently have quite a lot of Souls, and most enemies drop a ton of em.

Its bothersome to constantly switch to Chime from Staff, and I look forward to getting the Miracles, Hexes and Sorceries Staff. Maybe I'll even Trade someone for it.

It's a semi-uncommon drop from witches in the crypt, so a long way to go. But it just makes hexing much less of a hassle. Best part is, it can cast all weapon buffs (except flame weapon) and since in Dark Souls II it's your stats that affect the strenght of the buff, not your spell tool like Dark Souls The First, theres no downside to using it for weapon buffs!

On the other hand, All buffs give a pretty tiny damage increase on straight physical weapons. they need to be matched to their respective element to do real damage.

That is true. I think the reason is that there is almost zero scaling on a pure physical weapons, but an elemental weapon should have atleast B scaling, which affects the buff as well.

Anyhow though, Dark Black Witch's Staff. One could run around armed with hexes and then Crystal Magic Weapon, Dark Weapon and Sunlight Blade and not carry more than one catalyst (plus Pyroglove) whilst being able to do all elemental attacks.

edited 26th Apr '15 2:47:50 AM by Kuroxeng

I actually saw a video on Sunlight Blade's channel where this guy hacked his character, invaded in Heide's Tower in the middle area...and apparently just decided he really wanted to become a challenging mini-boss.

He essentially became Darklurker the Preview, combining his pyromancies and spells together into bizarre chains, casting them all with this weird looking catalyst.

The host actually killed "Deceased Iron King", but got killed by a Lightning Trap it left.

Also, I am really enjoying PVP and Co-op elements of the game. I've helped a number of people kill Smelter Demon by now. I guess all that's left is to kill the Old Iron King. YOU SHALL NOT PASS!

Heh, that's kinda funny.

I dunno if doing constant co-op is a great idea. The more souls you have collected total (despite if you spent them or lost them or hoarded them) the higher your soul memory, which affects online matchmaking. This might put you into a too high of a range for most people in some areas, but who knows, theres so many people out there dieing and losing and gaining souls, it's ridicilous. And everyone eventually reaches the highest "tier" for matchmaking.

And they even removed the isolation between NG and NG+(++++++). So soul memory probably shouldn't be an issue.

Though Straid now sells a ring that makes you not gain any souls, allowing you to control your SM. The only use I can think for it though is to keep yourself a low level invader, sentinel or sun bro.

Man, it was simpler when it was just soul level that mattered, but that had the problem of Elite Tweak invaders...

edited 26th Apr '15 9:33:21 PM by Kuroxeng

So instead of gaining infinite hp or stamina or moving really fast, the hacker decided...he really, really wanted to become a really difficult boss.

Well, one good part of constant co op is that I have memorized the Smelter Demon's moves.

A depressing thing I've noticed is that it seems I've never really killed a boss on my own power. I think I may just be a panicky weakling on my own.

Everyone secretly is on the inside.

But here's a tip/motivatinoal: bosses have more health in co-op, less when solo.

And yeah, when people hack, 90% of the time it's "lol god moed" and I fail to see how that's fun even for the hacker.

edited 26th Apr '15 10:02:10 PM by Kuroxeng

Alright, I am going to try to take on the Chariot by myself. Hopefully I can do it.

I'll still help out people in the Keep whenever I can. It seems I get a lot of top tier online people there.

I am really not liking the idea of going through the Gutter area. But I'll need to do it to get to The Rotten.

Lighting the torches in the gutter serves as a good land mark to where you've been. Though there is a lot more there than meets the eye. There is even a hidden zipline to ride.

The gutter fortunately, doesn't punish torch using too badly. the giant rats are a pain but the regular enemies are rather weak for the most part. (If their weapon has a black glow to them, do not get hit by it.)

... Rats? I thought they were skinless demon dogs.

But yes, the hollows are frail but the ones with a dark sword hit deceptively hard. Oh, and any sconces(?) you lit up can be used to re-light your torch when need be, so that's a plus.

Did I mention theres a few hidden routes in there?

And why is it that I feel compelled to light all the sconces in the game? And why isn't there an achievement or secret reward for that, since it seems like something that should.

I really do need this Black Witch's Staff - switching between weapons is sluggish.

Is there anyone here, close to Soul Memory 1438056 who can spare one?

I tried organizing a Trade on Dark Souls Find, but nobody is sending me any messages.

edited 27th Apr '15 2:53:42 PM by NickTheSwing

Guys you gotta beat a boss by yourself at least once, otherwise it's like you never actually did.

No phantoms, no summons, just you, the boss, and maybe a few of its minions.

Well, in my Hexer build, my +7 Transgressor Staff is now outdamaging my Sunset Staff +1. Yeah, and given the higher durability, I know which weapon I'm sticking with until I get more Twinkling Titanite.

Sad nobody wanted to trade the Black Witch Staff.

I am also loving the Bellkeepers Covenant. Its just you and me host. Well, you, me and my Double Avelyn wielding friend there...

I half agree. Beating the likes of Pursuer solo was a rush, but if some people prefer the feel of co-operative spirit, let them have their fun.

Though if you're not trying a no-death run then there shouldn't be any drawbacks atleast trying it.

Have you even made to the crypt yet? Save your Rusted Coins for the witches there.

And maybe carry only one style of hexes if weapon juggling gets confusing.

I do enjoy co-operative play, in any game, but it is much more satisfying to beat bosses solo. I made a point of not summoning anyone in Bloodborne, after having done it for most of Dark Souls and Dark Souls II.