Starting Dark Souls 2: SOTFS. What should I know?

[Deleted member 4090]

With regards to Vanilla vs. SOTFS

SOTFS is the fuller and more lively version of the game. There's more phantoms, more enemy variety in each zone due to being less bound by memory considerations, more elaborate enemy behavior and AI, and two "side quests" that just act as slight little easter eggs in zones.

Of the like 80 "segments" in the game, there's only 3 or 4 that I would be open to arguments that they are worse, and one that people frequently cite isn't even a big change in the # of enemies-- it is just samurai dashing at you from afar as you invade the castle. The path to the boss only has like a few more enemies, in reality.

 

[SuperSunBro]

When you get to the hub there is a way to make enemies in the game much harder, so read the dialogue boxes before closing them.

The torch is its own unique mechanic in the series; it is not an equip-able item and works differently including
being limited in resource.

Backsteps have iframes so are useful in some situations.

 

[Deleted member 4090]

It's a really good idea. In Dark Soul you can wear super heavy armor and still flip around like a ninja because raising a stat to wear heavy armor also raises the limit for how well you can roll. In DS2 they wanted to make it a choice - either go with heavy armor or roll well (or sacrifice another stat to have both).

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Yeah, it is a key contribution to DS2 having the best build variety (for single player) in the series, and by a lot.

For defensive techniques, you have

1. Increasing HP
2. Shield reduction/stamina
3. Increasing damage reduction from armor
4. Rolling for i-frames
5. Rolling for evasion
6. Traditional zoning

All really require their own considerations for how they interplay with your stats and gear.

 

[Tya]

Weapon spell buffs work weird in this one, rather than adding an amount of damage scaled on the Mag Adjust of the catalyst, it adds a flat amount that is that is then multiplied after it is added to already present elemental damage on the weapon.

That is a very weird sentence, let me break it down with an example.

If a weapon doesn't have any elemental damage (magic, dark, fire, lightning) a basic weapon buff spell (for this example I'll use regular Magic Weapon) adds 50 Magic AR which is then multiplied by 1.2, making the total added damage (0+50)x1.2=60.
If the weapon has 200 magic damage, its magic damage is increased to (200+50)x1.2=300 AR.
The difference between various weapon buffs is only in the multiplier at the end, the flat damage added is always the same, and there is no scaling whatsoever, so stats and catalyst upgrade levels don't matter for damage, though I think duration increases with relevant stats.

This is only for spells, resins work like in the other titles.

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People have tested this and found it not to be the case despite a lot of guides indicating that what you posted was correct. It got changed at some point during patching.

https://www.reddit.com/r/DarkSouls2/comments/2xpwud/the_mystery_of_buffs_a_post_of_calculations_and/

 

[Deleted member 24021]

Of the like 80 "segments" in the game, there's only 3 or 4 that I would be open to arguments that they are worse, and one that people frequently cite isn't even a big change in the # of enemies-- it is just samurai dashing at you from afar as you invade the castle. The path to the boss only has like a few more enemies, in reality.

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This is the only place in SotFS that's worse than vanilla DS2.

 

[FashionTarkus]

It's a great game.
Go with SOTFS. It actually fixes things, including enemy placing and lore stuff if you are into that. Plus comes with the DLC which are, in my modest opinion, truly great.

Enjoy Majula, the best Souls hub
Level up adaptability ASAP.

 

[EasyMode]

Many enemies are weak to strike damage, which makes the Mace (the Cleric's starting weapon) one of the best weapons in the game for PvE.

For a first playthrough, you cant go wrong with Healing Wares as your starting gift.

 

[Tya]

I'd say level ADP to get 99 agility as soon as possible to have dodging feel more soulslike. Eventually, you'll want to get agility up to 105.

People have mentioned power stancing which is essentially a proper duel wield system. You need 1.5 times the stat requirements of the weapons. Maces, for example, have requirements of 12 STR and 5 DEX so 18 STR and 8 DEX would allow you to power stance by holding Y with both weapons equipped. From there, you can use L1 and L2 to attack with both weapons at the same time.

You can mix and match weapon types with some restrictions. If using different weapons, the stat requirement is 1.5 times the highest STR and DEX requirement between the two weapons.

 

[Deleted member 41271]

It's a really good idea. In Dark Soul you can wear super heavy armor and still flip around like a ninja because raising a stat to wear heavy armor also raises the limit for how well you can roll. In DS2 they wanted to make it a choice - either go with heavy armor or roll well (or sacrifice another stat to have both).

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It is a good idea in theory.

In practice, making the gameplay feel artificially worse compared even to the previous game until you dump enough stats into something just *sucks*. It's probably why a lot of people considered the game to "feel" off. Game feel is an important part of game design, and I feel they really dropped the ball here.

The same high-end effect could have been achieved without lowering the base iframe count down that much.

SOTFS is the fuller and more lively version of the game.

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Definite agreement. Some people consider it like a level pack, but I think it's the definite version - only a single area in the game (dragon, those foes in that one room) seemed annoying to me. vanilla DS2 was alright, DS2 SOTFS feels almost as good as DS3 to me. Once you dumped some stats into adaptability to get a functional dodge, that is :P

 

[Pantaghana]

People have tested this and found it not to be the case despite a lot of guides indicating that what you posted was correct. It got changed at some point during patching.

https://www.reddit.com/r/DarkSouls2/comments/2xpwud/the_mystery_of_buffs_a_post_of_calculations_and/

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Huh, didn't know that. So it seems that spell buffs are more useful and less specific than I thought. Good to know.

 

[elenarie]

Nothing. Just go ahead and enjoy it!

 

[Guru_Godzilla]

All 3 DLC's are amazing and my favorite part of any souls games

 

[Baloota]

Treat it as a self containted story

 

[Mediking]

I remember I dropped the game because I got lost and apparently, UNINTENTIONALLY, started on a much harder path that wasn't recommended for beginners.

I can't do Souls games. Just not for me.

 

[Jimnymebob]

Adaptability and attunement level your agility stat. Get agility to 105 asap. If you're not going to need any attunement slots for extra spells, just do adaptability, but if you are, get as many slots as you need, and use adaptability to bring it to 105.
If you farm tough-ish enemies (well, they hit hard, but aren't too bad to deal with) in a place called Heide's Tower of Flame- one of the starting areas, and beat the boss there, who is easy enough, that's basically enough souls for 105 agility in about 30 minutes from starting. Obviously considering it's your first time, you'll probably want to put stuff in different stats, but the whole having to level up to roll issue is blown out of proportion when it's not an issue 30 minutes into your 80 hour RPG.

 

[Deleted member 28815]

You will eventually get soul items called "Soul of a Giant". Do not use these.

 

[HaNotsri]

Vanilla is weak. Play softs.
Level up agility a lot.

 

[Master Alucard]

dodgin is wacky. you'll get hit even if you dodge

 

[hydrophilic attack]

there's one thing that may make the game a worse experience than when it launched

the fastest and most reliable way to get titanite chunks and pharros lockstone is from two pvp covenants. i loved the covenants so much that i played these enough that i could use titanite chunks and pharros lockstones all the time without worrying about running out of them. that was great. but that should be a lot more difficult to do now that the community is smaller. i'd imagine that especially the rat covenant (which gives you lockstones) is almost dead now

 

[GiantEnemyCrab]

Don't miss the level up girl in the hub zone. She is standing a little off the bonfire in the beginning.

 

[deltabreak]

Compared to other Souls games, this one's definition of challenging is just throwing a boatload of enemies at you.

 

[Blade Wolf]

Get used to the control cause it's way different than other Souls games, also the walking animation looks really weird. It's like the legs are moving but the hip isn't.

 

[Zukuu]

Don't play SOFT. Play DS 2 + DLCs if you want to. Apart from a single additional NPC / Boss and one good changed area, it's vastly inferior to the vanilla game. They just changed too much and made enemy positions boring and took away mysticism and unique encounters.

 

[Jakenbakin]

I really should play this one day. Bought it the day it came it and vanilla is my second favorite Souls game after Bloodborne, but I had literally played it 3 times before it came out and never went back for this version.

 

[MikeProtagonist]

I remember I dropped the game because I got lost and apparently, UNINTENTIONALLY, started on a much harder path that wasn't recommended for beginners.

I can't do Souls games. Just not for me.

Click to shrink...

You mean the dialogue that asks you like three times if you're really, really, REALLY SURE you want to do that? ;) Or just the passageway that leads to a slightly harder area where you can just walk back?

 

[dlauv]

It's like a romhack of an alright Souls clone. Enjoy!

 

[Banana Aeon]

SOFTS is terrible. I'll defend the vanilla game, even with all of its flaws, but I cannot for Scholar.

Play on PC for the deadzone fix. The game is borderline unplayable without it. Get used to mobs of infinite stamina mobs and poor weapon feedback.

 

[entremet]

The ambushes in this game are crazy. So many enemies.

 

[Jimbojim]

It's not as bad as people make it out to be.

 

[shadowsdarknes]

Don't be afraid to use your human effigies. I think I conserved them too much early in the game. I did burn through them fairly fast toward the end, though.

 

[GreenMonkey]

The single-player mode in the DS2 isn't that great. It is way too linear, some terrible shortcuts, areas aren't woven together well, combat feels floaty, and there are some very, very broken hitbox errors, and the graphics are very, very meh. And the light system they stripped out makes all the lamps useless.

That said, it has some pros. Lots of variety of magic spells, weapon movesets, and miracles to give you a lot of build variety, PvP is really good, and most of the PvP zones are really neat concepts.

 

[Rat King]

Fuck Aldia, that is all you need to know.

 

[Matrix XII]

One thing I wish I would've known from the start is enemies are finite. Meaning if you keep killing them over and over by resting at the bonfire, they'll eventually go away for good.

 

[aerie]

The ambushes in this game are crazy. So many enemies.

Click to shrink...

There are, but the game does have systems to help with this. The life gem system helps quite a bit, you have more healing resources to help deal with chip damage, and can pop one or two prior to starting battle if you're worried you're going to take too much damage. You can also use ranged weapons or spells to target and lure out single enemies or draw them away from one another. I found mob management in this game to all be quite fun. While 2 is a lesser entry, I still always have a great time with it and have spent hundreds of hours on this title. Also, I think Scholar was an improvement over the original, not in every area, but an improvement overall.

 

[ThisThingIsUseful]

If there's anything I noticed, it's that parrying seemed harder in this game than, say, Bloodborne, despite the fact that your character is slower.

 

[Magic Mushroom]

It's a great game. Not as good as 1 and 3, but still damn good. Playing as a mage is ace.

 

[The Living Tribunal]

Great game, it's the worst Dark Souls but is still much better than Demon's Souls imo. Don't even bother fighting the Darklurker without a pyromancy/faith build, stupidest boss fight in the entire series.

Oh, and don't play it on a last gen console for the love of Gwynn.

 

[Deleted member 38050]

It's really good, the hate for it is overblown. Just go in and enjoy.

 

[Weiss]

I was largely having fun until Shrine of Amana. Those mages are absurd.

 

[DaciaJC]

If there's anything I noticed, it's that parrying seemed harder in this game than, say, Bloodborne, despite the fact that your character is slower.

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In Bloodborne and Dark Souls, parries have active parry frames pretty much right at the start of the animation, allowing the player to parry on reaction or right before an enemy hit impacts. In Dark Souls II, they changed it so that there are several hundred milliseconds of start-up at the beginning of the animation before you reach the active parry frames, meaning the action becomes more prediction-based (especially when using heavy weapons like ultra greatswords). I hate that decision, personally, but I suspect it was done for PvP balance (e.g. see the pre-nerf Monastery Scimitar).

Basically, it's no surprise that you found parrying to be more difficult in DS2, it was designed that way.

 

[impact]

The biggest challenge comes from your roll not even working

 

[Pascal]

Just know that you're playing the best Dark Souls game.

 

[SneerfulOwl]

The best Souls game in the series. Better than DS3 or Bloodborne.

 

[frankenstrat]

Build variety is super high. Bows aren't terrible. ADP is a needed stat since it will determine how many invincibility frames you get when dodging. A good old fashioned Ultra Greatsword will tear through many things, as will anything with crush damage.

 

[TouchOfGray]

Wrong thread.

 

[hydrophilic attack]

Great game, it's the worst Dark Souls but is still much better than Demon's Souls imo. Don't even bother fighting the Darklurker without a pyromancy/faith build, stupidest boss fight in the entire series.

Click to shrink...

i found the darklurker to be the best fight outside the dlc, and beat it with a purely physical character

 

[hydrophilic attack]

It's really good, the hate for it is overblown. Just go in and enjoy.

Click to shrink...

a shield with high magic resist helps a lot

the rebel's greatshield will carry you through that area easily

 

[Pascal]

Build variety is super high. Bows aren't terrible. ADP is a needed stat since it will determine how many invincibility frames you get when dodging. A good old fashioned Ultra Greatsword will tear through many things, as will anything with crush damage.

Click to shrink...

All of this is true. Had so much fun running around, pretending to be Guts from Berserk with my Ultra Greatsword build.

 

[entremet]

Idk, guys. This is feeling like a cheap knockoff of Souls games lol.

 

[splash wave]

Can anyone recommend a good build to have the most hassle-free experience? I played this game a bit when it first came out and couldn't get it into it, but I dipped my toes into the remaster and am having a fine time. However, I'm hoping to avoid being blindsided by something weird later—with this in mind, how should I spec out my character? I started as a Knight and have beaten one boss.